[Team Three] Rumour has it, he kidnaps people and eats them alive
Man-eating merman Taiga sounded like a good idea. XDD
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“You don’t think those rumours of him eating people are true do you?” Kouchi turned to ask Hokuto, a tremor in his voice giving away his fear.
Hokuto shrugged. “It’s easy to fear what you don’t understand,” he reasoned. “There’s a chance he could be misunderstood and there’s only one way to find out the truth.” Hokuto put on his goggles and strapped a flashlight to his wrist.
“Oh yeah, go poke around in his lair, as if he’s waiting to welcome us with tea,” Kouchi snorted.
“Got any better ideas to lead us out of this dump?”
“You know, maybe scaling the impossibly steep cliff walls might be less likely to lead to death?” Kouchi suggested.
“If it was that simple, these villagers wouldn’t be stuck in this crater for generations,” Hokuto sighed. “You heard what they said, right? The one place they haven’t checked is where the exiled are sent to.”
Kouchi sighed. “You’re right… But if the man-eating merman does try to eat us, we’re retreating as fast as we can, got it?” The older one put on his goggles as well, slipping a small blade into a pouch attached to his belt.
“Relax, I don’t plan on dying young either.”
---
Hokuto dove into the water first, Kouchi following close after him. With the crater being so deep, there wasn’t much sunlight to light up the area, so they had to rely on their flashlights to see clearly. It quickly became clear that there was no way the villagers could’ve explored the depths of the lake without the diving gear and oxygen tanks the two explorers had with them.
Shimmering schools of silver-coloured fish shied away from them, darting away in a rushed scramble, slaloming around tall towers of kelp. The kelp that made up most of the villagers’ diet thrived close to their settlement, growing thinner as they journeyed away from it.
Following the directions given to them, they swam deeper into the darkness, noting the line of metal junk and painted stones that the villagers left as markers; a borderline that divided their territory from the dangers outside of it.
They both nodded at each other as they crossed it and continued their search for a cave or some kind of enclosure that would be a safe dwelling spot. Smaller, deep water fish ignored them as they approached. A quick look at their clouded eyes suggested they were blind and didn’t need the light to navigate the darkness. It wasn’t long before they seemed to be surrounded by the tiny creatures.
All of a sudden, they seemed to sense danger, scurrying away in all directions. The duo froze in a panic, their limited vision buried in a blur of movement. They struggled their way out of the moving cloud and suddenly caught sight of the cause of panic.
One long tentacle, thicker than their arms, shot past them, grabbing at the tiny fish and pulling its prey to the beak-like mouth in the middle of all its tentacles. A giant squid with eyes bigger than a soccer ball eyed them as it fed and they almost screamed.
Hokuto reached out to grab Kouchi by the wrist, tugging him away, swimming upwards to the surface in hopes to find land or a rock to climb on. The squid seemed to fix its attention on them, propelling itself towards them to give chase.
They were almost at the surface when one tentacle wrapped around Kouchi’s ankle and tugged him downwards. By reflex, he grabbed his knife and slashed at it, cutting the tip clean off. The squid recoiled in pain. It seemed ready to launch another limb at them when something smacked it away.
Hokuto was back by Kouchi’s side, pulling him again, leading him to the surface and they both saw the shimmer of a tail, smacking away the tentacles with inhuman strength and precision, but it only served to make the creature angrier.
Right before their eyes, the very creature they set out to find. The merman signalled for them to swim away in a certain direction as he dove and flitted about gracefully avoiding any hits. The two didn’t question him and complied readily, swimming as fast as they could.
They were pulled the last lap onto the sandy shore of a cove and they scrambled on the sand. The squid must’ve given up on them for when they turned back, it was no longer there.
They both took off their oxygen masks, panting heavily and thankful to be on land again.
Hokuto turned to their saviour, trying to form words of gratefulness. “Thanks for saving us back there! I knew you were goo-” Whatever praises he wanted to say was cut short as the merman pounced on him. Hokuto screamed, covering his face with his forearms. The merman caught his arm and bit into it.
Thankfully the wetsuit was enough protection against the bite and with a bit of a struggle, he flipped them over until Hokuto was on top of the merman. It groaned, uncomfortable from the sand on its back and Kouchi struggled to subdue its thrashing tail but with both their efforts, Hokuto had both its wrists pinned over its head with one hand.
He removed his goggles with his free hand to have a better look at it and to his surprise, beautiful almond shaped eyes blinked at him in surprise.
“You’re a human?” the merman asked in confusion. “What is this tough hide you have?”
“It talks?” Kouchi squaked trying not to get slapped in the face by its shimmering copper tail.
Hokuto unzipped part of his wetsuit enough to shake his hair free, hoping it would look less alien to the stranger. “Yes, we’re definitely humans,” Hokuto explained, trying to calm it. It froze, staring at Hokuto. His eyes so wide, you could see the whites around his deep brown irises.
Kouchi scoffed. “I forgot that you get to not fear death because handsome guys have it easy.”
“Kouchi!” Hokuto berated him.
“What? It’s true!”
“Forgive my companion’s rudeness. My name is Hokuto and this is Kouchi. What’s yours?”
“...Taiga,” it said, after a moment’s hesitation. “Why are you talking to me… Why aren’t you afraid of me?”
“Heh, because he’s got you pinned down good of course. And he’s weak to pretty things,” Kouchi laughed as Hokuto flushed pink to his ears.
“That’s not it!” Hokuto protested as Taiga eyed him with the hint of a smile. “W-we need your help- that’s why! We need to get out of this crater and we need your help.”
