OOC: I wanted to restart something with my revised character: Layana (http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=14419.msg129980#msg129980). So if interested in joining this thread, please PM me so we can plot ^_^
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The seagulls call was enough to lull the lazy girl to sleep. This particular part of the ritual was the most boring, not to mention, the most uncomfortable, for she would be alone in this shallow boat for three days without so much as a drink of water or bite to eat. And if Layana was lucky, it wouldn't rain. And thankfully the surf was the calmest on this side of the isle. But ugh, was this dreadfully boring as she kicked one leg against the side of the wooden boat and wilted through a sigh.
She supposed a 'Goddess' would find other means to amuse herself, and granted, she had already used some of her powers for that purpose, but not being a real Goddess (despite the villagers enthusiasm that she was so), she found that her mortality (and in that sense, her guilt) weighed upon in a restless manner until the drifting boat eventually rocked her to sleep.
And there she lay, a picture of perfection and grace, with her hair adorned in jewels and twisted seashell decore, and a bra top encrusted in a similar fashion with vibrant blue 'wings' sweeping over her form as a sort of blanket to keep her warm. She was also thankful for that- that the winds and seas of the Yoreiqi island was warm, and the cold from her former 'home' long lost to her now, (even if she was immensely home sick), as she dreamt of a time long past.
And while the sun was still hanging lazily over the horizon, it's rays were golden and beautiful- like the painted skin of the girl sleeping below her warmth, as the dazzling rays stretched across the ocean like jewels. And like every year the ceremony where the 'Sun' Goddess and her 'Beauty' were 'reunited' with her mother in the sky, Layana just had to wait it out until it was time to go back to the island for another year of endless praises and miracle 'healings'. But for now the beautiful girl slept, her hair splayed out around her and twinkling like the fading rays of the sun.
Jocelyn awoke with a start.
He was lying on his back in the shallows of a beach as the gentle tides lapped up and down around him. The wet sand beneath his body was smooth and fine to the touch, with few rocks or shells digging into his skin. The tropical sun was nearing its zenith in the sky; bright hot rays shone down upon his face, warming the bronzed skin of his face, drying up the small beads of ocean water still clinging to his brow. Just laying there for the moment he could hear the soft cry of seagulls as they lazily floated overhead.
All around his motionless figure, up and down the beach for hundreds of feet, lay flotsam and jetsam from a wrecked schooner. The small ship had been part of a convoy of three ships, carrying as part of its cargo several crates packed with magical artifacts recently excavated from the ruins of some long-forgotten civilization. They had been making good time for Serendipity when rough seas and a heavy storm separated the three ships, with this smallest one struggling against the mighty elements.
The crash of waves had nearly capsized the little two-masted ship, and had eventually driven it up against a formation of rocks just off the coast of one of these unnamed isles, savagely tearing the ship in two. These two sections of the ship now also lay on the beach, the bow covered in ragged seaweed and resting gently on the sandbar a hundred feet from him, the stern section upside down and further down the beach. Its cargo had become dislodged in the water and was likely strewn all about the island by now. The rest of the ship's five crewmen were nowhere in sight, presumably lost at sea.
But he could see none of it.
Slowly and with a low groan of pain the young man opened his eyes to nothing. He blinked his eyes several times to combat the sting of prolonged exposure to salt water, but aside from the feeling of irritation in his irises nothing more came from those orbs, amber irises glazed over with a milky opaqueness. Raising a hand to gingerly touch his blind eyes, the sudden sickening realization dawned over him.
He sat up from the water with almost alarming speed. As he did he let out a long gasp and immediately clutched at his right arm, which hung limply at his side. All he could feel was the searing pain shooting up and down it and into his shoulder. He smelled the faint smell of blood and immediately realized that it was broken. But that pain was not even on the forefront of his mind, as he desperately turned his head blindly, heart racing as he thought: where was his Cloth?! Without it, he was completely helpless in his disability.
Somewhere to his left and down the beach he sensed something. In the blackness of his vision a shimmering appeared, so very faint and far away. It was almost like looking at a wisp of white smoke in a dark room, but it brought about Jocelyn both a sense of relief and a renewed sense of urgent desperation. He had an ability to sense magic nearby, and an ability to recognize patterns of magic much like how a seamstress might admire the intricate needlework of a noble's silk scarf.
He'd worn that Cloth over his eyes for over twenty years now, and he would know the intricate and unique pattern of woven magical threads anywhere. The blindfold had ironically allowed him to "see" the material world, recognize the outlines of objects around him. With it, he could live a passable life. Without it, he was just dead weight.
Struggling to his feet, he started dragging himself across the beach toward the source of that 'light'. He took all of five steps before his feet tripped over the shattered mast of his ship where it lay on the beach, and crashed to the sand with a clumsy thud. On impact, the agony shot up his right arm again and he let out a pained scream.
Lying there in the sand, he breathed heavily and fought to regain his composure. He gritted his teeth together, willing the pain to go away, before calling out hoarsely into the wilderness of the isle:
"Hello? Is anybody there? Help..."
A sudden thunk against the side of her small boat made the young woman groan. She wasn't completely happy something woke her from her slumber, but when she sat up and saw a pair of large eyes staring back at her- she screamed.
It took nearly toppling out and capsizing her small boat to realize that what was bobbing beside her boat and GAZING back at her, was none other than nearly human sized, bear carved statue made of wood. ANd it's painted eyes were staring at her from where they were painted timelessly across it's face. She grimaced at that, but sighed with relief it wasn't some shark or enemy tribesman. That could have been awkward.. and more scary.
"Geeze, what's a painted bear doing in the ocean. I wonder if there was a shipwreck?" Puffing her cheeks out, she held a breath in contemplation before she furrowed her brows as she scanned the ocean. At first she saw nothing, but noted a few pieces of debris floating near the shore line. Tilting her head, it was difficult her to make out what was over there, but judging by the distance of the fire on the island, her tribe was no where near the coast. Meaning they might miss out on these sorts of goods.
Turning back to the bear, she planted her hands on her hips and made a few peculiar faces at it, then giggled and patted the bear upon the head.
"It looks like it's just you and me, Mr. Bear."
THen she made the bear speak Yoreiqi (naturally, using her own voice, only deeper) and feigned surprise herself in order to respond.
"Oh, you speak the native's tongue? I see! You must be coming home from a long journey. Just where have you come from?"
And she made the bear retort in Yoreiqi again as she smirked.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet you! Perhaps, when these three days are over, I can bring you back home with me and keep you in my hut. What do you say?"
The bears squealed voice revealed his enthusiasm as Layana clapped her hands together and shouted, "Great!"
But another voice, not quite hers or the bears, didn't sound so great as she thought she heard a cry for help.
"Huh?"
Blinking, she peered over her shoulder out into the ocean.. but saw nothing. Frowning, she shrugged and sat back, peering up at the sky, and the still setting sun as she sighed. Day one wasn't even over yet and she was already hearing things and making friends with a wooden bear. This was going to be a very, very long three days.
Of course his cries went unnoticed. He was blind, injured, and stranded on a beach of some unknown locale, likely a tiny desert island filled with all manners of nasty creatures. It was probably one of the artifacts he'd excavated, some cursed idol that brought bad luck to its bearers. Of course he should have analyzed the pieces before he shipped them home! What an absolute moron he was. And now they were all probably sinking to the bottom of the ocean.
"Jocelyn, what were you thinking? You idiot." He let out a feverish laugh at his own stupidity.
When the pain in his broken arm subsided enough for him to sit back up, Jocelyn used his teeth and his good arm to tear the sleeve of his shirt, fashioning it into a sling around his neck. Then he climbed back to his feet and once more turned his blind eyes toward the magical emanation further down the beach. He was more careful this time, slowly sliding forward step by step, carefully feeling for broken beams or shattered barrels that had washed up onto the beach. He couldn't tell how long it took, but the closer he got to the enchanted Cloth lying in the sand, the stronger his perception of its magical energies grew.
Finally, he reached the Cloth and collapsed beside it with ecstatic laughter. He snatched it up and, with difficulty, managed to wrap the blindfold around his already blind eyes. And just like that the pitch black became a greyish-white canvas with the colorless outlines of his surroundings visible in shades of dark and light. This was him "seeing".
Peering around at the wreckage, his brow furrowed slightly. At first he wondered how we was going to escape this island. And then the more important thought crossed his mind: where did all his excavated treasures go? Did they survive the storm? Jocelyn hadn't even had the chance to study them and unlock their secrets yet...
A sound came from further down the beach or perhaps out to the ocean that stopped him cold. He couldn't be sure, but it sounded like a far-off scream, and then giggling. Maybe it was the heat getting to his head. Or maybe some of his crew survived!
"Henrik? Daniel? Is that you? Are you out there?" he called out into the blue. No reply.
"And this is why I hate the ocean!" he yelled at the water after the fact. Sand had gotten under his white shirt and was beginning to itch something fierce. He climbed back to his feet and slowly waded up to his knees in the warm ocean water.
Layana, having already grown bored and tired of her new wooden bear she dubbed 'Jeremy', lay back down and sprawled out within her small vessel, her blue eyes cast towards the skies. But she couldn't get herself back to sleep, no matter how many times she closed her eyes or looked over her finger nails or tried talking back to 'Jeremy' again. Though it didn't seem like Jeremy had much of anything interesting to say, and she sighed as she rolled over onto her belly and draped an armed exhaustedly over her face.
And that's when she heard it again. Definitely a voice. And this time the voice wasn't speaking Yoreiqi.
"Huh?"She sat up suddenly, blinking as her eyes scanned the waters. Had her ears deceived her? Was someone calling...
"I hate this ocean!!"
Yeah.. that was definitely a man shouting in common. But who would know common all the way out here in the isles!? This side of the island was rather remote, and as she craned her neck out in attempts to figure out where the voice had come from, the wooden bear floated on up to her and bashed her across the nose.
"OWE! JEREMY!" she shouted in shock, nursing her poor nose, but as the pain subsided, she grumpily pushed the floating bear back and peered back out into the ocean. And then, did something foolish (since she was probably either dreaming or hearing things) and inquired, "Hello? Is someone out there?"
Really.. how strange... But yes... yes...... she decided then and there that clearly she was hearing things and grumpily threw herself back to the floor of her raft and sighed.
"Day one and I'm already thinking I hear someone calling for help."
Though it wasn't an uncommon theme or dream for her, it still made her feel miserable and crabby to consider her mind could so easily play tricks on her. Maybe this is what she gets for just letting the tribe believe she was, in fact, a Goddess... and with a frumpy sigh, she let a playful spark of light cast from her finger tips. Might as well play with her magics. She wasn't going to go back to sleep anytime soon and she was upset at Jeremy. Stupid wooden bear. And she lightly rubbed her nose and frowned at how tender and sore it still felt. It better not have left a mark! How would she explain she got a broken nose from a wooden bear? At least she could heal it, and with a sigh, she let a few small, warming rays of light cast out from her fingers as she cupped her nose and healed it.
"There. Much better," she sighed, drawing her hand away befpre she cast the floating form of Jeremy a mean look before kicking him away.
Sighing, she now lay on her back as she peered up at the sky. Yep. It was still sun set. Still another long Yoreiqi evening. ANd Night couldn't come fast enough.
"Come on day two!" she said with an impatient kick to the side of her boat, and groaned when she heard the wooden bear return and collide with the side of it. "Stop it, Jeremy. You'll splinter the wood."
Standing knee-deep in the water and letting it lap around his legs, Jocelyn breathed in the fresh air. He'd been tasting the ocean's salty spray for weeks now, but those weeks had been cramped in the dark holds of a leaky ship with only the smell of wet wood and brined fish to accompany it. Here, the smells were fresher.
He was starting to get thirsty. And the sun must've started slipping down the horizon by now, not that he could see it. But the burning rays of the sun were no longer as hot against his skin, growing cooler by the minute. He'd have to find shelter on this deserted island and find a way to collect food and water. With only one arm and limited vision only through his enchanted Cloth, it'd be difficult.
But wait... was this island deserted? Jocelyn furrowed his brow and turned his head to around the bend. He swore he heard another shout, and a voice on the wind... What did it say? Was it saying hello? Was someone responding to him?!
And then he sensed it, a convocation of magical energies that seemed to materialize from nowhere and thread together so seamlessly in an intricate weaving. The patterns were unmistakable, even if not exactly like other arcane conjurings he'd felt before. Someone out there was casting a healing spell!
His boots had sunk into the submerged sandbank while standing there, and it was only with an awkward turn and a loud slurping noise that he pulled himself free. He hurriedly stumbled toward where he'd heard the sound and where he'd sensed the magic. There was a small rocky outcropping at the end of the beach. With considerable difficulty he scaled the slimy surface until he stood at the top. There, he gazed intently out to sea.
His Cloth only granted him limited vision, blurred lines against a grey-white canvas. There was definitely a dark mass out there among the moving squiggled lines that signified the gentle ocean waves, but he couldn't quite make it out... and then it dawned on him. It was a boat, and the source of the magic.
"Over here!" He shouted from his perch on the rock, waving his hand desperately at the little boat floating off the coast. "Hey you! You in the boat! Please, look this way! Help!"
He stepped closer to the edge of the rock to try and catch the attention of the craft. Unfortunately for Jocelyn, a nice patch of slippery green slime just happened to be growing on that side of the rock face. With a dismayed yelp his foot slipped dangerously. Next thing he knew, he was tumbling off the rocky formation and into the water below with a loud SPLASH!
She had tried to close her eyes again to get back to sleep, when the voice came again, this time she knew it was for sure! Her eyes opened suddenly as she sat up and looked around, and this time she was able to spot something- a man.. a man!? Yes! A man, slipping off the formation of rocks along the rocky coast. Cringing as he splashed into the water, she wondered what the heck he was doing.
"Jeremy, it looks like there's a man out there." And as she held her breath, she realized, he was floundering in deep water. "Oh great, he's probably stuck in a rip tide or something."
She cringed at the fact she'd have to play hero. Then her dress and paints would get all wet. She wasn't supposed to come back a mess, and had to be the pristine 'Goddess' they assumed her to be...
But well, she wasn't about to let some poor man drown.
"Well, Jeremy, looks like Day one will be just a little bit eventful. Here's hoping the poor man doens't drown before I get there." And she gave a knowing nod towards Jeremy before hastily dragging the wooden bear into the boat (and the bear, was surprisingly a bit heavier than she would have licked, and it nearly capsized hr as she growled and tried to fix the pain on her arms that began to smear-
But really, it happened within mere seconds and honestly, she should have known better, she had no seconds to spare. After all, she could bring a man back from ALMOST death but not DEATH DEATH. And now with her paddle in hand, she began to frantically make it his way. And as she grew closer towards his floundering form, she found herself pausing in mid paddle as she gaped.
His hair was blonde like HERS.
The single thought that dashed through his mine on that long descent into the water was: Jocelyn, you idiot. He had the good sense to take a large breath before plunging into the cool waves, the push and pull of the waves spinning him around underwater and disorienting him. While he could still 'see' with the blindfold tightly wrapped around his head, it only really distinguished lines. That shimmer of fading light that would have indicated the water's surface was an abstract idea to him, and he couldn't tell which way was up. Frantically, he kicked in whatever direction seemed the right one.
And lucky him this time. His blonde hair, matted down by the weight of the water, burst through the surface and afforded him the brief opportunity to draw another loud breath. He was paddling with his one arm, but his right one still lay limply in that makeshift sling, all but useless in such a situation. The waves continued to batter him around, dangerously close to the rocks off of which he'd just fallen.
Seeing the outline of the approaching boat and its two passengers was almost angelic to him. Mustering up his strength, he kicked half his torso out of the water like a wounded fish and waved his arm up and down for her to see. "This way!" he shouted before his voice was muffled by the rush of water filling his mouth. With another gurgle he slipped back beneath the water. The boots were weighing him down! He tried to kick them off, but only one slipped off his foot and sank into the depths.
The lack of oxygen and the energy spent trying to keep his injured self afloat was beginning to take a toll on him, and Jocelyn found himself fading fast.
What a way to die, he thought to himself, survives a storm and a shipwreck, falls off a rock... And as his consciousness began to fade away, the last thing he felt was the gentle bump of the little boat's hull against his outstretched hand.
Thankfully the young woman wasn't in too much shock to fail to realize the man was still floundering, so when his hand touched the side of the boat, her own gold painted hand shot out and grabbed it. With a grunt, she tried to heave him in, but it took a few times and she nearly capsized the boat, but when she finally was able to drag him into it, his weight was too much for her as she gasped and his soggy form toppled over top of hers, weighing her down into the wet bottom of her ship (as draggnig in his sorry form had brought in several inches of water) and she lay there now, heart beating rapidly as the blonde hair stranger was suctioned to her like a heavy, wet blanket (or some kind of large barnacle).
Recalling he might be dead or dieing, she shifted beneath him and used her one free arm to shake his shoulder- not realizing it was the broken arm.
"Hello? Hey... hey, Blondie. You awake?" and she shook him again, though perhaps she should have gone easy on the shaking, for Jeremy, the wooden bear, had lost his footing (whihc was already compromised when the raft had nearly tipped over from the rescue), and now he landed ontop of the pair, pinning them both beneath his wooden paws. And Layana found herself gasping and scolding the bear, who only stared back at her, for his expression was unreadable for the bear had no lips.
"J-Jeremy!"
Really! Now of all times the bear had to just fall over ontop of them! SO CONVENIENT! And trying to move her arms beneath him proved fruitless, and what little strength she could muster wasn't exactly pushing the heavy wooden bear off of them.
He had a lovely dream. In it he was running through the vast underground vaults of the Arca Archives, past shelves upon shelves of magical artifacts collected over many generations. He couldn't see the end of the vault, nor could he even see ANY of it. But what he could see was a kaleidoscope of arcane winds, all weaving together to form the most beautiful patterns and permutations that a man could describe. This was heaven to him.
And then a faint voice called from beyond. It grew louder and louder, and the next thing Jocelyn knew, it was the urgent, slightly irritated voice of a girl he didn't recognize. The pain was still shooting up his right arm and he let out a soft moan as his eyes finally opened. The Cloth was still tied around him, but in his struggle it had slipped down around his neck like a silken kerchief. He was face to face with the girl, but his unblinking eyes saw nothing. All he experienced was the warmth of another's body pressed against him, and the odd faint smell of dripping paint. And that swirl of magical energy in her that he saw before.
"Wha..." he sputtered, feebly trying to move before realizing he was pinned by a heavy weight on his back. His senses grew clearer and clearer and he froze, before cautiously speaking in slow words, "Did you save me?" Maybe his prayers had been answered.
When she said the name Jeremy, his curiosity got the better of him and he craned his neck to regard the heavy wooden object (though who knew why? It wasn't as if he could see it). But see it he could! Or at least another swirl of magical energy trapped in the object, this one a different pattern, more ancient and tangled together in a much more complex way. He recognized it from the moment his team had excavated it from a long-forgotten temple deep in the forests of some foreign land. He had been looking forward to deciphering its magical properties.
Jocelyn let out a low gasp.
"The Akya-akya Bear Spirit Totem!" He exclaimed in disbelief. Turning his milky eyes back to 'regard' the figure pressed up beneath him and likely squirming given his state of shock, he excitedly asked, "Who are you? Where am I? How'd you find the totem?"
Another searing lance of pain shot up his broken arm and he winced yet again. But the pain was nothing. She'd found one of his prized relics!
As the man squirmed it was.. erm, kinda awkward as his hands and body shifted over hers.
"Hey er.. woah, there," she said, trying to move beneath him in a way that wouldn't have him nearly breaking any of her jewels or ripping her delicate dress. But by Angsar's name, if her paint wasn't already ruined...
Gritting her teeth, she half supported his frame awkwardly with her hands as best she could before giving a shake of her head.
"What?" Then immediately when his eyes opened she saw them and gasped, "Woah, those are creepy." And then realizing how rude she was to say it, she placed a hand over her lips and cringed. "I mean to say your eyes.. err.. um... they're all ..w hite."
But her rambling seemed over powered by his sudden infatuation with...
"Akya-akya what?" she made a face, then followed his sightless gaze to her bear. "Oh! You must mean Jeremy. Yeah, I found him in the water." And smiling happily as she did, she finally put two and two together before she blinked. "Wait, you know this bear? And what do you mean, 'totem'? But hey, hold on, back up.. first let's erm.. if you could help me remove this... Akie Akie bear, then maybe I might be in a erm... better position to er.. answer your questions," she began, struggling beneath him but UGH. It did not matter whihc way she turned for her clothing was pinned beneath both man and bear and as she continued to move around she heard a rip, and gasped.
"Oh, no! My dress!" and she found herself cringing as she froze stock still.
But at his wincing, she directed her eye to his arm finally. "Hey.. you're injured."
And a delicate had found his wounded arm.
"Here, let's get the bear off of us first, then I'll see to your injuries and then... well, then we can ask questions." she said with a huff, blowing her blonde hair from her face. "But.. where are you from anyway?" So much for asking questions last... "I mean, you're obviously not from Yoreiqi." The blonde hair gave THAT one away.
It was when the girl placed a gentle hand on his wounded arm that Jocelyn, realizing just how much he was rocking her boat, stopped moving entirely. Although he couldn't see exactly where she was, he flashed a weak apologetic smile in the direction from which her voice came. Of course she was right: they were pinned in a very awkwardly precarious situation, and the two of them were strangers.
"Here, just let me slide over just a bit..." he said as he shifted his weight (much slower and more aware of the girl beneath him this time), pushing down with one arm while pinning his broken one tight against his torso lest he further worsen its condition. The bear's inanimate form dug into his left shoulder but, with the last of his waning strength, Jocelyn was able to just slightly budge it enough so that it rolled off his back and thudded heavily in the bottom of the boat. The entire craft rocked dangerously with the weight but luckily it didn't capsize.
Finally given room to move, Jocelyn had only the energy to roll off of the girl and lay on his back in the bottom of the raft, his breath coming out in ragged intervals, arm strewn motionlessly across his chest. The sun was rapidly disappearing on the horizon, but this tropical warmth pervaded. It really was kind of nice.
"The Yoreiqi Isles, then," he mumbled half to himself. That was the best news he'd heard all day, for while there were signs of civilization in this part of the ocean, there were countless other little islands on which he might have met his end. Now all that was left was to gather back up his relics and be on his way... If it were that simple.
"I'm... listen, I'm sorry about your dress," he said to her while staring up at nothing. He hadn't the faintest clue what she was wearing, or what she looked like, but the despair in her voice made it sound rather serious. "I'll have it replaced, I promise. Thank you for finding the Akya-Akya totem... and thank you for coming to get me. I owe you so much."
Finally free, Layana sat back and tucked some her hair behind her ear, staring at the man skeptically a moment and - not meaning to, but totally staring at his creepy white eyes. The fact he was kinda gorgeous was not even registering as she just looked and looked and looked and it finally registered-
"Hey! Are you blind? Is that why your eyes look like that?" ANd she tilted he rhead to one side and dusted off her sleeve. "ANd naw, don't worry about the dress. It's just.. well, semi-important-to-this three day ritual I have to participate in and pretty much I have to come back in one piece, not with my dress all in dissarray so I'll jus thave to think of something in order to repair it before I go in land or somehting."
And then pausing to consider, her eyes lit up. "Wait, you know of the Yoreiqi isles? Were you heading here or something? Did you come from a ship wreck, cause I don't see any other boats.."
and she looked around, trying to see if she was wrong. Yep, no other boats.
"And what's this thing you're going on and on about wiht my bear? Oh yeah, and if you 'are' blind, how did you survive a ship wreck I mean.. would't it be hard to see and swim to shore if you know.. you can't erm.. see?"
It never occurred to Jocelyn how cathartic it could be just lying in an inch of water in the bottom of a little rocking boat, reflecting on his near brushes with death. Even when the girl finally blurted out what she was thinking about his eyes, he could find little with which to antagonize her. His blindness had always been a sensitive subject for him, but for now he simply closed his eyes and nodded his head with a slight smile.
"To answer you briefly... yes," he replied as he reached up and slipped the Cloth back over his eyes. With it, he could just make out the outline of her face as it peered down at him, and make out that feather hanging from her ear and the seashells adorning her attire. She must've been a local Yoreiqi girl then. One who spoke the common tongue very fluently.
"I've heard stories of these Isles, and have spoken with people who have been here. Me though, I was just sailing by when the weather turned on us. The Gods were kind enough to deposit me here, but I don't remember much else... If you look to the beach, I think the remains of my ship are still there."
Or at least it should've been there. He honestly did not know their bearings at this exact moment, and for all he knew this little boat could have floated down the island well past where he had woken earlier that afternoon. He laid his head back and gave another weak laugh. "I could not swim if my life depended on it. You saw that firsthand."
Turning his head to face her once more, his brow furrowed slightly. "A ritual... you must be a member of the local tribes! I've heard stories of the people here and heard about their culture, and have always been fascinated.
"But I didn't know they spoke the common tongue! I would never have guessed this was Yoreiqi by the way you spoke." He clearly did not even register the color of her hair or the complexion of her skin.
Another groan escaped his lips and he added, "Look at me, swallow a little seawater and I've already lost my manners. I'm so sorry, my name is Jocelyn. Jocelyn Arhain."
Layana stared at him in mild fascination, but to see him slide the scarf over his eyes looked... kinda goofy, but she bit back a comment and figured she had been rude enough. After all, she hadn't entirely meant to burst out the comment about his blindness. He probably thought she was as heathen as most people perceived the rest of the islands to be.
"Jocelyn?" She repeated the name with a wrinkling of her nose. "Jocelyn Arhain."
She nodded then offered out a hand for him to shake.
"I'm Layana Way'ala'kikomei." She told him with a grin, then realizing- RIGHT, duh, he was blind, she took his hand and shook it- though a custom that was obviously not Yoreiqi but very western and very Connlaothian. "Though it's a mouthful, you really just can call me Layana." And then recalling what sort of status she had here, she cleared her throat awkwardly as her smile faded. Perhaps she could leave the detail out she was a goddess? But she doubted it if she had to take him to shore.
"I suppose we could look through the debris later, but first.." and here, she reached out to touch his arm. "Is it broken?" And at the inquiry, her voice became a bit softer as a warm island breeze passed between them.
Jocelyn offered her another smile as she introduced herself. He wouldn't even try to pronounce that surname until he had a chance to study her people's culture. "Layana," he repeated, " that's such a pretty name. Well it's my absolute honor to meeEEEET YOU!"
That last little yelp came about as she took his hand and gave it a shake. Evidently even the slightest of movement had the man wincing and yelping in pain as he lay there. Gritting his teeth and letting out another awkward apologetic laugh, he nodded his head at her question. "I think it is. Does it look bad...?"
And when he faced her this time, his expression was one of wonder (though it might have been hard to tell, considering a blindfold wrapped around his eyes). He'd sensed her use her magical abilities earlier when he was still stranded on the beach, and now he fully recognized the patterns of arcane winds that had materialized.
"You're a healer, aren't you? I saw the pattern of the cast a spell earlier, and I can see that same aura in you now. Well, I mean I can't SEE IT see it but I can. That is to say, you know... Uhh..." Realizing how little sense he was making to the girl, it was his turn to wrinkle his nose as he shut right up. His rescuer didn't need to see him babbling incoherently now.
Layana looked up as he babbled, but smiled none the less. He did, after all, say her name was sexy, no wait.. cute, no wait.. Pretty. Pretty was good but yeah..
Oh.. but then what good would pretty do without eyes? Though he had eyes... but she meant, inwardly, eyes that could see!
"So you sensed my magic? Yes, I suppose you could call me a healer," she said thoughtfully, eyes going to his arm as she observed it. "I've done all sorts of healing so I'm quite good at it. And I can heal that arm if you'd like, though if you'd rather suffer there in pain..." Though really, she knew he had little option. Still, she gave a shrug of her shoulders and didn't force her magic on him. After all, would that not be rude?
"And what do you mean by see anyway? Is that why you wear that blind fold?" Though it seemed ridiculous, she had no idea why he was dawning such a fashionable mistake. "Is it enchanted or something?" Though she was being a bit patronizing, she had no idea!
Jocelyn gave another small laugh at her offer to leave it be and allow his suffering. "No, please. If you could help me with it, I would be completely in your debt. Again, I mean. I already owe you for the last time."
At the question about his blindfold, he bit his lip and tried to think of a way to describe it. If he had vision he'd probably have said the thing looked stupid as well, a shimmering white cloth wrapped around his blind eyes and around his curling blonde hair. One well-versed in the high fashions of the noble houses would probably gag at the sight of it, how it did not at all match the tan trousers and white linen shirt he had on currently.
Not that he had the slightest sense of fashion. When abroad, he donned the garb of the locals to blend in. At home... well, at home, others dressed him.
"Yes, it's enchanted, and it's my most treasured possession for without it I cannot see. With it, I can at least somewhat understand my surroundings. Maybe when it was first made it allowed someone to see perfectly, but over hundreds of years the magic must've faded a little. You could try it for yourself if you'd like. Originally it was fashioned for a foreign prince who lost his sight in a desert sandstorm, and it was-"
He stopped. He was blabbering again. He always got a little too passionate when speaking of such things.
"It helps me to see. But I meant I could see your magic from before. I sensed it while on the beach. It's what led me to you."
"So you're saying some old, dead prince's scarf is hanging over your head and let's you see, which allowed you to realize there was another person in the vicinity so you were able to pin-point me?"
Blinking, it seemed to make sense but was really, kinda crazy.
"I suppose you're lucky then. Not everyone who's lost their sight can have such a convenience." And she regarded the old man from her village somberly. She was a healer, though certain things she just could not heal. Wounds were another story, but blindness...
Well she didn't even want to try. What if the tribe found out her powers were not so... all and powerful? She cringed back at the idea. But then recalling the man's arm, she shook off her own doubts and gestured towards one of the seats inside her boat.
"Here, have a seat, Jocelyn and I'll take a look at your arm." And as she inspected it, she went on to ask, "So like, are you some sort of wealthy noble or something? How did you come across your magical scarf, if you don't mind me asking."
And as she examined his arm, she winced at the look of it.
"Man.." and her eyes flickered up and down it's length. "Yeah, your arms most definitely broken. I guess you found the right girl out here. Not everyone has my ability you know." And she was pretty proud of that!
Jocelyn frowned and opened his mouth to protest, but quickly pressed his lips together and said nothing. In any other situation, he might have stood up for himself and defended his merits despite his blindness. Another time he would've vehemently argued that he was just as capable without his blindfold as any regular person, and that despite its convenience he wasn't bound by it.
But today was not a regular day.
At her request he silently pulled himself up to a sitting position, resting his back against the side of the boat as it rocked left and right. His arm was still tightly pressed against his torso, but he relaxed somewhat so that she could work whatever magic she possessed. Inwardly he was very curious to watch her work.
When she mentioned the blindfold a second time, he reached up and slowly slipped it over the top of his head and off. It remained clutched tightly in his left hand in his lap. His eyes remained closed so as not to further alarm the girl; after all, she'd commented on it more than one time, with more than a hint of repulsion. In the blackness of his sight, he could still sense the wisps of magic swirling in her.
"My father is the curator of the Magical Archives in Arca. Serendipity. That's where I am from, and those vaults are where he found this for me. To help me as a child. And what about you, Layana? I never knew the natives of Yoreiq spoke the common tongue so fluently. Did travelers from the mainland land on these shores?"
Layana was about to ready to conjure the healing warmth to her hands, fingers delicately moving across his broke limb, but at his inquiry as the island and outside sources, her head raised suddenly.
"The Yoreiqi Isles, as far as I know, are rarely frequently by such kingdoms. But.. Serendipity you say? That's.. that's the nation that borders Connlaoth, to it's North? Is it not?" And her eyes carried a sparkle of curiosity with them, as she studied his face and his closed eyes.
Jocelyn's head perked up, and he nodded with a slight grin, pleased to see that she was as curious as he. The beads of water had pretty much dried from his face now, but his hair was still a matted birds nest on top of his head.
"That's correct. Connlaoth is to the north of Serendipity, separated by a long mountain range. They share a border but their cultures are decidedly different. Connlaothians have very strong opinions about those who use magic. We in Serendipity, of course, embrace it."
His eyes opened just a crack and stared off at nothing in particular. "Have you ever been?"
Layana froze at his inquiry. The hesitation was there, evidently so, as her mind whirled back to the memories of her childhood. She was old enough when her ship wrecked here not to forget it, nor her language, but still young enough not to wish to venture out beyond the tribes. She knew not a great deal about the island, and had no clue of the trade the islands made in the Northern side of the island but here? Here it was it's own thing and trying to get to the other half of the island would take some effort. So she had remained content there for all of these years. After all, she was a big help, the people here thought she was a goddess and.. how cool was that? Though the idea wore on her, she was knee deep in it already. How long had it been anyway?
Thankfully, their language wasn't too hard to pick up, and they accepted her willingly. Perhaps too much. Though it HAD been a prophecy.. who was she to speak up against that? ANd by now, she basically thought of this place as home, even if she missed where she had come from.
"I uh.." when her mind came back, she found herself shaking her head. But right! He was blind.
"Can't say I've ever been!" Though it was an obvious lie if she ever gave one, but instead of keeping them on the subject, she refocused her efforts on his arm.
"Now this might feel weird, but can you hold your arm out for me? Yeah, just like that. My magic takes some time to conjure,but you'll be right as rain in no time!"
Furrowing her brow, she kept her blue eyes upon the mangled arm and focused.. focused, focused as her hand hoovered over it and a small ball of light began to glow from her palm. At first, Jocelyn would feel the warmth, and then, perhaps, even sense the light as it cascading out from her palm and danced through her finger tips and splayed across the arm in question. She closed her eyes then, channeling the energy from herself, into him, and he'd feel the warmth wash over his arm, then across his body before the warmth settled into his skin, his veins, and even the bone. And just as things began to shift- he'd feel something peculiar tickle him on the inside, then the light was gone.
And his arm- healed.
Although he couldn't see her, Jocelyn heard the obvious hesitation in her voice when she answered. He said nothing, just sat there pensively deciphering her answer. Had she ever left the island before? If so, it must've been a rare occurrence. He'd never heard of a Yoreiqi native on the mainland before.
