Follow the Leader II
You hover in the water for a moment, pondering what feels like the better option. The strange rock formation seems like it might be tantalizing to explore, you are aware of that, but, the possibility this strange singing seal (if it is the seal singing, you aren’t sure) could be like you is far too much of an interest to let it go. So, you opt for that choice, and you swim after this seal.
You flow up the water after the seal, as they have gone topside. It doesn’t take long for you to reach the surface, and when your head emerges from the blue depths, you find yourself looking onwards at a small island of sorts.
It’s ‘of sorts’ because it isn’t a mass of actual dirt and plantlife land (you know, what you typically envision for an island with trees and sand and the like), but rather, a large, very flat and barren sheet of rock that stretches in all directions at just a large enough size that you expect it could fit a few houses. Though it is primarily flat, there are several bumps here and there, and despite the lack of green, it’s littered with numerous stones scattered about, including some boulders that appear to be growing out from the flattened ground. You also note that there’s a few ‘hill’s of stone, and, strangely enough, several archways that connect the hills together.
You blink a few times, taking in the bizarre sight.
You consider the possibility that, perhaps in the past, this mass was a cave of some sort that has decayed greatly due to being battered by the waves and the weather - you also notice that it might’ve been a part of a much bigger land mass at some point in time, too, because you turn to peer in the distance and notice that there appear to be other islands dotting the horizon.
You’re partly surprised at this because, well, you don’t recall seeing anything of this nature before you were transformed into a selkie. Then again, the fact you were turned into a selkie by a genie in the first place renders that consideration moot - if a magical being can exist with the power to change you like this (and you know by now it’s not a dream), then, perhaps it should be expected that you might end up in some other part of the world.
You shake this off, and instead you climb onto the flat rock using your flippers.
Your body, though lithe in the water, is a bit heavier than you expect it to be, but you are able to inch onto the land with a bit of initial struggle. When you are there, you find the surface of the flat stone to be smooth and cool, moistened due to the sea spray brought about from the waves all around. There’s a cool breeze, too, one that tastes of salt and flavors you can’t quite describe - but they are familiar to you, and somewhat homey, in fact.
But your thoughts are snagged when you hear the singing again - the feminine, soft singing that seems to seep through your thick coat, through your bones, right down into your very essence.
You crane your neck toward the direction you hear the singing coming from, and after some difficulty, you spot the seal you were following.
She - or they, as again, though their singing sounds like a woman’s, the fact you have become a female seal regardless brings that into question - are sitting atop one of the large rocky hills, looking away from you toward the opposite direction (the direction you are now facing). How they managed to get up there so fast when they didn’t have a very long lead on you (and you note that if they are a selkie like you, then they should have the same sort of mobility you do, right?) is beyond you. Then again, how they are making this musical melody is beyond you, too, since, well, you can’t really talk anymore.
You are both mystified by the singing (it has no words to it, naturally, but the melody is eerie and genuinely soothing to you, not to mention it grabs and tugs at you as if the singing is trying to call you to this other seal on purpose), and overcome with curiosity - so many questions bob and weave inside your brain that you cannot help but want answers to it all.
You begin to waddle your way toward this strange, singing seal, but you aren’t really the fastest due to the fact that the land is harder to navigate on. Without legs, and with such a soft, still slightly plump body, you basically end up half bouncing on your belly while using your flippers to scoot forward. It would be a comical sight to behold, you’re sure, if you were a human that saw a seal doing this. Or maybe it would be cute? You admit, it might be a little of both.
But that is neither here nor there right now, because you focus on bridging the gap between yourself and this other, mysterious seal that seems to be singing.
It takes a few minutes for you to finally hobble over toward the start of the rocky hill - the hill seems to be much larger than you thought from an initial glance, and you certainly note that it’ll take effort for you to climb up after the other seal if you wish to get closer. What will happen then, you admit you don’t know. You’re not sure how you can communicate, or if this other seal would even want to communicate with you in the first place.
You shrug this off internally, and instead you pause to think for a moment.
The distance between you and the other seal you’re so eager to ‘meet,’ as it were, is enough that it’ll take you a bit of effort to try and get up to them. You don’t know if, by the time you make it there, the seal will become aware of you or not - and if they do, for all you know they might run away or something.
After all, you note, they did swim away from you when you saw them looking down at you. You don’t want to frighten them, because you don’t really feel like chasing after them, even if you’re not tired, and it isn’t like you have anything better to do. That aside, you can still try to climb up after them, or, you can wait for them to stop their singing to notice you on their own, or, you also add to yourself that you could simply try to get their attention from where you are.
That is about three options you have presented to you. Now you simply have to figure out which option you desire to choose… but which is the best one?
Written by Hollowpages on 10 July 2020
