Closed A Day at the Harbor

[Ki'toka]

9th of Spring, 513 AV The White Isle Harbor It was nearly to the noon bell when Ki'toka made it to the docks. It was warm and slightly humid while the dark grey clouds in the sky threatened to pour rain down on the island. Getting wet didn't both her though, Ki'toka loved the rain; loved how it felt on her skin as it fell from the sky, how it smelt and how it turned colors vibrant. The whites of the buildings in Mura were a bright, almost sparkling white, the ground had puddles of water here and there while the mud was a dark warm brown, the sea plants that the Konti used to decorate their homes were a bright green... Everything just seem so much more beautiful. The ground underfoot was soaked, the heavy rains that they'd been having the past few days made sure of that. Like most days, she was dressed simply, a black sleeveless top and a matching pair of calf length black pants. Her feet were bare, her toes squishing through the mud as she made her way through town. She had the option of riding boots (Which Nel'fi had given her, but she didn't wear at all) and a single pair of white sandals that she hadn't wanted to get caked in mud. Her backpack filled with her drawing supplies was slung over her should. She didn't think she'd actually draw at all today, but inspiration struck at the oddest times. When she got to the harbor, Ki'toka came to a stop in the middle of the street as she eyed the crowd. She could hear people shouting back and forth as the Svefra unloaded their ships, Konti introduced themselves and offered help. Some were sitting in little groups talking loudly and laughing at something someone said. Young Svefra children ran around playing with little Konti girls, screaming and having an overall good time. In the distance she could see the blue and white boats that normally brought in visitors. She thought she could see a few new faces down there as they climbed off, others that had been here for awhile already climbing onto the now emptied boat to depart. It was overall hectic, and honestly not a place she wanted to be. Well, she wanted to be here, just not where all the people were. She was aiming for the water, playing with the dolphins and the porpoises that had arrived in their harbor since the Svefra had arrived. Ki'toka hadn't meet any of the Svefra yet, this actually being the first time she'd even come down to the harbor since they docked. She wasn't as open as the rest of her sisters, having her childhood to blame for that. She'd wait to meet them, after she was able to watch them for a little bit. Staying close to the edge of the crowd, she wormed her way through closer toward the water. The Svefra pod had quite a few ships with it, taking up nearly all the dock space they had. Her eyes skimmed over each of the docks that had a ship occupying it, growing worried that she wouldn't have a relatively quiet and empty place to play. For how busy the harbor was, she knew she wouldn't be completely alone, but a few people vs twenty or more in a close area was better. She smiled and nodded her head to Konti and Svefra alike as she walked down the row of docks, not stopping to chat or help like the other women. As she neared the end, reaching the farthest dock along the shore that reached out the farthest, she smiled. It was empty. The large open space was reserved for extra large ships that rarely came to the island. Walking along the wet plank dock, the wood creaking under her weight, she made her way to the very end, her backpack dropping off her shoulder to rest against one of the posts. Kneeling down, she reached her hand down and dipped her fingers into the water while her eyes searched the blue liquid for signs that the marine life was anywhere close to this dock.

[Markus Andres]

