Ocean Outlook
Ocean Outlook Some old hiking trails around have overgrown to an extent and what better time than summer to go start clearing them up? Not only will it be tons of fun to go for a walk, you can help out too by clearing out anything that’s fallen all over the old trails! Many of the hikes lead out to beautiful places, a lovely stream if you go south, the top of a rocky hill if you go north, a field of flowers to the East, and the Ocean to the West! Feel free to explore as you clean out, just keep an eye out for poison ivy!!! | |
Team Thunderstruck - Timoti | Team Rocket Scientist - Anabelle |
Crackling brush and a large gale wind swept from the side of the footpath. It was a lovely day for a stroll in the wilderness, but it seemed the trail that the big leafy dinosaur chose was one left abandoned. He wondered why as his broad leafed wings kicked up another Gust to clear away the old dead leaves from the path. He could smell the ocean nearby and was eager to get a little flying in over it. He even brought a net that he tied around his waist to catch some fish to either eat or trade later.
His feet nearly bare, save for some simple protective slips, crunched sticks to pieces, and his large arms snapped branches that overgrew into the footpath. A simple rhythmic whistle pierced through his lips over his percussive trudge through the brush. He was relaxed and at ease, one with his element, and doing a service to the people of Post Town. If only Petera had decided to come along from his home land, it would have been so much nicer to share these sights with an old friend.
She should have dressed with not so warm clothes. The weather was fair, the sun shining bright and a soft breeze was blowing in the leaves and branches, trying its best to cool down the hot spring day. Thankfully, the trees brought some cover and Anabelle wasn’t completely bothered by the warmth. She had gone this way as she had heard that there could be plants and flowers she could use and bring back to headquarters. The greenhouse wasn’t completed yet but was well on its way. Having seeds and herbs to plant even before it was finished would be a nice start. She had taken a small herbalist bag that she had owned since she had studied under Master Hyde, all these years ago, and the little staff that she couldn’t feel comfortable leaving behind.
Except that she may have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Her team leader had told her where the different paths led, and she remembered that one would get her to a field of flowers. She just couldn’t remember which one it was. Besides, she wasn’t smelling any flowers under the strong scent of salt water. She heard something like a whistle in the distance. It didn’t sound like a bird’s song. Maybe someone was near that could bring her back to the correct path. She went in the direction of the whistle and saw that it was indeed no bird but a bulky individual with huge green wings. He was wearing an attire that she wasn’t familiar with. Surely, he didn’t mean any harm… The only problem would come with the need to talk… She didn’t think she would be lucky and that he’d know sign language, but it was worth a try…. Besides, she still had a pen and some paper and, if it comes to this, she could speak, even if she’d want to avoid it. After all, she was only asking for direction, right?
“Hello,” she gestured.
Timoti turned to see a young woman following him along on the trail. It was a good thing he’d come along to clear it out, and he wondered if maybe she was here to help. He waved back to her, but didn’t understand that she was using sign language. Figuring it might be impolite to continue about his business without further addressing her, he turned and kept a reserved posture, holding his hands behind his back. “Afternoon, miss.” His deep rich voice carried well. “Timoti Galewind. Team Thunderstruck. Wayfarer with the GCSF.” He spoke clearly, announcing his title the way he’d rehearsed with a smile. “Great day for a walk.” He said after a moment, trying to be cordial.
As she had expected, he didn’t understand sign language. Too bad. But at least, he was polite and answered her greetings in his deep low voice. He even introduced himself. Apparently, he was part of a wayfarer team, just like she was. The name ‘Thunderstruck’ rang a bell, but she couldn’t place it just now. She likely had heard it, or read it somewhere. As for where ‘where’ was… It would come back to her, sooner or later, she supposed. For now, she was facing a choice that wasn’t pleasant: either she took her notepad and pen and scribbled everything she wanted to say, or she used her own damaged voice, which would be a sharp contrast next to ‘Timoti Galewind’. As it were, they were in no hurry. He wouldn’t mind if she took a few moments to write; Or so she hoped. She took her writing material from her bag and turned the pages until she found some blank ones.
Greetings, Mr Timoti Galewind of Team Thunderstruck. I am Anabelle Fletcher, recent recruit in Team Rocket Scientists, Wayfarer. She quickly wrote and turned the notepad to the Tropius so he could read. I am looking for some medicinal plants, but I may have lost my way. She added once he was done reading her first sentence.
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A notebook? He took in her words, mouthing them silently for himself as he read. He was glad for the lessons Avner had been giving him, though he didn’t realize how important they would be in this exact moment. Communication was a highlight in Team Thunderstruck, what with Jasper, their leader, having an influential way with words and knack for presentation. Several members came from foreign lands with their own speech, and there were even a pair of former thespians that thrived on rehearsed lines. It was easy for Timoti to make out her first message, and only a little more challenging for her second.
