The market was both tiny and strangely large at the same time, physically it was tiny maybe only 25 yards or so wide and about the same long however it was located in a depression which had to be 50 yards or so deep into the ground. With merpeople swimming up and down the levels, it made it feel larger than it actually was.
The people did stop and look at the new commers but kept their respectful distance as Cura began to explain stuff to them. The first shop they went to was a top shop where according to the owner an elderly mermaid and her much younger granddaughter had the widest selections of tops. It wasn’t much, but all of it was beautifully made with some having pearls and others with beautiful color sea shells. What was strange was that the most expensive stuff where the human tops, pieces of a bikini tops which had been lost by some swimmer and was now being sold in a mermaid shop.
“Ah…do you have anything that provides some more coverage?” inquired Harmony as the elderly mermaid looked at her confused.
“My dear why would you want to cover yourself?” inquired the elderly mermaid
“Grandma…these are the former humans.” explained the granddaughter who had to be maybe 11 or 12 at most. She wore a less revealing top similar in style to her grandmother, everyone seamed to have part or more of their lower chest exposed no matter what the age. It took Harmony a moment to realize that it was because they had to keep their gills uncovered to allow them to breath.
“Ah…I see.” Said the grandma who looked like she would have trouble seeing. “Forgive me, dear it is just nudity and lack of clothing is more accepted down here then the surface world. It isn’t uncommon for some unmarried mermaids once they reach a certain age to swim around topless to attract a mate be it a merman or a mermaid.”
“That practice is dying out, but most women your age do wear stuff like that.” whispered the young mermaid as Harmony looked at her tiny sea shell bra, she felt like a stripper and that one of her nipples would come out at any moment. “Still we have some for you to look at.”
In the end she ended up getting something that covered the most skin possible, it was actually something the owners had to modify a bit because it was of a style mostly worn by older mermaids. It was had a series of pearls around her neck which held up a tight double weave fabric made from sea sponge material which went down past her breasts and then around her back and back up to the necklace. It left her shoulder bares and the owner insisted on making it as skin tight as possible to help attract a mate but it still showed off her midriff, she had asked about a way to cover that but that would put the gills at risk.
The other girls did pick up a second pair of tops for each other as well, they wanted to get more but they also didn’t want to push their luck. They didn’t know how much they had to spend and they needed other things for sure.
It turned out pearls where very common, as common as cheap gold chains where on the surface and they where used in a lot of items.
While the women shopped, the men looked around at some of the other stores. One thing they had noticed was that a lot of merpeople wore belts. At first this confused the former humans but after a moment of thought it made sense. Each belt held pouches where they stored money and other items, a lot of mermaids and merman also carried around knives or short swords.
“Why do they carry weapons?” inquired Damon
“Take your pick, shark attack, eel, squid or dolphins.” stated Cura
“Dolphins?” inquired Colton
“They can be real jerks sometimes. I was attacked by some when I was a kid. You humans think they are so playful and love you because they smile, but that is because their jaws are stuck like that. They are jerks” stated Cura with anger in her voice. She paused for a moment and calmed down. “Sorry about that, however it is a more tradition thing dating back thousands of years and if you should get yourself caught in a fishing line it can save your life.”
“I guess we better go look at the knives and the like.” said Damon as the men went to look at the belts, they where joined by the women who joined them picking out belts and bags to go with them and knives as well. The first one done was Adrian who had picked the cheapest simplest belt made from some rope thrown off a boat and a simple bag made from the skin of some sea animal, the only thing he had gotten special was an navy diving knife from the surface world, it wasn’t the same one he used in the army but it was close. It was something he knew how to use and it was a very good knife. Damon and Colton where more focused on what knife “looked” cooler not which was better. Tim was never an up close and personal person in the army, he had been the radio man while Adrian had normally been point men. He done stuff he didn’t want to remember and he had done it close enough to remember the looks in the other persons eyes.
“You are done fast.” Said Cura as she swam up beside him.
“I don’t require much.” Answered Adrian as he looked around “I noticed that some of the merpeople have fins may I ask what that is about?”
Cura gave him a slight grin, she had wondered when someone would notice that. Some of the merpeople had fins, some had tiny ones on their sides or along the back. Most of them didn’t but some did.
“On the surface you have skin color correct. That is how you separate the different “races” even though you are all humans?” inquired Cura as Adrian nodded. “It is much the same here, only it is with our tails. If you travel to the area of the sea you would call the south pacific islands you would see merpeople with longer tails and wider tail fins. They have them to swim the greater distances across the ocean with ease, while those in the meditarian sea have small fins on their sides giving them greater movement within the water. Those who come from colder waters have thicker skin and better heating and so on.”
“I see.” Said Adrian “So did you have…”
“The same issues you have on land?” inquired Cura who shrugged “Who doesn’t? We had wars based on what type of tail you had or the like but that ended almost 800 years ago, no one really cares now.”
“Good.” Said Adrian
“Did you leave anyone on shore?” inquired Cura as Adrian looked at her somewhat confused. “One of the issues with bringing humans down here is that they want to go back to their family and friends on the surface.”
“No…only person I had was my drug addicted sister and she has wanted me gone for a while.” Stated Adrian
“I don’t see why, you seam like a humble yet kind man.” Said Cura as a playful smile appeared on Cura’s lips. Adrian was somewhat taken aback, was this mermaid flirting with him? He had never been good at telling that with human women and he wasn’t sure now. Cura was very good looking but then again on the human world not many women would look at him in any way that was positive.
“So any idea what you want to do?” inquired Cura
“I was hoping to become a hunter.” Stated Adrian as Cura nodded her head.
“You would be good at it, if you wish to do that I can arrange to have you go out and follow a hunter on a guard duty.” Stated Cura
“Guard duty?” inquired Adrian
“We don’t let people just go out and start hunting, they need to be trained we don’t want them to die.” Explained Cura with a playful laugh. “You would start as a guard, protecting farmers as they go out into the field or scrapers.”
“Scrappers?” inquired Adrian
“We tear apart human ships to take anything we should need.” Explained Cura “You humans make very good metal.”
“Maybe you should tell Tim that.” Stated Adrian as Cura looked at him somewhat confused. “He worked at his Great Uncle’s scrap yard when he was kid and I think he was in his second year maybe third of metallurgy in school.”
“I will bring that up with him, they are always looking for people who understand human world better.” Said Cura as the rest of the former humans swam up. All of them now had belts and bags, most had knives as well. Monica and Damon had each gotten a second bag to hold stuff for little Isabella and Monica now had a sling over her shoulder where Isabella slept without having Monica constantly carry her. “So what do you want to do now?”