The Cove of South Isle

A dart here and a dart there, so many bright and colorful fish, strange and pretty things, like bright, yellow, human trinkets buried among bundles of seaweed and ruined planks of wood. Scionis would have giggled as she dove through a mess of the green stuff, disappearing for a long enough time for any human to have drowned. Eventually, she came back up with a burst of speed that was nothing less than amazing, soon breaking through the surface of the water that had just been meters above her head. Her back curved so she could rest on the surface when she came back down to it with a splash, giving a wheezing little giggle as she lifted, instead of those old human treasures, a shell with a smooth, whitish surface that reflected many colors. Mother would like this, she hoped.

She inspected and cleaned at the shell, looking like some overgrown, blue otter as she worked on it. When satisfied, she rolled and dove back beneath the crystal clear waters, swimming swiftly towards an island in the distance. Again, her speed was nothing short of amazing, and she never once came up for air. To her, it was no time at all until she was swimming along near the shore of that island, darting into a cove at it's edge.

There, in the cove, was a dock, large enough for several medium sized boats, though there were only a couple of small ones tethered up to the columns of wood that held the platform up. She curved in the water and quite literally leaped from the water, latching to the end of the dock and pulling herself up. She looked around quietly a moment before wandering on down the walk, wondering to herself. Since it's the weekend, I wonder if I'll have any visitors... The weekends seemed to be the times when humans came to see her. The rest of the week tended to be occupied by her going out to visit her friends of the other islands.

She shrugged and broke into a run when her bare feet touched the sand, running up along the shore to what looked to be a house on stilts. It gave off a homey feel, even to her, when her natural home was in the water. She shook her feet when she climbed up the stairs, shaking the sand loose from her skin, already dried in the warm light of the sun. She paused at the porch, looking out past the cove quietly before darting on inside, heading first off to the kitchen, to better clean the shell.

When she was done drying it off, she slipped into a room that looked like a doctor's office, wandering over and setting the shell on the desk neatly. She glanced up towards the other door, which lead to the labs, in the room before giving a hoarse hum, turning and darting out, leaping from the porch as soon as she got through the door. There was no one around to keep her company at the moment, so she might as well look for something to eat! It was not long until she was at the end of the docks, making a leap into a flying dive, landing almost without a splash in the waters.

She would stay in the cove for the rest of the weekend, she decided as she looked around beneath the waves. She would stay and immediately come to greet any visitors. She was most certainly a playful sharkling, one could tell from looking at her. Even when she smiled, she looked playful, despite the serrated teeth that, for other halflings or full-blooded sharks, scared people. She darted off to the side after a moment, to chase after a fish.

She caught the fish soon enough, lashing out once she came upon it with hands and jaws both, turning back to the dock when it was secured between her teeth. Unlike other sharks, she preferred to eat while on dry land. She crawled up onto the dock this time and sat at the edge, gnawing at the fish, gazing out quietly over the waters. Despite the scene of her eating a live fish, she actually still managed to seem docile, simply waiting for someone, anyone to come and keep her company.

Quietly riding the waves, Doctor Cervantes had the boat idling. The waves were moving in the right direction, carrying her slowly towards the destination. She would have to steer the boat herself again once she approached the cove, as it would be sheer miracle to pass exactly through the point she needed to go. For now though, her eyes were wandering along the clouds, staring at the Sun. Her toes curled and uncurled anxiously as she rode along.

She had never been seasick, having been born on the ocean. She in fact, looked tipsy sometimes when walking on land, trying to walk with the sways of a boat that were ingrained in her psyche since pre-birth. She slowly hummed for just a moment, though inside her heart was racing. She was going to do something that not even she, born of the sea, had ever done before. She was going to meet a girl who apparently was half shark.

She had gotten a call, a while back, from an anonymous number. She did not know why, but she had decided to take the instructions the caller gave her, instinct or fate itself seizing hold of her mind. She slowly purred to herself, excited. Her fingers slowly brushed their gloved fabrics together, slowly teasing them along one another. Her suit was made of tight rubber to keep the covered parts of her skin dry, but it left nothing to the imagination, and showed off a bit of skin, besides.

On her forehead rest a pair of goggles, and beside her figure lay a scuba tank, which she would don when it was time to go underwater. She wished she had some of her scientists attire, but this was as comfortable on her as her own skin was. She had been born to wear this kind of thing. Her figure wriggled in excitement, unable to hold herself back.

