A New Tail

A New Tail is the first overall episode in Tales of Dawn. In this episode, Dawn, the main protagonist, makes a fateful discovery that will lead her to find out what she really is and who her unknown father is.

Characters

 * Dawn
 * Leon
 * Esa
 * All of Esa's family (to keep it short)
 * Triton (flashback/silent cameo)

Plot
The episode starts with an early morning, just as the sun first peeked out. You could hear the sounds of a woman screaming in pain, followed by encouragements before the cry of a newborn baby is heard. Upon closer inspection, the new mother is Esa, cradling her baby girl with red hair (which Esa found a bit confusing, wondering if her father was a redhead). When asked what her name should be, Esa took a look outside as the sun rose, saying one name that stuck immediately: "Dawn."

Twelve years later, Dawn was seen on the beach, strolling around after trying to stop an argument between her uncles on who would get to teach her to fight today. As she looked at the shore, a sea snake's head popped out of the water, almost startling her. After introducing himself as Leon, Dawn asked how he ended up here, to which he responded that a strong ocean current sent him here. After explaining about the ocean to her, a fascinated Dawn jumped in to swim, not caring that she had a long skirt on. As she saw the beauty around her in the deep ocean nearby that she never saw before, she wished she could see more before seeing a flash. Looking behind her, she saw that her legs, to both her and Leon's surprise, turned into a teal mermaid tail.

Shocked by her discovery, Dawn swam back to shore to her worried family, who were all shocked by the sight of her tail. A seemingly innocent question from her about how she was able to summon a tail resulted in a tense silence throughout the rest of the day, resulting in confusion by both Dawn and her mother. It wasn't until later that night that her aunt Harmony decided to secretly yet reluctantly tell Dawn the truth.

Using her powers to create visual flashbacks, Harmony explained to Dawn that her mother did not 'know' her father because she removed her memories of him out of grief after he divorced her. Apparently, she was pregnant with Dawn before it happened and had not displayed the symptoms yet. She also told her of the choice her mother made which resulted in her losing a trial and ending up banished, leading up to the divorce. When Dawn asked her father's name, Harmony replied, "Prince Triton of Atlantis." However, she did not have all the answers to Dawn's questions about him, for she was not there for most of those events.

As she left her alone, she unintentionally sparked a plan within Dawn's head: ask Triton herself.

Trivia

 * The title is a pun on a phrase: 'a new tale.'
 * The episode reveals that Dawn never in her life swam out that far in the ocean, thus she never discovered her ability to change her legs into a tail sooner.

Transcript
(The sun starts rising over the horizon of a hilly area near a beach.)

Dawn: (unseen,narrating) I always anticipate the morning. (Sounds of pain were coming from inside a rather large house on the hill.) It reminds me of who I am as I watch the sun appear over the hill, like it's playing peek-a-boo and then stops upon greeting me.

Harmony: (from inside the house) Come on, Esa! Push!

Dawn: But each morning reminds me of a new day, yesterday's morning a tale to tell now, while tomorrow's tale is to be anticipated.

Esa: (screams out and sobs as she gives a final push, falling back on the bed as she hears a baby's cry) M-my baby...

Harmony: (cleaning the small child and handing her to Esa, smiling warmly) Yes, Esa, she's your baby.

Aries: (outside the room) DAMN IT! I was hoping for a grandson!

Esa: (shakes her head amusedly, holding her child and looking down at her, lightly brushing her tiny locks of red hair) Red hair? Must be from her father... whoever he is.

Harmony: (a little uneasy upon the mention) Probably. (changing the subject) So what's the little one's name gonna be?

Esa: (looking out the window and seeing the early morning before turning back to her baby, whose blue eyes sparkled like the sky and hair as radiant as the sun) Dawn. Her name is Dawn.

Dawn: (still narrating, the camera zooming on the baby as she transitions into a little girl, holding a wooden sword while outside with Aries) ''Yep, that's me. My name's Dawn. That man with me is my grandfather Aries. You know, the one who hoped for a grandson?''

Aries: (fake-taunting) Come on, little warrior! You cannot beat me!

Little Dawn: (pointing her wooden sword at him) We shall let our swords decide! (She tackles Aries, clinging unto him while he laughed and ruffled her red hair.)

Dawn: ''I'm surprised he even wanted a grandson. I already have five uncles, and that's just with my grandmother Aphrodite. They're pretty cool for uncles, but I prefer hanging out with Aunt Harmony. She's basically the only reason I never join in on my uncles' arguments. ''(cuts to a slightly older Dawn, mediating with Harmony)

Harmony: Let all negative thoughts flow away. Compromise them with positive vibes.

