Completed The calm to be had (Tazrae)

[Marino Oceangem]

12th of Summer, 520 AV

The morning after the massive storm that had enveloped Syka was met with hope. Marino was in good spirits, despite the fact he’d been kept up half the night with worry over the Seasilk and Twist. If Tazrae hadn’t been there to talk to, he probably would’ve been in a sour mood. However, as it was, things were good with him if a little tense while he waited for word about the settlement. So far word was good, they were just waiting for one or two more scouts to return. In the meantime, he sought out Stu and took a seat beside him, setting his backpack down between his legs. “Do you think-” He started to ask when Nesra came running in, heading immediately for the founders. Stu stood up and joined the crowd of people forming up to hear the news. Marino followed close behind.

What Nesra had to say was rather shocking, and to his surprise it wasn’t about any damage. Apparently objects of great power had washed up during the storm, and animals had carried them off. While Marino struggled to wrap his mind around that, someone he didn’t recognize spoke up about the artifacts. He was stunned as this strange conversation quickly became credulous as the man explained what these totems were, and their significance. A name also came up. Kihala. Marino didn’t know who that was but if they could control animals, he wondered if that was really someone he wanted to mess with as the man suggested that they search for where they hid these totems.

Despite his reservations though, he was intrigued by the whole thing. The search sounded like quite the adventure an a good excuse to explore for parts of Syka he hadn’t stumbled across yet. Quietly, he glanced around for Tazrae, but snapped to attention when Matthias started asking for volunteers. Without really thinking about it, Marino’s hand shot up among others. He didn’t really see Tazrae yet, but he was confident they would find each other sooner or later. For now, he filtered out of the shelter among the rest, making a point to head straight for his casinor that was beached along the shoreline.

To his sweet relief, the Seasilk was in good shape all things considered. Putting his hands together, and closing his eyes, he took a brief moment to be grateful for the help he’d received the previous evening pulling her onto the land. The storm had come on so fast he couldn’t have done it by himself safely without their help. He’d have to do something nice for them in return for helping him and welcoming him into their shelter. Just what, he didn’t know yet, but he was sure the sea would provide his answer. For now, he would do his part in assisting the search. After he had examined the Seasilk of course.

Upon closer inspection, aside some debris strewn across the deck, the casinor was as he’d left her. Sure the lines were a little more loose than he remembered, but his imagination last night had expected far worse. Now that he knew his boat was intact, he could comfortably get to work. He gave the hull one more check before pushing her back onto the water. Marino stopped almost immediately however as already it was hotter than shite out so he stripped down to nothing before continuing to push the Seasilk back into the sea.

The water was just what he needed to feel against his baked skin, and feeling rejuvenated, he pushed it the rest of the way out into the water before climbing up onto the dock, and tying her off. With that done, he went back an retrieved his clothes, though he didn’t put them on. Instead, he stowed them with his backpack below deck before heading back towards the commons in search of Tazrae. He did wonder briefly if he should bring his bag, but he figured he could always return here if it turned out he needed it. The commons was where he decided to search for her first as last he’d seen that was were most of the volunteers had been organizing to start the search. With any luck, others had done as he had, and checked on their home situation first before heading off to look for artifacts.

[Tazrae]

The girl came awake slowly. She hadn't wanted to get up at all, truth be told, but a steady warm drumbeat thudded in her ear and made her come awake long before dawn. Tazrae guessed shed' been asleep perhaps two or three bells before her internal clock started ringing that it was time to rise and get busy. As an Innkeeper, most of her work got done in the quiet before the guests stirred all wanting breakfast.

But she wasn't home in her bed. Only part of her was comfortable and she rubbed her chin and blinked her eyes slowly open to realize she was snuggled against someone who wasn't her puppy. The drumbeat was actually a heartbeat and the scent of the sea and more exotic spices filled her senses. She smiled before she realized she should have been mortified, and quietly sat up. Marino was sprawled out asleep across her bedroll proving that Svefra could sleep just about anywhere. She'd evidently joined him in the nap, using his chest as a pillow. Creature, on the other hand, had used her as a pillow and her legs were now completely asleep. She shoved off the Imperial Watcher and noted that he came awake almost immediately. He probably had to go out.

Tazrae moved slowly so as not to wake the sleeping Svefra. It was embarrassing enough that she'd offered him the bedroll and kept the blanket, then had moved in to use him as a pillow when he had her own tucked under his head. If he woke up now, she knew she'd never live it down. So she was slow, deliberate, and crept awake well before Syna shown in the sky. Then she took the pup to see if it was safe to use the grass outside to relieve himself; if the storm had calmed.

