Suspicious Seaweed - 3. Yellow Scales

The following morning, I stealthily left the caverns, my heart pounding with fierce determination not to let Balar interfere with my time with Griffin. I sped past the bay root and reeds, my anticipation building with every stroke until I arrived at the spot where I hoped to find him.

At first, I saw no one. But then, a sudden movement behind a boulder just beyond the brackish water barrier caught my attention. As Griffin swam over to the edge of the barrier, I was taken aback. In the lighter waters of daylight, I could see him more clearly, and I marveled at how well-defined he was. I had no doubt that someone with Griffin's physique could easily make short work of a bully like Balar.

"Peter," Griffin greeted me with a broad, warm grin, making my heart skip a beat again. I couldn't help but feel that I was developing a secret crush; barrier be damned.

"A bag?" I asked, noticing the woven bag Griffin carried across his shoulder.

"This is for you," he said.

My green eyes widened as Griffin held something through the barrier. When I reached in to take it, my hand emerged with a long, pale green oval stone that was sharper on one end. The slim design reminded me of a hair stick. This stone, a gift from Griffin, would come to symbolize our friendship and my growing courage.

"We use it as both a projectile with handheld slingshots and to write with," Griffin explained. "The color reminded me of you—ah, of your eyes, I mean."

"Thank you!" I responded with a bright smile. I immediately tested the sharper end of the stone, drawing patterns on the ground. As I continued to draw, I asked, "Is it true that Angelfish are your leaders?"

The smile on Griffin's face fell. "Angelfish are our line of Royals, yes."

"Do you not like them?"

"I used to work for them."

"Used to?"

"I used to be one of the queen's royal guards," Griffin explained, his voice heavy with the weight of his past. "She favored me so greatly I was shunned by my fellow guards."

"Jealousy?"

Griffin nodded. "The advances she made towards me were not appropriate. But, even my admitting I was of a different persuasion fell on deaf ears."

"So, you left?" I asked, my tone far happier than I had meant to be. My spirits lifted when Griffin admitted he preferred his gender.

Griffin nodded. "No one supported me or even believed I would quicker take a male for a partner over the queen. I've been searching for a more inclusive clan to join ever since."

We were the same in that regard, and the revelation did nothing to deter my budding feelings from growing. At least, until I remembered we were two different types of mermen separated by a barrier of brackish water in which neither of us could survive for long. I began to pout again.

"Why did you leave so suddenly last night?" Griffin asked.

I glanced to my left and right before leaning closer to the barrier. "My blue coloring triggers a blue-finned betta to attack me every time we cross paths. I'm afraid one day we'll end up locked in combat."

"You've tried talking things out?"

"There is no talking to Balar," I admitted. "Only brute force can get through to him, and it's something I severely lack."

"I could teach you how to fight back if you'll allow me to," Griffin offered.

I reached right into the brackish water with my free hand to hold one of Griffin's in gratitude. "You would? Oh, please do. I'd be so grateful—"

Suddenly, a blue blur dove down right into me from above. The attack knocked the sharp stone right out of my hand. Balar began to pluck the scales off my tail. Helpless, I tried to push him away, but the assault continued, one scale after another, leaving me feeling powerless. "Balar, stop it!" I cried out as I thrashed beneath his rough hold.

For the briefest of moments, Balar did stop. I had never seen such fury in the other male's red eyes. The blue-finned betta leaned down. "You go and touch a stranger so easily?" Balar growled, his voice filled with a mix of jealousy and rage.

He let out a hiss when a stone pelted his shoulder. But Balar didn't immediately retreat; instead, he glared at the gramma basslet through the brackish barrier. With a deliberate motion, he ripped another scale off, and I let out a whimper of pain and shame before he finally moved away.

When I finally got a good look at myself, I noticed that all of my yellow scales were gone. It struck me as strange—why had Balar targeted the yellow and not the blue? If the pain hadn't begun to radiate up the rest of my tail, I might have questioned him about it.

Balar tightened his grip on the bloody scales in his hand, a symbol of his victory over me. His gaze wasn't even on me; it was fixed on Griffin, the lavender merman on the other side. I noticed the determined look in Griffin's eyes as he kept swinging a sling with a new stone over his head, ready to defend me again.

"Odious outsider," Balar hissed as he finally left the area.

"Why is he such an asshole?" I wailed, inspecting the damage. All of the yellow scales in my colored segments were gone. I would've given more thought to the odd choice if it weren't for the gentle hand I felt on my shoulder. When I looked over, Griffin was holding his breath, most of his torso submerged in the brackish water.

"Griffin, that's dangerous!" I chided as I took hold of his upper arms and quickly shoved him back to his side of the barrier. "Don't risk your life to comfort me."

His jaw was tense, but he covered one of my hands with his own, as delicately as he'd touch a newborn. "I've heard those words spoken by my father, and it still resulted in his death," he confessed. "This time, that blue-finned betta stopped. What happens next time if he doesn't?"

"I've managed to avoid him thus far…"

Griffin moved away from me in frustration. "And here he caught you this time. Peter, we need a new place to meet so that I can train you to fight back. He's already aware of this area."

"Right," I agreed. "I was careless for him to have found me so easily." I glanced to the side. "How far down does the barrier go?"

"It leads all the way to one of Maren's temples and fans out into a larger brackish water pocket," Griffin admitted. "I couldn't go anywhere near it, but I found it while searching for other clans."

"Then we can train somewhere near there," I suggested.

"We'll make that sea snake think twice before ever messing with you again," Griffin declared, his unwavering determination shining through.

I could feel my eagerness to start training bubbling up as I asked, "How soon can we start?"