[SE] Full moon meander

"Indeed," Hadama confirmed to the question of the Bar's ownership, and his emerald eyes twinkled with a mischief that was hidden behind his stoic demeanor. "But humans are welcome there, too." He would happily answer any questions she might ask, but first they would have to be asked, for the quiet mermanta did not like to assume what others might wish to know.

But he listened very well, and he gave Ellyra his attention as she spoke of Torchline and Halo. He inclined his head in understanding of why she might wish to avoid Halo, any amusement he might have felt hidden behind his serene expression. "I have only been to the Bay. The ice there makes it difficult for Merfolk to go anywhere else." The ice pellets in the Bay's currents made even those waters dangerous without water magic for protection, and the cold could be deadly in its own right to Mer with tropical tails and constitutions, but the Academy's gift helped to mitigate the worst of that, at least. "Have you traveled to the Greatwood?"

life is waiting for you, it's all messed up but we're alive

”well I will have to visit. I just…have to figure out how to get there. The lion is my only shift. I’ve only been attuned since just before the Second War.” She said, her head tilting in the opposite direction as she contemplated how she would breathe beneath the water to make it to the bar — let alone withstand the pressure.

”Oh, that makes sense.” She said, regarding the ice of halo. It kept her from going there, too. She chuckled some at the thought, but at his next question Ellyra brightened. ”Only briefly. I traveled through there, or at least I tried to. I don’t know if it’s this way now, but before the war the forest used to keep you turning and turning and turning. A great defense that the fae had. I’d like to go back. Do you know if they have a sky port?” It was common knowledge to most, but Ellyra had spent so many hours in the clinic lately that she really wasn’t sure the most up to date news on the rest of the world .

Hadama listened and learned, but even so it took him long moments to realize where the confusion had come in and he gave a shake of his head. "No shift is needed," he assured her, eyes twinkling in the light of the eternal twilight around them. "The Tide Pool Bar is on the shore. Half of it is dry, for humans. Half of it is a tide pool that stays filled at low tide, so Mer can swim in." More accurately it was a single large tide pool that had been bisected in half by a wall of glass blocks to keep the water out of one side so human diners could eat in comfort while Mer could do the same in the half that remained underwater and accessible from one of the canals.

He had heard rumors of the forest's tricks and traps in the past, though now that it was laced by so many streams and rivers he'd never had a problem, himself. Her question, at least, was one he could answer even if he'd never made use of the skyport personally. But he knew where Torchline's traders went, both by sea and by air. "It does," he confirmed. "I do not think the trees lead travelers astray as much now."

life is waiting for you, it's all messed up but we're alive

"Then it sounds like a trip to both places is in my future, if I can get any time off." Ellyra offered the king a smile, then extended a hand to him. It was the first time her hands and arms had unwrapped from around herself. "Good evening, Hadama." She said. Once she had shaken his hand, she shifted herself back down into her lion's skin. Large paws carried her home, still thinking of the merking and his kindness. It was far better than what she thought he might offer her at first, which was nothing but trouble, the way he wielded that giant trident.

FIN