I Choose the Sea [Edreina]

by **Uleru** on May 15th, 2013, 4:33 am

59th of Spring, 513
11th bell
Anchorage Flotilla

She didn't mean to see it, but she did. By nature no corrosive feelings stick long enough to haunt her, so this is a unique experience. Powering through the water under the barnacled underbelly of the Flotilla, Uleru is finding it difficult to keep a constant shape for this reason. Her fickle mind is winging between confusion and a simmering frustration stretched thin between a few different people, and her body is reflecting that.

For all her raging, she still followed Edreina and Razkar after their confrontation. Only to keep her friend safe since her respect and trust for the Myrian (at first non-existent) has tunnelled into the ground and entered the negative zone. She watched the Sevfra sympathize with him, watched him melt under her careful words, and watched them share a tender kiss.

A kiss! A kiss from the madman disguising himself as a nobel warrior!

She nearly misses the Goldengrotto as it sails past overhead. But she bets she knows its weathered hull as much as Edreina by now, and quickly clocks her speed. As her only human friend at the moment, she spends a rather disproportionate amount of time on that ship.

It takes her a second to pull herself back into her recognizable shape, where before she could whip it on like a comfortable hat. "You're just rattled, Uleru", she tells herself, finally pulling herself aboard. She made it before Edreina, thankfully.

Settling herself in the shade of the mast, she folds herself into a traditional crossed-legged position as she waits. Otani, being busy creatures, do not find it easy to sit still and reflect. They remember, and their memory is very good, but to gnaw over a tiny facet has been practically wiped from their form. But one fact is riding her back like a remora fish:

Laviku is not driving her. Not in the same way that he drives her to demand tribute, ferry messages or hunt his enemies. This is purely a self-modivated reaction. And that scares her. Is she, somehow, mistaken? Her motivation was to study this anomaly, play with it, and supervise it until it leaves. Now all she wants is to rat out the trespasser before he can do harm. Is she not even working with the blessing of the god she given herself to serve? Is this just ego?

The venomous thought is distracted and carried away as befitting a fluid creature. Her mind automatically grabbing onto something a bit less weighty. An old lullaby rises to the forefront of her mind, fittingly dark, and she closes her eyes to sing. Effectively distracting herself from thoughts of Myrians and gods and a red-headed woman.

"Go down you blood red roses, go down 
Go down you blood red roses, go down
 Oh, you pinks and posies 
Go down you blood red roses, go down"

OOC :

by **Edreina** on May 15th, 2013, 10:37 pm

Deep down, Edreina hoped and prayed that Uleru was not too angry, that she would be at least go to the Goldengrotto so that the two could talk. She felt horrible for choosing Razkar, but he was in more immediate need of mediation. As she made her way back towards her boat, Edreina contemplated the best way to defend herself and to mend her friendship if any damage had been done.

All around her, people were laughing, talking in large groups, going about their business. But, deep within Edreina, something felt... off. By choosing to go after Razkar, she had practically turned her back on Uleru and, by extension, the sea itself. It was wrong. But why did she have to choose? Could she not just maintain a friendship with each of the feuding parties? How would that end for her?

Drawing ever nearer to her own vessel, Edreina managed to catch the end of some haunting melody drifting up above the ruckus. The words were lost but the voice was unmistakable. The Svefra breathed a sigh of relief upon the realization that Uleru had indeed decided to meet upon the Goldengrotto. Now her only worry was whether or not she had upset her friend.

The red-haired woman boarded the ship gingerly, fingers fiddling about behind her back. "I'm sorry, Uleru." Damn she seemed to be saying that a lot today. But, did she really need to? Had she actually done anything wrong? Why was the simple action of choosing to help a friend causing such conflict within her? Quietly waiting for a response, Edreina sidled over to the railing and leaned up against it, peering at the Otani carefully through her thick black lashes.

by **Uleru** on May 16th, 2013, 2:13 am

"Oh my girl. My sweet, sweet girl", the Otani sings, one eye cracked open to peer at her from the corner. "You have no idea what you're doing."

That thought sits there and stagnates between the human and the moulding, and Uleru takes her time before continuing. "You have a weakness for exotic things, don't you? I do too. I love to find wood and flowers and man-made things. But you are different. What you want is dangerous. I would pull you under and take your bones to Laviku if he wanted them", she states unflinchingly. "You know that, and thats a risk you take. But he is different."

She straightens out her legs to keep as much of herself out of the sun as possible. The pause helps her to gather her thoughts, to make sure she can get her point across is a concise way without confusing matters with her rather roundabout way of speaking. How does she explain that she is worried about her friend? How does she convey this sinking feeling?

