For a long time, Pearlina hadn’t cared to know how it all worked, as long as it was over as soon as possible. She wasn’t looking forward to the long and tiresome swim to land, or to drowning a human, though she had imagined it more recently. She tried to think of the humans as large marine creatures. It was the only way for her to think about taking one of them under. Her skills at hunting weren’t all for naught.
Syrene glided next to Pearlina, but she kept her hands to herself. It was Pearlina who reached out. I’m scared.
Syrene squeezed back. I know. You will do well. You don’t need to be as quick as Tamami.
Pearlina wanted to hold on to Syrene and swim off, forever delaying her duty. She didn’t care about being the best. She hated the humans for creating the need for this tradition. If they weren’t so horrible, Daryah wouldn’t have had to die on her own. But rather than reaching for her sister, Pearlina’s hands floated by her sides.
Use it, Syrene said, stretching beyond their abilities, and speaking without touching. Only the strongest bonds allowed it. It also opened Pearlina’s mind to her sister, which Syrene tried never to do. Usually it was an unwelcome intrusion, but today, Pearlina didn’t mind. She’d take her sister’s advice and use their bond to communicate.
The rest of the troop had gathered. Their eyes were on Pearlina.
With her shoulders pushed back and Syrene’s words in her head, she flicked her tail and swam to Zimra.
Thick runes cut across her arms, shapes unreadable by anyone who didn’t understand the human language. Markings dotted Zimra’s face, and Pearlina barely recognized the female she had trained to hunt. As with others with her destiny, Zimra cut her light hair when her mother had died, and her duties were passed on. Runes marred the top of her head, reaching down her back, offering a full view of her transformation.
Zimra opened her arms wide, and Pearlina looked at her troop, several yards away. They were to witness the ceremony, but the intricate details of the transformation were an intimate affair. Zimra’s lips moved, curving around the strange and silent language. She held the corded necklace above Pearlina’s head before tying it around her neck. A pulse shifted within Pearlina’s chest as Zimra gripped her shoulders as tight as a shark’s jaws.
Pearlina’s mouth fell open, and a ripping sensation split her body. Her head fell back, and the surface called to her. The sharp pain moved to the lower half of her body. Darkness crept into the edges of her vision. Daryah’s screams from long ago echoed in her mind. Zimra’s grip loosened and Pearlina started to sink. She kicked out her tail – no – she no longer had one. The two legs under her were useless in moving her toward the surface. She tried to take hold of two limbs instead of one, but the legs didn’t give the same movement as her tail. She clawed against the water with her hands and tried to breathe. Instead, water flooded her mouth.
Pearlina pressed her lips together and touched her neck. The slits of her gills were no longer there. Instead, her fingers dragged against smooth skin.
Syrene appeared in front of her and nodded. I have you. Her voice was no longer as clear in Pearlina’s mind. It was as if water filled her mind as much as it had her mouth.
Another set of hands touched her. She turned to face Kaito, her betrothed. She hadn’t expected him. His dark eyes were always soft, and he was a keen hunter.
Once again, her surroundings blackened. She tried to push her thoughts to Syrene, but she couldn’t do much other than flail helplessly.
Holding her against them, Kaito and Syrene helped Pearlina to the surface. Her legs dragged under her, and she could barely hold on. They had strong grips as if they were both determined to keep her alive. None of the other females had mentioned the suffocating feeling of the inability to breathe. With all the advice they’d given, Pearlina wished she had known what to expect about the unpleasant experience of becoming human.
The moment her face touched reached the surface, she inhaled. Air filled her mouth and lungs as she drew in a breath. She choked and gagged on the water she’d swallowed, but she’d made it to the surface alive.
Syrene trailed her fingers along Pearlina’s face. Usually, only the betrothed pair raced to the surface together after the physical traditions of the ceremony were performed – this moment. The temporary farewell between betrothed was sacred.
Without any more words, Syrene disappeared under the surface. Pearlina stared at the water where her sister had gone.