It was when she began casting her magic that his jaw really dropped.
Though his vision was just an infinite space of black, suddenly a small luminescent presence began to take form in the middle of the void. The swirling threads were difficult to describe, but they began accumulating in what could only be described as a light growing brighter and brighter until they filled the very shape of her body, forming what one might describe as her silhouette in light. He watched as the threads of magical energy thread together in unimaginable ways, form impossible lattices and travel down her silhouette to where her fingertips hovered over his own arm.
The light show passed through her fingertips and into his arm and he felt its essence pierce him to his very core, warming his skin and bones and deeper. That tickle in his arm matched perfectly with the way the magic danced through him in a way he'd never experienced before.
And then, just like that, the light faded and his vision dimmed back into its usual darkness. He sat there dumbfounded even as he slowly tested his right arm by lifting it several inches in the air. Then he slowly and carefully rotated it and flexed his fingers. There was no pain.
He turned his head to face her direction then, blind eyes now wide in awe. Slowly and gingerly he reached out to gently touch her extended fingertips.
"By the Gods, I've never seen anything like that before. The patterns of energy were so intricate, the way you manipulated the magic so unique. I... I can't even begin to describe it!"
He leaned forward and 'stared' at her, completely forgetting his manners. "Incredible."
At his enthusiasm, she was taken back. Sure, she was used to praise but this man was different, and his words only proved that. Here, he was talking about the sensations, the patterns of how her magic worked, and how exquisite they were and well, it left Layana little more than blushing.
"Er, you know, a thank you is just fine," she said, her voice a bit anxious. She, after all, didn't know how to digest his description. The way he was rattling on.... her cheeks heated again. Yeah.. this was just awkward, and so was her just staring at his milky-white eyes. Blinking, she turned sheepishly away.
"Oh, I don't think it's that unique..." Though as she bit her lips, she was contemplating how to explain to him. You know... about the whole... Goddess thing. Would he believe her too? Or would she be left explaining herself to her family, the entire tribe?
"ANd how is it that you even see at all? I mean.... you're not wearing the magical scarf, or whatever.... how is it that you even saw my powers?" And she leaned curiously towards him, the boat bobbing just a bit beneath her shifted weight.
What was he to make of this girl? Her mannerisms were so familiar, and yet... the way she manipulated her magic was so different from anything he'd seen before. These islanders were beginning to pique a great interest in Jocelyn now, and he thought briefly about how maybe being shipwrecked here wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe he could study their culture, learn their magical secrets.
Not seeing that she leaned forward, he too leaned closer. Perhaps it wasn't in his eyes, but the look of wonder wasn't hard to miss. "I just saw it. I mean I've always been able to sense magic in people and in objects, since I was little. It's like... I could feel where you were and what you were doing when you cast your spell. That's what I do, you know, I travel the world studying magic and how different cultures use it, and how people of ancient times used it. I unearth magical artifacts and try to unlock their mysteries."
The overturned bear still lay on its side nearby and he turned now to try and upright it, though trying to do so without overturning the boat took too much effort. Eventually he gave up on it and just let the Akya-Akya totem lay there on its side, patting it lovingly on its wooden head. What had she called it? Jeremy? How could he tell his savior that the bear was one of his artifacts?
"This is one of the artifacts I dug up. It's magic, you know. I just don't know what it does yet."
Getting the impression that he wasn't making any sense, he frowned slightly and shook his head. Lifting up the silken Cloth up in his hand, he held it out for her. "I am blind though. I 'see' magic but I cannot see like you do. That's what this is for. It's hard to explain, and even harder to understand, but if you want to close your eyes and try it for yourself."
As he leaned forward, she blushed at how close they'd become, and was relieved when he finally backed away, fussing over the bear (which she was about to protest over), but instead, fumbled over her dress and dusted off some invisible dirt on her arm. THough when he offered to let her see through his scarf, she blinked and looked down at it, nearly cross eyed before looking up at him.
"Are you... sure that's safe?" Or sanitary...
The nod from Jocelyn was as confident as they came, though when she hesitated his outstretched hand fell slightly. Perhaps she was still wary of him, and perhaps he should've been wary of her as well. After all, they were meeting in the oddest of circumstances. Him washing onto these shores like a piece of driftwood, her minding her own business in whatever ritual she was performing. By all accounts, he shouldn't even be speaking to this one, but his curiosity had firmly taken a hold.
"I should hope it's safe," he answered her, head tilting to one side. "It's had no negative effects on me all these years. No, it's perfectly fine, trust me." Aside from his social ineptitude, though that was more a personal thing than the result of any magical item.
"Or unless you'd rather get on with your... ritual, you said it was?" He still didn't get that one.
Ritual?! Erp- right..
ritual. She had almost forgotten about it, and peering up at the sky, she had to wonder how it still was evening! Would the sun never set on Yoreiq? Shaking her head, she turned back to him.
"No, well yes, I sitll have this.. er.. ritual to perform, though I don't suppose any harm could come from viewing things through a magical scarf. BUt er,." and here she hesitated. "HOw does it work? I mean, I'm no dummy, you just explained it but I ... just.. you know.. close my eyes and tie it around my head?"
Gods, she hoped no one would see her when she did it- but truthfully, she was curious and hey- why the heck not? What else was she going to do? Talk to Jeremy?
"I see," Jocelyn said hastily, not wanting to interfere with the girl's work. After all, he'd already occupied her enough for one afternoon, having to save his sorry blind behind twice.
"I mean, I don't see. I just... as far as I know, all you do is wrap it around your eyes, and you'll be able to understand how I perceive the world. Here, you can take a peek in the Cloth and then I'll row myself to shore, take the bear and let you get on with your work. I already owe you my life, I don't need to be interrupting this ritual of yours as well."
He WAS curious about her and her culture now though, the more she spoke of it. And he'd be in the area anyway, trying to comb through the wreckage of his boat and try to salvage whatever remained. He'd need food and shelter as well... this would be a tricky night.
"Er.. to shore?.. right..."
Crap! What was she going to do about that? She wasn't supposed to go anywhere near the shore, and then- wait, what? DId he just say he wanted to take the bear?
Furrowing her brows, her eyes then fell upon the clothe- oh right..
the stinky clothe.
Sighing, which sounded like a most unlady like sigh, she fetched onto it.
"Don't worry about my ritual. It's nothing so intense." And examining the scarf, she still felt skeptical of it, and hesitated, not quite putting it on yet as she gave a wary glance back to Jocelyn.
"If you don't mind me being so forthcoming, can I ask what this ritual is all about?"
Jocelyn sat there idly, with not a clue as to whether the girl tried the Cloth yet or not. He offered another smile to his rescuer, not knowing if she saw it or not, before placing a hand on the bear and giving it a gentle pat on its wooden head. He spent another moment trying to push it upright, rocking the boat just a little further. This time, he succeeded. Immediately he slid down the length of the craft a little just to balance it out and not have it flip over.
The Cloth itself was unassuming aside from its sheer whiteness, not having faded in all the centuries it'd existed. a very fine gold threading lined the hem with some long-forgotten language, but it was barely visible within the blinding white of the material itself. If it smelled of anything, it was an overabundance of briny seawater and kelp.
That being said, Jocelyn likely reeked of the ocean as well! Most people did when they washed ashore.
((OOC: I haven't settled exactly what it looks like through the Cloth, so let your imagination go wild! I was thinking something like Etch-a-Sketch vision, with no colors, only lines))
"The ritual?" Layana blinked and gave a sheepish shrug, finding herself staring at his eyes again. "It's just something only my tribe does. I have to spend three days out here communing with the Gods." She'd leave out the details the Gods were meant to be her MOTHER, the Sun and her Father, you know.. the sky?
Shaking it off, she held the scarf up lazily to the sky, frowning a bit as she observed it before finally decided to slip it on. Holding her breath, she closed her eyes and slipped the fabric over them and immediately let out a gasp.
"Woah- ok,, this is weird." And she sat up suddenly, the boat rocking lightly as her hands shot out and she groped towards the horizon.
"Everything looks like.. like some sort of drawing and- AH!" she lost her footing and suddenly found her face crashing into Jocleyn's warm, seasalt smelling chest while the rest of her entangled itself upon his lap.
"Ooof.. owe owe..owwwwwwwwe!" and of course, she twisted her ankle on the way going down as she reached a hand back to nurse it with a wince.
"Oh?" Jocelyn replied inquisitively when she briefly described the ritual, "are you a tribal shaman or seer, then?"
He grinned again as she voiced her surprised reaction at putting on the scarf. Most people who tried it said similar things about what they saw through the Cloth, though he could only imagine what a 'drawing' looked like.
He felt the gentle rocking of the boat at first, slight but growing more and more pronounced. And then, completely unexpectedly, he felt her face crash headlong into his chest, knowing the wind out of his lungs with a loud "OOF!" The next thing he knew, she was all tangled up in his arms and perched on his lap as the boat rocked side to side. He couldn't see her there, but he definitely could feel her warm skin against his, and the pounding of his own heart underneath his damp shirt.
The awkwardness of the moment was punctuated only by her yelps of pain. Immediately the expression on his face transitioned from one of uncertainty to one of concern or alarm. He must've caused it! After all, she was the one who could see, and he was the one who saw only darkness. Plus, it was him who had given her the scarf to wear, without warning her of the lack of depth perception when looking through the Cloth. He was so used to it that he simply forgot.
Instinctively, he groped blindly until his hands found her shoulders, just holding her. With a slight frown, he sat up a bit straight and peered down at her. "By the Gods... are you alright, Layana? I'm so sorry! Here, don't move so much, it'll make it worse."
That bear just sat there wordlessly, staring at the two of them as the evening waves lapped around the little boat.
OOC: The wooden bear WOULD just stare at them loool
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Wincing still, Layana nursed her leg.
"I think I'll live. Glad I'm a healer, but it' just a simple twisted ankle." And peering up at him, she offered out the cloth. "Better you keep it and use it than me. We can already see the damage I've done with it." At least it was only to herself! And now as she tried to move to get herself situated more properly within the boat, she realized she might need some help.
"Say her... mind offering a lady a hand? I can't seem to get my footing here-" and just to prove her point, she let out a gasp and tumbled into the poor man again.
"Ok.. yeah, let's try this 'I'll stand up now' though with your help, if you'd be so kind to oblige," she said, giving him a trying smile, though all of her frustration was really directed at herself.
Jocelyn took the blindfold back and hurriedly slid it back over his curling blonde hair and his blind eyes with a sheepish look on his face. When she tried to stand and fell again, he was ready to catch her in his arms this time, before she caused herself or him more harm. This was an interesting day.
"Yes. Yes, of course," he replied after a moment of uncertain silence. "Here, just hold on and let me do the work."
And wrapping a firm arm around her waist and holding her hand with the other, he slowly climbed to his feet in the little boat, easing herself up along with him. Evidently with the use of both arms now, and his strength and energy returned, he had better balance than one might have believed before. The boat was still rocking gently, but Jocelyn found his wobbly footing as he helped the girl to her feet.
"Careful now, it's still a little bit slick in here," he said as he focused on the black-and-white outline of the boat's bottom and placed his one booted foot correctly, focusing on precariously balancing both his and her weight. Of course, a tiny little craft like this was not built for people to stand in them, and it teetered dangerously left and right.
"Whoooaaa..." he cautioned, half to himself, as his hold around her waist firmed up.
As he held her by the waist as the boat rocked, she stiffened at the awkwardness of the situation, and her cheeks heated pink; for he wasn't the only one holding onto the other. As his grip tensed, she was pulled closer, their hips and bellies connecting as her cheeks turned to an even deeper shade of red. And for a moment, all words were lost upon her as she stared at the handsome, blonde haired man's face with the goofy clothe tied over it.
And were it not for Jeremy's gaze, perhaps she might have forgotten herself there a moment as she pulled back gingerly and grit her teeth.
"Err... yeah, the boat can be kind of wobbly. You know, ocean waves and all."
Yeah, like that didn't sound dumb...
Finding her balance, she kept one arm on his.
"Here, just hold onto my arm for me will ya? Gotta fix this ankle." And as he obliged, she bent over, a glowing hand now resting just an inch over the aching part of her leg, and once the soothing light dissipated, she sighed with relief.
"There, much better." And having taken just one step on it to test it, it rocked the boat just enough that the bear decided to tip over- and the boat rocked heavily, throwing Layana into Jocelyn with a yelp as the pair of them were knocked together into the water, and once they were splashing, the boat turned the other way and the bear joined them on the opposing side of the boat, his heavy wait causing a loud splash, too.
While he couldn't perceive the reddening of Layana's face, Jocelyn was acutely aware of his own cheeks flushing when their hips pressed together. He'd known this girl for less than an afternoon, had just dropped into the middle of her likely-important ritual completely uninvited. She'd saved his life twice, and now she'd injured herself trying on his blindfold. Given the circumstances, this contact was entirely inappropriate! His family would've been embarrassed.
Luckily, the girl finally found her footing, allowing him to unwrap his arm from around her waist and simply hold her arm as she worked her magic. Again, his jaw dropped slightly as he sensed and then perceived the arcane energies flowing through her hand and into her own twisted ankle.
His arms shot out to balance himself when the boat began rocking again, and for a moment he found steadiness in his legs. When Layana collided with him, he almost caught her for a third time, but her ripped dress tangled tangled him this time and they both toppled.
And then, just like that, he found himself in the salty ocean water for a third time that day.
His head briefly sank under the water in his initial panicked reaction, but now he had the good sense to kick off his other boot. Without the hindrance of a broken arm, this time he was able to kick back to the surface and grab the side of the boat. She'd somehow fallen over him and into the deeper ocean waves, just out of reach of his outstretched hands. Still, he strained as far as he could. "Here, grab a hold!"
Add one more to the list of misfortunes he brought to her. He didn't even want to consider the possibility of her drowning.
Splashing about in the water, she gasped when she finally resurfaced. Hearing him call out to her, she turned around to observe his hand, and swimming towards it, she accepted, but it was she who moved to grab the boat more confidently as she stared over at him, ocean water rivering down her face and smearing most of her gold body paint, and exposing some of the tattoos beneath.
"Ugh, tonight is not going to be fun," she groaned. "With the sun setting, I'll never get my outfit dry until morning." With a huff, she moved to pull herself onto the boat, then offered her hand down to him. "Here, come on, Let's get out of the ocean- then we can see to getting Mr. Bear back in here, too." And she frowned to observe he was bobbing around in the water, bottom side up.
Jocelyn gladly took the hand as it was offered to him and pulled himself back into the little boat, dripping everywhere and sans shoes. He ran a hand through his soaked head and then started wringing the seawater out of his shirt, letting out a small huff of exasperation. If he never saw the ocean again, it'd be too soon.
"I was going to ask if you planned on floating out here this entire time. Let's get back to land and dry off. Here, after all the trouble I've caused, the least I can do is paddle."
He picked up the little oar and used it to fish the floating bear closer to the boat, though it was was more difficult than he at first anticipated. When it was close enough, he reached out and hefted it out of the water, splashing the two of them with more droplets in the process. Luckily he was stronger than her and this time the boat actually stayed upright, which was surprising considering how unlucky the stupid thing had been.
Rolling up his sleeves, he began paddling toward the white shore as the sun began its long descent into the horizon. What a way to be introduced to the Yoreiq Isles....
Layana gasped when she was getting splashed again, but to hear the confirming THUD of the bear entering the canoe, she felt more relieved. But upon realizing what he was doing as he took up a paddle, she gasped and suddenly grabbed it from him.
"W-wait!"
Feeling sheepish, she blinked back at the blind man. "Er.. how do you.... you know.. know which way you're going?" she asked, giving a nervous laugh and glance to his 'blind fold'.
"Besides,." here, she tucked back some o fher hair as delicately as she could before yanking the paddle from him. "I.. can't exactly go back to shore just yet."
Oh by the spirits, this was probably going to be an interesting conversation!
Jocelyn gestured with one of his hands toward the distant shoreline. "I know it was strange for you to see through the Cloth, but this is all I've ever known. You just... sort of get used to it. Over there is the shore. How do I know? Because of the way the land curves around the water. The horizon is that way behind me, because all I see is a straight line."
Dipping the paddle, he got off maybe two strokes before she unceremoniously yanked the paddle out of his hands.
"Hey!"
With an eyebrow raised, he turned questioningly to face Layana. The finer details of her features were lost upon him but, through the Cloth, he could at least discern her outline and faintly discern her eyes, nose and full lips.
And, of course, that little wisp of magic within her.
Slowly, he leaned in closer, searching for answers. "So... you WERE planning on staying out here the entire time. Fascinating. Care to explain?"
Layana gave a nervous bite into her lip.
"Well, er... it's kind of complicated. I'm doing it to commune with my parents. You wouldn't understand." She shook her head of it, sighing nervously before turning away from him. And it was then she noticed all of the gold paint beginning to rub off.
"Oh, just terrific," she grumbled, and tried to work at smoothing and polishing off the paints to fix it the best she could, but she had a feeling the efforts were futile.
Jocelyn rested an elbow on his knee and propped his chin up with his hand. If he was going to be stuck on this boat with a girl and a bear, he might as well get comfortable and learn a little more about his companion. He could see her rubbing at her arms, though he couldn't tell what it was. Maybe she was cold? No, that couldn't be it. Even he was relatively comfortable in this warm climate.
The dampened body paint, when rubbed at, only seemed to smudge further. Jocelyn didn't seem to perceive it. When she spoke of her parents and then quickly brushed off the topic though, he raised a slight brow.
"Complicated, huh? Well, try me. You'll be surprised at how much I actually understand. We'll swap. You tell me about yourself, and then I'll tell you about myself."
Layana was still fervently rubbing at her arms. She probably appeared to have fleas to the blind man, but at his question, he lifted her gaze with a bit of a flinch.
"Er... how about you go first? I've got a few feet of hair I have to wring out, not to mention I have to figure out what to do with my dress." Sighing, she was scooping up her hair in her hands and wringing out the water when she peered over at him and puffed out her cheeks as she held a breath, hoping he wouldn't get too pushy with this, you know, getting to know the other person thing. It wasn't that she minded telling others, she just had a feeling he might not believe her... yet there he was, trying to say he would. She gave an eyeroll, which she hoped he couldn't see and continued fussing over her person.
Jocelyn sat back in the little boat, unsure of what to make of the girl sitting across from him and now fussing with her hair. There was something about her that just didn't make sense. She spoke the common tongue very well for a native of these lands, and yet was so aloof and distant in their brief conversation. And now it looked like he would be stranded out at sea with her.
With each handful of hair that she wrung out, the bottom of the boat was pattered with a gentle drip drip drip.
"You Yoreiqi folk are something else, that's for sure," he said, half to himself, before taking a breath.
"Alright then. Like I said, I'm from Serendipity. My father curates the Magical Archives in the capital city, and I work for him. I traveled south with an archaeological expedition through Adela, where I helped dig up and identify artifacts to be sent back to the Archives and helped study foreign cultures. From there, I was attached to a small military outpost and continued south doing my job. I've been through the desert, and the jungle. In fact, that was where I was coming from - by boat - when a storm took us off course."
A small bump against the hull had the blind man turning over his shoulder and reaching into the water to pull up a small wooden plank, barnacles still clinging to it. With the boat having lost any guided movement by its idle passengers, the lapping tides began drifting the boat eastward along the shoreline. Slowly it had drifted past the bend in the beach and now was beginning to slide into view of that initial stretch of land on which Jocelyn had awoken.
The wrecked little ship still lay on its side on the sand like a beached whale. More debris and driftwood had been washed onto the shore since the afternoon, and now the beach looked more like a landfill than anything else.
Jocelyn gestured toward that distant beach and shrugged his shoulders. "Well... there it is. That's how I ended up here. Finding a home will be a real blast."
"Serendipity," she repeated the words. "Hrmm... So you're like, some sort of blind adventurer seeking old relics?" Interested now, she leaned forward to look at the man with some skepticism. He certainly didn't look too adventurous, but perhaps that was because she had seen too many tribal men adventuring, and well- they were normally twice as buff and lithe as this man. Though to be fair, they were normally dressed half-nakedly, so it was hard to tell if he was even fit for such adventurers- and oh, dear! Was she just checking him out?
"So things like Jeremy the bear here are in your line of work?" Tucking back some of her hair, she continued with her questioning. "I mean, he just looks like an ordinary bear." She eyed the bear and it's painted face a few times before tucking her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "Well, an ordinary bear made of wood." She gave a bit of a crooked smile after regarding Jeremy again as the bear looked at her- his face as flat as his paint.
"So like...What sort of magic does he possess? Or, right.. you said that's what you were trying to figure out, or something. Too bad his magic isn't in the field of saving ship's from wrecking. But then again, perhaps he's a bear of luck? I mean you did manage to survive, after all. You could have gone down with the rest of the ship.."
And at the memory, any playfulness on her face faded and a thoughtful, deeper expression took her gaze outwards towards the ocean as the warm winds carried through her hair. It was something she'd rather not remember, but she still had nightmares from it. The night her own family's boat had sunk...
And it was all because of her.
Blinking back a few tears, the idle magic that began to bubble at the tops of her fingers caught her attention as she gasped and closed her hands into fists, subduing the magics threatening to rise before she realized something important and turned to her new companion.
"Your father wasn't on the ship was he?"
Oh! How terrible if he was to suffer the same fate as she!
"Blind adventurer seeking old relics... it's a little general, but that does pretty much sum it up," he replied with a slight laugh of amusement. Reaching over, he gave the bear another loving pat on its wooden head.
"This bear here - Jeremy to you - is one of two bears that we excavated, along with several other totems. There was a hawk, a wolf, and I think a salmon but I'm not exactly sure. They all possess some magic in them, but I hadn't been able to figure them out yet. And if this bear really is a lucky charm, then the ship wouldn't have sank in the first place..."
He let out a slow exhale and glanced back over to the beach, where the wreckage of his ship lay. He was lucky enough to have washed up on this beach and been saved by this young lady, but the ship had a crew of six. Inwardly he hoped against hope that they also survived the storm, but reality cautioned him against being so fanciful. The expression on his face turned somber as he shook his head.
"No, thankfully not. I'm sure my father is just fine at home, doing whatever it is he does these days. But the ship had other men on it, men with families. I hope they made it. Henrik, the captain, has two daughters in Adela. I'd been traveling with him for four years."
If he sensed the magic bubbling from her fingertips, Jocelyn didn't show any outward signs to acknowledge it. He did, however turn back to face her. There was a marked change in her tone of voice, and it was beginning to seem clear that this was a topic that neither of them wanted to think about.
The somber silence between them lasted for a lot longer than Layana had wished, but once her nerves got the better of her, she changed the subject.
"So there might be more bears like Jeremy floating in the water? Perhaps we can scout the wreckage to find out." Though she regretted offering that after she said. She wasn't allowed to go back to the island after all.
If she regretted her offer, Jocelyn certainly recognized it. "I thought you couldn't go back yet. But yes, there might be others floating around. All of them are made of wood, or were packaged in wooden crates."
A grin. "If you like this bear, you'll love the second. It's twice the size."
Again, he peered toward the wreckage on the beach. From this distance, the grey lines that he saw through the Cloth all blended together into one mass, and he couldn't really tell what was there and what wasn't. They'd have to get closer.
"Maybe they washed up here. If not, they're probably all over the island."
"Er.." she found herself cringing when he had to remind her. "Yeah, right, I have to remain out here for the next three days." Which made her sigh and puff her bangs away from her face. But when he went on to tell her there was another bear, she gaped.
"Another bear!? And larger!?" Her eyes glittered at the thought. She could only imagine!
"So what sort of lost civilization were you studying anyway? I'm not familiar with the art style of Jeremy here." And she gave the wooden bear a pat. "Definitely not Yoreiqi." And certainly nothing like what she remembered during her time in Connlaoth.
Jocelyn seemed sit up a little straighter when given the opportunity to explain an ancient culture. He fussed over the sleeves of his shirt, rolling them up to just below the elbow.
"We don't have a name for them yet, but these were a tribal people of the jungles of Kishahn. At first we thought they were migratory, until we stumbled upon this old temple that they built deep within the bushes and vines. It was a really simple thing: stacks of rock and wood in front of a shallow cave. But inside we found a perfectly round chamber ringed with these totems. As soon as I crawled into that room, I could feel the magic still lingering.
"What we think is that these natives believed in the animal spirits and carved animal totems to capture them and harness them for their own use and protection. You can see the carvings along Jeremy's back, running down his spine. It might be their language, but we don't know."
He turned his gaze to their bear friend and gave a smile. "This little bear was to the left of a pedestal, on which the second bear sat. There were a dozen other animals, but most of them were either broken or rotted away with time. We salvaged the rest. Whatever magic is inside him, I made a vow to find out."
And the rest of them... well, if the fortunes smiled upon him then they survived the shipwreck and were also washed up on this island somewhere.
Layana stared curiously at the line art, her hands ghostly over top of them before turning her blue eyes back to Jocelyn's blind fold.
"If it were a language, could you eventually decipher?" she asked, finding herself hungry with curiosity, and hungry as well, as she leaned forward excitedly within her perch upon the seat of her boat when her stomach let out a hungered growl.
"Er, ignore that. It was probably Jeremy," she said, giving him a lop-sided grin. "But this is really interesting. Though it's a shame- to think, your ship sunk and may have taken some of those artifacts with it." And she gave a saddened sigh at that. "Perhaps after this ritual is over," she added, irritably as she leaned agaisnt the side of the boat. "We can take a look along the shore line and see what's come up."
Jocelyn hesitated and shrugged his shoulders again as he glanced over to the idle bear carving. So many mysteries left to be solved! "Eventually, but who knows how long it could take? At least for me, I'm better at deciphering their language of magic than their actual speech."
The grumble from her stomach was too obvious and even he had to shoot her a smile of amusement. It was getting late in the day after all. They were coming more into view of the littered beach now, and he too wistfully leaned against the side of the boat and peered to the distant wreckage. So much to do...
"So exactly how long do you have to stay on this boat for your ritual? Until sundown? Until the morning?"
Layana couldn't believe he'd smirk at her hunger, but she supposed it was quite funny, even as her stomach let out another loud grumble again.
"Er, try three days?" she said, giving a hesitant laugh and pat to her belly. "And three days of nothing but waiting and floating in the water, hoping it just doesn't rain or I'd be even more miserable. Though I suppose I'm sort of fortunate. I do have a bear now." she said, giving Jeremy a pat and as she patted it, those pats became quieter until her hand stilled and she swallowed an awkward lump that formed in her throat.
"Well, seems a bear and a young man," she then added, giving an awkward sniff as she down cast her eyes to the boat's bottom were her bare feet idly curled into the waters that had collected since the boat had last turned over.
Ugh, he probably wasn't going too happy finding out how long he actually had to stay in that boat with her. But hey- could he really complain? She DID just save his life. Kinda.
Though she likely couldn't see it because of the Cloth tied around his head, Jocelyn did widen his blind eyes at the news.
"Three days out here? And without food or drink?!" A hint of incredulity tinged his words as he sat up a bit straighter. And he had to stay on the boat that entire time? Well, the ritual certainly didn't say that he could not eat or drink (and if it rained, there would be plenty of fresh water, but the boat could very well sink!). But obviously he couldn't eat or drink in front of her. That would just be cruel.
A small forlorn sigh escaped his lips as he slumped back against the side of the boat again. It would be a tough test.
But she DID save his life, after all. The least he could do was to defer to whatever it was she had to do out here. Running a hand through his disheveled hair again, he offered her a nonchalant smile.
"If it makes it any better, I'll try not to disrupt any more of your ritual. And at least you'll be in good company. The bear is a terrific conversationalist."
A glance to Jeremy. "Two days... maybe we can figure out his secrets in that time."
Layana felt guilty when she heard the tone in his exclamation, but could she blame him?
Hrm... nope! Especially if she were in his shoes, she'd think she was a little crazy. Delicately tucking back more of her blonde hair (which the ocean winds so graciously kept blowing into her face), she gave a nod as she grimaced, but hten was soon flashing a sheepish smile.
"Yep, three days."
THough at his comment about Jeremy, she smirked, though at the comment about finding out his secrets, her lips fell open. And here she had been considering rowing him back to the island at nightfall so at least HE could be on dry land- but the idea of uncovering Jeremy's secrets made her giddy.
"Really!?" she said, leaning forward eagerly int he raft, which made it rock and shake as the bear threatened to topple over. "You think you'd really be able to discover something while we're biding our time on this boat?"
Oh, how exciting! And here she was dreading these three days! What luck!
Jocelyn solemnly nodded his head. "To be honest, I should have deciphered the secrets of these totems before I ever put them on a ship. Then at least I wouldn't be left wondering about what could have been."
He really did hope he found those other totems. Well, at least the Akya-Akya bear to delve over. Or Jeremy. That name was beginning to grow on him.
As the boat rocked again, he adjusted his seat ever so slightly to balance it out. With two individuals maneuvering throughout, and a heavy bear carving messing up the balance, it would take some teamwork to not capsize the boat a second time.
"Well, my mistake is our gain. There has to be a way to activate the magic trapped inside the bear - I can feel the latent energy in Jeremy. But we can't just go pressing at every inch of it. We don't want to risk it being something nasty, or blowing up, or anything like that."
"Activate it? So like some sort of magical trigger or switch on it perhaps?" Layana mused, looking the painted bear over as her hands fondled across it- that was, until he mentioned it could release something nasty and her hands retracted.
"B-blow up?" She looked HORRIFIED, her eyes becoming larger than the great fire mountain of the island.
While he could only see the outline of her face, and thus only a hint of her horrified expression, Layana's voice said it all.
"Whoooaaa," Jocelyn replied urgently, raising his hands up in innocence. "I didn't mean that Jeremy WOULD blow up. I'm just saying... we have to be careful when dealing with artifacts. You never know what kind of magic is stored in these things."
And he certainly knew all about 'these things'. And through personal experience, no less. Especially that time in Essyrn, when his expedition had lost two local men hired as diggers when an obelisk they triggered consumed them in a ball of poison.
But he certainly couldn't tell her that! She'd have a fit!
Smiling sheepishly, he added a reassuring "I bet Jeremy's harmless."
Layana, appalled, was having a hard time coping with the idea her new bear friend could be harmful. In fact, for all she knew, he could contain the very END of the world! Biting at her finger nails, she tried to shake it off and turned to Jeremy and patted the wooden bear upon the head.
"Of course he is! He's a NICE BEAR!" she retorted, patting him a bit harder than intended upon his head, and not realizing some of her magics had bubbled out in consequence to her emotions as his eyes glowed for just a brief moment and his mouth popped open- though instead of a piece of wood falling down, it jut out and struck Layana as she let out a scream and leaped into Jocelyn's arm.
"IT BIT ME! THE BEAR BIT ME! THE WORLD IS GOING TO END!"
There it was again, her magic forming itself into an almost-describable shape before bubbling out of her fingertips. Jocelyn was focusing so hard on it that her terrified scream almost had him leaping out of the boat as well. When she jumped into his arms he yelped in surprise and instinctively hugged her tightly, swinging her around his other side and half-shielding her from the bear with his own torso.
The boat rocked dangerously with the movement, threatening to overturn again. It came dangerously close but, slowly, the rocking subsided and they were once again left on the calm ocean waves, upright.
His gaze, though, never once left that wooden bear. He could feel it even more strongly now, the unique magical signature of that unnamed tribe swirling around inside the animal totem. She'd somehow unlocked it, or at least stirred it out of its sleep.
His mouth dropped open slightly as that look of fascination and wonder crossed his features again.
Turning excitedly to look back down at Layana, he exclaimed, "Wait, that's it! I think it responded to you and woke up! Quick, whatever it is you did, you have to do again!" In his excitement he didn't even realize that he still had both his strong arms wrapped around her warm skin.
Layana didn't mind him holding onto her, but really- did he have to get so exuberant over the fact she could have awoken a bear bomb!?
"What? No!" she said, wrinkling her nose at him. "What if the next thing the bear does is explode? Or turn alive into one of those more realistic, angry bears and tries to eat us?"
She shook her head.
"No way. No. Besides, don't you think I've done more damage now that I've- OHMYGODTHERE'S SOMETHING STICKINGOUT OFHISMOUTH!"
And her lips hung open as she stared at an ancient scroll stuffed inside the secret compartment that was his mouth.
Hesitantly, she leaned forward to pluck it out, and she could feel something otherworldly about it, but also it's age.
"It's some sort of scroll."s he said, and turned to regard him, still partially within his arms. "And by the looks of it, it's very ancient."
Woah, had they stumbled onto some secret archaeological clue!?
Jocelyn turned his head also, looking over her shoulder at the object poking out of the bear's mouth. From this distance, the grey lines of his vision blurred the object with the contours of the totem, making it very hard to discern. What he could sense, though, was the dormant magic also swirling around it, either from its own magical qualities or imparted on it by Jeremy.
When Layana identified it though, his eyes immediately widened a bit. It was so rare to find intact remnants of a lost civilization's language, undoubtedly written on that weathered parchment. Positively beaming, he looked down at her and said, "Incredible! We should open it to see what's written inside. I mean, I can't read it but at least you can describe it to me. Unless you think it might somehow be harmful to us."
At that moment he realized his arms were still wrapped around her little frame. His cheeks flushed a bright red and he hastily let go of her with a sheepish grin, instead attempting to direct her attention back to the scroll.
"Do we dare?"
Giving a nod, she moved to sit facing Jocelyn on her own seat within the boat. Hastily, she smoothed hair away from her eyes as they glittered over while she peered down at the scrolls.
"I don't think any harm ever came from opening a piece of paper.." Though as she moved to untie them, she hesitated a moment and glanced over at Jocelyn. "Though you don't think this could be cursed, do you?"
And chancing a glance back towards Jeremy, the bear stared at her with wide, unblinking, painted blue eyes. It was almost enough to make her shiver. But then realizing, perhaps he was being silly, she drew in a breath and peered over at her companion.
"Though we've got three days to look into this."
Well, technically two and a night. But still!
"Let's open it up!" And unbinding the largest of the scrolls, she lifted the end up and away from the scroll as it began to unravel itself, and she peered down at the paper while making a face.
"There's certainly something written here, but nothign like I've ever seen! Give it a look!" and she turned it around to show him before she paused sheepishly with an, "Oops.. I forgot.. right.. the whole blind thing."
