Following Sky

Ocean

2

The water was full of fish my mother never taught me, but then again, she barely ever spoke to me about anything non-Forest related.  

A school of fish pass by us, so close, uncaring. I stare at everything, so fascinated, looking up at Ace, I see he's waiting for me. Sensing my fascination he grins lightly. I try to push myself deeper into the water but I’m not able to. I keep floating higher rather than sinking. Ace swims up to me and grabs my hand and pulls me deeper into the ocean.  

He then motions me to cover my ears while letting go of my hand and I do so. That's when I realize we hit the bottom of ocean. He then lands on the sand, causing the sand to rise. Once I lift my hand from my face, I notice a huge long tunnel in front of us. Ace walks on the sand while I was still floating, trying hard not to float. He walks up to a metal door, the entrance of the tunnel, then looks at me and motions me to stay close but he shakes it off and grabs my arm and pulls me close. The last thing I know we're being sucked into the long tunnel that was behind the metal doors. With me comes sand and a few sea creatures. Once we’re inside I release my hands from my ears and understand why he told me to do so.

"You ready?" Ace asks looking back. I stand up and pat the sand off my hands.  

"Yeah." I answer after I take the mask off and begin to follow him. The tube was spacious and leads us to an underwater cave. It became silent, the only thing I hear was our footsteps in the wet sand and some water droplets falling onto the ground.  

"Your second name is Nebe, right?" Ace asks, his voice echoing in the tunnel.  

"Yeah." I breathe out while catching up to him.

"Don't tell them that." He says not looking at me, but ahead.

"Who's them?" I ask before a bright light blinds me. I lift my hand to cover my eyes and I see it. Surrounding the tube we're in. It's Ocean. The flag lies still on a gate ahead us. The sun with four streaks underneath it and one streak on left, right and on top of it, as if the sun’s rays. I look around the tunnels' walls and behind the thick glass I can see the Division. So very colourful, with green, blue and other tropical colours. I look ahead and see Ace at a far distance. I run up again and once I get there he stops, so I do the same.  

"State your title and your origin." A muffled voice from a speaker above the gates demanded.

"Ace. Ocean." Ace answers in a bold voice. I look up at him, he looks confident.  

"And your companion." The voice demands again. Ace looks down at me.  

"Che-Chenoa. Forest." My voice shakes.  

"State why a Forest is in the tunnel of Ocean." The anonymous voice says.

"She's a family friend. I work near Forest for Market." Ace lies smoothly.  

"Hold." I continue to stare at Ace, hoping his confidence will pass on to me too. Suddenly, the gates slowly open and in the centre are eight men in armour standing near a huge bronze statue of a sea turtle and fish right beside it, connected to the statue. I follow Ace as he walks by the statue and guards. We walk forward to Ocean's centre and I notice how different Ocean is from Forest. Well, from Grounded Forest. The centre has shacks filled with merchandise and food. People start staring at me.  

"Put your hood up." Ace says pulling my hood over my head. The hood is heavy and wet.  

"Is it because I don't have blue eyes and black hair?" I ask looking around while adjusting my hood. But then I realize they're not staring at me anymore. They're staring at Ace, the same look Hare, Nyala and the rest of Forest kids gave me. Like we weren't wanted. I lift my head, looking toward him. Ace doesn't look as confident as he did when he was outside Ocean. He leads us to a house that's falling apart. There were cracks on the roof, the door, walls and window sills. He pushes the door open and disappears inside the house. I look around, some people continue what they were doing before we came but some still stare from a distance. I enter the house and close the door behind me. Inside there was an old table with two wooden chairs, a rusty fridge and sink. I turn my head to find Ace in a room, one with a dusty wardrobe and a raggedy bed. He passes by me and goes to a different room across the hall. I watch him from the doorway.