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LotusCurtiss Vice Captain
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 Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:39 pm
Hawkeye Shiki
Hawkeye warned himself not to let this become an addiction, an obsession and not to neglect his main goal of learning the sounds of Galaxy Ocean and which species they belonged too. His private goal was to communicate with the mermaid.
He would alternate between the dive suit that allowed him to dive deeper and longer, up to fourteen hours and the mini sub. He would have a hand held recorder and would point it to each creature that just passed in front of him while in his dive suit and when he was in the sub, he used the exterior equipment to record. During his time in the sub her would notate all that passed in front of him. Finding that the sounds created were and if not similar to the former earths marine animals. He would have to compare them to the creatures that were in aquariums and had been moved to the mega floats to preserve the precious DNA.
His teal eyes searching once in a while for the mermaid, hoping to lock irises before. The time he spent in the mini sub for eighteen hours often ended with Hawkeye taking small naps and eating small snacks or just staring into the spectral hue of the water that would randomly change colors based upon the sun or moon. And even the stars has there influence.
He was finding fascination with the Galaxy Ocean again.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 8:57 pm
Kyl
For days and days Kyl returned to the snow coral watching what he discovered was the creature he had untangled from the snow coral. Or at least he assumed it was the same creature but he believed it throughly how the creature seemd to look for him. He had determined that the thing he had seen the second time was still the creature but with some kind of defense around it like a crab to keep it safer or provide it more of whatever it needed to live. Over the days he slowly made his way further up the snow coral inching closer the more curious he became about the creature.
He wanted to see the creature fully again but still he hesitated to show himself once more. Slowly he was building the courage to do so once more but he wasn't quite there. He day dreamed about the meeting however wondering if the creature could speak with him or not. They hadn't had that chance when they had fully encountered each other the last time to even try speaking to each other.
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LotusCurtiss Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 9:30 pm
Hawkeye Shiki
Hawkeye knew that his two month stint was coming to a close and his personal equipment had picked up the same thing as the equipment provided by the agency. Thinking he could enhance it later for personal review. Time just slowly dripped and slipped by.
It was the last week, and all of his searching and looking was starting to become fruitless. Suddenly a blaring call came over the radio from the Agency. "Are you serious?" What is the predicted time of landing? No. No its fine. I can pick up later. Alright. My ETA will be the next eight hours."
With a final look around after rubbing his forehead in disbelief he began the ascent back to the mini float. He did not like what was coming but it was common practice for all research teams to abandon what they were doing and return to the safety of the Hydro Island.
More than likely if his search proved useful, they will allow him to finish the final week.
Eight hours later the Mini Float was returned to dry bay of the Hydro Float and Hawkeye could only watch the heavy doors close in sadness. He had a feeling that he was so close. It was there but he could not touch it.
It hit no later than an hour. Its massive rolling black clouds darkened the sky for miles on end and then there was the sound of gushing water like being sucked up in a straw on large megaphone scale. The Super Mega Water Hurricane had made an entry for the first time that year and he did not know how long this one would last.
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:18 pm
Kyl
Kyl was late, late, late. He had gotten caught up in something and as a result he was later getting to the snow coral than he had been in the past. He was sure the creature would already be there he was right as he arrived. But it seemed the creature in it shell was leaving as he arrived. Kyl swam after it to the top of the snow coral not understanding why it was leaving. After a split second decision he swam after the creature, he didn't want it to leave he had finally made up his mind to make himself known to it again. He followed it all the way back to something that looked like another thing his grandmother had told him of, the place where the creature like the one he was following lived. Floating masses of coral or something like that unattached to the sea bed unless a storm. As soon as the creature's shell had gone to the mass it seemed to move and Kyl gave a cry of protest. He had waited too long, and now the creature was leaving. He couldn't let that happen, without thinking he followed the mass.
