[Quinten's POV]
It's been a month since I've become a mudkip, and for that month I have learned a lot. Sage introduced me to the rest of the family, her husband Nich and their kids Kimmy 17, Jered 14, and of course Kara 8 who treated me like I was the best thing she'd seen her entire life. The fact that I was only four and was a different species made them enthusiastic to help me. Each of them helped me with a different skill that I needed to be a mudkip. I called it fish training at first, until Sage taught me why calling mudkips fish was so offensive. During the training, Sage taught me common behaviors, which honestly aren't a lot different from the human behaviors I was used to. Nich, being the city designer, taught me about the city. Where things were, the history behind it, and some of the jobs and schools that were there. Kimmy taught me social skills. Jered taught me about different technologies, and Kara taught me her favorite mudkip games. At the end of the month, they all became my family. They felt that way too. Sure, it may have been hard to adjust to eating vegetarian all the time, but I guess you get used to anything.
This morning, I woke up to the faint sunlight shining through the water, and Kara banging on my door. "Husky!" She yelled. "I have awesome news!"
I got up and opened the door. She tackled me with a hug and a smile. "Mommy said that you could come to school with me! Isn't that great?!"
I smiled and tried to pry myself out of her hug. "Yeah! That sounds awesome."
She finally let me go and then started jumping with excitement. "We're leaving in an hour, so we better go get breakfast."
We walked into the kitchen where Sage was standing over the stone counter fixing a couple bowls of the ocean version of cereal (I have no clue how that works, but it tastes pretty good so I'm not questioning it). Kara and I grabbed our bowls and sat down at the table. Kara scarfed down the food in a matter of minutes, but I just picked at it. After Kara went to get dressed, Sage came over and sat next to me.
"What's wrong Husky?" She asked.
"I'm just a little nervous about going to school with Kara," I told her. "I'll probably act stupid."
Sage chuckled. "Husky, I wouldn't let you go if I didn't think you were ready. I know that you'll do great when you get there."
"Really?"
"Mhm. Besides, I think that you're probably getting pretty bored with seeing the same mudkips every day. It's time you make some friends."
I smiled and gave her a hug. "Thanks Sage."
"No problem. Now go get ready. Heaven knows your sister won't be able to wait much longer."
It felt weird hearing Kara, a species I didn't know existed until a month ago, being called my sister. But at the same time it made me feel happy. I had a family. They may not be what I had before, but they saved my life and took me in like I was their kid. They loved me. Just like my mom and dad had. A tear slid down my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away. The past is the in the past. I had to move on.
I walked to my room and put on my suit (the casual clothes for mudkips. I found it weird too). As soon as I finished fixing my tie, Kara barged into my room in her dress and started to drag me out. "Come on Husky! We're gonna be late!"
We went into the kitchen and grabbed our lunches from Sage. "Hey!" She called as we were about to go out the door. "Aren't you forgetting something?" She held her arms open for a hug.
Kara groaned in annoyance and gave Sage a quick hug. "Bye." She said.
I walked over and gave Sage a huge hug. "Bye mom," I said. She looked shocked at first, but then smiled.
Kara dragged me out the door. "C'mon!"
As we walked, Kara rambled on about everything we were going to do today. I just looked around the ocean floor. I always had wondered what it looked like. It wasn't as cool as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty cool. There were lots of different types of coral and anemone, and rock were scattered everywhere. There wasn't any other sea life at the moment, because according to Nich we lived right by the drop-off, and not many creatures wanted to be there.
My thoughts were interrupted when Kara pulled me behind a huge rock, almost panicking. "What?" I asked her.
"Diver." She whispered. "Stay here until it goes away."
Diver? A human. An actual human. I had to see this. I poked my head around the rock and saw nothing. I stepped out and looked around. "What are you doing?" Kara hissed.
"There's nobody here." I told her. I walked a little further. Still nothing. I wonder if Kara is okay.
"HUSKY!" She screamed. I barely turned around when I came face to face with a net. It wrapped around me. I tried to free myself, but nothing worked. I was trapped. The diver went over to Kara and trapped her too. We both struggled to get out of the net, but it was no use. The diver swam up to a boat and threw the nets on deck. Another man grabbed the nets and put us into small tanks.
"Great find Frank," he told the diver when he came up. "We'll definitely get a raise for this! I've never seen fish this big before!"
"They're beauties, aren't they?" Replied Frank, admiring me and Kara like we were trophies.
"C'mon," the other man said, walking towards the stairs. Frank followed him. "Let's get back to shore."
I looked over at Kara, who was crying in her tank. I don't blame her. I wanted to cry myself. It was my fault we were here. The second time a disaster has happened in my life because I didn't listen. "I'm sorry," was all I could seem to say. "I'm sorry." Then I started to bawl into my hands.
