Finished Water, Water Everywhere

All ideas sound good at the start. Jae felt that he had become at least somewhat familiar with the island and could handle going off on his own for a bit. There was a large wood near Aunt Taliah's home that had a decently sized pond in there somewhere. By tapping into his other sense he could find it. A rush of salt and grit flooded his senses, that was the ocean that surrounded the island. That sensation pulled powerfully from all directions. Jae had to feel deeper to the colder, clear, feeling of fresh water. He let his water sense guide him into the woods, mindful of where he put his foot down. Magical things lived on this island and he really didn't want to piss something off because he couldn't be bothered to look where he stepped.

Maybe a half, or quarter of a mile from his start point he found the pond nestled between two hills. Big enough he could swim laps, but the water was dirty from runoff off the hills. Big yikes. Still, he came all this way, maybe it just looked bad? Jae shed his jacket, and shirt, then his pants and shoes before taking that first step into murky water. Once he was neck deep he closed his eyes and tapped into another sense. Electrolocation was a lot trickier than just "where is water. It's over there." Jae read at least two books on the subject and still barely understood it.

How does he describe it? It was like smelling through touch. He could feel the motions of life in the water, but it wasn't like touch feel? Ugh, Jae couldn't focus too much on the hows or else all the electric motions became disconnected noise. There was life in the pond, some small fish and bottom feeders. Basically the stuff that was hardy enough to live anywhere. Nothing big or dangerous. . . as far as he could tell. The pond wasn't too bad, aside from all the murk. The enclosed hills gave a sense of privacy. This place could be a decent retreat should he be unable to make it to shore.

Jae left the water, dripping but not cold, even as he reclined on the gravel lined shore. The pond water dried tacky on his skin, and that made Jae shiver. It was quiet this far out. Quiet and peaceful with the sounds of birds. After a time Jae stood and dressed. He started back but. . . where? This way. Jae went into the wood but felt off. This wasn't the way he came, was it? Okay, no problem he could just. . . the flood of salt water and. . . no use the feeling came from everywhere. He could feel his way to shore. . . but where? Which shore? Through the trees he could see the sky going through the motions of sunset. Great.

He was not lost, Jae felt stubbornly, because he wasn't. He went half a mile at most from his aunt's house and was still close enough to feel the shore. He picked a direction and went with it. He was not lost!

@Kada

Jae tripped, his foot stuck on an exposed root. He stumbled and caught himself on a tree trunk. "Ugh, shi-bal," He freed his foot and studied the quickly darkening path ahead. This was bad. While it was still light enough to see he thought he was on the right path, but now Jae seconded guessed himself. It was entirely possible he went the wrong way. Wasn't there some kind of water feature in town he could use to guide himself? His aunt had a little pond in her backyard, but it was too small to sense. There had to be something in town he could sense.

The teen tapped into his water sense once again, and felt for anything like fresh water. His senses pinned at least three bodies. . . in three different directions. "This is useless." He said in his native Korean. The language a small comfort in this foriegn land. Okay, Jae can now finally admit that he was lost and had no means of finding his way back to town. Surely Aunt Taliah would-. No, she wouldn't go looking for him. Jae flopped against the side of a near-by tree, and mindlessly itched his tacky skin. She would think he went out to use his magic and thus wouldn't worry until morning.

Now Jae had to make a decision. He could keep walking until he found the coast, or stay put. The coast sounded like the best option as even though he was tired from walking, he was much faster in the water. From the ocean he simply had to swim around until he found the docks and then maybe make it home in time to catch a few hours of sleep before school. Though, given his track record for decisions today that might still go wrong.

"Huh?" Jae spun around, startled as a twig snapped. The forest was so quiet a moment before, now that same silence felt like death waiting. The teen shivered, suddenly too aware of the feeling of being watched.

Though Jae felt something was watching him, he still jumped when something actually talked. Jae thought he was being paranoid, or that maybe some animal had spied him. But no, an actual person (he hoped) was talking to him in a strange accent. His heart pounded in his ears, and it took a moment for Jae to fully comprehend what was being said. "Starlight. . .? You go to Starlight?"

A fellow student found him in the woods. Not suspicious at all considering he only heard their voice. "I-I. . . I would like some help, yes." Jae said quickly, least his stubborn streak kick in at the worst moment. "I seem to have gotten lost. D-do you know the way back to town?" The sun had set fully beyond the horizon, and it was well and truly dark. If this wasn't someone friendly. . . Jae flexed his hand, felt the first tingle of electric build-up. He had maybe one or two decent shocks in him. Would it be enough?

"Um," Jae peered into the surrounding shadows. "Where are you?" And please don't be a demon or something here to steal my soul. Or a vampire. Or a werewolf. Or whatever other crazy thing that lives on this island.

Jeremiah, the name didn't strike a chord with Jae, but Starlight Academy was kinda a big school and he himself was new to the island. If he were some kind of predatory monster, Jeremiah was at least a nice one. Too nice, really. Jae felt himself begin to untense, and shifted his posture to something a little less defensive. Though this was an entirely strange scenario. . . it didn't feel like the malicious kind. The teen liked to think he could tell a dangerous situation from an innocent one. Not from any supernatural sense but his gut feeling.

"Oh. . . I-it's okay. I don't know if I should promise not to freak out but I'll at least not scream?" That sounded bad. Jae winced and tried again. "Really, you're helping me out. The least I can do is not point and call names. I was raised to be very polite." Jae has seen denizens of hell since coming to the island. And once an alien while about town. Super uncomfortable, but it was the new normal of his life. At some point he had to get used to it.

Speaking of being polite. "My name is Jae Yi-Lin. I'm a sophomore at Starlight." Perhaps if he kept conversation going Jeremiah's reveal won't be so awkward. "Um, I live with my aunt and I used to live in Hawaii before here." Maybe talking was helping Jae's nerves more than anything else. "Can you see well in the dark? I'm not gifted with any kind of night vision."

Jae firmly held his ground as a hulking, goat-skull-headed creature emerged from the darkness. Fear and panic bubbled in his throat but gosh darn-it he promised not to scream. This was not the wrong decision, he mentally told himself. I am not going to die, this is a fellow student, was the other phrase he repeated. Jeremiah didn't even look alive, his body too wooden and unyeilding. Oh gosh those eyes, like every kind of creature summoned from the abyss depicted in art.

"G-great." Jae managed, rather stiff as a board himself. "Nice to meet you as well. Um, sh-shall I follow you?" Jae promised not to freak out. He was not going to freak out. Even though he was freaking out in his head. "H-how long have you lived on the island, Jeremiah?" He said, talking to force himself to relax. He felt he was doing a good job keeping his face neutral.