Finally did a part 2 of this cuz college is tearing me apart.
Kith kith thank you kith kith kith
TW for brief mentions of torture, murder, and subtle themes of trafficking.
—
“Why did you hide your scales??”
“I didn’t want you all to find out.”
“Why didn’t you want us to find out??”
“Due to my species secluded nature and the value people put on as a rare species, it’s taught to us as young guppies to never reveal what we truly are.”
“Why am I your favorite??”
“Sailors and pirates spread tales that we’re evil and monstrous to deter people from searching us out and invading our waters. They protected us, so when you told me of your tales, I knew you were a good guppy.”
“Is it cannibalism if you eat fish??”
“No.”
This back and forth between the Sailor and Hush, now preferring (Y/n), has been going on for the entirety of the walk to the stables. Seated on top of Epona to prevent his wound from reopening, Wind had no short of breath when asking every question he thought of in his little head. Impressively, at least to Time, (Y/n) never disappointed the boy by answering every question thrown at them, no matter how ridiculous. However, that last one was enough for everybody else.
“For the love of— Enough questions! Goddess, if I hear one more “why” I’m turning around and you’ll never see me again!” Of course Legend was the first to speak up, dramatically covering his ears with his hat.
“Come on, Legend! Are the you the least bit curious?! (Y/n) is more willing to talk now!”
The veteran just groaned, refusing to grace this frustrating argument with a response. (Y/n) merely chuckled, bringing a hand up to cover their mouth as the laughter escapes them.
“Sailor, perhaps that’s enough questions for now, you can ask me more at dinner. That sound good?” In a gentle voice contrasting the carnage they left in their wake an hour prior, (Y/n) does their best to halt whatever ludicrous questions Wind had left.
Reluctantly, the young on agreed with a small pout. “Fine, but I still think that you eating fish is cannibalism!”
“It’s really not.”
Once the stable was in eye shot, many of the group gave halfhearted cheers. It’s not often enough that they get an actual roof over their heads, so it’s a very welcome view. The large horse structure stood high above where the building actually ended, acting as a sort of beacon for the traveling heroes.
Wild, Warrior, and Time went ahead to grab a few beds for the party, one extra soft mattress for Sailor due to his heavy wound. The kid’s been busting his butt with helping everyone out lately, so it was a little treat for him, at least Warrior thought so (yes im a sucker for dad warriror to wind sue me).
Seeing that they were back in a more public area, (Y/n) goes back to being silent. At least now the chain had an idea why and didn’t question it.
(Y/n) helped getting Wind off of Epona and to the bed, lightly cooing at him whenever the boy winces in pain from the movement. The sight particularly warmed Twilight’s heart, feeling especially empathetic towards (Y/n), the two of them both hiding another side to themselves from the chain. He makes mental note to talk to them about it later, Time already asked (Y/n) for a deeper explanation of the situation.
The captain had never seen Wind so willing to help, but it was a welcome change.
Later that night, the group was huddled around a nearby cooking pot, watching Wild toss together who knows what to create their dinner. Wind was resting on his bed, absolutely exhausted from the day. Without his comments, the chain grew tense, many debating who was gonna ask (Y/n) the first question.
“What exactly is a guppy?”
Surprisingly, Sky was the one to break the ice. Everyone’s eyes shoot to either him or (Y/n), Wild almost ends up dropping his ladle into the pot.
The silence following Sky’s relatively innocent question was comical, so much so that (Y/n) couldn’t help but crack a smirk, an airy chuckle escaping them. “Oh boy, it’s gonna be a fun night. It’s just a word for a young mer, nothing more.” They lightly rolled their eyes, the personality they had known mixed with the voice they only just learnt felt so right now hand in hand.
A couple more laughs are shared before the silence from before lays over them again. Twlight shifts his weight on his feet before asking a question everyone was avoiding: “Not that we’re mad but… why did you choose to hide this?” He knew he was a hypocrite for asking such a question, but he just had to know. Maybe, deep down, he just wanted to see how the group responded to revealed secrets. “You kinda touched on it with the sailor, but you didn’t get into the meat of it.”
(Y/n) doesn’t move for a moment, the question weighing heavily on their shoulders.
Noticing their discomfort and stunned by Twilight’s question, Sky tries to speak up. “You don’t have to answer of course! Don’t force yourself—“
“I can show you.”
Without waiting for another word, (Y/n) pulls their shirt up just under their pectoral muscles, the scales the boys had seen in their companion’s arms were scattered across their stomach but…
“My peoples’ scales fetch a high price to noble pigs who use our bodies as jewelry and keep us as pets for status…” That pause to take a steadying breath, “I was trapped as a pet before, had to kill my masters to free myself before they took any more of my skin. It’s just safer to hide ourselves forever than risk becoming nothing less than a trophy.” (Y/n) chuckles humorlessly, their gaze falling to the fire in the center of the group. “Our voices can be a strong indicator for what we really are… So I kept it to myself.”
Twilight could practically see the the flashing memories and arrow fast thoughts flying pass their eyes. He watched them pull their shirt back down, a little further than it usually falls, as if hiding their scared body will erase the pain entirely.
The rancher relaxed his shoulders and sat himself next to them, noting that they shift away when his pelt brushing their back. “That explains a whole heckin lot… Thank you for tellin us, Hush,” (Y/n) relaxes, “even though I bet it stinks having to tell us already.” He smiles and lightly slugs their shoulder, trying to bring some of the playful energy back to the group. “So, you sure it ain’t cannibalism eatin fish?”
“For the love of the goddesses— It isn’t!” (Y/n) overdramatic groan has to be the loudest the chain has heard them speak, if you don’t count their shriek from earlier. Laughter sings around the circle with (Y/n) going into an exasperated rant that they didn’t really mean.
They think they can get used to speaking this loud.
—
tada, again! \(•v•\)
oh my god- I was not expecting this.
A dark but very realistic background for our friend Hush. Poor thing.
But also- Can't say I'm surprised. Mermaids and sirens are mythical creatures. It only makes too much sense for those rich and ignorant to take advantage of them.
They're free now though! And with good friends and people who will defend them!
Hopefully they do get used to speaking out loud. And maybe learn to blend in a little more with the others when they speak so they don't get caught and figured out.