The Great Shift – A Fish Tail - Chapter Three

  

 
 

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Brenda was left alone for a while to settle in but she was told that if she needed anything that both, Boreas and Kassiopeia would be very closeby.

As she sat she closed her eyes and just listened to the sounds and happenings around her.

Far off in the distance she could hear the songs of whales and the clicks and whistles of nearby dolphins. She could also sense all the movement near her; that of fish, seaweed and other aquatic plants as well as the presence of Boreas and Kassiopeia. How, she was not sure as she was not really aware of such things before all this change came about. It was just there, silently existing like the gentle movement of one's own hair; she was conscious of it but only at a very low level.

It was only the quick darting movements of nearby fish that pushed for her attention as they were suddenly surprised or frightened by some unexpected happening.

She was aware of all of it. It was like an extra sense that had long gone unnoticed to her suddenly awakening to her conscious mind.

After a few minutes she opened her eyes and looked down at herself again, this time with more curiosity than anything else.

With a small bit of effort she was able to flick her tail fin slightly. It felt strange at first. Strong, yet elegant. She was aware that this tail could propel her at quite a good speed if and when necessary.

She could also see a few marks - the remnants of scars - of Diantha's experience with the eel. It didn't look bad but she felt sure that whatever the eel had as a defence put Diantha into the comatose state.

She ran her hands down her torso. It was incredibly smooth to the touch, almost surreal in feeling. As she ran her hands upon her, she was very aware of the sensation that her fingers made upon the mermaid-scales.

She could feel it as if she had always been like that. It didn't seem as alien as she might expect,

There was also the question of her body's gender. She knew that it was that of a functional female although her human mind did not quite know where that differentiation was.

She just knew that her body was naturally female - unlike her previous human existence.

Instinctually she knew that one of the two slits on the front side of her tail indicated she was female (aside from her obvious streamlined breasts). Only one which was a vagina

She also knew that males had two slits on the front. How she knew this was unknown to her. She just knew it as a fact. Somewhere within one of those two slits on the male was a hidden penis. Apparently Mother Nature had decided to tuck it away for streamlining issues.

Mermaids and Mermen did not wear clothing. Such things were unnecessary and could actually be harmful to them. They could easily get caught in them like they were small nets on coral reefs and other natural outcroppings. Besides they also didn't have the vanity issues that humans were plagued with.

Mermaids were totally free of the shallow world of fashion and clothing design and for the first time Brenda felt somewhat relieved. No longer did she feel the need to hide behind some artificial curtain of cloth to express who she was.

Yes, becoming a mermaid had set her free in many ways. She looked down at her tail. Gone were her self-esteem robbing size 11 feet. In fact she'd never need shoes again.

Her eyes skimmed over the rest of her body. She'd never have to deal with clothes again either; such things were not needed by the mer-folk. Clothes would cause unnecessary drag and held no purpose to them. They were not needed as protection from the sun, nor were they needed as protection from thorns and the like that were so numerous on land. The mer-folk also didn't have a sense of unnecessary modesty as there was no sense of fashion.

The necklace around her neck as well as those around Boreas and Kassiopeia signified the family clan. They identified with the dolphin and took it's image as a clan signifier.

They told her to take a few days to recuperate as the body of Diantha had been immobile for quite some time. During those few days she flexed all the muscles that she could think of so she could help gain the strength.

Eventually she was allowed to move about the sunken ship where Diantha's family had taken residence. The sense of movement through the water as she kicked her tail was quite invigorating. She had to learn to be careful while swimming within the structure as there were still quite a few hazards all about the ship.

As she moved through the ship she became aquainted with the local denizens. There were dozens of different species of fish, crustaceans, and various jelly fish.

As a human she was always taught that touching jelly fish could be dangerous as they could sting. But as a mermaid she found them quite affectionate (almost feline in nature). She spent a lot of her time with them, intermingling within their small colony in amazement at just how different they were from a mermaid's point of view.

Like many other sea creatures, they had evolved alongside the mer-folk and didn't consider them as any sort of threat as the mer-folk were notorious herbivores.

As a human, Brenda didn't care much for eating flesh of any creature. She didn't see how eating any flesh could benefit a species that bore so many herbivorous features. She also couldn't bear the idea of hurting any animal. Her new life as a mermaid suited her just fine - there was no carnivorous mer-folk in existence to attempt to coerce her to such a life style.

After a week of free movement around the ship she was allowed to leave the confines of the shipwrecked hull but still remain in the general vicinity. She was quite excited by this new found freedom.

For a week she had honed her skills in manoeuvering herself through the ship and felt quite confident in her ability to safely swim around the ship. She learned that she had to reign herself in with every kick of her tail or she'd speed off too far from the ship with almost no effort.

The Great Shift – A Fish Tail - Chapter Two

 
 

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Brenda awoke and was quickly aware that she was underwater. Instinctively she lashed out at anything near her trying to get a grip on where she was and why was submerged.

Then she was aware of two pair of hands steadying her. As she struggled she became aware of a conversation about her.

