Curiosities

[Kaiko Marina]

Ash 38

Some call it a gut feeling, some call it natural instincts. Others call it a warning. For Kaiko it honestly did not matter what it was called. Something was wrong with the water. She couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong. What mattered is there was something wrong. Kaiko kept digging for clams but found herself looking around for danger more than she usually would.

Is this because she considered herself a mom now or was there something watching her? Touching a clam she dug to keep it. Quickly she grabbed it and put it in her bucket. It was almost full. Perhaps one more could fit so she again felt for a clam but stopped when she noticed a small metallic object. She looked up at her pup and then looked around. Satisfied for the moment that all was okay she swam over to the object and picked it up.

It was a small mass of what looked like a cluster of beans. Just much more slimy and metallic. She was very curious and placed it in her bucket. She swam to the top of the water with the bucket in hand.got the pup to get on her back and swam to shore. At shore the grew her legs and crawled away from the water and dug a hole in the sand until water filled it. She put the metallic cluster in the hole before she went and fully transformed into her zion form. Got dressed and returned to the hole and bucket with 2 rocks in hand. She placed the rocks in the sand and sat down.

"Okay, Fluff today I'm going to teach you how to get food from these rock-like creatures. Then I'm going to find a smart person to tell me what that is." She looked at the hole when she said that last part. She was curious what it was but food was more important than curiosities. She put Fluff down and handed him a smaller clam from the bucket than grabbed one out for herself.

"Copy me okay?" She said and started slamming the clam against the rock. Why did she do it thie way? Well the baby otter had to learn how to eat if she was not there to feed it. Though she preferred to use a clam knife the baby could not do it that way. After a few good hits she brought the clam up to her mouth and used her teeth and hands to force it open. Once it was open she held it out to the otter so he could see what he was working for.

[Destyn]

Curiosities

38 Ash, 122

Destyn had spent ample time in the jungle of late. His wanderings had taken him farther from the shore than he'd hitherto ventured and, even though he'd had his most harrowing experiences of late in the surf, there was still something calming about constant, moving water. The ocean was bigger and brinier than anything he'd experienced during his time amongst his own folk, but there was still something empowering about water. The way it encouraged life and teemed with biomes thereof... the way it percussed... the way it evoked an ethereal grandeur. Though what nourished him had very nearly destroyed him, still he heard the call of its siren song and returned to the shoreline.

As he flitted beyond the jungles canopy into the open air, he instantly took note of a vaguely familiar figure. They hadn't interacted much, but he remembered having crossed paths and shared a brief exchange about the giant buggies that crawled at the bottom of the ocean (which Imogen lazily referred to simply as 'crabs') at the picnic of the small stone gnome. He knew little enough about her, apart from their shared appreciation for the flesh of said buggies, but Destyn was a curious sort so he wasn't inclined to avoid her.

He alighted on the sand. After his near drowning, he was less keen to venture into the murky depths even if he was comforted at the prospect of being close by the very tides that nearly consumed him. Remaining a few metres from the surf, he tilted his head and observed the goings on between his acquaintance and her lutrin companion from a slight distance. Crouching in the sand, he seemed content to regard them with no clear intent to intervene.

Curiosities

[Kaiko Marina]

The baby otter reached for the clam so Kaiko handed it to the baby then started opening another. The baby ate the slimy inside before dropping the hard shell. Instead of opening its own it waited for another. Instead of giving it over she ate it herself and again gave Fluff the clam it dropped. The pup refused to even try what she was doing. Instead it would drop the unopened clam or simply hand it back to Kaiko. Perhaps this was not going to work. Perhaps if she had its form it would go better.

She dug in her pocket until she found the tooth. Honestly she was torn. She needed this to take care of the baby otter but, if she took it, she would not be able to take the freshwater breathing fish form she wanted. It was also a different classification of animal which meant taking it as part of her totem would be more dangerous. But the baby was far more important than the possibility of her drowning again. She put it back in her pocket. The baby otter started trying to chew the shell. She shook her head. It was cute but ineffective for its goal.

She decided taking an otter form was the right thing to do. She just needed someone to watch the otter when she did so. Because she would not be able to meditate if she was distracted.

She again slammed her clam into the rock hoping the pup would understand that the step it skipped was important.

Seeing movement she put the baby otter in her lap not wanting the monkeys to take it. She almost died because she chased the monkey over her flute. Then she noticed it was the guy with bug wings. She let the pup go but it decided to stay in her lap. Otters were odd little creatures.

She smiled remembering he liked the crabs. Perhaps he would like a clam too. She held a clam up towards him. "Hungry?"

[Destyn]

Curiosities

38 Ash, 122

Destyn observed the interaction though, at the distance he kept, it was hard to glean much in the way of detail. The Fae had excellent eyesight... far better than a human, and he could see details to which most Ranseran races were blind. Even so, the otter might have been a tiny buggy for how distant it was. As such, he had no idea what was going on between the two, though he did gather the larger of the pair was growing frustrated.

