Salt & Spice

Chapter 1

Before there was time, or fish, or Sea People, there was the ocean goddess. The lithe body of the storyteller above Honor's head twisted in the dying light. She was acting the part of the ocean goddess, all alone in the void before time began. First she created the fish. While they brought many beautiful colors to the ocean, they could not communicate, and the goddess was still lonely.

Next she created the whales. The woman's arms and fingers danced with the oldest tale of the Sea People. They could create music, and that was beautiful as well, but still she wanted more. She wanted someone like herself, and so she created the Sea People.

The water all around the shoal was slowly darkening. The light above must be passing out of sight, signaling to them that it was time to regroup. This was the only time the entire shoal was together, doing the same thing. Everyone had different chores and activities the rest of the time. This was when news was shared, stories were told, and performances happened.

The rest of the shoal was settled around the storyteller and starting to eat. Honor was nestled between her two friends, Bravery and Shimmer. Bravery and Honor were born in the same season, and teetered on the cusp of adulthood. Shimmer was young, but adored the older fry and tried to follow them everywhere. It was annoying sometimes, especially when she had trouble keeping up with them, but Honor generally enjoyed the attention. Their conversation had stopped as soon as they had picked up their food. Honor couldn't help noticing that Shimmer was inhaling her food, then realized with a slight shock that she was old enough that she would probably soon go through a growth spurt.

All around them the other members of their shoal were settled into the circle with their food, many eating with one hand and signing animatedly with the other. The muscles in Honor's back ached from her work harvesting seaweed that day, so she just watched the happy bustling around her.

All of the sea people in her shoal looked remarkably alike, but that was true within every shoal. All of them had the same dark gray strips running down the sides of their bodies, standing out against the lighter gray of their backs. The fronts were lighter, running almost to white. Their necks sported four gills on each side.

Honor's father had explained once that their coloring helped them hide. He pointed out that many fish, whales, and dolphins were lighter on their bellies. It was because when you looked up toward the surface, everything was illuminated and light. When you looked down, everything was dark.

The water around them continued to darken and take on shades of black and blue. The sea people could still see well enough, though they usually reserved work that needed more detail for light hours. Honor had heard of sea people who lived in deeper waters, where it was dark all the time. It sounded like a sad way to live. The rhythm of light and dark added a structure to her life that she liked.

The Eldest waved her arm, pearl bracelets glimmering in the fading light as she did so. Slowly everyone stopped their chatter and turned to look at her. As the leader of the group, when she called for attention she usually got it.

The Eldest had the same coloring and markings as the rest of them, but she wore signs of age as well. Several scars littered her body, evidence of a life lived hard and long. Her scales had dulled over the years and had lost the sheen of youth. Clouds hung in her black eyes, making Honor wonder how well she could actually see. Nothing in the shoal seemed to get past her, so it must be more than the look of her eyes gave away.

Would anyone like to share tonight? she motioned to the group with slow but firm movements. Every night began the same. This was the time for reporting news or any other information of general interest. When the important things were out of the way it would be time for more stories and dances.

Honor was secretly working on a story, but she wasn't finished with it yet. She envisioned herself surrounded by the entire shoal as she waved her arms and spun her tale. Shimmer would be so pleased and proud. The ending still eluded her, though. She also needed practice at the elaborate, highly stylized signs traditionally used for dramatic stories. Their everyday language was faster and simpler.

The Travelers are close by, one of the older men signed, giving a flick of his tail to rise himself so everyone could see. They sent one of their fry ahead to let us know they should arrive sometime tomorrow. A stirring rippled through the crowd. The Travelers were a nomadic group who stopped in their territory irregularly, and brought news and goods from distant parts of the ocean. They were always welcome in Honor's shoal, and their arrival would be a special occasion.

The Eldest waved her arms again for everyone's attention. This is excellent news. Who will take care of our guests?

As the adults began assigning responsibilities, Bravery elbowed Honor in the ribs. So, do you think that handsome Traveler will be back? He wiggled his fingers to show he was teasing.

I don't know, but if he is I'll be sure to let him know you want to see him, Honor shot back as Shimmer made clicking noises to show her amusement. The last time the travelers had passed through one of the young men had taken a fancy to her, or at least Bravery thought so. Even if it was true, it was all in fun. Honor would never leave her shoal, and she was sure that he would never give up his nomadic lifestyle for her.

Shimmer suddenly jerked, dropping her dinner and the stone knife had been using to slice her fish into bite size pieces. A thin, red cut stretched from the the middle of her palm down to her wrist. Shimmer waved uninjured hand nonsensically and winced with the pain.

One of the nearby adults, an older woman named Shell, took her hand to examine the cut. Caring for the fry was the job of every shoal member.

That looks deep. You need to go see Coral and have her treat that. Shell dropped her hand.

The Sea Witch? Shimmer replied with wide black eyes. The Sea Witch acted as the fry's bogeyman, the monster lurking quietly on the edges of their lives. Stories circulated that she caused illnesses and crop failure, and more recent stories had her enslaving and eating fry. Never mind that none of them had ever actually gone missing.

That's a cruel thing to say about someone who has led such a hard life, Shell scolded, shaking her head at the the fry's insensitivity. Be nice to her. She's actually a very interesting person.

I'll go with you, Honor said, feeling guilty because she and Bravery had told Shimmer most of the gruesome Sea Witch tales.

Don't worry, the Sea Witch won't eat you if everyone knows that's where you went, Bravery gave a reassuring flutter of his hands. Honor gave him a gentle smack on the back of the head. What?

We'll be back soon, Honor waved to them as she started out. If she hurried she might be able to miss all of the boring adult stuff and be back in time for more fun and story telling.

******

What do you think Honor and Shimmer will find when they visit the Sea Witch?

Cover image taken from Morguefile (https://morguefile.com/p/690291) and edited by me.

Image at the beginning of the chapter taken from Morguefile (http://mrg.bz/09po9E)