It was a stupid, careless mistake on my part. The number one rule that the Violet-Eyes must abide by is to only hunt where there is no chance of being seen. How many times had this been drilled into my mind? Countless times. But invisible waters are infertile waters, with a low yield. Few fish, scant vegetation, and several hungry, illegal Mer desperately trying to find a meal. For one as small as I, it is next to impossible to compete. Even if I do find something edible, it is quickly snatched away by a bigger Mer. Yes, we all share the cursed trait, some of us even share living quarters, but that does not make us friends. We are all fighting to survive, and the biggest man generally wins.

I'm not small, per se, at least, not petite. I've always had a maid's curve to my body, regardless of my nutrition at the time. However, I was not made of muscles. Some of the Violet-Eyes train their bodies, unwavering in their preparation for a battle that we all assume will some day come. But I am not made for such training. I tire easily, and prefer to use the strength of my mind. Not to say that I am particularly intelligent; far from it. I just lose myself in my thinking, more than most consider healthy. But, for the most part, no one intervenes. We all fear for our lives every day, so none of them can bring themselves to break me from my pseudo-reality. At least I can pretend to be happy for a time.

But feeding shifts do not leave me time to daydream. I have a limited time to find as much to eat as possible, or I go hungry. There is no stock, no store-room full of back up fish and seaweed. What we find is what we eat. Unfortunately for us, most of the fish that normally populate our feeding areas have moved away; we Mer have eaten all of the vegetation that used to draw them in, so they have no reason to come. Such a lack of food leads to very unstable relations between us, and I had been trying my best to avoid foraging anywhere near the others.

It had been days since I had eaten anything of substance, my only food coming in the form of some algae I had scraped off of a coral reef with my nails. But it seemed I was finally going to get my lucky break, as I noticed a small fish swim right by my eye. It darted away, and I didn't even think as I chased after it. With a triumphant grin, my fingers wrapped around its streamlined body, gripping tightly. I felt its bones snap in my grip, and it went limp. I opened my mouth, planning to eat it quickly, lest anyone see, but it never made it to my lips.

As it were, someone had already seen me. A very large someone. A very large someone who now had my fish in his hand. My eyes widened in distress, I already knew what would happen.

"No! I caught it! It is mine!" I growled, flicking my tail quickly and trying to snatch it back, to no avail.

"You do not need it. All you do is sit and stare at nothing; and you are not even half of my stature." That said, I watched my fish slide into his mouth and down his throat. My lip trembled at the sight of my lost meal, my mouth agape with disbelief at the cruelty of a catch denied me. The Mer that had taken it stared at me with his violet-eyes, daring me silently to take an action, to give him an excuse to break my spine just like the fish's, and eat me the same way. I bit my lip, but said nothing, silently reminding myself that it was only one small herring, and he turned, swimming away from me to return to his search. Once I was sure he was gone, I blinked, resulting in a cascade of small pearls floating languidly to the ocean floor. There they lay, shining up at me, standing out against the stark vacancy of the feeding area. It was almost mocking, in a way. Land creatures apparently found our tears extremely valuable, yet they were meaningless to us. Where a few tears on land would buy a new home, they were simply left to mark the anguish of a starving Mer under the water.

I turned, taking in the pitiful state of those around me, digging fruitlessly at the sandy floor, eating repulsive sea snails, shell and all, breaking teeth in a delirious attempt to consume coral. And suddenly I decided that it was too much. Why should we, I, have to go night after night without so much as a bite to eat? Why should I have to resort to chewing at rocks in a bid to forget my real hunger? Merely because my eyes were a shade different than what was acceptable? How perfectly disgusting!

Anger flaring and heart pounding, I quickly turned to make sure there were no eyes on me, then swam past a large reef, going behind it, then moving away, quickly.

I'd be damned if I was going to go hungry for another night.

Of course, my mind in such a state, I became stupid. Anger tends to elicit that quality in most people. And, if anger was not enough, my starvation was. I was mad at that point, in both definitions of the word. The threat of the Hunters was not as frightening as my looming hunger. So off I went, swimming through the stark, lifeless water, long past the time of my feeding shift. But I did not care if they missed me, did not care if they worried. I knew they would not, so why bother thinking of it at all?

