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The mountain air is both crisp and cool, and Rumi finds each breath of hers accompanied by the slightest of stings.
She takes a moment to sit on a log, to breath slowly, carefully. She messages her temples; since first light she has been exploring the mountain’s forest, and since first light she’s yet to make any breakthroughs on what’s plaguing the area.
Three towns on three different sides of a mountain and a single unexplained mystery: trade between them and the outside world halted, merchants returning with barely anything more than the clothes on their backs. No bandits have been reported. The merchants don’t even recall what got them. A true conundrum.
The three of them—Zoey, Mira, and her—each decided to investigate the towns separately. Cover more ground. Get more clues. They’re all more than capable of handling themselves, so there’s no need to worry.
Except Rumi hasn’t figured out a damn thing.
And what if Mira and Zoey crack the case without her? Well, it would be a good thing. Everyone would be happy, would be able to put this whole ordeal behind them, except Rumi is the eldest and their leader and she’s supposed to have the most experience. Supposed to be a pro at this shaman thing. Not—
—she scratches under her jeogori sleeve, scales faint and rough on her fingertips.
Rumi is supposed to be a lot of things.
She’s not supposed to be a siren, but well. She failed that step the moment she was born; she doesn’t want to fail anymore. Can’t fail anymore.
She looks to the sky—the sun is covered by trees, yet where the light peaks through warms her skin—and sighs, closes her eyes.
There’s no point in dwelling on what cannot be changed. No point. People’s lives and wellbeing are at stake, and she’s so far from the sea that being a siren is more-or-less a non-factor in all this—so long as she doesn’t sing. All she needs to do is focus on her mission, find the source of trouble, and find a way forward for both the townsfolk and whatever entity is behind this. It’s what she was truly born for.
A shadow casts itself over her face. Behind her eyelids grow darker. The pinpricks of heat fade out.
Rumi hums; someone chuckles. “You’re far from town, aren’t you?”
No way.
Her eyes bolt open; Jinu—the deep, deep sea sorcerer; the man who has only ever lived below the waves—is standing above her fully clothed. On two feet.
Rumi jumps up, jumps back. Her calf hits the log, and she squawks as she starts to lose her balance.
Jinu reaches for her, pulls her straight into his chest. “You know,” he says, voice low and rumbling against her ear, “I was expecting a hug this time, actually.”
Rumi flushes; she shoves him back—carefully, a mere arm’s length—and stares at him. Gat on, colorful jeogori, black baji, and shoes… all the makings of a proper young lord. He stands taller than her, arms clasped behind his back, face smooth. Proud of himself.
She hits his arm.
“Owww!” Jinu hisses, making a show of rubbing where she attacked.
Screw his theatrics. “How—how are you here?!”
“You always point out that I can take human form, so…”
“But the sea! It's far away!”
“The mountain has a river that eventually meets the sea. It was a long swim…”
“The clothes?!”
Jinu looks himself over, does a spin for her. “Eeehhhhh… the lord won’t miss them that much.”
Rumi smacks him again once, twice, thrice. “You stole?!” Which, in the grand scheme of things Jinu is responsible for, is one of his lesser sins; it’s also one she refuses to let slide. “And what about the person you got them from?!” Are they just wandering naked? Tied up somewhere? “Jinu!”
He grabs her hands, stops them midway. He coaxes them open with the gentlest of nudges, laces their fingers together. “OK,” he says while making eye contact with her, “I didn’t steal. I made them after examining lords from a distance.” Shrug. “If I’m going to pretend to be human, then I might as well be a high-class human, you know?”
Her brain jumps to the next question: “Why are you here?” Rumi doesn’t take back her hands; a thumb rubs over her knuckles. “Is this your idea? Or one of his?” His being the demon that lurks fathoms below the surface, that seems to be the source of all misery in the sea. And Jinu serves him.
“Does this have to be a plot? What if I just missed you?”
She tightens her grip. “Then you would’ve joined me ages ago.” She’s offered more than enough times.
“Maybe I just wanted some beef?”
Rumi shakes her head, mouth hung open, eye twitching. “Wha—”
“—see, by the sea mostly seafood drops into the water, and well, I’m surrounded by fish all the time,” Jinu says, full of sincerity. “I can’t really blame humans for using what’s around them, but the other day something new fell in, and I asked around. Someone knew it was meat from a cow, and I thought wow! I need to try this again! So I swam against the current, put on my best two legs, and ended up coming across you.” He flashes his teeth—dulled as a human. “Simple.”
