The Dark Depths

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie Mitchell loved rock collecting, pretty much everyone knew that Avie loved rocks, he lived for them. He liked collecting them, throwing them, making forts with them. He liked playing finger football, he liked having fun with Rockie with other rocks. But, as he got older, his need for rocks had definitely not diminished, and in fact they were as strong as ever, and with the fact he was learning the spells which meant he could better search for them, the teen was on cloud nine because of it. He grinned to himself happily, as he stood at the lakefront clad in his summer clothes, though it was barely spring. He was wearing his t-shirt, having removed the jumper and he was wearing shorts, the ones with the biggest zip pockets. He was going rock collecting, since he had nothing else to do, Lucien with his girlfriend, Bothizar was doing something, Esme was no where he could find, Kris was seemingly gone, Marcel was doing homework, Mason was busy, Matt didn't like hanging out with him at all, and the teen had even attempted to find Jean, but that too had led to a dead end and so, the teen had just come to the lake, knowing that if they were all busy he could make his own fun by swimming in the lake and rock collecting.

Stepping into the water, Avie walked with his usual lack of care, slipping and sliding on the wet rocks, his feet were usually pretty cut, but he never really minded. Once he got to a depth where he could just start swimming, Avie dove in, opening his eyes in the murky depths and then swum deeper, breaking the surface, and standing on the tips of his toes, he pulled his wand out from his pocket and held it above the water. He had been working on the bubblehead charm, ever since mid way through fourth year, Avie had found he was no longer as good with the spells as he once was. They worked, but his concentration lack and they were weaker, less likely to work. Which was why it took him a total of three times before he got the bubblehead charm to actually work. There was a lot of accidentally swallowing and then coughing back up of murky, lake water. Finally, however the teen was reading, and he began swimming, swimming and swimming, further and further down, to different areas he'd never been before, but never straying too far or going too deep, he wasn't quite that confident yet. The teen was in a world of his own, down in these depths, he didn't need his friends down here, and nor could he ever persuade any of them too. Lucien sometimes went rock searching with him, usually at the lakefront, or the forest, but never to swim. He had always been taught the importance of a swimming buddy, but down here, it seemed to be just him, alone in the dark depths.
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[Rain]

The Weather was getting warmer as the seasons changed and Rain wanted to spend some time up in the sun getting warm but unfortunately today she had a list of things she was required to collect; being a Mermaid born in the Warmer waters she had always looked more human and since it was her dream to be able to go and learn like the humans do she needed to find a new form of comb to brush her hair with so it didn't get all tangled like a fishing net. Rain stayed in a large rock at one of the deepest points of the Lake, the entrance lead to a small room for her to relax and rest but that was all she did there, the sun could almost not even reach her depth so she would spend as little time as possible there. Swimming out of the entrance Rain head for the lighter warm waters, she wanted to find a rock or stick or something that could be used to brush her long blonde hair.

Her golden tail shimmered when the warm sun's rays hit her scales, as she came to the surface. Breaking the surface she brushed her hair out of her face and looked around, she couldn't remember what this season was called, it was one of the S ones that one of the students had told her about, she looked at the shore in the distance and wanted to swim there but remembered her task at hand. Maneuvering her body she rolled back under water and headed directly down to the bed of the lake picking up various objects she could find and testing them on her hair, 'One Prong, what am I meant to do with one Prong' she muttered lifting up a rock which was in a very strange shape, the Mermaid tossed the rock but due to being underwater just slowly fell back among the other rocks.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie was at the lake's bed, picking up the rocks, and cleaning them as much as he could with his hands at this depth, he kept his wand in the band of his shorts and he usually put the stones into his pockets when he had picked the ones that he liked. The teen was off in his own world really as he looked for the best rocks for his collection, these rocks tended to be a little bigger, so not often for throwing at people, although the boy wasn't beyond it. But, it was as he did this that a rock hit his head, with all the momentum that a rock underwater would allow, which wasn't too much, and he grabbed the rock, which was amazing in shape and then glanced around, swimming forward slightly until he stopped dead in his tracks, staring straight ahead at the swimming figure in front of him.

