I Dive Into The Future// But I Sure Know Where I’ve Been

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Kamilla had been almost certain she was about to drown to death, or be eaten, there were sharks in the sea after all, porpoises too. The salt water burned her eyes and and filled her throat and all sound was quickly dulled, given an empty hollowness instead. The only hope she had was Finn.

Kamilla hadn’t even noticed the change in surroundings by the time the Svefra boy had grabbed and hoisted her out of the water and back onto the boat. It was only after she’d heard the young man’s voice and had coughed out a good amount of water, sputtering and finally breathing in, that she’d realised she was no longer submerged.

Her lungs stung with each gasp for air as she tried to calm down, feeling a warm arm around her and patting her back. In any other circumstance, the mage would have shoved him away and shied away from contact in general, but this time was an exception.

”You are okay and you are safe!”

The words seemed to bounce around the inside of her mind slowly growing in magnitude until it began to overpower the screams of panic, finally taking root in her consciousness and registering. She was out of the water and she was safe.

After a few more nervous glances to confirm that she was on the boat, Kamilla took a final deep breath, holding it for a moment and finally exhaling and visibly calming down.

She ran a hand through her soaked mass of dark hair pulling it out of her face, eyes locking on Finn’s face for reassurance. She was okay. ”Thank y-“

”You’re okay, I was so worried I nearly soiled myself!

Kamilla winced as the plant’s androgynous voice filled the air, everything had almost been okay. A sigh of defeat as she prepares to explain herself, looking awkwardly up at Finn. ”So, thanks for saving my life and... my plant can kinda talk.” She’d hoped she could keep it a secret for the duration of the trip, but the plant was out of the bag now.

”The ‘plant’ has a name too... It’s Roo.”

The pride in her flower’s voice was like the icing on top of the situation. The purple flower looking between Kamilla and Finn while waving its arm like leaves around.

”After his story, I thought you were going to be shark food for sure.”

”Well, I’m fine Roo... Thanks to him.” She turned to look in Finn’s direction once more, slowly beginning to get up and move out of the handsome Svefra’s arms. Hopefully he wouldn’t react too badly, though Kamilla had to admit that even she’d been shocked the first time she the plant had spoken.

”I bought Roo from an old traveling merchant in Riverfall... Didn’t know it could talk at the time.” The words were accompanied by a shrug, as if the short explanation had explained everything.

[Finn Reefdiver]

Relief flooded over Finn as Kamilla started moving and talking again. He gently rested his palm on her bare back…….

Wait!
Who’s talking, Finn’s mind raced as he looked all around them. No sails, no ships, no nothing….anywhere. The gull soared around high in the air and no one besides Kamilla was in sight. He looked down at her as she thanked him and did he hear her correctly, talking plant?

But plants don’t talk, do they? Thoughts raced through his mind at an alarming pace. Danger, not real, magic, careful but not a one stuck around long enough for him to fully grasp onto it.

There, the plant talked again and it moved in the pot as well! It had said something about name is Roo, past that he couldn’t say. The churning in his mind continued as he fought to make sense of it all.

It wasn’t often that the young svefra had been flabbergasted but he had been intent, possibly too intent, on Kamilla to have any foreseen this coming and he was at a loss for words, the expression on his face was likely completely blank or very comedic as his mind focused on what had just happened.

”After his story, I thought you were going to be shark food for sure.” Roo said, and the voice screamed in his mind.

Kamilla started to try and move out of his arms, although he didn’t remember it but he must of held onto her a little tighter at some point but quickly released his hold on her so she could move as his mind finally started catching up to events. However his mouth was one step ahead of his brain at this point.

“You know magic?” He asked Kamilla, or actually no one in particular but who else would be there to ask as he caught her little shrug.

