The girl sat at the edge of the shore, gazing out at the ocean and the faint structures of Nauusica across.
Stealth dipped her toes in the water, laden with rays. What unexplored worlds lay beneath? Holding her breath, she plunged her head below the surface and opened her eyes. An array of fauna, bright coral and schools of fish bloomed around her. A single starfish perched on a barnacle caught her attention. She gently pried it from the rocky terrain and held it in her hands. It was wild, stunningly beautiful. No blood flowed inside this living creature, yet it could regenerate a limb if it had to. Stealth placed the starfish back to its surface, marveling at its kind. Her hair felt freed in the water, submerged in the salt and brine.
It was not as though she did not know how to be free, but rather her childhood demanded something of vigilance from her, for the sake of survival. Stealth's father was a general in the army and everybody in the arena looked up to him. He provided for the family, but he was mostly out, and when he was with her, there was little talk beyond how she should brace herself against the cruel world. There were nights he would come in, beat and wordless, and they would sit side by side outside on the grass, overlooking the city. She loved those crevices of time with him, moments of intimacy she never knew she wanted as a child. Every now and then he would tell a story, and she held onto those words like gems, mined from the darkness. They were glimpses of a life before her, his own youth. Before life drew from him the brazenness so befitting to that colorful age. Most of the times though, she had to fend for herself.
At an early age she was already helping defend some of the inner gates. Her strength lay in her hiddenness, the inability of the enemy to detect her movements. She was the fastest in her age group to climb the pines and start fires.
Her mother left their family at an early age; she had not known the woman who brought her into this world. All that was left was a necklace that she wore, in hopes of one day finding her.
Curiosity got the best of her and she swam a little further out from shore.
The sun was already low on the horizon, painting the waters red-gold.
She knew she should return to land, but the tides kept calling her. A chill ran through her, that had nothing to do with the slight breeze now dancing above the waters. It wouldn't hurt to be a little late to the post tonight, surely?
She waded out once more, letting the evening waves draw in her like a lullaby she's known by heart. She swam past the reef from earlier, parting a grove of seaweed and found herself near a cave. There was something archaic about it, like a relic from another time shrouded in mist. Stealth felt the fear stifle her curiosity but with the bravado she mustered from invasions she steadied her body and propelled herself forward an inch, then a foot. She reached out to touch the mouth of the cave, clothed in moss.
"I would not if I were you." a calm and precise voice startled her from behind. A girl similar to her age, with eyes like wildfire appeared. (Trying to push myself to free write more; I have a bunch of short stories and drafts that are unfinished. It's strange because whenever anyone asks what my favorite books are the first ones that come to mind are always children's literature: A Wrinkle In Time, the Harry Potter series, Where The Red Fern Grows, Holes, etc. I've always been a little insecure about this knee-jerk response as someone with a BA in English, but lately I've been thinking perhaps it's because there is something so timeless in these stories we first come across, like the first bite of watermelon or feel of sunlight on your cheek. This short piece was inspired by a trip to an outdoor aquarium this past year, quite unlike anything I've written in a while. )
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