Greetings, Kaito sent to her. His voice wasn’t as strong in her head either. Their communication wasn’t as crisp as it had been under water – just as it had been more difficult to understand Syrene. It was possible the human form couldn’t interpret their ways of speaking, or it was another aspect of the ceremony.
‘It’s you,’ she said. Her voice rang in her ears, and it sounded wrong and almost too loud. Pearlina tried to speak to him through their minds, but it was difficult.
He winced and brushed his fingers over her arm.
The sound of her clanking teeth filled her ears. Kaito’s arms wrapped around her. Warmth radiated from his skin and she sunk into his touch.
Among all the males, Kaito’s calm behavior most matched the racing energy within Pearlina. The choice was a good one. Pearlina wanted to return to a life with this male. She had noticed him in the past, but her preoccupation with the ceremony had prevented her from bothering to think about her own betrothal.
Another male might have tried to push Syrene away from helping Pearlina to the surface, but Kaito understood the bond between Pearlina and Syrene.
Yes, he was a favorable choice for her. Her arms wrapped around him, absorbing his warmth.
I was hoping for you, he sent. I believe in you. In us. Come back to me.
Pearlina arched her back and searched his eyes. She would come back to him. She had no intention of staying on land any longer than necessary.
‘I will,’ Pearlina said in a stronger voice.
Chapter 2
Kaito aided Pearlina to the rock wall. As the air bit at her skin, she hesitated about her journey toward land. The troop and Kaito relied on her to complete the ceremony. She wouldn’t fail. He squeezed her hand one more time before swimming away. From a distance, he turned and lifted his hand high above him before plunging under the surface.
The lapping of waves against the rock wall and the birds above her were the only sounds. For once in her life, she was truly alone.
Not for long.
As it was while hunting, she was most successful after creating a plan. The other females had shared their experiences, and all of them had one thing in common. She needed clothing to blend into the human surroundings. Rushing into the experience wouldn’t get her the result she needed. The first step was to appear as human as possible.
In the past, mistakes had happened for those who tried to complete the ceremony too quickly. Repercussions from the humans had threatened the troop. Human boats in search of the missing humans had traveled as far as their cove. The braver humans swam close to their home, forcing the troop to stay hidden until the threat retreated.
The sharp rocky surface cut at her hands. Her skin wasn’t as thick as it used to be. The temperature of the water bothered her more than before. The layer of thickness under her skin was gone, leaving a curve in her shape where her top half met her new legs. She climbed the rock wall and peered into the distance. The air was still cool, but she put it out of her mind. Her determination to return home to Kaito and Syrene overpowered her need to keep warm in this weak, human form.
Pearlina started over the top of the wall, the rocks continuing to dig into her skin. Red liquid seeped from her hands.
There was no use delaying her fate. So, she took one last glance over her shoulder and dove.
Swimming without her fin proved much more difficult than she’d ever thought, but it wasn’t impossible. She pressed her legs together and tried to move them as one. Her arms helped as she cupped her hands and used them in tandem with her new leg
s. She surfaced more times than she had in her life, drawing in gulps of air.
Each moment she stopped, the icy water continued to press against her body. When she swam, it didn’t bother her – though the land seemed as if it were moving further away. Kaito’s face in her mind stirred something inside of her to keep her going. She found it strange that her connection to the ocean wasn’t as strong as it had been before. Did humans feel the same way when they ventured into the water? It was almost uncomfortable and mixed with a sense of fear. In that way, her kind was superior to them. At least she had that advantage.
Closer to land, she saw the boats bobbing with the movement of the water. They were attached to wooden structures reaching up from the sea. She recalled the human word. Dock. She slowed her movements and kept most of her body under water. The boats were everywhere. They gave her the cover she needed to get to land.
