Song of the coming summer (open)

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

The waters were alive with light, their constant rippling making everything above and below the surface shimmer. The flecks of amber in the sandy silt caught each beam of the slowly setting sun. Though to travel so far was disobeying orders and going beyond the kingdom of her own court Eleri had begun to feel the urge grow to get away...if only for a few hours. She'd stole away in the early morning and had swam along the rivers and streams until she'd gotten to the Aurora Falls. She knew she could only stay away until the next sunrise, even with the vast waters that her family and the Inner Court ruled over it would only be a matter of time before they realized their Divine wasn't where she was suppose to be.

The Light Kingdom was a beautiful place to Eleri, even the waters fascinated her with their precious stones and the way that even when the light was gone from the sky it seemed to remained captured in the smoothed surfaces eroded by years beneath the surface. The girl swam just beneath the surface of where the falls fed into the lake, the Water Fey a quick blur of colorful scales and hair as she spiralled along the edges of the water, the only sign of her presence in the water among the ripples and foam was the slightest lift on the surface.

Light blurred into gold and crimson streaks as she broke through the surface behind the rushing falls. With a powerful push of her tail she burst through the wall of water, her laugh falling up past her lips as she dived back down. Bubbles rushed past her, tickling her cheeks and bare flesh as she rose back up and broke the surface once more. The solitude around the water was nice as she floated on her back, her tail slowly pushing her along as teal eyes closed against the bright light.

The soft spring breeze felt so good agianst her skin, the warmth of the last rays whispering the coming summer. A hum rose up from Eleri before a sweet trickling song echoed through the clearing.

[Ashton Fawkes]

Now, it was typical that Ashton would steer clear of populated places, would keep to the shadows, to himself. It was typical he would be anywhere but the place of his birth, with the kingdoms of Light and Water tending to come in a close second. For Ashton, it was typical that at the first sign of another person he would turn and walk the opposite way.

But naturally, the same could not be said of Deceit.

Deceit thrived on the populace, as much as they shunned them both (damned souls, who needed that?), thrived on confrontation and the way they shook and cried and tore at themselves with what he showed them. Naturally, upon hearing the falls (and subsequently the song, something that indicated a good deal of fun), he'd been drawn. Good to clean up with how bad this body looked, what a shitty job was done to take care of it. That kid was such a fuckin' case!

But he was one to talk.

The fact that there was a fish in the water (the source of the song) when he arrived, well... That was just peachy! His lips slid slowly into a grin, the kind that just wasn't quite right, a sort of feline expression as he approached the edge of the water, emerald and white watching her in a similar way to a cat watching its next meal. She did look delicious there, belly up, and he leaned over the edge of the water, giving her a good once over (sure to get the best view with the eye that worked, of course).

And a twice, and a third, wondering when she would notice him (before or after his control started slipping? it was anyone's guess).

Deceit thought he might just like to eat her.

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

The sunlight seemed to burn through her lids with how warm it was. Even behind closed lids the light seemed to invade her with a golden touch that she could feel across her face, across her breast and down her stomach to even her tail that always was cool to the touch. The song continued, rising and falling softly like waves on a calm day. The Water Fey paddled herself along, stretching, letting the small fish within nip at her fingertips.

In a moment something had changed as she felt the small fish swim away frantically, and a darkness invaded the gold, cutting off the warmth. Her eyes popped open as she passed just around the edge of the water, looking right up at another, his look dishevled. A small yelp was muffled as Eleri bolted up in the water that rippled violently as she swam back towards the middle of the lake, slipping under the surface.

The other didn't seem very friendly looking, and as of late meeting other Fey's had proven more dangerous than good. Still...would a Dark Fey really risk so much to come up this far? She tilted her head, as she looked up through the wavering surface, slowly swimming closer to get a better look. After a few more minutes she poked her head up through the now settled waters.

"Hello... I didn't think anyone else would be here." Eleri could barely get her voice above a whisper as she spoke, "You gave me a fright."

[Ashton Fawkes]

A pretty thing to look at she was, even though she was a little pink for Deceit's liking. It didn't mean he wouldn't sink his teeth into her though, oh no, didn't mean a thing like that.

She made a noise, and so he did too, a rough sort of chuckle and he lowered his body to the bank, the end of his ponytail reaching the water's surface over his shoulder. Friendly looking he certainly was not, though it all depended on your definition of friendly. He liked the way she was startled.

