Underwater

Shuri freezes like an antelope in headlights.

And a million thoughts run through her mind now,

Her own voice speaking to her as the gears in her brain turn furiously,

Is it looking at me…?

Shuri wants to turn her head and look around but she doesn't dare to move.

—Who else would be here sitting underwater at the riverbank beside her???

Am I…seeing things?

She wanted to rub her eyes but she didn't dare to move.

—Who else would be here holding their breath underwater beside her???

Should I get up and run…? Like now?

Shuri pressed her lips and steadied her breathing, her hands digging into the sand beneath her.

—Who else, such as a princess, would come to a riverbank alone without a guard beside her???

Is the water poisoned? 

She tried to push herself up from sitting, but suddenly the water weighed like thousands on her.

—Who else thought it was a good idea to come here alone to the riverbank during lunch beside her???

The man…or…creature? Whatever it is?

Tilts its head at her.

It's a human, right…?

Shuri feels her heart is going to jump out of her chest, she scans the…man…with her eyes.

—I swear he could hear my heartbeat from so far away with ears like an elf. Are those…wings…on his ankle?

Does he know I could see him…?

Well, the man just tilted his head at her!! Shuri didn't expect he would do that at all!!

—I think I'm the alien here to him, depending on how he tilts his head, he's curious!!!

Is he a shapeshifter? 

Like the old American movies Baba used to watch…

—The "humans" I know don't breathe underwater! And floats like no gravity was working on them! 

What if he's a shark? 

Like the film "Jaws" in 1975 or "The Meg" in 2018???

—I remember there was a sequel for "The Meg" though, wait…what the hell am I thinking in such a situation?!

The man crosses his arms swiftly.

Shuri could feel she was getting out of breath…

She slowly moves and hides both her hands behind her back—

The faint humming voice in her head had completely died down, she was completely alone now—

Well, besides the man underwater…

Am I being hypnotized?

Shuri has never seen a cuttlefish before but he looks too inhuman and breathtaking to be a cuttlefish… 

—She knows there's a kind of fish that has wings too…and it's called flying fish…ha…

Does he know he can't camouflage like a frogfish in the water?

Since she blinks and still sees him after a few moments…he's not blue and can't blend into the ocean…

—Shuri wonders…if she could get her hands on a DNA sample of him…

Is it me or he's getting closer and closer…?

Shuri reached for her kimoyo beads and took them off her wrist. She grabbed onto it and squeezed hard once, switching it to the emergency CPR function and placed it at the back of her waist, waiting for the—

A sudden surge of electricity ran through her body, finally jolting her to stand up from the riverbed and stumbling backwards towards the land, breaking through the surface of the water, feeling alive and able to breathe again. Shuri sat down on the sand since she had stood up too abruptly as she stared blankly at the river.

The electrifying sensation clears her mind, snapping her out of all the ideas she had in mind all at once. But the excitement of meeting an alien underwater anticipates and terrifies her at the same time. 

Her heart races and her wet skin tingles, water dripping down on her, as something creeps on her—

A rush of euphoria—

A brink of something incredible—

I was right all along! There IS intelligent species living underwater!

And a sense of dread dawns on her—

Telling her to run—

To get away from here—

To inform the others immediately—

♫Runs to your~ runs to your arms♫

The faint humming voice came back to her, soothing her slightly, calming her alarm senses.

I'm Shuri, Princess of Wakanda, daughter of Ramonda and T'Chaka, sister to King T'Challa and the legacy of the Black Panther runs in her blood!

—She will not run like a coward!

Shuri stood up and stepped back into the river, her ankles dipped into the water, she took a deep breath and—

Peeks…

Is he still down there…?

Shuri roughly saw a silhouette of the man underwater…

He is. He's still there…

The jolt of adrenaline nor euphoria doesn't fade—

Her mind was totally blank. But only one lingering question remains. The only thing that mattered that was left in her mind was,

So does the dread —

—Most importantly, how did he get into Wakanda?

Namor was sure he startled the surface-dweller…

The girl's eyes widened and lips pressed together,

Namor could see when she saw him, her whole being becoming tense.

Her heartbeat must be spiking…

Namor tilts his head, 

…Am I that terrifying?

He would laugh slightly at that moment if he weren't facing a surface-dweller, not that he is afraid…

He was just afraid he might scare her away more, however—

He cannot trust her let his guard down.

She's a surface-dweller—

She would choke and drown if she tried to breathe in the water.

Not like his people.

He saw her hands digging into the sand…

She's trying to run away…

Namor crosses his arms, thinking—

Should I kill her?

She's not a threat to me.

To protect his nation and people—

As K'uk'ulkan, he should kill her now.

For the sake of Talokan.

She had seen him, she would expose them, but—

The voice that digsdeep into his head.

Who has annoyed him for the first 11 years…

Who has occupied his mind for the last ten years…

And been driving him crazy for the past five years.

Chaac must be joking with him…

Or cursed him.

A surface dweller—

How ironic.

And a human girl from the nation who exposed their secret.

But…

He had been looking for her for the last 21 years.

Mourning for her for the past five years.

Namor wants to know why…

Why her voice…

Is in his head—

He wants answers.

Where only she could give him.

He wants to hear her voice for real.

Not just a faint humming in his head—

He floats closer and closer…

He wants to hear her call his name call him—

It's burning his ears—

To hear her say his name with her lips.

He would like to know her name as well,

Because he would love to call her name call her—

It's burning on his tongue—

To say her name, the voice in his head.

