The worm’s mouth closed to a point, and Kai approached slowly. He did his best to stay calm as he walked forward, pulling in air through his nose and releasing it through his mouth, trying to get his breathing under control.
At the touch of his hand, the worm recoiled slightly, but it didn’t pull away completely, and, more importantly, it didn’t panic.
“There we go.” Kai rumbled the words low, from his chest, almost humming them. “See, we’re not here to harm you. We’re friends.”
He ran his hand over its moist skin. The texture wasn’t bad; it was almost silky. He just hoped he could find a way to make it back up.
“Um, Kai, we need to hurry this up. Someone is coming down the path.”
Kai swung his gaze back toward the entrance and saw the distant light Hollyn must have seen, growing closer.
A memory came to him in that moment. Once, when Kai was a child, his family visited a beach for their yearly vacation. He found a tide pool near a rocky outcropping and had been fascinated. He imagined the starfish, mollusks, and crabs moving around the small puddle of water were having a conversation. In his mind, he could hear what they were saying to each other. It was mostly about avoiding the human who had happened upon their meeting. When Kai had projected the thought to them that he had no intention of hurting them, the chatter stopped, and they seemed to stare at him. The starfish crawled over the ledge of the tide pool and fell back into the waves. The crab sidled after it, and the mollusk stood up on its side and burrowed into the sandy bottom of the pool. He thought he’d imagined the whole conversation, but looking back on it, maybe he hadn’t.
In his mind, now, he thought, “We really need your help, buddy. I’m Kai and this is Hollyn. We don’t want to hurt you, and we don’t want you to get hurt by anyone else. But there are some people chasing us, and we need you to back up. Just go back into your cave and hide for now. Can you do that for us?”
An answer came, loud and booming in Kai’s mind. “Bad people coming!”
“Yes, but they’re not here to hurt you as long as you stay out of their way.”
“They hurt you?”
“We can protect ourselves as long as you let us pass.”
“Bang rocks some more. Feels good.”
“Sure. I can bang the rocks.”
To show the worm he would keep his word, Kai knocked the rocks together in a rhythmic pattern.
The worm began to slide backwards, and Hollyn gasped. “How did you do that?”
Kai began walking forward as he explained, “Turns out, I can speak to animals, too.”
“Wait! You talk to animals?
“Possibly only those that have a tie to water or mud or something.”
“So, you’re Aquaman? I can work with that.”
