Natant

A/N: Okay, has anyone watched "H2O: Just Add Water"? It was actually one of the only live-action shows that I liked to watch when I was younger, mostly because it has mermaids in it and I have always loved mermaids. I hadn't seen that show in quite a while, and when I took a trip down memory lane watching it on Netflix a few months ago, and just looking at pictures of my four favorite guys from my four favorite franchises, sudden inspiration struck.

This is the result of that inspiration. It had taken me weeks to come up with a good plan on how this story can go. But I think so far, at least for Chapter 1, it's going pretty good. Now, let's see how y'all like my four favorite boys with fins!

Oh, I almost forgot! I made a fun little video on my YouTube channel for you guys to watch. It's kind of what I imagined if this was more like a TV show, having a theme song or something like that at the beginning of each chapter. Like I said, it was just for fun.

Here we go! And action!

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Chapter 1

The Transformations

Part One

There is a place known as Crescent City, nestled along the coast of California, it was pretty much a nice place to live if one wanted to live near the ocean, but didn't want to be in such a huge city like Los Angeles a little further south. Nice luxury hotels, pretty good schools, great views of the sunsets, and lots of outdoor activities for people to do, such as surfing, swimming, and fishing.

Well, at this particular time, school had just begun, but there was still quite a bit of summer heat from vacation remaining. So for students, they take every opportunity to soak in that sun before the weather would start to get soggy.

Over at a local pool on a nice Friday afternoon, a boy looking about fourteen years old was watching another boy about the same age as him; and who just turned fifteen a couple of days ago, swim a couple of laps across the pool.

The boy that was out of the water looked to have a bit of Japanese ancestry in him, with chocolate brown eyes, wild raven black hair tucked underneath a red and white baseball cap, natural tan skin that had gotten a couple of shades darker due to him being out in the sun more often, and little Z-marks on his cheeks. He wore a black T-shirt under a blue, sleeveless hoodie jacket, baggy jeans, blue and black sneakers and black fingerless gloves with green trim on his hands.

The boy that was swimming laps around in the pool was almost the exact opposite of his companion, with sunny blond hair and peridot green eyes, but his skin was looking nicely tanned as well. He was currently shirtless and wearing swim trunks of a light blue shade with navy trim.

Soon, he popped out of the water, slightly panting to regain his breath and looked over at the raven-haired teen. "You're absolutely sure you don't want to stay a little longer?" He asked him.

The raven-haired boy shook his head with a small apologetic grin. "Sorry, Adrien." He said to the blond model.

"Plus, you know that I have to help my mom around the house and the juice bar more often, now that my dad is...." He trailed off, looking into the distance.

Adrien lightly bit his lip, knowing perfectly well the reason why. "I know, Ash." He said to him. "But it's been almost two months since the accident. We hardly get to hang out anymore."

Ash nodded. "I know, I know." He said. "And our first year of high school just started a couple of weeks ago, too. Do you really think your dad will keep letting you come?"

Adrien shrugged. "If not, then I can just sneak out." He said. "I already have my information into the school's database, and it's encrypted so my father can't easily pull me out if he wanted to."

"How did you do that?" Ash asked.

"I have my ways." Adrien simply answered him with a cat-like smirk on his face, making his friend roll his eyes with fond annoyance.

If someone would've told Ash Ketchum that he would befriend one of the most well-known faces in Crescent City, or rather the whole world, he would've told them to go jump off a cliff. But after saving the world-famous teen model, Adrien Agreste, from a group of crazily persistent fans earlier that summer, the two of them had been best friends ever since, like they had known each other for their whole lives.

Ash was very grateful for their friendship, even if he was considered to be a nobody and Adrien was rich and famous. His father was Gabriel Agreste, a world-famous fashion designer, and his mother was Emilie Agreste, a famous actress who passed away from cancer the previous spring. Ash was there for Adrien when he needed someone to talk to about when he was grieving, and the latter returned the favor when the former was going through the same thing.

Ash on the other hand; he was the son of Jayce Ketchum, the owner and manager for the city's local marine park, who was killed in a really bad car accident a couple of months ago, not long after summer vacation had started. Jayce's widow, Delia, was left alone to care for Ash and his other siblings.

