From Beneath the Waves

[CanaryCry]

Korin had always thought storms were rather pretty from under the waves. True, they could damage coral and make the waters thrash about, but for larger or more powerful creatures like himself the shifting tides were no trouble. It was peaceful, almost, lying still and letting the water push him around to and fro, staring up at the dark, choppy tides above his head. When he was in a position of leisure and there were no extra fortifications to be made to his own lair deep beneath the waves, he often spent his time swimming here and there in the surrounding waters, aiding creatures who were less prepared or simply cleaning up the human trash that might end up trying to entangle them.

Quite often, too, he would swim nearer to the surface in search of human vessels. Most days he simply found them interesting, but there had been times when they were so overwhelmed by the waves and wind above the surface that they lost equipment, or humans, or capsized fully. They weren't really meant for swimming, and out of an intense feeling of pity and compassion he had more than once hovered below those tossed overboard, using the magics he had been taught to calm the water around the human as much as he could, to use it to push up against them so they could stay up high enough to breathe. The worst days, he was only in time to recover their bodies and see them delivered back home to the shore.

Other merfolk would call him soft, say he was too sympathetic to those who polluted their home, but Korin couldn't help his sympathy. It was why, on the day of a fast approaching storm, he hovered closer to shore than he usually would. It was why, that particular day, he was close enough to see a small disaster as it happened.

A small boat, the kind that he had only ever seen have a handful of people on it at once, was out in the sea by itself, caught in waves too large for it to take. He didn't understand why it was there. The humans from shore seemed to never learn their lesson - the ocean was a powerful place, and not one to be underestimated. When the waves tossed it upside down, it was only a quick swim away from shore for Korin, but he had seen how humans swam, how slow they could be and how quickly the tides could pull them away. The person he could see in the water beneath the boat would never make it.

There was no time for hesitation. Korin was swimming full speed the moment he saw it, and only saw the real trouble as he grew close. His plan had only been to help her, to buoy her up until she could hold on to her boat and wait for actual rescue, but she was tangled in something. A rope or a net, he didn't stop to find out at first, only slowing as he came close with a bit of panic in his chest. He had always been told to stay hidden, that if he ever showed himself to a human he would endanger all of his kind, but if he left her he knew she would die. If he had more time to think over the consequences, perhaps he would have made a different choice.

In the rush of the moment he forged ahead, picking up speed once more to close the distance between them and only slowing just as he reached her. With no time to waste trying to untangle her, he pulled free his knife from its sheath and cut the rope tangled around her leg, kept his blade in the hand furthest from her even as he used the other arm to grab her by the waist and pull her up. It took all his concentration to try and soothe the tossing of the boat enough to keep her from being injured there in the small pocket of air between the boat and the surface of the water. The space wouldn't last long, but it would give him time to think.

"Breathe." He instructed, breathless himself as he used his voice above water for the first time in ages, sheathing his knife so he could take one of her hands and place it against a part of the boat in the darkness. "Hold this, wait here."

His only saving grace was that beneath the boat there was no light at all, a pitch darkness she would be unable to see him in. The moment her fingers curled around where he had directed them, he released her and ducked back down beneath the waves to try and find a way to fix things. Shore was a long distance away to drag her there with only his arms, and in that time she would surely recover enough to take a good look at him. But if he could wrap the ropes that had entangled her around her body well enough, he might just be able to flip it back upright with her still inside.

It was his best chance of getting her to safety without creating disaster for himself, if he could flip the boat over and push it back to shore from beneath. He took only a few seconds to calm himself, then set to work. The ropes were rough and not quite long enough for his purposes, but there was a blanket tossing about in the water, and with a quick thought he used the ropes to tie it as firmly as he could to one railing of the boat. There was nothing to secure the other side, though, and with time running out and the human in danger he didn't have time to try and find one. Instead, he held the other side of the blanket himself, wrapping it beneath her body to keep her close to the boat and taking hold of the railing on the opposite side with his free hand. In almost the same second, he swam as hard as he could up against the boat and pushed the water around it with more energy than he'd had to exert in weeks.