That little voice in his brain screamed at him “Danger, be careful” and “Is she dangerous?” but his curiosity started to take over again and quickly quelled the voices which usually meant he wasn’t doing the wisest of things, it never had stopped him before so why would it now. However he couldn’t bring himself to believe that the wide eyed girl was all that dangerous to him, albeit he might need to give her a little more respect on what she could be capable of.

After he regained his composure somewhat and started to process all that had just happened, he looked down at Kamilla as he said “Your plant kinda talks? I would say it is a yes or no answer myself!”. His humor started to return as things settled down.

Finn stepped around Kamilla to take a better look at the plant, as he disregarded the voice of caution and common sense. “Roo, you say?” as he bent down in front of the plant to get a good look at it only to find it really didn’t look any different from before but he also had never seen anything magical either. “Why would you hide such a curiosity?” he asked.

He pulled the water flask off the mask as he returned to Kamilla. “Probably should at least rinse your eyes.” he offered as his mind worked on comprehending the recent events.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

As soon as she was free of the svefra’s grasp, Kamilla got to get feet, facing the front of the boat where she’d fallen off only a chime ago. She kept her back to Finn for s few moments in an attempt to regain her composure after nearly dying, he had rescued her and for that she was grateful, but the fact that she’d needed rescue only served to make her feel weak and helpless. She did not enjoy that feeling.

Avoiding his gaze also had the added bonus of allowing Finn some time to register and sort through whatever thoughts her talking flower had directed him towards, though the mage felt she had a good idea what direction that was.

”You know magic?”

There it was. Kamilla tensed slightly, half expecting an outburst of panic but it didn’t come. She considered lying, after all, she’d bought Roo from a merchant who was selling plants that could talk to anyone, having one of them didn’t automatically make her a mage. Ultimately she decided that perhaps lying wasn’t the best option, she was on this small boat with him for several more days and she didn’t want him to be inclined not to save her if she fell overboard again.

“Your plant kinda talks? I would say it is a yes or no answer myself!”

A sigh, though she could hear the svefra’s friendly tone returning, quite a relief. At the very least he was handling the situation better than most. ”Yeah, it’s name is Roo and you’re right. The answer is yes he can.” Pulling her wet self together, Kamilla spun around to face the young Svefra who was now observing Roo closely, the flower mirroring him with a similar curiosity.

”Does this mean I can talk now?” The plant’s androgynous voice was clearly hoping the answer would be yes and now that Finn knew, Kamilla had no good reason to say no. She nodded.

”Thank goodness, you have no idea how tiring it is pretending to be one of the regular plants you see all the time. They do nothing, all day!”

Kamilla rolled her eyes, ”Here we go...” The two of them were in for an earful from the flower who never shut up when he got started. Ignoring Roo for the time being, the mage moved to take the flask from the Svefra. Her eyes were burning a bit.

Splashing her eyes with some of the soothing fresh water, Kamilla took the time to drink some of it as well, her throat still hurt too. ”Thank you.” she added, taking a seat with the flask in hand and leaving a significant distance between herself and the boat’s edge.

One more sigh in preparation and finally Kamilla began to answer some of Finn’s questions, though she didn’t doubt there’d be more.

”I hide Roo’s... unique qualities because people tend to freak out when they think you’re involved in anything magical. Some flee and some fight.” She paused for a moment, taking another sip from the flask which was now running low on contents. ”As for whether I know magic or not... I do. But you have nothing to worry about... I mean even if I was out to hurt you, I wouldn’t do it in the middle of the ocean and leave myself stranded...” She stopped herself, realising that her choice of words may not have been very reassuring.

”What I mean to say is... I won’t be any trouble, I just want to reach Syka safely.”

[Finn Reefdiver]

Roo’s quip on doing nothing all day struck Finn as rather funny as it wasn’t like it would take long walks to anywhere but still found it quite odd that the flower talked to them. Although he couldn’t bring himself to talk much to Roo just yet, he did grin at the flower as it spoke to them. It appeared that Kamilla and Roo had quite the familiarity going between them as he tried to let it fully sink into reality. He had heard many stories about such things as far back as he could remember but until today they were just stories.

