[SE] hitch a ride with someone else

Thalassa

Hit me hard and soft

A colorful string of curses flows from her mouth, faster than the thick, muddy water that laps the side of her ship. She'd hoped the mud would stay on land, but it's made the inexplicable decision to flow into the harbor, clogging the waterways and making it difficult for ships to depart by clinging to their hulls - particularly her ship. 

The crew hustles up on the deck, still trying to prepare for them to set sail despite their obvious delay, trusting that their Captain will take care of it through whatever means possible. Which isn't much right now. Even if she wasn't worried about burning her ship, her fire is as useless as the fishing nets some people try to use. It sizzles over the surface, drying some of the mud but leaving the rest stubbornly in place. And yet, she keeps trying, determined to succeed against the mud. 

Fire skips across the water, seeking patches of brown that float and bob towards The Marauder. It hardens the top before another ripple of ocean spray rehydrates the mud, the blobs taunting her as they resume their efforts. Still, she continues, doing what she can to keep the mud off the side of her ship, her curses sounding almost pretty as they flow. 

*

When enemies are at your door, I'll carry you way from war

”OUTTA THE WAY!!!” comes a loud, desperate cry as Kaisel sprints down the docks. His backpack jostles back and forth behind him, zippers singing haste to a beat set by his boots and the percussion of wood planks. His pants and sweatshirt have seen better days, smeared with mud as if he’d faceplanted into it at this exact speed and came to a skidding halt before popping back up again and continuing as if nothing happened. That isn't what went down, as first he'd been mucking about with wagons and knights (well, one knight), and then he'd been accosted by what a new mess.

That's what he currently has held out in his hands, the new mess.

In his mad pursuit of accessible water, he surely jostles against Thalassa, as he has done to a few folks leading up to here who weren't able to duck out of the way. He only mutters a quick, "sorry!" in passing as he hits his knees near her and suddenly dunks the muddy object he'd been holding out in his hands the whole race here. "You're gonna be okay, don't worry don'tworry don'tworrydon'tworry," he tells the thing he's actively drowning, or at least doing a poor job baptising.

The crease of concentration and shadowed lines of concern gradually ease up into solid bewilderment. With the best impersonation of a raccoon trying to wash cotton candy, Kaisel's hands lift from the wayer, empty. The assumed dog, so coated in mud no fur could be found but he judged it as such based on general shape, friendliness, and movement, seems to have just been memory mud playing at fido. It's now become part of the muddy soup that is the current waterline here.

Kaisel

If you need help, I'll shut down the city lights

Thalassa

Hit me hard and soft

Even with the warning, the dock isn't wide enough to avoid the panicked man. She only barely manages to pull her tail out of the way, the tip snapping with irritation when his elbow shoves into her back. With a threatening growl of frustration, Thal turns and nearly lights his hair on fire, until she notices that he's obviously distraught - and an idiot. 

She watches as the mud dissolves in his hands, the 'creature' turning the water darker and murkier, much like her mood. Her eyes narrow dangerously, her voice dripping with dark sarcasm. "Great job. You saved it." Smoothing out the scales on her tail like fur along her haunches, Thal flashes her fangs at him. "If you get the urge to be a hero again, pick a different harbor."

When enemies are at your door, I'll carry you way from war

Still reeling from the rollercoaster of finding a dog, falling into distress over the state of the dog, and then thinking he'd murdered the dog only to find he'd been betrayed by mud, Kaisel remains kneeling in a state of mild shock. Mud-coated hands curl over the dock, and wordlessly he stares into the depths, mourning something that never even was. "I really thought..." he says quietly, trailing off because it doesn't matter now.

Glancing over his shoulder at Thal, he huffs out a quiet breath, straightening up a touch. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind next time," he mutters, rising back to his feet slowly. He attempts to wipe some of the grime off his clothing, and that which had been given to him via mud-fido wriggles in protest as it hits the dock. "Man, you guys really got swamped here," he notes, glancing at the murky water, although he doesn't know what it normally looks like, but the state of her ship and the idle work of her crew suggests, not this. "Do you need help, with your mud problem? I got a weapon could help peel some of the mud off, or just some hands and strength to pitch in." He is sorry for bumping into her, and he's already covered in mud, so what's a little more?

"Looks like you got a mixture of memory mud holding you like glue, and general muck build up."

Kaisel

If you need help, I'll shut down the city lights

Thalassa

Hit me hard and soft

When the man's crestfallen face turns towards her, Thal realizes that she recognizes him from Danta's recent birthday party. She'd still never gotten his name - not when the party had fallen apart so quickly - but doesn't care to ask right now, blue eyes narrowing with continued annoyance at the delay. 

Clenching her teeth, she summons the fire back to her fingertips to point out the brown that infects her usually blue waters. "Don't know that a weapon will do anything, but you might as well help fix the mess you added to." The flames lick down her fingers, spreading to the surface of the water again to harden what portions she can. A huff of breath escapes, her fire echoing the ripple of air as it swirls in search of the mud. "Yeah. It's a pain in the ass. Worse than getting your wagon wheel stuck." At least if her wagon got stuck, the dirt wouldn't have a chance to rehydrate and continue the fight, unlike how it lightens into a dry dirt then darkens to mud again, mocking her efforts.