The world spun, in the moment, with all of his concentration on his magic and on keeping her secure and on matching the force of the water in a circular motion so the boat would turn upright without crushing the human herself under the force. With a mighty splash and two large thuds, he and the human girl ended up crashing onto the surface of the boat as it settled upright once more, Korin's head spinning both as it knocked against the deck and as he concentrated his magic to keep them from continuing the spin and ending up capsized once more. As he pushed the water on the deck back into the ocean to keep it from sinking the small vessel, he pushed himself up onto his hands and gave his head a shake to try and get his bearings. He had expected to end up back in the water, not inside the boat. He had to make himself move before she recovered enough to see him.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

When she had seen the little rowboat tied up to the small dock just outside her front door, she'd dismissed it almost immediately. After all it seemed to be ancient, splintery wood with paint cracked and faded so much it was hard to even tell what colour it was originally. Still like the run down little beach cottage, or perhaps it was more accurate to call it a shack, there was a certain rustic charm to it. Besides the weather seemed fine, if a little cloudy, and the sea was calm so impulsively she decided to row it out, at least a little way.

She knew she was just procrastinating going through her birth mothers things, she hadn't even opened the letter the lawyer had given her with the deed to the house, but what the hell? She was in no hurry and it wouldn't be smart to rush something like that anyway, so aware of her pretty weak rationalizations but not caring, she climbed into the creaky old thing and began to row. About thirty minutes later, having drifted out way further than she intended and with a storm that had approached so quickly it had seemed to appear in the blink of an eye, she was pondering just what in the blue hell she'd been thinking, when her boat capsized and dunked her into the water.

She'd never encountered a fury like it before, the waves pushing and pulling her with such strength she felt like a ragdoll carelessly thrown into a washing machine. Though she tried to keep calm and right herself, panic reared it's ugly head when she realized she was bound tightly by whatever junk had been sitting in the bottom of the boat. At first she struggled to get free, but after her efforts proved futile and she knew there was no way she could untie herself in time, a strange sense of calm washed over her, as if her body had resigned itself to its fate.

I guess this is it. She thought to herself idly as her vision began to fade away, what a stupid way to die, I guess I gave Logan and Dean one last chance to laugh at my expense, how considerate of me. She could feel herself slipping away when she spotted a dark shape coming towards her at terrifying speed, oh even better, I'm shark bait. She thought with an odd sense of amusement, supposing that would at least be quicker than drowning. Closing her eyes she felt herself be grabbed around the waist, and for a brief moment she thought that was it.

However her head was suddenly above the water and it seemed her body had fully given up, as her lungs greedily clawed in every inch of air it could. Though each breath was a hot, burning, agony she didn't care, gasping as she tried to take in as much of it as possible. A strange voice commanded her to breathe and her first thought was, duh I'm trying. She couldn't see her rescuer, the darkness so complete she couldn't even see her own hand, but when it was guided to something solid, she gripped it so tightly her knuckle turned white.

She could feel movement beneath her but before she could even begin to think what was going on, she was spinning again, everything happening so fast it was just a confusing blur. For a moment she was floating but then she came crashing down hard against the boat, injuring her shoulder in the process. At first all she could do was cough harshly as her lungs tried to get used to breathing air again instead of salt water, her eyes closed as she struggled against a strong wave of nausea.

Remembering her rescuer her eyes flew open, concerned for their well being she started to move towards them, but suddenly froze. The concern in her gaze turned to confusion as she rubbed her eyes hard, but the confusing image before her remained the same. "Hey.." Her voice was hoarse, but held no tone of alarm. "Are you alright?" She wondered briefly if she'd smacked her head on the edge of the boat, or if almost dying had driven her mad, she wasn't sure what she was hoping for but it had to be one of those right? Surely she wasn't seeing what she thought she was seeing, an honest to god fairy tale, a mythological creature come to life, was she?

 

[CanaryCry]

Her lungs were clearing. For a moment it was all Korin could think, hearing the wet sounds of her coughs as he tried to get his bearings. He didn't think he was bleeding but he'd smacked his head rather hard, and the spinning hadn't done him any favors. Combined with the effort of transitioning from gills to lungs, he did not have a great deal of ability to think for a few long seconds after he succeeded in getting the boat upright again. On top of all of it, he still had to work at keeping the waves from toppling them again, which required a decent amount of concentration on its own. He should have gotten out of the boat faster.

Her voice startled him into pushing himself up higher, horrified eyes turning to see her amidst the wind and rain and finding her staring right back at him. The boat was small, his tail hanging partially out into the water and with little space between the human girl and himself. Even in the dim, overcast lighting of the storm, it was impossible to think she had not, in that moment, failed to see him for what he was.

He was in so much trouble.

