Spring 12, 509 AV
A Strange Coastline
Today was her first day truly alone, and she planned on enjoying it the only way that she knew how: exploration. Edreina sat at the maxim of her ship's stern, tiller in one hand, lines in the other, a gleeful smile upon her lips. Her magmatic hair twirled behind her like a dancing flame, unbound despite how she knew it would tangle. With a whoop, she rose into a crouch and trimmed the sails, watching a gust skip across the waves, and bracing herself the instant before the wind hit the unfurled sails, causing her casinor to lurch forward and continue at breakneck speed. Finally, the sight for which she had been searching began to rise from the sea.
As the coast grew slowly before her, she was glad to see that it was stony, rough, the perfect place to search for caves. The wind died slightly, forcing Edreina to to adjust the jib in order to funnel the wind more effectively. She grinned again when she hit a wave just right, allowing her to fly for a moment before touching down roughly once more, creating an enormous spray of salty water that felt like a caress upon Edreina's freckled cheek. The experience, though dangerous, was exhilarating and it left her heart racing for several moments. As she neared the shore, she began to scan for possible cave locations, darker spots in the rock, flatspots, anything.
When finally she is within swimming distance, the red haired Svefra expertly tied her sails and dropped anchor, removing her shoes, and stepping to the bow. Smiling still, she leapt and entered Laviku's domain. The water around her was soothing, and, for a moment, she hung there, eyes staring out into the murky blue. Breaching the surface, she reached up, back into her boat, and retrieved a roughly woven sack. Stowing the sack at her belt, she began to swim towards the coast using long, strong strokes, keeping her head beneath the waves as often as possible, except for the times that she needed to take a breath.
Laboriously, Edreina fought the undertow and the waves, getting drug to the side a few hundred feet so that by the time she reached the rocks, there was a walk between she and the cave entrance she thought she had seen. But, this does not bother her. Barefooted, the young Svefra picked her way across the tide smoothed stones, pausing to pick up a seashell here and there, happily finding a beautiful pink and violet conch. As she walks, the tide washes up onto the rocks and over her toes, splashing all the way up to her knees in a playful mist.
The smell of the sea comforted her as the smell of a land strider's home, rich and deep to her tuned nose where most smelled only salt or sea weed. The rhythmic, rushing sound of the ocean was a lullabye that could sing her to sleep each night, rocking her as a mother would in its embrace. Something about being able to look out from the land and see nothing but ocean caused Edreina to well up in pride, pride that she could call such a beautiful expanse her home.
But she was getting distracted. Another hundred feet perhaps, and the cave would be directly beneath her. But, what is that? Edreina was caught offguard by a splash of silver, water up where the tide must reach at its apex. Attention drawn from the possible cave, she began to pick her way further up the beach until finally she could discover the strange patch of wetness.
The tidepool was about as long and wide as Edreina was tall, and absolutely teeming with life. The sloping walls were covered with types of coral, anemones, clams, muscles, and dozens of starfish. The sight shocked Edreina to the point that she fell to her knees, eyes opened wide as if that would allow her to absorb even more.
In silent reverence, she places her hands flat upon the surface of the water, full of wonder at the sight of Laviku's glorious creation. Only he could create a harbor for so many creatures to live together peacefully; so full of color, life, and purity. From the look of the tidepool, she was the first to interact with it, or at least the first in many a year. It felt almost sacrilegious to imagine taking anything from this perfect little environment. As she looked on, the water within moved ever so slightly, as if the drawn breath of Laviku himself, breathing life into this rocky shore.
But, the god did not make things simply for their beauty. This treasure trove revealed itself to her by divine will, it would be disrespectful not to partake in its blessings.
Finding a large, wedge shaped rock not far off, Edreina knelt once more at the tidepool's ledge and began to pry away the largest oysters, clams, and mussels, making room for new younglings to take root and grow. The labor is intense, and before long, her arms are burning, but her bag is quickly filling with the shells. Once she had taken a satisfactory number, she broke off some coral tops, knowing how foreign ladies fancy them as earrings. From the shallow bottom of the tidepool, she gathers a couple of starfish and -carefully- two urchins.
With a smile upon her face, Edreina rises and peers into the pool once more, imagining that she can see Laviku's likeness in its shifting surface. With a smile upon her face, Edreina turns and walks to the edge of the coastline, tying the sack at her back so that it does not affect her balance too terribly. With a smile upon her face, Edreina sets off for a new adventure.
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by Edreina on March 20th, 2013, 3:34 am 
