PM to join An Honest Days Work

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Common Vani Nari

6th of Winter, 513 A.V.
The Bringer

"Alright chap." The scruffy, older man exclaimed loudly as he slapped a calloused hand onto Gale's shoulder, dragging him along the unstable wood plank that allowed one to get from the ship to the dock. "Here she is! Welcome aboard The Bringer" The bearded captain held his hands out wide for Gale to behold the wonders of the cargo ship's deck. Though, in all honesty, it wasn't a sight for sore eyes.

For one, the deck looked filthy. The only washing it appeared to get in it's lifetime is the occasional storm that blows salty water onto the ship and swishes around the deck. Second,"The wood looks rotten." Gale wasn't sure what was growing on or what was going one with the floor boards, but it wasn't pretty, and it didn't look safe at all, let along sanitary. Not only did it look moldy, it appeared to have not had a proper coating of wax, or whatever seals a ship, for you could see the small splinters of wood ready to jab into one's skin. The ropes looked worn and ready to snap, the steps are were creaky, the sails looks filthy and- was that a hole?

"Well, she's an old ship, lad." His hands promptly tucked onto his belt, as if proud of said fact. " We're not the richest sailors in the land, and thus, hadn' had much ta go abou' repairin' her. But she still runs smoothly and that's all we can ask of her." The stocky man then thudded his heavy feet along the deck, making his way towards the middle of the floor, in which Gale hesitantly followed. "If we had the money, surely we woulda fix her up, but wha' can ya do, eh?" Gael nodded slowly, crinkling his nose at the... unique odor 'The Bringer' had. "Oh, wow. That's... A wonderful smell."

"Wha? You don' like it son?" The man eyed him.

"Oh, no sir." Gale shook his head, both in disagreement with Kutless as well as attempting to wave the smell away from his nose. "It is like a mixture between uuh-... um... Kelp Beer and rust. With a hint of- um... Horse on the side. " Yep, that just about summed it up. Though, Gale really meant to say horse shyke, but of course didn't want to sound rude to his new boss, who obviously prized his ship, just like any captain would.

"Aye, that's Bringer for ya. You'll get use to it after a while, son. It'll stain your clothes." That's wonderful.... Gale nodded hesitantly. But it didn't take long for the captain to hurriedly make his way to, what the artist thought was the Captain's Quarters and shut the door with a harsh BAM!

The Zeltivan sighed and ran a hand through his curly blonde hair, his green eyes eying the rest of the old ship. Besides the fact that the wood was rotting and the ship smelt like a horses ass, it appeared to be a pretty sturdy ship. Well, at least decent enough to handle a rough night out at sea. The wood was thick, no matter how rotten, and the masts at least stood tall without any major signs of damage. From where Gale was staning, which was directly in the middle of the ship, the stairs leading to the wheel was to his right, and wasn't any more than three or five or six steps. There was a large mast, holding the bigger of the two sails directly to his left, and the smaller one being behind the wheel. The rope ladder-things (he'll have to learn the terminology of the ship parts), although were made of old rope, was securely fastened to the mast and the railing of the ship. There were seven or so barrels tucked under both of the stair cases leading to the steering wheel, and between those two stair cases was another stair case, much larger, leading down into the ship, in which the Captain ad disappeared too. There were no doors other than the ones that were open leading down the stair case into the ship, but Gale couldn't complain about that. It is a ship after all. Not a house.

"Hey! What are you doing on this ship?" A young, womanly voice hollered from behind Gale.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Common Vani Nari

Startled from the sudden shout, the new sailor jolted and spun on his heels, turning towards the hostile sounding voice. A woman stood behind him with her hands firmly on her hips. Although she was shorter than Gale by a distinct in or two, she leaned forward and slightly over him on her tiptoes aggressively. Her skin was dark, much, much darker than Gale's, her hair was braided and pulled back, and the top of her head was covered by a clothe that was tied under her pony tail. Her shirt was non existent, for it appeared she was wearing nothing but her underwear and a small pare of shorts, which made Gale's cheeks flush red. "Com'on, speak up!" She snapped at him.

