Sunset

[Pallos]

Pallos' tail dropped onto the rocks of the shore, his tough scales protecting him from harm on the (at times) jagged edges. The sun hung low in the sky, streaking pinks, oranges and purples across the blue and white sky in a way that just didn't carry over into the water. The mild stinging in his eyes as he blinked away water droplets was well worth it for the view, which drew the young creature to the shore most days. He hadn't been this side of the hemisphere long, and already he had noticed how different the sky was, and how different the bipeddles that shambled across the land were, too - the greater majority appeared to be so young looking, to his untrained eyes. For all he knew, they could age backwards.

Grunting quietly, the noise if heard by others forming a rough hiss, Pallos flicked away a small urchin that had gripped his tail. Another hiss was intended to inform the critter to stay away, but he wasn't sure if it would adhere regardless. There wouldn't be much colour remaining for long, so he tried to focus entirely on the sky. He didn't want to waste his viewing opportunity, after all. Leaning back slightly, the merman put his weight on his elbows and continued gazing.​

 

[Minerva Khulik]

So far her classes were going fine, as well as could be expected really though she did wish that History of Magic did more to inform them of what happened this side of the hemisphere and not the other. Her father had said as much to her and had warned her she'd be bored especially as she had immersed herself in magical histology for as long as she could read. All her parent's old school books had been read again and again and all had done well to inform the young girl about Merlin, the forming of the Ministry of Magic in England, the laws that formed the magical world now, witch hunts and the Domes day book and so much more and yet ... what about literature on the magical world of New Zealand? It seemed unfair that there weren't as many expansive tomes on that subject.

Her charms and herbology lessons were going well, she could not complain there either and her transfiguration class which was to date the hardest was also doing alright. The only class she wasn't so keen on was her flying one! She didn't mind watching it but being in the air disturbed her somewhat, it was like being under water ... if human beings were meant to be in either of those places, sea or sky ... then surely they would have evolved in a way to secure them a place in those places. As it was, magic spells and potions, brooms and other aids had to give the magical community their access to them.

It was after class again and Minerva needed a break from bumping her nose with her broom and so she made her way to the lake, wanting only to sit with her book and allow the quietness to envelop her. What she didn't expect when she neared however was to see a merperson sitting on a rock. She glanced about her wondering if this were normal for here and wishing that the girl Morry from Ravenclaw could see this creature now but there was no one else about as yet.

Timidly she walked a little closer, for all her reading of the creatures, she had never actually seen a real one. Her camera was in her bag but would it be very rude of her to take it out and snap a picture without first getting permission to do so? What if she asked first? What if he didn't speak English? That was a strong possibility of course. Her strange green eyes seemed to sparkle from the reflection of the lake and the sun as she drew ever nearer, she wasn't stealthy by any stretch of the imagination, any more merpeople beneath the water could have heard her approach. She hadn't wanted to startle him, so had not gone for any element of surprise.

"Hello" she said in her usual quiet tone, it was strangely easier to communicate with this creature than it was with people her own age, "I attend the school here, my first year actually. My name is Minerva. Can you understand me?"

 

[Alistair Lancaster]

Alistair was having some difficulty fitting in with the other students at the school. Not through lack of trying, but perhaps it was partially his own fault. Hogwarts, and New Zealand as a whole, simply did not feel like home, and he was afraid it never would. It wasn't like America, the accents were strange, the people were different and the seasons were all wrong. Christmas in the Summertime and little to no snow in the Winter months. Everything felt alien and it made him uncomfortable just to be there. No one from home had written to him, even after a month into his education. Emeric had sent him a package of herbs from his travels, but the attached note only contained a pre-written greeting. Verity still had yet to ask him how he was doing since she'd started back at Ilvermorny, the school he had hoped to go to, and the boy was starting to become concerned his parents might have told his siblings not to talk to him. It was lonely here.

The young Lancaster trudged slowly toward the lakefront as the sun sank slowly below the horizon, painting the sky in warmer colours. Dinner would be sometime soon, but he wasn't feeling particularly hungry. Instead, he wanted to spend some time away from his classmates for a change. After all, they weren't the only sentient creatures around the Hogwarts grounds. There were ghosts, merfolk, centaurs and house elves. Maybe talking to one of them for a change would make him feel somewhat better. He knew it was impractical to only have magical beasts and beings as friends, but it was a start, at the very least.

