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[ the surface is a perilous place, forbidden by her peoples, and not without reason. theirs is an ancient colony, hunted near to extinction and so to preserve the whole they must take care. it has been many generations since last they interacted with the land creatures in any formal capacity, commerce and communion with mankind strictly forbidden since time immemorial. so much time has passed that more than like they have become myth to any who do not know the secret of their existence, and that is just as they prefer it. long lived as they are, new births are rare and come slowly; it will be millennia yet still to replenish their numbers to what they once were.
but alisaie has ever had a taste for the forbidden, a curiosity for the unknown, and a fierce wanderlust. she loves her peoples and her home but it is not enough, it shall never be enough, and as she grows and comes of age she is more and more dissatisfied.
they cannot stop her visiting the surface. theirs are a free people, and the sea is vast, parties of hunters and workers always coming and going. no one tracks her, and she says nothing of her visits above, of how she peers at passing ships and lays on warm rocks beneath the sun to watch the waves roll over the shoreline. she does not fear mankind perhaps as she should, and the more she quietly, secretly observes them, the more assured she becomes of their goodness. their behavior is not so different from her own, from what little she can glean from the lives of the sailors she watches - they laugh and love and suffer and work together, and they build such strange, incredible things..
she has watched this ship for several days, following its path, blending with pods of dolphins to swim near the surface during the day, risking more under cover of dark, when she peers through the portholes and listens to their voices on deck. their language is foreign to her, but the tones of their words speak plenty, their expressions easy to read. it's a small group of men, few, but perhaps they are brothers, for how fondly they seem to behave toward one another, laughing and sharing food, roughhousing playfully, the small, fair-haired one especially, who seems always to be smiling about something.
storms at sea are common and set in quickly, often with little warning. it's late in the night when it hits, stirring alisaie from her doze nearby, the crack and groan of wood cutting sharply through the water, the shouts of human voices muffled, but discernible to her keen ears.
alisaie is off like a shot, darting through the waters toward the source, but there is little enough to be done - the ship is split asunder before she can even reach it, and her heart sinks for those on board; the sea is no place for man, who braves much to sail her waters. they have paid the price. ]
http://78.media.tumblr.com/5d92e1eeee8d98fe66e04c8de8e1ab0a/tumblr_myt8qfcOqF1s3hm0qo4_250.gif
[ she parrots - what an odd name, but then she supposes that it not so surprising. her voice is still rusty with disuse, but it gets easier to speak with every word. he gestures to her, and alisaie smiles, placing one hand over her collar. ]
Alisaie.
i knew exactly what the gif would be before i clicked...
Alisaie...that's a beautiful name. [ Color touches his cheeks, but his smile doesn't falter. ] Alisaie...we're gonna get through this, together.
[ That is his solemn promise - the only promise - he can give her. ]
i knew you would :blush:
but she is here now, and more and more allowing herself to believe that he will help her, that his involvement in her torment was involuntary. perhaps it's the sweet taste of freedom coloring her thoughts favorably, but nonetheless she feels content as she eases down against the back of the tub, holding the small picture to her breast. ]