The introduction is in Martyn's POV, but for the rest of it, it'll be in third person.

Anyway, enjoy!!

.•● 𓇼 ●•.

I woke up to freshly cooked bacon and fried eggs, the smell wafting into the berth of the ship and filling my nostrols with its alluring aroma. The perfect way to wake up the day of my first job.

See, my entire family are bounty hunters, but they don't hunt people; they hunt magical creatures. Usually for clients who want to lie about killing them by showing off a horn or a feather, or something like that. And I just turned nineteen, which meant I was finally old enough to hunt on my own.

"Oi, get out of bed, Li'l-wood," Jimmy said, giggling and peeking into the room. "Everyone else is already up and goin'."

I rolled my eyes, but listened anyway. "Alright, alright," I said, "no need to shout at me."

Jimmy's my younger cousin. Well. He's younger by about half a day. He's a pretty clumsy guy if you ask me, like my brother Scar, but he's getting a lot better at hunting. His older brothers, though, Grian and Joel, are incredible at their jobs. Joel once knocked a hippogriff right out of the sky. But Grian's even better. He's faught a warden.

And won.

But the best of all are my parents: Bdubs and Cleo. They can kill anything. Even dragons. And they always work together. Frankly, it's quite adorable.

As I walked onto the deck, I was immediately given a bowl with food and led toward a much smaller boat that hung off the side of the ship.

"Good morning to you, too," I joked to Bdubs, who rolls his eyes.

"Merfolk are early risers, so you should be, too," Bdubs told me, then helps me into the boat. "Know your enemies and act like them. It's how you become a good hunter."

I nodded and took a bite of bacon. It was really good, having been made on a ship in the middle of the ocean. "So, I'm going now?" I asked with my mouth full.

Bdubs nodded and handed me a crossbow, a net, and some tranquillisers. "I expect a pretty fish when you get back."

That's right. My job is to kill a mermaid.

"Yes, sir!"

I sailed out toward the Coral Isles, the underwater mermaid metropolis (basically Atlantis), and pretend to be fishing whilst I waited for a mermaid to show its scaly face. And I waited a while. A long while. I started to get bored until there was a tug on the net.

Excited, I peeped over the edge, finding a beautiful mermaid with her cyan tail stuck in the net. She was struggling desperately to free herself, tugging hard and squirming. Even though she looked so distraught, she was stunning. She had beautiful, waist-length cyan hair, purple fin-like ears that stuck out of her flowing hair, a tail that matched her hair and ears, and shiny blue and purple scales all over her hands and stomach. She wore a white top that covered just her chest and a small bit of her shoulders, as well as donning lots of silver jewelry including a small tiara on the top of her head.

"Huh. And Cleo always said mermaids were ugly," I muttered. Apparently, loud enough for her to hear.

She paused and looked up, giving me a pleading look that had me suddenly feeling guilty about doing this. She mouthed the words "help me" and I was moving to unattach the net from the boat before he could stop myself.

"Bdubs and Cleo are going to kill me," I told myself as I pulled out my pocket knife and began to cut the net. "Why am I doing this? It's just a mermaid. I'm supposed to kill her. I'm supposed to be doing my job-" I jumped when the net snapped. There was a large splash, and the mermaid flicked her tail above the water to smack it down hard onto the surface, soaking me in cold sea water. "Okay. I deserve that."

I watched as she paused before swimming away, looking even more beautiful now that she wasn't distressed. I couldn't help but stare and admire her as she swam off. She was so gorgeous.

Sighing, I glanced down at the severed net before turning away and sitting down inside the boat. Not only did I fail my mission...

But I think I also fell in love with a mermaid.

.•● 𓇼 ●•.

So, the mermaid (not actually a mermaid, a siren) is Scott, Martyn just mistakes him for a girl because he's trans /lh/cl

Anyway, the first chapter's already posted, so you can go ahead and read it.

I do hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, love y'all!! <33 /gen/p