Completed Sink, Sink, Sink your Kreig, gently down the sea (Edreina)

[Kreig Messer]

68th, 11th Bell, 48th chime.



Kreig was standing at the docks again, from the pier he stared at the clear blue waters of the Suvan “Petch, its so bloody blue and calm” Again he couldn’t help but make another comparison the so called docks of Sunberth ‘Barely could be called one’ He thought, short version was that here is clean and stable while the Sunberth pier you’d need to risk not breaking a plank and plummeting to a watery grave…unless you can swim, then you’re safe ‘Petch, I need to learn how to swim’ Which brings the reason why he was here, he wanted to ask a favor of Edreina; The Svefra woman whom he unintentionally violated the sanctity of her home when Razkar had told him to board it to have their sparring session there rather than at the pits.

Thankfully she accepted his apology and they were more or less on friendly terms and have spoken to each other from time to time. Today he hoped to ask her to teach him something; obviously that something happens to be swimming. Kreig was somewhat a practical man, he knew that at some point his duties, whether as a squire or future knight, would involve him boarding a ship…. So he wanted to make sure that if he ever fell overboard he’d at least have a chance of survival before having his lungs filled with salt and water THEN die a watery death.

Unfortunately the Svefra’s Casinor didn’t seem to be here at the time so Kreig took to standing about like a maiden waiting for her long lost love to return from war, only to die of a broken heart, except he didn’t have a long lost love and he certainly wouldn’t wait long enough to die of something like that. So there he was, in his black shirt and white breaches, standing around and looking at the sea with only a wide brim hat to hide his head from the sun.

x

[Edreina]

OOCMy name's... not... ED!!! *manically, eye twitching* Today, Edreina was trying something new, something she had never really attempted before but had seen other Svefra do. For once, her said was nearly completely open, tied off around her toe for subtle manipulations. But, her left hand lay not upon the tiller, but in the water itself behind her. With her gnosis, she was able to manipulate the currents on the surface at least slightly. And that was how she was steering her ship - or at least attempting to in any case. As she whispered to herself, certain motions carried side effects she had not forseen. A stronger current here made her move thusly, forgetting to apply the current evenly did that... It was a rather imprecise art Edreina worried over ever perfecting. Syna was reaching her apex, so Edreina decided to call it a day, turning her ship about in order to return to the docks. It was far too hot to be on top of the water, anyway. As she neared the docks, the Svefra was caught by the odd sight of a man with a large hat standing near her boat stall. For several ticks, she attempted to recognize the man, to give a name to his face. It was only once she had nearly began to furl her sail that a glimmer or recognition crossed her freckled face. Kreig... the name was accompanied by a flurry of images from their last meeting. He had been the uninvited guest in her hold only days before the event with Ekvan, but he had been polite enough about the incident that she now had him cautiously placed in the friendly acquaintance category. As she sluiced her way up to the dock, running forward to drop anchor from her bow so that it would catch and hold by the time she reached the dock, Edreina grinned at the man, acknowledging him with a quick wave. Once the boat was relatively still, she ran about, tying it off at key points so that it would not move from the dock too horribly. Kreig was invited to board only once the ship was safely secure, though his Svefra host neglected to make use of the large plank of wood she kept around to help land-striders board her vessell. Hopefully the man was spry enough to leap from still dock to softly rolling deck. Compared to the last time they had seen one another, Edreina appeared to be an entirely different creature. Her hair was free of the yellow bandanna that had confined it to a high pony tail, and was a decent amount shorter thanks to her impromptu hack job. Instead of being clad in her "city-clothes" the young woman strutted heedlessly in naught but linen underpants and a linen wrapping about her chest, exposing long expanses of honeyed flesh, mattered sparingly with walnut colored freckles. Her stomach was marked vibrantly by a long black tattoo that spanned from ribcage to hip, depicting three thick black lines that braided together near the center of the tattoo only to become separate entities once more by the time they reached the arch of her hip. The most drastic change was, however - in Edreina's own clear blue eyes - the knotted, pink scar that ran horizontally across her shoulder, and its twin that marred her back. They were freshly healed mementos of a battle that still plagued her sleep. "What brings you here?" she questioned amiably, head cocking far enough to the side that her long red hair made a luxurious curtain on one side, seeming to be set ablaze as Syna's rays caressed it.