Delicately clearing her throat, she peered down at the words.
"So like- how ought I to describe this? I've never tried to describe what things looked like to a blind person before. I mean.. what would I even need to do in order to start? Just like.. describe the squiggles here or something? THough soem of these scribbles look like animals.." And she turned the scroll over a few times to give it a once over. "Yeah, something that looks like a bear... maybe a rabbit, and fish."
Jocelyn faltered for a moment at the comment on his blindness. Even after all these years of accepting his disability, it still irked him to hear others mention is inability to do things that normal people could. The lines on his clean-shaven face grew a little tighter and his back straightened slightly. He made no retort though.
Instead, the young man extended his hand out to her, palm facing up. "Here, trace it for me so I can understand what you're describing. There's definitely something about that scroll... it could be magical, or it could just be residue from Jeremy himself."
What she described had him thinking. What he knew of these lost tribesmen was that they were foragers and fishers. Did the scroll summon their bounty for them, or lure them for easier capture? Or was there some other purpose to their spells?
Layana blinked when his palm was offered, definitely sensing some of the tension from her partner but not being fully aware where it was stemming from. Maybe he was just impatient.
Taking her finger then, she moved forward to draw something.
"At the top of the scroll there's this S like thing- not sure if it's a snake- but here- feel that squiggle? It's like an S with an extra hump- then a second, smaller etching of lines are here." And she drew the three hatch marks close by, being a bit hasty in her finger-work.
"Beside that is something like a bear- like this.. no wait, maybe this. it's hard to draw," she admitted, backing away with a sigh. "It has a lot of detail. Like an inner circle of line art around the main frame. And the colors are opposing- infact, the entire scroll's writing seems to use various colors, certain one's designated for certain symbols." She bit her lower lip. "You think that means anything?"
Jocelyn closed his eyes (whatever good that might do) and let the movement of her finger against the palm of his skin do the talking. As she traced the general patterns of what was inked onto the scroll, he envisioned the patterns in his head.
The first squiggle did seem less like an S and more like a snake, and it certainly felt familiar in the palm of his hand. The three hatch marks she traced was even more familiar as he slowly turned his head toward the open-mouthed bear. In his head it looked like the claw marks of a bear, which were also found...
"On Jeremy's back!!!" he exclaimed suddenly as he turned to directly face Layana. "He has both those symbols carved onto his back, and many more! Maybe this scroll is some sort of code on how to activate the bear? Maybe it has something to do with the... colors."
He still had trouble understanding the concept of color, knowing only that it differentiated exactly similar objects from one another. Nevertheless, Jocelyn tried his best.
"Maybe if we trace the same symbols on the carved totem as are written on the scroll, that we can somehow turn him on." Of course, he could also blow up.
"Trace the symbols?"
Layana shook her head.
"I don't know, but you are right. Look... the back of him does have those marks." And cringing, she realized the issue with her and the phrasing 'look' to someone who was blind. Either way, he knew about it anyway.
"It seems the colors though, in some of these recesses have faded." She traced her fingers lightly over the air above the bear's back before turning to Jocelyn. "I think opening a secret tot he bear might take more than tracing over the marks. They're recessed- maybe we have to put like, I dunno, some sort of liquid inside them or um, I dunno, fill the symbols with sand?"
Wow, did her suggestion sound as lame to him as it did to her?
Surprisingly, the look he gave her was a thoughtful one.
"That would not shock me at all, to be honest. These magical artifacts usually take more than just a finger pattern to activate. Let's try it."
And without giving Layana a chance to protest, Jocelyn leaned over to the bear and let his hand feel the ridged carvings of symbols along Jeremy's spine. There were so many of them, and only a few symbols had been written on the scroll. It must've been a clue. Tentatively he traced his finger along the snakelike glyph that she'd drawn on his hand, and held his breath.
Nothing happened.
"See? You were right," he shrugged, idly dipping his hand into the water and trying again with his wet fingers. Again, nothing happened.
"Or maybe not..." He traced several more symbols with the water clinging to his fingertips, to no avail. With a long breath and a sigh, he lazily traced his hand over one last one, a tiny carved symbol that looked like a fish.
Jeremy's painted eyes started glowing faintly.
Not noticing the glowing eyes, Layana sighed.
"Well so much for that. Maybe there's some sort of sequence, or I dunno- maybe the markings mean nothing at all." She found herself sighing again as she gave a shake of her head, an elbow resting against the bear's side as she studied a few of the runes nearest to her.
"Heh, this symbol kind of looks like that fish one as well-"
"Hello, Jocelyn," came an other worldly voice- one that sounded as if it had three different pitches within it at once. At the very sound, Layana felt her skin prickle over with bumps as a chill washed over her.
"Er... was that you?" she asked, sitting up hesitantly as she peered over at Jocelyn. That's when the bear's eyes flashed brighter.
"Hello, Layana." ANd it was in that moment she realized the wooden bear had spoke. Her eyes, wide and white with her pupils small, wavered a moment as the rest of her went stock still.
And her mouth was left hanging open.
SWEET SPIRITS OF THE MOUNTAIN!!!! Had the bear just SPOKE to them!?
OOC: Lol don't ask- I'm making this up as I go ahaha.
The first hint of something happening was the faint swirl of magic that he felt from the bear. Like it was coming alive or something. The arcane energies convalesced in Jeremy, forming something, something...
And then it spoke.
With a start, Jocelyn sat up straight and slid back in his seat just an inch, blind eyes opened wide behind that Cloth of his. He turned to Layana and perceived her mouth, gaping open. He realized his was also gaping.
"Okay, so I'm not the only one who heard that, right?"
Tentatively he reached out with his wet fingertips to poke at the bear. He shot Layana another look and then once again reached for the runes running down the bear's back. And while he did so, he ventured a soft-
"Hello? Jeremy?"
Of course the bear's name wasn't Jeremy! But it rolled off his tongue so easily, now that they'd been calling it that for so long. It almost seemed natural.
The eyes glowed faintly in reaction to the name, and after several moments of dead silence, Layana actually dreaded the powers had gone out. But then she was surprised yet again as she drew back when the bear's eyes lit up again.
"I am Tan'nuh-ku." And his eyes flashed blue again, and faded, then returned as he added. "Or, as the one of Sun has claimed, Jeremy. To whom do I call my master? I await orders. Tana'dias." And his eyes faded again, before eyes turned on as he added, "I offer wishes to those of worth. So to whom do I call my master? Speak now and I can see what I do."
Then the bear paused before correcting itself. "To see what I can do."
Layana only gaped. Was this for real? Clearly she had passed out through boredom on her boat. Jeremy wasn't real. Jocelyn wasn't real- but just to be sure..
she reached a hand out and pinched Jocelyn's arm.
"Tan'nuh-ku..." Jocelyn repeated slowly after hearing that otherworldly voice emanate from the carved wooden bear. He repeated it again and again in his head, and came to a conclusion: Jeremy was definitely easier to say.
And had the bear (whatever its name was) said that it granted wishes? He leaned forward, closer to the bear's unmoving head, rapidly thinking of how to respond. Finally, he said:
"My name is Jocelyn Arh-OUCH! LAYANA!"
The pinch had been entirely unexpected and he now rubbed at it with a slight frown, before reaching out and giving her a pinch back. That'll show her!
"Jocelyn Arhouch Layana," the echoing voice repeated. "I await your bidding."
Jocelyn's face turned red again and he quickly shook his head and waved his hands at the bear totem. "No, no, that's not what I meant at all! My name is Jocelyn Arhain. The Third. And this is Layana."
"Jocelyn Arhain the Third, one of Sun," the bear repeated, its eyes pulsating a soft light with each spoken word. "Layana, one of Sun."
Layana stared, gaping at the talking bear as her smile grew and grew. She was positively giddy, and because she hadn't registered the full force of the pinch to Jocelyn the first time, she pinched him again.
"Tell me if that hurts and if I'm dreaming!"
For this she could not believe!
Jeremy's eyes flashed again.
"One of the Sun." His eyes went out, but a moment later, the glow returned. "Wishes come from sacrifice from one of the sun. She gives power. Gives us life."
Layana made a face, totally not understanding what the bear was going on about again and... reached to pinch Jocelyn again- at the third time, it was becoming a numbed reflex because this was just TOO weird.
"Is he saying I made him live?" she wondered if her magics had anything to do with it but... this was just so strange!
After a moment, the bear answered her question. "Yes."
Layana was taken but soon laughed. "This MUST be a dream. I mean, I know sometimes I have crazy dreams when I come out here for this yearly ritual but really, this is TOO much!" And then thinking over what it was exactly that hte bear had said, she came to a realization, "And what do you mean about wishes and things..."
"Jocelyn Arhain the Third, one of Sun, he is wish master." And the bear paused and added with brighter, glowing eyes. "And Layana, one of sun, she is wish giver."
Blinking, Layana found herself suddenly laughing even louder as she patted Jocelyn on the back.
"Did you hear that? He's changing his mind, thinking I'll grant wishes. How surreal!" Shaking her head, she peered over at Jocelyn, but another set of words from the bear had her smile fading.
"Jocelyn, wish master. Jeremy, wish granter. Layana, wish giver."
Layana's brow furrowed.
"So like... what does that... even... mean..." and her expression remained flat and unamused this time. Really, this was just.. weird!
"This -OUCH!- is definitely not a dream. What does that mean though? 'Wishes come from sacrifice from one of the sun.' That's you, but -OUCH!-"
After that third pinch, he gently but firmly snatched her hand up to prevent it from accidentally marauding his arm again.
The bear's magical signature was beginning to grow clearer and clearer to him. It's words, not so much."Okay, I'm as confused as you now. Jeremy, er, I mean Tan'nuk-ku, can you explain this whole wish business to us? We're not familiar with the people or culture that made you, and we're a little lost."
The bear's eyes positively gleamed, but its words were not at all helpful.
"Jocelyn, wish master. Jeremy, wish granter. Layana, wish giver."
Jocelyn frowned and looked quizzically at Layana before leaning right up to the bear's face. "So I make a wish and you make it happen. But it requires a sacrifice from one of the sun. Yeah... I don't like the sound of that at all."
The bear went silent. Layana blinked, and peered over at Jocelyn.
"That does sound a bit creepy. Especially, considering, the sacrifice was directed towards me."
She turned her gaze back to the wooden bear.
" Though that's odd... only the islanders here know me as one from the sun. How would a bear get that idea? I never told you or Jeremy." And she made a frumpy face at that.
"Jeremy? Hello? Are you still awake?"
Jocelyn gave the wooden bear a friendly tap on the head, to no avail. Frowning, he turned his Cloth-covered eyes to Layana. "Yeah, and I'm definitely not one of the sun. I've never even seen the sun. The only reason I know it's there is because I can feel the heat from it." If it had to do with their hair, the blind man certainly had no idea. For all he knew, she could've been blue with orange hair.
He eyed her up and down and raised a brow. "What exactly is it you do on this island? Are you some sort of sun whisperer?"
Layana was taken back by the question.
"Sun whisperer?" What did that even mean! Making a face, she shook her head. "No." ANd she paused to regard the statement and answered it careful. "I'm a healer." And she sighed at such a response. "Though I thought that much was obvious." And she gave a haughty fluff to her hair.
Jocelyn could not help but smile at her haughty response. By now, he was used to the way she brushed him off so nonchalantly, as if used to the idea that people didn't question her about anything. Maybe she was island royalty of some sort, only accustomed to giving orders, not hearing strangers speak with impunity. He must be irritating her something fierce. Very intriguing.
A thought occurred to him.
"Wait, maybe that's how you woke Jeremy up, by healing him. Maybe he's not a bear totem at all, but someone trapped in the form of one. Try using your powers on him again. Maybe if you heal him enough, he'll make you the wish master."
And possibly him the wish giver. What did that even mean?
Layana leaned away from Jocelyn and made a face at him.
"What? Are you crazy? Use my power on him? But what if something even crazier happens?"
Peering over at the wooden bear, she frowned. Jeremy was still being silent. "I'm almost afraid to touch him again now," she said with a hesitant tucking back of some of her blonde hair.
Jocelyn laughed now as he pointed to the bear, his voice growing more and more excited.
"But the mystery of it is the best part! Aren't you even a little bit curious about what this bear is supposed to do? Where's your sense of adventure?"
She seemed to have grown a bit tentative though, so Jocelyn turned his attention back to the carving. He had sensed the bear's unique magical threads convalescing and swirling in a myriad of patterns when they'd somehow activated the patterns. However, everytime the bear had stopped talking, the magical signature had faded into nothing.
He needed to activate it again, so that he could figure out its source and its purpose.
"Now what did I do to wake Jeremy up that first time?" he asked himself aloud. Without waiting for any protest from Layana he dipped his hand into the cool seawater and began tracing over the different runes again, one by one. The snake, the claw marks... one by one he traced them.
Seeing what Jocelyn was doing, she gasped and grabbed onto his hand.
"What are you doing?!"
"Yes, what are you doing, Jocelyn?" the bear replied in monotone with glowing blue eyes again. "That tickles."
The multi-layered voice of Jeremy sent a shiver down Jocelyn's spine and he grinned sheepishly.
"Oh, hehe... you were awake this whole time... okay, so how does this wishing work? Do I just wish for something and you grant it? What do you mean by 'wish giver'? What happens to Layana?" He fired off the questions in rapid succession before catching himself and looking over to Layana.
OOC: I have noooo clue what the bear's supposed to do, so... it's all yours! :P
The bear went silent for a long while.
"Maybe you broke it," Layana whispered when suddenly the eyes glowed again. Instincts had her clinging to Jocelyn.
"You found Tan'nuh-ku. You will become blessed by him. She awoke Tan'nuh-ku. She will work with him."
And then the bear went silent.
Layana sighed through flapping lips.
"Yeah, I still don't get it." She said, and peered over at Jocelyn. "Well, got any more ideas in that blonde head of yours?"
Jocelyn slowly turned his head to look at the girl clinging to his arm.
"I guess the only idea we need now is what kind of wish we want. Well... that I want, since it's my wish, but we could share it."
His brow furrowed slightly. "He did say you will work with him though. What that means, I have no clue. Maybe that scroll might tell us more."
The more they looked at the scroll though (or the more she looked at it; his only knowledge of its contents came from Layana describing it to him), the less things became clear. With a sigh, Jocelyn glanced furtively at the bear and mumbled, "Could you be any more vague? I know you're ancient and mysterious but... come on! I wish I could find all your sister artifacts and figure you out... maybe they'd be more helpful."
"Tan'nuh-ku has no sisters," the bear sounded almost defiant in it's reply. Layana sighed again. "Yeah.. um.. let's keep looking into this scroll to see if we can't figure it out. I'd hate to find out what the consequences are after the fact. I'm sure you've heard the story about the three wishes."
Tan'nuh-ku's eyes lit up.
"Jocelyn can get more than three wishes. One of sun would give until end. One of sun would help Tan'nuh-ku." ANd he went quiet.
Layana made a face. "Um.... I don't like this idea of.... giving,"s he admitted, staring at Jeremy skeptically. "It's not like I volunteered."
"The magic has been sealed. Fate, granted." And that was all he said as Layana went quiet and felt her stomach become cold.
"I... don't like this. Maybe we should put the bear back into the ocean."
Then a moment later, the bear informed. "Fate has been sealed."
Then a pause, as he added. "One of sun."
"One of sun... so is that me or you?"
That was the problem with the bear having labeled them both that, though Jocelyn still didn't understand why he had been given that designation as well. After all, she was the one with the rituals! All he was was a simple explorer and scholar.
A slight frown also crossed his face as he slowly nodded his head. "'One of sun would give until end.' You're the wish giver... does that mean you have to give until you... die?"
Maybe this bear was cursed after all. Maybe they SHOULD throw it back in the ocean. Or burn it. A knot formed in his own stomach at the thought. No artifact should ever be desecrated in such a way!
"Yeah, I think Jeremy should go back into the ocean!" she said, suddenly deciding this and stood up and began to move over to the bear. And as she did so, the eyes suddenly lit up, as did the runes on his body, and Layana froze in place. ANd as she looked at the bear- one might realize the same blue as the bear's eyes was similar to hers.. though it might have just been a coincidence.
"You are both of the sun. Layana, of magic. You of sight."
Layana grimaced at that, but found herself only hesitating for a moment.
"Yeah, let's dump him into the ocean."A nd as she tried, Jeremy's eyes remained glowing.
The hair on the back of Jocelyn's neck stood on end at the comment about his sight. Standing up so suddenly that the boat rocked dangerously back and forth, he shook his head and bristled with indignation.
"Of sight, huh? That's really funny, you stupid bear. You're right, Layana, this thing DOES need to go back into the ocean."
As he precariously made his way to her end of the boat, balancing his shoeless feet on the damp wooden planks, he muttered angrily under his breath, "Boy do I wish I could see..." And as he reached down to grab the other end of the bear, the totem's eyes sparked and flashed a brilliant blue, almost as blinding as the setting sun on the horizon.
At first he sensed the bear's magical signature coalescing again into a tight ball of thread. Then suddenly it shot out in both directions, its tendrils coursing through both Layana and himself.
And then all he saw was light. His eyes widened and he let out an audible gasp.
At the flash of light Layana flinched back, abandoning her mission to dump the bear, but her abruptness sent the boat rocking. And while the light display became a fanfare in the evening sky, it soon spread between the pair of them- weaving in and out dangerously fast.
The threads of light that entered her made her veins burn and her skin tingle- and she felt a heat surge within her. And when the light fanfare went out, she didn't even have time to scream as she went over board with a splash.
And as the boat settled onto the ocean, leaving only Jeremy and Jocelyn, the bear stared back at the artifacts hunter in silence.
"Your wish has been completed."
And his eyes went out and everything went quiet.
Jocelyn could still see the soft grey and black lines of the Cloth, but now there was something else that he couldn't quite grasp, some sensation in his eyes that almost gave him a headache. Slowly, from behind the Cloth his eyes opened and he perceived something that he'd never known before. Was that... fabric?
He reached up to his face and tore the Cloth from around his eyes. Immediately he let out a shocked cry and stumbled back a step, falling square on his behind on the bottom of the boat. The vibrant colors of the sky, the depth and distance of the sea as it lapped around him, the searing light of the setting sun when he inadvertently looked into it.
He almost felt sick from the sheer weight of it. His heart began racing as if in panic.
"By the Gods..." he whispered under his breath, eyes still wide in shock as he fought to grasp at the realization: for the first time in his life, he could see.
There was the bear, sitting across from him, its dull brown wood reflecting some of the fading sunlight. The textures, the minute details of its scratched surface... everything was so detailed, so resoundingly vibrant. The water stretching forever, it was translucent and yet opaque, the gradient of colors changing in such tiny amounts the deeper he looked. His mouth gaped open and a dizziness overtook his body.
And then he realized that the boat was rocking gently side to side, with only two occupants. No sign of another human.
"...Layana?"
As she continued her plummet deep into the ocean, she never recalled it being so dark and scary before- that was, until she remembered to open her eyes- and the burning bubbles of the ocean was all she could feel- for her sight never returned to her. Gasping, she drew in water and began to panic as she floundered about. Though being from the islands, she knew how to swim well enough but she was turned upside down and knew not which way to swim, and as she was kicking wildly about, she eventually found the waters inside her mouth, filling her up and soon, choking her to a deathly silence as a few weak strokes of her arms beat into the waters.
Was she drowning? Panic had her thinking over so many things and when she finally broke the surface of the water, she coughed and coughed, sputtering out water and gasping for sweet air.
A feeling of panic set in as Jocelyn frantically peered around for any signs of Layana. As far as he could tell, the waters were no more or less disturbed than by the evening tides lapping back and forth. He turned his gaze to the bear.
Notwithstanding the feeling of elation and awe to recognize that he was actually looking at the bear, he shouted at it, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
Silence.
Falling back against the side of the boat, he frantically peered all around him, at the distant clouds in the sky, at the droplets clinging to the side of his hand. It still hadn't hit him that he could finally see. But had it been worth it?
Something broke the water's surface just to the side of the boat, and turning his now-blue eyes in that direction he spotted the figure of Layana sputtering and struggling in the water. His orbs widened: her hair, her skin, her features... it was not at all how he imagined her to look, and certainly not what the black and white outline of the Cloth would have suggested. That reverie lasted only a second before he realized she was drowning.
Without a thought he stood in the boat and dove into the cool water. The salt of it burned his eyes and had him cringing underwater, but powerful kicks and strokes quickly brought him over to the girl. He wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her closer to the surface as he desperately kicked for the little boat that was beginning to float away with the waves. Reaching it, he grasped at its side with a free hand and struggled to pull Layana up into it. Jocelyn grappled with the boat for a moment before finally succeeding on the second try, and both of them tumbled into the bottom of the boat.
He lay there gasping for air as well, stinging eyes still held wide open as he stared up into the sky and fought to regain his bearings.
Once inside the boat, Layana turned to her side and pushed herself up on her hands as she coughed out the salty water. Gods, did her throat ever burn, and the sea breeze caused her to shiver as her skin prickled with bumps. And her blond hair was plastered to her head, and suctioned to parts of her shoulder and body as rivlets of water gushed down her form, collecting with the rest of the salty waters in the bottom of their boat. And as she lifted her gaze up to him, he'd be able to see her crystal blue eyes and painted, gold skin, and the faint remnants of tattooes beneath it.
Though her eyes hadn't turned cloudy like his had, it was evident in her stare she was looking past him and not on one thing in particular.
"Gods.. "s he said, trembling as she choked on her tears. She lifted a hand to her face, touching at her cheek and around her eyes before poking them and letting out a gasp. Then furiously, she rubbed at her eyes but no matter what she did, nothing. Her vision remained in blackness.
Tears sparkled across the surface at this realization as she choked on her own breath while hot tears fell down her cheeks. And though Layana might have looked every bit of the Goddess of beauty she was proclaimed to be... she was significantly less so in the moment, but even soggy waters and hysterics did not mar her beauty.
Too bad it didn't matter to HER if he could see her. And she was too upset to even speak or care.
"Gods!" she said after at time, raking her hand through her hair. "I... I.. I can't see anything!"
It occurred to Jocelyn that Layana's skin was oddly patterned and colors. Not the tattoos, the concept of which he certainly understood, but the flecks of gold plastered on the tanned bronze. Was that normal? Was it what skin really looked like? He peered down at his own hands, dripping with water, but they didn't have those little gold tinges to them, just a flat tone. Her face, too... what he knew of faces he'd either barely distinguished through outlines or through the sense of touch. Hers was the first face he'd ever fully comprehended, and it nearly made his heart leap into his throat.
And then he realized she was crying. Sitting up quickly with a sick feeling in his stomach and, between hurried breaths, exclaimed, "What? Let me see!" Without even bothering to ponder on those exact words he used, he slid across the watery boat and took her face in his hands, peering deep into those orbs of hers. They looked like they were made from the same water as the ocean, and had him gulping in awe. His thumbs rubbed lightly over where the hot tears were pouring from her eyes.
The realization hit him that she was looking through him, like how he probably must've looked like for so many years.
"The bear..." he finally concluded in a distressed voice, "he must've done this. I can see everything and you're... you're...."
Reaching back, he fumbled for his magical Cloth, lying motionless in a small puddle of seawater. Jocelyn snatched it up and wringed the liquid from it before awkwardly wrapping it around her eyes and around her matted blonde locks. And then he took her hand and gave it a squeeze, even as a lost expression took over his features. It wasn't much, but it had to do.
It was just too much for her to take in. The fall, the sightlessness, this eternal black. Layana could not stop sobbing, even as Jocelyn held her face and brushed at the tears.
"Gods.." she managed to croak between sobs, her lips trembling as she tried to feebly blink back tears- but only more had come.
Though when she felt Jocelyn move away, she gasped and reached out from him, but when she felt his body, the warm touch of his skin as he returned, she gasped when the magical clothe was placed over her eyes and the fuzzy, lined images of the world came into view-
and she was not ready for that, her head growing light in a rush, and before she knew it, her arms were pinwheeling as she was losing balance- her body threatening to spill over board again.
When she started to flail, Jocelyn quickly took her by the shoulders to steady her. The Cloth took some getting used to, and being out here on a boat didn't help. He made up his mind then.
"Look, Layana... this is all my fault, but I'll find a way to fix this. Just try not to move too much until you're used to what you see through the Cloth. I know you said you have to stay out here on the water, but... it's not safe here, not in this condition. I'm paddling us to shore."
And once again he picked up the paddle to the boat and began rowing the two of them (plus one stationary bear) toward the littered beach in the distance. He, too, was beginning to get a headache from the colors and dimensions of actual sight. If she wasn't used to the blurry lined view of the Cloth, he definitely wasn't used to the real world. Biting his lip to quell the roiling in his stomach, he strained his muscles to row as fast as he could toward shore.
He glanced over to her every few seconds to make sure she was holding up alright. He'd never seen someone's skin turn pale before, but even he knew it wasn't a good thing.
"I'll fix this, I promise."
Layana was so terrified, she remained, trembling while her knuckles turned white as she gripped the side of the boat. Her tears were already beginning to soak the clothe about her face, and it wasn't until a good twenty minutes in did she realize..
"WAIT NO! JOCELYN, STOP!"
Standing up suddenly, she gave a yelp and fell onto his lap. She groped around, grabbing his arm and shook her head.
"I.. I can't go onto shore! Not yet! It hasn't been three days..."
When she landed in his lap, Jocelyn dropped the wooden oar into the bottom of the boat, where it clattered and lay in a puddle of salt water. The boat continued slowly drifting toward shore but soon slowed up in the tides. He could feel her shivering against him, and not from the cold; she was genuinely petrified.
"Look, I still think you need to get off this boat," he protested. "Are you absolutely sure you want to stay out here?"
How could he argue with her, seeing as all of this was his doing? Despite all the years of convincing himself that blindness was barely a disability and that he was just as capable as any person, he secretly knew that he wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Layana shook her head.
"N-no. I.. I can't. I can't go back yet.. the ritual. I..."
How could she explain why she came back? And what would she say when they met Jocelyn? And how woudl they take knowing their goddess was blind!?
They'd realize the lie.. that she just let them on (though to be fair..s he tried to protest...)
But even still, she lowered her head guiltily.
"We just.. I.. I can't. Not yet... three days. I have to stay out here, three days."
Then raising her head she realized.
"Je-Jeremy!" she turned to wher she thought the bear was and saw his outline, foggy beneath the mask. Stumbling towards it, she grabbed ontot he wooden bear and fell to her knees into the water int he boat's bottom.
"Please... please... take this blindess away! I need to see! I need my vision! Jeremy..."
but no matter how much she pleaded...
The bear remained silent. Sobbing, she eventually slipped down completely to her knees and cried at the bears wooden feet.
Watching her completely break down in despair almost made Jocelyn wish he was blind again. When she slid down to her knees and burst into tears, he slid over to that end of the boat and sat down beside her. His arm went around her shoulder and, slowly, drew her away from the bear and back to the other side of the boat. Her skin was clammy to the touch and he felt every heave of her shoulders as she cried through the Cloth. Pulling her closer to him, he simply held her to his chest as her tears flowed freely. He could feel them dampening his drying shirt, but now wasn't the time to interrupt her.
"I'll fix this, I swear," he muttered firmly.
The scroll lay discarded in the bottom of the boat, half-soaked by the puddle of water pooling in the hull. Jocelyn reached down with his free hand and snatched it up, turning it over to inspect the writing on it. It struck him that this was the first time he'd ever observed writing, and the colors and patterns began flooding into his head in infinite combinations.
Somewhere in these symbols held the key to solving this mess, and just looking at the jumbled runes, he was already beginning to get an idea of how the bear worked. The patterns were beginning to click in his head.
But the bear was on the other side of the boat, and they were on this side. The sun was slipping past the horizon now, and on any other occasion he would have marveled at its sheer beauty. But she was still crying, and it didn't seem appropriate.
When Layana finally found her voice, she sounded as if she were choking on her words, as her voice was hoarse and squeaky from crying.
"But how? The bear won't talk to us! I can't even see to help and we can't go back to the island- Gods!" She buried her face into her hands again. "How can I explain this to my tribe!? M-maybe I can lie. Ye, that's it!" ANd it sounded so decisive.
"If we can't fix this, Jocelyn, you have to promise to help me lie to them. They can't know I can't see!"s he said, and suddenly grabbed onto his wrist, her vision aided by the clothe as she peered up at him through the awkward magical clothe.
"Gods.. I wonder if this happened to me on purpose..."
For all those years of lieing... to think, she lead them on all to believe what she wasn't...
She lifted a few trembling fingers to her lips, but couldn't make heads or tails of any of this.
Jocelyn was taken aback by her urgent insistence. He nearly dropped the scroll when she snatched up his hand. "Uhh... of course," he said hastily, not exactly sure how to respond, "I'll make sure they know you still have your sight."
He felt it wouldn't be a good impression on these natives, to immediately lie to them upon meeting them. In the past, he'd found it more helpful to be up front to the locals about who he was and what he did. Of course, sometimes they chased him around with sharpened sticks too, but Jocelyn quickly erased that memory from his head.
Besides, something about Layana made it seem like this tribe would be different. After all, if she looked like him, then maybe the rest of them weren't so different from him either.
He chanced a glance over the side of the boat and at his reflection in the water. The features staring back up at him were those of a stranger. It was odd to finally realize what he looked like; he'd always had an idea from just touch, but this was something else. He could only look at himself for another second before pulling his gaze back to the scroll.
"This absolutely did not happen on purpose," he firmly declared to Layana as he absently began tracing the scroll's symbols in the air, feeling out the different patterns and different combinations of them, waiting for something to click. This was what he did: figure things out. "The bear somehow switched our sights, and by the Gods it will fix what it did. I just need to figure out how to turn him on again..."
Realizing what he was doing, Layana shot a hand out and placed it over his hand and the scroll.
"By the spirits, don't mess with that scroll! We should leave it rot in the ocean! This magic is a curse!"
Jocelyn jerked slightly when she grabbed his hand again, not at all expecting her to react in such a way. She was getting better at visualizing the world through the hazy grey and black of the Cloth though.
"How else will we right this mess?" he asked her pointedly. "I will tell your people that you certainly can still see, but I'd rather this be fixed than you having to live a lie your whole life."
The sun dipped below the horizon, finally, and illuminated the sky with a gentle purplish glow. While it was a spectacle for Jocelyn, it also made him realize how dependent on light people actually were. The scroll was already getting harder and harder to see. Reluctantly, he dropped it to the bottom of the boat.
Layana went silence. She knew not the answers but him bringing up the point about her lying her whole life...
it made her sob again.
"Gods, I probably deserve this,"s he cried, and buried her face into her hands as she hunched over her lap from where she sat in the boat as the day turned into a much cooler, blustery night.
Jocelyn bit his lip as Layana sobbed into her hands. What was he to do? He reached out and placed a warm hand on her back, hoping against hope that it would at least help in her grief. Likely though, his feeble attempt would just bounce off her in her immense sorrow.
Maybe it was just better to let her cry it out.
He folded his hands together just sat there in the little rocking boat, newly blue eyes staring at the puddle of water at his feet. The silence in the air was punctuated only by the lapping waves and the girl's soft mewls.
He didn't know how long he sat there or how long she cried, but by the time he finally looked up again the sky was a dark blue and the stars were beginning to peek out.
It wasn't until the stars came out that Layana finally stopped her crying. She shivered, wrapping an arm around herself to keep warm. The faux winged sleeves of her dress did nothing to keep her arms warm (consideirng most of the fabric draped off the arm rather than wrapped around it) and her bare feet could only find a resting place in the chilly waters now resting in the wooden boat's bottom. Shifting her weight on the bench she sat upon, she wiped away the tears and snot from her nose before finally raising her blind folded eyes to him.
"What... what if we can't fix this.."
She blanched, thinking about spending the rest of her life this way,a nd turned her sightless gaze toward the wooden bear. Though she could see the lines the blind fold allowed for her to 'see' things in the wrold around her, she knew enough to notice the bear was still silent and asleep.
"Stupid bear!" she said, smacking an angered fist upon the wood. "This is all your fault! Why did you have to mess with my sight!? What did I do to you, Jeremy!? I only found you in the ocean! It wasn't like I put you there! IN fact, I was just trying to help!"
And it sounded crazy but that's how it was happening- Layana was now going from sad to angry and was slapping and punching- even kicking some at the totem bear-
But nothing she did made it wake up,a nd if anything, her anger only served the rock the boat. And one last angered smack set the woman off-balance,a nd she crashed, sobbingly, back into Jocelyn's arm.
"Maybe this is just a nightmare," she croaked, gritting her teeth. "Maybe when we wake up, none of this will have happened. Your ship will never have sunk, my eyes- and their sight, never leaving me...a nd the wooden bear can just rest, where ever he was, far, far away from me."
And to think! She had grown fond of Jeremy!
Jocelyn nearly stood up as she began hammering away at the wooden totem, half afraid that in her frustration she might injure herself or worse. But he stopped just short of grabbing her and pulling her back down. Somewhere deep inside, he knew that if their positions were switched he would've done the same thing.
Finally he teetered off balance and fell back into him. This time, with the aid of actual vision, he caught her in his arms before the both of them tumbled into the boat or out of it. He held her again as she sobbed, his own lips pressed firmly together in silent discomposure while he shot a sidelong glance to the bear. He'd brought this curse on her. On the both of them.
"Shhh," he cooed quietly under his breath when she began to shiver slightly with the night wind. The air, while still warm, cooled significantly as the evening wore on. And it certainly didn't help that they'd been in and out of the water multiple times. Her skin felt clammy and cold to the touch and, though he couldn't see it clearly, it was obvious that her skin (underneath the gold paint) had paled. His arms tightened around her frame, half to steady her, and half for the collective warmth they both might receive.
"Rest yourself. I swear to the Gods, I will figure this out. I swear it."
She was right though. Everything seemed so surreal about the situation, that it very possibly might have been some nightmare. The bear sat there silently, staring at them with those dead painted eyes. Jocelyn doubted that they'd heard the last from Jeremy.
He had two days to solve this. In the back of his mind, he already had a plan: come first light, or even before, he would find a way to make Jeremy talk again.
