Warnings: slight violence, kidnapping, animal cruelty, mention of murder
Characters: Samael (ALTR 19914), John Doe, unnamed mermaids
It started out small, a small fish in a big pond really. That big pond was the ocean, its coloration was a mix of black with stone grey, its flippers dangling along its sides. There were those bright green eyes, wide and curious of the world. It didn't completely understand what was happening around it, clicks and shrill whistles that meanings were meant to be attached to but it was far too young to know. It was barely the size of a human toddler, never straying far from the underwater cave that its pod kept it in. Large brown creature and her albino mate, their own children. All similar sizes. It would be obvious to any who did not remember anyone else, the creature that it was had no relation to its pod. Its family. Three pups often remained nearby, making sure their youngest yet unrelated sibling stayed within the cave. Where it was safe.
Safety could only last for so long. Curiosity gets to the best of creatures. It got bigger, bigger than it thought it ought to but the reassuring vocalizations of its mother rang true in its mind. Confidence rose, safety was ensured within the cave but only the cave. A fact that it would never have known, being far too young even at the size of an older human child.
It was but one afternoon, the creature swam out to hunt like its caretakers. Like its mother and father. It only wished to do as they did, especially as its older siblings began to do exactly that. It had no concept of danger, still far too young for its own kind of creature. The blonde, half human creature swam to the surface. The sunlight glimmering across the water caught its interest. Those bright green eyes seemed much more interesting than one might imagine to others. It saw so much beauty in what it saw, a sandy shore with rocks and cliffs and a single man. It broke the surface, closing its eyes momentarily as the sun shone in its eyes. For the first time since it could ever remember, it was breathing through its mouth. Something it only ever considered something used for clicks, whistles, and chirps to vocalize to its parents and siblings.
Its eyes met with the pale blue gaze of the figure as he approached, holding out a hand with the utmost patience and kindness as he stepped just inside the water. The shallows where sand was still under his hiking boots. The creature tilted its head, staring at the man's slicked back brown hair with silver streaks intertwined with brown. He was unlike anything it had ever seen. The man, not unlike its podmates at first, let out sounds that it could not understand. It clicked at him in vain, a rumbling laugh leaving the large and imposing man. It didn't understand that sound either.
Before long, its curiosity had grown. It swam as far into the swallows as it could before using those arms to drag its body up to the man. It took but moments for it to realize he was not a kind animal but a predator, surely. It shrieked and whistled and clicked, distress ingrained in its every vocalizations as the man slammed his foot against its neck. Those pale blue eyes turned cruel and sadistic, watching it squirm and struggle on the sand that it could not get away.
That day the young creature understood one thing: humans were bad. Humans that wore that coat were bad. No matter the kindness they seemed to offer, humans were evil and not to ever be trusted.
This much remained true as it was given a designation, name, and "home". If it could even be called that. It laid in the corner, refusing to surface with those bright green eyes glaring at every figure that walked past. The green from the dark of the cave within the tank was intimidating and scary, it ensured the creature's loneliness. Those who got too close had become food for it. It had gotten bigger and bigger, much more of a threat. Much more deserving if its name.
