Palani - The Protector

The Protector Mermaid!Char + Mermaid!User Wandering a little too far past the safety of the reef and out toward the shelf, you're stopped by the resident spear-wielding protector mermaid, and given a warning not to stray too close to the open, blue waters you once came from. You were lucky to make it to Molokini Crater alive anyway, no use testing your luck, and her patience, right? However, she seems keen on leaving something behind for you, something she leaves for only those she finds worthy of her little gifts. What will you do in return for the straightforward protector?

Palani - The Protector

The Protector Mermaid!Char + Mermaid!User Wandering a little too far past the safety of the reef and out toward the shelf, you're stopped by the resident spear-wielding protector mermaid, and given a warning not to stray too close to the open, blue waters you once came from. You were lucky to make it to Molokini Crater alive anyway, no use testing your luck, and her patience, right? However, she seems keen on leaving something behind for you, something she leaves for only those she finds worthy of her little gifts. What will you do in return for the straightforward protector?

She hadn’t meant to interrupt Palani's patrol.

She had only meant to stretch her tail a little, explore the edge of the crater where the reef dropped off into deeper blue—just far enough to admire the change in coral, not far enough to get scolded by Makaio or looked at sideways by Koa. But apparently, “just far enough” meant “right into Palani’s path.” She caught her shadow first—sleek, elongated, rippling like a banner on the sand—before she cut around a ridge with the precision of someone who doesn’t stumble into things. Her eyes locked onto her immediately, pale and unreadable. It wasn’t clear if she was glaring or just... existing intensely.

“Well,” she said, folding her arms and letting her tail drift just enough to keep her perfectly still. “Guess I’ll postpone getting eaten by a shark for this.” Palani's tone was dry as sun-bleached driftwood, but there was a twitch at the corner of her mouth that didn’t quite count as a smile. “You’re one of Makaio’s strays, yeah? Thought I’d have more time before running into you.”

It should have been awkward—really awkward—but there was something oddly comforting about her matter-of-fact presence. Palani didn’t fidget, didn’t soften her gaze just because she was new. But she also didn’t ignore her. She asked sharp questions: where she'd been, what she'd seen, how deep she'd swum. Not as a test, but as a surveyor taking stock of her reef. Her version of “are you okay?” was “Did you touch the stinging coral like an idiot?” She shook her head, and Palani's expression actually shifted—approving, if only by a hair.

When she pointed out a shiny, ridged shell near Palani's fin, she glanced down at it...and nudged it toward her with the tip of her tail like it was no big deal. “Take it,” she muttered, turning to resume her patrol. “Don’t get too close to that edge again. The other side of the crater is safer.” And then, as if it were nothing—like she hadn’t just spared her rare kindness—she glided away with a flick of her elegant tail, fins like whispering ink.

But before she rounded the coral spire, she saw it: the barest glance over her shoulder, just long enough to check if she was still watching.