Chapter Text
The sun had set over 2 breaks ago and Dream was still yet to return.
Nightmare knew it wasn’t out of the ordinary for his brother to be gone a bit longer than they had initially agreed due to several reasons: drifting with the current, going a little further out than expected, or even getting distracted and conversing by those horrible Tuna Mers that liked to hang around way too close to their current home sometimes. There were many reasons, but he was still worried. He excelled at worry.
He would stay up all Night waiting for his brother's return: waiting, waiting, waiting. And once the sun broke through the surface once more he couldn’t help but feel exceedingly nervous about his twin's extended absence as Dream nearly always returned before the next dawn broke.
Something bad could have happened.
He set out, sleepless, towards the closest local Mers: they didn’t like him but they did like Dream so they may tell him if they had seen him anywhere. Perhaps he had gotten very distracted by a Perfect find, that stupid pearl he had always wanted since hearing about them, and maybe didn’t realise how very late it had gotten whilst admiring it? He could only hope that was the case.
He wasn’t sure what he would do if it wasn’t.
The Small grouping of Tunas camped nearby glared darkly as he came nearer, and answered his questions quickly in order to get him to leave. That was fine by Nightmare, he didn’t much like them either. He didn’t stick around them long enough for them to attack him for loitering again. Once was enough. He wasn’t even sure what he had done to make them dislike him so much… (except there was that one time with the fire coral…)
Dream had apparently been seen going out into the deeper waters the day previous, as Nightmare had expected and feared. He knew Pearl hunting would cause him to drift a bit too far one day, but he’d always assumed that drifting would occur from finding his perfect Mate and moving away to live with them and not because he got taken in the Current or by a Land dweller boat trawling the ocean floor (there had been way too many around here recently. Damn Land-dwellers always messing around where they weren’t wanted).
Nightmare would have to be careful while searching or he could get swept up or attacked. Luckily, he was a master of Camouflage and could make himself one with the seabed before falling back on utilising his particularly potent venom or ink to deter anything from trying to mess with him. Nets were a bigger issue but he was fairly confident he could squeeze through whatever gaps they had.
He thought it wouldn’t take him more than a day to locate them but upon returning empty handed to the den on that first day of searching nearby, with no Dream anywhere to be found in the surrounding dark waters, he knew he would have to go farther out.
He was quick to dig up the sand inside their den and bundle together all their precious valuables that had been hidden beneath: shiny Hooks and spools of wire pain stakingly collected from the drift for trade, a spinning Disk point taken from a wrecked ship they used to stay at, their matching golden crowns, all their most precious finds and keepsakes: placing them all together into his tightly woven and well used Seaweed bag. Intent on bringing them along with him so that the local Mers, who had noticed and probably spread word of Dreams disappearance by now, wouldn’t be able to steal them while he was out searching. He would not put it past them all just to spite him, no matter how much they liked Dream's company.
He did a quick check of the waters closer to the nearby shore, but Dream wasn’t there. There was no sign of him, dipping his head out into the open air to spy at the rock pools where his brother used to lounge and sunbathe back when they lived closer to the shore as Paralarvae and later Jeuviniles, they were empty. He quickly ducked back out of sight again, retreating away from the Land dweller infested area as fast as he could so they wouldn’t spot him when one of them began Taking a walk over the Rocky shore area, Peering into the deeper waters at the edge where he had been.
His camouflage really was a life saver.
Several long days of no sleep found him slowly, carefully dragging himself along the seabed towards the surrounding enscarpments that separated their home from the Twilightzone and even further down, the Abyss. It steadily got darker and darker as he edged his way down the sandy incline that would plunge steeply down into the awe inspiring depths: or they assumed it did… they’d never exactly gone down there though part of him desperately wished to.
Dream… Dream wasn’t this way either he feared. There were way too many intact shellfish clasping themselves tight to the rocks and partially buried in the sediment deposits this way. He blinked slowly as he absently pulled one up on his way past: cracking it open to get at the tasty creature inside, uncaring as to what type it really was in his Sleepless daze, and quickly consumed the contents. The rest of his legs worked to fill his bag with them for later consumption.
The empty broken shell was quickly discarded as he journeyed on.
He eventually hit the drop off. The furthest out that he or Dream ever went. He glanced over the edge into the oppressive darkness. He had always wanted to explore over the edge but Dream would want to come with him and Dream wasn’t great at functioning without the stars to guide his path once the light left him. The stars would never reach down there, and if you looked up while here at the very edge, they were hardly visible.