A MERMAID! Avie couldn't believe this, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, he felt in awe of it, just so happy about it. Avie dropped the rock he'd been holding in his shock, barely keeping his concentration and reminder about the spell currently allowing him to breath underwater. The teen swum forward and waved at the mermaid very enthusiastically, not sure what to see, but very clearly in complete awe of it. He thought for moment that his eyes were tricking him, that he wasn't actually seeing a mermaid, that this was just someone else swimming and the murkiness of the water meant he couldn't see it. But he smiled and then went to reach out to touch the scales before wondering if perhaps that was the wrong thing to do, he didn't think they'd enjoy him just touching them, but Avie really really wanted to. He couldn't find his words, and just floated in front of this golden tailed meremaid a look of just complete awe on his face.
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[Rain]

Focusing on her task at hand Rain didn't notice that there was a student near her, she thought she was alone apart from the little fishes which swam around wondering what she was doing. Picking up rocks and shells she sorted through the bed of the lake, she remembered that she once met a mermaid who found a rock which was the perfect brush, it lasted her years, that was her goal, to find the perfect rock brush, although any smart mermaid knew Shells were better for your hair, but they always seemed to break so easily, waving her hand in front of her face she tried to redirect her hair from her view, but instead it continued to sink around her.

Not noticing the Student had swam close to her due to her hair blocking her vision she continued to sort, throwing rocks in various directions each one of them would slowly settle on the floor again, it wasn't until something touched her scales that she looked up. The Mermaid jerked her head back and saw the creature next to her, without taking a second to analyze what type of creature it was she quickly turned and swam off behind a very large rock, was it the Shark she wasn't sure, was it even alive or just some debris; Rain loked down and examined her tail to make sure she wasn't hurt and hadn't realized yet, but her tail was completely fine. Rain turned around and carefully crawled up the rock to take a peak at what had touched her tail.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Touching the mermaid's tail and therefore scales had perhaps not been the right thing to do, when it had scurried away. He wasn't sure if he was able to even speak in this spell, never had he needed to. He could breath easily, as if he as on land, he could feel the bubble, so he was aware of it, but it didn't get popped like normal bubbles did, he'd just never actually spoken while using it. He glanced at where the mermaid had disappeared to, and he didn't really know what to do, he had scared her away, and Avie hadn't wanted that. The mermaid had been looking at rocks, so Avie went into his pocket and pulled out the rock he had just collected and then swum a little closer to where the creature was, "Here," he tried to say, but it came out all wrong, as if he didn't have enough air to really say anything, clearly speaking was tricky.

The slytherin prefect was holding out the rock to her, holding it in both hands, with a hopeful look in his eyes, that she might not be scared of him, that she might be able to talk to him, he had never seen one before, and he never got to play in the lake like this. No one liked swimming like he did, and he wanted to spend time playing, playing with a mermaid would be the best story. He couldn't wait to tell Marcel, to tell Lucien about what he had seen, he smiled warmly, well as much as he could as he waited for this mermaid to say something. He hoped that it wouldn't attack him, he didn't know much about the creatures, just always known that he had wanted to meet one. This was why he was in the lake, not afraid of the creature and offering her a rock that he had just collected with the intention of keeping for himself. The only person whom he gave rocks to that he really liked was Lucien, this was different, he wanted to apologise for touching the tail when he clearly wasn't supposed to and to hopefully gain a friend with whom to play at these depths.
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[Rain]

Upon further investigation, or rather peering over the rock and taking a better look Rain realized what touched her tail wasn't something horrible, but rather a Student who seemed to be offering her a Rock, Using her hands she pulled herself over the rest of the rock and down onto the other side, her stomach pressed to the smooth surface she picked the Rock out of the boys hand, she raised an eyebrow at him, he seemed to have a bit of an issue with speaking under water, she tilted her head in amusement, although she would have a similar issue above water.

'Thank you' she said and examined the Rock he had given her, it was smooth and round, not suitable for what she needed, the Mermaid shook her head 'I'm looking for a comb, would you like it back?' she asked not wanting to hand it back to the boy if she had mistaken this offering as a gift. The boy was doing particularly well keeping himself under water, she wondered if it was tiring to stay down here. Rain pushed herself off the rock towards the boy, her tail giving one powerful flick to propel her around him. 'What is your name?' she asked as she grabbed the boys hand hoping not to scare him but to assist him. 'What House are you in? You do go to school don't you? you seem older, what year are you in?' Rain was curious, not many students came this deep into the lake now a days, the last Student's she had seen were both Gryffindor house and that was a long time ago. Rain examined the student closely her blonde hair floating around her, she hoped the boy wasn't too frightened.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie watched carefully as she appeared to take the rock, and watched with fascination as she did something with the rock, he wasn't sure what she was doing with the rock, but as someone who did many things with rocks, he was hardly going to question what she was doing, hearing her voice underwater was a little strange it was as clear as if he was speaking to anyone on land, but it felt different just because of where he currently was, so much underneath the water. He smiled at her, nodding when she thanked him, the smile grew bigger, and he felt his heart grow with pride that she wanted the rock, the rock he had found, but when she offered back, he shook his head at her motioning with his hands for her to take it, that the rock was not for him, but was in fact for her. He wanted her to have the gift, but if he'd known she was looking for a comb, Avie might've brought the one he had which sat in the bottom of his luggage still untouched from the moment he'd gotten to school.

