Haley Thistle
patreon
Selkie & the Beast: Part Two (rough draft)
🕑 Added 2021-09-04 20:01:00 +0000 UTCThere was a soft melodious sound in the air when Kota woke. He sniffled once and rubbed the tears from his eyes. The song he had fallen asleep to last night had given him dreams of loneliness and heartache. It was not too far fetched since he was now separated from his family by who knows how many miles. He sat up, paying attention to the song as it wafted in through the window.
Next to the bed Kota saw there was a walking cane propped against the frame. He took it and used it to help him get out of the big bed. He wouldn’t be able to go far or fast, but at least he could go somewhere now. He hobbled over to the window, opening up the blinds to see out over the ocean. The song continued to be sung, but Kota could not find its origin.
“You’re awake,” the gravelly voice of Esperance tickled Kota’s ears and made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
Kota turned around to see Esperance just on the other side of the doorway. He was still as strange a visage as he was last night. Esperance stooped in the doorway and laid out clothes upon the bed.
“I thought you might get cold.” Esperance kept his head bowed down, his eyes averted from Kota. “Are you hungry yet?”
Kota was still unsure how to approach this. All his life he had relied on his sisters to do that for him. He felt completely naked, and more than just lacking his coat. He made a small grunt and tightened his shoulders up.
“I know you’re frightened.” Esperance laid his hand upon his chest. “I know what you see when you look at me. I am not what I once was.”
Kota tried to swallow, but his throat was terribly dry. He could feel a tickle in the back of his throat, and he knew he was going to cough. He tried to hold onto it and not let it out, but it made his face hot and his eyes water.
Esperance tilted his head to the side. “Is something wrong?”
Kota buckled and started coughing.
“Oh goddess, you’re sick, aren’t you?” Esperance held a look of terror and uncertainty upon his face. “Your sister will want nothing of me if you die!” He lumbered into the room then hesitated. “What if it’s contagious?” he murmured to himself.
Kota continued to gag and cough, shaking his head furiously.
“There, there now!” Esperance said from across the room. “Stay where you are.”
Kota shook his head, still coughing furiously. He stretched out his hand, waving it back and forth.
“Is this the end? Are you trying to say goodbye to me?” Esperance looked so horrified. “Please don’t die! I’m sure your sister will find you any day now, and when she does, I would like to be a successful hero!”
Kota wheezed and managed to find a breath. “No! Water!”
Esperance’s whole body tensed and he raised up. “Water?”
Kota nodded furiously and patted his hand over his throat.
“Oh!” Relief flooded through Esperance and made his whole body relax, even his tail stretched out behind him. “You need water! You’re not dying!” He turned and hurried from the room as quickly as he could. “I’ll be right back!”
Kota huffed and puffed, his throat felt like hot coals, but at least the coughing was starting to diminish. He looked back out the window, trying to breathe in cool, damp air from outside. He then saw something in the water which reminded him of the shadows he saw with Ivet just the day before.
Esperance returned, carrying a huge cup of water. Kota took it, gulping it down in an almost furious panic. He took his first refreshing breath and wiped his soaking mouth.
“I am so glad you aren’t dying,” Esperance sighed with relief, clutching his big hands over his chest. “That would have been so terrible to report.”
Kota licked the corner of his mouth. “Thanks, I guess,” he grumbled.
“You gave me such a fright.” Esperance patted the top of his head. “I do not do well with confrontation.”
Kota shooed away Esperance’s hand from his head. “What are you going on about? I wasn’t going to die. And what would it matter to you if I did?”
“Your sister,” Esperance answered earnestly.
As his brows pinched in, Kota looked at Esperance, not as some strange creature, but as more of a confusing idiot. “What?”
“Your sister, I would like to make a good impression with her once she arrives! That would be almost impossible to do if you were dead from some plague.”
Kota was trying to piece this puzzle together in his mind, but nothing about it made sense. What did his sister have to do with anything? And why would Ivet even have time to spend on this creature before him? No matter how he tried, he couldn’t imagine a scenario where Esperance’s words formed a coherent thought, let alone a plan.
“It’s a very long story,” Esperance murmured. “It doesn’t matter now, there is time for stories later. Perhaps now that you are no longer at death’s door, you would like something to eat?”
Kota finished off the water and handed the huge cup back to Esperance. “No. I’m fine.”
The cup looked tiny in Esperance’s huge hands. “What? But you must be starving! You didn’t eat at all last night, and probably not much before that. Please, let me bring you something to eat.”
