• Graded • [Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

Linika and Sel'ma goes to sea. Sequel to Sense of Cosmetics.

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[Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

Sel'ma saw no reason to speak. The naer could babble all she wanted; the sevir wasn't going to fraternize.

She kept paddling; over and over again she pushed the paddle down into the water and pulled it towards her, in the hopes that her efforts would make this journey faster. Silently she watched the naer's flawless skin and dark hair and thought of how the beauty seemed to be nothing else than an appealing body, but the soul that inhabited it seemed flawed, sick and rotten. She wasn't able to see Linika's aura, as she wasn't at that high spiritual level yet, but she bet that if she had been able to see it, the aura would be a disgusting reddish brown, like dried blood, likely with unpleasant black specks.

They continued. Just like Linika she listened to Be'rine as the child told them what she knew about sailing. She heard the girl say that since they were still so close to shore, there were still many things they needed to maneuver around, otherwise they would find a good breeze, catch it fully and ride it without any need to change tacks so often. And just like Linika, Selma too began to understand that the slip spar allowed the sail to orient to left and right, to better catch the breezes as they fluctuated headings.

Sel'ma memorized the knowledge, as it could be good to know. She also memorized what Berine said about tacking in general. It was about making forward progress into the face of the wind, and at direct odds to it. Unlike Linika Sel'ma didnt' find this hard to grasp, as she with her spiritual mindset was used to deal with things not always being obvious.

Still listening to Be'rine as the child described the sliding sail as "billowing", to get a stronger wind, Sel'ma memorized this too and added it to her budding knowledge about sailing. She learnt how the sail pivoted as well, allowing the sail a great deal of versatility in achieving positions to best grab the shifting breezes. And glancing behind her to see what was happening in practice, she observed Jao'vier and noticed the timing of the pulling, hooking and releasing of the lines. She did her best to memorize it all.

Little Be'rine obliged and promised she would look for the ship. But Sel'ma ignored Linika when the naer suggested that one of them would focus past her and watch for her ship instead. There was really no reason for herself to not keep her gaze glued to Linika. She had been told to be ready if they had to kill the naer if it became necessary. So she was going to be ready. As far as she was concerned Jao'vier was the one in command and the one she cooperated with, not the kidnapper naer. Sel'ma's task was to paddle, be ready to grab a harpoon and do her job. Not to be a ship spotter assistant.

"I look at the horizon and I see no ship" said Jaovier. "Behind you, there's nothing bar empty sea. Your ship isn't there, little naer. But we are here, and as you said, we're watching you."

Sel'ma could have testified of how true this was. But for now she saved her lacking common for better times.

Behind her Jao'vier started to sing, and it seemed to be a well known song to litte Be'rine, because the child joined in at once like she had done this many times before. It wasn't a song Sel'ma had heard before, but she supposed it must be a fishing song, the kind of song people used to sing when they were working. She didn't know the words, if it even were words, she wasn't sure. It wasn't in xanthea. Perhaps Jao'vier had learnt foreign songs on journeys to other places. But she was aware that the man's familiar had been called forth. She didn't rule it out that there was more to the tune than met the ear.

Sel'ma didn't understand a word there, but she didn't care. She joined in too and started to sing along, as she wanted to be in the team. It wasn't so hard, as she mainly just needed to follow the tune and make the same sounds as the others. Her somewhat raspy alto voice blended in nicely with the deeper tones of Jao'vier and Be'rines light, sweet young voice as they sang to their hearts content and the outrigger sailed on at good speed.

((OOC/Sorry for getting a bit repetitive, but I wanted Sel'ma to learn the sailing basics too))
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[Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

Linika listened to them sing for some time. There was a certain melancholy to the situation that got to her more than she would ever admit, even to herself. Even under the duress she was imposing on them, these three sevir were singing together, making what should be a almost slave-like forced service, into a damned family outing! But it was not that she was failing to create a more intimidating atmosphere that got to her, it was that she did not belong.

"You don't fool me!" she suddenly snapped aloud, "You're just trying to ease my guard down with this happy day crap. Quit singing and start concentrating on looking for my ship. I...I want to go home and...be with my friends too. The ship can't be far...I mean, they've got to be looking for me too."

