G/t Short Stories

Above the Surface

Weeks passed since Cordelia was nearly eaten by a shark after her little adventure outside the reef. An experience as traumatic as that should have kept her from leaving the reef ever again, but there was one thing kept calling her back out into the ocean; Ondine, the giant who saved her. It was weird, all she wanted to do was get away from him when they first met, but now that he's gone, he's all she ever thinks about. 
That's why she wanders past the reef trying to find him again. Unfortunately, finding giant orca merman is harder than she thought. 
The day was coming to an end, and yet again there was no sign of Ondine. Cordelia sighed and prepared to head back to the reef, but then faint smell of blood entered her nostrils. That's when she saw a familiar figure with an orca tail swimming close to the ocean floor, grabbing fistfuls of seaweed.
Cordelia's teal eyes locked onto the figure, she noticed the pale skin that had many scars and the dark hair, there was no doubt that that was Ondine. She dove deeper to the bottom, the scent of blood growing stronger. Cordelia bit her lip in fear, did something. Happen to him? She noticed him clutching his left shoulder. 
Ondine stopped swimming and laid back on a nearby boulder. He winced as he glanced over his shoulder. He removed his hand from his shoulder and blood poured out of his wound floating away in the gentle currents above. Cordelia let out a loud gasp, which caused the merman to break his gaze away from his gash and lock on to the tiny mermaid. 
"Shrimp? Is that you?" 
Cordelia's heart would have skipped a beat if she wasn't staring at his bleeding shoulder. "What in Triton's name happened to you?!" 
"Oh this?" He began wrapping seaweed around his shoulder. "I went to the surface this morning and there was a whaling ship out during that time. Guess I didn't see it before they fired the harpoons." 
"Why in the seven seas would you ever go above the surface!" She swam closer to his face. "Haven't you heard how dangerous it is up there?!" 
"Look, I don't know what horror stories your tropical tribe of shrimps tell you, but my pod doesn't really fear the surface." 
Cordelia crossed her arms. "And look what happened to you."
Ondine let out a hardy chuckle. "Oh please, I've been through way worse than this! In fact, that shark that I saved you from put up a better fight than those land lovers above!" 
"That shark didn't leave a mark on you!" 
"Hmm, I guess you're right, but those whalers only got one good shot in, so I'm still invincible." 
Cordelia clenched her teeth. Now she remembered why she didn't want to be around him, he was always so cocky and snarky! It made her boil up so much. She turned her tail towards him and was ready to leave. "Well, I think I'll be going back home now." 
Ondine's white fingers loosely started to wrap around her and pull her close to his face, looming above her with an intense stare and smirk. "Oh no, I want to know why you're around here, I thought we agreed that past the reef was too dangerous for you." 
"I said it was dangerous not that I wasn't going to leave the reef!" Cordelia scoffed while trying to squirm out of his hand. 
"And you just happened to be in the same area as me?" 
"Yes!"
Ondine raised an eyebrow. "Come on Cordelia, do you realize how big the ocean is?"
The small mermaid felt her cheeks burn with anger. "Fine, maybe I was looking for you. But only because I wanted to ask you where the more interesting places are." 
"Oh, so you wanted to be like your tour guide. That makes total sense!" 
Cordelia ignored his sarcastic comment and finally freed herself from his grasp. "Yes, a tour guide, but sadly it's getting late so I better get going before your bloody shoulder attracts some sharks. So bye!" The small mermaid quickly swam away before the giant man could make another snarky remark, but she slammed face first into something hard. She looked up to see she swam into his bare chest. 
He looked down at her with a devious grin on his face. "Oh no, Cordelia. I'll be the best tour guide you've ever had, trust me!" He swiftly grabbed her once again but this time used his fingers to pin her to his palm. "Come on, let me show you something you can't find in the seven seas!" 
Before Cordelia could even object, Ondine thrusted himself up at high speeds. Her stomach did flips as she felt the water pressure force her from moving. He was taking her above the surface…. Again!
The sound of waves crashing could be heard as they emerged from the ocean. Ondine released Cordelia from being pinned, not that it really mattered. All the water spilled out of his hand, leaving the mermaid to helplessly flop around in his palm. 
"You need to stop doing that!" Cordelia shouted. "I hate being above the surface!" 
"But if you only stay in the water would not be able to see this." Ondine pointed out in the distance. 
Cordelia's jaw dropped when she realized what Ondine was showing her. Towards the horizon was the sun letting off a warm orange glow. It's beams dipped into the ocean, giving the gentle waves a golden light. The sky was breathtaking, a collection of reds and yellows and purples merging together to create an image so beautiful, that only Neptune himself could create such a masterpiece. 
"Wow!" She managed to breathe out.
"One of the reasons I go above the surface is to see the sunrise and sunset." 
"It's so beautiful!"
Ondine shrugged. "I'd say this is the second most beautiful thing I've seen." 
"What's the first?"
He smiled. "I don't know, you tell me." 
Cordelia blushed. Was he referring to her? Surely not, this must be one of his jokes, cause nothing could be more gorgeous than a sunset! "Ondine, could you please show me the sunset more often?" 
"I would love to."