Finish Line [Grand Task]

[Criala 728]

 

Spoiler

 

 

Almaris, 124, Northern Ocean

 

“So, what’re we doing?” It was a male voice that spoke, glancing at the other three gathered. His hair was white, eyes turquoise with a golden rim around the iris, skin a light tan in color.

 

First to catch his gaze was a ‘ker with black hair and eyes, clad in clothing just as black.

 

“And where did Rhae get a boat?” He squinted at his older sister.

 

Her complexion was pale, long white hair tied back with braids. Her eyes were an electric blue, the same golden ring around her irises. A smirk tugged at her lips. She said nothing in reply, just continuing to smirk at him.

 

“Haelun, do you know where she got it?” His attention now shifted to the shortest one gathered.

 

Unbeknownst to him, the ‘ker was hiding a slight smirk behind the blank look on his face, sharing a brief look with Rhae.

 

Long white hair hung to her waist in loose, natural waves. It was partly pulled back, and turquoise eyes that matched her son’s. For once, she appeared to not have her staff. Likely back home, so it didn’t get in the way and wasn’t destroyed.

 

“One day, you’ll learn to not question anything she does or has.” She said, not appearing phased at all by this.

 

“No one was using it.” Rhae gave a shrug of her shoulders, the smirk still on her face.

“They really weren’t.” Nedai spoke up in agreement, hands tucked into his pants pockets.

 

Sulion just stared at the two of them, for a solid minute. One blink, two, before he shook his head. “Does Maln know she does that?”

 

“Ti. Encourages it even.” Estellise responded casually, gaze trailing along the open ocean before them.

 

“...Am I the only one concerned by this?” Sulion lifted a hand to run through his white hair, with a sigh.

 

“Pretty much.” Rhae snickered.

 

“Aren’t you concerned?” Sulion now spun around to look at the youngest there.

 

Pure white hair that cascaded down the young ‘fenn’s back, with pale skin and wide innocent eyes. She shook her head and shrugged. “Not really.”

 

“I really am the only sane one here.” Sulion mumbled to himself. He appeared to finally give up on trying to understand whatever had gone on with the boat, now also looking out to the ocean.

 

“So, what’s the plan?” Nedai asked, his dark gaze shifting over to Estellise.

 

“There’s an orca with a dual fin in these waters. Hareven told me about it. It’s causing a rapid decrease in marine life here. So, it needs to be removed. We’ll need to tire it out. And not disrupt anything unnecessary while doing so.” Estellise answered, sparing Nedai a glance.

 

“Mm, right. Easy enough.” Whether Nedai’s comment was sarcastic or not was hard to tell. His tone and expression gave nothing away.

 

“How are we supposed to do that?” Reosa asked, eyes on her grandmother.

 

“Mmm…” Estellise breathed out slowly, not taking her eyes off of the water. “Not damaging any of the water’s plant life or any of the other mammals. We’ll have to figure this out while we go. It’s going to take a while.”

 

The group proceeded to get on the boat, making sure that they had everything they needed before setting sail. Harpoons, the sticks used to throw them, rope, and anything else. The ropes had already been tied to the ends of the harpoons

 

Nedai was fitted with what appeared to be some kind of inflated device, strapped around his waist and both of his arms. For extra good measure, Rhae secured a rope around the ‘ker’s waist, with the other end being tied firmly to the boat.

 

“So, you can steer the boat, alright? Probably be the best bet for you.” Estellise watched as Rhae tested the knots she made in the rope. Once she was sure they wouldn’t come loose at all, she nodded her head and stepped back from the ‘ker.

 

Nedai simply stared at Estellise and Rhae, not looking or sounding very enthusiastic about such. “...Fine.”

 

Despite the unamused look on his face, Nedai focused for a second. Ink pooled over the tattoo on his arm, before something shot out of his arm. What surged forward was a crow, now sitting on Nedai’s shoulder.

 

“Fancy.” Estellise mused, looking at the crow. “What does the crow do?”

 

“Her name’s Nox. She can watch for things and alert us if she sees anything.” His tone was bland all the while, his expression not changing one bit.

 

“Ah, good, that’ll be useful here. In case there’s something we don’t see.” Estellise nodded her head in approval.

 

“Or help you dodge things while steering the boat so we don’t hit anything and sink.” Rhae quipped, in an almost cheery tone, despite the seriousness of the situation.