[Kreig Messer]

After what felt like a day of waiting, an obvious exaggeration, Kreig finally saw the Casinor that belonged to Edreina, the ship making its way to the dock and Kreig could see the familiar shape of the red haired Svefra ‘Well, isn’t this interesting?’ She looked rather different than the lady he met many upon many days ago…. Though she still wore rather little, but Kreig didn’t quite care about that. Once the ship was close, he made a light jump onto the deck as she tied the ship to the dock. It was then he noticed how drastically different she appeared to be…. The shortened hair was obvious, but it was the tattoos and the …scars…are what caught his interest. Particularly one on her shoulder, one that brought a bad memory perhaps from seventeen days past which caused him to be filled with regret.

He shook his head lightly as to not dwell to much on what happened, the situation was resolved and although it effects still lingered…they could only look to the future as they learned from the past. He smiled at Edreina “ Hello to you too mam” He chuckled at her immediate question of his presence. Before he could tell her he made a quick scan of the area, hoping not to see the white rat she called pet then sighed with relief “ Sorry, my rump still holds horrid memories of your pet” He then scratched the back of his head as his face flushed with slight embarrassment, it was one of those incidents that he’d rather forget although for more lighthearted reasons.


“Um… remember when you offered to teach me how to swim” He asked her, waiting to see if she remembered or showed any sign of confirmation before continuing, although regardless his intents were obvious “Well, I was hoping to take you up on it. But I understand if you need to rest after your voyage, I can come back later if you’d permit?”

x

[Edreina]

“Sorry, my rump still holds horrid memories of your pet.” Edreina laughed and, grinning wickedly, whistled once. Immediately there was a skittering of clawed paws as Navis made himself known, scrambling up onto the deck from the murky hold below. He never seemed to enjoy being on the boat when it was in motion, but now that it was docked again, he was very much back to his bounding, playful self. One sniff in Kreig's direction, a high, warning growl, and the creature was over it. Instead, he began to search for the perfect place to make himself a tripping hazard as he warmed his hay-colored fur beneath Syna's gaze. “Um… remember when you offered to teach me how to swim?” "Aye," she called over her shoulder, securing the mainsail with deft fingers. “Well, I was hoping to take you up on it. But I understand if you need to rest after your voyage, I can come back later if you’d permit?” Shaking her head, the redhead laughed again, oblivious to the fact that normal people did not find everything quite so amusing. "Tis no trouble. I was just considering a swim myself. Tis too hot to be above water, eh?" After a pointed glare at the careless jumble of legs and ears and pathetic brown eyes - she had tried to get him to swim with her, to little avail - she grinned brightly at Kreig as if to emphasize that she was not merely speaking out of politeness. She truly had no intent upon resting; not until she was dead, in any case. "Right, well, the first thing you'll wanna do is take off as much clothing as your modesty allows. More fabric leads to more resistance as you move through the water." She waited just long enough for him to oblige, moving on once his bearing suggested that he was as nude as he planned on being. "Now the first bit about getting into the water, is that you have to respect it. You can fight against it all day, but if the Sea decides she wants your soul, she will take it. So it is better to just be calm. 'Sides, a calm person floats better than one that thrashes about. " With a playful wink, Edriena took a large bit of cargo net and hung it from the side as she had done for Raz upon the Anchorage, making an easier way to get into the water. Without any more pomp or prelude, Edreina hurled herself effortlessly into the cool Suvan, emerging an instant after the splash had subsided in order to look up at her new pupil. Any hesitance she saw in his eyes would be understandable. After all, the Suvan was a merciless realm rife with man-hunting creatures according to land-strider-lore. Ignorant vagiks... After an instant of thought, Edreina considered taking a leaf from Razkar's book. Kindness did not feed her, after all. "Before we really begin, I must ask for some sort of payment... Maybe you could teach me some fighting moves sometime?" Ok, so she really could not bring herself to demand true, economical payment for teaching a skill that she thought to be vital to anyone alive. But, the thought of being able to surprise Raz pleased her greatly. Perhaps Kreig would recognize that wicked glint in her blue eyes as she considered being able to catch the Myrian off guard with new moves.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig had to admit he was relieved that he wasn’t being a bother… though he didn’t quite expect the lesson to begin so soon ‘would’ve brought spare clothing if I did’ He sighed as he tossed his hat aside and began stripping down to his undies. The wind touching his naked skin and despite Syna’s intense light he shuddered ‘Oh…. Something tells me Razkar is somewhere is laughing at me, wonder if his funny bone knows why?’ But leaving the idea that Raz may have a funny bone with impeccable range

