Watery Connections (Open)

[Lier Wavedancer]

Location: Southern Suvan Sea Timestamp: 40th of Summer 511AV Open to: Maelstroms! Checking out the south was a must during summer time. The best place to be when Syna graced the land and sea with incredible warmth bordering on hotness, many Svefra travelled there to enjoy the clear water and sandy island beaches. The Wavedancer pod was no exception. And the twins had left the family Palivar a few days ago, set out to explore the surroundings, just the two of them. In the morning hours they had anchored near the coast and gathered fresh water from the mainland. Cyphrus was dangerous ground. They didn’t want to bump into a glassbeak. So they found the task accomplished more quickly than usual and were lingering around the shared Casinor now. Syna was slowly climbing higher, but there was still time to enjoy the weather. A light morning breeze before midday would burn their skin. Lier was sitting at the bow, one of her favorite places. Looking where the ship was about to go, it had something exciting to it. One of her legs rested at the rail with a foot planted on the wood, the other one was dangling down at the side and almost reaching the water. Underneath Emanon peered out of the water. Lier let a smile fall down to her lazy companion and then opened her notebook. Leafed through the pages until she found a blank one. Hesitant, her gaze rose and observed her surroundings. Azure waves. Small bumps of islands dotting the horizon. Still the coast and grass hills to her left. What was there to write about? Laviku would gift her with insight, she was sure. The ocean was His domain and they were His children, after all, born for the sea and in the sea and with the sea in their blood. Lier sighed, noticing the image of her twin brother floating through her mind. She’d already written so much about him... it was never enough though. Never the right words.

[Citrine Maelstrom]

The Spitfire's mooring had her nestled within a small hidden cove along the shoreline, out of sight of any passing eyes while Citrine and Cyrus swam beneath the gently rolling waves. With one arm looped around the neck of the sea lion, the youngest Maelstrom was a flash of blonde cutting through the water. With her net bag lashed to her hip, she carried the small treasures she'd collected from the sea floor; a mixture of abalone, hardened coral that had broken free from its hold, and some long leathery strips of seaweed. When the shadow of the passing Casinor momentarily eclipsed the shafts of light that cast liquid designs over the skin of Sealion and girl, Citrine's blue eyes looked to the surface, and her flattened palm brushing the whiskered beard of Cyrus was a clear signal for him to surface. He knew better than to surface too close to a strange ship, the two of them spent the majority of their time viewing the world from this vantage point and had devised a routine that ensured both their safety and anonymity until such a time when they wished to be seen. Barely breaking the surface, Citrine looked toward the Casinor, her gaze stalled on the ship's bow and she watched the the beautiful young woman paging through a book that lay in her lap. With her long dark hair drifting behind her, lifted by the light breeze, she could very well have been a living figurehead, carved of flesh and bone onto the front of her ship. The image brought a smile to Citrine's lips, her mouth curling beneath the clear blue of the water. Disappearing into the wake of the Casinor, the two cohorts followed behind as the small ship hugged the shoreline. As with all others in her family, the long dark hair of the young woman she watched, made her the tiniest bit envious whenever she caught sight of her sun-bleached locks adrift round her face. But it was only a passing feeling, cast aside when curiosity would make her forget and she would be left only with appreciation for those things that were different. With a series of soft clicks, Cyrus moved next to her and she ran her fingertip along the center of his head, tracing over his glistening skin with a familiar and delicate touch. "I should introduce myself." With a slight jerk upwards, the Sea Lion pushed against her finger, and she smiled, repeating the movement, her touch lighting on the tip of his nose and trailing up between his eyes, leaving a ripple across his skin in the wake of her touch. She leaned close and kissed between his eyes and again, he pushed closer in his response. "Yes, let's do that." With a thrust of her body, her head disappeared beneath the surface to be replaced by a brief view of her kicking feet. Once underwater, she cut through with keen precision, arms flat to her sides, and a wave of movement coursing from her head to her toes. With Cyrus in tow, she closed the distance to the bow of the Casinor and emerged with a bright smile just below the woman's dangled foot. "Hello. I'm Citrine."

