An Afternoon Above the Waves [anyone]

Another beautiful day in Armonía, as Arielle raced through the ocean, intent on spending the sunny day lazing about in the quiet cove she usually inhabited when she wanted to get away from everyone and just relax.

There was nothing for her to do that day, no one she'd been planning on meeting, and so she was planning on spending the day relaxing in the sun and generally avoiding the world. Sometimes it was nice to just get away.

With a grin, Arielle burst out from under the waves, like a red-headed dolphin, scaring a flock of sea-birds that had been swimming nearby. As she landed with a satisfyingly noisy splash, she turned to lazily float the rest of the way on her back.

Some exploring later on would be brilliant, she mused as she clambered onto a warm rock, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her bare skin.

The sun filtered gently through the branches; little rays beaming through the foliage to the ground. Through the air flew wisps of colour, and birds flitted between the branches, stopping only to call out to each other.

What a beautiful way to wake up...

Brink's eyes were still heavy with sleep as he slowly awakened. The sound of the cove nearby was soothing, when put together with the bird song and breeze. But he'd been asleep long enough. With a sigh, he pushed himself off of his coat and pack, and picked them up to carry on his journey to his cove.

One of the beauties of being alone in the world - you could leave whenever you wanted to and do your own thing. You could see the world. You could run away from the stresses of work, play, and the city's dank and stinking streets. And all of this is right around you.

He started playing as he walked, lighting fires with the rune in his left hand, burning his other, and then allowing the energies within his necklace to heal the broken, toasted skin. He couldn't help but laugh as the sparks jumped from the palm of his right hand, into the hurt skin. It tickled.

He played like this for a good hour or so while he walked, occasionally running to make up for lost time, slowing down to munch on particularly gritty bread, tripping over unseen tree roots.

Eventually, the trees parted. All he could see was the ocean - proud and might and blue with the deepest of greens to join it. On the horizon, he could see ships heading towards the city's harbour.

He was surprised to hear a splash and giggle below him. Looking down about twenty meters, he could see his cove. And it was inhabited by a most beautiful creature.

He couldn't help but smile at the pure joy she was getting out of the water, and was so curious as to her tail.. Was this a mermaid? really? In his cove?

He sat down to enjoy the musical laughter, and to watch the water in the distance... Should he distract her?

As he sat, the ground gave way below him. He started to slide down the steep hill, dirt and stones carrying him speedily on his decent.

Ah, shit. What an entrance..

ten seconds later he was in the water, and his pack caught half way up the hill on a tree root.

Ah, the ocean. Taryn took a deep breath of salty air and smiled a little, though it was a sad smile in some way. Her wings were flapping rapidly as she hovered just above a small tree near the sea. Usually she didn't fly that far away from the forest or the city, but today was a day that she needed to be on her own and the best way to do that was flying to the bay and sitting on a rock near the water. She hadn't seen the human swimming in the water, yet.

Silently she flew to a rock just a few feet into the water and landed above, standing for a few minutes, looking around for any signs of danger. Spotting nothing but a mermaid nearby, she sat down, looking over the endless seeming ocean, listening to waves crashing at the beach and the sound of sea birds and fish jumping out of the water and back in.

Taryn wasn't afraid of the red-headed mermaid that she had spotted nearby. She had seen her on that rock a few times already and Taryn wasn't about to disturb her anyway. Today of all days she didn't want to be in any kind of dangerous situation whatsoever.

The slightest of breezes ruffled Arielle's red locks and the mermaid couldn't help but smile. This was wonderful - being away from the drama and noise that was her family and that was the palace. She adored this place, not only for its beauty, but for the peace and quiet it offered. Here she could just relax, could forget about everything just for a while.

She looked around her, surveying her surroundings. She spotted a blonde fairy, relaxing on a rock nearby and enjoying the sunshine. So maybe her cove wasn't as secret as she'd hoped it'd be. But no matter. The fairy didn't seem like she'd cause any trouble. So the redhead simply shot her a friendly smile and a slight wave.

