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Ahio swam toward the mouth of the caves, where the deep sea loomed beyond. He had always loved the way his presence washed the walls of the cave with a gentle glow, reflecting back at him and lighting his way. Everything was comfortable here, down in the depths, and he quite enjoyed it that way. It was a small, unchanging world that never felt confining so long as he could flit here and there, briefly visiting the different settlements whenever he got antsy.

Out beyond the caves, though, that was another matter. Though his family had never been one to argue for seclusion, neither were they the bold travelers who sought to explore the world outside. The rationale was that there was no real reason to - the Kawena didn't want for anything, after generations of living in seclusion, and they didn't want to change something that wasn't broken in the first place.

Ahio, though... Ahio wasn't trying to explore, really. All he wanted was to get some of that restless energy out, and sometimes the caves seemed a little too small for it. So he made his way toward the intersection of the caves and the deep sea, hoping to find something that would interest him for the while.

1/7

He caught sight of an unfamiliar glow approaching from the ocean as he neared the cave entrance (to him, it felt more like an exit). Ahio swam toward it, settling himself down in a crouch as he waited for it to draw near. Visitors still felt like something of a novelty, this far down in the depths of the ocean, and he had yet to personally meet someone who wasn't a Kawena.

"Hello!" he said with a short but friendly nod as the newcomer approached. The word came out quite in the same way as he tended to move - energetic, quick. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here as well. My name is Ahio. I... well, I live here. But I had a mind to take a look at the ocean today. I've never been out there."

Which meant, of course, that he was in mild awe at the fact that she was.

"Ahio," he answered with a bold grin, coming to a halt near her as he tried to follow her gaze out into the ocean. He couldn't see far beyond his own two hands, and it unnerved him more than a little. Bane didn't seem at all fazed though, which felt like a small miracle in and of itself.

"I've heard a lot of stories of the dangers," he agreed with his own little nod. "It's probably why I never ventured out there, but I've heard of all these new things that are happening up near the surface. I would love to find out how much of it is true..."

He thought about swimming out into the darkness again, though, and a fearful shudder went down his spine. There was a big leap of faith that he'd have to take if he was ever to leave these caves, and just now, Ahio wasn't sure he had what it took to make it.

"Have you seen much of the ocean?" If she'd made it all the way down here, she was clearly more traveled than he.

"Marked paths? Are they easy to find?" he said, perking up with interest. The way out of the caves wasn't often discussed within his family. His parents still believed strongly that there was nothing up above that they couldn't get down in Po'lua, and though they didn't actively discourage travel, neither did they see the necessity outside of trade. What use would someone Ahio's age have for going to the surface? But... suppose he was curious?

"If you've traveled around, then have you made any contact with the land walkers? Or heard about them, perhaps? My father says the Menehuene have been communicating about them, but news travels slow down here, doesn't it?" The way he said it made it clear that he thought it perhaps too slow. This was the most exciting thing to have happened in Kahikina in generations, absolutely life-changing, and there was no real way to ask questions.

"Like the caves," Ahio echoed, more to himself than anything as he nodded, following Bane's gesture to the markings on the wall. That made sense. It fit into his admittedly rather narrow world-view, and he could embrace it. "I'll have to learn these when I make my journey to the surface."

He rose, pressing himself up onto his toes and up a little ways off the bottom of the cave before drifting back down, unwilling or perhaps unable to sit still for too long. A little bob of his head as he listened.

"Did she say anything about them?" he asked, curious. Perhaps more curious than she. This news, though it came to him through second-hand sources, seemed more intriguing than anything he'd heard of before down here in these caves. "I wonder if they're friendly. I should like to meet people who can't breathe in the water."

"Ohhh," Ahio said thoughtfully, contemplating Bane's words. Weapons. Magic. Flight. It all seemed like things beyond anything he could have dreamed of, down here in his quiet little caves. "They sound weird, but fascinating. Particularly the bit about the eyes... how..." he searched for a word, because boring wasn't quite right. "Limited?"

Still, he was so terribly curious. He just wanted to see them with his own eyes and know for sure that they existed. "Maybe I'll have to make an adventure of it one day," he said with a bright smile. "I think I'd like to try out magic, if I could."

Ahio glanced down at his hands, as if wondering what it might look like to have stones instead of scales. It certainly wouldn't help with swimming around, but maybe being on land meant they didn't need to be so streamlined? He scratched in chin in silent wonderment, but his curiosity was evident.

"Weird..." he mused, and then he perked up a bit at Bane's next words. "Up by the reefs? Hm... I just might have to start plotting my journey up there." He grinned. "Thanks, Bane. You've given me a lot to think about."