[Kywan Maelstrom]

Kywan hadn't fished in a while, not for at least a half day. His stomach grumbled, but the young blonde just ignored it. He stood waist deep in the water, holding a long three pronged spear at the ready as intense blue eyes stared into the crystal clear shallows. There were fish, flittering through his legs and around the coral. With practiced ease, Kywan thrust his spear into the water and brought it up wobbling and wiggling as a medium sized perch danced its death throws on the barbed ends. Anchored close to the shore, the svefra walked through the shallows up along the beach, digging up clams with his toes and breaking oysters off the rocks with his knife, everything gathered in a string bag slung off one hip. His white drykas shirt fluttered in the sea breeze and the sand clung to his bare feet. Off in the deeper water, Naiku watched him and fed herself on the small fish swimming around the reef.

Collecting kelp and a few good sized crabs as well, Kywan moved to a small fire he'd created earlier inside a deep pit, lined with dried grass. The fire had burned out, leaving hot coals at the bottom of the sandy oven. Throwing in the clams, oysters and crabs, Kywan quickly cleaned the fish before wrapping it in the kelp and throwing it in too. Covering the whole thing in more dried grass, big rocks and finally the sand, Kywan walked away from the oven. It would take at least an hour for the slowly penetrating heat to cook his lunch, and in the meantime Kwyan couldn't resist the ocean. He threw his light shirt off onto the sand and ran to the water, diving in and over the waves. Delightedly Naiku squealed at him as he dived down to meet her where the water became deeper. With a quick barrel roll, the white whale blew rings at him and squeaked again. Surfacing with a laugh, the young man shook water out of his face.

There was a new casinor. Just off shore, sluggishly rocking with the waves. And on the bow, a woman. Beautiful, from here she looked like some sort of angelic ornament, carved and breathed into life. Skulling water for a moment, Kywan felt the bump of smooth skin under his hand. He grinned at the whale.

"Look Naiku, company! How fast do you reckon you can get me there?" Clicking and squealing in response, the whale waited for him to grip her pectrol fins before speeding through the waves. Kywan whooped in delight at they broke through each creast, leaving a wake of white water behind them. Within moments they pulled up along side the small boat. Swimming around the side, Kywan moved to make his way towards the front. Suddenly another broke the surface.

"Sunfish, are you so attatched to me you would follow me even to the coast of Cyphrus? Aww, you are too sweet." Swimming to the other Maelstrom, he splashed her playfully, before looking up at the other woman.

"Forgive my intrusion on my dear Citrine's introduction, but the glare of the sun against Laviku's crystal waves is nothing compared to the bright light of your beauty." Smirking his dimpled smirk, Kywan's blue eyes glimmered with mirth.

"Kywan, I said to myself, go and see for yourself what creature could be competing with the sun's light. And here I am, not to be dissapointed."

[Topaz Maelstrom]

The pair of white dolphins surfaced together, blew, and dove again. Other dolphin's circled around them, familiar with their forms and playful in their squeals and whistles. The entire dolphin pod was well fed and feeling playful, having feasted on tuna and lazily played with flotsam to while away the afternoon. White dolphins were rare in the Suvan, albino's finding it hard to survive in the wild. But living with a svefra pod had made life easier. In fact, all of the dolphin's playing just off the starboard side of several anchored casinors were Tavan and bonded to humans who played among the surf just onshore. They were somewhere near Cyphrus - just offshore - close to the northern boundaries of Ekytol. The Maelstroms had scattered, no one straying too far though. Each had something to do, a place to be, a person to see or food to gather.

Topaz wanted no part of any of that today.