Kota was getting knots in his stomach. “I said no, I don’t want anything!”
“I can just bring you something small that you can nibble on,” Esperance continued to insist.
“It’s fine. I don’t want anything,” Kota pushed back.
Esperance clutched the cup tight in one hand. “You need to eat. You can’t waste away here.”
“Watch me!” Kota snapped, lashing out with his nerves.
Esperance’s grip on the mug was showing, as cracks began to appear. “Why would you want to do that?” His voice was seething and low, making his already gravel-like voice sound like wicked growlings.
Kota shoved past Esperance, using the walking cane to head towards the door. “Why do you care?”
The cup shattered and Kota went completely still. Esperance turned, knocking Kota aside as he stormed to the door. “Fine then!” he growled. He shoved so hard through the doorway that part of the frame buckled. He turned around and grabbed the door. “Then go ahead and starve!” he slammed the door so hard the hinges gave way and the door went cattywampus.
Kota just stood there, afraid to move or else he would be the one to get eaten. Everything was still so confusing, and none of the pieces were fitting together, even worse now. He finally took a breath, moving away from the door and going back around the bed. Kota sat there, stretching his leg out on the cold ground.
“He does that sometimes.”
Kota exclaimed loudly, he then looked down to see the crab scuttling out from under the bed.
“Didn’t mean to frighten you like that, darling.” The crab swayed back and forth. “You’re probably confused enough.”
Kota poked the crab, pushing it then recoiling his hand. “Are you talking?”
The crab snapped a claw at him. “Careful there. Don’t go poking me now, darling.”
A grimace overtook his face. “I’m hallucinating.”
The crab lifted their claws and clacked them. “Not really. I’ve been in this castle all my life, it’s sort of my duty to take care of it. So, in a way, I belong here more than you do.”
Kota narrowed his eyes upon the crab. “You do know that you’re a crab, right?”
The crab laughed. “Not always.” It scuttled around to Kota’s injured leg and tapped at it with a claw.
Kota’s whole body tensed up. “Not always? What does that mean?”
The crab chuckled. “Not for you to worry about, darling. What I am now is what is needed.”
“Why would I need a crab?”
The crab shrugged. “Perhaps something small and cute to keep you company.”
Kota’s lip curled up over his teeth to reveal how sharp they were. “Crabs aren’t cute, they’re food that’s hard to eat.”
The crab smoothly moved their claws near his feet. “Careful, darling, you wouldn’t want me to take any toes now, would you?”
Kota tucked his feet under himself so fast, then cried out as his leg hurt.
“Someone with a face like yours ought to know that appearances can be deceiving,” the crab murmured.
“Who are you?” he grunted as he stretched out his leg again. “What even is this place?”
“You can call me Muireann, darling,” the crab answered. “And this is the moon castle.”
Kota huffed. “I get that, but what exactly is it? Are we actually on the moon?”
“No, we are still in waters that you may be familiar with.” Muireann came back closer to Kota. “This castle only appears during the year of a lunar eclipse.”
Kota furrowed his brow. “So we are on the moon?”
“No, I told you,” Muireann sighed. “We are still in the ocean.”
“So this castle just stays underwater?”
“Perhaps.”
Kota grunted and rolled his eyes. “Stop being cryptic!”
“No. It’s my thing.” Muireann scurried back under the bed then came back out pulling something with her. “This castle is imbued with magic powers stolen from the moon. Hence why it can only appear when the moon will be blocked.” She placed a book near Kota. “This explains it.”
Kota glanced over to the bed, to the unhinged door. “And what does he have to do with it?”
“He doesn’t belong here either. So you two go quite well together,” Muireann chuckled. “A perfect match, if I do say so myself.”
Kota was picking up the book but he set it back down. “So wait, that guy, whatever he is, he has nothing to do with this place? He’s just like that?”
“Oh, there are reasons attached to this castle. But he still doesn’t belong here.” Muireann shifted back and forth. “He has his own problems he needs to be dealing with.”
Kota frowned but continued to look at the book. The cover was plain, but there were etchings of gold along the sides. Inside there was a drawing of a giant mermaid lifting up the moon with her bare hands while islands gathered around her tail. He turned the page and realized he couldn’t read the text.
“I don’t know this writing,” Kota flipped more pages. “I’ve never seen this language before.”
“Too bad.” Muireann sighed. “Guess you’ll just have to look at pictures.”
