Chapter Text
I was very young when I first saw it. My second elder took me to the shore, intending to teach me of the beasts of the sea. They showed me all manner of sea life crawling in and amongst the tide pools. I learned how to tell the dangerous ones from the safe ones, and the names of the shells found on the shore. Then I raised my head to look at the horizon... and I saw it.
Though the creature was far from the shore, I could tell it was massive - easily five times my elder's size. Its neck rose up, covered in lighter splotches against its dark skin; held aloft was a tentacled head, with two pairs of eyes that stared at us with an intense energy. I felt a chill in my core as I felt the monster's gaze upon me... my limbs were rooted to the ground.
My elder saw my reaction, and they beheld the shape too, meeting its gaze with a stern and cautious one. "Tree-Face", they called it. "It stalks the deep waters far out to sea. It devours any who wander into its domain."
I drew by my elder's side in fear. "Will it come for us?", I asked in childish anxiety.
"Their domain is the sea, young one," my elder answered, patting my head tenderly. "So long as you respect their space, they will respect yours. Bear this in mind, should you answer the Sea's Summons."
That was fourteen years ago. My second elder died that winter.
It was the Tree-Face, I know it. It showed itself to us as an omen, foretelling my elder's doom.
My first elder told me tales of those who had encountered the Tree-Face, of those who had fought it... and even those rare ones who had slain them. Perhaps they did this to comfort me in my youth, to give me strength against my fears. But now, I feel bolstered by them... armed by them... I know their names, and I intend to join them. I must slay the monster that took my second elder from us.
My klesh is ready. My harpoons, nets, and ropes are prepared. I know the tales and songs of the Carvers and Hunters. Soon, I shall set out to sea, and I shall bring the Tree-Face's head to my kin. The beast's time is near... and I shall send its soul to The One Who Sleeps Below.