Long and Winding Road

Half submerged in the murky and bubbly water which the tidal wave churned, a halfling crouched down to speak to an reddish-brown octopus. "Are you coming with me or traveling by yourself?" Grumbleshanks asked. He stood up and pointed a gnarly finger to the northeast, "Baldur's Gate is just over this nubbin." He looked at the compound eyes of his friend and understood Squiggles would not be joining him on this leg of his journey. With a wave, he started off towards the Cloak Woods in hopes of reaching the Coast Way in under an hour.

Along the beach lie hundreds of marine corpses, the work of the tidal wave. A knurklespat here, a skate there, even sharks, and corals were tossed ashore. His picked his way through the bodies towards the woods. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Taking his spear, the halfling shishkabobed a cucumber between a jellyfish and tuna, washed them off in the ocean, and dug in. Wiping a bit of jelly from his cheek, the halfling closed his eyes, feeling the anguish of the sea, sensing the destruction wrought, and listening for the whisper of life.

Suddenly, the boyish figure darted northward along the coast abandoning his intent of weaving through the dense forest. He rushed towards a small greyish mound half buried in the sand. He slid on the stop on his knees and leant over the body. Slowly and gently he put his hands on to the flesh. A violent spasm greeted him. The dolphin tried to flip, to flop, to do anything to find its way to the water, but no luck. Its muscles were failing and soon it would die. However, its heart was still beating and its blowhole was unblocked. Talking, stroking, and soothing the poor creature, Grumbleshanks invoked a stabilizing spell, praying his temperamental god, Ishishia, was feeling merciful. Immediately, the dolphin's heart beat slowed and muscles relaxed.

Grumbleshanks frantically called his friend to him, and haphazardly scoured the beach for driftwood. No luck. "What flipping luck. I've found the only barren beach." Abandoning that plan, Grumbleshanks noticed a pelican's corpse. Removing his dagger, the halfling sliced the lower beak off and dashed back to the dolphin where he began digging a trough to the life sustaining sea.

With the aid eight muscular tentacles, Grumbleshanks dug a deep trench. Periodically, he conjured a globe of water to fall upon and wet the lips and body of the unfortunate dolphin.
Once the trough was dug, Squiggles and Grumbleshanks grabbed the tail of the dolphin and heaved. Nothing. They heaved again and again and again. They hoed over and over and over. Nothing. Desperate and frustrated, Grumbleshank howled at the ocean, cursing the waves and the tides.

He cast a baleful glance upon the dolphin, ready to give up. The dolphin opened its eye and stared into the heart of the halfling. Feeling ashamed, Grumbleshanks gritted his teeth and began chanting. He stepped into the sea and let the frigid water embrace his body. He called upon the vegetation of the sea to send forth their legion vines and tentacles. Green tendrils coursed through the waves, wove past the muttering druid and wrapped around the near-lifeless body. The tendrils easily pulled the mammal into the life-sustaining water. As quickly as they arrived, they vanished into the depths.

Grumbleshanks examined the dolphin who struggled to give Grumbleshanks a prod with its nose. He bent down and returned the kiss upon its blowhole. He took a hug from his friend then asked Squiggly to watch over the dolphin. "I'll meet you at the bridge," he said. And to himself, "Bot, that last spell took a lot out of me." Noticing the fading light, he dragged his feet up the beach, collected his few possessions, and trudged towards the highway to the east.

Fortunately, his detour took him farther north than the forest. He only needed to climb the rolling dunes. A little while after the sun set, Grumbleshanks stumbled on the highway. Dissapointed it was too dark to see the city, however, lights did sprinkled the landscape, or the bridge he stopped. A curious thought or two passed his mind, but too tired and in no mood for social interaction, the soggy halfling shuffled off the highway and crashed. Within moments he fell into a deep and uneasy sleep.