A Whole New World
Solo or RP Format
Counts as 5 RP growth Points
Solo word minimum is 750, RP post minimum is 7
Prompt
The world has opened to new possibilities. Where once they thought they were alone, now they discovered creatures never before imagined.
How does your character react to the introduction of Kahikina to Tendaji? This prompt can be anything, a way to cope, a way to learn more, even the first time they meet the other race. The main focus is discover and evaluation of this new world
Rewi did his best to do as he was told. It didn't matter what he believed, or if his own curiosity urged him to investigate the new strangers to their land. His family was adamant that they were nothing but trouble and should be kept at bay. So many of the Menehune agreed. The landwalkers were nothing but trouble, and it was to the benefit of their species that the landwalkers couldn't survive extensively in the water.
But so many of them were so small. Rewi could hardly imagine that they were capable of much damage. He dwarfed a handful of them by nearly two feet, so how in Kahikina could they possibly pose a threat? He and his family alone could pick up this lot and chuck them right out of the swamp if they started causing trouble.
Such was how Rewi convinced himself that there was no danger to be found from the landwalkers.
Maybe they carried weapons and maybe they came in droves to camp on land they didn't understand, but maybe they were also curious. They surely must be, for how often the groups came and went. There were landwalkers passing through the swamp at least once a week. They must have found something that interested them. They must have found something they liked. And though Rewi was not one to take initiative, he feared that the less he and his family knew, the more likely the rest of the Oukela would be to act rashly.
There was a small landwalker crouched at the edge of the bank, one of the youngest of the group, Rewi imagined. She had long, green haired tied up into pigtails, bespeckled blue skin, and fins. The young girl wasn't so different from them, Rewi thought. She dipped her hands into the water, careful to avoid much of the scum that coated the top in a thin layer, and began to scrub her face with it.
He approached slowly, from the water, keeping beneath the murky surface as he neared, until he was close enough to reach an arm up and touch her, if he was so bold...
He wasn't, so he poked only his head up, instead, enough so that his dark hair flattened to the top of his head, and his eyes hovered over the surface of the water. And then, a bit more of his head. Hesitantly. He didn't want to frighten her if she wasn't expecting him, as seemed to be the case. So when he spoke, it was softly, the word low and gentle, "Hello."
But not matter how quiet his voice, the girl's vibrant yellow eyes snapped up sharply, and Rewi wasn't so blind that he couldn't see the fear on her face before she catapulted away from the water, flinging herself away from the edge with a loud shriek.
Rewi rose a bit higher, hands coming up in the universal sign that he meant no harm as he quickly tried to beckon her for silence. But he didn't make it very far. Fingers cinched around his arm and yanked on him, dragging him almost entirely back beneath the surface. Joena's angry gaze pinned on him as she demanded in a tight voice, "What are you doing?"
At the same time, Rewi thought he heard shouting from outside the water, "A monster in the water! Over there!"
He tried to explain, "She's just a little thing. Shouldn't we ask to see why-?" A hiss tore from his lips to cut him off, followed by a confused yelp as pain erupted over his shoulder and red waves darkened the water. Joena screamed as she was propelled away from him, lost in a blooming crimson cloud. And then, all of a sudden, she was smashing back into him without warning. Rewi fumbled to make sense of what was going on as his finger frantically tried to find purchase on her, but his eyes were virtually useless.
There was some protrusion from his older sister's shoulder, long and slim. A pole of some sort, tipped with a blade. It had skimmed the top of his shoulder and plunged through Joena's collarbone, and it yanked on her.
There was a rope on the other end, used to reel in-
Rewi's brows furrowed.
It was a spear, fashioned as such that it could be thrown and tied with a rope so that prey could be reeled back in. Joena howled as she clawed at him, tearing at the front of both his clothes and hers as she tried to dislodge the blade as it dragged at them.
Rewi spun in the water. They were both well beneath the surface now, their superior weight easily enough to keep the landwalkers from hauling them up. But not enough to keep them from trying. They were so small, Rewi remembered. He threaded his arm around the rope, getting a good grip before he gave an unapologetic yank. There came a resounding splash as the attacker was pulled into the water, but the rope still slipped out of his hands.
In a panic, Rewi hastened to pull it all in so that they wouldn't be caught again. He bundled it all up into a wad in his arms then snatched at his sister's arm to pull her from the scene. Her screeches had quieted to whimpers and groans, and she allowed herself to be pulled limply.
The water drained the blood from her. They would need to seek a healer quickly, or...
"Joena? Joena, it's okay," Rewi assured hurried, voice cracking in his fear. "Hang in there, hang in there... We'll get you back home. Okay, okay... Say something!" She bobbed helplessly as he tugged her along, desperate to get farther away from the landwalkers. But Joena's answer was only a muted groan. The landwalkers were capable of more devastating damage than Rewi had imagined...
Whether it was intentional or not.
(WC: 987)
