Flashback [Visai Caverns] The Dweller

[Uleru]

16th of Summer
Year 508
4th Bell


The clouds are still the undecided pinkish-green of an early dawn, undecided whether or not to withhold what is sure to be a glorious day from the waking world for another few bells. Even at this early Uleru is wide awake. Very wide awake. Her jewel bright eyes (and consequently the rest of her) burn a fierce, almost excited purple as she swims with a determined pace towards the Always Baffled, Teresa's ship. She carries a finger, a skull and long femur in her arms. They look disturbingly human.

A few bells ago she had found a thin crevice of a cave while hunting for eels in the cliff face. It looked like a likely spot for the slippery, darkness-loving creatures so she swam inside, holding her glowing palms before her like candles. But what she saw wasn't the toothy smiles of hidden eels, or the muted sea life that make their home in these protected coves. She saw a dead campfire that sat on the rocky cave floor like a welt, with a backpack and bedroll spread out beside it. But no occupant to be found.

Curious, the Otani pulled herself out of the water to investigate. Yet she is not entirely sure what happened next. She remembers old bloodstains in strange patterns, fresh bones picked clean, old bones wrapped in cloth, and a roaring, whiskered monster that chased her, shrieking, back to the water.

And all before breakfast.

Uleru's back flashes above the water as she swims, reflecting the clouds unusual colours. Her powerful serpentine tail beats the water into a current, the bundle of bones tucked safely under one arm and her eyes set on the weathered white hull of the Always Baffled. She even passes right by Kailani without looking at him as he floats by the hull like a colossal log. There's no time to play, she must find Teresa! There was more going on in that cave than the confused images she saw. And she is starting to think that the whiskered monster wasn't real. Surely any beast like that isn't likely to chase out intruders with a stick? Or stumble in the dark of its own cave?

She moulds on the fly, splitting her tail into two long human legs and scaling the netting draped over the bow, rolling aboard with a wet thud. There are no signs of life on the small vessel, but she wasn't really expecting any this early. The Otani marches straight to the hatch centred towards the back of the ship, but pauses as she kneels over it. She is not allowed below. The young Svefra made that very clear early on in their relationship. And this is one of the few rules that the Otani has respected. Not because of any sense of obedience, but because she is worried about what would happen if she was ever caught. That girl can be a spitting hellcat when provoked.

Changing tactics, the moulding snatches the femur from under the crook of her arm and starts banging on the hatch. Loudly.

"Oi! Sweetheart get up! You wont believe what I've found!"

[Jagger]

Don't go too deep within the Caverns his Lia had said. They offer excellent protection from the storms that can roll across the sea, but the shallow caverns can serve that purpose. Where animals don't go, humans shouldn't follow. The Lia often offered little bits of advice, pointing out interesting landmarks and how they could use them if the need ever arose. She was a fountain of interesting knowledge that Jagger enjoyed, though he would never admit to it. This sort of advice was particularly exciting. Dangerous caverns, she had said?

His offer to go fishing a bell or two later had probably seemed suspicious, but she had let him go. He had made a beeline straight for the Caverns.

The gentle wind was to his back, and the young Svefra felt a giddy grin spill out over his freckled features as the bow of his ship cut through the waters. He adjusted the boom of the ship just a bit, trying to catch the wind as best as he could, and then quickly headed to the aft to take control of the rudder. He had just recently become old enough to pilot his very own Casinor, and he took great delight in doing it. There was a certain thrill that came along with braving his beloved Suvan. It was only furthered by the small sense of fear that he felt about the whispered Caverns, which he fed upon eagerly. Fear and danger were alluring to him. He often openly and aggressive did what he could to find it. Perhaps that is why he had been put in the Wildwind pod, where all of the special Svefra were. Those with short tempers and silly impulses is what they meant. The Lia was surprisingly patient, now that he thought about it. He almost felt bad for lying to her about where he was going. She was the closest thing he had to a mother, after all. But, almost wasn't enough, and his grin only grew wider as he cut across the ocean surface.

