(TWWM) [MARINE QUEST] Chapter 2, the Shallows

The cloth, at first, didn’t seem like anything special. But Ryuujin seemed increasingly weary around it the longer they tread through the shallows of the Mediterranean Sea with it. Wynstone didn’t really understand their friend’s aversion to it. Looking down at it, it seemed to be part of a larger picture, so to speak. There was intricate stitching in the tattered cloth, worn down over time from the currents but it was still clear that every little stitch was woven with care and love. The corner that they had didn’t have much detail, suggesting the original piece was much larger - bu there was the edge of what Wynstone recognized as the butt of one of those ships that the humans so loved to use to traverse the sea, going against nature as best they could with the materials allotted to them.

Ryuujin seemed to know where the pull was taking them better than Wynstone did so Wynstone followed patiently through the tide, walking alongside the worried esk. Their sparrows flitted about overhead, as if the water were nothing more than the air.

“Ryuu, if you don’t tell me what’s going on I can’t possibly be of much use in helping you with this cloth. If you don’t want to go you don’t have to.”

“...” Ryuujin was quiet for a long moment. “I… I’m not sure what’s wrong, Wynstone.” The esk hummed. Though their voice was psionic, their humming still rumbled the waves, physical sound waves that almost looked closer to intentional than what it truly was, coincidental. Wynstone looked at the rumbling curiously but decided not to mention it, already too worried over their friend to bring up possible other concerns. “You know I don’t remember much about my past. I don’t know why that cloth irritates me. I’m sorry, I haven’t overstimulated you, have I?”

“No, not at all. Thank you for your concern.” Wynstone considered their words for a moment. “What would you do if it was connected to your past? Would it make a difference?”

“... I’m unsure.” Ryuujin murmured softly. “I’m not even sure if I care, much less… want to know.”

“I understand. I mean, I was just a boulder before this, I can’t really relate to your situation, so I’m sorry if I come off as… Insensitive. Sabine was very kind in telling you about how they found you, what you were, all of that…”

“Yes.” Ryuujin sighed, almost threatening to get misty-eyed over his creator. He hadn’t seen them in a long while. Now felt like a good time to go see them. He already felt so overwhelmed and they weren’t even at their destination. He snapped out of it as he remembered Wynstone’s creator wasn’t as kind to them as Sabine was to Ryuujin. The esk looked to his companion. “I’m sorry, all this talk of creation, I just remembered. I shouldn’t have made you recall with my own anxiety.”

“It’s fine, Ryuu. It’s in the past. She can’t hurt me anymore than this cloth can come out and attack you.” Wynstone teased, waving the cloth in front of Ryuujin’s face and making him snicker. “Where are we heading anyway?”

“I feel a strong pull towards the Pharos by Alexandria.”

“The what?”

“Do you recall what a lighthouse is?”

“Yes, there’s one by my home. They lead those things the humans steer around on the water - the boats.”

“The Pharos was one of the first. It’s in ruins now… partially buried in the water. Earthquakes destroyed it.” Ryuujin murmured softly. “It was a fantastical monument… the humans occasionally talk of rebuilding it.” He murmured softly.

Wynstone considered things for a moment. Well, Ryuujin did feel a strong pull to this region, this sea. Even if he wasn’t ‘from’ here in the most literal sense, maybe they crossed this region at some point. They were found after a shipwreck, after all. Or maybe he just felt a pull towards the sea in general - it wouldn’t be too far fetched, Wynstone felt pulls towards lots of stones with hidden treasures inside.

“So we’re heading towards the Pharos then… but if it’s buried in the sea, why would this cloth be there? Wouldn’t the humans have retrieved anything valuable a long time ago?”

“I’m unsure…” Ryuujin sighed.

They walked for a long time in silence as Wynstone contemplated their destination - but soon Wynstone had gotten so lost in thought that it felt like barely a minute and suddenly they were there, and they understood what Ryuujin had met. The magical pull around this area was unbearably strong as Wynstone stood next to it, so strong that they wondered how they hadn’t noticed it before.

Ryuujin had been right, of course - whatever this place had looked like before the earthquakes, it was completely unrecognisable now. Large stones scattered all over the sea floor, an overabundance of algae and coral having grown in patches around it, coral bleached and dead from human abuse but still laying dormant by the ruins.

The cloth didn’t feel like it belonged here. Maybe when it was still standing, it was a part of a beautiful tapestry that lined a wall for the workers to look at - but now it just felt like another part of the ruins, misplaced by an accident and lost to time.

As Wynstone looked around, something darted around them in the corner of their eye, and they whipped around to try and catch whatever it was, but it was gone by the time Wynstone looked. Their wisps flared up a little, almost daring whatever it was to come closer, daring the entity to try and hurt them.

They turned around, only to see their friend cooing softly at strange fish. It was resting over a place with more tattered cloth, and the fish slowly swam up from its place, and the cloth rested easily down into the spot it inhabited, and suddenly the whole place felt whole again - full with something, not quite life but not the gloomy atmosphere it held was evaporating as it fluttered about from the current in its final resting place.

The fish was strange, it had a flat head with harsh ridges that made it look like it was meant to attach to something. It swam near the two of them, not looking frightened, but rather seemed to be beckoning. It felt lost, the potential for transformation curled around this creature easily, but neither felt compelled to do such a thing.

Help me. It seemed to whisper into the crystalline waters, yearning for something lost to the tides. I’ve lost a dear friend.