Medallion of Past

Story by Sypha on SoFurry

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A young woman finds herself lost, alone and cold. But, by all the fates, something she finds changes her life forever.

This is an older work of fiction that I dug out of my 'vault'. Written back in 2000, it may contain some spelling errors and mistakes.


Catherine walked to the edge of the cliff, staring down into the surf along the beach as the sound and smells of the sea pierced her senses. The warm salty breeze slowly encased her, the trees rustling and gulls cawing. Her view fell on a small landmass far out in the sea, a foggy clump of gray and green set against a silvery blue background. She squinted against the sun's rays, holding her hand up to block the light and shade her eyes. She inhaled deeply, taking all those sounds and senses into her, feeling a calm creep over her body. Her wandering slowly brought her to the edge of the cliff, giving her a breath taking view of the beautiful waters below, the pale cliff face that cut away to a rubble laden beach.

Many waves crashed upon the shore, eating up the many stones and shells and then spitting them back out into view. A continuous cycle that churned and rolled with every passing second, breaking everything down to its more simpler components. Every now and again a gull could be heard in the distance and then another gust of wind blew her amber hair away from her face. Closing her eyes, Catherine inhaled the sweet fragrance of the sea. She collected the many sounds surrounding her and weaved them into a beautiful image of warm waters and cool breezes. Of coral colored skies and warm pink stones under her soft feet. She could almost feel the warmth through the soles of her boots even as she imagined the pleasant image.

As her eyes opened she looked down into the surf, watching the waves roll into the beach and then roll back out into the sea. Time didn't matter here, at least not to the sea and the waves it created. Slowly each wave softly rolled ashore, giving and taking things that were once the lands'. She longed to go down to this unapproachable lagoon, and bathe in its cool waters, feel the soft sand under her feet, to be alone. The only obstacles that prevented her from climbing down to the shore were a forty-foot cliff, and jagged reefs. There was one boat she could see stranded on one of these reefs carved up and missing its sails. She often wonder while looking down to the lagoon how she herself could bypass the reef and swim to the shore.

Walking slowly down the rim of the cliff, Catherine noticed that a sleek fin cursed across the surface of the water just yards behind the reef. Catherine kept a close eye on the fin until it drooped down into the water disappearing under the deep blue water. Catherine watched the water's surface waiting to see the fin again but it did not rise. She grinned and thought that possibly there was a way into this secluded beach. There quite possibly was a missing part of the reef or perhaps a tunnel under the reef leading to the lagoon.

She smiled to herself at the thought, but reality hit her harder than a sack of bricks. There was no feasible way to reach this lagoon and she knew it. Having to despair at this notion she turned back and walked back to her camp. The walk back enabled her to think of many different ways to access the recessed lagoon. Her camp was not too far from the cliff and the shore, so she had no problems reaching it before the sun started to set. When she arrived at her camp, her dog, Jethro bounded out from a lean-to and ran at her wagging his tail. Catherine smiled at her dog and squatted down reaching for him.

He wagged his tail as she petted him, and licked her hands whenever he could. She laughed and for the moment lost her train of thought about the hidden lagoon. She kneeled down and asked "Have you been a good boy while I was away?"

As if in response he started wagging his tail so excitedly that it was making his whole body rock back and forth. Catherine smiled and stood up. With a brief look around she entered her tent. Once inside Jethro stopped following her and sat obediently outside. Catherine rummaged through her supply bag, and brought out a piece of flint. She exited her tent and began looking around for kindling and dry grasses or leaves to start a fire. Finding the material needed to start a fire wasn't the hardest part of the whole process, lighting the fire was.

She spent nearly an hour trying to light the fire using the piece of flint and the dry grasses. This made her frustrated and when she had lit a fire it was not large enough. She piled on more kindling and soon had a small little cooking fire.

