Completed Near the Edge [Dasreide]

[Litani]

Timestamp: 13th Day, Summer 513 Ten days. Dawn stretched itself across the sky as a dragon of scarlet and indigo, unfurling its wings and setting them about the sky like clouds that went on for miles. It was the cool time of morning, the time when night was not yet ready to admit defeat but knew its end was certain. The dew of midnight clung to the leaves, rocks, and anything else which had weathered the evening outside and the Konti stood for a moment, just breathing in the beauty of it as if it were a thing to be tasted with all of the senses. Litani picked her way carefully down one of the many sets of stairs on the Second Tier of Riverfall. She was dressed simply, as she was wont to do by habit, but all the moreso since taking up residence here - a light linen shirt and flowing pants, loose enough to almost be mistaken for a skirt save for when she moved. Over her left shoulder was a simple leather satchel and her right hand trailed long fingers lightly on the railings of the stairs, guiding her balance. On her feet, she wore the simple sandals that most of the residents were fond of, having abandoned her riding boots days ago as too hot by half. And they would only cumbersome for what she had planned this morning anyway. The rocks which she found waiting for her made for a treacherous looking path but, not to be dissuaded, she simply smiled a little and paused to unlace her sandals. When the bits of leather slipped free of her feet, she casually tossed them into her satchel and proceeded on barefoot. Her feet were hardly as calloused as she might have liked, so the going was slow. The tiny webs made for a sure grip, that much was helpful at least, but she felt every ridge and sharp edge as if it would threaten to cut her at the slightest misstep. Too bad one cannot play the harp with one's feet... She chuckled faintly to herself and reflected on how happy that decision had made her - having bought and restrung an instrument, finally. It had not been more than half a season since she last bent herself to the task of making music, but already it felt too long. There will be time. At last, Litani found herself at the farthest boulder from the shore, standing at the place where the Suvan surrounded her in every direction and it was all sky and shore as far as she could see. Her eyes closed themselves languidly and she smiled at the face of Laviku, greeting Him with a peaceful mind and a grateful heart. Though she had come with a purpose firmly in mind, now that she was faced with it, she found it very tempting not to return to the water once more...

[Dasreide]

It had been a long while since Dasreide had seen Litani. Ten days since he gave her his Lakan as a way to repay the debt he owed to her. Still, he couldn't get past the thought that he'd done something wrong as he walked down to the shore, his mind clouded with confusion and worry. If she lost it, he would be forever disgraced and would be unable to show his face again in Riverfall. Or at least, that is what he thought. He'd never known what happens to an Akalak who lost his Lakan. And he didn't want to find out.

His feet graced the rocky path that led to the shores beside the city, his lips curling into a slight frown as his calloused skin touched the rocks. It would have hurt a lot to walk so easily on such an under-trodden path if he had not worked up callouses on his feet from training in the Weald, his small training grove in the center of a forest a mile and a half out of town. He didn't actually own it per se, but he was the only one that knew of its position as far as he could tell.

The waves lapped up against the shore as he finally arrived at the beach, which really wasn't much of a beach. It was a stone outcropping underwater with a soft sedimentary layer of sand on top that gave the appearance of a beach at the bottom of the city. If you went too far out, the bottom dropped nearly thirty foot. Luckily, a series of boulders and rocks clearly outlined the edge of the shore, so that very few ever ended up falling into the depths by accident.

Still, the soothing sounds of the waves on the beach brought a slight sense of weariness to the back of his mind. The soothing thrum of the waves brought him to the edge of the beach, where he looked up and noticed Litani smiling at nothing on the precipiece where the boulder sat.

"Jeez, you just keep popping up all over." He stated loud enough for her to hear him as he quietly approached behind her. He waited behind her, smirking at her and waiting for her to turn before speaking, "It seems Fate could not keep us apart for long..." He said with a smirk.

[Litani]

Having locked herself into the solace of her own mind, the Konti started at the sound of Dasreide's voice and she whirled to face him, almost losing her balance on the rock in consequence. In fact, she was so certain was could topple over into the water in a most undignified fashion that she actually dropped down out of instinct, lowering her center of gravity before she could be forced to fall, gripping the rock with all four of her webbed appendages. Frowning slightly, her brows were furrowed in embarrassment or irritation or both when she glanced up at him. The expression was brief, however, and soon replaced by wariness. And then... the smile. Always, that smile. She seemed to have quite a vocabulary of them. Whether they were genuine or a mask was impossible to tell unless you knew the woman, but this one seemed at ease enough. Peaceful. Serene. A Konti enjoying the morning, encountering a familiar face. She flowed gracefully to her feet again, as steady of her balance as if it had never been in question, and she brought both hands to clasp at her satchel. Don't fidget. It's unbecoming. "Good morning, Dasreide," she said softly, pronouncing his name for the first time in his hearing. "What cause finds you out so early?" Passively, she let her eyes rest for a moment on his gaze, whispering silently to herself the mantra she ran through her mind to center and shield. I am here, now... The rocks beneath my feet are hard and cool, the sky is bright. I am here, now. He is... NO. I am here. Now! It was only working part-way. But her smile stayed, immovable, veiling the conflict behind her eyes. And that weapon she was to keep with her? If she had it, it was not in direct evidence at the present moment.

