CHAPTER 1 - JOINING THE CARAVAN
Sala Joyrah gasped as the cold water splashed down her bare back. She was standing in the river along side her parents' house. She was washing up before their Caravan Ceremony in the center of the village.
Sala was a half Selkie half Clavat girl who was the newest addition to Tipa's Caravan. There were three others in the Caravan, one of them being Flora, her full-Clavat sister. Their mother Ezra was a Clavat and a bisexual who had her two daughters through one night stands with different men, both Clavats and Selkies. There was no telling who their fathers could be, maybe men from Tipa, maybe men met while Ezra was a Caravaner.
Ezra had long since settled down as a fisherman, met a nice Selkie girl and gotten married. They were currently the only lesbian marriage in the village, but Tipa was a very open village and it didn't bother anybody that Ezra had married Momo Soyo, a gorgeous Selkie with the usual traits of Selkies: long blue hair, a large bust and a love for love. A love which Ezra only too happily filled.
On the other hand, Sala, being half-blood, had inherited her mom's long crimson hair and light Clavat demeanor. She had also gotten her Selkie father's physical genes, giving her the Selkie's wonderful physique and characteristically large bust.
There was a noise behind her and Sala jumped, flipping around. She wasn't shy by any means, but the village did frown on the Selkie's love of nudity and naturalism.
"Relax sis, it's only me." Flora said, walking down the bank. She was wearing a basic Clavat outfit: Stockings and a large over-shirt that went to her knees and ended in large cuffs hanging from her wrists. She was truly a beautiful girl, a small Clavat chest and long brown hair from her father. She had kind eyes and a thin body, a little smaller than her younger sister.
"Good lord Flora, warn a girl before you come running up. I almost got it from ma when she caught me swimming naked around here. She doesn't understand it, but Momo does the same thing at night." Sala said, walking up to the shore. She took a towel from a rock and wrapped it around her large chest.
"You Selkies, I don't get nudity. It's nice to change and wash-up, maybe spend a few minutes in your room without clothes, but how could you do it in public. What if somebody saw you?" Flora said, scratching the back of your head.
"What's it matter if somebody see's you. I mean, if women see you, it's no different then seeing themselves and if men see you, all they can do is admire your naked beauty and think about you later. Eyes can't hurt you." Sala said, tossing the towel back on the rock. She shook out her hair and put her clothes back on, which were meager.
She only wore a thong, a very short skirt, a fur lined bra and some sandals. She did have a long pair of stockings, but they got torn up and recycled for patches and thread.
"But what about your privates. I mean, what if they see them, what if they don't stop looking?" Flora said as Sala brushed out her long crimson hair.
"Then it means they are only further enraptured by your beauty. There's nothing wrong with people seeing your breasts or your pussy, it's all natural and all beautiful." Sala said, putting her quiver back on the belt around the top of her skirt. She held a powerful maple longbow in her hand and was very skilled with it.
"You are so strange, how are you related to me or mom?" Flora asked, sighing fruitlessly.
"Blame the Selkie side of me, I enjoy nature and clothing isn't natural." Sala said, shrugging as they walked back up the shore to their house.
*******
They stood in the center of town, the four Caravaners were circled around Tipa's great crystal. The sisters Sala and Flora and the other two Clavats, Mick and Peter. Mick was an experience Caravaner of six years and Peter of four years. Flora had been with it for one already and Sala was joining this year.
The village elder stood in front of them with a large book in his hands and the Crystal Chalice at his feet. He read the ceremonial blessing while the entire village listened around them. The entire village was about sixty people, mostly Clavats and Selkies, but there is a single old Yuke who lives in the center of town and a small blacksmithing family of Lilties.
As opposites as Clavats and Selkies are, they live in perfect harmony in the small town. The Selkie's skill in battle and nature accents and guards the Clavat's peaceful farming lifestyle, making a town that thrives and survives in a world flooded with Miasma and covered in monsters. The Yuke living in the town was a skilled chemist and doctor who helped the village greatly with his considerably knowledge; while the small Lilty family were exceptional at making anything with metal and stone.
The village was truly a peaceful break in the storm of the world.
"Bless this Chalice and Bless this caravan, let them travel swiftly and peacefully. Return them safely to us with all the Myrrh we need to purify our crystal and survive." The Elder said, snapping the book closed.
"Bless you!" The entire village said in unison.
"We thank you, now let us set off. It's a clear and warm afternoon and I bet we could make the Belle River by tomorrow morning." Mick said, holding his sword high in the air. He was a Clavat with short brown hair and wore nothing except shorts and a shield on his left arm. He was a very skilled fighter and his body was covered in scars.
"We will be back before the winter with Myrrh and a caravan of trade goods." Peter said, holding up his long silver tipped spear. He had short blonde hair, was a year younger than Mick and he wore a full set of light leather armor.
"And we will all return safely!" Flora said, holding up her Falchion.
"We will be swift and courageous!" Sala said, holding up her bow.
The entire village cheered and cried with a wonderful spirit as the caravan started to move. They walked with the caravan to the bridge on the far side of the village that marked the edge of the Crystal's power. A small cloud of dust rose from the ground where the Crystal shield ended. Grass ruffled and there was a small strange glow along the shield.
Mick and Flora clambered up into the seat and Mick took the Papaopamus reigns. He clicked with his tongue and gave the reigns a flick.
"Come on Missy, let's go again!" Mick said to the Papaopamus. Peter and Sala walked along side the Caravan.
The Crystal Chalice was sitting inside the caravan with a few weeks of supplies.
The same shield that encircled Tipa encircled the Caravan and protected them in the Misama coated world. It was their life and their only means of survival. The Crystal Chalice must be protected.
"So, our plan for this year is starting with the Myrrh tree closest to home. Hopefully nobody has collected from it for a while so we can get some there." Mick said, handing the reigns to Flora. He opened a map and traced the trail with a finger, "It's a fairly calm path until we actually near the tree."
"You hear that sis, you're actually going to get to fight some monsters!" Flora said, looking down on her left at Sala.
"You guys fight them...I snipe them farther than they can see." Sala said, smiling. She wasn't far off because she was known as the best shot in the village and had such sharp senses that she was often assumed to be psychic.
"Just don't hit me in the back." Peter chuckled.
"We're not even out of the village and you two are quarreling already." Mick chuckled.
"I'll show you quarreling. You forget I'm the only Selkie here!" Sala said bearing her fangs. A common trait in Selkies, their teeth often grew in partially or completely sharp. Sala only had a pair of long sharp fangs in her mouth.
