Flashback Into the horizon (Onaona)

[Surreal]

“Very good. The Akalak’s name is Rakar, a servant of Nysel. I’ll try not to be too long.” Desdel said with a small wave before setting off down the dock and leaving the otani to keep the watch. The otter was busy playing with a rock around the side of the casinor. It chirped when it saw the otani dropping its rock then swimming down to retrieve it. While Onaona was spending the chimes with the little tavan, the docks were for the most part quiet save for a lone row boat that came and went before finally someone approached the casinor.

At first it was hard to distinguish anything about them save for the long, grey cloak they wore that shrouded their features in the fog. A few things could be determined however. They were tall, about seven feet or so, with a rather large build. When they drew closer, Onaona would be able to pick out the grey shirt and pants he wore beneath the cloak, then his face. It was a dark blue, while his eyes were a pale shade of green.

Walking all the way to the end of the dock, he knelt, giving Onaona a curious look. He flicked something silver into the water. “Sorry I don’t have more, you are a little early.” He said as he pulled back his hood. His skin had a powdery matte finish to it in the glow of the docks lanterns. If the otani chose to go for the object, she would see that it was a silver coin with a keyhole stamped on one side, the other depicting a hollow circle. By the time she surfaced, the Akalak would be sitting on the end of the dock, whistling a faint tune to himself.

“I am Omryn. Is this your vessel otani?” He asked with a slight smirk, and folding his hands in front of him. “Of course not, though maybe you know the man it belongs to? Not a lot of men coming to brave this fog.” Omryn studied the ship while he talked, looking it up and down several times. He stopped examining it after a few chimes, turning to look at Onaona once more. “I was expecting a man to come with him. It is too bad he didn’t come, we arranged a spot in the tower for him.” The Akalak stood up then, taking his time to fuss with his outfit for a moment.

“Even so, my pardons for taking your time. I’ll let Rakar know that he won’t be coming today..” Omryn said, trailing off when he saw the otter come up to smash a clam shell on its belly. “Then again, I suppose I can wait.” He took a seat on the piling to chat with the otani while the chimes went by. Then Isay came running down the dock, a bag slung over one arm, and a warm roll of bread clutched in her hands. She stopped briefly to glance sidelong at the Akalak before continuing to the end of the dock, extending the roll out to Onaona. “Its sweet.” She remarked cheerily before climbing aboard to casinor.

Looking after her, Omryn remarked. “I don’t suppose that is Desdel. His daughter perhaps?” He focused intently on the spot she had disappeared off to, only looking away a tick before she appeared on the side. “You here to help Kalr?” Isay asked in Fratava, and Omryn grinned broadly at the question. “Indeed. I was hoping to meet him here in fact.” He said, sounding a little disappointed as he did so. His grin did not diminish however.

“Oh” Isay said, and bit her lip a lip before hanging over the side of the casinor. “My father knows more about that.” She said after thinking it over a while. “Regrettable.” Omryn said simply, pushing off from the piling to start pacing at the end of the dock.

He didn’t have to wait much longer however as Desdel and Isskal appeared at the end of the dock. Desdel raised a hand sighting the Akalak smiling until he caught sight of the man’s face. “I’ve paid my fee for the port.” Desdel said upon not recognizing the man, ushering his son aboard the casinor before turning to face the man.

Omryn laughed at that, and clasped his hands together. “Rakar couldn’t make it. With the fog, he figured you’d be out to water so he went out with the Kuvay’Nas to scout out the grass for the trials. I have been well apprised of your friend’s condition however, though I had expected you were going to bring him with you, no?”

Desdel scrutinized the man before extending a hand to clasp his forearm. “I suppose you would know his name then?” He asked leadingly, which drew a slight nod from the suddenly sober Akalak. “Kalr. There aren’t many who come so far seeking the dreamers.” Desdel relaxed somewhat at this, and waved at his children to prep the ship. “He isn’t far, we can take you to him if that’s alright.”

Omryn sighed, and shook his head. “I’m afraid it is just me at the tower right now, and I have duties to keep. However if you could deliver him this scroll I believe it will help him along his journey. As for the rest, he has to come here if he wants us to guide him.” He said regretfully, handing Desdel a black scroll tube that the Svefra tucked into his belt. “Thank you for your time. We will see what we can do.” Desdel said, shaking the Akalak’s hand again before turning to climb aboard the ship. Isay reached over to pull the otter aboard as Omryn favored them all with a slight wave before turning towards the Onaona. “I hope to see you again.” He said before turning to walk back down the dock.

[Onaona]

As Onaona waited she amused herself by creating a mini current around the ship. Her raw res seeped atop the water like oil, spreading several meters from her body. The otter floated peacefully atop, washing his face with his paws and watching the Otani curiously. Ona's face was pulled back into a terrible grimace as she poured all her attention into the push and pull she was enacting on the seawater. Slowly the otter began to spin in a slow, sloshy, imperfect circle. She found that her res couldn't repel the water, only attract. But she could activate it a piece at a time, and if she could just concentrate a little harder...

Her eyes snapped to the dock, distracted by a flash of silver. Without thinking she darted under the water to catch it. The res atop the water faltered and diffused the tick she abandoned it, the silvery sheen of it dissolving into the sandy bay. Ona barely noticed. She had surfaced with a mysterious silver coin.

“Sorry I don’t have more, you are a little early.”

