New fish in town

A long, broad shape moved with slow grace through the canals or Haulani, unhurried and silent beneath the star-sparkling waters. Flashes of gold glittered from the dark hide of the great ray where the midday sun caught it, and a thick tail of steel-silver hair streamed over its shoulders and back.

Every once in a while it would surface, and the head of a dark-skinned man with vivid green eyes would lift out of the water to look around with quiet curiosity and a thoughtful sort of awe. He would take in the sights and sounds - and smells - of the city, watching the people in their bright clothes on their incomprehensible errands for a little while.

Then he'd dip back under the water again and swim farther along before finding a new place to observe the drylander city from, exploring the canals and learning something new with every stop.

At one of those stops he was caught by the scent of something extraordinary being cooked at a food stall not far from the canal. Fish, dipped in batter and fried in oil, crackled with greasy temptation as customers took paper-wrapped morsels or bamboo skewers of it in exchange for a few small trinkets. He paused even longer than usual, watching the vendor prepare the snack and trade for it with an intent and curious gaze.

It had been a long time since breakfast...

The merman wasn't the only one following the path of the canal that day. Of course, it was more accurate to say that Pihu was following the merman himself: any time one of the aquatic race visited Haulani someone or other was bound to stop and stare and she could usually score something or other while the onlookers were gawking. However, today her goal was a little more lofty.

So, in her raven form, she fluttered along, hopping or flying from rooftop or the top of a stall as needed. When the merman stopped to do some gawking of his own, she watched him out of the corner of her eye, preening as she did. His focus was on a pretty run of the mill food vendor.

Fluffing up her feathers, she hopped from one foot to the other. Then she jumped off the roof and dove towards the stall below. Snatching up a kebab, she deftly dodged the merchant's grabbing hands, croaking at him as she did. Then she beat her wings and shot across to the other side of the canal, where she landed just out of reach of passerby.

Bending down, she tore a piece of flesh from the fish. Then she looked directly at the merman. I could be convinced to share. For a price.

He saw the bird swoop down upon the vendor and watched it fly off with its prize with a stoic expression, but resigned amusement in his eyes. Used to the antics of hels, he wasn't particularly surprised by the thieving creature's actions, but Hadama did lash the whip-like end of his tail as the voice reached out to him. He studied the raven more closely, eyes narrowing in consideration.

"You did not pay him," he said slowly, gesturing towards the food seller who was already grumblingly back at work selling meat to another - paying - customer. "Why should I pay you?" It was a genuine question as Hadama tried to navigate the complexities of drylander transactions, and what was and wasn't considered fair game in Haulani.

Ye may want to keep yer voice down, mate, Pihu chided. Eying the crowd, she flapped her wings before settling back down in a crouch over her ill gotten food. Folks'll start talkin' about lockin' ye in a looney bin if they see ye talkin' te yerself. Though in yer case I guess it'd be a looney tank.

Pausing to let that sink in she bent to peel another slice of flesh off the fish. However, she didn't eat it just yet. Instead, she let it dangle from her mouth and waved it back in forth a bit. 'Two reasons, she drawled. One, cause 'e won't give ye it for free, and somethin' tells me ye won't have as easy a time filchin' it as I did, and ye can't get mine either, what with me bein' up 'ere an' ye bein' down there.

Two, and it's related te the first,  yer gonna have te trade for food, an' I'm willin' te give ye a much better deal than 'e is. With that she tipped her head back and swallowed the morsel.

Hadama considered the raven's words carefully, then tilted his head in confusion. "There are shapechangers on land, too. Is it very strange to speak with one like this?" He seemed genuinely confused and curious in his questions, fascinated by the educational tidbits he was gathering.

"Perhaps. You seem unfamiliar with merfolk magic," he said solemnly, green eyes holding a quiet amusement at the bird's antics. "But I am willing to hear your 'deal.'" He bobbed underwater for a moment, then rose again, pushing his re-wetted hair back. His wide wings continued to move slowly to keep him in place against the canal's gentle current so he could continue to talk to his newfound guide to all things human - or avian, as the case might be.