Finn looked out over the ocean as Kamilla washed her eyes. The porpoises played still in sight of the ship although they had lost interest in the little ship after they investigated it for a while. Not much else was on the horizon, but it did allow Kamilla time to wash her eyes and regain her composure without him staring her down.

He had no idea on what normal reactions to Roo would be, personally he found it a unique and unusual but not to the point she seemed to think people reacted. After she continued he became more confused as he remembered saying nothing that should of made her think he was worried about her presence. However her last statement really pulled the wind out of his sails, how did she think he would hurt her. He knew Svefra had certain reputations, but they honored the deals they made. His jovial mood slowly faded as he listened to her accusation.

He was glad he faced away from Kamilla as he listened to her comments as several emotions bubbled upward. He was more than a little confused, a little angered, and even a little hurt by her comments but with her impinging on his Svefra honor so his business side took over. He took a chime to think what exactly he wanted to say to her and how he wanted to say it.

With sincerity and conviction he finally turned to Kamilla to tell her with an even voice “I have no idea of what type of friends you normally associate with to treat you like you describe but that is your choice nor is it necessarily me. However if you have plans to attack me now or later that is on you if you so choose but you made a deal with a Svefra for transport to Syka. While that deal is in place I will do ALL IN MY POWER to make sure you reach’ Syka safely, of THAT you can be certain!” He emphasized what he thought was necessary he hoped.

Without knowing what to say to her further and to allow her space, he simply went below to retrieve his mother’s drum before he sat down aft again where he proceeded to remove the drum from the case. The drum was dirty so he started to clean and tighten the skin on top which still looked in decent condition. Once it was halfway cleaned he ended up struck it one or twice to hear how it sounded after all this time but all this failed to get his mind off the situation.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

It only took a moment for Kamilla to realise that the atmosphere between herself and the Svefra had changed. The friendly and warm demeanour she’d come to expect from the young man had been replaced by a somewhat serious tone and Kamilla knew that it was because of her words and not the fact that she was a mage.

She could just leave him to be mad or annoyed or whatever it was he was feeling towards her at the moment, but that would only make the rest of their trip more unpleasant than it needed to be. She was going to have to smooth things over and assure him that her assumptions of how he’d react were in no way his fault.

A deep sigh.

Kamilla opened her mouth to say something but the Svefra was already moving towards his cabin, the mage assuming he wanted to be alone for a while, something she’d respect. A sea breeze blew past, the intense chill reminding her that she was still soaking wet. A change of clothes would have been wonderful, but that option was cut off until the young man returned.

Expecting to wait long, Kamilla began to ring some of the water out of her mass of long dark hair.

”I finally make a friend and you tell him you’re gonna kill him. Wonderful.”

The plant’s comment was met with a roll of the eyes, Kamilla choosing to remain silent, noticing Finn return with an old looking drum. She gave him a moment to see if he had anything else to say, but he was preoccupied with his drum, banging it a few times.

Another sigh.

”Finn...” She paused, thinking about how she should proceed. ”If I offended you with my words, I apologise, that was not my intention, nor do I have any negative preconceptions about you or your people as I’ve never really interacted with them...” Another sigh. ”You have to understand, fear of magic and it’s wielders is something that’s found throughout Mizahar and because of it, most mages try and keep their practices a secret, in fear of being ostracised or even attacked.” The latter example rung especially true to Kamilla who no longer had any family in the world.

”And I never doubted your ability to get us to Syka safely. You just snatched me out of death’s grasp.” She tried to lighten the mood with her terrible attempt at a joke, which also happened to be a fact.

Another awkward pause as she tried to think of a way to improve the situation, squeezing the flash in her hands, the swishing sound of the little amount of eater within the flask giving her an idea.

