Completed A Quiet Return

[Ariann]

"Splin...ter..." She pronounced the syllables carefully before nodding. "Alright, I will call you Splinter, mister Sitchance." She says with a smile before reguarding his expertises in question. He was a well-trained healer, obviously, and he said he worked for the University. "It's a shame that you don't know much about culture, Splinter." She murmured sadly, "That's my main aim to learn... but maybe you have some knowledge on healing and herbal practices that may be of use to me?" She asked.

And maybe, just maybe, she could teach him how to channel Djed of the water and ocean around him. She wasn't exactly a teacher at all, but still she was confident in her abilities of Reimancy to be able to impart some knowledge in return to him. "I could teash you how to command the element of water a bit in return." She states meekly, her eyes drifting down unsuredly. "I don't know if it will work, since humans are different from Charodans, and I can do it innately..." She murmurs, "But I can try, if you'd like." She states, "Or you can ask for something else in return?"

She looked up with her emerald eyes at the man, the darkness and chill in the air beginning to affect her a bit. She was getting to be cold, but not cold enough to care for it yet. Her eyes began to glow in the mid-light, like opalescent green stars against a mid-light's sky. She had to look up at him from her small stature, her curious eyes wide with hope at learning something new.

[Stitchens Plint]

Stitchens paused for a moment of consideration over her request and offer of a fruitful return. He took a breath and exhaled sadly. "I know little of herbs or plants, my medical training is best with muscle and bone. I doubt I could offer much you have yet learned." Now it appeared his turn to be modest. In truth though, he acknowledged his lacking skill and made up for it with a desire to learn. "Microbiology escapes me, but broader details on things such as the respiratory, cardiovascular, muscular, skeletal, reproductive and nervous systems of humans I could... perhaps answer. Some things still escape me, but most come from either direct medical studies or from honing the body." Then the idea of payment came to the forefront of his mind. What could he ask of a stranger? There was little he could think of that he needed at the moment... "I believe magic such as Reimancy is beyond me. I have eh... little desire for it. Shielding would be an interesting magic though." Though he thought the idea out loud, he did not outright request it, nor did he mean to imply any request. "To be honest, I had not thought about requesting anything in return. I could say it would be to help a fellow healer, but in truth I think I have a weakness for pretty things." His smile broadened at the sideways complement. "And though a simple thing you are not, you are quite adorable in your own right." Stitchens lifted a hand as if to swat away the topic before it could linger too long. "I digress. Maybe we could come to some sort of arrangement instead? Maybe one day we can get together and teach each other various aspects of a single topic like Medical studies. It would not be too hard to find various aspects we could work on together." Specially if they were to discuss their own races. He had little to no knowledge of the Charodans and their bodies beyond what this nude woman was showing him... which in a sense was odd, considering she seemed so shy. Maybe that was just a cultural difference...

[Ariann]

Ariann perked up when he spoke of his knowledge of the reproductive system, but quickly masked her interest as something else. She needed to learn about the humans in every way, even if it meant asking about things more private to both cultures. She let herself nod stiffly, smiling softly when he called her adorable. He is like Ricky and Ximal... very nice of a man... She thought, feeling her heart flicker for a moment and her cheeks turning blue.

"I would be... happy to help you understand about my race, if you need... I can teach you how to use your clerical knowledge on the Charoda race and how to adapt water-herbs to help as well, you know... Seaweed holds many purposes." She nodded, her emerald eyes flitting off to the side as she remembered, "It can be used as bandages and even clothes, if you live in water... but it is brittle after exposure to the air and dries quickly..."

"But unfortunately, I cannot teach you this shielding of which you speak. It is something I do not know." She murmured sadly, afraid he would not be willing to trade if she could not teach him something useful. Shielding had never quite taken a liking to her. Nor she to the magic itself. She could not see the use of it, since she could easily use her reimancy to do what she needed to do. If she needed to slow someone down, a simple slate of ice on the ground was enough for her. And water beats fire.

"If you want to trade knowledge, I would be honored." She says with a smile.

