11-02-2024, 08:37 PM
Noceur, no longer a prince, no longer anybody of note, rolls his body in the waters well off shore, silver pupils flashing with the soft light of a trio of orbs that cluster just off shore, their glow pulsing against the reef. They smell like magic, like lightning striking the sea, and their bobbing draws him nearer to land than he has been in years. When he reaches them, he circles, large and lazy, the very tip of his tail striking against them curiously.
Nothing happens.
The lights bobble and regroup, like buoys anchored by something unseen. He circles nearer, spyhopping at the surface. No one else has noticed them yet. All three could be his. Noceur has always been greedy. The wayward needles of his teeth seem almost to reach out when his mouth gapes open and he grabs one as hungrily as he would snap up a fish. He tries for the second but it will not fit and bounds away from the punctured orb, skittering nearer the lapping wavelets at shore where his black eyes land on a shadow pressing through the mist.
He hisses, his teeth digging deeper into the metallic-sweet orb whose light shines through the transparent edges of his muzzle.
No.
He does not want any visitors today.
The water hardly stirs as he dives below, returning the glowing prize to his eelgrass den.
Nothing happens.
The lights bobble and regroup, like buoys anchored by something unseen. He circles nearer, spyhopping at the surface. No one else has noticed them yet. All three could be his. Noceur has always been greedy. The wayward needles of his teeth seem almost to reach out when his mouth gapes open and he grabs one as hungrily as he would snap up a fish. He tries for the second but it will not fit and bounds away from the punctured orb, skittering nearer the lapping wavelets at shore where his black eyes land on a shadow pressing through the mist.
He hisses, his teeth digging deeper into the metallic-sweet orb whose light shines through the transparent edges of his muzzle.
No.
He does not want any visitors today.
The water hardly stirs as he dives below, returning the glowing prize to his eelgrass den.