Waking up should not involve panic, and it fucking sucks when it dose.
Why do I bring this up you ask? Well when you go to sleep in your own bed but then wake up under fucking water it tends to be quite panic inducing. And I don't mean having your brother/sister/parent/roommate throwing water on you as you sleep, I mean waking up submerged in water laying on sand at the bottom of the fucking ocean!
My immediate reaction of course was to hold my breath and swim as fast as I could to the surface, I knew that I wouldn't make it in time as I was not the best swimmer. Or at least that's what I thought til I found myself nearly leaping from the water with my momentum. That was my first hint that something was wrong... I guess that it would actually be the second and waking up in the ocean would be the first.
Taking a breath of salty air I brought one of my hands up to look at and instead of seeing dark chocolate colored skin I saw smooth sea-green/turquoise skin and webbed fingers. Looking further up my arm I saw a fin that went from the middle of my forearm to a couple inches past my elbow. Drawing my gaze to my chest and lower I saw that my previously decently endowed chest was now completely flat if you don't account for the (very little) mussel there.
Not being able to see through the water very well, or at lest not trusting my eyes with the constantly shifting surface, I ducked my head back under water and looked at my legs. Legs that now looked more like the forelegs of a horse but with wide, flat, rounded hooves that almost looked like fins. Behind my legs was a long sinuous fish like tail that was working to keep me afloat. This was the point that I started to hyperventilate, and it only got worse as I realized that I was breathing without issue with my head submerged in water.
I passed out at some point in my panic attack. I know this because I awoke on the sea bed again, but this time I was in view of a coral reef. I got very lucky that I hadn't been eaten by something.
Alright, stay... try to stay calm this time and think. How did this happen? No clue. Aside from being in the ocean, where am I? No clue, again. Am I close to a beach? I swam to the surface to have a look around, I feel like my eye sight is better that it use to be. Alright, there is a beach. A big one, but it looks like it might be a few miles away.
I ducked back under to look at the wide open and deep ocean between me and the beach and the coral reef right next to me. I should be able to remember where the reef is, but it is more of a question of if I can survive the trip to the beach and if I can safely stay there or not. Deciding to swallow my fear of the deep water I turned and made my way towards the beach.
I don't know how long I swam but I made sure to go and check the surface every couple of minutes to make sure that I was still heading in the right direction. It wasn't until I was maybe half a mile from the beach that I heard something that chilled my blood. A roar reminiscent of the Leviathans from Subnautica. Not wanting to see what made that noise I put on as much speed as I could.
Before I knew it I was leaping onto the rocky beach, and I felt something large slam itself into the rocks below me.
"Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it." I repeated over and over again as I curled up into the fetal position. I am unsure how long I stayed like that but I eventually had to move, because I could hear voices getting close and could fell myself drying out. It didn't feel harmful, just uncomfortable.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay and deal with whoever was approaching, but I definitely knew that I didn't want to deal with what ever that giant sea monster was. I lifted my head and upper body to take a look at my surroundings and to see if I could pin where the voices were coming from.
There was very little sand on the beach, it was mostly just large rocks with small scraggly plants growing out of the cracks. Past the rocks was a sparse forested area around a hundred feet away. The voices however seemed to be coming from my left on the other side of a large boulder. I couldn't make out what they were saying, at first I thought it was because they were muffled by the sound of the ocean but I quickly realized that they were actually speaking an entirely different language.
As they got closer I began to hear the clop of hooves as well. I thought that I would be ready for what I would see when whoever it was came around the corner, but I couldn't have been more wrong. From around the boulder came a Centaur and another creature that seemed to resemble a Gargoyle... kinda. They stopped in what seemed to be shock when they saw me and gave me a chance to take in there appearance. They were both young, there was no doubt about that.
The Centaur's upper body red and his horse part was black with gray hair and tail, while the Gargoyle was brown with a lion mane and bat wings. The Centaur reached for me and I acted on instinct. I dove into the water and shot off towards the reef. I found what appeared to be a unclaimed cave and fell asleep in it.
I was walking along the beach with my brother. We were talking, ranting actually. Our father was robbed by more of those petty adventurers that ask for "discounts" on their purchases.
"I can't believe these fuckin' 'heroes'." Scorpan said. "They ain't got no proof of their claims yet demand special treatment."
"They're just glorified bandits." I added as we rounded a boulder only to see that there was someone here, a surprising fact as usually there isn't anyone out here. But then I noticed what she was, a Ichthyocentaur. Her eyes where all dark and she had fins where one would normally have ears along with a fin going down the middle of her head and seeming to go to the end of her tail. She was a green and blue color and her hooves where quite obviously meant for swimming rather than walking. And her sinuous fish like tail easily twice as long as her body.
I brought my hand up to wave at her only for her to disappear below the surface of the ocean with a seamless and quite dive. I then felt a punch on my shoulder. "Good job Tirek, you scared her off."
"Yeah..." 'She was... exotically beautiful.'