[Flashback] It Fell From the Sky (Vrix)

[Sable Baggywrinkle]

Date: 45 Summer, 510 AV Stage: Moored off God’s Eye Point, Northern Suvan Cast: Vrix & Sable (NPC: Sirroco, Sybil, and Tungsten)

Raucous laughter, a bell tolling through the refreshing zest of a jungle shower, pealed out over sun-soaked open waters, caught up and sent tumbling on the breeze to whomsoever might need such a sound. The originators of these disturbances were mere splotches of vigorous colors horsing around atop the tall bluff that denotated God’s Eye Point. Sirroco and Tungsten had been making shows of bravado all morning long, egging one another on to jump from the lofty cliff. Sybil and Sable supposed such things made them feel manly. Both women knew that Sybil would leap before either of the masculine peacocks strutting around amongst them. In a show of support, the youngest Baggywrinkle had opted to stay on the Palivar and keep an eye out for plummeting, tumbling balls of testosterone landing nearby. A gentle snore exemplified the lanky woman’s concern that such a thing would actually happen as she stretched out atop the deck just aft of the prow. Adjusting to such a small family had been strange, but all the best members had come with when Sybil had received Laviku’s blessing to start another Pod. Laughter and pranks had never flowed so freely as they did now. The Palivar, Barrel Breaker, had seen more winters than any of her crew, but the shipwrighting Tempests had made sure the acquisition was properly outfitted and safe before letting the young Pod break away. It rocked a substantial distance from the cliffs. A rowboat waited primed and ready off her bow in order to retrieve any floundering squidbuckets stupid enough to jump. Momentarily casting the deck in shadow, a cotton-ball cloud breezed by overhead. Several furry creatures, ranging from tiny baby otters to a full grown sea lion lumbered up and sank down nearby the snoozing sailor. Apparently they weren’t impressed with their Tavans’ chosen activity for the day, either.

[Vrix]

Oh, I'm falling... She could see an endless field of blue. Azures and sapphires and indigos, with whispy white things she knew to be clouds. But how did she know? This feels nice... but why am I falling? Where is my Lady? She could feel the air, and with splayed fingers she meant to reach out and pluck the color from the sky, but suddenly she felt slow, so very slow. There was a burst of white, bubbles that exploded all around her, and cold, salty liquid on her tongue. The sea... The memory flashed in her mind, as vivid and fresh as if the realm of divine had been the dream, and not this newfound reality from which the newborn creature found herself. The wall of water parted, and from the depths emerged glassy, pin straight horns glistening with a sheen of water, connected to a head framed by long, golden white hair. She was surrounded by a field of blue, and above, more blue broken only by the pearly clouds, and beyond, the radiance of her goddess. Why, Lady Syna? Why am I here, and you are there? The laughter drifted on the breeze, calling her attention. She swerved in the water, but the memory of swimming had all but eluded her. She felt herself sinking, more and more, as the water lapped at her shoulders, then her neck, then her chin. Her citrine eyes caught sight of strange wooden contraptions, and people, Svefra, her mind echoed, before the water obstructed her vision, and the bubbles burst from her lips. Syna! Syna, help me!

[Sable Baggywrinkle]

As a collective, whiskered faces lifted and swiveled toward starboard waters. Beady black eyes puzzled at long stalks waving in unison over white washed water. As the first pained hint of a familiarly formed visage, two bulbous colorful gems set above a pathetic nubbin of a snout set over a gaping hole rimmed with white and pink, the tavans and associated family surged overboard. Slithering and sewing through heavy blue, the whirling mass of helpful blubber surrounded Syna’s lost child. Suddenly, from the curious mass—for why did this lump not swim with them?—emerged a ponderous leviathan. Nimble creatures darted from before and surged around as she refused to alter bearing or velocity for even the gangly pallid thing they all found so interesting. Undulating with patient grace in this crystalline world of suspension, her snout caught the woman in her midriff, where all the other gangly lumps hinged, and dragged water back to the surface. She was old, and had spent many cycles among these lumps. This lump was no different from the baby lumps that new no fear of the water but had no concept of its use, she was even easier to push being large and nowhere near as squirrely as little lumps. Silly lumps and their split fins. “…thinking?! I hope you have the worst water rash, you useless pile of barnacle balls!” The words, voice struggling to maintain a façade of severity over chimes of amusement, mixed with the chuckle of disturbed water as a strong hand caught hold of the brave soul and heaved. Of course, with arm length ivory extensions elongating a body that had been expected to be horn-free, silence soon reigned. For about half a tick. “The least you could have done was spear a fish or two with those things when you came down. We’ll have to work on your diving technique,” smirked the flaxen girl leaning over the prow of a weathered rowboat. Hues glittering with all the life and play of Laviku’s indefatigable surf studied the woman splayed across the gentle giant’s girth. Her hand trailed through the water and massaged the patient creature’s streamlined head. What, exactly, this woman was, with her gold kissed silvery hair, honeyed skin and citrine eyes, in addition to those protrusions, eluded the Svefra’s lazy grasp.

[Vrix]

The water stung her eyes and filled her nose and her mouth. She could see a swirl of indigo and the darting fins of curious fish, but her chest felt constricted, and she could not breathe as they breathed. Suddenly, the daughter of Syna was not alone. There were creatures both large and small, and with her outstretched hand she felt their smooth, fleshy skin surround her. She had been sinking, but now she was rising, lifted by the combined effort of these kind souls until her head protruded from the waters, and the air filled her straining lungs. Harshly, she coughed, as the water drained from her system, and the hand of a stranger clasped around her arm, pulling her in. She heard a voice, feminine in nature, above her. "You have very--" Another cough. "Pretty animals with you. Are they your friends?" Citrine eyes sought azure blue, and she smiled. "Where am I? Why is everything so.... so blue?"

