It was a rare event when Ziya left his pool within the temple, swimming along the channel that that lead out of the temple and into the river that fed it.
Today was one of those days. It took a lot to get him to leave his pool, and today it was simply a matter of pure boredom and disgust. He'd felt lonely and under-appreciated and had wanted some attention, but no one had come no matter how loud his demands had gotten!
Frustrated, he decided to show his anger by leaving. That would show them! They'd miss him once they noticed he was gone, then maybe they'd worry that the snake-beast had gotten him, too, and send out a search party! An entire search party. Then they'd find him, all alone and abandoned, and they'd regret ignoring him after he'd guilt-tripped and worried them enough! They'd never ignore him again after that!
It was brilliant.
And so he'd found himself outside the temple, naked as ever and floating on his back, paddling lazily with his webbed hands and feet as he drifted downstream. Above him, birds chattered and monkeys whooped, and Ziya started to get the faint idea that maybe he shouldn't go so far, but eh. He didn't care. Besides, they'd find him before nightfall!
What could go wrong?
bonk
She'd been floating along rather calmly before her head had bumped into something, not very hard, but the something had enough resistance to make her stop the gentle flick of her fluked tail that had originally been pushing her upstream. Instantly curious, she chirped softly and then flipped onto her belly, the water lapping softly just under her eyes as she stared at the hairy thing in front of her.
Orange-pink eyes quickly recognized it as someone's head, and she cooed under the water, the sound traveling with the odd echo that water often added.
No fear at all, she waited for the owner of the head to also turn over so she could see what they were. Already she was excited - if they were in the water, they were already like her! What sort of water folk were they, all the way up here in this green place?
Now she was glad she had not decided to step out of the stream earlier!
Ah!
Something bumped into his head and Ziya jolted, flipped around onto his belly--and then he saw it beneath the water, all shimmering white, pink, and gold.
A...well, he didn't actually know what it was! Just that it was in the water and humanoid like him, but different.
...And pretty.
Too pretty, in fact, though not nearly so pretty as he was! Still, he was instantly unnerved, too unnerved to even consider the possibility that this strange new being might be dangerous.
Hair fanning out behind him, the surprise on his face swiftly turned to a glare and he gave a small huff, blowing bubbles out his nose. With one quick kick, he pushed back to the surface so he could tread water in the stream and waited, arms crossed over his chest, for the creature to surface and explain itself.
This was his stream, after all! His! He was the only one allowed to be pretty in his own stream!
She blinked curiously as the thing she had bumped into flicked up to the surface of the river, and she could tell that it was some kind of water creature. Not like her, of course, but still a being of the water! So far away from the ocean too...she was immediately intrigued, innate curiosity tugging her up toward the floating figure as strongly as any rope or chain bound about her. One quick twitch of her tail fluke had her head breaking the surface with a ripple and splash, ruffled gills floating languidly just beneath the water. She gave a few shrill chirps and then a whirring purr sound, tilting her head to the side as she stared unabashed at Ziya.
For her part, she had no real concept of 'beauty', whether her own or someone else's. Her very sense of identity was weaker than most creatures', simply due to her unique species dynamic. Regardless, she was here to learn as much as she could about everything she could - and that included huffy, entitled, vain naiads! Still treading water with ease, she slowly began to float around to one side of him, wanting to get a good overall view of his semi-aquatic form. How odd it was he had no tail! Perhaps in such smooth flowing rivers it was unnecessary? And where were his gills? Did he have the slit-kin of sharks and fish? Eager to find answers to her questions, she chirped again as she attempted to make a full circle of her new find.
Ziya turned with her, trying to keep the creature in his line of sight and letting out another agitated huff that she wouldn't float still!
"Stop that! What are you doing?" he demanded, aiming the full force of his glower at her and baring needle-sharp teeth. "And what are you doing in my river? Explain yourself at once!"
Never mind that he hadn't actually been in the river proper in ages, and never mind that the river was long, flowed to the ocean, and that there was no telling how many other creatures shared it--or thought it their own. This was his river! His! And how dare another pretty thing enter it without his permission!
Charik may be the god-king of the jungle, and the silly naga could do whatever he wanted as far as he was concerned, but Ziya was lord of the water!