Her tone was just a little more desperate than she intended. Nothing like the easy friendliness of Be'rine's little voice as she responded, "I'm sorry, Linika. We're just passing time as we look. You could sing along if you wanted. It goes 'Sa leeee-ya, mahalee, Kyreeee-na gan doh, Mah keeee kah-banalee, Gorleeee-Kamanjo..." She held the certain "e"s rhythmically, swaying as she demonstrated the odd lyrics. Linika had not recognized them as any language she'd ever heard, or heard of.

She shushed Be'rine sharply, feeling an unwelcome pang of guilt at the girl's sudden moon-eyed quiet. Then she did something on impulse that she would never have expected herself to do. She apologized. "I'm sorry, Be'rine. I didn't need to..." she realized what she was doing and paused a moment. She wasn't sure if the two adults had heard this display of weakness, but she decided to raise her voice so she would be heard. "Okay look, I don't know what language that is, but I assume it's some sort of communication meant to exclude me, and I want it stopped. I don't want you two giving each other signals." She softened her voice as she leaned in to Be'rine, "Thanks child, but If I wanted to learn the words, I certainly could have by now."

She now directed her voice back to the adults, "I know you two think I can just turn myself in..." she said this with a contemptuous flourish. "Maybe you even think I won't be that miserable in your cells. But that's not even the point. It's what about after? Where do I go? Home?" She said this as if the very idea was absurd. "I think you both know I can't. Mother! The way Sel-Maw fought me, you've gotta have some kind of no-surrender policy too. Or at least you understand the concept. I mean she BIT me, for luck's sake! So don't tell me I have the option of surrender. Then there's no way my sisters would take me back. There's no place for weaklings among the Naerikk. Let's just get this done."

She wasn't sure just exactly who she was trying to convince. She could see she wasn't changing any minds; and Be'rine seemed unchanged as far as her willingness to sit quietly in her lap went. Another small spike of regret pained her at the thought of slavery possibly befalling the girl. It was becoming very important to her to catch sight of the ship as soon as possible, so she could arrange for Be'rine to get away. 'Surely Sel'ma and the father realize what's in store. How can I tell them that I'll see to it that Be'rine escapes, without letting her know that they won't?'

They were well out now, and going in wide arcs to cover a lot of area. Linika tried to get her mind off this by gazing out at the horizon herself. The boat rocked unexpectedly, and she whirled back, expecting to see one of the adults making a move on her. But there was no such action occurring. Just the usual scowls. Her anger surged in response. "What? haven't you accepted it yet? I just want to find my sisters. They're my family, okay?" her voice had just a slight catch in it at the word "family" and she cleared her throat to cover it, trying to look cold and stern, but finding it difficult to mask the sinking feeling she was getting.

She thought about past ambushes and boardings she had been in on. They were honorable affairs, usually pitting reasonably equal numbers, equally armed, against each other. The better women won, even against foreign males. And those better women were Naerikk women!

It occurred to her that their ship sometimes found coves along the shore to hide in, so they could launch pursuit from surprise. She wanted to advise Jao'vier to turn back and pull closer to the coast, but she didn't want to reveal any hidden locations her sisters might want to use to an enemy. But she decided that he'd be caught and dragged back to Augiery anyway, so it wouldn't matter. She gave her instructions to the man, and mirrored his scowl, wondering absently if this was his natural reaction to everything.

Be'rine was hesitant to speak, but Linika told her to go ahead. "This is not a good place to run the coast, Linika. There are lots of rocks, and a big reef with sharks. We could rip the hull, or break a boom, or at least get run aground."

"Don't worry, Be'rine. Your father knows what he's doing. He won't let that happen." She said, with a confidence she did not truly feel. But she was realizing how futile it was to just sail blindly on the open sea, hoping to run into her ship. She thought she heard the father make some comment, probably "Sel-Maw" as well, but she wasn't listening. She was getting very worried and she was sure it showed. Every time Be'rine looked up at her, she tried to hide her worry, but she was having less and less success at it. They'd been out the better part of the trial now, and she didn't have a clue where to go.

In a while, the features of the coast became clear enough to identify. Linika could see breakers lining the bulk of the visible shoreline. She started to feel genuine concern not only for herself and her sisters, but for Be'rine as well. The girl had been right, this was going to be very dicey going. As they got nearer, the boat lurched slightly, in response to Jao'vier's sudden pull on one of the ties. He had apparently seen something and made an adjustment to close on it.

