Beach Daze

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, shimmering down on the water and making the waves and water dance under it's brilliant light. The waves were slight today; the last few days brought a storm that had really stirred the water up. Today was the clearest day since the storm let up, and Arian was taking full advantage of it to go for a long swim.

He called off from work for the day; he still had a few days to make the finishing touches on some articles, and could afford to be set back a day. With nothing more than a small bag to store his clothes in, he made his way for the beach; taking the scenic route through the forest, even though it took longer. He loved taking the long way, it gave him the chance to really clear his mind before reaching the water. Besides, the lush forest brought with it a serenity that couldn't be found anywhere else other than the water. There was a slight breeze, stirring up the scents of the land, which was intensified today because of the recent storm. Arian paused, taking a moment to close his eyes and breath in the scents around him. Slowly exhaling, he carried on with his hike.

It took roughly ten minutes to hike through the forest to get to the beach. The hike was fairly easy too; the only struggle being any debris from the trees that might block the path. Thankfully for Arian, there was no debris blocking his way today. Seeing the break in the trees, Arian picked up his pace.

The lush of the forest ground slowly started to switch to the soft sand of the beach. The sunlight filtering through the tree's was growing more intense, and Arian sighed a breath of relief when he emerged from the forest and finally arrived at the beach. The sand was warm under his feet, and the warmth from the sun beat down on Arian like a welcoming hug.

Arian's favorite thing about going to the beach through the forest was that hardly anyone ever came this way. Most days, Arian had this part of the beach to himself, and thankfully for him, today was one of those days. Having people around made it hard for him to transform into his merman form; not only did he keep it a secret, but he always has to remove every layer of clothing from the lower half of his body when he transforms. If not, the change of legs to merman tail would rip his clothes to shreds. Taking his bag with him to the waters edge, he started removing his clothes.

Setting his clothes in his bag, Arian walked into the water. To most people, the chill of the water would slow them from getting fully into the water. Being a merman, the temperature of the water had no affect on Arian. Once the water slowly started creeping it's way up his thighs, Arian did a small dive to submerge himself under the water. In just a matter of seconds, his legs transformed into a glorious merman's tail; the light green scales contrasting in the sunlight to the deep emerald green of his tail. He swam further and further; with no need to come up for air, he could swim to his hearts content.

Arian swam a good distance from shore, emerging from the depths of the water to look around. He floated on his back, allowing part of his tail to be visible above the water.

In an air tight plane miles from the ground, a young woman was leaning against the side of the plane. She was barely awake as a glimmer of light shone through one of the windows and hit her face to wake her up. Soft murmurs were heard as her large ears picked up that the plane was getting ready to land. Lilian smiled and almost stood up in her seat in excitement, except the man sitting beside her gave Lilian a glace.
"Do you have to use the bathroom? The plane is about to land soon if you can hold it" Lilian squirmed her face looking very displeased by the older gentleman's comment. She blinked those bright brown eyes of hers as she lightly touched the black headband on top of her head. The young woman relaxed in her seat, feeling the band still there holding her ears down.
'I wonder what this guy would do if he knew I had dog ears' she snickered this thought to herself only to receive a glare for the older man.

Ignoring the gesture, Lilian opened up the cover on her window, taking in the amount of green and blue on the coast while farther in she noticed there was less and less green, but more grey and black. 'Wow to think cities could be that big, I think I'll go enjoy the scenery first before getting a hotel room' she smiled thinking about where her new adventures will lead her.

Before long the plane descended to land as Lilian could feel her ears adjusting again, it didn't hurt as bad going down as it was going up. She yelped in pain feeling her ears pop from going up in the air. The landing wasn't as rough as she thought it was going to be as it settled and the attendants finally told everyone they could stand.
"Thank you for flying with Delta Airlines. Enjoy your stay and make sure to watch your step when exiting the plane!" The cheerful voice filled the plane as everyone stood up at once to get off. Lilian grabbed a hold of her carry on and throw it on her back as she waited for her turn to get off the plane. The light was shinning bright as she followed everyone else to grab her luggage. It was only one bag, but enough for her clothes and her camera and a few other belongings of hers.