It had calmed and the debris-strewn clearing before the storm shelter was safe enough to traverse. By the time they'd gotten back inside the main cave people were beginning to stir. She jumped in at the kitchen, helping people were already starting to put on breakfast. Tazrae found herself at a stove, scrambling large quantities of eggs. Someone was frying pork belly nearby that smelled almost divine. She noted when Marino passed by, worry all over his face. She tried to wave with a spatula but the crowd around the kitchen area was so thick by then there was no way he'd probably see the gesture.

They fed the hungry masses, and Tazrae worried about all the debris she'd seen. Was Marino's casinor okay? Was the dock fine where the Veronica had been tied up? How was the Inn? She wasn't too worried about her building because she knew how strong Randal had made it and how well he'd designed it for the storms they had here. But still... not knowing was hard.

When they had fed everyone who claimed to be hungry, then fed themselves, Tazrae helped clean up. The announcement that Nesra had made and the subsequent discussion wasn't something the girl had actually heard bent over one of the stoves, but word traveled fast and soon enough the people volunteering in the Kitchen area were abuzz with the news.

But no matter how excited, they still helped put the shelter to rights before they left to join the search. Tazrae packed up her little camp, made sure the fire was good and out, and then headed back to The Protea Inn. She assessed the damage, decided it could all wait and left off her gear that wasn't needed to overnight. She repacked her backpack to Uta's survival standards, changed her clothes into more jungle appropriate gear, and went to The Commons to see if anyone had any news and if any parts of the Totems had been found.

Taz left Creature at home, shut up in her room. The dog had experienced way too much excitement in the last few days and searching for magical objects out in the settlement might just be more than she could handle, even if he was on his best behavior.

It was there she all but ran into Marino. She stopped in front of him, looked everywhere but at him, then finally stammered out.... "How's the Seasilk? Is she okay? The Inn just has sand blown up on the decks... otherwise, we're fine. I had all the furniture put away..... inside.... Randal warned me.....but there are palm fronds everywhere... I..." She shut her mouth and smiled sheepishly at him. Did she just say she put furniture away? Inside? Really? She'd just said that? She grabbed at her backpack tighter to keep her hands from covering her face.

Tazrae wasn't a blusher. Her faint Benshira heritage that gifted her with the deep golden skin precluded such things. But her embarrassment was clear in her other actions.

The Innkeeper took a deep breath and then spit it out. "I'm sorry I used you for a pillow last night. I didn't mean too...." Tazrae added, biting at her lower lip and suddenly finding something interesting to nudge with the toe of her boot. Words filled her mind... what her mother would say about her shameless behavior.... what her stepfather would say...

Word Count: 913

[Marino Oceangem]

As Marnio approached the commons, it sunk in what a near disaster that storm had been. Debris from the storm was everywhere he looked. Bits of seaweed, fragments of shells, leaf litter and more were strewn across the ground. It made him feel a little selfish that he hadn’t stayed with the people in the shelter a little longer instead of coming straight out here to check on the Seasilk. He should have seen if there was anything they needed him to do before he left. That was something he was going to have to work on. The people of Syka had taken him it. The least he could do was help out with the group effort before setting his own individual needs in order. Marino would’ve thought that would come naturally to him, but that was with his pod. He wasn’t used to thinking of these people that way. Well, except he felt like Tazrae was part of his pod. Tazrae. Tazrae, her Inn. She’d woken up first, and he hadn’t caught her on his way out.

Troubled, he stepped into the commons. To his mixture of surprise and relief, Tazrae was suddenly in front of him. She didn’t look at him when she spoke. Marino felt a pang of guilt for his unintended slight, listening quietly as she spoke. He thought he knew what was on her mind until she actually spoke it. Then sudden as the sun coming out, he felt a lightness in his chest, and couldn’t help but smile. It was tempered somewhat when he remembered what she’d been through in Riverfall, so he decided to speak to that part of her.