He has no intention of telling me the real reason he’s here.
Rumi turns away. Their hands drag against each other, linger for a few moments longer. “I’m investigating this mountain and one town,” she says, tired, “and I need to get back to that. I still have some of your medicine, so go hop back in the water and—”
“—can I come?”
She looks back at him. “What?”
“Can I come with you?”
“...why?”
“Curious. And the town might have beef.”
“They don’t. They have chicken—”
“—chicken’s fine.”
The air grows still.
Jinu smiles to himself, looking every bit a proper noble. He shifts his weight from one foot to another—anticipating—Rumi wonders what his life would have been like had he been born a human. Marriage proposals galore, surely—and no, the idea doesn’t bother her at all—and million shenanigans a day. He’d probably enjoy running in an open field, climbing the tallest of trees, eating a hot meal each night. All things she herself has experienced; all things that the sea keeps from him.
Rumi huffs. “Fine. Have it your way.”
For all his attitude and evasiveness, Jinu is, honestly, alright in the town. He blends in, turns a few heads because oh my what a handsome man! and that scar on his face somehow works! and what noble house is he from?, but otherwise, it’s fairly uneventful. Rumi reports to the elder, says she saw nothing on the mountain, and claims she’ll go around town again.
Jinu steps behind her, tugs on her sleeve.
“What?” Rumi asks, flat.
He points to a vendor’s skewers that have steam coming off of them.
“You’re the noble. Go pay for it.” She takes her sleeve back and tries to march on.
“About that,” Jinu says. Rumi stops, braces herself. “I don’t have human money.”
“...are you kidding me?” He’s always come off as so meticulous in his plans; what on earth caused him to forget about the money? Perhaps one of the most important parts of human society? And not to mention—he’s sunk enough boats. Looted enough. There had to have been some coin there.
“Didn’t have any references on hand.” Liar! Jackass! But she can’t prove it! And this will become a scene if they argue about it!
Ughhghhghhhhh.
Rumi goes to the vendor and asks politely for two of his skewers. He says something about how prices are raised due to the lack of merchants making it through, and Rumi swears vengeance upon Jinu when she hands over more coin than the food can possibly be worth.
She takes a bite out of both, respect towards nobles be damned. She holds out one for Jinu. “Here.”
“I wanted a full one,” he says, taking it.
“You get a full one when it’s not quadruple the normal price, my lord.”
Jinu cuts a nasty side-eye, starts to eat. Whatever further complaints he has die out; his eyes sparkle, he lets out a long mmmmmm, and licks his lips as he chews. He goes in for another hunk of meat. “You can’t find this under the sea,” he says, mouth full.
Rumi accidentally steps on his foot. “Don’t mention that,” she whisper-says. “If someone hears you, then we’re both in trouble.”
“Why would you be in trouble?”
“Because I’m with you?”
“With me how?”
“What do you—”—the words freeze on the tip of her tongue. Jinu is smirking, infuriatingly attractive face smug.
He lobs his head down, presses his nose against hers. He pulls something from underneath his jeogori—a necklace—and dangles it in the corner of her eye. “Oh, you know,” he says, showing off a pearl in a make-shift holder.
Rumi turns on her heel, walks ahead of him.
Her face burns.
The sun is setting.
Rumi’s money coffers are awfully thin.
Jinu stuffs his newfound trinkets into a bag around his waist. “Thanks by the way.”
She places her head into her hands. She failed. She completely and utterly failed. She was supposed to search for more information, not buy Jinu stuff. Not walk around town with him. Not stuff her face with him. But that’s all she did! They returned to town and duty and responsibility went out the window! And now the day is ending and she’s still at the first step.
Jinu pats her back. “I had fun.”
Rumi snaps her head up, glares. “If you had fun, then get going. I still haven’t done my job, and—”
“—about that,” he says, sharp.
For fuck’s sake—“—are you seriously at fault for the problems here?”
“Nope.”
She slumps back down.
“But I have a guess.”
She perks back up. “Really?”
“You’ve been avoiding the river, right?”
“It starts so high on the mountain,” Rumi says, “and not every merchant walked by it.” Zoey, Mira, and her did take a gander at it, but they felt nothing off and crossed it from their list of suspects.
