The spectacular above artwork is by @MulanJiang . It's of Lily-flor.
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Rai-si is silent for several seconds as the words sink into my brain. Without thinking, I take a step forward.
"Isn't that a really big wave?"
The boy glances at me, as does Rai-si, and nods. "Formed from earthquakes or movements of the ocean floor."
I blink. "But there hasn't been—"
"Get to your house," Rai-si demands harshly. "Tell no one what you've heard. We'll discuss this matter later."
"But—"
"Go," he growls, the glint in his eye convincing me to back away. The boy from the Revli Tribe watches my every movement. Something flashes in his eyes, something dark and dangerous, followed by a strong glint of curiosity. It sends a chill down my spine.
I shake the shiver away, reassuring myself I'm just paranoid due to recent events. The boy, the wolves, the deaths, the fish, the water, and now a tsunami. There's just so much, and I'm definitely seeing things.
I make my way to the structure I call home, glancing over my shoulder every few steps and breaking my concentration on the water at the end of the island. How would they know if there was going to be a tsunami, anyway? There wasn't an earthquake, no movement of the ground at all. How could they possibly know?
I reach for the knob on my door and grasp it, risking one last glance at the tribe that had traveled all the way down to us just to offer us shelter and to warn us. They're so different from Wurn or even Initi, looks included. We don't paint ourselves like they do.
I've always wondered why they were so different, although the Tribe Leaders say they do that for survival. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that they're the smallest tribe of the three. Wouldn't they be worried more about losing people than painting their faces with bright colors that could help animals and predators find them quicker? It must make it impossible to hunt in dangerous parts of the island.
I watch as Rai-si turns away from the boy and begins to stride toward the middle of the village. his eyes lock onto mine and he picks up his pace. I hold tightly to the door handle now, unable to turn it as my heart crescendos in my chest. Why is he looking at me like that? he resembles a wild animal, just like the wolves that attacked us.
He reaches me and grabs my arm, squeezing hard. My fingers tighten around the knob and begin to ache as I hold on to it for dear life. I've never seen him like this.
He growls through his teeth, "Did you touch that water, Cressa-la?"
"What—why, Rai-si?" I stammer, my knees slowly turning to liquid. "What's happening?"
He shakes me a bit and I whimper in fear. Everything's going hazy and my nerves crackle like ice.
"Did you touch that water?"
"You're hurting me," I gasp.
Some of my people have come out of their houses to see what's going on, why all this noise is being made. Rai-si looks around for a moment, the anger seeming to come to a boiling point as he tries to suppress it.
Tani-mah appears as the door to her house opens. She looks over quickly and glares at her husband, shouting across the way as she crosses. "What are you doing?"
"Come," Rai-si snaps quietly at me, ignoring Tani-mah and the rest of the tribe. He jerks his head to the side, as if telling his wife to follow him. The other Tribe Leaders come out of the crowd and their houses to trail behind the three of us as well, Rai-si calling something out to them. I can barely hear it over the loud thumping of my heart.
What's going to happen to me?
They're going to cast me out into the sea to die.
My chest collapses as I trip, Rai-si keeping a tight grip on me. I can't breathe. Can't think.
He drags me through the trees, no words spoken between any of them. I hear the scuffle of animals as we trek upwards, making my hands sweat. Rai-si's fingers are hot against my skin now, making me even more uncomfortable, confused, and fearful.
God, help me.
They stop suddenly. The Tribe Leaders that had been walking behind us make a wide arc, Rai-si and me at the center. I tremble.
"Lift it," Rai-si says loudly, startling a few birds nearby and launching them into flight. Kan-ner, Yurt-sah, and Lup-mem squat down and slip their fingers beneath the thick leaves scattered before us and I realize what this is.
The leaves lift, all of them attached to a long wooden hatch, the ground giving way beneath it. Water fills the space, rippling and dark with the unknown. It's the size of one of our smaller houses, long and wide enough for all seven of us to jump in at once if that was the case.
"This is where we receive the babies," Tani-mah calmly explains to me, not taking her eyes off the water as if she's in a trance. The story of the Sea-Man replays in my mind, but...