"Finally!!" She huffed thankful to be out of that crowded airport and out by the street. Her mom told her to grab a taxi as soon as she got out and waved her arms frantically in the air trying to catch one. Now a days taxi weren't as big, but they were still around as one slowed down for her.
"Hello there Miss. where can I take you?" The man had a weird accent that Lilian didn't understand, but he seemed nice as she throw her bags in the seat next to her as she got into the back of the car.
"Can you take me to the coast? Do you happen to take card?" She asked the man as he nodded his head at her as Lilian closed the door. He made little small chat.
"So you new here in Seattle?"
"Oh yes I am, I never traveled out of Kentucky before, I wanna see the coast for myself!" Those bright eyes of her shone with glee as she driver chuckled.
"Okay okay young lady. I will drop you off at the beach, the water is pretty chilly so be prepared. You seem to be wearing some thick layers so you must be chilly" the driver went to turn up the heat for her, but in all reality Lilian was burning up with her long sleeves on. She wanted to take it off so badly, but didn't want people to see her thick hair on her arms and legs.
"Oh no no thats okay! I'm not that cold really, I forgot to pack a short sleeve shirt thinking it was going to be much colder than I thought" The man left the heat alone as they continued their drive.
After some time had past, Lilian gasped seeing the ocean up close as she wanted to go out there now to enjoy the view.
"Hey can ya stop here!"
"But there is no beach here, I can take you to nice beach up ahead with lots of people and food stands" he explained as he started to slow down, waiting for her answer
"Oh thats very kind of you sir, but I really want to see the view" Lilian saw the man shaking his head, not wanting to put the woman in harms way.
"If you want I can wait for you while you enjoy the view" he suggested not wanting the woman to be stranded out in the wilderness.
"Oh could I call you with my phone?" Lilian pulled out her flip phone as the man blinked for a moment not use to seeing someone of the younger generation with an older phone.
"Oh sure that is fine" he said as he turned off his smart phone. Lilian put her card in the reader, grabbed her stuff and waved to the nice taxi driver as she paid and thanked him.

As the car veered away Lilian's eyes were locked onto the shimmering water, grabbing her bags she rushed towards the water, excited to see it. Leaving her bags farther back she leaped on the coast in glee, happy and excited to finally be here
"I can't believe it!! I'm here!!" She shouted as she jumped up and down as her tail was wagging behind her. It was then Lilian noticed something was in the water. Backing away, she reached for her bag and looped her camera around her neck, thinking she was getting her first picture of a seal or something.
"Hello?" She whispered out to the waters, not sure if she was waiting a reply. Lilian creeped closer to the water edge.

The shoreline was slowly starting to fade into the distance. Arian was floating on his back still, flicking his tail in and out of the water and making small splashes. The peace he got from moments like this were what kept him centered in life. The only sounds around him were of the rustling of the leaves, and the slight sound of the small waves flowing through the water. Arian took yet another deep breath, the salty sea water of the ocean filling his lungs. With a very slow exhale, he opened his hazel eyes and smiled.

In the far distance, Arian could hear someone approaching. 'Goddamit...' He thought, irritated that another person was getting remotely nearby. He very quickly slipped under the water; it was effortless, and even almost soundless. Thanks to being a merman, his eyes worked great while underwater; his vision was hardly impaired through the water. He didn't sink too deep into the water, but enough where he thought he would be undetectable to the normal human eye. He kept an eye on the cliffs and edges surrounding the water. There was nothing he hated more than having people come and disturb what he felt like was his little piece of paradise. Keeping a low profile, he slowly swam around and kept an eye on the areas surrounding him.

There was almost like an unspoken agreement among fairytale creatures that they hold themselves to high secrecy. Every magical and mythical being Arian has ever came across concealed their true identity, because they knew that the human world could not handle the truth that they lived among them. Because of this, Arian always made sure he only allowed himself to go into his merman form when there were no other people around. If anyone came by, Arian hid far enough away and underwater that he would not be seen, and would only emerge when everyone had left the area. "Such a burden..." He thought, consistently annoyed at having to live a life of secrecy.

