Fluidly slicing through the water, the small shark approaches from behind. It avoids the kelp growth, turns towards the sandy little alcove that has now grown dangerously still. Had he not already been underwater, Naoki would’ve been holding his breath in anticipation. 

Just another moment, another one, so close, and —

snap!

At a breakneck speed, Kaius’s tail shoots up out of the depths. The shark writhes, bites, tries to escape, but to no avail. The tail winds around it, squeezing with a strength that Naoki has seldom seen. It takes only one moment of exhaustion and Kaius’s claws sink into its skin. 

His maw opens, rows of teeth glistening in their ferocity. Just as he’s about to deal the killing blow, Naoki averts his eyes.

A series of resounding cracks reverberate through the air as Naoki continues to rub at his small toe, throbbing slightly with that familiar pain of a long dive. His flippers lie abandoned on the side of his boat, where he chucked them away earlier right after coming on board. Once again, Kaius has been faster than him, already in the midst of rummaging through his bags when he’d only just resurfaced. There’s a smidge of disbelief building within the lines of Naoki’s face, and he’s not quite sure if he dreamt that entire hunting situation that occurred only minutes ago, because despite the small shark that was just consumed, he can clearly see Kaius munching away on his supply of emergency biscuits.

Glutton, he thinks and pushes himself onto his feet. 

“Eating my stuff requires a lot of proficiency on your part, I’m sure,” he mumbles whilst strolling over, “thought you’d prefer the fish, anyway.”

Still chewing, Kaius gives him a wide-eyed look. “Buh dey thasht tho g’d.”

Naoki doesn’t deem his mumbling with a response, instead opting to raise a single eyebrow. Slowly. 

He watches Kaius swallow the entire biscuit in one large gulp, followed by a smack of his lips, and curses his cheeks for the smidge of crimson that appears unprompted. 

“They taste so good,” Kaius repeats, mouth empty this time. Naoki still can’t wrap his head around the way words seem to come so easily to his friend now, despite watching him learn and improve every day for nearly a month. He’s slowly coming to the realisation that sirens are, indeed, much more similar to Kalypsians than they are to fish, as he believed prior to this whole experience. 

He’s not sure if that’s good or bad.

Letting out a big sigh, Kaius leans back against the railing; His tail swings from side to side in content. “I love showing you my home,” he says after a moment, a contemplative look on his face, “but I really wish I could see what it’s like with you.”

Naoki hums. “I’m not sure that’d be a good idea. Nauwai can be pretty…,” he starts, voice trailing off. As the sun should find itself at the peak of the Kalypsian sky, a shadow stretches over the umber planes of his boat instead. “..Weird.”

Brow furrowed, Naoki squints up against the light. It’s barely recognizable, a mere smudge against a stream of pewter. His breath hitches at the wall of rolling clouds, slowly basking the sky in that evergreen darkness so characteristic of Kalypsian stormfronts. Naoki watches as the form descends, only enough for his eyes to adjust and recognize it for what it is. A huge white owl stares down at him as he blinks, only to rise again in a slow circle and, without giving away its purpose, disappear out of sight. 

With the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears, he swallows. What is an owl doing so far out on the ocean?

A gasp rings through the air. 

He’s not sure what he’s looking at, knows only that his heart seems to stop within his chest. All he sees is Kaius doubled over, claws digging into the wood underneath. Strings of drool drip from his retching mouth; crimson drops mingling within. Naoki’s body is frozen, feet like heavy lead on the floor. The roof of his mouth is dry. He can’t swallow.

A howl of pain slips through gritted teeth, and it spurs Naoki into motion. Dragging his feet off the ground, he stumbles forward. With a wince, he comes crashing down, knees digging into a puddle of blood. “Kaius,” he pants. The other boy twitches, tears streaming down his cheeks. Naoki reaches out, fingers only briefly hitting scorching skin before he yanks them back. “Kaius,” he repeats, desperation clinging to his words, “what’s happening; What do you need, c’mon, please.”  

Kaius shoots up, teeth bared. There’s a mad look in his eyes, some feral aggression that makes Naoki stagger back, muscles trembling. Words cut through the howls, broken and wet, a gurgling quality to Kaius’s voice as he tries to beg for help. Like some broken kaleidoscope, the colours of his skin shift back and forth, violent and uncontrolled, trying desperately to adjust to whatever seems to be happening to Kaius’s body. Heart in his throat, Naoki frantically scans the boat for something that he doesn’t know he needs. Something, anything. A haze pours over his eyes, stinging as he feels them moisten just as the first drops of rain descend upon the ground.

Behind him, retching turns into heaving, followed by a panicked clicking, breaking halfway through. Naoki swirls around, barely keeping straight against the rocking of his boat, and his blood runs cold at the sight that awaits him. One hand on his throat, Kaius is panting, desperately snapping for air as the gills on his neck stitch themselves together. 

A chill travels down his spine, vision darkening at the edges. He just doesn’t know what to do. His hand hover uselessly in the air, not sure if his touch would help or just worsen the pain. There’s steam coming out of Kaius’s back, a searing vapour that seems to dig into his fin, turning it glassy and gooey. He watches in horror as Kaius reaches back with a shriek, clawing at the scorching membrane on his back. The fin fizzles, cracks, and melts into his claws as they tear it clean off. There’s a ringing in Naoki’s ears; he doesn’t know if Kaius is still screaming or if the sound is coming from himself.

A sob and Kaius buckles over again, holding his head in agony. When Naoki opens eyes that he didn’t know he closed, he finds blood oozing out of the other boy’s body. A strange mass has formed at his pelvis, growing right where his fins used to be — it’s almost gooey, pink and red, fresh skin stretching over the limbs in a grotesque fashion. There’s a sour taste in Naoki’s mouth, almost making him gag.

He does once his eyes wander upwards, where Kaius’s tail is slowly ripping at the seams, viscid skin dripping off it like black tar. With every twitch of the body it is attached to, the rip widens, steaming and burning, oozing blood until it —

Kaius’s howl overpowers Naoki’s thoughts, leaving him staring disbelievingly. 

He watches as the tail continues to trash and twitch, even as it lays on the wooden planes of his boat. Severed. 

__

Okoi [Oːkoi̯] - Glowing little sea critters, shrimp-like