#''human'' talon doodle...with darker eyes and normal ears

[skunkes]

talon doodle timelapseeee but i also colored it after ^_^

+ fulls ^_^

[yourdeepestfathoms]

The Leviathan

[Breakaway]

TW: Drowning, blood

———————

The first time Maria encountered the thing was early one morning.

The sun had barely began to rise, but even its fresh golden rays couldn’t cut through the thick, impenetrable wall of grey that had settled over the ocean. The water below was roiling, waves crashing and clapping loudly against the ship. Something in the sea seemed agitated- Maria could feel it. Perhaps it was because of the oncoming storm.

She leaned against the railing at the very back of the boat, watching the water and taking in the serene silence of the early morning. And that’s when she had seen it.

It was a mere silhouette in the fog, an outline of a large head and a long neck that slid down into the depths of the ocean. Despite it being at least a hundred meters away, Maria could see it as clear as day.

There was something out there.

And it turned to her.

The pointed snout turned and looked in her direction.

Looked at her.

Maria couldn’t see its eyes, but something told her, deep down, that this thing was looking at her.

And it’s stare bore right into her very soul.

Then, it was gone. Maria blinked and the figure had disappeared. She only saw the fleeting flick of a tail before fog encompassed everything again.

———

The second time Maria saw the thing was when she was snorkeling.

The activity was offered on an island called Cozumel, which was probably Maria’s favorite stop so far, mainly due to her Spanish heritage. It was a nice change of pace from all the European stops, even if they were just as amazing.

She, the queens, and the other two ladies in waiting, along with a few other tourists, were taken out on a boat to the middle of the ocean, where they then got to snorkeling for several hours.

And it was absolutely magnificent. Maria ended up ditching her snorkel to dive into the water and swim alongside fish colors she’d never seen before. And, while she was doing so, she noticed that they were going somewhere, not just flitting around aimlessly. They were going deeper into the ocean, down a sandstone cliff face and into a dark crater carved into a sandy plateau several meters away.

Something compelled Maria to follow.

She paddled slowly along the surface, careful as to not get caught by any of the monitors on the boat. Then, she took a deep breath and dove. Down, down, down, she swam, brushing by the drop off. Her ears popped, but she could hardly care. She was too enamored by the petrified forest of rainbow coral and sparkling stalks curling out of the sand along the plateau.

Fish were gliding down into the crater- tiny fish, large fish, long fish, fish the color of ebony and fish that looked like the sunset. They were gathering down there for something. And Maria wanted to know what it was.

A blobby indigo octopus goggled at her from the brambles of a jagged reef. Maria does a double take- was it normal for octopus (octopi? octopuses?) to be in such shallow waters? Sure, it was probably twenty feet deep, but still...

The octopus gawked at her face in the diving mask before lazily stretching one of its slimy limbs and clambering across the coral thicket. It seemed to be going down to the crater, too. Along with an emerald green sea turtle that took Maria by surprise when it glided over her head and a small, soft grey shark that brushed right against her foot without a care in the world.

Maria quickly went back up for air, but went back as fast as she could. She returned to the paralyzed forest and grappled onto one of the pieces of coral. A washed out red lobster blinked at her from another cluster, bristling its whiskers and snapping its pincers, like it was judging her for touching such an ancient and fragile piece of aquatic flora with her oily human hands. She let go quickly and it skitters away.

She paddles closer to the crater, feeling the chill of the depths embrace her tightly. It isn’t long before she needs to get more air, but she returns just as fast, kicking and pulling herself through the water until she got to the perimeter of the crater. Her flippers gently touched the sand as she crouched awkwardly- it wasn’t the best position to be in, as she was slowly floating off of the ground, but she managed.

Intense water pressure pressed uncomfortably against Maria’s temples, practically forcing her eyes into a wince. It was slightly difficult to see, but she dealt with it and looked into the crater.

The hole was illuminated by bioluminescent pink and purple jellyfish and violet and maroon glowing plants that almost looked like mushrooms. Skeletons of multicolored reefs twisted from the incline that dipped to the bottom, along with sun-colored tentacles of kelp and plum-streaked ferns and waving green fans, which almost acted as seating for the abundance of aquatic creatures down there.

Fish of every color were peering out from sparking anemone- some had beaks like parrots or big ogling eyes or long tails or bristling spines along their backs. A few deep green and dark grey eels had their heads poked from holes in the crater side, gaping their jaws open like they were witnessing the meaning of life itself. Sea turtles bobbed patiently above the forest and sharks in various sizes moved slowly through the reaching limbs of coral. Crabs and lobsters scuttled through the sand, stingrays glided on their bellies around the sides of the crater, something large and yellow was lying flat against the seabed, and that blobby octopus from earlier was attached to a zigzagged piece of coral. And, among them, there something very big.

