[Note: The following is a parody. The video game Darkstalkers and the characters within the game are owned by Capcom.]
He could tell he was nearing the surface not only by the changes in the water pressure but by the changes in the colors he saw. Used to the muted spectrum seen below the waves it always took him a few seconds to adjust to the searing yellows and reds found near the surface. Seeing sunlight cutting through the water he knew he was close to his destination. Rikuo exhaled the last bit of salt water out of his gills, pushed his head above the waterline, and breathed in a breath of cool morning air. His smooth skin shifted to the color of the surrounding water as he waited. He knew he was in the right area; all he had to do was wait.
It didn't take him long to see a piece of bait put out for him. He knew that the land dwellers would often use some manner of bait attached to a line to trap the inhabitants of the sea. It was a simple trap to capture simple-minded fish, but the apparatus could occasionally trip up the few sentient species found in the ocean. On the beach in front of him was a human who had a particularly tasty looking piece of bait on a line.
Determining that to be his target, Rikuo scanned the rest of the beach. It was early enough that there were few others humans on the beach and none near the one with the bait. Perfect.
Rikuo slid swiftly but silently through the water. Nearing the shore, Rikuo planted his legs in the sandy bottom, shot out of the water, landed on the shore, used a claw on one of his webbed fingers to cut the bait free of the line it was attached to, and leapt back into the water with his prize. Clutching the squirming, still living bait to his chest with one arm, Rikuo swam back into the depths. He had been so quick with his movements that he had been away with the bait before the human had even known he was there. Rikuo didn't hold it against the humans for trying to capture him; nature required that some species lived off of others. But if the humans were going to offer such delicious snacks as bait and not be fast enough to capture him he wasn't going to complain. Rikuo couldn't wait to see the delight on the faces of his family when they saw the delicacy he had brought back for dinner.
Pulling a reluctant shih-tzu behind him, Steven Fernandez looked out to the ocean when he heard a loud splash. As he watched the water settle he noticed that the dog leash he was holding had gone slack. Turning around, he found that leash had been neatly severed and the family dog was gone. The leash looked like it had been sliced through with a knife. Where the dog tracks stopped was a wet indentation in the sand that looked for all the world like a pair of large flippers. Trying to understand what had just happened, Steven looked back out at where the splashing noise had come from but the ocean was, once again, deathly calm.
He could tell he was nearing the surface not only by the changes in the water pressure but by the changes in the colors he saw. Used to the muted spectrum seen below the waves it always took him a few seconds to adjust to the searing yellows and reds found near the surface. Seeing sunlight cutting through the water he knew he was close to his destination. Rikuo exhaled the last bit of salt water out of his gills, pushed his head above the waterline, and breathed in a breath of cool morning air. His smooth skin shifted to the color of the surrounding water as he waited. He knew he was in the right area; all he had to do was wait.
It didn't take him long to see a piece of bait put out for him. He knew that the land dwellers would often use some manner of bait attached to a line to trap the inhabitants of the sea. It was a simple trap to capture simple-minded fish, but the apparatus could occasionally trip up the few sentient species found in the ocean. On the beach in front of him was a human who had a particularly tasty looking piece of bait on a line.
Determining that to be his target, Rikuo scanned the rest of the beach. It was early enough that there were few others humans on the beach and none near the one with the bait. Perfect.
Rikuo slid swiftly but silently through the water. Nearing the shore, Rikuo planted his legs in the sandy bottom, shot out of the water, landed on the shore, used a claw on one of his webbed fingers to cut the bait free of the line it was attached to, and leapt back into the water with his prize. Clutching the squirming, still living bait to his chest with one arm, Rikuo swam back into the depths. He had been so quick with his movements that he had been away with the bait before the human had even known he was there. Rikuo didn't hold it against the humans for trying to capture him; nature required that some species lived off of others. But if the humans were going to offer such delicious snacks as bait and not be fast enough to capture him he wasn't going to complain. Rikuo couldn't wait to see the delight on the faces of his family when they saw the delicacy he had brought back for dinner.
Pulling a reluctant shih-tzu behind him, Steven Fernandez looked out to the ocean when he heard a loud splash. As he watched the water settle he noticed that the dog leash he was holding had gone slack. Turning around, he found that leash had been neatly severed and the family dog was gone. The leash looked like it had been sliced through with a knife. Where the dog tracks stopped was a wet indentation in the sand that looked for all the world like a pair of large flippers. Trying to understand what had just happened, Steven looked back out at where the splashing noise had come from but the ocean was, once again, deathly calm.