Chapter Text
“You guys thinking what I’m thinking?”
The leaders glanced curiously at Blackstar, only to be greeted with a huge splash when the tall man jumped into the lake. Onestar spluttered furiously, wiping water from his eyes.
“H-hey!”
“Ooh, tag does sound fun!” Firestar backed a yard away from the lake before hopping in as well. “GERONIMO!”
Mistystar soon followed, slipping into the water at a much slower pace, savoring her transformation. Blue shimmering scales slid from her skin, growing larger as they climbed up her hips and legs. Her shorts and shirt were abandoned on shore as she shoved out from the collection of rocks with her large tail. Onestar bit back a whine when his scales slid out of his skin, his legs bound tight by them as they morphed into a large brown-scaled tail and fins. He begrudgingly flopped into the lake after the rest of the leaders.
Blackstar and Firestar were already splashing each other, letting out little chirps and screeches of laughter. Mistystar lazily floated in the setting sunlight, a little smile lighting her face.
“It’s so peaceful…” She sighed out blissfully, ignoring the furious portions of water flying in the air. “Look at that golden sun…”
Onestar trailed her gaze to the bright ball of fire sinking down over the bed of water. The sun and the water bounced light into his slitted pupils, and he shuddered, sinking below the gentle waves. He curled his largest fin to his nose, observing the transparent peanut brown fin at the end of his dull tail. The large fin had rounded edges, with a wavy sort of pattern that swooped up then dipped down, ending in a little point in the center. His ear fins twitched, and he recoiled when Blackstar shoved Firestar into the water, laughing up bubbles.
“You’re it!” Blackstar’s yellow eyes were glowing playfully, short black curls swaying around his face.
The Shadowclan leader powered through the water, sharp fins sizzling through the bubbles drifting up from the lake bottom. Firestar growled, giving pursuit, twisting and turning through the sun-touched waters to bowl into the larger merman. In one particular spot where the sun’s rays broke through the tiny waves, the entirety of the Thunderclan leader blazed like fire, even his neon orange curls. Mistystar had dipped below the water at this point as well, still relaxing, gorgeous blue scales reflecting the water and the sun, giving her already shimmering scales a beautiful golden tint. Her fins glided with the golden water as if she and the ocean were one.
Even Blackstar’s black fins and scales were glimmering with gold, shiny and polished, sort of like… a fancy dress shoe.
Onestar glanced back down at his own dull, brown, round fins and scales with the tiniest pout. Why did his mermaid form have to be the most boring one? He sighed, curling up into a ball. Was it fair? …If he were to be completely honest, probably.
“Onesie!”
Fireheart zipped over to the Windclan leader, emerald eyes glowing in excitement.
“Do you want to play with us?” The ginger asked, circling over Onestar’s head. “Come on! Blackie’s it now!”
Firestar stopped circling the brunet when he noticed the brunet’s glum expression.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Firestar poked Onestar curiously. “You’re acting real funny tonight…”
“Yeah, Fire has a point,” Blackstar swam over, tapping Firestar’s shoulder smugly. “This is one of the few nights we can just come out, be in the water, play a little… you should be enjoying this a lot!”
“I guess so…” The Windclan leader sighed deeply, looking away from the three other leaders.
“Oh, lovely,” Mistystar floated above them all, blue-gray hair flowing under her back. “Whiskers, you could’ve just told us that you were having the blues today.”
“OH…” Blackstar backed away. “Okay, this is the part where I drop out. I’m not dealing with any emotional stuff on my free night…”
“You can talk to me and Misty, Onesie,” Firestar slid in beside him on the cluster of rocks, tail overlapping Onestar’s. “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing…” Onestar mumbled, letting out a huge outtake of pouty bubbles.
“Onesie…” Firestar egged him, pawing at his side with a hand.
“It’s stupid…”
“No, it’s not.” Mistystar soothingly assured the short merman.
“Well… do y’all think that I look… boring?”
Firestar and Mistystar circled in front of Onestar, observing the brunet closely. The Thunderclan leader let out a sudden gasp after scrutinizing his friend for a few moments.
“I know! You look like one of those Twoleg things!” His emerald eyes brightened. “That’s it! You look almost like a donut!”
“Wait a minute… HE DOES!” Mistystar gasped, manipulating the water beside her to flow in the shape of a doughnut – she held it up to compare to Onestar. “Whoa!”
“I don’t look like a doughnut!” Onestar screeched when his friends squished him in a hug.
“Oh yeah, he kind of does,” Blackstar remarked, doing backflips over to them. “Look, he’s all soft like one-”
“Now I’m really going to get all of you…” But Onestar didn’t complain when he was squished even tighter. “But do I still look boring?”
“Onesie, ya never looked boring!” Firestar grinned at him, nuzzling his friend’s ear fin. “I think you look cute.”
“Yeah… most merpeople look majestic and fancy and stuff but you… you’re simple. It fits you.” Blackstar drifted down on top of them, joining the mermaid pile. “Ooh, you are soft…”
“He is…” Mistystar sighed, putting her cheek on Onestar’s shoulder.
The Windclan leader sighed, and closed his eyes. Stars, did it even matter how he looked this way? It was just nice to be in the water… be with people who understood him in this form… slowly, he started the hum in his tenor. A low, sweet, melodic rumble in his throat, something like a purr, but much more musical. It moved on to Mistystar, her soft soprano added a note of brightness to the music, then Firestar hopped into the song with his alto, and finally Blackstar rumbled into the mix with his bass. The glorious hum lasted until a pair of fingers danced along Onestar’s tail.
Onestar opened his eyes when a hand breezed over his scales, hovering over his midsection. He glared directly at Firestar when the hand pinched at him.
“You know what, I think I’m it for this round of tag…” He willed his amber eyes to glow. “Because you know my belly’s off limits.”
“Shootshootshoot-” The Thunderclan leader sped off first, but Onestar and Blackstar were in close pursuit. “MISTYSTAR, DON’T LET HIM KILL MEEEEEE!”
“Mm-hmm…” The Riverclan leader stretched out on the stones with a small thrill of contentment. “Sure… after my nap…”
“NOOOOOOOO!”