Evening was fast approaching, their footsteps carrying them further from the fishing village. The men muttered amongst themselves, a few snickers passing through their ranks. This crazy, drunk fool, there was no way he held a leviathan captive. Such beasts could not be captured, less he somehow caught a newly hatched one. Even then, it would still be a feat, as leviathan young were armed to the teeth as soon as they entered the world. As such was part of their life cycle, to hatch alone in the bottom of an ocean trench, and learn to thrive alone.
The man turned back to look at the other fishermen who had followed. They had come to stop at a decrepit looking barn, nature overtaking the area. He waved his hand, ushering them closer. He looked back down, removing the iron lock that held the chain to close the great doors. The man then pushed the doors open, gasps falling from several mouths.
"Well shit…he was actually telling the truth…"
"But how? How did you manage to capture one…wait…it's in human form?"
"Gods it smells awful…you sure its alive?"
As the awed audience entered, a great cage sat upon a wagon in the middle of the barn. At first, the only sight were great coils resembling those of a massive serpent behind the bars. As the men neared what must've been the front of the cage, a younger man tripped as he suddenly backed away.
One of the older men looked over, smirking, "Something wrong son? Betcha never seen one of these big bastards appear as something that resembles us."
Aye, upon coming to the front of the wagon, within the cage, a humanoid male appeared to be nestled within the mass of coils that were curled in the barred walls. He seemed completely listless, head mostly buried against the side of that serpent body, unmoving. The humanoid could've been mistaken for a human, if it were not for some very definite features. Course, most features were hidden, due to him being nestled deep in the coils of that snake-like body.
"How the hell have you been keeping it, without it returning to its true form? Wait…"
The captor of the leviathan looked over, giving a nod, *"Yes, yes I did. I traveled far just to get the items I needed."
"You fucking mad?! If the Village Elder knew of what you did…"
"Then keep your damn mouth shut," the man glared at the stuttering individual, "You so much as think about reporting me, I'll feed you to the leviathan here!"
"Speaking of which, how have you been managing to keep it alive? It…it really doesn't look good…ill even…"
The captor shot a glare over, "Why the hell should we care about this monster's wellbeing? After everything it has done to our village! You know how much it has taken? How many of us go to bed on empty stomachs, our children starving because of this thing?!"
Instantly silence descended upon the gathered fishermen. It was true, it seemed some unknown phenomena had fallen upon their fishing village. What once had been bountiful hauls, have become skim, nets coming up with only a few fish instead of bulging to the brim with the sea's bounty.
This…leviathan…it had to be the cause of the famine…didn't it?
An annoyed huff, the leviathan's captor suddenly moving, starting to usher the other's out. He led the back out of the barn, doors swinging shut once again, the lock returning to hold the chains in place. He shot a glare over those gathered.
"We keep quiet about this, got it? So much as even a whisper gets out," the look the captor gave was enough implication of what he meant to do should the village learn of this secret.
So, the fishermen left behind the decrepit barn, leaving behind the massive creature in the confines of the cage.
One moment he had been swimming in the dark depths, maw agape, swallowing any hapless creatures that happened to be in his way at the time. His great serpent body swishing one way, then the other, the great flipper upon his tail propelling him through the currents. Then suddenly it had felt as if an immense shock ran through his body.
He barely remembered anything after, blacking out. He hadn't felt his body begin to change, floating towards the surface. Hells, he couldn't think of when he had transformed to a human form. It was honestly something he had never done, never had a need to, spending his entire life in the water.
The beast didn't remember the great net wrapping around his body, a strange amalgamation of his true serpent body and the top half of a human male, lifting him upwards onto a platform. That man who caught him, he clasped something around his throat, a metal collar of some unknown origin.
It was only a day later did he wake up in an unknown place. This…this wasn't beneath the waves…what the hells?
He jerked upwards, unaware of his new appearance and features, ending up slamming his head on the ceiling of this metal box with bars. Whatever was on his head felt like they were jammed down into his skull, sending a vibration. Instinctively he felt something against his side shoot upwards to grab his head.
Wait…was that a…a human hand? Did it belong to him? Yet, the smooth appearance of scales along his wrists and covering those hands and fingers, those were his scales, he'd recognize them anywhere.
"Ah, so the monster is awake."
An unknown voice, he did not have time to ponder over his appearance. No, instead he clumsily clambered over the coils of the serpent body, peering downwards to see a…human? This was just getting stranger by the minute.
"Not so smug now are you, when out of the water and trapped in a weak body? How does it feel, ya bastard?"
Just what was this man going on about? Wait, what was that?
