The King's Gamma (#Wattys2024)

Ninety Five

We reached the dock much faster, and I watched as he swam up, forgetting that I did not float. I turned to see the small figure finally approach me now that I was alone. He looked almost identical to Vice Admiral Rorin, just much smaller. 

"You're very weird," he said, his gills opening and closing as he floated around me. "Are you coming home with big brother later today? Mama would want to meet a berserker. Grandfather was one too. None of us inherited it, though."

I smiled at him and patted him on the head. The kid was quite cute.

"Aren't you going to get out?"

I nodded simply, waving him away and pointing up.

"You want me to go up first?"

I nodded and smiled as he listened and went up. I crouched down, forcing as much power as I could into my legs, and jumped, overshooting the pier by at least a hundred meters, appearing like I was flying for a moment before gravity pulled me back down and I landed on top of the unsuspecting Vice Admiral Rorin who was busy berating his younger brother for being near the base. Sitting on top of the large man, I threw my head back to get the water and hair out of my face, smiling at the kid as I got up, only to realise he was nearly as tall as I was.

"You look like a girl," the kid said, and I smiled brightly at him.

"I get told that a lot." 

Vice Admiral Rorin got up as well, his face as red as a tomato, as many of the Admirals and heads around us watched me with a strange look in their eyes. 

"Swimming is out of the question; he would not be able to reach the enemy's ship this way."One said.

"He can hold his breath a long time, but that is of no use if he's stuck at the bottom of the ocean," said another.

"So I only need to be able to reach an enemy ship for me to join the ship, right?"

"Yes, that's the problem, though."

"It shouldn't be a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"How about a race to that ship and back?"I pointed to a vessel barely visible on the horizon.

"What?"

"I'm fairly sure that if I run fast enough, I wouldn't sink."

"You can't be serious?"

"Only one way to test it."

"TEST IT?!"

I stepped back a few steps, smiled and ran at full speed towards the end of the pier, jumping in the last moment, launching myself forward with enough power to crumble the edge of the dock I jumped from. I flew forward several hundred meters, the distance to the vessel growing much closer and much faster than I anticipated, and when I finally could touch water again I stuck one foot out to start running, the surface breaking like a tidal wave around me when I finally touched the surface enough to move forward more, running until I realised one little flaw. I had miscalculated the speed needed, jumped too fast and too far and could not get my legs to start moving fast enough on the water when I finally touched it. I continued to sink the more I tried to move. 

"Oh fuck." I exclaimed as a large wave also came closer, hitting me with force and pushing me beneath the waves. 

I sank fast, finding myself in a deep gorge soon enough. I was not close enough to one of the edges to hold onto it and get myself back up. I looked around, my eyes adjusting much more quickly than before as I sank, and confirmed that I was alone before quickly allowing my feet to light on fire, the water boiling around me nearly immediately as I started moving again, forcing the fire to burst downwards from my heels like a propeller as I ran in the water. But it worked, I was getting up, breaking the surface soon after and forcing my legs to move faster and faster until I no longer needed the fire to move. I reached the ship soon enough, seeing many cannons pointed at me as I jumped, this time with precision, onto the deck.