When she spoke, Jay remembered. Of course. She would’ve understood his Fratava, she would’ve jumped at the opportunity to speak the pidgin tongue of traders and sailors. Since she hadn’t, that meant she didn’t have much contact with other Svefra and her words confirmed that. There was one thing he didn’t understand though.
No Svefra Jay had ever known would be happy as a land-dweller. All of them loved and worshipped the ocean, swam with their tavan, fished and gave thanks to Laviku. They built fires on beaches, danced and sang shanties. Whenever two pods met, they partied together on their palivars. Jay had lived his entire life as one of them, so he couldn’t imagine someone giving up all that for… land. Still, Karin claimed her mother had done just that. Trying to understand, he furrowed his brow. “That is odd. Why does she leave behind the sea? We are connected to it. It is home and family.” Then his conviction faltered. What if Karin’s mother had been born without blue eyes? He’d heard those children were exiled because they didn’t have Laviku in their eyes. Karin had the right color though, so it still didn’t make sense.
Suddenly he felt the limitations of Common very acutely. Taking a deep breath, Jay switched to Fratava. “I’m sure you’ll find the people and place you’re looking for one day. We’re travelers and we belong on our ships.” A tick later, he returned to Common as if nothing had happened. “What did you find out? About your pod? Maybe I can help you with learning.”
There was a pause as they climbed the narrow path side by side. Jay could hear her labored breathing with his sharp Kelvic ears and smelled her faint scent. Sweat and sunlight. He missed the salt that announced the sea. Tomorrow he’d go down to the docks again. Behind the next corner, they passed over rocky ground again and the forest thinned out momentarily. The plain between Alvadas and the Suvan stretched out before them. Two or three strangely shaped rooftops.
Then Karin spoke up and Jay couldn’t help but laugh. If he had known what sarcasm was, he would’ve used it then and there. “Natural. I don’t know what it’s like with only human body or dull human senses. It must be inconvenient, no?” Thinking about it, he laughed again, softly. Karin seemed weird in a tense way, but nice, so he didn’t want to offend her. If she relaxed a little, surely they would have lots of fun!
No Svefra Jay had ever known would be happy as a land-dweller. All of them loved and worshipped the ocean, swam with their tavan, fished and gave thanks to Laviku. They built fires on beaches, danced and sang shanties. Whenever two pods met, they partied together on their palivars. Jay had lived his entire life as one of them, so he couldn’t imagine someone giving up all that for… land. Still, Karin claimed her mother had done just that. Trying to understand, he furrowed his brow. “That is odd. Why does she leave behind the sea? We are connected to it. It is home and family.” Then his conviction faltered. What if Karin’s mother had been born without blue eyes? He’d heard those children were exiled because they didn’t have Laviku in their eyes. Karin had the right color though, so it still didn’t make sense.
Suddenly he felt the limitations of Common very acutely. Taking a deep breath, Jay switched to Fratava. “I’m sure you’ll find the people and place you’re looking for one day. We’re travelers and we belong on our ships.” A tick later, he returned to Common as if nothing had happened. “What did you find out? About your pod? Maybe I can help you with learning.”
There was a pause as they climbed the narrow path side by side. Jay could hear her labored breathing with his sharp Kelvic ears and smelled her faint scent. Sweat and sunlight. He missed the salt that announced the sea. Tomorrow he’d go down to the docks again. Behind the next corner, they passed over rocky ground again and the forest thinned out momentarily. The plain between Alvadas and the Suvan stretched out before them. Two or three strangely shaped rooftops.
Then Karin spoke up and Jay couldn’t help but laugh. If he had known what sarcasm was, he would’ve used it then and there. “Natural. I don’t know what it’s like with only human body or dull human senses. It must be inconvenient, no?” Thinking about it, he laughed again, softly. Karin seemed weird in a tense way, but nice, so he didn’t want to offend her. If she relaxed a little, surely they would have lots of fun!