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Scar hauled up the net, groaning in frustration when there was- yet again- nothing. He looked behind him, sighing as he saw again the measly number of fish he had caught.
“These fish are getting too smart,” He muttered to himself. He had been catching less and less every day, to the extent that he was starting to think that there were no more fish here.
Scar rowed back to the shoreline as he thought about what to do about his situation. He looked to the causeway that cut through the water, thinking back to the stories he had been told about what lived out there.
“Do not go,” the others had warned him, “For great monsters live out there. Ones so powerful and deadly that those who survive do not do so for long.” Scar had heeded those words for as long as he could remember, but the lack of catch made him consider going out there. In the end, he chose not to. He walked along the causeway, changing his mind as he glimpsed something large just beneath the surface. It looked to be the size of a sturgeon, but as far as Scar knew, there was no population of them living in the area. Curiosity- and the previous failures in catching anything- won him over, and he went home, having made the decision to fish out there.
The following morning was dreary, the sun hidden behind the clouds as fog blanketed the land, though this did not deter Scar. He all but leapt into his boat, rowing out to wherever he found suitable and cast his nets. This time around, his efforts proved successful, managing to haul up almost too much fish.
As Scar hauled up his last net, he nearly dropped it back into the water in shock. He managed to pull the net into the boat, moving away from it in astonishment. Tangled within the net, amongst the masses of bass, brill, and bream, was a man.
The man sliced through the net effortlessly, fear beginning to wash over Scar as the man before him sat himself up, propping himself on the edge of the boat. This man had no feet to walk upon, bearing the tail of a large fish in their stead. Scar backed up, nearly falling into the water.
“What in the world-?”
“Come closer, sir, and I’ll eat you alive,” the man snapped, glaring at Scar, his gaze hungry and cold. The man took hold of the net, gnawing through the ropes as Scar looked on.
“Listen, uh, if I let you go, will you let me be?” Scar asked slowly, the man before him looking up and crawling towards him.
“And why shouldn’t I kill you here and now? I am feeling rather peckish,” The man said with a grin, his head tilted to the side.
“Now- now hold on, I’ll let you go if you don’t eat me, does that sound alright to you? A fair compromise?”
The man thought for a moment before clambering over the side of the boat and into the water, Scar leaning over to see him. The man surfaced, staring up at him.
“I accept your deal, but you must never toss your nets or sail out here again, otherwise myself and the others will come to claim our meal.” With that, the man dipped back into the water, Scar watching as he swam away. Scar rowed back to the shore, taking his remaining catch and heading home.
For weeks, Scar was tormented by the man, who had began to appear in his dreams. Something about his eyes- dark as the ocean he dwelled within- had captivated Scar. No matter what he did, or how much he tried, he could not forget the man. His neighbors had begun to talk, believing him to be mad, and Scar very nearly was.
Eventually, he could not take it anymore and ventured out on his boat once more, just to catch a glimpse of the man. The man surfaced, grabbing onto the side of the boat, and Scar’s brief joy was replaced by terror as many more people began to climb onto the boat.
“I warned you once, I told you that you could never return. I should’ve known, your kind never learn, and they never will,” The man said with a sigh. The other sirens grabbed at Scar and tore him apart, as the man had promised. Now his bones are buried beneath the sand, Scar now a distant memory to the people of his village.