You are standing by a tree
There are 3 paths.
One appears to go to a jungle,
one appears to go to a cave,
one appears to go to a beach,
you could try and climb the tree,
there is a nearby shop you could go in,
or you could do something else.
So what's its going to be?
Written by catprog on 01 April 2003
In the shop
There is a table with a sign saying
<strong>Free Sample:</strong>
Take one
On the table there is a fridge with a range of liquids. Also on the table are various magical trinkets including costumes. What would you like to take, or would you like to buy something?
Written by catprog on 10 April 2003
Other
You decide to get something else. But what?
Written by catprog on 13 December 2005
A lamp
You take a lamp. Now what are you going to do with it?
Written by catprog on 05 March 2004
Transformation Genie
Just then, a huge puff of green smoke appears.
The smoke forms the shape of a humanoid, then finally materializes into a turquoise-skinned man who appears to be about 25 years old. You quiver with fear, staring at him (after all, you're not used to seeing turquoise-skinned men appear out of lamps).
"Who has rubbed the lamp of the Genie of Transformation?", the man asks in a light, yet stern voice.
"I-I did", you answer softly.
He steps closer to you and bows. "Thank You, Master, Thank You!", he says as he kneels to you.
"Master?"
He stands. "Yes", he says. "You have released me from the Lamp, and now you may have three wishes.
The wishes carry certain limitations, however..."
"Yes, like what?", you ask again, almost bursting with excitement (having your own genie and all).
"First, there are only three wishes, no more and no less, and this may not be changed by any wishes made. Second, all wishes made by the master should be precisely worded. If the wish is too vague, then I shall choose the remaining factors of the wish. And third, all wishes must be related to the change of the master, or of someone else that the master chooses. In other words, all wishes must be transformative."
Well what are you going to wish for?
Written by on 11 March 2004
I don't need a **** Transformation
"I don't need a transformation thank you very much," you say. "I am perfectly happy as a human". "You can take your conditional wishes elsewhere, you ****".
The genie's eyes widen. "You are going to regret mocking me". " You don't want a transformation, too bad you're getting one.
GULP!!!
Written by on 18 May 2004
Park
"You are going to my animal park and help with the breeding programs" booms the genie.
All of a sudden a portal appears and sucks you in.As you go through you get knocked out.
When you awake your in...
Written by on 22 May 2004
Myth Room
You awaken in a room with 3 doors.
Each door has a word inscribed on it.
Air
Land
And Water
Which one do you want?
Written by on 27 July 2004
Water
You go through the door.
You step out into open water.
You try to get back to the door but to your horror it has gone.
You then notice you are changing into a water creature from mythology but what kind?
Written by on 27 July 2004
Selkie Female
You blink slowly into wakefulness, the sound of gulls shrieking a rancour echoing inside your skull. Groaning, you roll over onto your back, arms flopping limply, as little use as a dead fish, glassy-eyed out of water. Your mind flounders, splashing like a fawn caught up in the bounds of a river it does not understand, black eyes shining with terror as it is swept away, far away from its mother. There is no rescue coming for you, little human. You are my toy now and my toy is exactly what you shall remain.
Oh, how I shall enjoy you.
How did you get here? The words swim around your head as the waves lap the rocky shore, a soothing melody serving as an inappropriate backdrop to your conclusion. Swinging your head cumbersomely from left to right, it feels too heavy upon your neck and your chin dips down to your chest, eyelids heavy. So tired, so very tired. Would it be so bad to lie down again, if only for a little while? The call of the sea is reassuring, a whisper in your ears, and you find yourself slipping back to the stones, fingers splayed.
When you try to speak, your lips move only a little, glued together as if they have become nothing but rubber, useless for speech – much less for anything else. You raise your hands to your hair and your fingers tremble as they run through the damp, brown strands, sodden with what has to be seawater. The sensation is familiar and terrifyingly foreign at the same time. Why does it feel different? There’s nothing wrong, there can’t be anything wrong. You can move, can’t you?
What has happened? You cannot know, you do not know. Trying to scramble to your feet, your shoes slip on the stones, scuffed, red trainers that you should have replaced long ago scraping over rough rocks. Your fall scores a black scratch down the side of your right shoe and you curse mentally, eyes watering as you clasp your knee to your chest and rock back and forth, shaking your head all the while.
It seems silly to be so affected by such a small thing as damaging an already ruined pair of trainers, but the instance grips your heart and refuses to let go. Why are you so worried about a pair of shoes? What is the problem? You shake your head, trying to pull some sense back into yourself, gulping for breath like a drowned man. There is something more to the scene than a wrecked shoe, however.
The wind drops.
Something is happening. Something has changed. Your eyes widen and you press your hand over your pocket, feeling the bulge there that is certainly not your wallet. You lost that the night before – you understand this without knowing how you know, only that it is true. Digging into your jean pocket, you carefully withdraw a small clay pot with a lamp engraved on the side. It should be an innocuous object, perfectly harmless, yet the sight of it strikes inexplicable, crawling fear into your heart.
And then everything changes.
With a strangled shriek, you drop the pot and push yourself away, scooting backwards over rock and scraggly heather with your eyes so wide that they may pop right out of your skull. The pot jumps with a life of its own, releasing a stream of black smoke that cannot be natural – nothing that looks like that can be natural! But it’s too quick for you as you strive to get to your feet, to flee, and curls through the air as quick as a striking snake, lancing into your chest. You brace yourself for pain and feel...nothing.
There is no pain, no sensation of the smoke even touching you. Swallowing, you look from left to right as if expecting something to leap out at you, yet find naught out of the ordinary within your sight. Thinking yourself safe – perhaps it was a hallucination? A hallucination cannot hurt you, right? – you laugh shakily and roll your head back on your shoulders, stretching out the kinks from your neck.
Only that your head does not roll like that anymore. Blinking, you raise your hand to your neck, or at least try to, for your very skin seems to be thickening. Without understanding what is truly happening, you stare down at your forearm, which should be bare but for your skin and that fine coating of dark hair that ladies once said they liked. But that is gone now – long, long gone.
Instead, the fat beneath your skin thickens, bulging out obscenely as if you have suddenly gained a year of excess weight in a matter of seconds. Your skin ripples, shifting without your consent, as it darkens, slipping from your pale flesh to a dreary grey. As you watch, reeling from your own body, dark spots appear, streaking down your arm to your fingertips as those become swiftly more difficult to spread apart, seeming to fuse together even under your horrified eyes.
Can you make it stop if you don’t look away? A strange groan comes from somewhere and, after a moment, you realise that it’s from your lips. That’s not a human noise. You shiver, trembling as your trousers strain and start to tear along the seams, something not right with your legs either. But you’ve been too focused on what you can easily see – your arms – to pay attention to the rest of your body. This is only to your detriment, as everything continues without your consent or say-so. Everything is beyond your control now.
Hallucinating? You wish you were. The reality is far, far worse.
You roll, a strangled gasp twisting from your throat in a bark that startles even you in your state of unrest, gaping and pawing at the ground. But there is little hand left to scrape over the ground as it pulls up against your side, chest and stomach rounding out so that any definition you may have had there is smoothed out perfectly beneath a slick, grey coat. Your shirt gives up with a hearty rip and you mourn its passing briefly, for it seems an easier choice to focus on rather than what is happening to your body. For my creation is beautiful indeed.
You don’t know how to move your new body yet – your transformation incomplete – but still you try to lift your fused together legs, groaning as skin and fat blurs together, muscle shifting beneath what you can see. Although it is not painful, you wince as bone grinds and cracks into a new position, running down the centre of what can only now be called your tail, as you no longer have any legs to speak of. Shuddering, you flinch from the crunch of bone, muscle pulsing and bulging through your skin as your genitals, which you have hardly thought about to this point, are sucked up into your body as simply as if they never truly existed.
But there is no time to panic as your eyes bulge, face stretching out and rounding into a face much unlike your own. Your eyes push out and out, finding their true place further back on your head, allowing you a greater range of vision, even though, as a hunter, you should always be looking forward for prey. Your nostrils tug up, slipping into another shape as easily as you have taken on this skin, your chin resting on the stones. You can’t touch your muzzle – your arms are no longer, with only two flippers pressed to your sides now.
There is no trace of maleness in your features as you pant, pink tongue lolling out, and you lift a flipper in vicious wonder, mind reeling. It is not a flipper that belongs to a male at all anymore, though you cannot say exactly how you know. You simply do.
Despite your horror, there is wonder in your gaze – as well there should be. You are beautiful. I made it so. You flip onto your back, experimenting with what you’ve been given, raising your tail and marvelling inwardly at just how far these new muscles of yours can flex it. Simply waving the tail-flippers back and forth through the air gives you a little show of just how much power the muscle contains and you can only imagine it powering you through the water with jaw-dropping ease.
For you are not a human any longer, nor will you ever be again.
You turn your muzzle up to the sky, yawning as the gulls wheel.
A grey seal. You are a seal. But not a seal.
You roll onto your side, flippers waving gently in the air as you try to look down the length of your body, studying yourself the best you can from such a position. Your belly is lighter, better to camouflage yourself from fish below when streaking through the ocean, while your back is a smooth, even grey, splashed through the darker spots that break up your outline. Wouldn’t want to be caught when chasing down those fish now, would you? Life is a matter of hunting and feeding and gnawing bellies for your kind?
But what are you? Who are you? You flop back onto your stomach, head dipping to the stones as you blink, slow and stupid as you settle into your new body.
What did the legends call it? The cogs turn in your head, clear still to an outside, if initiated, observer. Not a seal, but a...
The thought comes to you in a flash of understanding and you let out a happy bark that surprises even you, tail slapping the rock pool to send up a splash of salt spray.
A selkie. You are a selkie. A creature of myth, brought to reality by a hand that should not have existed. You try to frown, but your lips no longer form the motion as you blink a pair of dark, soulful eyes to the rolling, heaving arms of the sea. The seagulls wheel and caw, grey shapes high above that cause you little reason for concern, beyond your reckoning now. The fish are yours, not theirs, and you are the hunter, not the hunted. They shall be no more than an infrequent pest to you now, a scavenger. The crash of the sea upon the rocks catches your ears and you turn your short muzzle into the breeze, salt dancing on your tongue. The sea... Your eyes gleam. Oh, how beautiful she is.
She calls to you, her voice a whisper on the breeze. Your whiskers twitch as you slide over the stones, chest hitting the water and keeping on, tail catching you to power more swiftly through the shallows than you could ever have ran on land.
Your life as a selkie has is now begun.
Written by Amethyst_Mare on 14 January 2017
Into the Ocean
As you push your body through the shallows, further and faster with this new body you’ve been… gifted? Cursed with? You aren’t entirely sure - a few poor choice words made to a genie has inevitably led you to adopting this new visage in place of the human body you once possessed, so you consider that maybe it is meant to be a curse. But, you shall see if that remains the case.
Regardless, you barrel onward until you have finally pushed past the shallows and now, you’ve reached the continually deepening maw of the ocean, for you can now swim to the bottom, or what currently happens to be the bottom - the vast and splendorous blue welcomes you with open arms, and you feel a strange tingling warm ripple through your body as you swim about, testing the new body you have gained.
Having become a selkie, you note that your swimming abilities are far more enhanced then they once used to be - you were no Olympic swimmer prior, of course, but you knew the basics of moving your legs and arms to propel around. Now, however, your body, though wider and heavier in how it feels (the shape of a seal is not exactly slim, after all, although they make it work) is able to move at a much quicker pace. You can tell as you swim around aimlessly, mostly to understand how this new body works properly.
These flippers have granted you a boost, either way, and you feel as though you are a slender jet shooting through the thick weight of water - not so much a knife cutting through nearly-melted butter, no, but more akin to a balloon riding on a calm air current. It is as if you have become one with the ocean, and as you pause with your meandering, you soak (pun not intended… yet) in the sensations presenting themselves to you, including that watery weight.
The weight is everywhere - a mass of pressure pressing against every inch of your body. And yet, it is not heavy, nor uncomfortable - you can move side to side and up and down with little issue. You also note that despite the fact you are underwater, your lungs are not bothered by this - you are holding your breath, as it were, but there feels to you like a vast supply of air inside of you, as if your lungs are the size of great cities meshed together. There’s no discomfort, and you honestly find it rather amazing.
Not only that, but your senses are rather sharp. Your vision can see far ahead of you, spotting a school of fish scouring the upper waves for tiny things to munch on - fish you could barrel toward and catch if you were so inclined. Your hearing is notably not that poor, either, despite being underwater. You can hear the distance music of a whale or two far, far off - their baritone voice seems to vibrate through the waves, almost like an earthquake of low sound.
You are fascinated by this, by the fact you can see and hear so well, and even your sense of taste seems heightened. Your tongue can dart out and taste the salty water, but there is more than just the salt that your tongue feels: you can taste the grains of sand (a little coarse, with a rather odd flavor), you can taste the water itself (it has no flavor beyond all its components), and more.
You drop down and hover about when you reach the ocean’s floor, a sandy, bumpy land teeming with tiny fishes, small clusters of coral jutting out from the ground, and crabs skittering about, kicking up little particles that meld together to form the underwater equivalent of a dusty cloud. It passes by you without really fazing you, since you don’t feel an urge to blink the granules away.
Written by Hollowpages on 16 June 2020
Float Around
For a moment, you float there, taking in… everything.
Being where you are right now in this instant, underwater in the ocean without having the need to rush up for air or without feeling any sort of immediate fear for your life is unlike any sensation you’ve experienced in your life before this day. You feel… good? Great? In awe?
It’s a combination of these emotions, you suppose.
You shift your focus and instead begin to casually swim forward, deeper into the embrace of the expanding ocean. The water is warm to you for some reason - a warmth at seeps through your soft flesh and permeates throughout your body. It makes it so that you don’t feel as afraid or leery as you might’ve felt otherwise, you think. Or that’s what it seems like, anyways.
As you swim about, at a relative low angle - your belly isn’t quite scraping the ground or anything, but you’re lower than you obviously could be, and that’s fine with you - you observe. The depths of the ocean do not scare you, despite the ever darkening shade of blue that seems to push beyond what you conceived, with the depth growing more and more as you peer toward the underwater horizon.
You wonder how far you could go; a human could not swim very deep without any outside aid, you know this well. The human body is not built for high pressure - and even if you had been human wearing diving gear or helming a submarine, you know that no human has been able to truly explore the darkest pits of the world’s oceans. Could you now? You… don’t know.
You know you are a selkie, no more human than the fish swimming around you warily now that they see your massive figure (massive to them, that is). But you aren’t sure what sort of abilities you possess that break past the limitations of a normal seal or a normal human. You hope to find out, though.
After a moment, you pause again, floating about, your eyes scanning your surroundings with more concentration. Before you are several options, you note.
You can continue to swim around without a goal in mind, though if you keep pushing forward, the ocean will continue to open up and deepen - there is little doubt you will end up coming to a point where you will be able to submerge into the darker sections of the ocean realm, if you are brave enough to.
Or, you think, you can remain in a safer area where it’s much lighter and much more expanded - you notice to your left that there is some sort of underwater cove, and though you cannot see too far beyond this cove, it appears there may be something there. A… ship wreckage? You narrow your eyes and concentrate your vision - doing this seems to grant you an oomph to your gaze, and you indeed seem to see some type of sunken ship.
You then glance to your right, and though there is no apparent sunken ship to catch your mind, you do notice in the distance something else of interest: the ground seems to open up and you can spot the beginnings of a coral forest - thriving with fish and color that catch your eye as if beckoning you toward it.
Now, you have three options. What do you choose?
Written by Hollowpages on 27 June 2020
Choosing the Sunken Ship
After a long moment of consideration, you decide that while the possibility of exploring the deeper sea is tantalizing in an adventurous sort of mentality - who knows what could be down there and you have no clue how far you can go, either, since you are neither human nor seal but something between the two. And while the coral forest appears like it would be breathtaking to behold (you might even be able to make a home of some kind there, you don’t know, and that’s honestly kind of exciting for you), you cannot help but incline yourself to investigating the apparent shipwreck.
Besides, you muse - who wouldn’t want to explore a sunken ship? There could be treasures in there, or other things of interest. You may be a selkie now, certainly, but your mind still retains human inclinations; you could discover something of interest that you might be able to unearth for someone else, and that suits you fine, or, there may be something else of note. You won’t know unless you look.
Plus, it’s not like you won’t be able to see either of the other two options at some point - the day is young and you are a selkie now, right? You have no limitations you’re aware of and time seems to have lost meaning to you - you can do as you please, when you please, and that includes going to the center of the ocean or swimming about a coral forest at your leisure.
And so, you swim toward the left.
You pass by several schools of wandering fish, but you pay them no mind. You don’t feel hungry or anything like that - there is no urge in your belly to fill it, so, you will do that when the time is right. Your curiosity is evidently more powerful right now then any shred of hunger you may possess, too.
It doesn’t take you long to bridge the gap between where you’d started and the underwater cove where you saw the hint of a sunken ship. The cove itself is a gaping hole situated in a sandy valley, with several mounds of sand scattered around the edges of said ‘hole’ giving it the feel of a blemish on the otherwise smooth plain of sand you’ve seen prior. You wonder if perhaps an earthquake caused an erosion to create such a noticeable shape, or, if perhaps the apparent ship might have done it. But, you shrug this off, and drop down.
And as you dive a little deeper, you indeed do come across the destroyed remains of what appears to be have at some point in time been a good-sized, healthy ship. The body is large and brown, though it’s grown murky and faded due to being drenched for a long, long period of time - the ship is split almost perfectly in half, with one portion sticking out from the sand a little further down, while the other half lies almost at the center of this makeshift underwater cove.
Written by Hollowpages on 01 July 2020
Swim Around
You swim around the area at first, taking in the sight of this long lost beauty - it looks like it might’ve been from well over a hundred years ago due to the splintered wear and tear, including the torn and barely existing fabric of the flag that seems to have no discernible symbols on it. There are several old, cracked crates dotting the perimeter of the ship - you wonder if it was a cargo ship at some point, or maybe a trading vessel? Or a pirate ship, your inner child thinks, but you silence this consideration for the time being.
The ship, to your eyes, looks to be in decent shape for something that’s been destroyed and beaten down by the constant weight of water.
You spot the fractured ship’s mast - the tip of it is impaled into the upper part of the sand a few feet away from you, sticking out with some shreds of what could’ve been a second flag rather noticeable as they flow there. A second portion of the mast is still attached to the ship, but, where the middle portion went is something the ocean itself only knows. And she won’t be telling.
As you slowly circle the half of the ship that is lying on its - side, stomach, whatever the proper terminology is for it being upright but at rest, since you don’t know such things by heart - you notice the innards of the ship are quite large, larger than you expected. You wouldn’t say it was as big as a fancy cruise ship, but, you would have to say it’d give those big behemoths a run for their money - which is saying a lot if it’s hundreds of years old.
There appears to be a few items of potential interest, too, but you can’t say for certain what they are since the interior is quite dark.
You eventually come to the opening of the ship, and from here, you turn your gaze down to the other half that is beneath you, the wooden body looking like a giant mouth open for anything to swim into - you can tell the portion beneath you is larger than the half in front of you, but both have some curious possibility swirling around inside your mind.
What to do, you think?
You can eventually choose both halves to look into since you remind yourself you have no curfew or restrictions now that you’re a selkie, freed from the woes of humanity and the usual problems you would be dealing with, of course, but you want to decide which to look at first - so, do you choose the larger half beneath you, or do you choose the half in front of you directly?
Written by Hollowpages on 03 July 2020
Deeper You Go
You ponder this for a moment, or whatever could be considered a moment for a selkie floating underwater with a human’s mind - and then, you decide, hey, why not swim down into the larger section of the sunken ship and see what might be lurking beneath. It’s bigger, so, more space and more to check out.
You do that, turning your body down and pushing yourself lower and lower as you swim to the large ship’s body impaling the sandy ground.
The body is large and somewhat ominous, and yet you feel no fear - you don’t see anything dangerous, nor do you get any sensation of impending doom or worry that you need to be mindful of.
When you enter the mouth of the broken ship down old ship, the water - you would’ve considered it the ‘air,’ but being submerged, this feels wrong, so maybe the aura sounds more befitting - feels cooler, and as you dive in more, the coldness increases. It’s like being surrounded by an icy hand clutching around your body. It doesn’t scare you, nor does it make you feel uncomfortable, but, it is definitely noticeable.
There is something about the fact the water is colder here that makes you think that there’s far more to this sunken shipwreck than what you initially thought. You get this nagging feeling in the back of your head that you are being watched - and on top of this, your stomach churns, because the iciness has now drenched your body. It’s bizarre, for sure - very, very bizarre.
You shake it off, and try to focus on looking around and exploring.
It is dim here, the nooks and crannies untouched by the sunlight filtering down from above because of how deep you are now - and though you can still see, your vision feels more obscured by the shadows of the wreckage. You cannot see too deep into the body of the ship - the further down you look, the less light there is, almost like tendrils of blackness eagerly waiting for you to venture too close before swallowing you whole. You can make out what looks like a staircase further in that leads to an upper floor… or you imagine that’s the case.
The unease is seeping even more into your body, melding into the odd icy feeling. Still, you are not about to be bothered by such a thing - you have no reason to be afraid, you tell yourself. You look around, however, and absorb what you’re able to see.
Written by Hollowpages on 04 July 2020
Skeletons
For starters, you are surprised to see the unmistakable sight of not one, but three skeletons - or at least, what were once full skeletons. One is lodged haphazardly in what was most likely a window at one point in time, as if the person had tried to escape the ship as it was sinking but got stuck in the window during their attempt. Another is deeper in the shadow of the ship’s body, half of said skeleton trapped beneath what appears to be a large crate - their head and one hand is still visible, that hand reaching out at you as if calling out for help that will never come.
You feel a sense of unease, but, you swallow this down and swim a little lower, checking the rather somber sight, then turning to the last visible skeleton. This one is sitting awkwardly on what might’ve been a bed in the past, with one leg apparently trapped under the ‘body’ of the bed. One shoulder looks dislocated.
It is clear to you that this was a manned ship, clearly, if there are three bodies here. You begin to wonder what became of the rest of the crew, and your mind races with dozens of questions - this, despite the fact you are still coming to terms with the reality you are now a selkie due to angering a genie. It seems not even magic can conquer the unyielding strength of a curious mind.
You eventually shake this away, and you notice something else, something deeper in the ship’s body - it is hard to see given how black the darkness is, but, it looks like… a small chest!
You swim toward it slowly and find that it is indeed a chest, the sort that reminds you of pirate movies you’ve seen in the past, and though you cannot see inside because it is locked shut - locked shut with a fairly large lock that seems far too big to be real, and not only is there a lock, it is covered with a large, thick, rusted chain encircling it - you catch sight of something that looks to be… shiny?
You feel a rush of excitement at the sight - an excitement that is mitigated only slightly by the fact you can still feel the sense you’re being watched by something. You can ignore it, however, and circle the chest, admiring it. If it is what you think it could be, then, that is definitely a fantastic discovery to make underwater like this.
Yet before you can dwell on this discovery, let alone begin to think of what you can do to perhaps open the chest and see for yourself what is inside, you stop, because you hear something. It is low at first, a very distant, echoing noise - yet it approaches, and you turn your head toward the direction of it (which happens to also be above you by this point).
You swim up, pushing above the sunken remnant of the ship you were only just beginning to truly explore, and you hear the noise much clearer now.
Written by Hollowpages on 05 July 2020
Singing
he sound is… singing.
It is not the same deep noise of a whale’s song, no - this is different. It sounds more… more human, you note. It is low, soothing, and distinctly feminine - a very resonating hum that seems to sink through your flesh, piercing right into your core. As it grows louder, it seems to reverberate all around you, and especially inside of your head, as if you were listening to music.
It is eerie. Very eerie, and yet, still melodic - a pleasant and smooth rhythm that really catches your insides, filling you with a sense of… familiarity?
You are stunned at what this music is and where it could possibly be coming from - or what the heck sort of creature could be making it, and then, above you, from the direction where you came from, you see a form appear - a head pokes out from above you, from where the underwater cove crater begins. It is a head much like yours, and you can feel eyes on you.
Then, the head vanishes, and it clicks in your head that you might’ve just laid eyes on another selkie. So now, the question becomes, do you follow?
Written by Hollowpages on 07 July 2020
Follow the Leader
It isn’t difficult to decide on following, not when the chance has presented itself that you might have just seen another person - or selkie - just like you. You swim upward to the entrance to this shipwreck’s hole, and you spot a body shooting away through the waves at an incredible speed. It appears to be a seal, but, they are moving very fast, and you feel inclined to follow to see for yourself if they are a real seal or if maybe, just maybe, they are more like you.
Naturally, that’s what you decide to do.
You take off in a flash after the seal, following behind it despite the distance between the two of you. At first, you struggle to maintain a solid speed since you only know a little about this new-found body of yours - you kick your flippers like you would if they were human legs, as if this will make a difference, but it only does you so good in moving faster.
You aren’t about to give up, of course, but, you are aware that this seal is far ahead of you, heading back toward the direction you initially came from. They dive down, right near the coral forest you spotted a while back.
You eventually get into the groove of moving more easily. It is a matter not of kicking flippers or trying to move this or that - you discover that it is a combination of working with the water, not against it, and moving in tandem with your breathing. These two factors allow you to improve your agility, and you pick up speed right around the time you come to the coral forest for yourself.
You stop when you reach it.
The coral forest is far, far bigger and runs far deeper than you expected it to. You cannot help but float there for a few slow breaths, taking in the array of colors sprouting out from the sand below - there are shades of reds, deep and emerald ton greens, several blues, and several purples, oranges and yellows, and that doesn’t even take into consideration the dozens upon dozens of different fish types all fluttering about, above and within the forest.
You are in awe of the beauty - it is like being in an art museum filled with old and fascinating artworks, or standing in a field of hundreds of different, blooming flowers. It goes beyond what you had expected, and you admit that perhaps you should’ve come here first. But you shake this off when you hear that human singing deeper into the coral forest.
You swim down, darting past the fish that scurry away in fright at the sight of a much larger being (and obvious predator) shooting past them. You delve into the forest, swimming around the clusters of red corals, the clusters of greens and blues and purples - a few bobs, a few weaves, and you eventually push deeper beneath the colors to find a cave - a rather open, deep cave with no end in sight, yet though it’s dusky, there are flickers of light that illuminate tiny shreds of the innards.
You hear that singing echoing from the cave’s gullet, so, you venture inwards. You are slightly on edge, you admit to yourself, but your curiosity has gotten the better of you once again. It’s not like you have anything to lose, either.
The smattering of light you find varies - some of it comes from holes above you, crackles in the cave’s ceiling that allow for slivers of the sun’s light high, high above to somehow peer through into the murk. But, you also notice that some of the light seems to be coming from the walls of the caves - tiny groupings of… glowing coral, perhaps? You aren’t entirely sure, mostly because your attention zeroes in on following that eerie melody to its source.
Minutes tick by, and you flow through the cave, dodging around random bends and turns and bumps until you spot the cave’s end ahead of you - and end in that it opens up again, leaving you a little bewildered as to what would cause a random cave like that in such a strange portion of the ocean.
You shrug this off internally.
When you reach the end of the cave and exit into the wider ocean once more, you find yourself in another, smaller coral forest. The water here is a little darker, you notice, and though you turn your gaze upward toward the direction of the sky, you can’t quite tell if it’s still daylight out or if it’s slowly beginning to turn to night. You expect night to drape over the ocean soon, but, you are undeterred by this.
That singing reaches your ears, and you swim toward it, moving through this newer, smaller coral forest of various colors, going up, then down, then up again until you skim the top of the coral field. You then see, a little ahead of you, is a sight that again leaves you genuinely surprised.
There is a large, large rock formation several yards - you think? - in front of you, a rock formation with random bits sticking up and out and even chunks broken off. Yet that is not what snags your attention: you see a variety of holes, large holes that are most definitely person-sized, almost in a perfect row forming a strange sort of ring within the massive stone, as if it were a home to sea life.
You blink several times, and something about this mass rising out from the ground makes you feel like you ought to explore it. But before you can contemplate this, you hear that singing again, much closer now - you turn your attention and, there, roughly the same distance as the large earthen formation, is the seal you saw. She - they - are nearer to the surface, and as you notice them, they swim toward what appears to be land, emerging from the depths.
You have two options - you can swim to this formation to check it out, and see what may lurk in those holes or near them. Or, you can follow this seal, and see once and for all if perhaps they are someone like you. Now what, you wonder?
Written by Hollowpages on 09 July 2020
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
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait
You give it some heavy thought since you want to make sure you do this the right way. You settle not on trying to awkwardly climb this rocky hill to get to the other seal, but instead on waiting and watching the other seal. You figure that they will likely see you down there at some point, so, you’d rather let them be the one to decide if they want to come down to you instead.
Something about this seems right to you as far as decisions go.
You’re not sure why - it could be the human in you, since you retain your humanity despite now being a selkie. Regardless, you remain where you are and listen to the seal’s melody for a time.
As you wait, the sea’s own melody - the flowing of the waves as they rise up and douse the flat, stone island you are now sitting on, bringing with it sea foam that sprinkles down onto the ground and onto you, mixed in with the sound of gulls in the distance - joins together with the seal’s music. The two different tenors don’t clash despite what you expect, and instead, they go hand in hand with one another, joining to form an eerie yet calming rhythm.
Together, the music settles you, and you find it all so very… peaceful.
But eventually, after some time has slipped by you, the stronger melody coming from above you ceases. You snap out of your daze and glance up to find the seal now looking down at you. You can’t read their expression, but you get the sense that they are studying you with an almost human intensity.
You watch, and wait, to see what they do next. Will they stay? Will they come down to you? Will they flee? Will they do some combination of these, or nothing at all like what you expect? Even you don’t know at this rate.
At first, the response to this seems to be… nothing, for they look at you a moment longer before they look away. You blink a few times and wonder what, if anything, to expect. Perhaps they’ll ignore your existence entirely - you suppose that’s one thing you hadn’t considered when you followed them in the first place.
‘I suppose you’re expecting something for being so patient there, don’t you?’
The voice startles you - you hear it in your head, clear as day, as if someone is speaking into both your ears at once. The voice is clearly a woman’s that sounds young - perhaps late twenties or early thirties, if you had to guess of an age range from a voice, and she speaks with a noticeable accent - Irish, in fact. Thick enough to be obvious to your mind’s ears (if that phrase fits), yet still soft and pleasant.
‘Since you’ve been a pleasant audience for me, I guess I can reward you with what you’re clearly seeking, pup. One moment.’
The seal above you slides down the rocky hill, moving rather swiftly before coming to a stop before you. She appraises you with very human looking eyes, regarding you with the same intense, quizzical stare she was giving moments ago - only now, you can see her eyes far clearer. You’re a little unnerved at how human her eyes look, not at all like that of a seal’s like you expected.
‘You seem very confused, little pup,’ she says, or, her voice says inside your head. It’s definitely a strange sensation to experience, and you find it disorienting despite the fact her voice is very calm and not at all threatening. In fact, her tone holds genuine amusement in it.
She cocks her head to the side as her eyes bore into you.
‘You are like me, I can see that from the way you stare with an intelligence above that of the average animal,’ the seal says. ‘But you are unlike me, too. I can tell by the smell you are not of my kind, at least not through natural means. Your scent is different.’ Her large nostrils flare several times as she leans in to sniff you. She nods. ‘Yes, you stink of magic - a very dark magic unlike that of what I possess, pup. It seems a djinn has meddled about in things, as they often tend to do, and now you have been transformed into a selkie.’
You are astounded by all this. It takes a moment for you to register what she has said to you, as it would any normal person in this situation. You stare at her, trying to figure out what she’s talking about, but more importantly, how you can respond to her to continue this communication. You just don’t know where to even begin.
‘Ah, I see,’ the seal says. ‘You have yet to find your voice. I am not surprised given the nature of this change for your life, hmm, pup?’ Her chortle echoes inside your head, and she gives a snort from her nostrils. ‘Concentrate on your thoughts - think the words you wish to speak as if your lips could still work the way they once did. You’ll find by doing that you will be able to respond to me.’
You take this in and try to do as she has said, and you wonder what you want to ask her first. Obviously, you can ask who she is, or if she’s a selkie, but you decide you can also ask something a bit more meaningful to start off with - like how she knows about the genie.
Regardless, you mull this over before you decide you have what you want to say, at least to start off with…
Written by Hollowpages on 12 July 2020
Schooled
‘Well, pup?’ the seal asks, and you snap out of your daze. ‘Are you going to remain silent or do you intend to try and speak with me? I’ve no desire to rush you, mind, but I assume you’re intelligent enough to pick this up quickly, hmm?’
You shake your head and drum up what you have opted to say. ‘You…’ You blink as you hear your voice in your head, sharper than when you normally think to yourself, as if your lips are indeed vocalizing words. You blink a few times and continue. ‘You know about the genie?’
Those strange, human eyes hold mirth in them. ‘Of course I do. It’s the most likely reason for why you find yourself in the blessed body of a selkie, pup - normal humans would never fathom of becoming one of my kin unless they’d fallen in love with one of us.’ She pauses, then snorts. ‘Although you seem to have taken to it fairly well, it’s clear you’ve no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into in full. But, yes. I know of the genie.’
You blink a few times, taking this in.
‘Your world is not as mundane as you may have once believed,’ the selkie says. ‘There is much magic lurking within it - many of the myths you have heard to be fairy tales or fantasy hold some kernels of truth to them, or else we would not be having this conversation.’
‘I’m… starting to see that now,’ you reply.
‘Mm.’ She nods slowly. ‘You are not the first human to be transformed into a selkie, pup. Certainly not, and you won’t be the last. There are many others, some of whom live not far from where we stand.’ She nods her head toward the direction you came from. ‘That great rock formation you likely saw?’
You nod as you recall it.
‘That is home to several selkie, some like you, some like me,’ she replies.
You turn toward the direction you chose not to go and soak this in. ‘How many…’ You pause and shift your thoughts around a little. ‘How many others are like me? Humans turned into selkie? And… are they all that way because of the same genie?’
‘I cannot give you a full number,’ she replies, and she shrugs her shoulders to the best way a seal can shrug. ‘Many are like this due to magical influences, yes, though perhaps not the same djinn. Fortunately, there is something you likely didn’t know - or perhaps you were led to think differently by the djinn responsible.’ She leans in to stare at you, her eyes gleaming. ‘You can, in fact, return to your former visage, pup. You aren’t trapped in this body for eternity.’
You are stunned to hear this. You swore there was a voice that told you this would be your new body forever. To hear otherwise is… not at all what you expected. Somehow, you feel relieved to hear this - you think back to the things you thought you’d have to leave behind, and now, you admit a part of you does miss them.
‘But, wait,’ you think, trying to sort all this out. ‘Then why would…?’
‘You must’ve done something to upset the genie, hmm?’ the selkie asks, then gives a snort. ‘So many djinn are ridiculously sensitive beings, offended by the tiniest of slights.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘It is not uncommon for humans to use the wrong tone by mistake or to get upset or whatever, and a genie will curse them out of sheer spite. Fortunately, such magics can be worked around to ensure these cursed humans are able to live happier lives.’
‘So the genie was lying when he said I was stuck this way?’ you ask.
‘Yes, pup,’ the selkie replies. ‘The magic you have been imbued with cannot be undone, however - but you can learn to control it, as many selkie like you do. Doing so will allow you to live in both worlds: yours, that of normal humans, and ours, that of the magically gifted, of the beings you likely know as fae.’
Your eyes go wide. ‘Fae? Fairies? So they’re real?’
‘Not to the extent you might be thinking,’ the selkie admits, giving another shrug in the process. ‘But yes, they are real enough. We selkie are one of many similar beings that fall into the same bracket as the fae you are thinking of - those with the blessed ability to shift between the body of an animal and a human. In your case, you are naturally born human, whereas I am naturally a seal. But time and magic has gifted me the ability to speak, to think, and to comprehend all manner of things as a human being would.’
‘Wow…’ you say.
It’s a lot to take in, of course, and you feel yourself excited to hear this all. You have always been a fan of the fantastical; you never thought you’d be living it, and you admit that you hadn’t considered this when you were first turned into a selkie.
‘You seem to be dwelling a lot on this,’ the selkie remarks. ‘That’s a good sign.’
‘I don’t know where to even start with all this,’ you tell her.
She cocks her head to the side, studying you. ‘Well, what is it you wish to know first? Do you want to find out how to return to your human form? Or would you rather save that and instead discover what you can do as a selkie? Either work for me, unless you’ve another question that’s nagging at your mind.’
