Karatu

        "Are we there yet?" Bell sighs.

        Her mother slowly turns, rough curls of hair catching in the wind. "Sweet Gods, girl, if you ask again, this canoe will sit higher in the water and the fish won't go hungry." Bell exhales, slumps back, and stares at the cool blue water beside them.

        Ripples meet the canoe's outrigger with each measured sweep of her father's paddle. Summer is a pleasant season to be in the water, but it also marks the island migration. Hundreds of canoes, carved by patient hands, carry villagers from their homes to Endya, the Mother Rift. It is long, and to Bell, boring.

        It's Bell's eighteenth year on the journey, her final year as a passenger, and she figures the future will be more interesting. She watches the water change, its prettiness giving way to a darker, more vibrant depth. The lapping waves have stopped. She strains to hear… nothing. It's quiet; not only their canoe but all around them. The water's shade shimmers, as if the sea itself hums in colour. Bell's eyes widen.

        "Papa," she whispers. A sharp silencing glance is all she receives in reply.

        Their canoe begins to slide backward, as if slipping down a slope they were climbing, now untethered from its ascent. The pace quickens. They slide stern first down an incline, the crest of an immense rising hill of water ahead. The rudder is raised, embracing the direction. Paddles lift, powerless against the emerging force. 

        Bell grips the sides, breath caught in her throat. 

        "Look, child!" her father commands, his jaw clenched.

        Bell understands the need to watch; she had always been sheltered from this. But now, her adult journey begins; with Karatu’s arrival and its devastation. A shiver runs through her, tears streaming as air rushes toward them from the displaced ocean. The hilltop finally cracks, white piercing the blue. 

        Karatu is here. Ivory teeth breaching the surface, each taller than a tree. Together they form a wall that divides fate. Within, none will survive. Outside, Bell and the others are spared.

        Karatu's great maw follows the teeth, erupting from the frothing sea. Vast gills drain the mighty body of water, unleashing a ring of waterfalls with a thunderous roar.

        "Cover!" her father shouts, his voice rising, unshaken by the wind.

        They each grab a portion of their cover and seal it to the canoe's sides. Darkness envelops Bell, the stench of wet animal hide thick in the air as they wait. Overwhelmed and disoriented, she wonders who among the tribe is lost. Her thoughts scatter. The wave takes them.

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