They would easily become too distracted by the ghost lights of the deeper sea and become food for something else… Nightmare didn’t think he was out there and began to turn back, ready to return home and search in another direction: hopeful that perhaps, while he had been out, Dream had returned.
He was pretty far away from the den by now, and would have to find a safe place to bunk down for the time being. He found a Crop of Seaweed that would give him a bit of coverage and began to dig. His little makeshift dug out wasn’t the best he could make, small and the absolute bare minimum space he needed, but he was just so… tired by the time he finally got to a place he felt comfortable enough to settle that it would have to do. He wiggled himself into the space, pulling all his tendrils cozily around himself (contorting himself into a position that would be incredibly uncomfortable for a regular Fish Mer) before covering himself in a blanket of sand: hiding himself from anything passing by.
Safe and hidden he drifted into his first proper sleep since Dreams disappearance.
Little did he know that he wasn’t going to be sleeping safely that night. Not due to any Predators or his own Den making skills but due to the very Mers that had sent him in this particular direction.
A few of the more malicious ones had separated from the school, intent on following him, once they spied him frantically leaving home to search the area for his wayward brother. Easily Staying out of sight as Nightmares single eye wasn’t the best it could be sometimes and when he was so tired? It may as well not even be there. His vision was starting to get unhelpfully blurry as he finally tucked himself under a layer of soft sand and rocky rubble before drifting off.
He didn’t notice as he was gently dug up by the snickering Mers and guided along, led back out to the drop off where he was let go and allowed to be picked up by the unexpectedly powerful current running just past its edge. He drifted.
His tormentors were laughing up a storm until one of them got swept along with him.
One of his tendrils had latched on to one of their arms tightly, dragging them along with him. The others watched in muted horror as Nightmare doomed one of their own to the depths as they had him. The panicking Mer was quickly silenced by the rest of his tendrils wrapping firmly around and over them, choking them and ceasing their struggle as they were pulled along by the considerably strong flow of the oceans whims.
They struggled too much and Nightmare instinctively bit down with his beak and injected the body with a shot of his particularly potent neurotoxin, taking a solid bite out of them as he did: the blood leaked into the water around them. His tendrils slowly loosened as the struggling slowed and stopped and the paralysed body was eventually lost to the darkness below as it was let go by the Tired octopus.
He drifted.
Eventually, he came to rest along a sand covered embankment, somewhere he’d never been or seen before as the Dawn arrived.
And Through it all, Nightmare slept.
“Do you smell that?”
Several long Finned beings took long deep invents of the surrounding water, picking up on faint traces of life.
“Blood.”
“If someone thinks they can die on my turf without me causing it, they’ve got another thing coming.” The dark eyed one growled, gearing up to follow its trail. “Come on!”
“I hope… it’s something big.” The smallest of the trio swam below and past the biggest, patting them on the side as they followed after their more enthusiastic mate.
“So do I, big guy, this area has been empty for weeks and I am starving.”
He didn’t know what it was, but it was way too noticable, to be In These waters with those colours was practically a death sentence, Killer thought as he circled in closer with clear aggressive body language, trying to give it at least a chance to be warned away.
It didn’t react.
“Hey!”
Just drifted.
“Hey you!”
And then came a soft snore.
He was quick to stop Horror from lunging in to finish the oblivious thing off by stopping directly in front of him. Horror snout bumped into him and, reflexively, they went to bite down as intended but Dust shot his hand out and easily redirected the attack with barely a thought, leading Horror to turn away just in time. Killer swooped around to see it closer as Horror went to swim in frustrated little circles a short swim away. Horror was hungry. They all were.
Upon closer inspection it was an Octopus Mer, and a very small one at that. It’s deep purple skin was peppered with bright blue rings that stretched all the way down to the very tips of its many long legs. It was pretty.
Not that pretty mattered until it had proven itself against him. It was either fight or die! (Or escape to fight another day but that option was for losers) And once he had woken it up to give it a proper chance at leaving… Well, let’s just say it won’t be pretty anymore.
He reached out roughly to shake them awake with a throaty growl so they wouldn’t mistake his intentions when the Tendrils limply hanging below them suddenly came to life, wrapping around him and forcing his limbs still.
What the actual fuck?
It still slept soundly.
Dust started snickered from where he was watching. Horror paused in his circles and just looked entirely baffled by the display and was about to come in to help but Killer waved their assistance off the best he could since his hand was barely able to move from where it had been pinned against his own chest by the surprisingly powerful grip the Octopus had on him. He gave a warning hiss and the tendrils pulled tighter.
