"Why are we out here again?" Dean could hardly muster out the words as his small body rocked back and forth to the rhythm of the boat, his usually stoic face a soft shade of green. The young viscet was not thrilled to be on a boat, having always gotten too motion sick on land to attempt any voyage by sea, though as usual, Castiel had pushed aside Dean's concerns, informing the young viscet that if he wished to come along on the delivery, sea was the only way they would be traveling. Cas was not willing to lose a day traveling by land just so Dean could remain his stoic self. While the young viscet had initially agreed to these terms, as another set of the choppy waves they had come across on their voyage crashed into the boat, all he could feel was regret. Regret and motion sickness.
"You know perfectly well why we're traveling by boat. We discussed this multiple times before even stepping aboard." Castiel had no qualms traveling by sea. Sure the boat was rocking more than usual on this particular voyage and one could see how a viscet could acquire a notorious case of sea sickness, he was perfectly fine. The older viscet was so calm on boats that he had found that it could be the middle of a storm and he could go down below deck and take a nap without a care. This was why Castiel himself did not own or ever sail a boat, the viscet finding the experience at sea to be too enjoyable to ruin with stress or labor. That said, taking Dean on this particular delivery had added a layer of stress for him. Despite his confidence in his companion, Castiel always felt more stressed when Dean assisted with anything related to his work. It was not necessarily a negative stress, Dean usually did his best to remain helpful and out of the way, but Cas cared about the young viscet and knowing the level of danger typically involved in what he did for a living, stress for Dean's safety was basically a given. On this particular trip however, Dean had presented more stress than usual, mostly due to Cas' fear that the young viscet might throw up on him, a fear based on the increasing deeper shades of green the young viscet had been turning. "Dean, if you should be feeling sick, I'd ask that you go stand near the edge, that way any...you know, can simply go into the sea."
Dean shot daggers over at Castiel for his suggestion. Was Cas really so worried about him throwing up on him? It almost made Dean want to. Almost. Common sense kept the young viscet from traveling too far into that realm of thought, he knew perfectly well that Cas could be a very dangerous viscet when he wanted to be and while sense told him that Cas would never purposely hurt him, Dean did know Cas' germaphobe levels were unusually high. So, with much begrudgement, Dean slowly rocked his way over to the edge of the deck, his paws tightly clutching the seemingly moving railing. Dean's eyes danced around the swirling sea below him as the young viscet leaned his head slightly over the top of the railing, a balancing act for the short young viscet. For a moment, the water seemed to calm and Dean was able to relax his grip, letting his eyes softly drift to a close. This proved fatal for it took no more than a moment for the intensity of the sea to regain itself and Dean, who was barely holding on at that point, to be launched over the railing and into the water, smacking into the rail as he did so.
Talise knew he needed to help the second he saw the small land viscet crash into the waves. He had been out exploring when he felt the sea began to pick up, waves growing higher and more aggressive, the wind whipping around the surface. Talis had experienced enough to know at this point that he needed to stay deep and wait it out. Like all things, this storm would soon pass. However, when Talis saw the bottom of the boat caught in the midst of the storm, he knew that he should stay close. Sailors all too often found themselves overboard during storms, especially in ones like these that seem to pop out of nowhere, and Talis felt he had a responsibility to assist should any land viscet find themselves in an overboard position. Talis had embarked on little rescue missions like these seemingly hundreds of times, and yet something about this time was different. The sea viscet knew so when he looked at the small land viscet, around the same size as him, and the land viscet looked back. There was something about the look in the other viscet's eyes, wide with panic and a lack of understanding as if he couldn't comprehend the moment fast enough to think himself out of the danger he was just thrust into, that Talis found familiar. He knew that look. He had worn that same look before. Once. A long long time ago. Distracted by a sudden thrust forth memory, it took Talis a second to regain himself, a long of period of time for the land viscet to begin to panic as the waves seemingly swallowed him whole. Back in his right mind, Talis mustered his strength and quickly shot up to the water's surface where he grabbed hold of the land viscet. A different kind of struggling began that moment as the land viscet started to fight Talis' grip on him. "Hey, relax, I'm here to help." His voice was soft, albeit a grumbly, but that seemed to work as the land viscet stopped fighting.
Dean had heard the expression paralyzed with fear used a million times before, but it wasn't until his body hit the water that he truly understood what it meant. The young viscet felt he could barely move as the waves tossed him about next to the boat, the wind whipping at him any time he broke through the surface of the water for a breath of air. His waterlogged ears could faintly hear a commotion from above him, no doubt Castiel telling the sailors what had happened and ordering them to go fetch Dean, but his mind couldn't help but go to a dark place. I guess this is the end, the thought crept forward quietly, though the silence about it was more like grief than peace. Dean was sitting in this dark and lonely thought when he felt a paw grab him. Like all good first instincts, he jumped, though due to his position in the water it was more of a subtle shift than a jump. Quickly his mind told him that it must be one of the sailor's sent in to rescue him, but when Dean looked at the viscet that had latched on, his eyes told him otherwise. The creature before him looked like a viscet, but lacked some of the normality, instead having a fish-like resemblance. Dean was not entirely sure what was holding him, or rather, pulling him, seemingly away from the boat at that, but rather than ask, he chose to fight. He fought back against the pull of the somehow incredibly strong viscet, a surprising fact for the creature seemed to be the same size as him, his paws thrashing about the water in desperation. Dean fought and fought, only hesitating when the creature spoke up. The voice that came from it was not a strange voice, it didn't sound like a cartoon fish, as Dean had anticipated, rather, it sounded like a kid, like him. It was a voice that, for better or for worse, Dean found himself trusting, and so he stopped fighting, stopped thrashing about, and instead, let himself be pulled along.
