Post by Koi Sakana on Apr 15, 2020 20:45:35 GMT
Quest Link: Seashore Hunting
Warnings: Implied partial nudity
Summary: Koi gathered a bucket full of seaweed and barnacles at the Rock Pools. While she was there, she encountered the patriotic human from the Kindom of Nostros who was about to attempt swimming back to his homeland. Seeing the folly of this exercise, Koi dragged him back to the Adventurer's Guild shack.
Tags: Rock Pools, Kingdom of Nostros, Healing Fountain, Unnamed Patriotic Man, Seaweed
Warnings: Implied partial nudity
Koi hummed to herself as she hopped from rock to rock at the Rock Pools. She was carrying a wooden bucket that she had borrowed from a villager, and she was presently searching for food in the tide pools.
Compared to the last time when Koi went looking for a Snappy Crab, the fish spirit felt that today’s task was much easier. After all, Koi could find food basically everywhere! Seaweed was a type of food, right? She bent down and tossed a tangle of seaweed into the bucket.
Unfortunately, as a magical spirit, Koi had a poor sense of human nutrition and diet. She had no idea that seaweed had virtually no nutritional value, and the girl happily filled the majority of her bucket with slimy sea vegetation instead of choicier pickings like mussels and shellfish.
Koi paused when she found a rock covered in barnacles. She wondered for a moment whether barnacles were considered edible, but she shrugged and dismissed her doubts. Humans were fascinating and ingenuous creatures, and Koi figured that there was probably somebody who already figured out how to make barnacles nutritious food to eat. In either case, diversity was a good thing. She got to work with a sharp rock scraping barnacles into her bucket. It took a little bit of effort, but eventually Koi had a bucket filled to the brim with seaweed and barnacles.
The fish spirit had a smug look on her face as she finished her task.
It felt so good to be productive and useful. Koi liked the idea that she was helping acquire food for the village. It made her feel like she had some kind of purpose. Although the task was mundane, Koi didn’t have any complaints about repetitive tasks. Part of her original purpose as a shikigami was to perform tasks that humans had no desire to do.
She was about to start walking back to the village when she almost walked into somebody.
“Watch it!” The man said.
Koi jumped backwards, her heavy bucket sloshing around with seaweed.
“Sorry! I didn’t see you.”
Koi blinked a few times, and then slowly realized that she recognized this man. It was the unconscious half-drowned person who had washed up ashore a few days ago. Koi had taken him to the Adventurer’s Guild. Apparently, he was looking a lot healthier now.
“Yeah, yeah.” His tone of voice was dismissive, and he seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts. That said, he didn’t budge from his spot, and remained stationary exactly where he was standing.
The fish girl shrugged and decided to go around the man. Koi took a small hop to an adjacent rock, and then jumped back onto the rocky path back to the village.
However, as Koi completed her maneuver, she heard a rustle of clothing behind her. Curious, Koi turned around, and was greeted by the flabbergasting sight of the man stripping his clothes. He was still facing the sea, so Koi was only afforded a rear view of his surprisingly muscular back. Already, he had taken off his shirt, and his hands were going down to loosen his belt.
Now Koi wasn’t a demure person by any degree, and in fact she barely considered herself human. Nonetheless, the Head Priest had drilled into her from a very young age that nudity was taboo among humans, and that she should never walk around with her skin bared in such a manner.
“What are you doing?” Koi asked, confused.
“I’m taking off my clothes.”
“Why would you do that?”
“So I can swim better.”
Koi blinked a few times. The water seemed quite cold, especially this time of the year. It surprised her that any human would want to go swimming as a hobby. At the Rock Pools, too? Besides, didn’t this guy just almost drown?
“Why are you swimming?”
“I found the Fountain of Healing, so I must return to the Kingdom of Nostros now.”
“You’re swimming all the way back to the Kingdom of Nostros?”
“Yes, you are correct.”
“How far away is the Kingdom of Nostros?”
“I have no idea.”