Kota closed the book back. “Can’t you just tell me? Wouldn’t that be so much easier than me reading all this even if I could read this language?”
Muireann lifted her claws up into the air. “Then I won’t be cryptic!”
“Everyone here is going to just get on my nerves,” he grumbled under his breath.
The door fell off the hinges and Kota jerked with fright. He sighed heavily and managed to pick himself up off the ground.
“Where are you going?” Muireann asked.
“Without my coat, I can’t swim off this godforsaken rock. But I’ll see if there is anything I can do about it on two legs.” Kota leaned out the door, peering around to make sure Esperance wasn’t coming. He bounced over the fallen door and went the opposite way that Esperance had gone. He went down a hallway with many doors, a ridiculous amount of doors actually. He stopped midway, realizing the room would have to be tiny to accommodate so many doors.
As he looked, he noticed each door had a plate upon it with something scrawled upon them. One read ‘past’, another said ‘future’, there was a door that said ‘east’ another with ‘west’. He then saw a door with ‘Ivet’ upon it. Without thinking another second, Kota threw open the door. The room was completely dark. He stepped inside and two windows opened. He saw the sea stretched out beyond them, the windows moved, turning towards the beach where he saw Nina and Kari as well and they looked panicked. The windows looked back out to the sea and then they went underwater.
“Is this what Ivet is seeing?” He whispered to himself. “Impossible, this is…” He heard a noise behind him and quickly shut the door. He turned, hearing voices from down the hall. He moved quickly, going further down the hall, passing more and more doors until they became windows.
He stopped there, looking outside at the world before him. The shore was rocky and gray, covered by many great stones and boulders. He then saw, standing towards the water, there was Esperance. He fell to his knees and began to weep loudly, and just as he did, that song started back again.
Kota continued, going down the long hallway of windows until it ended with a door. Kota opened it and stepped out onto the beach. The surface was all gravel, dark and pale gray pebbles all the way to the shore. He stood there for a moment, looking out towards the water as if expecting to see something.
The door shut behind him and he jumped with surprise. “The wind,” he muttered to himself. He tried the doorknob, but the door was now locked. He scowled and walked out further, going towards the shore if only to feel the water on his feet.
After a while, Kota sat down, even though the rocks hurt his butt, his leg hurt more. He stretched it out before him, letting the cold water lap over it. It started to sink in then, his fear, his missing his family. The heartache and loneliness from his dreams became a reality and he began to sob. He cried out, wishing for his sisters, his family. He wasn’t used to being alone, even though all his life he claimed it was all he ever wanted.
“What are you doing out here?”
Kota sniffled, trying to stop himself so he could face Esperance. He whimpered and choked, unable to stop the tears so he just kept on crying. Esperance approached from behind and stood there.
“You didn’t even put on the clothes I got for you.” Esperance huffed. He knelt over, picking Kota off the shore and holding him in his arms. “I know you selkies are built to stay warm, but even this is ridiculous.”
Still weeping, Kota didn’t even fight against Esperance. He let the big creature carry him inside where he set him before a massive stone fireplace. The fire was warm and welcome, and Kota began to stop crying. He noticed that, along with the chair he was in, there was a corner near the fireplace that was filled with blankets and pillows to make a huge nest.
“We’re on an island if you haven’t figured that out yet,” Esperance grumbled from behind. He had a sour look on his face as he knelt over something.
“No escape is what you’re saying,” Kota pouted.
“For either of us.” He slung a plate across the table which came to a stop right in front of Kota. There was fish on the plate, fresh too.
Kota sniffled and rubbed his eyes. “You can’t swim?”
Esperance muttered something under his breath. “Just eat. I won’t argue with you again, hear me?”
Kota pinched a small piece with his fingers and tried it. It was really good. He took a portion into his hand and bit off a large chunk.
“There, was that so hard?” Esperance huffed. He walked over to the nest and settled down in it.
Kota chewed in silence, keeping his eyes focused on the plate, but watching Esperance from the corner of his eye. He sat there with his tail curled around himself. He kept his head down and stroked his tail comfortingly.
This was new for Kota. He was so used to having his sisters around and having them take up the brunt of conversation, he really didn’t know where to begin. He’d never been alone with a stranger before. “Have you met the talking crab?”
Esperance’s head rose. “Pardon?”
“There was a talking crab under my bed.” Kota was sure this was the most awkward sentence ever spoken.
Esperance’s dark eyes squinted. “I knew there was a crab in there but-” He trailed off, unable to find a logical way to end that sentence. “Is the fish good?” He countered.
