Under the Waves

CHAPTER 4

"YOU ARE THE REASON.."

Kal's POV

I pushed the bicycle along the sandy path to the concrete road. Martha's house is not far from where I live. Martha is the pod's healer. Funny fact is that they don't like it when they are called a pod. They prefer the word "Tribe". They are descendants of Apollo. The great nomadic pod with special abilities. Well, I don't know much about their pod or tribe. I just know that Apol is their pod leader.

Angie; a young mermaid who told me a little bit of their history is now my friend. One of my only close friends to be exact. Since most of the merfolks here are adults and some merfolk around my age are just busy.

She told me that Apol got tired of swimming from different parts of the ocean and decided to settle on land where they won't be traveling all their life and just settle a life in an unknown place and to live a new different way of living as merfolk.

The pod never argued about his decision. They respected and obeyed him. They reestablished here in North Carolina a few years ago. The pod is a sweet and lovely group of merfolks, to be honest, even though they are a crazy bunch. They accepted me warm-heartedly. Apol introduced me to the pod as his nephew looking for a mate, which I didn't complain about. Pretending will be part of my new job description. Just great. A runaway and a liar. This made me laugh internally. What a mess I never wished to be in, but here I am. Going with the flow. Sigh.

Most of the members of the pod are already mated merfolks with a family of their own. I envy them. I wanted a mate and a family of my own too. I know that my mate is a guy because I'm a merman that can bare a child.

We call it Aphrodite's blessing. It happens but not too often, since merfolks and fishfolks have a big population under the vast ocean.

Thinking of having a mate brings me back to Karson.

I've been here for a long time now and yet I haven't found him in this big dry world.

During my first few days on land, I already wanted to set off on a quest to find him, but Apol did not allow me to go. He told me I needed to know things about the human world first. So, before setting off carelessly he suggested I need to learn all the things that they didn't teach in merschool. Another studying to do! Just wow! Note the sarcasm.

After a month of studying things about the human world, which I didn't get from the merschool indeed. I decided to set off on a journey to find him on the islands and countries; which what they call a big piece of land, around the moonlight cove.

Markielle, a hunter in the pod joined me on my trip; Apol's orders. I can't even go anywhere without him. He is like my personal bodyguard on that trip.

We visited five countries and ten small Islands, but I never found him. You might say, "He's a grown man now. After many years" Believe me, I get that a lot from the merfolks I encountered on land. Well, to my surprise Apollo's Tribe is not the only pod that preferred to live on land. And that's a new discovery in my little journey and I made friends with a few.