Natural Enemy 1-4C
Three days.
That was how long it took.
Three whole days of peace, quiet, and a butt numb from sitting on rocks that were definitely too sharp for comfortable lounging. Ow… Kai shifted his weight, a grimace twisting his mouth as a sharp edge dug itself right into the extra padding he’d grown over the last year. Ow.
Just… ow.
Focus. The thirteen-year-old grit his teeth as his hands hovered towards the tide pool. The water in front of him fought his pull as much as it could, refusing to listen. This was so much easier when he was moving; surfing, running or even panic-scrambling away from something scary made the water want to flow.
With him and his body.
But when he was just sitting down, it wanted to sit there and be wet.
It wanted to be lazy, just like him. “Come on.” The words left him in a hiss, jaw clenched tight as he flexed muscles both visible and invisible. Don’t brick on me right now.
The surface of the pool twitched. Yes.
A bulge of liquid rose up, shivering like Jell-O in an earthquake. Not a wave; waves were easy enough to make, mostly gravity and vibes and water just eager to go back home. Only problem is, waves were too damn hard to control.
Too big, too loud, and again… too easy.
No, Kai was making marbles. Squeeze.
The water compressed with his fingers curling together. The blob shrank, getting denser and harder as the light bent weirdly through it until it stopped looking like water and shifted more to glass than anything else; heavy, solid, and shaped like a bullet. Yeah, that’s what it was.
A wet bullet.
Kai held it there, the water bullet hovering while sweat poured and pooled under the brim of his bucket hat. This was defense. This was ammo. This was— "How come you never make shapes?"
Splash. Concentration snapped like a rubber band as the water bullet collapsed, splashing back into the pool with a pathetic little plop.
Kai froze for a split second, eyes closed as he bit back a sigh. Three days. The teenager tilted his head back, bucket hat sliding down over his eyes as a thick fat cloud drifted over the clearing, blocking out the sun that was trying to boil his brain in his skull. Guess I can’t hide forever.
If he was being honest, he hadn’t been trying all that hard to hide.
A year on Kaihua and he’d learned her schedule pretty well. He knew when her mom gave her chores. He knew when the Chief was teaching her navigation. So, the best time to practice at the cove was when she was busy.
He was here. She was here. Which meant he’d messed up the math.
Kai turned his head slow. Lani.
She stood at the edge of the clearing where white sand gave way to jungle green, the chief’s daughter in a pink dress and a matching flower behind her ear. Both were pretty, honestly.
He wasn’t really looking at either of them, though.
"Shapes?" His voice was as flat as he could make it. Maybe if I bore her, she’ll leave.
"Yeah." Lani stepped closer, completely unbothered in the way he very much was. “ Like… a dolphin.” She plopped down onto the sand just a few feet away. “Or a turtle. Or a flower." She hugged her knees tight, chin resting on top as her eyes stayed locked on his hands. Big, brown and full of that shiny, stupid wonder that made his stomach try to strangle his lungs.
"Dunno.” Kai looked down, picking at a scab on his right arm. "Never tried. Not really the point."
"What's the point then?"
"Punching stuff, I guess.” It sounded dumb and he knew it, one hand rubbing the back of his head, but it was as true as anything else. Conduit powers were pretty much for fighting, from what he remembered on TV. "Making holes in things, kinda."
"You don't need to blast anything here.” Her voice went soft, eyes big as ever as they stared into his.
"Always gotta be ready.” It came out sharper than he meant.
He could tell from the way Lani flinched, just a tiny bit.
Great job, tough guy. Kai almost closed his eyes, biting back another sigh. Scare the girl. That’s the move. Real smooth.
"I mean..." Kai sighed, blowing air out of his cheeks until they puffed out. One hand scrubbed at his face, freshwater wiping off some sweat. "I ain’t an artist, Lani. I'm just... I'm just a guy with wet hands." He held them up, wiggling his fingers. “See? Soaked.”
"Show me.”
Kai blinked. “Huh?”
“Show me the wet hands.” She straight up commanded, voice just as hard as his was. “Make a turtle.”
Right, chief’s daughter. Kai sighed, the sound mostly frustration. "Fine. A turtle. Whatever."
He turned back to the pool, blue eyes narrowed until the world was just the water and the glare of the sun. A turtle. Now… His tongue came out as Kai tried to picture it in his head. What did a turtle look like?
He pulled a blob of water up, the water already resisting him. It wanted to flow free; it didn't want to have legs. He forced it anyway, eyebrows knitting together, as sweat dripped free down his nose. Twist. Hold. Shape.
It wobbled as it rose up, trembling as it looked… well, it looked like a potato that had been stepped on and half-mashed. Legs.
“Gimme legs…”
A nub jiggled its watery way free, then it fell off with a splash. Fu-
The rest followed, the surface tension and his focus both giving up as the whole thing collapsed back into the pool. Damn it.
