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Katara was moving faster than anything known to mankind. Faster than the speed of light, the wind, than time itself. It was second nature to her, so simple, to move that fast. She was built for it, after all.
The salt didn't sting her eyes but instead tickled her senses; her webbed ears, closed nose, the gills on either side of her neck. The Ocean was coursing through her veins, a part of her, just as it always had been. But it was also all around her, lifting her long, silky hair in full chesnut blooms, and seeping into her even more so than before; more of it became a part of her everyday.
It had always been kind to her, gentle, and she felt nothing but something softer than air. It helped her, in a way, do what she did. The Ocean and her glorious tail.
Her tail -- oh, her tail. Firm, hardly fingernail-sized scales stretched out below her torso, each one glistening different shades of blue; azure, persian, lapis, arctic, teal. They knit together, molding like intricate puzzle pieces into one, sturdy shape; a long shaft breaking off into new scales, which were stretched thin as paper and floating together into whimsical fins, two vaguely heart shaped wings falling into half the length of the upper part. Skinney, ghosts of twin fins starting just above the main two streamed down and mingled with the tattered ends, translucent scales doing an ethereal dance.
All together, her tail shimmered cobalt againsted caramel skin, the light through the water hitting it in just the right ways to highlight sapphire sections. Katara's tail was gorgeous, carefully crafted. It was even more so than any other Merperson's she knew, the way it almost glowed setting her apart.
And how strong it was, beating the water with the force that propelled her, but still so graceful. It was only the lower part of her body, and yet it was all of her.
With each beat of that magnificent thing she was moving faster, faster, flying through the sea, and yet it still felt like nothing to her.
She would never understand how impossible this life, her whole existence, was to so many.