When she came up again, his eyes were still on her, an unsettling match of emerald and white that contrasted so sharply with the red of his hair and the wine rouge of dried blood that still kept a few strands of his hair matted against his forehead from days prior. He let his fingertips skate across the surface of the water, dipped his hand in and lifted it to let the water draw pale lines through the dirt on his forearm.

"No one else is, sweetheart," he replied, pressing the tip of his tongue against the groove of a still healing split lip. He felt particularly lucid, and she was talking too formally even though she sounded afraid of him.

"Just you," he let his arm drop so that he could point at her, "and me, doll."

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

She still kept her distance, unsure just how safe it would be to stay too close when she'd yet to figure out just who the other was, and just why he'd been watching her. She was curious as to just how long he'd been there, a small scarlet blush dusting her cheeks as she dipped a little lower in the water. His chuckle made her nervous, made her feel invaded almost that she could be caught so off guard. Curls fanned out as the small ripples her movements made caught them and carried them, her eyes stayed rather focused on the male Fey even as her thoughts raced.

It was at that moment though as she watched him that she saw his injuries. At first from her distance they were easy to pass over, but the slight discoloration, the dirtiness of the blood, the cut. The fear that had been there was suddenly pushed down by a small burst of courage as she trailed in closer, almost reaching distance, a small frown turning upon her lips. She glanced around, and to his word there was no one else around the lake...that much she'd figured when she'd first arrived. As far as her eyes could see the only things around them were the trees in the dying sunlight.

"You're injured." She spoke again, tone still a little shakey as she rose a bit out of the water, one slender hand reaching out as if to touch them. "Those cannot be a pleasant things to travel with. If you want I can heal you if you like." The offer came with just the barest upturning of her lips into an almost sweet smile as the teal gaze examined the other now in closer quarters. Despite not knowing the other, despite his unfriendly appearance, Eleri could not just ignore someone who was injured.

"They look old...how did they happen? It cannot be good to go untreated for too long." Almost motherly were the concerned words as she swam in a little closer now, her out reached hand almost brushing the dried blood on his forehead.

[Ashton Fawkes]

For a moment, Deceit's eyes shifted to watch the patterns drawn out by the water on his arm, but soon they returned to look upon the faint tinge of pink. Innocent. Oh how he loved it.

And she moved closer, actually looking to see if he was being truthful (though it was funny, that, because he hadn't meant it as reassuring at all). He had to grin, it was almost funny, and the fact that she seemed almost worried about him...

The reaching hand... he wanted to grab that slender wrist, and he barely concealed that wish behind a rather devious grin. Such a sweet smile, and she was so innocent, so seemingly untainted. It was such a tease, such a temptation just to snatch her by the arm and devour her and for a moment he could even see the blood dripping from invisible wounds and curling in lazy pink streams along the water's surface and down-

That couldn't be good.

"Ain't got a goddamn clue," he answered, rather flippantly, and honestly, because he sure didn't know how this body got banged up all the time, just that it did. Probably better that he didn't, though, considering, and again he tongued at the split in his lip (and thought he tasted fresh blood). But for a second, something flashed in his eyes, an abject terror that was distinctly Ashton and he was on his feet, tattered wings suddenly apparent and his head in his hands before just as suddenly...

"Fuck that's hilarious! But don't mind me, sweetheart, gonna take a lot more than you've got to fix this," but he smirked at her anyway, letting his hands drop back to his sides (the wet one having left a streaky trail of blood and dirt across his face).

"Go ahead, though," his wings lowered, and he leaned to offer his hand (filthy thing compared to hers, just filthy), "give it a shot."

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

As Eleri reached out she stopped, hesistated for a brief moment as she saw the grin plastered on the face of the injured looking Fey. Something cold formed in the pit of her stomach as she just waited for a moment, trying to judge how close she should get. In her gut something told her to be careful, but she couldn't ignore that he was injured....it was part of her work, her responsibility to help those who needed healing. She moved in a little closer, slowly...

His sudden jump to his feet made the Fey girl jerk back as if burnt. She took in his wings, as tattered and broken looking they were. His smirk, his voice...it made her nervous agin as she lingered further from the bank of the water, waiting as he spoke of his doubt of her ability. "You won't know until you let me try." Eleri argued softly, watching the dripping blood and dirt.

