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rainbowfic2015-07-31 06:53 pm
kay_brooke) wrote in rainbowfic2015-07-31 06:53 pm
Navy #2, White Cross #11
Name: kay_brooke
Story: The Myrrosta
Colors: Navy #2 (water polo), White Cross #11 (Rhodesia)
Styles/Supplies: Graffiti (Duck Gallery)
Word Count: 716
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply
Summary: Merrus and the ocean.
Notes: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM. Last Navy.
Naol stood next to him, eyes wide, her fingers trembling, the leg pressed against his side tense as if she was ready to run at any moment. And then she did, backing up several steps as a wave crashed against the shore and sluiced up the sandy grass. Merrus stood his ground, though his heart was pounding, but the water just barely touched his toes before it slid back again.
On the other side of his, Bediwyth was bored. “It’s as if you’ve never seen the ocean before.”
“I haven’t,” said Merrus. He looked back at Naol, expecting the same from her.
“I have,” she said. “I hate it.”
Merrus wondered if she felt what he felt; in the old days, when he had little control over his own Gifts, he had never felt the pull of the elements before, had never understood what his arai was talking about when he warned them of the allure of fire or water. But now he knew what the arai had meant: it was like a deep pulse within him, stronger than the beat of his heart and more demanding than his frightened breaths. The immensity of it made him dizzy, and he wondered if this was part of the awakening into more power than he had ever imagined, or if it was simply the size of the ocean that made it call to him so strongly.
He couldn’t ask that directly, not with Bediwyth and the other humans from the caravan there to ask questions. So he turned to Naol. “What do you hate about it?” He hoped she would understand his true meaning.
“The destruction,” she said. “With my second husband, we lived on the coast. Storms would come. Fishing boats would be dashed upon the rocks with no mercy. Even a slow stream may be dangerous in a flood, but the ocean takes like nothing else.”
He hadn’t known she once lived on the coast. Just another mystery of her past, but he couldn’t blame her. He had more than enough mysteries and secrets of his own.
“This is calm,” said Bediwyth. “Pleasant. The south doesn’t get those sorts of storms.” He waved his hand to encompass the entire beach and the cliffs lining it. “This isn’t even truly the ocean. It’s a bay. One of the safest to be found on the continent, my father’s determined.” A nasty note entered his voice. “He wants to build a port here.”
“A port for what?” asked Merrus, despite himself. All across the beach the other humans who had come with them, servants of the castle directed by a small group of scholars, spread out to survey the area. He wasn’t even sure why he and Naol had been brought along, because King Havers did not know much about salkiys if he thought there would be any living along the coast. “He’s hardly going to trade with Kandel or Ceenta Vowei from here.” They were on the completely wrong side of the continent.
Both Bediwyth and Naol frowned at him, but for different reasons.
“Part of my father’s plan,” said Bediwyth finally, kicking at a clump of grass. “He doesn’t like that so much of our trade depends on the western nations. He wants to open trade with Partika, or even Arkijt.”
Merrus knew nothing whatsoever about Partika, except that it was meant to be a poor kingdom that was spoken of with contempt by the humans he had known in Jaharta. And he had no opinion on trade with Arkijt. So he turned to Naol, his question still burning in his mind. “Do you feel it?” he asked her softly, hoping he could be heard over the sound of the surf.
Fortunately, Naol understood. “A little,” she said. “My strength has never lay with water, though. Does yours?”
“I suppose so,” said Merrus. Not even to Naol was he ready to tell the truth, so he changed the subject. “Come back to the caravan with me. We’re not needed here.”
She took his hand as they walked back, a very human gesture, but they had both lived among humans for almost as long as they hadn’t, so Merrus felt nothing odd about it.
They left the ocean behind, the pull ceased, and Merrus could finally breathe again.
kay_brookeStory: The Myrrosta
Colors: Navy #2 (water polo), White Cross #11 (Rhodesia)
Styles/Supplies: Graffiti (Duck Gallery)
Word Count: 716
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply
Summary: Merrus and the ocean.
Notes: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM. Last Navy.
Naol stood next to him, eyes wide, her fingers trembling, the leg pressed against his side tense as if she was ready to run at any moment. And then she did, backing up several steps as a wave crashed against the shore and sluiced up the sandy grass. Merrus stood his ground, though his heart was pounding, but the water just barely touched his toes before it slid back again.
On the other side of his, Bediwyth was bored. “It’s as if you’ve never seen the ocean before.”
“I haven’t,” said Merrus. He looked back at Naol, expecting the same from her.
“I have,” she said. “I hate it.”
Merrus wondered if she felt what he felt; in the old days, when he had little control over his own Gifts, he had never felt the pull of the elements before, had never understood what his arai was talking about when he warned them of the allure of fire or water. But now he knew what the arai had meant: it was like a deep pulse within him, stronger than the beat of his heart and more demanding than his frightened breaths. The immensity of it made him dizzy, and he wondered if this was part of the awakening into more power than he had ever imagined, or if it was simply the size of the ocean that made it call to him so strongly.
He couldn’t ask that directly, not with Bediwyth and the other humans from the caravan there to ask questions. So he turned to Naol. “What do you hate about it?” He hoped she would understand his true meaning.
“The destruction,” she said. “With my second husband, we lived on the coast. Storms would come. Fishing boats would be dashed upon the rocks with no mercy. Even a slow stream may be dangerous in a flood, but the ocean takes like nothing else.”
He hadn’t known she once lived on the coast. Just another mystery of her past, but he couldn’t blame her. He had more than enough mysteries and secrets of his own.
“This is calm,” said Bediwyth. “Pleasant. The south doesn’t get those sorts of storms.” He waved his hand to encompass the entire beach and the cliffs lining it. “This isn’t even truly the ocean. It’s a bay. One of the safest to be found on the continent, my father’s determined.” A nasty note entered his voice. “He wants to build a port here.”
“A port for what?” asked Merrus, despite himself. All across the beach the other humans who had come with them, servants of the castle directed by a small group of scholars, spread out to survey the area. He wasn’t even sure why he and Naol had been brought along, because King Havers did not know much about salkiys if he thought there would be any living along the coast. “He’s hardly going to trade with Kandel or Ceenta Vowei from here.” They were on the completely wrong side of the continent.
Both Bediwyth and Naol frowned at him, but for different reasons.
“Part of my father’s plan,” said Bediwyth finally, kicking at a clump of grass. “He doesn’t like that so much of our trade depends on the western nations. He wants to open trade with Partika, or even Arkijt.”
Merrus knew nothing whatsoever about Partika, except that it was meant to be a poor kingdom that was spoken of with contempt by the humans he had known in Jaharta. And he had no opinion on trade with Arkijt. So he turned to Naol, his question still burning in his mind. “Do you feel it?” he asked her softly, hoping he could be heard over the sound of the surf.
Fortunately, Naol understood. “A little,” she said. “My strength has never lay with water, though. Does yours?”
“I suppose so,” said Merrus. Not even to Naol was he ready to tell the truth, so he changed the subject. “Come back to the caravan with me. We’re not needed here.”
She took his hand as they walked back, a very human gesture, but they had both lived among humans for almost as long as they hadn’t, so Merrus felt nothing odd about it.
They left the ocean behind, the pull ceased, and Merrus could finally breathe again.
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Thank you for reading!
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Thanks for reading!
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