Under the Sea
Sora knew about humans. Everyone did: it was hard to ignore the creatures that caused so much havoc and destruction, and it was a given that they would avoid humans at all costs, evading human vessels and keeping to the deeper parts of the ocean to remain hidden. Sometime in the past, they had even learned glamour spells to disguise themselves, taking on the appearance of other sea creatures. It was effective, and merfolk survived under the sea, despite the ever-encroaching bipeds.
Of course, light was scarce deep under water, and it was common for merfolk to swim close to the surface for a bit of sunbathing, and not unheard of for the more curious and bold to spy on humans. There were even tales of mers that had chosen human mates, adopting their bipedal form to join them on land. Whether or not that was true, Sora wasn't so sure, since no one had ever actually seen it happen.
Like other guppies, he and Roxas had been interested in the mysterious land dwellers. Roxas had long grown out of it, but Sora still ventured to the shallows, relying on his fast reflexes to make up for his laziness when it came to glamour spells. It amused him that humans would take to the ocean as if they belonged there, despite their clumsiness.
Although he found out, one day, that not all humans were clumsy.
There were three of them in the water, two that were noisy when they entered the water, and another that dove down with a grace that Sora rarely saw among them. From behind a rock, he watched, the two noisy ones displaying surprising dexterity with a knobbed ball, turning and kicking and somersaulting. He knew a little about this—blitzball, they called it, but most of the ones he'd seen play it were as slow in the water as any others.
He was still enraptured by the knobbed ball when the third human approached his hiding place. Sora didn't think he'd been seen yet, but moved deeper into the rock's shadow to stay out of sight. This one wasn't showing off like the other two, but still moved so naturally in the ocean's embrace, and Sora couldn't tear his gaze away as that one moved even closer to his hiding space, eyes searching from behind their strange lenses. They were brilliant blue-green, and hypnotizing, as silvery hair danced around the human's head.
He'd never seen anything so beautiful.
He waited for an instant too long to move, and perhaps the human saw him, just before he twisted and propelled himself away. If he had—well, Sora bit his lip at the consequences if anyone found out he'd let himself be seen, and without a glamour spell.
Still, still. Against his better judgment, he watched the human leave the water, disappearing up into a small vessel, and tracked the thing as it headed inland. Muttered a glamour spell, just in case, as they moved closer to the human's habitat, and away from the safety of deep water.