Thoughts were spinning through Melody’s mind as she swam away from the shore and into the near-freezing water further out. “I’ll never get used to the shock of these cold waters,” she sighed to herself. Her heart was still pounding from her encounter with him. She stopped swimming and caught her breath. As she slowed her breathing, she realized that she was a bit lost. She had gotten so far away from the area near the shipwreck, whilst following Ripper, that she did not know which way to turn to get back. This ocean was still unfamiliar to her, not only in temperature but also in landmarks. They had only settled here about two months prior, and most of that time had been spent helping to build her family’s new home. Setting down roots in this goddess-forsaken foreign land.
She looked around now and saw that she had reached a large kelp forest- much more vast than the one that Ripper had found her in. Though she had no experience with these forests before moving North, she had learned about them in school, and felt drawn to the cover that they provided. This will be the perfect place to gather my thoughts in privacy, Melody thought.
She swam through the large kelp, held at attention by their balloon-like gas bladders, and continued down into the canopy below. She reached the darkness of the ocean floor, which was well shaded by the forest, and found a rock structure to sit on. She looked up at the surface, obscured from view except for a glimmer of light here and there, revealed by the ebb and flow of the fronds. She thought about the man that she had rescued, and wondered what he was doing now. She worried that he might be very far from home, as she had no idea where he had come from nor where his crew had been heading. She looked down as she opened her hand to reveal his amulet sitting in her palm. She unwound the cord from her hand and held it to dangle the in front of her face. The water moved it ever so slightly as she squinted to attempt to see the markings carved all around the top of it, but alas it was too dark in the forest to make heads or tails of the tiny carvings, even for a mermaid, who are known to be able to have some sight even in the darkest depths of the ocean. She put the cord over her head to wear the amulet around her neck. As she fiddled with it, she started to recognize that familiar feeling of eyes watching her. She froze for a moment, listening to the sounds of the forest. She heard something scraping through the kelp behind her. She turned, and saw a huge shape moving towards her. She recognized the way that it was swimming, and knew that it was a shark- more specifically, a great white shark, which she knew was rare to see this far North. She jumped off the rock and faced the creature.
Despite the relatively large size of a great white shark in comparison to a mermaid, the two very seldom had any problems with each other. This breed of shark was quite common where she was from, and they had an understanding between the two species- you leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone. Given everything that she knew about great whites, she was disturbed by the body language of this particular shark. It was exuding aggression for some reason, its back arched menacingly.
“Please, leave me be.” Melody said, moving her hands around her waist in a universal sign of peace. Most underwater creatures that coexist with mermaids should be familiar with this sign, too, though most were unable to make the sign themselves due to a lack of arms. The shark continued to stare at melody, which is when she noticed the strangeness of its eyes. As the shark’s head moved ever so slightly back-and-forth in the water, Melody felt a chill down her spine. Instead of the usual beady black eyes of a shark, these eyes had a sclera, iris and pupil just like her own. The iris was cloudy and constantly shifting like a storm. Her body reacted with a sudden urge to run, but she fought it. “Who are you?” She yelled at the shark. A split second later, it lunged at her, its jaws open, revealing many layers of teeth.
She dodged the attack, but could feel that her movement was more sluggish than normal. She attempted to extend her claws, but they did not activate. What the… my powers are stunted again? But I’m not on land this time- what is going on? Her mind felt fuzzy from the panic that welled up. Stay cool, breathe. You still remember your training, even without your powers. She said to herself as the shark lunged again, only this time it whipped around, hitting her with its caudal fin. She sailed through the water and hit the rock that she had been sitting on before. She eyed her forearm where she had been hit, and saw that the caudal fin’s sharp edge had cut her down the entire length- she was bleeding now. Her blood was slowly causing a cloud of reddened water to build around the site. She didn’t feel any pain, due to numbness from the arctic temperatures, but she worried that the blood could draw others to the scene. In the few seconds it took for her to examine her wound, the shark had lunged again and now pinned her against the rock, where it began to continuously slam her against it over and over again.
Melody struggled, but her usual strength would still not rally to help her. She clawed at the shark creature with her fingernails since her claws would not protract, and was able to draw some feeble drops of blood, but not enough to cause any damage. The cloud of blood around her expanded from her own wound. If only I could get to its eyes… I could cause some damage there even with these useless fingernails, she thought, struggling as hard as she could against the shark’s massive, slick body. She heard a sound then of the kelp moving nearby, and turned her head in time to see three more great white sharks approaching. All three had the same ghoulish eyes as the one that was currently attacking her. She gritted her teeth, frustration and fear coursing through her. She thought of her friends and family back at her tribe, waiting for her, probably upset with her for attacking Hydra. She closed her eyes, feeling no regret for saving that man’s life.
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She opened her eyes when she heard something rushing through the water, fearing the worst. Except, it was not one of the new sharks lunging at her, but a huge shape that was moving through the darkness towards the group. It was moving swiftly, and in an instant it had grabbed one of the three sharks in its huge, toothed jaws. Melody couldn’t believe her eyes. Ripper? How?
