Chapter 17

Shock and Awe and a Maze

Dean slowly made his way along the path that Sam made for him. Happy that the giant Merp didn't just pick him up and drop him off wherever he felt like it, that Sam was listening to his requests. At least, the easy ones. Baby steps.

Now that he can communicate much easier, Dean is finding Sam to be just a bit more overbearing and mother henning than he first thought. Well, he assumed that Sam was holding him captive because he saw Dean as a pet and well, given the evidence, who wouldn't make that assumption?

Dean figured it wouldn't hurt to give Sam a little slack, seeing a few things from the giant's perspective. He's still not thrilled that, although his leash is gone, he is far from free. He might as well still be tethered to that thumb.

Dean glances up and over at the giant hand in question, as it's lifted to prop up an enormous head. The elbow plowing itself down into the silty ground under the weight of dozens of tons. A simple move, but intimidating nonetheless. Dean turned his attention back to his own elbows as they started to ache a bit from crawling along the ground. Using his leg tails as little as possible. Not entirely sure how he would even go about using them.

It almost feels as if he had been drugged - with the sense of…. He's not sure how to describe it really. Disconnect? Almost as if the legs are numb or like, he feels unattached from them. His inner thighs were getting sensitive like the skin was thinning there, where everywhere else it was getting thicker with the scales. Chafing was becoming a problem, even underwater. His shorts were starting to get real irritating on his newly sensitive skin. His legs must be growing in diameter as well, just enough that the leg holes were getting tight and uncomfortable. Dean will have to figure out new attirement arrangements.

The new nerve endings were growing and sending off new bits of info to tell Dean's mind where his new fins are, what the water feels like, and that his altered legs feel almost eager to move properly. Of course, who here can tell him what's proper for two long appendages that used to be human legs.

Sam would be a good asset if he could get past the brick wall in his head that is demanding that Dean should not trust him. It's not so easy. It's terribly complicated. He does sympathize a bit with Sam. At least a little, because it is true, Sam can't help being big. And in that respect, Sam can't help seeing Dean the way he is seen from the giant's perspective. Small and lost. In need of help. They both need guidance in figuring out this new dynamic between them.

But, Dean can't just get over his fear of him. And he probably should not ever get over it. Sam is dangerous. He is deadly. He's proven that, several times.

However… There's also something about how earnest he is. Especially when Sam apologized for everything that happened yesterday. Sam truly didn't seem like the type to go around killing intelligent beings for food or fun. So he should be safe here from being eaten. And probably safe from being considered a pet. He hopes.

Ignoring the part where Sam said so himself, he had also proven his consideration in many of his actions. At least, the actions after Dean came back and was able to speak the same language. Before that, it's up to interpretation for what his actions and deeds were supposed to mean. Dean figures if he asked, Sam would tell the truth. He didn't seem to lie before. Well, the one lie about the rope leash. How Sam pretended to not understand Dean when he wanted the rope around his leg cut off.

Dean does have to consider that he might have done the same thing. If, back at Bobby's, he found a new fragile tiny person that didn't know how the world worked. Ignorant of all the hidden dangers. Cats, dogs, and other threats. Dean would of course think they needed help… It's not too far-fetched to imagine himself grabbing a tall shoebox with some hand towels and tissues lining it and keeping the tiny person locked away, safe and sound. Or more apt analogy, if he found a tiny Mer in a puddle of water somewhere. Grabbing a bucket and eventually making a nice aquarium for the little guy to live in. Unwilling to re-release him into a pond that might have dangers lurking about. Ignoring the Mer's cries to be released.

Ok now Dean's feeling a little sick to his stomach with that visualization. Knowing that it was true.

Sam's past experiences tell him that the worst things on Earth are coming from up above, not the ocean below. The ocean Sam knows and is able to navigate and keep Dean safe. It would be a hard sell to convince Sam that the world above isn't all bad, because let's face it. Human life is tough. If you're not one of the 1%ers then you're basically fucked in one way or another.

Maybe tooling around in the ocean isn't such a bad way to spend your time. Every one of Dean's past lives was hard. And it seems to only get worse and worse. Sure he's had some great moments in the past, in most of his lives, but, is he willing to condemn Sam to a very long lifetime of loneliness to return to it for good? Ignoring the whole - never breathing air again thing, can he do that? It's not even touching on the fact that Sam will go crazy before long if he doesn't have someone around to keep him sane.

He might not have liked Sam in the beginning much, but he's starting to grow on him. And what kind of shit thing would that be to do that to someone that just wants to clean up the ocean and save everyone? Dean included?

Dean's out here wanting the same thing.

Dean decided to give Sam a break. A chance or two. They are gonna navigate this thing together. As partners. They need to.

Dean snapped back to the present and got out of his head as he rounded the last of the boulders. He saw two long rows of boulders greet him at the end of the path Sam made. Flipping his leg tails around to prop up his torso better, sitting on his butt to rest his arms from the strain. He dusted off his hands of the silt and sand and peered around, wondering what this was supposed to be. All he sees are two long and tall stacks of rocks. Is this some kind of avant garde art made by the Mer nerd?

Best to humor the giant that has full control over his life. "This looks nice." He went for a non-judgmental tone, hoping it was convincing, and grinned up at Sam.

Sam beamed at the mild praise and at how Dean stopped complaining so much. He'll take what he can get to win Dean's approval. Baby scoots.

"This is just the beginning. Go on!" his tail flipped about happily behind him, kicking up a lot of silt and sand but he just couldn't help it. Dean was engaging!

"Go where?" Dean asked, looking up at the pile and putting a hand on it. Unsure what he was supposed to do here.

"Go through!" Sam exclaimed and moved a hand over to the spot in front of Dean and made it look like it was a fish swimming. "It's supposed to be a kind of path puzzle." he explained and wanted so badly to scoot Dean into it.

"Path puzzle?" Dean leaned into the spot where the hand was just at and sure enough, the path split ten feet in. "A maze?"

"What?"

"Maze, it's uh, well I can't really explain it. There's many paths but only one will get you through to the other side?"

Sam thought about it and smiled widely, "Yes! You've seen them before?"

"Yeah, for rats." Dean muttered and sighed. Of course Sam wouldn't see how demeaning this is. He looked back up at the excited and eager face of the giant and shrugged. It's not like he has anything else he can do under that watchful eye. And, it would go a long way to earning a bit of trust and hopefully some leeway. To show he's a good sport about being captive.