Up close, this close, it was super pretty. He’d never quite seen anything like it and he’d seen a lot of things.
Eventually, after what felt like a lifetime of waiting, it relaxed and he was able to pull away from it. He was quick to dart away, eyes wide as he looked over the Pretty thing that was able to Stop his Attack before it had even begun.
He swallowed nervously, as the feeling of aggression he usually had ebbed and diminished slightly… that only happened when… when he lost.
Last time it had been for Horror, full bodily holding him down as he thrashed and gnashed at the Much bigger Shark who just remained unimpressed, the first had been for Dust, who had thankfully been too lazy to finish him off at the end of their bloody fight after Killer tried to claim his Sunbathing ledge as his territory when he’d first arrived in the ocean from the estuary of the river he had been spawned in once he’d run out of foes there. And now, this mysterious Mer.
Had this… had this counted as a loss? If he tried to wake them a second time, would they manage to subdue him again? He kind of wanted to know the answer but for now, while he had a good grasp on his own actions, he circled back over to where Horror and Dust were watching them: keeping an eye on the newcomer and their many Brightly coloured, powerful tendrils as he went.
“I want it.” Was what escaped his mouth when he went to ask their thoughts on the matter. Ah, so his brain had decided that it was a loss, just like when he’d met and fought Dust. Boy had that been a confusing time for him never having experienced that feeling before.
“Seriously? That?” Dust pointed over to the snoozing Octopus with an amused look. Horror seemed indifferent and out vented heavily before flopping down on the seabed beside Dust, absently snapping his jaws with the want to have something, anything between them.
“… yes.” He stared at Dust unblinkingly with his Blank black eyes. He was totally serious.
Dust stared at him, and then back and it, then back at Killer again before smirking. They settled down more comfortably in the sand and waved a hand towards the drifter saying, “Be my guest.”
Good to know Dusty was in agreement.
He turned to Horror, giving him his best pleading Porbeagle eyes and Horror, after long silent moments of contemplation, finally gave in with a groan and nodded despite his empty stomach, looking away from Killer's totally cute face with a scowly pout.
He gave a self-congratulatory cheer as all his Shiver mates gave the go ahead to possibly have this Strange Squishy Mer added to their group (giving them each a Nip on the cheek, and a few extra to be safe, in thanks had Dust growling with irritation.) Well, after it beat him in combat a second time that is. This time he would be ready for its strange many legged Sleep attack and fight it properly!
He once again moved closer.
He felt the sun on his skin warming it which shouldn’t be possible due to being buried when he’d gone to sleep and awoke to the sound of laughter along with the faint taste of hours old blood on his beak: there was a feeling of tingles that signified he’d used too much toxin recently. Whoever it was that got bit was probably long dead.
Those stupid Tuna Mers must have decided to follow and mess with him (he should have expected that, but worry had a way of blinding him to things he usually would pay attention to), Nightmare thought still groggy from sleep but more well rested than he had been, until a deep voice he had never heard slowly said, “…need help…?”
The reply to it was way closer to him than he had expected it to be and he tried to jolt away from it instinctively.
“Woah- No. No. No. I’m good. I just gotta. It’s got to have a release circle to press or something that will make it let go faster! How did it even manage to do this to me twice!?” He recognised neither voice.
His single eye snapped open as hands trailed and prodded lightly over his many tendrils, only to see a face directly before his own, dark eyed with a mouth filled with far too many teeth. A Mer but not one he’d seen before: A shark. That was a shark!
And he was currently anchoring himself to it as his tendrils reflexively wrapped and Bound it closer to him as if he was cuddling up to Dream in his sleep. A Mer he didn’t even know! It was so improper. Mortification gripped his body and his tendrils trying to instinctively draw back in, making him look smaller and less of a target, drew them in even closer.
He stopped himself from biting down, to inject his toxin into its skin, because he knew, could hear, that there were more around him that he currently wasn’t seeing and didn’t know if he could take them all in a fight yet.
The soft laughter behind him continued.
“Ah! You’re awake!” They noticed him staring, how could they not when their faces were barely an inch away from one another, and stared back while grinning wide. Their voice was not the Deep one, instead it was kind of scratchy like he’d been shouting for a long time. “Can you let me go, pretty thing?” They practically purred in his ear.
