Completed Along the Harbor's Water

[Ariann]

Season of Spring, Day 13, 513 AV: Noon-time (12th Chime)

The harbors of Zeltiva normally would be the last place you'd find a Charoda lurking, with all the fishing boats and sailormen cluttering up the docks. Nevertheless, the lithe form of Ariann lurked far out in the water, her head breaking the surface just enough for her emerald eyes to emerge from the water to stare at the people populating the wooden surfaces of the harbor. Ariann was a Charoda, for sure, her teal-ish skin glistening with the wetness that came from sitting in water for all your life. Her hair was less hair and more like an extension of her scaly skin, which came out of her head like threads, bound behind her back with seaweed. She was almost entirely nude besides a simple outfit of seaweed skirting and a small binding of seaweed around her chest.

She was waiting, lurking... she wondered what kind of creatures needed wooden houses to move along the water. She had so many questions, but her fear of the land and of the large, four-legged canines caused her to hesitate a lot when she tried to go ashore. Slowly, but surely, she glided beneath the water, resurfacing near the shoreline and a little ways off to the side in the shallow water, ending up just southwest of the Ancient Quarter, crouched down so only the top of her head shown again, her emerald eyes still watching the pier.

[Ricky Maze]

Ricky was taking a break from work when he happened to arrive on the pier, his eyes searched the horizon of Mathew's Bay as though answers resided beyond it. His mind was at a loss today as he hadn't the slightest clue on what to think, all he knew was that the person he wanted to see was gone for good and his best friend was unusually awkward with him. Any time they would talk Telion would find a reason to leave, and when there was no reason she just innocently stood there and listened; while not being part of the conversation. Hannah was gone period, not a word left for Ricky since the night of her game of fun. Ricky was pretty sure the beer was different that night too, why else would it have had the fizzy look inside; that and the aftertaste that followed. Nothing seem to make sense now, and the more Ricky though about it, the more he wanted to find the answers he wanted to hear.

The wind was soft today when it blew on him, and thought Ricky felt the salty kiss of the ocean upon him the azure uniform of the Wave Guard held in the heat. Thus the sun made it worse with the new spring weather, and where as the city would define it warm Ricky felt it hot, of course wearing the uniform would have this effect on him. Therefore Ricky looked a littly sweaty on his forehead, nothing that showed hard labor at work, just another long day that waited to pass. He watched the sea gulls as they cried out and flew in the same form, the few flocks circled sail boats and a few other stragglers flew in other directions. The city bustle was of the daily usual routine, sailors and people alike all tended to their business as though nothing else were important. Ricky wondered if anyone was aware of the world around them, how everything could change in an instant and they too would be left in questioning. Change was something the world had to get used to, had Zeltivan's not experienced the plague last season then sure enough the change that followed wouldn't be as drastic. In an ever changing world, people had to first recognize it was there, then either accept or deny it no matter what. Though Ricky was intimidated by the change he wasn't scared of the future.

Nothing was like before, and he nothing would never be the same. So watching the rolling waves as his thoughts flowed on too, he allowed his mind to wonder as it would, he was unaware that a Charoda was within the area however.

[Ariann]

Ariann had smelled the soft scent of sweat far before she seen the man, her acute senses honing in on the man as he approached the shoreline, causing her to sink back down into the water a slight bit, eyes wide in fear. Many thoughts crossed her mind and none of them ended pleasantly. She tried to remain still, to appear like a teal-blue rock just floating along the water, but she was very bad at hiding. She stood out for the mere fact that she had emerald green eyes, something rocks seemed to lack nowadays.

Ariann was young and Naive, yet even though she had a large amount of amnesia, she still remembered the tales of the horrible land-dwellers, who fish in the seas hoping to catch the Charoda and make them into fish-sticks. The thought made Ariann shake as if she'd just swam into the arctic. She hoped that the man that sat before her a mere twenty-or-so feet would not notice her.

[Ricky Maze]

His mind couldn't stop from wandering, as his eyes still searched the far off horizon for the things that were never there. Or were they? 'Why are things constantly different? Surely just this once the way things were several days ago were just the best. Now Hannah is gone and Telion is weirder than usual...' His eyes finally lowered from the distance to the relatively close. Thus something had caught hia attention, something he knew good and well hadn't been there before. It was a teal colored rock that rested not too far from where he was, a rock that couldn't possibly have washed up on shore. His reasoning deduced that for one rocks sink to the bottom of the sea, so the chance of a rock this size washing up on shore was pretty much none, and rocks didn't usually have the teal color this one did either.