Then Linika saw it too, odd colorations and peculiarly shaped spray off the rocks. Then others that were very subdued and hindered, as if something was blocking the free action of the crashing waves. There was an odd hump that kept rising with a particularly "muted" splash of waves. Her heart froze in her mouth, as Be'rine matched her sudden tense posture. It was a body. What looked like long hair might have been only kelp, but the colors of the attire draped and torn over the broken, water-logged corpse were those of a sailor of Augiery.

Then she began to notice the shapes of barrels and crates, some draped with wreckage of sails and jagged spars. Other tangles of kelp were now revealed as knotted lengths of rope. Some had other bodies tangled in gruesome, unnatural positions among them. All were discolored in bloodless hues of drowned death. Mute jaws hanging open in unanswered pleas. Linika trembled and fell to her knees, releasing Be'rine, who stood weaving in shock at the grisly scene growing nearer. The naer erupted in an incoherent wail of horror and grief. There was no mistake, they had found her sisters' ship.
Last edited by Linika on Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:01 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 1371
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[Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

They had indeed found the Linika’s ship and her sisters, but not the way the naer had imagined and hoped. The ship had been crushed against the rocks and the crew had drowned; only corpses and driftwood remained of the naerikk pirate ship. Sel’ma watched the wreckage, and saw the corpse with the long hair, the crates floating on the water, the pieces of wood. They been somebody or something, but now they were no longer anything.

Sel’ma was sev’ryn and close to nature. And albeit she didn’t find the sight of a bloated corpse pleasant, she was no stranger to death. It was part of nature as well as life was, and it wasn’t possible to not be exposed to it in the wilderness. She had seen corpses before, of humans, sevirs and animals alike. It was a sad sight, but it didn’t freak her out, as she was used to see death as a part of a cycle and not as the end of a line.

They were dead.

This was objectively speaking a good thing from some points of view, as this ship and it’s crew would no longer attack other ships and kill or enslave people. It was good in the same way it was good to get rid of a predator who had degenerated to kill for the sake of it. The naerikk were predators, greedy predators, preying on others for the sake of enriching themselves and their reputation for slavery and other cruelties weren’t unknown to Sel’ma. Jao’vier had told her they would kill the naer if they really sighted the ship at a distance, even if this meant Be’rine’s death and she knew he had been right, because the other option would have been to lose three sev’ryn lives instead of one.

Sel’ma supposed that going to a naerikk ship full of naer would only have meant they would all have been made prisoners, in case they wouldn’t just have been killed on the spot, that was. A middle aged sev’ryn fisherman would maybe not have been seen as a keeper, and perhaps not even as possible to sell at a price high enough to make him worth the cost of the food to keep him alive. A young female sevir who was already a sworn enemy of one naer ... Sel’ma didn’t think she would have been any better off than Jao’vier. Perhaps little sweet Be’rine would have been “spared”, to be carried off to a miserable life in slavery, traumatized after having witnessed the murder of her father.

Sel’ma could totally see Linika contribute actively in all this. The naer had already shown that she was capable of murdering a child in order to get her way. Yeah, yeah, she hadn't done it yet, but she had shown that she would be capable of doing it, in the sevir's opinion. Linika lived up to every bad thing ever said about naerikk. Hearing the naer speak about how it wasn’t possible for her to ever go back to Augiery if she handed herself in and got help, because her stupid, rabid people saw it as a sign on weakness to be logical and make the best of a situation instead of killing people, had just confirmed how crazy Linika and her whole people were. It was an incredible, twisted and insane way of reasoning, and it seemed very naerikk-ish.

It was however not so twisted to actually care about the death of her family and friends. Sel’ma actually felt a bit surprised by Linika’s devastated reaction. She had so far only seen Linika fight or threaten people and the naer had come off as nothing else than a rabid killer. Now she learn that naerikk actually seemed to have feelings for their own kind. Linika’s sorrow was authentic, this was obvious. At the moment she came off as a person with normal feelings. And being sev’ryn, Sel’ma felt sympathy despite the situation. She put down the paddle, and somewhat hesitatingly she leaned forward, reached out and put her hand on Linika’s shoulder in an attempt to offer comfort.

The boat had made the water move and in the waves the corpse with the long hair turned around and floated on its back. Its face was clearly visible now, floating mutely as a strange flower surrounded by the hair spreading out around it like blindly meandering tendrils.