Castiel felt his heart leap into his throat he moment he saw Dean's body yanked by ferocity of the wind, over the side of the boat. Running over to the edge, Cas began scanning the water of signs of Dean, signs that he was okay, relief flooding the older viscet's system when his eyes locked on. "VISCET OVERBOARD VISCET OVERBOARD!" He screamed to the sailors, his eyes wide with fear for Dean's safety. Cas remained steady by the edge of the boat as around him, sailors leaped into action, his eyes unwilling to steal away from Dean's seeming tiny body thrashed around by the waves. He wanted to jump in and save him, wanted so desperately to do something to help, but for all his power, Cas could do nothing in this moment but watch. A different emotion came into play when he saw another viscet pop up to the surface of the water, almost like some sort of sea otter. This viscet was around the same size of Dean, but Cas couldn't help but feel that something was off about it. Cas had always had a sort of sense for things, discernment was strong in the older viscet, and his gut told him this viscet below him was not all viscet. The thought filled Cas with a mix of fear and rage when he saw this other viscet begin to pull Dean, seemingly away from the boat. He saw Dean stopped fighting against the strange creature, giving in to its grip, and Cas felt his anger rise. He was not entirely sure why anger, perhaps it was part of his protectiveness over Dean, or perhaps it stemmed from jealousy, Cas being upset that in the moment he could do nothing to save him.
As Talis swam the viscet away from the boat, knowing all too well the consequences of a wave thrusting a viscet into a boat, his mind raced with where to take him. He knew that by this point someone on board would have spotted this young viscet's disappearance, perhaps one of his parents and that the boat would be in pursuit once they located him in the water, which was why Talis needed somewhere safe to drop him off. Talis did not want to end up onboard the boat, taken in by viscets to do experiments on or force to perform like some sort of slave to entertainment, so he needed to drop off the small viscet and make himself a disappearing act. The only problem was, Talis did not know where the best place to drop the young viscet would be. Sure he knew the waters like the back of his paw, that was not the problem, the problem was that this viscet managed to fall off in one of the few places without any sort of secret cove or shallow water anywhere close by. Unsure of where to go, Talis did what he always did and let the current pull him. Sure he kept swimming, he had to if he wanted to keep his passenger afloat, but rather than fight the pull of the sea, Talis instead allowed it to guide him. He had done this before, all in moments like these when the circumstances placed upon him were tricky, and every time the sea viscet had found himself pulled to the place he needed. Talis trusted that in this hour of need, the ocean would guide him again.
Dean was quite aware that this strange, middle of the sea lifeguard viscet was pulling him away from the boat. Away from Castiel. While he knew the viscet had said they were helping him, going away from the safety of the boat, the thing that got him out of the water, of which was where the danger had come from the first place, did not seem like helping. This seemed more like kidnapping. Yet, Dean couldn't help but feel like the strange viscet had a good reason for "kidnapping" him. Dean, for better or for worse, trusted this strange viscet, and so, he remained limp, allowing himself to be pulled along atop the waves.
While Dean trusted the strange viscet's reasoning behind pulling him away from the boat, Castiel found no explanation except a kidnapping. He didn't know why Dean was being targeted or where this strange viscet had come from. Perhaps he had been hired by one of Castiel's many enemies who know that Dean was one of Castiel's few weak points. Whatever the reason, Castiel knew that this viscet was bad, and so he did the only thing he knew to do, get Dean back. "Follow that viscet!" He bellowed at the sailors, his eyes glowing as he "manually" turned the boat 180 degrees. Castiel felt an odd surge of energy as they sailed in pursuit, and his mind raced with all the possibilites of what he could do to make this kidnapping viscet pay for ever laying a paw on Dean.
Talise was aware of the boat's pursuit, he could feel it from the shift in the water. How he could feel such a thing, Talise did not know, all he did know was that he needed to get this land viscet dropped off somewhere quick, or else he would be held to the mercy of the young viscet's guardian. As the gravity of that outcome weighed down upon Talise, he felt his pace quicken, the tide seeming to motivate him forward, almost as though it were urging him to keep swimming. Trying to remain positive, Talise kicked at the water even harder, his swift motions rocketing him and his passenger forward. As he swam, seemingly for his life, Talise felt the current pull him towards the right. Trusting in the sea, Talise went along with the pull, his eyes taking in the relieving sight of what looked to be a small island. Motivated by the solution the sea had presented to him, Talise quickly cleared the remaining yards, plopping down on the albeit quite small sandy beach, his paw finally letting go of the land viscet. It was as he lay on the beach that Talise realized exactly how tired he was, his limbs aching with a soreness that was probably going to be unbearable the next day. Talise was so focused on how he felt that he missed the land viscet's words, only perking back up when he saw a full-grown viscet leap down on the beach with a face twisted with anger.