She hadn't noticed the human. Which was probably just as well. Ever since Eric, her and humans, especially male ones, didn't have the best of track records. Hearing a splash, however, the girl turned her head, watching the frothy foam around the spot. Then she noticed the stream of bubbles. Someone alive? A human? Well, I hope they can swim...

She wasn't planning on jumping to the rescue. Not if she could help it. She'd made the fatal mistake of rescuing a human before and wasn't about to do it again. Time seemed to have slowed down as the female watched and waiting for whatever it was to resurface. But as the seconds crept by, that seemed more and more unlikely.

Oh hell... I can't let it drown...

With a slight grimace, she dived into the azure water, dark eyes searching. He was rather easy to spot, a flailing tumbling human. Racing over, she scooted up under his shoulders, and began to pull him towards the surface. Why were they always so damn heavy?

Just a bit more... The surface was close, the sunlight teasing her to come up. Finally she broke the surface, dragging him to her rock and dumped him onto it, leaning back into the water so only her face peeked out. What was he doing here? In her cove?

~
The Cove

He plunged into the water, icey compared to the warm sunshine that the surface was providing. He tried to sign his way to an air bubble, but the woolen coat on his shoulders prevented his movement..

Not like this...

He was struggling now, he couldn't get the coat off, he was sinking rapidly despite the kicks he was weakly putting out.

Shit shit shit...

Finally, he got the buttons undone, but it was too late. He could feel black creeping on the sides of his vision. his lungs were screaming for air. It got so dark...

Suddenly, there was a rush and something solid hit him in the chest, expelling the air in his lungs in a stream of bubbles. He was moving quickly upwards, but he could barely register the fact. All he could feel was the near overwhelming compulsion to gulp in air, to rip off the coat, to get himself breathing again.

Just as he was blacking out for good, his saviour broke the surface, Brink in tow.
The solidity of ground was a welcome comfort, despite the shocking pain of being slammed into a rock. He gulped in lungfuls of oxygen, signing a prayer to the gods for allowing his survival, allowing the rune in his hand to expel sparks, which sunk into his chest and soothed the aching pain of suffocation.

Ah well, he was alive.


Slowly, he regained a smidgen of sobriety from the adrenal buzz that had raced through him. He sat up, running a hand down his face to clear his head. "Hey, thanks for that..." he managed to mutter from his throat. He threw his coat to the ground below, disgusted with its murder attempt. He managed to catch a face in the waves, red hair floating around it in the little waves. He smiled warmly, full of gratitude, and laughed a little.

"I'm so sorry about that, entirely my fault. I hope I didn't give you too much of a scare. Thank you for the timely rescue.
"Could I offer anything in thanks?"

He smiled again, letting his eyes have little magic sparks in the corners. With a distracted gaze, he let his left hand form a little flame. His gloves were a tad damp, and he started to dry them while he waited for a response from the watchful face.

Taryn looked around just a little as she sat on her rock. Being offered a friendly smile and wave from the mermaid she offered the same friendly smile in return, even managed to wave back. Then she heard the splash of water, someone had either jumped into it or fallen. Seconds later, after nothing returned to the surface again, she watched the redhead dive in and rescue the human being, preventing him from drowning.
"Not as quiet as I hoped now..." she murmured to herself as she watched.

He's safe now, you should go... That would be the sensible thing to do, really. But sensible had just been taken over by Arielle's usual rebellion. Why should I go?! He's the one that's in my cove!

Suspicion and distrust darted about in her dark eyes as she watched the sodden human trying to recover from the near-death he'd just gone through. "Couldn't let you drown, could I?" she replied, dark eyes studying the land creature. At least he wasn't hideous.

"But you're welcome," she added, giving a tiny smile. At least he was polite enough to thank her. So manners weren't a foreign concept to that race. "As for the offer, you can repay me by telling me what you're doing here." What was a human doing here, in her cove?

