Aliénor's Song

How Tribes Are Made

Mairi woke up the next morning alone on the ocean floor. She sat up, disoriented and began to scan the room. Aliénor was gone.

She began to worry. Had she been abandoned? Before she could really panic, Aliénor came in through their newly created window. She had several fish on the shaft of one of the spears she had been carrying. She also seemed to have several long strands of dark green seaweed wrapped around her left arm.

"Sorry, I thought I would be back before you woke up. Are you hungry?"

In response Mairi's stomach let out a low rumble. She hadn't eaten anything since she had been changed. She hadn't even really thought much about food with everything going on. Besides, she was accustomed to going long periods without meals.

For a moment she felt a little embarrassed that she hadn't realized she was hungry.

That thought was almost immediately replaced by a feeling she couldn't really describe. At first it was relief that someone was thinking of her and taking care of her. Then a feeling of fear and discomfort at the idea washed over her, she had never had someone provide for her without expecting anything in return.

One look at Aliénor's hopeful expression made those feelings melt away into a wave of affection. This girl who she had only known for a short time had gotten up and gone out to catch them breakfast.

For her.

Mairi smiled back at Aliénor.

"I'm famished. What is there to eat down here?"

"I found the fish taste pretty good. I also tried some of the seaweed. It has an interesting briny flavor. I thought maybe we could wrap the fish in it."

With that Aliénor began pulling the fish from her spear and wrapping them in the long seaweed tendrils. She passed the first one to Mairi.

"Eat."

Mairi bit gingerly into it. She had never had raw fish, although she had heard stories of people who ate raw fish from Eóghan. Apparently they were from a land across the sea. It was supposed to be quite the delicacy. Still, the idea was strange to her. She wrinkled up her nose and gingerly sniffed the fish wrap. All that really accomplished was getting water in her nose. It wasn't painful, but it was not comfortable either. She blew out and a small stream of bubbles left her nostrils.

Aliénor grinned. "Smell good?"

"I learned a long time ago that if my nose doesn't like it, my mouth won't either. You'd be surprised how much you rely on smell when you are used to eating things that people have thrown away."

Aliénor thought about how hard Mairi's life on land must have been. Poor girl. She really had it rough.

"Well, these are fresh. Eat up. You need your strength."

Mairi took a small bite of the fish. Her eyes widened and she devoured one in just a few minutes. Without saying anything Aliénor handed her the second. She grabbed it and quickly began eating. After Aliénor hander her a third, she began wrapping one for herself.

The seaweed combined with the soft flesh of the fish made an interesting combination. Aliénor wondered what other things down here were good to eat. Maybe they could spend a day exploring the ocean to find food, but today she had other plans.

"Mairi," she said almost in a whisper.

Mairi looked up at her, confusion on her face.

"Did you really mean it?"

"What? That I smell all my food? Absolutely. You only have to get sick once to learn that lesson the hard way."

"No. About helping me find Cayn."

Mairi paused with half eaten fish almost to her mouth. "Of course I did."

"I want to look for him today. I want to bring him home and lay him to rest here with us."

"What about the captain?"

"He can wait. Cayn can't"

"Okay, we will look for him today."

They continued their meal in silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, but there was a heaviness to it. They both were contemplating what they had planned for the day.

Aliénor was considering the idea of finally having her husband back with her, and Mairi was thinking of how to get him back to the shipwreck.

After they had eaten their breakfast, Mairi began looking around the rooms of the ship.

Aliénor followed her.

"What are you looking for?"

"I'm not sure. Rope? A net?"

"What do you need that for?"

"Well, think about it, how do we swim?"

"We use our tails and our torso to move through the water."

"Right, but we use our hands too, to help us swim in the right direction, move things out of the way, and to signal to each other."

"Right..." Aliénor trailed off.

"Right. So we can't carry your man back in our arms. We need something we can put him in. Then we can put that between us to carry him back, so our hands are free. Also, if we are going to be carrying him back, at least one of us should take a weapon. Just in case."

Aliénor was stunned for a moment. She appreciated that Mairi likely had to spend most of her life ready to defend herself. She had to admit that what Mairi was saying made sense. She was a little impressed with the amount of thought that Mairi had put into this. It was a little heartwarming that Mairi was taking this so seriously. She really was invested in this quest.