From a Distant Shore[M]{DamoniquexLycoris}

[Damonique]

Laeron beamed a cheerful smile when she offered her friendship...or at least, that what what she thought she was doing when she repeated the word after him, nodding several times as he helped collect the last of Layla's berries, and he hoped she'd be able to show them where to find more of them. Fresh food would surely be welcome, and it would be a clear purpose for him to keep the wild girl close...for her own safety, to be sure.

The prince couldn't help but see this as some adventure, the sort he had been hoping for when they set out, rather than the grief and woe they had gotten instead. It still puzzled him how she may have come to be here, but at this point he had settled on shipwreck. There were tales of mariners washing ashore unharmed even after the worst calamity, delivered to land by the fickle tides, far from home. As for her lack of words, the sea addled ones wits, it was said.

"Leyla, do you live here?" He said softly, pointing at her, the ground, and then the jungles around them. "Home?" He asked of her.

[Lycoris]

The girl was confused by his sudden excitement as Layla repeated the word back to him, but decided not to dwell on it too much as it seemed to make him happy. The reasoning behind it didn't matter at the moment as the two collected all of the berries. The island did have a lot of resources that were useful. There was a river with freshwater that could be used to fish if someone knew how. There were also plenty of different fruits and berries that grew on the island that was a stable food source for Layla.

Watching his gestures, she was unsure whether to nod or not. Was home a place that she just a place where she lived, or was home the place where she belonged. Going with her gut and assuming he could tell that she wasn't originally from here, she gave a nod. "Yes, this home." She said replied. "You, home?" She asked hoping he would understood she was trying to ask where his home was, but obviously lacked the vocabulary to formally ask him.

[Damonique]

Laeron nodded, understanding her answer. While her speech was halting and she seemed to often find herself tongue-tied, the girl still had her wits, it would just be a matter of finding enough common ground to express themselves properly, and he was looking forward to the experience...but first he should answer her question, and there would be other matters to settle after that.

"My home is...." The prince started, wondering how best to explain this, and then he pointed towards where the sound of waves were coming from. "...The sea, you know the sea." He made a rippling motion with one arm, trying to pantomime the waves, and then pointed again, to the west, towards the setting sun, for a long time, then brought it back down. "Far away, on the other side. Celvitas. A kingdom....I'm the Crown Prince." He added, getting a bit ahead of himself, and shook his head, deciding to not even try to explain what he meant by that. Hopefully he had at least gotten across where he was from, in some fashion.

"Are you alone?" He asked, pointing at himself, and then at Ser Davyt waiting patiently off to the side, and then to her and then out towards the jungle, trying to ask if there were any other people like her that lived here. He couldn't imagine surviving in such a place alone for long. The forested wilderness of his homeland was one thing, but the jungle, with it's heat, scarcities, and surely dangerous wildlife was something totally alien to him.

[Lycoris]

Watching his gestures, Layla seemed to understand most of what he said. She assumed he lived across the ocean, but got to learn at least what direction it was in and the name of it assuming that Celvitas was what they called his home. She smiled a bit to him, showing him that she understood appreciating he was willing to work with her and explain everything with gestures in order for her to understand what he was saying.

While it had been years since Layla had needed to understand English, she seemed to be picking it up pretty quickly just from the small amount she had been exposed to. She was hoping that if she was consistently exposed to it, she would start picking it up more and begin to understand more of the grammar as well.

As he asked her another question, she started to be able to predict what he meant as he did the gestures for her. She nodded in response as she wondered how he would react to hearing she had been here for years by herself.

[Damonique]

It took a few more gestures and an exchange of clipped statements for Laer to be sure that he grasped what she meant, that there were no more people waiting in the woods...perhaps to ambush them, which was a relief, and also that the had somehow survived and carved out a life here all of her own. How difficult that must have been, he wondered...the girl didn't seem too formidable herself, but appearances sometimes lied. Regardless, she would be useful to their survival on this windswept rock they'd found themselves lost upon.

"These..." He said simply, taking up a handful of the berries and pointing towards the deeper jungle from which Layla seemed to have come. "Are there more of them, for my friends to eat?" He asked gently, making a show of picking up one berry, then several, and raising one of his mouth and pointing to Ser Davyt, and then from where he and the sailor had come from, where they could hear the occasional sound of voices and hammering where the men were working on throwing up crude shelters along the shoreline while there was still light.

"You go, I follow." He added, standing up and making a few more gestures to explain what he meant. If she could help procure a good stock of berries, and the men sent out to hunt and fish came up with anything at all, his people could all have something of a feast tonight. That would do much and more to calm hot tempers and morose depression, the two ways men dealt with tragedy, the pall they had been living under since fending off the corsairs.