As she waited for a reply, she noticed the flame on the palm of his hand. For a moment her eyes were glued to the flame, mesmerized by its movement. But then her brain reminded her that there was someone else in the cove, someone to whom fire would be more of a threat than to her. Eyes flitting to the fairy, she watched for a reaction, before turning back to the male human.

"Put that out," she told him, splashing the flame with water. Even she knew that fairies hated fire. This human hardly looked like the type that would randomly attack, but after all, looks could be deceiving. And she'd rather be safe than sorry.

"I've been coming here since I was little to relax, it's my place. But you're more than welcome to it, I'm not here often any more." He smiled as the girl, letting his face show a bit of kindness. You don't have to look rough out here, not like in the city...

He was startled by the girl's sudden, loud, reaction. He shook his hand rapidly, letting the flame disperse. "I'm so sorry, What did I do?!" His face looked shocked. His heart beat rapidly. Gently, he healed the burns that inevitably caught on his fingers, while he watched the mermaid in the water.

"Did... Did I do something..?"

For a second, he sounded every bit the kid he never got to be. His eyes were still wide while he gave her a confused look, cocked an eyebrow, and smiled weakly.

"Is everything ok?"

As Taryn watched the two of them, she did notice the tiny flame on the man's hand and got up from her rock, just in case. She was terribly afraid of fire, but then, realizing that they were surrounded by water, she relaxed a little.
Taryn was thinking about flying over to them, seeing if everything was okay, but the man with the fire on his hand did startle the young fairy enough to keep her away for now.

But later she'd probably be overwhelmed by curiosity and maybe she'd go and 'examine' him later. For now she was too afraid that he might attack or something and so she let the friendly seeming mermaid deal with the human for the time being.

The redhead bit her lip to hold back a scathing remark. His place? And he was giving her permission..?! "Gee, thanks," she remarked sarcastically, giving a roll of her eyes.

At his startled reaction, she drew back slightly. "Common courtesy - not everyone likes fire," she told him, but her voice took on a softer edge. She gave a nod in the direction of the fairy, before turning back to look at the male. "Some hate it more than others. So just be careful, yeah?"

Brink looked over his shoulder and found a fairy liking mildly disdained about the prior flames sitting a small distance away. He waved and smiled apologetically, he'd known fairies before, he knew the common hared of flame they shared.

"I'm sorry, over there! Are you alright?"

Looking back to the mermaid, he blushed a little with embarrassment.
"I probably should have looked around a bit more before playing... That was a bit daft of me."
He cringed a little with the end of the sentence,
"I didn't mean no harm..."

Looking back to the fairy, he waved again,
"Care to join us? The sunshine's great on the rocks! I promise, no more fire!!!"
With a grin, he lay back, and closed his eyes, basking in the warmth. Gods, I love summer...

Taryn watched them, not really fast enough to reply something. But being offered to join them, she was very tempted. Making new friends was always good, but could she trust him?
Well, there's plenty of water... and someone else is there, too... she thought to herself, before she got up, her wings now flapping rapidly again as she slowly made her way over to them. Won't hurt, though I wanted to be alone... Change of plans, I guess.
She stayed up in the air as she reached them. "Hello there." she said, eying the stranger carefully.

Opening one eye, he was surprised to see that the fairy had taken up his offer.

"I'm really very sorry about all that, I didn't know you were there whatsoever!!! I hope you can forgive me.

"Shall I show you how I do it..? It might put you at ease..!"

Brink sat up, and pulled the glove from his left hand. Underneath, his palm was dug deep with the rune for Flame, carved in the center of a pentagram.

Small price to pay to make the cast easier...

"They're just runes, that I control. Nothing too scary, promise!"
He looked up at the fairy hovering overhead, smiling innocently, eyes wide.

"I'm sure that she'll testify that it was a mistake, wont you..?"
He directed the question to the mermaid, now sat watching in the water.

Gosh, hope I haven't hurt them both..

