Summers Waves [Kavala]

[Atoll Northwind]

11th of Summer, 514AV No one liked the cold. It could very well freeze your blood or so Atoll thought but the heat, great Laviku, the heat. A few more hours of it and he’d be jerky. The salt he tasted on his tongue was his own sweat, a little hotter and it could burn his tongue. Now, now he knew why they didn’t stay in these parts in the summer. Atoll swiped a soaked hand against his forehead. It smeared sweet and dirt in his eyes. Gods, even the wind was warm. He lay beneath the sails, which he had pitched over the boom to create shade. The Sextant lie dead in the water, anchor cast for looks only as the water held most still. It seemed both the winds and Laviku were in a fine mood. If only it weren’t for the damnable heat. Atoll reached up a hand to touch the sails. Already they were drying. If he were smart he’d take them down before they warped in the sun. Instead he crawled to the side of the casinor filled his water skin and dumped more water on the sails. He did this time and time again until it dripped. Then, he crawled back under. The water, so close to the surface, was warm as it dripped steadily for a few ticks, then slowed. Finally it stopped. This time he did not bother to soak it again. “Laviku, what I wouldn’t give for your colder waters.” Atoll had dragged himself listlessly to the side of the deck and hung over the edge. He flicked a few drops of sweat into it. “So ya give it, so I give it back.” His arm dangled enough for his fingers to trail the top of the water. It was warm. It wasn’t enough that he couldn’t feel the temperature difference but enough so that it made little difference to his over heated body. Atoll thunked his head against the side of his baby. Even she was roasting. An aborted movement caught his eye and he glanced up. Littoral was headed towards the Sextant. His tail tried to splash in forewarning but flopped sideways. Even from the distance Atoll could see the large creature forced into a sideways roll. Atoll called out, “Whacha doin’, fool?” The waves Littoral made sent ripples that faded fast in the still waters. Littoral repeated the move. Atoll sat up, and Littoral did it again. But the whale had managed to move closer. The Svefra frowned, something nagged at him because this was not a normal move for them. He heard a deep rumbled from the waters, from Littoral who was usually silent. Without any sound save for a splash Atoll rolled himself into the waters. They were warm and grainy and felt like home. But he had no time to relax because his Tavan had not made a move again. He was not a strong swimmer by any means, something the pod loved to remind him of, but he pushed himself as fast as he could. His legs sank nearly entirely vertical. He hands made small cups to pull the water behind him and he moved his arms in wide arches. Water hit his eyes and wet filled his mouth the closer he got. The waves pushed him back just enough to make him curse everything. When he reached the whale he flicked water at it. But Littoral made no counter-attack. “Oi! Litty! Hey!” Atoll patted the whale as he pulled himself along the side of the whale. A great eye blinked at him and he heard another heavy rumble. The skin beneath his fingers felt warm. It felt dry. “Litty?” “What’s wrong with ya?” There was no groan this time though Littoral did slap at him weakly. “Fish guts!” Atoll cursed again, louder, panic creeping in. Without taking his hand off Littoral he face land. There wasn’t enough wind to get there, could he swim?[/color]

[Kavala]

There was something about getting out into the world alone that was lovely. Well, alone wouldn’t be the right term for it. Kavala had several passengers aboard The Dreamcatcher, one of which had been asking for the trip for ages. It was her way of reminding him that she still loved him and that he was decidedly the most important person in her life even when she was crazy busy like she had been this spring with foaling.

Unfortunately, it was his nap time. Tasival never stopped running around. At three, he was as precocial as they came. This meant he had two modes… one was full on at a dead run and the other one was asleep. Right now it was as if someone had stole the life right out of him because he lay across the bench seat beneath the awing and was a limp little form with his arm dangling off the seat. Kavala moved carefully over and gently tucked her Akontak son’s arm back up on the bench and made him more secure against the rolling of the catamaran. She brushed his white hair out of his eyes and planted a soft kiss on his scaled forehead. The Konti sighed and looked up, eyes scanning the horizon. She wasn’t the best sailor, but nothing had prepared her for this kind of weather.

