A Relaxing Swim in the Bay (Eorar)

[Avari]

Season of Fall, Day 31, 511 AV


The waters around the harbor of Zeltiva weren't the cleanest that Avari had ever seen, not when dozens of ships and boats passed through them every day, not when the city emptied much of its waste into the bay, and certainly not when compared to the crystal-clear waters of the Silver Lake on Konti Isle. While the waters weren't exactly filthy, they did have a certain lived-in quality that came from flowing around a busy, well-populated city. Perhaps Avari had just gotten used to them by now, or maybe she'd always had a higher tolerance than most for a bit of grime and murk. Besides, these waters had something that she was sure the Silver Lake didn't offer: fallen treasures and objects that had toppled from the piers and ships to sink to the bottom of the sea.

Most of the things that fell into the water were generally items of lesser value or importance, of course. After all, no one was going to let their pearl necklace or book of magical writings fall into Mathews Bay without noticing or raising a hue and cry about rescuing it. Sometimes, people even discarded broken or damaged items into the sea, in the belief that they were of no earthly use to anyone and the creatures of the deep were welcome to them. Boots, hats, dented pots and pans, planks of wood, rusted knives, and other mundane, everyday flotsam were much in evidence on the sea floor, especially after a busy day at the docks.

However, there was always that elusive hope, that treacherous yet seductive hope, that perhaps, buried amid all that debris, there might be something worth finding. One could dream of finding a curio down there that hadn't been ruined by the seawater and could be sold to Raleaph at Treasures of the Sea for a small sum. Deep down, one could even fantasize about discovering some forgotten cargo crates full of unspoiled goods just ready for fencing. For all that Avari had long ago learned to sell hopes and dreams to hapless marks, she wasn't entirely immune to them herself, especially when her own interests were at stake.

So, on this windy autumn day in Zeltiva, Avari stood in a secluded spot at the harbor, far away from the docks, and slipped off her breeches, boots, and hat. Casting a few quick glances for anyone watching, she bent and stashed them under a handy rock. Then she waded into the water, wincing and gasping at the cold water, and ducked her head under the surface.

For a brief but panicky moment, she felt a trickle of seawater enter her nose. Then the gills on the sides of her neck contracted and swelled, filtering air from the water, and Avari could breathe again.

She paddled under the water, letting herself drift with the flow and ebb of the currents eddying through the sea. Her bare legs and feet churned slowly as she propelled herself downward as the water grew deeper and darker. The chill of the water was brisk, even invigorating now. Even though she was no great swimmer, Avari had lived most of her life half underwater and half above it, giving her a sense of familiarity and comfort while submerged. Her hair drifted around her face like seaweed and the saltiness of the water pricked at her open eyes as she peered down in the darkness of the sea floor. She kept on swimming, ignoring the intrepid fish darting around her and the bits of algae that started clinging to her wet tunic.

It was much like searching for riches at Treasures of the Sea, except that here, the customer base was so much smaller: just Avari. No wonder she loved swimming down here, despite the murky water.

Deep down amid the kelp beds and coral, as well as the goods that had sunk down there over the years, Avari thought she saw a bright golden glint. She blinked, wondering if it was an illusion or a figment of her imagination. But no, there it was again, and it was definitely metallic in nature, maybe silver or gold. It gleamed steadily in her vision, occasionally obscured by a tendril of dark water or a strand of kelp. Her heart beat a little faster as she wondered what it could be: a forgotten item of jewelry, a cache of mizas, perhaps a valuable piece of art?

As always, there was only one way to find out. With a swift kick of her legs, Avari dove down toward the sea floor, imagining herself to be a stooping falcon swooping toward its prey.

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something else approaching the same metallic glint. It moved as gracefully and easily as a fish through the water, though the shadow that it cast seemed larger than any fish ought to be. But then, beneath the water's surface, light and shadows could appear quite different than they did aboveground. Avari ignored the movement and focused on the gleam deep down on the sea floor.

After all, that moving shape she had glimpsed might not be anything, but the gleam on the floor might well make her fortune. The Konti swam faster, her arms fanning out on both sides of her body and her gills working fiercely. One way or another, she was determined to find out what exactly was down here in the bay.

