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Shells
on the Beach
Gertruth gingerly stepped on the hot beach that was
at the edge of Meer village. The town was known for it's flower fields and
honey products but that wasn't why Gertruth had gone on vacation there. It
was conveniently located on the other side of a sea-channel which meant that
people wouldn't recognise her there. She was a simple young woman but
rumours had spread and suddenly her name had been on everyone's lips and
people had started following her. The rumours were false but try to tell
that to the people who'd harassed her.
Still stepping out in a bathing suit and shawl felt awfully exposed. Her
skin burned easily so Gertruth would still look for a spot in the shade. But
she would try to do so in a natural and inconspicuous way.
While Gertruth was getting herself installed on the beach, eyes were upon
her. Servase was a young man who liked to be out on the beach or better yet,
out in the water. He had a reputation for enjoying himself and seeing a new
face on the beach had caught his interest. Trotting over with his best swag,
Servase aimed for contact.
"Hi there, can I tempt you to a swim?"
He showed his best smile but was faced with a nervous, tensed expression.
The blond-haired, fair-skinned girl scrambled away after some mumbled words
and left Servase to his own devices. Baffled, the young athletic guy went to
get a snack at the cart at the edge of the bay. Local beauty Katalyn was
manning the stall. She wore a long skirt and a short top. Her hair cascaded
down and she looked utterly bored.
"Is business slow today?" Servase asked.
Katalyn smiled up at the handsome man and said: "Not slow, everyone's
just ordering plain old water."
Her stall was filled with honey candy, hard candy, jellies and any other
kind of sweets Icarus had to offer. Today was hot though so people just
wanted to cool down and her tub of iced drinks was already half empty.
"Have you thought about the fish for me?" Katalyn asked.
"I'll be going out to catch some beauties in a couple of nights. I'll
make sure you get the good ones." Servase beamed. His side job was to
catch fancy fish for aquaria, sometimes though he caught some free of charge
for friends.
As the two flirted a bit and talked about their mutual friends, Katalyn's
older brother Tanguy appeared. Katalyn watched as he came closer and noticed
by the set of his jaw that he didn't like her talking on the job. There
weren't any customers though so she wasn't even slacking.
Tanguy saw his sister cosying up to a random beach boy and wondered what she
was doing. He had done his best to raise her after their parents had died. He'd
been lucky to have found a good job as a deputy. Today he was patrolling the
beach.
"Have you seen anything unusual?" Tanguy asked his sister.
But it was Servase who answered: "In fact there was this one girl who
seemed to be pretty nervous for being at the beach." he told Tanguy and
pointed to where Gertruth had found a shaded place below the trees.
Tanguy decided he'd best check it out, even if only to make sure that
Servase hadn't been bothering her. The guy seemed to love chatting up the
ladies too much.
"Goodday Miss." Tanguy said.
Gertruth looked up frightened. Had she really thought people would leave her
be just on the other side of a sea channel? Maybe the rumours of her
imagined courtship had reached even here.
"Is there a problem, deputy?" she asked, her fingers trembling
nervously.
"Just checking to see if everything's in order. You are a new face. Are
you planning on staying here."
Baffled Gertruth stuttered: "No. It's just a vacation..."
She started to get up but lost her balance and then veered back as Tanguy
tried to steady her. At that point, Katalyn rushed forward, picking up on
Gertruth's fear.
"Tanguy, leave her alone!" she called.
Tanguy who'd not even started his interrogation looked up annoyed which
scared Gertruth even more. To make matters worse Servase had followed
Katalyn and made a play to restrain the deputy. The young sailor didn't get
a hold of the deputy, which was probably a good thing so he wouldn't get
arrested, but by now the chaos was complete. People started to notice the
scuffle and Gertruth was almost ready to bolt while Tanguy and Katalyn were
having a sibling quarrel and Servase was trying to protect the girls when
they didn't actually need protecting.
And then a lispy voice interrupted.
"Excusze me peoples." the
forest drak said, "I think you needs to cool
down."
Tanguy reverted to a more professional stance and asked: "Might I be
able to help you lady drak?"
"It'ss Issnidi." she answered,
"My knight is just around the corner, we would
like to ask permission to judge the people at this beach."
"Cool!" Katalyn called out, "Do me!"
"You certainly will not!" Tanguy answered.
"What about me?" Servase asked.
Gertruth just wanted to get back to her room but the drak's piercing gaze
seemed to hold her captive.
"I'd say all of you are likely
matches."
~~°~~°~~°~~
Stats
and Draks:
Gertruth - Tanguy
- Katalyn
- Servase |