"Uuuh, I have no idea what you are sa-" The artist was interrupted by a raised voice, harsh tones, and flailing of the stranger's arms. Gale had no idea what the woman was saying. She was speaking another language, and doing so rather... hastily. Even if he did know the language, the likelihood of him catching anything she was saying was small. She was talking a million feet per tick, though the language itself was smooth and flowing. If it weren't for her flailing and her looking outraged, Gale might have mistaken her verbal abuse with her telling him some sort of story. Though, her flailing and screaming was hard to miss. And her eyes! They almost glowed orange.

Nearing the end of her tantrum, though Gale's face wasn't any less red, the dark skinned woman sighed and hissed,"Stupid sailors can only speak Common! Pfft! They expect me to speak their language! Ha! Why don't you try speaking my language!" Although her words had drifted away from Gale a little, now she was just generally mad, rather then being mad at Gale, the man's eyes till widened.

"Wait, wait, wait! Vani? You speak Vani?" The man tried to catch her attention, obviously surprised at the sudden phrase he understood. Now, Gale was in no way an expert in Vani, no. As a matter of fact, he didn't know much at all. He knew how to count a decent ways, a few basic phrases such as where he was from and who he was, as well as how to ask if they spoke his language and such, which is why he recognized her last few words. He even knew how to say why, when, where, how, and what, but other then that, there was nothing. There was an occasional vocabulary word he would remember, but mainly just those things.

The woman paused her tantrum for a second, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms roughly, starring at Gale with a glare. "Um." Gale thought for a moment, trying to recall what he learned in school. "When you- No- um...-Do you speak Vani?" Gale's face twisted uncertainly, unsure if he correctly said it.

"Yes." Her eyes narrowed, and the orange slowly started to fade to a yellow.

Gale gave the woman a toothy grin, surprised he actually was using his limited knowledge. "Um- I am Gale McCenry. The Zeltivan stated, keeping the friendly smile on his face.

"Gale McCenry? Aaaaahh, you're the new recruit."

He was- he was... He was the what? What did she say? "I am new. The Captain just-"

"Bird! Get back to your post! Gale's going to have enough work to deal with today!" Kutless, the Captain barged in with a giddy attitude, and holding something behind his back. With a quick glare towards Gale, the women, supposedly called Bird, rolled her eyes with a groan and went on her way, scurrying up the ropes like a rat and walking along the beams of the sails. Or whatever they were called. "Gale my boy, it is funny how ya mentioned the wood looking bad."

"Oh?" the blonde's gazed turned away from Bird and to the captain.

"As a matta of fact! That's your job!"

"Wait- what?" His job? What was his job?

Before Gale could say anymore, Kutless pulled a wooden bucket and a thick bristled brush from behind his back, shoving them in Gale's arms, not caring that a good half of the soapy water splashed onto his face a chest. Gale spat out the soap and rubbed his eyes at Kutless explained,"I want to see this deck spotless by sunset!"

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Common Vani Nari

"Spotless?" Gale's eyes widened, glancing around the large... wide... deck. "But that is impossible! I cannot clean this entire deck in one day! Not by myself!"

"You won't be doin' it by yourself! You have Jeff and Pale!"

"Jeff.... and Pale?" Gale's face crinkled in confusion, his eyebrow perked up.

"Yeah." The captain jabbed the bucket, pressing it into Gale's stomach and making him step back a step with a grunt. "Pale." Then his rugged hands grabbed the hard bristled brush,"And Jeff!"

Gale was dumbfounded. No, he was more than dumbfounded. He was baffled. Staggered. They named a brush... Jeff. "What type of sick crew it this?" He thought to himself, unaware that he had spoken out loud.

And it only took a tick for the captain to slap him across the face, spilling the other half of the soapy water onto the deck. "Don't you disrespect my crew!" His glare was deadly. Gale rubbed his cheek, unsure of how the man was able to read his mind. "Besides, you're one of us now. If you call us sick and twisted, then what does that say about you, eh?" With that the captain bellowed a hardy laugh and walked off, heading back down the stairs.