Dizzy, sick and upset, Layana remained wilted and defeated in the young man's arms. It was a welcome sense of relief, even to be comforted by a stranger, but he hardly was seeming a stranger as the hours rolled on. They already shared so much, and suhc a peculiar story it was, it would be awkward to think of him anything less than some sort of friend by now. Either way, she was exhausted as she leaned into him, thankful for the warmth and his words.
"But it's just a bad dream," she murmured, half asleep. She had to tell herself that, or she'd grow more ill. "In the morning, none of this will matter."
Life will go on.
And she would see again.
Though when the gulls cried out at first morning light, and she opened her eyes and, in a half panicked state, didn't remember why she was suddenly blind, she wilted in the after math of her memories and grimaced.
It was another day.
And she still could not see.
Jocelyn barely slept that night. For all his exhaustion, there was just something about finally being able to see that had him waking up more than once, groggily realizing that the moon shone brilliantly down on their rickety little boat. In those moments of lucidity he sat there against the side of the craft, staring up at the sky in awe. Layana was nestled up against him, and everytime he peered down at her troubled sleep, he couldn't help but marvel at the way the pale moonlight illuminated her hair, and how it highlighted the dark waves around them.
When he stirred awake for the final time of the night, the sky was still dark but was beginning to turn a shade of aqua. She was still huddled up against him, fitful in her slumber but thankfully still asleep, pinning him against the boat. Peering around and letting his newly restored eyesight to adjust to the lighting, Jocelyn turned his attention back to the discarded scroll some feet away from him. He couldn't reach it with his hands, not without stirring her awake. His foot though...
With some deft maneuvering he managed to re-acquire the scroll, once again studying its strange symbols in the morning light. With his free hand he traced the runes in the air again, letting his eyes close and feeling out the patterns and shapes. The salmon, the claw marks, the snake, the stag... he tried running his fingers along the parchment in different combinations, recalling the energy that had emanated from Jeremy the day before.
And then, all of a sudden, it clicked. He felt it. The pattern.
"That's it!" he said aloud while sitting up straight. It was then that he felt her stir awake in his arms. The look of terror on her pretty face, as she opened her eyes to only blackness, had him wincing and biting his lip again. But at least this time he might have a solution.
"Jocelyn?" her voice came out, soft and delicate, even wavering through it's strained sound. "I... I guess you're still here." Which sounded lame and she clamped her mouth shut, teeth biting into her lower lip. "I.. I mean, you... we..."s he sighed, moving away from him and feeling awkward that, oh.. she totally just slept on some random man all night! Her cheeks immediately flushed. If she hadn't been tongue tied before, she was more so now.
Frowning, she looked up at him, and recalled, whens he was half waking up, he made an exclamation.
"And what.. you.. you were saying something as I awoke. Do you see something?" And she peered around towards the ocean, but the only thing she could see was the muddled form of the islands behind them. The rest was just lines of sea.
When she awkwardly scrambled away from him, it finally gave the rejuvenated Jocelyn a chance to climb up to his wobbling feet.
"No, but I know something. Just sit tight while I get this stupid bear awake again..."
Before Layana, in her morning grogginess, had time to object, he stepped his way over to the bear. Two hands wrapped around it and turned it right around so that the runes were facing him.
Just as he remembered them. The faintest remnants of magic still lingered from when it'd last awoken. He gave the scroll one last look and, with a triumphant nod of understanding, placed his fingers up against the upraised notches of the carved symbols. Closing his eyes, he traced a pattern between them, letting his senses and his intuition guide him. The symbols were jumbled together, but the shape he traced along those edges seemed to just... fit.
And slowly, in the morning light, the bear's painted lines began faintly glowing again.
The moment his eyes began to glow, his monotone voice soon followed.
"Yes, Jocelyn. What is it you desire? I was asleep."
Layana, who had been holding her breath, gasped at the sound of Jeremy's response.
"he's awake!" she said, suddenly hugging onto Jocelyn's arm. "Now can you.. can you ask him to fix this?" she said, not hiding at all the eagerness in her voice. Maybe.. maybe since hte bear's power seemed back, this truly could be fixed.
"Wish for him to fix this.. " and as she was tugging impatiently at his arm, she added, "Please? I don't wnat to stay like this. I can't stay like this. PLease.. please!"
Jocelyn's heart skipped a beat when the bear responded. He shot Layana a triumphant smile and responded, "Yes, fix this. You took her sight from her and gave it to me. Give Layana her sight back. I... uhhh... I wish it."
The bear's eyes glowed a light blue, shining in the dim light of the morning. The voice, still monotone, answered them briefly.
"No."
Jocelyn's jaw dropped. Taking a step toward the bear and leaning forward until his face was inches from the totem's painted one, he gave it an incredulous look. "NO?! What do you mean no? Just undo whatever it is you did, and we'll call it a day."
"The wish is granted. Tan'nuh-ku can do no more. Tan'nuh-ku's power is used," the bear replied in a toneless voice.
A wave of despair crashed over Jocelyn then and he stepped back, falling back down into his seat with an unceremonious thunk and nearly pulling Layana down on top of him. He didn't know what else to say.
The bear remained silent for a second, before adding:
"Tan'nuh-ku is not the only one. Perhaps Jocelyn and Layana might try another. I am not the only one who may grant your wish."
Despair washed over her and she found herself gripping the edge of the boat, her back to it. Beneath the scarf, her eyes wavered with tears. By the spirits, she really was going to be stuck like this. Dread sunk into her heart like a winter chill, and she had almost missed what Jeremy spoke in the end.
"Wait, what?" Blinkingly, she tried to see what the bear meant through her foggy, lined-art vision, but the bear went quiet again. Even still she hesitated and asked, "Did... did you say there's another way to wish?"
For a good long while the bear was silent, but his eyes were still lit up.
And it was well into the five minute mark before the bear spoke again.
"Tan'nuh-ku is one of many. We serve sun. We serve one of sun. Tan'nuh-ku was made for granting wishes. Yours have been sealed."
Layana frowned and grew nervous. What did this mean? Was there hope? And if so... she found herself taking a timid step forward as she asked, "If that is so... how... where.. where are the others? They've become lost in the sea- and even if we find them.. how.. how do we know what o do? How to wish this .. away?"
Again, Jeremy was quiet- ad it seemed he wasn't going to answer her, but in a softer, more faded voice, it answered.
"The sea. I sense some in the sea."
And a pause before it added, "And that tree."
Perking up, Layana turned around to stare back at the island- but she could not see a tree, for there were many upon the island.
"One is on shore.."s he whisepred, hands now gripping tightly ot the edge of the boat.
ANd to confirm that, Jeremy responded with, "Yes. Tana-muk. He's my brother."
A pit of despair bubbled in Jocelyn's chest when Jeremy mentioned the other artifacts.
"In... in the sea?" he said in a disbelieving voice. All those priceless artifacts, lost! Their magical powers would never be unlocked now, and the mysteries of a civilization lost so long ago would never be revealed. He felt sick just thinking about it.
He sat up a little straighter though at the promise of an artifact still surviving the shipwreck.
"The other bear totem from the excavation! You mean it's somewhere on this island? It survived the storm?"
"Yes."
Jocelyn stood back up on the swaying boat, cautiously stepping forward until he was standing next to Layana.
"Can you show us the way to it? To Tana-muk?"
The bear's eyes flickered with light again, not as strong as before but still illuminating the boat's interior. It was as if the bear was tired of answering questions. Or was running out of energy to do so. It remained silent for a while and then, suddenly, the entire wooden totem began to tremble slightly.
"...Yes."
Layana held her breath. If there was a means to break this curse, to take back that god awful wish and give her back her vision...
Yes. she had to risk it. They had to get to land and fast.
Straightening her shoulders, she approached the bear.
"Then show us where he is."
After placing a hand upon his shoulder, the bears eyes flashed but once- and there, an image danced before her eyes- of a single tree upon a rock, half buried in the ocean- and the faint glimpse of a wooden bear at it's base-
but that was all she could see, and the vision faded, as did the bear's glowing eyes-
and all Layana could do was gape.
She had no idea she was the only one who had seen the vision. SHe just knew they had at least gotten a hint. Groping at the air, she finally got a hold of Jocelyn's shirt sleeve and gripped onto it, peering up at him through the scarf-veil.
"The vision- did you see it? The tree- it.. I think I remember that rock. It's to the north of the island!" and she was all smiles and beautiful again, too bad it was the blind girl who the vision had taken to!
"What?! No, I didn't see anything. You know where to go?"
The excitement in her voice brought some life into the young man though, and he peered down intently at her. The brilliant smile on her pretty face stunned him for a second; he'd only seen outlines before, never a true smile. The exuberance of it took his breath away, and it took him a moment to realize it was now his turn to gape. He quickly clamped his jaw shut.
"Okay, north it is then. Uhh... which way is north?" What a stupid question to ask... But he truly didn't know. Instead he picked up the lonely oar and held it firmly in his grip, determination setting in. They were going to fix this problem.
Her back was turned to the bear and his eyes were firmly set on her. Neither of them noticed that, behind Layana, Jeremy began to disintegrate.
"North?" Layana gave a laugh, realizing- even for her, that might be difficult to discern! She shook her head, but before she had a chance to explain, she took a step to where the bear was and as her leg bumped into it's wooden skin- the thing began to dissolve- fading into nothing but thin air.
Gasping, she fell through, gold hair and jewelry fluttering and chiming about as she fell through the remains of Jeremy- and in this ghosted state, where wood sparkled like sunlight- it incased her completely before a gush of light would blind Jocelyn and then- Layana finally collapsed into a heap upon the floor of the boat.
And all she could do was stare wide eyed through the clothe. SHe had no idea what just happened but the sensation was so strange, and the sudden burning through her flesh- painful. And if she could see, she might have noticed a permanent, magical mark burned into her body, still sizzling freshly on her flesh.
OOC: I have no idea where on her body this should be- but I was thinking some place obvious? thoughts?
Jocelyn's eyes could not grow any wider from shock as the bear literally disappeared before his very eyes. His jaw dropped and so did the wooden oar in his hand, clattering into the boat. And then that blinding light nearly seared his vision. He'd not felt such discomfort and pain since those first moments of his newfound sight, when he'd accidentally looked up into the sun.
Immediately he turned away with a gasp, shielding his vision from the blinding light. It took several blinks for him to clear his blurred vision, but in that brief moment of disorientation he heard a loud thump as Layana collapsed.
He instantly jumped over the fallen oar and over to her, falling down to his knees to cradle her head, hands inspecting for any signs of potential injury, if she had hit her skull on the side of the boat or worse. As his hands gingerly lifted her head up off the boat, his breath caught in his throat.
There, etched on her forehead and ringed by redness, was some unrecognized symbol. It looked as if it had been burned straight into her skin.
"Gods..." was all he could say.
Layana, still in shock from it all, winced when she heard his voice.
"It.. it hurts," she said, gently reaching a hand up to touch her skin- and with drew her fingers with a cry the second it touched. "Ah! It burns!" She jerked within his hold, but did not remove herself from his arms. "Gods.. what.. what happened? What's on my forehead- why is it!?" But she could say no more, her mouth agape and trembling as all words were lost to her.
As soon as she flinched at touching the symbol burned into her skin, his hand darted out to grab her hand. "Don't touch it," he warned, still cradling her head, "you'll make it worse."
The symbol looked very similar to what had been etched onto the now-disintegrated bear's back, but different enough for him not to fully recognize it. Indeed, a quick peek down at the soggy scroll yielded no results as well. This was something new.
"I... I don't know what it is," he admitted in a soft voice. "It's some sort of mark. Looks like a rune of some sort, but nothing I've ever seen before..."
He reached out to touch it out of sheer curiosity but caught himself at the last moment. It was obvious enough from her previous reaction that the burn was a painful one. Instead, he let his hand drop back down to his side, a frown spreading across his face.
"WHAT!?"
If he could see hers now, he'd see how large they had become. But behind the magical scarf they remained hidden as she shook her head.
"How- why!? What.. what do you mean a symbol!?" and she touched it, lightly this time as she cringed. "Is it permanent? Burned in there?" It certainly felt like it. "We.. we have to get it off! It can't be on my face! I-" How would she explain this back to her tribe!??!?!?!
Scooping up water in her hand, she began to desperately splash it all over her forehead, getting the salty water everywhere and in a sense, burning the wound. She cried out and halted her actions, and clutched the side of the ship in despair.
"GODS!" she said, and began to sob.
"I'm going to be like this, forever!"
A look of resolve crossed Jocelyn's features, and he sat himself firmly down in the middle of the boat. Snatching up the oar, he began paddling.
"That's not happening, not while I'm here," he declared, blue eyes staring forward in deep concentration as his arms flexed with each stroke of the oar. The boat began sailing forward, following the coast.
And then suddenly the sun began peeking over the edge of the horizon on its way up into the morning sky. A brief thought crossed his mind: sun rises east. He'd never seen the sun before, and only now did he realize... he was paddling in the wrong direction.
Biting his lip and turning red, and half-glad that Layana was too despondent to notice his error, he turned in his seat and began paddling the other way.
They had been pretty far out at sea, but by the time the warm colors of the rising sun over took the skies, it's reflection turning both sea and sky a brilliant gold- Layana began to hear the sounds of the waves crashing on shore- a sound she could never mistaken-a nd that of the swaying leaves of the palms.
"Jocelyn.." she said, perking up. "I.. I can hear it.. Are we near land?"
As the sun rose higher in the sky, Jocelyn began to feel the rays of heat relentlessly beating down on his brow. It didn't help that he'd gone a full day and night with little food or water, floating in this little boat out in the middle of the ocean. His shirt was becoming damp from sweat, and every so often he wiped the droplets off his forehead with a rolled-up sleeve.
"We're close to it. I'm following the coastline north, but I don't see any tree on any island yet. It might be awhile."
There was a small bend of land at the end of the beach, and the pace of his paddle strokes picked up slightly at the sight of it. His heart sank when they rounded the bend though. It seemed as though the contours of the island stretched on forever, an endless beach in front of the lush palms of the jungle. A small mountain rose up into the sky further in, but down here it was all sand. And no protruding rock.
"Can you describe this place we're headed again?" he asked her as he squinted at the distance. Maybe this whole light thing wasn't so great after all...
"Well.. it.. I.. I know for a fact it was much farther up the coast. Northward,"s he pressed, and then clamped her mouth shut as she mulled it over. "Near by there's normally a lot of jelly fish in that area. We're not sure what draws them, but we'll know we're close once we pass that spot. You'll see.. jelly fish are like... these weird, tentacly things that you can sort of see through. I don't know how to describe them-t hey're really strange, but on mornings like this, they tend to swim near the shore line and in storms, a lot of them will get washed up on the beach. You'll have to be careful. Oh, that is, if you're in bare feet. A jelly fish can really sting you. It hurts."
She knew from experience!
Jocelyn continued paddling as he listened to her description of the sea surrounding this destination of theirs. Of course he'd heard about jellyfish before, though not surprisingly they were extremely rare where he came from. And of course he'd never seen nor imagined them before, not with his blindness.
"I'll keep a look out for them, then," he replied, his arms tensing as he pushed the oar into the clear water again. It was amazing how he could almost see to the bottom of the water, perhaps thirty or forty feet down, and how he could see slivers of color darting this way and that as fish swam around their boat. Come to think of it, everything about having sight was amazing to him. This is totally better than being blind. Maybe he shouldn't wish for them to switch back...
By the time was directly above them in the sky, he was still paddling north with no sign of their destination. The waters didn't look any different from before, and there certainly were no traces of jellyfish around.
He was also beginning to get extremely hot under the sun, the exertion having collected many beads of sweat on his brow. Layana was seated in front of him and facing the other direction, and she still seemed a bit in a state of shock at the whole situation. She wouldn't mind it then, he concluded. Quietly he pulled his white shirt off, wrapping it around his head like a scarf to block the sun from his face.
OOC: woo! He's stripping 8D
jk jk
---------
She hadn't heard much from Jocelyn after a while, so when he stopped paddling, she cocked her ear in his direction.
"Jocelyn?" she began, hesitantly before turning around. "Why have you stopped paddling? Do you see any jelly fish?"
(( Psssh, she's already checked him out multiple times before. Good thing she's blind now, or her eyes would probably pop out :P ))
Jocelyn had just finished wrapping the shirt around his head when she turned around. He froze, hands still up around his head, a big ball of fabric looking ridiculous over his hair. It probably looked as ridiculous as he did right now. His cheeks turned red even through his tanned skin.
Emphatically shaking his head, he picked up the paddle and dipped it back into the water. "No, no... I was, uhh, just taking a short rest. Nothing in sight yet, the water looks like it always has."
He didn't know how long the island's coast stretched northward, or how long it would take before they came anywhere near where she said the outcropping was. What his did know right now... was that he hoped she would turn back around instead of facing him just then.
Layana blinked, realizing he looked.. different. Though the scarf didn't allow much room for her to see all the finer details, she blurted out. "What's that thing on your head?"
And then at his question, she suggested, "How about I take a turn now? I can still paddle. Just because you've wished me blind doesn't mean your magical scarf thing.. or whatever this is, can't make me useful. Now come on, make room and gimme that paddle."
And she moved forward and took a seat, not taking no for an answer.
"It's, uh.... it's my shirt," he finally admitted after giving her a dumbfounded stare, unable to come up with any excuse better than the true. "I thought I'd keep the sun out of my eyes."
And then realizing that she couldn't perceive light anymore, and that the only way she even knew the sun was still above her head was from the heat beating down on them, he shut his mouth in embarrassment. Instead, he simply handed the oar over into her hands. He shifted back a little for her to take his spot.
"I'll switch off with you when you're ready."
Realizing what she was staring at, her entire face heated up and she just gaped. Not that she could see it, but she was not envisioning it and well, now her ears were red too. Realizing she was 'staring', she snapped her jaw shut.
"Er, here, I can take the paddle now if you wish, it would be good to give you a break." And she put her arms out, ready to accept the paddle. She'd rather not reach fr it and miss and yeah...
she was keeping her hands to herself. No need for her to turn crimson all over , and paddling would help keep her mind from wondering to...
Man on bat with her without a shirt.
SURE, all Yoreiqi men from her tribe were shirtless, but she was used to seeing them that way. But no one like her she had seen shirtless before nd well- she still had some grounded roots int he prudeness that was Connlaoth and well...
Yeah, she was totally waiting for that paddle now. Any time now!
If she felt embarrassed at the situation, then they were both lucky that she couldn't recognize the grimace on Jocelyn's face. As if this poor girl hadn't been through enough after he'd just conveniently plopped down into her boat... now this?!
Without another word he placed the oar firmly in his outstretched palm and retreated to the back of the boat where she wouldn't have to stare blankly at him. He, too, averted his gaze from her, rather staring off into the horizon and wondering how he was ever going to get off this island.
It was way too weird here.
With some groping and hesitation, Layana eventually found a seat in the boat and, like a pro (for she really could do this blindly..) she dipped the paddle into the water and pulled the boat forward.
"Just make sure I'm keeping us pointed North. Just following the shore of the island... it shouldn't be much longer now. Just let me know if you see some jelly fish in the waters and I'll try to direct us from there."
Drawing in a breath, she realized this was going to be difficult but what else could she do? Jocelyn did not know the island and well-s he was blind. The scarf helped a little, but she could't imagine living like this forever,a nd she began to feel bad for Jocelyn and then realized....
Though sheepishly...
"So... how does it feel to.. see? You know, for the first time."
Jocelyn glanced back up when the boat started moving forward again. He'd done a decent job of steering it (at least by his standards), but this girl was a natural. Small wonder too, she probably did this as a lifestyle along with her fellow tribespeople. Inwardly he wondered if were all tanned and fair-haired like the two of them.
"It's... it's different," he admitted as he blinked a few times and scanned the horizon. "I knew the idea of colors, but now I guess I actually understand what they are. It's a lot to take in, to be honest. Maybe too much. Things were simpler when they were just lines."
He stared at her back as she rowed, idly noting how the gold paint on her skin was beginning to chip and fade from all the water that'd washed over her.
"But it's your sight, really. When we find this other bear, I'll give it back."
The idea, though welcomed, made her feel guilty as her stomach churned and turned cold. She hesitated only once in her stroking before continuing to push the small board forward with each stroke.
"Yes, but you've never seen colors,"s he went on, swallowing away the nervousness in her voice. "I mean, did you ever believe blue was blue like how it is in the sky? Or that white was the color of clouds? Heck, you could call my hair yellow- and yours to! OH!" it was then she realized, witha start.
"You probably have never seen your own face before!" And such a concept was wild to her. WHat must he think?
"But don't be afraid to ask," she said, giving him a playful smirk. "I cna tell you what color each thing is... " Granted, it might be difficult to teach a blind man colors coming from a newly blinded girl-
but heck,s he knew the islands so well, she could boast just as much details blind as she did when her eyes could see.
Jocelyn shook his head. "I mean I've heard these things before. Blue sky, blue water, green trees, white clouds, black ash. Now I understand what people actually mean."
At the mention of his own face, and at the sight of her smirk, he reciprocated with an awkward grin, a hand going up to rub at the back of his neck. "...no, I have no idea what I look like. After all, yours is the first -and only- face I've ever seen before. The only thing I've ever known about people's faces, was by touch."
At her offer, he perked up slightly. "Okay, so the bear. It was made of wood, so that's brown. What about red? Is anything around here that's red?" He certainly didn't want to cut himself and see blood to find out.
Layana could say her cheeks, but she was not about to draw attention to that, so she flashed him a smile and held up the paddle.
"This paddle is wood, but it's been painted. This.."s he said, gesturing with it. "This is red."
ANd after a moment, she realized, "Oh and this!" and she clung lightly o the feather in her hair and gave it a twirl. "This is a feather. Though I'm sure you can tell by touch- it's rather soft. This feather is also red."
Jocelyn peered at the oar first, and then the feather. So that was what red was. Fascinated, he reached out to touch at the feather in her hair. Of course he knew what a feather was, though often when others described them they mentioned a whole myriad of colors. To see a red one... well, to see a red anything was amazing.
"I don't know how I'll ever go back to how I used to see things," he said in awe as he stared at her, at her golden hair and her bronzed skin. There were so many details that he never imagined the world could have. Even the little bumps on her skin were noticeable to him. A wide smile crossed his youthful face.
"So we have blue sky, white clouds, blue water. Red feather. Well, at least that one is red, they come in all types. Your skin is... well, I guess it's skin colored."
He peered off the starboard side and into the water. There was something in the water that didn't seem to have any color at all, but instead blended in with the deep blue of the waves. Except it clearly had a shape to it, a moving blob just below the surface.
"What about that? It looks like it's blue, but not quite. Actually, it's kind of-"
It dawned on him.
"... oh. Those are jellyfish."
At the mention of skin color, her face paled and her ears burned. How was she to describe her skin? And was she even in her gold paints anymore? Tucking back some of her hair in a sheepish gesture, she found herself halting in mid-motion at his sudden inquiry.
"JElly fish?" Glancing over the side, she had a hard time figuring out if she could discern the blobby shapes of waves from that of the floating tentacles. She shook her head. "I.. possibly? Jelly fish around here normally are translucent, meaning their bodies can be seen trough, like glass." She paused to realize, "Oh, you have not seen glass, have you?" and she peered up at him with wonder before glancing back down to the ocean.
"Well, I'm hoping these are the jelly fish we're looking for. I'll get back to paddling." And she resumed her seat and position, and went about stroking, one, two, three, nd eventually found her paddle knocking into the jelly fish as they clusters grew denser.
"Yeah, we're almost at Jellyfish coast now. Keep your eyes peeled for an old looking tree. It will stretch out over a great cliff side that over looks the ocean."
ANd then she cringed realizing- did any of that even MEAN anything to Jocelyn? Oh well, hopefully they could just... figure this out as they went! So she just kept on paddling.
Jocelyn silently nodded and kept his eyes forward, on the lookout for the described landmark. Every so often though, he looked back down at the jellyfish now coalescing into one giant shapeless mass surrounding their ship. Their tentacles writhed in unpredictable manners as they floated around the little boat and under it. He stared at them wide-eyed, like a child who'd seen something shiny. More than once he almost reached down and touched them, before remembering Layana's urgent warning and snatching his fingers back.
As Layana paddled the boat forward and around the bend, something in the distance caught his eye. At first he was surprised at just how far he could actually see with his newfound vision. The lines of his magical scarf had always blurred into unrecognizable blobs when he tried to perceive things in the distance. But now... he could see as clear as ever.
There it was, a tree jutting out over the water, perched atop a jagged rock formation that hung precariously over the crashing waves below. He tapped Layana on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of it.
"There it is!"
Startled by the tap, Layana let out a gasp and wailed an elbow accidentally into Jocelyn's gut.
"Oh! S-srry, you startled me! I didn't mean to!" And in the crazy moment, she had accidentally dropped her paddle, though when she went to reach for it where it was precariously teetering on the edge of the boat, she let out a gasp as it splashed into the water.
"Oh no! The oar! Jocelyn, quick! Can you fetch it from the water!?"
nd then, hastily she added, "But dont touch any fish!"
That was completely unexpected.
The elbow to the gut completely took the wind out of Jocelyn's lungs and he let out a low gasp and lurched forward, face turning very red. His hands clutched at his stomach and he just sat their, bent over slightly, forehead almost resting on her shoulder as he struggled to compose himself.
"It's... it's fine..." he replied through grit teeth. The paddle was just out of his reach and he turned his attention to it as a way of distracting himself from the soreness in his midsection. As he reached for it, the boat swayed slightly and the paddle dropped into the water.
Jocelyn leaned over the side of the boat and stretched his arm as far as he could to retrieve it, the boat leaning dangerously from his weight. He managed to get a finger on the wooden paddle, then two, and then his whole hand.
And just at that moment the jellyfish all began drifting toward his outstretched hand, their gelatinous bodies feeling incredibly uncomfortable against his skin. They were so slimy and shapeless that for a moment Jocelyn froze, with a small discomforting shiver running up his spine.
And then with a loud yelp he yanked his hand, paddle and all, back into the boat. One of the buggers had stung him!
Layana turned around with a start.
"Oh! What happened? Did one sting you?" she asked, her face full of concern.
Adjusting herself within the boat, it rocked a little beneath her weight before she fully shifted his way.
"I have a bag with some ointment that can help-" but then she paused to realize, with a gasp- "Oh no!" she stood up suddenly. "My bag is gone!"
Though that was the luck of things when one capsized their boat as many times as she!
"Ouch... yeah, it got me pretty good," Jocelyn said with a wince as he dropped the paddle and gave his hand a shake. The palm of his hand throbbed terribly and was already beginning to turn red. He peered over the side of the boat to the mass of jellyfish and gave them a good glare.
As she stood up in haste, the boat began rocking dangerously again. Out of instinct his other hand darted out to grab her hand and steady her. By now, it was like their boat was floating on a small island of gelatin.
"Whoooa, careful, we don't want to be swimming with these things! I'll be fine, let's just get to the island."
Layana gasped softly once his hand took hers, and her cheeks blushed before she found herself numbly nodding along.
"Y-yeah," she said, sheepishly tucking back some hair behind her ear. "Trust me, you don't want to get any jellyfish to sting your rear. It hurts like you wouldn't believe."
And then she felt totally embarrassed for saying that.
For once, Jocelyn didn't turn red in unison with Layana. This time, he actually let out a soft laugh. Perhaps it was the moment of levity they both needed at this time, or maybe it was just a way of deflecting his attention away from the pain throbbing in his hand.
Either way, he grinned and said, "No, that doesn't sound fun at all. Let's try not to do that."
He gave her hand a soft squeeze and helped her back down to her seat before taking up the paddle. Though she had been the one paddling the last little while, he once again took the rower's seat and began pushing the oar through the water, and through the masses of jellyfish now swarming their boat. Slowly, the craft inched its way toward the rocky outcropping.
Jocelyn leaned forward and strained his eyes, squinting slightly in the sunlight as they neared. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at all: water lapped against the rocks, the tree's large palm fronds danced gently to the song of the ocean breeze.
A small dark lump caught his attention. Was that it? Was that the other wish bear, wedged in the shadow of the tree, between two mossy crags?
"I can smell the palm trees," Layana said, her attentions perking towards the island. She turned towards it, closing her eyes so that the lines from the scarf disappeared a moment for her to reflect on the familiarity of the island-
but then in that same moment of reverie, fear took her and she gasped and suddenly grabbed Jocelyn by the arm.
"We.. we need to hurry about this. If.. if anyone seems me get on shore..."
She bit her lip. Oh by the Gods, how would she explain it?!
Jocelyn nodded, though he still didn't understand her aversion with going back to shore. Perhaps he wouldn't have to find out now, seeing as how they were so close to reaching the next step in restoring her sight. Gently he guided the boat toward the outcropping, toward that mass sitting between the two rocks. It must've been lodged there the day before when the late afternoon tide was at its highest. As it were, it seemed to dangle six or seven feet above the water's surface right now, just at the very base of the solitary tree.
The jellyfish seemed to converge on the dark shape in massive abundance, nearly stopping the boat in its tracks as Jocelyn struggled to paddle through the sea of gelatin.
"Ugh... is it always like this here? These things are everywhere!"
Still, the boat inched closer and closer to the object and, when they were perhaps fifty or so feet away from it, Jocelyn perked up and nearly jumped out of his seat.
"THERE IT IS!"
The object was clearly wooden, with obvious carved marks along its back. And it was twice the size of Jeremy.
"Where?!" Layana exclaimed, and as she jerked her head up, she inadvertently smacked heads with Jocelyn. "Ouch!"
Rubbing at the top o fher head, she tried to look around. "Man, how do you see with this thing- it's giving me a head ache."A nd for a moment, she took off the scarf and rubbed at her closed eyes.
The back of her head was incredibly hard, despite the layers upon layers of soft golden hair piled up upon it. He winced and rubbed at his reddening forehead as the boat drifted to a stop, right beneath where the giant bear totem was firmly wedged into the rocks. With a frown, Jocelyn carefully dropped the paddle and climbed to his feet.
"You get used to it," he grunted as he reached up to the carved and painted wood. It was just out of reach. "And... when you're blind... it's better THAN NOTHING!"
Those last two words came out as a shout as he bent his knees and leaped straight up toward where the bear hung, wrapping his arms around its wooden frame and hanging mid-air with the totem, legs dangling wildly.
It was wedged in there firmly.
Layana sighed and rubbed a hand through her hair.
"Yeah, but it's also kinda itchy. Is this thing giving me a rash?" but before he could answer, she felt him spring from the boat. Gasping, she felt it rock wildly about int he waters and from the intensity of the push, it actually propelled it away from the shore- leaving Jocelyn dangling precariously over the jelly fish infested shore.
"J-jocelyn?" she said, and hastily scooped up the scarf and held it around her face. She glanced around, but not outline of him could be seen.
"Jocelyn?"
A triumphant grin spread across Jocelyn's face as he realized he was hadn't fallen back down. The bear's damp body was slippery, and so great in diameter, that he could wrap his arms around it but could not lock his hands together. Struggling mightily and kicking his legs in the air, he fought his way up. One foot found a ledge on one of the two rocks between which Tana-muk was wedged, and using it as leverage he was able to hoist himself up onto the bear.
Laying atop the totem now, on his belly with his arms firmly clinging on, he peered back down.
"I... I got a hold of it! Now to figure out how to dislodge it."
The boat was gone.
"...Layana?"
He looked up just in time to see the little dinghy float away from where he now dangled in midair, above a swirling mass of jellyfish crashing against the rocks with each wave.
"Hey! Come back here!"
Layana gasped the moment she realized the boat was floating away.
"Hang on!" she said, and took up the oar and began to paddle his way. She tried to head in the direction of his voice, and thankfully, the waves helped guide her.
"Just keeping calling out to me, Jocelyn!" she called. "It'll help me steer the boat!" She was blind after all, but as she began to get nearer to him, she tightened the clothe around her head befre peering up and gasping at the sight. The lines were a jumbled mess, but she assumed the movement she saw was him and not the fronds of the tree.
Jocelyn felt his grip beginning to slip, and readjusted his position on top of the giant bear totem, clinging on tightly lest he fall into the jellyfish pond.
"Over here! Yeah, that's it... a bit to the right. There you go," he called out to her as he watched the boat slowly drift its way back toward him, the blind girl desperately peering up in his general direction through the Cloth. The memory of his first time with the magical scarf crossed his mind, and suddenly he realized that he wouldn't wish blindness upon anyone.
This bear would solve all their problems, though. His eyes drifted back down to the bear now, and his curiosity took over. From what he could tell, there was a dormant magic lying within the wooden totem, its patterns very similar to Jeremy and yet somehow... different. The symbols carved down the back of this bear were, likewise, similar but different.
He began tracing the symbols that were closest to the ones he'd activated in turning on Jeremy. After the first pass, the bear remained inert. A frown crossed his face.
"I might need your magical powers up here."
As the boat rocked beneath him, Layana cringed.
"What are you doing, Jocelyn?" What did he mean magic?
"I don't.. I.. how am I even to get up here? Maybe you should come back down here.." and they could figure out a way to get her .. up there?
The whole idea of his location was just a frustrating mystery to her and turning her face a bit pink with impatience. She felt so useless and jittery.
Jocelyn tried tracing the runes on the bear's back again, to no avail. He frowned in frustration. How had they turned it on the first time? Did it require Layana's magic to get them started?
Sighing, he dropped back down into the boat when it floated beneath him, landing unceremoniously on his behind and letting out an "Ouch!"
He turned to Layana and shrugged his shoulders. "It's wedged in there pretty tight," he explained, "so we might have to wait until the tide rises before we can dislodge it."
With another sigh, he glanced back up at the bear. Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock.
There, high above the bear and standing at the edge of the cliff, a half-naked boy with a wooden spear was gaping back down at them.
Layana groaned.
"Really? We have to wait for the tides? That's going to be like, another twelve hours!" she groaned and threw herself at the side of the boat and wilted.
And she had no idea they were being watched- but just as quickly as he was spotted, the tribal boy took off into the brush.
Jocelyn's mouth hung open as he stared at the spot on the cliff, where the little boy had been.
Not good.
"Uhh... so, did you see that?"