Alistair stopped as he reached the shoreline of the lake, pulling his cloak more tightly around his shoulders while the temperature gradually lowered with the sun. It was with some surprise that he found a merperson out of the water already, having expected to splash around in the water for a time, or try some of the gillyweed in his pocket that his brother had sent in the herb package, from his visit to the Mediterranean. The latter idea was one he was a little more hesitant about. A boy had recently drowned here, one of his cousin's friends. He could see his memorial nearby, stacked with rocks. He wasn't too interested in suffering the same fate, though he knew better than to make the same mistake of weighing himself down underwater. With a small intake of breath, the Slytherin made to approach the merman, only to see another girl beat him to it. Alistair scowled, disappointed he hadn't come along sooner. He'd been hoping to hang out with one, one on one, and this girl was ruining that idea. For a moment, he entertained the idea of pushing her into the water, but he shook his head. He'd probably scare off the merman attempting that. Instead he joined the two, clearing his throat awkwardly to announce his entrance. He felt like an intruder now that this girl had beaten him, a fact that annoyed him greatly. Looking visibly displeased at her presence, he greeted the merman with a small wave, knowing full well it likely didn't speak English. Verbal communication wasn't always necessary. ​

 

[Pallos]

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<SIZE size="50">Pallos could hear the approach before he saw the young female student. He had ample time to slip away back beneath the surface, but lacked the desire to do so as he observed her gait. It was amazing how they managed to remain upright with legs moving like that. It appeared as if, at any moment, she would just fall over, and he couldn't imagine having anything but his tail.

One issue he hadn't accounted for was being asked questions- he couldn't answer her without frightening the young female away (that was what usually happened). He could, however, understand her, and gave her a verbal indication through nodding and smiling. To try and explain his lack of verbal communication, he gestured to his throat - just in time for the young male to approach. He seemed to understand, and Pallos acknowledged him with a nod. Perhaps the pair knew each other? Either way, it was a good chance to watch their interactions, and the merman watched the pair with great curiosity.​

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[Minerva Khulik]

Minerva rummaged in her pocket and found the small notebook and nub of a pencil inside it, she couldn't help herself. She took notes on just about everything and anything and kept vast notebooks on all kinds of things from plants and bugs, to the first thestral she had ever seen to now, the first merman she had ever seen. She glanced to the side as she heard someone approach and a small sigh escaped her. One of two things was probably going to happen here, this boy would get moody with her because she would inevitably say too much or come across all professor like or the boy would make fun of her for her appearance or something. It always happened, well before she ever got to Hogwarts and quite a few times since then too. She braced herself, noting that he waved to the merman and then glancing at the merman, saw his reaction to the boy.

He had not spoken once and had only nodded to her to indicate that he could understand her but obviously couldn't communicate with her. Maybe she could teach him some sign language, her first cousin a muggle on her mothers side was deaf and the entire family communicated through sign to her. Minerva did like the boy did and gave a wave of her hand to the Merman before glancing sideways at the boy again and then back to the merman.

"Would you mind if I sat down here?" she wasn't going to be rude and just plonk herself down if she wasn't wanted but she did wonder if the boy would reply instead of the merman.

 

[Alistair Lancaster]

The atmosphere was relatively uncomfortable as Alistair stood there, and had the girl sighed as he came up? For a moment he wished he had pushed her into the lake after all. While she may have beaten him there, in his mind he'd seen the merman first. Was it too much to ask for some time away from the other students of the castle? They were everywhere, there wasn't a quiet place to be on the entirety of the Hogwarts grounds, it was no wonder so many students tried sneaking off into the Forbidden Forest.

The girl broke the silence between the trio, a silence Alistair wouldn't have minded to continue all too much. He didn't speak Mermish, and wasn't entirely sure how anyone would go about it to begin with. Glubbing? Speaking underwater was a difficult task for humans, and as the upper half of a merperson was essentially human, or at least that was the case of New Zealand's more common siren species, far more attractive than their colder water equivalents, it made sense to him that they might have difficulty also. What if they had no spoken language?

Shrugging inwardly, the boy kicked off his shoes, paying little attention to the girl's question and instead carefully treading across the dry rock the merman sat on. He seated himself next to him, confident that if the creature didn't want to be around them, it would have left by now. He wanted to just hang out with something different. Though it was true that almost everything in his life was already different now, this difference at least was a welcome one. The Lancaster boy stretched out his legs, arms folded behind his head while his feet matched the merman's tail, heels rested together without intending to. His eyes looked upward, toward the warm sky, slowly darkening with the fall of the sun. "It's a nice afternoon." He finally said aloud, a statement to them both, now that the merman had communicated his understanding of them.
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[Triton]

After leaving the waters of Greece, Triton was still finding his way around the lake. The other merpeople did seem welcoming to outsiders. Sadly, his son, Pallos, spent much of his time at the surface. Swimming through the waters, he seaeched for his boy. Triton looked up and shook his head. Figures. Triton made his way to the surface, before ducking his head under. What was Pallos doing? Triton sighed before surfacing his head and splashing his son a tiny bit. He didn't even notice the humans yet.
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[Minerva Khulik]

Minerva turned her head as she waited for a nod or some sign of affirmation for her to sit or not and watched as the blonde boy kicked off his shoes and made his way over to the rock to sit alongside the merman. Slowly her mouth began to fall open and she stared in awe at how brave he was for doing that. Merpeople were not always the friendliest according to any book she had so far read, she thought she had been doing the right thing by asking at least but perhaps this boy knew more than she did. He looked so comfortable there, as it he did it all the time!

