#merskeletons

Every part of Blue’s body ached as it chafed against the pebbles and sand, scraped by the surf breaking on the beach. The current had carried his near lifeless form far away from the shoal where he and his brother were ambushed all the way to the shoreline. He had no sure way to tell time, but the journey was at least a week. 

At first he had tried to resist, to swim against the current. Now he couldn’t even do that. His once vibrant and strong tail was ragged with malnutrition and infected bite marks where the ecto had been torn out by his attackers.

Blue wished that he would dust already.

His brother was dead. Their home was stolen. There was nothing left for him, but his soul refused to burst. It still dimly shone with desperate hope that kept Blue alive.

Every wave brought dull agony as his bones ground against the stony beach. Maybe instead of dusting he’d be worn down into sand. It could almost be peaceful. Blue hadn’t spent much time considering his death before this, but he had never thought it would be so drawn out and lonely.

He couldn’t even see anything. His eyelights had gone out as his body’s last ditch attempt to conserve what little magic he had left. So he could only hear the crunch of slowly approaching footsteps.

The stranger kneeled next to him in the shallow water. Blue let out a stifled whimper as big phalanges cupped his face. His skull was turned back and forth like he was being studied. The landlegs skeleton’s breath was labored and hands unsteady.

Usually Blue would be terrified to be seen by a landlegs. Mers were hunted and kidnapped to be either eaten or put on display by those who lived above the ocean. That didn’t matter though. He was so near death. He was beyond fear.

Or so he thought.

The other sniffed, catching the scent of Blue’s rotting flesh. Hot breath ghosted over his exposed ribcage and then moved lower down to his tail. Teeth scraped against his scales.

Blue convulsed and let out a distressed gurgle. His tail flopped uselessly. He didn’t want to be eaten!

What could only be a large hot tongue laved over one of the bitemarks, dipping into the wound. Pain sparked through his entire body. His soul emitted a desperate pulse of magic, the very last of his reserve. It was just enough to briefly illuminate his eyelights.

A large skeleton in a worn and patched jacket hulked over Blue. The stranger’s mouth hung open above his tail, exposing yellowing, uneven teeth and a red salivating tongue. He grunted as Blue twisted under him unexpectedly.

Blue swiped at the monster’s single bulging eye with the last of his strength. His survival instincts activated due to the threat even though he wanted to dust. This isn’t how he wanted to die!

A rough hand caught his wrist before his claws could connect. Blue’s growls turned to sobs as the monster pulled his hand towards his mouth. The skeleton breathed in deeply as a crooked smile spread over his face.

That was the last thing Blue saw. His eyelights flickered out, magic spent. There was no escape. His consciousness faded away as the monster muttered a single word in a gruff low voice.

“Pretty…”

-

It was warm. That was the first thing Blue felt. The next was the clinking of his bones against a smooth surface that surrounded him. His whole body was submerged in shallow water. It was relaxing, like when he napped near a sea vent. The vibrations of voices in the distance disturbed the peacefulness.

Blue sighed. Bubbles rose from his mouth. His eyelights were still extinguished. He was so tired. It was tempting to drift off into sleep again.

The vibrations grew louder. Blue reluctantly lifted his head above the water. There were two voices and one sounded upset.

“Horror, what are we supposed to do with it?! You’re barely finding enough food for the two of us.” The voice was seething and unfamiliar.

“Don’t be mad, sweetheart. If you don’t want it, we can eat it instead.” The gruff voice of the monster from the beach huffed back with amusement.

Blue was not fluent in landlegs’ language but he knew enough to get the gist of what he’d heard. Blue’s soul thumped nervously. It wasn’t safe here.

He began to twist and flop his tail, testing if he could make it up over the edge of the container they’d put him in. Water sloshed over the sides, splashing the ground and the creature who had just entered the room.

It squawked in surprise. Something clattered against the floor and then Blue heard the clack of bones on tile. He clung to the slippery wet surface of his prison, unable to lift himself out of it.

“Dust!” The large skeleton grunted in distress. “Are you hurt?”

The skeleton who had fallen, Dust, moaned. He sounded more frustrated than pained. Blue bared his teeth in their direction and hissed in warning.

“I hate these stupid fucking crutches. I hate this stupid fucking house. And I hate this stupid fucking rabid sea snake that you picked out of the trash.” Dust spat.

“I don’t think it’s a snake. Looks more like a fishy.” Horror said. Horror’s slow footsteps splashed through the water on the floor. “Come here, love.”

“Well it’s hissing like one.” Dust grumbled. Then he shrieked in protest. “Let me down!”

“It’s too wet, you’ll slip.” Horror carried a squirming Dust toward Blue, but paused before they were within swiping distance. “No biting, Fishy. Unless you don’t mind me biting back.”

Blue shrunk back down into the water, until just his empty eye sockets were above the water. Horror sat Dust down on the edge of the container. They all stayed there for a long moment, unmoving. Blue assumed they were looking at him.

“It’s in bad shape. Even if we did eat it, it would probably make us sick.” Dust said dejectedly. “Tell me why you really brought this stinky fish all the way here.”

