A Shark Named Lani

In the cool ocean waters, beneath the wan light of the moon, is a world free of Man; free of them but concerned by them all the same. The silvery light that beamed down failed to make it far into the indigo waters, but near the surface swam two graceful creatures, their pale bodies gliding in and around the beams that shown through the water.

Hoku swam near the surface of the sea with her newest pup, Lani. Hoku was a shark, not that the word would mean anything to her, and she had just given birth to her newest child. Together they swam near the surface as Hoku talked to her son. “The ocean is our Home, Little Lani, ours to swim and explore. I will teach you our ways and our place in this world, where we swim as rulers in our realm.”

These lessons continued briefly but their world was invaded that night. The strangest creature little Lani would see in his life swept by along the surface of the waters, dragging behind it a web of tentacles that pulled and snagged, taking Hoku away. Lani swam after, trying to keep up with the creature, but it quickly disappeared from view.

Lani became frightened by what he had seen and swam down, far away from the surface and the moon’s revealing light, beyond the reach of whatever creature had taken his mother. There he saw a multitude of more familiar creatures, ones similar to his own shape and not like the monster above.

He swam to and fro, crying out in alarm, asking the others for help, “My mother has been taken! A monster with roaring fins and reaching tentacles has taken my mother away!”

Despite his pleas no one would respond or help, many even fleeing from his sight. Finally one creature did stop, a sleek finned one with a long nose that regarded him with twinkling eyes.

“Why do you make such noise, little one? This is the ways of the sea. The big eat the little, and when they die the little eat the big. Your mother didn’t teach you this?”

“No, my mother was gone too soon, she didn’t get to teach me how the world works. Will you?”

The creature let out a trilling laugh, circling around little Lani with great speed. “Not I, little one. I will say this; the creature that took your mother is not a fish, but Man. Yours is the world of the Sea, and His is the world of the Air, and mine is the space in between. You must stay away from the surface if you wish to be free.”

“But if our worlds are separate why would Man take my mother away? Why wouldn’t they take you?”

“No one knows why Man does what it does. They hate your kind, little one, and love mine, even though we sometimes hurt them as well. Just stay away and forget about your mother, and live here where you belong.” With that the creature disappeared from view. Little Lani, alone once more, decided to follow the creature’s advice and determine where it was he belonged. He swam to and fro, up and down, slowly wandering the sea. As big as it was, he found out that his world was full of life, and before long he came across an enormous form, one that let out a deep song at his approach and regarded little Lani with an eye almost the size of his entire body.

“Excuse me,” said Lani, “but could you teach me my place in the world? My mother was taken by Man, and the sleek one that lives in the space between said I need to stay where I belong, but I don’t know where that is! You’re big and strong so you must know much. Would you teach me?”

The enormous creature continued to gaze upon him for a long time, and when it finally spoke it did so slowly, with a voice that shook the ocean. “You are not mine to teach, little nibbler. I know my place, which is right for me, but it wouldn’t fit you at all. All I can do is offer you the shelter of my form and take you to somewhere shallower where a nibbler like you may grow big and strong.”

“Shallower?! That’s closer to Man! If I go there they will take me like they did my mother.” “Do not fear, little Nibbler. I will take you to a safe place where they refuse to go, a sea where the rocks are colorful and strange and Man seems to care for them a great deal, keeping it safe for some strange reason.”

Comforted, Little Lani followed along, and the whale slowly escorted him across the seas. Together they traveled for many days and nights, the whale teaching small things to Lani, knowing the child needed to eat and showing it the best of fish. Lani ate, growing slowly bigger on their short journey without noticing, and thought of the strangeness of Man. How odd that a creature of air would invade their world! How odd it would value the rocks on the floor but not the creatures that swam the waters, leaving one but taking the other.

