The sun rose slowly, breaking through the dark night causing a deep purple mixed with a brilliant orange to run across the water. The bright stars had faded away only to be seen when the sun would take it's rest and set beneath the oceans horizon. The bright hues of the morning sky and the bright yellow sun casted the sun over the surface of the water, tangling themselves in the dancing kelp that shaded the ground and the creatures beneath the towering plants that they themselves seemed reach to grasp at the warm ball of light.

He squinted, pulling his arms away from his torso and ripping the kelp wrapped around his body. He took a deep breath, his gills fanning out as he stared up to see the waters were absent of the pirates ship.
The male cocked a brow as he placed his hands on the wet sand that molded between his fingers, lifting the webbed edges between his fingers up. He sighed as he turned his head to the sand as ran his fingers beneath the yellow, grainy, sand, letting his face relax as he stared at the floor, his long tail straightening and his back arching to stretch before he relaxed into the small mounds of sand that had slightly built up beneath him when he had arched his back, having caused a slight disturbance in the sand.

He looked around when he had readjusted his body, sweeping the sand with his tail to disturb it, flicking chunks up and letting the small grains fall on his body, mostly settling in the slight raises of his scales on his tail, which he did not at all mind even though it did feel a little awkward; it's just something you get used to living in the ocean, it's something you can't change.

He grabbed a small cluster and slowly lifted his hand and watched it fall to the bottom as he tilted his hand to the side, the small tiny grains drifting out of his fingers and any small gap it could have possibly found. He yawned before dropping the rest of the sand and letting his tail fall. He pressed his hands against the grainy ground. Using his arms, he pushed his long body off the ground, slowly lifting himself up, hovering in the water as he shook the sand off his body and out of his hair.

He glanced up to the foliage that covered his head, a soft frown on his face as he slowly swam up to the surface rather slowly, his eyes sagging tiredly as he let his arms hang while he slowly approached the surface. He whined a little and slowly moved the kelp with his nimble fingers, ignoring the slimy texture. He pushed his head up past the water, his face getting hit by the warm sun.

The male coughed a little as his gills adjusted the oxygen in the air. The creature had to admit, he did not at all like the air, it was like breathing in smoke and not dying. It was thick and stuffy but its really not like he could change that. He lifted his hands up a little and he winced, his eyes a little wide as he looked at his throbbing arms, only just now remembering his tail and arms were bandaged in a strange cloth he had never seen before, his neck just as sore and in pain. The events of the previous day had came flooding back towards him, being wrapped in those awful lines that had cut through his skin and his tail which he had tried so hard to protect and keep in good care.

"Ow..." He mumbled softly, shakily putting his fingertips to his throat, probably realizing now why he had been so tired.

The bandages were blood and they desperately needed to be changed but he didn't know that. He shrugged it off and began looking around, spinning in circles and looking toward the great ball of fire in the sky, a frown on his face as he lifting his thin finger up to the bright ball and following it to where it would set when the stars would return and the air would turn cold.

He knew the odd floating vessel was pointing towards the direction of the setting sun, nodding his head as he sank below the cool water and his wet hair rising up and floating in the salty water. He slowly began swimming back down to the floor to were he had slept in the night, his tail neatly folding down over itself next to a murky brown rock. He brought his fingers to the rock and slowly lifted it up to reveal its hollow insides, a brown bag inside of it.

He smiled softly and set the rock aside onto the sand, turning his body to the small brown satchel. He scooped the bag up into his hands, slowly opening the pouch and looking inside of it, nodding his head when he saw it was filled with blue and slightly orange glowing pearls that were far different from the usual winter white and the deep dark black ones that sailors would find in the clams he would consider friends, yet, these sailors would rip them apart to see if they even had one when the creature of the sea could simply ask and replace it with something new so It could continue to survive after he took it, though he rarely would even ask them, he knew how much those small little rocks meant to the small little clams.

The thought saddened him, but he knew simply it was the circle of life and he could not interfere, it was something he learned to do at a very young age before he father passed away, he, a creature of the sea himself. He had amazed the young man, always have and always will. He found his father to be the kindest man he knew, teaching him to survive and how to make so many different things from the gifts of the ocean. The ocean was his home and he only knew it as that and would do anything to protect it, especially from those damn humans who would simply just throw so many things over the edge like chains and ropes that would injure his sea friends... But that one human, why had he chosen to help him? he could have been priceless when they would have returned to the dry sea lands, which seemed to lack quite of water which had always confused him.

He sighed as he slowly shut the pouch, using a string he had found from something a pirate had threw overboard into the sea. He had decided to use it to keep his precious pouch shut so he would not lose any of the priceless orbs. Taking the rope, he wrapped it around his waist and tied it firmly, shakily tying one of those knots that his father had showed him how to do quite a long time ago. He sighed softly, chills traveling up his body when his felt something rough rub against his shoulder. He glanced over and saw quite a small shark pup, they were quite common here in his kelp forest, they were protected here from large predators. This particular one had a soft grey color and a smooth white underbelly, its top fin a bright white like the color had simply been thrown on, a very large notch at the top, leaving the tip of its fin to look like it was gonna fall off.