He released a startled snarl, instantly trying to reel back to the furthest part of the cage he was trapped within. How the hell did this guy know the one creature he avoided like the plague; a cuttlefish. Yes, that small marine mollusk was terrifying to him, knowing what even a bite of one could do to him. Granted, he didn't really chew his food…swallowing prey whole. However, the thought and knowledge of it was still there.
The humanoid glanced upwards as the man outside of the cage laughed at his terrible predicament, having the audacity to even turn his back to him and leave.
He felt his blood boil, a feeling he hadn't felt in…well, he honestly couldn't remember. Not once had he ever been so enraged. He focused his mind, focusing on the great serpent he once was, the beast he was suppose to be. Even if he changed here on land, he should have plenty of time to slither back to the sea.
Why…why was it suddenly so hard to focus? A sudden haze seemed to cover his mind, making it difficult to focus. What was muddling his senses? What was keeping him from transforming?
A slight shimmer of a red light seemed to blink under his chin, the clasp of that strange metallic collar around his neck glowing. Once again, darkness started to creep over his vision, collapsing within his coils.
A voice, but now there was more than one.
It was hard to tell…he had been in captivity for nearly a week now…no water…and any possible food was always presented only as a small cuttlefish. His starvation forcing him to eat the one thing poisonous to him, just to survive a little longer. Food was an issue, but even more concerning was the need for water, specifically saltwater. He was a beast of the deep ocean, he thrived there. To be taken from his natural habit, forced to be beached on land…he couldn't take this much longer…
He nestled further down in his coils as the sound of several footsteps drew closer to the cage. Great, that mad man, his captor, brought friends to laugh and gawk. The humanoid would not give them what they wanted, not that he had the strength to at the time. If anything, he was praying to the Lord of the Waters, hoping for his pleas to be heard, a simple child of the water he was, to be saved from this living hell. Yet it seemed his prayers were going unanswered. He was alone…just as he always has been…
Oh, were they leaving?
The footsteps started to grow faint, but one drew close again. As always, his 'meal' was left just outside the bars, which in turn forced him to reach just to get the poisoned food to feed himself. The humanoid waited, hearing the familiar click as the lock returned to place, silence descending upon the barn.
He didn't want to move, once vibrant colored scales and fins becoming dim and unkempt due to the cramped conditions. Then no water to wash over his form to remove the filth, it added up even in just a few days.
The creature had ignored that deadly meal for the past several days, but hunger was starting to take its toll. Last time he had eaten anything was before his capture. He had only started to feed before he had been captured. Now in this more humanoid form, he still probably had to eat more than most, also considering the half serpent body attached to his humanoid body, replacing where legs should be.
A gurgle escaped his stomach, feeling his insides start to churn at the scent of fish. With heavy arms, he hoisted himself upwards and over the mass of his coils. His tongue slipped past, running across his lips. Just clambering over, he felt how dry his scales were, which wasn't good at all.
With an ungraceful flop downwards, he slunk ahead. His instincts screamed at him to turn back and hide in the furthest corner of the cage away from the mollusk, but his stomach was getting the better of him. Would the stomach-ache, possible death, be worth it from this thing? Another loud grumble from his stomach, apparently his hunger thought it was…
He moved his body so to press it against the wall, enough to allow him to reach his arm out towards that cuttlefish. The humanoid nearly jerked his hand back, but he forced himself to continue reaching towards it. He managed to wrap his hand around it, almost instantly feeling a tingle run across the scales covering his hand, like thousands of needles instantly somehow piercing through his scales.
The male nearly lost his grip, but remained holding it firm. He slunk back a bit, pulling his arm back into the cage, eyeing the cuttlefish in his hand. A grimace instantly crossed his features, seeming to have second thoughts…but he was hungry…
He couldn't take it…
He tilted his head back, jaws opening. Reluctantly, the male lifted the prey item, dropping it into his mouth. Even in this half, humanoid form, he seemed to still swallow food whole.
Almost a soon as he finished swallowing it, he felt his stomach lurch. An audible groan escaped him, grabbing his stomach. Not worth it, not worth it at all! It felt as if his very insides were now against him. This was not what he had in mind…suffering with hunger would've been more bearable than intense grinding of his gut and intense wave of nausea.
Now to be fair, he had never felt such sensations before, so of course it was affecting him so severely.
He didn't dare move, the amount of discomfort he was in not allowing it. The most he did was try to lean back against some of his coils. The humanoid leaned his head back, groaning again. The fin-like fans that were his ears drooped, folded downwards. His gut continued to grind and churn loudly from the poisonous meal.
Absorbed in the sickness that took hold of him, he was unaware of a new presence that would soon be visiting him…perhaps this could be his ticket out of here…if he could focus long enough through the nausea and pain…
