Chapter Text
Legend said sirens are fairies of the seven seas, one of God’s most enchanted masterpiece guarded by Poseidon. Some pages said they are rejected human, rescued and brought to the blue side of the world by the Lord himself. A wonderful creature hiding from human to keep the ocean’s deepest secrets, taking care of the boundary between land and sea. One page said a kiss from a siren is enough to save a person from drowning and forgotten in the depth of the sea, it might takes one’s all luck to view the gorgeous being with their own eyes.
Certain sailors might say otherwise though but dead men tell no tales.
“Sharks, no, much worse.” their love notes would be that. Sometimes they would wonder if all was a creature’s true intelligence and mind or just plain animals with their unconditional sense of life. The not so well hidden strong will of killing in their instinct just might drive them to tear a man apart with bare hands and teeth. Angels of the sea, maybe. They will be the ones to sweep off those unfortunate souls away right where they stand without a prayer. At least they got a glimpse of heaven before actually taste it, if they are lucky that is.
~~~
Dipper Pines swam by the rocky shore as his tail twitched along with his movement. A smile dragged across his lips when he look up to the water surface, it has already painted with dusty orange and a growing shade of deep blue but the colours keeping changing by the rhythm of the soft waves. The siren kept drawing himself back and forth around the area, stay still under the embrace of cool water on his being. The feel of excitement and nervous bubbled inside him as he finally rest himself on a small reef not too far from the surface. Everything started to lose their colours slowly but he's still enjoying the beautiful cells of stained green algae, each trying to glow as much as they can under his palms.
Humming a tune as time goes by, song after song, he tried to distract himself from the sprinted thoughts and jumpy beats of his heart inside his chest. Dipper closed his eyes, bobbed his head to the melody and tried not to fall asleep during the moment. When the young siren first feel another presence, he opened his eyes and see his kind fleeting to the surface above, some familiar faces passed by, gave him a warm smile same as one they got in return. He found himself almost covered in the darkness when he finally break through the surface. The sun has just set completely around few moments ago and everyone are up already.
Water dripping from his bangs as he wipped them away to get a clear sight of the surrounding. The sky was beautifully sparkling with stars trailed from the horizon to the very top above his brown locks, no matter how many time he sees this, gazing out of the water has never failed to excite him.
Voices started to make their way into the night until the whole place is filled with sweet melody and dazzing singing. Dipper watched some let themselves falling to the music and some make their way through the crowd and get together with their other half. Hardly did those songs reached the high note when Dipper preform his own.
With the blue moon shinning on top of them, this is siren’s mating ritual.
It has actually been a few days into the season, this only last for short weeks every three years and so that’s why everyone was so busy. Well, partly.
Sirens find their mate through songs and voice, it’s a strong feeling deep down that actually lead their way even when blindfolded, it’s a feeling Dipper has never had before. He was more than urging and curious but less than longing to find his mate, he didn’t care about that very much. His entire life has been adventure and discovering the world beneath and above them. He was not allowed to enter both but he never listen, what can they say? He was a stubborn siren that's fueled with youth.
Dipper has seen countless sea monsters with his own two eyes and almost lost one during the progress. That never scared him but rather giving him a hyped feeling which only push him to keep up the adventures. All the swim fast or die certainly was breath-taking but how strange that a little peer above the water can give him the same beats and even stranger excitement churning inside every single time. But then for some reasons, the surface was more strictly prohibited for him or any other siren. Of course, he never listen.
After a while of singing, his throat started to ached so he stopped and decided to notwt it get any worse. He had never found his mate.
His single hand crawled up and cared for the sore throat, his head lowered a bit as the feel of disappointment come by and soon washed away with a chuckle. He smiled then take a good look around him noticing how everyone was still singing, with or without their mate. The moon shining with the glow one can get drunk on right above him as he stared at it with his head held high. He soon got tired and rest his poor neck.
Dipper swam close to the shore, hands feeling the various types of rocks and sand mixing together in a weird combination, he was playing with them like a kid with their sand castle. Once his palms are covered with warm sand, Dipper find it funny how tickle and itchy they are at the sametime, he dipped them back in the water, enjoyed how they’re easily washed away and did it all over again.
