[At Sea] The Inbetween (Ethan)

[Tiki]

30th Spring 512 A.V. -- On the open seas betwixt and between Avanthal and Mura The calming spring breezes of the northern waters propelled the ship along its journey in the moonlight. It was late, such that many of the crew members, and virtually all passengers, were fast asleep. The cool winds from the northern pole swept down and over the salty deck. Through the tense cords and flowing masts a crude music resounded to the beat of the ship crashing over waves. The bow side rocked up and over the watery chops, gently… just gently enough to turn Tiki’s stomach and force him to the open night sky. He took in the air and the smells of the open ocean. The coolness of the wind over his skin was soothing. He was tired, but this would keep him up. It seemed to be keeping others up too. He saw Ethan on the port side, hung over the railing, equally as solemn, and gazing off into the infinite space offered by the endless ocean to the north. Tiki stopped a minute to think. He was quiet enough in his approach and thus expected Ethan to take no notice to him, but there’s the fact that the boards moaned constantly. He glanced down to the creaking board only to look back to the very focus Ethan. They didn’t get off on the right foot, or didn’t make the right first impressions he thought better. An outsider might think Tiki took a bite of Ethan’s tail or something with the scorn the feathered kelvic displayed. He had his reasons. Ethan had good reason, in fact, to be so defensive of Hadrian, even if Tiki didn’t quite know why. Now could be a good time to find out, and to apologize. Tiki took the next steps over the worn boards. His stomach felt much better with the flowing fresh wind. It was wonderful to be outside. That might have been his problem. His head began to immediately clear, his focus growing distant from nausea and more on Ethan. He mimicked the posture crew members had made at times: his elbows went on the railing and he leaned into it, his feet well back. He took a look at the waters directly below flowing by and moved himself back a little bit further. He gave the horizon the same thoughtful glance Ethan had been doing. He didn’t quite see it, whatever it was Ethan was looking at or for. “What are you looking at? I couldn’t sleep either.” His words were hushed, as if not to startle the bird or the things beneath the water’s surface. The crew were few in number now in these hours of the night. The lookout probably couldn’t hear them either. Tiki let the silence return as he glanced over to Ethan, to clarify his attention – not that anyone else was around to hear him.

[Ethan]

Ethan was not only oblivious to the noises Tiki was making as he approached. He was oblivious to most if not all the noises around him. That's not to say he couldn't hear well. He had decent hearing for a man. But hideous for a Kelvic. Who were expected to hear and see all things at all times. Which was as idiotic as it was ignorant. Each animal had it's strengths and weaknesses, so did Kelvic's. Ethan could see any and all things before him in such detail it often gave him headaches. His peripheral was completely unmatched, but his other senses were average at best. So when Tiki suddenly appeared. It made him start ever so slightly. It was noticeable in many areas, the difference between Human's and Kelvic's, but it was clearest in their reaction to being surprised. A man will cry out in terror or laugh at his own foolishness. A Kelvic, growing deathly quiet, prepares to kill or flee. When Tiki did nothing but wait at his side, leaning back and forth over the railing. Ethan relaxed his tense muscles and allowed himself a smile. Despite their differences, Tiki was adorable, and if Hadrian trusted him there was no point in keeping up this wall. "Just the darkness, Cat." There was no animosity in his words, just distance. His mind was away, as it usually was. Visiting old memories of his Master's ship. Or his crush on Kendall before she became a he. Often times his mind would circle around Magical Theory Hadrian had tried to cram in his head the day before. Then swing over to Sondra, and the sorrow he felt over not knowing where she fled after the storm. Wherever his mind went, it was always away from the here and now. "A woman should help you sleep." He said, pulling his mind back to the present. "Any one of the crew would be more than willing." It wasn't far from the truth. The women apart of the crew were tough as nails. But he couldn't help but notice every one of them sizing the boy up. "Humans are easily cowed by a pretty face."

[Tiki]

