Shipwreck Souls

by Kendra Moreno

  A hammerhead shark cut through the water, swimming around me as a few more appeared behind it. I had always loved sharks and the way they moved, with their elegance and natural instincts. I swished my tail slowly so not to spook them. They knocked into me a few times with their heads, but obviously decided I was not a threat. Laughing and dancing underwater I played with the sharks, we had races and play fights. Some saw sharks as killers, but in fact they only attack when provoked or were accused based on mistaken identity. I knew one siren who bore the bite mark of a Megalodon shark on his tail. He had thought he was so strong and clever, chasing the prehistoric creature through the cool waters, until it had turned and reminded him why we left that majestic beast alone.

  I didn’t know how long I played, but eventually my responsibilities and thoughts interrupted me, and with a dejected sigh I kissed them goodbye and rose to the surface. I was here for a reason, after all. I might not want this life, but it didn’t mean I could ignore it.

  Water ran down my face as my head broke the surface, and I allowed nothing but my eyes to hover over the water, my tail and fins swishing underneath to keep me upright. A horn cut through the air, sending the birds screeching as they flew from the water. With wide eyes, I turned to see a monstrous ship not five feet away, blundering through the water and leaving its fumes and waste behind. Ducking, I froze until I realised no one could see me. I frowned as my eyes wandered over its form.

  It was harshly put together, not the beautiful sleek things I had been told stories of or glimpsed on the few times I came here. No, this ship was made of mismatched metal and wood. The hull gleamed in the sun, while other parts of it were dull and tarnished. It looked like someone had thrown everything they could find together in the hopes of making a ship.

  It was surprising it could even float, never mind run. Smoke chugged into the air and I heard the engines rumbling. The beast passed me quickly, a speedy ship even in its disrepair, and only then did I remember that I was to sink a ship. I had been too entranced, too caught up in my curiosity to even consider it, trying to catch a glimpse of the humans I knew would be aboard.

  Shaking my head, I decided to follow it. Surely it would lead me to civilisation or more ships? Swimming near it, but not close enough to be spotted, I let myself absorb the sight of the man-made beast. The words “New Beginnings” were crudely painted along the stern, the white standing out against the wood.

  Frowning hard, I tried to figure out which time period I had landed in. My father had told me stories of the wooden ships man used to sail, and even the metal and carbon ones developed later on, but this one was a mix of both and yet neither. As if they threw together whatever they could and escaped to the water. A flag hung halfway down from the main mast, and a small crow’s nest held on with ropes, but I couldn’t see much more than that. I was too low in the water and the side of the ship was too high to peer over. Settling in, I swam behind it, happily letting my curiosity lead me, telling myself the whole time that I would sink it later.

  I didn’t know how long I followed it for before it slowed down. Swimming around it to clear my line of sight, I spotted the port in the distance, but it looked strange. I bobbed under the water in shock then couldn’t help but speed up, swimming past the ship until I was before the port—no, not port. Town.

  There, in the water, was a floating town bustling with people. Houses and shacks littered the town. Walkways, with swinging ropes, swung in the wind. There was a port cut into one side of the town with a long, wooden walkway where ships were tied up, waiting like quiet beasts for their masters. Buildings, made of the same mismatched material as the ship rose into the sky, almost blotting out the sun. So many buildings of different shapes and sizes were crammed onto a town-sized structure, which floated in the middle of the ocean. Nothing but blue sea stretches on either side, the town interrupting the ocean.

  I had never heard of this. Finding a rock far enough away where the humans wouldn’t spot me, I clambered on and reclined back, with my tail swishing into the water still as I watched. The sun beat down on me as I observed the comings and goings, trying to figure out what I was even watching.

  I stayed there all day as ships came and went from the port. All with different flags and names, seeming to drop off deliveries of food, weapons, and even clothing. I studied the town more intently too, though I was too far away to make out the writing on the buildings, but there, rising from the middle of the town, was a spire with a flag waving in the wind.

