[As far as he's concerned, a lot of their past doesn't matter. He doesn't need parents, or firsts, or pieces of an identity that others need to have him. He has her. Taako cares that Lup is with him and very little else, which is what makes this so fucking hard. He forces himself not to look back to her or linger any longer, because he's got a window of opportunity he has to take. He won't fucking let them get away. He won't.
Taako makes it around the bottom, calling on any magic he can summon to slam into the side of the bottom of the vessel, aiming to hit a hole anywhere he can. It's strong, but he has to be stronger. He strikes across the hull, swimming around quickly and trying to find a rudder, a motor, something he can do to stop them from fucking moving.
One thing's for sure, for the people on that boat- they're not going anywhere until they deal with him. Somehow.]
[Taako slips away, darting through the water with a speed that comes from a lifetime spent chasing one another through these waves, while Lup flops aboard the ship, shrieking between every gasping breath, flailing against the net that binds her. But with each struggle, she just gets more and more tangled, movement restricted more with every twist of her lanky frame.
While Lup distracts the men onboard, Taako has the time to stage an attack beneath the ship. But the vessel they are on is so much stronger than the ones the twins are used to messing with. Most of them are made of cheap aluminum, easily punctured and wrecked. But this one is an expensive research ship, the kind that's had thousands dumped into it to make sure that it doesn't sink under any circumstances. The hull is all steel, heavy and seemingly untouched beneath the mer's attacks.
And then there's shouts above the water, men readying up to sail back to shore, throwing out commands to take off.]
[This is not happening, this can't be fucking happening. He bangs his fists ineffectually into the metal plating, scraping sharp nails across the surface. This isn't a small wooden boat where he can latch his hands onto boards, rip open ill-fitting plating, use the power in his tail to sweep a current and slam a boat into a reef. This has motors, and single panels expertly welded to give no moment of relief. There isn't even a porthole he can put his fist through or shatter with his voice. It's like they knew.
The horror grips him then in his chest. They had made themselves too obvious. This isn't fishermen, these aren't observers, these are hunters. And they were there for them.
He's got too much adrenaline running through him to stop, but he can't fucking run away from this no matter what Lup told him to do. So he races off to the side, brings his head above water, and screams as loud as he can.
They won't take her alone. If they go, they go together.]
[They've spent a lifetime together getting out of danger, of slipping away just in the nick of time from human sight, of outwitting sharks and fishing vessels and sea monsters with a laugh while they flip away through the water. And after decades of always getting away, it just makes sense that one of these times they'd have to finally lose.
No one's that lucky.
The last thing that Lup hears before passing out is her brother shrieking after her, his shrill voice echoing in her ears as she finally flops limply down against the deck of the boat, vision blurring before she's just gone.
As for Taako? It would be impossible for the men aboard to not hear his screaming, to not see that the mer they've caught is passed out lifelessly on the deck and yet there's still another's shrill voice ringing through the air right beside them. But the ship's turning fast, the waves around them rougher than before, and it's right at the peak of his scream that the hull of the ship smashes hard into the mer's head, cutting him off.]
[It was their only option, to be frank- it was obvious they got the more docile of the two, if it could be called that. When they make it to port the researchers will marvel at the claw marks raked through steel in imprints, the way glass is shattered in patterns of a soundwave. But they can't take him. Too risky. Too dangerous.
Taako's too busy trying to get something to break he can't move fast enough as the current catches him in it's tide and he meets the boat hull. In an instant, the collision slams him hard, and he sinks unconscious under the waves, under the boat, a bit of blood trickling out of a new sideways cut against his head from the impact.
He won't wake again until hours later, until they're long enough gone that he can't even follow the current to carry him. And he'll curl up then, in the reef where they used to play, and mourn the loss of his heart.]
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Taako makes it around the bottom, calling on any magic he can summon to slam into the side of the bottom of the vessel, aiming to hit a hole anywhere he can. It's strong, but he has to be stronger. He strikes across the hull, swimming around quickly and trying to find a rudder, a motor, something he can do to stop them from fucking moving.
One thing's for sure, for the people on that boat- they're not going anywhere until they deal with him. Somehow.]
no subject
While Lup distracts the men onboard, Taako has the time to stage an attack beneath the ship. But the vessel they are on is so much stronger than the ones the twins are used to messing with. Most of them are made of cheap aluminum, easily punctured and wrecked. But this one is an expensive research ship, the kind that's had thousands dumped into it to make sure that it doesn't sink under any circumstances. The hull is all steel, heavy and seemingly untouched beneath the mer's attacks.
And then there's shouts above the water, men readying up to sail back to shore, throwing out commands to take off.]
no subject
The horror grips him then in his chest. They had made themselves too obvious. This isn't fishermen, these aren't observers, these are hunters. And they were there for them.
He's got too much adrenaline running through him to stop, but he can't fucking run away from this no matter what Lup told him to do. So he races off to the side, brings his head above water, and screams as loud as he can.
They won't take her alone. If they go, they go together.]
no subject
No one's that lucky.
The last thing that Lup hears before passing out is her brother shrieking after her, his shrill voice echoing in her ears as she finally flops limply down against the deck of the boat, vision blurring before she's just gone.
As for Taako? It would be impossible for the men aboard to not hear his screaming, to not see that the mer they've caught is passed out lifelessly on the deck and yet there's still another's shrill voice ringing through the air right beside them. But the ship's turning fast, the waves around them rougher than before, and it's right at the peak of his scream that the hull of the ship smashes hard into the mer's head, cutting him off.]
no subject
Taako's too busy trying to get something to break he can't move fast enough as the current catches him in it's tide and he meets the boat hull. In an instant, the collision slams him hard, and he sinks unconscious under the waves, under the boat, a bit of blood trickling out of a new sideways cut against his head from the impact.
He won't wake again until hours later, until they're long enough gone that he can't even follow the current to carry him. And he'll curl up then, in the reef where they used to play, and mourn the loss of his heart.]
no subject