Today, she was a sleek dolphin playing in the waves as wild as any humans anywhere in Mizahar. Today she had no responsibilities and no need to be anywhere or do anything other than spend time with Crystal. The albino dolphin was her model for her ability to transform into a dolphin. The girl had spent years studying her from nose to vent, flipper and fluke, until she'd gotten it right. And they'd played - frolicking in the waves and surf - feasted and now it was time for rest. As the pair came up to the Sunseeker, one split off to watch protectively while the other slowly began to change. Changing in the water was difficult work as Topaz had to loose her shape, not drown, and had nothing to hold onto until her hands reformed from flippers again. It took her exactly six minutes, in which time she was vulnerable and open to attack. But she was in Svefra waters, places they knew, and when she safely climbed aboard there was nothing else to fear.

Topaz looked around and noticed all her family had wandered. This wasn't surprising. They knew when she took her dolphin form, she tended to spend a goodly amount of time underwater. Stretching, the twin climbed up onto the deck and slipped on her swim bottoms, wrapped a scarf around her breasts, and then slipped on a loose colorful skirt.

Topaz glanced up at the shrouds, checking the colorful oiled yarn she had hung there along the length of the shrouds to indicate wind. It was coming in smoothly and well heavy enough to tack away from the shore and begin her search up and down the length of the coast for the rest of her family. She preformed a visual check of all the standing rigging and pins connecting the sails to the hull and smiled, knowing it was the perfect time to set the Sunseeker loose into the wind. The anchor was pulled up and she let the rocking of the waves and her hand on the tiller gently point the boat into the wind.

Topaz raised the jib after she hoisted the mainsail by pulling down on its halyard, all the way until it stopped. Smiling the colorful blue sheet with a bright yellow sun painted in its center caught wind and caused the little casinor to jerk into motion. Topaz laughed and steered the boat starboard ninety degrees to the wind to catch even more sail, checking her luffing to make sure she had enough, but not too much sail out. She trimmed the port side jib and let out the jib sheet on the the side away from where the wind is coming from. The Sunseeker was persnickity and always needed its leeward side jib trimmed. Once her adjustments were made, Topaz was off and racing down the coast, ziggzagging across the wind looking for any signs of her family.

Soon enough she found them, noting Citrine and Kywan's casinor's fairly close, yet not too alongside a strangers. Topaz trimmed her sails, bright the little casinor out of a dance with the wind and slowed up to come right up alongside Citrine's casinor. She jumped the distance with a line and neatly lashed her boat to her sister's craft checking to make sure her little sister had tied up with her cousin's neatly as well or else had dropped a secure anchor. Then, glancing around to locate her relatives, the girl saw the stranger talking to someone in the water (unsuprisingly) and Kywan's whale playing not far away either. Crystal darted off in the water to go gossip undoubtedly with Naiku, leaving Topaz the option to swim the distance between the family grouping and the stranger's boat.

The quiet Maelstrom dove in immediately, kicked out and began concentrating on her swimming as she crossed the distance between the anchored ships and the one simply drifting slightly. Topaz wasn't a strong swimmer, but each season she got better. Concentrating on her breathing, staying as sleek in the water as she could, and being careful about her leg-kicks and her arching back, the girl soon came up to her sister and cousin, all still lingering in the water while talking to the strange girl on the deck of her ship.

Topaz stroked Citrine's wet blond hair a moment and nudged Kywan as she slowly pulled up and then treaded water with them.

"So what do we have here? A new face? I'm Topaz Maelstrom.... and your invading our waters. Trespassing is heavily frowned upon around here. There's a punishment for it, you know. You must eat Kywan's cooking. If you survive..." She said, laughing and still treading water while playfully splashing at her cousin "... it means you become one of us." Her cousin always had something cooking somewhere, to the point where it was almost a joke. He wasn't a GOOD cook, but he had a healthy appetite that always well made up for any attempt he'd botched whether on land or sea. She just hoped he was cooking on shore this time and not trying to burn his casinor down again.

Topaz offered her cousin a grin and waited for the stranger to speak.

