Snippet #2183222

A lone figure walked barefoot on the dusty path, leaving faint three toed tracks. These tracks hinted at being left by feet both longer and wider than a human's and in some of them discreet evidence of webbing between the toes could be found. Between these footprints a wavy line meandered, sometimes scuffing out a footprint. Various small creatures watched the figure fearfully but curiously. The slowly moving figure moved slowly and smelled different. He smelled of the sea.

Sirken Aquis wasn't aware of his timid observers. He had once been extremely curious about the flora and fauna of land but now his interest had dulled some. They weren't really radically different than sea animals. There were the hunters, the prey, and the scavengers in both worlds. In some ways life was surprisingly similar. Yet in more ways life was dramatically different. People lived in buildings and ate food cooked over a fire. Sirken had eaten cooked food for the first time when he stopped at an inn. He didn't really like the taste too much. Perhaps it was something that was aquired. While fire and its uses were helpful to land dwellers to someone who had spent their whole life underwater without fire the element seemed dangerous and unpredictable.

Yes, I like raw meat better than cooked meat, even if it is the strange flesh of land animals. He couldn't find himself becoming dependent on fire. He planned on coming back home eventually after he found out what this was all about. On land he was awkward and clumsy, a near literal fish out of water. In the ocean his body was graceful and fluid as the liquid around it.

The place his dreams had shown him was close. He could sense it. He slapped his finned tail on the ground in irritation. Why did land dwellers wear clothes? They were scratchy and they chafed. In the ocean Kelpers didn't wear anything except scars, tattoos, and facial expressions. Tails made clothes hard to fit, especially the broadly finned tails of Kelpers.

He reached the clearing his dreams had indicated. A land dweller of some sort was eating dried meat. That was another thing that wasn't in the ocean. Dry didn't exist, everything was wet.

Sirken took a whole fish out his pack and causually bit its head off. It wasn't a really big fish and it was rather drably colored. The muddied green of this particular river fish was bland in comparison to the ocean's flavorful variety. He finshed it up in three more bites. He chewed very little; a Kelper's mouth was made for cutting food into pieces that were easy to swallow, not grind them up into some sort of mush.

He glanced at the humanoid who was near him. There was something inhuman in him, Sirken thought, although he was by no way an expert on land dwellers. On an impulse Sirken walked over to the humanoid and said, "Hello. My name is Sirken. What is yours?" He held out a hand to shake, a custom he had learned that many types of land dwellers had for a greeting.

---

"Merglin, make sure that Kenstae does not even try to bully his cousin to give up her dowry. The girl should start making her own decisions, by the Teeth." The red haired young man said to the older one. Merglin nodded, looking down from his relatively great height. Merglin towered above most people, even his liege's human form. Not that the Beast of the South's human form was particularily tall, but the knowledge that Inx was an enormous horned horsy creature at heart would make one expect that he was taller as a human.

"Oh, remember to have Trent released. The thief's been in prison for just the right time, I think," Inx said. The amount of time criminals should serve was a tricky problem. You didn't want them to be release too soon or you would be viewed as soft or, even worse, you might look like you were endorsing crime. But you didn't want to keep them in too long, either, because then it would be unjust. People did deserve second chances.

"And-"

"Inx, shouldn't you get on the road already? Don't worry. My memory isn't that bad. You did give me a meticulously written out list of things to do. I'll check it every morning. Now get out there and find a magic stablizer, for heaven's sake," Merglin said. The big man nearly winced at the thought of Inx's unstable powers burning up another precious document.

"Yes, I suppose I should. Don't forget anything, Merglin." Inx had to bite his tongue to stop himself from prattling on. The young beast set off on the road to the Place of Meeting. He started running and his form blurred and shifted into his true one: a white-hot Kirin. He galloped away from the only home he had ever known to the mystery of the future. What would his mate be like? He was eager to find out. Truthfully he didn't expect to get along too well with his mate. He didn't know many people not from Avco who would want to live in a volcano. Time will tell.