Chapter 6

“Ouch!” A small, painful pinch woke Kiva from her stupor. Small crabs had scuttled over her, unable to identify her as anything more than part of the natural landscape. One crab had decided she could potentially make a good meal, and pinched her arm. Soaked to the bone, she swatted the crab away. It was night, and the green moon shone high above her. The ocean was beautiful at night, reflecting the stars and moon, but still also vastly dark and endlessly deep.

She sat up, gathering herself, the storm had not arrived yet, but she was soaked from her swim, and a bit chilled from the winds. She should start a fire to warm herself, but her pack was gone, somewhere deep under the island now. She had no supplies, no tools. She exercised, doing pushups to get her blood pumping and warm her muscles. She was still tired, but there would be time for rest later. She walked slowly along the beach, towards where the otters lived. There was no real sign of them right now. They were probably sleeping.

She crept closer, looking for a nook to rest in, and get away from the shoreline, which was filled with scuttling crabs now that the light had faded. She found a small ledge, with barely enough cover to keep the rain from falling directly on her when it started. It wasn’t a cave, but it would do for the night. About ten feet above sea level, she climbed up, laying on the hard cold stone. Sleep never came.

In the morning, exhausted and excited, she clambered down, standing on the shore. Kiva felt hunger as her stomach lodged its complaint. She had lost her rations. Food and water would be the utmost priority, but first, she had to see what she came to see. Cautious and slow, she walked another hundred feet along the water’s edge. Large rock columns, of varying heights, jutted up from the sea, high into the sky, creating an interesting scene. They were covered in moss, and green on the tops with plant life, but too high and too slick for anyone to climb. Their proximity to one another provided shelter for the animals living in the sea nearby. Large coral reefs of exotic blues, greens, and purples, could be seen through the water, supporting a blossoming ecosystem.

The otters lived in the large cave nearby. They darted in and out of the cave, resting on rocks when not in the water, and slipping back off into the water to hunt. They fished the corals, cornering and snagging fish and crabs, an easy and bountiful food supply. They whined and barked at seeing Kiva, warning the other family members of the intruder.

One curious young otter swam near her, gliding through the water effortlessly. It stood on hind legs in the shallow water, studying her. She squatted down, slowly, trying to make a friend, but the animal darted away. Even at this young age, their namesake was obvious, the large incisor fangs visible in its mouth, each was the length of her fingers.

My dreams will come true! They are so cute! Scolding herself for turning into a child, she stood up, heading to get a closer look at their den. To go inside, she would have to swim, but she could make it near the edge, and peek in. When she did so, the mothers threatened her with screeches and bared fangs, stepping in front of their pups. The otters were large, almost as big as a human, and could inflict serious damage with a bite or claws.

Kiva pressed no more. They would have to grow comfortable with her over time. She instead, needed to find food and water. She wouldn’t even last a week if she did not sustain herself. She was surrounded by cliff walls, and rocky shoreline covered in saltwater. Not a drinkable drop in an endless cup. Having no other option, she spent the next several hours climbing various nearby ledges, until she found a suitable home. A cave was up about thirty feet, directly above the otter den. Climbing was treacherous, but it was permeable stone, and had a small trickle of water on one wall, so she had no choice. She greedily drank, pressing her mouth against the stone. The water tasted of minerals, but it would keep her alive. A pocked ledge overlooked the sea, and the otters played below her, unconcerned now that she was high above them. At least the bowl-shaped divots in the ledge would hold rainwater for a while, if it rained hard enough.

Now having a plan of where to sleep, she needed to eat. The fish were the most appealing option. She was raised by a fisherman, and she knew, if you had to, you could eat them raw. You’d be fine, probably. Kiva climbed back down, taking her time, as there was plenty of daylight. She walked to the water’s edge and found a protruding boulder to perch on. She picked up a fist-sized rock, holding absolutely still. She had no nets, no hook, and no spear, so she would stun the fish, and dive onto them. Catching one fish could keep her alive. Catching a few would be eating like a king when you were stuck in the wilderness for any length of time.

Splash! She stunned one! Diving in, a fully grown tidefang otter, roughly half her size swooped through, snatching the fish before she even hit the water. This was Kiva’s first lesson on the tidefang otters… they were opportunistic. The thief lazily floated on its back, munching on the prize, looking at her with brown eyes that gave no hint of remorse.

“You little mongrel! I need that!” She swam towards it, but it glided in circles around her effortlessly. She gave up, and reset to try again. It took a long time. The fish scattered whenever an otter was in the water near them, avoiding their natural predators. The otter taunted Kiva, lazily swimming around and observing her, unsure as to what new creature had invaded the territory. Two stolen fish later, with some angry splashing of water, and the sun nearing dusk, Kiva gave up. She waded back to shore, knowing she had a long climb ahead of her to reach her dwelling for the foreseeable future. She sat, watching the otters dart in and out of the cave, chasing each other, and play-wrestling. They were very social creatures, and numerous, roughly fifty lived in the cave.

She watched the sun drop below the horizon, rays cutting through from behind the towering rock columns, until it was night and everything was bathed in the green light of the moon. The light was poor though, since it was overcast. The storm was blowing in, it would be here soon, probably in a day or two. She could feel the pressure dropping. Her life was bound to be wet when living among otters, but it was going to be a whole lot worse while the storm raged.

The crabs came out of the burrows to accompany the rise of the moon. They were ghostly whites and blues, some tiny, and some as large as her foot. She waited for them to crawl beneath her legs, and snatched one with her fingers, not letting it get claws in range of her hand. Having no way to boil it, and no tools to work with, Kiva unceremoniously smashed it against a rock, until it stopped moving. She gagged as she sucked out the cold crab meat, swallowing her first meal. She tossed the remains into the ocean and slowly climbed back to her perch, carefully checking each handhold. She drank her fill, slowly, from the cave’s water trickle, and tried to fall asleep.