  Never, in all the history of the world that we were taught as children, had I seen such a flag. Bright white, the colour of pearls at the bottom of the ocean, with what looked like three ships facing away from each other, their masts warped and twisted around one another. A unity, but of what?

  It was what I imagined a human settlement to look like, but why here on the water? I don’t know how they even managed it, let alone the reasons why. Why did they leave the safety of land?

  My curiosity pulled me, begging me to explore. So, with a tiny grin, keeping my lips shut even now to hide my fangs, I plunged back into the water. I dove deep to avoid any ships as the sun started to set, the hot orb burning a path towards the edge of the horizon before setting into the water, and letting the moon and stars rise. Waiting for the last boat to anchor, I swam around the town to pass the time. I even ventured underneath. Metal chains hung from below and I followed them down where they anchored the town into the bottom of the ocean.

  Swimming to the surface, I searched until I found what appeared to be a man-made beach. Rocks and sand mixed together, washing into a step into the ocean. I swam closer and stood when the water reached my hips, holding my hands out to steady myself, but my tail was still apparent. Looking around for humans, I spotted none, so I made my way to land. Droplets clung to my scales as I pulled myself from the water, and the transition took over me. I had only done this once or twice before, when I was younger.

  It was not a painful transition, but if done too many times in a row it exhausted you. We could choose whether to appear in human form in what they called clothing, but I never understood that or was able to really master it, so I chose to appear naked instead.

  As the tingling of the magic faded away, I looked down and wiggled my new appendages in the sand. Feet were weird, they were like hands but at the end of two sticks that humans called legs. It made so much more sense with a tail, but I couldn’t stand out so feet it was. Getting up on unsteady legs, I groaned out loud as I remembered how hard it was to walk on these silly, wobbly muscles. Not at all as strong as the fins and tail I had when I was in the water, so I made my way slowly across the beach, falling every so often like a newborn fish learning to swim.

  When I reached the edge of the sand I encountered another issue—steps. Gripping the wooden beam running parallel to the death traps, I used my arms as I dragged myself up, landing at the top out of breath and sweaty. Sweating sucks, humans lose all their water that way. No wonder they were always drinking more.

  I laid on the stone and caught my breath before dragging myself back to my feet, stronger now. Practice made perfect after all, even if these bodies were soft and easy to injure. They didn’t have scales to protect them from attacks, or fins and a tail to injure predators with. They didn’t even have magic. Strange.

  Music drifted to me on the air, the smell of the ocean and sound of crashing waves falling behind, and mixing with laughter and language of the humans. Following the sound, I stumbled in its direction through some kind of passage between the buildings. The darkness was cold and made me wrap my arms around myself to fight off the chill as useless bubbles rose on my human flesh—goosebumps, I heard them called. The buildings were so close that I had to squeeze past sometimes. Trailing my hand on their cold walls as I walked, I marveled at the construction under my fingertips. It really was quite brilliant. A floating city... who would have thought?

  A door smashed open in front of me, sending me sprawling onto the cold floor as a plump
woman pushed out and threw something against the opposite wall. With a satisfied nod she turned and spotted me laying there, and a bewildered look entered her brown eyes before they rounded, and her cheeks turned the colour of coral.

  “My god, child, you are naked as the day you were born! Quickly, get in here, let me make you some hot tea and find you something to wear.” She grabbed me and pulled me inside the building. I was pulled into an artificially lit room. I didn’t get time to look around before the plump woman yanked out a wooden stool and shoved me onto it. Watching the human curiously, I watched her bustle around her home. We were in some kind of human feeding area and the smell of food permeated the air. Counters covered one side, bracketing a black appliance where the smell was coming from. A fire hid in one corner and this massive wooden table took up most of the room. I didn’t get too much time to look around before she turned and threw a pile of material at me.

  “Well, go on, don’t just stare! Get dressed before my boys get back and see your tits hanging in the air,” she huffed, her ample chest heaving.