As the hand was offered to her Eleri moved in against, slowly rising from the water a little more as she looked at the hand. Reaching out once more she took the hand in her own, droplets of water falling upon flesh as she turned the hand palm up, letting it pool in the palm. She leaned in, blowing on the water as it slowly began to spiral and work it's way along flesh like thousand of tiny fingers seeking out the wounds. The dirt and blood washed away from the pale skin. The water would clense the wound removing all the impurities before using the bodies own water within it to help close the wound. "Hold still...it will only take a little bit longer." She whispered as she continued to weave her magic through the water, concentrating all her power on healing.

[Ashton Fawkes]

She'd gone further away, obviously, as who wouldn't jump in the face of something like that? But despite it, despite seeing what a wretched thing he was, so damaged, she still had the urge to help?

"Goddamn, you're naive," Deceit breathed out, barely audible as the tendrils of water rose and curled and probed and healed and washed. His eyes held a dark sort of amusement, though, and oh, he did know. There was no way she could heal his soul, heal his mind, those things were too far gone, and where would he be if they weren't?

He didn't wait for her to finish, though, didn't care about his wounds and hadn't intended for her to heal them in the first place. He didn't hold still at all, instead breaking it to act on the urge he'd had prior to snatch her by the wrist.

He did dare to use his power, felt lucid enough to do it without too much worry at a moderate level, and his grin turned sharp, feline, feral.

"Do tell me whatcha see, doll, gotta be somethin' nice," he almost purred, eyes lidding about halfway as he leaned in closer. "Tell me, sweetheart, what're you afraid of?"

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

Pink lips twisted into a small frown at the insult, "I may be naive to you, but it's better than being jaded and letting everything in this world keep me from helping someone." Her tone grew a little annoyed by the other's taunting words, she kept trying to concentrait on the work she was doing regardless though...let him tease all he liked. The water flowed along her fingers as she manipulated it, the thin tendrils falling away from flesh as their worked finished only to be replaced by more.

When he moved her concentration broke, the once lively water falling to the ground as Eleri felt a hand clamp around her wrist. Her pale green eyes met those of the other Fey as she pulled back against the hand that held her, "Let me go! I was trying to help you!" She shouted, her tail thrashing in the water as she tried to pull away, her free hand coming up to dig at the fingers holding her.

She met his gaze, her breath hitching as he moved in closer. "I said let me go! I'm not going to tell you anything!"

[Ashton Fawkes]

A vision of fear, of pain, of death was what Deceit wanted her to see, but as she struggled he gripped harder and wondered if he'd misfired. He loved the way she tried to pull away from him, the splashing sound she made and the fingers that dug at his own, but to be safe...

There was a higher risk of backlash but he didn't care, wanted to see her fall to pieces in the wash of his power. It was just one, just one person, and it leaked like poison from him then, a vision of something terrible, something twisted just for her.

"When your world is black my dear, you might just tell me everything," he murmured, his free arm quick to loop around her, breath hot against her cheek. She should see it now, whatever it was that his power would show her, whatever twisted sort of thing that it would draw out from her psyche.

"But maybe it's hard to tell, love, what's real and what's not. Won't you cry?"

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

Eleri cried out and fought, fingers scratching and trying to get free as she thrashed more against the other Fey, "Please stop!" She cried, eyes screwed shut as she continued to fight. As a strong arm wrapped around her Eleri felt her body leaving mroe of the water, bare flesh pressing against grime and blood as she opened her eyes. It was like all the color had been taken from the world around her.

She opened her mouth to speak as breath ran over her flesh, but it felt hot, dry as if there wasn't enough water in her body. She could feel the pull of her magic stirring withint her. "No..." She gasped, as she watched in horror, the light fading as trees and flowers grew shivled and lifeless, spiraling in towards the lake as what once had life became dead, even the earth itself grew dry as wind turned it into dust. The magic was pounding against her body now as she tried her hardes to reign it in. "Make it stop! I don't want to kill anything..." She cried out...

Outside of this delusion, this nightmare the water of the pond rippled violently as her body continued to struggle. "Stop...stop it." She gasped, grappling at the other as tears poured down her cheeks. In her mind eyes there was only death and water, violent torrent waves tearing away at the land as more and more life was pulled from whatever was there, animals, people. "They're all going to die! Stop this!" Water rose up in a sudden surge, lashing out at the bodies held together.

