Jamie has never liked humans.

He'd never quite comprehended his sister's interest in people nor the alleged beauty that went along with them. Just... he didn't understand it. Lacie was beautiful. The ocean was wonderful. The night sky was stunning, by all means. Not humans, though, and not those false lights. Those blazing lights that humans made artificially.

Everything that their kind produced was primitive and unfinished. Their creations lacked the delicate, calming quality that nature just appeared to have. Instead, as they proliferated and became more numerous, they seemed to delight in ruining the environment. 

They appeared to imagine themselves as world monarchs. the pinnacle of the "animal kingdom," as they put it. But they lacked any unique qualities. They were far too weak and defenceless, their main benefit coming from sheer numbers. Too naive and ignorant of the threats they just couldn't see, such as those that were below the seas. Threats like him.

Jamie reclined back as he regarded the lights, his tail leisurely flickering in and out of the water. He didn't share Lacie's enthusiasm with them, but she had always found them fascinating. He simply held animosity and a strong desire to eliminate them instead.

He allowed himself to submerge a little more. The water didn't feel as nice here, along the coast, as it did out in the ocean. With the state it was in at the moment, absolutely not. It was far too filthy, filled with the oils and other wasteful shit that humans carelessly dumped into it every day.

He wanted to leave but was unable to. After all, he had a purpose for being here. He would make sure he ate a substantial dinner tonight because his hunger refused to be ignored.

He abruptly heard a voice from nearby, as if on cue. He swam a short way with a few strong tail swishes, covering the 200 or so metres from where he'd detected it. He surveyed the adjacent coast, looking for the source, and when he found it, he began his advance towards it.

They were two human males, standing and conversing as they gazed out at the sea from behind the ledge. One of them was obviously intoxicated based on his loud speech and irate demeanour as they appeared to be communicating, no, fighting? He had no idea why they were supposedly bickering, and, to be quite honest, he didn't care. His only care was that he would undoubtedly be having a hearty meal, with them perhaps being enough to sustain him for a few days.

He slipped closer, a soft, enchanting tune drifting from his lips aimed at them. They had stopped yelling, so he knew they had picked up on his presence or rather, his song. As they turned to face him and drew perilously close to the precipice, he could see their expressionless faces. 

The enchantment grew more potent as he swam closer and his voice grew louder. They approached and climbed over the railing, drawn in by Jamie's voice, despite its purpose being to block them from the edge heading down the cliff.

The sharp rocks that were beneath it at the coast were entirely missed when they leapt. Jamie wasn't sure if they should be seen as lucky considering dying from those rocks would have been a far less terrible death than what came next. They appeared to come to their senses soon after being startled by how cold the water was and made a valiant effort to swim to the surface.

He chose the oldest of the two to hunt first, seeing as it would be easier owing to his inebriated state. The two locked eyes for a minute when the human's head broke the water's surface. The man appeared relieved, the notion of being saved passing through his thoughts before his fate took a turn. Jamie didn't allow that relief to last long as he plummeted back down into the murky depths, taking the human with him. Almost immediately, the body in his hands began flailing, attempting in vain to free himself from the claws that had trapped him.

Jamie let go of his target after they'd fallen deep enough, watching as he thrashed and battled for his life, attempting to return to the surface.  Despite his best efforts, every time he went too near to his freedom, he was yanked back down beneath, victim to Jamie's sadistic game.

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The man cursed, only adding to his decreasing supply of air and making Jamie's work easier. Jamie circled the man like the predator he was, flicking his tail now and again to propel him through the water. He noticed a difference in the water, which was followed by a pool of familiar crimson matter. The aroma of the nectar that served as his prey's life supply only made the tailed ocean dweller hungrier. 

He refused to wait any longer, extending his claws and teeth as he leapt for the struggling human. His tail curled around its body, squeezing whatever life it had left until its motions came to a halt. Jamie gorged himself on the meat he'd captured.

He looked for the second, younger human who had been floating on the surface, seeking in vain for his companion, ignorant of said human's fate that had left nothing but cleaned bones that slid to the ocean floor. Jamie swam up to the surface, bringing the two into immediate proximity.

Unlike the other human, this one did not express relief. No. He looked panicked at the sight of the figure in front of him, the water around it filled with blood he could only assume came from his companion. As Jamie approached him slowly and menacingly, the boy's body froze, joints seizing with terror. 

