Chapter Text
Every child was told to stay away from the abyssal plains of the sea. It wasn't outright forbidden exactly, but any little rascal that tried to play near them was quickly shooed away and sent back to their parents for a scolding by the warriors that patrolled the borders. The plains was where the tribe's adults went when they didn't want to be disturbed, where the elders consulted, where their soldiers trained and where their mages muttered over ancient scrolls and pretended to know more than they actually did.
It was no place for children.
Never go near the abyssal plains without an adult, always hunt near the reefs, stay close to the surface but never go above water, don't stare when Elder Shanua's glass eye pops out every now and then, the list dragged on. With so many rules, it's only natural to forget one or two and accidentally end up wandering into the plains.
The young sea elves would whisper amongst themselves when the adults weren't around, about the girl they saw swimming down towards the plains every now and then. None of them knew her name, which was odd as every single child in the tribe had met each other at least once. There wasn't a kid who hadn't been forced to play truth or dare with them until now.
This puzzled them to no end, which led to a competition of sorts between every child where they would prod at their parents or follow around guards to gather what snippets of information they could about the girl who disappeared into the plains every full moon.
They huddled together on top of a seamount, which technically meant they weren't in the abyssal plains, as they were just above them, looking down over the dark depths. They squabbled loudly enough amongst each other to earn them disapproving stares from the manta rays that were gliding past as they argued over why no adult would talk about the mysterious girl when they were around.
"I think she's a sea hag," a boisterous runt piped up over the older kids' debates, strands of seaweed tangled through his messy hair from running around the kelp forest earlier. "That's why no one can say her name, see? I bet she curses anyone who uses it."
His cousin, who was born four months and five days before he was, making her far more mature, stared at him dubiously. "Aren't sea hags supposed to be old? And ugly? She doesn't look half a year older than me, she can't be a hag."
The runt puffed up his chest at her in response, bristling slightly at her questions. "No silly, all hags disguise themselves to seem harmless, but then POOF! You're getting cursed with flaky webs on your toes for the rest of your life."
The oldest of the group, a lanky teenage girl that was currently going through the worst phase of puberty, scoffed loudly and shook her head in scorn at her foolish juniors. "Hags can't change their age, idiots. Only their appearance. No hag can look like a child, let alone sneak past our tribe's guards."
The group nodded thoughtfully at their elder's wisdom, the younger ones falling uncharacteristically silent to ponder this new information. Another teenager let out a huff as he rolled shells together on the ground with a bored expression. "Well she ain't a hag, she ain't a spy, she ain't a long lost princess and she's definitely not a changeling. We've gone through everything by now. I say she's not allowed play with the rest of us 'cause she broke the rules, and they think she's a bad influence or somethin'."
"Ooh, ooh!" A giggling little girl, who listened to too many of her mother's stories about her love life above the surface, leaned in closer to the group and whispered loudly. "What if she's a secret lovechild? And her parent keeps her hidden away in the plains so their partner doesn't find out?"
The children collectively gasped at this theory and began to argue amongst themselves again, taking it as a golden opportunity to insult each other.
"I bet it was your dad, I always see him looking at my mom!"
"But you have two moms, dummy."
"Which is exactly why he keeps staring at them! I bet you want three moms, 'cause you always take three extra crab legs at lunch!"
The squabbling soon turned into playful wrestling, the giggling little girl letting out a squawk of outrage as the runt threw seaweed at her. She shoved him backwards roughly, causing him to stumble back and slip on the teenage boy's shell game, which sent him crashing into a shy toddler playing with their ball near the edge of the small mountain.
The toddler fell over with a soft thud, the ball slipping out of their hands and falling down from the steep ledges, bouncing off the large rocks and disturbing a school of zebrafish that flurried out of the way as the current carried it straight towards the plains.
They stared after the ball as tears started to well up in their eyes, the toddler's voice trembling. "My m-mama gave me that ball before she l-left for the s-surface."
The older kids exchanged alarmed glances, because one toddler's tantrum led to another until they were all wailing, and if their parents saw their child coming home with puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks, then the adults would soon find about their escapades near the plains and no one would be able to avoid a punishment.
"Hey, hey, c'mon Illxi, don't cry, we'll go get your ball back. Just stay here with the others and keep your head up, okay?" The eldest shot the teenage boy a pointed look, and he in turn rolled his eyes and kicked his shells aside. The toddler let out a sniffle in response as the older kids climbed down from the ledge to swim after the ball.
Thankfully the ball hadn't fallen down too deep yet, instead it was steadily drifting along the outskirts of the plains. Deep trenches littered the area, with tall, carved shapes in the distance that told the teenagers the elders' meeting place wasn't far from here. The ball was slowing down, sinking deeper until it bumped into a camouflaged dumbo octopus that had been sleeping in the sand. The offended creature puffed up, spinning indignantly and sending the ball spiraling downwards towards one of the jagged trenches.
