1st of Summer, 520
Captain James Chaliva sat on the Syka dock with his feet in the water and his guitar across his lap as Syna fell into the jungle behind him. The last of the Veronica's cargo had been offloaded bells before, the crew having dispersed across the beach to lounge in the sand or partake in Stu's liquid hospitality. But the Captain stayed, making a quiet concert of the creaking dock and the lapping waves as he sang.
"My name's Able Rogers, a shareman am I
On a three-masted schooner from the Isle
I've been the world over, north, south, east, and west
But the middle of nowhere is where I like it best"
His voice was rich and deep, but his calloused fingers couldn't quite reach the same melodic quality. He strummed absently for a few moments, testing the notes, when he head a voice answering from the waves.
"Where it's wave over wave, sea over bow
I'm as happy a man as the sea will allow!"
A voice, breathless and feminine, rose up. The man squinted into the glare off the water and spotted the clear, swift shape of an Otani closing in with purpose a couple dozen meters away. Tucking his feet beneath him he picked up the tune again.
"I've sailed the wide oceans four decades or more
And ofttimes I've wondered what I do it for
I don't know the answer, it's pleasure and pain
With life to live over, I'd do it again"
This time the answer came much closer, the beast slowing down as it approached. It's voice was very rough for an Otani, especially next to his own sonorous song, but it was still belted out with shameless enthusiasm.
"There's no other life for a sailor like me
But to sail the salt sea, boys, sail the sea
There's no other life but to sail the salt sea!"
In no time the Otani was almost directly beneath him, churning the water into a rolling boil as she dipped beneath the surface to gather herself before launching out onto the dock a moment later. James cringed away as he was summarily soaked with the spray, and he heard a strange metallic jangle as the Otani slapped onto the wood with a small threadbare sack under her arm. As she righted herself he wiped salt water from his eyes and looked over his new guest. She had a human shape, but in a rather whitewash way, like she was the medium of every human woman rather than a unique one herself. She didn't cast a shadow, instead the last of Syna's golden light shot through her and distorted on the dock beside her like the reflection on a cave wall. Pinpoints of bioluminescence were starting to sprout on her shoulders and the top of her head.
"So, you're the little beast that's been following us from Riverfall", he began conversationally, like he had been waiting for her. Turning his guitar over he shook drops of saltwater from its hollow centre. "What took you so long?"
She ignored the question, or perhaps didn't hear it. Her attention was captured by the shine of the burnished guitar he was settling back across his lap. "You make such pretty noises", she laughed, the sound coming from the top of her throat in a kind of delighted bubble. "And you have such pretty eyes. We will be good friends. Do you love your sea-father?"
