A Love of Water [Nako]

[Kari Muffin]

His eyes almost sparkled as he stared out at the vast expanse of water. This place was just as beautiful as the Lakes. He only wished he could have come here sooner. This would have been a wonderful place to grow up. It was just so amazing and... and....

Poetic words didn't come. He jumped into the water without a care in the world. He quickly swam to the deeper parts so he could properly dive. Water! This water, of course, had a completely different feel from that of the Lake. Or a Pool. Or water in any other realm. Everything had its own feel and he was more than happy to go with it. The change was fantastic.

He popped up for air. Oh what a wonderful place Midori was. Perhaps he could move here sometime? A happy sigh escaped him as he floated on his back, his ball bobbing up and down on the water. It must have been an odd sight for anyone who passed by.

[Nako]

Yes, very odd indeed. In a small boat, Zuberi was coming back into shallower waters from spending the early morning fishing, her bounty secured in bags in the back of the boat, and the salty ocean water still soaking her clothes and hair. She had seen something that looked like... purple and green flotsam? Was it a dead man? They hadn't had one of those in a while, and the riptide was not bad at all today.

But no.. it was a penguin. How delightful! But that ball.. It was floating? Didn't that sort of defeat the purpose of having the thing? Hm. She poked it lightly with her oar, but it felt anything but light. Ah yes, so -sincere- of her to sit there poking around at someone's binding. Hah.

Resting her chin on her hands, she looked over at the penguin, leaning carefully so as not to tip her boat. "I a'feared you were dead at first." Zuberi started up casually. "And normally I try not to be invasive on Torque business, but a floating -metal- ball be something of a curiosity."

[Kari Muffin]

The penguin hadn't noticed the woman on the water, He had been too preoccupied with enjoying himself. It wasn't until he heard the slight clank of his binding did he shift to see what was going on. Apparently an oar was poking at his binding. His eyes drifted to the boat that it was attached to.

And then there was a pretty woman on the boat. A scary, but very beautiful, woman who was leaning out of the boat looking at him. It seemed quite strange for a few moments as the penguin stared at the woman, unsure of what to say or do.

Horatio was thankful that she spoke first. It made the tension that he had collected suddenly vanish. She wasn't going to eat him or anything. This wasn't the first time someone had commented about his binding, either, which made things easier. A blush crossed his beak, as he took a more proper position for conversing. "Not every Torquehelm loves water as much as I do, I suppose. My mother had my binding enchanted so I wouldn't drown myself." He gave a wave of his wing. "I'm Horatio. It's nice to meet you."

[Nako]

"Well, ello there Horatio! De name is Zuberi. I'm from the village just on the coastline over dere." She gestured in the general direction of it. "Very kind of ya ma to do such a thing! Not right to keep the swimming sort outta da water. A cruel fate indeed, mon."

She pondered over him a moment longer, as if considering him. "Well, I hope ya not plan to spend all ya time in de water, Horatio. We got a nice scene landbound as well." She gave a good-natured wink, and sat back upright in her boat. "Perhaps you'll come by and see me during your stay, an' I can show you around? I'm in de two story house on de east side of the village."

Zuberi... was a very bored sort. When actually in town and not high out of her mind, she found that she got a little... restless. Getting to know tourists passed the time, and got her a lot of business when it all came around; it was one of the ways that the squirrel was becoming.. somewhat well known in some areas. Especially about her voodoo magic.

[Kari Muffin]

"It's nice to meet you Miss Zuberi!" Horatio responded cheerfully. It was nice that people were so friendly around here. Or at least this one was. He glanced to where she was pointing when she gestured. That was the village he had just come from, though he had only spent a total of five minutes there.

He gave her a shy grin at her comment about fate. It would have been quite cruel if his mother hadn't understood. He thought about it every once in a while and promptly changed the subject. He was grateful that the woman decided to change it for him.