[Sable Baggywrinkle]

Pleasantly surprised by the naïve curiosity, Sable beamed down at the disoriented and nude newcomer. Most people recovered from drowning incidents exhibited symptoms of grump and hazy confusion. She refrained from the customary hearty clap on the back to ‘help’ with the coughing. “Come on, coral crest. Climb aboard and I’ll introduce you to these lovely sea rats.” Having allowed a moment of recovery, giving the woman a chance to gain her bearings from the depths of blue, the swirl of blubber and the sudden appearance of another, Sable aided her in slipping over the high side of the precariously balanced rowboat. Much care was taken to avoid pointy head extensions. “You must have hit the water pretty hard. We’re at God’s Eye Point.” Taking the oars in hand, smooth expert strokes spun them about and created some distance with which the frolicking animals came into clearer distinction. Sable’s long legs took up considerable space within the small vessel. When the name didn’t stir any hints of recognition, a shade of consternation clouded Sable’s sunny features. The oar blade sank, handle lifting, as she glanced over a shoulder and hitched a thumb toward the massive bluff where three bright shapes could no longer be seen. “The Northern Suvan Sea? Cavindua fishing grounds are back that way, Alavadas is over there, and the Blood Isles are somewhere in that general direction?” Nothing. “No matter,” she waved the concern away. “At least you can know who you’re with if not where. I’m Sable.” She turned their attention back to the critters curiously watching their new lump. “Let’s see…that big lady there, the sea lion, that’s Mala. And…that little guy there, the sea otter climbing on Mala’s head, is Glik. And…where are you…there! That butt with the legs kicking in the air? that’s Squip, another otter. Those are our Tavans, our friends, and everyone else is their family or just tagging along. My Tavan is a tuna fish, you might have seen her when you went under, but she can be shy.” Sable lifted one of the sopping baby otters into the boat and let it roll around the newcomer’s feet. "What's your name?" Syna beat down on them with little mercy today, so catching cold posed little danger and Sable paid no mind to the woman’s current state of dishabille. She had been swimming…or, trying to, after all.

[Vrix]

With each question of recognition the gilded creature shook her head. The animals absorbed her interest, and she found her gaze wandering to them more often than the strangers might have liked. The names of locations meant nothing to her, but those of her saviors she ingrained to her memory. "Sable," The girl repeated in a tongue that was both alien and familiar, "Mala, Glik, Squip." She giggled, reaching out to touch the baby otter at her feet. "I like their names--oh!" The breeze sent a ripple of goosebumps across her skin, though her nudity seemed disregarded. "My name?" The query made her pause, and for a long, silent moment, she gazed at the horizon. My name.... Her lips parted, but the words that were so clear and concise in her head refused to be uttered. It was as if her tongue had been stolen away and her true name had been confined to her mind. "I cannot speak it." She finally murmured, "This... this mortal world, it doesn't let me speak it. I don't have a name in your tongue." She glanced up at the girl called Sable, "I am no one here." A tinge of sorrow in her voice, brimming in her eyes.

[Sable Baggywrinkle]

The lanky strip of sunshine in front of the gilded creature took no offense in her preoccupation with the animals frolicking nearby. On a bright day in fruitful seas, they knew nothing but self-indulgence. It was refreshing and freeing, a concept with which the Svefra identified easily. The little otter wrapped both paws around a finger nearing it, bringing the glistening digit to its mouth where its little nose twitched. A delicate pink tongue peeked out to take an experimental taste, the fluffball somewhat dazed by the lump that was somehow more ethereal, like the undulating shafts of baby-blue tinted light piercing deep blue expanse, than lumpy like the other lumps. Sable soon flirted with this same concept. If the woman, with her sweeping horns, wasn’t of the mortal world, she could only come from one other. “Are you a god?" Somewhere in the past, she’d been taught about, or at least shown, another member of this stranger’s race, but the lesson had been long sublimated beneath more useful knowledge. Like how baby otters are too fluffy and cannot physically submerge until they sleek up. Sable caught up the rolling creature and tossed it overboard. The fair-furred ball disappeared for long ticks, lost in a wash of white bubbles, but shot up with a squeal of delight. Sable echoed it, and the little guy flopped back toward the boat, ready for another round. As the stranger’s attention diverted, hopefully the antic lifting her momentarily downed spirits, the intrigued Svefra reached out with the intention of exploring the texture and contours of one of those ivory extension. They looked hard and strong, but too graceful to be so in actuality. Sable spoke up once more, voice absent due to the task at hand but words heartfelt. “You’re somebody to me.” Hues as deep as the water embracing this creature just chimes before met citrine ones. “Laviku could have caught you with any part of the Sea, but he chose to place you here, with me.” A long arm swept up the baby otter to deposit once more at her feet. “Our Tavans accepted you, chose to rescue you, you’re somebody to them, too.” Her one hand, never quite managing to reach those strokes of pure white, dropped away, as though afraid that if she touched them, the otherworldly woman would disappear. The thought of her leaving felt wrong, there was a way the woman flickered in the sun and reflected the ocean, a gem that Sable felt made to be set with her.