It didn't take long for Arian to see a young woman reach the waters edge. Through the water, he could hear her whisper out to the water. She had a camera; a very nice camera that Arian knew captured high quality pictures. "There's something about this woman that seems different than most..." Arian pondered for a brief moment, trying to figure out what it was that was different about her. Curiosity got the better of him, and he allowed his head to pop up through the water. He stayed silent, and didn't move any closer to the woman. The wind blew her scent in his direction; he could tell now that she wasn't human, but he still had no idea what she could be. "Her scent is different than anything I've ever smelt before..." Even werewolves didn't smell like this, but her scent was slightly dog like.

His eyes lit up with curiosity. As bad as he wanted to approach her and do a proper introduction, he still couldn't allow himself to get too close. "Humans can't be trusted." He was always reminding himself of this. Even though he had a strong feeling she wasn't human, he refused to get close enough where she could see what he was. After a few minutes of staring, Arian finally answered and fully acknowledged her presence. "Hello." He called out, in a voice that was loud enough he was sure she could hear, but still quiet enough to not draw attention from anyone else who might be around.

"Ah!" Lilian let out a small yelp not expecting the water to speak back to her, it was hard to see the figure in the water, but judging from the voice it was human like.
"I didn't mean to disturb ya, I thought you were a seal or something" Lilian removed her camera and kept her tail hidden against her jeans. She noticed a bag along the shore and blushed seeing the clothes hanging out of the bag. Lilian held her soft palms against her cheeks feeling them grow hot as she realized this guy was naked in the water. She quickly turned away from the figure and walked back to her bag to put her camera away. She stood there turned away from the man in the water. Her long dark brown hair was hanging down her back as she still had her tail pushed up against her pant legs. She wanted to put her tail away in her pants, but doing that now with the guy staring at her from the ocean would make it too obvious. Lilian bit her lower lip as she stood there looking away to give the man some privacy as she hoped he wouldn't see her dark colored tail.
"I-I'm Lilian by the way, but ya can call me Lilly if ya like" She shrugged her shoulder, wandering if the man was going to come out. 'Maybe I disturbed his swimming.... wait wasn't I on land for a while? How long was he under water for?' Lilian thought to herself trying to not over think things, she wasn't the brightest, but at least wasn't last in her class like her brothers.

Arian couldn't help but chuckle when she said she thought he was a seal. Of course he wasn't going to say what he was, but it was still funny to him. "Nope, not a seal. Just enjoying a swim." He could tell she was taken back; clearly she wasn't expecting anyone to actually be around. He followed her eyes to his bag, saw her blush, and choked back another laugh. 'She definitely thinks I'm skinny dipping....' He shook his head, smiling, still holding back laughter.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lilly. My name is Arian, but you can call me Ari if you wish." He kept his voice at the same volume, although he was sure there was no one else around. He could detect an accent in her voice, and her recognized it as Southern, but not the same dialect he was familiar with. "So Lilly, where are you from? Your accent isn't from around here."

When Lillian turned her back to Ari, he noticed what looked like a tail attached to her. 'A tail?! Am I seeing that right?!' He was shocked; no species he knew had tails that were always attached and present for the world. He figured she must normally keep it hidden, and maybe just forgot about for this instance. He ever so slowly swam forward to get a better look, but she turned around quicker than he thought. Stopping almost dead in his tracks, he continued to observe her from afar.

He knew she was putting some pieces together about where he suddenly came from. He knew when she approached that he wasn't above the waters surface, so there's no way she would have been able to see him. 'Fuck...What am I gonna tell her if she asks about it? I can't tell her the truth...Grr...This shit is so frustrating!' He was silently cursing at himself in his head, a little upset he allowed himself to expose himself, even if she didn't see his tail. 'I'm normally so much more cautious with this, why do I feel so different in this situation?!' His thoughts were running wild, and he tried shutting them out as best he could.