Common Text
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Ymiden 25th, Evening
Qit'ria looked out over the lake, a smile upon her face. It was one hell of a hike to get here, but necessary. She shrugged off her pack and hung it on a nearby tree branch. The sun would be setting soon, but she didn't mind, for herself. Enlick and Erenwind would be fine on their own, as long as they didn't venture off, she assumed. The bird woman had mostly survived on her own, and Enlick was in no position to be moving about anyways. Qit'ria untied her blouse and loin cloth, and stepped toward the water. It was incredibly clear, and she could see the many colors of the approaching dusk bouncing off the surface.
There hadn't been a lot of chances to stop along the way, or to stop at all. As Qit'ria approached, something caught her eye. Looking out toward the lake's edge, there were three floating orbs of water, swirling about one another. She'd never seen anything like that before. She moved toward it, and it shurked away from her backwards, closer to the lake. Interesting. It was afraid of her. That meant it was alive. But it was scared of her. And yet, it stayed nearby.
It was curious of her, but unsure. Qit'ria slowly approached the water's edge, stepping into the shallows, not toward the creature, but keeping her eyes on it. She knelt down, and cupped some water in her hands, and brought it to her lips, drinking the water, hoping this wouldn't offend the creature. The water was crisp, clean, and cool, and was delicious. The water they had at sea always had a woody, stagnant taste from the barrels and heat. This was paradise, a wonderful respite.
She scooped up some more water, and poured it over her head, letting it drip down over her heavily pregnant form, mainly to see the creature's reaction. It came closer. She smiled. She scooped up some more water, but this time held it out for the creature, a gift. The curious creature floated over, hesitantly. As it neared, she could hear a noise coming off it. Drip. Drip. Drip. She looked closer at it but couldn't seem to see anything that was happening to cause the noise. But it was definitely coming from it, her aye-aye mouse enhanced hearing was far too sharp to not realize that.
Qit'ria attempted to mimic the noise by putting her lips together and making a soft popping noise. She was doing it a bit slower than the dripping noise that was coming off the critter. And soon, it was matching her pace. Between her pops, it dripped. And it hovered closer and closer. Soon it was just next to her outstretched hands. The water cupped there soon began to stir, forming another orb in her hands. It then floated upwards and joined the other three.
Qit could feel gratitude coming off the creature, when she had a realization. This wasn't a creature or beast at all. It was a spirit. She tried to contain her excitement. She'd never met a spirit like this. So far in her life, she'd really only met Kashehino, and the wolves that hunted with Currey and Nir'wei. She wanted to touch it, but thought better of it, she didn't wish to scare her new friend off. But it seemed her spirit had a similar desire to her, and more willingness to act on it.
It reached out and caressed against the wet parts of her skin, and she could feel the childlike 'laughter' coming from it. It hovered up to her eye level and she reached up slowly, touching one of the orbs. The surface rippled lightly, and the dripping noise became a bit more of a drizzle, in a way that was inexplicably 'happy' sounding. It then became quite active. It flitted over to just above the water. Then back over to land, just above a small, smooth rock. It did this multiple times. Qit'ria sloshed through the shallows and saw that it was hovering over an almost identical rock in the lake.
She walked over to the rock on the land, seeing that it was perfectly smooth, but more importantly dry. Qit'ria dipped a bit of water on it, and saw the spirit bounce excitedly. Clearly this is what it wanted. She knelt down and picked up the rock, and it watched curiously. Well, if the spirit wanted the rock to be wet, or added to its rock collection in the lake, who was she to deny it. She smiled, and turned to the lake. She held it in the crook between her thumb and forefinger and side arm slung it at the lake. The moment it left her hand, the spirit went chasing after it. The rock skipped over the surface, once, twice, thrice, several more times before petering out and sinking into the depths.
The spirit was dancing over the surface toward Qit'ria, twisting about more excitedly on its approach. It stayed above the lake, and kept moving closer, then back out. Qit'ria smiled, thinking that this spirit was similar an excitable child. She moved into the water, and slipped in deeper, until the water was just over her pregnant belly. The spirit fluttered close to Qit'ria, then slipped down into the water. Even within the water, she could make out its orbs. It explored every inch of her her submerged skin. Qit'ria wondered if it had never met a person before, so it was trying to understand her.
She moved deeper until she was just on her tiptoes, and then slipped fully beneath the surface. It tickled as the swirling orbs of water pulsated over every bit of skin. She winced a bit as it explored her hair, accidentally tugging at them, but she didn't let it show. She didn't want to make it feel bad. Once it was done exploring, the spirit floated back out of the lake, and Qit floated up to the surface. She slipped upward onto her back, and floated there. The spirit hovered over her face, and now she could hear a bubbling noise. But again, no physical change with that. Perhaps this was simply how water spirits attempted to "speak". And Qit felt that this sound was expressing gratitude of some sort.