Avie was floating pretty well in the water, using his hands to keep himself steady and he glanced at the mermaid when she swum forward and around him, she asked his name, and then took the boy's hand. Avie's face flushed a deep red colour clearly visible even at this depth, he wasn't sure if he liked it too much, it felt a little strange, the last hand he'd held had been Lucien's when he'd been crying his eyes out on his bed, but this was different, this was a mermaid holding his hand, she was a female mermaid, but it felt like she wasn't doing anything beside maybe trying to help him, so he didn't get his hand out of her grip. Instead he focused on answering her questions, "Avie," he told her, this word, his name coming out a little better, "Slytherin," this was a little trickier but he finished it by making a hissing sound, as much as he could to indicate that he was in the house of the snake. He was suddenly incredibly thankful for the spell, the bubble head charm which seemed to be holding pretty well despite his distraction, "Fifth year," he finished, before motioning to her, as if to ask, the same questions, "Name?" he could only speak in small words, "Age?" he asked her, just till in awe of her, and so excited to tell everyone about the mermaid he had met, this amazing creature currently holding his hand.
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[Rain]

The Boy motioned for her to keep the rock and she smiled, she hadn't brought a Bag with her to carry anything so she quickly looked around pulling out some sea weed from the around the base of the rock, wrapping it around the rock then around her waist so she didn't have to hold it. Rain used her hand to brush her hair out of her face, staying still for such long times always was a pain with mermaid hair, it had a habit of settling over her face. The boy seemed flushed when she took his hand, for a moment he thought he may have had problems breathing, Concern flashed across her face before she realized it was just probably a human reaction to their interaction.
The Boy answered her questions and she repeated them softly to herself 'Avie, Slytherin, Fifth Year' she was curious 'Avie is an Interesting name' she said, the boy repeated the questions back to her 'I'm Rain, I'm a Siren Mermaid' she said wondering if the boy knew much about Mermaids, he asked her what her age was and she smiled 'I don't know what it is in your years' she said.

Rain flicked her tail slowly and swam in a circle around Avie, still holding his hand so he turned with her 'Avie, Slytherin Fifth Year, What are you doing in the bottom of the lake?' she asked curiously, maybe he was lost, maybe she could help him.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

The boy noticed how the mermaid repeated what he was saying, when she said his name was strange, Avie was unsure as to if he should perhaps explain that his name was Avery but everyone just called him Avie. "Name is Avery," he told her, he didn't often talk about that being his actual first name, he'd been Avie for most of his life, and Avery just wasn't who he was, "Everyone call Avie," he wasn't sure how to explain in simple ways that no one called him Avery, but he just explained that his name was actually the last thing most people called him. He watched curiously as she, the mermaid introduced herself to him, Rain, "Like sky" he did a rain motion with the hand currently unheld by Rain. The teen thought it was a little strange that she was called rain, was it because she was always wet, and rain was wet, or for some other reason.

The teen turned with the mermaid as she swam round in a circle, asked what he did, and he used his free hand to reach into his pocket and pulled out the other rock he had taken, "Rocks!" he told her happily. Since he was in fact down at these depths for exactly that and for no other reason, he wasn't here to explore or catch fish, all Avie wanted were rocks, "Collect" he told her as he placed the rock back into the shorts pocket. He then pointed to where a pile of rocks were, almost asking if she wanted to join him in his quest for rocks.
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[Rain]

'Avery' she repeated again, the name was curious to her, but it wasn't a typical Mermaid name so most Witch and Wizards names were curious to her. 'So Avie is like your first name and your Last name is Avery? Avie Avery?' she asked when the boy said that everyone called him Avie, Rain thought about it a little bit more before blowing some bubbles 'Avie is short for Avery' she smiled at the thought of someone being called Avie Avery. The boy named Avie asked her if her name was like sky and did some random motions with his spare hand, she tilted her head 'Rain comes from the the sky yes' she said 'I have a friend named Storm' she added, Rain wondered how much the boy knew about Mermaid culture 'I don't know any Merfolk named Avery though'

The boy pulled out a rock from his pocket and seemed excited about it, she tilted her head again 'Oh, You like Rocks?!' she said, the boy followed up with saying collect and she smiled at him, he seemed to have trouble speaking at length under water 'Don't worry, it becomes easier to speak, it's all about the breathing' Rain's eyes followed where the boy was pointing at a group of rocks and she smiled 'Oh they're nothing, there are some really pretty ones deeper down, all patterned and stuff' The Mermaid pointed in a general Direction under water, she adjusted her grip on the boys hand and moved herself to be beside him 'Tell me to stop if I'm going to fast' she said, not thinking to Ask the boy if he wanted to swim deeper or with her for that matter, Rain gave her tail a powerful flick and they were off, she kept her hand holding Avery's by her side but used her free hand to help her change direction if needed.

