[Silver Lake] Donning the Mask (Quelen)

[Yaruai]

Yaruai flashed what could have been mistaken for a genuinely pleased smile at Quelen's enthusiasm. The fool would likely wind up parched and dead within the week, and the world would be free of her bubbly enthusiasm.

Her response to his non-commital reply about songs was physically jarring, and it was all he could do to keep from wincing in pain at the shrill shriek. And then, just like that, she had spun in the water and darted away, leaving him blessedly alone.

With a cruel grin at the fate that most likely awaited the dumb fish, Yaruai turned to swim off in another direction, hoping to find someplace secluded to spend the night until he could get back on the move in the morning. It was at this point, naturally, that the one of the frailties of his mortal form made itself known and his stomach gave an audible growl accompanied by a cramping pain.

Thrice damned hunger, he thought irritably, remembering back to vague, cloudy memories of better days. Days when he had not even remembered the truly disgusting processes of the mortal body, and had instead been nourished and sustained by the gods themselves. Of course, that had been before... before he had seen the gods for what they were.

Scowling balefully after the retreating form of Quelen, Yaruai pulled himself through the water in her wake. The thought of spending any more time in her company was almost as nauseating as the thought of eating whatever he could scavenge alone beneath the waves. Almost, but not quite.

And so, it looked like he was stuck with the insufferable cheerfulness for a while longer, yet.

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

Unaware of Yaruai's unpleasant thoughts Quelen swam along the shore of Silver Lake humming softly to herself. It was a bright and silly little song that Quelen's Mother would sing often when they went to go gather food for the day. As she hummed she swayed her torso back and forth slowly, causing her swimming to meander back and forth as she made her way.

After a little time she arrived at her goal, a large bed of pale Seagrass and other aquatic plants. Giggling and waving at the various pale fish that swam away at her approach Quelen swam downwards, and then plucked a handful of the grass. Turning around so she face Yaruai she offered the grass to him with a smile, "It's sweeter than any seagrass I've had before, with an interesting taste to it I can't describe. Try it."

[Yaruai]

Dragging himself through the water, Yaruai followed after Quelen, hoping more with every stroke that she wandered up to the surface and died. It was not enough that he was trapped in this lake with her, about to be forced to eat wet weeds for his meal. On top of that, she had to be so damned happy about it. Singing and all but dancing in the water as she went. It was disgusting.

After an exhaustingly long swim, she finally stopped atop a patch of muck and filth little that was not noticeably different than all of the other patches of muck and filth on the bottom of the lake. He glared at the retreating fish balefully and flicked the end of one sharply pointed tooth in irritation. His curse would be at least that much more bearable if he were able to eat real food. Something that bled and died before he ate it.

A flood of bile accompanied the thought though, a poignant reminder of his earliest days after being thrust cruelly back into the mortal world. Confused and starving, he had killed the turtle with his bare hands and gorged himself on its flesh. In his memory, his body immediately rejected the food, his stomach spasming with pain and leaving him retching first violently and painfully, and then weakly nauseous for hours afterward. Instead, he was restricted to plants and slime, sludge growing in the dirt below the waves.

It was an effort to keep a disgusted sneer of his face as he accepted Quelen's handful of seaweed. Without a word, he plunged a strand into his mouth, chewing and managing to choke it down out of pure biological necessity. He was pretty sure that the mystery flavor was shyke. Trapped in the ocean, eating a dinner grown and nourished almost entirely on fish offal, and gods only knew what filth ran off from the nearby city. Just the thought of it almost brought the mouthful he had swallowed back up.

With a curl of his lip, he managed a sarcastic, "It's delicious."

[Quelen Dran'Sora]

Completely oblivious to Yaruai's unpleasant thoughts and feelings Quelen simply smiled brightly at his comment, "Isn't it? I love coming here to this spot to eat. I bet it's the special water here that makes it taste so good."

Swimming over the seagrass Quelen went about plucking more of the plants for her and Yaruai to eat, and as she did she started to sing. It was a soft, simple song, and was often sung by young Charodae as they went about little bits of work back in Charbosi. As she sang she smiled at Yaruai, wondering if he had heard it, since he was from the Suvan Sea.

After a little time she had managed to gather a good amount of seagrass and kelp, all bundled up against her body and held tight by the stump of her left arm. Finishing her song she swam back up to Yaruai, and then carefully offered him half of what she had gathered, "Here you go, eat up!"

Putting action to her words she started to eat her own share, but she kept her curious eyes on Yaruai the whole time. After a few moments she asked, "What brings you to Mura, or are you just an explorer?" her voice took on a breathless, excited tone at her mention of explorer. She could see Yaruai as an explorer of the world.