Between Land and Sea - Chapter 2

Chapter 2
Eye to Eye

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As the day progressed Jozan had to return to his wife and child, but not before he made sure his boss’s wife and daughter were alright. Luckily he didn’t live far away, so Neanna would always be able to reach him if she needed him. Concern about Norgalis kept the older woman from going to bed. She sat in a chair facing the door waiting for her husband to come home. A blanket was drawn around her shoulders to keep her warm and a cup of tea stood ready on the table. Every once in a while Neanna would throw a glance at her little girl, who didn’t leave the unconscious boy’s side. Neri also had a blanket drawn about herself, but that did not stop her from performing her duties.

The waiting was awful, but not knowing anything about Norgalis’ fate since defending the boy against the Decoda warriors was even worse. Time passed very slowly. Seconds seemed like minutes and as minutes seemed like hours, so did hours seem like days. Dinner remained untouched and the tea became cold. Tears poured down Neanna’s face. It started to show the first lines of age. She was sick with worry. Norgalis and she had been married for 10 years already. She wanted to live more years with him at her side and possibly have more children.

A gentle smile appeared on Neanna’s face as she threw another glance at her daughter. Seeing Neri taking her duties so seriously made her proud. “Neri sweetheart, you can replace the bandages on his wrists again.”

“Yes mama.” The youngster walked to the table to get the fresh bandages and an ointment for the scratches.

Neanna was an herbalist. She grew lots of them in her garden and used them to make various ointments, potions and more, which she sold in the small shop she owned. It had been her family’s profession for generations and lately she’d been teaching Neri, who also seemed to have a talent for it.

While the mother and daughter were taking care of the boy’s injuries the door to their house opened with a loud bang. The two females shrieked and looked up. Their eyes widened, first in shock and then into joy. Norgalis stood in the opening of the door. His clothing was torn and he bled from several wounds. His breathing had become ragged and heavy. He made his way to a chair and sat down.

“Norgalis!”

“Daddy!”

In an instant both Neanna and Neri were at their husband’s and father’s side. Neanna wrapped her arms around the man she loved, planting kisses all over his face as she cried out of sheer joy. “Oh thank the gods you’re home. I was so worried.”

Through his injuries Norgalis managed to smile. He kissed his wife and hugged his daughter. Every muscle in his body hurt, as if he’d been tossed to the underworld and back again. “It’s alright now. I’m home.”

“What happened? What did they do to you?”

Noticing the state Norgalis was in Neann immediately started to look after her husband. He waved her questions away. “It doesn’t matter. I just couldn’t let them take the boy.”

Neanna’s eyes sparkled angrily. “Doesn’t matter? They’ve got you all banged up and mangled. The next time those Decoda Warriors come to my shop for healing ointments I won’t give it to them.”

The blond haired man shook his head. “No Nea, don’t do that. It will only get you into trouble and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

His wife wanted to open her mouth to say something, but he silenced her by kissing her softly. Then he turned his attention to his daughter, who sat silently at his feet. “How is the boy, sweetheart? Did you take good care of him?”

“Yes father.” Neri grabbed her father’s hand and pointed into the boy’s direction. Norgalis turned to his wife again.

“Has he woken up yet?”

Neanna shook her head. “No, not yet. Neri has been constantly watching over him.” She tugged at his torn sleeve. “There is something else you should know. When Jozan arrived here the boy had a pair of legs. Yet when we placed him in the water he gained a fishtail.”

The fisherman frowned, but didn’t say anything in response to it. He ran his hand through Neri’s hair and smiled. “Keep on watching over him, sweetling, and warn us when he wakes up.”

Neanna shared a glance with her husband, knowing he could use a hot bath and needed his wounds taken care of. Silently the married couple walked up the stairs leading to the second floor, leaving their daughter alone with the boy.

As soon as she was alone Neri sat herself down next to the bathtub. Carefully she let some water trickle onto the boy’s face. His skin felt really soft she discovered as she softly touched his cheek. He looked like he was around her age. Seeing him made her really curious. What kind of name did he have? How was it possible for him to have both a fishtail and a pair of legs? What was it like to live under water? Slowly her hand reached into the water s she could touch the fishtail. It felt cold and it was covered with scales. Yet it also felt kind of sticky as if covered with some kind of jelly. The tail was a beautiful blue-green. The tub was too small Neri decided. She couldn’t see the end of the tail and its hues really well while she was sure they would look pretty if not confined.

When she suddenly felt tugging at her wrist the young gasped and looked up to find half lidded dark blue eyes looking at her. It was the boy who was holding her wrist, tugging at it again.

“Who are you and where am I?” His voice was soft yet full of melody and rich tones.

Neri looked at her wrist for a second before looking at the boy’s face again. She pointed at herself, before pointing at the sea, visible through the window. “I’m Neri. My father found you trapped in fishnets. We brought you here to our house.”

