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emerysmerkin · 8 years

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The Holiday: Chapter 8

Nothing but Sea

"Woooo! Look at that!"

The sweat dripping down her back, the sunburn, and the ache in her muscles is completely worth it. Amy takes a seat almost at the peak of the mountain, the highest point her and Ash could climb. It was a difficult climb up, and Ash kept up well. She was surprisingly proud of him, other people who have tried to climb with her before gave in before they reached the top and this mountain was hard to conquer. From the peak, they could see the nesting kel fly in, feeding breakfast to her babies.

"Is this the first time you have been on a summit without much land around you?" Ash drops his pack and drinks some water before passing it to Amy.

"Yeah, there is a mountain in Baelden that has its back to the ocean but the majority of its view is land." She takes a long drink, even on the summit it’s as hot as the nine hells. It makes absolutely no sense. Amy looks again over the water and touches Ash's hand, "It's never ending. I could get lost out there and no one would ever know what happened to me"

"You are one of the few who have been out there.” He turns his hand over and squeezes hers "Only the Nether Isles lie beyond this point as far as we know. Was this climb worth it?"

She chills at the mention of the Nether Isles, her memory bringing up images she still sees in her nightmares. Amy pushes them down and focusses on this moment instead, "Absolutely worth it, look at it out there. What about you?"

"Yes, I got lizard meat and hide, to see kel, and I always enjoy this climb. I have never been to the summit before."

"Good. What do you want to do now?"

"Eat, are you hungry?" He lets go and starts to rummage through his pack.

Oh gods, no. She doesn't want to eat the lizard again. "I'm good. You go ahead."

He shrugs at her. "Do you have altitude sickness?"

He sounds genuinely concerned, it'd normally make her feel guilty for worrying him but there's no way she can have those spices again. She needs to change the subject before she has to admit she doesn't want to eat his food, "No. What about when we climb back down? I'd like to go to a beach."

"If you wish, there is one on the west side of the island that people visit the least except some of the people from the small villages around the island. What would you like to do there? Spear fishing? I did not bring a spear. I am sorry." He looks a little bit guilty again, as if it's his responsibility to think of every outcome.

"I would just like to go there. The beaches here are supposedly all sand. It's not something I've experienced before"

After rummaging for what feels like an age he pulls out a biscuit and starts munching. "Really? Do you not have any sandy beaches in Baelden?"

"Probably, but SpringPine is completely landlocked."

"Let us go then." It comes out mumbled because Ash is holding the biscuit in his mouth and he grabs her hand. "Sandy beaches are my favourite."

She squeezes before lifting the hand to her mouth and giving it a small kiss on the knuckles. She lets go and stands up, brushing the dust off her rear. Amy looks at her lover, who’s eyes are fixated on her arse. He's been looking at it a lot recently and Amy finds it quite flattering. "Ready to go?"

He looks away, slightly startled. "Yes"

Ash swallows the last of the biscuit and picks his pack back up. She gives him another kiss and starts setting up ready to climb back down. They should be able to get to the beach in good time.

Amy sits on the grass at the edge on the beach and starts to take off her boots. In her books, people on sandy beaches always take their shoes off, it must be something special. Ash does the same, the stories must be true. That’s good, they're usually full of shit and she makes an ass about herself. Once her shoes are off, she braces herself for getting on the sand and wonders how it’ll feel between her toes. Some books say it's nice, others say it's awful. Maybe it depends on the person. She should wait to see what Ash does. He takes a step on the sand and starts strolling towards the sea, the only things Amy can hear are the waves echoing around the low cliffs and the sound of distant birds.

She takes her first step onto the golden sand. Gods, it's hot and she sinks a little. It is one of the weirdest feelings she'd ever had. It's like she can feel every grain, but they move as one. Like viscus fluid, but completely solid at the same time. The heat isn't unbearable, it's less hot than the bare rock on the mountain. She follows Ash slowly. She can see his footprints in the sand, she looks back and hers are there as well, beside his. It's like walking through snow, but feels completely different.

Ash stops to pick up a flat circular rock, Amy has no idea why. She thinks it’s maybe some sort of beach ritual, but if Ash expects her to do the same he’ll tell her. Anyway, she's having a hard time figuring out how to walk properly, she feels like she's doing some sort of weird strut. She stops to look at the bottom of her foot, it's covered in little grains of different colours and size. They are kind of like snowflakes. She wonders how all these colours combine to make gold. Her drow stops at the water and throws the stone out, Amy watches mesmerised as it bounces of the top of the water as if it was stone. Kye used to do that on the lake near her home, she could never get the knack. Her brother used to laugh at her for it, she can throw almost anything and hit any target but she can't skim stones. It's in the wrist apparently. Maybe now she throws shurikens she can manage it, but she doesn't want to try.

