Scouting Around [Sari]

[Gabrielle Seawind]

512 Spring 44th, Noon The docks of Syliras were gone. The storm had wiped it out completely. All that was left was a broken scene of what used to be there. For that reason, the ships had to anchor away from shore, and those who arrived by ship had to swim or walk through the shallow waters. On that note, the larger the ship, the further it had to be anchored. Because of the storm, many ships had been destroyed (along with the loss of many lives). Consequently, there were not as many ships that offered transport these days. Gabrielle had even observed that majority of those who braved the seas at a time like this, where sea monsters were rumoured to be rampant, were from the svefra race. The svefra were known to be happy-go-lucky and daring, and this time of turmoil was making it even more evident. Just like the other ships, Gabrielle had to anchor her casinor away from shore. She was here today to pick some people up. They said they wanted to scout the nearby area for a certain unaccounted ship. Gabrielle squinted to look for them, but she couldn’t really identify their faces in such a distance. Frowning, she looked at the water. She had no complaints about going into the water to get to the shore and find them – but she just didn’t feel like it right now. “Sari, where are you?” she called out, looking for her new companion – an otter kelvic who was helping around the ship. Gabrielle had coincidentally found this kelvic days earlier. She didn’t really know much about Sari yet. Gabrielle didn’t even know if she liked talking to other people. One thing she did know was that Sari liked the water, and that meant she’d probably enjoy this task more than Gabrielle would. “Sari, could you go to the shore and look for a man? He’s about my age, and, uhm... well it might be difficult to identify him, so maybe just yell for a ‘Gerald’. Okay?”

[Sari]

Sari sprang to her feet from where she was fiddling with a shell she'd found. She left it and jogged over to Gabrielle. "Right here." She grinned.

"How old are you?" Sari asked, puzzled. Last she checked, she was 3 years old. But she'd never asked of Gabrielle's age.

"Gerald..." She rolled the word around on her tongue. Then she nodded. She started to take off her clothes to morph, but decided not to scare the possibly squeamish passenger. She jumped into the water, immediately becoming soaked. She trudged towards the shore, scanning the busy city for a person who looked like they'd want a ride. Sylrias didn't look too bad so far.
She pulled herself out onto land. "GERALD!!!!!!" She yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound. "GERALD!!!!!!" She turned the other direction and yelled out again. She squinted into the bright sunlight, quite the opposite of the storm which had obviously seems to devastate here, looking for this Gerald man.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

The svefra shrugged at Sari's question. She remembered that kelvics didn't age similiarly to humans. "I'm nineteen. Just look for someone who looks as old as me." Gabrielle couldn't help but laugh as Sari decided to jump into the water as a human. Her clothes would be drenched! For some reason, she assumed the kelvic would morph into an otter to get to shore. However, now that she thought about it, Sari's choice was more reasonable. She kept forgetting that the humans from the city frowned at nudity. From Gabrielle's position on the ship, she heard Sari call out the name. The svefra couldn't help but grin -- that girl was adorable! A man who seemed to be in his early twenties approached Sari. He seemed embarrassed at the way she was yelling out his name. "I'm here!" he said quickly. He had another person with him. It was a man who seemed a few years older than him. "Are you with Gabrielle... that svefra? Where is she? And why are you drenched?" He frowned as he realized that there was no other way to get to the casinors other than swimming to it. It would probably be possible to borrow a smaller rowboat. There was a rowboat nearby, and he took a hopeful glance at it and then back to the drenched girl before him. "Shall we get going, or do you have some other business to attend to first?" he asked.

[Sari]

Sari stopped shouting the name and turned to the man, who did look about Gabrielle's age. "I thought there was only one of you." She said, puzzled, ignoring his barrage of questions.

Shrugging, she introduced herself, "I'm Sari. Yes, lets get going, this place reeks." She'd noticed Gerald's eyeing of the rowboat and led the way over to it. "Oh!" She smacked her forehead, turning around. "Am I supposed to carry your bags?" She looked at the two men, blue eyes blinking in the harsh sunlight. She noticed the older of the two men had blue eyes too, and wondered if he was a Svefra. She dismissed the thought, as, if he was a Svefra, he would own his own ship. And it wasn't impossible for humans to have blue eyes.

