The sound of gentle knocking echoed through the building as Kailani tapped on the door, waiting for their client to receive them. The wood elf and her partner, Yuurei, had finished their lunch at a lovely little cafe in the port town and were now ready to proceed with the rest of the day's work. Glancing over her friend she'd noticed a couple of crumbs on his shirt, reaching up she'd brush them off of him.

"You had something there." The wind mage smiled gently, confident he wouldn't be upset with this small gesture. A few moments more passed and Kailani was about to tap on the door again just as it swung open to reveal Raina, the marine biologist they had been working under previously that morning.

"Ah, good timing, I am nearly set up for this afternoon. Have either of you two ever rowed a boat before?" the blue-haired woman asked curiously, unsure just what kind of experiences two elves would have. After all, many humans probably didn't even go out rowing, let alone other beings. The question caught Kailani by surprise as she fell silent trying to think, she personally hadn't, and as far as she could think back. Yuurei had been by her side most days, she highly doubted he had either, there was very little need for such things in the enchanted forest they called home after all.

"I'm afraid not," Kailani responded, glancing back at her partner once more to ensure she was not mistaken, "However, I'm sure we can learn quick enough if required." Raina chuckled, nodding, it wasn't a necessarily difficult skill.

"I'll trust you on that then. I will be taking you both out to see something incredibly splendid, I just need one of you to carry something for me." She'd usher for them to follow her inside and past the area they had previously undertaken testing the local seawater until they were in front of a large metal cupboard. With a click she'd open to reveal various fish-related items, pointing out the large bag at the bottom of the shelving unit.

"If one of you," She paused thinking it over, "Or the two of you working together I suppose." Another pause as she looked over the two carefully examining their bodies, "Could carry that for us, we just have to take it a couple of streets over to where my boat is. It's not super far, but it is rather heavy."

(411/500)

The lunch they had was different than what he was used to. Their usage of spices and seasoning was nothing like he had used when they were in the forest. Of course, they were more natural when it came to cooking things with certain things used as a seasoning. Yuurei had a lot to learn if he was going to be a better cook for Kailani. Her taste for food would be more advance if they stayed out of the forest. His thoughts about cooking continued but stopped once he saw Kailani approach him. His eyes looked straight into hers as she brushed something off him. His eyes turned the other way when she told him what she was doing. He was embarrassed about the fact that he had dirtied himself while he was eating.

“Thank you, Kai.” He said softly before the door open up and Raina had appeared before them.

His attention moved towards their client and a question was soon asked of them. He looked over to Kailani, but he was pretty sure she didn’t even know how to row a boat. It was the same thing for him. The only body he touched was the small rivers that could be found scattered around the forest.

“No, I have not.” He answered right after Kailani had answered.

Still, he was surprised about her determination in continuing with the task at hand, which made him excited to learn how to row a boat.

“That would be a nice thing to learn and a cool experience.” He said this before Raina asked them to carry something for her.

Yuurei would go inside of the house as their client instructed, and soon enough she would reveal what she wanted them to carry. He moved to the bag and examined it as he could see that there were a lot of things inside of it. He wasn’t sure if he could pick it up on his own, but he figured that he would try. Raina had suggested that they both carried it, but he wanted to see if that was necessary. The half-elf would grab a hold of the bag with one hand, and he would find out that he couldn’t budge.

One hand would turn into two hands, and he would hold his breath as he was doing his best to lift the bag. It would work this time, but Yuurei could feel that it was heavy, and he was pretty sure he couldn’t carry this for a couple of streets on his own. He would look over to Kailani and struggle with his words.

“A little assistance would be appreciated, Kai.” He said waiting for her to help him so they could move towards their destination.

474/500

Kailani watched nervously as Yuurei attempted to lift the bag all by himself, he was definitely the stronger one out of the two, but not by much. Still, if he could handle it alone, it would make things much simpler, unfortunately, it looked to not be the case.

