Spirits of the Earth

Akala wiggled her bared toes in the sand, enjoying the way the sand squished up between her toes.  In spite of the warm water, the sand here was cool, creating a delicious, shivering sensation that ran up her spine.

From where she knelt, she could see the celebration -- a feast, really -- to celebrate the birth of a beautiful little girl to the tribe.  In spite of the mother's young age, it had been an easy birth with no complications, and the little girl had barely shed a tear as her new tribemates came to know her.  The gods had blessed this one, surely, but only time would tell to what end.

There were a few things left to do before Akala could properly join the celebration.  Already, the music was beginning, luring people from the laden tables to dance.  She watched for a moment, laughing as one of the tribe elders swept the baby up and twirled the young girl around with him.  Yes, she loved a good birthing festival!

Bowing her head over the sands, Akala began to murmur her thanks to the ancestors -- her own, who were always with her, as well as those who walked the village.  It was her ritual -- a moment of private reflection and gratitude.

Not far from where the young woman stood, admiring the celebration, a sleek dorsal fin emerged from the ocean waves. The fin moved at an unhurried pace, but its movements appeared to be analogous of a methodical predator. A handful of gulls sat near the shallows, floating on the waves not so very far from where the fin emerged. The silly birds didn't seem to pay the fin much mind until the speed of the fin's approach gradually increased til it reached a full charge that would have taken any careless prey off guard.

Three out of five gulls were intelligent enough to panic and take flight before the fin could reach them. Two were not so fortunate, however. The water near the fin suddenly exploded, revealing a peculiar and,perhaps, rarely seen creature. One of the slow gulls was met with a swift end and brutal and it was all over in a matter of seconds, lost in a curtain of wave, blood and feathers.

As soon as this brief carnage had ended and the waters calmed, there was in the water a man floating in there where the gulls had been. In his hands he held the limp body of the gull which he did not hesitate to raise to his mouth and tear into it like a starved piranha.  In less than a minute, the poor bird was gone ,swallowed whole by the voracious predator it had fallen victim to.

Now the beast turned its head, seeming to be attracted by the noise coming from the land where the humans lived. He cautiously swam into the shallows, drawn to the music more than anything .  He hesitated , however, when he noticed Akala. He smelled her first. Knew she was human. Female. Little more for his eyesight was poor. He "stood" up, eyeing her with predatory eyes then he smiled, flashing rows of large and very sharp white teeth that were freshly stained crimson , "Bad food," The creature spoke her language but it was very broken and primitive, his inflection a deep rumbling sound, " It greets."It could have been regarded as a friendly greeting were it not for the sinister look on the strange man's face.  "It comes see. Not want bad food."

Ooc: Ha'aheo, the best conversationalist ever. I uh...kinda fell asleep while writing this so there's bound to be special!

(OOC: You're pretty special.  :P  But that's why we love you!)

Akala's eyes opened at the sound of the gulls' cries, and she lifted her head a moment later to find a strange figure wading ashore towards her.  He could almost pass for human but for the coarse language and the teeth, which Akala could see even at this distance.

A more cautious person would have run.

Instead, Akala lifted herself smoothly off of the sand with a smile.  "Hi," she ventured.  She remained where she stood rather than approach the newcomer -- which was probably fairly sensible, considering.  Thinking over his words, she prompted helpfully, "Are you looking for something?"

The creature blinked stupidly and stared at her. His eyes widened, confusion and surprise twisting his rough features. This human did not run from him and she spoke to him. He had not expected this. She did not scream. The hunters would not come with their pointy sticks. Yet. How refreshing.

It took him a moment to respond, " It comes see," He repeated and pointed towards the celebration. He had no words in his vocabulary for what his intentions were. He did not know the word for music or else he would have told her as much. He had come to listen and observe. And he was still hungry...but he always was. He gestured to her with hand, "Not fear? "

ooc:   Aw!

He makes no sense, but he tries! *flails*

Akala laughed quietly.  Well, he had the basic grasp of human language down.  "No," she answered softly.  "I'm not afraid of you."  She probably should be -- but he was making an effort, and the least she could do is make an effort as well.

She looked at the festival, then looked back to the stranger.  "Would you like to come to the celebration?"  She gestured over to the group of people.  "They're celebrating a birth."

Perhaps that was too complicated for him...  She thought a moment, then said, "Do you have a name?"  Bringing her hands to her chest, she said, "My name is Akala."

He swam forward, coming as close as he could to land without beaching himself. As the water level lowered to shallow, the rest of his body became for visible. Half man, half fish or, to be more specific, shark. An ignorant soul might have confused him for a merman.

"What....'celebr-brayshun birth'? Words. Not know." He tilted his head, curiously like a quizzical dog. Although his confusion melted away upon hearing key words that he recognized. He nodded and pointed at her, "Akala." He pounded his chest with a fist, " It no name. Bad food name it Ha'aeho. "   

"Oh," she breathed, her surprise evident.  Akala had heard of such creatures, but they were rare...and they were usually the cause of much fear in a community.  She glanced over her shoulder at the party, and then, in a few quick strides, she, stepped into the water.  This particular creature seemed to be making an effort to be friendly -- and he would never learn to be friendly if no one ever tried to teach him.

"There was a baby born today.  A baby is...like a little person."  Yoreiqi certainly wasn't his native tongue, made evident by his clumsy speech.  She found it rather endearing, really.  "And a celebration is a party.  There's food and dancing and music.  It's something humans do together when we're happy."

"Hello, Ha'aeho."  She was up to her ankles in the warm water, the low waves splashing only a bit higher on her legs.  "Can I come closer to you so we can talk properly?"

Ha'aheo didn't move. His eyes narrowed though, and his expression was inquiring and a little dubious.  He wasn't threatened by her approach though because she seemed harmless. She had no weapon from what he could see. She could have had magic though. Ha'aheo did not like magic very much. It could freeze him, burn him, shock him...it could do far worse things than any spear could do to his flesh. Though he considered the possibility of this woman being a magic user, he doubted it and convinced himself that she could not possibly harm a big, strong hunter such as himself.

More confusing words came from the woman's mouth. Ha'aeho grew frustrated at his lack of ability to comprehend. He ground his teeth and his face grew tight with apparent irritation. He knew what 'little meant' but 'person' , 'party', celebration', 'dancing' and 'music', 'humans' or 'happy'....these words were foreign to him. "Words big. Not know. It knows food. It knows little."

Ha'aheo tilted his head at her question, not quite comprehending her meaning, " It talks to Akala. Akala make it see big words. See big words to talk good."

Akala laughed softly, a good-natured, cheerful laugh.  She didn't advance any further though, deciding, instead, to let him set the pace of their meeting.  "I can help you learn to talk better," she promised.  "You already know more than you think you do.  You must be very clever."

After all, she doubted anyone had ever taken the time to speak to the poor creature before...  He must have somehow worked out most of this on his own!

"First of all, you aren't an 'it.'  You're a person.  I'm a person too.  And when people speak about themselves, they use the word 'I'.  For example.  I like to talk.  I like to swim.  I like to eat."

That gave her pause.  "Are you hungry, Ha'aheo?  I could bring you some food.  I'm sure they have enough to spare."

Ha'aheo tried his best to process this information. He was indeed a clever creature, but all of these new words and experiences were a little overwhelming for him. It confused, made his head spin. He felt his frustration flare up again. He did not like not knowing something and his impatience did not help. He expected to get everything the first time around. He did not. He clenched his fists at his sides. He started swimming in slow, lazy circles out of habit of being impatient and not being able to remain still for long.

He didn't fully understand what she was trying to explain. He had learned human language from listening to snippets of multiple conversations. He identified meanings with images, gestures. It was not so different from the way a small child learned to speak. "It person? Person Akala. Person....Ha'aheo?" He beat his chest with his fist, "Ha'aheo."

Everything else was lost on him but the mention of 'hungry' and 'food' ...this he understood very well. He nodded with a great deal of enthusiasm, " It hungry! Ha'aeho want food!" Akala's scent already made him salivate but he'd tasted human flesh before and knew- or perhaps believed now that humans were  , as he put it , "bad food". 

Akala laughed again at his enthusiasm, and she nodded cheerfully.  "Then I'll be right back with some food."

True to her word, it didn't take Akala long at all.  She kept half an eye on the shape out in the water, hoping he would wait for her.  After all, his understanding of language was limited, and she didn't want him to think she had abandoned him!

It didn't take long to gather up the aforementioned food and return to the shore.  She held two plates -- one of fish for him and one of fruit for her.  He had probably never eaten off of a plate before...or cooked food, for that matter.  She had debated bringing silverware, but that hardly seemed worth the effort...

"This is fish," she told him, curious if he knew the word.  Cautiously, she stepped further out into the water than she had been previously.  "Do you like fish?"

Akala was right. Ha'aheo did not understand her meaning and felt disappointed that the strange human was leaving him. He did not think to follow her though. Idly, he wondered if she would betray his trust and alert the hunters. Humans could be sneaky, he thought.  But none had dared to talk to him or stand that close voluntarily.

He was about to turn, swim away but then he noticed her glance back over her shoulder at him. He lingered,hopeful. He had a hungry curiosity. He wanted new words. Foolish to wait. He thought, frowning. She wasn't coming back. He started pacing. Swimming back and forth impatiently though he'd hardly been kept waiting for very long. Again, he thought of leaving multiple times, but never acted on those impulses because he honestly had little to do with his life.

She surprised him. It showed on his face , "Akala no go." He could smell the food before he could see it and when she stepped near him he said nothing. He snatched the plate from her hands and proceeded to devour the fish she had offered him ravenously. It was gone within a matter of seconds and now he held the plate in his hands curiously. "Not know...what? " He held the strange thing up , staring at it for quite a while, not sure what to make of it. " Food?" He brought it to his nose and sniffed it. He then bit into it, breaking the plate and getting a mouthful. Seconds later he spat the bits of plate out and gasped. He threw the plate down in the water and pointed at it, " Bad food! No eat! "

Akala watched this display with some amusement.  Heavens, but the poor creature had clearly never been introduced to human culture!  That wasn't to say their culture was any better than what Ha'aheo was accustomed to -- but it certainly caused some confusion.

"No," she agreed, amused.  She moved backwards a few feet, to where the water was approximately up to her knees.  Then, happily, she sat down in the water, unmindful of how sopping wet her clothing would be.  She could dry them later!

"This is called a plate.  Humans put our food on the plate, and then we eat from it.  Like this."  She picked up a piece of fruit and took a bite of the sweet pineapple.  It was quite good, and she relished the flavor a moment before smiling at Ha'aheo again.  "Do you like fruit?"

She wasn't sure how far inland he could come, but she held a piece of pineapple towards him in offering.  "This is called pineapple.  Do you want to try it?"

Ha'aheo looked at her with his brow curiously elevated, " Plate for food? " He scratched his chin, looking even more puzzled. "Why?" What was the point ? He backed away a bit when she presented the pineapple. It was a very strange sight and as it was with the plate, he didn't know what to make of it.

He watched her eat it and he could smell it's sweetness. It was not a familiar scent to him. He had only ever taken from fisherman, claiming their catches. He ate meat and only meat. However this thing Akala ate, this 'fruit' did smell good. He wondered if it tasted as good as it smelled, unlike human meat.

He stared at her offering hand and blinked stupidly a couple times,"Pineapple?  Pineapple fruit? Not know fruit. Not know pineapple. Pineapple good food?"

"Fruit...grows."  She wasn't really sure how to clarify that, nor did she think it was necessary.  Instead, she said, "Pineapple grows on trees.  Do you know what a tree is?"  She wasn't sure if he did -- he was a mershark, after all.  Turning, she gestured to several trees near the beach.  "See those tall brown and green things just there?  Those are trees.  And that's where you find pineapple."

Close enough.

She grinned at him.  "Go on.  You can have this piece of pineapple if you want.  And if you don't like it, you can just spit it out.  Like you did with the plate."

"Not know words. Lots. Word tree," Ha'aeho admitted. He gazed in the direction that Akala pointed and studied them. He pointed, "Trees. " Then he looked at the pineapple and tried to imagine what it had to do with trees. "Pineapple trees? " Did she mean to say that the delicious smelling fruit came from those tall , leafy things that she called trees? He could have been wrong though. That seemed like a strange concept to him...that something could grow up so high.

"Trees big. " He observed and then eyed the pineapple again and took the bit that was offered from her. He tossed the pineapple bit into his mouth and licked his lips. Yes. He did like how it tasted. It was almost as good as fish. "Pineapple good. What Akala eat?"He was eyeing the rest of the pineapple, practically salivating and about ready to pounce on the poor girl and take the rest. He started at her but he drew back, fighting his usual instincts. "Smell good. It hungry. "

"You're still hungry?" Akala asked, surprised.  Her expression faded into a look of amusement, however; well, she wasn't likely to starve to death anytime soon.  "You can have mine if you want it.  But, first, let's see...  This yellow stuff is the pineapple."  She neatly pulled the yellow cubes aside from the rest.

"Oranges grow on trees too.  That's what these are."  She held out a slice of orange for him to see expectantly.  "And these small purple round ones are grapes.  And this -- this is my favorite -- is watermelon."  She stole a piece of watermelon for herself, taking care to spit out the seeds.

"These are seeds.  That's how the watermelons grow."  She explained, holding one up so he could see it.  "When you bite into the melon, you'll feel something hard.  That's the seed.  You can spit the seed out if you want.  Like this."  She demonstrated, spitting the seeds into the water around her.

She could go back for another plate later!  So, without reservation, she handed the whole plate over to him with a smile.  "Now, remember, you don't eat the plate."

Ha'aheo took an orange slice and tossed it into his mouth. Seconds later he spat the thing out. Fortunately, he had not spat it on her! The man made a face," Bad! Orange bad! " He immediately forgot about that when she showed him the grapes. He took one, popped it into his mouth and then took the rest off of her hands. "Good grapes."  At last they came to the watermelon and he watched her spit the seeds out curiously, wondering if they tasted bad.

He didn't understand the concept of growing. "Not eat seed? Seed bad, " he asked after accepting the plate from her.When he was hungry, he never hesitated. He practically inhaled everything on the plate and choked. He dropped the plate and grasped at his throat, coughing and gagging for air.

ooc: And then she left him to suffocate to death. The end!

OOC: May be slightly disturbing for some viewers.

Akala watched, amused -- until he started to choke.  She practically jumped to her feet in her haste to stand.  Fortunately, he wasn't very far away, so she only had to wade a short distance out to him.

Wide-eyed and worried, she watched him for a moment.  How he had inhaled the fish -- which were much larger -- and managed only to choke on the fruit was beyond her, but she certainly couldn't just let him suffocate!

"Stay calm," she murmured, reaching into a hidden pocket in her outfit to pull out a knife.  There was no time to prepare a ritual or to find a sacrifice; her blood would have to do.  With a murmured blessing, she slid the blade sharply across her palm.  Blood welled up immediately, and she made a fist to attempt to keep it from falling away.

A mere second later, she was standing above him with her eyes closed and her hand extended out over his face.  Prayers to the goddesses of healing left her lips as blood dribbled onto the mershark's face and into his mouth.  Each bead lit up, suddenly, glowing with the power of the gods to save Ha'aheo from his fate.

Ha'aheo was anything but calm, but he was too preoccupied with trying to dislodge the fruit caught in his windpipe. But when he saw her draw a knife he assumed that she was going to kill him. He drew back , but didn't get far as his coughing intensified and his face turned purple.

The lack of air made him too weak to resist her. He could only watch with wide eyes. Then she did something that was unexpected. She stood over him and let her blood spill into his mouth. The smell was intoxicating but the taste was absolutely foul. What was she doing?

Then...he gave a final hack and grape went flying out of his open mouth. Ha'aheo greedily sucked in lungfulls of air, the color returning to his cheeks.

Akala sighed in relief as she drew away from the mershark, her eyes large and showing only concern as she lingered at his shoulder.  She cradled her hand against her stomach protectively, the cut stinging, red and raw, from the salt water.

She really should wrap it...

Ignoring her self-inflicted wound for the meantime, she concentrated on Ha'aheo, even going so far as to put a gentle hand on his upper arm.  "I didn't have time to warn you," she began, certain that even a Yoreiqi would have found her solution disconcerting...  She paused, then, not sure if he understood what she meant.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly.

"Not know. Ha'aeho good? Not know why," He stared at her, appearing quite perplexed, " Food no go down. " He had no idea that Akala had just saved his life. His eyes swept over to her bleeding hand and the knife. He tilted his head and grabbed her arm roughly and turned her hand over so he could inspect the bleeding palm.

The smell of he blood made him drool a little , but he shook his head and reminded himself that if he tried to eat her that his tummy would hurt for many moons and that she wouldn't taste good enough to be worth it. " Akala...why?"

He wished his vocabulary were not so limited. He was genuinely curious to know why she hurt herself ...and then spilled her blood on him. He thought about it for a moment and wondered. It was almost like magic. Could magic make him stop choking? He didn't think so, but maybe it was possible. Assuming it was magic, then he wondered why she want to help him. Why was she nice? Did she know he'd eaten a human's limb? His kind were man-eaters.Why didn't she fear? She was a puzzle. She made no sense. And that was what intrigued him but frustrated him as well.   

"Akala not good," He replied, and then looked at the hand on his shoulder. He was not sure whether or not he was comfortable with that or not. The uncertainty showed plain as day on his face.

Akala smiled at him as he looked over her hand.  "You have to chew.  You can't just swallow everything!"  Her light chastisement, of course, would mean nothing to him; she would just have to show him later so that it didn't happen again!

"You were choking," she answered him softly.  "Your food was stuck.  Here."  Lifting her arm from his shoulder, but not wrenching her hand away from his, she pointed at his throat.  "You could have died.  I had to do something."

And that something was...hard to explain to someone with a limited vocabulary!

"I cut myself so that I could heal you.  Healing makes people feel better.  It's a gift from the Gods."  She paused, wondering if he understood any of it.  "Do you worship gods?"

Gently, she pulled her hand away so that she could unwrap the light piece wrap she was wearing that had formed a sort of top.  It came away from her slender frame easily, and she used this to begin to wrap her hand.

Ha'aeho listened, but her words washed over his head. He tilted his head at her chastisement. Her tone was unfamiliar. It sounded a little angry. No one had ever dared to scold him. He wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Died? Small food choking it," Ha'aeho used these shiny new words, not entirely certain if he was using them in the correct context. He was determined to be fluent though.

"Not know words. It no dieing. Akala good to it. Not know why." Her behavior made no sense to him and he watched her curiously. Clothing was another thing that confused him. He thought it was part of her so that when she removed it ,he gasped. Why was she peeling off her skin to cover damaged skin?  This was the weirdest thing he'd ever seen. But he didn't have the right words to ask her what  she was doing and why?

He just let himself bleed. Wounds eventually healed and his body was covered with scars.

If he did worship Gods, he had a different word for it.  It wasn't surprising, really!

She looked up, alarmed, when he gasped -- but he seemed to be more interested in what she was doing than because he was in pain or choking again.  Settling back to her makeshift bandage with a smile, she said, "You seemed friendly."  Not vicious or violent, anyway.  Falling back on his terms, she added with a grin, "You seemed good.  I believe it's important we treat everyone and everything with respect."  That concept, too, was probably mostly over his head.

"There," she said, flexing her hand a bit in the makeshift bandage.  "I think that will do nicely."  Movement from the beach caught her eye, then, and she half-turned to find half a dozen men and women on the shore, each of them armed.  They had no doubt been drawn by the commotion in the water when Ha'aeho was choking.

"Step away from it, Akala!" their leader demanded, lifting up his spear.

Akala's face changed rapidly from the warm and cheerful expression to one of alarm, and she swiftly did precisely the opposite.  She moved in front of the mershark with her arms extended to either side.  She recognized him; it was one of the most celebrated hunters of the village.  "Absolutely not, Kai!  He's done nothing wrong!"

(OOC: Feel free to just jump in to harass Ha'aeho, love!  Yay, plotses and things!)

ooc: For friendship!

ic:

"Huh?" Akala was right. Ha'aeho felt very confused. He only understood that she had called him good and that was just enough to assure him that she was not going to take her blade and use it against him. Maybe. He was not accustomed to being treated this way.

He stared at her newly wrapped hand, then at where the wrap used to be. His mind was blown! Skin under skin? Oh...so she shed her skin ? But what kind of creature wanted to use skin they'd recently shed? His questions would have to wait, however. He too noticed the humans approaching. They were armed and Ha'aheo knew how things would end up if he remained here.

He snarled at the man whom dared to raise his spear, spitting out foreign words in his native tongue.  He bared his teeth. They were large, pointy, white and many! He moved away from Akala's protection.  He wanted a fight. He was a hunter, male. He was proud of his strength, his abilities and confident but not against a mob. "Weak." He spat at the humans. " Many come. Ha'aheo no many." He pointed at Kai, "Weak!" He spat with obvious disgust.

However, he was not a fool and survival always came first. He drew back, turned and swam away.

ooc: Feel free to throw a SPEAR at his butt! x3

"Ha'aeho!" Akala gasped, fearing for the life of everyone involved when it looked like the mershark wanted to fight the hunters.  It didn't matter who was hurt -- if an injury could be avoided, it was her duty to see to it that it was!

The mershark, however, surprised her when he turned and simply...left.  One of the hunters chucked a badly aimed spear at his receding form.

Akala stared after the shark-man for a moment, then glared at the hunters.  "That was entirely uncalled for!"  And she lit into the hunters -- the entire group of them -- with a tongue that was nearly as sharp as her blade.

Poor Ha'aeho!

OOC: Note the badly-aimed!  ;_;  No sharkfin stew!  Bad food!  I'm going to tell you to do the fast-forwarding!

Ooc: Well, I'll certainly try! Set sail for fail ! (and boredom!)

Ha'aheo didn't look back once.He had expected something like this would happen. It always did. Even so, he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed that their conversation had been cut short. That human female, Akala. She was an interesting distraction. VERY strange, but interesting. He wondered if there were other humans like her or if he might see her again. He did plan to return, after all. For their food, of course. Maybe he'd steal a pineapple next time.

A week would pass before Ha'aeho would return to that particular island though and his next appearance would be where the humans cast their fishing nets.  Ha'aheo was feeling bored, and mischievous. He swam under the boats and bumped up underneath them as he swam past, causing some of the small boats to rock precariously. Some of the fishermen cried out in alarm, a few lost their balance and splashed into the water and Ha'aheo popped his head out above the water's surface to appreciate his handiwork. He snickered as a few of the fishermen pointed at him and shook fists angrily in his direction. The mershark grinned and waved his tail at them and swam away before they could bring trouble.

Once he was far enough away from the humans he swam back into the shallows, cruising the coast lazily and catching any unfortunate fishies in his mouth. He had nothing in mind for today. It would be the same as usual. Eat. Harass hunters. Eat more. Eat again. And again...then maybe harass hunters again and eat more afterwards.

But it was not to be such a day!

Akala had hoped for a day or two that Ha'aheo would return so that she could show the villagers that the mershark was friendly -- if only they would take a chance and speak to him.  After a few days, however, it seemed her new friend was gone...and so, consumed by the wanderlust that had shaped much of her life, Akala moved on.

It was on a lonely stretch of beach that the Yoreiqi found herself.  A quarter of a hollowed out coconut served her as a sort of bowl, and she had paused to munch on the berries she had found when something big sailed across the horizon.  It was a ship -- larger than any she could recall seeing before -- with mighty sails flapping in the breeze.

It was...fascinating.

And, so, when it dropped anchor, and a much smaller craft left it for the shore, Akala patiently waited -- then, still infinitely curious, she rose to greet the handful of men who disembarked.

It became apparent -- quickly -- that the men did not speak Yoreiqi...and Akala knew no trader's tongue.  Still, they seemed friendly enough that Akala did not feel threatened...until, that is, one grabbed her arm and chattered something in their rough tongue as he pointed to the large ship.

"I don't understand," Akala answered patiently, trying to pull her away.  His grip tightened, and he pointed again.  "Do you want me to go with you?"  There were nicer ways to ask!

Akala tried to pull her arm away again, this time a little more sharply.  "Let me go!" she demanded -- then shrieked in surprised alarm as the man picked her up -- as if she weighed no more than a pineapple -- and deposited her in the much smaller boat.  "What are you doing?" she demanded, but to no avail!  The man kept a firm grip on her arm, while his two companions began to row back further away from the shore.

(OOC: Save her, Sharkie!  Save her!)

Thirty-two fishies down his greedy gullet, thirty-three , thirty-four, thirty-five....

Ha'aheo would have been content to swim lazily with his mouth wide open, catching dumb little fishies all day long. His hunger hardly knew any limits, however his aimless swimming had brought him within uncomfortable range of a large boat. He was about to consume fishie number thirty-six when he became aware of it. Big boat. Ship. Not good. He thought with a scowl.

He was going to swim away when he heard a high-pitched noise, a shriek. Someone was in trouble. Should I care? Ha'aeho didn't really. People screamed all the time over the silliest things, however...because he was bored enough the noise sparked his curiosity enough to get him to investigate.

Up ahead there were small boats in the water. Strange men, foreign men sat in them. They were not the island people. Even Ha'aheo could tell the difference. There was a woman with them as well, but his eyesight was not the best and he couldn't have identified that it was, in fact, Akala that happened to be in the boat with them.

He felt rather cheeky today though and grinned deviously just before he slipped underwater and moved towards the boat. He could swim faster than men could row, but he wanted to screw with them. He swam just close enough to the surface so that his dorsal fin breached the water and proceeded to circle the boat.

One of the men gave a cry of alarm and threw something at the water. It missed Ha'aeho's fin by a wide margin. Ha'aheo felt the missile hit the water and it was close enough to prompt him to submerge himself completely. He swam up beside the boat and knocked his body into it, causing it to rock. Then he knocked it again, harder. And again. He could imagine the human's terror and it tickled him. They probably thought he would eat them or something like that.

ooc: I'll let you decide if they fall into the water or not! I don't want to have all the fun!

There was no use in trying to escape the men -- they were out in the middle of the ocean, and the only place to go was the water if she did succeed in escaping...  No, it would be better to save her strength -- and to see what they wanted from her first.

The shark fin surprised her as much as it did the men with her.  She didn't recognize the fin -- she hadn't spent a great deal of time looking at it during their previous encounter.  The man who had grabbed her released her to throw something at the fin -- just missing.

"You shouldn't harass the poor creature," Akala told the men -- although, of course, they didn't understand her.  Nor would they have cared if they could!

There was a thud, then, and the boat rocked dangerously to the left.  The man who had tried to throw something at the shark splashed into the water, and even Akala had to hang on tightly to the side or risk joining him!

One of the oarsmen lost his oar completely; the other took a few half-hearted swings at the foul sea monster that was attacking them!

Something was repeatedly hitting the water directly above him. Was one of the humans trying to hit him? How funny! He knocked into the boat even harder and then swam towards the surface at full speed. As he broke through the surface , he snarled as fiercely as he could . The oarman shrieked and swung the oar at the mershark who caught the oar deftly in his clawed hands and gave it a yank, pulling the man into the water with a scream. He ignored the poor fool who proceeded to thrash and splash behind him.

The other two men began to panic now. They had no idea what Ha'aheo was. He looked like a man, but clearly wasn't. "Hehe." Ha'aheo's blue eyes sparkled mischievously. Scaring people was fun!  He didn't notice Akala since she wasn't panicking nearly as much as the other men. "Come. Swim! Hehe! "

One of the remaining men, a tall skinny fellow with a shiny hairless head and nose ring brandished a scimitar. He lunged forward, attempting to stab Ha'aheo but the mershark laughed and sunk down quickly beneath the water. The boat was hit again, this time from the right, sending the swordsman's companion overboard.

One final hit and the poor boat capsized!

Akala had jumped slightly at the mershark's sudden appearance -- but while the men were panicking, the shaman smiled brightly.  "Ha'aheo!"

But, then, the mershark was gone again.  Akala rose to her feet, accustomed to riding in boats, with a cautious grace.  She intended to jump into the water herself -- but, before she could even lean to the left side to dive out, the whole boat went over -- and Akala with it!