No humans were nearby, but Pearlina scanned the area. This was their home, and she had to stay aware of her new surroundings. She swam to the closest dock, allowing it to conceal her. Her teeth clanked together as the structure blocked the sky light from warming her body. She tried to stop, but they moved on their own. The first part of her plan was to retrieve clothing for her new body. Then, the hunt for a human would begin.
The other females told Pearlina that clothing was inside the shelters of humans. Clothing would help her body adjust to the new temperature as soon as possible. Then, interact with a human. Get it to trust her. Lure it to the water. The sex of the human didn’t matter. All they needed was the sacrifice. A few hinted that the males were easier to bait.
Pearlina had no preference. She wanted to take the first one she found. Then the ceremony would be over. Returning home was the only thing on her mind so that she could prove herself to the troop. She thought of Syrene, wishing she still shared a connection with her sister. The human form muddled their communication. And anyway, it would never reach across the distance, even if she and Syrene were both in their natural forms.
Booming sounds crashed over her. She ducked under the water, expecting a human to appear and notice the naked figure in the water. Going back toward the rock wall wasn’t a choice. Her chest burned. She surfaced for air, careful to draw in a slow and quiet breath. No human grabbed her or revealed her location. When she realized she wasn’t in immediate danger, she waited. Pearlina could no longer feel her fingers or new toes. She needed to get out of the water, but with humans nearby and no clothing in sight, she wasn’t sure what to do.
Excited human voices pierced the air above her. It was only a matter of time before they spotted her. From her hiding spot, she peered at the nearest boat. Strange symbols etched the side. They looked like the markings on Zimra’s body.
Three humans appeared. A female and two males. They raced around the boat searching for something. One of them held a recognizable clear bottle with liquid inside.
When Pearlina was young, she scoured the cove for human items. At least she did until Daryah. Since then, she had wanted no connection with the humans. But at that moment, Pearlina moved toward the boat with rapt interest.
A high-pitched sound erupted from the female, and she flashed her teeth at one of the males. The other seemed unfazed and disinterested. Pearlina understood the feeling.
The female and one of the males, both strikingly dissimilar in looks, broke from the group and stood at Pearlina’s side of the boat. The female’s hair was pale, while the male’s was darker than the depths of the ocean. Pearlina held her place under the dock and watched them.
‘Where is my wallet?’ the second male asked, out of sight. ‘I swear it was here.’
‘Why do you need it anyway?’ the female asked. ‘Ben has money.’
‘Because, Carolina, I’m not going to rely on my brother,’ he answered.
‘Why not?’ the dark-haired male said. ‘You always do.’
‘Oh, burn!’ the female, Carolina, shrieked.
‘Found it,’ the other male said.
‘Why is it so warm today?’ Carolina asked. ‘It’s supposed to be fall.’
‘You complain about the weather no matter what time of year it is,’ the dark-haired male said before disappearing.
Carolina removed a layer from her body, revealing another set of coverings underneath.
Pearlina studied the human. To blend in, she needed the same. Her hands fisted at her sides as if she already held the clothing. Where else would she find coverings near the water? She wanted to walk on land in clothing so she wouldn’t get caught. If she could reach up to the boat and grab the covering from Carolina, she would be off to a good start. But that plan involved coming out from under the dock. If they noticed her, she’d have no way to explain herself. She wondered how the other Drywalkers retrieved clothing so quickly. Had she chosen the wrong part of the land to start her ceremony? Even if Pearlina came out from her hiding spot, she wasn’t tall enough to reach up to take it.
The opportunity slipped through her fingers as the female lifted it from the side, cradling it over her arm.
An object zipped by her face, landing in the water beside her.
Pearlina kicked away from it, creating a splash loud enough for the humans to hear. She ducked under the dock in time before the three humans glanced over the side of the craft. Her heart hammered in her chest, enough that she thought it would burst from under her skin. The world shifted on its axis. For the first time in her life, she was out of control.
‘Sorry about that,’ a female voice said. It wasn’t Carolina.
‘Mrs. Jones,’ one of the males said.
‘Hi, there!’ she chirped. ‘Harry, Ben, does your father know you’re on his boat?’