Another day in paradise. The weather had shifted from snow to the threat of rain. The serene white scenery of the winter had gone and left the island more colourful. Markus did not enjoy the rain, he very much despised it. When he had been younger, he had not felt that way, back in the days where he could easily seek shelter, but after his knighting quest in a rainy fall season and his many boat travels since then had made him see it as nothing but a nuisance. Unable to find shelter in the wilderness, he had been soaking wet more than once. Markus felt naked. It had been almost a season on the peaceful isle of the Konti, but without a bastard sword strapped to his waist, he felt naked. He wore a conservative black cotton blouse, with matching trousers. He was a stark contrast to the very pale and white Konti ladies. But Markus enjoyed standing out from the norm. Even though a 6'2'' tall guy weighing two times the average citizen on the island, needed to wear special clothing to stand out from the norm. He had ventured out of his room that day because he had heard rumours of a Svefra pod visiting the island. In the previous days he had come out to help them unload their ships and hoped to get some information about Syliras. In Syliras he would not think twice about that, maybe be a little more wary of thieves and pickpockets, but Svefra were not unusual in Syliras. But here on Mura? They were. Markus had been eager to hear if they had had any information regarding Syliras and the state of the city and knights. His quick pace through the mud caked his boots, but he didn't particularly care. As he neared the harbour, a genuine smile crossed his lips when he heard the joyous laughter of children. A paradise, indeed. He spent a chime or two watching everything unfold. Even noticed a younger Konti lady stand out to the side, away from the group, all by herself. He tried to gently make his way through the crowd of Konti ladies. "Well met!" Markus said cheerfully to the man he recognized as the captain of one of the ships. But Markus was more interested in what the strange lonesome Konti was doing by the water. Markus had long ago stopped trying to guess what Konti ladies were doing when they behaved strangely. They were a mix of a divine mystery with the added complexities of understand a normal lady's psyche. Utterly impossible for any man. He walked out the dock and the planks protested against his weight for every step he made. Some of the louder creaks unnerved him. "I think you will have a better time fishing if you use something other tahn your fingers for bait." He said, trying to break the ice with some humour, his smile lit up his face. Few appreciated his odd humour, but Markus could easily crack himself up.

[Ki'toka]

9th of Spring, 513 AV The White Isle Harbor Ki'toka could see the distinct shapes of marine life down in the water, but they were still a little farther out and just beyond her reach. She was going to have to either start splashing water around or calling out to get their attention, or better yet, just jump in. An unexplained splash would draw the curious creatures right to her, well, at least a few hopefully. For how busy the harbor was, she figured it wouldn't be long before someone came to see what she was doing, or join her in the water with the dolphins. But she'd not expected it to happen so soon. She'd just gotten out there, so when the wooden planks of the dock started to protest behind her, she looked back expecting to see either a Konti checking in on her or a Svefra being curious. She'd not expected the giant of a knight to be walking down the dock, his large build straining the wood under his feet. She'd seen him off and on throughout the winter season but never had approached him. He seemed to like women a little too much and she was already intimidated by his height, him nearly being exactly a foot taller than her. Of course, what sane man wouldn't be all over all the women of Mura? An island full of just women was a man's wet dream! It wasn't just his height though, he was big in other ways too and she feared that she would break if he happened to touch her. She'd honestly never seen anyone, human or otherwise, as large as the Syliran knight. As he got closer, Ki'toka slowly raised herself back up to her feet, feeling a bit too vulnerable crouched down like she had been. Though, she'd never seen the knight be anything but nice to the Konti women, so she was willing to give him a shot. If her sisters trusted him, she should at least a little, right? Seeing as she'd never approached him before, she was surprised at the boyish look the giant had to his face. That she'd not expected. Maybe something more hard to go along with the rest of his build? As he called out to her, it took her a moment to register that he was actually speaking to her. Being, as one would say a little nervous, Ki'toka did the first thing that came to her mind, of course this was without taking the time to think about said action. Her hand that had been in the water rose up, her wet slender fingers spread apart as water dripped down to the dock. "Who wouldn't want to nibble on these though?" A moment passed, then another, the knight still getting closer and closer, then realization on what she'd said hit her. Her cheeks flared up in a dark red blush that spread down the length of her neck while her arm dropped stiffly to her side. "Wow, sorry... That... Did not sound right. Nor was it funny..."

[Markus Andres]

