Emissary of the Deep

The fact that he answered and didn’t just attack was a major relief. Wouldn’t be the first time a fishing trip had gone violently awry. Forgetting the situation slightly, her head tilted to mirror his when he replied.

“Oh, uhh… My bad! I didn’t realise there was… What’s a kappa?”

“…Hey! Yup! That’s what I’m made of. And you’re a flesh. You can just call me Emere though.” She glanced back at the water. Man, was she in trouble? That’s the last thing she needed, and she couldn’t really make a quick getaway either. “So like… Can I have my rod back? I didn’t know i’d be bothering anyone…”

“Th’ kappa live in the lake here, see. These hooks could hurt them, so please don’t fish here!”  He doesn’t seem particularly bothered about the whole deal, if only feeling a bit mischievous considering the stunt he just pulled. “You’re not in any trouble, don’t worry.” After a beat of silence, he realized he still had her rod. He hands it back to her, looking a bit apologetic. “I’m sorry, miss! I didn’t mean to hold onto it.”

The fact that he answered and didn’t just attack was a major relief. Wouldn’t be the first time a fishing trip had gone violently awry. Forgetting the situation slightly, her head tilted to mirror his when he replied.

“Oh, uhh… My bad! I didn’t realise there was… What’s a kappa?”

“…Hey! Yup! That’s what I’m made of. And you’re a flesh. You can just call me Emere though.” She glanced back at the water. Man, was she in trouble? That’s the last thing she needed, and she couldn’t really make a quick getaway either. “So like… Can I have my rod back? I didn’t know i’d be bothering anyone…”

“Th’ kappa live in the lake here, see. These hooks could hurt them, so please don’t fish here!”  He doesn’t seem particularly bothered about the whole deal, if only feeling a bit mischievous considering the stunt he just pulled. “You’re not in any trouble, don’t worry.” After a beat of silence, he realized he still had her rod. He hands it back to her, looking a bit apologetic. “I’m sorry, miss! I didn’t mean to hold onto it.”

Don’t be shy… That’s easier said than done… How can you just not feel something, stupid advice are the words running through her head. And naturally, the moment he looked at her and smiled she couldn’t help but turn her head to obscure her face further. 

Which was unfortunate really, because she really wanted to look at this sculpture. Hrrrrruuuuggh… Fine. 

Somewhat reluctantly she stepped a little closer and raised her head just enough so she could see the work of art once more. It really was quite impressive, she wised she could make things like that. 

“It kind of looks like a Grapploct…” Strange creatures, arguably.

“Wait… Your first time..? You must be joking… There’s no way this is your first ice sculpture…”

“A...Grapploct? Is that a species of octopus where you’re from?” He’s interested now, his blue eyes sparkling a bit in wonder. Octopi were family to him, and by now he’s figured out that many of the people here were from different places...so maybe they had different kinds of octopi! It was a cool thought, and his drive to learn made him tempted to ask. When she expressed disbelief at his sculpture, he flushed a bit in embarrassment.

@mildterrorofthedeep​

She wasn’t a fan of the extreme cold no, but there was something calming about the winter scene. There was so many beautiful sculptures here too, how talented many of the residents were. Not like her who was useless. 

She’d been staring at this boy and his work in particular. And probably for too long too, because it seemed he’d noticed. Immediately she pulled the brim of her hat down and tilted her head to obscure her face.

“You’re pretty good at this…”

Niko had been at it for an hour now, having been drawn here with the prospect of sculpting. Making sculptures was a hobby of his, and he had never tried ice before! It was a bit different than driftwood but he had the advantage of being resistant to cold temperatures. So here he was, making an octopus. It was rather cheesy of him considering, but he loved cephalopods and this sort of eased his homesickness. He paused when he felt someone staring, and turned to notice a woman admiring his work.

Dexterity: Niko is surprisingly agile! His movements are fluid in and out of the water, and he has pretty quick reflexes that have saved him in battles. Add his tentacles in the mix and you have an opponent that is hard to hit! (And slippery. Literally.)

“Yeah, or arms,” Besty says, wiggling the fingers of his floating gloves demonstratively. This stranger is so weird; kindness as a policy or no, offering to teach someone you’ve just met to swim? Odd.

On the other hand, how tempting! If he knew how to swim–assuming there’s any way he can–then he wouldn’t have to have this passive worry whenever he came out to the waters’ edge…

“I don’t know,” Besty admits in response to the question, before he can think better of it. “Maybe for humans.” He looks away towards the water again, and the tips of his fingers rib together in an uncomfortable fidget. He isn’t ‘supposed to be’ kind. Humans are lucky, he thinks. They’re not supposed to be anything. They can just…

No. No! No, of course that’s not lucky, and he wants to berate himself for even having the thought. His purpose is the best thing he has–the only thing he has. It defines him, gives him direction where most everyone else is just aimless.

Learning to swim–that can further his purpose. A new skill, more mobility, maybe some fears he can learn to utilize from under the water. Perfect.

“Thebestmaster. Besty for short,” he offers in return. He tips his hat as if it’s part of the introduction, but then he completely takes it off. A pink, stuffed rabbit peeks out from inside as he carefully sets the hat upside-down in the sand, a good ten feet away from the furthest reaches of the waves. And then he floats back over to Niko…

…And quickly backs up again from another wave.