Realizing that Layana had flopped down onto the side of the boat, having basically consigned herself to waiting for the tide to rise in the late afternoon, he reached over and tilted her chin up to face where he was looking.
"There was someone up there... a little boy."
"See what?" she grumbled. "DId you already forget I'm blind?" Boy was she in such a mood- but when he mentioned seeing someone else, her lips fell open.
"WHAT?!" she grabbed on suddenly to his shirt. "What do you mean you saw someone!?"
Jocelyn recoiled slightly when she snatched him by the shirt. She obviously was already in a foul mood, and he realized he might've just made it worse.
"Uhh... yeah. A little boy. He was looking down at us, and now he's gone."
He held up his palms in innocence. As if that would help...
Layana gaped.
"Shit!"
And she slapped a hand over her lips.
"Er... sorry." She was normally not one to swear but...
Frantically, she looked towards the shore.
"Which way did he go!?"
As if she could make chase...
Jocelyn strained his neck up to where he'd seen the boy, up on the rock face above where their boat now floated. No sign of life there.
"I don't know, he must've run back into the jungle."
From the sound of her panicked voice, being spotted by one of the natives clearly wasn't part of her agenda. He snatched up the wooden oar and stood now, poking at the bear wedged between the rocks, trying to dislodge it. The quicker they got their wish from the totem, the quicker they could put all these surprises behind them.
"C'mon, you stupid thing, budge!"
Layana's heart was racing a mile a minute. Gods, someone saw her- no doubt anyone on this side of the island knew who she was, and the child was probably rushing back to the tribe to deliver the news. She cringed, feeling numbed to this realty, even as Jocelyn continued to whack at the bear totem with his oar.
"We... we probably should get out of here.." she whispered. "Before.. before my tribe comes to see me so close to shore."
Jocelyn gave a quick glance over his shoulder at Layana before going back to poking and prodding at the bear. If the waves had wedged it firmly between these two rocks, then certainly there was a way for him to dislodge it.
"What, are you kidding me? And just leave this totem here? If they come back, they'll grab it for themselves and then we're out of luck. No, we need to get this thing now so we can fix you."
With a forceful grunt, he jammed the oar hard up into a small gap between the bear and the rock, firmly wedging the wooden oar up there as well. Great, now both her stuck.
"How far away is your village?" he questioned her as he struggled with the totem. "Maybe we still have a bit of time."
The more he pried at the bear, the more it seemed to be stuck. Until, at last, it budged just the slightest bit. Jocelyn's eyes lit up.
"I think I've got it!"
"It's nestled into the mountain side, but no more than half an hour's walk from here." She frowned and peered up at Jocelyn, the noise he was making quickly irritating her.
"Can you knock that out? What if we end up breaking the bear?" Or worse!
Jocelyn wrestled with the stuck oar, grunting as he tried to pry it (and the bear) out of the rock face.
"It won't break. Whoever made these things meant for them to last forever... or until the wish is used up, I guess." He still remembered Jeremy disintegrating.
The oar seemed to be stuck firmly now, and so Jocelyn jumped up to grab a hold of it. He dangled several inches above the boat and hung there, looking like he was floating for a moment. And then with a loud -SNAP- the oar broke. With a surprised cry, Jocelyn came crashing back down into the boat, cracking the back of his head on the damp seat.
A second later, the bear finally became dislodged and came crashing down into the opposite end of the boat, nearly overturning it and throwing its occupants overboard. The sea of jellyfish seemed to part for just a second, revealing the blue water of the ocean. Then slowly they began wriggling and writhing their way around the boat again.
The giant bear lay on its side in the boat. Slowly, its eyes flickered to life with a dim blue glow.
"Ouch."
As the boat rocked up and down in the settling waters, Layana clung desperately onto the lips of the boat until her knuckles turned white. And the voice that came well after Jocelyn's landing sent a chill up her spine.
Hesitantly, she reached a hand forward, and was surprised to find the bizarre lines were that of a bear- much larger than Jeremy- and her voice caught in her throat as she strained her neck to peer up into it's face- barely catching an outlined glimpse of the bear's shining eyes.
"By the spirits.." Another bear totem lived!
Jocelyn lay there in the bottom of the boat groaning, his head pounding from where it'd just bounced off the seat. All he saw above him was clear blue sky, gulls lazily circling overhead and calling out with their cries. And even that was a bit blurry; the impact had brought water to his eyes.
The bear's eyes glowed more strongly now as a similarly multi-layered monotone voice emanated from the wooden totem, much like how Jeremy had spoken to them earlier.
"If you truly value the spirits and are in awe of them, then turn me right side up," the voice said. Apparently this bigger bear had more personality and sass than the smaller Jeremy.
"Who is it that wakens Tana-muk? Is it him, the man who lies under the sun? Or is it you, the one who bears the mark of Tan'nuh-ku, my brother?"
As if on cue, the symbol seemingly burnt into Layana's forehead also began to glow softly.
Layana let out a gasp as she felt the mark on her forehead glow. It was an odd sensation, and her jaw was left gaping open. She had no idea what to even say to his, but eventually she murmured.
"B-both of us. We... we seek a wish.."
But she was trembling too much to say anything else, or even try to turn Tana-muk right side up.
"A wish? Tan'nuh-ku has granted you a wish already. Who are you to seek more of us?"
If a wooden bear could sound angry, its words might have seemed that way. As it were, that monotone voice really left a lot to the imagination as those blue eyes glowed softly.
Jocelyn finally found it in him to sit up, groaning again and rubbing the back of his head. His winced slightly at the touch; there was a nice welt growing there now. He turned toward the bear... and his jaw dropped again. This bear's magical signature was even more complex and wondrous as Jeremy's, and for a moment he forgot where he was.
And then shaking his head, he looked to Layana, then back to the bear. Sliding himself forward, he went about turning the wooden totem upright. This one was twice the size as the last, and twice as heavy. It took quite an effort for him to accomplish the task, all the while saying, "That's the point, we're trying to undo the last wish if that's possible."
(Happy 300th)
Once he was righted, the bears eyes fluttered a bit- off, then on.
Once they remained on, however, that was an obvious hum emitted from his ancient, wooden body.
"Tana-muk can not undo wishes," he told them, irritably.
"But the last one was a mistake!" Layana said desperately, and scrambled to be near Jocelyn's side. "We never wished for this- for my eye sight to be taken- is there nothing we can do to fix this?"
The bears eyes continued to glow, but he said nothing, and Layana trembled, whimpering slightly against Jocelyn as she peered at the bear, desperately.
"Please..." she spoke, a few tears slipping out from beneath her veil-
but that's when the bear's eyes went out and Layana dropped to her knees and sobbed.
Jocelyn scowled then as Layana broke down into tears. He placed his arms around her shoulders from behind and held her close even as he glared at the bear totem.
"Can't undo wishes? What, is that some sort of technicality? Do we have to wish for a new wish? Answer us!"
For a brief second it looked like the bear's eyes flickered to life again. But it said nothing.
"We... we should just go.." Layana whispered after a time. She brushed at the tears beneath the scarf.
"I.. I can't linger at the shore- and someone's already seen us." ANd she paused a moment before pleading, "Please."
Jocelyn continued to stare at the bear, waiting for a response. But finally, when he realized that it was futile for the moment, he sat down heavily and picked up the broken oar.
Rowing with half a paddle presented some difficulties, the hardest of which was getting deep enough into the water to gain any traction, while avoiding the jellyfish that still lingered around the boat. More than once he winced and flinched when a rogue jellyfish stinger caught him by surprise. By the time he'd paddled the boat well out into the calm sea, the shore just a blurry line in the distance, his right hand was red and swollen.
The bear sat unmoving at the other end of the boat. Alarmingly, the jellyfish followed the boat out even this far, perhaps drawn to the dormant wish totem.
Layana had grown miserably quiet in their time returning back to the sea. She still had an entire day to endure after this; and already she was wishing this to be all some sort of a bad dream. But here she was, somehow in a boat with a new friend- and a useless wishing bear. After sometime, she gave the bear an angered kick before turning away.
"Wake me up when tomorrow's over," she said, and curled up into the only space provided left to them at the bottom of the small boat that the dumb wish bear hadn't taken up. She gave a huff, then closed her eyes behind the seeing viel, before eventually, she angrily removed that from her face as well.
"Goodnight, Jocelyn," she said in a huff.
Though the sun hadn't set quite yet- she had had enough of this day!
Jocelyn sat there silently as Layana curled up in a miserable heat. He watched her and, somehow, could not shake the feeling that he was a stroke of bad luck in this girl's life. The bear sat unmoving, its long shadow cast over her huddled little frame.
"Good night," he mumbled in a low voice. I'll have this fixed before the morning.
With the sun setting and the evening winds starting to pick up, Jocelyn removed the shirt from his head and replaced it over his body. And then he snatched up that soggy, discarded scroll from the bottom of the boat and went back to studying it.
The boat swayed slightly among the teeming jellyfish. As darkness swept across the skies and the stars began appearing one by one, the jellyfish began to exude a soft blue bioluminescence. It caught Jocelyn by surprise at first, as he stared at the wondrous sight. But after a while, he realized that they provided him enough light to work. Sliding over beside the bear, he continued to search for answers.
Layana moved about fitfully.S he couldn't remain asleep if she tried, to groggily, she sat up, her blonde hair a mess about her face as she stifled a yawn. She rubbed at her eyes, and heard the rustling of paper, but couldn't make out Jocelyn's form with the magical scarf now removed from her head.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to read?" she wrinkled her nose. "Isn't it night?"
Wouldn't it be difficult for him to do?
Jocelyn had been poring over the bear and the scroll for the better part of the night. And though the combinations of runes he traced along the totem's back produced no discernible results, he could tell that he was getting closer to the answers.
Layana's voice caught him by surprise and he almost jumped out of his seat. Turning around to see it was her, he breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were sleeping..."
He gestured around the boat before realizing that the seeing veil wasn't wrapped around her eyes. Dropping his hand with an embarrassed look on his face, he instead shrugged and said, "There's plenty of light. The jellyfish are providing it."
As if to punctuate what he said, the jellyfish continued to float around the boat, their soft luminescence pulsing like a giant heartbeat.
At the news of the jealous, she gasped.
"We're still near the shore!? I thought we paddled out into the ocean!"
Jocelyn frowned as he looked back up from the scroll once more. He knew he shouldn't get irritated, especially since he was working to fix his own transgressions. But when he was so focused on what he was doing, sometimes interruptions really got to him.
"No, we're well away from shore," he answered in a carefully measured tone. "They followed us."
Layana made a face.
"What do you mean they followed us?"
Jocelyn frowned and finally set the scroll down on the seat beside him.
"I mean they followed us. You know, as in I rowed the boat out this far and they swam with us. Put the Cloth back on and take a peek for yourself. They're everywhere."
"What!?" Her jaw dropped and instinctively, her hands groped around to seek the clothe- but only found an awkward handful of his pants. "Er.." she grit her teeth and tucked back some of her blonde hair. "Perhaps you'd best find it." She said, sheepishly, cheeks turning bright red.
Jocelyn froze when she grabbed a handful of his pants, and nearly dropped the scroll he was holding. Pressing his mouth together in embarrassment and turning a bit red, he quickly reached over and snatched up the seeing veil from its place at the bottom of the boat.
Sliding closer to Layana, he slipped the cloth back over her eyes and then gently turned her head to face the water's surface.
"Look, there's just as many out here as there were back on shore. You probably can't see it, but I promise you, we are waaaay out to sea."
Layana was tense,a nd felt awkward she needed to be guided by him; and she didn't even bother to look at the jellyfish as she just bobbed her head.
"Y-yeah.." she said, swiping hair from her from. "Way out at sea...." and her words drifted away like how her uneasy smile faded into a frown.
And though she didn't speak it, the unspoken question was there as she stared over at the ocean, the sea a mixture of moving lines that made her head spin. She defeatedly, she removed the veil and handed it back to him.
"I don't think I need this right now," she told him before finding her way back to the seat as she sighed nad hugged her legs close to her chest.
Jocelyn took the seeing veil into his free hand and stared down at it. He certainly remembered the first time putting it on. He'd almost cried for a week. Nobody liked change.
Slowly, the look of frustration on his face softened as he gazed back over to her huddled form.
"I'm getting close. I can feel it. Soon, I'll have this bear awake and tossing wishes left and right for us."
As much as she knew he was trying to comfort her, Layana gave a grumble and shake of her head.
"We'll be lucky if it'll even grant us one," she muttered.
"One is all we need," he responded with a tone of finality to it, giving her one last forlorn look before setting the veil down in his lap. He picked up the scroll again and went back to work studying the symbols.
After a while though, Jocelyn had to reach up and rub the back of his head. If there was one thing that this newfound vision gave him, it was a headache. With a frown and a soft exhale, he looked back down at the Cloth.
Maybe...
Picking it up, he wrapped it around his head and was instantly greeted with the familiarity of grey lines. It was somehow comforting for him. With a smirk and a quiet "Hmm." he went back to running his fingers along the bear totem.
He didn't know how long he poked and prodded the bear, but he must've done something right. On his last pass over the symbols along the bear's back, tracing perhaps the hundredth pattern he'd traced that evening, he suddenly detected the faint stirrings of magic within the totem.
"Oh shit," he said half to himself as he sat up straight, before realizing he'd cursed in front of Layana. Pressing a hand over his mouth, he continued to watch the bear as the magical energies began coalescing.
All around them, the jellyfish began to get restless.
Upon hearing his voice, Layana perked up.
"W-what now?" But she felt uneasy, and a breeze picked up from the south- Winds never picked up from the south.
"What is it you desire, follower of sun?" the bear asked, it's eyes flaring as it awoke. "Tana-muk was sleeping." In fact, it sounded as if the bear still wanted to sleep.
As soon as the bear spoke, Jocelyn scrambled to Layana's side. He quickly tore the veil off his head and clumsily pressed into her hand so that she could see, if she so wished it. All the while, he kept his own eyes on the glowing blue orbs on the carved totem.
"Okay, sorry to wake you, but... we want to undo the last bear's wish. Or make a wish, whatever. The point is, we have requests."
The bear's eyes remained glowing even as it sat there silently. The wind picked up just a bit, sending the boat rocking left and right. The mass of jellyfish around their boat seemed to disperse for a few seconds, letting the craft float on actual water, before converging again.
Finally, a low rumble emanated from the bear, an unnatural sound that seemed like what one would have imagined if the magical totem was huffing.
"No. Tana-muk does not grant wishes to you. Not until Tan'nuh-ku is free."
Jocelyn's brow raised slightly. "Wait, what?"
"...Daughter of sun. She has stolen Tan'nuh-ku."
Layana had barely fastened the veil over her eyes when she heard the claim coming from the bear. And she snapped.
"WHAT!?" Frazzled, the girl positively hissed. "What do you mean, stolen!?" She sneered. "I had nothing to with it!" Little did she know the totem bear was going on about the mark burned onto her head.
Jocelyn raised his hand. "I, ah... I dug you up."
The bear's eyes flashed again, and the jellyfish began to wriggle and writhe frantically against the boat, making it rock back and forth on top of the gelatinous mass.
"Daughter of sun has stolen Tan'nuh-ku. She keeps him imprisoned now. Free Tan'nuk-ku, and Tana-muk may grant your wish."
Layana let out a grasp and clung desperately to the boat. The last thing she wanted to have happen would be to be thrown into the water with the jelly fish! But at his demands, she gave an exasperated gasp.
"FREE HIM!? BUT I DIDN'T DO Anything! ARGH! This is crazy!" and she sat up suddenly and looked about ready to strike the damn wooden statue bear- wishes be damned!
When Layana sat up in anger, the bear's eyes flashed dangerously bright as though it matched her frustration with its own ire. The boat rocked violently back and forth as the jellyfish went into a frenzy and a strong wind swirled all around them in the darkness.
"You bear the mark of Tan'nuh-ku. You stole his essence. Tana-muk will be obeyed... or you will remain blind FOREVER."
Layana's jaw dropped open. The bear held such ferocity- for being something wooden (nor something she could even seen). Cringing, she stood there, trembling a moment in anger before she released a frustrated breath.
"But I told you I don't know what you're talking about!"
And it was evident in the strain in her voice the poor girl was on the verge of tears.
"You bear the mark of Tan'nuh-ku. You stole his essence," the voice repeated, this time a little quicker and more urgently, as though the bear spirit was getting annoyed.
"Children of sun. One was wish maker, one was wish giver. Tan'nuh-ku granted the wish, and Tan'nuh-ku was spent. He will not be free until it is given back."
Jocelyn rubbed the back of his neck, trying to make sense of it. Of course, when it came to these stupid cryptic bears, none of it made sense. He leaned forward and stared into the glowing eyes of the wooden totem. The brightness hurt his eyes to the point of him squinting.
"So if I give the wish back, Jeremy goes free, and THEN you grant us our next wish?" he asked tentatively.
"...Finally you understand," came the monotone, layered voice.
Except, Jocelyn didn't understand. His frown grew deeper as he turned questioningly to Layana.
Layana nudged Jocelyn.
"Well?" she said, expectantly. "Give the bear his wish back!"
Jocelyn turned to the wish bear now, and firmly said, "Right. I wish to give my wish back."
"It is as though you are not even trying," the bear said in irritation. The sea of jellyfish trembled as if matching the bear.
Jocelyn's jaw dropped and he held out his hands in exasperation. "Well then tell me what I have to do! Stop dancing around with your puzzles and your cryptic whatevers."
Layana groaned.
"Why does this wooden bear have such an attitude problem? Just tell us what to do!" Layana screamed in anguish.
The bear's eyes flared.
"Tana-muk can not dance. He is made of wood."
"Well that's obvious," Layana growled, feeling herself coming to the end of her patience.
"I told you what to do. I sleep now."
Layana's face fell.
"WHAT!? Don't you dare go to sleep! You haven't even answered us yet!"
"Tana-muk is tired. You can ask me after my slumber."
And the wooden bear went quiet again.
"Whoa wait, where are you... NO! WAKE UP!" Jocelyn shouted as the bear's eyes blinked out. He received no response.
With a frustrated curse he sat back down heavily in the boat, face buried in his hands. They'd gotten an answer out of a bear and, as usual, it had provided absolutely nothing helpful. He was at wit's end.
"Well, I guess now we just need to figure out how I can give your wish back," he muttered through his fingers.
Layana hunched over sourly from the boat's bench and hugged her knees to her chest. She felt and looked awful, and after a while, she gave one sandal footed kick to Tana-muk.
"Stupid wish bear," she said, and trying to sniffle back some tears, but it was too late. Her eyes were already blurred over by them as she idly tried to brush some away with a frustrated sigh.
The silence between them lingered long after the morning sun broke and began is ascent into the blue sky. The jellyfish continued to inexplicably dance around them, though their numbers seemed to have diminished ever since the wish bear went back to sleep.
Jocelyn wiped down his brow with a forearm, feeling the sun beating down heavily on him. It might've been his imagination, but his skin felt a bit raw. Perhaps he was sunburned.
Finally, though, he broke the silence with a soft, "At least it's almost been three days. Then we can get you back to your house."
Layana cringed at the notion.
"Yeah... great news,"s he mumbled and turned away from him to sulk more in silence.
Jocelyn sighed and sat back, unsure of what else to say. Her demeanor was starting to wear thin on him, but he couldn't exactly blame her for it. After all, it was somehow his fault.
He opened his mouth to say something, but the words caught in his throat.
There in the distance, on the shore, stood two little figures peering out toward them. Then a third joined them. Then a fourth.
After a while of moping, Layana finally conceded to her fate.
"Alright, alright. We should just head back into shore," she muttered. There was no sense putting off the inevitable.
In an ironic twist of events, now it was Jocelyn's turn to hesitate at the idea of heading back to shore.
"Uhhh," he said, fumbling to find the right words. In this situation, though, nothing he said could be right. "It looks like there are people gathering ashore."
"What!?" Layana barked, jumped up suddenly as she peered towards the shore.
"Don't dock there! In fact, paddle us out back into the ocean! Hurry!"
She could NOT be found like this! She was still blind! And what about the mark on her forehead?
"Wait, WHAT?" Jocelyn said, giving her an incredulous look. He picked up what was left of the oar and dipped it into the water, but refrained from actually paddling for now. She kept acting funny about going back to dry land. And she'd kept insisting that she not be seen.
And then it suddenly hit him. He leaned forward a bit, peering at her.
"Are you an exile?"
Layana turned to him with a gasp.
"What!? NO!" she exclaimed, making a face. "It's just that I.." nd here, she began to wring her hands. "I.. well, how am I to explain you? And the mark- and and and.. the paint on my body!" No doubt a lot of it had rubbed away! She shook her head. "No! I need time to.. to prepare! Before I can go back!" she huffed, then commanded. "JUST DON"T QUESTION IT AND ROW!"
Jocelyn blinked and then frowned, an angry look spreading over his features. The nerve of this girl.
He said nothing though, but only let out a gruff exhale and an inaudible mutter under his breath before dipping the broken oar into the jellyfish waters. The boat started trekking away from shore.
Nervously her fingers gripped onto the sides of the boat, and with a bated breath, she waited until several moments had passed before asking, "Can you still see them? On the shore?"
Jocelyn stopped paddling for a moment, squinting to peer ashore. They were so far away now, and his eyes still weren't used to adjusting between far and near.
But it was quite obvious that those little dots on the sand were people. There was a small crowd by now, at least half a dozen.
"Looks like it," he admitted in a quiet voice.
Layana blanched.
"Here... let.. let me help row. Let me know when they are finally out of view." She said, and took the oar and began to guide them away at a hasty speed.
"There might be five of them? Maybe six and --- HEY!"
Jocelyn shot her a raised brow as she snatched the half-oar out of his hand and began furiously paddling away from the crowd gathered ashore. He didn't argue though, instead sitting back in his seat and watching the coast get farther and farther away.
"You realize that eventually you're going to have to go back, right? We haven't eaten or had water in two days now, and frankly I don't know how we're still alive..."
After a long moment of rowing, she finally turned towards Jocelyn, her face pink and wrinkled with desperation.
"I... I know that,"s he said quietly, her lips trembling. "Once... once we're clear of shore, help me guide it back into shore. Near the jelly fish maybe, just not where we were before. i.. I still need to figure out how to explain this." And she pointed to the mark on her forehead, then gestured to the blind fold. "And this." ANd then a hand went out to him.
"And you."
"How bad could it be?" Jocelyn asked, glancing down at himself. His shirt used to be white, but now with three days worth of sea salt and sunlight, it was beginning to fade.
"I mean, I look pretty much the same as you. If anything, your people will take me in with open arms, right?"
He frowned. "...right?"
Layana frowned.
"There's... complications about folks like us," she began, fighting off a cringe. "Let's just say that blonde hair and fair skin isn't exactly the norm..."
And they sort of, you know, thought she was a magical goddess.
Jocelyn rubbed the back of his head, trying to think. What was her tribe like? What was her role in it? Given everything he knew of her, it seemed more and more likely that she was some sort of outcast, adrift in the middle of the ocean for a reason.
"If it's not the norm, then at least they'll have something new to talk about," he suggested under his breath, trying to find something good out of this whole situation. And like they were on the whole issue of that sleeping bear, on the other end of the boat, he was running out of ideas.
Layana bit her tongue.
Should she tell him? He'd find out one way or another...
but what if.. oh Goddess, no! There was no way in Heck she could get him to believe what the people of the island believed-
and she had been so young when she just allowed them to say all of those things about her..
and now it was biting her in the ass.
"Maybe you shouldn't come with me..." she said quietly.
"Shouldn't come with you?" Jocelyn said with an incredulous look. "You've been building up your tribe for three days now, and you've got my curiosity all wild. Of course I'm coming with you!"
He gestured to the bear and added, "Besides, you can't carry that thing yourself."
"Who said I was carrying that bear thing!? You can keep it for yourself!" she snapped. "And how would I explain all of this? No! No! It just can't be done!" Oh the sort of a head ache it would be! It was best she just leave Jocelyn here..
On the boat..
And only after she thought of it more thoroughly did she realize how foolish that was.
A slight frown crossed Jocelyn's face, though he realized after the fact that she wouldn't be able to see his expression. It occurred to him how nice it was, to not be able to see people's emotions and not have to consider what they were thinking at the moment. In an odd way, he missed his blindness.
"Fine, then," he answered. "You can just drop me back off where my ship wrecked, and I'll stay there. If I find a way to awaken this bear, then I'll come find you and your tribe. It couldn't be that hard, right?"
The very idea made Layana's heart leap.
"Oh, you mustn't!"s he said, her hands suddenly finding his in a blind and desperate grope. "What if the bear awakens something more terrible?" Because being blind was bad enough- she didn't want something else to happen to her that could make this situation any less desirable!
"And what if it awakens and decides to give your sight back?"
And return his blindness to him. He shuddered at the thought, but swallowed away his trepidation. It was something that needed to be done.
"What else am I supposed to do? I can't stay on a boat for the rest of my life. That life would be very short."
Layana frowned. Oh, whatever were they to do?! He had a very good point- and a realistic one, and that made her sigh.
"Why... why don't we just make port at night... somewhere further up the coast line," she began, playing wtih a twisting piece of her gold hair. "And bring the bear on shore and go from there?"
She had no real plan on this- except she knew she was so NOT ready to meet with the tribe yet- at least not face to face...
Jocelyn's deep frown softened somewhat at the look of uncertainty on her face. He was at his wit's end, but she was the real victim here. With a firm nod, he glanced to the bear and answered, "That sounds like a plan. We'll go with that."
And so it was just that way- the pair took their turns paddling Northward, along the shores until the sun had finally set and only then, when the coolness of night settled upon them did she turn to Jocelyn.
"Okay.." she said softly. "Let's row up to the beach and dock there."
Jocelyn nodded his head and took the half-paddle from her. With the sun having dipped past the horizon, the waters were overcast by a quickly fading purple sky. And soon enough, the waters were pitch black save for the lapping of it against the side of the boat.
And of course, the luminescent bed of jellyfish that still followed the little boat as it neared the northern shore. There was a small stretch of beach jutting out from the main island, and the jellyfish wriggled and writhed as they followed the boat there.
It took some effort and some nimble footwork, but at the end Jocelyn was just able to leap past the jellyfish and into the ankle-deep waters before dragging the boat -and its occupants- ashore.
Sand had never felt so good.
Feeling the beach beneath the boat, she moved to step out, bare feet delicately pressing into the cooling, wet sands. She said hardly a word, and helped him drag in the boat as far as it could go before sighing and peering down at it through the enchanted veil.
"I suppose we can leave the boat here... and make our way further into shore." And though she spoke the words, they were soft, and barely audible over the winds. She fidgeted with the hem of her dress nd chewed nervously on her lip. By the spirits, she needed to think of a plan and quick!
Jocelyn nodded before plucking the bear out of the boat. It was one thing to shift it around the inside of the craft, but it was another thing entirely to actually carry the wooden totem. It was twice the size of the first bear, and just as heavy.
"You'll have to lead the way," he grunted, trying to get a good grip around the carved bear. He was strong, but the bear was awkwardly shaped. "I'll just get lost."
Layana made a face.
"I don't know how much help I'll be. It's dizzying to try to make out what's what with this blind fold. ALl of the trees and foliage look like a bunch of scribbly lines you'd draw in the sands!"
At that, Jocelyn finally had to laugh. He'd heard that before, but only now did he really realize what that description meant, having been able to see the world for real.
"It's tough in trees," he admitted as he trudged barefoot across the sand. "You have to focus hard on the trunks. A good way is to not look up, but keep your eyes on the tree bases."
Layana tried to focus her eyes, but it was proving difficult. And after just a few steps in, she angrily tore off the veil and dropped down onto the plush grasses and dirt.
"Oh! This thing is giving me a head ache!" And for all she knew, despite having not traveled that much further into land- the two could be impossibly lost already!
Jocelyn stopped then too, with a backward glance. Silently he was thankful that she stopped, because carrying this heavy bear through the knotted jungle would probably have broken his back.
Setting the bear down on the soft dirt, he took a seat on a fallen log nearby where Layana had dropped. "Look, take your time. Time's all we got anyway, right? We just spent three days in a boat, maybe we should just camp out here and try again in the morning."
Layana sighed frustratedly and buried her face into her hands.
"Ugh, this is so complicated,"s he groaned. For she knew time was running out and she had to explain this all to Jocelyn BEFORE they reached the village. "Look I uh... there's something I have to tell you." And she wasn't sure exactly how to put this either. "The villagers, those that I live with... well... you see, they found me on the beaches, and since they had never seen anyone with my fair hair and skin well they... sort of thought i was.. um.. unique."
That was mildly putting it.
Jocelyn peered over at her, clearly not understanding the hints. After all, the way she said it sounded so logical. She was a foreigner on these shores.
"Okay? So they look at you differently because you have golden hair and fair skin. I'd say that is pretty unique around these parts."
Well, now there were two of them.
"Well.." Layana begin, drawing in a careful breath and taking her time as she thought over just HOW to present this.And this is what tumbled out of her mouth,
"Well, you see the thing of it was I should have been killed right? My family was in a shipwreck and it seems I'm the only one that survived. I woke up on shore and the villagers here took to me. They were awed not just because I looked different, but my.. my magics were different than theirs. I could heal, and I healed my own wounds. ANd they were impressed. They called me a goddess, and a first I sort of didn't really believe they'd think I'd be some sort of goddess.. " she went on, twirling a finger through her hair nervously. "But then they kept saying, it... YOu know? Like over pork roasts and dances and even during prayer time. I twas so weird, so when I tried to explain that I wasn't, you kjnow, a goddess..." And here she sighed and swiped away he rlong blonde hair from her face.
"They somehow just believed it even more, and so now i've been stuck living out here for who knows how long, playing it up to their whims- because later, I find out well.... those that decieved the clan. Well, they sort of behead you. And ram your beheaded head on a spear- and sort of leave you out for the vultures to eat your eyes out. Then they scalp you and burn your hair over the fires and curse your name. And your body? Well, good luck finding that in the sea after they bleed it out and feed it to the piranha!"
But turning ot Jocelyn, she took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
"It's why.. I'm.. I'm not sure how they'll handle you." She shook her head. "Either it could go badly, or not so badly- but if they realize I'm not a goddess.."S he winced, not even WANTING to think of those consequences. She didn't want to lose her head!
Jocelyn remained quiet as she related her tale to him. A slight frown crossed his face and, for a moment, he thought that the last thing this girl needed to see what his perturbed look. But then he remembered that she couldn't see him.
"So," he said slowly, once she was finished. "You've been playing a goddess with this tribe of yours all these years? Are they going to think I'm a god as well?"
That, or they would chop both their heads off. Suddenly, he wanted to get off this island as quickly as possible.
"I.." Layana croaked. "I... do not know. They could see you as a God, or something else. But it certainly will stir up some sort of interest in my people." She just wasn't sure if this interest would be good.. or bad.
"Well I certainly don't have any magic so to speak," Jocelyn replied with a frown, sliding forward to plop down on the soft sand and lean his back against the log. The thought of building a fire crossed his mind, until he realized the light would show for miles.
"So... if I can't do anything special, they'll clearly know I'm no God. I mean, I can see magic, I just can't do magic."
Layana frowned a bit at this.
"Y-yes.."s he said, but her voice didn't sound as convincing as her words. "Maybe they won't." And as she played with the hem of her skirts, she gasped and turned to him.
"My skin- does.. does it still look.. look... golden to you?"
Shoot! If she went back and she looked like she had come out of a ship wreck... what would they believe of her then!?
Jocelyn frowned as he peered at her skin. It looked different from before, when it had positively shimmered from the gold paint. He reached out and brushed a finger against her arm, but it'd long ago washed away.
"No. Now it's just..." he began, though he couldn't know what color it was. Brown? "Well, it's skin colored."
Layana visibly pouted, those jutting lips trembling at the realization.
"And I'm blind! And I've got this mark on my face that that.. for all I know is some sort of curse.. Gods!" She threw her arms up into the air and began to storm away. "This is never going to work! I can't face them looking like this!" And she began to sob as she ran, finding herself tripping on the trail before her- for she no longer wore the veil that frustrated her, and was not familiar enough with these lands to know what each step would be like unseen. And to the ground she went, sobbing at her own impotence.
Jocelyn watched her blindly run off in hysteria before collapsing into a weeping pile. It took him a moment before he could lift himself off the log and gingerly step over to where she was crying.
"Come on, let's get you some rest," he said softly as he knelt beside her, hands placed on her heaving shoulders to lift her back up. "I'll go rummage up some food, and then we'll figure this whole mess out before I bring you back to your village."
"You don't understand!" she sobbed, shaking her head frantically. "Maybe we should just... go back to the boat." But even at such an idea she knew it was ridiculous. They couldn't stay there. She was hungry, she was starved, and she needed desperately a drink of water.
After finally giving a defeated nod of her head, she sighed and turned to him.
"Y-yes.. maybe after we.. we eat something, get some fresh water to drink, we can come up with a better plan."
Yes.. she hadn't eaten or drank a thing in days after all!
"That's the spirit," Jocelyn said in a soft voice before pressing the white cloth back into her hand and closing the fingers. Perhaps she wasn't ready to put it back on just yet, and see the black and white reminder of their trials and tribulations.
Him, on the other hand, had a whole new world of color to explore. He'd survived in the wilderness before, albeit using that same white cloth now clutched in Layana's hands. Having the gift of sight though... this was something new entirely. It took him a moment to even get his bearings before he stepped off into the brush in search of a sturdy fallen branch with which he might fashion a crude spear. These waters were teeming with fish (and jellyfish) and he was certain they'd be eating in no time.
Layana took the cloth and squeezed it between her fingers, still too hesitant to put it on.
"I'm not sure how much help I can be. Without my sight.... I feel just useless," she sighed.
"You've helped me enough," Jocelyn called over his shoulder once he'd found a nice long sturdy branch and a jagged rock with which to sharpen it. "I'll do the work this time."
With actual sight on his side, everything seemed to go that much faster, and in no time the stick had a nice pointy end to it. Tossing the rock aside, he made his way back toward the shore, where the jellyfish were still lightly frothing around their beached craft.
Layana stayed close, fearful that if she were to get separated, she might be lost forever. But as they neared the beach,s he found herself inquiring, "So... have you ever done this before? Hunting and fishing, I mean."