He was surprised to see that a fellow Wayfarer would not be able to communicate verbally, as it seemed to be a critical part of their role in their line of work. He wondered if she was just shy and nervous around him, since he did have a fairly intimidating presence, or if she was incapable of speech all together.
She must be a healer like Catrin. “Medicinal plants?” Timoti repeated, wondering if she could elaborate. He wasn’t all too familiar with the properties some plants had despite his own typing, especially in a place like this. He had been well traveled, but the wilderness of the Mist Continent was unlike any he’d familiarized himself with. The only thing he had recognized so far was some poison ivy which he promptly avoided with how much bare skin he had showing.
She waited until Timoti was done reading. She could see his lips moving as he muttered the words she had written. He took longer than she expected. She was used to the members of her team either reading fast, or trying to communicate with sign language. Granted, only the leader could, and he didn’t know many words as he had started learning very recently, but he was a fast reader, and Danny, when they had to team up, was one to do all the talking, so she was allowed to be mute most of the time when they were together.
She nodded when Timoti eventually repeated the two keywords that she had written. She was indeed looking for medicinal plants. But how could she explain that she had lost her way when, as wayfarer, she was supposed to know where she was going?
I am new in Ethovalon, she wrote. No need to elaborate and say that she had joined the team a bit by accident and because she was looking for someone she had known when she was younger. I do not know the area all that well and I don’t think my team leader has a map of these trails. If he had, Donny hadn’t mentioned it. Was it a dungeon, she would have flown up to find the correct trail and would have gone in the right direction, yet as human, she didn’t fly all that well, her body was too big and she had trouble maneuvering. Besides, walking was just as easy and less tiring than when she was in her feral form.
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“There are markers.” Timoti said with a quirked brow. He looked around and pointed to one of the ones nearby. A diamond shaped piece of wood marked dark blue on the bottom and light blue on the top was nailed into a tree. He had been able to establish which route to take from the guide board at the start of the trail, so he also did not have a map. “Can you find what you need here too?” If she was looking for a plant, he thought that even though they might be on the wrong trail that she could still manage to find what she was looking for since it would likely grow in the same area. Unless of course it was something very rare and special.
Timoti really didn’t want to go back on his progress, but he was willing to help a lady in need. His needs were second to hers, but he was really looking forward to flying freely over the waves. It wasn’t too often he got to have a break, even if he was still helping the locals along his way. Being the largest flying type on the team was a big responsibility, and it was common for him to be sent on missions to help other teams as well as his own.
Anabelle looked at the ‘markers’ Timoti spoke of. She only saw the piece of wood with the two lines of different shades of blue. How was it supposed to help her make sense of where she was? She shook her head. She knew her way around some forest where she had lived and where she had studied herbalism. But this patch here, in Ethovalon, was entirely knew to her. She knew these pieces of wood had some hidden meaning, unfortunately, it was unknown to her what it meant as she had never seen markers like these..
I am not sure. It’s possible. She scribbled. I am not looking for a specific plant, rather for any that could be used for medical purposes. I do not know what can be found in the area, so there may be more down this path. She admitted. Is it the first time you walk this trail?
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“It seems like the first time anyone has walked down this trail in a long time.” Timoti pointed out, stepping aside for her to see the mess of sticks and branches laying in the grassy pathway. There were also some old fishing nets in a tangled pile down the way, a safety float that had a chunk bitten out of it, and some discarded shells likely from some wild animal’s catch of the day. The only way Ana might have stumbled down the current path was because of Timoti stomping through and clearing it out like the big strong man he was.
Perhaps he didn’t know what to look for, but he knew what to avoid. She didn’t know what she would find? The least he could do was show her what he knew. “May I?” He asked, pointing at her note pad and pen.
Anabelle nodded when the Tropius announced that this trail had likely been unused for a long time. She noticed the branches from overgrown bushes and roots from nearby trees that had spread all over the path, almost hiding it at times. She couldn’t understand the presence of fishing nets though. Why would people have discarded them there, so casually? She shook her head. That wasn’t how nature should be treated. Yet she said nothing. Maybe she could find some seaweed down that path. Most weren’t useful to make creams or balms, but there still was some use for them.
She didn’t expect Timoti to request her notepad and her pen. Those items were personal as she relied on them to communicate with people who couldn’t understand Sign Language. What if he took them and got away? He was so much bigger than her, there was no way she could get the items back. On the other hand, he had shared his name and the name of his team.. If it was indeed his name and the team he was part of. After a second of hesitation, she agreed and handed him her pen and pad, wondering what he was going to do with it. He didn’t require writing to be understood.