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie nodded a little although he wasn't actually going to bother with explaining his name until he had gotten used to actually speaking in this bubble underwater. He listened attentively, using his spare hand to keep himself moving, but paying attention to what she was saying about her name, she had a friend named Storm?! How many mermaids lived in this water? Avie wanted to meet them all, he couldn't help but think that being a mermaid would be amazing, no school work, no troubles, all he got to do was swim around in the water, collecting rocks. Food was his primary concern, the teen had no idea what mermaid's ate and wasn't sure how keen he was to try it. Avie wondered if it was possible for merfolk, as she called them to be called Avie? The was something which greatly interested the boy, although the fact that he was down here for the rocks and she had asked about them, drew his curiosity to focus on exactly that.

As soon as she asked if he liked rocks the teen nodded excitedly, he loved rocks, saying he liked them was an understatement, "I love" he corrected her with a bright smile, considering his rock collection which he was constantly replenishing because he used them just so very often was an example of how much he liked them, and there were of course the few rocks which weren't at all for throwing, like Rockie. He nodded at her as she told him there were better rocks, and then was about to ask if they could go to where that was when her grip on his hand shifted and then suddenly he was being dragged away at a much faster speed than he had ever swum at before, he was swimming to, using his feet and other arm to help them move forward but he was doing almost none of the work, it was all her. And more than that the teen was really excited about the rocks she was going to show him, he liked the rocks with patterns most of all.
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[Rain]

Enjoying the sensation of her hair moving quickly in the water as she swam she looked back over her shoulder to make sure that the Boy was alright, he didn't seem to be in any distress, she smiled at the boy swimming, Humans swam so strangely to her, all these limbs moving in different directions to move themselves forward, a Tail was much easier, one up and down movement and hands to change directions. Rain continued to Swim; She knew a place a bit further down which had fantastic Rocks, in a lot of odd shapes and patterns which since the boy had said he loves rocks he would surely love these. Slowing down she looked around her before diving down a bit and pulling the boy with her, she settled at the bottom, Large rocks surrounded them in a oddly shapes circle, but they were evenly spaced apart to create a form of underwater Garden fence. Rain let go of the boys hand and quickly made sure he wasn't about to float to the surface before pointing at the rocks beneath their tails or rather tail and feet.

'Now have you seen any rocks like these before?!' she asked, picking up a rock which seemed to be in a hexagonal shape and held it out to the boy 'I've never been far on land, but these are by far the most interesting rocks in all the lake' Rain swam aimlessly in circles just to keep moving, her tail slowly moving in an almost hypnotic movement. 'Do you like them?'

 

[Avie Mitchell]

Avie let himself happily be dragged along by the mermaid who swam with far greater ease than he ever could, far quicker and with far more grace, he kept his concentration on the spell which helped him breathe under water, he frequently did the spell incorrectly or lost his concentration which then subsequently stopped the spell from working. He was glad when they stopped and then he looked at the rocks, to which he swum close to. He picked one up in his hands and turned it over, loving how it looked. He glanced at the rock which she held out and dropped the one he'd been holding. The rocks were amazing, they were greater than any and all the rocks he had ever collected before, the teen couldn't wait to tell everyone about them. He had never seen such amazing rocks in his life, he could barely take his eyes off the rock he held in his hands.

Avie looked up at the mermaid as she asked if he liked them, to which he could only nod enthusaistically before swimming to look at more, picking them up in turn and looking at them, "They're amazing," he said thinking out loud and not particularly talking to Rain though he was grateful for her being there. These rocks were too amazing to through, although he assumed he probably would, only the nicest of the nicest would end up not being thrown and added to his life collection. He glanced back at the mermaid and smiled at her, "Do you collect rocks?" he managed to say, with fewer difficulties than previously. It was clear he was getting better at talking to her, and while it didn't entirely matter oh boy was he glad about it. It was just incredible, just amazing, and he really couldn't believe how amazing these rocks were.
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