The water became darker the farther they swam down after it, the light of the sun from above could only reach so far into the sea. Strange shapes swam by, their features too blurry for the older kids to make out, even with the ability of darkvision. A school of lanternfish drifted past, the lumniscent glow of their stomachs providing a dim blue light that lit up the seafloor as the shadows that had surrounded them scurried out of sight.
The bored boy flicked his webbed ears restlessly as he lagged behind the rest of the group and glanced absentmindedly at whatever creature got too close. An anglerfish eyed him, its mouth twisted into an ugly grimace as it stared back with an empty look in its glassy eyes. Its jaw slowly unhinged even further to reveal a set of sharp teeth that were far from clean, and the boy quickly tore his gaze away and hurried after the others.
A desolate, eerie feeling surrounded the ocean floor, the atmosphere tense, even for the plains. Carcasses of different ocean predators were strewn around the seafloor, some fresh, some rotting, with giant isopods scuttling to feed on the corpses, their shells shiny and smooth even as they dug into the decaying flesh with glee.
The oldest girl squinted into the darkness to try make out the blurry outline of the ball, the lanternfish long gone. The seafloor opened out into a circular crater, the ball tumbling down the slope as they all skidded to halt at the edge. A huge, hulking shape lay at the bottom of the crater that was easily the size of five sea elves. Every few seconds the shape would shift and shudder slightly, sending ripples through the water.
The children stared down at it in silence, none of them making any move to go closer until the eldest slowly crept forward, glancing back and motioning for the rest of them to stay there, making shushing gestures with her hands. The water was murky with blood as she swam down from the edge, the seafloor rough and uneven with sharp, twisted rocks scattered across the bottom.
The ball moved slowly near the large shape and she put on a burst of speed, raising her arm to reach out towards it. She had just grazed it with her fingertips, when the outline of a figure abruptly entered her vision and she came to a stop, her eyes widening briefly at the sight.
A girl stood in front of the hulking shape, blood staining her clothes and dripping from a spear that she held in a death grip, her hands shaking slightly as the blade glinted even in the faint light.
The ball rolled into her foot and bounced lightly off it to finally stop moving a few feet away.
The girl turned around slowly, stepping to the side and letting the teen see the shape behind her. A mass of tentacles was writhing, blood pouring from multiple slashes and wounds all over its body. Two tentacles had been severed completely and they twitched on the seafloor as an eye the size of a shield gazed venomously at the two girls.
A giant squid. An ocean predator that was only ever killed by either whales or leviathans, one that was never hunted by sea elves except for special occasions. Even then, no one hunted them alone, usually two or three warriors would come together to bring home a kill as huge as a giant squid. And this girl, who looked no older than twelve, had slain one by herself.
It shuddered again. Well, almost slain.
The two young sea elves held each others gazes for a moment, both of them frozen in place by each other, neither of them daring to move. The teen was afraid, that was true, but she was surprised to recognise fear in the other girl's gaze as well. There was no bloodthirstiness or hatred in her eyes, only shock, wariness and an innocent curiosity.
The girl looked away first, leaning down to pick up the ball and being careful not to stain it with blood as she turned back to the teen and gently, almost playfully, tossed it over to her.
An impatient, cold voice suddenly broke out from the opposite side of the crater, startling both of them. "Tanelye? Did you kill it yet? Gods above and below, you've already wounded it enough that it'll die anyways. Finish the job, or I'll come down there and give you a demonstration of what happens when you leave monsters alive."
The girl, or rather, Tanelye, gripped her spear tighter at the sound of the voice, her knuckles turning white. She looked back towards the giant squid, stepping over the severed tentacles and raising the spear above it. It shivered feebly, and the teen hesitated as she watched it writhe on the seafloor, her mouth opening to call out to the other girl.
Before she had a chance to utter a single word, Tanelye slammed her spear deep into the squid's body, piercing all three of its hearts as she twisted it viciously before wrenching it out, blood pouring from the wound. The squid convulsed in pain, its tentacles thrashing and flaying wildly before its body shuddered violently one last time and it collapsed.
She stood over its corpse, her chest heaving and bile rising in her throat at the sight of its large, lifeless eyes staring balefully up at her. The voice drifted down from above again, a warning edge to the person's emotionless tone. "We don't have all day, you know."
Her shoulders slumped as she swam away from the dead squid, before she paused and glanced back, remembering the teenage girl that had interrupted her earlier. But there was no one else in the crater anymore, no sign of anyone near the massive corpse. The ocean was empty and silent, and Tanelye was alone.
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The others had asked her why she had taken so long, and what the shape had looked like, and why she was so pale, but the eldest ignored all of their questions and quickly ushered them all out of the plains, giving the toddler back their ball and sending the rest of the children back home for the day.
She made a point to avoid the seamount after that day, telling the younger ones scary stories and lies about how there was hidden treasure in the reefs instead in order to keep them as far away as she could. She forced the other teenagers to swear to her they woudn't go down there again without an adult, made them promise to never wander outside of the tribe alone.
No child ever went near the plains again. And when the eldest had tried to ask her parents if they knew a girl called Tanelye, they would tilt their heads in confusion and tell her that she was far too old to be having imaginary friends.