"Sweetheart, he is made of fire and you belong to the ocean. And yet you still want him", she shakes her head at the absurdity of it all, her elbow thrown over her eyes and into the sun. The light filters through her arm and fractures into a sparkling pool a step from the Sevfra's feet, looking remarkably like the image you see swimming up from the deep. "His soul belongs to a foreign god, his body to the jungle and his heart to another woman. He walks on the home of your people with an armoury strapped to his back, his mind full of twisted nobel intentions, and his arms ladened with savagery. He doesn't belong here. Don't choose him."

by **Edreina** on May 16th, 2013, 2:39 am

"You have no idea what you're doing."

Ain't that the truth... It seemed as if every day Edreina stood about, behaving on a whim, being blown about by good intentions. She never really meant to do any of the things she did. If something interested her, she did it. If it became boring, she moved on. Almost shamefully, Edreina averted her eyes, sighing quietly to herself.

"You have a weakness for exotic things, don't you? I do too. I love to find wood and flowers and man-made things. But you are different. What you want is dangerous. I would pull you under and take your bones to Laviku if he wanted them. You know that, and thats a risk you take. But he is different."

Edreina flinched at the coolness with which the Otani made the assertion, reminding her in an almost knife-like manner. She considered the Otani to be her friend. Sometimes, it was easy to forget. To forget that despite their friendship, Uleru was still a loyal servant of Laviku. But... what risk is she really taking? Has it suddenly become against divine law to befriend one who is not of the ocean? Has curiosity suddenly become a crime.

"Sweetheart, he is made of fire and you belong to the ocean. And yet you still want him."

Edreina blushed, chagrined once more at her transparency. The Svefra lass may be clothed in flesh and bone, but her emotions play out as clearly as Syna travels across the heavens. Fire and water... He was so different from her, so unlike her in every way imaginable. Perhaps that is what draws Edreina to him, causes her to be captivated by each movement. For within the Myrian exist driving forces so unfamiliar to Edreina. Gods she wanted to experience everything he had to offer: his arguing, his jokes, his stories, his bedroom manner. But the need was not emotionally driven; she did not love the Myrian as more than anything other than a close friend. The need existed only in the part of Edreina's brain that constantly hungered for more: to know more, to be more. When Razkar stood before her, it was as if the gods had just given her a grand puzzle. The pieces were each vividly colored and patterned, but she did not see how they fit together, how they created a cohesive individual. And that is what bothered Edreina.

"His soul belongs to a foreign god, his body to the jungle and his heart to another woman. He walks on the home of your people with an armoury strapped to his back, his mind full of twisted nobel intentions, and his arms ladened with savagery. He doesn't belong here. Don't choose him."

"Choose him?" Edreina questioned, finally daring to swipe her silver-blue eyes across the Otani resting before her. It was a quick motion, one that allowed Edreina to take in her facial expressions without lingering enough for their gazes to meet. Her eyes were soon pointedly attached to the deck once more. "I don't see why I have to choose. Can I not simply have a friend who is different? I understand that he is not one of us; I understand that he does not pay tribute to our god nor does he understand our life. But can we say any more about ourselves?" Edreina paused, collecting her own thoughts as she wove her fingers against her hips, crossing one ankle over the other.

"Myri is just as potent a goddess as Laviku. His culture is based on communion in blood in the same way that ours is based on communion with salted water. Our cultures are so different. And yet, does that mean that we must oppose one another?" Boldly, Edreina raised her eyes to Uleru, keeping her eyes from narrowing more than enough to emphasize her pondering. "Is there not something that we can learn from one another? Something that may make each of us stronger? Why should we waste a chance to learn about life past high-tide's caress. Why should we waste a chance to teach another about the beauty of Laviku's realm?"

by **Uleru** on May 16th, 2013, 3:36 am

"Myri is just as potent a goddess as Laviku. His culture is based on communion in blood in the same way that ours is based on communion with salted water. Our cultures are so different. And yet, does that mean that we must oppose one another?"

The Otani blinks in surprise. Despite it being such a simple statement, it throws her for a loop. Is blood and water that different? Is it the way they live not as valid as theirs? Despite the rather liner thoughts, when Myri crosses the Otani's mind (as the two gods are what hold their cultures together) Uleru cant seem to wrap her mind around it.

"I'm trying but I can't-... Reina, there are no other gods. Not for me. Does that make sense?" she wonders out loud. "I enjoys Syna's rays and hide from Zulrav's storms, but they don't... They don't exist." She looks to Edreina with a pleading look, begging her to understand, but the Sevfra is staring determinedly at the deck and the thought is lost.