Awe filled the mermaid when the mass which he now knew was small returned to a much bigger mass. It was huge compared to Kyl and he gaped at it until he saw something that concerned him. This mass seemed to be anchored to the sea floor, but his grandmother had told him that the masses only did that when a storm was coming. It was about then that he felt a small fluctuation in current around him. The kind that confirmed the suspicion of a storm coming. Kyl whipped around towards where he knew his home was. It was then that he realized how far he had swam, he didn't think he could make it to the safety home in time but he couldn't stay in the open water lest he be sucked up into the storm. Looking back to where he had seen the small mass disappear he hesitated for a moment. He didn't want the creature to leave but he couldn't stay out here and he didn't know how the creature and its kind defended themselves against the storm. He hoped it would be alright as he fled the mass swimming as fast as he could for home. What he hadn't known was that the storm had already come past his home and that he was swimming right for it. By the time he realized it the currents around him had grown fierce and he couldn't escape, he was swept up with the fear that he was going to die.
Out of the water was where he found himself, above the surface a place that he had never thought he would be. He thought he was going to die and by the time the storm had dropped he still thought it. He wasn't back in the water at least not entirely, he was lying in a pool on what he could only assume was the mass the creature had returned to. His body felt heavy on the mass, more so than he had ever felt before. He tried to move only to find himself stuck, he was wrapped in something like the creature had been in the coral. He tried to free himself only to find that when he moved that a pain went through him and he found something biting into his tail splitting his scales. He collapsed back into the water trying to breath as best he could by letting the water pass his gills. Sadly the water was only enough to cover one side of his neck as he was trapped on his side. He felt like he was suffocating, like he couldn't breathe. Something in him realizing that his gills weren't giving him enough to survive. He opened his mouth and for the the first time took a breath of air instead of circulating oxygen from the water through his lungs. While having from evolved from humans to mermaids, they hadn't needed lungs to breathe and that trait of huamns has slowly be disappearing. Lungs in mermaids becoming smaller and smaller and this was why Kyl could breath it still didn't feel like quite enough.
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LotusCurtiss Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:24 pm
Hawkeye Shiki
Hawkeye was on his way back to the top to the agency. He would prefer climbing the stairs as it provided a good work out, he had a case full of recordings to go over and knew it would take a week or two to sort out with his team. He had reached floor five-b when there was a call over his earpiece.
"I see, it ended. What about...that's right, he had a kid. How....she's on vacation, right. Alright. I'll make my way to the Sensor Station on the Northeast Observation deck. You sure I can? I thank you for that."
Hawkeye did an about face and stepped onto a moving walk that lead the Northeast Observation deck, scanning his access badge to get into the Sensor station. He was greeted by the routine care taker who was waiting for him. He went to the control panel and alerted the other sensor stations that they were shutting off this station to perform clean up. "Shutting down in 3...2...1..." And it was turned off. They went down a hall to pressurized room. When it matched to that of the outside, he entered a pin to open the door, its thick metal and insulated door opened up with a mechanized moan. "I'll get the left side and you get the right. Any and all Snow Coral you find can be put into this bin here. We will research it later. As for the random creature or two that you come across handle with care and put into the storm bin. That will go to the lab."
It was cautious work to go around the domes that housed the equipment. There was a lot more Snow Coral than usual. And they had to haul the load into the elevator. And that got full too. "Go ahead and have the Agency come get this load, greet them. I'll finish up here. I don't have much to do. There is a reason why we don't have cameras installed here, the sensors mess with the link."
Hawkeye went back to pulling the coral up and placing it into the bin. There was one last place to check. The pool that captured the Galaxy Ocean water to be analyzed. He rounded the corner and he stopped short...awe filled breath. No way...it could not be true. The mermaid.
Mesmerized by the sight, his keen senses picking up on the species plight for breath and in a rush, scooped him up and hurried to the air lock, there was a Storm Bin left and placed the mermaid into it, it was full of the Galaxy Ocean water freshly pumped from below. "Come on, breathe. He pleaded. Dang. What was he supposed to do?! Get him back to the ocean below? but that was twenty floors below and an air lock away. This species could have injuries.
No, he had a massive tank in his house that was full of the ocean needed, it allowed him to observe the most common species that just floated about on the upper shelf of the sea.
And that was a short elevator ride up and three blocks away.
He had to do it. Saving this species comes first. He leapt into action.
