Zuke has spent most of his conscious life in the sea. It was all that he knew. He was a siren yes, but what reason did he have for leaving the depths and going up? The land was for the humans and those unfortunate enough to not be able to live in the sea, while every other magical creature chose the welcoming currents and colourful reefs as their home.
But, perhaps due to his nature, or due to the sheer amount of people populating the Rift, Zuke longed for some peace and quiet. And so, with years, he found himself wandering further and further away, to the most distant islands of Vinyl Archipelago, where he could easily rest without being disturbed by his older brother or his A-Mi’-Kuk lover.
And that’s how he knew where to run, after the fiasco that was Nadia’s attempt to drag him into a newly discovered underground lake on the Evenfall island. She may have forgotten that unlike her he needs to breathe and can’t dig through rocks and ground, and she also may have got mad at Zuke for that, but he wasn't sure about it.
He actually didn’t remember much from that night. Only the burning feeling of being unable to breathe, sharp tugs on his hair, a lot of screaming, both terrified and angry, and the strain of his muscles as he tried to get out, get away, flee. With only a bright full moon as his companion he swam as far as he could from the Rift, not really caring where he’ll end up or noticing what was around him. He settled, completely exhausted physically and mentally, in between some weird sturdy brown corals.
He woke up, barely rested and extremely disoriented, in the middle of a coppice, head to toe in feathers.
Just how far did he drag himself off?
It is Zuke's time to shine and so I present to thee Siren! Zuke. At least in his merman form for now.
I personally like to stick to "Sirens are birbs" hc, but I have also fell in love with @kedreeva 's take on that matter in her Good Omens work "Siren's Song" (You should definitely read it, it's amazing and easily understandable without having to know GO at all) and decided to incorporate it into this AU.
You'll see the bird form of Zuke soon enough, though, I have plans for it.
