Chapter -95: The Dancer and the Sea's Serenade

This had been the moment Brine had been waiting for for most of his life, and now that he found the dancer of the sea, with a name as perfectly fitting as Torren, he...

Wasn't sure what to do next.

The two took to the sand after they shook hands and stared out towards the sea as the waves brushed gently upon the shore.

Both with their feet stretched out, him tapping his fingers on the ground by his hips while Torren paddled her feet in the air.

When either of them tried to look in the other's direction one of them flinched and turned away, maybe letting out an "Umm" before going into complete silence.

"C'mon Brine, man up and say something!" The fisherman berated himself.

He then stared out across the sea to find the moon's reflection panning down, and with a brief spark of courage he remarked, "Nice moon we're havin' tonight, eh?"

Torren winced and looked up into the sky to say, "Y-Yeah, it's...as pretty as always."

She then pulled her knees up to her face and held them tight with a blush in her cheeks, as she proceeded to let out a sigh.

"Idiot!" Brine shouted internally while biting his lower lip and turning away, "Yer slippin' up more than an eel with legs!"

He then faced Torren again and asked her, "Soooo, umm..."

"Ummm?" She echoed, the nervousness in her gaze putting Brine on edge.

He let out a long hiss and then squeezed his hand, plopping it down on the sand to lean in closer to her, "Do you like to fish, Torren?"

She slowly shook her head and then whispered back, "S-Sorry, I...I don't think it's right to..."

Her mouth kept moving with nothing coming out. Brine raised his brows and wondered, "What's wrong?"

Torren pressed her face against her legs and mumbled, "You'll think it's silly."

"I ain't like that, chum!" Brine said, on instinct, patting her on the back, which caused her to jolt up with her pupils shrunken and an "Eek!" to fly shrill from her mouth.

"Ah!" He recoiled, cautiously motioning his hand towards her while mumbling, "Sorry 'bout that."

And then they were back to the silent treatment.

The sound of the waves was lovely this time of night, the way it gently brushed up against the sand and then pulled back...

It put Brine at ease, but nothing seemed to help Torren from being nervous around him.

He kept making quick glances her way and she was staring blankly towards the horizon.

She then reacted with a silent gasp as a few fish hopped out of the water and into the lowest pool on the rock formation, followed by a few more of their school.

They continued to climb towards the "blowhole" at the top, their scaly bodies glistening under the moonlight.

Torren let out a teeny coo and her hands loosened from her legs, laying flat upon the sand.

"I don't think it's right to disturb the fish." She whispered, slightly higher in volume than before.

Brine was stunned a little but with a little laughter was happy to tell her, "It ain't like we're out there guttin' them all for fun."

Torren's eyes flinched wide open and looked aside at him as he continued to say, "We take what we need and keep the rest safe from harm."

"R-Right, I knew that." Though her tone lacked confidence, it was enough to leave Brine feeling like a fool.

"Oh...yeah, of course ya would," He then sat back down normally and wondered aloud, "I just ain't ever seen you around in the day so I just assumed-"

"H-Huh?" She stuttered in a high-pitched tone of surprise.

Brine looked aside at her and said, "Yeah, yer always dancin' on the sea late at night."

Her face quickly turned the brightest shade of red Brine had ever seen, not even a salmon's skin could compare.

She stood right up and clutched her hands between her chest while stammering, "You...you saw me dancing?"

Brine stood up as well and looked a little worried but in a fond, charming sort of way, "Yeah? What's wrong with that...?"

She swung her head around then bit her lower lip, proceeding to swing her head up, swallow, and then declare in a hasty panic, "I-I got to go!"

She then sprinted for the sea. But as her toes touched the water Brine did the only thing he always did, "W-Wait!"

This time though, she paused, looking like her heart was ready to burst out of her chest.

Brine took a couple steps closer and muttered in a curious and almost fearful sounding way, "Please don't go."

"I-I'm sorry, this is too much for me..." She said, throwing her head in the direction of the sea.

He let out a quick sigh and then with a brief look away, fixed his gaze back at her and said, "L-Let's meet up here again one week from now."

Her whole body sprung upright and she turned around, her luscious face losing most of its blush.

