[center][h3][sub][b]E V A N D E R   W H I T E M A N E[/b][/sub][/h3]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/EqOFKC8.jpg?1[/img][/center]
[right][hr][color=gray][b]Windward Island[/b]
Port Harbor, the Sunken Shepherd
[@Mcmolly] [@DruSM157][/color][hr][/right]


Evander had known something was off about Solia - but he would be lying to say he was not taken aback by the handshake. Her touch was cold and stiff, as if the warmth of life had been removed from her. He did what he could to mask his surprise at the touch of her hand, but his eyebrows raised immediately. Yet he did not jerk his hand back, for while her hand felt almost entirely alien, he did not feel a reason to be alarmed. No, this was someone who had offered him all promise of their own reward to have him help a small and insignificant island in the Southern Sea.

He held the handshake for a few seconds longer than might have been customary, matching the sensation of her touch to the appearance of her face, now that he had gotten a proper look.

She appeared... frozen. As if her face was locked permanently to one position. Yet while everything about her seemed eerily lifeless and unnatural, her eyes of a brilliant blue were entirely human. Gazing into the eyes of one another, in total silence, he could see her nerves. He was witnessing her humanity - despite all indications that she was something else entirely, something inhuman.

Evander parted his lips only a small way, intending to speak but finding himself unable to summon the power of his own voice. After a few seconds more of the disconcerting silence, he found the words he needed. [color=A9CCE3]"What are y-.."[/color]

"You--" thundered a powerful voice from behind Evander, visbily startling him as his shoulders jumped in surprise while his head spun to meet the man who had approached them. Quickly recognising the man as Chief Talu, it took Evander longer than he would have liked to compose himself as he remained fixed on the question of what exactly Solia was.

[color=A9CCE3]"Oh, I-..I've-.. I did, though yes, he has the harpoon."[/color]

Solia and Evander had been interrupted, and while Evander wanted to, at the very least, reassure her that he was still comfortable to work alongside her, he had become acutely aware from her reaction that her story was not one she was happy to share with the entire village. Not yet, anyway. Thus, Evander took the route of conveying this message through his conversation with Chief Talu.

[color=A9CCE3]"This is my new partner"[/color], he interjected before Solia had a chance to respond to the question put by Chief Talu. [color=A9CCE3]"We were both planning on investigating, as a matter of fact."[/color]