Can You Hear The Sea?

[Natalina]

▄▀▄ Spring 15th, 509 AV; Early Morning; Unnamed Beach ▀▄▀ The previous night, rain had thundered down from the clouds above and slathered Mura with cool liquid. The tears of the sky had been silent and had no accompaniment of wind or thunder. Mura had been refreshed and smelled clean, innocent, and tropical. Unfortunately, the sea would be more swollen in the morning and deadly to swim in. Instead of testing her swimming appendages, Natalina had decided to comb the beaches. With the sea swollen, things often became lodged on shore and could range from seaweed to money. The items were wonderful to decorate houses with and that was what Natalina planned to do. Her home had seemed very bland, very blank. Something had been necessary and she hoped this was it. Early morning, when the sun was sleepily peeking over the water, Natalina was awake and moving. White hair was pulled back away from her face. Her bed was made (corner folded back!) and a handful of food was grabbed off the table on her way out the door. The worn backpack slung haphazardly from one shoulder. Though the pack had been in the water almost as many times as Natalina, she exited her home through the connecting decks. Swimming was not on the schedule. Leather sandals slapped against the boards, mingling with the awakening sounds of the day. A bird sang a catchy morning tune and Natalina found herself humming along. Low, then high, hold, go low, repeat. A smile blossomed on her face and made her seaweed eyes twinkle. With a small giggle, the Konti hopped off the deck end and landed firmly in the sand. Two deep footprints were left behind. Natalina's home had been built on the sea directly, close to land. The trip to the beach literally only took a few chimes. A path had been beaten into nature, though nature still ruled it. Only one person could fit on it at a time and even then they had to step over weeds or large rocks. Crooked, it weaved back and forth several times before opening up to the beach. Trees and flowering plants normally made the path difficult to find. White sand was everywhere! On this particle section of sea skirt, the water was lighter than the sky itself! Large, white rocks lined the bank. Trees seemed to lean over to be closer to the liquid, providing only a little shade. As it was, "Natalina's" beach was within seeing distance from Ocean Rush, a place where seahorse rides were available by the armfuls. She hoped to work there and be immersed with the seahorses, one day. Discarding her backpack on the blanket of sand, Natalina took a deep breath. The surrounding area had been obviously been hit by the storm. Debris lay all over the place. To help the environment, and to simply make it look good, Natalina would clean the area thoroughly. First, collecting all the driftwood that had washed ashore...

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Minerva Agatha Zipporah had been here for half a year. It had been half a year since she had used that name. To the people she had met here, she was simply 'Tock.' Using that name made it easy to forget her past. It made it easy to let all that stay behind her. She hadn't cried since she came here. But then, she also hadn't been beaten since she came here. Her abusive father had been left behind. So had thoughts of her beloved Granddad. He was gone, and there was no grave to visit. No memorial to hold. So what was the point in mourning him? She was just leaving all that behind. The past didn't matter. It couldn't affect her anymore. In a few more weeks, she would be turning eighteen. Not long after that she'd also be out of money. She needed to figure out what to do. She had been 'on vacation' for two full seasons. The money she had stolen from her Da was slowly running out. But she'd deal with that when the time came. There was no point in worrying about it now. So she decided to spend another day exploring. She'd been all over this island the past few months, but it seemed like she never ran out of places to explore. She set out to head down the beach, wondering if she would find anything interesting. Curiousity hadn't killed the cat; ignorance did, and curiosity was framed. She didn't want to be ignorant of any subject, so the more she could learn, the better. She ended up exploring for awhile until she stumbled across this secluded little section of the beach. It was quite a ways off the beaten trail, so she'd never found it before. Never one to let a potential mystery go unexplored, she started searching the area to see what it might reveal to her.

[Natalina]