He released her wrist and looked around the house. It was a small house he discovered, unlike anything he was used to. Then again he’d never been in a landwalker house before so he could only compare to the houses in his home. The house had a lot of white and soft brown colours, making it a cosy and warm place. Then he discovered he was stuck in a bathtub filled with water and that his torso, shoulders and wrists were bandaged.
Neri saw the look on his face and quickly responded to it. “We didn’t have any other place to keep you wet. Let me help you up.”

She reached out to him and placed her shoulders underneath his. Luckily they placed a chair behind the tub for him to sit in once he was awake. It was a bit of a struggle as the boy couldn’t stand straight and they spilled a lot of water. When he finally sat down only the fins of his tail were left in the water. Their eyes met and she asked shyly: “What is your name?”

“Ahura,” the boy replied shortly.

A shy smile appeared on her face and she played with her braid. “That’s a beautiful name.” She blushed as she admitted the following. “Beautiful like your tail.”

The boy was surprised by her words. All the landwalkers he’d seen from a distance, or those who spotted him, were afraid of him, but he could tell she was excited to meet him. “Thank you.”

Ahura took the opportunity to look at the girl closely. This was the first time he’d been so close to a landwalker and a girl even. She wore her strawberry blond hair in a thick braid, bangs framing her face. Her eyes were a shade of blue-grey and there were freckles on the bridge of her nose and cheeks. The clothing she wore was a simple green dress.

It was a bit strange to be here and he didn’t really know what to do or what he was supposed to do now. She probably felt the same way, he noticed, as she sat down on her hands next to him, swinging her legs back and forth.

“I have to go home,” he suddenly said, thinking about his home. His mother was probably worried sick about him. He should have been back hours ago. ”They’ll be looking for me.”

“But you can’t go yet!” Neri startled herself, yelling so suddenly. She blushed because of it and pointed at the bandages. “You’re still bleeding a bit. Your injuries haven’t healed yet. If you go now the sharks will smell your blood and eat you.”

His face gained a cocky expression. “I can handle sharks. I’ve beaten them before. They can’t catch me.”

The boisterous declarations earned him one of Neri’s giggles and he grinned at her.

“I thought you would call us if your new friend was awake, sweetheart?”

Both Ahura and Neri looked up, startled by the sudden sound and saw Neri’s parents standing at the bottom of the stairs. They were smiling. Ahura needed to only throw one glance at Neri’s mother to know that Neri looked a lot like her.

Neanna quickly walked into the kitchen to prepare a meal, for she was certain the boy was hungry after everything he had gone through. Hopefully he would be able to eat their food.

Norgalis grabbed a chair so he could sit close to the two children. He took a good look at the boy. Fortunately the boy looked a lot better already. The fisherman made himself comfortable in his chair and relaxed. His wife had taken care of his injuries, so he was covered in bandages at the moment. That didn’t seem to bother him at all though; Norgalis was very curious about the young guest in his household. “Tell me boy, what is your name and where are you from?”

Neri gave her new friend a shy nudge to encourage him to tell his story as she could tell he was hesitating to do so. He looked gratefully at her and took a deep breath. “My name is Ahura Quellassir and I come from Ocantas, the capital of my people in the realm of OceanDeep.”

It was astonishing what he just heard. Norgalis immediately sat up straight after the boy finished his sentence. Judging from the look on the kid’s face he was speaking nothing but the truth and was absolutely serious about his declarations. Considering the proof lying at his feet, the boy’s fishtail; the fisherman’s beliefs were more than confirmed. It was such a rare event to meet any of the boy’s kind that often they were thought of as nothing but pure myth in the rest of Alkumar, but in Faraven the people always were aware that there were merpeople living in the depths of the ocean and Norgalis was one of those people.

Neanna came with a plate of food for all them. She was certain they could all use a meal to regain some strength. A smile appeared on her face when she saw the boy eagerly took his plate and started to eat. She turned to her husband. “I have sent a message to Jozan’s house. I am certain he wants to hear you have returned, so he doesn’t need to worry about us anymore.”

Norgalis shook his head and grinned. “I should give that kid a raise for having to put up with me.”

His wife patted him on the back. “Come on now, Jozan isn’t the little boy anymore that begged you to take him along on your fishing boat. He’s married and he has a little boy of his own.”

“I know that, Nanna. Old habits die hard though.”

Ahura watched the couple closely. They looked so happy together, it made him avert his gaze and stop eating. The sight called a couple of sad memories to the front of his mind. It wasn’t that he had a sad youth so far, but his family had never been complete like this and that was something he wished for ever since he could remember. Suddenly he felt a hand on his lap and saw it was Neri, who looked at him curiously so he smiled at her.

Neanna smiled when she watched the boy eat. It would give him strength to heal. She clapped in her hands when everyone finished their plate. “I think it would be time for all of us to get some rest. Neri, sweetling, do you want to sleep in your bed upstairs or do you want to stay here and sleep at the side of your new friend?”

