[PRP] Madness (Nyko/Alassiel)

[Painted Moose]

There wasn't any logical reason for Nyko to have left the village, meandered down to the coast and to be currently wading in the ocean. It didn't make sense for a boy with absolutely no experience what so ever to be calf deep in something so vast it could swallow him whole. The ordeal itself was unnerving, but it also held just enough curiosity to keep him.

Back in his master's home the most he'd seen of water was the washing tubs for linen. In Matori he couldn't escape it. Everywhere he turned there it was, looming out onto the horizon as if he could reach out for it, giving him a false sense of just how big the ocean really was.

There was no reason for him to take off his shirt and edge a little closer into the water, exposing his brutally scarred back to the unforgiving sun. But Nyko was determined; today, he was going to catch something edible...from the shoreline...as far away from the depths as possible.

Surely he could manage that much.

Tasinei

 

[Tasinei]

Alassiel was currently floating on her back atop the water with her hand on Rhyga who was also floating next to her. He kept her steady and made sure they didn’t just end up in the middle of the ocean. They weren’t too far from the shoreline, but it definitely wasn’t a distance that you let your kids wander off too. Still, they’d been alone for a little while until Rhyga seemed to perk up. Alassiel turned her head to see someone slowly, very slowly, making their way into the water. Alassiel watched him for a bit before turning and waddling through the water bacl towards the shore.

Rygha disappeared into the depths of the ocean below, probably to fetch something to eat before coming back up. Alassiel swam over and finally reached a point where she could stand on her toes in the water. Rygha brushed her side and she got atop of him as he made his way to the shore.

“It’s a nice day to go out for a swim!” She called to him, waving a little. It would probably look like she was floating towards him.

Painted Moose

 

[Painted Moose]

Tasinei

Nyko gingerly reached up to give his scalp a cursory comb over before gathering the loose strands together into a simple ponytail. It was hap-hazard at best, with several strands sticking out, but it kept the ocean breezes from whipping the cobalt strands under his eyelids. During the process he kept his head lowered, passively watching the water lap up around his calves, but when he raised his gaze...he saw the strangest of sights.

The aspiring musician had never seen a shifter in his life. Surely there must have been some in Oba, and maybe even Matori, but it wasn't as if he'd had many chances to get out and meet any. She looked like a strange sea creature, floating on the water as she was; maybe some kind of spirit, come out of the deep to take him under and steal his soul-

He cracked a smile and there was no way it was used to cover his anxiety. No way. Nuh uh.

"Too bad I can't swim, so I'll just have to stay here and watch you."  

[Tasinei]

“Can’t swim?” Alassiel stared at him with her mouth slightly agar as if the concept was completely foreign to her. Wasn’t he…? What?! The Shifter ran a hand down her face, the concept that he couldn’t swim was just confusing for her.

“What are you doing at a beach then?” Because if he couldn’t swim it was dangerous for him to be out here to begin with. He could get swept away and devoured by the sea and she was not a happy mistress. Alassiel swung her legs over and slide off Rhyga’s back until she hit the water. She felt heavy and wobbled a bit but recovered.

“don’t you know how dangerous it is if you can’t swim?” Alassiel was going to have to teach him, there was no way she could just let someone come to the beach and just not know how to swim.

Painted Moose

 

[Painted Moose]

Tasinei

Was she...did she have a muscular disorder, with her jaw? Was that how she was able to float? Nyko furrowed his brow, wondering what was wrong with the shifter is she felt the need to repeat his words. Maybe she wasn't a water spirit after all and some by product of a spell gone wrong, ditched on the waters edge...

"S'not like I can go anywhere here where there isn't a beach." Nyko groused. It wasn't his decision to go to Matori; he'd been dragged her, unconscious, so it wasn't as if he'd gotten to pick the destination. Though, admittedly, it was better than Oba.

What did she just...? "What was that? I thought you were floating! You were riding on something, weren't you?!" He pointed vaguely at the water, feeling cheated when she hadn't even told him anything from the start. Was it a board or some kind of freaky flat fish?

"And what if I don't want to learn? What if I just want to stand here all day, dipping my toes in the water? What'cha gonna do about that?"
 

[Tasinei]

Painted Moose

“Well…” Alassiel frowned a little. “Leave Matori? No one is keeping you here, plenty of places without a beach if you can’t swim. Would be much safer for you.” He didn’t look like someone who was being confined the stay in Matori, he didn’t even look like he was a prisoner of some kind. Or maybe he just had some really bad jailors or something.

“Floating?” Alassiel chuckled and smiled before doing a low whistle. Rygha popped his head out of the water and blew water from his nostrils right at the Matori. “Now why would you think anyone is floating?” People didn’t float, was this guy on something? “Of course I was on something. Rygha and I were out fishing in the deeper ends.” She pointed to her trident head just poking out of the water a bit now that the snaptrotter had moved to be more visible.

