Qu Wren collapsed to the ground. The waves lapped against him, cooling down his body further. "h—how.... can he? It's not possible. That roc is a very cruel beast," he mumbled softly with a look of disbelief.
"Wren, people change. Sometime for good. I think your friend might be a good influence on that roc." The Mer whispered, patting his trembling shoulders.
"Did he say where he was going?" he expectedly looked that her but sadly the Mer shook her head.
"He did not. I believe they did not plan this move."
Qu Wren crumbled down even more. "How can I find him now? What if something happened? I..."
"Just trust your friend. It looked like everything was under control," the black-haired Mer sat next to him. Her long black tail flopped in front of her with each upcoming wave.
He peered at it. "I thought Mers left this place,"
"No, we were captured by roc as a punishment,"
Wren swiftly turned towards her in shock. "I knew it! He is a cruel man!!"
But she just chuckled softly. "He is, but not as cruel as expected. He did not hurt us or do anything bad to us. We were kept in a small bowl for a few days, that's all,"
"That's still a bad thing. How can you still talk kindly about him?" he looked at her in disbelief.
"well.... because we have wronged the roc too. We unfairly attacked him. He got mortally wounded. If it was any other beast, it could have died, but Hua Ro has a great vitality. This was his revenge." The Mer took a fist full of wet sand in her hand and let it drip into the water. "By the way I'm jia,"
"Qu Wren," he smiled at her.
"Mister Wren!!!!" a loud shout startled them both. A small boat drifted close.
"Gasp humans! Let's swim away." Jia caught his hands and swam towards the deeper parts of the ocean.
"Wait, wait a bit." Wren was suddenly pulled underwater.
Seeing this, the phoenix panicked.
"Chirp!!!!!" Feng Mian shouted aloud. 'Who is kidnapping my oyster!! Come out!!!' his powers were not restored after that last outburst. Now he was just a helpless baby bird without wings.
He climbed onto the edge of the boat and anxiously glanced in.
'He will come back, right? Or will he just swim away.… that Mer looked pretty. Aghhh!!!!!! I can't accept this at all!!' without a second thought he jumped into the ocean.
The water swept him easily away. His small body got pulled in. he anxiously tried to wade through it with his naked wings.
"Birdie!!" Moroko saw this from his hind sight. He swiftly jumped in as well.
Witnessing this, Han Su cussed aloud. "Moroko darn it," he tossed the ore into the boat and jumped in as well.
Moroko dunked under swiftly and caught the little birdie safely in his hands. The bird was unstably swimming. It was flipping his featherless wings as it swam underwater.
Suddenly, a hand caught his midriff.
Gasping out a bunch of bubbles, he glanced back. His father was holding him tightly. He showed his thumbs up, gesturing that they were going up.
Moroko nodded.
Han Su swam up with ease.
They both surfaced, gasping and panting. "What were you thinking!!" Han Su hugged his wet son tightly.
"I'm good dad, I can hold breath underwater you know." He held the baby bird up and swam closer to the boat. He placed it inside carefully. "What about mister Wren? That Mer took him,"
"I think we might have spooked her a bit," Han Su climbed into the boat with ease. Eh swiftly took out a rag from under the supplies area and handed it to his son. "Mister Wren will come back. Let's wait for him,"
"I hope so." Moroko wrapped the bird in it and gently wiped it.
Feng Mian, who was being cleaned by a dirty rag, shuddered. He jumped out and anxiously looked into the ocean. 'Where is he.....?' the waters were calm without even a single wave. His mood dropped low. 'Did he just leave....'
An unknown amount of sadness gushed into his soul. He slumped into the boat.
Moroko swiftly caught him and placed him on the rag. "Don't fret, mister Wren will come back. Let's just trust him,"
Feng Mian glanced up. 'I do not have the confidence this little kid had, ah. He is right Wren will come back.'
He slowly sat up straight. 'Yeah, who can steal something from me? That mer... it looked liked Jia. I will go to Matilda and tell her to find her. Then Wren will come back. He will...'
While the others were waiting on the boat, Wren was busy trying to pull away from the Mer's hold. He did not want to hurt her delicate wrist.
His full body was submerged in warm waters. He swiftly swam behind her. The black tail slightly slapped his body.
Jia pulled him into the darker waters and into the sea grass Forest. The smaller plants clung to him as he passed by them. "We are safe here. Those humans will pass soon..I hope."
"ummm it might be late to say this, but those humans are my friends." Wren awkwardly gestured to his hand, that was still in her clutch.
Jia let go of him. "Humans as Friends? That's not possible at all. They hate us beasts and treat us like hunting animals."
"No, it's the truth. They helped me so kindly when I was stuck in a human town. They even helped a wounded mer."
"Wounded Mer!!" Jia caught his shoulders tightly. "How did she look? Did you get her name?"
"I don't know her name. But she had white hair and tail. Do you know her?"
The Mer in front of him stiffened up visibly. "that is my mate!"