Flashback Wishes to be her Child

[Rhydian Lamoze]

24th of Summer, 513 A.V.
The Middle Suvan Sea

"Ma! Ma! Since my birthday is tomorrow, do you think that you can finally teach me about your people?! I want to learn alllll that I can about the Charoda so that I can know exactly what to do when I go to live with you in the future..! Much like he had said, it was currently the day before this particular Eypharian's ninth birthday. Rhydian, our beloved Eypharian, and his foster mother Lyel had currently been traversing the Middle Suvan Sea so that they could make their way towards the Riverfall. It was there that they had intended on making their new home for the next several years. Of course this had all been happening atop of the Casinor that Lyel had acquired for the express purpose of traversing with Rhydian. The young boy had yet to be blessed by the Sea King, Laviku, despite having devoted the majority of his life up to this point worshipping him. Given that particular bit of fate and the fact that Rhydian had been an Eypharian, it was entirely unlikely that the boy would have survived the trip otherwise.

At the moment, the unlikely Charoda and Eypharian pair had been resting their feet within the living quarters. It was about noon and yet Rhydian had still had so much energy contained within him. He had been hoping to rush into the seas that had been just outside of these walls but knew that it was unwise to do so without Lyel by his side. This particular part of the Suvan Sea had rather treacherous currents and complex navigational challenges. Even with how often the young lad had spent training himself in the art of swimming, he still hadn't bee capable of performing such an act without a natural swimmer such as Lyel. If he were to attempt to do so alone, it was quite likely that he was going to drown. Both Lyel and Rhydian had known this and that was why Lyel had been keeping him stowed away within the living quarters at the moment. Of course Lyel had known that she couldn't keep him stowed away inside forever. The bundles of energy that a youthful Eypharian had contained would far supersede the patience that she could muster. This much could be said about any youth if she were to be honest. It is with this very thought that she had decided to just give in to the child's requests.

Whilst pinching her nose, Lyel would allow for a soft and exasperated sigh to escape from her lips. "...fine. I suppose that it would be best if you were to understand my people anyways. At least with that, you'll be able to ensure that your own safety is assured if you ever run into a hostile member of my kind." After having said this much aloud to the Eypharian child whom she had decidedly devoted her own youth to, Lyel would mutter something just beneath her breath. "And maybe it'll get you off my back for a bit." Rhydian would normally have overheard the things that Lyel had just muttered beneath her breath but in this instance, he had been far too excited about the fact that she had just accepted to teach him about her people. A bright smile would adorn his face as Rhydian would leap into the air whilst lifting all three of his fists on the right side of his body into the air. "Yessss!!"

Word Count: 578
Total Word Count: 578

[Rhydian Lamoze]

Although she had known that this was going to be quite a bit of information, and that it was highly unlikely that a nine year old was going to be able to remember all of this or for that matter even fully comprehend everything, Lyel had given in to the requests of her child. This was something that was clearly going to take quite a bit of time and as such, she had decided to move this conversation over to the small dining room section of the living quarters. This dining area honestly wasn't really much, aside from a small wooden table with a couple of chairs around it, but it was enough for the purposes that it was going to serve in this particular situation. "Right.. Come along then, child. We'll move this conversation on over towards the dining area for the time being." Without even a moment having passed, Rhydian would find himself leaping up from the seat that he had been sitting in and moving on over towards the dining area.

Taking a seat within one of the several wooden chairs that had encompassed the table, Rhydian would turn the majority of his attention towards his mother. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, given that his mind was running at a million thoughts a minute, but he had offered her as much of his attention as he could muster. "Okay! I'm readyyy." Only a few moments would pass before Lyel would take a seat just beside the young Eypharian. "Yeah... I suppose that we should get started then. Before we get into the deep and gritty, we will start with what it is that a Charoda even is. Y'see, the Charodae are a race of amphibious sea-dwellers. That basically means that we can breathe both air and water. Charodae breathe through our skin and are quite a well spread race. Most of us tend to live far off of the Falyndar coast though, in our coral city of Charbosi. I must point out though that although we are capable of breathing on land, doing so for long period of time without immersing ourselves in water can lead to our deaths." Having heard that particular tidbit, Rhydian couldn't help but think of how dangerous it was for Lyel to be spending her time with him on this ship... Would she die from her time with him up here? No, no. She was smart enough to take the time to hop into the water before that point would occur. At least that was what he had hoped.

