Chiaki curled into her small tent, the ocean waves pounding on the shore loudly. The rain was coming down in sheets. She was well past the high tide line, though the storm out at sea didn't seem to care about that. She shivered, just waiting until the morning when dawn would come and things would be better.
The morning was still after the storm. Sea grass, seaweed, drift wood, shells and dead or near dead sea creatures had all been spat out onto the shore. She's picked the area clean during her days in the area, now there was a fresh bounty to sift through.
Chiaki swam out into the water checking for the drop to see if the underwater shore had changed much. She had a hard time seeing under the water, but diving gear wasn't something she could buy. Still the salty water was less difficult to see in than most. Dark shapes flitted in the distance, larger shapes drifting at a slower pace.
Whale. Dolphin pod. Tons of fish. No sign of Mermen, thank the Beast God. It had become a regular thing, to check the sea for the signs of problems. She'd been stranded here for several weeks now. She'd spent a good deal of time outside, but the trees had saved her from the harshest rays of the sun. Here at the seas edge she didn't have such help. Her skin had turned red, then golden brown. Luck had been with her and the river leading into the ocean had been fresh water. She wondered where it started. The map made it look like it started at the end of the gouge.
She returned to shore quickly, she didn't need to be caught in an undertow and pulled out to the deep ocean. She'd die out there, she had no doubt.
She washed off in the fresh water near her camp. Neither she or Tobi were sure why she'd been moved to this place and time. So she remained close to the area, sure something would eventually happen.
She traveled up the riverside by foot, finding the valley on each side to be rich in resources. The river cut through soil and rock, never growing too wide or deep to cross safely, the water never too fast to traverse by foot. At the end of the day, she was always back to her tent, too afraid to wander far.
The empty lonely existence pushed in on her as time passed. She'd stopped marking the days. Her hair brushed lower on her body, she took to braiding it to keep it out of the way. She made pots from clay deposits in the valley, she carved bowls from driftwood. She carved beads from shells. She learned to pull salt from the sea water on her own.
Her outfit grew thin and she just stopped wearing it, not wanting it to crumble away into nothing. She wanted it to remind her that she would make it home. Even if she somehow had to LIVE through all the hundreds or thousands of years between now and then.
Chiaki licked her dry cracked lips, the salt and sand in the air was relentless to her skin. She'd taught herself how to hunt, the fat from the land animals made into a lip balm to ease them on the worst of days. Meat was a treat when she had seafood for almost every meal. The skins were better traded directly into the system for spar to get a completed item.
When she saw an upright figure walking along the shore, she believed herself seeing things. One figure, then two, then four. Tiny dots of black on the horizon. Chiaki started to hide, being found out here alone... there was no way anyone would believe her mates to just be off hunting and gathering.
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o
"No one ever comes this far south anymore." Tina said, looking at her two mates. Lex shrugged, Calum sighed. The other members of their group had much the same reaction. They had this same conversation each day. They'd passed through woods and plains and deathly badlands. The grassy seaside was pretty calm compared to the last.
"I feel like we are close." Replied Lu Yue.
"So do I." Added Bai Kun.
They had spent months moving south, all on a feeling. Tina and her mates had joined them near the beginning of it, others were picked up along the way. Their band was still small, about fifteen total. One female, three cubs. Several old males that had left to travel in their final years, a couple males following Tina in hopes she'd take them as mates.
Lu Yue had returned to his home after Chiaki had disappeared on the Beast God's Mountain, he had not stayed long. Bai Kun had spent just as little time with his own village. Both males felt drawn to wander. It had been an aimless wander for ten whole years, until one day. One day it felt like a ripple of power had washed over them, it had came from the south.
So they headed south.
"What's that mama?" One half grown cub asked Tina.
"Washed up sea trash." The female answered without more than a glance.
"That's... a lean-to?" One older male said, squinting to see the distant item.
"Really?" A curious reply.
"Movement." Lex gripped his obsidian tipped spear tighter.
"Can you see from the water?" Lu Yue asked one of the single males.
The male gave a nod and was quickly in the water, his legs turning into a long shark-like tail. He made his way closer, staying below the surface of the water. His eyes just breaching enough to get a clear view of the make-shift camp. It was a very small camp, probably only a single male or two judging by the items and tent. As a ocean dwelling male, his ability to scent smells in the open air was poor, so he didn't get much more information by lifting up out of the water further. Only a glimpse of long dark brown hair. He returned to the group.
They had stopped moving while their scout checked ahead. He breached the water and came up on shore. "One, two people tops. I saw a bit of movement inside the tent, but nothing clearly."
"Should we go around? Or just pass the camp?" Bai Kun asked, looking to Lu Yue.
Lu Yue tilted his head in thought, his antlers exaggerating the movement. "I don't feel any blood-lust or aggression. Let's just go by them."