Intertidal Zone - Four Swords Merfolk AU (Chpt 3)

Part One

Chapter 3

Blue’s feet once again reached the stinging chill of the ocean.  His toes wriggled about in the mud-like sand as he hesitantly inched forward into the water, watching as the foam coated his feet and ankles.  The wind and waves were really beginning to pick up now; he wasn’t sure how the storm had moved in so quickly.  If he didn’t hurry up, then things would get too dangerous to swim.  Heck, he shouldn’t even have been trying to swim at all with the lack of practice he’d had over the years.  However, he was confident that he had the strength to keep himself afloat, even in the choppy water.  
He was now waist-deep and wading further and further out, soon reaching the point to where he could no longer feel the ground beneath him.  His arms and legs began rotating back and forth like a factory machine as he pushed himself away from the shore, and he took in a deep breath to call out to the boy who was nowhere in sight.
“Alright, you little punk!  You wanted me out here, so here I am.  Now where the hell are you?!” he shouted, turning his body around so he could glance in all directions.  He soon heard a soft splash from behind him, and when he looked to see what it was, the boy had obviously been under the water and had now surfaced.  Once again, his cold expression was fixed on Blue and he kept a moderate distance away from the grumpy teenager.  However, just as Blue was about to swim towards the boy, he stopped himself upon noticing his eyes.  
The younger blonde’s orbs were the most gorgeous shade of cerulean Blue had ever seen.  
It was captivating, to say the least.  They seemed to shimmer like the surface of lagoon water in direct sunlight, and the way he stared back at Blue was like a hopeful child glancing up at their parent for attention.  Where had the cold and emptiness gone?
This enticed the older blonde to proceed with swimming towards him, but the boy held up a wet hand, signalling for him to stop.  That led Blue to notice another thing – the other male’s skin wasn’t the slightest bit wrinkled from the water.
The teenager took a deep breath and spoke up.  “Just…who are you?” he asked.
As expected, the boy said nothing and only tilted his head.
“Look, last night when you were at the rock pool, did you happen to come across any scales?  Like, large red ones?” Blue continued, using his index finger and thumb to indicate the size of the scale he’d found.  He wasn’t sure whether to be happy or concerned at the fact that the boy’s expression turned from neutral to horrified in an instant.  So he does know something about them… he thought.  The kid suddenly looked behind himself in what seemed to be sheer terror, and before Blue could ask anything else, the boy dipped beneath the surface.  “Oh, for fuck’s sake…”
If he didn’t get answers from this kid soon, then he would get to the point where –
The teen’s air supply vanished in an instant and an almost unbearable cold washed over his face.  His eyes stung and he couldn’t see anything past the murky blur in front of him.  He felt himself being dragged down by something that had gripped at the back of his waist, and it was only at this point did he realise he was being forced to drown within the ocean’s depths.
Adrenaline took hold of him as he frantically kicked his legs and waved his arms about, trying to shake off his attacker who could have been none other than the boy.  There was obviously something that he was trying to hide, and he was now resorting to drowning Blue to avoid conflict.  The older male would have smirked if he could; the guy was a twig compared to Blue, so if he thought that this would work, then he was surely mistaken.  With all his might, he repeatedly pushed his arms backwards to propel himself back to the surface, but to his shock and horror, the boy was actually overpowering him.  Massively.
Blue began to feel his lungs catch fire as his last breath was quickly running out.  Panic replaced his confidence and he just wanted to scream out for help.  The boy refused to let go and continued to drag Blue down.  However, with one final hard blow with his elbow to what he guessed was his attacker’s stomach, Blue was finally free and he pushed as much as he could to power himself back to the world of air.  His squinting eyes caught sight of the shining surface above, and never had he been so happy to see it.
Blue’s thrashing hands broke the barrier between land and sea and his head soon followed suit.  His mouth opened as wide as possible and sucked in the largest gulp of air in his life, but it wasn’t to last.  Water had invaded his insides and his body instantly reacted by coughing and spluttering it all up.  But once his breathing had regained a steady but exhausted pace, he looked back to shore to see where he was.
