Prince Ethan is swimming at the bottom of a rocky, bone littered rift, and it is a grim reminder of what once flourished there. He continues on his way until he hears something following behind him, the heir of Sturona turns around quickly to see nothing behind him. He continues to swim, although apprehensively, this time, he hears whispering, and when Prince Ethan turns around again, he catches a glimpse of Something small scurrying away from him.

"Who's there!? Come out now!" Prince Ethan says with authority, unsheathing his polished knife made from mixed metals around the kingdom just in case whoever or whatever attacks him. A small mop of wild, red hair with white streaks in it appears behind a gray, smooth rock; it was a fire shrimp. He sheaths his knife, sighing in relief,

"Oh, hello there, little one. I am so sorry to scare, but I thought you were something dangerous, you may come out now." Prince Erik puts a hand in the sea while the other lay where his heart should be,

"I swear on my honor as Prince Ethan of the kingdom of Sturona; I will not hurt you. Now, please, come out. " The Fire Shrimp peeks from the rock, showing a slim face with freckles sprinkled on the bridge of his nose and black beady eyes. His physique was lean, slightly toned that went well with his lightly tanned skin.

"What is a prince like you doin' way out ere'?" the shrimp merman asks with suspicion in his voice, not quite coming out of his hiding spot.

"Weeell, I am searching for what I believe was a Siren.", he tells the little merman while swimming closer. The Fire Shrimp merman scuttled on top of the rock, a confused look on his tiny face.

"Sirens? I thought they were ravine myths they told to gullible fry." Prince Ethan shook his head,

"I saw a real, live one. At least I think it was. It was like a merman I've never seen before." The shrimp merman stares at him for a minute or two before sighing,

"I guess I have no reason not to believe you, just one question, though." He tilted his head to the side.

"How in the deep blue ocean, do you plan on findin' one? Sirens are the rarest creatures on this big, mostly blue marble." Prince Ethan shrugs his shoulders, fidgeting with the strap of his bag with an uncertain look,

"I don't have a plan yet, but I know somehow I will find him." The other merman sweat drops,

"You don't even have a plan? Man, you need all the help you can get. Which is why I am comin' with you." His face morphs in surprise,

"You are? But the journey will be dangerous, and we just met." The other merman put a hand up to silence Prince Ethan,

"No buts mister, I need to go with you to make sure you stay safe. Plus, I will be the first fire shrimp to see a siren!" He whispers the last part to himself, grinning. Prince Ethan becomes confused,

"What was that?" The Fire Shrimp merman flinches, smiling weakly while scratching the back of his head,

"Nothin'! Hahaha, Just excited for this adventure. The names Herman by the way." He stares at Herman suspiciously,

"Al..right, ready to swim, er, I mean scuttled out?" Herman nods, trying to keep up with Prince Ethan as he swims out of the rift.

The duo have been swimming for three hours now and no sign of anything. Herman thought this would be fun and full of adventure but this...this is just boorriing. Any more of this stupid emptiness, and he will just die of boredom. The tiny merman looks at the vast expanse of ocean in front of us, long gone are the tall walls of his rift home. He let out a shallow sigh, grabbing the attention of his royal companion.

"What's wrong?" He said concerned as he stopped in front of Herman. "Ah, it's just nothin' out here. How are we ever going to find the siren if there is no one to talk about them?" He says, crossing his arms and huffing in frustration. Then Prince Ethan gives him a reassuring smile,

"Have hope! I'm sure we will find some way to find that siren. We just have to keep going." he highly doubts that, but he agrees with him, continuing to travel for a while until his highness stops the five legged merman with an arm out in front of him.

"What? We are losin' precious daylight if we stop now. " Herman says impatiently. Prince Ethan points to a dark figure in the distance,

"Something is coming our way. We should be wary around whatever it is." the red and white stripped merman scoffs, rolling my eyes and scuttling ahead of him,

"Come on; we need to keep goin'. I bet one of my ten legs it's a whale or somethin'." As he keeps moving, the figure gets more distinctive then he realizes It was a shark! he scream when the shark suddenly charges at him,

"Aaaah! Do somethin', Princey! It's goin' to eat me!" Prince Ethan looks between the shark and Herman frantically,

"Uum, do no panic! I will slay this beast!" He gets out his knife again, slashing at the shark, which caused it to go for him instead. Well, that's one problem solved, but now there is a much larger problem at hand. If the fiery merman let the prince of Sturona get eaten, his reputation will be completely ruined! He can never show his face around the reefs again. he needs to think of something. Think, think, think. Herman paces back and forth, trying to get his smart brain to think of something. Oh, he got it! He got in front of the shark, waving his arms and yelling,

"Hey! Over here, you ,um, overgrown sardine with teeth!" That grabs the shark's attention, chasing the redheaded merman instead, and he tries to scuttle away, dodging the shark as it bites him. He leads it far away from Prince Ethan, diving into a crevice of a pile of rocks. Herman sat there panting, waiting for the pacing shark to leave, and it does after a few minutes, but he stills wait. After a moment, he crawls out of the crevice,

"Whew, that was close. Wait a minute..." the small, fire shrimp mer searches around for Prince Ethan, not seeing a sign of him. Shit! He must've lost him when he lead that stupid shark way. Herman can only hope he is okay, and his reputation is intact. This is the worst. Now, how is he going to get back?