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Timoti waited patiently for the other to hand over her belongings. He felt terribly impolite asking, but he began to scrawl down some crude sketches of poisonous plants into her book. This way, she would have them for as long as they would remain on the page. He tried to draw them to scale as well, and as he did so, the Tropius’ tongue stuck out between his lips, his brows furrowed. ‘Poison - Avoid’ He wrote at the bottom and then handed it back to her.
He gave her a determined nod and then turned to continue clearing the path. “The Ocean is this way.” He clarified, picking up the nets and throwing them over his shoulder. They could make for some nice decoration back at their base if he cleaned them up and dipped them into some paints.
Just as Timoti had waited until she had agreed to hand him her writing material, she waited until he was done writing what it was he wanted to tell her. When he handed her notepad back, she stared at the sketches he had drawn. She recognised them as poisonous plants. She smiled at the two words he had added, in case she needed them. She nodded to him. She hadn’t noticed if there were any of these plants in the area, but she trusted the Tropius. They were grass type after all, so Timoti likely knew more about it than she did with all of years of study.
I will do! Thank you for the tip. She wrote as Timoti was picking up the nets. She tilted her head when she noticed he had placed them over his shoulder. Did he plan on fishing? He did say that the ocean was down that way. She was mildly curious but decided not to ask what he wanted to do with these. For all she knew, it could just be to not let these rotting in the sun.
If you go down to the beach, do you mind if I come with you? She eventually wrote. She had been debating with the thought for a while and finally managed to gather enough courage to ask.
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Timoti stopped to read her note. He welcomed the company with a smile and nod. He held up a finger to tell her to wait, and he held his hand up to his mouth. A whistle and warble came from under cover and it echoed loudly through the forest around them. A flock of birds in the far off wood echoed back his message, and then another, and suddenly they were all calling back and forth with one another and making lyrical songs. He thought Ana might like the noises, since it seemed she could hear just fine. At least on their walk to the ocean there would be something nice to listen to instead of just Timoti’s stomping and romping through the brush.
It wasn’t long before the sound of the birds began to be drowned out by the ocean waves and the smell of salt filled the air. Timoti’s wings swelled behind him, and he could feel the ocean breeze bend and push against them. The leafy cape stretched wide when they came out from the trees and onto the sand. Before taking off for a flight, he turned to look at Ana and see if maybe she would want to join him. She did have some smaller wings, but he was strong and more than capable of helping her along.
His reaction took her by surprise and Anabelle wondered why he would want her to wait. Was he expecting friends or teammates to come? That could be a possibility. In that situation, she wondered if it would be her place to stay with them, all the more if she didn’t know any of them - which would be likely as she has recently arrived in Ethovalon. It soon appeared that she had been mistaken. It took her a few seconds to realise. He wanted her to be silent and focus on the little trill and songs from the birds all around them. It was something pleasant to listen to. She had a soft smile and nodded to Timoti, gesturing ‘thanks’ to him. Then she whistled a little tune of her own that her parents had taught her. She wasn’t sure the other birds listened,or even paid, attention to it, but it fit the atmosphere as the two of them made their way to the ocean.
The breeze brought the salty smell of water and sea life. Even though she had lived close to a port, she had never really spent time at the beach. She had to move aside when the Tropius’ cape caught winds and stretched. That made her laugh a bit. Apparently Timoti was ready to fly. She stretched her own wings, so much smaller than the Tropius’. But Anabelle herself was very small in comparison to Timoti. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep up with him, especially as it had been a while since she had flown in this form. She beat her wings a few times and rose a few feets above the sandy floor.
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Timoti was not really surprised to see the other struggling to get their feet off the ground. After all, he himself was much larger and stronger and able to carry his own weight with ease. Being as large as his feral, it made flight easily adaptable for both of his forms. It was one thing to take her arm and whisk her off on a wild flight, but Timoti respected a woman’s choice far too much to be so flashy. “I can fly strong and fast if you need help.” His deep voice was rich and soothing, but aside from his simple offer, he did not give her his arm or hand. To him, offering such things would imply her weakness. And although she did seem to be inexperienced in long flights and likely would need his help, he was not about to make her feel like she couldn’t do something.
He raised his wings and kicked up some sand. It took a few flaps of the broad leafed wings to raise himself up. If he were to stop, it would be a hard thud to the ground, so he kept up his effort beside Ana, starting to rise higher yet above her.
It came as no surprise for Anabelle that Timoti was able to rise off the ground with more ease than she had been able to. His wings were a lot bigger and wider than hers, besides, he likely was more used to flying in this area than she was, or to fly at all. She nodded when he stated that he could help her if the need arose. She welcomed the offer and didn’t feel offended in the least by his words. It was always good to know there would be someone to catch her, were she to do something from and pummel down to the ocean. She could swim, but her wings weren’t like Wingull’s, they would be soaked and a hindrance to her as she swam.