She turned and rummaged through her sacks, and soon found a pre-packed piece of trout. It was smoked so that it could go days without needing to be stored in salt. Catherine found a nearby stick and carved it using a skinning knife, so that it had a point. She impaled the piece of fish on the stick and set it over the fire, slowly roasting.

This was what she had to do for a whole week until she headed back home. This part of the camping experience didn't bother her but the absence of a bath was bothersome. Catherine carefully placed the fish over the fire by wedging the stick into the ground. She rose to her feet and over to Jethro. He looked up to her and wagged his tail. Catherine went back to her tent and grabbed out the small bag of dog feed. Jethro immediately crept over and began sniffing at the small bag as she poured the contents into a small wooden bowl. Jethro's muzzle was quick in filling the bowl and he was practically finished before she could put the bowl down.

"Easy boy, there is plenty more food where this came from."

She smiled and stood up looking up into the sky, gazing into the scattered clouds turned pinks and reds by the setting sun. She stared up for a while until a slight breeze roused her from the daze. Along with the breeze came the smell of the nearby sea. And a high-pitched gull cry rang out. Catherine shivered for no apparent reason and grinned. There was a myth that every time you experienced a shiver it meant someone was thinking of you. Who she could only guess at, but shook it off as a myth.

Jethro seeming to have grown bored wandered off into the nearby woods. Catherine called after him to stay nearby and went back to her tent. She looked into her backpack for her medallion. Every time she felt alone and was feeling thoughtful she would draw it out to clear her mind. It was not in its normal place, but she drew it out from a small leather sack. It glistened from the silvery shine on it and showed off two sharks swimming in a circle around the medallion. On the other side of the medallion were many small indecipherable notes and symbols. She smiled and looked at the writing. Even though no one, not even the town elders could place from where the writing came from or what it said.

She stared at the medallion for several minutes and soon was lost in thoughts of the sea. Soon she was snapped to attention when she smelled her supper. She slid the medallion over her head, and crawled out of her tent. She drew the stick away from the fire and blew on the piece of fish. The trout was slightly burnt but not over done. She drew out her dagger from a side sheath and cut the fish into smaller pieces so it will cool quicker.

As she started eating Jethro came bounding back to the camp with a black squirrel in his maw. Catherine jumped to her feet and said in a stern voice "Jethro take that thing some where else and eat it. I don't want to see you eat that here."

Catherine swatted at Jethro making him retreat back to the wood line to eat his catch. Jethro was perhaps the only one between them two that was better off out in the woods. Jethro soon found a nice spot to lie and eat so that Catherine could relax and finish eating her meal. The trout was finely smoked so that it tasted spicy and sweet. She sat back against a nearby log and gazed into the fire. Every so often she would reach over and place another branch into the flames. As she was starting to get comfortable against the log, Jethro bound over and sat by her side. Catherine smiled at him and stroked his side then his muzzle so that he soon became comfortable next to her.

As the Day slowly slipped into night, the atmosphere about the camp turned to its more nightly inhabitants. Crickets sprang forth with their rasping sounds and chattering. Even a few other noises from who knew not, emanated from the forest. Catherine could have fallen asleep right then had Jethro not jumped up barking to the trees. She sat up abruptly darting her eyes into the trees. There were only the sounds of the crickets and katydids.

Jethro ceased his barking and looked back to Catherine for reassurance. She glanced to a few more places out in the trees, but soon glanced at Jethro.

"Jethro don't you mind the sounds of the wood. You will scare me to my grave."

She grinned thinking about dying of fright. She patted Jethro a few more times, and then stood up. A slight warm breeze was sweeping through the camp giving Catherine a fresh smell of the sea. She smiled and drew the medallion off her neck. She flipped it over a few times staring into the image on the front and then the writting on the back. She then slipped it over her head and crawled into her tent.

Jethro stayed outside her tent until she lay in her blankets. He then wandered over to his lean-to and lay down himself. Catherine again started thinking of the hidden lagoon by the cliff. There were no routes down to the lagoon, except through the reef. Traversing the reef though would be suicide, because of the sharpness of the coral. Any person going across the reef would be cut to ribbons.

