Swept Away (ch3)

EARLY RELEASE FOR MY $20+ PATRONS!

I hope everyone is hanging in there through the slower beginning chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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														Chapter 3. From Afar

Claudine can't really be certain of what she saw that day - if she actually saw anything at all, that is.

But at the very least, she'd definitely heard something.

After hours upon hours of listening to nothing but the soft lull of the waves rushing up against the rocks and shore, and the even softer hissing of the rain on the water, there was no mistaking the massive splash she'd suddenly heard.

She'd been so startled she'd nearly slipped right off her perch on the rocks. But by the time she'd righted herself and turned toward the source of the noise, all she could manage to glimpse was something blue and shiny, and a whole lot of water.

She could only assume it had been a marlin or a curious dolphin, as she couldn't think of any other fish quite that large that would be living in this area.

She'd definitely hooked something too, as her rod had been given a good yank shortly afterward. But she hadn't ended up catching anything else that afternoon.

So she'd gathered up her supplies and headed home.

But all evening long, she couldn't stop thinking about that marvelous flash of blue she'd spotted beneath the surface.

Claudine returns to her usual spot to fish the next day, and the day after that. It doesn't rain either of those days, and with the sun actually peeking through the clouds and a few patches of blue sky visible, it puts her in a singing mood.

She hums to herself as she reels in her little catches of sea bass and mackerel, but even though her intentions had been to sell her catches at market, she ends up feeling guilty and releases the fish every time. It doesn't take her much longer than that to realize that she doesn't enjoy fishing for the prospect of making a little extra money on the side; she enjoys it for the tranquility and the peace-of-mind.

She just loves being out here where no one else is, loves seeing all the different kinds of fish she can catch, loves the smells and sounds of the waves and the view of endless water.

It's the kind of life she'd always longed for - the polar opposite of the busy schedules and fancy banquets of her old life.

Here, she feels like she can actually hear herself think.

And though she still isn't entirely sure what she's searching for, it's nice to believe that it might come to her if she waits for it.

. . .

. . .

The morning after the incident with the fishing girl, Mahiru pointedly hides the nick in her tail from her family. She covers her tail as much as possible with the materials of her skirt, or sweeps it under the sand or into the seaweed when she can.

After they gather up some fresh greens and eat their fill, her family decides to move on from the cove and follow the whales. Mahiru's heart sinks at the news. She'd wanted to stay here a little longer. She hadn't thought the girl on the rocks had gotten a good look at what she was, so Mahiru wasn't afraid of staying here.

And she couldn't explain what it was, but something was begging her not to go. Not yet.

So that evening, when the water begins to darken, she musters up her courage and speaks up to her family. All her life she'd obeyed her parents and grandparents. She'd looked after the little ones and more or less raised them herself, to some degree.

But now, they all must see that desire in her eyes, that longing to break away and live her own life - if only for a little while. Because they accept her choice - so long as she catches up to them within a month, or else they would come back to fetch her.

Mahiru almost can't believe it. She cries out in glee and hugs them all in turn, promising to meet them at the designated island.

She had always been one of the most responsible and clever mermaids most others had ever met. Yesterday's blunder with the human girl aside, Mahiru vowed she would never make such a thoughtless and dangerous mistake again.

That night, she sleeps curled up at the center of her family, sad to be leaving them, but even more excited for it. She is certain that one month would come and go, and she'd be back with them before she knew it.

In the morning, when the sun beams cast their wavering light in through the surface, Mahiru hugs and kisses every one of her family members before seeing them off as they head for warmer waters and whiter beaches.

And although her heart aches a little bit, as soon as their tail fins are out of sight, she's filled with an excitement she's never know before. Surely, this is the feeling of freedom.

From here on out, she can begin writing her own story.

And she starts with a joyful swim across the cove, not even fully realizing that she's headed back toward those rocks.

. . .

The human girl returns to the same spot every day, and with the other mermaids gone now, Mahiru can't contain her curiosity. It's reassuring to know that if anything happens, she will take full responsibility without putting any of her family at risk.

But she doesn't get the feeling that this girl is dangerous in the slightest. After all, every fish she catches is released a few seconds later.

Mahiru doesn't sense any ill intent from her at all, even from the far, far distance she maintains between them.

She had seen humans before plenty of times from afar, and heard countless stories about them. She'd seen and felt their impact on the oceans and its creatures, and just about everything associated with them was negative.

But Mahiru had always been a fair judge of character from a young age, and she didn't think this girl was a threat to anyone.

Even so, she knew better than to venture as close as she had that first accidental day.

So she was sure to keep a large distance between them at all times.

But when the clouds moved in and the water got a little darker, she dared to swim closer, knowing the shadows would conceal her from sight.

Most of what she saw of this girl was blurred from beneath the surface, but every now and again Mahiru peeked her head above the waves, making sure to keep herself out of the girl's direct line of sight.

And that's when she heard the girl's voice for the very first time.

She was singing, beautifully and loudly enough for her voice to carry across the rushing of the waves against the rocks.

It was a sound that sent a tingle through Mahiru's chest, a sound that made her heart flutter. She knew many mermaids who could sing, and she'd heard tall tales of how their voices were so enchanting they sometimes lured pirates and fishermen out into the sea with their songs. She'd even heard many of her fellows sing for herself.

But Mahiru was convinced she'd never heard a voice more beautiful than this girl's as she sat alone on the rocks at the edge of a rain-splattered ocean.

After several days, Mahiru found she didn't want to leave the cove. Her plans of exploring the ocean on her own and hunting for treasure she'd never even dreamed of all get swept away with the tide.