"At least it's a nice afternoon for making friends, no?" He laughed a little too loudly. He realised exactly how young he probably was in his current company. Basically a little boy compared to those species.

Putting his thoughts aside for the second, he offered up his hand to the fairy, sticking it out to where the creature could land and study the markings.

"Honestly, I insist. Once you've seen it, I hope you aren't too worried about me! I'm nice, honest!"

Taryn listened to the young man going on about what he did. Yet, she wasn't so sure that she wanted to see any kind of fire near her.

"I don't know.... the closest I get to fire is lighting a candle." she replied a little bit scared still, yet a little shy too.

But she did take a look at the hand as he held it out to her. She knew how they learned to cast spells and she had seen those carvings before, yet she was just as careful as she was before.
She was tempted to sit down beside him, but yet she didn't do it just now. After all, Taryn didn't know him that well, yet.

Arielle's curiosity soon got the better of her and she swum closer to the male. She gave a sharp intake of breath when he pulled his glove off and she got a full view of his palm. Why would anyone do something like that to himself? She fought the sudden urge to take his hand in hers and attempt to heal the scars, though she knew that it'd be a lesson in futility. Why would someone hurt themselves like that, just for magic? It made no sense...

This male was not like the other humans Arielle had met and was so used to. There was something...different about him. He was young, that much was obvious from his innocent demeanour. And yet it seemed like you would be wrong in labelling him as naive.

"Friends is much too strong a word," she replied, eyes still glued to the rune-scar. "Acquaintance seems more fitting." You have to earn friendship, not simply ask for it... "But I agree - it's a nice day for making them. Drowning beforehand - not so much," she added jokingly.

Brink grinned at the red-head for the comment, blushing a little.

"Well, that was hardly intentional... I just wanted to make an entrance is all!"
He laughed, and gave to the two a big wink.

He winced a little as the fairy's fingers touched the scars. "Ow!!! They're a tad sensitive still, you know!" He smiled at her, although his teeth were gritted a little. "I can't heal 'em up if I want the runes, so they've got to scar naturally." There was a slight hint of indignation at the last word, a trademark disdain from those who could magically fix people up.

Pulling the glove back on, he opened up his shirt, rolled it into a slightly soggy pillow, and rested back on it.

"Where are you guys from? I'd like to trade stories.
"I'm mightily curious about you both, it would be great to get to know you!
"And you are allowed to sit down, my winged friend!" He motioned over the the space left on the boulder, in-front of the mermaid.

"I-I'm sorry." she whispered, pulling her fingers back from his hand. She didn't intent to hurt him, so she really was sorry for that.
Taryn still wasn't too sure about sitting down, so she glanced at the mermaid, who seemed to be rather calm, so she ended up gently setting down on the edge of the rock and sat, facing the stranger. She was more afraid that he cold do something to her than that the friendly seeming mermaid would do something to them.
"I uh... live in the forest." she said shyly, glancing at Arielle.

The mermaid allowed herself a chuckle. "Well, you certainly did that. You could even say that you made quite a splash with your entrance," she added, shaking her head at her own bad pun. Someone had to say it...!

At the male's protests, she rolled her eyes, though the roll wasn't a mean one. "Well, if they're tender, don't show them off," she told him softly. Silly boy... And all that just for the sake of easier casting. Humans - always wanting everything with as little effort as possible.

"Well, I'm from here," Arielle told the pair, with a nod backwards at the open ocean. "Obviously," she added with a smiling shrug. She eyed up the boulder, wondering whether she should come up and sit on it; after a moments thought she decided against it. Safer in the water, at least for now.

"The forest? Wow. It's really beautiful, even from here. What's it like living there?" she asked the fairy with a smile, eyes sparkling. She'd never gotten the chance to visit the forest during her brief stint as a human. Then she turned to the male. "And what about you? Whereabouts are you from?"

