The Sun, the Beach and the Water Guns (IC, OPEN)

[Sky Reavers]

Sky Reaver trio just looked at the water guns on Siana and realized, that it's an unusual feeling to be unarmed, when surrounded by armed folks. Even if all guns here spit water, not bullets. This has to be fixed at once, and so, they just decided to arm themselves, trusting their own intuition. TW-11 water assault rifle... Seth liked it and grabbed one. He also got himself TW-2 revolver and put it in back in his shorts. In the meantime, Elise went with two TW-12 SMGs, light and elegant. As for Sato, he was into shotguns, so he picked a TW-3 Squirt rifle. All three are now locked and loaded for the battle, where water shall be spilled. After that, they returned and decided, that these toys must be put to a test.

Seth took the initiative and asked first: "Yo' there. We have just armed oursleves and would like to test all these guns on some map. Wonder, which is the best of them? Or at which one there is a team in waiting for another, so they could get started?"-He looked rather eager to go into action. And confindent. Since he is a level designer, he known more about unfamiliar lays of the land and during these games, other two his pals decided, that he would lead. Sato would be the sharpshooter and Elise would be the one to lay suppressive fire. One living with Sky Reavers eventually picks up some tactics.

In the meantime, Sato and Elise started to talk.
-"Electric water guns. For electricity and water go together smoothly and gracefully."-Sato says, while looking at the skies.

-"Yeah, I bet some people are even shocked about such an affair!"- Elise raised her water SMG. It's light, far lighter than her Colt 1911, she left back home. She tested it's balance. For a toy weapon, it's surprisingly well balanced.

[Katase]

Mara Urgharda of the Tribe of Fermanagh.
“Indeed.”, I told them with a firm nod, “You can't run if you don't know how to walk, now can you?”
Rona nodded. “Besides, for that, you'd need the proper equipment. Can't be in battle for long if you are unarmed and unarmoured!” She looked at the twins, cocked her head, then looked at me. “Mam, do you think, that Milady Mona would allow me to borrow Conny?”
I had to smile.
“You'll have to ask her that yourself.”, I said and turned to the three: “Milady Mona is... technically my boss, Conny is both her... well...”
I looked to my wife, who smiled at me in that unhelpful way that said, that I was on my own with that explanation.
“...Conny is Milady Mona's boyfriend!”, Rona said with a giggle, “And he's an excellent blacksmith.”

Galen Ainimh of the Tribe of Fermanagh.
“I can imagine.”, I told her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down, “There was a time, when I would have been in a similar boat and...” I broke off and looked at her. “Gods, I sound old...”
Shaking my head, grinning, I let a beat pass.
“That being said, I don't think, that Fiona would mind meeting you and I can certainly play matchmaker.” I threw her a wink. “But until then, I do know a few lads around here, who are around your age... fellow Marcach of mine, though some just left the Youth League.” I let a beat pass. “Any preferences or shall I take a wild guess?”

The Twins and Aunty

"That's true! Baby steps as they say" They nodded with a smile, of course they got carried away but they were willing to learn and take it seriously. "So uh dumb question," Kano asked, "but what should we wear? I would guess."

Yuri

He was a really nice guy, he wasn't patronizing. Even if he was humoring Yuri's brief crush on him at least it was gentle even seemed to want to help her along to meet someone else her age? Well why not, even if it didn't go anywhere it was always nice to keep prospects open and well it gave her bragging rights. Yuri is a teen after all. "Beggars can't be choosers. honestly I'm interested in seeing what the boys here are like. Hehe can you tell I'm 16 or what?"

[AHSCA]

Alaina Udh of the Tribe of Navan.
“Yay!”, I said with a grin.
Kara had a few points, our castle would not run away, but the ice cream would.
And Ava did lead us the long way around, a parabolic arc taking us past the Footvolley Field. Young men, the same stinky, cootie-infected, perverted vermin Ava said she didn't like, were kicking a ball over a volleyball net, jumping up to make headers, even the odd bicycle kick. There were also a few young women playing, as well as a few kids.
One of them was a redheaded boy, eight Springs old, two years older then me. He had short hair, brown eyes sparkling like ambers and I was crushing on him. That was Ciaran.
Mam and Ava smiled about it, but for me, this was Serious Business.
He played in a team with a few older teenagers, performing on a similar level to some of them, much to their shared joy. Just as we walked past, he shot the ball up over the net in a high arc, giving the enemy team enough time to take position, their Lifter jumping up for a header.
His head collided with the ball, sending it towards the net, over it, where a teen was waiting with a bicycle kick.
Point for Ciaran's team.
And, apparently, Game, as the contestants shook hands and a lass from the team Ciaran was in, hugged him – there was a round of laugh as everyone realized that he barely reached her collarbone. I blushed red hot with jealousy, anger and embarrassment.
Ava placed a hand on my shoulder. “Give it a decade.”, she told me as she had her eyes on another teen, who was way out of her league.

With one hand firmly on her cone and her other hand in Alaina's grip the two girls began their "long" journey around the beach with Alaina's big sister and Kara's parents around. Her parents lovey dovey couple were holding hands too which made Kara happy and smile. Too young to remember her birth mother but her new mama, she was one in a million and as long as papa was happy she was happy. Anyway, here were a bunch of boys, men and a girl or two, playing a game of volleyball, pretty typical big persons sport, but there was one boy who seemed closer to their age. Honestly he was kind of cute, a lot like her cousin, not that Kara was interested in this particular boy or anything looking at Alaina she seemed a little upset when another girl hugged him. Wait did she maybe have a crush? "Who's he?" Kara simply asked noticing how intently Alaiana was looking at the young boy.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled at Marie and nodded.
“It is... not as beautiful as you are, but... a second place.”, I told her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, smiling at her with a cheeky glint in my eyes. “Wanna sit down? Bask in the sun a bit, catch up...”

Lien Findehoof.
“Delicious Cocoa is something nice.”, I said with a smile, “What else do your people grow? Mangoes?”
“Pineapple?”, Aaltje added.
“Dragon Fruit?”
“Passion Fruit?”
“Jackfruit?”
“Uhm...”, Aaltje made, “...can't think of anything, which ends on -fruit...”

Lucina Findehoof.
“It is a good lemonade.”, I added, “Plus, not the sugar water with lemon taste we call lemonade.”
Kiah relented.
“Alright, one.”, Kiah said with a smile as she sat down and pulled her own thermos cup out of the bag. “Thank you. That being said...” She waited until Tristina was finished with pouring her one. “...I don't want to disencourage you from visiting Teressien, it is a pretty place, but technically I am not from there.”
“I was born in Hochheyde, married my husband there before he moved to Fortham for his job.”, I agreed, “Kiah was born there. As I am a Born Selkie, so are my daughters. My husband is Teressian, though.”
Kiah nodded. “I'm Half-Teressian.”, she said with a smile.

Marie Ernst Gluck

"I would love that." Marie gave an earnest nod, and sat down on the rock, crossing her legs. "So..." she began, twirling a lock of her hair and sweeping her gaze over the beach again as she tried to think of what to say next.

"...besides school and all that." Her eyes found her way back to Yven's. "What have you been up to? Pick up any new hobbies?"

A fairly generic conversation-starter -- or in this case re-starter -- but a safe one.

---

Tristina Bonilla

"Ah." Tristina blushed a little. "Apologies." She capped her lemonade bottle, before pausing.

"Out of curiosity." she began again. "...Which do you consider your country? If you consider yourself to have one, at least. Teressien? The Free Lands? Both?"

Though her tone seemed casual, she seemed tense -- almost as if the answer were an important matter to her.

---

Diana and Maria Bonilla

"Starfruit?" Maria suggested. "Or...actually, can't think of any either."

"We do grow mangoes. I think." Diana confirmed. "Sugarcane, coffee, bananas...good deal of rice and corn too." She smiled with obvious pride. "We're no breadbasket, oh no. But we do put quite a good deal of food on other nation's tables. I'd say that gives us some say."

Maria, once again, frowned, while Diana's smile turned strained as her eyes flicked towards Maria's.

Whatever disagreement at hand, however, would remain unspoken for now. Maria turned back to Lien and Aaltje, and her smile quickly returned, almost as if it had never left. "So. You two live in Teressien? Anything going down there?"

[Astares Amauricanum]

Vin Kardeel.
Albeit pleasantly surprised, that the lass spoke Teressian (I'd put her somewhere towards the east with her accent), I furrowed my brow. I was not bad at what? Selling water guns?
Maidle, what do you think I do for a living?
Shaking my head with a smile developing, I motioned towards where the shooting range for the water rifles was. It was a nice range, one, which was pretty average all things considered, only with a lot more sand, bikinis and swim trunks. And, of course, the firing distance was a lot shorter.
“Over there is the shooting range, if you want to get a feeling for the guns.”, I told them, “If you think you're fine without that, we have three areas, where you can test them in action. You'd only need one more player for a complete team, though.” I smiled. “Time to make friends, I guess.”

"Nah, we're good. We'll test them on the range." replies Felicia with a smile.

"For testing them in action though, do we really need to form a team of three Sir?" asks Alexis with a tone of respect to Vin. "Can't we just compete against one another?"

[Seleucid Pergamon]

Liv Longaidh of the Tribe of Waterford.
I snorted in amusement at Ira's antics, but followed her at a more sedate pace.
It didn't take long for Branwen to close the distance.
“Elin and Ritu aren't coming?”, I asked in Selkie.
“Later.”, Branwen replied in the same tongue.
I shrugged. Well, their loss, while we reached the surf. The water, which rushed over my feet, was cool – not cold, but cool, refreshing. We continued to walk, until we joined up with Ira.
“Well, Ira...”, I began in English, “How's the water? Already spotted some nice driftwood?”

Ira rose up from the water and breathed, leaving a gap for Liv to ask her a question. She recalled the sight of the driftwood in the vibrant blue, and already a smile formed on her face.

"Definitely," she answered, "I have to say, they are quite exquisite."

[New Visayan Islands]

Daryl Ulysses Estrella
Donrua Beach Bar

"You are seventeen, from what I understand," Daryl began, "so I’d think you’re too young for my preference if we’re being honest. Then again, if you know someone in my range, I wouldn’t mind you playing wingwoman." A grin was plastered on his face as he pointed out the obvious; at 17, she was definitely not within the range he could find acceptable, especially in good conscience. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t be of help, however...

[The Selkie]

Sky Reaver trio just looked at the water guns on Siana and realized, that it's an unusual feeling to be unarmed, when surrounded by armed folks. Even if all guns here spit water, not bullets. This has to be fixed at once, and so, they just decided to arm themselves, trusting their own intuition. TW-11 water assault rifle... Seth liked it and grabbed one. He also got himself TW-2 revolver and put it in back in his shorts. In the meantime, Elise went with two TW-12 SMGs, light and elegant. As for Sato, he was into shotguns, so he picked a TW-3 Squirt rifle. All three are now locked and loaded for the battle, where water shall be spilled. After that, they returned and decided, that these toys must be put to a test.