Pihu snatched another choice tidbit from the fish kebab. Eating this one right away, she dragged the stick the food was on a little farther away from the canal. Aye, there are. But animals far outnumber Attuned, so folks assume most animals are just that. An' that people talkin' to no one in particular are crazy. She croaked again and puffed herself up a bit.

An' ye don't seem familiar with our customs at all, she shot back, flapping her wings in the merman's direction. As he agreed to at least hear her out, she picked up the kebab and held it, hopping a bit closer to him as she did.

It's simple. All it'll cost ye is information, not even a favor or nothin'. I know smugglers like to use underwater caves and tunnels and such to move and store merchandise. Tell me the location of any ye know along the coast and the rest of this is yers."

He watched the stick get dragged farther away with a twinkle in his green eyes, though the smile didn't reach his lips. "They are free to think that." He spoke politely, giving a shrug of one shoulder. There were many merfolk who'd consider him crazy for even coming up to swim among the drylanders, and since he'd ignored them it seemed likely that he'd treat the humans of a similar mindset the same.

"Indeed," he agreed to his unfamiliarity with the customs of Haulani. "But I will not learn if I stay below the waves."

The raven came back with treat in beak, and Hadama watched her locomotion with the same quiet curiosity he showed to human walking, admiring the glossy oilslick rainbows that danced in her feathers.

"Mm." He floated thoughtfully for a moment, watching Pihu with knowing eyes and letting the silence stretch before he spoke again. "The largest are the tunnels called Rae's Fingers. They are near here, to the north. There is one entrance at the base of the cliff, near the rock shaped like a leaping encanto." He paused, considering mischief, but eventually discarding it. "You will have to hold your breath, even at high tide, however."

Pihu adjusted her wings and preened a feather back into place. Aye, maybe, but if ye hadn't noticed, I'm kinda goin' incognito here, so the more attention ye draw to me, the harder that is. She turned her back to the merman, since she didn't need to look at him to communicate.

What do ye want to learn? She nibbled on a bit of the fish that was sticking out from the rest. As he actually began to tell her where the entrance was, she looked over her shoulder at him. Really? She couldn't keep the excitement from bleeding through the bond.

Tamping it down, she gripped the fish in her beak. Thankee kindly. Now a deal's a deal. With that, she made as if to rip off more meat. However, she put much more force into it, flinging it to the side. It tumbled through the air before landing with a splat next to the canal. Croaking, she took off, circling the fallen food.

Steely brows drew together in faint puzzlement as Hadama turned the foreign word around a few times. "You are... without cogs?" he hazarded carefully. Still she seemed to want privacy as she turned her back on him, so the mermanta swam a little ways away, towards the center of the canal once more, and ducked beneath the water so he wasn't staring at her.

Your customs. Your stories. You traditions. He gave a mental shrug, a far more expansive gesture somehow than his earlier physical one. Something... new. Things that were rumor or less than rumor in the city beneath the sea.

He surfaced again to watch the raven as the terms of the deal were stated and he considered the little thief and her intentions. His answer was perhaps not quite as naive as it seemed at first, but when the bird made good on her side of the bargain Hadama almost smiled.

Almost.

If you go there, go with care, he warned, suspecting it would fall on deaf ears but trying anyways. The tide there... races. Races in, to fill the tunnels until the air is memory. Races out, leaving seakind to drown in air.

He swam slowly towards the side of the canal, reaching out to pluck the food from the grit of the walkway and considering the sand-scattered meat with a look of quiet resignation.

Pihu croaked and ruffled her feathers at the merman's confusion. Nah, it means in disguise or without bein' recognized or beneath notice. Unable to prevent the amusement from bleeding through the bond, she clacked her beak a few times at him

Well, I could help ye with learnin' all that, but as I told ye, no one gets anythin' for free up here. She deliberately shut off both her thought and the bond from him. Still, she kept her eye trained on him, not wanting to miss his reaction.

