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Forrest wasn't sure exactly where he was, nor did he know what was going on. He felt something pushing on his chest repeatedly. Yet he couldn't move to make them stop. He tried to get his arms to cooperate, but they wouldn't budge in the slightest. It didn't hurt, but it did feel weird. He didn't know of many people who'd enjoy the sensation to be fair. He then felt an odd pressure in his throat. Like something was trying to come up. Then he felt something on his lips, and air entering his lungs. He wished he knew just what was happening to him.
Suddenly his eyes burst open as his body jerked upward, coughing and panting in an attempt to catch his breath. That was one mystery solved, he had been unconscious. The last thing he could remember was being on a boat.
"Ah... that's right."
It was slowly coming back to him. During a terrible storm, he'd been thrown overboard. He was surprised he was still alive, considering he fell into the wild waves of the ocean. Not that he was complaining, he wasn't particularly interested in his life being cut short by such terrible luck.
Figuring the best thing he could do was check his surroundings, he decided to start looking around. He started sitting on his knees, before lifting one leg. As he tried to push himself up, he found himself unable to finish the job. He didn't fall back down at least, but he couldn't stand up either. He wasn't particularly in any pain, which was also surprising, so he assumed he was still drained from what happened. He had just regained consciousness only a minute ago.
Thankfully his eyes and neck were still working, so he scanned the area to see what he could find. He was surrounded by sand in all directions, and nearby was a palm tree that was growing bananas. Sadly, his ship was nowhere to be found. He wouldn’t be shocked if it crashed somewhere further away. Upon further inspection, he noticed there was nothing but water beyond the sands. It seems he washed up on some sort of islet. There was no land as far as he could see, leading to the tightening of his chest. He hoped he wasn't stuck here, but he didn't see any other answer for his predicament.
Losing his cool would solve nothing however. He needed to stay rational, or he'd never get out of this situation. Perhaps there was another source of land nearby, he'd just have to swim for a bit to find it. He was a man of the sea after all. Or perhaps a boat would pass by, then he'd just need to get their attention. However, that'd require a lot of luck on his part. So he'd just have to work off of the assumption that he'd be here for the foreseeable future.
The idea chilled him to the bone. Aside from the nearby banana, there wasn't anything edible nearby. He may pass away due to starvation before anyone could find him. He took a few deep breaths, he had to keep himself together.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by a nearby splash of water. He looked towards the direction of the sound, and saw something that almost made him jump out of his skin. There were two eyes staring at him. The head looked to be that of a human. He wondered if she somehow ended up stuck here too, considering he was going on his voyage alone.
"Excuse me?" He called.
The woman quickly went underwater, making Forrest jump to his feet. Be it him finally being better or adrenaline, he wasn't sure. He ran towards the splash, but there was no longer anything there. If he didn't know any better, he would've assumed he imagined it. He thought about it a bit more, and realized she was probably the person who was pushing on his chest. The girl saved his life.
"Hello? Come out please! You're safe here, I swear! I won't hurt you!"
He waited a few moments, but no response. He hoped he didn't scare her off. He walked closer to the ocean and fell to his knees once again. The eyes slowly surfaced again, causing Forrest to breathe a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't alone. The girl looked away and narrowed her eyes.
"Is something wrong? Did I offend you?"
"...You're not angry."
Forrest rose an eyebrow. "Why would I be angry? Didn't you save my life?"
"Because most people look at me like I've done something wrong. I just... couldn't leave you to die though." She mumbled.
Forrest smiled and put his hand out. "Come on out Miss. Why don't we talk a bit?"
The girl hesitated. She opened her eyes again and looked at the man in front of her. She started to pull herself out of the ocean. "If you run, I'm leaving."
Forrest tilted his head, not sure what she could possibly mean by that. The woman continued to come out of the water, revealing she was wearing a bikini top. She came further out, and what Forrest expected to be a bikini bottom wasn't that at all. It was a tail. She was a mermaid. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Why... would I run from that?" Forrest asked.
The girl sighed. "I'm weird of course. I have the body of a human and the tail of a fish. I'm a freak."
Forrest smiled. "The only thing I see is my hero. Thank you..." He trailed off.
The girl blushed and turned her head away. "Rhajat. It was nothing."
"It wasn't nothing to me." He said, gently putting his palm on his chest. "I'm Forrest. I must thank you again Rhajat. Do you know where we are?"
Rhajat shrugged. "Beats me. I was just passing through."
"Hm... forgive me if this is too forward but... do you have anywhere to go? The way you're talking, I'd think you're the only mermaid in existence."
Rhajat scowled. "Mermaid... I've never heard the term. Is that what I am? I've never met anyone like me, to be honest. To answer your question though, no. I've just been wandering around the ocean."
