His mother was a shark. A mershark. Everyone in Kul Elna knew that. They'd even had a pool hidden within the village for her when she didn't want to return to the sea for the day, for she could not walk as a human during the day. Only at night was she able to gain legs and be with her husband and child on land.
The village accepted this. They greeted her like one of their own. For she, too, was an outcast. Of two kingdoms, on land and under the sea. And outcasts were always welcome among other outcasts.
It was night, when the village was attacked and slaughtered. So the Pharaoh's royal guards didn't know of her secret. In fact, the next day, there was only one who knew of it, and he, too, would share it when he became of age.
Her son.
He was the only one to survive the massacre. The only one to get away. The only one to know, to remember. Since he was eight, he had to live and survive on his own, with nothing but ghosts for company.
But he managed to make due, teaching himself how to survive, perfecting the ways of his people that had already been taught to him before they died. He started to hate humans. They committed such crimes, yet went on like nothing was ever wrong. There was no attempt to repent for it. And they continued to do it! Other humans, other instances, and yet, all of that hate came back onto him.
Somehow, he was always to blame for what went wrong.
On the night before his eighteenth birthday, he was lucky that he had been staying at the oasis, for in the morning, just as the sun was rising, a change happened to him.
He gasped as his legs pulled straight together, binding to one another with grey skin. A tail formed out of them, ending in a shark tail fin, with a dorsal fin up near where the shark tail started. His teeth sharpened and ended in points, and he could feel other changes happening to his senses.
Once it was all over, he lay there panting, getting used to it all. However, a horrible sense of dryness began to take over, and he knew he had to get to the water.
Ever since, he lived as a shark by day, usually dwelling in the Nile River. By night, he continued his work that he had begun beforehand. Becoming the King of Thieves and avenging his people's death.
His eyes poked above the water, right next to the palace. It was risky, but he didn't see anyone around to see him. Which was good, as if the right people saw him, they could recognize him just by the color of his hair.
With a grin, he sunk back into the water and slowly swam up the canal that lead into the palace grounds. He took his time, making sure that he wasn't stirring up the water. He didn't want to be caught by a guard. For surely then, he would be taken and shown to the Pharaoh for being a creature of the gods. And he wasn't ready for that.
When he got to the pool in the middle of the garden at the back of the palace, he laid at the bottom so that no one would see him should they come.
And someone did come.
To his luck, it was the Pharaoh, with a couple of his priests.
Mahaad and Set, from the sounds of it.
"My Pharaoh, what do you plan to do about the thief? It's been days since he last showed himself, but we know he's going to return."
"I understand that, Mahaad," the Pharaoh said. "But I see no point in sending out men when we don't know where he is hiding. I believe that it is best to stay here and watch the palace and the city. He will show up again, and we must be ready."
The voices were getting closer to the pool, until he could see the shadows of three people on the water above him. And it seemed like they were getting closer
"Majesty, we should do something. Send out just a couple men. We should find him and stop him before he had a chance to attack the people again," High Priest Set said.
A sigh. "And who would we send? Anyone that I would feel comfortable sending, anyone powerful enough to face him, are all people that I need here in case he shows up before they return."
The shark watched the shadows get bigger, moving until the legs laid across the water. He grinned, listening to them try and figure out what to do, but it seemed like they were going in circles. But it didn't matter, this was all going to end today. Originally, he was going to wait until tonight, but the opportunity had arose. Besides, the moon would rise soon, anyway.
He pushed up from the bottom of the pool and burst out of the water. He relished the surprised and terrified looks as they scrambled back from the water.
But they weren't fast enough.
Both of the priests had a grip on the Pharaoh as they helped pull him back from the water, so they both went with him when the shark grabbed onto the Pharaoh and fell back into the pool. They struggled to get back up to the surface, but the shark pulled them back down.
He laughed. "How pathetic, Pharaoh. Can't even swim up to the surface!"
All three seemed to pause as he spoke, looking at him. He wasn't sure if they could understand him through the water—they were pathetic humans, after all—but they did seem to recognize him, if the widening of their eyes was any indication.
They struggled towards the surface even harder.
"So pathetic!" He laughed, baring his sharp teeth towards his prisoners. "Now, I finally get my revenge! But … how shall I do it, hmm? Should I let you drown here?"—the priests, especially, seemed to struggle at this—"Or should I take you in front of your people and tell them your crimes and punish you for them there?"
