Merfolk are beautiful, ethereal beings. The leaders of the sea, with half fish and half human bodies that many humans yearned for a mere sight of. Their scales sell for millions, so they are often hunted down due to human greed.

You were one of the few of your kind that had the desire to go close to the shore, to watch for any humans and explore the ruined ships in the reefs after a specially destructive storm. You like to collect the objects they considered daily utensils, such as jewellery, kitchenware, and especially books.

After a cyclone tore through the harbour, thick, rolling clouds causing havoc on the abandoned island near your underwater home. Hoping that the large waves had washed up any wrecks or debris onto the coast, you rifled through the reefs where you found many odd trinkets that caught your attention. Your favourite being a pocket watch nestled in between some coral.

As the storm started to subside, a spark of movement caught your eye. A shipwreck had been dragged in, reduced to pieces by the rocky reefs. There were no survivors other than a man that was rapidly sinking, caught under a beam of steel that had been thrown by the ruthless waves, the human unable to swim away without the nimble fins merfolk wore. You hesitated, unsure of whether to assist or not, your instincts reminding you of how humans hunted your kind mercilessly. Yet, your heart saw a person in need.

You swiftly dove under the beam, dragging him from the clutches of the metal, heaving him with effort as you hauled him onto the damp beach. Crickets chirped, the wind whipped in a breeze, the air smelling of rain and decaying leaves. The storm had passed, but his survival was uncertain as he lied there.

Eventually, he gasped, taking a deep breath as he coughed the water from his swollen lungs. His eyes slowly opened, your inquisitive face the first thing he noticed.

“I… what?”