[Warden Thrice]

It was a lovely day. At least, it was a lovely day for the festering waste dump of the Zeltivan harbor. The sun managed to pierce the murky waters with three single shafts of light, and while that light sent the prawns and scavengers of the floor into a frenzied search for shade, Eorar found it beautiful. The charoda usually didn’t swim around the harbor for its own sake, and today was no exception. With fall solidly underway the Abovewater was cold, far colder than Eorar was comfortable with. Having grown up in tropics had made him more inclined to higher temperatures, and he was more than a little homesick. His homesickness was, in fact, the reason for his ‘stroll’. One redeeming factor of the harbor was the water’s richness, and subsequently the coral that managed to grow in between the city’s piles of refuse. It grew so erratically that Eorar was sure even an air-breather could see it: one patch vibrant and colorful, another brown and sickly, another dying, and another bursting back to life, all at the mercy of the tides and their cargo. Eorar had decided that it was high time for him to establish himself here if he was indeed going to become a permanent resident. The lives of the charodae were interwoven heavily with coral, and this particular knew that without a solid reef to tie him down, he might very well go crazy. And so he was weaving between wreckages of things beyond description, examining the miniature systems for some good starting material. There. Eorar glided down to an outcropping in one of the cleaner areas that was bright with color. He quickly circled it and mentally marked the best of the three species growing before setting about to uprooting them. Not an easy task, to be sure. By the time he managed to come away with acceptable specimens, an hour had passed and he could barely feel his fingers. Nevertheless, he was rather certain it was worth it. Flexing his hands before gathering his precious items in his arms, he started his journey out of the bay. It would be good to grow coral again. Wait, what was that? Something was glinting. Strange. Not many things could manage to glint underwater, and even less in this type of water. Frowning, Eorar set his coral down gently in a crate before moving to investigate such a perplexing occurrence. It glittered, but didn’t shine. It was like a candle shedding light without being as obnoxious as the sun. It was trapped by the skeleton of a box, and the charoda danced around it anxiously. Wait, there. Could he… he could! Wriggling his arm through one of the gaps, Eorar groped around blindly until his hand touched something cold and smooth, and with a little more wriggling he got it out. His eyes widened. It was a necklace, a beautiful one. The chain looked to be silver or some relative, and bore three pendants. The two outer ones were around the width of his little finger, twisted silver cages that held rich blue stones, and the middle held an blue opal the width of his thumb. He breathed incredibly slowly as he held it, as if any sudden movements would somehow frighten it away. He had heard of opals before, but never seen one. It was… enchanting.

[Avari]

Avari swam steadily toward the tiny metallic glint she had spotted down on the sea floor, continuously adjusting for the strength and speed of the currents that flowed beneath the water's surface and the growing darkness of the underwater world where so little sunlight penetrated. Her legs rhythmically kicked upward to propel her body down into the water, while she paddled with her arms in a sweeping outward stroke, as if clearing water out of the way in front of her. Her glimpse of the moving shadow in the water notwithstanding, the Konti was fairly certain that she was alone out here in the bay and thus chose a slow, steady swimming style over speed. She had no desire to tire out by the time she reached the sea floor and become too exhausted to even search for whatever treasure she found, let alone drag it back to the surface.

Unfortunately, her slow-and-steady approach turned out to be a costly mistake. As Avari kept doggedly swimming toward the bottom of the bay, she was stunned to see the dark, moving shape she'd noticed earlier glide right over to the glinting metallic object. Now that she could see its entire body, outlined against the sea floor below, she knew for sure it was no fish. It might move with the agility and effortless grace of a fish, utterly at ease and comfortable in the water, but she had never seen a fish this large or with limbs that ended in webbed fingers and toes. In shape and form, it looked almost human, except that she had never seen a human swim this deep or linger this long underwater without thrashing and gasping for air.

Utterly oblivious to her presence above him, the fish-like man moved closer to the glint, clearly attracted to its silvery gleam just as she was. Avari moved faster, swiveling her arms and legs in a frantic attempt to get to her find before he found it, but she was too late. In an almost leisurely fashion, the fish-man swam over to investigate the gleam and rummaged it out of its hiding place. He -- she was sure it was a he, from the way he moved and the structure of his body -- lifted it up to examine it closer, and a ray of light touched the metallic object in his hand.