"Naturally we are pacifistic vegetarians, albeit that wasn't always the case. Back before the Valterrian, we used to be hunter-gatherers who enjoyed testing each other's physical prowess. Now most of my kind tend to avoid violence and would sooner solve things with diplomacy. This is because, from a young age, we are taught that life is sacred and that it should not be wasted. This pacifistic nature isn't always for the best though..." As she had spoken on the pacifistic ways of the Charodae, Lyel's mind would dwell back on the times in which she was in her youth. She, much like many others of her kind, had been quite friendly and curious about others. It was due to this curious and friendly nature that Lyel had been captured and sold into slavery... Her life would have been so different if it wasn't for the fact that she had been so kind to others. At least she was able to meet and raise this young Eypharian in return for everything that had happened though.

While Lyel's mind had been slipping back to the times of her past, Rhydian would catch sight of something out of the corner of his eye. He hadn't been quite sure what it was that was capable of being seen from this point but he had known that every part of him had wanted to figure it out. Thankfully it wouldn't take too long before the thing that had caught the young Eypharian's attention would return. For just a brief moment, Rhydian would catch sight of some kind of black and white fish that was leaping high into the air before crashing back down into the waves and out of sight. The sight of such a majestic creature had easily filled Rhydian with awe. He had wished to share this discovery with Lyel but wouldn't exactly have the chance to do so as she would get back into her lessons.

Word Count: 754
Total Word Count: 1,332

[Rhydian Lamoze]

Deciding to jump right back into it, Lyel would decide what focus she should take for this next bit of her lessons. She could go over the history of her people but was that really something that she should share with a nine year old? The manner in which her people were changed with the Valterrian and the supposed punishments that the gods had unleashed upon them, such as how to cataclysm had torn apart the coral city of Charbosi, felt like a bit too much to discuss with a child. Figuring that it might have been a bit too much for him, Lyel would instead opt to discuss the biology of the Charodae.

"The next lesson shall focus on the biology of my people. In short, that simply means that we are going to focus on the body and physical appearance of the Charodae. Y'see, we Charodae have smooth, rubbery skin, like that of a dolphin's, somewhat pliable but quite resistant. Our skin shades vary from pale white to deep blue, with many shades - grey, light green - in between. We tend to be very slender and streamlined. Our spine" she would say as she points to that particular part of her body, "and our ribs," she would say as she uses her other hand to point to her ribs, "are not made of bones, but cartilage, rendering us all extremely flexible. Somewhat fortunately and unfortunately, our bone density is very weak, leaving us less defended than other races that have solid bones. And quite clearly, we have no hair whatsoever, instead having dorsal fins for hair. Our toes and fingers have webbing in between, with long, multi-pointed ears. There is also the fact that we have very faintly protruding noses, almost more like slits, and big eyes that lack pupils. Most races tend to have eyes and noses though... Anyways, because of the translucent eye lid that always covers their eyes, our eyes usually appear to be the same color as our skin, although it is possible for it to be a bit lighter or darker, I suppose."

Slightly scratching at the back of her head, Lyel would allow for her mind to slip back to the thoughts of the history of her people. It honestly wasn't the time for her to share such a troubled history with Rhydian but she could at least share the small details. To a degree, that is. "There are also a few other features that the Charodae bodies tend to encompass. Over the years, they have... changed. We used to be omnivores, meaning that we could eat both meat and herbs like many of you other races, but that is no longer the case. As it is now, our bodies cannot digest meat. If we even attempt to consume a piece of meat, our bodies will strongly reject it and we will grow violently ill." Taking a moment to draw the corner of her lips up so that her three rows of sharp, triangular teeth would be on full display, Lyel would chuckle a bit. "That might make these a bit confusing of course." Having never really seen all three rows of teeth before, Rhydian couldn't help but open his eyes wide in surprise. Lyel had admittedly expected the Eypharian youth to be understandably afraid at first bt Rhydian's actual reaction was quite different. "Those are so freakin' cool, Ma..!"

Word Count: 567
Total Word Count: 1,899

[Rhydian Lamoze]

Lyel couldn't help but laugh a bit more as she would take note of the fact that Rhydian hadn't been afraid of her in the slightest. Perhaps it was due to the bond that the two of them had built over the past nine years but Lyel had honestly been expecting a different reaction from her child. Thankfully it wasn't one that would put a strain on their relationship. "Ma! Ma! What about families? Can we talk about those? I mean, we are a family..!" While it was technically true in some semblance of the world, Lyel had more or less understood what it was that Rhydian had been asking her.

