The night comes, I am not at home.

[syl_thorn]

Going on midnight and beyond, Thursday, May 6th, day 340
Somewhere in DreamTh'beach ain't changed much. I see th'tangled net where Tess wuz snared, the deep gouges'n stone'n sand where we dragged th'boat ashore an' launched it again. There's a reekin' stain on th'sand where th'sea serpent puked Polly back up, th'scoured loops on th'sand where't

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[jaeresteade]

I have never seen this beach before. Never been washed up here half drowned, with only the clothes on my back and a wild tale to tell. Never stood here with a little girl and a woman without a face and…others, because what kind of man dreams himself Jonah twice?

Well.

Been asked what kind of man carries his cross in ink on his back and strengthens it for celebration, not often, but by the kind of people who won’t believe it’s just a mark I like. And it’s not.

I am not Jonah now. And there is no little girl here to tell stories to. There is no place to go but back into the sea. I walk out slowly on the small, sharp stones, no shoes made for me on my feet now. The water seeps in and up, not warm. I know better than to swim in a lightning storm.

There’s no more ground for my feet, so I draw breath and start to stroke. Can’t see, but I don’t need to. Can’t breath underwater, but that…doesn’t matter so much. I can go on.

[kateohara]

I had a red cloak the last time I came here, and I have a red cloak again, but this one is different. A centurion's cloak, the word comes to me. My breastplate is heavy, but a comfort. I feel like I've been wearing it for a long time. There's sand in my sandals. The rain is very heavy, and the sky is so dark it is almost like night.

Something is wrong. There's an emptiness here like a howl. Walking down the beach I feel things slip away until there is only now. My hand on my sword hilt, the sand between my toes, the knowledge that things are broken here, something gone that needs to be found.

[syl_thorn]

See'er first, red cloak near invis'ble'n th'rain. But'er armour flashes mirror-bright'n th'lightnin', an' she walks witta purpose. She comes closer, an'n th'next flash I see'er face. "Kate," I says through m'razor mouth, m'shark teeth. "Ye're here too. D'y'know me?"

[kateohara]

"We've met," I say decisively. I don't remember the details, but I don't think that matters now. "I've been here before," I say, looking around. "Something's gone wrong here." The whole place is making my head ache; it looks fine, but the longer I'm here the more it seems wrong. Like fruit left out too long in the sun, and when you pick it up your fingers slip through the skin into wet flesh. The buzz of wasps. I shake my head.

[syl_thorn]

"We've met," she says, but no more 'bout't. I wonder how much she 'members. Thinkin'a th'real world hard. 'memb'rin' m'self glidin' through th'water, wrapped'n fur'n fat...'at's easier. But now we's left inna world wit'out't's princess, an' th'land seems t'be rottin' from th'inside out.

Kate feels't too. "I've been here before. Something's gone wrong here."

Really? Y'think? Rainin' blood ain't gen'rally a sign't ev'rythin's sunshine'n lollipops. But I don't say'at. Jes' look out over th'sea. No serpent'is time, 't least. But'ere is somethin' out'ere... "Somebody's'n th'water." I says, an' yeah, I see'im for sure now. Somebody's tryin' t'swim fer shore. Rake wet hair outta m'face an' try t'see who't is. "Jesus Christ, tell me th'whole town ain't dreamin' again. Once wuz more'n bloody enough."

[damien_dw]

Close my eyes

[lord_icelus]

Nasty bitch, spoiling my fun. I am all shattered now, and it is proving hard to put myself back together. But they come here with their nightmares, and it is a balm to me, yes, sweet medicine of pain and misery. And after I eat, I may be better. And then we shall see.

[jaeresteade]

I try to point myself down as much as I can in the water and stroke hard, though I know there's no reaching the bottom. Can't even see the bottom, so I just close my eyes and swim. As I go deeper, my head starts to pound and my lungs burn. Heard a story once, about a man who went mad trying to kill a whale, and maybe it's like that. All I know is that if I go deep enough, I'm bound to find the thing that swallowed me.

And there is something here, all around me. And maybe, maybe I've been swallowed all over again.

[lord_icelus]

A silly little boy swimming in the darkness. He's not what I want, but he'll do to start.

I make myself a lovely thing of fish and flesh, and my scales gleam in the darkness, and I sing a song of water:

"In a sea-weed hat on the rocks I sit,
where tern and sea-mew glide and beat,
and where dark shadows the cormorants meet.
In caverns cool when the tide's a wash,
I sound my conch to the watery splash."

[jaeresteade]

Something glides past me in the water, shining out of the corner of my eye, slick against my back. Not anything like what swallowed me.

And, oh, she's singing, and now nothing matters but that I keep her in sight. She swims so much faster than I can, though.

[syl_thorn]

"You'll be sorry you got in my way, Syl Thorn," th'scaled bitch hisses, an'I wish I could say't s'prises me't she knows m'name. "My time's coming." An'en'er coils widen an' th'scales spread an' th'arms'n hair melt away anna sea dragon lashes't's way past me. What, no riddles'is time?M'stomach's stretched wide, an' m'throat burns where th'boy passed through't. M'instinct's t'curl up 'n sleep, but I shake't off. Push off th'rocks 'n kick m'way back t'th'surface, m'belly bulgin' an' heavy

[jaeresteade]

Takes being swallowed again to make me remember the first time, the scrape and squeeze and then the slick, burning warmth. I feel like food, and I want to scream and pound on the rubbery walls that surround me, but I can't move.

Years pass. I stay curled up, mashed together, churned like butter. Then everything heaves and a horribly warm, stinking tide carries me out onto the sharp stones of the beach. I just lie there and gasp, eyes still shut, not wanting to look at what I'm covered in.

And she decides to lecture me. I pull myself up until I'm mostly sitting. Can't look at too many teeth and wrong eyes. "What the hell did you do that for? Am I a special kind of tasty, too?"

[kateohara]

The selkie rises out of the water, bloated, and staggers onto the sand. She pukes up - a man. And then starts telling him off, which makes me smile despite myself.

"What happened down there?"

[jaeresteade]

"What happened down there?"

I look up to see a woman in a red cloak and...armor? She standing looking at me and the shark-woman-thing with a small smile. Beside her sits a boy with a guitar, playing softly. I get to my feet, feeling bruised all over. "Nothing happened."

Turn my back on both of them and walk back across the sharp stones into the sea.