[Ashton Fawkes]

Her nails on his skin stung, the way they tore at him to get away and he would bleed because for this girl it would be a trauma on top of the one that he was subjecting her to now, such an innocent thing. Blood on her hands, and Deceit's eyes were wide as his grin.

Her fear was almost tangible, he could taste it, reveled in the look on her face and chuckled, low and rough and a little frayed around the edges. It was beautiful, the horror in her eyes, and she cried, the panic in her voice so musical.

He had to taste it, had to let his tongue trace back the trail of her tears if only for a second.

And a second was all he had with the way the water rose, a violent surge that caused him to let go, to back off from the pool's edge. She was more dangerous than she looked, it seemed, but the curve of his lips didn't change. He'd never be accused of hating a challenge.

"Let me see it, doll, keep it up! Let me see you suffer!"

His laugh wasn't all there, and he pushed his power harder, fingertips pressed around his blind eye and his head was pounding. The world was starting to flicker gray.

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

Eleri fought, some part of her mind thinking that if she could just get her distance from the one who held her. Her fingers clawed and felt warm flesh she'd try to heal give beneath her nails, a hot wetness coated her fingers as blood slipped on her hands, running down like the tears the coated her cheeks.

"Stop, please! Just stop this!" Earth fell away, light growing dimmer around her as in her minds eyes she could feel the death of others around her as her own magic continued to draw the water from them. She wanted to stop, to take another life like this, to destory like this. The pain of the magic burning within her throbbed as even her will to stop this seemed only to create a greater pull. She could feel his touch though she could barely see the other through the veil of tears and destruction. Instictively she drew away.

The pain of being held sudden lightened on her body as Eleri fell back into the wild waters. It felt cool, refreshing as she opened her eyes. For a moment she could see the lights, she could feel the warmth of the sun. What happened next overwhelmed her as below her the ground covered in stones appeared to fall away, the waters battering even her own body as Eleri thrashed about, feeling the pain of the illusion.

She broke through the surface as the pond waters rose once more. Destruction. Pure desolation as she gripped her head, fingers tangling in pink curls, "They're all dying! Stop this game! I don't want this." She was washed up onto the ground, the waters putting her up onto the land, her mind seeing only broken ground, lifeless. The lush feeling of grass did not register with her as water crashed down around her, as if she was trying to revive what she thought was now the dead earth. Opening her eyes once more she focused on the Fey near her, "You're killing this world!" She screamed as she set tendrils flying at him, intent to bind...kill if nessicary.

[Ashton Fawkes]

She was a wild thing, tormented so completely and he was walking a dangerous line between backlash and the danger she presented but it was life, was so good to him the way she showed her pain. How he caused her pain.

Deceit's vision blurred with the sound of her voice, the sound of her screaming and when it came back into focus he barely had time to think, instinct taking over to get him out of harm's way (away from her onslaught). He'd never been good against elemental types, though, no, always best in close quarters, and he felt the water graze him. At least his reflexes were good.

"No, sweetheart, it's all you..."

But the flow of his power was unsteady now, he couldn't concentrate enough to keep it at the same level with the way she came after him like-

MOTHER NO IDIDN'TKILLHIM

"Fuckin' shit..." he breathed, and everything was starting to go totally pear shaped and fast because she'd caught his wrist in the second the voice had rung through his head (and she'd been someone she wasn't). The strength of his power was starting to wax and wan chaotic, and as he tried to jerk free he tried to ease it, knew he had to before it got out of control again.

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

Something in her vision wavered, gray mixing with color, dark and then light as she began to register the feelings around her as the illusion began to crumble little by little. Still the feeling held onto her mind tightly as she couldn't get rid of the overwhelming feeling that something precious had been destroyed. She looked over at Ashton, her eyes narrowing as she tried to focus on the task at hand. He may have gotten her once, but she was determined to end this.

The long dark scaled fin twisted and formed into legs as she stumbled up, pale wet flesh catching the light as she attacked with renewed anger as she saw that she'd gotten him. It hurt, each wave of power hitting her making her vision blur, pain washing over her like the water that wavered around her. More water shot out from the pond, like live creatures moving towards the Fey. If she could bind him down...

Another wave of pain hit as her knees buckled, her own powers wavering as she cried out.