"I-I..." Brine had his feelings right on his tongue but hesitated, only able to muster up half the strength of what he wanted to say, "I really do want to be yer chum, Torren."

"Ah...!" Torren looked down at the ground then took a deep breath in, letting it out like a cool sea breeze. She then looked him in the eyes and whispered, "One week. I...I promise I'll be here."

She then wasted no time diving into the sea and speeding off.

Brine stood behind and laid his hand against his chest. What would stop first? His smile, or his beating heart...

He carried this elevated feeling of bliss throughout the next week, performing above expectations around all his peers.

He was teased a little for being in love and even if they were right on the snout he played along and let them have their fun.

This was his special person, and he wasn't going to sour the mood.

The week flew by in the blink of an eye and Brine went to meet her at the exact same spot as before, no extra stuff weighing him down.

The mood was set the same as always...But he didn't mind. It was how he always got to see her, so this made it for him.

He had to wait around a few minutes, but as promised, Torren arrived out of the water fresh from what appeared to be a long, tiring swim.

"S-Sorry I'm late." She said, more shy than exhausted as her skin glistened with droplets dripping off of her.

Brine was stunned but hardly for long, "Y-You made it!"

A few moments later they were sitting down like before, with the silence between them like before, and yes, even her embarrassment at looking at him the same as before...

But Brine wouldn't have had it any other way.

This time however, it was Torren who spoke up first. She leaned her head back, took a deep breath, then curled her fingers into the sand and said, "S-So..."

Brine was a little too eager to lean in and hear what she had to say, making her freeze up.

He noticed and pulled back, mouthing "Sorry".

She forced a smile and asked, "You...have watched me dance?"

"Oh! Yeah, ever since I was just wee high." He said, putting his hand at his childhood height for a few moments.

Torren's eyes were completely wide in disbelief, "T-That long...? I...I never noticed anyone out on the sea."

"I was sittin' on the very edge of the docks." When he said that, Torren's expression went completely still.

She then smiled awkwardly and curled her fingers below her lips, "Ha ha, oh...right. The docks."

Her blushing was getting real bad to the point it looked like she was running a fever. She then threw her hands down atop her knees and turned away, sucking her lips in and making a quiet, high-pitched shriek internally.

Brine chuckled and approached her cautiously with an earnest question of, "Is it really that bad?"

Torren squeezed her knees and then after a long, painful silence, seemed to be forcing herself to say at the most barely audible whisper you could imagine, "W-What...did you think of it?"

"Of what?"

"My dancing..." She said, sounding ashamed.

For a few moments Brine blanked out and heard only utter silence. He then slowly grew a smile and gestured out to her to say, "Yer dancin' is some of the prettiest stuff I've ever seen, Torren."

"W-What?" She blushed extra hard and pulled back and away from him. She then shook her head viciously, insisting to him, "N-No it's...nothing special!"

"Are ya kiddin' me?" Brine chuckled sincerely, "The way yer body glistens under the moonlight, as the water dances around ya?"

He started to blush too, closing his eyes to put extra push into his smile, "It's a thing of beauty."

Torren's eyes blanked out and her body was slowly brought to the sand. On the moment of impact Brine flinched and she sprung onto her feet with one hand clutched against her chest.

He could see her heart beating out and she was struggling to keep her smile going, with a steady glaze forming in her eyes as though she was on the verge of tears.

She then closed her eyes and gasped painfully, "I-I have to go...!"

She made her way for the water but before Brine could utter a word she turned back around for a brief moment and hastily said, "N-Next week?"

Brine gave a dull nod and Torren whispered with a crack in her voice, "Sorry...again."

Another week passed by at a slower pace, but Torren did return to their meeting spot. This time Brine was feeling under pressure to say something. But what?

Torren wasn't carrying off from the last note they left on and it left him questioning how she felt. He was too invested in her opinion now. Did she think it was weird that he had been watching? Was she embarrassed being called pretty?

He wanted her to open up like an oyster and reveal her pearls of wisdom to him but the anxiety between them was so thick it made it difficult for either side to approach.

It was beginning to strain the beauty of this moment for him and caused it to lose it's initial luster.

Yes, he still wanted to be her friend, but his emotions weren't at the point of desperation where he'd want to force her to stick around if it hurt her.

