(A/N): Hello again babes!!! I'm here with a second part to 'Moonwake'! I just couldn't help myself lol. This is probably poorly edited so excuse any errors hehe! I won't keep you any longer, enjoy <33
I stared at the edge of the pier with hesitation and growing fear. The branches and leaves of the willow trees swayed above me bringing me brief comfort. Whatever was in the water last night was still in the water now. Now that the sun was out, I could see its features clearer. Its skin was pale like moonlight, the only coloring visible were the slightly dark circles around its bright white eyes. As I finally stepped onto the pier, those eyes followed my every move.
With each step I took, it swam backward. Its face was visible from the nose up, but the dark water allowed nothing past that. As I made it to the edge of the pier, it swam around the corner so that we were in front of each. I sat down cautiously making sure to keep a reasonable distance between us.
I stared into the void white eyes of this foreign creature as more questions came to mind. Finally, I found the courage to ask one of them. "What are you?", I whispered into the air. The silence that followed my words was unforgiving, and I feared I'd upset it. Still, I pressed on. "Can you speak?", I spoke a bit louder than before. More silence followed and my courage began waning by the second. Slowly, it swam closer to the peer and my heartbeat increased with every centimeter lost between us. I watched with careful eyes as it placed two webbed hands on the oak planks in front of me and lifted itself from the water partially.
(A/N: I'M STARTING TO FEEL BAD FOR CALLING HIM IT SO MUCH 😭)
As more of it came into view, my fear was replaced with curiosity and awe. Aside from the white eyes, pale skin, and gills on the side of its neck, it looked like any other bipedal male. "Where's the old woman? You remind me of her.", a deep voice inquired calmly. It took me a moment to realize that the voice was coming from the humanoid in the water. "What? Do you... do you mean my grandmother?", I replied while moving closer to the edge. It tilted its head and answered, "The woman who smelled of lavender.".
My heart jolted in my chest as memories of that same lavender scent filled my mind. I blinked away tears and nodded, "Yes! That's her, but how did you know her?". Finally, it averted its eyes to stare into the blackened lake water. It moved a pale hand from the pier to stir it with gentle fingertips. I could tell it was reluctant to answer. Just as I thought to change the subject, its reply came. "I don't know how long I've been out here, but I do know that it's been a long while.", it said in a low, calm voice, "I have seen many come and go, but your grandmother was the gentlest of them all. She would come here at all hours of the day to hear me sing. She said it brought her peace.".
As I listened, any doubt that the woman it was referring to wasn't my grandma disappeared. She loved music, but more than that she loved mystery and adventure. And that's exactly what this creature was. I frowned remembering that it hadn't answered my first question. "You never told me what you are.", I stated. Its eyes flickered from the water back to me.
"Some have called me a spirit, others have called me a monster.", it answered while lifting a hand to examine it in the sunlight. I tilted my head at the vagueness in its words. "Then what do you call yourself?", I inquired while subconsciously scooting closer to the edge of the pier. It seemed to think for a moment before dropping its hands back to the splintering wood and focusing on me. "My name was Danny. Before I drowned in this damned lake as a boy, that is.", it replied with an air of spite.
At that moment, all the air in my body left me. This had once been a human boy. A boy that lived and breathed and walked on two legs. Somehow, he'd become this creature after dying in the unforgiving clutches of this very lake. Now, he was probably bound to it for the rest of eternity. As I thought more on it, guilt washed over me for assuming he was a monster when maybe that wasn't the case.
Suddenly, he sniffed the air and frowned with dark brows. "You smell of guilt and sadness. There's no reason for you to feel that way. My death was ages ago and I'm fairing better in death than I ever had in life.", he stated simply while pushing off from the pier to swim in circles. As he swam, more of him came into view.
Although he was on the leaner side, his body was muscled and trained from years of swimming. His hair was nearly as white as his eyes, falling a little past his shoulders. Low on his waist, toward his hips, were a pair of gills on either side like the ones on his neck. Everything the past that was still shrouded by dark water. I leaned forward on my sore palms to get a better view to no avail. I huffed slightly earning a curious head tilt from the pale boy.
"Do you have a tail? If you do, may I see it?", I inquired, and, for the first time since our meeting, he smiled. "If you give me your hands, I'll show you.", he stated playfully. I frowned at his sudden change in demeanor. As I considered his terms, he swam closer and pulled his body upward so that we were at eye level.
If I gave him my hand, he could do one of many things. He could pull me into the water and drown me, he could bite me, he could pull me into the water and eat me; the list went on. Yet, for some very, very odd reason, I trusted that he wouldn't do any of those things. Maybe it was because of my grandmother and her solid judgment of people dead or alive, maybe it was because I was an overly curious person.
"Fine.", I finally answered. He lifted his hand with upturned palms, and I placed mine in it. Slowly, he sank back into the water until his shoulders were submerged. My heart raced in my chest as I watched him skillfully untie my bandages and place them at my side. Once both of my forearms were free, he regarded them with a guilty frown. "My apologies for scaring you last night. I shouldn't have appeared as suddenly as I did.", Danny muttered sheepishly, "Consider this atonement for my actions.".
I watched with wide, awe-filled eyes as he grazed the tips of his nails across my wounds from my forearms to my fingertips. He guided those same fingertips into the water, and the places he'd touched began to sting. Water from the lake trickled upward from its surface to my arm healing anything in its path. Soon, the stinging ceased and the water returned to its larger body beneath me. "How... how did you do that?", I whispered in shock and his smile stretched into a smirk. He shrugged, and I pouted upon realizing he wasn't going to tell me.
(A/N: Y'all know the scene from Percy Jackson that this is based on, right? Right?!)
"Now will you tell me if you have a tail or not?", I huffed. Danny nodded and motioned for me to move back. Carefully, so as to not hurt myself more than I had last night, I scrambled backward. I watched with curious eyes as he heaved himself from the water and onto the pier. For a moment, I thought of how impressive his upper body strength must be. Then I saw it.
He did have a tail, longer than I thought and covered with small black scales. As he settled himself on the sturdy wood, the sunlight reflected off of his scales briefly changing their color. "Pretty.", I breathed causing him to beam with pride, flashing pointed canines. On either side of his tail were three semitransparent fins that lessened in size toward his larger tail fin. "I'm the best swimmer in this lake! Nothing and no one can outswim me.", he boasted with a splash. I smiled ready to compliment him again when the weight of his words sank in. "There's more of you here? How come I'm just now seeing you?", I wondered aloud. He hummed and looked across the lake. "We like to keep to ourselves mostly. The eldest of us knew your grandmother's mother.", he explained with a glance in my direction, "We all ended up here the same way if that's what you were going to ask next.".
I looked up into the sky to see that the sun was directly above us. That was the only indicator of how much time had passed while we were talking. I stood up from the warm wood and stretched widely. Danny frowned and looked up at me. "Where are you going?", he asked and moved closer to me. Maybe I saw it wrong, but it almost looked like he wanted to reach out to me. "It's half past noon, and I haven't had breakfast. I haven't even gotten any work done. I think I'll go inside for a while.", I answered while turning to leave the pier. I had only taken a few steps when a cold hand grasped mine. He tugged on it a little, and I looked at him. "You'll come back, won't you?", he questioned with a tiny bit of hope lacing his tone. I smiled and nodded.
"Of course, I'll come back. I haven't heard you sing yet.".
THE END
(A/N): Hi, again!! I'm so so sorry for making this as long as it was. I kinda took an idea and ran with it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!! Thank you all for your support. Remember to eat, drink water, and take your meds if you have to. Be safe, and if you can't be safe at least be careful. I love you all so much <33
thesmolbean.