Splash

Kaikura was back with rabbits for supper. Again. I couldn’t be picky. Only people in the noble cities can be picky. But this is the 36th day in a row that we’ve had rabbits. Can’t my brother catch anything that isn’t rabbits?!

“Hey, Sis,” Kaikura said as he brushed past me on his way to the cooking dip.

“What is it?” I replied. “Can you catch a toriaswelp tomorrow for supper instead?”

“No. Rumor has it that the northerners are going to raid again. And you know what that means.”

“No toriaswelp.” I drooped, then quickly brightened as an idea hit me. “What if you bring some fish?”

“You know Ma will never let me fish in the sea.”

When Kaikura brought up the sea that reminded me I should probably write. I wasn’t that good so I wrote in journal entries. I wanted to write great books like authors in the capital, like in Father’s stories. I mostly wrote about the sea. Of course Ma would never let me near the sea so I wrote what I thought it looked like.

I have always wanted to see the sea. I imagined it like a huge pond. One of those ponds with an island in it. That island would be Azule. Azule, the center of the world,  that happened to be where we lived.

“Kaikura!! Get those rabbits over here now!!!.” Ma called to us. “Also see if Draenar has anything harvested. The oshako needs washing, and-”

“Ok ok. The chores need doing. I’m going,” I say.

“Thanks,” Kaikura whispered to me.

I walked through the low hanging fronds covering our door into blinding sunlight. The hut that we live in is a low clay building that was built half underground to retain heat or cold air. It’s a small house compared to the grand buildings in most villages. It had no door, instead having palm fronds insulating the hut. It had one main room and three small bedrooms, making it larger than most houses in the village.

Ma and Father shared the largest bedroom with my little brother, Zuberi. It had a simple large bed only a foot above the ground. A small hammock over the bed housed the 1 ½ year old. In the small space left lies an ornate dresser, one of the few things my dad brought from the capital when he married my mother. A small jade statue of a dolphin jumping out of the water is a family heirloom from Ma’s side. That leaves just enough space for my father’s armor.

We only have a few family heirlooms from Ma’s side, including the earrings I am forced to wear. Ma said they were a gift from my grandmother, the grandmother no one ever spoke of and supposedly had blue eyes like me. Ma stressed the importance of wearing them a lot when I was younger. I never remember taking them off.

My two eldest brothers, Mosi and Abrapho, share the smallest room. It has a small chest for their belongings and the rest of the space was dominated by their armor.

I share a room with Kaikura and Draenar. They share a bed while I have a small screened off area for me to sleep in. The screen is a beautiful thing, covered in embroidered cherry blossoms and made of the fine paper used in capital doors. My dad gave it to me for my 6th birthday when I moved in with my brothers. Kaikura’s knives and bow were displayed over his bed. I don’t know how he can stand it, sleeping under that many weapons.

The main room is higher ceilinged than the rest of the hut. Wooden boards cover the floor and in one corner is Ma’s cooking fire surrounded by bare earth. In the center of the room is the central eating space. It is a dip in the floor that we can all sit in comfortably on cushions. Father says that in the capital each kitchen has large slabs of fine stone to set stuff on and sheets of metal above fires to cook on. It sounds luxurious.

Along the far wall was the armor. Father, Mosi, and Abrapho are in the town guard so their primary armor must be in easy reach. Each segment of their armor is thinly coated in clay. Clay was abundant in this northeastern region of Azule where we lived. Ma wouldn’t allow us by the sea but other warriors – including my father – would collect clay from the beaches daily.

The outside of the house was a simple clay covering. Dried reeds decorated the walls and wildflowers nestled around the house. There were three fields that Draenar rotated his crops through. A small barn held extra stuff, the oshako, the nicalias, and Father’s stuff he brought from the capital.

Azule has a lot of unique animals. For example, the oshako was a graceful deer-like creature covered in feathers. They were about three times as large as a deer, however, and the males did not have antlers. They were often used in the field as plow animals. They came in shades of black, brown, and gray.