Glancing blue eyes spotted another ship, and he paused, dipping a hand down into the water to shift the current back against his boat. It was oddly familiar and easy to do, so much so that the motion was completely instinctive. His boat slowed for a moment, intense stare narrowing as he tried to figure out if he was about to get in trouble. He managed to catch sight of the painted triangles on the side of the Casinor, breathing a small sigh of relief as he realized the markings were unfamiliar to him. He let the wind drift his ship closer and closer to this new wrinkle, curiosity overcoming him. The Svefra soon stood, balancing lightly on the swaying aft of his ship. He ran a hand through his shaggy red hair, dark red freckles blazing in the scattered beams of sunlight. His ship angled itself to display the name he had painted on, the Salty Swallow. He had named it after a beautiful bird that had gotten drenched in salty water? Or had he? Like every time he thought of the name, Jagger couldn't help but giggle.

He thought it was funny, but then again, he was still pretty young. It made his friends laugh though, and the girls made faces at him. That was enough to make it totally worth it. Hearing an odd banging coming from the ship, Jagger tilted his head, eyes blazing with the need to know. His ship soon pulled alongside of the unfamiliar boat, and he settled the sails and quickly headed to hop over onto the other vessel. He was curious and bold, but then weren't the rest of his brothers and sisters? "Helloooo? Fellow sea-loving Svefra here, unless you are a pirate... in that case I am a large and muscled male with a very big sword and several pet shaaaarks." He called out in a sing-song voice, wise enough to warn anyone if they hadn't already seen the energetic young man coming. The nearby whale went completely un-noticed, Jagger much too interested in this latest mystery to pay his surroundings any further attention. Unknown to him, a small dark figure slipped out of the Swallow's hatch and hopped overboard, more than happy to go check out a possible new friend.

[Teresa Deepseeker]

The gentle lull of the Suvan had sung her to sleep what felt like mere ticks ago. Teresa swung from the top of her hammock under the deck of the Always Baffled with all four limbs hanging off the sides to better feel the rock of the waves pushing against the hull. Mouth slightly unhinged and head lolled back in the perfect pose of one deep in a peaceful sleep. She had set off from the Deepseeker pod two days ago to explore the cliff face bordering the edge of Cypress, taking a few provisions and Kailani for company. The rocky outcroppings left many stranded tide pools and creases to explore and she was excited to get a few days to herself, away from the constant bustle of her massive family. It was a perfect, tranquil few days and it had all the promise of an equally tranquil morning. Too bad that was the farthest thing from reality. BANG. BANG. BANG. Now only an Otani would be able to find the Svefra out anchored in the middle of nowhere. And only one of those monsters calls her 'sweetheart'. A loud groan forced its way out of the Sverfa's mouth as she covered her ears from the invasive noise. "Ru, for love of everything right in this world petch off and let me sleep!" But the monster was having none of it. The banging continued with a surprising amount of force, hammering away at the worn hull with a quickening tempo. So Teresa forced feeling back in her tired limbs and rolled off her warm and inviting bed to crawl around on the floor with bleary eyed determination until she found the object she had placed near the head of her bed for exactly this purpose. Clutching the long handled broom she stumbled towards the hatch and climbed the first two steps to flip the catch and began to lift the hatch. She only opened it about half a foot before stabbing at Uleru with the head of the broom. She hit her face with a satisfying BAFF before dropping the hatch with every intention to wander back to bed and try to recover those lost moments of sleep. Except for the something had caught itself in the the corner of the hatch, the yellowed femur jammed the door when Uleru had dropped it. The sicking color had a dull gleam in the faded light of the cabin, enough could bee seen to piece together what sort of creature it belonged to. There is a long breathless moment of silence as Teresa's mind whirls around why Uleru might have brought some poor lads corpes onto her ship. She was well aware of the tasks Laviku ask of the Otani, drowning blasphemers was one that was well known amongst the Svefra. But Teresa thought little of those that that managed to piss of Laviku to that extent and had never asked Uleru what she did with the bodies. Gingerly gripping the bone at the base Teresa eases the hatch back up letting the dim early morning glow penetrate the hold and hoisted herself up onto her deck. Squinting against the light and frazzled from this unconventional wake up call she was barley able to make out the skulls wide, dark pits for eyes a foot or so away. She lifted the femeur and gestured to it, her voice dark and wavering. "Ru...Who is this?" "Helloooo? Fellow sea-loving Svefra here, unless you are a pirate... in that case I am a large and muscled male with a very big sword and several pet shaaaarks." The Svefra spun so fast that she nearly toppled off the side of her own ship, turning to face the voice with the bone raised up over her shoulder. Completely prepared to beat the shyke out the intruder with a dead mans leg. He was a sight, the kid could be no older than sixteen, freckled face partially hidden by a shaggy brown mop of hair with cocky swagger pouring off him in waves. Completely unpeturbed that he just boarded anothers boat without permission. Not knowing if it was one of a fellow Svefra or a holstel enemy. “What the petch are you all doing on my ship!? This is not the fricken' Nal'lyeo you twats!”