Seth took the initiative and asked first: "Yo' there. We have just armed oursleves and would like to test all these guns on some map. Wonder, which is the best of them? Or at which one there is a team in waiting for another, so they could get started?"-He looked rather eager to go into action. And confindent. Since he is a level designer, he known more about unfamiliar lays of the land and during these games, other two his pals decided, that he would lead. Sato would be the sharpshooter and Elise would be the one to lay suppressive fire. One living with Sky Reavers eventually picks up some tactics.

In the meantime, Sato and Elise started to talk.
-"Electric water guns. For electricity and water go together smoothly and gracefully."-Sato says, while looking at the skies.

-"Yeah, I bet some people are even shocked about such an affair!"- Elise raised her water SMG. It's light, far lighter than her Colt 1911, she left back home. She tested it's balance. For a toy weapon, it's surprisingly well balanced.

Siana Gualla of the Tribe of Cork.
The three looked quite interested, quite interesting and the guy with the TW-11 seemed quite polite.
I returned his politeness with a smile and replied: “Morning. First of all, which one is the best of them, we couldn't test one because our number three...” I indicated to the water gun tank and Viola still climbing around on it. “...well, the silverhead belongs to us. So does the blonde in the pink one piece, technically, but she is not part of our team.”
I let a beat pass.
“That being said, once two teams found themselves for a match, they can go at it on one of the maps, provided it is free.”, I said, shrugged, “That's at least as far as I understand the rules. Teams must be composed of three members, though, so... Alaina, can you get Nora?”
“Sure, one moment.”, the other black haired young woman said and went to work.
“Fair warning, though, the three of us have gone through Basic and Advanced Infantry Training. We are Ensigns of the SDF-Navy.” I shrugged. “We have a fun-setting and we have a stun-setting. And a pun-setting.” I smiled at the three of them, raising my TW-11 and myself up to stand before them, a smirk developing. “I won't hold it against you, if Nora can go back to her new favourite thing in the world.”
Alaina and Nora came back, the latter with a TW-14 Dogge Automatic Water Scattergun on her back.

The Twins and Aunty

"That's true! Baby steps as they say" They nodded with a smile, of course they got carried away but they were willing to learn and take it seriously. "So uh dumb question," Kano asked, "but what should we wear? I would guess."

Yuri

He was a really nice guy, he wasn't patronizing. Even if he was humoring Yuri's brief crush on him at least it was gentle even seemed to want to help her along to meet someone else her age? Well why not, even if it didn't go anywhere it was always nice to keep prospects open and well it gave her bragging rights. Yuri is a teen after all. "Beggars can't be choosers. honestly I'm interested in seeing what the boys here are like. Hehe can you tell I'm 16 or what?"

Mara Urgharda of the Tribe of Fermanagh.
I smiled.
“Normal street clothes are sufficient.”, I said, “We'll have the necessary security equipment, especially the helmets, ready for you, so don't worry.”
Rona nodded. “As Uncle Finnegan always says, Safety comes first, even if you have fun!”
I gave her a headpat.

Galen Ainimh of the Tribe of Fermanagh.
“A bit.”, I said with a smile, “But among the two of us, I wouldn't mind sampling some of the local flowers as well.”
Let's just say, that a pair of especially pretty flowers just walked past us, one of them looking over her shoulder, throwing me a wink. I smiled back, then turned back to Yuri.
“Sorry.”, I said and looked at the spread before us on the beach. Quite a lot of lads and lassies in her age and I even knew some of them. “You know, I would not want to introduce you to someone, who already has a girl or who might not...”
I trailed off in a hum.
“...who might not what exactly?”, a new voice asked, belonging to a young man, who looked a lot like a lad. He had green hair, green eyes and wore a pair of swimming trunks, which showed off a strong chest and strong arms. He was considerably closer in age to Yuri then he was to me, I knew he was eighteen. Not completely Yuri's age, but close enough. “Forgot the end of your own sentences, old man?”
“Cheeky git!”, I said and pulled the younger man into a hug with a wide grin. It was clear, that we were not unknown to each other. “How's Fion?”
“Still head over heels for Cel.”, he replied and looked to Yuri, “Hi, there. I'm Ciaran, a Marcach of Sword and Bow from Fort Stone. Who do I have the pleasure of liberating from the boring old man's company?”
“Hey!”, I said, furrowing my brow but grinning, “I'm not boring!”
“So you're old.”, Ciaran said with a grin.

With one hand firmly on her cone and her other hand in Alaina's grip the two girls began their "long" journey around the beach with Alaina's big sister and Kara's parents around. Her parents lovey dovey couple were holding hands too which made Kara happy and smile. Too young to remember her birth mother but her new mama, she was one in a million and as long as papa was happy she was happy. Anyway, here were a bunch of boys, men and a girl or two, playing a game of volleyball, pretty typical big persons sport, but there was one boy who seemed closer to their age. Honestly he was kind of cute, a lot like her cousin, not that Kara was interested in this particular boy or anything looking at Alaina she seemed a little upset when another girl hugged him. Wait did she maybe have a crush? "Who's he?" Kara simply asked noticing how intently Alaiana was looking at the young boy.

Alaina Udh of the Tribe of Navan.
“That's Ciaran.”, Ava explained.
“He's cool, isn't he?”, I asked with a small blush developing.
Okay, it was a blush.
A pretty big one.
I hid my face in my ice cream.
I knew, that Alaina thought I had the chances of a snowball in a volcano at even getting him to dance with me next Spring Festival, but I'd make it happen! I was sure of it!
“She's crushing on him.”, Ava explained more for the benefit of Kara's parents then to Kara's. “I personally am into slightly older vintages...”
“Fintan.”, I said.
A shiver ran down Ava's spine as a blush developed on her face as well – bonus point for the young man in question, a tall, black haired guy with eyes blue as the ocean, looking over.

Marie Ernst Gluck

"I would love that." Marie gave an earnest nod, and sat down on the rock, crossing her legs. "So..." she began, twirling a lock of her hair and sweeping her gaze over the beach again as she tried to think of what to say next.

"...besides school and all that." Her eyes found her way back to Yven's. "What have you been up to? Pick up any new hobbies?"

A fairly generic conversation-starter -- or in this case re-starter -- but a safe one.

---

Tristina Bonilla

"Ah." Tristina blushed a little. "Apologies." She capped her lemonade bottle, before pausing.

"Out of curiosity." she began again. "...Which do you consider your country? If you consider yourself to have one, at least. Teressien? The Free Lands? Both?"

Though her tone seemed casual, she seemed tense -- almost as if the answer were an important matter to her.

---

Diana and Maria Bonilla

"Starfruit?" Maria suggested. "Or...actually, can't think of any either."

"We do grow mangoes. I think." Diana confirmed. "Sugarcane, coffee, bananas...good deal of rice and corn too." She smiled with obvious pride. "We're no breadbasket, oh no. But we do put quite a good deal of food on other nation's tables. I'd say that gives us some say."

Maria, once again, frowned, while Diana's smile turned strained as her eyes flicked towards Maria's.

Whatever disagreement at hand, however, would remain unspoken for now. Maria turned back to Lien and Aaltje, and her smile quickly returned, almost as if it had never left. "So. You two live in Teressien? Anything going down there?"

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
“Yes, actually.”, I said and smiled, “Photography.”
I raised a hand.
“I know, what you might think, for a guy regularly working with BI, the motives should be easy enough to guess, but... no.”, I smiled and motioned towards the vista before us. “That would be right up my alley. I discovered my love for landscape photography and while Cao's colleagues might have the hills, they don't have the mountains, if that makes sense.”
I let a beat pass.
“Or the cow herds, as of late.”, I added, “The daughter of a business partner of my parents introduced me to photography of cattle herds.

Lien Findehoof.
“Around this time of the year?”, I asked, “Music festivals, a lot of them. If you like opera or classical or rock or metal or abstract bullshit... there's at least one festival.”

Lucina Findehoof.
The answer seemed important to Tristina, Kiah and I could see that, so we considered carefully.
“I'd say...”, we both said in unison.
Looking at each other, I motioned for Kiah to go first, both of us grinning.
Kiah nodded.
“Right... 'my country' is the Free Lands.”, she said with a smile, “This is where I was born, this is where I feel at home.” I let a beat pass. “Teressien is a beautiful country and I like visiting it, and my family there, as well, but... it never really felt like... home.” She looked at me. “You know, what I mean?”
“A bit.”, I said and nodded, then looked at Tristina, “To be honest, I don't really consider either country 'my country'. My home is, where my husband and my daughters are, where I feel welcome, and that is the important part for me.”

"Nah, we're good. We'll test them on the range." replies Felicia with a smile.

"For testing them in action though, do we really need to form a team of three Sir?" asks Alexis with a tone of respect to Vin. "Can't we just compete against one another?"

Vin Kardeel.
“I'm afraid so, Maidle.”, I said and shrugged, “You'll have to find someone to join you. It's a bit evocative of how we started, but that's a story for another day. The shooting ranges for the electrics are over there.”
I indicated towards a pretty normal-looking shooting range... only that there were more swimsuits, more swimming trunks, more water and less distance to the targets then on any shooting range I had ever seen.
“Have fun!”, I said.

Ira rose up from the water and breathed, leaving a gap for Liv to ask her a question. She recalled the sight of the driftwood in the vibrant blue, and already a smile formed on her face.

"Definitely," she answered, "I have to say, they are quite exquisite."

Liv Longaidh of the Tribe of Waterford.
“Excellent!”, I said with a smile of my own, then dove forward into the water, rising back immediately, “Now that is a nice temperature!”
My smile now wide, I turned to Branwen, who was also in the water... and doing the doggy paddle.
She was smiling, though, so I'd be the last to disturb her fun.
Turning back to Ira, I added: “Now, let's see, what the bay has to offer?”

Daryl Ulysses Estrella
Donrua Beach Bar

"You are seventeen, from what I understand," Daryl began, "so I’d think you’re too young for my preference if we’re being honest. Then again, if you know someone in my range, I wouldn’t mind you playing wingwoman." A grin was plastered on his face as he pointed out the obvious; at 17, she was definitely not within the range he could find acceptable, especially in good conscience. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t be of help, however...

Isla Nathaira of the Tribe of Cork.
So... he shot me down because I was too young, fair enough, and then tried to make me his wingwoman.
Yeah, right, pal, not gonna happen.
I smiled, though, when I told him: “No.”, I simply said, then made to get up, “If you'll now excuse me, please, I need to get back to work.” As I stood, I paused. “I'll send a colleague your way in case you want something more. It was nice talking to you.”
Pleasantries disposed, I went off.

[Mervay]

Andre and Renata had the painful question to deal with, which amounted to... where to go?
There was, of course, the beach bar. It looked busy, but also comfortable and as if a lot of people were enjoying themselves.
There was the third of the beach occupied by Tauwerk Water Gun Foundries beyond that. The water gun showroom was in full swing already and the pap-pap-pap of waterguns firing blasts vanished in the din of the beach.
Which was an option as well, sitting at the beach, taking a swim, the two might even overhear some other visitors talking about a coral reef off shore, a few hundred metres out. They even said that in English.
By the bar, there was also a platform, currently a bit of jamming going on, but it looked as if the real musical entertainment would soon start.
A bit away from it, a footvolley field was improvised, youth playing there for fun.
Sandcastles were being built by small and big children.
In short, there was a lot to see and do and experience, if one had the time.