When the Konti lady turned to face him, his eyes were naturally drawn to the mark on her cheek. It took him but a brief moment to recognize the symbol. A mark from Rak'keli. He was in the presence of a Konti healer, one of the many self-less ladies Looking past the mark, the girl had a natural beautiful face, somewhat diminished by the peculiar placement of her healers mark. His eyes went above the mark and looked at her green eyes. They brought a rare shy smile on his lips. He loved when girls had green eyes. It was one of the more attractive things a girl could have in his opinion. He would not mind one bit spending his day in her presence. But his smile went away and his brows raised when the lady spoke to him. Having spent a season on Mura, he could recognize the language as Kontinese, but the words themselves? Completely lost on him. His eyes went to her fingers that she held up. 'Something about her fingers? She must have understood me... Right?' He looked up at her face again and saw the colour rise in her cheeks and neck. She must have said something embarrassing, very embarrassing for her to turn to such a deep red colour. A part of him wished he had spent more time trying to learn their language. For he stood there, bewildered at what was going on. What had she said that had made her cheeks red. He was about to open his mouth when she spoke again. She sounded apologetic in nature, but once again - the words were only gibberish to his poor untrained human ears. He still looked confused at what was going on. "I am sorry, my lady" A honorific he used because of her being a healer. I don't understand... I do not speak Kontinese. Do you perhaps speak common?" He asked respectfully while unable to take his eyes away from hers.

[Ki'toka]

9th of Spring, 513 AV The White Isle Harbor The rare shy smile that the knight had graced her with had been lost in her shock at seeing him there on the dock with her. She hadn't realized that he'd stopped coming closer after she'd spoke and when he finally did speak up again, her eyes widened. "Oh Eyris! How could you let me do that!" She called out to the goddess of wisdom in a whisper. He wasn't a Konti, he'd only been there a season. Of course he wouldn't understand her. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to calm herself before turning to fully face him. "Common... Yes, I speak it. I apologize for before, you caught me off guard." She said in the common language, though it was thick with a Kontinese accent. The blush was still dark on her skin, but it was slowly starting to fade as she realized he hadn't understood what she'd said. Thank the goddess. Taking another deep breath as she pulled on the bottom of her shirt a little self-consciously, she gave him the best smile she could at the moment. "I'm Ki'toka..." She starts then pauses as she didn't really know what she was supposed to talk to the man about. She'd not planned this. She didn't know him. This was supposed to be her time with the dolphins. Her gaze had drifted from him to the docks at his feet while she pondered then it snapped back up to his face. "So... what brings you out here? Most of the excitement is back there." She said, her hand raising for a moment to point back the way they both had come. As he stood there just looking at her, Ki'toka soon found herself starting to fidget where she stood. She couldn't keep her eyes on him like he was doing to her and his stare was making her self conscious. Her hand went up again, this time tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she hunted for something to talk about. "If you needed to use this dock for something... I can go somewhere else." It was then that Ki'toka heard the tittering of a marine creature behind her. Peeking over her shoulder she spied both a dolphin and a porpoise that had been drawn to the dock by the sound of them talking. Forgetting about the knight in her excitement, she spun around and knelt again. "Well hello there." She cooed out, still talking in common, as she reached down again and rubbed her hand against the pointed nose of the dolphin. It bumped its nose up against her hand and she laughed. She was visibly a lot more calm now. Without looking back at him, she called out to him. "I wasn't fishing before. I was trying to get these guy's attention."

[Markus Andres]