[Stitchens Plint]

"Did you know Seaweed is good for humans just for eating?" The random statement was not quite so out of the blue in Stitchens' mind. He added almost indifferent of how his scatterbrained comment would make him sound. "Bone growth, skin health, very healthy and beneficial for people like me. Pregnant women too, or so I've heard." He may not have been very knowledgeable in herbology, but he had come across a strange diet or two along his investigation into better health. "Seems I digress again... I get excited sometimes." Stitchens shrugged his thick shoulders nonchalantly. "Actually," he started, "I would not mind striking a deal with you. Since you know so much about Seaweed, I'd pay you in both what I know and Mizas for a decent quality batch. What they sell in the market is... mediocre. All of the good stock goes into medical supplies." Even then, he doubted it was that much. Humans were not very notorious about taking care collecting from the bottom of the ocean. Usually they got what showed during low tide, or so it would seem. Taking a deep breath and bringing his hands to rest on the back of his neck, he added in swiftly a few words of apology. "This probably sounds like a degrading task. If it would make the trade any better, I could teach you how to keep Seaweed moist... and share a few recipes I learned from a bizarre diet book..." There came that broad grin again. He would never ask someone to play fetch like this, but he physically could not do it himself, nor did he have the know-how to find good quality seaweed. For all he knew that which was in the market was the best there was and this was a wild goose chase...

[Ariann]

Ariann's eyes darted to the water at the request. "It's... it's a good deal." She concluded with a sharp nod, placing her hand against his chest again for a moment, "But I will have to leave you for a moment to go collect the seaweed." She explained. It would be quite a trip.

Everyone knew that with the ships moving in and out of the harbor and the low-tides that swept in and out each new moon, the seaweed near the shore was very poor of quality and almost dead. But most people did not know of a well-kept secret that Ariann had. There was a spot, only a few minute's of a Charoda's swim away, where the seaweed grew in groves like plains of grass beneath the wave. It was a cultivation spot for fish and sea-creatures alike, so the Charoda did not harvest from there often, and even when they did it was sparingly.

"Wait here." She stated with a nod, turning on the ball of her heel and diving from the dock. Her body split the water evenly, and the waves engulfed her form, the darker blues of her back concealing her as she vanished beneath the waves.

The Charoda girl had fins on her ankles, ones that jetted out only slightly on land and could extend a little bit for swimming. She swam much like a dolphin, her legs swaying up and down in harmony, the fluid motion jetting her through the water with a reckonable force. Her eyes, lidded now that they were under the water, appeared entirely blue to the fish that swam beneath the waves, her emerald eyes beneath covered in a translucent film.

She made her way for the grove and after three and a half minutes, she arrived there, her eagerness at his request helping fuel the quick departure. The sea above her was crystal in appearance, reflecting the waves above and splintering the moon's glow into rays of light that moodily lit up the nightscape of the seaweed grove.

Manuvering about with an agile grace, she reached the seaweed patch, which spanned a decent hundred feet in either direction. She was at the mid-point for her depth limit, the pressure of the water oddly comforting. The stalks of the seaweed grew large here, their width nearly three-quarters of a foot and their height perhaps five times that in some areas. She knew the waters here well, for she had slept beneath the bows of the seaweed forest for a long while once before, while she was debating about going onto the shore for the first time.

A thick, dark green stalk of seaweed caught Ariann's eye. It was the perfect length, and the perfect width, nearly twice the stretch of a man's arm and almost as thick as Stitchens' muscles. It was a very old stalk, one that was well past its harvesting days. The consistency of it was like papyrus, rough and strong. She floated her way over to it with awe, running a hand along the broad, veined stalk.

"You grow old..." She said, the Charbosi words coming out soft and melodious under the water, the sounds of a siren's call. "Your use has come." She muttered, reaching her way down the stalk to where it connected with deep roots into the sand and coral below. The tree of seaweed was firmly planted in the ground, but that did not stop Ariann.

She had heard of the Lumberjacks, of their tools called axes that they used to cut down trees on land, and it gave her an idea. Calling upon her Djed, she willed the water around the stalk's base to churn and move, her arms swaying from side to side as the water rocked the base of the seaweed. If the tree of seaweed was not there, it would have looked like a strange dance, for the movements were well-rounded and rhythmical.

The trunk swayed and the groan of the roots could be heard as they were slowly and carefully uprooted, the constant back and forth of the water causing the tree to lift up as it moved. Eventually, a loud snap shattered Ariann's concentration as the roots, old and brittle, gave way. The trunk of seaweed floated down to the bottom of the seabed for a moment before beginning to float again. Ariann was quick to snatch up her prize, carefully taking one of the roots and rolling the seaweed into a small, idyllically bundle. She carefully used her knowledge of the vine-like root to tie the bundle off neatly and securely before making her way back to the surface.

Twice in one night, she had used her Djed. It made her weary, yet it awoke within her a kindred fire that wanted more, thirsted for more. She could feel her limbs wax and wane and her vision blur slightly as the overgiving began to take hold for a mere moment. But it did not hold for long.

