One World (Riren)

Black Feathers

Sounds of bubbles, and moving water. Lots of fishes, and coral reefs. Shine of the sun from above, and dark deep below the ocean.

A young brown-haired merman swam by the coral reefs who was busy looking at the corals and fishes. There was two young merfolks swimming along with him. "Eren, let's go back home." The mermaid with raven hair said. "We might get in trouble if we don't go back home."

"I know." The brunette rolled his eyes. "I want to explore a bit more. Maybe 5 more minutes, and then I'm done."

The merman with blonde hair stops him by grabbing him on the shoulder. "Eren, Mikasa's right. We should go back home." He said. "It's been an hour, and I'm tired from swimming already!"

The brunette pouted and agrees to go back home with his friends.

-time skips-

It was very dark in the sea, which means that it was probably nighttime. Eren opened his eyes and took a look around his surroundings. The merfolks were sleeping away peacefully. Eren-as quietly and quickly as he could-goes out of his home to the surface.

It was a long swim, but he managed to get to the surface. Once he got to the surface, he pokes his head out of the water to look at the sky.

Eren's eyes sparkled in awe at the stars shining above him. He reached up to grab it, but didn't grab anything. He did once more-nothing. Eren pouted and spotted a big rock-surrounded by water-lying near a land where humans live. He went towards the rock to sit on it. He sighs when he sat on the rock.

"This world is beautiful." Eren gasped as he look at the sky. "I wonder what it'd be like if I'm up there, flying freely with the wind. To be able to escape my problems from the sea."

Eren shuddered when he imagine the biggest predators hunting them. How the merfolks can accidentally get scratch marks and cuts on their open flesh from rocks or any kind of abiotic or biotic things.

Eren sighed and shook those images away, and focus only on the bright side.

The breeze blew by softly. His tail is sunk in the water to hydrate his scales. It was cold, but comforting. It was a very peaceful night. At this point, Eren was about to fall asleep. When he closed his eyes, he heard a sound.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Eren opened his eyes and sat up to look at his surroundings. "What's that noise?" Eren whispered out. Eren's tail felt ticklish. He turned his head to his tail to see a black feather.

"Huh?" Eren picked up the feather that rest on his tail. "What's this, a feather?" He scrunched his eyebrows. He looks up at the sky, then at the feather. "It's so pretty!"

While Eren was glancing around the feather. "Hey." A sudden deep voice was heard above him, giving Eren a heart attack.

Eren looked up to see a man with big black wings, staring down at him. He was pale, and has raven hair styled an undercut. He was naked and has bird-like legs. He was covered with feathers . He has very long and sharp talons on both hands and feet which scares Eren. The man was very handsome and muscular for a short man. But Eren doesn't mind. He likes short people.

Seeing how handsome this man is, Eren didn't even noticed he was staring for the longest time. He also didn't even noticed that he was blushing.

"Hey." The deep voice that belongs to the man increases its volume. "Do you even hear me, brat?"

'Brat?' Eren thought. "I'm sorry, sir." Eren bowed apologetically. "Did you say something, sir?"

The man clicked his teeth. "For a kid like you, you're even more of a brat than the kids I encountered everyday." The man says in annoyance. He flaps his wings gently to land beside Eren, and at down beside. "Gosh, my wings are sore." The man groaned, closing his wings together. "So, you're out to see the stars again, huh."

Eren sat there, not knowing what to do. He opened his mouth to speak. "Um, yes... How'd you know?"

"I always see you come here every night." The man replied.

"Oh." Eren doesn't know what to do. Eren began to ask, "Who are you? You don't look like those humans. Are you also a merman?"

"I'm not a merman." The man snapped, making Eren shrink in fear. "I'm a 'harpy'. Got it in your head?"

"Har...py." Eren slowly says. "Harpy. Harpy! Harpy!" Eren repeated the word over and over until the man had enough.

"Alright, brat. I get it." The man rubbed his temples. "You're a merman, aren't you?"

"How'd you know?"

"I've heard about you and your merfolks."

"Oh." Eren replies, then asks, "Why are you here anyway?"

"Why? I'm just here to explore." The man replied.

"For what?"

"To explore." The man repeated. "Just hanging around."

Eren nodded. Eren looks up at the sky, pointing at the stars. "Look, look! There's a bird!" He exclaimed, and shows the man the bird that was drawn in the sky. Eren began to yammer about the stars, and pointing at shapes the stars had made.

The man beside him only stare at the boy.

His soft, silky hair shimmered and brushed from the wind. His tan skin shined beautifully, scales and fins sparkled and shined under the starlight. His turquoise eyes shined brightly like the aurora lights. He was beautiful.

When Eren turned to look at the man, the man stopped breathing for a moment when he saw those eyes.

"You know," the boy began, causing Levi stop staring, "I've always wondered what's it's like to get out of the water. You know- to soar through the sky instead of staying underwater." Eren said as the man listens to the boy. "I want see the world you were living in. I want to see the towns, the people, and other organisms while soaring through the sky. I want to explore. I hated staying underwater; it's nothing but water, darkness, rocks and corals, fishes, and swimming away from predators. They are everywhere." He giggled slightly.

"Although, I do love my home. I get to swim everywhere I go, make lots of new friends, and more. But... I wanted to stay out of water for once and..." Eren continued on.

The man listens to the boy's every word, humming to signal the boy that he was listening. The man never knew how dangerous the ocean could be. He thought it was just full of beautiful rocks, corals, and fishes that was under the shining blue sea.

Before he could speak, the boy yawned and rubbed his eyes.

Eren eyes began to feel heavy, and he began to feel sleepy. "I'm gonna go back home." Eren dipped into the water. Eren grinned at the man before him. "I hope to see you again soon, sir!"

Eren dived underwater to get home.

Once the boy was gone, the man lets out his breath, not know that he was holding his breath when he saw those eyes. "Bright eyes." The man snorted, brushing his bangs back. He pictures the boy again, seeing the boy's bright eyes in front of him. The man sighs in awe at the look of those eyes.

"Beautiful." He whispered out.