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[Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

A cocoon of bitter reminiscence surrounded Linika as she stared in disbelief, instinctively trying to stem the sobs that were threatening to break her. Memories of glorious contests and celebrations of victories flashed past her inner eye, compounding the hollowness of loss. She felt like a shell, fragile and poised to crack into a thousand shards, each one a memory of competitive growth and developing friendships. These same friendships were what ultimately led to the formation of the crew on the ship.

The overall grief of the situation made Linika feel something more akin to pity than contempt for these sevir. She had no actual animosity toward them than she did for any race that did not understand the necessity and justification of strength as a basis for rule. They lived in that idealistic dream world where merely hoping and living for fairness and sharing meant that it would be realized. It was such a delusional state of mind. She had been so glad to be raised in a culture where the power to dominate your environment was the focus of life. And to have developed friendships with like-minded women.

A flash of numerous incidents of contests, races and mock battles. Losing was a lesson, so it was nothing to be ashamed of. And victory was a joy to be shared with your friends, celebrated and honored. She and her friends were a respected clique in Augiery, bound for great things...were...

'And now...' tears battered at her resistance, refusing to abate. "...And now..." she no longer was aware of whether she spoke aloud or not. "...they're gone...And I'm alone again..." She looked up, in the classic instinctive appeal to higher powers. "We did not dare your power. We fought with fairness against our targets. But you throw a monsoon at us?!" her voice raised, the anger steadying the broken sobs, accusing nature herself. "What satisfaction do you gain, claiming such a bullying victory? We did not ever say we could defeat such power...of the very wind and sea itself! Why crush us this way...AND WHY DO YOU LET ME LIVE?!"

This last was virtually shrieked in a last bid to overpower the grief that rolled over her, as she sagged in heaving sobs, over the side. She thought of throwing herself in, but felt somehow that it would be a dishonor to her lost friends. She was largely oblivious to a series of moderately heavy rocks of the vessel. It was not for a few moments after she felt a hand touch her shoulder that she remembered the hostility of the situation.

She leaned and swung her hand to knock the sevir's hand away, spinning unsteadily to her feet to face Sel'ma. Her eyes were red with tears, her face sticky with them. She still held the knife, but neither it nor Be'rine were in her thoughts as she screamed at the woman before her to get back. Grief and sudden loneliness converged into an outburst. "YOU DID THIS!" she shouted, stepping forward, her hands clenching furiously into fists, one of them still holding the forgotten knife.

She grabbed Be'rine, roughly pulling her to her side as she ordered Sel'ma back. She did not really focus on how well the sevir obeyed. She knew quickly that her accusation was absurd, which only made her angrier. "Okay!...Okay, excuse me. I know you didn't create the storm okay?" she snarled in a defensive sneer, "But you're glad it happened! Admit it. What do you know about the sisterhood of warriors? All you know is that some strong women that you FEAR are dead! It doesn't occur to you...or anyone LIKE you to take a lesson from us, and build your own strength! This world consumes the weak, and we strive NOT to be among them! The rest of you trust to equality and sharing...mutual benefit...that's CRAP! ALL of it!"

Rationalizations rolled off her tongue with years of practice as her voice grew venomous with contempt. "So you're glad that WE got "consumed" this time! FINE! All my friends are dead and you'd like to do a little dance, wouldn't you? WOULDN'T YOU?! Well sure, that's fair...if I kill all of you too!" Grief and a self-inflicted sense of being targeted by mockery stoked her fury to manic levels. Only the sudden whimper of the child hugging her leg snapped her out of it, to be replaced by near crippling guilt.

A new hot flood of tears swamped her face as she turned, hugging Be'rine and showering her with broken-voiced reassurances. There was a sudden lurch and she staggered to keep her balance. She thought she heard approaching footsteps and spun to whirl Be'rine behind her. But she tripped and shoved the girl a little harder than she meant to. Be'rine as well, had noted the lurch, but her move to stay balanced ran contrary to Linika's inexperienced adjustment, and the naer's shove sent her off balance. Her foot caught on a coil of rope, and with a cry she went over the side.

Shock paralyzed Linika for a moment. Then her voice tore through her lungs in anguish "BE'RINE, NOOO!" She leaped to the side, straining to reach the rope trailing from where it was coiled around the child's torso, pinning her arms down so she couldn't swim. Her terrified face sank below the surface as Linika heard steps pounding in her direction. Her attempt to brace her body made her realize she still held the knife in her right hand.

