Shuitan

Shuitan was vividly aware of the tiny fish, long before it arrived at the delicate horseshoe-shaped reef of coral. After all, it was her job to know everything about her realm—this universe of watery depths. Her sleek body radiated the beauty of a sea nymph, yet the power of a tidal wave, and she extended a long, slender finger towards the golden fish, allowing it to rest softly on her fingertip after its long tiring journey. Focusing her eyes on those of the fish, she spoke in a flow of silvery bubbles, “You have done well, little friend.” Her voice rose and fell like a wave washing out onto a sandy beach. “It pains me, Morneanna, to hear of this threat… Naturally I’ll come see what I can do to protect the sanctity of the waterfall!” Shuitan blew a tiny stream of bubbles at the small fish, and withdrawing her hand it darted away happily. She then began to swirl around, faster and faster, whipping the once-calm water into a churning vortex. She closed her eyes and let herself be sucked strait down into the spinning liquid portal below. The cool, crystal clear water of the forest stream washed over Shuitan as she let it cleanse her of what salt water remained on her skin and seaweed-green hair. She let herself dissolve into the essence of the water itself, flowing gently downstream towards the pristine waterfall. A large ragged work boot suddenly plunged into the stream, sending nearby minnows scrambling for safety, and jarring Shuitan’s eyes wide open. The clumsy lizard man attached to the grimy boot cursed at getting his socks wet, “Aww, dammit! Now I’s just gonna end up wif blisters again! Soon’ we get this bloody brook stopped up th’ better, I say..” Grumbling some more to himself, the Almost Dragonic Inc. employee’s rant was suddenly cut off as a hand materialized around his ankle and yanked him down into the shallow water. He found himself face to face with the deep blue eyes of a woman, framed by a wild tangle of hair, suspended in the cool waters of the stream. Shuitan opened her mouth and her eyes grew even wider, letting out a scream of bubbles directly into the terrified lizard man’s face. “THESE WATERS ARE SACRED! HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE WITH MY DOMAIN! LEAVE THIS PLACE AT ONCE, AND NEVER RETURN!” With a final surge of water, the worker flew back out of the brook and landed a good 15 feet from the bank, drenched and coughing from the water he had swallowed in his panic. Shuitan, dissolved quickly back into liquid being and swirled along downstream with the current—the waterfall was not far ahead…