You had blacked out when the CYOC staff had teleported you and now your slowly coming to. You can definitely tell that you're no longer in your apartment. You can feel sand underneath you and water all around you. You realize that you're underwater and you start to panic. You hold your breath without realizing that you had been breathing just fine. You open your eyes and push off the sea floor. You start kicking and become a little confused as your legs move in the same direction at the same time. You look down and see that instead of legs you have a fish tail. In a flash you remember the CYOC site and what had been done to you.
You remember that mermaids can breath underwater and that calms you down. You look around to see where you are. The water seems to be pretty warm so you must be some where in the Mediterranean like you had been told. Off to your right you can see what appears to be a cave. As you look you can see someone coming out of it. At first you couldn't tell if they were male or female as their red hair was shoulder length. As they came out you were able to see the broad muscled chest and arms. His lower half came out and you knew that he was a merman with his orange tail.
The merman swam right over to you. As he got closer you could see that he was carrying a crude spear. The spear frightened you but that was forgotten as you saw his face. He had a square jaw with no hint of hair on it and deep green eyes. At the sight of those eyes your heart gave a little flutter. You try telling yourself that what you felt was fear though you knew it was something else.
You had thought that he would come right up to you but that didn't happen. Instead he stopped a few feet away and pointed his spear at you. In a rich baritone he said "Identify yourself!"
You heart fluttered again and you stammered "I-I-I'm Ashirra." You had tried to say the name you had been born with but you couldn't.
"What are you doing here!?!" the merman demanded.
"I was sent here."
"Who sent you!?!"
"The staff at CYOC."
"Do not take me for a fool! Now who sent you!?!"
"I already told you, the staff at CYOC sent me here."
"DO NOT LIE TO ME! WHO SENT YOU!?!"
You were frightened now. He didn't believe you and he seemed to be getting angry. You manage to stammer "P-p-please believe me. I-I-I'm not l-l-lieing to you."
"I have never heard of a merclan by that name!"
"That's because they're not merpeople, they're humans."
You instantly realize that you said something wrong as he bellows "HUMANS!!!" In seconds three more mermen emerge from the cave and the first one knocks you down on the sea floor. All of them gathered around you and pointed their spears at you just inches away.
You're terrified now but manage to stammer out "W-w-what d-d-did I-I-I s-s-say?"
Instead off answering that question the first merman asked "When were you captured!?!"
You didn't understand what he was asking. It sounded like he was asking when humans had captured you but that couldn't be right. There has never been a merperson captured. You would have heard about it on the news. You decided that you had better answer before they skewered you. "I-I-I h-h-haven't b-b-been c-c-captured. I-I-I w-w-was a h-h-human b-b-before I w-w-was t-t-transformed."
"Ridiculous!" one of the other mermen said. "I say we kill her now before the humans come."
You are really frightened now. It seemed that your new life was about to be cut short. You looked at the first merman which seemed to be in charge and pleaded for your life with your eyes as you couldn't speak. He narrowed his eyes and you thought that this was it. Instead he said "Get up slowly!" You obeyed his order and got up very slowly, the other mermen drawing back their spears enough to allow you to get up.
Once you were up the first merman said "I am going to look your body over now. Do not make any sudden movements or you will be killed."
You felt like you had to say something so you said "O-o-ok."
The first merman put his spear down and began looking over your body. He lifted your arms to look under them. He looked closely under your breasts and even ran his hands over them like he was looking for something. He kept looking over your body for a few minutes. Finally he was done and he said "Lower your staffs! I believe that she's telling the truth. I could not detect any of the marks of the human things."
"Are you sure Tonak?" one of the other mermen said.
"I am sure Bannor" Tonak said. "I will take her to the elder to see if she will be allowed to stay with us. I will send Cosson to replace me. Now resume your places!"
The other mermen quickly swam back into the cave. When they did Tonak picked up his staff and said "Please come with me. I am taking responsibility for you for now so do not wander off. Stay right with me. If we should become separated just stay where you are and I will come back for you. Do you understand?"
You weren't going to go exploring without him anyway, not if you would be facing more mermen with staffs. You nod your head and say "I understand."
"Good. Come with me now."
He starts swimming toward the cave and you follow.