Akala dropped into the water with a surprised yelp, vanishing beneath the waves -- with the boat flipping itself over and capsizing on top of her!  There was a sharp blow to the head -- not enough to cause blood or crack her skull open -- but she felt (more than heard) a crunch hard enough to set her ears ringing.

And as the pirates around her swam for the surface, she only stared blearily around herself in a daze as the impact from the boat pushed her, first, downwards, before her limp body began to ascend at a slow, lazy speed...

Ha'aheo circled the boat, taunting the fleeing pirates and pretending like he was going to eat them, snapping at their heels . He was enjoying himself until he smelt blood. It was an intoxicating, delicious smell that he couldn't ignore. He turned around and noticed the limp form of the woman. He hadn't killed her had he?

He swam over to her and when he was close enough he recognized her. He knew humans couldn't breathe underwater let alone hold their breaths for very long. He gathered her in his arms and quickly broke to the surface, holding her head up so she could breathe. 

He brought her to shore and set her down on her back in  the sand just beyond the tide's reach. He normally did not beach himself because it meant that he couldn't get away quickly should he be attacked, but he did not want to kill the strange woman that intrigued him and had introduced him to delicious pineapple,  "Akala?'

ooc: He's not going to sing her a song. Sorry!

OOC: But but but!  You said!  D:

Akala stirred at the sound of her name with a small sound of complaint -- and, then, suddenly, there was a pressure against her lungs.  Coughing hard, she half-sat up, half-flopped over to cough up the little water she had managed to swallow.

Hoping that most of the salt water had come up, she groaned a moment later and flopped back down on the sand.  She caught her breath, then, and smiled slightly at the mershark.  "Hi, Ha'aheo.  Thank you.  I think you saved my life."

ooc: I know. I lied!

ic:

Ha'aheo did not know what to do. He could only sit there and watch the human splutter and empty her lungs of fluid. Concern for another being aside from himself was a foreign feeling to him , but he knew that was what he felt towards this woman. He would have been a little sad if the water had claimed her life.

When she sat up, Ha'aheo backed away a little to give her some space. Relief washed over his usually hard and cruel features, " It greets. Akala no die. Good."  He sounded happy. 

ooc: This is a tiny post and I'm ashamed!

Akala's smile was as ready to return as always, in spite of her aching lungs and head.  She glanced over the mershark towards the floundering men, feeling just a little bitter towards them for their treatment of her...  Which she simply still could not fathom!  The trio were splashing around the boat, now, apparently trying to all clamber onto the underside of the small craft.  Were they afraid Ha'aheo was still there and might try to eat them?

"I guess that makes us about even," she murmured appreciatively.  "Would you like to know how Yoreiqi greet our friends?"

Ha'ahaeo followed her gaze as well and couldn't help himself, "Hehehe," he snickered , quite pleased with his antics. But he sobered a bit when he reminded himself that his humor had almost killed the pineapple lady and that would have been sad!

He nodded enthusiastically at her words. Words he mostly understood. "How greet Yoreiqi? " However he wrinkled his nose at this new word. He looked quite perplexed, "Akala, what word? Word 'friends'. It not know 'friends'. "


ooc: So short. I feel great shame!

Akala, naturally, assumed that Ha'ahaeo didn't recognize the word translated from his own -- she could not possibly conceive of someone not understanding the concept as a whole!

So, for a moment, she thought of how to best describe a friend without falling back on a series of synonyms which would probably mean equally as little.  At last, she said, "A friend is someone you like.  It's someone you are happy to see.  And someone who helps you."

All of which applied to the mershark so far!  Of course, Akala was never terribly picky about her friends -- she tended to think of just about everyone as a friend!

"And this is how we greet our friends."  Pushing herself up onto her knees, she leaned forward to press her nose gently against his.

Ha'aheo tilted his head, "Ohhh." He still did not quite grasp the concept  , but it now held some meaning for him. "Like friend. Like food. Food make...happy. Food help. Food friend?" Well, okay. So maybe he didn't quite get it. He frowned at this, "Akala bad food. No food. Bad. Akala good. Make it no die. Ha'aheo no die." Perhaps someday he'd get it. Maybe, possibly....who could really say?

He sat there attentively , watching her rise to her knees. He waited to see this greeting and then her face was in his face and their faces- their noses were touching ... He had a sensitive nose. A VERY sensitive nose. He fell back with a splash and his expression was one of bewilderment. What was she DOING? She was not allowed to invade his personal space like this, his bubble,and she was definitely not allowed to touch his nose. "What !?" He sounded exasperated. Most who DARED to touch him or his nose-they died. Horribly.

Akala laughed good-naturedly at his reaction.  "I didn't mean to startle you!"  She beamed down at him, terribly amused at his reaction.  "That is how I greet my friends!  We touch our noses together like that."  Well, almost like that; usually the other person didn't fall over!  "If you watch people all over Yoreiqi, you'll see them do that same thing.  That's what they're doing.  It's like saying hello." 

She grinned at him a moment more, then asked, "Are you alright?"

Once she had been reassured that he was, indeed, alright, she said, "A friend is someone like you.  You are my friend.  Friends are people -- not food."  She chuckled again quietly.

Ha'aheo kept his nose hidden with his hand, " No touch nose. " He growled at her. It wasn't soft. It was a warning. She did not know what she could do if she were to hit it too hard or rub it. It would immobilize him for minutes, even an hour. Of course, what Akala was doing was actually pretty harmless but Ha'aheo's limited communication ability prevented either of them from understanding one another.

"It good," he replied in response to the question concerning his well-being. "It comes. See big boat. See persons. It comes to see. No see Akala. See now. It good to see Akala."

"Friend Ha'aheo. Friend people? Ohhhh..." So now he sorted this word once more in his mind. This title of "friend" applied only to living beings. Friends were not part of the group that was for eating. They were non-food. "It sees. Akala say Ha'aheo friend....Ha'aheo say Akala friend. Akala good. Help Ha'aheo see. See words. Talk. Ha'aheo no eat Akala. "

He gestured back over his shoulder to men, "No friend, Akala? What ...?" He had not the worlds to ask her about those men.

Akala blinked her large eyes at him in alarm, even going so far as to hold out both of her hands, palms out.  "I'm sorry, Ha'aheo.  I didn't know it would upset you...  I won't touch your nose again.  I promise."  That was a strange reaction, she thought!  It was just so common amongst her people, that she had never considered it would somehow offend a mershark!

She bore his confusion over the word "friend" patiently, waiting for him to come to terms with what it meant.  When he gestured to the men out in the water (who were now, she saw, making their way towards the shore at a slow, laborious pace), she rose to her feet.  "No, they aren't my friends," she confirmed.  "I don't know why, but they were taking me out to the boat.  I didn't want to go, but they made me..."  Moreorless.

She smiled down at the mershark then, adding, "We should go before they come this way again.  I probably can't swim as fast as you, and you obviously can't come ashore and walk with me..."  Which did present a bit of a problem...

Ooc: I don't really count non-detailed nudity as mature material >.>

ic:

"Akala and Ha'aheo go?" She wanted him to follow her? He was curious! What new discoveries were there to be found today. Then he frowned. He was tied to the water as she was tied to the land. They couldn't do much traveling together unless...

Magic. It was the only word one could use to describe what transpired before her eyes. His shark skin seemed to shed away almost like a snake's and left him with the lower half of a muscular but very naked man. Ha'aheo crouched there in the water for a moment then tried standing up to his full height, but it had been some time since he had tried moving like humans did and he lost his balance, falling back and landing with a splash on his bum.
"It walk bad," He frowned, and treated the entire situation as if nothing had changed at all!

"Oh," Akala breathed out, first alarmed but then intrigued as the mershark's form shifted before her eyes.  A smile tugged up the corners of her mouth as she noticed his nakedness, then, and she pressed a hand against her lips as a giggle escaped.  Oh, my!

She was hesitant to be so quick to help him after his reaction to her greeting (she assumed mersharks maybe didn't like being touched and had no idea it had something to do with his nose, specifically).  The first problem, however, was a question of his decency.

Unlike many of her people, Akala chose to wear a top.  It was little more than a piece of cloth tied at the nape of her neck and at the small of her back, really.  She liked to have a spare bit of cloth on hand at all times -- a strip of cloth had a remarkable variety of uses, after all.  In this case, it would serve as a sort of a lop-sided loin cloth that would, in the very least, hide his naughty bits until she could find something better.

Untying the top now, she held it out towards him with a grin.  "You should tie this around your waist.  And then, if you want, I'll help you walk."

Ha'aheo stared at her hand, at the offered cloth then looked up at her with a puzzled look on his face, "Huh?" He honestly had no clue what she was suggesting to him, but he took the cloth anyway and held it in his hands. He looked at her with his large blue eyes. Why did she give to him part of her skin!? That made no sense! She was strange! Weird!

He stood up, holding the cloth and feeling it's texture. Then , tentatively her reached out and poked Akala's shoulder, careful not to puncture her soft skin with his claw. He gasped at this revelation and looked down at the cloth he held in his hands. "What?" He pointed to the cloth. He had no idea what she expected from him.

And it might have been funny how he freaked out over her clothing but seemed to think his shapeshifting was perfectly normal!

Of course he wouldn't really understand!  She grinned at him, amused, then lightly took the cloth back.

"I'll show you," she promised cheerfully.  "Humans can't walk around naked.  We wear clothing.  That's what this is.  We'll have to get you some better clothes later, but, right now, this will work."

She didn't really want to explain about naughty parts -- or to demonstrate, for that matter, and so, instead, she went to work tying it around his waist.  She moved slowly, watching him for any signs of the discomfort he had felt earlier and giving him plenty of time to pull away.

And as she worked, even though he probably didn't understand what she was saying, she explained it to him.

"I'm just going to reach around like this," she said, bringing the cloth around his waist.  "And we're going to tie it on your hip.  Like this."

"Huh?" He watched her with a dubious expression on his face. She was right to think that he wasn't a particularly touchy-feely type. He did not think that she would try to harm him, but he was still nervous. Because her behavior was so odd and he had NO idea what she was about to do. He tolerated her closeness because he was merely curious about what she was up to. He stepped, turning to face her any time she tried to move around him. He did not like the idea of her getting behind him.

She managed to get her arms around him and tie the cloth to his waist. He looked down at it curiously and then back up at her. He pointed, "Ha'aheo no naked?"

"Not anymore," she offered cheerfully.  "That's what this cloth is for.  I promise to find you better when we come to a village."

It wasn't the best solution -- but it at least would mostly cover what needed to be covered as long as one didn't look too close.

"Now," she said with a soft clap of her hands.  "Let's teach you to walk.  Have you ever done this before?  Made yourself look human?"

She assumed it was an innate gift and not the work of some strange spell laid upon him by the men from the big boat.  He wasn't panicking, after all...

"What can I do to help?"

"Oh...." He didn't really understand, but he would ask her later why naked was bad. He thought he understood what naked meant,at least! He had no idea what her intentions were! She spoke a string of foreign words that had no meaning to him and he only nodded, thinking that if he just followed her lead that she might eventually help him understand.

"Ha'aheo walk little." He stated, puffing out his chest and sounding very proud of himself. "No help. Ha'aheo walk."  He took a step forward , his balance standing vertical was wavering. He nearly lost equilibrium again, but instead of falling backwards, this time he fell forwards! Hopefully, Akala had the sense to be out of the way and let Ha'aheo kiss the sandy water opposed to being crushed beneath him!

ooc: I vote no Akala pancake!

"Oh, dear," Akala murmured worriedly as she peered down at the fallen mershark again.  That hadn't worked out so well, really.

"Are you sure you don't want just a bit of help?  I could help you keep your balance until you manage on your own."  She smiled brightly.  "I'm sure you need just a little more practice to remember how!"

She wasn't at all sure that was the problem, and she thought he might need a great deal more practice.  However, she didn't want to be the one to tell him that!

"In my village, we sing a song to babies learning to walk.  Now, how did that go...?"  She mulled over it a moment, then began, in a fine singing voice.  It was a merry tune, obviously meant for children with its cheerful, upbeat melody and silly rhymes.  "Baby's first step -- it's a big day!  Step one -- across the sand to find some fun!  Step two -- to the shore and ocean blue!  Step three -- swim with the fishes and out to sea!  Step four -- back again to Mother's door!"

The song brought a smile to Ha'aheo's face and he tried to hum along though his tune sounded nothing like hers because he didn't know it. Or he might have been tone deaf! He made an odd rumbling sound in his throat that sounded similar to a feline's purr. He did like songs and music! Not more than eating though, naturally!

Now, Ha'ahaeo stood up again, still wobbly on his legs. When she asked if he was sure he didn't want to be helped, he turned his nose up, "Ha'aheo not little. Walk.." He told her with a stubborn growl. He was convinced that he could master this in no time. He didn't need to be taught! He was a shark! Sharks could do anything in his mind because they were big, strong, and awesome!

So he tried again but quickly found himself on the ground again. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment and looked up at his new friend imploringly, "Help ?"

Big, strong, and awesome sharks may be -- but walking was not something they were good at, clearly!

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Akala began, taking note of his blush.  "When humans are born, we can't walk either.  Or swim."  She helped him back up to his feet, then stepped back to consider what the best way to help him would be.

"Now, I know you don't care to be touched, but I think this might be the only way.  We'll take one step at a time.  Do you understand what that means?  Step?  That's when you move your leg like this."  She demonstrated.  "See?  Step.  Step.  We'll go slow."

So saying, she extended her hands towards him with a smile.  "Give me your hands.  You can lean on me while you walk for more stability."

"Oh. Ha'aheo see, " He reached out to her and grasped her hands a bit tightly. He may have been nervous or he might not have realized his own strength. Perhaps it might have been both things.

"Step," he said and , tentatively he raised his leg and took a shaky step forward.  He leaned on her a bit and raised his hindmost positioned leg to bring it alongside the other, as he had seen her do. "Step," He said and then he looked down and grinned because he'd taken two whole steps without falling. His expression lit up with a child's enthusiasm. "Ha'aeho walk. Step, step. "

He might have been getting a little ahead of himself though.

"That's great!" Akala answered, every bit as excited as he was.  After all, she was helping someone to learn to walk -- and that was no small task!  "That's it.  Just take it easy!"

Her fingers were beginning to feel a little numb, though, from being squeezed so tight!

"Okay, let's stop for just a second, okay?  You don't have to hold on so tight."  More softly, she added, "I'm not going anywhere.  I'll stay here and help you for as long as you need."

After all, why else had the Gods led her to him -- or he to her -- in the first place?  He was clearly misunderstood -- and he was such a sweet and clever creature that he deserved a chance to belong somewhere!

"Should we try again?  We can sing this time if you like."  The song, sung to countless babies taking their first steps, had a certain rhythm or cadence that went along with a toddler's -- or a mershark's -- careful first steps.  And he had seemed to like it the first time -- as did most babies, for that matter...

"Oh," Ha'aheo loosened his grip on the young woman's hands. He had not been aware that he had been grasping on so hard. He didn't have the right words to offer an apology. After all, he didn't mean any harm. He looked at her curiously when she told him that she wasn't going anywhere, that she would be there as long as he needed her.

But he didn't really need her. He didn't need to understand humans or learn how to walk. Would she really waste her time on him like this? Did she not have other things in her life? He wasn't about to turn down these free lessons though!

"Again, " Ha'aheo nodded enthusiastically.

"Good," she answered warmly.  She squared her shoulders, then, prepared to begin again.  This time, she hummed the melody of the song cheerfully as she led him onwards.  He was slowly finding his balance and having to rely a little less on her to stay upright.

In point of fact, no, she had nowhere else to be.  If she was here now, it meant that the gods wanted her to be here now -- they obviously had a plan for Ha'aheo.  Ultimately, that was what she was here for: to aid the Gods by helping their people.

"Do you want to try by yourself?" she inquired.  "I think you're ready."

OOC: Lame post is lame.  Sorry!

Ha'aheo hummed along discordantly and grew more confident with every step he took. At last, he felt ready and when Akala asked him if he wanted to try to walk on his own, he nodded. He released his old of the woman's hands and took a couple strides forward. And he grinned at his progress because he did not stumble or waver once. He took more steps now, his strides long though not quite as fluid or as graceful as someone whom was natural to walking.  It did not matter though. Ha'aheo had learned or remembered how to walk faster than an infant, at least.

"Walk! It walks!" Ha'aheo was quite pleased with himself . He turned his head back over his shoulder to look at Akala and...he tripped over his own feet and fell down face first in the sand.

He wasn't quite ready to walk without looking where he was going!

Akala clapped her hands together, positively delighted at his progress -- until he landed face-first in the sand.  She winced, then made her way over to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, crouching down beside him.  "Don't be discouraged.  You're doing so well.  We'll have you skipping and jumping and running in no time!"

Looking past him, she suddenly realized that she could see the small boat the men had been towing ashore -- but none of the men.  She had been so busy concentrating on teaching him how to walk that she had momentarily forgotten them...

"Ha'aheo, did you see where the men went?"

Ha'aheo popped up quickly and nodded at her, "No ouch, " He assured her. "Ha'aheo no see. See Akala. See earth. " At least he could admit when he'd made an error!

He quirked a dark brow at her question about the men. "Bad men? " He twisted his torso around, glancing over his tanned shoulder at the empty boat. He did not seem nearly as concerned about their whereabouts as she was. After all, what did he have to worry about? He was a shark and those men had not seemed as intelligent or skilled with a weapon as the hunters from the island peoples!

"Akala...what..." He tried to think of an adequate word. It took him a minute, "What wrong?"

Yes, he was pretty sure he'd used that word in the right context. Maybe.   

"Yes, Ha'aheo," Akala murmured quietly.  "I think they may be bad men...  They're foreigners, and I couldn't understand them..."

Well, they were nowhere to be found, now, in any case.  The boat was so near to shore that, surely, a grown man could have stood in the shallow water...and, yet, they had not dragged the boat all the way up onto the sand.  The question remained: what had happened to the men?

"I just hope they didn't drown..."  It seemed unlikely.  They had seemed like able swimmers...  She shivered a little at the thought; it would have been a horrible way to die...and so close to land...  But, perhaps, they weren't the good swimmers she had taken them for.

"Let's keep going," she said with a warm smile, turning her attention back towards the mershark.

(OOC: I honestly has no idea where I'm going with that, so feel free to fill in!)

If Akala thought the men were bad , then why did she care about if they'd drowned or not? He found himself not really caring much about their fate. Ha'aheo gave her a curious look, "No worry , Akala. " If the men attempted to give either of them trouble, Ha'aheo wouldn't hesitate to tear their limbs right from their sockets!

He sniffed the air. Maybe he'd pick up their scent? No. The ocean breeze carried all scents, mixed them up and confused his senses. The only thing he could smell was the nearest thing to him. He could smell Akala's blood and he started to salivate.

Slowly nodding and followed her, taking long and awkward strides behind her, "Where go?"

As soon as their backs turned the trio of "bad men" slipped out from hiding behind the boat and ,with weapons in hand, they advanced. Rather quickly, perhaps determined to kill the strange shark man and reclaim their captive. Now that the shark was out of the water, surely he wouldn't be as much of threat. Especially not to three seasoned pirates like themselves!

Ha'aheo was not aware of their coming until they were just several feet away. He half-turned and released a startled snarl. Really? These men were stupid enough provoke him?

Perhaps they knew he was at the disadvantage here. Two men went straight for Ha'aheo with their blades drawn while the third turned his attentions on Akala!



ooc: Oh noes! Will they be captured!? Hrm. Didn't wanna write too much! I can add more though if you'd like! Let me know!

"We'll go wherever the gods guide us," Akala answered simply, with the utmost confidence that the gods would provide them that service.  "I was headed south before, so I suppose we could keep going in that direction.  Is there somewhere--"

His growl made her jump in alarm.  Turning towards him, it was easy to see what he was growling at...and her heart sank.  They were back, and, this time, they were armed.

"Ha'aheo," she murmured, "You should go back to the water.  They can't catch you there -- you're too fast."  This was, she thought, going to be bloody either way the battle went...and as bad as these men were, there had to be other solutions than such a battle...

And, besides, if her new friend were wounded in her defense, she would carry that burden forever.

Nodding,Ha'aheo turned away from her, seeming to heed her words. The pirates seemed surprised and amused by this . So the big shark man was running away now, was he? They taunted him with their foreign words , but didn't follow. Not at first anyway.

They advanced on Akala, circling her like a pack of hungry sharks around wounded prey. They wore leering expressions on their dirty, ugly mugs. Who knew what their intention for the poor girl could be?

Ha'aheo had nearly reached the water and he was about to leave, but he turned to look back over his shoulder to see...

One of the men tried to grab for Akala and the other two threatened her with their weapons. What were they doing to her? Were they going to kill her? Eat her? Rape her?

Why did it matter to him? He wasn't sure why he found himself turning around and running , yes running back towards them.

They didn't notice him until it was too late. Ha'aheo barrelled into the man who'd dared to point his sword at Akala ,knocking the man flat to the ground. The pirate lost his grip on the blade and it went flying away , falling to the sands a foot or two away. The mershark now  stood over the swordless man, "NO!" Ha'aheo scolded him. "Bad!"  He grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and lifted him clear off the ground, holding him up high above his head.

Of course, they didn't speak a word of Yoreiqi and simply paused and stared at him for a moment , surprised that Ha'aheo had returned as seemingly naked and vulnerable as he was. They recollected themselves however and turned their attentions away from Akala and back to the mershark whom had foolishly just declared himself as threat.

The man Ha'aheo was holding flailed in his grasp and screamed, probably begging his buddies to help him out and Ha'aheo was tempted to grab hold of the man's neck and crush it. However he did not and threw the man bodily at his friends instead. One of the men dodged the body of his thrown companion narrowly but the other man wasn't so lucky .

"Hehe." Ha'aheo was amused. He welcomed the last man standing to attack him! He'd defeated more worthy foes before!

There was no need for all the leering and weapons and threats; Akala stood there passively with her head held high, relieved, of course, that Ha'aheo had listened to her advice.  Whatever the gods had in store for her, she would face with her head held high and her pride intact.

Of course, that was when everything changed.

One of the men had just closed his arm around her slim forearm, squeezing it with a crushing strength that made her cringe...and then, suddenly, Ha'aheo was there.

The man released her to reach for his weapon -- but he didn't get far before Ha'aheo had thrown his colleague on top of him.  She stared down at the pair of men, then, belatedly, leaped backwards.  She practically tripped on the sword underfoot, then looked back to the pair of men with a smile.

She could help after all.

The man on the bottom was out cold, while the man who had landed on top of him merely dazed.  He was already scrambling to his feet and searching for the lost weapon, eventually settling for his fallen ally's before moving to take on the mershark as well.

Left to her own devices, Akala scooted over to the unconscious man.  He would live -- though, she thought, he would find a mysterious prick in his finger when he woke up.  Using a sharpened shell, she sliced open his fingertip -- just enough for a prick of blood.

The blood of an evil man...  It was a potent component.  Using the man's finger, she etched a symbol onto the blade of the weapon, drawn in the man's own blood.  She murmured a quiet chant as she did it, careful to avoid touching even a drop of the stuff.

It drew the spirits to the blade like -- well, like blood drew sharks -- so that they feasted upon it and festered and wallowed in to the energy that was beginning to build.  She stepped away from the cursed object as the sun caught the glimmering blade and the shapes writhing over the top of it.  In the sunlight, they stood as dark, undefined shadows, growing and shuddering like some sort of beast summoned up from the depths of hell.

His attacker pressed forward, confident in the very fact that he was armed with an axe and Ha'aheo was practically naked with little more than sharp teeth and claws to protect him. The pirate wasted little time and charged the shark with reckless, berserker-like abandon. Ha'aheo wasn't quite accustomed to land movement , let alone fighting on land and so he was slow to evade. The mershark narrowly escaped the man's initial wide horizontal swing, the axe's blade lightly grazing Ha'aheo's chest and drawing a little blood.

Ha'aheo didn't even notice the sting. He laughed at the Man's attempt and dodged again as the axe wielder returned with relentless persistence, swinging his axe and aiming for the mershark's head. The only thing the blade cut was air. Ha'aeho ducked and, as he rose back to his full height he came up strong, hooking his fist under the axeman's jaw. His opponent's head jerked back and the man staggered. Ha'aheo readied to punch him again but now a second opponent was upon him!

Something slashed across his back, cutting deep and spilling blood. Ha'aheo wasn't quite so amused anymore. He snarled and turned around so quickly then, before the swordsman could recover, he leaped at the man, ignoring the saber that cut into his flesh again. He grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, pulled him in close and chomped down on his shoulder, crushing bone and ripping flesh. The man screamed and struggled to break free of the shark man's jaws, but his efforts were to no avail.

Hearing his companion's screams, the axeman recovered from his daze and charged at Ha'aheo's unprotected back, shrieking something at him (likely a curse!) in his foreign tongue.

Ooc: Dun dun dun!

Akala turned her attention away from the gathering spirits, eyes widening in alarm as she realized the danger her companion was in.  "Ha'aheo!  Behind you!"

She couldn't afford to wait any longer!  She scooped up the shell from the sand, where it had continued to collect the blood dribbling from the shallow wound she had inflicted upon the unconscious man.  There wasn't a lot of blood there -- but, unless she cut even more deeply, there would not be.  Still, a few drops would suffice.

The words she said over the shell were whispered, a series of sounds that had no meaning even in Yoreiqi.  They were spell words, spoken directly to the spirits and learned long ago from her village shaman.  She could feel the spirits shift their attention, and, eyes closed, felt rather than saw them clustering around her.

Her aim was not entirely true -- but it did not need to be.  She cast the shell at the warrior charging Ha'aheo, and it bounced, harmlessly, off of his shoulder to fall harmlessly to the sand.  But it was not the shell the spirits wanted; it was the blood it contained, now splattered over the man's shirt.

The misshapen spirits threw themselves after the blood, bearing down on the axeman in a dark cloud of arms and inhuman faces.

And the axeman, seeing the demons at last, fell backwards with a howl of fear, switching targets to the ghostly apparitions.  The axe swept through their insubstantial forms harmlessly -- nor could the spirits do any harm to the man.  Of course, he didn't know that...and that was the beauty of the spell.

"Ha'aheo!  Behind you!"

Hearing Akala shouting his name, Ha'aheo released his victim. The man he'd bitten dropped to the sand, hugging his wounded shoulder. He lie there, sobbing and bleeding.

"What, Akala?" Ha'aheo did not need to ask. He saw the man with the axe closing in on him , but he wouldn't have time to dodge. He held his breath and waited for pain or death, whichever took him first. Neither of these things were to come, however.

His eyes shot over to Akala. She threw something. A shell? How was that supposed to help?

As if to answer his question, a mass of ethereal darkness rose up from the shell and cloyed at the axeman. It did not register in poor Ha'aheo's mind that these spirits were harmless or that they wouldn't bother him. He stood there , frozen and wide-eyed gaping at the horrifying sight. Then the panic set in and Ha'aheo turned and fled, running as fast as his legs would carry him to the sea! Before he even got near the water though he tripped over his large feet and kissed the sand!

"Ow."


Ooc: Urk! Dreadfully short, but sometimes these things happen! Forgive meee!

And now, I go to sleep! Zzzzz

Akala looked pleased with herself -- until her friend took off running in the opposite direction.  She opened her mouth to call after him, but she had no more done so than he was face-first in the sand again!

She winced and hurried to his side.  "Ha'aheo?  Ha'aheo!  Are you okay?"

Her eyes took in the wounds that now decorated his person, and she cringed.  "Oh, you should have gone," she murmured unhappily.  "I'm so sorry...  You shouldn't have been caught in the middle of all that..."

She would have to heal him, of course -- him and the other man still laying out in the middle of the sand.  The first man was still out, and the third was just a speck on the beach.  She would need supplies...and those were really beginning to dwindle here!

Ha'aheo pushed himself up to a crouch , but lost his balance and fell back down onto the sand, becoming seated on his rear. He looked up at her and frowned. Yes, she was right. He should have left her to solve her own problems, but...he shrugged. He didn't quite understand what made him change his mind either. He didn't even have the words to try to explain himself. But she had done unexpected things today and so had he. They were even, perhaps.

