Chapter Text
Portal changes were never pleasant, and Legend was unimpressed by this one on all accounts. They had previously been fighting, parrying monsters back and slaying black bloods. Wind had been supporting him, the duo lethal and grinning in their fighting. When it opened under their feet, both of them cursed. His magic hadn’t had the time to process, and he’d splashed down into salty water and waves over his head.
The transformation overtook, and bones broke and snapped into forms and shapes. His clothes disappeared, exposing his chest and locking his items away behind some cursed magical force. Gills slitted into his throat as he drowned in water, and it rushed into his lungs. It burned , the water holding toxins that couldn’t be seen with the eyes. His lungs spasmed, and the edges of his gills already felt inflamed and puffy. Fins sprouted from his ears and elbows, his legs now one large tail that thrashed under the surface.
He took a second, regained his bearings, and looked up into the sun shining through the water. He saw a blue tunic and tiny ridiculous shoes kicking to keep the Sailor above the water level. While Wind may be able to swim, it was a well-known fact that he wasn’t good at it. He’d spent most of his life above the surface, whether on an island or a boat.
With a powerful move, he was sailing upward, he tucked his claws into his fists as he tried to gently lift the Sailor a little more above the water, attempting to keep the kid from sucking in poison.
He heard the shriek, and Wind’s feet started to kick more rapidly. Legend cursed under the water, and popped his head up next to Wind’s wide eyes and panicked breaths. The Sailor stilled suddenly, his face twisting into confusion and then joy.
“LEGEND?” The Sailor practically shouted, and the Vet pinned his ears back against his head, the fins fanning out a second later in that weird fish-like movement that always happened when he was like this. Wind now clung a little closer to him, his hands sliding off his pink, smooth scales. Legend fought the urge to move away, fought the creeping feeling of awkwardness at the physical contact. Lolia below, he hated being this exposed and longed for his long sleeves and overtunic. At least he still had his jewelry, his medallions hung from around his neck, his rings and earrings still in place.
“I take it we are in your world, Sailor?” Legend’s voice sang , where it was normally hoarse and uncouth, now it was smoothed out and melodic; another effect of the siren’s curse. As far as he could see, there was nothing but ocean water. His head started to feel light, his eyes not quite focusing right. Whatever the hell Hylia had been thinking, Legend didn’t approve. He dipped back down to get a lungful of water and hissed at the sting and fire that filled his chest.
“Yeah, it’s mine all right.” Wind replied, his face screwing up in reprove at Legend sinking further into the water.
“The water’s poisoned, you’re not breathing it, are you?” Wind’s ocean blue eyes locked onto his, and Legend’s face hardened into a glare.
“No shit, and yeah, not much of a choice.” He tilted his head to expose the slits in his throat. Wind sputtered aghast, his grip tightening on Legend’s shoulders.
“Well, change back! What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be smart?” Wind chastised him, and Legend felt his lip pull up in a snarl, his sharp teeth on display. The Sailor flinched back for a second, but then hardened in his resolve, and Legend had to force his face back to neutrality. Fucking transformations they always made things more complicated, his emotions more prone to be exposed. More animalistic and unfamiliar.
His bunny form left him paranoid and frightened, but this siren’s form was a different beast. Part of it may be that he was younger, not fully matured. Urges and thoughts would sneak their way into his mind the longer he stayed transformed. The desire for flesh and singing and deceiving hot in his blood. Legend didn’t often wander into the ocean, let alone transform into a siren. He’d had enough of the sea for a lifetime.
“If I could, I would.” His voice was low and threatening. And dammit it all. He knew this form had a certain effect on people, and he’d never seen Wind look at him so scared. The Sailor recovered fast, though, and his face dropped in sadness.
“It's not good for us to be exposed to it for so long. What do you need to turn back?” Wind asked seriously.
Legend needed to be dry to turn back. And the only way that was going to happen was for him to get to some land. He dipped down again and sucked in a burning lungful of water. Already, he could feel it, besides the obvious pain in his chest, his eyes were starting to cloud over. He blinked his third eyelid to try and clear his vision, but it was fruitless. This wasn’t because of an outside source, this was because whatever was in the water was infecting him.
“We need some land,” he said. Wind started to turn around in his arms, his hand held up to his forehead to lessen the glare of the sun beating down on them, his sharp eyes searching for someplace to go. Wind would know the best place; the kid had a mean sense of direction.
He heard the sailor curse under his breath, and Legend was sick of holding his breath again, but the thought of further infecting himself grated on him. He slipped under for a brief second, and his mounting symptoms grew worse. There was nothing he could do. He rubbed at his gills testingly, the skin tender and sore already.
