“It’s finished!” Alex exclaimed, looking over his workmanship with pride. The little fish boy had lashed together a pile of dead coral using vines like rope to form a rudimentary seat and propped it up neatly in the middle of a sandy clearing.
“What is it?” Tide asked with awe. He’d never seen anything in quite that shape before, but it appeared to be ingeniously crafted.
Alex cut short of answering, his face growing confused. The image of the chair had been so clear in his mind, but its name had escaped him completely.
“It’s… Uh… A tail, thing…. A tail shelf!” He finally managed to say, but he knew it wasn’t the proper name for the object.
“How does it work? How do you use it?”
“You just, uh… sink onto it.”
“Sink?”
“Yeah, just float over top of it and sink. It’s very relaxing. Give it a try.” Alex suggested with excitement.
Tide hesitantly floated above the strange structure and began to lose buoyancy until his lower body started to meet the coral seat.
“Sink harder.” Alex encouraged.
Tide scrunched his face as he forced his body to sink as forcefully as he could and his body naturally settled into the basic shape of the chair, though his tail was still floating straight out in front of him.
“Push your tail down.”
Tide grabbed the sides of the chair to brace himself against the thrust he was about to create as he pulled his tail downwards, launching a plume of sand around him.
“Am I doing it right?” He asked as the sand began to settle. “Is this how they use a tail shelf in the gas lands?!”
“Yeah.” Alex assured him. “That’s the way it’s done!”
Tide beamed with pride. His boyfriend was probably the only merboy in the entire ocean who knew the mysteries of the gas lands, and here he was learning them all for himself! He couldn’t wait to tell the other boys about the fantastic tail shelf.
“Come on, it’s nearly dark, we’re going to be late for dinner!” He shouted before launching himself out of the chair and zipping into the murky deep like a shot.
Alex followed shortly behind, whining with a bit of irritation for Tide to slow down. By the time they arrived back at the nursing grotto, they found the place already bustling with activity. The space was filled with rows of tables, each covered with piles of seasoned barnacles and surrounded by little, floating fish-boys gorging themselves on the endless bounty. Between the rows of tables could be seen an army of crabs tending to the feast like waiters, collecting dishes and unloading fresh piles of food.
“Barnacles again?!” Tide whined as the two boys joined some of their friends at one of the tables.
“I like barnacles.” Alex replied with satisfaction, his face already half-filled with the crunchy crustaceans.
“You like everything… I want something new for a change.”
“Why are you two so late?” Their friend Barent asked.
“We were busy.” Tide said. “Alex actually MADE one of the gas land things he remembers and I got to use it too! It’s called a tail shelf and you sink on it and it’s soooo relaxing. That PROVES he knows about the gas lands.”
Barent and the other boy’s weren’t convinced Alex really knew anything about life on dry land. It was very unusual for anybody to remember anything about any previous life before becoming a merperson and none of them had ever even ascended all the way to the surface. It didn’t help that Alex couldn’t remember the words to properly describe anything he remembered.
“Well, we'll have to go see it later, I guess.” Barent replied gladly. “It does sound really cool… Tell us more about the gas lands, Alex.”
“Oh…” Alex said, choking down a mouth full of barnacles. “Um… In the gas lands, the people can't swim in the gas. They have to walk around like crabs! Only the gas-fish can swim in the gas, but the people there make giant gas-fish statues out of hard stuff and ride inside them to travel all over the world!”
Everyone at the table laughed at the thought.
“Eat yer barnacles, boy!” One of the nurse crabs named Cobble said, addressing Tide with a gruff voice. “Good fer yer bones, they are.”
“I don’t care about bones!” Tide cried. “I want something nobody’s ever tried before, something new, something different… I want… Kelp bladders!”
All the boys at the table gasped together at the idea. Picking fresh kelp bladders meant leaving the nursing waters and venturing into the unknown realm that lay beyond the forest’s edge. They knew it was forbidden for them to go into the kelp forest and that their devoted team of nursing crabs couldn't fetch the treat for them, as they could only forage for what they could reach from the ground with their claws.
