Underwater

Shuri was heading to the lab, on her way to her safe haven as it was her everyday life and passion. While saying hi to her colleagues and lab partners, she was going to finish the device anyway, or not she couldn't rest if she wanted to. The device will help investigate the earthquake under the ocean problem.

To detect or discover,

Well, Shuri would put it as—

To send a message to the underwater world.

If it needed help or any kind of assistance from the blip.

What if the aliens living underwater were like Thanos?

Who wants to wipe off half of the population?

Wakanda will fight.

Like how they did during Thanos's attack.

Wakanda is capable of protecting its own and the others,

With their King, her brother, T'Challa leading,

The Black Panther.

It'll be fine , Shuri uses something like the "whale songs," the signals that whales use to communicate with each other, which are complex vocalizations that can travel long distances through the water, allowing whales to communicate with each other over great distances.

She just modified the device to adapt to all underwater creatures. Bast, she had met a talking raccoon and a talking tree.

A talking whale or turtle wouldn't surprise her anymore.

She hums along while finishing the device, 

"Uh-uh-uh~~~♫"

"Runs to your~ runs to your arms~♫"

"Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh~♫"

She will ask for her brother's advice before deploying the device into the rivers and oceans surrounding Wakanda.

"Uh-uh-uh~~~♫"

"Vamos la star~ vamos la stars~♫"

"Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh~♫"

Shuri was so into humming that she didn't notice someone walk up to her and tap on her shoulder lightly, getting her attention.

"...Princess, you were looking for me?" It's Aneka, smiling at her.

Shuri stops humming immediately and turns to greet her, "Aneka, you are here! I was going to show you the dagger I made," She introduced her new inventions to the Dora, and Aneka was eager to try her hands on it.

"Thank you, princess, I'll let you know how it feels when I get to use it," Aneka was going to try it when she was on duty.

"Yeah, no problem! Let me know if there are any enhancements I can make," Shuri added. She resumes her focus back on the design she's making. A suit.

♫ Uh-uh-uh~~~ ♫

♫ Runs to your~ runs to your arms ♫

"...Princess Shuri? You are humming that song again…" Aneka observes the princess, she thinks the princess doesn't realize she does that all the time when she's working or thinking—

"What song?" Shuri asked and her hands didn't stop.

"That song, Uhu~u~u~?" Aneka tries to hum like Shuri and earns a chuckle from the princess.

"OHHH, you mean that song? I don't think it's a song, it's just—" 

A humming in her head,

A voice that she heard,

Ever since she knew things.

"It's the voice in your head again, right?" Aneka knows, she had heard it from General Okoye before, but they all said it was—

"You believe me?" Shuri smirks at the statement. 

She's been hearing a voice in her head since she was young,

A man's voice, if Shuri had not mistaken,

Humming or singing a lullaby softly,

It echoes in her head, her brain, and her mind until one day, she finally asks Mama,

"Mama, there's someone who keeps humming a song in my head…I told him to shut up but he wouldn't…" A young Shuri whines at her mother.

Everyone freaked out, they thought their princess was hypnotized or even came up with more bizarre sayings,

Saying the princess was cast by an evil spell and heard all those demonic whispers.

Nonsense! Shuri has been a science person since day one, she never believes in the myths and legends, it's the kind of tradition that she's scoffed at, except for the Black Panther.

Because she believes in T'Challa and Baba.

They made all kinds of checkups and diagnoses on her, and their medical technology was the most advanced on earth. They found nothing.

Nothing is wrong with the Princess.

The council said she made up all that.

"Shuri, did you just make up all of that? You have to be honest with Baba," Baba kneels and talks with her softly.

"NO—I did not lie, Baba! There is a voice inside my head, I'm not lying—" Shuri was upset and clung to her father.

"Princess, we all know you like playing tricks and pulling little pranks—" Shuri gasped at the accusation, but she was telling the truth!

"Enough! If my sister says so, then I believe her!" T'Challa picks her up and leaves the throne room while holding Shuri in his arms protectively.

"Brother, you believe me?" Little Shuri hides in the crook of his neck, clinging onto him dependently.

"I do, I know you wouldn't lie on such things," T'Challa comforts her and signals the Doras to let Baba and Mama know Shuri will be fine.

"So, does this voice in your head talk to you? Or it just sings—" 

"No, it just hummed a melody all the time, especially when I was working on my homework! The melody is like this—" She hummed the melody over and over again.

Shuri only felt safe in her brother's arms and knew only her family would believe and understand her.

Until one day, a young Shuri was throwing a tantrum and demanded to be taken to play by the river, but their mother didn't allow it since she caught a cold a few days ago.

"No, Shuri, you can go after you are fully recovered, but not today, nope, and you, do not sneak her out—" Mother tells her and brother.

She pleaded with her brother, "T'Challa~~~!"

"No, Shuri, Mama already said no," He pats her head.

"Okay…" Shuri nods and goes back to her room to draw on her inventions, she's going to sneak out alone later—

T'Challa sneaks behind her and tugs her up, saying, "Come on, I know you are planning to sneak out later, but we have to come back before sunset, alright?" Her brother was the best!