[Dasreide]

He found himself lurching forward for a moment when she teeteered like she might fall off the boulder and down into the water. When she recovered, he straightened himself and cleared his throat, reaching back with a hand to scratch the back of his neck with a soft clearing of his throat. The way she pronounced his name caused his brow to perk. She has a beautiful way of pronouncing my name. He thought to himself. Then she asked him why he was here.

"Well, I came here to..." what? He wasn't sure what he came to the shores to do or even why he had come in the first place. He definitely couldn't tell her that he was looking for her all day yesterday to make sure she still had his Lakan and he certainly didn't want to tell her that he had gave up on searching just as he had the urge to come down to the beach. His stomach growled and an idea popped into his head, "Food." He cleared his throat, "I came here to catch myself lunch." He said, motioning towards the water behind her.

He smiled softly, looking at her crouching on the rock. He'd anticipated having to swim today, so he had removed his shirt and worn a light pair of white shorts that he'd improvised by taking a simple pair of white cotton pants and cutting off the bottoms of the legs. His dark midnight-blue skin gleamed in the light as small beads of sweat formed on the surface. His hair had been drawn back into a ponytail of dreads, bound by a string of white cloth. His golden eyes continued to remain focused on her, waiting for her to do something.

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked, a single brow perked.

[Litani]

When she caught sight of the fact that he'd moved, probably intending to catch her if she fell, she let the smile brighten with a true note of fondness... as well as surprise. Two souls, indeed. Then, having straightened to her feet again, the Konti took the news of the impending hunt with a note of interest in her eyes. She stood there for a moment, tall and willowy against the backdrop of the ocean, heedless of the way the wind seemed intent on tousling her hair. Hers was a wild beauty, irrespective of convention, irreverently lovely whether every strand was in place or not. A thought occurred to her suddenly which made her eyes sparkle in a downright mischievous, eager way. "I could... scare up a crab for you... if there are any." Absently, she glanced toward the water, wondering at the sort of life that hid within the boulder crevices below the waves. "Or perhaps a deep rock cod... if you're good with a blade." The last was no doubt a tease, as she returned her eyes to him and smirked all too bemusedly. Deciding not to press her luck, but rather curious of his reaction, she fell silent and watched him as she flowed back down to sit on the rock beneath her. An absent hand guided her pack to one of the dryer looking spots and she paused, wondering which direction this was going to go.

[Dasreide]

Dasreide grinned slightly. "I am aware that it may be common for a konti to fetch such creatures for a close Akalak friend, but I am afraid I will have to say no to your offer." His smile was soft and kind, "I'd much rather catch it myself, honestly." He couldn't help but smile again as she made a pun about his skill with a blade. It was most like Konti humor to joke about the prowess of an Akalak. After all, what fun would they possibly have if they could not joke about the race that they bonded most frequently with. "But... if you truly want to help me catch dinner, then I will not fault you for accompanying me on my swim."

His body moved forward a few feet until he found himself less than three feet from her, a serene smile coloring his expression as he leaned forward, his hand reaching out to grace upon her fair skin, feeling the soft silver scales that lined her cheek. "Tell me, Litani, why is it that you smile constantly in my presence. Do you enjoy being around me that much? Or are you with holding a funny secret that you do not wish to give light to?" He asked with a playful tone as the water lapped up against his ankles. It was a succulent feeling to touch upon her skin in such a delicate, yet friendly manner. It was something he'd longed to do for years, but hadn't had the accompaniment to do so. And now, finally, after many years, he had found a girl that made his heart flutter. A girl that had meant more than the world to his mind and a girl that made his other side green with envy. It was something a little too bittersweet.

The subtle, soft ocean breeze flew past the pair, blowing both of their hair about in a chaotic way. Seeing her in such a position, in such a pure example of beauty was paramount to what many artists pictured true beauty to be. He smiled and let his hand fall from her face as he straightened once more, smiling broadly as he stretched, preparing his body for the cold embrace of the ocean water. "Oh, never mind. It doesn't matter. It's just good to see that you are smiling in the first place."