Lyra Scamahire of the Tribe of Dundalk.
I am both a High School Student and a Voluntary Life Guard.
I was also, if I may so without sounding arrogant, quite pretty. Light purple hair, purple eyes, not too tall, not too short, with nice curves and muscles, dressed in a dark-blue one-piece, which did not look out of place in a swimming competition or at school and a kind, tender smile and quite shy... which was not helped by some guy hitting on me.
“Come on, have a drink with me...”, he offered again, until a young woman, who looked a lot like him hit him over the head.
“Sorry for my younger brother.”, the other woman said with a bow. “I'll take him off your hands. Unlike him, I see, that you have work to do.”
“Thank you...”, I stammered out as she dragged him off by the ear, him complaining in Kyrenaian.
I looked down.
I wondered if Miss Linna had that problem. She didn't have my... 'reserve buoyancy'.
Smúra neighed. He was a horse, the pack horse I had taken along to the beach for the massive amount of water bottles and other stuff and he was my horse, too. He was a bay Oileánach, of the breed raised here in the Archipelago, I knew him since we were both little.
He nuzzled my shoulder, I petted his snout.
I was one of the last more or less free prime spots, with some shade, with nice sand to build sandcastles and with ready access to the water if one wanted to take a dip – which was why I was here. Voluntary Life Guard, ready to save someone drowning and to hand out water bottles for people to stay hydrated.
I smiled as a quartet of children ran past, greeted me with “Morning, Miss Oileánach!”, which I responded to in kind. I had taught them how to swim.
Working with kids was easier to me then talking to adults.
I sighed and saw behind me. Smúra settled down in the sand, deciding for us, that we'd remain here for a bit.

Renata Vittoria Sabatini and Andre Hayworth
The moment Renata heard of an coral reef off shore, her eyes lightened like stars. She's been fascinated by maritime life and to see an coral reef in the archipelago would be an unique experience.
Her boyfriend looked at her with an fond smile, he was also interested on it as well and had the same fascination than she did.

Renata looked at Andre with an excited smile on her face and grabbed his hand, he sighed in defeat with an kind smile.

"Alright, lead the way. My Princess." He answered, an answer that was amplified by an dazzling smile and glare that had her blushing mad and looking away.

"Showoff." She muttered, looking ahead to the road with an slight smile forming before giggling.

---

Ida Cossentic and Evan North
Their travel in search of an place where to settle was almost frustrating due to the fact that most, if not all of the good places were already taken. It was a miracle they found the perfect spot that was more or less free.
Only an life guard and a horse are present.
It was plain obvious the horse was with her, if the bags on him were any indication. The couple looked at each other with Evan just shrugging and Ida sighing, it was worth a shot to see if they could join in.

"My apologies, but would you mind if we settle down here? Since this is one of the last free spots in a way, that is if possible of course." Ida asked, respectful and concise.

[Ezhara]

That Kaz was starting to get on my nerves...

Kaz clicked his tongue. Some mood had shifted, that much he could feel. The field, then, was no longer his, but the more time he spent in the land of the Selkie, the more he came to... appreciate them. Admit their strength, their ability to see him in a more unvarnished way. A more cynical way, the sort that those like Eiko saw, but even if everything came back to Kaz, did it really matter? It was about the amazement and the happiness of the moments that Kaz shared with others. Even if it wasn't permanent.
"Yea, course, any tricks of anywhere might be something nice for me," Lorenzo said. Upon hearing the other woman, he paused, then smiled nervously at the mention of "a taste of water," hoping that they weren't the sort of people to take that in a pranking sort of way, like the boys back home.
When introduced, he nodded. "Nice to meet you, miss." It took him a moment to remember common courtesies and shake her hand. "Sorry about that, I get a little hyper and focused when talking about paintball."
As for Kaz, he simply shrugged. "As it is, not much right now. I'm patient enough to wait and see where my friend over there—" He gestured to Lorenzo. "Will bring me."

I nodded...

Once out of earshot, Eiko turned to Kasem. "You better not get us lost somehow." It had nearly happened a few times when they'd gone hiking or running together in the tamed wilderness near Din Thi Di, when Kasem lost his focus and dawdled off the path, although even those errors were light.
Kasem turned around, pouting. "We have the path, but besides, I wouldn't mind being lost with you." His mi—
"Well." Eiko grabbed a curl of hair. "I unfortunately would mind, so you better start navigating." It wasn't that Eiko didn't really know his way, either, but if Kasem was always wanting to make such a big fuss out of being a prominent Scout, well, he had to earn his keep with Eiko. Usually the challenge was futile, but Kasem was never one to let up on his desperate attempts to have Eiko in the lead. Perhaps he was a little tired of always being the actual leader.
"Fine, then," he said, pointing down the path. "That's the way." And he trudged down it, Eiko in tow.

The sound of rustling leaves, of crashing waves...
"This place kind of reminds me of home," Kasem said. "Coastal and still forested and... well, you're here too. Only difference is that I haven't found a shrine in the wild yet."
"Am I part of your home, then?"
The scout turned around and smirked, puffed out his chest a little, failed. Smirk turned to simple smile, twinged solemn. "Well, yea. Of course. We may as well be married already, if we didn't count, you know, the paperwork, and..." He sighed. Both knew that their relation had its due date, that it wouldn't be death that did them part. "I know you were just joking, but..."
Eiko hugged him, one hand softly running through his hair.

They would arrive unceremoniously at the water gun area, where they would look around for their host to get started with the whole brilliant war.

[Alegeharia]

Quinn Áibhligh of the Tribe of Antrim.
The girl behind the counter went to work, putting a generous scoop of banana ice cream into a waffle. As she did that, she explained: “Stracciatella is a simple milk ice cream with small chocolate chunks sprinkled in. Interested?”
“I am.”, I said with a smile and held up two fingers, giving Aither time to decide whether he was interested or not. “Two, please.”
“Got ya, Ma'am.”, she said and filled a second waffle cone.
My mouth was watering.
And it did not seem as if she minded the question.

Aither:

Aither placed the bamboo stalk into the ice cream as he began to enjoy the snack. “Thank you, and I think I will be just fine with this, it’s quite tasty.” He looked over to the girl and smiled at her, “are you enjoying your ice cream young one?” He looked over to lady and saw she got two cones and chuckled softly as he returned his gaze to the little one. “I think I know someone is definitely enjoying the ice cream.” He added.

[AHSCA]

Alaina Udh of the Tribe of Navan.
“That's Ciaran.”, Ava explained.
“He's cool, isn't he?”, I asked with a small blush developing.
Okay, it was a blush.
A pretty big one.
I hid my face in my ice cream.
I knew, that Alaina thought I had the chances of a snowball in a volcano at even getting him to dance with me next Spring Festival, but I'd make it happen! I was sure of it!
“She's crushing on him.”, Ava explained more for the benefit of Kara's parents then to Kara's. “I personally am into slightly older vintages...”
“Fintan.”, I said.
A shiver ran down Ava's spine as a blush developed on her face as well – bonus point for the young man in question, a tall, black haired guy with eyes blue as the ocean, looking over.

Kara's parents couldn't help but coo gently over the little girl's crush, isn't that just a precious thought of a precious age? "That's so adorable." Shiho replied "Just youthful innocence and puppy love."

"Think we can all relate."

Kara nodded at Alaina, she wasn't sure she understood but it was probably the same level of closeness she felt to her cousin given they were close and together ,more than other boys around but her village was tiny and rural compared to this place. So many people around. Whispering, "Well let's say hello! I can say hello to talk."

[New Visayan Islands]

Clement Saavedra
Donrua Beach Bar

As Clement continued to eat up, he started wondering if it was time to settle down. He was, after all, 27, and not getting any younger, and the idea of settling down with Kimberly was starting to become more appealing as time passed...
...perhaps he ought to ask Eileen for suggestions?

[Sky Reavers]

Siana Gualla of the Tribe of Cork.
The three looked quite interested, quite interesting and the guy with the TW-11 seemed quite polite.
I returned his politeness with a smile and replied: “Morning. First of all, which one is the best of them, we couldn't test one because our number three...” I indicated to the water gun tank and Viola still climbing around on it. “...well, the silverhead belongs to us. So does the blonde in the pink one piece, technically, but she is not part of our team.”
I let a beat pass.
“That being said, once two teams found themselves for a match, they can go at it on one of the maps, provided it is free.”, I said, shrugged, “That's at least as far as I understand the rules. Teams must be composed of three members, though, so... Alaina, can you get Nora?”
“Sure, one moment.”, the other black haired young woman said and went to work.
“Fair warning, though, the three of us have gone through Basic and Advanced Infantry Training. We are Ensigns of the SDF-Navy.” I shrugged. “We have a fun-setting and we have a stun-setting. And a pun-setting.” I smiled at the three of them, raising my TW-11 and myself up to stand before them, a smirk developing. “I won't hold it against you, if Nora can go back to her new favourite thing in the world.”
Alaina and Nora came back, the latter with a TW-14 Dogge Automatic Water Scattergun on her back.

"Advanced infantry trainin', huh?"-Said Seth, as he looked at Siana with adventurous look.-"Oh, that's awesome, cuz we are also fuelled and got a few aces in sleeves, and are up to challenge! Back home, we picked up a few tricks."-Alcohol speaks within Seth, making him say these words.

"It's like a sparring, but at ranged combat. After this, we will learn from eachother and truly find out our strengths and flaws. For a fair warning, it would only be fair to respond with a our own fair warning. We gonna try our traditional combat style "Drunken Master". "-Sato being "Wise Eastern guy" again.

"We'll see, how SDF Navy gonna handle some water... And how we handle it. Either way, it's gonna be twice as fun! "- Elise said, as she eagerly looked at water squirting SMG.

The trio looked at the opposing team and continued to plan their tactics. They knew their roles, but now it's time to plan the maneuvers, they learned from TV, Video games and "Awesome Armaments" and "Way of the bullet" magazines about firearms, which also covered such topics as military tactics, guides on minesweeping and disarming traps, or even field medicine. The latter two thankfully won't be necessary...

[Mirum]

Felicia Lách of the Tribe of Galway.
I nodded, then took a sip.
“Yep, day one... and that's not even going into my... issues with a fellow student, the one, who was later wounded.”, I told him with a grin, “I just called her Miss Buzzkill Virgin Princess. She was the Princess of some country where a girl of my age would be a laying hen or something, but I did not remember the details. Oh, and I got arrested for skipping class and sitting on a park bench on day two.”
I shrugged.
“Ended with me paying a fine and being expelled from the country.”, I finished with a grin. I let a beat pass. “So, you're sitting with a dangerous, smooth criminal – better watch out, before I get you to sit on a bench!”

Felecia gave Varic a grin.