“Are you feeling okay?” Alassiel narrowed her eyes. “Too much sun, maybe you’re seeing things?” He certainly seemed quite stressed.

“If you don’t want to learn that just makes you lazy, or scared. Or maybe even both.” The shifter shrugged. “I’m here now, I can teach you.”  

[Painted Moose]

Tasinei

"Oh I plan to. As soon as my friend and I have enough funds to do so we'll be going North." He was rather proud of their grand plan and it showed. Soon he would be getting away from all of this water and sand, and beach huts back to the cities he had become accustomed to. It wasn't as if Nyko didn't see the beauty of Matori, but...it just wasn't a life he envisioned for himself. He didn't know how much 'safer' it would be, considering they would be stealing from several people for several years, but at least he wouldn't drown.

At the very least, he stood proud and happy until the sea creature surfaced itself and he jumped like a little girl. Well, except for the decidedly non-innocent curse that slipped out. "What in the goddess is that thing?" Thankfully he was far enough away so as not to be covered in nose spray, but holy s**t-

"You were fishing? Out there? With that?" Nyko couldn't decide if she was stupid, suicidal, or the bravest damn woman he had ever seen. She was pretty hot, in a crazy older chick kind of way. "I'm fine, it's you I wonder about."

Hearing the bit about lazy and scared made Nyko furrow his brow, and snort in indignation. "I'm not lazy or scared. If you think you can teach me then have at it. I'm not gonna pay you, though; ain't got anything to spare on gettin' soaked."  

[Tasinei]

Painted Moose

“North huh?” Alassiel had never known a Matori to be so eager to leave their home. “How far North are you planning on going?” North was quite vague and large when you thought about it. Or maybe he was trying to be vague, maybe he didn’t want to tell her where he was going. Maybe he liked being secretive, maybe he wasn’t. Alassiel felt like she was making things out to be a lot more complicated then they probably were.

“This! Now this is Rygha, he’s a snaptrotter!” With a large proud smile she gave him a couple of pats. “He’s my mount, I’m a rider.” Poor guy looked petrified. “Don’t worry he’s very nice, doesn’t bite or anything.” And as if on cue, Rygha opened his muth to show off his sharp teeth in would could only be assumed to be a smile.

“My family are fishermen so it’s in my blood.” She shrugged, turning to look at the vast blue expanse. “I have to go out with him in case something happens; if the water gets too ruff I could end up drifting off to sea and never return.” Which was something she did not want to happen. “He also helps with directing the fishes towards me so it’s easier to stab them and of course carries all the fish with him.” Rygha was probably the most useful mount she could have picked. “

“Oh I’m perfectly okay.” Alassiel chuckled but she was happy to hear that he was willing to learn. “Alright then, get on Rygha but lay across his back on your stomach. We’re going to practice a few strokes while holding you above water before actually letting you out to swim.”  

[Painted Moose]

Tasinei

[5/10]

"Zena! That's where all the big money is; those icelings will drop coin on anything worth their time, and my singing is definitely worth that and more." He'd heard enough stories about Zena while running errands for his old 'employers', and knew that if he were going to get any coin outside of Oba it would be up North. Sauti and Tale were scrapping by, at best, and Jauhar would be enough to get them a head start, but the further they went the fatter his bags would be with sweet, sweet gold.

"You...ride him?" Hotness went right in hand with crazy in Matori, didn't it? He wouldn't get near that thing if he were paid, let alone ride it. He'd seen janarim turn on their handlers and that thing had enough teeth to comp up one of those armored pricks in two chomps. "He...looks friendly..." About as friendly as a knife in your a**.

Nyko hesitantly stepped closer to Rygha, wishing for all the world that she had a plank of wood, or some kind of miniature boat instead. When he got in up to his waist he hesitated; it was the furthest he'd ever been in the ocean, and for all his blustering, the boy was notably nervous. "Just don't let me die, big guy." He warily reached out for Rhyga, grasped his scaley hide and pulled himself onto the snaptrotters back, following her directions to a T.

"Okay...what's a stroke?"

 

[Tasinei]

"Oh you're a singer!" Would it be inappropriate for her to ask him for a sing right now? Probably, so Alassiel decided to wait and ask him later if eh planned on doing any performances in the village. Or maybe somewhere she could locate him when she was out traveling. "Careful not to swallow a lot of the water, it'll burn your throat and you might lose your voice." The water here was exceptionally salty and quite dangerous to swallow in large amounts. She hoped her instructions would be good enough that he didn't swallow any, but she'd rather warn him before anything bad happened.