"Bad men. No worry,Akala," He assured her. "Ha'aheo big. Strong. Small..." He fished around in his limited vocabulary for an adequate word, "Ow. Small ow. No worry. It no dies. "

He used his arm to wipe the pirate blood from his mouth and then, stuck a claw in his teeth, digging out a small piece of human flesh. "Bleh. No good. " He wrinkled his nose and flicked the flesh from his claw, watching it drop into the sand.

"Big..." He pointed to the pirate ship, " Bad men comes." He meant to say that he thought there might be more pirates on the ship and that if these three had gone missing for too long that they might send friends, but he didn't know how to express that in her language.   

Akala's smile was soft and grateful.  "I'd hug you if you didn't mind being touched," she murmured warmly.  It was terribly endearing...  "And, I didn't mean to scare you.  It was just a little trick to frighten them away.  If you had left, I'd be on my way back to their ship.  So, thank you, Ha'aheo."

That was true.  But, if he had simply left, there would be less blood staining the sand...

"I can't just leave that man to die," she told the mershark with a frown and worried glance in the direction of the larger ship.  He was right; his friends could come to rescue him at any time.  And there was also the unwounded man, who would probably wake up soon and resume his attack...  "Even if he is bad."

A sudden gust of wind tore across the beach, suddenly, picking up sand and swirling it around them.  A white feather rode the breeze like a tiny boat, encircling them a moment before landing neatly beside Ha'aheo.  Akala smiled at it a moment, then lifted it up to twirl it in her fingers.

"I understand," she murmured to the feather.  Lifting it, she let the breeze take it again, taking it further down the beach.  With bright eyes, she turned her attention to her new friend once again and extended a hand down to him.  "The spirits think we should go now.  That way."  She pointed in the direction the feather had gone.

"Bad men make bad. Bad men dies. That way. Akala no worry. Bad dies. Bad make no bad." Ha'aheo did not understand Akala's desire to help these men whose intentions , to him, were threatening. Creatures with peaceful intentions did not aggressively lay claim anything like these men had tried to claim Akala. He didn't know what they wanted from her, but he had seen men like these before take natives from their lands and enslave them , rape them, beat them and Akala might have shared that fate. His kind were no better. He wasn't much better either...

But not today!

Ha'aheo paid not much mind to the feather that landed near him, but Akala seemed to be interested in it.  He watched her with curiosity. Was she talking to it? He blinked. "Spirits? No Akala. " He laughed , " Is feather." Or were spirits also another word for feather? Two words for a single meaning? Now THAT would be confusing!

He agreed though despite his amusement. More pirates were likely to show up and he couldn't fight them effectively on land. "Okay. Go,"

Were they seriously going to follow a feather though? That seemed pretty silly to him! It might be interesting to see where the path took them so follow he did! Humans were so strange! Talking to feathers....

Or maybe it was just Akala that was the strange one.

He shouldn't be one to think such a thing though. After all he was a bit strange himself!

"I'm a healer, Ha'aheo," she answered with a bright smile.  "It means I help those I can, whoever they are or what they've done.  It isn't for me to judge."  She didn't like leaving the men back on the beach to die -- but when the spirits called, she followed.

Her grin widened at his reaction to the feather, and she laughed along with him.  "It is a feather," she agreed.  "But it was the wind that brought it -- and the wind is guided by spirits and gods.  They sent the feather as a sign for us to follow.  And that's what we're doing."

"Do your people have gods and spirits?" she asked curiously as they made their way across the sand.  "I mean, do you place your faith in them or beg favors from them as we do?"  She wondered if anyone had ever had the chance to ask a mershark before...  Probably not.  They weren't usually very conversational creatures!

"My ancestors -- the spirits I follow -- think you're important somehow.  You're destined to do great things someday, Ha'aheo.  They've brought me to you -- and you to me -- twice now.  That means I'm here to help you."

Her explanation still made no sense to him , but he had learned to not argue viewpoints with other creatures. That was silly! Humans did not like his kind, but you couldn't tell a shark to stop being a shark anymore than you could stop telling a human to be human. Perhaps healers were just as stubborn...or just Akala.

When she asked him about gods and spirits , the mershark shook his head. No. He did not imagine that they did and he was right. The closest thing his people believed that was godly was nature itself, but did not see nature being controlled by any all-powerful celestial or guided by spirits.  "Not know. What Gods? What Spirits?"

"Im-por-tant?" Ha'aheo wrinkled his nose as he struggled with the word, "Ha'aheo no im-impor-tant. Ha'aeho is Ha'aheo." He shook his head, "Akala helps. Akala make it no dies. Make...magic. Magic help make it no die. Not know why. People see Ha'aheo bad. People...want make Ha'aheo die. Akala no. Not know why.  "

ooc: If he makes no sense, I'm sorry!   

"Well..."  That was a bit more difficult to explain!  "Let's start small.  First, there are the spirits of one's ancestors -- parents, grandparents, and so on who have died.  They are around us -- always -- and help to guide us through life."

"And then there are the spirits around us who aren't our ancestors and were never human.  They live in the sand, in the rocks and the trees...  These are the spirits I call on to help me to heal and perform other magic.  But there is always a price to pay.  Some ask for merely a drop of blood.  Others request great deeds be performed.  That is why I had to cut myself when you were choking."

Now, how to explain the gods?  "Even more powerful than spirits are the gods.  There is a god for almost everything -- a god of the sea, of volcanoes, of hurricanes, and so on.  They are beings of great power -- and arrogance.  They demand our respect, and if we fail to provide it, it is in their power to do great and terrible things..."

She mused over that a moment.  It would have to suffice for an explanation...  She grinned at him, adding, "I am a shaman -- that's what we call people like me, who are able to speak to the spirits and heal others.  I do as the spirits tell me -- and they return the favor.  Thus, if they think you are important, you are important, Ha'aheo."

"Oh..." Ha'aheo tried to follow what his new friend was gracious enough to explain to him, but she spoke in so many unknown words and foreign concepts that by the time she was finished, he was even more confused than before.

Wait. Did she just say spirits were dead people? And they were everywhere? He supposed that was true. When something died, it returned to the earth and became part of it. Nature always had a way of reclaiming whatever it created when its creation failed to survive. But to say that the dead guided the living! What a silly thing! Ha'aheo had no dead people to guide him. He only had himself.

And somehow dead people tied in to magic? And blood? What? Well, he had NO idea how magic worked so maybe she right about that at least. 

She lost him completely with talk of Gods.

"Ha'aheo comes....to see." He didn't have the words in his vocabulary to say that he did not believe that there was any force at work that had conveniently drawn them together. Ha'aheo was just curious. This was merely his will. Akala had found him and they had connected. It was as simple to him as that. No silly man spirits and Gods involved.

"Not know what say. Not know words. " He admitted and he only felt frustrated because he could not understand her. "Too many words." He frowned, dismayed.

"Akala talk ancestors. Parents? Ha'aheo no talk parents. No ancestors. Ancestors want eat Ha'aheo. "

ooc: If she understands that last bit, I'd be impressed!

Akala's gaze was friendly as she watched him struggle to comprehend.  "It's alright, Ha'aheo.  You don't have to understand what I believe -- and I don't have to understand what you believe.  As long as we respect each other..."  She shrugged her narrow shoulders lightly.

Her expression soon morphed into one of utter horror.  "Your ancestors want to eat you?  Why?!"  It seemed a terrible thing...  In Yoreiqi culture, families were fluid things with children sometimes only barely knowing their birth parents -- and sometimes not at all.  But the relationships were never, ever hostile...

It was, simply, the way things were done.

Ha'aheo shrugged, " Not know. Is...shark way." Sharks ate their young after a certain point. He never though to wonder why. He just accepted that. Though he had sometimes wondered why some species of creatures nurtured their young. " No Akala way. No person way."

"Strong live. Weak die. Is way. " He told her in a matter-of-fact way. "See Akala weak. No, " He shook his head, "Akala no weak. Akala no...go. Many men. Akala ...strong. Ha'aheo...respect. Think good word," He scratched his head, " not know."

ooc: Laaaaame poooost!

OOC: It's okay.  'Cause he's adorable!

Akala was watching him explain with a curious expression on her face, complete with a slightly angular tilt to her head.  When he had finished, she nodded slightly.  "I see.  That makes sense, I suppose."

After all, she couldn't expect everyone to be the same, could she?  That would take all of the fun out of life!

She rolled her shoulders lightly, then reached upwards in a stretch.  Her wings, too, opened with the gesture, and she looked over to peer at them with a frown.  She would have to have them seen to sooner or later...  She could feel the grainy sand shifting against her skin.

That was when she noticed the feather dancing cheerfully in the breeze on a ridge...and, more importantly, the small village nestled behind a grove of trees.  "Ha'aheo...  Let's go get you something proper to wear."  Her stomach growled softly, and she put a hand on top of it with a slight laugh.  "And something to eat."

OOC: Look at us go!  Moving forward!

Ha'aheo had stared at her wings. He knew what they were , but did not comprehend their function. He had never seen the Yoreiqi fly though this was what wings were for! To have wings and not be able to use them was like being a fish with a lame fin.

He said nothing and nodded, but his eyes settled on the village and , deep in his gut he could not help feeling some trepidation as their steps brought them ever closer to the trees and the human huts. He did not think the humans of that village would have been as accepting of his presence as this woman was. And they had plenty good reason to fear him.

As they neared the village , Ha'aheo stopped to look at a pair of children that stared at him. "Huh?" He'd seen children before and knew what they were, but he had not realized how small they were until he was towering over them.  "Akala, small ones..."

"Is that blood?" The boy pointed to Ha'aheo's mouth. The mershark's lips were still stained red and the blood, now mostly dried , was still visible on his chin.

"Is blood." Ha'aheo touched his jaw.

"Cool!" The boy exclaimed but the girl next to him didn't seem nearly as thrilled.

Akala smiled at the kids, pausing to crouch down so as to be at eye level with the little munchkins.  "I am Akala," she said brightly.  "This is my friend Ha'aheo.  We've traveled a long way up the beach.  Do you mind if we ask you to lead us into your village for food and rest before continuing on?"

The little boy shrugged his shoulders in answer.  "I guess," he said, though his eyes were still fixed on Ha'aheo.  The girl remained shyly -- and wordlessly -- beside the boy, clinging to his hand as she stared at the strangers with wide eyes.

"Thank you," Akala answered with a laugh.  "Come on, Ha'aheo."

The boy skipped along beside the mershark, thrilled at the prospect of acting as escort -- and, no doubt, a chance to ask more questions about the blood.

OOC: I'm going to let you handle this...  Lame post is lame!

There were so many more questions the boy had to ask Ha'aheo as they walked. Ha'aheo tried to follow the child's excitable language , but half of what the kid asked him flew over his head. "I've never seen you before. Are you from one of the other villages? "

Ha'aheo understood little. He glanced to Akala , looking for her help.

The boy didn't wait for him to answer, " Are you a hunter? You look like a hunter to me. You're really big and strong! "

Ha'aheo understood more of these words and nodded. Yes. He was a hunter.

The boy's eyes lit up and he looked so beside himself with excitement that he might burst,"Cool! I'm going to be a hunter too when I get bigger too! I'll be the best hunter ever! Even better than Kai!"

Ha'aheo recognized the name and frowned. "Kai?"

The boy nodded, " He's a hunter like you, Ha'aeho. You should meet him. He might be able to teach you something you don't know."

"Huh..." Ha'aheo picked up on bits and pieces of that sentence. He understood the suggestion of meeting this Kai. And, well, he already had. And that hunter would recognize his face and then there might be trouble. Ha'aheo was far more helpless here on land and these hunters were much more skilled with weapons than those silly pirates.

"Akala..." He stopped walking just as soon as they'd reached the first hut. He looked at her , wanting to say that he didn't have a good feeling about this but he didn't have enough words. His expression revealed his trepidation, however.

Now he looked ahead toward the village. It was only a few steps away and already he felt nervous. There were quite a number of people there. Mostly women and childeren, some elderly going about various activities.

Ha'aheo took a step back, his deep blue eyes wide and confused. The sight of so many people together in one place was intimidating to him.

"What's wrong?" The girl ,whom had been silent up until now, inquired.


"Not know," Ha'aheo wasn't even sure how he felt or what to say. He was very confused. Seeing females caring for young. Small young and larger. Seeing everyone co-exist here without fighting , without killing or raping. He shook his head , " Ha'aheo...no see."

"You're blind!?" The boy gasped.

"What blind?" Ha'aheo was even more confused now.



ooc: Don't worry! This was equally lame!

"I think he means he doesn't understand," Akala said, breaking her own silence.  She had been watching the conversation with growing amusement at the predicament poor Ha'aheo had found himself in...and the excitement with which the boy addressed him.

"Can you go get some water in a bucket?  And a cloth?" Akala asked the girl.  She nodded brightly, glad to be involved, and dashed away.  "And do you know anyone who might have something Ha'aheo can wear?" she added to the boy.  He looked a bit hesitant to leave, but, after a moment, he ran off to find something for the mershark.

Drifting back to Ha'aheo's side, Akala laughed quietly.  "Is this the first time you've been to a village?"  Unlike Ha'aheo, she had no concept of living alone -- and so, she thought, the village couldn't be very different from a mershark village!  "It's alright.  No one's going to hurt you."  She extended a hand towards him in offering as the pair were beginning to draw confused and concerned looks from the villagers.

Ha'aheo nodded, " Many ...people. Not know...how..." He looked uncomfortable, nervous. It was an odd expression for a creature the was so accustomed to coasting through the waters with arrogance, strength and feral grace. But he was on land now in a world that was alien to him. He felt like an awkward youngling that had only hatched a few moments ago.

"Akala know?" Ha'aheo was hesitant to trust her words. She might not intend to harm him, but she could not control how others responded.

He stared at her offered hand and blinked. He wasn't quite sure what the gesture meant.

To have second thoughts about this now!

He looked over his shoulder at a pair of elder women who were watching him curiously.  They didn't seem to fear him, but clearly found him interesting in an odd sort of way. "Akala seems to have made a new friend, " One of the wrinkled old crones commented to her companion. The other woman whom was even more wrinkled than the first chuckled, " He looks like a tough one. See the scars?" She pointed out and her friend nodded. Ha'aheo's darkly tanned skin was blanketed with scars from head to toe .

"Akala,  " The first old crone greeted her and , perhaps unwisely, approached the pair, "who is your new friend?"

Ha'aheo growled at the old woman and she stepped back, giving him a peculiar look. What a strange reaction from a man! "There's no need to become hostile, young man. " The old woman laughed, " I just wanted to welcome you to our village."

ooc: Apparently , old women frighten him!

"It's alright, Ha'aheo," Akala replied with a smile, allowing her hand to fall back to her side as she turned to greet the woman with a soft laugh.  "Hello again, Manaka!"  She stepped forward to greet her properly by lightly rubbing noses, as Akala had attempted to show the mershark earlier.  "This is Ha'aheo.  But he doesn't like to be touched," Akala added hurriedly, just to avoid an additional incident.  "Ha'aheo, this is Manaka.  She's one of the village elders."

She half-turned towards Ha'aheo to see how he was taking this whole introduction...and to make sure he behaved!

"Ha'aheo is a mershark," she announced, pleased.  "We've helped each other out a few times now.  That reminds me.  When will the hunters be back?"  There was, after all, the matter of the danger out on the water...  "There are some men in a boat just off the shore.  They tried to take me onto their ship against my will."  She delivered the news with something of a pout!  They weren't nice people!  "If Ha'aheo hadn't been there, I think I would have had no choice but to go with them..."

"A mershark? " The elderly pair inquired in unison. They then exchanged uneasy glances. A mershark! Surely, the girl wasn't serious!  Such creatures were never friendly! They murdered, they raped and they stole from the people! To think that one of their ilk stood here now...

"You brought one of those monsters here!? "

"Hush, Iolani, " Manaka cautioned her upset peer, " We do not know this Ha'aheo. I'm sure that if he were as terrible as the others that Akala would never be so foolish as to bring him here and place the children in danger. Perhaps this man is different. " The old woman circled Ha'aheo, observing him from every angle. Ha'aheo stood still, frowning and not quite sure what to make of the strange old woman. He only knew he didn't like how close she was to him. "Hm....yes. I see..." Now she stood before him, on the tips of her toes looking up , staring into his eyes. " I can see. "

Ha'aheo turned his head away from the woman's intense stare and looked at Akala, very bewildered by these bizarre people and their behavior.

"You are indeed a special one, Ha'aheo. I've never heard of one of your people helping one of ours. Thank you for saving our Akala. You are more than welcome here so long as you behave yourself," Manaka announced warmly with a smile.

Iolani did not appear to be so convinced, but she backed down. Manaka was not the eldest in the village , but she was fairly wise (perhaps a little mad) and greatly respected. She said nothing to this , but glared at Ha'aheo, quite sure that he would prove Manaka and Akala wrong when they least expected it!

Akala watched the exchange with interest, curious expression becoming one of delight when Manaka spoke her judgment.  "The spirits seem to agree," Akala answered warmly.  "I think he's very important somehow."  How, though, only the spirits knew!

Akala glanced to Iolani and leaned in to murmur, "Anyway, I don't think he likes to eat people.  But he seems to love pineapple."  She grinned widely at the elderly lady, then stepped back over to Manaka and Ha'aheo just as the girl returned with the bucket.

"Can you wash the blood off your face?" Akala asked as she accepted the bucket and cloth.  "Like this.  See?"  She demonstrated the process for him; there was no need to scare the entire village or make them think he had done something wrong!  Like eating somebody...

"We learned how to walk today," she told the women proudly.  "I think he must have known how once and forgotten...  He was actually rather good at it to begin with.  And he already knew how to speak our language.  He's...brilliant, actually."

Ha'aheo stood there quietly, listening to the women chatter at one another and wondering what it was that they were talking about. He knew they had spoken of him, but he could not digest every word. Frustrated, the mershark frowned. His eyes studied one of the elder women, the one called Iolani. She was looking at him with a familiar look. One that told him that he was not welcome here. It was the same hateful glare that the hunters gave him. He wasn't ashamed of that look, but he knew that when people looked at him like that , that he needed to watch his back or else he'd find a knife in it!

He turned to regard Akala when she held up a wet cloth and wiped her own face with it. Why was she doing that? "Huh? What Akala ....?" He didn't quite understand that she was asking him to wipe his own face at first.

"She wants you to do what she did," The little girl offered.

"Oh." Ha'aheo snatched the cloth from Akala's hand and tried mimicking her earlier demonstration, wiping his mouth with the cloth. He missed a spot. "Good?" He looked to Akala for approval.

"That is odd, " Manaka said, " Most of his kind are quite adept on land. Perhaps Ha'aheo does not visit land very often."

"They only come to land to make trouble for us," Iolani bitterly remarked.

This was true on both accounts!

Akala grinned at Ha'aheo, seemingly ignorant of the expression on Iolani's face.  "You missed some," she said with a laugh.  "Right here."  She touched the corner of her own mouth to demonstrate.

"Perhaps not," Akala agreed with a light shrug.  It didn't really matter much to her.  She liked Ha'aheo!  And, on that note, she turned to frown at Iolani.

"Ha'aheo is my friend," she told the woman pointedly.  There was an edge to her voice now that had been lacking earlier, even when dealing with the pirate crew.  "Just as you are, Iolani.  You have my word that he will be no trouble, and, if my word is not enough, then we will leave as soon as we resupply.  I would never put anyone at risk, and that includes Ha'aheo."

"Oh." Ha'aheo wiped his mouth again. Now, the blood was gone! "Good?" Again, he looked for her approval much like a child though more like a dog.

"Your face is clean now, " the little girl reassured him.

Ha'aheo nodded and still held the wet and bloody cloth, not quite sure what to do with it now.

He didn't say much when Akala stood up for him. He wasn't quite sure what all of this was about and it didn't occur to him that anyone would advocate for him being trustworthy. He only understood that there was some conflict between Akala and Iolani. He didn't need to understand their words to be able to read the tension between them. Then there was the look Iolani gave Akala when the younger woman was speaking. Whatever Akala was saying to her, Iolani clearly didn't agree.

"I mean no disrespect to you, but I think it's a mistake to let him be here," Iolani told Akala stubbornly, " he is an animal with instincts. No different from the rest of his kind and he will not be able to overcome them. Mark my words, Akala, your 'friend' will bring nothing but trouble for us and especially for you. If you had any sense at all, you'd encourage him to leave before that happens." Having spoken her piece, the old woman shuffled off in a huff.

Manaka shook her head , " Don't let what she says bother you too much, dears. Iolani was born with a stubborn-streak. It takes her a little more time than some others to welcome new things."

Ha'aheo watched Iolani storm off. Yep. That woman did not like him at all!

Now the boy did arrive, running over to Ha'aheo and holding up some clothing. He was grinning from ear-to-ear, proud of his accomplished task, " Look what I brought! " He demanded Ha'aheo's attention excitedly.

Ha'aheo tilted his head, "What that?"

The boy giggled. The man couldn't be serious, but he was funny!

"That may be," Akala answered sadly.  "But the serenity of the village is equally as important as its safety.  If her opinion is shared by others, then it may be best we leave."  Her people, she thought, were better than that...  But, it seemed, she may have given them too much credit.

The boy's arrival made her smile again, however, and she nodded in approval.  "Thank you!  That will be perfect!  Ha'aheo, these are clothes.  Do you remember how we talked about needing clothes?  Would you like me to help you put them on?"

Accepting the clothing from the boy, she shook them out and held them out towards Ha'aheo.  Yes, they should be perfect -- much better than the ensemble he currently wore...which was barely decent.

"Clothes." Ha'aheo nodded. Yes. He did remember Akala saying something about needing them, but he still didn't understand why. "Clothes strange." He commented and looked at the other humans. They all wore skins over skins! It was very confusing to him! He reached out and touched the cloth that Akala held up with a finger.

"He doesn't really know what clothes are? " The boy gaped. "Do you run around naked?" He giggled. How funny! What a funny guy! "Oh! Were you raised by animals? Amoka told me he met a man once who was raised by wild dogs!"

Manaka shook her head and laughed, "I'm certain that Amoka may have embellished a bit on that one, Hokuao."

Stamping his foot Hokuao insisted, "It's really true! He gave to me this necklace," he pointed to a necklace that bore three canine fangs, " and he said that the dog man got these teeth from his brothers when he bested them in combat!" 

"Oh, well, in that case I suppose you're right. How fascinating! " Manaka smiled at the boy. Whether she believed him now or not, who could say?

Ha'aheo blinked, staring at Akala, "Not know.  Akala...help?" He still had no idea what these humans expected him to do!  And it was embarrassing that he had to keep relying on this woman every time. For everything.


ooc : So many names! I'll do my best to remember them all (or keep looking back through posts to find them! )

OOC: Names are good!

Akala nodded serenely.  Of course she would help!  "Now, you two turn around a moment," she told the kids, making a circular gesture with her hand.  Ha'aheo had no concept of privacy, obviously, but there were still a few things that were private in Yoreiq...and what was under one's loincloth was nothing to share with children.  They would understand in a few years!

"This will be a bit easier than before," Akala promised brightly.  "Here we go now."  With a flick of her wrist, she untied the knot that held the makeshift outfit in place, replacing it soon after with the new piece of cloth.  It was, apparently, more difficult to do it on another person, but she soon got the cloth folded neatly around his waist and secured in place with a decorative wooden clasp.

"Ha'aheo isn't Yoreiqi, Hokuao," she said, once satisfied with her work.  "You can turn back around now, by the way.  Ha'aheo is a mershark."  Picking up her own discarded cloth, the blood-stained rag, and the bucket of water, she added, "Shall we go into town and see if we can't get any food?"

"Huh?" Ha'aheo stared at Akala blankly. He wasn't sure what to think about what was about to transpire and so he just stood there, watching his new friend with curious eyes. The children turned away and he didn't think much of it but when Akala drew near he took a step back. What? What was she doing!? He did trust her, to some extent but her weird behavior always made him feel uncomfortable because he didn't know how to respond to it. Perhaps he should have just stood there and acted as though nothing was happening, but he couldn't help but wonder why she was acting the way that she was and what one of her own kind would have done in such a situation. He hated being ignorant!

He blushed. Not from his nakedness nor from what Akala was doing , but from embarrassment over his lack of understanding. He was even more determined now to learn now so that he wouldn't keep looking like a fool around these humans.

Newly dressed, Ha'aheo looked down to see what Akala had done. He looked bewildered. What was the purpose of this? He looked at her but she was preoccupied with gathering her things.

"A mershark!? Really!? " Hokuao hopped up and down , hardly able to contain his excitement. "That's SO cool! But..." He stopped hopping and looked up at Ha'aheo with a frown. "Where are his fins?"

"Mersharks use a form of shapeshifting magics that allow them to walk on land as humans do, " Manaka explained to the lad kindly.

"Oh...neat! I wish I could shapeshift too! That would be so COOL!"

Manka chuckled and turned from the excitable boy to look at Ha'aheo and Akala. " Mersharks have insatiable appetites. I'm sure you must be hungry, Ha'aheo."

At that moment, Ha'aheo's stomach spoke up for him. The mershark nodded , " Hungry. Have...fish?"

"We have lots!" Hokuao exclaimed. "I'll get some for you! " Before anyone could protest, the boy ran off , disappearing into the village.

Manka chuckled , "Full of energy, that one. Well, let's follow him, shall we?" She smiled at the pair and moved slowly to follow at a pace that was reasonable for a woman that was well into her late years.

Ha'aheo didn't move to follow them . He still seemed very lost , confused and uncertain. But he was pretty hungry! And he had to admit that he had not been expecting these people to come into their world. If he wanted to keep things like this...he didn't know if he could meet their expectations and he hoped he did nothing to screw things up too badly and ruin this opportunity to learn!

Or he would have to go home, to the sea...and go back to the usual . boring routine.

"Ha'aheo?" Akala asked, pausing several steps down the path to turn back to him questioningly.  "Are you coming?"

Hang it all!  She trusted Ha'aheo, and the spirits led them to this village.  They obviously felt it was safe enough here, or they would have led them in another direction!

Crossing the few feet she had traveled to stand in front of her friend again, she said worriedly, "It's okay, Ha'aheo.  No harm will come to you here.  There's food.  You can meet new people and make some new friends.  And we can rest safely here."

It dawned on her, suddenly, that there may be a problem afoot she did not consider...  She glanced over her shoulder at the retreating old woman, then turned her attention back to Ha'aheo.  "You don't have to come if you don't want to.  I could take you back to the beach, and we can meet up with each other later."

Ha'aheo watched Akala move away and did not move even to follow her. Where she had faith in spirits, he had nothing but his instincts to rely on and even if these people seemed harmless, friendly even...he had grown accustomed to always being cautious because the ocean was a very dangerous place. Constantly.

"Not know Akala, " He tried thinking of a way he could explain what he was feeling to her with the few words that he knew, " All..." he gestured to everything around him, "new to Ha'aheo. Ha'aheo not know how to...be. " He did not know the word for nervous. "Make ...trouble for Akala." Yes, he supposed he worried about her a little too. She was the first creature that was food that he wouldn't think of eating or even chewing on! Though she smelled so tasty!

And he'd somewhat grasped Iolani's meaning. There were likely other people who would not be happy to have him here.

Akala's expression softened.  "We were all new to this world once.  There's no reason to be ashamed of that.  And the world is such a big place, there's always going to be something new for you to try or to learn -- whether it's food or meeting new people or learning to surf."

Picturing Ha'aheo on a surfboard momentarily made her giggle.

"You won't make trouble for me.  If people don't like that I've brought you here, they simply won't talk to me.  That's fine, because you're a wonderful person, Ha'aheo, and if they don't want to take the time or trouble to come to know you, then I'm not sure I want to talk to them either."

More solemnly, she said, "But if you want to go back out to the water, I won't make you come into the village.  It's your choice, Ha'aheo."

