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Things had been great for a while. She'd just moved out from her parent's house, finally managed to find a hair salon with stylists who really didn't give a damn if she wanted to dye her head silver, and had settled down in Rosewood, California to finish college. She knew perfectly well that the Cambrian children, or whatever they were called, supposedly came from the "Abyss Beach" that was around here. She saw them on TV occasionally, as well as the rants of that weird cult that wanted to wipe them out. Personally, Tsunake Kiamoto didn't understand why the little beasties shouldn't be allowed to live. They weren't hurting anyone, right?

With a miserable, self-suffering sigh, the young woman was sprawled across her bed, staring blandly at her ceiling. Yes, things had been just wonderful...and now she was bored. It had seized her mind only a few days after her big move, making her irritable and moody. Unfortunately, she didn't know anyone in the area, and therefore, had no urge to go outside. But even as she mentally balked at the idea, her eyes strayed to the little red, plastic bucket her mother had left for her. She had wanted Tsu to collect shells for her, maybe take pictures of the beach. Her mother had never been to the ocean, after all...

With a sigh, the woman swung her legs over the bed, snatching up a pair of bright, neon-green flip-flops and taking hold of the bucket. Fine, fine, she'd go out and take a look around at the beach. Besides, she had nothing else to do, right?

~

The gritty sand beneath her feet and the tang of salt in the air had increased her spirits substantionally. Her shoes had been carelessly in the bucket, toes wriggling with delight that they were now free. Curious, Tsunake had stopped to observe some children who were at play, occasionally kneeling to get a closer look at some pretty shells, or washed up coral. They had obtained a clump of seaweed, and, to her surprise, were shaking it vigorously. Dozens of tiny animals spilled from the green mass, like fish and crustaceans. The fish were swept up by the tide, rescued, but the little crablings weren't so lucky.

"Ohh, poor babies." She chuckled quietly at the sight of the tiny crabs that had been shaken rather rudely from their homes. "Hope you pinch those kids when you get bigger." Well, as long as the kiddos weren't trying to hurt the babies, then there wasn't really any harm done. It was amusing to watch the tiny creatures scuttle so, desperate for a hiding place. The children shrieked with laughter, the boy holding the seaweed giving it another furious shake--and he promptly squalled with shock and surprise. A jellyfish had dropped from the seaweed, giving him a vicious sting for his cruel little game. The boy squealed again, then kicked the oozing creature away, the seaweed tumbling from his fingers.

He and the rest of the kids ran off, apparently realizing that this game could bite back. Tsunake realized she had been staring and shifted her weight from one foot to the other before moving closer, a smile twitching at her lips as the baby crabs clustered underneath their ransacked home. "Thank you, Mr. Jellyfish." Tsunake grinned spitefully, crouching and prodding at the clump of plants for a better look.

"Why, hello...What might you be?" The silver-haired woman murmured thoughtfully, chewing on her thumb at the sight of the glowing, gooey clump of...eggs? She could see something inside the sticky bundle, something that looked suspiciously like the baby crabs that had huddled around it. Hm. Were these crab eggs? "Those damn kids, trying to squish you poor things." Ahh, Tsu, you needed to stop leaping to conclusions. There was no way she could leave this...stuff outside, not when those kids could come back.

Extending her hand tentatively, Tsunake brushed away the ferociously tiny little crabs, scooping up the gelatinous mass without so much as a twitch. "There, little crab babies. I'll bring you back here after you hatch." And somewhere deep in her mind, she realized that perhaps these weren't just ordinary crabs. After all, who ever heard of glowing eggs? Sweeping the wet sand from her knees, she dumped the flip-flops out, and placed her miraculous find inside. Kicking the shoes on her feet, she quickly set off for home, knowing that this thing probably wouldn't do so well out of water.

Tsunake, understandably, was exhausted from her little romp in the park. The picnic had been nice, if a bit strange, and best of all, she had met two people. All in all, not a bad day--despite her urge to sample some of Bolide's fish-composed lunch. Yuck. Dragging herself home had been hard, and, after clumsily stripping off her clothes, grabbing a pair of boxers and an over large t-shirt, the young woman collapsed on her bed. With a grumble, she did remember to sit up and check the eggs that were still floating mindlessly in the tank, before shoving her head underneath her pillow and going to sleep.

Her dream that night was strange and confusing--like the others had been for the past two days. She had too many legs, was too close to the ground...and yet, everything was perfect. This was how it was supposed to be. Tsunake floated mindlessly through this shrouded, elusive world, faintly recognizing where she was. She knew this beach...Her legs dug into the sand, propelling her easily across the shallows, warm water flicking at her back, engulfing her entire body. This was...this was home. Which home...? Before she could dwell too much on the thought, she caught sight of the mountains. Mountains...she knew these mountains too. But where...where was home? Suddenly, it was as though there were two sides of her. One insisted that this was home, but another part of her demanded to know where the buildings were, the people, the paved streets...

The dream promptly shattered, her human side viciously tearing through the fluffy clouds of sleep, searching for an answer as to why things were so different. The young woman practically fell out of bed, sitting up violently, hands pressing firmly over her eyes, then sliding back to massage at her temples. A dream, a dream, it had only been a dream...Such a strange dream... "Probably from meeting Bolide." Tsunake muttered darkly to herself--and nearly had a heart attack as something in front of her moved.

Biting on her own tongue to swallow a yelp, the woman cautiously rose from her rock hard bed, sweeping silver hair out of her face to get a better look at the thing that was in her fish tank. Where were her eggs? What the hell was THAT thing? The dim rays of first morning light just barely seeped in through the window, and Tsunake, smacking herself in the forehead, promptly realized that the eggs much have hatched. Paranoid, much?

"The ********." She muttered, jaws creaking as she held back a yawn. "You aren't any crab that I've ever seen before." To her surprise, the little beastie wiggled its feelers fiercely in her direction, even rearing up to press itself against the glass, legs beating a little tattoo against the hard surface. Tsunake couldn't help but chuckle, amused with the creature's antics. As though satisfied, it set to parading around the tank again, apparently pleased with its surroundings. Its little pinchers set on shredding the fake seaweed in the cage, not eating it--just mauling it because it could. Her stomach rumbled at the sight, despite how goddamn early it was. "Ach, I bet you're hungry, too..."

All right, she could deal with a crab that looked like it had been dunked in toxic goo. Getting blearily to her feet, Tsunake stumbled to the kitchen of her apartment, pawing around in the fridge. Aha, anchovies. She hadn't been able to resist buying them, strange as that sounded...though she hadn't been brave enough to eat them, despite the craving. Giving her head a brief shake to get the blood flowing, the young woman peeled open the can, grasping one of the tiny, bug-eyed fish with her forefinger and thumb. Would this be too big for him to eat? Eh, she'd find out.

No sooner than she had dropped the salty little fish into the tank and watched it settle to the bottom, the crab baby pounced, feelers flicking energetically over the carcass before it tore right into it. Tsunake couldn't help but stare at its voracity--and promptly blinked with surprise as her own hunger pains eased. Oookay...that was weird. Well, whatever. She had probably just lost her appetite...or something.

Feeling oddly fond of the baby, like some sort of mother hen, Tsunake stayed up despite her brain's protests to go back to bed, content to simply feed the baby until it settled into a corner of the tank, happily scrabbling at the gravel around it. The young woman could barely suppress a sigh, satisfied that it'd be all right on its own for a little bit. Maybe NOW she could go back to bed...