Chapter Text
The sky was clear that day, a bright, clear blue, stretching endlessly over the horizon. There wasn’t a single sign of a storm, but the ocean seemed… upset. Her waves crashed mercilessly on the shore, the roaring nearly loud enough to drown out any other sound. There were very few people out on the sand today, a rare occurrence, especially for how beautiful the day was.
You stood on one of the outer observation decks of the rehab facility you were stationed at, watching the water below. A seagull lands on the rail beside you, squawking loudly. It hops closer and you chuckle- you know exactly what it wants. You reach into one of the treat pouches strapped around your waist and fish out a freeze-dried shrimp. You always carried various kinds of snacks for the creatures you worked with, and the seagulls quickly picked up on this, learning to identify you on sight. The gull squawks again and snatches the shrimp from your hand. The sound draws the attention of several other seagulls, and soon you have a small gang of bright-eyed birds staring you down for treats.
“Okay, okay, wait your turn!” you laugh, passing a shrimp to each bird. They snap greedily at your fingers as they accept their treats, but between the calluses and fresh band-aids on your hands, you can barely feel it anymore. The seagulls quickly finish their snack, eyeing you hungrily for seconds- but before they can launch a joint attack, the door behind you swings open. The birds scatter, showering the deck in droppings and loose feathers. Gross.
A voice comes from behind you “Talking to the birds again?”
You turn around to see one of your coworkers standing in the doorway. You shrug “Don’t judge, they like it”
Your coworker snorts “Sure they do. Sorry to interrupt your break, but we could use your help in here”
You sigh, popping your knuckles “Okay, sure.”
They head back inside and you follow them down to the main medbay. A small group of kids and Rowan, one of the veterinarians on your team, stood huddled around one of the tables, the vet holding down a very energetic something wrapped in what looked like a green hoodie. They look up as the two of you enter.
“Oh, hey!” Rowan calls as you walk over “Just the person I wanted to see”
“Hey!” you say, approaching the group. You peek over his shoulder at the bundle on the table “Whatcha got there?”
The bundle struggles and lets out a muffled squawk. The kids jump back and Rowan grabs onto it tighter. “These kids found a cormorant tangled up in some fishing line on the beach,” He says through clenched teeth “as you can see, it isn’t particularly happy about being caught”
One of the kids pipes up “I wrapped it up in my jacket, but it bit me” He holds up a finger with an impressive gash that’s dribbling blood, trailing down his hand and threatening to drip on the floor. You wince, rounding the table and crouching down next to him.
“Yikes bud, lemme patch that up for you,” you say, pulling a small first aid kit out of your pocket. You rip open an alcohol wipe and carefully clean the bite. He scrunches up his face against the sting, trying to look brave. You apply ointment to his finger and wrap a band-aid around it- this one printed with blue and yellow tie-dye. You stand back up and toss the wrappers in a trash bin under the exam table.
“I’m impressed that you got that bird in here, but tell an adult to call us instead of grabbing it next time, okay?” you say, ruffling his hair. You turn to the other two kids that were with him. “Thank you guys for bringing this bird in. We gotta cut it free now, so you guys can go back to playing outside.” The kids let out a small chorus of “okays”, heading out the door and waving goodbye.
Once they’re gone, you turn back to Rowan, who was still struggling with the bundled-up bird. You make a mental note to wash that kid’s hoodie and somehow return it to him.
“I’m going to need you to hold it down while I cut the line off, I want to avoid sedating it if possible,” he says to you. You nod, moving into position and gently holding the bird down. The veterinarian carefully removes the hoodie and you bite your lip to suppress a gasp.
Masses of knotted fishing line wrapped around the cormorant’s neck and legs, wound so tightly that it cut into its skin. Congealed blood caked its broken feathers and as it fought against your grip, fresh blood oozed from where the wire dug into its tender flesh.
Rowan lets out a low whistle. “Damn, that isn’t pretty,” he mutters. Sliding open one of the table’s drawers, he selects a pair of thin surgical scissors. He glances up at you. “You got a hold on ‘im?” he asks.
You nod, readjusting your grip. One arm pinned its flailing body to the table, and the other hand gently held its beak shut and pressed its head to the table. You softly hush the bird, cooing praises to it as Rowan began to snip away at the larger clumps of fishing line. Soon only the tightest strands were left, the clear nylon slick with blood and nearly impossible to see. Rowan takes a deep breath and begins to slowly pry the tip of the scissors under the wire on one of its legs. The bird thrashes wildly, nearly breaking free from your grip.
You grit your teeth “We gotta tape its beak doc, I can’t keep it down while I’m holding it like this” He sets the scissors aside and grabs a roll of medical tape, carefully sealing its beak shut.
You shift the bird in your arms, tucking its head under your arm and firmly gripping its legs. Rowan picks up the scissors again and slowly snips through the wire on the cormorant’s legs, cleaning and bandaging them once the wire is clear. You shift the bird’s position once more, stroking its head and talking to it softly while he removes the wire on its neck.