He would be honoured to be the one who asks—

Why your voice digs deep into my head—

It's burning in his throat—

Why are you haunting me all along—? 

Why aren't you looking for me?

Is it only me?

That's had been hearing your voice all these years—

Or so do you?

Have my voice in your head all these years, driving you crazy and—

Tell me.

It’s burning in his heart—

Namor wants her to be his.

It's burning in his soul—

Forever.

—How did he get into Wakanda???

Their water barriers are working fine, and nothing is on the radar, Shuri's kimoyo beads show her.

How is this possible? Wakanda's defenses are impeccable.

She should inform the others now!

Wait, but it might complicate the situation—

But she couldn't just run away and let him go like that…

What if he brings an army and attacks Wakanda???

Shuri decided to confront him, since the man is not leaving. But how?

He's not armed. She didn't see anything on him, just some arm and wrist bands…with jades adornment on them, his short shorts , and his winged ankles—

Think, Shuri, think!

Let's go with the most basics,

Maybe she should greet him like…

Hey, Man! What's up! How are you doing?

Pftttttt—sounds too familiar!!

Or she should ask…

How do you get in here?! What do you want?!

Pftttttt—sounds too cautious!!

He might feel provoked!

She wants peace!

Fine—Let's just ask him…

Shuri walks into the river again but stops midway when the water reaches her waist.

She facepalms.

She can't talk underwater while holding her breath—

She thinks of only one way,

She records her voice to her kimoyo beads and she will play it to him, problem solved!

Shuri walks into the water,  sitting down at the same spot again.

Namor looks at her, 

What is she up to? He thought she was going to call for reinforcements—

He can handle all that by himself but he will risk exposing himself. There is aerial surveillance in this area, Wakanda might get footage of him…

Shuri waves at the man hesitantly, getting his attention.

She's waving…at me…??? Namor raises his eyebrows, surprised—

And floats closer.

Noooo—I'm not calling you to come forward! Great, he's coming after me, oh shit— Shuri quickly raises both her hands up, indicating she means no harm—

She's…surrendering…? All of the sudde n. Namor stops. The "strange" behaviour of surface-dwellers still annoys him after all this time—

But she is unique to him, so…

Namor beckons to her instead.

You come to me, then.

Ain't no way I'm coming to you! Shuri would have gasped if she wasn't underwater! She turns her head left and right, saying no.

Two more minutes and she had to resurface again, the man was still some distance away from her actually, she wasn't sure if he could hear her kimoyo beads at such a distance in the water.

Shuri points at the ground, and points at Namor. She points them back and forth, hoping he understands while signaling him to come to this spot, this should be near enough…

Ho…No one has ever dared to point fingers at him. Namor finds her amusing. 

He shrugs and does what she says. Standing at the spot she's pointing back and forth. And then he watched her silently to see what she would do. 

That went well, okay…The man is two arms’s length away from her now. Shuri could finally see him clearly. 

…Hmm…quite a handsome dude, actually…anyway— Shuri wanders off a bit.

She finally looked at Namor seriously, gazing into his deep eyes.

…Hmm…she looks young as he predicted…well, literally everyone is younger than him, like it's not even comparable, anyway— Namor wanders off a bit… And she has such lovely and lively eyes…even though she squints her eyes in the water.

Their gaze…interested…

Shuri blinked and finally reacted, raising the kimoyo beads in her hand, reaching out to him and—

Namor leans back in his stance, looking at the thing in her hands cautiously—

Shuri plays the recording.

"Ungubani?"

She asks. Her voice reached Namor's ears.

It is her. Namor was certain,

It's the same voice in his head.

And then immediately,

"Who are you?"

Shuri still reached out her hand with her beads. Waiting for the man to respond, he clearly heard her because his eyes flickered. But Shuri wanted to be sure and was going to play again—

The man made a shushing gesture, finger on his lips, telling her to hush and Shuri rolled her eyes, it's not like she would scare the fish away~and that there was no one else around besides them. Shuri retracts her hand, wearing her kimoyo beads back on her wrist and waits—

Namor gazed at her with an entertained expression,

The bracelet she's holding out just now, must be Wakanda's communication device,

Clearly, she's a Wakandan without a doubt,

Namor ponders on the question posed,

To his people, he is K'uk'ulkan,

To her?

It depends on Wakanda—

Whether Wakanda is an ally,

Or an enemy to Talokan.

There is no in-between.

And to surface-dwellers, the surface world that he has no love for—

He is Namor.

Namor was deciding whether to answer her question before—

Shuri's kimoyo beads ring—

Someone is calling her. Shuri looks at it, it's Mother.

But she didn't answer and waited for the call to stop. Looking back at Namor, still waiting as she raises her eyebrows at him…So…?Are you going to answer me?

Namor decides,

It is time for him to go,

Before she asks more questions about him,

And her people came looking for her.

He would come again another day.

As Shuri thought he was about to answer, Namor smiled at her instead. 

She blinked in confusion, and in an instant, Namor knelt before her. 

Shuri tried to pull away, but Namor had already caught her wrist, surprisingly gentle…

Then, his other hand reached out and slowly, slowly covered her eyes. 

Shuri calmed down, blinked a few times, and closed her eyes, waiting for a while, wondering what he was up to.

When she could no longer resist the urge to open her eyes, all she saw was an endless expanse of water in front of her. 

The man had vanished without a trace, as if he had never been there.

Nothing.