Yeah, knew chapter. This was pretty quick, so i'll take some time out. Nothing more to say... It's really late and i'm almost falling asleep so... Good readings and good night :)
VI
- Seee-a, cee-a, ceee, seeee, see, sea… - the funny sounds that left her throat made her scrunch her brow, as she tried hard to twist her tongue and mouth in the right way.
This "s" sound was particularly difficult. It seemed to only exist out of the liquid environment, as the air passed in the narrow opening her tongue made against her upper jaw. It was curious and delightful, for being so foreign to her.
The surface brought a whole new world of sounds she was eager to discover. She gasped enthusiastically, as the thought of how would be singing like in the open air came to her mind. All of this was just… She was so excited that no fitting word came to her mind.
The calm waters of the little bay started to mimic the flaming hues of the dusky sky, reflecting the bright oranges and pinks in the mermaid's happy face.
Though she was in such concentration, trying this new word - the one humans used to name her home – she didn't noticed the fiery spectacle around her.
- Seaa… - she pronounced slowly, and immediately giggled at the slight whistling sound it made.
But suddenly a gasp left her drying throat, as from the steep wall of rock that hidden the bay, small stones came rolling down, and right behind them, something slid loudly downhill, enveloped in a cloud of dust. Whatever it was, it made horrid sounds, as some creature in agony.
Toothiana instinctively dove, hiding herself in the shallow waters. She was about to flee again, and find some other preferably more private place where she could practice peacefully, when her eyes couldn't resist but take a peek at the unknown creature.
There was a faint painful groan, and as the particles of dust faded away allowing the figure to reveal itself, Toothiana could only blink.
A cough echoed on the rocks, born on the appearing being.
She could now distinguish two pairs of eyes. The first ones were completely black and glimmering, situated on each side of a small white head. The white creature kept struggling to get free, free from two arms that held it firmly.
Two arms…
It was then that her irises lifted to the second form, a pair of cerulean oceans staring right back at her.
And she hadn't realized how much she longed to see this specific blue again.
- Jack…? – she simply let it escape from her lips, half sigh, half surprise.
But suddenly her brain started working again, and both their eyes widened in embarrassment and shock.
Her head-fins shot up for a second, and the mermaid blushed and drained out of color simultaneously.
But before mortified escapes could be made, the boy got straight up, not even once caring with the finally released lamb. Socks would be safe; there was no easy way out.
Jack moved forward, stopping just where the sea kissed the cold rough sand.
- You… You said my name! – he whispered, eyes wide in realization.
He absently stepped forward, though the regret was immediate, and quickly stopped at the sight of her wincing. One wrong move and she would be gone forever…
- Wait! – he suddenly realized, – You can understand me?
He sounded almost hopeful, a slight tone of despair barely present.
Toothiana only pursed her lips, finally understanding the consequences of her silly give off. Without thinking, she strongly shook her head "no".
The boy, on the other hand, couldn't be more disappointed, eyes falling to his bare feet.
- Oh, for a second I thought we might… - the mutter came deep, from the back of his throat. But then his irises snapped right up. – Hey, wait a minute…
And he couldn't avoid chuckling full-heartily, as he watched the girl's irises widening madly, flushed cheeks bright in the evening's setting light, as she realized her own mistake.
But the mermaid turned away, feeling more embarrassed than she had ever been, under the amused chuckle of this strange human-being. And she was ready to dive and disappear, tired of feeling this exposed before a human boy, when the sound of splashing water reached her ears.
- No! – she suddenly heard him burst out, and quickly looked back, astonished.
He seemed to also realize he had said that far more desperately than what it should have seemed, as he instantly advert his gaze. But managing to swallow his pride to admit what he truly felt, he built up the courage to speak his heart.
It came out as a hesitant whisper.
- Please don't go...
And Toothiana could only stare.
...
..
.
- So... – he began awkwardly, keeping his eyes on his crossed legs. – In the end you really do speak English, hun?
The mermaid before him titled her head, looking confused.
Yes, the mermaid before him...
This was surely the strangest thing he had ever done. And the difficult part was Jack had to leave everything he thought he knew, out of this bay. It was the only way he would be fair to both of them.
The mermaid was now a complete blank page to be filled as Jack would come to know her. No links to previous myths or unconfirmed truths.
- What I mean is, - he continued, trying to be as clear as possible. – you have always spoken my language?
The look on her face showed she struggled to comprehend and to come back with a proper reply. In the end she simply shook her head "no". And Jack lost no time.
- Then how...?
But he got interrupted, as the mermaid pointed to one of her strange-shaped ears. Then she tapped her forehead, and proceeded by opening her mouth and mimicking words.
The boy watched closely the succession of gestures. It was like a game of charades, and he was starting to have a little fun.
- You... heard? – but before the mermaid could say no, he shouted. – You've learned!
Enthusiastic nods from the other.
He watched as glad smile formed on her lips, but as quickly as ever, his mind was once again drowned in new questions, which he hurried voicing:
- With who?
And the mermaid blinked at his restless interrogatory. But then, thinking for a second, she struggled to get her fin out of water and hurriedly pointed at it, before letting the weight collapse into its rightful place.
Jack, however, after gazing intensely at her tail, frowned, not yet getting it. The girl huffed, frustrated and opened her mouth, hesitantly.
- M... Me-Merm... – it was really hard, and she was sure she looked ridiculously like a fish out of water, desperately gasping for air.
