Night swimming [Day 9 EN, open]

[Ko]

Stars, moon, and the dark-adapted eyes of a people for whom artificial light is a carefully husbanded luxury were more than enough for Ko to find her way to the waterfall pool. It The falls were unearthly-pretty, dressed in their own spray in the long late-spring dusk and the early moonlight. That is, as long as she looked away from the darker-than-dark to the south, where no stars shone.

Ko crouched at the top of the falls for a few minutes, closing her eyes and trying to find some reminder of the sound of surf in the waterfall's noise. It wasn't there. The falls had their own music, though, even if it wasn't quite the kind her homesick ears were craving.

At night at this time of year the bay back home would be sparkling with tiny spirit-lights anywhere the water rippled. Everyone loved to swim with the sea-sparks, Isora's merriment made manifest. Ko hadn't been swimming in weeks and weeks--not counting the Crab Clan's 'bath house,' which was pleasant but not exactly the same thing--and she knew it was probably foolish, but...

Pale as a fish, a sleek figure leaped from the top of the waterfall feet-first, leaving a small pile of clothes behind on a flat rock at the top.

--
D9 EN--Diving! Athletics/Agi TN15, 1 raise for in the dark.: 6d10o10k4 24
Dive safely without damage (except for that other thing).

[Jiyo Ayumu]

The day was still not over for Ayumu, who still had to take his patrol shift. At least he should be able to take some rest soon.

He had taken positioned on the riverbank at bottom of the waterfall, to watch the cave where a thing was found early on, in case something else was to come out of it.

And, then, suddenly, he heard a big splash not far from his position.

[Ko]

The splash was followed by a hissed intake of breath, then a bit more splashing, then... quiet.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

Seeing nothing special in the darkness, Ayumu gripped his yari and waited.

Then he closed his eyes, and started breathing deeply at a slow and too regular to be natural rhythm, trying to open his other senses to compensate for the lack of light.

[Ko]

No bubbles rose to the pond surface for what might seem like... too long. Then there was another splash and a head popped out of the water near the bank of the pool, blowing out air and water and shaking wet hair back from a pale wet face.

Seemed like a normal human head... attached to a normal human.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

While thinking meeting mysterious women bathing alone in the wild is somehow becoming a recurring part of his life, Ayumu cleared his throat and talked softly:

"Hello milady. Do I know you? I'm sorry, in this obscurity, the details of your appearance elude me."

[Ko]

"Mi--uh?" Ko shook her head again in case there was water in her ears. The voice was male, the accent sounded like it came from far away... well, she got some of the gist of it anyway. Bobbing comfortably in the lovely cool water, she lifted a hand above the surface to shove the last stray strands of hair behind her ear, making her face more fully visible, and peered upward into the gloom. "I don't think we really met, but you're with the gods' rescue party too, aren't you?"

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Indeed. I'm from the imperial delegation.

I must warn you that these surroundings aren't safe. People were attacked by a creature in the vicinity of this loch this very day."

[Ko]

"Oh." Ko hugged her knees, causing her head and shoulders to bob at the water's surface. She had no idea what a loch was, but 'creature' and 'attacked' were perfectly clear. "From the woods, or... the water?" She glanced over her shoulder reflexively. "I didn't hear anything weird down there."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"I'm not sure myself. News are surprisingly fast to turn into confusing rumors for such a small group. But I think it had to do with some monster lurking in the water or near the water, that our priests had to purge through the spirits' wrath as normal weapons couldn't hurt it. Jade might have helped too."

As a demonstration, Ayumu showed off his own jade pendant before putting it back behind his clothes and armor.

[Ko]

Ko bobbed out of sight entirely for a few long moments, leaving only the ends of her hair floating like pondweed on the surface of the still water. When she popped up again, open-eyed despite the streaming water, she shook her head. "I don't think there's anything. You said they killed it? Still..." She sighed and let her knees and feet drift upward until she was stretched out floating faceup, revealing the jade pendant that rested against her bare chest in its neat webbing of waxed string. She kicked gently with her feet, propelling herself toward the nearest edge of the pool with easy efficiency.