[Uleru]

Her incessant hammering seems to have the desired effect, and the hatch begins to open. Uleru lowers herself to the gap, smiling brightly and a cheery 'good morning' posed on her lips- and is immediately assaulted with a dusty weapon.

"Urmph!", she exclaims with her face full of bristles, falling back from her crouch and dropping her clutch of bones. But by the time she sits back up and starts picking stray bits of straw out of her face the Svefra is already climbing out of the hatch, a strange look of dark appraisal on her sleep-lined face. Teresa's hair is tousled and stuck strangely to the side of her head, yet it still manages to shine with the half-dawn behind her. But her tall, willowy frame doesn't carry any visage of sleep. She looks as spry and alert as if she just spent a few bells limbering up.

"Ru... Who is this?"

The Otani's mouth is opened to answer when she spies someone climbing aboard from behind the Svefra's legs. He calls out spuriously, trying to sound both friendly and intimidating and failing at both. Teresa instantly wheels around, bone held high. Apparently her early morning crossness is not limited to sea monsters. It makes her smile to see her dear friend harassing someone else for a change, even if she is still somehow included. And the youth is just asking for it, truth be told. All confident eagerness and sideways grins; just ripe for a broom-boffing. The Otani decides right away that she likes him.

"Oooo, look at that. This pup must have followed me home. Can I keep him?", she asks innocently, but her eyes sparkling with something a bit more nefarious. Liking him doesn't exempt him from a good broom-boffing. Only she is allowed to bang around on Teresa's ship unwanted and unannounced.

But at that moment a beam of the weak morning sun hits the bone in Teresa's hands and Uleru remembers why she's here. And it has nothing to do with bold young boys and testy, tousled women.

"And it's not who is this" she clarifies, motioning the the collection of remains. "It's who are they".

The moulding subtly shifts her position from behind the Svefra, sitting cross legged and her body language expressing that the intruding boy is suddenly part of this conversation as well. She lifts the skull of the floor and finds the finger, holding them together to illustrate the difference. While the skull's vacant gaze is so old its weathered surface is almost brown, all three yellowly-white knuckles of the finger are still held together with fragments of gristle.

"And that" -she says, pointing to the femur with someone else's finger- "still had a bit of flesh and fresh marrow in it."

But the bone in Teresa's hand is hollow now. Uleru doesn't volunteer the answer to the obvious question 'where did it go?', because she assumes both of the humans are tactful enough not to ask. Just because she's not a hunter doesn't mean she'll deny herself meat when it's offered.

"And this isn't even the start. I found these in a cave that possibly has some kind of stooped, leathery creature inside. There was something very... There was something very off about the place", she continues dreamily, her liquid eyes becoming unfocused. "A hall with bones. Some were animal, others were not. Liquid writings on the walls -your liquid, not mine. God came in with me of course, but he doesn't care about it. Too human for the sea king I suppose." Suddenly her eyes snap back into focus, and she begins talking animatedly again. "I'm going back to figure it out, obviously. It'll be frightening, and possibly dangerous, and I wanted to know if you'd come with me", she flashes both of them a dazzling, inhuman smile. "I'll be fun, I promise. And if its not fun, it'll be exciting. And if it's not exciting we're probably dead and it won't matter either way."