'Strange...' Ricky observed the rock a bit further, though he never moved from his spot. Upon his investigative look on the rock he found a pair of emeralds rested within, and then he realized that those emeralds were actually eyes. 'What in the...' He leaned forward and squinted a bit, and shield the sun from his eyes as he focused with interest. "Who or what's out there?" He wasn't sure if his mind played a trick on him or if he really saw a creature out there, nor could he help feel slightly odd for asking a creature what it is. Wild creatures don't really talk, they just lived and survived. Ricky wasn't aware of this creature being a Charoda, as he had never met one before.

[Ariann]

Ariann saw the man shift about, seeing his eyes turn to her. Her emerald orbs widened slightly when he spoke aloud, the words harsh to her sensitive ears, causing her to let out a startled yelp and dip her head back underwater. After a minute or two of hiding a few inches beneath the water, she popped back up, this time her entire head above water, to look at the man.

"Go away." She barked before her head lowered back down until the water lapped at her cheeks once more. She could feel the cool water lapping up against her reddened cheeks, having never once spoken to something that wasn't a Charoda before. The thought that the man might actually leave made Ariann feel relieved and yet scared at the same time. She wondered if he would leave to bring more two-legged land-dwellers to hunt her down to make into fish sticks! Or what's worse, he could return with a dog! The thought scared her, causing her eyes to widen as she lifted her head out of the water again. She appeared to wish to say more, but resorted retreating back into the coolness of the water, her cheeks breaking the surface as she continued to watch him. He was a curious-looking person to be sure.

[Leila]

Leila was sitting on the end of the pier, fishing pole in hand, while Shaco lay with his eyes closed next to her, napping under Syna's smile. She hadn't been able to catch any fish, and had been here nearly all day. Her shift at World's End Grotto started this evening, and she'd be damned if she was going to walk away from all this effort without anything to show for it. She tried to hold the rod steady, while watching the many busy ships come to and fro in the harbor. Until her ears picked up a familiar voice. She looked up at the source of the voice, and saw her new friend Ricky. She started waving at him with her spare arm, the other holding the fishing rod. She was about to call to him when she realized that he was talking to a... thing in the water. It was the color of the ocean just before sunset, and had a strange singsongy voice, which seemed to be slightly feminine. And it was being rude to Ricky, telling him to leave. Leila spoke up so the thing could hear her, "You should be more polite to the Wave Guard, they are here to protect and serve." Leila then noticed that Shaco was no longer next to her, and had walked around the piers and up to Ricky, sniffing at his leg, hoping for head rubs, while staring at the creature in the water. Which he barked at a single time, almost questioningly. This time to Ricky, "Hey Ricky, it's nice to see you here. Some might start thinking you're following me." She smiled at him, forgetting for a moment about the weird sea creature.

[Ricky Maze]

Ricky was surprised when the creature spoke back to him after all, amazement filled his eyes as he watched the Charoda with fascination, as he ignored the command for him to go away. "Now hold on, ye can't just boss me 'round now." Then a familiar voice happened to cut in, a voice that defended him, more so the fact he was a guard really. He looked to find that Leila was on another pier fishing, a pleasant look on her face. 'Wonder how long she's been there.' He gave a warm smile to her, unaware that Shaco had made his way over to him.

"Wha?" He slightly jumped as he looked to find the dog waited for more affection from him, as if Ricky didn't spare enough when they first met. "Hey little feller, takin care of yer master?" He massaged the dogs head playfully as he listened to Leila speak, a small laugh escaped when she mentioned him following her. "I promise ya it ain't anythin of the sort, just an honest man takin a break from his duty."

He still gave Shaco affection even though he looked back to the sea creature, he was just as curious as the dog as to what it could be. His nature took the better of him as his humble expression came around as usual, thus he was pretty much relaxed now that he was intrigued by something. "Ya know up here's not so bad either, a little dryer sure but I garentee we make for a friendly bunch." He wasn't sure if he'd be able to convince her, but the creature was a mystery waiting to be solved for Ricky. Something he had to learn about while the opportunity remained around.