[Lier Wavedancer]

With the goal of jotting words down onto the blank page, Lier let her gaze and mind wander. It started with a small prayer to Laviku and dipping her toes into the water to feel the connection. However, then her thoughts drifted away and she lost focus in the blue sky and turquoise ocean. This and that, here and there. She nearly dropped the journal when a head emerged out of the water. A blonde girl and a sea lion, what a curious encounter! Smiling, she looked down. “Citrine? I’m Lier, nice to meet you. And your friend.” Her eyes darted towards the sea lion. That was when Emanon stuck her head out of the water to catch a glance of the two. “You”, Lier said, “didn’t even notice that we have visitors? That’s just how you are.” Light laughter trickled behind. Suddenly a second head came out of the water, sending a few drops up the bow. The journal would get wet, Lier thought. The new head spoke of a sunfish and beauty and... more. It brought a grin on Lier’s face. Lian would be jealous if he heard that. Come to think of it, where was her brother? “Kywan, it is? Call me Lier. And I thought Citrine was the sunfish? If she’s the sun, I might be more of a moon”, she mused, throwing a quick glance at the blonde. The pale elegance of her hair dared the poet to find words. For a moment, she struggled for something else to say. “Would you ...” “... like to join us aboard the Tidemill? It seems we have guests”, came a voice from behind. Lier knew the voice, but she turned nevertheless to see her brother, dressed in a light brown shirt and his usual white pants. The necklace with the wooden pendant stuck out, a brown dolphin. Its mirror image dangled around her neck. Rising from the bow, she brushed Lian’s shoulder with a hand and glanced back at Kywan. Mockery was in her blue eyes, a light-hearted invitation. For a moment or two she left her twin to introduce himself to the others and stored the journal, quill and ink away in the little cabin they shared. It was narrow, of course, but she found a way to step and climb over their belongings like she always did. Upon getting back, she discovered that the crowd had increased by one. Catching the woman’s last words, she laughed and positioned herself side by side with Lian. “Topaz... do you think he has enough cooking for two of us? The Wavedancers come in packages of two, you know.” She grinned. Of course, it was a joke, although they certainly weren’t the only couple of twins in the pod. And Lian completed the train of thought by adding: “We’d be glad to accept your challenge.” It seemed that even the couple of sea turtles approved of the idea. After Emanon had taken Amneon with her to take part in the gathering, their heads bobbed out of the water almost at the same time, watching the group with interest glittering in their lazy eyes.

[Talgir Moontide]

Suvan was Suvan. The water of the sea rolled and moved as one. The wave crashing up against Sylira's shore might one day sigh softly on the banks of Alvadas. In that sense, everything was connected. The birds above the sea, the fish below, and the Svefra upon. All breathed and lived with the same exuberance as any other creature, each continued moment a blessing for them all.

Hoisting the only sail on his Casinor, Talgir adjusted for the incoming wind. It pulled abreast of his ship, washed over it, continued onward into the distance and only a small pocket stayed behind to fill his sail and push him forward. The light blue sails of the Moondance almost melded with the sky and sea, simply a moving tapestry of blue shading. Pulling hard at the rigging, he adjusted course slightly, turning the small casinor thirty degrees to port. Sun glanced along the shimmering droplets of water vanishing from the deck and below him the sea was brilliant blue, dappled with the shapes of fish and other creatures swimming beneath him.

One of them was Tycho, the mako shark ordinarily such a grim predator. It kept abreast of him, darting forward in spurts of motion only to drop back once more in a lazy patrol. Sometimes it would strike, lancing deeper only to return in a haze of blood and flesh. Talgir watched it gravely, its very nature a reflection of the two faced personality of the Suvan. She consumed and she protected, no man or woman her master.