[Jagger]

Jagger let out a less-than-manly yelp as a blue-eyed blonde moved into view and then spun at him. He wouldn't have been so shocked if she wouldn't have been brandishing a bone at him. What kind of bone was it? He didn't know much about bones. It looked long, so perhaps it was a leg bone? When that particular thought struck his mind, his blue eyes glinted again and his momentary look of horror morphed back into that playful expression. He still put his hands up to either side, as if she was holding him hostage. "Ah, sorry, sorry, don't hit me! I am trespassing, I'm sorry! I really don't have a leg to stand on!" He slipped in the pun, but said it casually, not wanting that to be the climax of the joke. He kept in view and kept his hands raised, trying to look as non-threatening as possible, still very aware of the fact that he could get beat over the head with some sort of bone.

An Otani popped out of the open hatch behind the Svefra girl, giving Jagger a moment of pause. He hadn't seen very many of them! He didn't have the greatest of memories when it came to them, but nothing bad. They had toyed with him when he was first learning to swim, and he was pretty sure they had tipped him out of his boat once or twice. After a chime, Jagger returned to his wide grin and gave the Otani a little wave. He didn't speak up, the Otani getting to it first. Jagger tuned in, listening carefully as she explained everything.

His mouth fell open a bit at the sight of the skull and the fingerbone, his head leaning forward a little bit as he examined it more carefully. He was wearing a sun-bleached white shirt that fell open as he leaned forward, revealing the waves of Lakivu peeking up one of his shoulders. This, if anything, was definite proof that he was another free-hearted Svefra. His eyes widened more and more as the Otani told her tale, and before she had even spoken the last word, he was spinning around to head back to his ship. "I am definitely willing to go out on a limb-" He paused, blue eyes flickering back to the pair he had just met, a little grin shining before he continued on. "-for this. Let me get my things. Unfurl my sails. I can follow you." He headed back towards his ship, but then quickly turned and walked back to them. "Oh, right, I am Jagger Wildwind. A pleasure. Now let's get to the dangerous stuff." He spun around again, a bundle of wild energy. He was more than happy to go off on a dangerous adventure with two complete strangers. They seemed nice enough, even if one of them had threatened him with a bone. He hopped from Teresa's ship to his own, getting a running start and spinning his body in mid-air to cut a nice little flip. He was showing off for the women, obviously.

Unfortunately, he landed on his face, skidding across his boat. The Svefra awkwardly rolled up to his feet, acting like nothing had happened, bustling around quickly. Readying the boat to follow the Always Baffled at a moments notice, he shot another wide grin towards the two women. "We'll have fun, I'm sure. Break a leg!" The red-head finally collapsed in giggles, personally proud of his ability to fit three puns into only about a chime. Hopefully the freckled blonde didn't hurl the bone at him. Provided the Otani didn't find something mischevious to do first.

[Teresa Deepseeker]

The puns. Oh gods the puns, they were making her head hurt.
 
The kid seemed to sink back into his youthful exuberance mere ticks after the initial bone-brandishing madwoman shock wore off. The launch into the artfully constructed and pun laden dialogue made Teresa wince in second hand embarrassment. Although if she were to be honest with herself, she would have to conclude that the boy had a sort of energy that she found desirable in a companion. One of the reasons she kept Uleru around was her uncanny ability to find trouble and then turn life threatening situations into something fun. Danger and excitement kept life from getting stagnant and predictable. And lucky for her this boy seemed to be overflowing with both.

The bombshell Uleru dropped about halls of bones and blood soaked walls patrolled by whiskered monsters was all that was needed to chase away the last of the grogginess from her eyes. Otani are know to exaggerate their stories, especially when they get something out of it, and Teresa briefly wondered if this was a lure to draw her into whatever mad plot she was cooking up. The boy took no time is assuring his participation, not even pausing long enough to hear the end of Uleru’s speech. An exasperated sigh worked its way out Teresa’s lips and she drew her hands up to the sides of her face and began massaging her temples.