”If you want, I could show you some of my magic?” It was as close to a peace offering as she could think of.

[Finn Reefdiver]

The silence between them felt horrible to Finn and he hated it, in general he liked people or at least enjoyed being around people. He had problems with the other cultures from time to time or more importantly with their laws like Riverfall and how strict their laws were so he had been quite happy to sail away from the city with Kamilla as his passenger before he found himself in trouble.

He almost jumped by the time she started talking again but was also relieved as well. He listened carefully to what she had to say. An apology from her, maybe a miscommunication between them, and he may of overreacted a little. He started to let the emotion all slip away as he returned the drum to the case so he could store it safely away again. Although his jovial mood didn’t return entirely he was greatly relieved.

Her words finished sinking in for him as he sat cross legged quietly. However he did look up and give her a small smile at her joke, he knew she exaggerated a little but the intent was nice. She did intrigue him on her offer of a show, at any other time he would of jumped at that kind of offer but not today.

“I’m sorry if I misunderstood your intent as well and your secret is safe with me, always!” as he offered her his silence on her secrets. He gave her a small but sly grin as he looked between her and the flower “Nor will I reveals Roo’s secret of talking, but I think he would deny it loudly anyway.”

“ Falling into the sea isn’t normally a death sentence, you know you weren’t really in much danger, don’t you?” he asked as he stood up and walked over next to Kamilla, he lowered a hand which he offered to her “How about friends, I hope?”.

He paused a moment as he hoped she would answer or say something at least.

“You probably should go below and change your wet clothes though. But if your magic causes you that kind of pain and discomfort then I will not ask you to do something like that.” before he moved to the side to give her the access to head downstairs as he set down the drum safely next to Roo.

“Hope you don’t mind.” he stated to Roo as he waited patiently for Kamilla at the deck railing. While out on the sea, patience was something that one picked up quickly on the sea you often had plenty of time to spare.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Thankfully, her words seemed to reach the young Svefra who looked to be regaining a hint of his usual friendly demeanour. She was relieved, the thought of spending the entire trip in forced silence wasn’t too bad, but the ship was small and they could only avoid each other’s company for so long before they had to interact and Kamilla was not eager for those interactions to be unpleasant. Regardless, Finn seemed to accept her apology, offering her one of his own and agreeing to keep Roo’s secret, which earned him a relieved smile from the mage.

”This is good. Maybe you’ll talk to me more than she does, she says I talk to much and usually leafs me alone too much.”

The plant’s pun earned it an eye roll from Kamilla who couldn’t help but laugh at how it had broken whatever tension remained in the air. ”Oh, yeah... Roo’s a very talkative flower and he loves terrible puns.” She shrugged as if she were just telling the Svefra about a regular friend of hers, not a sentient plant.

”Don’t listen to her! I don’t talk too much, I talk a reasonable amount. She just doesn’t speak enough, that’s the problem... I can’t help it I have a lot to say, why should I keep them to myself? It’s unreasonable.”

Ignoring Roo’s ramblings, Kamilla’s attention remained on Finn as he lowered a hand towards her, which she used to get to her feet. ”It sure felt like it though... plus, as I mentioned, I can’t swim.” Another shrug, it didn’t really matter anymore, the ordeal had passed. ”And yes, friends.” She offered him a friendly smile as confirmation.

Once again, she was reminded that she was still very wet, Finn suggesting that she change her clothes and Kamilla agreed, offering him another smile before turning to descend into the cabin, pausing for a moment to say something. ”And don’t worry, magic itself doesn’t cause me pain at all, it’s my passion.” With that she disappeared below deck, leaving Finn at the mercy of Roo and his ever-flapping petals.(They don’t really flap)

”Mind? I don’t at all. This is pretty nice out here, it’s warm, the sunflower is bright in the sky, surrounded by all the water I could ever need. The only thing missing is some back up soil.”