Eventually, he completely put the whole singing thing in the back of his mind and swim along the coastline, mentally noting himself to stay close to the surface. He felt really relaxed and more curious than ever to be able to come to the surface without having to keep an eye on for his grunkle. He was free to do whatever he want right now.
When he reached a cove of the bay, he went deeper inside. Dipper was absolutely amazed of how earth can be corroded by water and form such an incredible thing. Swim a bit closer then he spot a sitting form on one of the worn out rock. He got out of the clear area and hidden himself instinctively. It was dark but he could make out the person’s look, whipping away his bang, Dipper finally adjusted his sight and a wave of relief washed over when he recognized it was just another siren. Brown hair, cyan eyes and tail.
“Orion?” He called out.
The siren turned around, their faces are almost exactly the same if it wasn’t for the other’s blue eyes. Dipper smiled brightly when the other give a sound of recognition and raise a hand to wave at him.
Dipper swam to them, placong his hands on the rock and breathing out.
“Geez, I thought you were a human for a sec there.” Dipper said cheerily while the other raised an eyebrow at him. Looking up at the siren, Dipper was reminded of how look alike both of them are.
Orion Gleeful.
The Gleeful was a friend of his for as long as he could remember. They were good friends, or Dipper was just a sorry excuse for a friend, he can’t really tell from the other’s perspective. What’s so special about them is how they are not even hatchmate or have any kind of blood relation but still look like one is a reflection of the other. They did not have the same name but that was thankful. Actually Dipper had offered the Gleeful on calling him by his real name but he just refuse to, he sure enjoy referring to the other as ‘Dipper’ and calling himself ‘Gleeful’. They can be mistaken for hatchmates but once looked closer they can notice some flourish features of the other easily.
Every herd has a leader, a ruler, called 'the King'. Just like a hive with a queen, Kings has many feature that distinguish them from the rest. Their beauty and surperiority displayed on every inch of their scales and fins, so are their descendant. Orion was one of them, he was imprinted to be the next King already actually.
“What are you doing here?” Dipper asked, tail wriggling with the water as they made some silent waves around him. This reminded him that the mating ritual was still going on the other side of this bay and holy hell how much he must have missed. After a second of regretting he just shook it off. Blue eyes blinked slowly before looking up a bit. “Nothing.” He answered simply with a hazy tone, barely shrugging his shoulder.
“Well, everyone is over there you know? You should join them.” Dipper said, raising his hand over the side before resting it back, eyes follow every movement and finally placed back on the siren. Watching as the other peered toward the direction he just gave with a disinterested look. “I know, no thanks.” He cooed out as Dipper smile before bringing himself up to sit by the other. “You’re always like that. At least it’s better than sitting here doing nothing.” He said, trying to make himself comfortable on the dry rock agaisnt his tail. “You’re no better-” The Gleeful replied as he moved a bit to make space for the blue siren. “swimming away from the herd like this.” He finished with a small narrow of his eyes, he has always obey the rules perfectly, those were his father’s anyway. On Dipper’s side, he’s a rule-breaker but it was still understandable and not a really big deal. Orion knew the brunette only come to the surface once in awhile and it’s just around the bay. It’s not like there’s human around here a lot, the herd would have devoured all those come near in the first place.
They kept on talking until a sudden glint of gold dropped into the blue eyes, the light caught his full attention as it kept flickering far away. He recognized it was fire and that only mean human.
After a moment of ranting without getting any respond, Dipper look back up at his friend and see he was staring into the distance, obviously too focused to even notice that Dipper has stopped talking. He moved back a bit and straighten himself up, slowly peered over to the direction and see a small boat shined with the small flame hanging above it.
“Is that-” The Gleeful quickly shut him up with a ‘shh’, his eyes glare at the figure on that boat and knew that there’s human for sure. The sky was dark, he won’t be able to notice the two sirens from that distance, bad luck for him. The Gleeful smirks a little inside, stupid little human. Their colony has always been located somewhere far from where the human inhabited which is weird for that one to be here but that doesn’t matter now.
“We should go get them.” He just plainly said that out to Dipper, who is now widening his eyes at the statement. A wide smirk drew across the Gleeful’s lips as his eyes sparked with interest. The jewel around his neck swinged freely once he bent down and ready to shoot himself into the water.
“What?! B-but..” Dipper tried to object right away but kept his sentence unfinished, nobody is perfect and one of Gleeful’s flaws is he gets too intense when it come to human. But well, the herd is just over the coastline, if that human went there it’ll be their end, a very bad one that is so they're basically doing that person a favor.
