As the man calmly approached Noah, his appearance became discernible. He was drenched and utterly naked. The front of his body, extending up to his nose, was entirely white, while the rest, including his eyes, bore a deep, ebony darkness. With each step closer, Noah could see that the man lacked a single hair on his head or body.

'That has to be an abomination...' Noah instinctively took a step backwards, as Steve and Claws came to his sides.

The man halted and parted his lips to speak, revealing rows of sharp, jagged teeth.

"Hey, I'm Jeffrey, nice to meet you!"

'Huh?!' Noah blinked, not sure how to react to that.

Jeffrey looked at Noah expectantly. "You're supposed to introduce yourself now..."

'Ah, of course. I'm being lectured on proper decorum by an abomination, while stranded in the Hollowed Depths. Makes perfect sense.'

"...Noah. My name is Noah."

Jeffrey smiled, revealing his sharp teeth and extended a hand towards Noah, who in turn stepped backwards.

"Seriously? You're scared of me?! Those skeletons of yours are terrifying!"

Noah ignored his statement. "Are you an abomination...?"

"What?! Of course not. I'm a werehuman."

"A... werehuman?"

"Yes, I was bitten by a human and ended up transforming. It's quite dreadful, now I'm depressed all the time and have to pay taxes!" Jeffrey stared at Noah with wide eyes, as though he was expecting him to laugh at his little joke, but Noah was not paying any attention to that part.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"...What were you before you were... 'bitten by a human?'"

Jeffrey's eyes beamed with excitement "Oh, I'll show you!"

"No, that's okay..."

Jeffrey was already changing, however. His once-human features elongated and contorted, his skin retaining its white and ebony hue. As his body stretched and reshaped, he sprouted fins along his arms and back, and his fingers had turned into webbed appendages. His mouth widened into a gaping maw lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. The creature towered over Noah, who fell down on his butt, as he looked up in utter horror.

'Who's screaming...?'

Noah kept hearing horrendous cries of terror, until he realized with a jolt that the blood-curdling screams tearing through the air were his own.

His reaction, in turn, incited the colossal humanoid shark, Jeffrey, into laughter. However, in this form, his laughter sounded quite demonic, intensifying Noah's shrieks even further. Amidst the chaos, Jeffrey found himself laughing so hard that he grabbed his stomach.

"Please stop... You're killing me! I can't breathe..." The massive shark was rolling on the ground, crying-laughing.

***

Sometime later, after both men had calmed down, Jeffrey returned to his werehuman form, as they sat down to talk.

"I've seen you a few times while you were drinking from the river and figured I'll introduce myself." Jeffrey explained.

Noah shivered as he imagined the massive shark stalking him from the depths of the river.

"Eww, as if I'd eat you..." Jeffrey let out, noticing Noah's reaction.

'Eww?' Noah shook his head.

"Are you what I kept seeing dragging monsters under while they were drinking?"

"Yep!" Jeffrey nodded. "I swim here every once in a while, to hunt. I like the variety." The werehuman stared at Steve and Claws, who were standing guard. "Is that your power?"

Noah still had a lot of questions and did not fully trust the strange man, but there was something cheerfully disarming about Jeffrey. "Yeah, I guess it is." He finally responded.

"So... What are you doing down here? You don't look so good."

Noah sighed and recounted a short version of how he had recently discovered his Touched abilities and found himself stranded in this place.

"Oh man, that sounds rough! But you don't want to leave through here." Jeffrey motioned to the river. "There's a nasty fish... thing, down there that'll gobble you up!"

'You're a nasty fish-thing, too...'

"Yeah, I noticed."

Jeffrey's eyes suddenly lit up. "Don't worry, I'll clear the way for you!" He patted his leg and got up.

Noah averted his gaze in order to avoid seeing the werehuman's privates, again.

"What are you..." Before Noah could finish his question, Jeffrey dove into the flowing river. Beneath the water's surface, he watched the human silhouette turning into that of a gigantic shark.