He was way past the safety flags.
All around him the waves were getting higher and more violent, and it was at this point that anything floating in the sea would begin to drift out.  Blue’s chance of survival was decreasing as rapidly as his energy, and he was beginning to doubt that he’d make it back with whatever strength he had left.  Even now he was struggling to keep his head above the water.
All of a sudden, the familiar boom of thunder sounded around him and rain began to lightly fall from the sky.  He looked behind to see how much of the storm there was, but the only thing he caught sight of was the rapidly approaching wave that loomed high above him.  
Blue didn’t even have a chance to attempt getting away.  
Within seconds, the wave carried him upwards in its strong currant before crashing down on him, sending him spiralling through the water at dizzying speeds and knocking the air right out of him.  It took him several seconds to reorientate himself, but with his adrenaline rush wasted, getting back to the surface was much slower.  However, he made it anyway and repeated the process from before.  His saltwater coughs were beginning to claw at his throat and the ocean showed no remorse as another huge wave came down on top of him before he could draw in another breath.  His torso felt as if it was being crushed and water constantly kept running up his nostrils as he was turned over and over like clothes in a washing machine.  The currant refused to allow him back up this time, and with the continuous waves being thrown at the shore, he too was being carried viciously along until he was tossed into what he could only imagine was one of the many rocks.  A jarring pain entered his back and a final scream emanated from him, small bubbles rising frantically from his mouth.  The last thing he saw was a long wisp of crimson clouding his vision before everything finally went black.

The soothing whoosh of the waves sounded once again in Blue’s ears, as did a small, echoing voice calling out to him.  The familiar scent of the ocean filled his nostrils and the cold sand beneath him provided at least some comfort as he lay there on his stomach.
Blue…  Blue… the voice continued to call.  “Blue…” it said again, suddenly much louder and clearer this time.
The blonde’s eyes shot open in an instant and he sat up with a start, panting heavily as he patted himself and glanced at his surroundings.  I’m…alive…? he asked himself.  Holy shit…  I AM alive!  “I’M FUCKING ALIVE!  TAKE THAT, MOTHER-FUCKING NAT-” his shouts of joy were cut short as the agonizing pain in his back returned and he let out a loud groan and a hiss.
“You gashed your back on one of the rocks.  You’re lucky that that’s all you got,” said a voice to his right, making him jump.  “I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to patch it up.  I don’t have any medicinal supplies, but hopefully the saltwater helped to heal some of the tissue.  Although, I’m not sure if it caused any infections, either…  But don’t worry.  The gash didn’t hit anything vital.”  The one speaking was none other than the boy from earlier, his legs pulled up to his chest and his arms around his ankles.  
“You…  YOU TRIED TO FUCKING DROWN ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Blue yelled, lunging at the boy before collapsing onto his arms.  The gash in his back and his lack of energy weighed him down more than he wanted.
The boy scooted backwards on the sand, far enough from Blue’s reach.  “Wha – Drown you?  I was trying to save you!  If I had left you near the shoreline, you would have gotten injuries beyond all help!”
Blue looked up with fire in his eyes.  “So you dragged me under the water and away from the safety of the land instead of taking me to it?!  You almost drowned me in the process as well as endanger my chances of survival!”
“Well…  Well I…  I had my reasons…”
Blue scoffed and tried to sit up.  “Oh, you had your ‘reasons’?  You had no right to do what you did!  No fucking right!”
The boy sighed.  “Listen, I know that you’re angry and confused, but if you would just let me explain-”
“No, you don’t have to explain anything to me!  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading back up to my house to get my back treated.  And for god’s sake, get some clothes on before I throw up,” Blue growled.
The boy looked down at himself as if he forgot he wasn’t wearing anything.  
Blue eventually managed to stand up with trembling legs, and so he began his trek back to where the path up the cliff was.  He could hear the boy stand up from behind him as well, but instead of following, his footsteps made their way to the ocean instead.
“Blue?” the younger blonde called.