Kota nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Good.” Esperance reached up and rubbed the back of his head. Kota noticed how thick his arms were, they looked bigger than his waist. “If you want more, there’s a lot left,” he muttered.
“You must have to eat a lot,” was all Kota could think to say. Replacing his previous sentence with this as the most awkward.
Esperance chuckled softly. “What makes you think that?”
Kota lifted his eyes, seeing a guilty look on Esperance’s face. He wiped his mouth and nose with his arm. “You’re just...giant. That’s all.”
“Does that scare you?” Esperance’s voice was low and soft, much less like gravel than before.
Kota shrugged.
Esperance lowered his head again and his whole body appeared to slouch down. “I don’t want to scare anybody,” he muttered. “But I know how I look isn’t-” His voice faltered and he cleared his throat.
“It’s not what one would expect,” Kota murmured. “But it’s not the worst, exactly.”
Esperance laughed again. “Are you trying to be kind?”
Kota shook his head. “I’m just being honest. You can’t change what you look like, but people can see you differently than you see yourself. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.”
Esperance sniffed. “You’re beautiful, what do you need to be told?”
“I know but-” Kota licked his lips. “That’s all people see of me. I know what it’s like to be taken in only skin deep. But when you have a temper-”
He huffed loudly. “It doesn’t help.”
Kota took another bite of fish and nodded.
“I’m not used to this.” Esperance rubbed his hand across his chest. “Or this place.” He frowned deeply. “I’m sorry I snapped.”
Kota swallowed his mouthful. “I’m sorry too. I’m not good with people.”
“Both of us,” Esperance began to show a bit of a smile. “So if you could help me with your sister-”
Kota grunted and cut him off. “This again? What’s so important about my sister.”
Esperance nodded. “I need her to fall in love with me.”
“What?” Kota snapped.
“It’s a long story, but I need her to fall in love with me before the lunar eclipse ends. So do you know how fast she is? Do you think she’ll be here in a few days?”
“I don’t know!” Kota sapped down the fish in his hand onto the plate again. “How could I possibly even know that? She may never find me or this place.”
“That wouldn’t be any good at all,” Esperance grumbled.
Kota jutted out his chin as he pouted. “So that’s what that whole thing was before? You need my sister to fall in love with you? What, are you cursed?”
Esperance nodded. “Yeah! How’d you guess?”
“Really?” Kota blurted.
Esperance took a deep breath and clutched his hands over his chest again. “Yes. I have to find love and kiss them before the lunar eclipse, or I’ll be trapped in this castle and sunk with it forever. And because of the curse, I can’t swim in this body, so that would mean the death of me.”
Kota frowned again and rubbed his chin. “And why my sister exactly?”
“That’s the only available girl I’ve heard of since I got here,” Esperance answered earnestly.
“Okay,” Kota murmured and rubbed his jaw. “You’ve literally met no one since you got cursed?”
“That’s correct.”
“And my sister is your only chance?”
Esperance nodded. “So far, yes.”
Kota frowned. “Without her I won’t be able to get out of here either. So I guess this means we really are in the exact same boat.”
“It appears to be that way, yes.”
Kota grumbled and muttered to himself, taking more fish to eat just so he didn’t have to talk right away. “Fine. I’ll help you. But in order to woo my sister, you’ll need more than keeping me from dying to win her affections.”
Esperance gained a look of hope and awe. He jumped up from his nest and approached Kota at the table. “Really? You would do that?”
“We’re both doomed, what else can I do?” Kota pushed his plate aside. “If we’re sinking together, we might as well be working together.”
Esperance took hold of Kota’s hand and kissed his knuckles. “I promise! I’ll do my best to not lose my temper again. I’ll do whatever it takes to earn your sister’s affections.”
“Fine.” Kota snapped his hand away. “Just don’t kiss me again.”
Esperance bowed his head. “Okay, I won’t.” he broke into a big grin. “Thank you, this is the first time I’ve felt any sort of hope since I got here. I promise, I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you’re happy here until your sister arrives.”
“That’s a good place to start,” Kota replied. “She will appreciate knowing I have been taken care of. But what can you do about hunting?”
Esperance frowned. “Hunting?”
“My sister is the best hunter of our pack, all my sisters are.”
Esperance’s eyes lit up. “You have more sisters?”
Kota grimaced, he was starting to feel it would be better to sink with the moon castle. “You get one, so don’t start with me.”
