SO WE CAN SWIM FOREVER — joining

[Soleil]

she'd been watching them for a while. or more accurately, she'd been watching huge ships, reminiscent of those that desecrated her home yet lacking the pollution and the rough hand of man. these ships were respectful in their treatment of the ocean, and that intrigued the beast. she had never spent much time on land, but she had studied its inhabitants enough to have a vague idea of how their society worked. these strange creatures, occupying both land and the waters, appeared to be welcoming of newcomers. she didn't know if there were any prerequisites. paws, fur, lungs? she supposed it made sense to have those attributes if they spent most of their interacting on the island itself and not in the water around it. no matter, she was sure that she could replicate those features accurately enough.

coils upon coils of armored scales twisted up from the depths of the ocean, paddle-like flippers moving her behemothian body through the waters with a surprising grace. she was used to this environment and somewhat reluctant to leave, but the siren song of curiosity was almost as alluring as her own. light began to glimmer in pillars around her as she neared the surface. she didn't come up this far often, only when she was following ships or observing the land critters from a distance. lots of little changes slowly rippled across her shrinking body, tufts of fur peeking from between scales and clawed flippers arranging themselves into a more suitable shape. By the time she finally washed upon the shore, pushed forwards by a wave of unnatural proportion, she was almost completely mammalian in appearance. it wasn't perfect, but her flippers and tail had become more seal-like than sea serpent, so it was passable. the gills that remained on her neck fluttered uselessly as she attempted to make the switch to lungs. the brief feeling of suffocation wasn't pleasant in the least, so it came as a relief when water poured violently from her mouth, freeing her airways and new lungs. the feeling was ever so strange, but she would adapt. her flippers pushed her chest up from the sand as she coughed and spluttered up the last of the water, shocking blue claws digging into the soft, golden bed beneath her. — my secret friend, i'll take you to the river