"Yep, day one... and that's not even going into my... issues with a fellow student, the one, who was later wounded. I just called her Miss Buzzkill Virgin Princess. She was the Princess of some country where a girl of my age would be a laying hen or something, but I did not remember the details. Oh, and I got arrested for skipping class and sitting on a park bench on day two. Ended with me paying a fine and being expelled from the country." Nodding, Varic took a sip of his drink, however, this proved to be a slight mistake, with what Felecia said next. "So, you're sitting with a dangerous, smooth criminal – better watch out, before I get you to sit on a bench!"

Varic struggled not to spit out his drink in laughter. Choking it down at last, he let out a chuckle.

"I mean, my antics at school were quite different, but with what you’ve been through, I think you've won this contest." Varic briefly glanced out toward the beach. The weather was quite nice and the sounds of the sea were quite inviting. Perhaps he’d bring it up in a few moments. "I guess it’s just inevitable that things will be different in a new place. Education, policies, weather, climate, and people. All different depending on where you are. But that’s what makes life interesting and fun. It is this that drives us to new places- to see new things and enjoy life." He paused yet again, this time for dramatic effect. "Or that’s at least what my therapist said. I definitely agree."

[The Selkie]

Renata Vittoria Sabatini and Andre Hayworth
The moment Renata heard of an coral reef off shore, her eyes lightened like stars. She's been fascinated by maritime life and to see an coral reef in the archipelago would be an unique experience.
Her boyfriend looked at her with an fond smile, he was also interested on it as well and had the same fascination than she did.

Renata looked at Andre with an excited smile on her face and grabbed his hand, he sighed in defeat with an kind smile.

"Alright, lead the way. My Princess." He answered, an answer that was amplified by an dazzling smile and glare that had her blushing mad and looking away.

"Showoff." She muttered, looking ahead to the road with an slight smile forming before giggling.

---

Ida Cossentic and Evan North
Their travel in search of an place where to settle was almost frustrating due to the fact that most, if not all of the good places were already taken. It was a miracle they found the perfect spot that was more or less free.
Only an life guard and a horse are present.
It was plain obvious the horse was with her, if the bags on him were any indication. The couple looked at each other with Evan just shrugging and Ida sighing, it was worth a shot to see if they could join in.

"My apologies, but would you mind if we settle down here? Since this is one of the last free spots in a way, that is if possible of course." Ida asked, respectful and concise.

Donrua Bay Coral Reef.
The Donrua Bay Coral Reef was not very large.
It stretched the width of the bay a few dozen metres from the shore and was about a hundred metres wide – truly, among the reefs of the Archipelago, this one was on the smaller side. It didn't even appear on most tourist maps.
It was still a colourful myriad and circus of fishes, corals and other life forms, most of them harmless – for the rest, they were irritating to humans, nothing more. This was in particular true for the pair of Sea Foxes, or Lapa in Selkie, sitting on a small sort-of platform extending out of the water barely over the surface. They were a pair and, as a short look to their ears revealed, tagged by the University of Launceston and their research ship Fairtheoir.
Swimmers gave them a small berth, at least the Selkie did, and those who didn't were quickly convinced otherwise when the male Lapa hissed at them.
But while that above the surface was interesting, the real fun was below the surface: Schools of fish, small groups of other aquatic life, some individuals – the whole array of marine life in a coral reef was on display.
Of course, it was expected to be on the best behaviour, especially with the large Pearled Sea Snake, which made its lazy circles as if waiting for something.

Lyra Scamahire of the Tribe of Dundalk.
“Sure, go ahead.”, I said and indicated to the spots next to me, “Make yourself comfortable and...”
I reached into the saddle bags, taking out two bottles of water, glass bottles, nice and cool.
“...here you go.”, I added, handing them one each, “Staying hydrated prevents swimming accidents.”
I gave a small smile and returned to my lookout position, especially as a few children came running, asking for a bottle each.
“Thank you, Miss Lyra!”, they chorused in Selkie as they all had one and were off before I knew it.
I smiled. “You're... welcome....”, I told them in the same language, but they were all since gone and back to their activities.
Well, my new neighbours would have to get used to this... there was a reason why such a prime spot was free.

That Kaz was starting to get on my nerves...

Kaz clicked his tongue. Some mood had shifted, that much he could feel. The field, then, was no longer his, but the more time he spent in the land of the Selkie, the more he came to... appreciate them. Admit their strength, their ability to see him in a more unvarnished way. A more cynical way, the sort that those like Eiko saw, but even if everything came back to Kaz, did it really matter? It was about the amazement and the happiness of the moments that Kaz shared with others. Even if it wasn't permanent.
"Yea, course, any tricks of anywhere might be something nice for me," Lorenzo said. Upon hearing the other woman, he paused, then smiled nervously at the mention of "a taste of water," hoping that they weren't the sort of people to take that in a pranking sort of way, like the boys back home.
When introduced, he nodded. "Nice to meet you, miss." It took him a moment to remember common courtesies and shake her hand. "Sorry about that, I get a little hyper and focused when talking about paintball."
As for Kaz, he simply shrugged. "As it is, not much right now. I'm patient enough to wait and see where my friend over there—" He gestured to Lorenzo. "Will bring me."

I nodded...

Once out of earshot, Eiko turned to Kasem. "You better not get us lost somehow." It had nearly happened a few times when they'd gone hiking or running together in the tamed wilderness near Din Thi Di, when Kasem lost his focus and dawdled off the path, although even those errors were light.
Kasem turned around, pouting. "We have the path, but besides, I wouldn't mind being lost with you." His mi—
"Well." Eiko grabbed a curl of hair. "I unfortunately would mind, so you better start navigating." It wasn't that Eiko didn't really know his way, either, but if Kasem was always wanting to make such a big fuss out of being a prominent Scout, well, he had to earn his keep with Eiko. Usually the challenge was futile, but Kasem was never one to let up on his desperate attempts to have Eiko in the lead. Perhaps he was a little tired of always being the actual leader.
"Fine, then," he said, pointing down the path. "That's the way." And he trudged down it, Eiko in tow.

The sound of rustling leaves, of crashing waves...
"This place kind of reminds me of home," Kasem said. "Coastal and still forested and... well, you're here too. Only difference is that I haven't found a shrine in the wild yet."
"Am I part of your home, then?"
The scout turned around and smirked, puffed out his chest a little, failed. Smirk turned to simple smile, twinged solemn. "Well, yea. Of course. We may as well be married already, if we didn't count, you know, the paperwork, and..." He sighed. Both knew that their relation had its due date, that it wouldn't be death that did them part. "I know you were just joking, but..."
Eiko hugged him, one hand softly running through his hair.

They would arrive unceremoniously at the water gun area, where they would look around for their host to get started with the whole brilliant war.

Lien Kardeel.
Aunt Birkhild smiled – approaching 55 or not, she was still a woman and being called Miss, implying youth, made her giggle.
“Quite a charmer you are, aren't you?”, she asked with a smile, then stepped to the side, “Off you two go, have fun! It was a pleasure to meet you, Lorenzo, and I hope to see you on the maps later.”
I smiled, arm still linked to him.
“Thank you, Aunt Birkhild.”, I said and led him further down the route.
If Kaz followed or not was up to him, really – he could go and look around the place, if he wanted. I'd be occupied with Lorenzo for a bit anyway.
Our way led us towards the ship.

Leni Rah.
The two boys looked cute together – and judging by the way they were walking together, they were together. Like, together-together.
Teressien, where we were from, was not as accepting of homosexuals as the Free Lands was (the number of girls, who had hit on me was astonishing) and I was not too much of a revolutionary. Still... money does not stink, now does it?
I knew that well enough myself. I, blonde, blue eyed, blue strapless o-ring bikini under an open blouse, had made my apprenticeship as a Technician and Seller with the Stadtwerke Eschsted, in particular with their sewage department.
There, I also got to know my (male) fiance. He still worked there, while I had seen enough shit and had gotten a good offer by Tauwerk.
And I still had time for gaming, Rúid! as a Lutetii-Main.
In any case, the two arrived unceremoniously and unpretentiously, which was better then a lot of people today.
I smiled at them.
“Welcome to the Showroom of Tauwerk Water Gun Foundries.”, I told them, “What can I help you with?”

Aither:
(Image)

Aither placed the bamboo stalk into the ice cream as he began to enjoy the snack. “Thank you, and I think I will be just fine with this, it’s quite tasty.” He looked over to the girl and smiled at her, “are you enjoying your ice cream young one?” He looked over to lady and saw she got two cones and chuckled softly as he returned his gaze to the little one. “I think I know someone is definitely enjoying the ice cream.” He added.

Quinn Áibhligh of the Tribe of Antrim.
Enya smiled up at Aither.
“I think, that you can make that three.”, she told him, then went back to her own.
I just shrugged with a sheepish smile.
“It is the good stuff, though.”, I said and motioned for the two to follow me. “Let's get somewhere into the shadow to enjoy our ice cream before we can drink it...”
Enya nodded and followed me – if Aither did, though, that was up to him.

Kara's parents couldn't help but coo gently over the little girl's crush, isn't that just a precious thought of a precious age? "That's so adorable." Shiho replied "Just youthful innocence and puppy love."

"Think we can all relate."

Kara nodded at Alaina, she wasn't sure she understood but it was probably the same level of closeness she felt to her cousin given they were close and together ,more than other boys around but her village was tiny and rural compared to this place. So many people around. Whispering, "Well let's say hello! I can say hello to talk."

Alaina Udh of the Tribe of Navan.
I'll be the first to admit, that us three sisters, including Asteria here, were not often of the same opinion.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!”, Ava seemingly said, myself (mouth full) agreeing with deft nods, “That won't be necessary, I think... let them play... and look good while doing so...”
“Thank you.”, the tall black-haired guy rumoured to be Fintan suddenly said from the side, grinning at Alaina, then at Kara's parents, “Anyone of you wanna join? We need one more team for the next round.” He put a hand on my head. “Don't worry about the kiddos, we have someone to watch over them while they join the cheerleader squad.”
He threw me a wink.
Ava was jealous.
I did notice, that he was quite muscular.

Clement Saavedra
Donrua Beach Bar

As Clement continued to eat up, he started wondering if it was time to settle down. He was, after all, 27, and not getting any younger, and the idea of settling down with Kimberly was starting to become more appealing as time passed...
...perhaps he ought to ask Eileen for suggestions?

Eileen Folaisagh of the Tribe of Dundalk.
Think of a demon and he shall appear – or, in this case, waitress.
I was making a round, seeing if people needed something, be it their bills, something more to eat or drink or someone to engage in conversation, if that was required (I looked old enough to be recognized as an adult, but not old enough to pass as a matured woman). I had spotted Isla walking away from the guy, who convinced her to sit with him for her break, the younger woman almost storming away in a huff...
...well, a least I had not seen any steel flash.
Meanwhile, another customer seemed in thought: Clement.
“Hey, there.”, I greeted him, “Can I get you anything?”

"Advanced infantry trainin', huh?"-Said Seth, as he looked at Siana with adventurous look.-"Oh, that's awesome, cuz we are also fuelled and got a few aces in sleeves, and are up to challenge! Back home, we picked up a few tricks."-Alcohol speaks within Seth, making him say these words.

