Skin to Scales

Island of Secrets

When school ended, Kai was quick to grab her things and head towards the exit. She was eager to get out of the building and reclaim her freedom, but realized she didn't know what to do around town, having only been there a few days. She looked down at the ground as she thought, and before she knew it, she had run into something. Or rather, someone, she realized as she looked up so see some familiar black locks. she had bumped into Lucas. Again.

The boy turned around to face her, a look of surprise on his face. When he realized it was Kai, he smiled. "Hey, how are you doing?" he asked, completely ignoring the collision as he fell into step beside her.

"I guess I was actually kinda looking for you," Kai said as she realized it.

"Really?" Lucas asked, surprised. Usually when someone was looking for him it meant they wanted his lunch money.

"Yeah," Kai replied, nodding. "I mean, I am pretty new around here after all, and I guess I was wondering if you knew anyplace fun to go."

Lucas grinned, ready to share his plethora of knowledge. "Well, there's the JuiceNet. It's like a cafe, so people go there to hang with a lot of their friends. Although, I guess neither of us really have any friends. We could go to the beach, if you like swimming or sunbathing and that type of stuff. And of course there's always-"

"What about there?" Kai cut him off. They had left the schoolyard and were now just walking towards the docks, when Kai pointed out into the distance at a far away land mass.

Lucas looked over at her and grinned.

"Mako Island."

~~~~~

"Are you sure we should be out here?" Kai asked tentatively, pushing a branch out of the way as she glanced back at the shoreline and the boat they had arrived on. The water looked so peaceful, but she knew below the calm surface was a shark breeding ground. She shuddered, turning back to the boy.

"Yeah, totally. I come out here all the time, don't worry about it," Lucas replied reassuringly, holding back a branch to let her pass through. "C'mon, I wanna show you something."

Kai hurried to catch up with the boy, who was now speeding inland. When they slowed down, they were standing at the edge of a small stream of glistening water, with an outcropping of huge rocks that Lucas quickly began to climb onto.

"Up here!" he called down from his perch on one of the bigger rocks.

Kai looked up at him and gingerly pulled herself up onto the massive boulder, then sat down next to him, knees pulled up in front of her body, looking down at the burbling current of the water below.

"This is really nice," she said quietly, brushing a bit of her hair back that had been blown by the breeze. The late afternoon sun shone on the water in just a way that it seemed as if a layer of diamonds lay just under the surface, reflecting the light in brilliant sparkles and ripples.

Lucas nodded, admiring the view. "Yeah, it's really peaceful out here," he said, trying to smooth his own hair to no avail. "It's like, I wish I could share this with everyone, but then I feel like it would lose the magic, you know?"

Kai smiled at the remark, eyes wandering across the surface of the water. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

She paused. After a moment, she spoke up again.

"I'm glad you showed it to me, though," she said, moving to stretch out her legs. As she did so, her hands, formerly planted on the stone surface, slid forward across a section of the rock that was slick with water, and she kicked her legs to try to avoid falling.