It was almost as if there was a total lack of weather. There was no wind. There were no clouds in the sky. And the ocean was akin to a piece of cerulean blue silk stretched taught as far as the horizon. She’d never seen anything like it. Birds weren’t flying. Waves weren’t rolling along. The only reason she knew there was still a current was because as the sun rose in the sky and climbed more towards midday, The Dreamcatcher had changed location in respect to its path. That meant she was drifting in the current rather than the wind.

Kavala just had to wait. Patience meant survival at sea often enough. And even though they were currently adrift, the waters so still and the wind showing no signs of picking up, there was an alien beauty to the world that kept her almost breathless. The only sound besides her son’s soft breath were that of the rest of the lives aboard the catamaran. The other two companions were large dogs. Indigo, marked with splashes of black and white, was curled on an opposite bench from Tasival sound asleep and snoring softly. The other was on the stern sniffing at the wind. The clicking of Ink’s claws reminded Kavala how large the two dogs were being Imperial Watchers. There was room for them on the Catamaran, but a couple people more with the two huge dogs would indeed make it crowded.

Kavala had spent the day with Tasi at her side. She’d practiced her sailing in an intense way, learning just how important it was to keep out of being ‘in irons’. There were three points of sail, and Kavala had been pushing herself to practice them. Close hauling or beating was hardest for her where the wind came from ahead. She’d diligently practiced her close haul port tack and her close haul starboard tack, zig zagging the catamaran across the Suvan enjoying the blistering heat. Tasi had laughed with her and cheered every time the boom had swung and the catamaran had turned on a dime and switched positions.

Reaching was what they called sailing with the wind from the side. That was fairly uncomplex and by far and wide easier than close hauling. There were far more reaching positions than there were close haul positions. She practiced close reach port tack and close reach starboard tack. Then she swung the ship around and had practiced beam reach port tack and beam reach starboard tack. Harder to master was the broad reach port tack and the broad reach starboard tack. There were more sails to fill and more power to deal with when the ship had the bit in its teeth so to speak. She’d had to scramble just being a crew of one. But with just her and her son, they often made due and she was learning the hard way. It helped, for certain, because no one was there to witness her mistakes and it was a confidence boost.

But this… this still water was harder to deal with. The tattletails were unwavering, hanging limply down the leading edge of the sail. Kavala frowned up at them, and then paced the deck, joining Ink on his restless trip around the catamaran.

“Well, boy… we were supposed to rest. Let’s rest.” She said, turning to check on Tasival then grinning at her dog. The Imperials would watch over her son. A normal child’s danger in this situation would be drowning. But Tasi had gills and could swim like a fish. He had dark skin so sun burning wasn’t even a factor with him safe under the awning. He was safe… very safe… and she wouldn’t go far.

The Konti peeled off the shift that covered her muscled torso and laid it on tiller, using it to affix the tiller in a general northern position. The next thing she did was trim the sails back to nothing so that if the wind did come up abruptly the catamaran wouldn’t catch wind and race off leaving her behind. The ship was afloat, drifting, and by the time she got her sails rolled up and secured, she was ready.

The Konti dove off the side of the ship, split the water gracefully, and then let herself float in the cool blue. Her gills filled with salt water and she sighed happily, flaring them and letting her hair swirl around her body. Hanging in the still blue column of water held its own kind of peace. She let her mind grow blank, let it drift into nothing as she tapped into her meditation and sent signals to her whole body to relax, let the troubles of the day go, and transport her into a secondary awareness meditation brought. Her breathing evened out as her body switched off her lungs and instead filtered air from the water itself. The cooling sensation of water across her lungs eased the slight pink of her skin where it was darkening under the harsh hot sun.

Kavala visualized a light in her body, glowing deep from somewhere in the center of her belly, and expanding outward. In her focused state, she pictured the light burning her stress and anxiety away, loosening anything that was negative, and filling her only with powerful love. She kept the visualization up until she felt the light expand within her to completely encompass her whole body. She visualized herself made of light, with no more dark within her form… the dark representing all her worries.