Akala's reassurances made him feel a little better even if he wasn't so sure that she could protect him from the hunters if they decided that he was too much of a threat to the village. Individually, he was confident that he could best any one of them, but humans found greater strength in numbers.

"Know water. Not this." He looked back over his shoulder, back the way he had come from and considered going home. He knew he could not remain here for much longer anyway. However, he turned back to her and shook his head. "No go. Ha'aho comes to see. " He'd come too far to turn away now when this much progress had been made.

"Akala not know Ha'aheo . " He informed her . She really didn't! This was but the second time they'd met ! He hardly knew a thing about her either and what he knew of her might have amounted to more than what she knew of him. "What wonderful? Is like...good?"He moved forward, walking down the path toward the heart of the village.

"It's better than good," Akala answered with a laugh.  Silly mershark!  "And you're right.  I don't know you very well, but...  I know enough about you to believe I can trust you.  You haven't tried to eat me, and I don't think you intend to.  I don't think you intend to eat any of the people here either.  Do you?"

She was looking at him now curiously, dark eyes studying his as she awaited an answer.

"This is part of being someone's friend.  You trust them.  And they trust you."  Hopefully, the villagers wouldn't make her regret those words...

"But if they don't like you, we'll go.  I don't think any of them would try to hurt you as long as we leave peacefully..."  She would hope not...

"Beh...behttar than good? " Ha'aheo blinked. "Beh-tar. What that?" He honestly had no idea! And he was full of questions, but this was one question that would have to wait as Akala beckoned to him to come with her. He shook his head at mention of him eating her, "No eat. " His face twisted with disgust, " No eat Akala. No good. Smell good. " He tapped the tip of  his long , pointed nose with a claw, " No good eat."

He tilted his head like a curious dog, " No eat...people. Ha'aheo eat...fish. Pineapple. Uh..." He had not the words for things like crab, dolphin, whale,sea gulls and just about anything in the sea that was fleshy.

"Oh..." Ha'aheo sort of understood but didn't. This was all new to him and he was starting to realize that all the talking in the world with this woman would only open up his scope of understanding so far. If he wanted to learn, he'd have to move forward and interact with these humans. "Ha'aheo comes."

As they entered the village, passing the modestly constructed huts, Ha'aheo could feel quite a few pairs of curious sets of eyes following him. It made him feel a little uncomfortable and he subconsciously moved closer to Akala.

Hokuao came running toward them with a plate which he held up enthusiastically to Ha'aeho. "I brought you lots of fish, Ha'aheo!" He boasted ,seeming quite proud of himself.

Ha'aheo stared at the plate piled high with his favorite food and blinked. He wasn't used to being fed. Now this was the second time he'd been freely offered a meal. It was confusing to him , but he wasn't one to pass up a free meal. Ever. He grabbed the fish and ate them as though he were a starving man. All three fish had vanished in a mere matter of seconds.

"WOW!" Hokuao gasped, staring up at the mershark in amazement, " You are REALLY hungry! Wait here. I'll go get more!" He ran off.

At least he hadn't tried to eat the plate this time!

Akala grinned at him a moment, then turned her attention towards the village around them.  It was quiet -- more quiet than it usually was.  No doubt word of their guest had already reached most of the townspeople.  There was occasionally a glimpse of a face through a doorway or on the other side of a hut, but it seemed that most were waiting for...something.

"It's alright, Ha'aheo," Akala said again with a smile in his direction.  "They're just shy.  They'll probably start coming out one or two at a time to meet you.  Just remember to be nice to them and ask them not to touch you."  Her laugh erupted suddenly.  "And remember to chew your food this time!  You may be used to gobbling fish down whole, but not fruit."  She beamed as she thought it over.  He was going to get to try all sorts of fruit!

"Manaka," she began.  The pair had easily caught up to the older woman and would have to slow a bit to fall in step beside her.  "What about the men on the beach?"

"Here's more! Eat it, eat it!" Hokuao had returned in a heartbeat with another plate piled high with fish which he kept thrusting in Ha'aheo's face with uncontrollable enthusiasm. And Ha'aheo , being the gluttonous thing that he was, could hardly deny what was offered. He devoured one plate after another (though he did not consume the plate itself, thanks to Akala!) until he was on his back, holding his fat little pot belly and groaning, satisfied but with a stomach so full and tight that he thought he was going to lose it all!

"Oops. Ha'aheo! Why didn't you tell me that you were full?" Hokuao knelt down by the mershark , his face twisting into a grin. The boy tried not to laugh, but it was funny. He'd never seen any man eat SO much! "Are you okay?"

"Oh..." Ha'aheo groaned again. He had done this sort of things many times and did not quite understand that when you ate too much, that it would give you tummy trouble! "Hurt..."

"Your stomach hurts? Here, let me help," Hokuao offered and reached out to touch the man.

Ha'aheo growled, but this did not seem to daunt the child who placed a hand on his swollen tummy and rubbed it in small ,soothing circles. Ha'aheo's growl died in his throat and , unexpectedly, he relaxed. "See? It's okay. One time I ate too much too and my mom rubbed my tummy like this for a couple minutes and- Ha'aeho?" All that tummy rubbing had put Ha'aheo to sleep!

The pirates could be a very real problem if they had intentions of taking some islanders. Manaka nodded at Akala's words, "I'll have Kai and his men keep a close watch on their ship and the village.  I don't want anyone else to be taken. I can only pray they do not continue to seek such trouble."

More villagers had now filtered out of their hiding places to look curiously upon the now snoring Ha'aheo.

Akala had opened her mouth to warn off the curious and helpful boy, but there was, apparently, no need.  Ha'aheo was already asleep!  She stared at him in surprised amusement, then turned her attention back to the problem at hand.

"They fought with strange weapons.  They hurt Ha'aheo quite badly, but he wouldn't let me heal him."  He was a tough one!  "The spirits brought us here.  I don't know if it was to warn you or if it was to seek shelter."  They had been rather unclear...

Hokuao was already telling the newcomers about Ha'aheo, excited, no doubt, that he had been the first to meet him.  Leaving the mershark in the boy's care, she added, "I do need some supplies.  A knife and a shirt."  She paused, then, and added, "Is Kai still mad at me?"  She had left in rather a large huff after the way the hunters had treated Ha'aheo.  She and Kai were dear friends, and she would hate to lose that friendship.  Yet...  He couldn't go around treating her other friends that way!

Manka nodded, "All shall be revealed in time, my child. Perhaps it is as you say or perhaps the spirits have something greater in store for your friend , or you. Maybe both. " The elder woman's gaze seemed distant for a moment, thoughtful. She shook her head, " I was wondering why Kai was so upset earlier. He didn't mention anything about a mershark! " Patting Akala's arm gently, the Manka reassured her, "Don't worry , Akala. I'm sure Kai's temper will cool with time. "

In all honesty though, Manaka wasn't certain. She could not blame Kai or Iolani's feelings towards Ha'aheo. His kind never brought anything good to her people, but Manaka was a little more laid-back and open-minded. She also trusted in Akala's judgement, "I will see about getting you what you need. I'd ask if there's anything else Ha'aheo needs, but he appears to be quite comfortable!"

It was true! Ha'aheo was snoring loudly, lying on his back in the sands while children clambered all over him ,looking for his gills and fins! Some were even bold enough to pull back his lips and look at his very pointy teeth! "Leave him alone, you guys! " Hokuao chased the curious little ones away. "Akala said he doesn't like to be touched!"

"He does indeed," Akala said, smiling over at the snoozing mershark.  "Take good care of him while I'm gone, Hokuao!" she called to the boy encouragingly.  Glancing back to Manka, she added, "I won't be long.  I'll just go take a few things, and I'll be right back."

True to her word, it didn't take Akala long at all to scrounge up the few supplies she needed.  And some fruit!  With a bowl of berries in one hand and her new belongings tied into the shirt and slung over her shoulder like a pack, she made her way back to the gathering space.

It seemed the whole village had come out to stare at the sleeping mershark.  Neighbors whispered to one another.  A few of the braver villagers had come forward to peer at the sleeping man, as though he might turn back into a mershark under their very noses!

AKala herself wasn't certain how that worked...and she wasn't sure Ha'aheo could explain it to her if he knew either.

A young mother with a sleeping baby in her arms shot Akala a nasty look as she approached.  "How could you bring him to our village?" she demanded, holding her baby closer.

"You child is perfectly safe, Lakila.  Ha'aheo doesn't eat people."  Now, if Lakila's son were a fish, she'd have cause to worry!  Akala wisely refrained from pointing this out, however, in part because it seemed the hunting party was returning.

The crowd parted before them, voices falling silent as Kai and his hunters stepped forward.  Akala put on a smile, even though her stomach twisted with worry.  "Kai, don't be angry.  Please."

Ha'aheo could have been content to sleep much longer than he had if it wasn't for the fact that it was so very noisy now. He yawned loudly and sat up, staring curiously at all the people who had come to look at him. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable and frowned. Why did these people look at him with such intense stares? He knew fear when he smelled it though. Many of these humans were made uncomfortable by his presence.

His stomach still hurt , but he looked curiously over to where Akala stood facing a familiar face. Oh yes. The coward hunter man who had thrown a sharp stick at him earlier as he swam away. He tilted his head, pondering the relationships these humans had with each other. The social structure of a human culture seemed a lot more complex than that of a mershark's. There was prey, there was mate, and there was foe. That was it.

When he had heard about the shark man being permitted to stay at his village, Kai was furious. It was evident on his face that flushed so brightly with his anger. He glared at Akala. It was true that they were friends and that Kai was known to trust the shaman's judgement, this was something he could not accept. He'd been receptive of strangers even but mersharks were an exception due to their reputation for violence. "What are you thinking , Akala!?" The hunter yelled at her.

Ha'aheo tilted his head, perceiving Kai's body language and tone as threatening. He stood up and approached the pair.

Kai noticed the creature and drew a knife, but he did not make a move to kill him. "You can't trust him. They're all the same. He will bring others here. They always do. They'll kill , and rape, and plunder. They're no good, Akala. He's no good. No different than the rest of his wretched race."

Ha'aeho heard these words but didn't understand. He only saw the knife and saw the man had been looking at Akala and ...he attacked, lunging forward and pinning the man down under him in the sand "NO!" Ha'aheo wrestled the knife out of the man's wrist. Kai was strong , but Ha'aheo's strength was inhuman.

The hunters trained their spears on the shark man ,ready to kill.

"Bad! " Ha'aheo scolded. "Bad man. Bad! No! " He held up the knife before Kai's eyes and growled, "This bad. No hurt Akala."


ooc: Special post. This is what happens when 3am suddenly becomes the new 6am.

Akala knew Kai was a good man.  They had been friends for a long time, and she understood his concern.  After all, he was right in that Ha'aheo was the first friendly mershark she had ever met...but she also trusted her ancestors.  There was something special about Ha'aheo, and she could not bear the thought of turning that aside for any reason.

She bore Kai's concerns patiently, her eyes flickering down to the knife in his hand but, otherwise, showing no sign of fear.  She trusted him, and she didn't think he would attack Ha'aheo (again) unless provoked.

...And provoked he suddenly was!  She hadn't even realized the mershark was awake and on his feet until he suddenly attacked Kai!

"Ha'aheo!" she gasped, stepping forward quickly.  "What are you doing?  Stop it!  That isn't going to help!"

Ha'aheo drew back at Akala's scolding, looking very confused. The mershark dropped the knife immediately. He did not know how to use it anyway and anyone would have been able to discern that by the awkward manner that he'd held it.

He blinked at the humans. He did not understand why it was good to attack those other men whom had threatened Akala, but not this one. What was the difference? What he failed to understand though was that the knife had actually been meant for him. He understood the spears pointed at him were indeed for him though and he bristled at the sight of them.

"See? What did I tell you?!" Kai exclaimed, hopping up to his feet, "This creature is violent and unpredictable. "

"But he didn't hurt you!" Hokuao defended the shark man because the shark man was cool. "Don't be such a crab, Kai. "

Ha'aheo seemed to visibly bristle at Kai, feeling threatened by the human's aggressive attitude. The mershark had a mind to bite the weakling, but he wasn't sure if his new friend would approve and so Kai would walk away with his limbs intact.

Akala could be nimble when she so chose to be, and she used that dexterity now to insert herself protectively between the feuding men.  Her eyes were on Kai with her back to the mershark, arms spread out to either side of her slender body as though she could keep the pair separated with such a simple gesture.

Her expression was one of determination but also of sadness.  Why was it that so few were willing to look beyond the mershark to what lay beneath?

"I think...he thought you were going to hurt me," she answered him softly.  That was the only conclusion she could draw from the mershark's words.  "He's learning."

But she was done arguing and through trying to convince people of Ha'aheo's nature.  If they would not even give him a chance, how would they ever see the good in him?

"We're going to go," she told the hunter softly.  "I hope, someday, you'll welcome me back, Kai."

"No , Hokuao is right, " an elder man spoke up and stepped forward, " he doesn't seem as aggressive as the others. "

"And Akala has a good sense of judgement, " A woman in her middling years offered," I don't think it would hurt to give Ha'aheo a chance."

The villagers broke into various conversations which sounded a lot like a collective of murmers. There were arguments made by some sharing similar views with Kai, however the majority of people , while nervous by Ha'aheo's presence, were willing to give the mershark a chance to prove himself. Though only one chance.

"No, Akala. There is no reason for you to leave, " Manaka intervened now, listening to her people discuss the situation. She had an idea of what where most stood where the mershark was concerned now and only when she knew the popular opinion did she dare speak up for everyone. She turned to regard Ha'aheo, " I'm very sorry for our rudeness, Ha'aheo. Do you understand what I say?"

Ha'aheo tilted his head and stared at her, " Huh?" No, he really didn't.

Manaka shook her head, " Ha'aheo, you are Akala's friend?"

Ha'aheo grinned, showing his many sharp teeth. His smile was intimidating to strangers, perhaps comical to those who understood his nature better, " Friend Akala. Friend Ha'aheo." He understood that much at least.

"A friend of Akala's is a friend of mine as well, you are welcome here Ha'aheo. Isn't he?" Manka spoke loud enough for all to hear. Most of the villagers nodded in agreement. The shark was welcome. For now.

Kai , however , looked furious. He glared at Manaka angry and disbleieving but whatever he had to say he held his tongue. He shot a similar look in Akala's direction before he stormed off.

"Yay! You can stay!" Hokuao made the mistake of jumping at the mershark and hugging him.

Ha'aheo pushed the boy away. "No!" He cautioned the boy firmly.

Hokuao was hardly hurt but he was puzzled by the shark's behavior. Well, when he considered it , the boy supposed that sharks didn't like to be hugged. But there were so many things about Ha'aheo that seemed kind of human too. "You're so weird."

"Hokuao small," Ha'aheo replied back, not understanding what weird meant. "What that? Weird?" And he had encountered yet another word that he didn't comprehend!

Akala looked embarrassed and surprised by the sudden sentiment, but the slow smile that was beginning to curl her lips died immediately at the look Kai shot her way.

"Kai..." she began, but it was too late; the hunter was already stomping off and away from the gathering.  She watched him for a moment, then turned to look at Ha'aheo and his much smaller shadow.

At least something good had come of this...  She smiled slightly, pleased in spite of Kai's anger.  Perhaps he would come to his senses later, after Ha'aheo had been here for a little while.

"Weird is...something that is different.  Out of the ordinary," she supplied helpfully.  "We'll only stay the night, I imagine," she added to Manaka with a growing smile and hug for the older woman.  "Thank you for your faith, my friend."

Ha'aheo tried to digest Akala's explanation and it partially clicked. Just partially. He knew that he was not like these humans, but he did not understand the concept of what was "ordinary" or "normal" , but if he considered it some more...perhaps he might have reached an understanding of that meaning. Perhaps if he considered his behavior , compared it to his own kin, he would have identified that he was not behaving as a mershark was expected to. But his curiosity clouded these thoughts. He did not think it was strange to wonder about things, to seek out answers to the questions that teased his mind.

The reality was that for a mershark, he was quite intelligent which wasn't saying very much. By human standards, his intelligence was barely on par with the average Yoreiqi child's. On par with Hokuao. Perhaps slightly lower.

"How it not...how be not different?" He pondered allowed. He didn't have any desire to be accepted by these people, but rather to momentarily experience their culture, to gain some insight on who and what they were because of his nature and that thirst of greater understanding of the world around him.

Hokuao bounced up and down excitedly, " I can show you how to be more like us, Ha'aheo. Can I? Can I, please?"

Ha'aheo tilted his head, not understanding everything but he nodded, "Okay."

The shark had no clue what he'd agreed to, but apparently he'd said something right because the boy seemed very happy. Like he'd just eaten a whole barrel full of fish.

Leaving Akala's embrace, the Manaka shook her head, " Don't thank me, my dear. I just gave them a little nudge in the right direction. I must admit that I am curious to know more about your little friend. To think about what sorts of things we could learn about the mersharks from him...what they eat, how they interact with one another, where do they dwell? Do they believe in spirits or worship their own deity. How exciting! " The old woman touched the girl's arm lightly, " I know your friend isn't feeling very comfortable here and I wouldn't ask him to stay long , but perhaps if you should learn something about his people when you are away from here, might you share such knowledge with this nosy old woman?"

Their discussion was interrupted by Hokuao asking loudly, " Ha'aeho? Where are you going?"

Time had escaped Ha'aheo and now he was out of it. He'd spent too much time out of the water and was suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness and illness that weakened his body and caused him a great deal of discomfort. If he had the words to explain what was wrong, he wouldn't know what to say because he didn't understand it. His body , however did. The only thing he knew was that the ocean , returning to it, would make him feel better.

And so he was moving away from the villagers who had only just welcomed him into their home without saying a word because he didn't have any words and even if he did , he didn't feel well enough to speak them.

"Ha'aheo!" Hokuao ran after him, determined to make the shark stay. "Why are you leaving us? Manaka said you could stay!"

Ha'aheo shook his head, his bronzed face appearing unusually pale and feverish. He opened his mouth to say something , but closed it and shook his head. He kept walking away.

ooc: I wanted to write something. S: I'm sorry this really isn't much of anything. I'll do better next time. 

I figure an hour has passed by now? No idea. xD

OOC: Well, he did take a nap!  :D

Akala had not lied; she trusted Ha'aheo, and she believed he would behave as she expected.  And, so, she allowed herself to turn her attention to Manaka fully to let Hokuao teach him more about the ways of the Yoreiqi.

The woman laughed in delight at Manaka's line of thought.  "He is very curious," she agreed wholeheartedly.  "It's only fair we be curious in return.  I think he'd like to help us."  In so much as he could!  Words were still a bit of a challenge for him...but, she expected he only needed a little help and clarification!

Hokuao's voice, filled with alarm, bounced back to them, then, and Akala turned with a perplexed expression that quickly became one of concern...because her friend did not look well at all.  "Oh no...  I'm sorry, Manaka, but I think we'd better go now..."

The villagers curiously watched Ha'aheo leave, wondering if perhaps their reluctance to accept him had somehow offended him. No one quite understood mersharks or their inability to remain on land for extended periods of time. Even so, none of them bothered to stop Ha'aheo and ask him what was wrong except the boy. Though no matter how many times Hokuao asked Ha'aheo what was wrong, he got little more response from the mershark than a grunt and a shake of his head.

Frowning, Manaka nodded her head slowly, not quite understanding what had suddenly gotten into their guest but she saw his face and commented, " He looks ill. Perhaps he ate something that didn't agree with him, " she smiled , "take care , my child and remember that you and Ha'aheo are welcome to return here whenever you like. "
Then, to Hokuao, the old woman called, " Let him be, Hokuao. I'm sure he'll come back when he's feeling better."

Reluctantly, Hokuao stopped following Ha'aheo and made his way back to the village.
Ha'aheo kept moving, walking as fast as his legs would allow him until he was well beyond the village. He hardly noticed if Akala was there or not and he couldn't stop to explain to her what was wrong. He had no words to help her understand. Even if he did, he wasn't sure that he understood either. All he knew was that he needed to go home...to the ocean. It always made the landsickness go away.

Though even when he made it to the beach, he gave into his weakness and collapsed.   

Akala offered her friend a smile and a quick hug.  Not forgetting the supplies she had come for, she scooped up the small, cloth bag and quickly followed in Ha'aheo's wake.  Unlike the poor mershark, she knew how to run, and she did so now in order to catch up to him.

And when she finally had, she picked up where young Hokuao had left off.  "Ha'aheo?  Are you okay?"

It seemed she had no sooner asked her question than the mershark finally fell over.  She cried out in alarm, her own bag falling onto the sand as she dropped down onto the sand beside him.

"Ha'aheo!  What is it?"  If she knew what was wrong, she could help him...

A splash from the water caught her attention, and she glanced towards the ocean.  They had made it to the beach, but the water was still some distance from them...but it seemed to be the way he had been heading.

"You were trying to reach the water, weren't you?"  She had no idea why, but she didn't need to know why for her to help.  "I'll help," she offered, wondering how on earth she would pull him to his feet.

Ha'aheo moved his head slightly, turning it aside so he could stop breathing in sand. Akala may have noticed the unusual pallor in his typically darkened bronze complexion. The expression on his face was not characteristic either. It seemed pained, dazed , and his eyes were glazed with a distant but deep and very real fear. The mershark was nearly as unsure of the situation as she was.

However, when she mentioned water he moved head to nod slightly. "Yes, " it was all he could manage to tell her in this state, but that was no matter for it was the only word he could respond with that he was knew she'd understand. "It...feel...bad. Water feel good." He forced himself to say. He wasn't even sure if she'd understand what he meant by that.

He hardly understood it himself. It wasn't as though he'd been told how this land traversing ability worked or what its limitations were.  He'd seen his kind use it before for raids and he'd never attempted to use it often because he was a little lazier than the others. He preferred to stalk the shallows and rob fishermen's nets rather than partake in land raids. Though land raids often did yield more food and women, it was also far too risky and , more importantly, Ha'aheo's tummy was extremely impatient. He'd rather swim about with his mouth open, catching a few slow fishies to feed himself immediately than spend hours fighting humans over their belongings. 

Ooc: He is so going to be a fatty in his old age. Lulz.

Akala didn't need to understand the complexities; if Ha'aheo said he needed sea water, then she would bring him sea water.  She didn't think she could carry him to the ocean -- not alone, certainly, because he was in no shape to help himself -- but, perhaps, if she could ease his pain, he might be able to help her get him to where he needed to be.

"I'll be right back," she promised and rose, emptying out the contents of her freshly-filled waterskin along the way.  This, however, had been fresh water -- and, therefore, no use to Ha'aheo.  The line of wet sand from its contents reached almost all the way to the shore.  She waded in a few feet, then submerged the skin into the ocean until it was full.

A moment later, she was at her friend's side again.  Unceremoniously, she lifted the skin upside down so that the water would pour over the mershark.  "Does this help?" she asked, and she moved the skin so that more than simply one area of his skin would receive the treatment.  "Do you want some to drink?"

Ha'aheo hardly noticed Akala's departure at first, but after a moment he sensed that he was alone and only a small part of him was disappointed. He wasn't even sure why. He'd never really cared much for having company before, but then again the ocean had never presented him with any pleasant companionships. Other creatures tried to kill him, flee from him or kill AND eat him. There wasn't a whole heck of a lot of variety there. It was too bad that there were no Akalas in the ocean.

When his friend returned, he was pleased though surprised when she poured water on him. Oh! She was trying to help him? But she was going about it the wrong way and he only knew how to tell her in his usual direct manner, No, " he lifted his arm and pointed feebly at the flaps of skin on the side of his neck, running just a hair below his ears. There appeared to be gils there. "Water...  there. "

Akala had no idea what gills were or what they were for -- zoology and biology were rather unknown to her people.  They simply accepted life for what it was; there was no need to question or to poke or to try to understand.  Their lives and views of the world were simple like that!

"Oh," she breathed, immediately shifting so that she could lean over more of his upper torso.  "Here?  Like this?"  Carefully, she poured the contents of her skin over the gills he indicated, pouring slowly but steadily over his skin.  As she poured, she watched his expression anxiously, hoping to see signs of relief.

"Is it helping?" she asked at last, her tone hopeful.  Already, most of the water had been poured out, the excess pooling onto the sand beneath his head.

The sensation of the cool , briny fluid passing through his gills and into his lungs was not so different as the experience of inhaling air after having held one's breath for too long. Ha'aheo made a sound, similar to that of a diver breaking the water's surface for air. The shark man immediately shifted his position from lying in the sand prostate to an awkward sitting position that poorly mimicked what he had observed from watching the island people.

"Akala, good, " he might have thanked her if he'd known how. He didn't even have words. " It no...good. Water. Ha'aheo go," He frowned, his expression clouded with frustration at his lack of a vocabulary. It didn't occur to him that it wasn't common for him to care whether or not another creature understood him or not, but he was so caught up in this new pursuit of learning that even if he had become aware of that, he wouldn't have cared. 

His legs wobbled as he rose precariously to his feet and nearly lost his balance twice when he attempted to take steps forward. Such a prideful creature, Ha'aheo didn't want to ask his friend for help again. She'd already helped him – many times! He'd lost count now! "Hrrngh," he sighed, the sound rumbling deep in his throat and seeming more akin to a beast than a man, " Akala..." The almost pleading look he gave her might have been better than any words he might have possessed.

ooc: I wasn't going to post in this thread first, but I did. >.> I can't help myself. I love the sharkie.

(OOC: SHARKIE!)

Akala's expression softened, and she nodded slightly.  She abandoned the skin and rose to slip beneath his arm to steady him.  "It's okay," she said, shooting him that warm, benevolent smile that seemed to almost make her glow.  "You're going to be okay."

And she had faith now that it would be.  Her intercession had given him a brief respite, had allowed him to breathe and to regain some of his strength.  The shore was not so very far away now; they would make it there, and Ha'aheo would be fine once there.

They picked their way carefully over the sand, moving steadily nearer the water lapping at the sand.  They could not hurry without risking toppling over, and so Akala guided him at a careful pace.  "Thank you, Ha'aheo.  Today was a good day.  And you are a very good friend."  Her smile shone on him again -- and then they were at the water's edge.  Even as the water lapped at their feet, Akala didn't let go; she waded into the ocean with him, until deep enough that he could swim by his own power.

Ooc: Sorry for the delay. Lots of RL shit goin' down.

I just had an idea though of why the pirates might be around. On one hand they could be looking for slaves, but I'd thought of something awesomely cliché- er I mean >.> so I thought maybe they've hidden stolen goods that the Yoreiqi either have uncovered and are in possession  of OR they've hidden something on the island years ago and now Manaka and her people might be living directly above where it's buried and the pirates want them to move or assume that they have the treasure. xD

Ic:

With Akala's help , Ha'aheo found the water again. He gave her a funny look, "No thank. Ha'aheo no help. " He seemed to have forgotten he'd chased the bad men away. "It no good hunter. But Ha'aheo ...l-like the...pineapple. No know where hunt pineapple. Akala know. " The thought of the tasty fruits made his mouth water. If Akala wasn't careful, she might have met the unfortunate fate of getting hot shark saliva on her arm.

Ha'aheo tilted his head a bit, digesting the woman's words. "Akala friend of Ha'aheo? Akala say this other time.  Not know. Not have friend any time. Ha'aheo thinks it like friend. " He adopted a thoughtful look for a moment, but then he shook his head and frowned , "Akala not shark, Not fish.  Ha'aheo no can't take friend to best hunting place. Is sad for Akala. " He sounded remorseful. Pook Akala. She would never know the joys of eating the biggest, fattest and most tastiest fishies in the water.

But then he had a thought. Akala could not go to that place, but he could bring some fish to her. He grinned. His big, sharp, white fangs were....scary.  "Is okay. Ha'aheo know how." He was feeling ill again. Time was ticking, but he had one more thing to say, " See Akala other time? "

(OOC: Holy cow, how did I put off replying to this for so long???  ;_;  I wanted to do it this weekend, but the plague struck...  Stupid plague!

