For an hour she drifted from what once was her home, a broken-down building sunken to the depths, into the unknown.
The sights drew her out, a new fish appearing what felt like all the time.

Yet, the caution still played in her mind and though she longed to see above the waves her heart was content without it.
Soon enough she started to push her tail against the water, wincing at first at how hard it was compared to normal.

She had never needed to push too far in her home to get where she wanted, but with the fear of being swept away now, her mind cursed for not practicing beforehand.

Gradually, she made her way to the hole in her wall. Only stopping when about to swim in, considering the possibility of not returning.
The little light in the depths had already started fading as the sun had lowered, she bit her lip and glanced around.

She started grabbing all the shells she had, leaving a small trail as she swam out a fair bit.
Making a note in her mind that it was not the best way to know how to return but would make do, for now, pushing her tail against the water kicking up the sand of the seabed.

For many years this was the new normal, she slowly learned the different tastes of the water and how the colors shifted.
Her tail grew stronger until eventually, it became natural, gliding almost.

She discovered sharks and whales which unlike fish were very different, almost everything was.
Memorizing it until soon enough it was like knowing how to feel, only being surprised by something unknown rarely now.

That was until the noises began, muffled and unclear but not from the ocean. It came from the Surface and at first, she hid inside her home, fearing the consequences of her exploring had finally come.

But, no one appeared and the sounds continued sometimes growing louder and other times just reaching the depths.

After a week of hiding, she returned to the open ocean, noticing how the fish had changed. Instead of swimming carefree, they grew skirmished as she passed them.
It wasn't until she saw why that she understood, something floated on the ocean but above the surface. Like a large school of fish that never moved, it lowered something in the water that hooked fish of multitudes in and lifted them above.

In horror, she watched it for the first time, though she had never heard the fish say a word the sheer panic in their eyes was clear.
The frantic flapping of their fins and tails only ceased when they left the ocean, and something burned in her eyes that bubbled to the top.

The second time she saw it begin she swam furiously towards the net, trying to rip it with her hands but only felt it slide out of her palms. No amount of pulling, biting, and swimming set the fish free and after multiple attempts, her heart sank with the acceptance she could only watch.

For a long while, it made the colors of the coral seem grey in her eyes, feeling the same burn each time.

It was only once weird things would fall from the surface to the seabed that her curiosity pulled her from the clenched feeling in her chest, each curiosity was completely different from the last.
Sometimes the curiosities injured the fish and it was only after a turtle had fallen after being entangled by one that something within her snapped.

She swam towards the surface only a hand away from breaking it, seeing odd warped shapes and colors.
The cautionary words had long faded at this point as she could only hear the sound of her heart pounding.

Closing her eyes she pushed her tail lightly and broke through the surface, gasping lightly as the water rolled off her skin.
She choked a little as her chest adjusted to the odd air, slowly clearing as she glanced around.

There was nothing to truly describe what she thought she was seeing, buildings like her sunken home but completely different covered the Surface sands.
Far off she made out creatures of all shapes and sizes without tails or fins that looked a lot like her, using their odd lower bodies to travel.

Loud sounds filled her ears each being something she had never heard before, her eyes narrowing when seeing all the curiosities that the creatures were surrounded and covered in.
That was when she heard a voice close by.

"You coming or what Kai?!"