Malakite chewed his lower lip nervously as he and the ten other males clustered together outside the jetty. The water that morning was choppy and gray. Whitecaps rose and fell with the swelling surf and a few lonely gulls cried out from the rocky atolls further from the coast. Overhead the sky was a cloudless pale pink. The males were restless and they jostled one another with aimless shows of strength. Some of the larger bulls snapped and hissed at their counterparts as they bullied their way to a better vantage point. Malakite kept himself toward the back of the group. He had neither the strength nor the patience to enter into the anxious posturing of the others. He was also too preoccupied by thoughts of what was yet to come.
“Mala, you won’t get to show yourself to the best ones if you don’t get closer!” Tareek called to him.
“They’re coming!” Someone else shouted. The grouping of males reached a frenzied pitch and began to thrash about in the water, fighting one another to get as close to the spiky outcroppings of the jetty as they dared. A cry rose up from somewhere on the other side of the jetty wall. It was a lonely wail that grew in volume and tone. For a few moments the hoard of bulls stilled. They canted their heads, listening to the call. It was soon joined by other voices, ten in all. Then the males erupted furiously, swimming and kicking. They let out sharp barks and cries in response to the chorus from across the wall. Even Malachite was swept into the excitement. His instincts flared bright and steely in his chest as he struggled forward, worming through the broiling bodies of his brothers. He yipped sharply as he clambered to the wall. Foam and spray danced into the air as the males tumbled.
“There!” It was the largest of them, Javik, who cried out.
The watery battle quieted once more as all the males stopped to look. The first female rose into view as she climbed to the top of the jetty. Even the sound of the gulls seemed to cease as she appeared. For many of the males, including Malakite, she was the first female any of them had seen since they had been taken from their mothers. Malakite’s eyes widened at the sight of her. He felt his heart race and his lower gills flex to draw in more water.
The female stood motionless on a flat stone of the wall. She stared impassively at the mass of bulls as the remaining females appeared and flanked alongside her. Malakite watched each female appear with awe until one in particular captured his attention. His tail thrashed viciously at the sight of her. She towered above the rest of them. Her arms were nearly the same size as Javik’s. Malakite had seen few of his own brothers who matched her physique. His let out a shuddering hiss without meaning to and her gaze suddenly fell on him. A strange heat coursed through Malakite and he hissed louder, sluicing his tail through the foam. The other bulls responded in kind. They clacked their teeth and undulated through the choppy surf. The females watched indifferently for several minutes. They stood like statues on the jetty as the rambunctious males tussled and barked. Just when the energy of the group had reached its height, a single female made a sharp high call. Without a word, all the females dove off the jetty and into the water. Malakite whirled his body and submerged rapidly to follow. His tail flapped wildly as he caught the bubbly entry trail many females had left behind. There was only one he wanted to follow. She left a huge swath of bubbles in her wake and her speed was incredible. Malakite fought the push and pull of the shallow water and chased after her. Other males zipped around him in different directions, each one seeking out a female with a sense of urgency.
Not all who came that day would leave paired. For Malakite, it was the first time he had been allowed to attend the coupling. He was too inexperienced to know the shame of rejection. But he knew many other males within his brotherhood had tried and failed more than once to couple. They were the ones who sped so quickly through the water and wasted no time in battling past other bulls to show off their strength and agility.
Malakite felt a small measure of relief that no other males seemed to be pursuing the same female as he was. Though he had scuffled and scrapped with all of his brothers at one time or another, he had never fought with intent to truly harm. This time, the scent in the ocean was raw and carnal. He knew, if another bull engaged him, they would fight with every shred of their strength and show no mercy.
But whatever the males could do to him paled in comparison to what the females might do instead. Many males had scars from the coupling days of the past. There was no greater wrath and violence than that of the females.
A sudden cry of pain rang through the water as another male battled against a female. The scent of first blood blossomed in Malakite’s senses. His eyes blackened and he felt the dark change in the cries of his brothers and the females. The water churned with greater turmoil then ever before.
Fear, as much as instinct, ignited Malakite’s speed as he whipped through the water after the large female. He knew that his choice would prove to be more than a challenge. She was the largest and assuredly the strongest of them all and he, by contrast, the smallest and weakest. He felt an icy dread that her rejection would end in his being maimed or killed. But he felt the drive of his instincts stronger than his doubts. He wanted this female. Of the entire group, she was the only one that mattered.
It took time but he gained ground behind her. She was moving swiftly into the warmer, shallower waters closer to the beach at the very start of the jetty. Her pace was measured and quick, but Malakite began to suspect she wasn’t rushing. The strokes of her tail were long and elegant but not as hurried as his. He couldn’t sense any tension in her muscles or the heady rush he felt in his own heartbeat. Confused, Malakite shuddered his gills to send her a subtle message that she was being followed. The female stopped abruptly and turned with a look of complete surprise. Her eyes widened and for a moment she fixed a look on Malakite that made him feel utterly foolish. He slowed to a stop as well, too self-conscious to attack her out right.
“What are you doing?” She asked.
Malakite’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. How could she ask him that? “I…I’m pursuing you!” He sputtered.
Her expression grew incredulous, “What?” She nearly laughed.
“I’m pursuing you to mate!”
