Flassche: The soul of the sea (open)

[DarkEnigma]

Please refrain from replying directly to this thread, Pm me if you are interested.

Title:The soul of the sea

Excerpt:
What would you be willing to offer in order to stand on that podium as a champion.
The story would take place in the near future where major flooding’s and rising water levels have reshaped the world and humanity as a whole. Humanity has adapted to this and have many sporting events are now adapted or created in order to match this new world.
Where once Soccer and Football had been major sporting events, now swimming dominates it all. Be it team based, single events, open water swimming or others. Making a name for oneself in this world would ensure financial security in a world where resources where sparse and overpopulation was a growing issue.

Content:
-Humor/Spice of life
-Competition/swimming
-Physical Alterations
-Blackmail-ish?

Setting:
Near future

My Character(s):
I would play a very flawed individual, yet savant level skills in terms of swimming abilities.
He could be a mere human who is gifted, or some hybrid/mutant or offshoot of humanity.
He would be seen as the golden goose in the eyes of your character, yet one that is costly.
His age, build, etc is open for suggestion.
Beyond him I will be playing a large cast of side characters to enrich the world and the plot.

Your Character(s):
The story was written with both males and females in mind.
The genders, ages, personalities, physical traits would be up to my character to decide.
The character(s) can be a male or female at the start, yet has to work in other bodies and genders from time to time as the story goes on.

Inspiration for the scene:
Surfing

[DarkEnigma]

Prologue

“The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.”

Fear and desperation sometimes could produce strange moments of clarity and recollection. Even now as the sea was beating violently, pulling at the body, pushing it away. In that moment of strive thoughts would wander to an old poem written by Langston Hughes, back in the earlier years of the previous century.

"How still,
How strangely still
The water is today,
It is not good
For water
To be so still that way."

The water had been so still that day, so perfectly tranquil. There had been no warnings, no signs hinting at the violent nature of the sea that day.
It came sudden and violent, assaulting the beach with tall and violent waves, whilst the current that ran underneath began to twist and mutate into something else, something monstrous, swallowing up souls wherever it could. An elderly man and two children had been out to far when the waters had turned vengeful, pulling them back further and further, until finally they were swallowed up underneath and kept their.
Brave souls and good swimmers had rushed out to act, saving the first child and finally the elderly man, yet the last child was out to far and was in the heart of the underwater turmoil.


Ever since the constant and global increase of water levels due to global warming and melting polar ice the world had begun the change. The years 2023 and 2031 had seen some of the worst flooding, tsunamis and typhoons ever recording, ravaging the world and putting the fear of the ocean back into humanity. Now, 2048, humanity had slowly adapted to the changed continent, the more erratic ocean and humanity´s place in it all.
Still, human nature was flawed in its pride and arrogance. In 2035 the Olympic and world events had been re-established and somewhat adapted to the changed environment. New sports where introduced and many swimming events had been expanded or completely reworked to fit this new and strange world.


With the poem still in mind, heart beating and water crashing at hand, you fought your way towards the child. You had everything available at that moment. You had the experience and physical condition of a skilled swimmer. Still had the suit on to help you combat the waves and current and had been closest to the child when he went under. Still, all of that meant nothing when the ocean had swallowed the child.
Each inch you fought towards the child, battling waves and currents, the sea would drag the child further away or deeper.
The sea had formed a barrier and not even you could break it. You had far gone beyond the point of exertion and your lungs where burning up with a horrible ache of emptiness, threatening you with the fear of drowning.

In that state of clarity, moments before drowning and with poem still in your thoughts you could see him. To say he was swimming was to do him discredit.

He moved through the water as if it greeted him like an old friend. He did not fight the currents but used it to guide him further, forcing his body in intricate patterns through the water. He shot past your vision in a way that was unhuman. No human could swim that fast, let alone fight waves and currents and win. The last thing you noticed before blacking out was the man reaching the child, grabbing a wrist and moving towards you. You could have sworn you even could see the man smiling as he swam towards you.



That had been four months ago. You had found yourself surrounded by others when you woke up again, most where fellow swimmers but paramedics had also arrived at the scene by now. The child had been pulled ashore as well and was being carried towards an ambulance that had just arrived. The man that had saved the child and you was gone, no longer at the scene.
It had taken you the better part of four months to track him down on one of the island, find out even basic things about him and finally convince the man to join your team as a swimmer. He had been reluctant and rude at first, yet you had finally managed to persuade him through a deal.

Even know you knew very little about the man. He was rude, crude, almost never on time if he even showed up in the first place. He mistreated his equipment if he even brought it with him and half of the time he was drunk or worse.
He was the polar opposite of what you were. Still, all of that you could ignore when the man was in the water.

Your dreams of reaching the national championships with your team was slim if none existent with your team. You where an excellent swimmer, yet the rest wasn’t as driven or as talented as you were. You needed a team for many of the events and individual competitions and events where few.
Still, the moment this man joined your team you started to forget about national competitions and started dreaming about the Olympics and world championships. This man was your ticked. This child of the sea.


Still, the price he asked was high and costly, yet one that you gladly would pay. The only problem was that the price was you.

[DarkEnigma]

Change log

26-07-2018 – Added the plot.
10-10-2018 – Bumped the plot.