“I’m afeared yer too little yet to be eatin’ any kelp bladders sonny.” The nurse crab replied. “Filled with poisoned gas they are, oxide of carbon they say… Best not trifle with the like, says I.”
“I’m not scared.” Alex said defiantly. “Infineon ate kelp bladders once. Grig told us about it in the story last night before bed. He ate kelp bladders and then he wrestled a hammerhead shark!”
“Yar, Grig’s stories aren’t narry as trustworthy as ya think. What does he know about warrior Mermen? Yer people only pay us to protect yer eggs ‘til ya hatch and feed ya fer a few months ‘til they arroive. I figure Grig just likes them stories of yer people and gets a kick out a sharin’ what he remembers of ‘em, but the details are prolly just of his own makin’.”
“Our dads pay you? What do they pay you with?” Alex asked, scrunching his face.
“Not much. That’s fer sher. Only yer egg membranes is all, a rare delicacy if ever there was one, but sherin' they don't last long... There’s already little left of THAT feast anymore… Prolly means yer dads are soon to return… Time can’t come too soon for my taste…”
“You ate my egg?!” Alex replied in shock.
“Aye, that I did. Twas one of the better ones this season as well. Nice and sweet and buttery, not like the tart, chewy thing yer friend come out of.” Cobble replied, gesturing to Tide.
“My egg wasn’t tart!” Tide cried. “And I’m not too little to eat kelp bladders. I’m just as big a merman as Infineon!”
He rose up and straightened into a defiant warrior pose, basking in his own private sense of manliness.
None of the merboys had ever seen an adult before; Alex with his memories was the only one with any sense of how small they truly were.
“Come one, Tide. Let's just enjoy these barnacles. They’re REALLY good! Maybe our dads can help us get some kelp bladders when they get here… Cobble says it won’t be long now… The forest really is too dark and scary, and we’re not supposed to leave the nursing waters…”
“You think I’m too little?!” Tide asked with shock.
“No, no. You’re… Uh… Big, Tide.” Alex said, flustered. “I just think-”
“-Then I’m going to the forest.” Tide declared with force, darting up and away from the other boys assertively, his fanning tail blowing a plate of barnacles off the table’s edge behind him.
It wasn’t long before Tide was out of sight. On any normal occasion it would take all of Alex’s effort to keep up with Tide, but the boy was clearly more determined than ever to prove his abilities, and Alex was feeling particularly weighed down by his recent, heavy meal. Alex raced with all the speed he could muster in a straight line, heading in the general direction of Tide’s wake. A few long minutes later he came to an abrupt stop at the edge of the kelp forest. Nobody was around… Maybe Tide had changed his mind. He may be brave, but he wouldn’t leave the nursing waters alone, would he? And he must have known Alex was following behind him, surely he'd wait…
"OH OOOh AHh" "oh oooH ahH"
Alex sang into the densely packed columns of flowing, green plants, and turned pale at the complementary sound that echoed back from the murky forest.
“TIDE! Come back, Tide!”
“♪♬ I. Don’t. Want to; Lets have an-ADVenTURE! ♬♪” He found himself singing to his great surprise, he could also hear the faint sound of Tide’s own half of the gleeful chanting in the distance as well. He’d never been made to sing words before. It was definitely an interesting way to communicate with his mate.
Clearly there was no stopping Tide now, he’d already left the nursing waters. Alex's only option was to go after him and make sure he was safe, so he started quietly singing to himself for comfort, just loud enough to hear his mate, and with timid determination he breached the edge of the forbidden kelp forest..