 

“Or destroy any nature.” Reosa added in. “Right?”

 

“Right.” Estellise offered the young elf a smile. “We don’t want to harm or damage anything. The Orca is the only thing that needs to be removed.”

 

Reosa nodded her head, returning the smile with one of her own.

 

“No problem. Not hard at all.” Sulion breathed out a puff of air.

“It’ll be fine, little bro.” Rhae nudged Sulion’s arm, pushing against it with a fist.

 

“Let’s get this started then.” Estellise said, signaling with her left hand to Nedai.

 

Ever present was the unamused look on Nedai’s face, but he took hold of the wheel, so he could steer the boat. The crow on his shoulder surged upward to keep an eye out further ahead for the group.

 

The waters were calmer than expected, with no sign of the supposed orca. The wind was strong enough to blow against the sails, to move the boat along the waters, but not enough to throw anyone off.

 

“Any sign?” Sulion asked, calling the question over his shoulder as he kept an eye on the west.

 

“Nothing yet.” Reosa replied to her Uncle, her attention on the east. “At least that I’m seeing.”

 

“Me neither.” Rhae sounded bored, as she watched to the south, though she spared a brief glance to the harpoons stockpiled. “I want to use those already.”

 

“You’ll be able to soon enough.” Estellise mused, keeping her attention to the north of them. “We could be waiting a while for it to make an appearance.”

 

“I hope not…” Rhae grumbled beneath her breath, though she remained alert.

 

“How’re we supposed to get these into it though?” Reosa questioned.

 

“These.” Estellise held up a stick. It was thin until the end where it curved up. “Line it up and toss as hard as you can.”

 

“Oh, alright.” The young ‘fenn nodded her head.

 

The waters were calm for some time. Everyone was silent now, with no sound other than the sound of the water around them.

 

After some time, a noise came from the crow that Nedai summoned, akin to that of a musical instrument.

 

“Something’s coming.” Nedai spoke up, as the crow perched back onto his shoulder.

 

“What direction?” Estellise asked, gaze shifting over the waters in front of them.

 

“Northwest.” He replied, keeping a firm hold on the wheel.

 

“But I don’t see anything.” Sulion frowned, squinting a little as if it would help him see better.

 

At first, there was nothing, just a rippling of the water. But, soon enough, dual fins broke the surface.

 

“Oh, there it is. I see it now!” Sulion informed the rest, motioning towards the north west.

 

“Everyone be ready!” Estellise called out.

 

“Harpoon time?” Rhae asked, excitement written all over her features and lacing her words. She appeared to be down right giddy almost.

 

“Harpoon time.” Estellise nodded her head, taking one of the sticks in her hands, as well as a roped harpoon.

 

Reosa appeared to be just as delighted as Rhae was when she grabbed her own harpoon and stick. She hefted the harpoon up, resting it against her shoulder.

 

Sulion followed suit, hoisting one up and taking one of the sticks to throw it with as well. He returned to his mother, older sister and niece.

 

The blank look didn’t once lessen on Nedai’s face as he watched on, prepared as he could be for the steering he’d have to do.

 

“Wait for it to get close enough.” Estellise told the others, looking out to the direction the orca was coming from. “But be ready to throw at any time.” She made sure her own harpoon was ready, as she’d told the others to do.

 

Sulion, Rhae, and Reosa all gave a nod as they followed her example.

 

More of those dual fins were revealed, as the orca’s back broke through the water’s surface as well. It was speeding through the water, quicker than one might think for something so large.

 

“Wait…” Estellise raised her arm, so she could take aim.

 

Closer and closer, the orca surged through the water. So close that the water rippling around the orca was causing the boat to now rock.

 

Nedai’s hold on the wheel tightened.

 

“Now!” Estellise shouted, mustering up all of the force she had to send her harpoon directly at the orca. It hit its target, in the side. Quickly, she grasped the rope tied to the end of the harpoon, holding on as tight as she could.

 

Sulion shot his harpoon forward as well. His aim was true, and his harpoon hit, somewhere towards the back of its side. He too grasped the rope, tightly.

 

Rhae sent her harpoon forward with a grin, delighted to finally be able to use it. It sank into the orca’s skin. She was quick to grab her own rope, holding onto it.