She could hear voices under the water as well. They were as clear as if she was not submerged, "Help me hold her Boreas! Diantha could well hurt herself or us if she should fall!"

"I am doing the best I can, Kassiopeia," he replied, "I am not as young as I once was! There is something different about her though, can you not sense it?"

"Yes, I feel that she is distressed somehow for being here with us," Kassiopeia answered, "but there is something else greatly changed within her."

Once Brenda realized that she was not drowning, and that she was in fact breathing quite well underwater, she slowed her struggles. There were other things to deal with aside of the strange watery location and the ability to breathe beneath water – she was not alone and someone was actually trying to care for her.

"Diantha?" she thought to herself, "Who the hell are these people? And why would they refer to me as that? And what the hell is on my feet?"

She gave a kick to try to shake the feeling off her feet but it would not go away. It remained.

With her eyes still closed she felt the light brushing of a delicate hand upon her cheek,
"Diantha? You are home here with me, Kassiopeia and your dad Boreas. You've been unconscious for quite some time now; almost a full season. We were worried for you that you would not awaken. Your injuries have long healed after the eel bite but your reaction to the eel bite had us very scared."

Brenda opened her eyes to see the delicate features of a young girl looking down upon her. There was also something else she could sense. A familiarity that she could not explain, and the idea that she was not in danger in the least."

"Diantha?" she spoke but haltingly and in a very different voice.

For the moment she brushed the oddness off to being underwater.... "wait a minute. I shouldn't be able to breathe under water anyways, and what the hell is on my legs?" she spoke aloud as she struggled to sit up and gazed down at her torso.

There were no legs to see at all. There was a silvery scaled fish tail there instead, the tail of the fabled mermaid. She also wore no clothes at all. Her breasts, which were about the same size and shape as Kassiopiea's were left uncovered and none seemed to notice save for her.

She dropped her head back down, speaking aloud as she closed her eyes again, "wow, whatever caused me to pass out really did a job on me. For a moment there I could swear that I saw a fish tail!"

Boreas responded gently, "Why, what did you expect my dear? Legs are only for the land peoples. Naturally, you have your tail, and it has healed from your encounter rather well I would also add. You must have dreamed that you were a human."

Brenda sat back up, opening her eyes and turning to see the grizzled but proud grey bearded face of a.... merman?

It was a strong face that had seen many years. He had shoulder length wavy grey hair that floated naturally with the slight water currents within the underwater home. He had strong shoulders albeit somewhat slight by human reckonings. He wore no clothing at all save for a necklace of carved coral in the shape of a dolphin that was held by a woven strand that held it around his neck.

She shook her head for a moment but the older gentleman's features remained. He also had a silvery tail similar to the one she had. She then turned her head to the female at her side.

She also had a silvery tail, and very fine, almost elfin features to her face and upper torso. She was not large in the bust but was "well equipped" with modest B cups bared for any and all to see.

"Apparently clothing sis not the way for these people," she thought to herself as she then noticed that the young mermaid also wore a similar dolphin necklace about her neck.

Kassiopeia had long auburn hair floating about her face that gave her an almost angelic look. She also had a comforting smile that could disarm the nastiest of foes.

"I'm not supposed to be here," Brenda told them, "I don't know who this Diantha is but I am not her."

She then looked down at her tail and then noticed that she wore a dolphin necklace of her own, identical to Boreas' and Kassiopiea's. Then a tendril of auburn hair floated into view from her own head.

She took the tendril in her hand, also a fine boned hand, not dissimilar to Kassiopeia's hand and shrugged, "At least I never used to be her. I don't know what happened but I used to be, as you referred to us as, a land person. This is not the body I was born in. Not that I am complaining, mind you, as I was not exactly happy with what I had before this."

It was only then that she noticed the sensations at the sides of her neck. She could feel something on it slowly and gently opening a closing with each breath she took. A light and careful investigation with her fingertips answered the question she had in mind. She was, like the two merpeople she was with, breathing with the aid of gills.

"Well that answers that question," she said aloud as she fended off a pair of questioning faces, "This is all going to take some time to get used to. To humans mermaids and mermen are nought but mythology. So few of us have witnessed mermaids that they are considered crazy or some sort of dream."

"Well," Boreas said, "apparently although we do have the body of our Diantha back with us, it no longer carries her **pnévma." (**pronounced NEHV-ma)

"We have long learned to avoid the shores where humans were known to gather. In fact most of us consider going anywhere near land as a foolish activity. We stay to the depths and some live, as you see," he motioned to the room around them, "in the lost wreckage of your ships that have been long lost to your kind."

"Who is it that we share our time with then, my dear?" Boreas enquired of her.

"Well my name, as a human was Brenda, but that was a derivative of the name my parents gave me at birth, which was Brendan. It was a boy's name but I never saw myself as such. But I would welcome the name of Diantha if it would please you. Trying to explain to others that a new... umm... pnévma exists within her body would likely be hard to explain. Even to me it seems like I am within an insane dream; not a bad dream, mind you, just one unexpected."