It was a lovely, warm, ordinary beyond words kind of day. The sun was shining brightly over tropical waves that glittered like diamonds and not a single cloud was in sight. The wind was a gentle breeze above the ocean and down below each little creature was lazily going about its way. Perfect conditions for a young merpup, who had snuck out without permission, to go exploring.

He brushed his bottle-blue tail across the dusty sands of the reef's floor as he swam between coral and anemone alike-dodging fish, crabs, and even an eel. He wasn't very big (only about twenty cycles old), but what he didn't have in size he made up for in curiosity "bravery". This courageous little soul was in search of something new; something that would catch his eye and keep his attention, for at least the duration of more than five minutes. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue... But today's search had so far proven fruitless. It had been a boring sneak-out, though as per usual his surroundings were gorgeous: there were rainbow corals and shiny stones and even a large, yellow clam that had opened just enough to display its lovely pearl sitting so protectively upon its tongue.

His adventures were always beautiful... But boring. Dreadfully boring. Nothing new or strange ever seemed to happen. That was, until a great shadow suddenly overtook the reef. It was so huge it seemed to blot out not only the light above but the usually vibrant colors around him.

The little mer looked up toward the shadow and at first thought it strange a whale of that size would come so close to the shore, but it did not move like a whale and lacked any fins. It had been drifting over so silently the boy hadn't an inkling it was there until it had eclipsed the sun. He tilted his head and gently pressed the end of his tail to the ground to slowly propel himself upward. The boy drifted toward the surface, swaying back and forth as he ascended.

Most merpeople were skittish by nature. It was a natural survival instinct that pups often lacked to some degree, but this one in particular was a swimming death wish waiting to happen. At first when he saw the Big Thing he had almost been afraid, but when it did nothing even as he grew closer and closer to it (no turning, no sounds, no obvious reaction) the boy only grew more excited. However, something stopped him mid-swim. There was a sound vibrating in the water that he had never heard before... almost like thunder, but it hit his nerves in a way thunder never had. The Big Thing had suddenly creaked. He dashed sharply to the left into an over-hanging rock covered in algae and terrified blooms that shrunk away as he so suddenly disturbed the water.

But still... Whatever the Big Thing was didn't seem interested in him. It just kept floating away, and there had been plenty of time to notice the boy, too. He hadn't been particularly careful with staying hidden, after all. The brunette pup peeked out from the crack of the rock he had expertly wiggled himself into and stared with a frown. It felt safe enough, so he drifted toward the surface once more and squinted his eyes. The Big Thing didn't seem to have scales... No scales, no obvious gills, no fins, no sealife on its belly-not even barnacles, but it was gliding so smoothly and cut through the water as easily as the boy could wave his hands.

Eventually, the boy was forced to stop swimming after the Big Thing as he finally reached deeper waters. The edge of the coral reef where the underwater cliffs dropped off into darkness and the sharks swam. However, as he looked up and saw it (whatever it was) escape the mer felt an odd emptiness in his chest, as if he had lost a great opportunity. He was tempted to chase after it anyway-explore its surface, touch its skin, and maybe even feed it if it ate like whales. It had been such a long time, especially in his young mind, since something new was around!

The brunette mer pouted sadly and held both of his hands out with his fingers and arms stretched to their limits, as if he could call the Big Thing back to him. But it wasn't any use as it continued on its way toward the horizon-toward the sun. The boy sighed deeply and dropped his arms back to his sides. He watched and waited until it was no more than a dot.

However, before his melancholy could set in as the brunette continued to stare and wish and regret... there was a loud, angry voice calling his name.

"SORA! When I find you I'm twisting your tail!"

Sora nearly screamed. The voice wasn't that far. He zoomed away from the drop-off and slithered back from the cliffs and into safe waters as fast as he could. He couldn't manage to avoid every coral tree he was such a flash of movement and yelped as his shoulder knocked into the side of a pink branch. His shoulder turned red immediately.

"Sora!" The voice called again and the brunette suddenly found himself being forcibly turned around. Another merboy, a much older mer of about sixty cycles, with wild brown hair and sharp blue eyes glared down at him. There was a pouch hanging over his shoulder that he immediately dug through with his free hand until he pulled out what appeared to be thick seaweed and carefully wrapped it around Sora's shoulder. "You need to be more careful. What if there was a barracuda or a shark? You're bleeding!"