Finally, I spotted a fish. Only one, but one none the less. I darted for it, and had it in my mouth before it could even think to swim away. I bit fiercely, messily tearing the flesh from the bones, then sucking the bones till they came out white. I dropped the remains, watched as they sank to the floor. But I was not satiated. One fish would not make up for weeks of close to nothing. I continued on, scanning with my eyes as I went.

It didn't take me long to run into a decent sized school of herring. My mouth satiated, and I did not hesitate to swim right into the middle of all of them. They, of course, scattered, trying to swim away from me. But I had a small moment of genius, and crushed them as I wrapped my fingers around them, letting them drop to the floor and immediately going for another. By the time the majority had gotten away, I had a decent pile of dead fish just waiting to be devoured. And devour them I did, in the most beastly way imaginable. Manners don't mean much for someone as hungry as I was.

Once I had eaten all of my mass kill, I regained some of my sense. I wanted to smack myself for my idiocy! What had I been thinking, venturing this far? Venturing at all? I was outside of the safety zone. Sure, the safety zone was not guaranteed, but at least there were men to try and protect me. Here I was exposed, vulnerable, and so very frightened. I looked around, suddenly feeling like there were hundreds of eyes on me, watching me, hiding just beyond the rocks, the reefs.

I turned slowly, then shot back towards the hiding place as quickly as my fins would take me, shooting furtive glances behind me at my imagined pursuers. Even in their absence, the Hunters were terrifying. In the midst of one such glance, I managed to run into a large rock, this sending me reeling, crying out as my head throbbed with pain. It was enough to make me stop, to close my eyes, to curse under my breath. And that was the mistake that sent me over the edge. One can only make so many in such a small time without punishment.

And mine came in the worst shape possible.

I yelped as I felt hands on my arms, yanking them painfully behind me. Eyes wide, I turned to face my assailant, but I suddenly wished I hadn't seen him, hadn't opened my eyes at all.

"Just as I thought. A Violet-Eyes." His voice was smooth, emotionless, terrifying. Positively frigid. I whimpered as I tried to pull away, but he was stronger than I. "Don't struggle. It will only make this more painful. I am alright with that, are you?" He asked, only a slight inflection in his tone giving me the hint that it was a sarcastic question. My brows knitted upwards, and I could already feel the round pearls coming to my eyes. I looked at him pathetically, knowing my attempt at gaining sympathy would return no gain, but trying none the less.

I was a bit surprised by his appearance, honestly. Most hunters that I had had the misfortune of seeing were big, bulky. But this man was slender, just a bit larger than me. However, what he lacked in brawn, I could tell he made up for with cunning. His indigo blue eyes were cold, wise, calculating. I looked away. He was, strangely, familiar. And that unsettled me to no end. But I could not quite place where I was getting this familiarity. I had never met him before; I was sure of that. But I couldn't shake the feeling.

He pulled on my arm, leading me in the direction I had come from. I tried again, in vain, to pull away. He kept going as if my struggling did not phase him. I wailed, fighting against his pull with all of my might. But, despite my large meal only moments earlier, my body was still weak from malnutrition, and I hadn't even the ghost of a chance. And I knew it.

How? How could I have been so utterly vapid? How could something, repeated to me countless times, be so easily forgotten? I knew better than to leave the designated areas. I chose to leave them anyway. I had done this. I had done this to myself. And I was going to die for it.

I gave up my struggle, going limp. The Hunter sighed, halting for a moment to wrap an arm around my waist, then he returned on his path. I wept, leaving a trail of pearls behind me, the only legacy I would ever leave. What a worthless thing.

But, fates be blessed, it seems that I was not the only hungry creature that day. My captor stopped yet again, this time cursing under his breath. I chanced a glance up, and, to my horror, came face to face with the one predator that strikes fear even in a Mer's heart. Well, I suppose that giant squids are also rather scary, but they are not very common. However, sharks are horribly common. And just horrible in general.