Or rather, carried away by the voice of a human girl.

Mahiru is absolutely entranced by her, her curiosity growing more and more by the day.

She begins learning the timeline of things in the cove.

In the mornings and throughout the day, Mahiru spends her time searching for shells and playing with the fish and dolphins.

But in the afternoon, every day regardless of the weather, that girl appears at the edge of the beach in her fishing clothes and makes her way across the rocks.

As soon as Mahiru sees her, she swims to that side of the cove to listen to her songs. It doesn't take her long to memorize the words and the tunes, so she takes the liberty of singing them herself from underwater, never loudly enough to risk being heard, but loudly enough where she can feel elated at letting her voice ring out over such lovely notes.

It's strange. Now that she has her freedom, she suddenly can't pull herself away from this cove.

And it doesn't take long for her to realize it's because of that girl.

Mahiru wishes she could talk to her, though she knows such a delusion could never come to be. She would probably frighten the girl away for good, or worse, inspire her to call in serious fishermen to come hunt for Mahiru's capture. Communicating with her directly would only cause chaos, and she knows this.

But perhaps there was some other way Mahiru could interact with this girl, if not directly.

She comes up with the idea of sending the girl fish to catch. Not only would this allow Mahiru to swim at her leisure, and discover and race fish for herself, but it would also allow her to make more accurate judgements about this girl.

She starts off by sending a puffer fish near the rocks. After a few moments, it spots the bait worm and bites. Mahiru watches from afar as the girl reels in her catch, clearly surprised and delighted to have gotten a kind of fish she'd never hooked before.

Mahiru waits anxiously, already feeling guilty for using the little fish this way. But she has faith this girl won't hurt it.

And surely enough, after letting it into a container filled with water and admiring it for a few moments, the girl stands up and carefully dumps the container - fish and all - back into the sea.

Mahiru learns so much about her just from this instance alone. This girl isn't cruel or greedy, and even if she were catching these fish to eat or sell, Mahiru is convinced she would still be humane about it.

But as she is, the girl is very careful with the creatures she catches, and very cautious about not hurting them upon release.

And perhaps, most noticeable of all, she is very charming when she smiles.

Even from afar, Mahiru can tell as much.

So for the remainder of this evening, Mahiru continues with her little game, secretly sending the girl all kinds of fish that would normally never swim this way. She ventures out a few miles into the sea just to find some interesting ones and herd them toward the coast.

And without fail, the human girl releases them each time, and Mahiru guides them back out to sea.

She does this for hours, until a heavy rain begins to fall over the water, and the sun is swallowed by clouds.

Mahiru's head is bubbling with the images of the girl's smile and the sounds of her laughter. She wants to send her just one more fish for today.

So she swims back out to sea, inspecting all the colorful species. It's a pink one she wants. Something tells her this girl might enjoy pink.

When she finally spots one, she dives down to rally it with her tail, guiding it back toward the cove.

It's when she's nearing the rocks when Mahiru hears a bit of a commotion in the water.

She looks back to find a dark mass of large fish schooling together. Their bodies are the size of her entire tail, and the rushed, ragged way they swim tells her what they are.

She smiles. She can only imagine the girl's surprise if she were to suddenly hook a tuna.

So Mahiru leaves the little pink fish to swim back out to sea, and instead turns herself toward the huge blue fish.

. . .

. . .

Claudine knew for certain she'd been seeing something in the water these past few days.

It was never much - just that bright flash of bluish-green out of the corner of her eye every now and again - but she'd been seeing it often enough to be sure she isn't just imagining things now.

After her work at the flower shop or cafe is over for the day, she'd return home to put on her fishing gear and head to the beach. She isn't really certain when or why she'd started humming to herself, but before she knew it, she was singing to the sea every day now.

She catches and releases the same kind of fish as always.

Until one day.

It's a cloudy afternoon as per usual here, when she catches her first puffer fish. She's so excited by it that she actually squeals a bit as she deposits it into the little cooler she has started to bring with her. She watches it swim around for a moment, watches it puff up and deflate. And when she's had her fill of observing it, she carries the cooler down to the lowest rock she can stand on and pours it back out into the water.

She doesn't expect to catch anything else different today.

But to her astonishment, every fish she hooks from then on is one she's never seen before.

One is an almost-blinding yellow, and another is a roselike red, and another still is dark blue with black stripes.

Her excitement only grows with each one she catches, but thoughts of selling them for profit don't even cross her mind. She just enjoys their company for a few moments each in that cooler before releasing them again.

She isn't sure what stroke of luck has come her way, but she doesn't want to stop, even when it begins to rain.

The temperature drops significantly as they sky darkens, and the chill of the water spraying her face quickly becomes frigid. The wind turns harsh and whipping, and it only takes her a few minutes to realize it would be best if she retire for the evening.

Disappointed, Claudine shakes herself off and gets to her feet to begin reeling in her line.

It all happens so quickly.

Just as she gets to her feet, a strong gust of wind buffets her back.

At the same time, a mighty tug yanks at the end of her line where it still hangs in the water. It's a force the likes of which she's never felt or ever expected to feel on her thin little fishing pole before.

It's the force of the bite and the thrashing fish beneath.

It's the push of the wind, and the wetness of the rocks beneath her boots.

With a short scream, Claudine is pulled off balance. Her body collides concussively with several of the jutting rocks, stunning her into a paralyzing pain.

And a second later, her vision goes black as she crashes into the frigid, deep waters of the sea.

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A/N: I'm sorry there's still no dialogue! Things are obviously going to pick up from here now!