LJ Idol Season 9, Week 29: Gauntlet
Li approached the small, desolate island, chest bubbling just as the water did underneath his nose. The water filled his lungs; his legs had long since fused together in a long, fish-like tail, propelling him forward as he swam towards the tiny patch of land. Its jagged cliff-side faced him, an old, withered tree standing at the edge of it, its limbs threatening to jump into the tumultuous waters below.
His chest tightened. His eyes burned as he lifted his head above the water -- as he breathed in air for the first time in what must have been weeks. Weeks since Jordine had found him in his home. Weeks since he left his family behind.
Weeks, and he couldn’t go back. The few moments he had managed to sneak back onto land revealed all too much -- that the police were looking for him; that he was the number one suspect -- that prints were found all over the small, one-family home. In blood. On the knife. On his son’s skin. His toys.
His tail shortened, stubbing and breaking into legs. He hadn’t bothered to bring a set of pants; he’d have no need of them, where he was going. He found the passage along the rocky shore; the one he and Jordine had explored together as children. Time had weathered it, the rocks smoother at the opening, some of the walls crumbling in, the further he trudged forward.
His toes found purchase in the sand, bits of shell biting into feet as he made his way upwards. Soon, the sand would break, turning into rock and grass. Once through the cave, he would be on the other end of the island.
He would be home.
Home. The word brought a hollow laugh to his lips. Did his mother even still live here? It had been so long since he had lived in the sea -- so long since he had kept up with his family. If it weren’t for Jordine...
Li shook his head, his wet, dark hair clinging to his skin as he began to see the first beams of sunlight. Toes curled into the grass, and for a moment, he stopped all of his movements.
The small shack could be seen in the distance. Just a small shelter -- one his mother had built herself, years and years ago, with drift wood from the several ships she sank, back when her voice still carried in the wind.
He could hear her song, now. How the notes felt soothing, inviting. Except it was nothing but the wind howling at the mouth of the cave, reminding him he came here for one reason, and one reason only.
Shivering, Li took his final steps forward, adjusting his balance and finally finding equilibrium amongst the grass. It was his mother who had given him a love for the land; an ambition to be better than their life as peasants.
That same ambition had consumed his sister, spurred her into the King’s Court, and eventually becoming Queen herself. Li’s nails dug into his palms, sea salt stinging at the small wounds he left behind. He had no weapon on him. No clothes to armor his body.
No movement could be seen from outside the shack. Perhaps Jordine had moved their mother into more hospitable conditions -- except in all the time Jordine had kept him locked in his prison in the Palace, he had never once seen his mother, nor had he ever heard her voice.
“What’re you doing here?” an old, feminine voice demanded. Despite being chilled to the bone, Li’s body warmed and his hair stood on end.
“Long time no see, Mother,” Li said, keeping his voice light as he unfurled his fists and turned on his heel. The old woman hunched, her feet unsteady as she made her way towards him. She, unlike Li, wore a thin dress, one that hardly covered her veined legs as she walked.
“You shouldn’t be here,” the woman hissed, her back straightening some as she shuffled her way over to him. “Jordine said she had you hidden away --”
“And she did,” Li murmured, folding his arms over his chest. He frowned and looked out to the sea surrounding them. “She should be here momentarily...”
He had never intended to escape. Breaking out of that prison she had set up for him had been difficult enough; coming here without truly knowing the way even harder. And now, he knew he had maybe another hour before he’d be forced through it all again, Jordine dragging him back home with her royal guards at her side.
The wind blew, and Li turned away from his mother, gesturing to the shack. “Would you like to sit and talk with me, Mother?” he asked. “It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?”
His mother said nothing. In the howl of the wind, though, he heard her scrape her feet against the ground. He didn’t wait for her, not as he made his way through the open doorway and immediately into the room he was loathe to refer to as the kitchen.
A knife stood up against a wooden block. The desolate walls creaked, threatening to collapse like they always have as his mother arrived at the doorway herself, arms crossed over her chest and a deep, lined frown on her face.
“Did you enjoy your time with those disgusting creatures?” she asked, nose wrinkling as she spoke.
“I did,” Li said, letting his lips curve upwards. “Never felt more at home, actually.”
He saw the way her face crunched and twisted. Saw the way her crooked fingers curled at her sides. “Of course you did,” she said with a scoff, turning her nose up in the air. “I suppose you really are no different than your father.”
Li snorted, a barking laugh escaping him as he moved closer to the block of wood. To the knife. In the distance, he could hear the unmistakable call of the female warrior, its dark notes carried softly on the harsher gusts of wind.