"It's like a sparring, but at ranged combat. After this, we will learn from eachother and truly find out our strengths and flaws. For a fair warning, it would only be fair to respond with a our own fair warning. We gonna try our traditional combat style "Drunken Master". "-Sato being "Wise Eastern guy" again.

"We'll see, how SDF Navy gonna handle some water... And how we handle it. Either way, it's gonna be twice as fun! "- Elise said, as she eagerly looked at water squirting SMG.

The trio looked at the opposing team and continued to plan their tactics. They knew their roles, but now it's time to plan the maneuvers, they learned from TV, Video games and "Awesome Armaments" and "Way of the bullet" magazines about firearms, which also covered such topics as military tactics, guides on minesweeping and disarming traps, or even field medicine. The latter two thankfully won't be necessary...

Siana Gualla of the Tribe of Cork.
The three had moxie, one had to give them that.
If it was enough? We'll see.
“That it will indeed be.”, I responded to the girl, extended my hand, “Well, then – good luck and let's have fun!”
Sportsmanship was important and as soon as the handshakes were exchanged, we were led to Map 2 and our, as the referee referred to it, Spawn Points. Everyone was shown a plan of Map 2 as well, to even the odds a bit and to not have us all run around in reconnaissance before the actual fun began. The referee meanwhile was more a mediator for the rules, as he explained (mind you, a he with abs one could grind meat on), and to get people apart if there was a more hands-on dispute. He was a sunshine, though.
The map was reasonably small, an environment reminiscent of a suburb established with plywood and superglue, several lines of fire apparent on the plan. The centre was a wide, open space around a small fountain, control over it promising infinite ammo, unlike the large buckets placed at spawn.
Speaking of, spawn was a small area closed off to all sides but one, preventing spawn camping, leading into a short hallway with a window, which would overlook the plaza with the fountain, were it not for a pair of hedgerows, one a few metres in front of the hallway, the other continuing the division line after a gap of around two metres.
However, while two buckets of water waited behind the second hedgerow, this one was not man-high but only hip-high.
The exit from the hallway was also more or less in the open.
All in all, the map was around twelve metres, mirrored so that what applied to our side also applied to the other side, and quite interesting.
The rules, unless we had any additions, were “Have fun and no gouging!”, according to the refereeing hunk. There was no rule saying, that someone hit had to leave the field or something, but if the others wanted it, we wouldn't oppose.
I grinned. “See you in a moment!”, I told our opponents and we went for our spawn point.
Alaina with her SMGs, I with my assault rifle, Nora with her automatic shotgun, all of them Tauwerk and thus water instead of lead spewing, we all three went into position at spawn, waiting for the signal.
“Alright, girls...”, I said, “Nora, Alaina, you two go for the hip-high hedge immediately, I'll lay down suppressive fire from the window. If they try to go for the fountain, punish them.”
“Like the naughty, naughty children they are?”, Nora asked, hefting her massive device with a wicked grin.
“...remind me to leave you in navigation and to never let you near the missiles, if I ever get to be in charge of you...”, I told her with a grin, which caused a round of laughs.
Then, the signal sounded...
...the battle begun.

Felecia gave Varic a grin.

"Yep, day one... and that's not even going into my... issues with a fellow student, the one, who was later wounded. I just called her Miss Buzzkill Virgin Princess. She was the Princess of some country where a girl of my age would be a laying hen or something, but I did not remember the details. Oh, and I got arrested for skipping class and sitting on a park bench on day two. Ended with me paying a fine and being expelled from the country." Nodding, Varic took a sip of his drink, however, this proved to be a slight mistake, with what Felecia said next. "So, you're sitting with a dangerous, smooth criminal – better watch out, before I get you to sit on a bench!"

Varic struggled not to spit out his drink in laughter. Choking it down at last, he let out a chuckle.

"I mean, my antics at school were quite different, but with what you’ve been through, I think you've won this contest." Varic briefly glanced out toward the beach. The weather was quite nice and the sounds of the sea were quite inviting. Perhaps he’d bring it up in a few moments. "I guess it’s just inevitable that things will be different in a new place. Education, policies, weather, climate, and people. All different depending on where you are. But that’s what makes life interesting and fun. It is this that drives us to new places- to see new things and enjoy life." He paused yet again, this time for dramatic effect. "Or that’s at least what my therapist said. I definitely agree."

Felicia Lách of the Tribe of Galway.
I smiled.
“I would normally agree.”, I said and followed Varic's example, looking out onto the beach, seeing people having fun, “Really, what's the point of travelling and going abroad if its the same everywhere? No, that'd be boring.”
I shrugged.
“However, being locked up for sitting on a bench...” I shrugged. “...that's a tad bit unreasonable, if you ask me. Luckily, I'm legally not allowed to go there again, so their loss.” I shrugged. “I mean, what's the point of setting up benches, when it is forbidden to sit on them?”
I shook my head.
“Anyway, the weather's too nice for such troubles.” I took a sip of my drink, smiling, deciding to not mention, that he had talked to a therapist. That was his story to share, if he wanted to. “Wanna go down and see, what's going on?”

[European Federation Reunified]

Eileen Íseal of the Tribe of Conn.
If the two of them thought, that the actual music had begun, they were sorely mistaken.
The woman on stage shook hands with the two younger lads, pulled them both into a one-armed hug, her acoustic guitar in the way of a full hug. The two left and were replaced by a young man with an electric bass and an electric guitar.
The woman took the guitar with a grin, nodded to the lad, who took position a bit behind her.
“Alright, everyone!”, she called out, “Wanna do this in Selkie or in English?!”
There was almost a roar, that called for the native tongue of this land – once that subsided, someone to our right called out: “Tafod!”
The mentioning of the tongue of the Spiorad drew attention, especially since one could have heard the shit-eating grin.
“Cheeky git.”, the woman called out in good humour and in Selkie, “In any case... let's get this show on the road!”
And soon, the duo began to play songs in our native tongue – folk songs, drinking songs and, after four or five songs, there was a dancing song coming up.
A young man, light purple hair and scarred, well-trained body, came up to me and grinned.
“Milady Eileen, may I ask for this dance?”, he asked politely, with a cheeky, charming grin.
I turned to Vincenzo and Justine for a moment. “If you'd excuse me for a moment...”
And with that, I was on an improvised dance floor between the stage and the audience, together with a few other couples. I knew the lad as a good dancer and he certainly didn't disappoint as it came to the tips and twirls and pirouettes and all the other dance moves, which we put on the floor.
As the song was over and the cheering was going on, I took his hand and kissed the palm, him bowing his head in gratitude for the compliment and grace.
He sat down next to Vincenzo and Justine, between them and me, and gave them a “Hi, there.”

The concert had turned suddenly, especially after a guy with an electric bass and electric guitar replaced the first two. Then, at the resounding request of the public, the band began to play all kinds of songs in the local language.
Vincenzo and Justine still did not understand a word of the various songs sung in Selkie but, this time, who knows how, they managed to get carried away by the livelier rhythm that the concert was taking on. Vincenzo thought of all those times that he was still a recruit of the Italian army and went out with some of his comrades to have fun in the pubs of Rome. Justine, on the other hand, thought of those few times she had gone to some Paris discotheque with her friends, to distract herself from her studies and the shit of life.
They were roused from their memories when they noticed that Eileen was taking leave of them to join and dance with a purple-haired "knight".
Justine gave a friendly nudge to Vincenzo pointing to the young couple who was dancing between the audience and the stage, then sighed saying: "I wish we could do like them".

The man took her hand and said: "As soon as I get back on my feet I will take you to the beautiful pubs of Europe and we could have fun as we should". She replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, the Selkie couple had stopped dancing and both had approached them. The man with the purple hair greeted them with a simple "Hi, there".
Vincenzo had noticed that the boy's body was well trained but he saw only now, once he had approached him, that it was also full of scars. Could he be a soldier too?
Putting his questions aside, instead he replied: "Salve! Really a good show! You two did very well there on the track!
My name is Vincenzo Maselli and she is my girlfriend Justine Perrin and we come from Europe." he said showing the boy his hand for a shake.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Marie Ernst Gluck

"I would love that." Marie gave an earnest nod, and sat down on the rock, crossing her legs. "So..." she began, twirling a lock of her hair and sweeping her gaze over the beach again as she tried to think of what to say next.

"...besides school and all that." Her eyes found her way back to Yven's. "What have you been up to? Pick up any new hobbies?"

A fairly generic conversation-starter -- or in this case re-starter -- but a safe one.

---

Tristina Bonilla

"Ah." Tristina blushed a little. "Apologies." She capped her lemonade bottle, before pausing.

"Out of curiosity." she began again. "...Which do you consider your country? If you consider yourself to have one, at least. Teressien? The Free Lands? Both?"

Though her tone seemed casual, she seemed tense -- almost as if the answer were an important matter to her.

---

Diana and Maria Bonilla

"Starfruit?" Maria suggested. "Or...actually, can't think of any either."

"We do grow mangoes. I think." Diana confirmed. "Sugarcane, coffee, bananas...good deal of rice and corn too." She smiled with obvious pride. "We're no breadbasket, oh no. But we do put quite a good deal of food on other nation's tables. I'd say that gives us some say."

Maria, once again, frowned, while Diana's smile turned strained as her eyes flicked towards Maria's.

Whatever disagreement at hand, however, would remain unspoken for now. Maria turned back to Lien and Aaltje, and her smile quickly returned, almost as if it had never left. "So. You two live in Teressien? Anything going down there?"

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
“Yes, actually.”, I said and smiled, “Photography.”
I raised a hand.
“I know, what you might think, for a guy regularly working with BI, the motives should be easy enough to guess, but... no.”, I smiled and motioned towards the vista before us. “That would be right up my alley. I discovered my love for landscape photography and while Cao's colleagues might have the hills, they don't have the mountains, if that makes sense.”
I let a beat pass.
“Or the cow herds, as of late.”, I added, “The daughter of a business partner of my parents introduced me to photography of cattle herds.

Lien Findehoof.
“Around this time of the year?”, I asked, “Music festivals, a lot of them. If you like opera or classical or rock or metal or abstract bullshit... there's at least one festival.”

Lucina Findehoof.
The answer seemed important to Tristina, Kiah and I could see that, so we considered carefully.
“I'd say...”, we both said in unison.
Looking at each other, I motioned for Kiah to go first, both of us grinning.
Kiah nodded.
“Right... 'my country' is the Free Lands.”, she said with a smile, “This is where I was born, this is where I feel at home.” I let a beat pass. “Teressien is a beautiful country and I like visiting it, and my family there, as well, but... it never really felt like... home.” She looked at me. “You know, what I mean?”
“A bit.”, I said and nodded, then looked at Tristina, “To be honest, I don't really consider either country 'my country'. My home is, where my husband and my daughters are, where I feel welcome, and that is the important part for me.”