Since her new find was not cooperating, she finally paused in her attempts at swimming around him. She couldn't much see anything if he kept turning with her! Giving a more shrill chirp, she calmly treaded water in front of him, her head tilting from one side to the other. She leaned in comically when he showed his many pointed teeth, obviously intrigued by them. She then let out a cry, opening her own mouth wide, showing off plate-teeth with points similar to canines. Hers was not an aggressive gesture - not that she knew his to be either!
Dipping a bit under the water, she then popped up, as if telescoping to see the top of his head. Still eager and curious, she let out a few more chirps and whirls, but overall did not seem to understand or speak his language. She was completely in the dark as to what he was saying to her, though her unusual eyes sparkled with a level of intelligence.
Ziya let out an angry hiss. How dare she bare her ugly teeth at him like that! And making all those ghastly noises on top of it all!
Ziya swam a couple feet away from the beast in a graceful, then tread water and glowered at it. It looked female, but one could never be too sure with strange creatures like that, not that it mattered. Male, female, it didn't belong here! And since it seemed too stupid to understand, he attempted to deal in a language it would get. Who could misinterpret body language?
He waved his webbed hands at the creature in a shooing motion. "Go on! Get! Go back where you came from, this is my river!"
She trilled at his hiss, curious as to the nature of the sound - just as she was curious about his entire countenance. Another water being...she felt a certain kinship with it, even if they did not share a mind as she did with her brothers and sisters. But they were alike, more alike than any other creature she had yet come across. She was eager to learn as much as she could!
Thus instead of understanding his body language (which was far removed from her own anyway), she sought to mimic and learn it.
She parroted his hand motions with her own small gold-dusted ones, tilting her head as she did so. Another cooing sound emerged from her mouth, as she could not yet figure out how to make her own voice do what his did. It would take far more practice before she'd figure out how to contort her sounds into those her discovery was making, and even longer to gain actual understanding of 'words'.
What the--?
Ziya let his hands drop back into the water with a splash when she started to mimic him and his own head tilted to the side, brow furrowed in agitation. Was she mocking him now? How dare she tell him to leave his own river, the little toad! And without even the decency to speak, as though he were beneath her! Ziya let out a frustrated and rather undignified snarl and thrust his hand out, pointing downstream.
"You! Go! Leave at once before I make you! How dare you speak to me so! Do you even know who I am? I am Ziya and this is my river and you're only here because I'm letting you stay! Except now I'm not, but I was, but then you were rude!"
Hryupo made a loud ringing sort of sound and also thrust her arm downstream, still mimicking his actions to the best of her ability. She wondered vaguely what sort of things he was trying to communicate to her, just the same as he likely was trying to understand herself. Though, she had no real 'language' - it was more or less unnecessary when you could seamlessly think as one being. They still had sounds to convey meanings, but they were not a staple, rather just an addition to their ability to share thoughts. Most of her sounds were, really, of the soothing sort.
Their kind did not often experience conflict within their own species. What need did she have for hisses and snarls?
She clacked her teeth at him as she attempted to follow his stream of words, unable to make the sounds but still making an effort to copy the movements of his mouth. All the while she tread water easily with her long fluked tail, keeping her perfectly poised and level with her new discovery.
Wincing, Ziya covered his ears. He didn't know what that sound was, but it was a little painful to his delicate senses and besides, he was used to the quiet indoors. He glared at her. She didn't seem to be getting the picture.
"You stupid beast," he growled, and for a moment he considered making her leave. It was a brief impulse, though, a thought that went as quickly as it came. He had killed people before, and injured people. He had sharp teeth and thick nails and wasn't afraid of using them, and for his lithe build he was quite strong. The problem was that he had always used that strength and aggression against land creatures, creatures that were awkward and helpless in the water.
Creatures where he had the clear advantage.
With a flip of his webbed feet, he turned his back to her and started to swim back upstream. He wasn't sure how he would fare against a creature he couldn't drown. "Go away."
Still completely oblivious as to his true desires, Hryupo continued to mimic his actions to the best of her ability. How exciting it was to find another water dwelling creature! She just wished she could link minds with it...that would make things much easier. How much outside information did he hold? How useful would it be to the pod?
Her new discovery was then swimming away, and she quickly dipped beneath the water to keep pace below him. Slow flicks of her tail kept her easily in line with him, also on her back. Curious, she let out a few low impact sonar bursts, scanning his body curiously.
She then reached up and ran a small hand down his back, feeling the sensation of his skin. It was slightly different from her own, and she memorized it almost instantly.