In a sudden burst of motion, he used both his arms and tail to shove himself out of the boat and back into the sea, just barely remembering in his panic to compensate the force of his weight being thrown over the side with his magic to keep her from being dumped back into the water again. From several yards beneath he started up at the boat, thinking and thinking in circles. He wasn't supposed to be seen, he was in so much trouble, everything was going wrong, and if he could only curb his own cursed tendency to throw caution to the wind in favor of others he wouldn't be in this position!

The only thing that kept him from fleeing was the thought that it would happen again, that the tiny boat wouldn't hold up against the waves without his magic, and that she would never make it back to where she belonged. The hesitation gave him time to try and calm himself, and to think of the look on her face. There had been no screaming. No violence. Only . . . concern? She had spoken to him. She had asked if he was all right, as if she hadn't just been on the brink of drowning. He couldn't just leave her.

Finally, very carefully, he rose back up to the surface next to end of her boat that was furthest away from where he had seen her last, reaching up to take hold of the edge and cautiously poking his head out above the water. For a moment he only looked at her, anxiety twisting his gut even as his head fins pressed down and back like an unsettled cat's ears. So much trouble.

". . . Hold on." He said, hesitant and almost too soft to be heard above the storm, unused to using his voice in open air. "I'll push you."

He would just return her to shore, and then he would swim away as fast as he could. It was only one human, right? If no one ever found out what had he'd done, maybe everything would be okay.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

She found herself opening staring at him, studying every inch of him, or at least what she could make out in the dim light. Not that it was hard to do, his scales were such a brilliant shade of iridescent blue they seemed to glow with their own light. So fascinated by his tail, thicker and heavier looking than she'd ever seen on any other sea creature before, at least, one smaller than a whale, she almost missed the fins of either side of his face. She couldn't get a good enough look to see if they were his ears, or merely hiding them, but either way they struck her as distinctly elfin.

Her gaze moved to his face and met his, hers filled with curiosity, his with horror. She opened her mouth to ask him...well she didn't even know where to start, when he suddenly launched himself out of the boat. He moved with such speed the force of it shook the boat violently, she panicked for a moment, sitting down hard, afraid she might end up overboard again. Thankfully after a moment it settled, at least a little anyway, still being buffeted by the storm.

He was gone so suddenly, a part of her started to wonder if he'd ever been there at all. Her mind already trying to dismiss him as a hallucination brought on from the stress of almost drowning, perhaps it would be better to believe that, the alternative seemed a little to crazy to consider. Still if he wasn't real, how did she get free of the rope? How did she get back in the boat? Everything felt very surreal right now and so she decided to just focus on getting herself safely back on dry land, everything else could wait.

Though... how exactly was she supposed to do that? Her oars had disappeared, washed away by the raging tide or sunk to the depths of ocean floor, either way she was screwed. She guessed she'd just have to wait out the storm, try and swim back once it stopped, if the storm didn't decide to last all night that was. Or dump me back into the water, she thought to herself worriedly as another wave rocked the boat alarmingly. She began to shiver a little, whether from the stress of almost drowning, her strange, possibly figment of her imagination rescuer, or simply the cold, she didn't know. It didn't seem to matter much at the moment, though she bitterly wished she'd worn something warmer than a singlet and shorts.

Then again she was drenched anyway so probably wouldn't make much difference, lost in these pointless, distracted thoughts, she didn't notice his return at first. Jumping a little in surprise when she did, she couldn't answer right away, merely nodding as she tried to organize her scattered thoughts. Gripping the sides of the boat tightly, she watched him for a few moments before hesitantly speaking "Uh.. listen." "I don't even know if you're real, if you're really here or if I've just gone mad, but if you are real, I want to thank you." "For saving my life I mean." Her tone seemed hesitant and unsure, but the sincere gratitude was clear in her voice. "Thank you."

 

[CanaryCry]

She was staring. Korin supposed it was fair because he was staring, but her eyes held more curiosity and confusion than shy, nervous fear. He wanted nothing more than to hide his face and never be seen again, but if he didn't keep looking at her he was afraid she might attack him, or else fall into the water again if he stopped paying attention and helping soothe the way the boat rocked and dipped in the tumultuous waters. It was a nauseating stalemate, until finally she broke the spell.

For a moment, as she spoke, he could only stare at her with slightly widened eyes. Was he real? He supposed it was strange to her, seeing him. He toyed briefly with the idea that perhaps she would eventually come to believe that she had hit her head while on shore and he had never been there at all. It would be best, he thought. If she forgot him entirely or thought him a dream, maybe there was no need to panic so very much. Who told others about their dreams, after all, if they thought they were only going a bit crazy? A fleeting thought crossed his mind that he should probably hit her across the head himself, but he had only just gotten done saving her.

