#tidewatcher fic

[oceanmastertrash]

the tides know our names- 16/?

Summary:   After losing the throne to his brother Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward. A few months after this Elara, part of an ancient order of prescient Atlanteans known as Tidewatchers, has a vision of Orm’s death. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

Part: 16/?

Word Count: 5,182

Warnings: none.

Read on Ao3

start from the beginning

Author’s Note: Alright this is the last chapter for today, this one is brand new! enjoy the binge my lovelies!

“Madren messaged you,” Orm clarified, equal parts apprehensive and intrigued.

“Yep,” Elara said. “And she wants to meet you.”

Orm stared back at Elara, completely unsure if that was a good or a bad thing.

-

According to Elara, Madren was currently running the Tidewatcher sanctuary in Guatemala. Orm would have preferred to just swim there but, also according to Elara, there were a couple obstacles to that plan. First and foremost the sanctuary was on the opposite coast of Central America than their current location in Belize. Secondly, given what Henrik had told them about the tracking method Black Manta and Dr. Shin were employing, it was in their best interest to stay on land for the time being.

Orm was apprehensive about leaving the shore entirely and fully immersing into life on the surface. The reality of tackling land travel was also something he had no experience with. Elara had some knowledge but she still had to use an internet cafe to nail down the details of their travel and acquired a cheap prepaid phone to better book their surface transportation.

She also changed out of her bloody garments so as to be less conspicuous. It did Orm better than he would like to admit to see her in her fresh clothes. Elara was not the sort to look fragile, wounded though she was, but it comforted him to see her look put back together in a sense. For her part, Elara took comfort in it, she still ached and smarted if she moved the wrong way but she felt less exposed without a literal gaping hole in her shirt.

Elara contemplated renting a car for their travels, as she did have some limited driving lessons but ultimately decided, given some of the weaving of the path, they’d be better off taking public transportation. It would be a long day and a meandering journey. Elara was certain that Orm would suffer quite a bit of frustration and annoyance from the surface dwellers but there was no way to avoid that at this point.

By now the sun was setting and they decided they would begin their journey in the morning. Elara found a motel for them. It was small and probably nowhere near the standards Orm was used to but it had two beds and he at least recognized their need for rest. Elara was exhausted and while her Atlantean healing and the meds from the clinic were helping with the pain of her injuries, she knew she needed some downtime to try to recuperate.

They stayed up a little while longer as Elara did her best to explain surface concepts like the bus system they’d be employing to get to Madren and the credit card she used for most of their purchases as well as her scant knowledge of the currencies she had. Orm thought it all more complicated than it should be but at her argument, conceded that Atlantis and all it’s kingdoms and politics would no doubt befuddle outsiders as well.

After their strenuous day, Elara fell asleep fairly quickly. Orm didn’t like the idea of them both sleeping at the same time surrounded by surface dwellers on all sides but Elara had insisted that the tides would wake her if anyone were to try anything and they should both rest while they can. Orm struggled with this idea. Letting his guard down was not anything that came easy to him, especially not considering they’d already been attacked that day by a surface dweller.

Ultimately though, fatigue won out and Orm fell asleep listening to the sound of Elara breathing. It wasn’t the most restful sleep by far but it was more than he’d expected. It was not particularly lengthy either, because before too long, they were woken by an annoying melody from the cell phone Elara had purchased. It was an alarm she’d set to ensure they would get up early enough to catch the bus. While such an alarm was useful, it was very irritating and Orm loathed it on principle.

They grabbed something to eat at a nearby cafe and then waited at the bus station. Elara had explained that the bus system they were using had many other stops on the way until it eventually stopped closer to the center of Guatemala where they would then catch a smaller bus for a short stint to the town closest to the Tidewatcher sanctuary. There weren’t as many people getting on the bus this early but Elara knew they would have a lot of contact with a lot of people by the time the day was over.

Elara had booked them on one of more luxury liners instead of what the locals referred to as ‘chicken busses’ which ran more locally and, well, had more livestock on board. Elara anticipated that they’d need to use them at some point but thought it best if they put it off for now; one thing at a time and all that.

The wait was short as those around them chatted in languages Orm didn’t understand. It was hard not to feel so very far from home in this moment. Perhaps Elara sensed this from the tides but she subtly shifted so her uninjured arm was pressed against his in a silent show of support. It was a small thing but it helped. If this had been a couple weeks ago he might have been perturbed by how well she could read him but then he supposed she wouldn’t be a very good tidewatcher if she wasn’t good at picking up things like that. She wouldn’t be able to keep them safe if she couldn’t sense something like a change in mood, that could mean everything in a surprise attack. And he had to note she’d never used this to manipulate him or use him, only to help them. He admired that about her.

He was glad to let Elara take charge in the small things like where they sat. If nothing else, he was glad that he didn’t have to reveal further how little he knew of these things though he suspected she knew anyway. They sat towards the back and not very close to any other passengers so they could talk a little freer as long as they spoke quietly. She sat with her bad side to the window. It was going to hurt all day anyway but at least this way she wouldn’t have to worry about him accidentally elbowing her tender side or scraping her arm. She was careful how she held her arm so as not to rub it the wrong way but the bandaging and the jacket she wore helped insulate it more against aggravation.

Once the bus was on its way they didn’t talk at first. While Orm acclimated to the feel of things on the road and amongst surface dwellers like this, Elara took the opportunity to get familiar with the flows of the tides for the bus and their route. As the whole bus had a hectic and chaotic atmosphere to it, she thought it best to get a feel for what patterns were normal for it so she could better spot what was irregular.

After some time had passed and nothing went wrong and no one bothered them, she could feel some of the edge had dissipated off of Orm. She figured now was a good time to try conversing with him to distract him. She’d also strategically let him take the aisle seat because she figured he’d feel more able to protect them that way even if she did not feel such actions would be necessary.

“So,” she began, turning to him, “what do you know about Madren?”

Orm resisted the urge to smirk, of course she would know he was curious about the old tidewatcher even if he hadn’t said anything. He wasn’t proud of it but the idea of meeting Madren intimidated him slightly. While he’d received reports from her during his reign, he’d never met her though he’d certainly heard stories from Vulko and the other Tidewatcher elders over the years. Combine that with all he’d heard from Elara since they’d come to the surface and Madren seemed a larger than life figure to Orm and one that left a profound impression. She was regarded by many as being exceedingly eccentric which Orm had always attributed to the fact that she’d spent several decades on the surface. She wasn’t the only Tidewatcher or Atlantean to maintain an outpost up above but she’d been topside longer than any other Atlantean he’d ever heard of.

She’d acclimated to her environment in unusual ways. When he’d been king, the tidewatcher council would regularly update him on reports from Madren. She could not only sense shifts of surface dweller politics through the tides but also witness it firsthand. She was an invaluable resource but a bit of a wildcard. He’d been content enough to let her stay up here as her intelligence was always timely. He could sense at times she disapproved of his war on the surface but she never interfered which suited him just fine. The same relations between Madren and the king of Atlantis had not always been the case when his father had been on the throne. It was not a subject Orvax had been inclined to speak of which had only served to make it a subject of curiosity for Orm.

“What can you tell me about Madren and my father?” he asked calmly.

Elara raised her eyebrows. That was not the question she had been expecting. “Well you clearly know something or else you wouldn’t ask. What have you heard?”

“Oh just the standard line Orvax circulated to the courts- that he banished her to the surface for her insubordination.” Orm answered with a wry grin, “and enough from Vulko to know that no one actually banished Madren.”

Elara shared a smug grin, “That he most certainly didn’t. Anyone who’s actually met Madren would know that she is not a woman to let anything but the tides tell her what to do. And even then she’ll argue and analyze it five ways to Sunday before consenting.”

“So what really happened?”

“I suppose the diplomatic answer would be that she resented the idea of being under his thumb and subject to his tempers and scrutiny,” Elara said after consideration.

“And the non-diplomatic answer?” he pressed.

“She was tired of his bullshit,” she said straight-face.

“Sounds like she taught you well on that count,” he replied slyly.

“That she did,” Elara agreed. “But the way she tells it, Orvax was a thousand times worse than you ever were. Madren was the best tidewatcher on the council and they both knew it. Madren wasn’t afraid to call him out on his ill-conceived schemes or throw the warnings of the tides in his face if things didn’t work out for Orvax. I don’t think he would have had problems if she was skilled and humble but she was abrasive and loud about it. He knew he couldn’t properly cut off contact with her because what results he saw and liked from the tides mostly came from her leads but he couldn’t abide her publicly contradicting and undermining him.”

“No,” Orm said quietly, “he certainly couldn’t.”

Elara could sense a bitterness and a history to that statement but also that it wasn’t something he was interested in exploring in depth at the moment so she moved on as nonchalantly as she could. “Madren’s no idiot and knew something had to give. Since the tides gave her no indication that Orvax was going to change and she knew she absolutely wasn’t going to, she decided she’d relocate as a sort of truce. Orvax wasn’t wild about her training others on the surface but ultimately agreed that it was preferable to her constantly embarrassing him down below.”

Orm found himself smiling. He enjoyed the way Elara told stories. He found himself content to simply watch how her eyebrows would quirk when she found something amusing and the way she’d gesture with her hands to make a point.  She was certainly more fascinating to watch than whatever was out the window at any rate.

“Everything that was said after she was gone was pure fiction made up to make Orvax sound better once Madren wasn’t in Atlantis to dispute him. All of us tidewatchers knew the truth but it didn’t really matter. Madren said the point was that she didn’t have to deal with him anymore so she was the real winner.” Elara gave an emphatic jab of her finger.

“What about after Orvax died? Why didn’t she come back then?” At this point Orm was just enjoying hearing her talk about it but he was still curious as to Madren’s continued presence on the surface.

A small part of him wondered if Madren stayed away because she didn’t think Orm had been any better of a king than Orvax had. He couldn’t be sure though, it wasn’t as if he and Madren had ever butted heads. It could be different with Tidewatchers, but two people were usually required to have met before having a feud. Orm then felt a twang of unease at the idea that Madren had stayed away because she’d seen his future sins and decided he was just as bad as his father. It wasn’t entirely unwarranted but it also wasn’t an idea he liked to entertain.

Elara sensed a pang of anxiety from Orm but rather than address it she simply continued on. “She was formally invited back for the sake of appearances but she declined. I asked her about it a few years ago and she said that as much as she loved Atlantis, she’d come to love the surface too and she wanted to instill some of that love into the next generation of Tidewatchers. She saw enough ill will between land and sea in the tides but wanted to do what she could to abate it, to remind her fellow Atlanteans that there was much to love and protect up above. She taught me well in that regard too.”

Elara nervously tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, looking down at their feet. Orm was hardly about to declare war against the surface again but she knew that her affection for this world above was still an aberration among her people. While she’d argued with Orm about attacking the surface while they were still in Atlantis, she never would have dared to reveal her fondness for it back then. If she had, he would have just rolled his eyes and condescended.

He did none of those things now. In the brief glance she allowed herself to gauge his reaction, she could have sworn he smiled ruefully.

“Indeed she did,” he finally said quietly. Try as she might, she could sense no derision from the former king and that filled her with a quiet sort of gratitude.

It made sense to Orm. Elara had never shown the slightest hesitancy about coming to the surface. To being the one tasked with keeping him safe, perhaps, but she’d held no reservations for the surface. As comfortable as she was down below, there was an ease to her manner up here that some small part of him envied. He didn’t loathe it as he once had but now he was willing to admit that a lot of his discomfort stemmed from not understanding. He still hated their waste and how the people here took so much for granted but he could see hints of joy too. Though he would at least admit to himself that he might not have seen any without Elara’s influence.

A companionable silence fell between them for a time and Orm found himself thinking about his father and Madren. He might have once considered their relationship a mirror of his with Elara. Both Elara and Madren being the stubborn and defiant Tidewatcher while he and Orvax stood opposite as the haughty and proud king. How things had changed. It surprised him to realize that now he felt more kinship with Elara than he did with his father.

His father might have thought he was doing what was right to make Orm the best ruler he could but that didn’t change the fact that Orvax was a cold and distant father. When he did express emotions for Orm it was more anger and frustration with occasional bursts of small pride. More proud of how he had molded Orm than of anything Orm had done for himself. And Orm had spent so long telling himself that it was alright. That Orvax knew what was best but a quiet doubt had always lingered after Orvax had ordered Atlanna’s death. Justify it as Orvax had, Orm had resented his father for robbing him of the one person whom he had known to actually love him. Altanna may have loved Arthur and missed her life on the surface but she had loved Orm fiercely and protectively. Doing her best to spare him the worst of Orvax’s wrath and raise Orm to be considerate and clever and thoughtful.

That was why Orm had never sent his commandos after Tom or Arthur before Arthur came to Atlantis. The rumors of Atlanna’s bastard had certainly plagued his rule as had the knowledge that Atllanna’s human family was what had led to her death and yet Orm had left them alone. He’d certainly been advised to silence the rumors and have the Currys killed but Orm had resisted. It was the only way he could think of to honor Atlanna’s memory. As much as he hated them for essentially taking his mother from him, he knew that Atlanna had loved Arthur and Tom so he’d left them alone.

It was only when Arthur had come to Atlantis himself and challenged Orm’s right to rule that Orm could resist no longer. He was so close to achieving everything he’d been fighting so long for and he hadn’t been able to stand by and let Arthur challenge him. Add Mera’s betrayal and Orm was stung and retaliated in kind. Orm wasn’t proud of it now, it was the actions of a petty man who was hurt and he knew now he would have regretted it if his commandos had succeeded in killing Arthur and Mera.

As ashamed as Orm felt for some of his actions, Orm realized that if he hadn’t done what he had, he would not be where he was right now. The subject of a future assassination attempt and on the surface he’d spent so long despising perhaps- but he was also sitting next to a befuddling, and bitingly clever Tidewatcher who had seen his worst mistakes and still believed in him and that wasn’t something Orm liked the idea of losing. Realizing this affected him in the most peculiar way. As soon as he thought it, he felt a rush run through him and he couldn’t help the slightest tremor that hit him.

Elara sensed it, of course she did, though he couldn’t be entirely sure if she felt it physically or through the tides. In any case, she had grown so accustomed to him that, minute as it was, she felt it and she tore her gaze from the window to meet his eyes.

Concern played across her wonderfully expressive face and he could practically feel her scanning the tides for the source of the tremor.

“You alright?” She asked quietly, unconsciously leaning closer.

He had the absurd desire to lean in as well, just to be even closer to this startlingly lovely woman, but he kept himself in check, trying to school his features in the wake of such an idea.

“I’m fine,” he answered back just as softly. Not because he was worried about any of the other passengers hearing them but because he had the foolish notion that his realization was like a small, easily frightened animal- likely to flee at any loud sound or sudden motion. He couldn’t stop himself from adding, as gently but reserved as he could manage, “I just wanted to thank you.”

Elara could sense something had changed in Orm but, as fast as her heart was beating at their closeness and distracted as her thoughts were, she just couldn’t put her finger on what that change was.

“Thank me?”

“I don’t think I ever properly thanked you for coming up here with me.” He said, even though that barely scratched the surface of what he was grateful for in this current moment.

He was right. He hadn’t thanked her but, if Elara was being honest, she hadn’t expected him to. She wasn’t sure if that was selling the prince short or not but when all of this started he wasn’t feeling any sense of appreciation at his glorified exile. His thanks were hardly some grand glorious gesture, but given where Orm had started, it meant something to Elara. He might have once taken something like this for granted or assumed that it was her duty and simply expected of her. She had begun this journey feeling like the tides were calling her to do this, so she may have once said that thanks weren’t necessary but many things had changed between them since they had left Atlantis.

“You’re welcome,” was all she said and before she could think better of it, she took his hand.

Orm was getting obnoxiously fond of holding her hand. He remembered seeing Elara and Calysa coming to meet them, holding each other’s arms and being very affectionate and he’d certainly seen such friendly physical exchanges among his citizens when visiting the regions but that type of physical familiarity was never something he’d had access to after Atlanna died.

Given all of her many gifts and deductions, Orm wasn’t sure if Elara knew that or not. Didn’t know if this was just her general way with people she was familiar with or if she was actively trying to compensate for his touch-starved youth. And while he wanted to believe he was special, he wasn’t sure how much it mattered in this exact moment. She was holding his hand because she wanted to, because he’d reached out to her and it felt nice.