Dean wasn't exactly looking forward to army crawling the whole way through. He shook out his arms and flipped back onto his front again and started to crawl anyway.

"Oh, uh, I was hoping…" Sam trailed off, frowning.

"What?" Dean paused and asked over his shoulder.

"It's just, this was supposed to help you learn how to swim. With your tails."

"Oh." Dean looked up and around at the tall walls. "How?"

Sam thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "I don't have two tails, so it will be a little hard for me to relate to that, but I built in some fun obstacles in there!" and smiled widely before it fell a little. "You don't like it."

Well now Dean felt a little bad and decided to hell with it and started to scoot forward towards the left side, experimenting with holding onto the large rocks on that side and trying to get his legs to flip the fins up that used to be his feet. Walking wasn't entirely out of the question but it just didn't feel as organic any more. His feet were much much wider and longer and flatter than they were before and it was made comically overdone. With Dean having these tails that were longer than the tallest man's legs. He growled at the awkward angles of them and using his hands tried to straighten himself out upright, ending up over correcting his arching back aimed backwards and went ass end over teakettle. His butt hitting the sand behind himself. He flailed around a bit more from trying to right his legs and ended up slamming them into the rocks instead. The tender new skin scraping harshly on the surfaces.

"Mother fucker!" he hissed and reached forward to grab the foot fin in question and rub at it. His hands used to be able to encircle his feet to soothe them but now he had to resort to pancaking his hands on the top and bottom to rub that way. Grumbling the whole while as the ache eased up.

He jerked his head up when he noticed movement from above and swallowed back a startled cry at how close two giant hands were from his body. "Stop!" he choked out and flailed about some more to get out from underneath the hands. Scraping his arms along the rocks in his attempt to scramble back.

Thankfully Sam recoiled his hands completely, with a worried look in his eyes beyond the digits.

"Sorry!" Sam quickly said and rubbed at his palms. "I was just trying to help!"

Dean grumbled and pushed himself around to lay on his side again before turning to sit on his butt and flip the legs out straight to examine if anything else got scraped against those boulders. If he was now bleeding somewhere that would have to be bandaged up before attracting sharks. Sighing out the frustration he had in his own disabilities, he waved a hand dismissively overhead. "It's fine. You didn't do anything wrong."

Sam waited for the 'but' to follow and was a little pleased that there was none.

Dean could already tell that he probably will need some kind of training wheels for this swim lesson. And, it would help if he had something softer than giant craggy rocks to fall against. Bracing himself for what was surely a bad idea, he waved for Sam to bring a hand forward. But Sam just sat still, hands still wringing nervously in front of his chest, elbows still propping up the rest of the massive body.

Dean was happy that Sam wasn't so eager to get handsy again, if he's honest. It means that the big guy is taking his 'no grabbing' rule to heart so quickly. This meant that Dean had to clarify what he wanted. "Give me your hand, please." when it looked like Sam was confused he just waved again. "Put your hand here and help me out. If you want." he tacked on at the end.

Sam startled and looking at his hands he wrung them a few more times before lowering the one with the sheared claws to Dean. Palm side up like Dean's hand.

Dean flipped to his side and scooted closer, pleased that Sam moved his hand up next to him so he wouldn't have to crawl so far. Dean tentatively placed his relatively small hand onto Sam's thumb and used it like one would use a table and hoisted his upper half onto and over the thumb. His head aiming towards the upturned palm. Dean's legs went flipping underneath him to straighten out. Sam caught on and turned his hand ever so slightly so that Dean's belly was now half on the backside of his thumb and hand, helping him get upright. Dean wiggled around and turned his head to see how his legs were doing and grinned a little at how they were the right height over the ground to flip without touching sand. Surprised at how strong they were when he put a bit of force behind the kicks.

Sam noticed if Dean pushed any harder with his tails he would shoot right over his hand so he gently moved it along underneath Dean's body that was no longer draped fully over his hand. Dean had an iron grip on the thumb and was happy that Sam could figure out what he needed.

Sam allowed Dean to 'swim' at an angle while supporting his upper half, moving along to allow Dean to feel what the water is like if he were to angle his fins one way or another.

"Training wheels," Dean chuckled. "Or more like one of those baby walkers."

Sam smiled despite not knowing what a couple of those words meant. He got the jist of it. "So I'm helping?" he had to make sure he wasn't doing anything wrong.

"Yeah, uh, it's working alright." and considered that Sam couldn't move his hand along any further. So Dean leaned forward again over the thumb - letting it support his full weight and said, "Move me back to your side so I can go forward again."

Sam was thrilled and very slowly moved Dean backwards as far as his arm could comfortably go, and watched as Dean straightened his arms again and looked past Sam's hand to just barely see the ends of his feet from underneath the hand. Experimenting with different leg kicks and fin angles until he felt confident enough to only hold on with one hand to the giant thumb underneath himself. Waving his free hand around to feel out the water and how he might need his hands to swim and course correct.

Sam had to move his hand back to the start many times before Dean took a breath and looked up at Sam's face above him. Nearly forgetting that he has an observer. So focused on his task of swimming with permanent flippers. Finding it much easier to put his legs closer together. Dean said, "Ok, now, uh hold your hand palm up and I'm gonna try and swim without grabbing on. You just make sure I don't fall face first into the ground."

Sam was biting his lip and nodded, and just a bit too quickly he moved it around. Eager to see how Dean swims. If it had been altered from the swimming he'd done with the tails he had before the accident. So far, it seems to be working well enough for Dean. Adding strength to the tail flips and getting him further and faster than before.
It was very different than any other Mer Sam had seen before and he was taking his own observations for suggestions later on, if Dean asks. It was too bad that Dean didn't have the long dorsal fin or any arm fins. So his swimming is already hampered but the little one seems to be working out this problem on his own. Remembering back to learning how to swim without one of his own fins. The one the shark destroyed. How Sam had torn the fins off of his dinner fish to see how they adapted their movements. To get a better understanding of how the body should work. Of course, everybody's form is different, and as much as Sam wants to help, this is on Dean to figure out for himself.

Dean placed his body flat on Sam's upturned hand and pushed off with his hands and where his knees used to be to get a bit of distance above the safety net hand. He waved his hands around and pushed and pulled at the water with surprising success. Legs moving at a sedate pace at first then finding a kind of rhythm to work with where instead of trying to swim like he used to with one leg after the other, it was both moving simultaneously, side by side and he was happy that it was a good choice since the water didn't have to drag against the moving parts. It was far more streamlined and he found himself almost swimming past Sam's hand, seeing it move faster ahead of him to make sure he wouldn't fall.

