Calaistas

Day Seven

Leandrios was uncomfortable with his own scent. They had been walking for days before they had stopped at the outpost, and he had been so exhausted that night he hadn't used the amenities. Apart from occasionally pouring water over his head or hands, he hadn't cleaned himself up since... he didn't really want to admit when.

It was like a gift from some kindhearted higher power when he heard the sound of water just before they camped that night.

"I'm going to go find that stream," Leandrios told C.

She nodded, sinking down to the ground gracefully.

Leandrios retraced their footsteps, listening for any signs of gurgling. He found the brook soon enough, and when he did, he bent over and dunked his head in the water. It was cold, but it felt good. He started to follow the stream out of curiosity. Maybe he would find some other traveler or wanderer camped by the water source.

As he followed it, the trees started to thin, and Leandrios realized the stream came from a pond. He stood on the bank, smiling at the darkening night. There was still light here where the trees weren't blocking it out. The sky was pink and orange and strangely white.

Without wasting another minute, Leandrios dropped his bag and shrugged off most of his clothes. He waded into the water. It wasn't warm, but he didn't mind. The muddy bottom fell out and soon he was treading water. He dove under the surface, squeezing his eyes shut. Something about water in his eyes had always bothered him. When he came up again, he breathed deeply and wiped his face.

He relaxed, looking up at the open sky, listening to the sound of the small waterfall that spilled into the pond. There was probably a much bigger river feeding the water source, but Leandrios hadn't traveled very much around here before. He didn't know where there were forests or rivers. Well, now he knew where there were forests; more than he wanted.

The water felt better than he had hoped, but he knew he shouldn't stay away too long. C might worry. The thought made him smile wryly, and he started swimming for shore. He was holding his head up out of the water to keep it out of his eyes when he noticed something.

Near the waterfall where the water was churning, something was moving. Not just bubbles. Something was there. A frog? It disappeared again, and he waited. He waited until he thought he was imagining things before it popped up again, right in the same spot. It didn't look like a frog.

Carefully, Leandrios started swimming toward whatever it was. He got closer and it disappeared again. He was close enough to know that if it was there, it was right there. But it was underwater. He couldn't see underwater. Grumbling, he slowly submerged, cracking his eyes open. The water was lapping against his eyeballs, making him wriggle his shoulders in discomfort, but he saw something in the water. Something that floated right by him, and he reached out and grabbed it.

It was... weird. It was so weird he let go of the slimy thing, accidentally opening his mouth and letting the water rush in. He surfaced, sputtering and coughing and trying to get the water out of his eyes.

That's when he heard it. Laughter. At first, he didn't know what it was, but then the gentle drizzle of sound turned into a thunderclap. Then it was gone again, and he floated there, blinking at a female face.

Her mouth was wide in a smile. It was hard to notice anything when there was so much to see. She had blue-green skin, almost turquoise but almost blue, and her ears—what were those? And her eyes! They were—they were weird. Brown but purple, and not purple but blue, except they were orange. It didn't make sense. That wasn't even a color.

"What's the matter, Manandoran?" she said, blinking those strange eyes slowly, and he squinted to look closer. Did she even have eyelids? They looked more like butterfly wings. Antennae instead of eyelashes. "Never had a girl slip through your fingers before?"