Shiny Black Scales

[Gil Fisher]

Gil had been swimming in large pond, you could also call it a small lake though, not far from the Fury Circus. There was a trail leading to it from the back of the circus where everyone lived, which is how he got to it in the first place. He had been enjoying his swim. He needed it after his foster mother had tried to hook him up with some girl who had just turned 15 and obvious liked a guys looks more then their personality while his foster father tried to get him to spend time with her brothers. It had completely drained him and gotten him annoyed to the point that he HAD to swim or he was going to go berserk. He wasn't sure what prompted them to do this, but he was going to spend as much time alone in the water as he could.

Gil had been swimming for about two hours when he noticed two of the younger Fury kids had found their way to the water and were stripping their cloths to swim. He had forgotten that the weather and water had warmed up enough for the other people to stand swimming in it. He watched them for a moment before he went back to his own swimming under the water's surface. He had been under long when he had come back up to the surface. He wanted to see what the Fury kids were up to before he got closer to them. The Fury kids were staying in the shallows, but what he didn't like was how a large group of local kids were heading towards the Fury kids. They looked like they were up to no good, and it was proved right because as soon as the local kids say the Fury kids, they began screaming and running over to them.

The local kids hadn't taken long before they were throwing sand and mud, yelling, and acting 'tough'. The Fury kids were putting up a good front to this sudden bullying, but they were too outnumbered. Gil watched for a moment before he had seen enough. He dove under the water after taking a deep breath of air. He knew what he was going to do as he swam at an incredible speed toward the kids.

One of the local kids had thrown a punch at one of the Fury kids and a fight was about to break out between the two groups. Before the kids could move in response, something large suddenly came crashing out of the water. A tall figure in shiny black scales stood were the water had broken letting out a loud, deep hissing bellow. Razor sharp teeth and clawed webbed hands were highly visible as the thing moved toward the terrified kids. A few seconds after the monster had come out of the water, the local kids broke out in a dead sprint back the way they had come. They were all screaming horrified screams, and a few had ended up peeing themselves as they ran. The two Fury kids looked frightened themselves, but hadn't moved. They just stood there looking at the monster after it had finished bellowing for several moments before they realized what they were looking at.

Gil was glad to see those bullies running off, but he didn't like how frightened the two Fury kids were. They recognized who he was though and settled down some. He felt bad for them, so he dove back into the water and popped back out after a few moments. He handed some large, shiny shells from some freshwater clams to the two of them and smiled slightly. The kids looked at the shells for a moment and then smiled slightly. Gil smiled back to them some before he made a shooing motion with his hands. The two kids got what he was telling them to do and left quickly.

[olivia]

Olivia didn't like this pond to much. Probably because it was void of all fish, maybe because it made her feel like she was swimming in a fish tank. Either way, only when necessary did she resort to the swimming hole. At the deepest, the pool was fifteen feet, and length wise, it was probably only half the size of a football field. Small lake? Yea, right. It was a pond, plain and simple.

Sadly, today her mother refused to drive her to the ocean, or let the girl drive herself. Quite literally, this measely little pond was her last resort. Well, it was the pond or a bath tube. Pretty easy decision.

As she approached the pond though, something unusual caught her attention. Screaming. Who would be screaming out here? Oh well. Didn't hold her attention after that initial surprising moment. She continued on her way, oblivious to the fact that she was heading right in the direction said screaming was from. It took only another minute before she stepped out of the cover of the trees... And saw people.

Great.

There were three of them. None she recognized (which wasn't surprising, the girl tended to ignore the many Fury's.). One of them looked different though. Not.... Well, humanish. More like a fish-human hybrid. Not that she cared. She was partially one herself, after all. Normally, this would have made a person feel a sense of comradory with the other. Not Olivia, she had a "That's cool." and then wander off with out a second thought reaction. She didn't give the group a second glance, even when fish boy vanished under water, returning quickly with gifts for his little friends. If she'd been watching, the girl would probably wonder what the appeal of a clam was. She'd be more likely to believe it was a ritual then just.... well a gift!