Lolia below Wind was heavy, too. His tail was keeping them afloat, but he started to feel the exhaustion pulling on his muscles. Which had the added effect of him needing more *air*. His head swam, and the horizon dipped from one side to the other. He closed his eyes in an attempt to settle his vision and keep his stomach where it was. Wind tugged on his hair to turn his head towards whatever it was that the Sailor saw from so far away.
“Let’s go that way.” Wind pointed in a direction, and Legend didn’t question it, didn’t have a reason to anyway. When in another’s world it was always best to take a back seat. He wasn’t sure he was in the best place to offer any advice, either.
It was so awkward to try and swim and keep hold of the Sailor. Legend felt like his limbs weighed hundreds of pounds, and he kept losing their course. Wind would tap on his shoulder, which sent a small spike of panic through him every time. The Sailor would alter their course, and he’d continue swimming. He wasn’t sure how much time passed, but it felt like an eternity. He couldn’t swim below the surface, and being encumbered by Wind made it more of a chore than the freedom he normally felt while transformed. After the fourth time of losing course, Wind stopped them.
“Are you doing okay?” Wind’s voice sounded squeaky, and under normal circumstances, he’d tease him about it. As it was, though, Legend could hardly focus past the cloud that clogged his mind. His head was pounding, and every breath dragged in like a wet rag. A spike of irritation shot through him, and his ears pinned to his head, his shoulders tensing.
“As well as I can be.” He hissed through hoarse lungs. Because in the end, it didn’t matter. There was nothing anyone could do to alleviate the fact that he was growing sicker by the minute. He blinked rapidly, trying to expel the cloud over his eyes. Wind slipped, and he startled, his hand coming up to keep the Sailor above water, his claws sinking into soft flesh.
He gasped and pulled back, Wind falling further into the water.
“Fucking hell,” he cursed vehemently as they finally found a place for the Sailor to rest against him. Wind was looking at him with wide eyes, blood starting to turn the sea around them red. He pulled back slightly, horrified that he’d harmed the Sailor in the first place. He had to dip down to breathe, and the water was tainted in Wind’s blood, and something shifted in him. His magic spanned out rapidly, and a bloodlust overtook him for a second before he regained control of himself.
“M’sorry, I’m not used to being like this for so long.” He mumbled out, his voice still silky soft even with the fire in his lungs. Wind shrugged off his concern.
“It’s nothing, we just need to get the hell outta here.” The Sailor announced. Legend couldn’t agree more. This was not good. They needed to get out of this water. Wind was starting to look rather pale, his blonde hair stuck to the sides of his head, his eyes bloodshot. Even just being in the water had an ill effect on anyone, let alone him who was breathing it in. Now he was also dealing with the fact that he was fighting off the urge to bite his brother.
As if in answer Wind’s face lifted, and he was waving his hands over his head. Purple eyes saw what he saw. A boat, finally. He spurred forward in a last-ditch effort to get out of this cursed sea. Wind clung onto him as he pumped all his energy into sailing them forward. They reached the side of the ship and Wind called up, Legend currently sucking in lungfuls of water to catch his breath.
A head popped over the side, and then another. Wind conversed with them for a second, and then a rope ladder was thrown overboard. The Sailor scurried up it quickly. Legend wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do; there was no way he could haul himself up that ladder. Between the sickness and the fact that he had no legs, he waited until Wind would come back. He bobbed next to the boat, his head falling further and further into the water. It was calmer down below, his eyes glazed and his chest heaving. Wind never came back.
Instead, there was a scuffle on board; he heard voices raise in pitch, his finned ears twitching, and he popped above the water once more. He stared wide-eyed up at the deck, unable to glimpse anything, his clawed hand sinking into the side of the boat to keep him in place. Wind’s voice rose above the others.
“Get away, Ledge!” The sailor screamed from atop the deck. It took a second too long to process in his muddled mind, and as he started to turn to swim away, a net encircled him. His long tail tangled in it, his fins catching in the holes and holding him hostage. He sucked in water as he was being raised, adrenaline coursing through him as he twisted attempting to get loose. It was futile.
They dropped him to the deck hard, and it expelled what little air he had left in his lungs. He heard taunting and wolf whistles above him. If he wasn’t currently struggling with staying alive, he might have blushed and tried to hide, too exposed sang through him. He was attempting to breathe, his lungs filling with air, his gills spasming. The hot ocean sun was beating down on his pale skin and drying him out. The magic around him swirled, and the transformation started. Pain shot down his legs, he heard his bones snap back out of place. Finally , he’d been a siren for too long; he needed fresh air and his legs back, especially with this new situation they’d found themselves in.
