Merhalle

The Chosen One

Tru's POV:

    After our shower, Nallie and I laid down for the night. I couldn't shake how exhausted I was. I craved the comfort of my sheets. I laid on my back, Nallie snuggled up to my chest, throwing her leg over mine. It wasn't long before I succumbed to my exhaustion. 

    Fire, on a beach. Humans, surrounding the fire, laughing. Then the fire disappeared. The beach cleared, and I heard it, the beacon. It came like a whisper. 

    ...come... 

    I jerked awake. It was late, but I knew what I had to do. I looked over at Nallie beside me, her hair falling on her slim face, hiding her lips. I brushed her hair away from her face, and gently kissed her on the cheek. I pulled myself out of bed, and pulled my regular tank and shorts on. I had to get to General Creen. He'd know what to do. I opened the door, the moon beamed down from the sky. I jogged the whole way to the castle. Going over the dream in my head. The beacon must have been at the beach, but what could it be? I gazed at the castle stairs in front of me, this is it, this is my moment. I climbed the stairs slowly, gathering my thoughts and preparing what I was about to say. I headed to the meeting area, if General Creen wasn't in there, his assistant would be. I opened the door to the area, and General Creen turned to face me. In front of him stood Queen Temala. 

    "We've been waiting for you." Queen Temala stated. 

    "So you knew? You knew I was the chosen one?" I questioned. 

    "Not so much knew, just more of a feeling I suppose." She answered. "So tell me what brings you here tonight." 

    "It came in a dream, but I still have so many questions. All the dream showed me was a fire on a beach, and a bunch of humans." 

    "Anyone stand out in the crowd?" She asked. 

    "No your majesty, I heard a voice, a whisper, telling me to come to it, I guessed it was beacon and came straight away." I said. "I was hoping you could give me more of a clue as to what I was looking for." 

    "Who. It's, who you are looking for." She said. "The night the war started, I gave birth to a baby girl, on land. She is the beacon. I was forced to leave her for her own protection, when we were safe, the ancestors had a vision, that she would be the peace bringer to our tribe, and the humans. She would be the end of the war as we know it. No more living in fear, or isolation, we'd be free again, to live our life as we choose." 

    I took in all this new information. The princess, was living on the island. Alone? How would she bring peace to us? 

    "Your job," General Creen said interrupting my thoughts, "is to locate the princess, and bring her home safely." 

    "How will I know which one she is?" I asked. 

    "You'll know." They said in unison. 

    We sat and went over the plan. I was to swim to the mainland first, it wasn't as heavily guarded. Every year the mainland sends a ship to Halle, to bring supplies, and people who have chosen to go to the mainland as their path in life. I was going to board a ship and arrive to Halle as a mainland human. This will be my cover. I was to locate the princess, and do whatever it takes to bring her home. 

    On the walk home, I went over the plan in my head at least a dozen times. I never thought being the chosen one would feel like this. I knew my mission, but I was nervous to be around all of the humans on Halle Island, but it had to be done. Merhalle Soldiers never backed down from a challenge. I went to my house to gather my thoughts before I left. I imagined I would feel over joyed, or at least slightly excited, but I'm nervous. I can't seem to shake the feeling that this might not be exactly what I want it to be, what I needed this to be. I've worked for this my whole life. It was the dream of any Merhalle Soldier. The Chosen One. The sound of it made me shudder. Dreams are a lot different from reality. You can wake up from a dream, you can't shake reality. 

    I opened my door, Nallie sat on the couch, running her finger across her bottom lip. She stopped when she noticed me standing there. 

    "You okay?" She wondered. 

    "I think I will be. I have strict orders from the queen, so I'll be gone for a little while, but I will be back." I explained. 

    "Oh, Merhalle duty calls I see." She laughed. 

    "Indeed it does." I said. 

    She gathered her things, and started to head out the door. I stood by the door way and just observed. She seemed worried, or stressed. I didn't have time to think about that right now. I had the most important mission of my life laid out in front of me, I couldn't let the queen down. She started to open the door, and then stopped. She looked at me, with sadness in her eyes. She leaned in, and kissed me on the cheek. 

    "Goodbye Tru, and good luck." She said as she walked out the door. 

    I don't know why she looked so upset. She knew this was my dream, and some things come with sacrifices. I didn't have time to deal with this. I rummaged through my drawers, trying to find something appropriate to wear. Shorts and a nice tee would do I guess. It's just another island, I don't see how I could stand out too much. I threw on the clothes, and headed towards the ocean. This was it. I headed towards my fate. The salty air filled my lungs, calming any nerves that I had down. My feet hit the sand, and I started running full speed. The water splashed up my legs, and I was finally belly deep. I dove under the cool sea water, letting it wrap around my body, embracing me. The familiar tingle spread throughout my body. My feet disappeared, and in their place my magnificent tail. I took a deep breathe, and swam as fast and hard as I could. 

    I've never been to the mainland. I've seen it once, when the team and I were on a mission. We can never be too careful. The humans would kill us if they caught us. They see us as a danger, but really, it's them. I swam for what seemed like two hours, finally, the island came into view. It was still late, but people would be getting up soon. By the look of the sky, it had to be around four or five in the morning. I swam to the closest beach that was as hidden as possible. I swam far enough to free my legs, so I could walk to shore. I let myself dry, and then headed towards the boat docks. The first boat I saw, was huge. It resembled an older ship. There were a lot of men, loading the ship with boxes. I casually walked by, trying to listen to the men as they loaded the boat. They were speaking as if this was the boat that went to Halle. I walked around the Mainland trying to keep myself busy until people started to load the boat. 

    I think an hour went by before I started seeing people walk towards the boat. A large group of maybe fifteen started walking towards it, trying to blend in with the group. It wasn't hard. Everyone looked different. They weren't like Halle Islanders. They all had different skin tones, hair colors, an eye colors. Everyone on Halle had a mocha skin tone, with some tone of brown eyes, and brown or black hair. We all boarded the boat. The deck started to fill. I picked my spot at the front of the boat. We took off around eight o'clock that morning. They said it was about a two hour boat ride to Halle. I just watched the water as the boat sailed through the waves. The blue sea was so peaceful, before this man-made machinery interrupted it. I hated humans. They could make useful things, but mostly, they destroyed. They polluted into the ocean, killing our wildlife. I understood fishing for food, but when did it become a sport? 

    Halle Island came into view. The beautiful white sand untouched so far today. The palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze. It was as beautiful as I remember. It was also different. The big buildings, the houses instead of huts. The Main Landers have changed it to their liking. I was already ready to find the princess and take her back home. I didn't want to stay here any longer than I had to. The boat came to a stop. Everyone started to un-board the boat. I kept my head down and joined into the crowd. My feet hit the sand, I looked around at the beautiful island, it was bigger than I remembered. This might be harder than I thought.