“Which direction is the Kingdom of Nostros?”
“I have no idea.”
“Are you good at long-distance swimming?”
“I don't how to swim.”
Koi was dumbfounded, and she didn’t know exactly what to say. It didn’t sound like the Kingdom of Nostros was particularly close by. Was the man essentially just hoping to jump into the ocean and pray that he somehow ended up at his desired destination?
“Why don’t you… just take a boat?” Koi ventured.
“It seems that I no longer have a boat. Besides, I washed up ashore at this place. It only makes sense that I should be able to return home by the same method that I arrived at this island.”
“Can’t you… rent a boat?” Koi asked.
“I lost my coin purse in the ocean.”
“...Huh…”
Seeing that the conversation was beginning to die down, the man began to resume taking off his pants as if there was not a single problem in the whole world.
Koi furrowed her brow.
This was a troubling situation. It annoyed her slightly that the man that she had personally fished out of the ocean was about to jump right back in. Was this the reason why he had nearly drowned in the first place?
“I think you should come with me,” Koi said. She reached over and grabbed the man’s hand.
The fish girl began walking and pulled him along, but he nearly tripped with his lowered breeches caught around his ankles.
“But I need to—”
“The Adventurer’s Guild can help you. I’m sure there’ll be somebody who’s willing to take you back to your homeland. You just have to be slightly more patient.”
Koi pulled a little harder, almost stubborn now. Her grip was unexpectedly strong.
“This can’t wait. I need to go back immed—”
“Please pull up your pants. You’re tripping all over the place.”
“You have to listen to me—”
“Your pants. Pull them up.”
Her voice was frigid. Koi was in work-mode now, and she wasn’t the type of person to tolerate any amount of nonsense on the job. When Koi settled on a goal, she single-mindedly committed all of her existence towards accomplishing the objective. This was the product of decades of training as a shikigami. Shikigami were tools, and Koi would achieve her objectives or die trying.
If she needed to, she would drag this shirtless man back to the Adventurer’s Shack kicking and screaming. She’d even string him up and incapacitate him if need be. With her bucket of seafood in one arm and the recalcitrant struggling human in another, Koi began to drag her spoils back to the shack.
Compared to the last time when Koi went looking for a Snappy Crab, the fish spirit felt that today’s task was much easier. After all, Koi could find food basically everywhere! Seaweed was a type of food, right? She bent down and tossed a tangle of seaweed into the bucket.
Unfortunately, as a magical spirit, Koi had a poor sense of human nutrition and diet. She had no idea that seaweed had virtually no nutritional value, and the girl happily filled the majority of her bucket with slimy sea vegetation instead of choicier pickings like mussels and shellfish.
Koi paused when she found a rock covered in barnacles. She wondered for a moment whether barnacles were considered edible, but she shrugged and dismissed her doubts. Humans were fascinating and ingenuous creatures, and Koi figured that there was probably somebody who already figured out how to make barnacles nutritious food to eat. In either case, diversity was a good thing. She got to work with a sharp rock scraping barnacles into her bucket. It took a little bit of effort, but eventually Koi had a bucket filled to the brim with seaweed and barnacles.
The fish spirit had a smug look on her face as she finished her task.
It felt so good to be productive and useful. Koi liked the idea that she was helping acquire food for the village. It made her feel like she had some kind of purpose. Although the task was mundane, Koi didn’t have any complaints about repetitive tasks. Part of her original purpose as a shikigami was to perform tasks that humans had no desire to do.
She was about to start walking back to the village when she almost walked into somebody.
“Watch it!” The man said.
Koi jumped backwards, her heavy bucket sloshing around with seaweed.
“Sorry! I didn’t see you.”
Koi blinked a few times, and then slowly realized that she recognized this man. It was the unconscious half-drowned person who had washed up ashore a few days ago. Koi had taken him to the Adventurer’s Guild. Apparently, he was looking a lot healthier now.
