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 Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 6:44 pm
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Though the weather may be changing on the surface, it had yet to be felt beneath the waters. It had been some time since she had journeyed out so far alone, but the Waters had been quiet for some time and there was work to be done. Lots of work, if the rumors were correct, in shaping up a few things around the palace and Serefina wasn't about to be seen not pulling her weight. If that meant being brave enough to venture out on her own again after so long, well...
Here she was.
At least the lagoon was still connected to the lake via the river, rather than being sent out to scout the sea or something. She'd taken on her duties as map-maker for the Court very seriously, and after some training by some of the Court scribes, she was quickly making her own map etchings without having to relay the information verbally to others. A cord was looped crossways around her torso, several scalloped shells pierced and strung along it. When she stopped, they clacked together in an almost musical fashion, but they were for far more practical uses than personal fashion or music. She paused, taking one and a knife and scratching some notes into the inside of the shell. They were rough notes, things that probably only she could interpret, but as soon as she could get back from the field, she could properly sketch out a map...
As soon as she finished with her scratched notes, she tucked the knife safely into a sheath and pushed the shell along the cord to the others already containing information.
Okay, next landmark, here we go...
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 2:36 pm
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Wide blue eyes were trained on something in the distance, once excited, then hopeful, now just tired and confused. Pink Pasha lady hadn't been back in soooooooooooooooooo long and the big bright ball had come out like neintkagajillion times already!
Ok well, it had been something like two days, but to the little sprite it felt like FOREVER. Where was Pink Pasha lady? Or Chnniini?? Why had they not come back yet?! Flailing her arms around, Asra stuck her thumb in her mouth and bit down, wiggling around in the water to try to find Kai. At least he was still here with her.
Sorta.
"Kaaii?" she blinked, spinning in a circle before finally glancing down below the surface. He had sunk again. "Kaaaiii!" she whined more, letting herself sink below the surface to see him clearer. He had tried to find num nums for the both of them since Pink Pasha lady and Chnnini hadn't been back to feed them yet but it looked like the more he tried the more he just got hungry and sunk to the bottom more. And here she was just staring into the distance and not helping!
Swimming downward, Asra latched onto his arm tight, as if he'd disappear too if she let go. Big huge eyes gazed at the fish boy. "Kaaii.. Aswah scared." she bubbled, letting her gaze fall as she plonked her head on his shoulder.
Why didn't they come back?
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 4:43 pm
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Kai winced as his stomach growled. It was starting to get more and more painful the longer they went without something substantial. They'd managed to pick some things off, but it only held them over for a little while. He'd never had to do this before. Usually he'd get something soft and sweet from the pink and orange things, but now here he was digging around in the dirt looking for who knew what.
There hadn't been this much stuff in their home. Both he and Asra had taken a lot of time swimming around the area just looking. Then when hunger got to them, nibbling. He couldn't say what half of the things were he nibbled on, but he could say they were pretty nasty. The things he could tolerate didn't last long in his stomach. He didn't really know what it meant now that the rumblings were getting painful. Along with the pain came exhaustion. He kinda thought maybe he'd go to sleep and sleep away the pain? Or maybe not wake up.
They'd stuck to the area they had been left, thinking perhaps they'd just gotten forgotten about for the time being. The pair would be back for them wouldn't they? As time passed it got harder and harder to think so. Instead, he had focused on finding them something to eat- thinking of the other hurt too much. Yes, worse then the pain in his stomach.
He heard Asra and glanced upwards, he gave her a weak wave, not feeling up to calling back. Too much effort and he was running low in it. A soft smile graced his lips as the other clinged to him before frowning at her words. Yeah, she hit it right on the head. “Kai too.” he said softly, hanging his head. He was scared of being forgotten and he was scared of going to sleep and not waking up. Who would help Asra then?
“Aswah need more wavey-wave.” Kai said without much room to argue. He pulled up some more kelp for her and held it out. The stuff continued its weird dance as the current pushed it this way and that in his hands. He plucked some for himself and sighed sadly. It wasn't the best, but maybe it would give him enough energy to find something else. He glanced back up towards the water's surface. If only they could go out there then maybe they could find some of the brown fluff stuff they normally got fed.
As he started to lower his eyes to look back at Asra something caught his eye. He blinked a few times thinking something was in his eye, but no, there it was. A bright color was bobbing about in the water a ways away from them. He paused a moment to watch it, unsure what to make of it. Was this the heafenz Pa-pa and Chi-i had been going on about? They seemed pretty scared of them so should Asra and Kai be as well?
