Chapter 79 Interlude - Windsurfing

After Toz talked to Amber and they were shuffled through the portal with every other evacuee, they ended up in a second level wind element plane called Gusty Gales. They arrived in a large tourist-friendly port city whose main attraction was windsurfing on the ocean that stretched beyond the horizon.

But the evacuated residents of Yellow Sparks and other places on First Ignition weren't there for vacation and were instead gathered in a refugee camp outside the city. That was where those who couldn't afford or didn't want to pay for lodging in the city ended up at least.

Toz had hired a room in a smaller inn as soon as they had arrived in the City of Rising Winds. He wasn't the only one who had left for Rising Winds, and he was far from being the only one who didn't want to settle down, even momentarily, in a refugee camp outside town when he could afford better. Because of that, the prices were pretty high, and there weren't a lot of available rooms. And Toz ended up choosing an inn on the outskirts, a bit too close to the ocean, so they woke up to the spray of the waves hitting the shore.

But since they were staying there for a few days at most, so Toz didn't bother finding another alternative. And the complementary fish buffet breakfast kept them satisfied.

While Lucy seemed pretty interested in trying windsurfing he wasn't as keen when it came to falling into the cold water. Toz was the only other one who seemed to want to do it as well. Mindle and Nil were content either staying in the familiar space or roaming around the city. Since Mindle had a pretty conspicuous appearance, they promised to be careful when they went out.

And Toz and Lucy went to find a place where they could rent a board and equipment.

Toz got offered some help on how to do it when he told the store owner that he was a complete beginner.

The store owner told Toz to prepare for getting wet and that the hardest part was getting started.

"Get up on the board with the wind to your back and the rig in front of you. Then carefully pull up the rig. The rest takes more than a few words to understand, but keep trying, and you will learn how to, eventually."

Toz remembered the store owner's word as he swam out with the kit. Lucy hid in the familiar space while Toz was in the water, but as Toz crawled onto the board, he appeared on Toz's head.

After he followed the instructions and pulled up the rig, Toz began feeling the wind pull on the sail attached to the board he was standing on. But despite the strong winds that were enough to create small waves further into the ocean, Toz didn't fly across the water like the other windsurfers currently on the ocean were doing.

Eventually, as he kept fiddling around with the rig, he managed to turn it and angle it to catch the wind better, but he lost balance and ended up in the water. Lucy was prepared and escaped into the familiar space as soon as Toz began fumbling.

Toz tried again a couple of times with the same result before he eventually managed to glide around on the water a bit. After his first small success, he advanced with leaps and bounds and got better by the minute.

Although he was still playing pretty close to the shores where the waves didn't get higher than a meter, and the wind wasn't too strong. As he got more comfortable, Toz started surfing further from the shore.

He began surfing and gliding across the water so fast that Lucy held onto his scalp with his claws. Lucy's reaction was almost subconscious as he was too busy enjoying the ride and the excitement that came every time Toz hit a wave and flew through the air instead of on top of the water. The rush kept Lucy from noticing how wet he got from the splashing water.

Toz also enjoyed the feeling of flying through the air and water and rode atop a towering wave before making a sharp turn off it so he could surf through the air for almost twenty seconds. Toz felt his stomach tightening as they approached the water again, where they landed with a mighty splash.

After that, both Toz and Lucy were getting pretty tired from all the excitement so they decided to call it a day and went back to shore, where they found Nil and Mindle watching them. It seemed like they had grown bored of the city and wanted to see Toz windsurf, and that it seemed a lot more fun than they had first thought.

Toz only sighed joyfully before he went back out, this time with all three of the cats joining him. They held onto Toz's torso as they flew around on top of the ocean outside the city.

After they finished and returned the stuff to the store they rented it from they enjoyed the sight of the setting sun across the ocean, turning the water into a deep red color that rippled with the constant waves. They continued watching the sun disappear into the ocean, and after it became more night than evening, they headed to the city where the nightlife was thriving and activity different from during the day prospered.

But the only thing that Toz and the cats were interested in was the street food they could find all over the city's main streets. They walked around the city, talking about nonsense while eating the food in their hands before they went around to find the next dish.

Skewers, meat buns, grilled cheese sandwiches, bread bowls packed with fruits and berries with some kind of honey or syrup drizzled on top. All food they ate was delicious, like food tended to be when after exercise and when enjoyed in pleasant company.