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Beneath Cerulean Waters

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Chapter 1 - Disappointment of The Family

I stared wearily at the sea from my place on the cliffsides, watching the rest of the sea foxes use their powerful tails to make their way through the water to hunt for fish, or any marine life they could find.

It had always made me feel like an outsider , like I wasn't a true part of the colony on the island, both of my gills affected by a mutation I had inherited from the recessive genes in both my parents, one that rendered my gills that in usual circumstances would have allowed me to breath underwater useless. It forced to search the island for any tropical fruits the rest of the colony could eat instead of swimming through the ocean for fish like the rest of the sea foxes.

I sighed, turning around and moving my paws up through the steep surface of the cliffs, already throbbing from having scaled the cliffs for fruit for the better part of the afternoon, though the pain didn't hurt as it had when I had started this job when I was young, my fingers becoming accustomed to scaling the walls though the claws were mostly broken off. But I grit my teeth and pulled my pained arms upward to reach the top of the cliff, where I knew the plants that bore fruit were clustered together.

As I was approaching the top of the cliffs, I threw out my paw and grabbed the rocks at the top of the cliff, hearing the soft but agonizing sound of one of his claws breaking. I would only let a small whimper escape my maw as I put out the other paw, grabbing with both hands as I finally pulled himself to the soft grass-covered surface of the cliffs.

I sat himself at the edge of the rocks, trying to catch my breath and ignore the throbbing pain in my thumb, blood pooling at that spot where the claw had broken off.

Often I'd wished I didn't have to do this, scaling this awful structure of rocks every evening. But my parents had always warned me of what might happen if I didn't prove myself useful to the colony, so I prevailed, seeing the setting do the sun and beginning to make my way to the patch of tropical plants that bore the fruit. The fruits themselves were small and bitter, but there wasn't much of a choice, being the most incapable of the sea foxes, as I was told constantly.

Just as I reached for one of the fruits I could hear the sharp sound of thunder crack through the sky, snapping my furry head up to see the clouds already making their way to the island, a dark and unwelcoming grey. Storms did come around rather suddenly on this island, didn't they?

I quickly gathered a few fruits that were close enough. I didn't want to get stranded on the top of the cliffs if the storm got bad enough. I turned around, clenching my hands together in preparation for the long and painful trip I would have to make home.

*🦈*

I set the bag of fruits on the table just after he stepped through the door, the door creaking with age. My hands burned in pain, cut in so many areas that the palms of his hands almost looked completely red.

"This was all you were able to scavenge, son?" My mother snapped from her spot in the kitchen, already sorting through the fish that she and the others had caught at sea.

"I'm sorry mother. I didn't want to get caught in the storm-"

"Always with your damn excuses!" She mumbled. "You should prove yourself useful, Orion. It is the day of sacrifice tomorrow."

My breath caught in my throat from those last few words. I had known that the day of sacrifice was near, the day where one unlucky soul chosen by the leader of the colony would be surrendered to the monsters which lived below the sea, in exchange for leaving our island in peace. But I didn't know that it was quite as close as my mother was telling me now. Tomorrow.

With my inability to swim, and usually considered weaker than the rest of the sea foxes, I had always worried that I would be the one chosen, though I had always been able to evade being drafted.

"O-of course mother." I said meekly.

She scoffed, waving her hand, a gesture that I had learned meant that she didn't want to see me any longer. She was already angry enough on a daily basis already that I was born defective.

I began to make my way to the steps when I could hear a soft knock on the door.

My mom set down the net full of fish she was sorting, scoffing in frustration as she quickly made her way to the door. She would have usually snapped at whoever it was to leave, especially when she was in the sort of mood that she was in now. But she froze as she saw the figure in the doorway.

He was a fox with bright cyan fur, like the sea on a cloudless day, a black cloak embroidered with golden symbols that were recognizable enough that whatever rude comment that was lodged in my mothers throat died right there. It was a messenger from the leader of the colony.

It was rare that any of his messengers was ever sent, only used for the most important of occasions.

But with the sacrifice being so soon, I could feel a lump begin to build in my throat, crouching on my spot on the wooden steps as the man stepped into the doorway.

"Hello, Mrs.Vortex, I was sent here by out colonies leader Valtrox to inquire if your son, Orion was home today?"

My mother took a shaky inhale as she answered, her words stuttered and slow.

"Wh-what for?" She asked.

"Well that is something that I'm not authorized to speak upon with you, ma'am. But I need to see your son, now." He growled.

"O-Orion, I need you to come downstairs!" She called out, the pungent fear all too evident in her voice.

But with the sacrifice so close by, I could already tell why this fox wanted to see me; to bring me to be offered to the monsters myself.

I tried to bring myself up the steps quietly, but our small house was much too old to warrant that, the stairs letting out creaks that made me cringe as I ran into my room, throwing open the doors to the small walk-in closet, and closing the doors quietly behind myself, my ragged breathing the only thing I could hear as I pressed my narrow shoulders into the corner of the small space in my room, trying to steady my breathing.

I could hear the sounds of the fox speaking to my mother for a moment, their voices muffled before he began to walk up the steps.

There was no way out of sacrifice, something I knew with clarity from how the last foxes chosen to be used for the exchange were often treated. But if the man was here to prepare me for that fateful day, I would at least try to prolong it.

The man stepped into my room, his feet padding softly along the wooden floors, his brows furrowed in annoyance as he entered my room.

"Come on, Orion. You know what punishments you will have to receive if you continue to be disobedient as you are now." He murmured, voice low as his eyes scanned across the small expanse of my room, finally landing on the door of my closet. "You should reveal yourself now. Valtrox would not be pleased if he learned of your behavior."

I tried to stifle the terrified whimper that tried to escape my maw, so scared that tears threatened to roll down my fluffy cheeks as he threw open the doors, clicking his tongue as he saw me there.

"I shouldn't have expected any better from you," he growled as his paw wrapped around my arm, violently yanking me out of the closet.

"N-n-no!" I screamed. "Please don't take me away! I haven't done anything!"

"This is not the time for negotiation, boy!" He barked. "Come along now, I won't take anymore of this immature behavior from you any longer."

I tried to pull myself away from him, attempting to jerk my arm out of his paw, but he held a firm grip around my arm, dragging me out of the room, then down the steps.

I could see my mother as he brought me to the door, her lips pursed as if she was about to say something, but decided against it.

"Mother-"

"Enough!" She demanded. "I don't want you getting in any more trouble than you've already done for yourself, Orion."

I could feel the tears running down my face, desperately trying to break myself free from the fox as he opened the door, dragging me away from my home, my mothers disappointed face the last thing I saw before the door was slammed shut behind me.