Through the Mist }{ Open

[laceydreadth]

Kaia twirled the water with her feet, sending ripples across the pond that was her. Finding the simple delight of the sound of moving water, she kicked her foot up and sent droplets cascading around her. An innocent giggle fell from her lips as fish and bugs fled from her. Her slivery-blue hair fell in front of her eyes and she tucked it behind her ears, resisting the urge to itch her nose.

A slight mist was hugging the trees this morning, and the sun's light only filtered through it dimly. Sliding her foot out of the water, Kaia fluidly stood up and looked around her. Birds were speaking noisily to each other, together forming a chaotic song that echoed through the forest that Kaia called home. To all eyes, she was no threat, but a child lost in the trees.

Walking with soft footsteps, Kaia made her way through the forest on the path of a deer. It was the easiest way to get through the forest, and Kaia knew the way better than she knew any other. Humming quietly, she searched the foliage for any sign of unnatural life. An impression in moist dirt caught her eye.

A footprint? Kaia bent down, examining it closely.

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi came slowly awake...his eyes fogging over and clearing the longer he was conscious. He had a feeling of disorientation, but as his eyes adjusted, he could see trees and realized he was in the Selkia. The memories flooded back in a startling flash to his mind:

He had been sailing above the trees on the large transport bird he had borrowed from a friend. He had strayed over the bog areas of the Selkia and one of the many dragons that lived in the area had risen in challenge and hunger. The bird had dodged and fought, Kerodi's magic helping, but it had been a losing battle. Other dragons had risen and the fight had become uneven.

The bird was trying to fly away, but the battle was being lost in the chase, especially with Kerodi aboard. He had removed his harness, called to the bird, and jumped. The bird had rocketed down and away, some of the dragons in pursuit. Kerodi fell quickly, but a couple of the dragons attacked. Kerodi's magic caught one full in the snout and it sneezed fire into the other one who caught Kerodi with a whip crack of a tail and sent him spinning wildly across the sky.

He had tried to use his magic to slow him down, but he was experiencing a dizzying sensation as he spun crazily. He had tried to brace for impact, but suddenly he had fallen to the Selkia's higher reaches, snapping branches and landing heavily in the treetops. He had managed to steady himself only momentarily before the tree had snapped and he had fallen again.

He had finally come to a rest on the Selkia floor, but that had bruised and beaten him to exhaustion...even with the magic to aid him, he was in a lot of pain and might have broken bones, etc. He had stood up, the path he was on damp and slightly impressionable as rains had recently passed this way. He walked over to a small alcove of trees against a bluff and managed to lay down against the wall of the hill. It was the last thing he remembered before the pain took his consciousness away.

Kerodi tried to sit up, but the pain washed over him. Determined, he worked his way up, inch by inch, until he was sitting up with his back to the bluff...his eyes faced outward. He was breathing heavily and the pain was immense. He needed to find some help soon or he would black out again in the forest...and it was unlikely he could avoid pursuits for a second night in the forest...especially from the different animal hunters. He sighed and closed his eyes, resting from his exertion.

[laceydreadth]

"Hello?" Kaia said, her voice ricocheting off the trees. Brushing the leaves of too many bushes to count out of her way and going in the general direction of the footsteps. For a moment, the wildlife around her was silenced then it continued in it's incessant murmur. Again she called, eyes scanning the area. Don't look for anything in particular because you'll never find it...

The small naiad didn't stop looking, trying to sate her unending curiosity, until a doe and her young fawn lept in front of her, most likely startled by Kaia's rushed footsteps. Both animals startled her as well and she fell backwards into the mud. Only a slight pain came from her backside. Pain was a relatively new sensation to her, but it was quite tolerable.

Getting up with a small giggle, Kaia continued, a gritty mud covering her legs and forearms. She saw a bluff up ahead and headed towards it without thinking about it. The sight that beheld her made her merely thingy her head in curiosity.

A man was leaning against the wall of the precipice, his eyes closed. He was breathing more heavily than any other human she'd seen and his skin seemed to be slightly discolored in a very many places; purple, green, blue...it was all very strange to her.

Going only a few more strides, Kaia sqatted down and watched him breath. Finally, full of unsustainable curiosity, she spoke, "Hello there, sir, my name is Kaia. What is your name?"Sure, theseawitch -

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi's head snapped up as heard someone speak. His neck wrenched painfully, sending a spasm down his spine. He coughed hard for a few minutes before being able to settle down, swallowing the blood that had threatened to release from his mouth.