She slowly drifted off into a shallow sleep, some thing every one had to learn to do when sleeping out of safety. The thoughts of the sea coursed into her head. Her sleep was not totally without disturbance as a heavy wind cut across the tent rattling it and waking Catherine from her sleep. Then a pattering flapped off the tent roof sounding as if millions of small rocks were bouncing harmlessly off it. Listening a little longer the rain increased its tempo, spattering the tent with torrents of water.

Catherine grew worried that the rain would soak Jethro so she looked out the tent flap to where his lean-to was located. He wasn't there! She looked around frantically for him, but couldn't find him. She started to get really worried now and crawled out into the cool rain. She looked around trying to think of where Jethro could have gone so far from town. He usually wouldn't run very far even if he knew how close the town was especially when he was with her.

She looked the direction he ran before, which lead to the shore. She made sure she had a cloak about her and ran in the direction she thought Jethro could be. The rain came down hard enough to obscure her vision, even cause her to loose her footing. She stumbled twice on her run and scraped up her knee in the process. She sprinted through the trees after recovering, but the leaves and branches of bushes and shrubs slapped her in the face, making her close her eyes when they hit. Frantically she clawed at the branches and leaves trying vainly to clear her vision as she ran. The wind buffeted her and threw more branches into her face making her stumble into more branches and leaves. She was crying and her vision grew even blurrier as her tears crossed her eyes.

She stumbled further and began calling out Jethro's name over and over again and again hoping that he would come back to her. But the loud rainfall swept the words from her mouth down to the ground, making it seem futile. She hit a large patch of bushes and scrapped herself up crossing them. Soon she felt as if there were no ground under her and she flailed her arms wildly trying to grab onto some thing. Her hands caught a passing branch, but it was so slick from the rain and flimsy that her hands slipped off it and she tumbled downward. It seemed like an eternity of free falling, and then as her eyes cleared she saw the ground. Or rather it was a large swell of water below her!

She let loose a loud cry for help before she plummeted into the water. She hit the water in a big plume of sea spray, which jerked her about violently. She soon lost her sense of direction and couldn't make out which direction was up or down. She opened her eyes to look through the water and saw only the dark green colors of the seawater. She frantically kicked and tried to swim to the surface wherever it might be. By stroke of luck she broke through the surface of the water to gulp down air before another swell of water dragged her down into the water.

She tried swimming upward again but hefty undertows drug her under further until the waves above lost energy to tug her around. It actually seemed peaceful under the water. She darted her strained eyes around under the water and saw a brief flash from some thing large as it swam nearby. She started to panic; it was probably the rest of the fin she saw yesterday. She tried to scream but the water only made it a muffled vibration. The thing, she could see barely through the darkness came straight at her. She swam backward away from it and saw a glinting to her left. She looked there for a split second and saw her medallion fall from her pouch. She reached out and caught the medallion, pulling it to her chest as the creature came closer.

As it came nearer, Catherine saw its large mouth and rows of teeth. She panicked and withdrew from it but it was much too quick. It jetted toward her and she instinctively threw up her hand to block the rows of teeth from biting her. Her medallion flashed as it neared and the creature drew up past her sending Catherine reeling backward. It circled nearby from what she could tell and soon drew up just feet away from her staring at her, holding up the medallion. She was briefly reminded of her need for breath and tried to draw herself away from the creatures gaze. Its eyes were almost jet black and it was a light gray color. It had two pectoral fins and a dorsal fin. There were also five-gill slits on each side of the head and a large caudal fin at the rear. Also under its tail were more fins and two long organs, which Catherine knew not what they were.