And I would be up for that!  What's a cliche?  :P )

Akala would have been sad herself, but the mention of the pineapple -- and his enthusiasm for the fruit -- kept the smile on her face.  "Yes," she answered confidently, "We are friends."  And, hopefully, she could make reparations with her other friends back in the village...

But that was not something she could blame the mershark for!  That was all on the hunter and his stubborn refusal to see what lay immediately before him!

Her smile widened at his goodbye, and she nodded slightly.  "Of course you will, Ha'aheo.  I'm never far from the water.  I'm sure we'll see each other again, and soon."

"Okay, " Ha'aheo flashed a toothy grin at his new friend, seeming quite pleased with her response, "It see you other time." The mershark didn't know how to properly say goodbye. He turned away from her and swam away, disappearing quickly beneath the waves.

And he was gone.

Moments after Ha'aheo's departure, Hokuao came running down the beach towards Akala, but when he reached Akala the lad looked out towards the ocean, searching for something. Probably Ha'aheo. "Aw. He's gone! "

It would be a week before Ha'aheo would return and already the villagers with a few exceptions, naturally, had forgotten Ha'aheo. Things went back to normal until one morning...

A shark fin, and a fairly large one at that, was spotted circling around the hunter's favored fishing area. Ha'aheo was helping himself to the easy prey, gobbling up the fish before the hunters could catch them. And of course Kai was there angry and ready to spear the cheeky creature for causing them so much difficulty.

Ha'aheo was amused. He thought it was a game and every time one of the hunters approached to stab at him with their sharp sticks he'd vanish into the depths , only to pop up somewhere else and pull a net out of the hunter's grasps.

Ha'aheo had vanished once more and popped his head up above the surface just inches away from where Kai stood waist-deep in the water. He grinned up at the man, "Hehe. Slow hunters go hungry. Hehe."

"Why you-!" Kai raised his spear but Ha'aheo sucked in a mouthful of water and spat it in his face.

This only made the hunter even MORE upset. "One dead shark, coming up!"

Ha'aheo laughed and vanished under the water again. He appeared again on Kai's other side.

"No catch it. Too slow. "

Kai let out a snarl of frustration.

Life had gone on for Akala as well.  She went back to her duties and, true to her nature, back to her wandering.  Still, it was a small island, and she always inevitably came back to the small village...

She was there now, having just arrived that morning.  When the call had gone out that a mershark had been spotted taunting the fishermen by stealing their catches, Akala hoped it would be Ha'aheo.  That behavior, after all, was far from common; most preferred more vicious ways of getting their meals...

She was almost at the shore when she saw the mershark pop out of the water.  It made her laugh out loud, although it certainly didn't slow her down.  Water splashed around her as she waded out into the shallow water.  "Ha'aheo!"

Poor Kai...

"Akala! " Kai fumed and pointed accusingly at not her , but Ha'aheo who only grinned toothily and waved at Akala, " Tell that creature to leave unless it wishes to be speared to death!"

Ha'aheo tilted his head like a confused dog, he was listening to Kai's angry words and digesting them. He seemed quite pleased, " No go. Ha'aheo eat good. "

"You're eating OUR fish!"

Ha'aheo laughed at the hunter, "Fish not for you. Fish for water. For...good hunter. You lose fish. No good hunter."

"WHAT!?"

Ha'aheo ignored the irate human and said to Akala, " Is good see Akala again. Not think Akala see Ha'aheo. Ha'aheo ...." He didn't know how to put his feelings into words , but meeting Akala had opened up interesting doors for him that he had no idea existed. "Not learn new things. Akala good for showing new things."   

Yes, it definitely was Ha'aheo...and up to his old tricks again, clearly!  Stifling a laugh, she waded out into the water as well, fearlessly approaching the chaotic scene.

"It's alright, Kai," she said, settling a hand on the hunter's shoulder.  "He doesn't understand our way of doing things."  Although, she thought, he was rather deliberately picking on Kai...and little wonder, after the scene he had made the last time Ha'aheo had visited!

Turning her attention from the miffed hunter to the mershark, she grinned broadly.  "Hello, Ha'aheo.  How have you been?"

Yeah, they'd get to that whole...not teasing Kai thing later!  The poor man!

ooc: That awkward moment when you wrote a post hours ago but you alt + tab to go look at pictures of sharks and forget to send post. Okay. I lied. There were also dinosaurs. 

ic :

"Alright!? Do you even know how much that monster eats!? At the rate he's going, the whole entire village will starve!" Kai protested, quite dramatically frustrated. Naturally, his claims were hardly true! Silly , Kai!

Ha'aheo looked a little TOO pleased with the entire scenario for anyone to be silly enough to believe that he was entirely innocent in all of this. Akala was right to think that the shark was antagonizing the humans though his games served a dual purpose here. It not only amused the shark but it kept his belly full. He was hungry! He always was!

Ha'aheo digested Akala's words and looked as though he were thinking very hard on how to respond to them. "How Ha'aheo? How..." He worked out the meaning of the question in his mind slowly. "Ha'aheo...alone. " He had no word for 'bored' . "Ha'aheo good. Ha'aheo eat , Ha'aheo swim. Eat, swim. This all Ha'aheo knows. See hunters...Ha'aheo thinks...make something....new try. Hunters no like what Ha'aheo makes. " He didn't look the least bit ashamed by this though. And why should he? The hunters tried to kill him , but he wasn't too upset by this. It was just nature, but this did not mean he'd play nice back!

"How...Akala?" He inquired, wondering if he'd phrased his question right. He thought so! He was quite proud of how many words he had learned!

OOC: Dinosaur sharks!!!

Akala looked sad when the shark mentioned that he had been alone.  To her, there was no greater misery than to be on her own.  She always had the spirits to which she could turn -- but it was not the same as being surrounded by people...  Her expression softened into a soft smile, however, as he went on, attempting to describe how he had been.  "I'm good, Ha'aheo.  I've been very good."

Poor Kai, though!  "I'm certain the gatherers have brought back food," she answered him with a slight tilt of her head.  "The village will hardly starve in one day just because Ha'aheo helped himself to the fish."  It always seemed to be him that Ha'aheo targeted!  Circling carefully around the taller man, she pushed herself up on her tiptoes in order to nuzzle her nose against his.  What might have seemed a romantic gesture to an outsider was her way of comforting her fellow islander.  "I'll talk to him, Kai.  I'll try to explain.  I promise."

ooc: Oh yes! Megalodon! :3

ic:

Ha'aheo nodded , understanding. "Good good." He grinned. He curiously watched the humans interact. Not all of the words registered in the shark's mind nor did the body language. Ha'aheo did not understand romantic gestures let alone friendly ones. He understood aggression and non-aggression. These foreign gestures all seemed non-aggressive ,but he was still quite curious to their meaning.

"I- you- he-!" Now it was Kai's turn to have difficult with words. He stood there red-faced , expression tight and eyes narrowed dangerously in smug Ha'aheo's direction.

Akala was right, of course. He didn't want her to be though. He wanted to find something wrong with Ha'aheo. Something wrong enough to turn even Akala against him which was petty , but Kai just KNEW that the shark couldn't be trusted and it was better to turn the beast away now than to let it stay and cause his people trouble.

However , nothing short of killing the creature seemed likely to drive him away. Why was that ? The shark seemed to like playing games with its prey.  "I don't trust him," Kai growled begrudgingly and folded his arms over his chest , "He's probably thinking of ways to make a meal out of all of us."

Though he had to admit this particular mershark wasn't behaving normally. Maybe Manaka and Akala were right? No. That was foolish, wishful thinking. The others might believe it, but he wasn't going to let his guard down. He sighed, feeling defeated. "Fine. You do that. I mean it though, if he keeps this up I'm not going to play nice."

Akala smiled prettily and nodded.  "I understand, Kai."

And he needn't worry about Ha'aheo's plans to devour them -- he didn't like the taste of their blood, if she recalled correctly!  This was hardly the time to bring that up, though; Kai was likely to go wild and demand to know how she knew such information...

"Go back to the village," she urged, breaking contact with him to step backwards, moving into deeper water.  She wasn't the strongest swimmer, but she could tread water and splash around a bit...and she wasn't going too far!  "Relax.  It's taken care of."

She waited for him to turn before turning her attention fully to Ha'aheo.  "You shouldn't tease Kai," she said with a smile that took the sting out of her scolding.  "He's a very good hunter, and he's proud of his role."

ooc: My head is somewhat clearer this morning. (for now ><; )

ic:

If Ha'aheo were a dog, he would have made himself look as small and cute as possible to avoid the scolding, but sharks are hardly like that ! Ha'aheo stared at her, only partially understanding. "What this word? Tease? " He did know, however , that the angry man Kai was probably telling Akala to make Ha'aheo go away or stop doing what he was. Ha'aheo was , like Akala suspected, quite bright. Ha'aheo knew exactly what he was doing was not very good but he was bored and he didn't like Kai very much.

The mershark tilted his head at her declaration of Kai being a good hunter, "How good hunter? So slow.Not shark."

Kai was still nearby and made a sound that indicated such and that he wasn't appreciating what Ha'aheo was saying about him. Ha'aheo ignored him though.

"Ha'aheo hungry. This place good for fish. Kai no share, " he told her as if that were a good enough excuse to harass the hunters. Ha'aheo COULD have gone elsewhere to feed. Most sharks were born natural hunters. Ha'aheo was just lazy and bored.

Ah, how to explain teasing...  "Teasing is when you pick someone to laugh at...  You think it's fun, but they don't.  You know what laughing means, don't you?"  Maybe he did, maybe he didn't; mersharks weren't jolly creatures, by and large.

"No, Kai is not a shark.  Yoreiqi are different from sharks.  We aren't as fast, and we don't have big teeth like you do, so we have to hunt differently.  But we don't eat as much as you do, Ha'aheo, so we don't need to be as good a hunter as you are."  Sure, that was one way of looking at it.  Poor Kai!  "But when Kai is hunting, he is hunting to feed a whole village full of people.  He gives his fish to the villagers, and we all share it.  So when you take away his fish, you are taking away fish from the whole village."

"Hnnn." Ha'aheo thought about this. He tried to understand, but he shook his head, "Not know what laughing." He knew not the word , but he was most certainly doing exactly what Akala was suggesting. Worse yet? He was taking a somewhat cruel enjoyment out of the human's anger though he was disappointed that Kai wasn't trying to kill him. Ha'aheo wanted excitement!

"Yes. Ha'aheo not know how live not being shark. " If he knew the feeling, he would have felt sorry for humans. Being a shark was the best thing in the world as far as Ha'aheo knew. "Must be...sad. No live in ocean."

He shook his head, "Why hunt for so much? Why others no hunt?" It made no sense to Ha'aheo at all whom had been born to hunt and who had to learn how to provide for himself quickly or perish.

"Akala no hunt ? " He almost looked disappointed in her, but it was okay because now he knew what new things he could show her! "Ha'aheo good hunter. Ha'aheo show Akala. Then Akala no die."

"Ah, laughing is..."  She mimicked a laugh for him.  "It's what humans do when they're really happy or thing something is funny."

So, he wanted to know why they didn't all hunt...  This was going to be difficult to explain!

"Humans are different from sharks like you, Ha'aheo.  We live in groups, and we work together.  Some of us hunt.  Some of us gather fruit -- like the pineapple, remember?  And some of us find other ways to help everyone."

That was the simplest explanation she could offer!

Her expression shifted to one of amusement, however, when he mentioned that she would die without hunting.  "Why do you think I would die, Ha'aheo?"

"Ohhh..." Ha'aheo replied as if the meaning of it had now dawned on him. He mimicked his own version of a laugh which came out more like a ,"Gwah hah hah!" belly-laugh. A somewhat poorly mimicked one because Ha'aheo had never laughed before. "That happy...Ha'aheo knows this now." He did not know what funny meant though. He frowned, but did not ask about that. He felt stupid having to ask Akala for the meanings of every little word. He wanted to impress her by figuring things out without her help all the time.

Wait . Why did he want to impress a human to begin with?

Ha'aheo patiently waited for his friend's explanation. He nodded and grinned, "Pineapple." Yes. He knew what those were. And when she asked him why he thought that she would die, the mershark shook his head, " My...people say humans hunters. Hunters hunt. Some alone , some not alone. Hunt different things , but still hunt.Male , female, big hunters , small hunters. All know how hunt. Humans...strange. Ha'aheo make....see things not different for humans and sharks, " he shook his head, "No good! So different!"

He swam closer to her, " Akala more strange, Ha'aheo thinks. Humans see Ha'aheo bad. Akala say Ha'aheo good. Akala strange friend. Akala pineapple hunter?"

Akala giggled at the idea of a pineapple hunter.  Imagine, stalking that noble fruit in its natural habitat...poised and waiting for the right time to strike...

She was sure the occupations overlapped to some degree, but, having been neither hunter nor gatherer, she really had no basis for her assumption!

"No, I'm not a pineapple hunter.  Other people do that.  I am a healer, and I talk to the spirits.  I told you about those once before, remember?"  And the conversation had not gone well...  "I help in other ways."  Her usual grin was back, then.  "Though, I suppose I am a bit strange, even among my people."  And Manaka wasn't much better!

Recognition glittered in his eyes. Ha'aheo grinned and nodded, "Yes. Akala make hurts go away. " Ha'aheo winced visibly. His kind were very suspicious of such things. Magic was very bad where he came from .  He looked around as if he expected something unnatural to happen.

Ha'aheo tilted his head at her admittance to being strange, "Ha'aheo strange for shark. Others think no good see humans. Say humans make Ha'aheo die . Akala friend no let Ha'aheo die." 

"Akala no want hunt?" He really did find that to be so strange!

"Yes," she agreed, as though he had stated the fact coherently and succinctly.  "We are good friends.  And we take care of each other.  Even if that does make us odd."

Who cared what everyone else thought anyway?

She paused when he brought up hunting again.  She had taught him quite a bit the last time they met.  It seemed only fair she let him teach her something...even if, she thought, that lesson was bound to fail.

"You can try to teach me," she said, a bit hesitant.  "But I'm afraid I won't be very good at it."

"Him teach you? That will be the shortest lesson ever," Kai scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Hrrrn. Kai mad because no can teach Akala to hunt."

"You thick-headed shark! I can teach her better than you could! You're not even human! "

Ha'aheo considered this, " Good say." He meant to say 'good point' but he didn't have the words. He shifted his form and stood there awkwardly in all his unclothed sharky glory. Fortunately, the water went up to his waist, thus covering his naughty bits. "Okay. This good. I teach Akala now." But then a wave knocked into him and caused him to fall over with a splash.

Kai shook his head, " You can hardly walk on those wobbly legs of yours. I'd love to see this."

Akala held in a laugh, although, truth be told, she couldn't say who she was laughing at more: the antics of the sharkman or stubborn, prideful friend.  It was a toss-up!

"Careful, Kai," she said, her eyes sparkling and full of mischief.  "If he wants to do this as a human, you may have to teach him to use a spear before he can teach me to hunt."

Now, that would be entertaining!

She didn't fear too greatly for Ha'aheo floundering in the water; he was a creature born of it, after all!

"After all, he's hardly going to be able to catch the fish without his tail."

Kai stuck up his nose, "I doubt that he's smart enough."

Just then Ha'aheo poked his head out of the water and spat a mouthful into Kai's face.

Rubbing the sea water from his eyes, Kai snarled ,"That's it, shark ! YOU'RE DEAD!"

Ha'aheo grinned and mocked a laugh, "Gwah hah hah!"

"Oh you're so clever, are you? " Kai threw his spear down, tip burying inches away from the shark where the sand met the water. "Well, " he crossed his arms, "go on , smart guy. Show her how to use it. "

Ha'aheo stared at the spear for a long time then moved forward and grabbed it in his hands. He had seen hunters hold spears before and he tried to mimic their usual stances. He looked quite pleased with himself, confident that he was doing it right. He wasn't doing bad until he thrust forward and it went flying out of his hands and sinking into the trunk of a nearby palm tree.

"I must say that I'm impressed," Kai said sarcastically.

Fortunately sarcasm was completely lost on Ha'aheo.

The entire pissing match sent Akala into gales of laughter.

"One or the both of you are going to get hurt if you keep this up, and I'll be the one to have to patch you up!" she managed through her giggles.  "And I can't, in good conscience, allow that to happen, can I?"

She folded her arms neatly beneath her breasts, trying to look as though she were about to deliver a scolding.  It felt a bit flat with her grin, however.  "If you two won't play nice, neither of you will be teaching me anything!"

Ha'aheo had no idea what was wrong with Akala. She could not stop making happy sounds the whole time. So, whatever he was doing made her happy? Akala really WAS strange. "Gwah hah hah!"

Kai face-palmed and sighed.

Ha'aheo grabbed the spear again and moved over to the water's edge. He poked the waved repeatedly with the spear tip, " Ha'aheo see hunters make this."

Kai moved over to where he stood and was shaking his head, "No, no. You're doing it wrong, you stupid shark. "

Ha'aheo looked at him, " Wrong mean not human way?"

Kai grabbed the spear and tried to wrench it free from the shark's grip. Ha'aheo was ridiculously strong though Kai shouldn't have been surprised. Sharks were among the most powerful predators in the sea. "Give me that. I'll show you so you don't poke Akala's eyes out."

"Poke eyes? Why do this?"

"I don't know! To eat them ?"

"Hrrrn. No eat Akala eyes. Not good."

"You say that, but I doubt it."

"What this word? Doubt? "

"It means that I don't believe what you say."

"Why not say that?"

"Just let go of the spear!"

"Ohhhh. Okay." He let go and Kai fell stumbling backward, landing in the sand. 

Akala smirked.  "He does look like he's doing it right!"  Those were her two cents, for what it was worth.  She didn't spend a great deal of time watching the hunters fish, but from what she could see, he looked to be mimicking them fairly well!

Her hand flew to her mouth when Kai went flying backwards, and she laughed out loud again.  "Are you okay?" she called with a snicker, fairly certain that he was.  It would take more than a little fall on the sand to hurt the great hunter!

"I mean it, now, that's a weapon!  You two need to play nice and learn to share it!"  For goodness sake, these two were acting like children, she thought with a giggle.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be? Some other small, defenseless creatures to be tormenting?" Kai grunted and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

Ha'aheo tilted his head as if he didn't understand, "Yes. No want go." He grinned.He was a shark! Silly human! He would go wherever he wanted and no one, not even a big man with a pointy stick was going to tell him otherwise.

"I'm still wondering how you saved Akala from those foreigners. I heard they had weapons."

"Hrrrn. Words not know. "

"How do you hunt on land, Ha'aheo?"

"Ohhhh." Ha'aeho opened his mouth and showed him his teeth. "Om nom nom!" He growled and chomped repeatedly.

"You bite them?"

"Hrrrn. Yes. Bite this off." He grabbed one of his arms. "No make Akala hurt. " He grinned.

Kai stared at the shark, mortified. He wasn't surprised , but it was still somewhat terrifying to think of what Ha'aheo was capable of. And Akala wanted to trust such a dangerous thing!

"Ha'aheo hungry."

Kai's expression and tone was incredulous, "Again? But you ate nearly ALL of our fish!"

"Hungry." Ha'aheo repeated.

Kai went over to the water with spear in hand, " I don't believe I'm doing this. Alright, you watch me. This is how you hunt." He demonstrated , raising the spear and hovering the tip over the water. "You have to be patient and wait for the fish to come to you. When they're close enough. Strike!" He thrust the spear into the water quickly and then lifted the weapon up before Ha'aheo's eyes to show him the wriggling fish. "See? It's simple."

"Ohhh..." Ha'aheo snatched the fish and gobbled it up. It was gone within seconds.

Kai's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, "HEY!"

Akala snickered.  "You should hardly be surprised, Kai...  I don't know where he puts it all, but I don't think he's ever not hungry..."  That was one of the things she had learned about him, anyway!  He really did have a bottomless pit for a stomach...and he could, apparently, eat just about anything!

"Ha'aheo, when someone does something for you that's nice -- like gives you food -- you should say 'Thank you.'"  She grinned broadly.  "If you say it, they'll probably bring you more food, because they'll know you liked it."

It was close enough to an explanation...  She observed the pair with a laugh, then added, "And do you think you understand how to use a spear now?  Or do you want Kai to show you again?"

Ha'aheo's expression was quizzical. He lived in a world where taking food was the only way to get it! So, Akala was saying that if he spoke a particular phrase, this 'thank you, then he would be given more food? It was that easy? What a strange thing! But of course he would never pass up an opportunity to eat more. "Thank you!" He exclaimed and opened his mouth and looking at the humans with expectant, hungry blue eyes.

Kai smacked a hand over his face again. "It's like teaching a child. A child whose head is full of nothing but rocks. "

ooc: I'm sorry! I couldn't resist!

"Don't be mean," Akala scolded, although her eyes were glittering.  "But he is like a child, Kai."  She leaned her head against the hunter's shoulder, looking at the mershark with open amusement.  "If he were Yoreiqi, he'd have a whole community to teach him.  But he only has us.  That's why it's important we try to teach him..."

She smiled serenely, as though this were the most natural conversation in all the world to be having.

"I'm not saying he isn't dangerous, Kai.  But he isn't dangerous to us unless we make an enemy of him."

"I'm not teaching him anything, "Kai growled stubbornly, "I'm not teaching him how to use our weapons so that he can kill us with them! Try to kill us. Not like he could beat me or anything like that."

"Thank you!" Ha'aheo said again, still holding his mouth open wide and expecting someone to toss a fish his way any moment now.

The hunters simply stared at the strange creature and Kai sighed somewhat dramatically and turned away from Akala. He struck the water with his spear again, catching another fish on the end. He held it out to Ha'aheo. "I'm not doing this for him. Just so we're clear on this. I'm doing this only because we're friends and because you asked me to.  Don't expect this to be a daily routine because I've got more important things to do than babysit a shark. Spirits! He's fully grown! He can take care of himself!"

Ha'aheo happily claimed the fish and gobbled it down even more quickly than the first one. "Thank you!" He opened his sharp-toothed mouth again .

Kai shook his head, "No! No more, shark! "

"Hrrrn. Thank you!"

"You can say that again and again until you're blue in the face. I am not getting you more fish!"

Ha'aheo grabbed the spear from Kai, " Now Ha'aheo get fish. "
Kai stood back ,"This will take all day."

Ha'aheo mimicked Kai but no matter how many times he thrust at the water, he missed! He was clumsy with his hands and his limbs, but this didn't seem to deter him from trying. Again and again and again. He went about it for half of an hour before throwing the spear into the water in a fit of frustration. "No good!"  So he got down on his hands and knees and stuck his head in the water.

Kai gawked, "What is he doing?"

Moments later , Ha'aheo jerked his head out and proudly held up a large fish wriggling between his pointy teeth. He spat it out at Akala's feet. "This how Ha'aheo hunt."

"That...I don't even....how did-? " Kai was dumbstruck. How did that even work? Seriously! It made no sense! He shook his head . "Nevermind. "

"Now say thank you," he told them.

"Thank you for what?"

Ha'aheo turned away and stuck his head in the water again then ...thirty seconds later he spat another fish out on the sand.

Kai turned to Akala and said with a frown, "Look what you've done. You created this. " 

Akala grinned.  Oh, she understood!  "And a good friend you are."  He really was!  Not everyone would be nice enough to put up with a sharkman...even if it was just Ha'aheo!  "Thanks, Kai."

Little did she know just how quickly Ha'aheo would grasp that word!  And just how quickly he would figure out how to wield it to piss Kai off!

Still, their antics were hilarious to watch!  She watched curiously as he tried to spear the fish -- but, of course, if it were so easy, everyone would be a hunter!

"He is a shark," she murmured as he spit the first fish out, momentarily alarmed but quickly dismissing the antics with a laugh.  "Thank you, Ha'aheo," she said with a bright smile.  "But I don't think I could manage to do that..."

Ha'aheo shot up to his feet quite suddenly and moved over to where Akala stood. He leaned in very close and scrutinized her face with one eye and in a manner of someone who suspected her of being dishonest. "Hrrrrrn. Why? What wrong?" He reached up and cupped his hands on either side of her face, "Akala say aaaaahhh."

"What are you doing, you crazy shark? Leave her-"

Ha'aheo slapped the man's hands away, " No! Bad ! "

Ha'aheo let one hand fall away as he pointed to his mouth to demonstrate, "Say ...ahhhh." He opened his mouth wide, showing his teeth. He wanted to see her teeth,of course! Silly humans! 

ooc: Wanted to post more for Runako but been in too much pain. Urk.

OOC: Oh no!  Not the pain!  D:  Take your time with Runako -- with posts like these, I'll be entertained pretty much all day!

Akala blinked at Ha'aheo, although she made no move to pull away.  "Ah?"  But of course it wasn't a very good ah, and so the poor mershark would scarcely be able to see her teeth before her mouth closed again!

It wasn't until he demonstrated that she understood what he wanted.  She chuckled.  Well, her teeth were rather different...  "It's alright, Kai.  He just wants to see."

So saying, she opened her mouth for him...although, of course, Ha'aheo could open his wider...and he had much more impressive teeth to show off!

"He wants to see your...teeth?"

Ha'aheo examined Akala's teeth almost as thoroughly as a professional dentist. He touched a finger to a couple of them. His touch might have left a salty taste in her mouth. Well, of course! He DID come from the ocean!

"Ohhhh. Different." She had small, flat teeth. He felt sad for her! First she could not swim, then she could not hunt and now she had tiny sad teeth! Although she did have pineapple ,at least! And that wasn't very difficult to chew! He pointed to his teeth," Big. " He pointed to Akala, "No big."

There was nothing wrong with Ha'aheo being curious!  He was rather like a child -- and children only learned through questions!

"That's why I don't think I'd be very good at hunting," she agreed, trying to affect the same air of gravitas that he did...and mostly failing.

She clasped her hands behind her back with an easy grin.  "And I can't eat fish like you do.  I have to cook them first."  Or, at least, prepare them for eating...  She couldn't just gulp down the entire ocean like he could!

Ha'aheo's expression brightened, "Cook? I know this word! Cook with..." he had to think for a moment. Oh what was the word? What was it? He'd heard it used before to explain the bright , hot thing that humans made with sticks and stones. Oh , yes. "Cook with ....fire!" He grinned toothily and puffed out his chest, looking very pleased with himself and how incredibly smart he was.

"How make fire?" He tilted his head.

Kai's eyes widened to a ridiculous size, almost looking as large as coconuts but clearly not since that's silly and just plain impossible! "Oh no! No, no ,NO! We are NOT teaching you how to make a fire. You'll burn the entire island down! You still can't even use a spear right! Fire is WAY too advanced for you."

Ha'aheo pouted, "Hrrrrn. Ha'aheo not ...stupid. Ha'aeho smart. Can make! Show Ha'aheo. "

"Yeah. Not a chance, " Kai could see it all now. The village was up in flames and the people were running away screaming while Ha'aheo stood in the midst of it all laughing "Gwah hah hah!" obnoxiously and gorging himself on all the food his people had hunted and gathered.

For once, Akala found herself in agreement with Kai!  It didn't happen often where Ha'aheo was concerned, and it wasn't for exactly the same reasons (she was more concerned about Ha'aheo hurting himself than burning down the island!) but they were in agreement on something: Ha'aheo should not play with fire.

"It isn't because we don't think you're smart, Ha'aheo."  On the contrary, Akala was regularly impressed with just how smart the mershark was!  "But fire is dangerous.  And it isn't something you can just bite."

"No bite? " Ha'aheo seemed curious. "No bite spear is like no bite fire? Is bad? Makes ow? Not more dangerous than Ha'aheo." He boasted, seeming quite proud that 1) he knew what this word 'dangerous' meant and 2) that he was a dangerous creature.

"If dangerous not good , why humans make? " He inquired, wondering why the villagers were allowed to make fire , but he could not. It didn't seem to make sense to him. He wasn't angry though as he had no concept of 'fair' .

"It's because you're stu –" Kai stopped himself, realizing that it would probably be wise not to piss Ha'aheo off. The stupid shark was bigger and stronger than he was and though his intelligence (according to Kai) was below sea level, it didn't make Ha'aheo any less hazardous. "It's because you have to learn other things before you can do that. "

Ha'aheo frowned and looked at Akala," Hrrrn. What Ha'aheo learn now?"

