Zuriel lipped at the kelp strand in front of him with only half-hearted interest. A parrot fish swam slowly by him, unconcerned by his presence, used to him. Just as he was used to it...and everything around him. Mers were known to be mostly solitary creatures and somewhat territorial. And Zuriel fit that description. He was not overly protective of where he lived, but he stayed within the mental boundaries that he set, and he had for quite some time. It was boring.
Growing up he had always had questions. Where did that parrot fish come from? What was coral made of? What made the fish so afraid of that rock shelve? And over time he had found answers. Parrot fish begat parrot fish. Coral slowly grew, he didn't really know how still but it grew. There was an octopus hidden in the rocks. He needed some excitement, something new.
And today he was going to do something about it. He began swimming, in no hurry but above a leisurely pace. Simply heading in the direction he had been facing. The reef was familiar here, so familiar he could predict the next type of fish he would see. And then, then he was at the barrier. He closed his eyes for a minute and kept swimming, opening them after several sweeps of his tail.
Quite honestly...it looked the same. His eyes scanned, falling on differently situated corals and rocky outcroppings. And then a brightly colored fish caught his eye and he began to somewhat stalk it, intrigued by the unique markings. It eventually sought cover and then a small school of fish, silver flashes of light attracted his attention. When he was tired of following those he swam to the surface to get a breath of fresh air. This was enough adventuring for one day, he decided, and turned to go home. Except...which was was home? Between following the fish and going up for air all of the coral now looked the foreign to him, and he had no idea of which direction he should take.