You pause to think. Good question. Both of them are decent options, and you feel either one would be useful for you in the moment.
‘Are both possible?’ you ask the selkie.
She chuckles. ‘Of course, pup. I would not deny you the right to return to your flesh form - to do so would be an insult to my kin, and I feel no desire to be malicious to one that, while perhaps foolish, is not wicked themselves.’
You don’t respond to that one since, well, you don’t really want to (you know you messed up and that you haven’t thought of it much since becoming a selkie, but you can dwell on that later, you tell yourself). For now, you think, and weigh the two options given to you.
Written by Hollowpages on 14 July 2020
Schooled II
You eventually decide what it is you want to do, after considering it for a long few moments of silence. You study this selkie, then let out a quiet internal sigh.
‘What can I do as a selkie?’ you ask. ‘I’d… I’d like to find out first.’
The selkie nods slowly. ‘I am not surprised you would choose this first. It is a wise decision - you can return to human form at any time, but learning how to swim properly is smarter, pup. I wouldn’t want you to go without discovering your true potential.’
You don’t respond to this, mostly because you don’t feel you need to. What the selkie has said makes plenty of sense to you, after all, so you simply decide you want to wait and see what she will say to you next. You are curious to find out what sort of ‘abilities’ you have as a selkie, after all.
Her eyes seem to gleam as she appraises you. ‘Alright, pup. The first thing you must do for me is choose once more - but it is not a grave choice to make, mind you. There are two different sets of gifts you possess as a selkie: those that you can access when on dry land, and those that you can access when you are in the water.’
‘Dry land and water,’ you repeat, and you nod. ‘Alright, understood.’
‘On land, you are weaker,’ the selkie says. ‘The water is your natural element, pup, and will be for the rest of your days even when you are in human form. Any body of water will be your truest ally, but, the ocean will be your closest friend and lover: she will embrace you with wide, open arms, and will always seek to cure your maladies or help you when you are hurting. Never forget this, because she will never forget you.’
The words sink into you, and you look about at the ocean as it sprays upon the rocks around you, filling the air with the scents of the salty waters.
‘But, while she is a dear friend to you, to me, and to all like us,’ the selkie says, ‘the land is also a part of you, and will always be there to help you all the same - like a nurturing older sister that cannot be as freeing, but means well regardless.’
You nod slowly as you soak these in, too.
‘So the choice now is simple, pup,’ the selkie says, and she tilts her head to the side to study you. ‘Do you want to learn and experience your benefits beneath the waters? Or do you desire to discover what your land abilities are first?’
Another choice lingers before you, but you feel the excitement bubbling in the pit of your stomach at all the potential at your display. You can tell you have the ability to do both, but, it simply boils down to what you want to learn first.
So, what do you want?
Written by Hollowpages on 15 July 2020
Schooled III
After a moment longer of pondering over the options you’ve been presented, you decide on which you’d rather learn about to start with - time feels like it’s on your side, regardless of the decision you make, and you see no reason to worry about it otherwise.
‘I think I’d like to learn about what I can do underwater first,’ you reply.
The selkie eyes you with a knowing expression, as if she knew you were going to choose that as your answer. She nods once, then turns away from you and trots toward the ocean, pausing only once to glance at you again and incline her head toward the deep azure.
‘Follow me, pup,’ she replies.
She dives in, and disappears beneath the waves.
You follow after her and do the same, and you quickly feel yourself submerged under the depths again - she’s not far from you. In fact, she’s floating about barely a foot away from the point you dived from, so you swim over to join her.
‘The first thing you need understand about our abilities,’ the selkie says, ‘is that we are gifted in controlling the waters in ways the average creature cannot.’
You’re fairly certain you’d have a furrowed brow if you could. Her statement puzzles you. ‘What do you mean?’
She chuckles internally. ‘What I mean, pup, is that you can actually will the water to some degree. As you are not a natural-born selkie like myself, you can’t grasp this power to the same level I or other pure selkie can. But, you have the potential. Think of the waves of blue around us as an extension of your own physical form. Envision it as your flesh and blood and bone.’
You pause, and consider these words. It’s different from what you expected from when you first heard her ask you about all this - and, in truth, the concept of being able to ‘control’ the water sounds… well, it sounds surreal and fantastical. You do consider the fact you’re currently a selkie, however, so…
‘Having fun contemplating my words?’ the selkie asks. She sounds thoroughly amused.
‘I mean…’ You pause again, and try to think it over. ‘When you say that I have the power to control the water, what exactly does that entail? I don’t expect that I can create a tidal wave out of thin air, right?’
She chuckles internally once more. ‘No, pup. Nothing that intense, I’m afraid.’
She swims over to you, circling around you for a brief moment.
‘Think of it more along the lines of using water as an aid to your every move,’ the selkie replies. ‘You can use the waves to propel yourself forward, or, slow down something that might be dangerous and swimming toward you. It’s how I was able to keep ahead of you so easily when I led you away from the shipwreck.’
Your eyes go wide. ‘You were doing that on purpose!’
‘Of course,’ she replies, smiling at you. ‘I knew what you were the instant I spotted you, and I felt if I could get you away from the ship, that perhaps you’d be intrigued enough to chase after me.’
You don’t know how to respond to that. But, you let it go for now - no reason to keep on it since it’s a little too late - and instead, you try to think of her words, and of ‘controlling’ the water, as she’s put it. It sounds foreign to you, yet you are more than willing to give it a shot (not like you have anything else you can do with your time right now, after all, and you did sort of choose to do this).
And so it is that you, in the body of a selkie, try to envision the water you’ve submerged yourself into as an extension of your body.
Initially, you can’t grasp the idea - it’s hard to picture or force yourself to feel like the water is a part of your own body, because your human mind doesn’t enjoy the notion of such a thing. It takes a good, long few minutes for you to concentrate on not reacting to such thoughts, but, even then, you can’t just magically start bending the water around you.
‘Concentrate on steadying everything within,’ the selkie says. ‘Steady your racing thoughts. Feel the water itself, not as some external element, but as if it were attached to you. Imagine that you are molding the waters with your mind, and use this to move your body. Up, down, left, right, forward, backward. Do this and only this, nothing more.’
Her words echo inside your skull, and you keep your concentration as best as you can. You close your eyes and very, very gradually work on doing what she’s told you to do.
Concentrate. Steady.
It takes you time, but after what could have been an eternity, you can feel your mind quieting - the racing thoughts and impulses are quelling themselves down, and instead, you can actually feel the water around you easier. And as you focus on that, on the feeling of the waves, you envision not the water and you as separate things, but instead, as two parts of the same whole.
The water is part of you. You are a part of it. You are one in the same.
You envision this, and think this, and you become able to FEEL it to be so.
Then, when these sensations are the strongest they can be, you do as she’s told you - you envision the water moving your body for you, rather than trying to move it on your own. It takes a moment - a long, silent moment, at that - yet you suddenly feel your body going to the side, because you are WILLING it to.
You don’t move a muscle, not a flipper, not an inch on your own.
Your eyes open, and you can see yourself being moved by invisible strings that feel as though they’re dangling from your mind. You tilt your body to the left, tugging yourself with the waves. You are no longer submerged underwater; you truly believe, from sensation and sight, that you are guiding your motion with the water as your fingers.
You pull yourself up with the water, using one ‘hand’ to tug up, and the other ‘hand’ to push you at the same time. It works. You float up, then go down, all without having to actively exert any sort of force from your own body.
‘Whoa…’ you think.
The selkie has been watching you the entire time. She nods her head with approval, a glimmer in her eyes.
‘Nicely done, pup, nicely done,’ she says. ‘Not perfect, but, there is no such thing as true perfection.’
She swims around you again, only this time, her motions speed up - she suddenly swirls around your body, then darts down to the seafloor, then shoots back up again like a rocket. All of this in the matter of seconds, her body moving so fast, she briefly looks like a living blur.
It makes your head spin to witness in person, and you take a pause to blink away the surprise.
‘Now then,’ she says when she stops, and floats back to being in front of you. She’s grinning again, a hint of cheekiness in her eyes. ‘What you have done will require practice for you to gain a deeper appreciation of. And, it is merely one of the abilities we selkie are blessed with.’
‘What else can we do?’ you ask. You’re a little excited and honestly perplexed to find out.
‘In time, pup, in time,’ the selkie replies, and she chuckles again - she has an expression of understanding the entire time. ‘There is not a mass of skills, by any means. Don’t overexcite yourself with hopes. First, perhaps you should practice more of what you’ve just learned, hmm? But then, the choice IS yours on what you’d prefer to do.’
You suck in a quiet, internal breath, and nod along to her words.
You can continue to practice this new ability, as she’s said. Or, you can ask for something else, or decide to go back topside. What would you like to choose?
Written by Hollowpages on 02 November 2020
Schooled IV
After a pause of thinking over what you wish to do, you admit that, while you are somewhat eager now to see what else you as a selkie can do, you want to be smart about this whole ordeal. Rushing into things… that’s what got you into this predicament in the first place.
‘I think I’ll practice more, I guess,’ you say. ‘I, uh, want to get a hang on this ability and all that. I’ve always loved superpowers, so…’
The selkie snickers with thorough amusement. ‘A wise idea.’
You go back to concentrating the way the selkie has taught you - you feel the waves as an extension of your own body, and, you start to use that while in motion. You slowly move forward at a sluggish pace, but as you do, you use this newfound ability to give your body a push, as if the water is two hands behind you.
The push works!
Your speed increases, despite the fact your own body is not going all that quick at all. But, the water push aids in doubling your speed. You keep this up for about a minute, then stop, and, as you stop, you let the sensation ebb down.
‘This is so weird,’ you think to yourself’ ‘But it’s so fascinating all the same…’
You tilt your body upwards and give yourself a bigger push using only the water - it’s like having invisible hands that lift your entire body up effortlessly. You go up, up, and up even more, until your head pokes out from the surface of the waves. You hover there for a couple seconds, blinking and breathing in, then, you wonder something.
‘If I’m topside, does that mean I’ll see the water in motion?’ you think.
You decide to see for yourself if that’s the case or not. So, you begin to focus on extending out your own will into the waves surrounding your body. As you do this, you are astonished to see the water around you slowing down, and after a moment, you concentrate on raising the water directly in front of you.
The water rises up, lifting itself as if there were a hand pushing it above the surface.
You let out a gasp of shock, and the water splatters down, molding back into the wave. A ripple ricochets out from this point, and you are fascinated.
You do the same thing again. Concentrate on the water around your body until the sensation of it being ‘a part’ of you has sunk in, then begin to push it up like you’re lifting the water, but without touching it. It does the same thing, only this time, you keep your focus - you stay glued to this water lifting up before you, and you decide to add to it by trying to raise even more then just the one spot.
It takes a lot of effort on your part, but, eventually, you are able to raise up a tiny little wave, all without having to touch it directly.
You let out a breath and when your concentration ends, the tiny wave sinks back, sending out more ripples. You can’t help but float there and stare - you watch the ripples vanish into the distance and take a moment to appreciate how cool it is to be able to manipulate the water. Even if it isn’t to some superhuman degree, it’s neat to witness.
‘What else are selkies capable of?’ you wonder.
It’s so bizarre to consider that these creatures actually exist, but, you find yourself wanting to learn more and more if at all possible. For now, though, you decide not to dwell on it. You feel content knowing what you’ve learned, and, you want to keep practicing for a while longer.
You use the waves to pull your body down beneath the surface once more, and from there, you let the wave carry you down, down more, until you’re right back to the area where the selkie female is. She hasn’t really moved much, and if anything, seems content in watching you with a great deal of amusement.
‘Seeing young pups explore their capabilities is always entertaining for me,’ the selkie says, as if she knows exactly what you’re thinking. Which she may very well, given the nature of things.
You would shrug if you could. ‘It’s a lot of new things to take in.’
She nods. ‘I understand, pup. I don’t blame you. Humans live with the belief that they may not be the only sentient beings of this world, and in fact, they’re quite correct. However, it’s not often that a human will come across one such as myself, and even less common to come across a djinn. Unfortunate for your luck to have done so, though perhaps if you hadn’t been rude to it…’
There is a moment of silence.
You sigh. ‘Yes, I… I know. I don’t know what got into me.’
‘Such a thing happens,’ the selkie remarks. She floats over to you and boops your nose with hers. Her eyes shimmer with a smile on her face. ‘We can deal with that dilemma later, should you wish. For now, pup, I would continue experimenting with this new power you’ve discovered.’
You nod. Then, before you can go off and do that, you pause. Something occurs to you.
‘Before I do,’ you say, and you look at the selkie for a few heartbeats. ‘Do you mind if I ask your name? I forgot to do that when we first met.’
The selkie snickers. ‘Ah, yes, that may be of some benefit to you, wouldn’t it? I imagine being able to refer to me in your thoughts with a name would be less confusing and repetitive as repeatedly calling me ‘selkie,’ wouldn’t it?’
You nod again, and, admit that yes, it would be a bit easier. ‘Do selkie have names?’
‘We selkie have names, yes,’ she says. ‘But our true names are… difficult for human minds to understand the way you understand your fellow human names. It’s not that it can’t be pronounced by your tongue, yet it wouldn’t be an easy feat to do.’
You furrow your brow - or the closest thing to that you can do. ‘Why is that?’
‘Because there’s a… tonality to it that is hard to decipher,’ the selkie replies. She shakes her head. ‘For the sake of simplicity for you, I will give you the name in your tongue that is closest to my true name. You may call me Moirine.’
‘Moirine…’
You repeat the name a few times in your head so that you have a decent grasp of it. It’s a fancy name, for sure, but, it’s quite lovely to your ears. You have always been the sort to enjoy exotic names, provided they were names that could be pronounced (as opposed to names that were bizarre or special for the sake of being special).
‘I’ll do my best to remember it, Moirine,’ you say.
Moirine snickers once more. ‘That is fine with me, pup. Now then.’ She nudges you again. ‘You may continue to practice your water controlling gift, but perhaps we should do something else to make this more interesting, hmm?’
‘What do you have in mind?’ you ask.
‘We can return to the topside, to speak on dry land,’ Moirine says. ‘Or, we can do something else. Perhaps a race?’ Her eyes gleam. ‘Or, I can take you to the resting place of several other selkie - you can learn more from some who have been around for much, much longer than even myself.’
She nods toward the direction of the large rock formation with holes in it and such, the one that seems to be home to other selkies. This sparks your interest, but, then, so do the other options - they all sound like they could be plenty of fun for you right now. What do you wish to do?
Written by Hollowpages on 14 November 2020
Selkie Wisdom
You give it some thought before you decide that, while they all seem like they could be fun, your own desire to learn outshines the rest. You make your choice.
‘I think I’d like to go to the rock,’ you say, gesturing toward it. ‘I feel like since I’ve been turned into a selkie, the least I can do is learn a bit more about them. Plus, I’ve always been the sort that liked fantasy stuff. This is way too cool to pass up an opportunity like this.’
Moirine beams at you. ‘A lovely attitude to have, pup. I like that. Very well.’
She motions for you to follow and begins to swim toward the massive rock formation. You do so, and as you swim through the crystalline current, you can’t help but use your ability to have a bit of fun - you focus on the waves surrounding you and, as you do, you use them to propel your body even faster.
You shoot past Moirine, who laughs, and in no time, she is doing the same. She easily overtakes you, but you don’t mind. You welcome the tiny race, since you still get to do two of her suggestions this way.
The two of you rocket through the waves, and thanks to this, you make it to the large rock formation much faster than had you just been swimming normally.
You eventually halt your movements, and Moirine does the same, though she is clearly much faster and much more adept than you - after all, she is ahead of you, and when she stops, she halts a good few feet in front. She swings back around to you, smiles at you, and then you swim together at a leisurely pace.
‘Does this big thing have a name?’ you ask as you take in the sight of the massive rock formation. ‘It looks like it would from the size alone.’
Moirine stops near the front of a hole that goes nowhere. ‘It does, yes. Though, again, much like with our kind’s names, it is a word that would be difficult for you as a human to comprehend.’ She blinks and turns to you, cocking her head to one side. ‘The best I can say, in words you will understand… is it is named the Cayreeg.’
‘Cay… reeg,’ you say. It’s a bit of a mouthful, even in your head.
‘Good, good,’ Moirine says. ‘I’m afraid that’s closest term I can muster.’
‘Interesting,’ you say. ‘Does selkie language, like, sound that bizarre to humans?’
Moirine’s eyes sparkle. ‘It would be difficult for you to understand because of the way it’s spoken, yes. Our language, in truth, is long and strings together… vowels as you call them.’ She frowns slightly. ‘The best method I can describe it, pup, is: imagine a word that takes a minute to speak, or a word with, say, twenty letters in it. That one word? Is one name for a selkie.’
‘Wow,’ you say. You shake your head. ‘I will… definitely not be complaining about anything being hard, then. I can’t even fathom…’
Moirine laughs jovially. ‘It would take a great deal of time for you to hear my true name, and likely even more time to get it down. Do not worry. Moirine is a fitting enough substitute, and it’s actually the human equivalent of my true name. I will recognize it and answer to it all the same.’
‘Understood.’
‘Now then,’ Moirine says. ‘Shall we go inside the Cayreeg?’
‘Yes!’ you say, feeling a burst of pure excitement.
You dip down and follow Moirine as she swims through a large hole located near the bottom of the giant rocky structure - the hole is wide enough that you can both fit through it, and it leads into a massive crater made from stone.
You halt and just stare in astonishment.
There are countless crevices throughout the rocky walls encircling you. Some have nothing in them, but others have selkies. There are groups of them, and a few on their own, yet as you take in the sight - and you peer down to see plenty more below, as the rocky wall stretches down quite a ways - you imagine there may be a hundred or so selkie!
‘Whoa…’ you say. ‘This is… wow.’
Moirine chortles. ‘I suppose it’s safe to say that our numbers are quite splendorous, wouldn’t you?’
‘How many selkie are there?’ you ask as you turn your gawking stare to her.
‘More than I can begin to say,’ Moirine replies earnestly. ‘Hundreds? Thousands? I admit, even I don’t know the exact number, but it’s a great deal more than you would expect to hear. Many of us make our homes in the depths across the world, although we remain well hidden from human eyes. It helps that we as a collective have the power to, shall we say, separate ourselves from the realm you know.’
You frown at this. ‘Huh? Separate yourselves? What do you mean?’
‘What I mean, pup,’ Moirine says, ‘is that we are not in your realm.’
You gawk now. ‘Not in my realm? So, wait.’ You glance around again, taking in the sights with confusion. ‘Are you saying this is some kind of… fake place?’
Moirine giggles internally and shakes her head. ‘Not exactly, no. Not fake. This is still a real place. The ocean is realm, the stone and sand and sea creatures are all realm. But this as a whole is… a pocket of sorts. It is tucked within your mortal world, out of sight where no normal human can access it. Like a deep belly button on the flat plain of a stomach.’
You blink a few times.
Moirine is all smiles. ‘That’s what they’re called, right? Belly buttons?’
‘Um. Y-yes,’ you say.
‘Perfect,’ Moirine says. ‘Then think of this as one such belly button. There are many others in different areas, but all of them are underwater in some form. It’s only we selkie who know how to find them, too. No other being can, at least not without being taken here directly by a selkie.’
You stare at her some more as you absorb her words.
‘Here, we are safe and can be ourselves,’ Moirine says. ‘If you were to swim a certain degree in any given direction, you would eventually separate from this pocket, and end up back in your world. You would then need to follow a certain path to find your way back here. It is one we selkie are raised to know.’
‘I… I see,’ you remark. Your head is spinning.
‘Don’t worry, pup,’ Moirine says. ‘I will show you these paths in due time, even if you decide you wish to return to being a normal human being.’ She winks. ‘But, we’re getting a little off track from what we were doing before. You wished to find a selkie to speak to, yes? One whom knows more and can divulge all the information you desire?’
Her eyes are sparkling as she grins at you, and she gestures her head about.
‘Or, have you changed your mind now that you see what it is this holds?’ she asks. ‘I don’t mind if your mind has changed. There is plenty of time to do what you wish - so I leave the decision up to you. We can continue with the previous decision, and find a selkie elder to speak to. Or, we can explore this area, or even go back out. I don’t mind either way, to be honest. I’m content doing whatever - I enjoy helping pups learn the ropes, as you humans say.’
You stare around at the dozens upon dozens of gaping holes with selkies making their apparent homes there. You are amazed by the sheer size of the area, and by the depth of the rocky formation. But, you shake this off, and your mind starts to focus on what to do.
You can change your mind, as Moirine has said. Or, you can keep on track with your original desire, to find a selkie and learn more about their ways.
What would you prefer to do?
Written by Hollowpages on 22 November 2020
Selkie Wisdom II
You mull over your choices for a moment, before you decide you want to stay the course - you want to learn more about the selkies, because fantastical anything fascinates you to the very core.
‘I would like to learn more, yeah,’ you reply.
Moirine nods. ‘Very well then. Follow me.’
Without another word, she starts to swim down, leading you deeper into the massive chasm called the Cayreeg. You dive down, down more, for about two or so minutes until you come to a large hole that seems a little different then the other ones surrounding you - unlike most of the craters where selkie are swimming about or resting, this one has glowing stones jutting out from it.
‘Ooh,’ you say, taking a moment to eye these. They look like crystals.
‘In here,’ Moirine says.
She leads you into the large hole, and soon, you see a lone mass that, at first, you think is just a huge rock. But after a couple seconds, and a blink, you realize that, no, this is no rock - it’s a figure there, a living creature - a selkie like all the others, but, not just an ordinary selkie: this selkie is massive!
‘Holy…’ is all you can manage to say as you gawk.
The selkie looks like a seal that’s grown to be the size of a whale, so large that it takes up most of the backmost portion of the crater. Said selkie is a deep gray color with white and black specks covering its body, with what appears to be very silvery-white fur sticking out from the top of its head, almost like hair. Its eyes are equally large, yet like Moirine’s eyes, appear human-like - but they are also a bright, gleaming sky-blue color. And right when you notice the eyes, the large selkie looks directly at you with a great deal of intelligence.
‘Mm… a new pup comes to my abode.’
The selkie’s voice is that of a woman, but deep and booming, somehow blending together a tone of authority and a tone of calmness at once. But, you somehow know that it is indeed a she, just from a feeling you get in your gut.
‘Greetings, Seamother,’ Moirine says.
She swims up to the giant selkie and rests next to the massive nose - the two boop their snouts together, although comparing the two beings in size makes the sight look almost comical. Moirine may as well be a tiny fish touching her nose to a fully grown blue whale, you think!
Moirine turns to you, smiling. ‘This, pup, is one of our most sacred elders, or the closest thing you would consider an elder within selkie society. Her name, or what is best suitable for you to know as a name, is… Voadia.’ She pauses here and thinks. ‘Yes. Voadia is her name. And Seamother, is her title. She is thousands of years old, and has served as our guide throughout our lifetimes.’
‘Oh, uh. N-nice to meet you,’ you say. It’s still a lot to grasp, admittedly.
The large selkie raises her head and looks at you, her big nostrils flaring as she sniffs a few times - despite being underwater.
When finished, the selkie, Voadia, inclines her head to the side. ‘Judging by the scent, pup, you have been turned into one of our kin through magics, yes?’
You nod. ‘I was… well, I said the wrong thing by accident to a genie…’
‘Ah… That explains it.’ Voadia gives a deep chuckle, one that vibrates through the entire crater the three of you are currently in. ‘You are not the first human to find yourself transformed into a selkie, pup, nor will you likely be the last. Fear not.’ She holds your gaze and smiles, revealing bright teeth. ‘You are not destined to be trapped in this state forever. Rather, you will find you were meant to be gifted this power, and with it, the knowledge of being a selkie.’
You bring yourself down to the ground and rest there.
‘What do you mean?’ you ask. You’re transfixed on her words.
‘Call it a feeling,’ the large selkie replies. ‘I do not wish to proclaim myself to be a… psychic, I believe you humans call it?’ She snorts out a few bubbles. ‘Yes, that is the right term. I am not some all-knowing entity, pup, despite what you may be thinking. I am old, yes. And experienced. And dare I say, I know many things… but that is besides the point.’
She stares at you thoughtfully. ‘I get the sense within me that, as I said, this new page in your life is not a chance occurrence. Rather, I can tell you were meant to be where you were when it happened, as you are meant to be here before me right now. This life was calling to you, though you did not hear it until the magics transformed you. Take that as you wish, pup.’
She smiles at this, then grows silent.
You absorb her words and feel your head rushing with so much. You try to calm your nerves, and, with it, you try to breathe in, only to recall the fact you’re still underwater right now. You blink a few times at how strange it is that you don’t feel super uncomfortable despite the fact you’re holding your breath.
‘Did I ask Moirine about this?’ you wonder to yourself, as you’ve forgotten.
Obviously, being submerged underwater, you do note that you’ll likely need air at some point - but then, you get the sense from Voadia, and from all the other selkies, that maybe breathing in air isn’t as necessary for their kind as you?
Voadia’s eyes show a knowing gleam in them. ‘If you are worried you will need to go to the surface, pup, then you should relieve that concern. We selkie are able to breathe beneath the waves without fear of drowning, due to our natures. We are able to become one with the azure, which benefits us in ways no ordinary creature possesses. Simply relax and allow yourself to breathe… do not think of yourself as underwater. Remove that thought from your mind.’
You stare at her in astonishment that she was able to effectively read your thoughts like that. But, you will try not to dwell on the notion of needing air.
There is a pause, as silence settles over the immediate vicinity.
‘This young pup wanted to know more about our kind,’ Moirine says, nodding to you. ‘And since they are new in their body, I felt it even more beneficial given your wisdom of all things tied to our existence, Seamother.’
‘Speak your thoughts, pup,’ Voadia says, in a warm, calm tone.
‘Oh. Yes, right.’ You stare for a few seconds, mostly gathering your thoughts on how you want to proceed. ‘I… I admit, I don’t know where to even start with any of this. I mean, yesterday, I was a normal person. Now, I’m suddenly a selkie, and I’m learning that there’s a whole lot of things that exist that I honestly never dreamt of.’
‘Not an uncommon thing for those like you to feel,’ Moirine remarks. ‘It isn’t every day that you are changed into a mythical creature by another mythical creature. Take your time in coming to terms with things, pup. There is no rush.’
‘I’m just… overwhelmed,’ you say, and that’s the genuine truth.
Neither of the selkie present appear bothered in the least bit by this, and they remain in place, watching and waiting with the utmost patience. Your head is spinning with so many different questions, you frankly don’t know where to begin - you have a lot to ask about things, of course, so you try to narrow it down to a decent enough starting point to not overdo your inquiries.
Once the influx of things buzzing about your skull quiets down, you’re able to more reasonably pinpoint a few things you would like to learn about.
You can ask about selkie history. You can ask about your abilities and what else the selkie are able to do. You can also ask what Voidia meant about how you’re not the first to be turned into a selkie by magic - and with it, just how many other entities exist in the world that you don’t know about?
So, what do you want to ask first?
Written by Hollowpages on 05 December 2020
Selkie Wisdom III
You mull over all the possible topics you could ask in the moment, since you are before a large, clearly ancient being that knows way more then you could ever hope to learn in a lifetime. You just KNOW that’s the case, because it’s not every day you meet a whale-sized magical seal creature that can speak.
Then, you decide.
‘I’d like to ask a lot of things,’ you say. ‘But I’ll start, if that’s okay, with asking… you said that I wasn’t the first to become a selkie because of a genie. Is that normal? Or, um, are there other creatures out there that can do the same?’ You blink. ‘Moirine did mention it before, though I’m still curious…’
Voadia gives another deep chuckle. ‘The djinn, as you would know them, are one of many species that possess a deep understanding of… you would call it magic, no doubt. To me, such a term is limiting, for it does not speak to the fullest of what is and what can be - but for the sake of simplicity, I will keep it as such, to ensure you are able to understand.’
Her eyes start to glow as she smiles. ‘This world, this planet, has long housed within it beings like djinn and others whose names you’ve never heard of - they were born not from flesh and blood like you or I, but rather, were birthed by nature and its energies. These entities possess power beyond your scope of understanding, power that allows them to alter the very fabric of reality and creation in small ways. And that includes changing the nature and body of a human being into something like a selkie.’
You stare. ‘Oh. I… I think I understand.’
‘Many mortals have become selkie,’ Voadia says. ‘Many more have become something else. Often, it is the whims of creatures like djinn that are responsible for it, either because they are decidedly being cruel, or because they wish to amuse themselves, or, on some occasions, because the mortal wishes it. Regardless, I am droning on, and you want to know more.’
She chuckles again, another loud, vibrating chuckle.
‘No, you are not the first,’ Voadia says. ‘You will find a great many selkie were humans that have been blessed with this power, this state. They live in harmony with the azure alongside us who were born selkie, and when they wish to return to their other home on land, they do so freely. As you may.’
‘So I’m not stuck in a selkie body forever,’ you say. They’ve both mentioned this by now, though you haven’t inquired further on how that works yet.
‘No,’ Voadia says. ‘Such a state would go against the foundation of nature, of that which makes us all what we are. I realize my vague terms don’t give much in lieu of an explanation, but know that you are not trapped in this body.’
You nod slowly, wrapping your head around her words.
‘You are more than welcome to speak with similar selkie,’ Voadia remarks with a grin. ‘They will be of greater help to answering any questions you have about how they came to be, and how they have learned to live in two separate realms.’ Her eyes glimmer. ‘You wish to know more about our history, though, correct? About how we came to be, about what we are able to do, yes?’
‘Yes,’ you say. You shelf the part about being able to turn into a human again for later on.
‘Then I shall speak it,’ the large selkie replies. ‘Feel free to stop me should I drone for too long… I have a fondness for monologuing, I am told.’
Moirine snickers internally at this. You smile a little and nod again.
‘This world,’ Voadia says, ‘this planet, has long been a place of many, many entities existing at the same time. Most humans, however, do not know this - many of your kin live their lives without truly comprehending the scope of which they are not alone in this life. Certainly, some believe in the presence of spirits, others in higher powers, and others still in there being sentient life in the stars.’
She points one giant flipper past you. ‘We, and countless others like us, are right here, beneath their noses. But humans do not see us, nor hear us, nor feel our presence. I cannot say why that is, pup.’ She gives you an earnest look of uncertainty. ‘I only know that to be the case. However, we have been here for as long as humans, from the era when humans first began to evolve and adapt into the species you are today. And we will remain as long, too.’
‘How, though?’ you ask.
You’ve never seen yourself as the smartest person around, not at all, but you have enough of a grasp to recognize the basics about biology and evolution - and the idea that magical entities could’ve existed alongside humans, yet no one ever really saw or realized this… it’s a bit befuddling to you, in truth.
Voadia grins, an amused gleam in her eyes. ‘You may have the answer to that already, pup. Think of your media… of your television shows, your movies, your books. Think of tales where the “supernatural” exists separately from the natural, whether because they fear human reaction, or dislike human existence. It is not unlike those, only in most cases, it’s far simpler at its core.’
Your eyes go wide. ‘You know about those things?’
Again, the massive selkie laughs heartily. ‘My dear child, I know many, many things. I have walked among men countless times in the past, and both seen and experienced a great deal.’ She winks. ‘Frankly, I find the reality of WHY you humans don’t recognize that we exist has to do with the, we will say, wavelength in which your minds function.’
You furrow your brow. ‘Wavelength?’
‘Your minds do not comprehend us normally. And by “us,” I mean anything and everything that lives outside the average human scope,’ Voadia says. She cocks her head to one side, appraising you. ‘You may sense a presence, or hear voices that seem to come from nowhere. You may see what you believe to be a spirit or an illusion in the corner of your eyes. But, such things are rare, and it is rarer still for a human to go past those little flickers.’ She pauses here. ‘Am I making sense, pup? Or am I losing you more?’
You try to soak in all this information, and it’s a lot coming at you at once.
‘I…’
You take a moment to breathe, and despite the fact you are underwater, you don’t think about it that way - you find you can breathe in and out as though you were on land, and the water doesn’t flow into your nose. Or maybe it does, and you simply don’t feel any discomfort from it.
‘Do you mean that, like…’ You try to work through it while you speak - at least until a notion you hadn’t thought of before pops into your head, because you try to think in terms you yourself can understand. ‘Is it because we have, like, a different brain frequency? Is that what you mean?’
‘Yes, yes, good!’ Voadia says. ‘Think of it as if the minds of all sentient beings on this planet were on a radio station. You still have those above, don’t you?’
‘Yes,’ you say.
Her grin grows. ‘Then that is the image I shall use. Your species’ minds exist on a radio channel that is vastly separate from a selkie’s, from a djinn’s, from any other being that exists. It is not common for a human to be born with a frequency that can pick up on ours, but most of the time, even those who are blessed with such are never able to listen fully. Only if we make the effort to reach toward you can the severed connections become more whole.’
Now you feel you understand a bit better.
‘Now then… what more do you want to know?’ the Seamother asks.
You pause to think this over - what’s next?
Written by Hollowpages on 22 December 2020
Selkie Wisdom IV
Your mind rushes with all the things you could ask - there are plenty of questions, naturally, the more you think about it. It takes a moment for you to try and narrow down the possible questions again, and when you finish, you’ve come to a decision on what to ask about next.
‘So, I’m not forever stuck in the body of a selkie?’ you ask.
Moirine chuckles internally. ‘I did tell you before, didn’t I?’
Voadia nods. ‘Despite what you may think, or despite what the djinn may have said, there are… laws, you would call them, that exist for those who are not human like yourself. These laws are as old as the earth herself, and have long dictated a great deal within our various societies. Among them, pup, is that permanently altering a human is forbidden. There must always a way around it, no matter the circumstances, lest the offending party want to get in trouble.’
You blink a few times at this. There is obviously a LOT more under the surface, and you sincerely feel like you’d be here for a good while to learn about it all.
‘Regardless,’ Voadia says with a smile, ‘you will find that you can indeed return to your human form. And, you will then be able to return to this state, too. It might take you some time to adjust to this - yet it is possible, either way.’
‘I can show you how to do it at any point,’ Moirine remarks. ‘I’ve assumed human form myself in the past, and I’ve known many selkie similar to yourself.’
‘Thank you,’ you say.
You shelf this for the time being (you definitely want to revisit the ability to become human again, but that can wait a while longer), and instead, you decide to switch topics to one of the big things you want to find out about.
‘How much truth is there to the myths about selkie?’ you ask. You wrack your brain for what little you’ve got in terms of selkie lore, as you wonder what of it is true, and what is just fable. ‘I’ll admit, I don’t know a whole lot, but I remember reading that selkie would often assume human form and, I guess depending on the source, some would seduce human men, while others would be…’
You trail off, and hope you don’t have to delve into the more unfortunate set of myths you’ve read about.
The two selkie share a look for a moment, one you can’t decipher all that well.
‘There is some truth to this,’ Voadia says. Her tone is quieter now, yet it carries with it a rather obvious air of thoughtfulness. ‘I cannot speak for every individual selkie, pup, but I have lived long enough to know that, in most cases, the myths and fables dreamt up by humans do indeed possess bits of what is true - many of my fellow sistren have taken on the shape of a human in order to find or pursue love or the pleasures of the flesh.’
She winks at this part. ‘More than anything, I would say the reality is tied into our curiosity about humans and the world you come from. For my part, I have interacted with all manner of humans, and witnessed the good and the bad of what humanity is capable of. Ah, but, that doesn’t really answer your question.’
‘We do not have a separate skin for when we transform,’ Moirine says. She seems somewhat amused. ‘We are more alike the “shapeshifters” you humans like to use in your stories and your movies. But, it is a painless process, and one that we control whenever we wish to tap into it. To alter our very bodies is a gift we selkie possess from birth, for it ties into our very natures.’
‘What nature is that?’ you ask, fascinated.
‘We are the children of the sea,’ Voadia replies. ‘We were born from the oceans, pup - the element of water is our flesh, our blood, our spirit. And like the waves, we too are blessed with the boon of flowing wherever and whenever we desire. We flow upon the waves of time and mortality, unbound by the same aspects that prevent the average human from doing and seeing what we, and other beings like us, can.’
You stare at the large selkie, trying to process this response.
Moirine chuckles softly. ‘What she means is that true selkie are not created the way humans and other animals are. We come into existence at the whims of the ocean, and from the instant we are “birthed,” we possess an understanding you would find… alien. We don’t age like humans, either. That is why the Seamother has existed for thousands of years, without really changing.’
‘Oh…’ you feel you can understand that a little more. ‘I think I get it.’