More words, uttered in a whisper, but in the same foreign language, he noticed one word that he recognized. The name of the goddess of wisdom. One of the favoured deities in Syliras, Markus assumed it to be a call out to a goddess. The exact words, as anything else this woman had said, was lost to history. He began to doubt that she even understood common. Much less spoke the language. Which he found rather uncommon, most Konti ladies he had spoken to had known common, at least well enough to understand him. That did not bode well for his little trip down here to speak with the lonesome Konti lady. To his immediate surprise, her next words were common! "Thank the gods." He whispered beneath his breath. It breathed life into his hopes of an intelligent conversation with this stranger. The smile returned to his lips followed by a sigh of relief. Her accent didn't catch him off guard, an accent he had learnt to understand during his stay on the island. Accents he could work with, completely foreign languages, he could not. Markus held up his hands as if an apology was not needed, for it certainly wasn't. He was a guest in their lands, he should not expect them to change their habits to accommodate him. "Markus Andres, Syliran Knight, pleasure to meet you lady Ki'toka." He reached out with a human hand, offering the Konti lady a simple handshake. Completely forgetting that some, in fact most, Konti ladies he had met thus far had had an aversion to direct physical contact. "I know." Markus responded to her remark that the action was further up the harbour. "I came to see what you were doing out here by yourself. I hope I am not disturbing anything important." Markus shook his head when she asked if she should leave. But before he could respond verbally, she had turned away from him and then spun around to face the water completely. He had been dismissed by a sound from the ocean. He could not compete with the realm of Laviku. In fact, he was a bit offended by her reaction. He looked past her and at the ocean. Laviku's realm. An unwanted flashback to the battle with the monstrosity that lurked beneath the waves. Markus took a deep breath and was brought back from the horrible memory by the voice of Ki'toka. Markus stepped closer again. The lagool could not strike here. No reason to fear the creature here. He knelt next to her. Avoiding any quick motions. He would feel terrible if he scared away the creature she had tried to lure closer. He looked at the playful creature and a warm smile crossed his lips. "Amazing creature... What is it?" He asked resting his arms against his knee. He might have seen these creatures before, but he couldn't remember if he had ever been told their name. But he understood they weren't dangerous, or this Konti lady wouldn't be so playful around them. Well, not dangerous to the children of Avalis. Might tear Markus' arm right off if he tried to pet it like Ki'toka. He wisely kept his arms away from the water's edge.

[Ki'toka]

9th of Spring, 513 AV The White Isle Harbor He'd been curious as to what she was doing? Most people just let her be. There was always something more exciting going on here, more chattery Konti there... Not this knight though, at least at the moment. He'd followed the silent Konti all the way out of the bustling harbor onto the dock. Would he have left if she continued to speak Kontinese at him? Most likely, but that would have been deliberately rude and Ki'toka wasn't raised to act like that. Besides, she had liked that look of relief that washed over his face when she started speaking in the language he understood. She'd not heard what he'd whispered, but the look was enough. When he held out his hand to shake her own, Ki'toka would have finished the contact if it hadn't been for the marine creatures behind her. Touch did not activate her gift like most Konti. Her's relied on sight, and from what she could see of Mr. Andres, he had not fresh wounds marring any part of his skin. She knew that some women suffered from their gifts, while others used theirs to their advantage. Ki'toka wanted to be part of the second group, using her gift to help her heal those that she came upon or who came to her. When Markus came to sit down beside her after she'd turned away from him, she patted the dolphin on the head a few more times before looking over at the Knight. "As long as you don't try to hurt either of them, or scare them away, you aren't disturbing me at all." She gave him a real smile this time, the short brief contact with the animals had put her at ease. "But even if you did scare them away, I would just try to get them to come back again. But no, its not anything important." She shifted her eyes back down to the tittering sea creatures. "I just wanted to play with them." Ki'toka felt her eyes widen a little at his question. How could he not know what these were? Ok, the porpoise maybe, but the dolphin? It was an icon of the sea, just as the sharks and the whales. She shook her head a little. No, he wasn't Konti or Svefra, he didn't live on the water like either of them. There were even creatures out in the sea that she didn't know but the Svefra did. So with that, she didn't hold it against him. "This is a dolphin..." She said, reaching her hand out and patting it against the longer nosed creature. "While this one, while still of the same species I do believe, is a porpoise. See, its face isn't the exact same as the dolphin. Its nose isn't as pointed." She said, leaning down farther to pat and pet the porpoise. "The porpoise, from what I've gathered, well at least these porpoise, are a pod that travel with this pod of Svefra. Like companions. Nel'fi says they call some of them tavan? She says that those are the porpoise that are the closest with that person." She shrugs a little. "Sorry if that's a little confusing, I'm still not clear completely myself on the relationship between the Svefra and the pod."