Ash was actually the oldest of triplets. After him, he had his brother, Ritchie, and then the only girl in the set was Evie. Then there was eleven-year-old Peter, who they adopted when he was just an infant. And then, there was the youngest and the little miracle of the family, Janessa, or Janie as she liked to be called, and she was currently five years old.

However, Adrien was an only child, unlike his friend, and he was not let out of the house often, especially after his mother died. So often, he would sneak out to go and hang out with Ash and his family, who welcomed him with open arms. He often felt happier when he would spend time with his best friend.

Ash then stood up and grabbed his gym bag which had his own, dried off swim trunks inside. "I'll see you later, Adrien." He said.

Adrien smiled and waved goodbye before submerging back into the water. Ash then started to walk towards the gate, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

***********************

Minutes later, Ash was leisurely walking along by the docks, taking in some of the local sights before heading back over to his home, which was only a couple of blocks away from the harbor itself. Then, he heard some girly snickering as he caught the eyes of two blonde girls nearby. He only rolled his eyes in disdain when he saw them though, and for two obvious reasons.

The first reason was that they were both seniors, so they were at most three years older than him. And two, he recognized them right away. Astrid Hofferson and Raquelle 'Ruffnut' Thorston.

Both blondes were some of the most popular girls in school, with Astrid being the niece of famous film director Finn Hofferson and Ruffnut being her best friend. The latter was known for pulling pranks, and although Astrid remains indifferent to them and never participates in them, she doesn't show any kindness or mercy to the victims. Sometimes, that hurt more than her laughing at them.

Both senior girls were standing in front of a boat, Astrid leaning over to inspect the motor. Ruffnut then smirked when she saw Ash.

"Hey, cutie." She called out to him. "Do you mind giving us a hand here?"

Ash raised a suspicious brow at her. He knew quite well that Ruffnut was a notorious and quite obvious flirt, but she usually flirted with most of the senior boys, sometimes even with a few college boys. So her saying something like that to a new freshman was definitely proof that she was up to something. Even Astrid knew that as she stopped working on the motor to raise her own wary eyebrow at her.

"....What for?" Ash asked cautiously.

"You know anything about boat motors?" Ruffnut asked.

"....A little bit." The raven-haired freshman answered, slowly making his way over to them. He noticed that Astrid was looking at her best friend suspiciously, wondering what exactly she was up to.

"The motor's not working for some reason." Ruffnut explained, pulling Astrid out of the boat.

Ash jumped in and started inspecting the motor. He grabbed it and started pulling on the cord, but nothing turned on. He then looked around, taking off the cover, and saw that the spark plug was missing.

Suddenly, he rocked back as he felt the boat shift. He carefully balanced himself before he would fall over and saw that the boat was slowly floating away from the dock and out of the harbor. He turned around to see Ruffnut snickering at him.

He narrowed his brown eyes at her, amber orbs flaring up into flames. "Oh, yeah! Real mature, you jerk!" He called out.

Ruffnut had her jaw dropped in shock when Ash called her that. Astrid bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing at her friend's gobsmacked expression; being told off by someone almost four years younger than her. For a newbie freshman, he certainly has some feistiness.

Ash huffed with annoyance as he sat down on the boat's seat. He could always just jump out and swim back to the docks, but he wasn't going to let those senior girls have any chances of posting his sopping wet form on social media. He didn't need any more eyes on him.

"This is so not happening." He muttered to himself.

Suddenly, the boat rocked again as two older boys, both of them looking about seventeen years old, jumped onboard, making Ash yelp in surprise. He quickly got his balance before he looked to the guys that had jumped in.

One of them had shaggy auburn hair that shone streaks of red in the sun, sharp green eyes and fair skin with light brown faded freckles dotting across his cheeks. He wore a baggy green T-shirt under a dark brown vest, khaki capri pants, and worn out black running shoes. But his left leg was actually made out of metal from what Ash could see, stretching from the bottom of where his foot should be up to his shin, though he wasn't sure if it went any higher than that.

