Seabound

Chapter 2

Seabound - Chapter 2

The two-legger-fish-catcher was hauled up and pulled onto the floor of the two-legger-travel-thing. I struggled to adjust to the air, taking gasping breaths of the coarse substance. It did not feel right. I did not see how two-leggers breathed this. It was repulsive.

The two-legger-fish-catcher was pulled away, along with the fish that surrounded and comforted me. A small group of male two-leggers stood above me with their mouths open. They were staring at me with wide eyes. I eased myself into sitting position and hugged my knees, watching the two-leggers all the while. One of them stepped forward, holding a large piece of cloth. He wrapped the cloth around my shoulders and offered me his hand. I hesitated and then took it, so that he could help me up. I stood unsteadily and stumbled a bit, not used to my legs. Some of the males looked down at their feet as I drew the cloth around me further. It seemed the right thing to do, with the two-leggers staring at me the way they were.

The one who had given me the cloth started asking questions. Who was I, where had I come from, why was I caught in the net? I answered few of the questions. I told them that I was called Aurelia, that I had been caught in a current that ran close to the shore line and dragged out here.

Then one of the two-leggers, one who had much facial hair, weathered brown skin and no teeth in the front of his mouth started yelling at me. “She’s lyin’, can’t you tell?! She ain’t some respectable woman from the main land. She’s one of them devil fish, disguised as a woman! You have been blinded by the sea! You do not see her true nature. You scooped a nude young woman out of the water in the fishing net. She isn’t telling you where she’s from!”

An old male descended the steps. His face was brown and walked unsteadily on his two-legger feet. He held a strange dark stick.

“You’ve had too much rum, Giovanni.” His dark eyes scanned over me and I tugged the cloth closer. Several two-legger males cleared their throats.

The drunken man made a harsh sound. “The devil fish has deceived you too, Captain! Have you not heard the tales? Seen the truth?” Is this what two-leggers were like when they drink certain things too much? I wondered to myself. The ‘Captain’ pursed his mouth. The man who gave me the cloth spoke.

“Giovanni, we have been at sea for too many days. The sun is making you ill.” He gestured to another two-legger who dragged him away. I was nervously looking around myself, feeling out of place. The two-leggers began to look at me again. How strange two-leggers were with their mouths hanging open like fish. They murmured to themselves for a moment. A skinny one raised his voice.

“But Captain, what if Giovanni was—”

“We will take this young lady to the place she desires.” His voice was firm and the men straightened. They murmured again.

“That is an order!” He shouted and I winced. They two-leggers nodded their heads in unison and stumbled over each other’s feet while trying to get one last glance at me. One of them yelled out orders that I couldn’t understand. The Captain shook his head and turned to the man who gave me the cloth.

“Lorenzo, get this lady some—” He cleared his throat again “—respectable clothing.”

They both left and I was left alone on the very thing my school-mother told me was dangerous. I tested one foot and felt that there was no pain and carefully made my way to the edge of the two-legger-travel-thing. I looked down on familiar waters. Somewhere in the waters my school was calling out my name helpless,not knowingthat Iwas now captive as a two-legger. I wondered where Magma was and what she would do in this situation. Would she be as scared as I was feeling? Or would she be excited? I took a deep breath of air and felt it sit easily in my chest. I was going to be a two-legger for a whole moon cycle and there was nothing I could do to change it. I closed my eyes when some sea water spat onto the boat, savouring the salty feeling.

“Aurelia, isn’t it?”

I spun around too quickly and fell clumsily against the wooden floor. A large hand caught my arm and gently pulled me up. It was the two-legger with the cloth, Lorenzo. He wrapped another layer of cloth over me. He looked at me expectedly for an answer. I went over his facial features. Lorenzo had straight nose and unscaled face with dark eyes, so unlike mermaid features that I was used to. My school-mother always warned me about two-legger men but all of her words slipped from my mind as I looked at him, my tongue feeling thick. Lorenzo realised I wasn’t going to answer so he asked me another question.

“Where is your home?”

My home was in the ocean with the mermaids and fish. Where sea grass grew in plenty and shipwrecked boats harboured sparkling treasure. But I didn’t say that. I looked out onto the horizon and saw everlasting blue. My mind flew back to the time where Magma and I laid in the canals of the two-legger city that we visited so often. The only place I knew a two-legger.

“Venice. I come from Venice.”