She pushed herself to her feet, and took the helm, turning it and flipping on the engine onto the lowest setting, so as to not disturb the creatures. On the shore, she thought she saw something swimming amazingly fast through the water, before springing onto the sand, where... upon binocular inspection, she noticed that it was a girl eating a fish. Straight out of the water. It looked adorable, for some reason, but she set the binoculars down, and twist the helm to guide it towards the docks. She pulled it in along side one of the piers, but instead of stepping onto it, she pulled the goggles on, and attached her tank, diving into the water.

She was not supernaturally fast, but being born in the sea gave one advantages. She had learned to swim when she was barely old enough to begin walking. She thrust her legs through the water, pushing through it with more than good speed. She did not plug up her regulator, just yet. She did not need it. Soon enough she was climbing up onto the beach, beginning to sway as if slightly drunk within the first few steps.

There she was. The girl she had come here for. She walked over after a moment, and smiled for her cheerfully; "Hello there, I'm doctor Cervantes."

Scionis' eyes brightened cheerfully when when she saw a boat making it's way towards the cove, feeling a slight surge of excitement. She had the human advantage of clear vision, and realized soon enough that it was not a boat of someone she knew. She chomped through the head of the fish, swallowing only with a few crunches later. Her stomach had the shark advantage, in that it could digest anything organic. She, however, also had the human advantage of a brain, and she put it to good use, learning what was healthiest and easiest for her to eat instead of simply taking a bite out of anything.

She watched curiously as the boat pulled in, raising to her feet to watch as the woman who steered it in and simply left it at the piers. Her eyes widened for a moment as this woman dived off into the water, becoming gleeful as the woman swam through the amazingly clear waters up to the shore, giving a wheezing little giggle when the woman swayed upon reaching the beach. She stepped forward, pulling a hand away from her meal and waving almost shyly before her hand started moving fluently, obviously sign language.

'Hello Doctor! I'm Scionis!' She signed both their names with individual letters. She had chosen her own name when she was old enough. 'It's a pleasure to meet you! I can't speak, so... I hope sign language will do!' She gestured up towards her neck, her head tilting back to reveal a bite like scar along her throat. She tilted her head back down, offering a warm, friendly smile to the woman. 'What can I do for you?'

She took occasional nibbles out of the fish, like a human girl would nibble at a popsicle or something. Her clear blue eyes, much like the waters of the islands, blinked brightly up at her. She took another few steps after a moment, suddenly rounding the woman, reaching out to brush her fingers against the rubber wet suit, to tap along the tank lightly. It wasn't often that the humans that came to see her swam, unless to study her, unless it was Anita. Anita always swam, anywhere, everywhere.

Coming back around, she offered another smile and and signed almost shyly, 'Sorry. I am very curious!' Somehow, her emotions came through her signing heavily. Probably because she had been doing it all of her life. She took another chomp out of the fish, crunching through the bones. That time, she swallowed the bite without even chewing.

She watched Scionis did all of this crazy stuff. She was mute, apparently, but that didn't matter. She was talking to a shark girl! A shark girl that knew sign language! If that wasn't cool, then she was the Queen of Snow. She slowly purred with pleasure, though the reason was not apparent to Scionis. In truth the shark girl's presence alone was enough to set her off like this. She had been half expecting to wander out and find nothing for all of her troubles.

She could read sign language, but she was very slow to speak it, so she did not try, instead speaking outloud. "It is a pleasure to meet you, too!" She said, smiling cheerfully, and stating; "Well, I came here for--oh!" Her figure jumped in surprise when the girl suddenly started circling her, touching her here and there. Her cheeks flamed up in a blush--she was easily excitable at the moment, apparently. She slowly shivered, waiting for the girl to finish her inspection as patiently as she could.

When it was over, she let out a soft little hum, and murmured quietly to her; "It's quite allright. But as I was saying, I've come here to check on your health, to make sure you're all right. I need to make sure you are getting all the right nutrition, make sure nothing's broken, see if you have suffered any illnesses." She slowly smiled at the girl, clasping her fingers infront of her lap. She could not wait to get to work, to see what made the girl tick. No invasive procedures, she knew, not unless it was to fix something, but boy, did she ever want to dig around and see what it was like.

She, however, was more humane than that. She slowly gestured out, towards the building that contained the lab'. She slowly said; "Take me there, would you? You know the place better than I and you can give me a tour so I don't get lost." She said, smiling at her pleasantly. Oh no, the more she looked at Scionis, the more she knew that if she were to take a scalpel to her skin, it would be taking a scalpel to her own heart. The girl looked too cute, too innocent. Even the brutal way with which she ate raw fish only made her want to giggle.

