Siquioce traveled further and further away from his hometown, moving with his usual, breakneck speed as he did. It was only after he traveled a good few miles until he thought to himself, Wait, where am I going? Realizing his mistake, Siquioce halted in his tracks. Admittedly, he had never determined where he wanted to go, let alone what path he was going to take. He held his chin as he thought up a plan. After some thinking, he concluded, "You know what, I might as well just keep on doing what I was doing. The surface is the surface." With that idea in mind, the Samanian proceeded to swim in a straight line, moving past schools of fish, underwater plants, and abandoned structures as he made his way to his random destination.
Eventually, Siquioce came across a bunch of wooden pillars that extended from some unseen thing above. Although he tried his best to slow down, Siquioce ended up crashing into one of the long objects. "Ow..." he groaned as he rubbed his blue-purple head, "Where'd that come from?" he looked up with one eye closed, "Well, at least I found something. Let's see what's up there..." So, Siquioce shook his head and kicked his way upwards.
Poking his head above the water, Siquioce noticed that he was right in front of a dock by the beach. "Wow," he said as he looked around, "I'm really here. This place looks peaceful enough." he dove back underwater, "Well, time to see what's in store for me." He then swam towards the shore, feeling somewhat hopeful over what he would find.
Upon exiting the water, Siquioce immediately felt the difference between land and sea. Although his body came equipped with both gills and lungs, he was not prepared for how difficult it would be to walk without water to provide buoyancy. Simply standing up felt like a hassle. "Urgh," he moaned, "This feels weird. How do the surface dwellers deal with this all day?" he sighed, "I should've paid more attention in geography class..." Trying his best to deal with the unfamiliar terrain, Siquioce wobbled his way forward, taking unsure step after unsure step.
As Siquioce struggled to traverse, he noticed a big-bodied lizard man in raggedy clothes walking out from a forest, a club-sized hook in his orange, scaly hands. Oh! thought Siquioce, A person! Maybe he can tell me where I am. Feeling hopeful, Siquioce swayed towards the stranger, a friendly look on his face.
"Good afternoon," he greeted, "My name is Siquioce. I come from the underwater village of Roalitelv Settlement. Can you tell me where I am?"
The lizard simply stared back with a blank expression, his yellow eyes showing a lack of understanding.
Siquioce stood there for a bit before clearing his throat and repeating, "Uh, hello? I asked if you could tell me where I am."
The reptile continued to stare at Siquioce as he waved his long tail back and forth. After some inspection, the lizard said something in a foreign language before pointing his grappling hook towards Siquioce, a hungry look in his eyes.
Siquioce's head fin extended sightly. "Hey," he said, "What are you..."
Suddenly, the lizard lunged at him with his hook, aiming for his neck.
Thankfully, Siquioce's reflexes came to save him, and he was able to quickly drop to the ground and avoid the lizard's strike. "Hey," he said in a shocked tone, "What was that?!"
The reptile growled before raising his hook into the air and bringing it down on Siquioce's head, prompting the Samanian to swiftly roll away.
"Wait!" cried Siquioce, "You don't want to do this! I'm just trying to ask a question!"
Still, the lizard was deaf to Siquioce's words, and he again attempted to execute his target.
Seeing that his assaulter was adamant in his pursuit, Siquioce, in a last-ditch effort, picked up a handful of sand and threw it in the lizard's large eyes, causing the reptilian to scream in pain as he held his hands to his face, dropping his weapon to the ground. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Siquioce picked laid his rubbery belly on the floor and scrambled away as fast as he could towards the trees ahead.
"I can't believe it," said Siquioce as he crawled through the sand and dirt, "I just got here! Why am I already being attacked?!" Using his tympanum, Siquioce heard heavy steps not too far behind him; the lizard was coming. Feeling very stressed, Siquioce picked up the pace, wriggling his way through the forest until he found a safe spot in a hollow tree trunk. Once he got there, he squeezed himself as tightly as he could so as to remain as hidden as possible. After doing so, he held his breath, trying to limit his noise production as he listened for any sounds of danger. His heart beat fast as he heard unfriendly-sounding footsteps in a vicinity closer than he liked. Following some fervent praying in his mind, Siquioce eventually found that his pursuer had left. For now, he was safe.
Siquioce gasped for air, his hand clutching his chest. "Hah..." he breathed, "I thought I was done for!" He held his knees close to him, "Okay, note to self, don't ask people for directions." He looked around, "You know, who says that I have to explore? I can just stay here, right?" He nodded, "Yeah, I'll just stay here. The surface can wait." Thus, Siquioce remained there, sitting idly in the dark crevice as he tried to relax. Eventually, soothed by the dimly lit hole, Siquioce ended up falling asleep.