"Not fishing," he admitted as he peered out into the ocean. Just being able to see those little silhouettes of fish as they darted near the shoreline and then back out had his breath catching in his throat. With his blindness, he'd never been able to look into water for very long.
"I have hunted on land before, though accompanied by others. Down in the Kishahn, in the jungle. I'm not the best at it, but I make the effort."
"Oh? So you aim to hunt some boar?" she said, peering up at him curiously. "They tend to stick near the brush, or deeper inland, near the lush valleys beside the rivers. Find a river, I'm sure a boar will be near." Though it seemed it might be a bit much of food- normally a board could feed about half of her village, well..
If they caught a large one, that is.
"Something like that," Jocelyn answered as he continued to peer down at the water, watching the shadows dart around. Those were fish, right?"
"I could try my luck with that, if you want to make the trek inland."
Layana bit her lip. She wasn't certain what she wanted to do. She was already on edge and feeling miserable.
"What... whatever's easiest," she told him, mumbling.
"Nothing is ever easy for me," he said with a slight chuckle at the irony of it. Things were so much easier now."
He gave the fish one last look before turning and trudging his bare wet feet back up the sand bank toward where they'd left the bears. "Stay here, I guess? I'll go see if I can find us some food. Or you could come with, but you'll have to put that scarf back on."
Layana held her breath. She knew she was useless one way or another, but being left behidn was certainly not sitting well with her.
"I'll take my chances with you and the scarf," she said, groping until she found his arm and clung to it, then brought the sheet out with a sigh before lifting it up and pressing the fabric over her eyes- and the magical lines appeared again, and she could see. And the first thing that came into focus was the shape of his face, and she had almost forgotten he had quite a nice shaped face- a good jaw, a nice nose, kissable lips-
Wait, what? Did she just think of that? Blushing, she looked away, eyes to her feet as she tucked back some blonde hair.
"So... a fishing we a go?" she inquired, adding in an obvious, forced and nervous laugh.
The moment she grabbed onto his arm, Jocelyn glanced down at her. For a second he gazed directly into where her eyes hid behind that shimmering white cloth -- before remembering that, with it on, she could see him as well. He only caught the tail-end of her blush as he also looked away and turned slightly red.
"Ah, yes," he replied with a nervous laugh, equally embarrassed at having been caught staring at her. Hers was the first face he'd ever seen, and he wouldn't admit it but it was quite pleasing to his new eyes. It'd sent his heart leaping into his throat, and the feeling was sort of uncomfortable.
Inwardly cursing himself, he added, "Let's see what I can wrangle up."
Fishing was completely knew to him and the first few jabs of his spear resulted in nothing but a splash of salt water over his shirt and pants. He was a quick learner though, and eventually, he let out a shout and a whoop.
"GOT ONE!" he called emphatically to Layana as he held up the spear with a small fish wriggling against its sharpened end.
While Jocelyn tried his luck at fishing, Layana remained on shore, perched upon a rock and nervous digging both toes and fingers into the crags as she leaned forward. She tried to observe his actions as best she could, and his outline looked rather nice in form with the way the lines from the magic of the scarf hugged at his body. But she sighed, realizing she'd never lay eyes upon him again, and began to deflate in the moment- that was, until he exclaimed his triumphant and she was taken completely off guard, and with a yelp, Layana fell face first into the water.
Jocelyn's expression turned from one of pride to one of shock as Layana plunged face-first into the waters below her. With a wince at the splash, he tossed the spear, fish still wriggling desperately on its point, onto the shore before wading his way through the waters toward her. The sea used to frighten him because he couldn't properly discern those watery shapes with his magical blindfold. Now with actual sight, it seemed less intimidating.
The water into which Layana had fallen only came up to his chest, thankfully, as he reached her splashing form and plucked her out of the water and into his arms.
"Whoa, whoa... I've got you," he said.
Layana looked like a drowned rat- a blonde drowned rat with clothing suctioning to her tightly and appearing basically translucent as she shivered and sputtered out water.
"By the Gods, I never thought I'd find myself so foolish to flounder in the water like that!" she said, still sputtering out great mouthfuls of salt water when at last she gagged and shivered again. But at least she was okay- and hadn't, well, drowned- because that would have been immensely embarrassing! Not to mention she'd be, well, dead.
"You know, I had hoped not to go back into the water tonight," Jocelyn replied with a slight laugh. "But I'd rather you not drown just yet. We still have some fixing to do."
Given all they'd been through, the two of them could certainly have used a bit of levity. Never mind the fact that she almost drowned just now. He brushed back some of her hair that had become tangled in the magical Cloth before lifting her up into his arms and slowly wading his way back to shore, making a conscious effort not to stare down at the way her dress clung to her shivering body. Though tall and lithe, she weighed little enough for him to easily carry her.
Layana kept her arms clung around his neck, shivering against him and smiling in spite of what happened.
"I.. I suppose I'll have to get used to this," came her sheepish reply. "You know the whole not seeing thing." And she tried to laugh about it, but it sounded hollow and forced.
"Don't get used to it, because we'll be fixing that very shortly," he replied curtly and with a slight smile as he trudged his way out of the surf and back onto the beach, carrying Layana far up the sand to their log. Gently he placed her shivering form down onto it before skipping back down the beach to retrieve his catch. The giant wooden bear sat unmoving, watching him.
When Jocelyn returned he stuck the spear (with fish still attached) into the sand and gave her one hard look before declaring, "Right, let's get a fire starting so we can warm up." His clothing was still dripping from their little foray into the ocean, so he took the opportunity to pull off his shirt and toss it onto a nearby rock to dry before heading off to collect kindling, making sure to stay within sight of her so that she didn't freak out any more than she'd already done.
Layana gave a nod, feeling very much like a child as Jocelyn carried her around, but the idea of a fire she nodded to, and through chattering teeth she asked, "Anything I can do to help? Maybe I could build the fire and you collect the wood?"
It was at least something she was sure she could do, even with the inconvenience of no sight.
Jocelyn looked over his shoulder briefly as he bent over to pick up scattered pieces of dried driftwood. She looked miserable as she sat there, sopping wet. The best thing would be to give her something meaningful to do so that she could forget about her blindness. Or rather, his blindness that she now carried.
But build a fire? That could be dangerous.
He bit his lip for a moment, unsure of what to say, but finally nodded his head and replied cautiously, "Sure, I'll bring the wood to you and you get the fire going, eh? Then we'll enjoy a nice crispy fish and the rest of the evening."
Layana wasn't thinking of the consequences of what the fire could do. Smoke would easily signal her village to someone unknown on their side of the island, but for now, she didn't care. She was hungry and miserable and wet, and as Jocelyn brought her pieces of wood, she set to work building a nicely constructed pile of wood, and once it was all said and down, she kept close to the fire, enjoying the dancing warmth of the flames as she felt some of the cold and water leave her body, and the smell of the cooking fish made her stomach growl loudly.
"I can't wait to eat. I'm so hungry, I could eat a whole whale!"
Jocelyn hid a small smile by turning his gaze down to the fish now crackling gently over the little fire of theirs as he spun it on the spit. It smelled so good -- probably better than it should have, but they hadn't eaten in three days! After a while he gave the fish a good prod with his finger and nodded his head as a small piece of it flaked away. It was more than ready.
"Here, you first," he said as he held the fish up to her. Reaching out, Jocelyn took Layana's hand and guided it to the fish's tail end, cooler than the rest of the fish because it'd been away from the heat the longest. Last thing the poor girl needed was to burn her hand again...
As he fussed about her, he failed to hear the gentle rustle of leaves somewhere behind him, as something moved through the brush.
Layana groped at the fish beneath his command, and once it was secure, and the temperature tested beneath her fingers, she broke off a piece of the soft meat and took it to her lips. It was fishy tasting, as all fish was, but also sweet. The flavor made her moan as she sucked at the grease from her fingers.
"Oh, my God, it tastes so good!" And without hesitation, she helped herself to a bit more, in which case, more moans resulted, as her eyes nearly rolled back inside her brains at the sheer pleasure of actually eating food.
Watching her drift off into heaven as she ate the fish brought a slight smile to Jocelyn's face. It also brought a bit of redness to his cheeks at the sound of her moaning, and he had to look away for a second out of embarrassment. Nonetheless, he sat down in the soft sand and leaned his back against a rock, letting her enjoy her first meal in what must've been a long time.
"I'm glad my first fish catch turned out well. I was half thinking I'd burn it," he admitted with a slight laugh as he glanced back up at her. "Feeling better?"
Layana sighed contentedly.
"Oh, no. In fact, the charred side added to the taste!" she gushed in all innocence. And at his second inquiry, her blue eyes sparkled beneath the cloth.
"Much. Yes." Swiping away some hair from her face, she cleared her throat and went on, "I.. hadn't much to eat in those few days upon the ocean." And she lowered her head sheepishly.
"Thank you."
She paused.
"For helping me. I... I know you think it's your fault this happened but... I... I do not blame you."
At least not fully. I twas just a moment of bad luck- or so she hoped.
"But this blindness.. I'm going to have to-"
"Layana?"
A series of other native words came strung soon after the familiar voice came through the forest.
A chilly ran down her spine as she bristled and whirled around.
"Layana!"
The tribesman recognized their gold haired healer instantly and before she knew what was going on, they were all surrounded by men, nearly naked- and carrying heavy spears.
Jocelyn's face fell briefly when she mentioned the fish's charred skin. It was his first time after all, and he'd noticed it immediately after taking it off the fire. But as long as she liked it. He gave her a nervous laugh and answered, "I'm... I'm glad you like it."
As she spoke, he glanced over to that large bear sitting silently beside them. She wasn't placing the blame, but he knew it was his fault. In his mind, he made a note to try and awaken the bear again, once she fell asleep.
But that thought quickly left his mind when the swarm of armed men leaped out of the brush and surrounded them. Instantly he was on his feet, but before he could move an inch there was a spear to his neck. Hands held up in surrender, he forced a smile and another nervous laugh before turning his bewildered eyes toward Layana. "Ha ha... I guess these are your people?"
The vision from the scarf, along with the frenzied shouting of the tribesmen had her dizzy that she almost did not hear Jocelyn's remark.
"Painted men with pointy sticks?" she said, nervously laughing. "That's them alright."
Shit.
What was she going to do? Especially as they were asking her why she had not returned when she was meant to after her three days out at sea. ANd they were also lifting their spears and pointing at Jocelyn, asking who is this pale skinned, gold haired stranger.
The confirmation from Layana brought another nervous laugh to Jocelyn's lips as he glanced over at the painted men. Some of them were scowling, others were looking in awe. Either way, it was bad. He smiled at them slightly and said, "Uhh, well it's very nice to meet all of you."
Glancing back, he noticed she had a look of distress about her. Almost unconsciously he reached out with a hand to comfort. Apparently that was the wrong move, for the moment he even twitched one of the men behind him bopped him hard on the head with the flat metal end of his spear, sending the Serenian crumpling to the ground.
Layana gasped as she heard her companion be bonked, then fall unceremoniously to the floor. Then turning to the men, she shouted, "Aya! That was uncalled for!" Then dropping to her knees, she groped around until she found his body. Her hands smoothed over his skin, blindly seeking for a pulse. She found it, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Layana, walla-wento, we were worried," the one man said.
"When Kikomin came back to the village and told us you were in the boat with another golden haired..."
"What did you think?" she then snapped, anger filling her as she glared through the scarf up at her friends.
"We did not know what to think. But when we saw you hadn't returned, we figured the worst."
Layana's frown deepened.
"Well I am not in danger,a nd he is not our enemy. He is a friend," and here she paused, before gesturing. "Another golden haired, like I. He is good, in mind and heart."
The men grew silent a moment before commenting, "Then what shall we do?"
"Help me get him to the village." And she rose off the ground, trying to stand as authoritative as she could. "But I'll need help as well."
And she paused again. "For I am blind."
The men were surprised by this and exchanged worried glances.
"Your sight...?"
She gave a nod. "It's gone. But with the help from this man, it can be restored."
That helped to hasten the men as the both moved forward and scooped up the unconscious Serenian. And by the time he'd come around, Layana was seated on her knees beside him- he- had been stripped of his top and had waters being poured gently over his body, and then paints came tickling across his face and skin. Though she could not see, an elder woman was there to help her, as they both took care in painting the symbols of their Gods- and of healing...
and of the sun.
The first thing Jocelyn felt when he regained consciousness was the tickling against his skin. That immediately changed to a pounding headache from where he'd been hit on the head with a metal spear. Eyes still closed he tried to sit up, but realized that he was not moving at all.
With a slight groan his opened his eyes and was almost surprised by the blurry colors that greeted him. It took a second for him to recall: he'd stolen Layana's sight.
And speaking of Layana, there she was, hovering over him. He had no clue where he was. With a slight smile, he said, "Hey, you. What... what happened?"
And what's happening? he thought as he felt the paint on his skin.
Hearing him rouse, Layana held her breath. It wasn't until he had finally spoken did she drop her paints and embrace him.
"Oh, Jocelyn, you're okay!"
Jocelyn let out a small 'oof' as she embraced him tightly, reaching up with an arm to weakly return it. He let out a small grimace and then a short chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. It was still pounding, and hurt to the touch.
"Okay is putting it lightly... did I fall and hit my head?"
"Er, sort of," she said, retracting herself from her hug. "You were er.. sort of clobbered... with a spear.... the blunt end," she added. "On the back of your head by one of the tribesmen."
Mention of her tribesmen brought a quiet over Jocelyn. It was so quiet, in fact, that he could consciously hear the painful pounding in his head. He had to say something because it was driving him nuts.
"So I guess they don't like me?"
"Err... at first, yes?" she admitted with a nervous smile. "They... they didn't know what to make of you. They thought... thought you were trying to take me away. So I told them that you were, well... one of my kind..." She went on, wringing her hands a bit nervously. "So they think you're a God, too."
A wry look spread over Jocelyn's features. "Some God I'd make. I have no powers to show off. If I somehow woke the bear up again, maybe I can pass myself off as a ventriloquist."
Which reminded him...
"The bear!"
Which further reminded him...
"Your eyes!"
Layana gave a nervous laugh as he tried to jest, but when he mentioned her eyed she gasped.
"My eyes!? What's wrong with them?!" Did they look weird or something?
Jocelyn winced as he sat up. Without thinking he gently took her head into his hands and leaned forward to inspect her. A pang of guilt ran through his gut.
"I need to fix this. Your blindness. My sight." He looked around, but turning his head so quickly made his head pound, and so he closed his eyes again.
"Maybe the bear has calmed down enough to reverse this for us."
Layana felt his hands on her face and flushed, her heart doing little flips at the contact. But at his word about the bear, she cringed.
"Maybe..." she went on, lowering her face sheepishly, while the men and women of the tribe observed them, and whispered-
and though Jocelyn might not understand their native tongue, Layana did, and even through the winds she could make out their dialogue enough to hear lover, and chosen mate.
And that's when she completely tensed and suddenly jerked away from Jocelyn.
Jocelyn also heard the whispers all around them, and when Layana suddenly pulled away he raised his hands in the air in alarm. They must've started freaking out at the skin-to-skin contact. "Whoa, whoa," he said to those around them, not making eye contact with any one of them in particular. After all, the had spears!
"Okay okay, I didn't mean to touch your Goddess. I'm sorry, I'm new to this," he continued awkwardly, knowing full well they probably didn't understand a word of his gibberish.
Layana's face was about as red as a cherry. How could she even begin to explain what they were saying? So she grit her teeth as she tucked back some of her blonde hair and gave a nervous laugh.
"Y-yeah! Might be best to keep the uh.. hugs and touching to a minimum. Don't want to give them er.. any ideas now!"
"Right," he echoed with an equally awkward laugh, hands still held high in innocence. A brief thought crossed his mind about how soft the skin of her face had been, and how pleasant her cheeks had felt in his palms. Realizing it, he turned an even redder shade and looked away.
"So I guess I'll just go talk to the bear?" he suggested, finally daring to look at the tribespeople around them. It occurred to him that there wasn't a single wooden bear totem among the lot of them.
"Uh, did we remember the bear?" And if they did forget it on the beach... would these spear wielding warriors allow him to trek away to find it?
Layana gave him an uneasy expression.
"Yeah.... uh,...? No." she told him with a tensed shrug. "They sort of kind of wanted to get me back to the village as soon as possible, ya know? And I wasn't exactly thinking 'Oh my gosh, we need that bear!' since um, I was afraid they might try to harm you worse than the bump they just gave you on the head." She shook her head. "Though we might be able to convince them to let us go back there to get it but I... er.. we'd have to think of a good story, you know... as to why."
Jocelyn rubbed the back of his head. He could feel the lump there, aching away.
"I mean, we could just tell them we're curious. After all, we're Gods and Goddesses right?" He tried smiling at that, but the joke wasn't very funny.
Layana's lips went flat.
"Maybe," she went on, hesitantly. "But I know my tribe has a lot of questions to ask you. I... it might be polite first if you... if we respect their curiosity and um... allow them to speak to us openly at the camp fire tonight."
She paused before adding, trying to lighten the mood, "We'll be eating boar."
As if on cue, Jocelyn's hand flew to his stomach just as it growled. With a sheepish grin, he asked, "What kind of questions? Do they understand what I'm saying? Because I sure don't know what they're all whispering about right now."
Layana still blushed.
"Er.. not exactly. They... they only speak the local language, which is unique to this tribe."
ANd made it difficult sometimes to talk to the other tribes, but most of them used sign language anyway.
"Great, you can play translator for me."
The explorer part of him was a bit excited to maybe learn a new language, but the bump on his head throbbed hard enough to push that thought out of his mind. Instead, he glanced furtively over to where the tribespeople were still peeking at him, whispering.
"Let's go meet them, I guess."
They wouldn't have to go far for introductions, because all of the commotion caused Bo-alba-mut, the village mother, to rise out of her tent and make her way over to where the two golden haired persons were. Upon hearing that Bo-alba-mut had appeared, Layana grew even more nervous, but when she tried to explain things to her, she was immediately silenced as the woman used her cane to move inbetween the pair. Peering up into Jocelyn's face, she asked him a question in her native tongue- and all grew silent-
and Layana would have interjected her own translation, but she was too busy being nervous!
The little lady chattered off a string of unrecognizable syllables at him, and he looked nervously between her and Layana. "Err... nice to meet you too. My name is Jocelyn Arhain. The Third."
Not knowing whether or not to extend his hand to her, he instead wrung them together in front of him, and just smiled awkwardly.
Bo-alba-mut looked down from his eyes to where his hand was out in offering. This was not a custom her people were used to, and everyone kept their eyes on the gold haired man, being cautious of him- just in case he were some sort of demon, or foe.
Upon realizing what was going on, Layana stuttered out, "Bo-alba-mut!" and prattled on in the native tongue as she went on to make introductions. Bo-alba-mut nodded at what Layana was saying and the old woman went on to inquire what he was doing here, but the only thing recognizable to him might be his name.
After a moment, Layana explained this man does not speak their language, and at this Bo-alba-mut frowned. So she then asked where he had come from, and when Layana pointed to the ocean, the entire village looked surprised. And it was then Layana cringed-
had she said something wrong?
Jocelyn tried to keep up with the back-and-forth exchange of strange syllables and sounds trying to listen for the ones that kept popping up time after time. He'd always been adept at learning new languages, given enough time and exposure. But they were speaking so fast that he was quickly lost.
When Layana pointed out toward the sea, and all the villagers started to murmur, Jocelyn bit his lip and turned to Bo-alba-mut, semi-understanding. "You see, I didn't mean to come here and interrupt your beautiful Goddess or your village. My ship was caught in a storm and I just washed ashore."
As if to demonstrate a point, he simulated an ocean wave with his hand. "See?"
When the villagers began to converse among themselves again, Layana only then realized her mistake-
They were making the connection her and Jocelyn were one of the same-
for they looked the same, came from the same place, and were naturally drawn to one another. When this was deduced, Layana had a hard time convincing them other wise, but she was too nervous to really protest as she looked over at Jocelyn sympathetically and mouthed an apology as she whispered,
"They don't seem to understand who you really are... They..." and she laughed politely, nervously, forcefully, "They think you're a God, like me. A child of the sun, funny right?"
Jocelyn gulped and shook his head at the villagers.
"No no, you're mistaken. I'm not a god, I'm just a man. A Serenian. Nothing special here."
But by the looks on their faces, they weren't having it.
Layana repressed a nervous laugh.
"They... they don't really speak common. But I did try to explain it..." She gave a half shrug in his direction, seeming to mouth an apology to him. "But don't worry about it. We... we can think of something."
"And if not, what do I do?" he questioned her in an equally quiet voice. "How do I act like a God?"
He was interrupted by a sharp poke to the ribs by Bo-alba-mut, and turned to face her only to have the old lady begin inspecting him (and perhaps his foreign clothing) and muttering in her gibberish language.
As the night went on, she tried to explain, but things were really begin to get active, and a lot of the tribesmen were there to see them both. While Layana was gone, a child had gone ill, and they finally had the opportunity to ask her to help him. She gave one look in Jocelyn's direction, an apologetic look before she told him, "I have to go tot he tent. It's on the other side of hte village. Will you be okay here all alone?"
The smells of the cooking boar over the fire were beginning to consume most of the camp, and she knew within the hour they'd be eating. At least maybe once night fell, she could spare a moment from this chaos to come up with a plan for Jocelyn-
but as far as she knew- there wasn't much either could do.
He was about as stuck with this village as she was.
As the night dragged on, and the stars completely filled the clear sky above, the villagers all began gathering at the main fire to feast. The boar's skin was crispy and crackling with juices by now, and the aroma of it absolutely blanketed the whole village.
The villagers were still all mumbling quietly to each other when they turned their heads toward a commotion from one of the main tents. Out of it emerged the elder woman, several younger tribesmen - and a golden-haired man. He'd been stripped out of his shirt and repackaged in a tribal skirt of skins, leaves and charms. And he'd been painted over in symbols.
The villagers all started muttering again as Jocelyn slowly approached, wide-eyed. His gaze turned to Layana and he winced slightly. "What do I do now?"
By the time Layana returned from using her powers to heal the child, she came upon the sight of Jocelyn and a hand slid over her lips to hide her smile. Though she could not see everything, she knew enough from his silhouette through the magic of the clothe that his attire had changed.
"Nice skirt." She removed her hand to speak to him, her smile growing wide. "I see you're getting acquainted with our customs?" And as she moved forward, she dared to ghost her hands over him, and smiled when her fingers lightly touched the charms.
"You must have really impressed them. Such charms don't hang from every man you know."
Jocelyn looked down to where she traced a hand over the painted symbols. He had to admit he was intrigued about this culture, about their customs. Being so... under-dressed was a different matter, and his face turned slightly red from her attention.
"What do they mean?"
"Power... life..." she went on, fingers gracing over each one delicately as she tried to figure the shape of each one out, though when she got to one, her cheeks turned pink as she let it fall from her hands.
"Er, and fer.. fertility," she said, turning sheepishly away.
Jocelyn nearly choked when she said that word.
"... I guess they've already decided my fate then."
Biting his lip and letting out an awkward laugh, he too had to turn away from her. His whole life he had never really understood girls, or even had any real success with them. Though to be fair, that was mostly his own fault for occupying so much of his time with his archaeological passions.
Luckily, there was nothing more to be said between them, for the village elder said something he did not recognize, and suddenly the feast was begun. Someone produced a stone knife and began carving away at the succulent boar, while the rest of the villagers formed a circle around the crackling fire.
And of course, the first thing the other villagers did was push Jocelyn to sit next to Layana, and as close to her as possible.
Layana remained relatively silent, but she was all smiles, even if they were nervous ones. As the boar was served, the two blonde haired ones were served first, with the choiciest of cuts, and all Layana could do was bow her head in reply before nudging Jocelyn and saying, "Just do what I do and you'll be alright."
And she cleared her throat to bless the food, "Ahm tahiki lawayna zut-zut!"
And it seemed all eyes were to Jocelyn now, waiting for him to bless the food as well.
Jocelyn reverently accepted the small wooden plate atop which a delicious-smelling piece of roast boar sat. It occurred to him just how hungry he was, and he almost didn't hear Layana.
He took a quick glance her way before also clearing his throat. Luckily, he had plenty of experience in foreign languages, and though his accent might have been slightly askew he repeated those words slowly and clearly.
"Ahm tahiki lawayna zut-zut."
He looked expectantly to Layana even as the other villagers began whispering amongst themselves again. He must be a God! He even spoke their language!
Layana cast a small smile his way.
"You're doing well. Let's just enjoy this meal and we can discuss this all tonight," she whispered to him- and with the blessing of the two 'Gods' the feast was to begin! Layana had never eaten so much, and in fact, her belly was a bit bloated for it when she was through, but even when she felt about near to burst, she still had managed to make some room for dessert- which consisted of a sweet crab paste served on a small, wooden dish. The small dessert made Layana moan.
"I haven't had these in ages," she admitted, licking at her lips before glancing over at Jocelyn. "So how do you like it? This is the best sort of food you can find on the island."
Jocelyn had convinced himself that he wasn't hungry, but by the time he realized it he'd already enjoyed several portions of the boar. The simplicity of it astounded him. He'd always been used to the overly elaborate preparations of his royal kitchens, or perhaps the exotic quality of local food whenever he traveled.
Here, everything was so simple. He didn't even know if they did anything to the boar aside from skewer it and throw it over a fire. It tasted divine. The villagers all seemed emboldened by the fact that this new God enjoyed their fare, and soon they were mostly back to their usual selves: conversing animatedly to one another in their language.
By the time Jocelyn got to the sweet crab paste, he was already in heaven. "What's this called?" he asked. "I could eat this forever." There was some left on his plate, which he offered to her.
"Puto-puta," she said with a smile and shrug, accepting the remains and using a finger to lick them up. "I guess you could say it means crab paste, because that's what it is. Some crab meat mixed with a milky cheese and lightly cooked over the fire. If anything, I think Puto-puta is really just another name for heaven." And she worked at licking her fingers cleaned of the sweet meat treat.
"Puto-puta," Jocelyn repeated. It sounded strange, but tasted delicious and that was all that mattered. With a small smile, he dipped his finger into the bowl and had a bit more. It was light and sweet, a perfect ending to a great meal.
As the feast began to wound down, the fire still blazed brightly in the center of the human circle. From one end, one of the villagers stood up and called out in a low throaty tone. Another joined in, and soon a small chorus of voices weaved together into a song.
Jocelyn didn't understand it, but it sounded lovely nonetheless. He set his empty plate down on the ground and leaned back to quietly listen.
Layana hummed at first before joining in, her voice soft and sweet as she clapped her hands to the beat, then as the dancers made their way towards them, they extended their hands out to the pair, but at first she had not seen it, but then upon realizing what was going on, she hesitated but soon was pulled to her feet anyway, and she laughed and danced along with them, before gesturing to where Jocelyn had been as she called over to him, "Come and dance with me! You don't have to sing!"
Jocelyn had been content to sit there and listen to the singing, watch the revelry. When his name was called though, he flashed a nervous smile and darted his eyes around. If he made a fool of himself in front of these villagers...
Slowly he stood and bit his lip, before suddenly being swept up into the dancing. Luckily for him though, his blindness had helped him develop a better sense of balance, and now with true sight he actually followed along passably with the dance without tripping over his own feet.
"I could get used to this!" he laughed to Layana as he held a hand out to her. Around them, the singing grew louder and faster.
Layana laughed.
"Well you might have to!" she went on, through a laugh, but then it slowly faded as she stumbled in her dance. Nervously, she turned away from him and tucked her hair aside, fixing the clothe over her eyes that fell askew. "Er... I mean to say is..." she said, and bit her lip nervously. "I... I don't really know how we'll help you get off the island..."
And she hadn't really considered that option until now.
That bit of news hit him like a brick, and brought him back down from his euphoric reverie. The genuine smile on his face slowly faded into a wistful frown. They continued twirling in their dance, but it was evident that neither of them were really into it now.
"I'm guessing ships don't come this way very often?" he asked hopefully. Maybe he could trade his services for passage.
A thought occurred to him, and he steeled himself. "What am I saying? I can't leave without fixing this mess with the bears."
She nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and chewed on her bottom lip, bare feet digging into the sands.
"It... well... I...." she began, but they were interrupted when an older man, probably in his early forties, approached the pair with a happy, blushing smile and plump belly. He gestured to them both, indicating for them to come. Layana looked from the man, then back to Jocelyn.
"They.. they want us to join int he circle dance." And she looked up at Jocelyn sheepishly. "You still up for more dancing?" Because she knew she wouldn't if she just found out she was stuck here for possibly forever...
THough she supposed it was just as bad as losing her sight.
"I suppose I cannot say no," he replied with a soft smile, though he felt more like sitting down and figuring out his situation.
Everyone was having too much fun though. "We just dance in a circle?"
"A bigcircle," she told him, giving him a pointed look before gesturing to where almost the entire tribe was now linking arms and she now slipped her's over his. "Come on. Let's go join them," and she coaxed him along at her side.
Jocelyn found himself linking arms with Layana on one side, and another younger tribeswoman on the other side who kept staring at him as if he were some sort of strange object. Feeling her eyes on him, he turned and kept his eyes squarely on Layana. At least she made him feel somewhat comfortable by not staring.
Then the big circle started to move.
Round and round they went and back and forth, singing and shouting and kicking as they sang. Occasionally, they'd stomp their feet and howl or make other strange noises, until the drums and singing finally came to an end. By then, Layana's cheeks were thoroughly flushed as she leaned against Jocelyn.
"The circle dance is always so.. so..." she laughed. "I don't know, exerting?" She smiled and turned his way, brushing her now wild blonde hair away from her face. "How are you holding up? Think you can survive one more dance?"
Jocelyn lost track of time as the circle dance grew both in volume and in urgency. By the time it was finished, he too was breathing heavily. But this time he had a smile on his face and a laugh upon his lips.
"One more dance?" he exclaimed in exasperation, though his words were almost lost to the laughter spilling from him. Idly, he brushed a remaining hair from her face, one that she'd missed. "How does anyone have energy for one more dance?"
Layana laughed.
"I'm always one of the last ones dancing. Come on," she said, giving a tug on his arm. "Maybe the next one will be easier?"
The euphoria from the feast, dancing, and singing permeated the air itself, and Jocelyn found himself saturated with it.
"I'll dance one more," he agreed, letting her pull him away. He never did dance much. He didn't realize how fun it was.
Layana let out a light squeal when he agreed.
"Great!" And as she pulled him out a bit, telling him to help her step back out into the dance circle, the drums began to release a low beat, steady... calm, and the song was much quieter with just one old man singing the tune. It had a haunting feeling to it, one that burned in deep as he sang, and those who were dancing moved out with partners in a unique 'slow dance'.
Layana, not realizing this song would be chosen next, felt her cheeks blush a little as she held a hand to her lips.
"Oh... this song... well, it's.. it's not difficult," she whispered and held up her hand, palm flat towards him. "Just follow my lead and we'll figure this out." She didn't want to talk TOO loudly because it would be a great disrespect to the singer.
If she became a bit hesitant, Jocelyn didn't notice it. He was still buzzing with excitement and wonder from the last bit of dancing, and this old man's somber voice kept him enthralled. Slowly he lifted his hands to meet hers, all the while whispering, "Lead the way."
Palms sealed to palms as she moved to the rhythm of the drum, hips swaying lightly, back and forth before she turned her left shoudler to him to exchange which hands were palms' pressed. Then after making a light square step dance infrotn of him, she gestured with her head for him to give it a try.
Jocelyn watched her intently as she swayed to the music, the crackling fire dancing shadows off of her form. The dance didn't seem too difficult, and when prompted he did his best to emulate her. He almost stumbled when his foot hit a rock under his heel, but caught himself just in time to complete the turn without falling face first to the sand. When he looked back at her, his face was red and sheepish, but his grin was unmistakable.
Layana laughed.
"You know, even though I can't see you, I know that you're smiling," she said. "Is this dance too hard for you? I felt you misstep and almost tumble into the sands back there," she whispered, resuming the lead again as her palm resealed to his and her feet stepped in tune with the rhythm of the song.
'Only hard thing is the rock I kicked," he whispered breathlessly, trying to contain his laughter as he fought to stay in tune with her step. "I... I think I got the hang of it!"
The other villagers were beginning to take notice of the way the two shared secret laughs and conversation...
Layana couldn't see what the others observed, but she felt the connection they were surely witnessing. When Jocelyn exclaimed in a whisper he finally got it, she let out a yelp when he stepped on her foot.
"Close, but you need to not step on my foot," she said wtih a chuckle. And then as the music went on, eventually the dance steps became more complicated- There were the same foot falls, b ut the body of the dancer was to turn away from their partner, do the dance step four times in a circle, (or rather, square) before returning to face them, palm to palm. She showed Jocelyn how to do it, as slow as she could but to keep it with the beat before her palms met to his and she whispered, "Your turn. Think you can handle that next step?"
Jocelyn furrowed his brow slightly, but nodded in determination. "Doesn't look too bad," he whispered back as he tried to emulate her more complicated moves.
He must've stepped incorrectly somewhere in it all because soon he found himself facing the wrong way, out of sync with the rest of the dancers. He let out a soft laugh and tried to right himself -- only to trip over the same rock as before and fall flat into the sand.
Layana gasped and blindly dropped to her knees to help him.
"Are.. are you okay?" but before she knew it, she was conking heads with him.
"Ouch!"
Jocelyn was still spitting sand out of his mouth when their heads collided.
"Ouch!" he echoed with a wince, though this time he also laughed. There was something funny about the moment, despite all their troubles the previous three nights.
"I would be if you didn't headbutt me!" he snickered. Some of the other villagers were also laughing, though mostly they just watched in quiet awe as the two Gods interacted.
"Head butted you?" Layana gasped and gave a light smack to him. "I did not!" Though she tried to sound serious, she was all smiles and having a hard time keeping back a laugh.
The light smack brought some gasps to the lips of several villagers, but they for the most part also joined in the laughter. The two blondes sprawled out in the dirt presented a humorous scene.
"Ouch!" Jocelyn said again, rubbing his arm. He slowly climbed back to his feet and offered his hand down to Layana. "Let's just go back to dancing, it was less abusive!"
