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 Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:38 am
Rewi lay in the mud.
Admittedly, it wasn't the most productive place he could be, nor was it an especially visually pleasing vantage point. From his position, almost all of what he could see encompassed just the plumes of brown clouds that puffed up from having someone disrupt their settled state. The thick muck was cool under his touch, slimy and dense, and when he moved, it made a sort of squelch and smuck sound. But Rewi didn't mind any of that. In fact, he kind of liked it.
From here, shrouded in the shadows and grit brought on by the cloud, it was easy to imagine himself a stealthy predator, something big, slinking along through the swamp waters, waiting to catch sight of a small, scaly, glinting prey animal... The only downside being that he wasn't very quiet about it, which might have ruined the stealthy effect altogether.
"Rewi!" His youngest elder sibling, only a year his senior, puffed out her cheeks as the schlupping sounds of his feet popping from ooze approached her. Lenan was the grumpiest of his siblings, and Rewi often thought it was directed at him specifically. She probably would have been happier to be the youngest of their family...
Alas, he'd taken the role for himself, and regardless of her grump, Rewi continued to think that sometimes he just wanted to play with her.
And today, he wanted her to be his prey.
"Stupid boy!" She scoffed once he'd emerged from the ooze with mouth gaping and the groaning sounds of giant, hungry creatures. As he tried to 'attack' her, she smacked him (not too gently, either) with a thick clump of sturdy reeds. "Would you knock it off? I'm trying to work, and you're not helping! Go away, if all you want is to dirty the place up with your med trails! Or if you want to do something useful, the least you could do is fetch some cord to tie this off with..."
As expected, she didn't often want to play. With a demure huff of his own, Rewi turned back and set off to harvest the thinner cord grasses near the edge of the farm that could serve as twine for the bunddles his sister harvested.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 8:57 am
Kaimi was on the trail of something good, or so his barbels were telling him. Any time he found himself getting close to what was really worth digging up they would get a buzzing sensation through them. It was something that the Menehune had always attributed to being a blessing from the Goddess Uukai, mostly because he had never thought himself the sort that would be given any sort of magical gift. He'd always seen such things as going to those that were more blessed then he was. He'd done a bit of circling around in the area that he'd found as he tried to pinpoint the spot where the buzzing was at it's strongest. It was new place full of fresh mud to get into and lots of treasure to find. At least that was what he assumed since he was getting a lot of strong signals from the spot he was currently treading water over. From here it was just a matter of digging until he found whatever had his barbels abuzz. There was no telling how deep into the mud the treasure was, all he knew for certain was that it was there. Allowing himself to finally settle down on the sticky mud he set to digging, something that always kicked up a mess. It was the only downside to his work, that he left such large clouds of near blinding mud around himself. So long as he found the treasure that he was looking for then it was more then worth the mess he made. Each treasure brought him ever closer to his goal of striking out on his own after all.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:06 am
Rewi had had every intention of doing what his sister asked. Did he want to? No, of course not. Did he think he really needed to? Equally nope. If he was going to do something, it wasn't because he wanted or needed to, but only because his sweet older sister had asked, and he wanted to do something nice for her. And maybe it would make her less prissy, and she'd be more willing to humor him afterwards...
Unfortunately, he didn't make it far.
A blossoming cloud caught his sights, a great plume of activity that involved more than just settling down in the mud to hide. Rewi's interest was immediately piqued. It was most likely an actual creature who would want no more to do with him than his sister had- and if it was something on the larger side, it might want more from him than he was prepared to give.
The size of the murky plume did suggest something on the not-too-small side... But it was on the land of his home, and Rewi had never encountered danger here before.
So he approached, gliding forward as quietly as he dared, peeking his head into the smog, and flicking his fingers around as if in attempt to clear it. "Hellooo?" He called softly. "What aaaare you?" His voice was a gentle, melodious singsong, and he paddled to the top of the cloud to peer down into it. "And what are you dooooing heeere?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:16 am
Kaimi had barely started his excavations when he heard a voice that he didn't know calling out to him. He blinked a couple times, turning in the direction of the voice, as it asked him what he was and what he was doing here. Simple enough questions and he answered by saying, "I'm Kaimi and I'm currently digging." No reason to lie about what he was doing since he'd been caught in the act of doing it. Not as though it was a crime or anything, right? Nobody had ever scolded him for it before after all. He turned his sights back to the mud and resumed his work as he asked in turn, "What about you? What or maybe who are you? And what are you doing here?" He was curious as he'd thought that he'd gone away from the village and that there would be fewer people out here. He supposed whoever was chatting with him might be hard at work as well out in the swamp? Of course they could also just be going for a walk or something else that one did when they wanted to make the most of the daylight hours. Given how often Kaimi spent his time doing exactly what he was doing now he couldn't say he was the foremost official on how others spent their time. He did what he did, they did what they did, and on occasion he had others join him on a treasure hunt when they crossed paths with one another. Today might be one of those days he thought to himself, a bit excited over the idea since he was so often alone in his ventures.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:26 am
Kaimi. It was another Menuhune making this cloud! Rewi inched a bit nearer to the voice, marginally curious over who could have come out here. And more importantly why. Digging was something that could be done virtually anywhere, and no one had come out to their farm just to dig before. Hardly anyone ever came out here at all, unless it was to purchase in advance some of the farms goods before they made it into market...
