Time slowed down. Maya watched the blade descend towards her, helpless to stop it. A thousand thoughts raced through her head, each taking the place of the last before vanishing before the terror of death. All within an instant, the young captain tried to save her life. She demanded that the water protect her. Then she prayed. Next, she believed. When that didn’t work, and the axe was just inches from her head, she asked.

The sea responded. A white churning beam of water blasted from the ocean, hammering the axe away from Maya’s head with a screech akin to metal on metal. The force of the blow was strong enough to knock it from Patty’s surprised grip.

Maya sat bolt upright, hacking and sputtering to get the water out of her lungs.

“You did it!” Patty yelled in delight.

“After you nearly killed me!” Maya said.

“I had full control over that axe,” the puppet replied. “I could have stopped it at any time. I was just giving you the most realistic experience possible.”

Patty helped her captain to her feet. Maya squeezed the water out of her hair, wincing slightly as the salt stung the thin line across her face.

“It didn’t feel like it,” Maya muttered, but she couldn’t help a small, proud grin from tugging at her mouth.

Now that death was no longer imminent and her adrenaline was dropping, she could feel the mental connection she had established with the ocean fading. However, it didn’t disappear completely. It was still there, at the back of her mind. The ocean almost seemed like a foreign presence within her mind, watching Maya’s every move.

“Do you know what you can do now?” Patty asked. She stopped walking to grab her axe from the ground.

“Not really,” Maya admitted. “But it’s nice to know I can do something. It doesn’t really feel like I can control water.”

“That beam of water certainly seemed like you were controlling it,” Patty said.

“That wasn’t me,” Maya replied, pursing her lips. “I think it’s more like I can communicate with water, not control it. It didn’t do anything until I asked for help.”

“Can you ask it to do something else?”

Maya nodded. They arrived at the calm lake. Patty set about collecting some fruit for them as the captain stretched a hand towards the water and silently sent a plea towards it. She paused for a few moments, then frowned.

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“Huh. That’s strange,” Maya said.

“What is it?” Patty called as she shimmied up a palm tree.

“I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure the water just said no,” Maya said, tilting her head and peering down at the lake.

“What did you ask it to do?” Patty asked.

“I just wanted it to make a ball in my hand. Now that I think about it, I think the lake sounded…bored, maybe? As if doing something like that wasn’t interesting.”

“It doesn’t sound very interesting,” Patty agreed, jumping down from the tree and landing on the earth with a disturbing thud.

The puppet stood up as if nothing had happened. She brushed some dirt from her shoulder and offered Maya a coconut. Patty cracked hers open using one hand and then ate the entire thing, shell and all.

Maya inspected her own coconut. Then she raised it out over the water. Nothing happened. The captain frowned, sitting down next to the lake.

“What do you want?” Maya asked the water.

Her mind throbbed as something forced its way within her thoughts. It was hard to describe, but the feeling was distinctly foreign. If her own thoughts were like small minnows, flitting back and forth at her beck and call, this was a mountain.

It thundered into her head, nearly bringing Maya to her knees with its force. Almost immediately after appearing, almost as if it had realized what had happened, the intensity of the feeling drastically lessened and Maya regained control of her body. The image that had appeared in her head was vivid, and there was no mistaking it. The lake had talked to her.

“No need to be so forceful about it,” Maya said, rubbing her forehead to clear out the small headache that was trying to take root.

She lifted her open hand over the water. The calm lake suddenly started to churn. A thin stream erupted from the surface, spiraling around her arm and down to her shoulder. The water shifted as it moved, somehow attaching itself to her back.

Five tendrils sprouted from one end, creating a very rough imitation of a human hand. The watery appendage, still attached to Maya’s body, reached out and plucked the coconut from her hand. It cracked it with a single rough squeeze, spraying coconut milk everywhere.

“Wow!” Patty said, her eyes wide. “I’ve never seen anything like that. I mean, I’ve never seen most of the things on this island. But it looks so…animated! I’ve never heard of someone’s power actually bringing life to an inert substance.”

The hand reared back and launched the coconut into the air. Maya watched her lunch sail through the sky and disappear far into the ocean.

“I don’t think I brought life to anything,” Maya said. “I might have just given it an outlet to move on its own.”

The watery hand patted Maya on the head. Then it splashed to the ground, slithering back into the lake like a strange snake. The lake projected a pleased thought into Maya’s head. It was much less aggressive than the last time it had said anything, and the pirate was pretty sure the water was doing its best attempt at smirking.

“This might take some getting used to,” Maya said.

She plucked several blueberries from a bush and tossed them into her mouth, chewing them thoughtfully. The two of them finished their meal quickly. Maya’s excitement was practically palpable, and Patty was more than enthused for what she knew was coming up next.

“I’m going to need some more practice,” Maya said. “Patty, if you don’t mind, could you get your axe?”

The puppet cheered and darted over to her weapon.