The mermanta swam carefully through the undersea market, conscious as always of the wide wings that spread from just below his shoulders and how much space he took up. At least it was on a mostly horizontal plane, and it was easy for other merfolk to pass over and under him on their own errands.
Hadama had steely hair and dark brown skin on his human half, while the manta wings along his back and the tail that tapered to a slender, whip-like point were so dark as to be almost black. Scars from forge and undersea fauna marked his hide in several places, but they had been tattooed over in a gleaming golden yellow ink that caught the light and glimmered when he moved. Bright emerald eyes took in his surroundings, matching the emerald earring in his left ear, as the several other piercings of gold, silver, and copper complimented the colors of his tattoos, hair, and skin.
The bag he carried clinked with the unmistakable sound of metal as he approached one of the shops built into a lacy confection of blue coral pillars. His wings shifted back into his torso and he wriggled between two pillars on the strength of his flukeless tail instead, slipping within and nodding to the blue-haired parrotfish mermaid tending the driftwood counter.
The bag he offered contained several pieces of metalwork and jewelry, galvanized or plated in zinc, copper, and bronze, which the mermaid took out and began to polish while Hadama swam slowly around the store, taking note of which pieces from the family forge - hidden well outside the city - had sold, and which remained untouched.
Blik
Hadama had steely hair and dark brown skin on his human half, while the manta wings along his back and the tail that tapered to a slender, whip-like point were so dark as to be almost black. Scars from forge and undersea fauna marked his hide in several places, but they had been tattooed over in a gleaming golden yellow ink that caught the light and glimmered when he moved. Bright emerald eyes took in his surroundings, matching the emerald earring in his left ear, as the several other piercings of gold, silver, and copper complimented the colors of his tattoos, hair, and skin.
The bag he carried clinked with the unmistakable sound of metal as he approached one of the shops built into a lacy confection of blue coral pillars. His wings shifted back into his torso and he wriggled between two pillars on the strength of his flukeless tail instead, slipping within and nodding to the blue-haired parrotfish mermaid tending the driftwood counter.
The bag he offered contained several pieces of metalwork and jewelry, galvanized or plated in zinc, copper, and bronze, which the mermaid took out and began to polish while Hadama swam slowly around the store, taking note of which pieces from the family forge - hidden well outside the city - had sold, and which remained untouched.
