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 Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:27 am
Joey chuckled. "True, true." He watched as the sun sank below the waterline. "The sun has set..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:34 am
SilentShadowDreamer Nellie tried to wrap her mind around the questions. "Lon-ers?" she asked carefully. Katalina chuckled. Joshua, you have to remember you're dealing with the nymph equivalent of a...a toddling, I think you call them? A toddlet? Anyway, use simple words. Loners are merfolk like me, Nellie, she explained. The ones without a family."Ohhhh," said Nellie, understanding. "Nonono, there's no lon-ers. We gotta be in biiiig groups, all the time, or we could get eated. We're not big like Sorry or hyoomins." She frowned at his next question. "Mamamama? What're we called?"Aishtarte's voice drifted to them, as though carried on the wind. "Our groups are called clans, darling.""There," said Nellie happily. "Ky-lans." Joshua glanced up at Katalina. 'You mean toddler? I'll keep that in mind.' He asked, amused at her attempts of the word. "Clans....That's interesting." He looked down at the little nymph in his arms. "Nellie? What do you eat?" This question really intrigued Joshua. The last one he'd asked, Lucian, had given him an answer he really hadn't been expecting. 
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:55 pm
Aoife looked at the last bit of pink and purple in the sky. "Hmm." She said confirming that the sun had indeed set. "I should go."
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:06 pm
Katalina waved a hand dismissively. Same thing, she concluded.
Nellie blinked. "Eateat...lots. Shinyglow, we eat. And mini-leaves," she added, apparently anxious to please. "And...uh...snappyfish." She nodded her head several times, looking quite proud of herself.
Allow me to translate, said Katalina, trying not to smile. Nellie was trying so hard. They eat...something phosfer-- phosphor--- that stuff that glows, they eat plankton, and they eat crayfish.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:15 pm
Joey nodded, then an idea came to his head. "You can stay in the cove, if you want. The water is calm, for the most part, and you should find a place to stay in the coral."
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:20 pm
Aoife tilted her head. "Where?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:22 pm
Joey pointed out to the ocean. "In the coral reef. There are little crevices for you to sleep and be safe in. It is better than being out in the wide ocean, in my opinion, anyway."
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:48 pm
Joshua nodded. Somehow, the answer made more sense than Lucian's answer had. Nellie's way of describing things amused him. Sh acted even more childish than the sea dragon, but she had the excuse of of actual youth. He looked down at the. young undine. "Nellie? How old are you?" His gaze shifted to Aishtarte. Joshua wanted to also know how old an undine was when they were considered mature. He didn't want to ask that particular question though for fear of offending the can.
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:20 pm
The little nymph blinked up at him for several long seconds, then turned and chittered at her mother for a moment or two. When she turned back to him, her eyes were as confused as ever. "What's old?" she asked innocently.
Katalina choked. The time, Nellie. How many changings of the rapids have you lived through? she asked. They broke in a new rock about once every three years, as she recalled, and that was what this clan used to count the passage of time.
"Lots," said Nellie brightly. "Five, six? Mamamamama?"
"Eight," corrected Aishtarte mildly. "She is twenty-four of your years, boy." A tinge of humor entered her mental voice. "I am nearly seven times that, but then she is my youngest."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:44 am
Joshua tried not to let his surprise show on his face. 'What is it with humans and short life spans? I mean seriously. It seems like everything down here lives longer than I could even hope to.' He asked Katalina, a slight jealous tint entering Joshua's voice. "Twenty-four and she's still so young...." His eyes looked around the cave with longing. "A child is older than me." He paused, blinking. "Talk about a paradox." Joshua muttered aloud.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:52 am
Aoife smiled and nodded. "But I don't sleep, I go under to avoid fishermen."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:23 am
Katalina laughed. "Perhaps it's the water," she said, leaving off telepathy because her head was starting to hurt. "We're structured to live in it, and so we're resistant to all of your airborne diseases and such."
With a sudden sad look, she added, "Of course, that's our natural lifespans. They can be shortened considerably, you know."
Like...
She stopped thinking there.
Nellie bounced impatiently. "Questions, questions?" she asked, sounding like the world's youngest teacher. Aishtarte chuckled at Joshua's surprise. "It seems long to you, lad," she said gently, "but when you next come here, Nellie will have grown up. Our maturity comes fast, and she comes near the time. I, too, near an end. One hundred seventy, one hundred eighty of your years is the usual for us."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:18 pm
Joey sighed. "I see. Well, there aren't very many fishermen in this cove. It is rare to see them here. They don't like to brave the reef." He shrugged and yawned.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:35 pm
Aoife nodded. "Go on home then. I will be fine."
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:44 pm
Joey nodded. "Ok, good night." He paused and offered a small smile.
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