Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Ocean Calling (1x1)

(Just as a heads up for anyone reading through this, there may be some swearing down the way!)

Jamie was uncertain what would happen next. He and his twin were being sent off now that they were eighteen. He stood gazing at his empty bedroom. The bare walls and imprints in the carpet from the dresser and the desk were only adding on to his anxiety. He wouldn't really miss the room; it was little and basically part of the attic, so it was often unbearably hot and stuffy. But he would miss his home and the guidance he received from his parents and the lessons his mother gave him in magic. Now he'd have to teach the rest to himself, alongside his twin. At least they got to move in together, so there was at least one solid thing in this mess of change.
"Jamie?" His mother called. "Are you done packing?" He was indeed; all of the books crammed into boxes, the posters thrown out, and the clothes meticulously folded and shoved into bags.
"Yeah," He yelled out to her, grabbing the last two boxes and beginning to descend the stairs.

Jasmine laid across the ground just outside her family home with her arms elbow deep in the water. She had been ready to leave for hours, not because she was eager to be sent away from her family, but because she was eager to discover her true capabilities alongside her twin brother.

"Youre coming with us too, right Pelle? Its going to be new and exciting." Jasmines voice held no excitement as she poked at a particular rainbow fish that often brought her beautiful sea glass in exchange for her shells.

Pelle, as usual, simply glubbed wordlessly at her.

She pulled her arms out of the water and rolled onto her back, staring up at the sun overhead, "Dont get me wrong, Pelle, I'll miss this place, but everyone goes through this when they turn 18. Its a very common change, and change is good." She reasoned aloud with herself.

She sat up as she heard her mothers voice and brushed herself off.

She clasped her hands together behind her back as feelings of eagerness melded with a sudden onset of slight anxiety at leaving home and played it off by loudly teasing her brother, "Is Jamie finally ready? He takes longer than a turtles lifespan to get ready."

"Hardy har har," Jamie laughed out as he came off the last step of the front porch. "Too bad your sense of humor is just as terrible." He dropped the last of his boxes in the back of the u-haul trailer and secured the door. It was a bit empty, only holding some furniture and lots of boxes. Mom had said there would be more than enough of what they'd need at great-great-great-great... grandmom's house. He didn't even know how many "greats" should be affiliated with her; all he knew was that she was a great witch and he was somehow related to her, however distantly.
"You two have never grown out of teasing each other." Their mom said. She held out two paper bags, one boldly labeled "Lunch" in their father's handwriting, the other with "Extra Materials" in their mother's scrawl. "This is just in case you need something on the road."
"Mom, I doubt we'll need to use magic while we're driving." He took the bags regardless. He peeked inside them both and saw that the contents of each bag were mixed up, but it was ok because there were chicken salad sandwiches. The other bag contained magical odds and ends. "We could always pick something up, too, but thanks, Mom." He puts the bags on the dashboard and readjusts his bag to sit a bit more comfortably against his hip.
"I guess y'all are ready to go," Their mother said, her hands cheerfully propped up on her hips and a smile that Jamie knew wasn't as pleased as it looked. "It'll be nice to have so much room again! I wonder what I'll use it for...?" She teased. Jamie smiled and hugged her, knowing that she'd miss them both very much.

Jasmine scoffed as Jamie said they wouldn't need magic on the trip, "Its always a good time for magic." She peered over Jamie's shoulder into the two bags and a smile crept onto her face at the supplies they were provided.

Jasmine hugged her mother goodbye and took one last glance at the home they had grown up in, not knowing how long it would be until she saw it again - since every person had a different length that they were gone for depending on how long it takes them to find their powers. She glanced at her brother, certain that she could survive anywhere he was.

"I'm sure you'll find plenty of strange items to fill the house with, just promise me you'll only fill my room with the best items! You can put any weird items in Jamie's room, I'm sure he wont mind." Jasmine grinned.

"Ready when you are, bro." She hopped into the car and sent one more wave to her mother and to her old house before committing herself to the road ahead

"What kind of magic could you possibly do in a moving car?" Jamie teased, knowing full well she could make a good range of charms and potions on the go with the materials they were provided. He threw his bag through the open window of the back seat and jumped behind the wheel. He looked up at the house, his mother, and the land he had grown up on. He knew that he'd miss all of it. He looked to Jaz and was sincerely glad she'd be coming with him to this strange place.
"You can put whatever you want in my room, Ma, just make sure it won't die in the heat!" He called out to her. He started the car and began the long trek to their new home after waving goodbye one last time to his mother.
"Did you even bring any of your shoes?" He asked Jasmine with a grin.

