The Hidden Dragon

"Remember, don't use your magic in front of them. The history between us hasn't been the greatest."

"But, father, I thought that you said that they believe magic never existed," I ask, confused.

"Yes, I did say that. The reason I don't want you to use your magic is for that reason. It is very dangerous, the people may report your existence. Then you will be in danger."

I nod, "I see." I look out to the ocean, watching the waves creep up onto the shore, and back into the water world. "I promise to be careful."

My mother comes up to me, and gives me a hug. "Watashi wa anata ga koishiku naru darou."

I hug her tightly. "I'm going to miss you too. Take care, I promise to be back as soon as I can." I try to give her a reassuring smile, but it only brings tears to her eyes.

I turn around and push my small boat onto the blue water, wading into it. It's rather cold, even though it's summer. I hop onto the boat and let the waves take me further into the ocean. I use the paddle to help guide me, I just hope that I can reach my destination in one piece.

The sun slowly sets on the West side, it feels warm on my bare back. At least I know that I am going in the right direction. I sigh and breathe in the salty air. As soon as it gets dark I will have to try and get some sleep. It may be difficult but it will be done.

When I wake there are clouds all over the sky. Something seems off, the wind is cooler, and I can't see the sun at all. It doesn't take very long before I start to feel rain drops on my skin. I hope this storm will only rain. If the waves start to rise, I am in major trouble. I pull the sail so I can go faster, "I hope we can get through this."

As I sail further into the storm the waves start to rise higher and higher. They seem taller than the coconut trees back home. I focus my thoughts on sailing out of this mess and I end up sailing onto a wave that is too steep for my boat. I end up falling off and hitting the water rather hard. My body stings from the impact.

I swim up and gasp for air when I get a steady tread I try to look around for my boat. Another wave hits me and drags me under, the current is rather strong and it's harder to swim up. I manage to get more air into my lungs and sadly my boat is nowhere to be found.

Frantic, I swim towards the waves in hopes of seeing the possible end of this storm. When I reach the top of a huge wave I see a glimpse of sunlight through the clouds. I try to keep swimming to the best of my ability, my muscles seem to scream at me top stop and rest. I know I can't stop until I reach the calmer waters.

Eventually I reached the end, out of breath I let the water carry me. I look at the sky. It's back to its original blue color and the clouds are spread apart, providing shade in parts of the water. I slowly regain my strength and look around at my surroundings, nothing but water surrounds me. I don't know where I am and I don't know which direction to go. I never thought that things could go so wrong. I think I should rest and then figure out what to do next.

Who knew that sleeping on water is more comfortable than I thought. I'm not sure if I drifted anywhere, but all I know is move in the direction of the sunrise. I quickly find the sun, and figure out where it possibly rose. "Dammit, who knows where I am."

I take in a deep breath, and relax. I hold my hand slightly above the water. "Basho." A black magic circle appears on the water. I make my way to it, and climb on, hoping it will hold in place. I use some of my magic to dry myself off, and then I use it to move around across the water. Right now this is the best option to move around, my boat is gone, I have no food or water. In short terms, I'm fucked.

I move as quickly as possible, following the sunrise. The best thing about using my magic, is that it is so much faster than a normal boat. I watch as the water moves and kind of bubbles behind us. After a while, I hear splashing behind me, when I turn to look. A pod of dolphins is following close behind me. Our tribe has a wonderful history with dolphins, sometimes when they would help us fish in the ocean water. In return, we played with them and gave them some of the fish we caught together. My father would sometimes bring me, and I was actually helped taught how to swim with them.

Thinking about my family back home, makes me feel a little upset. I don't know when I can see them again, if I can see them again. I shake my head, no time to be down, focus on the task. I continue forward, moving as fast as I can. The wind blows my long black hair behind me, slightly pulling it. After what seems like forever, I look in the distance and I think that I can see land. But it doesn't look normal to me, at all.

As I get closer, I can recognize the shoreline, and some trees. But there are these strange, tall, silver things. They are shiny, like the scales on a fish, and they look like they reach the sky, maybe even further. I release my magic circle, and plunge back into the water, but this time, I feel exhausted. I think I used too much energy trying to get here. To my surprise, the dolphins followed me here, one of them gently lifted me up, slightly above the water. Then it starts to swim as close as it can to the shore.

I feel so grateful, they must recognize the tattoo on my arm, it's a symbol of our tribe's love for the ocean. We get a few feet from the shore and stop. I thank the dolphin and give it a kiss on the top of it's head. I believe that if it could blush, this one definitely would have. The whole pod swims off, a few of them playfully splashing me. I make my way to the shore, and plop onto the warm sand, the sun looks as if it's going to set soon. That's okay, though, sleeping on the beach is quite relaxing, I used to do it all the time. I lay on my back, slowly watching the sunset, eventually falling asleep.

I wake up, and the stars are not in the sky. I sit up, and look around, the world around me is lit up, like the stars from the sky fell, and now they light the night here. Suddenly, a bright light shines in my eyes. "Get rid of it! It's too bright!" I bring my hands to my face, attempting to block it out.

I hear them talk, but I can't understand what they are saying at all. From what I can tell, I think that they are both men. One of them comes up and grabs my wrist, pulling me onto my bare feet. They continue to drag me across the beach.

The light shines into my eyes, and gives me a glimpse of the men that are dragging me off the beach. They are wearing blue fabric, but it's in a style that I am not familiar with, they also have something around their waist, I think it's black. When the light shines on it, it shines back. Using my strength, I try to break free from their grip. It's difficult but I manage to do it and I run as fast as I can. I don't know where my feet are taking me, but I follow them until my legs can't go any further.

The ground is hard, and it hurts my feet. I find a small grassy area, with a few trees. I curl up on the grass, fighting back tears. Everything here is so scary, and big. My feet hurt more than ever, I take a look at them, massage them. When I touch my right foot, it hurts even more. I take my hands off it and there is blood on my fingers. I sigh, this is the last thing I need right now, who knows what kind of diseases I can get out here. I rip off a part of my skirt and use it as a bandage.

"You seem lost, young lady." I hear a voice from behind me.

I turn to look and it's my uncle.

"Uncle! I can't believe I found you!" I stand up and give him a hug.

"Hold on, I'm not your uncle. But I do live with him, I was sent out here to look for you. Your mother told us that you would be arriving in a few days. Though I didn't think you would be here this soon. Your magic must be very strong." He lifts me up and carries me towards the tall fish like things. "You can rest easy now, you're safe with us."

I wake up in a soft and warm bed. Sitting up, I look around, and it's nothing like home. There is this thing on the ground, it stands up and I think you can put stuff on it, but I'm not sure.

"Ah, you're awake." My uncle comes and sits next to me. "I'm surprised that you actually came out this way. Our people don't like the outside world."

"I wanted to explore, see what is past the ocean."

He chuckles. "Honestly, it's not the greatest, there is a lot you have to learn. This world is not forgiving to those that are weak. But I need your help with a big problem."