Stories from a Wandering Tanuki Merchant: The Sea Monster who Wanted to Explore

Word Count: 1271

74- It's dangerous to go alone! Show your character helping another character on an adventure, whether by giving them a sword before they go exploring on their own, giving them information, patching them up or just going with them.

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Kyanoko walks along the shores of a beach. It was Summer and she wanted to enjoy it while it lasted. She only had her cask over her shoulder, a hat on her head, and a small collection of beach items. The tanuki was on vacation, far away from anyone else. She wouldn’t play the role of merchant while she was here.

After setting up her spot on the beach, Kyanoko pulled out a leaf that contained her longue chair float and tossed the leaf into the ocean. Once the leaf touched the water, the transformation broke and turned into the longue chair float it once was. The thing was meant for pools, but the ocean was calm today.

Kyanoko trusted the waters and the wind to not blow her seat away as she turned back to her cask. She dispensed a liquid, wanting something nice and tropical. It dispensed a beautiful golden orange-yellow liquid that smelled immediately of a fruity cocktail. She took a sip and was hit with a mixture of rums, citrus fruit juices, and pomegranate grenadine. She licked her lips with a pleasant sound as she sashayed back to her waiting longue float.

She lazed, staying in the shallow waters as she sipped her drink. Kyanoko must have dozed off because she awoke to a bump under her float. Squinting through the showers of red that swarmed her vision, she found herself farther away from her island than she ever intended to be. It was fine- she was a decent swimmer. But a bump struck her float again. She worried that she was under a shark attack.

The tanuki realized her arm had been in the water and she started to yank it out. But before she could, she heard something call into her mind. It wasn’t words, not the way she knew them. It was a feeling. Something telling her to wait. 

She exhaled slowly as a pair of large, slick hands broke out of the water and grabbed her float. The creature pulled its head out of the water and was looking at Kyanoko with large eyes. The tanuki was barely able to see its legs and tail paddling in the water below. It was weirdly human, weirdly not. She’d never seen anything quite like this creature. She’d be threatened, it easily had a couple hundred pounds over her. But it looked friendly, keeping its head low and looking up through its brows. Kyanoko found herself thinking of puppies looking at it.

“Hi?” she broke the silence. 

The creature smiled. At least she’s sure it did. It gestured for her to put her hand back into the water and she did. Immediately, she felt that odd feeling of communication again. 

“Where do you come from?” she felt it ask.

“Somewhere far away.” was the best she could think to answer. Before she could verbalize it, the creature nodded in understanding.

“I want to explore, too.” it agreed. Kyanoko felt somber suddenly as the creature looked away. “But I can’t communicate to others out of the water.”

Kyanoko felt sorry for the creature. She wondered how she could help it. Maybe a potion? No, it would need something long-term. An enchanted item that could extend this being’s odd telepathy. The creature tilted its head at her.

“Want me to take you back to the shore?”

Kyanoko, once again, couldn’t verbalize what she wanted before the creature slipped back under the water. It resurfaced behind her, placing its hands on either side of her backrest as it swam them back to the beach she drifted away from. Once Kyanoko was back on shore, the sea beast helped her pull her float back onto the beach.

The creature could walk on land, although its movements were noticeably less graceful. It stood over Kyanoko by at least two feet. It looked down at the tanuki, staring over its gut at her. And despite how close it was, the atmosphere felt quiet. Like he was actually leagues away. Something clicked to Kyanoko that further made its point when the creature didn’t automatically respond to her feeling.

“You need water to communicate,” Kyanoko said. The beast nodded. Then made a small series of facial and body expressions. Something that read as, “Yes, but there’s more to it.”

The sea monster held out its hand and Kyanoko took it. She felt the beast’s presence become one with hers again. Her feelings became theirs, and theirs became hers.

“It works on contact. But most people don’t want to touch me.”

“Why not?” Kyanoko asked. The beast was surprisingly smooth and pleasant to the touch. She felt something like anxious embarrassment hit the beast.

“I’m covered in mucus.” 

Kyanoko would be lying if she said she didn’t immediately get hit with the feeling of disgust. She felt the creature go through a flurry of emotions as it panicked trying to explain that it was not the same as her own mucus. The last she felt was an overbearing sadness in her chest when she let go of its hand.

She thought she had simply imagined the creature’s face literally turning red a moment ago. But then she saw it undeniably turn dark and dun. Its body was slumped and despite losing direct emotional contact, she felt the sadness hitting her in waves. The creature gave the tanuki one last look before turning back into the sea.

“W-wait!” Kyanoko called out to it. The creature halted, already waist-deep in the water, and looked over its shoulder. She rushed into the ocean to meet it on that bizarre connection it could create.

“Could you meet me back here? In a month or so? Maybe I can help you.”

She saw the beast slowly shift back into its normal colors. She felt its hesitance to let its hopes up as it looked towards the distant horizon. It nodded. It sent her no other signals as it continued back out to sea and slowly, Kyanoko felt the connection with the creature fade.

 

Almost exactly a month later, Kyanoko returned to the beach where she met the bizarre sea creature. The beast wasn’t there, so she relaxed on the sand as she waited. Occasionally, she’d put her feet into the water, but not travel too far out. It took a few days, but she’d finally feel a faint connection with another being click. She felt her heart flutter with excitement and the other presence returned it. Within the hour, she saw the creature’s head breach the water and make its way to shore. 

Kyanoko scurried over, almost skipping in the sand as the creature pulled itself onto the beach. It gave her a smile and a wave as she rushed to it, clutching something in her hand. The beast held out its hand, and Kyanoko took it. It tilted its head, immediately sensing her desire to give it a gift.

Kyanoko revealed a bracelet decorated with seashells and dried starfish. Before the creature could react, the tanuki wrapped the cord around its wrist. It tilted its head at her when she backed away with a ta-da motion. It looked between the bracelet, adjusting it to be more comfortable and observing the shells. 

And it looked at Kyanoko again. At her hands. She wasn’t touching it. It looked back at the bracelet and Kyanoko felt a wave of gratitude and happiness hit her. She felt its desire to hug her, but it holding back so as to not upset her. Kyanoko moved in for the embrace first and she was lifted off of her feet.

“Thank you, friend.”

“You’re welcome, buddy”