So, obviously, ignoring the fish boy and the two Fury kids (who were currently gathering up the over clothes they'd discarded.), she circled the pond, basically to the farthest point from them. Making a face, she wadded into the water. When she was deep enough, about mid thigh, she dove into the pool, propelling herself towards the deepest point. But as stated before, it wasn't that deep. Thankfully, the entire pond was full of Algae, so she could sometimes forget it's lack of depth, and pretend it was actually the sea floor of the ocean.

Olivia was a fast swimmer. Faster then any human, easily. But that was her own scales that made it possible. Humans, had resistance when they swam. Because of their skin, and the way they swam. Olivia's scales let her glide through the water with ease. No resistance what so ever. So, obviously, she was at the bottom in only moments. And she stayed there, hidden in the Algae. Most people would have a hard time spotting her there, but maybe a fellow fish person would notice the flowing blonde hair mixed with the Algae...

[/justify]

[Gil Fisher]

Gil watched for a moment as the kids got their clothes and went back to the circus. He watched for a moment before he turned to go back into the water. As he turned around, he noticed a blond haired girl around his age wading into the water herself. He wasn't sure why so many people had decided that they were going to come swim at the pond while he was there, but he didn't like it. His quiet time was being invaded by several people all at once and he had already had enough of people thanks to his foster parents earlier. He just decided to ignore the girl and swim around like she wasn't there. He went straight back into the water and began to comb the bottom of the water for some living clams to cook later. He had noticed the girl sitting in the very middle of the water with her blonde hair mixing with the algae when he had gotten close to the middle.

Gil had spent over 10 minutes looking for clams, to no avail. He had found plenty of snails, which was one of the few things he hated eating that came from the water, but no clams. He decided to swim around a bit before he went back to his clam hunting. As he did, he noticed that the girl from before was still in the exact same spot she was at earlier. She hadn't moved for well over the time that anyone else but Gil himself could stay under. This got him curious enough to go swim over near her. He decided to study her and see if he could figure out why she was under so long. He quickly noticed that she lacked gills so that wasn't how she had done it. He spent some more time looking at her before he finally noticed something odd. She was covered in scales just like he was. He blinked several times after noticing that. This was a first for him. He had seen scales before, on fish and himself, but he had never seen any on another person. He swam up right next to her as he looked at her. He just happened to have been looking at her face.

[olivia]

Olivia was content letting the fish boy do whatever he wanted, as long as he kept to his side of the pond, that is. For some reason, the girl seemed convinced that somehow, without saying anything, he’d know what side was his, and what was hers. Specifically, he could have the shallow ends. Selfish of her to think that? Yes. But hey, Olivia was a pretty selfish person.

So, content at the deepest point of the pond, she quite literally didn’t move for ten minutes. Her eyes closed, holding tightly to some of the algae so she didn’t float to the surface. No, she was at the bottom and wanted to stay there. Being disturbed though…. Wasn’t expected.

Even under water, Olivia had very, very good hearing. It was a different kind of hearing, of course. More like… listening to the disturbances in the water. So, quite literally, she could hear when he swam closer and closer to her. When he was almost right in her face though, her eyes shot open, blue eyes staring intensely at him. He was a little too close for her taste. Actually, he was way to close. For several moments though, she didn’t do anything, just stared wide eyed at him (not out of shock, which was obvious. It was more like… They were wide just to unnerve people.).

Suddenly though, without any warning, she was gone, the girl easily propelling herself through the water , and disappeared in a thicker patch of Algae.

[/justify]

[Gil Fisher]

Gil was studying the girl more intently then he realized he was, so when she suddenly opened up her eyes it caught him off guard. He didn't move when she did, but he did blink several times. He had a habit of doing that when he was surprised or curious and didn't know it. He looked at her in the eyes since they were open. They were wider then most people, which didn't unnerve Gil like it would most normal people. He just kept looking her in the eyes until she suddenly took off into a thick part of the algae.

Gil took off after her without really thinking about it. The girl could swim faster then most normal people thanks to her scales, but Gil also was covered in scales like she was and he had the lean muscles and webbed hands and feet that she didn't have to boost his swimming abilities. He didn't have too much trouble keeping up with her and her blonde hair kept giving her away in the green algae. Gil was kind of enjoying this little 'game' they were playing. He hadn't meet anyone else who could stay under water and swim as fast as he could, so it was all new and exciting for him.