The gratitude, at the end, caught him completely off guard, and in a fit of shyness he ducked further down in the water until he was only visible above the lip of the boat from the eyes up, a very faint pink flush rising to his cheeks. Fear or revulsion he had been taught to expect, but to have her look him in the eyes and thank him? He didn't know what to do with it at all.

". . . Just . . . hold on." He said quietly again, and began to give the boat a little push.

When the human girl got the hint to steady herself in the boat and get used to the idea of moving, he ducked beneath the surface again both to minimize how much she looked at him and to have more room for his tailfins to move. From beneath it was easier to go belly up and grip the bottom of the boat wherever he could find a handhold, not so much physically pulling it along as keeping himself close to it as he used his magic to have the water help him push. He was sure not to go too quickly, both because moving in opposition to the waves too quickly would only slam the tiny, fragile vessel about again and because he worried that she would fall out. Part of him was also worried that it would simply fall apart.

Some time later, after a careful journey, they grew close to the shore once more. Korin might have brought the small boat to the wooden walkway he usually saw its kind tied to, but he didn't know how to keep it from simply floating away again, or how to get her out of it without fully showing himself again. Instead, he swam as close as he could without risking getting slowed by shallow waters, then let go of the boat and pushed it along with the water instead, until it shoved so firmly into the sand that it wouldn't move again until the tide rose higher. When it was stable, he poked his head out of the water a safe distance away near the end of the dock, making sure she could get out and walk away on her own. She was back home and his self imposed duty was done. He knew he shouldn't linger.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

She knew she shouldn't be staring so much, it was rude after all, but she found it almost impossible to drag her eyes away from him. His demeanour confused her, he seemed... uneasy? Afraid? She didn't understand in though, what did he have to be afraid of? Surely she should be the scared one, coming face to face with a creature that didn't exist, but she wasn't. Ignoring the fact that he'd saved her life, twice if you counted getting her back in the boat and getting it back to shore, she could sense no malice or ill intentions about him.

Not that she could exactly trust her senses right now, but she did anyway. She worried that her words might have upset him, though she couldn't think how, as he suddenly ducked out of sight again, only his eyes still visible. Redoubling her grip she nodded as he once again told her to hold on, "okay." She answered softly, not having time to say anything else before he slipped out of sight. She only knew he was still around by the boats more steady movement through the waves, she tried to move with it, balancing herself as best she could.

She closed her eyes for a few moments, her head, lungs and shoulder were aching, her skin was freezing and her thoughts were a confused, jumbled mess. All she wanted was a hot shower and dry clothes, then perhaps she could think straight and begin to try and make sense of this whole bizarre, afternoon misadventure. Her eyes stayed closed until she felt the boat come to a stop, opening them she stood up cautiously. When the boat remained steady, she shakily climbed over the side and planted both feet firmly on the sand.

She was filled with a relief so great she swayed a little, the adrenaline her body had been running on all but gone, leaving her exhausted. Taking a few unsteady steps through the low water, she found herself on stronger footing as she turned around to seek out her saviour. She spotted him a bit farther out, for a moment she just looked at him, but then she slowly raised her hand. Keeping her arm still she waved a little shyly, a small soft smile on her face. "Thank you." She called out softly, "I don't know how I can repay you, but I'm in your debt."

 

[CanaryCry]

He shouldn't have stayed. Korin knew it was stupid, lingering when he had already made so many mistakes, but he couldn't help himself. After seeing her so close to death, and after all the effort he'd put into saving her, he wanted to see her get out of the boat and walk away to where she belonged. If she would just go back to the surface world, she would be just fine. At least, he hoped so. He had heard a great deal of stories about humans and how cruel they could be - and still others of their limitless compassion. Someone would help her.

When the boat was stopped and he could see her again, Korin watched her carefully as she got herself out to her feet. He had expected her to run off, or else to collapse into the sand, and when she instead turned to look at him he almost dove to avoid her gaze. For a few long seconds as her feet touched the water he thought she might even walk into the ocean just to get to him, and only began to relax when she stopped moving forward. After all he'd done to get her back, he thought with vague annoyance, she had better not just fall in the water again and be pulled out by the tides.

"You . . . You're welcome. . ." He called back, after some hesitation, sinking briefly until only his eyes showed once again and casting a shy glance away before popping up enough to speak again. "Go get warm now." Her body wasn't meant for the chill of the ocean. She had to go before soreness and injury caused her to collapse.