Besides, if Kai picked on Ha'aheo, Kai would also have to deal with an angry Akala!

"Hm, let's see..."  She tapped a finger to her lips, then smiled brightly.  "I know.  Do you want to go see where we get the pineapple?"  Ha'aheo did love pineapple, after all!

And, also, Kai's fishing wouldn't be interrupted for a little while until they came back...  Poor Kai!  All considered, Akala thought he was doing remarkably well!

It was , perhaps, a little unsettling how quickly Ha'aheo could master walking on two legs when he was motivated...by food. The mershark was at Akala's side in an instant, his blue eyes large and shining brightly with the excitement that one expected to find in a child, not a grown man- er shark.

"Ha'aheo...like pineapple, " He agreed nodding with enthusiasm. Yes! Yes! He wanted yummy pineapples!

"Yeah. That's a great idea, you two should go find a lot of pineapples. A lot of them. It should probably take you hours..." Kai hoped it took all day or at least until the shark tired out and went away. The sooner Ha'aheo was gone, the better!

ooc: Kai is so nice. xD

Akala snickered at Kai's input.  Well, she could hardly blame him...  "We'll take our time," she promised her friend, then turned towards where she thought the gatherers would be working.  "This way, Ha'aheo.  I think you're going to see a lot of new things today."

He likely was.  He wasn't a landshark, after all!  And if he had trouble walking at first, Akala assumed that meant he had rarely been ashore...if at all.

"Ah, we should probably cover you up, first, though," she added, pulling the cloth from her bag.  She had come prepared this time, just in case she should ever encounter Ha'aheo again and have need for it!  "Do you remember how to put this on?"

"Great. Have fun!" Kai was waving as the girl and shark left. He was all forced smiles and waving. As soon as Akala was out of ear shot, he muttered under his breath , "Won't be missing you."  He wouldn't miss Ha'aheo at all!

Ha'aheo's head suddenly turned around to look back over his broad shoulder directly at Kai and for a moment the hunter THOUGHT Ha'aheo might have actually heard him because the shark-man was glaring at him quite suspiciously. Kai cursed his stupidity under his breath , but much to his relief, Ha'aheo's attention turned from him and the shark continued on his way.

"Ha'aheo see new? Ha'aheo ...likes new." He was walking fairly well ,but his steps were still very wobbly and he swerved about like a man whom had consumed just a little bit too much alcohol.

Now they paused and Ha'aheo stared at the cloth she held out. Ha'aheo still didn't understand the point of clothing , but of course he wouldn't! Sharks didn't need it! "Not know why , Akala." He meant to say he didn't know why he had to wear that silly thing but he took it from her anyway and tried putting it on himself. It seemed easy . He'd watched her do it once and he was confident that he could master it now. He held it up and looked at it curiously and then ...tried to pull it over his head.

It was safe to say that he'd probably forgotten how!

"Hrrrrn. Is no good." Always the observant one, Ha'aheo was.

"Because," Akala answered with a laugh as she took the cloth back from him.  "This part of our body is something we only share with our dearest friends, Ha'aheo."

She took a moment to smooth the cloth back out to its former glory, then wrapped it around his waist, as she had done the time before.  "Here you go.  That looks better."  With a satisfied nod, she turned and began to make her way back along the path.

"It's been some time since we've seen each other...  What have you been doing?"

Slight warning! Implications to mating. Really isn't too bad ,but here's a warning anyways!

ic:

"Share?" Hadn't she tried to explain what that meant before ? He still struggled with the concept because, to a solitary being like a shark (well, his particular species anyhow!) , this seemed pretty silly to him. "Share...Ha'aheo? Why ? " He had mated before, but that normally entailed grabbing a female in season and just...mating. Was that sharing? The females weren't very nice about it either, but that was just nature of things.

So...Ha'aheo and Akala were friends? Did that mean she expected her to share himself with her? He wrinkled his nose. "Hrrrrn."

Ha'aheo stood perfectly still while she adjusted the cloth around his waist. He looked down when she done and declared that it "looked better" . Ha'aheo shook his head,  "Look..." Now, he was trying to think of a word , but didn't quite remember the one for funny so he pointed at it, "Gwahahahaha!"

He shook his head and moved , slowly, but carefully , to follow her. He was starting to get a handle on working these silly things humans called 'legs' . At her question, Ha'aheo looked at her as if she had asked him the dumbest question he'd ever heard, "Akala not know? Ha'aheo swim, hunt, eat. Some...day , Ha'aheo fight other Ha'aheo for food. Next day, Ha'aheo see big ...boat. Big!" He made a wide and sweeping gesture , trying to indicate how huge it was. "Ha'aheo see ....people on boat. People no good. Ha'aheo go. No want dead."

He looked at his friend curiously, "What Akala do?"   

OOC: Maturity warning seconded for discussions of a mature nature!

Akala's eyes were bright as she answered his question about sharing.  After all, there was no real reason to be shy about the topic!  "Sex -- that's what we call it -- is something friends do to have fun and to learn more about each other."  And that's, really, all there was to it!  "But don't worry, Ha'aheo," she added, almost as if she could read his thoughts, "I know you don't like to be touched.  I would never make you do something you wouldn't want to do.  Just know that if you ever wanted to try it..."  She flashed him a cheerful grin.  "I'd be happy to show you!"

Because they were friends, after all!

Akala joined in his laughter -- it was simply too ridiculous not to!  "It looks very good," she reassured him.  Well, of course it did!

When the conversation turned to his past-time, however, she quieted to listen curiously.  She looked a little sad when he mentioned the bad people and having to fight for food from other, well, sharks, but she nodded slightly in response.  "That was smart, I think."

Ah, what had she been up to?  Her life was about the same level of complication, really, but she could not explain it so simply!  "I've walked up and down the beach since the last time we met.  There was another birth in a village to the north -- and I spent some time speaking to my ancestors."

Poor Ha'aheo would know nothing of that!

Slight maturity warning! Some mentionings of the birds and the bees. It's pretty tame but yea.

ic:

Ha'aheo tried to understand, but the entire explanation flew way over his head. It was obvious by the utter look of bewilderment on his face. He understood touching though and nodded. No, he did not like that very much. He tolerated Akala because she gave him pineapples and did not try to make him dead or hurt. She seemed safe enough. Other humans , however, he did not trust. Not even the small one ,Hokuao who seemed to worship him.

Ha'aheo wasn't sure if he liked the sound of this sex or sharing . He remembered this sharing word used once to explain taking some of his fish and giving it to others. He didn't like this. He wanted to eat it all. So if humans shared themselves , their bodies. There were life obligations that were fulfilled when the season was right, but those obligations were for survival. Ha'aheo did not think they were fun. They simply were.

"Hrrrn. Akala strange." Not the first time he said it and certainly not the last!
He listened when she explained what she had done and he gasped and whipped around to look at her, "Akala no eat all this time? " He actually looked sort of concerned. "Is no good for Akala.  Ha'aheo go. No go." He left her side and went back to where Kai and the hunters were.

In the distance she heard Kai shouting, "HEY! GIVE THAT BACK YOU STUPID PIG-SHARK!"

And then Ha'aheo returned with a nice fat fish in his hand. "Okay. We go. Village. Make fire. Akala eat fish."

Akala looked absolutely baffled!  Still, she waited patiently for Ha'aheo to return, a giggle escaping in spite of her attempts to look serious upon seeing the fish.

"Thank you, Ha'aheo," she said, truly touched by the gesture, in spite of her amusement.  For someone as attached to food as he seemed to be, the fact that he had brought her a stolen fish out of concern for her welfare was really quite sweet!  "This fish looks delicious."  Even if it was stolen...

"But it isn't that I haven't eaten at all.  It's just that eating is not something we Yoreiqi think a great deal about."

"Ohhhh." Ha'aheo didn't really understand. How could anyone stop thinking about food? It was important! If you stopped eating, you died! That was life! Silly Akala! Silly Yoreiqi. "Akala , food is ..." What was that word? "Food is life. Eat or dead! Not know why not think this." It was very disconcerting to the shark.  The Yorequi really needed to sort out their priorities, it seemed!

"Akala have much learn." Ha'aheo decided for her. If she was ever stranded, he didn't think she'd do very well at surviving!

"Dee-lish-ohs? What that?"

She explained it for him .(ooc: Sorry.  A little cc but I figure it gets boring for you having to write out every little explanation.)

He nodded, understanding, "Ohhh. Dee-lish-ohs. Yum! Yes. Fish dee-lish-ohs." The smell of it made him drool a little on it as he eyed it hungrily. "Ha'aheo share for ...friend Akala. Friend eat. Grow big and strong like Ha'aheo. Then Akala fight bad humans. No take Akala if big and strong.   " He thought this was a very good idea!

Akala's amusement was apparent.  "I see.  But I think it's because we don't need to eat as much as you do, Ha'aheo.  For example, this fish is probably one of..." She was going to say "hundreds" but then she would have to explain that to him!  "...Lots you'll eat today.  Right?  But this fish would feed me for an entire day all by itself.  That's why we don't think about food as much."

Moreorless.

"So, I think I will have to have you help me eat it, if you can be patient enough to wait for it to cook."

What on earth would he think of cooked fish, she wondered?

She didn't bother to correct his line of questioning about whether or not she could be bigger and stronger to fight people...  That would take even more explanation!

"Ohhhhhh." That explanation, at least, made more sense to Ha'aheo. Though he could not imagine what his life would be like if he did not eat as much as he did . Would he be smaller? Weaker? What would he do with his time if he did not need to spend it hunting. He supposed this was why humans filled their time not hunting with many seemingly pointless activities which he'd only observed from afar like surfing. He was quite curious about the purpose of that, but didn't have the words to ask Akala. Oh well. Another time.

"Help Akala eat?" Ha'aheo wrinkled his nose, not quite sure what she meant by that, but he supposed he'd find out sooner or later. "Okay. Hunt pineapple too." He reminded her.

They left the beach and moved further inland, into the jungle where Ha'aheo paused every couple steps to gasp and gawk at all of the new sights ,sounds and smells he encountered. "What that?" He'd point at a bird and then get distracted by a plant and point that way ,"What that!?"

And at last he spied a spiny-leafed plant growing out from the earth which bore a single fruit per plant. Ha'aheo stared at it. He had only seen pineapple in its prepared for consumption form. "What THAT!?" He pointed at it and moved over to it to grab it.

"Ow!" He drew his hand back sharply and frowned. "Hrrrrn. Small hurt. " He assured her.

Perhaps that had been the wrong way to phrase that...  Ha'aheo's vocabulary and understanding were limited, and using such vague wording certainly did not help matters!

But there were more interesting things to do than talk about the Yoreiqi language!

The walk was, to say the least, an enjoyable one.  She had always enjoyed the role of teacher, and seeing the world through the eyes of a mershark (or child) was a unique, insightful experience.  It was a simple reminder to enjoy your surroundings and not to take anything, no matter how small, for granted.

"Why," she began with a grin, "That's a pineapple, Ha'aheo."

The fish had long ago been wrapped in the extra cloth Akala usually reserved for a top, when the mood struck her to wear one, and tucked away in her pack.  She moved it aside, now, to pull out a sharpened shell.

Although not a gatherer by trade, she had accompanied her friends on many occasions, and she knew the basics of how to collect a pineapple.  "I think you've chosen a good one.  You have to cut it down like this."  She reached upwards to grasp the stem of the pineapple, then used the shell to saw through it.  It took a bit of time, but, soon enough, she was able to present the fruit to Ha'aheo.

"Hold it by the stem, like this, so you don't get hurt," she instructed, demonstrating.  "But you can't eat it like that.  The good part is inside of it."

Ha'aheo gasped at this revelation and stared at the ground bound , spiky fruit in awe. "That pineapple!?" He shook his head, baffled that it looked SO different from when she'd first introduced it to her. He hovered over her, watching her curiously as she selected a shell from the ground and proceeded to cut it loose.

When she held it out for him to take, he almost made the mistake of simply grabbing it. He stopped himself at her words though and studied the manner in which she was holding it. He didn't know what a 'stem' was , but he understood at least what she was telling him to do. He reached out and grabbed the stem, claiming the fruit from her. " Good?" He looked to her for approval and then added, " Is like...urchin or turtle? Have shell? " 

Fortunately, Ha'aheo saved her the trouble of trying to explain the exterior to him...  She nodded in the affirmative.  "Exactly!"  He would have to try other fruit to see if he enjoyed them as much as the pineapple...  Grapes, however, were out; she didn't want to go through that again!

"We'll cut the fruit out of the shell while the fish is cooking."  Patience was the key to a delicious meal, after all!

"Do you eat urchins and turtles?" she wondered curiously.  "How do you get the shell off?"  Because he surely didn't use tools like her people did!

ooc: Akala is such a great friend. She was thoughtful enough to recall the grape incident.

ic:

"Ohh. Ha'aheo take ..." He had to think of the word, but couldn't so he bent down to find a sharp rock with his free hand on the ground and held it up to her. "Take this. " He then made a smashing gesture. " Not good all time, but makes ..." The words failed him , "Makes good for eat. This ," He  held up the rock to show her the sharpest point of it, " want one like tooth."

He then dropped the rock and found half of a clam shell and held it up , "This for take food out, "he made gestures as though he were scooping out the flesh. He then made another gesture as though he were eating it.  "That how."

She may or may not follow that.

"Shark no...like this food, but Ha'aheo...try new food.  Ha'aheo see hunter- see humans do this, but hunters have ...." He didn't know how to say that they used different tools than he did. Well, usually ."Ha'aheo like fish more. Like pineapple more. No turtle. No urchin. No." He shook his head and dropped the shell.

OOC: Well, it was kind of horrible...

Akala watched his mimicry, fascinated.  Sometimes, she forgot that he already knew so much about their culture and habits already...  It was, simply, amazing how much he had picked up from mere observation.

"You really are very smart," she observed approvingly.  "The village is this way," she added, beginning to lead him away from the now bare plant.  "Are all of the other mersharks as clever and curious as you are?"

Ha'aheo thought about this as he followed her lead. He shrugged , "Not know, "he admitted. He fancied himself to be the most clever shark, but Akala was asking a genuine question and he wanted to give her an honest answer in spite of his personal bias, " When shark grow big, he warrior shark. Find other sharks. Attack humans. Attack all food.Sharks no learn. Sharks take. Ha'aheo go once. No good. Ha'aheo get many ow." He pointed to a few of the many scars on his body.

" Biggest sharks eat most. Ha'aheo not big for shark. Ha'aheo not eat much. " He made a face, " Ha'aheo think no good. Ha'aheo go hunt for Ha'aheo. Go learn things. Then Ha'aheo eat more and grow more big , more strong. Some things humans know make Ha'aheo more strong, more smart. That why here."

"Why Akala walk alone many times? Ha'aheo not think Ha'aheo see many humans do this.  "

Akala stumbled a bit and nearly tripped when he said he wasn't large for a shark.  She quickly pictured massive, whale-sized predators swimming in the deepest pools of the ocean, each meaner than the last.  It made her glad she had found someone like Ha'aheo -- who was, obviously, an exception to every rule.

"That does make sense," Akala agreed thoughtfully.  It was better to be smart than to be strong...although, perhaps, that was her own inclination for pacifism.

"You're right."  She flashed him a grin.  But how to explain?  "Most humans have a home.  A home is somewhere they live all the time with other people.  This village is Kai's home."  Hopefully, he understood that concept!  "But I don't have a home like that.  I walk from village to village so I can help as many people as I can."

Ha'aheo was impressed that Akala thought to explain this new word , 'home' , to him before he even had to ask! Akala was a good friend indeed! "Ohhh. Like fish in coral." But they also swam together too because , individually, none were that strong. They weren't sharks. Why didn't humans do the same?

He tilted his head curiously when she declared going around and helping other human settlements. "This make Akala strong?" He tried to understand the logic behind her odd behavior. Really though, who was he to question her peculiarities when he was just about as strange?

He stopped walking suddenly, "All time? Not go to other place when brrr?" In the ocean, some creatures migrated to warmer waters. Ha'aheo followed his prey. Wherever there was just enough to satisfy. He avoided the best hunting places because he'd rather not get many more ows.

"No," Akala answered with a slight shake of her head.  "It does not make me strong."  But, how could she explain why she didn't care about strength?  She thought a moment, then explained carefully, "Strength is not as important to humans as it is to you.  You hunt for your food, and, sometimes, you must fight for it.  So you need to be strong.  Humans are different.  We do not have to fight like you do."  At least, not often...  "What's important to me is helping people."

When it got brr?  It took a moment to process, but then she gave him a big grin.  "No.  We do not go to other places.  We stay on our islands all the time."  Partly because it never really got that cold, and partly because they had nowhere else to go, really!

"No strong?" Ha'aheo stopped walking once more and stared at her, his expression and tone one of utter bewilderment. "Ha'aheo not know." He meant to say that he didn't understand but, as usual, words failed him. This helping thing seemed more like a weakness and inconvenience to him more than anything.

"Akala...be strong like Ha'aheo. Ha'aheo help? This...good word? " Yes. He would show her because he felt this was very important and especially since she wandered alone so much. Being small and not a shark, Ha'aheo was concerned that his first friend ever made would end up being eaten by one of his kind or hurt by bad humans.

Ha'aheo gasped when she admitted never going somewhere else. He simply couldn't imagine staying in one place his whole life. Not because he'd think that was boring. Sharks didn't care much about such things, but simply because it was in his nature to migrate to warmer waters. To think that humans didn't have to go anywhere, didn't have to fight and didn't have to be strong to survive...it boggled his mind. How did humans survive? "This help sound strong. Not know how humans not die if no strong. But Ha'aheo see bad humans carry sticks. Sticks make fire and make die. See humans make ship. Make things. What this Akala say?  Ha'aheo hear this word once. Tools? Humans make tools?"

"Yes, help is a very good word."  Akala's answering smile was broad, and she watched him curiously as he struggled to understand.  She had never thought too heavily about her own culture, much less that of mersharks or any other species.  She simply accepted that things were the way they were and never looked too far beyond their face value...and that was the whole reason she and Ha'aheo were friends, anyway!

Ah, yes.  The Bad Humans...  "Those people aren't Yoreiqi.  They look like us."  Ish.  "But some of them -- the ones with the fire sticks -- can be...very bad."  Her expression was sad, now.  She couldn't say what had made them behave in that way, because there was no need.  Still, that was a minority of foreigners; most seemed very nice, from what she had heard!

"But tools, by themselves, aren't bad.  It's all about how you use them."

"Y-yor-icky?" Ha'aheo inclined his head to the right curiously. "Ha'aheo see human." He pointed to Akala, indicating that he meant her.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that he didn't understand concepts such as 'ethnicity' or 'sub-species' . There were sharks. There were fish. There were birds. There were humans. To think that there were different types of humans...well, he wasn't quite ready to grasp this knowledge yet!

Ha'aheo nodded,"Silly Akala! Yes look like. Humans look all like. " He didn't mean literally , of course. Ha'aheo was a smart little shark! As it always was, he simply lacked the vocabulary to say that humans appeared to look similar to him.

"Fire sticks bad. Yes. Make big bad. Kill sharks. Kill humans. No eat them. Ha'aheo not know. Fire sticks stronger than Ha'aheo. Ha'aheo no fight. " He looked embarrassed. There were few things that were not stronger than he was as far as he knew!  To think that humans had something that could defeat him made him very sad. "Fire stick make ow. See?" He pointed to a bullet-shaped scar on his right shoulder. "No die." He puffed out his chest out , seeming quite proud of this. "Make Ha'aheo strong."

Ha'aheo nodded again at her tool comment and inquired, " What tools Akala have? " She really didn't seem to have much! Hunters seemed to carry more than she did! Needless to say, Ha'aheo was concerned.   

"Oh," Akala answered readily, looking thoughtful.  "Yoreiqi.  That's what we call people who are from the Islands.  People who come here from far away aren't Yoreiqi.  But, yes, we're all humans, no matter where we're from."  It was, she supposed, a bit complicated...  After all, they all had two legs and two arms and one head.  The change in coloring or the fact many Yoreiqi had wings (although not all) was, perhaps, a bit beyond his experience...

Akala frowned slightly at the scar, but she nodded in understanding.  Poor Ha'aheo had survived -- thankfully.

"I don't have any tools like that," she answered.  "I'll show you as soon as we get settled in town."  Already, they were coming upon the little village.  "We have to prepare our fish and pineapple, after all!"

The explanation left Ha'aheo scratching his head, "Huh?" It really was complicated! He stared at her stupidly, big blue eyes unblinking. He shook his head, choosing not to ask. He had a feeling that whatever else she'd try to tell him would only serve to confuse him more! "Yor-icky" he repeated and blinked. "Akala Yor-icky. Okay."

He nodded as they moved along slowly (since Ha'aheo still had not quite mastered the use of his legs), " Yes. Pineapple and fish. Ha'aheo like eat." He was very much in favor of that. Now he worried that , since they were going to a village of her people, if he would have to share one fish and a pineapple with an entire village since Akala did say that her people shared everything. Ha'aheo did not like the idea of only being allowed a tiny piece of pineapple and fish. That wouldn't satisfy his sharketite! "Akala, " he began and suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm , his tone concerned, "This too small for village! Need more!"

Ooc: just lol.

"We're not feeding the whole village," the woman answered with a grin, prompted more by his actions than by his words.  Look at that -- he had touched her voluntarily.  It was, she felt, a massive leap forward!

"They have their own food.  They won't mind if we eat this by ourselves."  She had a feeling he would be eating at least 80% of it.  That was alright -- there was always more where that came from!  "Although we may have to ask the others to help a bit with preparation.  I don't cook very often, and I don't want to mess it up."

That would be terrible!  She had a pretty good idea of what she was doing, with the pineapple, at least.  Cooking and seasoning the fish, however, was a whole different problem!

"But," she added, with a big grin.  "We don't have to share with them, either, unless you want to."

"Oh." Ha'aheo was glad to hear it! Hastily, he removed his hand from as if he just realized that he'd engaged in unintentional bodily contact. He'd been observing humans and mimicking their body language just a little too much. Musn't forget that he was always a shark first! "Hrrrn. Okay." He didn't seem so sure though. He thought back to the last time he'd been to one of her villages and been allowed to eat. He had stuffed himself full of so much fish and fallen asleep much to the amusement of the village children who climbed all over him whilst he snored and poked their heads in his gaping mouth and marveled at how many sharp teeth he had!

"Cook...?" Ha'aheo looked more confused, " Not know what is." He shook his head again , " Mess up? Hrrrn. Many words! " Ha'aheo was distracted again when she added that they didn't have to share. He nodded enthusiastically. He liked not sharing! He liked that idea very much!

They arrived at the village a few minutes later and , not surprisingly, Hokuao was the first to notice their arrival. The boy looked up from his game of shells he was playing with another boy and smiled and waved. He popped up onto his feet and ran over to Akala and the shark. "Hi Ha'aheo!"

"Hrrrn. Hello, small Yor-icky."

Hokuao laughed, "No, I'm not icky. I'm Hokuao!"

Ha'aeho looked confused and over at Akala for help, " Say he no Yor-icky? Looks like small Yor-icky."

"Ohh. You mean I'm a Yoreiqi. That's right! You're learning really fast."
Ha'aheo looked proud, "Ha'aheo know lots."

"Not as much as me!" Hokuao boasted.

Ha'aheo frowned, "Hrrrn. Think am."

"I think not!"

"Okay. Ask Ha'aheo things."

Hokuao thought of a question that he thought was really hard, "Okay. If I have three fish and I give away two, what does that make?"

"Make you not smart."Ha'aheo said flatly.

"Hey!"

"Grawhahahaha!"

"That's not nice, Ha'aheo!"

"Grwahahaha!"

"Ha'aheo! What a pleasant surprise!" Manaka hobbled slowly over to greet the young ones. "I was beginning to wonder when we'd have the pleasure of your company again! It has been too long, my child."

"Hrrrn. Ha'aheo no child. No human child."

Manaka chuckled , "Ah, I sometimes forget you're still learning our language. " She turned to Akala, "Akala , how nice of you to visit. How have you been?"
"We make fish, " Ha'aheo held up the fish, "No for you."

Manaka stared at the fish and then smiled, "You caught that, did you? It's a rather handsome fish. I'm sure it will make quite a hearty meal for a strong shark. " The old woman inclined her head, "I suppose you would like to cook that first? I could show you how or ...perhaps one of the others here might help. "

Ha'aheo held up the pineapple, "We make pineapple. No for you."
Manaka chuckled, "Of course, child. "

"No child. Shark. Ha'aheo think Manaka need see more good." 

"I'm old, Ha'aheo. My eyes are not as good as they used to be, " She could have corrected him, but Manaka was humored and she played along. "But , thankfully I have you here to see for me. "

"Huh...? That not what Ha'aheo for!"

"No, perhaps not. But, you've helped me all the same."

Ha'aheo opened his mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything but ,"Ohhh."

Akala grinned at her friend.  "Good afternoon, Manaka.  I told Ha'aheo he didn't have to share if he didn't want to."  And, obviously, he had taken that advice and run with it.  She shot a fond grin over to the shark, more amused by his logic than offended.  After all, it wasn't as if the village were starving...and, with Ha'aheo's appetite, he very well could be.

"I'd appreciate the help," she answered in the affirmative with a slight nod.  Looking gracefully embarrassed, she added, "I'm not very practiced at preparing food, I'm afraid.  Though I think I can manage the pineapple."  Teamwork!

(OOC: Short, crappy posts.  So sorry!  D: )

((No problem! ))

"How she help? Eyes bad. See bad! Ha'aheo no think this good idea."

Manaka chuckled and snatched the fish right out of Ha'aheo's hands in one swift movement that left the shark gawking. That old woman was a quick one and it boggled poor Ha'aheo's tiny mind.

"Not for you!"

"I'm going to cook this fish and you are going to eat it. If you let me cook it, I promise it will taste better. "

Ha'aheo opened his mouth to protest, but he had no argument he could think of that could counter this point since he really didn't know whether a cooked fish tasted better than something raw. He'd always had raw though and he loved it! Why do it differently? On the other hand, he was curious to learn how these Yor-icky did things so he simply said, "Oh. Okay."

Manaka gestured for him to follow as she made her way over to one of the cooking fires in the center of the village. Ha'aheo was preoccupied with looking around at everything going on around him. "What that?" He pointed.

"that , my friend, is called a surfboard."

"Huh? What for?"

"Well, that is difficult to explain. Perhaps you will see someone use one sometime but it is a thing that people use for fun. "

"Fun...? Ha'aheo hear this word but still not know what means."

Reaching the fire, the old woman knelt down on the ground and slid a knife from the sash about her waist. Casually, she proceeded to remove the bones from the fish. She chuckled as she worked and Ha'aheo hovered over her shoulder ,watching with the fascination that was akin to that of a curious boy, "Sharks do not have fun?"

Ha'aheo shook his head, "No." He said simply . "What you do?"

"I'm removing the bones from the fish."

"Ohhhh. Why?"

Manaka chuckled once more and looked up and back over her shoulder at him with a humored expression on her wrinkly old face, "How do you eat a fish?"

Ha'aheo shurugged and made simple gestures, "Like this. Omnomnomnom!"

"ah! So you do eat it whole? "

"All fish!"

"Well, humans can't eat all of the fish. If we do,most choke on the bones and die. "

"Ohhh. That no good."

Manaka nodded , "Yes, you're very right."

While that very serious conversation was happening, Akala was settling down with the pineapple.  It was difficult not to outright laugh at the mershark's antics, particularly now that she was listening rather than participating in the discussion.

Why Kai didn't find Ha'aheo utterly endearing was beyond her.  But, then again, she imagined it had something to do with the number of fish Ha'aheo had stolen...and he did seem to like to test Kai's patience, of which the poor man had not been granted a great abundance.

Leaving the fish to Manako and Ha'aheo, she began to strip the outer layer off of the pineapple with her own knife.  The broad, flat edge made for a fine tool, and, once she got the hang of it, the tough skin fell away smoothly.  She took more pineapple away than she would have liked...but, all in all, it wasn't bad at all!

