bølgenes sang || seongsang

「chapter 1」: havets skapning

The cloven hooves of the hart flew over the forest's soft ground, hammering a clear path into the damp soil. They pressed their calves against its side, ducking their head low so the wind would not blow too harsh in their face. Sharp ends of the antlers only barely missed their shoulders, but they did not care.

"You're a crowned heir, Seonghwa," they mocked their mother as the stag scudded over the stony riverside, "You need to act accordingly." Of course they had responded in their best manner. They had formally apologized and stayed friendly throughout the whole thirty minute long lecture, but their mother always found something to nag at.

A scoff distorted their pretty face as they urged the creature to go faster, silently pleading that the brute force of the air pulling at them would take it all with it. It was not that they did not like being the heir to royalty as mighty as the elven kingdom's rulers, they just did not need the queen lecture them about every second they spent the way they wanted to.

"I've been working all I could ever since I was twelve," they complained to no one in particular, "I've been doing everything for my people and of course I will continue doing so, but that does not mean that the queen can tell me how to spend my free time."

What had been the reason she was so enraged? All they had done had been painting what they imagined the sea to look like, was that a crime?

The stag leapt over roots and stones, taking them farther and farther away from the palace. As it should, that had been the precise command. Take me far away, they had demanded, far from the queen's power.

Leaving the riverside, they now sped through the trees; Seonghwa's anger lifted just an insignificant bit with every step. Instead, unknown joy peeked out from under the blanket of fury, causing a light smirk to tug at the corner of their mouth. If their mother wanted to keep them away from the ocean so badly, they were going to visit it.

What could possibly happen? They were simply going to stand on a cliff and watch the floods, they were not going to enter the sea. There was not a thing that could go wrong.

Panting heavily for air, the hart eventually came to a stop at the forest border. Sliding off the deer's back, they straightened their posture and carefully stepped closer to the edge of the cliff. And the sight that greeted them took their breath.

None of the countless descriptions they had read could truly prepare them for the blustering and raging floods that now revealed themselves to them. White foam danced on the crowns of the towering waves that crashed onto stone, the sheer force of the water masses leaving no doubt of the immense might the sea holds.

The swells appeared to conquer anyone trying to surpass them to reach infinity at the horizon, yet the harsh vastness of dark billows and their frothing tips struck something inside of Seonghwa. A strange yearning surged up within them as the rough wind tugged at their tightly braided blond hair; the endless depths of crashing waves intimidated them with their rage, yet they found themselves to be drawn to the untamed ferocity of the ocean.

As they were gazing out on the endless widths, they noticed a strangely lively movement. Only for a swift moment, they spotted a gray dorsal fin breaking through the surface; the creature dived into the stormy water before Seonghwa could have identified it though.

Now that they let their eyes roam around the floods in search for another sign of life however, they found a large boulder jutted out over the sea. Instantly, they felt the urge to climb down the cliff and watch over the swells from there.