Blue stopped and growled as he turned around.  The kid was knee-deep in the water and was looking back at him with a warm smile on his face, his eyes sparkling with that same glimmer.  “What?” Blue huffed.
“My name’s Red, by the way.”

Red.  The word bore itself into the pit of Blue’s mind as he slowly shuffled up the path.  It seemed to fit the boy perfectly and yet the older blonde had no idea why.  It just did.  He also had no clue why on earth Red finally decided to speak to him after “rescuing” him.  Blue couldn’t trust the guy, especially not after what happened.  How did he even know Blue’s name?  The older teenager was sure that he’d never mentioned it out loud to him before.  However, he just couldn’t shake the weird vibe that Red gave off – how could one scrawny teenager last longer underwater as well as swim stronger than Blue?  And what did he know about the scale?  Dammit, I should have asked him when I had the chance, Blue scolded himself.
After several more agonizing minutes of walking, the blonde finally made it back to his house.  He hobbled over to the front door and mustered the little strength he had left to pull the handle.  His legs then finally gave out and he collapsed in the doorway, catching the attention of his startled and incredibly worried-looking brothers.
“Holy shit…” Shadow exclaimed.  
“BLUE!” Green cried, rushing over to his brother immediately.  
Vio and Shadow soon followed after him, kneeling beside the wounded teenager.  
Vio only had to take one look at the gash in Blue’s back before barking out orders.  “Green, help me get him onto the couch; Shadow, run upstairs and grab the med kit as quick as you can!”
“On it!” Shadow replied, dashing up the stairs while the other two blondes hefted Blue to his feet and guided him to the couch.
Blue groaned as he was set down, hissing with pain as Vio began tenderly examining his back.  “How bad does it look?” he asked.
“I don’t even need anything to know that this is infected,” Vio replied.  “How’d this even happen?  Where the hell where you yesterday?!”
“We were worried sick when you didn’t come home!” Green added.
Blue’s eyes widened.  “Wait, yesterday?!  I only went down about a few hours ago!”
Vio moved to look Blue in the eyes.  “Blue, you were gone for hours after the storm rolled in.  We were hoping that you’d maybe gone elsewhere, but when the storm passed and you didn’t get back…”
“We thought you were dead!” Green finished.
Disbelief and confusion adorned Blue’s face as he tried to process this.  He glanced out one of the windows and saw that it was a cloudless day with a bright sun.  How had he not noticed before?
“I got everything!” Shadow announced, running to Vio’s side and passing him the kit.
The purple clad blonde breathed a sigh of relief.  “Good.  Now, let’s get you fixed up.  This may sting a little.”
Blue let out a small laugh.  “After what happened yesterday, a little sting is the least of my worr – GAH!”
“Sorry,” Vio apologized, dabbing a cotton ball along the gash.  Whatever he put on it, it hurt like hell.  “Although, you’re right.  The sting is the least of your worries.  This is gonna need stitches.”
“Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me,” Blue retorted.
“Just tell us what happened to take your mind off it.”
Blue sighed and took a deep breath.  He reminded himself to alter his story slightly since Green was present.  “When I went back down, the girl I was seeing still hadn’t come back yet, so I decided to go ahead and take a dip.  I can’t remember how long I was swimming around for, but it was long enough to get caught up in the storm.”
“Shadow, damp cloth please,” Vio interrupted.  His cousin nodded and did as told.  “Continue, Blue.”
The wounded teen cleared his throat.  “The storm was carrying big-ass waves with it, and I was hit by them before I had to chance to get back to shore.  They threw me around until I smacked into one of the rocks, which is where I got this from.”  He flicked his head at the gash.  “After that I blacked out, and when I woke up, I was back on the beach with…this guy.  He said that he rescued me and we exchanged a few words before we parted ways.  You know the rest.”
“Did this guy tell you his name?” Shadow asked, obviously trying his hardest not to grin like an idiot.
“…No.”  Blue thought it was for the best that Red’s identity remained hidden from his family for the time being.
