[Oh, I'm bad...'nother character...oi...]
The water was warm and soothing as Kiyan waded through the calm bay, a pocketknife in one hand and a hand-woven basket in the other as he headed out toward the many large rocks and boulders that bordered the cliffs. It was the perfect season for gathering mussels, and the rocks were just teeming with their sparkling shells, glinting in the sunlight. There was plenty to go around, and a good day's picking would provide a tasty feast. It was slow work, sliding the blade of his knife under each creature and prying it off the rock it clung to, one after the other, one at a time, but the work was well worth the reward, and by the time his arm started getting tired from the tedious work, he had a basket full of food. An easy meal, really; much easier than fishing, which required a lot more waiting and patience than Kiyan liked. Besides, mussels just tasted better, and unlike with most fish bones, you could make things from their shells.
Nothing useful, really. Mostly decorative, like the necklace of fragmented shells he wore about his neck. But that was more than you could do with most tiny, fragile fish bones, which were only good for piercing; he would know, for his bottom lip and ears were, indeed, pierced and adorned with small ornaments.
And maybe if he collected enough shells, he could appease both his own tribe and the tribe that wanted to buy him; both had agreed that was a good solution, as penance for his transgression. Which was why he was out here in the middle of nowhere to begin with, literally miles from his home, hiding out, if you wanted to put it that way. Ugh...
It wasn't like he knew the girl was engaged...
And there was no way in any of the hells that he was going back there anytime soon! After that tribe bought him...he didn't even want to know what would happen from there. He wasn't even sure literally paying for his crime would work, but if he got caught, he definitely wanted to have a back-up plan of some sort. Something was better than nothing. And maybe, just maybe, if he went long enough without being rooted out and dragged back, this whole thing would be blown over. After the wedding ceremony, maybe everyone would just be too happy with heir new lives to even care anymore.
Yeah right. He'd "robbed" the girl of her "honor", and that carried a lot of weight. Never mind that she'd been a willing participant.
His basket finally filled, Kiyan simply tossed his knife into the basket and waded back to the shore, heading to the little cave he used as a temporary dwelling. Except, a shape on the shore that hadn't been there before caught his eye, and after eyeing it cautiously, he soon realized it was a person. A person which...wasn't moving.
Just his luck to find a random dead body. Though...hopefully it wasn't dead.
Setting his basket down but drawing out his knife, just in case, he trotted over to the figure and crouched down beside him, rearranging his long cloth skirt, the only garment he wore, around his legs out of habit so as not to flash anyone that might be there. He was quiet a moment, and then he breathed in relief when he heard breath and saw the man's chest expanding. And when he realized the man wasn't anyone he recognized, and certainly, judging by his clothes and looks, wasn't anyone from any tribe he was familiar with. Huh...so, where'd he come from? The sea? Yeah right, he didn't look like a merman. Probably just fell off one of those big boats he saw sailing on the waters every now and then, though that was a pretty rare thing, and he couldn't remember a time they'd ever docked around here. He must have fallen off. Lucky he wasn't eaten; the waters were warm here, and he'd seen quite a few sharks visit this bay in the last week, so it was either sheer luck or just that sharks didn't like foreigners.
Well...so, now that it was determined that he was alive, at least, the next step was seeing how bad off he was. If he was just sleeping, then he could wake him up and wouldn't have to do much hauling. Either way, though, he knew he had to get the man out of the sun, probably get some water in him, too, if he knew any better and the guy had filled his stomach with salt.
"Hey..." He poked his arm once, twice, then gave him a little shake and moved to turn him over onto his back where he could peer into his face for any sign of...well, anything, really. His sun-bleached, shoulder-length brown hair hung around his tanned face wetly as he looked down at him for any signs of consciousness, his shell necklace clacking together. "Anyone in there?"