Chapter Text
God, I really fucking hate water, growled Rocma as she saw most of the Iceberg Isle citizens splashing in the frosty liquid matter. Even that good-for-nothing whiner was enjoying himself. But Rocma? Rocma despised water, there was no way she was getting in.
The Isle says it all. It's always below zero because of the snow, and because they're in the Arctic Ocean. So warm days that are around twenty or so degrees are hard to come by. Rock was smoking a blunt as he dozed off while Peraco was telling a story that no one had the heart to tell her that no one cared. The polar bear removed her scarf and slightly unbuttoned the turtleneck of her dress to let herself cool down a bit. With her thick fur in this weather - that clearly she isn't used to - she was bound to feel stuffy and heated. Mafuyu was scaring off fish in the distance as Rocma watched her with caution. Literally, everyone was here. Rock, Peraco, her three younger brothers, Yukisada, Shirogane, Sunosan, Neko-fucking-yama, and even the niece of that douchebag orca, Nagi.
Douchebag orca.
Dickish killer whale.
Terrorist of the goddamned isle.
Idate is his fucking name.
How Rocma hated every single thing about his existence. To his poor smoking habits to his aggressive and hostile nature. The beach lacked of nicotine and tobacco scents. Not even Rock smelled that disgusting. No detergent and freshener could wipe out that vile smell. She crossed her arms firmly and shot any thoughts about him clear from her mind.
But with resentment comes recoil.
Even without his presence, it was like she could smell tobacco and dried blood. Why? It was beyond her why she even put a minor thought about him. She hated him, that's all there was to it. Rocma could faintly hear Mafuyu shouting from the distance, bragging about her caught game. It was a simple coy fish that shimmered in vibrant shades of red, orange, yellow, and pink. Its scales reflected the sun and blinded her slightly. The fish wriggled and wriggled in the pup's grasp in an attempt to break free and use its gills again. It slowed down until it came to a stop, which indicated that it had suffocated. The polar bear watched as the pup's teeth sunk into the raw flesh of the poor dead catch.
Rocma lied down on her back, closing her eyes and starting to doze off quietly.
Until she heard a scream. She instantly recognized the gurgled voice. It was Mafuyu.
Her first instinct was to go into the water to save her kid. Only one thing prevented her from doing so.
The fucking ocean.
She stepped into it and trudged, but as soon as the crisp water slapped against her ankles, she ran back immediately.
"Mommy!" She could hear the seal scream again.
"Don't worry, sweetie, Mommy's coming!" She hollered back. She saw Peraco about to swim in her direction but saw something else raise Mafuyu above to ocean where she coughed up the sea water she had inadvertently ingested. Rocma's state of panic blurred her vision so that she couldn't see her savior. Two black arms... Could it have been Nagi?
The unknown hero set the child down where she could walk safely without getting pushed around by the somewhat subtle waves. Mafuyu didn't seem to care who saved her from drowning, all she wanted to do was be in her mom's arms.
"Mommy!" She cried out, running into her mother's wide arms. She scooped up her child and hid her face in her duck fluff hair. The seal was crying, but Rocma forced herself to only a few sheds of tears. Even surrounded by her closest friends, she was all too prideful. Even if her child almost acquainted with death.
"It's okay, you're okay," she comforted the sobbing child but she wasn't so sure herself if she really had been okay. Rocma continued to hold her tightly. She felt so disgusted with herself. Her child - the only thing near and dear to her - almost drowned, and yet she couldn't even step into the water without chickening the fuck out to save her precious kid's life.
How mortifying.
Rocma looked to be in a daze as she looked out her window.
"Mommy, are you okay?" Mafuyu asked, breaking Rocma's think chain. She jolted slightly, then looked at the pristine seal.
"Yes, of course, why do you ask?" She said calmly, a serene and relaxed expression sitting on her face. Her attempts to not look troubled and disgusted really sapped the energy out of her, as she felt like even breathing was an arduous waste of effort and time.