What did he get himself into? The Zeltivan sighed loudly and looked at the last of the water at the bottom of his bucket. He wasn't sure where their water was, or their soap. But he supposed he could use the last of the water and get some more later. If he was going to get the entire deck done before sunset, he'd better get started now.

Gale set the pale down on the wood and rolled up his sleeves. With a plop, he fell to his knees and grabbed the brush (which also looked moldy and about to fall apart) and dipped it in the soap water. Of course, like most anyone, Gale never pictured himself as being a slave of any sort. A servant was even out of reach for his imagination. So, to be on his hands and knees scrubbing a boat was irony at it's peek, in Gale's eyes. Well, next to having every single important person in his life either die or get severely injured. But then again, that wasn't ironic anymore. It was just annoying.

Nevertheless, the new sailor grasped the brush with two hands and pushed the brush along the the wood and pulled it back. Push, pull, push, pull. Over and over again. As old as the brush looked, it was clear that it was doing something, for the grinding of the bristles against the splintery wood sounded like a fork grinding against a plate. Except more... wood sounding. The deck flaked grim as the Zeltivan pushed the brush along, and the brush flaked bristles too. The soap water slid around and soaked his pants, but that was nothing. The first few bells were alright. There weren't many people on the deck around that time, except for Bird and Kutless who hardly came around to say hi. In general, it was quite work. But then the twelfth bell came around.

Almost as if it was a routine, each crew member came on one by one, only a few chimes behind the other. Each were excited for the day, and apparently all of them liked teasing the cleaning boy.

"Hey!! You finally came aboard lad!" Crate exclaimed happily with a laugh, not even bending over to try and meet Gale's level. Which was a typical response to Gale, for he hardly did anything when Cave shoved him into the water.

"Yes. Thank you for so kindly noticing." He rolled his eyes, dipping 'Jedd' into the bucket.

"Ahaha! You're still mad about 'at? Wow, you're neva goin' ta survive on this ship with an attitude like that!" Crate said nothing more and the burly man walked off up the stairs towards the second mast and... Gale didn't know what he was doing, but he didn't care. The artist rolled his eyes and went back to work. But of course, another member comes aboard.

"Did ya learn how ta swim?" A voice came from behind him, making Gale jolt. He looked over his shoulder at the husky red headed man, who had an abnormally large smile upon his freckled face.

"Huh?" Gale raised an eyebrow, unsure of what he was referring to.

"Did ya learn to swim in shallow wata?" His smile didn't fade and he knelt down besides the widower.

"Uh." Gale thought for a moment. In an epiphany, the man remembered the red head shouting to him. "No, not yet." He looked back down at the brushed and continued to scrub away.

"Ah, I see. No problem, then." With a pat on Gale's shoulders, the stranger stood up and walked up to stairs to stand next to Crate. As odd as the response was, Gale shook it away and continued his way down the deck. But the bucket was still low on water, and thus, he needed to refill it.

The man stood up with a loud grunt, stretching his arms and legs as they ached from being on his hands and knees for so long. And his back was no better. It was starting to hurt worse than it ever had in years. The blonde picked up the bucket and brush and glanced around the deck, not seeing any sort of water barrel or anything. There were barrels, but none of them were open, and thus, likely weren't where Kutless got the water from. So Gale headed down stairs.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Common Vani Nari

The down stairs was dark and the floors creaked eerily. There was a few hanging lanterns to light the way around, but the corners were like pitch and the stairs weren't any better. Not to mention they were wet.

Gale cautiously made his way down the ten step stair case, not looking away from the steps until he reached the bottom. But once he did reach the bottom, the first thing he noticed was there was three parts to this eerie part of the ship.

One. There was a large room a few paces down the hall that cut the passage way in half. Two. The passage way itself could fit two people shoulder to shoulder and was to the right. Three. The section between the room and the hallway had various supplies, much like a closet would have. There were buckets, swords, piles of rope, two barrels, and even a-...bird cage? What was an empty bird cage doing down here? They didn't actually have a bird roaming about did they?