The poor shark pup looked at the man and pushed its body beneath his arm, the man smiling as he ran his hand along its body which was maybe no longer then his arm, from his snout which reached his fingers and its tail which just was just short of his shoulder. 

The man looked at the shark pup's glossy eyes, sighing softly he used his tail to push his body up, his heart wrenching as he turned away from it, shaking his head. This shark pup had lived in the area since it was born, but it's mother had been snagged up by some sailors, so he had taken care of it, letting stay and occasionally feeding it, though it had gotten slightly attached to him, saying it thought he could of been it's mother.

"No, stay here." He said firmly, flinching when he felt a cold snout press against his hand. " I said no, you have to learn to do things yourself or you'll be useless when you get older." 

He turned around and looked at the young shark pup and pushed it away softly with his hands before he began swimming away quickly, keeping his eyes shut and hoping the shark would listen to him. He didn't want to look in fear he maybe would have second thoughts about leaving the kelp forest that he had grown up in. He was not gonna look back so he wouldn't get those thoughts. 

But, he did wonder why he wanted to so suddenly leave his little home. That did make him wonder as he furrowed up his slanted eyebrows, staring at the sand as he grabbed the shiny red rock that he had around his neck, huffing in annoyance as he wondered. Maybe it was because he wanted to thank that human that saved his life, NO! he hated those damn humans for robbing the ocean of it's life without saying thank you and filling it with dangerous things that harmed the very thing that gave life to their worthless lives.

His father often said that some humans were good, other species that lived on this elegant place of the dry lands of the sea; but, he refused to believe it till he met one of those 'nice' land walkers like his father had said. Like they could exist, all the ones he could encounter would think of him a prize, a little trophy to hang up in their homes if they were even smart enough to build them without the help of the enslaved builders like dwarves who would build beautiful ruins in dry thick kelp forests which they simply just called them forests, they say their was no kelp there, just stuff called grass.

The male found this very far-fetched, that kelp was only in the oceans and small oceans that were settled between the dry sands of the lands where the two legs travelled, but there were more than just humans and mermaids, even sirens. There were pretty elves of men and woman who were taken forcefully, poor demons to be forced as slaves to the rich, Naga's who were hunted for sport by humans for their tails. When he was younger he remembered a large scaly creature sore above him who had blown a bright fire into the sky.

All he seemed to know was the cruel nature of humans, thinking them of nothing but heartless monsters who cared little for the people who were here before them, the elves, orcs, dwarves, demons, nagas, and even more! they had nearly hunted his species to the brink of extinction because of how valuable the scales of his tail were, especially if they had more than one color of scale that mixed in together on one scale, used for noble dresses from what his father had told him. He himself would have been priceless.

The young male was half tempted to turn back and go to his very precious kelp forest he would call home over any other structure that covered his head from the sun and the harsh elements of the world above the sea, the sea that would rage when treated with disrespect and pushed past its limits, to where the creatures of the sea would scramble to apologize for the cruel treatment, baring gifts until the sea mother would finally calm down and slumber until it would happen again. 

"Can't believe I'm doing this." He thought with a slight growl slipping through his teeth, swimming a little faster as his long tail snaked behind him, his hand moving back and resting on the pouch wrapped around his thin waist.

'Still there.' He thought.

The young creature of the sea swam through the day with little rest, keeping his hand firm on the pouch he would rather die than give up. He was exhausted as the great ball of flames fell slowly beneath the ocean's Horizon and the bright sky dying out to a deep, endless night that casted a shadow over his body. He glanced around and swam much longer than he needed, his body craving the need to sleep and rest. 

He pushed his body up with his nose breaking the water, and he looked over, frowning. What he saw was the very the pirates ship, the messy brown boat with barnacles covering the sides. he huffed, he wasn't doing this to thank that stupid pirate, he was doing it to make sure they weren't destroying the sea, casting away objects that would injure any animal who had decided to snack on it.

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head as he stared at the boat that had simply become a plague over his home. He sighed as the markings along his face let off a soft light softly, aiding to predators that he was something to be scared go of,  his tail exchanging the oxygen in the water and making a bright and alluring Red and Purple expel from his tail, the frills and his tail fin expressing a soft orange-red color, his long nails showing off their greyish purple light, his eyes glimmering purple.

He shut his eyes and breathed in the foreign, salt air, before he opened them again. He blinked, raising his eyebrow when he saw a brown, rickety boat lower down into the water, tilting his head when he saw a lamp light. This was quite odd, why would a human be up at this hour? when the moon sang her song at the top of the sky, the crescendo of her silent voice ringing out through the sky.