Nicalias were large horned birds with long clawed talons. We had three of these. They laid large eggs and we only needed to scramble a few of the eggs a day to feed the family for breakfast. They normally laid 5-6 eggs a day each so we could make a small profit on them. They had pretty brown and gray feathers with brilliant red under feathers that flashed whenever they made sudden movements.

Draenar worked the fields as a farmer, bringing home a substantial crop each fall to feed the whole family while prey was scarce.

I walked over to the field where the oshako was grazing. “Hi Abigail,” I say as I gently stroke her face.

She was technically Draenar’s, to plow the fields, but it was my job to wash her. I secretly wished I could ride her like people in the capital ride Oshaka, but I know she’s a draft animal. She nickered as I went to a small grove of trees to retrieve a bucket of water from the well.

After I was done with her I had to collect the nicalias’ eggs. Brin and Sienna were sunning themselves on several large rocks. Kate was probably in her nest. Their nests were built under a wooden overhang, making it seem like a cave.

Nicalias’ natural habitat was on a remote island. The island had no source of freshwater. Instead the nicalias trekked miles each day from their nests to the sea to drink. They had adapted to filter water in amazing ways. Since there was no water on the island, no plants grew. Mushrooms, however, flourished. Nicalias had a diet of mostly shrooms. The rest of their food was the minerals in the soil of their home island.

It’s not like we had access to saltwater, mushrooms, and certain minerals, but luckily nicalias adapt easily. We gave them normal water each day in a large pool in the middle of their enclosure. For food we gave them mineral rich chunks of rock from the cliffs and salt.

I entered their cave and, sure enough, Kate was perched on her nest. This would complicate things. Kate weighed about 566 pounds.You don’t want to mess with her. But as I looked closer I realized that there weren’t any eggs in her nest and her feathers were dull and unpreened. I walked closer and realized I could see her bones through her thick feathers.

I raced out of the cave and to the house. Mother was in the kitchen.

“What is it, honey? I need to get back to work soon,” she asks as I catch my breath.

“Ma, I think Kate is sick,” I replied quickly. “She hasn’t laid any eggs and I can see her bones.”

“I will take a look at her later, honey, Now don’t you have chores to get done?”

“Ok Ma,” I answered looking quite downcast.

I jogged back towards the pastures to collect the eggs. I carefully nestled  the 11 eggs into the huge basket. I snuck another glance at Kate. She had fallen into a feverish sleep.

“Oh Kate, I hope you’re ok.”

Later that evening during dinner, I brought up Kate.

“I think Kate is sick.”

“Sick?!” Draenar exclaimed.

“That’s impossible. You and Draenar take excellent care of all the animals!” Mosi retorted.

“How is she?” Abrapho asked.

“Kat-kat,” Zuberi babbled.

“Not Kat, Zuberi, Kate,” Ma corrected. “I will take a look at her after supper.

“GATE!!!!” Zuberi exclaims, throwing food in all directions.

Ma sighed as a chunk of rabbit hit her in the side of the face. I ducked behind Kaikura to avoid the stew as it came towards us. He ended up covered in it but I was relatively untouched.

That night when I went to bed I heard a conversation in the main room. Ma had told us that Kate would be alright with some rest and food, but this is what I heard.

“Yukii, I-I don’t think Kate is going to get better. It will devastate Ashella,” I heard Ma say.

“She’ll be fine,” Father responded.

“Yukii, we should tell her.

“No.”

“Why?”

“What she doesn’t know won’t harm her.”

“How do you know that?  Can you read her mind?”

“Acrea. Just don’t tell her.”

“Fine.”

What, Kate might not get better! No, that was impossible, Ma said… I needed to do something. Tomorrow I would observe the nicalias all day. I would study what the others were doing and eating and compare it to what Kate was doing and eating. Kate would survive. At that last thought I drifted off to sleep.

At breakfast I decided to ask Ma.

“Ma?”

“Yes, my dear?”