[Lycoris]

The girl nodded in response as she watched his gestures about wanting to know where to find some berries. She turned and started walking. Taking a few steps, Layla looked back to make sure Laeron was following her before she kept walking. She led him through part of the jungle, walking in bare feet without any issue. A few minutes the later, Layla had brought him to the couple of bushes that had some berries growing.

Looking back to Laeron, she hoped this was what he had wanted her to do. She had no idea what state the men were in and how many there were exactly. While the island was sustainable for one person, she wasn't sure how much food they will add need. Berries obviously wouldn't be enough to sustain them all. She wondered just how long they intended to stay here.

[Damonique]

Laer followed after Layla easily. Unlike his own clunky, stumbling gait, and that of the soldier following dutifully behind them, her steps were sure and silent as she gracefully ducked and wove through the brush....again he wondered just how long she might have lived here, to have adapted so fully to island life, but he lacked the words to properly ask the question. Instead, he just gave her an encouraging look when she looked back and did his best to keep up with her pace.

Before long, they reached a stand of bushes bearing many more of the small berries she had given him, and seemed quite pleased with herself when showing them to him. The prince stepped up beside her and tried to find some way to express his gratitude, first giving a small bow, to which she responded with a seeming indifference, so he instead reached over and gently patted her head twice with the palm of his hand, surprised to find her long, wild brown hair softer to the touch than he expected.

"Thank you, Layla. Ser Davit, help me gather enough of these to bring back for the crew. We can send a party back tomorrow with barrels and baskets for more." He explained, and the Knight moved quickly to do as his prince bid, removing his iron-and-leather pot helm to collect the small red fruit in, stopping to pop one into his mouth experimentally and responding in much the same way as Laeron had, finding them quite tasteful and helping himself to a handful more.

"Well, she's a clever one, isn't she, m'liege? About time we had a bit of luck." The dark-haired man said, while Laeron swept up a fold of his cloak that Layla was now wearing and placed the hem in her hand, forming a makeshift bag for them to collect more berries in, until they had at least enough for every man to have a mouthful. The sun was beginning to set more, making the trees throw eerie shadows. The jungle felt somehow more...sinister outside of the light of the sun, and Laeron idly wondered where Leyla took shelter on these nights.

"Lucky....that she is. To have made it here in the first place, off whatever ship she was thrown off, and to have made it all this time...perhaps Aeliss has some fondness for her." He answered wistfully, finding him examining Layla again as he invoked the name of the of the Mother of Waves, a god both loved and feared by seafaring men in equal measure. Laeron remembered the offering he and his uncle had left before her statue on the wharves before setting out, three golden rings, a bottle of fine wine, and a silver mirror. The prince knew little of the whims of gods, but who was he to question it?

"Layla, come with us, meet my friends. We'll eat together, and talk." He said to the girl, gesturing from himself and then Ser Davit, and then towards where he knew their ships waited moored along the shore. It wasn't so much a question as it was a statement, or even an order. That was less intentional as a force of habit. The Crown Prince was not used to being around people who weren't beholden to his whims, and at the moment, his whim was to get to know the island girl better.

[Lycoris]

Once standing there, the girl looked confused to him bowing to her as that had no meaning to her. Her eyes looked at him curiously as he stepped closer to her only to pat her head a few times. She believed this was his way of showing gratitude for her showing him the bushes of berries. She smiled a bit glad that she was able to help him and be useful for him and his men.

While most people Layla to be very skilled to have survived here by herself for all this time, she wasn't as skilled as they would assumed her to be. She did know how to make fires with the items that she could find on the island. She also knew where to find food as well as weaving branches and plants together to make items such as a basket. When it came to skills like hunting, Layla was unable to do such things. When it came to her shelter for the night, if it was nice and clear, she would find a place to sleep under the stars. Usually the beach worked just fine. But if the island had bad weather, Layla knew of a small cave where she could take shelter for the night.

Overall, Layla seemed to be lucky. She had face minimal hardships and was fortunate to have landed on an island that had enough resources to have sustained her for this long. For those who tried to be put in the same situation and tried to survive like her may not fair so well. It seems that for Layla, there must be some higher power looking out for her. To have survived be thrown overboard on a ship, to being washed up on an island, to now having strangers coming to the island and possibly being rescued, there's no way that there wasn't someone who has been helping her out all this time.

Giving her the fold of his cloak, Layla was happy to help collect more berries for them with her one free hand in their now makeshift bag they had. The cloak seemed to be very useful as it provided warmth, but could also be used to create a bag or be used to keep dry from the rain. If only she had one when she had arrived to the island.

