Gemwright

*Author's Note* There are no intimacy scenes in this chapter.

The conversation goes on for a bit while we walk back. The birds arrive at one of the beaches, and I observe the crab go into the water. Hana asks me to share the vision, so I do. It walks around the seafloor normally, but gets knocked around a bit by the water. Hopefully, once it's down far enough, waves will stop being a factor and it will be able to move normally.

Hana, "The surface is so pretty... is this what the world looks like to fish?"

Me, "Sunlight is pretty through the water's surface, isn't it?" It reminds me a lot of swimming as a kid, being underwater and looking up at the pool's surface. The light danced as the surface churned with dozens of other swimmers. The muffled sound of other kids yelling, a whistle blowing. My eyes are gently stinging with chlorine, but I've long since gotten used to it. I let go of my nose, and water rushes in. I choke, reorient my body, then kick off to the surface. My head breaks through...

I shake my head, and drop all of my connections. Whoa, that was a weirdly intense memory. Hana pokes me. "Was that your childhood?"

Me, "Yeah. My mom took me to the pool a lot. It was a cheap way to keep us entertained and active. I don't know if it's why I love swimming, or if she took me there so often because I did. It's a pleasant memory either way."

She looks at me for a long moment, then turns away.

We walk in silence for a bit, pass the lake, then arrive home. She leaves the basket on the ground, then hauls me over to Sentral. "Strength, agility, CON. Put those three on." I'm a little confused, but okay.

While I'm inside switching out my rings, I watch Hana go over to Rin's cart. She comes out smiling weakly. Rings shuffled, I jog over to meet them.

Rin, "Thanks for the stew. It was good. I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow. I'm already not as bad as this morning."

Me, "Take all the time you need to recover. If you're better tomorrow, great! If you're not, keep resting."

Rin nods. Hana pats her shoulder, and Rin goes back inside.

Hana, "Come on. You've got a new chore I'm assigning you."

We walk back to the lake. Harvesting corals perhaps? Arriving there, I see someone is already collecting from the corals with that odd long basket. It seems the job is to shave off strips of 'bark', or at least, outer layering. He looks at us curiously, waves, then goes back to harvesting.

Hana takes me up to the shore, then points at me and says, "Okay, strip!"

... huh? Um, okay. I'll trust her lead. I take off my pants and undergarments. No socks or shoes, CON takes care of that need, and it's too hot for them anyway.

Once I'm naked, again, I start to stand up when two hands push me into the lake! What the heck!

Now soaked, I see Hana take my clothes back a little and put them in a pile, then remove her own clothing. Wait, are we going to have sex in the water? I'm not against the idea, but I'm not really in the mood after earlier.

She points at me again, with a wide grin. "Now! Swim to the other side as fast as you can!"

... HAH! Alright! "Sure, you got it. And what will you be doing?"

Hana, oddly, baps her arm against her chest like De'dan did this morning. "Learning to swim!"

Me, "Alright, let me know if you need any help, I'll have Sentral drag you out of the water. I'll give you mouth to mouth resuscitation."

Hana, "I don't know what that means! Now get swimming!"

I turn away and reorient myself horizontally. Let's start with a doggie paddle and work my way up. Keeping myself afloat is pretty easy, but I'm moving pretty fast....... Wait, obviously. I'm absurdly strong now, from my ring and the island's odd air enchantment.

Excitement sparks. I shove my hand into the water ahead of me in a traditional crawl. I

surge

forward, water roughly flowing over me far, far faster than it ever has before. I feel no pain at all as the salt water hits my eyes either. I can't

believe

I'm going this fast through water. I complete the motions at inhuman speeds, and cross the lake, at least 400 feet wide, in 20 seconds or so. I've never trained for a competition, but this would have taken me... at least three minutes in the past, if I'd been pushing myself.

The drag is absolutely crazy. I'm glad I'm swimming naked, anything would have fallen off. I take a second to tighten the jet portion of the rings on my fingers so they can't, either.

This time, I'm going down!

I take several deep breaths while I doggie paddle out a few dozen feet. One last breath, and down I go. I dive, deeper and deeper. The pressure is noticeable at 25 feet, and painful at 40 or so. It seems CON protects me a little, but not a lot, from the pressure. I don't press any further for now. I'll have to make it a point to clean up my CON gem before my next swim. It's still enough to reach the bottom of most of the lake. There's all sorts of sea life down here. I notice the wildly colorful fish first. I'm actually agile enough to grab one, though it slips out of my hand. I could crush it I suppose, but there's no reason to. I skim the bottom for a while, where all sorts of wavy grass-like plants and colorful coral-like structures lay.