His back straightened and he perked upon being addressed directly. At the question, he nodded emphatically. He couldn't really tell what she was holding up, but he assumed it was one of the giant bugs that crawled at the bottom of the ocean, and those always hit the spot. He hadn't had as many opportunities to enjoy them since becoming afraid of the sea.

"Yes!" He called out, "But but but can you bring it over here, though? I almost drowneded and I am scared to go too far into the water." Of the many ways the sea differed from the waters he'd haunted throughout his life, apart from the salt content and the differing wildlife, the tides were stronger. It hadn't been tides, but an errant bit of magic that had caused his little incident, but still it felt like a riptide and those, he knew, could be even stronger than the currents of a great river. Surely there were other matters oceanic of which he was ignorant, and Destyn wasn't keen to test that so recently after nearly being claimed by the mighty sea.

Curiosities

[Kaiko Marina]

Vinsue smiled at the reaction at the mention of food but immediately gave sympathy to his words. She had felt the sting of water she could not breath not that long ago. It was a horrible experience that she had never considered one she would have. Fresh water was so different from the salt water she loved. Who knew that the simple lack of salt could be deadly to her. That the other water could be so different.

She put the clams in the bucket, picked up the otter and walked through the shallow water to the sand where bug wings stood. She had to learn his name. As bug wings felt rude, she would have a fit if called mermaid or siren and he may feel the same. She placed the bucket in the sand and placed the otter at her feet. Than remembered she forgot the odd metal cluster. "Keep away the monkeys, I'll be right back," She said. Immediately she turned and ran back through the shallow water to the hole she had dug. She picked up the strange cluster and ran back to where she had left the pup. She looked at the trees. No sign of the monkeys.

Kaiko smiled as she sat down and placed a rock between them. She would hand him a clam and demonstrate how to open it just as she had for the baby otter. She beat it on the rock then pulled it open with her hand and mouth. She then eats the soft gooey inside. “As impossible as it seems, I almost drowned not that long ago. But water is not something to be feared. It should simply be respected.” she said

The baby otter again tried to simply eat the shell. Kaiko placed the pup in her lap and took the clam so she could beat it on the rock. After she did she handed the clam back. The little otter played with the clam but this time it would be able to open the thing, given enough time.

[Destyn]

Curiosities

38 Ash, 122

Destyn squealed in delight as the girl drew close enough for him to get a proper glimpse of the baby otter.

"Ahhh! That thing is so cute, though!" He beamed, "I have seen similar creatures which, you know, live in rivers. Before The Duck I was never before near the ocean, so things are very different here." He nodded at the instruction to stand guard against potential primate assailants. It hadn't been long ago that he'd vied against a fiery breed of marmoset- One of the odd, elementally infused species endemic to South Ecith. As he scanned area from the shoreline to the tree line, all the while sneaking many a peak at the baby otter, he sought out signs of smoke or the glow of flames. She might, after all, be referring to the same monkey clan that he and Imogen had fought off. He'd never gotten them their due tribute, after his near-drowning, so they may well be holding a proper grudge and seeking him out for retribution.

But by and by the girl returned and offered a little rock with a pattern on it. He observed her demonstration and mimicked it with his own clam.

"Oh, you eat the inside of the rock?" He shrugged, game to try, and slurped the contents into his mouth, rolling it around appraisingly. The meat-filled rock wasn't quite as tasty as the giant buggies that crawled at the bottom of the sea, which had more sweetness to offset the salt, but it was enjoyable all the same.

"I do not fear water." Destyn protested, shaking his head vehemently. "My clan always followed waterways... Streams, lakes, rivers and brooks. No. It is not water that frights me." He gestured to his side toward the vast expanse of rolling waves that seemed to extend endlessly and fade into the horizon.

"It is that. The ocean is not simply water. And the water that's in it makes me sick when I drink it."

Curiosities

[Kaiko Marina]

Vinsue did not realize that otters could be found in freshwater. True, they were very cute. That's part of what brought her to the mischievous water mammal. “So, these guys can live in the other kind of water?” she had never even considered that a thing.

When it came to the ‘rock’ she nodded. “People call these rocks clams. Not all are recommended to eat but these are safe. Some people boil them first, but I never liked them that way. That said, I much prefer jelly fish, but fluff can’t eat those.” she said.

At his explanation of not fearing water in general she tilted her head. “I personally find the sea safer. I can at least breathe its water.” she looked over the vast expense of salt water he had gestured towards. “It's land water, small water, not salt water, or whatever you call it that scares me.” she looked towards the trees in the approximate direction of the swampy water she almost died in. “Almost died the other day because a monkey thought it would be fun to throw my flute in the murky water.” she shivered at the memory. Not her favorite. Salt water was simple, you need to hide? simply dig in the sand. Board of what you see? Move, there is so much to explore.