The flower was already behaving like it and Finn were very familiar with eachother, despite the Svefra having only just discovered Roo’s ability to talk.

A chime passed before Kamilla would re-emerge from the cabin below, now sporting a short black dress with a lace tail identical to the skirt she’d been wearing before. In addition, she wore black thigh high socks and a new dry pair of boots that only reached below the knee.

”That was way quicker than usual... normally she takes so long that I worry I won’t get any light at all for the day.”

Another eye roll from Kamilla as Roo attempted to gossip about her, the plant would say anything as long as it’s voice was being heard.

Still holding her wet clothing, Kamilla carefully laid them out to dry on the deck, placing them above the cabin entrance, as far out of the way as she could manage. The skirt and scarf would dry quickly enough, considering how thing their material was, it was the boots that that would take a while longer. Thankfully the sun was bright and it seemed to be getting warmer as they neared Syka.

”So, want to see some magic or not?” As she spoke, Kamilla used her hands to gather we mass of dark, now damp, hair above her head, using a strand to tie the rest into a messy bun atop her head, loose strands falling in every direction but she wasn’t bothered by them as she waited patiently for Finn’s answer.

[Finn Reefdiver]

Finn watched her exit into the cabin below and stared intently after her as he attempted understand her while he had a chime to think. She was different than anyone he could remember in so many ways which intrigued him immensely. He couldn’t say that he distrusted himself but he thought he may want to contain his Svefra impulses a bit more carefully for now, if he could he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

As he heard her rummaging through her container below to find her clothes he assumed, he absently but quietly told the plant as his mind was elsewhere “Don’t worry Roo, I bet she probably thinks I talk too much also or likely will before this journey is over”.

“I really doubt all this water would be good for you, unless you are of the sea like fish or Svefra. The salt water isn’t normally good for most people and things that I have heard of and I would expect that it may be bad for you and your soil” Finn told the plant as he grabbed a cup to dip some water out of the sea. “The flask there is fresh water of course, which is good for Kamilla and you I expect, but that would be up to Kamilla for those decisions.”

With Kamilla’s return, he focused his attention on the now dry woman again. She was dressed beautifully although possibly not the best clothes for a day at sea. With Roo’s comment, Finn realized that the talkative flower did probably know way more about her. He did succeed in not adding to the flower’s comments regardless of how badly he wanted to. At the moment he preferred staying on friendly terms with her so he attempted to refrain from anything he might regret until he knew her a little better.

He walked over near Roo and Kamilla as she finished hanging her clothes where he sat down cross legged, drank a bit of his seawater before he set it down near himself as she offered a demonstration of her magic while she done her hair which made her look more relaxed and comfortable.

Kamilla’s earlier statement of ‘magic is her passion’ allowed him to hope that she would show something but he also refused to push too much on the issue. “I would enjoy a demonstration, lesson, or whatever you would care to do with magic if you are up for an audience. If your not up for it then I will understand” Finn answered her and continued “My pod was small and I know little of this skill in general. Even Roo would be a novelty item for many people. ”

As an afterthought “No offense intended Roo, but most flowers don’t talk that I know of” he stated to Roo. The sentiment surprised him because at some point that he didn’t even remember Finn had already accepted the plant as a person or something close and it amazed him at how quickly that it had happened considering what he was having conversations with.

[Kamilla]

Kamilla Circe Gordon

Things seemed to have settled completely since her return from the cabin and for that, Kamilla was grateful. She’d heard the sounds of m talking while she was below but could not make out any of the words, she found herself kind of curious as to what Finn and Roo had been talking about. One never knew what that talkative flower would say when given an opportunity to speak. It did not really matter though, her magic was probably her biggest secret, that and her scar of course, but that was what boots and stockings were for.

