Wet and Wild and smells faintly of fish (Quills and Rhi!)

[Anonymous]

It was a good day to be alive. The sun was warm and shining and the temperature pleasant. Ra'rin would have liked it a tab bit warmer, but then she was used to desert heats. They had just entered the village a little while ago and Ra'rin had her eye out on a place to stay.

Yarra's busted up ribs seemed to have healed well, though he had acted like a child the entire time. Whining and grumpy and snappy. Ra'rin couldn't blame him too badly, rib injuries are the worst.

"Still holding up Yarra?" Ra'rin smiled back at her companion, though her eyes were quickly drawn to the town around them. It was pretty here, though very different from where she had grown up. Her nose wrinkled slightly at the smell. She would never understand that about these northern people. They just seemed to wallow in their own filth everywhere. The town was ripe with the scent of bodies, no sweet perfume or delicate oils to fill the air. And the filth and sewage everywhere couldn't be healthy.

"See anywhere to stay? Nothing expensive." If they were lucky, Ra'rin could do some work to help pay for their stay. She didn't have much money, and no steady income, so she was wary of spending to much.

[Anonymous]

"Ugh, heavy," complained Kelna, adjusting the large sack of salt slung haphazardly across her lower back. "Why d'you get away with not carrying anything? Your butt's bigger than mine." It was sort of true, since she didn't really have a butt to speak of amongst the mass of writhing red tentacles that made up her lower half, but that wasn't why she was carrying the salt. Kelna needed it, and her friend Quiel'ebbos quite emphatically did not.

Mostly, she was just complaining because she could. She hadn't been to La'marri for a long while, since before her father died, and while her time spent messing around in Yoreiq had helped to take her mind off it, she was still finding it hard. She'd never much liked this town anyway. Any place where people gathered was uncomfortable, and here was where her younger self had learnt why. It hadn't been a bad place to do so but the lessons would never be enjoyable, and it was even worse now that there were other awkward memories here too.

Familiarity was all it had going for it. It never changed much, so she at least knew her way around, and that made it a decent place for them to start... Whatever it was they were starting. Quiel'ebbos had said something, but as usual that meant it was just a haze of words that Kelna wasn't quite sure were real and just left her more confused than before. She should really have known not to ask by now.

"Finally!" Passing what she knew to be the village threshold, she stretched her arms and gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. It wasn't long after this that she spotted something that piqued her interest and made her tilt her head: the backs of two people a few dozen yards away, both looking rather lizardy, one tall and the other... Taller. She could only really see the red one from here, and the other's head and - tail? - and nothing in any detail, but yeah, definite shades of lizard. They were pretty hard to miss. She could only imagine what they looked like up close, probably all scaly and eurgh. In a list of freaks, scaly wasn't as bad as slimy, but she still couldn't imagine it'd make a whole lot of friends. She could definitely see herself having some fun with this. Her lip curled mischievously and her skin took on a sunny shade of yellow, which paled a little again as she squinted her odd eyes in concentration. She still didn't totally get the whole telepathy thing the squid lady had going on, but it seemed to work well enough, so she didn't bother to question it. "Oh, wow. Hey, Quiel, are you seeing this? Looks like we ain't the only circus in town."

[Anonymous]

"Because there is only bag, and it is yours. I wouldn't want to take that away from you. Perhaps accidentally forget it when I set it down cause it's so heavy. That'd be terrible Kelna, you could die." Quiel shot back as she walked beside her complaining friend. In truth, Quiel didn't really have the necessary upper body strength to carry the bag of salt with her. Kelna on the other hand had multiple tentacles which she could balance the load out with. Besides, it wasn't her salt, Quiel could survive without salt water, but Kelna would dry out without it.

Besides, this would hopefully build character.

"And my posterior is the perfect size for my height and weight." She sniffed, rather insulted that she thought it was big. Then again, she had compared it to her own, and Kelna had no butt to speak of...but that didn't really matter. It was the principal of it all now wasn't it?

Of course, her friend hadn't really wanted to come here to La'marri, but there wasn't much choice. After having to leave Yoreiq, which Quiel'ebbos would forever blame Kelna for, this seemed like a logical choice. It was close to the ocean...but it wasn't close to the good part of the ocean. The warm tropical ocean that had surrounded Yoreiq. They could have lived nicely in Yorieq, but now they had to come back to the mainland.

"You were the one who was...moving slow, so you have only yourself to blame." Of course, Quiel couldn't say walking because it wasn't like her friend actually walked. She used her tentacles to move along after all...while Quiel was lucky enough to have legs and tentacles. The grey skinned squid woman gazed around with her large dark almond shaped eyes at the village they had entered. Nice enough looking place, kind of quaint really. The mass of tentacles from her head that acted like hair slowly fluffed out to resemble normal hair...but because of the dark grey nature they still looked...well like tentacles.