Tristina Bonilla
Tristina frowned. "A fair answer. And a common one, I suppose." She stared at her thermos. "But it presumes that one has a family to be proud of." A long silence, then she turned to Lucina. "I was not born in Prussia-Poland." she admitted. "I...well, I come from -- no, no. I was born in Izabal. But I was raised in Prussia-Poland, educated there, spent all my time there -- besides maybe a summer or two in Izabal." She shook her head. "Unless you 'know people'..well, no, even if you do 'know people', it's not an enjoyable place. To say the absolute least." She tried for a smile. "The beaches are all well and good but...I think I like this one better."

Her smile dropped quickly, however, as she continued. "But still. People call me the 'Izabalan Girl' all too often." Her lip curled a little. "They're not wrong either. I was born there. My parents come from there. Unfortunately."

---

Maria and Diana Bonilla
"Ah, so not much of note at the moment." Diana noted. "At least, on that front. In any case-"
"Hold on there. Alternative-what?" Maria cut her sister off and leaned in, clearly interested. "What do you mean? And pa still calls rock and pop and all that the devil's music, too...though to say that Tristina disagrees would be quite the understatement." She smiled. "Papa nearly blew his top when she came back for a visit once and brought us CDs of...I think the artist's name was Russ Ballard."

---

Marie Ernst Gluck
"Photography, eh?" Marie inclined her head. "Nice." She scooted forwards a little and let her legs hand off the side of the rock, swinging them a little. "Sister Siepak does a little of that on the side as well. Did our school portraits and all for free." She lowered her voice and leaned in, as if imparting a deep secret. "The photos sure do look like they've been done for free, at least." she whispered, holding back a giggle.

[Ezhara]

Aunt Birkhild smiled – approaching 55 or not...

"Oh," Lorenzo said, "if I've any charm, it's bound to be..." His eyes had wandered over to Kaz, who looked at him with a knowing tilt. "Yea, yea, let's leave it as charm, I think it's simpler to say— and of course I'll be on the maps. Is the only reason why I came here, after all." He glanced to Kaz, who was busying himself with looking aside. All that indicated his attention to Lorenzo was that Kaz's right ear was turned towards them, or at least the paintballer assumed that his companion knew enough about audio to know which ear was better for speech. Still, the Idol followed them to their route, his swaying and dancing gait a quiet hint towards what he'd offer but there was a certain... sluggishness to it that said he was just moving like that out of habit more than desire.

The two boys looked cute together...

Eiko stepped forward. "Yes. I wouldn't suppose that there's a water gun map available right now? We'd like a round, whether just the two of us or—"
"Preferably just the two of us, actually." Kasem smiled too widely. "And can you make it a harder one?"
"Kasem, are you trying to get me to lose?"
"Yes."
The actor swirled his thermos and stared at his beloved, letting a beat pass before he turned back to Leni. "Look, I'll just... leave it—"

A fire lit in his eyes. Someone had approached the same area, someone who must have been familiar to him, what with the absolute disdain he was staring with.
"Ah?" a soft whisper of a voice called. "To think my vacation would feature—"
"And I could say the same to you!"
To say that the air near the Ezharans was heavy would be a vast understatement. It was hostile, except for the inclusion of Lorenzo, and Kasem, the former mystified and the latter simply afraid in the "I never knew this side" sort of way.
Kaz sighed. "Look, I've had enough bad fortunes here as is. I don't need your prudish judgments to annoy me even more— and besides, why even go to a beach if complaining about everyone else is all you'll end up doing, anyway?"

"It's for..." He paused, and the inferno withered away into a gentle, tender warmth.
"Do you seriously think you're hiding someth—" A water gun fell into his hands, and his companion was hurrying towards Eiko and Kasem with another gun. "Lorenzo what are you—"
"Look, I got no cares and worries as to why the two of you are fighting." By now, the other water gun was hastily tossed into Eiko's hands, who caught it with little difficulty. "I just know that a nice round of water gunning will be enough to keep the heat off." He turned to Leni. "Round for four." A glance back. "I... guess it'd have to be two-v-two."
The other boys stared at Lorenzo and Kasem stepped back. They all had known him faintly as a bold fellow, if his constant reumors of cheating in paintball were any indication. That he would dominate a conversation with Eiko, who hated losing any control, and Kaz, who loved having all of the control, was indication enough that they had stumbled onto his domain, and where this sapa — the Cholätipaqmin ruler — stepped, the sun's brilliant rays only smiled towards him, so that only those in his graces could earn the light.

Eiko aimed his water gun at Kaz and fired, but the idol stepped aside with a lithe step, raising his.
Lorenzo's water gun blasted between both in a vicious arc, knocking them back but only by surprise. "No fighting during the preparations, you two, hold the bloodlust to the actual battle proper. Don't care what you mean by outside conflict or what have you, we're having a water gun fight and we're making it proper."
Kasem watched quietly. Was Lorenzo part of the Scouts like him or something? There was a militant ferocity and an unyielding confidence to the way the other boy conducted himself in that moment that commanded Kasem's instinctual respect.
"Water gun match, yes?"
Eiko and Kaz muttered their assent, Kasem nodded.

[New Visayan Islands]

Clement Saavedra
Donrua Beach Bar

"Before I begin, I admit that it will sound presumptuous of me, so if you have any issues, I understand," Clement began. Here goes.
"It's about a specific someone; she and I have gotten to know each other a lot more personally late last year. So far, we've been keeping it casual, but I suspect that I've started to develop something more serious. When I asked earlier about the shampoo you use, it was with that person in mind. Before her, the most I had were casual relationships, but this is something else entirely...
"Funny, never thought I'd ask you for advice in that respect, having just met and all, but a fresh perspective can't hurt." And hopefully I didn't put my foot in my mouth, he thought.

[Seleucid Pergamon]

Liv Longaidh of the Tribe of Waterford.
“Excellent!”, I said with a smile of my own, then dove forward into the water, rising back immediately, “Now that is a nice temperature!”
My smile now wide, I turned to Branwen, who was also in the water... and doing the doggy paddle.
She was smiling, though, so I'd be the last to disturb her fun.
Turning back to Ira, I added: “Now, let's see, what the bay has to offer?”

Ira observed Branwen who was now in the water. She could not help but giggle at the sight of her swimming in that cute posture. Then came Liv's question.

With an invisible sparkle illuminating her eyes, Ira put up an excited smile.

"Hopefully, we'll find some treasure," she replied, before gazing back at Branwen and smiling, "As Toxaris the White Fox said, 'finding worthy rewards within a veil that obscures your view, whether observable to your eye or not, is more fun than an instant presentation by a god.'"

[Katase]

Mara Urgharda of the Tribe of Fermanagh.
I smiled.
“Normal street clothes are sufficient.”, I said, “We'll have the necessary security equipment, especially the helmets, ready for you, so don't worry.”
Rona nodded. “As Uncle Finnegan always says, Safety comes first, even if you have fun!”
I gave her a headpat.

Galen Ainimh of the Tribe of Fermanagh.
“A bit.”, I said with a smile, “But among the two of us, I wouldn't mind sampling some of the local flowers as well.”
Let's just say, that a pair of especially pretty flowers just walked past us, one of them looking over her shoulder, throwing me a wink. I smiled back, then turned back to Yuri.
“Sorry.”, I said and looked at the spread before us on the beach. Quite a lot of lads and lassies in her age and I even knew some of them. “You know, I would not want to introduce you to someone, who already has a girl or who might not...”
I trailed off in a hum.
“...who might not what exactly?”, a new voice asked, belonging to a young man, who looked a lot like a lad. He had green hair, green eyes and wore a pair of swimming trunks, which showed off a strong chest and strong arms. He was considerably closer in age to Yuri then he was to me, I knew he was eighteen. Not completely Yuri's age, but close enough. “Forgot the end of your own sentences, old man?”
“Cheeky git!”, I said and pulled the younger man into a hug with a wide grin. It was clear, that we were not unknown to each other. “How's Fion?”
“Still head over heels for Cel.”, he replied and looked to Yuri, “Hi, there. I'm Ciaran, a Marcach of Sword and Bow from Fort Stone. Who do I have the pleasure of liberating from the boring old man's company?”
“Hey!”, I said, furrowing my brow but grinning, “I'm not boring!”
“So you're old.”, Ciaran said with a grin.

"Ah that's no problem then." Kano nodded with a smile. Naturally they planned to stay a week so of course they packed more than bathing suits and summertime clothes

"That's also reassuring" Their aunt added "To know all safety equipment is present so us few city slickers don't wind up killing ourselves. Yeah it will be a lot of fun to learn."

"Yeah, then Akky will be super jealous." Shino snickered a bit.

"We'll have to make sure we take a lot of pictures for her and then buy her favorite parfait when we get back."

Yuri

The two in conversation when yet another boy approached, well this time Yuri would keep a firm head on her shoulders and not jump to conclusions lest she embarrass herself again. He introduced himself as Ciaran. She giggled at his banter back and forth with Galen, good friends no doubt. "Yuri. Yuri Miyauchi, pleased to meet you, Ciaran."

[Sky Reavers]

The challenge has been accepted and now, it's time for Drunken Trio to shine!

Seth had analzied the map, looking at it with the eyes of video game level designer. He thought, which positions would be the ones, where he would put the enemies at if this was a game level. Fountain is an infinite source of ammo - an attractive thing for players, so there must be an ambush bad position to deter the player from running to it. Then, there are also two buckets at the spawn. Limited source of ammo... but still a source. And it had an unexpected advantage. It can be carried around, although it's pretty heavy and would definitely exhaust the one carrying it and make him more vulnerable and slower. There is also window for higher ground and hedges too.

-"Alright dudes! So we gonna do this: Sato - ya' take the window. Just snipe opponents if ya' see them. Elise... as the shortest of us, use your speed and size to provoke and lay suppressive fire on the move. And I... I'll just run around, carry the bucket sometimes and do whatever is most necessary. And we will improvise... like alot."

After thinking about lay of the land, the happy bunch decided to position themselves. Going for the fountain outright wasn't the best idea. Or perhaps... it was? As it would be unexpected. Decisions, decisions. Sato went and took a position near the window. He crouched and stepped a bit away from the window, so it would be harder to see him, while he still sees the area. He was watching the visible area and prepared to shoot at foes, should they appear.

Elise, armed with two SMGs decided to go with a rather bold plan of feign reckless going for the fountain, while shooting at general direction of window from her SMG to suppress possible fire from it. She would just scream "Yeah!" and pretend to run to the fountain, just to suddenly jump back to the cover and then run back and find a place for an ambush, after she sticks out a bit into the open and fires at random places. If she gets attacked, the positions of the attackers could be possibly pinpointed. Even better if she manages to lure the opponents. Suppressive fire, ya' say? That's the job for Seth! He would just fire from cover at the opponent in the window at start, so Elise would be able to execute her plan. When she starts firing from both her guns, Seth would cover her with fire from then and if the opponents are lured he would just fire a bit at their general direction and then find a place to hide. The goal is to lure the opponents and create a three-side ambush with a crossfire. Or better say... crosswater.

And if the opponents are not lured... Elise would move around and lay suppressive fire from different angles, while Seth and Sato use more careful approach and try to pick the opponents.

