The Tides' Revenge

Chapter 4: Current Training

When I wake up, I swim out of the room and find the woman swimming around the cave putting things into a kelp satchel. When she notices me, she hands me a green rectangle and says,

"Eat, child."

I look at the rectangle suspiciously before asking,

"What is it?"

"Kelp jerky, really good."

I bite into it and find she was telling the truth. It tastes like seaweed and saltwater, but it's tough like actual jerky. Once I finish it, she hands me another piece and swims off to collect more things.

"What are all those things you're putting in the bag for?"

"We are training today and we will be gone for most of the day, so I must pack supplies for our journey."

"I forgot to ask last night, but what is your name?"

"Vellamo. What is your name? Think before you answer, child, this is your chance to pick a name of your choosing. With a new life comes a new name, but realize that names are powerful and can affect you for the rest of your life."

"Yes, Vellamo, I will consider carefully before choosing a name. What does your name mean?"

"Vellamo was a powerful sea deity in Finnish mythology, so I took her name hoping to gain power through her legacy."

"Ok, I think I know what my name will be."

"What is it, child?"

"Eurybia, after the goddess of the mastery of the seas in Greek mythology, so that I may master the way of the Tides and get revenge on those who have wronged me."

"Good choice."

She nods and swims away to continue packing. I nod and continue to eat this delicious kelp jerky. After I finish it, I sit on the rock bench and wait for her to finish her packing. As I'm sitting there, I can't help but feel nervous. What if I fail? What if I don't catch on as fast as she thinks I should? What if she abandons me like everyone I know has done before? She has no ties to me to make her stay if I mess things up or slow her down.

"What are fretting about now?"

"Nothing! Can we go now?"

"Yes, child. We are going to be swimming for a while. Make sure to pace yourself and take your time so that you do not harm yourself."

With her motherly tone and warning, my fears of her abandoning me swam away. I follow her out of the cave and we begin our trek into the ocean. She makes sure to swim at my speed so I can keep up with her, which I really appreciate. While we swim, she points out places that she likes to spend her time at, like a beautiful rock curved into the shape of bowl big enough to fit an elephant. As we get further away from the cave, I start to notice more sea creatures appearing next to us. A school of jellyfish float above us, a shark cruises by slanting his eyes at us, and a shrimp zooms past us screaming profanities.

"We can understand the sea creatures?" I ask while the shrimp screams about creatures trying to eat him too often.

"Yes, it is a power usually acquired later in the training. Normally, after you master the currents, you begin to hear the whispers of the creatures of the sea which eventually graduate to full on understanding of the ocean language. You can understand him?"

"Yeah, he is screaming profanities about creatures trying to eat him so often."

"Amazing," she whispers, while looking at me with a baffled expression.

After she looks at me for a few seconds, she turns around and starts swimming yet again. After we swim for another 10 minutes she suddenly turns and I see a few rocks surrounded by a slew of coral colonies. She turns to me and says,

"Alright, child, try to swim through this. Take your time and stop if you feel you cannot continue. We don't want you to get injured on your first day of training."

I swim towards the rocks and coral, and as I get closer I begin to notice a current pushing at me. It becomes a little more difficult to continue swimming but I feel I can make it to the other side. I push through and about halfway across it becomes easier to swim through the currents. I don't feel so awkward with my tail and it naturally caresses the currents to move me smoothly along. I barely feel the current now. Once I realize this, I speed up and make it to the other side in 2 minutes.

I turn around a zoom across, back to the Vellamo, in less than half the time it took me to swim across the first time. When I reach her, she looks at me with the most awestruck expression on her face.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, child, you are learning the ways of the Tides at amazing rate. I think you chose your name well, I have never seen someone take to the way of the Tides as you have, Eurybia."

I am astounded because all of my fears were inconsequential after her words of praise. This is amazing! Learning the ways of the Tides makes me feel amazing and Vellamo is proud of me for doing something that came to me naturally. I can't wait to begin to learn new things and become as powerful as I can be. Captain Blue Mane and my brother shall know the pain they put me through and more by the time I finish with them.

"Since you have taken to the Tides so quickly, we can make a trip into town. We have enough time and I won't have to worry about you swimming awkwardly through town and possibly injuring yourself or others."

"Town? There are towns under the sea?"

She chuckles and says, "Yes, child. Where do you think I get my furniture, baubles, and supplies from?"

"That is amazing!"

"Yes, the town we will be going to is known as The Sparkling Gulf."

"Why is it named that?"

"You'll just have to see for yourself when we arrive because my description would do it no justice."

She takes off faster than before we got to the rocks and coral, so I speed up to catch up with her. We end up racing until she stops on a cliff and points over to a light that is coming from under it.

"That is The Sparkling Gulf."

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Below the cliff was a town surrounded by a glowing ring and scattered throughout the ring were clumps of lights that lit up the whole town. Sometimes the lights would go out for a few seconds only to start glowing again, giving it a sparkling effect.

"I see what you meant now. Nothing you said would have been able to prepare me for the beauty of what I see before me."

"Well, Eurybia, are you ready to face the beauty of The Sparkling Gulf head on?"

"Catch me if you can!" I scream while racing off the cliff, leaving Vellamo in a plume of bubbles. She takes off the cliff and doesn't catch me until we reach the outer ring of the town. I stop just outside the ring and turn to look at her. She nods her head, signaling for me to follow her, and she leads me to an archway of the glowing ring. She steps through, but I hesitate at the gate, still overwhelmed by the beauty I have seen since I came to the ocean.