The easiest things to find on the beach were the pieces of driftwood, or chunks or wood weathered by the ocean. Faded and often covered in cracks, driftwood's sturdy and strong. The water wears away at any rough edges, leaving the wood smooth. More than one Konti used it for decorating of the home. Furniture, such as tables or bed frames could be made from the pieces of nature. As such, Natalina kept a small pile outside of her house, under the roof, for future use. Maybe she would make a sculpture? "Just… one more…" Natalina murmured under her breath. Driftwood was piled to her chin in her arms. Eyes scanned the distance, looking for another chunk of the weathered nature. There! The wavesjust washed it up on the crystalized sands, left it behind like Nava had Natalina. Create something, help it along on its journey, and then run away as fast as possible only to return at a later time. Nava promised to come back to Mura on Natalina's thirtieth birthday, a day when she would officially be an adult. Shaking the thought away, Natalina waddled toward the driftwood. Foots were left in the sand behind her, swept away by the sea. Natalina reached down to pick the piece up, when disaster struck. The boards in her arms wobbled and tumbled from her grasp. One smacked her in the chin, another landed on her foot. In a desperate attempt to keep the driftwood, Natalina flailed her arms and legs. Suddenly, pain pierced the tip of her big toe. "Ow, ow, owwww!" Bouncing around on one foot, Natalina held her other. A quick look revealed a seashell tip stabbed into the skin. This would not have been bad… Had it not been bleeding. Natalina was afraid of blood, disliked the sight of it, and preferred not to be around it. Cautiously, Natalina pulled the seashell out of her foot and dropped it on the disjointed pile of driftwood. A line of blood coursed from the hole, dripping onto the sand below. "Aggggh!" Natalina raced into the water, kicking her right foot around like a spaz. Cold and chilly, the sea caused goose-bumps to rise on her skin. A wave splashed against Natalina, splattering her clothes with liquid. Only a few more chimes had passed before Natalina made her way from the water. Plopping down next to the driftwood, Natalina pulled her foot closer to her face for inspection. It was barely noticeable where the seashell had parted the skin and the sea had made the wound numb, but Natalina was still wary. Who knew if the blood would come back? On the downside, she was covered in water. On the upside, her toe had stopped bleeding.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock heard a scream from up the beach. Back home, she would have ignored it and turned to head the other way. But no... she wasn't home anymore. She no longer had to worry about the consequences of bringing other people's troubles onto herself. There were no troubles here. She kept telling herself that. So she wandered over to investigate, just in time to see the Konti girl drop a pile of wood all over herself. Shaking her head, she hurried over, deciding to help. That's what all the people in Mura seemed to do: help each other. She liked that. So while the girl was splashing her foot around in the waves, Tock stepped up and started picking up the wood. The girl had her back to her at first, and didn't seem to notice her. By the time she turned back from washing her foot, Tock had an armful of the girl's wood. "Oy," she said, waving awkwardly around the pile of wood in her arms. "'Owzer, Sook? Whatcha needs a 'and, aye? Jus' done lemme knows an' I's git 'er done, aye?" She grinned at the girl. She was growing to like this whole 'being polite' thing, after two seasons here. Not that Tock didn't still have an explosive temper when riled. Just no one here ever seemed to rile her. So she convinced herself that was behind her. That her Sunberthan roughness and attitude was a thing of her past. That she was just like these perfect, beautiful Konti women who as far as she was concerned had no flaws.

[Natalina]

It took Natalina a moment to even register there was a person near her. When she did, her eyes traveled from the girl's dirty feet slowly up to her smiling face. Eye contact caused words to flood Natalina's mind, telling of the stranger's temperament. Distracted, unique, determined, stubborn, creative, demanding… The whole event took place in less than the blink of an eye, leaving Natalina staring awkwardly at the non-Konti. This person with cropped hair, crooked teeth, flailing appendages, and too friendly of an attitude was unique? Natalina would definitely have to agree, blinking and glancing away. What was the girl saying? It appeared she was in the middle of a sentence, looking proud of herself and showing off her teeth. Something about… What was it she was saying? Was the girl missing part of her tongue or just daft? Did they not educate their children wherever this lady was from? Help! The girl wanted to help. Natalina had reached this conclusion judging from the wood the stranger had picked up and also by how eager she seemed. The word "done" had helped. Nodding cautiously, Natalina reached up to brush a strand of hair away from her face before pushing to her feet. Gingerly, she stepped down on the injured foot. "I was c-c-cleaning the b-b-beach. There was a st-st-storm and it looks b-b-better when neat. The d-d-driftwood you are holding, c-c-can be set in a p-p-pile over by the r-r-ridge." A finger still red from blood pointed toward where the sand met the rock shelf. "Set them b-b-by that tree." A pause. "Thank you." While she waited for the girl to return, Natalina checked to make sure her toe was not bleeding and set about trying to find all the large shells hidden in the sand. Some were laying on top, others tucked under. A simple scraping brought the abandoned homes to the surface. "I-I-I need to collect all the sh-sh-shells. They are w-w-wonderful for décor-r-r-arating houses and look s-s-so pretty." Natalina made sure to dump all of the excess water out, effectively cleaning them. Later, she would soak them in liquid in order to bring their full potential looks out. Reaching down for a shell bigger than her hand, Natalina tugged. And tugged again. With a frown, she peered down. The bottom was half stuck in the sand, the top standing straight up. With a final tug, Natalina grinned when the abandoned home came loose. Unfortunately, it appeared something was living inside and angry with her. A red claw snuck out, trying to grab her fingers. A sharp intake of air and Natalina unceremoniously dropped the shell back onto the ground. Two pairs of eyes snuck out, with antennas, and glared at her. A hiss resounded in the air, along with the solid clacking of claws. Eyes wide, Natalina walked backwards for several feet before turning and making her way toward where the stranger was. Shells overflowed from her arms. On the way, Natalina created a new pile by the driftwood, making sure to keep nearly two feet between them. "What is your n-n-name?"

