SkunkyArt | dev-lish — Daphne

Born in the deepest part ocean, and raised in the island of Anthemoessa, Daphne the rest of her kind spent their days singing, dancing, and simply playing around all day. Her childhood was filled with stories about the creatures that inhabited the universe, about the gods that kept watch on them, about ships passing by from all corners of the globe, how they carried treasures and the most delicious food of all.

Every new moon, the Sirens would conduct expeditions; chosen Sirens would fly across the oceans in search of food, more particularly ships of men, in hopes to lure them in to feast upon. Younger Sirens would observe, as they train to swim, fly, and hunt within their own little island, hoping to be chosen for future expeditions.

On her fifty-fifth birthday, a ship was seen headed towards the shores of Anthemoessa, where a team was sent to observe the phenomenon. Having limited knowledge, Sirens weren't aware that the ships carried weaponry, and thought it was safe to sing, willing the ship to come closer.

Meanwhile, Daphne's curiosity grew, as she plunged into the depth of the oceans, her feet binding into a tail to ease her swimming. The closer she was the more curious at whatever mysterious creature the ship offered, hearing stories of how delicious the flesh of these 'humans' tasted. She's only seen drawings of them, sketches, but that wasn't enough.

Slowly, her head poked from the surface of the water, circling around to find these creatures. She gasped as she caught sight of one of them, standing by the edge of the ship, his short curls billowing in the wind. His head turned, and before she knew it, they were staring at each other. He started yelling at something that sounded foreign to her, and the next thing she knew, she was carried off into the ship.

Daphne didn't know what to expect. All she knew was that they were kind... until they noticed her finned arms, a black tail glinting off blood red instead of feet. They stared, amazed and frightened. As she shook the water off, feathers started to appear on her fins, the scales on her tail disappearing to reveal thin, short-feathered legs, with talons on the end.

There was an exchange of words, and before she knew it, they gathered rope, restraining her, and before she could react, there was pain. Then, darkness.

When she awoke, she found herself locked in a cage of sorts, paraded around, noise of screaming and jeering filling her ears. She couldn't remember how she got there, or who she was. She only knew she looked... different. By nightfall, she was forced into a room, all white, with a couple humans prepared with some high-level technology she didn't understand, ready to experiment on her.

She spent months enduring whatever torture it was, believing it to be how her life was meant to be, being in circuses and stuck in rooms. Hazy memories filled her mind, but she knew that others like her existed, fuzzy images of them running around and playing... or was that a dream? Often, she found herself humming songs she didn't realize she even knew.

Slowly, she started to enjoy her life, trying to communicate to other 'different' creatures in the circuses, singing and performing for those who wanted to watch her.

Until the creatures, "freaks" as most people called them, decided to run away. Daphne perked up at the thought of finding her home, her family, and she flew away, trying to find them ever since.

She stumbled upon Saint Hollow, where she was hired as a performer, but soon became tired of the place; she didn't have friends there anyway, and hoped to find a better life elsewhere. She met various creatures there, however, and started to gather information on them, wanting to explore the wide world of beasts.

While exploring, she found herself arriving in the Otherworlde Academy, where she opted in the Beast Studies Professor position.