‘To try and put it plainly,’ Voadia says, ‘I will go back to the analogy I used prior, of how we exist on a different wavelength from humans. The same goes for our bodies, our abilities, and our thought processes. We don’t have the same moral spectrum you do, young one. And that plays a heavy role in what we do when we interact with humans. For us, your kind is truly fascinating.’
You suppose that it makes sense. You’ve seen (and heard) enough about fantasy and science fiction works to get that selkie would have more of an alien mindset, and you ponder if you’ll start to think and feel the way they do since you’re a selkie now yourself, or not. This soaks into you, and you nod slowly.
‘If you don’t age,’ you say, ‘then does that mean you’re… immortal?’
‘Mm… No.’ The Seamother shakes her head. ‘Not immortal.’
This catches you off guard.
‘We can die, pup,’ Voadia says. ‘It may not be the sort of death you’re accustomed to, but, we do not live forever. Going into detail on our lifespan is… a difficult thing to converse over. It isn’t something that can be relayed in terms you would understand, I’m afraid.’ She turns to Moirine. ‘Do you have any way to communicate it?’
Moirine takes a moment to ponder this. ‘The best way I can describe it… is that if we live to be past a certain age, it becomes harder for us to retain our forms.’
‘But you can’t die from sickness or getting injured?’ you ask.
‘Sickness, no,’ Moirine replies. ‘Injury…? Mm. That’s a good question.’
‘In some cases,’ Voadia says.
There’s a beat of silence here, but you don’t press any further - you feel like they may be open to discussing it more in the future, yet you get the sense that this isn’t a subject they want to delve into. And you can’t exactly blame them, since death isn’t a pleasant subject for most people like you, after all.
‘Perhaps we should change things up from here,’ Voadia remarks. She eyes you curiously. ‘I’m sure you would rather do more than sit around and listen to an old, whale-sized mass of blubber like me prattle on and on endlessly.’
You crack a small smile.
‘Why not show the pup how to become human again, Moirine?’ Voadia suggests. ‘Or you can always take them to learn more about what else they can do as a selkie…’
Moirine nods. ‘Both fine suggestions, Seamother.’ She glances at you. ‘What do you think, pup? What would you like to do with yourself next?’
‘Unless you really want to sit around and listen longer,’ Voadia adds, giving the closest thing to a shrug that a selkie her size can.
You pause to mull this over - what DO you feel like doing next?
Written by Hollowpages on 31 December 2020
Selkie Wisdom V
You mull over your choices for a moment, and while they all sound like good ideas, you decide on doing them all… but in good time, as you feel no rush. For the moment, you have one more question you want to ask the ancient selkie, if she’s able to answer you. But before you go into that, you realize that there’s something she didn’t give a complete answer to previously: you still want to know about the history of the selkie.
‘I’d like to ask another question, if I may,’ you reply. ‘But, before I do that, there’s something else on my mind, Miss Seamother.’
Voadia nods her giant head. ‘Of course, pup. Speak your mind.’
‘When you talked about the history of selkie, you didn’t really, erm, expand on it,’ you say. You don’t want to come off rude to the giant selkie that’s given you her time to tell you all this in the first place, but, you can’t help wanting to know. ‘So I wanted to…’
‘Ah, yes, yes, you are quite correct there.’ Voadia gives a deep, rumbling laugh that shakes the ground beneath her massive form, then she smiles at you, a bright and sincerely friendly smile. ‘My sincere apologies, pup; I don’t mean to be akin to those… what is it you humans call those terms? Tropes? Yes, I believe that’s the right word.’
You blink a few times, shrugging in response since you aren’t sure.
‘But, yes.’ Voadia snorts humorously, bubbles expelling from her snout. ‘I don’t mean to be like the stereotypical trope you humans have, of an elderly or sagely figure that rambles on incessantly. I just happen to ramble on in general. Incessantly, in truth.’
‘She’s not wrong there,’ Moirine adds, giving her own internal snicker.
You feel relieved that you haven’t offended or upset the Seamother, since you’ve had quite enough of accidentally upsetting a mystical being with powers unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before this day (you learned your lesson with the genie).
‘Now then, to answer the actual question itself,’ Voadia says, ‘I imagine you’re wondering more “how did selkie form” and perhaps “why seals,” rather than just how it is we exist in this world without humans knowing.’ She nods her head. ‘Many, many ages ago, long before humanity evolved to what it is today, we took on a different form than the one you see before you. Bear in mind, humans didn’t yet have an identity to what you know as seals, sea lions, and so on, yet even then, our appearance was different.’
‘Wait, really?’ you say. ‘What did selkie look like, then? A different kind of animal, or…?’
‘The form a selkie in ancient times took is… Hmm.’ Voadia pauses for a moment. Her brows furrow, giving off the face of someone deep in thought. ‘It is similar to this shape,’ she uses one fin to gesture to herself, ‘what you as a human would define as a seal, but, with longer, slimmer bodies and tails, and darker colors overall. You could almost say it was more like an extraterrestrial version of a seal, if that makes sense.’
You stare at her as you hear this, and you try to visualize the selkie form in your head.
‘It’s perhaps difficult to describe without being able to SHOW you,’ Moirine says. ‘But it isn’t something any of us can do any longer – to my knowledge, only a small few selkie remain from that era, and they are… not around these parts to speak with or see, pup.’
‘Why is that?’ you ask. You’re confused and fascinated all the same. ‘And, wait…’ You blink and look to Voadia. ‘I thought you were the oldest living selkie, Seamother?’
The Seamother takes a long breath before she answers. ‘Nay, pup. I am not THE oldest, truthfully. I am merely the one that has lived above what we selkie call the Beneath for the longest, for I have sought to help guide my kin into the newer eras.’
‘The Beneath,’ Moirine says as she looks at you, ‘is the deepest parts of the oceans of the world – it is a realm of crushing waves and pure blackness, where no sunlight shines through. The sources of light down there are creatures which can illuminate their own bodies, and, rare cases where unnatural light can be found.’ She shakes her head. ‘It’s not a place many of us like to be, pup. It’s a frightening, solitary realm of bleakness.’
‘And… and that’s where selkie first came from?’ you ask, staring once more.
‘Indeed,’ Voadia replies. ‘You see, it has long been believed that we originated from the core of the Beneath – the center of the furthest depths, at a point where the earth emanated with magics. The selkie of old sprouted from that core, and for many ages, they possessed these long, serpentine bodies, which I forgot to mention could glow, like an anglerfish, but from their entire bodies. They lived down there for many an age, in relative peace due to not having contact with any other sentient beings.’
She shifts her massive head slightly, raising it. ‘That is, until, a great tremor rippled through the Beneath – one so powerful, it shook the very foundation of the blackened realm the ancient selkie called home. Imagine a… I’ll call it a ‘shell,’ that separated the Beneath from the greater part of the world’s oceans. That massive tremor broke through the shell, enough for our elder kin to realize there was far, far more to the world.’
You soak in her words. ‘Whoa…’ It takes a good minute for you to absorb this new information, and you’re astonished as you visualize it all. ‘So there’s… a deeper part of the ocean, then, that the selkie first came to exist in, and they lived there for a long time without knowing there was an even bigger ocean world above them? Is that right?’
‘Precisely,’ Moirine says.
‘Damn,’ you say. ‘And some of these ancient selkie still live there?’
‘Indeed, pup,’ Voadia replies. Her eyes seem to glimmer with what you can only define as ‘wisdom’ as she holds your gaze. ‘Those of our kin that choose to remain down there in the Beneath do so because they have no desire to leave. Whether it be that they prefer the darkness or the solitude, that perhaps they don’t understand what leaving would mean for them, that they fear the thought of leaving, or, that they have no desire to deal with anyone or anything else… I cannot say for certain why it is they linger.’
‘It must be lonely down there, though,’ you say. ‘I mean, the way you describe it makes it seem like this… Beneath is this… nightmarish place, if it’s so dark and scary.’
Voadia offers a quiet ‘hmm’ in response to your words.
‘I have never been down there myself,’ Moirine says after a beat of silence. She shakes her head, a look of genuine disdain in her humanlike eyes. ‘The closest I ever ventured to seeing the Beneath, which was almost to the edge between this upper realm and that deep realm, was more than enough for me to know in my very heart that it was not a place I would wish to be in. It’s far too cold and spacious and… eerie, even for a selkie.’
‘I don’t wish to sound petty toward my kin,’ Voadia says. ‘Yet I must also add that those who stay in the Beneath are… they do not possess the same level of mental comprehension that you do, pup, as a human, or that Moirine does, or that I do myself.’
‘How so?’ you ask.
‘They exist in a primordial realm detached from the greater oceans,’ Voadia says. ‘Thus, they live with a primordial mindset – they comprehend certain things, I am sure, but, as they have never left to explore and to see, their minds are more alien. You would not be able to communicate with them properly, pup; they do not grasp the human language with words and tones and emotions.’ She sighs in her mind. ‘In a way, it is… sad.’
She falls silent here and looks down to the ground, and you can tell there is likely more to this than she’s told you. While you do want to hear more about the selkie history, at the same time, you don’t want to pry too much right now, especially since all of the new information she’s given you has proven to be a lot for you to really take in.
‘Now then,’ Voadia says suddenly. ‘Since I’ve managed to give you what I hope is a decent response, rather than prattling on about nothing of importance…’ She cracks a small grin at this. ‘What was it you wanted to ask beyond that?’ Her eyes meet yours after another beat. ‘Or have you changed your mind for the time being, pup?’
You blink, and recall that, yes, you DID have one other question. But you’ve asked a lot, and heard a lot, so, you take a brief inner moment to ponder: do you ask? Or hold off?
Written by Hollowpages on 04 March 2021
Selkie Wisdom VI
You weigh over the choices in your head, and you can’t really lean toward one over the other – you feel like you could go either way, and you also kind of want to find out more about what it is you as a selkie can do. However, in the end, you let your curiosity win out, and you figure you’ll find out your other abilities after you’ve sated your interests.
‘I wanted to ask about the genie,’ you say. ‘Or, well, I wanted to ask… you said that selkie and genies are not the only supernatural beings that exist in this world, so I’m honestly curious about that. But, since I don’t want to take up too much of your time, I guess I was interested in what your opinion was on genies? If that, uh, makes sense?’
Voadia gives a deep chuckle. ‘Ah, yes, it makes sense, pup.’
Moirine snorts beside you. ‘Dear young one, if we were to talk about our relations with the djinn of this world, we would be here for several days, if not actual weeks.’
You gawk. ‘R-really?’
‘She’s not wrong,’ Voadia replies. She grins wider now. ‘We selkie have a staunch understanding of the various entities that live in this world, humans included. Yet we have dealt with the ones you define as “supernatural” more frequently, because we all possess abilities and, shall we say, an “essence” that humans themselves do not.’
She nods her large head upwards. ‘The djinn, or genies, as you use, are one of the oldest of such races, older than humankind for that matter. As a whole… they are a very fickle bunch, pup, and I would be remiss if I said I was “fond” of them entirely.’ Her eyes narrow. ‘Mm, no. I myself have never been keen on interacting with djinn – they as a species possess far too self-important a mindset when it comes to their beliefs.’
‘Self-important mindset?’ you say, furrowing your brow (or what you envision is furrowing for a selkie). ‘Do you mean that genies are… uh, selfish, then?’
‘Yes,’ Voadia says. ‘Selfish is a good word to use for them. Not every individual djinn is this, mind you, but, many are born with this innate feeling they are somehow superior over the other beings that exist in this world.’ She snorts again. ‘There is a reason most djinn are bound to objects like lamps, pup – their high opinions of themselves, and their astounding lack of consideration for anything else, is the cause for their current state.’
You aren’t entirely sure what she means by that, but, you feel you get the gist of it.
‘The djinn have long used their magics to alter the fabric of reality,’ Voadia says, and she gives you a knowing look as though she’s reading your thoughts. ‘In the oldest eras, they used these powers freely, often to toy with mortals or to amuse themselves. Then, one day, a particularly callous djinn decided to use his powers to tarnish an entire human society’s essence of life itself by, for lack of a better term, cursing every one of them to fade into oblivion with no trace left behind. No lineage, no heritage, nothing.’
Your eyes grow wide. ‘Oh…’
Voadia nods slowly. ‘His actions were so appalling, many of the oldest djinn, even those who cared little for humans, felt he’d gone too far. Many of the other species born from the magics of the world like us selkies were equally mortified; we did not idly stand by and allow this to go unpunished, which is why the oldest djinn decided to use their powers to forever weaken their own kin by binding them to physical, mortal objects.’
‘That’s why djinn are now forced to give wishes to humans,’ Moirine adds. She has a rather smug look on her face. ‘They reaped the seeds their arrogance sowed.’
‘In fact,’ Voadia says, ‘the one that turned you into a selkie… you will likely be pleased to know he will be punished for his transgression in forcibly transforming you into this state, young one.’ Her expression darkens. ‘We do not abide by djinn, or fae, or any species, cruelly cursing a mortal, regardless if the mortal speaks ill to them or not.’
This catches you by surprise.
‘Really?’ you say. ‘I didn’t think the genie would get punished for anything, since…’
‘Ah, I did not speak of it earlier, I admit,’ Voadia says. ‘However, the moment you entered my domain, I knew that a human had been transformed against their will. This act goes against the laws that exist within OUR society, and thus, I decided in that instant to take this into account when you left.’ She smiles at you. ‘It shall be dealt with.’
You’re not sure how to respond to hearing her say this. You suppose, in a way, you’re a little glad to hear it – but at the same time, you also admit that, well, it’s not like YOU have much say in this. You’re not a genie, and you certainly aren’t a part of this greater, magical realm that you’ve only recently found out exists. They have their own laws, and so it seems totally sensible for them to enforce those laws however they do.
‘I guess I should just be thankful I’m not getting into trouble,’ you think to yourself.
‘You needn’t worry for yourself or your own fate, pup,’ Moirine remarks. ‘You’ve been told you can return to your human form, thus, you’re not forever bound to this state. And, you’re essentially a victim in matters far separate from your own world, too.’
You nod and soak this all in. ‘So, selkie don’t really get along with genies?’
‘As a whole, no, I would say we do not “get along” very well at all, young one,’ Voadia replies, without a shred of concern for admitting it, either. ‘Individually varies depending on whom you speak to, of course – we selkie have no issues with any among us that befriend a djinn, the same way we have no issues with those that befriend humans.’
‘I see,’ you reply. Something occurs to you. ‘Oh, wait. That’s right. The myth about selkies came about because… wasn’t it that female selkie would wash ashore or get caught by fishermen, and they’d fall in love? Or, something like that, I can’t recall.’
‘Ah… the myths,’ the Seamother says, and she grins. ‘There are many variants to the old tales, I’m sure. If you were to look into it, you’d find that some would claim one thing over another. Yet, to be honest, there is a kernel of earnest truth to all these variances.
Her grin becomes broader, with a gleam of warmth in her eyes. ‘Many selkie have indeed ended up in relationships with humans, this is true. To this day, countless selkie retain genuine relationships with humans, male or female, it does not matter. Such love is a wondrous thing to behold and to feel, too – often, those that fall in love with humans will live on the surface world alongside their paramour. Certain tales claim that the sea will always call a selkie back, abandoning those she or he loves… but this is false.’
‘A selkie will never abandon one they love,’ Moirine says. ‘Never.’
They say this with a great deal of severity and honesty. You absorb their words, and, you definitely tell yourself you’ll have to revisit the myths regarding selkie in the future.
‘Thank you for telling me,’ you say, to the Seamother and to Moirine. ‘I appreciate it.’
‘Of course, pup,’ the Seamother says. ‘That is what I am here for: to guide and to nurture all selkie, be they natural or be they humans that have become selkie.’ She chuckles aloud, rumbling the ground. ‘And on the off chance you wonder… do not think my vast size hinders my abilities to aid those in need, either. I am far more capable of moving than what you may expect. But, that is neither here nor there, now is it?’
You blink, and nod, and you don’t say a word in that subject.
‘Now then,’ Voadia says. ‘Will that be all for now, pup?’
‘Oh, um.’
You fall silent, and again, you have the obvious benefit in choosing what to do next to your advantage – so, what do you want to do? Do you prefer to sit and learn? Or do you want to experience more of what the selkie are capable of? You can tell that neither the Seamother nor Moirine mind whatever you choose (you feel it and see it in their expressions), but, you still take the time to mull over how you feel. What will be next?
Written by Hollowpages on 10 March 2021
A Breath of Fresh Air
‘I think I want to learn more about what I’m able to do now,’ you say, and you turn your gaze to Moirine. ‘Are you open to showing me how I can become human? And, well, teaching me the other things I can do besides control the water around me as a selkie?’
Moirine nods. ‘I certainly am, pup. I told you I would help teach you more of your capabilities, and I’m more than happy to do so. It’s something I’ve done many times for other humans that became selkies, whether through djinn or other magical means.’
‘Thank you,’ you say.
‘You’re welcome,’ Moirine says.
You then turn back to the Seamother. ‘And thank you, Miss Seamother, for, well, telling me all that you’ve told me. It’s a lot to take in, but it’s so… fascinating, really. I never once dreamt I’d be learning that selkie and other supernatural beings exist, but I’m astounded by all the history you’ve taught me today. I appreciate it a lot, honestly.’
Voadia chortles. ‘No need for the formal addressing when speaking to me, young one. Seamother or my name, Voadia, are both perfectly acceptable should you wish to use them. But you’re welcome. You are welcome to return here whenever you wish to speak with me or to learn more from your new selkie sisters and brothers. Should we ever change our abode’s location from the Cayreeg to somewhere else, or, should I ever be out and about among the ocean, you will know where to find me, I promise.’
You nod to this, and, you watch as the massive selkie rests her head back down.
‘Come along, pup,’ Moirine says. ‘And we shall continue your lessons on the surface.’
You follow Moirine out of the Seamother’s domain, and it doesn’t take long for the two of you to leave the Cayreeg behind. You spot all the other selkies, or at least some of them, as you depart, and you do wonder briefly what sorts of stories or information each one of them would be able to give you. But, you shelve this for the moment, and swim.
‘Is the Cay… reeg… is that not the only home for selkie, then?’ you ask Moirine.
‘Oho, no,’ Moirine replies, and she turns to grin toothily at you. ‘Remember what I said before about this being one belly button among a plethora of belly buttons in the sea? The Cayreeg is just one – there are roughly forty different belly buttons in the depths where selkie live, and this isn’t counting the Beneath, nor does it take into account the selkie that live on the surface world. Some live with humans, others split from humans.’
You both exit the Cayreeg, and return to the ocean itself. You follow Moirine, listening.
‘Split from humans?’ you say. You wrack your brain to better understand what she means by that. ‘Like how the Cayreeg isn’t a part of the human realm, I’m guessing?’
‘Exactly,’ Moirine replies. ‘There are countless pocket realms attached to the earth, my friend, and these pocket realms come in all manner of shapes and sizes. In most cases, they are the preferred domains for other beings similar to us selkie, the ones you define as supernatural. Now, mind you, humans don’t have access to these realms normally, but there are a few that humans can end up in at random, depending on… factors.’
You frown at this, and naturally, you wonder what sort of “factors” she means.
Moirine seems fully aware of your confusion. ‘When I say factors, I mean that it isn’t common for your average person to stumble onto one of these pocket realms. It’s based ordinarily on the person themselves – some will be drawn to these realms, or they’ll find them without realizing because they sensed them. Does that make more sense, pup?’
‘I think so,’ you say. ‘Then, does that mean when I found that one realm with the genie… was I drawn to it? I don’t recall sensing it before I ended up there, really.’
‘Drawn to, most likely,’ Moirine says. ‘They work in rather curious ways, indeed.’
You don’t disagree with her there, not after your experience. At this rate, you honestly hope to not have any more run-ins with genies. Or, if you do, you vow to yourself you’ll not assume that what you’re witnessing is smoke and mirrors, and instead, you’ll be more mindful… and polite, too. You don’t want to make the same mistake twice.
‘I suppose I should note that these realms are typically called Shards,’ Moirine adds, and she snickers. ‘I, however, like the phrase “belly button,” which is why I prefer to use it when describing them. You, pup, can’t use it,’ she pokes her tongue out at you, and laughs mentally, ‘so don’t try using it unless you’re referring to your own belly button.’
You can’t help but laugh; the fact that Moirine, who speaks and seems so formal and… posh, almost, would stick her tongue out at you and act like a normal person is funny.
‘Noted,’ you say. You find yourself smiling at the humorous contrast between Moirine’s demeanor and how silly she’s willing to be. It’s charming, in a way, too, you admit.
‘And as the Seamother said,’ Moirine adds, ‘don’t fear the possibility of not knowing where anyone is should she decide to change up where she’s staying. We selkie frequently move about depending on our own whims and desires, and when we do, there are ways to sense where others have gone. That said, I don’t feel the Seamother will be leaving anytime soon. The Cayreeg is a very comfortable place to live in.’
‘Alright,’ you say. ‘That’s good to know, honestly.’
Once you depart from the area surrounding the Cayreeg, you follow along with Moirine as she swims upwards toward the surface – after a few minutes, you break through the ocean’s surface, and you are greeted by the smells of the sea breeze wafting through the air, and with the scents, the feeling of the wind softly brushing against you.
‘This way,’ Moirine says.
She leads you back toward the large rock formation you hopped onto not long ago when you first spoke to Moirine (since she led you there on purpose then), and you slide onto it with ease after she does. You end up near the center of the rocks, where the stone is smooth and mildly damp from the ocean’s spray being spilled onto the surface.
Moirine turns her body around so she’s facing you.
‘Alright then, pup,’ Moirine says, and she smiles at you one more, an eager and cheerful smile. ‘As a human that’s been turned into a selkie, I admit that I don’t know the full extent of what it is you’re capable of in full – it seems to vary depending exactly on HOW it is a normal human becomes blessed with our abilities for themselves.’
This piques your interest. ‘You and the Seamother have brought that up… how is it humans can become selkie, then? She made it seem like genies are the cause, but, at the same time, it sounds like it isn’t always genies that are responsible for it?’
‘Djinn are often the culprit for this sort of thing, to a degree,’ Moirine replies, and she shrugs her shoulders. ‘That isn’t to say it’s them acting out the way the djinn you encountered did; forcing a human to become a selkie, or any other being similar to a selkie, is against many of the unspoken laws that exist in our world, as the Seamother told you. If it’s by choice, however, that’s a different subject, because it involves consent.’ She nods. ‘That is the key to differentiate between what is lawful or not.’
You gawk at this, and, you also feel curious to know…
‘So how else can a human become a selkie?’ you ask.
‘There are… we’ll call them rituals, pup,’ Moirine says. ‘Rituals that relate to bonds formed between a human and a selkie – there are similar rituals for other beings, too, mind you.’ Her eyes soften. ‘These are rare, but, they have happened, for they allow a selkie to gift their human lover with the same powers. It’s a very meaningful thing.’
‘Oh…’ you say. That makes sense.
‘Be that as it may,’ Moirine remarks, ‘the question becomes what it is you wish to see for yourself, pup, in terms of your abilities.’ Her features grow inquisitive. ‘Do you want to learn how to become a human first? Or would you like to see what else you may be capable of? We selkie possess many traits, you know, and you might as well…’
She trails off and then eyes you thoughtfully.
Now, it’s your turn to decide once more on what you want to do.
Written by Hollowpages on 18 March 2021
Selkie Skinwalker
You ponder your next step; Moirine has been a bit vague with what else you as a selkie can do (you wonder if she’s being vague on purpose to excite your interest, or because she’s just trying to play with you… or maybe she doesn’t know enough of what you individually can do?). You admit to yourself that, yes, you ARE pretty curious, but…
‘I think I’d like to see about becoming a human again first,’ you say.
Moirine nods. ‘A fair response, pup.’ Her eyes sparkle. ‘To be quite honest, I was intent on you choosing that, because it would be greatly beneficial for you in the long run.’
You cock your head to the side. ‘And why is that?’
‘You’ll be happier, for starters,’ Moirine replies, completely sincere in her tone and her expression. ‘There’s a genuine sense of relief that those like you feel when you learn how to switch between your natural human state,’ she uses a flipper to gesture to you,
‘and this new form you’ve been “given,” as it were. And, if this makes sense…’ She pauses here for a beat. ‘It’ll make any future lessons you go through easier, too.’
‘Really?’
She nods again. ‘All of the abilities we selkie possess are mental in their essence, pup – and this includes how we’re able to communicate telepathically, which you’ve been doing for quite some time now. Some abilities are easier to use, and to understand, without much explanation. However, there are certain things a true selkie is capable of that aren’t as simple to explain. These are centered around… sensations that I cannot just describe to you in human terms. Rather, it goes much, much deeper than this.’
You blink a few times, and you try to wrap your head around her explanation.
Moirine pauses and seems to mull over her response. ‘Imagine if you, in human form, were trying to teach someone how to do something you find easy, but you couldn’t vocally communicate with them. You can’t show them pictures or words, or use the internet for a video guide, and you can’t emote to teach them, either. Understand?’
‘Oh… actually, I think so, yeah,’ you say.
‘That is the problem we face,’ Moirine adds. ‘While yes, I can speak to you in a way you understand, when it comes to this subject, I can’t. It requires a deeper level of mental comprehension that I simply cannot get across. However,’ she raises one flipper, ‘by teaching you how to become human and then selkie again, that changes things.’
‘How does it change things, though?’ you ask.
You’re trying to do your best at rationalizing all of this – you don’t see yourself as “dumb,” at least not like some people. But at the same time, the vagueness and the way she’s speaking make it sound as if there’s some hard to grasp thinking you’ll need to somehow tap into, and as it stands, you don’t know if you have what it takes to do that.
‘Why don’t I teach you?’ Moirine says, and she grins. ‘Showing is better than telling.’
You give the best shrug you can in your current body. ‘Sure.’
‘Right then.’ Moirine holds your gaze for a moment. ‘To become human again, you must first visualize what you look like as a human in your mind. It doesn’t need to be perfect, pup. You don’t need photographic memory for this, since the mind itself is never perfect, but do the best you can. Envision your hair and eyes, your skin, your physique. But then, what I want you to do is also visualize how it FEELS to be a human.’
‘How it feels, meaning…’ You frown inwardly. ‘Having two legs and two arms…?’
‘Yes, but, I mean deeper than that,’ Moirine says. ‘Remember how it feels to have a human’s ears, a human’s nose, a human’s lips. Remember the way you blink, the way you make expressions using your mouth and brow, how you stare or squint, how you use your tongue to taste. Remember the way your limbs move, how it feels to hold things or step on things… visualize yourself as a human, in every way possible, pup.’
Her words sink into you, and you look down as you absorb them.
You suppose you can understand what she means. It’s a bit fancy, sure (or maybe not “fancy,” but, definitely a wordy way of getting across her point. Even so… you get it.
‘Okay.’
You close your eyes, and, you do what Moirine has told you: you visualize yourself as you were before being turned into a selkie. You remember your hair, your eye color, and how you looked in the mirror this morning, and yesterday, and so on. And you also…
You try to FEEL the things Moirine told you to feel as if you had somehow forgotten these sensations. You recall how you had hands that could touch things and hold things, how you had legs that would move with feet that preferred to be in socks and comfy shoes. You remember how to blink and stare, how to smell things or hold your breath, and how to eat, how to breathe through your nose and your mouth on land.
You remember the sensations of running a hand through your hair, of biting your lip by accident, of clenching and unclenching your jaw, and feeling the way your chest moved with every breath. You remember hearing your heartbeat when it raced, and you also…
But your thought trails off, because you suddenly feel something. Something… odd.
It’s a sudden sensation, almost like a surge of electricity that pulses through your body from your head to your toes; it’s not painful or unpleasant at all, yet you definitely know you’re not imagining it. Except, when it’s over, you suddenly realize… your toes?
‘Wait…’
Your eyes reopen. And you find yourself looking back at Moirine, but, everything feels different now. You blink. At once, your body and brain are hit by a myriad of sensations; the feeling of moisture, the way the wind brushes against your skin, and how you aren’t lying on your belly the way a seal does, the way Moirine currently is as she watches on.
You gasp, and, the sound comes out normal. Then, you look down.
You’re a human again. Your flippers have become hands and feet. Your round, squishy body has transformed back into the shape it was before you were turned into a selkie. You’re even wearing the same clothes you had on previously; the shoes and socks, the pants, the shirt. True, they’re wet now because you’re on wet rocks, but… all the same.
“I… I…” You speak through your mouth, instead of through your head – you briefly feel strange talking again, yet this doesn’t last for long at all. “It worked. It worked!”
You clench and unclench your hands, then wiggle your toes in your shoes. You bend your arms and crouch down, and you look around. You breathe in, slow and deep, and the smells of the sea and the sea breeze flow into your nostrils, into your stomach.
When you finish being astounded by the fact you’ve returned to being a human (and so easily, too), your attention returns to Moirine, who has yet to move. Along with the realization you’re human, you also realize you can’t communicate with her telepathically anymore. Or, at least… you think that at first, only to wonder if maybe that’s incorrect.
‘Moirine?’ you think, like you had before.
‘Yes, pup,’ she replies, and she beams at you. ‘Nicely done. You have returned to your natural form, and you’ve figured out we can continue to communicate telepathically.’
You let out a quiet breath of relief. ‘Yeah… thanks for telling me how.’ You glance down at your hands again. ‘It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, honestly. If anything, it seemed to go by pretty fast. But, you were right. It feels… nice to be human again.’
She chuckles aloud. ‘I am not at all surprised.’
‘So…’ You blink several times, and, you wonder if you ought to sit down or something to continue this conversation since she’s on the ground still. ‘What do we do now?’
Her beaming smile grows even broader. ‘Now, pup… now, we begin in full. But first…’
Before you have a chance to comment or question what she means, Moirine’s body begins to vibrate and emanate a rather bright-blue glow that envelops every inch of her body – you stare with wide eyes as she suddenly starts to change. Her flippers extend out and turn into arms with hands, her back flippers morph into legs, and within moments, her shape goes from being that of a seal into that of a human just like you.
In a single, fluid motion, Moirine stands upright as her body stretches out, and her features all shift about; and then, you blink, and the gleam is gone. And Moirine is now standing in front of you, looking like a human woman, with bright eyes and a broad grin.
“There,” Moirine says, and she speaks with the same voice. “What do you think, pup?”
You stare in amazement.
Written by Hollowpages on 28 March 2021
Selkie Power Talks IV
“Okay,” you eventually say. “I think I want to try to see about the hydrokinesis ability first. I figure, or at least I hope, that since I can kind of do it already…” You shrug. “I guess I want to think that means I can do more than just propel myself around, too.”
Moirine chuckles. “A fair enough response, pup. Very well then. Do you want to remain in human form while you experiment, or would you like to return to your selkie body?”
“Oh,” you say. “I guess selkie? Since I can shift between them now, right?”
She nods.
“And is the way I become a selkie again… the same as how I turned back into a person?” you gesture to yourself. “Just in reverse, I mean, for obvious reasons.”
“Yes, pup,” Moirine says. “You must envision yourself as a selkie for the transformation to take effect. Now, it may be more difficult for you, since you are a human by nature, and so, you see and think and feel with a human’s experience. So, try to visualize in your head the sensations you recall from being a selkie. Remember the way the ocean felt, and if you can, recall the way your body was. It will work, regardless, mind you.”
You nod to her and close your eyes.
You concentrate on thinking about how it felt to be a selkie – you remember how your hands and feet had become flippers, how your body was different in shape. It takes a moment for you to really entrench yourself in the mindset you had, since your first time as a selkie was a shock and not at all what you’d wanted or considered. However, you quickly slip back into that mental state as those feelings come flowing back to you.
You remember how oddly comfortable you were underwater in your selkie form, how the currents didn’t feel crushing, and how your senses worked – you remember speaking with your thoughts, rather than through your throat and voice, and how you were naked, but, not bothered by this fact. You recall not having fingers and toes, yet also not feeling an overt need to have them. And as you think all these, that sudden surge blasts in you.
It fills your body like a wild current of energy, and, within mere moments, when it’s over, you feel that you’re no longer standing. In fact, you feel the cool stone and the moisture of the ocean mist is more evident on your belly and chest. The wind feels different, less cold now, and the wetness also feels rather pleasant on your now-exposed body, too.
You reopen your eyes and glance down.
You’re a selkie again, naked save for the fur covering you, and you glance about. Your arms and hands have become flippers, the same with your legs and feet, and you wiggle your nose, the smells of the sea still quite strong as they filter into your nostrils.
‘Huh,’ you think to yourself. ‘It was a lot easier to switch between forms than I thought.’
You look toward Moirine and find she’s already become a selkie again. She grins.
‘Nicely done, pup,’ she says, and her voice echoes inside your head once again. ‘And you’re right, it IS a lot easier than it seems. Becoming a selkie and becoming a human… the shifting is rather simplistic in how it works. Some have struggled with it, if only because they have a hard time visualizing what they must, or recalling the correct sensations and experiences. But, be that as it may. Let us return to the water, yes?’
You blink. ‘We only came up here for me to learn how to turn into a person again?’
‘Well, yes,’ Moirine replies. She chortles internally and nods to the side. ‘I doubt you would want to become human while floating in the ocean, pup. You’d be soaked to the bone, and humans don’t tend to like that when they’re fully clothed, now do they? Besides, it gave me an excuse to turn into a human. I rather enjoy it, truth be told.’
You suppose you can’t fault that sentiment, so, you merely shrug in response.
‘Alright, fair,’ you say.
You turn your body sideways – and you admit, you have to readjust to moving as a selkie, which isn’t as easy as walking on two legs – and then, you hop your way toward, then dive into, the ocean. Once your body hits the water, you acclimate instantly to how it feels to swim freely. Your selkie form feels much more at home underwater, for sure.
Moirine joins you briskly after. ‘Now then, pup, to begin in our experiments…’
‘That sounds so ominous, you know,’ you remark.
She snorts. ‘True, but, what other wording would I use?’ She rolls her eyes. ‘Let’s focus, shall we, though?’ Her expression becomes one of mirthfulness. ‘The sooner we see what you’re capable of or not, the sooner we can continue on. There’s always quite a bit more to do for a selkie than you imagine… depending on whom you ask, that is.’
‘Okay,’ you say. ‘How do I try to see?’
‘Remember: it’s based on the mind, pup,’ Moirine says. ‘You must dig deep within your thoughts and concentrate – only through feeling will you know if you can control the element of water. It will feel as though it’s an extension of yourself, plain and simple.’
You nod at this, because it makes sense, given everything else.
‘Focus and see if I can feel it,’ you tell yourself. ‘Alright then…’
You close your eyes and do so, concentrating on trying to ‘feel’ the water around your body as though it were an extension of yourself. Part of you wonders how this is any different from what you did before when you used the water around to propel yourself or lift yourself, but you push this thought aside, and dig deeper than that. It’s not something you’re used to doing, having to really delve into your own headspace like this.
Yet, you do your best, and, as you do, you begin to feel something.
It’s similar to the sensations you felt earlier, when you first envisioned (and felt) how the water and you were separate things entirely, but instead, the sensation of those two things being part of the same whole. Only this time, it’s stronger, and it runs even further than just feeling like the water and you are one in the same – you feel it inside you, you feel it at the tips of your flippers, you feel it in your chest, your stomach, your head.
You open your eyes and decide to latch onto this, and as you do, you start to envision your mind as though it’s your human hands, from which you start to move the water.
But, it isn’t just swishing the waves around, nor is it merely you making the water push you up or down or to the side – you feel a more powerful connection to the waves, and suddenly, it’s like your body and mind have grown in size to a level you cannot even begin to put words to. You can move the waves further ahead, beneath, behind, and above you all at once, and you do so by simply thinking. It’s an incredible feeling.
‘Whoa…’
You bend the waves, creating ripples of varying sizes, until you concentrate and bring the waves to where your body is – you easily push yourself upward toward the surface, only it’s faster and with a great deal more force than the last time you tried; you effectively launch your body up, so fast and so hard, you shoot out from the ocean.
But the sensation of feeling larger, the ‘extension’ you have with the water, doesn’t leave you, and you easily push up the surface of the ocean. A portion of the ocean extends upward and catches your body, then you use it to easily lower you back down to where you just were. Moirine hasn’t budged, yet she is smiling at you now.
‘It seems that you do indeed have this power, pup,’ she remarks.
You are stunned into silence as you stare at her. Your mind is racing, and you blink several times, waiting for the lingering sensation to dwindle or go away. But, it doesn’t.
‘This is… different than anything I’ve ever felt before,’ you say to Moirine.
‘It is, most certainly,’ Moirine replies.
