Silver Waves

Eleven

Nami looked up at her friends, watching tears fill their eyes or their faces became stony as they remembered their lost Tribemate. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Her apology rang around the cave, bouncing off the walls and rippling across the water.

Dalma sniffled. "I loved her. She was like a sister to me." She made a sound that was half laugh, half sob. "I remember when we were younger, and she couldn't braid her own hair. So I did it every morning..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes grew red and misty. Sen hugged her gently, like she might break.

Ren flicked her tail and took a deep breath before she spoke, her voice trembling. "She always shaved my hair for me..." she ran her small, brown hand over her head, the stubble of which was more grown out than usual. "She made sure it never hurt."

Girls piped up around the cave, sadly telling happy memories of their friend, their words underscored with the gentle lap of ocean against rock. Nami spoke last, about how Fae had shown so much love to everyone around her, not least of all her betrothed, Jex.

Slowly, through the fog of sadness, a palpable feeling of boiling anger drifted into the hearts of each of the islanders, and memories turned into vows of vengeance against the pirates who had taken so much from them, and from an uncountable many others.

In the midst of the anger, a voice of reason piped up: "There's a few questions that we haven't asked ourselves," Sprigg said, her voice rising to be heard over the conversations around her. The rest of the cave quieted and turned to look quizzically at their friend. She nodded, counting her questions off on her fingers. "One, what were the pirates even planning to do with us? What have they done with the other girls they've stolen? Can we get them back? Are they being held somewhere?"

Nami wriggled uncomfortably near the shore, fidgeting with the hem of Endel's shirt.

Sprigg continued: "Two, who - or what- called those sharks to the ship? What made the weather change? How, and why, did we change?" She lifted her tail from the water to emphasise her meaning. "Did the gods help us? And if so, why?" She paused dramatically before asking her last question. "And three... how are we going to find the pirates?"

Fil started, eyes wide with surprise. "...Find... the pirates?"

"Well, yeah," Raina broke in, swimming over to the rocks that Fil and Kaia sat upon. "They're not just going to stop what they're doing because they lost us," she stated. "If anything, they'll be desperate to get more girls, and soon."

Lena nodded, propping herself up on her elbows on a slab of stone near the shoreline. "Raina's right, we can't let them keep doing what they're doing. It wouldn't be right to not at least try to stop them." Her belly and tail were submerged in the water, only her head and shoulders out of the waves. Her short, dark brown hair was puffy from the humidity and repeated wetting and drying. Oona giggled at her appearance and pushed a lock off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear.

Fil stammered, wringing her pale fingers, her sparse brows furrowed. "B-but, what can we possibly do?"

"We can kill the bastards! They won't stop otherwise." Raina had fire in her eyes. Low grumbles of assent rippled through the congregation.

Fil looked uncomfortable, but said no more.

Sprigg slapped her tail onto the water, reclaiming everyone's attention. "What I really want to know is why. Why the pirates took us, and everyone else they've kidnapped. I just can't figure it out. Maybe if we knew where they were taken, we could get them back."

Nami slipped into the water, drifted to the middle of the pool, and lashed her tail, rising out of the water. She cleared her throat, and all eyes turned to her. "I know why."