“That’s fine. I’m fine with it, and I don’t think anyone here would judge you for it. You’re free to live your life as you please. As free as any Svefra on the sea.” He said, pausing to consider his own actions that night. “I’m sorry I took your bedroll, I hadn’t intended to sleep more than a wink. I woke up with my mind still spinning from the storm and came straight out here once we were given the clear. She’s fine. The Seasilk I mean. I should have stayed though. Checked on the Inn with you. I’ll help with any cleaning you need me to.” Marino spoke earnestly, his hands fidgeting at his sides as he couldn’t make up his mind with what to do with them as he went through a range of emotions with Tazrae. He was finding that it was a lot easier to gesture when speaking Fratava than it was with common. Perhaps he would try to teach her it one day, if she wanted to learn it.

After studying the waves that were playing across his lower ribs, he spoke again. “That news about the totems sounds pretty exciting. I can’t help but to wonder what they might mean, coming with the storm like that. The animals hiding them away. Its all so intriguing.” He stopped, and tried to meet her eyes. “I was wondering if you wanted a bit of help cleaning, and then maybe we go on a search of our own?” His eyes were full of hope as he studied her face, her eyes, her nose, then back to her eyes again. Those beautiful blues. Realizing he might be staring a little too intently, he grinned slightly and looked down. A moment later, they gravitated back up. He let it go at that, not fighting what his eyes wanted to see.

[Tazrae]

Tazrae studied Marino. Was it really that simple? Was she free to live her life here? Hadn’t that been what she was doing? The young Innkeeper brought her hand to her face and rubbed it firmly, tilting her neck to one side. Her neck popped uncomfortably and she sighed thoughtfully, pensive and unsettled.

“No apologies necessary. I’m glad the Seasilk is fine. I was very worried about your casinor… about everyone on the water.” She added, glancing around. Things felt so calm now, almost normal. The danger was over, at least for the time being.

“I just need to sweep off the decks at the Inn to rid it of the sand. It’s not something I need help with…. unless you decide gathering up and burning dead vegetation is fun.” Tazrae added, glad for the subject change. It was true enough she was her own person, but there was still a sharp learning curve on how she went about doing that. She didn’t want her mother and step-father’s actions and beliefs to influence her here. Yet sometimes those voices were in her head. It felt traitorous to ignore them and a whole lot of ungrateful.

Tazrae noted Marino’s excess hand gestures, but she wasn’t fluent enough in the Svefra tradespeak to know what exactly he was saying, or trying to say, so she ignored it with a small smile. Old habits died hard, causing her to suspect Common wasn’t his first tongue.

“I heard her story. It’s fantastical, isn’t it? Like something from one of the old tales. I wanted to search right away, to help the Founders. The sweeping and cleaning up debris at the Inn can come later. I have torchlight to do that by tonight if our search stretches out. And I’m expecting a new guest tomorrow, or so rumor has said.” She said thoughtfully. Then she smiled at Marino again and reached out to take his hand briefly just to squeeze it. “Let’s search, my friend. Shall we start here? We’re already standing in The Commons after all.” She added. Then began to move. She mentally quartered off the commons and began to systematically search all quarters.

There were a lot of people here. It made sense being the main area of the settlement. And everyone was peering under every bush, behind every tree, and even looking up into the branches. She back-tracked, tried to be thorough, but still found nothing.

People were clearly already searching the area, but Tazrae wasn’t deterred. She glanced around and gestured. “Hit every shadow, beneath the upraised Commons, behind the stairs…. Check even the storage where the linens and pads for the Guest Quarters are stored?” She suggested and excitedly continued to search. It was, in fact, a sort of fever. There was treasure around… think of it! Magical treasure!

Tazrae decided, after almost half a bell, that there was nothing to be found in the Commons. So she stood in its center and looked at all the areas that lead off from the Commons.

“The Forge has lots of storage. Let’s go see if something isn’t there?” She called to Marino, whom she assumed was searching just as hard. The Innkeeper crossed the distance to the forge, and continued her search, again mentally dividing up the area into quarters and searching each quarter thoroughly. There weren’t many places to hide – for sure – but she had to keep looking. Nesra had insisted the pieces were carted off, but that they couldn’t have gone far.

“This is frustrating….” Tazrae admitted, looking around. “Maybe the Kiln next? Has anyone found any of the pieces yet?” She added, then headed in the direction of the Communal Kiln. She actually opened the door of the Kiln, crawled in it, and got a good look at what was inside. Then she crawled out, and began searching shelving and storage, even so far as to peer up at the roof above the kiln to see if anything was stored there. No… Nothing…

She turned to Marino, frustration all over her face. “It would help if we had an idea of what they looked like. Pieces of a totem? What does that mean anyhow? You know… I was reading a book once where a young man was teaching himself to hunt and he had this concept he talked about called a “search image”… its where if you’ve seen something before, your brain has a lot easier time finding it if it has an image of that item already in one’s mind.” She said, frustrated, and glancing around.