When enemies are at your door, I'll carry you way from war

He'd thought maybe his chakram could shave off mud that her boat's stuck to, like chipping off ice with a pick. However, as she more clearly points out, it's nothing so tangible as that, just the swell of mud within the water. "Well, I'm all outta channels or I'd get someone with water or earth magic for you, but I can hop in and help try and trench you out?" No easy task if the ground's not at standing height below. "Or can secure some kind of drag line?" Maybe not netting, but a finer mesh to let the water through and hold up the mud. He's really just a set of hands, not a tool himself.

For what it's worth, he does grab his chakram from his backpack and jabs into the murky water a bit, testing out the viscosity. From his seat on the dock he tries to sweep the muddy water towards him, lifting the muck in scoopfuls that feels like trying to bail out a boat in a monsoon. The attempts do create a nice little mud-man beside him though, his shape gradually oozing just into a solid mass instead of three differing circles, forced down by gravity's weight and all the water still inbetween the gathered soil. "Does this thing not fly?" he wonders of her ship, glancing up at it as he does his best job scooping up mud from the waterline.

Kaisel

If you need help, I'll shut down the city lights

Thalassa

Hit me hard and soft

Not a fan of 'help' in general, Thal doesn't know how she would feel if the man called a demigod to clear out the mud. Sure, it would be a quick fix, but roping someone into fixing a problem they're already present for is different than ripping someone to their side and begging them to solve their issues. It makes her all the more relieved that he can't do anything, tail flicking to the side as she continues the futile efforts of drying the watery mud. "There's some mosquito netting over there." Perhaps it would be thin enough to filter out the water. 

His question has her blue gaze flickering to her ship, instinctually scanning its exterior for imperfections to catalogue for repair. Spotting nothing more than some scrapes and a few barnacles, Thal shakes her head, dark waves of hair cascading around her face and horns. "No. I have wings of my own, and nothing can beat the open waters." Not that she hasn't thought about it, so she shrugs her shoulders when she adds cryptically, "But maybe one day."

Thal guides another assault of fire across the water, huffing a breath when it does little more than lighten the water. "You got that netting yet?" She'd prefer to get out of her before the sun sets. 

*

When enemies are at your door, I'll carry you way from war

Consider him spoiled by all the skyships he's accustomed to for general travel and then the Sugartide's dual nature. "Huh," he says simply in response to being told this is just a regular ship. "You wouldn't happen to be in the market of giving sailing lessons, woulda ya?" He glances her way mid-scooping mud from the water with his hands and weapon, feeling rather like he's doing as much work as sweeping a dirt road does. She doesn't exactly scream nice and easy-going sailing instructor, but honestly he's used to being barked at after all his sergeants have been doing so for years, and if she can't fly her ship then there's no risk of her mixing up her info. "I'm Kaisel, btw (said like bee tee dubs), I don't think I mentioned that earlier." He'd been preoccupied with dogs that aren't dogs.

Shaking away some mud from his hand, and dipping his weapon in the murky water to try and get it clean-ish, he rises back to his feet. "That could work!" The mosquito netting will still let some mud through, especially with it so saturated with water, but with enough speed, force, and drag length, they'd collect enough mud to at least begin to get a better amount of it free. Trotting over to the place she nodded to, her hands busy with moving fire around, he snags it up and jumps feet first over the dock and into the waterways. Looping one end around the dock, with the help of some of her crew, they unfurl the mesh and get it underwater. Focusing on the area immediately around her ship, he pulls the mesh in front of it, looking for a moment like the ribbon of a finish line. Once in position, he swims hard and fast, curling the mesh back around towards the dock, and the shore. The crew has to keep helping him, especially because as they go and more mud builds benind the material, it becomes heavy and threatens to fall away and spill back into the water if they don't move with purpose.

Well, this will be his gym for the day.

Kaisel

If you need help, I'll shut down the city lights

Thalassa

Hit me hard and soft

The next question isn't one she'd expected, her eyebrow raising when she looks back at him. "I could," she pauses with a shrug of her shoulders, "for a price." Between training Spook and some of the other sailors to the point of independent work, she's fairly confident in her ability to teach someone the trade. Whether or not they like her methods is another matter. Still, she tilts her head, a frequent expression of suspicion pinching her eyes despite the lack of perceived threat. "Why? You know someone looking to learn?"

Her attention returns to the magic she weaves over the water's surface, only distracted by the delayed introduction. She doesn't look up, although she makes note of the name and reciprocates her own in a monotonous note. "Thalassa." Until he's jumping into action, grabbing nets, and giving orders.

Preferring to check with their Captain before leaving their current work (a smart move on their part), the sailors glance her way for the delayed nod of approval that sends them bustling to get the job done. She pauses in her fire, watching the efforts with a scrutinizing scowl. It is working, although she can't understand why this man has chosen to get in the water when there is plenty of dock space; and even with her sailors helping, they all appear to be struggling, making it slow work. 