[olivia]

Olivia didn’t like people trying to get a close look at her. At all. Ever since her mutation appeared, she’d been isolated, her parents wanting to save the girl was discrimination. Sadly, the downside of it? It meant she couldn’t cope with people getting to close. It freaked her out. The freakiest part? Someone trying to get in her space, in her domain. (Not really hers… But she was convinced it was. And it was impossible to convince her of something her mind wasn’t set on.) Actually, it annoyed her a bit, which was probably why she took off so quickly.

It annoyed her even more, when she realized he was following her. Definitely didn’t like that. Not one bit. He might be enjoying himself, but she definitely wasn’t. So, when he wasn’t looking, she opened her mouth… and let out a screech. It definitely sounded different underwater then above, more like a shockwave. But it’d definitely give him a bit of whiplash and leave his ears popping.

In that moment, she bunkered down in the thickest Algae patch, so thick it even made her blonde hair hard to spot. All the while, her eyes remained freakishly wide. For some reason though, no emotion seemed to cross her expression.

[/justify]

[Gil Fisher]

Gil noticed after a bit of following the girl that something about the way she moved was off. She seemed like she wasn't just playing around but was actually running from him. He thought that was weird since he hadn't made any kind of threatening moment. He still kept up with her though more to study her again then to play chase, when he felt a weird vibration. His body moved on it's own before he could think. He noticed a weird shifting of the water before him as his ears suddenly began to ring. He got stunned for a second as his sense of balance was suddenly thrown out the window. He couldn't tell which way was which or even if he was sinking or floating. He wasn't sure what just happened, but it wasn't pleasant whatever it was. He was sure now that the girl wasn't feeling friendly, even though he didn't know what he had done wrong.

Gil just stayed where he was at for a while, even after he had regained his balance back. He was trying to think of a way to calm the girl down and make her not see him as a threat. He wasn't sure what he could do besides go look for some shells or anything else interesting and giving it to her. He swam around to look for it since he had lost the girl, but before he found anything, he spotted the tiniest bit of blonde in a patch of algae. The girl was going to have her hair completely covered in it at this rate. He looked at the spot he was sure she was at for a moment before he spotted something in the water near her. He blinked several times before he suddenly swam towards it. He wasn't sure what it was, but he wanted to see what it could be.

Gil got to it quickly and got a better look at it. It was some old statue that someone must have dropped into the water. It wasn't very big, only about two feet tall, but it was solid silver, or close enough to look it. He was amazed by the fact someone had lost it here. He looked at it for a moment before he realized why it was here. Some burnt pieces of wood and common items found on small boats was scattered around the same spot. Someone had it in a boat with them, why they did is a mystery, and it had somehow caught on fire. He wasn't sure why they didn't get it, but it was obvious it had been in the water for longer then anyone coming back for it would leave it for. He picked it up and held it in his hands for a moment before he turned around and swam to the girl.

Gil stopped just close enough to the girl so she could see him and held the statue out for her to see. He wasn't sure what she would do, but he hoped she would be curious enough to come out and look at it with him.

[olivia]

Olivia wasn't usually hostile. Just when you cornered her. Which is basically how she'd felt until vocally 'scolding' the fish boy. You couldn't call what she did attacking, if only because she would have held the note longer. It was merely a warning. A 'back off'. And, from her new hiding place, she realized that, for a while, he seemed to get the message.

She wasn't nearly as curious about her fellow fish person as he seemed to be in her. But when did Olivia ever care much about other people? From the way she acted, you'd think the girl thought she wasn't the same species as these meat sacks known as humans (and mutants). Sadly, most the time she did think that.

Suddenly though, he was getting close again. With her hawk like eyes, she knew instantly that he'd spotted her. She tensed, prepared to give him yet another warning. Thankfully he didn't get that close, but her gaze never left him. Eyes still unnervingly wide, following every motion he made in the water. Apparently he was 'treasure hunting'. When she was younger, the girl had always searched for hidden treasures on lake beds. It was one of the appeals to being able to stay underwater for an endless amount of time. You never knew what you might find. Here though? Olivia had been to busy searching the ocean floor to even consider looking in this measly little pond.