You tap into this mental extension, and you find you can mold the water surrounding you to the point where you can form shapes in the water – including arms, which look solidified despite being underwater (and made from water!). You smile wide, giddy at how you have discovered you of all people are not only able to become a selkie…
But you also possess hydrokinesis, too!
‘I feel superhuman,’ you think to yourself. It’s incredible.
‘Now, do you want to see about the other abilities?’ Moirine asks. ‘Or no?’
You pause, blinking again, because you’d honestly forgotten how selkies have more than just this as a potential power. Instead, you furrow your brow and ponder… do you want to test to see? Or do you find you don’t care now that you KNOW you can do this?
Written by Hollowpage on 02 May 2021
Selkie Power Talks V
You ponder what feels best to you – you imagine if you were a ‘natural’ selkie, that tapping into these extraordinary abilities would be pretty easy, since Moirine showed no problem doing just that. But, you aren’t, and, as you hover there, thinking, you wonder if it would be difficult for you on the off chance you did have more than one power.
‘I guess it doesn’t hurt to try,’ you muse, before you look at Moirine. ‘Sure.’
Moirine nods at this. ‘It is much the same as what you just did, pup. It’s merely a matter of you digging into your mind. In essence, just imagine yourself doing what you’ve seen me to do – imagine turning invisible, or imagine being able to move as though your body was lighter than air, and so on. You’ll find out rather quickly if you can’t do something.’
You frown. ‘Has it been this easy from the start?’
‘Well, yes,’ she says. ‘But you know why I didn’t tell you, yes?’
‘Yeah,’ you say. ‘Oh, uh, before I start trying anything else…’ You take a moment to try and word what it is you want to say. ‘This… this feeling I have, the one that…’
‘That feels as though your body and mind are far, far larger than before?’ Moirine offers.
‘Y-yes!’ you say. Then, you chide yourself, because of course she would know how to phrase it, being that she IS a selkie. ‘Does this feeling stay, I guess, turned on forever now that I’ve discovered it, or, does it shut off when I stop focusing on it long enough?’
Moirine tilts her head to the side as she eyes you. ‘A curious way of wording it, pup… I suppose you’re thinking of it like a button you can push in your head, then?’
You nod.
‘I’ve never thought of it that way,’ Moirine says. Her features turn thoughtful for a moment. ‘It must be your human way of processing such information at work. How fascinating to learn,’ she chuckles, ‘regardless, to answer your question… I would say that, yes, to an extent, it is sort of like a switch or a button in your mind. You would very easily become overwhelmed if you were to continue on with it still active, I believe.’
You certainly don’t disagree with that notion.
‘It isn’t difficult to do, mind you,’ Moirine adds. ‘Now that you have learned how to turn it on, as you say, you simply need to put your mind back into that state to do the reverse. And going forward, it should be no trouble for you to flip that switch off or on.’ She offers you a bright smile, still looking thoughtful. ‘It’s funny. I have never felt my abilities like buttons to push, yet I CAN comprehend how you would. If anything, it’s likely a lot easier for you to process what you’re doing, so by all means, continue to do so.’
You don’t close your eyes this time around as you concentrate, and, you find that you can, in essence, ‘feel’ how to shut this sensation off – it’s like you push a button, and, the feeling of your everything stretching around you weakens. You blink, and, you feel like you did before you started to concentrate; you can’t bend the waves anymore.
‘That is trippy as all hell,’ you muse to yourself, and you shake it off. ‘This is definitely going to take getting used to… then again, so is being in a selkie body, I guess.’
For now, you let it slip away, and, you instead decide to try and experiment with the other selkie abilities that Moirine has shown you – invisibility, controlling the temperature around you, and moving at superhuman speed, your three options. You decide you’ll tackle the invisibility one first, and then the temperature manipulation, since those two (in your mind) feel like they’d be the easiest to tell whether or not you can use them.
‘So it’s similar to bending the water with my mind, you said?’ you ask, since it doesn’t hurt to be double certain of what you’re doing. ‘I have to envision myself as invisible by digging into my mind, and, if I can… er, feel the invisibility, then, it’s working?’
Moirine nods. ‘I apologize that it’s perhaps harder to wrap your head around than you might have expected, but, yes, that is the gist of it. I will inform you if you are actually invisible… although you would feel it if your attempt proves to be successful.’
You nod in respond to her words and decide to give it a shot: you close your eyes once more, only now, rather than trying to focus on the water, you focus on the prospect of turning invisible. You’ve never given much thought to HOW turning invisible would work or how it would feel, but, you have a hunch that it’s centered on envisioning yourself as simply not being there in front of Moirine anymore, so that’s what you go with.
You concentrate, long and hard, on this, but, as the seconds tick by, you find that it doesn’t seem to register with your mind – you don’t FEEL anything out of the ordinary, you don’t experience any sudden new sensations pulsing through your body… nothing.
You try for about a minute longer, until you can tell that nothing is happening.
‘Am I invisible?’ you ask Moirine.
Moirine chortles. ‘No, pup. No, you are not. If anything, you look like you’re about ten seconds away from farting with how intensely you seem to be focusing, though.’
Your eyes snap open and a snicker escapes you at the rather humorous – and random – comment from Moirine. You find her grinning at, clearly showing this was her intent, and after a beat of amusement, you shake your brief laughter away, and glance down at your body. You don’t look invisible, nor feel it, so, you deem that one a lost cause.
‘Alright, I’ll scratch that one off the list,’ you remark.
You decide to then change gears to try and focus on the temperature manipulation ability that Moirine showed you earlier – and you don’t ask her, you automatically figure that it’s based on concentrating and thinking yourself able to change the temperature.
You imagine making the water around your body warmer, but much like with your inner attempt at turning invisible, it doesn’t seem to register in your mind; the water doesn’t grow warmer, or colder around you, and, despite your best effort at really, truly digging into your mental space to try and concentrate on this power, nothing happens. Again, you end up opening your eyes and deciding that it isn’t an ability you possess, so you scratch off the power to alter temperatures alongside invisibility. Three down…
‘That only leaves the speed ability for me to try out,’ you tell yourself. If you want to.
You ponder for a moment if you wish to try, or, if you want to hold onto it for later. You feel like, since you have hydrokinesis, and, since you didn’t really move at the same blurring speed that Moirine did back when you were following after her… you don’t know for certain, but you have a gut feeling that you likely don’t have super speed, either.
‘I could be wrong,’ you think, since you aren’t entirely sure. ‘But at the same time, I’m not all that bothered by it if I do or don’t. Besides, there’s plenty of time for me to explore if I have the power to move at superhuman speeds in the water, so I could shelve it…’
While you weigh this decision in your head, Moirine swims closer to you.
‘You seem to be lost in your thoughts, pup,’ Moirine remarks. She snickers. ‘Are you trying to decide what to do next? Do you not want to attempt to see if you have speed as a boon, or, are you simply wanting to hold onto that for later on? I understand either way, of course. There is no rush, no need for forcing yourself into these things.’
‘I’m leaning toward trying it out later,’ you say, and you give the closest thing to a shrug you can as a selkie. ‘I dunno. There’s a lot to take in as it is, so I’m still adjusting.’
‘Fair enough,’ Moirine says. ‘We can always go and explore the area. There are some spots where only we selkie can go, after all. Or, if you prefer to relax and do your own thing, that’s an option. They say the sky is the limit, but, in this case, the ocean is the limit for a selkie.’ She winks. ‘What would you like to do next, pup? You tell me.’
You continue to think…
Written by Hollowpage on 04 May 2021
A Fishy Feeling
You ponder what to do for a minute, since there are plenty of options to make use of – testing to see if you can swim at superhuman speed, experimenting with your newfound hydrokinetic abilities, returning to dry land, swimming around, asking more selkie questions, and so on. They’re all solid options in your opinion, yet at the same time, nothing really stands out as being more important or interesting than anything else, but eventually, you settle on going back to a previous activity you were doing.
‘Do you mind if we swim around and I ask you some questions about selkies?’ you ask.
Moirine grins. ‘Not at all, pup. I’m happy to answer what you have on your mind.’
She starts to swim downward and you follow, both of you moving at a casual pace. You don’t know what direction Moirine will lead you, but, you’re totally fine with letting her take the lead – you mostly like the idea of seeing more of the ocean’s beauty while you learn more about selkies, since you feel it’s important you, as a new selkie, do so.
‘What comes to mind first, pup, if anything stands out?’ Moirine asks.
You have a few things you were wondering that you’d just placed on the backburner, since at the time when you were asking questions, there were more pressing ones.
‘Do selkies need to eat and drink?’ you ask.
‘Ah… now here’s one you’d be surprised isn’t asked very often,’ Moirine says.
The two of you drift down until you reach the ocean’s floor in the area you’re currently lingering in – Moirine begins to swim forward, in a different direction from where you went previously. You follow her, hugging near the sandy bottom the way she does.
‘We don’t NEED the same sustenance you humans do, at least not to that degree,’ Moirine responds after a quiet beat. ‘Meaning, we do indeed require to sustain ourselves, but, it’s less of a vital necessity. We can eat whatever foods you do, drink whatever liquids you do, it’s simply that we can go long stretches without either.’
‘You don’t get hungry or thirsty?’ you ask, gawking. That’s a new one to think about.
Moirine hums to herself. ‘Yes and no.’
You frown. ‘…wait, how is it yes AND no?’
She snickers. ‘Well, pup, I said we can go long stretches without them, not that we can go forever without them. We will eventually need some form of sustenance, and often, food and beverage will suffice. That said, we are creatures born from the ocean depths, so of those two, drinking is the one we need the least of. It’s partly because we are absorbing water through our pores – and through our very essence – from the instant our bodies connect with any body of water. Have you noticed how you aren’t thirsty?’
You blink several times in surprise at hearing this, and you take a few inner breaths to mull Moirine’s words over. She’s not wrong. You haven’t felt any sort of thirst since you were turned into a selkie, although you don’t feel as though you’ve been…
‘We drink through our… pores?’ you ask, a little perplexed by this.
‘Not literally, silly,’ Moirine says with a chuckle. ‘It’s more a case that we absorb the water into ourselves when we’re touching it. It’s been that way since we came into being, I’d imagine, because think about it… don’t sea creatures drink water while submerged to further their survival? Of course they do. They evolved in order to do this, and we selkie are no different, save for the fact we don’t NEED to go through the motions of gulping down the water we’re in. Our bodies do this naturally, for ease.’
‘Oh…’ You blink, and after giving it some thought, you nod along. ‘Okay, I guess that does make sense. Is the reason you don’t have to open your mouths to chug water down because you rely a lot on using your minds to do stuff? Or am I wrong entirely?’
She glances at you mid-motion, grinning. ‘You’re actually correct, pup. We selkie are not like normal mammals, like seals or humans or whales; remember that we are born and possess something you would liken to magic, so, if you wish, you can consider these things as magic in reasoning. Ah, but, to go back to the subject on food…’
She pauses and you both near a drop in the sandy floor you’ve been swimming over, where it dips further down into what you can only describe as a sea forest. You stop and gawk at the sight; there are tendrils of seaweed all over the place, yet more than that, there are dozens of masses of colorful coral spread about, and plenty of fish, too.
Moirine hovers near the fringe where it delves down. ‘Eating is something we natural selkie do need, yes, as we do grow hungry. Food offers energy, and, if I’m being totally honest, it also offers a lot of pleasure. Many selkie that assume human forms love to eat for the act of eating itself, including me. Many of your human foods are delicious. They smell good, they taste good, and the sensation of eating until I’m full is… it’s wonderful.’
You shift between eyeing the underwater forest that seems to loom for quite some time below where the two of you are and Moirine, before you focus on Moirine.
‘What do selkie normally eat if they stay underwater, though?’ you ask.
‘Sea life, of course,’ Moirine replies with a shrug. ‘Much like the normal seals and their various species, we tend to eat fish, since they’re in abundance down here, and let’s face it, when you have the boons a selkie possesses, fish are not at all difficult to catch. Shrimp, krill, crustaceans, eels, squid, octopi… we eat those, too, I should add. We can even eat the smaller species of sharks, and some will eat jellyfish and their kin.’
‘I… wait, hold on.’ You stare at her. ‘You eat jellyfish? But… don’t they…?’
She flashes a bright smile. ‘Their poison and barbs don’t affect us, my friend. We are resistant to any toxins produced by every sea creature down here, no matter their size or their strength. Spikes, jolts, sharpened fangs, ink, and so on; what the sea life may use to defend themselves against one another has no effect on us, fortunately.’
‘Damn,’ you say. You shake your head. ‘Now I’m just imagining you swimming up and chomping into a jellyfish like it’s made out of, I dunno, noodles or something soft.’
‘Jellyfish aren’t really to MY personal tastes,’ Moirine says. ‘They’re a bit too… mm, I would say the word spicy is the best I can use when defining how it feels. Too much of a bite, if you will, and the same goes for the man-o-war and all those spineless breeds; I rather prefer the taste of fish, or crustaceans, since I am fond of the crunchiness.’
You blink, once, twice, then a third time. ‘That’s not a sentence you hear every day.’
Moirine merely smiles in response. ‘Shall we continue to swim about while you throw another question or ten my way, pup? You can see the rather lovely forest below, and it’s both large in size and in beauty, with plenty of fish to snack on if you feel hungry…’
You glance back down into the admittedly gorgeous ocean forest filled with dozens of fish, and dozens upon dozens more of colorful corals, and you can just tell there’s a lot to see down there, even more than what you can spot from your vantage point.
Yet before you can think about it for too long (and ask Moirine more on what she feels), you notice that Moirine’s attention has drifted from you all of a sudden – she appears to be looking past you with a noticeably odd expression on her face. You blink once, frown, then turn your head to look behind that way, and you see what she’s seeing: there’s another selkie, it appears, in the distance and they are coming right at you.
‘Is that someone you know?’ you ask Moirine.
‘I believe so, yes,’ Moirine replies. ‘Perhaps we ought to wait to see…’
You nod, and, you turn so you’re facing the incoming selkie – you wonder if there’s something wrong, or, if there’s another reason for them to be coming at you so quickly; yet you also know it won’t take long to find out the answer to those questions.
Written by Hollowpage on 08 May 2021
Something Wicked This Way Swims
About a minute later, the selkie swimming toward the both of you slows and comes to a stop in front of Moirine. You can tell from a glance at the selkie’s body that this one is female given the slender physique like Moirine’s (and yours), and you can also tell it’s a selkie due to the eyes – they are a human-like and a rather pale brown color. Her overall body is darker than Moirine’s and yours, too, with less spots, save for a smattering of smaller ones around her throat and trailing down to her pale underbelly.
‘Oh, Cahala, it’s you,’ Moirine remarks. ‘I wasn’t sure at first because you’re usually much more vocal at announcing yourself to me. Here to watch me coach the pup?’
‘Ah, sorry, Moirine,’ the new selkie, Cahala, replies.
She speaks with a deeper voice than Moirine, yet her voice to your ears – or mind… mind’s ears? – has what you can only define as a thicker Irish accent. In fact, you hadn’t even really noticed before, but, Moirine has an Irish-sounding accent, too, only softer.
‘I don’t mean to interrupt, but, there’s something of importance you need to know,’ the new selkie says, before she turns to regard you. She blinks once, then gazes at you for a beat. ‘You must be the human that was turned into a selkie by a djinn, aren’t you?’
You nod. ‘That’s me.’
‘Feh, a typical stinking djinn mucking about with their magic for petty reasons,’ she says with an internal scoff. ‘I’m Cahala, as Moirine just said, nice to meet you.’ She bows her head to you, and you do the same since it feels only right. ‘I saw the two of you visiting the Seamother earlier, and considered swimming up to introduce myself. But, I was dealing with another selkie in… what’s the phrase? In the same ship as you? Maybe?’
‘Oh, uh, yes, that’s close to it, if you mean in the same boat,’ you reply.
‘Aye, that’s the one,’ Cahala says. She shakes her head. ‘Regardless, while I’d love to have a nice chat, I’m afraid there’s a different reason for me coming here.’ Her expression darkens in a way that is all-too-human to see on someone that looks much like a seal in your eyes. ‘The Seamother asked me to come fetch the two of you and bring you both back to the Cayreeg, promptly if at all possible. There’s a… situation.’
‘A situation?’ you say, confused. ‘What kind of situation?’
Cahala nods her head back the way she came. ‘I can explain while we swim.’
You look to Moirine, who is frowning. ‘Very well, Cahala. Lead the way, love.’
The three of you begin to swim back the direction came from.
‘I don’t know the details in full,’ Cahala admits after a beat. ‘I only know that it seems to involve the very djinn that used his magics to transform you, pup, into a selkie.’
‘Oh,’ you say. ‘That’s, uh… worrying.’
‘Bah,’ Moirine says, snorting. ‘I wouldn’t worry too much. I doubt there’s some huge dilemma involving you or anything, pup. I know you mentioned you were a bit rash with the djinn, but we all have our arsehole days. Besides, a djinn ought to know better, and it’s not as if he hasn’t heard worse than whatever trivial response you gave him.’
‘I believe the issue is less to do with you directly,’ Cahala says, ‘and more to do with the very situation that you’re a part of. I’m sure you were told that djinn aren’t supposed to go around transforming humans into creatures or anything against the human’s will?’
‘Yes,’ you say.
Cahala gives a ‘hmm’ in response. ‘Good. That makes it a bit easier to explain.’
‘Explain what?’ you ask.
‘Moirine, did you or the Seamother tell this pup about the system?’ Cahala asks.
‘Briefly, yes,’ Moirine replies. ‘We touched on it for a moment, but not in-depth.’
You feel confused, but, you don’t object since it isn’t your place to just yet.
‘I will try to alleviate your confusion, pup,’ Cahala says to you. ‘Within our world, the one that is more often out of sight from normal humans, there are laws and rules that we adhere to. Any sort of trifling with those can result in trouble for us and for you humans, which is why we typically refrain from doing things like what occurred to you. Should we learn that another species or entity has chosen to go against these, it then becomes our… civic duty, I suppose, to confront the issue head on how we see fit to confront it.’
You soak in her words for a beat. ‘I think I understand. I remember someone mentioning how they’d deal with the genie that did this to me. Is that what you’re talking about?’
‘Aye,’ Cahala says.
‘Why would that scenario require the pup, though?’ Moirine asks. ‘They didn’t ask to be transformed into a selkie, nor wish for it, either. There’s no bond formed between them and the djinn as master and servant, which means that lousy djinn can’t use this one as an excuse for what happened. I fail to see why the Seamother needs to see us.’
‘Because the problem involving this djinn and their actions runs far, far deeper than that alone, apparently,’ Cahala replies matter-of-factly. ‘I’m sorry. The Seamother didn’t give me a full explanation, only asked that I get the two of you. More so the pup than you, Moirine, but, given their newness to being a selkie, she felt it would be beneficial for you to be present. You’ve taken the pup under your proverbial wing, after all.’
‘True,’ Moirine says.
You frown to yourself and wonder what the problem could be if it’s this serious. You don’t know enough about selkie society to hazard a guess – you have a basic (maybe) understanding of some things, but, even then, you can tell that there’s a whole lot more for you to learn in the grander scheme of things. From what you can gauge, this involves the djinn, but, why the Seamother would want to speak to you, you are unsure.
‘Did the Seamother go herself to speak to the djinn?’ Moirine asks.
‘She sent Fia in her stead,’ Cahala replies. Cahala glances at you for a heartbeat. ‘Fia is… a stewardess, you could say. She is one of the oldest selkie that serves as the voice for our Seamother, as a trusted advisor and all that, in case you are curious.’
‘I’m guessing she found out something from the djinn that caused this?’ you ask.
‘Aye, pup,’ Cahala replies. ‘That is indeed the case.’
You glance at Moirine, who meets your gaze – her expression seems to mirror the emotions you’re feeling of confusion and leeriness. For now, you swallow your nerves down, and, the three of you swim on, tracking back toward the eventual location where the Cayreeg is. When the three of you arrive in the area, Cahala comes to a stop so that she’s hovering near the entrance to the giant formation. Here, she turns back to you.
‘You may go in on your own if you wish, pup,’ Cahala says to you. ‘Or you may have Moirine join you, should you want.’ She pauses for a moment, then shrugs. ‘Hell, you can even have us both go with you. I’m rather curious to learn what the deal is. I know you’ve only just met me, but, I wanna know what the bloody djinn did that’s got our Seamother so flustered. Stinking djinn can’t be trusted, ‘least not ones like this one.’
‘…is the djinn down there?’ you ask.
Cahala laughs, her body shaking as bubbles erupt from her mouth. ‘Oho, no, no, no, my young friend, there’s no way a djinn would dare venture down into our domain. Plus, they’re typically kept locked up in whatever those silly things are called… a lamp, or something? Whatever.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘Point is, they can’t come down here without certain loopholes being exploited, and neither Fia nor the Seamother were about to go using those. Last thing we need is a djinn stinking up our ocean domain, for sure.’
‘In other words, you’re in no danger from dealing with him,’ Moirine says. She offers you a smile. ‘And even if he was there, you’d be safe from harm. The Seamother is a force to be reckoned with when push comes to shove, you can bet your ass on that, pup.’
‘Okay,’ you say, and you think it over. ‘What’s the best thing for me to do?’
‘The choice is yours, pup,’ Moirine says. ‘You shouldn’t keep the Seamother waiting for too long, though. Just on the principle of the matter, more than anything else, mind.’
You nod and look toward the Cayreeg. Do you want to go in alone? Do you want to have Moirine join you, since she would know more? Or do you want her and Cahala to come with you, since two selkie that have experience is better than one, right?
Choices…
Written by Hollowpage on 11 May 2021
Something Wicked This Way Swims II
‘I think I’m fine with both of you coming with me,’ you say after a beat. ‘It might help to have two selkies that know more about… well, this whole world. I’m still learning.’
‘Fair enough, pup,’ Moirine says, smiling. ‘Then, let us go and see the Seamother.’
The three of you swim down into the Cayreeg, making your way back to the area where the Seamother is located – you find that she is upright now rather than lying down the way she was when you first met her. Her massive size is even more apparent now, and you feel even smaller compared to her when the three of you come to a stop before her.
‘Ah, thank you, Cahala,’ Voadia says, nodding to the selkie you just met. ‘I appreciate you bringing these two back for me.’ Her large eyes move from you to Moirine. ‘My apologies for interrupting whatever you were doing, but, I’m afraid that there is a matter that requires I ask you for some aid. It involves the djinn that changed you with his magic, young one, although I’m sure Cahala informed you of that much already.’
‘She did, yes,’ you say.
‘What’s the problem, Seamother?’ Moirine asks. ‘I would’ve expected Fia to deal with the errant djinn rather easily, lest he’d want himself to be reported to the others…’
Voadia’s eyes narrow ever so slightly. ‘The issue that has arisen is the reasoning for this young human’s sudden transformation. Before, I was of the belief it was merely the djinn being petty, as some among their kin are known to do for their own amusement.’ She shakes her giant head. ‘However, it has come to my attention this wasn’t the case underneath the surface. Instead, there is a deeper meaning… one tied to his Master.’
You stare at the large selkie blankly. ‘Wait… Master? What do you mean Master?’
There’s a long stretch of quiet among the other selkie while these words settle. You, for one, are astounded, since you had no idea the djinn had a Master in the first place.
‘Hold on a moment,’ Cahala says, with a tone and an expression of earnest shock, not unlike how you currently feel. ‘I don’t know the full story here, but,’ she turns to eye you quizzically, ‘is it not the case that you stumbled upon the djinn’s lamp, awakened him, declined his request in a way he didn’t care for, and then you were changed?’
‘Y-yeah,’ you say. ‘That’s exactly what happened.’
Cahala scowls. ‘Then…’ She turns back to Voadia. ‘How does that make sense?’
‘Um…’ You are at a complete loss; you don’t know what they’re talking about.
Voadia eyes you knowingly. ‘When a djinn is summoned from their abode, it typically means they are unclaimed, for lack of a more proper term. They do not have a Master, otherwise, they would not normally be summonable in the first place. However, this was not the case for the djinn you interacted with. He DID have a Master, and still has a Master, which means he had no right to have you summon him in the first place.’
‘Oh…’ you say. Now it makes a bit more sense to you. ‘Wait, but, then… how…?’
‘That is strange,’ Moirine says. ‘Strange and troubling, that a djinn would do such a thing.’ Her tone is one of confusion mixed with irritation. ‘You mean to tell me that he had a Master, yet he was still able to return to his lamp? And then he willingly tricked this one? At this rate, I’m beginning to think that djinn used his magics to MAKE the pup speak harshly, as if to further spur on whatever foul ploy led to this happening.’
‘I would not doubt this in the least bit,’ Voadia replies.
‘Bah, see what I mean?’ Cahala says with a scowl. ‘Stinking djinn! Too many of them are like this, always skirting around the edges of what keeps us all in line. Some may be decent, sure, but a lot of ‘em are bloody shitebags, if you ask me. A royal pain, too.’
‘Fia was able to learn this much from speaking to the djinn,’ Voadia says. She gives a heavy sigh of distaste. ‘Unfortunately, he did not indulge further despite Fia’s… civil methods of requesting the details. He merely stated he has a Master that he’s still bound to and that his Master’s whims were still being followed when he used his powers, and thus, he did not break any of the laws we among this world must obey.’
You are stunned into speechlessness. You stare at the giant selkie, the words spinning around inside of you. You’re not sure what to think or how to feel knowing all this, although the reality that you were basically tricked and deceived doesn’t sit well.
‘That… that shouldn’t be allowed to stand, Seamother,’ Cahala says.
‘I agree,’ Moirine adds. ‘This sort of loophole abuse for such a petty, spiteful thing is a bastardization of what we all should stand for. Our kind doesn’t forcibly meddle in the affairs of humans like this; it’s wrong and corrupt, and did the djinn forget that such a path is what led to his entire species being cursed and weakened as they are now?’
Voadia shakes her head. ‘I cannot speak for a djinn I have not met, my dear.’
‘So, uh…’ Your lips purse. ‘What now, though?’
‘To be truthful, this scenario is different from what I am used to hearing of and dealing with, which is why I have brought you back here,’ Voadia says, as her large gaze returns to you then. ‘I am aware you likely don’t have much in terms of knowing the truth about this djinn from one brief encounter. But,’ her features morph into a frown, ‘I actually have a request to make of you, pup, if you are willing to hear it.’
You shake your daze off and look at the ancient selkie intently. ‘What’s that?’
‘I would like to request you to return to where you met the djinn,’ Voadia says. ‘And I would like for you to find out what wish it is that he feels he granted when he changed your form against your will. Doing so will be of benefit for us, as we need to learn the truth for the sake of ensuring such a thing never happens again. And,’ her expression darkens, ‘it may be useful to find out what this Master of his has to do with it, too.’
You swallow the lump that forms in your throat. ‘O-oh. I see.’
‘Do you think the pup would be able to get information out of the djinn?’ Cahala asks.
‘Surely, Fia would suffice,’ Moirine says. ‘She is one of the strongest among us besides you yourself, Seamother.’ She scoffs in her mind. ‘I would be of the opinion to allow her to use force in getting what we need from this rotten bastard of a djinn. There’s no way he would willingly divulge information to a human when he HAS a Master, after all.’
Voadia’s features soften, and she cracks a smile. ‘Actually, there is a loophole we can use to our advantage, should our young friend here be open to accepting this request.’
‘Loophole?’ you say. ‘What loophole?’
‘While the djinn is obeying the letter of the laws in our realm,’ Voadia says, ‘his transforming of you against your will is still an offense to the spirit of the law. You would only need to remind him of this fact… and by doing so in person, you would likely manage to wound this djinn’s pride a good bit. He cannot deny that you did not ask to be changed, after all, and whether or not he was obeying a Master, that you were deceived on purpose is still against the very creed the djinn species uphold.’
‘I would go with you, pup,’ Moirine says. She holds your stare. ‘I know a good enough amount to handle a djinn given their usual demeanors and preference for trickery. This one is a clear piece of shit, for lack of a better term, and I will gladly confront him in your stead should it be needed. Because he is, as Cahala said… a stinking djinn.’
Cahala snorts at this. ‘He deserves a bloody beating if ever a djinn deserved one. I’d just let Fia kick his sorry arse around for a few hours. We selkie aren’t weak when we are made to fight, despite what those stupid djinn like to assume we are.’
‘There is no pressure upon you, pup,’ Voadia says. She holds your stare with a kind, neutral expression. ‘You are not bound to obey me, nor would I ever demand that you do what I asked. You are free to choose should you wish to help, and you may also choose to do so at another time entirely.’ She smiles, a genuine, if massive, smile. ‘It is your decision to make, young one. Do you wish to help now? Later? Or, decline?’
All three sets of eyes fall onto you, and silence settles in the large cavern.
You look down and start to think… what would you prefer to do?
Written by Hollowpage on 13 May 2021
Something Wicked This Way Swims III
You give it some thought for a good minute, mulling over what feels best. And after you’ve given it consideration, you feel you’ve come to a good decision on what to do.
‘If you want me to go up to try and talk to the genie, then, I will,’ you say. ‘Honestly, for me, the sooner I do it, the better, I think. I don’t like the idea of waiting for a long time to handle something that’s serious… especially given the circumstances.’ You shrug. ‘Plus, I mean, it’s not like I’ve got much else to do with myself right now anyways.’
Voadia nods. ‘That’s a fair way of considering things, young one. Very well.’
‘But, uh, before I go…’ you say. ‘Do I need to be… um, concerned about anything?’
The large selkie seems to think on this for a beat. ‘If you mean in terms of the djinn acting out against you, then, I don’t feel that is something you ought to worry over. I suppose I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how djinn are very unpredictable by their nature, but, Fia will still be there, and, with Moirine’s presence on top of that, the djinn would have to be fairly foolish to make any sort of attempt at anything toward you.’
‘I wouldn’t let him,’ Moirine says, her tone firmer now. ‘You can be rest assured of that.’
‘Okay,’ you say. ‘Do you know why the genie did this? Or, I guess, what his Master would have wanted that would lead to him actively tricking me the way he did?’
There’s a moment of silence while the three selkie reflect on this question.
‘It’s hard to say, at least for me,’ Cahala remarks, and she gives an internal snort again. ‘I don’t like to deal with djinn normally due to my obvious mistrust toward them, and given the past with how djinn used to interact with humans and with other beings more like us. For all we know, the djinn in question is just lying about having a Master in order to try to keep his sorry arse protected. It wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case at all.’
‘I feel the fact he apparently has a Master, yet no Master was present when you interacted with him, should be investigated thoroughly,’ Moirine says. ‘The last thing anyone, selkie or otherwise, needs is for any being with power beyond the scope of normal mortals to use this sort of excuse in the future to meddle in human affairs.’
You frown at this. ‘I’m still a little confused on… that. So, genies exist, I get that much, and they have magic that lets them grant wishes, right? But they’re all restricted to being inside lamps and stuff because of something genies did thousands of years ago?’
‘Aye,’ Cahala says. ‘That’s the gist of it, in essence.’
‘But it isn’t just genies and selkie that exist,’ you say. ‘There are other races, too.’
‘There are many, many others, young one, correct,’ Voadia replies, giving you a slow nod. She smiles then. ‘To name them all would take a great deal of time, but, if it helps your understanding, consider the various supernatural species you read about in books, or see in movies or television shows – a good number of those are real, living, breathing beings, although not all are similar to their common portrayals. There are others still, however, that have never been recorded by humans in any form, and so they do not have names that you would recognize, nor qualities you could envision in your mind.’
You blink and absorb this. ‘Does that mean all of these different beings, or, the ones I would know of… that they interacted with people in the past, and, that’s what led to them becoming, you know, folk tales or myths or superstitions, and so on?’
Voadia’s smile grows, a glimmer in her large eyes. ‘Yes, that is quite correct. Were it not the case, then you would not have known what a selkie is, pup, or a djinn, or a faery, or any of the beings you’ve heard about. Now, not every fantastical creature or species is real the way we are, but there is a kernel of truth throughout most. And those bits and pieces of truth stem from encounters with such beings in the ancient days, long ago.’
There’s clearly a lot to all this that you could probably spend days listening to, learning more and more about this secret world with magic and supernatural beings. You decide you’ll not dwell on it for TOO long in the current moment, but, it’s got you wondering.
‘There’s one more thing I’d like to ask for now, if I can,’ you say.
‘Of course,’ Voadia replies.
‘So, uh, if there are laws that exist,’ you say, ‘and these pertain to all of the supernatural beings that exist in the world… how do you enforce them, exactly? Or who does the enforcing? Is there someone or something in charge of all of you that, I dunno, maintains some kind of police group? Or is it just that you have to keep tabs on other species? Because it sounds like there’s a ton of races with powers that go way beyond anything a normal person can do, yet you’ve been hidden from us for… well, forever.’
‘Not that’s a loaded question to ask, pup,’ Moirine says with a chuckle. ‘And quite deep.’
‘Definitely not a simple thing to discuss, either,’ Cahala adds.
The Seamother nods, her eyes not leaving yours. ‘It is indeed not a simple matter to delve into, I’m afraid – there are a great many odds and ends involved within the fabric of existence that we selkie, the djinn, and all other entities like us, live in. It’s no simple thing to keep us separate from humanity, that is most definitely worth mentioning.’
You frown, but don’t respond just yet.
‘I would be happy to tell you more when you return,’ Voadia says. She gives a quiet sigh in her thoughts and offers you a sympathetic glance as she shakes her head. ‘It would take a lot of time to explain things properly, and if you wish to deal with my request, then I feel it would behoove you to do so first.’ She pauses. ‘Mm. But, at the very least…’
Her expression turns thoughtful. ‘There is a species of beings that is older than most in this world, young one. They do not have a name you would recognize, for they have always existed separately from mortals and even from many of us, to the point where there are no myths or tales involving them. Yet they are the ones whom founded the system, the ones who keep all others in balance. Why they do so exactly, none can say but themselves, but, they have managed this task for longer than I have been alive.’
‘Whoa,’ you say, gawking.
Your mind swirls with curiosity at this new knowledge, but, you know you should hold off on asking any further questions. The notion that there’s a species that apparently is responsible for running things over the other fantastical races is… fascinating, though.
‘Do they have a name?’ you ask. ‘I’m guessing they do, right?’ You glance between the three selkie. ‘Have any of you ever interacted with… whatever they are? Or… no?’
‘They have a name, yes,’ Voadia says. ‘Although, to be earnest with you, young pup, I need some time to properly figure out the most understandable way to word it.’ She chuckles softly. ‘Apologies, but it is harder than common terms like selkie or djinn.’
‘Oh,’ you say. ‘I see.’
‘I’ve yet to encounter one myself, although I’d like to meet one at some point,’ Moirine admits. ‘There are a good few of them in number given that it’s a species and not just a small group.’ She shrugs. ‘But, to my knowledge, they prefer to remain in their own little world rather than any of ours, unless they do so in secret and I don’t know about it.’
‘Same,’ Cahala says, shrugging. ‘Sorry.’
You shake this away for now. ‘That’s fine. May I ask more later, Seamother?’
‘Of course you may,’ she replies, smiling again. ‘I did say you could, after all.’
‘Thank you.’
You close your eyes for a moment, and then you reopen them. You already decided that you would go and confront the genie responsible for turning you into a selkie – but now the question becomes how to proceed. You suppose the obvious answer would be to ask one of the selkie present for advice, or, you could just leave the Cayreeg and swim up to the surface, since perhaps backtracking your steps will bring you there.
It isn’t a difficult choice to make, but, it’s still a choice to think of, and so you do just that.
Written by Hollowpage on 17 May 2021
Something Wicked This Way Swims IV
You muse over the options, but, it doesn’t take you long to pick one – you know that going to the selkie for advice is the smartest thing to do, and, given how obvious you’re out of your own depth in this whole scenario, you’d rather be safe than sorry anyways.
You turn to Moirine. ‘Do you know how to, uh, get to the djinn, Moirine?’
Moirine nods. ‘It shouldn’t be too difficult to find where the djinn is holed up, especially given how close you ended up to where I was back when you plopped into the ocean. That’s assuming you weren’t transported here on purpose, mind you, which would mean it isn’t quite as simple.’ She cracks a grin. ‘I’m happy to help you sniff out the djinn’s location either way, pup. Better than you getting lost. Shall we get going, then?’
‘Yes,’ you say. You turn back to Voadia. ‘Thank you again, Seamother.’
‘Indeed,’ the Seamother says. ‘Do be careful when dealing with the djinn, if only for the sake of precaution. And you have my thanks, young one, for being willing to do this. While my dear Fia or I myself could get the information, I feel that you being the one to do it would be more… meaningful on the djinn in the grander scheme of things.’
