estdeus_innobis | (no subject)

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Dream.

There is a great sea. The sky is grey, the water green, and the seafoam is the flecked white of milk on the turn. The shore is stone and shingle, and the cliffs are bone-shades. Will you wake on the little fishing boat that rides the waves, wary of great beasts that lurk beneath the surface, or on the cold and stony shore? Or perhaps as some watery thing yourself, breathing in water as cold as ice and with a salt-iron taste like blood?

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I have to choke back a scream when something surfaces. But it's a seal, and I don't think they eat people. Do they? This one brushes round me, and looks at me enquiringly, as if it wants me to do something. I remember old stories of sailors saved by dolphins, and so I take a deep breath and hook my arm around it.

There's a girl. Gets th'idea pretty quick, slides'er arm 'round m'neck an' holds on, sinkin'er fingers inta m'fur. Swim hard, m'tail powerin' us t'wards th'shore. S'hard t'remember not t'dive...stayin' so close t'th'surface feels wrong t'me. But she don't have th'lungs I do, so I stay near th'top, th'air stirrin' th'silver fur on m'back. Shore's gettin' steadily close. I c'n damned fast, I can.

I don't know why the seal's helping me, but I'm not going to complain. It moves so fast that I hardly have time to feel cold before we're coming up on the shore. I flop onto the stony beach and cough, and look around at the seal.

"Thank you," I say. "I wish I had something to give you." I look along the shore and see a small huddle of people, some standing in the water, some standing on the pebbles. "I wonder where I am."

Gravel 'n sand grate 'gainst m'belly, an' flight's gone; 'm left awkwardly humpin' m'self up th'beach. This body's not built fer th'land; it flops 'n slaps 'n waddles, an' th'light blurs 'n stings m'eyes. But th'girl's made ferris land, an' she walks tall'n sure up th'beach. "Thank you. I wish I had something to give you." She says t'me. An' she looks down th'shore. I can't really see much b'yond a few shadows, but I can smell'em; more people, more warm bodies.

Well. Consider what t'do, whether t'roll back inta th'waves, 're figure out what's happ'nin'....but I can't. Not wittis body.

Can't 'splain how I know t'do what I do, but I do. Roll on th'gravel, feel th'fine stones grind inta m'skin. Rool an' twist, rub m'self hard 'gainst a jagged stone, like I seen sheddin' snakes do'n th'bush. An' fin'lly, fin'lly I feel th'skin split 'long th'back'a m'neck. Rolls off like an' ol' shirt, but't feels like jes' what't's. I shriek's I flay m'self, m'new skin shiny wit' blood an' fat, m'eyes blinded by th'sun. An'I roll onta m'back an'I pant, suckin' air inta lungs't feel suddenly so much small, an' m'sealskin tangles 'round m'ankles.

The seal starts rolling around, very oddly, and then -

"Oh, for goodness' sake," I say, more annoyed than shocked. "How many people are going to skin themselves today?" I squeeze water out of my dress and reach for the bread knife that's strapped to my garter, but a woman comes out of the seal, not something worse. I look at her warily. "Are you alright?" I say, because it sounded painful, what she did.

"Oh, for goodness' sake," she snaps, "How many people are going to skin themselves today?"

"Glad't's routine fer you," I says, still breathin' hard. "Wuz my first time." Least's far's I c'n remember. I kick th'skin 'way from m'feet. See't's come way perfect, like if'n't wuz taken off witta knife rather'n by rubbin'.

"Are you alright?"

"Think so," I says. Feel slimy'n dirty from th'fat'n blood, an' th'air's bloody cold wit' jest'is thin human skin 'tween me'n it. But feel good, otherwise. Pain's gone. Take stock'a m'self. Don't quite...look th'way she duz. Fingers'n toes gotta thin skin'a webbin' stretchin' 'tween'em. An'I c'n feel't m'teeth ain't changed; still sharp 'n jagged'n m'mouth. But overall seem healthy 'nough. I stand, a li'l wobbly, an' pick m'sealskin up. "So where'd you come from, anyway?"

I realise she's not quite a person when she speaks. Her teeth are sharp as a fish's. But she doesn't seem like the wolf.

"I came from the forest," I say. "On a wind summoned by a wolf that used to be a little girl." I raise my eyebrows. "It's been a strange sort of day," I conclude. "Are you a woman disguised as a seal or the other way around? And thank you for saving me," I add. "It would be silly to have managed to escape a hungry wolf only to be drowned."

"I came from the forest," th'blonde girl tells me. "On a wind summoned by a wolf that used to be a little girl. It's been a strange sort of day." I nod. Makes perfect sense t'me, all thin's considered. "Are you a woman disguised as a seal or the other way around? And thank you for saving me. It would be silly to have managed to escape a hungry wolf only to be drowned."

"Yer welcome," I nod. "An' t'answer yer question...I think'm both. An' neither." Shake m'head. "Best answer I c'n give, fer right now." Consider m'sealskin ferra minute, an'en wrap't snug 'round m'waist. I ain't gonna be no fisherman's wife.

I nod at what she says.

"I'm Kate," I say. "Do you have a name?" I watch her wrap her seal skin round her, and it reminds me how cold I am. "I wonder if those people know if there's a village nearby," I say, looking down the shore. "Maybe they know where we are. Do you want to come with me to ask them?"

"I'm Kate. Do you have a name?"

"Syl," I says after a minute. Know'it like I knew t'peel off m'skin. "Good t'meet ya, Kate." See'er eyes wand'rin' over t'a group'a people, standin't th'water's edge.

"I wonder if those people know if there's a village nearby. Maybe they know where we are. Do you want to come with me to ask them?"

I hes'tate a minute, an'en nod. 'ere's an instinct't makes me nervous, 't makes me check t'be sure't m'skin's wrapped tight, 'at't can't be pulled 'way're torn. But I do wanna know what's goin' on, where we are...an' why I got th'feelin' we's s'posed t'be doin' somethin'.

"Yeah." I says. "Le's go see what's up."

"Good to meet you too," I say, and we walk (http://community.livejournal.com/estdeus_innobis/405311.html?thread=10279231#t10279231).

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