The cloud was still hanging heavily in the water, and seemed to be ever-growing with the other boy's efforts. It seemed like Rewi wasn't going to get a peek at the stranger until the activity died down, so he glided to the side, near to, while still being within the edge of the plume, and settled to wait.
What was he? That seemed a silly question, since they were having a conversation, and Rewi didn't know of many other species that could talk...
He supposed he might have been a Kaha'iko, so maybe he shouldn't have assumed Kaimi was a Menehune, since the same could be said for him. But it was what it was, and he'd already decided that the stranger was the same. He decided not to answer that part, since he expected it was obvious. "I'm Rewi. I live here- Well, not here in the mud. If you come out, I can point you to my house. I live there. In the house, I mean."
Digging, though. There was probably more to it than that. Rewi dug through the mud to creep up on his sister like a wild animal... "Are you pretending to be a predator? You wouldn't have caught anyone way over here by yourself."
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 10:14 am
The digging paused as the voice first introduced himself and then said that 'lived here'. Wait, someone lived out here? Was he alone as well? Or had Kaimi stumbled upon someone's home while he was seeking treasure? He could feel his cheeks heating up a bit before he pushed up off the ground, coming out of the cloud of mud so that he could look at the one that was there before him. Another Menehune it would seem, an interesting one from the looks of him. Short hair, green eyes, lots of barbels. He bet if he was given the same blessing from Uukai that he'd be a grand treasure hunter. Putting awe aside Kaimi started to look around, taking in his surroundings a bit better. Yep, it seemed as though he'd stumbled on someone's property. "Oops... I apologize... I was following a trail of sorts,looking for something and ended up here." It was someone's home meaning the treasure he'd been seeking was now lost to him and he had to start over. What a waste.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 10:28 am
It was another Menehune. Good. Rewi nodded to himself, pleased to be able to make blind assumptions and not be incorrect about them. And he had the longest, silkiest hair Rewi had ever seen... He kept his own short out of ease of care, and most of his siblings kept theirs short so as not to be hindered while they worked, but there was something especially pretty about watching the other boy's long locks flow with the gentle currents of the water.
"Mm... do you mind?" Rewi asked, reaching a hand near to the boy. "Some of the mud is clinging to you a little. You must have been really engrossed in what you were doing! But I'll just..."
He touched his fingers to the dark tresses of the boys hair and smoothed his digits through it, making a significantly smaller and more translucent cloud of mud appear as he dusted some of the grit away. Kaimi wouldn't mind, Rewi had already decided as much. Besides, he'd just wanted to know a little of what it felt like. Thick and long and soft, and only a bit dirty from the efforts the other had put forth. He liked it.
"Anyway." He pulled his hand back to himself and scratched lightly at his cheek. "Don't think there's much for you to be sorry for. Sometimes it's nice to wander and just go where the waters lead you. What were you looking for?" There couldn't be that much of interest here in the mud.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 11:48 am
Kaimi cocked his head to the side as the other came closer to help him out and get the mud free from hair. He gave a bit of a smile before he said, "Thank you. I tend to end up a bit of a mess when I got digging." He'd considered on a few occasions to braid his hair first but then he got caught up in his work and forgot all about such things. The only upside was that he could just swim around a bit in clear water and clean himself up enough that it made him presentable once more. "Engrossed? Yeah, you could say that. I get caught up in my tracking and everything else seems to sort of... fade away." It was a single minded obsession of sorts, though he didn't say that since he knew it wouldn't sound good. Looking around a bit he said, "It can be nice but I still feel bad going into the territory of others. I thought since it was away from the village that this area would be empty." He'd been wrong on that count but at least the one that had found him was an amiable sort? As Rewi asked him what he was looking for he found himself debating, knowing that it was likely if he said what it was that the guy might want it. Still, since it was his land it was only fair, right? "Ahhh, treasure. I was looking for treasure. Not sure what it is yet, just that there is something in this area. A crystal or a gem, something of that nature."
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:06 pm
What a weird kid, Rewi couldn't help but think. He understood that he personally was someone others might consider 'boring,' seeing as he wasn't an adventurer, nor a hunter, nor anything that might be deemed exciting, but someone who could lose themselves in something like digging of all things? It felt peculiar to him, though maybe it oughtn't have been any stranger than his siblings being invested in their work.