He seemed to be eying us just as I had the herring from earlier, predatory, desperate. I shivered, wondering how the Hunter planned to proceed. Would he throw me to the shark? That would give him time to escape and rid him of the responsibility of killing me. I could only hope that he hadn't managed to think of that.

They stared each other down for a time, then the shark went in for the kill, slicing through the water towards us. I shrieked, flinching, my eyes shut tight in preparation for the sharp teeth that were destined for my flesh. But the pain never came. After a moment, I opened my eyes, and found the shark below us. How the Hunter managed to avoid the lunge, I doubt I'd ever know, but I was thankful.

The shark, on the other hand, was nowhere near as pleased. He returned, lunging again, and again, and then, finally, one last time. With a loud shout of damnation, the Hunter shoved me away from himself, sending us both spiraling in opposite directions. The shark turned back around, but, to my fortune, decided that the other male looked tastier than I did. He went for him, and I watched with fascinated horror as the Hunter just barely dodged out of the way. I watched him do this twice before I realised that this was my chance. I turned and raced in the other direction, hoping to god the shark would keep him preoccupied.

Of course not.

"Get BACK here!" He shouted, and I spared only one glance to learn that he was following me, shark right behind him. I did my best to increase my speed, holding my arms tight to my sides, using all of the strength I had left in a mad dash to the caves. The safe caves, where Hunters couldn't get us. They didn't know where they were!

My brain came to the shattering conclusion that I could not return to the caves. If I did, this Hunter would know where ALL of the Violet-Eyes were hiding. Perhaps I would escape, but many others would die. That... Simply wasn't fair. I couldn't doom so many people because of my carelessness. Teeth gritted with resignation, I veered to the left and up. My only hope now was to get to shore and beach myself. Hopefully the Hunter wouldn't follow, and, if he did, hopefully the land would put him at enough of a disadvantage to let me escape.

I could see the light from the sun, cutting through the water like sharpened bones, illuminating my scales as I tore through the water at a speed I didn't even know I was capable of. A bit further and I could see a huge black mass, a wall, a cliff. That meant I was close. I swam towards it, planning to follow the line of it until it met with a beach. I was close enough to the wall that I could touch it if I reached my hand out, but I didn't dare. All I could do was beat my tail against the water, to pray silently for survival.

I could hear the Hunter behind me, the kicks of his tail creating a dissonance with mine. The shark had, at some point, given up; I did not hear him anymore. I didn't need to look back to know that the Mer was close. Just a moment longer, and he would be able to reach out and grab my tail, ensnare me once again, this time tearing me apart limb by limb, saving my eyes to show as proof to the king.

But my capture didn't come from behind. No. Much like the rock from earlier, I ran into something. Something invisible before, but now so very clear. A net. These god damned land creatures! They cannot even comprehend what they have done by placing this here! They have doomed me! I struggled, thrashing in a hopeless bid to free myself. But I was too tangled, too panicked. And it didn't matter, the hunter was upon me, his hands pulling at me harshly, trying to rip me from the net so he could rip me apart.

With nothing else to do, I tried to fight him off. I knew this was a fruitless effort, he had already proven to be stronger than me. But I had no other options, and the adrenaline was pumping too thickly through my veins for me to do nothing. I quickly learned that I had no idea what I was going. Where he would punch me, effectively knocking the breath from my chest, all I could do was try to mimic his movements, none of them succeeding in anything more than annoying him.

However, I finally seemed to land a good blow, one to his shoulder. He hissed, his hand coming up to hold the shoulder I had just hit. He glared at me, but backed up, ceasing his attacks for a moment. I panted, wondering if he would give up, but he didn't take his cold indigo eyes off of me, glaring at me steadily while he bit his lip, still nursing his shoulder. We stayed in this stand-still for several minutes, then he appeared to get his senses back, and he began trying to remove me from the netting, none too gently. I yelped, but was unable to escape from his hands.

But suddenly his hands were gone, and I was moving away from him. He didn't follow after me, only looked on with the inkling of surprise on his otherwise blank face. And then it dawned on me; I was going up, and I was in a net. Only a land creature would retrieve a net. And now, in retrospect, the Hunter didn't look as terrifying. I cried out, reviving my attempts to untangle myself from the netting, but I could barely move my arms at all, let alone methodically.