Once this state was achieved, she hung in the water column and called forth her djed. It infused her body and she recalled the form she’d learned not to long again. Legs blended together, bones rearranged themselves, and her torso thickened. Her face elongated as did her jaws and her fingers became incredibly long while her arms shortened. Slowly, methodically, taking the time she needed, Kavala shifted her body into that of a dolphin… it took time. It took energy. But in the end it was so worth it. She rolled when the form was complete, and then nodded her head glancing at her flanks and admiring her flippers.

Stroking her powerful tail she surged to the surface, plunged up into the air, took a deep breath, and then bobbed in a spy position – looking around to see what she could see. She spotted the Dreamcatcher some distance away. She leaped forward, squeeed in delight, and with powerful strokes of her tail chased the drifting catamaran. The pursuit took just a few quick flicks of her tail. The Konti marveled at the speed of the dolphin as she broke the peace of the surface, breathed, and then dove again, coming upon the ship like she intended.

But in the distance she spotted another ship, one that must have drifted up on the catamaran while she was within the sea. Tasi was no where to be seen so she assumed her son was still asleep. She didn’t know if there was danger from the other ship, so she set out for it, noting that the water was broke up around it as well. Dipping her head beneath the surface, her powerful dolphin’s nose could scent the whale and human in the water together. She could hear the echo of the humans frantic voice and so she poured power into her tail strokes and closed the distance with very little effort. When she was close enough she broke the surface, chattered like dolphins were prone to do, and bobbed her head.

She looked at the human with concern, tipping her head first one way then the next. It took her a moment to understand he wasn’t in distress himself, but was actually distressed because the whale seemed sick. Kavala swam closer. She started clicking the water with her powerful sonar and let it bounce of f the whale and man, getting a good idea of their size. The whale was indeed not doing good. His heart was thready and he seemed in some sort of distress.

The dolphin swam right up to the whale, opposite of the man, and tapped her Konti gift. She sent feelings of reassurance towards the whale and took a moment to feel his pain, to see the suffering in his eyes. She knew she might be able to help.

The Konti broke the surface beside the man, chattered in a worried fashion, and slowly lost her shape. She hated doing so with her catamaran so far from the casinor the man was likely from. But if she had half a chance she could find a seabird form and catch the ship that way if it drifted too far away.

When the change had completed itself Kavala offered the stranger a smile. She kept her distance from him, ready to dive deep and get out of his way if he showed any sign of aggression. “I’m a healer. Can I help? Your whale friend seems to be in pain.” She said softly, reassuringly.



Count: 1734

[Atoll Northwind]