She lifted her eyes to the boy, expecting to see him doing his best to contain a bursting laughter, but the only thing she saw were wide open eyes, staring at her eagerly, as if admiring her effort. So she shoved that thought away and kept trying.
- Mermaids... – she finished with a sigh. Jack made a face of understanding, and quickly repeated, just to be sure.
- There are other mermaids who taught you? – receiving a simple nod he smiled. It was fun to know this kind of unimaginable things.
He adjusted himself in his sitting position, in the cool sand of the end of another day, gazing the amazing being before him with wide open eyes, as if they weren't able of capturing her as a whole.
Little Socks himself had already calmed down, and laid near its shepherd, taking a nap to rest from all the fuss he had caused.
But then something assaulted Jack's conscience, and he quickly blurted out more questions.
- You called me Jack! – he remembered how he had been extremely shocked to hear his name in her dulcet voice. He was immediately curious, and asked cautiously. – How... how did you know my name?
The mermaid flushed deeply again, and in her morphing skin-tone a quick wave of red passed over the beautiful blues and greens. Her violet irises drifted to the water below her, a perfect mirror to the painted clouds above.
But then, she tried to remember... that word he had used before to describe...
- Heard... – Her pronunciation was really good, her fast learning already kicking in.
And of course, being a mermaid, sounds in particular were something very natural to her. Even the strangest, like the ones these humans used.
And the boy was taken aback, for a second, by the skills she had at mimicking and the fastness of her comprehension. She surely was a very intelligent creature. But... the word, surprisingly, made something feel wrong...
Creature...
He abruptly realized he didn't know her name, and that felt strange to him, for the first thing humans usually knew about each other was their name.
And he couldn't just keep addressing her as creature or mermaid, could he?
- What is your name? – he inquired, staring her in the eye, as she lifted her head again at the sound of his voice.
And although she shifted slightly under his strong gaze, she titled her head, frowning.
Okay, now it is your turn to do the charades...
- Uhm... – he thought out loud, attempting to figure out how to explain her what "name" meant.
- Well, you see... I'm Jack! – he started signaling towards his own person, waiting to see if she understood. And when she simply looked at him like he was doing the strangest thing in the world, making all those gestures just to point to himself, he cringed.
She's not stupid, you idiot! , his mind seemed to quickly remember him. So, with that set, he proceeded.
- My name is Jack. – and he assured she associated the word "name" with his own name. - Jackson Overland Frost.
And she seemed to understand, as her lips formed a little "o", and she nodded. Fitting herself in a more comfortable position, she brought her hand to her chest, and prepared to let out those words never said out of water.
- Too-thi-a-na... – the mermaid pronounced, wincing slightly at how bad it sound in the air. It felt dry and ephemeral. She tried to ignore it, as she repeated one more time to be sure he got it. – Toothiana!
In the sea, it sounded almost like a song. Up here, the boy scrunched his nose at the strangeness of it.
- Tuuu..
- Toothiana. – she helped, and he repeated.
- Tuuut...
- Tooth...
-Tooth...
- Toothia-
- Tooth! – and the boy interrupted her, as she was going to teach him the last part of her name, but he started laughing whole-heartily.
She could do nothing but blink, not really getting what was the reason of so melodious sound.
He even felt backwards, and only chuckled, lying down on the wet sand. And as soon as he recovered, he got up again, watching the neutral mermaid before him.
When the boy noticed her confused look, he frowned slightly, and got a step closer.
- Tooth!? – he half asked, half exclaimed, sounding as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. To which the other basically replied, as ignorant as ever:
- Tooth?
And Jack suddenly came towards her, catching her out of guard, so she could barely lean back in order to escape his brusque approach and impulsive closeness. But he seemed oblivious to her discomfort, coming really close to her face, muttering deeply:
- Tooth. – and she was about to draw back, when his hands travelled to his mouth, pulling the thin lips upwards. – Tooth... – he managed to say, still comprehensible, even with his fingers on his oral cavity.
And Toothiana was actually about to dive away from this awkward situation, when a glimmer of whiteness called her attentions.
As her irises turned to the source of that purity, she barely avoided a swoon. But that mesmerized gasp of adoration managed to leave her lips.
- Tooth? – she asked, enchanted, not even once drifting her eyes away from such beauties. She saw a finger tapping softly a clean canine and a muffled word was heard.
- Tooth. – the boy confirmed, and removed his own hands, watching the mermaid that possessed a dreamy smile on face.
He chuckled lightly, making her look him in the eyes again, and he pointed at her with a smirk.
- You... Tooth!
And she couldn't bother less for him not knowing how to pronounce her long melodic name. If by calling her that, he had those wonderful things in mind, well... she felt flattered!
And this is the story how Toothiana became only Tooth, and how a blank page was suddenly filled with a good measure of laughter and glee. Something Jack had been carving for, lately.
So it was with peaceful smiles, and lightness in their hearts, that they watched the sun give a last stroke of paint to the marvelous sky, before retrieving towards unpainted parts of the globe.
The bells ended calling Jack back home, and he there he went, carrying the sleepy lamb up the darkened hill. He looked back once, thought, and Tooth would forever hold in memory the tender smile that graced his lips.
The mermaid, for instance, was left with the waves and stars as company. And not before breathing in that nocturne air, just for the sake of its taste, did she let herself be swallowed by her even darker home.
It was as if she had suddenly jumped between universes.
And the only traces of the true existence of the dream she just left, were the memories she took with her, and the hope of the day when she would come and make new ones...