Before long they made it to their destination, a place of stunning colors and beauty, colorful formations that intermingled together, waving bits of kelp that shone in these shallow waters with the light of the sun above. Everywhere, to and fro, swam fish as colorful as the rocks themselves, and Lani began to feel safe, turning to thank his large companion as it slowly swam away, offering one last parting song.

Little Lani spent the day exploring, thinking at last he had found where he belonged; however, as he swam about, the other fish would disappear from view. They would swim through areas too small for his growing body, and leave him abandoned. He began to feel sorrowful once more when he spotted the strangest thing! A fish unlike any other was crawling across the floor with stretching limbs, more than any creature he had seen, and when his shadow fell over it, it shot out a cloud of dark liquid, disappearing from sight. When the cloud faded he spotted it mimicking the rock it hid beneath, even its color. Little Lani slowly approached, delighted to find one so strange for surely it didn’t belong either!

“Sorry if I scared you, but would you be interested in helping me? It seems clear you don’t belong either and I thought we could compare what we know to help each other!”

The creature, its disguise seen through, flailed its arms in an effort to shoo the child away. “What do you mean? Of course I belong here! Don’t let appearances fool you. I have no interest in helping you, biter. Go away and find someone else to bother.”

Dejected, Lani replied, “But there isn’t anyone else to bother! Man took my mother and now I have no one to teach me my place. Do you at least know someone who could help?”

Arms twirling the creature hastily answered, eager to be done with this conversation. “Simply follow the floor down, into the deeper waters. There you will eventually find Kapena, a biter like you but big and strong. If anyone can teach you it is he.”

Delighted to have someone to talk with at last, Little Lani swam away, heading to where the strange creature had pointed. The ocean began to grow darker and slowly colder, not enough to bother Little Lani, but he began to feel truly alone once more in this large world. He resolved to turn back when he felt it, a change in the waters, a current, and the beat of another creature’s heart.

Emerging from the gloom swam another, one like Lani but huge, nearly the size of the creature who had taken Lani to the bright rocks. A black eye appraised him and the creature slowly circled around, parting the waters with ease and strength.

“K-Kapena? My name is Lani, the creature with the extra limbs told me to find you. I don’t know our place in the world and I was hoping you could teach me.”

The form did not stop as it circled, nor did not slow in its movement. The voice that replied seemed old, as old and wise as the seas themselves. “Little one, our place is where we choose. We rule the seas, from top to bottom, end to end, the world over. Ours is to patrol and swim, take and eat, keeping the circle of life intact as we fulfill our purpose. Without us, too many fish would fill the waters, and they would fight and eat each others food until there was nothing left for anyone.”

“Then why would Man take away my mother, Kapena? Our place seems fair, our job necessary. Why would they interfere in a world not their own?”

The creature kept swimming, tightening its circles so Lani could see it more clearly. It showed scars along its form, scrapes across is body and notches in its fin. From one corner of its mouth a gleaming rock sat, with strands of thin material dangling behind.

“These wounds were made by Man, little one. Man doesn’t understand our world and seeks to change it. Do not try to understand theirs, because you can’t. All is best when we keep to ourselves, and allow life to do what it must.”

Lani contemplated the words, swimming alongside great Kapena. “Then what can I do? What should I do, if Man plans to take me like it did my Mother?”

“Then you fight, little one. Man sees us as vile and attacks us in our own home. Seek not their wrath but if you must, then defend your life. Our role is too important, and we must do what we must to keep our world in order and hope Man sticks to theirs.”

With that, Kapena swam away, leaving Little Lani behind in the dark, cool waters. Lani turned and swam back to the colored rocks, finding a few bites to eat from the fish there as he thought of all he learned.

As the years went by, Lani slowly grew, no longer little by any means. He swam and explored, swimming to and fro as he fulfilled his role and purpose in the world of the Sea. He never understood why Man had done what it did, but as time went on he thought of it less and less. All he could do was fulfill his own purpose and that he did, mercifully uninterrupted by the world above. This world was his home, and at last he felt he belonged.