"You just seemed like something bothered you, is all," she said quietly, making a wobbly tower with alphabetized wooden building blocks. She wasn't wrong. She had accepted the fact that she was a complete wimp earlier, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of not knowing who saved Mafuyu. She was convinced it was Nagi. What did Nagi like? Nagi had a terse dislike towards Rocma, but she would thank her properly anyway.
"Mafuyu, I'll be back. Just stay here and play with your toys, okay? Don't answer the door for anyone." The pup nodded, almost paying no attention as she built a fort with building blocks. Rocma exited her room and locked the door behind her, being greeted with a rush of cold wind. She pulled up her scarf to her mouth with grunt and trudged through the snow towards the Orca Danger Zone. Living on a hill above the ocean and near that specific part of it was convenient. She positioned herself and slid down the slope with ease, her boots allowing herself to slide and steer smoothly and effortlessly. She drove her heel into the ice, creating friction that slowed her down gradually until she reached the base. It was even more chilly down here. She rubbed her arms, but soon walked along the rocky ocean sidewalk in search for Idate's niece. She saw a gray dorsal fin protrude the water and then some hair rise from the icy water. Two lifeless gray eyes stared right at Rocma's pitch black pair.
"... If you're looking for another fight with my uncle, go look somewhere else. He is not here." So it was Nagi.
"Relax, Nagisa." She could hear the young orca growl. "I'm not here for your uncle, I wanted to speak to you."
This obviously left her confused. Nagi raised herself so that her face and chest were visible.
"Why? You clearly know that I resent you." Ouch.
"I just wanted to thank you. Without you, Mafuyu could have perish-"
Nagi tilted her head in confusion. "What are you talking about? I would never do something that would have you thank me."
"You saved Mafuyu.. Right?" Nagi shook her head.
"No, that was not me."
"Then, who did?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Please tell me, Nagisa."
"Do not call me that. And it was my uncle."
Idate saved Mafuyu?
No way. No possible way. No fucking way.
"He is incapable of doing so."
"You asked me to tell you, and I did. Don't believe me? Fine, I couldn't care less." Nagi lowered her head back in the water and used her tail to swim away. She also used the force of the waves to speed up her swimming.
"Wait, Nagi!" Rocma called out, but she was already gone. Did Idate actually save Mafuyu? Was he really not as shallow and heartless as he depicts?
It was getting dark, and late. She needed to get back to Mafuyu, of course, and she had no business hanging around here. She retracted her claws and jabbed them in the ice mountain, scaling up the slope back to her house.
Mafuyu was looking out the window, with toothy grin when she saw Rocma's cotton hat that protected her ear that had a nick in it.
She unlocked her door with one of her thick black claws and entered the room, the pup hugging her legs once she had completely entered. She smiled slightly and messed with her hair.
"Time for bed, child," announced Rocma. The seal nodded then ran off to disappear in her room. Rocma stripped herself of her beige-silver dress when she got to her room. All she had on underneath was her bra and black panties. Untying her tight braids and taking off her fluffy hat, she flicked off the lights and jumped on her soft and slightly cold bed. The sheets had a faint scent of lavender when the polar bear buried her nose deep into her pillow. Almost immediately, she was out like a light.
The realization that Idate saved Mafuyu manifested itself into a dream deep in her conscience.
Rocma woke up grumpily the next morning. She was groggy and tired.
Fuck you, Idate.
She had to thank him for his unexpected actions, grudge or no grudge. She growled under her breath and grudgingly forced herself to get out of the comfort of her bed. She pulled on her silver dress lazily, sliding it over her shoulders and buttoning it at her chest. She looked at her reflection in the window, her permanently curly hair having been messed up from being slept with. Blindly she fished for some of her hair ties with a fluffy extension. Absentmindedly she started to braid her coarse hair into two respective braids. As usual, they reached about halfway down her sternum. She could already tell that Mafuyu was up from the faint echo of the television that played morning cartoons. Her toes brushed against her discarded hat on her bedroom floor. The arctic omnivore used her toe coordination to pick up the hat. After doing so, she adjusted it on her damaged ear to its liking. She yawned again and pulled herself out of her room and into the living room. Mafuyu waved at Rocma, then returned to watching her show.