The other boy had short black hair, icy blue eyes and tawny skin. He wore a dark green zippered vest over a black T-shirt, brown shorts, and dark gray sneakers with black crew socks. He also seemed a bit more muscular than the other boy, along with no prosthetics, but both of them were pretty lean in figure.

Ash raised a brow as to why they were on the boat with them. "Is this.... supposed to be some kind of rescue?" He asked them.

"Because I hate to point out the obvious, but we're still floating out to sea, there's no oars, and the motor's not working."

The two older boys shared a little knowing smirk with each other before the black-haired boy pulled out a familiar piece from his vest pocket. It was the missing spark plug.

"You guys took that?" Ash asked them.

The auburn haired boy jabbed with his thumb over at his companion. "It was his idea." He said, saying it like he had wanted nothing to do with it.

The older black-haired boy just rolled his eyes and looked over at the two blonde girls on the dock as he came over to the motor. "Ruffnut Thorston is an idiot." He said. "And even though Astrid Hofferson isn't a prankster like her, she has no heart to even care."

"She's not that bad." The auburn-haired boy said as reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of aluminum oars; his words to which his companion scoffed at.

"Look, you may have had a crush on her since kindergarten, but she's obviously not the same girl that you remember anymore." He said, and his auburn-haired companion visibly winced at the reminder. Ash was just more surprised that this guy actually had affections for Astrid, out of all people.

"Plus, anything that I can do to knock them down a few pegs without throwing any punches is worth it." The older raven-haired boy added with a little smirk as he placed the spark plug back in its place in the motor.

Ash smiled gratefully at his two rescuers. "Thanks." He said to them, and then held out a hand to the auburn-haired boy. "I'm Ash Ketchum."

The auburn-haired teen shook the offered, partially gloved hand. "Henrik Haddock." He introduced himself politely. "But everyone calls me Hiccup."

He then looked over at the other black-haired teen. "And that's Branch Hawthorne." He added.

Branch just smiled curtly while giving him a two-fingered wave. Ash returned it with a playful grin. Then, he turned back over to Hiccup.

"Haddock?" He asked him, recognizing the last name. "As in, Mayor Steven Haddock? Our city's mayor?"

Hiccup just nodded in embarrassment, shrugging sheepishly. "Ye-ah. That's my dad." He said before gesturing to himself. "Striking resemblance, huh?"

Ash bit his lip to keep from snickering at the sarcastic comment. But he did snort a little bit, as did Branch.

"Well, I also know you because you were the winner of the scholastic decathlon last year." He said, then looked over at Branch. "Both of you won, since you were the co-leaders of the decathlon team, and also for this year, too."

Branch raised a brow. "You've done your research." He said, sounding mildly impressed.

"Well, my sister insisted that I do my part in helping her figure out every nook and cranny we can find about Sunny Bay High." Ash answered. "Also, my brother is a really big fan of yours since you're the captain of the boys' volleyball team."

The older black-haired kid blinked. "Really?" He asked.

Ash nodded. "Yep. In fact, he's trying out for the junior varsity boys team on Monday. Me on the other hand, I'm going for soccer."

Branch smiled, then turned on the engine and grabbed the steering lever. "Hold on." He said, and Ash and Hiccup quickly sat down.

Branch then started quickly cruising the boat along. When they got close to where Astrid and Ruffnut were, he smirked and sent a giant spray of sea water in their direction, wetting them and making them yelp in surprise. The three boys all laughed before cruising away, with Hiccup even whooping with excitement.

***************

All three of them were exploring the waterways around the city, enjoying the sights. Then, Ash saw a familiar face.

Adrien was walking near the river, out of his swimming trunks and into his normal clothes. He was wearing a black T-shirt under a white overvest, designer blue jeans and orange sneakers.

"Hey, Adrien!" He called out to the blond model, getting his attention. "You want a ride?"

Adrien eyed the boat, and then looked over at Branch the driver. "Are you licensed?" He asked him.

"Are you my mother?" Branch asked him back playfully. The blond's response was just a challenging little smirk forming on his face.

*****************

Minutes later, all four of them were enjoying the wind in their faces and the smell of the sea. The younger boys would sometimes even whoop loudly with joy.