In an attempt to give her less reasons to stay by the ocean, he disappeared beneath the water for a long while, and only dared peek above it again when he could sense her feet leaving the water. He waited for a minute or so to be sure she was walking away, then looked to be sure she was going, and finally turned to dive and swim quickly away. It would help the anxiousness in his chest to burn some energy as he fled.

He wasn't sure what compelled him to return to where he had found her, but after swimming around a while he did eventually spot an oar from the boat, and after a great deal more searching the second one as well. He held them for a long while, debating with himself and beginning to wonder why he'd looked for them at all, but eventually he was able to rationalize the idea of returning them. If the boat was safe and the oars were present, perhaps she would believe that it had all been a dream after all. He would just need to do it in the night, before she rose with the sun like other humans.

It was the last time, he promised himself. He wouldn't go back again.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

Her smile widened as he called back to her, his apparent shyness helped to disarm her own, filling her with more confidence then she supposed she ought to be feeling given the circumstances. Not that she'd ever really been a shy person to begin with, self assured but never arrogant. Still she could be considered headstrong, perhaps even reckless, if this afternoon was anything to go by. When he bid her to go and get warm, she seemed amused, unsure if he suggested it out of genuine concern, or if it was merely a thinly veiled attempt to get her to bugger off and leave him be.

Regardless of his motivations he was right, but still she lingered, even after he slipped away under the surface and she lost sight of him. After a long moment, she finally turned and made her way out of the water and up onto the dry sand. She cast one last glance over her shoulder at the water, but there was nothing to see, so she didn't pause. Crossing the beach became more difficult as she neared the edge of it, the loose sand slipping beneath her tired feet, but she didn't slow. The call of her warm dry bed was too inviting, well that and a hot shower.

Sometime later, showered, fed and dressed in much warmer clothes, she sat thinking, playing over the events of that afternoon over and over again. A part of mind still wished to dismiss the whole thing as fantasy, a hallucination brought on by the stress, head injury or perhaps heat stroke. It seemed determined to write the whole thing off and bury it deeply, to never mention it to anyone and pretend the whole thing never happened. She could understand the impulse, and she couldn't deny it was a strong one, after all creatures such as her nameless rescuer, did not exist beyond the pages of storybooks. Beyond that, it opened the door to the possibility of others like him existing in this world, creatures perhaps not quite as friendly as him, creatures better left to the unsettling darkness inside the imagination, or worse, under the bed.

Ah but still she could only deny the truth of her senses so much, she had seen him with her own eyes, heard his voice, felt his touch. She was still breathing and it was only through his intervention, so how could he not be real? Though of course the senses could be tricked, yawning softly she decided to go to bed. It had grown late and she felt like her thoughts were just going around in pointless circles as she argued against herself, each certain thought spurring a contradiction.

She expected to have trouble falling asleep but she was fast asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, staring out her wide bedroom window overlooking the ocean before she closed her eyes and succumbed to the sleep her body and mind so desperately needed, her last waking thought was, if he really is out there, I wonder if I'll see him again.

 

[CanaryCry]

Korin had intended to take the oars back before morning, but after the storm and the stress and how much magic he used, he ended up calling it quits and taking them home to his cave. It was simple enough to tie them down amongst his other things for safe keeping, and once he had tucked himself into a secure space so the gentle tides wouldn't wash him away he finally was able to rest. He had done enough damage for one night.

Come morning, he spent a while hunting in order to feed himself, and only when he was full did he finally decide to take the oars and return them to the human beach. He was wary upon approach, making sure there were no boats nearby that might see him and staying underwater for a long while to determine whether or not the space was clear. It seemed an uninhabited place, but for the empty boat he had beached upon the land and the wooden walkway that stretched out a ways into the sea. Eventually he dared poke his head out to see above water and make sure there were no witnesses, then finally dared to come closer.

It was a simple matter to untie the oars and place them up on the dock, though he wondered if it would be too strange to find them so far from the boat they belonged to. It was even more dangerous to risk trying to bring them to the beach, though, and he had to choose the lesser of two evils. He had been sure if he was quick and stealthy enough he could just place them and leave - only, the moment he had pulled himself up enough to leave them on the dock, rather obviously soaking the wood with seawater in the process, he caught just the slightest glimpse of motion out of the corner of his eye and dropped back down into the water before he could be seen.