 

Reosa threw her harpoon as well, and just as the others, it landed where she intended. She reached for her rope to also hold onto it.

 

The orca jerked in the water as the numerous harpoons hit. It was a sudden force, nearly ripping the ropes from their hands. But, with a good amount of effort, they were able to keep holding on.

 

From the force the orca was using to try to dislodge the harpoons, it caused the boat to shake.

 

Nedai clutched the wheel, turning it to avoid the boat crashing into anything.

 

“Don’t let go!” Estellise tightened the hold she had on her rope, grunting as it was nearly yanked from her hands.

 

Reosa nearly lost her hold on her rope, but managed to not let go, using all of her might to keep hold.

 

“Not going to lose to an orca!” Rhae smirked, clutching the rope, with all her strength.

 

Sulion kept his hold as well, standing his ground.

 

Water was sent splashing everywhere as the orca thrashed this way and that. It caused water to spray across the four of them, some drops even hitting Nedai.

 

That only furthered the unimpressed look upon the ‘ker’s face, but even still, he stayed true to his role in what was going on. He steered the boat, his crow having surged up in the air once more so he could keep the boat from knocking into anything within the water.

 

“It’s all slippery now.” Reosa was struggling somewhat to keep her hold. The water was making it difficult, though she was doing her best to keep the rope from slipping out of her hands.

 

“Just keep holding tight.” Estellise reassured the young ‘fenn. It was a struggle, arms and shoulders straining to not let the rope go.

 

Rhae readjusted her grip to have a better hold on the rope, keeping hold of it. It took a lot of effort, but she didn’t seem to mind, putting her all into it.

 

Sulion was able to keep his own rope in his hands. The water made it difficult, but he kept it up.

 

Nedai was doing his best to keep up with the ocra’s movements. So far, he was succeeding. Nothing within the waters was destroyed or disturbed, no other fish or ocean life out of place.

 

The orca continued on, its thrashing and surging through the water causing even more water to crash up against and onto the boat. Jerking this way and that, the orca was putting up the biggest fight it could. Gradually, its movements were going sluggish, slowing down as it was repeatedly unable to dislodge any of the stuck harpoons. However, it wasn’t ready to give up. It gave a sharp turn, more powerful than expected from the exhausted creature.

 

It all happened so fast that it was hard to have any time to react.

 

Reosa was nearly sent flying, but she managed to stay on her feet.

 

Sulion slid forward, almost sent to the edge of the boat, but he wasn’t sent off the boat.

 

Rhae dug her boots into the wood of the boat as best she could, keeping herself from being sent flying.

 

Suddenly, there was nothing beneath Estellise’s feet. Her hands held onto the rope as if it were a lifeline. The last thing she heard before hitting the water was…

 

“HAELUN!”

 

The chorus of Sulion and Rhae rang out, soon followed by a splash.

 

“Is she okay?!” Reosa questioned, a hint of franticness to her voice. The rope was clutched in a vice grip in her hands, her eyes widened as she stared at where her grandmother used to be.

 

“Of course she is.” Rhae took a step forward, to rush to the edge of the boat, but a jerk of the rope in her hands stopped her in her tracks.

 

“Haelun!” Sulion called out again, his hands shaking as he held his own rope.

 

With a gasp, Estellise broke through the surface of the water, shivering slightly. The sleeve of her right arm was torn, blood seeping from it as she held it at an awkward angle. However, the rope was still clutched in her hands.

 

“Haelun?!”

 

“I’m fine!” Estellise shouted, hissing slightly as the water splashed against her arm and stung it. “Just keep holding on!”

 

“Told you.” Rhae commented to Sulion, however, the relief in her eyes was obvious.

 

“Yeah, yeah, you were worried too.” Sulion huffed in reply.

 

Estellise, despite the pain of her right arm, and the pain in her shoulder, kept hold of her own rope, even as she was dragged around in the water by the orca.

 

That last push of force seemed to be most of what the orca had left in it, the creature’s movements slowing down even further until it finally, however long later, stopped.

 

Spoiler

OOC:
Thank you to @DragonofTaters @H3nree @Akrassiaand @Spoopy_Duck for allowing me to write their characters in this.

 

[Akrassia 133]

Said 'ker likely got back onto land and kissed the ground below him, happy to not be sea bound longer.