He moves away from the waves and drops his boots and starts getting undressed. "Do you wish to swim?"

"Yes." she bites her lip, the last time she swam in the ocean she almost drowned. "Yes. I'm going to swim in the sea. Alone. It'll be fine."

She drops her boots next to Ash's and quickly removes her clothes. She stands in the waves, the warm water lapping at her feet, and makes a little eep noise when the sand pulls out from under her feet. She wasn't expecting the ground to be pulled away, her books never said anything about that. He just wades in until the water is up to his waist, unconcerned, and starts swimming. She moves a little further in, thinking to follow him but when the sand gets pulled from under her again Amy sits down. The water comes up to her elbows, and it's nice on her burnt skin. It may take a while, but Amy is resolved that she will swim at some point. Ash is a few meters in front of her diving beneath the waves and disappearing completely. There is an overwhelming sense of panic at the thought of him drowning but Amy knows she’s being irrational. He's spent his life on the ocean, like a duck to water. Even though she knows she’s being foolish, Amy still breathes out a sigh of relief when he comes back to the surface with something large and spikey in his hand. She wants to see what it is, but that involves going deeper in the water. Amy strengthens her resolve and pushes forward.

She swims over to her lover, compensating for the waves. She feels much better in the water than the unstable sand. She should have just jumped right in like she does fresh water. It is no different. If there was a bad current, Ash wouldn't let her go in.

She touches his shoulder, mentally remarking how strange it is to be the same height as him "What is it?"

"A conch, though it looks chipped and won't make a sound." He says, one hand treading water and Amy can see his feet kicking gently below the waves.

Amy is quite happy treading water with him, the waves aren't high and the water is amazing on her skin. "How does a dead shell make a noise? Can you find one to show me?"

She wonders whether she should dive under to have a look as well. It’s a brief thought that there is only one answer to. She dives under before Ash can reply.

The ocean floor is covered in shells and little plants. It's so colourful and pretty, she can see Ash's legs swimming in front of her. Unable to resist, she pulls down on one of his legs before swimming off. There are fish darting all over the place as she swims away. She loves being in the water. Something catches Ash's attention on the seafloor and she watches him pass her as he dives down to it. Amy is still astounded how clear the water is, in the lake near her childhood home you can barely see in front of your face. Her lungs begin to burn and she returns to the surface. She takes a breath and heads back under, hoping to see what Ash has seen. Everything on the floor catches her attention, she doesn't know how he can pick things out in the mess. She goes deeper to have a closer look. There are little fish darting in and out of holes in the rocks. Bigger fish are swimming around the various colourful plants. They don't seem to be bothered by her presence, completely ignoring her unless she gets too close. She sees one fish that is bright blue, she follows it for a little while. There's so much more life down there than she thought.

She's so busy watching the fish, and replacing air, that she's completely lost sight of Ash. She returns to the surface, hoping to spot him again. There’s a moment of panic before she sees him sat on the beach. He's holding another one of those conches, it's white with light orange stripes and covered in spikes, the thing makes her think of the head of a mace. He puts it to his lips, Amy thinks he's about to take a drink, except you can't drink sea water. A noise, like a horn emanates from the shell; it makes her think of home, of when her father goes out hunting or a knight has returned from some quest or another. The noise makes her homesick. She returns to her lover, she'd like to see how he made that sound and she wants a cuddle.

"You found a working one? Is it alive?" The sand gets pulled out from under her again. She doesn't like being on such unsteady ground. None of her books said it tried to trip you. At least it behaves when it's away from the water.

"No. The creature that made this shell has long since perished, though I had to eject a crab that had made its home here." He’s inspecting the shell closely, digging out little reservoirs of sand caught in the crevices.

She sits next to him and puts her head on his arm, "how did you make the noise? It sounds like home, like my parents or siblings have come home from a time away. It's the noise that would be made if I ever return."

"Like any horn." he passes it to her then starts pulling her wet hair off her shoulder. “Just blow."

"Really? Where?" she holds the smaller end of the conch close to her mouth, shivering at the feel of Ash’s warm fingers brushing her cool skin, "Here?"

"Yes."

She blows, making the forlorn noise before passing it back with a smile. "I'm a trumpeteer! Concheteer? Maybe we should outfit our announcers with them instead of trumpets. It will become the new fashion in no time"

Ash takes it back off her, now all of her hair is away from her front. "Best return it to the ocean. It will become a shelter for a crab."