Everything he had been taught told him he should be fleeing, getting as far away as possible and never looking back. But he stayed. The burning questions in his heart wouldn't let him go. He had to stay and see what she would do when she made her way down to the water. Perhaps it had only been the shock or exhaustion, but she had been . . . nice to him. There had been no fear in her and no violence, unlike all the stories he had been told. He couldn't help himself. If she was going to take the boat back out to sea, he wanted to follow her and be sure she didn't get hurt again.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

The next morning, she sat out on her deck, enjoying the cool crisp seabreeze that carried the scent of the ocean to her as she watched the sun rise.

She had expected that after a good night's sleep, yesterdays strange encounter would be easier to dissmiss. With a clearer head the surreal atmosphere would blow away and there'd be a more logical explanation, though if anything she was even more convinced of its reality.

Even if she was wrong, and this was all just due to the stress she was under, what did it hurt? No one else had to know, and all she'd done was imagine someone slightly odd to talk to, she certainly could have done a lot worse.

She remembered then she hadn't secured the boat back on to the dock, she doubted it would have gone anywhere but she should check just in case.

And yeah, maybe I want to see if he's around still. She thought to herself as she ducked inside to grab her old backpack, slinging it over one shoulder as she made her way down the beach.

Relieved to see the boat was still firmly wedged in the sand, she was about to head over to it, when something caught her eye, there was something way out on the end of the pier.

As she got closer she recognised the oars she'd lost yesterday, her heart began to beat a little faster, still she supposed anyone passing by could have returned them. The puddle of water on the otherwise dry wood was rather suggestive though, not to mention she hadn't seen anybody else out here yet.

She glanced around but couldn't see any sign of him, but.. it's like she could sense he was still close, she felt like she was being watched. "Thank you for bringing those back."

Her tone was bright and calm as she slowly sat down, sitting cross legged as she gazed out at the ocean. "You know you can come out if you want too, I don't bite."

 

[CanaryCry]

Korin found himself creeping closer and closer without much conscious thought, watching her murky shape from the water as she walked out onto the dock. A little thrill of nerves sat in his stomach as he saw her get close and he retreated further down as if to be sure she couldn't see him despite the way his tail often blended into the shifting light on the water once submerged deep enough. The way she passed the oars without picking them up, he couldn't help thinking she was looking for him. Should he run, he wondered? Was it best to flee?

In the end, it was the sound of her voice that brought him back. She was talking and there was no one around and he couldn't live not knowing what she said. He ducked beneath the dock to get closer without being seen, coming so close to the surface he had to hold on to one of the support pillars to keep from being rocked into it by the waves. Her thanks had him flinching further underwater, but again he grew closer to be sure he could hear her. She knew it was him. He supposed that wasn't a far leap in logic, but when she tried to call him out he almost hit his head against the wood in surprise. Had she seen him??

Long seconds ticked by as he thought if all over, and in the end crept just a bit closer, until he was touching one of the pillars at the front of the dock a scant few feet away from where she sat. Finally, very hesitantly and half wrapped around the wood as if to hide himself from view, he rose slowly high enough to poke his head up above the water and see her. She already knew he had come to return the oars, which was a mistake on his part for trying to be courteous, so she clearly hadn't given in to the idea that it had all been a dream. What more damage could he possibly do?

". . . How . . ." He started quietly, his voice small and shy and rasping faintly from disuse. "How did you know . . .?"

He'd thought he was far enough down that she wouldn't see him, not with human eyes. Maybe they could see further into the dark water than he had been told, or she had some sort of exceptional eyesight herself. He was sure he hadn't made enough noise to alert her, and he'd hidden before she could have seen him from the top of the rocky hill that led to the beach. He needed to work on his stealth.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

She seemed unbothered by the silence, content to just sit and wait, enjoying the view. She thought she could hear the faint sound of movement beneath her, but it was probably just the waves.

Even if it was just wishful thinking and she was alone, she was enjoying the peace and quiet. The view of the ocean was beautiful, and the soft sound of the waves lapping against the shore was quite soothing.

She closed her eyes for a moment, finally she heard the clear sound of movement, and then he was speaking. She opened her eyes, turning her head to look at him but othwrwuse keeping still.

She smiled at him softly, but didn't look at him long, turning her gaze back to the ocean. He reminded her of the horses back home, when they'd first arrive on the farm, skittish and wary.

She had a lot of experience with nervous animals, and unconsciously she was treating him the same way. Giving him space, not making him feel overwhelmed and trying to show she wasn't a threat.