Words met his ears that made him sick to his stomach.
“Don’t let it change back!” was hollered and then water was splashing onto him. The transformation stilled, the shock abrupt and agonizing. His eyes still glazed over searched around him looking for his brother. He clawed at the wooden planks, stuck between halfway changed and turning back. The bones rebroke, slid back into place, and he keened in pain, stifling it behind sharpened teeth.
His lungs spasmed, and a shadow fell over him. A boot kicked him roughly to the side, and a large hand grabbed his hair and pulled his throat back. Through a delirious pain-induced fog, he looked up to see a figure stooping over him, a bucket of water being trickled onto his gills. They flared out and sucked in the poison water like a lifeline and his chest grew less tight and his vision cleared ever so slightly.
“Get it in the tank!” was yelled over him. The man above him was tall and dark, his eyes gleaming wickedly. His body felt so weak, his muscles strained from the swimming and transformations. The poisonous water had been infecting him for the better part of an entire morning. He flapped his tail weakly when the net was lifted off him. Water still splashed around him in intervals to keep him in this form. He tried to find where Wind was, but he wasn’t quite sure what was happening anymore. They had thought they’d been saved, and now they were just stuck in a different hell.
Rough hands grabbed under his armpits, dragging him across the deck boards. His head lolled to the side, the sun glaring and oppressive in his eyes. The delicate fins on the end of his tail caught and ripped, the sudden pain made him bite down on his lip in reflex to keep any noise inside. He drew blood, the smell of it awakened something inside him again, the metallic tang irresistible. His eyes shot open, and he struggled against his captors. Sharp claws reached out, his voice hissed in warning, terrible and otherworldly. He was dropped harshly to the floor again, his eyes locked onto a figure tall and imposing. He surged forward and sank his claws into the man’s leg. Whatever was happening here wasn’t good. He hadn’t found Wind, he wasn’t okay with being forced to stay this way, and he was angry.
The man yelped, backing away, but Legend didn’t let him go. His eyes grew fierce, and the sudden urge to bite into the man and rip his flesh away grew inside him. Bereft of any items, and no sword and Legend struck quickly. His teeth sank into the man’s leg, and he heard him howl in pain. Warm blood coated over his tongue, and he tore away a chunk. The siren inside him sang its approval, his mind hazy and half hidden behind the bloodlust of the curse.
A sharp pain struck him on the side, and he turned rapidly and hissed. He was surrounded, dragging half his body across a boat. Another wave of water splashed on him from a bucket, right in the face. Another strike to his side, his eyes narrowed in, an oar.
“Pin it down!” Legend felt his blood boil at the words. A crack across his back made him falter, another splash of water, his gills tried desperately to suck in some water. A knee landed on his shoulder blade and forced him down, another joining it a second later. His arms were pinned behind his back, his claws now useless in the stronger man’s hold. His face was pressed down into the rough, wet wood, and he snarled. A large hand gripped his hair and lifted up, then smacked his head against the wood. Pain erupted in the side of his head, and he hissed, closing his eyes.
The grip on his wrists became bruising, and he thrashed his tail until it too was pinned down with force. Incapacitated and pressed to the floor, he stilled. His lungs burned once more, and he was so sick of this. Another trickle of water met his gills, and he suppressed the whine in his throat.
“Bring the kid!” Legend thrashed harder, no way was he letting them harm his brother. They had tied a gag over Wind’s mouth, and the Sailor was fuming. Purple eyes watched as they dragged him to the lead guy.
His hair was gripped again, craning his neck back to force him to look up at the burly man.
“You’re gonna behave or we are gonna kick the shit out of this kid in front of you, understand?” Legend’s blood ran cold, his eyes widening. They would too, he could feel it in the man’s resolve, in his harsh tone and unrelenting force.
“Okay.” He gritted out, his lips pulling back over his teeth in a snarl. The grip on his hands loosened, but didn’t relent. He allowed himself to be dragged down into the boat. They tossed him harshly into a tank, and he sucked in a much needed breath. Metal clanged above him, bars covering the top of the tank. It was a tight fit. His hands pressing onto the glass and his tail wedged around him. His pink hair floated around his face as he took in the surroundings.
Wind was shoved into the bay as well, muffled curses falling from his lips. The kid landed on his knees hard, and Legend glared at their captors. The leader stepped forward and tapped at the glass with a wicked smile.
“We’ll get a pretty price for you and your friend.” His gold tooth gleamed in the light spilling from above, and Legend hissed on instinct, his mind muddled and feral. The water in the tank burned still, not any purer than the ocean he’d just been soaking in.
With a final grin, the man sauntered back up the steps and cast them into darkness.