They didn’t speak again for awhile and eventually she let his hand go with a tight squeeze before getting into her pack for snack bars. The rest of the day was more of the same. There were a few bathroom stops and a constant shuffle of passengers boarding and departing. Sometimes there would be other passengers all around them and paranoid as Orm was he didn’t feel like chatting much, just in case. Elara mostly respected this but sometimes engaged him in small talk about the food they ate or the areas they passed through. He didn’t feel like she was trying to placate him or appease him, but more felt like she was chatting for her own peace of mind and he did his best to help but obviously had little experience in the subject matter.

It was a baffling day but not as frustrating as it could have been if Orm had been left to navigate it alone. Confident and stubborn as he might have been, he had nothing on Elara’s unflappable calm. No matter how loud the bus got or unintelligible the bus driver, she kept her cool and guided them through. Hours passed in this almost mindless chatter. Elara encouraged him to try to get some more sleep, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to. He may not actively dislike and distrust everyone on this bus as he once had, but it was still too foreign an environment for him to get easy.

Elara, to her credit, tried to stay awake out of solidarity but she just didn’t have the same vigor she usually did. Her injury was healing well. She’d made a point to check on it before they left this morning and once at one of the bathroom stops. It would heal within a few days but it still took a lot of energy in the meantime. As there wasn’t anything pressing to distract her or keep her alert, she kept nodding off, lulled by the easy cadence of their fellow passengers and the feel of the bus rolling along down the highway.

Once she woke up abruptly when a bump in the road caused her forehead to collide with the window. Orm, who had been occupying himself counting and memorizing the other people on the bus, started at Elara’s gasp when she was woken. His warrior instincts immediately put him on edge and on the lookout for the cause. She immediately inspected the point of contact with one hand while holding the other out to him as if to give him the all clear.

“It’s fine, just a bump,” she said and instinctively tilted her head to show that no serious harm had been done.

He appeared to study it for a minute as if to make sure she wasn’t hiding any lacerations. Finally, he nodded as if agreeing with her assessment but then frowned minutely, saying almost under his breath, “this is hardly the smoothest form of transportation. It’s awfully clumsy.”

“Well it beats trekking through the jungle for days on our own.” Elara replied with her usual measure of snark and common sense as well as a signature smirk, “I know that we could handle ourselves but that would have been miserable. Just think of the mosquitoes.”

Not having much experience with the flying pests and still thinking of the realization he’d come to earlier that day, Orm wasn’t sure spending days alone with her in the jungle would be particularly miserable after all. However, he also knew she had a point and with mostly unknown adversaries out there, that would not be the wisest course of action.

“Perhaps,” was all he said in reply. He could accept these things in the name of practicality all day long, and he had, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever feel comfortable up here.

While passengers had left and boarded their bus for hours and no one had attacked them or even properly interacted with him or Elara besides the bus driver, he couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness and unease. Like they were too exposed. And while Elara was the one thing that was keeping him from complete uneasiness or from complaining about this clumsy earth vehicle spewing noxious fumes, it didn’t mean that he was able to feel comfortable up here.

Even Elara’s ability to balance and calm him instinctively was foreign to him. While Elara was the most familiar thing to him for hundreds of miles, he hadn’t been aware of how much he’d come to count on and trust her until surrounded by others. He still didn’t know what to make of how he was coming to regard her- it was still so strange and new to him.

Elara, of course, being as experienced as she was in interpersonal relationships and friendships might know better how to word or contextualize how he was feeling but he didn’t even know how he could put it into words to ask. And, if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if she felt any of these confusing sensations that he did. What if she simply had grown to regard him as a friend? While that wouldn’t be the worst fate he could suffer at her hands, he could feel something unlike friendship growing in him. He hadn’t had much experience with friendship to be sure but this was just unlike anything he’d ever known. Worse still, what if she still saw all this as duty? What if she was simply doing all this to fulfill the call of the tides?

She had been the one to kiss him that drunken night but she’d also been the one to leave and shut herself off from him after that. He thought it might have been repulsion at his admission but maybe it was her own way of prioritizing duty? Her way of saying that fun or feelings would always come last. He didn’t know where that left him if that was true. So while Orm had no activity to occupy him physically on their long bus ride, he certainly had much to think of.

Elara, for her part, slept for most of it. When she woke up at the stop where they’d be changing busses she was surprised to find that she had not fallen asleep against the window but with her head leaning on Orm. He was just the right height for her head to rest against his broad shoulder comfortably. As the bus fully stopped and other passengers started getting up, she almost sheepishly lifted her head off of his shoulder. She didn’t know why it struck her so odd, maybe in their tight quarters, Orm didn’t notice? Highly unlikely, but perhaps he was still offended at the crudeness of their transport and bore it to prevent her from further injury? It wasn’t the most plausible explanation but it was all Elara could figure as they gathered their things and disembarked the bus for the final time.

Elara gingerly stretched out. If she felt cramped after hours of being in those tight seats, she couldn’t imagine how Orm felt with his much longer frame. If they’d been alone or back at the cabin she’d expect him to work through some of those fighting forms he’d been so fond of but he instead he opted for more subtle stretches. After they’d both taken advantage of a bathroom and regained feeling in their limbs, she could feel him scanning the area. He hadn't been fond of the bus but after eight something hours it was at least more familiar than this little town in the middle of Guatemala.

Elara could understand that and did her best to feel through the tides for any threat, only to be surprised at a familiar thread.

“When is our next bus set to arrive?” Orm asked, looking around dubiously.

“Actually,” Elara said, feeling more confidence in her reading, taking gradual steps forward as she mentally tugged on the tide, “we aren’t taking a bus to the sanctuary.”

“We aren’t?” he asked, confusion and alarm coming off of him.

“No,” she replied as she reached the other end of the pull and pointed to the off-roads Jeep at the far end of the street.

An older woman with long gray hair pulled back under a sun hat sat in the driver’s seat. Her eyes were fixed squarely on the two of them with an almost wicked smile on her face, clear to see even from where they stood.

“Is that...” Orm began but of course it was. Who else could have seen when and where their bus would stop?

“Yep,” Elara answered with admiration and fondness in her voice, “that’s Madren.”

[oceanmastertrash]

I was talking with a friend of mine about writing and I mentioned that I've mostly just been writing fanfiction lately. They were cool with that and asked me what fandom i was writing for so I told them Aquaman. They then proceeded to gush about Jason Momoa and I'm like "yeah sure he's great."

But inside i was going 'nope. Not writing about Jason Momoa. Nope that's not what's happening. It is Orm all the way over here thank you very much.'

[oceanmastertrash]

good news friends! progress is being made. It has been a crazy busy couple of months but I’m finally getting to where I can work on the Tides Know Our Names again.

First I had like 3 very time consuming projects and my work schedule was insane and I was sick and all sort of garbage and then the laptop I was doing just completely became unusable which was all just miserable.

but I’ve wrapped up 2 of my projects and am making good progress on the third. The busy season at work is calming down a little bit. and one of my family members found an old laptop of theirs they weren’t using so I am back in laptop city. thank god. trying to write only when i was at work during our busy season was just plain not happening. but I’ve been finally getting to write more of chapter 16 here and there and gosh I’ve missed Orm and Elara. 

and as an added bonus I showed my dad Aquaman last night and that just lit back up my inspiration so good. I am still as thirsty as ever for Orm and eager to work more on his redemption arc and dive into what comes next for our fallen prince and intrepid tidewatcher.

so be hopeful my dears, more of the Tides Know our Names is indeed on the way and I’m pleased as punch.

[oceanmastertrash]

GUYS ITS DONE. IT'S FINALLY DONE. I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS CHAPTER FOR THREE MONTHS BUT IT'S DONE. IT'S POSTED. IT'S LIVE. I'M FREE.

I'll post it here in a minute I just have to bask in the fact that actually got a new chapter out. I'm gonna die.

[oceanmastertrash]

the tides know our names- 15/?

Summary:   After losing the throne to his brother Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward. A few months after this Elara, part of an ancient order of prescient Atlanteans known as Tidewatchers, has a vision of Orm’s death. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

Part: 15/?

Word Count: 4,835

Warnings: violence and i think a curse word

Read on Ao3 

start from the beginning

Author’s Note: Alright this is the last chapter for today, this one is brand new! enjoy the binge my lovelies!

She wanted to ask if he’d heard her through the tides, wanted to say how scared she’d been, but instead she just whispered against his shoulder, “Thank you”

He tightened his hold on her just slightly as he said, “You’re welcome.”

-

Orm hadn’t wanted to let go of Elara.

When he’d first seen her being attacked, some angry primal part of him took over. He may have cause to feel protective of her but he couldn’t begin to grasp the scope of the rage that had gripped him when he’d seen her being hurt. He knew they’d done the only thing that they could have but that did nothing to quell the sour feeling in his gut that kept telling him he could have done something better.

Holding her, he couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that she sought any sort of comfort from him. At the same time he was grateful for physical reassurance that he had made it in time, that he hadn’t failed the one person who was still in his reach.

Slowly, she let him go so she could sit down and recover a bit while he worked to clean up after the fight. Namely, retrieve weapons and find something to tie up their attacker with. Elara said she was fine and she may have even meant it once she’d had the chance to catch her breath but she couldn’t say she wasn’t hurt. She’d walked a little stiffly on her left leg and now sat with it held out at an odd angle. They’d also had to redress her side as she’d bled through the last one. And most infuriating for Orm, there were angry bruises beginning to bloom on her neck that just made him taste bile.

He tried to focus on the tasks at hand but he couldn’t stop from looking up at Elara every few seconds, as if reassuring himself that nothing else would happen to her on his watch.

A few minutes later, after finishing the last knot of his improvised rope of vines, he stood from his crouch and sat a little space away from Elara on the crag of rocks she was perched on. While comforted by her presence beside him, he tried to focus on anything else other than the worry in his gut over the whole situation. “Have you learned anything else about him from the tides?”

Elara made a face as she repositioned her legs to face him better before answering, “No, but he said something odd when we were fighting. He kept asking me where Aquaman is. But I don’t even know who that is.”

Orm tried very hard not to groan as he answered, “Arthur; Arthur is Aquaman or at least that’s what the surface dwellers have taken to calling him anyway.”

“Why do you think he wants Arthur?” She asked.

Orm thought, a flicker of an old conversation swam to mind and he didn’t like what he found but at this stage of the game, there was no point in keeping it from Elara, not when he’d already told her the rest of the story.

“I think this man,” Orm said, gesturing to the unconscious, bound man beside him, “is working with the mercenary I told you about.”

He saw confusion cross her features so he elaborated, reluctantly, “The mercenary I paid to kill Arthur.”

Her eyebrows raised in recognition but, to his great relief, she showed no signs of disgust at the reminder of what he’d told her.

“That mercenary, who called himself the Black Manta, had said that Aquaman was responsible for his father’s death. And that,” Orm now pointed at the cannon he’d retrieved, “looks like its based on the weapon I’d given to him.”

Elara didn’t say anything at first, seeming to weigh what he’d said carefully. The wait was probably less than a minute but felt so very long and heavy to Orm. She didn’t appear to be immediately disgusted or surprised, only a slight squint of her eyes gave away any indication on how she took this news.

Finally she nodded to herself, as if filing it away before moving on in her typical efficient manner. “Okay, so we’re thinking that he’s working with this Black Manta.”

“Its stands to reason,” Orm said trying to remain unemotional. “But we’ll know for sure when he wakes up.”

“And that might be awhile.” Elara gave him a sly smile that he couldn’t help but feel grateful for, “Looks like someone was maybe too effective in their incapacitating.”

Orm allowed himself to return a small smile of his own, happier than he should be at her teasing. “Would you rather I had been less effective?”

“Not at all,” Her tone light but his eyes didn’t miss the way her throat clenched slightly nor the warm look she gave him, “protective is a good look on you.”

Now it was Orm’s turn to file that away for later. Given everything that had happened and how he felt the situation was largely his fault he had no idea how to process this.

He made to speak but for the life of him he didn’t know what to say to that so Elara spoke again, “Thank you again, Orm. Really. I knew I could count on you.”

Orm, cleared his throat. He really did enjoy hearing her speak highly of him, especially with such earnestness but it wasn’t right. Not with her injured as she was and the blame lying with him.

“You do know that if I’m right, and that even though they aren’t after me, this attack is my fault.” Orm said lightly, keeping his eyes averted from her, not wanting to see a change in her countenance.

“Really?” Elara asked, “I don’t remember you killing Black Manta’s father.”

Orm looked back at her at that, a light disapproving stare plain on his face but she met him with one of her own. She knew exactly what he meant but was being stubborn about it. A big part of him wanted to argue with her but she made it clear from the look on her face she wasn’t going to join Orm in blaming him for this no matter what he said. He’d learned well enough by now there was little hope in changing her mind once she’d set on something or, in this case, against something.

Orm finally just sighed, lacking the energy to fight. “Alright, fine, but we still don’t know how he found us.”

“Another question to ask when he wakes up,” Elara agreed before she cocked her head and looked at him, a strange light in her eyes. “Speaking of, how would you say you found me?”

Orm furrowed his brow, surprised by the change in conversation, then in confusion as he tried to think of how exactly he’d done it. “I...I don’t know. I just had this feeling like you were in danger. And I knew I had to hurry so I backtracked the above ground path until I saw him attacking you.”

He’d been looking at the ground as he’d thought but when he looked back at Elara, she had this very pleased and knowing look on her face.

“I knew it!” she pointed at him enthusiastically, “You heard me.”

“What are you talking about?” He was very perplexed at her change in demeanor, though perhaps even slightly amused as well.

“When I figured out he was going to reach me before I got to the rendezvous point, I reached out to you with the tides,” she pointed at him again in an almost delighted manner, “and you listened.”

He paused, trying to figure out exactly how to process what she’d just said. “How...you… you used the tides to reach me? How did that work? I thought you had to be a tidewatcher to read the tides?”

She still had that excited smile as she watched him process it.

“Normally yes, but that’s only because they are the ones with the training to really parse out the patterns and intricacies in the tides. Not all tidewatchers are born. It can be taught. And certain things are easier to get across. In this case, we’ve spent a lot of time in close quarters together so, whether you are aware of it consciously, your tides are more attuned to mine. It would be much harder to reach out to someone I’m not familiar with. But all of that could have led to nothing if you weren’t, on some subconscious level, open to the tides. And for that I’m very grateful.”

As if to punctuate her point, she extended a hand to him, which he took nearly without thinking.

Then he just found himself staring at her as he tried to take it in. He’d never been well versed in the workings of tidewatching and hadn’t ever been especially curious enough to find out more but he’d always thought of some things to be set in stone. He’d always assumed that tidewatching was an ability like how Atlanteans could breath underwater- that it was a gift you were born with, not a skill you could learn. And yet, according to her, he had, at least to some degree, listened to the tides and doing so had saved Elara’s life.

She squeezed his hand and it felt like they were back on the couch that night he’d told her everything. Just like then, he was surprised to be holding her hand but he’d be damned if he would be the first to let go. This time he kept her gaze and it was a fierce and hopeful thing.

“I know that you think this whole mess is your fault and that all of this bad is because of you but you’re wrong. This isn’t all on you. Yes, you made bad choices and now we’re dealing with the consequences but you aren’t responsible for all of this. Arthur made his own choices and I’d be more than willing to bet that a good deal of this is back on Black Manta. He was a mercenary and I’m sure he had his share of blood on his hands and more mistakes than yours in his past. If I’ve learned anything from the tides, it’s that it takes more than one thrown stone to cause a tidal wave.”

Orm made to speak up, his eyes locked on the ugly bruises on her throat but she gave his hand a firm squeeze and recaptured his gaze with her hard amber eyes.

“No, listen to me. I know you are blaming yourself for what happened to me,” she motioned at her various injuries with her free hand. “But these are because of my decision. I own my own part of this. No one ordered me to come up here, Arthur offered me an out but I wouldn’t take it. I decided to come up here with you because I believed it was the right thing to do and because I believed in you. And I still do. I do even more now than I did yesterday. You allowed yourself to be open enough to listen to the tides and because of that you were there when I needed you most. Do you honestly think you could have done that before you came up here?”

He sighed, his eyes tracing the shape of their hands intertwined. He’d always prided himself at being fairly eloquent and skilled at getting his point across, that paired with his status had meant that he’d very rarely ever lost an argument. He was, in fact, fairly certain that nearly all of the arguments he’d lost or had ended in a draw had either been held with Elara or his father. As for this particular this argument, well it was definitely joining the others in the lost column.