Before the man could think about it anymore, the murderer hurried went to the two barrels in the corner. One had the lid off and when he peered in, he found himself starring at his own eyes. The reflection blinked back at him with a smile before Gale dunked the bucket into the water and then continued on to look around for a bar of soap. Actually, it wasn't very hard to find, for it was on top of one of the pale that was turned over. The soap looked just as old at Kutless' beard however, and looked dried out. Like Kutless' beard. Nonetheless, the artist scrubbed the soap in the bucket for a few ticks to make it soapy, set the bar down, and whipped around to head up the stairs, unaware of the padding of feet coming down those same steps.

Gale kept his green eyes on the bucket of water to make sure it didn't spill when he went up the stairs, given his limp and all. But it wouldn't matter, for as soon as he took one step on the stair case, he was met by a bare, hairy chest.

"Helloo Gale." An elongated greeting reached his ears.

The man's eyes looked up at the sailor before him, the lighting of the staircase making the man's ugly figures look even more menacing. " Hello Cave." Gale responded unenthusiastically.

"Sooo. You managed to convince ol' Kutless to pity you, eh?" He pressed his hand against the wall and leaned against it.

"He does not pity me, Cave." Gale growled, his eyebrows furrowed in anger. "If he pities me, he wouldn't give me the hardest job on the ship."

"Bahahahahahaha!! Hardest job?! I beg ta differ, lad!" Cave bellowed a laugh, which seemingly echoed down the hall. Or it was just Gale's imagination.

"Whether you differ or not, I have to get back to work. So if you would excuse me, I have to get up the stairs." He tried to push past the thin man.

Cave didn't even say a word as he pressed a hand against Gale's chest and kept him on the step he was on. "Is that bucket full, lad?" Cave questioned with a sly grin.

"Yes. I just filled it up." The artist frowned.

"Good."

Anyone who knew Gale and Cave's previous relationship knew that it wasn't a particularly pleasant one. However, Cave hadn't shown any signs of hatred towards Gale, and vice versa. They weren't on the same page, but it didn't exactly escalate from there until Cave shoved Gale off the dock. Which is why this particular 'attack' was surprising to Gale.

Cave back handed the new sailor. Gale instinctively closed his eyes. But when he did, the bucket was ripped out of his hands. The man opened his eyes to protest, but then a wave of soapy water splashed onto his face and a bucket was slammed onto his head.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The murderer screamed in agony as the soap burned into his eyes and he fell onto his back when Cave shoved him off the step he was on. His head banged around in the bucket until the artist managed to chuck the bucket away, his palms digging into his eye sockets as if to try and make it better.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Common Vani Nari

Gale's screams covered up Cave's words, but the man continued to say," Oh, excuse me, I'm dreadfully sorry. Let me help you." Sarcasm dripped from his mouth.

Cave grabbed the Zeltivan's shirt, dragging him to his feet. Gale was unable to protest, for his blind swatting did nothing but slap the man. If one could even call it swatting. His hands were all over the place, hitting Cave's face, shoulders, arms, chest. Basically anything in the torso area or higher. But Cave only laughed at the petty pounding of the artist's fists and shove Gale over to the open barrel of water.

Although the new sailor couldn't see through the soap and tears, he could distinctly hear the man walking away with hardy laughs. Groaning and gasping loudly in pain, the artist felt the barrel, his hand dipping into the water. Without a second thought, his head plunged into the water, his hands scrubbing violently at his face and eyes in attempts to get the soap out. He didn't even pull out of the barrel until his lungs burned, in which he yanked his head out, his wet hair fling everywhere and water dropping from his face. He panted heavily, blinking and squeezing his bright red eyes repeatedly. He panted heavily from both the lack of air and the pain, his clothes clinging to his skin. He waited several ticks to overcome the pure shock his body was experiencing. But once it was over, Gale's eyebrows creased furiously. "Gah!" His hands gripped the rim of the water barrel and with all his might he toppled the water barrel over, spilling the large amount of liquid all the way down the hall. The infuriated man stomped back up the stairs, giving everything a deadly glare. Cave wasn't on the deck.

