Ocean Currents

"Pok, could you come to my station?" the officer in command asked.
Pok nodded and swam toward the indicated place, leaving his desk and uneaten lunch where it was. He didn't like to keep his superiors waiting. Granted, most would be indignant if he did. The police station was chaotic like usual. Mers swimming in and out to ask for help or to report stuff, officers yelling, fish being nosy... it all belonged to the daily ambience of his workplace, somewhere he felt proud to be.
"Wiera's run off again. Her family is asking us to find her."
Except when all he'd been asked to do lately, was to find spoiled mergirls who ran away from home. Or their lap seals who'd gotten lost. Pok tried to keep his emotions hidden but they must have shown because his boss told him: 
"It is what it is, and you do have a knack for finding her."
"That's because this is the tenth time." Pok grumbled between closed teeth. 
He wondered why her father and aunt even gave her up as missing. He always found her in the same sort of places and she never gave him the impression she wasn't going to return home. Although she did always insist to stay out a little bit longer. Maybe to her family he was just a glorified alarm clock to tell their daughter that it was time to come home. 
But there was little he could do since this was an official task. So he sucked it up and left the station to go hunt for the lost mermaid.

Wiera swam toward the wreckage and entered through a crack in the side. The ship had hit the bottom and sagged to one side, meaning that the floor was to her right and the ceiling to her left. But at least she could swim around the room and didn't need to have her feet on a solid surface. She smiled at the thought. Humans were such silly creatures. Maybe they'd be different if they could fly through the sky like mers could swim through the sea. All she knew of them was that they were prone to fighting and didn't much like her kind.
But they did make wonderful things. Shiny things. Giddy with expectations, she wandered around the ship, hoping to find something new to add to her collection. Sadly, some of the most interesting things were bolted to the deck or tables. Without special equipment she wouldn't be able to take them with her. Mostly she found coins and glasses, on occasion a simple necklace. Humans used stones to adorn themselves while mers chose shells. To her both looked nice. 
Distracted by some movement, Wiera looked up and expected to see a brightly coloured fish. But instead she saw a brightly coloured piece of fabric floating in the current. She took hold of it and pulled, causing it to flow free from where it'd been caught. The fabric was vibrant red and felt really amazing as it clung to her body. But it wouldn't exactly be easy to swim with it as it weighed her down. Still, she would take it home with her.
She moved on explored room after room. Glasses, buttons, coins and small gadgets grabbing her attention, but being discarded as either something she already knew or something she couldn't take. Maybe she should observe some real-life humans again. So far she'd only taken one trip to the shore but she'd been so nervous, she'd felt skittish for days after. It didn't help that her father or aunt always called the police on her. She was a grown mer for Neptune's sake. 
Maybe thinking of the meddlesome police officer had invited him since she suddenly heard her call her name.
"This is the newest wreck out there. Wiera, I know you're here."
She guessed her trip was over for the day. Was it her imagination or did her outings get shorter each time? Did her father call the police faster each time? Or was she just too predictable? Maybe her aunt was trying to set her up. Or maybe she wanted to get to know the merman herself because she certainly had referred to him as "hunky" on more than one occasion. Wiera hoped her aunt wasn't trying to play matchmaker because she certainly knew it wasn't helping. The looks officer Pok gave her were hardly romantic. Annoyed was more the vibe she got from him. 
"Has my father called you again? You are allowed to tell your boss he's overprotective."
"You know I'm not."
"I think maybe my father knows him. How else do you explain you having to look for an adult woman?"
"Repeat offender." Pok said, "That happens when you run off every other week."
He sighed. She really had a point but he guessed her father was just worried because her mother was dead. He couldn't even imagine not having his mother in his life. She was the voice of reason, a bridge between him and his father who was a high-ranking police officer. And as he'd heard, Wiera had been young when her mother had died. 
"Come quietly and everything will work out." Pok reasoned.
"Yeah yeah, just let me look through this last room."
Pok sighed, this happened each time. If he let her, she'd just wander aimlessly, time upon time saying she just needed a little time.
"No now." he insisted. 
He swam inside the ship because he knew she wouldn't come unless he came eye to eye with her. The ship's layout was simple and he had no difficulty following Wiera's path. He finally caught up with her in the mess where she was rummaging through cabinets. All porcelain and glass tablewear had been broken when the ship had hit the bottom. 
"Be careful!" Pok warned, worried Wiera might cut herself.
"Don't worry, I'm careful." she replied.
Suddenly, a tremor rocked the ship and the broken shards rained down on them. Pok tried to shield Wiera, but she was too far away from him to manage completely. Both of them got a few cuts, luckily nothing too serious. But the ship didn't settle and more tremors rocked the ship and they were thrown back against the wall.
"Is this an earthquake?" Wiera asked.
"That would be strange, maybe a whale is nudging the ship?" Pok postulated.
"Why would they do that?"
"I haven't a clue." 
Wiera managed to drag herself to one of the windows. There was nothing big to be seen outside. A large amount of fish and other ocean creatures seemed to be heading in the same direction though. Wiera's mind worked overtime but then it finally hit her.
"It's a slip stream."
"They're supposed to be stationary." Pok remarked.
"I don't know how it got here, I'm just telling you what I'm seeing." She replied curtly.
"We need to get out of here." Pok insisted, they'd have a better chance of surviving outside. 
Wiera wormed herself through a small crevice and then helped Pok do the same. His shoulders nearly got stuck, but he twisted and managed to break through. Outside they felt the pull of the current full force. Pok pointed down and they headed for the safety of the bottom. Only the current seemed to be following them. Almost like it was a living creature. And maybe it was, tracking the blood that oozed from the cuts and bruises. A menacing thing that wanted to eat them. 
They swam as fast as they could, but they could not outrun the slip stream current. It picked them up, slapped them inside and then swept them away. When they finally slowed down they were somewhere else entirely. Weird creatures swam around them. Pok's last waking thought was that at least they seemed friendly, before he fell unconscious. 
Wiera woke up first, feeling her head pound.
"Where are we?" she asked, looking for Pok.
She opened her eyes and looked straight into the glowing eyes of a dark-skinned individual. A beige snout popped up behind it, it's long carp-like whiskers swaying gently.
"Aren't you happy we stayed just a bit longer?" Suka asked.
The dark-skinned person nodded but remained silent. She knew they weren't human, but they also didn't feel like mer to Wiera
'I know, I know Okahan. We will be leaving tomorrow. But these two will work for the clutch. Just imagine how lucky we are to have them dropped in our laps by some freak intergalactic black slip."
"Black hole." the person corrected.
"What do you think it was?" the dragon asked Wiera, "And what's your name? Where are you from?..." 
At that time Pok woke up and got included in the barrage of questions. Somewhere in between they also got an explanation. They'd washed up on the Refugium, a place in space that preserved species. And wouldn't they like to bond some dragons? It really was one of the only ways to get back home. But they needn't worry, dragons were great!

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[STORY] * [WIERA] [POK] 

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Lantessama Isle
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