"With enough balance, you can do anything in a moving car." Jasmine smirked.

Jasmine watched her house fade from view through the rearview mirror, "Of course I brought shoes. What do you take me for? Some kind of wild animal who refuses to wear shoes? Because you wouldnt be entirely wrong." She giggled.

Shoes were her least favorite clothing item since it blocked the flow of natures magic and although she did still have a few pairs for emergency, she had been prepared for this conversation.

"I actually found some really nice ones that I think im going to wear on a daily basis." She propped a foot up on the dashboard and reached into one of her bags behind them. She was sure that Jamie could smell it as soon as she opened the bag and a wicked grin took over her face.

She turned back with a large piece of seaweed and began wrapping it around her foot, "Mm, smell that yummy seaweed."

"Ugh! That's disgusting!" Jamie yelled as he opened all the windows. He detested seaweed, especially the smell, but mostly the way it grappled at you while you swam.
"Get that shit away from me!" He made to grab at the bag, but only ended up swerving the car. He brought his had back to the wheel and righted the vehicle quickly, eyes wide. He drove for a while in silence.
"So what do you think this new place will be like?" He asked. The house had been described to him as large, a Victorian that he didn't think had a place right on the sea. But Mom had said it had plenty of room for learning, seeing as it would have two extra bedrooms after the twins were moved in and a big ass kitchen. He supposed it was ideal, and it still had most of the items that great-great-whatever grandmom had owned. Which of course meant everything was old, but there would still be lots of books. The house was a kind of library for all of the family tomes. Mom had also said that whenever someone was living there while they were learning, the whole family pitched in to pay the bills so that the resident student didn't have to worry about anything except for finding their talent and being able to afford food. He knew that lots of cousins and especially his mother had sold charms, among other things, to the other magic users in town. He didn't know whether or not that meant that the whole town would be welcoming to two witches, so he decided to keep his head down when they got there.

"Okay, okay." Jasmine laughed and tossed the seaweed out of the window. She actually kind of liked the stuff even though she didnt know exactly why, but she had a suspicion it was only because her brother hated it so much.

"The new place?" Jasmine held a hand to her chin, "I think itll be old and broken down, and it'll creak with every wave that hits the shore a little too hard but there will be a hidden room somewhere - I would bet your sea glass collection on it." She nodded, "And the library. Oh man, it has to be huge! With those big comfy arm chairs that just envelop your entire soul."

Jasmine smiled through a dreamy daze imagining it. Her mother had told them about the library, and that was her main focus, the center of knowledge. Of course, she had read plenty of books in her lifespan, but to have access to an entire library of tomes and spell books - it was like a tiny piece of heaven.

"What do you think itll be like?" She asked.

"Hey, keep my sea glass collection out of it!" He protested, subconsciously rubbing at a strand of the small rocks wound about his wrist. He smiled as he listened to her wistful voice as she talked about all the books that must be there. Jamie had never really been a book man, instead just finding the spell he needed and leaving it at that. He preferred to cook or swim in the ocean while Jasmine was reading. He'd seen her go through so many books and often wondered how she did it. His own books were all old grimoires or journals he'd written while experimenting with magic, something his mother disapproved of. She said he was too young and inexperienced to be doing that, that he could hurt himself. He supposed she was right, but that didn't stop him. He was too drawn to it, however dangerous throwing in whatever ingredients he thought he'd need to carry out his intentions may be. He had hurt himself many times, but he loved the feeling of pride and self-fulfillment he got whenever he made a good, safe spell or charm, and Mom was often proud of him, too, as soon as she was done treating his burns and cleaning his hair of foul-smelling goo.
"Well, I think it'll be well kept, if not a little dirty. There'll be lots of shells and sea glass on the shore, but there won't be any seaweed in the water. And there will most definitely be a secret room." He said with a grin. "And there'll be lots of sea turtles to protect." He smiled at the thought of staying up late in the summer with Jasmine to watch baby sea turtles escape into the water.

Jasmine gasped quite audibly at the mention of sea turtles and a hand flew to her chest.

