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Iskall huffed and stopped to brush the sand off his legs again. It kept getting under his scales and he hated how that itched. Going in the desert direction away from spawn was definitely a bad idea. But at least no one else had chosen to go this way.
"Heyy, Iskall!"
Well, almost no one. Iskall turned around to face Etho, who was trudging after him, mask up. "Are you following me?"
"Maybe."
"You know, I went this way because I thought I wouldn't be bothered by anyone."
Etho gasped in mock offense. "You think I'm a bother?"
Iskall snorted, trying not to laugh. Dammit, why did it have to be Etho who showed up? He would have preferred... he didn't really know. Ren, maybe. Or one of the new hermits - he could start off on a clean slate with them.
Etho grinned.
Iskall rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'm not going to chase you off. Just don't tell me to go follow the coastline."
"Okay." Etho shrugged.
The two of them made their way as casually as they could across the desert. Iskall pointed out a strip of unstable sand, and the two watched it fall. Finally, as their feet reached grass again, Iskall spoke. "No offense, but I specifically was... kind of avoiding butting in on a merpeople group."
Etho put his hands in his pockets. "You are a mer. Can't butt in on a group you're already a part of."
"I'm not, though," Iskall complained. "I mean, I guess I am, but I'm not like... like you."
"If you say so," Etho conceded. "Basically no one is setting up on their own in this world though, so I'm still going to- oh whoa, look at that."
Iskall looked up - and up, at the massive, gravity-defying land mass that they were approaching. "Oh, my goodness."
They had reached a shattered savanna, its cliffs stretching in strange shapes high into the sky. What land hadn't been pulled up had sunk down, creating a deep lake thriving with glow squids and axolotls.
"You can't tell me it's not nice to reach water," Etho prodded, already pulling his mask down and heading for the lake.
Iskall sighed and followed Etho in. It did feel good to be in the water again. His instinctive treading of water was halted immediately by his legs binding together into a bright green tail, with fins of the same translucent green. Iskall unhooked one spine of his left ear fin from where it had gotten caught on the back of his eyepiece - he really should fix that, it happened about every other time he shifted - and dove underwater, letting gills take over for lungs.
He found Etho, almost invisible in the dark water if not for the glow squids milling about, curiously circling a downward current. Etho pointed upward at a waterfall that started far, far above. Race you to the top.
What-? But Etho had already begun powering his way up the water stream. Iskall mentally sighed and chased after him.
Upon reaching the source, Etho found a ledge and hauled himself straight onto it, swinging his tail up and switching back to legs mid-motion. He stood just as Iskall arrived, and reached down to help pull him up too.
Iskall scrambled to his just-formed feet and immediately jumped for the next ledge, soon climbing out of Etho’s sight. When Etho reached the grass above, he looked around, frowning when he didn’t see Iskall right away. “What are we calling the top, anyway?” Etho wondered.
“Where I’m sitting.”
Etho looked in the direction of Iskall’s voice. Iskall was sitting in the crown of a nearby tree. “Dang it!” Etho laughed.
Iskall slid down the tree to join Etho near the edge. “What an incredible view. I kinda want to build my base here.”
“What a coincidence! I was going to build my base here!”
“What? No! I called dibs!”
“I dunno, I’d say there’s room for both of us. Two mers, living on top of a cliff...”
Iskall rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. We can base together.”
Etho pumped his fist. “Yesss! Oh, I’ve got a lot to show you about living like us.” He glanced at something over Iskall’s shoulder. “Wait, can we actually see spawn from up here?”
Iskall turned to look. Quick as a flash, Etho pushed him over the edge.
“Etho-!” Iskall’s yelp of alarm faded into the distance quickly. Etho laughed and watched Iskall shift midair before splashing into the water below. Allowing a few moments for the indignance to settle, Etho followed him down.
Iskall splashed Etho with his tail. “You are such a jerk.”
Etho shrugged. “Started getting you shifting more automatically, though, right? Like I said, lots of cool stuff. Hey, when was the last time you used a trident...?”