With that said, the three of you exit the Seamother’s cavern, and then you all exit the Cayreeg, too. When you make it outside the Cayreeg, you end up coming to a halt right where you stopped previously. Once here, Cahala hovers near you and Moirine.
‘I won’t intrude on your little quest for the Seamother,’ Cahala says with a playful tone. ‘I do hope to perhaps get to know you better after the fact, pup,’ she grins at you, ‘and while I don’t want to sound TOO overconfident, I dare say I may have a wider range of knowledge on certain subjects than Moirine here does. Isn’t that right, Moirine?’
Moirine rolls her eyes. ‘Very funny, Cahala, very funny.’
‘I’m only saying, love,’ Cahala remarks.
You smile at the annoyed expression Moirine gives the other selkie. ‘Sure, Cahala.’
‘Good luck with the djinn,’ Cahala says. ‘And be careful, of course.’
She swims off without another word.
‘Alright then, pup,’ Moirine says to you. ‘First, we’ll need to venture to the surface, and yes, we’ll need to assume human form. We’ll be humans when we interact with the djinn, since it’ll be easier for you, and, it will have a more useful impact on the djinn.’
‘Why’s that?’ you ask.
‘Because it’ll show him that you have reverted from the spell he put on you,’ she replies, and she grins again. ‘That should do a bit of a strike to his ego, which we could use.’
‘Fair enough,’ you say, and so the two of you begin to swim.
You swim away from the Cayreeg area first, exiting the side realm where the selkie live in peace, and when you make it to the greater expanse of the natural ocean, you start to trace back the way you first came when you were following after Moirine, when you first assumed she might be a normal seal. It takes a few minutes for you to swim through the waters (both of you swimming at a brisk speed), but, you eventually make it back…
Back to the spot where you remember first plummeting down into the ocean, in fact; you can spot the direction where the sunken ship was that you went to explore briefly.
‘I completely forgot about the ship,’ you think to yourself. You got sidetracked when you saw Moirine for the first time, and then you got swept up in… everything else.
‘Up we go,’ Moirine says, nodding upwards. ‘Let’s find dry land to traverse on, yes?’
You nod and follow her; the two of you go up to the ocean surface, and you glance about to find that there is actual dry land in the distance. You can’t quite recall how you ended up from land to the ocean in the first place, but you don’t dwell on it (you want to focus on what’s more important in the moment, which is getting to land first and foremost, and then you want to focus on getting to wherever that djinn is located).
You both swim toward land, and, when you reach it, you hop onto the shore.
The area is unfamiliar to you; it doesn’t look like somewhere you’ve ever been before, at least not from a cursory glance around. The shore is sandy and smooth, but it isn’t a beach; there are far too many thick trees about, and no sign of any people whatsoever. You frown and wonder where in the world you are, both figuratively and literally.
‘We should assume human form for now, pup,’ Moirine says.
‘Right, right,’ you say. ‘It’s just through concentrating again, right?’
‘Correct,’ she says.
You close your eyes. ‘Okay… it was easy to do before, so, I can do it again…’
You think back to how you returned to your human form previously – it was a process of envisioning yourself as a human, thinking of how it felt to have hands with fingers, legs with feet and toes, and so on; thus, that’s the mindset you put yourself into, and you start to internally FEEL what being a human was like. You are soon met with a familiar surge that shoots through your whole body, and, within moments, you can feel your body quickly transforming from selkie back into your true human self, painlessly, too.
When you reopen your eyes and blink, you find you’re a human again. You’re back to wearing the same clothes you wore previously, and, you suck in a slow breath.
You can smell the sea, the sand, the trees surrounding you, all on the breeze.
You turn to the side to find that Moirine has also turned into her human form. She takes a moment to crack her neck from one side to the next, then grins at you brightly.
“I do so love the excuse to be a human,” Moirine says. “It’s quite refreshing for me.”
You smile a little. “Where to now?”
“Do you recognize this area?” Moirine asks.
You shake your head.
“Mm.” She frowns and taps a finger to her chin. “I suppose that means you might have been plunked here by the djinn when he finished turning you into a selkie. In that case, we may need to locate the nearest Shard as a means of traversing around until we can find the area where he’s lurking.” She shrugs. “Fortunately for you, I’m here to help.”
“You mentioned these Shard things before,” you say. “That’s… the, uh, pocket realm?”
“Yes,” Moirine says. “We call them Shards for simplicity’s sake, because they are fragments of the human world, yet separate from the human world at the same time. There are many, many Shards split throughout your realm, it’s just that normally, you wouldn’t find them. It’s more that they tend to find you when you least expect it.”
“How will we find the one where this djinn is, then?” you ask.
“There are two ways we could,” Moirine replies. She turns so she’s facing you fully, her smile returning. “We can find the nearest Shard to where we are and enter it – from there, we would traverse between Shards until we find the proper one. All Shards are connected in some way, so, it wouldn’t be a huge dilemma to undertake that path.”
“What’s the catch?” you ask.
“It would take an unknown amount of time,” she replies.
“And the other option?”
“The other option is we try to retrace your steps prior to when you stumbled upon the Shard where the djinn is in the first place,” Moirine says. “We’d stay in the human realm and try to figure out where you were when you first wandered into that Shard. You may not recognize the current location, but, it must be close enough to the Shard, so, we need only search around for a while until we are able to find it. That’s my belief, and what I know to be the truth from experience with how Shards work.”
“Is that easier than the first option?” you ask.
Moirine folds her arms. “Mm… Using the Shards as a means of transportation could potentially take more time, but, would be simpler in the long run, because I can detect where we need to go through my senses. However, retracing while staying in the human realm would potentially be faster, if also more difficult because Shard locations are very, very picky things by nature. I will leave the choice for you to decide, pup.”
You nod and begin to weigh the two choices over; what do you feel like doing? Which do you feel would be the best option to take for you to find where this djinn is located?
Written by Hollowpage on 21 May 2021
Seeking Shards
After considering your choices for a beat of silence, you suck in a slow breath and feel as though you have a good idea of what seems the better one, or, you hope so, that is.
“I guess we can look for the closest Shard thing,” you say to Moirine, and you shrug. “I don’t know anything about how they work, and while it may take a bit longer, going off what you’ve told me, they sound like a better choice. I mean, if they’re all connected somehow, then, surely that means we’ll get to wherever that genie is eventually?”
Moirine nods. “Indeed, pup, indeed. Come, then, and let’s start searching.”
The two of you begin to move across the sandy shore, veering to the left where there is a rocky path that leads upwards into the forested area. You swear you can’t tell where this is exactly, because you can’t for the life of you remember a forest BEFORE you ended up in that strange place with the shop, the massive tree, and the cave.
For now, you push this aside.
“How are these Shard things connected, exactly?” you ask. “I don’t quite understand.”
Moirine chuckles. “Think of the Shards as… what’s the word you would use… ah, a portal, we’ll say.” She flashes you a bright smile. “One Shard itself is a portal that leads to this pocket realm, or, belly button as I like to call them, where reality exists, yet it’s separate from this world where you come from. Now, on the surface, you might not think that a Shard could be attached to anything beyond your world, but, that isn’t the case.”
You furrow your brow at her, confused. “Go on…”
“All Shards are connected to one another in essence,” Moirine says with a nod, “but, the thing you should understand, my friend, is not all Shards are connected directly.”
Your furrowed brow increases. “Huh?”
She smiles. “Sorry, pup, I know, me saying it that way is more than a bit confusing for you. I’m trying to figure out the best words to use that it will make sense to you.”
She pauses for a beat while the two of you trek up the rocky path, moving over several smaller stones and the like as you gradually inch onto actual dirt and the trees. You glance around as you both walk, and, you can hear birds chirping around you, and some insects making their noises, too, but you don’t hear any sign of civilization near.
‘Weird,’ you think.
“Okay, here,” Moirine says. “Imagine your entire mortal world being represented as a massive ocean, just an ocean by itself, no islands, nothing fancy like that, and picture it at the center of whatever you use in your mind to conjure up imaginations.”
You frown, but, you do so.
“Now, picture a river that runs through this ocean… but only in certain spots,” she adds, using a hand to make the motion of something flowing. “See, if you can, try to imagine that river running ‘underneath’ the ocean primarily, as if it exists more underwater than it does ‘above’ the water, but it rises up randomly as it goes across in a straight line.”
“Uh…”
You blink several times, but, you try to visualize what she’s saying. It takes a moment since you usually like to have some physical representation of things to better get a read of it (this was a constant annoyance for you in school growing up, for damn sure). Yet, after wrapping your mind around the imaginary ocean and a river running under it, you suppose you get a rough sense of the visual Moirine is trying to portray to you.
“Think of that river as what a Shard is, pup,” Moirine says. “Not in the literal sense, of course, but, in the figurative sense. It’s connected to your world, which we have being represented by a large, empty ocean, yet only in certain, random spots. The rest of that river, that Shard, is detached from your world, running concurrently.” She pauses to give you a meaningful look. “Are you with me so far, pup? Does this help give an idea?”
You nod slowly. “I… think so, yes.”
“Good, good.” She smiles. “Now just picture hundreds of different rivers like that first one, scattered all over the place.” She uses a finger to swirl around. “Some run vertically, some run horizontally, some run diagonally, and so on; the point is, there are countless rivers all over the place, and what that means is there will be plenty of overlapping as you mentally form more and more and more of them. Understand?”
It’s starting to grow clearer to you. “Oh… oh. I think…”
You take a breath in and mentally construct this image in your mind, almost like you’re drawing an imaginary grid in your head, but with rivers going all over the place instead.
“So, what you’re saying is that all Shards exist in this… lower, detached world,” you say, the words coming to you as your brain works through this bizarre concept she’s explaining to you, “and many of them are connected to each other, but, not every single Shard is directly attached to the other. Like tunnels underground, or, I dunno, a maze.”
“Exactly,” Moirine says.
You suck in a quiet breath and run a hand through your hair. “Okay. I… I get it, sort of.”
“There’s one other thing about Shards you ought to know,” Moirine says.
She pauses again, and in fact, she stops in full. She sniffs the air slowly, her gaze shifting about – she looks right, then left, and you watch her nostrils flare. She starts to take a few steps to the left, halts to sniff again, and then motions you to follow her.
“What’s that?” you ask when you both start moving again.
“This might make it a bit more confusing,” she admits, and she gives a brief shrug, “but, again, I’ll try to make it understandable for you. Let’s push aside the river and ocean analogy for now, but, we’ll focus on a single Shard for the sake of simplicity.” She nods at you. “You know how I said a Shard connects to your world, at random points?”
You nod.
“Right, well, that isn’t just in the figurative sense,” Moirine says. “Shards are… fickle things, to be blunt. Few truly comprehend the foundation through which they exist, and, I could probably spend hours alone trying to explain how it is I feel they became a thing in the first place,” she waves a hand off, “but, I digress. In theory, every Shard can be found in a set area of your world at any time. However… where that Shard appears in its exact placement in said area differs depending on an unknown number of factors.”
“…you lost me again, Moirine,” you admit, a little sheepishly.
Moirine halts to face you. “Say that you are in a city, pup. Pick any, it doesn’t matter which, but,” she holds up a finger, “in that city, there is a Shard. What I’m attempting to convey is that the Shard will always be IN this city, yet WHERE in the city it will pop up is split between, I don’t know, five different locations overall. One could be in a park, one could be near a public swimming pool, another is in a shopping center, and another still might be inside someone’s basement. It’s sometimes random. Does that help?”
You blink several times, but, you end up nodding. “Basically, then, if there is a Shard nearby, it could be… anywhere in this area? Wherever the hell we’ve ended up being?”
“Basically, yes,” Moirine replies. “This is an island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, I know that much. And I can smell a Shard is somewhere on the island, we just need to keep moving until we find where the stinking thing is hiding.” She shakes her head in mild annoyance. “I swear, it’s like Shards have some weird will of their own sometimes.”
You start to walk again with Moirine, and your head is spinning from all this information.
“Wait a moment,” you say, while you wrack your mind around everything Moirine has told you, “you told me before that the Cayreeg itself is located inside a Shard, isn’t it? Yet every time we’ve gone there, it seemed like we always ended up in the Cayreeg the same way. Doesn’t that mean the entrance to the Shard was, uh, ‘set,’ I guess?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Moirine says. “But, I didn’t say every single Shard was like the example I mentioned above.” She flashes an apologetic smile. “It varies, pup. I wish I could give you a more concrete example or provide a list of Shards that are always in a specific spot, but, sadly, I can do neither. We can only try to locate a Shard near us.”
You shake your head and rub your neck. “Jeez, this is way more complicated than I thought it would be. I figured there was just a magic portal thing that we had to find, not that there are several magic portals, yet they can pop up in whatever spot they want.”
“Sorry, pup,” Moirine says. “Fortunately…” She sniffs the air again. “We’re close to one.”
“How can you tell?” you ask.
She points to her nose. “As a natural-born selkie, I can detect Shards through smell. Other beings can sense their location, or see them, or hear them, and so on, but we selkie have innately strong noses for smelling any trace of… magic, I suppose.”
“Oh,” you say. “Gotcha.”
She leads you on further into the forest, deeper into an area where more trees are springing out from the ground, casting a lot of shade around you. The air is cool, and there is a faint breeze that carries with it the smells of the dirt and the trees. You breathe it in deeply, and you admit it’s both pleasant and oddly calming to smell.
“We’re getting closer,” Moirine says. She sniffs again. “Mm, I can detect… ooh, how interesting.” She glances at you. “I can smell two different Shards coming up, I think.”
“Wait, two different Shards or…” You blink. “Two openings to the same Shard?”
“Two separate Shards that smell like they’re close together,” Moirine replies. “Remember the dozens of rivers analogy, pup; this happens frequently, so it isn’t always a case of one Shard manifesting by itself.” She waves a hand. “I know, it’s a pain in the ass to have to dwell on, believe me. We selkie have been frustrated by Shards in the past, particularly whenever we venture onto dry land to spend time in the human world.”
“Huh,” you say. You aren’t sure what else to say to this subject.
You decide to let the deeper talk about Shards slide away from you for the time being, because you feel you have a decent grasp of the Shard concept, but, you don’t want to end up with a headache from having to think too hard on this bizarre topic.
So, you follow Moirine for another few minutes among the trees, until she comes to another stop at a small area that isn’t really a clearing – too many trees around and not much open space – yet you can hear running water to the right. And this time, she sniffs the air a few times before she puts her hands on her hips and nods to herself.
“Here,” Moirine says, glancing at you. “There are two Shards we can make use of.”
You look around. “I… don’t see anything?”
“I know,” Moirine says. “But trust me on this – there are two Shards present in this vicinity. One is to the right, and one is to the left. Which do you want to go to, pup?”
You blink, and your lips purse. ‘Hoo boy.’
Written by Hollowpage on 22 May 2021
Seeking Shards II
You run a hand through your hair and try to puzzle over this conundrum. Moirine merely stands there, watching you with a patient, understanding expression, as you look about.
“Is there a difference between the Shards here?” you ask.
Moirine gives an earnest shrug. “I can’t answer that, or else I would, pup. It’s a matter of picking one and seeing where it leads us. It’s a crappy answer, to borrow one of your human vernaculars, but, it’s the best one I can honestly give you. I’m sorry, though.”
You sigh. “Then, left, I guess.”
Moirine nods. “Alright then, the left Shard it is.”
She starts to go left, and despite your obvious confusion – you don’t see anything or smell or hear anything out of the ordinary; all you can see are trees packed together – you follow her regardless, since she knows what she’s doing, and you know you don’t.
You both weave through several large trees, and as you do, you keep looking for any sort of sign that tells you that you’ve gone through some magic portal. None show up.
“Where is the Shard exactly?” you ask after a beat.
Moirine snickers and reaches out to lightly grab your wrist. She leads you forward several steps, until she stops in front of two trees that are pressed next to one another, save for a human-sized opening directly between them. She points to the opening.
“Right there,” Moirine says.
You peer through the opening and only see the green of a thick bush on the other side.
Yet you don’t question Moirine (not at first, anyways), and instead, you follow her into that opening between the two tree trunks – you don’t feel anything out of the ordinary when you both cross through those trees, nor when you push your way through the rather thick bush, but, next thing you know, you step out from the bush… and gasp.
You are no longer in a forested area like you had been. Instead, you find yourself in a rather vast expanse of plains with rolling hills as far as you can see. Your jaw nearly falls to the ground, and you immediately look behind you to find that the bush is next to two trees identical to the two you saw, but… there are no other trees there; what was once a cluster of thick trees casting a great deal of shade is down to those two alone.
“Whoa…” you whisper. You glance back to Moirine, who’s grinning.
“Do you see now, pup?” she asks, gesturing about. “We are in a Shard, a belly button tucked away from your world. Normal humans would not find it, so you are likely the first in a long while to set foot in this particular belly button.” She snickers. “Fun, isn’t it?”
You gawk for a few breaths, gradually soaking in what you’re seeing.
“So…” You rub your eyes. “What’s… what’s in this Shard, then? Besides us?”
Moirine looks about for a pause. “It’s hard to say, at least from where we stand. This goes back to what I mentioned earlier about the nature of Shards, my friend – they’re difficult to describe and to comprehend, even for a selkie like me. This place emanates with magic, though. I can smell it as easily as I can smell you standing beside me.”
She breathes in deep several times, then starts to move to the right, down a flat path that reminds you of a dirt road. You follow her, looking around in earnest wonderment.
“What do Shards smell like to you?” you ask, unable to resist asking to learn even when you’re transfixed with your surroundings given how astonishing this all is for you. “And what does magic smell like, if you can put either of those into words?”
Moirine hums to herself for a beat. “There’s a… flavor profile to a Shard that is… it’s a bit difficult to describe in human terms, yes. The best I can muster is it smells…” She frowns and grunts. “A Shard smells like it doesn’t quite belong, I guess. Like, if you were in a setting that you knew the scents to, imagine a smell that lingered underneath them that didn’t ‘fit,’ almost like… a fragrance. Shite, it’s harder to define than I thought.”
You eye her quizzically, although you don’t push. She seems annoyed at the fact that she can’t apparently give you a better answer, but you don’t blame her for this.
“It’s not simple to explain because it is second-nature for me,” Moirine says. “Being able to tell through my sense of smell where magic is… it’s the same to me as breathing is for you. It’s automatic, not something that you have to be properly trained on to do.”
“I see,” you reply. “Sort of.”
She chuckles. “Your nose isn’t likely to pick up on it, even when you assume the selkie form you’ve been ‘gifted’ by that djinn. But, rest assured, I can pinpoint magic without batting an eye thanks to my sense of smell. I could easily tell from smell that you were a human turned into a selkie by magics, rather than a natural selkie like myself, after all.”
You nod along. “Fair enough. Wait, what do I smell like?”
She smiles wide and playful. “Don’t take this the wrong way, pup, but humans as a whole have a rather obvious… tang to them at all times. It makes it easy to differentiate between the average human and a fellow selkie, or any other being that exists. It’s the sort of tang that definitely has an effect on my nose, almost like a faint burn, just not an unpleasant or uncomfortable one. Or, to put it into words you would better grasp…” Her eyes flicker with mirth. “You stink, pup, it’s simply that you stink good to my nose.”
You stare blankly at Moirine at hearing this, unsure of how to take… that response.
You end up shaking this away – and smiling a bit, if only at the humorous look Moirine gives you on top of her snickering – and instead, you focus on following along with her.
“What could be here in this Shard?” you ask, and you look in all directions while you walk with Moirine. “I know you said you don’t know what’s here, but, all I see are plains and hills. Is it… is it just a realm where there’s nothing but nature, or, is there more?”
“Some Shards are the chosen domains to beings not unlike us selkie,” Moirine replies. “In those cases, what they are and where they choose to dwell, once more, varies. Some live in structures like human homes or in structures made from the environment akin to a house, some prefer to dwell underground or within caves, others underwater like we selkie do, and others still may live above ground in the skies, and so on.
“Given the environment we’ve found ourselves in, I don’t know off the top of my head what could live here,” Moirine says with a shrug. “My guess would be, if anything, it’s home to gnomes or perhaps some among the elves – and yes, pup, both of those are real, existing beings, not just races dreamt up for your fantasy movies and games.”
You gawk at this.
“That said,” she adds, “I doubt we’d run across anyone should some sentient species live in this particular Shard because we’re on an effective mission to find a specific Shard, so we don’t have the time for it.” She pauses to sniff the air a few times. “I can tell there are more Shard openings not TOO far from us, at the very least.”
You nod, yet your mind is still on what Moirine just said so casually. Elves and gnomes exist – they’re actually real! You can’t help but want to know more about them, and you wonder what other sorts of beings are real given what you’ve learned so far – you definitely tell yourself that you want to ask more on these questions when you finish dealing with whatever this djinn situation involves, because why wouldn’t you want to know? Finding out about supernatural species being living, breathing races is awesome.
‘I wonder if that means dragons and monsters like that exist,’ you think.
Your inner nerdy self is a bit giddy with all the possibilities (you don’t want to jump to conclusions, yet in your mind, you can’t fathom anyone not being a little excited at finding out these beings are genuinely real and not just made up for books and the like), but you swallow those down for now, rather than letting your excitement overtake you.
“Are there other underwater species?” you ask instead.
“Oh, absolutely, pup,” Moirine says. “You’ve only been in a small portion of the ocean,” she grins at you, “but there are most definitely other species that lurk in the azure depths, both in Shards located underwater and some even outside of those Shards.”
You smile. “What about mermaids?”
She gives a hearty laugh. “Yes, pup. Mermaids are among those that do exist, and in fact, there is a clave of them not far from our Shard with the Cayreeg. Although, you should know there are several different species similar to what your mind would consider a ‘mermaid.’ And not all of them are… the friendliest of sorts, to be blunt.”
“Really?” you ask. You’re curious and cautious at once. “Are they more like, you know, the myths where mermaids would purposefully drown sailors to, I guess eat them?”
“In ancient times, yes, some did,” Moirine admits, and she grimaces briefly. “The naiad are the ones you’re thinking of there, pup – they are the least affable of all water-aligned beings, and they prefer to be left alone due to their… dietary choices. They’ve ceased eating live humans, thankfully,” she gives you a sincere look, “but they’ll devour sea creatures whole, and anything that is dead in their domains. Think of them like vultures, but smarter, meaner, humanoid in shape, and far more actively violent for fun.”
Your throat goes dry, and you swallow to alleviate that. “That’s charming…”
Moirine waves a hand. “Don’t worry, pup. They live in secluded Shards these days, rarely venturing out because they despise pretty much everything.” Her expression softens, and she smiles again. “Now, the friendliest are the merrow, one of selkie-kind’s closest and dearest allies. Very benevolent in nature, the merrow, and they’re beautiful by many aesthetic standards, and also the most likely to protect humans lost at sea.”
You perk up at this much, but, before you can ask more, Moirine sniffs the air again.
She breathes in several times and seems to pick up on the trail of a Shard, because her movement speed increases, and she goes off the path toward a nearby hill. You follow, and, the two of you venture up to the top of the hill. Once there, you see that it isn’t just an endless expanse of plains and running hills after all – there appears to be a large dip directly ahead of you, and at the center of this apparent valley is a lush lake surrounded by a handful of large trees, with what looks to be a cave nestled to the right-hand side.
Moirine giggles. “A proverbial belly button inside a belly button, I’d say, pup.”
You snicker. “You’re something else, Moirine, you know that?”
“Oh, most certainly,” she replies with a jovial grin. “This way, though.”
The two of you start trailing down the hill toward the valley with the large lake.
“How many Shards can you smell?” you ask her.
“Two more,” Moirine replies. Her nostrils flare again and she nods. “They’re both right beside the lake, on different sides. And no, before you ask, neither one is underwater.”
When you finish trekking down the hill, you end up on flat ground that heads toward the large lake. As you approach it, Moirine slows again and gestures toward the cave.
“One is in there,” Moirine says, and she sniffs again. “And the other is…” She points toward the lake proper, to the trees on the left-hand side. “…in that area.” She turns back to eye you thoughtfully. “What’ll it be, pup? Cave or tree Shard? You pick.”
You sigh inwardly. ‘Here we go again.’
Written by Hollowpage on 26 May 2021
Seeking Shards III
You don’t blame Moirine for the fact that there isn’t a lot to work worth when it comes to these choices – she’s explained why it is the way it is, so it’s basically a game of chance at this rate until you two find the Shard you’re trying to find. That said, you went left the previous time you made your choice, which is primarily why you decide you want…
“Let’s go right,” you say.
“To the cave it is, then,” Moirine says. She flashes a grin. “Come on.”
You both begin to trek toward the cave located to the right, nestled in one hill.
“You’re really enjoying being human, aren’t you?” you ask.
“Oh, absolutely,” Moirine says. “I love to be a selkie, pup, don’t get me wrong, but there is something immensely satisfying about having a genuine reason to turn into a human.”
You eye her curiously. “You could turn into a human at any point, though, right?”
“True,” Moirine says. “True, I could. But I often prefer to have an actual excuse for it, because then it makes it more meaningful for me.” She meets your gaze and smiles again. “See, I worry if I were to turn into a human too often without a decent enough reason, then it would lose the magic it has for me, so to speak. And with how much I love to be human, I don’t want to take the chance of losing any sort of interest.”
“I understand,” you say, and you both near the cave. “Why do selkies usually like to turn into humans? Is it to see our world, or, is it curiosity, or is there another reason?”
“It depends on the selkie,” Moirine replies. “Many of my kin grow curious, yes, and they use it as a learning experience. The Seamother actively pushes us to try living among the humans for a time, in fact – she feels it’s incredibly useful and entertaining given what splendors there are to experience that we wouldn’t if we stayed underwater our whole lives. Of course, there are some cases where selkie choose to become humans for the sake of love. Love is a powerful essence, and we selkie aren’t immune to it.”
You nod at this and absorb her words as you make it to the cave.
Moirine goes in first, and you follow in shortly after her. The cave is dark and dreary, the air inside much colder than outside, and somewhat… thicker, too; it certainly feels like it’s thicker with how your chest begins to feel moments later. It’s noticeable either way.
“Ah, dark and stinky,” Moirine says. “That’s how I like my mysterious caves, for sure.”
You blink, but, don’t respond.
You trek inwards, finding that the path starts to swirl around instead of going straight ahead – it’s not easy to see, unfortunately, but, Moirine stays close to you, enough that you don’t lose sight of her even amid the murk within the cave. You wonder if this cave is the Shard, or, if the cave leads to the Shard. You have no way of telling, really.
“When’s the last time you turned into a human, Moirine?” you ask.
“You mean besides when I showed you I could do it?” she replies.
“Oh, yeah,” you say.
She chuckles and takes hold of your wrist before she answers. “I’d say the last time I became human was… perhaps a few years ago, roughly. At the time, I’d met another human not unlike you, pup, only they weren’t turned into a selkie at random by some nasty djinn. No, they were actually gifted the ability to become a selkie because one of their relatives, their grandmother, was a natural selkie that chose to marry a human and lived on the surface for many, many years with the family she started alongside him.”
“Oh!” You let her lead you along, thankful for her presence. “Does that mean selkie can have human children, I take it? And do those children gain the selkie powers, or…?”
“We can have human children, if we choose to,” Moirine replies. “But, any selkie that bears children with a human, that child’s selkie blood will b dormant at birth – the selkie relative has to be the one to ‘activate’ their blood, otherwise, it will remain dormant for the rest of their normal lives, and should that child pass on their genes, then the selkie blood will stay asleep within their descendents until a selkie is able to awaken it in full.”
You frown in the dark as the two of you turn right. “Why is that?”
“It is partly due to the nature of us selkie,” Moirine says. “Ever since the first ancient selkie gained the ability to turn into a human, it was essentially something they decided via their essence – and if you think about it,” she glances back at you briefly, “it makes sense why. Many humans would be… rather alarmed to have their offspring suddenly transform into seal-like creatures at a certain age. Thus, it’s easier to relegate, pup.”
“Ah, yeah, that makes sense,” you say. “Where IS this Shard at, by the way?”
“We’re almost there,” Moirine says.
Another minute or two of walking into the cave and you come upon a small opening from the path you’ve been walking on – opening seems to lead nowhere at first, but, when Moirine motions you more to the right, you see that there’s a large hole in the cave’s wall not far from you. It’s a hole big enough for you each to walk through.
“Oh…” you say.
Moirine motions you on, and, you both move toward the hole. It’s pure black, and you can’t see anything on the other side, even when you try your best. Moirine enters first, and, while you do hesitate for a heartbeat, you swallow your reservations and follow.
The blackness lingers briefly, until, as you follow behind Moirine, light begins to trickle into the hole; within minutes, the hole becomes increasingly brighter, until it opens up, and you both exit into another location – gone is the valley with the giant hills on all sides, and instead, you find yourself in a similar wooded area like the forest before.
This time, though, the trees are more evenly separated from one another instead of clumped together, and the ground is much more barren, lacking the grass from the island – it’s not quite ‘dead’ looking as far as you can see, but the air is noticeably colder, and the sky is much cloudier than it was in the last two locations you were in.
“This doesn’t look like the one I was in either,” you say. Your shoulders sag. “Jeez, I’m beginning to think we maybe should’ve stayed in my world to find the right Shard.”
Moirine shakes her head. “Come now, pup, don’t despair so easily. I did say this way would work well enough, or else I wouldn’t have suggested it in the first place.” She grins at you, then sniffs the air several times. “Ooh. In fact, we won’t have to go very far this time at all, because there’s two nearby Shards – and when I say nearby, I mean they’re only about a minute away from where we’re currently standing. Come, come.”
She motions you on eagerly, and you suck down your reservations.
You don’t go far at all, just like she said; you walk for roughly two or so minutes forward, passing a row of trees, until you come to a rather large tree that takes up a lot more space than the others. Moirine stops in front of this tree in particular, and points at it.
“This tree has two Shards located at it,” Moirine says. “See the big hole there in front?”
You nod.
“That’s one,” she says. “The other is right on the other side, I can tell from smell alone.”
“At least this one is closer,” you remark. “But, how do we know if one will lead us to the right area or not? It seems like it’s purely a guessing game at this rate, but with how many Shards you said there are, I’m worried we may end up getting lost looking for it.”
Moirine shakes her head. “I told you before, pup. I can smell the right one out, and we’ve been heading down the proper path – I haven’t said anything because I didn’t want you to assume your choices were this or that, but, believe me: we’re going the right way. We’ve had other Shards I could’ve led us to, yet I didn’t because I’ve been seeking out YOUR scent. Your scent has been getting stronger with each Shard, pup.”
You gawk. “My scent?”
“Yup,” she says. “The good thing about humans is that your scent lingers in a set area for quite a while now, especially in a Shard. It stands out so well, it’s impossible to miss,” she smirks and taps her nose, “your stink is sweet to me, and I’ve been tracking it bit by bit. One way or another, either of the Shards in front of us will take us closer.”
You stare at her for a long pause before shaking your head. “Can you tell which one is the better choice from where we are, though? To make this a bit faster, I mean?”
She taps her chin. “Not without venturing into the Shard in question, no.”
You look toward the giant tree, at the gaping hole you spot in its trunk on one side.
“I could go into each and smell out the area if you want me to,” Moirine says. “Or we can pick one and go from there, you know.” She shrugs. “It’s your choice, really. And no, I won’t abandon you if you prefer to wait while I go into each Shard. Who knows, I may pick the perfect one on the first try if we do it that way. What do you think?”
Your lips twitch. What do you prefer to do? You aren’t sure… you need to consider it.
Written by Hollowpage on 30 May 2021
Seeking Shards IV
You consider the choices you have, as limited as they are, for a bit, until you decide.
“I guess…” You hesitate briefly. “What do YOU think the best choice is? You keep having me make the decisions, but you’re the selkie with the super nose here.”
Moirine chuckles. “I figured it would be helpful for you to be the one making the choices, but, if you really want my input, pup… then I suggest I simply enter each Shard to sniff about and then we can see which one is the quickest to where we need to be going.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” you say. “It seems smarter that way, so, let’s do that.”
“Very well,” Moirine says.
And with that, you both head toward the first Shard, the one in the massive tree’s trunk directly in front of you. You stop in front of it and, much like the hole in the cave wall, you can’t see through it at all; it doesn’t seem like it leads INTO the tree trunk, and if the other Shard is also a hole, you don’t see any sign of it. It looks more like a tunnel.
“…are you sure this is a Shard?” you ask Moirine. “I don’t see… anything in there.”
“Oh, it definitely is,” Moirine says. She smirks and points to her nose. “It smells of a Shard, pup, which means it smells of magic. The fact you can’t see anything doesn’t mean it isn’t a Shard, silly. Although, granted, I can understand why you would be leery of a giant-ass hole in a giant tree that doesn’t appear to go anywhere at all.”
She snickers at this and you crack a small smile, too.
“How long do you think it would take for you to exit it?” you ask.
Moirine taps her chin. “Good question. It varies, honestly.”
“Of course it does,” you say, a bit dryly.
She shrugs. “Shard entrances are as fickle as the Shards themselves, pup. Often, you’ll enter one and it might feel like seconds before you exit it to the next Shard, or it’ll feel like you’re going for several minutes. Time is a strange entity when you are inside a Shard, and it’s even stranger when you’re traversing between Shards, truth be told.”
You glance at the hole in the trunk, and as you stare at it, you feel this weirdly foreboding sensation overcome you – it isn’t one of fear or concern, but, it’s definitely an alien feeling, probably because of how freaky it is to see a hole that leads to nowhere.
You sigh. “Well… I guess, then…”
“Let me venture in and see where this Shard leads,” Moirine remarks, and she flashes you a smile. “I shouldn’t be too long, just so you’re aware, pup. Like I said, some of these take longer to get to the ‘end’ of, which is why it might seem to you like a certain time will pass before I pop back out. I can’t give you an exact estimate, otherwise I would.” She sniffs the opening. “Can’t tell from smell, either, sadly. Just know… I’m not going to abandon you or anything. I promise I’ll be as quick as I can physically move.”
“Okay,” you say. “Uh… be safe, I guess?”
“You be safe, too, you know,” Moirine says. She glances around you and frowns rather sternly at you. “Don’t wander off too far from this spot, alright? I can find you if you do, but, I don’t want anything to happen to you when I’m not around to keep you safe.”
“I won’t,” you say. “I mean, I’ll try not to.”
“Very reassuring, pup,” Moirine says.
“I’ll stick in this area, I swear,” you say.
Moirine nods to you, then enters the large hole in the tree trunk after a beat, vanishing seconds later – and you don’t just mean vanish in the sense that she’s not in front of you, you mean that the moment she enters the hole, you don’t see her, or hear her. It’s bizarre, and you can’t help staring at the gaping hole; it really DOES feel like a portal.
“That’s insane,” you say to yourself, shaking your head.
You are still wrapping your head around the reality you’ve been shown to be true – all this magic and this supernatural beings existing and these crazy pocket realms called Shards… it’s a lot to take in, and while you feel you’ve been keeping up okay, you know that there’s so, so, so much you’ve yet to fully process. And you frankly don’t know IF you’ll be able to process it all. But, you shake this off, and you decide to look around.
The surrounding area is much the same as far as you can see: the ground is relatively barren, smooth and somewhat dark in the color of the dirt, with only sparse flecks of grass growing out here and there at random spots. There are the endless rows of trees, yes, but again, those are separate from one another, rather than being close like the wooded part of the island you and Moirine first came to, before the first Shard.
The trees themselves aren’t exactly lush, either. They’re not quite dead, to be fair, yet their branches don’t have a whole lot in terms of leaves – you look all over, and, to your eyes, it’s almost as if the exact same tree was copied and pasted thousands of times. And other than the lone massive tree you’re standing beside, you don’t see anything else; no hills, no mountains, and no signs of any civilization or change in the scenery.
‘It’s almost… unnerving,’ you think. Your lips purse and you rub your arms to try and ease yourself. ‘I wonder what, if anything, lives here? I mean, I don’t… I don’t hear anything close by.’ You take a beat to listen intently, almost to the point where you’re straining your ears, yet silence besides your own breathing and heartbeat is all you’re met with. ‘No birds, no bugs,’ you pause and frown, ‘I don’t even hear the wind.’
You shake the unease off as best you can and slowly begin to walk around the circumference of the massive tree, since it’s the only thing you can currently see that’s even a little different from the rest of this rather quiet, somber, semi-dead scenery.
It takes roughly two or three minutes total for you to wander around to the side of the tree where you find another hole, which you assume to be the other Shard mentioned.