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock frowned at the way the girl was stuttering. She wondered if she had done something wrong. "Oy, ain'tcha done gots ta been stonkered, Sook," she said. "Ain't what likes I's gonna shank ya inna beach o' nothin'... actin' like yer gonna 'as a chunder on me..." She shook her head and carried the wood over to the porch, laying it down where the girl directed her. She headed back just in time to see the snapping little critter trying to take a bite out of the girl. "Oy, 'at's a corker, 'at is!" she shouted, laughing and watching the creature scurry off. She followed it for a short time, bent over, peering at it. She'd never seen a critter quite like that before. "Bloody ace biter, ain't 'e?" She grinned, letting the critter run off towards the waves, and returning to help the stranger gather more seashells for her decorations. Each one she pulled out, she hoped to find another strange crustacean, but there was no such luck. She wore a pout of disappointment as she unloaded her own armful of shells into the girl's pile. When the girl asked her name, without hesitation she answered, "Tock." She had grown used to the name enough, after two seasons, that it felt like her real name now. She no longer stumbled and almost said 'Minerva' as she had at first. As far as she was concerned, she no longer was Minerva. "Niceta meetcha, Sook!" she said, slapping the girl on the arm with a big grin on her face. She planted her hands on her hips, looking around, not really having any purpose here today beyond just exploring and enjoying her extended 'vacation.' "So, wotcher, Sook?" she asked. "Ya done gots somethin' what fer ta build wit' all o' 'is stuff? I done always been up fer a good project, aye?" She poked around the wood and shells, wondering what the girl had in mind with all of it.

[Natalina]

PsstPlease take your time responding. Thank you. The girl was difficult to understand. Natalina had to listen extremely close simply to distinguish where one word ended and the other began. Did she not realize this? Or was it more of a habit, one done unconsciously? What the petch did stonkered mean? Or Sook? Chunder? Corker? Wotcher? My gods, it was like the girl had her own petching language! Forcing herself to push the abusive thoughts away, Natalina reminded herself not to stare. It was rude. "Nice to m-m-meet you, Tock," fell softly from Natalina's lips. A hand came up to rub the place where Tock had hit her. Though it was a gentle smack, a bruise would most likely form. "I am sav-v-ving them. They can be used on h-h-houses to p-personalize them." Seaweed, plants, paint and many other things found in nature are often used as well. Some Konti used colored glass. "The wood is useful for other things. I want to make a g-g-garden box, where I c-c-can plant Cianberry bushes." A hesitant pause before Natalina continued, even quieter, "Seahorses love the berries." For now, Natalina did not want to actually make the boxes. She did not have enough skill to do so and besides, by the time she actually got around to learning how to grow the bushes, the boxes would have been weathered and in need of a remake. There also wasn't enough collected wood to build one currently, either. "I just w-w-want to clean the b-b-each for now." Though they had taken a large chunk out of the necessary chores, the beach was still littered with seaweed and kelp strands. There were large rocks uncovered that could easily slice a person's foot open. Regular branches knocked down from trees lay in random places in the sand. Every would need to be collected and put into piles. Then Natalina would carry them back to her home and store them until further notice.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

OOCI got caught up on all my other posts today before this one. Yours is now the last one I owe Minerva didn't know why the girl was so stuttery and nervous. Maybe she was just always like this? She decided to shrug it off. She meant no harm to the girl, after all. "A box?" she asked. "I can done makes a box fer ya, easy peasy! I got the tools an' everythin'..." Her Granddad's tools were about the only thing she had left from home. And she hadn't worked on any kind of project in far too long. "I's 'elp ya, Sook!" she declared. She examined the wood a bit and said, "Sommat 'is shyke done been rotted in the water. 'Ere, 'as a looksee..." She used one of the shells to pry some of the wood apart, revealing it was falling apart from wet rot. She dug around for one of the thicker pieces, saying, "Needs ta find some quality wood, what if'n ya want 'er ta last, aye? 'Ere, see?" She pried off some of the rotted wood, revealing solid, dry wood at the core. "Git us some real conkers, aye? Pry off 'ese rotted whatsits, cut 'er clean, sand 'er down right good, an' 'fore ya can say busy as a cat buryin' shyke, she's a right grouse, aye?" She stood back up and brushed her hands off, grinning. "So whaddya say, Sook? Easy peasy, an' I's a profess'nal," she thrust a thumb against her own chest, "so I's make sure ya dun come a gutser, aye? Aye!" She planted her hands on her hips, and waited for the girl's response.

[Traverse]

Natalina

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	2 XP
Rhetoric	1 XP
Running	1 XP
Socialization	1 XP

•	Lores Earned
•	Maintaining One's Beach
•	Driftwood: Decorative and Sharp
•	Tock: A Unique Individual

Additional Comments :

A short thread that looked like it could be leading some hilarious places. Natalina I would just ask that you denote from which seasons you have been inactive just for reference! Excited to see you back and what she'll get up to in and around Mura!

Yes, I Bite.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.