The Waves Are Ours |Virgato|

Chapter 1: Sea Salt

"I'm pretty sure it's dead."

Chris groaned as his eyes opened into harsh sunlight. He took a breath, his lungs burning slightly as he inhaled.

Something was very wrong.

He tilted his head as he looked up through his crossed arms that rested beneath his head. He could see the white graininess of the sand now, and two sets of human feet. There was also the hint of two colored surfboards that had been dug into the surf beside the feet.

"Wait, no, I think it's still alive!"

A wave of panic raced through Chris when he realized that someone was talking about him. He was certain of a few things in that moment; the first, that he was lying on land, apparently looking dead to some passers-by. The second, that he was breaking the biggest rule of all: revealing his tail to land people.

His life had reached a new low point. He let out a loud huff in frustration.

"Hey, man, are you alright?" A second voice asked.

Slowly, Chris shifted his head from the sand and looked behind him, expecting to meet the sight of his betrayal: his multicolored scales shimmering in the sunlight. But they weren't. He saw something much more terrifying. He had legs. Two of them, exactly like a human. The water gently lapped at his toes, making it seem like even the ocean had wanted to get rid of him.

Where was his tail? Was he not a merman anymore?

If he wasn't panicked before, he certainly was now. What was he supposed to do? He had no idea how to use legs! He'd watched humans use them all the time, but how did they learn to walk on them? All he could do was stare.

"Do you need us to call someone for you?" The second voice asked.

Chris turned his head back to look at the two males that were staring at him with concerned expressions. Both wore black almost skin-tight clothing that Chris knew to be called a wetsuit. He'd seen plenty of them from the water before.

He frowned as he investigated the humans' faces. One had curly red hair, clearly unnatural, and dark skin, and deep brown eyes that looked at him with extreme concern. Beside him, the other boy had lighter skin, though not as pale as his own, jet black hair, and beautiful green eyes. He turned to the other land person, looking uncertain.

Humans, Chris thought with a sinking stomach. Maybe I shouldn't talk to them. Once they're gone, I'll just go back in the sea, my tail will reappear, and I can pretend like none of this ever happened.

But he knew he couldn't. He'd made a massive mistake last night. The sea was no longer his home. The storm had made sure he knew that.

Besides, he didn't have a tail and had no clue whether it was even going to come back. They hadn't tried to harm him. He at least looked human now, so he could talk to them, right?

"No," he said quietly, his voice breaking a little from not being used in the air. "I don't need you to call someone."

"Oh, okay," the red haired boy nodded, his full attention on Chris. Chris was sure that they would walk away in a few moments, but much to Christopher's dismay, they didn't, "Did something happen? Are you alright, though?"

Chris was not alright, but the reason involved something that two human boys wouldn't be able to comprehend. He needed a cover story and quickly. Hopefully, he could send the two males away and focus on working out this mess.

"A ship," he spoke quietly. "I was on a ship."

A look of horror fell upon both the humans' faces. Chris was sure that was a good sign, the two humans would be gone before he knew it.