“Of course.” She smiled gently at her friend as she quickly moved into position on the other side of the bag and used both hands to grip both above and below it. As the duo heaved it, it was still incredibly heavy, but bearable as they shuffled after the marine biologist who guided them out of the lab, through the streets and to their decently sized rowboat protected by magic resting on the bank of a canal.

“You can place it in there, but be careful not to capsize as you get in.” Raina warned, clicking a device that removed the magical barrier around the boat, a magical lock of sorts before letting the elves enter the boat first, as she held the boat steady.

Kailani stepped in first, almost immediately losing her balance for possibly the first time in her entire life. Fortunately, her natural elven reflexes kicked in to hold her steady on the rocking boat.

“Careful, it’s like walking on a giant indel.” Kailani warned, using her best description of the few bodies of water in the forest, large ponds that held the most beautiful and large lily-like flowers. The pads of such were crossable by foot if one were swift enough, although difficult to do so without slipping into the water below. If one spent too long on a single pad, they would most certainly be engulfed by the pond’s depths. It was where Kailani and Yuurei had practiced some of their skills; if the wind mage failed to use her spells properly on him to ensure he was quick enough, he was almost guaranteed to fall into the watery depths below. A fate that had definitely occurred numerous times while training.

When Kailani had grabbed a hold of the other side of the bag, he could feel the pressure being relieved a little bit. Now that he had help, he was able to move even though it was still heavy. Yuurei shuffled his feet across the building and soon enough he was outside. Raina was moving ahead of them as she was guiding them. The youngster could see that there were people moving around them, which was a good thing. He would have hated it if someone bumped them. This crap was heavy indeed but thank God it didn’t take long for them to reach their destination.

When he heard Raina telling them where to put the bag, he shuffled his feet along with Kailani and once she had set her feet properly into the boat, he had had gone next. Yuurei slowly made his way into the boat, and while doing so Kailani warned him how the boat moved. He was glad that she had warned him, which brought him to get on it safely. Still, once he was settled, he quickly placed the bag down as he felt like it was a liability if he kept holding onto it.

“Thank you for the warning, Kai. I probably would have fallen off the boat if you didn’t tell me.” He said with a smile on his face.
Yuurei would look around for a place to sit and when he did, he would do so without hesitation next to the oars that were on the boat. Raina would get on the boat last, and when she did, she would look around to make sure that everything was secure. She would look over to Yuurei as she figured he would be the one to row for them. She pushed the boat away from where it was docked before saying anything.

“So you basically want to dip both the oars into the water at the same time and row your arms with them at the same time. When we need to turn to the right you will use your left hand and turn to the left with your right hand. If you need any help, I will assist you, but I will be giving you the directions are where to go.” She explained to Yuurei.

Yuurei understood the instructions that she had given him, and he was good at doing what he was told. Raina would instruct him on the direction on where he needed to go, and the half-elf started rowing the boat. When he saw that it was moving, he got excited because he couldn’t believe he was doing this for the first time. The trip wouldn’t take long for them as she was trying to have them reach the canal she was heading to.

“We’re almost there. It’s the canal right there Yuurei.” She said as he kept rowing enjoying the new experience.

973/500

"You're welcome." The elf smiled back, glad to see that they had at least sort of made up after their argument before returning to work. Well, it couldn't really be called an argument, it was more Kailani overreacting to learning some truth, but for now, they were pushed aside, work took priority. The wind mage was just thankful it didn't seem like he was upset with her for getting upset, or at least was doing a good enough job of keeping his feelings in check as well.

Kailani listened as Raina instructed her friend on how to use the oars, a little jealous that Yuurei got to do the rowing himself. She had wanted to try it out too, but there would be other opportunities she supposed, letting him take command of the small rowboat as they paddled out into the canal. The wind mage didn't let it bother her too much, instead, she took the opportunity to enjoy the surroundings at least, the water was fairly calm today, as it flowed steadily out towards the ocean, her eyes tracing the small ripples that formed as the oars emerged with each stroke. It was rather refreshing and peaceful.