Dean felt relief sweep over his body when the sea viscet finally reached the island. The young viscet had the urge to kiss the sand, so thrilled to be back again on land, although common sense kept the thought from becoming a reality. "Thank you." He muttered to the sea viscet, though they seemed to not be paying him any attention. Sitting up on the sand, Dean proceeded to look around, studying first the island before him, and then shifting around to look at the sea behind him, upon which he noticed a very angry Castiel standing at the edge of the boat. While Dean was relieved to see his companion again, an odd sort of fear entered him when he realized that Castiel's enraged gaze was directed at the sea viscet laying in exhaustion beside him. "You need to leave. My...Castiel..he's.. he's...You need to leave. Just swim away. He won't be able to get you if you go now." Dean desperately tried to motivate the sea viscet, though none of his words seemed to permeate, and Dean's fear for the sea viscet seemed confirmed when Castiel leapt to the beach, eyes ablaze.
"Dean, step away from that...that thing." Castiel ordered, his mind darkened with thoughts of revenge. No one, no one, was allowed to mess with Castiel and walk away, especially not if they laid a paw on Dean. He was even more off-limits than Castiel himself. The older viscet was ready to act, ready to make this creature pay as soon as Dean stepped out of the range of impact, stepped into safety. Unfortunately, Dean did nothing of the sort. The young viscet stood up and proceeded to step directly in front of the creature, seemingly shielding it from Castiel's rage. "Dean, move." Castiel spoke softly, though his sharpness of tone was enough to convey his level of anger.
Talise was filled with fear at the sight of the older viscet before him and quickly scrambled to his paws, sore as they were. His mind raced with potential escape plans as the viscet before him ordered the small viscet, evidently named Dean, to step away. Talise was still struggling to decide on a plan when, rather than step away as he had been ordered, Dean instead, stepped in front of him. This completely caught Talise off guard, he had never had anyone do this before, never had anyone care. It had always just been him against the world. Yet here was this land viscet he had never met before, standing up for him, or rather, stepping in.
"No." Dean spoke softly but firmly, matching Castiel's enraged gaze. "This...viscet saved my life. You aren't going to hurt him. You're going to leave him alone." Dean was not quite sure what Castiel was going to do or say, he had never deliberately disobeyed his companion before, but he held fast to his stance, unwilling to give up this strange viscet to Castiel's rage, not after this viscet saved him from the water.
Castiel was outraged when Dean stepped in front of that..that creature. How dare he disobey him in such a way! After this viscet kidnapped him, Dean was out of his mind to defend him. Yet, as Castiel matched gazes with the young viscet, he could not help but feel a pang of pride. Dean was truyl blossoming into his own viscet. Whether that was enough for him to excuse a kidnapping, Castiel was not quite sure. He wanted to make this creature pay, make it feel the utmost of regret and pain for hurting Dean, and yet as Dean stood before him, Castiel suddenly wasn't so sure how much hurt had been inflicted. If Dean was to be believed, this creature had saved him, not kidnapped him. This presented a choice. Castiel could ignore Dean, moving him aside to exact revenge, or, Castiel could trust Dean, and..and do nothing. It was a difficult decision. Every protective instinct in his body and dark thought in his mind begged for the former, and yet, Castiel knew in his heart the right choice was the latter. So, acting against what was arguably better judgement, Castiel chose to trust Dean and put up his paws in a gesture of surrender. "Fine. The creature is left alone." He grumbled.
"Thank you," Talise muttered to Dean the moment the older viscet agreed to leave him alone. The sea viscet knew he was stressed, but as he felt the weight of his stress almost physically lift off his body, he realized exactly how stressed he was. Granted, Talise still didn't feel so hot. The slit-eyed look the older viscet wore on his sleeve was enough to tell Talise to make a quick exit. Dean may have saved him, but something about this other viscet struck Talise the wrong way and he felt some distance might be of help. Talise was cautious as he stepped away from Dean, a bit uncertain of what fate lay beyond the land viscet's shadow, but though all that awaited him was the warm touch of the sand. With a small huff, Talise strode, rather quickly, towards the water, feeling himself relax as the waves began to lap at his paws. The sea viscet allowed himself one last glance at Dean and his guardian, and a quietly spoken goodbye, before diving into the sea.
Dean echoed the sea's viscets goodbye as he watched him, at least Dean thought it was a him, with all that transpired he had forgotten to ask, disappear beneath the surface of the water. The young viscet found himself surprisingly sad to see his temporary companion go, his mind still full of unanswered questions, questions that based upon the stewing look on Castiel's face, would have to wait. "Time to go?" He offered quietly, his question swiftly answered by a gruff push towards the boat. As Dean climbed back in the boat, he felt his gaze shift towards the sea, his eyes watching for the creature he knew was in there, somewhere. Perhaps even staring right back.
3,423 words
Castiel & Dean both belong to me
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