She clambered into the boat, feeling the wooden craft bob beneath the weight of unexpected passengers. She threw off the rope that tied the boat to land, and started to row her passengers to the casinor. She pulled with all her strength with the paddles, feeling the first swish of water that sprayed Gerald in the face. He sputtered and Sari laughed, the unnamed man hiding a smile from his traveling partner.

As her strokes became quicker and easier, no more splashes of water, Sari asked the older man's name. He replied with one word, Beran. Sari played with the name inside her head, making up nonsensical rhymes for it until she realized she was about to bump into the casinor. The two men clambered over, Sari the last, with a well-aimed kick to send the rowboat drifting back to the destroyed docks.

When she'd vaulted herself overboard, she found Gerald talking to Gabrielle. Sari found eavesdropping rude and went to talk to Beran, who was checking something in his pack. "Where're you from?" She asked, searching for something to talk about. She still didn't know enough of sailing to start the boat, and while Gerald was speaking to Gabrielle about who knows what, probably a certain Kelvic girl who splashed water in his face.

Beran just shrugged, and Sari wondered if he was non-talkative, rude, or just didn't know. She found her shell again and fiddled with it, eventually accidentally breaking it in two, to her dismay. She looked up to see Gerald finished speaking to Gabrielle. She wanted to grab a clam or two before they started to move, and, with practiced movements, was out of her clothes and into the water in less than a minute, not giving their passengers a chance to protest as she flung herself into the water.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

As Gerald approached Gabrielle, the svefra looked at him from head to toe, as if judging him. She had already met him a few days past. He seemed irritable, but Gabrielle decided not to ask him how he was feeling. "We were told that the ship we're looking for is beached on a shore about an hour south from Syliras," said Gerald. Just like Gabrielle, he wasted no time in exchanging pleasantries. "We need you to get us there. Someone I knew was onboard when the storm hit. He and everyone else onboard haven't been seen since." The svefra frowned. The storm had been vicious -- she had seen it firsthand, and she was very fortunate she had even made it out alive. If the ship had hit land and if they hadn't heard from the people onboard, she was almost sure they'd find nothing but a shipwreck and some cold bodies. She decided not to voice out her thoughts. "What the..." said Gerald, stunned. Gabrielle followed his stare, and saw that Sari had stripped down. A second after, she jumped into the water. "Does that girl have no manners?" "She's a kelvic. Leave her be," shrugged Gabrielle nonchalantly. "Give me a moment to prepare, and then we'll be going." The svefra walked away from Gerald. As she passed by Beran, she gave him a nod. He was bright red, embarrassed from seeing a naked girl up close. Gabrielle couldn't help but smirk to herself. She started to untie the casinor's sails, and watched it flutter down. The boat gave a small lurch, but it didn't really move much, especially since the boat was still anchored and the sails were not yet positioned properly. Gabrielle moved around with familiarity as she took note of the wind and positioned the sails properly. This time, the boat moved with the wind, but still did not sail off to the open seas because of the anchor. The svefra decided to wait a few minutes to give Sari her time, then she leaned over the side of her boat and gestured at the kelvic that it was time to go. Once Sari was onboard, she would pull the anchor on deck and they would be on their way.

[Sari]

Sari closed her eyes and let the coolness and familiarity of he water wash away the stench of Sylrias. Crowded, busy, and, oh, man, did it reek!

She came back up for air, opening one eye to see that Gabrielle was waiting for her. She quickly dove down, feeling air bubbles rush through her fur as she sped down towards the sea floor. She scanned the sand quickly before seeing a half-buried clam shell. She picked it up, but finding it was empty, abandoned it to search more. A few seconds later, she spotted another shell, this one unempty and waiting for her to eat it. She grabbed it's twin, another nearby clam, and swiped a nearby fish for desert. She paddled quickly up towards thedaek shadow of boat, nearly losing her grip on the fish once, but she made it up and onto the deck with her meal.