As Avari swam closer, she caught her breath. The fish-man was holding a necklace in his hand, made of an untarnished silvery metal that gleamed against his scaled hand. Three shining, deep blue stones hung in pendants from the silvery chain, the central stone glimmering like the surface of the sea as it turned this way and that in the slow currents.

It was a treasure indeed. But it was not her treasure, it seemed. Avari gritted her teeth. She was sure she had seen it first, all the way up near the surface, while this fish-man had been drifting around down here. It seemed so unfair that she had swum toward it so determinedly, only to end up with the necklace in the fish-man's hands instead of hers.

She wondered if she might be able to persuade this strange, fishy fellow, who swam so well, to give the necklace to her. But why would he? It was a beautiful piece of jewelry, and Avari had nothing to give him in exchange for it.

Perhaps he had no use for such things, though, she mused. Perhaps he didn't care for jewelry or might not realize how much it was surely worth. It certainly couldn't hurt to approach him and ask. At least, it'd be better than simply languishing here watching as the fish-man held the necklace in his hands.

Avari swam downward until she was resting roughly at the same depth as the fish-man, several feet to his right. At this close range, she decided her earlier assessment of his species was right. The smooth, rubbery-looking pale-blue skin and streamlined shape of his body proclaimed him to be a Charoda, if she remembered the name correctly. One of those fish-like humanoids that lived far to the west of Mizahar, she recalled, after a few minutes dredging up her long-ago history and geography lessons from the dim recesses of memory. No wonder he moved so fluidly and smoothly through the water; he had probably been born in it and made to live in the world underwater. Were the Charodae dangerous? She couldn't remember. The man looked quite peaceable at the moment, simply standing still admiring the necklace in his hand.

Opening her mouth, she called out to him. Almost at once, she realized her foolishness. The lack of air in front of her mouth meant that her words escaped as a sort of muffled noise accompanied by a long, tiny stream of bubbles. The Charoda man didn't even look up in her direction.

Avari scratched her head thoughtfully. How was she to converse with someone when normal speech couldn't work? She vaguely recalled learning about how marine creatures like dolphins and whales used clicks, whistles, or humming noises to communicate, but she had no idea if she could convey anything worth saying by clacking her teeth or chirping at the Charoda.

Instead, after a few moments of thought, she moved her hands through the water at him, pushing it toward him like a wave. Hopefully, if she had aimed correctly, the small current she had created would brush against his right side harmlessly but noticeably, rather like a friendly tap on the shoulder or arm. As she waited for the Charoda to look up and see her, floating in the water, Avari mentally practiced how she would gesture slowly and courteously to him in greetings and how she would demonstrate her interest in the necklace.

It would be interesting bargaining with a man without spoken words, using only physical gestures and perhaps a click or whistle here or there. Avari had never been in a position where speaking Common or Kontinese wasn't enough to make herself understood before. That silvery necklace with the blue stones would certainly be worth the trouble, though. She just hoped she could communicate clearly enough to get it from the Charoda without too much difficulty.

[Warden Thrice]

Eorar felt something tickle his shoulder. He turned curiously and eyed the offending appendage, but nothing was touching it to create such a reaction. His gaze, however was quickly drawn to something else. In the dark blue of the water, such pure white stood like a beacon. It was a human. No, wait. It was… what were they? Konti! It was a konti! Eorar had seen konti before. They had sometimes come to Charbosi, as they were the only other race able to do so. He had even talked to one, once. Eorar swirled to face his new companion. Did she speak Char? Even if she didn’t it couldn’t hurt, as common was a difficult language in their present location. “I didn’t think there would be other sea-dwellers in Zeltiva. I thought it was all humans. Well, I guess you’re kind of human, but… nevermind.” He darted sideways, cheerfully chirping on, not knowing or caring about whether she understood him or not. “It’s so wonderful to meet someone else down here! It’s a bit lonely with no one else to talk to except Astrolabe—he’s a human I know—but he can’t come underwater. And have you noticed how cold it is up there? I was born around Falyndar, and it’s warmer there. Sometimes it’s even hotter on land than in water! But you can’t go on land too much because of the Myrians. They’ll try to eat you. Here it’s freezing.” He paused, then put a hand on his chest. “I’m Eorar.”