Kai blinked up as the sound of a giggle hit his ears..
It wasn’t a mean giggle. More light, bubbly; like one of the fizzy mango drinks Auntie Loa liked to make. “You're not very good at that.”
"Hey." His shoulders came up, chin jutting down as a frown slid back on his face. "I'm good at the other stuff. I can break a rock. I can… I can push a boat."
"I know." The giggle died as her voice went quiet again. "I know you're strong, Kai."
Lani shifted in the sand, one hand digging into the little pouch she kept tied at her waist. Kai watched her hand as it went in; thin fingers, clean nails. “I made something.”
Kai blinked. “Something?”
“For you, Kai.” She pulled it out; white, jagged, and stung on a cord of braided coconut fiber, the puka shells stood out immediately.
His throat went dry, like he’d swallowed a handful of sand. He’d seen plenty of guys wearing them, mostly the surfers. Like, he’d seen one on Mako. Fourteen year old Mako, the one with muscles on muscles, who had won the Great Wave contest two years and four festivals in a row.
Mako, who looked like he belonged on a poster.
“F-for me?” His voice cracked high enough to make his eye twitch.
“Yeah.” Lani shuffled closer, her knees in the sand now.
Kai leaned forward without even thinking, her hands brushing the back of his neck. His muscles locked up, spine frozen as Lani tied the necklace around him. Her breath hit his ear. Warm.
Shells settled against his collarbone, the feel of it cool on his skin, as Lani leaned back. “There.”
A smile tugged at her mouth as her head tilted sideways. “Matches your eyes… a little. Very bright, y’know?”
Kai touched the puka with numb fingers. Danger. Danger. Abort.
"Your dad!”
Lani blinked as he winced, the moment shattering like dropped glass. “My dad?”
"He's... b-big.” Kai stammered, scrambling backwards in the sand, putting distance between them. “Huge guy. Like palm trees for arms. Scary scary dude. Probably d-doesn’t want... uh, this. Me. Us. Hanging out.”
“Kai, he likes y-”
“Anyway!” Kai jumped right up to his feet, brushing wet sand off his butt with frantic slaps. “Gotta go! Auntie gets mad if I’m late for dinner. You know Auntie!”
“Kai, wait a m-!”
Kai didn’t.
He walked fast. Not running, running would have made him look guilty.
He was just… walking with extreme purpose. Away from the girl. Away from the look in her eyes. Away from…
Chill life. That was the mission. That was what he wanted. Chill life meant eating until you were full, sleeping until noon, and surfing small waves. Chill life meant no drama. Chill life meant no Chief’s daughters trying to kiss you.
Kai kept walking until he reached the edge of the jungle. The village noise was already drifting through the trees — laughing, drums and the crackle of a firepit.
Kai looked back at the jungle as a sigh left his lips, heavy and rattling. Pussy.
“Shut up…”
– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –
A few hours later, in the quiet of the night, Kai made a decision.
Most people were already long asleep, full meals having put everybody to bed long ago. The fires were low, just glowing beds of red-orange eyes in the dark.
Kai was still awake in his own hut, though, the shadows stretching long and weird against the woven walls. On his knees, he was digging through a woven bag the village had given him a full year ago. In it, were the few things that he came with.
Or at least, what was left of it.
After a year of village living, his shirts and underwear were done with. All that was left was just this. His fingers touched the denim of his old jeans as he pulled them out.
The exact same ones he’d washed up on shore with and had barely looked at for about eleven months now. Hmmm. They were stiff; old dirt, grease, and sea salt doing their part to make them more like cardboard than anything else.
He brought them up to his nose and sniffed. They smelled like exhaust fumes. Like rain on hot asphalt. Like the back of a dumpster. Like fear.
Lauderdale…
Kai stood up and left his hut, the jeans still in his grip as he walked out to the communal fire pit in the center of the village. For a second, he just stood there, staring at the embers breathing in the dark.
He held the jeans over the heat.
“Can’t wear ‘em anyway.” He shook his head. “Too fat now.” Sure, that was the reason. Without another word, he dropped the denim right into the coals.
For a second, nothing happened as the fabric resisted the heat, just like the water resisted him.
Then, smoke.
Thick, acrid smoke that didn't smell like wood.
It didn’t take long at all until one leg caught, the blue turning black. The fabric curled up, metal zipper glowing a bright cherry red in the center of the darkness.
Kai didn’t look away, refusing to turn his head or even blink as it burned. He watched the loose fabric around the torn knees — where he’d scraped them crawling under a fence — turn to blackened ash. He watched the pockets — where he’d hidden stolen candy bars — disintegrate.
Goodbye, Kai from the Alley.
Kai reached up and touched the puka shell necklace. It was still there, cool against his throat.
The fire popped and a spark flew up, dancing into the night sky before dying out.