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Thank you Murgy.  I'll change those.  I appreciate your input.

Chapter One

 

A creamy, almost-white toned hand gently caressed the top of her wrist, lightly arrousing her from a deep slumber.  Feeling unbelievably vulerable at that moment, Mia shot up to a sitting position, jerking her hand from the touch and swiveled her head to its owner before contemplating her surroundings.  Pulling his hand back and smiling mischieviously, the boy, who appeared to be a mere two years younger than her, shook his head.  Silvery-white hair fell around his face without grace, giving him a shaggy look.  His skin, almost egg-white, glistened with droplets of seawater.  A wide-set of almond eyes observed her, irises a deep, ruby red.

 

"Adoren," He stated, tilting his head slightly and shifted his lower body.

 

Mia blinked, "Wha-"

 

Then she saw it.  Where the boy's legs should have been was a graceful, elongated fish tail.  The scales layering it couldn't be counted as a pink, but rather some sort of a pale red.  Breath hitching in her throat, she attempted to inch back only to realize that her knees were apparently glued together.  The moment that feeling of her legs being glued together came to her, she shut her eyes.  Her body quaking in fear, she heard the boy chuckle, and the frightening image of the fish tail emerged into her mind.  Then, the memories came.  

 

First there was the ship...something gone wrong, and the crew ordering pas-sengers to leap into the lifeboats.  Mia had been terrified, observing the long drop and the lapping water below.  There had surely been enough lifeboats, but the panic that overwhelmed her as she stared at the sea pumped through her veins to the point of driving her insane.  The lifeboat closest to her was her pas-sage to safety, and everyone knew it.  However, only one seat remained on it, and it was supposed to be hers.

 

Mia gladly would have leapt into it, despite her fears, and not have to leap into the water.  What stopped her was the sound of two cries- one of a young woman, and the other of a startled child.  At first, she could only locate the woman- a member of the lifeboat she was about to board, she sat on her knees, eyes reaching out for something.  Following the woman's gaze, Mia's eyes fell upon a lone child, literally bawling her eyes out.  The child didn't know where to go, only knowing that danger seperated her and her mother.  Though it pained Mia to do such a thing, she gently grasped the child and allowed her to take her seat on the boat.

 

The next lifeboat Mia gladly would have waited for...if only she hadn't been shoved off the ship.  Standing by the edge wasn't the safest thing to do, even if the railings were up.  In a frenzy, people jostled each other around in a hurry to arrive at a lifeboat before they were in anymore danger.  Amongst the chaos, one had elbowed her roughly, causing her to stumble a bit and reel over the edge.  Emotions surged through her, fear and shock among them, as she careened through the cool air.  Mia's state of shock had been broken the moment she hit the water, and of course, for some reason, that was when she lost consiousness and had startling dreams.

 

"Jeez," The boy's voice brought her out of her whirlpool of memories, "Nearly everyone is a complete mess of either verbal or silent hysterics when they found out.  Ever heard the saying just go with the flow?  What's happening is what's happening."

 

Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes again, "What now?"

 

Continuing to smirk, he shook his head, "Why don't you look at your...legs?"

 

"I think I already can as-sume what I'll see," She snapped, trying to hide her fear, "God."

 

"Why as-sume?  Just stare at the truth already," He laughed, but his laughter didn't hold any hint that he was attempting to be cruel.

 

 

*UNFINISHED*

 

I'm going to go frolick in the snow.  When I come back, I'll finish this chapter.