Seto could swear he heard the sounds of screaming, but he doesn't turn towards them. Instead, he keeps powering back out to sea, letting the water glide off his scales. His wings flap under the water, propelling him even more quickly as his tail steers him through like a powered rudder.
If Gozaburo finds out, then he'll have to stake his claim on the pod that very moment or be killed. He's certain of it. Or the man would use it to manipulate him further, which Seto had told himself he'd never allow again.
If Mokuba finds out, well...it's not as if he wants his brother to find out he's following in his parents' talonprints with the bad choices.
---
After a week or so...Seto finds that he's gotten this all down to a much cleaner art. He stays away from the shore--mostly--during the day, but visits during the evening and keeps his head down as much as possible. His scales are far lighter than his brethren, after all, and he needed to be careful about being seen.
So far, he hasn't really seen the human again, which, you know. Good! That meant he'd either died after all, or learned his lesson about visiting the channels and beaches around here.
This particular day...Seto's feeling far more tired than usual, settled on a nearly submerged sandbar at one of the local beaches and resting. Here, his pod wouldn't find him. They rarely came so close to shore. He could convalesce after his brawl with the pod's leader which had ended in bruises, rakes, and at least a couple torn scales that bled freely into the water.
The lapping of the waves as the tide slowly goes out is comforting. The water still stung against his wounds, but not nearly so much as it had earlier. Now it's like a gentle, coaxing massage. It's like having his brother nearby, pressing close to him and twining their tails to comfort.
He didn't intend to fall asleep on the sandbar, he only wished to rest his eyes for 5 minutes or so. But, as Gozaburo had pointed out time and again, he was that caliber of failure, wasn't he?
The kind of failure that let the water dry from his scales as the sandbar seemed to rise from the sea. From head to tail-tip he was left to bask in the air, eventually leaving him as a naked human covered in scratches, looking dead to the world.
no subject
If Gozaburo finds out, then he'll have to stake his claim on the pod that very moment or be killed. He's certain of it. Or the man would use it to manipulate him further, which Seto had told himself he'd never allow again.
If Mokuba finds out, well...it's not as if he wants his brother to find out he's following in his parents' talonprints with the bad choices.
---
After a week or so...Seto finds that he's gotten this all down to a much cleaner art. He stays away from the shore--mostly--during the day, but visits during the evening and keeps his head down as much as possible. His scales are far lighter than his brethren, after all, and he needed to be careful about being seen.
So far, he hasn't really seen the human again, which, you know. Good! That meant he'd either died after all, or learned his lesson about visiting the channels and beaches around here.
This particular day...Seto's feeling far more tired than usual, settled on a nearly submerged sandbar at one of the local beaches and resting. Here, his pod wouldn't find him. They rarely came so close to shore. He could convalesce after his brawl with the pod's leader which had ended in bruises, rakes, and at least a couple torn scales that bled freely into the water.
The lapping of the waves as the tide slowly goes out is comforting. The water still stung against his wounds, but not nearly so much as it had earlier. Now it's like a gentle, coaxing massage. It's like having his brother nearby, pressing close to him and twining their tails to comfort.
He didn't intend to fall asleep on the sandbar, he only wished to rest his eyes for 5 minutes or so. But, as Gozaburo had pointed out time and again, he was that caliber of failure, wasn't he?
The kind of failure that let the water dry from his scales as the sandbar seemed to rise from the sea. From head to tail-tip he was left to bask in the air, eventually leaving him as a naked human covered in scratches, looking dead to the world.
Oops.