It was a dark and misty night, and nothing was amiss actually. Unless you count the motion of waves and the stillness of a quiet cub to be "amiss".

She looked out over the lapping waves as one looks over a throng of people; observant, in a vigil of silence and curiosity. This water, its movement, was relaxing, like the push and pull of a tongue (or a paw) against fur. It was so gentle, yet full of force. It should've been helpful in getting her to sleep... but it wasn't.

Kaimana just had energy. She was really overrun by it. Usually she was a low-maintenance, low-energy kind of cub, but it had just been too long since she'd done something, and she wanted to do something. Her sloggishness wasn't even tiring anymore, just a bit annoying. Stimulating. Driving. So she was here.

And what to do here? She looked to the waves as if for some kind of answer. Too many naps in the day made it hard to sleep at night, made her mind stop functioning like normal... why was she staring like this.... and then suddenly it came to her. Literally, it came to her, directly to her paws. A wave came in, deposited a broken fragment of some kind of oceanic pottery (a shell), and then went out.

Kaimana was mesmerized. It was so shiny! She ran a paw over it; so smooth. Its ridges, its shape, everything about it was just so interesting... she had to look for more. The water had brought them, perhaps it would bring more? Perhaps it already had!

Thus the search would being, one jaguar cub meandering across a dark, misty beach.

The ocean's guardian had become slightly more active since the hatching of the Glaive, constantly coming to the surface to see if the babe was around. It seemed like it grew faster than the Orarian could comprehend; time was usually an endless loop, as echoing as the tide, so for something to change so drastically was baffling.

In the dark of the evening, the sea had enveloped the land with a thick fog, enough that a tendril could break through the barrier of the other world and not immediately feel dried out. A starlight eye searched the shore, not seeing the usual disturbance of the ancient spinosaurus, but instead a vague bright shape shifting through the mist beyond the glassy, warped surface of the waves.

The great beast of the depths came forward, until it's shimmering surface gently kissed the surface of the waves, and raised a few tendrils into the world beyond. It stayed back from the beach, not wanting to get stranded upon the sand, but it still loomed around the blur of a creature it could see-- could feel prancing about, looking for shells.

The starlight skin rippled with a pulse of magic, and a distorted voice called from the deep, out to the feline just out of reach.

" ͏̴͘͟͠w͏̸h̢̕͡o ͜a̶͡r̴è̀ ̛y̢o͢u̵?
" ͏̴͘͟͠d̷o͡ ҉y̕ou͝ t̵r̷e͏spasś?͠"

[ooc note: you can hover over text to get a translation if the corruption is too hard
to read-- let me know if you'd rather have it in plain text though!! @Kaimana ]

A sudden voice made it to Kaimana's ears, posing interesting questions the stopped Kaimana in her tracks. "Who are you? Do you trespass?" Maybe it should've been unexpected to hear a voice out of nowhere when no one seemed to be around, but the ocean was giving her gifts and it was dark and misty so, you know, anything could happen! She wasn't surprised. No, actually, she was Kaimana, and Kaimana didn't know what trespassing meant! The cub supposed that kind of observation was what she was supposed to respond with. So she did. "I'm Kaimana. What's a trespass?" 'Trespass' was a big word. A big word should have a big creature to match, right? I mean, no, but any word should have a creature to come with it, right? Right! So where was this one?

Kaimana scented the air, but all she could smell was the salt of the ocean. Everything was just water. Everything but creatures. Of which there had to be two here, but Kaimana was only finding one, and that one was her. "Where are you?" She would ask it. It would probably increase the chances of her finding the other creature if the other creature told her where it was.

Probably.

@Orarian

The child's mewling voice was difficult to hear, but today the ocean was quiet and nearly as still as the slowly shifting mist.

Kaimana. She asked two questions, the little blurred star named Kaimana, and the leviathan drifted along the outskirts of the shore, tendrils curling in a manner that might have been thoughtful or simply coincidence.

The distortion of the sound was getting more irregular with the contained effort of creating sound in a range that could be easily heard (the deeper sounds seemed to frighten things outside the water, perhaps because they simply couldn't understand--) but the goliath of the sea had some answers for the little one.

͏"ì͏ ̕͏a̵̧͜m͠҉ ͡҉o͞r̴̨̀a̢̕r͢҉̶į̷̴a͡͡n҉.̷̴ i ̴͜a̶͡m͝ ̵T̴́͟h̨͟e O̷C͏E̵̡̛A͘N.̴͢ ̵͢y̷o̢u̴͠͞ á͟͡r͏̷e ̧͞a͝t͡ ̡̕͝t́͞h̛͡e ҉̷͢ed̢̛g̶̶͟e ͝ǫ̀͜f ̶̷͘t̛̀h͘e ̨͟O̧t́͠h̨͘er̨͘͡ ͢͜W̛o̵r̀͡l̵d҉ an҉̛d̀͢ ̸͢͢Th͜͢e̕ ͘O͢͢͝C̛ĘA̧͠Ņ̶͝.͏" The Orarian offered information, accepting with its growing sense of understanding and wisdom that not everything knew of the past as its endless eternity did. ͏"P̶͡r̕҉̨a͘y͝ ̵t̛el̀l̴͠, ̨ąr̀e͜ ̴y̵҉̵o̸̧ų̸͜ ̢́O͢CEA̸҉̵N̸̛͢?͏̷?͝ ̴̢̛T̷h̛͞e͠ ̶O̴t͠he҉̧r͏̷ ̶̢W̵͝͝o҉͝r̡̕l͡͞d̀ d͠o̧͝e͡s͘ n̶o̸̕t̸҉ ́b̸e̡̕͢l͞oń͡g̵ ̧H͝E̢̛͘R̨E̡̨͝." the words sloshed through the air like violent waves, words growing further distressed, ̕͏"T̵̢r̡ȩs̀p͜a͡ş̨͘s͘͜e͢r̢s͏̶ ̷̢́c҉̵͜o͏͞ḿe ̡͟f̵r̸͡o̧͞҉m͝ ̕t̷̕h͏ȩ̧͏ ́Ó͞t̸̡he̡͞͏r ̡͝Wo͠r̨͘͢l̡̀͜d, ̴͘to͟ ̡͏wa̵̛g͏e͢ ́w̵a̧ŗ̨͡ ̡and ̶p҉͢͠o̡i̕s̴̀͝o͞n ̢͠͠t͘͜͡he ̸͡w̴̛a̶te̸ŗ̷̵s̴͠." Dark, slick with wet tendrils stretched toward the sky, the inky shape in the fog stretching out like a dozen hungry snakes.