"Why are you showing me this?" I ask, my arm still held by Rai-si as if he fears I'll run away. The hole in the ground is nothing like what we had believed growing up. We always thought it was one of the beaches around the island where the babies came from, not the hole. And, if it was a hole back then, then do the stories of the Sea-Man lie about him being cast away on a boat?
"Because it's time."
Tani-mah's voice sends a shiver down my spine and my veins grow cold.
"Time for what?"
The Tribe Leaders all look at me suddenly, their eyes locked on my face.
"You were a part of something bigger than yourself."
I stare at them wide-eyed and confused as they chant the song together.
"But you had to leave life behind so soon."
"What—what are you doing?" I panic. "What's going on?"
"I was sure you'd live here forever."
"Tani-mah!" I cry as Rai-si brings me closer to the water. I try to backpedal but he's too strong. He grabs my other arm too. "Kan-ner!"
"But now I must face the sad truth..."
"Marin-na! Someone, please! Please..." Tears rip from my eyes and tumble down my cheeks as I wriggle in Rai-si's grasp.
"The waves washed you away with their glory," they continue. I trip and fall to the earth, Rai-si letting me fall to my knees before gripping my arm once again, hauling me up and off the ground. "And the sun beckoned you with its light."
"No," I plead, kicking into the air, screams lodged in my chest as I sob. "No, please, please!"
"Your ears heard me calling but you knew."
"Please! I'm sorry!" I continue to beg as Rai-si brings me to the edge of the water. Something below the surface moves and sends another pang of terror through my chest. Are they going to...?
"It was time for you to say goodbye."
They finish the song and I crash into the water. It's deeper than I thought it would be and colder than I could ever imagine. Bubbles explode from my throat at the shock, my momentum carrying me downward. The sand scrapes my knees and shins, making them burn as the only light I have above disappears, everything going dark.
They've trapped me in.
They're trying to drown me.
Just, as I conclude, like they had the Sea-Man, all those years ago. I push myself up off the ocean floor and touch the leaf-colored wood, trying to push against it with all my might. It moves slightly, but I end up propelling myself downward, still stuck. I try to thrash my arms and legs around, desperately trying anything to get out of this place, but nothing works and I sink downward with lungs aching. It's hopeless.
Then, light.
It isn't from above me but all around me. I look down at my hands, the blurry outline of my skin becoming clearer as I stare. A soft cyan color starts to radiate from them, much like the glow of a fire at dusk. It grows brighter and brighter and spreads to my entire body. I stare in awe as the water lights up around me, the sand maybe four feet below becoming extremely visible. The panic inside increases, the edges of my vision darkening.
There's a squeal in the distance. I search around me to see several pairs of eyes just out of my visibility range and my heart jump-starts into a fast-paced beating. I hear another squeal and the eyes disappear, weird sounds of movement making their way to my ears. I know that sound. And what's worse: I know what it's coming from.
The fish I'd saved.
I try to make my way to the top again, banging on the wood as the squealing come nearer. The rapid movement of the beast in the water sends spikes of adrenaline kicking through my body, which is close to giving in. I pray they'll pull me out saying this was just a trial for me to become a Tribe Leader. I didn't mean to do any of this—the fish—it needed help—I couldn't just—
The cover is removed and I grasp at grass, hands helping me out. I sit on my butt, dripping wet as mud clings to my clothes, the Tribe Leaders staring back at me as I watch the water ripple, bubbles popping from where I disturbed it. A single green-glowing fin appears and disappears beneath the water and the light coming from my skin continues to brighten until my heart slows. The cyan glow finally dims and fades.
"What was that?" I ask aloud, my voice cracking as my lungs reach for air. My eyes meet each Tribe Leader, who look to Rai-si. He stares down at me. "What's going on?"
"Come," is all he says. "We were going to wait until you were eighteen years of age, but I believe now is the right time. You have touched the sea, and that's why this had to happen. I sensed something was wrong, that something has focused on you. That dolphin that came for you, it isn't an animal at all."
Tani-mah helps me up and I follow them back through the trees, afraid yet eager to learn about what's happening, despite what they did to me. I scratch at my legs, grainy sand and salt rubbing the skin raw. The grass irritates them all the more.
And then the ground begins to shake violently.
An earthquake.