“Damn…” Green muttered, sitting in the free space next to Blue’s head and crossing his arms.  “I don’t even know how you’re still alive.”
“Oh, believe me, neither do I,” Blue replied.  “Hell, I didn’t even know I was knocked out cold for, uh…  What time is it now?”
“Roughly twenty-four hours passed since you left,” Vio informed.
Blue let out a breath and closed his eyes.
“Seriously, is no one going to address the fact that your shorts managed to stay on?” Shadow said abruptly, making everyone glare at him.  “What?  Just saying.”
“Alright, I’m ready to suture the wound.  Do you want some painkillers before I start?” Vio asked, putting away the medical supplies he already used and no longer needed.
“Yeah, sure.  Thanks,” Blue told him.
Vio ruffled around in the med kit until he found the pills and took one out for his brother.  Blue swallowed it without complaint and waited patiently for it to take effect.
Today was going to be a long day.

“So…  I’m gonna get a badass scar, right?” Blue asked Vio with a grin.
“Most likely,” Vio replied, not looking up from his book.  “But just promise me you won’t do anything too physical until it heals, okay?”
“Ugh, fine…” Blue groaned, letting his head fall back.
Vio flipped to the next page with a single swift flick of his finger.  “Just be thankful that it wasn’t fatal.”
“Yeah, yeah.  Whatever, bookworm.”  With that, Blue left his brother and headed upstairs for his room, but not before Shadow cut him off.
“Hey, Blue, hold up for a sec!” he cried.
Blue sighed and faced him in the hallway.  “Yes, Shadow?”
“The guy who rescued you…  It was the trespasser, wasn’t it?”
Blue took a moment before replying, biting the inside of his cheek while he fished for an answer.  “Yes, it was.  Now will you leave me alone?”
“Come on, I need more than that!  Where’s the juicy details?  What did he look like?”  His hopeful eyes refused to tear themselves away from Blue, which irritated the older blonde greatly.
He better not make me regret this… Blue thought.  “Short blonde hair, blue eyes, kind of scrawny.  Happy?”
Shadow leaned back and crossed his arms with a smug grin spreading across his cheeks.  “Nope.”
Blue slammed a palm to his forehead and rubbed it half-heartedly before dropping his arm back to his side.  “Well, what more do you want?”
His cousin leaned forward, raising an eyebrow.  “What did he say to you, and what would you say his age is?”
The older teen scratched the back of his head and casually shrugged.  “Uh, I’d say that he’s maybe around sixteen or seventeen-ish…?  He looked quite young, so I’m not entirely sure.  As for what he said, well –”
“Whoa, hold up!” Shadow interjected, lifting both hands in the air.  “You mean to say that a scrawny teenage dude rescued you?!”
“So what if he did?  He’s a better swimmer than he looks,” Blue huffed, clenching his fists.
The emo punk laughed and rested against the wall.  “Damn, you must really be rusty these days.”
“…Shut up.  Unless you have any more questions, I’ll be heading to my room now.”
Shadow held a finger up.  “Wait, one more.”  
Blue raised an eyebrow at his cousin.  “Mmm?”
The purple-haired teen’s lips curled into a sly smirk and he lowered his voice.  “Was he cute?”
“Oh, fuck off!”  Blue pushed past his cousin and slammed his bedroom door shut behind him.
He rested his back against the door and pressed his fingers to his temples, rubbing them in small circular motions.
After dropping his hands back to his sides, he cast his eyes over at the red scale on the shelf.
Red.
This wasn’t a coincidence, was it…?
Blue shook his head and made his way over to his laptop.  He sat down in the chair at the desk and opened the lid of the silver-coloured hardware, pressing his finger down on the ‘power’ button.  The screen opened up to the rotating circles that indicated it was loading, and after inputting his password once it had finished, his desktop background appeared – a single photo of him, his brothers, and his father, all standing with smiles on their faces in front of an impressive-looking ship.  Blue sighed and moved the mouse down to the taskbar to open up his browser.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard while the cursor blinked in the search bar.  What should he type in?  He wasn’t exactly sure how he would find the fish responsible for the scale.  Maybe Vio would know something?  But was now a good time to ask?  