“No, I can’t say I could have,” he finally said, meeting her eyes once more. “But I guess Arthur was right when he said I’d learn things on the surface.”

She grinned at that. Little crinkles squinching at the corner of her eyes. Orm knew that given no other worries or responsibilities, he would have been happy to spend the rest of the day just like that. It was perhaps more sentimental than he was ever accustomed to thinking but who was to know?  He found himself enjoying the reassurance of her presence and her faith in him as she held his hand. But of course that was when a slight groan beside him disturbed the peace of the moment.

Elara slowly withdrew her hand from Orm’s  to look over his shoulder at their assailant.

“Looks like nap time is over,” she said as he followed her gaze to hide his disappointed expression. It was back to business.

Elara stayed where she was but Orm turned and stood to stand in front of the man. Given Elara’s injuries Orm hadn’t felt charitable enough to wipe the blood from the man’s face but as he slowly came to, while perhaps discombobulated, the man didn’t seem particularly surprised. Instead glaring up at Orm like he had any right to.

“Who are you?” Elara asked, wanting to get some things out of the way before the staring contest went into full swing.

The man continued to glare at Orm without speaking which Orm just wasn’t having. He took a couple steps back and then picked up the cannon and pointed it straight at the man.

“The lady asked you a question,” was all he said.

Elara wanted to roll her eyes. Threatening a man with a cannon for ignoring her was hardly what she would call a restrained approach but, given his reaction to her injuries, she got the feeling that this was restrained for Orm so she let it slide. Plus, it did have results.

Not looking away from the angry Atlantean with a cannon, the man answered grudgingly, “Henrik Garrison.”

“Thank you Henrik,” Elara replied, slightly amused that she and Orm were, as the surface dwellers would call it, playing good cop/bad cop. “Who are you working for?”

She saw a slight muscle twitch in Orm’s neck and she knew what he was thinking. They were both reasonably certain that it was Black Manta but she thought it was better to be fully informed than simply trusting guesswork.

Either Orm was still convincingly glaring at him or his loyalties were not exactly strong because Henrik was quicker to answer, “David Kane.”

“Also known as the Black Manta?” Elara asked.

“Yeah, that’s him.” Henrik replied with a slight hint of disdain which interested Elara but obviously wasn’t the most important thing right now.

“Why were you after us?” she asked, ticking off her mental list of loose ends.

“I wasn’t,” he said with a degree of frustration. Elara got the feeling he wasn’t used to losing.

“Right then,” she said when it was clear he wasn’t going to elaborate, “why were you after Aquaman?”

Henrik was clearly regretting revealing that tidbit even though he’d thought he had the upper hand at the time.

When he didn’t answer, Elara tried another tack. “What, you’re really willing to die for another man’s vendetta? You seem smarter than that.”

Henrik met her eyes for the first time. His stare was angry but perhaps less at her than she might have expected.

“I don’t care about who killed who. I’m in it for the money.”

“Alright then, where’s the money coming from?” she asked.

At Henrik’s hesitation Orm tightened his grip on the cannon and though Elara couldn’t see his face she had a feeling he had some sort of expression that conveyed how willing and enthusiastic he was to hurt Henrik with the weapon without even bothering to fire a blast.

Henrik was quick to look back at Elara, “There’s this doctor helping Kane- Dr. Shin. He wants to find Aquaman to prove that Atlantis exists and are the cause of all that garbage washing up on shore along with all the other weird ocean shit that’s been happening.”

Elara looked to Orm to see his shoulders instantly tense but neither of them said anything. Henrik clearly didn’t know that it was Orm which very likely meant that this Dr. Shin didn’t know and if Kane knew or figured it out then he hadn’t told the others. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something Elara felt she could ask about without drawing more attention to it. She could very easily seeing Henrik selling this information to Dr. Shin if they were to tell him.

“If you were looking for Aquaman, how did you find us?” She decided to ask instead as it was the next big pressing issue.

Henrik seemed to internally squirm again and she got the feeling that he was much more used to being on the asking end of such interrogations.

“Would you prefer I ask?” Orm said, speaking for the first time since their interrogation had begun.

A twitch on Henrik’s face told Elara that if his head weren’t still wringing from where Orm had clocked him, he’d very likely say something very very derogatory but, fortunately for his sake, he kept it to himself. The mercenary then very pointedly looked to Elara, ignoring Orm as if this was some kind of defiance instead of giving them what they wanted. As far as Elara was concerned, he could believe whatever he wanted as long as he answered their questions.

Henrik focused on Elara, “Listen, I don’t know the science of it all, and I didn’t care enough to find out but the doctor was always going on about new ways to detect and find Aquaman. He said something about picking up some kind of pheromone or signature wherever Aquaman had been. So he rigged up this scanner to focus on that and Kane sent us out to scan different parts of the oceans he deemed Aquaman most likely to appear in. I just happened to pick up on you two but I thought you’d be Aquaman and that redhead chick from before.”

Elara wasn’t sure she’d ever hear Mera, Princess of Xebel and most likely the future queen of Atlantis ever referred to as ‘that redhead chick’ but given Henrik’s compromised morality, she supposed it could have been worse. Also it was perhaps better that he didn’t know her title or importance. And as far as tracking methods it could have been worse but it also could have been better. At least they somehow hadn’t missed someone planting a device on them but the fact that it was some kind of natural frequency they gave off was problematic. But that obviously wasn’t a problem they were going to discuss with this muscle for hire.

“Did you tell anyone you found us?” Orm asked.

“No.” Henrik said more petulantly than Elara would have to a man holding a cannon to his face.

“Why not?” Orm said, rightfully dubious.

“We only get paid on delivery.” Henrik answered.

“And let me guess,” Elara said, stepping back in, “You didn’t want to risk anyone else beating you to it and the money.”

“Something like that,” Henrik replied as grudging as ever.

Orm took another step closer, careful not to get too close but close enough that the threat in his eyes was clear to see, “For your sake, that better be true.”

“It is,” Henrik bit out, matching Orm’s anger with his own.

“You have a vessel?” Orm asked.

“What makes you think I do?” Henrik challenged.

Orm just continued to stare at him, unphased. Though Elara was unsure if Henrik knew they were Atlanteans, through his tracking he had to have gotten some clue at how fast they swam. He wasn’t fooling anyone with his claim that he could keep up with them without some kind of ship.

And from the impressions she got from him in the tides, he definitely had one.

“Where is it?” She asked not even bothering to pretend with him.

Henrik glared at her this time but it didn’t have nearly the same bite as his glares to Orm. “Just offshore from where I shot you.”

“Thank you, Henrik.” She said, trying to think if there were any other questions she had left. When she couldn’t think of any instead she said, “Can I make a personal suggestion?”

He continued his glare but she didn’t let it phase her, “find a less dangerous line of work. Find money elsewhere. You’ll find nothing more pleasant than this if you continue hunting the Aquaman.”

She honestly didn’t think he’d listen to her but best she try to ward him off this foolish venture. Orm was less ruthless than he once was but she had little question that, if given the slightest reason and opportunity in the future, he would be far less gentle that a quick knockout and some glares.

“Noted,” Henrik said but Elara seriously doubted he actually did.

“Any further questions?” Orm asked, turning back briefly to look at Elara.

“No, I think that’s it.” She answered.

“Good,” Orm said then swiftly knocked Henrik back out with the butt of the cannon.

“Well that was blunt." Elara said simply.

"Would you have preferred I be more delicate with our good friend Henrik the mercenary who just tried to kill us?"

Elara raised her hands in surrender,  "I'm not saying that. That's just not how I tend to end most conversations."

Orm snorted and put down the cannon again.

“What are we going to do with that anyway?” Elara asked motioning to it.

“We can’t take it with us,” Orm decided looking at the bulky thing before deciding, “We should destroy it. It’s unlikely to be their only such weapon but we can’t leave it here for Henrik or anyone else to abuse.”

Elara looked to the device, “How do you propose we do that? Drop it off a cliff?”

“Perhaps as a final step but I recommend we be more thorough. Given the unstable nature of it that we saw earlier, I should be able to destabilize its power source with the help of one of your knives. Then I recommend smashing it and then throwing it off the cliff.” He said all this very critically as he thought.

Elara wanted to tease him for such a thorough methodology but given the damage this could do and the responsibility he no doubt still felt that it even existed, she decided against it, instead settling for, “Alright, then what?”

“Then we should see about his ship, move or deactivate it if we can and then see if we can find a village with a doctor that can look at your injuries,” he spoke matter-of-factly and yet still very much managed to surprise Elara.

She didn’t know if she could have predicted him ever suggesting going to the surface dwellers for help of any kind. She wasn’t opposed to the idea, she just wanted to be sure he was sure.

“Are you sure? I’ve still got my salve and I will heal in a few days time,” she said. She was in a fair amount of pain but nothing her advanced Atlantean healing couldn’t handle.

He nodded gravely, “We need more bandages anyway and I want to be certain that there wasn’t anything I missed when cleaning it. It will take more time and rest to heal if it’s infected.”

Elara decided to not make a deal out of it. It was very big of Orm to suggest it and she certainly wouldn’t be the one to try to dissuade him from it, “Alright then. Let’s get started.”

Orm had taken the trouble to retrieve her daggers from where they’d fallen in the fight and made quick work of the cannon. While throwing it off the cliff was more dramatic and final, they decided it was more expeditious, not to mention more environmentally-friendly to simply trigger it to short circuit and explode. It took a little bit of doing but ultimately he rigged it to go off at the bottom of a cave. There were still a few singed bits and chunks but nothing anyone would be able to reconstruct into anything meaningful or destructive.

As for Henrik, they decided to leave him where he was tied up. Elara had little doubt that an industrious guy like him would be able to eventually free himself of his bonds and find his own way off the island. Elara had a sinking suspicion that they hadn’t seen the last of him but she’d done what she could.

Orm knew that if this had been before his dethroning he would have killed Henrik with little remorse. And while it was certainly a permanent way of insuring they would never have to worry about him, he knew it was the wrong way. If he wanted to make better choices and be the kind of person that deserved the faith that Elara put in him, he couldn’t think like that. As it was, he sincerely considering breaking the mercenary’s leg to slow him down. But again, he wasn’t that person anymore and he knew Elara would frown on severely injuring an unarmed man.

From there they returned to the beach and sought out Henrik’s ship. It was a small, utilitarian sort of hybrid sub. Clearly meant for stealth, speed, and battle. After gleaning what limited information they could from the on-board computer, they disabled the sub’s tracking device. From there, they worked to locate the reader Henrik had mentioned that had focused in on their Atlantean signature. It was a small device and, though surface dweller technology was not exactly in either of their wheelhouses, Elara did her best to disengage it from the sub. She was fairly certain that it didn’t have a gps transmitter of its own and thought it best to take it with them for further study.

After that and some experimentation with the navigation they piloted the sub back to the mainland where they'd have a better chance at a decent doctor but far south of Tulum to avoid tracking. And then for good measure they sunk the sub far off shore.

Elara had worried that a surface doctor would ask too many questions or require an appointment or insurance but the small clinic in the port town they landed at hardly blinked an eye at their wet clothes and her strange injuries. Indeed they weren't even the worst injuries in the clinic. This was troubling to Orm but Elara knew better than to question their no questions attitude. At least they were helping.

As Elara allowed the harried woman to examine her, with Orm just outside, she began to feel a familiar tugging from the tides. Elara had a suspicion but refrained from pulling on that particular thread until they had left the clinic. They were quiet as they left the clinic, new bandages, ointment and a prescription she would never fill tucked away in her bag.

They’d planned to grab something to eat and plan out their next move. Elara had picked out a little taco stand down the street from the clinic and the two waited and placed their orders. All the while, Elara was slowly pulling at that little thread in the tides. It wasn’t until they were sitting down and eating that she finally entangled it and heard the words trapped inside.

“You’re back up on the surface and not even saying hello? For shame little one. And I see you’ve gotten yourself into a spot of trouble as well. Why don’t you bring your Prince to come see me, and maybe I can help you two out with your little quest.”

She put down her taco as a warmth that had nothing to do with the sun filled her. Orm looked up to see a smile on her face.

“What?”

“I got a message in tides,” She replied.

Orm, whose limited experience with tide messages all involved warnings and portents of doom was perhaps a touch wary at such a proclamation. And yet Elara’s smiling face held no hint of any reservations and he supposed that had to count for something.

“Who’s it from?” he finally asked, putting his food down as well.

“Madren,” Elara answered with a wider grin.

She enjoyed watching the emotions play across Orm’s face as he pieced together all of the tidbits Elara had told him about her. Madren was a wise and experienced tidewatcher, a Watcher who was friends with Vulko, one of the elders who taught the tides on the surface, and perhaps most worryingly to him anyway, the one who had introduced Elara to alcohol which had been a blessing and a curse when he and Elara had dabbled with it.

“Madren messaged you,” Orm clarified, equal parts apprehensive and intrigued.

“Yep,” Elara said. “And she wants to meet you.”

Orm stared back at Elara, completely unsure if that was a good or a bad thing.

[oceanmastertrash]

so there has been serious writing progress with the Tides Know Our Names this week but I could use a little outside perspective cuz this is my first time writing a solid slow burn. if any of my regular readers who are all caught up with 1-15 are willing to help me figure something out, please message me (message, not askbox, my mobile version just eats those). thanks in advance!

[oceanmastertrash]

the tides know our names- 14/?

Summary:   After losing the throne to his brother Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward. A few months after this Elara, part of an ancient order of prescient Atlanteans known as Tidewatchers, has a vision of Orm’s death. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

Part: 14/?

Word Count: 4,057

Warnings: action and violence

Read on Ao3 

start from the beginning

“I still don’t like this,” He finally sighed, returning her gaze once more. “But I’ll trust you to get us out of this.”

-

Elara did her best to hide her surprise and gratitude. She could tell this was not an easy feat for him and she wanted so very much to make sure he knew she didn’t take this for granted. She wanted nothing more than to bask in this moment, in this very high compliment of his trust but there wasn’t time for that.

She couldn’t help but smile only a little at him as she did her best to move forward with their discussion, “Okay, so we’re reasonably sure that he’s after you, but since we’re not sure how  he’s tracking us, we’ve got to come up with some sort of way to lure him to where we want him to go.”

“You’re suggesting one of us lead him away and the other be waiting to attack him?” He clarified. If he was going to go along with this ludicrous proposal he wanted to be sure they did it right.

“Exactly. But I could use your help fine-tuning it, you’re better at this sort of strategizing than I am.”

She was flattering him and he knew it, no doubt trying to soften the blow of him agreeing to her idea or perhaps thank him for trusting her. And while what she said was true, she wasn’t exactly useless in such strategizing. With her knack for patterns and predictions she had skill all her own.

He leaned forward, shooting her an almost teasing look, “Let me guess, you think you should be the one to lead him to the ambush?”

She cocked an eyebrow at him, “Yes, because it would be foolish to have the injured tidewatcher be the one attacking instead of the seasoned warrior.”

He just barely kept an eye roll contained. She was laying it on thick but he didn’t mind as much as he should.

“Alright, I think the key here is both to distract and mislead him enough so he doesn’t notice it’s just you he’s tracking while finding a more advantageous spot for an ambush of our own. Think you can sense that from here?”

She cocked her head, “That’s not the traditional use of the tides but it’s worth a shot.”

She closed her eyes and Orm couldn’t help but stare at her, trying not to second guess his decision to trust her. He wanted her to be right and wanted this to work out but he didn’t want her to get hurt even worse. She was one of the strongest and smartest people he knew but there are somethings that just came down to chance and chance could never be trusted.

Elara looked to him again, “I think I’ve got something.”

The cave system led out to series of cliffs and winding paths down to shore. If Elara could get back above the cave system onto the forest floor proper, she could stand a better chance at attracting the attention of the tracker. Meanwhile, Orm could continue through the caves to the cliffs and attack the man from there. Orm also comforted himself that if he heard any explosions or signs of a fight from up above he could climb out of the caves and come to Elara’s aid. It wasn’t a perfect plan but it would have to do.

They found a smaller section of cave ahead of them where the roof was much lower and there were ledges that Elara could could ascend to get up above. Wariness was seeping through Orm as he ran through the plan in his mind again, looking for any way to better guarantee success but he knew they’d already done the best they could. All that was left was to act before they lost their window for surprise.

