In the Big Blue World...

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It had been months since Callista began her journey from the pack ice off the coast of Alaska. In that time she had crossed the Aleutian Trench, the Emperor Seamounts, and was now swimming past the Shatsky Rise. She was farther than she'd ever been from home before, yet surprisingly not all that intimidated by it. Not one to be modest, Callista knew she could handle herself in new areas just as well as in the Arctic. As long as she had a steady supply of pelagic creatures to feed on like cephalopods and crustaceans, which luckily there almost always was, she wouldn't starve to death.

One thing that did concern her, however, was the threat of predation. Unfortunately she had seen many orcas in the north Pacific, specifically along the Aleutian Islands. Not to mention the vast increase in shark numbers the farther south she traveled. So far she'd kept her distance and avoided conflict, but it was nerve-wracking to constantly be on the alert. Couldn't be good for the blood pressure.

Regardless of the dangers, she was honestly glad she decided to leave the Bering Sea. Callista had always been a wanderer, just like the rest of her kind, yet never found true happiness. Not that she was expecting to find it in the great wide somewhere or anything. But a little adventure and an ocean full of new experiences and creatures couldn't hurt. Again, unless one of those new creatures made her a seal snack.

Callista eventually rose to the surface to breathe. The warmth of the summer sun was significantly worse here than in her domain. Her eyes scanned the horizon in each direction. As far as she could tell, she was still plenty far from any landmass. That was a bonus. After sufficiently filling her lungs, she dove back into the depths far enough to escape the sun's influence.

As much as she more or less enjoyed wandering around on her own, it was plenty lonely. Back up north there were seals to chat with from time to time. Along this journey she'd mostly been avoiding toothed whales and sharks. No one non-threatening had been very talkative either. The occasional baleen whale, sure. And several turtles. But they weren't much for conversation. They just didn't have enough in common. Maybe one of these days she'd at least find someone decent to converse with for a change.

[cerasri]

It was a well known fact that Limea du Brand wasn’t the most intelligent Mer in the ocean, and it was even more well known amongst those of the Octopus clan that he didn’t have the greatest sense of direction. Normally paired up with at least one other Mer to keep him from getting lost (as well as kept inline), the Mer usually partnered with him had decided to go missing. Well, perhaps missing is the wrong word-more like decided to get away while he still could.

And truthfully, it was only after he realized that he’d been talking to himself for the last half hour, that Limea noticed his partner had disappeared. Stopping mid-swim to peer somewhat blindly about, the Mimic Octopus Mer scratched at his chin.

“Huh.” The water was still warm, so he couldn’t have traveled too far, and there was still the distinctive taste of his homeland in the water, though it was fairly obvious he had all but left the reefs behind. The ocean bed was still visible, if somewhat dark, so he wasn’t in waters that were too deep either.

That at the very least, was a plus. He’d rather not get eaten after all. So far the water’s most common occupants were a few sea turtles, and in the distance, he could spot the vague form of a whale. Not a fellow Mer to be found though.

Inhaling through his gills as the first vestiges of unease began to take hold, Limea’s eyes all but widened as he caught sight of an unfamiliar form. Torso-check. Tail-check. Fur…well, that was a bit new.

Seals weren’t usually this far down, and just like that, whatever nervousness Limea had found quickly disappeared faster than a guppy down a whale shark’s gullet. Tentacles spasming as he waved his fore arm to catch the other Mer’s attention, Limea grinned before he moved forward.

He’d never spoken to a member of the Pinnipedia Kingdom before! He couldn’t wait to tell the others about this!

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Callista had made quite a bit of progress in her traveling without the sight of another mer and was beginning to realize just how large the ocean outside her arctic home really was. At length, she spotted something flailing in the distance. Instinctively, she backed up before looking at it more closely. The flailing turned out to be a wave from an octopus mer of some kind. She looked over her shoulders and to each side to determine that there was no one else around. Whoever it was was trying to get her attention. A friendly smile spread across his face before he started toward her which eliminated any uneasiness she had been feeling.

A similar smile curled on her lips and she gave him a small wave as he approached. "Hello," she called. Finally, someone intelligent to talk to, Callista mused as she swam forward to meet him in the middle.

Even though she often ate cephalopods in the arctic, Callista still admired their ingenuity. Octopi were the most impressive, though there were only a few species that lived there. And she could count on one hand the number of times she had ever come across one of their mer. When she had, though, she found them to be wonderful conversationalists. To her, and thankfully to them as well, it didn't matter that her species fed on theirs. It was just the circle of life. And of course mer were off limits anyway. At least there were no grudges, though, which made it less awkward to spend time with them. Now if only shark mer would be like that, she wouldn't be so afraid of them.