It’s roughly human-sized like the previous one, and shaped a bit different from the one where Moirine exited, but you peer into it and find that you can’t see anything within, just like the previous one. It’s pitch-black, but the only thing that seems different to you, after a moment of inspecting the hole, is the presence of grass on the ground near the hole, grass which seems to lead into it. The first Shard was nothing but dirt on the ground.
‘I wonder if that means anything,’ you muse. ‘I would assume it does, but, at the same time, I could well be wrong in assuming that. It’s so hard to tell with these Shard things.’
You step back and look around once more, including up. The sky above is a rather grayish-blue color, from what you can see due to how many thick clouds cover most of it. The sun is out, at the very least, yet the sun almost looks to be hovering in one spot far, far from where you currently stand. It only adds to the overall… eeriness around.
‘I wonder how far a Shard goes on for,’ you think. This isn’t something you thought about asking Moirine before, but you ponder it now. ‘She said that many Shards are connected, and that they all exist in this… detached reality. Does that mean if you wander on long enough in a set direction that… that you’ll find another Shard, or…?’
Your gaze wanders. ‘Moirine didn’t say how big Shards can be. For all I know, I could go until I fall off something, or maybe it will lead me to another Shard.’ You shake your head. ‘I bet if people learned about this, they’d want to explore. Someone would to find out how far they can go or what there is past the line of sight. Me, though…’
You aren’t entirely sure you WANT to know the answer to that question.
You suck in a slow breath, then exhale it, and you begin to walk back around to the front of the tree to the Shard Moirine entered – you don’t know how long it’ll take for her to return to where you are, but, you hope it doesn’t take too long; this whole place is weirdly unsettling to you, and you’re not certain why. You just don’t like the sensations.
When you return to the spot in front, you sigh and stand there, waiting near the hole.
‘Does time work the same in a Shard,’ you wonder. Another thing you only now find yourself thinking about, and you can’t ask Moirine. ‘It’d be kind of strange either way if every Shard is, like, a separate realm from my world. God, it sounds weird just thinking how it’s not part of my world… or that I even have to think of something AS my world.’
Before your musings can go on for too long, you hear something – it sounds like movement, yet it isn’t coming from the Shard in front of you, nor is it coming from the gigantic tree at all. You blink and glance around for a moment, as the sound grows a little louder; it reminds you of rustling leaves, except there ARE no leaves on the ground for anything or anyone to rustle. But, the noise appears to be coming from behind you.
You peer over your shoulder toward the direction the noise is coming from and notice it almost seems to be originating from the tree closest to you. It’s not a threatening noise, nor an alarming one (yet, anyways), but it’s definitely strange enough to grab your attention. You look that way for a breath, and then move your eyes back to the Shard.
‘What in the world could that be?’ you wonder. ‘I don’t see any animals around…’
After a few seconds, the rustling noise stops, and instead, you hear a faint… knocking?
It’s a light knock, like someone with small hands knocking on a wooden door. Obviously, you know that there are no doors around (or you don’t SEE any doors around, but given what you’ve experienced and heard thus far, you consider that there’s likely tons of surprises just waiting around the corner for you). And yet, somehow, though, it almost appears like it’s… trying to get your attention, maybe? Or maybe it’s your imagination.
You furrow your brow and look between the massive tree and the tree further from you where the noise is emanating from. You hesitate, unsure if it’s some sort of trick, or, if you’re hearing things, or… or if there’s something actually there. You don’t know what it could be, nor do you know if it’s something potentially good or dangerous, since you know very little about Shards other than what you’ve managed to process thus far.
Still, you would like to think you’re wise enough to not be fooled, and, Moirine did say she would be right back… so you end up thinking about going to investigate the noise. Do you, though? Or do you want to wait for Moirine to return and ignore it?
‘Crap,’ you think. ‘I hate having these bouts of curiosity like this. They’re such a pain.’
You aren’t sure if going to see would be safe or if it would be a waste of time… or if it would be potentially dangerous, but, you mull the two things over regardless.
Written by Hollowpages on 05 February 2022
A Little Visitor
You suck in a deep breath and decide to go and investigate, but carefully – you know nothing about Shards or what could be living in this Shard in particular, so, you take slow, gradual steps toward the tree where the knocking noise is coming from.
As you approach, the knocking slows, but it isn’t until you reach the tree that the knocking ceases entirely. At first, you check the tree trunk, studying it to see if what’s making the noise could be an animal of some kind, like a squirrel or a woodpecker, yet when you circle the tree, you see no sign of any animal whatsoever.
‘What…?’ you think, confused.
There are no holes in the trunk anywhere – it’s smooth besides the tree lines, which tells you it isn’t something INSIDE the tree… but then, you feel yourself at a total loss.
“I must be hearing things,” you mutter to yourself.
“No, no, not hearing things, just looking for the wrong things.”
The voice startles you. You gawk and look around, but see no one standing near you.
“Take a few steps to your left, and check the trunk again.”
You frown. The voice is rather high-pitched, sounding oddly… small. But, you cautiously do what it’s said, and go left to circle around the trunk while you study the trunk for any sign of whatever could be talking. That is, until you finally see something on the trunk; a break in the usual lines you see on tree trunks, one shaped more like a large oval.
‘Is the tree… talking?’ you wonder.
You get your answer when that oval shape flickers and, in the blink of an eye, it is torn away like it was a piece of cloth or something that happened to be colored the same as the tree trunk’s bark. You blink rapidly, and stare, however, at the hole now present in the tree trunk – but you stare more at what is standing in the hole: a little person!
Of course, it isn’t a total human, but, it looks fairly humanoid in shape. It has pale skin and is dressed in small clothes that look to be made from bark and leaves, with big brown eyes, a bigger head compared to its tiny body, and wood-brown hair.
You gawk at the creature and wonder what it could be. A fairy? A gnome?
The creature eyes you for a beat, its big eyes looking up and down. “Well now, so the others were right. A human has entered our quaint little domain after all.” Its expression softens as it gazes at you with interest. “A human touched by magics, it would seem.”
“Uh…”
“Oh, yes, sorry,” the tiny person says with a giggle. “I can tell you’ve little experience in a Shard, eh, since you had a selkie as a guide. You needn’t worry, friend, we’re not a danger to you.” It offers a smile. “My name’s Ern. And you’re in broonie territory.”
“Broonie?” you say.
“You might know us more as… what’s the term… ‘brownie,’ methinks,” Ern says. “But you humans have a sweet called a brownie, which has always confused us greatly.”
It takes you a moment to wrack your brain, before it dawns on you. “Oh… wait, I think…” You try to shake your gawking off. “I think I’ve heard of brownies before, the, uh, the being, not the sweet.” You blink again. “If my memory is right, brownies are… I thought they were more like household spirits or something like that?”
Ern cocks its head to the side. “Mm, some, yes.”
There’s a beat of silence as you soak in the fact you’re speaking to a tiny humanoid creature – one that can talk and is no doubt magical in nature, since it knows you’re a human and it mentioned Moirine. Your shoulders droop, and you let out a quiet breath.
“I had no idea anything lived here,” you admit.
“Yes, yes,” Ern says, and it smiles again. “Every tree you see is home to a family of broonies, human friend. And beneath the ground you stand on is a series of tunnels that connect every single tree – that’s why I knew you were human and knew of the selkie, because the moment you came out from the Southern Shard, word spread like wildfire.”
You glance around at the various trees. “Oh. So those are all homes, then.”
“Yep.”
“I see… I guess that makes sense.” You nod and soak this in (and you wonder if the unease you felt had to do with being watched by every single tree surrounding you), then turn back to Ern. “Were you, uh, trying to get my attention with the noise, then?”
“Indeed, indeed,” Ern says. It cocks it head sideways once more. “We don’t often get visitors in our domain, unless we invite them directly. You can imagine our confusion at seeing a human and a selkie walking about, especially since we’re used to selkie being in the water, not on land.” It puts its hands on its hips. “What brings you here, human?”
“Oh, uh,” you run a hand through your hair, “well, I was sort of turned into a selkie by a genie I met because of some… choice words I made, and, uh, after I met Moirine and learned more about the selkie, I was asked to try and find that genie, so…”
“Ah, I see!” Ern says. “You’re trying to find the Shard where this djinn is located, eh?”
You nod.
“Say no more, human friend,” Ern says. It blinks, and you swear you hear faint whispering noises from inside the tree. Ern pauses and looks behind itself into the tree for a moment, as if its listening to those whispers, then it looks back to you quizzically. “Pardon a moment, but, did you say the djinn turned you into a selkie?”
“Yeah,” you say.
“But not as a wish?”
You nod again. “That’s why the, uh, Seamother asked me to find him.”
“Oh dear,” Ern says. It frowns. “A djinn shouldn’t be meddling with humans like that.”
“Apparently, he has a Master, and, the Master is responsible somehow?” you remark. You shrug and shake your head. “I’m gonna be honest, I’m still figuring all this stuff out.”
Ern gives you a sympathetic look. “We could tell, human. That’s why we decided to try and speak to you in the first place. We don’t often mingle with humans, but, we don’t want to see humans getting lost in our domain – it’s happened before.” Ern shakes its head. “What did this Shard look like? The one where you met this djinn, human?”
You frown to yourself. “Good question. Uh…” You think back to the area where you ended up finding that djinn. “It was… well, it started off as a forest, but, then it opened up and there was this big clearing. And in that clearing, there was…” You close your eyes to try and better visualize it. “…there was this weird little shop of some kind in the center of the area, and then, a cave, and a really big tree. Yeah, that was it.”
“Oh, yes, I know the one,” Ern says, and it smiles brightly at you. “Your selkie friend went into the wrong Shard, human friend. You want to use the Shard on the back of the Elder Tree. Go through that and you should end up right where you need to be.”
Your jaw nearly drops. “Wait, really?”
“Yep,” Ern says. “She would likely have figured that out when she went in there, but me telling you hopefully hastens the process of getting where you need to go.” It nods at this with a knowing look. “She ought to be coming out soon to tell you as much. The Shard she used takes you to a mountain domain where the griffons live.”
“Griffons…” you say, and you need a moment to shake your head. “Jesus, that is so cool to know…” You run both hands through your hair. “This whole experience has become way more than I ever thought it would when I first stumbled onto that shop.”
Ern giggles. “Yes, yes, I imagine so! But you will find where you need to be, just use that Shard on the other side.” Its expression grows more stern after its mirth ceases. “And do be mindful when you return to this djinn, human friend. We don’t like that a djinn would do such a thing given the laws we all follow, even if it has a Master. It’s quite worrisome to learn, oh yes, because it goes against a lot of the values we strive for.”
“Yeah,” you say. “I was told that, uh… all the different supernatural species we humans aren’t meant to know about have laws and rules about how you interact with us?”
“Indeed, we do,” Ern says.
Another bit of silence falls, and you look back toward the massive tree for a moment.
“Best of luck on your quest, human,” Ern says. “I ought to return to business…”
“Oh, uh, wait, please,” you say.
Ern pauses and eyes you curiously. “You have questions, yes?”
You nod.
Ern giggles again. “Proceed, proceed.”
“So…” You try to find the right words. “All these Shards… they’re all pocket realms detached from my world, and, most of them are connected to each other somehow?”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Ern says. “Almost every Shard leads to your world, human friend, but there are some which don’t. Those are typically impossible for a human to find, mind you.” It shrugs. “Those Shards can only be found through another Shard, yet going into that topic would likely become confusing for you, which is understandable.”
“…what happens if you just keep… going forward instead of entering a Shard?” you ask, looking around to further emphasize your point, since you thought of this earlier. “I mean, this place looks like it’s only trees. I don’t see anything else in the area.”
“Oh, a good question to ask,” Ern says. “Well, it depends, human friend. A Shard is actually quite spacious if you were to see its size – it isn’t as large as your human world is, no, but, it is quite big. Now, you won’t fall off of anything, you can be assured of this much.” It giggles. “No, no, nothing like that. But, if you were to walk and keep walking, you would either leave the Shard and end up back in your realm, or, you would likely end up circling back to where you began. Shards are rather tricky like that, you see.”
“Wait,” you say. “You mean if I go forward, and keep going, I’ll end up back here?”
“Depends on the direction you go, but, yes, yes,” Ern says. “Granted, you don’t have to worry about that, given you know where to go, and you have a selkie to guide you.”
“Jeez,” you say. “The more I learn about Shards… the crazier they become.”
Ern gives a shrug. “They are quite bizarre, we agree. We broonie have existed for thousands of your human years, and even now, we don’t know the exact nature behind why Shards exist or why they act the way they do. But we believe they have some measure of sentience, human friend, and this is partly why they are so very strange.”
“Sentience?”
Ern nods. “We broonie have long believed that, when Shards came into existence, the magics which created them also led to giving the Shard a form of life essence. I mean much like how these trees are alive, or how the trees and vegetation in your world is alive, yes, rather than how you are alive, or how we broonie are alive, so you know.”
“Huh,” you say.
“Every Shard is its own body,” Ern says. “That is what we think. And the magics that permeate each Shard is both the soul and the mind of that Shard. The fact that every Shard is home to something, like us broonie or the selkie or the griffons, and so on, is what gives further empowerment to the Shard. Without a strong presence of life, then, we believe a Shard would grow weaker. But such has never been the case, I think.”
You ponder this, and, again, you glance back toward the massive tree. There is still no sign of Moirine from it yet and you wonder how long it’ll be before she comes out.
Your lips purse. Do you go back and wait anyways? Or do you speak with Ern more?
Written by Hollowpages on 05 February 2022
The Right Shard
You breathe in and out once as you decide you’ll go back to waiting for Moirine to return. You have what you need to know (provided this broonie creature is being honest, but to your eyes, it doesn’t seem like it’s being deceitful or come off malicious).
“Thank you for the information, Ern,” you say to the broonie. “I appreciate it.”
“Of course, of course,” Ern says, nodding. “It’s been nice to have a chat with you, human friend. Perhaps we will meet again in the future, now that you have been touched by magics.” It smiles. “You may find your way back here someday.”
“Really?” you say.
It nods again. “Certainly so. When a human is touched by magics, it allows them to find Shards much easier compared to a human that hasn’t – and with your selkie friend, it wouldn’t surprise me if you ended up exploring more Shards, too. We only request you be mindful of whom you speak to among your own kin, human friend. Not that we fear humans intruding into our domain, mind, but for the sake of keeping the balance set.”
“I don’t think anyone I know would believe a word of this, honestly,” you say.
Ern giggles. “A fair enough response. Ah, and look, your friend is returning.”
It points toward the tree and after a short beat, you see Moirine. You smile, and you turn back to see Ern putting the strange cloth up to cover the oval-shaped hole, and in a flash, it blends in perfectly with the hole, as if it was never there to begin with.
“Thanks again,” you say.
“Safe travels, human friend,” Ern says.
You turn back and start toward the massive tree. Moirine has exited the Shard and spots you, and she waits for you to return. You notice she looks weirdly annoyed, and at first, you wonder if it’s because you went too far from the Shard… until you notice a few random feathers in her hair. She takes note of them, too, and removes them in a flash.
“Stinking, stupid griffons,” she mutters, shaking her head.
You eye her curiously, at which point, you also see that she’s got dirt stains on her body, like she’s been rolling around in the dirt for a few minutes. “Uh. Trouble?”
She scowls. “I’m sorry for taking so long to get back to you, pup, but I ran into a pain in my arse griffon that decided it would be fun to ‘play’ with me.” She folds her arms, her scowl deepening. “And by that, I mean that damnable beast was apparently of the foolish opinion trying to eat a selkie was a wise idea. I had to teach it otherwise.”
You stare. “I… I’m sorry, what? It tried to eat you?”
“Yes, it did,” Moirine replies. “I don’t care that it was a young griffon; it was being stupid and I damn near killed the daft beast before its kin showed up to prevent its demise.”
You continue to stare at her.
Moirine sighs and shakes her head. “I know, you’re confused over what I’m rambling on about. It’s a… long story, pup, but, we selkie and the griffons have a longstanding rivalry with one another. Our kinds have never really gotten along well, in part because centuries ago, those bastards liked to eat selkie, as apparently we’re quite the ‘delicacy’ for them.” She rolls her eyes. “Regardless, I’m in one piece and have returned as I promised, and I was merciful enough to not slaughter that stinking creature.”
“Are you okay?” you ask.
“Yeah, I’m fine, I assure you,” Moirine says, softer now. She cracks her neck from one side to the other. “I’m glad I was in my human form, since being in selkie form has its… disadvantages when dealing with griffons.” She shakes her head once more and grunts. “Don’t worry about me, my friend. I’m bitching because I’m irritated. Anyways,” she looks past you, then, “I saw you were hovering about near that tree over there.”
“Oh, uh, yeah,” you say. “I met a broonie.”
Moirine blinks. “A broonie?”
You nod. “It said its name was Ern. It told me that the Shard we’re looking for is apparently the one on the other side of the tree there, actually.”
Moirine stares at you for a beat. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t aware this was broonie territory,” Moirine admits. She looks around for a moment and chuckles. “But now that you say it, I feel like a daft fool for not realizing the obvious. They’re the sort of species that prefer to live in trees, and given how there’s little else in the vicinity, it makes perfect sense this would be broonie territory.”
She pauses and eyes you. “I’m a bit surprised one of them spoke with you. Broonie are a very affable species, pup, that much I can confirm. But, they’re typically much shyer when it comes to dealing with non-broonie, least of all if it involves humans of any sort. To my knowledge, it’s incredibly rare for them to broach conversation with a human, without good reasoning, at least. I’m guessing the fact you were with me might have been part of the reason for it.” She shrugs. “Still, they said the other Shard, did they?”
“Yeah,” you say.
“Good,” Moirine says. “The sooner we can get to this damned djinn, the better.”
You crack a small smile. “And here I thought I was being impatient earlier.”
She snorts, and without another word, she gestures for you to follow. You both trek back around the gigantic tree, to the back where the other Shard is located – thankfully, it hasn’t moved since you saw it earlier, and, once you arrive at it, Moirine sniffs.
“Shite,” Moirine says. “Your scent is faintly emanating from inside this Shard, even stronger than it has been this whole time.” She grumbles under her breath. “What a pain in the butt this is. If I’d simply checked this Shard first, I would’ve saved myself the hassle of having that stinking, idiotic feather-brained dreg wanting to make me a meal!”
“Sorry, Moirine,” you say.
You feel a little bit, even though her expression of pure vitriol is admittedly kind of hilarious to see (she’s been incredibly calm and practically semi-sage when speaking to you this entire time, so seeing her this frazzled is hilariously out-of-character for her).
She waves a hand. “It isn’t your fault, pup. I’m still pissy, that’s all. I’m definitely going to have a word with the Seamother when we return to the ocean… she will see to it that the griffons in that Shard know better than to almost reignite our species’ feud.” She then glances at you, scowling briefly at your obvious look of mirth. “Wipe that grin off your face, pup, and get your sorry ass in the Shard. We’ve got a djinn to deal with.”
You chuckle to yourself and, together, you enter this Shard.
The interior of the Shard is pitch-black, just like the one in the cave from earlier, but funnily enough, it doesn’t take nearly as long for the blackness to light up. In fact, within mere seconds, you find that it opens up to a familiar-looking forest setting; you step out with Moirine and look around to find that, just like Ern the broonie said, this is the right place. It’s the same Shard you stumbled on, because the shop is right there beside you.
“Well, damn,” you say. You gawk at the shop, then glance at Moirine. “This is it!”
Her nostrils flare as she breathes in, slow and deep, several times. “Mm.” She nods along. “Yep, I can tell. Smells like you, pup; the lingering human stink is still about. No offense to you, of course.” She puts her hands on her hips and gives a sigh. “I can also smell Fia’s scent, too. She’s still here, probably waiting for word from the Seamother on how to proceed, which means she’s also probably expecting us to arrive here, I bet.”
“How would she know, though?” you ask, frowning.
Moirine smiles and taps the side of her head. “We selkie can communicate with one another telepathically, pup. We don’t have to be next to one another to speak, in fact. It’s just that only natural selkie can actively establish a mental link, whereas you would have to be near a selkie for you to be able to speak with them through your mind.”
“Wait. Moirine…” You stare at her, blinking several times, because something occurs to you. “…couldn’t you have asked Fia where this Shard was exactly, then? Couldn’t she have just given you the directions to get here since she’s been here the entire time, instead of us wandering around aimlessly through all those other Shards to find it?”
Moirine stares back at you, blank-faced, for a beat, and silence falls over the area. The look on her face basically screams to you that she either didn’t even think about doing this until you brought it up or she completely forgot about the possibility and is only now remembering it, but, she shakes it off and looks away from you rather suddenly.
“…anyways, moving onto the problem at hand.” She points toward the building not far from where the two of you are standing, without looking at you. “That’s the shop where you found the djinn responsible for you becoming a selkie in the first place, correct?”
“Yeah,” you say (aware that she didn’t answer, but, you don’t dwell on this now).
“Good,” Moirine says. “Shall we speak with Fia first before we enter? Or would you rather we go in and deal with the djinn ourselves, then catch her up on everything?” She shrugs. “We could also see about speaking to the… shopkeeper properly. They may be able to give us further insight onto the problem, since it IS their abode and all.”
“Where is Fia exactly?” you ask. “I don’t see her.”
Moirine sniffs the air. “Probably in front of the shop, or close to it. She’s nearby.”
“And, shopkeeper?” you say. Your frown returns. “I don’t remember seeing a shopkeeper when I first ended up here. The whole place was devoid of anyone.”
“There’s a… good reason for that, my friend,” Moirine says, and her lips purse. Her expression shows that she isn’t fond of whatever the shopkeeper of this place is; you can tell it makes her oddly uncomfortable for once. “To be blunt with you, pup, I’d much rather avoid dealing with them unless it’s something you really want to do. Fia would suffice in giving us the details we need, or going to the djinn directly works, too.”
You rub the back of your neck.
“But, it’s your choice,” Moirine says. “And I respect what you wish to do, pup.”
You turn your attention toward the shop. What do you want to do, then? Do you want to speak with Fia? Do you want to go into the shop to find the djinn? Or do you want to communicate with the shopkeeper, whatever they are, despite Moirine’s unease?
‘At least we’re here finally,’ you think, before you settle on mulling over the choices.
Written by Hollowpages on 06 February 2022
Playing Catch Up
While you do find yourself being curious about the nature of the shopkeeper (because you can’t help yourself there), you decide against it for the time being. Instead…
“Let’s go talk with Fia,” you say. “Maybe she knows more about this situation.”
Moirine nods in agreement, and the two of you venture toward the front of the shop.
It doesn’t take you long to find a woman looming near the front of the shop, a tall, curvaceous woman with pale skin and long, flowing, fiery-red hair past her shoulders – she spots the two of you fairly quickly, and she comes over to meet you both halfway.
“It’s about bloody time, Moirine,” she says. “I was beginning to question if you’d ever find the right Shard to get here.” She has piercingly blue eyes, and freckles on her cheeks. She glances to you. “You must be the pup I’ve heard about.” She leans in and sniffs you. “Aye, you definitely stink of the magics from inside that damnable shop.”
“Oi, be nice, Fia,” Moirine says with a frown. “This one’s become my charge and my friend in the time I’ve known them.” She scoffs. “There’s no need to be so sour about it. We got here as quick as we could, and we’re here now, isn’t that what matters?”
The woman rolls her eyes, yet sighs afterwards. “Aye, I know. Fine.”
“Er, sorry,” you say, unsure of what else to say at the moment.
“No need for apologies,” Fia says as she turns to you. “You know this already, but, I’m Fia. And I sincerely mean no offense to you on the matter, young one. You aren’t the one behind this madness – that lousy, stinking bastard of a djinn in there is, and I’ve had it with his shenanigans. Why the Seamother doesn’t allow me to beat his sullied arse to get to the heart of the matter is beyond…” She stops and turns back to Moirine, her eyebrows knitting together. “What the bloody hell happened to you, Moirine?”
Moirine gives a curt grunt. “Griffon.”
“Ah, bugger, really?” Fia asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay?” Moirine mutters, very much proving that she is still incredibly miffed about whatever happened that you missed with the griffons in that one Shard. “I’ll tell you later when we’ve sorted this djinn nonsense out.”
Fia arches an eyebrow. “Why the dolphin piss did you get into a tussle with a griffon, Moirine? You’re usually a fair deal calmer and smarter about handling that lot.”
“Later, Fia,” Moirine says, scowling.
There’s a brief beat while Fia snorts.
“Whatever, you prissy bitch,” Fia says. “Shite.”
You try not to smile at the indignant look on Moirine’s face. “So, uh, what can you tell us about the genie in there? Doesn’t seem like there’s a lot to go off of other than the fact he shouldn’t have done what he did with me, even if has a Master like he claims to?” You shrug. “I’ll be honest, I’m still not entirely aware of this whole genie thing myself.”
Fia’s nose wrinkles. “How much about the djinn do you know of?”
“Er.” You bite your lip. “Not… a lot.”
Fia nods. “Then let me give you a crash course so that you comprehend as much as you can on why this situation is a big deal. Djinn are one of the few species in existence that are not ‘free’ the way we selkie are, pup. They are bound to their miniature Shards, which take the form of mundane objects such as bottles, vases, lamps, and so on.” She points to the shop. “Only when a human comes to them, and provided the human and the djinn form an agreement in which that human becomes the djinn’s Master, does that djinn become ‘free,’ at the cost of being attached to their new Master. Got it thus far?”
“Yeah,” you say. “That much is kind of what I figured.” You pause and blink as something catches your attention. “Wait… their lamps and stuff are Shards?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Moirine says. “The only difference is that those Shards were created by the djinn themselves – they’re a purposeful, artificial construct meant to house a portion of a djinn’s true power, along with the djinn themselves when alone.”
“Whoa,” you say. “Okay then.”
“They are still to follow the same laws they must follow,” Fia says. She folds her arms and scowls. “And the prime law of all that shouldn’t even NEED to be spoken aloud to a djinn is to not fuck with humanity. Master or no Master, they are to leave humans alone, not to use their magics to ‘play around’ with human lives. They did this in the past. This is why they are forever forced to live within their own Shards, split from all worlds.”
“So then the djinn broke that big law with me,” you say.
“Aye, pup,” Fia says. “Not only did he purposefully twist your own response without even having to manipulate you, he turned you into a selkie against your will. He argues that he was following the wish parameters set about by his Master, but, the bastard didn’t prove to HAVE a damned Master when you went in there. You saying this is proof enough, but I even went further and spoke to the,” she shudders, “shopkeeper, too.”
Moirine grimaces. “Oof, sorry, Fia.”
You furrow your brow. “What’s the deal with the shopkeeper? I’m… lost on that.”
“Did Moirine not tell you?” Fia asks.
Moirine shakes her head.
“Yaksha, pup,” Fia says.
“Uh.” You stare at the two selkie for a moment. “I don’t… know what that is.”
“They are a species not too different from the djinn in nature,” Fia says. Her tone and expression grow severe. “But trust me when I tell you this, human: do not, ever, trifle with a yaksha, for they are one of the strongest and trickiest among ANY existing being, magic or mundane. The less you deal with yaksha, the better for your sanity in the long run, because while they aren’t innately ‘evil,’ they are incredibly wise, dangerously cunning, and you never know for certain if what they say to you is full-truth or half-truth.”
“O-oh…” You swallow the lump that forms in your throat. “I see.”
“Yaksha are… unnerving entities,” Moirine says. “They have this aura about them that makes it feel as though they always know a hundred times more than you do, and they can read your emotions, your words, and your thoughts all at the same time.”
“They have all the capabilities of djinn, with none of the caveats,” Fia adds, and she grits her teeth. “Dealing with them is something we try to avoid. Unfortunately, when the djinn proved to be uncooperative, I opted to suck it up and try, lest I start to destroy their shop.” Her lips twitch. “Definitely not a wise thing to do, that; they don’t take kindly to anyone tarnishing what belongs to them, we selkie have long known this to be a fact.”
Your stomach knots as you look toward the shop. Learning there was a being in there – or more than one, you aren’t sure, since it sounds like there may be more – with the same powers as a djinn, yet without the limitations… it’s a frightening thought, especially when you take into consideration how unnerved Moirine and Fia seem to be.
“Were they even willing to divulge any information to you?” Moirine asks. “Or did they dismiss your concerns? Frankly, I’d be a little worried if a djinn housed in my Shard decided to pull the stunt this djinn did. But, then, knowing how yaksha can be…”
Fia sighs. “I’m fortunate I got to speak to the… well, the ‘nicest’ of the three. She said that the djinn was not of her control, but she implied that finding out the truth regarding his Master would be beneficial for getting the answers we need. I didn’t dare linger on and ask for more information, not when I could tell it wouldn’t do me much good.”
You glance between the two selkie. “Are they really that bad to deal with?”
“They’re not… ‘bad,’ like I said,” Fia says, and she frowns again. “We inhuman beings don’t have the same moral views you as a human do. However, of all among us, races like the djinn and the yaksha, those with a deeper essence tied to magic… they are even further detached from the ‘morals’ that we selkie have, as an example.”
“We have a stronger connection to human emotions and ideologies,” Moirine adds. “The fact our kind has the ability to become humans at will, and how I’ve mentioned selkie can fall in love and form families with humans… this isn’t something yaksha do, pup.”
“But,” Fia says, “even so, yaksha are not malicious, nor cruel, nor spiteful, things that some djinn, and a select few other beings, could be if they could get away with it.” She chews her bottom lip. “A yaksha isn’t like that – they wouldn’t kill you for their own enjoyment or curse you with horrible luck or turn you into something against your will like that djinn did. That isn’t the crux of why we’re reacting this way with them. Rather, it’s everything else about the yaksha that has Moirine and myself acting as we are.”
“Oh…” you say. You’re at a loss, but, you do feel you’re getting the big picture. “So they’re kind of… more alien compared to you, and, they’re incredibly strong, too.”
“Among other things,” Moirine says.
“Let’s focus on the djinn for now,” Fia says. “I don’t know where their Master is or what the bloody hell sort of wish was granted, but, the djinn is sticking to this, and the yaksha owning this Shard have essentially made it clear they won’t lift a finger to do anything about what the djinn has done… until they have the proper information given to them.”
“Wonderful,” Moirine says.
“What do we do, then?” you ask.
“We can go about this a few ways, I feel,” Fia replies. “The Seamother believes you, pup, being in your human form would be a good bit of a surprise to the djinn, and I for one agree with her. He’s an arrogant sort, I can tell, and the last thing he’d expect is for you to be the one to awaken him from his alleged ‘slumber’ in his rotten lamp.”
She looks toward the shop, then back to you and Moirine.
“My ideas are this,” Fia says. “We can deal with him inside the shop or outside, because there’s nothing stopping us from getting that djinn’s lamp and bringing it out here.”
“The shopkeepers wouldn’t mind?” you ask.
Fia cracks a wry grin. “The yaksha don’t care about the djinn, no. Hell, the most emotion I got from the one I spoke with was genuine disdain toward him, and that’s good. As long as we don’t destroy anything inside, minus the lamp, we’re fine. Either way, beyond those two options, we can also choose how we go about handling this bastard. You can go in there right away, and whether or not you want to do this inside or out, just the sight of you in human form may shake him up enough… or, we can trick him.”
“Trick him?” you ask. “How?”
“Moirine can be the one to go in and get the lamp first,” Fia replies. “The thing about djinn, pup,” she grins wide, “is they’re typically so arrogant, they won’t know the difference between a human and someone in human form, especially when we can hide our own essence from others. He didn’t realize I was a selkie until I told him, which means Moirine could likely deceive him by luring him into a false sense of security.”
“Ooh,” Moirine says. “I like that idea, Fia.”
“Either one would work just as well, I’m sure,” Fia says. “What do you think, pup?”
You start to ponder this… do you want to deal with the djinn yourself at first? Or do you want to have Moirine be the one to trick the djinn, and see if that makes it easier? And, of course, you also wonder whether to do this inside the shop or outside in the open…
Written by Hollowpages on 08 February 2022
Trick Magic
You mull over the choices for a moment, and while you aren’t entirely sure regarding whether inside or outside would be the better way to go, you do decide on the other.
“I say we let Moirine be the one to interact with him first,” you remark, although you do pause to consider some things. “But, do you think it’ll be effective? Do you think Moirine in human form would work, though? I mean, what if he suspects that more selkie will show up, or, what if something tips him off to what we’re trying to do before we do it?”
“We’d know if he was outside his stinking lamp,” Moirine says. She snorts. “I can tell from the stench that he’s holed up in there, probably sleeping his arse away.”
Fia nods to her. “She’s right, pup. And you needn’t worry about the yaksha informing him. Like I said, they don’t like him being in their shop at all, and to go one step further, the yaksha and djinn utterly fucking loathe one another. Their hatred runs deeper than any rivalry or disdain between any species in existence, human or otherwise, so the last thing those running this shop would ever do is stoop to gossiping with a djinn like him.”
You frown. “Then why would they have a genie’s lamp in their shop?”
“Because it gives them some smug satisfaction at ‘owning’ a djinn,” Fia replies simply.
You blink several times, then accept this, because she said it so sincerely.
“As far as it working or not,” Moirine says. “Fia told you, pup: he won’t suspect. Djinn aren’t mind-readers the way yaksha are – and we selkie are one of the handful of beings that can fully disguise ourselves as humans. I didn’t tell you this earlier, but,” she grins, “we can effectively hide our magic from most others by concentrating enough. It’s like flicking a switch in our heads to turn ‘off’ our magic, which fools many others.”
“I see,” you say. “So he won’t expect you’re a selkie. Then what?”
Moirine glances to Fia. “Good question. What do you want me to say to trick him, Fia?”
Fia smirks. “He thinks he’s outsmarted me, and, thus he thinks he’s gotten away with the loophole he feels he abused with what he did. My suggestion is you act as if you’re a normal human that’s stumbled upon this Shard. Walk around, eye some of the wares on display, and then find that lamp where he’s stowed himself in. Rub it, let him manifest and run his mouth for a bit, you know the deal when it comes to chatty djinn.”
“Right,” Moirine says.
“Now, do we want to handle him outside or inside?” Fia asks.
“What difference does it make either way?” you ask, sincerely curious on that front.
“Inside, the djinn will likely feel he has more of an advantage,” Fia replies. “I can tell from the strength of his stink that he’s been in that shop for a long while now, and the way the yaksha spoke confirms it for me, too. He’s arrogant and he’ll be comfortable, whereas if you bring him outside, it may well make him feel more exposed when we enact the part of the plan where you,” she eyes you, “come into the picture.”
You and Moirine share a brief look.
“You think he’ll be more susceptible if he stays inside?” you ask.
“Aye, more likely than not,” Fia says. “Plus, if and when he figures out Moirine is a selkie, he would still feel comfortable inside because he knows WE know we can’t go damaging anything, lest we piss off the yaksha, and no one wants that to happen.”
“Fair enough,” Moirine says. “I guess keeping it inside is the wiser option, then.”
“Yeah,” you say. “If it means we can get the information better, I think so, too.” You glance back to Fia. “How do I come into this, though? If Moirine is pretending to be a normal human and she’s got him doing his thing… what do you want me to do?”
“Good question,” Moirine agrees, nodding.
Fia’s smirk doesn’t fade. “Simple enough, actually. Moirine, when the djinn is done rambling on as he does, accept his stupid little offer to be his Master, and then, you use the first ‘wish’ for something that would allow our friend here to show up.”
Moirine’s eyes light up with recognition. “Fia, you’re a bloody devil, love.”
You’re confused, though. “Wait, how…?”
“A djinn with a Master cannot take on a new Master, pup,” Moirine says. She smiles at you with a wicked glimmer in her eyes. “Meaning, whatever offers he makes me when I free him will be complete sharkshit, and by default, any promises or acts of granting my wishes would be sharkshit, too. He would effectively be breaking an extant djinn law if he were to sincerely grant a wish I were to make, you see, so he would likely use his magics to fake the wish I ask of him, provided it’s an easy enough wish to fake.”
Your eyes widen now as the recognition finally hits you. “Ohhh… I get it.” You look between the two selkie. “So then you’re tricking him in more than one ways if this works, aren’t you? You make him think you’ve accepted him, and then you ask him to grant a wish that he’ll pretend to grant… and then I show up to make it seem like it worked?”
“Exactly,” Fia says. “And if you wonder how you would be able to show up without him noticing, well, has Moirine told you about the abilities we true selkie possess?”
You nod.
“Did she tell you that our power of invisibility isn’t restricted purely to our bodies?”
Your eyes widen even more. “You mean…?”
“I can make you invisible,” Fia says. “You’d be hidden from view and from being sensed by that djinn. We need only wait for the proper moment for me to unveil you to him.”
“That is diabolical,” you say. You grin giddily. “And I kinda love it.”
