Inheritance

Part 2. Chapter 56: Complex Thoughts

One fish managed to sneak away, however.

It was this fish that Maruka chased and chased until he was far beyond the sight of his seal friends who barked at him to come back.

The fish led him closer and closer to the surface of the water and closer and closer to a nearby pier.

Maruka saw the silhouette of a humanoid woman made of wood standing at the edge of the pier; Maruka careened to a stop just inches before the pier and locked eyes with the woman—forgetting about the fish he was chasing.

The woman's wooden mouth was tensed; her eyes were narrowed and judgmental.

The seal, who was frozen in place in fascination, watched as the dryad stretched her wooden arms out; they became long, so long that they were able to splash into the water and reach toward the mesmerized seal.

Maruka snapped out of his frozen intrigue as the wooden hands approached him, but it was too late. The strong arms wrapped around his round belly before he could escape.

The dryad dragged him to the surface and up onto the pier where she tackled him—keeping her stiff, immovable arms wrapped securely around his body. "Easy now, darling. You can't hide from me!"

The seal barked and flopped around on the pier—trying to make his way back to the water--to no avail. The dryad's grip on him was far too firm.

"Let me see! Let me see!" The dryad's five-fingered hand transformed into a sharp pike which she dragged down the seal's skin from head-to-fin.

The seal squealed in fear; a change happened in him, then, that he could barely comprehend even as it happened.

He had no simple fears anymore; he did not worry about what he was going to eat, or how he was going to get something to eat; nor did he worry about sleeping or drinking or even mating.

Other questions overwhelmed him as the dryad's pike formed back into fingers which she used to peel back his rubbery skin. Underneath the skin, a young man was revealed; he was shivering, panting and fearful.

Yes, a far more complex question plagued his mind than those of eating, drinking and mating.

"Who am I?" He asked aloud in a language he did not comprehend. "Who am I?"

"Why, you're my soul mate, my darling!" The dryad exclaimed and tried to wrap her arms around him.

He would have none of it.

He shot to his feet and backed away from her.

The dryad was not amused. "Where do you think you're going?"

He didn't answer. He turned on his heel and ran.

The dryad giggled and let him go.

Maruka panted; his heart pounded. He sprinted across the wooden pier and made a sharp left turn in- between two, tall rockfaces on the shore.

He emerged from the narrow pathway between the rockfaces and was greeted to a lively town populated by elves.

He stood there before the town--not knowing who he was, what he was supposed to do, or where he was supposed to go—and thought that maybe, just maybe, someone in town could help him figure it out.

He entered the town and asked several elves for help. Most of them steered away from him; others laughed at the naked man with the black eyes and the whiskered face.

When he spoke, he expected his voice to come out like a seal's bark—but he could tell, in his throat, that something was wrong, and his voice came out as jumbled sounds that meant nothing to him.

Eventually, an elf dressed in an elaborate, red robe tied Maruka's wrists together with a rope and dragged him away.

Suddenly, he was freezing.

No, no! Let me go! Not this, anything but this!

He blinked.

He was under the warm, bathtub water.

He realized he couldn't breathe.

He surfaced and inhaled a deep breath.

Eventually, when his breaths evened out, he sunk back into the tub and hugged his stomach for comfort.

His eyes closed.

He felt lips brushing his shoulder.

He flinched forward with a splash.

How could I even consider kissing you when your eyes aren't even open? Maruka silently loathed himself for a moment. Forgive me, Eory.

"S-stay focused..." Maruka murmured to himself.

He had more important matters to attend to.

He thought of his Pollyanna predicament. What is the secret to your immortality?

Something dawned on him. Earlier, while he was putting Eory to bed, the fairy had mumbled that he wanted Pollyanna, no matter the consequences.

Can she not make love? Are there consequences if she does? Is that the secret to her immortality? Maruka wondered.

He had a new lead in which to question both Eory and Pollyanna. Perhaps I should try to befriend Pollyanna...

He thought back to earlier in the day, during Pollyanna's first shift.

Her mind had clearly been elsewhere.

She may be invincible, but her wounds seem to hurt her, nonetheless... To think, a woman of her skill and experience could let herself be cut to a pulp... Thinking about how much she was bleeding when their shift was over made Maruka's skin crawl. She had to have been distracted. There's no other way she would have let that happen to herself. Eory wants her, and she was distracted...

Maruka hugged his knees. This may be the secret Lollia is looking for.

He stood up—water noisily dripping off his body—and stepped out of the tub.

I wonder, he thought to himself. If I can tempt her. He shivered even as he thought it.

__

He stopped Pollyanna while she was heading to bed later that night.

"A-are you w-well, Pollyanna?" Maruka asked her. "Y-you looked pretty beaten up, earlier."

Pollyanna looked offended that he would even dare to ask her that. "Yes, I'm fine, no thanks to you. Thank you for holding the other recruits back while I was getting cut to a pulp." She said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. I-I was trying t-to t-t-t-teach..." Maruka was stuck on that word to the point that Pollyanna looked openly annoyed about it.

She reminded him so much of Lollia that he could not help his stutters.

"Teach you a lesson." Maruka finally managed to say.

He grabbed her arm. "L-let m-me m-m-m-make it up to y—"

Pollyanna flinched away him defensively. In return, Maruka took a step back from her in fear.

"Don't you ever fucking touch me." She said plainly. "You stay away from me."

She marched away from him, opened the door to her room, and slammed it shut behind her.

Maruka sank to the floor with his heart pounding out of his chest. No. I couldn't tempt her even if I wanted to. Eory is my best bet.