She truly did laugh then. Malakite was dumbfounded as the female arched backwards in the water laughing and clutching her middle as though he had told her the greatest joke of all time. He floated idly with a helpless look. “W…why are you laughing?”
She managed to calm down just enough to reply, “You’re pursuing ME to mate?”
“You don’t think there’s anything odd about that?”
Malakite stiffened at the implication, “You think I’m too small to battle you?” He hissed faintly, “I’m not afraid to take you on! You’re my choice, nothing will change that!”
The female’s eyebrows rose in surprise again, “You’re quite serious about this, aren’t you?”
“I am.” Malakite said with a curt nod.
She grinned at him, bearing her teeth suggestively, “Show me how serious you are.”
The invitation was equal parts seduction and threat.
Malakite didn’t wait. He burst forward to gather speed and attack her. But before he could land a blow a heavy force knocked him off course. He spun for a moment before drifting, dazed, over the sandy floor of the shallows. He shook himself and looked up to see a dark shape descending. He recognized it as Javik only a moment before the large bull collided with him, knocking him into sand. He felt the heavy crush of Javik’s jaws on his neck and screamed in pain as his gills were torn.
There was no time for Malakite to fight back before the older male had whipped him with his tail and sent him spinning several yards away. Blood clouded the water from where he had been bitten. He sank to the bottom and struggled to take in more water. The injury to his gills made it harder to breathe and for a few seconds white and black dots danced in his vision, painted over by the shafts of sunlight quivering through the water. Malakite saw Javik turn to face the female. He growled deep in his throat. Despite the pain in his neck and gills he surged upwards and sunk his teeth into Javik’s side. He wrenched viciously and felt a thrill of satisfaction when Javik roared and tried to bat him off. He detached quickly before kicking and jabbing his feet against Javik’s belly and thighs.
“Augh, damn you!” Javik punched him in his wounded gills. Malakite bit back a scream and kicked at Javik again. The blood swirling around the pair made it impossible for either to back down. They snapped and brawled, kicking up clouds of sand that mingled with the red water. The female drifted quietly a distance away, watching the spectacle.
Javik let out another howl of pain when one of Malakite’s claws pierced the soft skin near his groin. He snarled in rage as he twisted away from the younger male. “I’ll kill you, Malakite!” He bellowed.
Malakite beared his teeth and hissed in response. He would not allow Javik to take this female from him. Though he had never liked Javik much, Malakite had never seen him as an enemy. But while the female surveyed his performance, he felt a deep, writhing hatred of Javik twist to life in his gut. He charged forward and slammed against the older male. For several minutes Malakite could no longer tell which end was up. Any moment he sensed Javik was close enough he would bite and claw until he could no longer reach him. He whipped his tail up and around to find the other male when the silt and sand grew too thick in the water. But Javik was not idle. His advantage of physical strength and durability far outweighed Malakite’s. His attacks were brutal and in only minutes he had managed to pin Malakite against a small cluster of stones on the ocean floor. He pummeled and bit him then until Malakite’s vision began to darken. He felt less and less of Javik’s battering until the barest shred of his consciousness started to slip away. Shame and loss swept in where instinct could no longer fuel his resolve. If he could have escaped Javik he would have swam many miles away from his brothers to privately endure the pain of losing his chosen female. His mind succumbed to the darkness and Malakite felt nothing more.
Warm, dry air was the first thing Malakite awoke to. He must have washed ashore. He wheezed a little, finding the sensation of the air too thin and scratchy on his mouth and throat. Pain followed only a moment after and Malakite couldn’t stop himself from crying out. His neck and gills burned angrily from Javik’s bludgeoning and biting. He felt odd pains pulling at the joints in his arms. His chest felt like it was weighted down with hot stones. Something else frightened him when he realized what was amiss. Though his eyes were open, he could not see. There were foggy traces of light and darkness in his vision but nothing else.
“Augh…he blinded me.” Malakite rasped in despair.
“Hardly.” A voice above him said.
Malakite made a startled noise of surprise. He turned his head toward the source of the sound, “Wh…who are you?”
“I don’t know you.” Malakite replied.
“I tell you I don’t! You’re not among my brothers.”
The voice chuckled and Malakite felt his heart leap at the sound. Out of the ocean her voice sounded different. But the sound of her laughter was still the same.
“You…” Malakite breathed.
“That is my name, yes.” She sounded amused, “And what is it you are called?”
Her cool palm touched the side of his face, “I put a poultice on your injuries. Sadly, most of them are on your face. That is why you can’t see at the moment.”
Malakite breathed out a sigh of relief, “You are a merciful female to help me like this, shamed as I am. I’m surprised Javik allowed it.” A hint of bitterness crept into his voice.
She laughed again, a bit fuller than before, “I wouldn’t have that male.”
“What do you mean?” Malakite exclaimed.
“I wouldn’t have him. I was chosen already. And in turn, I made my choice.”
Malakite wanted to see her face, to make sure she wasn’t joking. He tried to sit upright but her hands kept him down, “Rest, Malakite. Your strength will come back and after that we will talk more.”
“Please just tell me….did you really choose me over him?”
“Of course.” There was a smile in her voice, “You showed me how serious you were.”
Malakite fumbled his hand forward, blindly seeking out hers. She took his gently and squeezed. He shivered faintly, “You…are my mate, Ven.”
“Well…I will be once you’ve healed up enough.” She laughed softly as Malakite blushed.