Dean had trouble stopping however and needed Sam's hand there to lift up and stop the forward momentum. He rested against the cushioned surface and flipped around belly side up to look up at the smiling face hovering above. "Dude, thanks."

"You're welcome." Sam's grin was radiant. "Wanna do it again?"

"Absolutely." Dean smirked and waited for Sam to carry him back over and noticed that the rest of Sam's body had moved along with Dean so that the first swim wouldn't end sooner than Dean was ready. They went on like that for hours before Dean needed a rest. His legs were wearing out faster than he knew it.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah. Just. Tired." Dean panted and realized that he was still sitting comfortably in Sam's hand. "Is this ok?" he gestured to the hand and himself.

"Yes. I quite like it." Sam said honestly and made Dean blush a bit at the honesty. Reminding himself that Sam probably hadn't even touched another intelligent being since he was a child. Humans will actually die from being touch starved as babies, and go a little crazy and have violent mood swings even as adults if there is no physical touch. Poor guy is probably soaking up this contact and is happy that Dean isn't fighting it.

Dean decided he could trust Sam a bit longer and laid back in the hand that stiffened a lot under his slight weight. As if Sam realized how important this was and was concentrating on not moving a single muscle.

"Dude, it's OK. You can relax a bit.'' Dean said and elbowed the palm pad under himself. He could see how Sam struggled with himself to do as told and felt the hand twitch and jump many times underneath himself. Making him chuckle at the jarring motions. "I need a break, my arms are tired." Dean stated and put his hands behind his head to cushion it against the calloused fingertip pads.

Dean chuckled to himself at how Sam awkwardly moved to his side and then laid on his back in the sand. Half propping his massive body up on a pile of boulders. Finally coming to a rest with his wing fins helping keep himself at a comfortable angle. Finally, he laid the hand that was holding Dean down onto his lower belly, since it would be at a weird angle to try and have it rest higher or lower.
Dean was pretending to be resting but in actuality was watching how the big guy tried so hard to move all that mass of muscles and fins without jarring his hand much at all. He had to resist making any comments about it and just enjoyed this quiet moment.

Reminding himself over and over that Sam isn't here to hurt him. And that he doesn't see Dean as a pet being cuddled here on his belly. Dean did shift around a little though when curiosity got the better of him when he realized he never saw a belly button. Right. Eggs. Sam said that they hatched before and that implies eggs. Or cocoons.
Sam couldn't help but stare at the little one lounging on his hand. So trusting. If he put Dean over his heart the little one would be able to tell how fast it was beating and how much Sam loved being able to hold onto his brother. So many years alone. So alone. He was having trouble keeping his worries from showing. The insecurities that he's not gonna be enough for Dean. He can't worry so much otherwise he will prove Dean right in that he would rather hold Dean tight and never let go for the rest of his days. He will have to give Dean some leeway at some point. Dean's already proven that holding him in the literal sense makes him freak out. This is a good halfway point. Sam gets to lift Dean up from the ground, and if Dean *really* wanted to, he could swim off of his hand.

Sam had to resist the constant urge to stroke a finger along those two tails. To feel how smooth they look and test out their new flexibility. If they are like other fish he'd seen in the past. So far, he can only really think of a few kinds of fish from his youth, a fancy small fish that had stripes. They were absolutely tiny back then, and he's pretty sure he wouldn't have a chance at seeing them now beyond being colorful specks.

"What are you smiling about?" Dean asked with one eyebrow lifted.

Sam startled and in turn jostled Dean who grunted at the sudden shift in his bed. A guilty reaction if he ever saw one. But what could he feel guilty about?

"Nothing!" Sam's voice came out a little loud and he quieted immediately. "I was just thinking about your tails, how they look like the reef fish from when I was a child."

Dean propped his upper half onto one of Sam's fingers at the base, scooting back to be better supported by them as they naturally arched up. "Really? Which ones?"

Sam used his other hand to scratch at his scalp. "You might not have seen them."

Dean frowned, looking at his leg tails and the pattern starting to form on them, then stared back up. Sam's seen the whole ocean. Nearly every living species for the last 200 years. All the species that are now centuries long extinct. Dean's actually curious what rare species he's now taking after. Pride sneaking in at how nice his tails look to this creature that's been around longer than any living human soul. (Besides himself but that doesn't count since it's been in a few bodies) Sam must admire them which is saying something for someone who's literally seen it all under the water. Dean straightened up a bit and fanned out the fins, showing them off as if they are something he should be proud of.

Maybe they weren't such abominations after all.

Sam cleared his throat and said timidly, "A guppy."

Dean's mouth dropped slowly. Disbelief in every feature. "What?" he deadpanned.

"A uh. A guppy. A fancy one!" Sam added on when it looked like Dean didn't like that answer. "There were thousands around the corals where we grew up. Many types and colors. All of them are beautiful!" Sam felt like defending his observation a little since Dean didn't seem thrilled with the comparison.

Dean pursed his lips and sneered down at his legs. Making the splayed feet curl back together again to hide their shape. "A fucking guppy." he growled, new claws digging into the hand beneath him before he pulled back as he realized it was skin and not ground and Sam might feel that.

"I'm sorry! It's just what first came to mind. I happened to like guppies!"

"Yeah because they are cute and tiny and fragile?" Dean spat.

Sam's turn to purse his lips. Defensiveness turning to annoyance. "Things that are small have my respect too. Being small doesn't make them bad or inferior. And yes. I like guppies for a number of reasons. They are beautiful but resilient and protect their own in their shoals. Just like I like dolphins for those and other reasons. Or octopus or eels or starfish. Everything has a place. And everything is beautiful and deserves protecting." he said and watched for a reaction from Dean. On getting nothing back, no refute to his claim, he said calmly, "I want to protect everyone from the things that they can't defend themselves against. If they are up against something that is not natural. That does not belong here. Like those floating shiporboats."

Dean's anger fading quickly, he nodded after a moment. Understanding a bit where Sam might be coming from. It's not really fair to keep putting Sam's size up for ridicule and assume he thinks poorly of everything smaller than him. So he backed off, took a breath and sat back again. But he couldn't help folding his arms and tapping his fingers against his sides. Idly toying with his own gills without realizing it.