"Do you think there will be a lot where were going? Oh, that would be fantastic." She sighed, picturing baby turtles appearing from beneath the sand and making their way into the water.

"I bet there will be a lot of cool shells too. I wonder what the sea life will trade me for. Pele brought me a lot of the same stuff - hopefully there will be more to trade for. I mean, I like rainbow rocks and all but some new rare shells would be cool." She smiled and stared out the window.

Trading with sea life was probably her favorite past time activity other than studying and even though she couldnt talk to them, she felt that she had a special connection with ocean dwellers of all kinds.

"Do you think the kitchen will already be stocked when we get there or do you think well have to venture out to the town?" Jasmine reached into the bag labeled lunch and pulled out one of the sandwhiches. It wasnt her favorite, but anything their mom made was good.

"Yeah, definitely. Mom said the property had a lot of private beach, remember? I wonder if anybody trespasses on the beach?" He wondered aloud. They probably did, so he made a mental note to clean up the sand and water once he was done unpacking and tidying the house. He thought he should also put up some wards to discourage people from coming up there.
"They'll probably bring you lots of new things. I wonder if Pelle'll follow you up here? I always felt like he was attached to you." He said with a smile, but he thought that it might be too far for the little fish to swim; their new house was two hours by car from their mother's house.
"There'll probably be old pots and pans, but we'll probably have to go grocery shopping. I think that's why Mom made lunch for us. I'll go shopping as soon as I can after we get there." He replied. He grabbed the other sandwich and carefully began to eat it while driving.

Jasmine smiled as Jamie mentioned the private beach and nodded her head. People most likely did trespass there, but she felt that her brother would put up wards to keep people away, which was prefered by both of them.

"I can start unpacking while you go to the store, Ill give the place a nice wipe down too since Im sure its full of dust." She suggested, "But be careful while youre out, we dont know how any of these people are who'll live nearby - for all we know they hate witches."

Jasmine sighed thinking of the first regular friend she made, and how it was her first as well as her last. But that was so long ago she barely remembered exactly what happened, and she preferred something more like a pet anyways.

She pulled a shell out of her pocket and tossed it out the window, somehow hoping it'll lead Pelle to her, like a bread trail back home.

"No, I don't want to make you clean it all by yourself, and I don't trust you with my sea glass collection anymore!" He said with a grin. " Besides, I think it'd be good for you to know what the store is like, so we should both go shopping. Maybe we'll get to talk to some people and find out what they think about witches." He thought back to a time in middle school when he'd tried to do a spell in a toilet. He had been trying to scry during a test to see what an answer was, but a friend had caught him. He hadn't told anyone the truth, but instead had told nasty rumors about Jamie to keep the other kids away from him. Even some of the other magical kids had avoided him.

"Or, I could use that time to brush up on some old spells." She suggested with a wide grin, "But, I guess I should be there to protect you in case anything happens." Jasmine nonchalantly held up her arms to flex the muscles she didnt have.

"Just kidding, It would be a good way to get a feel for our neighbors." She laughed. It was always a good idea to get a scope of your surroundings, including friends and enemies.

Jasmine stared out the window getting more and more anxious for this new life and she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. After what felt like hours, she finally decided to take a nap and told Jamie to wake her up when they got there.

Jamie smiled as he listened to his sister's jokes. He thought it'd be nice to get to know people, too. Ever since word had gotten out about magic, some people could be very dangerous if they knew someone was a magic user. He hoped that the people of the new town would be more welcoming than some other places, but he knew it was a long shot. Maybe only a few would be ok with it; some non-magical people liked to use spells and things to help them out, but others would threaten you if you even mentioned magic.

---

Jamie pulled up the long driveway and parked the car in front of the door.
"Hey, Jaz, we're here." He said, shaking her lightly. He looked up at the house; it was nothing like he'd imagined. Although he thought that the inside would be well kept, he had suspected that the exterior would be worn. Instead, the outside of the house almost shone as if it was brand new.
"There must be some crazy powerful magic on that old thing to make it look so good. Lets just hope it's as jacked up with magic on the inside." He cracked a smile with the last sentence and hopped out of the car, grabbing his bag in the process. He reached in and fumbled through the pockets, hunting for his key to the house.