"Are you learning how to cook fish?" she wondered as she wandered over.  It definitely smelled better now than it had earlier...  Whatever Manako was doing to it, it smelled delicious!

((Poor Kai! Nobody understands his pain!))

"Akala! " Ha'aheo pointed at Manaka, "Not know what she doing! Fish smell ...not like fish!"

"Oh I'm not doing much, " The old woman chuckled as she watched the fish cooking over the fire, "because don't think Ha'aheo is quite ready for any adventurous flavors. We'll start with something simple and work our way up. "

Ha'aheo was already eyeing the pineapple hungrily. He whined to Akala, " Hrrrn. Take long. Ha'aheo hungry!"

"Don't worry, Ha'aheo . This will be done soon here in another minute or two."

"Too much!" Ha'aheo complained.

((Sometimes , my posts are kinda crappy!))

"We don't eat as much as you do," Akala explained to him as she sat down nearby, cross-legged, with the bowl of pineapple nearby.  "And we don't need to eat as often.  When we do eat, we like really enjoy it.  That's why it takes so long."

Even if he wouldn't have the full experience with flavors -- which, she reflected, he may not even like -- she supposed he wasn't quite accustomed to having to wait for his meals!

"Come sit by me."  She patted the ground beside her invitingly.  "Have you ever had cooked food before?"

Ha'aheo tilted his head, staring at her when she gestured for him to sit with her. He made a pouty face and looked back over his shoulder hungrily at Manaka and the fish. He still wanted to eat now! He started towards the fire but then stopped and made his usual frustrated noise and walked over to where Akala was sitting, "Hrrrn. Okay."  He took a seat beside her, trying to mimic the way she sat.

Well, he didn't do too badly.

"Oh...cook is ...fire fish? " Ha'aheo inquired, trying to understand what cooking meant. He thought he did. Kind of. He only understood that humans put fish on fire or in fire and then they ate them, but he didn't understand why. He shook his head, "No. Ha'aheo no eat fire fish. Is...hot? Why eat fire fish?" He really didn't understand.

To reward him for sitting, Akala scooped some of the pineapple into a bowl and presented it to him with a smile.  "Now, remember, you don't eat the bowl.  Just the pineapple."

He had, if she remembered correctly, made that mistake the first time they had met!

"We have to cook some foods, because we get sick if we eat it without cooking it first.  That's what the fire is for.  Our stomachs are different than yours."

She really hoped he didn't ask for specifics...!

"How's your pineapple?"

Ha'aheo made a face at her, "Bowl?" He stared at the thing she put the pineapple in and poked at it with a finger, "Is bowl?" He looked up at her for approval and then accepted the bowl from her.

Despite her reminder though , the smell of food and his ravenous hunger made him forget and he devoured everything.  The fish was hardly wasted but the bowl shattered under the force of his gnashing teeth and bits and pieces of it flew everywhere .

When he was done he looked at her , saw her expression and felt an odd feeling that he wasn't familiar with. If he had understood humans better, he would have called the emotion 'feeling sheepish' . "Hrrrngh. Ha'aheo hungry." He explained and then shook his head and added, "Pineapple good! Ha'aheo eat more!"

The ancestors help Akala if she'd already given him the whole thing!

Now Manaka approached them with the freshly cooked fish. She served it on a flat wooden plate and had even cut it into smaller portions for him. She sat between the shaman and the shark and set the plate down in front of Ha'aheo, " There you are, my child."

"Manaka, Ha'aheo no child. Ha'aheo shark. "

"Of course, my child."

Ha'aheo stared at her with a sour expression on his face, "Hrrrn."

Manka gestured towards the fish, "So , are you going to share that with Akala?"

Ha'aheo was already eating the meal. Plate and all.

"...I'll take that as a no." Manka said looking as surprised as she sounded. She turned to Akala and commented,  "My, he was not joking when he said he was hungry. Poor dear."   

Akala was staring at Ha'aheo as everything -- food and dinnerware alike -- was devoured.  Ha'aheo was obviously taking eating to a whole new level...

Moving some of the pineapple into her own bowl, she set the larger bowl in front of Ha'aheo as well.  Already most of the fish had been devoured; he would be looking for more food soon enough!

Her own bowl she set between herself and Manaka for them to enjoy.  "Thank you," she smiled warmly to the old woman.  "For the fish.  And for being patient with him."

Obviously, someone had to be...  Especially since when it came to his stomach, he had no patience or logic!

(OOC: Hrrrrrrn...)

"It is no trouble, " Manaka chuckled, "he's not so different from a child. "

At hearing the word, Ha'aheo turned to the women and frowned, "Hrrrn. Not child! How many times Ha'aheo say ?"

Manka stifled a chuckle with her wrinkled hand, "Sorry, Ha'aheo."

Ha'aheo was now eyeing their food hungrily, practically drooling. Fortunately , he wasn't hovering over it and his saliva pooled into the sand rather than their meal. "You eat fish?" Ha'aheo pointed.

Manka looked at Akala, "I'm impressed he has the willpower to ask first." Then, to Ha'aheo she said, " Oh , I'm not that hungry,dear but you really should think about Akala."

Ha'aheo looked at Akala, "Hrrrn. Akala small! Say no eat lots!"

"That doesn't mean she isn't ever hungry," Manaka reasoned.

Ha'aheo pouted, "Ha'aheo hungry!"

Manaka stood up , "Well, wait right here and I'll get you something."

"Hrrrn. Okay." Ha'aheo really didn't want to wait. What if the old woman forgot to feed him ? She kept forgetting that he was a shark and not her child! However, when Manaka returned with a plate piled high with cooked fish that was courtesy of a few of the other villagers, Ha'ahaeo looked about as happy as a cat that had been given cream. He wasted no time in devouring what was on the plate .

"No wonder the sharks take from us. If there are sharks bigger than this one, their appetites must be greater than the ocean!" Manaka gasped, watching the mershark attack his meal with wild abandon.

"That's hardly an excuse," Akala answered, watching with a slight frown.  It was an expression of concern, moreso than disapproval; she had seen him eat before, but it always alarmed her, because she was convinced he was going to choke again!  "Kai seems to be his favorite target."  She would have to put a stop to that somehow...

"He just told me that he isn't large for a shark..."  Again, the thought was a daunting one!  Her expression lightened to a smile, and she laughed softly.  "I'm glad he's friendly.  I had a feeling when I first saw him..."

Well, he hadn't immediately tried to eat her, so there was that!

"I think he's come a great way so far.  We shouldn't expect him to change all at once.  Especially not when there's food involved."  Obviously!

Manaka frowned and glanced over at Ha'aheo whom belched loudly and patted his stomach (which was still hungry!), " He's giving Kai trouble, is he?" Although, Manka thought, that was not a very difficult thing to accomplish. Poor Kai was so tightly wound up and took everything in life a little too seriously! "I suppose it cannot be too bad if you're willing to bring him here."

Manka's curiosity about Ha'aheo , however, had been eating her, "Has he said much about his people yet? I've always wondered where mersharks live ," the old woman added pensively, her mind entertaining wild images about what the life of a sea creature must have been like," I heard a story from a sailor from across the ocean that he'd been to a city under the water ruled by shark people! Although, when I asked him how he knew about that, he said he'd heard the tale from another sailor whom had heard it from another sailor and so on. It must be quite an old story! "

"Hrrrrn! No. " Ha'aheo interjected, "Shark live in water. In ocean. No live in city." Of course, Ha'aheo had absolutely no clue what a city was!

"Please tell us more about your people, Ha'aeheo."Manaka scooted closer to him and Ha'aheo gave her a wary look and scooted closer to Akala.

"Akala..." He whined at her, "Manaka weird." He had picked that word up from Hokuao. He was pretty sure he knew what it meant!

"It's okay, Ha'aheo.  She just has some questions.  She's interested to know more about you."

There was nothing to be afraid of...  Besides, Manaka had just fed him!

"I don't think Ha'aheo sees many other sharks," she said, looking to the mershark for confirmation.  That was how it had sounded, anyway...  "I think he spends a lot of time alone too.  It seems the sharks are aggressive, even to each other."

And that, for some reason, was sad...

Despite Akala's reassurances, Ha'aheo didn't appear quite so sure, "Want know Ha'aheo?" He wrinkled his nose at the women , "Hrrrn! Ha'aheo say Manaka weird! What there not know? Ha'aheo shark!" He informed them with a shake of his head. Really! What was so difficult to understand about that!?

At Akala's explanation, Ha'aheo nodded, "Nooo. Ha'aheo see other sharks. Ha'aheo fight for food. Fight for make small sharks sometimes. " He meant to say mating, but he didn't possess the vocabulary, naturally.

Manka scooted closer, her eyes glued on the mershark, "Fascinating! So how many sharks have you fought? "

Ha'aheo paused to consider, but he recalled so many that he shrugged, " Ha'aheo fight many days. Not all days. Ha'aheo small. No fight good for shark. Weak. Ha'aheo need eat lots. Become big and strong."
 
"Will you really get any bigger?" Manaka was now imagining a whale-sized Ha'aheo in her mind because her imagination had a tendency to get carried away.

Ha'aheo stared at her, "Hrrrrn. Yes. " But he didn't sound or look certain because he wasn't. Ha'aheo knew he was an adult and , naturally should be finished growing. However, Ha'aheo was a very proud creature and didn't want to admit that he might have been a runt either.

Something had been on Ha'aheo's mind though and he had to say it, " Akala small. Need eat more."   

"Perhaps she would if you'd share fish instead of eating it all for yourself." Manka chuckled.

Ha'aheo blinked,"Ohhhh. Ha'aheo not think of that."

No surprise there!

"It's okay."  Akala grinned and shrugged ever-so-slightly.  "You need the food more than I do, Ha'aheo.  I don't have to fight all the time."  In fact, she still rather disapproved of it...but, sharks were obviously much different than humans, and that was something she simply had to accept.

"Ha'aheo was telling me earlier that he has to out-smart some of the other sharks.  And humans, too."  That wasn't hard to do with Kai, sadly...  But, more importantly...  "He's been shot," Akala said gravely.

"Can I show Manaka your scar, Ha'aheo?  Where the man with the..."  What had he called it?  "Fire stick? hurt you."

"Hrrrn." Ha'aheo still wasn't convinced that Akala didn't need to eat more. She was so small that the mershark didn't doubt one good ocean current would just sweep her away!

"Ha'aheo smart shark, "He complimented himself with a broad grin and then made a face when Akala asked him about his scar. "Why Manka want see?" Manaka was so weird ,but he didn't mind so he nodded, "Okay, but no touch!"He reminded her with a growl. 

(OOC: Warning, this post contains some elements of plot.  :D )

It was certainly not a scar left by a spear or a bow or even a knife...

Akala frowned at it again, then gave her head a little shake.  "I do have to wonder if those were the same men who tried to take me aboard their ship.  They've been sighted by other villages, but they've been giving our people a wide berth, for the time being.  I can't imagine what such people would want here."

The Islands were peaceful, after all, and some would accuse the Yoreiqi people of being painfully naive.  Being a society based on sharing freely, they had no concept of taking by force -- except, perhaps, in Ha'aheo's case.  Nor did they understand doing harm for harm's sake or cruelty...

So the thought of men armed with weapons patrolling the coast of the Islands was simply puzzling...but, after Akala's run-in, no one had thought to venture out to investigate -- at least, no one Akala had heard of.

Manaka moved closer to study the wound, but when she got too close for Ha'aheo's comfort, he growled at her and she wisely scooted back a little. "Oh my, that looks like a bullet wound. "

"Bullet? What that?"

Manaka sighed and shook her head, "Humans from other lands across the ocean have a weapon that they call guns , a 'fire-stick' as you call it, that spits out hard little stones that they call bullets. Actually, they're not stones but I don't know a lot about what they are or how they work. I've only seen them used a few times when I was much younger when vile men came here and tried to take the female villagers away. They used their fire-sticks on anyone who tried to stop them. You're lucky to be alive, Ha'aheo. "

"Hrrrn...lots words. Not know." Ha'aheo was a little lost on the story but even if it was explained to him, he still probably wouldn't understand why this was a bad thing.

Akala, however, understood the story all-too-well, and she was gazing at Manaka with a heartbroken expression on her face.

"Bad men attacked the village with fire sticks," she interpreted, almost without thinking about it.

It was a terrible story...

"Did the hunters drive them away?"  This was a story she hadn't heard before...and it was little wonder.

"Oh. " Ha'aheo said simply, just accepting it as fact but not feeling the same saddness as his friend apparently did. He didn't understand, "Ha'aheo go." Before either of the women could protest, the mershark got up and left the fire.

Manaka shook her head and replied sorrowfully, " Yes, they did manage to drive those horrible men away ,but at great cost."

Ha'aheo returned with more fish. He dropped one in Akala's lap and one in Manaka's . "Ok. Eat. Make feel good." Well, he was trying!

"That's--"

That was all the further the woman got before a big, fat fish landed in her lap!  She looked up to Ha'aheo, absolutely baffled!

"Ha'aheo..."  In spite of herself, Akala's smile returned readily, and she laughed softly.  "What's this for?"

Eating, of course!

"I mean," she preemptively corrected herself, "Why did you bring us fish?"

And why hadn't they heard Kai screaming about how Ha'aheo stole his catch again?  That was probably an even better question!

Manka gasped as a fat, wet but very alive fish flopped about in her lap. "Ha'aheo!" The old woman gasped and laughed at the same time. What a strange being he was!

Ha'aheo looked at Akala and shook his head, "Hrrrn. Not know." He didn't know how to explain his concern because he'd never felt that for anyone but himself. "No want?" He'd thought a nice yummy fish would make her happy! It always made him happy! Why were humans so complicated?

Akala picked up the fish with a broad smile.  If he were anyone else anybody at all, she would have smothered him in a hug.  But that just would not work with Ha'aheo!

"I do," she corrected energetically as she wrangled the fish between her hands.  "Thank you.  It's very nice of you."

She hesitated a minute, then asked, "Did you take these from Kai?"

Ha'aheo shook his head, "Hrrrn. No. Ha'aheo go say small Yor-icky, 'Want fish.' Small Yor-icky say , 'Go water. Catch. Ha'aheo not know  catch word so Ha'aheo go hunt. Ha'aheo fish ,now Akala fish. No for Kai. No Kai hunt. Akala say no take so Ha'aheo listen. Fish for Akala. " He seemed quite proud of himself. He could behave when he felt like it!

(( You know, I was SO tempted for him to do it again but...sometimes Ha'aheo surprises people!))

Akala was indeed surprised!

"Aw, Ha'aheo, that's so sweet of you!"  And it really was, even if he wasn't entirely sure why he'd done it in the first place!

"This will probably be the best fish I've ever had."  Once it was cooked, anyway!

"Is good." Ha'aheo seemed pleased that his friend was pleased because he would have been sad to give up fish which he could have just eaten himself in the first place! This friendship thing was hard !

"Ha'aheo see bad men. See bad men take fish and Yor-ickies. " He looked curiously at Akala, "Why no fight bad men? Make bad men stop? They no stop if no fight. Is like shark. Show strength."

"Even though it's not in our nature to fight, we would protect our own but we don't go seeking out violence Ha'aheo. That is not our way." Manaka tried to explain to him but she might as well have been talking to a wall.

"Hrrrn. No understand. Need fight. No die. That way."  Ha'aheo frowned and folded his arms over his chest.

"Remember how I told you that we don't need to eat as much as you, because we don't have to fight like you do?"

Surely, he recalled that conversation!

"We don't like to fight, and we usually don't have to.  We like to do other things.  Sing, dance, surf, swim..."  You know, fun things!

"Akala say . Ha'aheo no...understand.  "Ha'aheo growled, becoming frustrated that here was a concept that just didn't registered. He felt that he should know because he was smart!

However, when she spoke these new words, he forgot his frustration . "What that? What sing? What dance? What surf?" 

Manaka excused herself and took the fish away to have them cooked.

Oh.  Oh, dear.

Well, at least those were things she could explain to him...

"Singing is...  It's when you use your voice to make music.  Like this..."  Akala's singing voice wasn't terrific, but it wasn't a terrible voice, either.  It was pretty average, all told.  She chose a cheerful, upbeat song about the ocean.  It seemed more appropriate than singing about coconuts!

"Looking out across the open seas,
Dancing there beneath the palm trees,
I see you, can you see me?
Foam rides the waves of blue
They splash down, they cover you
I see you, can you see me too?
And when I look into the sky,
I'm so glad you're passing by,
When will I see you again?"

As he listened to her sing, Ha'aheo tilted his head curiously and he tried to mimic some of the sounds quietly through humming. And when she was finished he grinned and nodded, " Sing. Ha'aheo know." Well, he got the gist of it anyways! "Akala know much! How?" Was there a secret to learning?

Before Akala answered, one of the villagers, a young hunter came running towards their fire and halted in front of Manaka, " Manka, there's trouble."

"Trouble is bad." Ha'aheo stated the obvious and the hunter stared at the mershark curiously for a moment before he turned his attention back to the elder.

Manka had just finished preparing the fish Ha'aheo caught (because she imagined her ever-hungry new friend would probably want to eat them) when she heard the hunter coming and turned to speak with him, " What's wrong, Apela?"

Apela pointed back down the way he had come running from , beyond the village and down the beach . "That."   

Ha'aeho turned his head at the same time as Manaka and looked at the large ship in the distance. The ship flew black , tattered ,unfriendly looking sails with the image of a white skull and crossbones painted on it.

"Is big boat." Ha'aheo observed ,"Same as one where bad men come from."

"I agree with Ha'aheo, " Manaka said with a nod, her tone grave.

Akala rose slowly to her feet, staring at the ship as though it were a, well, gigantic shark about to devour them all.

And that, of course, was very bad.

"Manaka?" she asked worriedly, the mirth that was usually lighting her face slowly fading away.  This was, after all, a very serious threat they faced...and if Manaka was right, there may be a number of Yoreiqi joining their ancestors tonight.  "What do we do?"

"Apela, go find the other hunters and tell them to come meet me at the village center. Akala, Ha'aheo , would you help me gather the women and children? "

Ha'aheo , of course, really wasn't much help. He followed Akala around like a baby duckling after its mother. He really didn't understand what was going on , but he could sense that now was not a time for questions.

With the villagers gathered together now, all talking at once and asking Manka dozens of questions , the old woman raised her arms up and shouted, "Everyone, please be quiet and listen! "

The villagers quieted immediately and Manka nodded approvingly and continued, "As some of you know, a large ship has been spotted south of the village. If you look behind you now, you can see it. "

Many looked. Some gasped.

"Some of you also recognize the sails of that ship and you understand what it means."

"Pirates. " Kai spoke up.

Manka nodded, "Yes, I'm afraid so."

The villagers started chattering again, many of them asking all at once the same question  , "What are we going to do?"

"I'd rather not fight these pirates if it can be avoided,but our experiences with them haven't usually gone well so I want you all to be wary and prepared for trouble. They may try to take our women or they may kill us. If all they want are things , then we will let them have what they want. Our lives are far more valuable."

Ha'aheo leaned close to Akala and growled softly , " Bad men no take Akala-friend. "

Akala listened to the speech, nodding her agreement to the decision.  It was the wisest course of action; the gods would provide them with anything that was taken, as they always had.

Her gaze fell on Ha'aheo, and her expression softened.  "You should go back to the water, Ha'aheo.    I don't want you to be hurt because of us.  And if you collapse again..."  She paused.  "That is, if your tummy hurts again and you can't walk, I don't know how we'll get you back into the ocean."

"Akala want Ha'aeho go water?" Ha'aheo tilted his head and frowned. He didn't quite understand why she wanted him to leave, but accepted her request because he did want to return to the ocean. He felt like he needed to though couldn't explain why.

It did not occur to him then how dire the situation might be. He was a little concerned. The bad men were not easy prey with their fire sticks. Ha'aheo knew this from experience, but he imagined that the humans would sort their problems out somehow. All creatures in nature had their own way.

Nodding slowly, Ha'aheo turned away from his friend,  "Kay. Bye."  He walked away, leaving the village behind him and finding his way to the ocean.

Kai noticed Ha'aheo leaving and snorted, "Figures he'd run off. Good riddance."

Akala smiled bravely and nodded at Ha'aheo's request.  "Bye, Ha'aheo.  We'll see each other soon."  She truly believed they would -- and, if they didn't, then it simply was not meant to be.

Her smile vanished instantly when Kai spoke up, and she turned to him with a very un-Akala-like glare.  "He left because I asked him to, Kai.  This is our problem, not his.  Besides..." Her gaze softened as she watched him go.  "You haven't seen him fight.  I have.  It's...terrifying.  And I'm not sure he understands what it means to fight only if you must.  He would have fought them, even if there was no need."

She hoped there was no need.  Sincerely, so.

A couple hours had gone by and the ship had drawn much closer. Manka stood with sat with the hunters, watching the strange vessel draw ever closer with each passing moment. 

The sun was gradually sinking on the horizon and was just a breath from giving off the illusion of vanishing beneath the ocean's surface when Kai pointed out the obvious, " Here they come."

Rowboats filled with pirates were lowered into the water.

"Just act natural. Show no fear nor aggression. "Manaka warned them.

The rowboats drew towards the shore and the pirates got out.There must have been at least a score of men and they were armed with blades, and some possessed guns. At the head of the group walked a tall, elderly fellow who was dressed more elegantly and extravagantly than the rest with a handsome red coat and a wide-brimmed hat topped with a long golden feather. He had a long white beard and perfect teeth as they saw him smiling in a false manner as he drew nearer to the hunters.

"Greetings, friends.  " Manaka smiled at the pirates as though she were welcoming a long lost brother or sister, "What brings you to our humble village?"

The finely dressed leader removed his hat from his bald head and bowed. To the surprise of many villagers, he spoke their language although it did roll a bit roughly off his tongue, " Captain Peter Tavish, miss. I hate to disturb ye , but I'm looking for someone. Mayhaps you'd be able to help me find him?"

Manaka nodded, "Of course. Who is this person? One of yours?"

Captain Tavish shook his head, "Nay. This man I'm looking for is not exactly a man. My men tell me he's a creature. Half man, half fish. "

"Shark." One of the pirates spoke up timidly.

Tavish shook his head, "Whatever. This man-fish or shark attacked my men."

"Wait a minute," Kai blurted out, "You're talking about Ha'aheo?"

Tavish's attention went to the young hunter, "It has a name?"

Kai shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. But if that's true then you're the same people who tried to take away some of the villagers!"

Tavish drew out a pistol from his coat and pointed it at Manaka. "Now, you seem to know this creature. He killed my son and I want you to get him to come here. If you don't, I'll kill the old woman."

Kai looked at Manaka expectantly.

((dun dun dun! All npcs are free so yea...use them however you like. )) 

Akala put a hand on Kai's arm as a gesture of restraint as things went from bad to worse.  Whether these men had tried to attack villagers or not was irrelevant; if they had come in peace, then, with any luck, they would leave in peace as well.

"There is more than one such creature in the sea.  Ha'aheo is the name they have given themselves."

That was what she gathered from Ha'aheo, anyway, whether it was true of the general mershark population or just what his word for mershark was another question.

"They are unpredictable hunters, vicious and elusive.  They have hurt and killed many of our own people as well.  I'm so sorry for your loss..."  And she did, indeed, sound as sorry for the pirate as she would have been for her own dear friends.  "...But we have no way of finding them, much less bringing them to you once found.  The best way to honor your son is to celebrate his life and his accomplishments.  Let us prepare a feast and a party for him."  It was a heartfelt offer -- and why not?

(OOC: lololol  Obviously, I choose not to!  Maybe next time!  <3 )

Akala's explanation gave the Captain Tavish pause. He looked at her, his cold hazel gaze seeming to bore straight through her as though he expected to find answers there where her words only brought more questions. Having no knowledge of mersharks, he nodded as if accepting this answer but turned to a short, stout looking corsair with dark skin and many tattoos.

In a tongue foreign to the Yoreiqi peoples , Tavish conversed with the tattooed pirate. While the exchange took place , Kai whispered , "Why are you protecting him? " Akala had no time to answer however as Tavish had turned his attentions back on them.

"My friend tells me that these creatures do not normally associate with humans.  But this one Ha'aheo , this mershark, follows a girl around like a dog. I know you're hiding him, but I'd rather refrain for resorting to violence on anyone other than the murderer himself. Although,  I'm not very well-known for being a reasonable or compassionate man so you better pray to whatever gods, ancestors or spirits you believe in that he shows up. Because someone is going to have to pay for taking my son from me. "

And that said, Tavish and his crew turned away and walked back down the beach towards their waiting boats.

"I have a feeling that Ha'aheo is not the only thing they're after," Manaka said softly with a frown.

"I say we catch the shark and let them have him. Akala, you know how to find him." Kai encouraged his friend, honestly convinced that turning Ha'aheo into the pirates would make them go away.   




(( Why you do this to me?! D; Hah! I doubt that!  ))

Akala watched them go with a slight frown.  This was quickly growing more complicated...

She said nothing as Manaka's words washed over her.  What could they be after from her people?  They had nothing they wouldn't give freely to the pirates -- unless they truly were here to take her people away...but if that were the case, why play such games?

She looked at Kai with something of a hurt pout, then, in response to his thoughts.  "Ha'aheo is a friend, Kai.  They mean to kill him.  Even if I knew how to find him, I would never turn him over to those people.  You can't honestly expect me to choose one friend over the other."

It seemed they were posting guards on the edge of the shore.  Not many -- perhaps just one or two to provide a look-out.

"Besides, I think his son probably died trying to take me onto their boat...  It was Ha'aheo who rescued me, remember?  If it's anyone's fault, it's mine.  And if it comes down to it, that's what I'll tell him."

But, in the meantime, she would have to find a way to warn Ha'aheo to say away, to go to the other side of the island away from these pirates...

"Friend? You can't be serious! He's a mershark, Akala! His kind doesn't care about us and he might like he's...gentler , but he's still a predator. Eventually, his true nature will show itself and not even you will be immune to his feral instincts! He's just..." Kai actually had no intelligent argument to counter her. He didn't know why Ha'aheo acted so peculiarly for his kind. He already knew that Ha'aheo  was strong and if he wanted to hurt Akala, he could but he didn't. In spite of this, Kai didn't want to accept that Ha'aeho could be different.
"I doubt he was rescuing you so much as looking for an excuse to fight." Kai snorted. "They're just lucky he wasn't hungry."

"That's enough, Kai. " Manaka scolded the hunter with a frown of disproval on her weathered old features. "Ha'aheo has given you no reason to be so judgmental. He's a little...um. Different. " Well, that was one way of putting it, "But he means no harm. He's curious about us and you shouldn't discourage that with your negativity or else he really will become exactly what you seem to want to believe in."

Kai deflated, "Fine, but even if that's true...you can't tell them it's your fault! Ha'aheo can probably take care of himself!"

Manaka shook her head, "Against a handful of men , perhaps but if they've got more than one gun...even Ha'aheo is no match for that."
-
Returning to the ocean certainly refreshed Ha'aheo , but the bored and curious side of his nature got the better of him and he could not help himself. Every few moments he would pause and break the water's surface to look back over his shoulder at the island and towards the humans who kept getting smaller and smaller as he swam further away. However, as he noted the pirates lowering their boats and moving near to the Yor-icky (as he called them) , he paused and frowned .  Ha'aheo did not know what pirates were, but he knew what they did and knew what they usually looked like . He considered what Akala told him about not needing to fight and his frown deepened. He thought she was strange in her thinking and wrong. And she seemed not to be the only one. It was all of these Yor-icky.

He shook his head and watched, from a distance, the pirates and villagers talking. He couldn't hear them from where he sat in the water so he had no idea it was he that they were after. As soon as the pirates moved away, Ha'aheo disappeared beneath the waves.
-
Later that evening , as the villagers sat around the community fire together, a figure approached. In the dark, it was difficult to make out little more than the man's silhouette . He was tall, powerfully built and he moved towards the fire on unsteady feet. Kai was up on his feet immediately with his spear in hand, " You're not taking anyone!"