The Zeltivan growled and made his way to the docks but was stopped by Tin who grabbed his shoulder. "Where are you going Gale?" He questioned, pulling the man to look at him.

"Where's Cave?!" The artist yelled trough gritted teeth.

Tin gave him an odd look, starring into his eyes. "Cave went inta town. But if you're plannin' on followin' him, ya can't be-"

"And why not?!" Although Gale's temper didn't normally set off by acts of annoyance, Cave clearly went too far already. It was only his first day and he wasn't going to let Cave think he can dump soap water on him all the time or do whatever the vile man can think of.

"Captain gave you a job on the ship. You can't leave the ship until it's done. It's a job that applies to all of us."

"You have got to be petching joking!! "

"No sir. Not one bit."

"Can I at least go home and change?!"

"Not without permission from the captain."

"Well where is the captain?" Gale inquired with rage still flaming in his eyes.

"In town." Tin said with a smile.

"Ha!" Gale laughed sarcastically, throwing his hands in the air. "Well is that perfect!" Gale was, to say the least, already sick of this job. The ship was a wreck, the crew was horrible, and the captain wasn't even here to try and keep an eye on it all? This has got to be the worst crew Gale has ever seen!

Before Tin was able to try and calm the man down, Gale was already heading for the dock, not giving a shyke about the petching damn rules. If they wanted to fire him, he wasn't stopping them. Who would want to work for a crew like that anyway! Although, the man didn't go very far. He didn't head towards the city, after all. Instead, he walked along the docks until he met the sand and the water, plopping himself down and starring at the ocean. He wanted to cool off. Gale liked to believe that was the reason he sat there, anyway. But inside, Gale knew he needed the job, and he hoped that Kutless wouldn't be too mad for leaving the ship if he was near by. Though he never actually looked for another job, he was almost positive that no job that paid anything decent would take on a man with part of a hand and a limp. He could hardly see it working that way. He wouldn't make a good farmer of any sort, he knows nothing of medicine, plus his hand wouldn't do much for medical purposes, he wasn't a good teacher, and why would a shop owner accept him over all of the student's applying? It just wouldn't make sense if they did. These sailors took him in with little judgement, besides Cave of course. He would be extremely lucky if he found another job so easily. He'd better try and stick with this job until he found one more suitable. Or at least one with employees that won't dump soap water in one's face.

[Ariann]

The sun was still rather high in the sky, Syna's grace still shining down from the pale-blue skies. The air was drifting about, lapping at the waves that broke against the shoreline. The sand was hot and dusty, yet cushiony enough.

Ariann sat in the water, a distance from the shore and a few feet beneath the waves. Her back was turned on the shore, the blued pigments of her skin giving her camoflague to those who would try to spot her. Her toes curled in the sand, which kicked up like a cloud of dust beneath the waves. It spread and faded out as the miniscule grains settled back to the ground. Ariann could feel a pit of lonliness twisting her insides. She'd been gone for an entire season now from Zeltiva. She feared that those she did know would not recognize her, and those she didn't know would not be nice to her.

Still, the ku-thunk of Gale plopping down on the sandy shore behind her resonated through the waters. It struck the holes on the side of her head, which served as ears above water and a form of sonar below water. She turned, looking over her shoulder while hugging her legs close to her chest. She could only wonder what had made the noise.

And curiosity hadn't killed this cat yet.

Ariann turned, keeping her body laxed of oxygen so she would not float to the top of the water as she inched her way up the sloped shoreline. The sand began to flurry up beneath her legs as they kicked and she gained speed. Before she knew it, she was swimming directly at the shoreline, at an angle that would sky-rocket her out of the water the way it always did.

And without a doubt, the waves broke open in a flurry of splashing water as Ariann soared out, flying at whoever was sitting there. She had timed it perfectly, her subconsciousness urging her forward, her hands outstretched and her lips peeling back to reveal the rows of sharp teeth. She looked quite scary, despite her gentle self. It was instinct that made her smile as she flew through the air.

