Legend of Ransera

Ash 13, 124

5 days earlier

Kaiko was met with cold water and burning arms as she fell from the portal into the bay not far from her boat. She was tired, dehydrated, and weak, but she was home. She did not have the strength to swim or the focus to shift and soon darkness started to take over her already fading consciousness. Despite all this she would find some luck as a few fishers in the area saw her fall and one would dive. She would find sleep as her body gave into the darkness that had called her. She would remain asleep as her body was fished from the water and the water was taken from her lungs. She was quickly recognized and with that word was immediately sent to her parents.

Present Day

Kaiko would finally start to wake and would find her arms bandaged. Was she dizzy or was the room swaying? She would shake her head sitting up to look around. The room was actually quite large. It seemed to be all wooden except the large glass windows that made the back wall. She finally noticed a desk and on it a canteen. Her hands would have the canteen before she released, she was in the captain quarters.

Her focus remained on opening up the canteen and smelling its contents. Satisfied it was not more vinegar she would put it to her lips and down the sweet water. This would result in a coughing fit but was worth it. Once she caught her breath, she would sip the water so as to not have a repeat of the cough. Once the canteen was empty, she would set it down and look around the room. Spotting her box, she would immediately snatch it up and open it. Finding that nothing was missing she would shake her head and put the box in her shirt where it belonged. She would then find her staff next to the bed and would use it to finally stand. This would result in her making a few steps before falling to the floor. Seemed the room was moving.

Kaiko would struggle to her feet and began walking. She would make it to the door this time and would start to open it, only to have it knock her down as two men pushed into the room. Seeing her on the ground they would walk over and pick her up before putting her on the bed. She would look at them both as they took guard on either side of her. She started to talk but went silent as the door opened once more.
Kaiko’s arms would cross as she realized who it was. The ship's captain would walk in and pick up the staff before looking over it. He would put the staff on the desk before walking over to Kaiko. "How are your arms? " he asked. She remained quiet. Refusing to answer her dad's question. She was confused as to why she was here, but she was also still rather upset with her family. ”Kaiko, I got information your goanna want in regard to your ship. But I'm not going to give it to you if you're not goanna talk.” he said.

Kaiko would look at him a moment before looking down. She knew she had a half year's docking fees to pay and probably a lot of repair work to do and she was not entirely sure she could afford either with her savings. Wait, she finally realized he said he had information. She would look up at him. “What of my ship?” she said. ”like I said, answer my questions first.” he said, reaching for her arm. “my arms are fine however I could use more water.” he would grab her arm and pull it to where he could unwrap it before doing the same to the other. Both reviled scabbed over cuts. Though the edges were starting to heal and scare.

”shouldn’t shift tell those are healed” he said.

”wasn’t planning on it not that you care.” she said recrossing her arms.

”actually I do care. See I need a diver to retrieve something for me.”

”and why would I do that for you. After you tried to take everything from me”

”Your beast form is not everything. Besides you would never have got the animus mark if it wasn’t for us. Anyways, remember the thing I said about your ship? Well, turns out when rent becomes late they sell the ships to the highest bidder. Who so happened to be me. Don't worry though we have taken good care of her.” he said

Kaiko immediately looked at him. Was he trying to bribe her with her ship? ”So your goanna charge a ridiculous price for my ship unless I do the dive for you? she said.

”more or less. So, you in?” he said as if she had a choice. Which she really didn’t if she wanted her ship. She would simply nod. Her dad was a bit surprised at how quickly she had given in but would smile. “Good, let's go get you ready then, we're almost there”

”What exactly am I diving for?” Kaiko would ask.

He would relay the relative information. Mostly just being the basic description on what she was diving for. He and his men would then leave the room to stand outside. Kaiko would strip and wrap in a blanket before making her way out of the room with her staff in hand. Outside she would see her dad and his crew as they dropped anchor. She would walk to the edge of the ship before looking down at the water.
She had a lot on her mind but remained stoic as she shifted. Dropping the blanket and diving over the side as her form changed to a more mermaid like appearance. Her feet became a shark tail. Her skin became that of a sea slug. One eye turned black as she hit the water. As expected, her cuts reopened when she shifted allowing the salt water to once again burn that however was only one downside. She was starving and the shift would increase the hunger. But it would be worth the discomfort if she got her ship back in the end.

She would focus as her other eye turned black so that she could see as she dives straight down. Fish swam freely all around her, but she did not look at them. Instead, she went for the remains of an old ship. It was not directly below the ship but close. Kaiko would swim around the sunken ship as she tried to figure out what had happened and what the ship’s name was. She would not find luck in this so she would simply swim into one of the many holes of the ship as she looked around for the captain's log as her father had requested. Which she found rather odd as paper and water don't mix.

Getting into the captain's quarters was actually an easy task due to the large hole in the side. However, finding the captions log was a different story as she looked through the dark room. She would open every door as she looked but the place was empty. She would continue to look around. It would take a while before she discovered a secret spot behind the bed. Jackpot! In it would be the captain's log. It would also have a medallion which she would also grab before turning and swimming out of the hole and back towards the surface. Her eyes would return to normal before breaking the surface and looking around.

Kaiko would spot the ship before swimming over to it. Finding the captains log was the easy part; the hard part was to trust her father to actually give her ship back. She would swim over to find dad and his entire crew looking down at the water watching her. She would continue before grabbing a rope, she would shift her skin back to having longs so she could breathe then get her legs back before climbing back onto the ship. She would be handed a towel and would wrap in before looking at the Captain. This would once again open the cuts on her arms.

”Got what I asked”

”got my ship”

He would nod and point back to his room. “Get dressed and we can do the exchange”

She would nod and go back to the place she left her clothing to get dressed. She would collect all her stuff and walk back out to where dad stood. He would hand over the document of ownership as he took the book. He would open the book and look through its waxed pages before passing it to one of his crew.

Captain would notice her arms bleeding. ”You should join us on our next voyage. Give yourself time to heal and catch up.”

”No, I'm good. Just want my ship under my feet and its sail above my head” she would reply.

”As you wish.” he said before shouting orders.

Soon after they would arrive back at port her arms rebandaged. Once docked she would go back to where she left her ship. After showing the dock hands the ownership papers she would be allowed to step foot on her ship.

It turned out that her ship was kept clean and properly handled but almost all the stuff she left behind was missing. She however would still have the coin she had left behind as she hid it well. She would spend the next few days cleaning and taking note of what was left. After all that was done, she and her small ship would set to sea once more.