  Frowning, I got to my feet and held up the red material, crinkling my nose at the musty smell. I twisted it from side to side and wondered what to do with it before she sighed and rushed over.

  “Here, let me help you.” She grabbed the dress and spun me, yanking my arms in the air. “Bloody child, acts like she has never seen a dress before,” she murmured as she pulled the suffocating material over my head and draped it across my body.

  What was the humans’ obsession with coverings? Was it to keep them warm?

  “Mam! We’re home!” came a female voice from farther in the home. Then a young girl with bright, sun-coloured hair and deep, ocean eyes gawked at me from an opening in the wall of the room. A young boy, the spitting image of her, did the same from her side.

  “Hello, I’m Lorelai.” Lifting my hand I greeted them like we do, only for the material the woman covered me with to slip, causing the boy to yelp and turn so quickly he fell, while the girl stared at me, her face turning red. I wondered if that was a defense mechanism? Stepping back warily, in case she decided to attack, I tilted my head. I followed her gaze and saw that my human breast had flopped from the coverings and was flashing the room, my nipple hard from the cold and pointing at her.

  “Oops.” I smiled, tucking the wayward tit back in as she watched me.

  Chapter Two

  Following the young boy’s lead, whose name I learned was Pen, I raised the spoon to my mouth and sipped the watery food placed before me. After the whole free tit thing, it seemed to break whatever tension they had felt, and after they finished laughing, they invited me to eat with them.

  I found myself watching their interactions, wanting to learn everything about them and the humans in this town. It was my first up close and personal look. I watched the mother fuss over her kids, ask about their day, and love them. Very similar to me and my sisters, but not so much my father. He’s a loving man, but with his standing he couldn’t afford to be seen as weak. These humans didn’t seem to share those concerns, and they were free with their love and even included me inside of it.

  “What is this place?” I blurted out, and they all looked at me in various states of confusion.

  “Our home?” Pen joked, and I stuck my tongue out at him, making him laugh.

  “Are you talking about The Kingdoms, dear?” Jane, or Mama, as she told me to call her, asked. She offered me a fond smile and pushed some more bread towards me. I soon learned that she thought I was too skinny, and I think she took it upon herself to fatten me up...unless she was trying to fatten me to kill and eat me? Do humans do that? I stared at her warily, but when she just smiled and went back to eating I slowly relaxed.

  I nodded before sipping from my spoon, and she frowned. “I thought you were an out-of-towner, did you catch a ride on one of the supply ships?”

  Unsure what to say I nodded again, and she smiled softly at me. “Whatever you are running from, dear, you are safe here,” she promised, leaning over and squeezing my hand that lay on the table.

  “Thank you. The Kingdoms?” I asked, sounding out the words.

  Pen laughed again and Jane threw him a narrowed eyed warning before turning back to me. “You must be from land?” she replied, and I just nodded again, because really, what else could I do? Oh no, tiny plump human lady, I lived in the ocean because I was a siren and I came to sink your ships and kill your men. Somehow, I didn’t think that would go over well.

  “The Kingdoms broke off about fifty years ago from the landlocked nations. Too much poverty, famine, and rules for the founders.” She laughed at the last part, and I found myself entranced by her story. “So they took to the sea like pirates of the old tales and built towns out here, cities, and even countries. Supply ships go between freemen, which is what you landers call us. We still trade with some landlocked places of course, they need us for oil and food, and we need them for water and trade, but other than that the freedom out here suits us. There is more room, less crime, and everyone is welcome, no matter their past.” She eyed me then, trying to make a point, and I nodded again letting her know I understood her meaning.

  “Basically, we are pirates,” Pen concluded, rolling his eyes before going back to eating his broth and I laughed.

  Row, Jane’s oldest child and the girl from earlier, giggled before dropping her eyes back to her broth. “Mam, I want to go check out the celebrations later.”