[Markus Andres]

Markus looked to the creatures. He didn't like the water. He didn't like the denizens of the water unless they were lying on his plate at dinner. They were so vastly different from land-based animals. But these creatures. They seemed friendly enough and they let Kit pet them without harming her. Emphatic bond between denizens of the ocean? "Hurt them? Why would I want to hurt them?" Markus asked incredulously and a little hurt. "But you have my word, I will not harm them." Markus had never had much interest in the ocean. Perhaps when he had been younger, before he went to Syliras. Back when he lived in a city where the ocean was the main artery of the city. But in Syliras, his attention had been inland. Never out to the sea. Never cared. But after the harrowing experience on the way to Sahova. Markus owed it to his fallen brethren and sisters. His focus returned to the woman before him, who did not ridicule him for his lack of knowledge on the aquatic creatures, he appreciated that. But he could tell that she found it incredible that he did not know them. He just smiled warmly back at her with curiosity painted on his face. He listened to what she had to say. Eagerly, so. For these creatures did look majestic compared to most other creatures he had seen. A dolphin, pointy nose. Porpoise, unpointy nose. Markus had never been much for thinking new theories, combat excluded, so he wasn't going to try and explain the special relationship between the pod and the Svefra. Markus shrugged when she apologized for it being confusing. It was mighty confusing, but Markus had heard of Kelvics and their strange link to their master. That he had found extremely confusing. He knelt next to the Konti lady, but still kept his hands to himself. Far away from these 'dolphins and porpoise'. "Interesting. Perhaps they serve a specific porpoise in their fleet?" Markus asked, a silly smirk on his lips from the exceedingly bad pun he had made. "I take it dolphins and porpoise are rare around here? Or are these just extraordinarily playful?"

[Ki'toka]

9th of Spring, 513 AV The White Isle Harbor Ki'toka felt her eyes widen a little as she heard the hurt in his voice. "Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean that I expected you to hurt them. No no no!" Her eyes shifted downward a little as she looked toward the playful creatures. "No, you don't seem like the kind of person to actively hurt someone, but I've met those kind of people before. People who would hurt someone or something just for the fun of it." Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and smiled again. Turning her attention back to the eagerly playful creatures, she played with them a bit more while Markus sat beside her watching and listening to her. But when he threw out the pun, her brows knitted together and she was about to correct his word usage before she realized what he'd done and just started laughing. "Well, from what I understand of what Nel'fi has told me, the porpoise do serve a sort of porpoise." She laughed again as she repeated the bad pun and lifted her wet hands to rub at her face. "Anyway, they scout the waters for the Svefra, see, they are like you. Human." Her eyes would glance over him just to make sure he didn't have any other characteristics of another race that she knew about and had missed. "They can't breath under the water like us." Her hand would lift to brush aside her hair, revealing the gills along the side of her neck. "They also let them know if there are dangers in the water if the Svefra are off their ships..." She shrugs a little. "Its kinda almost like they are people, the way they interact and behave with the Svefra." Having decided that it was alright with her to have Markus there on the dock with her, she shifted around so she was sitting on the dock with her feet hanging off. With it still being so early in the spring, the water was still a bit cold for Ki'toka's liking, but she wasn't sure for how long the Svefra were going to be staying and wanted to take advantage of this while it lasted. Nudging aside the two sea creatures so there was an empty space below her, she gave one more smile to Markus before she slipped into the water with a small splash. The cold water was a bit of a shock to her system and she took a deep breath in through her gills. Her body would adjust to the temperature, it was always just that first initial shock of the cool liquid. She stayed under for a moment or two, still clearly visible by Markus still on the docks, before she let her head break the surface again to take a breath in through her mouth to fill her lungs. "Ohhh, still a bit cold." She was shivering a little as she slowly became used to the chill. Now that she was in the water, the two sea creatures butted their heads up against her sides as they swam circles around her. Laughing, Ki'toka brushed her hands along their backs as they played, her legs easily treading water below her. "Well, yes and no. They occasionally come in, the dolphins, but they are normally out in the deeper sea. Usually someone can spot them swimming beside boats even. The porpoise.... I think they are the same, though I'm not sure. I just know that I've not seen them this close before personally." She let out a little grunt as the porpoise bumped its rounded nose against her stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs and she laughed. "From what I've learned, they are always this playful. Very social creatures, they travel in family groups and well, at least for the dolphins, they give live births like mammals do on land, which is pretty neat."