[Mirum]

Felicia Lách of the Tribe of Galway.
I smiled.
“I would normally agree.”, I said and followed Varic's example, looking out onto the beach, seeing people having fun, “Really, what's the point of travelling and going abroad if its the same everywhere? No, that'd be boring.”
I shrugged.
“However, being locked up for sitting on a bench...” I shrugged. “...that's a tad bit unreasonable, if you ask me. Luckily, I'm legally not allowed to go there again, so their loss.” I shrugged. “I mean, what's the point of setting up benches, when it is forbidden to sit on them?”
I shook my head.
“Anyway, the weather's too nice for such troubles.” I took a sip of my drink, smiling, deciding to not mention, that he had talked to a therapist. That was his story to share, if he wanted to. “Wanna go down and see, what's going on?”

Felecia smiled.
"I would normally agree. Really, what's the point of travelling and going abroad if it's the same everywhere? No, that'd be boring. However, being locked up for sitting on a bench... that's a tad bit unreasonable, if you ask me. Luckily, I'm legally not allowed to go there again, so their loss. I mean, what's the point of setting up benches, when it is forbidden to sit on them?"

She took a sip of her drink. Varic noted that she hadn't mentioned his "therapist"- who was really more of a counselor for his tendency to... overwork... himself every other week or so. He had asked around about one a month ago, as he felt that he just kept working because he was missing something, and it affected him and his work. Thinking of work, he began to get internally nervous over the remote- yet still slightly terrifying- thought that something had gone wrong on the project. He had hoped that nothing had, but he would need to make a phone call later to ensure nothing had. He pushed the thought out of his mind as Felecia once more continued, internally scolding himself for thinking about work.

"Anyway, the weather's too nice for such troubles. Wanna go down and see, what's going on?"

This was a vacation, on which he was supposed to relax and not think about work. Varic knew that checking things out on the beach would definitely start to take his mind off things. Activity usually did- and sipping a drink and light conversation, while effective and nice, was only a temporary solution.

"Of course. Let's go."

Varic finished off his drink with a big gulp, stood up, and started to exit the establishment toward the beach- once Felecia was following him, of course.

[The Selkie]

The concert had turned suddenly, especially after a guy with an electric bass and electric guitar replaced the first two. Then, at the resounding request of the public, the band began to play all kinds of songs in the local language.
Vincenzo and Justine still did not understand a word of the various songs sung in Selkie but, this time, who knows how, they managed to get carried away by the livelier rhythm that the concert was taking on. Vincenzo thought of all those times that he was still a recruit of the Italian army and went out with some of his comrades to have fun in the pubs of Rome. Justine, on the other hand, thought of those few times she had gone to some Paris discotheque with her friends, to distract herself from her studies and the shit of life.
They were roused from their memories when they noticed that Eileen was taking leave of them to join and dance with a purple-haired "knight".
Justine gave a friendly nudge to Vincenzo pointing to the young couple who was dancing between the audience and the stage, then sighed saying: "I wish we could do like them".

The man took her hand and said: "As soon as I get back on my feet I will take you to the beautiful pubs of Europe and we could have fun as we should". She replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, the Selkie couple had stopped dancing and both had approached them. The man with the purple hair greeted them with a simple "Hi, there".
Vincenzo had noticed that the boy's body was well trained but he saw only now, once he had approached him, that it was also full of scars. Could he be a soldier too?
Putting his questions aside, instead he replied: "Salve! Really a good show! You two did very well there on the track!
My name is Vincenzo Maselli and she is my girlfriend Justine Perrin and we come from Europe." he said showing the boy his hand for a shake.

Eileen Íseal of the Tribe of Conn.
The young man bowed his head lightly, our way of a handshake.
“Lugh Íon of the Tribe of Cork, tinkerer, student, dancer, lover and apprentice from Lodan Lir's Pearl, the City of Cuan.”, he introduced himself in turn, “It is a pleasure. And, Mister Maselli, don't worry about your girlfriend.” He smiled at Justine. “No offence to you, Miss Perrin, but you are not my type.”
His golden eyes sparkled with mirth.
“That raises the question, what sort of woman would be your kind, Lugh?”, I asked.
“A single, for one.”, he said with a grin, “Other then that, I am open for suggestions. A good dancer would be nice, though. Much like you, Milady Eileen.”
I blushed lightly. “Oh, I'm not that good...”
“You're better then Amy. Girl has two left feet...”, he said with a fond smile.
“And Leonard?”
It should be obvious, that the two of us knew each other, more then in passing.
Lugh smiled. “Dancing with a guy, no matter how good he is, is no substitute for dancing with a beautiful woman.”
The band began the next song.

Tristina Bonilla
Tristina frowned. "A fair answer. And a common one, I suppose." She stared at her thermos. "But it presumes that one has a family to be proud of." A long silence, then she turned to Lucina. "I was not born in Prussia-Poland." she admitted. "I...well, I come from -- no, no. I was born in Izabal. But I was raised in Prussia-Poland, educated there, spent all my time there -- besides maybe a summer or two in Izabal." She shook her head. "Unless you 'know people'..well, no, even if you do 'know people', it's not an enjoyable place. To say the absolute least." She tried for a smile. "The beaches are all well and good but...I think I like this one better."

Her smile dropped quickly, however, as she continued. "But still. People call me the 'Izabalan Girl' all too often." Her lip curled a little. "They're not wrong either. I was born there. My parents come from there. Unfortunately."

---

Maria and Diana Bonilla
"Ah, so not much of note at the moment." Diana noted. "At least, on that front. In any case-"
"Hold on there. Alternative-what?" Maria cut her sister off and leaned in, clearly interested. "What do you mean? And pa still calls rock and pop and all that the devil's music, too...though to say that Tristina disagrees would be quite the understatement." She smiled. "Papa nearly blew his top when she came back for a visit once and brought us CDs of...I think the artist's name was Russ Ballard."

---

Marie Ernst Gluck
"Photography, eh?" Marie inclined her head. "Nice." She scooted forwards a little and let her legs hand off the side of the rock, swinging them a little. "Sister Siepak does a little of that on the side as well. Did our school portraits and all for free." She lowered her voice and leaned in, as if imparting a deep secret. "The photos sure do look like they've been done for free, at least." she whispered, holding back a giggle.

Yven Barriall of the Tribe of Monaghan.
I smiled as well.
"I am sure, that she meant well, but sometimes, one needs a professional.", I said with a smile. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, softly, carefully, so that she could get out easily, if she wanted to. "To be honest, I would not do school portraits, far too rigid for my tastes... but if your school ever does a class trip to the Free Lands and wants a different photographer for some reason...”
I shrugged.
“...until then, I'll stick with cow herds. Nicely chaotic and quite cute – especially the wooly breeds.”, I told her with a smile.

Lien Findehoof.
“Oh, I do not mean Rock and Roll.”, I said, “What I mean is that kind of music, which puts you into a sort-of trance, with this peculiar atmospheric sound. If there is singing, it's about love and beauty and sometimes really creepy...”
Aaltje nodded.
“The guys listening to it are creepy, too... and whatever they smoke, I only need to smell it and I get a headache...”
I nodded. “Yeah... stupid stuff.”

Lucina Findehoof.
“Hm...”, I made, looking to my daughter as she spoke up.
“You know, whenever I am in Teressien, I am the 'Selkie-Girl' for everyone, especially for that special breed of idiots, who... well.” She forced a smile. “In any case, when I went to Middle School, here, well, at the Iris, I was the 'Teressian Girl' for everyone.” She shrugged. “Point is, random people will see you and call you whatever they want. What matters is, how the people you love see you and how you see yourself.” She let a beat pass. “That's the experience I made. It worked so far.”

Aunt Birkhild smiled – approaching 55 or not...

"Oh," Lorenzo said, "if I've any charm, it's bound to be..." His eyes had wandered over to Kaz, who looked at him with a knowing tilt. "Yea, yea, let's leave it as charm, I think it's simpler to say— and of course I'll be on the maps. Is the only reason why I came here, after all." He glanced to Kaz, who was busying himself with looking aside. All that indicated his attention to Lorenzo was that Kaz's right ear was turned towards them, or at least the paintballer assumed that his companion knew enough about audio to know which ear was better for speech. Still, the Idol followed them to their route, his swaying and dancing gait a quiet hint towards what he'd offer but there was a certain... sluggishness to it that said he was just moving like that out of habit more than desire.

The two boys looked cute together...

Eiko stepped forward. "Yes. I wouldn't suppose that there's a water gun map available right now? We'd like a round, whether just the two of us or—"
"Preferably just the two of us, actually." Kasem smiled too widely. "And can you make it a harder one?"
"Kasem, are you trying to get me to lose?"
"Yes."
The actor swirled his thermos and stared at his beloved, letting a beat pass before he turned back to Leni. "Look, I'll just... leave it—"

A fire lit in his eyes. Someone had approached the same area, someone who must have been familiar to him, what with the absolute disdain he was staring with.
"Ah?" a soft whisper of a voice called. "To think my vacation would feature—"
"And I could say the same to you!"
To say that the air near the Ezharans was heavy would be a vast understatement. It was hostile, except for the inclusion of Lorenzo, and Kasem, the former mystified and the latter simply afraid in the "I never knew this side" sort of way.
Kaz sighed. "Look, I've had enough bad fortunes here as is. I don't need your prudish judgments to annoy me even more— and besides, why even go to a beach if complaining about everyone else is all you'll end up doing, anyway?"

"It's for..." He paused, and the inferno withered away into a gentle, tender warmth.
"Do you seriously think you're hiding someth—" A water gun fell into his hands, and his companion was hurrying towards Eiko and Kasem with another gun. "Lorenzo what are you—"
"Look, I got no cares and worries as to why the two of you are fighting." By now, the other water gun was hastily tossed into Eiko's hands, who caught it with little difficulty. "I just know that a nice round of water gunning will be enough to keep the heat off." He turned to Leni. "Round for four." A glance back. "I... guess it'd have to be two-v-two."
The other boys stared at Lorenzo and Kasem stepped back. They all had known him faintly as a bold fellow, if his constant reumors of cheating in paintball were any indication. That he would dominate a conversation with Eiko, who hated losing any control, and Kaz, who loved having all of the control, was indication enough that they had stumbled onto his domain, and where this sapa — the Cholätipaqmin ruler — stepped, the sun's brilliant rays only smiled towards him, so that only those in his graces could earn the light.

Eiko aimed his water gun at Kaz and fired, but the idol stepped aside with a lithe step, raising his.
Lorenzo's water gun blasted between both in a vicious arc, knocking them back but only by surprise. "No fighting during the preparations, you two, hold the bloodlust to the actual battle proper. Don't care what you mean by outside conflict or what have you, we're having a water gun fight and we're making it proper."
Kasem watched quietly. Was Lorenzo part of the Scouts like him or something? There was a militant ferocity and an unyielding confidence to the way the other boy conducted himself in that moment that commanded Kasem's instinctual respect.
"Water gun match, yes?"
Eiko and Kaz muttered their assent, Kasem nodded.

