One by one the few articles of clothing Naia covered herself within dropped, leaving a short trail over to the lounge as she joined Vulprine.
"Alright." Lunalle hesitated a moment with the drinks in hand, briefly debating bringing them over to the other girls or setting them down on the bedside drawer. Regardless of not having the best poker face, she faintly smiled and took a seat after setting one of the two drinks down. The other remained in her hand as she balanced it on her lap.
"So... There's one tale I remember hearing about, from this woman who I used to live next door to. She said it happened to her when she was a teenager, but she's always been one to exaggerate, so I don't know how truthful she was about the whole thing.
Anyways, she told me about her trip to what she called "the land of endless sea."
One evening she stayed out late, helping her family with whatever her work was at the time. Safely transferring one item to the next village over and the like for a small fee, or something like that. Either way, she wasn't in her village and this trip had taken her longer than she thought, and it was a dark night. No moon. A cloudy, hidden sky. She thought she heard something or someone behind her and took off running-- but she must've gotten turned around when the beasts began to surround her.
At that point she thought she was a goner, but then she realized she couldn't hear any snarls or howls. Instead, she heard the rushing of water, and when she slowed down, she was consumed by it."
She shifted on the bed, bringing her legs and onto the mattress. One hand held the glass, and the other supported her as she leaned onto it. Checking that he was listening. Wondering where his mind was in all of this.
"When she woke up, she was in someone's home: a small room where she laid on a bedroll. No one was in the room with her, so she rose and carefully wandered around. She called to whoever saved her, but she got no response. The rest of the home was normal, I think. When she got outside though, she noticed the house was... stacked? One atop another with weird sandy walkways which curved and seemed to float. There was no support under them, but she could take a strange sandy slide down, or a clay staircase to move higher up. She said it looked like sandcastles."
She chuckled and took a sip of wine, her throat dry. Her eyes wandered over to him, but she continued without the need for prompting.
He did order her to talk.
"Far below the houses was a massive body of water that stretched as far as she could see. But she found the people. They were all down there, swimming with what she thought were their pets. Lots of yapping, or whatever.
So after getting over her fear of heights- which she went on and on about to me- she clung onto the edge of the slide, right before the water.
And that's where she met them. People with no feet, but fins. And some pets they were-- long, skinny sea dragons. They were a happy group, who were thrilled to see she was okay. Apparently there'd been a wave big enough to go inland and drag her off to sea. One of them found her floating, and swam her home.
So he hopped up onto the slide with her and his fins turned to feet. And he went on about where she was, how she'd have to wait for the next ship to leave. She always said that they were far from actual land, but if the seaman had swam her to his home... I don't know. So she stayed there. And she liked it so much, she continued to stay, even after they spotted a ship. She told me it was like a never-ending dream, where they only needed to play and the sea provided everything they ever needed. She couldn't join them in the water very long, but she didn't mind it. She found family with them.
That wouldn't last, though. Nothing ever does. She told me about these sea thieves, and when everyone took to the water to flee, she couldn't. So they took her aboard, and she never managed to catch a way back.
...You still awake?"
