The waves lapped quietly against the stilted docks, carrying with them the faint shimmer of blue light. At night, Pearlbay waters glowed like a dream an endless field of stars caught beneath the tide. But by day, they looked like any other sea. Calm. Restless. Hiding secrets.
On the shore stood Kiro Dallin.
Ten years old, his thin frame looked even smaller under the weight of the oversized shirt he wore. His messy blond hair whipped against the wind, eyes distant as they followed the horizon. Somewhere beyond it, a family lost to the sea that had swallowed them whole.
Pearlbay had taken him in since then. They gave him food, clothes, a roof but not belonging. He was still the boy from the tide, the outsider.
"Kiro!!"
The voice broke him from his trance.