“Where do you think we should look next?” She asked, knowing her choices were poor ones and he might have a better idea.

Word Count: 786

[Marino Oceangem]

Marino wasn’t sure what she was feeling after he’d spoken. It certainly wasn’t the reaction he had been expecting, though perhaps he had been a little naive in his expectations. Sometimes it was easy to forget that the whole world didn’t see everything the same way he did. He remembered how his rearing had differed from hers, and tried to imagine how that made her feel. When that proved to complicated to do while paying attention at the same time, he shelved that thought for later. That was something he could improve on, trying to see things from another eyes, and it was an idea he cared about enough to easily remember later when he had a moment to himself.

“The Seasilk is going to get the same treatment tonight. The place was covered in the stuff when I came this morning.” He shook his head, smiling in spite of the work to come. It was easy to switch gears towards searching for these magical pieces. The whole idea of it was exciting as his mind ran through the possibilities. Which turned out to be limitless because so far as magic was concerned, he hadn’t a clue about what was and what wasn’t possible. Though he still didn’t have any idea about what exactly he was looking for out here. “I was thinking the same thing.” He said, giving her hand a squeeze back before he started looking.

His approach was unrefined, poking and prodding at everything that looked man made as he looked about the commons. This of course yielded him very little for his efforts, and it came to the point where he started trying to decide if he needed a different approach. Then Tazrae made a suggestion and he decided to run with it. “That sounds like a proper place for it!” He said as he ducked under the stairs to check below them first. When he didn’t see anything there, he moved further beneath the commons, then he found where the linens were stored. He found nothing, which was a little disappointing but not wholly unexpected. With as many eyes here as there were now, he should have expected no less.

Tazrae seemed of a similar mind as he joined up with her. “I could see that being a good place to hide something. Does anyone know how big these totems are anyways? I think I might have missed that part of the discussion.” He said as they made their way over to the forge. There he worked with Tazrae to give the place a thorough once over. That didn’t take as long though as it really wasn’t a large area. Similarly frustrated, Marino sighed giving her next suggestion some thought while thinking up a few of his own to try next if that didn’t work. “I haven’t any crowds gathering, and I think that might be just a thing to gather around so there are probably still a few around her somewhere. If only we knew what exactly we were looking for.” Marino said as he followed her to the Kiln where it was more of the same story. Lot of searching, but nothing really turning up.

Marino’s brow furrowed as he turned up yet again empty handed. “There has got to be something we are missing. Some idea that would help us move forward. Maybe if we get lucky and find one the rest will be easier. I’ve been thinking of a few places while we searched and I was thinking we could start with the Communal Kitchens. Does that work for you?” He asked.

After they’d had a chance to discuss about it, he would set off with Tazrae towards the Kitchens, and there they actually had some success. While Marino had been checking around the planters, Tazrae managed to find an object that resembled an elephant’s legs. Marino immediately thought of the Ashta when he saw them. “You found something!” He said, finally regaining the excitment he’d felt at the beginning of their journey. Whatever else they found today, it wouldn’t be fruitless at least. “Why don’t we check the guest quarter’s next?” He asked, keen on finding something else to add to their fortune today.

At the next place, he worked on being more thorough when the search began again in earnest. He felt spurred on by their earlier success. He went so far as to crawl under the structures after checking around the hammocks. Under one of them, he found something strange that he didn’t know what to make of it. It was ornamented and stylized in a way he didn’t recognize as anything in particular but it did look pretty to look at. “Look what I found.” He called out after crawling from under the structure, and holding up to present to Tazrae. Marino was starting to wish he had brought his bag now as he thought about carrying around while they searched. Maybe they should drop it off by the commons like the founders suggested. “Want to search one more place before we drop these off? I was thinking we could look around the Community water storage.”

There they had less luck, but he was unperturbed. They had found two so far and that seemed like a very good start to him. He still searched his best between the barrels stored there but when neither of them turned up anything, he decided it was best that they brought these back before they continued on. With the heat really setting in, he had a good place in mind of where to start when they got back to it. “After we bring these by, I was thinking we could go by the Tidepool bar. We could get out of this heat a little while we searched for another. What do you think?”