“Payback’s a bitch, as humans say,” Moirine adds.
“The one thing you need to do is make sure that you word the wish properly,” Fia says to Moirine, before resuming her focus on you. “You know how it works, Moirine, but, for you, pup: djinn are tricksters when it comes to their wish-granting, especially when the djinn is obviously a piece of shite like this one. He’ll refuse if you word it in a way where you leave him any openings, and this little scheme falls apart if that happens.”
Moirine snorts. “I’ll handle it, Fia. I’m wise enough to not get caught up by a djinn.”
“What happens then?” you ask Fia.
Fia nods. “Obviously, seeing you in human form will bring an end to the ruse, but, the goal is to damage the djinn’s ego – he’ll be struck not only by being deceived by a selkie, yet also by the fact you’re back in his presence, in human form. From there, we simply have to get him to open up about the truth of this whole ordeal.”
“And since he’ll be breaking a rule of his own kin,” Moirine says, “then he’ll have an additional amount of pressure on him to spill, because he won’t have any way of hiding behind the truth of what he did. He might try, yet he’ll fail, and he’ll realize this, too.”
“Okay,” you say.
“I’ll enter the shop first,” Moirine says. “I’ll leave the door open for the two of you.”
Fia looks at you. ‘Let’s switch to telepathic communication for now, pup.’
You nod in understanding.
Moirine turns and heads toward the front door to the shop, and she opens it slowly and cautiously, as if she’s only just discovered the door for the first time – in fact, she opens it the way you did, only her movements are more reserved and tentative, besides her making sure to leave it open all the way for the you and Fia to follow after her.
‘How long should we wait?’ you ask.
‘A few minutes, at least,’ Fia replies. ‘She has to make a show of wandering around.’
‘Would the genie know she’s acting otherwise?’
Fia frowns. ‘No, it isn’t that. But, remember, he’s not actually bound to the lamp he’s resting in – it’s an act on his part. Ah.’ Her features flash with recognition. ‘You may not know this, but, djinn are privy to their surroundings even when in their Shard, pup. They can see and hear what goes on in their vicinity if they’re awake, so he would likely be half-watching Moirine the instant she steps foot into that shop, waiting for her.’
‘I didn’t know that, no,’ you say.
‘It’s better we let her pretend for a bit,’ Fia says.
Thus, you both stand there, waiting in relative silence. You can’t help but find it strange that you’re back where this all began, only in human form rather than as a selkie. You find equally odd to be gearing up to confront the djinn responsible for it, too, and you wonder what on earth his Master would’ve possibly wished for to cause this.
‘Are all djinn these kinds of… jerks like him?’ you ask.
Fia gives a soft sigh. ‘My fouler mood would want me to say they are, but, admittedly, the Seamother would not be pleased for me to be deceitful. In truth, no, the majority of djinn are… not as disagreeable as this one. I’ve met djinn who were perfectly polite and affable in how they acted, if still retaining their tricky ways. We’re just not one to be openly fond of djinn, pup. They’ve a troubled history as a species compared to others.’
You nod.
Another moment passes, and, Fia shifts her stance to face the open door.
‘Alright,’ Fia says. ‘I can sense that she’s gotten to the lamp. She’ll be freeing the bastard in mere seconds, and then it’s up to us going in whenever we want to.’
‘How did she know which lamp is the right one?’ you ask.
‘Through smell,’ Fia replies, pointing to her nose. ‘It’s not difficult to tell – there are, in truth, three different djinn inside the shop, yet all three are in separate rooms. There was a fourth one a while ago, yet he was found by a human that became his Master.’
‘When do we go in?’ you ask.
‘Would you rather we go in now and simply wait for the proper cue?’ Fia asks, meeting your gaze. ‘Or would you prefer we hold off on entering for a bit longer? If it helps,’ she offers a grin, ‘Moirine and I are communicating. I know what she thinks, thus I would know when the right time would be, regardless of your preference. Either one would work perfectly fine, it’s basically up to whether you want to make a dramatic entrance at the proper time, or, just to appear at random in front of the djinn. What do you think?’
Your lips purse and you look toward the open door to the shop.
Do you want to go in and simply wait until the right time? Or do you want to wait outside instead. You suppose the same result will happen, as Fia seems to be implying, but, you do still mull over the options. So, you think them over to see what feels the best.
Written by Hollowpages on 09 February 2022
Trick Magic II
You mull over the two choices for a beat, pondering the ramifications of one over the other, until you decide that you feel it’s better to wait for the signal, as it were, before you go inside with Fia. You trust Moirine regardless, yet even so, you’d rather be safe than sorry in this situation – you’re still leery of the djinn and what he’s capable of.
I’d rather wait, you say to Fia.
Fia nods. Very well, pup. Then we’ll wait. It shouldn’t be long.
For a moment, you both stand there, waiting patiently. You can’t really hear what’s going on inside the shop, yet you see a flash of light flickering from one corner somewhere inside. You figure that’s the sign Moirine has freed the djinn in question.
While you don’t know how much time you have, you can’t help but be a bit curious about something Fia mentioned – and since you don’t hear her saying to move…
You said there are other djinn inside this shop? you ask, glancing to Fia.
Aye, there are, Fia replies. She shifts around in her place, frowning. Truth be told, I’m a little surprised that there’s more than one djinn in this Shard, but then again, given the nature of who OWNS this Shard, I suppose I’m equally unsurprised to hear it, too.
Why’s that? you ask. This whole world is fascinating to you, and you like learning.
Fia meets your gaze. Hm. D’ya mean for the latter or the former part of my statement?
You blink a few times. Oh, er… I guess… the latter?
She chuckles inwardly. I’m just messing with you, pup. I’ll answer both, since that piece of shit djinn is currently taking his sweet-arse time going through his grand introduction.
You’re a little puzzled at that – you can’t recall the djinn being overly theatrical when you met him – but you don’t question it, and you wait to hear more from Fia while you can.
Djinn aren’t usually, for lack of a better word, ‘stored’ near one another, Fia says. I can’t speak of the full reasoning behind it all, but, to my understanding, it’s a matter of ‘better safe than sorry’ when it comes to where djinn lamps or whatever the object they’re living in is placed. Her lips purse. You never know how things might go if you have too many djinn in the same vicinity as one another. Their magics are still deadly, even nowadays.
I thought that they couldn’t do anything without a master, you remark.
In theory, aye, Fia replies, and her expression hardens. But there is much of our world and our natures that you don’t yet understand, pup – the foundation of what you think of as ‘magic’ is far broader than mere words can define. Djinn are one of the oldest species in existence, and even with their entire species weakened… it changes little in regards to how dangerous a group of them could be if they somehow convinced a group of masters to work together. She gives a sigh, pausing to look toward the shop for a beat, then she glances back at you. Fortunately, this Shard is… well-guarded, at least.
You nod slowly as you absorb this information. You can, even with your limited scope of knowledge, comprehend why it could be dangerous for there to be too many djinn in one place, especially if their powers are that much of a threat. Of course, your thoughts then shift around to the being mentioned to own this detached realm… the yaksha.
You hesitate before thinking at Fia. Is… is this yaksha… friendly?
Fia dithers. Civil enough, I guess.
Are they around somewhere? You look to and fro. I don’t want to overstep any boundaries since you’ve warned me about them, but, I can’t help being a little curious.
Curiosity’s fine provided you can keep it in check, Fia says, and she gives you a meaningful stare as she says the words. There are three of them that own this shop, and this entire Shard. You could consider them siblings, I guess, although I’m not sure if that term truly fits their… natures. She shudders, then shakes her head. And yes, they’re always around in some form. All three are inside the shop, since it serves as their ‘home.’ But you won’t normally come into contact with them unless they desire it.
Oh, you say. How…?
Magic, pup, Fia says. This building is an extension of their power – they can easily change the shape, the size, and the layout in the blink of an eye. You could enter one day and it would be a single-floor with only a door to get in and out, but then you could re-enter and suddenly it’s massive on the inside, with multiple doors and floors. And since there are three of them, that means three times the possible shifts, as well.
Wow, you think. You aren’t sure what else to say in response, but it fits how you feel given the genuine awe swirling within your chest. Do they have names? You blink, and realize the obvious question you hadn’t considered. Wait, what do yaksha look like?
Careful, pup, Fia says, firmer now. Don’t steer yourself into wondering too much about them, like I said. She stares at you with a severe gaze. Remember that the yaksha may be similar to djinn in some ways, but they’re equally distinct in every form imaginable.
You swallow the lump that forms in your throat. Then, you nod.
Sorry, you say.
It’s fine, Fia replies. She sighs again, a quieter one. Then, however, she snaps to attention as her eyes flick toward the open door. Besides. Her lips twitch, like she’s fighting back the urge to grin. We’ve got a djinn to deal with – it’s time to go inside.
You look toward the shop at hearing this. Oh snap. Uh. Okay, so, how do I…?
Don’t sweat it, Fia replies. Hold still a moment for me.
You do so, and you watch Fia’s eyes start to glow – you feel a strange tingling sensation rush through your body, though it isn’t an uncomfortable one. It only lasts for a couple seconds anyways, and then, Fia’s eyes return to normal, and she smirks.
You’re invisible to the djinn now, Fia says. Let’s go and enjoy the show, eh?
Thus, the two of you enter the shop to confront the crafty djinn.
But as you walk inside behind Fia, you ponder something. Wait, Fia…
She halts and glances over her shoulder at you.
Won’t the djinn hear our footsteps? you ask.
Nay, she says with a shake of her head. Take a step, pup. Do YOU hear footsteps?
You blink a few times and do so. Your feet touch the floor, but, you hear… nothing.
I thought about it when I took my first step, Fia says, and her smirk grows for a brief instance. If I’d heard my foot make a sound, I’d have stopped and told you to be extra careful. But, it seems like we’re being lent a little hand by one of the yaksha. I’m assuming they’re allowing us to sneak in without a sound, to ensure this works. Her smirk lowers and she motions you on. C’mon, pup, let’s not dawdle for too long.
You comply without protest. You don’t ask how the yaksha would know what the plan decided on is, though, since you recall Fia mentioning that they can read thoughts. So, if the yaksha are the ones helping out somehow, you are grateful for it nonetheless.
Ah, Fia remarks suddenly. Moirine is questioning how to word the wish she gives the djinn when he’s done with his yammering. I suppose we ought to hammer down a suggestion for her so she can compose herself. She again looks to you. Any ideas?
You stop mid-step. You hadn’t really thought about it.
If not, don’t sweat it; she can make up something on the fly, as you humans say, Fia remarks, and she shrugs. She’s smart, but, she also wants our input just in case one of us comes up with something better. You’ve been good with making choices for a while now, aye? She smirks. That’s why I figure I’d ask what you thought, pup. Your human mindset offers a different perspective from what the two of us are used to thinking with.
You take an instant to mull over the question in your head; the idea is to word a wish in such a way that would work for your sudden appearance – provided the genie takes the bait Moirine gives him, that is. But for the sake of things, you assume she’ll be able to manipulate the djinn into doing so, which means the wish has to be worded just right.
So, you ponder… how should she word the wish? Should she be specific in how she speaks it so the djinn falls smoothly for this trap? Should you let Fia come up with an idea since she knows about how genies truly think and work better than you do? Or should you trust Moirine’s judgment and let Moirine be the one to decide on the wish?
Written by Hollowpages on 11 February 2022
Trick Magic III
After thinking about it, you shake your head. Honestly, I trust Moirine’s judgment on this. I’m not sure I could magically figure out a way to word the wish anyways, no pun intended. You shrug. She’s smart, like you said, and I feel more comfortable letting her be the one to make the decision. Plus, you two understand genies better than I do, so…
Fia’s smirk grows. Noted, pup. Come.
It doesn’t take the two of you long to creep into the shop fully, and by the time you’ve gotten inside, you can hear a familiar voice – and a rather loud familiar voice at that.
“…and I assure you, o Master,” the djinn says, his voice coated in confidence and something like charisma, “that I am indeed perfect for whatever your needs may be.”
You and Moirine turn the corner, and there he is, hovering in front of Moirine. It’s strange seeing the djinn again, you feel, especially because unlike the first encounter you had with the magical being, his appearance is much more noticeably inhuman – you blink again in lieu of rubbing your eyes (since you know this isn’t a dream by this point), and for a moment, you feel like you’re seeing his form for the first time.
You scan him over for a beat: he has pale-green skin with ears that end in sharp points, almost like what you’ve seen on elves and other fantasy beings – but his ears lobes are also pointed, and he has what appear to be golden earrings, four on each side.
His facial features are… distinct; a large, pronounced forehead, a round nose, thin lips, and higher cheekbones with a sharper chin. He possesses hair like humans do, funnily enough, since he has thick black eyebrows and a beard styled in the Klingon beard design (the irony doesn’t escape you at seeing this), with a topknot hairstyle held together by something golden and shiny. His eyes are a very, very bright shade of yellow, or maybe they’re beige? It’s hard to tell from an angle, so you move onward.
His physique is rather ‘defined,’ with large shoulders and what looks like muscle on his chest and midsection, although he has no navel, leaving his stomach area smooth. He does, however, have chest hair that stretches from his upper chest down to his waist. His lower body, at least right now, isn’t legs, but rather a thick plume of dark-green smoke that seems to trail off behind where the djinn is floating, almost like a smoky tail.
He looks… different than I recall, you think to yourself, yet at the same time, familiar.
You shake this off, however, and follow Fia – you both end up to the side of the djinn and Moirine. The djinn is grinning wide, revealing bright, gleaming teeth, while Moirine stands there with her arms folded and an uncertain expression on her face.
“I… believe you,” Moirine says. She’s speaking without the ‘accent’ you’re used to, so she sounds more like an American now, rather than the Irish-like voice you recognize.
“Excellent, excellent,” the djinn says. His smile stretches wider somehow, and he nods along. “And may I say, I’m quite pleased to hear you’ve chosen to accept me, because it’s been far, far, far too long since I’ve had the fortune of such a beautiful Master.”
Ugh, Fia says to you. What a stinking creep. Did he hit on you like that?
You furrow your brow. I’m… not sure, actually.
Moirine’s features appear as if she’s not entirely sure how to react to the djinn’s remark.
“That’s… kind of you,” she says, and she offers a small smile to the djinn, but not much else. “Still, I’d… like to maybe see this magic of yours in action if I may?” She rubs one arm and shifts around in place, biting her lip. “You said that I have three wishes, and that I can wish for whatever I’d like provided it’s ‘transformative’ in some way?”
“Indeed, Master,” the djinn replies.
He doesn’t look concerned in the least bit by the fact he’s apparently not allowed to do that when he already has a master. You wonder if he’s just that good of an actor or if he’s truly that confident in himself or his abilities; given the fact you know little about genies, you don’t want to assume the correct answer, but it still confuses you a little.
You’ll see soon enough, Fia says to you. C’mon, Moirine, hurry this along, love.
“In that case, I have my first wish,” Moirine says. She eyes the djinn for a beat before she continues speaking. “I wish that you would summon one of my closest friends to me into this shop, please – I don’t have a preference for which you bring forth; any will do.”
This seems to surprise the djinn. His massive smile falters.
“Ah, that, dear Master, may not work,” the djinn says. “I’m afraid it doesn’t fall into—”
“You said that as long as it’s transformative, you can do it,” Moirine replies. She puts her hands on her hips and frowns, her expression becoming one of disappointment. “Look, I’m not the sharpest tool around, but you didn’t specify what ‘transformative’ is supposed to mean, Mr. Genie.” He winces at this. “So by default, I’m assuming that you’re going off the common understanding of the word, yes? And to me, that means a change in something in some form, whether it’s big or small. Isn’t that correct?”
“Mm, yes, that’s correct,” the djinn replies, his smile having grown smaller.
Don’t be so bloody wordy, Moirine, Fia says.
“Still,” the djinn says, and he folds his arms as he holds Moirine’s gaze. “I do not feel that summoning a person here into this space is technically transformative, Master—”
“Sure it is,” Moirine replies. “You’re changing this shop by adding my friend to it, and you’re changing their day by bringing them here, right?” She smiles at the djinn, a rather sweet smile, but somehow, you can detect the underlying prodding at the djinn’s ego in it. “Surely a wise and powerful genie like you can do something that simple? I mean, I’m not asking for you to manifest something out of thin air – I’ve been more specific.”
The djinn’s frown grew. “You did not specify whom you wanted me to bring forth—”
“Do I have to?” Moirine asks, with an innocent (almost too innocent) voice.
“Well, it would certainly—”
Again, she cut the genie off, yet she did so rather smoothly, you feel. “You told me you could read my thoughts when you were introducing yourself – well, introducing yourself without giving me a name.” She shakes her head. “Either way, if you can’t do one easy little wish like this, I’m gonna have to decline being your so-called Master, Mr. ‘Genie.’”
The djinn is looking less and less pleased as the seconds go by. In fact, by now, he’s frowning for a change, and you swear you can see a hint of annoyance in his eyes. Whether this annoyance is from Moirine purposefully cutting him off so many times in a row (you can tell she’s doing it on purpose, even if she isn’t showing it externally) or if it’s from the fact she’s taking those light jabs at his apparent capabilities… or if it’s both.
It’s definitely both, pup, Fia replies. She gives a snide grin, clearly loving this interaction. She’s insulting his ego and his pride twice over, and the fact she’s not showing any fear or hesitation is only adding to it. It’s a delicious sight to behold, lemme tell you.
“So, can you do it?” Moirine asks. “Are you going to grant my wish? Or are you just a fake and this whole thing is just an elaborate ruse to get me to buy something here?”
The djinn scowls in silence, his features showing his disdain despite the fact he isn’t even speaking. Part of you honestly wonders if this whole ruse is even necessary at this point – somehow, Moirine’s words have clearly done a good bit of damage to the genie’s ego, although you know there’s still a good reason for why you’re doing this.
“Well,” Moirine says after a moment, and she shakes her head, disappointment on her face. “This was a total waste of my time.” She sighs. “I’m going. What a letdown—”
“Enough!” the djinn snaps, his voice booming through the room. He’s lost whatever patience he possessed, and he seems to glow with magic, illuminating the interior with an eerie green glimmer. “You desire to see my power, do you? You desire to waste your first wish for something so pointless in order to test me, Master? Then so it shall be!”
The air feels thicker suddenly. Your breath catches in your throat, and your stomach knots. You see dark-green energy crackling around the djinn’s body, and his eyes are glowing with an ominous light. It’s legitimately threatening to witness such a sight.
Relax, pup, Fia says. You’re safe.
You swallow some of the tension down.
“Are you certain of your first wish?!” the djinn demands. “Speak now or else!”
Moirine, who has been remarkably calm despite the djinn’s outburst, frowns a tad at his words, and her gaze briefly flicks toward where you and Fia are standing for a breath.
Shall I keep my wish as I’ve spoken it to him? Moirine asks, her words echoing in your head. Or do either of you feel I should be more specific? I can reword it if you think so.
You and Fia share a look, and you take a beat to consider.
Written by Hollowpages on 13 February 2022
Trick Magic IV
However, while you might’ve thought it a good idea to change the wording of the wish given more time (if only for the vagueness in how Moirine spoke it), for you, you feel she managed to rattle the djinn perfectly enough thanks in part TO the vagueness. Plus, by the sounds of it, the djinn spoke as if he didn’t need to know the exact names of any of Moirine’s ‘friends’ to achieve the wish, since he apparently claimed to read minds.
I think you should keep it as is, you reply. It seems like he put himself into a corner.
Aye, Fia replies. I agree.
Moirine looks the djinn in the eyes. “I’m keeping my wish the way I spoke it. You can just pluck a friend from my thoughts; I only have a few close friends, and I’m certain any one of them would love to find out that magic and genies exist.” She smiles. “Go on.”
The djinn’s eyebrows knit together. He appears irritated that Moirine’s sticking to her guns on this, and you get the sense he was likely hoping she’d give him more to work with. Maybe it’s because he wants an excuse for when he can’t use his magic the way he’s claiming, or maybe it’s just a thing about his pride – you don’t know, or care, really.
“Very well,” the djinn says. “Then your wish shall be granted, Master…”
The djinn brings his hands together, and that dark-green energy gathers between his palms before it swiftly envelops his arms, then the rest of his body, surrounding him with a crackling, glowing aura. The gleam is bright, almost to the point you can’t see much of anything other than the energy you assume to be magic, but you watch as the djinn points his hands in front of himself. A sphere of energy forms between him and Moirine.
What’s he doing? you ask Fia.
Just wait, Fia replies. It’s almost time to make your entrance, pup.
You nod and focus, waiting for when you’re told to move.
The energy sphere slowly expands as the djinn keeps his arms extended, growing into a rather tall column, and as you watch, it begins to take on a different shape; at first, you aren’t sure what the shape is exactly, but it soon starts to look oddly humanoid to you.
He’s just conjuring proverbial smoke and mirrors, pup, Moirine says, her voice holding confidence and calmness in it. I can tell what his goal is immediately – he’s going to make a vague shape and then have it appear that he’s summoned a ‘friend’ of mine, only for them to disappear before I can see or speak to them. He’ll make some excuse about my wish’s wording when it’s all said and done, but, we all know the truth.
The shape continues to look humanoid, but it isn’t super detailed.
Alright, pup, Fia says. Go and stand in front of Moirine where his magic is!
You gawk. Wh… what?
You’ll be fine! Fia replies. His magic isn’t really being used, so it won’t hurt you!
You suck in a brisk breath, then move as instructed – you soon find yourself standing within the human-shaped column of energy, and just like Fia said, you don’t feel any uncomfortable or unpleasant sensations. There’s no pain, no heat, no sense of being electrocuted… you feel nothing despite the fact your body is now surrounded by glowing green energy. You do your best to match the exact position as the seconds tick down.
The djinn lets out a bellow for some reason, which startles you, and there’s a bright flash that causes you to close your eyes. When you reopen them, the energy column you were standing in is completely gone, and the room has grown dim and mostly quiet once again; there’s no glow anymore and no sign of crackling green anywhere to see.
“My apologies, Master,” the djinn says, and you resist the urge to turn around to look at him just yet while he’s speaking. “I’m afraid you didn’t specifically say… say…”
He immediately falls silent.
You blink a few times to recover your vision, and you find Moirine eyeing you directly, a small little smile on her lips with a knowing sparkle in her eyes. You let out a breath internally; you don’t need to ask if you’re visible now given the djinn’s reaction.
“Wow,” Moirine says. “You actually did what I was hoping for!”
The djinn doesn’t respond.
You blink and frown. You aren’t sure if you’re meant to pretend like you’re scared or confused or genuinely surprised to be where you are (obviously, the whole idea was the djinn randomly pulling you from wherever you were previously to this bizarre shop out of thin air), but you don’t dwell on it since you doubt the ruse will last for much longer.
No need, pup, Moirine tells you.
“How…” the djinn says, his voice nearly a whisper.
Alright, it’s time we land the real ending blow on this bastard, Moirine says, and she gives you a nod before she steps up to your side. “You have my thanks, djinn.” She motions you to turn, and as she continues, her ‘plain’ accent vanishes as her previous voice returns. “You’ve made this a lot easier for me by breaking your own rules.”
You turn to face the djinn, and you find him staring at you with a shockingly dumbfounded expression on his face that you can’t help but find rather comical. The expression lingers for a beat, before it shifts into a bewildered look, but then, the recognition dawns on him as he stares you down. It only takes a short pause for the djinn to realize who you are. And by then, he’s looking between you and Moirine.
“What…” the djinn says. His features harden. “What is this? What…?”
“Come now, djinn,” Moirine says. “Surely you can’t be that stupid, aye?”
He stares at you, then at Moirine. His features are unreadable. “How can this be?” He jabs a finger at you with a vicious grimace at his lips. “You’re supposed to be a selkie, not a human. I turned you into that form and there’s no way…” He pauses and gnashes his teeth together as he glowers at Moirine, vitriol burning in his eyes. “You. A selkie. You deceived me. A damnable selkie, and you have the audacity to deceive me!”
“You did it to yourself,” Moirine replies. “You turned an innocent human,” she gestures to you, “into something against their will, when you yourself weren’t truly their Master. And then you actively feigned to serve me by granting my ‘wish’ in bringing them here.” She folds her arms. “That’s several laws you’ve broken, djinn – and you can’t deny it.”
The djinn appears beside himself with silent, fuming fury. His eyes are glowing, and he’s scowling, his body tense and his hands balled into fists. You feel a flicker of fear in your chest, and you wonder if he’ll try to do something harmful to you and Moirine.
But, he doesn’t.
He quivers with rage for several long moments as if he might literally explode, yet eventually, he deflates. The rage dissipates, and the djinn’s body relaxes – his eyes dim, and though his scowl remains firmly in place, his arms lower to his sides.
“I don’t know if I ought to be more impressed or disgusted by this,” the djinn says. His voice is cold and steely. “The fact I would be fooled like this… by a selkie no less…”
“Be that as it may,” Moirine says. “We’re here for answers, djinn.”
The djinn grunts. “Are you now? To what, exactly?”
Moirine glances at you then. You may ask a question of him first, pup. You don’t have to if you’d prefer not to, but I figure we can both get information from him. I don’t know how long he’ll stick around for… but the choice on if you want to ask first or not is yours.
You bite your lip. What do you want to do?
Written by Hollowpages on 14 February 2022
Maazi the Beaten
You consider the options – of which there are quite a few, admittedly – on how to handle this, or if you even want to at all, before you decide you want to maybe start this whole thing off as pleasantly as you can. While you’re leery of the djinn, of course, given your own experience with you, you don’t really have a lot in this whole ordeal beyond helping out Moirine and the selkies since they’ve been kind in helping you.
“What’s your name?” you ask the djinn, as it’s something you’re curious about since you don’t want to keep referring to him just as a djinn or a genie in your own thoughts.
The djinn frowns. “What difference does knowing my name make, mortal?”
“The difference is in what happens to you, djinn,” Moirine replies. “If you actually bother to help us, then we may be able to do our part in ensuring your punishment is more… lenient.” She shakes her head. “The main reason we’re here in the first place is because you’ve been breaking such an integral rule in our realm. We want to know why.”
The djinn doesn’t answer at first; he merely stares. His expression is difficult for you to read, both because his yellow eyes are simply so different from what you’re used to, and because his facial features have hardened beyond the obvious annoyance.
Eventually, however, he seems to relent.
“My name is not something a human could comprehend,” the djinn replies. “I have no way of properly speaking it in this tongue, I’m afraid.” He sighs, his hardened stare dissipating shortly after. “The closest I can think of that would actually make sense to you, human, is Maazi. And so if you MUST refer to me as something, Maazi will do.”
“Maazi,” you say, nodding to yourself. “Okay.”
“Wait a second,” Moirine says, and she frowns. “Maazialaa Ha’amii en-Idaa’ni?”
You make a face and gawk at the selkie, wondering what the heck she just said.
Maazi scoffs. “Well now. I didn’t expect one of your kind to recognize my name.”
Wait, that’s his full name? you think in genuine astonishment.
“That’s closer to his full name, aye,” Moirine replies vocally. She cracks a brief smile at you, then looks back to Maazi. “You might not think highly of us selkie, djinn, but aye, I’ve heard your name before. The Seamother has told us about many of your kind, and among the names she’s spoken to us over the centuries, yours was one of them.”
“Feh,” Maazi replies. “I suppose I should be honored.”
“Don’t bother,” Moirine says. “I know damn well a number of the atrocities you’ve caused in the past with your previous masters.” Her eyebrows come down into a severe stare. “You’re a cruel bastard, Maazi – you’re one of the worst representations of your species with how petty and spiteful you’ve been with the humans in the past.”
Maazi smirks. “You say that as if I’m meant to be insulted by your words, selkie.”
You’re a little confused, but, you get the sense this djinn is… infamous.
“This djinn is a callous, uncaring, and petulant one,” Moirine says to you, and she shakes her head with disgust in her eyes. “He’s the worst type that will gleefully find a loophole in any wish given to him simply to entertain himself. If you want an example of why so few trust the djinn, look no further than Maazi.” She spits to the side. “I’m less inclined to be merciful to you knowing your name, Maazi. Not with your history.”
Maazi rolls his eyes. “Oh spare me the moral high ground, seal-witch.” He grits his teeth and jabs an accusing finger at her. “You are in no position to bark threats at me. You’re lucky I’m even humoring this conversation in the first place after you deceived me.”
“You must not be very bright, then,” you say simply. “Not if you were fooled that easily.”
Maazi fixes his eyes on you. “You would dare belittle me a second time, human? You’ve seen a sample of my power…” His eyes start to glow. “Shall I demonstrate more?”
“Don’t you fucking dare threaten the human, you bloody piece of shit!” Moirine snaps.
The ferocity (and the sheer loudness) in her tone is so sudden and powerful, the floor beneath your feet shakes. You flinch to the side in shock at the rage now emanating from Moirine, and even the djinn is startled for a beat. Moirine promptly closes the distance between herself and Maazi until she’s standing directly in front of him.
“You hold no power here, foisgudal,” Moirine says, spitting her words out with a tranquil, seething venom that leaves you speechless. “Cease your arrogance and accept your fate, and the Seamother may yet be kind to you. But if you continue this stupidity, and by the very oceans themselves, I’ll ensure you are erased from existence, Maazi.”
Your jaw falls open as you watch on. Holy shit…
Maazi stares at her as her words hang in the air.
He cocks his head to one side, then chuckles. “My my… I can’t recall the last time a selkie showed they could grow a proverbial spine in my presence.” He folds his arms and tuts. “I don’t fear you, seal-witch. And I certainly don’t fear your Seamother, whatever that is.” He waves a hand at her. “But I’ll play nice, I suppose, if only because your ability to surprise me has earned… mm, some shred of interest, I’ll call it.”
“Whatever makes you feel like less of a waste of existence, genie,” Moirine says.
Maazi glowers at her. You get the sense he doesn’t like the term ‘genie’ being used.
“Feh,” Maazi mutters, and his otherwise massive form suddenly shrinks down in size – you blink, and Maazi is now closer to your and Moirine’s heights, and the wispy trail of smoke that looked like a tail has morphed into actual legs now. “Remove yourself from my personal space, seal-witch, and I might consider humoring you two for a bit longer.”
Moirine takes a slow few steps back to rejoin where you’re standing.
“Ask your questions and be done with this nonsense already,” Maazi says. “And don’t waste my time with filler details, either.” He shoots you a frown. “I’m not entirely sure how you managed to regain your mortal form so quickly, nor do I understand how you were able to appear here. My magics are not capable of working when I’m given a wish by someone that isn’t my Master, as this thing,” he indicates Moirine, “has said. I’ve half a mind to demand answers in exchange for answers… and I may still do so, in fact.”
What a pain in the ass, Moirine says, and you can hear the utter malice in her internal voice. Seamother forgive me, but I’m coming dangerously close to losing my temper with this stinking bastard. He’s beyond bloody fortunate that I have more reasons than just the Seamother for keeping my composure, though, given the yaksha…
Part of you wishes you could console Moirine somehow; it feels wrong to see and hear her this angry after what you’ve been through with her thus far. But you don’t have a way of doing that, and you recognize that this vitriol goes deeper than you understand.
“Are you going to stand there or do you intend to speak?” Maazi demands.
You can be the one to ask him, pup, Moirine says. To borrow one of your human phrases, you play the good cop here. There’s no sodding way I’m going to be able to stomach being nice to this djinn, not anymore. She grunts. Ask what you wish, pup; just remember what we’re here for in the long run. The sooner we find out what the hell is going on with his master, the sooner we can get the hell outta this stinking Shard.
Alright, you say, and you take in a quiet breath, then exhale.
Maazi watches the two of you impatiently, but otherwise says nothing.
You know you’ve got some choices, but you also know what’s most important in this moment: you need to find out who Maazi’s master is and you need to find out what’s going on; you may not fully understand this whole ordeal, but if you can help, then you’re resolved to do what you can. So what would you like to ask Maazi the djinn?
Written by Hollowpages on 16 February 2022
Maazi the Beaten II
You make your decision after some careful consideration. “Who is master, Maazi? Why aren’t you with them? I don’t know a lot about this whole djinn and master thing, but, I would expect that you’d be with your master until they’d used up their three wishes.”
Maazi regards you for a beat before answering. “Usually, I suppose so,” he rolls his eyes at saying this, “although it also depends on the djinn in question. Whereas some are tolerable of your ilk, I personally prefer my solitude rather than having to be stuck with a human for too long. Your kind is irksome to me, but that shouldn’t be a surprise.”
You don’t say anything in response. Neither does Moirine.
Maazi glances between the two of you, then snorts. “As far as who and where my Master is, they aren’t in this Shard. You’ve gathered that much, I would assume, hm?”
“Aye,” Moirine says. “So where are they, then?”
“Do you actually want to know?” Maazi replies, lifting a single eyebrow. “Besides, what do I get out of this if I tell you? I’m certainly not fazed by your paltry threats, and I don’t fear whatever comes my way after this little ‘chat’ has ended. I may have no authority here, but you lack authority, too, selkie.” He sneers. “I may as well create something out of thin air that sounds sincere, then send you off while I slink back into my lamp.”
Moirine twitches. You can feel the irritation growing inside of her.
You, on the other hand, try from a different angle. “Are you trying to protect them?”
Maazi’s raised eyebrow lowers as he glances back at you. “Pardon?”
“Your master,” you say. “Are you acting like you hate all of us humans, but in reality you’re fond of the one you’re serving? Is that why you’re not giving us a name or telling us anything about them?” You blink as something pops into your mind. “Actually… is that why you’re still granting wishes for them even though they’re not around?”
“How dare you!” Maazi bellows, his voice causing the floor to quake just like it did from Moirine’s outburst. “How dare you even think to insinuate I have even a shred of ‘fondness’ for one of your wretched kind, mortal!” His chest swells, and his eyes glow violently. “You insult me by even causing me to speak such a repulsive thing, dreg!”
“So why are you against telling us?” you ask. You aren’t even acting condescending or smug in your question; you’re legitimately wondering what the deal is, and the way Maazi is reacting isn’t doing anything to disparage your gut feelings on the subject.
Maazi appears utterly incensed. You definitely struck a nerve inside the genie.
“They’re right,” Moirine says; she sounded less like she was holding back her anger now and more like she’d suddenly caught onto something, because her confidence had returned. “You’re acting like a petulant little infant right now, and it’s making you look less like a djinn and more like a spoiled human brat.” She smirked at him. “I mean, you’re literally throwing a temper tantrum over every little thing. It’s quite sad, really.”
Maazi remains deathly quiet at first. His previously unreadable expression is now one of unspoken rage, and you can almost hear the violent things he wants to do from a mere glimpse of his yellow, glowing eyes. And yet, he deflates again after a long, tense bout of silence. His anger evaporates into thin air, and this time around, as his shoulders slump and his furious glower fades, you somehow feel he’s fully resigned himself now.
“What’s the use anymore?” Maazi mutters, and his tone has broken from a confident, if livid one, to an almost… defeated one. His whole demeanor has changed within literal seconds, in fact, and he proceeds to flop down onto the floor. “I can do nothing but puff myself up and pretend as if I’m still the djinn I used to be. But I’m not. I’ve been reduced to a hollow joke compared to what I once was. Damnation upon this wretched realm…”
You and Moirine share a look. You’re both equally confused.
“Uh…” you say.
Maazi sighs. “You’re right. There, I’ve said it. You have the vocalized proof that I, once a powerful and fearsome djinn capable of toying with the minds of any foolish mortal in his vicinity, have…” He groaned. “I… have somehow grown… something akin to this horrid thing mortals possess called emotions!” He made a noise of disgust. “To even say such a thing is a disgrace to the djinn I used to be,” Maazi adds. “What a shame I am…”
…that… didn’t go the way I expected it to, you think.
Holy shit, tell me about it, Fia says. You’d almost forgotten she was still there with you.
Maazi’s head droops abysmally. “You won’t understand the sheer agony speaking these words brings me. Why, I would be ridiculed by many among my kind if any of them heard me speak such folly aloud.” He shakes his head. “And yet, I have been bested by a selkie and a human, after centuries of always being a step ahead of those around me! I have been fooled and had my hand revealed… thus, I have no pride left to cling onto.”
“What in the everloving fuck are you going on about, djinn?” Moirine asks.
Maazi sighs once more. “What does it SOUND like, selkie?! I am beaten, and I am not used to feeling this level of shame!” He looks up at the two of you finally. “I’ve been reduced to this pitiful dreck because I have allowed myself to grow soft, and I hate it.”
“Wha…?” you say. You’re very, very lost.
“Can you explain yourself, you whiny bitch?” Moirine asks.