"To be honest, I didn't know for sure." She said with a little shrug, seeming a bit embarrassed, "it might sound dumb but I could kinda feel you were here somewhere you know?"

"You know we weren't properly introduced yesterday." She glanced at him with a friendly smile, "my names Olivia, what's yours?"

 

[CanaryCry]

When she looked at him Korin shrunk down just a little, as if he might hide back beneath the surface at any moment - but again, there was no fear or anger in her, only a gentle smile and what looked to him like a very relaxed posture. That in itself felt as if it were drawing him closer. After all the stories he had been told, she seemed so unthreatening. Nice, even. Despite how he stayed alert and wouldn't take his eyes off of her, she didn't study him as he had worried she would, only looked back out at the waves as if he were no threat to her at all.

It was just as well, when her admittance had his cheeks dusting a flustered pink and his chin dipping down into the water. She hadn't known at all! She'd fooled him and he'd exposed himself for nothing. He felt like a fool.

He was in the middle of fighting the urge to slap himself in the face when she looked at him again, and though he flinched a little downwards at first he only allowed himself to bob back upwards with the rocking of the waves soon after. Olivia. Human names sounded so curious to him, he had to wonder how his own would sound to her.

". . . Korin." He answered quietly after a pause to decide if he should. She had already seen him and he was already where he shouldn't be. What was a name?

He hesitated once more, the uneasiness in his gut soothing gradually with her gentle tone, with the apparent peace between them, and dared to spare a glance back at her boat before looking at her once more, an uncertain frown on his face. "You are . . . okay?"

She had left so slowly when he'd returned her to the beach, when he had expected her to run off the second she touched land. She looked undamaged to him, but he wasn't sure what else to say to her when he had never dared think of speaking to a human before. Some small part of him just wanted to hear her voice a little more.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

Judging by the fact he was still here, she guessed she'd taken the right approach by avoiding too much eye contact. She was a little confused by his extreme shyness, was she really so threatening to him?

He could disappear in an instant, judging by how fast he'd been yesterday she doubted anyone would be able to follow him, least of all her.

"Korin." She repeated softly, she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, something completely unpronounceable maybe. "I like it." She smiled warmly, "well it's nice to meet you Korin."

She looked a little confused by his question at first, but caught on quickly enough. "Oh right, yeah I'm fine, thanks to you." Her own cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink as she looked a bit embarrassed, "I'm sorry about that by the way."

She looked at him with concern, and guilt, "you're okay right?" "I mean, you didn't get hurt when you were helping me did you?"

 

[CanaryCry]

The pleased little thrum in his chest at having someone praise his name wasn't quite what Korin expected, but he didn't dislike it. It was just that he hadn't expected a human to be so soft to him, so gentle and kind instead of cruel or angry. He supposed humans were like merfolk that way. There were good and bad, and he had experienced plenty of both over the years.

"Sorry?" He repeated with a little tilt of his head, confused as to what she was apologizing for. Getting lost at sea? Almost drowning? It didn't feel like something she should be saying sorry to him for. The sincerity in it, though, did not escape him, and he found himself shifting just a little closer, his tail wrapped around the wood still for balance but upper body not sinking quite so low.

When she asked after his health instead, he blinked at her in surprise, a hand raising automatically to touch the side of his head where he had knocked it against the boat, though it hardly even ached anymore. "Hmm, only a little bump. . ." He said almost thoughtfully, and after a pause gave her a displeased frown. "Your boat is too small. The ocean is strong."

Did she not understand the danger? Surely she did now, but he couldn't imagine how it had ever seemed like a good idea to go out into the sea in such a tiny little wooden shell.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

His confusion caused her blush to deepen as she realised she was going to have to explain it in more detail, which was not something she was looking forward to doing with how embarrassed she felt.

Still there was something endearing about the slight tilt of his head, once more reminding her of the animals back home, not that she was thinking of him as unintelligent or anything like that.

"Yeah, I'm sorry that you had to put yourself at risk to help me." "Uh well not that you had to help me..." She sighed a little, feeling flustered by her lack of eloquence. "If I hadn't been so foolishly impulsive, I wouldn't have been in that situation to begin with."

Hearing he had indeed gotten hurt, even a little, made her flush guiltily and her gaze once again filled with warm concern. "I'm sorry for that, but I'm glad it's not worse."

Instead of getting defensive, she nodded seriously, clearly humbled by what had happened. "It's not my boat...." "Or I guess it is now." She added after a moments consideration, "you're right though."