“Let’s go.” The Gleeful dipped into the water without making any huge splash, Dipper rolled his eyes and followed, still feeling nervous about this. Siren should not go separately and no hunting human without the herd, this is the one rule Dipper follows but not Orion. Despite his look, the guy is a reversed version of him.
The lead siren glanced around as they get closer to the wooden boat, the man didn’t look like a normal fisherman with a lot of things hanging on his waist, he can recognized that those are human’s weapon, dagger, sword and…something he didn’t know the name but they shoot metal and they are pretty powerful, those are like mini cannons or something.
While he was still trying to remember, a noise of water splashing ripped him off the thoughts. His eyes widen then turn around to see Dipper struggling to barely keep his head up the water.
“What is it?” He asked, just loud enough for both of them to hear. Quick back and forth glances to make sure he didn’t notice them just yet. It was a huge relief that the human was still having his back on them.
“Gh..I-it’s just my tail! It’s stuck.” Dipper spat irritatedly but lowered his voice when he remember what they were trying to do.
Took a dive into the water, Dipper tried to find what’s the problem. It felt like something was holding him back and it's really mean it, he can't move for his life. Through the dark and hazy water with all the mess he just made while trying to get out of the place, he found his tail tied by a rope and that freaked him out. The siren tried to yank it off but no avail. Come on Dipper, Think!
The brunette’s eyes started following the rope and see the end of it under a big rock which seem to have been burried into the ground. Dipper use all his strenght to push away the object, all of his grunkle’s hard work actually paid off when the thing moved just slightly and his tail was freed. The brunette smiled brightly and off to the surface only to see the other siren staring at him with wide eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Dipper asked as his smile faded away, he just didn’t see the two man right behind him.
Gleeful made a high pitched sound, to a siren, that’s a danger alarm. Dipped snapped at the loud sound that shot his heart out then turn around just enough time to let out a gasp before being completely covered by the darkness. The human hold the bag tightly as not to let the siren escape, he has to try harder when Dipper started to struggle violently under the cloth.
The Gleeful’s mind shouted to him. He shot himself toward the man holding Dipper, he dropped his grip as Dipper fell out from the open bag and was once again in touch with the cold water. He hissed as he pull himself away from the sharp rock underneath, droplets of red pouring out from his arm but eyes only desperately searching for his friend. The Gleeful could see fear all over his features, his attention switched right away when the human make his way to Dipper. Suddenly his neck was tighten, make him coughed out roughly like the air was smothering him, fingers instinctively fly to whatever it was around his neck and try to release himself, digging it deep into his skin and causing it to bleed.
Loud cry echoed, Dipper’s breath was cut when he hear the sound and it worsened his panic state, he gripped tightly into whatever it was under his palms.
Seeing the man wrap the rope tightly around Orion's neck and the painful sound his friend make, he ignored the will to escaping rushing him in chest, he couldn’t hear it through all the scary thoughts racing in his mind anyway.
Dipper tried his best to move which is almost impossible for him right now with fear crushing on his body and his eyes were tightly shut.
Noticing from the corner of his eyes, he tried hardest to shout at the brunette, it was loud enough to flinch him. The glassy round brown orbs look at him with fear taking over his entire body. The human seized his chance and ran to the quivering siren. Orion gritted silently, eyes twitching at the lack of oxygen. The amulet around his neck glowed as the man stopped his running and glow a mysterious blue before being lifted up to the air and tossed away like a rock. The other was caught up in horror as the pressure around his neck loosen, Orion dig his claws deep to the man’s flesh make him scream and release the rope in pain, held the injured hand as tight as he could.
As soon as he broke free, he swam straight to Dipper. The poor siren still haven’t calmed down, everything happened was out of his mind. Gleeful grabbed him by his shaking hands and yell at him to bring back some of his senses but quickly notice the wide open net behind them, not another question, he shoved Dipper out of the way.
Dipper’s forehead hit hard against the bottom, brown eyes tried to push back up their lids, despite the aching as he struggled to keep himself up with his sore hands.
“Orion..?” He mumbled, drawing eyes all over the place and started panicking again when he didn’t catch the sight of his friend.
That was not long before he was completely blinded.