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 Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2023 9:05 pm
 He wanted to scream. He wanted to roar. It just wasn't fair. It was rotten luck, to be frank. But it felt like the universe was being petty in its response to his dreams. Of course, his desires might be foolish and silly, but they were still his foolish and silly dreams to chase.
And this morning, he had chased them right up the beach. As the tide was going out. And would not return high enough to free him for hours. With no sight of any helpful soul within sight.
Gahz'rilla sighed in irritation, slapping his great tail against the wet sands. It was drier up here on the sands. And with the sun rising higher in these latitudes, the day was also heating up rather more than the large Mer was comfortable with. He plopped his head in the sands, ears flicking back in irritation, pure sky blue eyes gazing balefully at the tree line ahead.
What was it like in those forests? Were there birds and butterflies and fishes he'd never seen before? The tropical reefs he'd passed not far off shore had been beautiful and vibrant with life. Were the flowers just as beautiful? Did snow fall on the peaks of the mountains here? These thoughts and more crossed his mind, continuing to percolate in a way that made him want to scream with frustration and disappointment and a suffocating sense of curiosity.
Until a pale set of hooves delicately stepped into his field of vision, and a large leaf shaded his eyes.
He flicked his eyes upward. Dark, but accented with beautiful blues and pinks and the occasional white, her eyes, like twilight, shifted from an almost sapphire hue to a lovely pink midway between shells and the flowers he had been told were roses, and they were filled with curiosity and concern. Her head was crowned with three woody horns, and her forelegs were decorated with a pair of leafy bracelets. Her kelpie tail ended in pearly white shark fins, and she was holding an enormous leaf by the stem over his head to block the sun.
It was all he could do to not yell at this stranger, who had probably come to help. But he still wound up almost snarling as he spoke. "Vhat are you vanting?" he demanded, embarrassed to have been caught looking so foolish and vulnerable. "I suppose you are thinking I am looking like idiot," he snapped before he could stop himself. Leimomi had been traveling along the beach. Her daughter had let her know that they had seen an unfamiliar Mer swimming near the reef the night before, swimming in this direction, where the slope of the beach could surprise the unwary. She occasionally found a beached young dolphin on the sands, and promptly pushed it back into the sea. An adult Mer, however, could be significantly larger than an adolescent dolphin, and might take more careful thought to figure out how to properly lever back into the surf.
So she'd collected a very large banana leaf and returned to the water's edge to investigate, in case someone needed help, not to mention some shade before she got started. No sense in letting someone suffer while she tried to figure out to help them.
After that, it hadn't taken much searching to find him, a large Mer stallion, icy-hued, almost iridescent in how the light seemed to shade him in pale turquoises, teals, aquas, and mints, with draconic skulls on his shoulders like pauldrons, fins with a more draconic bent to them, tridactyl hooves, and a remarkably grumpy expression on his face. Leimomi couldn't really blame him. Getting beached, at his size, in these latitudes, for longer than a few seconds, had to be a fairly miserable experience.
Hence, she wasn't really surprised when he snapped at her.
"Hi to you, too. When my daughter said she saw a stranger swimming this way, I thought I'd go make sure no one had gotten into trouble on this beach. As for whether you look like an idiot, nah, adolescent dolphins wash up here from time to time. It's not that hard to misjudge the slope and get washed up if you aren't careful. It's also got some totally wicked tides here that I wouldn't want to mess around with," she replied with rather more chill than his snarl strictly merited, speaking around the stem of the banana leaf. "So, do you want some help, my dude?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 12:49 am
"Vell, I am not adolescent dolphin," he retorted impulsively, before stopping himself. No. This was a bit of a rotten thing to do to someone who'd clearly come to check to see if there was trouble on the beach. Gahz'rilla took a deep breath.
"I am wery sorry. I vould be liking some help," he said more apologetically. "How vere you intending to un-beach?" the Mer asked, shifting his suddenly very heavy body around...or rather trying to, and mostly winding up flopping about helplessly. He paused, catching his breath at the difficult exercise. "I am not thinking I vould be liking vaiting for tide to come in," he added.
Considering how the mare was shading him from the warming sun above, he realized that this mare was being incredibly kindly toward him, and had clearly done this sort of thing before. Maybe today wasn't the unluckiest day possible. "Pardon if is rude, but I am thinking you are part Kelpi? Vhat is other part that is giving you horns?" Gahz'rilla asked a bit more shyly. "I am not thinking I have seen horns like yours in ocean."