“Ok…calm, I can do that” Kreig said, grateful she lowered the large net for him to climb down from. His right hand grasped his other arm as he watched the fiery Svefra jump into the sea, he groaned as he didn’t want to appear ungrateful, his anxiety about this getting the better of him. He approached the net and slowly, like a ladder, he climb down till the toe of his left foot touched ‘Well….its now or never’ He thought, and gulped as he hesitated slightly, before calmly lowering himself into the cool waters with his hands still holding onto the net.

‘Ohhhhhh petch’ He thought, not used to this feeling at all. It was like being carried… or rather he felt like a feather in the wind except he could feel the weight of the water around him. Despite the fact he was floating he had trouble controlling his breathing proper, hanging on to the net like a man over a fire ‘Except that man doesn’t happen to be partially IN the fire’

"I...suppose that can be done...though I'm no teacher"

x

[Edreina]

"Oh, grow a pair and get in here..." Edreina called playfully, paddling about on her back. In the salty water, Edreina seemed to truly come to life. Her hair whirled and swirled about her like an ocean creature. Even her body's most simple movements became more elegant, more graceful. It just went to prove that Svefra were truly people of the sea. Once he had joined her, Edreina began with the easiest part of swimming: wading. "What you're going to do is simply move your legs back and forth, slowly. If you kick frantically, you will just wear yourself out. With your arms, simple move them forward, and then back. Like so." Pausing in her errant back-stroking, the Svefra reeled herself upright and began to demonstrate, legs moving in a slow scissor motion that started in her hips and flowed down into each leg. Her arms carefully pushed forward and then backwards, keeping her upright. "This keeps you balanced," she explained. "You can hold onto the net at first but eventually I want you to be able to support yourself in the water. Once you can do that, anything is possible." As he began to attempt it, Edreina moved close, occasionally offering him support or offering a gentle criticism on his movements, showing him how to be more energy efficient. She was sure, oddly enough, that Kreig would eventually come to enjoy swimming, simply because of how intense of an exercise it was; also, truly great swimmers found their endurance out of the water increased as well. If they swam long enough, they would find themselves to be more toned, and to be able to easily perform activities that would have left them breathless beforehand.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig was naturally hessitant, as his body was kept afloat by the water, he followed her words and example. His fight lightly and slowly began kicking the water surrounding his legs and beneath his feet, if Kreig could put a word for it would be that he was pushing himself ‘up’. He had to admire the Svefra, as even if she was from a race whose natural home was the sea, she was quite graceful in her movements and seemed to gain a joy out of the acitivity. He honestly hoped to gain the same joy out of it, as Brawling was losing its flavor lately as he lacked proper opponents ‘Plus Raz has his own things’ Kreig thought.

Having enough confidence to not need the support of the net and believing that Edreina will come to his aid if he inevitably ends up drown; Kreig reluctantly released his group of the net, a sudden bout of panic caused his mind to feel like he was falling for a brief instant and he quickly grabbed the net once more, but with supporting words from the Svefra he tried again. His legs calmly and slowly moving back and forth, pushing away the water away and himself “I..I did it’ The brawler said, feeling like a child who had successfully achieved something for the first time. There was no denying the nervousness in his voice though as he focused on keeping himself afloat, of course the more he practices he would eventually do it on instinct. He smiled at the Svefra, feeling thankful for the small bit and most essential piece of knowledge.

x

[Edreina]

