@djinnbad
❤️— When the water parted over her head and engulfed her in slick coolness, Shirahoshi almost thought she was home. The feel of the ocean was all around her, the smell of the salt and the echoes of the creatures that swam in its depths. The endless push and pull of the currents, and the ancient presence it seemed to bring into her heart. But, of course, she wasn’t home, and this wasn’t the ocean. This was simply a pond she had encountered while walking in the green place, where “trees” and “grass” grew everywhere, filling her with a sense of awe. But the discovery of the water was almost better, even if it was dirty and silty, offering barely any visibility. And it was freshwater, which seemed to slide off her skin in a slippery, too-smooth way. But although the freshwater was a great disappointment, the best discovery was her tail. The moment she’d dove into the water, a strange numbing feeling had overtaken her legs, and when Shirahoshi had turned to look at them, she had been met with a beautiful sight. Instead of the pale glowing of her legs, it was her tail! Striped red and pink and scaled, strong and powerful, it propelled her through the water effortlessly, filling the mermaid with intense joy.
After over an hour of swimming around the small pond, Shirahoshi now floated on her back on the surface, tail waving lazily above the water. Her eyes stared up at the clear of the sky, a rare expanse of unbroken blue in this city, her eyes wide. Until a voice called to her from the shore, and Shirahoshi turned her head, righting herself and slowly swimming towards it.
❝ I’m sorry, were you speaking to me? ❞