He lunged and wrapped, taking his soon-to-be second meal down with him in an all-too-familiar motion. The boy in his clutches struggled just like his companion, just like every other soul who'd had the misfortune of coming into contact with one of the sea's most lethal monsters.

But this time seemed... different. Something inside Jamie seemed to implore him to let go, to release this one human being and spare his life. It was a ridiculous idea. The human? Be spared? For what purpose? He wasn't the same as Lacie. He had no regard for the repulsive species.

Looking at the boy, though, that emotion simply got stronger. Jamie didn't have much time given that the human's struggle had already begun to slow down. It wasn't an issue for him to close the distance between them and the beach nearby, especially since the body appeared to dangle limply in his arms. He'd already reached the shore with a few strong flicks of his tail, forcefully dropping the human onto the sandy floor.

He anticipated it to rise again and waited for it to recover consciousness before leaving. Its body still dripped that crimson, mouth-watering essence he craved, but he couldn't ignore the blaring voice of his instincts telling him to halt. On the other hand, the human was taking a while to wake up, and he quickly realised why. It had ceased to breathe. Its eyes stayed closed as moist hair clung to its face, and its chest showed no movement, proving his claim.

The land's denizens were such frail creatures. Unable to perform simple things like breathing underwater. Humans, in particular, seemed the most inept of them all. Jamie assumed there was too much water in its lungs, so he moved to place a palm on its chest despite his reluctance. He focused his attention on the water that had infiltrated the lungs, sliding his fingers higher as the water within followed. When it reached the human's lips, he merely tilted the human's head and let the water drain onto the sand.

It sprung back up almost instantaneously, gasping and coughing furiously as it sought to take air into its newly empty lungs. Jamie kept his distance, watching with slitted eyes as the boy grabbed his chest in misery, his body trembling from the pain as well as the cold of the water that clung to his skin, accompanied by the brush of the night air.

The male raised his head from where it had previously been hanging low, encountering the all too familiar gaze of the being that had pulled him down into the waters earlier. That anxiety resurfaced, tinged with perplexity, as he wondered why he'd been brought ashore. He was puzzled as to why he hadn't been killed by it. He tried to back away, but the pain in his legs that had halted him showed itself as wounds that were bleeding profusely. Jamie examined them, wondering whether his scales had caused them when bringing them to shore.

The luscious aroma of blood lingered in the air, and Jamie's lips were on the edge of drooling, but he resisted. He had other intentions for the human right now, and it all started with having these injuries fixed. So, without warning, those clawed hands sprang out, clutching for the throat of the boy he'd just spared from death and pulled him closer, said human making a pained and terrified cry.

His clawed fingers curled around the boy's throat, softly squeezing. A silent word of caution. He would have attempted to express what he was striving to achieve if he could. Jamie, however, was unable to communicate in the language of humans. After all, he'd shown little or rather no interest when Lacie sought to educate him.

But none of these were important. He was going to make his point in some way and he would be sure it was understood. He hissed silently, tightening his grip once before gently releasing the grip, tracing his hand down to the wounds that littered the human male's legs. The boy sat silently and watched as this occurred... The blood that had been gushing out of his sliced legs suddenly appeared to slowly flow back into him, his flesh mending itself anew, leaving no trace that there had ever been wounds of any sort. To say he was taken aback would be an understatement. 

Jamie drew his finger across the now-sealed skin, collecting the blood and putting it into his mouth. When the two established eye contact again, the human still expressed fear, but there was also obvious interest. Jamie, on the other hand, had a blank expression and showed no interest in the boy in front of him.

"Who... or rather... What are you?" The boy's voice was weak and scratchy, the copious amount of salt water that previously inhabited his throat having caused some kind of damage to it and potentially his vocal cords.

Jamie couldn't respond even if he wanted to. Not with his incapacity to communicate in human language. Instead, he rolled his eyes, sprang up, and yanked the other lad to his feet. The latter staggered, shaky on his feet, almost instantly dropping back down onto his knees, holding his stomach as he gagged, emptying his stomach right then and then.

Jamie's nose screwed up at the foul stench, merely staring at the wretching male as he knelt on the floor, coughing weakly whenever he got the chance to pause. He saw the human's rising weariness but made no effort to grab it as he watched it drop down onto the floor, evidently unconscious.

He sighed, his gaze fixed on the immobile shape in the sand, watching as the boy's chest rose and fell with each breath he took. Perhaps he shouldn't have been greedy and just lured one human.