Ona looked up to see a blue Akalak sitting on the dock, whistling to himself. Was this who she was supposed to be waiting for? It seemed not, he introduced himself before she could ask.

"My name is Onaona. Your tribute is worthy", she assured him, keeping the coin clutched in her fist as she tread closer for a better look. His eyes were green. That was too bad. He could have been pretty with blue eyes. Besides the colour of his skin and eyes the rest of him was almost completely devoid of personality. It was like a piece of fog grew skin and eyes and teeth it was too keen to show. He talked continuously, and Ona couldn't seem to take her eyes away from the flash of white and the deceitful shapes the lips around it made.

Desdel said nothing about watching for an Omryn, so Ona said nothing as the Akalak said his peace and turned to leave. Disobeying was a prickly feeling, as she was well aware that she was purposefully misconstruing the order, but there was relief there too. There was something about this man, in the way his eyes lingered and his teeth flashed, that made the Otani uncomfortable.

But then he changed his mind. The tavan floated back into view and the man settled his considerable mass on the nearest piling. Unsure what to do, Ona's eyes dropped to stare at the coin through the back of her fist. On one side was stamped the shape of a keyhole, the other was a round hollow. She had taken offerings of currency from all corners of the world, but she had never seen one quite like this. She stuck it in her mouth to taste the metal, wondering if it was real silver.

"You cannot trade a fish from market for this, or a new net or a pint of beer. What can you buy with such a coin?" She asked around the coin before spitting it into her hand. "Why a lock? Is there a key to reach that hollow on the other side? Strange, strange..."

At that moment Isay came running back, a bag over her shoulder and a bread roll in her hand. Ona cooed appreciatively as the young woman stooped to offer her the treat. The Otani took it in her free hand and sucked it down before the bread could disintegrate in her watery hands. The center was full of jam. She moaned into her bulging cheeks.

Still, even in her distraction, she was aware of Omryn and the way he watched Isay, and their short exchange. She watched his teeth as he talked and grinned, and her own broadened and leveled to match. She swallowed hard, bared her mouth and licked her teeth, wondering at the shape of them. What was it about those teeth she disliked so strongly?

The men came back, and Ona hunkered low in the water, unusually quiet as they spoke. Only once the Akalak handed over the scroll and disappeared into the mist, giving the ship a wave and the Otani a fond farewell, did Ona rise and pull herself aboard the ship.

The three humans were bustling around, stowing their bags, unfurling the sail and getting ready to leave. Ona sucked on a corner of her coin, crouched down next to the tavan and unobtrusively out of the way. Only once they were pulling away from the dock did she will herself to speak up.

"He didn't know Kalr's name", the Otani announced. "Our sweet girl told it to him." She stood and slid up to Desdel, her head cocked and bewildered, smiling with her borrowed teeth. "Worthy sailor, my father's son, you trust strangers and nighttime beasts far too easily."

A ripple seemed to pass over the Otani's face as she neared, and she stared hard at Desdel for a long tick. The liquid movement of her body stilled before she suddenly she lunged at the man, her hands open and grasping for the sealed scroll tucked into his belt. If she could manage to rip it away she planned to disappear into the water and open the scroll herself.

There was something in this she wasn't getting. She knew nothing of Nysel and his priests and even less about Kalr and his strange dreams. Following and observing was what she did, but it wasn't enough anymore. Something was going on and she needed to know what it meant.

[Surreal]

Omryn smiled. “This is a very precious metal I think you’ll find.” It was difficult to discern where exactly his attention was kept as his eyes flickered constantly. After the interaction with Desdel was over and he had supplied the scroll he was equally quick about disappearing as he had been to appear on the edge of the dock.

Desdel didn’t think much of her comments about the strange meeting at the docks. He was flush with good spirits, and had a slight buzz going that she might recognize from the unfocused look in his eyes.

“I have a weakness for strange and mysterious things.” Desdel mused as he looked at the otani and then to the sea. The bay was gentle for now, which bode well for the journey ahead short though it may be.

On a better day, Desdel would have been quick enough to stop Onaona from grasping the scroll. As it stood, he was flushed from drink from having waited for a meeting that never happened. He fumbled blithely against the otani but it did little to stop her from making away with the scroll.

Huddled along the bow, Isay giggled at the interaction. Desdel’s face was a cross between bewilderment and frustration as he pressed against to railing to look down into the sea she disappeared into.

For Onaona, the scroll case came open easily, the parchment unfurling only slightly as she drew it from the tube. The paper held up surprisingly well and had a waxy texture to it as she pulled it free. It wilted in her grasp as she unfurled it. Unrolling it, she would see strange symbols scrawled across the bottom for a brief moment before there was a sudden flash of light and a torrent of bubbles as an intense heat engulfed her fingertips.

When her vision returned, the parchment would be gone, the case partially melted as it drifted in slow pirouettes to the bottom of the sea. Above her the faces of Desdel and his two children looked wide eyed into the water below till she surfaced again.

“Are you alright Onaona? I..” Desdel asked concerned as he leaned over the side of the casinor. He was at a loss for words for he had seen the light under the water. A sweat slicked his brow that wasn’t there earlier, and he chanced a troubled look over at his children, reassuring himself that they were alright for the present. Then remembering something, he glared back at the dock though he didn’t hold it long for the object of his ire was not there to fixate on.