In the middle of the crater was a jagged pillar of limestone surrounded by orange clusters of coral. Atop it, stood the thing.

It was too dark to get a clear view of it, but some details stood out. Like the whiskers that waved lazily in water around what was very clearly its snout. And the long tail that curled around the spire like a jungle snake. And the glinting green talons gripping a knob of limestone. And the fins bristled on a body part that couldn’t be made out.

Whatever it was, it was big. Or, well, long. Very long.

What kind of creature was this?

A strange vibration filled the water. It was a deep, rumbling sort of coo that sends shockwaves and ripples through the ocean, shaking Maria to her very core...but not in a bad way. No, it almost felt...peaceful.

And then a sharp sting sears in her chest like a hot knife.

Maria springs off of the ground. The sand sinks in and sucks greedily for her feet, but she manages to get enough momentum to return to the surface on time.

She bobbed up with a gasp, sucking in deep breaths of air. Once she regained her bearings, she was about to go back down and try to get a closer look when one of the monitors on the boat yelled at her to come back, that she was too far out. The option to ignore him or pretend like she didn’t hear and go back under arose, but she gave in and began paddling back. But not without stealing one last glance down to the crater.

From the sunlight filtering down into the water and the faint glow of the jellyfish, she swore every fish, lobster, crab, turtle, eel, shark, and octopus were looking back at her.

A deep green stare branded itself in her mind.

———

The third time Maria saw the thing was on a paper.

The next day while waiting to perform, she doodled a few shapes on a piece of paper at her makeup table. These two shapes turned into orbs and these orbs turned into great big eyes.

That thing’s eyes.

Maria crumbled the paper and threw it away quickly.

———

The fourth time Maria saw the thing was when she was at the beach.

The cruise had docked on an island she couldn’t remember the name of for a few hours, allowing patrons to explore the land and do the regular tourist things. Maria had decided to go to the beautiful beaches on her own and was able to find a rather secluded strip of shore after a quick hike through some trees. It was perfect.

She swam for a long time, looking at all the shells and aquatic life and colorful fish. But then the amount fish started to get smaller and smaller. Sure, it was normal for them to swim away from people, but there has been dozens just half an hour ago.

Confused, Maria decided to swim out a little further. She was thinking back to how all the animals had gathered in one area when she was snorkeling and was hoping she would see something like that again. But, instead, she just got teeth in her leg.

Maria wasn’t exactly sure what was biting her, she just knew something was biting her. She could feel its razor sharp teeth sink into the delicate flesh on her right leg. Blood hazes the water to terrible hues of murky red. It mixes horribly with the tang of salt when she opens her mouth to scream.

She thrashes and struggles, clapping her arms against the surface of the water before she’s yanked back down. A scream is choked back by an overflow of water that rushes down her throat. She coughs and cries out at the same time as darkening clouds of crimson billow around her.

Was this how she died?

Would her body be found half eaten by something or would it never be found?

The ocean is getting darker, and not just because of her blood. Consciousness is slipping away with each pull on her leg. Faster and faster and faster and—

There’s a guttural roar that simmers the water. The sharp, unbearable pressure on Maria’s leg disappears and she hears something heavy slam into a rock formation, but her eyes are already rolling to the back of her head before she can swim to safety...

Maria awoke on the beach after an unknown amount of time passed. She shot up with a sharp gasp, expecting a waterfall of water to be pouring out of her mouth, but none came. She only spit lingering salt from her mouth a few times.

She looked down and saw that her right leg was wrapped tightly in several slimy pieces of seaweed. She doesn’t need to untie them to know the wound was still present- she could feel the ache it caused whenever she bent her knee. Somehow, though, the kelp was easing the discomfort, because surely she should be in much more pain than what she was feeling.

How did these makeshift bandages get on her leg, anyway? She may have blacked out, but there’s no way she could have done this. And how was she safe on shore? Did she coincidentally get washed up there?

After looking around, Maria noticed something. Footprints in the wet sand.

Footprints with five splayed, webbed toes and claws.

———

The fifth time Maria saw the thing was on paper once again.

She had decided to buy herself a proper sketchbook from one of the cruise shops, along with pencils (colored and regular), markers, and pens. What came out was a diagram of what she thought the creature she’s been encountering looked like.