It basically boiled down to all of it not being for him. Rewi hadn't yet decided what it was out there that was expressly 'for' him, but reed harvesting and digging seemed well off that list.
"I didn't see any trail," Rewi pointed out, as he remembered that the other boy had been following a 'trail' that led him to this spot. He may not know every single nook and cranny of the land he'd been raised on, but Rewi had been here his whole life, so he was still pretty familiar with it, all things considered. "Did you come in from the village? There's a little path where we usually swim, so some of the longer grasses are perpetually parted for us, but... Mm, you're not very close to it."
Ah. Then it started to sound like Kaimi thought he was intruding upon their territory, which Rewi supposed he was, but it wasn't so offensive to him as it might be to some others. "I don't mind that you found me," he tried to assure. "I just thought it was strange. Not a great many people come out all this way. We need a little more space for the crops than we could get if we lived in the village, so..." He beckoned off to where his family was still hard at work tearing reed roots from the mud. "So it happens that we don't live around too many others, I guess."
"A treasure," he repeated, trying not to sound too full of disbelief, even as the corner of Rewi's lip quirked up in amusement at the thought that this kid believed there was something of interest buried out here. "Mm, I think you're mistaken. There's not much but plants in these waters."
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:37 pm
Kaimi glanced back in the direction he came from and then back to Rewi once more, "It's... not a trail that you can see. It's one that I can... sense. The closer I get to it the more that my barbels seem to buzz." Explaining it out loud always made him sound like a mad man he thought to himself, lifting a hand to scratch his cheek, something that left fresh mud behind on Kaimi's skin. One day he'd figure out how to explain what he did in a less bizzare manner. "The village? Yes, I live there though I tend to only return at night to sleep, then I head out again to get back back to return to my tracking and digging." He looked forward when he had a place of his own where he actually wanted to go back. Looking curious he asked, "So you're a farmer then? What sorts of crops do you grow here?" He asked as he looked around before quickly adding, "I-I didn't accidently dig anything up over here, did I?" The last thing he wanted was to mess with someone's livlihood while trying to improve his own. He'd have to make it up to him if he'd done so. "Huh? Oh! No, there definitely is." He pointed to where he'd started digging, "It's right about there. I just don't know how deep into the mud it is. All I know is where it's sitting." It made it a bit of a pain since he could end up digging for some time. Giving a bit of a smile he said, "I won't take it though since it's on your property and therefore it's your treasure." He was a treasure hunter, not a thief, and he didn't want to take from Rewi when he'd seemed pretty kind to him despite him invading the area.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:55 pm
"They... buzz?" He prompted uncertainly, as he rubbed at the base of where his own barbels joined with his cheek. Buzzing sounded uncomfortable, and what happened when the treasure was already found? Did they just stop buzzing, or was it an almost constant thing? Rewi hummed, tugging gently on his whiskers as he thought on it. "Well, it doesn't sound like anything I'm interested in," he admitted. "Hopefully it isn't too much a nuisance for you."
So Kaimi had a home relatively close by, but not one that he often enjoyed the comforts of, if his words were anything to go by. "But why spend so much time away?" He queried. "Don't you like being at home, with your family?"
Even though Rewi wasn't the hardest worker, he did still like to linger near to the people he cared about. All of his family spent great portions of their time at home, since it also happened to be the place of their work. Rewi was comfortable here, pleased and satiated. Journeying about and scavenging every day sounded more arduous and lonesome even than reed harvesting...
"But don't worry, you didn't bother anything over here," Rewi assured. "We grow reeds a little closer to the house," he explained. "If they're very well and intensely refined, they can be used for clothes, but they're usually very tough and better for building. Our home is made from our own reeds!" Which was maybe kind of interesting, he supposed. If nothing else, his father was very proud of the fact that their home had been crafted by their own crops by his... great grandfather, or something. Rewi couldn't remember the exact details.
He let his gaze wander back to Kaimi's digging spot. Maybe there could be something beyond the reed fields. As far as Rewi understood it, if it wasn't an area for farming, it mostly went untouched. There could be something here that no one had discovered, yet.
"Well, you came all this way, so you might as well go ahead and find whatever you came to find, anyway." It wouldn't do anyone else any good here, since Rewi couldn't imagine any of his family going out of their way to search for an uncertain something.
