Iqi: Arrival

Chapter Eleven

"Katherine!" a child's voice called out.

I heard a small splash soon after and followed Katherine to the pool edge. Suddenly a young girl popped out of the water and leapt into Katherine's arms. The Selkie seemed to be about fourteen or fifteen human years of age but she was much larger than Katherine. They collapsed to the floor in a fit of giggles.

"Kym! This is Iqi! I told you he'd come to meet you!" Katherine beamed at me and I couldn't help but beam back.

Kym turned her big black eyes on me with a look of awe. She had grey fur up and down her body like the older Selkie "Ler". Her long tail looked strong and elegant. Her hair was much like Katherine's but a darker shade of black. It hung in thick wavy strands around her face.

"You really came!" she smiled shyly.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you," I said holding out my hand.

She stared at it for a moment then burst out laughing.

"Katherine!" she giggled. "He's more human than us!"

"Well he is half human," Katherine rolled her eyes. "Pardon Kym, she's actually much younger than she looks, Selkies age quickly at this age."

"Iqi!" a male voice said behind me.

I turned to see Ler pulling his enormous body out of the water. He looked much bigger in person than in the press conference video. I thought Katherine looked small beside him simply because she was small. But now seeing him face to face I was a little intimidated. He was over twice the size of the average human man. The sharp teeth and claws that seemed cute on Kym looked dangerous on him.

"Iqi, this is Ler. I know he seems scary at first but that just cause he's so big. Ler's a big softy trust me. It's Sobek that's actually terrifying," Katherine laughed walking up to Ler and giving him a hug. Her arms barely wrapped around half his torso but he patted her head fondly with his enormous hand, racking his claws gently through her hair.

"I'm so glad you were able to come Iqi," Ler said. "We were worried you'd be kept away."

"I almost was," I laughed. "I'm very happy I was able to meet you in person."

"Is it true you lived in space?" Kym asked.

"Yes, I've lived in space all my life. Did you live in the ocean before living with Katherine?"

"Yes. Our tribes were somewhere off the coast of the human continent Antarctica," Ler replied.

"It must have been difficult to live in the ocean. I heard even humans can't survive it well," I said.

"Please," Ler snorted. "Humans are lucky they're so smart. Their pathetic bodies can't keep up with anything else on this planet."

"Hey!" Katherine protested dropping her arms from his side.

Ler gripped her hands between two fingers and gave her a toothy grin. "By all means Katherine, escape my grip without tricking me."

To give her credit Katherine did give it a good effort, but Ler's strength was laughably superior to hers. A small bark by the structure caught Ler's attention and he released her.

"What was that?" I asked.

"My daughter," Kym said gleefully slipping into the water.

"Her name's Ostara," Katherine smiled rubbing her hands. "Do you wanna meet her?"

"Of course! How do we get there?" I asked eyeing the structure Kym was swimming towards.

"We swim of course," Katherine grinned taking off her lab coat. "But if you prefer you can fly."