Kaiohalei

She shook as much sea water from her hair as she could and set down the unfortunately light net bag of saltwater scallops onto a flat rock. She sighed through her nose. "Enough for the family. None to sell." she muttered, peeling kelp from her shoulder.

Her ears perked up. The man was making his presence known even on the soft sand. He had guessed from her corded muscles and traditional ink work that she wasn't a good person to startle.

So he had some sense.

She turned to face him, slightly self consciously adjusting the lower half of her swimsuit as she did.

The young ork sheepishly gripped the triangular stringed instrument with both hands and bowed sheepishly. "Keihuu" he almost stuttered. So he was an ork, but clearly from the mainland. His pronunciation of his own language sucked.

"Hayaa" the goblin responded in kind "And don't sweat the traditional stuff too much. We believe in tradition here, but we've adapted as well. We're all on the same rock, after all."

The young ork smoothed his hair and cough laughed with obvious relief. Yuchi suspected he probably knew enough orkish for greetings, apologies and maybe ordering a beer.

Some sense. Not a huge amount.

"I understand you can take me to her for the right price. Kaiohalei."
Yuchi narrowed her eyes and shifted her weight.
"You can just say 'The Rampart' and NO - I will not take you to her. I will - for the right price take you out into the ocean to do whatever you wish. You can fish, you can sunbathe, you can go for a dive and I will wait for you."
She cracked open a bivalve with her bare hands to make sure he was still listening.
"But I will not take you directly to her. We see her or we don't. No guarantees. You pay either way."

The ork produced a small sack of coins and she couldn't help but be enticed by the jingle and the weight.
"That's fine with me"
he said, scratching a cheek with his free hand.
"I have to try"

Yuchi sighed and began pushing the boat towards the shore.
"Why do you want to see her, anyways?"
The ork fidgeted with his instrument.
"Oh, I'm gonna serenade her. I'm in love with her."

Yuchi stopped her tracks and exhaled through her nose.

Not much sense at all.
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Yuchi-tang is not my gob but she was fun to draw. I tried to make a short story about her.