This was a short prologue to the story, but I never added it. Now, seven years after writing it, I am finally letting it out. It isn't great, but what the heck, right? I am adding it to the end because it would give away maybe a bit too much at the beginning. Just putting it here for the heck of it.

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A breath of air. The touch of water on his skin. It felt like living. This was existence, this was being. And slowly, he became aware. Voices in his head urged him on. Four voices, each different from the other. One voice spoke louder than the rest, fed him more. And he pulled it all in. Those voices, those scents. They touched him, fed him.

He grew…

More and more, they fed him. More and more, they pushed him away. They fought him, hated him, denied him. And, yet, he lived. He lived because they didn't want him. He lived because they thought he didn't exist.

He listened…

The one… the loudest voice. It screamed at him, telling him to leave. It… the voice… it wanted him to leave. It wanted him to leave forever. But that voice made him grow. It made him stronger. How could it make him..? How could he exist..? How could he be..? They didn't want him, so he stayed.

He hated…

That voice… it wouldn't leave him. It whispered, it screamed, it cursed him… it nourished him. He wanted it to stop. He wanted it to leave… that damning voice, that horror that created him.

He sensed…

Blood, now and then… it drifted through the water… the scent met him in the air. And now those words weren't enough to feed him. He needed more. He lived, and to go on living he fed. He found those things with blood. Always, he smelled them as they came near. Small, furry things. Small, scaly things. Warm things. Cold things. Always… always those things with blood…

He changed…

Now, it drew him out. He needed larger things. There were others here, speaking with strange voices. Those voices… not his voices. But they had blood. He could smell it. Different blood. Hot blood. He made his way through the water, through the darkness. He followed the voices. He followed the smell.

He lived…