She stands on the clifftops, letting the wind whip her hair and her skirts, her eyes watching the far distant horizon and the storm brewing on edges. Hundreds of years ago it would have been seen as a blessing, a time when lanterns could be lit on the beach and the fog and ships searching for port would navigate their way toward it, like an angler’s light, only to find themselves wrecked on the shoals. The groaning of wood, the screams of men, even the blood of broken limbs would have called out to the slews in droves.
Sometimes, she misses the old days.
Now the humans had technology to account for most of Kun’s will, that saved them from predation but made them more dangerous than before. Which means they put her in more danger than before. And there’s something on the chill breath of wind that doesn’t sit well. That has drawn her out of her home and brought her to the water’s edge, instilling her with something she can’t quite sink her teeth into.
When she reaches the highest part of the cliff, she finds the rock where a bag lays, tied securely. A glance around assures her she’s alone and she makes short work of divesting herself of her slippers, her dress, the sweater covering her arms. Her petite frame is tanned from hours under the Great Wound, and from the tainted blood she carries.
She’s a Betweener.
And that is never forgiven or forgotten.
She catches the whiff of scent again and shakes her head. She hasn’t a choice has she? For whatever her sins are, real or imagined, Kun’s Law stands and so she steps off the cliff edge. There’s no fear or joy in the plummet. There’s no pain as her bones twist and shift under her skin in terrifyingly horrific ways until at long last she’s not a woman.
Her body drops below the surface of Sea’s embrace and fills her with renewed purpose. Her mighty tail thrashes, gives her impetus to swim fast as she can toward the grotto.