Curiously, there's broken wood strewn about portions of the bottom, mostly rotted out. The debris of ships lost to the cursed sea, perhaps?

My chest begins to burn, so I head back up. Smiling, I push myself as I swim. The drag is intense, but I just shove hard, again and again. The surface approaches rapidly. I break through...

And end up 12 feet above the water, out of control, what's going on haha, this is

incredible

, I'm falling, let's try not to belly flop, deep breaths, and the water surges around me again. Oh

, that was wild!

I can do better than that! This time I make sure to work my legs in, alternating them for all I'm worth. I scoop armfulls of water below me one after the other, the surface approaching even faster than last time! Let's fucking

go

! I burst through the water again, even higher, I need a ruler, or a tape measure! "Hahahahaha! This is awesome!" I gulp in air, I don't have enough. I take a quick glance around towards a noise, Hanamaya is shouting.. Something at me, but I'm too far away to hear it. She's got her arms raised though, I assume it's a cheer. I send her a connection as I plummet back down to the water. I immediately forget, and go for another jump. I listen to a whispering of knowledge from my agility enchant... I move my legs slightly differently, flipping them together up and down, and it seems like I go just a little faster? Feels like it, but either way, I'm going for another jump! Heave, pull, push, water rushing, adrenaline pumping, let's do this!

After twelve or so jumps, laughing like a madman every time, I'm getting tired. I do a lazy backstroke back to shore.

Hana pokes me on the side as I drift by. "Between you and Rin, who is the bigger thrill seeker? I can't tell some days."

I stand up and seize her in my arms. "

Thank you

, Hana. That was a thrill. I can't believe I never thought to try this. I suppose I have no choice but to love you forever."

She hugs me back. "Heehee.. I'm happy you're happy."

I put her down. "How'd your swimming go? Did you figure out the basics? Can I help?"

She smiles. "It's a lot easier here, since we're strengthened! But it's still tricky."

I nod. "There's one weird trick that makes swimming a lot easier. Breathing in reverse!"

She laughs at me. "That's such a dumb way to describe what you're thinking about! But I can't think of a better one! Ahhhh! Okay, okay. Breathe in, hold it, then out and back in. Keep my lungs full."

Me, "Exactly. The extra air will help you stay afloat. And if all you're trying to do is 'not drown', then a backfloat is a super easy way to preserve your energy and your breath."

She swims. I try not to focus on her cute rump as she floats away in doggy style... I mean, doggy paddle. She's not doing bad, honestly. She keeps her head above water, and goes fast enough. "Congratulations, Hana. You can no longer say 'I cannot swim'."

She turns around and paddles back towards me. "I practiced while you were showing off. You blew the harvester's mind by the way. He's finished now, and went back to the village. People normally can't propel themselves 20 feet into the air out of water. If I hadn't been reading your mind, I'd have thought you

had

to be using your telekinesis to do that." I hadn't thought I'd gone that high, but it's nice to hear. "Anyway, teach me better ways to swim!"

I smile, and start with the breaststroke.

- - -

It's slightly darker when she's done playing. I get the feeling she just wants to do something with me, which is fine. I enjoy spending time with my loves.

Hana, "That's all for today. Thank you for teaching me, oh wise teacher. Your young, nubile student appreciates it. Now's the usual dinner time, so let's get something."

Me, "We could do that. But maybe I can't resist the allure of my nubile, young student and I'd rather go for round two?" I make a slow grab at her, to which she propels herself backwards.

Hana, "Oh no, it wasn't enough to impale me on his tree trunk of a mating rod once, now he wants to go at it again. Run away~" Laughing, we return to shore. Taking our clothes into hand, we walk back to our clearing. Hana opts to shower in her own home, but gives me a reason. "Grey. From now until tomorrow night, I don't want you thinking about me. I want you thinking about every single thing you want to do with Bor'la. Every way in which you'll have sex, and the exact position you'll be in as you plant love into her womb. " It's frustrating; just that was all it takes to get me rock hard. So much for my zen state. I don't suffer long, the cold shower robs me of my mind's heat.