---
Sorry for the holdup, defiancebyfire you're next~
---
“You don’t think those rumours of him eating people are true do you?” Kouchi turned to ask Hokuto, a tremor in his voice giving away his fear.
Hokuto shrugged. “It’s easy to fear what you don’t understand,” he reasoned. “There’s a chance he could be misunderstood and there’s only one way to find out the truth.” Hokuto put on his goggles and strapped a flashlight to his wrist.
“Oh yeah, go poke around in his lair, as if he’s waiting to welcome us with tea,” Kouchi snorted.
“Got any better ideas to lead us out of this dump?”
“You know, maybe scaling the impossibly steep cliff walls might be less likely to lead to death?” Kouchi suggested.
“If it was that simple, these villagers wouldn’t be stuck in this crater for generations,” Hokuto sighed. “You heard what they said, right? The one place they haven’t checked is where the exiled are sent to.”
Kouchi sighed. “You’re right… But if the man-eating merman does try to eat us, we’re retreating as fast as we can, got it?” The older one put on his goggles as well, slipping a small blade into a pouch attached to his belt.
“Relax, I don’t plan on dying young either.”
---
Hokuto dove into the water first, Kouchi following close after him. With the crater being so deep, there wasn’t much sunlight to light up the area, so they had to rely on their flashlights to see clearly. It quickly became clear that there was no way the villagers could’ve explored the depths of the lake without the diving gear and oxygen tanks the two explorers had with them.
Shimmering schools of silver-coloured fish shied away from them, darting away in a rushed scramble, slaloming around tall towers of kelp. The kelp that made up most of the villagers’ diet thrived close to their settlement, growing thinner as they journeyed away from it.
Following the directions given to them, they swam deeper into the darkness, noting the line of metal junk and painted stones that the villagers left as markers; a borderline that divided their territory from the dangers outside of it.
They both nodded at each other as they crossed it and continued their search for a cave or some kind of enclosure that would be a safe dwelling spot. Smaller, deep water fish ignored them as they approached. A quick look at their clouded eyes suggested they were blind and didn’t need the light to navigate the darkness. It wasn’t long before they seemed to be surrounded by the tiny creatures.
All of a sudden, they seemed to sense danger, scurrying away in all directions. The duo froze in a panic, their limited vision buried in a blur of movement. They struggled their way out of the moving cloud and suddenly caught sight of the cause of panic.
One long tentacle, thicker than their arms, shot past them, grabbing at the tiny fish and pulling its prey to the beak-like mouth in the middle of all its tentacles. A giant squid with eyes bigger than a soccer ball eyed them as it fed and they almost screamed.
Hokuto reached out to grab Kouchi by the wrist, tugging him away, swimming upwards to the surface in hopes to find land or a rock to climb on. The squid seemed to fix its attention on them, propelling itself towards them to give chase.
They were almost at the surface when one tentacle wrapped around Kouchi’s ankle and tugged him downwards. By reflex, he grabbed his knife and slashed at it, cutting the tip clean off. The squid recoiled in pain. It seemed ready to launch another limb at them when something smacked it away.
Hokuto was back by Kouchi’s side, pulling him again, leading him to the surface and they both saw the shimmer of a tail, smacking away the tentacles with inhuman strength and precision, but it only served to make the creature angrier.
Right before their eyes, the very creature they set out to find. The merman signalled for them to swim away in a certain direction as he dove and flitted about gracefully avoiding any hits. The two didn’t question him and complied readily, swimming as fast as they could.
They were pulled the last lap onto the sandy shore of a cove and they scrambled on the sand. The squid must’ve given up on them for when they turned back, it was no longer there.
They both took off their oxygen masks, panting heavily and thankful to be on land again.
Hokuto turned to their saviour, trying to form words of gratefulness. “Thanks for saving us back there! I knew you were goo-” Whatever praises he wanted to say was cut short as the merman pounced on him. Hokuto screamed, covering his face with his forearms. The merman caught his arm and bit into it.
Thankfully the wetsuit was enough protection against the bite and with a bit of a struggle, he flipped them over until Hokuto was on top of the merman. It groaned, uncomfortable from the sand on its back and Kouchi struggled to subdue its thrashing tail but with both their efforts, Hokuto had both its wrists pinned over its head with one hand.
He removed his goggles with his free hand to have a better look at it and to his surprise, beautiful almond shaped eyes blinked at him in surprise.
“You’re a human?” the merman asked in confusion. “What is this tough hide you have?”
“It talks?” Kouchi squaked trying not to get slapped in the face by its shimmering copper tail.
Hokuto unzipped part of his wetsuit enough to shake his hair free, hoping it would look less alien to the stranger. “Yes, we’re definitely humans,” Hokuto explained, trying to calm it. It froze, staring at Hokuto. His eyes so wide, you could see the whites around his deep brown irises.
Kouchi scoffed. “I forgot that you get to not fear death because handsome guys have it easy.”
“Kouchi!” Hokuto berated him.
“What? It’s true!”
“Forgive my companion’s rudeness. My name is Hokuto and this is Kouchi. What’s yours?”
“...Taiga,” it said, after a moment’s hesitation. “Why are you talking to me… Why aren’t you afraid of me?”
“Heh, because he’s got you pinned down good of course. And he’s weak to pretty things,” Kouchi laughed as Hokuto flushed pink to his ears.
“That’s not it!” Hokuto protested as Taiga eyed him with the hint of a smile. “W-we need your help- that’s why! We need to get out of this crater and we need your help.”
---
Sorry for the holdup, defiancebyfire you're next~