[Avari]

Much to her own chagrin, the overwhelming majority of people that Avari had ever encountered had been humans or Konti, with an Ethaefal and perhaps a Kelvic once or twice. Never before had she met anyone from the southern- or westernmost reaches of Mizahar, let alone a Charoda. Thus, she regarded the fish-man with unabashed fascination as he turned smoothly around in the water and faced her. Avari thought she had never seen anyone so obviously and exotically inhuman. Compared to his flat features, sleek, hairless blue skin, and webbed arms and feet, she felt almost commonplace by contrast, with only her pale coloring, gills, and some scales to mark her outwardly as non-human. It was enough to make her wonder why humans made so much of the Konti's appearance, when creatures like this existed in the world for everyone to marvel at and examine.

But then, she supposed that if the Charodae lived underwater, most humans never got the chance to marvel at them in person. Avari felt fortunate to have the opportunity now. She felt that there must be an extraordinary story for this Charoda's presence here in Zeltiva, so far away from his native waters. Had he swum all the way here? What wondrous sights had he seen along the way?

Her thoughts were cut short, though, when the Charoda began speaking. Unlike hers, his words didn’t emerge as a muffled, bubble-filled mumble, but in a resonant, melodious sequence of murmurs and trills that carried very well through the water. The sounds he made reminded Avari vaguely of dolphin vocalizations and made just about as much sense to her. His outpouring of words sounded musical and good-natured, but she had no idea about what he had actually said to her.

When he finished speaking, Avari had to shake her head helplessly in incomprehension. She felt a pang of regret that she couldn't answer back in the sonorous, humming language he had used. Still, she was grateful that he had responded to her presence with a barrage of words, rather than a flurry of blows or a show of snapping teeth. The problem of making herself understood to a friendly stranger was infinitely preferable to the problem of fleeing from a hostile stranger much faster than she was.

Imitating his last gesture, she placed one hand on her chest. "I am Ari," she told him, enunciating the words with exaggerated care.

The three words emerged as three large bubbles from her mouth. Watching them float upward, Avari gave a self-deprecating shrug and resorted to trying to communicate with her hands instead. For a few moments, she paused to think about what she wanted to say and how she could convey her meaning effectively.

Then the Konti raised her right hand, opening and closing it in a parody of a talking mouth, and pointed to herself with her other hand. Emphatically, she shook her head to show negation. I cannot speak with you. She traced a straight line down her cheek to imitate the path of a falling tear to show her regret and sadness.

On an afterthought, she pointed to her ears and then to the Charoda and shook her head again. I cannot understand you, either.

Then she smiled at the man, taking care to keep her lips closed in case exposed teeth might be a sign of violence in his culture, and bowed slightly from the waist. She figured that the gesture of bowing must be fairly universal: the symbolic lowering of yourself, however briefly, before someone to demonstrate respect and good intentions. She certainly wanted him to know that she meant no harm. On an impulse, the Konti whimsically made paddling motions in the water to denote swimming and pointed again to the Charoda. Then she clapped her hands in a gesture of applause, showing her admiration for his excellent swimming skills.

Avari sighed. This business of talking through gestures took more thought than she had realized.

Finally, the Konti pointed at the necklace in the Charoda's hand, which she was still eyeing with interest. Momentarily, she pondered the tricky problem of inquiring about ownership and then gave up, simply pointing at the Charoda himself. Is that yours? Then she pantomimed accepting the necklace and fastening it around her own neck. Perhaps it was a crude way to communicate her question, but she couldn't think of anything else. If not, can I have it?

