@weightless-grasp from here: [ask]
“… Well, they have every right to be, after all…”
Contrary to the thought they she may be implying how humans feared the unknown, Yuu just brought a hand to her throat before somberly turning tail to make more distance from the ship. In a way, it wasn’t that the scaleless were afraid of what they didn’t know of merfolk that made them react hysterically just now. In fact, she was pretty sure it’s because of what they did know of them. Well, most of them, at least.
Not all merfolk were capable of manipulating the weather through song, or luring the humans to their demise with temptation. Yuu wasn’t exactly very good at deciphering their minds, for one. She didn’t even like wrecking havoc, or being the ‘harbinger of death’ like most humans depicted sirens to be. All she wanted was to live in peace, maybe even find a place to call her own home. It’s not an easy feat when her ideal ‘home’ would keep itself too close to human territory, though. The scaleless just had to be everywhere. They just had to be cocky about their capabilities, too…
But, well, that was besides the point now. Those humans have already begun hauling up the school of fish the two mer were just about to feast on, so it’s a loss for them that they’ll have to take. Trying to nab them back would only make the scaleless retaliate, and dealing with that was the last thing that Yuu wanted to even try.
“We’ll just have to hunt another school somewhere out there,” she solemnly sighed. “It’s been getting harder as of late with the seasons changing, but it’s better than dealing with the humans…”
Yamikumo’s eyes remained fixated on the ship, even as Yuu began to swim away. This was ridiculous, they were the ones who were originally hunting those fish. If they hadn’t driven the school so close to the ship, the scaleless wouldn’t be pulling up that haul in the first place, and now the scaleless had the gall to point those harpoons at them.
The scaleless were pulling up their net pretty slowly. Without a word, Yamikumo ducked under the water.
His dark scales masked him perfectly under the dark surface of the water, hiding him from the scaleless and their harpoons. Rocketing through the water, he aimed for the fishing net, full to bursting, and then with a loud splash he leaped from the water.
Above, Yamikumo could hear the voices of the scaleless as they reacted to the sound, but as he latched onto the bottom of the net, he was fully hidden from view by the massive haul of fish. Dangling from the net with one hand, he reached through the mesh and dug his claws into a fat, cold, writhing mass of flesh. He pulled the fish, still flapping for oxygen and freedom, out of the net and then bit into it, holding it with his teeth, and then reached into the net for another one. The net was still rising. He could just see the glow of the scaless’s lights along the bottom of the net. Claws dug into a second fish and then he let go, falling through the air and then landing in the water with another loud splash.
Blood trailing in the water behind him, Yamikumo swiftly returned to Yuu’s side with his prizes, offering the one in his hands to her.
