Arms of the Ocean Ch. 05

Ronav scraped a pile of leaves together and lay his head upon it, bracing himself for the hard night ahead. What remained of it, at least.

Maybe I'll open my eyes and see you again, he thought to the girl, wherever she may have fled.

===

Swords of daylight carved their way into the forest and screamed through Ronav's eyelids. He peeled them apart and, for the second time in a single night, heaved himself upright. A dense cloud hung over his thoughts, brought about by such restless sleep. For a while he could only lean against the exposed dirt that had been carved into view by the elements as he tried to get some sense into his limbs.

A minute passed and Ronav finally scraped together the will to act. He needed to get back to the campsite. No doubt they would be heading off soon.

The position of the sun told him where to go. An eastern bearing would see him back to the road. Ronav took a few steps before recalling the thought he had had before nodding off.

A slow scan of the treetops told Ronav that he had no silent observers. The girl had left him alone for the night. Either that or she had departed before awakening him this time.

The sounds of the morning filled the forest as Ronav made his way back to the road. A cascading symphony of birdcalls and thripsing insects bounced between the trees and their flashes of movement occasionally silhouetted in the sunshine.

A short ways into his walk Ronav paused as a sight in the treetops caught his attention. There, tangled amid the thickest branches, sat a large mass of sticks and brush that looked to be bound with mud. A second mass sat above it as a roof. Overall, it looked like a nest for the largest bird to have ever lived.

Either that or a wild Chayli girl, Ronav noted.

The tree from which the nest received most of its support had a number of low-hanging branches that looked relatively strong. Ronav stared at them as he considered the possibility of climbing.

A ray of foresight graced Ronav's thoughts. He saw himself clambering up the tree to the lip of the nest and peering inside at the sleeping, fur-clad figure of the Chayli girl. Then she awoke, cried out in shock and the confusion caused him to lose his grip and fall to the forest floor.

Ronav made a single cluck with his tongue. Better not to surprise the girl that way, seeing how on edge she had been last night.

"Hoy... uh, la nalat?" he shouted to the air and hoped that at least something in those words would make sense to the girl.

For a while nothing happened. Ronav thought he could hear a faint rustling but it could just have easily been the gentle, morning breeze as it whispered a path through the foliage. Then he saw a flash of movement as a face briefly peeked down at him before disappearing again into the nest.

"Nalat. La nalat?" Ronav tried, hoping he wasn't simply saying 'hello' over and over.

Again the girl peeked out but she lingered this time. "Zee'ur luus la Sye, cur zee."

"Uh, Sye?" Ronav replied with the only word he knew. Although he was beginning to recognize some of those others. The sounds, at least, he still had no clue what they might mean.

The girl rolled her eyes and floated slowly from her nest. She sank down until she hovered several meters above Ronav's head. Her face scrunched momentarily, then she spoke. "Mmm, a'ja Yis." The girl patted herself on the chest. "Yis."

A second later and the meaning clicked. She was telling him her name. Ronav placed a hand on his own chest and replied clearly as he could. "I'm Ronav."

"Ronav," the girl tasted the name.

He stared at her and took in the soft innocence of her face. Though she could clearly be called a woman, the absence of civilization had kept maturity from her features. She looked wild, wide-eyed and curious. Yet this seemingly-innocent creature of the forest spoke the words of the sadistic water people.

"How did you get here?" Ronav wondered aloud.

The girl cocked her head. "Quol?"

He needed a translator, there could be no denying it. Yet, as last night had revealed, Vyla instilled a great fear in the girl. Somehow that would have to be overcome.

"Yis, come back to the camp with me?" Ronav pointed to her, himself and the direction of the road as he spoke, then made his index and middle fingers walk through the air.

Yis frowned and moved her fingers in the same way. Her face abruptly uncreased and she shook her head and floated back. "Lu. Lu."

No, Ronav guessed. Yis feared Vyla too greatly.

"Uh... Siren..." Ronav trailed off and scorched through his mind for any other words that he knew in her language. Anything that Vyla had shared. Nothing came up. "Siren friend." He clasped his hands together, fingers knitting between one another, in the hopes that this might convey the message.

Yis looked at his hands, her frown returning while Ronav repeated 'Siren' and reclasped his hands several times.

"Lu," Yis said suddenly. "Lu, Siren cur'us nalati."

As those words left Yis' mouth, she flew up into the canopy on the stream of air that jetted between the blades on her back. A shower of leaves trickled down through the morning and Yis soon vanished between the emerald treetops.

Ronav let out a wearied sigh. The girl clearly disagreed with the thought of Vyla being a friend. Her fear of Sirens ran deep.

No deeper than normal, Ronav noted to himself. After all, he had to admit that between he and the girl, it was he who had the peculiar opinion of the water people. Fear would normally be regarded as the healthy response. That reasoning would have been the end of things had Yis spoken any language other than that of those she feared.

With nothing left for him in the woods, and with departure preparations no doubt underway, Ronav resumed his brisk strides towards the camp, taking one last glance at the trees and the nest that sat among their branches. Perhaps some day later, once this adventure had ended, he could return and try again to unravel the mystery of Yis.