The Song of the Siren (Accepting :: OPEN)

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara grinned a bit, seeming to regain some of her spirits. "Of course you didn't know," she teased lightly. "Sorry only told you five times. I like the cove, but I assume I'll be expected to make a place among the humans eventually." As the elevator opened on the ground floor, she said easily, "For now, we have to make sure there are places." Her gaze grew serious for a moment. "For everyone."

Glancing back at Allen when he outlined his idea, she nodded slowly. "That's...sensible," she replied, seeming pleased by the plan. "I doubt they'll be back yet - there are a lot of clans to speak to, more yet if they need to speak to the Siren clans as well, and those are just the major ones. There are little offshoots everywhere that will take more tracking down. But we can always look and see."

Happy to have a plan, she headed towards the main doors of the building, to get it set in motion as soon as possible.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Joshua grinned teasingly. "Oh, so I'm not considered human then?" He sobered at the thought of why they would need to find places for others. "Around the beaches would probably be the safest. Then it would be easier to contact the merfolk." He murmured, the idea suddenly popping into his head.

Allen shrugged, unconcerned. "Maybe so. But if they stumble across some gem of information, they may send someone to meet us at the cove. Or leave a message there somehow." Like Tianara said, the others probably wouldn't be back yet. But there was always that off chance and it might have been something truly important. Either way, it wasn't like it was far out of their way.

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara chuckled. "Well, of course you are, but I can hardly make a place in the cove. The cove is yours," she said lightly. "And there's not much I can do there. To make a place of my own, I'd have to build a life. I would want a family." She stuck her tongue out. "I can't get that at the cove." When he grew serious, she did, too. "The beaches would be best, but how many are there that aren't easily accessed? It could ruin everything if a fighter stumbled across us at the wrong time."

She turned her attention to Allen, nodding slowly. "That's possible, too," she murmured. "I don't think they'd send anyone else - they'd want to keep it to just us for as long as possible. But they did go off in pairs, so it's possible one would continue on while the other came back. Well, let's go see."  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Joshua was quiet as he walked, mapping out the beaches in his mind. "Well, there's several that are surrounded by a forest. Some to either side of the town, going past mine and Allen's coves......" He trailed off for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "The cliffs! They're perfect! I just remembered - The cliffs are riddled with caves tat the wind and tides have worn out over the years. There's probably enough room for a small village or town to spread out in there." The teen was really onto something now he thought. Amber eyes were bright as the ideas mapped themselves out in his mind. "As a bonus, the caves would be protected from the elements, we could light fires in there, and the entrances can be disguised to look like rock. There's only a few trails down the cliff face which is what the main problem would be. The strong currents at the bottom aren't an issue for merfolk - Katalina and them already proved it. And there's a few low level caves with water pools. They can serve as messenger areas."

Joshua couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier. The caves were perfect. And who would think of looking for them practically right underneath the other's noses? The more he thought about it, the more the cliffside caves seemed to work for everything they needed. "What do you think Tianara? Would it work?"

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara listened carefully to his idea, nodding slowly as she listened. "How many know about this place?" she inquired. "We would have to have a way for the ocean children to get there - and those who didn't have time to get their families away or had nowhere to send them would bring them along. So we have to be sure that there's room for children." Continuing along these lines, she nodded. "We could probably manage to pass that on to the merfolk, and we could help them as much as we could."

She nodded at last, looking tired. "That's a good last-ditch place to hide, Joshua, but I don't want it to come to that. The entire point of weeding out the ocean children is so that they can help us stop or divert the war. If we're driven back to the caves, that means it's over. That the chained creature and his allies have won. But it's a good place if we need it. We'll keep it in mind."  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Joshua shook his head, still thinking. "Not many know of more than one or two caves there, near the top. They wouldn't think it could harbor as many people as I know it can. I spent awhile exploring them. Some of the caves go pretty far back. That'd be the safest place to put the children. And even one or two people can hold an entrance tunnel by themselves against even an army." He sighed, knowing the truth of Tianara's words. "It's still nice to have a back up plan in case something goes wrong. That way, if we can't stop or divert the war, we're not caught out in the open."

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara's face closed slightly at his words, although they were merely confirmation of her own. "We should stock them," she said, hating how it sounded but knowing it was true. "In that event. Food, weaponry. Most of us know how to catch or find and cook food of our own, but I can't guarantee that all the ocean children will remember it after years in the human world. We need to think ahead if we're going to make that a hideaway."