She smiled even brighter when the woman spoke, though she she did hope that she had not embarrassed the woman. She gave a quick nod when the woman explained why she was there, giving a little wiggle. 'Alright! Everything you need should be ready for you in the lab!' She signed excitedly. It seemed she enjoyed the rather constant checks on her health, as long as she thought it was helping mother in some way, or even some of the friends she had made over the years.

She tilted her head back after a moment, simply dropping the rest of the fish down her throat, gulping half a dozen times before it went down. Her throat bulged dangerously, as though it'd tear at the line of the scar caused, obviously, by the teeth of another shark. She knew, however, the limits of her throat. The gills on the sides of her neck lifted, shuddering for several moments before laying back down smoothly, almost seeming to melt away.

'Of course!' She signed, stepping over to the woman's side, offering her hand to her almost like a child would. 'This place has been my home all of my life.' She had switched hands in her signing before beginning off towards the building. She seemed rather proud, very happy, that she had a home to always return to. Others that lived beneath the seas around the islands simply rested wherever they happened to be, as long as it was safe from currents and predators, and of course, poachers. Poachers seemed to frequent the outskirts of the territory, but Anita always kept everyone safe.

When they reached the porch and climbed up, she signed up to the woman, 'Please, make yourself at home, stay as long as you want.' She again offered a warm smile before pulling open the screen door and leading the woman in. The first half of the house was just that. A house. A homey house. There was a neat little living room, lacking a television, but not a satellite radio, which seemed to always be on, playing a gentle tune from one of those... 'coffee shop' stations. There was an office with an old looking computer, though it had multiple flat-screens, and shelves of reference books. A nice, large bathroom, with a tub and two showers. Everything in there looked like something from one of those home magazines, customized for use by multiple people and convenience. Across the hall was a kitchen nearly the size of the bathroom, completely modernized. The shelves and fridge were certainly stocked. There were three bed rooms, though one at least had never even been used. All three were warm, comfy feeling rooms, as though designed by an older woman that aimed for comfort. Every room, she signed the information, saying that everything was free to her to use as much as she wished, until the bedrooms, simply, 'These are all open to visitors. If you stay a few days, I hope you are comfy!'

Finally, she slipped into the second office, looking around quietly for a moment before slipping forward. 'The office, and past the door is the lab.' She reached out and tugged it open. Inside, it was most certainly a laboratory, a shockingly large room for the size of the other rooms. There were several observation tables, a few much more modern computers, microscopes, stacks of files. There were shelves of viles and other small containers filled with all sorts of things with different labels, and a fridge containing more, simply needed in a cooler area. Some of the labels were easily identifiable as medicines or anti-venoms, kept on hand for whatever might come through the door. There was also two tanks, each large enough to easily support a full blooded sharkperson or mermaid, even. She turned finally, facing the woman and giving a bright smile. 'Whenever you want to begin! Oh, hey! Maybe if you stay a while, you can go for a swim with me, or meet some of my friends!' She added.

She watched the girl with nothing less than obvious shock on her face when she gulped down the rest of the fish whole. Her eyes simply stared for a few moments, before she bit down on her lip rather firmly to keep the corners from tweaking up into a smirk. She merely followed along the girl as she lead her up, taking her hand gently and letting her fingers warmly wrap around it. She was touching her! She shivered with delight, continuing to walk along with her. This was going to be a marvelous time, she knew. Her eyes gazed down at the shark, listening to her talk.

She did not interrupt, merely letting her head dip down into a small nod when the girl drew her up onto the porch. "I will, I will. This place does seem rather.. comfy after all." She said, after getting a good look inside. She wasn't sure what she expected of the home, but it was certainly already better than her own home. She was not really good at interior design. At best her home was no more than livable, and her eyes cringed every time she walked into a white, sterile-looking room lacking life and color. Most people, even those she had known for a long time, tended to think of her as a lifeless individual when they saw her home.

She smiled as the girl gave her tour, her eyes gazing around. Everything was so big here. Her own home was rather large, but for something just sitting alone out on a cove, this was unbelievable. How had they gotten the construction done? Who had done it? How much had it cost to build and get electricity in such a remote location? There were probably a lot of details that were far too complicated or maybe even illegal to explain, and Doctor Cervantes was more than happy to leave it to pondering. Nevertheless, she followed Scionis through the tour, hugging her arms to herself and purring at the warmth the house provided her. When Scionis mentioned 'a few days', she blinked in startlement, but said nothing. She allowed her to be taken back into the lab, where she gazed around with a single, long look. Yes. This place was definitely too odd to begin asking questions about.