Orm just couldn’t shake this sense of dread at them splitting up. While it wasn’t especially productive, he felt responsible for her and could only assume that it was a hold over from being king. As king, he’d been responsible for the safety and well being of a whole kingdom but since his flight from Atlantis, his purview of citizenry had been reduced to a kingdom of one. Travelling with Elara was nothing like ruling a kingdom and he would be a fool to try to command let alone rule someone like Elara, but that compulsion to protect had not gone away. Right now, that impulse was especially strong considering she was only up here in harm’s way on his behalf.

He knew that this was their best shot at getting out of this scrape but he wasn’t sure what he would do if something serious happened to her when he wasn’t there to watch her back. As a ruler and a warrior, he’d always prided himself for his ability to distance himself from his emotions to make the hard calls. And yet, doing the same now was harder than it should be.

Elara, meanwhile, was rechecking her bandages which Orm had expertly dressed, and feeling out their path and plan in the tides for any last minute adjustments. She was confident in her decision and in her plan but the execution of it was still daunting. She and Orm had left behind their people when they’d left Atlantis, and something in Elara resisted the idea of splitting from Orm. It felt like once they separated, she’d be truly alone. Elara had to take a breath to steady herself. She had to believe in herself, in Orm, and in the tides to see them through.

She looked to Orm now, trying not to overthink things. He met her gaze calmly and gave her a small nod, as if to reinforce his trust in her. He trusted her enough to believe they could get through this. It was a small thing, but it helped. It made her feel like, even if they were not going through this next bit of their journey together, he was with her in this struggle.

“Give me a boost?” She asked him, tilting her head up to the hole in the roof. There was no point in asking if he was ready, they had to be.

He knelt down, making  a cradle with his hands to give her a step up. She put her foot in place and then grabbed onto his shoulders to leverage herself up, she then very slowly, careful of her injured side, stepped from his hands to the next ledge up. Once his hands were free, he extended one against the small of her back to keep her from tilting back while he held the other out in case she started to tip.

Cautiously she climbed the small rocky outcropping until she stood on the forest floor, looking down to see Orm down below. She wanted to tell him to be safe but worried he might find it condescending, instead she just raised a hand in farewell and said, “See you soon.”

He nodded, swallowing down anything else he might say and simply repeated her, making it sound more like a promise. “See you soon.”

Elara gazed down at him for another few seconds before straightening her back and turning away from the hole to begin her trek to the ambush spot. They needed to be quick about things now.

Following suit, he turned to follow his own path in the tunnels, careful to make as little noise as possible, finding small comfort in hearing the rustling of leaves and the snapping of twigs as Elara made her own way up above. For the first part of the journey, he could walk roughly parallel to her and could hear if anything went wrong but in some places the tunnels veered away and deeper under the surface.

Orm could still see because he was used to seeing in the depths of the ocean, but he didn’t linger long enough to make any comparisons between the two. He was swift and efficient, prioritizing speed over everything else. This risky plan would only work if he either kept pace with Elara up above or beat her to the rendezvous point. His tactical mind was always planning several steps ahead and prone to envisioning the worst so that he could plan around it but he was very careful to keep those possibilities out of his mind’s eye.

He couldn’t properly strategize what he would do if he was too late but it wasn’t something he could wrap his head around and still be productive. Following his earlier advice to Elara, he just focused on his breathing as he navigated the winding path she’d laid out for him. He’d worry later.

Elara, meanwhile, was having perhaps more difficulty with her path through the constantly changing and rocky terrain due to her side constantly hitching and stinging with the exertion. The one benefit to their plan was that she didn’t have to worry about how much noise she made. In fact, it was best if she attracted some attention.

The tides gave no indication of pursuit but they had a different energy than she’d felt throughout the rest of the day. Earlier all she’d been able to feel was an angry, uncomfortable buzzing. The tides had been oppressive and intent on making her aware of the threat, but now, while they still hummed and remained taut with the presence of the hunter, it felt less threatening. And that, abstract as it may be, enforced to her that she’d made the right call with this plan. The swells of the tide felt more manageable and it made her feel like they could get through this.

As their paths diverged she found herself latching onto Orm’s tides as she felt him on his own path. She tried to tell herself it was just a precaution but there were nerves there that were hard for her to name.

If this had been a week ago when they’d first come to the surface, she might have expected him to make a beeline for the ocean and return to Atlantis, but she didn’t fear that from him now. He seemed to show real concern and even at times, a deference for her gifts. She liked to imagine that he might care for her but even if that wasn’t the case, he was smart enough not to try to go his own way in this situation, especially considering how against the idea of splitting up he had been. No, they would find each other again.

Even as she thought this, she felt the tight thread of their attacker pulse with his approach. She quickened her pace, it would not do for him to catch up before she was at the appropriate point. Orm seemed to be right on track, but she had to speed up.

Elara’s main concern was that she could sense the approach of the attacker but she couldn’t be completely sure if he was following her or Orm and it was difficult to narrow in on that particular pattern while maintaining her current speed. She let everything go except focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and the tides around her. In this focused manner she could feel the intent of their pursuer and tried to use that to hone in on their location. This, again, wasn’t the traditional use of the tides but sort of a variant of the battle tides Zult had taught her.

And there, there he was, following her progress and closing in. The tides showed that the man had caught her trail would probably catch up with her in less than five minutes. But that was too soon! She didn’t think she’d get to the cliffside rendezvous point for another ten minutes. She dropped the thread of the tides and put all of her efforts into increasing speed. If she could just get their faster, maybe Orm would hear the commotion if she was attacked.

With this in mind, feeling the tension getting tighter around her, she thought of one other option though it was a long shot. Tidewatchers could communicate by mentally manipulating the tides around them and sending images or feelings to other Tidewatchers. If this had been A’bree or Calysa, she wouldn’t have hesitated but she wasn’t sure if Orm would even feel it or know what it meant if she tried to send him a message the same way. Back when she was a novice and first instructed in this way, it had felt exceptionally foreign and hard to pick up in the beginning. It was a skill that had to be honed meticulously through extended awareness in the tides and how their patterns naturally flowed.

Only because they’d had such a heightened awareness and prolonged exposure to each other did Elara even think it stood half a chance. She kept it simple, focusing more on emotions like urgency and danger and then wrapped them around the image of where she saw the attacker catching up with her and then sent them down the tides to Orm. She kept up that routine while running until her side ached. Her injury begged her to slow down but she had to give herself every chance she could for this to work.

She’d been at this grueling pace for a few minutes when she heard the crashing behind her and knew she was almost out of time. She scanned the forest around her for any coverage she could find. The terrain had become hilly and pocked with boulders in places where the tunnel system met the forest floor. She couldn’t hope to make it to the original ambush spot but she could at least make herself less of an easy target. Ducking behind the boulders, she pulled her knives from her boots and strategized.

She covered what distance she could, trying to stay out of view while constantly sending her message along the tides to Orm. The crunching of the underbrush grew louder until she no longer felt like she could risk leaving the cover of the trees and rock formation she was leaning against. Like it or not, this was gonna be where she had to make the most of things. About 12 feet ahead of her was a sudden opening to the caves beneath which would be her goal for her plan. It was a bit of a drop, about 20 feet so she had a reasonable chance of injuring or delaying him if she could throw him in there.

A slight rustle on the other side of her cover told Elara her time was almost up. She focused on her location and her connection to Orm, this time sending the word “hurry” down the line and prayed he could interpret what she’d sent. She adjusted her grip on her blades and tensed for the fight. Then he was there, a man all in black, passing right beside her with his large, unwieldy cannon, his eyes fixed ahead, searching for her. She did not wait.

Elara leapt for the man, and used her one chance at surprise to rip the cannon from him and toss it as far as she could behind them. Then she swung a dagger with her other hand. She may have stripped him of his weapon but he was far from helpless and blocked her knife easily enough.  

She tried again with the other blade and managed to graze his arm before he knocked her back. She stumbled against the rock she’d hid behind but was quick to launch herself off it, aiming to move them closer to the hole.

The shock wearing off, and showing anger at the wound, the man switched to the offensive. It was only through the tides that she was able to keep up with him. She wasn’t especially short but he had several inches on her and with her exhaustion, she could feel the disadvantage more. She’d been trained to use her size to an advantage against large adversaries and she would be using every trick in the book she had. At least he wasn’t so very large. While tall, he was lean, but also built and knew how to fight.

He was quick to catch one of her knives mid-strike and wrest it from her. She allowed him to push her back by several feet because it took them closer to the pit. She tried to keep aware of the small hole behind her, lest she fall in it herself, but it was all she could do to keep up with him. She was worn out already from her hurried trek here and her side burned with each strike and dodge. If the man was tired from his pursuit of them at all, he didn’t show it. His blows were relentless and while she avoided several, he still got in several good hits.

He swung with her knife to her right and while she was able to block it, he surprised her with a sucker punch to the left, hitting her right where the splinter had struck. Air gusted out of her and she couldn’t help her wince of pain.

She didn’t know if he’d known about her injury before but from the way his eyes lit up as he saw blood begin to seep through the bandage, he certainly did now. In any other situation she would have sighed. She didn’t need to be a tidewatcher to know this was going to hurt.

He was a skilled fighter and his strength and size were enough to nearly overwhelm her. She tried her best to protect her side but he still got in another good punch. Her only consolation was they were getting closer to the cave opening but with each strike dealt and dodged, she began to worry she wouldn’t have the strength to get him down there without falling in herself.

They were probably 5 feet from the hole when, while attempting to dodge a vicious kick from the man, Elara stepped back only to lose her footing on the uneven terrain and fall to the ground, sending the knife she had left, flying from her grip. The man made for her with his blade so Elara made a quick roll out of the way, dislodging rocks around her. One rock skittered and fell straight in the hole.

His eyes followed the movement and seemed to finally notice the pit, his eyes narrowed and then fell on Elara with vicious anger as he seemed to grasp her plan. He brought his foot up as if to stomp on her and she clenched her fists and held her bent arms in front of her and, grunting, shoved his foot back with the backs of her forearms.

The action temporarily threw him off balance enough for her to scramble to the side, sitting up from where she’d fallen. She made to sweep his legs out from under him to bring him to her level. He barely sidestepped her kick but was knocked a bit closer to the pit with the move. Before she could try again, he dove for her again with her knife. Using her angle to her advantage, she struck him in the wrist from below and he lost his grip on the knife, sending it up and out of reach. It was too far to be of use to either of them now but at least she’d managed to keep him from using it. They were hardly evenly matched as they were but it helped to tilt the scales just a little bit more in her favor.

Barely deterred by the loss of the dagger, her then brought his arm down on her shoulder. She barely managed to remain sitting but was too distracted by the pain to search the tides for his next move. He continued his lunge with both his hands extended. Before she could block, his hands were around her neck. Her hands scrambled at his, but could find no purchase against his gloves.

“Where is he?” the man finally spoke, grunting as he held her.

Some distant part of her brain commented on the stupidity of starting an interrogation while choking her, but the majority of her was focused more on staying alive.

She made no effort to answer him. Even if she did have full use of her respiratory system, she wouldn’t breathe a word about where Orm was to this brute.

His grip was of steel as she choked and gasped against his grip. She then made to claw at his face, but he was too tall and his arms too long for her to reach his eyes. Finally, her vision beginning to swim, she brought her knee up as hard as she could against his groin.

Finally, he faltered, wincing. It was enough for her use her other leg to kick one of his legs loose, knocking him to the ground beside her. Elara barely had time to catch her breath as the attacker fell. Winded and aching as she was, Elara held no illusion that she could knock him into the cave at this point, she just had to get away from him.

She turned over, crawling blindly forward before trying to stand. The man recovered quickly however and grabbed hold of her ankle, dragging her back down.

She tried to kick back behind her but he avoided it quickly enough and was soon upon her, shoving her onto her back roughly. And then he was on top of her, one arm crossed across her shoulders to keep her down and his knees restraining her legs, lest she try kicking again.

Her hands scrambled at his arm as he brought his free hand down on her injured side. She yelled in pain.

“Where is he?” The man repeated.

She responded by trying to punch him before he moved to hold both her hands down.

“Where is Aquaman?” he shouted, clearly frustrated.

That made Elara pause in confusion, croaking out, “Wait, what?”

The attacker never got a chance to elaborate as he was suddenly thrown off of her. And there was Orm, punching him squarely in the face.The man made to sucker punch Orm in the gut but Orm dodged it with ease. Elara’s sense of the tides was lessened by her weakened state but she could have sworn she detected a storm of rage radiating off of Orm.

Through a combination of fatigue from his bout with Elara and Orm’s strength of battle prowess, the attacker’s reactions were more sluggish, barely blocking or landing any hits against Orm.  He leaned back, looking like he was winding up for a strike but Orm beat him to the literal punch, landing a hit right in the man’s face.

Blood blossomed from the man’s nose and before he could recover, Orm hit him hard in the stomach, effectively winding him before landing another face punch. Elara could see the exact moment consciousness left the man, a second before he swayed and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Careful of her injuries, she sat up and just stared at Orm, some emotion she couldn’t name filling her. He turned slowly to look down at her, holding out a hand to help her up.

Taking his hand, she couldn’t stop her voice from cracking, both from feeling and pain as she said, “You came.”

He pulled her up swiftly and surely, the motion only straining her side slightly. Once standing, she didn’t think, she just stepped forward and hugged Orm. He tensed immediately in surprise but, as her arms wrapped around him, she could feel it as he relaxed into her before, hesitantly, he brought his arms up to return the embrace.

She wanted to ask if he’d heard her through the tides, wanted to say how scared she’d been, but instead she just whispered against his shoulder, “Thank you”

He tightened his hold on her just slightly as he said, “You’re welcome.”

Author’s Note: So sorry this one took so long. I’m so bad at writing fight scenes so it was a struggle. Logistics are hard y’all. Anyway, many thanks and hugs if you’ve made it this far on this journey. Comments are love!

[oceanmastertrash]

In our news I might have finished the actual writing chapter 16. I can't believe it. I feel like I've been working on it for eons. And I've just got to talk myself off a couple Cliffs and revised it. But we're making progress like actual tangible progress! Like 5k+ words progress. I'm so proud.

[oceanmastertrash]

the tides know our names- 13/?

Summary:   After losing the throne to his brother Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward. A few months after this Elara, part of an ancient order of prescient Atlanteans known as Tidewatchers, has a vision of Orm’s death. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

Part: 13/?

Word Count: 4,095

Warnings: none for this chapter

Read on Ao3 / start from the beginning

author’s note: I haven’t been good at updating the chapters on here so I’m playing catch up.

Elara looked to Orm, still surprised at how everything was turning out, he looked to her and saw some question in her eyes and nodded in reassurance and then they were beneath the waves, surging against the tides into the gulf beyond.

--

Compared to the longer journey to their safe house, the jaunt across the gulf of Mexico was not an extensive one. That being said, wary of any Atlantean surveillance and surface border disputes, their trek was still a meandering one. They mostly traveled in the deepest parts as it was always safer to stick to the ocean floor when surface dwellers were involved.

However, this journey felt a touch more pleasant owing to the level of familiarity they had developed with each other. They had a rhythm together that was more perceptible to Elara in the ocean. Then again, connections were easier to feel down where the literal tides flowed around them. Part of the challenge that motivated tidewatchers to spend time on the surface was learning to feel those tides up above so as to strengthen their awareness down below.

Elara knew it was difficult for Orm to be back under the waves but still unable to return home. She flattered herself to think that it was easier now that she was giving him something to do other than hide but she still couldn't be sure. He wasn’t as stiff and silent as he’d been on their first swim was all she could say definitively.

She was happy to let him pick course changes, as all that really mattered was that their journey was circuitous and it was more so with two different people picking the path.

She wanted to just enjoy being in the ocean with Orm but something just kept niggling at her. An off feeling in her stomach but with everything that was happening she couldn’t be sure if it was emanating from her own worry or the tides.

Something felt wrong and the feeling only grew stronger and more distracting. Elara turned most of her focus into discerning the tangled thread. She didn’t realize how distracted she was by it until Orm caught her by the arm before she could swim into a boulder planted into the ocean floor ahead of them.

He had one hand holding her steady by the wrist while the other hand was at her waist. She looked at him at the contact, feeling like she was startled from a dream.

Seeing the dazed look on her face, he frowned. Having been around her long enough to know what these things tended to mean, he asked, “Did you see something?”