A few moments passed before Dean said, "It's not shiporboats. They are ships and there are boats. There are three words there."

"Oh." Sam relaxed a bit. "Which one is yours?"

"Mine is technically a sailboat. But the engine helped out in bad weather, or when the wind wasn't blowing. I could run it on just wind power."

Sam was fascinated and listened as Dean spoke about how boats work, trying to imagine what it must be like up there. He knew what wind was of course, watching the dolphins and whales as they leaped up into the air and the water sprayed in different directions. He just never figured it could be harnessed by the floating things. The boats.

Sam was grateful for the change in topic - figuring out that Dean likes to talk about things he's passionate about. And it looks like his boat is one of his favorite things. Sam made sure to compliment it throughout Dean's story on how he built it. Not quite understanding a vast majority of the things he was saying, but pleased that Dean was sharing all the same, and intuitive enough to notice when Sam wasn't following along. Dean started using his hands to help show what he means and when his voice was starting to falter, Sam gently raised his thumb and stroked it along one of Dean's tails to wordlessly say he doesn't have to continue. A small nod to show it's ok and Sam isn't gonna fault him for taking a break.

Sam saw how Dean grinned a little and nodded back. Turning his attention to the tail that Sam grazed with his thumb. Putting his own hands on it and inspecting them.

Dean could see how his legs could resemble a guppy's. Not happy with the comparison still, but it is apt. When looking at how big Sam is compared to Dean. and his coloration on his legs and forearms is starting to take a more mottled orange brown hue. Dappled and if the surroundings were right, a form of camouflage he might be able to use to his advantage.

Now that he was well rested, Dean figured he could try his new swimming techniques out on that maze that Sam formed. Likely built when he was asleep this morning. He also figured it was something he could do and rest his voice at the same time. Sure that Sam would have an eagle eye view of his progress - or lack thereof. Dean leaned over the hand to see Sam's stomach and the ocean floor far down below.

Logically Dean knew that even if he fell from this height, it wouldn't hurt whatsoever. He's already fairly buoyant as is. And if something as huge as Sam can stay suspended in the water with a few fin flips and wing flaps then it should be easy peasy for Dean to do the same. Still though, Dean's fear of heights would creep up on him in these instances and he found the view from up here a bit intimidating. One glance to Sam saw that the giant Mer person was following Dean's thought process.

"Did you want down?" He rumbled underneath Dean's spot.

Dean debated with himself but eventually nodded his consent. It would be faster and less humiliating to be simply ferried to the maze entrance than to crawl around on Sam's belly for a few minutes. Huh. Now he's wondering if the big guy is ticklish and if that's something he will have to spring on him at some point…

Distracted from his future prank, Dean dug his new claws into the hand as it lifted up and moved off to the side of Sam's body, as Sam himself half turned to his side to make the trip smoother. Dean was let down and hurried off of the hand and it waited for a moment more before turning palm side down and plunging into the silt as it now started to support Sam's upper half. Burying itself deep down with how many tons it was holding up. Dean couldn't stop himself from crab walking backwards as if Sam was going to collapse on him.

Sam made sure to move as slow as possible as he scooted himself back. Watching Dean the whole time and wilting at the continued fear in those little movements. Once Sam was far enough away he gently moved his hands to cross over in front of himself, and used his elbows to hold himself up to watch Dean. Hands, and especially claws, tucked carefully away.

Dean pretended to cough a little and shifted back to his belly and started to crawl again before catching himself. The whole point of the swim lesson was so that he wouldn't have to keep crawling everywhere. So he firmed his jaw and pushed up off of the ground and using his webbed hands and legs managed a fairly decent solo swim over to the maze entrance. Grabbing hold of the tall boulders and breathing deep at the exertion. His new leg muscles needed more training perhaps. Dean wasted no more time and entered the maze. Trying very hard to keep his body up off of the ground, but also from touching the rock walls. Twisting and turning around sharp corners and enjoying this challenge more and more.

Occasionally he'd cheat and look up at Sam to see his expression and where his eyes would dart to to hint at where he should go next. Sam caught on to the sneak and began to look down wrong ways and dead ends and even back towards the entrance.

Dean huffed to himself at the sly smirk on the face that showed up more and more and soon figured it was brotherly teasing. Smirking right back as he shook his head and stopped cheating. He took his time around some corners, practicing his legwork on getting the turn just right. Even going back to a few places where Sam made arches with long rocks. His feet fins kept on running into a rough patch and he had taken some more time on that spot to teach himself how to move faster and how to angle his fin spined toes.

Sam was starting to get a bit concerned when Dean was taking a long time to get around one corner. Wondering if Dean had hit his head somewhere and was confused on which way to go. He wanted to intervene but it didn't look like Dean was in too much distress. Pretty confident that Dean would ask for help if he really was stuck at this one corner. Sam's hands clawed at his own forearms in agitation the longer Dean spent there. He couldn't stand it anymore and raised his hand and arm over the maze and pointed where Dean needed to go to get out of that spot.

Dean startled at the massive shape that appeared overhead and dove for cover under the arch before he fully saw what it was.

Sam pulled his hand back quickly and smiled with some pride at how well Dean hid from the assumed danger. "That way might work for you."

Dean peeked out a little and up at Sam who jutted his chin in one direction. Creeping out of his hiding spot and looking at the path ahead. "Right." he said and shook himself out. He'll have to practice more later.

Dean found it amusing that there was not a Minotaur skulking around this maze, but a Merman. Wondering at the sight this would have given Thesius if the Greek dude had a shittier time than he originally had. Dean's pretty confident he could have talked Thesius down from a beheading… but just to have some fun, Dean pretended to be avoiding detection from a human that would be hell bent on killing the Loch Ness' nephew.

Sam wanted to ask why the little one was suddenly acting so weird all of the sudden but let him be, it was very amusing to watch Dean hide and dodge invisible attackers. Like his old friends used to do. Play hunting.

Dean's playing helped him actually swim better and better. Going stealthily along different paths and checking for intruders every few moments and all too soon he found what he figured was the end. A neatly built ramp up and out of the walls of the maze. He rested at the peak of the ramp and looked around at the ground some 30 feet down. A very deep pit was dug out of the ocean floor there. Dean was wondering what it was, if anything, at the end that he was rewarded with as a prize. Usually these things had a goal for the rat maze.