Lien Kardeel.
I went to one of our stalls, manned by one of our girls, Leni – well, young woman, she was 26 years of age – with Lorenzo and with Kaz in tow. There were two lads there already, one with curly hair and the other in a green cloak-like garment and to say, that they and Lorenzo did not get along was a bit of an understatement.
Words were fired, then water guns.
“Uhm, usually we only offer maps for teams of three...”, Leni began, but I gave her a look, “...but I think we can make an exception. Miss Kardeel, can you please introduce them to the guns while I organize a map?”
I nodded. “Of course, Leni.”
Once she shuffled out and I shuffled in, I turned to the two teams.
“Alright, in case anyone of you needs a water gun, now's the chance.”, I said, then motioned to the shelves behind me, “We offer them for testing today, so please take good care. I wholeheartedly recommend our electric squirt guns, the TW-11 is an old favourite, but of the four we have free for testing today, my personal favourite and the one I'd recommend is the TW-12.”
I placed a pair of the light and short water submachine guns on the table, one with stock extended, the other with stock folded.
“Two blasts per second, five metres effective range, small, agile and effective.”, I said with a grin.
Leni returned, cleared her throat.
“Map One is reserved for you.”, she stated, “Once the current match has finished, you're free to enjoy it.”
Map One was a fun one, spawns in either corner, cover in different heights between one point and the other, water buckets for ammunition strewn all over the place. We had seen players utilize the water machine guns as cover fire while others advanced with WSMGs, we had other letting out their inner action movie heroes with the Automatic Water Scatterguns and, what I personally had loved the view of, someone taking a Pom-Pom to the field, a prototype, but still.

Clement Saavedra
Donrua Beach Bar

"Before I begin, I admit that it will sound presumptuous of me, so if you have any issues, I understand," Clement began. Here goes.
"It's about a specific someone; she and I have gotten to know each other a lot more personally late last year. So far, we've been keeping it casual, but I suspect that I've started to develop something more serious. When I asked earlier about the shampoo you use, it was with that person in mind. Before her, the most I had were casual relationships, but this is something else entirely...
"Funny, never thought I'd ask you for advice in that respect, having just met and all, but a fresh perspective can't hurt." And hopefully I didn't put my foot in my mouth, he thought.

Eileen Folaisagh of the Tribe of Dundalk.
So, he asked a waitress for advice with his girl...
“I would be glad to help you.”, I told him with a small smile, “But before you tell me more about her, I am not sure, if a bottle of shampoo is a good souvenir before the two of you got steady-serious more or less officially.” I let a beat pass. “It depends a bit on the condition of her hair, actually... if her hair is not good or if she cares about it a lot, a nice herbal shampoo can be interpreted as a sign of you noticing and wanting to help her. Though I'd be careful with the aroma.”

Ira observed Branwen who was now in the water. She could not help but giggle at the sight of her swimming in that cute posture. Then came Liv's question.

With an invisible sparkle illuminating her eyes, Ira put up an excited smile.

"Hopefully, we'll find some treasure," she replied, before gazing back at Branwen and smiling, "As Toxaris the White Fox said, 'finding worthy rewards within a veil that obscures your view, whether observable to your eye or not, is more fun than an instant presentation by a god.'"

Liv Longaidh of the Tribe of Waterford.
“That is true.”, I said and waded out deeper. “As for treasure... we might be lucky. The Archipelago was once a nest and safe harbour for pirates, preying on everything that didn't fly the flag of one of the Cities in the Free Lands. While Elin could tell you the stories, she is...” I looked over where the roles had reversed, Elin now having Ritu in her lap. “...preoccupied.”
I smiled.
“But even without gold and jewels, there is a reef around here. Wanna check it out?”, I proposed.

"Ah that's no problem then." Kano nodded with a smile. Naturally they planned to stay a week so of course they packed more than bathing suits and summertime clothes

"That's also reassuring" Their aunt added "To know all safety equipment is present so us few city slickers don't wind up killing ourselves. Yeah it will be a lot of fun to learn."

"Yeah, then Akky will be super jealous." Shino snickered a bit.

"We'll have to make sure we take a lot of pictures for her and then buy her favorite parfait when we get back."

Yuri

The two in conversation when yet another boy approached, well this time Yuri would keep a firm head on her shoulders and not jump to conclusions lest she embarrass herself again. He introduced himself as Ciaran. She giggled at his banter back and forth with Galen, good friends no doubt. "Yuri. Yuri Miyauchi, pleased to meet you, Ciaran."

Mara Urgharda of the Tribe of Fermanagh.
I smiled, especially when Rona giggled.
“You will find out, that Selkie learn riding almost instinctually, but sometimes, foreigners have a harder time, especially when they push too far too quickly.”, Maivie cautioned, “So, the photographs will have to wait until you know, what you are doing.”
I nodded.
“Unless you want to find yourself in one of those People failing at horseriding compilations on WhoTube.”, I added, shrugged. “But that isn't the aim here.” I reached over into my bag and pulled out a thermos can with hot tea. “Tea anyone?”

Galen Ainimh of the Tribe of Fermanagh.
Oh, Ciaran and I were both competitors and friends, having been on the field against each other more then once. He was a good lad, and a good horsearcher.
The green head bowed his head. “It is a pleasure, Miss Miyauchi.”, he said, then looked into her eyes with a lopsided smile, “Or would you prefer Yuri?”

The challenge has been accepted and now, it's time for Drunken Trio to shine!

Seth had analzied the map, looking at it with the eyes of video game level designer. He thought, which positions would be the ones, where he would put the enemies at if this was a game level. Fountain is an infinite source of ammo - an attractive thing for players, so there must be an ambush bad position to deter the player from running to it. Then, there are also two buckets at the spawn. Limited source of ammo... but still a source. And it had an unexpected advantage. It can be carried around, although it's pretty heavy and would definitely exhaust the one carrying it and make him more vulnerable and slower. There is also window for higher ground and hedges too.

-"Alright dudes! So we gonna do this: Sato - ya' take the window. Just snipe opponents if ya' see them. Elise... as the shortest of us, use your speed and size to provoke and lay suppressive fire on the move. And I... I'll just run around, carry the bucket sometimes and do whatever is most necessary. And we will improvise... like alot."

After thinking about lay of the land, the happy bunch decided to position themselves. Going for the fountain outright wasn't the best idea. Or perhaps... it was? As it would be unexpected. Decisions, decisions. Sato went and took a position near the window. He crouched and stepped a bit away from the window, so it would be harder to see him, while he still sees the area. He was watching the visible area and prepared to shoot at foes, should they appear.

Elise, armed with two SMGs decided to go with a rather bold plan of feign reckless going for the fountain, while shooting at general direction of window from her SMG to suppress possible fire from it. She would just scream "Yeah!" and pretend to run to the fountain, just to suddenly jump back to the cover and then run back and find a place for an ambush, after she sticks out a bit into the open and fires at random places. If she gets attacked, the positions of the attackers could be possibly pinpointed. Even better if she manages to lure the opponents. Suppressive fire, ya' say? That's the job for Seth! He would just fire from cover at the opponent in the window at start, so Elise would be able to execute her plan. When she starts firing from both her guns, Seth would cover her with fire from then and if the opponents are lured he would just fire a bit at their general direction and then find a place to hide. The goal is to lure the opponents and create a three-side ambush with a crossfire. Or better say... crosswater.

And if the opponents are not lured... Elise would move around and lay suppressive fire from different angles, while Seth and Sato use more careful approach and try to pick the opponents.

Siana Gualla of the Tribe of Cork.
Lieutenant Commander Laoróin has drilled several rules or principles into our heads regarding close quarters combat: The importance of detailed intelligence, the importance of surprise and swift assaulting, dynamic and rapid entry to roll up the defenders before they can react, speed and violence of movement.
The enemy knew, where we were and where we were coming from, we didn't have the element of surprise or swift methods of dynamic entry, but we knew, who we were fighting and we knew the area... or at least a map of it.
As Nora and Alaina rushed towards the hip-high hedge on the right, I took cover in the window, firing my water assault rifle in suppressive fire – one of the enemies, the girl, gave us the pleasure of rushing for the fountain almost immediately. She fired in my direction, screaming wildly, and while she shot wildly towards my general position, I stayed in cover, three-tapping (chest, chest, head) at her with my range-advantage. In the heat of the moment, I did not see, if I hit her or not, but I did not see Nora and Alaina firing immediately.
That came when the girl was retreating, when I got under more precise suppressive fire.
Just as the girl jumped back, I ducked into cover and saw Nora rise from her position behind the hip-high hedge, mostly concealed, and utilize the fully automatic fire of her water scattergun, focussing on the girl.
They were trying to lure us in.
A simple yet effective tactic.
I crawled over the ground past the window towards the door out of the corridor just as Alaina dove back. “Alaina, Nora! Hold position!”, I called in Selkie as I rose into a squatting position by the door. I looked down to see, if my bikini top was still holding everything where it needed to be held. A quick tug later, I continued: “I'll advance to the large hedge, Alaina, cover me!”
“Understood!” Alaina dove up with her two water SMGs and used the semi-automatic mode to lay down covering fire.
I dashed out, keeping a low profile, the full height hedge in my view...

Felecia smiled.
"I would normally agree. Really, what's the point of travelling and going abroad if it's the same everywhere? No, that'd be boring. However, being locked up for sitting on a bench... that's a tad bit unreasonable, if you ask me. Luckily, I'm legally not allowed to go there again, so their loss. I mean, what's the point of setting up benches, when it is forbidden to sit on them?"

She took a sip of her drink. Varic noted that she hadn't mentioned his "therapist"- who was really more of a counselor for his tendency to... overwork... himself every other week or so. He had asked around about one a month ago, as he felt that he just kept working because he was missing something, and it affected him and his work. Thinking of work, he began to get internally nervous over the remote- yet still slightly terrifying- thought that something had gone wrong on the project. He had hoped that nothing had, but he would need to make a phone call later to ensure nothing had. He pushed the thought out of his mind as Felecia once more continued, internally scolding himself for thinking about work.

"Anyway, the weather's too nice for such troubles. Wanna go down and see, what's going on?"

This was a vacation, on which he was supposed to relax and not think about work. Varic knew that checking things out on the beach would definitely start to take his mind off things. Activity usually did- and sipping a drink and light conversation, while effective and nice, was only a temporary solution.

"Of course. Let's go."

Varic finished off his drink with a big gulp, stood up, and started to exit the establishment toward the beach- once Felecia was following him, of course.

Felicia Lách of the Tribe of Galway.
I finished my drink in one gulp, too, though it was a smaller one, and closed the distance between me and Varic. I offered him an arm to link, grinning.
To one side, a sort-of concert was going on, a bit further down the beach an impromptu field lend itself to a footvolley game or two with people standing around watching, forming teams or cheering for them.
An ice cream stall and many people lounging in the sun were between them and us, including several people with horses, their saddlebags evidence of them belonging to the Lifeguards – and with how many people were in the water, they were hopefully not needed. A few sandcastle building sites were there as well, some of them nearing completion, while others lay abandoned.
And, of course, behind us was the Showroom of Tauwerk Water Gun Foundries.
I smiled at Varic.
“So... anything catching your eye?”, I asked.