"I'm going out for a while, I'll send Peraco over in a minute." She said groggily. "There's some leftover clam chowder you can heat up if you'd like." The seal nodded, then resumed viewing her cartoons. Her boots were left discarded by the entrance. Shoving her feet into the cold fabric, she left the room and closed the door.
Wherever the hell that damn orca was at, she was going to find him.
It was well past noon, and still no sign of Idate.
She searched everywhere. She even went to Nagi about eight times, although that pissed off the younger orca very much. She lied down on her back, and let out an exasperated sigh.
"You sure aren't making this easy for me!" She shouted, her rough voice echoing throughout the area. It soon dispersed into mere whispers until it was silent, with the exception of her breathing.
Rocma rolled over on her stomach, pressing her cheek against the frozen water. That feels nice, she thought to herself. She could feel a slight vibration but shook it off as some animal swimming below the surface. She already knew it wasn't that orca, he was too swift to make the ice rumble like it did. Lazily, she crawled over to the edge of the ice, using her sheathed claws to pull herself by jamming them into the ice.
"Where the hell are you, you goddamned douche...?" She let out, slightly grudgingly. "Well, wherever you are, thank you for saving Mafuyu's life."
"You are very welcome." She heard his voice and immediately jumped up. But she saw no sign of him. Even looking closely in the water gave no clues to his whereabouts. Gravity took ahold of her head as it hung low, her braids swaying over the ice.
"I'm losing it," growled Rocma. She decided to go to Nagi again, even if it resulted in her death. Slowly, she pushed herself up with her knee and walked to the Orca Danger Zone at a sluggish pace. She ambled through the thin snow until she saw the buoy with the wooden sign. Beware! Orca Danger Zone.
Nagi should not have been too far, she usually caught her on a lonely rock watching the dreary sky. As usual, she was there. The apex mammal walked until she was within hearing distance. Nagi could hear footsteps and turned her head, greeting Rocma with emotionless and dull eyes.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Idate isn't here." She growled, digging her fingers into the rock.
"I know, but do you have any idea?"
"Don't ask me. He's not even on the island."
"Wait," Rocma started, confused. "He isn't here?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you for Satanick's sake!"
"But you didn't specify, I just assumed he was elsewhere on the island."
"I am not obliged to help you find my uncle simply because you have a lovesick crush on him." Gross.
"I do not have a lovesick crush on him, how repulsive." She retorted.
"If you do have one as you claim, then why does it bother you so much?" That sure as hell shut her up. Rocma made it painfully obvious to anyone that she hated everything about Idate. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. So why is she so hell-bent on thanking him for accomplishing a task she obviously couldn't do?
"He saved Mafuyu's life. I have to thank him even if it kills me."
"Go in the ocean to look for him, then. He is most likely on one of his month-long strolls throughout the Pacific or Atlantic waters. Unless you can't do that either since you are so terrified of the water." Did Nagi really despise her that much?
Rocma shook her head. "I wouldn't even go in a boat to look for him."
"Then stop complaining and wait like I have been doing." Nagi snapped at her but retained her chronically emotionless expression. Dead eyes, and lips that never curved into a smile but were instead a fine and thin line. Rocma sighed. Why did she hate her so much?
"Will you at least be kind enough as to inform me when he returns?" She already knew the answer, but she asked anyway.
"No promises," she responded. That was new. Well, it's better than flat-out no.
He would be back eventually, and Nagi would possibly tell her about him.
Then again, it was also possible that she wouldn't.