[Warden Thrice]

The shining white woman shook her head, and Eorar sighed in spite of himself. He hadn’t realistically expected her to understand him, but he had hoped. The woman put a hand on her own chest and spoke. Or at least, she tried to. Air flew from her mouth and rose to the far surface, and though the glugging sounds predominated, he was able to make out the sounds behind them, and the gesture made it rather obvious what she was trying to say. She made a strange gesture with one hand, pointed to herself with the other, and shook her head. Eorar was pretty sure she got her meaning. She then pointed at her ears and shook her head again. The charoda shrugged in confusion. He tilted his head, then pointed at her. “Name?” he asked in common, his short and clipped speech easier to hear in the water. “You Oarie?” He thought that was what she had said. It was then that he saw her gaze. She was looking at his necklace a bit too appreciatively, and he instinctively drew back. Though peace-loving, Charoda were born hoarders. Once they saw something as ‘theirs’, it was extremely difficult for them to give it up for anything or anyone, friends and family included. His face darkened, and he nodded solemnly. “Yes,” he chirped in common. “Is mine.”

[Avari]

Watching the Charoda draw back from her, his webbed fingers closing around the jeweled necklace and his expression perceptibly darkening, Avari's face fell. He hadn't looked as though he'd understood much of what she had been trying to gesture at him, but evidently he'd recognized her interest in his treasure all too well. So much for hoping that he would hand it over without a fuss! When he opened his mouth, she half-expected him to bare his teeth and hiss belligerently at her, so she was thankful when he simply nodded and chirped at her.

The gratitude quickly dissipated, though, as she remembered how she had swum steadily toward the necklace, only to be beaten to it by the Charoda. She was sure that she had seen it first, but he had just happened to be deeper underwater and closer to the prize. If only she had swum faster! It might be her holding that necklace now, instead of him.

Swimming fast… Hmm…

She'd often seen how two human men would compete over something they both wanted by pitting their strength against each other. Sometimes, they fought hand-to-hand or dueled each other with weapons, something she hardly dared consider even against this lithe-looking Charoda man. But other times, they showed off their strength by arm-wrestling, their wits by playing games of strategy, or even their speed by racing against each other. Now, while Avari rather doubted that either of them were great fighters, she knew the Charoda and Konti could both swim underwater with great precision and agility.

Avari rubbed her chin thoughtfully, considering their present situation. Both she and the Charoda clearly coveted the necklace, but only one could have it. Could she convince him to put it to the test?

She kicked slightly with both legs, drifting closer to the Charoda so that he could read her lips and possibly hear her speech. To her surprise, the Charoda had managed to make himself understandable even underwater while speaking Common. Hopefully, she could emulate him and dispose of those confusing, clumsy gestures altogether.

"You and I," she said, shaping her words carefully and pitching her voice to sound like his short chirps, "both want the necklace." She nodded at the shining jewelry in his hand. "I think I saw it first, but you are the one who got it first. Would you like to settle this once and for all?"

Avari let that sink in for a moment, before she continued. "Do you see that great crate over there, full of rusting pots and pans?" she asked, pointing to the crate about a hundred yards away. "What do you say to a little contest? The first one who reaches that crate gets to keep the necklace, no questions."

A mischievous grin curved her lips. "Otherwise, you may never be able to get rid of me always hanging after you, wanting the necklace."

There was no artifice, no falsehood in her words; she was genuinely willing to abide by the rules of the simple contest, if only because she didn't want to incur the anger of someone who called the sea home while she was still underwater. Of course, if the Charoda was truly half as deft and graceful moving through the water as he looked, it might not prove much of a contest for Avari. Still, it was a better chance than simply floating here and watching bitterly as he tucked the necklace somewhere where she couldn't reach it.

[Warden Thrice]

Disappointment spread across her face, but it lasted for a mere few seconds. She looked back at him, and Eorar tightened his grip on his necklace as she drifted closer. You and I… she moved her mouth dramatically, and the Chadora thought he could hear a whisper here and there to accompany them. … both want the necklace. She nodded at the object in question. I think I saw it first, but you are the one who got it first. Would you like to settle this once and for all? He considered. “Yes,” he replied. She pointed farther into the harbor. Do you see that crate over there, full of rusting pots and pans? He identified such a crate and nodded. What do you say to a little contest? The first one to reach the crate gets to keep the necklace, no questions asked. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards. Otherwise, you may never be able to get rid of me always hanging over you, wanting the necklace. He sat back, thinking. He had always considered himself a rather speedy swimmer, even if he wasn’t the strongest Charoda out there, and he did believe the necklace to be rightfully his. But the shining woman was confidant enough in her own skills to challenge his, and so he wondered about her own competency. He didn’t want to lose the necklace, but… “Good,” he agreed, nodding. “Start when?”