As he proceeded deeper and deeper into the forest he noticed he didn’t seem to be getting any closer to Tide. Why was Tide swimming out so far? There were thousands of kelp bladders all around them, buoyantly pulling at their rooted stalks and ticklishly rubbing anyone who chanced to swim by. It was impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction. The slimy green plants were too dense and they blotted out so much light during the day that the water was very cold and getting colder the further into the forest they wandered. Alex was shivering. It was already past dark; dim moonbeams fluttered eerily about the surrounding plant life. He didn’t like this at all.
At last his mate’s singing began to draw nearer. He unconsciously started to raise his voice in song as he got closer, he didn’t want Tide to jump out at him and startle him at the last second. That’s just the kind of thing he’d do.
The first thing Alex saw was a glint of light reflecting off of Tide’s light, minty-green scales. He reached up with his arms and parted the final few stalks of kelp to reveal his grinning little mate holding two round orbs with pride, and as Tide’s grin cracked into a smile, a swell of bubbles erupted from his lips and he broke into laughter from the curious sensation.
“Tide! That’s poison gas!” Alex shouted.
“It’s fine.” Tide replied, waiving dismissively. “Try one. They’re fantastic! And the bubbles feel so funny!”
“I don’t know, Tide. Cobble says-”
“He’s just jealous cuz he can’t swim and he’s too short to reach anything this yummy!” Tide said, placing one of the bladders into Alex’s hand and taking a big bite out of the other, releasing the wondrous bubbles.
Tide scratched absentmindedly at his right hand and eagerly chomped down the remaining husk of the bulbous orb, swallowing the flesh of it while observing his mate’s tentative interest in trying the forbidden treat for himself. Why was his hand so itchy all of a sudden?
Alex wasn’t very hungry but he’d never seen gas like that before, not since before he hatched a few months ago. It was fascinating the way it fluttered and jiggled about like it was alive. He couldn’t shake his fascination with the curious substance.
“You don’t feel like you’re dying?” Alex questioned skeptically.
“I feel great!” Tide assured him. “Give it a taste, they’re yummy and the gas sorta tickles.”
Tide was scratching his hand more insistently now. He took a look at it just as Alex took a big bite out of his kelp bladder, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it.
Bubbles flew up and out of the sides of Alex’s mouth, tickling him gently. He started to laugh at the funny feeling causing bubbles to erupt from his nose. Both boys laughed at that and each eagerly plucked another bladder bulb from the kelp plants beside them. They took turns blowing bubbles and inventing different bubble-based tricks, playing with the curious gas pockets as they rose. They even picked a few bladders and released them into the waters above them whole, just to watch them fly toward the moon like magic.
Alex was becoming aware now of Tide’s itching. It had gotten so intense that he had begun to stop playing in order to get enough relief. It was then that Alex also noticed he’d been absentmindedly scratching his own left hand.
“Tide? What’s going on?” Alex asked, growing frightened. “Why are we so itchy?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think it’s what Cobble said? Do you think it’s the oxide poison?!”
“No, no. It’s just… I just need a second to scratch it.”
The itching sensation was only getting worse no matter how much they scratched, it was starting to be all they could think about. Tears were forming in Tide’s eyes. He could feel the sting of the hot liquid blurring his vision, but didn’t know what was happening. Alex started whimpering and rubbing his hand on any surface he could find to try to get relief. He rubbed his belly and the kelp stalks and his tail, he rubbed his hand all over his hair and over his teeth, he scratched and scratched and scratched. Eventually he screamed in frustration and grabbed Tide’s right hand in his left, immediately the itching disappeared! They both shuddered at the sudden wave of relief.
“Oh wow!” Tide said, “That was awful!”
“I don’t like kelp bladders.” Alex said, slumping with exhaustion and shaking his head solemnly.
“Yeah.” Tide agreed with a nod. “Maybe we had too many… Holding hands is nice though.”
“Yeah.” Alex agreed, blushing and smiling adorably.
Just then, the striking glint of a nerf shark's tail pierced the surrounding growth, catching Tide’s attention.
“What was that?” He asked.
“What was what?”