She shook her head at last as they began to pass through the forested area that separated the town from their cove. "Do you know anywhere we could find things to stock it with? It would have to be stuff that can handle time in the caves. That won't get moldy or dirty or soft or otherwise inedible or unuseable while it's down there." The question seemed to be directed at both Joshua and Allen. "We should have asked Rhiannon," she murmured. "She would have ideas about stuff like that - she's lived among humans more than any of us, really."  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

"Canned goods. Buy at any store pretty much." Allen said right away, no hesitation. "Canned stuff last for years with no problems. And you can get pretty much anything you want in cans. Meat, fruit, vegetables, powdered milk. The only thing we'd have to really worry about would be bread, but we can simply stock up on the ingredients and make the bread later. Sugar, salt, and flour are staples. Have to have those, they're used in so many things. Rice wouldn't be a bad idea either."

Joshua nodded, listening to the old man speak. "And we can always supplement with whatever food we can forage, such as fruits or other plants and fish as well. Maybe gather a few small herb gardens to put out on the ledges? They would meals much better, rather than have boring plain meals." He paused, thinking it over. That seemed to be okay for food. What would they need for weaponry? "Weapons will be a little bit harder to get though, depending on what we want. For the caves, we'll want a mix of far and close range weapons. Bows with arrows. Crossbows might be easier for inexperienced people. Daggers of various sizes. Guns maybe? Swords?" He sounded unsure of himself. He'd never really been one for fighting so he didn't know weapons very well. The only one he really knew was the dagger because he carried one for emergencies as a diver.

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara nodded slowly. "All right," she said softly. "There's a start, then. We should explore those caves again someday soon, Joshua. See what could be used for storerooms, where the children could go, things like that. They'd have to be cool, of course, and dry - we'd need to store wood for fires, if we were going to cook or whatever." She was in semi-planning mode. "Herbs would be nice, especially since most of us use a lot of the kind that grow near the ocean for flavourings. We're also," she added with a smile, "salt fans. But we could probably get that from the water if we boiled it down to separate it."

She lifted a brow, however, when Joshua began to talk about weaponry. "I wouldn't go for swords," she said authoritatively. "They take years of training to use right, and the ones made these days are very flimsy, meant for show. Guns would be better - most of us at least have an idea of how to use one. Crossbows these days also aren't made for durability, and there's the extra fact that we would have to take very good care of the strings - keeping them in caves wouldn't be good for them. I suggest leaving out medieval weapons entirely."  

[EG Water]

Mac was ready to eat, and the smell of the dish made him salivate. "Thank you so much Aria" he said politely. He sat down at the table and began eating. The taste of her food was amazing. "Wow, you did great!" he said genuinely.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Joshua flushed with embarrassment. "Right. Sorry. Been reading too many books I guess." 'Stupid. Very, very stupid. Who the hell would use such weapons now?' He still felt that at least daggers would be a good idea. They didn't really take much training and they had many uses.

Aria smiled appreciatively. "Thank you. I'm glad you like it." She began eating her own food. As she ate, the shell Mac had put on the table earlier caught her attention. She picked it up in one hand, still eating with her other hand. The girl turned the shell over and over, examining it. "Pretty." She murmured. 'I'll have to find a spot to put up on display.' Aria thought to herself.

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[EG Water]

Mac ate the food fast, but savored every flavor. He smiled a catty grin, and looked at Aria, "So, what was your life like? Like what were your dreams?" he asked.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Aria took a bite, chewing slowly as she thought. She swallowed and looked out the windows. "My life? Rather boring actually. It's peaceful by the ocean." She propped on elbow on the table, head in her hand. "I've always wanted to be near it, whatever I did. I think...." She trailed off, quiet for a moment. "I don't know. I think I'd like to do something with the ocean. I'm not sure what."

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[EG Water]

Mac heard what she said. "My life was a little slow too, until now" he told her, "Anything you want to do is possible, if you have a dream you should pursue it" he encouraged her. He leaned back and thought a moment, "I always wanted to be a singer, and maybe a small time artist. Also I have been writing a book and until recently I have ran out of things to write" he said. "...Maybe I could write about this and it would be a beautiful historical/magickal story" he thought out loud.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Aria continued to toy with the shell. "I think you'd be an amazing singer." If the song he'd been humming was anything to go by, the girl was sure Mac would do well should he choose to be a singer. "A book about this adventure would be rather interesting. Future generations might not know whether to classify it as fiction or non-fiction." She spoke with a chuckle, a small smile stealing across her face.

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt