Fishtales:
@roger-baron / @afourletterwordfordirt (liked for a starter)
Tubbs’s perpetually vigilant gaze denoted the first splash. A thousand sparkling orbs breaking like a shattered chandelier at the surface of the water, followed by a dark object sinking in the disturbance’s wake. The object in question sank quite quickly and it hits the nearby seafloor with a soft stirring thud. Upon closer inspection, she discovers it is metallic, shaped like a little like an ‘L’, with an odd-shaped loop seeming to connect the hinges.
It’s a gun. Though the term and the objects use is unbeknownst to her.
She doesn’t have time to focus on the all-too-human trinket when a large second disruption breaks across the surface. Pumping her fins in a series of rapid yet, fluid movements, the mermaid propels herself quickly towards the plummeting figure. Her outstretched fingers grapple with material till they find a stronghold and heave upwards with every ounce of strength afforded her features upon realizing the form belonged to a human. “Come on, come on,” Tubbs grumbles, urging herself upwards towards the dancing light that penetrates the otherwise azure atmosphere. Realizing the grasp she had claimed was slipping, Tubbs lugs the human back against her chest with one hand. The other hand readily pulls for the place where fresh air and light meet.
Eventually, she manages to get the human’s head above the foaming and salted waves, Nervously, she tips their head back against the curve of her shoulder, believing it will assist the two-legged creature in pursuit of their much-required air. Her tail curves tentatively beneath them so as to keep them afloat while she searches for a solid surface to leave them on. The task was easier said than done given how far from shore they were. If you can hear me, man. Stay with me,” she urges between gritted teeth, her warm lips befalling the curve of their still warm neck. The water’s swift current seems destined to aide in the task of rescue as it glides between glittering pink and blue scales and drifts between fins.
There had been a boat or some kind of vessel for Tubbs had heard the steady throttling accompanied by an elongated shadow, long before the individual's untimely swim. It was gone now. So far out of reach, it appeared to be little more than a dot on the near horizon. She is keenly aware of the dangers that await when coming into proximity with shorelines and their human occupants- fishing hooks, nets, wires, and rapidly twirling blades that beckon from the shadows and form vacuums in their wakes. Yet this task she’s undertaken feels important. More so than any others she had before. Her elder brother had warned her about speaking to strangers. Especially, ones as hapless as this one. Yet, their face bespoke of angelic kindness.
“Still with me, man?” She softly prods, giving them a gentle nudge with her tale. It would be of no use to lug dead weight around.