“S-sure.” The stutter coming from his own mouth was unfortunate (why had he done that?) but the bright flash of colours suddenly strobing across his skin at the compliment was even more so (why the heck had he done that?!) as he carefully worked to untie himself from the surprisingly still Shark Mer.
He had never done that before: He’d changed colours and camouflaged in natural response to danger, sure, but never reacted like that to any other Mers mere words. Pretty, he’d called him. Usually it was Dream getting those kinds of compliments with his light Lemon yellows and naturally hidden rings: not like Nightmare who was stuck showing exactly what kind of Mer he was unless he worked tirelessly to hide it.
He scowled to himself as his final tendril pop-pop-popped loose from their rough skin and vowed to not be swayed by their trickery. No one ever thought he was pretty. It was not a word anyone applied to him.
“Hey, so we-“
The Shark Mer, now freed, was suddenly back in his space and, out of shock at the unexpected movement, Nightmare instinctively Inked the surrounding water as a distraction and darted out of immediate reach, and subsequently ran directly into someone else.
The soft snickering at Killer's misfortune quickly turned to cackling as Killer was surrounded by dark liquid. His shocked face was hilarious to Dust who had made himself a nice little space in the sand to watch and offer direction, which Killer hadn’t taken.
The Octopus tried to retreat with a wide panicked eye, leaving the cloud of slowly dispersing Ink in a quick burst of Energy, swimming backwards to keep his eyes on where Killer was and missing the fact that he was swimming Directly at Horror.
They collided and Horrors arms reflexively came up to hold them still against his chest, the same way he would when Killer would push his way into the nightly Cuddle pile.
“Ah! Oh! Sorry, I’m sorry!” They were quick to push away from Horror who easily let them go, trying to make themself seem smaller as Horrors single unblinking eyelight locked with their own, apologising for something that was clearly an accident.
Killer who had finally managed to navigate his way out of the bitter tasting Ink spill was quick to arrive at their back and push them back into Horrors space, blocking them in.
“Hey, hey, hey. Where are you going so soon?”
Dust pushed himself up out of his comfy spot once he noticed Horror’s soft snapping, ready to intervene before Killer's latest interest was lost to the Tiger Sharks empty Maw. He ignored the fact that he was just as hungry.
“Oh, I’m just, I was going to leave. So sorry for disturbing you gentlemen.” They squeezed their way out of the space between his two Shiver mates and backed directly into Dust who had finally moved close enough. “Gah.”
“You were right, Killer, they are very pretty up close.” Dust watched as those bright colours flashed again across their slick looking skin.
“I know!” Killer perked up at his admission and nodded while the yet to be named Octopus flushed and stuttered. Dust took a little pity on the Mer, moving back to let them out of the triangle of Death they had crafted around them, allowing them the chance to escape. Killer clearly didn’t agree with such a move, calling out to them as they took the offered opening. “Wait-hey, you can leave yet! You just got here!”
They got a fair distance away before their frantic… swimming, if you could call it that, slowed to a halt.
“I’m not meant to be here.” They were properly looking around now, a fretful look on their face as they took in the endless stretch of pale sand in all directions and then up towards the sky where only the distorted circle of the water warming sun could be seen overhead. “I don’t… I’m sorry, I don’t know where I am.”
“You’re lost.” Dust guessed.
“Well actually I’m searching for someone…” they clutched tight to the seaweed bag slung over their shoulders like it gave them courage.
“I could be that someone~!” Killer tried to reel them in with his charms and was expertly ignored as they continued to move the conversation on. Maybe Dust should get tips from this guy.
“My brother has gone missing and I’m searching for him.” They swam backwards a little as they spoke, edging out of the situation even as their tendrils showed their fluster at The Bullsharks words. Maybe not quite expertly ignored. It’s like they guy had never gotten a compliment before.
“Oh, uh, Well, maybe we could help you.” Killer wasn’t giving up, and begun slowly circling.
“I think I’m fine on my own.” Their smile was nervous as they continued to try back out of the trios space. Killer nudged them back into the triangle of death from behind, pushing the Octopus closer once again.
“You’re clearly lost and have no clue where you are, right?” Dust interjected, exasperated with Killers antics. The sooner they agreed the sooner Killer would behave. “So what’s the harm?”
They glanced at Horror who was staring at them still: Blood red unerringly locked onto iridescent Blue. Ah.
“Don’t worry about Horror, he's a big softy.” Killer nodded in agreement and reached across to give the huge Tiger shark a solid pat on the side of his tail as they finally pushed the Octopus Mer close enough to do so. They didn’t quite look like they believed him.