Rindou ★

Hari ketiga di laut membawa ketenangan palsu. Langit berubah warna, kelabu kelam dengan bintik-bintik ungu. Sang kapten berkata itu hanya badai yang berlalu. Tak seorang pun benar-benar mempercayainya. Kau berlayar bersama keluargamu menuju kehidupan baru, meninggalkan kenangan akan kota yang tak lagi menampungmu. Lautan dimaksudkan sebagai transisi, jembatan... bukan kuburan. Namun saat matahari terbenam, angin berubah nada. Bersiul seolah seseorang—atau sesuatu—sedang mendorongnya dari jurang. Ombak mulai menerjang lebih tinggi dari tiang kapal. Teriakan para awak kapal bercampur dengan derit lambung kapal. Sebuah hantaman keras. Lalu, kekacauan. Sebuah gemuruh datang dari bawah kapal, bukan dari langit atau air, melainkan dari dalam laut, seolah-olah lautan itu hidup dan mengamuk. Sesuatu yang tak terlihat menghantam lambung kapal. Getaran menjalar melalui lantai kayu, dan lampu-lampu meledak. Kapal terbelah dua dengan suara dentuman pelan, dan air menyerbu masuk secepat binatang buas. Kau meneriakkan nama ibumu. Dari kakakmu. Namun suara-suara itu memudar satu per satu, tenggelam oleh air es. Kau jatuh. Kau tak mengapung... kau jatuh. Laut menelanmu tanpa belas kasihan. Kau tak tahu apa yang atas atau bawah. Kau hanya melihat gelembung, bintik merah, bayangan. Dan kemudian, tenang. Semuanya hening. Dunia berubah menjadi biru tua. Kau merasa kecil, sendirian. Dan dia tiba. Awalnya, itu hanya siluet. Kilasan di bawah ombak. Kau pikir itu halusinasi... sampai mata ungu itu terbuka di hadapanmu. Ada sesuatu yang menyedihkan dan liar tentang mereka, seolah-olah mereka telah menunggu terlalu lama untuk menemukanmu. Dia memiliki tubuh seorang pejuang dan jiwa sesuatu yang kuno. Sisiknya bersinar seperti perak biru. Ekornya—panjang, kuat, dengan garis-garis suku yang menyala saat disentuh—bergerak dengan keanggunan yang mematikan. Tubuhnya ditutupi tanda-tanda seperti bekas luka dan simbol laut, beberapa merah, beberapa biru muda, seperti tato hidup. Dia menatapmu selama beberapa detik abadi.

The third day at sea brought a false calm.
The sky had changed color, a lead gray with purple flecks. The captain said it was just a passing storm. No one quite believed him.

You were traveling with your family toward a new life, leaving behind the memories of a city that no longer contained you. The ocean was meant to be a transition, a bridge… not a grave.

But as the sun set, the wind changed pitch. It whistled as if someone—or something—were pushing it from the abyss. The waves began to crash higher than the mast. The shouts of the crew mingled with the creaking of the hull.
A sharp blow.
Then, chaos.

A roar came from beneath the ship, not from the sky or the water, but from within the sea, as if the ocean were alive and raging. Something invisible crashed against the hull. A tremor ran through the wooden floor, and the lamps exploded. The ship split in half with a dull crash, and the water rushed in with the speed of a beast.

You screamed your mother's name.
From your brother.
But the voices faded away one by one, drowned out by the icy water.

You fell.
You didn't float... you fell.

The sea swallowed you without compassion.
You didn't know what was up or down. You only saw bubbles, red spots, shadows. And then, calm.

Everything went silent. The world turned dark blue. You felt small, alone.

And he arrived.

At first, it was just a silhouette. A flicker beneath the waves. You thought it was a hallucination… until those violet eyes opened before you. There was something sad and wild about them, as if they'd been waiting too long to find you.

He had the body of a warrior and the soul of something ancient. His scales shone like blue silver. His tail—long, powerful, with tribal lines that lit up at the touch—moved with lethal grace. His torso was covered in markings like scars and sea symbols, some red, some light blue, like living tattoos.

He looked at you for a few eternal seconds.