The massive orca was now using the shark in its jaws as a weapon to pummel the shark that had been on her. She ducked as the shark Ripper held collided with her attacker, causing it to sail through the water away from her. It looked stunned after it smashed into a group of rocks a few feet away. Melody swam to the top of the rock formation that she had been pinned against just seconds before. The other two unharmed sharks had now moved in on Ripper, and were trying to get at her, aggressively snapping at her sides with their several rows of sharp teeth. Ripper was too fast though, and she still held the other shark in her mouth. It had stopped flailing around and was now limp, its life force dwindling. She whipped around and slammed the shark’s caudal fin into the face of one of the others, tearing through its left eye. A thick cloud of blood emanated from the socket. The shark retaliated by grabbing onto Ripper’s left flipper. Ripper dropped the dying shark from her mouth and turned her body so that her assailant, clamped onto her flipper, was dashed against the rock formation that Melody was now perched on top of. Melody was looking down at the scene before her, feeling helpless to aid her friend. Ripper emitted a loud sound like a moan as the other shark grabbed onto the flipper on her other side. The two sharks were now attached to either side of her, and the original shark, having shaken off its blow to the head, rejoined the group. Then, as if a tsunami overtaking a village, a wave of orcas swam onto the scene at full speed. They decimated the three attacking sharks, freeing Ripper immediately. Melody looked into the eye of one of the sharks as it floated near her, lifeless, its creepy eye still swirling with haze. The group of orcas were now talking to Ripper, then they turned and left. Ripper swam over to Melody, out of breath.
“You saved my life.” Melody said, tears flowing from her eyes and joining the saltwater.
“We must go.” Ripper said quickly as she motioned for Melody to follow her.
They swam through the forest with a speed that Melody could barely keep up with, only slowing down once they had burst through the last few kelp plants and into the open water, where she could suddenly feel her goddess-given power surging through her like an ocean current.
“What happened in there? I couldn’t use my powers. What were those sharks?” She said in her heavily accented and slow version of Ripper’s dialect.
Ripper thought for a moment and then said, “It’s a dark place. Never go there. Tell me you won’t go there.” Melody could hear the desperation in Ripper’s voice.
“I won’t go there- but I need answers.” Melody said, eyeing her friend’s torn flesh. Melody held her hands over one of the wounds. The water around them began to boil as Melody drew from the bottomless energy of the ocean, and soon the flesh healed over. Ripper moved her flipper.
“No more pain.” She said with awe. Melody smiled and moved on to her other wounds. She went to each affected area, one-by-one, as Ripper continued to speak. After healing all of Ripper’s wounds, she moved on to her own arm. She tried several times, but her fatigue and loss of blood made it impossible for her to heal such a vast gash. She just stared down at her arm, her brain feeling as sluggish as the rest of her body. By now, Ripper had begun talking rapidly, and Melody could only catch every few words. She heard “dark water,” “soldiers,” and “sorcerer,” but she could not make out the rest of the information that Ripper was telling her. Melody asked for her to slow down several times, but the language barrier in conjunction with her slowed cognition still persisted. Melody felt frustrated with her own lack of knowledge. Ripper stopped talking as she sensed that Melody was not getting what she was trying to convey. She mulled over how best to explain this complex subject.
“Ripper, will you help me get home? My tribe is close to where we first met.” Melody said suddenly. She felt dizzy, and her eyes heavy. Ripper looked her up and down, as if seeing her condition for the first time, and nodded. She opened her mouth and gently picked Melody up, carrying her like she would her own child.
The journey took a couple of hours, and Melody slept for most of it. Sometimes she would wake up surrounded by the rest of Ripper’s orca pod, as they swam in formation surrounding the two, creating a protective shield of sorts. They swam close to the surface so that Ripper could breach the water to breathe.
Eventually, Melody awoke because they had stopped moving. She opened her eyes and when they came into focus, she saw her tribe’s village, Tiamata’ka. It was glowing and vibrating with electricity, nestled far into the depths of the ocean. She saw mermaids swimming to-and-fro between buildings made of found materials such as sea glass, coral, and kelp. Most of the homes and shops had completely transparent walls, so even the activity inside was visible to her. The huge Realm of the Chieftess, a building that housed her own family, was looming in the distance, glittering with shimmering pearls and shells, outlined by the finest electricity harnessed from creatures that had once dwelled in the Mariana Trench on the other side of the world. Melody’s heart sank as she looked at her home, wondering how much trouble she would be in with her people.
Ripper opened her mouth and gently set Melody down in the water. Melody turned to Ripper and threw her arms around her head. Ripper was taken aback by the unfamiliar gesture. “Thank you.” Melody whispered, and after a moment she broke away from her friend. She turned to the other orcas and thanked them. They bowed to her in respect, and then swam towards the surface.
“Stay safe.” Ripper said, and turned to follow her pod. Melody had so many unanswered questions, but she just held her tongue and watched until her saviors were out of sight, then she made her way down into the village. She had barely reached the perimeter when she heard a voice behind her.
“You have a lot of nerve showing your face here. You smell of deceit, you whore.” Hydra swam to face Melody, her eyes glowing with rage. “I’m ashamed to know you. Your mother is ashamed, too.” She seethed, shaking as her claws sprang out of her webbed fingers.