He stood up with a sigh and this caused her to go "Huh?" and face his way.

He rubbed the back of his head and gazed up silently at the moon. He could no longer bear to look her in the eyes, especially with the guilt he was feeling.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea..." He let slip.

He paced a few steps away from her and groaned in frustration, because his heart felt one way but she was feeling another. But thoughts of destiny and fate still strung themselves around his heart and held on tight.

"...Torren, I-"

"W-Wait!" Torren shouted, having sprung to her feet with her hand outstretched near his back.

She pulled away as he turned around, putting her hands by her hips and muttering in a tense, but somewhat determined tone, "I-I'm sorry. I've been making this awkward, h-haven't I?"

Brine shook his hand out and insisted, "N-No, not at all...!"

But she shook her head in retaliation to remark, "No. No. It's absolutely my fault."

She took a quick moment to take a deep breath and steady herself a little. She then curled her fingers atop her chest and let it all out. She looked at the ground and began to say, "S-See...you're the second friend I've ever had."

Brine gently lowered his hand and muttered poignantly, "O-Oh."

Her head rose with a meager smile and a cracking chuckle, "Where I come from...I-I'm considered a very important person. It...doesn't leave me a lot of time to make friends."

"...Where you come from?" Brine said, his mouth partially agape.

Torren flinched and then quickly stuttered, "I-I come from somewhere far, far away."

"Could she be talking about the Sea Beyond?" Those were the waters spoken of in the tales of mermaids. But he chose to be silent.

She seemed to be taking his silence as a worrying thing though. So with a jolt in his expression he held his hands up and insisted, "Go on!"

"Oh, ok..." She said wistfully, "Ummm..."

She did a little breathing to calm down and continued, "It's...currently my duty to find something very, very important in the sea."

"A pearl? A jewel? Some sorta other buried treasure?" Brine rattled off his guesses while Torren shook her head fervently at every one.

"It's a..." Torren sucked her lips in and sighed while looking away with an anxious whisper of, "Very special power."

"Special power in the sea," Brine mumbled to himself, "Oh! Ya mean the Golden Reefquiem?"

"Huh?" Went Torren.

"It's a big golden fish that'll grant ya any wish if ya get it to the surface!" He proclaimed with a smile.

Torren gave a small smile and said, "That sounds...hard to believe."

"It's true I tell ya! ...Not that anyone's ever caught it." He mumbled at the end.

"Well, what I'm looking for is more...real," Torren said, "I found it once before but...It wasn't enough. So...I have to find it again."

"And it's very important?"

"Uh-huh." Torren bobbed her head.

"So the dancin' is...?"

Torrent squeaked and laughed a little bit out of nervousness, "That...that was, is...supposed to be a stress reliever."

"My duty is, well...I have very high expectations to live up to. Dancing is the only time I can get away from all that and just...do what I want to do," Torren then forced a smile and wiggled her fingers together pressed against her chest, "Y-You know what I really shouldn't be here I need to get back to work."

She was about to break off for the sea but this time, Brine felt his body moving on it's own to grab her by the wrist, refusing to let go.

"Torren, hold on!" He shouted, grabbing her attention with the look of a frightened, surfaced fish.

"It ain't good to throw yerself into yer work all the time! Even I do stuff other than fishin'," He said with an earnest look into her eyes and his best performing smile, "The sea ain't gonna dry up just cause you take a little time for yerself."

"Or...do ya not like bein' around me?" He threw a half-hearted chuckle into the mix.

Torren breathed in hard and then let out a long, deflated gasp of, "N-No. I-I do like being with you, but-"

Her hand slipped out and wedged itself between her chest, whispering in a broke up tone, "I don't know if we can keep seeing each other."

Brine took one step closer and reached out for her hand, taking it in his own carefully and gently. Her silky skin trembled, but she did not let go.

"But I want to." Was enough said from him to make her sniffle.

Brine pulled his hand away and kept it hovering in the air while saying to her softly, "I'll be 'ere every night waitin' for you. So please..."

Then Torren pulled her hand away and walked backwards towards the sea with her hands clutched against her chest, and her silvery eyes glistening with teardrops.

The smile she gave was burned into Brine's mind, and by the time he blinked she was already back in the sea.