"Is there not something that we can learn from one another? Something that may make each of us stronger? Why should we waste a chance to learn about life past high-tide's caress. Why should we waste a chance to teach another about the beauty of Laviku's realm?"

Uleru laughs lightly, "Sevfra, I can't live life past high tide! I will never know what happens inland, so I have to make myself stronger from whats inside", she motions to the waves with an all encompassing sweep of her hand. "Thats what you're people have been doing since the Valterrian. I've watched it happen for generations! This isn't all about culture, and I don't think he will be swayed by the gifts of Laviku. I've played games with the Myrian and I didn't like what I saw when it was over. I'm worried. What is he charms you away with his fire only to burn you with it? What is you leave!" she moans anxiously, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes at the thought.

by **Edreina** on May 16th, 2013, 2:52 pm

I've played games with the Myrian and I didn't like what I saw when it was over. I'm worried. What if he charms you away with his fire only to burn you with it? What if you leave!"

At any other moment, the way that the Otani's face was distorted by the pushing of her palms would have been funny. But with the words that accompanied the action were filled with such desperation, so tinged with sadness. Edreina found herself rising to her feet and treading gently over to her friend. Almost hesitantly, the Svefra wrapped her arms around the insubstantial form of the Otani, attempting to comfort her friend.

"No matter how enticed I am by the Myrian, the Suvan is my home. I cannot leave it, no matter how hard I might try. Laviku is father to me as the Suvan is mother." Pulling away just a bit, she smiled at her friend. "I will not choose between you and Razkar, you are both amazing friends to me even if you despite one another. But..." Edreina disentangled herself from her friend and motioned grandly to the sea around them. "I will always choose the Suvan."

Returning to her seat upon the rail, Edreina had relaxed visibly, now that she knew what was bothering her friend. After a moment, she looked out to the horizon, squinting against the glare, mane of fire dancing in the wind. "But, can you blame me for being curious about the world out there?" Her voice had an airy quality, as if her mind had suddenly drifted far away, leaving her body hollow upon the deck. "I have heard stories of oceans of grass, cities where gods live among the people, plains of frozen water - snow I think it's called - that stretch to infinity, and dancing lights in the sky, like a vast painting ever moving. Can you blame me for wanting to see it for myself?" Edreina returned to herself with a blink, looking down to the deck upon which she felt herself anchored. Never before had her world seemed to small.

by **Uleru** on May 21st, 2013, 2:49 am

"Can you blame me for wanting to see it for myself?"

The Otani sighs a great unneeded breath: "No, I blame you for giving this up so easily. You are just a child, and there is so much here that you don't know. You have never seen it because you don't look for it."

She gets up and rounds on the Sevfra as she sits on he railing lost in dreams and looking far away. She understands wanderlust -Its almost a perpetual condition for the Otani- but this is too much. The moulding stands in the full glare of the midday sun until she in right in front of Edreina, demanding the Svefra's full attention before hers starts to skip away as well.

"You skim across the surface, poke around in a few caves and think you know the ocean. You can do so much more here and fall in love with the sea all over again! You can see Kalvikasi, the lost treasures of a hundred civilizations, luminescent waters with colours you haven't even heard of, strange creatures made of jewels, even the face of god, and then realize why the Sevfra left the land in the first place."

People are starting to notice their little discussion, and they point fingers and cover mouths as they whisper to their neighbours. The conversation looks serious, too serious for an Otani and her human friend, and they wonder what exactly can get the monster so riled. Whispers pass of Edreina offending Laviku with waste or tribute. But nobody stops to think that the Otani might not be worried about their god at all. That maybe she cares enough about something other than Laviku to want to protect it.

"I love the things and the people that come to me from inland. I love their stories and their strangeness and I get so jealous of what they don't even know they have. But then I remember what they are missing. They crawl across the skin of the world like flies while we swim in its very blood. The Charoda know this, the Konti know this, and I thought the Sevfra did too."

The mouldings body shimmers into a muted blue, and she suddenly looks worried again. With Edreina sitting on the railing they are almost eye-to-eye, and she makes full use of this to make sure that the flighty redhead wont look away. But she is twisting her fingers nervously in a way that would make even a hardened contortionist queasy.

"I understand that you will always be connected to the waters. But you were happy here when I met you, then the Myrian comes along and seduces you away. He is not a good friend. He is a bomb wrapped in the skin of an enigma.