And all too soon I broke the surface of the water, gasping as I was dropped carelessly to the ground. I flailed, struggling against the woven ropes, screaming in fear and anguish, knowing I was not going to survive. And, for the second time that day, I resigned myself to my death, and went limp. I rolled over miserably, wanting to at least see my killer before he could kill me.

I shrunk back as I saw him, his face utterly terrifying. His brows furrowed as if angry, and perhaps he was. I had ruined his net. He was very imposing, much larger than I, and able to stand upright on those strange fins that land creatures have. I whimpered, cowering under his gaze. But he didn't make any move to kill me, as I had expected him to. He only stared.

This was not what I had been told. The only thing scarier than Hunters and Sharks were the land creatures. Even the Hunters feared them. All Mer feared them. When they first came through our waters in the strange hollowed-out trees, we were fooled by their familiar appearances. They had upper halves that looked like ours, and spoke similarly to the way we did. We were friendly, at first, and the land creatures returned the favor. They taught us their language, which we quickly took to- Our language was hard to speak out of the water, but theirs could be spoken both in and out. We traded with them often, usually our tears for food or sometimes for the strange objects that they crafted. We would keep them company on their voyages, help them when they asked, and guide them when their tools failed.

But then we sang for them. We Mer have a penchant for singing, it is our most beloved pastime. But, as we quickly learned, our singing enchanted land creatures. They could not sing as we did, and they have the most absurd desire to posses that the Mer had ever seen. The first time they heard us, everything was broken. They began to trap us, to drag us from our homes, to keep us locked away. They'd force us to sing, and threaten to kill us if we didn't. No Mer returned once they were taken.

We learned the hard way not to sing when humans were around. By that time, our population had dwindled, and we lived in fear. We stayed below water as much as possible, repopulated, and, after nearly two centuries, the land creatures seemed to have forgotten about us. We began resurfacing, singing to the animals, swimming near the shores again. This time, it wasn't our voices that attracted the land creatures, but our tears. Once caught, most Mer cried, and land creatures place a high value on Mer tears. Pearls are precious stones to them. And that is when the real torture began. Where the previous generation had only threatened death, this one prodded with sticks, with shiny, sharpened rocks, drew blood, made us scream, cry, cry out every last pearl until we died of blood loss or shock.

Again, we went into hiding. We had learned that we would never be able to coexist with the land creatures. They were too cruel, too powerful. And, now, they have advanced. They create things that move on their own, huge vessels made of shiny rocks, sticks that send out small stones that can go straight through the thickest body.

And there I was, tangled up in the net of a particularly large one, unable to move or defend myself. I tried to shrink back, to somehow throw myself back into the water. Even death from a Hunter was favorable compared to torture at the hands of a land creature. I quickly learned that there was no way I was going to make it back over the edge. I managed to get rather close, but the land creature pulled me back towards him. I whined lowly as he did, trying to grab at the ground, but could not find anything to hold. When I was close enough for him to touch me, I tried to kick, to thrash, to do anything so that he couldn't come near me. If I could knock him off his balance, perhaps I could drag myself back to the edge. I had to at least try. But, instead of falling, like I had hoped, he squatted down, giving him a stronger stance, which pretty much ruined my plan.

"Calm down." He said, almost in a cooing voice. I blinked, pausing in my struggles. "Ah'm no' gonna hur' ya." He promised. His way of speaking was different... It was similar to the way a Mer that comes from far away will mispronounce things. Did that mean that he was from far away? Or was I the one that had come far?

But that wasn't the important part. He wasn't going to hurt me? Was he joking? I did not find it very humorous. Still, in his defense, there were no weapons around that I could see. And, his face aside, he did not seem very threatening. And, anyway, struggling had already proven fruitless for me, so why bother anymore? I went slack, deciding it was a better bet.