Looking up, she found the passengers staring at her in shock. She wondered what was wrong for a moment until she remembered that they were probably unused to Kelvics. Feeling a little embarrassed for reasons she didn't know, Sari took her food over to her corner. There she changed back into a girl and into her clothes, looking back to find the passenger's faces a berry red. Sari rolled her eyes.

Taking one bite of the fish, she remembered that she was supposed to be doing something. Still chewing, Sari raced to help Gabrielle with the ropes and sails. She pulled on the various ropes she was probably supposed to pull on, and tied he various ropes she was probably supposed it tie. It didn't look as neat as Gabrielle's work, but she hoped that it wasn't too bad. Hunger from morphing made her stomach growl and Sari hopped back over to her corner, a bundle of energy. She bashed in the clams with her rock and stripped them of their meat with practiced movements. Though messily, Sari ate the clam meat and fish, and licked her fingers besides. She noticed Gerald staring at her as if she was an uncivilized rock, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

[Gabrielle Seawind]

An evident frown was on Gerald's face as he turned away from Sari. He did not seem to appreciate the kelvic's action. On the contrary, however, Beran seemed to be staring at the brown-haired girl with curiosity and slight embarrassment. The redness on the shy boy's cheeks had yet to calm down. Gabrielle whistled and said to Gerald, "I think your friend has a little crush." The svefra put the casinor's anchor away and the boat started to sail away from the city. Gabrielle did some final preparations with the boat's sails. She noticed that her passengers had to hold onto the railings for balance as the boat lurched. A casinor was one of the smaller ships available, and thus it swayed with waves more and was not ideal for those with motion sickness. It often took a while for most of Gabrielle's passengers to get used to it. Gerald took out a map of the coast of Sylira and showed it to Gabrielle. The svefra nodded and listened to him as he pointed towards the location of where the beached ship was supposed to be. Judging from the distance, and the fact that the wind was on their side, Gabrielle told him that it would most probably take less than an hour to get there. "Okay," he said with a shrug. "Yeah," said Gabrielle as she walked away from him. She looked at Sari and glanced at the food she was eating, then she looked at Beran who still seemed to be looking at the kelvic with curiosity. "Perhaps you should talk to him, Sari? He seems interested in you." Grinning at the kelvic, Gabrielle left her there as she took a position near the wheel of the ship. She had a better view of everything from there, from the kelvic, to the shy man, and to the irritable Gerald. Gabrielle glanced at the sails and observed the wind. Yes, seemed like they were going to get to their destination in less than an hour.

[Sari]

((OOC:Sorry that I didn't reply sooner! School was busy and full.))

Sari's sharp ears picked up a couple of the words Gabrielle said to Gerald. Her eyes widened and she looked at Beran, who glanced away quickly. He seemed suddenly intent on studying the boards of the deck, and Sari looked at them too, but nothing interesting was forthcoming. She continued with her fish.

Sari looked up as Gabrielle suggested she talk to Beran. Suddnly shy, she blushed and studied the boards again, but not one to be feminine and demure, she got over it and walked over the lolling floorboards to where Beran was sitting down, gripping the mast for dear life it seemed. As she came over he smiled nicely, if somewhat shyly.

"Dontcha like sailing?" She asked, sitting cross-legged in front of him. The sudden lurches and dips of the boat didn't bother her, as she lived all of her life on them.

"Well, truth be told, I've never been on a boat before." He gave a slightly nervous laugh. "I don't think most people in Sylrias can swim."

"Can you?" She asked. It was amazing to her that there were people in the world who couldn't swim. It was as natural to her as breathing. She breathed a sigh of relief as he nodded. She paused for a moment, then asked, "What's life like in Sylrias?"

This made him laugh. "Life in Sylrias is... Hard to explain. I'm a Knight on training, Gerald is a Knight. I started a bit late." He seemed to search for words for a moment, then continued. "Sylrias is as complicated as the Sea, as busy as a beehive, and as important as a king. Everyone has a job to do, a place to be. Everyone has a purpose."