"Families, huh? Well I suppose that we can talk about that much for sure. Let's see... What is the best way to explain this to a child? Uhh... Well for starters, Charodae take a long time in finding their partners, but when they find them, they usually bond for life. We don't exactly have husbands and wives, like most of your kind, but we have our partners overall. Gender isn't exactly something that comes into play with our kind. If that makes sense to you. Anyways.. It is fairly regular that partners will participate in an Ae'loru once every 5 or 6 years, bringing eggs back from the event sealed in a coral pouch. After ten months, the eggs hatch, and the surviving young nibble their way through the coral to begin their lives. While perhaps one hundred eggs or more may be laid, only perhaps five to ten of them will hatch and come out of the pouch." The thought of so many children not making it to childhood had honestly kind of frightened Rhydian. Was this something that would happen with his own people as well? While he wasn't sure if he could handle a hundred kids or anything like that, he didn't exactly feel comforted by the fact that only five or so kids would survive the birthing process. Of course, given his rather young age, there wasn't really anything that Rhydian had understood about the birthing process. He just kind of figured that everyone laid eggs. "Uh... Ma? I have a quick question. What uh.. What is Ae'loru?"

This... was something that Lyel honestly wasn't sure if she could fully explain to Rhydian. Figuring that she might as well try her best with the situation though, Lyel would uncomfortably scratch at the back of her head before answering the question to the best of her ability. "Hmm.. How to put this... Ae'loru basically translates to 'a joining of many.' It is essentially an event that binds together the inhabitants of Chabosi and drives home our communal and equitable nature. This event generally takes place twice a year sometime in Spring and again in the Fall. During these times, partners looking to start or expand upon their families all collect in a secluded area just outside the city and take part in this event. It is uh.. It is by far the most beautiful thing that Charodae can participate in. Long story short though, it's basically how we have children. Children like you..! Of course couples don't really need to participate in the Ae'loru but.. that 'spawning' is a selfish act that insults the Charodae of Charbosi." Although he couldn't fully understand what it was that Lyel was trying to explain to him, Rhydian had figured that it sounded quite interesting. Anything that could be considered the most beautiful thing to Charodae must be spectacular! "That sounds so cool..! I can't wait to do an Ae'loru some day!" Hearing this would cause Lyel to cough up a fit before eventually catching herself.

Figuring that she should try and get away from this situation as quickly as she could, Lyel would opt to change the topic. To try and make it feel natural, Lyel would swap to the tendencies of family life. Ahaha..!! Let us move onto the next topic now!! So what happens with these children? Well... Looking after the family is evenly divided amongst the denizens of Charbosi. While one parent may tend to their offspring every day and another may instead go about the tasks that mean the success and survival of their family, there is no protocol for whom does what, and occasionally multiple pairs of bonded Charodae communally raise their young. It is an individual arrangement between partners, and any sort of arrangements are socially acceptable so long as they are acceptable to the partners. I understand that that isn't exactly what happened between you and myself but that is what makes our bond so special, Rhydian. I didn't need to participate in an Ae'loru to have you or anything like that. I found you by some turn of fate and now we have each other."

With all of the emotions that had begun to surge through the young Eypharian after having heard his mother speak of how special their familial bond had been, Rhydian would leap from his chair and towards Lyel. Almost like that of a spider monkey, Rhydian would latch onto his mothers arm and pull himself up her form so that he could give her the biggest of hugs. "I love you, Ma!" Wrapping her arms around her child, Lyel would return the hug. "..and I love you, Rhydian. Come now. Let us return to our lessons.. After that, we can try giving swimming a try. I know that it might seem dangerous with where we are but we'll get through it together. I promise." All that Rhydian would offer his mother in response was a curt nod before he would make his way back to the seat that he had been in a moment earlier.

Word Count: 958
Total Word Count: 2,857

[Rhydian Lamoze]

Once Rhydian had managed to take his seat once again, Lyel would conclude her set of lessons with but a few more. Once she had managed to get this bit out, she would be perfectly fine with the two of them heading out of the living quarters and perhaps inspecting the surrounding areas just beneath the water. "Given that we are on the topic of families, I would like to turn your attention towards the family arrangements. Family arrangements tend to vary widely within the family, but there are a few constants. The children that come from those eggs tend to attend school to learn what we would consider 'basics'. These basics include learning how to control their innate abilities with coral, geography, language, both Char and Common, underwater botany, history, and basic maths. Of course we also tend to teach our children about the other races. This continues until they are about 15, and the youngling have been deemed knowledgeable by their tutors."

