Something fishy floats the boat

[Voss]

6th of winter The sun was shining, the sea was blue and the nets were full. Which pretty much led to a very bad time. Since hoaling up butterfish when the sun was shining usually made mess and when the deck was all buttered up it was hell to walk around without slipping and smelling like syliran toast. "Get to the nets you lazy vagik's!" The captian yelled as he kicked a large metal box towards the middle of the boat. "Get them in there before they melt or I'll be keeping your kelp beer for the evening!" now that got voss going. "Aye sir!" He grabbed the nets. A few of the other sailors did as well. "Get those fish aboard! Our beer depends on it!" The other sailors let out a cheer. And they grabbed the ropes. They counted to keep pulling in the rhythem. and after a few moments of hard work the full nets full with butter fish was on the hot deck. Some of them already slowly melting. "Get them out of the nets! quick!" Voss blurted, the melting fish reminding him quite vividly of the captain's threat. That was hsi beer that was melting away. The men quickly pulled open the nets and began to throw the slippery fish in the way to small metal box that didn't get full.

[Alea Davenport]

The captain, Alea's father, was louder and angrier than she'd ever remembered hearing him. Despite the other bodies moving around the small fishing boat, she felt like he was yelling at her, specifically. At another time, under other circumstances, she might have tried to comply, to raise herself in his esteem despite the utter undesirability of doing work of any kind. But somehow, today, he went too far.

She did not have to take this abuse. She would not lift a finger to help anyone who called her names and threatened her and treated her like a slave. She looked around for an out of the way place to hide, but the small boat was too full; no matter where she went she would be spotted loitering.

Really, there was only one escape route. Her soul filled with righteous fury, she dashed to the side of the boat and vaulted over it, plummeting into the crystal clear water below.

[Voss]

Voss could only dumbly stare as somebody was stupid enough to jump off the ship. Didn't she know they were fishing butterfish? And where butterfish where toastsharks were sure to lurk around. And they could rip the flesh of a man's fingers faster then you could blink. Voss cursed his morals. "You're a stupid broad you know that!" He yelled out before he broke out in a run and jumped over the side of the boat. falling into the clear water below. Praise laviku it was clear. At least he could see toastharks coming. He looked around for the girl who was stupid enough to jump off the ship.

[Alea Davenport]

Alea plunged into the water, barely even hearing the shouts of the sailors above. Being called stupid was nothing new; it was practically background noise in her life by this point. It was quiet and peaceful here, under the surface. The water was clear and still. She took a breath, and relaxed as the cool water filled her lungs. She was in another world now, free of the noise and clutter of the surface.

Far below her, she saw a brilliant, colorful glow. Curious, she swam downward, barely noticing the man plunging into the water behind her. When she reached the sea floor, she found herself surrounded by pale green vines, which gave off a grape-y sort of scent. She settled onto the sea floor among the vines and breathed deeply, idly observing the world around her.

[Voss]

Voss saw the woman swim deeper and deeper into the sea. The young sailor let out a few curses as he followed her downwards into the crystal clear sea. The shouts and sounds that were so typical of a ship slowly faded away into an almost serene silence the deeper he went. The worry faded him when he settled down on the seafloor and looked at the vines that smelled oh so tantalizing of grapes and fish. He took a few deep breaths, his lungs filling with water and the promise of a full stomach if he took a bite out of the vine. As he walked towards the woman. He pulled of a few vines taking a few bites out of it. It tasted sweet, almost like candy. he stopped behind her and gentily tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, want some?" He held out a piece of the vine towards her. "Tastes pretty sweet." He took anther bite out of his own piece of vine. "Oh by the way. My name's Voss Rybaki. What's yours?"

[Alea Davenport]

There was something slightly jarring about the fellow's manner. Almost intrusive in a way. It was too...well, casual was the only way she could think to describe it, though that did not really explain the sense of contrast she was feeling. In one sense, he was disturbing her peaceful quiet, yet something else in her welcomed the company. She...decided...to welcome him.

