Welcome to Gaia! ::

The river was calm now. The last couple of days the weather had been stormy, affecting both the water below and anything above the water's surface. The river's current had been strong those two days, and Yanyu was lucky not to have been swept away. Seathi were such little creatures, and of course Yanyu was no exception.

But her lack of size did not bother Yanyu. She was larger than most of the fish she ate for food and the water plants she also snacked on were smaller than her as well. And, if she ever did encounter a predator, Yanyu was tiny enough to slip in crevices or hide behind rocks or even in larger water plants, like her home for example. She was quick and fairly intelligent so yes, Yanyu was very certain she could hide herself efficiently. If that time should ever come up.

But as of yet, it had not and Yanyu spent her days spying on others, swimming and finding prey to either have to eat or just chase for the fun of scaring. Sometimes she spent a day thinking. Mostly it was about the unknown.

Yanyu was curious of what lay above the water but she was always forbidden by her parents to go and see. As an adult, with her parents now long gone, she still hadn't checked it out. Yanyu would never admit to it but she was apprehensive of doing it. But she was okay with leaving the sea and checking out the river or sometimes a lake. It was still water and Yanyu was comfortable with that, even though different fish and water plants were found in the sea that were not seen in the river or lake.

As the river as calm today, Yanyu scurried along in the water, swimming as fast as she could. She was bored, but maybe she could find herself a turtle or some fish to play with. As of yet, she hadn't found any seathi to spy upon or interact with. But soon. Yanyu was positive she'd find something to amuse herself with, just a matter of time.

Look right, look left, and even in front and behind her. Absolutely nothing. Yanyu couldn't believe this. She knew there were fish living here but where were they? The river was perfect and yet nothing in sight. Oh wait. There they all were. Coming towards her.

Yanyu rolled her eyes. Finally. She had been growing irritated but at least now she found some fish to chase. Yanyu was going to chase after them when she spotted something in the plants ahead of her and towards the right. Yanyu was not sure what it was so she snuck closer, hiding behind some plants.

She peered around the plants, spotting a seathi. A very brightly coloured seathi. Yanyu would not like that, being so noticeable. Yanyu liked her constant spying and disappearing from sight. Her appearance allowed her more camouflage, which she greatly appreciated. How could this seathi stand to be so visible?

Yanyu decided to creep closer, swimming quickly to another set of water plants. She still watched. It wasn't often she saw another seathi, especially in a river. Yanyu was quite sure most lived in the sea, it was bigger. It also had more hiding places.

Yanyu continued watching the seathi, taking note of each action the seathi did. She looked over her hiding place, it seemed like she was still hidden well. She craned her neck when she noticed the seathi turning in her direction. Yanyu ducked. She peeked through the gaps of water plants. The seathi was heading in her direction! Yanyu frowned, this was not suppose to happen.

The seathi was supposed to do whatever she wanted to do, Yanyu would observe until she wanted to leave her hiding spot. She was unused to being found out so quickly. In the ocean, she got away with it. It had to be this river, something about her choice of hiding place was wrong.

When the seathi came next to her, Yanyu moved out of her hiding spot and a little way from the other seathi. She didn't want to be that close, distance was good. A minute or so passed by and Yanyu quietly looked at the seathi, considering how to begin.

"This your home?" She would start with this. It wasn't a proper greeting, no hello or good afternoon but Yanyu was sure a question was good enough.

Yanyu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as the other seathi moved away from her. Was she coming off as too pushy? Or was it merely her presence that was making this seathi nervous? No, Yanyu was positive it wasn't anything she was doing. Perhaps this seathi liked her personal space as much as Yanyu did? Or maybe she noticed Yanyu moving away from her and thought it best she do the same?

At this other seathi's words, Yanyu's blue eyes looked her body over, shiny wasn't exactly a term she would ever describe her appearance, considering how this seathi looked. "So you saw me easily then?" If so, Yanyu would need to be more careful next time, especially if she ever spied on someone much larger than her. It would do her no good to be caught, and so quickly too.

The lake? An interesting choice to live. Yanyu never went to a lake before and she also never heard of seathi living there. If this seathi lived in one, then were there other seathi living with her? Surely this seathi had some family? "And do you live in this lake all alone?" Yanyu asked. "And no. This river is not my home."