Forrest looked downward. "How... sad. I'm sorry to hear that. I'm... the same way. People just look at me like a freak too. I don't have parents, they passed when I was younger. My only friend... was the sea itself." He lamented. “It seems even she has betrayed me.”
"My condolences. You at least know more of your past than me. As long as I can remember... people have pushed me away. Sea creatures, humans, didn't matter. Sometimes they'd try to capture me, other times they'd run away in fear. Or... swim I guess in the case of the underwater ones."
Forrest giggled. "Sorry, I'm not laughing at your situation. You wouldn't happen to know where the nearest civilization is, would you?"
"Hm..." Rhajat rubbed her chin. "There's one I know of, it's a bit of a swim but... I guess I could take you there."
Forrest clapped his hands together. "That'd be great! I'd really appreciate that Rhajat."
Rhajat smiled softly. "I'm glad I could help. Maybe... you'll even find some friends there." She suggested.
"Maybe so. If I don't... I at least have one right here."
Rhajat's eyes widened as the blood rushed to her cheeks. She drug her fingers through her hair and looked away bashfully. "We barely know each other." For all Forrest knew, this was some ploy. Yet here he was, trusting her. Either he was very stupid, or very kind. If she were to be charitable and assume the latter, he was probably the nicest person she had met in her life. Above or below the sea. It got her thinking, did he have some sort of ulterior motive? She wanted to trust that he was being nice to be nice, but she didn't want to be stupid either.
"Do you... not want to be friends then?" Forrest replied as he looked down at his lap.
Rhajat sighed. She guessed she was going to be stupid today. "I... didn't say that."
Forrest's head shot up. "That's great!" He said with a grin. "Thank you so much Rhajat!"
"Whatever... it's not a big deal..." Rhajat's face betrayed her words. She quickly forced her way back into the ocean while trying to hide her prominent blush. She stayed underwater for a few seconds before rising back up with her back turned. She took a few deep breaths then turned back to face her new friend.
"You... wanted to get back to land right? Why don't we get going." She asked.
"Oh, sure." He replied. He stood up and walked towards her with his hands behind his back. "Well... how are we gonna do this?"
"Come closer."
Forrest followed her command and crouched down. He got on his hands and knees, before Rhajat put her hands on his cheeks. She leaned in and kissed him on his lips, much to his surprise. She pulled away only to see him blushing. She rose an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"
"I... You... You kissed me!" He finally forced out.
"Yeah...?" Rhajat furrowed her brow. "How else are you gonna breathe underwater."
"Oh... That's... Sorry, that means something completely different to humans..." He explained.
"Ah." She said with a nod. "Well, what does it mean?"
Forrest rubbed the back of his head. "It uh... usually means..." He wasn't sure if she'd even understand if he explained. Considering how isolated the girl had been, would she even know what love was? All he could do was hope that she'd get the picture. "It's a sign of affection, usually between... romantic partners..."
Rhajat's eyes widened before covering her face with her hands. "No... No that wasn't what I meant. Ugh, sorry..."
Forrest giggled in spite of his embarrassment. He wouldn't mind pursuing something more with the girl after they got to know each other better. He had to admit, she was pretty cute, their different species be damned. He figured saying that might make her a bit too embarrassed, or scare her off at worst. So he decided to keep that part to himself.
"It's fine, it just surprised me is all." Forrest reassured with a smile.
Rhajat uncovered her face, in spite of it still being flushed. She hit her cheeks a few times to pull herself together. She really hated acting like this in front of anyone really, She was at the very least glad it was someone as sweet as Forrest. She didn't want to get ahead of herself, but she had a feeling that they'd be friends for a long time. He didn't seem like the type of guy who'd up and leave her for no reason. She smiled gently at the thought. Finally, she wouldn't be alone anymore.
"Well, are you ready?" Rhajat asked as she put her hand out.
Forrest nodded. He put his hand out too and grabbed Rhajat's. Rhajat gently started swimming backwards, guiding Forrest into the sea. He followed her, his feet soon entering the water. They went further and deeper, until Rhajat was completely submerged. Forrest wasn't too far behind. His heart raced at the idea of being completely under water, but he didn't really have much of a choice. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he was also submerged.
He kept his eyes shut, and the breath in his body. He had a gut feeling Rhajat was trustworthy, but he was still a bit scared. He soon opened them, and instinctively gasped. He had practically become a master of the waves, but only on the surface. Underneath was a completely different situation. It was beautiful, the fish swimming by, the lovely tint of blue surrounding him, and yet it felt no different from the surface thanks to his friend. He turned to her and smiled.
"I could get used to this."
Rhajat smiled back. "It's only gonna get better. Come on."
Holding hands, the two swam off, enjoying the sights ahead of them. If there was one thing Forrest would never forget, it was Rhajat. The beautiful girl who saved his life, and would lead him to many more wonderful experiences. Including, hopefully, how it felt to love someone.