Sweet Song

Chapter 5

I stood and watched over the girl with teal hair and a blue tail. I was careful not to go anywhere near the edge of the water with fear that she would try and grab onto me again. I knew the risks of coming out here and yet I had to know more about this species.

She watched me with narrowed eyes. I could see shimmering around her and I couldn't tell if that was her hair or tail or anything else but there was some sort of shimmer. Her hands were webbed, something that I had seen the last time we met. It was a feature which I hadn't really seen before and it was fascinating. The feel of it was something I wouldn't forget anytime soon.

She seemed to creep closer, it was like a predator coming in on its prey. I stood my ground and waited for her to come closer. I was leaning against the edge of the cliff again. She lifted herself up onto the rocks and stayed there. Her hair clung to her face but her expressions didn't change.

"H-hello again." I stuttered out. I don't think she liked to be spoken to as she tensed up lightly. I didn't even know if she could understand me. I tried my best and persisted through the shaking in my bones. "My name is Mele." I wish that I could read her mind. Her face seemed to grow a little sour. She seemed displeased. "Do you have a name?"

It was the most basic of questions, yet she looked as though I had just slapped her in the face. I was about to quickly apologize and then leave when she started to look around. She ducked back under water abruptly. I waited a little while to see what she would do. That could've been all the information she needed. I don't really know if Sirenneyets had intentions or goals or anything. Father just told me that they drowned people beneath the waves.

She appeared not too long after with a handful of sand which she plonked down on the rock by my feet. I watched her as she huffed lightly in frustration. Her webbed hand started to play with the sand. She seemed rather frustrated and unhappy with the result but she moved back.

I stepped forward and looked at the sand. It was messy and looked like a child had done it. The letters which were imprinted in the sand spelled 'Ula'. "Ula?" I asked her with a small smile. She gave a slight sigh and spun around in the water. I took that as a yes. I gave a small chuckle from where I continued to stand. It seemed to snap her out of her happiness as she looked at me with the same expression which she had greeted me with.

I moved my foot slightly with nerves, her eyes immediately followed the motions which I made. "Can you not speak?" The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. I had heard these creatures used their voices a lot. They used their song to lure people into the waves where they would take their last breath.

I guessed I had hit a nerve. She showed me her teeth, which weren't too different from mine, and used her hand to splash me with water. I couldn't really jump back, getting quite a bit of water on me. "Okay, I'm sorry!" I tried to avoid getting wet the best I could. "I didn't mean to upset you." That was the last thing I wanted to do.

Ula seemed satisfied with the slight fear in my tone. She stopped showing me her teeth and just floated there with her arms crossed. She was waiting for me to say something but I didn't know what. I stayed pressed against the rock and slid down it slightly. Her eyes still watched me carefully but she also seemed a little more relaxed.

"I'm sorry about earlier." I tried to be confident and genuine. "I'm not usually allowed out here." Her head tilted slightly to the side. Her eyes wandered from me to the sandy beach and then back to me. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. I gave a small sigh and chuckled slightly. "Father doesn't like me coming to the beach. He said it was full of creatures which could harm us..." I trailed off slightly.

I didn't want to tell her that it included her race, even though she had probably already assumed so. She gave a slight shrug and nodded. She lifted one of her webbed hands up and closed her fingers together to create a slight fist. If the webbing hadn't been there it would've seemed like a mouth. I gave a slight chuckle. "Sharks?" I asked with a slightly nervous voice. I hadn't expected there to be sharks around here.

She gave a nod with a sly smile on her face. I was starting to get a little bit more comfortable talking to her. She didn't look scary, she was rather pretty. It didn't help the argument that they didn't lure people into the water. This Sirenneyet can't speak. It was something I had never thought of before. Even the possibility of it had never occurred to me.

"I don't really know what to say." I muttered as my eyes looked downwards towards my feet. I wasn't wearing any shoes, I didn't really like wearing shoes. They just hurt your feet and were rather uncomfortable. I didn't really need them around here, the most I needed was a pair of sandals in case of any broken glass.

I heard the sound of the water swishing and splashing before I felt something next to me. I was too scared to look at her. That was until she poked me. She gave a silent laugh as I jumped and scrambled away slightly. "That wasn't necessary." She gestured to me with a hand and I assumed it was supposed to be her pointing, it just looked a little odd to me.

I gave a slight chuckle along with her silent laughter. It still didn't give us anything which I could talk about. We just sat there in silence. Turns out that was all that we needed. The only sound was the waves hitting the rock slightly. There was no sounds of people or birds, it was getting rather late.

I could feel her eyes on me and so I turned to her. I couldn't tell what she was thinking nor what expression she held. It wasn't negative or vicious. I took the opportunity to look over her magnificent tail. If she was standing on it, she'd be taller than me. It was a glorious colour and it shimmered in the minimal light. I would've complimented it if there hadn't been a lump in my throat.

Our moment was interrupted. Loud footsteps came closer to us. I panicked and my breathing became heavier. The panic on my face was clear. Ula had immediately went back into the water at the sound of the familiar footsteps of my father.