"For you or me?" she asked, a smirk on her lips as she accepted his hand.
"For both of us," he replied with a grin as the dance continued. Evidently the rest of the dancers had left them behind, for they were onto a part of the dance that Jocelyn hadn't seen before.
"Great, now what do we do?" he said, awkwardly shuffling his feet to look like he was participating.
"Well this part.." she bit her lip before giving him a sheepish smile. "We have to dance pretty close. It's the puiti da'i mae. Or known as the close dance. Here," and she offered out her palms again. "Touch your palms to mine, and follow my feet." And lightly, she stepped out, then in, then out further until she stepped forward and almost pressed into him. Feeling the closeness of their bodies, she tensed a little before releasing a breath. "Like... like that. Step forward, step back, then bodies together. Then we do that two more times before we go and step to the left and sweep around each other and then do the same moves with our backs almost touching. See? The other dancers should be doing that part now."
Jocelyn gulped nervously, but nodded his head and tried his best to keep up. When they had to press together so close, he also held his breath. Inwardly he thanked the Gods that in her condition she couldn't recognize the redness of his face, or hear the rapid thumping in his chest. This time though, he managed to stay on his feet.
"How was that?" he whispered the next time they were pressed up close.
She went quiet a moment before answering, "You're doing great."
Jocelyn smiled then, and went silent the rest of the dance to concentrate on putting on a passable performance.
When the old man's voice finally trailed off into the night, those villagers that had not joined in the dance all applauded and chattered in their tribal language. Jocelyn followed suit an clapped for the man. He hadn't had this much fun in... forever.
Layana was right there beside him, smiling at the end of the song as her heart was still dancing inside her chest. Turning to Jocelyn, she took his hand and gave it a squeeze. "I suppose that's all for tonight," she said, still whispering. "Did Bo-alba-mut tell you where you were to sleep?" She couldn't see the village mother sentencing him to sleep out in the stars. She had her own private tent, after all. Even if he were a guest, she could see the way they all stared at him- and they'd honor him in any way they could.
Jocelyn peered down at her and shook his head. "Not that I know. But I didn't really understand anything she was saying, to be honest..."
"Oh?" she peered up at him with a lopsided smirk. "I suppose we could go ask her, unless you can remember what she said?"
Jocelyn thought.
"She kept repeating this one phrase. Lakya walla? Something like that. And she kept poking me."
He gave her a light poke too.
"I did catch your name in there a couple times."
At him fumbling over the words, her jaw dropped.
"What!? No way!" she shook her head and took a step back after he poked her. "She wants you to bed me!?"
"Wait, what?"
He also recoiled slightly, raising his hands up in innocence as he turned red again. "I had no intentions of the sort! I swear, it's what she said!"
These villagers really meant business then, and he wasn't sure if he could do as they wished. He didn't even know where to begin.
"I can't believe she'd say that! Just because we're both.. both Gods doesn't mean we should just.. just mate!" Flustered,s he tried to draw in a breath to sooth herself as she shook her head. "I'll just go talk to her. Let her know it's totally not okay. I mean, sharing a tent is one thing, but this?" Her face was crimson too. "I can't believe she'd suggest it!" She cringed. "And she just met you!"
"Yeah, maybe you should talk some sense into her. I'll, uh... I guess stay out here by the fire."
He had a feeling that the village mother wouldn't accept anything Layana, God or not. Anything to erase the embarrassment though.
"I'm fine sleeping out here," he added.
But no sense was to be had, and after some time, Layana's raised voice in the native tongue could be heard, and other tribal members glanced her way. THye also would look to Jocelyn from time to time, before eventually, the majority began to head off to bed.
It took some time, but eventually the blonde haired girl returned. She looked a bit frazzled, defeated even before she sighed.
"Okay.. the plan is you can stay in my tent..." she went on, clearing her voice and smoothing down her dress. "But tomorrow.. tomorrow we can make you your own tent. So.. so no worries, right? Besides, I'm so exhausted!" And she forced a laugh. "I Just hope you don't mind sharing a blanket. We'll have to borrow one from another person tomorrow after we umm.. fix your own place for you." And she gave a light pat to his shoulder. "You ready to call it a night?"
Jocelyn had expected as much, though it didn't make the news any easier to take. The news about sharing a blanket though... that had him turning red again. He also laughed uneasily.
"I promise, I don't move around much in my sleep," he tried to reassure her. Likely he wouldn't be able to sleep well at all, given how awkward it might get.
He just needed to get through this one night without embarrassing himself. Or her.
"...Perhaps I should go retrieve my shirt before we retire."
"Err... that might be difficult!" she went on, giving another nervous laugh. "You see they um.. kind of cut it up."
Jocelyn blinked. "...my shirt?"
His only shirt, in fact. When -- IF he got off this island, whoever picked him up would find him in these tribal skirts then.
"Well, I guess that settles that problem then," he replied a bit glumly. "Shall we?"
Layana felt terrible for it. And though she could not see his expression, she could tell his feelings in his voice. Before they left however, her hand sought his as she squeezed it lightly.
"I... I'm sorry. About... about all of this. I.... I know it's awkward but I..."
she dropped her gaze. "I... can try to make you a shirt later if you want. But they turned it into a prayer vine." And if he were to look hard enough, he'd see a string of fluttering clothe pieces hanging over a large wooden hut in the center of the village. And those clothe pieces resembled the shirt he had once worn.
The tattered remains of his shirt, fluttering gently in the warm ocean breeze, brought a slight smile to his face. For one, it reminded him that he could see for the first time ever.
And when she apologized, the flipside to his newfound sight jarred his memory. He shook his head and squeezed her hand back.
"Layana, look... I'm the one that should be sorry. I promise you I'll get your sight back. If it's the last thing I do I swear I'll do it."
Layana forced him a sad little smile.
"Let's just get to bed, okay? I"m tired," and she gestured for him to follow her, but she began to step int he wrong direction.
Jocelyn nodded and followed along, oblivious as to the layout of the village. The only tent he did recognize was Bo-alba-mut's -- for he'd spent a number of hours in there being harassed and poked by the village mother, until he looked like one of them.
"So which one is yours?"
"Oh, it's easy! Mine's the blue and gold tent. I made sure to paint it that way. They're kind of my favorite colors," she went on to explain. "And there are little gold trinkets that are strung just outside the tent flap..."
ANd as she paused, she furrowed her brow- realizing she couldn't hear those trinkets chiming like she always did.
When they finally stopped, they had reached the edge of the tiny little village. Jocelyn saw dozens of tents but none matched her description. Not that he was an expert on colors at this moment; but none of the tents chimed like she described.
"Er... I think we went the wrong way then," he said slowly, giving her hand a little tug.
"Oh.." She blushed a bit but flashed him a smile anyway. "Sorry. I... guess it's a bit harder being blind than I thought. But you'd think I'd know my home village, even without sight." And here she paused to clear her throat. "So err... can you see which one it is?"
"Not from here," Jocelyn said, blinking as he tried to make out tents in the distance. None of them seemed to have chiming trinkets on them.
"Blue is the color of the ocean, right?" he asked. Not that it mattered. in the darkness he couldn't make out colors anyway, only shadows.
Layana paused a moment as her lips twitched into a leftward smile.
"Yeah, and like the sky, my eyes and... err.. this part of my dress.." she said, pointing to the blue sheer fabric that barely kept her modest across her chest. "This is blue."
ANd she stood there a moment, feeling awkward as her cheeks heated.
Jocelyn could just make out the color of her dress in the soft moonlight, which also accentuated the shape of her body. The color registered in his mind at the exact same time that he realized -- he was staring at her chest.
His eyes widened and then he quickly turned his head, as if pretending to seek the tent elsewhere. Inwardly, he was just trying to suppress his embarrassment.
"I see," he said, a little to quickly. "Let's go back and find it."
Layana let out a small sigh, though she still smiled for it.
"Yeah... thankfully the village isn't so big." And as she took his hand again and gestured back towards where they had come from, she went on to explain a bit about her village.
"We call our Village Palu Wupei Akiki Wuht. Which.. pretty much means 'The Sacred Ones.' Though, if you couldn't guess it by now, my village is pretty religious. They believe in all sorts of things... to sea spirits, voices of the wind... Goddesses with golden hair..." ANd at this she gave a sheepish smile. "It's still strange to me though- how this has all come to pass. I .. never really wanted the title as goddess... but it kind of grew on me, you know? And was just... sorta accepted."
"Palu Wupei Akiki Wuht," he repeated slowly, and out loud. It had a nice ring to it.
"At least you play the role well. You can heal them."
He remembered the patterns of energy he'd detected when she had healed him. Those arcane threads burned more brightly in his memory than anything he could see, even now when he had vision.
"I've got nothing to fool them with."
"I dunno... they sort of um, think you and I share sight, or something. You know,.. evidently a god thing. Pretty funny, huh?"
Jocelyn forced out a small laugh. "Yeah it's... pretty funny."
Luckily, as he was trying to think of something else to add to the conversation, he heard a small sound on the wind.
"Sounds like chimes. We must be close."
Layana heard it too, and began to move more quickly in that direction, but her foot caught upon a hole in the dirt- and with a yelp- down she went.
"It's definitely getting louder. We must be c-"
He didn't expect her to fall so suddenly, and their joined hands nearly yanked him down as well, leaving him down on a knee and staring down at her in surprise.
"Owe... owe, owe," she stammered through a wince. She grit her teeth and held onto her stubbed toe. "Man.. who put that rock there huh?" She tried to laugh it off and turned to Jocelyn, not realizing he was so close. "Well, I'm okay. Are you-" And that's when the magic vision made her realize their faces were just inches away.
Jocelyn's look of concern turned into one of unsureness as his breath caught in his throat, his face so close to her. His heart sped up rapidly as he froze, having never been this close to a girl before, and his mouth hung open slightly. What was he supposed to do now?
As the awkward moment rolled on, she felt herself grow more rigid.
"Er... I mean that is to say..." she went on, taking a small step back from him. "Are you alright? I mean, you didn't get hurt, too?"
The breath that Jocelyn released was practically a sigh of relief as Layana made the first move and put some distance between them. Otherwise, he might've been frozen in place.
"I'm... I'm fine," he quickly stammered as he climbed back up to his feet. "Let's just get to the tent before we trip over more things in the dark," he added with a laugh.
When they arrived into her tent, her ornaments chimed in greeting as the two entered the parted front flap. She let it remain open as she gestured around. "There's not much here, but it's really only for sleeping and dressing. The hog's hide bed will have to be shared, and the reed blanket as well, but it's pretty comfortable. Though if you think your'e getting too hot, you don't have to stay under the covers. Now, I normally keep the tent flap closed, but err.... I'll keep it open for now. You know... just in case we uh... need the moonlight to see or something."
Jocelyn had to blink a few times, for the interior of the tent was even darker than outside, and he was still adjusting his eyes to brightness and dimness. Sight was a wonderful thing, but since it was so new to him, he was beginning to get a headache from it.
Nonetheless, he gently stepped across the threshold and peered around intently. The decor was simple and perfect.
"It looks really cozy," he said, turning to her.
"Yeah, it's my little place," she said with a shrug. "Now, before we call it a night, would you might helping me find my brush? It shouldn't be too hard to find. It's nearby my paints."
With a nod, Jocelyn dropped gently onto his knees and began rummaging around in the darkness for this brush. And soon he had it.
"Here it is," he said, adding in a grimace. For his other hand had landed directly into a palette of paints, leaving it a goopy sticky mess.
Layana made a face at the strange noise of his hands going into her paints, but accepted the brush gladly.
"Thank you." And she turned from him and began to pull the thing through her hair. It felt so good to work the knots out, if even a little painful. But once it was all done, she could run her fingers through her hair, and it looked like a soft field of gold. Then she tunred to Jocelyn and offered the brush.
"Do you need this at all?" She might as well offer, it was only polite, afte rall!
Jocelyn stared down at the goopy mess in his hands, wondering where to wipe it. It would be rude to do it in the tent of this Goddess, after all. Maybe he'd have to take a walk down to the shore again, wherever that was. It occurred to him -- he didn't actually know where this village was located.
At her offer of a brush, he looked up blankly. "I... I don't know. Do I?" He'd never had to make himself look presentable before. Either someone had done it for him, or he was in the field where nobody cared how windswept his hair was. "Does it look bad?"
"I couldnt tell you," she said with a soft laugh. "Looks just like a punch of lines to me." Though when she moved to playfully run her fingers through his hair, they got stuck in some knots as she gasped and tried to free her hand.
"Oh."
Thank goodness for the dark, for Jocelyn felt his cheeks flare red again. He still wasn't used to this darkness thing, and had forgotten: with the veil on, everything was illuminated.
When her hand got caught in his hair, he winced and let out a laughing "Ouch!" Apparently salt water did horrible things to one's hair, and he could feel the tangle with every one of her movements.
"I guess --ouch!-- I could use a brushing."
"I'd say so! Looks like the island waters and winds have done a number on ya!" And she handed him the brush. "Here. But you'll want to brush slowly. It'll be less painful when you work out the knots."
Jocelyn took the brush in his non-paint-covered hand and peered down at it. He gave a small laugh.
"I'm going to admit right now. I don't think I've ever brushed my hair before. Or if I have, someone else did it for me." He wasn't exactly sure how his hair looked, only how it felt: tangled and knotted on his head. Come to think of it, he wasn't even exactly sure what he looked like.
"You've... never brushed your hair?" she asked, blinking. "Like... ever?" She could not believe this one! Who in their right mind never brushed their hair?!
"Here, I can show you..."s he went on, taking the brush and gently pulling it through her hair. "Like this..." And she did it again, brush moving through the now silky strands. "See?" She handed the brush towards him. "Now you try."
Jocelyn took the brush and ran it through his own hair, though he felt a bit foolish doing so. Wasn't this the sort of thing his sisters did? Not to mention that his hair had become a bit tangled from all the salt water, and he winced when the brush caught a knot.
"I think my hair is beyond saving," he said with a laugh. "Plus, it's short enough that it doesn't really need to be brushed, right?"
Quirking a brow, she folded her arms across her chest.
"I might be blind, but I know that hair needs brushing." And she paused thoughtfully before inquiring, "Do you needmy help?" And the grin she wore portrayed just how much this amused her.
Jocelyn cracked a wide smile, amused.
"If you're offering, then sure," he replied. "Gods know I haven't the first clue what I'm doing."
Layana couldn't help but chuckle, and diligently, she took the brush, but was surprised at how difficult it was at brushing the poor man's hair! She kept getting it caught up in knots, apologizing here and there when it would happen, and even muttering a few swear words- both in common, and also in Yoreiqi.
Jocelyn felt every knot she hit, and winced more than once. He kept quiet though, at least until she finished. But by then, his hair actually felt... good?
"My hair hasn't been this nice since I was young," he said as he ran a finger through those untangled strands. The situation was funny enough that he had to laugh.
"Gods... it probably doesn't look like a bird's nest anymore! Maybe you really are a goddess, the miracles you work."
She snorted.
"Oh, you're so charming," she went on playful and sarcastic. "But I can't really see it, so for all I know, I've made it worse."
Jocelyn took her hand and pressed her fingers into his hair. "Maybe you can't see it, but you've made it better."
And then a smirk crossed over his face. "You can't see this either, but you have something on your face."
And he pressed his other paint-covered hand onto her cheek.
"Ah, I can 'see'!" she said with a soft laugh. "So silky... so smooth."
But when he went to touch her cheek, she froze up, gasping at the touch of cool paint pressing into her cheek. And for a moment, she remained still before she cracked a smile through her gape and gave a laugh.
"You.... Did you just?"
And she took her hand and felt her fingers across the still wet paint, then moved forward, and tried to brush off some of it in his newly brushed hair.
Jocelyn cringed with laughter as he felt the cool gooey paint mash into his hair. He grabbed for her wrist, but it was too late.
"Ugh, that's disgusting! Your tribesmen are going to give us the strangest looks in the morning..."
Layana laughed.
"Why?" and she wrinkled her nose. "Because we're making so much noise?" And she tried to reach for him again, hoping to smear more paint!
Jocelyn only made a halfhearted attempt to defend himself, and it was the wrong choice, because soon he got a palm full of paint to the face.
Sputtering and laughing at the same time, he wiped the mess from his nose and gave her a mock glare. "Now you've done it! This means war!" he declared as he practically picked her up and laid Layana down into the mess of paint.
She gave a yelp.
"Jocelyn!" And clung to him as she laughed and wriggled. "Lemme go! Ack!"
And then-
SPLAT.
This time she let out a shriek. She couldn't believe him.
"J... Jocelyn!" And promptly grabbed onto whatever part of him she could, and tried to drag him down with her.
Jocelyn burst into laughter even as Layana dragged him down with her. He struggled a bit, but the laughter was too much and eventually he too was covered in paint.
A grimace crossed his face as he tried to crawl away, but instead he slipped on wet paint and just fell draped over her. More laughter consumed him.
"Okay, okay," he said between breaths, "you win! I surrender!"
"Surrender?" Though she tried to sound indignant, it was hard to hide that smirk. "When we're both all covered in-"
"Goddess Layana!"
The exclamation made her jump, and she was soon smacking heads with Jocelyn, and swearing for it as she gripped onto the inevitably forming bump that would be there. And as she heard the woman rambling in their native tongue of her concern, she gasped at the display- to find the pair of 'sunshine haired' ones, man on top, both on the ground, and covered in what seemed like only paint. (Then again, the villagers style of clothing, if anything, was stringent at best.)
And in another breath, the woman marked herself, apologizing profusely before rushing back out of their tent. Layana just remained where she was, her mouth, gaping and her eyes, wide behind the cloth. And all she could make out was-
"They are mating! The gods are mating!"
And soon her face was crimson, and it was a shade the paint could not hide.
Their heads collided yet again, and Jocelyn was forced to rub painfully at his temple, getting more paint on his face in the process. He almost didn't hear the voice speaking frantically in that native tongue. He did catch the woman fleeing from the tent.
One look down at the shell-shocked expression on Layana's face said it all.
"Oh Gods," he uttered as he quickly scrambled off from atop her and slid backwards a few paces.
At his response, she cringed and jerked backwards. She wanted to hide, to run- but outside of the tent would be just as mortifying as what had just happened within it. But if she were to stay...
"Gods.." she choked on her own words, but without a second thought, she tore out from the back of the tent, stumbling off into the night.
"I'm sure we can find a way to explain this all," he mumbled half to himself, glancing down at his paint covered self. When he looked back up though, he realized he wasn't talking to anyone at all, for the back of the tent flapped in the gentle coastal breeze.
"Layana!" he called out after her, scrambling to his feet and out. There were already several pairs of eyes hovering about, and as soon as his paint-covered body shot out of the tent, they were all murmuring again.
"Oh, get over it!" he said in exasperation to them. "Which way did she go?"
They backed away from his tone, but they couldn't help but smirk and giggle. They knew not what he was asking but they could tell enough by his tone. A few eyes lingered towards a thick copse of trees, and since the wind was still, it was evident Layana had gone that way for the leaves were rustling in the dark.
Jocelyn immediately turned and made for the trees. He stopped in his tracks briefly though, and turned around to the villagers.
"Please don't follow, okay?" he asked, trying to gesture the other way. He probably looked like he was dancing, and so eventually he stopped. "Y'know... nevermind."
And into the forest he went.
It was dark, and wearing the blindfold helped little. She knew the area, sure, but it didn't take long for her foot to catch a tree root- and down she went. It hurt, a sobering thought, as she grit her teeth and nursed her knee. But at the sound of Jocelyn's voice, she froze.
The trek wasn't much easier for Jocelyn, who though he had the benefit of his newfound sight still found darkness to be a bit disconcerting. More than once he muttered a curse under his breath as he crashed through a low-hanging branch.
"Layana, where are you?" he called into the jungle. "I know I've apologized a million times already, but..."
She was already on the ground by the time he finally found her, and it took everything not to trip over the same root.
Layana was quiet when he approached. A frown on her lips, her eyes down cast, and hair covering most of her face.
Jocelyn crouched down in front of her, though far enough away to give her some space. He had a look of concern on his face, but mostly what he thought was a reassuring smile. No need to make her panic anymore.
"Hey, you alright? I didn't understand what happened back there, but I can guess what they were saying."
She grit her teeth, but forced herself to smile, to laugh.
"Y-yeah... pretty embarrassing, huh?"
Jocelyn laughed, a genuine one this time. He too turned a bit red.
"A bit. At least you already know your people. I'm just making bad impressions left and right!"
She gave a nervous laugh and twisted some of her hair.
"I guess you could say that but.... I think that's what they were hoping for."
"For us to...?" He couldn't even finish the sentence.
Layana went quiet. It felt like a giant tree fell ontop of her. She grit her teeth and tried to laugh it off.
"To m-mate of course! They... they believe we're like... destined to be lovers, or something. Funny, huh?" She was twisting her hair so much now she found herself wincing as she got her finger stuck in it, and she began to work at untangling it, but was ripping out hair as she went. OUch!
Jocelyn fell quiet and ponderous for a moment.
"It would make sense from their perspective," he said analytically, mostly to himself. "It's not uncommon for tribal people to pray for more deities to live among them, as a sign of good luck from the heavens."
Realizing that his archaeologist side was coming out, he quickly bit his lip. "It is pretty funny. We could just lie to them, I guess?"
Layana gasped. "Lie!?" And then she got angry and grabbed something nearby- some sand and grass, ad threw it at his legs.
"And to confirm we.. we've..."
But she couldn't even say it! Oh, how embarrassing!
And lies? How could she lie even more!? Look where it had landed her!
Jocelyn flinched when she flung a handful of sand at him.
"Okay, maybe that was a bad idea. Look, they're your people. You probably have better ideas than me."
At that,s he laughed pitifully at their situation. She could cry. Perhaps she was, and soon she was lowering her head towards the dirt.
"Gods... I don't know what to do...... I...... this... all of this. It's my fault and I'm..." and here, she really was crying as tears began to roll out from beneath the clothe.
"I'm sorry, Jocelyn."
Jocelyn bit his lip again. "Gods, Layana..."
He slipped forward a little and wrapped his arms around her, not caring that it just smeared more paint on the both of them. "Stop it, stop blaming yourself. We'll get it all sorted out."
He could feel her sobs against his chest, and reassuringly patted her on the back. "I'll get those bears working again. Leave it to me, it's my job, I'll be able to figure it out."
After a while, when she was able to control her sobs, she lifted her gaze to look at him. But all she could see were blurry lines.
"No..... We... Let's just find a way to get you home, Jocelyn. This... whatever this is that happened to us... to me...... I deserved it. For the lie I live... I do." And more tears slid down her cheeks.
Jocelyn frowned. "Stop it. You do wonderful things. You can heal people, by the Gods. That's the greatest gift you can give them! They should be thanking you. I'll go home once I get you all sorted out."
She grit her teeth and shook her head.
"But how?" It all seemed so hopeless, and she didn't know why she was being so emotional over it now of all times. Perhaps it had just been too much on her. She really needed to sleep. But she was covered in icky, sticky paints. And now, she could add salty tears to the mix.
"Well first step is, we go down to the beach, get this paint washed off us. Then we go back, get some good rest, and start afresh."
He brushed an errant tear that had strayed down her cheek to her chin. "How's that sound?"
She laughed, in spite of herself and nodded her head. Wiping off some snot from her nose on the back of her hand (ugh, how embarrassing!) she sheepishly asked, "Sounds good but.... you'll have to help me get there. All of this crying... I can't make the sense out of any of these lines."
He grinned wryly. "That's a great idea, let the intrepid explorer lead the way! He won't get lost at all."
Standing, he took her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. "This way, I can smell the salt breeze. Watch out for the stump."
Her brows raised beneath the clothe.
"Are you warning me from you?" And she gave him a playfully light push. "Stump."
Jocelyn looked at her with a grin. "Very funny. No, I meant that stump."
And to prove the point he gave her a gentle nudge back, so that he leg brushed up against the small stump hidden in the darkness.
Laughing, Layana shook her head.
"I see that..." Though it was more like she 'felt' that.
Squeezing his hand back, she said, "Lead the way."
He followed his nose (and his sight) as best as he could, trying not to stumble over any protruding roots.
Eventually they broke the treeline and only a sandy beach. It certainly wasn't the beach they'd been on before, but sand was sand. The water lapped in gentle waves against the shore, and the stars twinkled brightly above them in a cloudless night sky.
"It's nice here," he said. "Maybe your tribe should relocate."
"Yes, the beaches are always nice," she told him with a smile. "But beaches are hardly a safe place to call home."
"Only when you're washing up ashore," he replied. "Come, let's get this paint off us."
With a nod, she kept a hold of his hand and moved towards the noises of the ocean. Despite all that had happened, it felt good to finally be alone. And though the moon laced air was chilly, when the waves met to lap at her toes, it felt warm.
"Last one in the ocean is a rotten fish!" And before he had a chance to stop her, she dashed off towards the sea.
"If you're a rotten fish, the water's the last place you want to be!" he laughed.
Nonetheless he followed her into the waves, letting the water come up to his knees. Not knowing how to swim though, he didn't stray too much farther than that. The wet sand oozed between his toes, and he relaxed his shoulders, letting the moonlight fall over him.
Layana went out farther than she ought to have dared, but even blind she trusted the sea and reveled in the splash of waves against her legs as she smiled.
Seeing how much she was enjoying the water, Jocelyn bit his lip and also dared to stray just a bit farther out. It was almost up to his hip by the time he reached her.
"I can see the appeal of living out here," he said, giving her a splash.
She gave a light yelp, but it was accompanied by a laugh. Blindly, she splashed towards him.
"Oh? You're only finding that out now?" she asked with a smirk. "From experience, I can tell you you were ship wrecked by the right set of islands."
It was hard for her to imagine life anywhere else...
Even her birth place, which was such a distant, almost forgotten memory.
Jocelyn was visibly grinning as she splashed toward him. Hands on his hips, he peered across the ocean toward the pale moon, high in the sky. Far in the distance was the tiny silhouette of the next island, but it would take a large ship and a lot of luck to reach it.
This place truly was a secluded paradise.
"It's no Serendipity, that's for sure," he said softly, marveling at how many stars twinkled in the sky. Back home, in the bustle of Arca, the air wasn't as clean and fresh.
He turned to her. "Though I think you'd go silent in wonder if you ever visited."
She gave a laugh and splashed at him again.
"If I ever did- a dreamer's talk!"
She had already concluded her life was permanent here on the islands...
Though after her friends untimely death... Things just hadn't been the same.
Jocelyn yelped as cold ocean water splashed against his bare neck. He turned and returned the favor, sending a big wave toward her with a laugh.
"Have you ever been to the next island? It looks pretty far."
Layana gave a light shriek and flinched away from the salty water assault. But at his question, she came out him with a playfully angry, "NO!" and Another splash towards his face. "Only the skilled canoers are allowed so far- but our tribe... we are not so friendly with the others on those upper islands. It is why they settled here, in the south."
He only heard half of it, as he got a face full of water. It had him sputtering salty ocean spray.
"Not friendly, eh?" he said, as he wiped his face with a forearm. Some of the paint was already coming off, which gave him a terrible idea. "You know who you'll be friendly with? THE OCEAN."
And he practically picked her up and dunked her into the water.
Before Layana could reply, she yelped, clung to him and hand't the chance to properly protest when she was dunked into the sea. Arms flailing, she tried to wrestle HIM into it. How dare he do this to a blind girl! How rude!
Though dare she admit it was.. fun? NO! THIS WAS WAR!
He was bigger and stronger than her, but Jocelyn let her weight practically carry him into the water. For a moment when his head went under the surface he shut his eyes tightly, remembering the fear that had gripped him the last time.
When he broke the surface this time though, and opened his eyes again, he could see moonlight through the drip of water down his hair. Maybe the open sea wasn't so scary after all.
"Now my hair's going to get all knotted again!" he said, even as he coughed up sea water. "You'll have to brush it again."
Layana wriggled and squirmed as he continued to hold her. But at his statement, she gasped and tried to be angry, though she laughed.
"You did this to yourself! You're brushing your own hair, mister! Now lemme go!"
Jocelyn held firmly, giving her a mock look of anger. "Did this to myself?! You got me all wet! Totally your fault!"
Finally though, he returned the laugh and set her back down where her feet might find the ocean floor. The good news was that most of the paint had washed off.
"Looks like you'll have to brush your hair too," he said, reaching out to wipe off a smudge of paint left on her cheek.
She laughed once she was secure on the ground and gave him a light shove.
"Oh really? Guess who'll be doing it!" And she pointed her finger right at his face, then kept pointing at him in rapid fire using both pointer fingers. "You, you, you!"
"You sure that's a good idea?" he replied, even as he ran a hand through her dripping hair. His fingers became tangled, and so he gently worked to remove them. "You realize, once I'm done with it, you'll look like a bird's nest."
"I can feel it already turning into a birds nest!" she protested, though playfully so. "You still have to fix your mess." She went on, not realizing the dual meaning behind it-
It was (sorta) his fault she was now blind, after all.
Jocelyn smiled again, but this time only half-heartedly - for the underlying meaning hit straight home for him.
"Good, we can fix each other's mess then. It's settled."
He'd wait until she was properly off to sleep, and then he'd go out and figure out that stupid bear.
Layana gave him a crooked smile, and if her 'blind fold' wasn't in the way, her eyes might hve been sparkling as she gazed at him- but as it were, all she could see were muddled lines that were his face.
And then realizing she was just kinda... smiling and staring... she jerked back to reality.
"Er.." Tucking hair behind her ear, she gave him a sheepish look. "So about that paint.... How much is still left on my body?" And she moved around slowly, as if she could see herself, but evidently- they both knew she could not.
As she turned, Jocelyn reached out and stopped her. "Wait, there's a bit left."
Hand on her waist, he used his other palm to scoop up a bit of ocean water. Some of it dripped through his fingers, but he managed to carry the rest to the bare skin on her shoulder, where bits of gold paint still lingered. Gently, he wiped it off.
At his touch, she felt herself suck in a breath and hold it, skin turning bumpy from his touch. And in that moment, she went numb- not entirely sure how to react- just knowing she felt awkward.
And then after a second, she mumbled. "Er... th-thanks." And dropped her gaze, even though she really couldn't see him. But her cheeks, the moonlight would show, had turned hot pink.
Jocelyn was too busy inspecting his work to notice at first, but when he finally detected the rigidness in her body he too turned a bit red. Awkwardly, he let her go and turned her back around.
"There, you look good as new," he said with a sheepish smile.
She gave a rigid nod, but then thought enough to ask, "What about you?" And she gve an awkward laugh. Great, that sounded so weird! Hopefully he didn't notice. "I mean... I can't really help you with your paint- what if you've got some all over your butt?"
And at that,s he gave a real laugh.
Jocelyn frowned slightly, nodding. "You're right, I guess I'll just have to figure out a way to get it off me. Maybe this will help."
Closing his eyes, he spread his arms and just fell backwards into the water with a loud splash.
Layana flinched back as she was splashed.
"Jocelyn!" but then realizing his 'lines' were missing, she blinked and looked around...
"Jocelyn?" and she took a hesitant step forward- but ended up tripping over his extended foot.
The world was oddly quiet underwater, save for the muffled sounds of the waves moving around him, and of her muffled voice. He was ready to sit back up when she tripped and landed on him, keeping him underwater.
Startled, he tried to say something, which came out only in the sound of bubbles.
Realizing she found who she was looking for by falling on him, she gasped and scrambled to get away- but not without her hands incidentally fondling just about every part o fhis body she shouldn't on her way 'out!'
Jocelyn struggled underneath her. It didn't help that she was pinning him down, and it certainly didn't help that her hands were touching parts of him that had him turning red even underwater.
Finally when she managed to scramble enough off of him, he just hooked his arm under her knees and hefted her out of the water like a fish breaking the surface. And as he did so he let out a deep gasp, sputtering.
Layana gasped and clung to him- and promptly cracked heads with him as she cringed. Despite being blind, she somehow was seeing stars from that!
Jocelyn was just about to say something when their heads collided.
"OUCH! By the Gods, we're clumsy!"
And though it hurt...
she couldn't help but laugh, and laugh and laugh so much her belly hurt.
"By the Gods!" she giggled, you're right! And as she smiled, a small streak of paint could be seen in the moonlight, just below her lip.
Jocelyn smiled too, but then noticed the little dab of paint left on her face.
"Hold on, you've got a bit of paint left on you," he said, trying to reach his hand up to brush it away. Because he was carrying her though, it made it a bit difficult, and no matter how far he reached, his finger just could not get there.
In his attempts, she felt herself being pulled closer to him. She flushed.
"Is... is it that bad?" she asked through a sheepish grin.
"No, not bad. Just really noticeable." He grimaced. That sounded so stupid.
Finally, he was able to reach his thumb to her face and brush off the little bit of paint -- and in the process, inadvertently brushed his finger across her lips too.
The second his finger touched her lips she stiffened and peered up at him- trying to discern what that touch was- innocent...? Or something more? And why did her heart flutter at the thought it could be... or mean.. something else?
There was a brief moment when Jocelyn looked down at her face and thought to himself, it'd be nice to kiss her.
And then he realized what had just ran through his head, and his eyes widened. He froze in place, staring down at her, turning a deep shade of red.
The moment was long and awkward. Perhaps TOO long and awkward. Lucky for Jocelyn, the young woman couldn't see his face.
"Errr... what's... what's wrong?" she asked, trying to sound casual, but a nervous laugh escaped. "You're... being kinda quiet. Did you make it worse?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing," Jocelyn hastily blurted out, fumbling to place her back on her feet in the water. "You look, uh... fine now. All the paint's gone."
His change of mood was not missed, and she felt herself blushing as he helped set her back down. The wet sands felt cool beneath her feet- but she swore the rest of her body felt as if she were in a fever. Brushing some hair from her face, she forced him a smile, which came out crooked nd awkward (just how she felt!)
"Th-thanks." And she looked at her feet- or rather,t he lines that made up her feet.
"SHould we.. should we head back?"
"That's a good idea," Jocelyn replied, perhaps a bit too quickly. He initially offered his hand to her, but then quickly retracted it on second thought. That would've been awkward!