She awoke, her muscles sore from sleeping on solid rock. The rain had arrived, but not the full force of the storm yet. Thunder could be heard coming from the massive dark clouds, miles out to sea. It would arrive by the evening at the latest. The waves were already stronger, smashing against the island forcefully. Her hunger hadn’t abated, but she had no choice but to push forward. Hydrating first from the small pools of water accumulating on the ledge, she slowly climbed down the rock-face. It was slick, and impossible to hold onto. She put her foot down too hard, slipping off the edge, and though she was prepared, she was weakened from a hungry two days, and her grip was already perilous in the rain. Kiva plummeted towards the handful of otters swimming in the water below her, just outside the cave mouth.

She didn’t have time to scream, only gasp for a breath before she smacked into the water, hard on her back, stunning her. The animals scrambled, veering out of the way. Before she had time to recover, she was swarmed by the creatures, slamming into her, driving her down deeper, and threatening to drown her. She was pushed downward, doing her best to fight them off, but she was not a creature of the water, and they were in their element. The tidefang otters slammed her, away from their young, and down to the ocean floor. The area was relatively shallow and when she felt herself hit the ocean floor, she drove up powerfully with her legs pumping for the surface. It was only eight feet deep here and she broke free with a gasp for air. But the otters still surrounded her, slamming into her painfully. She pushed herself away from the cave mouth, scrambling for the shoreline. One particular otter, she thought she recognized as one of the mothers, bit her with four inch fangs piercing her forearm painfully. Blood streamed through the water.

Kiva panicked, putting her back to a submerged rock. And driving her feet in the sand for some sort of grip. Her head just barely cleared the water now, but the waves crashed over her, and she swallowed several mouthfuls of salty water. She half coughed, half screamed at the beasts, swinging her arms slowly underwater, trying to drive them away. She didn’t accomplish much, but they left, satisfied that she was no threat. She was probably far enough from the cave. She struggled to shore, coughing up a lungful of water from her hands and knees.

“Gah! That hurts!” Her arm needed tending. She’d be lucky if she wasn’t infected with some sort of bacteria in the water, or even from the mouth of the otter. She tore part of her shirt off, making a quick and dirty bandage for her wound. She gritted her teeth and pulled it tight, tying a knot. She was mad, and didn’t feel connected to them at all. So far, this wasn’t going well, but she reminded herself this wouldn’t be easy.

The storm arrived in force later that evening with thunder, lightning, wind and rain. Massive waves churned, capping near the shore, and slamming against the rocks. Saying the tidefang otters were accomplished swimmers was an understatement. She watched as they cut through the waves, diving beneath them, and riding the crests. It looked like they were having fun.

Kiva didn’t dare go near the water, as the lightning struck the surface a mile out. She wasn’t going to risk getting electrocuted because she wanted to rush a convergence. It didn’t seem to bother the otters at all. She also was stuck down here until the storm was over. The winds were too strong, and the rain came down in sheets making the cliff face slick and dangerous, and diminishing the visibility. Anya is probably relishing this right now. I bet she caught a lightning bolt to resonate with her harmony or something. That would be very Anya.

There was very little light beyond the sudden flashes of the storm. The moon was hidden behind a cloudy sky, and the storm seemed to settle over the island. It would hang around, probably a day or two at least. She couldn’t help but wonder what she would become if she converged. The insulated hide would be nice right now, to keep her warm. And if she could somehow swim better, wow, this would be easier. Each convergence was different though, and there were no guarantees. Time would tell.

A barking cry rose up among the otters, and they had apparently had enough. They all immediately retreated to the den, except for one. It whined, loud enough to be heard over the storm, and swam frantically. Was it lost? Could it not find the cave? Surely not, it was an adult after all. After a few minutes of this, it swam back into the cave, still barking out occasionally as it retreated, disappearing.

Confused, but mostly cold and wet, Kiva looked for a quick shelter, settling into the cave she had to swim across to reach this beach. It wasn’t much, but it got her out of the rain a bit. She would have to be careful to watch for tides flooding the cave, but it was better than a day of solid downpour. Much to her surprise, a trio of tidefang otters swam into her cave, jumping up onto a rock across the water from her. They watched her warily, moving constantly, and never quite settling in.

Kiva was excited for a chance to interact with them up close, but it was also confusing. The otters were a well-known and well-studied species on the island. All conventional wisdom agreed they would not abandon their den, and would retreat to it for safety in numbers when sleeping. To be fair they weren’t sleeping, so neither would she. Both sides were cautious and nervous. Neither wanted to be in the complete vulnerability of unconsciousness.

“You can sleep, I won’t hurt you,” Kiva offered. It didn’t help, and the sound of her voice seemed to startle them, but this was as much about them accepting her, as it was the other way around. She kept talking, softly saying things, mostly to herself, letting the otters get used to the sound of her voice. Kiva sat with her back to the wall, simply watching them. They hid behind a rock, on a small shelf, but one always kept eyes on her. She spoke to them absently. “Not like you can’t just swim out of here if I get too close, sheesh.”Eventually, the combination of being calm and still overruled her willpower, and she drifted off to sleep.

“Hey!” She startled awake a short time later, as an otter scampered away from her boot. It had been tugging at it, but had not bit through, which was probably a good sign. “So, you’re all little varmints and thieves I see.” It scampered into the water and out of the cave to brave the ocean once more. It must be morning, as the sky had lightened slightly, even if it was still overcast covered in dark storm clouds. Levering herself up, she slipped on a handful of small pebbles, losing her balance. She was certain those weren’t there the night before….