Finn accepted her offer to show him some of her magic and honestly, she was grateful, it had been a while since she’d been able to stretch her magical limbs and even a small demonstration would feel good, no doubt. ”Okay then...” she began, one hand coming up to rest beneath her chin, index finger curling and resting beneath her bottom lip. ”... but what to show you?” She was seemingly lost in thought with all the possibilities, deep brown eyes scanning the sky in search of assistance. Glyphing was out, it was not a very interesting or flashy practice, summoning was a maybe, of course she wasn’t about to animate an entire golem just as a demonstration, but she still had Sil, the seemingly uninteresting sheet of cloth waiting below.

”Come on! He’s waiting for the show and I’M waiting for a drink... HE said I can’t drink this water... then what’s it good for?”

A smile spread across Kamilla’s face as Roo spoke, ”Perfect, thanks Roo.” She was clearly a bit more eager now that magic was the topic at hand, snatching up the near empty flask and moving into a crouching position beside the talking plant.

”So this is called Reimancy...” That was all the explanation she’d get for the time being as Kamilla closed her eyes, concentrating on tapping into the well of djed within her body and then taking a deep breath. Filling her lungs with res, the mage then exhaled a long breath, a small glistening lavender mist pouring from her mouth and gathering above Roo.

Concentrating, Kamilla willed the cloud to compress itself so that it was a smaller ball of gas with a circumference equal to the pot plant it hovered above. With that, she willed the cloud to slowly transmute itself into water, her newest whenever, making it seem like the cloud was drizzling onto Roo and his soil, the flower seemingly dancing happily in response.

”I know it’s not the flashiest demonstration, but I thought I’d ease you into it.” She shrugged in the svefra’s direction before cracking a small smile as the last is the lavender cloud of res turned to water, falling to the damp soil beneath.

Standing up and turning to face the young man with flask in hand, Kamilla took the last few sips of the container leaving it empty before producing a ball of liquid res which she then directed into the flask before transmuting it to water as well. She swished the now half full flask about so that he’d be able to hear the water.

”Those are just some very basic applications... What do you think?”

[Finn Reefdiver]

Finn was glad when Kamilla decided to work her magic as he truly was interested in seeing it and watched her as she was lost in thought. Without knowing what she was thinking about he decided to wait patiently and just see what would come until Roo broke the silence to give her an idea and a smile which caught him quite off guard. It was the first real smile he had seen on the lady and it looked nice, almost happy. He bet this magic was truly important to her to cause this reaction and he was quite glad to be allowed a part of in it now.

With the near empty flask in hand she crouched at the flower with her renewed purpose. “Reimancy” Finn repeated after her description, although it meant little to him on meaning. Her lavender mist contrasted so nicely against the sea and glistened in the sunlight as it turned to water vapor to Roo’s enjoyment he was sure. Although he doubted he would disturb her concentration, he watched in silence until her demonstration was over but he couldn’t help but think that she actually had a touch of pride in her voice. The last bits of water fell with an almost dramatic flair that made Finn give her a wide grin, planned he didn’t know but it was certainly an effective demonstration.

Finn continued to watch Kamilla as she stood and downed the last of the water flask before she quickly refilled it with magic in just a fraction of the time the first demonstration took and that impressed him just a little. He couldn’t tell if she was showing off, taunting him, or having fun with him but found that he didn’t actually care as he had enjoyed it.

He answered her with a laugh as he gave her a sly grin and only half hid his sarcasm at her question from her in his enthusiasm. “I think you watered a plant m’dear, that is what I think!” and he laughed for just a tick before he finished. “I believe you are a much more capable in magic than you let on and I bet you have great control on it too just like you did on the mist or the speed of your filling the water flask.”

He had many questions to ask her on the subject of magic but decided on asking only one for the time being “For now at least, how did you start out learning this?” He asked her as he decided even if she didn’t answer he figured it was worth the attempt.

Almost as an afterthought, he turned more serious as he looked up at the woman that towered above him and told her “I am honored that you chose to share your gift with me, Thank you.” He felt it only right to acknowledge the effort of what she had done for him.