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It hadn't been enough. They'd tried for months, years, probably decades with the human race, working in what they had assumed to be harmony.
Yet, it hadn't worked, Taemin finds, staring at the destroyed reef in front of him. He clicks in his throat, horrified at the state of it, swimming forward slightly to see if he can find any movement. A lone moray eel swims out of its hole, hoping for some food, but resigns itself to slowly sliding back in when he sees it's only a mermaid.
An answering call comes to him across the water and Taemin spins round to see Minho, his Prince and betrothed, rushing toward him. He must have heard Taemin distress and swam as fast as possible worried he was in danger. Taemin glides out to meet him, face torn.
Minho meets him in the middle, frantic crooning to find out what's wrong before his eyes fall over Taemin's shoulder, taking in the reef.
They promised to stop fishing in this area, to only allow divers down here with the reef being protected under their laws.
Minho doesn't reply for a moment, his face emotionless for a second. Taemin had spent years tending to this very reef, having grown up in its shadow in the crevices below it, always tending to the animals injured by mankind. Now, it was nothing more than hardened, bleach white coral, with likely stress being the reason for their untimely demise.
He looks up, staring as Taemin's black-silver hair floats around his face; the hair moves with the soft current, seeming to move like tendrils around his head, rage seeming to come to life within them.
His own face sets hard, turning slightly. Taemin begins to swim ahead, the dark, crimson red of his tail seeming to leak an aura of threat, of violence as the muscles swell under the surface. It contrasts with the pale grey of his skin; the image of death seems to leak from Taemin's being. Minho takes a deep breath through his gills, knowing exactly what he was about to bring up with the royal court.
It isn't long before the court is called before him, whisperings and murmurs of the reef's state going through their community within hours; two fellow royal court representatives had even shown up, curious, but serious where they float.
By the time Minho swims forward, silence had long since fallen. He faces them all with grave faces, tail flickering angrily in the water of the court chambers.
I'm sure the majority of those present have since heard the news of the reef in the east of our territory, on the boundary with our allies in the south east. We had an alliance Awith human kind to avoid this area. The rare species that were thriving there are now even rarer, stress refusing them to live freely. We had worked on a treaty with them, specifically for this and other reef areas. This is the eighteenth they have broken, refusing to stop fishing in the area, not policing their kind properly, causing irreparable damage. Damage that will likely not be repaired in many of our lifetimes. We have allowed this to go on for too long. Whilst they may continue to treat us as a lesser species, we can still turn the tables. We must be the change we wish to see - once or twice I can allow but it has since grown out of control with a clear distaste and ignorance toward the ocean and our inhabitants.
As he finishes, silence hangs in the water for a moment before cheers erupt, the call for action apparently taken well. The representatives leave, but Minho doesn't fail to notice the emotions set in their face, agreeing, happy, determined - the fellow courts may just follow their stride.
He turns to look at Taemin, a weak smile on his face. Taemin's eyes are sparkling slightly, a smile on his face as he takes Taemin in.
If they continue to do this, we'll long be gone before they realise their ways are too corrupted to continue this. What are you thinking?
For now, we'll simply protect areas. Anywhere they aren't supposed to be, we'll have a guard set up to ensure that they stay out. When they ask us for what has happened, we will simply explain. If they take that as a threat, then we will respond as such. We have control of the ocean in ways they simply never will. It won't be much contest.
Taemin nods, looking off into the distance for a moment. He nods again, sighing softly. He swims forward, wrapping his arms around Minho's back, clinging to his partner. Their tails intertwine and Minho glances down, observing the way his light turquoise scales are the opposite of Taemin's dark crimson ones, contrasting heavily but complementing one another in a way that seems to suggest soulmates.
Soulmates aren't a thing that they have, as far as they are aware, yet the legends of such passed down by word of mouth from their ancestors, tail colours that will never match but always match come to his mind whenever they combine like this.
He leans back slightly, lifting Taemin's head to press a gentle kiss to his forehead.
The threat of a war lingers above them, both theoretically and literally, and the oncoming future may not be what they wished for, or even saw coming in the past.
But with Taemin by his side, he knows that he can face even the very worst that the humans may throw at them.