Another short story! Woot. Another one from the contest I'm in. Latest one, actually. The prompt was something about "getting hard to breath", or something close to that.

Anyhow, enjoy!

Pseudo Interactions

Stretched out on the red sands of a beach with no name, laid a Harpy. He rested on his stomach, winged arms folded beneath his head, and let the sun's warmth creep over him. His hair, more like long feathers themselves, matched the blue and green plumage of his body. It was strange to see such a serene beauty, yet all beauty has a tone of danger to it. The danger in this young bird-boy's appearance glinted in the sun: talons. Talons used to rip flesh off of bones, or meat out of crustaceans.

Apparently unbeknownst to this harpy, was a hovering merman, who slinked along the shallows of his watery home. Harmic, a curious soul, had always come to watch this Harpy whenever he found the time to sneak away from his family. His yellow eyes watched the Harpy cautiously, for he truly did not know if the creature knew he was there or not.

Vaguely, the young Merman was always thankful for his appearance, now that he found an interesting being to observe. It made him feel slightly better that his skin would change to fit his water's ever-changing color, and that his hair resembled seaweed. Spying was much more comfortable when you felt you could actually not be seen.

As he watched the Harpy flip over, eyes still closed, and sun his stomach, Harmic wondered just why his family thought such creatures were terrible. It was true that Harpies were predatory creatures, but so where Mer. Harmic assumed it was simply because Harpies could possibly find a food source in a civilization of Mer. Yet, Harmic never heard of any records of a Harpy actually chewing on a Merman when a craving arose. All he ever heard where stories passed down through lines of gossiping family members and friends.

After watching the Harpy for just one day, Harmic had realized that those stories were just paranoid ramblings. With each day after that, as he watched this Harpy boy sit on the beach - sunning himself or snacking on a couple of crabs while reading a book he brought with him - Harmic felt more and more sure that he was correct in his suspicion. The only way he could be completely sure, though, was to speak to the Harpy.

Every time he thought of doing such a thing, though, his arms would shake and his gills would quiver. Despite as sure as he was that the bird-boy was friendly, Harmic knew that there was a possibility he was wrong. To face a possible predator while grinning foolishly and attempting to make them a friend would be the epitome of moron.

Harmic sighed, and felt bitterness ooze into his veins for being such a coward. For now, he supposed he should be satisfied with merely watching the Harpy. Until he could work up the bravery to face the Harpy, and hope his assumptions were correct, Harmic felt there was no other way to meet the bird-boy.

His mind started to become preoccupied with what situations could happen if he were to, right at that moment, swim up to the Harpy and introduce himself. Imaginative little scenes danced through Harmic's mind; from having an interesting friend in the Harpy, to being near killed by the other. Any and all scenarios flashed through his mind, and he started to get lost in his world of make-believe.

What the scenarios lacked, however, was the other Harpy. The Harpy that was sitting silently in the tree above her little brother, and stared at the Mer who thought he was being so inconspicuous. Roxe had followed Avin, her little brother, to this spot, since he disappeared every day. Just as she had been about to leave, her sense of smell had picked up the scent of a Mer, and after scanning the water she had eventually spotted the half-camouflaged fish-boy.

Roxe stared at the Mer from her hidden canopy, wondering why her brother didn't take a defensive against a creature staring at him. He had to know, since his sense of smell was just as good as her own. A troubling thought crossed her mind, and she wondered if Avin came to the beach simply for this odd pseudo-interaction every day. A light hiss escaped Roxe's lips, and she glared at the Mer; she awaited for him to fall prey to careless unawareness.

As soon as the Mer's eyes fogged over, and lost focus, Roxe decided it was the best time to swoop in. Not even emitting a cry of attack, Roxe descended on Harmic, grasping his barely underwater shoulders with razor talons. From startled surprise, Harmic let out a scream of his own, and started to thrash around to get out of the grip of the Harpy's talons.

The first thoughts that flew into Harmic's mind, that shoved out his daydreams, was that the boy Harpy had spotted and decided he'd make a good snack. Yet, his eyes had caught sight of movement on the beach, and he was shocked to see the male Harpy sitting up straight, staring at the scene with wide, silver eyes. Harmic craned his neck, to get a better look at his attacker, and screamed again as the face of a vicious female Harpy hissed at him.

He thrashed more as the female heaved him out of the water; pinpricks of pain where the talons dug deep enough to draw blood were ignored by the frightened Mer. Yet, Roxe kept a firm grasp on her prey, and hoisted him full out of the water. Her blood red wings flapped heavily with the effort, but she soon had the fish-man out of the water. As soon as the last bit of his fin was out of the water, Harmic shivered and realized how cold it was out of his warm waters.

Harmic's gills started to quiver, seeking water to tread for air. Harmic continued to thrash, and scream, yet his screams became hoarse. His mind was too frightened to switch from breathing with gills to the lungs that Harmic possessed. Even then, though, he needed to have some form of water to keep him alive. The skin of a Mer couldn't handle being away from water for extremely prolonged periods.

