I spent the whole day on the island. I spent the whole day with people. With….. my child. Our child.
Time didn't move fast. But it didn't move slow either.
It wasn't something I even thought of as Kaia showed me how to change a diaper….. brush and braid her peoples hair... wash clothing of their kind. Many times she cried. Kaia made an effort not to let me see, playing it off as coughs, hiding behind me as I worked with our child. Shielding her eyes from the setting sun. I worked, wondering if they were tears of joy or something else….
It should've been tedious. But I was at peace. Even in spite of my terror everytime this product of my own's profoundly young and inquisitive eyes fell on me, I was at peace.
It felt wrong sometimes. But it didn't more times.
So I embraced peace. And the sun fell.
The ocean sang sweet melodies. It's roaring, frothy whispers and salty fresh breath blended with the midnight richness. The air was as crisp as it had ever been.
The moon was a curved sliver miles from my mind.
Monsters felt like a thing belonging to the outer world. Unable to breach this peaceful island.
Everyone was asleep but us three.
Kaia, Me and our child.
Still I didn't know her name. Part of me felt I didn't need to. But shouldn't every father know their child's name? Could I even be like every father?
I sat on a thatch chair embroidered with fish scale and beast blubber for cushioning. I wore nothing but a thin blue whool shirt and black water resistant pants. Sticking out even without my armor, watching Kaia and the baby in her bed. The same bed where she was created. Beneath the same died hemp quilt and silk sheet. There was something profound about that. Like I was witnessing her in her place of birth in more ways than one.
Kaia poked her thick working fingers into the baby's belly.
"Boop!"
The baby shifted in the sheets and let out a screeching laugh. It was an unpleasant sound.
They'd been at it for the last twenty minutes. The babies face was red with glee and exertion. She was practically glowing. At the height of existence in her own little world on this little island.
My stomach tightened as I momentarily entertained the worry that the baby wasn't getting enough oxygen.
Before I could move on my thoughts, Kaia stopped and the baby sighed— looking exactly like her mother the first day I came. Mannerisms were physical masks reminiscent of who raised you. Our child wore Kaia's mask wholeheartedly once before her eyes slowly closed and she embraced sleep.
I watched Kaia as she laid beside the baby. Her smile faded so fast I questioned if it was ever there. Her dark brown curls swept behind her pierced ear brushed against her thick mannish collar bone as she silently shifted on the bed, staring down at her child.
She wore the most bizarre expression. In my feelings of peace…. bliss …. hope— even, I seemed to oppose her in the current moment.
She wore the clearest mask of defeat id ever seen. Her glow was gone. Her youthful vigor and exuberance waned like ocean waves in low tide. Sudden and without hesitation. Maybe the days worries— or the stress of being a lone mother finally hit when the baby rested.
Then came acceptance. A sad, fleeting smile. I felt like I wasn't supposed to be there. I felt like I was invading a precious and profoundly depressing moment. But I couldn't begin to wonder why…. Not as accurately as I was comfortable with.
She leaned close to our child and whispered something in her native tongue. The words flowed off her glossed lips as smooth as the ocean waves. As foreign to me as they could ever be.
It haunted me to no end.
I was petrified in my chair for hours as they slept in complete stillness. In a weirdly stiff peace that forced me into a speculative wonder. A disjointed horror.
I was overstimulated and out of my element. My sword couldn't guide my hand towards gentle love and appropriate adoration. My thunder couldn't shake thoughts of a familial future out of my twisted brain damaged by the seas.
But I had to try.
I whispered the Laws of Bushido to myself as the centralizing mantra they were.
"Rightousness, Loyalty, Honor, Respect, Cour—"
Voices from beyond the hut interrupted my calming whispers. Sudden and angry. Two things unperturbed by a language barrier. Two things I could understand.
I got up from my seat in silence and left the hut, sparing Kaia and our child a single glance once more before leaving.
My booted feet sank in the sands made anew and absent of footprints by midnight winds. Cold as the ocean. Jewels and clear stones within reflected the clear starry sky.
Enough light— combined with the Tangent entrances floating above the ocean, was provided for me to see the new footsteps ahead.
Trailing from a nearby hut straight for The Elder's home.
Another raised voice came, this time flanked by objects being thrown and destroyed in anger.
I moved toward the danger….. the commotion— the storm, as I always do.
Step after step until I was right at the Elder's Door.
That same lizard insignia once covered by lizards hovered over me. It's metallic contours were the only thing visible in the dark. Like the bad omen was growing lost on me as I continued to not heed its warnings.
"Ihaka, be calm. You're not supporting your people acting this way—" The Elder's voice echoed from within the house.
He was speaking to my once old friend. The one that struck me hours before. It seems he was still angry.
"HOW!?... how can I be calm. You promised us he would stop by….. mess around, and leave. You said he doesn't linger. Your Government promised my people resources! Safety in exchange for research. We were supposed to work together! Now his child is apart of my family. You let this happen. The child of a man cursed by the gods! That means WE ARE CURSED!"
I was in utter shock.
Ihaka could speak my language. He could speak Arthurian English. Quite well at that. But even more so, the content of his words implied The Elder….
I looked back up at the Lizard insignia and saw a Wheel.
"He's here…" Ihaka's voice trembled with rage.