As he spoke, Leimomi peered at him, trying to gauge whether she could just roll him back down off the shelf just past the water's edge, or whether she'd need to get help dragging or pushing him. The dolphins didn't particularly like rolling, but they seemed to accept it, although she'd sometimes had to push or drag the more recalcitrant ones, or the very young calves. Dragging would work better with something smaller, so dragging was out. Rolling might work, though Mer were a little less tube-shaped than dolphins were, so that might be difficult, not to mention being pretty undignified and probably dizzying. Pushing would be easier than dragging, but would be slower, and probably require her to get her kids...and even then, Kekoa couldn't go very far into the water. Keone could, but she had inherited Kelpi blood, and Kekoa had no Nixie in him.
Rolling was probably the only real option.
She blinked at his question. It might be a little forward, but she didn't really have much of an objection to it. "My horns? They're Wood Ulun'suti. Real wood, too. I can't do a lot with plants, but I can support the phytoplankton that the reefs need to live and thrive." She smiled cheerfully. "I'm guessing you've never met an Ulun'suti before? Though I'd guess there aren't very many like me, and most are either Water or Earth. I don't think Fire or Electric would do well in the water. I'm probably going to need to roll you. Are you okay with being rolled down the beach? I can tell you about the Ulun'suti as we go. Also, no biggie on any offenses. You're having a bad day. Bad days happen, okay? Judging a person by their worst day is kinda close-minded, don't you think?" she asked cheerfully.
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Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2023 1:18 am
It was Gahz'rilla's turn to blink. "Roll me? If you are thinking it is best vay, then I am thinking I can live vith rolling. I am wery much wanting to hear more about 'Ulun'suti', as you are calling them. I am thinking I have not seen before. Also...ummm...thank you. For helping and not laughing at. And for not judging. If I can, I am vanting to repay for kindness," he added. "I am probably not big help on reef, but am still vanting to repay kindness."
He held still as the Kelpi set down her large leaf and started rolling him down the beach. It was dizzying and undignified, but she was a joy to listen to, and it didn't take very long at all for her to get him to the waterline, for which the large Mer was quite grateful. "I am at least giving you my name: Gahz'rilla. Before I am going, I am remembering you spoke of reef. Could you show me reef?" he added shyly.
Leimomi nodded and lay down the banana leaf; it would only get in the way. Pushing her nose under his ribs, she started pushing, levering the ribcage around so he would start to naturally roll with some regular nudging along. As she walked along behind him, she started speaking.
"The Ulun'suti are small and fairly rare, as full-sized Soquili go. The full-blooded ones often look like dragons, with horns and cloven hooves and claws and reptilian tails and scales and reptilian jaws and great bat wings. And mixed-bloods like me still carry some of that look to them, though they are not the only Soquili to carry some of those traits. Sometimes, Ulun'suti have body parts made out of a different substance, like manes and tails of pure fire, or scales of crystal, or horns of wood. What unifies all Soquili who have Ulun'suti blood is that they carry a little elemental magic, with purer ones having a bit more magic than the mixed-bloods. Each Ulun'suti is attuned to only one element, and that element is passed down in families. My father was a Wood Ulun'suti, and my daughter carries some of the wood with her, too. While my son's horns are made of wood, he has no magic, unfortunately, but I love him all the same," she added with a sigh. "The Ulun'suti identify themselves in relation to their element, hence why our family would more accurately be said to be Wood Ulun'suti. There are four other types: Earth, Water, Fire, and Electricity. I think a Fire Ulun'suti would boil the seas, and an Electric Ulun'suti would electrocute themselves in the sea, so I don't think either would get along well with the sea. Water could do a lot in the seas, with all that free-flowing water surrounding them; Earth would probably hang around the sea floor, or just go about their business; Wood, like me, can find some photosynthetic life below the waves, so, after Water, surprisingly, Wood Ulun'suti like me and my family might be the next most common."
With another push, Leimomi got him below the water line, and it wasn't much longer until she reached the shelf and was shoving him off it, allowing buoyancy to reclaim the heavy Mer. "A reward, huh? Can't really think of any, unless you wanna pay in pearls or something; my kids and I love pearls, but we try to keep our reef pretty clean, so if any of the shellfish produce pearls on the regular, we're clearly not looking in the right spot. Also...the name's Leimomi. And I can definitely show you the reef," she added warmly, stepping off the shelf and paddling around next to him, partially propelled by her lashing shark's tail. She grinned, and, flicking her tail and reveling in the bubbles she kicked up, led the way back around to the part of the shore where the reef was, aware on some level that what had started out as a difficult day for the stallion had been a day that she had improved, despite him snapping at her. And the thought blossomed in her mind that she wouldn't mind getting to know the stallion, and possibly becoming friends with him.
But that was something to broach at a later time.
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