From the Islands

Chapter 6

2nd Moon, (midday)

We are staring at each other for a long time. It almost feels as if we will never stop, he is analyzing me. His face softens as he examines my body, then his face hardens again. His skin is dark like Lani's, he has a cloth hanging around his head, and markings on his body. This man is a savage. I know it immediately. My arm is getting restless of this position, I turn and reach for the bag. I can feel him panic behind me; he's getting closer. I have the bag in my fingers and when I turn back, I can feel a soft poke on the bottom of my chin. I swallow hard, and slowly lift the bag to him. "You killed all of my men," he says. He hesitantly swipes the bag from my hand. I hardly move. He lets down the pointy object and opens the bag. I just can't take my eyes off him, I look at his eyes, his mouth, and the way he moves his hands. We look at each other every few seconds as he scrounges through the bag. I still haven't moved a muscle. He's beautiful, I want to say something but I'm afraid of him. I gain the courage to look down at what he had at my throat, it's exactly what I thought. That's my knife. Why didn't he get put in a trance? This man survived our song, my curiosity is triggered again. I start examining him more. It looks like his bottoms are torn at the knees; he must have cut them himself. He has no shirt, the only thing he has on is a thick bracelet. A small shiny rock is attached to the front of the bracelet. I watch as he is eating to make out the carving on the pendant. I open my mouth to speak and he stops moving, we are staring at each other again. "You didn't die," I spout. He just looks at me and keeps breaking open mussels. This man has a lot of the same features as Lani and some of the others. The melanin of his skin glows in the sun so nicely. His hair sits on top of his head and falls in perfect kinks.

"He belongs to the sun," that's what Lani would say.

However, he does not sound the same as Lani when he speaks. I don't think this man came from the inner islands, because he talks exactly like the man I met. That explains why they were even on this route. Savage men know their waters, these men didn't belong here in the first place. I don't belong here right now.

The sun is getting ready to touch the water. I am not leaving here without that knife, I need it. He hands over the empty torn sack and he nods his head.

"Where are you and your men sailing to?" I ask. He is staring towards the sun; I can see him assessing the water. He takes a deep breath in before responding, "To the inner islands. We had to meet someone there." I can tell he is worried. I'm not sure what to say I just look at him as he watches the water. It looks like he wants to jump in. The waves splash on me, trying to convince me back. We look at each other, and I try to smile but he is already looking away. I see this as a good chance to grab the knife. When I reach for it and he notices immediately. His hand is on top of mine. His grip is so tight, I'm scared. "Let go," I say. But he won't. He looks like a stone; his eyes are panicked but his grip is sure. He is gonna hurt me, I can feel it.

"It's my knife, please!" I grab his wrist with my free hand, it burns. My hand simmers on his wrist, scaring us both. I let out a loud yell, but I still have my knife as he lets me go. He slips around on the rocks, barley catching himself. The waves swallow me whole, dragging me into the water. My arm drags against a sharp rock, I can smell my own blood. I hope there are no sharks near. Please I hope there are no sharks near here. I can barely see; I swim back I don't even look above the water I just swim. ○●

My hand stings the entire time I am swimming to the cave. I almost can't bare it. As I swim up through the small canal, I begin to light up the water. My arm isn't bleeding as much but the smell is lingering. There is no more sunlight coming into the cove. I set down the knife and look at my hand in the light. My skin has white blotches, I don't know what to do. I've never felt something like this before, what was that? I remember the thick bracelet on his wrist as I grabbed him. Then, my hand began to sizzle immediately. There was no fire, but the burning still happened without effort. It didn't seem like he knew what was happening either. I swim to the bottom of the cove. We keep a stash of supplies that we use for spells. There is a healing spell Lani knows but I can't seem to remember it off the top of my head. There is some clay leftover and seaweed swaying around the cove floor. I swim up to the surface and use the clay on my palm, it feels nice and cool. The seaweed wraps around my hand perfectly, but the pain is still there. I let the water dim down, the sky is light blue, and stars are starting to show. I pull myself onto the smooth rock under the skylight. My thoughts are racing with a hundred million things at once. I don't know what to focus on. I've met another human, but he isn't the same, this man is cold. A savage who doesn't even know the waters around him. An intruder? He said he was supposed to meet someone, why would they send them through these waters unless it was on purpose. Nobody has really traveled through these waters the way these men were trying to. I should probably hunt for more food tomorrow. Should I go back to him? I think about the glass containers in the hole of the boat, they are too heavy for me. I'm sure there has got to be something valuable in there. I have to go back. ●○