[Tazrae]

She was feeling a bit better about the search they were on once they each came up with an item. Tazrae wasn’t quite sure what a set of elephant legs would do, but the piece of totem was artistic enough that they looked like real elephants. And now that they knew what each of the items looked like, she thought perhaps they might be easier to find. They both now knew what they were looking for instead of the wild inner imaginings she was enjoying.

Tazrae looked thoughtful, her elephant legs clutched in her hands as she walked, and nodded. “Yes, let's drop these back by the commons so we aren’t lugging them around. But instead of searching the bar, which probably everyone has hit by now… let's go back and look through the Dovecote.. I don’t think anyone has made it there yet… then swing through the Events Center and then dart through to the pool. I’d rather search the farther away places first… bring back our pieces… and see how much ground we can cover before we get a drink. One leads to another and another and then food… then the whole day will be gone.” She cautioned.

If he agreed, she’d lead them back to the Commons, start a pile of their statue pieces alongside where everyone else seemed to be dropping theirs off. Kultra was there, looking them over with Mathias, who promised to take good care of them as they were brought in. Then Tazrae led Marino back up over to the Community Events Center where they looked under each table and even up in the rafters with no luck.

Tazrae’s good mood persisted though. They’d had some luck already. “Honestly, finding pieces to a statue in a jungle is extremely unlikely… that we found two already is lucky. And others are finding things too. This might take some time, but I’m assuming getting them back together is the goal and it might be one we can achieve.” She added happily. to where the dovecot path split off from the Storm Shelter and together, they walked into the building and began searching.

It was Marino’s sharp gaze that spotted the parrot base about ten feet above their heads lodged on a ledge the doves normally nested in. Tazrae laughed and immediately began climbing up the side of the dovecote – the dove nooks making excellent hand and footholds – to retrieve it. Once she had it in her hands, she tossed it carefully down to Marino so they could climb down.

“This was a good idea coming here.” She said with a cheeky grin as they departed the dovecote, prize in hand, and dropped it by the commons on their way to the Community Pool. Their luck held out there as well because in the deepest warmest pool, a chimp head floated. Tazrae laughed when Marino spotted it and pointed out that she’d climbed for the last one… he could swim for this one. And a wicked little part of her liked the idea of Marino shucking his clothes off for a quick swim to fetch it while she watched – the picture of serious searcher hiding the delighted young woman beneath.

Some sights were worth it… that was for sure.


When Marino had fetched the head – however, he decided to do it – Tazrae would add in her next thoughts. “That’s two…. Where too now?” She asked, knowing they were still in the relatively close vicinity of the Syka Commons. They hadn’t really ventured out much or deeper into the jungle without an escort. “We should take that head back to the commons and look at the more uncommon places… and maybe check the beach and dock… I don’t think anyone’s looked there either.” She added, knowing everyone had rushed off immediately.

“I’m open to anywhere though.” She added, feeling like they were really doing something to help with this search and whatever the totems coming ashore meant to the settlement. This wasn’t something she’d want to sit out, that much was for sure.

Word Count: 715

[Marino Oceangem]

Marino considered the offer carefully before nodding. “Makes sense to me, and sound like we can cover more ground that way” He said with a broad grin, looking down at the headdress and running the ball of his thumb across the detailed grooves. Even if these statues weren’t said to have some power to them, they’d have value as artistic pieces that was for certain. Looking at their totems, he didn’t have a clue how they were made, but he was excited to have a start at putting them together.

With their totems secured with the rest that had been found, Marino followed Tazrae to the Community center where they did their best to check in every nook and cranny. No such luck however, though the area was a good deal spacious, taking a decent amount of time to cover properly. “True, we’ll have keener eyes for the rest of them now that we’ve got a rough idea about their size and appearance.” Marino agreed, taking the fruitless search in stride. Minor set back aside, Marino didn’t let it damper his spirits as they moved on to the next place they had mentioned.

It was a place he hadn’t been to before, and now that he had, well. It certainly was interesting with all the birds about. He didn’t know what kind they were, but their plumage didn’t look like the feathers on the totem he had found. While watching the birds fly about, he noticed something strange in a ledge one was perched beside. Something that looked a little incongruous with the rest of the wall. “Hey Tazrae, do you think that is something?” Marino asked, pointing to the spot, and watched as Tazrae climbed up. Glad to not have to climb himself, he waited nearby just in case Tazrae fell or something. Thinking about that, it appeared his anxiety of heights had extended to her which was something he’d have to think about later. When she came down he found out that it did appear to be a piece they were looking for.