The two children shared a few excited glances. They both knew that they wouldn’t go to sleep for the longest time, as there was much to talk about for them. Neri’s eyes sparkled and she nodded to her mother. She jumped up and helped her mother to bring her mattress, blankets and pillows to the living room.

Norgalis in the mean time concerned himself with their young guest, ensuring that he had enough water to sleep in. “Do you prefer fresh water or the water from the ocean, Ahura?”

The young merboy dropped himself back into the bathtub and made himself comfortable. He looked about himself and carefully felt the water. “I would prefer the ocean water, since there is more air in it than in the water you drink.”

“Alright.” Norgalis, in spite of his injuries, made sure that enough ocean water filled the bathtub. He earned himself a grateful smile.

When everyone was ready for the night Norgalis and Neanna wished the children good night before retreating to their own bedroom. Neri and Ahura remained silent until they were certain the two adults were far away and sleeping before they would continue their conversations.

Neri pushed her mattress close to the bathtub and wrapped the blanket around herself, while Ahura sat up straight in the bathtub, folding his tail underneath himself. They remained silent for a couple of moments, until Neri giggled nervously. Several long moments passed before the two children dared to speak again. Neri slipped her hand under water and shyly touched Ahura’s fishtail. It felt incredibly smooth and the water reflected its colours beautifully. “Why does your fishtail change when you’re not in the water? I’ve never heard of that in the stories about merpeople.”

The young merboy followed her gaze to his tail and touched it himself for several seconds. His body was a strange thing even when it was his own. “That is because no one of my people can do that, except for me. My mama Sylphitre thinks it has to do with my father, but she’s not really sure how it is possible either.”

Neri tilted her head and studied her new friend. “Haven’t you asked your father about that?”

That question hurt him; she could tell immediately how his eyes widened before he averted his gaze and played with the hues of his tail. “I’m sorry,” she stuttered and blushed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He grasped her hand and held it gently, smiling at her. It was funny how her apologies made his sadness go away. “It’s ok. I would ask my father, if he were around. He left before I was born and my mama says she hasn’t seen him since.”

“Oh.” She figured she should ask questions about pleasant things, so maybe it was better to ask about his home in the ocean. It had to be beautiful, that was something she fairly certain of. “What’s it like where you live? Don’t you get cold living under water?”

Ahura started laughing at the question and shook his head. “No, I don’t get cold at all and considering I swim the entire time I don’t have time to get cold.” He stared into the distance as he remembered his home and all his friends. “Ocantas is incredibly beautiful. You can see it from miles away as it is protected by a magical barrier that keeps us safe. It’s like a huge bubble. The City is surrounded by huge underwater cliffs, except for on the front side. Everyone who is peaceful can enter our bubble barrier without a problem, but our enemies will find they can’t get through. All our houses are centred within bubbles as well and connected with roads, even though we don’t need them. When all is dark you can see all the bubbles glowing.”

Neri listened, leaning her arms on the edge of the bathtub and resting her chin on her arms. Her eyes looked dreamy as if she could see everything he described.

“All my friends are there too. I swim the most with a pod of striped dolphins, but there are a lot of animals down there, Neri, like really big sea turtles. I held onto one once and we swam for ages. There are also a lot of sharks and that can be dangerous at times. Jellyfish can be really painful too, I once swam through a wall of jellyfish and couldn’t move for a month after that. Sea otters can also be found and sea snakes and I’ve come across some very big whales and seals and sea lions.” Ahura’s eyes sparkled when he told about all the animals he encountered during his life and he became even more excited when he saw that Neri shared his excitement.

“I wish I could see all of that,” the little girl sighed dreamily. “But I can’t.”

“Why not?”

She blushed again and played with a few strands of her hair, embarrassed to admit what she was going to say next. Really, it was just ridiculous if you heard it. “I can’t swim.” Who ever heard of a person living near the ocean that couldn’t swim? The only thing more ridiculous was the story of a merperson that couldn’t swim. “I fell in the water once when I was little and I haven’t been in the water since.”

“Oh, is that all? I can teach you how to swim. It’s easy.”

“But I can’t breathe under water like you can.”

Ahura frowned when he heard her say that. It was true that landwalkers couldn’t breathe under water and he didn’t really know what to do about that. He’d heard from the healers that there was a special herb that made such things possible, but considering he never paid a lot of attention to that he didn’t know what kind of herb it was. Maybe a special bubble could be made smaller so it would fit around Neri’s head and she could still go under water with him. He’d have to ask his mother about that, to see if such a thing was even possible. He would have to settle with teaching Neri how to swim then and think about showing her the under water world later.

“We’ll worry about that later then. The first thing we’ll deal with is teaching you how to swim. I can’t show you myself how to use your legs, since obviously I don’t have legs in the water, but I can hold your legs and move them in the manner you would have to move your legs.”

Neri nodded. “Ok.”

Ahura clapped his hands. “Great. We’ll start as soon as your mother says I’m well enough to leave the tub.”

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