Who Am I Really?
Chapter 1
Fandom: Aquaman
Pairing: Ormxfemale!Reader
Warnings: violence and attack in this chapter
Summary: Orm is traipsing around the surface when he decides to visit an animal shelter. While there Atlanteans soldiers attack. Orm is able to fight them off before they can report him back to Atlantis, but in the process he loses his memory
Notes: Hello! This is one of 2 fics that I will be posting! This one will be posted daily in the morning. I hope you enjoy! Comments/critiques are appreciated!
Orm Marius was many things. He was a disgraced king, a mighty warrior, a proud Atlantean, but a good surface dweller he was not. He couldn't figure out why they did so many stupid things. Why did they throw out perfectly good food? Why didn't more of them know how to grow things, how to make things? He had grown up with servants yet he knew how to grow his own food, mend his own armor and clothes, make sure there was not unnecessary waste. He couldn't understand why surface dwellers weren't taught these simple things. He wandered the land, learning more about the corruption and hatred they held also. Arthur liked this place? His own mother loved someone from this hell hole? How? Then he started noticing something else. He noticed community gardens that were flourishing, with volunteers helping to harvest and give the food to those in need. Atlantis could learn from that. For all their merits about being environmentally conscious and able to take care of themselves they didn't do as well taking care of each other. He saw a news story on one of those TV's about a house fire and neighbors coming together to raise money to make sure the family affected could build a new house quickly, offering their own homes to stay in while they waited. And finally, he found a person who did something he could not even imagine. This person saved animals. Marine life seemed never ending to Atlanteans. They would eat every part of the creature but they weren't pets. When his first animal companion, a sea turtle, had died, his father had found him mourning and had made sure he understood that animals were nothing to mourn. The scars on his back were enough that he never mourned another creature again. This woman fascinated him.
He entered her shelter, a small compound by a lake he had been camping around, just to watch her and how she interacted with the small creatures. She smiled happily at him, introducing herself.
"I'm Y/N, can I have your name and reason for your visit? Are you just looking or adopting?" she asked, bringing up a clipboard. Orm frowned a moment.
"I'm Orm," he said finally, knowing this surface dweller wouldn't know who he was from anyone else coming in. "I was just looking, never had a pet before, wondering what all the fuss is about." Y/N nodded, writing his name down and pulling a sticker off the clipboard. She put the nametag on his chest. "What is that for?"
"In case you need help, I just met you, I'm not going to remember your name after one meeting," she said. That was a lie. She had seen Orm's blue eyes and knew she wasn't going to forget him, but she still needed to be professional. Orm nodded slowly and she blushed a little, making him smile. She was pretty and by the blush he figured she might find him pretty as well.
"What is the purpose of this place?" he asked. She smiled a friendly smile now, it lit up her face. She waved him through to a door towards barking.
"I started this shelter slash adoption center around five years ago. I've always wanted to help animals but wasn't really smart enough to be a vet, not steady-handed enough to be a groomer, so here I am, trying to save strays and get them into forever-homes," she said, walking them through a hallway with what looked like dog apartments in it. "This is the inside sleeping area, it links to the outside through that little door. In the summer we keep it open all the time, the outside area is contained and they can sleep or just sit out there as long as they want." Orm stooped down by a few of the dogs, looking into their eyes. They looked well fed, even happy. They had some toys, blankets, beds, everything you needed to be comfortable. Just no home. Orm understood that right now. He followed Y/N as she moved to the next area. She finished the tour of the dog wing before standing by another door. "Would you like to see the lakeside play area? I'm really proud of that."
"Ya, let's take a look," he said. He didn't know why he was so pulled to this place, to this person, but it felt like home here, among these other strays. He felt welcomed and like he could be happy here. They stepped outside and he stared. The lake was shimmering in the early sunset, glittering. It was clean, not like other lakes he had seen, and there was a large fenced in area that had dog play equipment and even went so far that the dogs could run into the shallow water if they wanted. "This is nice."
"Ya, I love animals, but I love the water too. There's something so freeing about floating, letting the waves carry all your worries away with them," Y/N said. She frowned, squinting her eyes as she looked over the water. "Is someone swimming?" she muttered. Orm frowned, looking closer. Atlanteans. Three of them. Soldiers if the gear they were wearing was any indication.
"Go inside, lock the doors," he said. If his tone wasn't so commanding she might have argued but Y/N did as told, going inside and locking the doors. She started even getting the dogs inside and locking the doggy doors to that side of the compound. She then sat in a corner and waited, listening to the sounds of a fight, something beyond a human brawl, going on outside.
Orm surveyed the three soldiers around him. He had a chance against 3, anymore he might have had real trouble, but 3 he could handle. They all pounced at once, but even without a weapon, he was ready. He bent, building the strength in his legs, and when he felt hands from the first attacker he twisted, bringing his fist up, sending the first soldier flying back several feet, knocking him into a tree, forcing his sword out of his hands. Orm would need to get that before the soldier fully recovered. He turned his focus to the other two, kicking one backward as he moved to grab him, then punching the other in the stomach to double him over before bring his elbow down on the back of the neck, disabling the water apparatus to suffocate him. That was one who was completely down now. He turned, seeing the first soldier scrambling to get to his weapon. Orm ran faster, grabbing it and slicing. Two soldiers were taken care of. Now just the last one. He turned, seeing the other one with a pulsar of some type. Orm looked around, grabbing the body of the Atlantean he had slain, throwing it towards the other one. He caught the body and fell back, rolling into the lake. The body drifted off on its own while the still living attacker recovered. Orm moved to the other body he had created, throwing it as well. Y/N didn't need a mess when she came back out. The attacker dodged this one, moving to climb out of the water again. Orm repositioned the sword, getting ready to throw it. Just as he launched it at the final attacker, the attacker fired the energy weapon, hitting Orm in the chest and knocking him back into the solid wall of the shelter. The last thing Orm saw was the attacked falling, sword impaled in him, into the water and sinking. Then Orm himself sinks into darkness.