Closing the air lock and turning the station back on then he was off, hulling his stuff over the shoulder and pushing the cart out.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 5:31 am
Kyl
The first thing Kyl noticed when he woke was that he could breath and that his body didn't feel so heavy even if he ached all over. The second thing he noticed was that he was laying on some hard sea bed that was a darker silver than his scales without the blue tint. Sitting up he looked around, he was definitely not in the same place he last remembered. Shifting his tail he hissed in a bit of pain and looked down to see where his scales had been split. The wound wasn't terrible but it stung and would make it a bit harder to swim. Or at the very least he couldn't swim fast. He would need to be cautious getting home if he could to avoid predators. With a gentle push from his tail that didn't irritate the wound he propelled himself forward along the silvery sea bed as he tried to remember how he had gotten from where he had been to where he was. He remembered being so light headed that it had been hard to focus on much and then something... His thoughts were stopped when he crashed into the side of the tank. Kyl gave a cry of pain and protest not understanding what had happened. Slowly he reached out a hand and touched something, something like an invisible force field, and he didn't quite understand. Looking beyong it he blinked in confusion at things he had never seen before all around him just beyond the force stopping him from moving forward.
It was even more confusing for him now, how had he ended up in such a strange place he wondered as he looked around at the things beyond the force field. Slowly his vision drifted down until it landed on something close to the tank. Kyl peered at it for a few moments confused. The thing seemed to look like him without scales and then it hit him. The creature the thing before him was the creature of his grandmother's tales. Maybe the same one he had been observing and chased to the mass. His other hand came up to touch the force field as he peered down at the creature who seemed to be sleeping.
He could remember now, he had been above water and yet laying in a shallow too shallow form of it for him. He had been desperately trying to breath to pump breathe through his brain to keep going. It had been hard and no matter how many breathes he had taken it had not seemed to be enough. He recalled also how heavy his body had been and how trapped he had felt as he lay in the light which seemed quite warm with his scales that weren't in the water drying for the first time in his life. That had been a quite odd sensation. But then there had been a shadow and Kyl had looked up to see a figure, his breathe deprived mind hadn't been able to clearly make out the figure but he also hadn't been aware enough to be frightened. The figure had lifted and carried him away from the small pool of water which had brought out a noise of distress in Kyl, but then he had been dumped into more water. His body hadn't been ready for the shock of changing from breathing air to using his gills once more and he had breathed in some water in his attempt to get a breathe and lost consciousness after that. His gills taking over shortly after the pumped the needed oxygen from the water through his body.
He assumed the creature below him had brought him to this place after he had lost consciousness, but the question was where was he exactly. Nothing was familiar to Kyl at all. Well there was only one way to find out and that was to wake the creature below him. He tried calling out but that didn't seem to wake the creature, maybe it couldn't hear him. So instead he decided to pound on the force field. There was a resounding vibration when he did that that pulsed through the water around him and then echoed back. Kyl turned to look from where he had come observing the water around him. Reaching out a hand he pounded the force again watching the water. Again the vibration pulsed through the water and echoed back this time it seemed from all sides though some came from further away. Kyl's green eyes widened, he was surrounded by this force, trapped within this place. Turning back to the creature he pounded on the force again and again determined to wake it and find answers.
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LotusCurtiss Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 9:38 pm
Hawkeye Shiki
Hawkeye was a light sleeper on a given normal day but this time, he was like a rock. Passed out on the floor, stomach down with arms supporting his head like a pillow, the knee-length raven hair splayed to the right of him. He had broken his complacent demeanor and that was tiring to him, its not like him to be all in a panic. He breathed deep in his sleep.
There was this echo of drums in his ear and it seized his mind with a jolt. His head flew up from its position and he looked over to see the mermaid pounding against the acrylic tank. Trying to get his attention, or rather to wake him up.
His muscles and tendons screaming at how sore they were just from sleeping on the floor for a long time and the electrical zaps of needles along his appendages. He went to the acrylic, being slow and steady, not to alarm the mermaid. Teal and green pupils locked. When he was a foot away, he raised a hand and placed it against the panel and smiled softly.
What to do next? How to start communicating to this fascination creature before him? Did they speak the same language?
Then he could see something just on the inside of his peripherals, a wound on the glamorous scales. Quickly reining in the panic, he hurried to a drawer and pulled out a jar and bandages. It was his mothers homemade salve but he paused ever so briefly, would this work on mermaids like it would on humans? No time to think about that, it had to work. He climbed the stairs leading to the top of the tank and kicking his shoes and socks off, he stepped into the shallow ankle deep water end.