When it continued yet again, the voice was calmer; offering two simple options: ͏I͟f͜͞͠ ̧yo͘͞͝u ̛a҉re͏͘͟ ҉̢O͘C̛̛͝E͟Á͝Ǹ͟,̷̴̧ ̶̧̕t̡͡h͢ere̶͝ ́i͞s ͜͜͜ņ͠ơ͠͡t̷͞h̨́͠i̢͢ng̛͡ ̕͠t͏o̷͡ ҉f͢e҉̨͟a͏r.̵̧ ̨͝I̶f̵̡ y̕o̴u̸̵̴ ̨̀à̴͠r̡e̸̸ ͢Ơ͝͞C̴̢E͘A͜͜N͟͡,͜͜͞ ͡͝w͢e̴͠ ̨̛a̧r̢̧͞e̴̢ ́͡o̵͡ne,͜ a͞n͢͏d ͟th̸͟͞e͡ e͠͏͏n̷d̢l͟͟e̷͟s͏̨s ͡tì̶͡d̢͠é̢ ̵w̷ì̧l̡͝l ̨p̷͝r͝͏o͘t̴̵è҉c̀͠t́͏ y͞o͠u.̛͠͝

And the Orarian warned, " ͏B̡́ú̸t̨́ if͏̕ ͏͜y̶͏o̢̕͝u̷̵ ̵a͜r͢e͡ ̴n͟͠o̡t,̵̢ i̵̕͟f ̴͟͡yo͜u҉̧͝ t͟͜r̶e͘͜s͡p̷̷͘a̵̛ss̨͘,̕͟͝ ̢t̷͟h͏̧͜ȩ̕n̷ yo͡u̶ ̷w̢i͢l̷͟͡l̸ k҉n̕o̶w҉ wŗo̧t̕h̴̕.̡ I͢f ̛y̨o͘͟u͜ ar̶͝͏e ̨͟o̸͠f̸ ̢ţ̴͢h̢͞è͠ ̨͢͝O͢͡͡t̀̕͢h̷͜͞ér̶͟ ͘Wo͡r̴̛͟l̨d̀,̕ ̵t̀h̵e̵҉n̢ ͘͠͏ ̗̪͚̬͈́̕͡b͏̥̣̱͘ȩ̵͎̘̬͕̣ͅg̛̫̭͔͎̮͍̹͕͜o͏̞̰̬̥́n̛̙̪̭̺̮͎͓̮̕ḙ̻̤͈̻̟.̷̭̞͙̦̕.̓͆̎

[ @Kaimana ]

More words entered her mind. Kaimana wasn't often one for a great amount of diligence, but that was usually when there was too much noise and clamor and she didn't want to listen to it all. This was fine, these quiet words, seeming to be close to her ears without a body. Apparently the body was .... *dramatic pause* ... the OCEAN! *gasp*

Kaimana had just been given something by the OCEAN! Not even five minutes ago! And now it was talking to her? Like Glaive, it was giving her things and talking to her. It must like her then, because that's what Glaive did, and Glaive liked her! Kaimana didn't even know the OCEAN could do stuff like that! It was kind of cool. Wait... maybe, if it could give shells and speak, could it give... pets? *gasp again!*

So apparently Kaimana was between the OCEAN (obviously) and the "Other World". The Other World? Sounded interesting. She didn't know she'd left her own, but hey, here she was, supposedly. And the OCEAN wanted to know if she was also the OCEAN, or if she was the Other World. That question didn't make any sense because Kaimana wasn't either, so she didn't quite no what to say. She liked water, a lot actually! It was one of her favorite things! Water and fish and petting! And also Glaive and maybe these gifts from the OCEAN. But was she from the OCEAN or this "Other World"?

The OCEAN explained what Trespassers were, and by golly did that clear some stuff up. Trespassers were the ones from the "Other World", and they came to do bad things, it sounded like. Kaimana looked out at the OCEAN to, well, be polite and face the once who was talking to her, hopefully. She barely saw the tendrils reaching up from the clement waves, and what she did see (some vague wriggling outline in the sky) was pretty funky but not all that important to take note of.

So if Kaimana was "of the OCEAN", it'd protect her, and if she was a Trespasser (a big meanie), it wouldn't. Well that was easy! "I like the ocean. It has fish and fish are good! An' also thank you for the thing." She meant the broken pretty thing the OCEAN had left at her paws. Wait-- should she give something back for that? The rambler had wanted something in return for the stories; maybe the OCEAN wanted something for the pretty thing? "Do you wanna um...." What could she give? What did the OCEAN not have? "A uh, a.... piece of my fur?" It wasn't her best effort but she was a bit harried at the moment.

@Orarian