Sam jolted and remembered late that the prize wasn't there. He'd been working on it while Dean was sleeping. "Oh!" he turned to his side and grabbed his little bundle and brought it over, dumping it down on the ground and off a little ways from Dean's perch and a bit beyond the pit. Sam wanted to show it off better. "I made this for you!" and presented it with both hands as his wings beat to keep himself from settling onto the ground.

Dean squinted through the disturbed silt and his grin turned to awe. He had no idea that Sam's kind were capable of making things from scratch. It should have been obvious with how intelligent Sam is but for some reason, having not seen anything so far, Dean assumed that he simply had no need for physical objects to be made. Like whales and sharks, he was equipped well enough to take down his prey for food, to make nests in the surrounding landscape for temporary beds - like other sea life that stay on the ocean floor. Dolphins are smarter than humans and even they never really build anything out of their surroundings.

This was something that wasn't made for quick temporary use. Dean was impressed with how well it was crafted - given the medium. It was a very large sheet made out of kelp strands. It looked quite thick and he admired how sturdy the thing looked. It was unfinished at one side and saw Sam turn that end under the rest, biting his fangs on his lip.

Sam stammered a little, "I am not quite done with it. I saw that your floatin- your ship has something similar attached to the top. The sail?" Smiling wide at Dean's encouraging nod. "And - And I thought you could maybe possibly use this as well? Once it's done!" he brushed his finger pads along the finished side and fiddled with the frayed end that started losing some of its stability and was unraveling. "Oh no." Sam frowned and immediately set about weaving the end together, tying knots in one end and reaching over to thread in more kelp strands. Dean was fixated on the motions and just watched the gigantic fingers work away at something that would appear as a thin string to the giant. Sam got a bit flustered at how long it was taking and pushed it aside. "I'll finish it soon." half covering it with his hands. He wished he finished it on time. What a poor gift.

"That. Is. Badass!" Dean exclaimed and was about to launch himself off of the cliff when something else caught his eye down there. It was shiny and definitely man-made. On closer inspection, it appeared to be his sea anchor. It looks like it came loose from the chain it was attached to. Fuck. something else he'll have to fix. With his tools God knows where. That's a problem for later, if ever. There were so many more pressing things to think about now.

"Show me how you're weaving that. Have you done that often? What do you use them for? Do you use other materials? What other materials can you use down here? Is there some kind of plant life that doesn't rot underwater?" Dean was a fountain of questions and without thinking, pushed himself off of the ledge and swam down to Sam's down turned hands a hundred feet away. Landing with a small oomph and launching himself the rest of the way to push at Sam's fingers to uncover the sheet.

"This is incredible! Did you teach yourself? Where did you learn this? Is it instinctual like a bird building a nest?"

Sam just blinked at all the questions and felt a blush coming on. "My mother taught us. When I was small I made many bags to carry fish and supplies in. I can uh, I can teach you if you like?"

Dean's smile grew even wider, "Yes please!" wishing that he had some way to record this. Of course Sam didn't see why this was so amazing himself, Dean owned things that were incredible and complex. But at seeing how excited the little one was, he couldn't deny the small swell of pride in himself at the praise. He uncovered and laid the sheet out for Dean's approval and his heart beat with fondness at how Dean stroked his itty bitty hands along the strands, testing how strong the work was and Sam was beaming with delight at all the little sounds his tiny brother was making at how strong the simple sheet was.
Sam said, "As soon as I find a kelp field I can have enough to show you some of the designs I used to make when I was your size. I'm sure it could fit your ship in it."

Dean's eyes went wide and glanced over to his ship in the distance. Hot Damn. "Would it fit? Wouldn't it tear right through?"

Sam chuckled. "If I make it thick enough, I can carry your ship from one end of the ocean to the other, without losing a scrap."

Dean's mind was swimming with possibilities. Maybe this was it. This was the answer to a question he pushed aside at the start. He assumed that his ship was grounded for good and any hope of getting it home again was in vain. But, if what Sam promises is true, he could just have the giant haul it on back home. Ask him to push it up on the shore and have Bobby take it from there.

A cold chill ran up his spine at the reminder that he will have to face humanity again. Like this. A monster. Forgetting in his excitement that he made a message in a bottle asking for help if the recipients were able to decipher the message right.

Dean decided to shut down that entire line of thought. Refusing to think about it any further. Focusing on the here and now and the massive discovery that Mermaids knew how to weave and were inventive enough to make bags and satchels.

Thankfully Sam didn't notice his plans and subsequent panic and was continuing on with instructing Dean how to make his own bag using sea grass to start. Distracted when Sam lifted himself up and pointed out the area where the kelp grew nearby.

"Did you want to swim there now? Wait. You must be worn out. We can go later." Sam had to keep himself from grabbing Dean and showing him the kelp fields. Itching to show which ones worked best for weaving and crafting.

Sam settled back, keeping himself from bullying Dean into moving around too much for the rest of tonight. He needed the time to recover and heal from those bumps and scrapes that his fins got from the boulders. Sam was chastising himself for not smoothing them all out beforehand but on consideration decided it is what it is. Dean wont have all smooth surfaces to navigate his whole life. The little one is going to encounter more rough edges than not and it's best to adapt now while Sam is nearby and watching.

Sam motioned for Dean to settle back and was glad he did so without too much coaxing. "I'd like to tell you about our kind some more, if you want?" Sam knew it was something Dean seemed inordinately interested in and that it would keep the little one in place and entertained at the same time. Letting the strained muscles heal as well.

Dean couldn't believe his luck and nodded until his neck hurt. "Absolutely! Tell me everything! Where did your kind come from? Where do you go if you decide to find mates or when food gets scarce. How have you dealt with the changing water temperatures?"

Sam felt himself think back to the stories his parents told him when he was a child. Seeing Dean here, helped him remember things he thought he long forgot. His mind activating the more he had someone to talk to. To sing with. Dean had shared a few tunes and Sam was able to share some of his own that he learned from his mother and then later his pet whales. But not only that, Sam had a few thoughts come to him that seemed like they were from much longer ago than his own lifetime. It was odd at first but started to feel more natural as he let the memories come. Somehow knowing that it was from his parents' time. At first he could feel the impression of shapes and as he spoke about them they became more and more clear in his mind. Dean seemed to be prompting him but his small voice was nearly lost in the memories that started off as a trickle and ended with a crashing wave.

