Once upon a time, there lived a fisherman and his daughter, Sera. They lived on a small island in an even smaller fishing village. One day, Sera's father was out teaching her how to place nets in the water when he lost his footing and fell into the water. In his attempt to climb back in, a shark came up to him and bit him on the leg. Screaming in pain, the fisherman took his knife and stabbed the shark in it's eye. Upon being released, the fisherman heaved himself back into the boat and told Sera to take them back to shore. Upon their return, Sera jumped on the horse and rode into town to find the doctor. Upon finding her, they both rode back to the fisherman. Seeing the the damage, the doctor got to work. A couple of hours went by and, sadly, the doctor was unable to save his leg. After the attack, the fisherman had fallen into a deep depression. Sera had taken it upon herself to catch the fish and keep the business going. However, her inexperience proved to be her undoing. She wasn't able to catch many fish and they began to suffer for it. Then came the day her life would change forever. That morning, Sera was checking the nets and was still finding little fish. Then, she noticed a dolphin trapped in one of the nets. Normally, they would let dolphins go, but these were desperate times for her and her father. She pulled out her knife to kill the dolphin when, suddenly, it spoke. " Child, please spare my life and set me free. I shall fill these nets with fish if you honor my wish." It said. Still holding her knife, Sera took a minute to think. They could really use the help, but this dolphin would offer a lot of meat. Deciding to give it a chance, Sera took her knife and cut the dolphin free. Taking the net and what fish she could find. She watched as the dolphin began swimming away. "Come back in the morning, child, and I shall have your nets filled with fish." It said as it disappeared. Trusting the dolphin, Sera took the fish for her father to clean and take to market while she went to fix the net she had cut. The next morning, Sera went to check the nets and, to her surprise, they were full. She looked around and saw the dolphin in the distance waving its fin. She smiled and waved back. She took the fish and, in thanks, threw some back for the dolphin to eat. When she returned home, her father sat there in shock. For he had never seen so much fish. For the first time in a long time, he smiled and gave his daughter a big hug. Praising her for her hard work. He took he rest of the morning to teach her how to clean the fish. After the fish was finished, they packed everything and headed to market. They placed the fish on the stall and prepared to sell the fish. However, Sera's father had one more thing he had to do. Due to the amount of fish, he had made a sign declaring that all the fish was half off. After placing it in the front of the stall, the crowd starting gathering. A few hours went by and they had all of their fish sold. After gathering all of the money, they were preparing to leave when three men made their way to them. Gathering his crutch, the fisherman made his way to meet the men. They talked for a while before Sera's father took some of the money and handed them some of the money. Wondering what that was about, she asked her father about it when they got on the cart. He told her that he took out a loan from them a while ago. When they got home, Sera went to finish the net and her father counted the day's earnings. A few more days went by like this. The dolphin filled the nets, Sera gave the dolphin some back, they sold at the market for half price, and her father paid his dues. On the fifth day, when the fisherman finished counting their earnings, he nearly leaped with joy. He called Sera over and gave her the good news. He had been looking into having the carpenter make him a new leg and with the money they earned over the past few days, he can finally afford it. Deciding to take the day off to get the leg, Sera's father told her that she was in charge of cleaning the fish and going to market the following day. That morning, Sera had just gotten back to shore when she noticed the three men from before waiting for her. Before she could say anything, the men grabbed her, tied her up, and took her and the fish to their place. Leaving a note, explaining to the fisherman that he will share his secrets or Sera will die. They didn't realize that they were being watched the entire time. The dolphin saw everything, and with no time to spare, headed to the one person it new could help. The Deep Sea King. When it reached the palace and made it to the throne, the dolphin explained the events that had happened. After hearing the story, the deep sea king called for a servant. He had the servant bring him three milky white pearls. Handing the pearls to the dolphin, he gave the instructions for the dolphin to repeat to the fisherman and sent the dolphin on its way. During this time, Sera's father had returned and read the note. Sitting on the boat, wondering what to do, he noticed the dolphin heading its way to him. Wondering what is going on, he stood up and waited for it to arrive. When it got to him, the dolphin placed the pearls right beside him and gave him the King's instructions. Without question, the fisherman took the pearls, grabbed his axe, and headed to the home of the three men. Upon arriving, he took the axe to the door and broke it to pieces. In shock the three men just stood there. And without wasting time, the fisherman threw the pearls, which exploded on impact, at the men who instantly fell unconscious. Searching the house, the fisherman was unable to find Sera. He was about to give up when he heard a muffled sound from beyond the wall. He took his axe and made a hole in the wall big enough to walk through. That's where he saw his daughter shackled to the wall. He headed back to the men and looked for a key. Upon finding it, he headed back to Sera and unlocked the shackles. They made it to the door when they heard the men wake up. They began sprinting towards the ocean as the men chased them. The wooden leg slowed him down and the men were catching up. When they made it to the end of the pier, they wasted no time and jumped into the ocean. As they waited they saw a light heading to them. It was the Deep Sea King. The King placed his hands upon them and transformed them into creatures of the sea. Taking them to the palace, the king offered them places by his side, joining the Royal Hunt. They graciously accepted and Sera found that she would be partnered with the dolphin while ,surprisingly, the fisherman would be paired with the shark that took his leg. The two of them found they preferred life in the ocean and lived happily ever after.
The End
