Dewi is surrounded by darkness on all sides. He can’t see. He can’t breathe. He’s drowning in fear. Actually, he’s just plain drowning. For real. In the middle of the ocean.

He wakes with a gasp of air. He’s never been so glad to feel air filling his lungs. Somehow the currents have washed him into shallows near land. He uses the last of his energy to get to shore before collapsing.

When Dewi next wakes, the sun has somewhat dried his clothes but it’s lowering promises the chill of night. He goes looking for shelter and anything he can use to help him survive. Maybe if he’s lucky, he’s near civilization… As the sun gets lower to the horizon, he discovers that he isn’t so lucky. There are no signs of anyone having been anywhere near here anytime recently. Eventually, Dewi finds a small cave free of any indications that it houses wild beasts. After the lengthy task of starting a fire with the wood he collected, Dewi lays to sleep by the fire.

The next day he keeps exploring. The area is untouched by man. With little chance of rescue, he considers his options. This… might not be so bad. It could be a fresh start for him and it’s not like there was anything really waiting for him in his old life. If he can find some way to survive, settle down here, it might even be preferable to going back.

It’s with these thoughts on his mind that Dewi makes an unexpected discovery. In this uninhabited land, there is a crate. Well, more than just one… Next to a small lake fed by a tall waterfall sits a number of crates of varying sizes. “H-hello? Is there someone around? I washed ashore on the beach yesterday. I haven’t been able to find any other people since getting here… Hello? I promise I’m not dangerous, just trying to get to civilization…”

He is met with silence. Dewi looks around and can’t find any evidence of the person who left these containers here. He finally decides to open them. Inside are… well, they’re not supplies for survival, but some of it is things he could use. While going through the third box, he notices a movement out of the corner of his eye. He could have sworn it was a person in the lake. Maybe the owner of the stuff hadn’t responded because they were bathing? Yet, he had looked around and there was no sign of another human at all, let alone a pile of discarded clothes.

“Hello? I’m sorry for stumbling upon you and everything. I just need some help…” He is again met with only silence. He knows he’s not crazy though, he saw something. Dewi starts walking around the lake, looking for any hint of what’s going on. Finally he sees something in the lake. The top of a boy curled up on himself. Hoping that the boy is the movement he saw earlier and that he isn’t too late, Dewi dives in to rescue the boy.

The boy jerks away from his touch but Dewi grabs ahold of him and pulls him up towards the surface, struggling the whole time. Obviously, the fear of drowning has addled the boy’s brain so he doesn’t realize Dewi’s helping him. As soon as they break the surface, the boy starts screaming at him. “Let me go! Kidnapper! Let me go!” There is fear in his voice but it isn’t from almost drowning. He is scared of Dewi. Dewi releases him.

He hadn’t noticed it earlier due to his panicking about saving who he thought was a drowned victim, but the boy wasn’t entirely… human. “You’re a… Mer.”

“Yeah. You planning on putting me on display too? Maybe sell me off to some rich idiot who’s into the novelty of it all?”

“No.” Dewi bristles at the suggestion. “As beautiful as you are, you aren’t a piece of artwork like a painting or sculpture to be bought and sold. You are your own person.” The Mer relaxes a bit, as if comforted by his words but not fully trusting them. “How did you even get here? Aren’t Mers supposed to live in, like, the ocean or something?”

“Got captured. They were in the process of transporting me with some other goods belonging to my latest purchaser,” he says it like there’s no word dirtier, “when everything fell into the river. I was stuck in a tank so they hadn’t bothered binding me. I figured, I was bound to reach the sea if I went down stream enough. All I got for my trouble was a ride down the waterfall and no way to leave this lake.”

“So, the ocean is less than a day’s walk away, but you’re stuck here? Fated to have your freedom always just out of reach?”

The Mer nods sadly. “I haven’t met the requirements to be able to change my tail into legs…”

Dewi thinks for a minute. “Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll figure out some way to safely transport you back to the sea. I just have two conditions.” He puts up as many fingers to emphasize. “One, I’d like a name to put with your handsome face. You can call me Dewi, by the way. Two, promise to come visit me once in a while. I… Most people would probably be jumping to get back to their old lives, but I would prefer to stay stranded here. It’ll be tough starting out, but I want to try to make a new life for myself here. The only thing I’m going to miss is interacting with others. If I had your visits to look forward to, it wouldn’t be so bad.”

“...Blake.”

“What?”

“My name is Blake.” Dewi grins.

“Well then, Blake, let's figure out how to get you home.” They quickly figure out a decent plan, but decide to hold off until tomorrow. While they determined that Dewi could carry Blake with minimum trouble, it would still be slow going. With the temperature rising with the sun and the heat causing the chance of drying out for Blake, they would have to wait until it starts getting cooler and risk walking in the dark if they take too long, or head out at dawn.

Dewi sets up camp that night near the lake. Not to keep an eye on Blake or anything like that, he obviously wasn’t going anywhere. It’s to ease the young Mer’s mind. As long as he stays within sight, Blake knows Dewi isn’t going to meet up with other humans to rat him out.

Come morning, they soak one of the blankets from a crate before wrapping it around Blake’s tail. Dewi scoops him out of the water and they’re on their way. It isn’t easy going, but they make it to the shore before the sun reaches its peak. Dewi carries Blake into the sea, but the Mer doesn’t let go right away. “Thank you… Dewi” And with that, he slips away into the waves.

Dewi doesn’t know if he’ll really ever see the gorgeous Mer again. Even so, he’s just glad to be able to help him. He is just starting on a wooden structure for a more permanent home when Blake first comes to visit. He hears his name being called and rushes down to the coast. After that, the visits slowly start to become more frequent.

One day, Blake asks him a question that turns his emotions into a raging storm. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my mate?” Dewi should ask how that could even work. He is stuck on land while Blake can’t leave the water. Neither can make their home in the other’s… There is so little middle ground where they can meet.

Still, his only response is, “Yes.” He isn’t sure how, but they’ll find a way to make it work. His answer causes Blake to pull him into a kiss, effectively also dragging him into the sea. Dewi doesn’t even notice at first, too distracted by the fact Blake is kissing him, but when he does, he holds his breath on instinct. He hears Blake laugh.

“It’s not like you’re going to drown, Love.” He realizes that Blake’s right… Gone is the desperate need for air. Something tells him, if he were to breathe in the water, it would be no different to him than air now. “Now, shall we try out my new legs as well?”

“Wha… But I thought…?”

“Well, I’ve got a mate now. Legs are part of the perks. Come on, I want to see where you’re living.” As they emerge from the sea and walk up the beach, Blake is wobbly with his newly gained legs so they take it slow. Dewi doesn’t mind. They have their whole lives ahead of them to be together.