"Well, you made me panic! And it's only a little-just a scratch!" Sora cried back. "Calling out threats all angry..."

"Of course I did, you sneaky little slug! Mom and dad are looking for you, too. You had them worried-again! Do you want to end up as fishbait?"

"Your face is fishbait," Sora muttered.

"It's dangerous to go out on your own like this! Why can't that penetrate your thick skull?"

"Who cares about danger anyway? I'm Sora! Bravest in the sea!" Sora puffed his adolescent chest out.

The other mer smacked Sora across the back of his head, just before he pulled the boy into a secure, bone-crushing hug.

"It's shark season, Sora... I was really, really worried..."

"I'm sorry, Leon," Sora gasped out as he was squeezed. He was about to struggle against his brother's tight bind before his ribs really did break, but then... He paused as he could feel the other trembling, even if it was only a little. He really was scared... Leon doesn't shake like this unless he's stressed out, Sora thought as he moved his arms as much as he could and returned the hug. He could feel guilt wash into his insides like a sudden, hot flood. "Really, I'm sorry. I won't again, I promise..."

"You always say that, and you always do this again the next day... Do we have to tie you to an anchor?"

Leon kept a tight grip on Sora's wrist as the hug broke. He began to drag the smaller brunette away from the reef, opposite of the drop-off. Sora didn't struggle since he knew it was useless.

Leon's tail was nothing like Sora's. Sora's was blue and his fins were curved at their tips, but Leon's tail was black with a white belly. They had the same blue eyes, the same olive skin, the same hair... Sora often wondered why their tails were different, but never asked (well, he had asked once and was told sternly never to bring it up again). The tiny mer was dragged along as his brother expertly flapped his tail-avoiding their surroundings easily without being too close to the surface, which might have made navigating a little easier. Sora turned his free hand, so tiny in comparison to Leon's, and grasped at his brother's dark dorsal fin.

"Can I ride your back home?"

Leon twitched as his dorsal fin was touched. He turned to look at Sora, who widened his eyes as much as he could to look as pathetic as possible, and sighed. He released the boy's hand.

"Only if you hang on properly. I don't want you falling off again."

Sora yipped and immediately grasped Leon's fin tight. The older brunette kicked his tail and down an old, familiar path they went-zooming so fast Sora could feel his skin move around on his face. He laughed in delight and hugged his brother's fin tighter.

It wasn't long before they had passed the reef and Leon was slowing down. He was gliding into a tiny village with holes in the rock big enough to allow large fish and mers to pass through and a cavern filled with soft, twinkling lights just at its edge. As they arrived they could see other merpeople swimming around-some waved in greeting.

Leon eventually stopped before they were too deep into the village and turned to Sora.

"Look," Leon began and Sora sighed. He knew a lecture when he saw one. "You may not see this as a big deal, but..." Leon went silent, let out the most frustrated sounding sigh, and looked away.

"I know it's a big deal-"

"No, you don't!" Leon snapped so suddenly, so scarily that Sora jumped. "You clearly don't or you wouldn't run off like that! You really don't get it, do you?! There... There... may not be anyone here for you tomorrow..."

"... What? Why not?"

"Because the sea can swallow up everyone you love at any time."

"I... I know that-"

"You never suspect it, either. And you never get all the chances you wish you had for spending time with them back."

"I know that!"

"It happened to me, Sora," Leon rubbed his face. "It happened to me and it can happen to you. Every family goes through at least one loss every few cycles. It's unpredictable. One second you're being cradled by your mother and the next she's... she's nothing more than..."

"Leon..." Sora whispered as he watched his brother struggle and trail off. He floated in a little closer and lifted a hand to touch Leon's shoulder. "Is that why our tails are different? You had a different mommy...?"

Leon breathed deeply and then nodded.

"..." Sora jumped forward to hug his brother's neck. "I'm sorry... I'm really, really sorry... I won't anymore, I promise."

"We can go exploring sometime. Together. Okay?" Leon rubbed the tiny mer's back. "But not during shark season and never alone ever again, okay?"

"Okay."