Her vision returned quickly, and with it the sight of wood a few meters in front of her. It was a boat's hull, moving slowly through the water towards the dock. Ariann had been moving at too fast a pace to have seen the boat in time, and she ended up barreling into the hull, sending an echoing THUNK into the interior. Ariann cried out in pain beneath the waves and sunk lower, whimpering to herself as she held the seaweed bundle close to her chest.

Out of the water she sprung, the final push giving her enough momentum to catch herself onto the dock and climb up slowly, the thin viel on her eyes sliding back as the water dripped off, revealing her emerald eyes again. She laid her head on the planks of the dock and whimpered slightly in pain, her hands caressing the soft spot of her head, which was showing signs of bruising.

The bundle of seaweed rolled from her grasp a few inches in front of her as Ariann got to her knees, still cradling her head and whimpering. "Owie, owie, owie..." She murmured, her webbed fingers gently padding the soft spot. "I hit my head, Sitchance... it hurt..." She explained with a bit of a whine.

[Stitchens Plint]

He was about to mention the idea of setting a date for this little journey, but before he could utter a word she was turning away and leaping into the water. Though he had to admit he enjoyed watching her go, seeing her leave so suddenly was not quite the direction he hoped their conversation would go. Still, she had said she would be right back. Despite knowing she would return, he was quite alone on the docks. The chill added to the solitude made him anxious, uneasy even. In a need for something to occupy his mind, he ran through stretches. First his right arm stretched across his chest while his free hand helped with a tug near his elbow, then the stretch was reversed. Thirty ticks each, he counted. He lifted his left leg to catch his ankle, stretching out his calf and thigh muscles. He inverted that stretch too to accommodate the other leg. Another minute passed for the two stretches. The woman had not returned yet. To continue, he rolled his shoulders back, arching his back as well, then rolling his shoulders forward, bending forward and bringing his arms out in front of him as if swimming. Back and forth, back and forth... I look like an idiot, he suddenly noticed. His crystalline blue eyes flick cautiously across the dock and up towards the rest of Zeltiva. Aside from the few wandering guards, they were alone. Or rather, HE was alone. Still, he needed something to do... so instead of flailing about like a fool trying to teach a fish to swim, he crossed his arms and lowered his head. It was not the common posture one would take, but he found it natural and relaxing. While this strange woman was off doing gods know what, he had little to do but stand and look pretty. Focusing his breath and trying his best to keep a clear mind, he worked towards a meditative reverie. Though he had once known a man to enter meditation and lose all track of time, he was painstakingly aware of its slow progression. Instead, he found himself listening to the sounds around him and contemplating over each one. The sound of crickets defying the cold with their song, the waves breaking relentlessly against the sand as if trying to learn to walk among men, the rush of a breeze past his ears... In this way, Stitchens did loose track of time. The sound of something strange and the familiar voice in pain roused him to reality where he found his new friend injured. "Come here, I will tend to it for you." He could see exhaustion riddled through her, the familiar kind which accompanied the bliss of burning muscles after a good workout session. He had never known much of magic, but he had heard stories of a euphoria that comes with overuse and is followed by pain or woe and sometimes death. Stitchens had uncrossed his arms and stepped closer. His hand rose and placed upon her bruised skull. With a deep breath, his mark seemed to glow midst the night, the shape almost wriggling on his cheek. Maybe it was just the way his head tilted and the moonlight caught it... The touch of his hand would bring a welcome ease to the bruising, diminishing and even eliminating the soreness after a passing moment. His progression of healing may have been a bit slower, but some might say it was more comforting than just being healed, as if he were imparting a bit of his personal strength in them. Again it could just be a trick of the mind, a mixture of his friendly nature and the mystic wonders of the healing touch. Just for future referenceSeaweed doesn't have roots. They have "Holdfast" structures that keep them locked to the soil.

[Ariann]

I know...but I don't like to simply 'tell'... I like to show So I turned the stalk of seaweed into a tree as a reference.

Ariann flinched at the light touch upon her head, but eventually the pain subsided and the bruising lessened until there was naught but a small blue patch upon her head. She blinked her eyes open and wiped them, the salty tears causing them to redden slightly at the sides. "I... I'm okay..." She mumbled, lifting her head into his hand and looking up at him.

He was big. Very big. At least, bigger than she realized at first, the size difference becoming rather obvious at the angle she was at. Still, looking at his face, she found the swirling mark of Rik'keli to be comforting, even with his very-blue eyes peering softly down at her. She could feel a heat swelling in her chest again as her heart fluttered a bit.