Catching the base he looked at it to see it appeared to be a bottom piece from the shape of the wooden base. “Yes it was. Another one down, quite physically in this case.” Marino grinned, and turned to leave the dovecote with Tazrae. They left that piece at the commons too before continuing onto the pool. Something he was quite looking forward to since that had been half the reason he wanted to go to the Tidepool bar in the first place. Well, three quarters if he was being honest. It really had been a hot day.

With that on his mind, Marino was quick to strip when he spotted the head floating in one of the pools. He jumped in readily, and spent his time swimming out to the totem piece. The water was pleasantly deep so he could fully submerge himself as he swam towards it. He tucked it under his arm after retrieving it, reluctantly swimming back to shake off the water once he’d gotten back onto the lip of the pool. Getting a good look at the head right now, he got an uncomfortable idea that it was somehow staring at him with its a little too realistic eyes. He pointed the head away from him on the ground as he slowly pulled on his clothes. There was definitely a swim in the cards for him later as that had been far to brief, though for now, he had a mind for searching for more idols with their luck running so strong right now.

“That sounds good to me. With our luck so far, maybe we’ll find something else that the others missed.” He grinned as they went to take the chimp head back to the commons. Along the way back he saw a possible trail through the jungle that they passed and pointed it out to Tazrae. “Maybe we could try that first. Looks like a path of some sort, though I’ll probably want to grab my backpack first.” If Tazrae was so inclined, after dropping off the chimp head Marino would jog back to the Seasilk to put on his backpack, leaving behind the rucksack as he didn’t expect an extended trip down wherever that trail led. Then after regrouping with Tazrae, he retraced their steps back to the trail they’d passed earlier.

As that happened, Juli was coming up from the direction of the pools, and Marino offered a small wave. “Care to venture into the jungle with us? Going to see if we have any luck down this way.” Juli favored them a smile, and nodded. “Sure, why not? The sooner we assemble these totems the better, and more eyes couldn’t hurt.” Relieved to have the help, Marino looked to Tazrae for confirmation that she was ready before following Juli through the break in the jungle. Remembering their previous venture with Uta, Marino did his best to step where Juli did, but he forgot about taking out his hatchet to chop down something to walk with. Forgot until he almost slipped on a slick root. He held his hands longways to steady himself, and then chuckled. “Suppose thats why we need the stick.” He said and then cast about for those poles they’d used with Uta.

Juli found some a little ways down the path, and unstrapping his hatchet from his backpack he stepped forwards to take a few swings. It was much harder than it looked, and jarred his wrist with every swing though eventually he did get a couple of rough hewn bamboo poles for them to walk with. “I took Uta’s advice to heart when I resupplied.” Marino said with a grin to Tazrae as he put the hatchet back onto his pack. While they walked down the path, he rotated his wrist a bit to get some of the stiffness from it.

Eventually, the path opened up into what could only be described several overgrown structures. That wasn’t what first caught his eye though, as his eyes had been drawn to the movement all around them. Above and below, monkeys chattered with one another, watching them with wary eyes. A few brave smaller ones even walked up to within a few meters but backed away when he approached. Marino stood up straight, and took in the place. He wasn’t sure what the structures where, but this certainly did look like a good place to search. Provided the monkeys didn’t mind at least. Looking from Juli to Tazrae, he asked. “What sort of place do you think this was?”

[Tazrae]

Tazrae had, realistically, just stood there and grinned when Marino had made his swim. She laughed heartily when he’d turned the thing away from him while he was getting dressed again. “Unnerving, aren’t they?” She said, her own base strapped to her pack now where it left her hands free for clambering around and possibly more climbing. She hoped everyone else had as much luck as Marino was having. She herself wasn’t doing to badly too.

“I’m game to look down the path, sure….” She added, following after Marino and watching the vegetation carefully. When they spotted Juli, she grinned and the two women embraced. Tazrae and Juli were almost the same age, but it was odd that the younger of the two had vastly more worldly experience than the elder of the pair. Things were quickly leveling out though. Juli included Taz in things, and slowly the young Innkeeper felt like she was catching up to what Taz considered more normal experiences of her age group. Being in Syka helped. No one sheltered her here. Everyone enabled her to be what she wanted to be. And truthfully, Tazrae had no idea what she wanted to actually be before arriving here. Now she knew…. hiking down a jungle trail with Marino and Juli… the girl had a really good idea.

