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 Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:28 pm
Ilyrana wandered through the water, strangely alone. Orlando was somewhere, off doing his own thing - probably squealing over his treasure collection. For once, instead of singing, Illy was quiet and lonely. And it bothered her.
She was restless. There was no one around for her to sing to, or perform with - the sea was empty, cold, and foreboding. And vast. She wasn't used to feeling this small. Uneasy, Illy found a clump of kelp and seaweed to huddle in. The comforting feel of something around her and holding her was welcome. She couldn't see outside of it very well, but that didn't matter - the sea's vast embrace was no longer choking her. She had her small, little place to hide in, and she was okay.
Taking deep breaths, Ilyrana thought of home.
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Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:31 pm
Sahirah swayed gently back and forth along with the motion of the kelp. His prehensile tail was curled around the base of a particularly thick strand and his eyes were shut in sleep. Even in the chilly water he found enjoyment in an afternoon nap. He had worn himself out swimming through the open water and found it comforting to return to the kelp forests.
Slowly he awoke. He blinked his large turquoise eyes and then looked around him. Small fish swirled in the kelp but he could see nothing else. Quickly he swam to the surface for a gulp of air. He might be able to stay underwater for hours but didn't want to get caught drowning at an inopportune moment. Swimming back down, he noticed a slash of bright colors in the kelp that he had just emerged from.
"... Hello?" he called out.
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Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 12:39 pm
Ilyrana's eyes snapped open when she heard a 'hello' come from not too far away. Her gaze was met with the brown and green fronds of kelp. Wheeling about, she looked for the caller. Using her hooves to part the kelp that was separating her from the sea outside, Illy found herself nearly face to face with another maned seathi, though this one was a male. "Hello," she said, smiling, but a little astonished to be meeting someone here, in the midst of a massive kelp forest. "Who're you?" she asked, swimming out of her hiding place to get a better look at him.
He is very blue, she thought, looking him over. And... he didn't have tail fins. Finding this strange, she tilted her head to look him in the eye. "Where are you from?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 8:06 pm
Sahirah was equally surprised to be seeing another seathi. In the wide ocean he had found that their kind were few and far between. He was more likely to run into a sea turtle than another seathi. He smiled with unexpected happiness at the unexpected meeting. Her questions were a little blunt and off putting, but maybe she hadn't seen another seathi in some time either.
"Well, my name is Sahirah," he told her politely. "And I am from the area. Often closer to the shore, but I do frequent these kelp forests." He wondered if they lived close without noticing each other until now. It was entirely likely, given how he drifted about from here to there.
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:27 pm
Illy blinked. So he did come from the ocean. But then again, so did her mom's friend... Maybe the fins were a hereditary thing. As she studied him and thought about this a little more, she realized that she was just sorta staring at him and hadn't said anything for a few moments. I must seem so weird, she thought, laughing a little nervously. "I'm Ilyrana," she replied, smiling. "I'm from a lake a ways up a river. I'm just wandering about today... Homesick, y'know?" A weak smile returned to her face. "Normally I would be doing something useful, but today is just one of those days." She looked toward the surface, not too far above, and she could tell it was a cloudy day up there - the sun didn't filter through like it should.
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 7:24 am
"I understand," said Sahirah simply. She was looking at him rather intently. It was enough to make him wonder if he had barnacles stuck in his mane. A surreptitious glance told him this was not the case, so he was left uncertain as to what she found so strange about him. He didn't comment, though. She would bring it up herself if she found it important enough.
"I've never been to a lake," he said politely. "I've only ever lived in the ocean." He was so used to the salty water that being even in the mixing of an estuary made him squint a little. "I imagine it would be very peaceful there." Lakes wouldn't have some of the problems they faced in the ocean, certainly. No sharks. No hurricanes. No currents that might catch an unlucky seathi and drag them out into the deep ocean.
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:19 pm
Illy brightened - he was giving her the perfect opportunity to talk about the lake, and maybe relieve herself of this plague-like homesickness. Twirling in a little circle around him, she sighed happily. "The lake is beautiful... Though it's a different kind of beautiful than the ocean. Life is a lot more... Well, exuberant," she exclaimed, coming to a stop next to him and holding her hoof out in front of her in an 'imagine this' gesture.
"Think of a place much more green and brown than this sea of blue - but teeming with life of all kinds. We have a pod of seathi up there, and an otter, and my dolphin friend loves it up there. He says that the water feels so much cleaner, and I agree with him... Since everyone is forced to be much closer than they are out here, the lake pod is like a big family..." Illy trailed off as her vision of home faded, the lakeweed stand turning into that big rock somewhere below them and her mother's cave turning into just another tunnel through the kelp forest. Looking up, she turned around to face the vast expanse of blue and sand behind her. "Empty, destitute space like this is rare at home," she finished, shifting a little sadly and sighing. She'd never realized just how much she must miss the lake. It was a part of her.
Deciding she was being a bit of a downer, Illy smiled at him. "But, then again, I'm not all that familiar with the ocean - there's got to be more to it than just-" Grimacing, she lifted a hoof in the direction of the vacant seascape before her. "This."
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:46 pm
Sahirah's smile grew warm and genuine as he listed to Ilyrana. He could vividly picture the lake that she normally lived in and it seemed like a bustling and friendly place. He felt a small pang of envy for her while listening. He had never lived somewhere like that. His family was scattered over the ocean. He could go days without seeing another friendly face. The shelter of the lake definitely had its allure. But then again... he lived in the ocean because he loved it too.
"Well, there really is much about the ocean to cherish as well," he mused nostalgically. "I have only ever lived here so don't have much in the way of comparison, but I do find it quite pleasant when I stop to reflect on it." His eyes took on a slightly far off gaze as he recalled.
"The sky is beautiful, of course. The horizon extends in all directions. At night you can see the stars glittering in the thousands and I have seen some sunrises and sunsets beyond compare." He glanced around himself, as if remembering something that wasn't currently there. "There are the schools of brightly colored fish that would outnumber the leaves in a forest, so vast is their shimmering group. Sometimes at night I can hear the song of whales as they swim by and once I even spoke with one." He gave her a smile. "Did you know that some whales can live for more than a hundred years? They travel all the world. I doubt there is anything wiser."
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Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:30 pm
Illy watched him as he described his home, and her view of the ocean became a little less bleak. She could imagine each little shiny fish and each sparkling star, though they had a definitive lack of something... She'd never seen any of these things. The whale song was completely beyond her, though she knew what dolphins sounded like - clicky clicky click was the sound that Orlando's snoring made. "No, I didn't know that," she replied, unable to imagine anything living for more than a hundred years when she herself was barely one year old.
Wanting to experience these ridiculously awesome-sounding things herself, Illy cleared her throat and looked at Sahirah. "Do you think you could show me some of these things, since we're here?" she asked, hoping he would say yes. She had this feeling that a school of fish wouldn't be too happy with an approach unless she made hers just right, which would require the experience of a guide.
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Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 6:41 pm
Sahirah fluttered his fins thoughtfully. He wasn't one to usually take companions... but there was generally somewhat of a shortage of companions to be found. This was a rare opportunity both to spend some time in the company of his own breed and to learn about what life was like in waters other than the sea. He had never been a guide to anyone before. It made him feel pleasantly industrious to think of himself as such.
"Well, I believe I could do that," he said with a light smile. "Is there anything in particular you're curious about? Or shall I direct for now?" He thought and came up with several sites in the nearby area he thought a visitor might enjoy. In particular, a sunken human ship was fairly close and that was always interesting.
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