Searing 88, 225
Kaiko was up well before the sun. She grabbed her tin whistle and moved to sit on the prowl of her ship. At first she simply watched the sea. The calm of the water kept her thoughts happy despite the knowledge of what today was. 3 years ago today her uncle passed away. She was sad and had spent the time before sunrise to settle her mind and let out her sadness. But her uncle was not one to want such emotion. No, he was one of happiness and would want his memory to be just as happy. He was the kind of person that would have celebrated by buying a round for everyone in the tavern before convincing the band to play something ridiculous and funny.
She would honor him in that way but she had a few small problems. She was many days away from shore and a little lost as she never intended to go back to land. She was also low on coin and would need to save it for ship repairs. She had her instruments however and would honor him in songs.
As the sky went from black to gold she would start to play. At first the song was slow as she worked to remember the keys. It was the first time she had played one since the monkey took her old one. A few hours later she would start to play through his favorite songs. Each quick and upbeat. Songs that would bring laughter. Soon those songs started to cheer her up. Each bringing back memories of his laughter and dance and as she closed her eyes she could imagine him with her still dancing along.
The sound would catch the attention of many sea creatures but all were scared off by a giant jellyfish, one that was much larger than her small ship. She would soon after stop playing and looked back at the open waters.
“Skip. I don't know if you're out there. I don't know if you can hear me but I wish you could be here. I also hope my songs make you proud.” she spoke before the jelly changed color and got her attention. She would watch it silently for a little while before asking if it was her uncle. It would change colors. It was not her uncle and had no understanding of what she said but she took the reaction as a yes.
She would then start to talk to the jellyfish. She would start talking of her adventure with the duck. Telling about the cool room, the ship that messed with her and the captain. She spent a few minutes talking about the captain and how mad she was at him and how much she wanted to sting him. She would talk about the storm winter and how she gained an Otter as a daughter and then talked about how everyone abandoned her, the otter included. She would also tell the jellyfish about the wolf bird and berries that tried to kill her.
She would again talk about the captain though as she talked the jelly would change colors and made her question a few things.
“Yea i might still be alive but he seemed to want to watch me die. Berries actually poisoned me which was strange enough but then as I realized I was going to die he showed up. He only helped because I answered his question right. If not he was going to leave me for dead and I think he made the berries effects worse.”
The jellyfish would change colors which made her think a lot more about it. Believing her uncle wanted her to look at it in a different light she would look for the silver lining.
“You think it was my fault just as he did. Yea I may have yelled at him but he could have showed up with food before I ate the berries. He could have helped when I was poisoned. Instead he gave me vinegar and sent me to home port. OK yes, the vinegar helped when I put it on my cuts. And I know I shouldn't have yelled at him but I was hurt, hungry, dying, drying and lost on the trip he sent me on.” she would go silent for a while simply watching the creature that she believed was her uncle.
”I know if I ever see him again I should apologize but that is very unlikely as I'm never going to land again and the ties we had shattered that day. Even if he came out here it would only be to curse me again or kill me. And honestly if I see him again I will sting him” She said. ”he is not the forgiving or helpful type which is probably why he was cursed. I shouldn't have tried to help him. As I would have been much better off. Then I would never have become the vinegar in which he saw me.”
Kaiko's eyes would close as she thought about everything. A tear would fall as she realised just how many things she had let that trip take from her. Seems not all work has a pleasant payment.
The waves continued and the jellyfish stayed still changing colors “im sorry Unkle but im not made to explore the land. I have tried and almost died so I refuse to go back. Nothing on land for me.” its colors would darken.
”I have no reason to go back. My ship is strong and I'm quite content out here. Ok yes i miss the taverns and I miss singing but my voice is not good like it was. My voice has not been the same since the cursed journey, and I don't think it ever will be”
The jellyfish would dive back down towards the depths leaving kaiko alone once again. She would close her eyes thinking of just how much she had lost on that cursed trip. She was scarred both mentally and physically. She lost everything but her ship, staff and box. She even lost the tune in her voice. And the longer she goes without talking, the worse it gets. Maybe it was time to head to land just to catch up on everything that has happened. She would not admit it but she was scared. Her memory of the land was full of bad experiences. The otter being the only good thing but it too had also left her.
If she ever finds land again she should try to find her otter. She really did miss him. But land searching was something she was not good at. Land anything was most likely a death trap. Maybe she could recruit some help. Someone from land that could prevent her from doing something stupid again. She would shake her head. How could she ever hope to trust anyone ever again.
No, if she was going to land she would need a way to escape if her helpers turned against her. She would get up and go to her room where she would sit down with her uncle's box. Slowly she would pull out the feather from the bird that hurt her so long ago. She would sit holding the feather as she remained the bird. Its look. Its feathers, its taste. Soon she would open up her aether letting it reach for the feather before it would join her mark. A feather would form in the middle of her mark.
With that she would stand curiosities getting the better of her. She would undress before taking on the bird's form. She would shrink. Feet and legs became thin and clawed. Skin growing feathers. Something quite ugly in mid shift. A beak would form from her lips. Her arms became wings. Soon she would stand as a black and white falcon. She would look around for a moment with her wings spread before giving a screech.
Supper focused eyes and a very scary voice where a nice touch but flight was her main concern. She stood two feet tall with an impressive 50 inch wing span. She would flap her wings a few times. Before giving a hop and flapping more. This ended with her face on the ground. She would huff, struggle to her feet and try again. Same outcome. She would continue to try. Flapping harder. Flapping faster. Angling her wings differently. However each try failed though after the 5th attempt she was landing on her feet more than her face.
An hour would pass as she continued this dance of failing when she tried to fly. Though eventually she would begin to move a few feet farther each time. After a while she would hop around and switch to her half shark form. As soon as she did she would crawl to the door and open it before climbing back to the rail to slide over. Once in the water she would take on a full shark form before going for a hunt. Turns out being a bird works up quite an appetite