She wanted to be strong, independent, and resourceful. It was like asking for the world, but she’d take it one step at a time. They weren’t mutually exclusive traits. They were things that worked interchangeably.

So she followed Marino and Juli down the trail, and when the vegetation opened up, she looked around in wonder. She had her own machete out and was using it liberally. From experience, Taz knew that they’d open this trail up today and in a day or two it would be overgrown again. That’s just how the jungle worked. Tazrae looked around, spreading out from the other two, to get a good look at the place.

It seemed to be… the girl twirled, taking it all in, watching the monkeys, and looking at what looked like upside down V shaped structures that held poles between the V’s. Chain’s dangled down periodically, rusted but still recognizable. “Those are swing sets.” She said thoughtfully. “I saw a few in Riverfall for children to play on. Is this a place children played?” She asked, startled, thinking it made no sense that a place of play would be out in the jungle.

Juli pipped in, walking up to one. “I thought that myself, but if you look, some of these pieces are bigger. I wonder too if it isn’t a place for people to strengthen themselves, like exercise. Do pull ups, that sort of thing.” She grabbed the swingset and did a pull up on it, demonstrating. “So many of these things can be climbed on or used to work ones body out to be more flexible. We thought we’d clean it out… reclaim it… once we got a few kids in the neighborhood. We are hoping now that the Settlement is safer, a few families could come.” Juli offered, sharing the plans she knew her father had made with the other Founders.

Tazrae nodded. “All that makes sense.” She said, walking up to what looked like a framework of a metal domed structure that rose well up over her head. She pointed up. There, on its top, among what looked like monkeys, was something gleaming of stone. “I think there’s another piece up there!” She exclaimed. Then, dropping her pack, she made shooing noises at the monkeys who fled her approach as she began to climb up the side of the framework. Tazrae was an agile fearless climber. She was doing well at her ascent until the monkeys – in retaliation for her making them flee – began to throw fruit. It was some sort of high hard seed pod fruit, and it rained down on her making her yelp every time one of the monkeys hit home.

“Thank The Gods its just fruit and not monkey shit!” Juli called, laughing as she watched Tazrae squeal and squirm, navigating the bars and dodging the fruit. The young Innkeeper yelped and almost fell off the structure near the top as a monkey got in a lucky shot, smacking a fruit directly into her left eye. Tazrae swore a blue streak, calling the monkeys every name she could think of without dropping off into swearing. She reached out, nearing the goal, and swipped the object, not even giving it a good look before she started climbing down.

Over-ripe fruit dripped from her hair, covered her clothing, and splatters of juice ran down her face. Her left eye was definitely darkening, reddening all around the orbit as if someone had smacked her in the face hard. She held out the object – hard won – to Juli and Marino, hoping one of them would take what looked like a fish tail so she could peel off her long-sleeved shirt and clean the goo off her.

“Monkeys…. they aren’t the friendliest.” She admitted, somewhat tiredly and looked sheepishly between the pair. “Where too now?” She said, still wiping her face with her long-sleeved shirt, glad she had her bikini on under it. “Maybe back to the commons? See if there’s anywhere no one else has searched? After that experience…. I might want to call it a day….” She added.

Word Count: 906

[Marino Oceangem]

Marino was fascinated by the description of the place. As a child he’d hadn’t any of these kind of structures, but he could see the appeal. It was a amazing to him as an adult so he could well imagine the worlds a kid could make here. The idea that adults might have also used this to train was interesting too, something he might give further thought when they weren’t looking for idols. Then again, looking at the little creatures that kept a good eye on them, he wasn’t sure he would be too welcome. He wondered briefly what they ate when Tazrae spotted something.

Craning his neck up to see where she’d looked, he watched as she climbed the odd structure straight for a group of the monkeys. To his shock, they started pelting her with fruit, and he cast about for something to grab on the ground before Juli stopped him. Looking up he saw that she was almost down now, with the monkey’s ceasing their attack as she moved away from them. Still, his face was full of concern as he looked at that welt on her face. “I think maybe a trip to the Panacea or some rest is in order after that. They gave you a rough time of it.” He said, walking closer to get a good look at her eye.

It probably wasn’t as serious as he was making it out to be, but she had almost fallen. That scared him out of his mirthful exuberance, putting him into a more matter of fact mindset that he didn’t shake easily once it had come over him. He did force himself to crack a smile at seeing her well won prize though. “I suppose they didn’t want to give up the totem, or are they always the ornery?” He asked, not really expecting an answer.