“I just saw somebody else out there in the kelp. It looked like he had a grey tail… Escher maybe?”
“No way Escher would ever come all the way out here. Barent can’t even get him to leave the nursing grotto most of the time.”
“They’re the only ones who know we’re out here, though.” Tide observed.
“Hey!” Alex called into the abyss, putting on an air of bravery. “Who’s out there? We already saw you, OK?”
“Yeah.” Tide agreed. “And don’t try to jump out and scare us, cuz we’re the bravest mermen there are. We’re not afraid of anything!”
“Yeah!” Alex piled on. “We’re even braver mermen than Infineon! We swam into the kelp forest and we ate kelp bladders! We could even wrestle a hammerhead sh-!”
FWAKK!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
AAAHHHHAAAHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA!
A wall of thrashing grey muscle and rows of jagged teeth lashed fiercely at the young merboys. They only narrowly avoided the strike at the very last moment when their chubby bodies maneuvered oddly in unison in a way the shark could never have predicted. They had each tried swimming away from one another but were drawn back together by their linked arms. They each tried to let go of the other's hand but their grip remained firm. The shark was gone from sight and Tide was still struggling to bolt away while Alex glanced around frantically. The shark could be anywhere. It could re-appear at any moment from any angle. His mind ran wild with the potential morbid outcomes.
“We gotta go!” Tide yelled, breaking Alex out of his trance. “Let go of my hand, Alex.”
“I’m not holding on; you let go of my hand!”
“We’re stuck!!” Tide said with realization, yanking desperately on their joined fists.
A threatening flutter of shark scales glinted in the near distance and Alex took the opportunity to join Tide in mounting an immediate escape. They swam as fast as they could, but the dense stalks of kelp were getting caught between them. Their outstretched arms were snagging the floating plants into bundles making it impossible to go farther than a few feet without backtracking to free themselves. They were trapped! It would take them hours to get back at this rate, they needed to be able to separate themselves or they wouldn't stand a chance.
Just then another glint appeared to the right, and another two nearby on the left. They were surrounded! One of the creatures brushed past Tide’s left side. Its sandpaper-rough skin scraped his arm causing him to scream in pain and terror.
Tide looked around frantically. He didn’t know what to do. Neither of them did. They were flailing around madly now in an uncoordinated tumble of arms and tails. They were slowly sinking, Alex thought he felt one of the sharks touch him. Then another. They were being toyed with. Alex got one last look at his mate, just a brief glimpse into his terrified eyes, before the water was suddenly wrenched from his lungs.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Dry.
Alex couldn’t make sense of the emptiness. His ears, mouth, lungs, nose, all suddenly vacant. His body jolted up from the rock he found himself on. His eyes blinked with a constant flutter, vainly depositing meager coatings of moisture that did not satisfy. Was this how it felt to die? His limbs moved in a strange, undampened, unfamiliar way. His body felt ghostly and intangible the way it seemed to cut through the environment without resistance. He screamed. The sound was deep and muffled, and foreign. His vocal cords and lungs begged to be filled with water. He looked around with panic and immediately flopped his body toward the edge of the rock until his face finally tumbled past the edge, then he threw his head deep underwater gasping in a welcomed breath of seawater. He stayed there for a few moments, growing calmer as the familiar fluid filled him up and soothed his panic while the offending bubbles of atmosphere belched and burbled out of him.
“You’re back!” A deep voice called out not six inches away from Alex’s face.
Alex screamed in surprise and nearly pulled his head back out of the water, but ended up falling into the ocean completely instead. Once he’d righted himself he was able to get a better look at the person who had spoken. It was a peculiar looking merman with a tail the exact same color as Tide’s.
“Who are you?! Where’s Tide?!” Alex demanded.
“I am Tide!” The man replied with a grin. “I’m surprised you came back again, this will probably be the last time.”
“You’re not Tide!”
“Sure I am.” He said straightening up and putting his hands on his hips in a heroic pose. “I’m just bigger!”