At the sight of her student wading ever so carefully, the teacher grinned. "See! Not so bad... At least now you can stay afloat. I'll teach you the easiest stroke today, and then you can rest. " With a playful wink, the Svefra moved over to the net and demonstrated how to move his legs. It was almost exactly the same except that each kick was shorter and more powerful. His arms would make the biggest difference here, Edreina explained, standing on the net so that she could demonstrate the motion out of the water. The arms moved in sync, coming forward from her chest, thumbs together. Then, her arms moved out and back in a wide arc, palms moving outward. This sort of stroke was very hard on the outer muscles of the arms and the shoulders, making it incredibly tiring over any sort of distance. But, it required little to no skill and kept the swimmer's head above water. Lowering herself back into the water, Edreina made a brief Watch me motion before demonstrating. She moved very slowly - compared to her usual pace - making sure that each motion was exaggerated enough that Kreig could follow her. The motions of her powerful legs created coarse splashes, but kept her I'm constant motion. Each stroke of her arms added a quick burst of speed. "You can go even faster if you don't mind holding your breath." Despite the fact this was a bit higher level than what Kreig would be able to do at first, requiring a surprising amount of control and coordination, Edreina wanted to show him how to do it before he got foolish and attempted it on her own. As her arms moved forward, she allowed her head to fall beneath the water, exhaling a flurry of bubbles. The motion of her arms pulling her forward naturally pulled her head out of the water at which point she allowed herself to take a breath. Finally, she stopped, breathing barely altered despite the activities she had just performed. "Now you try..." the offer was made with a comforting smile, though the redhead silently prepared to rush forward and pull Kreig from the water if he started to get too tired or attempt to inhale the Suvan.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig nodded his head nervously, a smile sticking on his face but it betrayed the thought that struck his mind 'I can barely keep myself afloat....shouldn’t I master that first?’ But he didn’t want to break the frown on her face, if she’s confident he can do what she was about to teach him next, who was he to disagree? He took hold of the net again as she made her way to it and stood upon it, heightening herself so he could see her arms fully as she performed the motion. Her palms moving outward looked like it was pushing things away, or rather the water as they traveled widely in an arc.

She then lowered herself into the water, performing the same movement slowly except this time her legs were kicking behind her and allowed her to travel throw the water. With each stroke she moved a little faster through it, he noted during the strokes she released her breath only to inhale more in between, as during a stroke her head would be submerged by the water and obviously it was a bad idea to inhale sea water ‘I don’t think I’ll be holding my breath anytime soon’ He thought, he’d rather not be overconfident so early in his lessons…. Actually he’d rather not be overconfident at all.

It was now his turn as she now stopped swimming, not tired at all from the strenuous activity she performed and told him to ‘try’. Kreig gulped as he let go of the net and recalled the movements she performed only mere ticks ago, his hands coming close in front of him, his legs beginning to kick as his hands moved back in an arc then forward again, his palms facing outwards to ‘push’ the water around him and ‘pull’ himself forward. At first it was simple, difficult but simple, his first few strokes while obviously that of a novice could be called acceptable. But soon after his arms quickly began to feel the strain of constantly moving about and pushing the body of water away, causing his breathing to become irregular. It was because of this he made a major mistake, as he performed the next stroke instead of exhaling his breath he ended inhaling bits of the Suvan, the salty water causing him to sputter as it tasted aweful and bits of it reaching his lungs. His limbs moved franticly about as he struggled with the sudden shock that came from drinking such water suddenly ‘Petch!!’ this was the sign for the Svefra to come to his rescue, as she quickly moved towards the brawler to save his land-legs from a terrible fate.

x

[Edreina]

At the student's explanation, Edreina reached out, grabbed the hem of his britches, and hauled him over to the net, shaking her head all the while. Once he was securely attached to the cargo net once again, she laughed openly at his flailing. "Not a bad attempt," she consoled, patting his shoulder lightly, "You just need to practice. Just consider something, I'm not the best swimmer, and yet I can already do this..." Without another word, Edreina bunched up against the boat, feet planted on the side, and then took a deep, steadying breath. In an explosion of water and motion, Edreina surged forward, arms poised together, legs pumping together vigorously, moving like a dolphin's tale. As she began to slow, Edreina continued to arched her back, bringing her shoulders up and then jerking them down so that the momentum of the motion continued through her abdomen to her toes, allowing her to continue slicing through the water. Finally, eventually, she slowed to the point that she would have to change strokes, but decided to surface instead. As she rose, gasping and grinning, flicking her hair out of her face, she was pleased to see that her ship was a fair stretch away, but she was still close enough that Kreig would be able to make out her grinning expression. A bit more lazily than she had left, Edreina paddled her way back to the ship. Grinning, Edreina hauled herself up the net and into the boat, breathing a bit accelerated. "Now... time for you to teach me something," she said, still grinning, hair falling in bright copper ringlets down her softly heaving chest.