"It would be really stupid to get killed just for a swim," she grumbled, half to herself, as her outstretched hand found the bank and she began to roll herself upright in the water. "No matter how long it's been. Stupid end to a story."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Sorry to be a killjoy, but, as you said, a swim probably isn't worth your life.

Honestly, it's unclear how much danger there is in the wild around us, and how much of it is natural, and how much are things anathema to jade. Maybe we're overcautious now that our goal is closing by. But better a live chicken than a dead lion.

I'm Ayumu by the way."

[Ko]

"Then I greet you, Ayumu." Ko hauled herself lightly out of the pool. Standing on the moss-covered stone with water dripping around her bare feet, she pressed her palm to her heart, fingers spread. "I name myself Ko."

She shifted her weight and used both hands to gather her hair over her shoulder, gently twisting it into a tail to wring out some of the water. "I don't fear healthy animals this close to camp. We're awfully noisy. But I heard about that deformed dog." She began finger-combing the ends of the tail. "That swamp where they found it was really wrong. I thought it might be the land that made the poor thing that way, though I'm not a spirit-talker. We haven't seen things like that on healthy land... well, not yet, anyway."

It's incumbent upon the narrator to mention that all of Ko's clothes (finger of jade excepted) were still up at the top of the waterfall at this point.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Sadly, we have too little data to make anything but feebly grounded hypotheses on our opponent's moves.

I see you're weaponless. May I offer to escort you to your equipment?"

Ayumu is perfectly unfazed by the situation, as if used to such occurrences.

[Ko]

Ko ran her fingers through once more from crown to ends, then twisted her hair up into a rough knot. Held only by friction, it began a slow unwinding right away, which she ignored. "Thanks, but my things are only just up there." She waved at the top of the short cliff.

After a moment's thought, she added, "Stay right here with that bow you have, if you want to do something. Hand weapons won't be very good on the climb up anyway." Hard to swing a spear when you needed at least one hand for balance. Also, privately, Ko thought it likely this delicate-looking person would be more likely to need protecting himself if something dangerous came along.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"As you wish."

He switched to his bow, notching an arrow. His movements show basic training with that weapon, nothing more.

After a pause, while his eyes wandered upon the river:

"If I may ask, you seemed very disappointed that your swim was interrupted. Am I missing something there?"

[Ko]

Ko had started up the cliff by now, but the path she'd picked switched back away from the waterfall rather than close beside it, so she could still hear Ayumu reasonably well. She glanced back over her shoulder with a shrug. "I like swimming?"

She grabbed a handful of scrub for balance to help her vault up a particularly steep section of trail.

"My home's by the shore. In weather like this we often go swimming at night." The quiet pang of homesickness in her voice might or might not come across at a distance as she nears the top of the hill.

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"Oh? Where are you from? And what is it like? I confess I know little of the sea from personal experience. And the stories I've heard tend to be a bit on the extravagant side, with intrepid explorers, pearl palaces and eight-headed serpents."

[Ko]

"Oh, you have to go out from shore a way for all of that," Ko called from the top of the waterfall. At this distance it was hard to tell whether she was serious or not. She crouched down to pick up her things, briefly disappearing from sight below the shoulders.

Ko eyed the waterfall for a long moment, seriously considering tossing her bundle down a dry part of the cliff and then repeating her earlier dive into the pool. It would be much quicker and more fun than coming back down the trail. But her knives were in the bundle, and their stone blades could break if they landed wrong after falling that far.

Also, Ayumu would probably be judging her the whole time.

With a sigh, she shook out her shirt and kilt and began putting them on, carrying on with their conversation to distract herself from the wistful impulse. "Straight east from the Crab Clan's big village, across the great river and some days' travel past there, right to the end of the peninsula--that's my home. Forest hills to the north of us, marsh to the west, as many fish as we can take from the sound between our place and the sacred island... our life would seem too simple compared to the way those Crab people live, I guess. But it's... ours."

[Jiyo Ayumu]

"There's nothing wrong with a simple life. That's the conclusion a lot of us aspire too. But sometimes you have to deal with a lot of complexity in the short run to make things simpler for everyone in the long one.

Your village doesn't seem easy to access though. How did the call for this expedition reach you?"