When she was close enough to see his appearance in detail, she took a moment to take it in. She'd never seen an octopus like him before. Definitely of the warm water variety. Might even be a local. His pattern was very interesting compared to the octopi of the arctic. Not wanting to be rude by staring, she returned her gaze to his face. "I've never met one of your species before," she told him. She held out her hand to shake his. "My name is Callista Ronat of the Ribbon Seal Clan. I'm from the Bering Sea. Who-- and what are you, may I ask?"

[cerasri]

Face brightening in delight as the unfamiliar Mer approached, Limea continued waving wildly, even when she got close enough to see. She was pretty enough, for a member of the Pinnipedia Kingdom. The marking on her neck were quite nice, if a bit strange, although to tell the truth Limea wasn’t one to talk about weird markings.

Hardly caring that the other Mer had topped to take in his appearance, because really, he’d been doing the same, Limea finally stopped waving his arm and settled for grinning instead. “Same here.” he echoed, before reaching out to shake her hand with little hesitation. “Limea du Brand, of the Octopus Clan.” Hardly aware that he was still shaking her arm, Limea gave another grin.

“I’m from the mimic octopus clan more specifically, there are quite a lot of us you know. It’s almost like the squids or the jellies, though I don’t think they have as many as we do. Of course, they could but well…” still babbling, Limea finally trailed off before he blinked and peered at Callista curiously. “You know, you’re the first Pinnipedia kingdom member I’ve ever seen. Tell me, do they all look like you?” Finally releasing Callista’s hand in favor of pointing rather blatantly at the patterns on her body, Limea gave a guileless grin. “Because really, if so then I gotta meet more of you! You guys look really cool! Much better than some of the guys around my area. I mean, have you seen the sawtooth eel clan? Ugh!”


Hardly aware that he was rambling, Limea paused before he blinked at her, mouth snapping shut like a trap. "Bering sea?" he echoed, having finally clued in to where the seal Mer had said she hailed from. "That's quite a bit aways, isn't it? What are you doing all the way out here?"

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In a short time Callista's smile became strained as she had to fake it. She couldn't help but wonder if the heat of the water had an affect on mental development because Limea was acting nothing like all the other members of the octopus clan she'd met up north. Relieved to have her appendage back, she subtly rubbed the fur-covered skin where he had shaken her hand vigorously for far too long. "Quite a lot of you? You don't say..." If he was right about their numbers and if she was right about them all be like him, this escapade of hers might turn out to be very long and strenuous indeed.

"Can't say that I have," Callista told him truthfully in response to his comment about the sawtooth eel clan. Though judging by his opinion of them, she'd probably more or less know them when she saw them. It was curious how he said "in my area" instead of "around here" or something to the like. Perhaps he was traveling as well. Before she could say anything else, however, he plowed on through another couple subjects. The ribbon seal mer nodded when it seemed appropriate and waited as patiently as he could for him to finish.

She did manage an honest grin when he complimented her unusual ribbon patterns, however. "Thank you," she replied once he stopped yammering, "but these markings are actually exclusive to ribbon seals. Most other seals have either plain fur coloring with no patterns or simple spots." Her clan's appearance was one of the things she took great pride in. Limea had struck the right cord. She did a single spin in place to show off her unique design. It was out of character for her to present herself like that, but this was the first time she'd been so far from her homeland and was complimented on her appearance by someone who'd never seen it before. That called for a little showcasing, no?

Callista folded her arms and kept hovering in front of the mimic cephalopod by gently pulsing her tail back and forth as necessary. "I know. And I've been asking myself that same question for several weeks now," she admitted. "More than anything, I think it's for the journey. Just to have the experience and all that. My clan doesn't travel in pods like the dolphins I've heard so much about. We're solitary wanderers and gather only when necessary. Yet as much as I've explored the north, I've always felt restless. So, here I am." She shrugged, keeping her arms folded.

"So, are you from the Northwest Pacific Basin, then?" she inquired. The local area name had come up during a chat with a turtle mer a couple of days ago as she neared the Shatsky Rise that they were now far above. The same conversation gave her its name as well as the fact that it was what the land dwellers referred to as a supervolcano. She didn't know what that was exactly, but wasn't about to ask a turtle either.