Ethan sounded sad to Tiki. There was a lack of warmth in distance, and a lack of passion or enthusiasm. The breath of life didn’t bring his words to dance on the air as he would have hoped, even when coming from a state of solitude. The open ocean, moonlit and bobbing, was beautiful to behold. Even in the mystery of darkness there were untold wonders, though they might be sheathed under dark memories and dreams. Ethan’s implications made little sense to Tiki. Beyond the fondness Hadrian showed him, he knew little of such affections. The bond of a mother and child were on a different plane entirely within his mind. It was nice to see Ethan let go as well. A natural hunter, he read Ethan through and through in that respect. “I’m Tiki, and I don’t think they’d help me more than Hadrian or Aurrealis. They’re both very warm and gentle. He had spoken out to the sea, still trying to see the world as Ethan did in vain. Tiki’s thoughts, perhaps due to his younger mind, or sheer lack of experience, didn’t permeate so deep in thought. He’d lead a simple life as a kelvic, exploring his place in the wilds, chasing dreams he’d never catch, that sort of thing. The emptiness within him, that motivation that kept driving him on, was not yet realized to be part of him, as much as it was a part of Ethan. Kelvics, in their natural working, desire companionship in the worst ways. For now, Tiki sought to find Tiki. The moment was another opportunity of exploration though. Ethan’s diction sparked that burning curiosity in him. He reminded Tiki of Hadrian in that respect, so knowledgeable. “What makes us different from humans, uhm, Ethan,” Tiki asked, absent of transitions of his thought process or acknowledgment of kelvics; and equally without assurance of addressing Ethan as Ethan. What it meant to be kelvic, that’s what he really sought after, unknowingly. It is was, and is, his blind pursuit in life, a drive rooted in the most unnaturally natural design of his being, and all kelvics’. Tiki had jumped at the motives a human could have in wanting him. He didn’t see himself as something valuable. He failed to recognize outward beauty as Ethan compared it. He wondered what he meant, and then why humans, and then why Ethan saw it, and why he didn’t. Humans…kel-vik, kelvic. What is it to be a kelvic?

[Ethan]

Ethan smiled at Tiki's innocence. It had been crushed from Ethan at such a young age that he had almost forgotten what it looked like. It even showed in Tiki's physical appearance. With his big soft eyes. Always with a look of curiosity but never of caution. No wonder all the women desired him. He was pure and untainted by the perversion most men carried. He said nothing, not wanting to be the one to introduce sex to the young man and ruin such purity. Although, His second question demanded an answer. The difference between the two races was needless to say quite large. But he refrained from answering too quickly, lest he mislead the young man with his own cynicism. Instead he took a deep breath of the night air. Letting the mixture of ocean spray and torch smoke swirl in his lungs. It was an odd mixture but a refreshing one. Something he had missed from his childhood. "That is a very interesting question." And one he rarely heard from wild Kelvics. Tiki was growing more attractive by the minute. "One I have been working over for a very long time. It's a tough bone to crack. But what I have gather so far. Is that Kelvics are both equal parts animal and man. And it's up to them how much of either they want to be. Some Kelvics, most really. Take after their animal side. Nearly forgetting the human bits. Some, mostly the ones that are trained to. Take after their human side. But neither of them can truly forget about one form or the other." He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "Humans... are just humans. They don't have the internal struggle that we do. They just are what they are. Like birds and cats and little fish. They are simple creatures at heart. Just doing what humans do. Fight wars, rape children, build cities, learn things. That's all really." Now that he thought about it. They were rather boring. "Does that make sense?"

[Tiki]

OOCI am so sorry… It got bumped. Lay it all out. I promise Tiki will try to reach deep and level with Ethan once the sided of the matter are presented. Tiki pondered over Ethan’s words as much as he could. The concept of humanity sounded…grim. The darkness about their people seemed to overshadow Tiki’s initial intent on learning more of kelvics, of himself and Ethan. Ethan’s diction explained to Tiki what words failed to do. His vocabulary, even in the vernacular, was limited. Tiki refocused, “No, I don’t understand. Aren’t kelvics just kelvics too? I just feel like Tiki. I mean… Well yeah, I just feel like Tiki, not much else.” Tiki struggled to see it Ethan’s way. His young mind, although capable, had not really felt need to see the world through the eyes of another. This egocentric behavior only aided in keeping his purity, as Ethan would think it. Not have the thoughts of another floating through one’s mind was pure. There was no need of deception, no care for the perception of others, or thought of consequence. Tiki lived life to his fullest. Tiki thought of how Hadrian spoke to him, treating him in only fairest thought. Tiki mumbled, “Hadrian isn’t like that…” as if to add some defense to human ilk.