She sighed softly as she stared at the admittedly sad looking little boat, "I don't know what i was thinking, i mean it was clear at first and that storm came out of nowhere but still, I've never been in the ocean before."

 

[CanaryCry]

Korin wasn't sure why she was so embarrassed at first, though he joined her in being bashful as she explained. He had also done very 'impulsive' things before, up to and including rescuing her despite knowing she would see him. He could claim that he had thought he would simply right her boat and dive back down again, but no one would believe he hadn't considered it a possibility. He would just have to keep this particular story to himself. He lived far enough from the rest of the pod that he didn't interact with them very often anyway. None of them would have gotten close enough to human establishments to have seen his mistakes.

"Not your boat?" He asked curiously rather than dwell on it, a hand resting loosely on the edge of the dock now though he told himself he shouldn't get any closer. "Did you steal it? Do you live faaar on land?"

He gestured loosely towards the beach, endlessly inquisitive now that he found himself doing the forbidden and actually speaking to a human. Maybe Olivia lived far away, though if she did he wondered why she had come back to the same beach he had left her on. He had only chosen it because it was cut off from the others and thus less likely to contain other humans.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

She was encouraged by the way he crept closer and closer to her, that and the curiosity she could hear in his voice, which sounded stronger by the moment.

She thought it meant he was gaining more confidence, or at least understanding she wasnt going to hurt him so he didn't have to be so wary.

Perhaps she should have been offended at the question, instead she was amused. Shaking her head, she laughed a little. "No I'd never steal anything, I inherited it."

Turning slightly she pointed back towards the beach, "past the edge of the beach, beyond the tree line, there's a little cottage, that's where I live." "Well at least temporarily, I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with the place yet."

She smiled a little sadly, feeling oddly homesick. Not just for the familiar environment, but her friends, her animals, her family. "My real home is far away from here, with my family."

She looked at him curiously, "where do you live?" "Do you live with your family too?" Remembering how jumpy he was, she quickly added "you don't have to tell me if you don't want too, I'm just curious."

 

[CanaryCry]

He wasn't quite sure what had been funny, but he liked the sound of her laughter. He had heard others before, of course, mostly male voices laughing uproariously from the decks or cabins of their boats, and it had always given him a sort of warm feeling inside. It was a consequence of being by himself most of the time, he thought, that just hearing other voices could bring him peace.

When Olivia pointed off towards shore he turned to look as if he might see something, wondering what it might look like so far away from the sea. He wasn't quite sure what a 'cottage' was, though some part of him assumed it to be some sort of small human house. He wasn't sure why, it was just the image that came to him.

For a second or two Korin pressed his lips tight together as if he wouldn't answer, or as if considering how to do so, but eventually he did relent and point with his free hand out to sea. "I live that way. Deep, deep down." He couldn't tell her exactly where, for safety, not that he thought her or any other humans capable of reaching it without special tools to help them breathe. Even then the opening to his cave was camouflaged to make it hard to find. "I live by myself."

He didn't think it was a particularly sad thing, most days, but something in her expression when she talked about her 'real' home put a sort of ache in his chest. Lonely. He was lonely. Perhaps it was the only reason he was still there speaking to her when he knew he shouldn't.

After a pause Korin gave his head a little shake, as if to dismiss the idea of loneliness completely, and instead leaned back into his own curiosity. "Why did you go out in the little boat? Were you trying to catch fish? Are you hungry?" Maybe she had risked the small boat because she needed to find herself food.

 

[Kaleidoscopic Kitten]

Judging by his tight lipped expression, she thought he'd decline to answer. Finally though he mentioned his home, she smiled a little at his vague description of it.

He didn't need to be so secretive about it, she doubted wherever he lived, especially with how jumpy he seemed, that there was any way humans could find it.

"Oh." She said softly, unsure what to say. It saddened her to think he was all alone in the world, though maybe he wasn't and just preferred his own company.

Still there was something about his expression that made her feel like that wasn't the case, she wanted to sympathise but he didn't seem to want to dwell on it.

She decided to drop it for now, until he felt ready to discuss it. She laughed a little and shook her head, "no I've got plenty of food, and belive it or not but I would have been more prepared if I was trying to catch anything."

She grew serious again, shrugging softly. "To be honest, I'm not really sure why i went out." "It was just a spur of the moment impulse, my... the person i inherited the cottage and boat from."

"They loved the ocean, and they mentioned a reef or something near here they spent a lot of time exploring and I just..." "I don't know, I wanted to feel closer to them."