"Well your since your both gonna walk into a dangerous situation and most likely end up dead, you're gonna need me to look after you."

The air of maturity was carefully woven into every word, she needed to be the adult here. Because even though Uleru surpassed her age by a few centuries, she would never trust the monster to be the voice of any vague notion of reason. And the boy was clueless. No way around that.

Then the boy, Jagger it seems, flipped off her boat and onto his face. Teresa unconsciously covered her own face and winced and he skidded along the worn wood. Only to be surprised as rolled back up and went about preparing his ship, and managed to slip in one last pun. She had to admire his pep. And the way he bounced back from that pride crushing belly flop.

Teresa, seeing her own opportunity for play, decided to introduce herself while tacking on every honorific she could think of on the spot. She bowed with one hand pulling out her skirt in a curtsy and the other doing a grand sweep of her form with the femur still in her grasp.
 
"Teresa Deepseeker, captain of the Always Baffled and world renown treasure hunter. Even Kalvaski pause to hear the tales of my grand adventures in The Fathers realm and pirates cower at the sound of my name. You, young lad, may address me as Captain.”

Teresa ended her flourish with a unceremonious jerk of her thumb to point at the Otani over her shoulder.

“And every hero needs a sidekick. This is Uleru.”

A wink was given to the now peeved looking Otani as she ran her fingers through her hair trying to convey some sense of order to the post-wakeup rats nest and started preparing her casinor to sail. The anchor was raised and the mainline was disentangled from the breaker, a few test rotations were given to the jib before Teresa nodded her approval. Taking her stance at the bow she took hold of the mainline and set down the bone against the guard rail, she resolved to keep it with her, if only to look more threatening when brandishing it at Jagger and Uleru should they try to do anything stupid. Teresa smiled down at the Otani, her early morning crossness easing away at the promise of adventure. It had been too long since she felt the rush of adrenaline, and Uleru always fixed that, wether she meant to or not.

“So, trusty sidekick, where to?”



Others Speech
Fatava

[Uleru]

"Hello Pup", the moulding smiles indulgently when Jagger introduces himself. She is surprised he agreed so readily, and overjoyed that he did; half puppy and half red-headed hurricane that he is. And with his committed inclusion in this little quest Uleru smugly waits for Teresa's agreement to follow. The Svefra lass likes to pretend to be above it all, but she is just as intrigued as he is, she's sure.
 
Jagger is already back aboard his ship and is swinging around his rigging with a practiced hand when Teresa gets a chance to introduce herself. The Otani gives a long suffering roll of her eyes at the Svefra's pompousness. She's Captain all right; of a single occupant ship. Their combined treasure totals at a beaded necklace and a bag of sea shells. The lass is just as rightly terrified of the Kalvaski as Uleru and the only pirate that knows their names probably snorts cheap whiskey out his nose when he hears them.
 
"And every hero needs a sidekick. This is Uleru.
 
"'Beg pardon?"
 
The Otani raises a transparent brow at this. But her incredulous smirk is waved by an affectionate wink from her friend.
 
Then Uleru has nothing to do but keep out of the way as the two Svefra bustle around to prepare to sail. She takes this second of reprieve to yawn widely (a disturbing effect in of itself, as the gill slits in her side open wide and gasp like long mouths) and stretch (which boils down to rotating and massaging the sore parts of her body in every direction, which can be equally disturbing). It might be early morning now, but she has yet to sleep or eat since the day before, and its starting to take its toll. No matter, once they get this mystery settled she can cuddle up with Kailani for a nice long nap.
 
"Alright trusty sidekick, where to?", the blonde is suddenly standing beside her, rigging in hand and a smile on her lips. Uleru is hit by a wave of fondness for the girl, standing there ready and brave, with her hair stuck out like a haystack. She smiles back. Jagger looks anxious to be going too, she can almost hear him vibrating with anticipation.
 
