ORIGIN

It had been days since Kreool had hatched into the world, and the little tyke had had his fun. Today he woke on the water's edge with an ill feeling in his stomach. He spent a good portion of the quiet time just floating, waiting and willing for it to go away. It only got worse. Ugh, why do I feel so gross? The little blue submerged himself, drifting with the even pushes from the falls. He stared into the water drearily, unamused and frankly, grumpy.

Movement in the water nearby drew his sulking attention. A cave fish! He'd seen these before, and had asked Arrh about them. The whale had told him about how the little ones sometimes couldn't speak like they could- and that those ones were for eating. Kreool had been confused about the concept, no instincts driving him to hunt before. In Polaris, the low thrumming of the Spire's magickal influence had kept him sated. Now, the sight of the greasy little scum-sucker flitting about in the depths made his stomach clench.

He wanted that fish.

He wanted to feel its scales between his teeth.

Predatory instincts flooded his normally wistful mind. The little blue changed in an instant, suddenly swimming with his body, arms flexing to guide him as he slid silently through the water. He slipped into the murky shadows below and seemed to disappear...

...only to reappear too soon below the fish. It startled and flicked its tail, darting out of reach as Kreool shot towards it. The youth's jaws snapped up just more water and he made a new sound in his frustration. A deep, warbling rumble. With bared teeth, Kreool spun back around and headed for the surface for air. His head poked out of the water with a gasp, then sputtering, he threw a clawed fin into the air and then slapped the water. The clap echoed alongside a shout of feral frustration. This wasn't a good day for the little leviathan.

Eeya appeared with kind squeals and clicks, and a loving pet name, but Kreool snorted and snapped his gaze away.

"No good fish! Bad fish! Fish swim from Kreool!" He retorted grouchily, side-glancing at Eeya with a childish scowl in his eyes. "Kreool want fish for Kreool, but fish bad. Can't catch fish." He snapped his jaws in the water to empathize his point- he was hungry, but he didn't know how to explain that, or even what it meant.

It would later turn out that Leviathans such as Kreool only ate once in a while. They ate rarely, but they ate in large quantities when they did eat. He would be no exception to this rule- much like a snake, it would only take one good feed for him to get back to normal for another week or two. As it was, he looked rather dull in color, tired, snout wrinkled in his frustration.

"I want it, Eeya!"

Kreool regarded Eeya hesitantly as the dolphin ecnouraged the boy. Pearly, alien eyes locked and stuck, following Eeya as he dove under again. A second later, he inhaled deep and submerged alongside the sleeker, gray friend. A clean rim of light shot across Eeya's back, only a moment, where that blue crystaline casing sat atop his dorsal fin, and a second later, a bright, shining light illuminated the depths of Pisces Lagoon. Briefly, Kreool's eyes lit up with some excitement. What a nifty trick!

"You made light! Eeya, that was so cool!" He mused, gills flaring in a display as he swam closer and placed a flat paw on the dolphin's back, beside the gem. "Your blue did a thing! A fun light thing!" But, with a grin, Kreool looked towards the ball of light and saw the fish, his stomach twisted painfully, and he backed off again with a flick of his tail.

"...silver fish." He rumbled, then instinct seemed to take over again. His demeanor shifted and silently, he flicked lower into the depths below- where the light dimmed and his coloration seemed to blend him into the dark blues of the water...

...and moments later, he shot upwards again, a vertical bee-line into the small school. This time, when the fish scattered, the little blue was ready. Jaws gaped wide, snapping side to side. Something hit, and when it did, Kreool twisted into a spin- not unlike a crocodile's death roll. As the bubbles cleared, he emerged victorious, a fat fish trapped between his teeth, his head still shaking it occasionally, front claws reached up to grasp it and a moment later, he'd devoured it whole. It was as if he'd forgotten Eeya was there, the whole scene almost barbaric- this little creature wasn't prey. He was, in fact, an apex species- and that meant, deep inside, he was a born killer.

At least, of all things fishy and edible, anyway.