Her body calling for breath made her swim upward. And as if in aid, the finned creature drew up behind her and pushed its nose at her buttocks. It helped propel her upward and as soon as she broke through the surface it swam away. Catherine took a deep breath and looked down into the dark water recesses. She looked around and found an enormous cliff face yards away beyond the shore. But she was still many yards out into the lagoon she had yearned to visit, but now wanted to be away from. She also wanted to know why the sleek fish, or shark as she now realized didn't attack her.

First priority right now to her was reaching the shore and giving her body a rest from the whole ordeal. She swam her hardest and couldn't fight the currents for much longer. She was growing more tired by the moment and could feel her limbs growing numb from over-use. A sleek object moved up next to her just feet out of her reach as if inspecting her. The shark glided around her and then moved toward her. As it came closer it moved up to her direct left and slowly glided by, it rolled a bit raising its fin above the water and brought it back down again.

Catherine didn't quite understand what the shark was doing and tried to swim as feverishly as possible to the shore. The shark stayed nearby and after observing her for a minute or two, assessing her precarious position, it swam up and gently grabbed her cloak with its jaws. It began to pull her toward the shore. Catherine was trying her best to swim but her limbs just wouldn't help any more, so she allowed the shark to drag her to the shore.

When the water became too shallow the shark pulled away from her and swam back out into the deeper water, allowing her to wade the rest of the way to the shore. As luck would play her way again the water was less turbulent and the rain less heavy, so she made it to the shore with no hassle. As soon as she came to the shore she dropped to her knees and soon fell over, completely exhausted from the whole run and swimming experience.

This time she fell into a deep sleep completely void of memory or dreams. When she woke to the warm water lapped around her body, and the sun was shining over her, keeping her warm. She looked up blearily; wishing that what had happened was all just a bad dream. The presence of a sore-stiffness in all her limbs and a small headache, told her all she needed to know. She was at the base of the cliff on the shore by the lagoon.

As she weakly looked upward and found that several gulls had landed nearby and were examining her with curious eyes. She even found one pecking at the tip of her cloak. Groaning, she pulled her arms in front of herself and raised herself up on her elbows. Briefly looking around she noticed piles of stone scattered about the area, and a big carved away part of the cliff that looked rather fresh. She gasped and drew her leg up toward her body trying to rub at the incredible pain that just formed at her leg.

She cradled up into a fetal position and rocked back and forth, tears starting to roll down her cheek. She looked into the water and found the same fin circling just yards out into the lagoon. It kept circling around and around as if it were waiting for her. She stood up and found her medallion still in her fist, as if she couldn't let it go. She opened her fingers from around the medallion and looked at the two sharks swimming around each other. She studied the medallion for a while trying to remember where she had found the medallion.

She remembered that she had found it when she was young, back in her hometown, before a boat wreck took her parents away from her. That was perhaps where her fascination with the sea came from or maybe it is where she was hoping to find an answer. She remembered when she was pulled ashore by a friend of the families and she found the medallion lodged under a pile of stone and driftwood. It was what she termed as her parting gift from her mother and father to her. It always brought her peace of mind when she grieved their absence.

She turned it over and rubbed her fingers across the writing. Sheen bathed across the medallion and she smiled. She would be all right. As she lowered the medallion she looked to the lagoon. The fin was still out there, every once and a while dipping down in the water and then reappearing. She owed the shark out in the lagoon her thanks for saving her life, but how could she possibly do that?

She gazed into the water, and then backs up to the cliff. She was certain of one thing at this point: She would be stuck down here for now. She slowly rose to her feet and looked down both sides of the cliff face. To the south was a long expanse of cliff face, which in turn ended in a dead end of tall rocky cliff. To the other end of the cliff lie many large stones and more vigorous waters. The cliff there also rose up far beyond the reaches of a man's throw.

Still apprehensive about entering the water with the shark, Catherine only walked up to her ankle deep in the water. She didn't know what to think about the events that occurred during the night. She wore the medallion around her neck and sat back on the shore. She had to do something or perish of starvation. She shuddered at the thought and sat as still as her body would allow. She could try swimming out to where she saw the shark go the other day; perhaps she would find a missing piece of the reef and be able to escape the lagoon. The shark kept up a slow circular patrol route in the lagoon dipping in the water and then reappearing.

