A siren tail

Ch 1 - the breaking of a childhood innocence

 Rin poked his head out of the cool water that encapsulated his small frame. Gazing across the navy water, the small siren admired the surface.

"Rin please come back, it is dangerous on the surface," His mother cooed softly.

"But mom, when will it be not dangerous, I see you looking out on the surface all the time,"

"That is different Rin, I am an adult. Others know not to mess with me. You on the other hand look like an easy target," Yuri reminded the small siren.

"Fine," Rin huffed, swimming back down to the nest where his mother lay.

"Trust me Rin that time will come much faster than you think, you only have seven more till you turn sixteen," Yuri explained softly to her pouty son.

"But that's like forever," Rin whined in response. "Besides I know how to hunt I am ready to face the world!"

"When you get older you will find the world is a lot more complex than you think," Yuri said softly in response. "Now settle down and sleep. We have a long way to travel and you are going to need your nest," Yuri said softly to her energized son.

"But mom, I am not sleepy," Rin whined.

"Rin, don't be stubborn now," Yuri growled softly in warning.

The small siren was quick to snap into place and obey his mother as he dozed off to sleep. Yuri simply curled her tail around the small being and closed her eyes just as her son had. To think, nine years went by so fast, yet still no ships from the kingdom.

Yuri was truly alone in the sea, of course, she did have Rin by her side, but he was still so young one attack for a siren and she wouldn't be able to take of Rin. He would be open to attacks by other sirens and hunters. The world was a dangerous place for a lone young siren. But for the time being, he had his mother, and that was all he needed.

The night swift came and passed, neither the moth nor the child was striped as the gentle ocean currents shifted, a cool breeze had set in over the water and dark clouds lulled in, letting large populations of fish to the surface to feed off the nutrients driven up from the darker depths of the sea by the increased cooler temperatures.

Rin woke softly to see thousands of sparkling fish, scales dull and dark, yet at the soft glimpse of the sunlight the same scales turned pure white in hue. It was fascinating to the young siren. Never had he witnessed something so amazing. Color changing fish was new to his young eyes.

"Rin, it's about time we start our journey," Yuri yawned as she awoke from her rest.

"Can we just stay here a bit longer? I want to look at the pretty fish," Rin cooed in awe, eyes fixated on the glittery fish.

"No, Rin this is a feeding ground, many adult sirens and Mers are going to be here soon and we do not want to get caught up in the middle of that," Yuri replied, dragging her son away from the edges of the feeding ground and swimming along the border between the territories.

Borders between territories were the safe zone, this certain border belonged to a rather vicious group of sirens who loved to torment the Mers that tried to cross so Yuri didn't waste a single second.

She made sure to not swim overly fast as she didn't want to attract any "special" attention to herself or Rin. If they two were to be noticed then that could easily turn bloody and dangerous for both the mother and the son.

Thankfully the tragedy did not set in on this part of their journey as Yuri was able to make it safely to the nest she had once lived in, it was hidden behind and a pile of twisted coral that only the most nimble could access, then once you slipped through the collar you had to navigate through three dark tunnels and the second tunnel lead to a small hollowed-out cave, perfect for a nest. Enough room for a nester, a few eggs, and a protector to all rest, but not too big as to welcome large predators.