"I'm sorry," he coughed. "You startled me." He looked at her a little closer, sensing that she was more than just a lady in the forest. He faintly recalled hearing her name as she had startled him. Kaia. That sounded like a nymph or sprite of some sort from the histories of Valear he had studied. He felt his magic rising too, not in defense, but investigation. He was too tired and sore to stop it, so he let it illuminate his touch.

He held out his hand to her. "My name is Kerodi."

[laceydreadth]

Staring at the offered hand, Kaia racked her mind, desperatly trying to remember what the gesture meant. It couldn't be a sign that he'd either been scared of her or wanted to attack her--he'd given her his name. Tentively, not knowing what she was doing, Kaia took Kerodi's hand.

The strange illumination tickled a little bit and sent goosebumps running up and down her arms. She'd never experianced goosebumps before and she giggled. Her hand still in his, not knowing what to do, she spoke, "Are you ? You cough when you're , don't you?" Kaia reflected on the long minutes of coughing, then added,"Your skin has funny colors to it, too."

[HoudiniDerek]

The girl finally reached for Kerodi's hand, holding it loosely, her hand cool in his. The magic went forth into her, not harming, merely seeking. It returned to him and he released her hand gently.

"I am not in the way of disease," Kerodi wheezed, finding it hard to talk for long sentences. "I am injured." He hadn't seen himself in a reflection, but the falls he had taken had probably not made him more attractive.

Kerodi sat back again, mouth forming into a grimace. He knew that he was hurt, but he was not sure how much of it was life-threatening or of a permanent nature. He was intrigued by the lady across from him too.

"What are you doing here, Kaia? I doubt you are trying to tempt me to the water like the rest of your brethren. That in and of itself is intriguing to me." He smiled weakly at the joke about her kind and closed his eyes again momentarily, while waiting for her to respond.

[laceydreadth]

The naiad herself wondered why she was here, and while she though of an answer, she looked around, then finding what she was searching for, reached out and cupped his hands. Concentrating on a small puddle, the water slowly made it's way from the small hole to the cupped hands.

"It's clean." Kaia said, a little bit tired from the simple act. "I was taking a walk and I saw a footprint." It was the only answer she could think of, since that was exactly what happened. Furrowing her eyebrows, she spoke again, "Does being injured mean hurt? Why did you give me your hand?" They were only two of the many questions stirring through her ever-curious mind.

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi gratefully drank the water in his cupped hands, his thirst sated for now, if not wholly clenched. He leaned back and smiled, some of the pain easing.

"Yes, it means I am hurt. It's a long story and not one I feel up to telling at the moment if you don't mind." He smiled kindly and continued. "A handshake is a custom of Man. When we meet new people, we shake hands as a ritual of introduction."

Kerodi took a small breath, his lungs and ribs not allowing him to take deeper ones. "Thank you for the water, Kaia. I am happy to see that you haven't tried to lure me to my death...yet." He smiled at the hesitancy in his voice and winked at her.

"So, why are you different than the rest of your kin?"

[laceydreadth]

"Well," Kaia began, rubbing the back of her neck, "A girl, one of your kind, came and talked to me. She wouldn't get in the water and I talked back, trying to get her." She wrinkled her nose, remembering the frustration she'd had, "This girl told me about all the people she knew, how different they were. Then she told me that it was a bad thing to take people out of the world because they were all different. So I stopped."

Staring at Kerodi, she wondered why he was reluctant to tell his own story, and she had no idea what the meaning of closing only one eye meant.

Looking down, she spoke again, "I killed a lot of people, and I'm really sorry, but-but no one ever told me that it was wrong. I was just trying to live. That's what my sisters are doing too. If we don't kill, we can get killed." Kaia shrugged, smiling at the man again.

Absently looking around, the naiad noticed that the mist was drifting away. This worried her, "Kerodi," she said his name for the first time, "Without this mist, animals will be able to smell you easily. "

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi shifted his position while she spoke, pain shooting down his back once more. "That's very impressive," he said tightly, not able to hide his grimace this time. "Your desire to kill is instinctual, yet you overcame it and seem to be doing fine." He grinned at her. "At least you don't look bad in any respect."