The sun was setting now, and the watery orbs glowed golden as the sun disappeared in the northwest horizon. Qit'ria reached up and gently caressed the surface of the orb. She expressed her own gratitude, and blew little spit bubbles of her own, hoping to communicate it back. The orbs moved closer, and nuzzled at her face in response. It then zoomed out behind her, toward the center of the lake, just around where the rock had disappeared into the depths. Qit'ria began an adaptation of her frog style swimming, albeit on her back. This involved bringing her knees up to her belly, then spreading them into an outward arcing kick. Her arms flapped slowly back and forth to help pull her backward.
This method wasn't comfortable on her belly though so she stopped the legs bit. She settled for a slower, standard back stroke, arms to the sky and back behind. Eventually she was once more underneath the water spirit, and she smiled at it. It dipped down into the water, and Qit'ria rolled over onto her front, her eyes peering through the especially clear waters. She could still follow the shape of the spirit as it went deeper, and there in the sandy soil at the bottom, she could see the same rock she'd thrown. She tilted downward, and began to swim hard and dive down. It was much more strenuous than normal because of her swollen belly.
Once at the bottom, she plucked the rock, and held it up to spirit who gurgled, and rose back up to the surface. Qit'ria followed it, rock in hand. Once more, she was following it, back to where she'd seen the first rock it showed her. And it hovered there. She slowly slipped the rock in next to its brethren. Gurgling. Qit'ria slowly moved the rock from position to differing position, until finally the spirit bubbled instead. And so she set it down there, and the orbs all twisted and swirled in great glee. The spirit came forward and pressed against Qit'ria, just below her swollen bosom, the orbs resting atop her belly. She reached down with both arms and gently embraced the orbs, and made the bubbling noise again.
The orbs slipped into the lake's surface, and completely disappeared. Qit'ria smiled, and moved deeper into the lake. She floated there, thinking about everything that happened, and let the water simply hold her. She watched as the stars came out, and reflected upon what she'd just experienced. It was one of the most whimsical and beautiful moments in her life. Eventually she gathered up her things and left, not bothering to dress, as she made her way to the beach side camp they'd established. While she didn't notice, her shipmates might see, or notice by the lack of smell, that for the first time in an exceedingly long time, Qit'ria was perfectly clean, and donned a smile.
Xanthean Text
Kashehino Text
Ymiden 25th, Evening
Qit'ria looked out over the lake, a smile upon her face. It was one hell of a hike to get here, but necessary. She shrugged off her pack and hung it on a nearby tree branch. The sun would be setting soon, but she didn't mind, for herself. Enlick and Erenwind would be fine on their own, as long as they didn't venture off, she assumed. The bird woman had mostly survived on her own, and Enlick was in no position to be moving about anyways. Qit'ria untied her blouse and loin cloth, and stepped toward the water. It was incredibly clear, and she could see the many colors of the approaching dusk bouncing off the surface.
There hadn't been a lot of chances to stop along the way, or to stop at all. As Qit'ria approached, something caught her eye. Looking out toward the lake's edge, there were three floating orbs of water, swirling about one another. She'd never seen anything like that before. She moved toward it, and it shurked away from her backwards, closer to the lake. Interesting. It was afraid of her. That meant it was alive. But it was scared of her. And yet, it stayed nearby.
It was curious of her, but unsure. Qit'ria slowly approached the water's edge, stepping into the shallows, not toward the creature, but keeping her eyes on it. She knelt down, and cupped some water in her hands, and brought it to her lips, drinking the water, hoping this wouldn't offend the creature. The water was crisp, clean, and cool, and was delicious. The water they had at sea always had a woody, stagnant taste from the barrels and heat. This was paradise, a wonderful respite.
She scooped up some more water, and poured it over her head, letting it drip down over her heavily pregnant form, mainly to see the creature's reaction. It came closer. She smiled. She scooped up some more water, but this time held it out for the creature, a gift. The curious creature floated over, hesitantly. As it neared, she could hear a noise coming off it. Drip. Drip. Drip. She looked closer at it but couldn't seem to see anything that was happening to cause the noise. But it was definitely coming from it, her aye-aye mouse enhanced hearing was far too sharp to not realize that.
Qit'ria attempted to mimic the noise by putting her lips together and making a soft popping noise. She was doing it a bit slower than the dripping noise that was coming off the critter. And soon, it was matching her pace. Between her pops, it dripped. And it hovered closer and closer. Soon it was just next to her outstretched hands. The water cupped there soon began to stir, forming another orb in her hands. It then floated upwards and joined the other three.