[Avari]

A short stream of bubbles rose from Avari's mouth as she breathed a tiny sigh of relief over how well she and the Charoda seemed to understand each other, given all the difficulties that hindered proper communication between them. By watching each other's lips alertly and exaggerating the shapes of each word, they managed to approximate something like normal conversation out of the water. It certainly worked much better than using confusing and unclear gestures to communicate.

She grinned in anticipation when the Charoda nodded and agreed to her suggestion. While Avari had never been the fastest swimmer, surely she was good enough to beat this Charoda. She was a daughter of Laviku, after all.

Her only regret was that she hadn't had time to plan out a more complicated route than the simple, straight course to the great crate. If she'd been able to scout out this area properly, she would have chosen a course with more twists, turns, and obstacles, places where a little trickery and misdirection mattered just as much as pure speed. It couldn't be helped, though.

"Place the necklace here," she told the Charoda, clearing enunciating her words. She pointed to a frond of seaweed drifting gently in the slow current.

The last thing she needed, after all, was for the Charoda to swim off with the necklace as soon as she turned her back.

Once that was settled, the Konti smiled gaily at the Charoda. "All right, then. On your mark..."

She arranged her body carefully into what she thought would be an optimal swimming start position, extending her arms straight forward and folding her legs behind her.

"Get set..."

She ventured a quick glance to the Charoda beside her to make sure he was paying attention.

"Go!" she called. The word emerged as a large round bubble that floated slowly upward through the water.

Kicking hard with both legs, Avari propelled herself forward through the water and began paddling furiously with both arms. Tiny air bubbles streamed from the gills on her neck as she tried to keep her breathing steady while she swam. Inwardly, she winced when she realized her starting position wasn't quite as efficient as she could have wished; it took her a little longer to unfold her legs and give herself a good boost with them than she'd thought.

It just meant that she would have to swim especially hard to make up for her misconception, the Konti thought. On either side of her body, her pale, thin arms moved quickly like twin windmills joined to her shoulders as she exerted herself in a vigorous, invigorating swim. She wanted desperately to look to the side and see if the Charoda was behind or ahead of her, but she dared not distort her streamlined shape or her momentum for even a tiny peek.

Despite herself, though, Avari found she was enjoying the energetic exercise of racing through the water. She spared a moment to pray briefly to Laviku: Father of my people, lord of the sea, give me victory! And then the Konti swam on, her arms and legs churning through the water as rapidly as she could.

[Warden Thrice]

Eorar shifted cautiously as she grinned. She identified a clump of seaweed to guard the prize, and he nodded in agreement. It would be fair and was far enough away that both would have time to notice if either of them made a dash for it instead of racing. At least he hoped so. He kept one eye on it as he returned to the Konti’s side, waiting for some sign as to when it started. She spoke slowly, and Eorar restrained himself from dashing off. My mark? What did that mean? She was still speaking slowly, and he wondered if this was how all abovewater races went. Get set? What is she saying? A large bubble erupted from her mouth as she shouted what he assumed was the go-ahead. He coiled into a crouch and sprang into action. He wove up and down with his arms slightly apart from his body for steering, motions similar to those of a dolphin, and when his course was stable he looked down at his competitor. His brow furrowed. What the..? She was kicking and flailing about wildly, and for a moment Eorar wondered if she was trying to do battle with the water. Oh, she was swimming. In a fashion. She did indeed seem to be getting somewhere, but her form could only be described as noisy. The Charoda glided down and settled into a seat beside their chosen finish line, watching the shining woman with curiosity. Her cartwheeling appendages moved with power, to be sure, but many of her movements were counterproductive to each other. If she came within speaking distance, he would inquire about the matter. “Always swim like that?”