"Kai! Wait!"

"Hrrrn. " The stranger grabbed the spear and ripped it from Kai's hands, snapping it in two . "NO! Bad! Bad, Kai! BAD!" Ha'aheo threw the broken weapon down on the sand. "Ha'aheo comes see Akala. "

The villagers all turned their eyes to Ha'aheo and then Akala.

Kai's expression dakened with anger and he pointed an accusing finger at the mershark, "Stupid shark! You scared the children!" Really, that was a lie!
Ha'aheo wrinkled his nose, " Hrrrn. Ha'aheo scary." He agreed with a nod of his head. Yes, he knew what this word meant! And he was quite pleased both by knowing and by what Kai called him. The shark considered this a handsome compliment.

"Anyway , she doesn't want to see you so get lost."

Ha'aheo nearly looked crestfallen, "Akala no see Ha'aheo?  Ha'aheo come back." As if this should have been a reason enough. He tilted his head, " Kai say. Kai no Akala. Ha'ahao come see Akala ."

"Why don't you go see your pirate friends, huh? You know, the ones you ATE!" He poked the shark's chest and Ha'aheo pushed him away  , snarling menacingly .

"NO TOUCH Ha'aheo!"

Kai tripped backwards and fell onto his rear in the sand. " You're the reason they're here! If you care about her then go over there and make them leave us alone!"

Ha'aheo seemed to understand this . Sort of. "Care? Not know word. " He wrinkled his nose. "Bad men come. No go. " It must have meant that they wanted something. "Ha'aheo think...no good. Take Akala-friend. Make Ha'aaheo alone. No want.  " He decided. "Okay. Ha'aheo go."

"No! Don't go!" Hokuao jumped up from where he was sitting and ran over to the mershark. The boy being much smarter than Kai, knew better than to hug him , "I heard what they said! They mean to kill you!"

Ha'aheo tilted his head and wrinkled his expression curiously, "Kill? Kill make dead. Gwahahaha! No. Bad men weak. Ha'aheo strong. No die. " Ha'aheo's arrogance never faultered. The bad men did not scare him.

"You should be careful," Manka warned him , "those men have many firesticks. "

"Firesticks?" Ha'aheo flinched. Now, this he was afraid of. One firestick alone had almost defeated him. A flicker of doubt passed over his usually overconfident expression but he shook it away quickly, "No scared of firesticks."

He replied with stubborn haughtiness.

"I think that's enough," Akala stated as she rose to her feet.  "Kai, I told you to leave him alone earlier, and I meant it."  She shot a dark look towards the hunter, then lightly patted the boy on his head.  "I'll take it from here, Hokuao.  Thank you.  Ha'aheo?  Let's go for a walk."

Obviously, if even Ha'aheo could slip past the sentries, they weren't paying that much attention...

As the shadows lengthened and the sun set beneath the waves, Akala had been thinking about the pirates and their demands and the role she had played in it.  She wasn't normally one to dwell on, well, anything, but these circumstances were anything but normal.  And the more she thought about it, somehow, it seemed she should be the one to take the blame.  After all, Ha'aheo couldn't be blamed for following his nature...

Once they had left the ring of firelight, Akala said softly, "Ha'aheo, you will never be alone, even if I am gone.  There are others here who wish to be your friend, like Manaka and Hokuao.  They'll always welcome you to the village."

Once they had left the ring of firelight, Akala said softly, "Ha'aheo, you will never be alone, even if I am gone.  There are others here who wish to be your friend, like Manaka and Hokuao.  They'll always welcome you to the village."

Ha'aeho did not object to Akala following him. He wasn't sure what her intentions were , but when they'd reached the outskirts of the village he did pause and look at her curiously. He frowned, not looking all that convinced by her reassurances, "Hrrrn. Manaka think Ha'aheo her child. Forget Ha'aheo shark. Make Ha'aheo... worry? Is good word?  "  He then shook his head,  "Hokuao think Ha'aheo no smart. Ha'aeho think no...good.  " He didn't know how to say that he didn't appreciate his intelligence being questioned. " Ha'aheo know many things. Teach small Yor-icky much. Be strong hunter. Ha'aheo strong. "

But now he tilted his head like a confused dog and his frown deepened, "  Why say? Akala go away?" Many creatures were nomadic and did not remain in one place for long. Perhaps she needed to go away to give birth? Or to mate? Or to hunt? No. Where was she going to go to? He was curious, "Where go? Ha'aheo go? " He looked at her hopefully. He was curious to see these other places that Akala knew about that he might not have. "Ha'aheo be good. " He promised. Well, he would try as hard as his mischievous nature would allow, that is. 

In spite of the seriousness of the discussion, his childlike demeanor made her smile.  "No, I don't think you can come along this time, Ha'aheo.  Those pirates want to hurt you, so you need to stay as far away from them as possible.  Maybe go to the other side of the Island for a few weeks..."

Yes, as far from the pirate ship as he could get...

"Do you understand?  You need to go away for a little while.  And once the pirates are gone, you can come back."

"Ha'aheo no weak." He growled stubbornly at her and he felt insulted that she thought he needed to run away from them. "Ha'aheo fight. " And he probably could kill a man or two before he fell to their superior numbers and firepower. Of course, this did not either occur to him or he did not care. It also did not occur to him that this might have been the best thing for everyone. Or , perhaps he didn't care for what was best for the villagers either.

"Pirates no go. Kill Yor-icky. Take food , take things.  Ha'aheo sees. Ha'aheo knows. Think Yor-icky not smart. No fight? Think Yor-icky die. " It sounded so harsh, but Ha'aheo was being honest. He shrugged,  "Akala want Ha'aheo go. Ha'aeho go. " 

Akala had no doubts about that!  She bore his boasting and arguments patiently, wearing a sad expression.  Instead of arguing with him -- thinking, naturally, that such thoughts would get her nowhere or wound his pride further, she said simply, "I don't want to see you hurt, Ha'aheo.  I don't want to see anyone hurt."

"Hrrrn! Akala no listen!" Ha'aheo lost his temper, snarling and stamping his foot which was a completely human gesture that he had picked up from watching a certain, constantly frustrated hunter. "Ha'aheo say bad things come. Why want Ha'aeheo go? Why say Ha'aheo hurt?  Not know!"  He really didn't understand why she was concerned. He tried to , he really did , but he just couldn't.

"Hrrn! Akala make no...no- make Ha'aheo not know! " He meant to say that she made no sense to him , but his lack of vocabulary got in the way. His expression was angry and frustrated. He turned away from her , moving down the beach until he was wading waist deep in the water. He turned around , finally, to look at her, "Bye."

((Shark drama!))

"Ha'aheo..." she began with a sigh, not sure how to explain herself to him...but certainly not wanting him to leave mad.  Akala wasn't even sure if he was leaving or if he was just going to harass the pirates himself.

She looked at him helplessly, remaining where he had left her upon the sand.  When he turned around, she said softly, "Sometimes, it is better to be smart than strong.  Remember?"  Please, she thought, be smart and just go...  And stay away long enough for this ugly business to end...

Ha'aheo blinked, "Smart? Hrrrn." He adopted a thoughtful expression, pondering the meaning of her words. He could understand appreciate how intelligence and wisdom factored into survival. "Ha'aheo smart. Ha'aheo thinks...Yor-icky not so smart. " Caring made creatures act foolishly. Caring often interfered with survival, but he didn't think for once that it also aided with it because he was so used to being alone and it had always worked for him. "Ha'aheo go. No help , but Ha'aheo thinks Yor-icky need help."

It didn't occur to him that the pirates being there were his fault because it would have seemed so silly to him to threaten humans rather than go shark hunting. Oh well.

"Bye-bye." He waved and then dove into the ocean.

Unfortunately, the splash was too loud and it attracted attention.

"What in the name o' barnacles was that?" A couple of pirates came storming Akala's way and one of the men saw Ha'aheo swimming away, saw the fin and raised his gun, taking aim . "It's him! It's the shark-man!" He fired a shot.

Ha'aheo snarled and the water around him ran red.

"Got him! " The gun-toting pirate crowed victoriously.

"Hit him again! He ain't dead!" One of his companions urged.

"The capn's gonna pay me a king's ransom for this!"

Ha'aheo vanished beneath the waves.

The gunman swore and fired again, but the bullet hit the water and he had no way of knowing whether or not his aim had been true. "Damn!"

Akala couldn't help but smile.  Oh, poor Ha'aheo...  For such a simple creature with such a limited command of the language, some of his remarks could, certainly, be poignant.

"Thank you," she murmured, her relief quite apparent.  She had just lifted her hand to wave when the sound of a rough, male voice reached her ear.  Turning, she cried out in alarm...

...And that red in the water was unmistakable.

"No..."  She shook her head, as if a simple word could change the outcome...  "Stop it!" she demanded, stepping forward to stand in front of the rifleman with her arms held out to either side of her.  "What are you doing?  You're going to kill him!"

Obviously, that was the idea, but there was a bit of a language barrier here -- as well as a cultural one.  Akala had no idea how guns worked, if they were technology or magic, or how many shots he could make...

(OOC: Noooooo idea where you're going here!  <3 )

"Get out of the way, stupid girl!" The rifleman snarled and , not understanding her words but knowing her intentions as she had stepped out in front of him and blocked his view of the retreating mershark. "Last warning! Move!" He fired into the sand , just far enough away from the woman not to hurt her.

"He's getting away!" His companion hollered and unsheathed a cutlass from the scabbard hanging from his belt. "I told the capn' these stupid natives wasn't gonna be helpful!" He spat and stalked in towards Akala, "I say we spill their blood, kill the shark and take whatever plunder they gots. Startin' with this one!"

~
They heard the gunshots from where they sat by the fire. "What was that?" One of the villagers inquired.

Manka and Kai exchanged glances. Manka grabbed the hunter's arm and shook her head,  "I know what you're thinking , Kai, and I'd advise against it. "

"Akala is out there!"

"Ha'aheo is probably out there as well. He won't let anything bad happen to her. "

Kai ripped his arm free and snatched up his spear from the ground, "I think you place way too much confidence in that shark."

~

Ha'aheo reversed directions and sped back towards land. The pirates didn't notice him coming back until...they heard a splash and saw a man charging towards them. Ha'aheo slammed bodily into the rifleman and knocked him down to the sand. He whirled around on the man with the cutlass and snarled , "Bad! No hurt Akala! "

The pirate wielding the cutlass raised his weapon but his arm didn't even make it a quarter of the way above his head before both Ha'aheo heard a loud cracking sound. The pirate dropped the blade and collapsed face first into the sand with Kai standing over him with spear in hand . "Why can't you two stay out of trouble? "

"Hrrrn. Ha'aheo no need help!"

Kai ignored him and pointed the tip of his weapon at the prone rifleman whom had been quietly attempting to regain his footing. With a sigh, the pirate gave up and dare not move. "Ha'aheo, you need to leave before this gets worse."

The last thing Akala expected was for Ha'aheo to come charging to her rescue!

She opened her mouth to protest, to tell him to be careful, but then...

No, actually, this was the last thing she had expected to see!  She winced as the man slumped down onto the sand, then, driven by her instincts, stepped forward to see if he was okay.  Even from here, however, she could tell he was alive...

The smile she gave Kai was warm and gracious.  It was a stupid thing to intervene -- and, yet, here he was, doing just that.  "It's alright, Ha'aheo."  She had no doubts in her mind that he understood the risk he had just taken upon himself.  "Turn around.  I want to see where you were hurt."

Ha'aheo could protest all he liked; she meant to examine the wound he had received on her behalf!  Studying it, however, brought about a surprising revelation...  She looked startled as she peered at the spattered shapes in the blood.  A drop shaped like a boat seemed to rest upon a drop of water.  The water carried the blood along with it, down the curves of Ha'aheo's back before vanishing into a clump of sand that was stuck to the mershark's back.  A second, bigger droplet of blood coasted on tiny stream; unlike the first, it sank into the water droplet, growing lighter in color until it all-but vanished well before reaching the miniature sandbar.

There was only one thing it could mean...

"He's right," she murmured, looking away from Ha'aheo's back.  With more determination, she repeated, "You're right, Kai.  And I have to go too.  If we go, they'll follow, but they won't catch us."

Ha'aeho reluctantly turned his back to her, but he kept looking over his shoulder like a paranoid child, "Hrrrn. No touch!" He reminded her with a soft growl and he was only satisfied when she had honored his request and was talking to Kai about leaving.

"That's right," Kai agreed with a nod, "so y- " he stopped, realizing the whole of what Akala had said, "-wait. What?" His eyes widened , "Akala! You can't- with him? You're going with him? They're not after you!They-" But, the words died in his throat when he noted the look of resolve in her eyes. Kai frowned his disapproval and shook his head, knowing full well that when Akala made up her mind, there was no sense in trying to talk her out of whatever crazy decision she made. Sighing with resignation, he nodded, "Be careful. I'll stall them a bit, but I probably won't be able to give you much time without getting killed. " He pointed at Ha'aheo, "You better protect her , stupid shark! If Akala winds up getting hurt because of you, I'll hunt you to the ends of the ocean if I have to! Understand?"

Ha'aheo blinked, not comprehending all of the exchange but somewhat knowing what Kai was asking of him. Sort of. Ha'aheo nodded, " Yes."

"No," Akala disagreed with a sad smile as she stepped around the mershark.  "You need to protect the village.  Tell them I left for Ainu, Kai.  The spirits will protect us.  And the sailors will leave you and the village alone."

It was clear to her -- but, of course, she was used to looking for signs from the often-elusive spirits!  Her confidence was brilliant, and she shot him a grin before stepping up to nuzzle his nose in an affectionate goodbye.

"Say goodbye to everyone for me."  If she was sad about the prospect of leaving, she certainly didn't seem to show it; to her, this was just another adventure, and if the spirits willed her to return, she someday would.

Kai shook his head and scowled, not feeling anywhere near the same amount of confidence as his friend clearly did,  "And if they don't? " He sighed, " I'll tell everyone, but be sure to come back to us when you can." He waved the pair of them off, "You'd better get going. The other pirates will probably be along to see what all the commotion was about. "

Ha'aheo watched the bizarre nose-rubbing exchange with a quizzical look on his face, "Hrngh. Not know this word. Commoshin, but Kai say smart thing. We go." Ha'aheo turned away and moved away.

"They will," she answered simply.

But, of course, they were both right...

Before Akala turned away, she laughed out loud and murmured, "Hear that, Kai?  He called you smart."  She just had to rub in their little rivalry one last time...

Without a word more, she turned to bound after the mershark, pausing alongside him to ask, "Do you know where Ainu is, Ha'aheo?"

"Hrrrn." Ha'aheo looked confused for a moment and then shook his head at the woman, "Ainu? What that?"

((Shortest post ever. I am so sorry. >>))

"It's a port city.  The biggest on the island.  It's where ships and sailors from all over the world come and go."  And, most importantly...  "That's where I'll find a ship to leave Yoreiq."

In all her wanderings, she had never left the islands before...  Any sadness she felt was easily outweighed by her excitement, however, at the prospect of a new adventure, of meeting new people, of seeing new things...

But she was also a little bit out of her depth.

"You said you've gone other places, Ha'aheo.  So...  Where do you think we should go?"

"Ohhh." Ha'aheo sort of understood but his knowledge was limited to knowing that humans needed to use ships to cross over the big water because they were terrible swimmers. Once again, Ha'aheo found himself staring at Akala with an almost sympathetic expression. Poor weak, land-bound Akala.He didn't envy her. Not one bit!

When she asked him where he thought they should go,  Ha'aheo frowned and pointed to the water, " Go water. Swim. " But then he looked at Akala  and frowned. "Not know if too far for Akala. Need boat, Ha'aheo think. Boat in port ? We go get boat!  "

(( rofl. So helpful!))

Akala grinned and nodded slightly.  "Yes, we will certainly have to get a boat...  We have to get far away from the Island, so I guess that means it will have to be a pretty big boat."  She had never been on a big boat before, but she had seen them from a distance...  It would certainly be interesting...

"How will I know where to find you, Ha'aheo?"  It was a peculiar thought, then, that made her smile.  "Or are you going to just swim alongside the boat the whole time?"

"Big boat... " Ha'aheo frowned at the idea of swimming near one. He'd never done this before but had seen other stupid and arrogant creatures do it like dolphins or mermaids. Really, they just liked to show off. Ha'aheo totally  NEVER showed off or gloated about how strong he was . Nope. Never once! The mershark tilted his head, " Ha'aheo no leave friend Akala. " She was completely hopless without him as far as he was concerned! It would be cruel to leave her, but he was also curious and begrudgingly admitted to himself that he needed her help with understanding all the new things about the world above his own.
He nodded, "Ha'aheo swim with boat. But...like..." He held up his hands to indicate space between them. "Is no good swim like this." He moved his hands side by side. "Man see Ha'aheo and want kill. Ha'aheo fast , Ha'aheo strong but no want make more bad things for Akala. Ha'aheo be good. Stay hidden in water but Ha'aheo be there. Akala no lose Ha'aheo. "

Akala chuckled quietly at his description.  "I understand, Ha'aheo."  She was certain she wouldn't be lonely -- there would be others to talk to, after all -- but she was a little more concerned about him...  "I guess the spirits will tell us which way to go once we get to Ainu..."

Probably.

There was a more pressing matter at hand...  How were they supposed to get to Ainu?  She could travel over land well-enough, but Ha'aheo would not be able to follow...  And if he traveled by water, she could not follow...

...And there were other dangers, too, as a sudden burst of laughter from somewhere in front of them reminded them...  The pirates, obviously, and one of their look-out points...

Akala stopped with a puzzled frown.  Softly, she asked, "Ha'aheo, how did you sneak by them before?"

At her question about how he'd managed to sneak past the pirates, Ha'aheo frowned. That was a hard question that he couldn't exactly answer."Not know.Ha'aheo think bad men see, but they no see. See man, see talk. No look. Ha'aheo go slow. No sound make. Hrngh. Ground make small sound but water make loud sound . No hear ground Ha'aheo moves. One bad man pirate stand ...away. Is watch. Guard? See Ha'aheo and try make sound. Ha'aheo make man quiet." He meant to say he'd killed the man before he'd made a sound but such vocabulary was beyond him.

"Not try this more. Ha'aheo go in water. Swim down. Pirates no see." He tilted his head, "Ha'aheo thinks Ha'aheo take Akala for swim. Small time. Ha'aheo know Yor-icky no good for swim down in water. Is okay? " 

Akala looked a little sad when he mentioned he had made the man quiet -- because she could well-imagine what that entailed.  Given their circumstances, however...

She nodded slightly as she digested his words, believing she knew what he meant.  She thought about telling him she trusted him -- perhaps, according to Kai, much more than she should -- but that would only lead him to wonder what that word meant, and she wasn't quite sure how to explain it!

Instead, she only smiled slightly and nodded.  "Okay, Ha'aheo.  I know you'll keep me safe."  That pretty much amounted to the same thing...

(OOC: lawls, Navy Seals got nothing on Ha'aheo!)

Ha'aheo gestured for her to follow him , wading quietly into the water until he was waist deep. He waited for her to join him before letting himself shift into his natural form. "Okay. Hrn. Ha'aheo no do this all time. " He considered how he was going to bring Akala with him and the only image he'd had of seeing humans travel with aquatic creatures was, quite frankly, sort of humiliating to him. But if it was the only way...

Ha'aheo sighed and pointed to the dorsal fin on his back, "Akala, this. " He stared at her hands for a moment then reached for it and guided it to his back. "Akala take. Akala hold. Make strong hold. No weak. Weak make Akala go bye-bye. "Which he really meant to say that if she didn't hold on tightly then she'd get lost in the ocean somewhere....

He let go of her hand and then pointed to the other, "Take that one. Make strong hold. Here." He tried to gesture to his neck and shoulders. Ha'aheo no like touch," he reminded her , "but Akala this time is okay. Ha'aheo make...ex-sepshion. " He had learned this word from Kai. It was a big word. He was quite proud of it.

He tilted his head, "Akala know what Ha'aheo say. Show." He settled down in the water horizontally.

((lol she tries to ride him like he's an inflatable pool toy...))   

Akala looked suitably impressed -- as much for his use of such a big word as his willingness to let her hold on to him.  It was a bit of an honor, she thought, for him to trust her so much...

"Okay, Ha'aheo.  Like this?" she inquired, trying to follow his directions.  Her touch was gentle and a bit hesitant, her eyes looking down towards him to make sure she wasn't making him uncomfortable...  At least, not any more uncomfortable than what he already must be.

"What now?" she prompted, once she felt she was in place the way he wanted her.

The positioning was correct , but he felt weakness in her grip. "Strong hold. Is okay. No hurt Ha'aheo." He assured her. And Akala was right to imagine that Ha'aheo felt uncomfortable. It was strange a feeling enough to let anything touch him and even stranger to let a human 'ride' him as though he were a damned dolphin or a whale or one of the friendlier merfolks. Akala may have felt the shark shudder.

"Kay. We go! Hold strong. Stop holding when Ha'aheo says." Ha'aheo started to swim forward , but then he remembered a very crucial part of his plan . "Ohhh. How much time Akala can no breathe?" He inquired, glancing back over his shoulder at her.   

Akala nodded, a bit needlessly, and tightened her grip to the best of her ability.  Well, she wasn't particularly worried about hurting Ha'aheo by herself -- he was, after all, perhaps the toughest person she knew!

"Oh, um, not very long.  A few minutes, perhaps?"  Did he even know how to tell time?  "Here, I'll show you...  Starting, now!"  So saying, she took a deep breath and held it for as long as she could.

Compared to him, it was probably a bit pathetic...but she was only Yoreiqi, after all!

Ha'aheo observed and he was not impressed. In fact, the shark man looked concerned. " Hrrrrn. Is no good , Akala!" Not only was he going to have to make sure that she ate more, but now it seemed that her lungs needed training as well! How she survived, he had no idea! Of course, again, he was forgetting that she was a creature of land and had no need of such things.

He shook his head. Okay, he would just have to adjust the plan. "Is okay. Ha'aheo have other idea. Swim down small time. Ha'aheo move faster down. Then, swim up for air for Akala. Akala make Ha'aheo know when need air?"

(OOC: I really thought I'd replied to this.  *headdesk*  But it was just buried in my bookmarks instead!  I also need to add that it's really adorable how they each feel they're looking after the other one.  <3  I think they both need an adult!)

Akala nodded slightly.  "I'll let you know."  Through flailing, probably!  This was all beginning to seem awful dramatic -- even for her -- but she trusted Ha'aheo -- and he had yet to let her down in that trust.

Besides, he had already sneaked by the men once -- and that was more than she had done!  Obviously, he must know what he was talking about!

"Thanks for helping me, Ha'aheo."  Even if, by extension, he was really helping himself!

"Is not for long time, "Ha'aheo explained, wishing he had the right words to communicate his ideas to her with. He shook his head, "Is only for time Fire-sticks no can hurt .Then no need swim down. "

He stared stupidly up and back over his shoulder at her when she thanked him. He was trying to remember what that word meant .It was so weird, this concept of gratitude! What was the proper response? He forgot! Ah well. "Okay! We go !" And without waiting for Akala to tell him whether she was ready or not, the shark dove underwater, submersing them both completely. Once they were underwater, Ha'aheo changed direction and shot forward through the water like a speeding arrow , swimming away from shore and the dangers that lingered on it.

He remained underwater for almost longer than Akala might have been able to stand before he broke the surface . Now, he was confident that the firesticks couldn't reach them. And he wasn't wrong.  "Akala good?" He asked as he continued to swim, keeping himself partially above the water's surface now so the human could breathe.






ooc: Adults are for noobs!

Forgive the post. Just trying to get back into the habit of writing things so...there will be a few craptastic posts before I get back into writing something decent once more. :P

(OOC: Your post is not craptastic!  It is a good post -- and, more importantly, it moves the story along!  These things are so important!)

Ha'aheo wasn't entirely at fault; Akala may have waited a bit long to notify him that she needed air; she was so caught up in the feeling of traveling so quickly underwater -- and half-afraid that if she released her grip on him, she'd be lost to the waves -- that she tarried a bit...

As they broke the surface, she inhaled deeply to soothe the burning sensation in her lungs, then looked down at him with an expression of awe.  "I'm fine.  Do you always swim so fast?"

It did not occur to Ha'aeho that he could have killed her. He'd assumed she was fine but at hearing her affirmation, he nodded slightly and stated the obvious, "Is...good, Akala."

Amusingly enough , he misunderstood the second part of the conversation and was surprised that she'd make such a request. Not that he minded because he normally moved much faster than this,  "Hrrrrn. Want swim fast? Ok!" And , again, before Akala could get in a word of protest, he increased his swimming speed. Hopefully, the poor woman had the sense to hold on tightly!

((They really do need an adult. Oh well!))

Akala yipped in surprise at the sudden jump forward, instinctively grasping him more tightly to keep from flying off and vanishing into the sea!

Once her initial surprise had faded, however, she relaxed (a little) and laughed joyously as salt-water sprayed around them.

"Do you know where you're going, Ha'aheo?"  She wasn't entirely sure she knew where they were headed, for that matter!

At this question, Ha'aeho's swimming slowed . The shark-man wrinkled his nose and snorted , " Ask Ha'aheo knows? Ha'aheo know! " And this made him wonder, " Akala not know?" Though he was certain with her poor swimming abilities and her people's little boats, they probably did not get to see much of the ocean. And this was a terrible thing, he thought! It was too bad she could not move from water to land as he could. There were many things she would probably not get to eat that he thought were very tasty.

(OOC: Once again, he is more concerned about food than anything else.  XD )

Akala gave her head a little shake as she confirmed his suspicions.  "I spend most of my time on land.  And I've never traveled far by boat."  Or traveled by boat at all, really; usually, if she were in a boat, it was to keep her friends company...

"How can you tell where we are?  Or where we're going?" she pressed, curious as ever about her strange friend.

Ha'aeho had to think about this because he didn't know what she meant how would he tell her where they were. Because that was a silly question! Obviously, he would just say so! With his voice! She must have been using a word differently. Humans and their multiple meanings for a word. So confusing!

"Akala ask how know where go? " The shark considered again but he had no words for this," Ha'aeho knows. Ha'aheo always know. Swim big water. Swim ocean for long time. Ha'aheo know ocean. Ocean home. " It was just that simple , really!

Now something was bothering him and he had to ask, "Why Yor-ikcy people no...go far? How stay? Food no gone no time?"



(( Of course! He's a shark AND a man! ))

Of course!  It made sense...ish.  Obviously, Ha'aheo relied on landmarks other than...well, landmarks.  He relied on watermarks, whatever those happened to be!

"Then I'm very happy that you're with me, Ha'aheo, or I would have become lost before we even began."

It was beautiful out here, though, in a singularly solitary sort of way.  That was another reason she was glad for Ha'aheo's presence; without him, she would have been lonely indeed.

His question brought an immediate grin to her face -- Ha'aheo always thought with his stomach!

"No, we always have enough food.  There's no reason for us to go -- we're very happy where we are."

Most of them, anyway.  The sudden crack behind them -- like lightning striking a tree -- made her flinch, then turn to stare searchingly back at her people.  They were quite far now -- and, though muted by distance, the sound was quite startling.  "I think they've learned we're missing..."

( he relies on the song "Watermark" by Enya to inspire his direction!)

"Is true." Ha'aheo agreed. Silly Akala WOULD be lost without him. Because she was not shark.

Ha'aheo 'hrrrn' 'ed at Akala's answer to his question. She claimed that there was no reason to go anywhere? What?

"Yor-iki strange people. Ha'aheo say right word. Strange. Is no like Ha'aheo. Is strange. Ha'aheo swim long way all time. See many strange no shark. Eat many foods. Is good. No see Ha'aheo no swim long way. Never see Akala. Never eat good fish from Yor-iki wat-"

Akala mentioned something about missing. What?

"No missing. We here!" Ha'aheo ever-so sagaciously reminded her. 

(ooc: I meant to post waaaay sooner but my health has been terrible. Still kinda is but I had some energy/inspiration to post! Yay! )