"Alright, this should be perfect." Raina announced once they were upstream a little and away from the shoreline as she rummaged into the large bag they had carried on board. She pulled out a handful of strange flakes and tossed them into the water.

"What is that for?" Kailani tilted her head as she stared at the flakes slowly descending into the watery depths.

"Just wait..." Raina chuckled, giving her a wink as she too stared down into the water. A few seconds passed and nothing happened, causing Kailani to scowl in confusion. However, her eyes widened as she saw shimmering beneath the surface, scales glistening as the sunlight reflected off their bodies. Beneath them swam a school a large coastal fish dashing through the water as they fought over the food offered to them.

Yuurei forced the boat to move with the oars, and he would come to a stop when he was told to. He would crack his knuckles as he had done his job to get them to where they needed to. The half-elf just looked at everything now that he couldn’t focus on before. The water was amazing, and the scenery was nice. His eyes looked over to Kailani who asked Raina something. His attention turned towards Raina who had been tossing flakes of some kind onto the lake. He was wondering what those were as well as he continuously watched to see what was going to happen.

It wouldn’t take long, but the rippling of the water had caught Yuurei’s attention. He moved over to the edge of the boat to see things clearer, and soon enough he would see it. A bunch of fishes of the same kind coming together to eat what was tossed to the water. They all glimmered, and it was due to the sun that was shining down upon them. At first, they all looked the same, but if anybody looked closely like the young man was doing then they would see that some were smaller than others, while some had longers fins than others. There were so many things that detailed each fish, and it was fascinating to see. This was the first time Yuurei had seen a school of fish of this magnitude.

The fishes that he would see in the rivers were usually alone, or with a few others, but never of this size. He was speechless and he kept looking while the flakes were all depleted from the surroundings where the school of fish was. Raina was smiling as she was happy that she was able to do her job quickly today. It wasn’t just that, but it seemed like these two had experienced something new, which made this even better.

“That was all I needed you guys to help me out with. I’m happy that I got here when I did because they sure were hungry. Still, now that we are done here we can head back to where we came from.” She said as she looked at Yuurei.

The light mage looked over to Kailani as he figured she would be the one to row the boat back this time.

“Your turn Kai. I’m sure you were listening to Raina’s instructions before we left.” He said with a smile on his face as he waited for his best friend to take on the oars.

438/1411

Kailani's eyes practically sparkled as she watched the fish dash through the water beneath them, finding her thoughts floating off with them for a moment. They weren't necessarily as pretty as some of the species in the magical forest's rivers where she hailed from, but they were in much larger numbers and variations. Perhaps she would paint this from memory tomorrow, they didn't have plans as far as she was aware to work again tomorrow, they had earnt enough today for at least a few days. Perhaps she could even paint the fish from back home as a gift to Raina should they meet again. So engrossed with her thoughts, the wind mage almost failed to register Yuurei talking to her.

"Oh uh..." She paused, her brain slowly processing the words, "Oh yes!" her face filled with glee as she moved swiftly and unhumanly well-balanced, the wooden vessel not even rocking slightly as she made her way to the other side of the boat to take over the oars. With a deep breath, she gripped one in each hand, going over the instructions Yuurei had been given previously and repeating the movements as he had, one oar at first, to turn the boat around, before utilizing both to push back towards the shoreline. Today had been a rollercoaster of emotions, and while she was still upset over some personal things, she had made some exceptionally amazing memories that she would not soon forget.


(243+1078=1321)

Yuurei could see the excitement that came from Kailani and her rowing the boat. He was glad that he could change her mood for the better even if it was a little bit. He was bothered by how she took the information that he had given her but was happy to be able to turn it around a bit. He sat down on the boat as he was also happy with how their day was going. They had done a lot of things that had given them a good payment. It was also good to learn a lot of interesting things within Hargeon.

The light mage wondered what they were going to do next in their adventure. Yuurei knew that he had to get stronger as it was the only way he was going to be able to achieve the goal that he had set for himself. Still, for now, the thing he could do right now was return everything to Raina’s house and then head back to the guild.


[EXIT]