“Can I stay with Kate today so I can make sure she’s eating enough?”

“Of course, if you do everyone’s nicalias related chores. Kaikura, Ashella did your chores yesterday, now you can do hers.”

“Yes, Ma,” Kaikura replied.

“Yes, Ma,” I answered.

As soon as we were done with breakfast I raced outside to the barn. I loaded up an old wagon with rocks and salt before calling to Draenar, “Hey Draenar! Can I use Abigail to bring the nicalias their food?”

“Of course, just have her back by afternoon,” he yelled back.

It didn’t take long to feed the others so soon I was able to enter the cave to feed Kate.  She was awake but was just lying there. I scooped up some salt and brought it toward her. She sniffed the salt and turned her head away.

“Come on Kate, you have to eat sometime.”

I set the remaining rocks before her. “I’m sorry Kate, I need to wash the others.”

Honestly, I didn’t know how I thought to heal Kate. I only had minimal knowledge of nicalias. All their land was rocks, mushrooms, and sand. Wait, sand. I knew what to do. Ma would kill me if she found out.

It was past midnight when everyone was asleep. My plan was flawless, or at least I thought it was. I had packed a pouch that was packed with my good luck charm, a necklace from Ma, and a small packet of sugared fruit. I slowly and silently moved away from my bed. The floor creaked. I froze. Draenar rolled over. Luckily he was still asleep. I snuck into the main room. So far so good.

I climbed the steps up to the door. No one. When I reached Abigail’s pasture I froze. Someone was there. A voice sounded from behind me.

“Hey Sis, are you sneaking out?” Only Kaikura said ‘hey Sis’ to me.

“No,” I replied just a little bit too quickly.

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere!”

Kaikura smirked, “The only one you would fool would be Zuberi.”

“Fine, I’m trying to heal Kate.”

“I know you were listening to Ma and Father when they said she wasn’t going to make it last night. Why are you trying, Sis?”

“I think if I bring her sand it might help.”

“Why not ask Father to do it tomorrow?”

“She might not last until tomorrow.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“What?”

“You convinced me. Now let’s get going before someone realizes we’re gone.”

He mounted Abigail like he had done it a thousand times and trotted away. I raced for the nicalias’ pasture. When I got there I realized Kaikura was following me. I raced inside the cave. I was loud. Sienna and Brin were already awake.

“Sienna,” I called softly. She perked up at hearing her name. “I need you.”

I carefully grabbed some of her feathers as I led her outside. I grabbed her wingblades and attempted a graceful leap onto her back. Let’s just say I failed.

After a couple more tries I got on.

“Sienna, follow Abigail.” Kaikura ordered.

He set off at a slow canter. Sienna matched Abigail pace for pace.

“Hey Sis, how are you holding up back there?” Kiakura asked.

I hadn’t noticed but I had fallen into a rhythm with Sienna. “Surprisingly well actually,” I replied.

“Good, we’re almost there.”

“Kaikura?”

“What Sis?”

“Have you been to the sea before?”

“Yes, but don’t tell anyone.”

We crested a rise and the most amazing scene stretched before me, the sea. The water was endless. The stars were reflected perfectly on the pretty blue green water. And the sand. Sand was everywhere. It stretched halfway up this rise and defined the border between the sea and the land. I could stare at it forever. Only I had a job to do.

Kaikura had already dismounted Abigail and was skidding down the rise. I rode Sienna over to the water descending the hill much more gracefully than my brother. I dismounted her, leaving her to drink from the sea.

“How are we going to gather all this sand?”

“By putting it in this,” Kaikura said, brandishing a sack. He really had thought of everything. He set the sack on the ground and began scooping handfuls of sand into it. It’s harder than it looks, to scoop it into a bag. The sand pours through your fingers so by the time it reaches the bag it is only half the sand you picked up.

“The moon is at its peak, we’ll need to head back soon,” Kaikura said. “I’m going to do a little hunting so we don’t come back empty handed.”

“But we won’t be empty handed,” I exclaimed. “We’ll have the sand.”