Elara’s brow furrowed in concentration, “I can’t tell. There is definitely something but I can’t see it clearly enough.”

“Is it immediate?” Orm asked and Elara admired that he had skill in taking such things in stride and he’d certainly adapted to asking the right questions.

She felt another tug in her gut, “Yes.”

She then took the opportunity of the pause to close her eyes and really feel out each thread in the web they were caught in. There was a dark presence in the tides, she felt that much, but what did it mean?

She then straightened like she’d been shocked. Opening her eyes, she met Orm’s concerned blue gaze. “Someone is following us.”

She could feel Orm moving into action even as he stood still beside her, “Who is it?”

“A man,” Elara answered, working to keep what glimpses she had close at hand. “He’s wearing a black suit but I don’t recognize him. He doesn’t look Atlantean.”

“Is he from the surface?” Orm asked.

“I think so but he’s wearing a helmet so I can’t see his face.” She saw a storm brewing behind Orm’s eyes so she asked, “Do you know who it might be?”

“I can’t say for sure, but there are any number of mercenaries willing to do the dirty work of both  the land and sea.” He spoke with measured patience but she could still sense the regret behind his words and that he was thinking of his past mistakes with such mercenaries.

Trying to distract him she asked, “What should we do?”

Rather than reply, he answered her question with another question, “Is he close?”

“I can’t tell, I can only see that he is on our trail,” She answered, trying to strategize as well. “I think we should try to shake him. Better to try to lose him now than lead him to Tulum after us. What do you think?”

Orm nodded, “He probably doesn’t know we’re onto him yet so we should try to use that our advantage. We’re going to take some diversionary paths to throw him off.”

Realizing he was making the decisions like he might have when he was king, he looked to her but she was just nodding, trusting Orm to make the right call. She knew he had more experience in these things so it would make no sense for her to try to take charge in this.

“You lead and I’ll continue probing the tides for anything more about him.”

And with that they were off, moving silently through the water, skirting the ocean floor so that Orm could keep an eye on all of the sea above them. Sometimes they’d abruptly change directions without speaking. It was an erratic course and almost senseless but Elara trusted Orm’s judgment in this. The idea of their follower being a surface dweller made Elara incredibly uneasy. Not that she would have been more comfortable with an Atlantean trailing them based on the hostility that she could sense, but it added more danger and menace in her opinion.

An Atlantean’s motives were easier for Elara to decipher but she could see fewer reasons if they were from the surface. Near as she could fathom, either a surface dweller knew that Orm had been king and to blame for the attack or an Atlantean had outsourced their vengeance. She didn’t care for either option but she wasn’t seeing a better reason.

They’d been weaving and backtracking for about half an hour when the tides spoke to Elara again, though perhaps it would be more accurate to say it shouted at her.

“Stop!” Elara suddenly exclaimed. Orm, who’d been swimming slightly ahead of her, paused instantly.

“What is it?” Orm asked.

“I don’t know how but he’s still tracking us. He’s just ahead of us now. He booby trapped the canyon up ahead.”

That familiar look of concentration could be seen again on Orm’s face. “Could we swim above or around it?”

Elara shook her head, “That’s what he’s waiting for.”

“What’s the trap?”

“Near as I can tell it’s motion-triggered explosives.”

Orm clenched his jaw at that. If he’d been anyone else he might have sworn but he was typically very good at maintaining composure under pressure. “We need to find another path.”

“Should we backtrack?” She asked.

“It hasn’t done us much good so far. We need to try another plan. Something he wouldn’t expect.” he said.

Orm then stilled, causing Elara to frown in concern before looking around to see if he’d seen anything to cause a reaction like that, “What is it?”

“Different problem, but same solution as before,” he said almost bitterly. “We have to go to the surface.”

“Why?” Elara was very surprised by this suggestion.

Orm sighed, “As my brother said, it would be the last place anyone would think to look for me.”

She didn’t exactly disagree but was yet unconvinced this was the only option. “We don’t know for sure that they are after you. What if that’s exactly what they want? We have the advantage of water down here if it comes to a fight.”

“Why else would they be following us? I don’t see you having made many enemies.” He said and she couldn’t argue with that point. He went on, “Besides, what are our other options? Explosives in the canyon or capture passing over it? We should take our chances with the unexpected.”

Elara still wasn’t sure that this would be unexpected but she didn’t have a better plan, “Okay, let’s do it your way.”

In their winding and indirect path to Tulum, they’d swum past and around several islands, and they discerned that they were very near one now and they could duck back a very short distance to ascend there. From Elara’s sense of it she’d surmised that there was enough wilderness still on the island that they could get lost and lose their tail without too much human intervention or interaction.

That tug in Elara’s gut didn’t go away but it didn’t get worse either and she didn’t see any flashes like she had of the explosives in the canyon. She reasoned that Orm was likely right and there was less immediate danger in this path than in the others.

Using Elara’s tidewatching they were able to find a deserted spot of beach and jungle to safely make land. For the first time that she could remember since her very first trip to the surface, Elara felt exposed and sluggish on land. This whole situation felt wrong, even surrounded by trees she felt they were too out in the open. But as the tides remained silent, she couldn’t be sure.

It wasn’t until an explosion leveled a stand of trees to their left that Elara was certain. She’d only caught the hint of the possibility of it a second before, just enough time to shove Orm to her right, behind herself and a large tree.

Splinters of bark and charred shreds of leaves flew around them and Elara felt a sharp pain in her side and left arm. She gasped in pain as she fell to the ground beside Orm where he was looking in the direction of the explosion for any sign of their assailant. At her gasp he looked to her briefly, enough time to note the blood beginning to run down her arm and stain her shirt.

He made some sign to examine her further but she quickly diverted him, “Do you see anyone?”

He made a face but quickly launched back into the problem at hand and took in the rubble before them.

“There,” he said pointing to the beach where a man in black stood with a bulky cannon that was clearly adapted from Atlantean tech. Tech that, Orm realized with a grimace, was likely derived from the weapon he had given to the Black Manta.

“We’ve got to move,” Elara said, grunting, “get out of the open.”

Orm knew they would have to strategize and fight back but that would have to wait til they were less vulnerable- Elara, injured as she was, especially. He nodded, and moved to support her on her uninjured side. She threw her arm around Orm’s neck, hobbling and suppressing curses at the large splinter in her side as they began to hurry through the trees. There wasn’t another blast until they’d made it another ten feet. Orm was surprised at the gap in attacks but filed it away for analysis until they were in a more secure location.

The one advantage on their side was the rapid changes in the terrain at the beach where they landed. If not for the presence of boulders and the uneven nature of the jungle floor, they might have been worse off. Elara liked to think that the tides had guided them here for that reason but they didn’t exactly have time for idle speculation. What energy Elara wasn’t using to keep up their pace, despite the pain, she expended on looking for any sign from the tides for a way out of this.

More sporadic explosions followed them until Elara, guided by the tides, directed Orm through a denser cluster of trees. The trees led to an old system of open caves with holes in patches of the roof to let in natural light to guide them through the serpentine paths. It wasn’t until ten minutes without any sign of attack had passed that they finally stopped. Orm deemed this section of cave suitable enough as it would hide them from immediate view from the ground above or the way they’d come.

Each breathing heavy, Orm helped Elara down to a small ledge before kneeling before her to look at her wound. He needed the rest too but Elara was too winded to immediately argue and allowed him to examine without complaining.

While the smaller twigs and debris had been dislodged from her arm in their flight, a few larger chunks of wood stuck out from her side where blood and sweat now soaked her shirt. Orm would never pretend to be a medic but through his time in battle he’d seen and inflicted his fair share of wounds so he at least had a little knowledge of injuries and a small amount for emergency care in the case that he couldn’t see a healer right away. He was careful not to probe too deeply as he tried to assess the damage.

“How’s it look?” Elara said through clenched teeth.

“It’s not too deep so I think we can take out the splinters but I wouldn’t want to unless we had anything to dress the wound to keep you from bleeding out.” He said, trying to stay professional despite how hard his heart was beating to look at it.

“In my pack,” She breathed heavily, trying to reach with her good arm to the bag on her back, “I’ve got some bandages and salve, just in case.”

Despite the situation, Orm couldn’t keep the ghost of a smile off of his lips as he retrieved them. She always seemed to think ahead. Elara could never be called a warrior in the way that he was but he admired the way she bore his clumsy ministrations with little fuss. She was practical and cognizant of the possibility of giving away their location if she made too loud a noise. Orm respected her for that.

Getting the splinters out was extremely painful and when he extracted the first piece she reached her hand out to hold his shoulder without a word, instead sucking in breath as she tried not to shout. Orm almost stopped at that but she gave him a squeeze as if to ask him to keep going, so he did.

Despite how tight she gripped, Orm’s hands were steady and swift and he didn’t comment. Instead he focused on discarding the bloody bark, before he set about trying to clean out the wood with some water from her pack. Once most of the dirt was out of the wound, he handed her the canteen and told her to drink what was left while he applied salve. She took measured, gulps as he bandaged it as best he could.

Elara would never have believed this was actually happening if it weren’t for all the pain. She certainly never expected her former king to be dressing any injury of hers and yet, in context it wasn’t odd at all. And she couldn’t decide what was weirder: the situation itself or that the situation didn’t seem odd to her. It was just par for the course at this point. That being said, she was grateful for his help.

His task done, he finally joined her on the ledge, wiping his bloody hands on a spare shirt from his own pack. When he stowed the shirt back in his bag she handed him the last of the water and watched as he drank it. They were silent for a moment as they tried to catch their breaths and take in their new circumstances.

“What are we going to do?” Elara finally spoke, asking what they were both thinking.

It wasn’t easy but Orm said slowly, “I don’t know.”

They sat for another moment before Elara spoke again, “Do you think he’s herding us again? Why else wouldn’t he have shot at us right after the first blast?”

“I’m not sure but I have a theory,” He said carefully. “I don’t think he knows what he’s doing with this technology. It’s based on Atlantean design but it isn’t pure and so it’s less refined than the original. I can’t be sure until we know why they are after us, but I don’t think this mercenary is working alone. Whoever adapted the cannon knew enough about it but that isn't the same man we saw on the beach. He may just be a lackey who clearly wasn’t trained well enough to use it effectively. That’s to our advantage though. He seems to need more time recharging or reaiming and that’s likely why we’re still alive.”

Elara marveled at his deducing skills, he thought quickly on his feet and picked up more than she could have guessed, likely from all his training for battle. She hoped he was right, if their assailant was as inexperienced as Orm believed, they had a shot at outmaneuvering them.

Thinking over what he said, she smirked. “They’re too big for their britches.”

Orm frowned at her in confusion, “What?”

“Nevermind, just a surface expression. Madren used to say when I would try to tackle more than I was able to.” She waved her arm, lacking the energy to explain further only for the motion to send a wave of pain washing over her.

She sobered then, they were in the thick of it and unfortunately the only solution she could think of was one she was loath to consider. Someone needed to say it though.

“I think we need to separate,” She said quietly and yet his head still turned whip-quick to look at her.

“What are you talking about?” he responded with more fervor than she had expected.

As even she didn’t like the idea she’d expected some resistance so was ready with a reply, “As you said earlier, they’re after you. I’m just going to slow you down with my injury.”

“Your injury is a good reason why we should stay together. What would you do if he went after you instead of following me?” He didn’t like to think of that possibility. He sure he knew what he would do if she was wrong.

“I’m not defenseless, Orm,” She insisted, pointing to her boots where the knives they’d used against the Trench were still stowed. “And I’ve got the tides to help too.”

“The tides didn’t stop you from getting hurt,” he pointed out, more bite to his words than she had expected.

She didn’t miss a beat before replying, “It protected you, didn’t it?”

Remembering her throwing him out of the way at the last minute put a pause in his argument. She had thrown him free just in time even though it cost her. He was far from throwing himself to the mercy of those who wished him harm but he wasn’t sure that he was comfortable with his safety coming at cost to Elara. Given all of the security and soldiers who had fought to protect him as king, he realized this was perhaps hypocritical of him. He certainly wouldn’t say out loud but that didn’t stop him from feeling that way though.

“We would be stronger together,” he finally said.

She met his concentrated gaze with a determined one of her own. “Right now we’re sitting ducks together and whether you like it or not, we’re at a disadvantage with me like this.”

“I thought you just said that you could defend yourself with the tides,” he countered.

“Yes, as a defense but it’s not a solution.” She maintained.

“And splitting up on land as an unknown surface dweller with Atlantean tech hunts us down is a solution?”

Rather than respond to that, she turned to face him full on and put the hand of her good arm on his. “I know you don't like this. I don't either; but we have to do something. It's only a matter of time before he finds us. We still have no idea how he's tracking us so he's likely to catch up soon. If we split up we might be able to figure out if he’s doing it through conventional methods or if it’s one of us specifically.“

He was still very much against separating because there were too many unknowns to guarantee any success to her plan but he was a shrewd enough tactician that he could see there were strategic advantages as well.

“I’m not saying I agree but whatever we do, we need to have a plan. We can’t just walk in different directions and hope for the best.” He said gruffly, trying to convince himself he wasn’t affected by the feel of her touch on his arm.

“That would be a terrible plan,” she agreed, pleased that he was at least entertaining the idea. “You’re right, we’d need to think of something besides just running away. We have to find a way to gain the upperhand.”

“And you think we have to split up to find it?” He asked, still unconvinced.

“He had to have seen me get hit and I’ve got to think he wouldn’t expect us to separate after that,” she reasoned.

Orm fixed her with a hard expression, “Because it’s a bad plan.”

”It’s not a bad plan if it keeps us one step ahead of him,” she maintained.

“If it were to work it would be because we’re lucky, not because it’s a good idea.”

Elara sighed, “We’re not going to agree on this are we?”

He held her gaze, a muscle twitching in his neck as he answered, “No, we are not.”

They were getting nowhere and Elara knew it, knew it just like she knew that their attacker grew closer to finding them each moment they argued. She knew Orm had a point and her idea was extremely risky but she felt they needed to take a risk in order to turn this situation around.

Breaking their staring contest, she closed her eyes briefly and took a breath before meeting his stare again, asking in a steady, straightforward tone, “Do you trust me?”

There was a noticeable shift to his features at her question, he hadn’t expected that at all.

She knew she’d hit him with a curveball and so took the pressure off him answering immediately by continuing, “I know it would be dangerous and I can’t tell if this is the right call or not but it feels right. I’ve spent so long trying to hone my intuition as an asset in tidewatching and right now my gut is telling me that this is the right call. I don’t want to see anything happen to you and the longer we debate this the more likely that he’ll find us before we’re ready. I’m not asking you to like the plan, but can you trust me in this?”

Orm looked away from her. Trust was not an easy thing for him these days. In the wake of Mera’s and Vulko’s betrayals he’d found it hard to trust anyone. He believed his mother but after her long absence and assumed death, he wasn’t sure he could fully trust her. And here was Elara asking for that which he had so little of in anything. It had long been his instinct not to trust anyone, to only put his faith in himself and the resilience of Atlantis.

And yet, he’d already trusted her visions. Based on all she’d ever done in regards to him, even their contentious first encounter, she’d been steady and true. Just this week she had risked indignation and disbelief in telling Arthur, who knew little of the tides, of her vision of Orm’s death to protect him.

She’d left behind her home and people to keep him safe by coming up here with him. She would follow his lead when needed but wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and contradict him if she needed to. She had spent this whole week trying to help him and she’d yet to do anything to hurt him. She confused the hell out of him at times but she trusted him and at least minimally, seemed to care for him. He could do this one thing for her. Maybe he could trust just this one time or just this one person.

“I still don’t like this,” He finally sighed, returning her gaze once more. “But I’ll trust you to get us out of this.”

[oceanmastertrash]

Just a little shout out to all of you who have been supporting me in my writing of the Tides Know Our Names. I've never had the very best track record when it comes to writing but when I started writing this Fic I wanted that to change. I wanted to see how much I could do. And since then it has sort of become an endurance test. It's been a study in perseverance. It's become me trying to push past the difficult bits of writing.

Plotting things out and coming up with characters has never been the hard part for me. The hard part has always been pushing through bits I'm not accustomed to writing and trying to find my way from point A to point B and trying to execute my wild ideas. But I have been on my own case with this Fic to not let any of that stop me.

