Merfolk were quite the rumor among the communities by the sea. It was said that their presence could bring unimaginable prosperity or despair, depending on what sort of merfolk moved into your area. Some were spiteful towards humans, others indifferent, but there wasn’t a single merfolk who would say that they wanted to meet a human. The ones that had, well, they weren’t often heard from again. The humans, they knew, prized the creatures, especially because of their ability to twist the essence of life around them. There was a substance in every object that the merfolk could use to preform magic. When one of the folk used their abilities, the lines marked into their bodies at the time of adulthood glow a majestic array of colors. It was always said that you could tell a merperson was around your area when you saw strange lights at night…<br/><br/>However, for many years, Stathford had not been on the merfolk map. They had never seen special lights at sea or caught anything unique in a net. No, Stathford just hadn’t been an attractive place for a colony to settle into. The light wasn’t quite strong enough for much of the year, and the water was relatively cold. The coral beds that merfolk enjoyed didn’t quite grow so well here, which meant that Stathford wouldn’t need to worry about a sudden typhoon or twister sweeping them away. The ocean would always move in and out normally, unless a storm was brewing. Nothing sudden, nothing terribly destructive; quiet and safe. Whatever possessed this merman to come along to the town was unknown. He had been following the coastline for some time, his dark form keeping him hidden in the murky waves. He had not yet been spotted, and he acted as such, staying near the bottom but swimming with no great hurry or concern.<br/><br/>There was a sudden and great splash as something came tumbling into the dark waters. The fins on his body stood up as he sensed the weight; a human and some debris crashing down. He was cautious, swimming carefully as his eyes went wide. A merman could see much more clearly than any human, and even in this darkness he could make out the form of the woman. She was dressed quite unconventionally—most of the women covered themselves up in big dresses, while this one seemed to be wearing a man’s clothes. As he got closer, he realized she wasn’t moving, and contemplated the frailty of life for a moment as he hung there in the water, watching her sink down slowly. He had always been told never to interfere with the humans, even if they were dying. That was the way of the world, the desire of the Gods… But something was eating at him, and he could not leave her there in the silt of the bottom. His hands reached out, and with a quick flick of his tail, he pulled her towards the beach, closer to the surface. He worked carefully, aiming to get her back onto land without beaching himself. He had to give her body a bit of a shove to get it up on the beach, with the waves lapping against her boots.<br/><br/>He stared at her unconscious form a bit longer as he backed out of the shallows a short ways, his tail coiled under him to help push his body. He had heard that humans were wicked to even their own kind, and leaving her on the beach like that… Well, again, a desire he couldn’t explain compelled him to do something. The markings on his body began to glow as he reached his hands forward, twisting them around in the air. Blue spheres began to appear around his fingertips, and the water that clogged her lungs was soon floating up and out of her, right out of her nose and mouth. It formed a bubble above her, which was then cast aside, sinking into the sand harmlessly. That would help, he hoped… His lines were glowing all the colors of the rainbow, just as the legends said.<br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Wanted something a bit more exotic than usual... This really has a good feel for "magic."<br/><br/>(http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs32/f/2008/214/7/f/7fee20e423d921d28aa14cdb3ce4e9f1.jpg)</div></div>