Once the bird is fully free of the fishing line, cleaned and bandaged, you wrap it up in a clean towel and place it inside one of the large kennels in a different room. Here it would have a chance to rest before someone came to give it a full examination, just in case there were any other issues. You peel the tape off its beak and it snaps at you, nearly taking a chunk out of your finger. “Feisty lil fucker” you mutter, closing the kennel door.
You return to the exam room and thoroughly wash your hands and arms off, before heading to the locker room to change your blood-soaked shirt. Just as you’re pulling the fabric over your head, however, the locker room door flies open with a bang.
“Jesus Christ dude!” you yelp, jumping back against the lockers and covering yourself with your arms.
The intruder’s eyes dart around the room, avoiding you. It was one of the new volunteers, you hadn’t caught their name yet. “O-oh my God, I’m so sorry” they stammered “We uh, we need you outside, there’s… something, on the beach.”
You replace your shirt and raise an eyebrow at them. “What kind of something?” you ask.
They glance over their shoulder “We don’t know, but it’s huge and it’s pissed.”
You sigh, shutting your locker “Alright then, let’s go.”
You follow the volunteer outside. A little way down the shore, a small group of people had gathered around an enormous creature lying in the sand, its body half submerged in the surf. You rushed over, and as you got closer you could hear it uttering some kind of low chirp. A distress call.
Rowan was one of the members of the group. You jog over to him and he glances at you as you come to a halt at his side. “You have any idea what the hell this thing is?” he asks, nodding towards the creature.
You finally got a solid look at the thing. It was about 15 feet long, with a vaguely humanoid upper half. A long, armored tail made up its lower half, and bright red tentacles framed its face. It clicked almost instantly, and you gasped, clamping a hand over your mouth.
You had always heard stories- hell, you had even believed them as a kid- but you had never thought you’d actually see one. You grip Rowan’s shoulder, shaking him.
“Dude, that’s a fucking mermaid ” you hiss.
He scoffs “What? You know those don’t exist”
If looks could kill, Rowan would have been dead “What else could it possibly be then?” you growl at him. Before he can answer though, the creature lets out a low growl and thrashes in the sand. Blood pools out from under its body and it lets out a whimper.
You pinch the bridge of your nose, turning to another one of your coworkers standing in the circle.
“Abbs, we gotta get this thing in one of the whale pools. Get the crane for me, ok? And make sure that the tank is ready?”
She salutes you and speeds off toward the facility. You turn back to the creature, crouching down and taking a slow step toward it. A growl rumbles out of its throat and its eyes narrow. You glance around the small circle of people.
“Can you guys stand back a little? I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” You say, as loud as you dare. They all shuffle back a few meters, and you resume your cautious approach. You would have to calm it down enough to be able to get it into the sling. You kneel down next to its head, just out of biting range. It bares its teeth at you but makes no attempt to attack.
“Hey, buddy” you mutter, reaching a hand out toward it. It shrinks away from you, huffing softly. You let your hand go limp, offering the back of it for the mer to smell. It freezes, locking eyes with you. Just at that moment though, Abigail arrives with the crane. She lowers the sling in front of you until it lies flat on the sand, ready to take the creature to its new home.
It tears its eyes away from yours, attempting to scramble away from the sling. You lurch forward, making shushing sounds and attempting to soothe it. An idea strikes you, and you grab a fist full of small, freeze-dried fish from one of your treat pouches. You offer one to the mer and it stops thrashing to sniff the offering. It takes the fish gently, chewing and swallowing before it sniffs your hand for more.
“I’m gonna keep it occupied with these, you guys come lift it into the sling, ok?” you call to the rest of your team. They move into position around the beast and you feed it a few more treats as they carefully lift it. The mer lets out an uncomfortable chirp as its body is lifted a few inches out of the water, but fortunately, the treats are interesting enough that your team is able to get it securely in the sling without a fuss.
Abigail hops back into the crane’s cab and lifts the mer into the air. The trip would only take a few moments, so a truck shouldn’t be necessary to transport it. You rush inside the building with the rest of your team to safely get the creature into its enclosure.
This particular enclosure was a large, circular room with a deep pool in the center. The roof had the ability to be open or closed, and a sloped Baja shelf spanned halfway around the pool’s perimeter.
This was where the mer was dropped off- the shallow water lapped at your knees as you helped your coworkers guide the sling into the pool. The sling was then carefully slid out from underneath it. Rowan came in through one of the doors, a large med kit tucked under his arm.
“Hey, close the roof, will you? I don’t think this thing likes light very much.” You call across the room to him. He nods, hitting a button beside the door. The roof slowly slides shut, blocking out the sun.
The enclosure is now bathed in a soft purple and green glow. The creature before you seems instantly more relaxed, and you absently stroke the plating on its tail.
Rowan sloshes into the pool, flicking on his headlamp and motioning for you all to flip the mer and hold it still. You bite your lip when you see its injuries- three large gashes span its chest, and there is a fourth on its tail, accompanied by a large bite wound. Rowan mutters a curse under his breath, quickly getting to work on cleaning and stitching up the wounds. The mer grits its teeth and flicks its tail, but it seems to understand that it was being helped and not hurt.