POOMPH!

She landed atop Gale, flattening him beneath her naked body. She was a Charoda, a child of Laviku, and she rarely wore clothes. She had her eyes partially closed when she had rocketed herself out of the water, so she didn't know who she was flying at. Gale would find that after he recovered from the initial shock of being flattened by the Charodan girl that her skin, despite being rather damp and wet, was quite cold to the touch. Her arms, which ended up wrapped about the man's neck by accident, were gently squeezing the man's shoulders in a soft hug.

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Common Vani Nari

Gale angrily tucked his knees up against his chest, allowing the cold, wet clothes press against his skin. His eyes still burned but he was obnoxiously cold from the ocean winds brushing the already chilled water that was absorbed into his attire. It was an interesting contrast, but Gale could only wish that it would go away. And not just soap in his eyes, or the annoying crew. He wished everything would simply leave him be. The artist tended to do that every now and then. He would sulk by himself after whatever happened and then he'd begin to question why he was here and why aaaaall these things had to happen to him. It almost cost him his life once. But, of course, as luck may have it, punishment was the only enforcement he got. Tortured in a small alley by the very person who he could have called savior. That does a lot to a person... more than Gale realized.

As his green eyes watched the waves roll onto the sand only mere passes away, his mind ran through the timeline of his life once more. It was a habit that was deeply ingrained in the man that he hardly realized he was doing it until he questioned whether he should stay here anymore. He was sick of it though. His entire life was repetition interrupted occasionally by life threatening situations. As if he was suppose to simply go back to who he was when another precious soul was ripped from him. Another piece goes every year. A piece he'll never get back. But the real question was how much did he have left? It felt like he was nothing anymore. Just an empty glass that simply waited to either be filled once more or thrown away. But looking at his situation now, it looked like there was no use to reusing this particular glass.

I mean, just look at him. He hardly had a home of hi own since he was merely renting a room at a friends house. He lost what he loved to do most, and what replaced that? A lowly petching job where the only thing the co workers do is throw soap in your eyes and shove you down the stairs while they laugh and mock at your shame. He was probably going to get fired when Kutless came back anyway. Why should he keep him around? None of the workers liked him and-

Gale raised his head off his knees when he heard a muffled call. By instinct, he looked back over to the ship, not seeing anything besides the ship itself at first. But then a pair of flailing arms could be seen at the edge of the ship. He squinted his eyes to try and make out the figure. It was really just a blob of a silhouette really, but he figured it was Tin. But what was he doing? The sailor studied his flailing for a while, finally coming to the conclusion he was pointing to the water. The muffled yelling sounded nothing more than ,"Shaaaaaaaaa-" before it was engulfed by the wind and the crashing of the water. Gale tried to put two and two together.

Frantically flailing, pointing at the water, and yelling that sounds like Sh... Hm...

Shark?

Gale turned back to the water as a wave crashed to the shore. But what he saw was no shark fin. A row of sharp teeth grinned at him cruelly as a pair of hand extended out to him as the pupiless eyes starred at him. That moment appeared to be slower than most others as the realization of this monster coming toward him was comprehended. His eyes widened and a terrorized scream escaped his mouth and the blonde frantically tried to get out of the way of this 'shark'. But time was not on his side and the blue creature landed on him with immense force. A loud off let out into the air and Gale was thrown onto his back harshly and his head hitting the sandy floor.

Things were black for a few ticks. He only heard the sound of the water and the faint yelling in the distance. The recovery was slow and the Zeltivan opened his eyes in a daze, looking up at the sky. Next he eyed the sand and the water in front of him. But instead of seeing his feet in front of him as he would expect, he saw a blue mass laying on top of him. His eyes widened again. But then he felt a rib cage expanding on top of his. What the petch was this thing?!

Gale panicked and his baritone voice screamed again. His arms practically clawed at the limbs wrapped around his neck and his legs kicked to try and shove this... thing off him. He was unaware of this being being a Charoda, for to him it was some knew species of shark/octopus that fed off of land creatures. But he didn't really care nevertheless. He just wanted it off and that's all that mattered.