Leaning against the ropes, Talgir strained against the wind. It was his savior and his adversary at once, an ever constant companion lending strength by presence rather than wish. Turning away from the sails for a moment, Talgir reached down to grab the bundled fishing net beside him. It was early perhaps, but already hunger gnawed against his patience. Marveling for an instant in the warmth of the day, the splendid touch of hot fingers along his shoulders, Talgir gathered up the net and dropped it into the water, watching the coiling loops slide out of sight into the blue below.

Tycho was wiser now, avoiding the net with ease and continuing his forward motion. Talgir did not expect the shark to help him lure fish. It was not the nature of a singular predator to aid another, the sea was a vast competition for survival and not even the Svefra expected to make a dolphin of a shark, to change its nature.

Ahead, small tufts of green announced islands, the dotted children of the larger landmasses. Marking their location, Talgir wondered which would be the preferable to land and sleep upon.

By the bright gaze of the noonday sun, the shapes of other Casinors rose and separated from the island, individual trees that swayed in the wind, rippling with motion.

A smile touched Talgir's lips, thoughts about the possibility of a joined meal rather than one alone too tempting to deny. Tightening the ropes, filling his sails with wind once more, Talgir pushed toward the island. Sleek grey dolphins rose and fell against the placid sea, and Talgir glanced to the water beside him with sudden apprehension. Tycho was not the usual sort of Tavan, a misunderstood creature in the grand scope of things. Leaning down to the water, the Svefra splashed for his Tavan to swim closer to the surface. Its own sleek body broke the waves a moment later, fin like a herald, and Talgir ran an appreciative hand across it. For a moment Tycho remained where he was, suspended between sea and sky.

But with a flick of his tail, the shark was gone, vanished into deeper waters.

Feeling oddly incomplete, Talgir directed his Casinor to one of the far sides of the island. He leaped from the boat when the Casinor passed into the shadows, wading onto land as he pulled his boat onto the sand. Gritting and heaving against the weight of the craft, he dragged it just far enough to grip the ground before taking a break to breath along its hull.

Vessel secure, Talgir waded back into the water and pushed into the waves. Not the best swimmer, preferring to move with fins than with arms, he struggled against the waves for a moment. Focusing on his legs and arms, the fisherman moved into the deeper water hand over hand. His feet beat the surf, arms pinwheeling against the water as he almost beat it rather than moved through it. Calming his motions, throwing caution to the way his body stiffened under water's grasp, he eased himself into a forward stroke. It wasn't enough, his energy seeping away despite the short distance between him and the others.

Taking a deep breath, Talgir dove beneath the waves, letting his Djed flow through his body, ripple and change it as necessary. His feet twisted together, binding heel to heel and lengthening outward. Sun-harened flesh turned grey and rubbery, lengthening to fins and sealing his legs up to his thighs. Breaking the surf to take another breath, Talgir pushed forward with his powerful flipper, working the change up across his chest as bones dissolved and reshaped themselves, his body shaking under the heavy handed changes. A fin jutted from his spine as his arms dwindled and curved in on themselves. His mouth jutted forward, misshapen for an instant beneath the waves before lengthening and rounding, pushing his skull into stranger shapes. He broke the surface several more times, a horrible misshapen thing of grey flesh and mutant limbs before sinking from view.

And finally it was a dolphin that broke the waves, serene and fluid as it danced among the water and sky. There had been momentary panic in his transformation. Certainly he had to work on which parts to change first to utilize a safer underwater transformation. A dolphin seemed the safest route rather than his shark form, far more accepted among other Svefra than such an infamous predator.

Leaping into the air, giddy simply to have such boundless energy and speed, Talgir wasted almost five minuets simply enjoying his shape before diving toward the others. He hadn't spent much time beneath the waves lately, his own pod some distance away and his path a lonely one at best. To sacrifice himself to the sea might mean to lose his Moondance and perhaps his identity as a Svefra entirely.

He couldn't have that.

Not when it meant so much to be what he was.