Quiel caught a glimpse of some very strange looking creatures not far from them, at just about the same time as her friend. "Indeed, it appears that the...what do you call it? Freak show? Yes, the freak show is here. What do you believe we should do?" Her friend was much better at these kind of things. Quiel didn't think of herself as a sidekick, but she thought it was wiser to let the more experienced person handle some situations. In this case, her friend already knew that she wanted to mess with them, but just in what way was unknown.

"I do have enough excess moisture to create some slime, if that helps with your decision. My ink sac is also filled with the thick ink that you seem to enjoy slopping onto things...but that should probably not be used on them, this is the good stuff that will stain. That does remind me though, we should find a mage and sell them some...the islanders seemed to love it for tattoos, so maybe someone here can use it." If there was one thing that Quiel learned the importance of, it was that money was usually a good thing. The only problem was CARRYING it. Quiel didn't wear clothes, there was no point to. Despite her body having feminine curves to it, her bosom lacked certain things that she wasn't REALLY nude. Of course, the two large tentacles at the front of her body helped to cover up the womanly parts there...as did the two large tentacles at the back. The four others just sort of hung around at her sides.

She'd long ago found that humans were quite...strange in that way. She saw no real problem with nudity, but they had some decency thing going on, so out of decency for them, she learned to use her tentacles to cover herself. "I almost believe they should be avoided they...they are very tall. Promise me that if there is trouble we will leave quickly?"

[Rhindeer]

Yarra matched Ra'rin's smile with a dark scowl. He wasn't all too happy to be here and didn't see why they had to come into a village when the wilds were just as good--in fact, they were better. No people. No disgusting smells. In fact, why was he with her to begin with and why had he let her drag him here? Ugh. Hell if he knew...

Well, either way, he was here now, but he didn't have to act happy about it.

"I see plenty of places to stay," Yarra grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he trudged along after her, tail whipping about in irritation. "Free places. And all of them? Are back there." He jabbed a thumb back towards where they'd entered, to the line of trees beyond. He knew what she meant, of course. She was talking about inns, and the thought alone made his skin crawl. Inns, with their walls and doors and close quarters. Inns, with all their people smells. Inns that were full of people, all around, watching and staring and being all people-like.

Why anyone would pay to stay in one of those things was well beyond him. He'd much rather make a nest of grass and leaves and dirt to curl up in.

But he supposed that wouldn't feel too good on his ribs.

"Why're ya asking me, anyhow? How should I know? I never come to these places! You know that!" he quickly added, coming to a stop and looking around, one toe tapping it's long, sharp claw impatiently against the ground. "But it'd have a sign or something, huh?"

Too bad he couldn't read.

[Anonymous]

Ra'rin listened to Yarra rant with half an ear. She had heard it all before. Several times. It was nothing new and while she liked the outdoors, she found all the greenery a little unsettling at times and she liked people.

And growing up a half breed, Ra'rin had leaned long ago to ignore the stares. "You're right. Sorry for asking. I just thought you might want to help pick the place." Yarra was getting an inn with an actual bed until his ribs healed and that was that. She would strap him down if she had too. The boy was imposable sometimes!

Still absorbed in trying to find a place for Yarra to rest, Ra'rin failed to notice the two strange females watching them, "I can just pick the place for you. Here, let's maybe find one more on the outskirts. I bet those will be less crowded, okay?"

[Anonymous]

"Yeah, I was also the one with half a ton of crap on my back. You don't get to bitch," retorted Kelna. Quiel had definitely learnt from their time together, which was both good and bad. On the one hand, their conversations didn't go off on two separate and confusing tracks any more, but she also wasn't as nice any more, either. It did make Kelna feel oddly proud, though. She was a role model. Hadn't seen that coming.

Arms folded, she scratched her cheek thoughtfully with one of the tentacles that hung in front of her ears. What was the best way to approach the situation? Quiel was right that just going in and blasting everyone with ink was probably not the right choice; they didn't want to get thrown out of La'marri straight away, and besides, they could be entertained for so much longer if they used a bit more subtlety. Too bad she wasn't actually any good at that.

Anyway, not looking entirely human themselves might make the lizardy people more amenable to tentacled folk than the general population. It wasn't a guarantee, but it was a decent enough guess. It also didn't automatically mean they'd be up for joining in the fun, which was a shame. Although... After Quiel'ebbos, Kelna kind of wanted to give this 'making friends' thing another try, to see if she was any better at it – to see if she could talk to someone who wasn't utterly clueless and not get punched. "Huh... Yeah, save your ink. I'm gonna try just talking to them for now, act like normal people. You just make sure you don't use all them long fancy words you like so much." She briefly thought back to their first meeting, noted the red one's claws, and added, "And don't call them fat. Yet."