Dean didn't know exactly what was happening to Sam. The big guy started off with early childhood memories then his huge hazel eyes were starting to go a little unfocused and he started mumbling about giant shapes in the deep. His voice was purring and rumbling. Pulled from the depths of his soul and beyond. Sam spoke of other Mers that were around him and talking as it was from someone else's body. Someone else's memories. Dean was captivated and noticed that Sam would trail off with a distant look in those eyes that sometimes contracted and vibrated.

Dean prompted him a few times and heard the voice come out a bit stronger as he described what could only be a Mer pod and a family. One that was moving from place to place due to their previous habitat being polluted by something.

Dean suddenly realized that this story wasn't about that pod Sam ran into a hundred years back, but a different one. Much much earlier. Sam spoke as if he was part of the scene he was describing. From what he said earlier and the clues Sam was giving it must be from his parent's lives. But, not from stories his parents told. It was their memories Sam was repeating.

Elated, Dean kept on asking simple questions, who was there, what they looked like, what the surroundings looked like, why they did what they did. And every time, Sam would respond with the facts first and then the feelings behind it. It looked like he was in a hypnotic trance as he spoke and his whole gigantic body kept listing to the side until he finally blinked rapidly and laid himself out on his belly. Vibrating softly in the sand. Hand and fins twitching here and there randomly.

Dean was scared this was some kind of stroke or seizure so he quickly swam over to Sam's face. Unsure what to do exactly but knowing he might need help.

Dean pushed his small clawed hands on Sam's cheek and the eyes came back into focus in on him. Blowing out a few deep breaths and blinking dazedly at Dean who was a bit too close to see properly. Dean gave him some space when Sam took a breath and held it, motioning that Dean was too close and should back up.

Only when he was a sufficient distance away, did Sam continue. "Our pod elders moved from our previous territory to the new trench. We were able to raise more kids there and flourished as the ocean stabilized. The elders told the rest that they were the leaders now and that everyone else had their own place in the pod. Gathering food for the kids and the weak. Sending scouts out to make sure predators kept their distance as well as rival pods. Our pod stayed there for several centuries, migrating a few times a year with all of their best fighters just to make sure our territory was kept safe from the titans."

Dean didn't like the idea that Merpeople would be scared of monsters even bigger than them called fuckin Titans. He saw that Sam was starting to doze again and knew that the best way to get info was to keep on asking questions. This was all golden information and Dean wished like hell he had some way of recording it. He repeated a few things under his breath to help himself remember.

Sam told Dean the known history of the pod and up to the day when his parents decided to leave their home pod and raise a family of their own. Here, it seemed like Sam was having trouble with the link as big goopy tears started to form in his eyes. Sam was coming out of the trance the more he struggled to remember something and blurted out, "I don't remember their names!" burying his head blindly in his forearms and nearly crushing Dean in the movements. Dean had to scramble back quickly and his heart was racing as he saw and heard Sam cry into his arms.

"Who's names?"

"Our parents." Sam nearly blubbered. Eyes coming to focus a bit better as he slowly realized Dean's voice was the loudest he'd ever heard it without Dean shouting or screaming. Meaning he was very close. Sam shot his head up and looked around himself wildly for the small body and soon found Dean scrambling backwards a little ways.

"Are you OK now?" Dean's worried tone shifted to fear. "You aren't gonna go all catatonic on me, are you? You're safe, Sam. It's OK." Dean righted himself and instead of swimming, crawled a little forward to get back to Sam's arms that were trembling under his head. Resting his hands and his own small arms on the larger ones. Dean's tails draped along one of Sam's arm fins on his forearm. Feeling how sturdy it was but smooth to the touch.

"Sam? You were kinda scaring me there. I thought you were having a seizure. What do you do for seizures?" he said the latter to himself. "Make sure their head is cushioned and that they don't bite their tongue?" glancing at Sam's watery eyes and then the giant mouth only a dozen feet in front of him. Large enough to swallow Dean whole if he wanted.

That old fear reared its ugly head in Dean's mind, making him swallow his thoughts. Tongue feeling like lead and his voice coming out a little strained. "I hope you're with me now?"

Sam frowned and half hid his face behind his arm again, quickly wiping off his eyes on the back of his other hand, trying not to jostle Dean on his perch. Speaking behind his arm again, "I'm fine. I'm sorry I scared you again."

"I'm not scared of you, I'm scared for you." Dean huffed.

That got a confused eyebrow raise from Sam and a dubious look soon after. "Sure."

Dean frowned right back in irritation but decided to leave it for now. He was just starting to get some questions answered before Sam came out of his trance. "What was it that you were saying before you stopped? It's OK if you don't remember your parents' names. I get it. It was a long time ago." Dean had to admit that he couldn't exactly remember his great grandparents' names and that was just a couple human lifetimes ago, Sam was trying to remember back centuries. It's understandable considering Sam was a young boy at the time. Only referring to them as 'Mom' and 'Dad'.

Sam's eyes lifted from Dean to stare out at the dark ocean beyond. Those hints of colors and memories coming back timidly as if they'd scatter if he tried to focus too hard. "My parents wanted to leave their pod. Uh… This is so strange, I can remember the events from both of their eyes. I can see Mom looking at Dad and Dad looking at Mom. Them talking about leaving and that it was that night. Mom was putting the sight of their whole sleeping pod to memory. I believe she goes back to that memory often and it's why it is so clear for me… I guess. Dad looked at Mom hugging her very large Mom and then the tiny little ones. The babies and adolescents of the pod. I remember thinking how cool it was that the kids were giving us a gift for our journey to a new place. A coil of kelp rope that must have taken the little ones weeks to make."

Sam continued on with his story and now that it was within his own parent's memories they were much clearer than the memories from his distant ancestors. The communal memories that came from over a dozen lifetimes spread out between dozens of Mers. Going back not just centuries but many thousands of years. Ages.

Dean was able to superimpose his own information learned from school over top of the stories in a few places and wanted to fill in the blanks for Sam. The history of the Earth as Dean learned it, Subepoch and near Epoch eras of the Earth. Millions of years going to tens of millions of years. Evolution of life as humans understood it.

Dean now had to edit out humans from the equations that were assuming human ancestors came with the first wave of above water vertebrates. Thinking about a few of those early hominids and how they were probably just a sub species of apes that died out. Who knows. Perhaps apes would have evolved into their own version of human. Like how some plants and animals may look very similar but are actually from very different paths of evolution.