“Actually you look a little smaller.” Alex observed, as his own body had also grown comparatively larger. Tide immediately grew a bit deflated at hearing that he looked smaller and shrunk out of his heroic pose. “... I guess your tail is the same color as Tide’s, but you’re not round and soft like Tide, so you can’t be him.”
Hearing that he wasn’t round and soft made Tide feel a little better about not being impressively large, and he could understand why Alex didn’t believe he was who he said he was, but he knew how he could prove it; he started to sing.
"ahH oooH oh aaaHH uuuMM" "AHh OOOh OH AAAAhh UUUmm"
Alex was beaming by the end of the short melody, it really was Tide!
“What happened to us?! Where are we?!”
“It’s hard to explain.” Tide began. “You probably don’t remember your old life by now, but we’re at the nexus point of our union. Maybe for the last time. You’ll go back soon, don’t worry.”
Alex didn’t understand what Tide was talking about, all he knew was it was dangerous to go back.
“I can’t go back! Don’t you remember the sharks!? I’ll get eaten up!”
“Calm down.” Tide said gently. “We’ll figure it out. You’ll be safe… How old are you, Alex?”
Alex was on the brink of tears, sniffling softly. “Almost 4 months old.”
“Oooooh yeah…” Tide said slowly, a smile creeping onto his face. “I remember the time we snuck into the breeding waters and ate kelp bladders together. We couldn’t get away from the sharks… We were stuck together…”
“That’s right, but how did we get here? Why do we have to go back!? We can’t go back, Tide. Please!”
“It’s alright, Alex. Everything is going to be fine.”
“How? Will we be stuck together again? Won’t we be trapped like before?!”
“Yes. We’ll be stuck together. There won’t be any way for us to separate for a long time, that’s what happens when you eat from the breeding kelp so young… But there IS a way out of the forest.”
Alex looked up meekly with a glint of hope in his eyes and Tide leaned in comfortingly.
“How?”
“You’ve gotta swim UP, Alex. Swim straight up as fast as you can and push our hands into the air. Then swim straight back to the nursing waters.”
“But the kelp.”
“The kelp only grows in the water, your hands will pass right over it.”
“Really!?”
Tide nodded.
Alex was excited to have a plan and felt very reassured to have his mate so calmly tell him that everything was going to be alright. He was still afraid to go back, but now he felt like he might be able to handle it.
Just then Tide started to frown and grow serious.
“Wait. This is important, Alex. We’re lucky you came back again, I wouldn’t think we’d have the chance… My new memories are still forming, but I can remember a bit ahead from where you are now and you need to be careful. He’ll try to entice you… To trick you… Whatever you do, don’t trust the —-moorph-”
Alex couldn’t understand what Tide was trying to say. All of a sudden he found himself tangled again in a ball of chaos and weeds. He struggled to right himself and pull them both upward, but Tide was holding him back. They both froze in place the moment they saw a shark charging towards them. Without thinking, Alex punched the shark dead in the nose. It floundered mightily and skidded off into the darkness. Tide looked at Alex with shocked amazement and Alex gestured for him to follow him upward. Together they raced upwards as fast as they could but both stopped instinctively at the very surface of the waterline where it glinted like a wavy mirror. Without sparing another moment Alex thrust their hands above the waterline and started swimming as fast as he could back to the nursing waters. He couldn’t believe how well it worked. They passed row after row of kelp without a single snag! They were slipping through the forest like butter, and Tide was growing more confident in their speed, he started to race even faster away from the sharks. The water was growing warmer, and with warmth, a sense of safety, but they didn’t stop, not even when they reached the nursing waters, they kept swimming all the way to the nursing grotto, and dove recklessly into their cubbies before even risking a moment to glance back towards the terrifying encounter.
None of the other boys would believe them about the sharks or their feast of poisoned, gas balls, but there was one thing nobody could deny; they were stuck together.