“But Sis, if Ma finds out we were gone, do you really think she would thank us and let us get off so easily?”

“Yes, when we cure Kate she will be so grateful.”

“No. We don’t even know if this “cure” will work. All the best prey comes out at night. If we bring back some we can say that we couldn’t sleep so I took you out hunting. I might still get in trouble but it’s nothing compared to what trouble we’d get in if Ma knew we went to the sea.”

“Fine, your reasoning makes sense,” I reluctantly replied. “Let’s go.”

“Ok, first lesson of hunting, DON’T MAKE A SOUND!!!”

It took A LOT of riding to get home. The sand weighed Abigail down and with Kaikura on her back she could only trot. I scared a deer straight into Kaikura’s dagger and he caught a few pheasants. We attached the prey to Sienna so Abigail wasn’t so weighed down.

I will admit I daydreamed on that ride. I daydreamed about riding a golden wascelllo, the noblest of giant birds. No two were the same color. Of course the rarest color for any creature is black with a pretty teal color. Only the ash warriors had creatures of that color.

The ash warriors were the guardians of Azule. They were created quite recently by a young woman named Mayla. No one really knows her past but the most popular theory is that she was a shifter, a strange being that could change their form at will.  Shifters often ran in family lines, sometimes even skipping generations. Other theories say that she was a sorceress, that she came from the northern kingdoms, or that she was a slave but gained the favor of the Emperor, even that she was once the princess of Azule.

“Sis, we’re getting close.” Kaikura’s remark reminded me that we needed to be paying attention.

“Ok,” I replied, shifting on Sienna’s back.

I half slid half fell off Sienna as we entered the nicalias’ pasture. Kaikura was already bringing the sand into the cave. That left me to bring in Sienna. She laid down in her nest almost immediately, fluffing up her feathers and drifting off to sleep. Kate opened her eyes as we entered the cave. She hadn’t touched the salt, mineral rocks,  or water I left for her. Kaikura was pouring out the sand. She didn’t react. I walked over, scooped some of the sand, and held it out to her. She slowly raised her neck and ate a spoonful’s worth of sand before falling asleep.

“Come Sis, we’ll see how she is in the morning.” Kaikura said, shoving the sack of sand in the corner for later.

No one noticed us sneak inside. Kaikura showed me how to place my feet so I made almost no sound. Not a floorboard creaked. I slipped into my bed and drifted off to sleep.

When I entered the main room the next morning Ma was furious. I froze.

“Ashella Nakalia-re Nulashtellls.,” she began. “Why weren’t your shoes at the door last night? I was worried sick about you. When I went into your room you weren’t in there! EXPLAIN NOW!!!”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I explained.

“So you snuck out without telling anyone or even leaving a note?” she replied skeptically.

“Kaikura took me out hunting.”

“Hopefully, Kaikura, you have a good explanation for this,” Ma chided.

Father walked in. “Acrea,” he said. “Let the girl have a little freedom. You keep her on the property all the time. Remember how often Abrapho snuck out when he was her age.”

I had never heard that story before. I kept my mouth closed hoping they would speak more about it. Unfortunately they didn’t.

“Well then, Kaikura,” Ma said. “You better have brought back something good.”

“Ma, you’ll love this,” Kaikura said. And with that he swept out the door.

Kaikura re-entered with the deer slung over his shoulder and the pheasants held by their tails.

“Good, something other than rabbits,” Ma said. I was startled. I didn’t know Ma was getting bored of rabbit, too.

“See, Sis?” Kaikura leaned over and said, “Something else for dinner. Not toriaswelp, but close.”

I giggled. “Maybe you will be able to catch some other stuff that isn’t rabbits on other days too.”

“Nope, you were just luring them to me,” he replied before dashing out the door.

“Ma, can I check on Kate?” I asked.

Kate wasn’t any better. However the sand seemed to be slowing her dying so that she wasn’t much worse. I managed to coax her to eat some sand but she only ate about a spoonful. That’s why that night I snuck out again.