As exciting as this place was, he’d gotten his fill of it for now after seeing the beating Tazrae took. Marino felt suddenly spent on searching for today, and Tazrae said much the same. An it wasn’t like they hadn’t found anything today. They had actually done quite well for themselves, with there always being tomorrow to continue the search.

“I’m good with whatever.” Marino said eventually as they started to retrace their steps back to the commons. Looking over a few times to see how her face was doing while mentally reprimanding himself for not having been the one to climb up to get it. If it wasn’t for how he felt about heights, he could have taken that risk for her, but he stopped himself along that train of thought. Tazrae was a strong woman, she could take care of herself. He didn’t need to remind himself that, though it helped to bring his thoughts in line with his heart.

When they followed the path to its eventual end, he took a break at the edge of the commons, taking stock of what they had decided before taking the totem where it needed to be. “Would you like me to walk you anywhere?” He asked Tazrae when they got a quiet moment.

[Tazrae]

Juli laughed and shook her head at Marino’s off hand question about the monkeys. “That’s them in a good mood. You should see it when they actually do get ornery. They bite. They throw harder things like rocks... big sharp ones. Taz got off lucky.” She took the piece from Tazrae and then shook her head with pity. “You are going to be sticky and stinky fast. I’ll run this back to The Commons and see you there if you decide that’s your next step. I’ve had my fill of this searching today.” She said, walking then both back to the cobbled pathway before heading towards The Commons. The pair ended up following her since that was the way home, after all.

Tazrae nodded to Juli when they parted company and paused when Marino did. She’d been quiet the whole way back, not saying much. Indeed, the sticky half-spoiled fruit staining her hair and clothing was somewhat humiliating and she was embarrassed Marino saw her basically defenseless climbing the structure and taking hits from the monkeys. A better person should have been able to dodge the fruit, retrieve the prize, and maybe get in a few throws back at the primates with all the crap that littered the ground from their attack. She could only imagine how he must see her now, since he was normally surrounded by those Lias and strong women of his pod. And here she was, gangly, uncoordinated, and now beginning to smell like something rotten.

When Marino turned and asked Tazrae if he could walk her somewhere, she shook her head no. Her normal caramel colored curls were tangled with the nasty fruit juice and drooping low. She wanted to take his hand, squeeze it, but her own were gummy with the leftovers of the monkey missiles so she declined. “I’m going to hit the Community Pool and take some time to get this sticky stuff off of me. Then I’m going to start the clean-up at the Inn. It didn’t look bad when I checked it out this morning and took Creature home. But I will need to do it sooner or later.” The young woman said, her sticky hand reaching up to rub at the bone around her eye. “If this swells up worse, I’ll go to the Panacea.” She added, wanting to say more… so much more.

Tazrae studied him a moment, not sure what to say or if she should say anything at all. Today had been busy and there’d been no time to talk about last night and the shelter cave. Maybe it shouldn’t be something that they even talked about. There was a hard path to walk and an easier trail to follow. She picked the easier trail. “Last night meant a lot to me, Marnio. And thank you for searching with me today. I know we both have things to do. My Inn needs my attention and I suspect your Seasilk needs some tending to as well. I’m okay. We did our part. We might go search tomorrow or they might have all the pieces found by tonight. Regardless…. Thank you. Thank you for everything lately. You mean a lot to me.” She added softly almost shyly, not sure what else to say.

“I’ll see you later, okay? Either in The Commons or around?” Taz didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t know what else to do. The last thing she wanted to do was say goodbye, but she didn’t need him holding her hand for a bath or offering to bust his back at an Inn he wasn’t beholden to take care of.

“Will you be okay? Will you let me know if you need any help with the ship?” She added, making what was already an awkward situation probably worse. She wanted to hug him, nuzzle his neck again, seek comfort and affection, but she was icky and there was no reason to push her luck with anything.

“When this thing is over with the totems… come to dinner?” She asked abruptly, throwing that out there. She didn’t know what else to say to him, so she put on her best hostess smile and swallowed her discomfort burying it deeply. “I’ll make something exotic.” It was kind of a joke, because basically to the Innkeeper everything available in Syka was ‘exotic’. She offered him a smile then turned to go. “Remember, come find me if you need help with the Seasilk.” She added, then turned to head towards the Community Pool. She could clean up there and then visit the Panacea and have her eye looked at before getting to work on the Inn.

Word Count: 779