Closed [Soothing Waters] This is Otterly confusing (Solugh)

[Garland]

Summer 24

It had been a rough day so far, and it was slowly getting too much for the squire, with the events happening here and there, and just the daily grind running him dry, he needed to relax.

The soothing waters was just the place for a squire to relax and just laze about for the rest of the day. Garland walked down the stairs and sees the entrance to the reception desk into the springs. "Hello Ivis. It's been a while."

"Oh, Hello Garland, it has been a while, so what'll it be? Just a small bath?" The man said and directed him to the locker rooms. Garland nodded and walked to the back. He took off his clothes and placed them in one of the lockers. He felt sweaty, his muscles ached and cried out for the calming waters of the hotsprings.

Garland grabbed a towel and wrapped it along his waist. He gave a few stretches and walked out to the spring. The springs were fairly empty right now, though it should be, it was a bit early for a bath, but since he had a lot of things to do later in the day, this was his only free time.

He removed the towel and climbed into the soothing warm waters of the spring. He sighed as the water washed away the dirt and sweat he had on his skin and muscles. "Ahhh... The water feels great." He said to himself and submerged himself in the water for a few ticks.

He resurfaced and relaxed by the edge of the pool. He spread out his hands on the edge and let the calm waters run across his body. He yawned a bit and closed his eyes. Ivis or someone else will wake him up soon anyway, maybe a few winks wouldn't hurt.

Garland closed his eyes and images of his previous visit here flashed through his mind, the time he had almost drowned April. He still felt guilty about that, even though it was purely accidental and she had forgiven him, but still, he felt bad for even hurting her.

Voices filled his mind, voices of the past, he was never a popular child growing up, in fact even if he was trying to do the right thing, people would always try to gang up on him, even betraying his trust, he had hurt people by accident, but he always had good intentions. He closed his eyes again, seeing images of things he had done.

He had tried to stop his fights, he tried to be a pacifist, but they pushed him, they hurt people he cared about, and he wouldn't sit idlely by while bullies ruled the orphanage. He was a fighter at heart, he was brash and loud, boisterous and lively, he was the type to either die with a sword in his hand.

He shouldn't be left alone with his thoughts... His mind was a lonely one, he never liked being alone, he had spent too much time alone already. He cheered himself up, he put on a mask, covering his sadness for the longest time, a fake smile through his childhood, because he didn't want the few people that cared about him to worry about him.

Even now, he had his mask on for the longest time, he had never truly been happy except when he had met April and fallen in love. It was one of the only times he had let go of his mask and actually smiled. He rubbed face, he needed to see April again, maybe later today if he had the chance. No, he's going to make the chance.

He sighed and tried to let the waters take his mind off of his thoughts, but it wasn't working, he needed some form of mental activity to help him take his mind of his depressing thoughts, maybe talking to someone.

[Solugh]

Solugh had almost not noticed the man submerging himself into the waters. Almost. The otter had lost all track of time since he entered the spring, more so than normal. He had stumbled across the contained water about a week prior and had taken to sneaking in while wearing his smaller form. He noted that most people did not tend to notice small creatures if they weren't looking down and had only almost gotten seen twice. Today, however, he had gotten through with absolutely no incidents. Until now.

The man's leg was getting very close to the hoard of small, shiny things that Solugh had been collecting since his arrival in Syliras. Broken chain necklaces, small coins, and interesting stones sat heaped on a precariously ordered pile near the bank of the spring the man had just invaded. Panic seeped into the furry creature as the foot decided to alter its very destiny on a collision course with his collection. In almost slow motion Solugh watched with abject horror as the nearing appendage set off catastrophic events. The first ripple of water only served to make the pile dance a little. But then, without warning, the pile slowly dismantled itself into less of a very detailed, organized shrine of beautiful things to a massacre of discarded junk.

With a rising anger, the otter propelled himself forward to avenge his loss. His tiny claws gripped into the foot, each claw digging in just enough to pull him forward, spinning around the man's body to avoid getting a gut punch like the one he received at the river what seemed like ages ago now. Leg, rear, back and finally chest, Solugh ripped around the man coming face to face, eye to eye, cheek to cheek with the muscled man.

Solugh began chittering angrily, explaining in vast detail the sins that this oblivious man had committed, gesticulating with his small otter paws. A small jump here and a spin there, and he had definitely made his point very clear. What kind of person would just walk into water without looking where they were going? Without fear that maybe someone else had set up a shrine of some import? Standing on the man's chest, he glared intently into the man's eyes, certain that his display would shame the man into apologetic frenzy.

Otter Sounds :

What an angry otter sounds like.

[Garland]

Garland was about to fall asleep but then he felt sharp pain in his foot and made him jolt awake. He looked down on the water, seeing something... furry climb up to him. "W-What?" Garland said and watched the tiny furry thing climb up to him.

"What?" Garland repeated and listened to the details of his wrong-doings to the little otter person. "You're so adorable!" He screamed and hugged the tiny furry thingy. "I hope you don't have rabies or something, you're just so cute and so fluffy and cuddly and wuvvable and awww, you make the cutest chirping sound things." Garland picked up the little otter and pressed his nose on the little otter's nose.