The Galaxy Ocean water in the tank was sterilized before being put in so that he could test the effects on the human body, it also helped keep the marine life healthier. So far it seemed sterilized water had no effects on the body given the time he had exposed himself to it for hours on end. Yet it seemed sterilizing the entire ocean was a far cry away and a multi endeavored task to accomplish.
Sitting on the ledge of the shallow end, he waited, not wanting to start him in any way.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 10:23 pm
Kyl
Kyl looked relieved when the creature below him moved and awoke. He watched the creature moved forward towards him, Kyl didn't move to intrigued by the man moving forward. His green eyes locked with the teal ones and Kyl was positive this was the creature was the same one he had untangled from the snow coral. It was why he barely hesitated to place his hand against the force before him to match the creature's own hand and returned the smile with a small one of his own. He thought that perhaps they were connecting which was why he was startled when the creature suddenly darted away.
Kyl watched the creature dig through things before moving around the tank and upwards. Kyl swam upwards slowly trailing the creature and was a bit surprised when the creature entered the water. That meant there was an escape from the top of the water. The creature didn't move further in and that confused Kyl. Was the creature waiting for him to come forth, letting him make the first move. He breached the water with just his head the water still covering the tip of his nose as green eyes watched the creature. He didn't seem to be threatening or have anything that would hurt him. So slowly he made his way into the shallower water and closer to the creature. More of his body coming above the water the closer he got revealing the scales the trailed from his neck and down his side and specaling across his chest.
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LotusCurtiss Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:05 pm
Hawkeye Shiki
Hawkeye did not mind his cloths getting soaked through, in fact it was a nice change of pace from having being in his dive suit for so long. He was silently elated as they were just sharing the same space with each other. The first step to communication. Getting to know the others body habits and actions and reactions.
When the mermaid joined him on the ledge, he didn't move, just acknowledged that he was there. When he was sure that the air was comfortable, he slowly unscrewed the small jar and dipped two fingers in. His hand slowly moved to where the wound was on the scales.
He was not expecting a sharp and fierce pain that lanced its way up his arm but he bared it. Hold strong. His other hand found its way to the short locks and started to pet. Letting the mermaid know that everything was okay.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:43 pm
Kyl
The shift from breathing to his gills to air in his lungs was much easier the second time around though his breaths still seemed too short. Kyl knew he wouldn't want to stay above the water for a long time. But there was time to explore the creature from above the water. Finally after awhile of shifting closer he dragged his body and tail up onto the ledge. Well most of his tail anyway, his find still remained in the water just below the surface of the shallow waters. He watched the creature acknowledge him but do nothing more for a long while. He was so intrigued by the creature's face and neck about having no gills or scales that he didn't see the man unscrew the jar. His gaze was only drawn from the man's face when he noticed of the movement towards his tail. He wasn't too concerned about it assuming the creature was merely as curious about their different appendages as he was. If the creature wanted to touch to explore then he would too.
He had just started to reach a hand out when sharp pain lanced through him. In a move of instinct he latched onto the creature's arm with his sharp teeth. One of the many things that had evolved differently in mermaids from humans we're the teeth. While still the same size some we're sharper, more specifically the canines in order to tear into their food. Those sharp teeth were useful nowas he bit into the arm puncturing the flesh and drawing blood. Kyl shook with fury at the pain and what he thought was a betrayal. His hands wrapping into the strange skin the covered the creature ready to drag it into the water when he felt the creature's other hand in his hair petting gently. It confused Kyl enough that he stilled but didn't release his grasp by either teeth or hands.
Green eyes blinked trying to process what was going on. The hand petting him seemed to be trying to soothe him as if trying to tell him it was alright. That the pain he had felt hadn't been meant. Glancing down to the end of the arm he had clenched in his teeth he saw the hand and below it the split scales he had obtain by the storm. He could see something on the hand now that had transferred to his wound. The creature hadn't been trying to hurt him he realized, it had been concerned about his wound. Slowly he unclenched his jaw and released the arm and the strange skin he had grasped. The wound he had caused was bleeding and quite a bit hadn't gotten into Kyl's mouth which he swallowed with no concern. It was merely like blood from a meal and didn't bother him. He did however place a hand over where he had bitten trying to press any more blood back to the wound. He didn't have anything to make it stop bleeding and green eyes looked up to the teal with an apologetic look.
