Between Waves and Clouds

20 - Seeking for happiness

The night was pretty cold, bathed in the sooth moonlight. Frost still had troubles to get used to this cycle of night and day, it was so short and different from what he had been used to his whole life. If, when darkness fell, everyone was going to bed, Frost was used to not mind the luminosity. Sleeping in daylight or going around in nightime, it was as easy as breathing. They had to do it this way in the frozen lands of the north, they couldn't just sleep for half a year and then never take rest for the other half.

So being awake at night was not a problem for him. And this night, he was pretty awake. After spending a couple hours laying on his bed, he had decided to get up and hea doutside. He had walked, lost in his thoughts, and had ended up on one of the isle's beaches, bellow the village, at the back of the isle, where he couldn't even see the lights from the village anymore.

He had not noticed getting this far and had not registered where he was now, so he jumped and backed when a wave tickled his feet. He mentally thanked himself for getting the habit of taking his totem everywhere with him. He also thanked the stars for the berkian isle to sit on non-salty water, thought he wasn't sure that was making any difference for the spell. He still knew he would have been in troubles if he ended up stuck on the beach without the possibility to get back to the village.

And at this point, he realised he didn't know, in the case he was turned back into a merman, if he could turn into a human once again. Edelweiss had said the magic was limited, but to what extend ? Was it a one-time spell or could he switch from one form to the other ? This was an important matter because he really missed swimming like he could before, and he missed even more his races with Baby Tooth. He really missed the teasing tiny beluga, he missed her a bit more every passing day.

It didn't even surprise him when he thought he heard her voice calling him out.

''Frost !''

The young merman jolted. Wait, what ? He hadn't imagine this ? He really heard this voice ! It sounded far and a bit muffled, but it definitively was...

He stood on his tip toes, trying to see even farther in the great lake surrounding the isle, et he manage to spot a white silhouette in the water, jumping in and out and twisting trying to get his attention. But... this couldn't be... ?

''Baby Tooth... ?'' He breathed.

''Frost ! Frost !''

A broad smile split up his face and he wanted to join her. But he didn't know how to swim with his legs yet, so he quickly looked around him in try to find a solution. She may have been small for a beluga, she still was too big and risked to run aground if she was getting too close to the beach.

He franticaly scanned his surroundings and spotted a sort of rock bay running towards the water. He waves his arms to Baby Tooth and gestured to this dock-like formation, himself rushing to it. If he had mastered the walking thing, running was still something really hazardous and clumbsy. Yet he was jsut too happy to see her again he didn't care that he fell three times before getting to the rocks. He was more careful once he stepped on it, it was kind of slippery. When he reach the end, where the water was deep enough for Baby Tooth to join him, he knelt and wrapped his arms around her. He coudln't care less about getting his clothes wet.

''Baby Tooth ! I thought I'd never see you again ! How... How come you're here ?''

She rubbed her head against him and pulled back, wagging her tail to pull it out of water. A shine caught the merman's attention, then he noticed she had some sort of jewelry tied to her tail, just above her fins. Well, jewelry was not quite the right word. It was only a small shell fixed with a rope.

''I asked Edelweiss for a totem, too !'' Baby Tooth chirped. ''It's the same as yours, but thanks to it I can swim in these warm waters as I please !''