She beat her wings a bit more and rose to reach Timoti’s level. She instinctively moved to her bag, to take her notepad and pen, when she realised that writing up in the air as she was wasn’t the best idea ever for, if it was possible to get close to him while they were both firmly standing on the ground, once up there, it was too dangerous as they needed space for their respective wings. She would have to speak, whether she liked it or not.
“Is there a place you want to fly to?” she asked, hoping it was loud enough for him to hear.
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Timoti did struggle to hear her, but he nodded in response as he was able to make out what she said after a moment. He thought about it for a moment and looked off at the horizon. “I would like to fly far away, but for now, not far.” It would be no large effort to fly over to the next island for him, but he knew that Ana wouldn’t be able to make it nearly that far at all. Most people couldn’t. He didn’t expect her to anyways, and he knew that he could go as freely as he wished, but it just wasn’t the same anymore.
With his chest held high, he turned and gave a push with an added Gust to direct him on a flight path. The water below him rippled from the force of his beating wings like disturbance from a helicopter. His hands occasionally fell limp into the water’s surface, only to jerk back up to his side. He circled back around to make sure Ana was doing alright.
It wasn’t hard for Anabelle to hear Timoti’s deep voice, even with the strong wind and distance between them. She looked at the horizon, following the Tropius’ glance. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to fly for such a long distance, not over the ocean where warm air currents were rare. “What is close by?” she asked, wondering if there was any place of interest in the area, maybe some cliffside or interesting rock formations with species leisurely resting.
She protected her face as Timoti beat his wings hard and reached a flight path close to the water. Anabelle smiled at the sight. Was he showing off or was it natural in him? She shrugged as it didn’t matter. She beat her own wings and went after him when she noticed he was circling back. It took her a bit longer to reach the flight path, yet once she did, it was easier to fly.
“Am here.” she only said.
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By now, Timoti couldn’t hear a word she said, but he did keep checking to make sure she was keeping up okay. Flying was much more exhausting than walking for most, but for him it made him feel his strongest to let his wings glide and cut through the air.
His dreads caught in the wind from time to time, whipping up and down. Keeping his hair loose made it tougher to fly, but worn in a more protected style it kept him looking the same from before to after a flight. At one point he even ventured to show off a little and did a loop around Ana before diving into the ocean. Unlike most flying types, with his wings being designed like broad leaves, he didn’t have feathers that would weigh him down in the water. He shot back out like a torpedo and caused a tremendous splash.
After enjoying the rewards of the hike, Timoti returned to the beach, hovering above the ground at first and then landing with a shaking thud. He wiped his brow free of sea water and sweat and affixed his clothing back into place from being wind blown. He smiled warmly, as he hadn’t flown like that in a while. Whether this hoarse voiced individual enjoyed their time alongside him or not, it was a much needed adventure for the Tropius.
Anabelle was pleased to wear a mask that protected her face and her eyes from the cold wind. Timoti didn’t seem to have that issue and to be enjoying himself, even if he looked back at her from time to time. Whenever she noticed he was checking on her, she gave him a thumb-up to notify she was alright and not about to drop in the water, even though she was growing a bit tired. It had been a while since she had flown for so long.
The Tropius, on the other hand, showed no hint of slowing down. She looked at him going and flying. She raised a brow when he rose high in the sky and looped around her. Was he showing off? Not that she could blame him, he had the skills to put on a show, that was for sure. She was mildly concerned when he dove to the water, splashing water everywhere. Thankfully, she was high enough in the sky to not be sprayed. Yet, she still looked around, trying to find where he would get out… For he would, right? She dared not think what would happen if he had hit the ocean too hard and had a concussion or something. Thankfully, nothing of the sort occurred and Timoti flew right back up at amazing speed, hardly bothered by the water dripping from his leafy wings.
They flew a bit more, Anabelle nothing as fancy nor smooth as Timoti, until they made their way back to the beach. She smiled back at him. “It was quite a performance.” she said once she landed.
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Timoti shrugged and smiled bashfully at her compliment. She thought he was talented at flying? It was just his second nature. “You are strong also.” He said, raising one of his arms into a flex. She had kept up well with him, and deserved to hear his praise.
He wrung the water out of the sash around his waist and secured the nets and other ornaments around his shoulders. “It was nice meeting you, Anabelle. If you need help going back, I think it might be time to go.” There were plenty of other things that needed to be done today, and with the task out of the way and a little reward enjoyed, it was time to get back to work.