Stolen Scales

Chapter 38

Lyss joins them a moment later, and the trio lies against the stone surface for several minutes, just basking in the wondrous warmth of the stone. Eventually, Alai sits up and pushes herself to her feet before walking down the stone towards the river. Kyma sits up to watch what Alai is doing in curiosity. When Alai is almost at the edge of the water, she crouches, reaching down towards the stone. When she stands up again, she is holding a large green bundle in her hand. As Alai starts to walk towards the two girls still sitting on the rock, Lyss sits up.

Her eyes narrow in on the bundle, and her posture shifts slightly. Kyma feels the movement from beside her, and turns her head to look at Lyss in confusion. Lyss' posture has tensed, as if she was prepared to move if she needed to. That prospect deepens Kyma's frown, until she remembers that Lyss is a guard, a Crownguard. She has to always be prepared for something to happen. Before Kyma can dwell on it further, or ask Lyss about it, Alai plops down across from them and unwraps her green bundle.

As the last bit of the seaweed wrap falls away, it reveals a small pile of food in the center of the wrap. Kyma feels Lyss relax as she realizes that the bundle only contained food. Alai doesn't notice Lyss' actions, and instead she starts to sort the food into three different piles. Kyma watches her sort, until Alai moves the last bit of Hijiki into a pile and moves back from her leaning position, satisfied with her work.

Kyma frowns slightly in thought. "Alai, why was there a bundle of food over here?"

Alai grins at her. "I brought it over earlier. It's a good thing I did, too! We can celebrate you getting your first bracelet set!"

Kyma lets out a bright laugh at Alai's excitement. "What did you bring, then?"

Alai's grin grows wider. "I have hogfish, of course. That's the best fish that you can find in our waters. Then we have Hijiki, some Dulce, and Wakame. We also have all the limoncillo that I've been dumping in your bag." She frowns for a moment. "I hope I didn't destroy the bag with stains from the fruit."

Kyma shakes her head. "My bag is fine, don't worry. Can we eat now? I think my stomach might be trying to claw its way out of me."

Alai laughs at Kyma's response and nods, pushing her pile towards her slightly, stopping just before the pile falls off of the edge of the wrap. She does the same with Lyss' pile before pulling her own towards herself. Kyma looks down at her own little pile and notices how even though the foods are all squished together, each one is in its own little section. She plucks up one of the strips of hogfish and pops it in her mouth, grinning. She doesn't think she'll ever get tired of that taste. Kyma quickly demolished the rest of the fish before turning to the seaweeds. She takes a bite of the Hijiki, savoring the crunch as her teeth break the dried seaweed.

She quickly finishes the seaweed twig and takes another before turning to the Dulce. She takes a bite, and almost beams when her taste buds are enveloped by the bacon-like flavor. Almost instantaneously after that, she is momentarily saddened. She had remembered that she won't get to eat bacon, true bacon, again. She shakes of that though and takes another bite of Dulce before turning to the Wakame. She eats the Wakame quickly before consuming the other remnants of seaweed, saving the last bit of Dulce for last. She sits back once she is done, before remembering the bag full of limoncillo. She pulls it onto her lap and moves to open it, but Alai interrupts her, having just finished her own food.

"Leave the limoncillo for now. We can eat them after we swim."

Kyma frowns at Alai's statement. "Don't we have to wait around thirty minutes before getting in the water?"

Alai laughs scathingly. "Oh no. That is a myth. You don't have to wait. Besides, we are water creatures Kyma. We are designed to not have problems like that."

Kyma shrugs. "Okay, but please do remember that I'm not used to this, not yet. Most of my knowledge is human knowledge, not merrow knowledge."

Alai nods, frowning slightly. "I'll try to keep that in mind. But I'm used to everyone having been a merrow all their life. So this is new to me too, Kyma." She shakes her head and her smile returns to her face. "Let's go swimming now, alright? The pool here is lovely."

Kyma nods and steps forward in the direction of the river, smiling. She has barely made it a step before Alai darts towards the river. She slows when she reaches the edge of the water and walks into it, taking care not to slip on the wet stone. She shifts when she is waist deep, and glides out towards the center of the pool. Kyma reaches the water and steps in, choosing to keep her legs for the swim. She kicks out to where Alai is floating and turns to look at Lyss. Lyss chooses to shift once she enters the water, and her tail quickly ripples into existence. Kyma squints at it as she treads water, trying to discern the color of Lyss' tail. It appears to be a dark purple, almost indigo. She looks up from the tail to see Lyss staring at her, her head tilted in curiosity.

"Why don't you have your tail right now?"

Kyma shrugs as best as she can in the water. "I was trapped in my tail for a week, and so I am just relishing the feeling of swimming with my legs again." She smiles softly. "I can shift if you want me to, though. I don't need to feel my legs desperately."

Lyss smiles. "Please. I'm curious what color it is, so at least shift for long enough that I can see it."

Kyma nods and reaches through the water to fix her top and pants into a tunic before shifting into her silvery tail.

Lyss peers down at it in confusion. "I can't tell what color that is. Is it light blue?"

Kyma shakes her head and wordlessly responds by lifting her tail out of the water to reveal the opalescent scales. "It doesn't have a color. I think it's because I'm albino. It just reflects the colors around it."

Lyss shakes her head. "No, that wouldn't be why. Tidehealer Talulah's tail is similar to a very, very pale pink color, because her scales are translucent, making it so you can faintly see the skin beneath. Yours doesn't do that." She reaches towards Kyma's tail, then stops herself. "May I?" Kyma nods, and Alai brings her hand the rest of the way to Kyma's tail, touching it lightly in examination. "Your scales appear to reflect light back out, and they have a pearly sheen to them."

Kyma nods. "Like an opal?"

Lyss frowns. "I don't know what an opal is, nor have I seen one, so I don't know for sure. But likely yes."

Lyss pulls her hand away and Kyma lowers her tail back into the water before darting forward to whack Lyss' tail lightly with her fins.

"You're it!"

She giggles at Lyss' shocked expression and darts off through the water, getting a head start before Lyss comes after her.
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That was nice and long, wasn't it? What did you think of it? Tell me your thoughts! Happy reading, and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.