"Oh, don't be, it's ok! As the woman says, I shouldn't be a show-off!" He reassured the fae, hoping to put her at ease..

He listened to the both of them, keeping his ears open to the beginnings of their stories.. Only to be interrupted by being asked about himself. "Darn, was just about to relax to that too!"

He glanced at them both, his eyes wide. "I'm Sneight, I've lived in the city most of me life." He cringed, he could tell his accent was strong compared to these two. "I've been studying since I were little. 'Tis why I have these, 'Tis why I'm able to play with my Energy like a toy. I'm great in the dark!" He laughed, resting back on his arms.

"From what I can tell, the forest is beautiful indeed! But then again, I don't see it with a Fae's eyes."
He gestured to the fairy, taking care to use his right hand.
"You must see it in a totally different light, yer home. Wisps and lights that come out at night.. It must be better than the city lights."

Taryn smiled a little. The forest was her home, her sancturary and indeed a beautiful place. Peaceful and quiet, yet filled with life if one only took the time to really see.
"Well, I was born in the forest, lived there all my life..." she replied. "It's peaceful and quiet, much different from the city, yet if you take the time to see... it's filled with life."
She smiled as she thought about that. She didn't want to live anywhere else, no place on earth could match the forest.

"Well, if we ever need a walking ball of light energy one night, we'll be sure to let you know," Arielle teased Brink, a teasing sparkle playing in her eyes. He was rather endearing, this boy.

As she listened to the fairy, she gave a slow nod. "It sounds wonderful. And sounds exactly like my home. Except, y'know, drier," she added with a chuckle. "But you never really realise just how much life is in one spot, until you start to look for it. And then when you see it, you wonder how you ever missed it in the first place."

"That sounds rather poetic, miss," Brink said, giving the red-head a look of bemusement.
"And madame Fae, it does sound truly beautiful. Unfortunately, the only hidden life in the city is made up of rats, insects, and the occasional imp. It's rather filthy, really. I can understand entirely why you would avoid it. Unfortunately, I like the grime of the streets, it has a strange allure that only one's home can give."

"You should tell my about your homes, you two seem to share such different lives to mine. Study, sleep, and even some food every now and then is all I usually manage! Tell me about what you do, please?" He sat up, cross-legged, resting his head in his hands; his elbows on his knees; a slouch of relaxation and content in the afternoon sun overtaking whatever posture his youthful self managed.

As Taryn listened to Brink, she couldn't help but chuckle a little. He almost sounded like a little boy begging to hear a good night story. It was something that Taryn took delight in, because she wasn't used to such a light tone and behavior from any people of the city. When she went there, she only met those who were extremely busy. And she hated that kind of life.
"Well... before I got my own tree house, I lived in the city for a couplea weeks, but... yeah, it's rather filthy at times. That's why I moved back to the forest." she said, remembering the time she spent in the city and how missed the nature around her so much, that she left again.
"Well... my life is quite simply, really. I spend most of the day wandering around the forest, collection herbs, berries and flowers to sell them to Minerva or Nancy."

"Everyone has to make a living, after all!" the boy grinned at the fairy, trying to come on as kind as possible.
"And the tree house sounds beautiful, you should tell us about it..? We could always go for a walk there worst comes to worst, and I'm sure we'll find a way to drag this one along!" he motioned over to the red-head, "After all, land does present a bit of a problem for our tailed friend, here!"

"But yes, the city is filthy. You should see the attic I'm using at the moment..." A shudder ran down his back as he thought back to when he'd first arrived. The number of insects inhabiting the place was monstrous indeed.

"Arielle, I'm curious about you, though. Where's your place, the one you go to when you need to sleep, live, pass the time..?" he raised an eyebrow. He barely knew a thing about the race, it made it a tad more difficult to relate.. "Unfortunately, I can't say I've spent more than the odd minute or two underwater at a time, so I may be a little naive when it comes to who and what you are!" he laughed out loudly, eyes scrunching up a little.

Don't sound to ignorant, Brink..