“So,” He says, turning to Niko with wide eyes and a clap of his hollow hands, “How do you swim.”

He had a point, he didn’t have legs or arms...but he could still use his hands, right? Maybe he could just paddle around in the water? Being able to move at all in the sea would be a handy skill to have, but with Besty things got a bit trickier. He put a hand on his chin as he mulled things over, with his response to his question catching his attention. Maybe for humans? He wasn’t truly one himself, but he wondered what he meant by that. Oh well, he can ask about it later. He’s got to be a teacher now!

The number one thing when it comes to training to being a hero was to care about others! If a hero doesn’t care about the people they’re potentially saving, then what kind of hero are they? A heartless one, that’s what! But her natural kindness paired up nicely with this too, as well as her appearance… it really gave off those calming vibes that people would expect to receive when seeing a hero coming to save the day!

…Rescue hero. Sure, being a combat-based hero would be great, but her quirk was definitely far better suited for rescuing others! It might not earn as much money from agencies… but as long as she was getting some form of finance, then she’d be alright with that! This place was bound to give her really great skills to implement to herself and her training if she ever got back there!

…She hoped she could go back home… but enough of consuming in her own thoughts! She had a new acquaintance to talk to! And they were new to the island too. Maybe she could be a tour-guide for them? She does like to talk! Or think in this case.

“ Oh, you’re new? We get new people here quite often! And don’t worry, I have my own habits to break, like my strict budgeting! “ People have constantly nagged at her for saving as much money as she can if it meant she wasn’t eating as much or limiting the amount of fun she was having. Classmates in particular, especially the girls! There was so much thanks owed to them, which she was certain she can give whenever they got here!

…And there was more complicated names. One would think she’d have gotten used to the weird names and learned how to pronounce them to some extent, but she just couldn’t! Unlike studying an actual topic, that didn’t really have a set pronunciation for each name! Thankfully she was allowed to call him Niko, which was something she could definitely say!

Oh, and a handshake offer! Well, she wasn’t going to deny that! Her own hand went to grab his, shaking it as gently as she could as a brighter smile got onto her face. “ Your name’s nice too! …And nice to meet you! “

This girl was certainly very kind, and it rapidly became something he appreciated. Back home, he would just be ignored, or people would look visibly uncomfortable when he was around and avoid him if they could. He knew exactly why that was and he loathed it, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. So he resigned himself to solitude and having few friends, but here things seemed...different. Ochaco didn’t seem to mind being around him at all,so she either didn’t mind his strange aura or it simply couldn’t be picked up on here. He hoped for the latter, because then he could make tons of friends and not feel so lonely! He couldn’t hide the now toothy smile on his face, but he pulled himself from his thoughts.

@mildterrorofthedeep​

While it wasn’t entirely incorrect to say her stomach rumbled, when it did the effects were typically visible all over her body, like she was stood on a vibrating plate that made her entire form wobble. She never really stopped being hungry but it was particularly not excellent right now. So she thought she’d fish! That was sustainable, right? And it was getting colder so there might not be many opportunities for that soon…

She sat on the edge of the lake of koi, careful not getting too close because falling in would not be great either. She was going bored and hungry enough to consider vacuuming up all the plants in the area when she felt a tug on the line. Oh boy! This was it! And it felt like a big one! 

So big in fact that the entire rod was pulled from her not so rigid hands to promptly vanish beneath the water’s surface. Emere threw her head back and started groaning, only to hear more disturbance in the water… And saw a person rise up. 

“…”

“I wasn’t doing anything!” Even though they were empty, she put her hands behind her back in the least casual way. “I mean- Hello! Nice weather we’re having!”

Niko enjoyed swimming in the lake, despite all the warnings not to. Those were for humans, who couldn’t breathe underwater or communicate with sea creatures. He could, and found that the merfolk and kappa that lived here actually appreciated company that could swim. So he was paying his new friends a visit, when a hook slowly sunk into view. Wasn’t fishing not allowed here? Deciding to play a prank on this fisher, he grabbed the line and tugged it, following it up as whoever it was reeled in the line. His grip was a bit too strong, and he ended up pulling the rod into the water. He held onto it, he wasn’t about to steal it! The demigod was quick to breach the surface, giving whoever was fishing here a wide and toothy grin.

“Hey! The kappa would appreciate it if you didn’t fish here.”

Tagged by: no one. i steal like a real man

Tagging: whoever sees this

ONE ( ALIAS / NAME )  Starly

TWO ( BIRTHDAY )  December 29th

THREE ( ZODIAC SIGN )  Capricorn

FOUR ( HEIGHT )  5′3″

FIVE ( HOBBIES )  drawing, writing, sculpting, watching streams, viddy gay

SIX ( FAVORITE COLOR(S) )  light blue, maroon, purples

SEVEN ( FAVORITE BOOKS )  The Artemis Fowl series

EIGHT ( LAST SONG LISTENED TO ) Murder on the Owl Express from A Hat in Time

NINE ( LAST FILM WATCHED )  Into the Spiderverse!

TEN ( INSPIRATION FOR MUSE )  Eldritch horror stuff is cool but u know what’s better? Being a creature of destruction and saying “fuck u dad, fuck my purpose” and raising a garden with your friends. Niko is my baby boy and I love him and his entire character, and I hope people love him too!