"Like the one you evicted? You evil man. I'll take it back if you want. There're funny fish in holes I want to see, they're super long.” Amy puts her hand in front of her chest to roughly show how long it was. “One came out to look at me when I swam past earlier."

He raises an eyebrow at her, you'd think he was used to her by now. "You can keep it if you truly want. You wanted to see a working one so I got you it, though apparently Melora does not approve of such things." Ash puts the conch down and starts picking up pebbles and feeling them in his hand.

"She doesn't approve of taking things from the ocean? Even though it's empty? What about food? Your goddess is strange." Ash laughs and Amy frowns. She thinks that gods in general are strange, they always have odd rules that no one can give a good reason for.

He continues sorting his pebbles, making a pile of flat ones and discarding the others. "Not taking things, taking things you do not need. Though, I do not think she will be particularly bothered by one shell. We should camp here. I forgot my harpoon, I will need to make one. Unless you would like to eat the lizard again?"

"Gods no. You can keep the lizard and all its spice, I don't think my mouth can handle it again. I can always eat the maid’s food we still haven't touched. I will keep the conch though. Thank you." Amy kisses him lightly for the gift, a memento of her first trip to a real beach.

He gets to his feet, flat stones in hand, and sand falls from him” I will go and collect driftwood for a fire."

"Ash, why is the fire green?" If it was anybody else, she'd be worried that they were being bothered by her continuous questions. Ash didn't seem to care, explaining every fish and coral he knew to her with patience. It's so easy to speak to him, if he's getting irritated with her barrage of questions he tells her. He also stopped her from getting too close to those long fish she saw earlier. Apparently, they'd take a chunk out of her hand, so that was nice of him. There are also some poisonous creatures down there that she needed to stay away from. He prepared the fire and the food while she went in and out of the water, trying to stay out his way. She only came back to ask about something she'd seen. Eventually, she got really wrinkly and decided to take a long break.

He's poking the fire, keeping air going to it, Amy uses the heat to dry her hair off. "I have heard old sailors call it 'Melora's wrath for burning her wood' I have also heard scholars say it is the salts that have soaked into the wood. The lizard stew has almost warmed up. There is still enough for two if you change your mind. Otherwise it will be going to the crabs."

She should eat some of the food he made for her, its rude not to. Her mouth is going to hate her, "Ok. I'll try the lizard again."

While he hands her a bowl, a slight smile playing on his face. She thinks he's probably looking forward to seeing her suffer again. Amy thinks over what he said about the wood. She has no idea how much Ash believes in the ocean goddess. Sometimes he can be contradictory about it, but she supposes she's the same way about the spirits "Why do you think it burns green?"

He shrugs, pouring his own stew out. "Salts makes more sense, wood does not come from the ocean."

Amy nods, that was her conclusion as well. She tastes a small spoonful of the food, it doesn't burn as much as before. "You don't believe what people say about Melora, but you follow her teachings. Is that right?"

Ash nods, while his mouth is full, Amy's scolding is beginning to work. "She teaches to respect the ocean and be wary of it. The idiot perishes upon the ocean, whereas the cunning hunter eats. The sea is merciless but ultimately free."

Amy nods again while swallowing another mouthful, it makes sense. It falls in with everything she knows about him. "So she makes no demands on you except respecting the ocean?"

"Yes, though it is also common sense."

She shrugs in reply, all areas of the world are dangerous and require a certain level of respect in her opinion, "I guess. I've already almost drowned once, I'd rather it didn't happen again." Amy takes another mouthful, it really is nice now it's not setting her pallet alight, "The food is edible"

Ash looks like he's trying his best not to laugh, mouth full of stew. She hopes he chokes. He finally gets around to swallowing, to her disappointment. "It has been soaking in the mint for the whole trip down the mountain. It will be less harsh on your palette." As soon as he finishes speaking he takes another spoonful, he must be really hungry or enjoying it. Ash rarely eats so quickly.

She follows suit, this is definitely better than before. "Thank you for making it cooler for me. I know you'd rather it was still hot. I appreciate it. Oh, we're sleeping here! I get to tick sand snuggles off the list!"

"Where else would we sleep? By my guess, it is high tide at the moment so we will not wash away in the night." His bowl is now empty, places it the one side and shuffles closer to her. He better not be thinking of stealing her bowl or he'll get rapped on the knuckles with her spoon.

She relaxes her grip on her bowl when he puts an arm around her, and smiles up at him "Yay, food and beach snuggles. What more could a girl ask for?"

Amy lays her head on Ash’s arm, and the she eats while the waves lap the shore. Later, they watch the fire’s reflection on the water in each other’s embrace.

#swimming #char: ash #char: amy #climbing #mountains #The Holiday #driftwood #hermit crab #conch

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