Mermaid's Peril
Raeh knew she shouldn't have been here. She'd been warned numerous times, that danger lurked around this reef. But the mermaid couldn't ignore the corals that were here; for a place said to be dangerous -- and indeed, the grim, rocky crags did not look inviting even when lit with the glimmering sunlight as the water distorted the rays, and could have sheltered any number of perils -- she could not quite believe the occasional outcropping of corals that grew here; branching growths of such vibrant colours, spots of wonder within the hostile reef, some sporting waving tendrils that she knew lit up when the darkness fell, and when the moon shone, even from a distance, the dancing light of the moon and the waving of the luminescent tendrils created a truly spectacular view. And of course, there was the greatest of all, clams with shells that glittered with a pearlescent rainbow hue, to say nothing of the pearls that may have laid within.
She only wanted to take a few of these corals back, carefully transplant them near her home. She would receive a scolding, certainly, but in time the beauty would be well worth it.
She knew where she was going, but still she opted to go slow and avoid the deep crevices between the rocky crags. She could not blend in during the day, the skin of her humanoid torso pale, and her fish-like tail covered in blue gleaming scales, whilst turquoise hair waved in the currents, noticeable to any who might've been watching. Of course, she was watching too, her blue-green eyes sharp and focused on her surroundings, and her pointed ears, webbed membranes spanning halfway along them to just above her jawline, reminiscent of fins, twitched, listening for sound waves in the water that could've preceded danger.
She had modest breasts, not too big, not too small, but taut muscles kept them shapely, and streamlined for swimming. Along her neck she sported slits, beneath which one could see pink, fleshy tissue, similar slits apparent just below her armpits, along the side of her body between her ribs. Simple gills to help the mermaid breathe underwater, though not quite the same as what mundane fish sported. They could also close tightly when needed, leaving only subtle grooves to indicate their presence, particularly if one went above the waterline. Still, it wasn't something to be seen on humans, one of the few ways, along with their ears, for humans to tell mermaids apart from their own kind if the mermaids' tails weren't visible.
That and beautiful women tended not to go swimming nude in the sea, and mermaids were known for their beauty.
Raeh clutched the point of a rocky outcropping, and in the distance, spied the red and pink branches of a particularly beautiful coral specimen, standing out amongst the bleak, stony expanse of unwelcoming reef.
It was just one of the examples she wanted to procure, but she knew better than to be greedy and try and acquire more than one at a time. She approached from another angle another day, and hopefully come across different types without risking too much open crossing.
Slowly, she moved from crag to crag, looking down occasionally to make sure there were no crevices beneath her from which something could ambush her; even if there were no so-called 'magical' or 'mythical' -- as the humans seemed to say -- threats, the mundane risks were still certainly present; eels or small sharks, or any number of aggressive creature.
Though, she rarely ever saw fish in these parts, as though they avoided this dreadful place...
She neared the coral, and she found it harder to look away, to her surroundings; the closer she got, the more details she could make out, and it was truly exquisite, the branches seemingly adorned with 'thorns', hard formations of a silvery hue that glinted subtly in the sunlight, along with purple 'veins' that traced along the coral branches like royal trim.
It would be a delicate task to remove and transplant it, something so beautiful and fragile, especially given the risk presented to her own being.
Still, being so close, it was a shame to leave something so beautiful in such a grim, unwelcoming place where few dared to venture.
Raeh was soon upon the coral, and she marvelled at its structure, its colours, its uniqueness among corals found elsewhere, in more hospitable reefs. She wondered why this barren reef, of all places, had such wondrous examples of natural beauty.
So enthralled, she failed to notice movement just behind her, until she felt something slimy and flexible coil around her tail, slick suckers cupping to her scales.
She yelped and whipped around to spot a purple-black tentacle grasping her lower half, others starting to slither up behind an outcropping.
Raeh struggled and squirmed, panicking as the tendrils neared her. She whipped herself around and flicked her body, clawing at a nearby jag of rock, and pulling.
She managed to free herself, and her body was an undulating dart as she attempted to flee, but a dark shape followed her at speed, the tentacles trailing behind it.
She went this way, and that, slipping precariously between gaps in the reef's crags, daring more ambush by delving into narrow crevices, and rising high, and dipping low, in an effort to shake off her pursuer.
But the thing was fast, and she could not break line of sight.
And worse, it knew this place better than her. Her undoing came when she attempted to round a corner between a ridge and a jutting crag hard, hoping to throw off her hunter... but the thing came through a concealed crevice that headed her off.
Raeh soon found herself tangled in writhing tentacles that slithered and coiled all over her, fighting against her struggles as the predator moved to fully ensnare its prey. She screamed, cried out, whipped herself around and tried to claw the slimy appendages off her, but it was no good; the limbs were surprisingly resilient for being so squishy, and unyielding in their strength, so her nails could not scratch them.
She whimpered as they slipped all over her, wrapping around her like the caught prey she was, finding her arms wrapped up in the slippery but unbreakable grip of the tentacles.
Then, she saw their owner loom up before her, Raeh's eyes narrowing in distress, briefly going still.
It was a cecaelia, the infamous 'sea witches', half human and half octopus, and noted for their aggression and feared for their apparent sadism.
Her upper half was humanoid, but her skin was ashen grey, large breasts capped with charcoal areolae and nipples. She was not petite like Raeh was, though she still had a somewhat slender frame, albeit one accentuated with a curvaceous physique. Long, dark red hair, reminiscent of some seaweeds, flowed in wavy locks behind her from the current, shadowing her face a little. It did little to hide the predatory, hungry expression on her face though, devious and gleefully dangerous. Her lips were a darker shade compared to her skin, but her eyes were a bright yellow, save for the obsidian pupils, horizontal like an octopuses. Both lips and eyes were twisted with that treacherous desire, the woman grinning wickedly.
Down by her hips, her human skin gave way to a mottled, slimy octopus body, purple-black in colour, at least the part beneath the head of a mundane octopus, fanning out like an umbrella, membranous skin stretched out between the roots of eight tentacles, all now tightly wrapped around the helpless mermaid, who still continued to struggle, though her efforts were now much meeker, fear and helplessness setting in.
