Shouto stood with his toes buried in the sand, letting the waves wash over his skin and wondered if there was even any point in torturing himself like this.

There was a time when things were different, when one touch of salt water against his skin would trigger a slow transformation. Shouto would sit in the shallows, tucked away from prying eyes behind a nearby rock formation that he had often overheard human children debating the shape of, to watch as crimson and white scales grew from his waist downwards. He would watch until the very tips of his toes had disappeared and linger for a while afterwards to stare at the shore, feeling limited by the tail he had been born with. He would long for the day when he would have the courage to give it up and leave the sea behind for good.

Now he just wished he could take it all back, he wished he could forget the false smile that had lured him in like some helpless fish on a hook with promises that there would always be a safe home waiting for him.

Growing up with a volatile, hot-headed and often violent father, he had always been so cautious and so aware of every potential danger, observing everything around him and carefully considering his options before he even thought about making his next move. He was frustrated at himself for not realising how reckless his behaviour had been sooner. Then again he had always been entranced with the stories he'd heard of the beautiful, mysterious beings called humans. They had been his own personal siren call, leading him blindly towards his undoing.

When he was young, his mother had weaved fantastic tales of how humans would introduce his kind to the wonderful and exciting world they'd been missing out on, eventually freeing them of the limitations of being bound to the sea. He clung to her every word, listening intently with eyes full of childlike wonder. When he slept, he found himself dreaming of the strange places she would describe and he frequently wondered just how she knew so much about the world that existed above them. He had asked her about it a few times, but she never answered, always avoiding the question with a sad look in her eyes.

His father never liked his mother's stories. Every time he overheard one of her whimsical tales, the atmosphere would become tense with his overbearing, angry presence. Shouto often went to bed in a separate part of the underwater caves that his family resided in to the sound of his father's enraged shouting.

"Stop filling the boy's head up with nonsense!" He would hear his father yell even from behind the hands that he pressed firmly over his ears, "He's never going to grow up and start taking his duties seriously if you're always feeding him these useless fairy tales!"

"He's a child, Enji!" His mother would argue, standing her ground even though he'd seen fear in her expression the second his father made an appearance. "He's not some soldier for you to just order around at will!"

"That's exactly the kind of attitude that's going to get the boy killed," His dad would snap in return. "He needs to let go of all these childish daydreams and start training now if he wants to stand any chance of surviving in this world."

"Don't pretend to care about Shouto's safety!" His mother would respond. "You've never cared about any of us! You just wanted someone you could mould into the perfect weapon so that you could use them and endanger their life for your ridiculous, selfish plans. I won't stand by and let you do that to my son!"

After that, his parents would either continue to yell or he would hear a loud crash and then things would fall silent for a while. His mother would always make sure to return once his father had left and finish her stories before saying goodnight though. The last time he had heard one of his mother's stories, he remembered calling out to her sleepily afterwards, barely able to keep his eyes open, to ask if he could meet one of these humans one day.

"Maybe," his mother had answered, a gentle smile warming her features, "but you need to be careful, Shouto. Not every human is as friendly as the ones in my stories."

"One day I'm going to meet a kind human," he had declared, "then I can come back and get you, Fuyumi, Natsuo and Touya and we can all go and live somewhere nicer where you don't have to shout or be scared anymore."

"I would like that very much," his mother had replied softly, her voice sounding a little strange to Shouto's ears, "but for now, I just want you to get some rest. You're too young to worry about things like that."

"Ok," he yawned. "I promise I will though," he added as he lost the battle against his heavy eyelids and slowly drifted into a peaceful sleep.

He wished that he had taken her warning about humans more seriously.

In a cruel twist of fate, Shouto now found himself bound to the land and unable to return to the place he once desperately wished to escape. Trapped in this new body, imprisoned by the new and strange appendages that still felt foreign to him at times. He had no money, no food, nowhere to go and no clothes besides the one outfit that his now ex-boyfriend had let him borrow before casting him out. He looked down at the water that now held his ankles in an icy grip, not even noticing that it had started to rain.

"Change back." Shouto ordered, poking at his thigh as if it personally offended him, receiving no reaction. His other hand slid up to his neck to tentatively check for the gills that he had once needed to breathe only to be met with smooth skin. He held both hands out in front of him, staring down at them and turning them over as if the webbing that was once between each of his long, delicate fingers would suddenly grow back if he observed them closely enough. Continuing to ignore the biting cold, he let out a loud, resigned sigh as his shoulders grew heavy with the weight of his big mistake.

The worst part of all of this was that his chest would not stop feeling weird, as if he had been physically wounded even though no one had laid a finger on him. He'd never felt anything like it before. It felt like something vital had been ripped away from his chest and he was struggling to breathe in its absence. He felt weak and hopeless and he absolutely hated it.

Then there was the matter of his father, who had to have noticed that he was missing by now. There was no way he would just let Shouto go quietly. Any day now, his father could figure out where he had gone and follow him to the surface to drag him back to the depths where he belonged. What would happen when his father found out that there was no going back for him now? What would happen to his siblings if his father suspected that they were in on this? What would happen to his mother if his father decided to punish him for what he would see as a childish act of rebellion?

He messed up. He messed up so bad. He wasn't even able to get his family out of there like he'd promised.

Shouto's hands trembled and his vision blurred, so his usually sharp senses didn't pick up on the flash of gold in his peripherals until it was too late.

A heavy weight slammed against his side, catching him off guard and knocking him off balance, sending him tumbling into the cold water with a startled gasp. He quickly pushed himself up into a seated position, coughing a little as the salt water that had once felt completely normal to him irritated his nose and throat. The water had quickly seeped through his clothes and transformed his hair into a soggy, tangled mess that clung to his forehead and obstructed his vision.

He pushed his hair out of his eyes and was met with a peculiar sight.

A hairy, golden beast sat before him, its tongue hanging out of its mouth and pointy teeth displayed in a way that almost mimicked a human smile as it let out short, rapid breaths. It's black, beady eyes stared at him as if it were expecting him to know what it wanted from him and do it without actually being given any instruction or verbal cues. Shouto stared back at the creature in bewilderment as it lifted one of its front legs to scratch at his soaking wet trouser leg. It let a sharp, booming noise unlike anything Shouto had heard before escape its mouth, but still it seemed nonthreatening as it continued to watch him with an excited sense of curiosity.

Shouto had seen plenty of these creatures before, but he'd never had the opportunity to study one this closely. Usually, they were accompanied by a human companion, attached to a rope-like device clipped onto an accessory worn around their neck. The human would grip the end of the rope as they walked side by side. He'd also seen smaller versions of them, that the humans would carry in their arms. Whatever these creatures were, the humans seemed to be really fond of them.

One time he had asked his ex why he had never seen him with one. His ex had responded that he found them annoying and messy and that he didn't have the time to look after one anyway.

This was the first one he'd seen without a human nearby. It had the band around its neck, but there was no rope attached to it. Shouto reached out cautiously, wondering how the creature would react if he touched its head the way he'd seen people do in the past. The creature immediately responded positively, pushing its head forward to meet his palm and rubbing against his skin contentedly. It's hair felt soft to the touch and Shouto observed in awe at how quick the creature was to completely let its guard down in the presence of a stranger.

"Where is your person?" he inquired as the creature continued to move, prompting him to scratch behind its ear.

Before he could get any response from the beast, a frantic shout echoed in the distance. Shouto quickly pulled his hand back towards his chest and he felt his whole body tense as his ears registered the sound and his eyes began to search for the source, spotting a familiar shape that approached swiftly from further up the beach.

It was a human.