Approaching the pod, he respectfully maintained his distance. Outsiders were regarded suspiciously and he didn't want to risk injury being too forward. Diving and reemerging near the pod and swimming Svefras, Talgir waited for an invitation, if any, to approach. As a dolphin he wasn't remarkable, a bottlenose with eyes but a shade less playful than any other of his kind. Smaller scars dotted his back and snout, wounds of both forms. If they had seen his Casinor settle into the island, they might have reason to believe the strange dolphin was another morpher, or perhaps even a Tavan.

Squeaking, he bade them invite him, or dismiss him...either method to decide his next course of action. Remaining still was almost a chore, a behavior his body tried to strive against. To move and be free...to exist without bounds, that was the nature of the dolphin...at least as Talgir felt it.

But he was no dolphin, not truly.

And proper respect need be expressed.

[Topaz Maelstrom]

NoteIn an effort to jumpstart a very dead looking thread that shouldn't be dead, I'll go again!

Topaz raised an eyebrow, looked from the girl to the boy, and laughed. "Twins! I'm a twin too." And with that, she climbed aboard, hugged Lier, smiled at Lian, and turned around and offered a hand to Sunfish so she could haul her little and prettier sister aboard. She gave Kywan a wink and called out to him good-naturedly. "If you don't have enough food in that shore fire, you'd better go get more. Looks like a meet and greet about ready to go down, and we could be at it for hours." She said with a laugh knowing her cousin would do what he wanted too regardless of her barking orders to him. There was fish and they could also dig more clams and set them to steam as well, so food was never really an issue - not in the lower Suvan.

"Where in the world did you two come from? I rarely hear word of other twins. Its nice to meet them when they do appear. My sister, Moonstone, who isn't here is sure missing out by not meeting you two. And are those sea turtles your tavan? The Lia of the Maelstrom's say sea turtles only attach themselves to people of wisdom, that's why none of hte Maelstrom's will ever have one as a tavan." Topaz said with a laugh then settled herself on deck, immediately making herself at home in the way only a svefra could on another svefra's boat they felt comfortable on.

[Citrine Maelstrom]

With both Topaz and Kwyan arriving to offering a more complete showing of the Maelstrom pod, Citrine felt at ease boarding the unfamiliar Casinor. Kywan's words made her smile and she rode her hand along the surface of the water, pushing a glittering arch of water into his face3 playfully. "Listen to Topaz...we will need lots of food." She grinned and took her sister's hand, giving herself a kick of propulsion beneath the water to make pulling her out easy as you please. When her feet hit the deck, she kissed her sister's cheek and then smiled brightly at the new set of twins. "Moon...all right, Moonfish it is." She approached Lier and offered her twilight counterpart an endearing hug. "We've got the whole of the day covered, you and I." She looked at Lian, glancing between the two of them for a brief moment before following their eyes to the nearby sea turtles. Cyrus' black eyes and whiskered nose bobbed in the water just behind the pair. "Cyrus will show make them feel at home." Citrine was about to take a seat when she first took note of the beached Casinor, then the playful dolphin dodging and cutting through the waves in its path. She watched it with interest, grinning at the abandon with which it swam. If she had to guess, she would wager that it was a man, for while the dolphins she knew were indeed playful and joyous, they all seemed to possess great purpose in their movement, and this fellow, well he was just playing, plain and simple. Just like a man who had the freedom of the ocean at his beckon call. When it stopped just outside the new, but growing, gathering of Svefra to watch, Citrine looked back with her bright blue eyes and a cock of her sun-bleached head. The chittering call that the dolphin made drew her near the side of the Casinor and she leaned over the side with an extended hand. "I think this fellow would like to join us." With a curl of her fingers she called the dolphin to the side of the boat, resting on bent elbows as it closed the distance. "There's always room for one more, yes?" A glance over her shoulder to the Casinor's captain was searching for confirmation of her idea. "What do you think Moonfish? Do we need even more food?"