T'Challa brings her to the rivers guarded by the River Tribe and tells her,

"You can play close to the borders and do not go near the deeper rivers like usual, you got it? And just for half an hour," Shuri nods happily and runs off. He watches and guards her with some of the river tribe kids, ensuring Shuri doesn't leave his sight.

It was the day when T'Challa regretted bringing Shuri to the river against his mother's will.

It was the day when Shuri almost drowned to death and killed herself.

A few people from the river tribe walk up to the Prince and chat with him, T'Challa tears his gaze away from Shuri for a few moments to engage in the conversation.

Come in

Shuri looked up, she heard somebody calling for her.

Come

"Hello?" It was the voice in her head again, Shuri was surprised. This was the first time the voice was not humming to her but instead calling her—

Come down

Shuri strays away from the group and moves into the deeper rivers, the water reaches her knees—

Come

The water reaches her waist. Shuri was going to turn back, brother told her not to come here—

It's okay

The water reaches her shoulders.

She couldn't help herself—

The ocean,

The sea,

The river,

The water,

The voice,

It's calling to her.

The voice sweeps Shuri away like she is possessed,

Pulling her to the bottom of the ocean,

Underwater.

The water submerged over Shuri's head.

Stay.

It was the last thing Shuri heard in her head.

"T'Challa? Did you bring Shuri with you?" Nakia was strolling around and saw T'Challa by the river borders. He only comes here when Shuri wants to play in the water. She looks at the group of kids playing in the river, but she has no sight of Shuri—

"T'CHALLA—!? WHERE IS SHURI—?!!!"

T'Challa's heart sank to the bottom of the river.

He scans around panicking and couldn't find his sister—

SHURI—!

He sprints and dives into the deep river, following his instincts—

Nakia follows him.

They both break through the water’s surface with an unconscious Shuri in their arms moments later.

"T'Challa! Oh Bast, she's not breathing, Shuri's not breathing, T'Challa!" Nakia choked up and checked for a heartbeat on Shuri's wrist and neck.

"SHURI!" T'Challa immediately starts cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Shuri and keeps calling for her. 

Shuri coughs out water and springs up in pain a minute later, coughing her lungs out.

"...br…other…?"

"Thank Bast! Shuri! Shuri, are you okay? Can you breathe? Thank Bast, you scared the hell out of us, we thought—" T'Challa leans down to hug her tightly and Nakia hugs him from the side, squeezing to assure him that Shuri is breathing now.

"Don't ever do that again! If Nakia hadn't—" T'Challa choked at his words, he couldn't imagine what he would do if Shuri—

They returned to the palace and T'Challa faced the wrath of their parents.

"I told you not to bring her! And you disobeyed me!" Ramonda was furious.

"Calm down, my love, Shuri is fine, Bast blesses her," T'Chaka comforts his wife.

"I'm sorry, Mother…" T'Challa knows he had done terribly wrong, as a son and brother, Shuri almost drowned.

"Son, look at me, your sister is fine, don't worry, relax," Baba squeezes his tensed shoulder.

"But still, I have to punish you for not listening to your mother, you are grounded, the both of you, no more going to the rivers for a year," T'Chaka finalizes.

"Yes, Baba," T'Challa nodded firmly and went to see Shuri with Nakia.

"...Brother…? I'm sorry…did Baba and Mama scold you…? It's not your fault—" She starts sobbing, blaming herself for getting them into trouble.

"It's alright, we are grounded, and no more playing in the water for a year, I'm sorry, Shuri…" Shuri bumps into him and shakes her head furiously while crying.

"It's alright, as long as you are safe," T'Challa and Nakia comfort her until Shuri falls asleep tiredly.

Shuri focuses on her homework afterward, busy herself in the lab and inventing stuff, the humming in her head doesn't vanish, it only grows stronger, and she hates it.

It was the voice that lured her deep down to the river that day, she didn't dare tell anyone. No one will believe her. And she didn't want to bring any more trouble or headaches to her parents anymore.

T'Challa noticed his sister getting gloomy for the past few months, busy herself in the lab and always playing loud music. In the end, he asks for permission from Baba and Mama to look for river tribe members that know how to hold their breath underwater. He heard of such techniques from the outside world and hoped it could cheer Shuri up. Also preventing her from drowning again as she learned to swim from tribes that have experience.

Shuri told T'Challa one day,

"That day I almost drowned? I know you aren't going to believe me, brother…but it was the voice again…calling to me…"

"How could that be?" He still thinks it's unbelievable, but realizes that this is what has been bothering Shuri, no wonder she is always on her earbuds. T'Challa told their parents and they believed their daughter once again.

"It may be the ancestors talking to you…" Baba gently caresses her head.

"Baba, if it is the ancestors, they should like…summoned me to the mountains…not the ocean…" Shuri grunts at the thought, the last thing she wants is to talk with the ancestors.

