Private Surf Up Schuttas

[Kayla Ordo-Shan]

Location: Mannan, Shalora Beach

Kayla planted her board nose-up in the sand, feeling the ocean swirl around her ankles.

Above her, the sun blazed bright enough to singe her shoulders and make sweat tickle down the small of her back. She tipped her head back anyway, letting the light soak warm her face.

A swell rumbled beneath her feet, the next wave coiling itself like a spring around her ankles. She could feel the sand melting around her feet, sinking in as the water went out. She felt herself drifting off, at first just focusing on the sensations, and then, she felt herself being lost.

Her grin broke through before she could halt it: salt on her lips, brine in her hair, heart pounding like a drum. Time froze for a moment, but she felt it inching closer. The stillness, the heartbeat away from exhaling out.

And then it came suddenly, and all at once-that pull.

Not the push of the water or the crash of the waves. Deeper. Quieter. A familiar whisper, warm at the edges, curling under her ribs and tugging at her pulse the same way an undertow swiped at a swimmer's legs. She knew what it was.

The Force, and something else.

She'd grown up feeling it just like this, a warm embrace in the midsts of cold; her mothers curse called to her still. An all too familiar voice spoke: Just, let go. Drift deeper down. I'll guide you, Kayla. You only need to trust me….

She almost laughed at how ridiculous this was. To just surrender to the current, instead of trusting her muscles, her breath, her battered board.

No.

She'd learned to keep it at arm's length. Because she couldn’t trust it. Because she'd seen what it had done to her family. Done to her. It cost too much. Asked too much. It made everything you dependent, hooked, unable to shake free. Like hooking yourself up to an IV, becoming so reliant on it, the more you took in, the less control you held.

She flexed her toes in the sand and pictured the Force like water beneath the deep reef; comforting, alive, but could drown you if you let it. She let the mental image die, and wither.

She felt the hold of her guardian slip, and reality slowly crept back in around her. She was no longer capitvated by this universal energy. It fled from her.

"I don’t want your help." She spoke to the presence. Or maybe, she was just talking to herself. Regardless, it left, and she was left on her lonesome again.

She soon became aware that she was the only surfer here at current, as she gave a look around. Surely she wouldn’t be surfing alone….would she?

Tags: Reina Daival

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Mannan
Tags: Kayla Ordo-Shan

She wasn't surfing. Not yet at least. No. Reina was finally doing meditation of her own accords, as she sat out near the waves of Mannan, focusing on breathing in tune with the waves. In with the Tide and then out with the tide. It helped her to keep herself steady now that she was trying to push herself forward. She couldn't focus on her resentment and aggression as much as she used to. Yes, it helped her to survive, helped her get through the dark days, but she didn't want to simply survive anymore. The redhead wanted to live. Without all of the weight and baggage on her shoulders. Of course, it was easier said than done...but that didn't mean she wouldn't try.

The ocean was...peaceful today. It was nice for Reina to feel. It was possible there would be a storm in a few of the coming days but Reina would be gone by then. Instead she pushed herself up to her feet, brushing the sand off her clothes and skin for a moment. It was nice to feel the warmth of the sand beneath her feet as she curled them up slightly, a smile slowly gracing her face. It had been a while since she had been able to get away from the more arboreal planets or the more urban ones. Finally, she was back at the ocean. Back at the place that felt the most like home for her as she stretched her arms out, tapping her surfboard a few times in thought. She could have brought her wetsuit with her if she planned on going for a dive but considering she was just going for a little surf, she didn't think it would be that bad for her.

And that's when she heard a faint voice on the breeze. She couldn't hear the words. Just the vague sounds of the voice as Reina turned her head off to the side, her gaze coming across a silhouette in the distance. It didn't hurt to go and talk to a stranger, she supposed. She had slowly been getting more out of her shell. Getting more and more social. Going to the club, talking to strangers. She was evolving as a person as Reina made her way over, resting her surfboard atop her shoulder, whilst Reina's prosthesis whirred away beneath her.

"Hey. Lovely day to head out on the waves, right?"​

 

[Kayla Ordo-Shan]

Perhaps for a moment, Kayla was in a daze. She had thought herself alone, and yet, a voice reached her. She turned when the voice reached her, catching the flicker of a redhead's grin beneath the late sun. Her eyes dropped briefly to the whir of the prosthetic, then lifted back to Reina's face, taking her measure in a heartbeat born from her upbringing.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Kayla's mouth. Nope, not alone. Good.
"Perfect day for it," she agreed, her tone low and a little rough with disuse, but not unfriendly. She shifted her board against her hip, glancing past Reina at the curling sets gathering farther out.

"Water's steady but she's got a mean rip if you drift south. You going out deep or just riding the break?"

She didn't mean to sound protective, but old habits died hard. Maybe she was a worrywart after all...

A pause. Then, with the faintest flicker of dry humor;

"It's been a while since I surfed alongside company. Hope you can keep up."

She jerked her chin toward the deeper swells, an unspoken race you there gleaming at the edge of her grin. Her hand reached for the board, taking it in her hand, yet she wouldn't set off. Not until her surfing partner seemed ready.

Tags: Reina Daival

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Mannan
Tags: Kayla Ordo-Shan

"Not too sure about going deep. Not exactly dressed for a deep dive. Maybe another day."

Reina shrugged her shoulders at that. Whilst she felt alive in the water, that didn't mean she was safe in the water. It was strange to hear how owrried some stranger was about Reina going out. It was surprisingly refreshing if Reina was honest to herself. A little fiendish smirk on her face which she dismissed by shaking her head.

"I suppose I can keep up. I've never seen much of a point in racing."