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Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:16 pm
Kaimi nodded his head, "Yep! It's stronger when I am near to what it is that I am looking for but once I find the piece I am after it fades away." That was the part of it that he'd never understood, why his barbels only buzzed when he was searching for something. Once treasure was found then his barbels went still again. It was pretty odd if you asked him. "Hm? Naw, don't really like being at home. I'm trying to save up so I can move out in fact but it's not exactly an easy thing to do at my age." He was trying though he thought to himself as he toyed with a bit of his dark hair. Smiling once more he said, "I'm glad to hear that I didn't dig anything up." So they grew reeds that were then used for clothing purposes? That was a rather grand endeavor and he couldn't help but to find impressive. Instantly he found himself wondering if anything he'd worn in the past had been made of the reeds that were grown here. That would be kind of cool if that were the case. "Oh? Well... I'd hate to take anything off your property that you or your family might need..." He said that but already he was looking back at the hole he'd started to dig, his hands itching to get back to his work. If Rewi thought that it was alright for him to continue then he should get back to it, right? He could always dig up the piece, fill back in the hole, and then be on his way before he caused anyone any bother.
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 6:29 am
He must have some kind of magic then, Rewi reasoned. That seemed the only way to explain strange things that didn't have any other explanations. He still thought it sounded uncomfortable, though. And maybe not the most conducive to this boy's safety, if it led him to haphazardly wander onto strangers' properties without even being aware of it. Rewi glanced off in the direction of his home. Maybe that part didn't happen too often, though. There couldn't be too many homes on the outskirts of town, like his was.
"But if you don't like being at home and aren't there very often, what's the point of saving up to move out?" Rewi asked curiously. Living alone always sounded like so much effort to go through, and building a whole new home, or even bartering for an existing one that you didn't plan to spend any time in seemed... wasteful, Rewi thought.
He wasn't sure if he'd ever live on his own. It had always been told to him that the family business was here. This was their livelihood, and the generations before him had lived in this house with their families and their children and their sisters and brothers... The only thing he had against it was that those generations before him hadn't had as many children as Rewi's parents did. They could not all live here once more than one or two of Rewi's siblings had offspring of their own. And as the youngest and laziest, he probably wouldn't be the first choice to maintain care of the house and business...
But it probably didn't matter. It wasn't a worry for now.
"Well, I don't really like to repeat myself," Rewi said with a shrug. It was just more energy wasted that he didn't want to put forth to begin with. "So do or don't, it doesn't matter to me too much."
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 9:43 am
Kaimi looked a bit confused as he looked over at Rewi, his head tilting to one side, "Huh? Oh... well, so I have a place where I actually want to go back to. Once I have a place of my own then I will be able to enjoy being at home, it will be wonderful!" He said, clasping his hands together, looking for a moment dreamy just thinking about the idea of getting to have a home of his own. After a moment his shook his head, clearing his whirling thoughts, "It will also be nice not to have to worry about my stuff all the time as well." Giving a half shrug he turned slowly back to the hole that he'd started to dig as Rewi said that it didn't matter to him too much if he continued digging. After what felt like an eternity to Kaimi but was actually just the length of a few heart beats he finally said, "I... alright, I think I might see what it is that I was digging for." Maybe he'd get lucky and there would be more then one crystal so he could give one of them to Rewi. That would be pretty nice he thought to himself as he allowed himself to settle down into the partially done hole once more. He gave Rewi a smile before turning his attention back to the mud and was once more digging into it, kicking up more of the dirt and debris into the water. Time to see about finding the crystal so that he could then in turn clean up the mess he'd made of Rewi's yard.
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Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:13 am
Rewi blinked, and his lips swished to one side as he thought on what Kaimi said. He still didn't really understand why a new home would be better than his current home or why anyone would want to live in a new, foreign house, instead of a comfortable, familiar one. "What don't you like about the home you have now? What keeps it from being wonderful?" Though maybe any boy who spent so much time in the mud was just confused about what 'home' meant. Kaimi was clearly weird. "Why are you worried about your stuff? And what 'stuff' is it, anyway?"
As a boy who was usually well-provided for, Rewi didn't often have much to worry about. Their family didn't have a lot in terms of personal belongings for each individual (Rewi included), but that had never been much of an issue for him. He didn't mind sharing, and it didn't usually feel like his siblings did, either. Besides, so long as he wasn't going hungry or naked, Rewi wasn't sure what else there was to want that was actually physical.
Most of what he enjoyed, he couldn't really call his own... The sun on his skin, the large rock near the shore that was perfect for listening to reed-rustling and bird-chirping and wind-blowing... The squish of particularly soft and soggy mud under his feet... The companionship of his family and comrades.
Rewi enjoyed those things, but they weren't 'his,' and so somehow more of a blessing because of it.
As Kaimi set back to work, Rewi glided so that he was sitting on the other side of the hole, facing the other boy, but not so much in the way that he was likely to have any great amount of mud flung at him. "I wouldn't have thought there'd be much of interest around here," he admitted. "But I suppose we don't usually plant anything down this way."
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