Catherine was almost starting to believe that the shark wouldn't harm her, but wouldn't push her luck too far. She had one too many shares of luck and didn't want to jinx it. When she looked up trying to determine the time of the day, it shocked her to learn that it was entering the later part of the afternoon. She had slept the whole morning away, and well past noontime. Her stomach growled and she winced. The likely hood was that she would starve here. She couldn't allow herself to die so ungallantly. She had survived too much to just slip away by starving. She gazed into the water and decided to swim to the reef.

As she removed her cloak to decrease the surface drag on herself, she walked into the water up to her waist. The shark started to swim closer now, sensing that she had entered the water. As the shark advanced Catherine felt a brief primal instinct to flee, but her rational mind kept her wading forward. Just in case she drew the medallion from around her neck, and clasped it in her hand tightly.

When the shark came up feet before her she brought the medallion into plain view, so that the shark could see it. It swam closer and came within a foot of Catherine, making her feel quite edgy. The shark prodded her instead of the medallion and swam in tight circles around her. She followed the shark with her eyes and watched as it came up beside her, its mouth agape. She noticed the many sharp teeth in its mouth and became very nervous. The shark could tear her apart if it wanted to and she knew it, making her very nervous. It was enough to be sensed by the shark, but it drew back away to not be as invasive as it was.

Catherine started to relax realizing that the shark was not going to harm her and it seemed to be trying to aid her in its own way. She smiled and sank down into the water so as to be nearer the shark's head. It swam closer and brought its nose right up to her outstretched hand. She stroked the shark's nose feeling the rubbery feel of its skin, but on the backstroke it felt like sandpaper. The shark brought its nose in closer to her body and nudged her onto itself. With a few quick splashes of its tail it swam with Catherine attached.

Catherine was starting to respect the shark and actually enjoyed its company in a sort of odd fashion. It was much diferent from Jethro, or anyone else she knew. She hoped Jethro was safe and able to fend for himself at the thought. She wrapped her arms around the shark's sides, holding onto its fins and straddled it. It helped her relax a bit more and seemed to be more comfortable for both of them. The shark dragged her out deep into the lagoon and circled around as if searching for something. With the closeness of the two of them, Catherine's medallion began to glow a light bluish color.

She looked down to it in wonder and brought her hand up to examine it closely. The shark slowed down in its pace and waited as Catherine looked at the medallion. She turned it over and over, again and again. And soon the writing on the back looked more familiar. She couldn't place the writing still but, some how it looked familiar. The shark swam around more as she examined the writing, which as she looked at it more it became more familiar. She was so engrossed with the medallion that she didn't notice that the sun was setting. She was also growing hungry, but little of that bothered her while she concentrated on the writing.

Soon the writting became decipherable and she started to feel strange inside. She felt more in tune with nature, and felt some how attracted to the shark under her in ways she couldn't comprehend. She knew some thing was strange here but couldn't place it. She felt heat rising in her and in him, the sleek body under her. She rolled off his body and smiled as he turned about to face her. Her mind was being washed by some power she couldn't place, and she felt love for the shark before her. He swam close to her and prodded her in the stomach. She giggled and drew her tunic off from her body tossing the raggedy clothing in the water. Her breasts bounced up and down in the water as she bobbed due to the sharks prodding. She moved her hands down and undid her belt holding up her pantalones. She kicked off her boots and then drew off her pantaloons.

The shark prodded her in her groin area and swam about her prodding and looking. Catherine didn't know what possessed her but she drew off her under garments, letting them drift off in the water. The shark prodded her over and over until she lowered herself down into the water to be in his realm. He swam right up to her and rubbed up against her belly, gliding up past her head and drawing his claspers past her body. She felt a tingling sensation in her breasts from his rough skin and the sensation spread down into her vagina, making her want release. The shark came around again drawing past her body again, but this time Catherine guided him up into her vagina. As he started to enter she slowly rose to the surface taking a breath of air. He pushed toward her again driving his claspers up into her body. She felt a wonderful sensation from the friction of his clasper and her vagina that made her almost drown in the water.

