Water Creatures and Flints

The sun shone down, leaving a dazzling light show across the waves as they rolled her closer to the only bit of land visible in the wide expanse.  Ness’s limbs seared as the ascend to the sandy shore returned her weight to her feet, wet cloak tugging her down.  Turning back she saw the billowing black clouds rising up into the sky - a ship no more.  A gurgle of a giggle escaped her as she soaked in her freedom, no longer a captive used for another's will.  She crawled  onto the shore, her limbs shaking, and lay down on her back.  

As her arms met the sand, a hard object protruding up poked her arm uncomfortably.  Shifting to pick it up, she pulled out the item, mostly buried in the sand.  As Ness looked at the fang as long as her forearm the feeling of spiders scurrying up her arms drew out goose bumps.  It had only been a few days since her last encounter with the sea serpents.  

Laying down on the sand, Ness recalled the first time she had been brought on the ship.  They had been paying handsomely for new recruits to travel the sea to the new land and work as miners or loggers.  The grips of poverty holding the city tight left her parents little choice but to send her off on the ship to keep their tables full.  She sat in the ship for several weeks packed in with others that had been deemed unfit to work on deck.  She closed her eyes as she recalled the screams that came after they started pulling people out.  

They started with the older folk but once they ran out they looked to the rest of the group, mainly women.  They came for her next and brought her up on deck.  The sudden sunlight stung her eyes and the sound of heavy waves flooded her ears.  They brought her to the edge and her eyes met the beasts she had only heard of in stories.  Giant serpents capable of crushing the ships that enter their waters, teeth as long as barrels.  As Ness watched them thrashing in the water the green and blue scales shimmered in the light.  

A scream rising up, Ness scanned down below for it’s source.  Once her eyes met a person in the water down below, she felt a force lift her up and over the edge she went. She hit the cold water hard, turning to find the surface.  As she fought to pull in a breath there was a flurry of movement around her.  Hands shaking as she worked them back and forth to keep herself afloat, she closed her eyes as if it could protect her and the only word that found a way to surface in her mind is all she held onto.  Stop, stop, stop, stop.

An eerie silence drew out.  The voices had hushed and the thrashing of water halted.  Ness opened her eyes to see the three serpents looking at her.  Their eyes were green orbs the size of her head with slits of black.  One slowly approached her.  Ness’s panic shot up and she said, “No!  G-G-Go away!”  The serpent stopped, still looking at her.  It looked at the ship that had halted to witness the events.  The serpent looked back at her, meeting her eyes.  Several frantic heartbeats later, it turned it’s head and the other two joined it.  The serpents retreated and submerged out of view, leaving a calm surface behind them.  The ship had stopped and sent out a boat to retrieve her.  From that point on Ness was bound to the ship.

On the shore, Ness sat up and her eyes tracing over the long grass whipping in the wind, a scattering of branches and a wall of trees further back, no footprints.  Her ears filled with the crashes of waves, the hum of insects - melodies that lacked human inputs.  Ness stood, tucked the long fang in the band of her pants carefully and walked along the shore, disturbing the sand as she progressed.  Her eyes squinted at the sky, finding the sun already well into its descent.  A few hours to get a fire going or my newfound freedom will be very short lived.

Urgency pulled her tired limbs to a quicker pace, searching the land for somewhere more sheltered.  Reaching the end of the shoreline she was following, it turned sharply, bringing the other side into view and revealing a cliff further down.  Ness smiled, excellent.  Ness walked along the bottom as the ground started to rise higher and higher, leaving a rough black wall.  She continued a bit further until the cliff had grown above her head.  Good enough for tonight.    Peeling off her cloak, Ness draped it on a section of rock still caressed by the sun, warmth emanating out.  Collecting some dry driftwood and piling them together, Ness returned to her cloak.  Reaching into one of the pockets her hand searched around but only found wet cloth. 

Her heart jumped up to her throat as her hands frantically ran over the cloak as if she might find the flint she had managed to conceal hidden somewhere else in the folds of fabric.  Her stomach plummeted down to the depths of the burnt ship.  Ness sucked in shallow gasps, her vision going blurry, as she mentally traced back her steps.  She had felt the flint in her pocket as she crawled up the shore.  You still have time, girl, get back up. 

Ness clenched her fists, stood up and retraced her steps, eyes scanning the ground.  Reaching the point where the cliff wall had sunk back down and the ground was flat, an ache grew in her stomach, reminding her of other needs.  I likely dropped it getting out of the water.  It’ll be faster cutting through the trees and I can look for water as I go.

Stepping into the trees, the shade brought a chill crawling along her skin.  Ness’s eyes rolled over the fruitless bushes as her feet swiftly carried her towards the other side.  A small dripping noise drew her over to a tiny stream.  She bent down and drank, feeling the immediate relief of water in her belly.

As she emerged from the shadows of the trees orange and red had spread out across the horizon.  Such a beautiful sight to signal approaching danger.  Hair hung as a frizzled halo around her head, her skin pulled tight with a white dusting of salt.  Ness sped up seeing her footprints emerge from the sea up ahead.  As she reached her first footprints her eyes scanned every shadow desperately.  Recognizing what was causing all the shadowed areas, surprise hit her so hard her feet fumbled and she fell smacking the ground.  Her eyes were wide as they looked at her set of footprints and the other pair that walked alongside her, her heart hammering the inside of her chest.

Ness remained flat on the sand as her eyes scanned - sand, grass, and trees - no people.  She looked along the shore and found no flint.  She traced her steps for some time until she came to the turn in the shoreline and altered her path for the shelter of trees.  The sounds of birds, waves, and the wind flooded her ears as they tried desperately to search for something foreign.  Ness went into trees to approach her small camp from above.  One way or another she would need shelter and fire to get through the night, wandering sailor or not.