When she spun to see the father storming toward her, his face a storm of intensity, she assumed she was going to be attacked. The man was charging her, body lowered to dive atop her, so it seemed. It was not only natural defensive reactions that guided her hand, but also fury at Be'rine's own father being the source of delaying her rescue.

"MONSTER!" she screamed as she swung the blade, cutting a deep trench across his upper chest and slashing through the bulk of his left pecoral muscle. He gasped in pain and surprise, and it was only then that Linika perceived that his eyes had been focused in the direction of Be'rine, and not her. He tumbled over the side, one arm streaming blood and largely disabled.

Horror gripped her at what she'd done. Jao'vier had been not been intending to attack her; he had been intending to dive in after Be'rine. Now, not only had she disabled him, but she'd put blood in the shark-infested waters. Linika rolled back and stabbed the knife into the outer hull, for a slightly extended reach as she splashed her hand around and screamed in desperation for Be'rine. For a moment she forgot completely about Sel'ma.
Last edited by Linika on Wed Aug 12, 2015 5:35 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 1170
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[Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

OOC: Reminder of the permission of control of each other's characters stated in first post. Sel'ma pushes Linika into the water acc to agreed plot.


The situation had been out of hand for a long time, but now it had quickly derailed to what looked like the final disaster. Sel’ma had witnessed the murderous, crazy naer push little Be’rine overboard and then do her best to stop Jao’vier from saving the child, trying to murder him too. This was how it had looked to the sevir. She didn’t doubt that she would be attacked too.

In her mind and in her feelings, she stopped seeing Linika as a human being and saw only a raging beast, an animal set on meaningless, mindless murder. Her experience of wilderness and it’s grim necessities kicked in and her well-honed survival instincts ruled her. She didn’t think and she didn’t feel. This wasn’t the time for analysis or for being emotional. It was survive or die, and all her training from early age had been about surviving, and not die. It was deeply, permanently ingrained in her to fight to win and save her own life as well as other lives, and never leave walkover.

To her there were not mock battles and had never been. There was no losing and had never been; losing was death. Sel’ma would fight to the last drop of blood if needed, and she would do all she could to make that drop be the blood of the opponent and not her own. This was the only possible mindset in the wilds.

They were at sea now and not in the forest, but it was essentially about exactly the same thing, just with other kinds of wild beasts. Total determination seized her and her mind and her whole being narrowed down to one single focus : kill the beast. This dominated her totally as she grabbed the harpoon. She didn’t even think of Be’rine and Jao’vier right now. Right now, in this moment, it was all about killing Linika.

If she won she and the other sevirs would live. If she lost she and the other sevirs would live too; their lives would be recycled by nature and move on in new and other forms, in the never ending dance of change of life. And this was also what would happened to the naer if she died; the life that had for a while taken the form of a naer would go back to nature, be reshaped and continue.

The end of specific beings existed, but death itself didn’t really exist. Only the cycle of life did. This knowledge made Sel’ma totally fearless, and she also felt no guilt, would feel no remorse once the naer was gone.

Her body moved with the determination, speed and coordination that could be expected by a person who was competent at surviving in the wilds. With the weapon in front of her, held at waist level in her strong and steady hands, she lunged forward in a well calculated leap. This might have been the end of Linika if not for one thing; the boat suddenly rocked and Sel’ma lost her balance and instead of impaling the naer on the spear she stumbled into her opponent so hard that the impetus sent Linika overboard to join the two sevir in the water.

For what felt like eternity she saw the naer fall, heard the splash that followed, saw her sink in the waves and then come up again just in time to grab a piece of driftwood and then reach out for the outrigger in an attempt to hold on to it. But already as she watched she felt her own body follow, as she wasn’t able to stop the forceful movement that had been meant to be discharged by the harpoon going into the near. She went over, under and up like the others had done, and now they were all in the water, all still swimming or at least floating, a few living people blending with all the naer corpses and the general debris that was all that remained of the naerikk ship.

She saw Jao’vier and Be’rine now. They were holding on to a log, and had started to drift away from the boat.

And then she saw the fin. The shark fin. It was only one single shark fin, but it seemed huge, it seemed monumental, it seemed like the fin of a monster of a magnitude seldom seen or heard about bar in the kind of stories told by reckless and inebriated storytellers in taverns late at night.

Sel’ma watched it and a sudden feeling of recognition arose, inexplicable and mysterious, yet strong and undeniable and shining like a vision in her spiritual sevir mind. Without knowing why, it seemed to her like Linika’s mindless screamed accusations and rage against nature itself, and her shout about a monster, had been carried by emotion so strong that it had struck through the world and into the realm of dreams and summoned this monstrosity out of a nightmare far away.

