[FULL KELS SERIES] When Ande wakes up on the bottom of the ocean with a fish's tail, she's not sure what she did wrong. Getting sacrificed by her island is a likely bet, but why---and why her---is a mystery.
Out of her depth in an unfamiliar world...
I stay still enough to drive my brain crazy with the contrast of my whirling thoughts. The reddish-tailed Kel is on watch, throwing the occasional glance back at her companion. He and the Sandsinger Kel are poised at some distance to one another, despite their casual stances. I get the sense neither is as relaxed as they're pretending to be.
Whoever these two are, they're not Sami, at least. The teal-tailed Kel floats rock-like in the water, nodding occasionally as the Sandsinger speaks. It's his own language, I think, or at least the Shalda one. Now and then, teal-tail asks a question, making him look mildly annoyed. Like he's doing them a favor just by being here. Does Makeba know about this?
No, that's the wrong question. I don't trust Makeba. Not after hearing her opinions of a war on the surface, and seeing how pleased she is at the prospect. I still want to know if she's aware that a member of her group is talking to a pair of Karu-Kels with the builds of fighters, but what I really want to know is whether Keshko and Ruka are aware of the same. Are the Sandsingers and the local Karu allied? Or is this island Kel acting alone? Why?
I wish these two were signing. I wish I could make any sense whatsoever of the vibrations of speech, though I long ago gave up on that. I'm good with languages, I think, but even the clearest vibration patterns are too garbled to offer more information than the passing familiarity of a language or a song.
I focus instead on body language. The bigger Karu-Kel is ready to strike or swim or something at the slightest provocation, and his companion isn't any more relaxed. But both are also uneasy. Is it because they're so far from their natural territory, out here among the rock pillars? Are they so far at all? If the Sami and Karu fight over seamounts, there could well be one somewhere nearby.
Still, their blatant discomfort is hard to ignore. They also look tough, but I'm pretty sure I could outswim either without breaking a sweat. Which is good, because even as I watch, the teal-tailed Kel plucks what looks like a sea urchin from beside him with his bare hands, and knocks it against the rocks until its spines are gone. He cracks it and fishes out the meat while listening to whatever the island Kel is saying now.
There's nothing I can do but watch. The trio eventually wrap up the exchange, and the two Kels depart with little formality. If nothing confirmed their Karu heritage before now, this does. I've never seen any pair of Shalda-Kels part ways without some kind of goodbye ritual, and the terse cordiality these two show falls about as far from that as open hostility. I watch them retreat, their swimming as slow as I would have expected. Faster than I would have assumed half a moon ago, but I've seen enough stocky Kels by now to recognize the speed boost afforded by all that muscle.
The island Kel watches until they're out of sight, then turns away. I sink back behind the rocks as his gaze roams the whole area, probably checking for eavesdroppers exactly like me. He seems satisfied, though, and swims back towards the Sandsinger camp. He's not making any attempt to hide.
I wait until he's well and truly gone before moving. Taiki is still asleep when I return to our crevice. Do I tell him about this? I can't... not unless he wakes up in the present rather than ten-odd years ago. Uneasiness nagging at me like the nibbles of a parasite I can't remove, I settle back down on the rocks and toss and turn my way back to exhaustion.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