Kai decided they had no choice- they were hungry! The burning spot might have some nummies with them. That very thought drove Kai to grab his friend's hand and start his slow swim towards the female, “Aswah see?” he asked, pointing towards it. “Maybe mouth yums?”
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Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 3:24 pm
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Serefina made a couple tickmarks on a shell, then glanced up again. Wait...she hadn't done this section already...had she? No, no, that kelp bed didn't look familiar. This must be new. She scratched a couple more markings, then moved to tuck the knife and shells away again. While her coloring stood out brightly against the dark waters, not so with the pair that had spotted her. She wasn't expecting any particular trouble this far away from the sea, however, experience had taught her to be cautious no matter where she was.
When the sudden movement of something clearly alive erupted from the kelp bed below, the map-maker was momentarily startled. Her defense mechanism kicked in, heating the water around her for only a brief second before she recognized the figures as mere children. 'Oh for...' she mentally berated herself, deactivating her shield, allowing the water to cool once more. Startled by a couple of kids. What a brave adventurer she was.
Wait...two kids...no one else? "Hey kids...where are your parents?" It wasn't until the children got closer that she started noticing something seemed off. Their coloring kept her from noticing the details until she closed in and a frown crossed her face. They didn't look...well.
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Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2015 4:27 pm
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She'd been hoping that the pair had an adult somewhere around here that should have been taking care of them, but now she was wishing so for another reason. Frowning at the responses she was given, she puzzled over how to interpret the words into something that made sense. Could they really be alone out here? So close to the sea? No wonder they didn't seem to be faring well. Bless the Waters they were here at all!
The boy at least seemed to parrot her question well enough that she could follow along...did he understand what she'd asked though? He said they didn't have parents? But they had...seaweed. Not exactly equivalent. Fluff noms? What under the sea was that? Yums? Then again, the poor kids looked to be near starving.
"You need food," she stated finally. It was as much an answer to her internal questions as a sheer statement of truth. She couldn't have guessed how long these poor kids had been out here all alone. Their scales seemed dull, though, and their forms thin...weak. She wasn't sure how much longer they would have lasted on their own.
But...what could she do to help? The long term answer was easy enough...clearly they needed to come back to the lake with her, to the palace. There were plenty of little ones without parents that were cared for there. But that begged the short term question: What did she do with them NOW?
It wasn't much, but... She turned, pushing her knife and note-taking shells out of the way in favor of a much smaller pouch hidden beneath. She hadn't brought much, because she was used to gathering food if she needed it; this was only for an emergency. But, the looks on the children's faces filled her with an urgency that told her not to waste time. From within the pouch, she withdrew a roughly oblong object wrapped in several layers of seaweed. One of the chefs in the palace kitchen had been doing some experiments with roasting fish with different types of surface herbs to add flavor. The seaweed helped to hold it all in during the cooking process, but also to contain it well for travel.
"It's not much," she said sheepishly, then looked up at the kids, holding the packet outwards. They looked hungry...but also scared. She frowned, not recalling a lot of experience with kids, at least not any time recently. Noting how the little girl had made grabbing hand motions at her earlier, she mimicked the same movement, then turned her hand to beckon her forward. "It's not much," she repeated, adding, "But, it's something. Come on, I'll share." In case they still didn't understand, she pinched a tiny piece of fish off the filet, bringing it to her lips. Then, she held the fish out again to the children.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2016 1:47 pm
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Asra could hardly focus on what was going on anymore, she was tired and she just wanted to sleep and to fill her angry angry belly. Kai's hair petting made her calm herself just a little but her head still drooped on his shoulder. Her blue eyes blinked open at the bright lady and the words she was making. Most of them seemed foreign to her, but what she held out....that was un mistakable.
Shoving it into her mouth made Asra let out a pitiful squeak as she about lunged forward and latched onto the hand, pausing only then to blink up at the lady.
Was this a trap?
But food....
But was she a heafen that was going to eat her like Nini and Pasha used to talk about? The little sprite decided to take the chance and took the offering from the other's fingers, quickly shoving it into her mouth. Little bubble tears flowed out of her eyes in a mixture of tiredness and happiness over something that actually tasted good for once. But it wasn't enough. She wanted more! "Moa, moa!" she croaked, then stopped herself. Kai needed some too! "Fo Kai." she corrected herself, wringing her hands together as she glanced shyly at her friend. "Is good, not wavey wave. Make tumtum go mmmm." she told Kai, as if trying to assure him it was alright. She rubbed her tummy to put further emphasis and glanced at him with a look that said he better take some too.