“Yeah, yeah.” His tone of voice was dismissive, and he seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts. That said, he didn’t budge from his spot, and remained stationary exactly where he was standing.
The fish girl shrugged and decided to go around the man. Koi took a small hop to an adjacent rock, and then jumped back onto the rocky path back to the village.
However, as Koi completed her maneuver, she heard a rustle of clothing behind her. Curious, Koi turned around, and was greeted by the flabbergasting sight of the man stripping his clothes. He was still facing the sea, so Koi was only afforded a rear view of his surprisingly muscular back. Already, he had taken off his shirt, and his hands were going down to loosen his belt.
Now Koi wasn’t a demure person by any degree, and in fact she barely considered herself human. Nonetheless, the Head Priest had drilled into her from a very young age that nudity was taboo among humans, and that she should never walk around with her skin bared in such a manner.
“What are you doing?” Koi asked, confused.
“I’m taking off my clothes.”
“Why would you do that?”
“So I can swim better.”
Koi blinked a few times. The water seemed quite cold, especially this time of the year. It surprised her that any human would want to go swimming as a hobby. At the Rock Pools, too? Besides, didn’t this guy just almost drown?
“Why are you swimming?”
“I found the Fountain of Healing, so I must return to the Kingdom of Nostros now.”
“You’re swimming all the way back to the Kingdom of Nostros?”
“Yes, you are correct.”
“How far away is the Kingdom of Nostros?”
“I have no idea.”
“Which direction is the Kingdom of Nostros?”
“I have no idea.”
“Are you good at long-distance swimming?”
“I don't how to swim.”
Koi was dumbfounded, and she didn’t know exactly what to say. It didn’t sound like the Kingdom of Nostros was particularly close by. Was the man essentially just hoping to jump into the ocean and pray that he somehow ended up at his desired destination?
“Why don’t you… just take a boat?” Koi ventured.
“It seems that I no longer have a boat. Besides, I washed up ashore at this place. It only makes sense that I should be able to return home by the same method that I arrived at this island.”
“Can’t you… rent a boat?” Koi asked.
“I lost my coin purse in the ocean.”
“...Huh…”
Seeing that the conversation was beginning to die down, the man began to resume taking off his pants as if there was not a single problem in the whole world.
Koi furrowed her brow.
This was a troubling situation. It annoyed her slightly that the man that she had personally fished out of the ocean was about to jump right back in. Was this the reason why he had nearly drowned in the first place?
“I think you should come with me,” Koi said. She reached over and grabbed the man’s hand.
The fish girl began walking and pulled him along, but he nearly tripped with his lowered breeches caught around his ankles.
“But I need to—”
“The Adventurer’s Guild can help you. I’m sure there’ll be somebody who’s willing to take you back to your homeland. You just have to be slightly more patient.”
Koi pulled a little harder, almost stubborn now. Her grip was unexpectedly strong.
“This can’t wait. I need to go back immed—”
“Please pull up your pants. You’re tripping all over the place.”
“You have to listen to me—”
“Your pants. Pull them up.”
Her voice was frigid. Koi was in work-mode now, and she wasn’t the type of person to tolerate any amount of nonsense on the job. When Koi settled on a goal, she single-mindedly committed all of her existence towards accomplishing the objective. This was the product of decades of training as a shikigami. Shikigami were tools, and Koi would achieve her objectives or die trying.
If she needed to, she would drag this shirtless man back to the Adventurer’s Shack kicking and screaming. She’d even string him up and incapacitate him if need be. With her bucket of seafood in one arm and the recalcitrant struggling human in another, Koi began to drag her spoils back to the shack.
Summary: Koi gathered a bucket full of seaweed and barnacles at the Rock Pools. While she was there, she encountered the patriotic human from the Kindom of Nostros who was about to attempt swimming back to his homeland. Seeing the folly of this exercise, Koi dragged him back to the Adventurer's Guild shack.
Tags: Rock Pools, Kingdom of Nostros, Healing Fountain, Unnamed Patriotic Man, Seaweed
