Timestamp: 27th of Fall, 517 AV
The breeze screamed in her ear and Nya screamed back, each entity bursting into laughter as they traveled. The Kelvic was in a flat out run down the beach, challenged by one of Zulrav’s invisible minions to go as fast or faster than it could. The speed was break-neck as the Kelvic jumped flotsam and the line of seaweed washed up at high tide. She avoided the loose sand because it slowed her down, instead keeping her bare feet slapping the wet sand and thrusting her body forward as fast as her muscles could. Her arms reached out, helping to propel her body forward as she followed the taunting breeze, determined to keep up with something that had no body and no form other than the invisible currents Zulrav commanded.
Nya was breathing heavily, all but winded, though that didn’t stop her from drinking in the scent of the salt and the sea, snorting out the loosely blowing sand, and seeking a hint that he would be near.
The breeze missed nothing. “You’re looking for him aren’t you?” Nya grinned, tossed her head, and pumped her legs faster even though they were burning from the exertion. “I’m going to meet him because he agreed to show me how to swim better. I can paddle in my fur but I’m hopeless in my skin.” Nya muttered between drinking in big breaths to keep her lungs working.
Just then she caught a familiar scent as she rounded a slight curve in the beach and caught sight of a bungalow. The breeze was going to beat her there, but Nya didn’t mind. She always lost such races. It didn’t make them any less fun. To her it was the journey with a friend rather than a solo wandering that made it all worth while. He was close, somewhere near, even though Nya couldn’t see him just yet.
Barefoot and wearing only a loose leather loincloth, the Kelvic darted up the beach angling away from the wet sand and into the deeper loosely packed sand. It was hot on her feet and she yelped as she crossed the soft sand and darted into the shadows the breeze still well ahead of her. She changed her loose controlled gait to a frantic set of leaps, moving from one patch of shade generated by palms to another until she pulled up breathless in front of Pulren’s bungalow. The man was lounging on a chair facing the ocean on his little porch. Nya, unable to speak, skidded to a halt in the shade of one of the palm trees then leaned forward, hands on her knees, to blow like a winded horse. Nya slipped her pack off her shoulders and then groaning, she flopped down on her back, knees bent to the sky, and reached for her waterskin in her pack. She poured most of it over her face then used her pack as a pillow as she laid there panting a few moments trying to catch her breath.
Nya lifted her head and tracked something invisible darting around the bungalow. She laughed a moment between gasping breaths. The breeze swirled around excitedly until Nya waved her hand and laughed and said… “Okay okay… you won. Happy?” She seemed to be confident something was actually darting around the ‘yard’ area of the bungalow. Pulren would see nothing but definitely feel a breeze ruffling his hair as if something sentient had darted past.
Nya flopped back down, breathed heavily a few chimes more, then lifted her head once again.
Nya turned to him, catching his gaze, her eyes alight with the excitement of her run. Still gasping, she spoke between deep breaths….. “Still willing to give me a swimming lesson? I need a chime or two. Racing breezes is never a winning endeavor.” The Kelvic added then dropped her head back on her pack.
Besides her pack, which looked slightly bulging, Nya wore nothing but a loin cloth belted over her hips. Her brindled hair was scattered loose across her chest providing a hint of modesty to an otherwise darkly tanned feline wearing her skin. “I wasn’t sure where you lived, but I caught your scent around the bend. I knew you were in a bungalow, but I wasn’t clear on which one. I never rented one of these when I came here. I have a big tent stolen from the Ebonstryfe. It’s better served here than in Syliras, I think.” The Kelivc added, her smile slightly crooked. She was rapidly catching her breath. And the moment her breathing seemed to return to normal, she rolled until she was sitting up, her lean legs folded under her. She still wasn’t on the porch but she was definitely a few feet off his little deck… close enough to chat but not close enough to be invading his space.
“How is the day finding you? I like your beach here. There aren’t as many big rocks as there are on my beach. I live right next to Treasure Point. I like the lookout up above that beach. You can greet the storms rolling in from the Suvan and have a little talk with them.” She added, yawning, then stretching and finally shaking out her arms as if they hurt her slightly from her run.
Nya got a good look at him and chuckled. He was stripped to the waist in the heat but below that he was wearing leather... full black leather. "Aren't you roasting in the sun in all that leather?" The Kelvic asked, curious as to how the newcomer could be so overdressed.
885=13299/50000