"Yes, riders ride mounts..." The Shifter narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he could be thinking. He didn't really looked convinced of her words either, but Alassiel knew Rygha was good and so it didn't truly bother her if other people thought he was dangerous. That was a good attribute to have during wartime anyways.

Alassiel watched him get up on Rygha and smiled as if her own child had done something great. "Here, like this." The Shifter moved her arms out in front of her, extended and lookign like she was trying to drag herself through the air. It wasn't the prettiest sight since she wasn't in the water, but it would get her message across. "Once you have the hang of that, we'll add your feet to the equation." Rygha for his part didn't move, but did sink a little more into the water, Nyko's face would be clear of water but his arms would be able to easily touch the water.

Painted Moose

 

[Painted Moose]

Tasinei

Nyko perked himself up like a proud peacock and nodded. "Yep, and a real good one, too." The best one in Matori, as a matter of fact; never mind the fact that the only ones who had told him that were drunk bar patrons. It didn't matter to Nyko; he knew he was the best and that was that.

Looking down at the water, the singer curled his lip. "Yeah, I found that out a few hours after being here." He hadn't thought about it and had simply stood down, cupped his hands, collected some water to drink only to immediately regret it. The others in their group hadn't let him live it down for weeks. Still, it was pretty enough to look at, and idly he dipped his hand into the clear water to let it pass around his fingers.

Carefully, as carefully as he could, anyway, Nyko watched her instructions. It was...weird, having someone to teach him something without a deadline looming over them. Even more so without some sort of screaming involved. His own mother had been strict in her lessons, despite the amount of love she'd poured onto her son, so this entire day was something of an anomaly for him.

He put his other arm into the water and moved in sort of the same ways Alassiel had. First one arm, then the other, moving in separate of each other but still in rhythm. It felt a little foolish, especially since he was sitting on top of this great, snapping beast, but maybe he was doing it right? He turned his honeyed eyes up to look at the shifter. "I feel...kind of like a weird turtle. My master had one, back in Oba, in a little pool. Except I'm sure it swam a lot better than me."

Even with it's awkward limbs and hard back the creature was able to effortlessly glide through the water. Nyko, on the other hand, was trying not to outright panic the further Rygha sank into the water.  

[Tasinei]

Painted Moose

"Really? Do you sing anywhere in the village at the moment?" Well there would be no better way than to ask now, if he did perform she could take her husband and make a fun night of it as a couple. She didn't know what his schedule was like but she sure hoped that he was at least in the village for a few days at least.

Alassiel chuckled when she saw his expression. "Now how did you manage that?" She wondered if he'd tried to go out on the water on his own, which would have been dangerous. The currents could grab onto someone and drag them around and out of sight, spitting them back out in the middle of the sea. It was dangerous but deadly for someone who couldn't swim.

"I guess the technic could be like a turle," The shifter gave it a brief thought, hand on her chin as she looked out across the sea. "Yea, try like a sea turtle. mean You're not doig bad, but I probably look silly and if you can picture something like that it might be easier.

When Ryga disappeared below the surface, he stoped there and Alassiel got on her stomach in the water, she would be almost at the same height as Nyko. "Now see, add your legs, like this." Alassiel tried to mimic the turtle a bit, but used her legs to kick out instead. She didn't usually swim like this, but it was easier for children to learn this way and so she thought maybe it would be easier for someone just learning.=  

[Painted Moose]

Tasinei

"Sometimes I sing at Marcobi's, that little tavern with the blue door, when he lets me. I can talk to him about performing one night if you wanted to come." Nyko hadn't really cemented himself in the village enough to cal himself a 'regular'. He wanted the coin, the prestige and the quality of life that came with being a staple at a place like that, but....he also didn't want to be known as a 'regular' at a little local tavern. It was a conflicting feeling; for now, he was fine with it, but some day soon he hoped to bail out!

"I don't know, you're the one whose the swimmer, here!" His words may have started out sounding harsh, but by the end he was grinning. Nyko knew he looked stupid; what other word could describe a grown man, on his stomach, atop a snapper, splashing around like an infant? But at least he was learning.

And honestly, Nyko might have been fine if Ryga hadn't dipped just a little further than he was comfortable. His breathing hitched, eyes widening and for a hot second Nyko thought about calling it quits. This wasn't working, it wasn't ever going to work, and he was going to drown out here-

Maybe if Alassiel wasn't so close to him he would have given up.

But Nyko couldn't look away from her.

He did as she asked, stretching and flexing his legs like a turtle. It felt...beyond awkward, but at least he was sort of getting the hang of it. At least he had the motion of it, anyway. "How old were you when you started? Swimming, that is?" At least if she had started around the same time he was then maybe he wouldn't feel so bad.