Kaouii Island Series: Firefly

Chapter 3

         Flyfii was being dragged further under the ocean's waves, pulled down by the currents she could not get away from. Water filled her lungs as she opened her mouth wide to scream for help. She wanted to call for her meau and she knew her life depended on it. She thrashed her limbs, but did not understand how to get her head above the water.

Finally, she felt someone pulling on her arm, helping her to safety.

Her eyes opened to morning light filtering between the gaps in the branches. She saw her brother sitting beside her hammock.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She took a deep breath. Oh how good the air felt in her lungs! She nodded, "Yeah, just a nightmare."

"What was it?" he softly asked her, tilting his head to the side.

"I dreamt I was drowning." She told him.

He nodded, his eyes darting into the distance for a moment before he answered, "I've been dreaming of that a lot too lately." There was a pause before he added, "But you know what? If you think about it, we're not that separated from the Water Colony. Meditate on the seabirds, the ones who skim over the ocean and dive in for their prey. They combine our air with their sea and it is like we are one."

She was silent several heartbeats before replying, "I guess so." But she was uncertain of the statement. Something in the back of her mind nagged at her, why did he respond in that way? She had no answer, she shrugged it away.

The thought remained on her mind later in the day, as she wandered about the forest. Were the sky and the sea really not so different? She thought about the other colony; they grew up the same as her own. They had their own foxes for hunting when they weren't venturing into the sea, as Air Colony did with the sky.

Both colonies roamed the island freely. They ran into each other often, and it was nothing to fuss over. Perhaps there would be a quarrel over a piece of prey, but nothing ever too substantial. And they did come together at the Agri, where the elders (and the occasional youth) worked to grow food from the soil. Grapes and raspberries and honeysuckles. They all wanted the same things, didn't they? To be happy and live long? Was there really much difference between them?

"Hey."

Flyfii jumped at the voice that pulled her from her thoughts. She turned around, embarrassed, and realized though she was in her human form, her feline ears were flicking and her cat tail had been twitching; she had not been fully shifted.

"Oh, Shaoraa, hi," she smiled, a soft giggle happening at the same time.

He smiled coolly, "Hi." He focused a moment and then his tabby ears and tail were showing as well. "Any reason for this?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Accident, I was deep in thought and didn't even realize I had started shifting."

He gave a nod, "I see." After a slight pause he shrugged, "Do you want to go hunting?"

"Is that all you do?" she unintentionally laughed at him.

He teased back, "Not all, but most."

She shifted into her cat form, "Let's go!"

He shifted as well. He placed a paw near hers and held her gaze, their leathery noses nearly touching, "Keep up with me." Then he dashed off, racing ahead of her.

Flyfii quickly dashed after him, feeling the strength in her limbs as she ran along. His legs were longer, but she still managed to catch up to him.