Once they have collected enough berries, she looked back to Laeron as he invited her to come with him to meet the others. While it took a minute for her to understand what he was saying through his gestures, there a little reluctance on her face as she wasn't sure if that would be a good idea or not. While she trusted Laeron enough to be comfortable around him, it would still take a while for her to trust everyone. It has also been a long time since she's been with a large group of people so she would probably get overwhelmed easily being around them all.

Part of her said not to go, but there was also another part of her that told her to go. This type of offer is rare and she may not get the chance again later. Another part of her felt drawn towards Laeron as well as something about him made her to want to get closer to him. Making a decision, she slowly gave a small nod of her head to him accepting his offer.

[Damonique]

The prince noticed the doubt appear in Layla's features as she held back, considering what he said, and for a moment he was afraid she might run away from him, unprepared for all the new experiences about to be thrust upon her. But after a moment, she showed some resolve, nodding slowly and moving closer to him. He placed a hand gently upon her shoulder and led the way.

It didn't take long for the trio to reach the beach, and the crews had been busy, erecting three large canvas barracks tents past the tide-line, and in the center of them, they'd arranged a circle of stones and started a large fire of driftwood and branches within it. A smell stuck them that made both Laeron and Ser Davit's mouths water...cooking meat. As the neared, they could make out two men turning a large pig lazily on a spit. As they were seen approaching, several men came over to catch a glimpse of the 'Feral Girl' for themselves, greeting the Prince variably, with bows, smiles, pats on the back, and lewd suggestions that made him blush beet red and thank the heavens that Layla girl beside him seemed unable to comprehend their meaning.

A few men remained back though, grumbling, including the sailor who had approached them with Ser Davit. Laeron would be careful to post a few guards to keep an eye on those ones, but otherwise the attitude was festive and optimistic. None of the searchers had come up empty. The men sent for water had filled three large casks fresh from a spring-fed pool far upstream, the hunters had found a flock of group of hairy, mid-sized boars deeper in the jungle and brought down the largest, and the gatherers had filled their sacks with a variety of fruits that they had tested and found more than edible. He thanked the for their good service, and stepped forward, adopting his most regal pose to address them all, cutting a striking figure with the setting sun behind him, turning his hands towards Layla.

"May I introduce the source of our good fortune. This is Layla....some lost Celvitan who's lived here longer than any living person, by some divine provenance. I believe this place was destined to be ours. A new territory, named after my Uncle in his memory. Aeric Island, an outpost from which to resupply sips and harry the pirates, so such no man must suffer such a crossing as we endured." He explained, to general cheers and applause. Many shouted Laeron's name, and still others cheered 'Layla' over and over. Laeron smiled...he'd be able to return to his father with more than just news of tragedy. An explorer and leader like his uncle before him, rather than just a frightened boy.

Layla, for her part, seemed to be getting quite anxious in the presence of so many, quite loud strangers, so after exchanging a few words of gratitude to his people, he led her off to the side of the group to where a collection of windswept boulders jutted out from the shallows, sitting down on one and patting the stone beside him to indicate she should sit with him while they awaited the food to be prepared. Once she sat, he studied her for a long time before saying anything, noticing the way the setting sun off the water turned her skin golden and hair copper, the way her eyes lit up.

"You, this place..." He gestured towards her, then around at the island, and then looked off into the distance wistfully. "...I think you may have been meant to be found, and I the one find you." He stated, reaching over to place a hand gently upon her shoulder. "Fate." He whispered softly. The gods would not be so capricious as to take a man such as his uncle had been without giving something back in return.

[Lycoris]

Following the two the beach, Layla was greeted with a large group of men approaching the men. She watched them quietly as many were looking at her closely, but none actually touched her or said anything to her directly. Watching Laeron's face, she tilted her head slightly noticing his blush, but didn't understand the meaning behind it. Growing up alone for so long, Layla was pretty oblivious when it came to certain things as she did not know what a lot of the lewd comments meant or implied. Being alone made her very innocent.

As Laeron introduced her to the group, she felt very out of place not used to having so many eyes looking at her. She shifted a bit uncomfortably as she stood their awkwardly while some people began to cheer her name along with Laeron. Luckily for her, Laeron seemed to have pick up that she was getting anxious being around so many people at once and decided to lead her away off to the side. Following him, he took to the grouping of boulders where he invited her to sit down next to him. Nodding, Layla moved over sitting down quietly beside him.

Her hair swayed slightly in the sea breeze as the setting sun shone perfectly on the water illuminating her skin and hair. The pretty water was reflected in her eyes as she looked over to him. Listening to him, she gave a smile to him nodding in agreement. "Fate." She repeated his words as the thought of their meeting was destined, it made her feel a spark of happiness inside. If this truly was fate, who knows what it had in store for the two of them in the future. How would their lives change since they have met?