He didn’t have much strength as a male -- even now, with just the hints of the Call floating in the air, he felt his mind begin to clear. To empty in a way it hadn’t since he left this godforsaken shack, swimming until he no longer could and sleeping, floating at the top of the water, hoping that maybe, just maybe, some ship would find him and drag him to shore.
Those seven years blurred before his eyes. His “rescue” from the sea. His return “home” to a land he had never seen before, where the humans had built monuments to their superior intellect over their brethren in the sea.
He didn’t even realize his fingers had curled around the knife as he remembered the scent of blood, strong and invasive as he walked into the home he had made for himself. He could still feel Jordine’s hands on his cheek, on his chest as she left coppery smudges on him. Her twisted, uneven smile as she revealed that no one would stand in their way.
“We are different,” he said as he turned towards his mother again, his eyes focusing on the shape of her, but unable to focus on the details.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice returning to the youthful tones he remembered from when he was a just a boy. “Li --!”
His body moved, legs thrusting him forward with surprising force. He pushed his mother against the wall, their combined weight causing the wood to splinter and crack. “What Father should have done!” he hissed, the blade pressing against her throat just as the Call grew even louder in his ears, forcing his hand to stop.
“You only wanted power! You raised me and Jordine to do your dirty work!” he continued, closing his eyes and breathing in and out deeply, trying to drown out the whispered orders to let go, to clear his mind. “You told her where I was!”
“Of course I did,” his mother growled, the vibrations in her throat reverberating through the knife and to Li’s hand. He focused on the sensation of it, keeping his mind occupied for as long as he possibly could. “She is the Queen! It was only right of me.”
There. The fear, flashing in his mother’s eyes. Music surrounded them both, and Li felt his arm tremble, desiring to go slack.
“Let her go, Li.” Jordine’s voice. Sharp and biting.
The knife didn’t move. His breath grew ragged, each draw more difficult than the last. “No.” He dug his nails into the thin, wet fabric of his mother’s dress.
“You dare defy your Queen?”
The voices melded together, mixing as the music swelled, the sound of the ocean completely gone and the only noise left the harsh, rapid thumping of his heart.
“I’m challenging you,” he managed, the knife pressing deeper into his mother’s throat. He focused on that single point. On the blood dripping just underneath the blade and down his mother’s chest.
“A pointless endeavor. You’re no stronger than the rest of the male population, Li. Furthermore, you are mine.”
His arm ached. His fingers trembled. His lungs burned, begging for oxygen as his blood rushed in his ears.
The knife ripped into his mother’s throat, and finally, he could breathe.
His chest tightened. His eyes burned as he lifted his head above the water -- as he breathed in air for the first time in what must have been weeks. Weeks since Jordine had found him in his home. Weeks since he left his family behind.
Weeks, and he couldn’t go back. The few moments he had managed to sneak back onto land revealed all too much -- that the police were looking for him; that he was the number one suspect -- that prints were found all over the small, one-family home. In blood. On the knife. On his son’s skin. His toys.
His tail shortened, stubbing and breaking into legs. He hadn’t bothered to bring a set of pants; he’d have no need of them, where he was going. He found the passage along the rocky shore; the one he and Jordine had explored together as children. Time had weathered it, the rocks smoother at the opening, some of the walls crumbling in, the further he trudged forward.
His toes found purchase in the sand, bits of shell biting into feet as he made his way upwards. Soon, the sand would break, turning into rock and grass. Once through the cave, he would be on the other end of the island.
He would be home.
Home. The word brought a hollow laugh to his lips. Did his mother even still live here? It had been so long since he had lived in the sea -- so long since he had kept up with his family. If it weren’t for Jordine...
Li shook his head, his wet, dark hair clinging to his skin as he began to see the first beams of sunlight. Toes curled into the grass, and for a moment, he stopped all of his movements.
The small shack could be seen in the distance. Just a small shelter -- one his mother had built herself, years and years ago, with drift wood from the several ships she sank, back when her voice still carried in the wind.
He could hear her song, now. How the notes felt soothing, inviting. Except it was nothing but the wind howling at the mouth of the cave, reminding him he came here for one reason, and one reason only.
Shivering, Li took his final steps forward, adjusting his balance and finally finding equilibrium amongst the grass. It was his mother who had given him a love for the land; an ambition to be better than their life as peasants.
That same ambition had consumed his sister, spurred her into the King’s Court, and eventually becoming Queen herself. Li’s nails dug into his palms, sea salt stinging at the small wounds he left behind. He had no weapon on him. No clothes to armor his body.
No movement could be seen from outside the shack. Perhaps Jordine had moved their mother into more hospitable conditions -- except in all the time Jordine had kept him locked in his prison in the Palace, he had never once seen his mother, nor had he ever heard her voice.
