Any doubt Yujo had about what she had saw faded when she saw the image clear up.

She had ended up wandering into a selk pack's hunt of a tiger dolphin.

The sight of the weapons that they were using to push the beast back made the sense of panic that was bubbling within Yujo begin to boil . In their hands they held spears with sharp arrowheads made of shells whittled down to a sharp point and fused onto the end of the staff .

The Republic had the advantage of automatic weaponry like guns and harpoons. What the selk had was the element of suprise and their ability to hide in water for the perfect moment to strike.

Legions of militiamen, some even considered the best, lost their lives by underestimating that in the heat of the war’s many battles .

She knew that five selk attacking at the same time would tear the large tiger dolphin apart as if it was nothing. The thought of what such an attack could do to her own body sent a bolt of dread down her spine.

Thoughts of the attack the claimed her parents were beginning to flood her thoughts. A memory of the two figures stood over her with their spears pointing down on her body played on loop in her mind. Every other thought she should be having was being overridden by that memory.

The only course of action became clear.

She needed to flee.

Before she could turn, a sharp screech rang in her ears. It was a cry harsher than the boat hand’s signal. Its loud cry pulled her back to reality.

Her breathing still panicked, she fumbled around her harness and pulled out a can out of it. On the can a simple label that read "Air".

The haze of her fears dimmed as she could focus on something that wasn't the selk's spear.

In a swift motion, one that she had done a hundred times before, she waited for a can to pop out of her harness and implode into a disk . As soon as that happened, she replaced it with the can in her hand. A hiss rang out, confirming that that she had replenished her air supply.

It was that moment of clarity that allowed Yujo the moment of clarity to realise what was actually going on. The selk had let their prey, the tiger dolphin, flee into Area G and they had chased after it.

A sense of anger began to well within Yujo. They were hunting a beautiful creature for its pelt and they were flouting the law whilst they were doing it .

The border was governerd by a strict policy that sectioned off the selk lands and the republic borders. It was a policy born to keep the two races apart when peace talks broke down.

This policy came with a cravat. Selk were allowed to enter the area if they were in the middle of a hunt and their pray was already injured.

It was this law that allowed the scene that Yujo was an unwitting spectator of to happen. It also allowed any selk who was looking for trouble to cross the border without fear.

The militia guards that patrolled the area couldn't apprehend them for fear of reigniting tensions .

As Yujo was processing everything, the pod's leader bellowed out a cry in the selk symphonic language . She watched on helplessly as the the pod’s leader, a teenager whose hair was parted into two, a dark red scalp and a flowing lock of hair that went from blonde to light red, motioned with his spear .

On cue, the other four hunters lunged their spears forward and pieced through the creature’s protective layer of flesh . As the tiger dolphin roared out in pain the leader followed through with a vicious strike though it’s side.

The final, resonating cry the tiger dolphin bellowed shook Yujo to the very core of her being. Her lip quivered as she saw the last flickers of life within the creature vanish into nothingness .

With the deed done the pod wasted no time. They sang their songs of celebration as and started to carve the still warm carcass.

‘They’re treating all this all like some…’ Yujo muttered to herself, feeling her cheeks burning in anger.

Then she released something.

The news press would be very interested in the photo of the selk crossing the border and would pay good money for it.

They would make a big fuss about it and run it on the evening news-cast. That was they would always do what they always did when selk crossed the border.

What came of that wasn't her problem.

She thought the selk pod had brought it upon themselves by crossing the border. They should have done a better job of keeping whatever barbaric crap they did to their borders.

The amount of money paid for the photo turned the dive into an opportunity to get enough money to keep the orphanage running for another month .

Yujo was about to turn her camera off and leave when could see that the leader stopped his celebration. Then he turned to his team mates and started talking. Almost as soon as the other selk replied, he pointed in Yujo’s direction.

They had spotted her.

It only took a second to realise what she had been doing for his face to tense up in anger. He pointed his spear out, cried out, and pushed off the surface floor to launch himself at Yujo. The rest of the pod nodded and followed suit.

A wave of terror washed over Yujo as she fumbled up from her feet to take off as fast as she could. The panic made her forget to adjust her suit’s pressure as the only thing that flooded her head was a single word:

Run!

As Yujo swam, she glanced over her shoulder to see that the pod had already made up a lot of the distance that had been between them .

Their bodies were cutting though the water like bullets aimed right at her.

Her arms began to ache as she made it to her hook. Her hands, trembling, kept slipping as she tried to undo the clasps that held her down.

A cry pulled her away to see that the selk were now within striking distance of her.

Her body began to run on pure adrenaline as she pulled on her rope and slammed the button on her harness. This sent out an alert to the boat hand above the code ‘Situation: FUBAR’.

Pointing at her with the spear, the leader sang out a command Yujo didn’t under or care to obey as she pulled the hooks free.

Panic still gripping her, she clasped the boat’s rope to her harness and slammed the button on her chest, winding herself in the process .

With a jerk, the rope yanked her away and back towards the ocean surface.

She watched as the leader threw his spear after her in a fit of desperation. The bellow of frustration that followed and the frantic waving of his hands was completely unambiguous .

She didn’t need to guess that whatever he was screaming at her wasn't appropriate for a teenager to say.

That was the last thing she saw before her body crashed through the surface. A gruff, dark skinned man grabbed her and pulled pulled her wet, shaking body onto the boat.

“The ‘ell happened to you?!” he asked as he helped her up.

Yujo flopped onto the boat and ripped her mask and goggles off and tried to get a deep breath to calm herself down.

It didn’t help.

“S-selk,” she said, gasping for air and coughing.

“You mean to say there was clears in the encirclement?!”

Yujo shook her head when she meant to nod. “Hunting. They killed a t-tiger dolphin.” She gasped, trying not to get upset.

“An’ heaven know what they’ve done to you…” he uttered. His voice making it clear that he was speaking from experience.

He shook his head, “I’m going to…”

Yujo tried to stand up, only to slump back down. “Please, no,” she pleaded, “I…”

His face didn’t soften. “No. Both of our licenses are on the line if I don’t report it.” He said fishing out his own black box from the back of his shorts before passing it to Yujo.

"Give me your terminal."

A groan left Yujo’s lips.

The militia made it policy to confiscate all photos of the selk that wasn't authorized by them. If they got a hold of her terminal, she could kiss her plan of selling the photos and keeping St. Aldrin's afloat for the month goodbye .

As much as she wanted to argue, her body was starting to give out and she couldn’t even stand, much less make her case.

In defeat she sighed and surrendered her terminal to the boat hand who pressed it a few times. He then placed it on a dish to the side of his steering wheel.

With a beep, the boat hand’s dashboard displayed her ID and a picture of her in a dress, along side her details, Terminal ID Number and home address .

With a nod, the boat hand handed the terminal back to her and turned around to call the authorities.

Her own Terminal showed the boat hand’s details.

His name was Rahem Mamusul.

The ride back to the harbor was quiet bar the sound of the boat’s motor. The dull pain of decompression sickness, inflicted by her rapid uncontrolled accent from the sea floor, gnawed at Yujo's stomach .

The beach rolled into view. From her vantage point at the bottom of the boat she could see that a small squad of militia personnel were standing at the pier . They were also accompanied by a woman dressed in a flowing back gown with a veil that covered her hair.