Horror shuffled closer. The rough hand that Blue had felt before stroked over the top of his skull. He shuddered. The sensation was soothing despite the danger. It was cruel that they would play with their food like this.

“It’s pretty. You like pretty things.” Horror voice was soft. Magic spread through his palm, warming his touch. Blue’s soul sucked up each drop like a dried out piece of kelp.

“I know it’s been hard. Not being able to hunt with me. Thought you could use some company.”

“What? Like a pet?” Dust scoffed.

“Not pet,” Blue interjected. It was much more difficult to speak their language since he hadn’t had any practice. His voice sounded different above the water, less sonorous and higher pitched.

“Not eat. Put back.” Blue continued. He had nothing to lose. Maybe they didn’t know that he was a sapient monster like them.

“So it can talk, hm?” Dust asked.

“Not it! Put back.” Blue demanded. His voice was louder than he meant it to be. Horror’s magic jump started his soul and, with an audible pop, his eyelights returned. They sparkled bright blue with renewed energy.

“Pretty.” Horror crooned. Blue used his sight to snap at his hand in retaliation. The big skeleton just laughed and pulled back. “Feisty.”

“Ugh. If you think it’s so pretty it can be your pet.” Dust sniped.

Blue finally got his first look at Dust. The small skeleton balanced on the edge of the shiny white container that held Blue. While Horror was bulky, Dust was lithe. He had an aloof expression and his bones looked brittle. He wore a hoodie that had once been blue, but now was faded near grey. It was soaking wet.

Blue grinned at the evidence of his small victory. If he were healthy he could’ve taken them both. He was a strong warrior and magnificent protector of his pod!

He was.

The sudden surge of energy left him just as quickly as it had come. His pod was gone, either killed or forcibly assimilated by the attackers that had taken their territory. His tail was mauled and rotting. There was nothing magnificent about him anymore.

“Put back.” Blue whispered. Tired tears gathering at the corners of his eye sockets. He just wanted to go back to the ocean and spread his dust there instead of in this strange unfamiliar place.

“Awww, is the guppy going to cry?” Dust smirked. His arms crossed haughty across his thin chest. 

Horror rolled his eye at Dust’s cattiness and addressed Blue instead, “What’s your name, pretty?”

Blue gulped back the tears. His name was a series of trills and clicks that would sound wrong spoken into the air. When sung underwater, a mer would know that he was named for the bright sun beams that pierced into the ocean depths, creating luminous motes of bright blue water. It was the name he was given when he became a warrior for his pod.

“Blue.” It was a poor translation, but the best he could do.

“Maybe we should put it back,” Dust hummed. “It will dust soon enough on its own.”

“Yes!” Blue nodded his skull in agreement. “Put back. Dust soon.”

Dust blinked in surprise. Horror froze. Blue stared up at them with pleading eyelights.

“Maybe it don’t really understand us?” Horror said uncertainly.

“Put back. Dust soon.” Blue repeated. If they didn’t want him, they should put him back!

“No, the guppy understands us.” Dust pronounced. His eyelights flared in his dark sockets, both searing red. The right one had a ring of cobalt blue circled around the pupil.

“Do you want to die?” Dust asked. The room hummed with magic that burned like ozone. “Because I can make that happen. It’d save us all a lot of trouble.”

Horror grumbled in displeasure, but didn’t intervene. Blue held Dust’s sharp stare. Those cold eyelights judged him, looked down on his plea to die. Dust thought he was pathetic. It stirred something in Blue’s soul. He wasn’t a coward. That wasn’t it!

He was just so tired… His eyelights and consciousness faded away, leaving Dust’s question unanswered. The tears Blue had held back ran down his cheekbones as he slumped back into the water.

Dust sighed and let his magic dissipate.

“...So are we keeping ‘im?” Horror asked, sounding sheepish for such a large monster.

Dust threw up his hands in disgust. “Fine! If he doesn’t dust in the night, he can stay. But he’s your pet. Do you understand?”

Horror purred deep from his ribcage and picked up Dust from the edge of the tube. He carried the smaller skeleton out of the bathroom. Instead of protesting, Dust deflated against his chest. The crutches were left abandoned on the floor. 

Dust’s left leg dangled in its cast. It had been a month but the broken femur bone was only just knitting itself back together. They’d been on the run for most of that time so it wasn’t healing as well as it should.

“Thank you, love Just wanna take care of you. I don’t like leaving you alone for so long either.” Horror squeezed Dust tenderly.

“I don’t need company, H. I just need to hunt again, that’s all.” Dust murmured. Eye sockets feeling heavy after summoning so much magic unintentionally.

Horror took them into the bedroom they had claimed as their own. The blankets and pillows were piled on top of the mattress like a nest. It was to keep Dust from falling out of bed since he was a restless sleeper.

Horror tucked them in. His magic felt hollow with hunger, but he didn’t mention it. Instead Horror held Dust close and soothed him to sleep with the magic that he had left. The strain left Horror exhausted and he passed out beside his partner. 

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