Racing just meant you'd end up messing up more often than not in Reina. Whilst she wasn't exactly someone who took things at a snails pace. Instead she took her board and started to walk off towards the waves, expecting her surfing associate to go out into a run. Reina was just going to have a chill little surf anyway, using the Force to help her push herself off into the ocean.​

 

[Kayla Ordo-Shan]

Never saw the point in racing.

Well, that was a term that Kayla had never heard before in her life. She caught the smirk, and felt there was a degree of shared deviant behavior between the two. Then again, that was just her spitballing really...

"I mean, that's like, the whole fun of it....competing, but maybe I'm a try hard." She was, she absolutely was. Though she might imply it, it would be a cold day in hell before she actually admitted that to anyone. She would give up on the idea of the race, and just boringly, walk towards the oncoming waves, looking a tinge defeated; though she was trying hard to not look as if she was.

Tags: Reina Daival

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Mannan
Tags: Kayla Ordo-Shan

"And why does everything have to be a competition?"

Reina shrugged her shoulders. She had enough with competing for stuff. She had always lost those kinds of thing. Reina had given up on fighting for these kind of things. She took things at her own pace. It was easier not to get disappointed that way.

"If you want to race, go ahead. Just don't expect me to make an effort. I'll lose either way so."

Reina was still stubborn at the end of the day. But only for the things that mattered in her eyes. Fighting for someone else, fighting for herself. But racing? Racing wasn't that important to her. Especially when she was at a disadvantage with her leg. She was out here to have fun, not to push herself.​

 

[Kayla Ordo-Shan]

Kayla let out a short, dry laugh, eyebrows lifting as she shot Reina a sideways look.

"Yeah, not everything has to be a competition," She agreed, rolling her shoulders, "but sometimes it can be, and that's not the end of the galaxy."

She leaned back slightly, hands resting on her hips, letting the salt breeze tug at her hair as she looked out at the waves.

"I mean don’t you like having a little friendly competition now and again?" She snorted softly, a smirk tugging at the edge of her mouth. "Just makes it a bit more fun, but, if you’re not looking for fun..."

Kayla tipped her chin at Reina, tone teasing, but not unkind. The more she talked the less her guardian spirit wanted to chat.

"Sometimes it's not about first place. It's about seeing how far you can push yourself before you wipe out and eat sand. That's half the fun."

She stepped back, gesturing with one gloved hand toward the water, the smirk still lingering, as she went from a walk into a wade, setting the board down as she would start to pull it with her.

"Don't worry, I'll take it easy on you," She added, voice dipped in playful confidence. "Not everyone can keep up with Kayla Shan."

Tags: Reina Daival

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Mannan
Tags: Kayla Ordo-Shan

She just raised her eyebrow for a moment, but didn't make any comment. A small smirk on her face instead was the only response she gave.

In all honesty? Reina was sick of treating everything like it was a competition. With people acting like they were better than her because they could beat her in something. There was no way she was going to ruin something like surfing for herself by turning it into a competition. That would just ruin one of the few things she enjoyed to do that wasn't entirely ruined.

"Sometimes you get sick of pushing yourself until you feel like you're going to break. Sometimes you just want to have a nice day out on the waves, instead of pushing your limits."

With that Reina started to make her way off into the water, wading her way through carefully as she dragged the surfboard behind herself. Yet she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the playfulness coming from Kayla, shaking her head afterwards. Everything was feeling pretty relaxed and Reina was enjoying the feeling. She knew she wouldn't be feeling the same way if it had been a competition.​

 

[Kayla Ordo-Shan]

Kayla let out a quiet, amused huff through her nose at the smirk Reina gave her, shaking her head as she followed at a slower pace, surfboard balanced easily under her arm.

"Hey," she called to her, paddling into the water, "You don't have to convince me."

The chill of the water hit her legs, but Kayla didn't flinch, letting the cool push of the tide roll against her as she watched Reina head out. The breeze smelled like salt and faint ozone, and for a moment, the restless hum in her chest quieted.

"I get it," she continued, her voice softer as she adjusted the strap on her board. "Some days it's about moving just to feel the water under you, not about who's faster."

She paused, letting the water swirl around her ankles, before glancing at Reina with a small, crooked grin.

"But," She added, leaning into her words with a teasing lilt, "Some days you gotta remind yourself you can still push yourself without breaking."

Kayla let the grin fade into something gentler, her gaze steady.

"Not today, though," She said, stepping deeper into the surf beside Reina. "I guess for today, I can be content with a quiet ride."

She glanced over, raising an eyebrow. "Unless you change your mind, of course."

And with that, Kayla turned away, pushing her board forward as she paddled out, letting the salt spray kiss her face, ready to catch the next wave with nothing but the quiet thrill of the ocean carrying her forward.

Tags: Reina Daival

 

[Reina Daival]

Location: Mannan
Tags: Kayla Ordo-Shan

There was so much more energy radiating from Reina now that she was in the water. A little bit more of a pep to her step...or well, pep to her wade as she finally got to the point where she could clamber up onto her surfboard, testing it out a few times with her prosthesis. That was what she visualised to be the biggest pain right now.

"Some days it's just about being able to get to the water. Being stuck day in, day out on dry planets can cause a girl to go insane."

That's how Reina felt with all of the different missions. Going to forests, or dry planets, or even just flying through the stars. None of that matched up from being able to get close to the sea. To the sea spray that felt like home. The waves that felt like an embrace from an old family member. All of that was something that Reina missed and longed for every day. It was why she didn't want to rush through this moment.

"Well. Even if you couldn't be content with a quiet ride today, that'd be your problem. Not mine."

The redhead stuck her tongue for a moment, teasing away as she just let herself enjoy the moment. This was what she needed to clear her mind. Not some boring session of sat in a room meditating, or reciting some ancient old mantras. No. Just a day out on the ocean.​