Summary:
November 28 2014: Rowan and Mera speak of memories of other places
Atlantic Ocean
Near a Blue trading settlement, 20 miles outside Atlantis.
Characters
NPCs
- None
Mood Music:
[* None]
Rowan is out to sea today, swimming far and deep along the ocean. He's not going anywhere in particular though he is in the general vecinity of Atlantis. This far out and this deep there are signs of civilization rather than the endless expanse of nothing that most of the ocean floor contains. The Blue seems happy to be in his natural environment though he is a bit distracted thinking once again of home and his people and how, really, other than Aspen who he hasn't seen in weeks, he hasn't seen a single one of his kind since he got here.
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Mera is in the area as well, checking in with the local authorities to see how communities in the region are doing in terms of food, security.. the usual things. As attuned as she has become to Rowan's mind, she can sometimes pick up stray thoughts or impressions from a fair distance without meaning to, and she pauses with a faint frown as she finds herself wondering about Xebel, the home she long since left behind. Why would she…? Oh. ~ Rowan. ~
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~Majesty?~ Rowan thinks back. The fact that the Sea Queen can read him so easily should worry him but it doesn't. Mera's been kind, supportive and rather curious about the surface world herself. He looks in the direction of the nearest settlement. It's about five or six miles away. Is she there, he wonders.
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~Yes.~ She explains to the Blue briefly why she's in the area, then adds that she's nearly done with her tasks and can meet him nearby if he likes. ~I am a little surprised that you are this far into the ocean. What brings you here?~
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~Nostalgia.~ Rowan replies and he begins swimming to a rocky outcropping outside the town. ~The Ocean had been my home for a long time. And I had not taken the time to see how things have changed underwater the way I have at the surface world.~ The Blue shrugs not that Mera can see him.
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Mera finishes speaking with the local leaders, then takes her leave and heads out of the town in the direction she thinks Rowan would be coming from. ~Is there a particular area you would like to see? Perhaps we can visit one or two.~
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~There… used to be a Blue settlement just outside of Atlantis. Twenty miles or so. I don't suppose…~ Rowan looks in that direction and then back waving to signal the Sea Queen and noting the lack of an honor guard again.
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Mera disposed with the honor guard almost as soon as it was imposed on her. Luckily, Arthur didn't argue with her about it. She swims toward Rowan and stops near him, dispensing with the telepathic communication now that they're within comfortable earshot. "Of course you may. We can go now, if you like."
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Rowan nods and begins to swim in that direction. He's not sure the village exists in this reality. It did in his because of the close wartime ties between the Blue and Atlanteans. Here… well… He's just not sure. The Blue seem at once both more independant and more insular here.
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Mera chats while they travel, as they're moving quickly, but not so much so that they can't converse. "I think I know the settlement you are asking about. It's not so much a village as a trading outpost, but there are several families that live there full time." She is quiet for a moment before adding, "Did you have family or friends in the settlement on your world?"
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"Yes…" Rowan nods. It'll be a bit before they reach the settlement and he's not in any huge hurry. "Though… I can't remember who. Only that I spent a lot of time here with… people who were not… soldiers." The Blue isn't at all sure what that means, though.
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Mera ahs. She inwardly hopes that no one currently there is familiar to Rowan, because just the thought of seeing someone he knows and have them see him as a complete stranger… It would be a very saddening thing, she thinks. "Are there any food stuffs you've been wanting to try again, perhaps? The outpost often has very unusual fare, some from the deepest parts of the ocean."
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"Deep Squid bits…" Rowan smiles a little. "I always enjoyed them and we never really had time to go to the Abyss and get them…"
He slows to a cruise and pulls up short as the village comes into sight, looking over it with that small little smile. "Do you ever… miss home Majesty?"
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Mera stops when Rowan does and takes only a moment to consider that question. "No. I did at first, but after spending actually a very short time here, I started noticing the differences, the little ones. That normal, everyday citizens were actually considerate of each other, were willing to help each other, even greet each other… it was almost the polar opposite of what I grew up with. And it was, I suppose, like seeing the first plankton blooms of spring after a nearly endless winter. Having grown up around so warlike a mindset, the peace was," she looks around briefly, "it was enthralling."