We were both still for a moment, and he simply observed me. Then he moved his hands towards me slowly, cautiously. I still flinched. He drew back when I did, waited until my breathing returned to normal, then moved towards me again. He took the netting in his hands and began the painstaking task of untangling me from it. First an arm, then a fin, and finally, after what seemed like hours, I was free. He stepped back after freeing me, dropping the net to the ground at his side. I followed it with my eyes, then quickly snapped them back to his face. Just as slowly as he had moved, I propped myself up, making it easier for me to watch him.

He moved one of his arms, and I was quick to react, backing myself up towards the edge of the pinnacle. He froze, as did I, then he lifted his hands up till they were level with his head, palms out and fingers extended, showing me that he didn't have anything nor any intention of harming me. I relaxed a bit at that, letting my posture slacken just a bit. After a small staring contest, he lowered himself gently to the ground, sitting. And he continued to sit for what must have been at least an hour, watching me watch him.

I eventually deduced that he really wasn't going to hurt me. Probably. Why bother with calming my fears of him if he was only going to reinstill them moments later? I let my body move, finally, relieving the pressure on my wrists. I rolled until I was laying on my stomach, resting my chin on my folded hands. And the staring continued.

Now that he was not, at least at the moment, a threat to my life, I realised how lucky I was. Had he not lifted me out of the water when he did, I would surely be dead now. The hunter, unlike this land creature, WAS out for my blood. So, in a way, (A very scary, traumatizing way) he saved me. So I guess, in a way, I sort of owed him.

I blinked, wondering if I was really going to do this. After a short mental debate, I gritted my teeth, and began to drag myself in the opposite direction from before, towards the land creature. He seemed surprised, but didn't make any movements. It took me a while to make it all the way over, but finally I was close enough to touch him.

I reached out, touching my hand to his face, feeling the texture of it for a moment. It was so different from my own skin, slightly prickly with hairs that land creatures somehow grew on their faces. The only place we Mer could grow hair was on our heads. But land creatures grew it most everywhere. Still, it wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

He hesitated, then lifted his hand up to rest on top of mine. I did my best, and managed not to flinch away. I looked up into his eyes, lovely sea blue eyes, ones that reminded me so perfectly of home, I could practically feel myself swimming in their depths.

"Beautiful..." He breathed, his eyes never once leaving mine. Beautiful? I was beautiful? Perhaps the rest of me, but not my eyes. Such cursed features are unfavorable, unlovable, ugly. But that is what he was staring at as he whispered the compliment, so what else could he mean? He blinked, looked me over as if seeing me for the first time. "...Ya're beautiful." He repeated, his breath ghosting across my face. Again, we were motionless. Then, suddenly, he stood. I yelped, falling over backwards in my attempt to get away from him. Oh, I knew it was a bad idea, getting that close! Now he was going to capture me, lock me up, and torture me until I had cried all of my tears, then he'd kill me!

I gasped as he hefted me up by the waist with a grunt, carrying me exactly as the Hunter had, though with a lot more effort it seemed. Weight worked differently above the water. I shrieked, trying to push myself out of his grasp, but he held tightly. He moved forward, one step at a time, towards the edge. I paused in my struggle, wondering what he was thinking, and then it dawned on me. He was going to return me to the ocean. Oh, good man, I thought, readjusting myself to make it a bit easier for him to carry me. We were at the edge, only about a foot more and he would fall off, and he stopped. Using his other hand, he held me out over the side, letting me go slowly, tail first.

It then dawned on me; the Hunter would be waiting, lurking in the water nearby just in case this human DID decide to do EXACTLY what he was doing. My eyes widened, and, sudden course of fear giving me strength, I grabbed onto his arms. He seemed startled as I scrambled, pulling at him in a bid to get back on solid ground. Seeming to catch on he, with much effort, managed to get an arm under my tail and heaved me back up, falling over backwards with the effort. He landed on his bottom, but held on to me tightly, making sure I didn't fall. I clung to him, shivering, only then realising how close I had just come, for the third time that day, to dying.