She realized he said he got sick from drinking the salt water. “I didn’t think land people ever tried to do that. I know some of the sailors say a small glass a day is good for ya. But they also think I'm a siren so what do they know?” she said. “I, on the other hand, drink it all the time.” She started digging a hole in the sand. As she got a good hand or two deep it started filing with water. She waited for the hole to fill up before she took a handful and drank it. She then placed the cluster of egg things in the water. She was very curious of what it was and if they had anything to do with the feeling of danger she has had in the water.

“Usually, I prefer the water but there's something wrong with it. Like a danger is growing. You know, like the calm drop in pressure before a tempest. I think those shiny things have something to do with it.

[Destyn]

Curiosities

38 Ash, 122

Destyn shook his head in the negative.

"In the rivers they are different, like... Cousins." He explained. He'd only ever seen an approximation of the little creature for which she was caring.

"Clams is a funny word." Destyn noted with a giggle. "The ocean is fully things with very funny names. Clamses, crabs, jellyfish. It seems very whimsical for something so, you know, treacherous." He eyed the girl as she spoke of her affinity for the sea. He furrowed his brow in confusion,

"Land water is called rain, er... No. That would be sky water. When it lands it is called, um... a puddle. Which is also a very silly word, which sounds as though it should be a sea creature. But no matter. I think what you are talking about is called freshwater. The sea is not fresh, so it must be spoilt. It tastes spoilt. I am surprised you can drink it... breathe it? You must have a very strong stomach and or also lungs." He shrugged, not really understanding the slightest bit about her anatomy.

"I almost died the other day also! But in the sea. Which is why I am afraid of it and made you come over here. It was, in a roundabout way, also due to monkeys. But I was trying to pay a debt to the fire monkeys, because I stoled from them. I wanted to give them the giant buggies that crawl on the bottom of the sea as, you know, an apology." He tilted his head, bemusedly at her ominous warning.

"What are you talking about? What is wrong with the water, other than the fact that it is spoilt and makes me sick and tries to drown me and is full of things with silly names?"

Curiosities

[Kaiko Marina]

Destyn was a funny person. Though much of what he said was true. The words people use in general are funny. “I think land words are funny.” she thought for a second of the things she had herd. “Frog. Toad. Tree. Fly. spoiled?” so many odd words. “Sea water is not spoiled, it's just salty.” she said.

She listened as he explained why he was afraid of the salt water. “I would not give those thieves anything. Much less food.” she said, crossing her arms. “I don’t mind giving things to those that need it or ask. But thieves don't get pity from me.” She hated the primates. Fire, wood, it didn't matter to her they were both monkeys and both thieves.

“The water does not try to kill people. It simply does as it does not know that land creatures can not breathe it. It did not make you drink it and did not know you couldn't handle the minerals in it.” she said when he blamed the water for his near death as she had the land water when she almost died.

He seemed to believe that there were many problems with her water. Things she did not see as problems. Things most people did not see as problems. “I don’t know.” she said with a shrug. “The water tastes different. Like a metal ship just sunk in it. There are less fish. Those shiny things are everywhere.” she said. There was also a feeling of being watched by something who thinks of her as lunch. But that is much harder to explain “the water also seems more dangerous. Like a monster watching you from above.” she said. Then she realized that danger and talk of such would not be good for someone afraid of the water. “But you should be safe in the shallow water.” she said. “In sea water most dangers don't strike in less than knee high water.”

[Destyn]

Curiosities

38 Ash, 122

Destyn grimaced and protested:

"Those first two are pond words, not land words." But then he cracked a smile, "But they are funny, though." He conceded. He also didn't think 'tree' or 'fly' sounded funny, unless someone had one of those speech impediments where Rs and Ls turned into Ws.

"But if it is not fresh then it seems to me that it is spoilt. It was very salty, though, and it smellt funny." He wrinkled his nose at the memory. He'd had more than his fill of seawater, lately, between trying to drink it and nearly drowning in it.

"But they did not steal from me, I stoled from them." Destyn frowned. He wouldn't have usually done something like that, but they did attack Imogen and him before the unlikely duo decided to abscond with some of their food hoard. His eyes narrowed slightly at

"It did not make me drink it, but it tricked me into it by looking like normal water and being so, you know, abundant." He gestured broadly, letting his arm fall to his side as she shifted her focus to making her case for her claims about the local water. He pursed his lips, considering her warning.

"Yes, I am fine over here in the front of the waves... the back of the waves? The end of the waves." He meant the surf, but didn't know the word for it. "I just do not like going far in now." He looked over his shoulder toward the jungle, thinking perhaps he should return to its cover soon. All this talk about water was making him thirsty and, as they had addressed, the sea offered nothing in the way of slaking that particular condition. At least not for Destyn.

Curiosities