Well that was unexpected and somewhat horrific!
Ziya let out a yowl of alarm and jerked upright, kicking his legs and flailing his arms to ward off whatever it was that had touched him and without his permission, too! Likely that awful creature, how dare it! With a snarl, he dunked his head beneath the water to glower at the thing, teeth bared in a snarl. Couldn't it take a hint? It needed to go away!
Losing his patience, he was on the verge of making a swipe for it, because if it wouldn't leave when he asked then maybe it needed another motivator? But then he froze, a sound catching his ear from above the water, and he popped back up.
He could have sworn he heard a growl.
Head swiveling about, he frowned and pursed his lips. "Did you hear that?"
What a response! Touching was commonplace for her, one of many nonverbal means of communication. She had come to understand it to mean different things to different creatures, but never before had it elicited such a reaction! Ziya was in for an interesting sight as Hryupo mimicked him again...revealing what were in essence plate like teeth. Much like ancient fish, they were actually an extension of her skull, and were kept sharp by the simple act of slicing them together when she closed her jaws. Of course, in her case, she was not trying to be intimidating - just mimicking, trying to learn.
She too popped up from beneath the water's surface when he did, long flattened ear-fins twitching slightly. She didn't understand what he had said, but the sensation of 'danger' and 'alert' were thrumming through his body language in a way even she could comprehend.
She let out a few strong, loud clicks of sonar. It was far less functional through the air, but it still aided in 'seeing' what her eyes could not.
Oh, of course. He may as well have asked the wind for all the response he was getting from her! Was that all she could do? Click and chirp and things?
"Ah, you're useless," Ziya growled, splashing water at her dismissively. "Now shut up."
Body tense, he listened, eyes darting this way and that for the sound's source, but it was quiet now save for the rustle of leaves as birds flitted amongst the canopy. Maybe it was just his imagination. His shoulders relaxed and he sank into the water with a sigh, air bubbling out his nose. Hmph. Maybe this was a sign that he ought to start heading back home--
It leaped from the bushes then, a large spotted cat, and Ziya let out a bubbling shriek and dove to the side just in time to avoid it as it splashed into the water where he had once been. Flailing and screaming, he latched onto the first thing he touched--which just so happened to be his odd new companion.
She was splashed, and blinked at him curiously. Her sonar click was a mess of things reflecting back. Foliage. Things she could see. Her long ears twitched again, straining. Sounds moved so differently underwater. While her fellow water dweller seemed to have relaxed, she did not. The ocean was a very dangerous place. Usually listening to your gut instinct would keep you alive.
Turns out she was right.
An ungodly scream came from her, but it wasn't so much of fear as it was alarm. Her teeth were bared as she did it, making her seem more menacing than frightened anyway. Her flowing gills flushed with color as her blood began pumping double time - there was danger. This thing was a predator. Even if she didn't know what it was, that much was clear to her.
Suddenly the other creature was on her in terror, and she wrapped her arms around him while giving a powerful flick of her tail, sending them both jetting backward through the water and away from danger.
With few other natural defenses, she let out a powerful screech at the cat, concentrated sound that would very likely feel less than pleasant to the predator's eardrums.
Ziya screamed again, still clinging to his once foe and current savior. The cat had missed and was now in the river with them and, though the creature had propelled them a good distance out of the way, to his horror Ziya saw that the cat was a rather powerful swimmer itself. Yellow teeth bared, it started for them, its large paws powering it through the water. Whatever noise the pink creature had sent its way only seemed to further enrage it, for Ziya could swear he saw murder in those cold, feline eyes.
He only clung tighter to the female, practically climbing up her body in an attempt to escape. "Oh gods! Don't let it get me! Keep it away! I'm too pretty for this!"
Hryupo unconsciously strained toward Ziya with her hive mind, that strange psychic link she had to all her kind. His panic was making things more difficult, and if they were to move as one, they would be far better off. She knew it instinctively, and so tried to link with him instinctively, to bring his mind under the calming influence of her own. They were both water creatures, but not of the same breed, but something as ingrained as that connection would always make attempts.
All the same, she dunked them both under the water, as it was far too difficult to tread water with him attempting to climb up her. She worried for her delicate fleshy gills, and as if on cue, one of his scrabbling arms snagged the puffy flesh.