[Ethan]

"Hadrian is. Well he is different. Not all people are the same. Sure, there is a general frame. A standard mind set. But some strike against it. Hadrian isn't one for conventional thinking. In his work and his ideals." He smiled, wishing he where here to explain where Ethan could not. "And it may be hard for you to understand some of the things I am saying." He had nothing against Tiki but he was young and much closer to an animal than Ethan. Not wild, but close. "You're young, it'll take time for it all to click. But you are inquisitive. I like that. The best way to learn is through questions and experimentation." He laughed, realizing just how like Hadrian he was becoming. Is this why he liked to teach? Taking the stage while younger minds absorb what you know? Taking the bits you've learned from your life, and molding it to theirs? oocsorry to be short. just letting tiki ask questions as he likes

[Tiki]

As insightful as Ethan was on the topic, and of conversation in itself, he failed to convey the right images and ideas to Tiki. That, and Tiki might not have been capable of understanding. As much as Ethan would have loved to be a successful teacher, his approach was off. Tiki’s inability was equally at fault. Ethan was trying more than Tiki was. The feline kelvic was starting down a path of hopeless confusion instead. “Until what clicks?” Tiki asked, far from absent minded. He was squinting at Ethan as if to find the concept displayed on his face, and eagerly waited for “it” to click. He was anticipating a click now. “I… I don’t know what you’re saying. Hadrian’s good to me, to us, I think. Kendall is sad, but she has a reason to be…he, sh- uh…” His lips came together and shuffled as he tried to put his thoughts to words. “I don’t know what exper’mi- uhm, experim-ent-ation is. And you! Aren’t you just Ethan, as much as I’m Tiki? Aren’t we…” Tiki stumbled over the problem only a moment longer. Breaking the hesitant awkward silence that Ethan was tempted to fill with his knowledge, Tiki cut in and asked him, “Ethan, what’s a kelvic?” A key to understanding the world is to understand one’s self. Only now as the word slipped between his own teeth did he take notice to it. Being called kelvic was one thing, but now he was acknowledging the label. Just what did it mean to be a kelvic? Tiki’s ideas of living life were just that, and only now, in that same instance, did Ethan have the opportunity to provide Tiki was a framework to base his life off of, as he was expected to. How Tiki would take the information, how Ethan impressed it upon him, could be life changing. Tiki could continue on as the free spirit he was, or lose himself to the made up expectation of his inventor long dead. The issue at hand delved deeper than what it meant to be, but how to live, and what life was worth, worldly concepts Tiki wasn’t prepared to discuss, but knew in his own mind.

[Ethan]

Ethan paused, quietly listening to his young friend. A bit embarrassed for jumping ahead of Tiki's level. He had talked to plenty of Kelvics. But they hadn't been this... limited. Perhaps that was the problem with never dealing with the wild ones. He had only associated with slaves for the most part. Never trusting the true animals. Slaves were educated to a certain degree. At least Kelvics where. To make them more useful to their masters. "Kelvics are creatures with two forms. Animal and Man. That is the literal definition of a Kelvic. We were born of ancient magics. Given two sides since creation." He could speak volumes on the subject but he wouldn't understand half of it. "Tiki. Do you know your numbers? Can you add and subtract? What about your letters? Do you know how to read?" As tedious as books and education were. He thought it extremely important that all Kelvics know these things. Too many of his Kin have been swindled and trapped in the snare of ignorance.

[Tiki]

Everything Ethan was saying sounded familiar. Maybe he had been told these things long ago, only to remember them now. He thought of his parents, and how he was treated as their child, and how they were so cautious of others. Others would treat him differently when he left the castle. He knew that a long time ago, and only now did he remember that. The world was full of many strange things, many he had seen. People living in trees for example, or venomous cats, had all found a way into his life. Ethan’s bombardment of questions had Tiki answering them in his mind, the next question coming soon after. Numbers? He knew numbers. Tiki started counting in his head – one, two, three, four five, six – but Ethan was still talking – seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve – and Tiki barely knew what he was talking about. “I know numbers. I don’t know if I know them all. I know one, two, three… Four! Four, five, six, seven – Wait, that’s not what we were talking about though.” Tiki wanted to return to the topic of kelvics. It was one of the few things he could expand on. His native selfishness would permit him to know more of himself. If Ethan wanted to press the issue of Tiki’s formal education, that was his call. Though, Tiki had little personal value other than a hunter. Even then, it wasn’t necessarily an impressive quality to someone of Ethan’s status, or Hadrian’s…

[Ethan]

Ethan smiled, patting Tiki on the back. "Good! Knowing how to count is important. But I meant something a little more advanced. Perhaps when we reach port, you and I can have ourselves a little math lesson? Just a bit of arithmetic. Nothing more." Something told Ethan, that his endeavor in teaching anything to Tiki, let alone math, would be a disaster. And he should stick to something more to his liking. After all, the young man was trying to get a grasp on his self as an individual. Abstract things like numbers and letters could wait. "Tiki. What do you hope to find asking all these questions? What are you hoping to see? It's a long rode, one I've been on all my life. And one you should get off of unless your willing to walk it all."