Minerva bit her lower lip trying to decide if she would just sit on the grass verge herself when two things happened, the boy spoke and a head popped up from the water and another merperson splashed the one of the rock. It was shock more than anything else, Minerva's eyes widened a little and she plopped herself down directly staring at the head bobbing in the water. Would more merpeople come now?

"Yes ... lovely" she said in reply to the boy while still staring at the older merman in the water, she couldn't blink, couldn't move other than just look. She didn't mean to be rude if her staring was coming across that way but she had read so much about these beings and now to see two in one afternoon was simply mind-blowing. It was fantastically fascinating. Did the boy know them? He was so relaxed here, she looked then from him to the two merpeople and knew only one could give her an actual answer.

"Do you know them? ... I mean do you do this with them a lot?"

 

[Pallos]

Absorbing the warmth of the sun was supposed to be a quiet, private affair, and whilst he hadn't minded the students interrupting, the perched merman had a few issues with his father swimming along. Pallos was only young, and still rather attached to his parent, but he also knew that he could get a little overly cautious. Pallos tilted his head to try and indicate for his father to not worry about him, but he doubted that'd actually get him to go home. This was potentially going to get embarrassing.

The boy seemed comfortable, and harmless, so his focus settled on the girl. She didn't look comfortable, that much was universal, and he gave her an awkward smile, before shaking his head in way of response to her query (that wasn't directed at him, but his etiquette wasn't the greatest, either). It was his first experience with the little ones of the castle - he was confident it'd become a good experience in the end.​

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[Alistair Lancaster]

With his eyes skyward, Alistair almost missed the appearance of a new merman, if it had not been for the splashing he caused. Droplets of water coated his bare feet and he sat up suddenly, seeing the latest arrival for the first time. For a siren, the new merman was surprisingly burly, from what he could tell. The boy always imagined all merpeople to be sleek and beautiful, not heavily bearded. Then again, he wasn't so sure how they did manage to shave underwater, with only sharp rocks and sea shells all that readily available to them.

Turning his head back over to the girl as she asked her question, he answered at the same time the younger merman shook his head to indicate no. "Yeah, I do." He started to lie, as if he could be impressive by making it seem as if this was a common thing he did. Seeing the merman's response, he quickly backtracked to avoid being caught out. "I mean - I haven't hung out with these guys, but I've done this before. A few times." He finished with as much feigned confidence as he could muster. Admittedly he knew very little about merfolk, but he hoped she'd be satisfied and wouldn't pry too much into it. It would've been easy to make up facts if two merpeople weren't already present. As if to prove his point, he dipped his toes into the water and splashed some droplets back in the direction of the elder merperson, who didn't appear to pay much attention to either of the humans, in the hope that mimicking his action was a gesture of some friendly merfolk custom.
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[Triton]

Triton got the point that Pallos was okay and trying to get him not to worry, but Triton was his father and couldn't help it. The merman frowned before his eyes looked over to see humans. Young little tadpoles. Triton did have a mild interest in them, but some could be dangerous. Tadpoles were not however. Triton popped his head out of the water, before observing. They were always so interesting, speaking and whatnot. A part of him wished that they could speak above the ground. However, they could not. Triton didn't want to lay in the sun though. The rays would always burn him to some degree. Triton did understand English to a degree, so at least he could understand the tadpoles. Watching them, and keeping a close eye on Pallos, that deemed a good day in the merman's eyes.
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[Minerva Khulik]

Minerva wasn't so sure if the merboy had shaken his head not wanting her to sit down or shook his head to inform her that he didn't do this with the wizard boy. Slightly confused, she didn't know whether to stand up again or not until the blond boy informed her that he often hung out with merfolk just not these two. Fascinated she stared from one to the other of the three, wondering how the boy had managed to befriend merpeople so easily and how he felt so comfortable around them when all she wanted to do was to ask them a thousand questions.

"Have you gone swimming with them?" she asked the blond boy, feeling in a kind of awe of him.

She tried to look as comfortable as the boy did but didn't fancy taking off her shoes and socks to go paddling or splashing the merfolk so she just curled her legs behind her instead and gazed about trying to give the impression that she was relaxed as well. Minerva hoped she pulled it off but wasn't quite sure when she began to wonder about the merman in the water and the younger one, were they related? Was it the younger one's father or guardian making sure that the wizarding children didn't do him any harm?

"Is this your father?" she indicated the older one in the water and found herself giving the two a smile, hoping that she wasn't being rude for asking.