[Lier Wavedancer]

The hug warmed Lier’s body, having cooled down a little from the wind brushing her lookout, the bow. She returned it with gentle appreciation, not as determined as someone called Maelstrom would. After greetings had been exchanged, she and Lian settled down at the rail, the weight of additional people sending more ripples across Laviku’s surface. Three girls and two men, the Tidemill was getting crowded. “It’s a pity we don’t get to meet your twin”, Lier replied and smiled at the thought of having another person like her around. Another person who was incomplete without their other half. However, the difference remained: the absence of the other twin. When she met eyes with Lian, she read the same in his gaze. While she chuckled at Citrine’s nickname – Moonfish, what a nice ring it had to it –, Lian explained: “We haven’t visited the south for a while. A season or two. But it’s the place to be...” “...when it’s Summer, indeed”, Lier took over. “The Wavedancer pod will stay here for a while. There’ll be a grand party, without doubt, when we meet your pod.” Even while saying it, she wondered... whether they were too different to have fun together. However, sinister thoughts weren’t for a Svefra to have, not when the sea provided them with unlimited opportunities to have fun. A glance towards the sea turtles revealed that they were getting acquainted with Citrine’s companion. Lier nodded. “We belong together. Wisdom? I never got the impression...” “... but they teach us a great deal”, Lian finished and smiled down at the two Tavans. Indeed, Lier thought, Emanon taught her so much about life and her existence, about the meaning of her Svefra heritage, about the sea and the sun and the beaches. It was like a gaze through the sea turtle’s eyes revealed a whole new world to her, a world of greater balance and of calm. There were never enough words to describe the connection between them. Upon Citrine’s statement her head turned. The dolphin squeaked at them, greeting them, asking for company, asking for permission. A smile brightened Lier’s features as she watched the sleek creature in the water. Citrine put the question into words and the twins' nod came simultaneously. “A new friend is always welcome. Our Tidemill is getting quite full though. We could move to the beach”, Lian suggested. His sister grabbed his hand and squeezed it, a hidden thank you that only he understood.

[Talgir Moontide]

Talgir ducked beneath the waves, relishing the feeling of water running across his sleek skin. With a push of his powerful tail, he closed the distance between him and the boat and surfaced beneath Citrine, pushing up his snout toward her smiling face. Once more he had come across the Malestroms on the sea, a good omen of their continued connection...pod to pod. His Lia had always taught respect for the pod that had sheltered her, protected her when the rowdy Everblue had met their end.

Talgir felt a certain kinship with the twin-centric pod, as if the waves had pulled him toward them each time he set out. Tycho could have cared less, more a singular predator than a pod animal, the shark simply went where its friend rode and followed his requests with placid patience. It had become obvious over the last few years that Talgir was changing, becoming more social than he had been in the darker times of his life. Two children offered up to Laviku, two children that had not seen his life or learned to ride the waves as he had.

His pod had comforted him, but even their kind words had done little to warm the cold loneliness in his heart's sea. Tycho had offered nothing to comfort Talgir, only the promise to understand his solitude and ask for nothing more than his presence...an honor a shark rarely gives.

Sinking back into the waves, Talgir worked on shifting back. Starting with the tail, creases threaded, bisecting the find and splitting it with neither blood or tearing. Kicking at the water with rubbered skin, Talgir tried to remain afloat for a moment before the effort brought him beneath the waves. His arms came next, unfolding from the fins and grasping at the waves as grey color lost ground to the tanned hardness of his own skin. Long blonde hair snaked from beneath his skin and caught the water ablaze in sudden color, the rest of him warping and shifting in accordance. He caught the edge of the Casinor above, surfacing on the other side for a breath as his snout flattened into a human visage, color and shapes rising from his skin. His eyes were last, caught in flux they changed as though dropping a drip of brightest blue on the surface of otherwise dark waters.

Talgir looked up at them, shifting beneath the water again to come up on Citrine, side, his bearded face pushing back the water as he grinned.

"By Laviku, the tides keep bringing me to your pod. Your patience with me is impressive, certainly."