5th October 2021 - I Saw a Dolphin
Bright and early Xan reached the start line of the rafting. Theo was there stretching and preparing himself for the race. After greeting him Xan takes her own stretches, reminiscent of driving exercises.
As the race began, Xan perched on the back of the raft, and upon the first blow of the whistle, she dropped off backwards as if falling into the water. She disappeared without a trace.
While we don’t know exactly what happened we can suppose something like the following:
As she flipped seamlessly into the river, she caught sight of a lone dolphin peering upon the activities down the river. As she turned it took its leave. With her hand upon her boat she sailed beautifully through the water, moving along with the pace set by Captain Theo. She seemed to enjoy her time under the surface, even with the upturned stomachs of some of the unluckier competitors. She felt the river twist and turn, and as they reached the bridge the riverbed began to climb, making it impossible to keep her hand on the vessel. She released it, Theo driving it solo, as she darted through the currents trying to catch up.
She heard a shout from the bridge, the familiar tone of Braz boasting the words “THEO DANCING ON SAND… or Xan?” - a nonsensical ballad likely from his homeland.
Her eyes flicked from boat to boat as the river widened again, and scanned for her own crew. She spotted a tilted boat, half in the water half out, and one spinning frantically. One sits just above the waters breach - a lighter bat for a lighter creature.
She ran forward and grabbed the back, launching herself back up onto the boat's surface and spraying water over the raft, and a little onto Theo’s back.
She yells - “HELLO, I SAW A DOLPHIN '' as they go soaring across the finish line.
As they pass their winning point Xan is shouting with joy. They take first place ahead of Duris and Pancras. Xan blew a kiss to Duris as she passed him by. The crowds go wild.
Xan is exhausted. As they make their way to the Siren’s Roost, both Braz and Hilofilius push Xan about the length of time she spent underwater. At first she brushes it off, refocusing the attention on Theo’s success. But they do not give up. Hilofilius recalls she did not surface for the entirety of the race, and it rings Xan to realise she cannot deny this.
She tells them she is the daughter of a Nereid, so she supposes she may be too. She says she often swam with her mother, underwater around the island she grew up on. Alke brought up the idea of her father - did he live on the island too?
Xan explains her journey to find her father, that her mother gave her a coin to follow a path and meet with the ‘creepy undead guy’ who advised her to seek Mytros and the Arkelander line.
And to why they were on the island, she claims she does not know - she was born there and they just survived together, not trying anything more than living.
Calliope also brought out her coin and they compared the shapes on the there, to see if there were any similarities.
Calliope often used the phrase ‘when I was around’ which baffled Xan, and she made a note to herself to ask her about it one day.
Calliope suggests they go to the Hall of Heroes and compare the coins to the images. Xan immediately regrets bringing it out - if they compare this they may find that Acastus is her father - and they may hate her. She talks her way around it and says it is not as important right now as the games.
Alke asks her what powers she has, as a potential Nereid. She is glad of the diversion - and gleefully shows her gills, explaining that her “special powers are not much different from scars.”
She tells the group of her ability to charm folks “like me a lot... then really don't like me” and her ability with fogs - where she would play fetch and hide with Pan.
That night she has nightmares of her beloved dog in danger and wakes up tearful.
That morning she does not want to get out of bed, and when Kyra comes calling she refuses to rise. She is in no place to join the race today.