I made my bed to look like I was in it and went out barefoot. I crept out to the nicalias’ cave. Kate was sleeping so that was a good sign.  I swiftly walked over to Brin, waking her up so I could ride her. She readily agreed. I mounted her – much more gracefully than last time – and used my knees to guide her out.

She was fast. Faster than Sienna, even when she was just slow running. I urged her into a run.

There it was, the sea. It was just as beautiful as last night, Maybe even more – if that was possible. I had brought a waterskin that Kaikura had made for me for my 9th birthday. I dismounted Brin at the sea’s edge. That would be a good name for a book: The Sea’s Edge.

I filled the waterskin and tied it around Brin’s neck. I should write about this moment, but I know I can’t. Maybe I will just write about the waterskin being around Brin’s neck.

The earrings affixed to my ears were growing warm – how odd. I sat back in the sand watching the waves. Brin seemed content to drink from the saltwater. After a while I knew I should go back. I didn’t want anyone to know I was gone.

All went well, except for the fact that the saltwater didn’t help. I tried rocks I found on the beach, seashells and grass that grew by the sea, and I even tried fish. Same results. I was losing hope.

Even when I tried everything I could think of I still returned to the sea every other night. It just seemed to be calling me. I learned to walk barefoot on gravel. I even made a little sling to hunt with and taught myself how to build a small reed boat

Ma always warned me about the top predators of the eastern ocean, where we lived. The eastern ocean had the most dangerous predators in all the seas, the apex predator being the squifler. Squiflers looked like mythical horses but had flippers. They could change their mane and tail to be saltwater or acidic. They could easily blend in with the water because of their color. Ma was always very specific about always staying away from those.

The next night I decided to teach myself to swim. I had seen illustrations in books that showed how to swim plenty of times. I found an inlet that was shallow enough to keep the squiflers away, but deep enough to swim in.

I attempted to mimic the movements in the images but that wasn’t working that well. I was splashing way too much and it was awkward. I tried to do it a different way. My instincts took over. I could have been a fish in my last life. I swam fast, but only underwater. For the next few nights I extended my breath holding until I deemed myself worthy to swim in the open ocean.

The ocean was easy to swim in, I was surprised. I easily glided through patches of selmsweed. It seemed like I was part of the sea. Whenever I was in the sea my earrings grew hot. It was odd but I didn’t notice that often.

Two nights later, I was swimming in the shallow water again. There was an odd ripple in the water. Then a fin rose. I froze with fear. I realized the danger I was in. I turned swiftly and fled. It pursued me.

I reached the land and leapt onto Brin’s back. The thing that was chasing me was enormous. Its fin was easily as long as Brin’s leg. It leapt out of the water. It was easily as long as the hut that my family lived in. It was very flat and only about a foot tall. It had a bill, kind of like the mythical creature, the platypus. It opened its beak-thing to an impossible width. Inside, its gaping maw was full of teeth. There were razor sharp teeth and fangs that were almost certainly venomous.

To my surprise it didn’t stop at the edge of the water. It surged up onto land. It had at least eight feet with minuscule legs on each side of its massive body. It was fast, too. Just not as fast as Brin.

Brin took off full speed down the shore. Luckily the thing couldn’t follow. It kept sinking into the sand and eventually gave up and slid into the water. We slowed. My heart was beating at least twice its normal rate. I laughed and hugged Brin’s neck.

“Brin, we just defeated a giant flat thing using sand.”

She snorted and began grazing on the sand. I dismounted, cautiously watching the waves.

“Wait, I just thought of a name for that, Brin. It’s a Flatapus!”

Two nights later, I slipped out of bed. My feet hardly made a sound on the ground. I had learned that Ma only came into our room when our shoes weren’t at the door. I knew that Sienna liked the sea the most so I chose to ride her.

Kate was finally responding to my treatments. I was relieved. I had worried so much about her and now she was getting better! That didn’t mean I was going to give up going to the sea however.