"Oh, I see", she smirks, hand cupped under chin. "She is a valuable and trusted servant of the most powerful entity on Miza. A vessel for His will, nearly immortal, and just about the most beautiful creature to ever live... And she is your sidekick", the moulding’s shoulders shake with a suppressed laugh. "Don’t you think that at least qualifies me to a promotion? Say, first mate? Feel free to call me Lieutenant."
 
She stands and dances to the railing, kicking aside some poor mans skull and leaning over the lip of the ship to talk to Jagger. Pre-dawn has finally given way to a fiery sunrise, the golden-orange light catching in the sails and bathing warmly on the deck to chase away the nights chill. The light reacts oddly to Uleru's array of shimmering colors as her body reacts to her rapidly shifting emotions; from exhaustion to anticipation to a shock of unease. But her face is bright and untroubled as she calls a two-note melody to catch the lads attention.
 
"I'll be swimming ahead, so follow Deepseeker and she'll follow me. There is enough room in the cave for one ship, but not two. You might both want to drop anchor outside for this and swim in", she says in a rare moment of practicality. "Alright you two, shake a leg." She grins at Jagger conspiratorially, before throwing herself overboard with a splash before Teresa gets a chance to.
 
 Uleru can outstrip most dolphins, sharks and even some Charoda, but she cant outrun a casinor under full sail. But she is unwilling to stand aboard one of their ships to be blow-dried as she gives direction. So she lets the two ships suffer at her pace. Even so the low fissure of rock is visible in a little over a bell. The morning light makes the scene much less ominous than the dead of night, and the Otani is once again plauged by the thought that she really did imagine the monster after all.
 
As the two Svefra drop anchor Uleru scouts ahead and slips into the cavern alone. The water inside is a pale green and very cold, sheltered from all sides by salt stained walls and towering stalagmites. The Otani does not stop to admire the sights but fluidly swims to the edge and pulls herself ashore. Round scars of long abandoned campfires litter the shelf, and there is the one she saw the other night, looking as innocuous as all the others. But where is the pack and bedroll?
 
Eyes narrowed in confusion she scours the rock and all the pockets behind the thin towers. She can hear the two humans swim inside with the slosh of water echoing in the cavernous space. What should she tell them? Was she wrong? Did she imagine the whole thing?
 
"I was- it was right here!" she sputters in confusion. "Someone made camp here and was probably eaten by the monster. The bed was still warm when I was here." But beasts don't exactly clean up after themselves, her mind tells her with sardonic amusement.
 
Just then she is aware of another set of footsteps. Staggering, uneven footsteps. The eco makes it impossible to tell where they are coming from, but she can make a guess. Her eyes snap up to the hollow throat of the cave that leads to god knows where. A flicker of light, much harsher than outside, precedes the creature and its shuffling footsteps. And from around the bend comes Uleru's monster.
 
The Otani gives a muffled cry of alarm and takes a step back as he comes into view. But she was wrong, it wasn't a beast that chased her out the first time, it was a man. Leathery and stooped, his filthy clothing is crusted to his skin in permanent folds and his long, graying hair and beard are tangled into knots. In his hand is a heavy bracket torch that burns hot and oily, leaving a greasy trail on the lower parts of the overhead rock. He stops at the mouth of the cave, peering at the trio with muddy colored eyes and mouth working silently as if participating in half of a conversation that they cant hear.

“You’ll be from the University then, eh?” he suddenly calls, his voice sharp and loud, causing the Otani’s color to spasm in alarm. “Good, been expectin’ you. Come in, come in. Study is this way. I’ve already got company for tea so you’ll have to budge up a bit.”

Then the old man shuffles around and walks back into the deeper part of the cave, torch held out to light the way.

“Don’t just stand there, we cant leave the poor chap waiting. And I’ve got some artifacts to show you that your professors would kill to get their hands on. Quite rare, oh yes...”

Muttering incoherently, the man shuffles back around the bend in the cave and disappears.