Chapter Text
The Ocean watched as the little girl reached for the heart, her chubby little fingers curling around the stone. She made a little sound of wonder, tracing the lines around it as the Ocean leaned in to watch her. It startled when she brought it to her mouth and chewed on it, quickly looping a strand of itself around the end of the heart to tug it out. The little girl pouted at it. It reached out and gently brushed against her cheek, and the little human giggled as she touched the water.
The Ocean adjusted the flower in her hair and felt along the sand to pull more sea shells toward the girl. It seemed that she liked them if her excited shrieks at the sight of them was anything to go by and the Ocean let its waves ripple with happiness as the girl toddled toward the gathered gifts. The Ocean paused in its search for more as it felt the sand shift, briefly turning from the human to observe the strange movement beneath itself. The sand bulged upward, the Ocean drawing itself back in surprise at the heat radiating from it. The sand darkened and cracked, elongating as it spread outward. Wrong. The Ocean held itself up from the strange patch of blackening sand, following after it as it began to pick up speed. Wrong. The shifting sands began to widen as black brightened to a burning red, the Ocean startling as its pace quickened. Where was it going-?
The human!
The Ocean surged around her, lifting the girl as quickly and gently as it could. She laughed as it held her high and tugged her back with it, the human holding tightly onto the heart as she playfully patted at the water with her free hand. The Ocean looked back to the shoreline - the strange sand turned in lazy circles there, showing no intent to leave. The Ocean stretched out to move the child off to the right. If it could put her on land her people would come for her- The sand followed its movements, keeping pace with it easily even as it swerved to the left and zigzagged with the human. The little girl giggled as she raised her hands high, her thick hair swaying with the motion as the Ocean drew back from the shoreline. The sand waited. The Ocean's waves shuddered in ill ease. The child went back to chewing on the heart of Te Fiti, and the Ocean tugged it out of her mouth again as it finally settled on its decision. Turning from the island, it carried her away.