Then he laughed again. Sari decided she liked his laugh. "I sound like one of my professors! If you want the truth, it's stinky and crowded and gray, but it's my home and I love it." He leaned back, seemingly spent from his speech. But he asked a question, "What's life like in the Sea?"

It was Sari's turn to laugh. "The complete opposite of Sylrias. It is complicated, but it's beautiful. I love it, as you love Sylrias." She smiled, and as she did, she felt the wind change.

Sari leapt up to change the sails, which let Gabrielle stay at the wheel, though there wasn't much need to steer. It would be a pretty straight course, maybe an hour? She had swum this way many times as an otter.

After fixing the sails, Sari went over to Gabrielle. "We're looking for a ship right? Or people? Do you think you'll need me to change forms?"

[Gabrielle Seawind]

"Thank you, Sari!" Gabrielle called out to the Kelvic as she repositioned the sails. The Svefra beamed with pride as she watched the girl. Remembering the necessary positions of the sails was tough for most people, but it came naturally to Sari. Though he wasn't speaking, Gerald had taken a seat beside Gabrielle. He had a scowl on his face as he watched Sari and Beran converse. Gabrielle was not aware of it, but he was a Knight, and he believed that women only swayed knight-in-trainings, like Beran, off their course. Sari soon walked over to Gabrielle, causing the Svefra to look up to her and think about her question. The Svefra shook her head. "No, I think it would be easier to spot it from onboard... it's a beached shipwreck, meaning it's not in the water. Did I get that right? It's beached?" she asked, glancing at Gerald. "Yes, it's a beached shipwreck," the knight answered as he kept his eyes on the horizon. He didn't seem to be paying much attention to the conversation, but he at least answered Gabrielle's question. "The ship is about as big as this one. It was wrecked during the storm." Gabrielle looked back at Sari. "We'll see it better from here. But don't worry; if you want to get in the water, we're probably going to have to swim to shore anyway." The Svefra didn't miss the discontented sigh from Gerald. It was evident that he didn't like being in the water. Soon enough, Beran came over to join in on the conversation as well. "A knight was on the ship," explained Beran. "We were sent to investigate." "Yes, but..." Gabrielle hesitated for a bit, but she finally found it in herself to tell them what she was thinking all along. "There probably wouldn't be any survivors. If there are any, I'm pretty sure they won't be around anymore." "We're not actually going there to look for survivors," said Gerald with a shrug. "The Knight had some valuable items with him. We were sent to retrieve it." Suddenly, Gabrielle's face lit up. Valuable items. That was something she was very interested in. With a grin, she looked back at the horizon. She didn't pay much attention to anything else and let the minutes pass by. Soon enough, she judged that they were near. She saw Gerald's attention perk up and assumed she was right. He kept a careful eye on the shores, and Gabrielle followed his lead, looking for a shipwreck.

[Sari]

Sari nodded slowly to Gabrielle response. She was partially glad, because she was pretty sure if she stripped down again to morph, Gerald would burst.

She went back to her spot in the corner to practice the sail positions with a scrap of cloth. She had been doing this for as long as she'd learned the sail positions. It helped it stick in her brain. Aside from that, she found the topic of sailing rather easy and cozy, as she'd lived most of her life doing almost the same thing. As an otter, she'd used wind to help her get places faster, as she waves would help her rocket to a school of fish or a group of clams. Not to mention she spent her first year of life on ship.

While practicing, Sari found the minutes slip by and only her sharp ears indicated that suddenly there was a rustling of clothes and a lot of turning of heads. She looked up to find Gabrielle and their passengers scanning the shore. She went to the rail and swung under it, holding on to ship by only her feet as she dangled upside down. She, too, scanned about for a ship, but just saw sand after endless sand and tree after endless tree. She saw a row of knocked down trees, as if something had bowled them over. But amist the sand and trees and debris still left over from the storm, she didn't even see the slightest panel.

So, being quite curious, Sari let herself fall into the water. She waved at Kairo as she swam towards shore.