He drew up further pushing his clasper deeper into her as he began slowly pushing in and out. Catherine gasped and moaned as he drove his clasper in more and past her clit. As his clasper eased into her, he did not pull back out, but rather muscles inside his clasper began to throb and contract. It sent several unique sensations to her brain that she thought could never be felt by someone. His clasper kept throbbing and pulsing inside her pushing against her vaginal walls and her clitoris. She moaned slightly from the feelings and spread her legs trying to take more of his clasper into her.

His one clasper slid in deeper as she allowed more to enter, and her vagina began to clamp around his member. His clasper began pulsing out a slightly cooler fluid into her and soon was gushing fluids into her body. Catherine moaned as her vagina contracted around his clasper sucking at his member. It sent waves of pleasure through her body and she cried in joy. She no longer cared about the world around her and the land life she had lived. All she cared about was her love, her mate the sleek kind shark that had saved her life.

As her orgasm crashed through her body, the shark became rigid and spurted more of his seminal fluids deep into her body. As she climaxed her medallion, so tightly clasped by her hand began glowing a bright blue. She slumped next to him and he slowly guided her toward the reef barrier. As he dove under, Catherine followed, holding onto one of his fins. As he submerged she held her breath, but felt tempted to be like him and breath the water itself. She knew she was only human and couldn't breath water as fish could, so she held her breath.

She kept her eyes open and saw all he saw as he ventured to an underwater tunnel through the reef.

Hundreds of small colorful fish with different hues of reds and blues swam about them as they passed through the reef. She felt a tugging as her lungs called for breath, but she held in. It took a short while later until they broke through from the opposite side of the reef and Catherine sprang from him, swimming vertically toward the surface, her lungs burned and craved air. Before she could make it to the surface the medallion in her fist burst with a bright light, coating her body in a halo of blue. She felt a tingle in her body that spread out into the water and to the shark just feet away below her. She felt a need for air and yet a need for water as her lungs burned and started to change. Her body blended together as she began sinking into the water. Her arms shrunk in as broad fins, and her bones began to disappear as cartilage replaced them. She let out a primal scream that soon was choked off as her lungs vanished from her body to be replaced by several slits in her neck. Her neck grew outward as her body started to take on the shape of the shark below her. Her medallion began sinking into the water, flipping over and over again sending bright shining light to Catherine. She looked out to find a more vivid world and her senses magnified to crystal clarity.

She twisted about and breathed inward, sucking water into her mouth and across her gills. Her heart no longer burned as the air she needed was taken from the water through her gills. Stunned, Catherine slowly sank into the water her mate below her circling slowly watching her. Catherine jerked her new tail and sprang forward through the water as if she were running down a hill. He came up to her and brushed by her helping to right her and guide her as she finished her change. To her now, he looked like a human male, not a toothy fish. In her mind millions of confused senses collided together. She knew now what had happened to her body and could feel a slight loss for the land she traveled on. As if to comfort her, he swam over to look in her eyes. She settled down sensing some how that she would be all right with him and their new love.

They swam out to enjoy the sea they so loved, leaving the shore far behind them. She was happy and he was happy now that they had each other.

Terrified by what had happened, the young boy stumbled to the waters edge. His pursuer long gone behind him, but his father was slain. The darkness made it seem as if all hope were lost, and he began crying. After running for a while he tripped and fell face down into the water, and a shiny flat object in the water caught his eye. He rose to his elbows and gazed into the shallow water at the medallion. The image of two sharks on the front. He reached down and drew it out of the water. Without thinking he shoved it into his pocket and ran, ran to where he might find help...

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