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 Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:28 am
It was just like Quinta to almost immediately lose interest in a subject. Isenath was still thinking about the seathi more than clams. She liked the taste of clams but it was more of an activity than a food source. She mostly agreed to these things because Quinta wanted to. Her favorite foods were of the tentacled variety. She would have much preferred to save their energy until night when they could chase squid.
"We could have taken with that seathi," she mused, bubbles leaking out of her nostrils and spiraling upwards to the surface. "He could have held onto one of us and come with." It seemed like an innocent enough idea until her mouth crooked into a twisted smile. "He could have been our pet. We haven't had a pet in a long time, have we?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:06 am
"Remember what happened to our last pet?" Quinta remembered and it made her wrinkle up her nose to recall it. It had been a brightly colored turtle. Isenath had been convinced that the turtle was spirit touched and might bond to one of them as a familiar if they were convincing enough. They had kept the turtle in a little pen made out of woven seaweed and driftwood. It had been lovely for about an hour, and then the turtle died. Somehow it hadn't occurred to either of them that turtles needed air to breathe, even though they themselves were constantly visiting the surface for air.
"I don't think we need any more pets," she said decisively. "They only lead to sadness." She nodded, as if proud of herself for making such an astute observation.
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Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:12 am
"Fine, fine," agreed Isenath. She also recalled that turtle. It had been Quinta's idea to build the cage. Isenath wanted to blame her fully for the turtle's death, but she hadn't remembered to correct her either. She was quite aware that seathis needed air to breathe, but it was probably just as well that they left the seathi where he was.
"He didn't say how far this cove was," she said, changing the subject. "It could be anywhere." They were making decent progress through the water now. They were both fast swimmers and were easily able to talk while swimming. The water was murky enough that Isenath took breaks to look around above water every now and then. She hated the way the dry air felt on her eyes, but sometimes it was the most effective way of navigation.
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:20 pm
"You're right, he didn't." Quinta chewed her lower lip thoughtfully, troubled. They might have left behind a perfectly good and entertaining seathi to go on a wild goosefish chase. She hadn't agreed with Isenath's fixation on tormenting the little thing, but it was better than nothing if they couldn't find anything else to do. And now that she was thinking of better things to do...
"Fish!" Quinta shouted out in delight as she caught a glimpse of something long and silvery cutting through the water in front of them. "Big big fish!" She didn't say another word to Isenath. Instead, she began to give chase. A giant fish like that would make a much better meal than clams, if they could catch it. She tucked all of her limbs closely against her body, giving her profile a dolphin-like look. The hunt was on!
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:25 pm
"What? Wait... what?" Dumbfounded, Isenath stared at the trail of bubbles that her mate had left behind her. Quinta had shot after whatever fish it was as swiftly as an eel, leaving Isenath behind. Swearing to herself, Isenath followed after. She hoped that they weren't chasing after a shark this time. That had been almost life-threatening, as the shark had a very violent way of demonstrating that it didn't enjoy being chased.
"Come back here, you idiot!" she shouted after Quinta, but to no response. Quinta was bright enough that she was usually easily seen in the water, but that day it was particularly murky. It would be easy to lose her out there, and it could be a long and aggravating search to find a lost friend in murky water.
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:30 pm
Quinta faintly heard Isenath calling behind her but was too focused on her prey to turn back. She couldn't tell what sort of fish it was just yet. It moved too fast and the water wasn't clear enough to make out the details. She thought about shouting something back, but didn't want to waste the air to make a sound. Already she was having to dip her head above the water between strokes, her racing muscles calling for more oxygen.
This fish was no shark. It was a lean and torpedo-shaped racing fish. Part of Quinta didn't even want to catch it and ruin its fleeting beauty. The other part of her was very hungry. Whenever she grew close, the fish would dart away again. It was a worthy opponent for this chase!
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:33 pm
Isenath wasn't enjoying this, and continued to not enjoy it as it went on. Just like Quinta kept almost catching the fish and not making it, Isenath kept almost catching Quinta. She snapped her sharp teeth at Quinta's tail, but always it whipped away from her and left her with nothing but seawater. More shouting after her did nothing, and Isenath quickly realized there would be no stopping this until Quinta was ready. Twitching with frustration and fatigue, she let herself fall back a little.
Where were they anyways? Quinta's mad thrashing after the fish had brought them off their path and now Isenath had lost her bearings. The water was growing shallower and had a slight taste of freshwater. They were reaching a brackish zone... maybe near a swamp?
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Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:30 am
And in a flurry of bubbles and a snap of teeth, Quinta finally caught the fish. It thrashed in her mouth, but she only gripped tighter. She held it fast until it finally slowed, then stopped entirely. She had caught her elusive prey, though it hadn't been easy.
Now that she was able to, she released the dead fish from her mouth so she could look at it. It was almost as long as her neck, and its scales were banded with dark stripes running down from its fins. It was beautiful in its way, and utterly delicious from the brief taste she had gotten. She became aware of Isenath catching up to her saying something, but it was too garbled to understand.