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LotusCurtiss Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:49 pm
Hawkeye Shiki
Hawkeyes patience was incredible. He inherited it from his mother. His mother is an American Indian Medicine Women, steeped in tradition and well versed in herbal and spiritual healing. She also loves the Japanese heritage and how beautiful it is like hers, she immigrated to the IndiAsian Hydro Float from the US and fell in love with a Japanese man.
Hawkeye waited, his fingers and hand were being ginger with the short locks, slow and soft. Waiting till his trapped arm was released from the bite. When it was, he smiled gently and pulled a large square gauze and lifted the hand up, placed it against his skin and firmly pressed the mermaids hand back against it. Indicating that he should apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Simply nodding at the apologetic look he received.
When he was sure that the bleeding had stopped, he took the mermaids hand and the red stained gauze off and applied the salve. The bite of the salve he was used too. He applied another clean gauze square and wrapped blue medical wrap around it. He smiled, showing that everything was okay.
Sure that he understood what his intentions were, he continued to apply the salve to the scales, being gentle.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:38 pm
Kyl
Kyl watched the creature as it smiled gently at him after he had ceased biting it. Like it understood what he had been doing, that he had reacted out of instinct against the pain he had felt. He was bit surprised when the creature stuck something white against its skin and then took his hand to place it over it pressing firmly down before releasing him. He took the hint quickly and applied to required pressure to the wound giving a relieved smile when the creature nodded to his apologetic look. He sat there with the creature waiting for the next move when the creature next to him pulled his hand away from the white thing. Kyl watched curiously as the man smeared the same thing on his fingers over its own wound before putting another white thing over it and something blue wrapped around. He watched and then reached out to touch gingerly the ne blue thing that was keeping the white thing to the creature's arm. When he was done exploring that he looked to the salve and then up to the creature. It was meant to help with wounds, he understood now and nodded his consent. It still hurt a bit as the man placed the salve over the split in his scales but the man was much gentler this time. When he was done, Kyl wanted to run his fingers through the stuff but stopped himself knowing that the creature had covered his own wound after applying it.
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LotusCurtiss Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:03 pm
Hawkeye Shiki
Hawkeye chuckled as the mermaid marveled and became curious at the salve on his scales. Now he wanted to turn his attention to seeing if they can communicate. It seemed that they could understand basic body language and the aura of the other.
Where was a good place to begin? What word to use? He had to try something or the beauty of what was starting to establish might halt. Would he even understand? Try.
Hawkeye opened his mouth and ushered a single syllable word in his baritone voice in one smooth sound. "Hi." A greeting.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:26 pm
Kyl
Kyl was still studying the salve on his wound that he was a bit startled when he heard a noise so close to him he swore it came from the creature next to him. He looked up perplexed until he determined that it had indeed come from the creature. He had liked the noise the creature had made, it was a smooth but deep sound the brought about some warmth. He wanted to mimic the sound but knew that he would not sound the same, but he wasn't sure how the creature had made the noise. So instead he gestured to the man to repeat the noise so he could copy it. When the creature had, he watched the way its mouth moved, moving his own in the same way before he put voice to it. "hi..." Kyl stated dragging the end of the word out in his soft tenor as he tested the noise. "Hi!" he declared then again after deciding he liked the sound of it.
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LotusCurtiss Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 11:26 pm
Hawkeye Shiki
Hawkeye smiled brightly. This was progress. Best with small words at first. His first name was awfully long but they needed to call each other for attention. He scratched a temple. It was worth a shot.
He pointed a finger at him self. "Me, Ha-aw-k-ei." He sounded his name out again then gave the smooth version. "Hawkeye."
He helped the mermaid pronounce his name. Nodding each time he got it right.
Then pointed to the mermaid. "You?"
And he knew like a child learning to talk once they get a grasp on it, this creature would not end. And he is excited over that.
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