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 3:41 pm
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Kai sighed heavily. Hadn't he been saying that? Apparently something between the two of them just wasn't connecting. Suppose he should be thankful that she'd gotten that at least. He couldn't blame her he supposed, he didn't understand half of the strange words she was saying. Parent. No, they certainly didn't have anything on them except some unfulfilling noms. Bleh.
He perked up when she started to do something. He watched curiously, but continued to hold Astra protectively near him. This one didn't seem like it would harm them, she'd been so kind so far, but Kai couldn't help it. With finding themselves suddenly alone, and for so long, it had really thrown him for a loop. He wasn't sure what to think. All he knew was his stomach was aching something fierce and it was getting harder and harder to look for anything to eat with how exhausted he felt.
His eyes lit up at the sight of the food. It sent his stomach into a painful fit. He tried not to laugh at the eager way Astra reacted to the food. It was exactly how he felt in the moment as well. He waited before taking a piece himself, making sure to leave the nice lady some as well. Feeling this way wasn't nice and he didn't want her to feel it as well. He took a few bites of it, trying his hardest to not gobble it down, before giving Astra the rest. “Ees ok Asra.” he said softly, brushing her hair again with his hands. “Asra needs more than Kai. Asra have.”
Tears came to his own eyes as the little one cried happily. He too felt it, the absolute relief this nice lady had brought them. It hadn't been much, but it had felt like she'd given them the world. He sniffled a bit and tried to collect himself, keep from right out crying himself, “Kai tank you.” he hiccuped out, a bit of a pat on his belly. “Good noms.”
He hesitated. What now? She'd said that was all she had, so did they head off to see what else they could find? “What else can eat?” he asked, holding up the green stuff in his hands “No want wavey wave no more.” He looked around him, other than that he saw a bunch of rocks, and he knew for a fact those weren't edible. Perhaps she'd be able to show them where more noms were?
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Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2016 2:59 pm
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Serefina could feel her chest ache while watching the children share the fish between them. The poor things seemed almost wild if you went by their speech patterns. No, not wild...then they probably wouldn't speak at all. They had to have learned what they knew somewhere. They simply sounded like...very young children, far younger than their appearances would suggest. They had picked up some speech and social graces somewhere...the boy kept trying to share, despite clearly needing food just as badly himself, and had even thanked her.
So what were they doing out here all alone? Had something happened to whoever had been taking care of them before?
She noted the boy trying to set aside a portion for her and was touched by the gesture. Those poor kids. she made a show of pretending to eat some of the fish set aside for her, then smiled and pushed the rest back towards the children to finish. Of course, even with that, the two would still be hungry. It hadn't been that much to share, and they seemed to have been on their own for a while now, given their state. In answer to the boy's question, she thought out loud, "The castle would have plenty to eat. I'm sure Fresco would love to have you try out more of his cooking, given how much you both liked the fish that I brought out here with me. The only problem is, that's a long ways from here. I'd need to get you both home first." They were in no state to swim back upriver, against the current, to reach the lake. That meant she'd have to find food for them out here.
Well, she had intented on foraging for her own supplies anyway.
Brushing her waving brown locks out of the way, she glanced upwards towards the surface. Seaweed, while useful in many ways, she had to admit wasn't exactly the most tasteful or filling on its own. Though she was wary, the surface did provide lots of tasty things to eat, if one knew what they were looking for. And was careful. Her secondary thought was that the kids would be able to rest in the shallow waters by the shore, remaining hydrated, but without worry of floating away while she searched.
Swimming upwards just a couple of feet, she halted and turned back, holding out a hand towards the children. She didn't want to spook them, even if just a bit of food seemed to have calmed some of their fears regarding her. She was still a stranger, even if she meant well, and who knew how frightened these poor kids might be. She didn't want to panic them. Smiling, she glanced upward, then made a slight beckoning motion with her offered hand. "Come on, kids," she said, then thinking back to their words to each other, changed to use what she believed were their names. "Kai and Asra...was it? I'm Serefina. Just Sere is fine though if that's too long. How about we get you both something else to eat, hmm?"
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