Standing quickly, Ariann regained her composure and picked the bundle of seaweed off the dock and held it out to him. "It is a very old-rooted tree. It should be useful for clothing, bandaging or eating... but it is very coarse." She said, handing him the bundle in a way that was almost like she was pushing it into his arms. "It was the only one that I could find that was ready to die." She said, a hint of sadness peppering the last word. She had finally killed something today, even though it was technically not alive to begin with. She felt a bit of herself fade away into the waters again as she longed for home, for the place where she did not have to think of such things.

But she was still in Zeltiva, still on the pier and still staring at the bundle. Her eyes lifted to meet his and her cheeks grew blue again. "I used reimancy to coax the holdfast out of the ground... it felt no pain." She said softly, her bulbous eyes childlike in the night.

It was at that time when the midnight bell rung, the chimes dull and echoing off of the pier. Dong Dong Dong Dong Dong Dong... It was a quiet declaration of the time, and it didn't help Ariann find her way out of those blue eyes of his. "I hope you like it." She chirped softly, pulling her hands from the bundle once he had taken it.

[Stitchens Plint]

All the while Stitchens seemed ignorant of her fluttering heart and blush. Though he noticed the discoloration from time to time, he had not made the connection to the human form of blushing. For all he knew, it could have been some process of the Charodan body. She was very adorable though, almost as innocent as a child he thought. When she said she was okay and lifted her head into his hand, he smiled. Continuing the kind touch, he took the offered bundle of seaweed with his free hand with just as gentle a grip. "Thank you. Though I was going to say we could have done this part of the trade later, considering the time and all." He was rarely one to linger in one spot past dark. He knew the dangers, especially when with a woman. "The aged seaweed will make good wraps for various other foods." The weight of the bundle in his hand was impressive. He knew they could grow to massive sizes, but those he doubted this woman could carry. "Though I enjoy your appreciation for life, I have never thought to consider the life of plants, or in this case algae... "So in return, I have no problem letting you know why seaweed is so good. For one, it has a high calcium level and helps stave off sicknesses like cold and scurvy better than oranges..." What else did that odd diet book say? "I think there was something about boosting libido and fertility, but I cannot remember if it was when eating seaweed or a tonic made from it." He was no botanist, no herbolist, he only knew of Seaweed as a superfood and even then he knows only the essential it works for sure.

[Ariann]

He sure spoke about the female reproductive system alot. Well, he did state that he had some knowledge on the fact. It wasn't a surprise that he would try and insert his knowledge when he could. Ariann knew that men were that way. Still, she nodded softly, her head slipping from beneath his hand as she stood to regard Stitchen with even eyes.

He didn't really provide her with much that she didn't know, but it was a cute gesture. It caused her lips to curl into a small, shy smile as her eyes drifted downward to keep herself from going into a panic. She had acted rashly in this man's presence, whether it was from want to please the man or want to be away from him, it didn't matter. She didn't know how to sort out her feelings yet, and until she learned how to, these things would continue to happen.

"Splinter?" She asked with a soft, delicate tone, "How do you know so much about females?" She asked, a curious, but somewhat scared, tone in her voice. "Is it from your own experience?" Her cheeks flared blue again at the thought, her mind beginning to roam into possibilities that most would not think of. She shook her head softly to rid her of the thoughts, but the blue tint on her cheeks remained.

[Ricky Maze]

SorrySorry to jump in a little late Ariann, figured I'd get a post in now since things grew interesting.

"Aye, believe me when Oi say dis be de bell when t'ings go either way." Without further ado the guard finally took a step forward with a smirk on his face, aware of the conversation that had developed between the two he had watched in silence until he found an appropriate time to make his appearance. Ricky meant to approach Ariann sooner... but in hesitation waited until he felt sure it was the Charoda he once knew. That didn't happen until another man took to approach her of course, and then things took an interesting unravel that he couldn't resist just watching. "Meant t' surprise ya earlier 'til another stole me thunder," He glanced to the other man with a hearty grin, "S'fine though since Oi learned some interestin' things t' be sure."

Arianne a healer. That was news that hit him hard but at the same time made him a little more proud, compared to the last time he saw Ariann she seemed young and spritely rather than the quieter Charoda he witnessed just now. And this man that approached her, he seemed very well mannered as far as courtesy went. Ricky's friendly look went to Stitch with an approving smile as he approached the two, his deep blue eyes quick to observe the man while they avoided direct eye contact. "Ricky Maze o' de Wave Guard, an' Oi believe Oi already caught yer name stranger." Of course the azure uniform he wore would be a direct indication as to his profession, but still he found it proper to introduce himself formally even if an old friend was around.