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It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was shinning brightly, the clouds floating along the sky like little puffs of white smoke and there was even the slightest breeze to cool off the back of one's neck from the day's heat. A pool of water, a small waterfall trickling down from the stream above, was located in a grove of trees. It was a nice little location and usually was quiet and calm. Today, however, there was a series of loud splashes as a lithe body continued to jump from a larger rock and into the deep pool of water.

Splash!

Kitya closed her eyes as she dove beneath the cool surface once more. Pursing her lips closed tightly she waited and counted for as long as possible before kicking her legs and breaking free from the surface again with a new splash, "Aaah!" She let out a gasp and gulped down the fresh air. Two seconds more that time! If she kept up at it maybe she could extend her time underwater even more!

Kitya was not one to give up on a challenge so easily. Shaking her head, her lilac colored locks tangled and wild from her adventures in the water, the girl almost looked like she belonged in the wilderness. Not expecting company she had stripped to her lower undergarments, all of her exposed skin surely a reason to make her mother faint, and the water made every damp strand of hair and limited piece of clothing cling to the lithe body. Taking a deep breath she braced herself before going back under. If there was a new race who could breathe underwater all of their lives then surely she could hold her breath longer. One, two, three.... Counting silently to herself she did her best before having to give up once more.

"Dammit! Why is breathing so necessary?"

Kitya cursed as she broke free from the water again with another splash. She had been so close to breaking her last record! Raising a hand to pull the damp hair from her face the young Yaeli woman found herself staring into the eyes of a strange, "Oh!" For once she found herself surprised and Kitya quickly swam a couple of feet backwards before turning back to study the newcomer. She kept afloat, her feet kicking in the waters below, and studied him while doing her best to stand straight in the water with her shoulders exposed to the afternoon air. Why did he have a dagger? Was he trying to do something? Her gaze narrowed suspiciously before she finally called out, doing her best to keep her voice light, "You okay there?"

All the tension in Kitya's shoulders relaxed at his confusion, "Oh." She let out a 'pfft' of amusement before grinning at him, "That's the whole point. I'm trying to practice to see if I can meet one of those new fish people. They live underwater, right? I wanted to see how long I could stay down there for." She supposed anyone would be curious about why she would keep diving into the water over and over. Kitya had to remind herself that doing these things weren't exactly common, especially in Yael where everyone and everything held some sort of superstition.

After a thoughtful moment, the Yaeli girl kicked forward to swim a bit towards the stranger, "The only nice thing under the water here would be me. Sooo....do you often hold a dagger up when meeting others?"

"Yeah, fish people." Kitya grinned, "Oh, no not the Matori! Haven't you heard? There's a whole new race that was discovered recently. They live all the way across the sea and can breathe underwater. I really think it would be cool to meet them but wouldn't it be rude to not at least try to be in their element?" The Yaeli girl bobbed up and down in the water as she spoke. She was used to swimming, it was one of her favorite hobbies, but she had never tried staying below the water so much before. It definitely was a different experience. Maybe she could work on opening her eyes beneath the water next? Or if they could craft some sort of glasses to let her see underwater...was that even possible?

Kitya let out a soft 'pfft' at his reasoning, "Well I suppose that's one reason to carry a weapon. You do know that it may actually give people the wrong idea first though? If I was more defensive I could have thought you were looking for a fight!" Still, now that he had tucked the dagger away she felt secure enough in swimming to the shoreline so that she could pull her body out of the water. Once her feet touched the solid ground, Kitya shook her head and scattered water droplets every which way, "Anyways, I hear a lot of people are wary of them. Would you be afraid of people who live underwater? I would think it's fascinating instead." What sorts of treasures could they find under the ocean? Her papa found so many things in caverns and other tucked away places in nature so spirits only knew what he could have found if he didn't need to breath underwater!

"Gotcha." Kitya simply plopped onto the ground next to the strange boy and started to run her hands through her hair to try and get rid of some tangles, "Smart decision. Most would rather just assume they're surely a way for evil spirits to drown us all. I would much prefer to try and learn more about them before jumping to conclusions like that." She replied lightly as she continued to work with her hair, twisting it into a braid. Was she afraid of drowning? Perhaps, but if you didn't go out and face your fears then would you ever get anywhere? Her Papa had proven that bravery in the face of danger was the best way to explore the world. He had found so many things and had even helped those who found this place!

The thought made her sigh wistfully, "I think it would be cool to see it honestly. I'm sure they have all sorts of neat, new things overseas." Kitya glanced towards the stranger with a teasing grin, "Maybe even more daggers with some cool style."

"If ya say so then all the power to you." The Yaeli boy must have been through some tough things. Kitya had noticed it in the way that he had been wary, especially with that dagger in hand. Or was it just his natural appearance to be so rough and look like he slept in the wild? Still, she wasn't one to pry into anyone's personal lives and so Kitya left it well alone. Her mind was on Kahikani anyways and finding out more about those strange underwater races.

And at least he agreed that overseas could be nice! There were some that wouldn't even give her that because of how superstitious they were about the foreigners. Kitya grinned happily, "Fair, but imagine an underwater blade. I would assume that whatever they have would be unique. I wonder what type of materials they craft with?" She finished twisted her hair and stood, stretching her arms far above her head, "Only one way to find out. Either wait for the traders to come back or go overseas myself. I would like to go see it for myself but I don't want to worry my family at the same time." Kitya held no reservations about speaking openly with a stranger. It wasn't like he would ever go and tell her family about her thoughts. But it would be nice to travel one day...if only she didn't worry about stressing her mother out too much. That and with the new little ones....well Kitya wouldn't just leave her family, not now. So she would probably have to just learn more about the Kahikani from her Papa or other traders when they came back from their journey overseas.

"Maybe." Kitya smirked, "That or some sort or rare metal that you can only find underwater. There's some really brightly colored rocks down there as well from what I've heard. A blade that was almost rainbow in color - could you imagine? It was one of the many ideas that Kitya had been bouncing about lately.

"Hopefully they will come back soon. Unless some sort of giant sea creature eats their ships on the way home." She teased lightly as she brushed off some dirt from her damp clothing, "As is I better head home before my own mother thinks something ate me." Kitya nodded towards the boy, "Thanks for the interesting talk though! I hope you make it home safely as well~"