One Soul

Chapter Twelve: The Blue-Haired Boy

Calypso awoke on an island other than Pandora. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a craggy coastline, fine white sand, and rushing ocean waves lapping at the shore. Distantly, a seabird called overhead. The sun was bright but not harsh, a morning light shining upon the beach. For a moment, she felt peaceful. Then she remembered.

She sat up, her heart racing and eyes wide, and instantly struck with a bad headache. Calypso winced, her hand flying to her temple to ease the pain, before realizing she was half covered in sand. Through a sharp hiss and a burning ache, she managed to pull herself to her feet, dusting most of the sand off of her. Calypso was sure her hair was a rat's nest. but there were more important things. 

"Where am I?" She mumbled to herself, raising a hand over her brow to scan the horizon. Distantly, she saw a small figure that must be another island, but couldn't find Sol or Norene. Calypso began to panic again, desperately racing along the coast calling out their names. She saw a figure sitting on a rock over the water, only his upper body in view. "Sol?!"

However, when she reached the boy, it became apparent it wasn't her friend. For starters, his hair was blue, and his skin had an odd tint to it. When the sun hit it just so, she could swear it glistened. He wore a simple bluish grey shirt, stuck to his arms with saltwater. "Hello?" She tentatively stepped forwards, unaware if the boy would be hostile or not.

He turned to face her with eyes somewhere between a lime and a lemon. His nose was small and angular, pointed slightly upwards. He looked around Calypso's age, though the exact number was hard to tell. "Oh, it's you. Sand lady?" He looked at her curiously, as though she were the one with oddly colored features. 

"N-no...I'm Calypso," she said, awkwardly holding out her hand. She noticed his fingers were long, but near the base, there was a thin piece of skin connecting them, making them almost webbed. Curious...

"I'm William," he said, not shaking her hand. His arms crossed protectively over his chest. 

"Are you, I'm sorry if this is rude, a merman?" Calypso asked, climbing onto the jagged rock beside him. However, instead of the iridescent tail she expected, he had a pair of very human legs. William gave her another odd look, drawing his knees to his chest. "Oh, I'm sorry I-"

"I'm a siren," William said, staring out into the sea. "We're...I guess you could say we're like mermen, a little bit." As he spoke, Calypso noticed a sad tone in his eyes. However, she seemed to already make him a little tense so she decided not to press.

"Oh, that's cool. I've never met a siren before. I'm sorry if I've offended you, or anything," Calypso bit her lip. "I guess I'm a little tense myself."

His head cocked slightly to the side as he turned towards her. "Whatever for, sand lady?"

"It's just that I have no idea how I got he-wait, why do you keep calling me that?" Calypso giggled a little, though she figured it was just nerves. 

"I don't know. It's a small island. I was walking around and poof! You just showed up in the sand, sleeping. I tried waking you up but you stayed asleep, I would've thought you were dead if I couldn't see you breathing," William shrugged. His chartreuse eyes looked dazzling, like the scales of a tropical fish, in the sunlight but they were clouded with something dark and melancholic. "So I just left you. I figured you'd wake up eventually."

"How long was I...sleeping?" Calypso asked. Oh my god, what if it's been months? Years? 

"Just a week. I tried to give you water half way through but...I don't know how well that went. Are you thirsty?" William slowly let his legs dangle over the water again. "The ocean water's no good but I have a camp of sorts."

Calypso's stomach, as if on a comedic cue, let out a small growl. "Hungry," she mumbled sheepishly, her cheeks pink. "Um."

"Oh." William looked at her sorrowfully. "Oh no. Scrap meal."

~-~

He led her back to his "camp of sorts", which was a small fire, and a canopy made from a piece of cloth tied between two palm trees. A few random objects lay about the sand, and there was a pile of blankets that looked to be used as a bed. A couple trap nets were tied to posts in the sand, hanging in the water. William drew one up and made a face. "It's been nothing but seaweed. Hang on."

In a swift motion, he dove into the surprisingly deep crystal waters. Calypso rushed to overlook the ledge, only seeing the end of his splash and a flick of dazzling blue. "He does have a tail...!" She whispered to herself, waiting for him to resurface.

Minutes passed, and she began to grow anxious. Finally, his hand broke free from the water, followed by the emergence of his head and shoulders. The net was full of clams that he hauled to shore. Calypso helped hoist him up, noticing the hues of purple and green in his turquoise scales. She realized there were now a few open gills along his neck, under his jaw, that wasn't there before. As William's legs felt dry land, the scales slowly tightened into legs and faded into human skin. Calypso realized she was staring, and quickly refocused her gaze. 

"Um, clams!" She said, her cheeks were the same scarlet of her dress. 

William smirked, slightly. 

~-~

The fire allowed for a small cooker, a simple metal pot, to be held aloft over it with the help of a few sticks tied together. Water boiled so that it could be made safe to consume, and slowly added in the clams to boil. While they waited, William scaled one of the palm trees and came back with betel nuts and acai fruits. The acai they ate right away, the sweet, tart flavor exploding across their tongues. The nuts William shelled and added to the pot for flavor, along with coconut milk he had harvested a few days ago and some salt from the small tin jar he was collecting it in, carefully boiled down. 

"So, tell me about yourself, 'Lypso," he said, stretching out on the sand. The sun beat down on them, even in the shade of the canopy. 

"I, well, I was born and raised on Pandora. But my adoptive parents were...not good people. And when I turned thirteen not too long ago I was found by my real parents and brought to Ouránia," Calypso decided not to tell him about the plague, or the ink, or the fact her friends could be anywhere in the universe.

"Who are your parents?" William's interest seemed to double before Calypso's eyes.

"Well, um, they're royalty? Which sort of makes me...a princess?" Though I don't feel like one, Calypso thought to herself. 

"An Avian princess!" William's eyes widened as he looked at the pot bubbling over the fire. "I'm sorry, this isn't-I wasn't expecting royalty."

"Oh, please, don't worry about it. I'm not much of a princess, anyway. All I've done is get lost and winded up here somehow," Calypso gave a short laugh, clearly grateful when William only nodded and turned back to the pot, pouring the contents into two shallow bowls. It was surprisingly thick but light, a slight sweetness from the coconut and a warm nutty flavor from the betel nuts. The clams were salty and fresh, and the whole meal was much more enjoyable than Calypso would have anticipated from what William had called a "scrap meal".

"There's a small grove. Coconuts, acai, betel nuts, and bananas. Maybe they'll be ripe enough tomorrow," William offered, shy and awkward. "And maybe I can find something other than clams. Fish? And don't worry, it's not weird for me. It's like...humans eating cows."

Their laughter was loud, if somewhat awkward and unprecedented. What he said hadn't been funny enough to provoke it but Calypso felt warm and full from the meal. "I think I've read how to get palm oil from trees."

~-~

That evening they were both tired despite Calypso sleeping for a week and neither of them exhausting themselves through the day. Halfway through the afternoon, they fell into an awkward silence. William went swimming in the ocean and Calypso explored the island alone. They both returned to camp at sundown, and the night became a shock of cold air.

Calypso shivered, huddling under the feathered cloak though it was intended more for style than function, trying not to wake William. She fell asleep eventually, and when she woke the morning warmed her up quickly. William was long gone but there was a handful of acai fruit on her plate (washed clean) and a folded blanket underneath. There was a message spelled out in pebbles in the sand: FOR YOU - W.