"Look at my fish!" Quinta said brightly. "I'll share it if you want some. Would you rather have the tail or the head?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:33 am
Isenath wanted a head all right, but it wasn't the fish's head she was after. She glared at Quinta in unrestrained aggravation. She had the urge to smack Quinta with her tail, but managed to restrain herself for now. "Do you know where we are now?" snapped Isenath. "Because I don't. You've gotten us lost on your fish chasing!"
Realistically, there were only so many places on the shoreline they could be. They could just follow the shore in one direction or another and come to somewhere more familiar, but Isenath wasn't thinking quite that rationally. Today Quinta was exceptionally disruptive and Isenath was starting to lose patience with her irresponsible lovemate.
"And I thought you wanted clams, anyways!" she added, surly. This muddy inlet didn't seem like a good place to catch anything, except maybe a disease.
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Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:36 am
"I did want clams, but..." Quinta frowned slightly at seeing the look on Isenath's face. She was angry. Even a clam would be able to tell that. Suddenly, the fish didn't seem so delicious or beautiful. Quinta felt a tug of guilt and embarrassment that she had let her distraction carry them so far off course.
"I don't know where we are," she admitted. She rose above the water to peer at the land, but that did nothing to help her. "We can just go swim back to where we were and pick back up from there?" She smiled hopefully down through the water to where Isenath floated near the bottom.
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Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:40 am
Still grumpy, but appreciating that Quinta appeared to have calmed down, Isenath shook her head. "We might as well explore this area while we're here. That way, next time you chase a fish we won't be so lost." She flashed Quinta an accusing look before joining her at the surface of the water.
The sounds of birds and insects rang out from the dense brushland nearby. Small animals moved on the ground and in the trees, but nothing sizable or dangerous. Cautiously, Isenath swam forward closer to land. There were still soquili and humans that considered kelpis dangerous, and they were right in some ways. Isenath had no love for those who lived on land. She didn't go out of the way to drown soquili or humans... but she had on occasion when she had been particularly offended by them.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:33 pm
Quinta moved more slowly after Isenath. She had already caused enough trouble for one day, and it was time to let her mate take the lead. Quinta swam with her head above water. She and Isenath were unavoidably bright against the murky colors of the rest of the area. They might have blended in at a bright tropical coast, but not this temperate one. Anything out there would immediately know they approached. Quinta felt a tug of apprehension and swam a little closer to Isenath.
The closer they drew, the more the smell of decay reached her. The water was relatively still near the shore, littered with both living and decaying plants. A few frogs swam past their legs and a few isolated crabs. After what felt like a long time, Quinta felt muddy sand beneath her hooves. She stood up fully, letting her tail drag behind her like a reptile. Water dripped steadily off of her as she regarded this strange place.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:37 pm
Quinta's nervousness made Isenath bolder. She protectively swam out ahead and then was the first to emerge from the water once they had reached the shore. She gave her mane a casual flip to remove some of the water, though of course she would be uncomfortable if she ever dried out fully. She looked at the area around her with the air of an expert surveyor. It was lush enough that it was difficult to see beyond the immediate area, but she couldn't sense or smell a predator.
She wasn't as familiar with the dangers on land, but she judged that she could identify the scent of a wolf or a big cat if one ventured close. She turned to look over her shoulder at Quinta, flashing her a bright-toothed smile. "It isn't that impressive up here. I pity anyone who cannot live in the water like we do."
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:43 pm
Unbeknownst to the two kelpi, they were being watched. Tythoss the kalona stood behind a shelter of brambles, gold eyes narrowed to better keep track of the strangers. In truth, Tythoss had no profound errand that had taken him to that cove. He was out of his usual territory and wasn't as familiar with this one. He wasn't in the habit of speaking with local soquili long enough to find out who lived where, so he had no idea if these kelpi mares were passing by or lived there permanently. He also didn't care.
He considered what his next move would be. He couldn't attack them, unfortunately. He enjoyed a bit of petty badgering and harming of random soquili like many kalona, but wasn't foolish enough to try that here. These were two kelpi. They weren't very large, but they were right next to the water and their natural environment. Tythoss guessed that they could hold their breath underwater for a lot longer than he could. No, he wouldn't be finding out whether kelpi tasted like fish today. At least, not yet.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:46 pm
Quinta's ears pricked. Had she heard something? She turned her head and looked around, but saw nothing but the local small rodents and birds. Those animals watched the soquili with dull curiosity, but not fear. That was a good sign. Fish weren't afraid if there were no predators around, so this meant that the animals thought this was a safe place to be too. Quinta let herself relax a bit, but did not stray far from Isenath's side.
"What's that plant?" mused Quinta, admiring something with leaves in the shapes of long tubes that stood in vertical clumps along the ground. It smelled a little strange so she didn't dare eat it, but it was strange and interesting all the same.
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