Stranded on a rock on the beach (open)

[Anonymous]

A little ways outside of Cerenis, beyond the bustle and activity of the docks, was the beach.  A pretty little place to watch the sunrise or sunset, or to watch fish dart about in the shallow clear water.

Something was curled up on a rock below the high tide line.  Something that was maybe a fish, and maybe not a fish.  It was too big to be a fish, wasn't it?

Zunaji uncurled, yawned briefly, and made to slip back into the water and take off.  He hadn't meant to fall asleep right here, but he'd been up so late last night, trying to sneak out of the little village in the coral reefs.  Mother was a light sleeper, and it took forever for her to fall asleep.  And she was dead set against letting her precious baby boy out of her sight.  Hence the sneaking.

Peering over the edge of the rock, he prepared to push himself off the rock into the water...and was greeted with a view of damp sand.  Not water.  He lifted his gaze, finding the tide had changed while he slept.  Briefly, a worried look crossed that pretty face, then he dismissed the potential for trouble.  The rock he was on held a nice little pool of water, that while no where near deep enough for him to do much more than sit in, was enough to keep himself wet.  So.  He had water here, and it had to come back to the rock, right?  It was here when he found the rock, surely it would go back to being that way, eventually.  

A scant minute later, the teen was getting frustrated with waiting.  The rock was getting warm in the sunlight, and Zunaji was getting distinctly uncomfortable with the warmth.  He curled up a bit tighter, trying not to touch the dry parts of the rock, and stared at the water as if he could make it come back by force of will alone.  He pouted at the water, glared at it, all to no effect.  Wrapping his arms around himself, he tried not to think about how furious Mother was going to be when he got home.

[Thief]

The red-haired woman came to a stop just short of a beach. With nothing but water in front of her, she did not have any further she could go. She had only been running a few minutes since her arrival, but she was exhausted. Hopefully she had enough distance behind her that she could rest.

After a moment to catch her breath, she decided to walk down the beach. Judging by the various pools of water among the rocks, she decided that it must have been low tide. She stopped at one of the tidal pools and watched a little fish swim about. They were such cute little creatures. She stood up and looked further down the beach, where she saw a boy sitting in one of the tidal pools. Wondering what he was doing, she walked over to talk to him.

[Anonymous]

Zunaji was beginning to worry.  Just a little bit.  He shifted around on the rock, still trying to find a comfortable position, and finally settled for curling up on his side, using his tail and fins to shade himself from the sun.  It was too hot.  At least, for someone used to nice warm ocean water.  He sighed, stared down at the sand around the rock, and made a face at it.  "Stupid sand."  He muttered under his breath.

He sat up, splashing water over his face and gills, and wished there was more water in the tiny pool.  Really, it was only just enough to keep him damp, and he hated it.  His hair was drying out, his skin was drying out, his tail and fins were drying out...all very irritating, and really uncomfortable.  

He twisted around at the noises behind him, and went absolutely still.  A human.  Heading straight for him.  Sure, he knew there was a land dweller town really close by, and he was really curious about it, but he hadn't quite nerved himself up to swimming anywhere near the docks yet, or even the beaches closer to the town.  This was the closest he'd come to it, and there was a human heading right for him, and he was trapped with nowhere to go.

Sure, he could chuck himself off the rock, but what then?  Drag himself through the sand, and get it all over him, probably in his gills as well, and get even more dried out?  Hell no.

So.  Despite the urge to try and escape, Zunaji held himself as still as possible, though he couldn't quite help shaking a bit.  She looked dangerous.  Like a shark.  And screaming and flailing about only made the sharks want to bite you, so maybe she'd leave him alone if he didn't draw attention to himself.  But she was heading straight for him, looking straight at him, and those pretty green eyes of his were getting wider with every step she took towards him.

[Thief]

He was curled up sitting in the water. Why would anyone do that? Scarlet hoped above all else that he was okay.

He seemed to be watching her as she approached. He must have been scared, but of what? Then she noticed something she had not seen from a distance. Something about this kid was not human. Now she was wondering both if he was okay, and if he was dangerous. However, she could not just leave him there.

As long as she went slow, she could figure out what was wrong. In her softest voice, she asked, "Are you okay?"

[Anonymous]

Every little horror story his mother had told him about land dwellers was running through Zunaji's head now.  That they were awful savages that would kill you as soon as look at you, that they would drag you out of the water and rip you apart...that they were worse than sharks, that would at least leave you alone if they had eaten recently.  

She was still coming, and the boy just wished whole heartedly that the water would come back and he could get away, right now.  Or that the rock would just split open and swallow him up.  Or, or....running out of things to wish for, Zunaji gave up on staying utterly still, and turned, looking toward the ocean.  He debating on hurling himself to the sand and trying to get away, and then the woman spoke up.

Startled to hear her voice so closely, he jerked and turned around.  She sounded really...nice.  It was a few moments before the teen could get his wits together enough to answer.  "Uhhhh...you're not going to ...to... eat me?  Or something?  Please don't, I swear I'll taste awful."  The last part was barely above a whisper.

[Thief]

He was afraid of being eaten? But he looked almost human? Surely the people around here did not hunt down sentient beings for food. It was just barbaric to do such a thing.

Careful not to sound harsh, she asked, "Now why would I want to do that?" Hopefully he was not too afraid to tell her what was wrong. "I just want to know if you're okay. You're not hurt or anything are you, sweetie?"

[Anonymous]

He wasn't going to be killed and eaten?  Or suffer some other horrible fate?  Zunaji just stared silently for a moment, his brain working to catch up with what he'd just been told.  And now that he realized she wasn't about to kill him, he was not all that concerned with getting his tail back in the ocean.  Not when there was a land dweller right in front of him, practically begging to be pestered with questions.  He sat up straight, wide green eyes now displaying none of the outright terror of a few moments ago, and all the usual Zunaji spirit.  

