•° THE SEA OF SCALES °• [ENGLISH] (Luca, Wolfwalkers Fanfiction)

- PROLOGUE -

BAM! CRASH!

The huge mallet with one blow caused a large hole in the wall of the huge wall. That night, the sky was clear, the town of Portorosso was resting under the stars, calm and safe thanks to that enormous wall that surrounded the entire town, and prevented anyone from reaching the sea.

The wall only had a huge wooden gate in front of the village, only for expert hunters and fishermen. So large and guarded by its guards, no one could enter the ocean to be safe. But there was a part of the wall that was not guarded.

This was learned by two fishermen who went to that part, which was hidden by several medium-sized coastal rocks. And with a big mallet, they broke part of the wall and made a crack where they could enter and exit. The crack opened the way to a small beach where they had built a small boat to fish without anyone noticing. Already finished after a few days, they went sailing one night to go fishing in the sea, towards the area where the hunters went.

-I'm not sure about this, it is forbidden to leave the wall without permission. And more fishing near the island. - Said one of the fishermen worried.

-You worry too much. -Replied the other fisherman.

-What if the stories the hunters tell are true? -The young adult pointed to a map that indicated the town and the island where they were going: Isola Del Mare.

-Oh, please! Do you really believe in sea monsters? - The old fisherman exclaimed.

-There are things that have been seen in these waters...

-Those are just stories, inventions so that we good fishermen can stay away from a large fishing area.

-But Tomaso-!

The old fisherman interrupted the other man. -We will be fine. Non preocupare ti, Giacomo... - He was safer and calmer than his other partner, he obviously didn't believe in those supposed lies. He then proceeded to play some music on his gramophone while they worked.

His boat slowly sailed and finally stopped over the fishing area that they talked about so much, almost next to that small island. There both fishermen began to prepare to fish. The tide was perfectly calm for fishing... but just below, on the bottom of the sea where they were above, a shadowy fin moved among the corals, stalking the ship.

The strange creature moved in the darkness of the water, creeping towards the ship.

Oh, it wasn't to kill the fishermen. While they were doing their work, the creature's scaly hand took the opportunity to steal their things. A card, a glass cup, an alarm clock...

But when one of the men was working, he managed to see the shadow of the creature and its luminous green eyes.

-Ahhh! What is that thing?! - The young man screamed in fright, drawing the attention of the other fisherman. The scream made the small creature stop.

-Per mille sardine! -The old man saw the creature and also exclaimed.

The figure reacted and dove into the water and then swam quickly. But it did not see the fishermen's fishing net in the water in front of him and he was trapped, he began to complain and grunt trying to free himself.

-Tira! Tira! -The fishermen began to pull the fishing net to catch the monster. The boat was beginning to lean to one side as they continued to push and pull.

Desperate to escape, the sea monster reverses direction... and jumps to the surface. It arched over the fishermen, surprising them and they stumbled backwards, knocking their gramophone into the water. The sea monster submerged into the water with his things. The young fisherman, shocked, grabbed and quickly threw his harpoon into the water, trying to kill the creature. But failed. It was gone.

-We better go. Don't come back for us! -Tomaso exclaimed nervously.

-I told you they were real! - Said the other fisherman. And so they headed their boat back toward the town, all the while still scared and muttering about the terrifying sea monster they saw.

And for this reason, no person from Portorroso dared to go to the sea. That's why only hunters and strong fishermen only went out. That's why they built the huge wall long ago. The sea they lived in nearby was inhabited by other sea creatures. They were afraid. Afraid that those sea monsters will attack them. It was and always would be forbidden to leave the ocean and stay inside where they would be safe. Forever.

No one in the town would ever leave the wall.

No one will ever enter the sea of scales...