"She's got a point," Mama agrees with her!

"Whatever, you have to be careful next time, I'm not always with you, you have to resist! You have to fight back the voice if it's luring you to do something dangerous…and I talked with Baba and Mama, I found a—" T'Challa told her she would be learning how to hold her breath underwater and surprisingly, Shuri's eyes lit up and relaxed at the news.

The sea is calling to her,

And she had longed to be back in the water.

She submerged herself under the water.

Feeling peace and serenity.

The humming in her head wasn't that annoying at all anymore…

It sounds…

Endearing…and heartwarming.

And over the years, she had learned to live with it and not be bothered by it anymore. It doesn't ring in her head all the time or every day, just occasionally. At first, it was just a faint humming, but as she grows older, she can vaguely sing along to the melody, and that is what she comes up with.

♫ Uh-uh-uh~~~ ♫

♫ Runs to your~ runs to your arms ♫

The humming has soothed her whenever she is down, or her projects are not working, it even distracts her when she feels annoyed by the delay of her inventions. And whenever she is alone. Honestly, it has grown on her, and Shuri has grown fond of it. She likes the humming in her head now.

Now she can hum along freely and doesn't need to worry about anything. 

She had invented a device to detect her brain activity when the voice in her head started humming, but it didn't show any abnormality…

But Shuri remembered clearly that day,

The voice calling to her,

It didn't want to harm her, she could feel it,

It just calls her…

Like calling her to come home.

How strange…

Her home is here. In Wakanda.

"I do, princess. Just because it sounds crazy and doesn't happen to everyone doesn't mean it's not real or doesn't exist. You are real, princess, and I believe what you said," Aneka's words drip with determination.

"...Thank you…Aneka…" Shuri's heart melts at Aneka's kind words. She had rarely told anyone about it anymore when she grew older. She remembers the last time she told Okoye, the general glares at her like she is crazy and out of her mind.

It was kinda funny though…the unbelievable face Okoye made. She laughs at the memory.

T'Challa returned to Wakanda as she had predicted. She deployed the device after discussing it with her brother.

They waited for a week. Observe and prepare to face whatever comes at them.

And nothing.

Nothing came back to them.

But there were a few injured whales and sea creatures came to the device. They helped them to heal and put them back into the ocean. Besides that, they receive no signal or message from the underwater realm.

During the deployment, the device will lose its signal between a few hours and disappear at midnight. It reappears when the sun rises, it may be due to the freezing temperature in the ocean, causing it to freeze and stop working. Shuri had checked that although the signal was lost, the device coordinates did not change.

They retrieved the device and closed the investigation.

Turns out that the earthquake under the ocean is a natural phenomenon.

There were no intelligent species,

Besides the sea animals,

They found nothing underwater.

Which is good news.

Shuri strolls at the riverbank and walks along the shallow. She could finally have some rest as she walked into the waters. The faint humming voice in her head reminded her that she had not been hearing it for some time now. It was fading before the blip. But now, it's coming back again. The humming voice echoed in her head stronger again when she placed the device into the water, reminding her of its existence.

The faint humming voice accompanies her while she sits in the river after the water submerges her head. Shuri had learned how to hold her breath over the years, but she had put it aside and focused on her work in the lab most of the time. She has grown out of the liking to play in the water, as most kids do. Not sure if she could still hold her breath for five minutes like she used to, which was years ago.

Let's see, then.

Shuri believes she can no longer be lured into the water like she was possessed back then. She had never heard the voice talking to her again since that day, so she wouldn't know either. She sat at the shallower areas of the river, she could get up anytime and resurface. Anyway, she had her kimoyo beads with her. She'll be fine.

Sitting underwater as the sun shines through the water. Making the water shimmer in her eyes, Shuri sees a school of fish swimming far away. Some fishes swam past her curiously, there were some crabs around her as well. She sees the orange fish, oh, she knows that, it's a clownfish!

There's seagrass, corals, shells and sea creatures. The last time Shuri was here, she saw some glowing jellyfish too, how lucky!

The sun shone through the surface of the water, it was stunning and mesmerizing as everything underwater was covered in a layer of golden light. 

The light refracts and dances on the ripples, creating a sparkling and glittering pattern on the water's surface. 

It's like the water is alive with energy and vibrancy. The light penetrates the water and illuminates everything beneath, casting a warm and soothing glow on the underwater environment. 

Shuri feels tranquility, wonder—

Such life, Shuri thinks, 

—and in awe of life itself at the sight as she witnesses the natural wonder,

It's both beautiful and mystifying.

Shuri closes her eyes and takes in everything with her heart and mind. Remembering this scenery and feeling forever.

She absentmindedly hummed the lullaby in her head.

♫ Uh-uh-uh~~~ ♫

♫ Runs to your~ runs to your arms ♫

She suddenly felt strange, like something was missing…

The faint humming voice…

The voice in her head,

Shuri opened her eyes and gazed forward,

It stopped.

Bast, you are fucking kidding me…

There is a man standing underwater—

—looking at her.