Haley Thistle
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Selkie & the Beast: Part One (special preview)
🕑 Added 2021-08-31 21:01:01 +0000 UTCKota was born the youngest of four, as well as being the only male. Even with three older sisters, Kota was known as the most beautiful of his pack. This was something of a problem for Kota, who often received unwanted attention for his appearance. His sisters, all powerful hunters in their pack, often protected him. Ivet, Kari, and Nina often surrounded Kota when they traveled and hunted, keeping him safe while also warding off any unwarranted advances that may befall him.
Over time Kota had taught himself how to avoid these confrontations. He often kept to himself, sometimes reading from books he found on the shore. He was good at hiding, and could often camouflage himself to match the area. Kota was not bothered by his appearance, he didn’t mind that he had beauty more than handsomeness like the other males. What bothered him was how people seemed to feel that they were entitled to his looks. His beauty was like honey attracting flies who all assumed it was okay to touch him in one way or another. This was why Kota kept himself at a distance from everyone besides his sisters.
“Perhaps if you find someone who is much bigger and stronger, then everyone else will be afraid to come near you,” Ivet suggested one day. “We will not be around forever to fill that role.”
“But who could ever be that big and scary?” Nina asked as she continued to crochet her new net. “They would have to be as large and as frightening as Kota is lithe and beautiful.”
“That would have to be some sort of monster, wouldn’t it?” Kari’s mind was already drifting off. “They’d have to be truly gruesome to match our Kota, wouldn’t they? Probably something with lots of teeth and hair.”
“You think too highly of me,” Kota tutted. “Besides, something like that would probably be just as annoying as the others. It wouldn’t matter to me their size or appearance just so long as they see me beyond my face.”
“A cold brat?” Ivet said with a smirk, causing Nina and Kari to giggle along as well.
Kota sighed, closing his book then pulling his coat up around his shoulders. “If such a monster existed and they liked me beyond my looks, I would fall for them.”
Ivet sighed. “But people are always going to see you. Your looks will always be important, Kota. It takes time for people to see what’s really there, and if you don’t give them that chance-”
Kota stood up in a huff. “Then I’ll find someone who's blind.”
“Don’t get so upset about it,” Nina tried to coax him. “Come sit down and help me finish this net.”
“I want to go for a walk,” Kota muttered under his breath. “I’ll be back later.”
“Be careful,” Ivet called after him as he walked away.
Kota walked off along the beach then climbed up a rocky slope to get to the top. There was a tree up there whose roots wound through the earth and clung to the rock so it precariously held onto the edge and dipped over as if looking at itself in the sea below. For some reason, Kota admired this tree. He sat down amongst the many roots and gazed out across the ocean. The sky was dappled blue and pink, fading into a lavender hue near the water. Clouds gathered in wispy thin lines along the surface while the sun began to make way for the moon.
Sighing deeply, Kota wondered what it would be like to travel out so far to see where the sun fell into the ocean while the moon rose from the depths. As a child, he often dreamed of finding this place and hopping onto the moon just as it came out of the water. He would rise into the sky and stay there on the surface where he could make a kingdom for himself.
The clouds began to gather, becoming more dense and dark, turning the sky into a purple shade of gray. The sun faded slowly, making the sky both dark and bright at the same time. Out in the distance, Kota saw something that looked like a castle. He squinted his eyes so he could see better and lightning flashed from the clouds. That instant bright flash of light illuminated the castle from behind. Kota had never noticed this before in all the years his family had been coming to this beach. He thought, only briefly, that perhaps this was the castle on the moon.
His thoughts turned when thunder grumbled and growled in the distance. Kota knew he’d have to get home soon, if there was a storm coming, then that meant no hunting and that meant the whole pack would be swarmed onto the beach. If anyone was unaccounted for, it usually was a cause for worry, sometimes panic. Gazing out one last time, Kota tried to find that castle along the horizon. When his eyes could no longer focus on it, that was when he went back to his sisters.
