Oceans and Merfolk

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[ignoranceisblight]

[Veritas is bored.

He's not very interested in messing with or otherwise doing anything to humans, and he's too far from shore for that to be a thing anyway. He's found himself a nice big rock to sit on for the time being and is... well it'd be a stretch to say he's amusing himself, but he's keeping himself busy messing with some smaller stones he's found for now.]

[takesitall]

[Kakavasha has been swimming around, enjoying the water, when he sees the boy on the rock. The boy on the rock is likely a siren, they tend to like rocks, and is also likely bored.

So Kakavasha, ever cheerful, flops onto the rock with some shells in his flipper. He sets them down and dives back into the water, coming back up with more shells. Toys! Or something, right, this is what land people play with yeah?]

[ignoranceisblight]

[Veritas blinks in surprise as some shells are set down on the rock, and the one who brought them dives back into the water before coming back with more.

A seal--no, this must be a selkie. Veritas moves to take a look at the shells that have been brought to him, giving the selkie a small smile and a wave.]

[takesitall]

[He waves! And then starts to get out of his pelt.]

Hi. Are you a siren? I'm pretty sure you are, but I should probably check.

[ignoranceisblight]

Hi. [The smile turns a little shy.] Mhm, I'm a siren. My name's Veritas.

[takesitall]

My name is...completely unpronounceable if you're not a seal. So you can just call me Kakavasha or Vasha!

[ignoranceisblight]

[He giggles a little.]

It's okay, Veritas is just the name I give people who aren't sirens since my own real name's kind of unpronounceable if you're not a bird. It's nice to meet you, Vasha.

[takesitall]

Nice to meet you! Why're you on a rock?

[ignoranceisblight]

I was flying around a lot earlier and I was getting tired, so I needed to find somewhere to rest... And it's quiet out here. I like it.

[takesitall]

Can you get off the rock later?

[This is important.]

[ignoranceisblight]

If I feel like it, yeah! There's plenty of room for me to take off later if I want.

["If I want" being the keywords there. He finally starts picking up the shells Kakavasha brought and starts examining them with interest.]

But it's nice here, so I might stick around for a while.

[takesitall]

Will you be okay for food if you do? If not, don't worry, my pod's nearby so I can fish for you!

[ignoranceisblight]

Oh! Um, that'd be really helpful, thank you. I don't have anything to give you in return, though...

[takesitall]

That's fine! We can just talk. I've never really met anyone outside the pod before.

[ignoranceisblight]

Oh-- okay. I can definitely do that, then. I've actually never met a selkie before.

[takesitall]

Yeah, we're kinda secretive for, y'know, "reasons".

[Yep, with the air quotes.]

Humans aren't trustworthy after all. But you're not a human!

[ignoranceisblight]

Yeah, I can't blame you all for being secretive.

[It's kind of an unspoken rule among sirens that if they spot a selkie that's stuck on land, they need to do everything in their power to help. Not that Veritas is saying as much--it's an unspoken rule for a reason.]

Humans really can't be trusted. There's what they do to selkies, and they say mean stuff about us sirens.

[takesitall]

Do I want to know what they say about sirens?

[ignoranceisblight]

That all of us wanna lure humans in to eat them and junk like that. The ones that eat humans are usually just desperate because they haven't been able to get other prey... Or we're defending our territory.

[takesitall]

Well, that's stupid. Humans are stupid. I like sirens!

[ignoranceisblight]

Humans are stupid.

[Veritas huffs, but the rest of that does get him to smile again.]

And I like selkies!

[takesitall]

Yeah!

[Veritas and Vasha become quick friends, with Vasha bringing Veritas fish for as long as he's on the rock and Veritas finding safe places for Vasha's pod to rest when they have to move on. It's great, and the little selkie benefits from having a friend.

Unfortunately, it can't last. When Kakavasha is around thirteen, he's picked up by some rich humans on their boats and his pelt stolen. He's then taken far away from the ocean they found him in, isolating him and forcing him to work for the richest of the bastards on that boat. They're still near a shore, at least, but only because selkies die very quickly if kept too far inland.

It's been four years. Kakavasha hasn't been allowed on the beach once.]

[ignoranceisblight]

[Veritas was furious when Kakavasha was taken. He promises the pod that he'll find Vasha and bring him back.

It's been a long, difficult search, it's taken years, but Veritas is nothing if not determined to keep his word. And not only that, he's finally managed to find a lead. A big, fancy house near the shore...

And luckily, most people won't think anything of it if a bird's hanging around.]

[takesitall]

[As the bird hangs around, he'll see a young man going around doing a lot of menial tasks. He's clearly not being fed enough, and there's a strange tattoo on his neck.

It's Kakavasha.]

[ignoranceisblight]

[... there he is. Looks like this lead was legit. He's going to have to find a way to thank that weird partial-construct guy later.

Veritas eventually flies down to perch even closer, where Kakavasha can easily spot him.]