She rubbed her hands together and started slithering towards them, running through a mental checklist of how to act friendly. Okay, smile, relax, try to look happy. All right, go... Drawing closer, she put on a big cheesy grin and the least threatening body language she could manage when half that body was tentacle, and called out with a wave, "Yo! Hey, weirdoes! You with the... Tails and things! What's going on?"

Oh well. Practice makes perfect.

[Anonymous]

"You could have easily distributed your load, you have many tentacles. It's not my fault you don't think." Quiel told her friend with a shrug of her shoulders. Quiel had changed a bit since her time around Kelna. She wasn't completely changed of course, but she definitely thought a lot differently than before. She was a little more wizened to the way of the world, to how people acted and how she should act back to them. With her only friend though being the tentacle woman beside her though, she definitely got a little skewed on some things.

At least her friend was open to a little bit of reason instead of just wanting to slime and ink things. She sometimes felt kinda bad when they defaced someone's house or clothes with ink because of the staining but...her friend said it was mostly alright. And she seemed to enjoy it so...nothing wrong with that.

"Oh yes, because I'm the one who messes up when they talk to people. That's what happens." Quiel's eyes gave a small flash, which she found was an effective way to make it look like she was rolling her eyes since it was hard to see her pupils. She followed beside her friend, trying to look at refined and dignified as possible. Her back was straight, trying to at least look as regal as possible. After all, she was the intelligent one who was supposed to look proper.

And...when Kelna talked out loud, Quiel looked downward and covered her eyes with a hand. Quiel would have to act quickly. This was so not starting very well. "What my friend meant was that we noticed how unusual you appear, and we were wondering what others of such a distinct look were doing in La'marri." Quiel spoke after her friend had, trying to smooth over her friend's little...well she'd call it a mishap but this was Kelna they were talking about. "And you were so worried about ME making us look bad. Why don't you just call them ugly apes and see if they still wanna talk?" Quiel hissed in her friend's mind.

[Rhindeer]

Yarra shrugged dismissively, only half listening. "You pick the place, I'll stay where ya decide. Or...sleep outside if it's too weird. There's some nice trees around here," he said, gazing around, and that was when he saw it.

Or rather, them.

Two humanoid creatures slithering toward them, one grinning hugely, and Yarra gave a jolt of surprise and went on the defensive out of reflex more than anything, tail twitching like an agitated cat's. What were those? He'd never seen anything like them, which meant he automatically did not trust them. What did they want? And why were they--

...'Weirdos'?

Yarra gave a snarl and stood up as straight as he could and puffed out his chest, trying to make himself look bigger--which may have worked more convincingly if he wasn't still in the awkward, gangling stages of adolescence for his race. "Who ya callin' weirdo, weirdo?" he snapped, rising up on his clawed toes and lashing his tail, and then shot a glare at the other one, teeth bared.

"Unusual? What're you talking about? What's that supposed to mean? I'm supposed to look this way! And why d'ya wanna know why we're here? What d'ya want? We can't come here just because we wanna? We gotta have some motive, that it?"

[Anonymous]

Ra'rin blinked when the odd, tentacled people approached them. She had never seen anyone built like...either of those two. It was a little shocking, to say the least. She bristled slightly at the woman's comment, not appreciating that one bit. She was not a weirdo!

Back straightening, she started to respond when the other one did her best to smooth things over. And Yarra got angry. Ra'rin sighed, giving the polite one a long suffering look. She seemed like she might understand what it was like dealing with a quick tempered companion. While the tentacled....girl? hadn't been angry, she had been rude and her behavior had needed smoothing over.

Touching Yarra's shoulder, Ra'rin carefully and firmly held him down, in case he had any stupid ideas, "Yarra. Calm down. Really. You are being rude. I apologize for my friend. We are just visiting the town. What about you two?" Being from the desert, Ra'rin was unfamiliar with sea creatures, making the other two's appearance that much odder.

[Anonymous]

"Ooh, scary! Try again when you're not all bones!" snapped Kelna, not very convincing as she pulled backwards, her skin flushed almost black in an instinctive attempt to intimidate the angry red one. Luckily, she had the presence of mind to resist waving her warning tentacles around; she needed those to cover herself up since she couldn't see a way that flashing would improve the situation. There was a time for gratuitous breasts, and this wasn't it.

"Did you see that? Did you see that? I was perfectly nice!" she huffed to Quiel, only slightly aware that she defined nice differently from other people. They just had way too high expectations was all... She didn't know why she bothered. Sometimes it seemed like everything in the sea wanted to eat her, and now apparently everything on land did too, even the ones that should know better! It really wasn't good enough. She eyed the civilised one and pouted childishly, muttering, "We just wanted to have a chat."