"Oh?" He blushed slightly at the invitation. "Well I didn't have plans for much of anything. I kind of just came to the region on a whim." Well, he came to the region because of the water. "Would it be rude of me to follow you home?"

(( OOC: Oi, sorry it took so long. Horatio is being a ditz. ))

[Nako]

Her paddle dug into the water to slow her forward speed, turning around in the boat to face him. "Not at all! Ya even welcome to climb in the boat if you wish.. or swim. No difference to me.

Hm... on a whim. Well, it -was- a vacation spot. Weren't vacations supposed to be somewhat whimsical? Probably so. The only vacations Zuberi found herself having were ones she took to the Court of Hearts to visit friends... and the Courts wasn't exactly her ideal place to relax.

She pushed her boat along, but not paddling so quick if the penguin decided to jump in. "I'll tell ya, I don' think I've seen a penguin in person before now! So aqua-dynamic! Me father was part seagull, but has nothin' on you!" Zuberi herself had an advantage over some Midori; she inherited webbed feet, but her wings themselves made for excellent swimming limbs.

[Kari Muffin]

"Thank you very much for the offer, but I will definitely swim," he said cheerfully. Water was his everything. And he swam along on his back besides the boat. He wanted to look at the woman while she was talking, and he didn't want to swim too fast and lose her.

Not many people had seen penguins before. There just seemed to be very few around. In fact... he had never seen any full blooded penguins like himself before. It was just luck of the draw he supposed. But she was related to a seagull? That was pretty amazing in his book. "I haven't seen many full blooded penguins myself. My mom was only a part penguin herself, never expect me to pop out a pure blooded water lover." He grinned, "To be honest I've never met a seagull before. I guess it's just another sort of bird that isn't very common. Either way it's nice to be around water lovers regardless of the species."

What exactly was the woman anyway? If her father was part seagull... than was she? But she had bat wings. That was really strange.

[Nako]

"Aye. They seem to be pretty rare, even along the shore. Come to think of it.. I think his seagull father wasn't even a Midori. I never met them myself." Zuberi said conversationally, rowing to keep up with the penguin. He was -wicked- fast in the water! She had thought she'd had a leg up on some Midori with her wings. This guy would probably blow her out of the water, binding or no.

"I was always a little jealous that I didn't inherit his wings.. or any seagull for that matter. I'm all squirrel, like my mother.. and her mother, actually. But I can't complain." She extended her right hand to show off her webbing; being a Midori had its perks for aquatic living. But enough about her; she really didn't consider her life particularly.. interesting on most days.

"So, were ya born and raised in Torquehelm?

[Kari Muffin]

A squirrel? That was pretty rare. He'd never met any vermin before. The penguin paused in his motions for a moment at the thought. So those wings certainly weren't a born mutation were they? "You're the first squirrel I've ever met then," he said cheerfully.

The question didn't phase him really as he glanced back at the woman and the ball that was bobbing as he swam. "Yes, I was. I grew up in a rather small village. Small enough that we had to go to the next town over to shop for groceries and use the public pool. I do wish I lived in a place like this when I was younger. I probably wouldn't have felt as out of place. A lot of Torquehelm's aren't fond of swimming... bindings get in the way more often than not."

But Mom had been amazing.

"And I can assume you've lived here all your life?"

[Nako]

"Aye. My family's lived on this beach and in this village for several generations." Zuberi cheerfully affirmed.

The beach was getting closer, and she was undeniably glad for this fact; her torn left hand was pretty much useless for rowing and was beginning to cramp from merely attempting to assist her right hand. Zuberi slowed her paddling a bit, letting the waves help carry her in.

"I guess I lucked out on most t'ings as far as living in a small town goes. The pool is always right in ye back yard, and the food is grown locally!" Oh yes... Zuberi had a lot of pride in her town. Aside from a few things that just -wouldn't- grow in their soul, they were able to cultivate almost everything they needed. It was a perfect place to live. So perfect that she loved it and hated it all at the same time, if that was even possible.