And so the monster leaped up in the water. It was huge and pale, monstrous, unbelievable, it’s jaws open, lined with giant teeth, and … she didn’t know where the thought came from, but it passed by in her mind : The fish had come. The giant fish. The really big one.

Her sev’ryn fearlessness and her experience of wilderness and danger made her stay in control of herself and intent on surviving. But somewhere in the background of her awareness it felt like her thoughts where sent whirling, swirling, writhing, curling, flickering like candle-flames in wind, against a fond of black and sunless terror without end.

The shadow of a dream echoed there, and told her they were all going to be to fish-fodder, and their only bodies would soon be counted to the huge and unknown numbers of those who went before them to ... a blackness of unfathomable depths ...

All this flared up inside her in no time. Already as she experienced this, it was like she was waking up from a dream where she had been frozen and unable to do anything else than wait in terror for inevitable death. But she wasn't frozen and unable to defend herself. She was Sel’ma, and she felt no fear, just an intense will to survive and live, and an unwavering resolution to kill the beast. Her focus had shifted from Linika to the shark, but it was still the same.

You or me. Live or die.

This kill belonged to her. She knew it without any trace of doubt. The enormous monster fish was hers, like it had always belonged to her and meant to be finished by her. And as the leap reached its highest points and the animal started to go downwards again, she stabbed upwards with the harpoon with all the force she was able to muster, while threading water to keep herself floating.

“DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE! “

It had been herself shouting this, oddly in common, but it had been her. At least she thought so. Or had others joined into the chorus? Sel’ma had no idea. And she didn't know if anybody else had joined in and done what they could to help kill the shark. She just knew the harpoon had hit its target. She would never have been able to achieve this just by throwing the harpoon the way it was meant to be used by a fisher. But the shark had caused its own death, by leaping and enabling her to just hold the weapon and stab right into the very predictable trajectory of the fish.

Groggy, exhausted now, she took in the surroundings. They were all still floating in the ocean. The waves had moved Be’rine and Jao’vier yet another bit away from her; they were already out of reach, and despair ran through her. She knew it was already beyond her swimming skills to go for them. And at a distance she could see other, darker shapes advancing through the water, orca, swimming towards them at high pace ...

The waves slammed the now freely drifting canoe into her and she took a blow to her head. It didn’t knock her out, but it was the second blow to her head that day and it weakened her. All she could do was grab the rope hanging out from the boat in the hopes of it being worth holding on to. As she did this, the sail turned, caught the wind, swelled and started to set the boat in motion.

She felt sometime soft move like a caress against her shoulder. It was the dark hair of the drowned naer. Disgusted, she let go of the rope with one hand and hit out blindly to get rid of the corpse. Something hard met her fingers and a as reflex her hand curled around it. Groggily she observed that it looked like a small flute, a musical instrument made of pale metal.

She aimed to get rid of the flute, but confused now and not really knowing what she was doing anymore, she tucked it inside her wet skin dress instead of just letting go. Then she grabbed the rope again the sail moved anew. It was catching even more wind and the boat started to drift, gaining more speed by each bit. She heard Jao’vier call out, and Be’rine, as she was carried away. But all she could do now was wrap the rope around her hands, hold on, and hope to survive.

The boat dragged Sel’ma with her it on its journey toward unknown destination. Behind her she heard the two sevirs who had been left behind starting to sing the song they had sung in the boat not long ago. Jao'vier's deeper, darker tones seemed to merge with the sound of the ocean, but Be'rines clear voice could be heard over it all, like the light and delicate sound of a flute.

Where the naer, Linika, had gone, she didn’t know.
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[Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

Linika would never know how her sudden leaning stretch to try to reach Be'rine had saved her life. The sudden lurch from her shift of weight and leverage rocked the boat, and the next thing she knew, Sel'ma slammed into her, upsetting her hold and tumbling them both into the waves.

Linika hit first, having been stretched to the limit of her balance at the moment of impact, but she heard the sevir go in right about the time she got her head upright again. Disbelieving fury gave her respite from the fear of the approaching fin, as betrayal dominated her mind. Not betrayal of herself, but betrayal of Be'rine, by the same crazy woman that had supposedly been incensed by her having used the child as a hostage in the first place.

