Chapter Text
“Well this is something new,” someone says.
Footsteps crunch in the sand, accompanied by tuneless humming.
Feeling dessicated and gritty, you manage to open your eyes. The sky above is cloudless, dark with a bit of orange sunrise spreading in from the east.
A long-haired, bespectacled human enters your field of view. “Never seen a sea creature like you,” she says placidly, like she’s not expecting an answer. “I wonder where you came from…”
There’s a crackle like arcing electricity quickly followed by loud barking. “Hey, stop it, Bec!” the human says sharply.
You manage to roll onto your front and see the human holding a large, white-furred creature. You would swim away right now, if you could, but for now you settle for baring your teeth at ‘Bec’.
“Bad boy,” the human says to Bec, who finally stops barking. It lays down and you swear it’s glaring at you.
The human looks down at Bec and then comes a little closer to you. She sucks in a breath through her teeth. “Oof. That’s probably not how that leg’s supposed to bend. No wonder you’re up on the beach. How’d that happen, huh?” Again, she isn’t raising her voice--you can barely hear her over the surf.
You roll back over onto your back. Trying to speak nets you a coughing fit, but eventually you get out, “Storm.”
She stops, staring at you with wide green eyes. “What did you say?”
“Storm last night,” you say again. You were swimming too close to the shore when the waves really kicked up. You should have gone deeper, but you hadn’t felt the storm coming in from across the island. Now you’ve got a broken leg and you’re stranded who knows where and Meenah and the rest don’t know where you are--
A jolt of exhausted, waterlogged terror flashes through you. They must think you dead, after a storm like that one. And now you’ve gone and shown yourself to a human.
You look back up at the human. Her expression slowly changes from surprise to excitement. “You’re right, there was quite the storm last night!” She just stands there for a moment, her grin spreading wide. “Hi! I’m Jade! What’s your name?”
“Feferi.”
“Hi, Feferi!” She says it wrong but you find that you don’t really mind when she says it so warmly. “So, um--are you hurt? I mean, aside from your leg.”
You shake your head. “Just thirsty. Tired.”
“Alright,” Jade says. “My house is just a little ways that way--” she points over her shoulder toward a bunch of trees “--and I think with the internet I could splint your leg better than just leaving it on its own--I mean, I had to when I broke my arm a few years ago--”
A chance to not be lamed for life? A spark of hope flutters in your chest. You might just make it out of this alive, if Jade can do what she says.
“--but, I mean, only if you’re okay with it.” You realize you missed the middle chunk of what Jade was saying. “So, do you want to come with me?”
“Yes,” you say, with more conviction than you feel.
“Great! Now, I don’t think you can walk right now--” All of a sudden, Jade scoops you up, somehow managing not to jolt your leg. “Oof, you’re heavier than you look,” she says, setting out across the sand.
“I was just thinking you are stronger than you look,” you say into her ear.
She laughs, bright and sweet. “I think we are going to get along great, Feferi.”