That was it? Her eyes and sunlight were the reason? Well, Yanyu could fix this. No, she couldn't change her eye colour, and nor could she go around snooping with her eyes shut. What she could do was avoid sunlight. Of course, this could easily be arranged, especially where her home was. There were many places she could hide in, where the sun could not touch her. Or she could spy when it was night. Although the moon was bright, Yanyu was certain its rays were not as strong as the sun's were.

Pleased that she managed to think of alternatives already, Yanyu listened to the rest of what this seathi had to say. So she did live all alone. Drat. Yanyu wanted this seathi to say she lived with a bunch of other seathi but no, she had to say the complete opposite. It would have been a treat for her to observe seathi that inhabited a lake but no, only one seathi lived there. Of course.

"When you say others used to live there," she paused, "something bad happened, right?" Yanyu wondered why they moved on. Was it a predator that chased them away? Lack of food? Or was this seathi secretly evil? Yanyu laughed at that. It was funny because Yanyu couldn't see this seathi as evil, even though they just met and Yanyu could be completely wrong. She coughed afterwards, disliking the fact that her laugh sounded louder than it should have.

"The sea." She replied. Well of course she didn't catch her name, Yanyu didn't give it out. She didn't care to give out her name either but she also wanted this seathi to trust her. She seemed antsy but Yanyu wasn't completely sure. "My name is Yanyu." She nodded as she said her name, as if trying to convince Amitola further that Yanyu really was her name. She said Amitola's name to herself, she would remember it.

The current that passed by Yanyu and Amitola, it almost carried Yanyu along with it too. Darn her small form. It was good to slip through tiny places and it was excellent for spying on others, but she was also easy prey for larger fish. Currents were of course bad to deal with, she often stayed in her home when there was a storm, in no way did Yanyu want to be pulled along by the water to another location.

So that is what happened. Was this abandoning of Amitola intentional? Or was it merely differing views? "And they haven't found you yet?" Yanyu questioned curiously. She supposed Amitola could always look for them but considering how large the ocean was, it was probably better for her to remain in the lake until her family came looking for her. Although Yanyu never got along with her family, it seemed like family was important to Amitola.

At Amitola's next words, it confirmed Yanyu's thoughts. So, they were important to her, well important enough that Amitola wanted to see them again. "Ah. So they haven't found you." Yanyu answered her own question. Both of Amitola's parents names were unfamilar to her as was their coat descriptions. But, even if Yanyu did know of them, she wouldn't be the one to take Amitola to them.

Yanyu prefered being on her own and besides, the more seathi she had with her, more attention could be drawn to them. They might not be attacked but Yanyu would rather be safe than not so safe. But if she did know Amitola's parents, she supposed she'd provide some information. Though, since Yanyu didn't know them, she didn't know for sure what she would have done.

"I do not know your parents." Yanyu responded. "There are many seathi living in the ocean and it is a very large place to live. Or......." She stopped speaking. Or they might have been eaten by a predator already. Or died by old age. Those could be other reasons as to why Yanyu didn't know them. "And your brother?" Yanyu asked. It was strange that Amitola didn't mention his name or his appearance.

So, it seemed like Amitola had seen her brother more recently? The name was again, unfamiliar to Yanyu; but, since Amitola didn't provide a description of him, it was hard to say if Yanyu had ever seen him before. She spied so much after all, wanting to know about others but hating the idea of getting too close to them. It was better to reveal herself at the end or not at all. Yanyu wasn't great at relationships, it was better to be on the sidelines.

The merpeople though, Yanyu had of course heard of them, just like she had heard of the underwater horses, the kelpi she believed were what they called themselves. She wanted to see them both sometime because it would provide her with more knowledge. However, Yanyu wasn't ready to attempt such a thing yet. She wasn't careless, it would be extremely stupid to go to an unfamiliar place without knowing where the best hiding places were first.

Yanyu was intrigued by Amitola's brother, she wondered if he knew those hiding spots or if he was confident going in without such important information. "I heard the merpeople have great tails, so strong they can swim in the fiercest of storms." Well, Yanyu wasn't too sure if the storms part was true or not, she heard bits and pieces of a conversation once and it stuck with her. "Would you attempt seeing them?"