[Anonymous]

Quiel'ebbos was pleasantly surprised and pleased when the female creature gave her a look that she knew all too well. It was one of those looks that she had to give people once in a while. It seemed like she at least knew what it was like to deal with a high-strung and hot-tempered companion. She didn't much care for the way that Kelna acted sometimes, all things considered, she just seemed to like to lash out at people.

Such was her friend though.

"You were not perfectly nice. Now sit your fat butt back and just try not to insult them." She really didn't want her friend to get them into any trouble this quickly. Sure they were here to annoy people, but they had to be very smart about it at first. "And I apologize for my own." Quiel said as she held a hand to her own chest and bowed her head slightly. "We are visiting the town as well...we came from Yoreiq to here...to see what it was like here." Of course there was no need to mention that because of Kelna they had been kicked out of the small island port.

"I am Quiel'ebbos, and this is...well it is impossible to pronounce her name on land, so you should just call her Kelna. It is really nice to meet you though, we have never seen people like you. Where do you come from? You look like you might be mountainous in nature..." She shot a look to her friend for a moment. She was touchy about her name at times...though she remembered how she managed to make her friend annoyed by continuously calling her by her full name. "Don't worry Kelna, I still think you look better than them." She quickly telepathically reassured her. She didn't want Kelna to think that she had replaced her for these new strange creatures. Never ever!

[Rhindeer]

Yarra bared his teeth in an annoyed, snarly expression. Rude? He was being rude? She'd started it! She'd called them weirdos! And look at that! Now she was mocking him! Still, Yarra kept his mouth shut and let Ra'rin do the talking, though his muscles were tense under her hand and a low, menacing growl rumbled deep in his throat, an inhuman sound.

The other one was better, though. She kind of reminded him of Ra'rin in a way, calm and, well...playing damage control. She was alright, and between she and Ra'rin, Yarra began to relax. Not completely, though; that just wasn't in his nature.

Yarra shot the black tentacled creature one final scathing look before turning his attention to her companion, Quiel...something. He had no idea what this Yoreiq place, was, either. There were just too many weird, complicated words being thrown around right now.

"Why d'ya wanna know where we're from?" Yarra growled, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "And how didja know I'm from the mountains?" The Thunderblacks, more specifically.

[Anonymous]

"It's just a simple question Yarra. She didn't mean anything by it." Ra'rin lightly touched his arm, her voice calm. He was so touchy. "I'm not from the mountains actually. I'm from the desert." She gave a small smile, "I imagine you two are from the big water. My name is Ra'rin, this is my little brother, Yarra."

[Anonymous]

"Oh, so first I'm fat and now I'm sexy? Which is it, Quiel? Huh?" Kelna whined to her companion. She had to get the cranky out somehow, and she wasn't allowed to do it outwardly even though the red one – Yarra, she'd have to make something out of that – the red one was so mean to her! He wasn't saying anything any more, but that glare said he was thinking it. Ohhh, she'd get her revenge! Her stupid, petty revenge!

"Quiel knows lots of stuff," she butted in. "Like maybe mountain people are all... I dunno." She scowled, having caught herself before the insults came out. It was still really annoying, but she was getting better at trying to be nice to people, or at least not actively horrible. Okay, so she wasn't as good yet as she'd hoped, but she was doing well! It could still improve!

[Anonymous]

"It's both Kelna, I like it when you have a little bit more to you." The woman replied over their two way link. She smiled inwardly to her friend, rather happy that she at least had Kelna by her side. She just had to make sure that her friend didn't end up doing anything bad like mess this up and get them angry at them. The creatures looked like they were pretty formidable in a fight. She'd have to make sure her friend didn't end up getting them into trouble and on the wrong side of their teeth and claws.

She was about to speak up when Kelna spoke up for her instead, making her face went a little bit darker. "They are very distinct looking. If you had said no, I would have guessed jungles or forests...but your seem a little too dry to be jungle." If the laws of the world were normal anyway. This place was strange and different after all!

"Ah...Kelna is from the big water yes...I am from somewhere different." Quiel said, shifting slightly uncomfortably. She didn't like to talk about that, because people didn't trust her after that. In retrospect, she could have just said yes but she didn't want to lie outright. Sometimes she still felt a tad uncomfortable with that.

"Would you care to share a meal with us? Kelna will need water soon for her salt." The squid woman looked pointedly at her friend before back to the two strange creatures. "You two are fascinating, and I would like to learn more about you. Kelna would probably just want to throw something muddy at you, but she'll behave." Again, a glance at Kelna. "You can antagonize them after we finish."