The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 282: Let’s turn the sea upside down

I looked at the water, then at the high cliffs, feeling the weight of the silence. My mind was racing, trying to pull a solution out of thin air.

"Damar, we’re in a real bind here," I said, my voice low. "I can’t filter an entire sea even if I knew how to, and we definitely can’t move an entire tribe of sleeping mer-folk either. There are hundreds of them, I believe. What do we do?"

Damar looked out at the oily, brown film resting on the surface of the blue sea. He didn’t look defeated; he looked like he was calculating.

Ooh, Damar’s about to come up with a killer idea. I just know it.

"Poison like this... it is like silt," Damar said, his voice a deep vibration. "It settles where the water is still. In the caves and the shallows, it will definitely settle and suffocate them. But if there is a storm, the ’bitter dust’ cannot settle. It will scatter and be carried away by the deep currents into the wide ocean where it is too thin to harm anyone."

I snapped my fingers.

’A storm!’ That’s a brilliant idea.

My mind flashed back to things I knew about water—how movement keeps things from getting stagnant and toxic. If the water stayed moving, the particles couldn’t land on their gills.

Right now, the waves moved subtly, but it was not enough to scatter the toxins in the sea. Just like Damar said, we needed a Storm. One violent enough to shake the sea violently.

But it doesn’t end with just the storm.

I looked at the white, fluffy sheep man standing around us, then reached out and grabbed a handful of the wool on Robin’s shoulder. He flinched, but I was just feeling the texture—the thick, heavy oil that coated every fiber.

’Lanolin,’ I thought. ’It’s like a natural magnet for grease and dirt.’

I didn’t do science but this had to be common knowledge.

"Robin, this wool of yours... it’s oily," I said, my eyes lighting up. "If we take this wool and pack the narrow entrances of the mer-folk caves with it, it’ll act like a trap. The moving water will push the dust through, and the wool will soak up the poison while the clean water passes through!"

It was a gamble, but it was the only shot we had.

It was either this or we decide to leave the mer folks to their fate and I’m picking the former.

"I understand your plan but," Robin said, his voice trembling slightly. "How can we wait for a storm? The sky is clear and the moon is coming soon. There isn’t a cloud in sight."

I turned to Damar who brought up the ideas, wondering maybe my capable husband knew a ritual of sorts to invite a storm.

"Any ideas?" I asked. "Can we... I don’t know, splash the water really hard?"

Damar looked at me, his emerald eyes turning dark and firm. There was a look in them that made my breath hitch for about half a second and then he said,

"I can create a storm,"

I stared at him, blinking.

"I’m sorry, what?" What did I just hear? "You can create a storm? Is that even possible?"

I knew he was a beastman, and a powerful one, and that this beastworld was unpredictable but I hadn’t seen him do anything like that yet. Did he have some kind of hidden ability? Magic, perhaps? I brushed my chin, trying to figure out my husband.

"Not a storm of the air," Damar corrected, already reaching for the ties of his tunic. "A storm of the deep. If I shift and use the weight of my form, I can force the water to spin until the bottom becomes the top."

Ah, like a whirlpool.

I realized then that Damar wasn’t just your average snake beastman. He was a force of nature. If he turned into that massive serpent and started thrashing, going round in a specific direction, he’d basically turn the cove into a giant whirlpool.

"You’re going to stir the whole sea," I breathed, feeling a mix of awe and excitement.

If anyone asks who turned the ocean beds upside down, I’ll proudly say, ’It was my man.’ My face flushed.

"Damar, you’re incredible."

Damar looked at me, a little pink flush spreading on his cheek as he looked into my eyes and then I cleared my throat.

There was no time to be having a moment.

"Okay, where were we?"

"I will need you to handle the sheep," Damar said, handing me the basket of cubs. He leaned in, his cool forehead resting against mine for a fleeting second. "Once I begin, the water will be dangerous, so do not come near the edge."

"Rodger," I said. "I’ll leave you alone to it."

Of course, the wool on Robin’s back won’t be enough, so we’ll need to get some more from the rest that went with Noah and Fenric.

It might take a while, but I doubt the sea will settle in an hour or two after Damar’s thrashing so it doesn’t matter.

"Jael," I called. "Once we get back with the wool, you’ll have to spread them over your colony, so it can suck up every last poison left in the environment. Understand?"

Jael nodded and I turned to Damar, watching as he got ready to transform.

"I’ll keep my distance," I said, a little soft look in my eyes. "Just... don’t hurt yourself doing this."

Damar didn’t answer with words. He turned and dove into the water. I watched as a massive, dark shadow began to coil under the surface, growing longer and thicker until it looked like a sunken mountain was moving underneath.

"Robin!" I called, turning to the sheep chief. "We’ll need every bit of wool you can spare! We’ll shave the adults, and shave the elders. We’re doing this to save your tribe so you can’t complain, okay?"

Robin didn’t argue. He nodded, also determined to save the mer folks.

Then, the water started to bubble and swirl as Damar began his work. It was a far distance from the surface but it felt like Damar’s massive form was right in front of me.

I stood there on the rough stone, clutching my cubs and watching the ocean begin to roar.

My husband was about to fight the sea itself. How cool was that?