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Rowan chuckles a little. "I find it… slow. It's like the rest of the world is a glacial ice flow and I'm stuck in some kind of fast moving current." He has a common soldier problem, getting out of that fight or flight mindset.
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Mera can actually relate to that to some degree. She had that same trouble herself after finding herself in Atlantis with no way of returning to Xebel and keeping her life. "Perhaps you should look into the orca races? I hear they are rather exciting." She's always been a bit leery or orca herself. They seem … bitey, and nothing like any creatures she grew up with.
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Rowan looks over and cants his head. "Orca races?" He's seen orca. The Blue of his world trained them to help hunt and fight. Even modified them to make them more deadly. But races? "What… are they like?"
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"Very fast paced. Potentially dangerous, as they are very large creatures, and the females are as cunning as they are intelligent." She start toward the Blue settlement again, though at a very leisurely pace. "Atlanteans have been crushed, limbs ripped from their bodies by the tow harnesses, and on one instance I remember, eaten."
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"Do your people race the orcas? Or simply watch the orcas race?" Rowan is a bit unclear on this process. It does sound rather exhilerating and dangerous. The two often go hand in hand he's observed. "How did such a sport come to be?"
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Mera hesitates at that. "I am honestly not sure. The orca are most certainly still wild, but I think they understand that it's a sport. Part of the event is picking an orca and getting a tow harness attached before anyone else and without getting attacked by one of the pod."
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Rowan chuckles a little. "Sounds like a sport soldiers come up with when drunk. Are they regular events? Perhaps I should come see one, just to say I've seen it. We had… precious little time for such diversions on my world." The soldier watches the village. They're Blue, no mistake about it. And they all seem so… normal. And content…
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Mera says, "They are. The orca migrate to a partiular area to feed every spring, and that's when the event usually takes place." She looks at the Blue settlement as well, inwardly glad to see it so peaceful there. "If you like, I'll make sure you are listed among next spring's participants.""
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"I think I might like though I suppose I'll have to practice a bit." His ability to get around the water without shapeshifting is a bit limited. "Do you come here often your Majesty? How did a settlement of my people come to be so deep in your Kingdom??
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Mera nods at that. "Then I will be sure to put your name on the lists. It will make quite the sensation." She looks at the settlement again. "Not as often as I should, probably. And, how else would a settlement of Blue come to live here so peacefully?" She smiles. "Arthur."
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"Ah… your husband. He is a great believer in unity, isn't he?" Rowan asks quietly, still watching. In some ways he's hoping he'll see a familiar face. And in others he's hoping he won't. "To bring so many into his kingdom knowing that there are so many others out there who would not return the favor."
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Mera says, "He is, yes. Though I cannot sat that that is a bad trait, considering the good that I have seen come from the things he has done here." She watches the community and all of it citizens just as Rowan does, though without his wistfulness and dread. "Do you want to go see if they have any Deep squid?""
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The Dragon Warrior nods slowly and seems to get a little life back in him. "Yes… let's. Perhaps you'll like it as well, Majesty." He begins to swim forward again. "Things seem quite peaceful in your kingdom… though it seems, when people talk that there are many enemies. Not quite like the overlords, but…"
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Mera starts forward as well. "Oh, we have our warlike moments, but we are certainly not at war. I've lived that mindset. This a vast improvement." She looks over at Rowan then. "And please. Call me Mera."
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"As have I." Rowan mutters glancing over abit in surprise. He knows this Mera is different than the one he knew, but that wasn't expected. "Er, as you wish Maj- er. Mera. Sorry. I remember doing honor guard for court sessions. Old habit is hard to break."
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Mera smiles amusedly at that. "Then I won't scold you for forgetting." She looks toward the area that is clearly a marketplace. "There. I know that vendor has exotic morsels on occasion."
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