Blue let out a breath and just decided to see what the internet could help him with.
The first search he tried was, ‘Recent ocean fish discoveries’.  While he didn’t see anything that mentioned large red fish, the first link did in fact catch his eye, so he clicked on it anyway.
“New species of Ceratioid anglerfish found in the ‘midnight zone’…  Huh.  Looks like if an elephant seal and a cooked chicken had a baby,” he commented, scoffing at the picture of the rather pathetic-looking anglerfish.  He shook his head with a small laugh and went back to searching.
He next tried, ‘List of large red ocean fish’, and clicked on the first link again, leading him to a list of possibly every ocean fish in existence.  At least it had photos.
“Mexican hogfish…  Too small, not even anywhere near here…  Uh, nope…  Nope…  All WAY too small…  Okay, that’s terrifying…” he mumbled, scrolling past the many photos until he reached the bottom.  “Great, nothing.”
He leaned back in his chair and glanced over at the shelf once more.  “…Screw it.”  He stood from the seat and marched up to the scale, gently removing it from its place.  “Let’s see what Vio knows about you.”

Blue found Vio on the couch reading his book as per usual, but what he hadn’t expected to see was Shadow practically curled up on top him, looking akin to a sleeping baby.  
“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Blue asked awkwardly, clutching the scale carefully but firmly in his hand.
“Nope,” came Shadow’s blunt reply despite the content smile on his face.  “Man, you have no idea how great it feels to be able to do this without worrying about you or my mom or Green…”
Blue blinked.  “Wait, I thought Green wasn’t okay with this…?”
“He isn’t,” Vio explained, “nor does he know.  He’s gone out to pick up some groceries.  In the meantime, I finally get to cuddle my boyfriend without being in bed.”
“Ah,” Blue replied simply, shuffling his feet.  It honestly felt so weird to hear the word “boyfriend” come out of Vio’s mouth.
“Was there anything you needed?” the bookworm asked, finally looking up to meet Blue’s eyes.
“Uh, yeah, actually.  You’re the one studying marine biology, so I was hoping you’d know what this belongs to.”  Blue held out his hand and unfurled his fingers to reveal the shining scale in all its lonely glory.
Vio raised his eyebrow and Shadow too looked up now, his interest finally showing through.  
Blue walked over and knelt down so Vio could see without having to move.  The younger blonde gingerly took it from Blue’s palm and turned it over in his fingers, examining it closely.  His ice-blue eyes widened and flicked to meet his brother’s.  “…Where did you find this?”
“It was in one of the rock pools,” Blue answered simply.
“One of the rock pools?” Vio questioned.  “But…for a fish of this size…  It’s impossible!  Are you sure that there weren’t any washed ashore?”
“Positive.”
“I mean, it could have perhaps gotten there through the storm, but still…  I don’t recognize this at all.”
Blue let out a defeated sigh.
“So, new species then?” Shadow asked, his eyes full of curiosity.
“I won’t know until I take this to my colleagues.  They might have an idea, and if it isn’t new, then we’ll be able to identify it via our database.  If not, we need to find the fish this came from.  Until then, I’ll need to hang onto this.  You don’t mind, do you?” Vio elaborated.
“I…guess not,” Blue replied.
“Good, and thank you.  I think I’ll pay them a visit later this afternoon.”
“Ooh, can I come?” Shadow pleaded, giving his boyfriend the puppy eyes.
Vio chuckled.  “Sure you can.”
Blue turned to leave.  “Thanks for the help, Vi.”
“No problem.”

Blue stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression as he lay on his bed.  Vio and Shadow had left for the research lab several minutes ago, and although Green had returned, there wasn’t exactly anything Blue could talk about with him.  
Certainly not the fact that his brother and cousin are dating and I’m slowly becoming somewhat friends with a young naked guy.  He almost laughed at the way he put it.
Why was Red even stripped of clothing in the first place anyway?  Was he a nudist or something?  And how the heck did he even overpower Blue in the water?  There was definitely something off about him, and Blue wondered if he even had a home.  Probably not.  