Kerodi slowly inched himself up to a standing position, the minutes slipping by while Kaia watched in curiosity...mingled with some confusion. When he was finally standing, his chest heaving from the exertion, he faced her again. "Kaia, is there a place that you know of where I will be safe for a day or two?"

[laceydreadth]

Kaia knew of a place, but she almost didn't want to tell him. She wanted to help, but her suggestion might make him uncomfortable. The knowledge of who she was often scared people off, at least those who knew what naiads did for a living.

"Mmm," she nodded, looking at him and hesistating for a few moments, "My pond." Smiling again, she continued, "You...don't have to go." Kaia reached out her hand, not in the "ritual of introduction" but as a friend trying to lead another, "I'll bring you there if you wish."

[HoudiniDerek]

Kerodi watched the girl hesitate in her response. He didn't know if it was because she was concerned for her safety or what, but he knew that he needed the help and she seemed decent enough...for what she was. Besides, Kerodi knew that if he didn't get somewhere safe, he was going to be unable to protect himself as more time passed. Already he was woozy from his injuries and standing had exerted more from him than he thought it would.

"I hope I don't have to be in it," Kerodi laughed. "Is it safe on the shore? I know some of your kind can project protection in a small area around their pond. Are you able too since you do not follow the rules of your society anymore?"

He took the offered hand, this time without the magic probing her being. He moved off the bluff face from which he was leaning and let her guide him from the small clearing.

[laceydreadth]

Kaia pulled back a branch for Kerodi, shaking her head, "No, I'm not nearly as strong as my sisters but the peple in the forest are afraid of me."

Getting a little excited, she started walking extremly fast, her hand clamped down on his. After a glance back, she slowed again, silently cursing her forgetfullness. "Sorry." Looking over him again, she wondered what kind of pain he must be in. She'd felt pain but it hasn't ever rendered her in the postion it had Kerodi.

"We're here."

[Twichey]

[navy]Twichey thought to himself"The forest was dense hear, denser than before". Some of the large roots wer so big he could run underneath them.
Being a halfling it was not difficult to do this however. roots or no, he must cache his prey if he wished to eat this night.
The animal was elusive to say the least and the fog did not help, darting to and fro from tree, to rock, to tree it was a fox type animal.

"It was elusive ..but i am far more than a Superior to this beast." He thought. The killing blow was a swift one a fierce hit to the neck
breaking the neck but not harming the meat with a slice or stab.

a loud cough caught his attention as he was preparing to skin his meal. he put the carcase in his satchel and sniffed the thick misty air
...blood and something els he sensed..magic?not much maybe nothing more than a light spell or perhaps something to aid navigating this fog.
but magic nonetheless. He slowly crept to its source being careful not to be herd or noticed.

A man badly injured from the looks of, it he is of no current threat. But the other ..a nymph, a siren, a witch even? His sens of magic was correct
her magic was slight but it was magic magic of any kind can pose a problem but he was no stranger to magic himself but
that will be dealt with later. For now he waits."Maybe i can help them....or maybe they can help me." He thought.
* one of his rare smiles slid up his cheek*

As they started to move he saw the man was more injured than he had once perceived and may need attention
if he is to be of use to anyone. The girl was still a mystery. But he followed in his cuiriosity...and other interests.

As he followed the girl picked up the pace as if she had noticed him. She stopped and looked back. He froze in his tracks.
This was not good for him. He did not need to be seen just yet. He began to wrap himself in his invisibility cloak but the girl did not see him.
through the mist it looked as if she had a confused look on her face as if she had Benn mistaken. But the mist could be deceiving.
No mater he continued to follow. When she continued at her new more slow speed. [/navy]

[laceydreadth]

Kaia found a tree that was covered in soft moss and helped Kerodi sit down. Her home was only a few feet away. She looked around the pond, watching for the slightest twitch of a bush that was against the small breezes that could get through the thick mass of trees. The eerie silence chilled her; though the trees and moss sucked away a lot of sound, there was always sound. Unless there was something that the birds saw as a threat. Only then would they stop their chattering.

They did not fear her, as she would only rarely target them when no other animals were around to give her enough life-force to survive. She rarely ever killed the animals, but the birds energy left so quickly that she was afraid to use them unless absolutely necessary.

Forcing her eyes from the foliage, she cupped his hands and moved some water from the pond into them. It was only water that wasn’t part of her that she had difficulty controlling, so the task was much easier than it had been when she’d first found him. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Kerodi?”