The following few days were melancholic, as he dragged himself through his routine so he could reach that spot on the beach at night.

She didn't show up. That didn't stop him from trying.

A few more days passed, and he kept going. His fellow fishermen were picking up on his distracted mood but he never said a word back.

A week and a half after their last meeting, Brine was starting to feel lethargic and sighed at the sight of the sea at night, and the feeling of sea air against his face...

But as he began to leave for home that night, he heard a splash coming from the sea.

He turned around and saw her walking out of the sea all prettied up by the water on her skin. She brushed her hand up alongside her hair and glanced between the sand and Brine to whisper, "H-Hi."

His mouth was agape only for a moment. He smiled and approached her at a snail's pace before remembering he should probably say, "Hi."

These two soft-spoken words began a series of nights they spent together talking about this and that.

They kept to Torren's pace but slowly, slowly, she was being coaxed out of her shell and even took a more active role in starting topics of conversation.

They talked about how they ate, how they slept, and some of their favorite tales. They were both raised on the sea, yet Torren seemed to live a very different, almost otherworldly life from his.

Some nights, they felt fine just laying on the sand and looking up at the moon and stars. Torren had a name for every one but got embarrassed whenever she slipped into that mood.

Brine was living a happy, carefree life with someone he really cared about, and his closest friends were beginning to pick up on that.

One day Lulu came up to him, cheeks all bright aglow with warmth and leaned down to tease him softly, "Yer certainly lookin' chipper these days, boy."

She kept patting him on the back while prying in playfully, "Sooo, who's the lucky gal you reeled in?"

Brine had to look into her eyes and fib to her a little with a hearty chuckle, "No one, teach."

"Pfft, yeah. Sure." Lulu patted him harder and then walked off.

This experience was for them. When they were together, they felt like they had the whole beach and sea for themselves.

They could go wherever they wanted, and see the fish behave in ways he'd never taken the chance to witness before.

All the while keeping up conversations over the simplest or dumbest things that came to mind.

One night, Brine was up on his feet with Torren sitting comfortably in the sand with her legs stretched out to the side.

"Ok, so! This..." Brine raised a stick in each hand and smiled big, "Is how we dance!"

He started swinging his arms around and up and down while kicking away at the sand behind him. Torren was drawn in with a glow of curiosity and a little bit of humored intent in her eyes.

"Hee hee!" She chuckled into her hand.

"Yeah? Isn't this fun?!" He shouted, really getting in a festive mood.

"You...you look silly." She said out of the corner of her mouth, following it up with a teeny tiny smile.

His mood plummeted and he wagged one of the sticks at her while managing to somehow keep smiling, "Eyyy, this is great dancing! What are my movements too..."

He nudged his brows while holding the stick out, "Wooden?"

She froze up, her cheeks puffing with a snort while she covered her mouth and turned her head away.

"Hee hee hee!" She could be heard letting loose with the cutest laugh he ever did hear.

She looked embarrassed. She looked happy. She looked...

"Amazin'." The whisper slipped through his mouth.

"H-Huh?" She turned his way.

"...You're everythin' I ever dreamed of, Torren." He said.

They looked into each other's eyes. Their smiles having grown with their bond.

Where before she was just a figure Brine attached a fantasy too, now he had seen Torren for who she really was. Timid, soft-spoken, polite, a bit weird at times.

But that didn't stop her from being beautiful in his eyes.

With a big, relaxed smile he went down on his knees next to her and she sat upright, where they continued to waste the night away talking about festivities.

This kept up until one night, after Torren danced a beautiful dance for him beneath the rock arrangement, he decided out of the blue to ask, "So who taught ya how to dance? Yer parents?"

The good vibes in the atmosphere came to a complete halt as Torren gave him a look that made him instantly feel regret. She then hung her head and walked right past him.

Brine bit his lower lip and gestured out towards her to say, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know that-"

She turned around and hastily insisted, "No no, it's fine. I-"

"No, that was very rude of me. I didn't mean to-"

"Brine, it's ok. It's ok. I'm not-"

This back and forth of apologizing went on for a minute straight until both stopped and sighed, Torren's lasting longer.

She then put her hands before her waist and took a slanted look at the ground. With one more sigh she propped herself up and forced her smile through.

"I...never got to know my parents. They died when I was four."

