Post by Shinku on Jul 21, 2020 17:14:17 GMT -5
Her outrigger glided smoothly over the sparkling waves as she took a turn and steered her vessle into the southern dock, dodging other crafts with ease and elegance that only a small and maneuverable boat as hers could do. Busy as it was, there was always place for a little ship like hers and she tied the Manaia Tangata Takapau Põkai in between a small corvette and a junk.
After making sure that everything was tied properly and all of her belongings were stored away, Kohengi picked up the Baby Den, a bright yellow snail with a blue shell, that had sat on her side and taken a sunbath with her. Curious she turned it around in her hands.
What a wonderous thing those snails were, and what an archievement of technological progress it was that their powers could be used with the help of a simple device!
True be told, Kohengi had no clue if it was simple or not and she was all too impatient to take the thing apart and see for herself. But right now she needed that communication device to stay in contact with her guide, so taking it apart was not an option.
She put the snail, which she had provisorically named Kõtetetete – a word from her language that translated roughly as „chatty“ - and put her into the pocket of her dress, grabbed her suitcase and heaved the heavy luggage onto shore.
The suitcase was an old thing. A tourist had left it behind after their visit on her home island and Kohengi had adopted the abandoned piece of luggage. It now held all her important stuff, since unlike most other people, she had come alone and had no one to watch her ship and belongings while she was away.
That didn't bother her much.
There was not much of importance on the outrigger itself and the Manaia Tangata Takapau Põkai – while being the best ship there could be – was somehow not attracting thieves anyway. Probably because she was such a moody lady that it was hard to get along with her unless you knew her well.
Kohengi took her wide brimmed strawhat and proped it on her head. It had a white band with a cute bow around it, which matched her white sumer dress perfectly.
The garment was light, had a low-cut back that revealed the top of her tattoo and Kohengi liked how it fluttered around her knees.
Together with the strawhat, the dress probably made her look like a tourist.
She wasn't the only one looking like that though. No one comming to the Moonlight Market was here for sightseeing. Each and everyone had something they wished to purchase or archieve, but a lot of the people still let themselves be swept away by the festive atmosphere.
Southern dock, southern dock... well.. here she was and now that she was here she realized that it was a little big to be called a meeting place. The whole southern dock was easily a few hundred meters long, how was she to find her guide here? Or more precicely, the guard that was to escort her.
„This is nice.“ She thought. „I didn't expect there to be a guard as well.“
It made her feel special, like some kind of noble lady with her servants and entourage. At least that's the impression she got from the books she had read. So far she hadn't met any nobles in her travelles, only rich people who's entourage could be just as extravagant as the noble's. It was only for the time she spend at the market, but pretending to be one of those seemed like fun. A real adventure!
She set down her heavy luggage, the suitcase was full of tools and metal parts and easily weighted over 30 kilos, and sat down on it. Some people gave her curious stares, but most minded their own buisness.
Looking around for her guard, Kohengi marveled at the sight of such a gathering. People had come here from all over the world! Or, at the very least, from all over East Blue.
Their clothing styles were all very different and there were the occasional fishmen and fishwomen to be seen.
„Hmm... A man with wings...“
What sort of wings though? Her guide Kanra hadn't mentioned that and while Kohengi had immediately imagined something like an angel – a mystical creature that was mentioned in many stories of other places and who's nature seemed so strange in the light of her own believe – now that she thought deeply about it, the wings could be those of a bat or maybe like the wings of a dragonfly!
People passed, men and women, big and small. There were quite a few tall people, some were actually very tall and a handful of them could even be described as enourmous.
But none of them had wings, neither on their back nor anywhere else on their body.
So she just waited there, looking around until she thought that she spotted some feathers.
„Hey you! Wait! Are you the one looking for me?! I'm Kohengi! Kohengi Maatau ki Manawa'ora! That's me, were you looking for me?“ she called out.
Not wanting to lose the person, she grabbed her suitcase and started her way down the makeshift street. Which wasn't that easy considering the weight she had to carry around and the people she had to dodge.
„Ah! Wait!“
The man turned around and now she could see that what she thought of as his wings had been the parot clinging to his back. The bird looked over the man's shoulder and gave her a friendly „Hello! Hello! Salt and biscuit!“ before turning around and climbing down the man's back.
„Ah, sorry, I thought you were someone else.“ she apologized and looked away embarrassed about her mistake. Her cheeks turned faintly red, though it was hard to notice with her darker skin tone, for which she was greatful as she could clearly feel the heat in her face.