Changeable as the Sea

It wasn't until the soldier clapped his hands together, breaking through Keren's pleasure at finally being somewhere she belonged, that she opened her eyes again. The sand faded into ocean-side, grass-covered dunes to one side, ending in a distant forest, and rolled down to the ocean itself on the other side. There were no sounds of animals, no birds crying, just the sounds of the wind, the sea, and the intruders to its domain.

"Where are the gulls?" Adara murmured softly, but Keren had no answer. She didn't really even care; gulls were obnoxious, raucous creatures who stole your food and laughed at you for it.

"Maybe there aren't any on Avengaea," she replied absently, eyes drawn to the deep blue-green of the sea, and the way the summer sun glinted off of it. She took no notice of the others, not even Abernathy and his noisy rummaging in his bags.

Then the soldier was speaking, and she had to tear her eyes away from the lure of the water; she had a duty here, and she had to fulfill it before she could slip away to enjoy her real birthright. "Alright," he was saying, words steely and eyes fixing meaningfully on Keren, as if he knew what was going through her mind. "This isn't a vacation. We'll fan out along the beaches. You two," he pointed to Michael and Adara, "you head north, mark anything unusual and call it in to me." With a sudden flick of his hand, headsets flew in their direction. Adara caught hers deftly, and Michael, his face red again but this time with embarrassment, fumbled with his before clenching it to his chest.

"You and you." He tossed headsets to Keren and Jed, and Keren's heart clenched painfully for a moment as she caught hers-- where would he send her? "You mark the water-line and watch for trouble from the south." She sighed, sliding the headset on over her bushy hair. "You did hear about the incident with attacks from the sea? Yes?" At her and Jed's nod, the soldier snapped, "Good. Don't be taken off guard."

As if I caeld aever be off-guard from something coming oot of thae water, Keren thought, but not with malice or even annoyance. She would be happy, at peace, as long as she was close enough to the water to breathe in its heady scent and hear the gentle waves rushing too and from the shore.

The soldier assigned Franco and Jason to patrolling the dunes, announced that he would be remaining with the scientist, and Abernathy gave the whole group of cadets a glare, exclaiming, "As it should be, God willing! Who ever let a bunch of kids interfere with my studies in the first place?" Keren ignored him, looking out over the ocean again, but was startled into taking a step as Adara lightly shoved her shoulder.

"I guess it's decided then," she said, her mood seeming much improved from her earlier sulk. "See ya around, huh? Don't let Jed pull any tricks on ya." She winked at the huge young man, unable to hide a grin, and the massive Jed smiled back. "Let's get moving, Squirt," she commanded Michael, who nodded hurriedly and followed her across the grass towards the trees.

"Let's go, then," Jed said in his deep voice, and Keren agreed with a grin, pacing down towards the waterline. It lapped up just beyond where her boots left tracks in the damp sand, and for a moment it was all she could do not to tug off the restrictive footwear, roll up her uniform legs, and let it caress her feet.

"Do you like the ocean?" Jed asked, eyes on the shoreline but voice obviously directed at Keren.

"Yaeh," she answered simply. She hadn't spent much time alone with the big guy, but he seemed nice enough, if a little slow.

"I do, too," Jed agreed. "Especially when it is peaceful like this. My father used to take me sailing when I was younger."

"Did yeh like et?"

There was a smile in Jed's voice when he answered, "I was very sick." Keren laughed and patted his burly shoulder.

"Not aeveryone ken be a sailor, I'm afraid," she told him. Jed agreeing with a nod, they both fell silent, letting the ocean and wind make their own music to the soft sound of their boots in the sand, and the occasional whistle and click of their headsets. Duty and restraint aside, it was the most pleasant morning Keren had spent since arriving on Avengaea.

It was only as the group reconvened for lunch, with nothing to report but the peace and calm of undisturbed nature, Keren felt at all uncomfortable. As the cadets settled around the small perimeter of Abernathy's equipment, she and Adara close enough to chat, Keren felt eyes on her. She turned and found the dragon, Viatoro Nuntiumi, watching her. He smiled faintly as their eyes met, and she felt chilled, wondering what about her could have caught his attention-- for all she knew, these dragons could sense magical creatures, or even smell them like dogs or cats. The worry that he might know and, worse, might somehow tell someone haunted her all through the meal, and she was very glad to be released for the afternoon to go back to their patrolling.