Young Dawn: (repeats what she says)

Dawn: (cutting to young Dawn drawing a picture) And of course, let's not forget my mom and... well, actually, I never knew my dad. (Young Dawn holds up a drawing of Esa and a blank stick figure with a question mark on its face; young Dawn looks sad before Esa steps in and sees her picture, looking at her daughter and hugging her.) ''I love my mom, but I was kind of an accident when she had me, so she was not prepared for... being a mom. We have our fights, (shows a silent scene where the two were arguing) but I know she cares. As time went on, I forgot about my unknown father and just moved on (Dawn is seen placing the drawing shown earlier in a bin, shaking her head). However, questions about where I came from and who I really was were about to surface. And it all started when I met Leon.''

(Scene transitions into present day; Dawn is seen walking down the hill and sighing as she hears arguing between her uncles)

Dawn: (to herself as she reached the beach) It always takes one question. And boom! May the arguments commence. (reaches the shore, taking off her sandals and letting her green feet soak in the water) Ahh... good old H2O to save me from stress. (As she smiles in relief, she notices something green in the water just a little far away, coming close to her; she tilts her head curiously.) Huh?

(Suddenly, the head of a sea snake pops out, looking at her.)

Dawn: Ahhh! (She falls back on the sand, looking at the creature.) Dude! Not cool!

Leon: (worriedly) Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you like that!

Dawn: Then why the heck did you pop your face out at me like that?

Leon: I noticed you on the shore after I ended up here. (rubs his head with his tail) That current knocked me all the way over here. Good thing I have a good sense of directions.

Dawn: That explains how you came here. (sits up and looks at him) I've never seen a sea snake before.

Leon: They are not common around these parts, although I have to say this area of the ocean is quite beautiful.

Dawn: (having interest) Huh, really?

Leon: Yeah! It's like something you see in a postcard. (looks at her and awkwardly clears his throat) I'm, uh, Leon by the way.

Dawn: Call me Dawn.

Leon: Pleasure to meet you, Dawn. So, uh, you live here?

Dawn: Yep, on that hill. (points at the house on the hill)

Leon: Wow, you're lucky. Having a well-elevated area and being able to look out to the ocean from there? Many ocean lovers would kill for that.

Dawn: (shrugging) My grandparents get that a lot.

Leon: No wonder they do. If anyone saw the bottom of the ocean just around here, they'd surely get jealous.

Dawn: Hmm, I'd like to be the judge of that. (She steps into the water, not minding what she was wearing, and began to swim into the sea.)

Leon: W-wait! (slithers out after her, worried for her)

(Dawn dives into the ocean, looking around her. To her surprise, Leon was right; brightly colored coral greeted her, along with a few small creatures.)

Dawn: (in awe) Whoa.

Leon: (noticing how she spoke underwater) You can breathe underwater?!

Dawn: (not paying attention to Leon) I've never been this far out in the ocean before. I don't get why my family won't let me down here. I mean, I'm immortal.

Leon: Immortal?!

Dawn: (turning to him) Oh yeah. My grandparents are Aries and Aphrodite, they're gods.

Leon: Incredible! I never had the pleasure of meeting a goddess before. Who are your parents?

Dawn: Well, I never knew my dad, but my mom is Esa.

Leon: Esa? Huh, that explains your skin color.

Dawn: (confused) What?

Leon: Nevermind.

Dawn: (looking back at the scenery, swimming deeper down with some difficulty) Man, I wish I could swim better around here just to see more. (Suddenly, she felt her legs merge, a flash of light emitting.) What the-

(To her and Leon's shock, her legs convert into a mermaid tail, her skirt disappearing. The two look at each other before simultaneously screaming.)

Dawn: WHAT IS THIS?!

Leon: YOU CAN TURN INTO A MERMAID?! YOU ARE ESA'S DAUGHTER!!

Dawn: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!

Leon: WAIT, SHE PROBABLY DIDN'T REMEMBER THAT!

Dawn: REMEMBER WHAT?!

Leon: NEVERMIND!

Dawn: WHY ARE WE STILL YELLING?!

Leon: I DON'T KNOW!!

(They shut each other's mouths before they could scream any more, both slowly calming down.)

Dawn: (letting her thoughts process) Alright. We both have discovered I can somehow become a mermaid. How come my family never told me we could do that?

Leon: I don't think just anyone in your family can do that.

Dawn: What makes you think that? (stops Leon before he could speak) Let me guess, nevermind?

Leon: Um, correct.

Dawn: (swims to the surface with Leon) Well, this had gotten interesting, and it's not even lunchtime.

Esa: (from the distance) Dawn! Where are you?!

Dawn: Aw, crap. (to Leon) I gotta go! See ya! (swims off)

(TBC)