She let her tongue dip across her lips for a moment, gazing at those huge tanks, considering them for a moment. Had there not been a beach outside, those would have been wonderful to spend at least a little time in every day. She wondered what else lived there to require two tanks instead of just one. Her eyes scrunched for a moment. Obviously it meant there was at least one more odd creature living about. But that also meant there was likely much, much more than that. No questions asked. Yet. When Scionis next talked, her gaze did not shift to the sharkette, but her eyes widened. A network of friends. That certainly was interesting.

"I don't see why not." She responded quietly, before reaching out and patting the girl on top of her head, drifting further into the lab, and looking around slowly. She pursed her lips just slightly before humming under her breath, walking over to one of those computers, and pressing a few buttons, as if to just check the functions of it. Seeming satisfied after a few minutes of looking over the thing, she glanced back towards Scionis, and said lightly; "After all, I don't plan on leaving any time soon." Leave this little cove of treasures! Hardly likely.

Scionis was soon grinning, though it had taken effort not to grin so openly and display those sharp teeth of hers. On her, even she realized that displaying such teeth would not seem fearsome. She doubted she would ever be fearsome, even if she ever fell into the bloodlust of a shark, which never happened, and likely never would. And she was happy about that, too. She liked being safe to be around with humans, and others. She liked having friends, and that no one was scared of her. Maybe a little shocked, yes, but never scared.

As she watched the woman once they reached the labs, she rocked quietly on her heels, looking this way and that. The most people that had ever been in here must have been three, or four, from a long time ago, but she kept what she could clean. It was likely that the lab was the place in the house she was least comfortable in, but even in here, she was relaxed and trusting that no harm would come. Besides, she already liked this new doctor, and was deciding she was more than trustworthy. How could she not? The doctor was a human who loved to swim!

She almost shadowed the woman, always three to five paces back from her as she looked around, looking with some interest at what she might do. She had noticed the looks the woman made towards the tanks, and offered a hoarse hum for a moment, thinking back. It was rare that those tanks were used, except during testing or something's recovery, and the doctor just might meet some of those somethings that had once needed the enclosed tanks. She felt another smile coming easily on, squirming with what was obvious excitement.

She gave a small start when the woman spoke before absolutely beaming, her hand shooting up to sign fluently, though slow enough to be easily understood. 'Oh, thank you! I'll make sure, you'll have a great time!' The signing faltered when the woman said she wouldn't be leaving any time soon, and she skittered forward, suddenly throwing her arms around the woman in a hug. Shyly, moments later, she peeled herself back off the woman with some tint in her blue cheeks, deeper than the rest. She gave a squeaky little sound before signing again. 'It'll be wonderful to have you here! More than wonderful! I do get.. lonely sometimes. Can we be friends, Doctor?'

She hummed to herself quietly for a few moments, smiling at the shark and dipping her head down in a nod. "I'm sure you--oh!" She started in surprise when the girl hugged her suddenly, feeling just a little awkward at the rare moment of contact. She lift her hand and lightly pet the girl on the top of her head. Not demeaning, just slightly affectionate, as if a parent to the child. She slowly let her hand fall away when the girl backed up, and spoke of her loneliness. And asked to be friends. Friends! With a shark-girl! "I'd love to be friends. But for now, I am going to need you to hop up onto this table." She said, before scuttling away. She grasped a few instruments, which all seemed relatively harmless, before returning, setting them on a mobile table.

She lift up the small reaction-testing hammer, and began to lightly tap the shark's knees, to see if they were jerking properly. She took notes with each tap she preformed, her own knees tingling in remembrance of how weird it felt to have her body move against her will. After a few moments, she set down the tapper, and reached into a box filled with gloves assorted like tissue paper. She slipped them on over her skin and reached forward, taking hold of her lips and spreading them open so that she could look at her gums. She leaned in inspecting carefully across them. She pulled out a small brush and lightly cleaned the areas where ever something managed to get stuck in between her teeth, but all in all, it was an acceptable mouth.

Her eyes swiveled around for a moment, and after a final inspection of the teeth, she pulled away, releasing the gums and slowly straightening up. She took a step back and murmured; "Now, we'll need to check your weight and height. I know girls don't like to share that information but I'm a doctor so it's okay. I won't even remember it during friendship hours." She promised, giving a small laugh to herself.