Garland put his foot down and felt a small sharp pain in his foot, he looked down into the water and saw a lot of junk just spewed around here and there. "Now, who would leave these things lying here. Someone could get hurt." He looked at the otter he had in his hands and let him go. "I'm guessing it was you, huh? Sorry about that, I'll help you out." He bent down into the water and pulled out a small sharp stone that found itself inside his foot.

He resurfaced and looked at his new tiny friend. "Do you live here or something?" He asked the little furry thing and looked down to the shiny things the otter has collected, maybe they can find a better place for him to store his things.

He returned to the warm waters and scooped up a small handful of things and placed them down on dry ground. "Why'd you collect these things anyway? They look shiny but I would have pegged animals to be a bit less... materialistic and more survival, taking only the important things." He said and dove back down to grab a few more shiny trinkets his marsupial pal had collected.

He resurfaced and looked the otter with a small smile. "Hmmm... I always talk to animals as if they can understand me, its weird, but at least it's better than the mind-numbing quiet I get when I'm forced to study. I don't need to know how math works to be a knight right? Right? Hahaha! Look at me, I'm still talking like you can talk back or something."

He yawned and poked otter's belly. "Hehe, soft." He said and continued to tickle the little animal. "You're just so adorable." He let his guard down, he could get bit by a wild animal that may or may not be infected with some disease or something.

[Solugh]

Solugh's right eye twitched at the man so haphazardly moving his things. Who does he think... Why would he even... The chittering from the otter only grew in volume and stopped abruptly as the man's finger poked Solugh's midsection. He sank into the water in shock for a moment, squirming at the man's continued molestation, then began to formulate what to do. Well there is no way someone this inconsiderate could be who I bond to, he decided with a haughty bubble escaping his nostril. However... he seems to think I am only an otter, so probably best not to disillusion him...

Solugh whirled around the man's submerged legs again and clambered onto side of the water where the trinkets lay. With a small bit of fuss he began to rearrange his pile to his liking, every few moments stepping back to admire his art. No two shiny things were alike, but each had its place in the world, and its compliment. Much like people, the otter thought to himself. Big rocks first, on the bottom, to create a foundation. Medium shinies would come next, creating arcs and bridges, catching the light in such a way that made Solugh feel at peace. Lastly, he filled in the gaps with the small pieces. It was really this last bit that pulled the whole piece together. Just because something is small, does not mean that it does not have its own place and time to pull the bigger picture together.

Now came the issue of what to do about the lummox who destroys perfectly good art by not watching where he is going. Leaving his masterpiece, Solugh slid back into the water, content that the man would not be rude enough to ruin it twice. The water met him and immediately began to wash away his negative feelings. It was hard to be mad and swim at the same time he had found. Within moments the wet creature was back face-to-face with the man, giving what he believed to be the most disapproving of glares. Let's see what he has to say for himself.

[Garland]

"Right right, sorry about your little... statue thingy. You're a little artist aren't you?" Garland looked at the little otter and gave a small smile. "You're just the cutest little thing." He said as he watched the tiny otter swim around the little spring. "How long have you been here, little buddy?"

He let the warm spring waters soothe his mind and body, and let the little swimming otter occupy his short attention span. He loved the otter's tiny feet, he was just the most adorable thing he has ever seen, easily topping Nivel, the Pycon mage.

He spread out his arms on the lip of the spring and yawned. "Hmmm... Aren't Otters like... social animals or something? They usually have a partner right? Are you alone here, little guy?" He said and swam over to the relaxing mammal.

"Hmmm... Now that I think about it... Otter's aren't usually native to Syliras proper, are you from the Mithryn Outpost or something? Are you someone's pet? Wouldn't be the weirdest pet I've seen, there was this one girl with a pet alligator, though there was a possibility that the alligator was a Kelvic... Sorta like you, you seem pretty artistic for a wild animal." Garland was still clueless about the otter's true identity, he was oblivious of even the most obvious of things at times.

He poked the otter's head and tilted his head. "Are you a boy or a girl? I can never tell, I haven't seen any other otters before, just drawings in books. Hmmm... What do you eat? If you do live here than... there aren't many fishes in the near vicinity of the springs... unless you raid the kitchen, if that is the case, you're a pretty good thief." He submerged his head under water moved away from the otter's shrine unless he might accidentally destroy it again.

[Aladari Coolwater]

Name:Character 1

XP Award:

• Swimming: +2
• Animal Husbandry: +1
• Interrogation: +1

Lore:

• Self: Can't be Left Alone with Thoughts
• Otters are the Cutest!
• Kelvics: More Artistic than Wild
• Location: Soothing Waters

Penalties/Rewards :

I can't find the price of a bath, but whatever it is, don't forget to deduct that in your ledger.

Comments :

Don't forget to edit your request to reflect its graded status. If you have any questions or feel I forgot something, please contact either me or Reflection.