Rowan snips the thread on the last stitch and you all step back. The mer gives an experimental twist of its body before darting off to the deep part of the pool. You begin cleaning the room as best as you can while your coworkers go back to whatever tasks they had abandoned.
You finish your cleaning, but as you head towards the door you feel eyes watching you. You turn around to see the mer had swam back to the top of the tank and was watching you. Its top set of eyes peered at you above the water, glowing softly in the dim light.
You step back into the pool. “Hey buddy, you need anything?” you ask it softly. The creature stares at you for a moment longer, before it dives back to the bottom of the pool, flicking its tail and spraying you with salty water. You sputter, wiping water out of your eyes “I’m gonna… take that as a no” you say to the now empty room.
You finally get the chance to change out of your bloody- and now very wet- clothes. You check the locker room, making sure it was empty before you hop into one of the employee showers and peel your ruined clothes off. Not that it wasn’t allowed, but people made you itch and you didn’t enjoy feeling rushed.
The hot water pounds down on your shoulders and you breathe in the thick steam. You hadn’t realized how tense today had made you, but the heat was doing wonders, melting away the tension like it was nothing.
You grab a bottle of body wash and begin to scrub away any stray traces of blood- they always had the best soap here, some kind of sea salt and sandalwood scented concoction. You would have to try and find some for your place later.
You hum to yourself as you scrub dried salt out of your hair. Your bliss is rudely interrupted, however, when you hear someone enter the locker room.
“That sure was somethin’, huh?” a husky voice cuts through the steam.
Ah, Chris. “Yeah, um…” you quickly finish showering and toss your clothes on.
She’s sitting on a bench when you step out, patching up a cut on her cheek. You sit next to her to put your shoes back on.
“Ouch, what did that?” you ask, gesturing to her face.
She rolls her eyes “That fucking bird we got in today, snapped at me when I opened her kennel.”
You poke her in the arm “Your fault for being so ugly, I’d bite you too”
She stands, grabbing her crutches and whacking you in the shin with one of them. You laugh, grabbing your shin. “Hey, no fair!”
Chris laughs too “Next time it’ll be your head!” she jests.
You kick her boot “Oh, fuck off”
She leans back against the lockers “But seriously, that thing from earlier” She furrows her brows, crossing her arms over her chest “I’ve never seen anything like that”
You sigh “Okay, you’re gonna think I’m crazy-”
She cuts in “You talk to animals”
“And it works , they like it! But I know what that thing is”
She quirks up an eyebrow at you “Uh-huh, spit it out then.”
You rub your wrist with one hand “It’s, uh. It’s a mer… maid. Merfolk? Mer… person?”
She stares at you for a solid 30 seconds before bursting into laughter. “A MERMAID ?” she cackles, holding her sides. “C’mon y/n, you know that isn’t possible.”
Your face flushes with embarrassment “Okay then, Oh-Great-and-Powerful-Chris-Who-Knows-Everything-About-Ocean-Life, what do you think it is?”
She shrugs “Dunno, some kind of freak experiment. Radioactive squid or something”
You roll your eyes, snatching your bag out of your locker “Yeah, because that’s clearly a more realistic conclusion” you check the time on your phone “Anyway, I’m off in 10, see ya tomorrow.”
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You began to tear through your closet as soon as you got home. You had been obsessed with fairytales when you were a kid- you would run around, making notes in one of your many ‘field guides’ and collecting abnormally large bug wings, or scales, or rocks with holes in them- anything you could claim was proof that the stories were real.
You had a box of these journals somewhere, but time and embarrassment had long since shoved it to the back of your closet. Finally, you fish the box out. Your cat hops off the bed where he had been watching you to investigate your find. He rubs his cheeks on the corners, purring loudly. You laugh, skritching the fur along his back.
“Good box?” you ask him. He blinks up at you and chirps. “I’m gonna take that as a yes”
You grab the box and take it out on your deck to look through its contents. Your cat follows you out, flopping down for a nap in the sun’s fading rays. You had been blessed enough to snag a house right on the waterfront, and the water softly lapped at the shore beneath you. You breathe in the salty evening air and begin sorting through the box. It was packed full of various books, notepads, newspaper clippings, and drawings. Man, baby you had been a huge nerd.
You flipped through a few of them, stopping to read whenever you catch a glimpse of anything mentioning mermaids. The majority of these mermaids looked like your typical fairytale creature- half woman, half fish, with long, flowing hair. Some of them, however, looked more like what had washed up on the beach- humanoid figures with strange features, like multiple animals smashed into one.
You lean back on your arms, sighing. It didn’t really matter, you suppose, if anyone believed you. You knew that thing was a mermaid. It had to be.
You sat a little while longer, watching the sun sink fully into the sea before gathering up the books and papers to bring back inside. You pick up the box and nudge your cat with your toe. He lets out a sleepy mrrp before hopping up and following you inside.
The two of you make dinner (he “helps” by sniffing each ingredient and sampling some of the cheese) and you sit on the couch to play a video game while you eat. It had gotten late by the time you finished, and at that point, you were exhausted.
You crawl into bed, your cat curled up on your chest, and drift off to sleep, creatures swimming and singing to you in your dreams.