  Jane smiled with love at her daughter and my heart punched in my chest. How many times had my father gave me that exact same look? “Of course, take Pen with you and be back before your curfew.” Turning, she smiled brightly at me and said, “Lorelai, why don’t you join them?”

  The spoon was raised halfway to my mouth, so I froze as I squinted my eyes at her in confusion. “What are you celebrating?”

  They all laughed again—I seemed to have that effect on this family—as Pen rolled his eyes, looking at me with an expression filled with wisdom far past his age. “Really Lor, you need a history lesson,” he declared, pushing his now empty bowl to the middle of the table and folding his hands in its place as he gave me a patient look.

  Pen and Row dragged me from the house soon after dinner. Jane had given me shoes and a motherly hug, which had me burying my nose in her hair because I towered over the strong woman. She kissed us all on the cheek before pushing us out the door with a stern reminder to be good and be back before curfew. We made our way to the center of town quickly, following the music.

  "What are they celebrating?" I shouted, clapping along to the music as Pen and Row looked over at me between laughing and joking with the music and dancers.

  "A successful hunt. Tomorrow they will go again, it's a long journey and not all ships make it, but they came back from this one with good riches and food," Pen answered, his voice lecturing me before a childish giggle slipped from his lips when a woman came up, swung him around, and dropped him back to the floor before joining in with the dance.

  We were in the square in the middle of the floating city. Pen and Row dragged me through the streets, their excited chatter spurring me on until we stumbled into the celebration, leaving me wide-eyed and shocked. Humans have such beauty. Music drifted in the air from speakers attached to posts surrounding the square, each with lights strung to the next, creating a close and cozy atmosphere. The music was fast with foreign sounding singing, but the humans in the square didn’t care. They moved with ease and care, flowing to the melody.

  Tables stood scattered around the edge with people drinking and socializing, and in the middle, men and women of all ages danced and sung. They spun in circles, weaving to the music as they looked at each other, their faces open and filled with joy as the moon shone down on them. Here, in the middle of the ocean, they found solace—a bunch of outcasts, rule breakers, and nobodies—and together they created a new life, a new world, and it was beautiful.

  A loud booming laugh at a nearby table drew my attention away fr
om the dancing, and when my eyes landed on him it was like all the air was sucked from my lungs, like I was trapped in a riptide not knowing which way was up or down.

  He didn't look like the men of our people—they were regal, and all sharp bones and fluidity. No, this man was pure and utterly savage, and alive with emotion. He wore them on his face for all to see. A long, brown beard covered his chin and cheeks, and his wavy brown hair blended into it. A few blond highlights speckled through his locks like the sun just couldn’t help itself. As he stroked the coarse hair, he threw back his head and laughed again, the sound almost as beautiful as a siren's song. His green eyes sparkled, even from here, as his plump lips wrapped around a bottle when he took a drag before dropping it back to the table he was reclined behind.

  His white shirt was unbuttoned and floating in the wind, showing me his tanned, bare skin. Muscle upon ropes of muscle covered him. With lines and indents I had never seen before and there, through his right nipple, was what looked to be a fish hook. That must have hurt, I mused. He crossed one leg over the other as he sat back, balancing the chair on two legs. He watched the crowd like he owned them, like they were all his people and he was the leader. Dominance and power wafted from him like the sweetest song.

  My eyes were dragged to the other occupants of the table as if by fate. To his left was a large dark-skinned man, his skin the same color of my favorite rocks at the bottom of the sea. His head was shaved silky smooth, and I imagined it felt like the silk of the waves crashing to shore. Hanging haphazardly across his head was a red cloth, a bandana, with a piece of black string hanging down with a silver charm of some kind at the end. His face was all angles. Square and strong like the man himself. His eyes were a deep brown and filled with mirth as he watched the dancing. His lips quirked up at the side and his shoulders were huge, visibly pulling at his shirt. Everything about that man was massive, big enough to make even me feel dainty.