trans_9 | waves & sand

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waves & sand

Arha stood for a long, long moment, her eyes wide as she leaned up against the three person landspeeder she'd carefully driven out. It was not a difficult piece of machinery to tackle. It contained people well and there was enough room for baggage, should there be any. She had her funds (and as pleased with the amount) secured and was more than ready to follow her nose straight to the water's edge. The ration bags she had been alotted had been secured as of five minutes prior, which left her half-sitting against the front part of the vehicle with her nose in the air and her eyes half closed.

The breeze was warm and felt food after the stifling humidity of the ship. It smelled clean and good, with the tang of salt that meant the ocean was nearby. She was looking forward to this thing, perhaps most of all.

But, for the moment, she enjoyed the moment as it was and paused.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wedge had to laugh at Arha's insistence. As they began heading down towards the beach, he shook his head in amusement.

"Maybe they do float better. But that's neither here nor there, is it? We're here to make sure you can float and that you'll swim, not sink." He glanced sidelong at Arha, grinning.

"I am the desert," Arha said skeptically. "Sand shall sink, but heat rises. We shall see about thing floating business. I will learn."

She wasn't sure about this whole deal--from the look of it, there was much water. Much, much water. It did not even seem to end, though, surely, it had to terminate somewhere. Her feet hit the sand and she immediately began to walk rhythmlessly, in the oddly graceful slip-slide of a Fremen that made her look as if she were floating over the sand rather than walking. She, however, did not pay attention to it.

It wasn't the busiest beach on the island, but nor was it deserted. It was the sort of place you'd go to enjoy a simple swim, some time in the sun. Pure white soft sand met crystal clear blue water that was relatively calm until you got near the edge of the small inlet that contained the beach. He carefully laid his towel and bag out, then stripped his shirt. He nodded towards the water.

"Come on. Let's get started." He grinned and dashed off towards the water, diving into the oncoming tide with a whoop, almost like he was a kid again.

Mimicking Wedge, by laying her towel out, she did not run behind him like a child. She was still apprehensive about this water thing.

Arha watched him, her arms cross beneath her breasts, for a long and measured moment. How could one just dive into water? Her expression was schooled, but she didn't hide the slight curve of surprise that arched an eyebrow as she slowly worked her way to the wet sand. Her feet sank into it and she started as the tide rolled back into shore, nearly backed up, and stared very hard at it while it swirled around her ankles.

It retreated.

Arha moved forward a little more, frowned, and moved into the surf until it was at her knees. It was most curious. She dipped a cupped hand into the water and brought it up for inspection, then licked it.

Very salty.

She made a blech! face.

"One cannot drink this!" she said in surprise. "It is a planet of undrinka--" A large wave rolled in and Arha found herself not only drenched but inexplicably sitting on her rear in the shallow water.

Wedge popped up, flicking damp strands of hair away from his face. He'd need to get a haircut while he was here, his hair was starting to get a bit longer than he usually kept it. But that was neither here nor there, of course. He grinned and took a few steps forward in the surf to offer Arha a hand, helping the woman to her feet.

"It's salt water. The ocean is made up of salt water. That's what makes it the ocean. Well, that and the size." He laughed, the sight of the dripping and soaked Arha too much for him.

"Come on. Get out a bit deeper and you won't have to worry about that kind of thing..." He grabbed her by the hand and began leading the way into deeper water--not so deep they couldn't stand, but deep enough you could definitely lose your footing if you weren't mindful.

"It would take much purification," she pointed out and allowed him to help her to her feet.

Arha, against her better training, fairly clung to Wedge's hand, her eyes wider than before as he tugged her deeper in. She was shorter than he was and looked decidedly ill at ease as the water lapped at her chin. It was not her fault the panic was rising.

She breathed through it and tried not to squeeze Wedge's ahnd any tighter. It was just water. She was not going to run away from it.

Wedge gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. He could still stand here. Barely. Fortunately Arha was still shorter than him, which might not be the case with some women, considering his shorter than average height.

"Alright. So. The first thing about learning to swim is treading water. I want you to push off the bottom and start making a circular motion with your legs. Like you're riding a bicycle. If they have them in your universe, anyway." A bit of amusement sparkled in his eyes.

"I ride worms, not antiquated vehicles," Arha mumbled, but obediently (and thankfully she'd found a connection with her Mothers-Within) began the bicycle motion.

And flailed as she flopped face first into the water.

Wedge snickered, reaching out to gently grab the woman under her armpits.

"Okay. It takes a bit of practice. This time, add a circular motion with your arms. It'll help you maintain balance, okay?" He was going to get her swimming or die trying, darn it. If he can teach her to fly a heavily armed space fighter, he can teach her to swim in water.

"Why did you not add it all at the same time?" Arha asked somewhat indignantly--mostly because she was dripping and her face had been in the water. "Say this thing with legs goes with this thing with arms, all at once! Not 'Do the leg thing and you will plant your face into the ocean."

Arha made the motions while she talked and they kept her from going under the water. It was progress. But she still was sulking.

Wedge shrugged. It had seemed reasonable at the time.

"You have to fall once or twice before you can run, right?" He gently released her and mimicked her motions, watching.

"See, it's pretty simple once you've got the hang of it. Besides...this just means you can do something like this next time you're teaching me something." He winked, a bright smile flashing across his face.

"Mmmm, what shall I teach you?" Arha asked, musing it over, as she concentrated with a very determined expression on her face. She paddled around for a bit and felt clumsy. Arha had fallen over many times when trying to run as a child, but she had never cried. She had gotten up each time and tried once more until she had the running down.