"Roxe, what are you doing?" demanded the male Harpy, alighting quickly into the air to confront his sister. Avin had known well-enough he had been watched every time he had visited the beach. To be frank, he had liked the attention, and decided to continue going to the beach until the Mer worked up the courage to speak to him.

"He was spying on you, Avin! Think of the perverted thoughts he could harbor!" Screeched Roxe, flapping her wings more powerfully as irritation took over her senses. Her overprotective nature was met with deaf ears as Avin glanced down at the form of Harmic. Avin was startled to see the Mer's skin was starting to develop a grey tinge, and that the struggling was growing less and less hectic.

When Harmic realized he was having trouble breathing, he figured his distraught mind hadn't switched to breathing regular air. As he attempted to calm down his mind, and switch over to using his lungs, he was being jerked around by the female Harpy's erratic flapping. In this situation, he gravely realized, his mind and body would not listen to him. His gills frantically tried to pump water, none of which it could find, while Harmic started to feel light-headed. Logic seeped into his panicky mind, and slowly he stopped his struggling and just hung there in the Harpy's grip.

Fear froze his mind, and the lack of oxygen were making his thoughts sluggish. His eyes trailed up to Avin's silver owl-like eyes. Opening his mouth, Harmic could only let out a hoarse gasp, and pleaded pitifully to Avin via eye contact. Avin felt his heart twist a bit, knowing this predicament was partially his fault. If he hadn't led Roxe here, if he hadn't loved the attention of such a reluctant admirer, Harmic would have been safe with the other Mers in his city.

As he tore his eyes away from the Mer, he glared lividly at Roxe. His sister shirked back, seeing the glint of irritation and rage in her usually stoic brother's eyes. Her grip on Harmic loosened slightly, but not enough for Harmic to squirm free.

"Roxe, I told you once, now let him go!" Screeched Avin, his voice warped into the angered shriek of a predator near the end. Harmic stared wide-eyed as the image of the laid-back Avin he had come to relate to this Harpy, transformed into a vicious predator ready to strike even family in rage. Roxe's eyes widened as Avin swooped towards her, threatening to slash her with his own sharp talons. Fleeing backwards, she flapped her wings in a hectic fashion, and released the Mer from her grip.

Careening down, Harmic knew that if he were to impact the water from this height, at such a fragile stage, that he'd never survive. His head was throbbing painfully, and his lungs were screaming for air, any air. The pain in his shoulders seem magnified, and the paths that his blue blood had dribbled across his skin were freezing in the wind that whipped against his body. Avin, though, was able to fall fast enough to snag Harmic by the arms with his clawed feet.

Avin kept a firm, yet gentle, grip on Harmic, and slowed their descent with strong flaps of his wings against the force of gravity. Harmic's head lolled back, and he stared up at Avin. Harmic's yellow eyes were fading into grey, matching his entirely grey flesh. In his slowly darkening world, Harmic realized he now knew the Harpy's name, and if anything he should be thankful for hearing it before dying. Avin felt a lump in his throat as the Mer grinned at him, despite his seemingly inevitable death, and strained to hear the hoarse words on Harmic's lips, "Thank you, Avin."

The Harpy felt his heart skip a beat as he released Harmic's heavy body into the waters at a more softening height. As he watched the Mer fade into the water, Avin landed on a boulder that jutted defiantly out of the water. Worried for the merman's well-being, Avin watched the water for any signs of aquatic life.

Roxe hovered, ten feet away, watching her brother in guilt. Feeling too much like a heel, the female Harpy dejectedly flew back to land, and disappeared into the forest that skirted the ocean. She didn't deserve to stay and watch any happy endings that may come. Nor did she have the bravery to face any tragic endings that seemed more probable.

Back on his rock, perched in fearful anxiety, Avin's silver eyes darted around the surface of the water. He felt the ice-cold touch of fear slide a cold claw down his spine, emitting terrified goosebumps to rise underneath the plumage that decorated his body. Seconds ticked by, and each felt longer than the previous, each grew to the great length of eternity. A palm-sweating, guilty eternity. Still, the water remained secretive of what news laid beneath it.

Slowly, all of Avin's hope died, and he fell back onto his rump from his crouched position; Avin sat cross-legged with his face in his hands. He mumbled to himself, degrading himself for being so selfish and narcissistic over attention from an innocent Mer. Again, and again, he told himself that he should have realized Roxe would follow, and in her gesture of being overprotective would harm the little admirer Avin had come to be fond of. With hands still covering his eyes, Avin murmured, "I didn't even know your name."

The slosh of the waves against the boulder were the only answer Avin heard. That was all he expected to hear. He dropped his hands from his face, to face the waters that had gobbled up the merman's body. As Avin's eyes were unconcealed, though, they met the gaze of a pair of light yellow ones. The Mer grinned slightly up at the Harpy with the knowledge that Avin was shocked at his instant recovery, which was thanks to Avin's own gesture to return Harmic to water.

Feeling oddly thankful that this event had finally broken the ice, Harmic said, still slightly hoarse, "My name is Harmic. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Avin."