Should he invite Red in to stay for a bit?  No, I barely even know the guy, not to mention I'm seriously pissed off with him.  
Still, everything about Red only made him more curious with each though that passed through his mind.  He wanted to talk to him again.
Blue made up his mind and hefted himself off the bed, wincing a little as the stitches pulled on his back.  

By the time he got down to the beach (and after making the excuse to Green that he was going beach-combing), the sun was already beginning to lower itself down from the sky, entering the golden hour of the afternoon.  The sand positively glowed under the sun’s rays and the water was threaded with ribbons of alluring amber.
Blue was almost surprised to see Red sitting out on the edge of the dock, simply watching the day gradually fade with his arms over his lap.  The boy’s gently flowing locks were highlighted beautifully in the setting light – if it had been illuminated any more, Blue would have sworn that Red’s hair had come from the sun itself.
Blue let out a breath and approached the younger blonde slowly so as not to startle him – he wanted to get this over with so he never had to see or talk to Red again.  He opened his mouth to speak, but Red beat him to it.
“How’s your back?” he asked, not turning to look at Blue as he came to stand beside him.
“Stitched up,” Blue replied bluntly.
“…That’s good.”
They had only exchanged a few sentences and Blue was already starting to get irritated with this small talk.  He had questions to ask, dammit!  
He let out an annoyed huff and got straight to the point.  “Listen, you’d better have some answers for me because I’ve been getting fed up with this little act of yours.”
Red sighed.  “I figured that’s why you came down here.”
“Yep.  So answer, and be straight with me.  How in the hell are you a stronger swimmer than me, why do you have no clothes, and why have you suddenly been popping up these past few days and creeping me the hell out?!”  He folded his arms across his chest and furrowed his eyebrows, waiting for the boy’s response.
It took a few seconds for Red to finally look up at him and smile sweetly.  “Swim with me?”
NOW Blue was getting infuriated.  He had come down here for answers SPECIFICALLY and now Red expected Blue to swim with him even though the last time he did was in a STORM?!  “Hell no!  Now fucking answer me or I swear to god I’ll –!”
The younger blonde slid off the edge and disappeared beneath the water.
Blue was on the verge of ripping his hair out.
Completely forgetting that swimming was the last on his agenda, with gritted teeth and clenched fists he threw his shirt off and dove into the water, his only goal being to get to Red and strangle the life out of him.  However, he’d forgotten to take a breath in his rage-fuelled dive, so he turned his body to the surface and swam up to breathe.
At least, he would have if his legs moved correctly.  
His legs refused to propel him, and with every passing moment they felt heavier and heavier, right up to the point where they felt like they were bound in a tight metal cast.  His arms flailed uselessly in the water and his breath was running out rapidly; he wasn’t even being dragged down nor thrown about by waves and yet he still managed to be the world’s worst swimmer.
However, Blue’s gaze fell upon Red as he swam into view, and he stopped struggling altogether.  He couldn’t even focus on the boy’s gentle smile as he came to wrap his arms around Blue’s waist and lift him back to the surface – the only thing that Blue saw in that moment was the large crimson fan that swept up and down in the water behind Red, pushing his scaled lower body forwards with the strength of a dolphin.
It wasn’t until Blue felt the cold air meet his face did he come back to his senses, wondering if he’d just been hallucinating on his short breath.  
His eyes widened and he pushed away from Red, only to struggle once again as he attempted to keep himself afloat.
“Don’t panic, Blue, it’s okay.  It does take a bit of getting used to,” Red said, still smiling, albeit a tad more apologetically now.
“What the hell do you mean?!  Getting used to what?!  WHY CAN’T I SWIM?!” Blue yelled hopelessly, earning a giggle from Red.
“Look down, silly.”
Blue hesitated, raising an eyebrow at the boy before sucking in a breath and plunging his head beneath the water.  His eyes widened as he stared down at himself, shocked disbelief crossing his face.  
Holy shit…