"The grapes help with meditation," she said in a calm, deeper voice that did not seem quite her own. Then in an uncertain tone which more reflected her youth, she said, "I'm...Alea Davenport." It felt almost strange to say the whole thing out loud, though she couldn't remember why. Still in a state of confusion, and not entirely sure what was going on around her, she simply asked, "What are you doing here?"

[Voss]

At her comment of the grapes helping with meditation he gave the vine he was holding a look. "They do? Didn't know that." He shrugged and took another bite of the sweet vine. "Well Alea, nice meeting ya." He said with a smile. "Well I saw you jump of the ship. So I jumped after ya." Voss replied in a matter of fact tone. As if it was completely normal to jump after somebody who falls or jumps of a ship. "So the grapes help with meditation. Do you meditate often then? This your special meditation place?" That would make sense then. Maybe she wanted to meditate and just went to it. "If it is. I hope I'm not intruding or anything."

[Alea Davenport]

Alea looked around in confusion. "No, I've only meditated a few times. This looks like the place where I learned how, but... I don't remember it being at the bottom of an ocean..." She trailed off, trying to solve the apparent gap in her memories. "But... I left the Spires. I'm not there anymore, I got on a boat to sail to...Mura. Was that the boat we were on? No, my father was there...except...he wasn't my father..."

The inconsistencies pressed against Alea's brain, straining against each other like two masses of earth about to cause a quake. Then, all at once, the tension broke and memory snapped into place. "I never made it to Mura! I was sold in Ravok, and now I'm dreaming!"

She looked at Voss with an almost startled look, and then her face fell. "I guess if I'm dreaming then you're not real, huh. When I wake up you'll be gone. So much for making a new friend. Too bad, I could have used one."

[Voss]

voss looked at the woman with a startled look. that quickly grew concerned when she told him he wasn't real. He was about to ask what she was smoking. Till what she said really got to him. He was dreaming, they where on the bottom of the ocean with only a few moments of swimming. Fish made out of butter. Those things couldn't really happen in real life.. not unless he was hungry and absolutely sloshed. Which probably could be a factor in it. Now that he made that little click. it was as if something woke up and all the weirdness around him was suddenly visible. "Okay, lets assume this is a dream. Pretty possible with all the weird shyke that's been happening all around us. But I'm pretty darn real you know. I'm from zeltiva and I bet I can tell a whole lot about it that you don't know and couldn't make up if you tried!" Then the other thing clicked in his brain. She was enslaved and sold in ravok. He might not know a lot about that city. But he heard enough of it's reputation. "Oh.. well that's rough. Still, despite what you believe. I'm pretty real. Not just a figment of your imagination you know. So well. I can still be your friend you know." He was fully aware that sounded a bit weak. But well not everyday you met a slave in your dreams. He wasn't really sure that he wasn't dreaming that she was dreaming that he was there.. and he just gave himself a headache.

[Alea Davenport]

In her waking state, Alea often had trouble remembering names of places, but now, in her dream, the significance of Zeltiva was as plain to her as day. "Zeltiva, that's where the rest of the Denvali went! Did they make it there safely? What are they doing now?" Her eagerness faded as it hit her what it meant for this to be a dream.

"But of course you'll only tell me that they're all alive and they've found a new home and are now living happily." She leaned back and floated about a foot above the sea floor. Somehow, it was unbearably sad that this world only existed in her head. She did not bother arguing with Voss about his reality; obviously it was in his nature to insist on his realness, whether it was true or not. And if dreams were meant to show her things she wanted to see, well, all the more reason for the boy to say what Alea most wanted to hear...

A shadow passed briefly over them, and Alea shivered. She wondered idly why she wasn't awake yet. Normally when she noticed she was dreaming, she either forgot or woke up a few seconds later. Unless she was in a nightmare; then it was usually impossible to wake up no matter what she did.