He had suspected her answer before he made his inquiry, but courtesy called for her to be given all options. Stoic lips quirked up into a smile as she pointed at the door and he tilted his head in agreement, waiting for her to disentangle herself from the hammock before leading the way, swimming leisurely now but still taking care to keep her within the range of his ring's power.
There was a public garden, filled with coral and flowering underwater plants bedded in swirling, sweeping patterns with nary a hard corner in sight. The flowers tended to be small but the brightly colored fish that darted among them were often startling in their hues and patterns; mobile 'flowers' that lived within the park.
There was a market that stretched up several 'stories' with shops open to the ocean and merfolk swimming not only between shops on the same level but rising or descending to vendors on different levels. Jewelry of pearl and amber and scale and bone was on display, as well as utilitarian harnesses such as Hadama wore for attaching various tools and pouches; fancier flowing garments woven from seaweed fibers; food vendors; sellers of fine bags and containers; hammocks such as the ones in Dama's home, and decorations of polished black driftwood and shell.
The Underwater City was unlike Haulani in many ways, but the people there - though they had fins - were going about their day, buying necessities and trinkets and food and furnishings, or else running errands or working at those jobs that were necessary beneath the waves.
The City was lit in an eternal twilight, but after a few hours of swimming Hadama motioned to Melita that it was time to leave for the day. Her presence had caused a stir everywhere they had gone; some good, some bad, and most neutrally wary of the stranger in their midst. But no one had picked a fight and nothing had been destroyed and it seemed like a good time to end the visit while things were still on a high note.
There was a public garden, filled with coral and flowering underwater plants bedded in swirling, sweeping patterns with nary a hard corner in sight. The flowers tended to be small but the brightly colored fish that darted among them were often startling in their hues and patterns; mobile 'flowers' that lived within the park.
There was a market that stretched up several 'stories' with shops open to the ocean and merfolk swimming not only between shops on the same level but rising or descending to vendors on different levels. Jewelry of pearl and amber and scale and bone was on display, as well as utilitarian harnesses such as Hadama wore for attaching various tools and pouches; fancier flowing garments woven from seaweed fibers; food vendors; sellers of fine bags and containers; hammocks such as the ones in Dama's home, and decorations of polished black driftwood and shell.
The Underwater City was unlike Haulani in many ways, but the people there - though they had fins - were going about their day, buying necessities and trinkets and food and furnishings, or else running errands or working at those jobs that were necessary beneath the waves.
The City was lit in an eternal twilight, but after a few hours of swimming Hadama motioned to Melita that it was time to leave for the day. Her presence had caused a stir everywhere they had gone; some good, some bad, and most neutrally wary of the stranger in their midst. But no one had picked a fight and nothing had been destroyed and it seemed like a good time to end the visit while things were still on a high note.