So, honestly, she was curious when he found something. And confused when he acted like he wanted to share it with her. Really, really, confused. Because, simply put? Growing up with only your parents to talk to? You kind of forgot what was normal person behavior. What to expect from them. Probably why she rarely considered herself the same as them.

Olivia didn't come out of the Algae though, just readjusted her grip on the Algae so she could get a good look at the statue from where she was. The Fish boy would, sadly, be able to see her pretty clearly now, but she swam no closer. From here, she saw everything she wanted. If his own vision was half as good as hers, he'd realize that, from here, she was actually examining the statue. She could see it, very clearly. Through murky water and a short distance.

Again, without any warning, she released the algae, and propelled herself away from him, towards the same spot she'd dove into the pond, only breaking surface when she was in thigh deep water. Wadding out, she shook her head, dislodging some of the Algae that had gotten tangled in her hair during each of her runs.

[/justify]

[Gil Fisher]

Gil noticed how she was looking at the statue he had found. He couldn't tell if she liked it or not. She just kept looking at it for a moment before she suddenly took off. He blinked several times as he watched her go before he swam out of the water himself. He had been gone long enough as it was. He needed to get back before Aggie caused any problems or his foster parents got some new idea into their heads. He held the statue the entire time and showed no sign of putting it down. He walked over to the beach and shook his body quickly for a moment to throw some of the water off of himself. He had learned how much his foster parents hated it when he came back wet from swimming long ago.

Gil looked around to see if he could find the girl that he had swam around with. He wasn't sure if she was already gone or not now, but he was kind of curious to find out.

[olivia]

Above water, Olivia looked far more normal. At least, you couldn’t tell by a glance that her ‘skin’ was actually scales. It wasn’t unless you touched her that you would feel the difference. Even under water it was a bit difficult to see the difference unless the light hit her just right. Basically, the fish boy had gotten very lucky when he spotted her scales. Very, very lucky.

On dry land, the girl didn’t try to expel any of the extra water from her clothes or hair like fish boy. Most people didn’t realize it, but water was like air to her. Which was why she couldn’t go more than a few hours without any contact with it without getting sick. Three days, max, and she’d be dead.

She hadn’t gone far, still trying to work some of the longer strands of algae from her hair. She didn’t mind it, to be honest, but her mother always freaked out when Olivia brought algae back to their trailer. Why, she had no idea. But, she’d been scolded enough that she’d learned to try and get rid of it all before returning home. It was during this long process that she spotted fish boy coming out of the water...

It wouldn’t take him that long to spot her, she was probably only twenty feet from him after all, picking the last few strands of algae out of her hair… and just staring at him with those unnervingly wide eyes.

[/justify]

[Gil Fisher]

Gil spotted the girl fairly quickly and noticed just how normal she looked on dry land. She kept looking at him with those unnerving eyes, but Gil again didn't seem to notice. He was more interested in how she looked out of the water. She was very normal looking, no way you could tell she was covered in scales, and she was what the Fury young men would call a beauty. He knew what the difference between ugly and cute were, but he wasn't sure what about her looks made her so different from the other girls. He was never good at this kind of thing, which seemed to get on his foster mother's nerves since she couldn't figure out what his 'type' was. He didn't really have a type he liked more then others, and it would be a shock if he did know as unsociable as he was.

Gil stretched his limbs out as he let the sun dry him off some more. He liked being wet, but again, his foster parents didn't so much. His muscled always needed to be stretched after he was done swimming though. They always tried to cramp up or felt sore if he didn't stretch and just moved around on land. He just kept doing this for a moment as he considered what he should do with the statue. He had found plenty of nice shiny things, but he doubted his foster parents were about to let him keep a statue he found in the pond. He knew they would just make him put it back or give it to someone. He thought about it for a moment before he glanced at the girl and got an idea. He finished stretching and walked over to the girl from before. He held the statue out to her.

" You can have it." Gil said in a quiet voice from how little he used it.