Qit could feel gratitude coming off the creature, when she had a realization. This wasn't a creature or beast at all. It was a spirit. She tried to contain her excitement. She'd never met a spirit like this. So far in her life, she'd really only met Kashehino, and the wolves that hunted with Currey and Nir'wei. She wanted to touch it, but thought better of it, she didn't wish to scare her new friend off. But it seemed her spirit had a similar desire to her, and more willingness to act on it.
It reached out and caressed against the wet parts of her skin, and she could feel the childlike 'laughter' coming from it. It hovered up to her eye level and she reached up slowly, touching one of the orbs. The surface rippled lightly, and the dripping noise became a bit more of a drizzle, in a way that was inexplicably 'happy' sounding. It then became quite active. It flitted over to just above the water. Then back over to land, just above a small, smooth rock. It did this multiple times. Qit'ria sloshed through the shallows and saw that it was hovering over an almost identical rock in the lake.
She walked over to the rock on the land, seeing that it was perfectly smooth, but more importantly dry. Qit'ria dipped a bit of water on it, and saw the spirit bounce excitedly. Clearly this is what it wanted. She knelt down and picked up the rock, and it watched curiously. Well, if the spirit wanted the rock to be wet, or added to its rock collection in the lake, who was she to deny it. She smiled, and turned to the lake. She held it in the crook between her thumb and forefinger and side arm slung it at the lake. The moment it left her hand, the spirit went chasing after it. The rock skipped over the surface, once, twice, thrice, several more times before petering out and sinking into the depths.
The spirit was dancing over the surface toward Qit'ria, twisting about more excitedly on its approach. It stayed above the lake, and kept moving closer, then back out. Qit'ria smiled, thinking that this spirit was similar an excitable child. She moved into the water, and slipped in deeper, until the water was just over her pregnant belly. The spirit fluttered close to Qit'ria, then slipped down into the water. Even within the water, she could make out its orbs. It explored every inch of her her submerged skin. Qit'ria wondered if it had never met a person before, so it was trying to understand her.
She moved deeper until she was just on her tiptoes, and then slipped fully beneath the surface. It tickled as the swirling orbs of water pulsated over every bit of skin. She winced a bit as it explored her hair, accidentally tugging at them, but she didn't let it show. She didn't want to make it feel bad. Once it was done exploring, the spirit floated back out of the lake, and Qit floated up to the surface. She slipped upward onto her back, and floated there. The spirit hovered over her face, and now she could hear a bubbling noise. But again, no physical change with that. Perhaps this was simply how water spirits attempted to "speak". And Qit felt that this sound was expressing gratitude of some sort.
The sun was setting now, and the watery orbs glowed golden as the sun disappeared in the northwest horizon. Qit'ria reached up and gently caressed the surface of the orb. She expressed her own gratitude, and blew little spit bubbles of her own, hoping to communicate it back. The orbs moved closer, and nuzzled at her face in response. It then zoomed out behind her, toward the center of the lake, just around where the rock had disappeared into the depths. Qit'ria began an adaptation of her frog style swimming, albeit on her back. This involved bringing her knees up to her belly, then spreading them into an outward arcing kick. Her arms flapped slowly back and forth to help pull her backward.
This method wasn't comfortable on her belly though so she stopped the legs bit. She settled for a slower, standard back stroke, arms to the sky and back behind. Eventually she was once more underneath the water spirit, and she smiled at it. It dipped down into the water, and Qit'ria rolled over onto her front, her eyes peering through the especially clear waters. She could still follow the shape of the spirit as it went deeper, and there in the sandy soil at the bottom, she could see the same rock she'd thrown. She tilted downward, and began to swim hard and dive down. It was much more strenuous than normal because of her swollen belly.
Once at the bottom, she plucked the rock, and held it up to spirit who gurgled, and rose back up to the surface. Qit'ria followed it, rock in hand. Once more, she was following it, back to where she'd seen the first rock it showed her. And it hovered there. She slowly slipped the rock in next to its brethren. Gurgling. Qit'ria slowly moved the rock from position to differing position, until finally the spirit bubbled instead. And so she set it down there, and the orbs all twisted and swirled in great glee. The spirit came forward and pressed against Qit'ria, just below her swollen bosom, the orbs resting atop her belly. She reached down with both arms and gently embraced the orbs, and made the bubbling noise again.
The orbs slipped into the lake's surface, and completely disappeared. Qit'ria smiled, and moved deeper into the lake. She floated there, thinking about everything that happened, and let the water simply hold her. She watched as the stars came out, and reflected upon what she'd just experienced. It was one of the most whimsical and beautiful moments in her life. Eventually she gathered up her things and left, not bothering to dress, as she made her way to the beach side camp they'd established. While she didn't notice, her shipmates might see, or notice by the lack of smell, that for the first time in an exceedingly long time, Qit'ria was perfectly clean, and donned a smile.