[Ariann]

The thought of being scolded by a land-dweller brought a redness to Ariann's cheeks. She had never once been told not to do something, except for when her mother had told her to stay off the land. The Charoda shook her head furiously, her fish-tail like dreads popping out of the seaweed and flying out behind her like a fan, silver and blue and purple hues all creating a rainbow behind her as she sprayed water from the ends of her hair. "No! The land is dangerous! The four-legged will eat me!" Ariann cried with a scared tone, one that was just as majestic as it was filled with fright.

Still, she had a curious look and was subconsciously moving herself closer, only a foot or so but it was closer than before. She closed her emerald eyes tightly and shook her head, retreating by pulling her head underwater and emitting a soft, melodous tone that reached up from the water to stroke Ricky's ears. It was a lullaby, one that spoke of a mother protecting a child from the fearful places that she needed to stay away from. It was majestic and awe-inspiring merely for the fact that the vibrations could reach Ricky's ears from such a close distance without the sounds becoming terrifying wails. Leila would not be as fortunate as Ricky to hear the siren's lullaby, though. She would hear a soft sound similar to a piece of steel screeching down a chalkboard covered with a mimic of a very bad violin player. It was the effect that the Char language had, only going so far from the water before becoming nearly inaudible and violent.

Ricky would notice that the water seemed to churn around the Charoda, lifting and swaying as the fish-creature sung, a single spire raising up to dance like a snake before retreating back into the water. Anyone who knew magic could tell it was Reimancy, but the way it happened seemed strange. In appearance, the water moved along with her emotions, rising and falling as fear and curiosity seeded into the fish's mind. But the melody ended as quickly as it started, the fish-woman sitting on the bottom of the waterbed, a mere inch down. She wasn't too far from shore, maybe a few feet or so, but her form blended into the teal-like water below. Thankfully, her dreads seemed to turn an opaque white when she turned from the sun, giving her a way to alert others of where she was, even if she was unaware that it was happening.

[Leila]

The land is dangerous? Is this creature daft? "Well Ricky here is one of the men that helps to keep this stretch of land called Zeltiva safe. He does a great job of it. Besides Shaco is a big baby, he'd never hurt anyone unless they hurt me, or him." Then the creature dipped underwater and began emitting a horrifyingly awful noise. She winced, and Shaco began howling in annoyance, trying to drown out the shriek riddled cacophony. Leila, through flinching eyes, saw the water around the creature beginning to stir. Her eyes grew wide, wondering how the creature was doing this, then following that with the thought that she was scaring off all of the fish that were already avoiding her hook. Leila fed up with not knowing anything going on with this... thing, finally blurted a long string of demanding questions. "What are you? Who are you? What are you doing? Why are you scaring away all the fish? Why are you afraid of the land? And why aren't you being more respectful to Ricky?" She finally caught her breath, now a little red in the face, as she began to pull her line from the shallow waters, annoyed by the awkward presence of the creature. She whistled shrilly, and Shaco gave Ricky one last sniff, and returned to her side, receiving head rubs, before laying back down for yet another nap.

[Ricky Maze]

Leila jumped in and Ricky couldn't help but chuckle, when he watched Leila and Shaco react as though their ears were about to bleed he looked to the water the Charoda had went in. 'What in Laviku's name is goin on?' He could hear a strange melody, something that lured him in like a predator to wounded prey, only this time he felt like he was the prey for once. The mellodic tune was uplifting to his ears and yet somehow chilling, a foreign experience he definitely wouldn't forget. Leila shouted out to the creature, Ricky could've sworn she would've ended up cursing had the need to catch her breath not arise.

'Definitely somethin weird 'bout this creature...' Ricky looked to his boots and to the water below. Maybe if he sat at the edge of the dock the she would swim closer to speak. Or not. He only had an idea, and so he followed through with it. He untied the laces to his boots and placed them near the crate he sat on, rolled up his pant legs to his knee's, and the sat at the edge of the dock. His feet made a soft splash in the water as the cold kiss of the sea embraced them, he quaked a few times before his feet were fine with the tempature. Ricky looked out to the are where the creature was, her alluring song was a mystical sound that added to his curiosity. Finally he lazily kicked his feet back and forth, make small splash sounds as the water danced and bounced around his ankles. He watched and waited, and when things would finally go silent he would then speak. "If anybody is bound to hurt ya then I'll stop them. Ain't nothin bad gonna get near ya."