Hearing about all of the schooling that the Charoda Younglings would experience had filled the young Eypharian with envy. Since he was young, all that he had ever wanted to do was go to school. These were the kinds of things that 'normal' kids got to enjoy but it just wasn't in the books for him. Unfortunately there wasn't ever a formal form of schooling that Rhydian had learned. Even for simple lessons like the ones that he was getting today, Rhydian had to pester Lyel about it until she had conceded. When it came to being an intellectual compared to the others of his age, Rhydian was seriously lagging behind. Both in book smarts and street smarts. "..I wish that I was in school.." While Lyel had felt bad for her child, she had known just how unsafe the world could be. Until she had deemed him capable of surviving on his own, she just didn't have it in her to allow him to venture too far from her. She had refused to allow for the closest thing that she had to family to be taken away from her.

"I understand that.. and I am sorry. In time you will be capable of attending any school that you wish but for now, I am really going to need you here with me... Just give it some time." Not wishing for the mood to be ruined by this particular event, Lyel would take a moment to stand from her chair before gesturing towards the front door. Her skin was becoming dried out and she could already feel that she was going to need to head into the water anyways. "Come along, child. Let us take a break from the lessons for the day. We can go and enjoy ourselves in the waves. Is that okay with you?" Offering up a smile to her son, Lyel would push the door open. Just as she had, another of the black and white colored fish from before would leap into the air before crashing back down into the waters below. Several others of its kind would partake in the same act before swimming off ahead.

Eyes going wide with glee, Rhydian would throw himself from his chair and book it towards the rest of the ship. A bright smile had been plastered upon his face as the three of his index fingers on his three right hands had pointed towards the fish. "Look, Ma! They're back..!" Turning to see just what it was that Rhydian had been speaking about, Lyel would come to see several whitewave dolphins. It wasn't all that uncommon to see them roaming about near ships but it was a bit surprising to have come across one whilst not actively being near a pod or a Svefra. "Those are Whitewave Dolphins, Rhydian. They tend to frequent pods of ships. They are largely social creatures. I can tell you about them if you would like."

Hoping not to lose sight of these dolphins, Rhydian would rush towards the edge of the ship and would lean forward on the tips of his toes to keep an eye out for them as they would break through the water. Several moments would pass before the creatures would perform their acts of acrobatics but each time that they would, the smile on Rhydian's face would grow ever larger. " A fun fact about he Whitewave Dolphins is that they tend to be less than 4 feet long and under 200 pounds, but make up for their size in sheer numbers. Whitewave Dolphin pods have been counted numbering an astounding 50 individuals. These dolphins are an inky black with bright white "waves" on their sides, running from their eye to about a a foot from the end of their tails. Their beaks are slightly shorter and used to capture fish as the pods will chase down entire schools of fish. Calves are born a stony gray and will follow their mothers devoutly for the first 6 months of their lives." By this point, Rhydian had been practically bouncing with joy. Not only was he currently learning new facts about the world but he was able to enjoy the beautiful views of the sea and its inhabitants. If Laviku were to ever bless him with their Gnosis in the future, Rhydian was sure that he would thrive beneath the sea. There were so many things that he could bare witness to and learn. The mere thought of such a future had been the dream.

"Did you know that there are humanized versions of them? Those humanized Whitewave Dolphins have been known to play with humans for hours and then follow their boat in hopes of playing again. Perhaps you can enjoy such a thing in the future?" Figuring that she might as well give Rhydian a better look, given how keen he had been on enjoying the sights of such benevolent creatures at the moment, Lyel would come directly behind her child and place a single hand on their shoulder. "You know what would be cool? If you got a closer look." With that, she would jut the palm of her hand outward and would throw Rhydian overboard.

Word Count: 1,034
Total Word Count: 3,891

[Rhydian Lamoze]

Rhydian could never have foreseen what was going to happen as he had been enjoying the sight of the Whitewave Dolphins. Just as he had been enjoying the view that had been strewn about before him, a hand from behind would send him over the edge of the ship. Panic would immediately overtake the young Eypharian as he had tried to think of what to do in this moment. Freaking out on his way down, Rhydian would flail about until he would ultimately crash into the torrential waves below. Immediately he would find himself being flung about by the waves, his sense of direction going completely askew. If it wasn't for the fact that he had gulped in a breath of air on his way down, it was entirely likely that he would be drowning right about now.