Jasmine yawned as she popped open the car door. She stretched before glancing around, but once she did she was completely awake. The house was beautiful and just past it she saw the ocean. She left her belongings in the car and stepped out onto the rocky gravel that made up the driveway, it was sharp underneath her feet, but she didn't let it bother her at all.

"I'm going to see if Pelle is here!" She ran to the waters edge and saw that they were actually on a small hill above the water, but there was a path carved out of stone that led down to a small, private beach. She jumped off of the hill instead of using the path and ran into the water until it came up to her knees.

"Pelle!" She called. She took a few more steps in, trying to send out her location mentally to Pelle, even though she never figured out if that actually worked or not, she could still hope.

Jasmine waited a few minutes and glanced back to her brother, "I'll be right back!" She called before taking a deep breath and diving beneath the water. Luckily, her family never seemed to have trouble seeing underwater, as long as the sun was out, and Jasmine learned how to hold her breath for quite a bit. The water here seemed like ocean water, but it was oddly clear and she could easily see the bottom. She swam around a coral reef and saw a few fish, but none that were Pelle. She pouted a bit and wondered if maybe it would take him longer than it took them to get there. Just as she was about to turn away, her eyes caught a glimpse of something buried in the sand. She swam down and began pulling it out to find that it was a message in a bottle.

"Jamie! Look!" Jasmine breached the surface and swam back to the shores and ran towards him with the bottle in her hands.

He watched her run as she dashed past the house and straight into the water; he was almost tempted to join her in the crystalline water. Instead, he found the key hiding at the very bottom of the bag and approached the door.
"It really does look like new," he muttered to himself. He put the key in and turned the lock, opening the door. He stepped inside and looked around; there was indeed a thick layer of dust on everything. The last person in the house would have been their cousin Tori, but she had left it six years ago.
There was furniture in each room, but at least Tori had managed to cover them with sheets. Jamie assumed the room to the right was a living room, the one to the left a parlor. The stairs were past the parlor and the kitchen beyond that. He stepped into the kitchen and saw a small table that didn't really fit, due to the dining room he knew it would have. He went through the door to the left of the kitchen and saw why the small table was there; the huge dining room had been turned into a small library. He pulled some sheets off of the shelves and gazed at all of the tomes. Some were huge and bound in leather, others were small and backed with cardboard. He picked one of the latter up and opened it to find that it was filled with someone's chicken scratch; he smiled as he realized it was somebody's personal magic book. It was filled with X-ed out spell recipes and very few were circled.
He pulled another sheet off of a piece of furniture and found a chair that was almost exactly like the kind that Jasmine had imagined; soft and plush. He plopped down into it and sank about five inches into the downy filler.
He heard his name being called and pulled open the back door to see Jaz running back up the beach. He walked towards her.
"What is it?" He called to her from the top of the hill, raising a hand to block the afternoon sun from his eyes.

Jasmine ran up the hill and grinned while standing beside her brother. She tried to stand on her tip toes to block out the sun for him, but she was relatively shorter than him and couldn't help. She turned him around so he was facing away from the sun and his body was blocking it from her view before popping open the cork excitedly. A faint blue smoke drifted out of it before disappearing into the air. She glanced up at her brother to see if she should take it out, or put it back - even though she had no intention to put it back.

She turned the bottle upside down and shook it until the note fell out. It unfolded in her hand like a flower and she held it out between them so they could both see what was on it. The writing was ever so simple and scrawled as if the person was in a hurry.

"The only thing it says is help..." She flipped the note over to the back but saw nothing else, "How are we supposed to help if they don't give us anything to work with?" She grumbled.

He smiled and let her spin him. Jamie quirked a hesitant brow at the blue smoke but knew it would be no use telling her to use caution-she'd already opened it. He read the single word and squinted; it really wasn't much to go on. He looked out to the horizon of the ocean, wondering if someone had been kidnapped on a boat or stranded on an island just out of eyesight.
"Jaz, where'd you find this?" He asked, gently taking the note from her. He looked it over, too, and also found there was nothing else on it.

Jasmine looked out to the ocean where the rocks lead down to the beach and pointed, "Theres a private beach there, I was diving."

She began leading him down the stone path and to the oceans edge.

"It was buried out there." She pointed slightly off to the right, ready to follow him if he was going out there.

"Do you think someone could be trapped out there somewhere?" She turned a worried gaze to her brother.