And it has been hard. There's been several bits or I've just wanted to put it aside and say I don't know how to write that and just move on to other pursuits. But I am so proud of myself for not doing that this time. I'm not super good at logistics or fight scenes or interrogation scenes or several other important events that have featured so far in this story. But I have just bullied myself and made me do it anyway. And for my trouble I have already written 42000 words in about 4 months. That is huge! And I've very much enjoyed developing these characters and their relationship and finding a pace that works for me. I've worked hard at putting aside my worries about things taking too long or any of that. I've always loved reading slow Burns but I've never really been able to write one myself. And it is difficult. It is difficult to balance the desire to just have people make out already or to have development happen naturally but also trying to balance obstacles. It's been a learning experience and I'm very happy I pushed myself as far as I have. And as I've said, this is a big shout out to those of you who have encouraged me along this little journey. I look forward to seeing what comes next. Thank you all.

[oceanmastertrash]

the tides know our names- 12/?

Summary:   After losing the throne to his brother Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward. A few months after this Elara, part of an ancient order of prescient Atlanteans known as Tidewatchers, has a vision of Orm's death. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

Part: 12/?

Word Count: 2,997

Warnings: none for this chapter

Read on Ao3 / start from the beginning

How do you feel about going on a quest?” She asked with a mischievous smile that was so startling and welcome all at once.

He wanted to know what she had seen but this turn about in her was just so sudden, he wasn’t ready to leap in blind. “What kind of quest?”

Elara looked back to the TV then back at Orm, determination and cautious excitement in her eyes, “We’re going to find the Lost Kingdom.”

-

“The Lost Kingdom?” he repeated.

“Yes,” she said as if it was simple.

“The Lost Kingdom that has been missing for thousands of years. That lost kingdom?” He asked, wanting to be positive he’d heard her right.

“No, the lost kingdom of the monkey men,” she said sarcastically then clarified. “Of course that Lost Kingdom.”

“They’re dead, Elara.” He was stupefied at her idea of a quest. “They have never been found because there is nothing left to find.”

“I don’t think so,” She said as if she hadn’t just started talking crazy.

“Did the tides tell you? Is that where you’re getting this from?” he asked like he didn’t already know the answer.

“Of course they did.”

“So the ocean tells you to go looking for a dead civilization and you just jump?”

“I do when they tell me like this.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Said the man who is on the surface because the ocean told me you were in danger. You had no problem believing the ocean then.”

“That’s because that’s more tangible. There are plenty of people down there who’d have reason to want me dead. There is nothing like that to back the idea that the Lost Kingdom is still alive and kicking and just ignoring us for millenia. It’s not like they wouldn’t know where to find us.”

“But I think they are still alive,” she argued. “And I’m not the only tidewatcher to think so.”

He fixed her with a stare. “If tidewatchers had sensed them before why didn’t they tell anyone?”

“They did,” Elara answered as she settled into a debate. “Tidewatchers have been seeing patterns about the lost kingdom since they disappeared. For the first thousand or so years we told the king, his council, and anyone else who would listen.”

Even as a former king, this was news to him. “Did everyone just ignore them, then?”

“No. Expeditions were launched for the first several hundred years, sometimes led by kings, nobles, scientists and researchers.” Elara sighed. “But none of them ever found the Lost Kingdom and eventually people stopped believing us. They blamed the Tidewatchers for getting their hopes up and claimed we were just wasting everyone’s time. So we stopped saying anything even though we still get hints and ripples from time to time.”

“What makes you think we have even a chance to succeed where generations of Atlanteans have failed?”

“I don’t know that we’ll succeed,” Elara said without a hint of shame. “We very well could be just as unsuccessful as everyone else that has come before us.”

Orm tried not to be annoyed by her sudden confidence but he just couldn’t feel any trace of it.

“Then why try?”

Elara considered her answer very carefully before speaking. “Because isn’t it better to try something and fail than to do nothing? You were a king who used to have hundreds of duties to perform each day. I know you’re miserable up here. I know that being so idle chafes at you and I get it. I’m restless too. I hate feeling so aimless. So let’s do something. I’d rather try to do something that is very likely to fail than just sit around feeling useless. Wouldn’t you?”

He stared at her, mesmerized. How was she able to read him so easily? How could she see straight to his core as she did?

He didn’t say that though, settling instead for, “Of course I would.”

“Then why not this?” She said vibrating with energy. “Why not look for the Lost Kingdom? If we succeed it could do so much to help your image with the tribes of Atlantis. And, even if we fail, at least we did something with our time up here.”

It really was maddening to try to argue with her when she was like this. She knew what she was proposing was insane but also knew exactly how to tantalize him into agreeing, or barring that, scolding him. He secretly loved seeing her like this. Her confidence had always been one of her most attractive features and it was welcome change to the tension and timidness of the morning.

They very likely would be chasing ghosts but it was better than nothing and Orm had always loved a challenge.

He smiled and repeated, “Why not this.”

A brilliant smile lit up Elara’s face, “And besides, if we find nothing, we can always work in some more time for sulking.”

Orm couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him at that. Their eyes met at that and he couldn’t help but think that he’d do far more to keep her smiling at him like that.

--

They spent the next hour or so plotting while Elara did her best to wring tangibility out of the hints and ripples the tides had presented to her. Most of what she saw was just glimpses and feelings though. It was like waking from a dream with just enough images and sensations to verify it had happened but not enough substance to put into words.

It felt very much like having an incomplete puzzle and yet Elara was undeterred. She was convinced that if she put enough pieces together then more would be revealed. All they needed to do was to connect the edge pieces and they would have a place to start.

They were still sitting on the couch together and occasionally that fact would send an awkward or excited thrill through her but it was easier for her to manage those if she has a goal to direct her energy to.

“Was there any location in these patterns you saw?” He asked after she’d tried to give him a run-down of what the tides had given her.

Elara’s face screwed up in concentration, “I know I saw something, somewhere but there are so many images and abstract sensations that I’m having a harder time parsing it all out.”

“What do you need to do?” He asked. What he’d learned in ruling and fighting was that, no matter how difficult things could get there was always a method, a technique that could make things more manageable. They just needed to find one for sifting through a complex tide pattern.

Elara couldn’t help but wring her hands together. “I know I need to just relax and concentrate but there’s just so much more to this web than I’m used to. This pattern is ancient and complex and I don’t even know where to begin.”

Orm knew very little about her craft but he had an idea about at least one problem she brought up.

“Sit back,” He said in a way that wasn’t a suggestion. He just had a voice that was more accustomed to commanding.

She shot him a look that very clearly said ‘Excuse me?’

Orm sighed, motioning to her, “You said you need to relax, I’m trying to help you. You’re all hunched and tense. Posture is important for preparing the body and the mind for a task.”

Okay so he made a certain kind of sense but Elara also knew she couldn’t tell him how very difficult it would be for her to truly relax, especially next to him with his intense eyes fixed on her. Arguing with him would have the opposite desired effect though so she made a show at scooting back so her back was pressed against the back of the couch.

He sent her a dubious and slightly teasing look. “Do you even know how to relax? You look like you’re about to be bludgeoned by something.”

She laughed, “You’re one to talk, when was the last time you relaxed?”

Instead of laughing back, he looked away. The last time he’d relaxed was when they’d kissed.

“Okay, we both have work to do in that area,” he assented. “Here, I’ll do it with you.”

She raised her eyebrows at that. Yeah, she’d believe that when she saw it. And yet, there he was, making a big show about sitting back next to her and closing his eyes. She tried to adjust her back but couldn’t help but peek at him, more entertained than she should be by him playing along with her.

Eyes still closed, Orm said calmly, “This works best if your eyes are closed too.”

Elara started and instantly closed her eyes. How did he know? Some small childish part of her wanted to open her eyes and stick her tongue out at him but it was a foolish notion she managed to repress. He was trying to help after all, even if he still managed to exude such a deep commanding smugness. But given his idle restlessness of late, it was almost a refreshing change. Almost.

“What is it we’re meant to be doing that we can’t do with our eyes open?”

“Focusing,” He said cryptically.

While Elara was skilled with the tides, patience had never been her strongest suit and focus was particularly elusive given how overstimulated she was by this whole pattern of possibilities. She felt like a kid in a candy store, and it was nearly impossible to calm enough to focus on any one thing. She didn’t want to be petulant or anything but it’s not like Orm had a web of whispers dancing around in his head to contend with.

So after a minute of silence in which she barely managed to keep from bouncing in her seat, she finally said, “Focusing on what?”

She could almost hear him smiling in amusement as he said, “What do you normally focus on when you’re reading the tides?”

Elara let out a breath, “Normally? I just listen until the image becomes clearer but that’s when I’m trying to make out a single image, not a whole milenia of hints. There’s too much and it’s all out of focus.”

Elara had begun fidgeting with the edge of the couch as she rambled. Of course she didn’t realize that until she felt his hand cover hers. All of her stilled at the contact.

“You know that won’t help you focus on anything.” He said quietly but confidently.

Considering how he’d been at a disadvantage the last week or so, it was interesting to see the tables turned and have the confident tidewatcher suddenly so anxious.

It took everything in Elara not to tell him point blank that physical contact with him wouldn’t help any kind of focus but he moved his hand away before she could muster up any reply of the sort.

“Sorry,” she muttered, though not sure what she was sorry for.

“It’s alright,” he said, “Just relax.”

Again, easier said than done. But try as she might, none of the old tidewatcher tricks were working. She was alight with energy and portents and didn’t know how to quiet any of it enough to parse anything out.

Almost as if he could feel the tension still radiating off of her, Orm tried another tack, “Just breathe, and focus on your breaths.”

She tried. She honestly did, but suddenly something so natural felt detached from her somehow and she didn’t know if this was how she normally breathed or not. It seemed too forced and Elara felt completely overwhelmed at the fact that she couldn’t even breathe normal. She just needed to focus, but maybe she couldn’t focus on herself, she just needed to focus on anything.

Casting about, she could hear Orm breathing beside her. Unlike her, he was calm and steady. His breathing unhurried and unlabored. It was a calming sound, like the waves of the ocean lapping at the shore. It was simple and sure. So she focused on that, on his even breathing to guide her to even out her own. And slowly, slowly, her breathing fell into step with his, her body calming as she put away everything but their breaths like the tides of the ocean.

And, just listening to him, she saw a gradual image floating to the surface in her mind’s eye. An ancient temple that Elara had seen before swam in her head. It was old but not as old as Atlantis, and not of Atlantean design but it had the ripple of the Lost about it. Where had she seen it? She kept her breathing even, focusing on Orm beside her as an anchor.

Now the temple was….Mayan? That sounded right? Where had she heard it? A book. A book from Madren’s library about human civilizations. They’d laughed because Atlantis had been mentioned as a fallen civilization and a myth in the same text.

Where was it? Mexico? That felt right. They were close to Mexico, just in the country to the north of it, it wouldn’t even be far. This wasn’t the answer but it was a clue, a breadcrumb on their trail.

Elara’s eyes popped open and when she turned to look at Orm, she found his ocean blue eyes looking at her.

“You saw something didn’t you?” He asked, with a satisfied smirk.

She wanted to tease him for his cockiness but she was too excited, “I did. Thank you.”

“So where to?” He asked, fascinated.

“Mexico, our first clue is in Mexico.” She said, full of confidence and enthusiasm.

Orm just blinked, “I presume you know where that is.”

She laughed. “Yes. We leave tonight!”

---

With a direction in mind, it was much easier to move forward. While Elara had a number of false identification papers for herself, she didn’t think what they had on hand would be enough to get Orm across the border. She’d learned from her travels that surface dwellers could get very territorial about different stretches of land that required all manner of documentation.

After a discussion of problem at hand, they decided the best course of action was to simply slip in the gulf for a brief stint and then pop back up on the other side of the border. Of course their idea of a brief stint of a couple hours would have taken days and intense endurance for any surface dweller.

All that was left really, after consulting maps and the internet for the exact location of the site, she’d learned it was in fact called Tulum and pretty much across the gulf from where they were. Elara concerned herself with the planning while Orm took charge in preparing. He’d gotten a decent enough grasp on what foods took prepping and what he liked so it was easy enough for him to pack what they would need once Elara told him how to package things for travel.

It should have disturbed Elara how seamlessly they worked in tandem like this. The fact that they worked well tackling their own tasks and yet coming together with little fuss. And yet it comforted her. This whole situation was still nearly absurd to her and yet, it helped to have someone else to rely on and work with, to have someone listen to her. She had hear Madren say that necessity makes for strange bedfellows.

And given how awkward things had been after their eventful night of drinking, she was worried that their whole stint on the surface would be plagued with the same fraught tension. But, apparently, avoiding the matter entirely and diving into a completely different task was the answer to their problems. She and Orm were both creatures of purpose and habit and clearly functioned much better with a course of action rather than free time.

Even if the quest was just a magical goose chase, it would be better to be out doing anything than twiddling their thumbs in seclusion.

Between the two of them, they were ready for departure in an hour. Elara took the time to leave a note of thanks to their absent host. Elara may have never met the Diana who owned the cottage they’d taken refuge in but it had been kind of the woman to open her doors even of a spare house to people she had never met.

And then suddenly, they were both standing at the door with their Atlantean waterproof bags packed and they were ready. Without speaking they both turned back to look around the little cottage that had been their refuge for their first week on the surface. It hadn’t been a particularly happy week but it hadn’t been entirely miserable either. Elara felt her eyes lingering on the couch -she definitely had an almost fondness for that couch- before looking back to Orm beside her.

His expression was unreadable, she didn’t know what he saw as he looked over the living area they’d occupied together but there was an effect on him, she could feel that much, even if she didn’t know what it was.

As if his appraisal was done, he looked back to her, motioning to the door neither one had reached for, “Shall we?”

“We shall,” she said, trying to keep that confidence from earlier in her even as the nerves she felt for the unknown jangled in her gut.

And, as they’d come to this little house on this small inlet of a beach, Orm and Elara silently left it behind them and returned to the sea, even if just for a small journey, and into the nearly unknown.

Elara looked to Orm, still surprised at how everything was turning out, he looked to her and saw some question in her eyes and nodded in reassurance and then they were beneath the waves, surging against the tides into the gulf beyond.

Author’s Note: I’m not always great at remembering to post the updates on here, remember to subscribe to the ao3 listing because that’s where I regularly post this.

[oceanmastertrash]

would it be completely bonkers at this point to rework The Tide Knows Our Names to being an Orm/OC fic instead of an Orm/Reader fic like it is now?

I mean there may not be much point as no one reads it, but as it is quickly blossoming and evolving into a bigger fic than planned, would it make more sense in the long run to have it feature an OC? Like I could see more people reading a 25+ chapter long fic about an OC than about the reader.

i honestly don’t know. Maybe I’ll rework the first few chapters and see how that goes.

Any thoughts? would y’all rather read a long plotty fic with Orm and a female OC or You/the reader?

[oceanmastertrash]

the tides know our names- 7/?

gif from @kingsorm

Summary:  -takes place after the movie- Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward when Elara has a vision of his death. As part of an order of Atlanteans dating back to the reign of King Atlan known as Tidewatchers, it is her duty to warn the king of her vision. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

Part: 6/?

Word Count: 1,744

Warnings: none for this chapter

Read on Ao3

FRIENDLY REMINDER: This story has been remastered into and OC fic instead of a Reader fic. All chapters have been reworked to feature Elara instead of Y/N. If you've read the previous chapters, not much has changed from the story itself, just some strengthening of the prose and pronoun changing. I hope you all enjoy Elara as we continue on!

More than anything, Elara wanted him to look at her- to see what he really thought of her being the one to join him on the surface. And yet, he kept his eyes stubbornly fixed on his brother as he asked, “When will we leave?”

Arthur looked to Vulko then back to Elara and Orm. “Tomorrow.”

-

The next few hours were a blur. There was still much to plan and little time to do so. They’d spent a considerable amount of time debating whether such promptness was prudent or foolhardy but Arthur ultimately won out. As they had no way to discern when the vision would happen, getting Orm away from the palace as quickly was ruled the safest course.

Eventually, Elara left them to their plans. She may have needed to be in on discussions about the logistics of her upcoming departure, but discussions of how to orchestrate it and hide his absence were less in her wheelhouse.

And so, many hours after she’d first entered the palace, Elara returned to the Tidewatcher temple to prepare for her unexpected journey. Entering the temple, Elara was not surprised at all to find Calysa, the unofficial leader of the council, waiting for her. Of course, she’d been following the tides.

“You know?” Elara asked with a sigh.