[Ariann]

Ariann had landed roughly. Really roughly. So roughly, in fact, that she was knocked out upon collision. Gale had provided her with a stiff landing, and his kicking and flailing didn't help her issue much. She caught several hits in the chest before she was pushed away, her body limply falling to the sand beside him. Ariann's head swirled and churned, her thoughts marred by the impact. She could see little more than black, and a small pinprick of light. And then her vision began to return as she opened her eyes, groaning. A rather large welt had formed upon her head where his foot had collided with her forehead.

"Owie..." She whimpered, her voice gentle, sweet and innocent. Her lips parted in a grimace of pain as she raised a webbed, delicate hand up to touch the soft spot on her head, revealing several rows of dagger-sharp teeth like those of a shark's. Her overall skin complexion was a gentle sea-blue with speckles of white intermixed with it and areas of lighter blue upon her forehead, shoulders, hips and chest. She was all but naked, nothing covering up the slick bumps upon her chest that mimicked the mammal female breast.

She sat up slowly, a hand moving behind her to prop herself up. Her facial features were different than most's. Her eyes, a wide set of emerald-green despite the light-blue translucent eyelid that covered them. Her nostrils, mere slits upon a barely-protruding mound on her face. Her lips, thin and dark-blue, yet supple and spreading widely across her face when she spoke. And last of all, her ears, which jutted out and up in a flare of many points. She had fins atop her head, too, which mimicked hair in a sort. There were seven fins in total. The first two sat upon the front-most of her head, parted to either side much like bangs. Another pair slid down either side like a plaited strand, making up the sides of what could be called her 'hairdo'. Three other fins protruded down the top and back of her head and down her back in a way that gave her a long-haired appearance. From the angle Gale had, she looked nothing like a shark, but despite her human-mimicked features, she was too aberrant to be human or any known race to him either.

She turned her head slowly, hesitantly, as she caught sight of the man's foot. Her eyes moved in a jerkish motion, slowly travelling from his ankles up to his knees and then to his crotch and chest before stopping on his face. Her eyes were wide with curiosity, and her lips parted ever so to reveal her jagged rows of teeth. It was an adorable, sinister mixture of awe and confusion that her expression gave off. "Edden cirssi basi nae?" The char words were slurred and quite grindish upon the air, asked in a cutesty, innocent tone. Ariann's eyes slowly closed and parted again as she blinked, trying to figure out what the man was staring at. Was it her?

"Did I hurt you, mister?" The words seemed to come from a mouth that theoretically should not be able to speak in such fluidity, the words having no gnashing or mis-speaking from her jagged teeth or clumsy lips.

The creature winced and let out a soft, shrill whimper as her own pain returned, her hand clapping to her forehead again where a dark-blue bruise seemed to be forming. "Owie... my head..." She whimpered in pain, hissing a bit as she drew in a breath through her mouth, "It burns..."

[Gale Austin McCenry]

Common Vani Nari

It wasn't exactly an accomplishment to be able to scare Gale. The artist wasn't fond of things jumping at him or lingering shadows or even large, menacing animals such as horses and large cats. He doesn't often encounter strange things, unless a hungry pack of wild dogs count. So, really, having a very odd looking creature you've never seen before fly, literally fly out of the ocean with sharp teeth and land on you is nothing short of phenomenal. Maybe even paranormal if you took it that far. Naturally, Gale was sure, anyone would react the same as he.

Gale continued to flail, pushing and shoving the strange creature off of him. Although the odd fins on top of it's head clearly signified it not being a shark, it was still a strange sea creature that looked like it wouldn't hesitate to eat his face. He continued to scream before the blue humanoid finally slid off him. He didn't hear her whimper, for instead, he rolled over onto his stomach and started to crawl, which turned into a scramble to stand up. Once he was up, he ran a few paces away from the scene. Okay, maybe it was more than a few paces.