She emerged from the trees and could see the edge of the cliff just ahead.  Crawling up on all fours, Ness peeked very slowly over the edge.  As her small pile of sticks came into view, so did a figure wearing a brown sailor hat, seated at her fire pit as if they had arranged to meet.

Fury flowed through Ness.  I’ve given you scumbags enough - this is my camp!  She looked around assessing her options.  Moving slowly, she wrapped her fingers around a large, rough rock and lifted it up.  She walked to the edge, bent her knees, eyed up her target, and released the weight in a smooth arc.  A thud rang in the air as it struck below and the figure slumped over.

Quickly moving along the edge of the cliff she reached the lower level and approached her camp, figure sprawled out on the ground.  He lay unmoving, a large red spot on his head, soft hands and a hairless chin.  She recognized him as the newest hire, brought onboard much like she was some years ago.  Ness recalled watching him retching over the edge of the ship when they had hauled her up on the deck.  No hard feelings.  Couldn't risk you being one of the seasoned men.  The light seeping further out of the land brought in a chill that was more than a drop in temperature.

Hairs standing up along the back of her neck, Ness sprung into action and scoured the cliff area for the right kind of rocks and any dried grass or leaves.  This is going to be so much harder without flint.  She returned, hastily dropped the bits of grass down and began striking a few of the rocks together.  Her hands ached as the harsh demanding movements were repeated over and over again.  The shadows along the cliff lengthened, darkness claiming more of the land.  Her heart raced as the chattering of night creatures began to rise, sensing their time approaching.  “I can’t believe I won’t last one night because I can’t sew a pocket shut!” she mumbled under her breath as she turned the rock hoping for a rougher edge and continued hammering them together.  

A sudden noise next to her caused Ness to jump, heart thumping even louder.  A moan came from the boy as he rolled over and lifted his head.  His eyes traced over her bits of dry wood and grass and the two rocks in her hand as Ness continued hammering the rocks together.  The boy focused on her face, his jaw dropped open.  He sucked in a breath as he stammered, “Y-Y-You’re the water witch!”

Ness rolled her eyes as she replied, “There are no such things as water witches boy, and we are both dead whatever we are if we don’t light this damn fire!”

The chattering and squawking from the trees grew louder as the darkness was soaking in, a black fog crawling along the ground.  The boy lurched forward, causing Ness to jump back, arms raised.  The boy produced something from his pocket and held it over her grass.  Ness’s chest burst as her eyes landed on her flint in his hands.  He quickly squeezed the sparker and released it, over and over again, the harsh sweet melody of scraping of metal on metal.  

Bright sparks illuminated the blackness, landed on the bits of grass and burst into tiny flames.  Ness knelt next to the fire and spread her arms out protectively.  “Get some stones to surround it would you, won’t do us any good if the wind sucks it away.”

Footsteps sounded along the cliff edge and the boy returned with an armful of rocks and some dried wood, a mixture of clattering as they dropped by the fire.  Rocks piled in a rough circle, the dancing flickering light grew as it started to devour the new handful of sticks. 

“We will need more wood to get through the night,” Ness said as she stood up, pulled out her fang and pointed it at the kneeling boy.  “Give me back my flint.”

The boy froze, eyes wide on the end of her weapon directed at him.  He pulled the flint from his pocket and placed it on the ground in her direction.

“What’s your name boy?”

“I’m Zeff, and I’m no boy.  You can’t have more than a few years on me.”

“Your inexperience makes you a boy,” she replied harshly, “Your soft hands show your lack of physical labor before you were sold to the ship.  Your parents get tired of you or something?”

Zeff's eyes fell down to the fire, the reflection dancing in his eyes.  “I was taken one night returning to the archives.  I worked hard but with books.”

Ness’s eyes narrowed on him.  She had grown up in a fisherman's household, envying the kids who lived on the hill, flipping through books and learning their letters.  Ness watched the small fire flicker and dance as she considered how much energy she had left, she hadn’t fully recovered from her last encounter with the sea beasts.  Finding a long, slender stick, she placed one end in the fire.  “Well, we still have the night to get through.  It will be easier if there are two of us.  We need wood and some food would be good as well.  You see what you can collect here staying in the reach of the light and I will find us some fish.  Don’t go wandering though, I’m not going to come looking for you.”

“How will you catch fish without a net and at night?  They can see the light, you’re wasting your time”

The light from the fire danced in her eyes, illuminating the silvery specks in the blue.  

She brought her gaze up and their eyes met, “I’m Nessira.”  She stood with her torch and finished, “And you can leave the fishing to me.”  With a quick nod, she turned and walked down to the water's edge.  She could still see the flames from the fire pit licking the night air as she stuck the stick into the sand and walked into the water.  

She walked into the frigid water, gentle waves brushing up on her.  Ness dipped her hands in the water, holding the slender fang in one, and reached out with her awareness, desperate to sense something nearby.  Her fingers began to tingle as her breaths grew harder to pull in.  Sensing movement, Ness pulled at it, drawing it closer.  Her knees buckled in the effort, the cold water splashing up her thighs.  Her eyes scanned the poorly lit water until they saw a flutter of movement.  Reaching out one hand in the water, fish swam up in it, unable to resist her call.  Picking up the fish, she speared it on the tooth.  Ness collected a few more fish before standing up slowly with blurry vision.  She went back to her torch and looked up at the night sky.  The blackness had claimed the land but for the fires and the tiny lights that flooded the sky.  First night could have gone a lot worse.