Encounter

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Taurus stamped her hoof into the sand in frustration, hard enough to raise a small cloud of dust at her heel. Her green skirt flapped wildly in the wind as if it was just as angry as she was. She had been chasing this enemy for a while now, well, a few hours to be specific, and some other warrior had the gall to make the kill for her.

The gentle waves of the ocean were interrupted only by the blotch of ripples where the monster had taken its last breath. Perhaps Taurus wouldn't feel nearly so frustrated if she could actually see this mysterious warrior. All she knew was that her prey had panicked, rushed into the water in an attempt to escape, and quickly disappeared after that. No mere shark or other mundane beast could've killed that thing. So it had to be…

"Whew… finally."

The voice was reserved, not as triumphant as Taurus' would have been. Blinking, she watched a woman's head emerged from the water, flipping back her sopping pink hair as she breathed a sigh of victory. No ordinary woman, that much was obvious on first sight. Her dark green skin almost blended with the color of the surrounding water, and her fin-like ears twitched, catching every sound.

"You there!" Taurus called out, pointing accusingly in her direction. "What's your name? What happened to the creature that just entered the water?"

At first, the woman looked startled, as if she'd been caught stealing something and might disappear back beneath the surface of the waves. Nevertheless, she straightened herself up, looking a bit perturbed.

"It's dead," she called back. For a moment, she said nothing more. Taurus found herself still pointing at the strange woman and lowered her hand in embarrassment.

"And… your name?" she said, half-humiliated and half-irritated. The woman still did not respond, but instead began to swim through the aquamarine waves until her upper body was visible: A short blue skirt, and small blue top, and of course, a bright orange collar.

"You're… a soldier too then?" Taurus asked. The green woman nodded timidly.

"My name is Pisces," she said. "And yours?"

"Taurus," Taurus answered immediately. She turned up her nose. The smell of the salt water was annoying, and the wind was blowing bits of sand in her face. "You're sure that thing is dead?"

"Oh, yes, quite sure," Pisces said. "It was fairly easy to finish off. Were you chasing it long, then?"

To this, Taurus growled. "Yes. Yes, actually I was. Until you interrupted, of course."

"Oh, did I? I'm sorry, you looked like you had given up the chase. When were you planning to swim after it?" Pisces' tone was questionable, she may or may not have been genuinely remorseful. But her too-sweet voice and the fact that Taurus really did have no idea what she would've done in Pisces' absence, made for a double blow that she was not about to take lightly.

"I was planning to swim after it when I was good and ready," she said, stepping forward into the water. "And I'll thank you not to interfere when I'm…" It was then that she first took notice. She had thought Pisces was standing in water deep enough to cover up to her waist. But as Taurus stepped in, she found the water to be more shallow than that. And Pisces was not standing at all. Glancing down, Taurus saw the rippled image of Pisces' serpentine lower body, a beautiful fin befitting of the mermaid that wore it.

"Perhaps I didn't introduce myself properly," Pisces said. "I am the soldier of the water, this ocean is my home. And I will guard it from whatever comes near without hesitation."

There was something about her voice that told Taurus they could not fight. It would not end well for either of them, and they had too much in common. They were both soldiers, after all.

"Tell you what," said Taurus with a snort. "You guard the water, and let me guard the beach, okay?"

Pisces laughed. "It sounds like a deal. Sorry I took down your enemy for you."

Taurus sighed. "Yeah, me too."
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