The Svefra wasn’t a doctor and he grew more agitated with every second. What use was any of his knowledge if he couldn’t help Littoral? “Ya sure you don’t have scurvy, just need lemons.” But Littoral made not even a sound besides that. He thought maybe sunburn but he didn’t have lemons or aloe. And giving something to his best, if not only friend, that might hurt him made Atoll sick. Laviku, I know ya got rules of nature but ya can’t take him. I don’t know what to do without, Litty. He’s a stupid whale sometimes but ya gotta help. And the days had been going by nicely enough, the party went good enough for a land-dweller thing. A thought hit Atoll like a punch. Had he gotten Littoral sick? He was a boring drunk, sleepy and stupid. Maybe he’d been stupid enough to give Littoral booze. “Petchin’—why can’t ya talk?” If Littoral could talk they wouldn’t even be in this predicament. Atoll could just ask him, then cure him. The Svefra gave the great whale a rub. It was more to reassure himself than Littoral. Then he gazed out to the shore, he knew he couldn’t swim it and he such as shyke couldn’t sail fast enough in these winds. But then something caught his eye. It was streamlined like a shark. Damned fish already wantin’ food! Atoll gave another curse for he didn’t even have a cutlass to his name. Keeping a grip on Littorals fin, Atoll released all his air and allowed himself to slip into the waters. While he was blessed to be able to drink the water his eyes were not salt proof. It burned his eyes, blinded him but he could see the blurry shape on the other side of Littoral. He pushed himself passed the point of pain. It was a constant ache but he could breath. Which was not the best idea and in short order the Svefra broke the surface panting. His eyes were squeezed shut to shield from the piercing rays and stinging air. He opened them to a soft voice. So lost in his own worry, confused as to where the woman came from Atoll could only gape. Around the white edges in his vision he could see a woman. Or what he thought was a woman. She was bright and pale with scales like a fish. That thought seemed to be all he needed. “Bless ya father. I don’t deserve it. I’ll give ya everythin’ just for this, more than before.” Atoll bent to kiss the water and found his eyes burned for a whole new set of reasons. Finally he straightened and addressed the fish. “He’s sick. I dunno what for. He won’t move!” The Svefra ran out of air. And now his lungs burned right along with his eyes. “His names Litty. Ya can fix him? I’ll give ya whatever ya need.” Atoll waved her forward while speaking softly, urgently to Littoral. “It’ll be fine now. I’ve got ya, and the lass has got ya. Your gonna be fine. So don’t be splashin’ her, aye?” The Svefra slid himself down Littoral, giving him soft rubs here and there for both their comforts. Then he watched the woman again. Atoll knew what she was but he didn’t know. As his vision began to lose the white he knew she was one of those from the city. Konti, is what he recalled what they were. Similar in basic appearance and usually running around with the bright colored warriors of Riverfall. The thoughtless trivia began to shove some of his worry back, even brought up questions but he didn’t dare interrupt her in case he distracted her from her task. Still he watched he like a hawk. Laviku sent or not he was desperate but he wouldn’t be stupid. He’d trust just so long as Littoral allowed it and no further.

[Kavala]

Kavala never made promises she couldn’t keep. “In truth I work on a lot of dogs, cats, horses and cows. Whales are a whole new species for me. But I know a lot about the inside of fish and all of the above so it very well could be that I can help. It might be that I can’t either. Ill have to look at him first.” The Konti said, swimming around to joint the Svefra on the side of the whale he was on. Since she’d been wearing a dolphin form, there had been no clothing to carry with her through the transformation. And so now the Sevfra could tell she was not armed and decidedly naked. But that didn’t seem to bother the Konti. She instead swam up beside the man and laid her hands on the whale where his were.

“I’m Kavala. You introduced your friend but not yourself. And before I can do anything, I need to see where his pain is. Okay? I’m just going to concentrate really hard, feel what he is feeling, and see what we can do from there.” The Konti said gently and calmly before she closed her eyes, reached forward, and laid her hands on the whale. To Kavala meditation came quickly. Her mind blanked, her awareness expanded, and suddenly she wasn’t just a Konti. She was a massive whale. She could feel Litty’s heartbeat, his breathing, and his massive body stretched out in the water before her. He was in enormous pain, and that pain was centered on and around his gut. Kavala had seen this in horses often, but it meant she had to operate. She wasn’t sure she could operate on a whale to untwist an intestine or remove a blockage, which she was sure was wrong with him.

Salt water on open wounds was brutal, and if she sedated the whale he’d likely drown being too relaxed to surface and breath… even if it meant getting his head out of the water only.

Kavala pulled back her touch, turned to the man with her, and shook her head. “I’m not certain I can do anything for him. I’m willing to try, but the situation is bad.” She said, looking thoughtful. “I think he has a twisted intestine or a blocked one. It happens in horses a lot, and I’ve seen it happen in all other kinds of species. What I would normally do is make a small incision in this abdomen and gently pull out his intestine and go through it until I found the blockage, remove it, and repair both the intestine and incision… same with a twisted intestine. But cutting into him would be pretty difficult in the salt water because it would burn him and damage the intestines. So to prevent pain I’d have to sedate him, but that’s going to be hard to do because then he may not surface to breathe and drown." The Konti said softly, her voice tinged with worry.

Kavala frowned.

