[DoA] The Washed Away Felvarg: Chapter 1

As Vaughn hurried through the water next to Demios, the sun shone through the surface and cast wonderful colors of light down onto the two of them as they went on their way.  It was the days after a strong and relentless storm that had swept through Aquella and Vaughn found it nice to finally be able to see the sun once more.

Vaughn looked to Demios and the rich colors that covered his body, wondering what the solemn Skimmer was doing with him, enjoying the sun just the same.  Demios must have caught the staring as he looked Vaughn’s way, a small smile emerging from beneath the head of tentacles.  It was very hard for Demios not to look away from the Sea Skimmer’s gaze, it knew it would be rude and he knew the Skimmer wouldn’t try and control him, but he still felt the urge to do so.  A deep feeling within his bones that told him he should swim away from the erre look in his eyes that craved for power.

Demios looked away first. If he sensed Vaughn’s fear, he didn’t show it.  The whole swim both of the Aqrions had been quiet, but not in a way that either of them felt bothered by the lack of noise, just at peace with it.  Now it was awkward.  Demios must have sensed it too, as he looked to the surface and brought up something else.

“What’s that?” The Mindbender asked simply and Vaughn followed his gaze to the surface to see a large object floating across the water, blocking out the sun on the ocean floor.  The two Aqrions looked at one another and both proceeded to make their way up to the surface.

Vaughn could hear the slosh of the choppy surface as the small waves hit up against the large sheet of unnatural driftwood, could hear the creak of the planks that were fastened together as they pulled against each other.  He tilted his head to the side, curious of the forign object that floated on the surface.

“What… is it?” Vaughn asked sheepishly as he turned to Demios, who didn’t look back but instead inspected the driftwood.

“Probably part of a human object, like one of those boats and it was probably dragged in by the storm, don’t you think?” he asked.  Vaughn didn’t bother to answer and just looked at it, careful not to get too close.

“It’s pretty beat up,” Vaughn pointed out and only got a hum of agreeance from the Skimmer as he poked the piece of boat with his tentacles. It hadn’t been very long since the storm had passed and the Aqrions were already used to weird and forign objects coming in and polluting their oceans.  Vaughn hadn’t been around very long, but he had caught on that this wasn’t a very rare sight in storm season, but even still, he found it very curious.

He had been growing up listening to stories from the Elders of the Aqrions, how odd objects and animals had made their way into the ocean, how beasts and humans alike fought for the land and waters alike. Vaughn had heard stories of the Felvarg living alone on their island and the humans trying to kill them for their peacefulness.  It was all stories though… right?

Vaughn watched the Skimmer as he lifted his head above the surface of the water, taking a look at the outside world that you could only see ocean and sky in any direction.  Dipping his head back into the water and with a small shake to his head, Demios looked to Vaughn.

“There’s something with fur on this thing,” Demios said, gesturing to the sheet of wood.  Vaughn gave Demios a weird look.

“What do you mean?” he said, making his way up to the surface to take a peek at what Demios had seen.  When he poked his head above the water, he was careful not to get too close to the driftwood as he looked at the lump that laid on it.

The coat of fur was thick with water and the smell of sea salt, which had been a smell Vaughn had always been accustomed to, just not in this concentration.  Vaughn gazed at the white and dark blue pelt for a while before dipping his head back into the water and looking to Demios.

“I don’t want to sound crazy, but it looks like one of those… what do you call it,” he trailed off for a moment and Demios waited patiently, in no rush to find an answer, “One of those Felvargs,” he pulled the name. Vaughn continued, “You know, the ones for the stories,” he offered sheepishly when he didn’t get an answer right away.  Demios thought about that suggestion for a good minute before offering a hum of approval.

“I’d make sense, I mean, Ulfheim, rumored,” he cleared up, “has been having some trouble… and with the storm?  There’s definitely a chance one of their kind would be dragged out here,” he offered in reply and Vaughn nodded back proudly.

“We’d need to get him back to Ulfheim then, right?  There’s no way this big guy could survive out in the middle of the ocean, there’s no land for miles,” he suggested, worried that the Titan wouldn’t be able to swim to his home island.

Vaughn backed away as the wood started to move and he heard a disoriented voice coming from atop the water.  Without looking at each other, both Vaughn and Demios went to the surface to find the Felvarg, Polaris, awake and looking around frantically as he tried to stand.  He started speaking in a tongue that was forign to the Aqrions and they both looked at each other in confusion as Polaris barked words they didn’t understand at them.

The Felvarg must’ve caught on that they didn’t understand them, as he switched to a more familiar, but very loose translation. “Where am I?” he said with hesitancy as he looked at the Aqrions.

“Long way from Ulfheim,” Demios answered with as few words as he could, hoping to make it easier on the Felvarg’s translation skills.  Polaris uttered something that sounded the equivalent to a curse and looked around, at a loss, his legs shaking.

“We can help,” he said and the Felvarg didn’t seem to understand his words, confusion spreading through his features and pupiless eyes. 

“Help?” He mimicked the word with a strong, almost inaudible accent and proceeded to bring up a small list of words in his own tongue the Aqrions, in turn, didn’t understand.  Demios turned to Vaughn.

“He doesn’t understand us, but we can still help him out, you up for a little adventure?” he asked and the warm toned Fluke grinned.

He answered, “Of course!”