-don't look at me like that, me hating him doesn't make it less true-

I'm trying to look out for you, but you wont listen to me! Please stay. I can take care of you here, yes? We can have adventures and explore islands and caves and you will forget that the land even exists."

by **Edreina** on May 21st, 2013, 9:26 pm

"I love the things and the people that come to me from inland. I love their stories and their strangeness and I get so jealous of what they don't even know they have. But then I remember what they are missing. They crawl across the skin of the world like flies while we swim in its very blood. The Charoda know this, the Konti know this, and I thought the Svefra did too."

"We do know this!" Edreina's tone was far more clipped than she meant for it to be. Her annoyance lay not with Uleru, each point she had made was utterly valid. Her annoyance lay with the passersby who were pointing, whispering, jumping to conclusions about a situation they knew nothing of. It made her skin itch and crawl, the hair on the back of her neck raise in defiance. None of them knew an Otani for any purpose other than tribute. None of them had befriended one as Edreina had. And, as all friends, these two were bound to disagree at one point. "The Suvan is my home and it always will be. I just need a moment to appreciate what I have by seeing how little I'm missing on the shore. I have a curiosity that I cannot sate."

"I understand that you will always be connected to the waters. But you were happy here when I met you, then the Myrian comes along and seduces you away. He is not a good friend. He is a bomb wrapped in the skin of an enigma."

Edreina frowned deeply. Uleru did not even know Razkar, not really. Just as she was about to pipe up to defend her friend Uleru continued without pause.

-don't look at me like that, me hating him doesn't make it less true-

Again. Utterly transparent.

"I'm trying to look out for you, but you wont listen to me! Please stay. I can take care of you here, yes? We can have adventures and explore islands and caves and you will forget that the land even exists."

"Uleru..." Edreina pushed herself off of the rail in a quick motion and wrapped her arms around the gelatinous figure of her best friend. "Thank you, for looking out for me." Edreina pulled away but kept one hand on her friend's shoulder, physically forcing her to meet her eyes through sheer insistence. "But I cannot exist solely at sea. I am mortal with limited years upon this earth. I have to see, to do, to experience while I can. I cannot spend my years listening to stories when it is so easy to go and see for myself." She shook her head and sighed deeply, exhaling through her nose. "If I force myself to stay, I will be miserable. Better to get this idiocy out of my blood before I am old and withered, yes? Then I can return to the sea without regret or remorse."

Edreina's eyes turned to liquid as she allowed her already blatantly visible emotions to take control of her face, to show the Otani that this was necessary, and that no amount of arguing would sway her course. "Please understand..."

by **Uleru** on May 24th, 2013, 2:55 am

"Please understand..."

No. No, I refuse to understand, the Otani barks inside the privacy of her own mind. Why is this so difficult? Why would she choose anything else but the sea? It doesn't matter how heartfelt the reason is, or how distressed Edreina feels, Uleru is still being abandoned.

No, she tells herself, no, thats not true. She loves you. She's just doing whats best for her right now. Thats not wrong. Its not!

Aware that she is swiftly losing colour to her darkening mood, she consciously erupts into a fiery shade of orange in a haphazard attempt to hide her emotions. Uleru wont change the Sevfra's mind. She should have known that from the start. She's too stubborn to be persuaded. Can't turn back the tide with a few choice words, can you?

The hand wringing gets more and more elaborate as the seconds wear on. What should she say? What should she do? But nothing comes to mind. This is it. She has lost.

"O-ok, but you better... You better come back! I will drag myself a-ashore and pull you back by the heel if I have to!"

And that was it. Her great goodbye filtered down to reluctant concession and a threat. Thats all she can manage for her dearest friend.

A sisterly kiss is administered with a ferocity that makes it more of a banging of cheeks and jaws than an actual kiss, and the Otani dives overboard without waiting for a response. She is not angry, not really, she just hates goodbyes. It always feels like an ending, like the story is over only to be tucked away and swiftly forgotten. And who knows if she will see her read-headed Svefra again? The world is wide after all.

A rolling flash of her back breaks the chop of the waves before she disappears. She will stay close, or at least as close as the Cuttlefish. That Myrian must be watched. She wont be able to help once they go ashore, but she'll do what she can until they are gone.

by **Accolade** on June 27th, 2013, 11:33 pm

Uleru

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Singing	+ 1 XP
Persuasion	+ 2 XP
Negotiation	+ 1 XP
Socializing	+ 2 XP

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Rattled by the madman
•	Trying to save a friend
•	A friendly threat

Edreina

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Persuasion	+ 2 XP
Negotiation	+ 1 XP
Socializing	+ 2 XP

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Trying to mend a broken friendship
•	Defending a friend against a friend
•	Wanderlust

Notes :

The Sylir has spoken

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

Closed I Choose the Sea [Edreina]