It didn't even matter to me anymore that this was a potentially deadly land creature; I wanted to be held, wanted to be protected. I was tired of having to fight for survival. Just once, I wanted someone to take care of me. And so I clung, shook, whimpered. And he, for whatever reason, held me, stroked my hair, consoled me quietly with gentle words. When I had calmed down enough, I began to explain to him why I couldn't go back. He got quite a start when I began speaking. Apparently, he hadn't thought I could speak his language.

I told him of the Hunters, told him of the Violet-Eyes, explained why I had ventured out of safety, recounted the chase I had just narrowly escaped thanks to him. And then I was quiet, still, coddled against his chest, listening to his heart beating softly, letting his body warm mine. We stayed there for a time, and then he stood, took off his outermost layer of clothing, and wrapped it around me, making sure my tail was covered. And I found myself in his arms again, cradled affectionately, and he walked, carrying me, all the way through a forest, a large village, and finally into a small home, crafted of wood that had been cut and then stacked together.

Once inside he removed the clothing from my body, and brought me to a small room in the house. There was a hollow, bowl-like structure there, and he turned something, making water come out of a spout of sorts. Once it had filled, he sat me in it, letting me lay in the warm water. He turned to a small, shiny box a ways away, and did some things with his fingers before returning to my side.

"The water will stay warm. If ya nee' anythin', jus' yell for me." He instructed quietly, petting my hair. I nodded, giving him a small smile. He got up to leave, but I grabbed his hand before he could.

"Thank you." I said, squeezing just a bit. "And I am Tino." I added on, remembering that we had not yet exchanged names. He squeezed my hand back.

"Berwald." He replied, letting my hand go and leaving the room. He left the door open, and I watched him retreat down a hallway and turn a corner. A pause, and then a small click sound that told me he had closed a door. I waited, then turned my eyes to the top of the room instead, looking at it as if hoping it would tell me a story, or that perhaps my imagination could take over and give me a few moments of bliss. But no such luck. I sighed, closing my cursed eyes, and did my best to relax in the white stone basin of warm, saltless water.

A/N: Alright, the votes came in, and you guys asked for a new story, prewritten or not. I'm going to warn you: I've only got two more chapters written, and then you're subject to hectic update schedules. But I'm sure my followers are used to that by now, huh?

Well, I hope you liked it! I stepped back a little from the real!AU and threw some fantasy in there. For those that didn't see my post about it, this story takes place in modern times. Usually, when you find a story containing mermaids or fairies or elves, the author takes the setting back to somewhere around the medieval period. The only creatures that seem to make it to the modern day are Vamps and Werewolves. So I'd like to give Mer a shot in the modern world!

As you might have noticed, Tino has a more... Refined way of speaking in this story. I'm not sure if it came across, but I'm trying to imply that the Mer, especially the Violet-Eyes, are a little behind the times. They aren't exposed to the slang and ever changing language of humans, so they work with the most recent words they know. And, seeing as they've been avoiding humans for the most part, their vocabulary is a little archaic. It'll get better as Tino learns more about the human world.
I know that some of the things that Tino talks about are a little unclear or confusing: fret not! I promise that all will be explained in due time. I really like the story to be from his point of view, as if you were seeing into his thoughts. I don't explain my thoughts to myself, so why should he? But don't worry, he'll get around to it eventually.
Now for something entirely unrelated: I'm wondering if anyone would be interested in reading an original story written by me? I've been working on it here and there since I visited Japan, and I've really grown to love my characters, but I worry that I'm wasting my time on a story that only I would ever read. Just so you can get a little more info on it: It's based loosely on my trip to Japan, so you would learn a lot about the country and the Tsunami by reading it. It'd be BL, of course! Let me know what you guys think!
So, those that follow me are used to hearing this by now, but I have two ask pages, one where I answer with a picture that I draw and one where I answer with text. If you have any questions for me or the characters, feel free to ask. The drawn answers are on deviantart, and the text answers are on tumblr. You can find links to those in my profile! I've also got an account on Archive of Our Own, linked in my profile, where you can check out some of my more "explicit" stories. (Like the NorFin that fanfiction deleted...)

Alright, off I go to do some more writing! I've got to get lots done before I head out for Canada in October! See you guys next chapter, I hope! Reviews are always appreciated!

KuroRiya

九六りや