Maazi grunts. “Over the past few centuries, I have found myself losing more and more of the mentality I once held, and it’s primarily because of this damnable Shard that I’ve been placed in for eons. I’ve been stuck in my lamp, forced to listen to the constant prattling of the humans who pass me by, both their external words and their internal ones. And worse, I’ve been forced to feel their ‘emotions,’ too, which drains me so.”
“Wait… what?” Moirine says. “Djinn can’t read thoughts, let alone sense…”
“Yes, I am aware!” Maazi says, clearly exasperated. “Yet for some unspeakable reason, I’ve gained this abominable power thanks to this Shard! From the moment I was brought here centuries ago in the past, I have had the utmost displeasure of experiencing mortal emotions and thoughts, day in and day out! Every woe in their lives, every pain, every single negative thing… I couldn’t escape them, and I still can’t to this very day. They’ve worn me down and now, I can’t escape these… these FEELINGS that linger within me!”
He hangs his head once more, looking almost comically defeated, and you are honestly gobsmacked; you didn’t expect this from what you’d been told about djinn, especially given how he acted previously when he turned you into a selkie in the first place.
You glance at Moirine. Um, Moirine… is this… is this normal?
No, Moirine replies. Her lips purse, a mix of confusion and bewilderment written all over her face as she stares at the djinn. This… This is… anything but normal, pup.
Maybe he’s just acting? And this is all just to throw us for a loop? you ask.
Moirine shakes her head. Believe me when I say this, pup: there is absolutely no bloody chance that a djinn, even the friendliest of djinn, would ever willingly act this way. No djinn would ever lower themselves to this degree by crumpling to the ground and admitting to being bested so… dramatically, even for a ruse. It’s not feasible; djinn are too proud as a whole, and this display is completely against what they stand for.
You run a hand through your hair. …jeez. So… he’s being honest, then?
This makes no stinking sense, Fia says. If he’s not acting, which I highly doubt as Moirine said, then he’s telling the truth. But how such a thing could happen to a djinn of all beings is beyond me – they’re normally too powerful to be affected by lesser magics.
You furrow your brow. You don’t grasp all of this fully, yet you try to consider what could be behind it even so. Only one thing comes to your mind, and although you still don’t know much about them, you can’t help but pose the question. Could it be… the yaksha?
That… Moirine looks beyond confounded at the prospect and gawks at you with wide eyes, as if such a thing never once entered her mind. That might be so, but…
Let’s focus on the task at hand, Fia says. We need to learn more about his master.
Aye, Moirine says. C’mon, pup, we have to get him to tell us, since that’s the only way we’ll figure out what’s going on. Do you want to press him to spill about who they are so we can get our answers or would you like me to? I don’t mind either way; let me know.
You nod slowly and look to Maazi, your mind racing; what do you want to do?
Written by Hollowpages on 17 February 2022
Maazi the Beaten III
You have a few potential routes you could go with trying to get Maazi the djinn to tell you about his master, but in the end, you decide you want to be the one to try and press, if only because your ‘good cop’ may well be more useful for the time being.
I’ll do it, you reply, for now, anyways.
Moirine gives a curt nod.
You clear your throat. “Um, Maazi…” The djinn doesn’t move, though his eyes do rise to glance at you. “Look, I can’t pretend like I really get a lot of this. I’m still learning, but, either way, the one thing I can at least somewhat grasp is the fact you shouldn’t be pretending to grant wishes for other people, or turning people into things, for that matter. I’m not trying to cause you more problems,” you rub your neck, “what’s going on?”
Maazi sucks in a slow, deep breath, then exhales it just as slowly. He picks himself up off the floor and stands at his full height once more, his eyes closed for a moment. When he reopens them, his features grow slightly sterner, yet they don’t resemble the way he looked prior to him suddenly breaking down in front of you and Moirine.
“While I don’t have an obligation to tell you,” Maazi remarks, “I’ll do so. My pride has been demolished, and the mask I wore has long shattered. There’s no point in me pretending like I’m not a changed djinn, regrettably.” He shakes his head. “If you must know, the truth regarding my current Master is that I willingly chose her because I had been somewhat hopeful doing so would benefit me. And what I mean by that is some part of me wanted to regain a semblance of the djinn I used to be eons ago.”
You furrow your brow. “Er…”
Ah, fuck, Fia says.
“You chose a Master with questionable morals is what you mean,” Moirine says.
Maazi nods.
You still don’t quite get it, but, you suddenly have a bad feeling in your stomach.
“Many of the Masters I’ve had over the recent centuries have…” Maazi hesitates, and his lips twitch. “…have been… decent mortals. Their wishes were such that I could easily have exploited them for my own amusement. However, I… did not. I followed their wishes without straying, and though I’m loathe to admit it, I felt… no regret inside myself for doing so. It was a strange influx of sensations, you see.” He meets your gaze. “I cannot speak for most djinn, mortal, but these types of ‘emotions’ which you possess were foreign to me in the past. And yet, I grew to… enjoy them, much to my chagrin.”
It dawns on you what he’s possibly getting at. “I think I understand… So you started to become less like the djinn you were, but you didn’t mind not twisting people’s wishes?”
“Correct,” Maazi says. “It got to the point where I was sincerely feeling remorse for my past mentality, but that was when I had to take a very long look at myself.” He folds his arms and frowns. “I did not feel like I deserved to be a djinn anymore. I was growing ‘soft,’ and such a revelation was my breaking point – and so, I resolved to actively seek out a mortal that would allow me to TRY and be the djinn I should’ve been, the one that could manipulate a witless mortal and twist their desires however I saw fit!”
He grunts. “And lo, but I found one eventually. I thought her to be the perfect mortal for a djinn like myself, and I was eager to grant her wishes and regain the control I needed over my own existence.” He pauses, his expression falling. “I… I regret my decision. The nature of my Master, while it might have been befitting for Maazi in his heyday, did not make me feel any different when all was said and done. If anything… I felt worse.”
“What in the bloody hell kind of human did you choose?” Moirine asks.
“What did she even wish for?” you ask. “And how is she still your master?”
“She is still my Master because she has not yet fulfilled her final wish,” Maazi replies, and he frowns. “You see, human, despite what you might think based on your little books and films, not every djinn is bound to give THREE wishes to a master. There are some djinn capable of only two, yet there are also some with the ability to deign more than three. I should note that in the former case, just because a djinn can only perform two wishes doesn’t make them inherently weaker than other djinn; most that only give two wishes are actively stronger, in fact, with less restrictions placed upon them.”
“Are you a djinn that only gives two wishes, then?” you ask.
“I am,” Maazi replies. “My magic is stronger than the average djinn my ‘age,’ for lack of a better word, and while I may only grant two wishes to a Master, I am less bound to the same things many other djinn are. As an example, mortal, I am able to use my power to do more with one wish than common djinn – if my Master words their wish a certain way, I am essentially able to grant two to even three separate things as a single wish.”
“Whoa,” you whisper.
“Unfortunately, the caveat this causes is… well, it’s being exploited now,” Maazi says, and he scowls. “My current, true Master has only asked one wish of me, but when she made her wish, she knew how to extend it to fulfill her own desires. It’s obvious to me she hasn’t had need for me since then, because I’ve not seen her in… quite some time.”
“And just how long is ‘quite some time,’ though?” Moirine asks. “You djinn don’t comprehend time the same way humans do, or that we selkie do, for that matter.”
Maazi scoffs. “It’s been ten years in mortal interpretations.”
You suppose it’s a positive that at least he didn’t say it’s been a hundred years. Still…
“Ten years?” you say. “I get the sense that’s not normal for a djinn, is it?”
“Mm, no, I’d say not,” Maazi replies. “Typically, a Master does not wait for long to request their wishes from a djinn – however, there is no true ‘limit’ on the length of time between one wish and another. While I would prefer my Master get their wishes from me as soon as possible, I’m forced to admit there is nothing I can do until that final wish is made. And because I’m stuck in this damnable Shard, I’m even more restricted.”
“Wait, so you can’t cancel being this person’s djinn?” you ask, frowning. “Ever?”
He grunts again and shakes his head. “The only way a djinn in service to a Master may ‘cancel’ it is if the Master’s life ends naturally or if the Master themselves chooses to end the service. And when I say naturally, I mean that the Master would have to die from a worldly cause, like sickness. I am forbidden from ever attempting to bring end to a mortal’s life myself, although,” he frowns, “I’d be remiss if I didn’t state even before this… shift in my mind, I would never have considered such a thing. I have standards.”
“So your current master has only asked for one of the two wishes,” you say while you process all of this in your head. “And she hasn’t bothered asking for the second wish in ten years. But you can’t do anything about the fact she hasn’t made her other wish yet, which means you’re stuck until she comes back to this, er, Shard thing for you?”
“Precisely,” Maazi replies, clearly displeased with the whole ordeal.
You glance to Moirine, and the two of you share a brief look of understanding.
You wonder what this person wished for in the first place that would make it so they’d decide not to return to Maazi – and of course, you take into consideration how their wish plays into what happened with you. You wonder then how many other humans met Maazi and wound up being turned into something else, all because of a poor choice of words or because of miscommunication? Plus, who even IS this person, anyways?
These questions and more are running through your mind, and you feel you should ask Maazi all of them – but you need to decide which one you want to ask him first; you recall something about Maazi not having a lot of time, so, you need to make this quick.
What do you ask him next?
Written by Hollowpages on 19 February 2022
The Wish Made
You figure you should ask the more important question of Maazi next, so, you do.
“Maazi,” you say as you collect yourself to get the question out. “What did your Master wish for? And what does it have to do with why you turned me into a selkie?”
“Aye,” Moirine says. “That’s the main reason we’re here, djinn.”
Maazi’s lips twitch before he responds. “My Master’s first wish was… one of the most peculiar among the ocean of wishes I’ve granted in my existence. I say that prior to giving you your answer because I feel I must; I have granted countless upon countless wishes, and while in eons past, I favored the most deeply selfish wishes and yearnings to warp to amuse myself, most following my… change… have been… ‘normal,’ mm.”
He waves a hand. “Regardless. Rather than bore you with the exact wording used, I will cut to the chase for once – her wish was for me to not only create a proverbial ‘zoo’ for her to own, you see, but the heart of it was also that I then willingly transform random humans I encountered into different creatures for her to add to her collection.”
Silence falls after Maazi says this.
You soak in his words and try to process their meaning (what does he mean by saying she wanted a zoo, you wonder, and why the hell would she want him to turn people into animals for it… also, why weren’t you put into this ‘zoo,’ if that’s the case?), and while you do, Moirine just stares at the djinn with a look of genuine horror on her face.
“How… how is that even something you’re allowed to do, Maazi?” Moirine asks. “How can you grant a wish that effectively means you’re free to transform innocent humans into creatures without their consent, while still remaining in service to a Master?!”
Maazi gives a shrug. “As I said, selkie: I am stronger than most of my fellow djinn. My power is great enough that I lack the same limitations many other djinn do when it comes to the level of wishes I can grant. Thus, I am able to use my magics to change humans I encounter as I see fit to, and I can transform them into whatever I desire without having to concern myself with their ‘consent,’ because doing so falls under the wish my Master asked of me.” He frowns deeply. “That is the truth of the matter.”
“Seamother preserve me,” Moirine mutters.
You can’t help being a little confused. “But… okay, if that’s the case, then…” You can’t believe you’re going to be ‘that person’ here. “How is this, I guess, bad in your world…?”
“It goes against the foundation of everything we established in the past,” Moirine says. She grits her teeth. “There are rules that we non-human entities must follow to ensure that balance is maintained throughout this world – and despite what some may claim, a majority of us abide by these rules without question. You may have the power that allows you to do this, Maazi, and it may well fall under the wish you granted, but I don’t give a shite! There’s no bloody way that a djinn should be allowed to continually transform innocent humans into creatures to appease some twisted Master’s wish!”
Maazi nods rather solemnly. “I don’t disagree, selkie.”
“You…” She pauses and blinks. “You don’t?”
“No.” Maazi’s features harden. “No matter what you may think of me or of djinn as a whole, not even I feel what I’ve done is ‘good,’ to use a suitable mortal term. Even if you remove the part of me – a part that’s grown rather large over the centuries – that feels more connected to human empathy, I recognize the fundamental flaw in being able to use my powers at random without restraint, even for a wish. But, that is my fault.”
He glances between you and Moirine. “Remember what I stated earlier… I wanted to try and rekindle what I believed I’d lost of the djinn I used to be. I sought a mortal that I knew would be selfish, and my goal was to return to my previous self. And yet, from the very start where I turned a human into something else… it did not mend my woes. I continued to do as my Master asked, but it was never out of obligation to her. No; it was because I continued to tell myself I would break away from this… perspective I gained.”
“You never did, though, did you?” you ask.
“No,” Maazi replies. “No, I did not. Not even when I turned you into a selkie did it do me any favors in stripping away this change. When you were gone, and I returned to my lamp, I soon realized the inevitable reality – the changes have rooted themselves within me. I feel more akin to human emotions now, and as I stand here before you two, I can sense those sensations deep inside my being too greatly to ignore them anymore.”
Yet he still transformed humans regardless, Fia says, once again speaking for the first time in a while – you’ve sensed her presence the entire time, but she’s been relatively silent. You get the sense she’s utterly disgusted by what she’s learned from her tone.
“How many humans have you… changed?” you ask the djinn.
“I do not have a concrete number to give,” Maazi replies. “Hundreds, at the very least.”
You frown. “Why not?”
“I tried not to think of it,” Maazi says, shaking his head. “I am not pretending as if my reasons are ‘just’ in this regard. But they are my reasons, and they will have to suffice.”
“Answer me this, then,” Moirine says. “What’s this ‘zoo’ your Master wanted about?”
Maazi regards her for a beat. “My Master desired for me to create a place that she referred to as a ‘zoo,’ although whether it’s considerably like the mortal zoo or not is not for me to interpret.” He snorts. “I chose a Shard that was not claimed by any being to use as the location – I then molded the Shard with my magics to alter the landscape in a way that would create an effective biome for her to store a vast array of creatures, including a domain for aquatic life, a domain for reptilians and amphibians, and so on.
“I should mention that she also wished it so that she could transport actual wild animals of her liking to this Shard for her little zoo, to ensure you don’t assume every creature there is a human transformed into something else.” He gives a quiet sigh. “However, a majority of the creatures were indeed mortals like this one,” he gestures to you, “but whether or not they have learned to regain their human forms… I do not know.”
Moirine grimaces. “Shite, what in the bloody hell…”
“It isn’t impossible,” Maazi remarks as he gestures to you. “But, even so, not every one of you mortals is the same.” He shrugs. “I can’t be anymore specific, not with that.”
You stay silent as you absorb this. You’re honestly still dumbfounded by the idea that someone would want a zoo for people that had been turned into animals in the first place. You can’t fathom it, but then, you also consider the fact you yourself were turned not into a seal or a walrus or a sea lion but a selkie, a mythical creature, not a normal one. And yet, you were not transported to a zoo that you know of. You don’t know why.
We should go inform the Seamother of this, Fia says. She must know at once.
Not yet, Moirine says. We need to find out all we can before it’s too late.
Fine, fine, Fia says. But keep this moving; we’re dawdling too much as it is.
“I assume you want to know the purpose of this zoo?” Maazi asks, and he shifts his gaze between you and Moirine with a neutral gaze. “Or would you rather find out where the Shard is located? My time outside my lamp is running short, I’m afraid, so I only have enough energy to remain here to speak with you for one more question…”
Shite, Fia mutters.
Moirine and you share another look.
What do we focus on, Moirine? you ask her.
I’m not sure, she admits. Part of me really wants to understand the madness of this ‘zoo’ thing his Master wished up, but I also feel we should find out where this Shard is located to find it ourselves. Do you want to decide what to ask? Or shall I decide?
You hesitate and fall quiet, unsure. You try to think it over swiftly, though.
Written by Hollowpages on 21 February 2022
The Wish Made II
After giving it some quick thought, as much as you can spare given the limited time you have before Maazi can no longer remain outside of his lamp, you sigh internally as you make your decision – you feel it would probably be best you focus on the Shard location where Maazi’s Master is apparently keeping this zoo of hers, then go from there.
Aye, Moirine says. I agree, pup. She turns back to Maazi. “Where is this Shard, Maazi?”
Maazi chuckles. “I’m not surprised you’d choose that question…” He tuts and shakes his head for a beat. “Very well, but if you’re intending to go there for yourselves at some point, you,” he glances at you, “will have a hard time finding it without help. You see, my Master wanted a place that was detached from this plane of existence – she desired somewhere private that no human would ever find, not without the external will of an entity like myself or you, selkie. So, I chose a Shard that’s not located within this plane.”
Of bloody course he did, Fia says dryly. And I… wait, what’d he just say?
You frown, and you take a moment to think back to what Moirine said regarding Shards to you before – as you recall from her explanation about Shards, all Shards are attached to your world, the one you know from being a human, but where they’re at can sometimes vary. Yet the way Maazi is talking about it sounds like that isn’t the case?
You look to Moirine quizzically. “How can a Shard not be in… this, er, this world?”
Moirine frowns. “I was about to ask that same question, pup.”
“Ah… I see, I see,” Maazi remarks. His expression becomes one of amusement for a moment, and he chuckles. “So you’re old enough to know of my true name and a good bit more, I imagine, but you’re clearly not old enough to know that detail for Shards…”
“Know what, djinn?” Moirine asks. “Is this some jest on your part to waste our time?”
“No,” Maazi says, and he says it so bluntly and firmly that you kind of feel he’s being sincere. “I’m simply commenting to myself how you apparently don’t know something I felt would be common knowledge for your kind, selkie.” He shakes his head, and his expression sobers. “While it’s true that most Shards are attached to this realm in some shape or form, consider the word I used, if you would – I said it wasn’t in this plane.”
You frown again. You feel lost.
“Ah, forgive me,” Maazi says. “I forget what I’m speaking with.”
“What exactly do you mean?” you ask.
Maazi shrugs. “You see, mortal and selkie, when I say ‘plane,’ I mean there are different, shall we say, layers of existence attached to this realm. When I say this realm, what I speak of refers to everything,” he regards you, “your planet, galaxy, universe, and so on. Everything that exists in the tangible plane where you live and breathe is but one of the planes of existence. There are many planes of existence, and they’re all connected to one another, but, a normal mortal cannot easily traverse to them.”
“I know what he’s speaking of,” Moirine says after a moment. “I hadn’t heard the term ‘plane’ used for defining this before, so you threw me off in calling it such, djinn.” She meets your puzzled gaze. “Have you ever heard of the astral plane before, pup?”
You blink rapidly. “The… Oh, isn’t that sort of a spirit world?”
“Oho, the astral plane is so much more than that, mortal,” Maazi says.
Moirine waves him off. “Think of it like that, pup – it’s a domain that’s connected to the living world where we come from, yet it’s not a place you can walk or swim or fly to. Only, there are more than just one such ‘planes,’ as Maazi here has defined them.”
“My point,” Maazi says, “is that the Shard you’re seeking is located in one such plane.”
“Dare I ask which one?” Moirine remarks.
Here, Maazi frowns and taps his chin. “Mm… Using a name to define the plane I speak of in this tongue is difficult for me, even more so than speaking my full, true name. You can take my name and create the necessary syllables for it,” he indicates Moirine there, “but, the true names of the eleven planes are… not as simple to put into the mortal tongue, in any language.” He ponders for a beat. “Ah, but, I again forget I’m talking to a selkie, and I’m assuming you know the more ‘colloquial’ terms used to identify them?”
“Aye,” Moirine says. “Spit it out, if you would.”
“The asomaton plane,” Maazi replies.
Moirine’s eyes go wide. “Oh…”
You, naturally, have no clue what that means, but you refrain from asking just yet.
“Venture there, and you will find the Shard that holds my Master’s domain,” Maazi says with a nod. “It is located in one of the Southernmost Shards, to be precise – and fortunately for you, there are only a few of them in that particular region.” He sighs. “I cannot guarantee she’ll be there in person by the time you opt to visit it, of course, and that’s if you decide to go there yourselves, but that is the honest truth of where it is.”
Moirine says nothing. Fia is silent, too.
“Now then,” Maazi says. “My time in this place has come to its end for now, because I cannot maintain this solid form any longer. I suggest you go and do whatever you must, and that includes informing someone of higher authority about me, I assume.” His shoulders slump. “I will accept my fate, whatever that fate may end up being, however.”
“Wait,” you say. “Before you go back to your lamp…”
Maazi frowns. “Yes, mortal?”
“…why did you not send me to this zoo after you turned me into a selkie?” you ask.
Maazi blinks slowly, and his expression becomes one of uncertainty. “Good question.” He taps his chin once again, yet he ends up shrugging. “I don’t rightly know myself. Ta.”
Without another word, Maazi’s body erupts into a bright flash of green energy that crackles in front of you, and he vanishes from where he was standing moments ago – it leaves only you and Moirine, and Fia, you presume, by yourselves in a silent shop.
You shift around awkwardly in place, unsure of what happens now. You look to Moirine.
“Let’s go outside,” Moirine says, and she turns on her heel without another word.
You follow her outside the strange shop, back toward the area where you were not long ago with both Moirine and Fia – and seconds later, Fia appears in full view as the two of you come to a stop there. She’s scowling, visibly irritated, while Moirine isn’t exactly looking happy, either. You don’t say anything at first, as you feel it isn’t your place to.
“Well,” Fia eventually says. “What a stinking shitshow, as the humans say.”
“Aye, tell me about it,” Moirine mutters, sighing.
You bite your lip. “I, uh, don’t really know much about what that last part was.”
Fia shakes her head. “This whole scenario is one big clusterfuck, pup, and I fear how much worse it gets given the things we still don’t know about this Master of his.”
“What’s the… what did he call that realm again? Aso… something?” you ask.
“Asomaton plane,” Moirine replies. She meets your gaze. “It’s one of the different planes attached to this one we’re standing and speaking in, as was said.” Her lips twitch; she seems torn between frowning or not. “It’s not the worst place of existence, I suppose, but regardless, it isn’t a ‘nice’ place, either. Yet I get the sense that Maazi chose it because of this reason, since it isn’t easily accessible, even to beings like us selkie.”
“I… see,” you murmur.
“Sorry, pup,” Moirine says. Her expression softens. “I know this is probably confusing to you since you’ve barely spent a full day as a selkie. There’s a lot that can be expanded on, of course, but if you’d rather we focus on the matter at hand, I can always tell you more of what you’d like to know later. It’s up to you – do you want a quick lesson on all this rubbish you’re hearing about, or would you rather save it for another time, pup?”
Both selkie look at you expectantly as the question hangs in the air.
You consider what you’d prefer to do in the moment – ask or not?
Written by Hollowpages on 22 February 2022
The Planes of Existence
While you recognize there’s a lot going on, you can’t help but yearn to understand as much as you can, and with that in mind, you can’t deny your earnest curiosity.
“If you don’t mind,” you reply after a beat, “I’d like to know more about these… planes.”
Moirine nods and turns to Fia. “I’ll stick around with the pup to tell them more so they better comprehend some of this madness, and we’ll figure out what to do from there. If you’d rather go inform the Seamother of what we’ve learned, go ahead, Fia.”
Fia frowns. “Mm. I’ll wait a bit.”
“Fair enough, love,” Moirine says, and she returns her focus to you, her expression becoming thoughtful. “To try and compress this proverbial ocean of information for you to grasp easily, pup, let me first ask you something: have you ever heard of the Nine Realms before? I believe it’s a fixture in some of human society’s entertainment nowadays, yet it’s also a long-held part of the Ancient Norse, I believe they were called.”
“Oh, yeah,” you say, nodding. “That’s the whole thing with there being nine different worlds all attached to one another through a gigantic tree, right? And each world…” You halt as something clicks in your mind. Your eyes widen. “…is… is that real, then…?”
“Not quite to the same degree as what the Norse believed,” Moirine says, and she cracks a small smile. “However, in essence, aye; the Ancient Norse humans were very accurate with their ideology regarding separate worlds all connected to one another. Although, I don’t know if you caught it before, but there are eleven spheres, not nine.”
“Spheres are what we call them in your tongue,” Fia adds.
You just gawk in shock.
“All eleven of these have existed since this universe was created,” Fia says. “Now, if you want the full scope for that, you’d need to speak to the Seamother – she is the eldest among us, and she would either know the details herself or know someone that could give you the details. And if you’re wondering about deities…” She pauses to glance about. “That one is… a subject we selkie can’t truly elaborate on, I’m afraid.”
“How come?” you ask, frowning.
“What you humans refer to as gods and goddesses, we might not,” Moirine replies, and she shrugs. “But let’s not get too off-topic, eh? You want to know about the spheres.”
“Yes,” you say.
“Each sphere is a world of its own,” Moirine says. “They are unique in the things you as a human would define as ‘normal’ for a world to have – the colors, the shapes, the smells, the textures…” She rolls one hand. “Most of the eleven have things you can identify, is what I mean. It’s not simple to describe because you humans have a particular lens that you view the world you live in, and that lens extends to when you create things like stories to read or watch. We selkie think similarly, but, not every entity that exists does the same. What you’ll see as ground to walk on, others won’t, pup.”
“I… I think I get that, yeah,” you say. “At least, I can understand what you mean.”
“If you don’t, that’s okay,” Moirine says. She gives you an encouraging smile.
“Aye,” Fia says, “it’s not common for a mortal to find out these spheres exist, so to describe them precisely in a human-centric way is… a challenge, like we’ve said.”
Moirine continues. “All eleven of these realms have a multitude of names. Some are specific to other species and thus unknown to us selkie, while some names are formed with words in languages would be highly alien to the human tongue. Fortunately, they all have a few ‘common’ names between certain groups, formed using several of the various languages you humans can better understand, like your English and your Latin.”
You nod as you soak this in, and you smile a little. “It’s always in Latin somehow, huh?”
“It’s a well-adjusted language,” Fia says.
“I won’t delve into the ‘English’ names for all of eleven spheres,” Moirine remarks, and she smirks. “I could, sure, but I imagine it might get confusing to keep track of what’s what when you’re only now learning this, so for the time being, I’ll focus on a few.”
You don’t bother disagreeing with her there – you know she’s right.
“This sphere we exist in,” Moirine taps a foot on the ground, “is what we call the tellurian sphere, or plane, if you prefer. That word stems from Latin, in fact, because whoever decided to name it such was a fan of the phrasing.” She chuckles briefly. “For another sphere, while it isn’t called ‘astral plane,’ I’ll stick to astral for simplicity’s sake; the astral sphere is a realm filled with many entities you liken to spirits, but,” she raises a finger, “it is NOT the realm of the dead like some believe. That is a separate sphere entirely.”
“Interesting,” you remark. “So what’s this… asomaton sphere about, then?”
Fia’s lips purse, while Moirine’s features grow more serious.
“The asomaton sphere is… how do I word this appropriately?” Moirine says.
“It’s bloody eerie is what it is,” Fia remarks. “The air is thicker there and always a little cool – not cold enough to cause a human discomfort, I’d wager, but it’s noticeable.”
“And it stinks, too,” Moirine says, “or at least it stinks to us selkie, right, Fia?”
“Aye,” Fia replies with a curt nod. “Thing is, it’s a faint stink – you can smell it when you breathe in deep enough, but while it might not bother you or make you feel sick, you can’t get rid of it. You always smell it in the air, as if it’s in the distance, circling around you.” She shudders. “The whole damn place is like that, pup. It’s just plain creepy.”
You swallow the lump that forms in your throat.
Fia’s frown deepens. “Have you ever been somewhere and felt a sense of unease deep inside of you over nothing, pup? Like this heavy weight in your belly that tells you something’s wrong, even though you’re not in danger and nothing truly IS wrong?”
“Yes,” you say. You’ve experienced that discomfort in the past growing up.
“Imagine feeling that constantly,” Fia says. “Everything about that sphere is unsettling, and this is coming from a selkie, which means it would likely be even worse for a regular human. The temperature never changes from that ‘almost cold’ air that makes your chest feel heavy from some unknown thickness. The surface you’d call ground is somehow a little malleable to your feet, yet it sounds completely hollow underneath it.”
“There’s no ‘sun’ or ‘stars’ or ‘moon’ to speak of above you, either,” Moirine adds, “but somehow, it’s always a middle point between being bright and being dark.” She bites her lip. “The list goes on, pup, yet hopefully you can see where we’re going with this.”
“I think so,” you reply.
You try to visualize this place in your mind as best you can, but it’s not something you can mentally materialize given the fact you can’t imagine these sensations all going on at once. Either way, you comprehend why it would be unnerving, because YOU feel a little unnerved just from the way the two selkie are describing this realm to you now.
“This doesn’t sound like the sort of place I’d want a zoo,” you mutter.
Fia snorts. “Aye, I’d agree with you there. But then, it’s likely the Shard that Maazi used to grant his Master’s fucked up wish looks more ‘normal’ like this Shard does.” She pauses and glances at Moirine. “Wait, did he say he created a Shard? Or did he just pick a random, unclaimed Shard to use? I swear he said he outright MADE one.”
“Knowing how the djinn work, I’m not sure,” Moirine replies, and she gives a look of uncertainty toward the shop. “I’m not sure what we ought to do next. We have some idea of what’s going on, so the Seamother will appreciate learning, yet there are still questions left unanswered about this fiasco, and I don’t know how we can learn…”
She trails off and suddenly goes quiet.
You blink a few times, and you quickly notice her demeanor change. In fact, Fia’s changes, too; both selkies stare toward the shop, their features nearly unreadable to you. You frown to yourself and look toward the shop and see the door is open (didn’t it shut when you left?), yet otherwise, nothing appears out of the ordinary to your eyes.
“Um, Moirine? Fia?” you say. “What’s wrong?”
Moirine responds, her voice quiet. “The… one of the yaksha that owns this Shard… they contacted us telepathically.” She swallows audibly, visibly nervous now. “The one that did… they’re offering to speak with all three of us and… tell us something.”
You can tell how unnerved the two selkie are from their expressions. You grimace.
“Is that… bad?” you ask.
“Nay, pup,” Moirine replies. “Not bad, but… it’s… unusual.”
“Do we… do we trust the offer?” Fia asks.
All there of you fall quiet. Do you?
Written by Hollowpages on 23 February 2022
The Yaksha
For a long moment, no one speaks or moves. You feel a sense of unease not unlike what Fia described to you not long ago, yet this one is more prominent, and it’s partly because you’re feeding off the two selkie’s unease, too. This must be a huge deal.
Still, while they seem uncertain, you cast your gaze to the shop once more.
“I… I think we should see what they want to say,” you remark eventually. You rub the back of your neck. “I know I don’t understand the yaksha at all, so I could be wrong, but, if they’re willing to help, maybe they can fill in the blanks for what we don’t know yet?”
“…maybe,” Fia replies. “Or maybe it could be a game to them, and we’re the pieces.”
Moirine sucks in a breath. “The pup has a point, Fia. To borrow a human phrase… nothing ventured, nothing gained, especially since we could use all the help possible.” She puts her hand on Fia’s shoulder. “Besides, they did let us use their shop to deal with the djinn. And you said yourself you were certain one of them made it so you two wouldn’t make a sound while you waited to appear in front of Maazi, aye?”
Fia gives a quiet nod. “True as that may be, it doesn’t change things. You know how the yaksha are, Moirine. They say one thing, think another thing, and mean a third, and you can scarcely be completely certain of which of those is genuine, if any of ‘em are.”
Moirine regards you then. “Just… be prepared when we go in there, pup. Dealing with a yaksha isn’t going to be like dealing with me or Fia or the Seamother, nor will it be like trying to speak to Maazi. You’re new to this world still, and I’m afraid nothing you’ve ever experienced has prepared you for how… unpredictable the yaksha can be.”
“I’ll do my best,” you say. There isn’t much else you can say.
Without another word, Moirine begins to walk back toward the shop, and you follow her. Fia walks behind you, this time – and you wonder what you’re getting yourself into now.
You don’t know what to expect since you’ve never heard of a yaksha before today, but you’re not about to ignore the comments made by Fia or Moirine; you steel yourself to the best of your ability, and you simply hope that this ends up being helpful for you all.
When you step back into the shop, you notice right away that the layout has changed; there isn’t an entryway that leads to a large room to your left as there had been previously – all there is currently is a single hallway that leads to a single door. You gawk at the sudden change, and even though Fia told you the yaksha could change the shop’s design to their liking, seeing it like this still comes across as a surprise to you.
It doesn’t take long for the three of you to reach the door at the end of the hall. Moirine hesitates as she reaches for the doorknob, but she grasps and turns it to open the door.
The door leads to another room of decent size, and to the right and left are long tables with a variety of different things like vases, pots, sculptures, and other miscellaneous knickknacks – there are different sized vials that seem to hold liquid in them, some of which you swear are glowing, and you even spot things like boots and gloves, oddly enough. But your focus shifts to the lone individual in the room, looming at the back.
At first glance, the woman standing further off from the three of you doesn’t strike you as inhuman in any form, although she has her back to you currently – you see that she has light-brown hair that appears to be cut rather short, and she’s wearing casual clothes that aren’t so different from the attire you and Moirine and Fia are wearing.
Still, you don’t jump to conclusions; you watch her as you stop behind Moirine.
The woman appears to be moving some items around on another table. She doesn’t look at you as she speaks, though her voice cuts through the silence in the room.
“Ah…” the woman says. “You’ve come in, I see.”
Her voice is calm and a little low in its pitch, but the tone isn’t unkind. She doesn’t sound bored or cold or aloof, either, and she speaks with… an accent. You don’t know what sort of accent it is, yet it’s definitely distinctive to your ears, even if you can’t place it.
“Aye, Miss,” Moirine replies. “We, er… We could use any aid you can provide us.”
“I noticed,” the woman replies. “I could hear the gears grinding away at your minds from where I stand, without needing to listen to your internal voices.” She chuckles. “I must admit… I’m a bit surprised you decided to swallow your collective fear of me given how potent it is. I half-expected you three to assume the worst and flee back to the ocean.”
You don’t say anything. You just look to Moirine.
Moirine licks her lips, likely because they’re dry. “F… forgive us for that, but…”
“No need for that,” the woman says, and she waves a pale hand about. “I am well-accustomed to many feeling such things of me – all three of us are.” She chuckles again. “Some days, it amuses me, truly. The thought that beings older than centuries could be reduced to little more than human children in our presence, frozen in place knowing what we’re capable of…” She shrugs. “Other days, though, it saddens me.”
She still hasn’t turned around yet. She seems busy arranging what’s on the table.
You don’t speak, as you feel it would be wrong to in this instance. You’d rather let Moirine and Fia be the ones to talk, at least until you believe that you’re comfortable in voicing something – there’s a definite sensation in the air around you that tells you it’s better to be extra polite in this instant, and you aren’t about to ignore that, no way.
“What is it you wanted to tell us?” Fia asks.
“Mm,” the woman says, and she chuckles rather than answer Fia right away. “Before we begin, I have a question for the young pup standing there, actually.” She turns her head the tiniest bit, as if to show you that she’s indicating you. “Tell me, human… Do you prefer to speak to me in a form more suitable for humans, as I am currently?” She pauses. “Or would you mind if I assume a form closer to that of my true self, hm?”
Your throat goes dry. Her… her true self?
You have no idea what a yaksha would look like, truth be told. From what you’ve gathered, they are similar to the djinn, but even so, you don’t have any djinn to think of other than Maazi. Whether or not Maazi’s appearance is how the djinn appear or not, you aren’t certain, though, which only means you have nothing to work with for this.
You blink a few times and glance at Moirine.
Moirine seems uncertain, however, and going off the expression on her face, you can tell that she’s obviously leery of the strange woman standing across from you.
“Don’t seek the selkie for advice,” the woman says. “This is not for them to decide, dear human – I have asked you, and you alone, and so I want the choice to come from you.” She chuckles again. “If it helps, I promise that whichever option you choose has no bearing on my mood, or on what I plan to say. I would simply like to know the answer.”
You grimace, but, you feel Moirine’s hand on your shoulder. She gives your shoulder a light squeeze and a look of encouragement; you can tell she’s mustering it for your sake despite the fact she seems wary of the yaksha’s question, yet you still appreciate it.
What do you want to do in response to her question: do you tell the yaksha that you’d prefer she stay in the human form she appears to be in? Or do you tell her you’re fine with her assuming what she says to be close to her ‘true’ form, whatever that may be?
You don’t know if your answer will change anything. She could do the opposite of what you say, after all, or she could easily do what she wants regardless since, well, this IS her Shard and her shop and there’s nothing you can do to stop her from it. Either way…
What next?
Written by Hollowpages on 24 February 2022