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Post by peachbug on Dec 25, 2008 15:04:13 GMT -6
**True...** Ornah answered cautiously. **But accepting all change as good can...sometimes foolish growth brings as much bad.** She quickly changed her tone, not meaning to sound harsh. She thoughtlessly examined a few of the opened oysters, only to have them withdraw from the closeness.
**Bad and good are all to one's own of course. The pinchclaws grow in number with your shellfish, and die with them too. Good for one, bad for the other, round and round. There is no good and bad to it, I suppose.** She smiled. **You are no longer a pip, you know these seas well! My ramblings are for full ears, I'm sure. I mumble fore my own sake.** She swam to rest beside him, flicking her end fins gently to stay put. **These oysters should appreciate your care!**
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Post by meimei on Dec 27, 2008 21:34:11 GMT -6
**A pesty little pinch-claws! But, I suppose without them the oceans would be overburdened by too many of my precious shellfish. Round and round - just as you say. Sometimes it's good to repeat what's known. For one's own sake as well as other's. By carelessness or design, sometimes we all forget. And imagine how dull our days would be if we never repeated something that had been said before!** He offered a grin, before gazing out across the farm.
**Funny, I always feel more appreciative of them. Letting me play care-taker. It keeps me content. Must be old before my time. I always approach change with caution myself.**
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Post by peachbug on Dec 27, 2008 23:38:05 GMT -6
**Ah, but you are young!** Ornah smiled gently and allowed herself to drift slightly overhead, but circling back down. **The seas will grow and change in your full life, even if ever so slightly. The things you will know and see have yet to come. For myself...** She touched a hand lightly to her breast. **Only half more of my life and I will be an elder. Not so long, not so many things left to see. It is well enough! I've had enough strangeness in my youth.**
**As for the shellfish...** She glanced at the shimmering creatures. **I am a hunter. Helping them live isn't usually what I'm up to.**
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Post by meimei on Jan 4, 2009 17:28:14 GMT -6
**Being a huntress puts you on the path to meet what comes head on. Including the dangers. I don't envy you that.** Strell confessed. **I'm happiest where it's safe, catching what drifts by.**
As if to accent his point, one of his oysters snapped shut around a bit of seaweed that slipped into it's mouth. Strell smiled at the sight. **Watching shellfish probably seems boring by comparison...** He trailed off - noticing one of the oysters sat half-open. With a grin he floated carefully over to it - his movements slow so not to disturb the water flowing over and through it.
**But it has it's moments. Come see!** He waved her over. **Slow movements. They can sense the change in the motion of the water - that's how they know when an enemy is about. It'll be another couple of days before it opens enough to get at it - but this one has a pearl for us!**
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Post by peachbug on Jan 4, 2009 20:32:56 GMT -6
Smiling, Ornah slid through the water gently, also so as not to disturb the shellfish. **Indeed, your work has it's rewards, I will not deny it. I feel mine are more delicious, perhaps more practical, but...** She gazed at the glint between the plates of shell. **You certainly get rewarded for your patience!** She sank backwards gently.
**Tonight we will gather and feast on our gatherings. I have no meat yet, but the day is still young and the sea is full. Do remember to draw yourself from your pearls to join us!** She darted forward again. **Tell me, for curiousities sake; how old is your oldest shellfish?**
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Post by meimei on Jan 10, 2009 18:09:06 GMT -6
**Ah, but some of my shellfish are for feasting as well! You just have to know my system. The pips keep trying - but they haven't got it down yet.** Amusement laced the sending. **My latest crop is not yet ready to eat this day, though. So, rest assured, I'll be along.**
He studied the shellfish, debating the question. **Right now? Forty years, I'd say. Had one reach sixty awhile back, but it was taken by a sickness one summer. That's the ones that make the pearls, of course. The food crop isn't so lucky.** He shot a grin over his shoulder at her.
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Post by peachbug on Jan 17, 2009 21:16:30 GMT -6
Ornah smiled back and reached out to one protruding shellfish delicately. **This one has a stranger crest about it. See how the ridges arch sharper, I think-** She gasped in the cold water as an underwater breeze flushed by nudging herself slightly and her finger onto the sharp edge of the creature.
She withdrew, cradling a finger that drew a small puff of red into the iridescent waters. **I am unlucky sometimes!** She sent with laughter edging her sending. **It seems even the smallest prey have their bite!**
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Post by meimei on Jan 18, 2009 22:43:34 GMT -6
**They do indeed!** Strell was at her side in an instant - using an arm fin to disperse the tiny red cloud - noting that one of the nearby oysters snapped shut despite his effort. **Deep enough to draw blood, was it? Topside to your daughter's care, then. We both know what dangers even a few drops of blood can bring underwater.**
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Post by peachbug on Jan 19, 2009 19:56:42 GMT -6
**Barely enough to draw blood, barely.** She brought it to her lips thoughtfully. **I should leave here, before I draw any predators to your shellfish. It will close quickly, no need for healing. Even daggerteeth won't scent this.** She darted backwards, whisking the remaining scent with a wave of her free finned arm.
**Council of the elders has not been called in a long while, we can discuss the strangeness of the bay then.**
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