Gasp!

"He's breathing!"

An urgent voice sounded right by Hamir's ears, it cut through his hazy consciousness.

"Why would you give him the fruit!? It's not for humans!"

"He's just a boy!"

"He's a land animal! They'll come after us for this!!! He's definitely not a refugee!"

A swishing noise came closer to Hamir as he weakly lay, unable to even open his eyes.

"No, Xeno!"

Pressure seemed to envelop Hamir's lungs as the water rushed in with a burning sensation on his neck. His chest swelled as his heart hammered against his chest.

To top it all off, he started having a massive headache.

A clamp wrapped around him and he began to float, the pressure further increasing on his head as he moved involuntarily.

"Where are you taking him?!" The woman began to scream.

"Away from us! We can't keep it!"

"We have to!"

"Then what Diane? They can't know about the fruit!" The man's voice turned into a small roar!

"...We can keep him—"

"No we can't!"

"...Then we can bring him to the deep."

A rushing sound came from behind Hamir.

"... You know it's too dangerous."

"Then what else! We can't just abandon him here! The ocean is big enough! If it doesn't work we can hide!"

Hamir finally opened his eyes, only to be met with large, yellow eyes with black slits, like a cat's.

He jerked back slightly but was held in an even tighter grip.

"Look, you're scaring him!"

He was then pulled into another slippery embrace.

As his vision zoomed out, a wide blue expanse seemed to stun his senses.

No sky, no ground, no other people, just ocean blue.

ah—

An almost instinctive fear came over him, before he heard the woman's voice.

"And... you know what I am unable to do for you."

"Diane..."

"Xeno, just let me—I mean—"

There was a scilence within the expanse.

What is this?

Hamir tried to speak, but his mouth was blocked. It seemed he couldn't talk underwater.

The man with cat eyes spoke, "Then what about the boy's parents?"

Hamir's headache suddenly boiled over before he passed out, unable to express his opinion in the slightest.

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...

A silky feeling passed over Hamir's wrist, jolting him awake.

He was weightless, and in what seemed to be a mossy, seaweed covered cave.

Green strands passed all over his body, caressing his skin.

He tried to move, only to find that his hands were webbed!

He nearly passed out again!

Another massive headache hit him, before he remembered the earlier conversation, and his mind seemed to gain a kind of clarity.

...He was not himself.

He was now Hamir Jenkins, on planet Giuen, not Earth.

And he was 7 years old.

The original development of this planet was similar to Earth's, with the same technology and even climate change.

However, planet Guien had a spiritual awakening a few centuries ago, speeding up the rising of it's oceans and heating up of it's atmosphere, creating rapid change for mankind, and the animal kingdom.

Somehow, animals adapted back to the ocean with the spiritual energy and rapid change.

The rich, or lucky, more well-off, occupied higher grounds first, leaving others to find another way to survive as land slowly sank to the depths. Some built floating lands with spiritual advancement technology, others lived on boat colonies that drifted across the ocean, but most just drowned.

Then the old race, hidden from humans for generations, emerged. The water people.

Some were offered shelter within the depths by these kind ambassadors, but most of the population either committed suicide or drowned.

Humanity, on the other hand, blamed the water people for not assisting earlier, as humans would. This resulted in resentment for those remaining on land, and those in the deep. War ensued.

But the ocean also gave opportunities.

When the sea-level rose with the spiritual awakening, bloodlines, ancient ruins, and other mysteries emerged as well.

Genetics began to play a big role on the remaining lands, and families were formed as people began to fight over underwater resources.

Society had reverted back to bloodline supremacy.

The Jenkins family had developed ice powers in a world filled with water, gaining some noteriety on the remaining, smaller landmasses.

Originally, Hamir's father, Henry Jenkins, had married their mother for love. They had him and his brother Hendrix.

But Hamir and his brother had failed to awaken their powers.

Pressure was put on his father as heir. As much as Henry Jenkins was a fool for love, he was also a coward.

Under scrutiny, he married another woman, with a "stronger bloodline".

His mother was pushed out of the house to fend for herself, and the twins were left behind.

As they continuously failed in their awakening, the pair was ostracized.

After being plotted against on a school trip, Hamir was pushed into the ocean to save his brother resulting in his untimely death, only for the new Hamir to occupy his body when he was saved by the mer-man couple.

The new Hamir was a biologist from modern Earth. He'd been experimenting with poisons from various sea creatures. A strange bout of lethargy hit him and he "fell asleep" in the work area.

When he'd finished contemplating, a small head popped through the entrance, only for her cat eyes to go wide.

"Xeno! He looks exactly like us!"

"That's weird, the transformation should only be partial in humans."

"Well maybe his bloodline helped or something!"

"..." Xeno contemplated the possibility.

"It shouldn't be a problem to keep him..." Only to be interrupted by Diane's conclusion.

Hamir decided to speak up.

"Uhh, hello?"

"AH! His voice is so cute!" Diane squealed like a little girl with a new toy.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Diane, and this is Xeno!"

"I'm Hamir."

Hamir Inspected his surroundings and gave a firm look at the couple. "You saved me."

"That's right."

Finally, Xeno spoke, "Do you have a family?"

Hamir didn't know how to answer for a second.

"... I have a brother... Was he... with me?"

The couple looked at each other before shaking their heads.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He may have been lucky enough to survive, but his brother might not have been.

But now, if nothing went wrong, Hendrix was by himself in the Jenkins family.

Hendrix had the softer personality of the two twins, making Hamir usually take the brunt of humiliation and scheming.

The child might be anxious and alone, or unable to survive...

"Do you have somewhere to get back to?"

Hamir then looked at his body, only to find that he had completely changed.

His skin had changed to a bluish-white color, tiny scales covering every inch of his body. His toes had grown wide with webs in between them, just like his fingers.

He touched his head, only to find his hair was still there. He imagined that his eyes might have changed like the couples' too.

It just so happened that he had no clothes which could have been embarrassing if he wasn't a fish-man.

He was worried about his brother. But he definitely couldn't go back like this.

"..." He chose silence.

"Then... you can stay with us for a while, is that alright with you?"

He nodded.

"Good boy."

The top of his head was rubbed by Diane.

He'd found a new home.