'Was this her idea of a rescue? Getting the girl killed by sharks to save her from the threat of being killed by me?'

It might have struck her as strange that the greatest source of anger was her hurt feelings that the two sevir adults truly believed she would want to kill the child. Then the thought was banished as another surge of panic rose over the child's fate. She tried to kick, to spin the piece of driftwood to which she clung, in order to find the girl, but her foot smacked the sponson painfully, to join the sudden resurgence of pain from her broken finger.

She abandoned the chunk of wood to grab the sponson and pull herself back to the boat, but the boat suddenly lurched toward her and she went under it. She grabbed her knife, which was still sticking into the outer side of the hull, but all it did was keep her directly under the keel of the boat. Fortunately, the knife finally pulled free and she thrashed herself to the surface on the other side of the boat.

"BE'R-..Ulggle..." She started to shout, rewarded by a throat full of seawater. She gagged as she clung to the side, becoming increasingly aware of more incoming fins. She did not know what species they indicated, but figured them to be of a predatory nature. Her ears were also full of water, and everything was muted for a long moment. It seemed like every time she had an opportunity to shout for Be'rine, another wave crashed over her head, stifling her attempts to shout and plugging her ears again.

Exhaustion suddenly robbed her of any further action, and her last focused strike was to sink the blade into this other side of the hull for something to hold onto. She was able to reach her left arm over the rail to find a loop of rope to wrap it in. She didn't know what the rope was secured to, inside the canoe portion, but it held, and she went limp with renewed grief and spent fury.

'Curse that ser'ryn bitch!' Linika said to herself through tears that couldn't be recognized amidst the constant wash of waves that tried to rip her free of the boat. Guilt muted a good portion of her anger. All three of them had contributed to the loss of Be'rine. But it had genuinely seemed as if the two adults had been entirely willing to sacrifice the child to save themselves. This was beyond her comprehension. It was all beyond her comprehension.

How had it all gone so wrong? The wind tugged the boat further from the scene of carnage, and her only relief was the certainty that Sel'ma and Jao'vier had been turned to fish food. She made no further attempts to climb into the boat as it drifted along, guided by indifferent winds and tides.
word count: 632
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- Poison -

"Shelf Life'...What an ironically contradictory concept."
- Linika Amarinthine -
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Sel'ma
Posts: 132
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:08 am
Race: Mortal Born
Renown: 0
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[Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

And uncertain period of time later ...

Sel’ma was hardly aware of what had happened, until she realized she was laying on sand. The canoe had been washed up on a beach and so had she. Her memory of the time she had spent in the water, holding on desperately to the rope while the boat had dragged her with it, was like a blur. She had no idea how long time she had been on the beach.
It was getting dark. But from a not so long distance she heard sounds ... it was the normal sounds of Desnind in the evening. So, it would not be such a long way home, once she felt able to make it. She shut her eyes. The boat had made it home. But it wasn’t a happy homecoming exactly. The thought of the tow lost sevirs overshadowed the relief she felt.

Soon, she thought groggily. Soon. Soon she would compose herself and somehow find the strength to get back home to tell about the naerikk activities, the naer, the kidnapping, and everything. Soon. She just needed to rest a little bit and gain control over her body again.

Continues in A race to Desnind
word count: 202
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Nymph
Prophet of Old
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Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2016 2:57 am
Race: Mer
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[Fishing in the debris]:An Outrigger Overture (Linika)

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Sel'ma

Skills
  • Strength: 1
    Tactics: 2
    Socialization: 2
    Linguistics: 2
    Observation: 2
    Seafaring: 2
Knowledge: Basic
  • Negotiation: Best to Give Options
    Observation: Look and Listen
    Naerrik: A Race of Strength
Knowlege: Specific
  • Familiar: An Odd Sound on the Voice
Loot
  • None
Linika

Skills
  • Tactics: 2
    Socialization: 5
    Linguistics: 1
    Observation: 3
    Seafaring: 1
    Swimming: 1
Knowledge: Basic
  • Innocence of Children
    Xanthea: Language of Savages
    Seafaring: The Tide
Knowlege: Specific
  • Friendship: Honesty is Needed
    Sailing: Billowing for Stronger Wind
    Emotions: Grief
Loot
  • None

If you have any questions, please contact me and we can discuss my grade. As this is my first grade, I have consulted other staff members for help.
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word count: 111
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I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be then me.
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