DARK OCEAN
Far, faraway, at the edge of the world, there is a frozen land that once was an ocean. The days there are bright and blinding. The nights there are long and almost unending.
Some say it is the first ocean while others say it will someday be the last. For the sake of the living, it must remain frozen, for what was imprisoned there long ago, deep in the deepest mountain of ice.
It is known as the Dark Ocean.
So everyone knows there are tribes of orca that only hunt seals, that there are tribes of orca that only hunt salmon, and tribes that only hunt sharks. These are the tribes that swim freely in the oceans today.
There was even a tribe that hunted humans. They did it though it was forbidden. That tribe refused to eat what they were originally portioned and instead ate human flesh. It was forbidden because orcas are the spirits of dead humans. That is to say, it is the same as eating one's own.
The spirits of humans eaten by this tribe later become a part of it, joining in the hunt for human flesh, craving it and stopping at nothing to gain it. But because humans live on land, the hunt is more difficult. They must draw their prey to the water by any means of trickery and deceit. They are cunning and they are wily, but the wiliest and most cunning of them is Granny Blackfish.
At first the other tribes practiced apathy and avoidance because they were disgusted. So they and the other tribes crossed paths many times peaceably until, that tribe grew bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger.
Less boats floated on the water. Less campfires were lit on the land. Granny Blackfish's tribe had grown while the number of humans shrank.
Chief Salmon-Eater came upon Granny Blackfish in his hunting grounds one day as she and her tribe picked apart the drowned corpses from a long fishing boat. Not wanting to seem disrespectful, he hailed her.
“Pleased to see you,” said Chief Salmon-Eater. It was a lie, but the polite kind.
“It is good to look upon your face,” she replied warmly.
That would normally end the conversation when he noticed that there were only traces of two fishermen to the longboat instead of three, and asked, “What will you do when there are no more humans?”
“I don't know,” Granny Blackfish replied. “What will you do when there are no more salmon?”
Chief Salmon-Eater supposed that he would starve then die then he swam away.
Later a different Chieftain came upon that tribe eating a child in the shallows at the mouth of a river.
Afraid, but too prideful to flee as though he were, Chief Seal-Eater hailed Granny Blackfish.
“Pleased to see you,” said Chief Seal-Eater.
“It is good to look upon your face,” she said cheerfully.
He wavered there only to look for seals. All that was left on the rocks was a basket of shellfish the child had scavenged. He noticed there were no mothers.
“What will you do when there are no more humans?” He asked her.
“I don't know.” She replied. “What will you do when there are no more seals?”
Chief Seal-Eater supposed he would starve and die then swam away, leaving Granny Blackfish to ponder the fate of her tribe if there were no more humans left to eat.
Later that day Chief Shark-Eater happened upon Granny Blackfish as she and her tribe were swimming in circles the middle of nowhere. He hailed her out of respect because she was the chief of her tribe.
“Pleased to see you,” he said.
“It is good to look upon your face,” she said happily.
Because sharks travel a long distance, Chief Shark-Eater was used to being alone this far away from land while hunting them. He was not used to seeing anyone here or this many, and neither had he seen any of the great wooden ships humans sailed lately, so he asked, “What will you do when there are no more humans?”
“I don't know...” She replied. “What will you do when there are no more sharks?”
Chief Shark-Eater supposed he would starve and die, but before he swam away he heard Granny Blackfish say, “My tribe will not starve. My tribe will not die. As long as we live we will eat.”