[Litani]

Now this... she had not prepared for. She smiled, tilting her head unconsciously against the touch, just a little, before it was gone. "A smile is many things... honest is not always one of them." She paused, took a breath, and then said softly, "But sometimes it is." Her eyes skittered off to the shore as she pondered what to do about the question of clothing. If she colored from bashfulness, she pretended not to notice and still stared at the rocks to give herself time to think for just a moment. Her gills flexed slightly as she considered the water; the delicate flesh lining her ribs was not usually visible but, depending how she handled this, that might not remain true. Oh petch it... she thought to herself, accepting reality and deciding to deal with the inconvenience of modesty. As she sat curled on the rock, she looked down at the flowing linen of her pants. They would only hinder any movement she might make underwater so, in an effort to limit that hindrance, she began the process of tying them off tighter to the flesh. She drew them up one at a time to her knees to knot them there and, in so doing, revealed the beacon that drew him out here in the first place - his Lakan, strapped to her right calf, held there tightly in a leather sheath. She seemed not to notice, moving with it easily, continuing her task as if it were nothing unusual. And when both legs were tied as close to her skin as she could get them, she did the same thing to her shirt, binding it in a knot around her midriff so that the end result was a fully clothed feminine frame - now more revealed, but a good deal more modest than nothing at all. She glanced at her satchel and thought briefly about recovering the Suvai there. On a whim, she decided against it; her usefulness in the water would not come from their poisonous nature and there was something satisfying about the idea of hunting with his blade. She glanced a smile at him and then slid into the water, seeming not to feel the cool of its embrace. Her body tensed ever so slightly and then, in a moment, she was gone, disappeared into the glorious arms of Laviku.

[Dasreide]

Dasreide wasn't quite sure what made her pause for a long while as she thought about clothing, but it became quite obvious that she was thinking about something quite private. He followed her gaze out to the rocks and smirked for a moment as his eyes returned back to hers. All within a few moments, she managed to knot off her shirt and bind her pants closer to her physical form so that she would be slightly more slip-stream without loosing any of her modesty. When she turned to look at him with that beautiful smile, he knew what would happen next. And then, she was gone beneath the waves.

It was during times like these that Dasreide wished he had gills so he could swiftly rush after her, but he had to take things in stride and step onto the boulder, edging towards the side where she had leaped off. He felt the breath in his throat lurch downward as he realized he couldn't see very far into the water today. It was all just a blue mass of movement and his golden eyes couldn't depict any fish or vermin of the sea beneath the waves. I really hope I know what I am doing... He thought to himself. A single misstep down there would cause him to be without breath for too long and he'd end up drowning. Luckily, his training gave him powerful lungs that allowed him to remain underwater for upwards of three minutes at a time. It was enough to get to the bottom, catch something and then return to the surface.

He steeled himself as his calf muscles jerked and he leaped off the boulder, diving down off the precipice and into the dark waters below, his eyes closing as his hands hit the waters first. He broke the surface of the water evenly, but his large frame caused the contact to have quite the splash as he sunk almost fifteen feet within the first five seconds. His golden eyes opened underwater, glowing almost as he looked around, noticing how it was easier to see shapes and things moving beneath the water than it was above the waves. Still, there was no sign of Litani, who had seemingly disappeared with the coming tide. Dasreide only had two and a half minutes left.

With broad, powerful strokes, he swam downwards, to the bottom where he landed his feet on a bed of soft coral. To his luck, his keen eyes grabbed the sight of a seacrab that had fled its hiding place beneath a rock when Dasreide neared. He swiftly used his arms to propell himself towards the crab before it could skitter off, grabbing the crab by its centermost part of its body. The crab did not seem to want to be eaten. It squirmed around and managed to grab the Akalak's arm with its pincers, pinching down hard enough that dark blood colored the water. Dasreide opened his mouth and let out a torrent of bubbles, which was meant to be a bellow of pain, and let out a minute's worth of his air.

His chest heaved and began to ache, a sure sign of the fact that he was about to run out of air. With the crab still painfully clinging onto his arm, he kicked off from the bottom and shot half the distance he needed to go to get to the surface within half a second. He kept the arm with the attached crab close to his body as his other arm helped him elevate to the surface.

Twenty seconds.

Dasreide was still twenty feet off from the surface of the water, his vision dimming and flickering as he swam, his feet kicking powerfully. His mind began to go numb from the lack of oxygen, the pain from the crab that was still clinging becoming intense with each passing moment.

Ten seconds.

He was almost there. He could see the boulder through the water and the precipice that made up the beach. His mouth remained clenched tightly shut as he swam, his nose letting out a trail of bubbles that dared to beat him to the surface. His legs began to ache and his joints wanted to give up. He'd made a stupid move, letting out so much air from his lungs when the crab dug its pincers into him.