"Want to go out to sea?" Adrien suggested.

"Isn't it dangerous in a boat this size?" Branch asked.

Hiccup just smiled cheekily at his friend and then took the controls from him. "Chill out, Branch." He assured him.

He then started accelerating the boat out of the harbor and out towards open water.

*********************

It was great for about half an hour until suddenly, the engine died. Hiccup tried three times to start it back up, but to no avail.

Branch then huffed in annoyance. "So much for that idea." He muttered under his breath.

"At least we're not sinking." Ash piped up.

"For now." Branch continued to grumble.

Hiccup turned around to inspect the engine better. "I think we're out of fuel." He said, before turning back around.

The four of them then saw a nearby island with a large, dome-shaped volcano over in the distance. The very sight of it seemed mysterious.

"Feel like paddling over there?" Hiccup suggested.

"Half-Point Island?" Adrien asked. "Forget it."

"No one goes there, you know that Hiccup." Branch said. "It's surrounded by sharks, reefs and mangroves."

Ash sighed himself as he reached back and then handed Branch an oar. "Well, it's all we've got." He said.

Branch eyed the paddle before rolling his eyes and taking it. Hiccup took the other oar and the two of them started paddling over to Half-Point Island.

Once they had finally made it to shore and pulled the boat onto the beach, the four boys started to head inland, hoping to find another way off or to get high enough to get a signal to call for help. The dense jungle around them seemed to get thicker the further they ventured in. But they still went on, hoping that they can get a signal for a rescue.

*********************

Hours had passed, and it was already getting pretty dark, the sun having already set and stars appearing in the sky, with no progress being made.

"Are you absolutely sure that we can get a signal from a high point around here?" Adrien asked. "I can barely see what's in front of my face."

"We got to try." Branch said.

"Branch here is the most prepared about survival." Hiccup explained. "He's a survivalist-in-training."

"Follow me, guys." Branch said as they made it to a large rocky ridge that crossed a high point in a river. "And be careful. It's a little slippery."

The older black-haired teen jumped across to the other side of the ridge, followed by Ash and Adrien. Hiccup eyed it a little cautiously.

"You guys do know I have a metal leg." He said, slowly backing away from the edge. "Not really good for walking across surfaces like thi-is!" He exclaimed that last part as he suddenly slipped down into a hole in the rocks.

"Hiccup!" The three exclaimed when they heard him screaming.

They hurried back over across the ridge and saw the large hole hidden in the rocks that the auburn-haired teen fell into.

"Hiccup!" Branch yelled down into the hole.

The auburn-haired teen lightly groaned in pain when he had hit the sandy bottom. He carefully rubbed the back of his head as he looked up the slippery slide.

"It's okay!" He called up to them. "I'm fine."

The other guys all sighed with relief. Ash tried to lean in a little closer, but Branch quickly held him back before he got too close.

"Can you climb back up?" He asked Hiccup.

"I don't think so." Hiccup said. "It's too slippery to climb, even if I didn't have a metal leg."

"Let me see if I can reach for you. Then we can all pull you up." Branch said.

Then he turned over to Ash. "Hold my legs." He said.

Ash nodded and then took hold of Branch's feet. The older-black haired teen then got down on his stomach and crawled over to the entrance of the hole. He peered inside to see how far down it went. Cautiously, he started inching his way further inside.

But then, he lost his balance and slipped down the hole, screaming. Ash had tried his best to keep Branch from falling, but the pull of gravity was too strong and then dragged him down as well. Adrien grabbed his friend's legs to keep him from going any further, but only ended up following suit.

All three of them screamed as they slid and tumbled down the slippery hole until they reached the sandy floor where Hiccup was trying to stand up, inspecting his prosthetic to see if it was damaged. The three of them grunted when they hit the bottom and each other.

Adrien shook his head as he carefully stood up. "Where are we?" He asked.

Branch then got up himself and dusted the sand off his shorts. "In a dark hole with no way out." He muttered dryly.

Ash shook the sand off his cap and then placed it back on his head. Then, he saw a large crack in the rock that led behind it.

