Chrys's eyes widened slightly as words appeared on Amun's palm. Then she looked at it with great interest. To his first question, she nodded. The next was a bit more difficult to answer without speaking. With a slight furrow of her brows, Chrys tilted her head.
Thinking about how to reply best, Chrys followed Amun to the top of the kelp forest. Then, a figurative lightbulb over her head, she took two pieces of kelp out of her satchel. One, she handed to Amun. The other she pointed at, then proceeding to take a bite from it and eat it. Looking at Amun, she watched his reaction.
As Chrys followed Amun to the top of the kelp forest, he kicked backwards a bit to make room. Of course, this led to more of the fronds wrapping around his limbs. Brow furrowing, he pulled himself loose, in some cases ripping the top off a strand of the plant.
Any of the loose tips he'd severed, he'd try to collect. As the mermaid mimed eating at the potter, he gave her a thumbs up. Folding his own pieces of kelp into as compact a bundle as he could manage, he slipped them into his belt pouch. Then he lifted his palm again. Where to now?
Where to now? That was a good question. At first, Chrys just shrugged. Then, after a moment of thinking, she patted the satchel she had stored the kelp in. For now, she had what she had come here for.
Tilting her head slightly, she pointed in the direction they had come from, back to the boat. Then she pointed further into the kelp forest. Raising one index finger, as if to command attention, she then pointed at the kelp forest again, then at her eyes with the index and middle finger of her hand, then back to the kelp forest.
Amun frowned as Chrys started pointing. Looking in the direction they'd come from, he looked down at the kelp forest. Then down at the kelp forest again when she kept indicating it. Shrugging as best he could while continuing to tread water, he raised his plam. I got the first part.
With that, he kicked off. Again he twisted his body so he was at an angle from the direction he was moving, creating as little surface area as possible for the water to drag against. His strokes were even and regular as he did his best to get back to the boat. Once there, he'd follow the mermaids instructions and lead so they could finish what they'd come for.
Heading back to the boat together with Amun, Chrys emerged to the surface once they arrived. [say]"Not being able to talk to you is really difficult."[/say] She furrowed her brows for a moment, but then she laughed. [say]"But it was fun too."[/say]
Then she shrugged. [say]"I meant to say, we can either go back or further inside the kelp forest. It's dangerous in there though."[/say] Another shrug. [say]"Some things like to hide in there and wait for prey to come by."[/say]
Patting her satchel again, she continued. [say]"I have what I need, so we can do whatever you'd like better."[/say]
As they surfaced, Amun checked around them. Spotting his boat, he swam towards the boat he'd tied to the side. When he reached it, he rested his forearms on it. [say]"It's not my favorite. I actually got cursed to only be able to communicate backwards once."[/say] He grimaced.
Nodding at Chrys' explanation, he stared into the depths for a moment. Then he titled his head back and examined the moon in the sky above. It had clearly shifted and he sighed. [say]"As fun as lurking monsters sounds, I should probably be heading back soon. But if you ever want to see me again, send a note to Amun Arlun in the Hollowed Ground."[/say] Inclining his head to her, he started climbing the ropes to get to the deck above.
Chrys chuckled at the thought. [say]"That must have sounded funny."[/say] Then she tilted her head slightly. [say]"Though curses are usually for a reason."[/say] For a moment, she looked at him with slightly furrowed brows, before shrugging.
[say]"Sure, I'll do that!"[/say] she said with a wide grin. [say]"You can always send a message to me too. Not sure how to do that though."[/say] And she raised both arms while shrugging again. [say]"But maybe I'll find a good way in the future!"[/say] Watching Amun climb up the ropes to the deck, Chrys waited until he reached the top. Once she saw him look down to her again, she gave him a little wave before disappearing below the surface.
FIN
