[Kelp Forest] Sun, Kelp, and Sand

by **Na'tala** on June 17th, 2013, 10:32 pm

-- Summer 5th, 513AV --

It was a beautiful, sunny, and all-round perfect day. And today, Nat and Es had decided to visit the Kelp Forest for a swim. Grins on their faces, the two raced down to the edge of the water, but Es reached there first, always the more athletic. Nat still tried to keep up, feet pounding on the sand, slipping at every step. Her sister stood before her, grinning widely , shoes already off and feet already in the water.

Nat dashed towards her, planning to go past, but realizing she still wore her sandals. She stopped abruptly, slipped and fell onto the soft sand below her. With a small laugh she flipped herself into a backwards somersault, ending on her hands and knees. The Konti stood up, brushed a few grains of sand off her clothing, and kicked off her shoes. "Lets go, shall we?" she asked invitingly, before dashing into the warm salt water. It was only a few moments before the liquid finally caught her legs and she slipped, collapsing onto her stomach ungracefully.

Es was much more mature, wading slowly into the ocean water before slipping forward, completely dunking herself in. By that time, Nat was sitting on the sandy floor watching, with slight jealousy and envy. She should have known not to sprint in... really, walking was much safer. Still, she grinned widely at her twin before pushing off, deeper into the water before her. Within a chime of slow kicking, side by side, they reached the thick kelp forest and slipped into it's leafy embrace.

Nat, having the perfect game in mind, motioned towards her sister, who was slightly hidden within the kelp. She covered her eyes and uncovered them, smiling expectantly. It was a childhood symbol for them. Hide and seek in the forest. Spotting acknowledgement, Na'tala kicked away into the water, scattering a few fish in her path. She swum as hard as she could away into the darkness, on occasion making a sharp turn or two.

She found a perfect spot, a circle of extra dense kelp, which her sister would be unable to see through. She slipped inside, sinking cross-legged to the floor, trying to be quiet as a mouse. Soon after, the Konti heard a pair of splashes, the signal for starting. Es would come by soon, and she had to stay still... a single movement would rustle the kelp and make her location known.

It took a few moments, but she spotted Es swimming slowly by, eyes scanning the water before her. Nat held her breath and watched, worry gnawing at her. If she could see her sister... did that mean it was the other way around? Es was always so good at hiding... but she was always found so quickly. Every time they played her twin won within chimes. Once, she'd taken a bell to find her sister! And she'd been hiding flat on the ground in plain sight the entire time...

Still Es passed by, seemingly not noticing. The Konti let out a breath in relief, but the feeling was not there for long. "Got ya!" her sister cried, though it came out more as bubbles than anything else. Nat jerked in surprise as her twin grabbed her shoulders from behind, a malicious grin on her face. She had seen her! Na'tala's face sunk, but brightened again. She didn't want her sister to see how sad she was about it... every time they played, she hoped she could hide for a while, but it never worked out. Es was the lucky one.

They pushed up to the surface so they could talk, and decide whether to play again or not. Once there, Es spoke "I could see you through the kelp! It wasn't a very good hiding place... look better next time!" It was supposed to be encouraging, but Nat felt the opposite at how badly her trick had gone. Still, she nodded with understanding, and spoke herself. "Okay... do you want to do something else? Or do you want to hide?" The shore wasn't far off, and the two could to a multitude of things. Play tag, search for fish... but her sister supplied one they hadn't done in a long time. "Let's build a sand castle!" she exclaimed, excited. Nat nodded in reply, and the two dove down and kicked towards the shore again.

by **Na'tala** on June 18th, 2013, 12:06 am

The pair dragged themselves onshore, dripping all over, but feeling warm and happy. Es scouted the area around for a nice place to build, while her sister watched with interest. Within a few moments the Konti plopped down and began to dig at the sand with her hands. She frowned, grabbed a nearby shell, and began to use that instead. Nat followed her example, aiding in the digging of a circular moat in the sand. It took nearly half a bell to complete, but finally they had a half a foot deep, five feet wide circle etched into the sand.

As all the excess sand was piled into the middle, Nat took it upon herself to build a drawbridge to their to-be magnificent castle. She scouted around for a long, hard object, to hold up the sand securely. Finding a piece of driftwood she returned, and began shoving it about an inch below the top of the sand. It took quite a bit of effort to do so and not collapse the edges of their moat, but she finally succeeded, though had to patch up a few parts. She dumped a bit of sand onto the top to even out the surface, inspected her work, and grinned. It was beautiful!

Sadly, in the same amount of time Es had nearly finished a short circular wall around where the castle part would be. There was room at the front, by the bridge, for... whatever her twin planned on having there. "What do you want next?" she asked her sister, since the idea had been hers. Finishing the little wall, Es cocked her head and thought for a few moments. "Shells... lots of shells. Little ones... could you gather those please?" she asked slightly absently, as if mentally planning their construction in her head. Nat nodded once and set off on her scavenger hunt.

It wasn't hard to find what her twin wanted, as they were all over the beach. She collected those she needed, picking up a some here and there, and making several trips back to their castle to dump her load down onto the sand before her. Meanwhile, Es was slowly covering the empty area with the shells, leaving a small path empty from the drawbridge to the wall. After a few chimes of this, Nat finally stopped, having come up with a good idea.

"How about... I carve out points at the top of the wall? We can use water to smooth them down, and it would look really nice" she mused out loud, enticing a slightly surprised look from her sister. It was quickly replaced by a grin, however, as Es nodded and handed Nat her own, flat, shell. The Konti slowly etched out even triangles in the wall, brushing the excess sand onto their pile. Once she'd circled around the entire construction, she filled up a large shell they'd found with water, dashing back to the castle carefully. She used the water to smooth the edges into curves, so the wall looked as if it was almost topped with waves.

Her sister looked up from her careful placing of seashells and smiled. "That looks amazing Nat! I can't believe I didn't think of it!" The said Konti beamed with pride at the compliment, smoothing it down a little more. Smile wide, she stood up to view their work with delight. As she forced her stiff knees up, however, one foot slipped into the moat. She'd completely forgotten it was there. Off balance, Nat toppled forward, right on top of their construction. She flattened the wall completely, leaving only a squished pile of sand.

Realizing what she'd done, Na'tala pushed herself up and gasped, guilt filling her eyes. Es too started at it in surprise, before laughing. Nat stared at her twin in confusion, but was quickly given an answer. "Ahhh that was bound to happen!" she giggled, before tackling her crouching sister, throwing sand in her face. Nat squealed as some reached her eyes, and she sprinted away, feet pounding on the sand. She stopped, gasping for breath, watching her sister warily.

"What was that for?" She yelled at her sister, but stopped talking as the attack resumed. This time, she sprinted left towards the water, rushing through it and crashing down as she'd done before. In the time it had taken to build the castle, her clothes had dried, but... not any more. She sighed slightly, and continued to watch Es as she joined her sister. As quickly as the fight had broken out, it had died, leaving the two floating in the ocean on their backs, staring up at the sky.