Cleaned, I put on some pants, and join Hana outside. Rin sees us off, but stays behind again. Poor thing. Walking away, I say, "Poor girl. I really hope she's feeling better tomorrow. Should I offer... a bird? To fly around, so that she can at least have something to watch through?"

Hana thinks about it. "Let's turn around and ask her. I think it would be a truly thoughtful gesture. OH and that reminds me, we need to turn around anyway. Which one of your throw rugs is your least favorite? You were supposed to get the new couple a house warming present. I don't think anyone's actually upset, but it would be considerate of you."

I call a bird, and have Hana collect whichever of my throw rugs she thinks most appropriate; I can just buy more. The bird arrives immediately. "Rin!"

She comes out. "Yes?"

I offer her the bird. "It has to be painfully boring in here. I'm really sorry for not thinking to offer this earlier. Would you like an eye in the sky, at least, so you have something to watch?"

She smiles. "That would be lovely. Yes please, and thank you."

I hand the bird to her, connect, then patch her through to its eyes. I have it take flight, and fly 500 feet over random parts of the island within range of the telepathy relay.

Me, "You should be able to see the lower... a bit less than half of the island. It'll fly around all over. Would you like it to fly higher? Lower?"

Rin, "Lower please. About 120 feet off the ground would be lovely." I adjust the height. "Wonderful!" She steps up and hugs me. "Thank you for thinking of me. This will help pass the time. It would be hard to take

another

nap. Bring me back some more stew? And if you can, some of those vegetables they had out for lunch yesterday."

Me, "I have to talk to the chief after dinner. I'm not sure if he wants to talk to Hana also?" Hana shakes her head. "Seems he hasn't asked after her. Hana, would you bring her back dinner?"

Hana, "Sure. I'll bring you back something, Rin."

Rin smiles as we walk away again, and waves. When I look back before going out of view, she's sitting down on her home's step with her eyes closed, still smiling.

We stop by the new house first. I almost don't recognize it; while we were gone, the fabric must have finished, because it's now covered up. Looks quite similar to the rest of them, now. The front door is open, but nobody is inside, so I drop off the throw rug. Hope they like it, it's the particularly soft and fuzzy one.

We walk back a bit to the pot in the middle of town, dinner. The line for the stew pot is pretty short. Several eyes turn to me as we come into view. The couple in front of us looks at me curiously. They make the gesture, then after I connect ask, "Is it true? Can you really fly through the water, faster than a fish?"

Huh, I didn't expect that to have made the rounds already. Looking up, I answer, "I can. I really enjoyed today's swim. The lake is just the right size to push myself."

They look at eachother, then smile. "Rak'id might challenge you to a race then, but if you're as fast as we've heard, you'll win. Ah, there he is. I think he wants to talk about tomorrow's hunt with you." They look to the side, and a man is approaching me.

He walks unhurriedly. Like all his kin, he is tall, and brownish-tan, but he's even bulkier than most. I connect with his mind, and he speaks, "I am Rak'id. Grey, it is good to meet you. Every day, I hear some new tale of your feats. Will you still be joining us on tomorrow's hunt?"

It seems he's already eaten, but he'll chat with us while we wait for our turn. Not that there's long to wait, we're next in line. We pick up a bowl, step up to the pot, and get served one at a time. "Yes, I will hunt with you tomorrow." Hana corrects my pronunciation, and I repeat myself. Now with our dinner, Rak'id gestures for us to follow him to a table. We sit down with a bunch of other men and women, 7 in total.

He introduces us to them. "This group of 8 are the tribe's usual hunters. We are responsible for bringing back the meat once a tri-day."

I can't help but notice that they've got more bracelets and necklaces than most people. Probably as a reward that their job is the most dangerous? They're the most exposed to kurs, I imagine the mortality rate is relatively high. Only two of them are above 25, both with nasty looking scars. The rest are younger, and a few are scarred as well. It seems like this job is in fact dangerous.

I connect to them, and sit down. "I look forward to working with you tomorrow then. This will be my first hunt, but I'll try not to hold you back."

A few of them grimace, but some of them chuckle. "Somehow, I don't think you will hold us back, Grey." says one of the hunters.

One of the less enthusiastic ones asks, "How can you have never hunted? What do you eat? Only plants?"

I respond, "Hunting does happen where I'm from, but most of the meat is raised, fed grass and such on a large field, and then killed for its meat. How can I say it... I am very good at other jobs, and I exchange my crafts for food from the people who raise the meat." Hana corrects me a few times.

