The light was thin at these depths, but Hadama swam with calm confidence past the skeletons of ancient corals and schools of brightly colored fish, unbothered by the pressure that slowly built as he descended towards the shrine that waited on the ocean floor.
He carried a net woven of kelp in which several items gleamed, and his broad manta wings moved him forward with weightless grace through the water. His steely hair, caught in a tail, streamed behind him like a metallic banner that glinted in the eternal dusklight of these depths.
Although he looked around him from time to time, wary of predators, his attention was mostly for the shrine he traveled towards and what he would say when he arrived to make his prayers.
Ronin
On your left. The voice that echoes through Hadama's mind is still like Ronin's, but deeper and more gravelly somehow; a side effect from his massive size and the primordial instincts that the leviathan awakens within him. It won't actually look as though he is passing, at first, because his bulk seems to fill all the space directly beneath and to the left of the Mer. But here and there, a glisten of starlit scales, an indication that something is present.
I have never been down to this shrine before, he continues, as if this is an everyday occurence and he is an everyday creature. Which, to Ronin at least, is entirely true. Do many gods visit, I wonder...?
He hadn't been expecting to meet anyone else down here, but he wasn't immediately concerned about the mental voice that reached him. It was a public shrine, after all--
He turned his head to see who it was that was traveling his way, and at first didn't realize who was speaking. There was only darkness, and the glimmer of starlight far below the waves.
Oh.
Are you... a friend of Remi's? The mermanta's deep voice was faint as shock and surprise reverberated through the telepathic link. Ronin's question went unanswered in the surprise of the moment, and the appearance of a monster of myth in Hadama's home waters.
Remi has made himself popular down here, hm? I ought to have known, Ronin rumbles, continuing to swim lazily through the depths towards the shrine, aware of his fellow swimmer's presence and careful not to move too quickly lest he cause any accidents. He is my husband, he continues with a mental chuckle.
My name is Ronin. I apologise on Remi's behalf if he was grumpy or otherwise unsociable. He tries, but that sort of thing doesn't come easily to him any more. Understatement of the century. Regardless, the Mer hasn't fled in fear yet, so maybe it wasn't so bad.
Hadama was silent at first, just trying to take in the scope of the Leviathan as it swam slowly by.
And by.
And by.
There was a part of his brain that was making tiny manta screams at him to swim away as fast as he could, but the Leviathan not only knew Remi, he was--
I see, Hadama said, thoughtfulness and a small flicker of wry amusement overcoming a small part of his shock and atavistic fear. What better mate for a kraken then a leviathan, after all?
A pleasure to meet you, Ronin. I am Hadama. Introductions made, the mermanta continued to swim slowly along as the Leviathan passed nearby. He considered Ronin's words thoughtfully before sending a faint pulse of confusion. He was kind. I helped him to gather water for the lost god, Ghilio. A quiet and remarkable human, all told.
Do you also serve a god, as he does? A curious inquiry; the starlight in Ronin's scales hadn't gone unnoticed by emerald green eyes, but there were other magics that might account for such a shine.
And a pleasure to meet you as well, Hadama, Ronin rumbles, propelling himself further through the water with a monstrous sort of ease. The shrine both is and isn't still a distance away to the leviathan, and as some of him reaches it, the rest continues to glide by the mermanta.
Kind? He must have liked you, he continues with a pulse of amusement, though it's teasing at best. He knows that the core of his husband is golden, even if it's wrapped in layers of sass and antisocial behaviour. Ah yes, Ghilio. I will be making a trip out to see him soon as well.
The amusement becomes a bubbling sort of laughter in the depths, and although Ronin nods, it's unlikely that Hadama will see it. I do, he confirms. Safrin is my goddess, and I am her Huntsman.
This was certainly the strangest conversation he'd had in recent memory; or at least, the strangest circumstances for one. His sister was going to be insanely jealous when he told her he'd chatted with a leviathan, and that thought brought some peace to the internal screaming of his survival instincts.
Much of Hadama's usual conversation involved body language, but without being able to see the leviathan's head so far in front of him now, he settled for sending a pulse of quiet positivity through the bond at having made a good impression. I hope so.
With everyone going to meet the lost god of Flowerbirth, Hadama was feeling a little envy for the airbreathers, but then again Remi's description of the desert kept him from being too regretful over it. Please give him my regards, he said simply.