She would do the same in this, though the water was frightening.

"Not the Force, I'm afraid. I'm about as force sensitive as a post, I think." Wedge chuckled in reply, watching her valiant efforts with unveiled amusement. She was picking it up fairly quickly, admittedly.

"What do you think I could learn?" He inquired as he rolled over to float on his back, rocking slightly as the motion of the water tugged him insistently towards shore, then back again in a slow, subtle tug of war.

Arha stopped paddling for a moment and toed herself over to glance down at him and then nudged at his wet hair thoughtfully. Her expression was almost distant as she moved through thousands of scenarios.

"I could teach you much," Arha murmured. "It depends on what you have an interest in learning."

Wedge closed his eyes as he drifted, listening to her voice, the cry of seabirds and the rush of water; the sound of other tourists carried over the water.

"Anything. Anything that could help us in our mission."

"That could be everything I know from combat techniques to relaxation," Arha said, her voice pitched to roll softly over the sound of the waves. "I think, perhaps, you would benefit greatly from relaxation. You and I are not so different in that we press on without thinking of what the stress does until we are nearly falling apart."

She brushed her fingertips against his hairline and let her thumbs settle against his temples. The precise position of her hands and the slight circling motion cleared tension, as did the light whisper of the Force that found and released what her fingers could not.

"Such a thing," Arha said, "it means we need aid in letting tension go before it saps us of clarity. But still, I can teach you many things."

"I think I would too." Wedge agreed with a smile. There were so many things he had to think about (and thank whatever God might exist that he had Tycho to help him) running the squadron. But all the worry and tension from his problem pilots, his supply issues, integrating the new arrivals, everything he had to deal with when the went back aboard Stacy...It simply melted way as Arha gently nudged against him with fingers and the Force.

"I would like that a lot, actually." Wedge said simply before turning over in the water to face Arha again, mind returning to the lesson as the moment passed.

"How are you doing on treading water?"

"Then such will I teach," Arha said with a nod. "I have this water-treading. We may move on. I would watch you--such is example. I learn best this way." It was why she went over training simulations and watched Wedge fly, Tycho, too. She wondered if they knew she did such things. It helped her to watch them, as they were natural to the flight systems and crafts. To prove her point, Arha made the proper movements and kept her head above water.

That she had the technical aspects of it down did not lessen the strangeness of it, nor the odd feel of the water around her.

"Excellent!" She really did pick up on things quickly. It always amazed him how she could simply pick up something and learn without much (apparent) effort.

"So. Most basic stroke is really the breast stroke. You put your arms out in front of you like this--" He demonstrated. "And to make the most of it, you do a sort of kick with your legs." Again, he demonstrated.

"Pretty simple."

The first try was clumsy, the second better. By the fifth attempt, she had it down, and it felt natural (even if the desert rat in her was screaming that she would kill herself and that shore was a better option). It was the Bene Gesserit training that pushed her through the fright of it.

Putting her face in the water was fairly horrifying. Every last bit of her said it was water waste, which was absurd because there was enough water around to drown Arrakis.

"Good!" Wedge called from his position a few feet away. "You've pretty much got it. After this, it's really all variation on different strokes, but that's really not what you need to relax and enjoy the mater." He gave a kick and moved a bit closer, grinning.

"It's fun, isn't it?"

"Perhaps once I stop seeing it try to swallow me," Arha said, "it shall be more fun. All I see is water and I feel very small." She swam around for a bit, attempting to get herself used to it, and caught a flash of something in the water. Her eyes widened as she peered into the depths.

"Is that an oct-o-pooze?" She pointed. "There, by the rocks with the things that are called fish. It is making a lunch out of them, do you see?"

"It's the ocean. It can be just as dangerous as the desert, in its own ways. You just have to accept that you're taking the risk and relax a little." Wedge paddled alongside her, grinning at her sudden fascination with the sea creatures.

"It certainly looks like it. Another thing about the ocean: it holds so much life. If we have time, maybe we can go diving with some breathing equipment. Or rent a submersible or something. There's a whole other world down there."

Arha reached out with the Force to nudge the oct-o-pooze in curiosity. It was like her gauntlet in looks, but this was a truly living thing. It swiveled to stare at her and wriggled its tentacles. She wondered if she could hold onto herself long enough to go down and examine it.

"I would wish to do this diving thing," Arha said. "It is waving at me, no? Hello, oct-o-pooze!" It ate a fish and Arha disappeared from view as she disregarded her own flare of don't do that! to satisfy her own curiosity. It had eight arms and, as she rotated slightly as if she were in her X-Wing, she could see a beak that was good for eating fish-like things.

She sat a little way along the rock and used the fine control she had of her body to limit her need for oxygen so she could better observe the creature. It wandered her way as if curious, too, and curled a tentacle around her ankle. Arha tilted her head slightly and her hair billowed around her head. This was not so bad, perhaps. After all, it had oct-o-pooze and it was quiet under the water.

Wedge waited at the surface, patient. He wasn't really worried about Arha. She could take of herself, right? Even if she was a novice swimmer, she seemed fairly good at it. After a minute or so, though, he began to get worried.

"Arha...?" After another moment, he dove, kicking as he looked around for the woman. Spotting her, he made his way through the clear blue water to Arha, offering a confused and exaggerated shrug, arms akimbo under the water. Was she alright?

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