"Let's get back and get some rest," he said as he gestured for her to follow him to shore, "it's getting a bit late."
Layana stumbled after him, feeling and acting awkward. And despite how cool the night was, she still felt flushed. Thankfully it was dark, and by the time they got back to the tent, she went right for her blankets.
"Im so exhausted. I hope you don't mind I just want to sleep."
Jocelyn gave her a small smile as she beelined for her blankets. "Not at all. In fact I think a little rest will do both of us good."
It occurred to him that he didn't know where he was sleeping. Was he just supposed to stay in here? That would get mighty awkward.
"I guess I'll see you in the morning," he said with a slightly forced chuckle, waiting for her to get all cozied up in her blankets before he went searching for his own place to rest.
After she pretty much rolled herself intot he blankets like a burrito, she caught what Jocelyn was saying.
"Where do yout hink you're going?" she called after him. "You're meant to sleep here." She informed him, as awkward as it was. "We don't have another bed at this moment to offer, and Id' feel bad if you just slept out in the open on the sands. It can get pretty cold."
Jocelyn stopped and turned. Slowly, he asked "But there's only room for you in there. And I'm just a guest here."
Layana sighed.
"Just get in bed with me. It won't kill us to share it for the night." Though it would and could just make the pair even more awkward than before.
There really wasn't any room to argue, judging by the tone of her voice. With a slight nod of his head and an exhale, Jocelyn turned and approached her bedding. Gingerly, he lifted the covers and rigidly slipped himself into it beside her.
Apparently he was more tired than he thought, because the bed was extremely comfortable, and a wave of relaxation washed over him as soon as he lay down. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Thanks," was all he said as he turned to look at her.
Layana gave a nod, shivering lightly when he joined her.
"See? Told you the place can get cold at night," she whispered, and playfully touched his leg with a cold toe.
It was more the feeling of a toe than the actual cold that had Jocelyn almost leaping back up out of the sheets.
"Whoa!" he said, startled, as his hand instinctively shot out and landed on bare skin on some part of her body. "You're freezing! You must have really poor circulation."
And that was when Layana put more of her toes onto his hand that held her as she giggled.
"And you're not! So share that warmth, sun hair!"
More toes. More cold. Jocelyn squirmed under the covers as her frozen toes tormented him relentlessly. Finally, he blurted out in exasperation, "Fine! Okay, okay!"
Fumbling around, he managed to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to him. By the Gods, was there any part of her that wasn't cold? How did she live like this?
Layana's grin was victorious as she sighed and nestled in against him. But after realizing what her tom foolery accomplished, she went quiet and tried not to think how nice this was with his arms all around her.
Perhaps it was a blessing that she fell quiet and still, for Jocelyn could barely think straight from the thumping in his own chest. He could feel her bare skin under his fingertips, and the smallish raised goosebumps along her arm. Perhaps she was cold, or nervous... or both?
As his mind concentrated on breathing normally, hindered somewhat by the few strands of her hair dangling in his face, his hand unconsciously began rubbing up and down the cool skin of her arm, generating at least a bit of heat.
The gesture raised more than heat as she bit her lip. This was really nice... And felt she could stay this way forever. But it was only in that moment of hesitation did she realize...
What if he was married? Had a family elsewhere? And guilt seeped into her belly.
"Back home.... Did you, you say you had a family?"
Jocelyn nodded, wrinkling his nose a bit as another of her hairs tickled his face.
"A brother and two sisters. They're... hard to describe. Andrei and Katriona are always busy with family matters, noble matters, that sort of thing. Erinae is beyond wild, I hope it's just a phase."
He let out a soft breath. "I haven't heard their voices in months."
Layana gave a soft smile at that.
"I bet they'll be excited to see you once you get home."
If he'll get home. And the idea of him leaving the island....
She felt awkwardly saddened by the idea.
Jocelyn gave a soft laugh as he continued to rub her arm.
"I don't know if they'd be excited," he mused. "I'm gone so often, they'd just take it for granted that I'm back for a little while. Maybe my little sister. Maybe."
"What? Really?" Layana was baffled by such an idea so much that it made her turn around- to which it resulted in her being mere inches from his face.
"I would think there'd be some sort of party." Her face wrinkled at the idea as she thought it over. "Here, if one leaves for a great journey, upon his return there is a celebration that the whole tribe participates in."
Was the world outside of this ocean island really that different?
"Well, there'd be a feast," he explained to her. "Or at least a nice dinner. And I do miss the pies back home."
He shrugged and brushed away a strand that had fallen in front of her nose. "I mean, people come and go all the time. It's kind of second nature now. I guess we're not as close knit as you are with your tribe."
Feeling awkward, Layana heard herself blurt out, "I wonder how it'd be if my parents were alive. I mean.. I always presumed they died when the boat went down."
But even she couldn't help but wonder...
What if htey had lived?
What if they had all been rescued?
How much different would their lives be?
Jocelyn grew silent, his hand stopping against her arm. He gave it a little squeeze.
"I'm... sorry about that. I'm sure your life would have been as wonderful as it is now."
"Why are you apologizing? It's not like your accidental wish bear wish made that happen."
Jocelyn groaned. He'd almost forgotten about it.
"I figured I already apologized enough for that one," he said jokingly as a finger brushed over one of her eyelids.
She gave a half lifted smile.
"Sorry," she told him softly. "I guess it's too soon to joke."
Jocelyn perked up a bit. He leaned a bit closer and peered intently at her.
"Well, now's the time to joke it up, because it won't last very long. I'm fixing it, remember?"
And that's when she made a face, scrunching up her nose.
"Yeah,because if you don't.. I'm going to find a wish bear of my own and wish something as equally terrible on you!"
Jocelyn grinned wildly at that.
"And just what exactly do you have in mind? Notwithstanding the fact that these bears don't just grow on trees."
Layana just grinned.
"I'm not telling."
"Oh so that's how we're doing it? Fine, then I won't fix it!" he replied with a joking grin. But there really wasn't anything funny about such a retort, and his smile slowly faded as he touched her brow again. Those eyes of hers... they looked the color of the moon. Was that how he'd looked before he cursed her with his blindness?
Layana just snorted.
"You had better fix it or-"
But before she finished that statement, she just touched him with her big, cold toe.
Jocelyn nearly leaped out from the blankets at the sensation. He scrambled to pulled her close to him again, his hands once again rubbing up and down her arms.
"Please, no more torture, ice queen," he said with dramatic horror.
The gesture of pulling her close made her give off a breathy laugh. But then realizing how close they were, and they were both now face to face well...
She had gone from Ice Queen to Someone's Face is Scalding in seconds as she froze up and just stared at him.
And stared.
Jocelyn found himself in a very uncomfortable situation: mere inches away from a pretty girl, the two of them already tangled up.
A hundred thoughts ran through his head. Why was she staring? No, she wasn't staring, because she's blind, remember? But wait, just because she's blind, doesn't mean she doesn't know you're there. Should I let go and stop? Why isn't she pulling back? Does she like this?
Uncomfortable as these uncharted waters may have been, he had to do something fast before it got anymore awkward. But what?
On an impulse, he leaned close and gave her a brief soft kiss.
The kiss was unexpected, but definitely not unwanted, as she stiffened from the contact, although brief. But the feelings it drew out, it left her breathless as she tried to look at him, eyes moving- but she could see him not.
She wished fervently she could see his face, to know what he looked like after that. And though she felt so timid, so shy in the moment, she lifted up a hand and cupped gently his face, feeling around for the details with her thumb before stating the obvious.
"You kissed me." And it was spoken in a voice barely over a whisper.
The kiss had lasted but a moment, and he'd quickly pulled back, his own face flushed. But at the sound of her statement, he gulped.
"I'm sorry," he blurted out quickly, letting go of her, "I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn't thinking at all, and it seemed like the right thing to do just then, and... and I don't know. I'm sorry."
At his reply, she shook her head, and kept on shaking it.
The right thing to do? Her blush became hotter as she averted her eyes. Despite not being able to see him, she wanted to hide the smile on her lips that would not go away.
"No, er... you, you don't have to apologize...."
Oh man, but did this ever make things more awkward.
"I..."
She hesitated, tucking back a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear. "I kind of liked it."
And then she went silent and frozen there before him, thinking
'OH. MY. GOD. Did I really just say that!?
"Oh," Jocelyn replied softly, feeling sheepish and like a complete fool. That really was impulsive of him though, to do something he'd never even dreamed of doing before.
But she hadn't been disagreeable to it. At least that's what her small smile told him, the little bit of it that he could distinguish in the darkness.
"Then you don't mind?" he asked, feeling even more foolish for having asked it, sounding very much like a child (and at this moment feeling like one too). Slowly, his hand crept up to caress at her cheek. He toyed with the idea of leaning in and trying again.
Did she mind?
She too, was grinning sheepishly.
"N-no..." But then her grin grew wider, and wistful. "And I wouldn't mind if it were to happen again."
"Oh," Jocelyn repeated again, feeling very foolish at having asked it. Her positive response made his heart pound though, hard enough that she might have felt it herself.
"I... I don't usually do this," he admitted. Did he have to admit it? Probably not. Maybe it was more of an effort to protect himself in case he turned out to be really bad at it. That didn't stop him from taking her by the face and gently pulling her in again, his lips pressing tenderly against hers.
Just as she was about to say- or rather offer her own hand in this endeavor, she felt his hands on her face. They were warm, a bit calloused, but the gesture was gentle. And though there was hesitation, on both their ends, as she felt him move forward to kiss her, she met him half way. And the kiss was soft and tender, unlike any other kiss she had felt. And curiously, she moved to wrap her arms lightly around him, leaning in closer to him to try out another and very unyielding kiss. And this time her breath caught within her, to feel his lips pressed so completely to hers..
It made her tingle all over.
And also quickly become flushed with heat.
Jocelyn found that his eyes drifted closed when they kissed. Feeling her arms slip around him made his own face flush and his heart beat manically in his chest. He pulled her closer to him, though slowly and almost hesitantly as though he might offend her by being overly rough. She did taste nice though.
He felt her own cheeks heat up against his and had to smile just briefly at that. "I guess that's one way to warm you up," he murmured against her lips.
"Yeah, but don't you think that's cheating?" she told him through a smile and a blush.
"If it works, it works," he mumbled breathlessly as he pressed in to kiss her again.
At those very words, she felt her body become tickled with tingles. She smiled through the kiss and kissed him back.
"Fine, but I'm still calling you a cheater."
"That's not fair," he protested halfheartedly as he drew her closer in their kissing. His eyes were closed as he enjoyed every moment of it, but then he slowly opened his eyes...
And saw two pairs of eyes peering back at him from the tent flap.
Startled, he suddenly pulled away and sat up, only to hear giggles of children as they disappeared off into the night.
Layana froze at that- the giggles echoing into the night. She only offered a sheepish smile and shrug.
"They already think we've... you know..." she said and proceeded the bury her face into the pillow. "Either way, perhaps it's best we stopped. I mean.. who knows if their rumors could have become true.." she added, teasingly as she burrowed into the blankets.
Jocelyn groaned when she said that, laying his head down beside here and staring up into the roof of the tent. "They think we..." was all he could say before groaning again.
It was all extremely embarrassing to have rumors swirl around him, but the fact that he'd never actually been with a woman before made it twice as scandalous. Covering his eyes with a hand, he mumbled, "It's like everyone here is always watching!"
Just Layana's eyes peered out from beneath the covers.
"Sorry... it's... well...... I guess we can blame it on our hair?"
Jocelyn turned to her and sighed. "I guess that's probably what it is. We'll blame it on that."
And though she couldn't see it, he did smile slightly at the sight of her.
And that's when she touched him with her cold big toe.... again.
Jocelyn was just about to close his eyes when the cold sensation had him jumping up again with a yelp! His arms immediately wrapped around Layana again.
"Gods, how are you already cold that quickly?!"
She laughed and gave a shrug.
"My toes get cold easily, what can I say?"
"That's unacceptable," he chided her jokingly, "because when you're cold, I suffer!"
And her reply was grinning at him broadly before pressing her cold toe to him again.
That last shock was enough for Jocelyn, and this time he reached down and grabbed a hold of her foot.
But her other foot was ready, and pressing against him with dancing, cold toes as she giggled under her breath, doing her best to suppress it- but doing a miserable job at it!
Jocelyn let out a triumphant breath, only to gasp again when her other cold toe pressed in on him. He had NOT anticipated that!
In desperation he rolled over an tussled with her under the covers until he was practically on top of her, pinning her down. How else was he supposed to stop the onslaught?
Layana let out a yelp and a laugh, but continued to furiously try to get him with those ice cube feet!
"Hey! Not fair!" she said, still wiggling beneath him.
Jocelyn pinned her hands down with his own, and leveraged his own foot that it sat squarely atop her own, ensuring that was the only place her cold toe could touch him. He grinned triumphantly down at her.
"What do you mean not fair? I've clearly beaten you at your own game!"
Layana gasped again.
"Who said this was a game!? Now come on!" she said, wriggling beneath him. "You've made your point!"
"I don't know... I kind of like it this way," he said, leaning to peer down at her with a wide grin. "I'm a lot safer up here, that's for sure."
Layana gasped indignantly.
"You would!" she wriggled beneath him. "I bet you're enjoying those eyeballs of yours.. watching the poor newly blind girl struggle beneath you all helplessly and her poor cold toes.... remaining so utterly, utterly cold!"
Jocelyn's face fell.
"First thing in the morning, I'll get right back to work and put these eyeballs to use, and get that bear to fix you."
He leaned closer until their bodies were touching. "For now, I guess I'll just keep you warm."
"Or.. urgh, choke the life out of me!" Layana yelped and grunted. "Come on, get off! You weigh a ton!"
"You calling me fat?" he said with mock horror, though he couldn't suppress his laugh fully. Finally, he rolled off of her and laid the back of his head in his hands.
And that's when a small roar came from her throat as she rolled over, clean ontop of him-
Blind or not, she knew EXACTLY how and where to pin the man down beneath her as she beamed.
"Ha! Got ya!"
And then it was Jocelyn's turn to squirm underneath, trying to free himself.
"Hey! THAT'S not fair!"
Layana only laughed.
"Then say I win and I am the best!" she went on, proudly puffing out her chest.
"Yeah, and how are you going to make me? I don't concede to cheaters!" he countered, before realizing...
... she had the most powerful torture apparatuses available: her cold feet.
And by the devil's grin on her face, it was evident she had no qualms in using them. And she could have laughed, perhaps she did- but the moment was interrupted by the sudden violent shaking of the land, sending her yelping, face first, into Jocelyn.
It really was all a blur to Jocelyn, first unsuccessfully fending off her cold toes, then finding that he face had basically dropped on top of his. He didn't mind at first, considering their lips pressed together once more.
But this time, something was wrong. When the first tremor occurred he instantly sat up, eyes widened. A distant rumbling outside nearly deafened him, but not loud enough to drown out the screams outside as villagers rushed out of their tents in fear.
In the distance, a frightening red-orange glow lit up the night sky.
The rumbling...
Her head jerked up, and she could hear the mountain awaken with a sharp crack and grumble of life. It made her heart leap into her throat. She tensed and suddenly jerked away from Jocelyn.
"Oh no.." But even on her feet she was unsteady, for the ground trembled a second time and she was barely able to stay upright as her hands found the dirt.
"The mountain...."
And elsewhere, someone finished Layana's thoughts.
"The mountain- She awakes!"
Jocelyn stumbled to his feet and led Layana out of the tent by hand, only to be greeted by a night sky flamed with a blinding orange-yellow glow in the distance. He wasn't prepared for the brightness of it and cowered slightly from the light, shielding his eyes with a free hand.
All around them villagers ran around crying in awe -- "The Mountain awakes!" In the distance, the orange glow just illuminated a massive pillar of black smoke trailing up into the sky and obscuring the moon above, as the volcano on the next island erupted again, sending a spurt of lava and dust high into the air.
As ash began to rain down on the village, Jocelyn instinctively pulled Layana closer to him. But it was a reflex action, for his attention was turned elsewhere.
He could sense some sort of magic at work, something that was directly causing the mountain to angrily roar in the distance.
And it came from the direction of the bears.
She could hear the cries of her people, the explosive roar of the volcano, and the heavy breathing ofJocelyn.
"J-Jocelyn... I can't see. The cloth... Where did we.put the seeing cloth?"
Jocelyn had to peel his eyes away from the erupting volcano to rush back into her tent. Though it was dark, the unmistakable magical essence of the cloth glowed to him, and he snatched it up from under the covers.
Clumsily handing it to Layana, he pulled her by the hand again, this time in the opposite direction.
"I... I think the bears are awake," he said as they rushed through the village, "and I think they're causing the eruption!"
As they ran, Layana stumbled but managed to keep up. But the moment Jocelyn's theory came out, she gasped and stomped her feet into the sands to stop him.
"Wait- what!? The wish bears?"
Jocelyn nodded as they dashed between tents and people, through the falling ash toward the beach where the last wish bear had been left.
"I can't explain it... but I can feel them awoken! It must be them."
As they burst through the tree line and onto the beach, there was the wish bear, eyes lit... and floating.
"Took you long enough," it said, facing them.
"What? What do you mean by feel?" But the wish bear appeared, and Layana froze.
"Wh.. wh.. were you following us?" Layana found herself asking, her voice shrill as the ground continued to shake.
The bear's eyes seemed to glow more brightly with every eruption of the volcano, and seemed to dim every time the great mountain took a moment to rest.
"Of course," the bear said, sounding maybe a little bit annoyed. "Your wishmaking has awoken Kau'lano, and now he calls to us. You must bring us to him."
Layana wasn't sure what to make of all of this, but the idea of going anywhere near the mountain..
"Wait.. you want us to take you to the mountain?" She could have flailed, maybe she did! Shaking her head, she went on. "I know I'm the blind one here, but I'm sure those eyes of yours can see the mountain is anything but happy. It's too dangerous to go up there! We'd be killed!"
"It's the only way to reverse Ta'nuh-ku's wish," the bear said in a flat voice, which caused Jocelyn's jaw to drop.
"What, what do you mean?"
"Is it not your desire to reverse Ta'nuh-ku's work? For her to see again? You must bring us to the fire mountain."
Layana felt her chest tighten at the words as she grit her teeth and dared to take a step forward.
"And when we bring you there?" she asked, a volcanic wind rustling through her hair. "Will all of this stop? Or are there anymore tricks you'd play?"
The bear remained hoovering before them before it's eyes flashed as it spoke again.
"Ta'nuh-ku can only listen and oblige commands. The mountain..."
And off int he distance the volcano rumbled and shook the ground again.
"It calls. It waits."
Layana felt her heart thumping like a hammer inside her ears as she turned to Jocelyn and took his hand and gave it a squeeze. To the mountain? But it threaten to erupt...
and Layana knew perfectly well the dangers as she remained silent, gritting her teeth.
Jocelyn exchanged glances with Layana, then looked back to the bear. It still hovered in the air, silently and unwavering like a balloon. Cautiously stepping forward while balancing on the still-shaking ground, he gave the bear a slight nudge. It moved as if weightless.
"At least it'll be easier dragging him around," Jocelyn said with a frown. "I think we can get all of this fixed!"
Of course, 'all' included the erupting volcano now. Wide-eyed, he said, "Let's make sure your village is okay first!"
Layana looked towards the village, then back towards the bear. She winced. They probably should check on the village. Though she could not see anything, she could certainly hear the chaos, and see the movement through the enchanted scarf.
"I... I am not sure we should wait..." Layana went on, nervously.
The wish bear's eyes glowed a little brighter.
"There is no time to spare."
Looking over at Jocelyn, she knew it was now or never.
"Then to the mountain we will go."
Jocelyn swallowed down his nervousness, but nodded his head. The bear was still floating like a balloon, so he grabbed onto one of its ears and started pulling it along.
"Which way?" he asked, before looking over his shoulder. Layana's little boat, the one in which they had sat for three long days, was conveniently beached. "Should we just take the boat?"
Layana chewed on her lip, but nodded. It would be the fastest route, since this side of the island offered travel only by land, and land that was rocky and steep. Granted, they'd have to scale the volcano anyway, but to go by sea would get them closer and she knew where the best trails were for travel.
Moving numbly forward, she got into the boat and didn't look to Jocelyn. Though her foot falls were clumsy, she was doing alright for her temporary blinded state. Or... at least she hoped it was temporary. And as much as she felt guilty she'd take away Jocelyn's eye sight the moment this was fixed, part of her would be relieved not to be stuck this way- forever.
Jocelyn hopped into the boat after her. Taking up the small length of rope left by the other villagers to tie off the boat, he secured the floating bear to the little craft. It remained hovering in midair, like a balloon trying to float away.
With a deep breath, he picked up the paddle and dipped it into the wet sand, pushing them out into the sea.
For a good while, Layana remained silent and the only noise shared was Jocelyn's paddle dipping into the water and the ocean waves gently lapping and rocking the boat. She tried to focus on other things to help calm herself, like the smell of wood from the boat, or the salt of the sea air, but it was futile as her heart was still racing and her hands were gripping the sides of the boat so hard that her knuckles had gone white, which was evident in the way they glowed beneath the moon light. She was also furiously chewing on the inside of her mouth, and on occasion, her finger nails, too.
Jocelyn kept his eyes focused on the waters as he strained his muscles against the oars. The waves lapped softly around them as they inched their way around the island, trees and cliffs obscuring what lay on the other side.
But the pillar of black smoke could clearly be seen high in the sky, roiling in the distance. Jocelyn grimaced, not looking forward to when they finally rounded the island.
And just like that, the volcano came into view. Half hazed over by dust and ash, the demonic glow of red hot lava peeked out through the black smoke. Occasionally the water trembled around them as it sent another geyser of magma high into the sky.
Jocelyn gulped. "Gods... how are we supposed to fix that?"
Though the chaos erupted around her in endless waves, what really got to her was the fact she couldn't see any of this chaos. And the closer they got to it, the tighter this sensation felt within her gut.
"Maybe... maybe we don't have to," she said, voice hesitant as she tried to search for Jocelyn's silhouette. "What if.. what if we just ... just accepted this and I-"
And that's when the wish bear's eyes flashed brighter.
"The course has been set. Fate is already in motion."
And the cold chill in the put of Layana's belly grew colder and denser as she froze in place at that very idea...
That they had no choice and she had to wonder...
Did they even have a choice from the start?
Jocelyn felt a knot in his stomach as they silently floated closer and closer to the spewing mountain. Soon it towered over their little boat, the immense black cloud above obscuring them in its heavy shadow.
"I feel him," the bear said. Its eyes were glowing so brightly that looking at it hurt his head.
"So... do we have to climb up there once we land?" Jocelyn hesitantly asked, almost anticipating a terrible answer.
The bear did not disappoint.
"Yes. To the top."
Layana grit her teeth, and when the boat bumped against the shore, she nearly leaped out of her skin. They hadn't even begun the trek up the mountain and she was sweating, the warm winds of the sea making her skin feel even more sticky as she released a quivering breath.
"There.. there should be a mountain pass. Well, several of them. It wouldn't be smart to move off the beaten path..."
For there would be dangers there ever lurking. At least the paths had been well traveled. She just hoped they could get up the mountain side before it began to spew out lava. She knew out running that would be impossible. And she began to wonder just how wicked these 'wishes' were that came from the wish bears.
This close to the mountain, Jocelyn could feel heat in the air and tremors in the air. He spent the next few moments gathering his thoughts as he took the length of rope from their little boat. He tied one end around the floating bear, and the other end around his waist until he looked like a child holding a balloon.
"Right," he said, looking back to Layana. That cloth didn't look right around her eyes. Perhaps whatever lay up at the peak of the erupting mountain would be able to fix it.
Offering a hand to her, he said, "Lead the way, my guide."
The path would not be easy, and the terrain easily cut into their feet. It didn't help that, from time to time, some falling rocks from the shaking mountain would come crashing down their path. Thankfully they were able to evade them as they continued the long, arduous crawl up the base of the mountain.
As they moved on, the trees and forests grew thicker, and though Layana had played in these woods for most of her youth, in her current state of blindness, everything felt foreign. Like the strange rain she felt on her back. Rubbing her fingers together, she tried to figure out what it was. Then she realized...
It wasn't snow, but the mountain was raining ash.
This did not bode well. If the mountain was just rumbling, it was one thing...
but ash? It was a sure sign the thing was getting ready to blow.
"We need to hurry."
The wish bear's eyes lit up. "Yes, time is running short."
As if they needed the reminder! But as strange noise caught her attention, and as they began to make their way around the bend- even without being able to see it, she knew something terrible blocked their path-
for before them she could feel the heat and hear the gurgling rush of a lava stream. And it took out the bridge that was the easiest way up to the mountain's peak.
Jocelyn felt the heat even before he saw the bright orange glow of the flowing lava -- and it flowed FAST, taking out not only the little bridge but all the trees and shrubs along the way, spilling over a cliff and down below. Some of it threatened to splash as far as they were, and he quickly yanked Layana out of the way.
"So much for that idea!" he shouted over the rumbling as they ran through a downpour of ash and sideways along the mountain. Most of the terrain was impassable, with sheer rock faces stretching up the side of the mountain that not even the most surehanded of climbers could scale. And from the distance, the smell of burning wood took over the air as distant forests began to burn under the lava flow.
Finally he stopped, mostly to catch his breath but also because they'd come across a rock wall that actually looked climbable -- at least compared to the rest of the mountain. He peered up with a gulp. It was an almost vertical ascent, and any small misstep could mean disaster.
"Looks like this is the only way up, unless you know of a better path," he said sheepishly.
She couldn't see what he meant, even with the enchanted blind fold, but as she took a moment to feel for herself, she felt her heart sink.
"Are.. are we to climb?"
And before Jocelyn could reply, the wish bear answered, "Yes. It is the only way."
Stupid wish bear! If only she could see, she'd glare poisonous daggers at its dumb, painted face!
"Well, I guess the bear's the boss," he said with an awkward laugh before taking a hold of her hand. "Follow me closely and you'll be fine."
The climb up the side of the mountain wasn't too terrible, all things considered. They only had to watch out for the occasional quake and the possibility of falling back dozens of feet to their deaths. Luckily the bear floated up with them as they climbed.
About two hundred feet up, Jocelyn pulled himself up onto a small ledge and helped Layana do the same, panting for breath. "Let's take a quick breather," he said, chest heaving.
The wish bear's eyes glowed red. "He is close."
Jocelyn scowled at the bear too. "Why would a bear be on a mountaintop anyway? This seems like a really stupid place to put it."
The bear hovered in front of them.
"There is a temple hidden away in the mountainside. Where we were worshipped."
Tired, exhausted and feeling as if she just was about ready to cry, at the bear's statement, Layana gave an frustrated huff.
"Were worshiped because you probably continued to trick people into wishes they never would have wanted!"
But even after she said it, she felt only a bit slimmer in her relief. Guilt still knotted her on the inside. After all...
Did not Jocelyn benefit from this, if at least not greatly- even at her expense?
The bear's eyes glowed in reply.
"Our times come and go. We never cease."
Layana's lips curled irritably but she turned away from the direction of the bear. She couldn't wait for this to be over. To wake up and this had all been a dream....
"Yeah, never cease being a pain in our butts," Jocelyn mumbled under his breath, though he made it extra quiet in case the bear did something weird.
With a shake of his head he plopped himself down beside Layana. "Look on the bright side. A little bit further and maybe we can get this whole wish thing sorted out."
Layana sighed.
"Bright side?" she could have cried, despite her smile. "I can't even see if a side is bright or not!" She shook her head and looked up- to see what?S he didn't know- but the bandanna over her eyes was giving her a throbbing head ache. There were too many lines that she found herself taking the thing off in one frustrated tug.
"You will," he said assuredly, though the knots in his gut were beginning to tighten. "And I'll go back to darkness. But it's only fair, since I'm used to it."
He tried to throw on a smile, which probably didn't come out as enthusiastic as he might have hoped. "Besides, maybe I'm getting sick of all these 'colors' and whatnot."
With her eyes now exposed, there was the sparkle of tears at such thoughts, ideas. She turned away, trying to blink them away, but a rumble from the mountain side and a few falling craters reminded her they needed to continue.
"The mountain continues to anger," the bear said.
She threw a glare it's way, then 'looked' to Jocelyn.
"Come on. We should keep climbing, before the mountain throws us back off!"
Picking up the blind fold, she reluctantly returned it to her head- but did a sloppy job of fastening it on.
"Okay, my fake eyes are in place. Can we go now? I'd really hate to be climbing when all of this shaking gets worse!"
Jocelyn nodded numbly and climbed to his feet, brushing his knees off. He looked at the bear.
"How much farther?"
"We are close," came the reply.
And indeed he looked up and, as the black smoke cleared for just a second he spotted ledge up in the distance, whose side was much too flat and patterned to be natural. Someone had carved it into the side of the rock.
"I see it. We're almost there," he called behind him as he tied the bear back around his waist and began climbing.
The mountain was rumbling, but it was more silent than it had been before. Ashes still continued to snow from the skies and Layana felt her nerves grow tenser.
"Close.." she repeated, dryly licking her lips as she moved to follow Jocelyn. She held onto his arm, hugging it. "How close?" she asked, voice barely over a whisper.
Not being able to see allowed her to focus on other things- like the deeper rumblings in the bowels of the mountain. The very rock was swelling, and she could hear soft hisses of potent gases that wrecked havok on her senses.
"We need to hurry..." she winced as a few sparse rocks tumbled beside the pair and she dodged it by pressing to Jocelyn, close.
"The mountain.... Can you feel it?" she asked, voice still low.
Jocelyn nodded numbly and pulled her closer, watching pebbles bounce past. Each handhold rattled under his palms as they continued their ascent.
By the time they reached the manmade stone platform, the black smoke and ash pouring out of the volcano's crater nearly choked out the thin air. A cool breeze seemed to push out toward them from the end of the platform, and after helping Layana up, the Serenian turned to look.
The entrance to the temple loomed before them, an arch carved into the side of the mountain and adorned with detailed inscriptions of a long dead language. All manners of wild animals stared back at them from the rock: eagles, bears, wolves, all staring back at them with their stony gazes. The entrance might as well have been encased in glass, the perfection of it.
The whole place reeked of magic.
And suddenly, Jocelyn forgot their plight. His eyes widened in awe. "By the Gods, look at this place! It's... it's untouched! We may be the first people up here in millennia! And the power coming from it!"
Without even thinking he dashed forward through the mist and toward it.
Layana was still consumed with her fear to catch onto Jocelyn's excitement, but when he dashed off, she gasped in surprised, stumbling along behind him as she tried not to fall.
"Wh-what? What is it? I can't.. I can't see!" she blurted out, trying to look all around, but being inside this shaky patch of ruins had her head pounding worse than it was before. The gases were just nauseating and she had a hard time catching her breath.
"Good heavens, it's amazing!" Jocelyn's voice echoed from inside the smoke-filled entrance to the temple, but soon he reemerged, coughing and wide-eyed but still overly enthusiastic.
"Cover your mouth, it's foul," he said hoarsely, covering his own mouth with his forearm before leading Layana in by the hand.
The entrance was deceptively small for the size of the temple's interior. It was hard to see just how high and deep the chamber went, with all the acrid smoke rising to the cavernous roof. But on either sides of them, the entire walls were covered in intricate bear carvings. Thousands of them.
"Sorry if I'm not as excited as you!" Layana called after, trying to make heads or tales of things, but she really couldn't see. But even she wasn't ignorant to the pressure, the feel of magic all around them. She turned her head, feeling a particular pull across the way.
"Jocelyn," she asked, pausing a moment to catch herself on the wall as the mountain continued to rumble. "Jocelyn... over there... I feel something that way..."
And she felt strangely, her skin beginning to glow a soft shade of gold.
His eyes were glued onto the bear carvings. Or at least he tried to, anytime the smoke wasn't stinging his eyes.
But even he eventually felt the pull of magic coming from the other direction. When he turned, he could sense the power emanating from deeper down the cavern where Layana had gestured. Faraway tendrils of magic that he could barely make out, and could not decipher. Old magic.
And his eyes widened at Layana, who seemed to almost be bathed in the energy. "W-what's happening to you?"
Despite being blind, she could still 'see', or perhaps sense the change in her body. She looked down to her arms, shaking her head.
"I... I don't know!"
And Jocelyn's eyes widened.
"The symbol on your head... it's also glowing!"
From behind him, the wooden wish bear floated forward and nearly bumped into Jocelyn. "Finally, we are reunited."
She touched her forehead, the good that did her before gasping when she felt the bear move past.
"Quick! Catch that bear! Don't let him go! We still need to figure this out!" And the last thing she wanted was to be left behind in this volcano by some wish bear who might be deceiving them both!
As they chased the floating bear through the acrid smoke, a gustless wind suddenly sent the billowing vapors swirling away.
From the blackness of the other side emerged another floating bear, jeweled eyes practically aflame with a brilliant blue. Interlocking whorls of golden paint covered the entirety of its wooden frame. It looked almost like a molten sculpture.
And it was the size of a pineapple.
"Finally you arrive, children of the sun. And you bring my brothers with you."
The mark upon Layana's head, pulsating with soft light, suddenly flashed brilliantly and vanished. And before Layana floated the other wish bear.
"Tan'nuh-ku," the baby bear greeted. "Tana-muk."
"Kau'lano," they replied.
Dizzy was an understatement, and though she knew much was going on around her, she found it hard to concentrate. Whatever power had flared through her was draining, and for what she could tell, that power was very little! She found herself clutching onto Jocelyn, drooping with exhaustion before something made her perk up.
"Wait... what do you mean by Children of the Sun?"
Jocelyn caught Layana in time and held her up, even as the smoke around them began to dissipate a little to reveal more of the temple's interior. There were a dozen alcoves of all different sizes lining the walls, and in several of them, dormant wooden bears sat motionless. Many of the alcoves were empty though.
"Children of the Sun," repeated the little bear that had called itself 'Kau'lano'. "Touched upon by the powers of Sa'wa, the great orb in the sky. Blessed by her warmth, cradled at her breast."
A pause. And then the voice spoke again with a hint of amusement.
"No, it is because of your hair. What, has no one ever compared the color of it to the sun before? I have slumbered for a long time, but the world was not even that primitive the last time I was awake."