“What’re you doing here?” an old, feminine voice demanded. Despite being chilled to the bone, Li’s body warmed and his hair stood on end.
“Long time no see, Mother,” Li said, keeping his voice light as he unfurled his fists and turned on his heel. The old woman hunched, her feet unsteady as she made her way towards him. She, unlike Li, wore a thin dress, one that hardly covered her veined legs as she walked.
“You shouldn’t be here,” the woman hissed, her back straightening some as she shuffled her way over to him. “Jordine said she had you hidden away --”
“And she did,” Li murmured, folding his arms over his chest. He frowned and looked out to the sea surrounding them. “She should be here momentarily...”
He had never intended to escape. Breaking out of that prison she had set up for him had been difficult enough; coming here without truly knowing the way even harder. And now, he knew he had maybe another hour before he’d be forced through it all again, Jordine dragging him back home with her royal guards at her side.
The wind blew, and Li turned away from his mother, gesturing to the shack. “Would you like to sit and talk with me, Mother?” he asked. “It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?”
His mother said nothing. In the howl of the wind, though, he heard her scrape her feet against the ground. He didn’t wait for her, not as he made his way through the open doorway and immediately into the room he was loathe to refer to as the kitchen.
A knife stood up against a wooden block. The desolate walls creaked, threatening to collapse like they always have as his mother arrived at the doorway herself, arms crossed over her chest and a deep, lined frown on her face.
“Did you enjoy your time with those disgusting creatures?” she asked, nose wrinkling as she spoke.
“I did,” Li said, letting his lips curve upwards. “Never felt more at home, actually.”
He saw the way her face crunched and twisted. Saw the way her crooked fingers curled at her sides. “Of course you did,” she said with a scoff, turning her nose up in the air. “I suppose you really are no different than your father.”
Li snorted, a barking laugh escaping him as he moved closer to the block of wood. To the knife. In the distance, he could hear the unmistakable call of the female warrior, its dark notes carried softly on the harsher gusts of wind.
He didn’t have much strength as a male -- even now, with just the hints of the Call floating in the air, he felt his mind begin to clear. To empty in a way it hadn’t since he left this godforsaken shack, swimming until he no longer could and sleeping, floating at the top of the water, hoping that maybe, just maybe, some ship would find him and drag him to shore.
Those seven years blurred before his eyes. His “rescue” from the sea. His return “home” to a land he had never seen before, where the humans had built monuments to their superior intellect over their brethren in the sea.
He didn’t even realize his fingers had curled around the knife as he remembered the scent of blood, strong and invasive as he walked into the home he had made for himself. He could still feel Jordine’s hands on his cheek, on his chest as she left coppery smudges on him. Her twisted, uneven smile as she revealed that no one would stand in their way.
“We are different,” he said as he turned towards his mother again, his eyes focusing on the shape of her, but unable to focus on the details.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice returning to the youthful tones he remembered from when he was a just a boy. “Li --!”
His body moved, legs thrusting him forward with surprising force. He pushed his mother against the wall, their combined weight causing the wood to splinter and crack. “What Father should have done!” he hissed, the blade pressing against her throat just as the Call grew even louder in his ears, forcing his hand to stop.
“You only wanted power! You raised me and Jordine to do your dirty work!” he continued, closing his eyes and breathing in and out deeply, trying to drown out the whispered orders to let go, to clear his mind. “You told her where I was!”
“Of course I did,” his mother growled, the vibrations in her throat reverberating through the knife and to Li’s hand. He focused on the sensation of it, keeping his mind occupied for as long as he possibly could. “She is the Queen! It was only right of me.”
There. The fear, flashing in his mother’s eyes. Music surrounded them both, and Li felt his arm tremble, desiring to go slack.
“Let her go, Li.” Jordine’s voice. Sharp and biting.
The knife didn’t move. His breath grew ragged, each draw more difficult than the last. “No.” He dug his nails into the thin, wet fabric of his mother’s dress.
“You dare defy your Queen?”
The voices melded together, mixing as the music swelled, the sound of the ocean completely gone and the only noise left the harsh, rapid thumping of his heart.
“I’m challenging you,” he managed, the knife pressing deeper into his mother’s throat. He focused on that single point. On the blood dripping just underneath the blade and down his mother’s chest.
“A pointless endeavor. You’re no stronger than the rest of the male population, Li. Furthermore, you are mine.”
His arm ached. His fingers trembled. His lungs burned, begging for oxygen as his blood rushed in his ears.
The knife ripped into his mother’s throat, and finally, he could breathe.