Seabound-SKZ

Chapter One

Chan was tired, to say the least. as the crown Prince he never had time to do what he loved, so each night as the moon climbed high in the sky he snuck out, past the palace gates, and the guards who pretended they didn't notice him. he saddled his horse and rode down towards the sea, he was always fond of swimming, his father used to tell him stories of the deep blue and the creatures that dwelled there. his favorites were always of the merfolk and their palaces and tails, and of course the enchanting songs they sang. His father, the king, had gotten caught in a storm when he was young and his boat sank. He remembered how much he had cried for his beloved father, and his mother soon fell into a deep depression after the loss of her dear husband. leaving Chan to deal with many of the king's duties. 

He dismounted his horse and hooked his halter to the fence lining the beach, leaving him with a bucket of water and a couple of sugar cubes that he had dug out of his pocket. Rushing down towards the water that was gently lapping at the sand he kicked off his shoes and tugged his overshirt over his head, tossing both to the side before running barefoot down the pier and diving off the end, little did he know that seven pairs of eyes watched him from behind a rock peninsula that children played on during the day. 

Chan floated on him back after about thirty minuted of ducking waves and attempting to catch the tiny fish that were brave enough to swim near him. he didn't see the wave building behind him and by the time he felt the swell pulling he reacted too late, getting forcibly dunked and pulled around harshly until he couldn't tell which way was up, water filling his lungs and mouth as he tried to fight his way up, eventually he stopped his fight, his eyes closing slowly and he hung suspended under the water. 

"Where did he go?!" one of the seven who had watched him in the water, a young merman named Seungmin called towards the other six mermen who respectively went by the names of; Jeongin, Felix, Jisung, Hyunjin, Changbin, and Minho. he quickly dove under another wave, they were getting harsher as time went on and he feared the worst for the young prince who was sucked under. the other six followed him quickly, communicating telepathically as they swam under the water. 

"you think he's..." Minho's thought trailed off unpleasantly, the rest grimacing worriedly at the motion of the Prince being drowned, they had always admired him. occasionally they had watched from afar as he played with his parents when he was younger- before his father died and his mother forbade him from going near the water again. the prince was several years older than most of them, Minho being the oldest and just a year and a few weeks younger. 

"No, he can't be." Felix's reasonable voice cut through the endless stream of worries in each merman's mind 'We all know he's a strong swimmer. he carries Mer blood in his veins.' the others nodded. unknown to his family the prince did in fact has Mer blood, dating back generations but still very present in the young man. 

"Look!!" Jeongin, the youngest and one of the two boys, the other was Felix with his stunning multicoloured sunset scales, with any colour of scales besides the normal blues, greens, and neutrals, his flaming red tail stood out. he had grown up in a reef so the natural camouflage had helped him before he joined the deep Mers and then the red scales had gotten him in a fair bit of trouble. "I see him!" he took off ahead in the direction of the boy floating in the water, scales flashing as the rest tried to keep up. 

Jisung reached Chan first, coming as no surprise to the rest of the Mers, Jisung was one of the best racers in their pod, his tail, like Hyunjins, had no scales and was smooth and resembled that of a dolphin. he grabbed the prince around the waist and began hauling him to the surface 'Help me!!' he pleaded with his friends in his mind, Changbin and Minho immediately looped Chan's arms over their shoulders and helped drag him to shore. the younger Mers followed right behind, glancing around, Worried of being spotted.

Eventually, they succeeded in dragging Chan onto the soft sand, the Mers flopping ungracefully next to him. "is he alive?" Felix was the first to speak, his heavily accented voice ringing out over the empty beach and echoing off the rocks, he covered his mouth quickly, he had a habit of speaking very loudly at the switch between ocean and land. his friends all shot him looks that said 'quiet down, idiot.' before Changbin responded with;

 "No. but we have to get the water out of his lungs." he and Minho leaned over the man lying flat on his back in the sand, beginning to chant a spell to call forth the water. Chan almost immediately sat bolt upright, coughing up the water. The Mers dove behind rocks to hide as Chan looked around, trying to see who had pulled him from the waters, he spotted Jeongin peering around the boulders he hid behind right before Seungmin and Felix grabbed him and pulled him back. "wait!" Chan called out and the Mers all froze, glancing at each other in panic "Was it you that saved me?" He stood, somewhat shakily and his head spun. he stumbled towards the rocks that the Mers hid behind, luckily for the seven boys hiding before Chan could get close enough to see them, his advisor, a slightly older gentleman who had served his father as well, rushed towards Chan, "Sire! You were supposed to be back for breakfast! why are you soaking? are you okay? you look pale!" Chan promptly slumped forward into his advisor's arms, the exhaustion finally getting to him, the man caught him quickly, carrying his prince back to his horse to return to the castle for medical attendance. 

The Mers sank under the waves, hoping that they had saved him. Minho scolded Jeongin on the way back home "How could you let him see you?" his harsh voice cut into the youngest's head, making him flinch "I'm sorry, Hyung. It won't happen again!" he said, sounding so distraught that Minho had to take pity on the boy "It better not." He flashed a tiny smile in the direction of Jeongin to show he wasn't upset and swam ahead to talk with Changbin. Hyunjin took his spot beside Jeongin and started up a conversation about going back to the coral reef to collect some and bringing it to the elder Mers before they departed the pod for their final journey. it made the pod sad to see their elders leave, but that was how things went in the sea. after a certain age, Mers would swim the ocean and eventually become part of it. dissolving into seafoam or becoming a flowering plant under the sea.