Hmmmmm. Jinu stands up, holds out his hand. “Come with me.”
Rumi takes it.
By the time they reach the river, the moon is high in the sky. The forest is bathed in blue light; the water reflects the stars, each slightly distorted as the river ripples.
Rumi crosses her arms. “It looks normal to me.” She closes her eyes, clears her head, takes a deep breath. She opens her eyes. “Feels pretty normal too.” No miasma, no aching feeling. Just the gentle lull of the stream, of the animals.
“Give me one more coin.”
“No.”
“Come on.”
Her hands fly to her side, balled into fists. “Are you kidding me?! After all I bought for you today?!” She jiggles the coin pouch around her chima. It is—almost painfully—silent. “I barely have anything left!”
“If this goes well, you’ll get it back?”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“You’ll go beat up a goblin and earn some more?”
One day—mark her words—she’s going to slow roast him over a fire.
For now though, she has no better options. She hands over the damn coin, thinking of what to season him with all the while. Jinu grins and chucks it into the river.
Rumi gasps. “You—!”
The water glows, gurgles, a small offshoot rising, rising. It twists and turns, grows limbs, grows a face. A young man stares back at the two, scowling. “Oh come on,” he says, voice far deeper than it should be, “I was doing this for all of us.”
Rumi blinks. “How—”
“—meet the baby water… what?” Jinu says, gesturing. “Are you a spirit? Demon? Dragon? You’ve never made it clear, and you’re not exactly big enough that we can—”
“—go to hell,” the whatever says.
“...how did you hide your presence?" Rumi asks, thoughts catching up. Now she’s pissed; if he’s been floating around here, she should’ve known. Should’ve had that sense of him, but she didn’t.
Are her powers growing weaker? She goes to check her scales again; they’re not as pronounced as they have been before, but—
—the man points at Jinu. “Him.”
Rumu whips her head to Jinu. “What?”
Jinu raises his hands. “OK, listen—”
“—I had him make me a talisman so I could hide.”
“How?!”
“He’s so old that it beats me. It was just handy.”
“Jinu?!”
Jinu shoots the other man a glare. “So, I mentioned beef, remember.”
“Uh-huh.”
“This guy—”—he jabs a thumb towards the water-thing—“—was interested too. Said he’d go and get us some since he… can move faster from place to place.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I didn’t want him to get accidentally killed, so I gave him something to keep him safe."
“Uh-huh.”
“He was supposed to return a fortnight ago.” Jinu turns to him, eyebrows furrowed, mouth twisted into a frown. “But I take it he got distracted.”
The man makes an obscene hand sign; must be a sea thing. “Like you care.”
“It’s not a part of the plan.”
“What plan—”
“—so you came here to drag me back?!” He clicks his tongue. “I’m not going.”
“That talisman is going to break, you know, and you’re such a baby—”
Rumi steps between them, arms outstretched with a palm facing each of the two. “Let me get this straight,” she says, “you’ve been stealing from the travelling merchants? How? The river—”
—he wiggles his fingers. “Water is everywhere in the forest, and any droplets in my domain are mine to control. Really, those dumbasses—”
—both Jinu and Rumi groan.
The towns’ problems have been caused by a teenager running away from home. On an errand for Jinu, but she’ll get onto him later. This kid is more of a pressing issue.
Rumi takes out her small blade, holds it with her arm perfectly straight, tip pointed directly towards the nuisance. “Return all you have taken and go back to the sea,” she says, voice firm and demanding.
He scoffs, raises a hand. “I can turn into water, dipshit, do you think a little knife is going to—”
—Jinu steps in front of her, body shielding her. “Rumi, go wait by that boulder we saw.”
She doesn’t relax her arm, doesn’t take her eyes off the kid. “Why?”
“I can handle this brat.”
Jinu fetches Rumi some time later, sweat dripping down his brow. He wheezes for a period, returning to normal at the halfway point. By the riverbank are all the merchants’ wares, neat if only a tad soggy.
“So he went back,” Rumi says, picking up a binyeo from the pile. She pats it dry, places it atop the pile. She steps something solid—a coin; aha! her coin—and retrieves it. Returns it to its rightful place.
“Yeah,” Jinu says. He shuffles through a different section, pockets a large gemstone.