"But there is a way in through there." He said, pointing towards the giant crevice.

The other three looked over at it, and at each other. It seemed like they had no other choice. After Hiccup was done inspecting his metal leg, the four of them headed over towards the crevice, and one by one, squeezed through it.

Soon, they reached a much larger opening in the rock. There was a large pool taking up the majority of the area, the water the deepest shade of blue they have ever seen, which gave off a somewhat mystical glow.

The four teen boys looked up above them and saw a large crater opening at the top. That either meant that they were near or in the volcano. This had to be the most tranquil place they had ever seen.

"Wow." Adrien breathed in amazement. "Where are we?"

Hiccup looked back up towards the giant opening of the crater. "It looks like we're in some kind of volcanic crater." He observed.

"It's not going to erupt, is it?" Ash asked.

"This volcano has been dormant for almost two thousand years." Branch answered, looking around. "I'm pretty sure that we're safe."

Then he approached the pool, analyzing the inside of it. "I see tidal rings!" He exclaimed. "This pool connects to the ocean, since the water level rises and falls, just like the tide on the beach. We can swim our way out."

Ash then approached the edge of the pool, taking off his sneakers and socks and rolling up his jeans. "I'll go see." He said before diving down.

After a few minutes, he came back up to the surface. "It's not that far." He said to the others as Branch handed him his sneakers, the laces tied together so that he could carry them around his shoulder, and his socks were tucked inside one of them.

"It's about a twenty-second swim out to the reef. The opening's pretty big. There's plenty of room for all of us."

"Um, did anyone forget about the amputee in the cave here?" Hiccup said. "Guy with a metal leg?"

He then gestured down to his prosthetic. "Water and air make metal rust?"

"Come on, Hiccup." Adrien said, taking off his orange sneakers and designer socks and rolling up his jeans. "It can't be that bad."

"Hey, if I sometimes can't walk right due to this stupid leg, then you can say that I'm also not much of a swimmer." Hiccup retorted back.

Branch then knelt down and took off his own shoes and socks. "Hiccup. Suck it up." He said with a glare before entering into the pool with Adrien, joining Ash in the water.

The auburn-haired boy groaned in defeat and then took off his shoes and the sock that was on his right foot, since his left leg was a prosthetic. Next, he rolled up his pants, showing the others that his prosthetic went up to his mid-calf, and then he carefully waded into the pool, joining the others. Everyone had their shoelaces tied together to carry them around their shoulders, with their socks firmly tucked inside one of their shoes.

However, none of the teenage boys noticed that there was a full moon hovering above the crater, shining a giant, soft silvery light down on the pool. Then, the water started to bubble up around them, along with little golden lights floating up and towards the moon, as if they wanted to float all the way up there to touch it. It seemed almost.... magical.

But then, after another fifteen seconds, the moon slowly moved across the crater, and the light dimmed down, and the bubbles slowly vanished. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

"You guys.... saw that, right?" Adrien asked. The other three teenage boys just nodded in silent agreement.

"That was.... something." Ash said.

He couldn't quite place it, but the feeling that he got when he was surrounded by those bubbles as he looked up at the moon felt.... magical. As if something amazing had just happened.

"Come on, guys." Branch said. "We better get a move on."

He then took a deep breath and dove down into the water. The others copied his actions.

Soon, all of them reached the reef outside and headed up to air. "See?" Ash said to Hiccup. "Told you it wouldn't be that bad."

"Well, I didn't drown, so I'll take that." Hiccup replied.

Suddenly, there was a loud siren blaring and a harsh light shining on their faces. The four teenage boys had to shield their eyes because of it. Someone found them.

"This is the water police." Someone that was aboard the rescue boat called out to them with a megaphone. "Please make your way to the end of the vessel."

"Come on." Branch said as he started swimming towards the boat. The other three followed him.

"My father is going to kill me when he finds out about this." Adrien muttered under his breath, not looking forward to seeing his father's face when he realizes that he was out late.

"You and me both." Hiccup agreed, not quite looking forward to greeting an angry father.

A/N: Part Two coming soon! Just hang tight!