Dean will have to ask God again next time he dies. Dean hid a chuckle at the thought. Remembering his own previous 8 lives made him a little unhinged when it comes to the concepts of death it seems. Especially life after death and chit chats with the Lord Almighty and their sister entity Dean dubbed 'Nature'. For lack of a better descriptor.

Dean shook his head. Saving those ideas and theories for later. That there is a topic far too big to handle on his own tonight without a Priest, a Paleobiologist and a stiff drink.

He wanted some more info from Sam now - before the big guy falls asleep on him.

Sam seemed to switch the stories a few times, his eyes growing heavy the further back he drifted. Dean piecing together and prompting more events as he recalled his own conversation with the omnipresent beings.

The facts he now repeated to Sam about how humans came from Mers a long time ago after a great battle was fought between two pods. How the losers were not just banished from the trenches, but driven to the lands above water. Over the course of many years. Beaching the enemy time and time again until they were forced to evolve to survive above water or die. The lengths that the 'winners' had gone to to drive them out was ridiculous. Taking many lives and several generations.

Dean also drew on his own studies from not just school but his own research in all things ocean. How the waters used to be full of oxygen and theorizing that it helped the losing side adapt to the oxygen rich air above water. How hard it would be now to force Sam to suddenly breathe oxygen in the air. If he'd survive or not. The ocean only has so much oxygen in the water now, polluted as it is from human wastes and plastics killing off great swaths of areas.

Dean decided to keep that part to himself for now. Going instead to describe the different ages the Earth had gone through. Not just dinosaurs but the times before. The Cambrian explosion, where Dean assumes the first Mer peoples evolved. Just ahead of land vertebrates. Of course, not as they are now. Merps were probably different back then too. Sam had ten fins on his feet and humans have five toes. It's not too far-fetched to imagine those fins evolving into digits to scoot them along on land. Moving like seals at first, perhaps, then finding it more advantageous to get their bodies up off the ground, using the tail fins as tiny legs. Shifting them down to the ends of the tails and their bodies more upright. Escaping predators or reaching for the vegetation up in trees.

Since humans evolved on a different path than Sam's kin, he wouldn't have any idea on how it all happened. Dean wishes that humans had the same kind of genetic memory but he's coming up with bupkis. The only lives he remembers are his soul's own lives and nothing else of his land ancestors.

Dean suddenly and vividly remembered a passage from one of the Wiki articles he read on break while working in Bobby's garage. He felt the need to say it outloud, "During the Devonian period a great increase in fish variety occurred, especially among the ostracoderms and placoderms, and also among the lobe-finned fish and early sharks. This has led to the Devonian being known as the age of fishes. It was from the lobe-finned fish that the tetrapods evolved, the four-limbed vertebrates, represented today by amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds."

Sam blinked at his small friend, his young brother, as Dean himself seemed to come out of a slight trance. He cleared his throat a little and asked Dean to go on.

Dean was happy to show off what he learned on his own and Sam joined in a few times with the events that might have occurred at the same time in his world below by his ancestors.

Together, they pieced together the major events of the world as seen through Mer's eyes. It was exhausting and nowhere near complete but it made each one give the other mad respect for the exercise. It quite frankly wore them the fuck out.

Now that they were more or less done with the Cliff's Notes of history, they found themselves yawning more and more. Stomachs rumbling. Sam's louder than Dean's. Sam wiggled his arm and Dean got the hint to dismount from it. Gently swimming back towards his ship as Sam waited a few moments for his little brother to get far enough away before sitting upright again. Dusting off his side fins along his tail of all the silt that his fidgeting created.

Gathering up the sheet of kelp in his hands and turning it over to inspect it.

"I'll show you how my kind… our kind handmade bags in the past. I'm kinda remembering how it was done. It's fading… I don't know what that was but I feel more in touch with my kind than I had in a long while." Sam admitted, his sheared off claws grazing the sheet as carefully as he could. Folding it in half and looking over towards the kelp fields a short distance away. "It's almost like a dream I had, but I know I was awake." Sam sighed and looked down at Dean again who was looking at one of the strands of kelp that had come loose earlier and drifted on the ground.

"I can take you to the fields where I found these growing. I can show you how to do it by hand.'' Sam had a rough understanding from Dean what 'machines' were and how they ran and what they were used for and quite frankly didn't fully believe that there were so many machines for so many things. And kinda sad that humans felt the need to have so many machines taking over their lives. If they are this disconnected from nature to not see how their machines are destroying their own world. But. That's a discussion for another day. Today was full of discoveries and it left them both drained and in serious need of quiet reflection.

As much as Dean wanted to go look and learn those quaint methods of underwater textile makings, he admitted aloud how tired he was from the day's events, and his own body's continuing transformations. The inner side of his legs were feeling pretty raw now. He reluctantly waved his hand to get Sam's attention. "We can go first thing in the morning. Right now I am very tired and I think dinner is in order, then bedtime."

Sam grinned warmly at how adorable his tired little brother looked. "Of course, Dean." and let his body settle once again on the ground. He waited and watched as Dean made his own way to his ship. Pride poured off of him at the fact that Dean was swimming much more smoothly and not crawling over there. It was different to how Sam swims, and he studied the movements carefully. Learning them so that if something were to hurt Dean, he would be able to tell right away going by the movements of his fins and limbs. Sam had a feeling that Dean would try to hide illnesses from him, and Sam was determined not to let his tiny friend suffer a single moment.

Sam saw little Dean grab hold of the rail and haul himself up and over it and trace his hands along the ship's entrance to the hold. Carefully squishing his adorable feet fins together as he passed over the busted planks that made up the deck. Sam's pride at knowing what things were called on Dean's ship was tinged with regret for damaging it in the first place. Wishing he had the tools and know-how in repairing what he hurt.

Dean did have to crawl down the slanted stairs into his cabin and curl his feet around to keep from scraping on his belongings. Pushing the strewn objects and debris into closets and plunged into bags, storing them again since it seems as though a few opportunistic sea creatures decided to go snooping around. He shooed them out the door and wondered if he shouldn't be killing them and storing the meat for later. The thought turned his stomach a bit and he forced the notion aside. He decided to finish a few more of his preserved food stores on board. Knowing that they will turn soon enough in the water. Best to eat them now, quickly. So he finished off his breads, cereal, and perishables from the fridge. Glad that it's so cold down here that it didn't spoil nearly as fast. Of course, there's also the wrapped chunks of mola mola to consider.

