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WC - 765


Ruehi stayed where she was, staring at the other adult that had come to speak with her parents about an urgent matter. Of course she’d overheard the conversation. Land walkers. She could feel an unsavory chill working it’s way down her spine and it wasn’t the water.

“Its true. They’ve no scales or gills to speak of.” The man said in a low voice as he looked at Rue’s father. “You need to make sure to keep Ruehi home. I know she likes to go the shore to search for rocks and things.” He made a pointed look in her direction.

Her father nodded his head in agreement, his gaze also going to her before it went toward her mother who looked pale.

As he started to say something she tuned him out. Her thoughts were running away with her. How was it possible that someone could be without scales? They didn’t even have one? Maybe a hidden one somewhere? And what about gills? How were they supposed to breathe in the water? Or could they not actually get in the water? Ruehi blinked several times as she tried to imagine that. Unable to get in the water at all? It sounded like a miserable thing.

“Get this, though, they have crystals, rocks, on their skin where scales should be.” To animate he touched various places on himself. The side of his face, his arms, and even his side. Both of her parents watched him as he did this. Rue was even glued to his movements.

“We don’t know if they are hostile yet. Some say they carry weapons though.” The man continued on.

That worried her. What if they were? Did they have weapons that were better than what her people could use? Granted no one really fought in Kahikina as there was little need to do so, but sharp things could easily be made.

“D-do they know we’re here?” Rue finally got up the courage to interrupt the adult conversation with some of her curiosities.

All three of the older Kahi’s turned to look at her as one and there was a pause. Her mother looked at the male with the question repeated in her eyes. Her father soon looked back at the other man with a cocked brow, clearly wondering the same thing now that it had been mentioned.

“Yes. Well.. the Menehune have been spotted.” He nodded his head in thought. “They may not know the extent of our existence.” He waved his hand to motion to the rest of the river they were currently in. “We also don’t know if they know about the ocean dwellers just yet.”

She paused to consider this information. If they had figured out there was a people that lived in the swamp then it wouldn’t be too far of a leap to assume there were some that lived in the river. And from there all one had to do was consider the other water sources as a home as well. Ruehi looked up at the distant surface of the river as the water flowed past them. She tried to squint and see if maybe she could make out a shadow or something of some curious person up top. Nothing. There was a surge of relief that hit her but also a tinge of disappointment.

She was scared to come face to face with one of the land walkers. They were a strange new thing. Something that no one had dealt with before. A true unknown. It meant that her rock hunting would be put on hold for a while. She couldn’t make trips to the surface whenever she wanted like she usually did. Not if it was possible these people were hostile.

Rue was no fighter. She had little to no strength when it came to that sort of thing and she clearly lacked a weapon of any kind to defend herself with. Except maybe the small knife she kept on her for little things. It barely cut through ropes though so she doubted it would do much to a person.

“What happens if they come down here?” This time it was her mother who had the question for the man.

Silence followed. Apparently no one knew the answer to that. If the land walkers knew how to come down to them then they may truly be in trouble. Ruehi looked from one adult to the next waiting to see if there was some kind of answer to it all but no one said anything. It left a somber mood hanging in the air.