Still circling overhead, she banked a bit so she was slightly closer to the water. I never go anyplace without casin' the joint first, but thanks for the warnin' She filed away the information for later.

Not missing his hesitation to pick up the kebab, she landed on the ground on the side of the canal opposite the food seller. If ye want something fresher, I can do that, but I'd have to give it to ye somewhere less crowded. She tilted her head to one side and hopped back and forth. Call it even for the extra advice ye gave me.

I see, the merman mused thoughtfully. He gave a grateful nod and filed the information away for later use, when next he spoke with a disguised drylander.

Nothing is free below the sea, either, he replied politely. He didn't seem to mind the silence that fell over the conversation at that point as he took the time to think over what had already been said, and watched the nearby humans at their incomprehensible two-legged errands.

Hadama simply nodded again, acknowledging the raven's thanks as he kept an eye on her shadow in the water, rather than craning his head to look up at her. The kebab was... in an unfortunate state after being dragged around on the ground and dropped in the sand, but the offer was met with careful consideration. He nodded slowly and swam away from her, towards the other side of the canal, setting the dirty kebab there instead. Then he ducked below the water, stretching to relieve the strain on his shoulders from staying upright for so long, and began to swim lazily along. His gold-streaked broad manta wings were easy to see in the daylit waters, especially from above.

I would like that, he decided. Thank you. His thoughts paused for a little while before he spoke again, surfacing in a section of canal that passed between two buildings, with little space to walk between the walls and the water. People were visible at either end of the watery alleyway, but none were nearby. Will this do? He hoped she was near enough to hear him.

At the mention of customs below the sea, Pihu found herself looking straight at the merman. However, instead of commenting on that, she just tilted her head from one side to the other. As he considered her offer, she finally turned away to scan the surroundings for another likely target.

There was a merchant peddling fruit out of a pile of baskets. As he agreed, she croaked and took to the sky, tracking him along the canals from above. Although she couldn't hear him, she landed on the opposite side of the baskets from the vendor. Making sure she was hidden from sight in a shadow cast by the nearest building, she hopped closer.

Once she was in range, she tensed for a moment. Then she sprang forward. Grabbing a banana with both sets of talons, she beat her wings, ignoring the exclamations behind her. By the time the seller had turned around, she was out of his reach. She circled a few times, before diving again in the direction of the merman. Flaring her wings, she dropped the banana. It rolled a few times in the direction of the canal edge. Landing, she used her beak to push it closer to him. There. Ye can peel it, and no dirt or debris on nothin'.

The shadowed alley was quiet and calm compared the bustle of the Haulani markets, and Hadama found himself relaxing a little as he looked around for the black bird. Curiosity held him in place, waiting to see if she would return, and his wings moved idly against the current to hold him still.

It was the plop of the banana hitting the stonework at the edge of the canal that drew his attention, and he swam closer to retrieve the fruit with a gleam of appreciation in his eyes. Ah. A rare treat. Sometimes they fall near enough the shore to retrieve... but only rarely. Thank you... He paused, tilting his head at the bird as he peeled the fruit carefully.

I am Hadama. It is nice to meet you, he offered, leaving the opening for her own introduction in the curious note of his mind voice.

Pihu fluffed up her feathers and began preening as the merman saw the fruit. If a little bit of pride bled through the bond, well, she felt it was well deserved. Obviously, she trilled at him. It had been a complete coincidence, but she'd take credit for it as brilliance on her part. Yer welcome.

As he introduced himself, she lowered her wing and eyed him in her peripheral vision. Ye can call me P. Hopping to face him front on, she flexed and unflexed her talons in the sand. Now, Hadama, I got ye a real treat and I offered to teach ye about life up here. What can ye do for me?