Seeing as this creature was a sea creature, it couldn't possible chase him and get him from over here, right? Gale came to a stop, panting frantically as blood rushed through him and his heart beat against his chest. Green eyes peered over his shoulder to look at the blue... whatever it was to see if it was pursuing it. Thank Priskil it wasn't, but it sat there and rubbed it's head. It resembled a lot like a woman, but... what type of woman was that?!

Deciding that this thi- er- woman wasn't going to attack him again, Gale turned around to face the blue sea creature, but not daring to take a step closer. Behind him he could hear Tin crying out as he ran over to the two.

"Gale! Gale! Are you alright?!" He screamed, even when he finally made it to his side.

"I am fine Tin." Gale said, still huffing lightly as he started to calm down.

Tin looked at him with disbelief and eyed him briefly before coming to the same conclusion. The ginger then looked beyond Gale and to the Charoda, his cheeks flushing a bright red. "Oh. Erm... Uuuh- heheh, that's not a shark." He chuckled with embarrassment.

"No petchnig duh it is not a shark!" Gale glared at him.

"Heheh, yeah, that's a Charoda!"

"A whatty-what?"

"A Charoda! They're like us except they live in the sea and are... blue and have... tentacles and stuff." Tin slapped Gale's shoulder, though it didn't make his face any less red. It was obvious that Tin knew more about Charoda than he explained right then and there, but how else would you explain what a Charoda was to someone who just came in contact with one that looked like it was going to eat your face? "They're just like any other sentient race you see roaming around, simply that they need water in order to survive."

Gale starred at the woman, his cheeks now getting red,"Wait, you're telling me that I just kicked a WOMAN!?"

"Yeah! Pretty much!"

"Oh sweet Ssena-" Gale cursed at himself. He quickly left Tin's side to return to the stranger who was obviously in pain from his flailing,"Oh dear Ssena, I am sooo sorry ma'am-" Gale stuttered slightly and he knelt down beside her,"I-I-I did not mea- I am soooo sorry!" Gale attempted to sound as sincere as he could possibly be, for he really was sorry, but, how do you apologize for kicking someone in the face?" You just-just scared me!"

[Ariann]

"Hnnn... I-it's alright..." She whimpered. Believe it or not, she was not quite as squishy as she had once been, back when she'd first come to Zeltiva. She had been through many trials, many errors and many a harm, but thankfully she had not suffered much that was worse than a kick to the forehead. Wincing with one eye shut, she looked up at Gale. She could finally see his face with a bit more clarity now that things had settled down. He had a grizzly sort of look to him, his eyes were worn and depraved of much other than a creative glint in the pupils. His chin had sparse hairs sticking out every now and then, and coupled with his dismayed hairstyle, he definitely had the look of a sailor. She blinked, letting her eyes wander over to Tin, who apparently knew more about Charodae than Gale did. Gale must have been a new sailor.

Ariann slowly clambered to her feet, standing a measly five-foot and a few inches, well beneath the height that Gale had. She winced a bit as she stood, swaying for a moment before catching herself. "Unh... are you okay, mister?" She asked with a selfless worry that one would only find in a naive girl like Ariann. She didn't do well in hiding her own pain, keeping her left eye partially closed and a hand over the bump that was beginning to form on her head. "I am sorry if I... if I hurt you when I landed on you..." she said with a soft, ginger tone that was laden with worry and regret, and had a cutesy tone that might have been a bit too adorable for such a dangerous-looking creature, what with the sharp teeth and all.

The hand that was held over her bump began to glow lightly with a bright, opalescent light that radiated from a swirling mark upon the back of her hand. Anyone who had any knowledge with the Isle of Mura, the goddess Rik'keli or her healers would recognize the mark of Rik'keli upon the back of Ariann's hand as the light faded back until the gleaming mark was left over, seemingly swirling, writhing and moving within her skin. The bump remained, but the Gnosis mark had removed the majority of the bruising she had received, returning the slight mound to it's normal aqua-blue shade.

"I am really sorry for startling you..." She spoke up softly, letting her hands fall before her as they clasped together, an apologetic look spreading across her now-bowed face. "I did not think I was that scary..."