Lance glanced around with watchful eyes; carefully, he had untied a row boat, staying as quiet as he could while he struggled to not fall down with the heavy piece of wood, a sigh escaping his lips when it touched the water with nothing but a slight, Plop.
Lance gave another look around, creeping quietly to his room and grabbing an wax lamp, a rickety old rusted brown wax lamp with the slightly burned wicked sticking up from the top. Lance gave one more look around bef0re tucking some flint and steel into his pocket before slowly climbing down the side of the large boat, which had turned out to be quite an inconvenience since he now had to hold the hand of the lamp between his teeth, leaving a very bitter taste in his mouth from the handle the was regularly handled by multiple people on the ship. 

Lance carefully placed his for down on the wobblily row boat, his breathing heavy as he stared up at the edge of the much larger ship. The quickest he could, he sat down, shaking the boat by accident, nearly knocking against the larger boat. The extreme rocking had made his skin pale just a little bit as he slowly took his lamp out of his teeth, sighing softly as he set it down for a moment before grasping his fingers around the handles of the old handle and carefully moved across the small boat to the bow of the ship, setting it down on the seat before he took his flint and steel.

He set them to the side, making sure they didn't fall and break, which would leave him with some explaining to do when Shiro would ask why it was, in fact, broken. He spun the small lamp around and slowly grabbed the glass door, pulling it open carefully and letting it sit there before he grabbed his flint and steel and lightly hit them together and causing sparks to fly into the lamp, the small wick catching ablaze. 

Lance smiled proudly at himself as he set the two objects aside and shut the small glass door with a small smile, sighing softly as he grabbed the Oars that were tucked away beneath the raised seats, using them to turn the boat before he began rowing away in as straight of line he possibly could so he could keep track of where he was and not get lost at sea. 

He was humming happily as he rowed further and further away from the ship, the biggest grin on his face, unaware of the male who he had saved; was watching him, only a few meters away from him.

He was entranced by brisk and salty sea air and the soft crashing of the waves as he stared up at the stars which in many cultures would say it was each passing sun who would go and take rest for its next time to come, giving light to the world and the people who inhabited this wonderful planet they called home.

He breathed in deeply before looking at the black water, looking at something white, glowing even- shot past him, then a blue glowing figure, then a soft red, the three glowing figures circling around his boat.

He stared in awe at the glowing objects beneath his boat, leaning over the edge with soft eyes as he stared at the water. The warm light of the lantern flickered against his brown skin and the reflection of the flame danced in his eyes, bright and entrancing.

Lance watched as a silky yet pale grey webbed hand rose above the water, his eyes widening as a woman rose from the water, her eyes a soft white, wet hair sticking to her thin and perfectly sculpted face. He couldn't help but admire her features and her beauty.

Her skin looked like the soft wool of a sheep, ghostly white and the rare pale orange scales that lingered across her chest clinging against the shape of her thin waist, sticking out out against her ghostly scales, her lack of an Iris somewhat adding to her stunning yet mysterious appearance, her plump- full, pale pink lips parted. They looked so soft, so sweet.

Lances cheeks turned pink as her surprisingly soft hand placed itself on his cheek, his mesmerized look causing the strange woman to smile which just made Lance smile, tilting his head into her hand.

"Wow..." Lance said softly, placing his hand over the stunning creature's, her long ghostly nails running up and down Lances cheeks, his dark hands gripping the edge of the boat as he leaned over, the two glowing figures circling the boat, shuddering slightly at her cold hands.

"Upon one summer's morning, I carefully did stray~ Down by the walls of wapping, Where I met a sailor gay~"

Lance stared at her, reaching out his hand to her as she let go of his cheek, her arms swishing back and forth through the water as she moved away. Lances lips quivered, leaning over the edge of the cold bottomless ocean.

"W-Wait? are you gonna leave?" he asked, wobbling over the edge of the small boat.

"Conversing with a young lass~ who seem'd to be in pain, saying, Lance, when you go I fear you'll ne'er return again,"

Lance continued to reach his hand out, his eyes opening wide when a blue, Scaly hand grabbed onto his wrist, yanking him into the water.
He gulped down some air as fast as he could before he was pulled under, his lamp falling in with him, the flame dying out with a sizzle, his lamp sinking into the deep, endless pit of water.

He yanked his wrist away from the scale laced hand, swinging his arms down to rise to the surface, desperately trying to swim up, breath in the air his lungs would need in a matter of seconds, he gasped as long claws ripped into his sides, blood mixing with the water.

He felt the worst feeling imaginable, the burning of salt water filling his lungs, desperately trying to swim, only seeing the surface slowly fade away, he vision turning dull.

His lungs were on fire. They hurt so damn bad but he felt like he couldn't do anything, his arms and legs felt numb and his head pounded. The pain he felt, it numbed his body, watching the fading moonlight while the scaled hands caressed his body....