Finally, he broke the surface of the water, his lungs no longer able to hold in anything as he gasped for air, the taste of the life-line so bittersweet to him. Fool! You almost got us killed! He thought to himself, letting his legs do the work of keeping him aloft as he reached over to pry the crab off his arm with a pained growl. The crab made a strange 'skree' sound as it was pried off and the center of its head busted inward, killing the creature. Dasreide gasped, swimming to the edge where the rock outcrop dropped off and sitting down, the waters coming up to his chest.

I'm alive. He thought to himself as he caught his breath, eyes closed and the wounded arm held against his chest. The scent of blood was permeating the air and water, scattering sensitive fish from nearby and coloring the water a dark blue in a strange streak from the bottom of the water to the top where he had swum.

[Litani]

It was glorious to back. As the waves crashed around her senses, Litani's body melted into the feeling of being able to swim in the open sea once more. It's been too long... Laviku, how I've missed you! With a twist of her body, the Konti turned in the water and opened her eyes, looking back to where she expected to see the chiseled form of an Akalak following her. Her heart shifted slightly at the thought; Barely two weeks and you're an idiot for him. But this time, her inner chatter had something of a self-amused lilt to it. He is lovely... She might've laughed at herself, might've blushed, but the sanctity of the sea hid her and she knew it. All at once, she felt safe again... home. And so she was. After a brief moment, however, she realized that she could not see Dasreide's form as she'd expected to. Oh, there was some kind of movement, but... something was wrong. Alarmed, she darted over to find him, but nearly too late already - he was wrestling with some form of crab (He found that quickly!) and by the feel of him, he was nearly out of air. Crushingly so. She flinched, involuntarily gasping through her lungs before forcing herself to remember her gills. The mistake left her half-choked for a moment, but the gifts of Laviku could compensate for her lapse and she rasped silently to herself as she swam closer to the struggling warrior. By the time she'd recovered sufficiently, he'd already broken the surface and was stumbling to the shore; she lingered there beneath the waves for a few seconds, wondering whether to go to him or to leave him to sort himself out in peace. She took a deep breath through her gills and exhaled it, gracefully treading water as she considered. Then, with a thought, she flicked her body around and took herself to the bottom. He has his prize. I'm not about to return from a hunt without mine. There, in the silty sand and rocky pebbles of the floor, the Konti's sharp azure eyes picked out the curvatures of the shelled creatures she sought out. Clams. Clams were fairly easy to harvest, but could be trickier to clean and cook. Still, they were less dangerous and would be faster than trying to stalk and hunt something larger, underwater. To that end, Litani sank herself to parallel the sand and her hands slipped down to loosen her shirt from its knot. The space in the linen would serve to hold her 'catch'; one after another, the small bivalve creatures were caught up in her deft, webbed hands and within a short time, she had a fair number of them wrapped in the garment. At one point, she reached down to take the Lakan from its leather on her calf such that she could use the weapon to help her gather more quickly and efficiently. She took care to use the flat of the blade, rather than the edge, hoping not to dull its sharpness by using it as a practical tool. So it was that, some moments after Dasreide took himself to the shore, Litani's form slowly appeared from beneath the water and started to walk out of the sea toward him. In one hand, his Lakan, and in the other, she cradled the armful of clams she'd caught up in her shirt. Her wild hair was tamed for once by the water that held it clinging to her neck and shoulders, and the rest of her clothing hugged her body in a similar fashion. She seemed not to notice, however, entirely oblivious to her appearance the moment she saw the blood on his arm. She hesitated. Her instincts pulled her toward him, her body told him to go tend his wounds, yet her pride made her force herself to wait. To set her clams down on the sand gently, watching him all the while. To softly ask, "Are you all right..?" before she jumped to anything further. And if it screamed inside her skull to go and do something about it, well, she gritted her teeth slightly and forced herself to be patient. It's just uncomfortable. He's not going to bleed to death on the sand. Breathe, woman.

[Dasreide]

The gash had sunk in deep enough that his hand applying pressure wasn't enough to stop the bleeding. It almost looked as bad as a dagger through the foot. The crab had taken out a large chunk of his forearm, which had left a dark blue dent in his muscular skin. "The sea creatures are stronger than I remember..." He grunted in pain, squeezing the wound harder, "And I know little of medicine... the wound it deep." He removed his hand to reveal to Litani that his wound was as bad as it appeared.

He looked over at the crab that sat dead nearby. The crab was nearly three feet in length and was almost two inches thick around the thinnest joint on its body. It was a monster of a crab, capable of harming an akalak with ease. "I will eat well tonight..." He grunts with pain again, looking over at Litani and trying to force a smile. "I trust you found your own prize?" He asked politely, shifting on the sand a little uncomfortably, the wound on his arm now exposed to the air and the elements. He watched her and waited, trying to decipher what she was thinking about.