Dean shrugged and kept eating till he was stuffed again and sleepy. Making his way outside again just to take note of what Sam was doing.

Sam meanwhile was gently placing the sheet over Dean's pile of things that they collected - covering it completely and grinning to himself with pride. Fussing with the edges and making sure it wasn't going to drift in the night.

Sam dug out his own crater of a bed from last night again and now used a part of the maze to form a more permanent bed-nest. Padding it with silt and sand and adjusting here and there. Once that was done he finished off the rest of the mola mola and since he could hear Dean eating inside, he decided a very very quick trip away to grab some more food was ok. That Dean won't miss him for that short amount of time. So he quietly lifted up and swam away. Worried that something would happen to Dean and wondering if he shouldn't move the boulder back in place over the entrance. Not to keep Dean in, but to keep predators out. He decided against it in the end, sure that Dean wouldn't see it as protection at all and they'd be right back to the start with Dean feeling like a pet… or worse.

Sam made sure to eat as much sea grass as he could and coughed a bit at the silt that came up with it in his haste. Snatching fistfulls and swimming hard and fast on back to the ship, beating his wings to the side to slow down his approach and divert the water currents that came barreling along with him. Dean didn't need a massive pulse of water shoving his ship around. Sam used his hands to wave around and further disperse the current and sighing in relief at the sounds of something puttering around in the ship. He had no idea what Sam had been up to. Taking a quick sniff to make sure that it was Dean in there, and not something else messing with Dean's things. Sam had to admit it was a bit paranoid of him.

"You OK?" Dean's voice came from within and Sam scooted back to answer without giving away how close he was just a moment before.

"Everything is fine. Have a good night! I will be right here if you need me. Shout and I will hear you." Sam smiled in encouragement but it soured. He just had to ask. "Did you want… and you can say no of course. I respect your privacy, it's not a question of that, and I do trust you! It's just…" Sam trailed off, fingers twisting.

"Spit it out." Dean said coming to the entrance and looking across the vast distance and Sam's body language.

"I was hoping that I could put the boulder back over your door." Sam said in a rush and even faster explained, "It's to protect you!" he practically shouted and quieted at how scared Dean looked at the sound level and then the admission. "There are still predators around here and I want to keep you safe while we are both asleep!"

Dean relaxed and was grateful that it seemed like that was the only reason for the barricade. Looking at his door frame and testing it out. "If that's the worry, it's OK, I have this door that I can use to block the entrance." and demonstrated how the door slides out from the side to lock into place. He had to bang on it a few times to make up for the dents Sam made in it but it was serviceable. He could tie it shut with the rope he's got here. He opened it again and waved a hand. "It won't keep you out, of course, but it will keep sharks and shit out. No worries, I got it covered. And I'm sure that you can hear anything that comes by anyway, so you just rest easy. I promise I will call for help if I need it."

Sam looked dubious at the door but kept his hands to himself. Knowing what Dean said was true. If he really wanted inside the cabin, he could rip the ship apart. But sharks and octopus and other predators wouldn't easily make it past. Seeing how Dean struggled to close it meant it must be secure. Dean was larger than most fish so he had no concern about them. And had to concede the point. Very very anxious that the amiable report between them was still good enough to keep Dean from sneaking off on him in the middle of the night. He had to make sure he slept lightly.

"Dean." Sam started with some measure of authority in his voice, "You are safer here with me than without. I know that you probably don't fully trust me yet. But I am trusting that you are smart enough to know what's best for you. And… that you know you are safe with me."

Dean's eyebrows shot up. He had been so tired he honestly forgot that this would be a great time to escape. But Sam was right. Escape where. Sam knows this place better than Dean does and really does care about him. So for tonight, he can admit he's grateful for the guardian.

"OK." Dean said and gave a thumbs up. Trying to reassure the giant that he's not gonna try anything tonight. "I won't go anywhere because you are right. There's things down here that wanna eat me. And I know now that you're not one of them."

Sam's relief filled the space between them. Relaxing every muscle. He wanted to believe the words but he couldn't emotionally let go. Even if Dean was telling the truth, there was always that possibility that it was partially a lie. Dean's so small Sam couldn't possibly see the tells of a lie. "I will keep myself from sleeping too deep, to keep alert for predators." he said and spun around in his nest so that he was facing Dean's ship.

Dean wasn't foolish enough to think that was the only reason Sam's not gonna sleep deep. But it was a compromise he could live with. Dean waved his hand over his head so Sam could see it. "Goodnight Goliath."

Sam grinned at the nickname - one Dean used a few times today. "Goodnight shrimp." and chuckled at the rock that flew in his general direction. Falling a few hundred feet shy.

The night quieted down as each found a comfortable position to sleep. Sam snuggled up amid the sand covered rocks and his own fins acting as pillows for his head and torso.

Dean, after some difficulty getting his long ass tail into a somewhat curled state as well, took a page from Sam's book and just used the ends of his tail as a pillow. Weird as fuck at the start, but more natural feeling as the minutes ticked on. He discovered that with a longer larger body, that his shorts were just too tight and decided to shuck them off overnight. Dean was pretty confident he could make a new pair out of his available clothes in the morning.

The shorts had to be cut off because they just wouldn't fit past his feet now that they are much wider than the bottom holes of his shorts. His half asleep mind coming up with a plan to use a toga like configuration. Or maybe a kilt with his bedsheets.

Dean shrugged and was settling into bed with a tired grunt. Using his blankets to pin himself down again on the bed that was getting smaller and smaller with every passing hour. Dean was now roughly 10.5 feet long head to tail. His tender leg tails are well toned and no longer showing where the original joints used to be. Blending in seamlessly and eerily resembling his fancy guppy visage. With the exception that there were two sides instead of one and the fins were arranged sideways instead of up and down.

Dean's sore muscles eased and relaxed and his body continued to change minutely all night long. Sleepy exhaustion tugging Dean way down into the deepest sleep of his life. Healing from another day of exertion and stress. Easing out into blissful slumber as his body neared the completion of his transformation. With just one teeny tiny major shift in anatomy during the night.

In the morning, he will discover more colored areas on his body than ever before. Beautiful hues of oranges and auburns. Faint spots of dappled deep greens between, and speckles like freckles all around to mimic pebbles on sandy beaches. Helping him in the future to hide from predators and prey alike. That part isn't so bad… Unfortunately, it's what his lower half will do that would be most distressing to him. Firmly setting him outside the title of 'human'.