Black spots clouded her vision as an exquisite brand of pain lanced through her. Water had engulfed her head now, and she struggled to orient herself through the pain and the panicking creature atop her.
Her teeth were sharp enough to probably sever tendons and bones if she had a mind to bite the predator, but those claws would be just as effective against her flesh.
Finally finding the direction of the beast swimming toward them, she gave another powerful flick of that tail for distance.
Concentrating, she let out another sonar click, but this one reverberated on a level that couldn't even be properly heard. Instead it traveled with frightening clarity and force, straight into the vulnerable softness of organs and tissues within the creature's chest cavity.
Still panicking, Ziya clung tightly to the creature, not even aware that she was doing anything defensive.
At least, not until the predator jerked violently, gasping for air and choking on water, and then went eerily still.
Heart working overtime, Ziya didn't loosen his tight grip on the female, not yet convinced that it was over even as the predator began to drift--not of its own volition, but rather by the power of the current. He watched, uneasily, as it drew closer and tugged hard on the female's arm as though to say, "Watch out!"
That stillness was her cue to stop fighting. The predator creature was dead now - a few more test bursts of sonar were enough to put her at ease. The current was carrying the carcass toward them now, but she was no longer afraid of it. Her new companion, on the other hand, was another story. He was still thrumming with nervous, fearful energy.
The tugging on her arm earned a puzzled purr, but she flicked her tail gently and sent them coasting toward the far bank, allowing the creature's body to float by them peacefully.
Since he still seemed so scared, she began to chirp and purr softly to him, the water around them vibrating lightly with the sounds she was producing deep in her chest. Pink dusted hands reached out to gently caress Ziya, fingers brushing over his arms, back, and face soothingly.
At least, these were the things her own people did to sooth one another - as per usual, she acted based on instinct, knowing no other way to ease his tension.
Safely near the bank, the body drifted passed them, but Ziya was not soothed. Because now the female creature was petting him and touching him! That pretty creature that dared to be pretty in his presence! He stiffened, sharp teeth baring in a snarl, and was seconds away from a tantrum when he remembered...
She had just saved him.
If not for her, that spotted cat might have gotten him, and then he would have been but a pretty mess in its belly.
Perhaps he could afford her a little leniency. After all, she wasn't as pretty as him so she wasn't truly a threat, was she? At the very least, she had proven herself useful. And maybe all this petting and chirping wasn't the unintelligent gibberish he'd first assumed; perhaps she recognized his superior beauty and was paying homage to it. Perhaps that was why she had saved him to begin with?
Yes. That sounded good, actually.
And so, with a slow breath out his nose, he relaxed and eased into the petting. "Ah, yes. Good." He reached out and pat her head with a webbed hand. "Very good. Good job, subject! You have done well! In fact, hmm...yes...I suppose after so close an encounter I could use a guard dog..."
He stroked his chin, musing, and then bore his teeth in a broad grin. "In fact, I could use an escort back home, since clearly there are wicked creatures afoot that seem jealous enough to accost me! The nerve of them, hmph. Fine then. Come along, female! You may take me home."
It took longer than expected, but finally her water-kin relaxed and let out it's tension. Perhaps it was not immediately effective because they were not the same kind of water-kin, perhaps she should try other types of soothing touches next time.
She took her first new cue from his own actions, as a webbed hand came out and patted her head. It seemed a clumsy show on an insensitive place, and her ears flicked, but she filed it away as important information.
Her stroking fingers moved to his hair in reply, gently soothing out the wet strands. This then may be more effective! She purred and cooed some more, until interrupted by his teeth baring. She mimicked the action and gave repeated low chirps, though she still had no greater understanding of the sounds he himself was making.
While she was more than happy to follow her find awhile yet, she had no way of knowing she'd been appointed his personal body guard!
@Rhi-Rhi
"Hmm..." Ziya mused, lips pursed. He was sensing a lot of monkey see, monkey do going on here. "Perhaps you really are a guard dog--simple, but simple enough to be trained?" And goodness, look at those teeth! Hideous. But he didn't need a pretty guard dog. After all, he was the prettiest here, not that there could ever be any competition!
"In any case, yes, you'll do! Come along then! You'll be my escort!"
He batted her hands away from his hair then and motioned up river with a hand. "Lead the way, escort! Home is up river! You have to go first and clear the way and ensure it's safe for me. Go on, now! Do your job!"