It wasnt Every day a new fish showed up in Arthur’s waters. At least not a mer. They lived all around the ocean. There was at least ten different kinds. Fresh water, salt water, arctic, tropical, ice, sirens, selkies. There was so many of them. And yes they did fall under his care as he was the king of the sea. But they never ventured this close to Atlantis. They were a different kind thrn the beings in Atlantis. Atlantians were more human than fish. They didn’t have the fish tails like the mer population did, they didn’t have the fish anatomy a mer did. So when one ended up near the outskirts of Atlantis, looking all sorts of curious about the underwater city. He decided to go to them directly. After-all, he rarely saw them in this area

Arthur had been overseeing his kingdom. Taking a swim patrol around the outskirts of his home when a soldier had found him to inform him of a lurking mer. They didn’t seem to be causing any harm, not that they ever truly did. Mer were virtually harmless. At least to Atlanteans. They were always so curious though. And so..so very protective of the Atlantean young. The second a mer spotted a child, it would be nearly impossible for anyone but the parents to take the child back. Mer had a very specific way of dealing with pods, and that meant all the children were shared through the pods. Each pod had its own hierarchy. The strong and able, hunted. The weak, stayed back with the children. Until they reached maturity, at least. And even then. When the strongest of the pod wished to stay, they took the role of caregiver. A special title given to a mer who had more protective instincts then anything else, who’s main job were to protect the pod and it’s young. And that was what the last mer eho had visited Atlantis had been. A caregiver. And now, as he spotted the lone mer, devoid of their pod. He couldn’t help but wonder if this would be a repeat.

“Hello! Your a new face around these parts. Are you lost?”

Arthur called out as he got close enough. His words shifting to the language of the mer to keep communication easy. As the species had their own language, a series of clicks and whistles that they could replicate in the water wothout the use of vocal chords