“Ideally it would be nice if there was a shallow beach that dipped down to the water into a drop-off we could have him beach himself on and roll to one side so I can do the surgery out of the water and where he could breathe… Is there any such place and could we get him to do it?” She asked, not sure if that was asking too much. The whale seemed to be a pet, or at least a friend, so maybe there was something he could do to get the whale to comply. There were islands around these parts… many of them… surely one fit the description?

[Atoll Northwind]

Atoll felt a moment of panic bubble up which he smashed down. He couldn’t flounder around like a dying fish. But her words rang in his head like waves against the hull, beating until he felt the need to gut something. The only thing that held his sanity was the pulse of Litty’s skin beneath his. He wouldn’t let his Litty, his Tavan just die. He’d find a way to fix it. He rubbed Litty’s skin again, Don’t worry, ya’ll be fine. I love ya too much to let ya go. So busy trying to send thoughts to his whale he almost missed the introduction. He shook his head to ward off the depressing thoughts. He even managed to give Kavala a smile, “Sorry, always forgottin’ to introduce myself. Names Atoll Northwind.” Her voice was reassuring, as if she knew things would be fine. It reminded him of his nana and her way of taking charge of everything. It was comforting and he felt his shoulders relax as he watched her work. Atoll didn’t know what she was doing but whatever it was, it was working. Though in pain Litty seemed calmer than he had with Atoll. But for all this Atoll was not a patient Svefra. He had to focus on keeping himself above water with swift kicks as to not rush the Konti in whatever it was she was doing. At her words he wanted to shake her. Anger roiled up like storm swell. His finger nails nearly catching Litty’s skin. Eyebrows glaring he jerked his hand away, slapped the water with a shout and, “Not goo—“ Sank down. It was Laviku’s reminder for him to cool down before he did something stupid. With quick, still frustrated strokes his broke the surface. The Svefra was unable to meet Kavala’s eyes as he spoke. “Aye, yes. I-I know a place.” Atoll gasped, spitting out some water, “I’m sorry--we can--I’ll get him to--” The Svefra cut himself off. This wouldn’t be the first time a Tavan of the Northwind pod had gone. In fact, his siblings had seen at least two come to pass. But this was different. He’d never had any but Litty. “Do ya have a boat or did ya swim? We can be takin’ mine if ya don’t. I’ll make him move. Just-just follow me.” It wasn’t her fault she wasn’t pacifying his nerves. She was being honest. But now he had something to keep himself in check. Atoll shoved all his thoughts back then dragged himself along the length of Littoral. The great whale didn’t listen to him often, friends they were but they weren’t master to each other. Sometimes Atoll was ignored just because the whale could ignore him. When he could meet Littorals eye he could see the pain. “Ya gotta swim. I know ya don’t want to but you’re gonna do it. Go to the beach, aye? Ya know the one.” Atoll pointed behind them, from here it was nothing but a faint smudge along the water that was too far away for comfort. “Ya swim then ya beach.” But Littoral made no move, only another low moan. Atoll flicked his gaze back to his casinor. It was too small to pull Littoral, he’d sink or capsize before he could get anywhere close enough. Rather than try to argue with the whale, he began to slap along the sides. At first it did nothing for the whale but soon it grew too uncomfortable for it to be still. With several great flicks of its tail it began to move. A shock of waves slapped Atoll in the face in retribution. He wiped it off quickly and turned to Kavala. “He’s goin’ we just gotta go that way. I’ll keep him movin’. Do ya…ya ain’t gonna be needin’ help are ya?” Atoll didn’t think he would be able to actually be of any help. He’d probably be sick the moment she started. To keep himself from being sick at the thought he began to make small strokes in the direction of the Sextant. As he did his mind fell into the pattern of plotting out his course. The wind wasn't bad, the waves would be against them until they got closer to the beach, and he'd have to pitch up his sails. "Petching Laviku! The sails!" "Kavala, I've ask ya a lot but tell me ya gotta a boat or know sails. My baby ain't ready for sailin' and we gotta go fastly."