"I'm not hurt."  Yeah, he was not even going to dignify her first question with an answer, because it was really stupid of him to panic like that.  And he certainly was not going to ask for help, even as he scooped up another handful of water and splashed it over his gills.  Because he was practically an adult, he didn't need help, especially not from a land dweller.  

He tilted his head to the side, studying her face.  Red eyes...kinda creepy looking.  He leaned forward a bit, the fins on his back probably doing absolutely nothing to help him balance, and just continued to commit every little detail to memory.  He was probably going to fall right off his rock perch if he leaned forward just the tiniest bit more.  

((this post was such a paaaain.  I hate writer's block.))

[Thief]

At least he was not hurt. He leaned forward and stared at her, looking her over from top to bottom. He seemed to stop on her eyes for a moment. Unlike her hideous red eyes, his eyes were a beautiful green color.

Despite her desire to help, Scarlet was being cautious. She was studying the boy's appearance to make absolutely sure he was not a threat to her. It was hard to be concerned for both his safety and her own. Still, he was only a boy, and one who needed help. "How did you get so far away from the water?"

((I know the feeling. Sorry for the delay.))

[Anonymous]

Zunaji, a threat?  A laughable idea.  He continued watching her, completely oblivious to her motives for scoping him out.  He let out a sheepish chuckle at her question.  "Uhm.  Well.  The water was over this rock when I got here."  He really had no clue about tides.  Then again, he was an ocean dweller, not a coastal one.  

((blargh, short post.))

[Thief]

The tide had gotten him stranded. He must not have spent much time near the shore. He probably had not seen very many land dwellers, much less interacted with any. The poor thing was probably more cautious of Scarlet than she was of him.

A bit more relaxed now, Scarlet giggled to herself. "The good news is that the water will come back," she informed him. "And I guess I can sit with you until it does, if you would like?"

[Anonymous]

He shrugged at her statement, having already made the assumption that it would return.  He really wished he could stretch out, though, because sitting all curled up on this rock was really getting uncomfortable.  His muscles were beginning to cramp.

He shifted around slowly, finally just curling up more so he could lay down somewhat.  "Who are you, anyways?"

[Thief]

She watched as he curled up. He had to be uncomfortable sitting like that. If only there were something she could do for the poor little guy.

"I'm just someone who happened to be passing through," she replied to his question. "I just got into town, and thought the beach would be a great place to visit." Then, curiosity struck. "So, where did you come from?"

[Anonymous]

Uncomfortable wasn't the half of it.  Drying out sucked.  At least there was enough water to keep his gills, partially hidden on the sides of his neck, wet.  Zunaji squirmed around in his little pool, wishing he hadn't curled up for a nap on this rock.  

Her question caught his attention, and he lifted a hand to point down the beach to the water.  "The coral reefs out there."  He groaned as he thought of home, putting his hand over his face.  "Mom's gonna kill me for sneaking out, too."

[Thief]

"Well, if you need to get back, I might be able to help you," Scarlet said after hearing that. With a giggle, she added, "I might even have you back before she gets too mad at you."

She was not sure how she was going to do it, but, if he wanted her help, she was going to do something to help him. "There has to be some way to get you back to the water. I just need to think for a minute."

[Anonymous]

Zunaji shot her an incredulous look.  Get him back before his mother knew he was gone?  His shoulders slumped and he muttered.  "She probably already knows I'm gone."  Then he shrugged carelessly.  "As long as she doesn't know I've been here, she won't be too mad, though."

((OOC:  Holy crap, I apologize for the wait, and for the crappy short post))

[Thief]

Scarlet giggled. With a wink, she said," Well, we'll just make that our little secret."

Still ever curious, Scarlet proceeded to ask questions. "So, what's it like where you come from? I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to live in a reef."

((I'm starting to feel a bit of writer's block... and the short post curse it seems.))

[Anonymous]

He grinned at her promise, getting far more comfortable with her presence.  "It's really great.  We used to live near this island, way out there," Zunaji paused and waved a hand towards the ocean, in what he figured was the general direction of his old home.  "But the sharks were always swimming around there.  So mom decided to move us out to deeper waters.  She misses the coast though.  Said she used to sing to the sailors out there and stuff."  He trailed off and glanced back over at Scarlet.  

"Where do you live?"

[Thief]

Curiosity was contagious it seemed. "Everywhere and anywhere," she answered with a wide smile, "I don't really have a home of my own. I just go wherever life takes me." Sure there was always a reason for her to keep wandering, but explaining it was always a pain. Beyond that, it made her sound like some kind of fugitive from the law.

"So, what brought you to the shore today?" Scarlet asked him, "I thought your mother moved you further out to see because it was dangerous near the shore."

[Anonymous]

He shrugged carelessly in answer to her question.  "I followed a dolphin a couple of weeks ago, and found this place.  I only got stuck up here cuz I fell asleep on this rock."

Something she said clicked then, and Zunaji glanced up at her, a confused look on his face.  "You don't have a home?  How can you not have a home?  Where's your family?"

[Thief]

Scarlet really did not want to have this conversation. The sad story of a homeless orphan would just upset the kid, and she most certainly could not do that. For once, it appeared that Jack would make himself useful, whether he knew it or not.

She gave the kid her best smile. "Well, I just haven't decided to settle anywhere. As for family, the only family I have is a brother, but he hasn't settled either. We run into each other every now and then, but we don't get along very well. A short visit every now and then is nice, but he's best handled in small doses. I actually just ran into him today. He has gotten easier to deal with, and I enjoyed our little visit this time." Hopefully that was enough to answer him without upsetting him.