Her face scrunches up. “I saw that.”
“Wasn’t hiding it.”
“Put it back.”
“I helped solve this case.”
“You caused it.”
“No, that baby did.”
Rumi walks to him. She reaches for his bag of miscellaneous items, and he dodges. Swerves his whole body away. “Jinu,” she says as a warning.
She doesn’t want to do this. Doesn’t want to ruin what’s been a good day, but—
—he hmphs. “No.”
Alright, fine.
She dives for his side again; he maneuvers out of the way. Again. And again she misses. Slippery bastard! She gives it another go. “Rumi,” Jinu says like a parent scolding their child, “come on.”
She looks all around; they’re the only two people here.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Rumi wraps her arms around him, squeezes him. His breath hitches before—“—wait, wait, wait, wait, waitwaitwait—”
—she tackles them both into the river.
Under her chima, her legs change to a tail in an instant, clothes sopping wet now. She’ll take ages to turn back, but it was worth it! Jinu is disoriented now; the gem is easy enough to get a hold of. Victory to the shaman!
Never know what he’ll do with these things.
Jinu’s carefully sculpted features are distorted, wrinkles pronounced from his glower. He takes in his own state: legs to tail, baji ripped, gat knocked off and starting to sink nearby. The lines on his become more intense. “Do you know how long it took to conjure these clothes?!” he says. “I had to find the right materials! It took a few tries to make it work!”
“...can’t you just mend it with magic?”
“That’s not the point.” He flops backwards, lets himself sink like a stone. The river is only slightly deeper than the average person's height, and Rumi can make out his form. Dark tail, magenta stripes, and staring at the sky—ridiculously, by the way. A tantrum.
But well, she’s already come this far.
Rumi dips her upper half under the water. She hovers just below the surface, water and air one and the same now. “Was he really just here for beef?”
“Yes.”
Which means: no. “What did you want that gem for?”
“Can’t I just like them because they’re pretty?”
Hmmm. “I guess.” Not that she’ll believe any of his excuses.
It takes only a few flicks of her tail to arrive beside him. She lays on the riverbed, faces him on her side. One hand rests on rocks at the bottom; the water washes sand over them. “Why did you come here, really?” She could press him about the so-called plan, but.
Well.
Maybe she just wants more time.
All her life, duty was all that mattered to Rumi. The guilt of merely existing was almost too much, but her duty gave her a purpose. A reason to be. A way to make the world right.
Never has she strayed.
And yet, Jinu turns her head to mush. The danger he poses is real. It’s already here, but for some reason, she keeps throwing herself his way. Keeps indulging in these secret moments that could spell disaster for both of them, that could blow up everything she’s vowed to protect.
Truthfully, she knows why. Has known why ever since his eyes met hers in the sea for the first time.
Jinu sighs, bubbles floating from his mouth. “I’ve told you every possible reason,” he says, weary. Worn down.
What’s one more bad idea?
Rumi taps on the top of his knuckles; he doesn’t resist as she turns his hand over. He lets out a startled noise when she places the gem back in his palm, eyes flickering quickly to see before going back to staring at nothing.
“You know,” she begins, “between me and the others, I’m sure we could find a way to break whatever hold he has on you.”
“Rumi.”
“Don’t brush me off!” She rises, semi-climbs on top of him. His eyes gloss over, mouth shut. “You always say no… but didn’t we both have fun today?”
No answer. His eyes dart in another direction; she whacks his tail with hers.
“Ow,” he says, monotone.
“You said I fit with you, didn’t you?” Now it’s her turn to lean it, to press her nose to his. “I think you fit with me. Up here. On the land.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It could be. You… me… solving problems together. Your magic background would be useful, you know.”
He laughs, bitter.
“You kept that pearl we found together. Jinu, I—”—what to say to a man who refuses to listen?—“—that doesn’t mean nothing. Do you like overturning ships? Really?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Yes it does!” Forehead to forehead now, she continues, “You accept all of me, so tell me about all of you!”
Your hopes, your dreams, how you ended up in the depths of the sea.
“Rumi—”
“—Jinu, please?” She drags a hand up, touches his cheek. “Let me help you too.”
And perhaps in the biggest blunder she will ever make, has tried to avoid making for ages now, Rumi kisses Jinu.
She’ll deal with the hell, with the high water later, because he kisses her back.