Shortly after the young boy's form would hit the water, another body would crash down into the waters below. Unlike the young Eypharian though, this person had known exactly what to do in this moment. Utilizing their innate swimming talents and water breathing capabilities, Lyel would allow for their body to go limp so that they could flow with the waves. This would eventually lead to Lyel's body being flung towards Rhydian's and her hands carefully wrapping around his form. One of her hands had found itself being wrapped around the young Eypharian's waist while the other hand would pull the boy closer. She would than pull the boys head closer before parting his lips and exhaling a breath of fresh air into his lungs.

Having realized that the person that was trying to assist him in this moment was Lyel, Rhydian would allow himself to relax. Rather than fight the current of the waves, Rhydian would allow himself to simply ride them. He would deeply inhale the breath of literal fresh air that was being offered to him and his mind would begin to return to normal. The panic would lessen and his surroundings would become revealed to him as he had decided to swim within the current. This.. was a different method of swimming than the ones that he had ever utilized in the past. Going with the flow was something that he had always thought as a phrase but not something that should be taken literal. This had shown him just how wrong he had been about that.

Now that he had been more aware of his surroundings, Rhydian would begin to look around to get a better grasp of what was going on around him. As he had done this, he would begin to take note of several Whitewave Dolphins swimming just alongside him. They were just on the outskirts of the current and had seemed to be sticking close to both himself and Lyel. "Try not to worry yourself down here, child. Allow yourself to become one with the water and its inhabitants. As long as you remain clam and become one with the water, things shall be alright. Now.. Are you okay?" Clearly unable to respond verbally, Rhydian would simply nod his head whilst continuing to swim within the undercurrent. "I'm glad to hear it. I hope that you aren't mad at me for throwing you forward. I.. forget sometimes that you aren't capable of as much as I am yet. I hope that you'll forgive me."

Honestly, Rhydian couldn't really ever picture himself being upset with Lyel. She had been around for as long as he could remember and that was what had mattered. Even though he had almost had a complete and utter panic attack just now, she was right. The best way for him to understand the sea, its inhabitants, and its god was to become one with them alL. Trusting that she knew what she was doing, Rhydian had chosen to just go along with the flow of everything. Rather than trying to discuss the matter beneath the waves, Rhydian would save any words for the future. Instead he would allow for his attention to remain on the surrounding areas. The bright white 'waves' that had almost seemed as though they were painted along their sides. The way that one of them had seemed to hold this blue undertone just beneath it... Wait. That wasn't a part of the Whitewave Dolphins. Doing his best to try and get a better look, Rhydian would allow for himself to swim just along the bottom of the undercurrent. He would have been far more successful in this matter if he had been a better swimmer but given his lack of skill, Rhydian could already feel himself being pulled out of the undercurrent and into another.

The undercurrent just beneath the one that he had been swimming in had managed to catch Rhydian's leg and would ultimately rip him from out of it and into the other. This undercurrent had been going in the other direction and it was quite difficult to swim against with this level of strength but Rhydian had done his best to try and swim against the current. Seeing that he was struggling, Lyel would swoop down and grab ahold of Rhydian's back before adding in her own power behind his kicks. With the combined force of Lyel's strength, Rhydian would find himself steadily making progress against the undercurrent. It would take quite a bit of time but eventually his gaze would manage to catch the blue sight from before. From what he could tell, this had been some kind of... four limbed slug of sorts? It had silver, black and blue coloration and had been quite difficult to spot in the first place. Over the next several moments though, it would become even more difficult to spot for some reason.. Almost as though it was blending into its surroundings?

By this point, Rhydian had found himself coming up short on breath yet again. To try and get this point across to Lyel, Rhydian would reach back and start to rapidly tap away at her forearms. More or less understanding what it was that Rhydian was trying to get across, Lyel would decidedly swim back up to the Casinor before dropping the child off. "I'll have to stay down here for a bit longer, Rhydian, but I'll come back up soon. Be sure to drop the anchor once you can." Rhydian would eventually work up the strength to do as he was told and would drop the anchor so that their ship wouldn't completely leave its location. This much had honestly taken a lot out of him... For the remainder of this day, Rhydian would simply wait for his mother to come back whilst recalling the lessons that he had been taught throughout the day.

Word Count: 1,123
Total Word Count: 5,014