Safrin's Huntsman was a title even the merfolk had heard of in recent years, though rumor was more prolific than truth. Thoughtful silence stretched between them for long moments before Hadama spoke again. What do you hunt for Her? A sense of curiosity and a healthy shade of respect colored the merman's mental tone.
A sudden bout of mist begins to swirl rather charmingly around your heels. It’s gone nearly as quickly as it came, followed by the indistinct sound of faraway laughter.
Mist and laughter underwater are not exactly things that Ronin expects, and nor does he appreciate them. Did you hear that? he wonders. I encountered something similar up at the Rainbow Road... Is it following him around, perhaps?
Rumbling an affirmation that he would, indeed, give Ghilio Hadama's regards, the leviathan curls in a slow circle around the shrine - not an easy thing when it is so small and he is comparatively so large. Nevertheless, a fin lifts and the world lights up very briefly - bioluminescent algae carried from the shore, an offering for the old gods even down at this depth.
Monsters, he replies of his role with Safrin. Though I suppose that is a vague term. Whatever she considers to be monsters, is a better response.
Hadama hadn't had the pleasure of such a strange encounter before, and he looked around himself in concern as Ronin spoke. I did, he confirmed, a faint feeling of mental confusion underlying the bond at the bizarre occurrence. I have never seen or heard such a thing before... But this shrine has a reputation for spirits.
Not all spirits were cruel, however. Until he knew more, Hadama simply remained on alert, lest some spriggan of the sea try to prank them.
He stopped a ways back from the Shrine and the leviathan that encircled it, floating unhurried and content to let the goddess's chosen take his time there. What monsters have you hunted for her before now? Great power came with great responsibility, but Ronin's task was one the smith did not envy.
Mm, I was at a shrine the last time I heard this as well, Ronin remarks, and the realisation does have him settling down a little. Perhaps it's one of Ludo's tricks, he guesses. It does have a penchant for trickery at this season, after all. Hopefully it's nothing to worry about too much.
Ronin is much too large in this form to arrange the algae in any meaningful way, so he merely lets it accumulate around the shrine to bathe it in a ghostly light - a mark of respect to any and all gods watching.
As for his monsters, the leviathan does not smile, but there is a distinct glint of massive rows of teeth some distance away from Hadama. Let's see... as of late, I have hunted a large stone gargoyle out in Hak Etme, a basilisk in the Peepholes, and a colossal monster that was sleeping beneath the Sea of Glass...
Indeed, the mermanta agreed, though his mental voice didn't seem entirely convinced that it was nothing to worry about. Still, with a Leviathan who seemed civilly inclined to chat with him, he couldn't be much safer from the tricks and traps of mischievous spirits, spriggans, or gods.
He watched the deposition of the glowing plankton curiously but silently, waiting until the massive creature seemed content with his offering before asking of monsters the hunting thereof.
Hadama listened solemnly to the recitation, tilting his head in curiosity at the mention of the Sea of Glass. A lost Sea... he murmured, intrigued. There were legends, of course, but... What was the sea creature like? Past tense, for it seemed unlikely that Safrin's Huntsman was sent on missions of catch-and-release.
Now finished with his offering, Ronin lets himself sink down into the sea bed and lifts a fin as if to gesture for Hadama to leave his own gift for the gods, if he's so inclined. The sea creature in the Sea of Glass receives a pulse of almost bloodthirsty amusement, because as jovial as Ronin might be in his personality, he's also a giant leviathan, and that comes with its own set of instincts.
Prehistoric, he says, because it's the only word he can really think of to describe it. At least as large as I am now. Remi wrestled it as a kraken. It took the tip of a tentacle off, and a couple of fingers in his human body. And that is just another reason why it was now very dead.
Hadama simply waited, sending a small pulse of polite negation through the bond, coupled with a quiet amusement. I have come to pray to Safrin, he explained. I will take meeting you here is a good sign. And this conversation was far too interesting to pass up. Such stories these demigods had!
It was difficult to imagine the scope of such a battle, though with Ronin's leviathan form so close it hand it became a little easier. I am glad it did not threaten our home seas. A grave observation as the mermanta inclined his head deeply in gratitude to the demigod - and by extension, his husband.
After a moment's thought, a careful question: May I ask your advice on praying to your goddess? To avoid offending Her, and to gain her favor for an undertaking.
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