Another questions, "You are very powerful, in magic and in strength of arm. Are you the strongest human?"

Me, "I believe I am not the strongest human. For every 1,000 humans, I should be stronger than ... all but one."

Hana laughs. "Closer to 100,000," she says quietly.

Rak'id then asks, "Do you fear the kurs? They have been the death of many, including several hunters I ran beside."

Me, "I think that I can fight off a kurs, should one appear."

He looks thoughtful. "If one does appear, it will have the first strike. Its jaws will likely be around your neck before you are aware it is there."

Me, "Thanks for the warning. I have.." Hana helps me out. "I have two layers of protection should that happen. It won't be enough to kill me."

Rak'id, "Okay. We trust you to know your way in a fight. It is unlikely that we will meet a kurs on any given hint, but vigilance is the best defense. We shall be hunting any deer or bear we can find."

Bears...? Did I- Hana nods at me. Huh. I feel like any bear that lives in this heat would have died of heat stroke, but what do I know.

Apparently we're done with talking about the hunt, because I get asked about the outside world again. One of them expresses interest in seeing it. I laugh, and summon a water crystal from Sentral. As it flies over I look at Hana with a thought in my mind. She rolls her eyes and laughs. "You're an idiot, you know that? Alright, go for it."

I smile at her, then look at the hunter. "Alright. I'm not against taking a few folks on my journey, if they truly wish to see the world. But there are three tests. You can take the first right now. You must be tough enough to endure a bit of water." I give a little smirk. "If you can endure it without crying out, you pass. What's your name again?"

I get a mixture of expressions, mostly amusement and confusion. The hunter says "Ken'dra. I don't fear a little water."

Me, "I understand." The water crystal arrives. "Hana, would you administer this test for me?"

Hana, "Oh, if I must." I hand her the crystal. We stand up, and I motion for the Ken'dra to follow me. A little way out, I sit down on the ground. Hana holds the water stone above my head, and turns it on. It's cold, it always is, and uncomfortable. I shiver, but it's not too bad, given the heat. Towards then end, I'd call it pleasant. After ten seconds, she turns it off.

I nod, "That's the first test."

Ken'dra looks askance. "That's it?"

Me, "That's it. Sit down where you are, if you're feeling confident."

Ken'dra does look confident. "This will be easy."

Hana steps up to him. "Remember, don't cry out." and lifts the crystal.

Ken'dra, "I would not shame myself in front of a beautiful woman as you. I am prepared."

Hana nods, then activates it. Icy cold water pours onto him. He

nearly

fails immediately. If I were feeling cruel, I'd call that brief gasp a cry and stop the test. He recovers, and clenches his teeth. His eyes close, hard, and I can see his entire face scrunch up in pain. He starts shivering, harder, gripping his knee with his hand.

Ten seconds pass, and Hana cuts the flow of water. "You passed. Nice job! You can shout now, if you need."

Ken'dra, "HAAAAA... what

agony

!" he breathes heavily. "How could you stand it so easily?"

I laugh, and offer him a hand up. He takes it. "Because I'm used to it! The very air outside this island is this cold, some of the time. To travel with me means accepting the 'freezing' air."

Hana, "They don't know what 'ice' is, so I don't have a translation." She turns to them. "When water becomes even colder than that, it becomes solid, like wood."

Ken'dra doesn't appear to be listening. "And I thought myself tough."

Me, "There is no need to be hard on yourself. You would not have a problem if you were raised in such air. We have clothing of heavy cloth to protect us from this cold air. The true purpose of this test is not to test your toughness, but to make sure you understand what you would be getting yourself into."

Ken'dra, "I need time to think. Thank you for teaching me."

Me, "Any time." I look back. Several men and women, and two dozen children, have gathered. "Are all of you interested as well?"

The first woman smiles and nods. "I am also curious about the outside world. Please test me." I guess this is going to be my dinner.

Me, "Hana, somehow I've messed up. Go finish eating? I'll have you take over when you're done so I can eat my stew." I look back at the applicant. "This will be painful. If you're ready, please sit on your knees there. You will have cold water poured in you for ten... for a short time. Do not cry out or move."

She does both, almost immediately. So does the next man.

The next one is a kid. "Um. I can't. You're too young."

She looks indignant. "I'm fourteen! I am an adult!"