Huffing another breath, she shakes her head. "This is going to take forever." The mutter has barely left her lips when skin ripples into dark blue-black scales, her tail and horns becoming larger as wings sprout from her back in a flutter of velvety membranous skin. Her face extends into a snout, vicious fangs sending a few workers on the dock running, especially when a growl rumbles from her chest. Her own crew is familiar with her shift, acknowledging it with a healthy level of caution but otherwise continuing the work. 

Thal doesn't bother to clear the space around her before extending her wings and taking off. Loose debris flies into the water, caught in the netting as she hovers low and grabs the material delicately between her claws. It stretches tighter, straining against the weight of the thickening mud when she assists in pulling it farther from her ship. The water is still a light brown, but it's looking better than it had a moment ago.

*

When enemies are at your door, I'll carry you way from war

"Yeah!" Kaisel says brightly, happy to learn he has some other options available besides the grumpy instructor in Torchline. "Me," he chirps just before splashing into the muddy waters. Never one to mind dirty work, and already plenty grunged up from his previous efforts with mud around here, he opts for what will be the quickest way to get the net where he needs it. If the ship can't properly sail due to all the mud surrounding it, then his goal is to drag free a pathway, clearing out enough mud for enough time that she can find her freedom again.

Taking all the mud out of this much water is no simple task, and what they remove will eventually fill with mud from other parts of the water, flow trying to find a balance amongst itself. For a small period of time though, before the waters mix and the muddier parts seep back in, the area they clear will be the most mud-free, and that's her time to get the hell out of here. That's all great in theory, but the practice of trying to drag increasingly gathered mud on the mesh, fighting water resistance and gravity, proves exhausting.

Silently his eyes widen as he watches her shift, gaze tracking her as she launches skyward into something dragon-adjacent. "Whoa," he breathes, grinning stupidly with a fond appreciation for the form in such close proximity, and then for the relief of its strength adding to the efforts as the lyvern makes lighter work of the drag line. "Hell yeah!" he whoops up at her, the only breath he can spare before him and the others are struggling to shove the muddy haul onto the docks and against the bank, relieving the mesh of the earthy capture.

Sighing loudly, Kaisel glances back towards the boat and the churning waters there. "Again!"m he suggests, grabbing hold of a section of the fine netting and wading back in, swimming easier now without the weight until he help drop the mesh back in place, against the water near her ship. Rinse and repeat, just like the back of the shampoo bottle says, and before long he's heaving to cart more captured mud aground.

Kaisel

If you need help, I'll shut down the city lights

Thalassa

They created the monster

Her wings flap slow to maintain altitude, heavy bursts of air catching beneath them in a powerful display of natural control. She doesn't need his awe or approval, but the angle of her horns coincidentally lifts a little higher, her blue eyes glittering like sapphires of pride and amusement. 

The netting bulges against the weight of the mud, becoming denser with each gained distance. Men strain their muscles, worried about losing their grips or footing, but she holds steady, more concerned with the tension on the netting than her own strength. Luckily, the net holds and they manage to pull it close enough to shore that it bonds with the other earthen matter there, only the edge oozing back into the harbor in an attempt to join the mud that remains after their initial sweep. Thal swivels her reptilian head back towards Kaisel, watching as he speaks the words she's thinking. 

Clutching the mosquito net between her claws, she drags it back towards her ship, leading the charge to clear the water. Only when they've made a few more passes does the water begin to improve to the point that her ship should be safe to depart. With a low grumble of command, she pulls the netting up the bank where she secures it over a dock post to hold the majority of the mud in place. 

With the ease of someone stepping out of a jacket, Thal shifts, not even breaking stride as her boots clip across the dock. She nods her head to Kaisel and the crew, power and lethality still radiating from her in the low grumble of her voice. "That should be enough."

*

and then asked why I bite.

When enemies are at your door, I'll carry you way from war

He crawls up the bank after the last sweep of netted mud is tugged ashore. Fighting to keep his head above water and shove an increasingly resistant haul of sludge is such an effective workout that his bones themselves feel sapped, and for a moment all he can do is curl over a pile of mud and breathe. Gods, no one tell his commander about this or they'll all be doing it by next week.

Around him her crewmembers begin to regain their own strength and return to order, the mud not the only thing on their to-do list for setting sail. Still dripping wet and now so thoroughly awash with mud it looks like an out of season tan, he wearily pushes himself back to his full height and feet. Gathering enough air for volume, his chest lifts with the effort. "I'll write you about those lessons!" he calls down to the dock to her, waving at Thalassa as she too resumes her delayed departure. It's part of why he's utterly unruffled by her lack of gratitude. That and he had nearly knocked her into the water, for no reason (he later realized), but mainly because one does not help purely to be thanked. Although, he's in desperate need of a shower now, and since Flora is always so fond of taking one together, he knows exactly who he needs to hunt down in town and give a great big hug to. Grinning to himself, he turns and saunters back into the heart of the city where his love has been busy shopping, happy to tell her all about his day's adventures mid-lather and more.

[FIN]

Kaisel

If you need help, I'll shut down the city lights