Calysa, wasn’t as old as Atlanna but she had experience beyond her years. She’d seen much and helped many as well as effectively raising Elara after her mother died.

The wrinkles around her pale blue eyes crinkled as she nodded. “The patterns are still unclear on much in this matter but, for what it’s worth: I think you made the right decision.”

Elara felt a weight lift, “That helps. Walk with me?”

Calysa fell into step beside Elara, giving the younger tidewatcher space to breathe and think.

Elara had always appreciated that about Calysa. She’d done her best to guide and support Elara not only through her training and the hardest years of her life, but she’d done her best not to smother the young girl. Calysa would always be there with advice and direction but she allowed Elara to make her own decisions about things, which in hindsight, was also one of the most useful skills a tidewatcher could develop.

Elara felt like she’d just walked through a flood with all that had happened that day. Part of her wanted to lay down right there and sleep for a week but, of course, that wasn’t an option right now.

So, forging ahead, she asked, “Is there anything you can tell me about what I’m getting into?”

Calysa sighed sadly, “You know I would tell you if there was.”

Elara knew that but rarely had her gift ever felt so useless. Other than the vision, trying to see her way through this situation was like trying to gaze through a solid rock wall.

“Why is it so difficult this time?” Elara asked.

Calysa took her former charge’s arm and began leading them to Elara’s room, “You’re a gifted Watcher, Elara, what do you think the block is?”

Elara felt like she was a tidewatcher novice again, still being taught through questions. Calysa had taught Elara so much but she believed in giving Elara the tools to divine the answers for herself rather than just giving her own opinion and passing it as fact. It wasn’t until Elara had done the work and divining herself that Calysa would share her thoughts.

Elara had already begun to suspect what the problem was but just wanted some confirmation from someone else.

“It’s Prince Orm, isn’t it?”

Calysa nodded. “Our prince has come to a grand sort of crossroads in the tides. After all that has happened, there are too many options before him. Too many forks in the river for him to choose from, each one twisting back on itself and crossing with others in complicated ways. He is in a unique position. Many of these paths lead to greatness but just as many lead to devastating ruin and until he decides which direction he will take, his tides will remain unreadable to us.”

“If there are so many conflicting possibilities for him, how do we know for sure that he’ll take the path that leads to what I saw?” Elara asked, trying to piece it all together. “My vision could be in a completely different direction than where’s he headed now.”

Rather than answering, Calysa looked at her calmly. “Do you feel like it’s in a different direction?”

Elara hung her head. No, no she did not. This didn't feel like a possible obstacle on one path amongst a multitude of streams, it felt like a waterfall- inevitable as the pull of gravity. The thought scared Elara, it felt like a challenge too big for her to tackle.

“No, I don’t. I don’t even know if I can stop it at this point,” Elara admitted.

Calysa clucked fondly, “Now I know you know that’s not true. The tides may shift and change as they will but nothing is set in stone. The ocean shouted this at you Elara. It chose you to see this and I believe that’s because you are the one who was meant to see it.”

Elara smiled weakly, “You’re talking in circles again.”

“That’s because time is a circle!” Calysa said excitedly, rehashing an old discussion of theirs. She then shook her head and waved her hand in front of them. “Forget that for now though. Just remember Elara. Remember that the tides wouldn’t have shown this to you if all you were meant to do was tell the King to begin making funeral arrangements. The tides are a thing of water- not of stone. And I have never heard of a vision as strong as yours ever ending in an unchanged dead end. You may not be meant to save him but you were meant to do something with this knowledge.”

Having arrived at Elara’s chambers they entered and sat down on the side of her bed.

Elara was silent, still trying to make sense of the tangled mess that was Orm’s tides when Calysa spoke again, almost hesitantly.

“I saw this possibility once.”

Elara looked to her. “I thought you said you couldn’t reach any of the tides around my vision.”

Calysa nodded, “And I can’t. I haven’t seen any patterns of his death. That’s not the possibility I saw. What I saw was you and Orm on the surface together.”

Elara jolted as she faced her mentor dead on. “You saw what ? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Calysa laughed at Elara’s expression. “Because, as I’ve always said, reading the tides is a matter of timing and the time was never right. It was such a small thread, such a faint possibility at the time. Yet, it was still vibrant and I did not want to disturb it.”

Elara knew Calysa had a point, as she often did, but such an idea was so foreign to her.

“Besides,” the older woman continued, “you were hardly in the mood at the time to receive it well.”

Elara squinted suspiciously, “What kind of mood was I in?”

Calysa’s eyes twinkled in mirth, “I believe you were of the mood to call your king a ‘big-headed, close-minded lout who had no respect for the tides or women who were smarter than him’.”

Elara froze, remembering those words and the anger that had gone with them.

“ Then ?! You saw us going to the surface together that long ago?”

Calysa smiled, “Indeed. The timing amused me then nearly as much as it does now.”

“But I hated him then,” Elara reminded her.

“Oh I know,” Calysa said.

Elara remembered it all too well. It had been ten years ago that she’d first seen Orm in the tides. She’d been an apprentice perhaps a year or two then, no longer a novice or a teenager but a young woman still. King Orvax had been dead for less than a year and his son had been working hard to master to the daunting task of ruling his people.

This climate probably was not the best time for Elara to see a pattern of Orm making a mistake. And yet, the tides had spoken to her. Elara, having just returned from training on the surface, was brimming with confidence. But, even with the self-assurance that is so often found in youth this had given her pause. She was young enough in the craft that she could still have interpreted it wrong and didn’t want to alienate the young king over a misinterpretation.

Unlike any other pattern she’d seen before, she sat on it for a few days before even bringing it to Calysa. She tried searching the tides for any other part of the pattern she might have missed and yet the message remained clear. Calysa had lightly chided her apprentice for keeping it to herself when Elara finally presented it to her; but, through her own searchings, she found the same pattern that Elara had.

After that, Calysa had encouraged Elara to tell the king what she’d seen. Elara was mortified at the idea but Calysa reminded her this was her duty as a tidewatcher. As long as there had been tidewatchers, there had been unpleasant patterns but it was their responsibility to help the affected parties either prepare for what was to come or to help them learn from and avoid it. Just because Elara was still an apprentice didn’t make this any different.

Orm, new to the throne, was dubious at the idea of tidewatchers but, as he sought to uphold the tradition their service to Atlantis had always been, he had granted Elara, accompanied by Calysa, an audience to discuss the young tidewatcher’s portents.

To say it did not go well was putting it mildly.

King Orm had been prepared to listen but make up his own mind about the nature of tidewatching in its entirety. He considered the whole thing more of a courtesy than an obligation at the time. His father had not been fond of the trade but it wasn’t in him to disband a centuries-long tradition. He’d just always paid them little mind and put little faith in the tidewatchers and their patterns. Under his father’s example Orm was not a believer in the tides to begin with.

And yet, despite all this, here was this young woman, with scraggly hair and little experience in her gift telling him that she foresaw him making a deal with a surface dweller that would lead to death and pain for his people. King Orm was outraged and prepared to call the whole thing a useless art. He was insulted, and so, tactless or not, he insulted back.

What he’d thought most strange was that the girl refused to be cowed or belittled, even by her king. She stood toe-to-toe with him, utter confidence blazing in her amber eyes as she defended her craft. She was probably a foot shorter than him and really had nowhere near the authority he held and yet she didn’t let it stop her.

Orm had wanted to dismiss it out of hand as preposterous. Ever since losing his mother because of it, Orm had hated the surface dwellers and the idea that he would make any sort of deal with them rankled at him. To think that this apprentice in an uncertain craft could be so certain that he would betray or hurt his people in anyway, especially with a surface dweller was beyond absurd. He’d dismissed her and the idea of tidewatching and focused instead on his reign, as if trying to prove Elara wrong. And yet, he couldn’t dismiss the look on her face as she defended what she knew would happen.

As time had gone on, other more provable and positive tide patterns had at least won the Tidewatchers more credibility with the King. It was several years before Elara had been part of any presentation of tides to King Orm again, and yet, anytime an audience was requested by the Tidewatchers, he couldn’t help but wonder if it would be that audacious young woman who’d challenged him so thoroughly.

For Elara’s part, she’d tried to put the whole episode behind her. Though she knew what she saw was still likely to happen, she tried her best to distance herself from the King both physically and in her tidewatching. And yet, even back then, Calysa had seen their paths entwining in the most unusual way.

In the present, Elara was burning with curiosity at such a vision.

“What did exactly did you see?” Elara asked.

Calysa sighed, almost considering keeping it to herself but thought it could do little harm to the pattern to tell Elara now. “You were in a forest. It was dark but a light I couldn’t see the source of seemed to shine around the two of you. Your hair was as long as it is now. And remember that when I’d seen this you’d had that short crop you’d gotten on the surface that made it look like you had a dirty mop on your head.”

Elara scrunched her nose at Calysa’s teasing. It wasn’t that bad of a haircut but it had made much more sense on the surface than when she’d returned underwater. Now her golden brown hair was down to her waist- a good foot and a half longer than it had been when she’d met Orm.

“So you knew it was much farther down the line from that?”

“That and your Tidestone,” Calysa said indicating the gem Elara wore around her neck.

Tidestones had been handed down through generations of Tidewatchers since the time of King Atlan. Made from stones found in the ocean they were said to be imbued with a kind of magic that helped watchers connect with the tides. While that strengthening could be proven, there had long been rumors of some Tidestones possessing other skills like healing or even control over animals. As far as Elara knew though, those were just myths.

It had long been tradition that as tidewatchers entered new stages of growth in their path as a tidewatcher, they were given a different stone. When Elara had her first vision that led her to cross paths with Orm, she’d been wearing the swirling patterned agate stone of an apprentice but the one she had worn the last 4 years was one of vibrant jasper that signified she was now a master tidewatcher.

Elara smiled as she touched it, “Did you think of your vision when you gave this to me?”

“Yes, but it still didn’t feel like the right time to tell you.”

“What else did you see?” Elara asked. She knew it was unlikely there was anything truly pertinent to learn from it but the whole idea of going with Orm to the surface, which until a few moments ago had seemed so thrown together, having been foreseen fascinated her.

Calysa almost seemed to speak slower, as if she didn’t want to startle Elara, “The two of you were looking at each other and he said something to make you laugh. I didn’t hear what it was but it didn’t seem to be the point.”

The whole image seemed almost too foreign to believe. “What was the point then?”

“You were happy,” Calysa said simply.

Elara put her head in her hands, mumbling. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that.”

“I don’t think this is the kind of sight that requires anything to be done, I think the point of it was just to be seen and known.” Calysa said simply.

Elara kept her face in her hands, bone tired and confused.

“I’ll leave you to pack,” Calysa said before Elara could think of any reply.

Part of Elara wanted her to stay, to comfort her in the face of such a baffling future, to say the right thing to help Elara figure out how she felt about all this. But Elara knew she needed to work through and absorb some things on her own and could use some time alone to take in the events of the day. Calysa knew this so she stood and squeezed Elara’s shoulder once and then left.

Elara should have gotten up immediately to get ready for tomorrow but instead she just lay back on her bed, staring up at the barnacle ceiling, asking for answers from the silent tides.

A/N: I know this chapter didn't have much Orm in it but I felt it was one we needed to not only set up the Tidewatchers some more but to help you get to know Elara better. and we get some history between her and Orm which has been fun to tease before now. I just love this story so much and I'm so happy to get to share this with you all. I would love to hear what y'all think of Elara and the story so far! remember, feedback is love! thank you for reading!

[oceanmastertrash]

the tide knows our names- part 6

gif from @voyevoda-thejoy

Summary:  Takes place after the events of the movie. You are part of an old branch of Atlanteans known as Tidewatchers who can see/predict the future. As Arthur settles into being king, you get a powerful vision of an attempt on Orm’s life. Now you must work with your former king to try to keep your vision from coming true.

Part: 6/?

Word Count: 1,638

Warnings: none for this chapter

chapter 1 / chapter 2 / chapter 3 / chapter 4 / chapter 5 / Read on Ao3

Orm seemed to grow uneasy at Arthur’s expression, “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

Then Arthur burst into a shit-eating grin and when he looked at Orm all doubts were erased as he said, “You are definitely going to hate it, little bro. Congrats, you just won a trip to the surface.”

-

To say that Orm was not enthused about this plan was like saying that the ocean was wet.

“You honestly expect me to hide out on the surface for this?” Orm seethed.

“Yes I do,” Arthur said gravely, just about fed up by his younger brother’s obstinance. “What else would you have us do? Unless you hadn’t noticed, you’ve pissed off a lot of people down here. You killed the Fisherman king for christ’s sake. That’s not something they or anyone else are going to get over in a hurry. And if you want any chance of sticking around and making things up to people, you’re going to have to trust us. Please, give us a chance to figure things out.”

Orm was silenced with that. It was certainly not an easy thing for him to hear but Arthur was right to say it. If he was going to survive this to help fix things one day, he was just going to have to deal with this. Sacrifices must be made for the sake of his people after all. Because whether or not any of the other tribes even believed in him anymore, he still believed in them and wanted to do what was best. And if Arthur was to evolve into a king skilled enough to rule them he would need Orm’s help and he’d be no help if he was dead.

“Alright,” Orm finally agreed and you let out a breath. “We’ll try it your way, brother.”

There was almost a trace of affection there but if nothing else it showed you that he was trying make things right.

Vulko had a suspicious look in his eyes, almost as if he couldn’t fully believe Orm was acquiescing this easily. You knew the truth though, nothing about this was easy for Orm. Each effort at civility and deference in such a charged situation was a heavy and grueling burden.

“How would we do it though?” You couldn’t help but ask before clarifying. “I’m not saying it’s a bad plan. It’s actually pretty clever but how would it work logistically? Would you drop him off at your parents’ lighthouse or what?”

Both brothers had a very visible reaction but while Arthur’s was more disapproving, Orm’s managed to have equal strokes of pain and distaste. He clearly had no desire to play audience to his mother’s happily ever after with her surface dweller. Especially considering it was their romance that had ultimately taken her from Orm, leaving him to grow up under the sole care of his violent and tempestuous father. He may be willing to submit to a stay on the surface he hated but he was not desperate enough to agree to that.

“No,” Arthur said, “I don’t want to put this on them. Besides, if it's crossed our minds, anyone after Orm would think of that too.”

Over the past few hours it seemed to you that you four had spent a lot of time contemplating this problem in silence. It also seemed that you all hadn’t gotten very far in any angle of tackling it.

“Well what do you think?” You asked. “Are we supposed to just pop him on the surface by himself?”

None of them looked even remotely interested in that idea.

“Certainly not,” Vulko responded, “We can’t just send the prince to the surface by himself.”

“What then?” you asked, seeming to track where his thought had trailed, “You can’t exactly send a whole squadron with him. I thought we were looking for inconspicuous. If you do that, you might as well be broadcasting his location. Besides, someone would notice if a whole battalion went missing at the same time the prince disappeared.”

“You’re right,” Arthur agreed, an almost mischievous look in his eye, “but they probably wouldn’t notice if it was a single Tidewatcher.”

You were struck utterly speechless, your mouth hanging open. Then, trying to make sure you hadn’t just hallucinated, asked. “You want to send me?”

Orm was similarly surprised but he had yet to say anything, as if waiting to hear exactly what Arthur intended.

“Why not? You’ve already saved his life once,” Arthur pointed out.

“I did not-”

You spluttered at the same time that Orm said, “I would hardly say that.”

Arthur held his hands up to quiet further objections on that score, “Say what you want but I think it’s the natural choice. It was your death vision that got us started on all this and you would be the ideal option for protection up here. You’d be right there in case you saw anymore visions of attacks.”

Vulko spoke next, “It makes a certain kind of sense but would she be enough to fight off any real threat? It’s not like she’s a trained warrior.”

“Warrior? No.” Arthur agreed, “but she is trained. You saw her in the attack, from what the guards told me, she’s more than skilled enough to not only hold her own but watch Orm’s back.”

You ought to have been flattered at that but you were still stuck at flabbergasted over his bombastic plan.

Orm, strangely enough, did not dispute your skills. Instead he said, “You can hardly plan to send just the two of us up to the surface without any kind of reinforcement.”

“Her tide watching is reinforcement,” Arthur countered. “And from what Mera told me, the Tidewatchers are all connected by the tide or something so if anyone was able to track you down she could reach out to the council and we’d come find you.”