At the sea, I gracefully dismounted Sienna and swept down the rise with her in tow. My half made reed boat would have to wait. I wanted to swim.

I slipped into the water as silent as a fish. I could hold my breath for over four minutes. In several tales there were humans that could breathe underwater. No, not humans, Shifters. A mysterious race that is said could shapeshift into animals.

I dove into the water. It was peaceful down here. I surfaced, but before I could swim to shore, the water rose before me.

Except it wasn’t water. It was the flatapus. It was terrifying. It was white with black splotches and an imposing brown bill. I screamed. Its beak came towards me. That beak with its rows and rows of teeth.

It was about to chomp down on my arm when something blocked it. It was black and aquamarine. It moved too fast for me to see what it was. The thing dove back underwater as the great clumsy flatapus struggled to match its opponent’s speed. I began to swim away but I needed to see my savior. It resurfaced and with a screech of pain it threw something at the flatapus.

The flatapus screamed in pain, hooked its tail under the thing, and catapulted it to shore before it dove down. I finally realized the danger I was in and swam full speed towards shore. Luckily it didn’t follow. I was safe.

I saw a black and aquamarine puddle, or blob? I walked closer. It lifted its head and I let out a little screech, scampering backward. It was a squifler, the apex predator of the sea.

But this squifler saved my life. I should at least save it in return. I thought about how to move this squifler. Luckily Sienna didn’t think a beached squiffler was any threat. Just as a precaution however I tied her to a palm tree.

My half made raft was leaning up on the rise. I had finished the basic skeleton and had started weaving the reeds through. Maybe I could drag the squifler to the water on the boat. I decided to try.

After a bit of thinking I decided that I would tie some of the longer reeds around the squifler and tie the ends of those reeds to Sienna. She would then proceed to drag the squifler into the water.

I slowly approached the squifler. “Hi, I’m not trying to hurt you. I only want to help you. I don’t want you to drown in the air.” I continued talking in a soothing voice to her. I assumed it was a her.

I began tying the reeds around her. She had a pretty mane and tail. While the rest of her was black, her mane and tail were aquamarine. They never stopped moving and looked like water streaming out of her head.

I finished quickly and tied the other ends of the vines to Sienna. I directed her to step into the shallows, one step at a time. I underestimated how long her legs were. Soon I was swimming but I didn’t have to swim for long.

I crossed back to the squifler. She was waiting patiently for me to release her. I untied her and she swam off into the night.

Two nights later I was swimming again. I relaxed on the beach enjoying the starlight. I closed my eyes imagining what it would be like to be a shifter.

A gentle splashing sound got my attention. There in the shallow water was a black head, the squifler. She seemed as if she wanted me to get closer, so I did.

“Oh, so you want to play,” I teased. That playful gleam in her eye was unmistakable.

I dashed to the water’s edge and leapt in. We splashed around a bit. Then she did something unusual. She moved her back close to me, then looked at it, and then looked at me again.

“You want me to ride you?”

In one smooth movement she spun around and nipped my left ear. It wasn’t hard but it still drew blood. My earring fell into my palm. The squifler wrapped around me so she could easily do the same to the other. The wounds stung. I felt dizzy. The world tilted. Was it the world or the sea?

Suddenly the world sharpened into impossible focus. The squifler smiled at me. Wait, smiled. How did I know she was smiling? She whinneyed at me. My brain somehow rearranged this into clear words. Follow. I followed her.

She dove underwater and I followed. She led me through patches of selmsweed. The world streamed by me impossibly fast. She flicked her tail at me and streamed away. I put on a burst of speed to catch her. I was gaining on her when she swerved. I remarkably followed.

I gasped. A reef spread out before me. It was full of life. Moonfish swam between strands of selmsweed while zoodleplanckton drifted on the current. She cut through the moonfish to get to a large rock. Eelets poured out. I looked down. Instead of my legs treading water like I expected, I saw flippers. Flippers of a squifler. Realization dawned on me. I was a shifter, and I was free.