Kopakonan - Written work

A little drabble of Fiadh after the shipwreck. Happy Wednesday! This work is un-beta'd, proceed at your own risk lol.

~

The sound of the sea filled the air, the coming and going of waves upon the rocks and shoreline, while sea birds cawed on the wind. It should have sounded like home to Fiadh, but for some reason, every little sound felt too loud. The sounds were so clear in her ears that it pulled her from sleep, and her first waking thought was why everything sounded so loud. Her eyes stung as she blinked seawater from them, slowly becoming aware of herself as she felt the warmth of the sun on her skin. She lay on her front, half sprawled across a bed of brown and yellow seaweed and sand and rocks. Instinctively, she tried lifting her head, her wet hair dragging through the shallow tide pool, and groaned as her whole body ached from the movement.

She knew this feeling, the soreness, the unfamiliarity of her own limbs and the adjustment to her senses. She shivered, despite the sun that had mostly dried her backside, as the salty sea breeze blew over her naked form. She tried looking around, her vision blurred as everything felt disoriented. All she could see were rocks and seaweed, and the sea. She noticed a few seals nearby, the animals laying on their sides in shallow water or propped up on rocks to sunbathe. They were rather close to her, more than any wild animals should have been comfortable with.  But as she struggled to push herself up with a groan, they were alerted by her, and suddenly seemed afraid as they retreated back into the sea. 

Fiadh gasped in pain as she pushed herself weakly up on her hands and knees, barely managing it. Her body was scuffed from the harsh rocks of the shoreline, and her ears rang as she moved, every muscle protesting. It hadn’t been this bad in a long time, though she couldn’t say how long. How long had she been in animal skin? What skin had she been in?

As if in answer, she felt her churning stomach heave suddenly and she vomited. She choked on salty bile, heaving it up until she nearly collapsed from it again. When she was finished, her stomach empty, she stared at the contents with horror and realization, the bile a mix of broken down meat of some sort, likely fish. She’d been in seal skin. But why? Where was she, and why hadn’t he given her the remedy. She blinked, her mind muddled with confusion as she tried to remember. He? Who was he?

She panted and managed to push herself away, and sat back in the shallow pool of water as she shakily washed her mouth and front. She felt anxiety start to build tightly in her chest as she realized she had no memory, she didn’t know why she was here. Some part of her knew that this was to be expected, that skin shaping for too long caused this, but it didn’t ease the urgency of needing to know why she’d done it, and why she’d been in animal skin for so long to get to this point. 

Fiadh managed to push herself to her feet, wobbling on her legs for a minute before trying to move forward. It felt incredibly difficult, every muscle strained as she waded through the shallow, seaweed strewn water, and she nearly lost her balance several times. She was so focused on keeping herself from falling that she hadn’t looked up at her surroundings, but at the sound of a man’s voice, she looked up. She froze, noticing three men standing up ahead on the beach. They seemed to be fishermen of some sort, and were checking traps they had placed in the tide pools. But their task was forgotten now as they all stared at her with shock. 

Fiadh could hear them muttering to each other, and they might’ve said something to her, but the words were warbled and muddled in her ears. It was familiar, so she must’ve known the language, but it felt like her brain was having trouble placing the sounds to words, and understanding them. How long had she been in animal skin for things to be this bad? 

One of them seemed to call to her again, while another pulled a cloak off his back, the cloth worn and fraying at the edges, and only then did Fiadh realize her nakedness. The man with the cloak carefully approached her, saying something with a concerned look on his face as he held up the cloak, showing his intent. Fiadh didn’t move, but heard one of the others behind him voice something urgent, as if frightened of something. Frightened of what, of her? Still, the man with the cloak approached until he was beside her, and she felt the fabric drape over her shoulders. She looked down at his belt, sunlight glinting on the pommel of a sheathed dagger. 

Don’t trust them. Use what you can and go for the vulnerable areas. She blinked, a male voice in her head. Was that voice in her head him? Was that a memory? She couldn’t picture anyone, but the voice sounded clear in her mind. The belly, the throat, the eyes. She shut her eyes to try and block it out, bile threatening to roll up her throat again. She couldn’t do that, she wasn’t a killer. She felt her legs wobble and then crumple under her, but the man at her side was there to steady her fall. Her world tipped and spun and left her dizzy as she felt the man pick her up, hoisting her up with his arms under her shoulders and knees, and for some reason it felt familiar. 

A word fell from her lips as she was carried up the beach, something that came so natural to her it was as if she had spoken her own name. She thought then that maybe it was a name. Njotr. 

Her eyes looked back to the sun that glimmered over the water, and for some reason, she felt a strong urge to return to it. She’d lost something, and needed to search for it. But darkness embraced her before she could plead to go back, and it reminded her of the depths of the sea.