It was long- that was its main trait. Its body in her drawing resembled that of a Chinese dragon. Two sets of whiskers flowed from the cheeks on its big head, which had large, finned ruffs on either sides with small ears right above them. Fins ran down the spine- she didn’t know what color but she went with green. The webbed talons were green, too, while the rest of the body was an iridescent silver color. The beautiful tail on the thing was perfect for propelling itself through the water. She wonders if that’s what it’s used for.

———

The sixth time Maria saw was late in the middle of the night after a terrible nightmare. She dreamt of a young girl from court, a maid in waiting, a mere child named Elizabeth Blount. Bessie for short.

Several people in the show said Bessie was going to be one of the four ladies in waiting that were reincarnated, but either they lied or something happened because Bessie never showed up.

All the happiness and joy that Maria had felt while waiting to see her precious girl again left her in a flash at this revelation. She was cold without it—just like how she had been cold after the exile.

If anyone deserved a second chance at life, it was Bessie.

So why wasn’t she here?

She just wanted to hold her again...

Maria couldn’t bear to go back to sleep after her horrible nightmare of watching that little girl get gruesomely executed for an affair she had no choice in. She wandered out to the deck and braced herself against the railing, watching the boat split the sea as it moved along.

She wasn’t stupid enough to actually ever do anything bad to herself, but sometimes she wondered what it would be like to jump off the ship- to let the front of the vessel pierce her body, to let it run her over, to let the propellers shred her into tiny, bloody pieces, to let the black water claim her. Would that be enough to make up for her not helping the abused child Henry had imprinted on as his mistress?

Would exchanging her life be enough to give Bessie a chance to live?

Maria yanked off the necklace around her neck- a pendant given to her by Aragon. She doesn’t know why she’s let it linger on her for so long. What gave her the right to wear such a thing? Especially when it had been given to her by the woman who took the greatest blessing in her life away from her.

She angrily threw it as far away from her as possible, hearing it splash distantly in the water. She hoped it could be taken as an offering of sorts as she began to pray- pray for her to have her girl back, pray for her to see her, pray for her to be alive and there.

This process was then interrupted by something hitting her forehead.

Maria tottered backwards with a yelp, rubbing her head and hoping a bruise wasn’t left. She looked around for the offending item and saw her necklace lying in a small by her feet.

She picked it up gingerly and found small claw marks on one side of the gold pendant. She gasped in fright and it slipped from her hands, falling back into the water below, this time getting tread on by the boat.

And yet it’s thrown back up to her in mere seconds.

Maria watches the necklace fly through the air and clink on the ground several feet away. She waits for a moment, then picks it back up and throws it in the water again.

This time, it’s only a second before the necklace is thrown back up, hitting her in the chest with a bit more force and aggression. She grips the cold golden chain tightly as she carefully crept over to the railing and looked down.

Big green eyes peer up at her from the black water. Something about those eyes was so familiar, like a person is staring out of them.

“Bessie...?”

———

The seventh time Maria saw the thing wasn’t really visual, rather audible.

She was laying in her bed after a long two show day when a beautiful noise hummed through the air. It sounded like a cross between a howl, a coo, and a purr.

She quickly got up and pushed open one of her windows, sticking her entire upper body out. She scans the water, noticing it rippling several hundred yards away. The noise sounds again, this time in a tune of sorts, pauses, then goes once more.

High, low, high, low. That was the pattern of the pitch.

Maria wasn’t much of a singer, but she tries to sing the tune anyway. The possibility of being heard by someone didn’t cross her mind at the moment.

Silence. Maria thinks she might have scared the creature off with her unpracticed singing when it replies with the its tuned cry again. Maria laughs and replies to it with her own. It was slightly altered: Low, high, low, high. The creature copies enthusiastically.

Maria smiles and gets on her knees, leaning against her window sill, singing with the creature.

She never wanted to stop.

———

The eighth time Maria saw the creature was on a stormy day.

She didn’t know why she ventured out into the rain- something was just compelling her to go out to the back of the boat and lean over the railing. She watched the water bubble and splash and roil relentlessly for a long time, then she looked up with a new fire in her eyes.

“Are you here?” She called out. Her voice was soft, but something told her that it could hear her.

She could hear her.

Maria swallowed a lump in her throat. She wasn’t realizing she was shaking until that moment, and not because of the chill from the rain.

Slowly, she reached her hand out over the edge of the boat.

Rain starts to fall harder, pattering loudly against the surface of the churning ocean. The water was bubbling below the ship. The waves were crashing violently thanks to the gales whipping through the cold air, riling them up into towering shapes before they end up crashing back down with piercing claps. Lightning ignites the dark grey sky, thunder cracks loud enough to make it seem like the boat was ripped in half, and up comes the Empress of the Sea to touch Maria’s hand with her nose before diving back down into her deep sea kingdom.