"Oh my lord..." Brine murmured, "I-I'm so sorry."

"...My mind's blocked out most of what happened. I remember barely leaving my room for a long time though. I took solace in learning how to dance, thanks to a journal my mother left behind."

"I can't imagine what that had to be like."

"It was...hard," Torren sniffled, "B-But once I started to dance on the water...I could feel my mother dancing with me."

"Mmm..." Brine felt a bit uncomfortable and rubbed the back of his head real quick, "I...I really shouldn't have said anythin'."

"No, I'm...I'm comfortable sharing this with you, Brine. Because..." Torren lifted her head with a cheerful smile as she whispered, "You mean a lot to me."

Brine's heart rose with a flutter and the two's faces turned beet red, forcing them to look away in opposite directions.

They didn't say anything else on the matter and finished their night off in silence.

There was a brief lull in their meet-ups afterwards. But when Torren returned, she came with a surprisingly forward request.

"Brine? Can we...go out on the docks tonight?"

Brine blinked a few times and muttered, "S-Sure?"

They walked side-by-side out towards the moonlit horizon, neither saying a word.

When they reached the end, Torren kept moving forward while Brine puzzledly looked her way.

She stepped off the dock and right onto the water, the glow of her feet rippling beneath the surface.

She was a plank's length off the docks before she turned around, putting a hand on her chest and extending the other towards him.

Her eyes glistened with moonlight, and her beauty shone brightest through the sincerity in her smile.

"I want you to dance with me." She said with no cracks to mar her courage.

Brine stood there, mouth agape, and unconsciously began to raise his foot off the edge of the dock. He then stamped his heel right down, jerking his arms back and letting out a strained hiss.

He then pulled his arms against his chest and turned away with a quick, blunt remark of, "I-I can't...!"

"Brine?" Torren said in worry.

"I...I never told ya this but," Brine bit his lip and went into a restrained tone of disgust towards himself, "I'm deathly afraid of going into the water."

Torren's eyes widened and Brine had a mighty fine snicker at his expense, "Funny ain't it? A fisherman, afraid of the sea."

"...I'm sorry, Torren." He whispered.

"Brine..." Torren held her hand out with greater emphasis and her smile only grew, "Take my hand. I promise...you'll be ok."

"The water is only scary if you let it be."

Brine turned around and saw her standing earnestly. Waiting, wanting nothing more than this moment for them.

He returned to the edge of the docks and reached out towards her. All it took was one step to push down any sense of fear...

"I..."

He retracted his hand and hung his shaking head in shame. He gave his usual smile but here it felt forced for both of them.

He started to turn away but a misplaced step landed his heel on the wrong part of the dock's edge, causing him to trip and tumble back into the water.

"Brine!" Torren screamed and lunged across the water like a breaching dolphin, tackling him out of the air and back onto the dock.

They went tumbling around for a while but eventually, Torren wound up on her back with Brine atop her, both of them groaning in pain.

Brine began to push up but found his hands against silky smooth skin. He was pressing down on her arms, the pressure forcing her eyes open.

Their eyes were set a foot apart, their pupils slowly shrinking as their heart rates rapidly elevated.

Their faces became a light shade of red, their sweating frames glistening under the moonlight.

Torren's eyes began to glaze, her breaths releasing a thin and cold vapor and her chest throbbing with vigor.

Brine's breaths became ragged. It became difficult to think. The blood was rushing from his heart to his loins.

He glided his hands closer to her shoulders and then brought them up to her cheeks.

Steadily, he brought his head down to her frozen face and breathed in her thicker vapor, purified with the scent of lustful warmth.

Her breathing became more rapid and intense until the moment his lips pressed against hers. Then, their eyes closed on their own and the world outside of them went silent.

Under the sapphire moonlight, this was a dance made for them.

Where flesh and soul came together in the name of lucidity and passion...

When it was over, they laid atop one another, Torren rubbing his chest with her expression looking rather meek and frail while Brine was exhausted, yet more than capable of comforting her in his embrace.

They would spend a good couple of hours laying like this. They had taken the next step in their lives. They could no longer return to the humble days of two shy strangers conversing on the beach.

They were lovers, now and forever...

Next Time: The Caged Dragon Sings