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Solo: The Ice on the Inlet
Jan. 11th, 2019 09:08 pmWritten for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
doubledrabbles .
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Midshipman Anthony Pratt sat with his bare feet hovering just above the thin layer of ice that had formed overnight on the still water of the inlet. His bottom froze on the rock he sat on; though the thick cotton of his trousers was good, they were for work, and years of sliding down oiled ropes, washing in briny waters and exposure to heat and cold and rain had worn them thin.
They’d been new when he’d last seen his sister. In fact, they’d been his third pair, tucked away on the bottom of his trunk.
Break the ice, and you’ll summon a spirit. That’s what the man had said. The first ice of the winter. Never do that, son—you might not like what comes up.
He plunged his feet down into the water. The ice broke apart so gently, the barest resistance was the only sign it had been there at all. As the creature crawled out, his heart stopped, then took off at a gallop.
“What?” it asked in the voice of seaweed and mud.
“My sister. Is she… all right?”
There was a hiss… like laughter? The spirit’s clammy paws wrapped themselves around Anthony’s ankles. “No.”
doubledrabbles .-
Midshipman Anthony Pratt sat with his bare feet hovering just above the thin layer of ice that had formed overnight on the still water of the inlet. His bottom froze on the rock he sat on; though the thick cotton of his trousers was good, they were for work, and years of sliding down oiled ropes, washing in briny waters and exposure to heat and cold and rain had worn them thin.
They’d been new when he’d last seen his sister. In fact, they’d been his third pair, tucked away on the bottom of his trunk.
Break the ice, and you’ll summon a spirit. That’s what the man had said. The first ice of the winter. Never do that, son—you might not like what comes up.
He plunged his feet down into the water. The ice broke apart so gently, the barest resistance was the only sign it had been there at all. As the creature crawled out, his heart stopped, then took off at a gallop.
“What?” it asked in the voice of seaweed and mud.
“My sister. Is she… all right?”
There was a hiss… like laughter? The spirit’s clammy paws wrapped themselves around Anthony’s ankles. “No.”