You blinked, that was a gross oversimplification but it wasn’t exactly wrong. And it’s not like you could take any kind of Atlantean tech to communicate, that would be way too easy to track. Seven Seas, were you actually considering this?

Orm was trying to hold back, “Yes but they would likely come too late. If something went wrong, it would be just us out there.”

“The idea is less about fortification and more about subterfuge and deflection,” Arthur said. “We’d be doing our part down here to throw anyone off the track while you two are supposed to disappear on the surface. Who knows? You may even learn a thing or two about it; Y/N seems to have.”

It was then that you realized your mention earlier at having spent time on the surface had not been forgotten by the king and he was in fact, using it as evidence that you were the right choice for this. You had to admit, even if this whole idea completely baffled you, it was smart thinking.

Orm made to object again but Arthur stopped him, “I know, it’s not what you want and it certainly isn’t the most ideal, but right now, it looks like it’s our best shot unless anyone else has any other ideas.”

Orm furrowed his brow, trying to think of one, but like you, failing.

“Besides,” Arthur began, “this way, with you exploring the surface more, we can kill two birds with one stone.”

Orm outright scowled at that, “A charming surface expression, I take it.”

Arthur grinned, “Yep, and you’re going to get to learn a whole lot more.”

You didn’t think that was the best way to persuade Orm to agree to this but you weren’t exactly about to say that to your king. Besides, Arthur’s blustery confidence and decisiveness were certainly doing a lot of the work on that score.

Despite all your gifts with the Tides if someone had told you yesterday that the King was seriously planning on sending you up to the surface alone with Prince Orm to protect him you would have thought they were crazy. You supposed this was proof that the tides could still move in ways that were mysterious even to you.

Orm hung his head and you could see him resign to it but he kept his back straight and his gaze steely as he fixed Arthur with his stare. Oddly though, you could sense he was taking special care not to look at you as he finally said, “Very well, my King. But I trust you to do your sworn duty to look to your kingdom, no matter how odious a meeting or how dull you may find it. Atlantis looks to you.”

He then looked to Vulko, “And I trust you not to forget to investigate this matter to the very best of your ability, lest you seek to use this as an excuse to exile me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Vulko said icily though it certainly seemed to you that he had, in fact, dreamed such an idea.

“We’ll keep looking, Orm,” Arthur assured him with a determined set to his jaw, “On that you have my word. We’ll get to the bottom of this and get you back here before too long.”

Orm seemed to take, if not comfort, then assurance in what his brother said because he chose not to snipe back at Vulko. He seemed to have resigned himself to whatever this was that you two were about to embark on even as you still could hardly grasp this was happening.

You wanted him to look at you, to see what he really thought of you being the one to join him on the surface but he kept his eyes stubbornly fixed on his brother as he asked, “When will we leave?”

Arthur looked to Vulko then, decided, back to Orm and you, “Tomorrow.”

IMPORTANT UPDATE: After this chapter, I'm looking to rework this fic so that it features an OC instead of the Reader. Because this story it blossoming to be much longer than I'd anticipated, I feel like being an OC fic would be better for it in the long run. So when chapter 7 or 8 posts, look to see Elara instead of You. I'm hoping you all understand this change and I thank you all for bearing with me. I'm also looking to go back and rework these already posted chapters to fit with this new direction. The story itself is the same, just the main character will be shifted. Thank you!

[oceanmastertrash]

Me: i'm loving where this are going with this fic. We've got tension and excitement!

Also me: dear god how do i write this chapter? Why do i keep putting myself in the position to write action scenes? How do i get through this bit?

[oceanmastertrash]

the tides know our names- 8/?

gif from @voyevoda-thejoy

Summary:  -takes place after the movie- Orm is working with Arthur to try to help Atlantis move forward when Elara has a vision of his death. As part of an order of Atlanteans dating back to the reign of King Atlan known as Tidewatchers, it is her duty to warn the king of her vision. Predicting and reading the future through the tides of fate has never been easy but Elara is in for the challenge of a lifetime working with her former king to save his life.

Part: 8/?

Word Count: 2,711

Warnings: none for this chapter

Read on Ao3 / start from the beginning

Elara should have gotten up immediately to get ready for tomorrow but instead she just lay back on her bed, staring up at the barnacle ceiling, asking for answers from the silent tides.

-

Elara hadn’t meant to fall asleep but next thing she knew A’bree was waking her up.

Elara leapt up, “what time is it?”

“Don’t worry,” A’bree said. “It’s hours before you have to leave. Calysa and I thought you might need a little wake up call.”

Elara groaned, groggy and disoriented.

A’bree sniggered, before saying in a sing-song voice, “You’re welcome!”

And with that, the young tidewatcher swam out the door.

A’bree showed much talent in tidewatching, but as novice, she was still very young and had much to learn in both tidewatching and tact.

Elara almost felt bad that she would be leaving. Elara had spent the last year as one of A’bree’s primary mentors and now she was leaving. She knew that going to the surface was important and that the others would be more than able to fill in for Elara but she didn’t like the idea of leaving A’bree’s training unfinished. There wasn’t anything she could do about the feeling though and instead focused on what lay ahead of her.

Though far from her normal state of being when she started the day, Elara dutifully sat at her scrying pool in the dry reading room off of her bedchamber. She was nervous given the last vision she’d received from the pool but a ritual was a ritual. Elara skimmed her hands along the surface, seeking any answers about what was to come. But no vision gripped her; no tide rose to meet her with a tapestry of patterns telling her what to do. The ocean was silent.

Sighing, disappointed, but unsurprised, Elara left to get her packing underway.

She’d been to the surface many times in both her training and her mentorship but this was going to be a very different experience. For one thing, she’d always been accompanied by other Tidewatchers and allowed to take Atlantean tech with her to the tidewatcher temples on the surface before. But, in a mission of stealth that prioritized being untrackable, such things were a liability.

She had surface clothes and currency, thankfully, but it seemed like she spent much of the morning picking something up only to put it back down again. She also felt hampered by the need to pack light. She was the sort who always wanted to be prepared for everything but she wasn’t sure she could afford to pack like that this time. Eventually she’d narrowed it down to a single pack she could carry on her back. She almost chuckled to think of how Orm’s packing would go.

Once done she spent some time amongst the other tidewatchers of the temple. She would truly miss them while she was away. She’d miss the flow and the rhythm of her life amongst them. As different as they might be as people, they were all united by the tides and there was comfort in that.

She had her last lesson with A’bree, trying to reinforce to the young woman the importance of details but, knowing so few details about what was to come for own journey, Elara’s heart wasn’t in it. She had to admit that she was not the only one preoccupied with Elara’s trip. A’bree was fascinated by the idea of going to the surface. Still a novice, A’bree had only been once and the whole experience still seemed exciting and exotic.

She spent most of the lesson peppering Elara with questions about what she’d be doing but Elara didn’t really know. She couldn’t even tell A’bree how long she’d be gone when asked. Initially put out, A’bree decided it was mysterious in a fun way and then began quizzing her on everything about the surface instead. It was not the most productive final lesson that Elara had wanted but it was understandable given the circumstances.

After that Elara had sat through another watching with Calysa and the council who reminded her of all of their old lessons and to call on them if the need arose. Though fully grown and a master in her own right the last few years, she almost felt like a child among them. Despite all their teaching and her knowledge, she felt unready for what was to come.

But at last it was time for Elara to meet the royals outside the city and Elara bid farewell to her Tidewatcher family. Then, just before she could leave, Calysa took her hand and swam out with her.

Elara was grateful beyond words as they left the temple together. She cast a last look back at the temple, and felt a weight drop in her stomach when she realized she didn’t know when she’d see it again.

They swam for a few minutes in silence before Elara couldn’t take it anymore.

“I know I should just get easy about not knowing what’s coming but it’s getting to me.” Elara admitted. “A’bree asked me what we’d be doing and I couldn’t even answer her.”

Calysa tsked, “A’bree should concern herself with her own tides and not get you riled up about yours.”

Elara shot her a disapproving look, “You can’t blame her for being curious. I thought curiosity was a virtue in Tidewatchers.”

“It is,” Calysa admitted, “but that girl has got more energy than I know what to do with. I don’t know how you keep up with her.”

Elara knew what Calysa was doing. She was trying to make Elara feel more confident and at ease by pointing out how gifted she was and how far she’d come as a tidewatcher. It only half worked. It felt comforting to banter with Calysa like everything was normal, but Elara knew so acutely that it wasn’t and had little energy to pretend.

“I honestly have no idea what Orm and I are supposed to do when we get up there.” Elara said. “I know that we’re supposed to lay low and disappear but besides that, what are we going to do with ourselves? Arthur is hoping I can teach him acceptance of the surface and show Orm that it’s not a total waste but what does that even mean? Do I take him to a recycling plant? A solar panel farm? Introduce him to the wonders of Netflix? What?”

Calysa laughed. “I’d take things a bit slower than that at first. Maybe just show him the j everyday pleasures like a park and then try the movie theater. Save Netflix for when he’s ready for it. You know you’re worrying yourself into a tizzy, Elara. I think you’ll be just fine. I have little doubt you’ll think of something to keep you two occupied.”

Elara couldn’t help but remember the vision that Calysa had told her of the night before and felt another twinge of nerves. She wondered if Calysa was thinking of it too. Elara just couldn’t imagine getting there from where she was now.

Unaware of Elara’s thought’s Calysa continued, “I know something will come to you. I may not be able to see all that lies ahead of you but I have the sense that you will not be idle for long. The tides have called you to the surface for a reason. You’ll figure out what you’re supposed to be doing when you are up there. Just be patient.”

Elara puffed out a breath of frustration. Patience was not exactly her strong suit. She’d learned a measure of it over the years but it was still a struggle.

The tidewatchers fell back into silence as they made their way through the city to the massive coral reef just outside of Atlantis where Elara would be meeting the others. Then, as they got to the outskirts, Calysa stopped them and turned to Elara, seriousness lining her features.

“I know how worried you are about this, but Elara, you can do this. You will make it through this time of uncertainty. You have the swell of the tides with you and the faith of the council. Though we cannot go with you, we will be here if you need us. Remember your training and your gift, but remember your heart most of all. It will not lead you astray.”

Elara teared up, suddenly feeling like a child again, so full of uncertainty but she reached out and held Calysa close, wrapping her arms around Calysa’s shorter frame. Of everything she was leaving behind in the ocean, Elara would miss Calysa most of all.

A moment passed and then she pulled back to see Calysa’s eyes watering as well. Elara did her best to put on a brave face as she squeezed Calysa’s hands and then continued forward through the forest of coral and seaweed.

Vulko had said to meet them under the largest coral formation, where a small cavern was hidden from view at the base of it. Swimming quickly now, Elara could see Arthur, Orm, and Vulko waiting for her. Orm was dressed plainer than Elara had ever seen him with simple black pants and a grey shirt and yet, she knew that the material, woven by the finest Atlantean craftsmen, was finer than most cloths found up above.

Orm seemed to study her as well, as if trying to detect whether she was adequately prepared to accompany him. While she certainly didn’t feel prepared, she didn’t want him to know that so she projected a calmness and confidence she didn’t quite feel- wearing them like armor.

The group greeted Elara and Calysa warmly enough but before Elara could ask Orm if he was ready, Arthur surprised her.

“Do you mind if I speak to you alone before you go?” he asked.

Elara nodded and Vulko added, “Be quick about it though. We have a limited window for an undetected departure.”

Arthur acknowledged him before pushing off the reef and leading Elara a small distance away from the others privacy. Following him around a few coral structures, Elara found herself very curious about what Arthur could say. Had he changed his mind about this whole thing? Did he wake up and decide he no longer believed in tide patterns? Elara had no clue so she remained silent, waiting for what he might say.

“I just wanted to check in with you,” Arthur said much to her surprise before elaborating. “In all of this, I never actually asked you if you wanted to do this. I just sort of volunteered you and started making plans. It’s a big responsibility and I wouldn’t hold it against you If you didn’t want to do this. We could send another Tidewatcher or Vulko to go with him. No one asked me if I wanted to be king, they just decided I should be one. I didn’t want to do that to you.”

Elara was deeply touched by such thoughtfulness. It was true she wasn’t asked but considering she also hadn’t been asked if she wanted to be the one to receive that vision, she’d just accepted it as her duty.

“I appreciate that, Arthur,” Elara finally replied. “I really do. But, for better or worse, I think this is something I’m meant to do.”

“I can understand that,” he replied. “I just didn’t want you to feel like you don’t have a choice in this. You can say no and we can always send Vulko instead.”

Elara laughed at that. “Oh no, they’d tear themselves apart within a week.”

Arthur chuckled back, “True but this way we wouldn’t have to wonder who’s going to kill Orm.”

It was awful to laugh but Elara couldn’t help it, “There is that.”

Arthur quieted before turning back to her, “I really do appreciate this. I know Orm can be a lot to handle and starts each morning like someone pissed in his cheerios but, he’s my brother.”

He sighed, looking away, “I can’t just let him die without trying something.”

Elara understood, she may not always see eye-to-eye with her tidewatcher family but she’d do whatever it took to defend them. And she felt a bit better about her venture now. It felt more doable somehow now that someone had presented it as an option. It helped knowing that if she changed her mind that minute and asked them to send another tidewatcher, Arthur wouldn’t hold it against her. It showed that he understood what he was asking of her.

Oddly enough, she couldn’t help the feeling that Orm was more willing to go along with this nonsense because she was the Tidewatcher Arthur had chosen. It was a perfectly absurd notion especially given their history.Yet, there had been something in Orm’s expression yesterday after they fought side by side that almost hinted at a greater acceptance of Elara and a slight appreciation of her gifts.

Elara shook her head rapidly, okay the nerves must be getting to her because that was crazy thinking. A lot of things had changed since their first meeting but it was a bridge too far to go about presuming that he suddenly regarded her higher than any other tidewatcher that could join him. At most, Elara could argue that he thought that her vision made her better suited for this particular task, but that was all that Elara was willing to believe.

“I’ll do my best to keep him safe,” she told Arthur.

“I know you will,” he said and with that the two of them rejoined the others.

While Calysa had begun conversing lightly with Vulko in their absence, Orm stood off from them. As Elara and Arthur rounded a large cluster of coral, Elara could feel his gaze on her and she met it unrepentantly. She may not know exactly where they stood with each other since the events of yesterday but she had to admit that something between them had changed and it would be an adventure in it’s own right to figure out what that was.

The plan had been to take advantage of the natural migration patterns of a large pod of humpback whales. Arthur was just persuading them to dip down closer to the reef than normal in order to conceal Elara and Orm in their numbers. While the group had entertained the idea of the two of them heading to the surface via a small Atlantean craft, that suggestion had been quickly ruled out as, if someone was motivated and resourceful enough, they could be tracked that way.

So instead they would be free-swimming to the surface, it wouldn’t be difficult for either of them, it was just not the usual way Orm had ever used to reach the surface. He’d always done so with a heavily armed ship surrounded by soldiers. The idea of swimming with just Elara completely baffled him but it seemed like that was his constant state these last two days.

A friend of Arthur’s had given him permission for them to use a secluded cabin off the gulf of Mexico so they would be heading their first. The idea was that Elara and Orm would stay there for a short period of time while Orm got his bearings up above and then they would move on.

Over the crest of the coral forest, Elara saw the swell of the approaching humpbacks. They were large and enough in number to hide the tidewatcher and the prince easily. Noticing the coming of the pod, the group said their goodbyes. Elara hugged Calysa and then slowly, she and Orm began to rise to meet the whales. Orm and Elara swam to the largest of the humpbacks and positioned themselves beneath one of the creature’s large fins. They hugged close to its body to better allow the momentum of the whale to carry the pair along with it.

Working hard to be less aware of how close she and Orm suddenly were, Elara looked down to the coral reef below them. She kept her eyes locked on Calysa until the party was hidden from view by the coral reef. And, just like that, she and Orm were on their way to the surface to an uncertain fate.

Author’s Note: You hear that sound? Yes, that's the sound of Orm and Elara finally reaching the surface. Let the hijinks begin! I am so excited to finally be getting to tackle their adventure on the surface. I have some really interesting stuff planned and I'm so happy to finally be getting to it. I've heard requests for more romance and believe me I want to get to it as much as y'all, I am just trying my best to really make it ring true given their circumstances. Basically while I'm putting the slow in slow burn I'm working on making their bonding and relationship more organic and less thrown together. Thank you for the patience and enthusiasm, you guys are the best!