Nishiki
"Cannonball!"
My twin brother Nero's voice rang out in warning a second before his massive silver body hit the water. I was sitting on the shoreline, but apparently not far away enough. The huge wave in his wake splashed me. My jaw dropped as the tidal wave drenched me, soaking through my hair and my pants.
"Um, hello? I know you've been living out in the boonies for a while now, but that's no excuse to act like an animal!" I complained.
A shark’s fin cut across the surface of the water, then disappeared. A moment later, Nero’s head popped out. A huge grin was plastered to his face. He didn't bother wringing the water out of his hair like I was doing, although his hair was also a lot shorter than mine. I was quite proud of the golden tresses that reached my waist. I had always been more interested in my appearance than he was.
"Sorry," Nero said. "Just trying to set a good example for my son."
I scoffed. "And that example is to throw yourself into every body of water you see?"
"Yep." He smirked and splashed my leg. "Come on, Nishiki, you should be having fun with us too."
I sighed. My brother and his son, Zak, had come over to spend some time with his uncle. I was genuinely happy to see them, since Nero lived with the wolf pack now, out in the middle of the forest or whatever, so I didn't get to see my twin as often as I used to. Not only that, but he was now a family man with a young son and a partner who he referred to as his fated mate. That was a load of mystical crap, and I was honestly surprised to hear him talking about it, but he seemed happy so I didn't prod him too much about it.
But more than Nero, I was ecstatic to see my nephew, Zakariel, or Zak for short. Nero had mentioned that he was named after his partner Remington's father, which was honestly really endearing. I'd never known him to be so sentimental but I guess having a family did that to a guy.
"Where is that little booger anyway?" I asked, scanning the shoreline. "I can't believe you just let your son walk around like this. What if he falls into the water?"
Nero groaned. "I told you a thousand times, Nishiki, he can't drown. He can breathe underwater."
That was an even bigger bunch of mystical crap that I didn't understand, and frankly, how could I? When Nero had approached me a few months ago to tell me that he had found our long-lost father it was mind-boggling enough, but to find out he wasn't an ordinary human or shifter, but some kind of water spirit? None of it made any sense.
"Well, just because you tell me doesn’t mean it's true," I said, crossing my arms. "Anyway, since you won't go find your son, I will."
Nero chuckled as he floated on his back. "Good luck. I don't think you're gonna find him."
I raised a brow. "And how can you be so sure?"
"I'm his dad. I know things."
"Uh huh."
I stood up, still wringing the water out of my long hair, and headed for the thin line of trees nearby. Zak couldn't have gone far. He was still just a pup, or toddler, depending on which form he was in.
That was another thing my brain was still having trouble wrapping around. It had been a while since I awakened to my ability to shift, and the fact that I was apparently an alpha, but it was an entirely new world to me, like something out of a movie. This kind of thing didn't just happen to people. Except it did, and of course, it happened to me.
Before Nero met Remington, he had gone off on a whirlwind adventure to find himself, with a little encouragement from yours truly. He had always been a little more rambunctious and restless than me, so the journey did him well. I'd always been the more relaxed twin, satisfied to enjoy my creature comforts. Not that I had many of those anymore. I'd given up a life among humans to live with my long-lost mother who had done the same thing a long time ago. Out of our mother, Nero and I, the person who seemed to have the most trouble adjusting was me.
I was a fish out of water. Literally.
Unlike my brother, who shifted into a cool and magnificent predator, I was stuck with my animal form being a koi fish. Sure, I had beautiful golden scales and a sleek, smooth form, but seriously, it was an insult to my pride. I couldn't have been a wolf or a bear or something cool like that?
A memory stirred in the back of my mind. Nero and I were young boys and our mother had taken us to a Japanese restaurant. We were both enthralled by the indoor ponds by the front desk, teeming with calm, colourful koi fish. Nero would always beg for a quarter to put in the fish food machine so he could feed them. But I was always content kneeling by the pond and watching their beautiful, elegant motions.
Suddenly, I had the urge to stick my finger in the water to see what they would do. Even as a child, I was fastidious, unlike Nero, so the thought of shoving my finger in some dirty water was unpleasant to me. But the feeling of wanting to connect with those koi was stronger.
As our mother was speaking to the people at the front desk, I hesitantly lowered my finger and broke the water’s surface. The koi fish rushed at me like I was the centre of the universe. It took my breath away. Their shiny, glistening bodies surrounded me as their gentle mouths nibbled on my finger. I stayed like that, completely motionless in awe, until Nero came over and excitedly threw a handful of fish flakes into the water and the koi dissolved into a feeding frenzy.
It was a good memory. Maybe, unbeknownst to me at the time, it had awakened something in me that day.
I sighed as the wave of nostalgia passed. I had a more important task at hand. Namely, finding my lost nephew. Seriously, I knew Nero could be rowdy, but how much more irresponsible could you be than not keeping track of your child?
The trees were empty. There was no sign of a little black wolf pup or toddler anywhere.
My voice had a shrill, high-pitched tone. "Nero?"