At some point during his slumber, Siquioce felt something sharp stab his back. Crying out in pain, Siquioce unfurled from his sleeping position, looking towards the exit of his lair with a panicked expression. "Hey!" he exclaimed, "Who's there?!" Siquioce saw some sort of staff with a knife attached to it drop to the ground as he heard a female voice say something in surprise. Looking down at the object, Siquioce saw that the tip was covered in blood. Having a feeling of what this meant, Siquioce reached for his back and brought his hand to his face. Lo and behold, his hand was red. Wanting to know who had done this, Siquioce crawled out of his hiding spot and noticed a yellow-haired, green-eyed, tall elf girl in a red and orange robe looking down at him.
The girl held her hands over her mouth, saying apologetic-sounding words at a fast pace. All the while, her legs trembled in fear, her teary eyes showing regret.
Siquioce stood up, reached into the hole and pulled out the weapon, asking, "Did you attack me with this?"
The girl looked at Siquioce for a minute, uncovering her mouth as she asked something in her language. Seeing that Siquioce was not responding, the elf waved her hands around in a figure eight pattern, causing her to be enveloped in a blue aura. She then pointed at Siquioce, making it so that he also became surrounded by light of the same color.
Siquioce held his head as he started to feel a weird sensation in his brain. What is this? he thought, What did she do to me? After a few seconds, the feeling ceased, and Siquioce looked at the elf with confusion.
Then, to Siquioce's surprise, the female opened her mouth and...intelligible words came out! "Hello? she asked, "Can you hear me?"
Siquioce widened his eyes, "Um...yeah, I can! What did you do?"
The elf responded, "I casted a translation spell. With it, I can understand any intelligent creature, and they can understand me." she then got down to the ground and groveled, "I'm so sorry, guy! I didn't know that you weren't a titan salamander!"
Looking befuddled, Siquioce inquired, "You thought I was a titan salamander? What made you think that? And even if I was, why did you stab me?"
The girl gave Siquioce a tearful look and answered, "It's an easy mistake to make! Titan salamanders have blue skin, live in dead trees, and are as big as you!"
Siquioce tapped his cheek, "If you say so..." he looked again at the elf, "You still didn't tell me why you stabbed me."
The girl sniffed, "Oh yeah...I need the skin of a titan salamander for one of my spells. It's, uh, for this project I'm doing."
Siquioce sighed, "Okay, then." He then winced in pain, holding one hand to his wound.
The elf gasped, "Oh! You're still hurt! Don't worry, I'll fix it." She moved her right hand up and her left hand from her left to her right, causing her to become engulfed in a green light. She then clapped, causing Siquioce to feel a cool sensation in his back. In a matter of seconds, Siquioce's wound was healed.
Siquioce touched his back with a wondrous expression, saying, "Wow...did you do that?"
The elf nodded, "That's right."
Siquioce stood there for a bit before smiling, "Well, thank you! It's good to see a friendly person here on the surface."
The elf gasped before smiling back, "Don't mention it, Samanian! I was just being a good mage, that's all." She smoothed her robe, "I hope this isn't too intrusive of me to ask, but why were you hiding in that tree?"
Siquioce sighed, "I was trying to escape from this scaly guy with a hook. I was just trying to talk to him and he attacked me!"
The girl raised her eyebrows, "Oh, you must be talking about a Urosite. They have a town here in the forest; the one you encountered must've been a fisher. Members of that species are known to eat sea creatures like you."
Siquioce tapped his foot, "Oh, I guess that explains it..."
The mage nodded, "Yeah. Most Samanians who come here know to steer clear of this area. You must be a brave one, then!"
Siquioce laughed with a hint of nervousness, "Yep, that's me! I don't care about the danger that's here; I came anyway!" he muttered under his breath, "Totally didn't just come here by accident..."
The elf giggled, "How admirable. You know, you seem like a great guy. How would you like to stick with me for a while?"
Siquioce looked at the stranger with surprise, "You want me to travel with you?"
The magic-user nodded, "Yep! Well, I mean, if you want..."
Siquioce thought for a minute before answering, "Sure, why not? I could use a partner."
The elf grinned, "Great! Well, since we're travelling buddies, allow me to introduce myself. My name's Kantuta. Kantuta Xeichain. What about you?"
Siquioce answered, "I'm Siquioce Acassa. Nice to meet you."
Kantuta replied, "Nice to meet you too, Siquioce!" She waved him over, "Come on, let's walk and talk."
Siquioce attempted to follow after Kantuta, but his walking skills were still not up to snuff. After some pondering, he decided to use the staff as a walking stick, which he used to move forward.