Elinkah*

THE PAST*

The Hunter

~*~

Chapter One:

In the darkest of the ocean caverns and in the quietest of places, alone and away from the rest of the world, the hunter lay hidden, deep within the shadows, hardly a sign of life peeking out from the dark, jagged rocks of the barren underwater fields of dead and dying coral. No movement, not even the faintest quivering in the water from the slow and steady breaths the hunter carefully took. Why lurk in the unfathomable darkness, undetectable to the outside world?

One hardly had to wonder why for longer- for in a second, the hunter no longer needed his disguise and shot out from underneath the half-collapsed cave of rock, his form sleek and bullet-like, streamed line and built for speed and accuracy. All that was noticeable in the flurry of bubbles and teeth was a grey, maroon-stained blur that raced through the waters in blinding speed, owning it even more so than the birds who owned the sky.

The hunt had begun.

What is it the beast was chasing? Only he knew, for its speed rivaled his own as it dove through the maze of shattered coral beneath it, the frail pieces shattering into millions of tiny shards as the hunter blazed through them all, leaving a trail of destruction in the wake of the chase. Finally, the last expected leg of the race, between the hunter and his prey, came forward, as the prey shot upwards and headed towards the sky.

A faint tip of his pointed nose was all the hunter needed to send his muscular, perfectly adapted body shooting up like a jet, powerful fins behind it propelling him upwards, upwards, the light from the world above the water shining down and growing in intensity with every passing second, the surface growing closer and closer as it finally encompassed his entire view.

With the sound of an explosion, and the looks of dynamite and sheer horror taken to the skies, the predator burst out of the water, jaws opening wide and closing, just barely, around its prize. Each water droplet seemed almost frozen in time as it danced around the breaching hunter, flying in each direction and each reflecting every glorified image from the shark's gleaming body as it twisted in the air, belly turning skywards, and slammed back down into the water, the droplets once more dancing furiously in his wake, turning the very tide and sending massive waves rolling throughout the endless, cascading rolls of ocean.

Victorious, the hunter swam downwards, slow and steady as it regained lost energy in the hunt with the nutritious meal captured in its jaws. Long devoured, it would serve the hunter well until his next meal's opportunity came around. And as he swam back through the wreckage of the hunt, the light shining down through the waters danced across his surface.

Shying from the light, the Hammerhead Shark instantly revolted from the brightness and turned his face away, sheltering it in the shadows of the rest of his body as he swam back at an increased pace towards his home. The light… he could have no interaction with it. He was not a being of the light; he was a hunter of the shadows. And no one could ever look at his face; his face of shame and hideous monstrosity. He would not allow it.

As he swam deeper, his actions became more relaxed, allowing the unforgiving, yet non-judging darkness to once more slip over his form and conceal it from the preening and judging eyes of the outside world. The creature, once more submerged in shadow and hidden in the cold embrace of darkness, slid back into his domain, where he lived and where he ruled. He commanded every corner of these dark waters; but was this a blessing, or a curse?

As his thoughts trailed towards his broken and horrid past, he shook slightly and curled tightly inward, snuggling up against the comforting, slick walls of his cave. This exile into his world was both for the tragic creature, a sweet escape from the harsh cruelty of the outside world, and yet an unbending chain to this forever-accursed half-existence.

As his second pair of eyelids slowly closed over his eyes, effectively sealing out all light from both outside and within, his mind drifted off, to the pleasant memories of his early childhood. Before his life was ruined, before he was cast into the outlands, and before those horrid scars were laid on his soul. And as the darkness took him in, he drifted off into his prison haven of shadows and silence.

~*~

THE PRESENT*

The Loner

~*~

The HammerHead:
NAME* Elinkah
NICKNAME* Eli
SPECIES* Hammerhead
GENDER* Male
FAMILY* None/Unknown

~*~

PETPET*

Sombra,The Pfish

~*~

BACKGROUND*

When Eli was just a young boy, he idolized his father, Shaknoff the Maraquan Draik warrior. A war-decorated captain and honored throughout the entire Maraquan Army, Eli's father was a wonderful father who raised his son right alongside his wife, Essile the Maraquan Uni. Taught early the virtues of honor and glory in both life and the battlefield, Eli wanted nothing more, desired nothing less than to grow up just like his father and earn a title alongside Shaknoff in the honorable Maraquan Guard.

However, all this changed when Captain Scarblade and his crew brought their ship underwater and began the Siege of Maraqua. While Shaknoff boldly set off to fight, Essile was concerned for the safety of her son and took him to flee in the castle, with the rest of women and children who took shelter during the epic battle. However, Eli could think of nothing else he wanted to do than to escape and join his father in battle, showing him how honorable and strong he was and earn the respect of the warrior.

Sneaking away from his mother's protective hold, Eli raged into battle- however, as just a young Poogle, he found himself frightened as he dodged and escaped the mob of fighters, trying to remain brave yet narrowly being struck many times by fighters much older, experienced, and stronger than he. As he was finding himself more and more entangled in the struggle, his father, Shaknoff, noticed that his son had become ensnared in the fighting.

Terrified for his son's safety, Shaknoff immediately came to his son's aid, defending him just in the nick of time before a Pirate was able to send his shiv through Eli's fins. Watching in admiration, and also horror, as his father felled Pirate after Pirate, Eli shrank back in fear and wonder- only to find himself having bumped into an enemy.

With hate and evil in the eyes of the pirate, he turned around and, with a mighty yell, thrust his dagger at the terrified child.

Eli cringed, awaiting the pain of the sword- but instead heard another cry for pain, and looked up to see his father, having taken the blow for him, standing in his way. As the pirate ran off, Eli watched in terror as his father slowly and quietly collapsed on the ocean floor.

As the battle began to turn and the Maraquans won, none of the cheers nor any other noise from the war reached the child's ears. Instead, he lay beside his father, broken hearted and stricken with fear. It didn't take long after the pirates were chased away for others to notice the fall of the mighty war-hero, with the young child weeping at his side.

Notably, the two who noticed, a Skeith and fellow Draik, went up to the boy to console him. He pushed them away and sobbed. While the Draik, a fellow war-hero, honored the fallen warrior, the Skeith remembered something he had seen during the battle...

The Skeith roared, "You... You caused this, didn't you, boy? Didn't you?!

The next thing he knew, a horrible, searing, burning pain flashed across the Poogle's face and he was flung back, screeching in pain and clutching his face with his fins. As the Draik held the raging Skeith back, Eli could feel nothing but the pain in his soul and his face and the sound of the Skeith who shouted at the child, "You killed him, you little brat! You good-for-nothing, ignorant child!"

The horror of the truth sank in to the child- he did. He did cause the death of his own father, he told himself. You killed him. Still clutching his burning, forever-marked face, the shark turned and fled, swimming as fast as his fins could carry him, swimming away from the light of the city and into the darkness of the outcast, hiding from the shame of what he'd done and from the fear of what others would say.

For years after, he would remain hidden inside a cave in the darkest of the ocean's pits, hiding his shame from the world, and hiding the pain and the shame from himself.

~*~

Art:

More coming soon!

~*~

credit*

The Credit

css (c) evanesce.