Afina loved it when the waves churned like this.

She could swim up near the surface, turn onto her back, and use her tail to keep herself in that position as the sea rocked her from side to side, back and forth, gentle in its ferocity.

It was the most stable part of this world, the instability of the sea. Afina could always count on gathering clouds resulting in choppy waters, strong gales bringing about crashing sea foam.

She was not unique for loving this chaos. Most merfellows did. In fact, whenever there was a storm, most of them swam towards the surface to better feel the changing of the elements. It was a wonderful time for young children to test out their budding powers - being able to control the waves at a time like this meant they had nearly mastered their abilities.

She often thought that she would much rather control the waves than the sky, as the mountlings did. 

The mountlings were the merfellows' greatest enemies, terrible, winged creatures that often left their homes in the mountains to torment the merfellows despite the ocean-centered species' attempts at peace. They were terrible people that Afina didn't want to bother thinking about, not at a lovely time like this.

The wind began to pick up even more than it had before, churning the ocean into a frenzy in a way it hadn't been before. Afina begin to feel a tendril of concern swirling in her stomach to match the ocean around her.

She had never seen the wind behave quite like this before.

And then something came slicing through the water, went sailing through the chest of the merfellow next to her.

She didn't waste a second. Turning tail and disappearing into the ocean, Afina swam as quickly as she could away from the attack.

What were the mountlings thinking, attacking the merfellows during a time of power such as this one?

Her hand raised to her neck, to the feathers strung on a cord. It had been her first kill, and the reminder of how easily she had felled her enemy calmed her.

"Mountlings attacking!" she screamed as she swam through the streets of her city. "Mountlings attacking!"

The words quickly brewed insanity. Whoever had a weapon grabbed it and left to fight, the rest of them staying behind to defend the city and the defenseless within it. The roads became crowded and crazy, full of merfellows desperate to help out in some way.

Afina hurried to her own home, to her family who had opted to stay behind when the storm started.

She didn't out-swim the news. When she reached the door of her small house, it swung open and her brother grabbed her in a tight hug.

"Thank the waves," he breathed, pressing a kiss to her temple and ushering her inside. "You're safe."

"I'm fine," Afina assured him, voice only slightly trembling.

"A mountling attack, is it?" he asked, grabbing his spear by the door.

"Yes. It came out of nowhere."

"Damn," her brother swore. "Watch the children." And then he was gone.

Afina's brother was lucky enough to have four beautiful children when most people had to fight for one. Breeding grounds were becoming an increasingly valuable commodity, with a lack of the low-lying, oxygen-rich places merfellows required. Not to mention that whenever merfellows did find new breeding grounds on dry land, the mountlings swarmed in to kill them and steal their territory.

She gathered the children together into one room, feeling slightly dissatisfied that her brother was off getting to fight for his people while she was stuck here babysitting. To ease the tension in her mind, Afina swam across the way, leaving the eldest of the children in temporary control of the house.

They were good kids. She trusted them.

Her sister lived across the street from their brother. Afina had recently moved into her brother's house after his mate abandoned him for another. It had been a tragic time for everyone in the family, but in a way, it had made them all closer, too.

She had obviously been watching the street because the door was open by the time Afina got there. Alaria welcomed her sister with open arms, just as their brother had. "Afina! You're alright."

"So are the children. Damarius left to go fight."

Alaria bit her lip and Afina stroked her hair comfortingly. Her sister had never enjoyed conflicts, so she had never favored the war between the species. She understood the need for it, though, the brutality of the mountlings.

Or so Afina hoped. her sister had actually never verbally expressed such sentiments.

"I just wanted to check in," she told Alaria. "I need to get back to watching the children."

"Okay," Alaria replied, nodding quickly. "Good luck."

She began to close the door almost before Afina was out of the doorway. It was strange, her seemingly urgent need to get rid of Afina.

So strange, in fact, that Afina swam into the shadows of the house, creeping around its exterior until she was beneath her sister's bedroom window.

Alaria had never pushed her out of  the house like that, not in all their years of sisterhood. She had always been more than happy to host Afina as long as she liked. Normally, Alaria would have told Afina to bring the children over - the more the merrier, in her eyes.

It was almost like she had somewhere to be.

Afina listened closely, but could hear nothing but rustling. Alaria was in the bedroom, that was for sure - but doing what? What was she doing that was so important Afina could not be around to witness it?

Suddenly, the window above her swung open. Afina had time to do nothing but freeze where she was as her sister swam out of the window and towards the water's surface. She was so intent on the ocean's top that she didn't even notice Afina, curled into herself below the window.

Afina followed her, glad for the shadowy water as they moved farther away from the city's light. The storm had darkened the landscape, hid her pursuit.

Alaria didn't stop below the waves. She did take the time to check for mountlings - but there were none here. They were all centered around the refuting merfellows. In fact, as the two sisters breached the waves, Afina could hear the fighting, likely less than half a mile away.

It was strange, being on this side of the battle. Even stranger as Alaria began making her way towards the shore.

Afina had come this far. She had to see what Alaria was up to.

Something kept her from simply calling out to her sister, though. The fact that her sister had never hidden anything from her like this before - at least, not to her knowledge - bothered her deeply.

Finally, the sisters reached the shore. Alaria crawled out of the choppy waves, legs unsteady until she got her bearings. Afina did the same a ways down the shore, where her sister could not see her.

Then she followed her as she delved into a nearby forest, wincing as small bits of nature lodged themselves in her sensitive feet.

Her sister emerged into a clearing and Afina hung back, hiding behind a tree and peering around it to watch.

Her blood ran cold when a mountling emerged from the other end of the clearing and began moving quickly towards Alaria.

She was about to shout out a warning or even run to her sister's defense when Alaria rushed forwards into the awaiting arms of the mountling. Afina couldn't help a gasp, quickly swallowed by the storm, as they kissed passionately.

A merfellow and a mountling in love? She had never heard of such a thing before.

And the merfellow was her own sister!

Afina could hardly understand what she was witnessing. Behind them, out at sea, their people were dying because of his people's attack. An attack that, for the record, had not been deserved in the slightest. All the merfellows had been doing was enjoying the waves.

And yet here her sister was, betraying the cause, betraying their entire species, kissing one of them.

Afina left quietly. She could not confront her sister and risk hurting both of them if the mountling lost his temper. She could not risk losing her sister's trust.

No, she would hold onto this secret for now. But, as she felt the love for her sister icing over in her breast, Afina silently vowed to never forget what she had seen in the clearing.

Alaria would be punished for this betrayal. Afina would see to that.