Looking up, he saw that it was getting dark. Grinning, he pushed them up, following after. Once they had gotten out of the water, they started to run back towards the palace. He pulled himself out, and his tail turned into legs. He shook them out, getting used to them once more, then took off after his escaping captives.
They were screaming for help, running through the halls. The King of Thieves chases after them, laughing loudly. His prey was going straight to the throne room.
When he finally got to the throne room, the priests had surrounded the Pharaoh, and guards where coming in as reinforcements. The Millennium Items were all pointed towards him, all ready to protect their king and take down the one who threatened him.
He smirked, showing a hint of the still sharp teeth. "All cowering together. How wonderful! Makes it so much easier."
"What are you, Bakura? You just had a fish tail!" the Pharaoh exclaimed, staying safely behind his priests.
He snarled. "Don't compare me to those pathetic weaklings! I am a shark, Mr. King. Much more dangerous and powerful than any fish." He grinned. "Of course, I'm not a normal shark, as you saw. I am even more dangerous."
"You are an abomination!" Set yelled at him, thrusting the Millennium Rod towards him. "You should die for what you are."
"Now, you see. That kind of thinking is what got us here. If you weren't so stuck in your narrowed and prejudiced thinking, perhaps we would get along."
"Ha!" Priest Akhenaden barked. "We would never get along with the likes of you, petty thief. Now, leave before we are forced terminate you."
He smirked, moving forward while drawing his sword out from behind his back. He was immediately met with other swords, and the guards ran forward, but he used the surprise at his sudden movement to push the priests away from the Pharaoh, and managed to grab him before he could run.
He set his sword at his throat, grinning at the other people, who stopped, seeing the danger their Pharaoh was in. "See, now we can all talk civilly with no attacks, hmm?"
"Civilly? You have our Pharaoh at blade point!" Mahaad exclaimed.
He chuckled. "Well, if you don't wanna talk …" he pressed the sword into the Pharaoh's neck, drawing blood.
The Pharaoh was tense in his arms, and his priests looked just as tense as they watched.
"Bakura …" The Pharaoh said. "What do you want? Just name it and we will give it to you."
A laugh bubbled its way out of his throat. "Will you, now? Are you sure you are willing to pay that price?" He snickered. "Not that it matters. You will pay it whether you're willing to or not. Wanna know what it is, Pharaoh?"
Silence.
"Your death."
Before anyone else could react, he pulled the sword away, spun the king around, and sank his teeth in his neck. He ripped his throat out, eating anything that got in his mouth. He leaned in and got another mouthful of flesh to eat, but he couldn't enjoy his meal, as the guards and priests rushed forward to stop him.
But their precious Pharaoh was already dead, with a sword through his gut.
He whipped around, tearing his sword out of the dead Pharaoh's body, slashing at anyone close to him. He grinned at him, blood dripping down his chin.
"Long live the King!"
He was attacked. He fought them back until he had a clear way out of the room, managing to injure several of the guards, and even run the old priest through with his sword. He laughed as he ran out of the room.
He got what he wanted.
He was free, now.
He ran back to the pool, jumping into the water, where his legs changed back into his tail, and he swam out into the river. He could hear the yelling behind him, calling for him to be caught.
The kingdom would be in chaos.
At least for a little bit.
Then the Pharaoh would be replaced.
But he didn't care.
He was free.
He swam through the Nile, dodging any other merpeople and sea creatures as he made his way to the mouth of the river. He stopped, several miles away from the capital city of Thebes, finding a place to sleep for the night.
In the morning, he continued. It took him a couple days, but he eventually made it to the mouth of the river. But he was stopped by the merfish guarding it, as it was the border between kingdoms.
"Halt! What is your purpose for crossing the border?"
The shark sneered. "Get out of my way, fish." He pushed past, finally swimming into the Mediterranean. The border guards yelled after him, but he ignored them. He was never really one of the Nile Swimmer's subjects, anyway.
He grinned, swimming out into the sea for the first time in his life.
It felt great!
Like nothing ever!
To be free!
He continued swimming, wanting to see the world under the sea, besides what was in the river. He would return to the Kingdom of Kemet and the Nile, someday, but for now, he wanted to enjoy his freedom, without being hunted for killing the previous king.
His only regret was that he didn't get to finish the meal made out of said king.