‘No, ma’am.’
‘I’m looking for my wallet,’ the hidden male said.
‘You’d better keep hold of that.’ Mrs. Jones let out a laugh that pierced Pearlina’s chest, pleasantly. It sounded like the song of the sky fliers. Birds. ‘Well, I’ll leave you all to it. I was going for a stroll when I accidentally kicked a rock.’
‘It’s a good thing you didn’t hit the side,’ the hidden male muttered.
‘It’s a good thing,’ Mrs. Jones repeated. ‘I might have had to explain to your father who I saw before damaging his boat.’
A long silence stretched on before several sets of the booming sounds thundered over Pearl’s head. Now she understood that the noise was humans walking above her.
The hidden male appeared. He shared the same pale hair as Carolina.
Syrene would never believe Pearlina encountered four humans within minutes of being near land. Yet, none of them were drowning in the water beside her.
Pearlina let out a breath. It was hard enough to breathe above water. She didn’t need her body to stop working before she completed her mission.
Slower movement shuffled above her, then stopped. A human groaned, and then Pearlina came face to face with a female one. The human’s upside-down lips curved. Her skin was dark, like Kaito’s, but not taut like his. Deep wrinkles creased the corners of her eyes and mouth.
If Pearlina ever came across a large predator, her reflexes always followed through for her. With one flick of her fin, she’d out-swim it in seconds. The same instinct came to her, but she still tried to keep afloat. Instead of withdrawing from the human, she shoved water away from her and kicked her useless legs.
‘It’s a good thing they didn’t see you,’ Mrs. Jones said. ‘Especially in your condition.’ She eyed Pearlina up and down.
Pearlina sunk below the surface but kept her head visible. Still, she couldn’t believe the water, which had given her comfort earlier, now only made a pit widen in her stomach.
‘You kids and your skinny-dipping,’ she said with a huff. ‘Though I’m not sure why you’re by the docks. I don’t want to pretend I know why you all do the things you do.’
Pearlina had no idea what to say, but she knew what she needed.
‘I need clothing,’ she said. The human way of spea
king still foreign to her but the words came to her as if they were always there, waiting for her to release them from her mouth.
‘You came here without clothes?’ Mrs. Jones asked.
Pearlina nodded.
The human made a sound that reminded Pearlina of a dolphin’s click.
‘Can you help me?’ If the human came close enough to the water, she could take her. But she was already exhausted and would never make it back to the cove today. This human didn’t feel right. She had kind eyes, like Daryah’s. She hated thinking of the banished one, but there was no helping it.
‘I can,’ Mrs. Jones said, pointing toward land. ‘I have a place over here. You follow me, and I’ll get you a coat. Then we can talk about how you ended up here.’
As much as Pearlina didn’t trust humans, she had no choice. She swam as silently as possible, keeping Mrs. Jones above her.
‘You wait here now,’ Mrs. Jones said, peering over the side of the dock once they reached the land. ‘I’ll be back in a jiffy.’
Pearlina grabbed a rock that led up to the land and stayed put. A cool breeze clung to her, and she dipped under the water again. She turned toward the cove in the far distance, and closed her eyes, hoping to go back soon. Once she was out of the water, she wouldn’t return without completing her duty to the troop.
Chapter 3
Mrs. Jones returned to the docks with a covering, like the outer layer Carolina wore. This one had fur around the edge. It wasn’t damp or matted but moved as the woman walked. Pearlina had never seen anything like it before.
The newness of the clothing interested her, but an opportunity neared, and she couldn’t ignore it. With one sharp movement, Pearlina could smash the human’s head against the rocks. If she grabbed Mrs. Jones and swam under, maybe she’d be home quicker than she thought. Though diving into the water with the human in tow would take forever. And she didn’t have the strength after her swim to shore. As much as she disliked the humans, she had to carry out her plan the first time without fail.
The Sisters' Secrets: Pearl Page 2