Back to the Waters

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

The sky over the sea was overcast, the clouds thick, darkening, only a few golden beams of the setting sun breaking through the clouds to strike upon the ocean. The waters were frothing as they crashed upon the beach, the white foam coating the rocks and sands as the tide rose up higher and higher.

Standing out on the shore Eleri breathed in the salty air, her fingers slowly working at the bandages wrapped around her arms and legs. The long cloth strips fell to the ground, catching on the wind as they were swept away...dark bruises still marred the soft, pale skin, the wounds still far from being healed, but having returned to the Water Kingdom she’d been able to recharge and heal what she could…the rest would be up to time.

Bare feet sunk into the sand as the foam washed up around her. Her mind felt so clouded, her travels had been cut short, called suddenly back to the Court as the report of her attack by the Dark Fey had reached out this far. In returning home she’d been greeted by anger and argument, but Eleri’s thoughts fell on other things as she slowly turned away, walking further up the shore. A slender hand smoothed down the folds of the wrap she’d pulled around her form after she’d come out of the waters, the cloth dark in some spots as it clung to her still wet form before trailing back up touching her lips, the memory of warm lips upon her own still leaving her asking so many questions before she fell back, laying out on the sand, pink curls fanning out around her as she closed her eyes.

She’d traveled so far from home before, but this time had left her feeling even more confused than before. Now as she was ordered to remain within the Kingdom she felt restless. Trying to figure out everything that had happened and the residing emotions that still lingered in the back of her mind, it was frustrating as her eyes fluttered open . The dark gray clouds seemed to have stilled even in the winds as she felt the softest touch of the rain on her cheek.

[Kalas Lith'ard]

It was a cold day, a cloudy day, and possibly soon a rainy day; not the best of weather, but Kalas had never cared much for that. After all, it had taken her quite a few days to find this beach, and the cold (no matter how she disliked it) was not enough to deter her from her visit.

Slowly she picked her way down the sandy beach to walk along the shore, hopping back and forth with the tide. Was that a seashell? She bent to dig it up, and the one beside it, and the next one after that. How many seashells were on this beach, she wondered? Hundreds upon thousands, just waiting to be found. She bent to pick another and--that was quite a pretty pink she could see, through the curtain of her hair. The wanderer stood and moved to investigate.

"Oh...a Fey." She sounded almost disappointed, in an unbothered sort of way.

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

"Oh...a Fey."

Perhaps it was because Eleri's most recent trip beyond the kingdom had nearly gotten her killed, but at hearing the voice so suddenly when she'd thought herself alone made her jump. Sitting up she moved, preparing as if for a blow to come after those words, one arm rising up to ward away...

When nothing came the Water Fey lowered her arm slowly, bright greenish-blue eyes studying the other. She saw the seashells and looked out toward the water for a brief moment. Sensing no immediate danger she smiled, the expression gently, but still wary.

"Were you expecting something else? If so I apologize for just being a fey." She chuckled lightly, "I didn't think anyone else would come out on such a gray day."

[Kalas Lith'ard]

The surprise caused Kalas to jump a bit as well, her own eyes darkening to black as she did. Perhaps she shouldn't have snuck up on her? She took a moment to see if she could blink away the sudden nervousness, but the best she could get her eyes to be was a dirty blackish-green. Ah well.

A smile, then, to allay any fears. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, really; your hair looked so pretty that I hoped it was something I could keep." Though what sort of thing it could have been, she did not know. A blanket, perhaps? But the stranger did have a point about the weather. "It may be very gray today, but I have two scarves, so it won't bother me." She tugged on the aforementioned scarves, one black and one pale green, dropping a few shells as she did.

"And what would you be doing on a gray day such as this?"

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

The first thing to catch Eleri's attention was the other's gaze as the orbs changed in color to a black shade. It was a curious thing as Eleri rose to her knees to get a better look at them, watching with fascination as they slowly changed. "My, my...and just where do you come from?" She asked giving a curious tilt of her head.

At the other's comment of her hair made Eleri blush slightly as a hand lifted up to push a wet curl behind her ear, "Ahh..thank you. Not many people say something like that to me." She felt more drops falling on her head, "I do enjoy the rain myself, though I really did come out here to dry out and get some fresh air."

The Water Divine gave a small chuckle as she thought about how funny it was that she came out of the waters to just go into more as cold drops slipped along her skin. Reaching out Eleri picked up a few of the fallen shells, brushing her thumb over the colorful, sand-polished interior, "This is about as far I'm allowed to go really...and really it's just nice to get out even if it is under gray skies. Besides, the beach is always so quiet and peaceful. Holding out the fallen shells Eleri offered a wistful smile.

"So what is your name?"

[Kalas Lith'ard]

The black in her eyes was slowly fading, turning them a greenish blue instead, and she knelt down in the sand to save her new companion the trouble of standing. "I came from the forest." Maybe that was too vague. "The giant one, in the Earth Kingdom." Yes, that was better.

More drops were falling, as if the sky had gotten sand in its eyes; Kalas looked up, reached up to brush the water off her head...but maybe it looked like little jewels, shining on her hair. That would be nice. She lowered the hand again, and--oh, yes. Conversation. She smiled cheerfully, glad the other girl was less nervous now. "It is very peaceful, isn't it? I like it. Though boundaries are never very fun to have." The horizon made a good boundary, if one needed to have one; it went on forever, and so it failed to bind.

A pause as she noticed the shells held out to her; instead of taking them, she poured the rest carefully into the other's hands. "My name is Kalas. It's very nice to meet you."

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

The changing color of the other girls gaze was fascinating, unsure what magic was behind it. She'd heard of a good number of Fey with the ability to change their appearance, but Eleri had never seen anything of the sort. The books of magic weaving only allowed for so much explination. She sat back a little as the other knelt as well, "Oh, so you are a born Earth Fey? I know a good many people in the Earth Kingdom as it is one of the places I tend to run off to when I can. Always the best sweets I find. Honey is probably one of the most amazing things I have ever had." She gave a small chuckled.

"Yes bounderies, they are not my cup of tea, but it is only for a little while until I finish healing." Lifting an arm up she showed the red and pink welts were flesh had been cut before, still fresh looking, "I suppose for now it is not a bad thing that I am home though." She grew silent for a moment, one hand going to her lips. How her travels had been this time had been like some wild dream with its danger and the encounter with...

The weight of shells in her hands brought Eleri back to the moment as she found herself moving so as not to drop the shells. She quelled a laugh beneath an amused smile. How odd this behavior of this one was, but still so adorable. Carefully she placed the shells in her lap before looking up once more. "It is a pleasure, I am called Eleri. What brings you so far out this way?" Holding up one shell she held it up so that what little light came through the clouds caught on it's shining surface.

"Treasure hunting?"

[Kalas Lith'ard]

"I'm told I'm more of a Wind Fey, actually, though I wasn't raised there. The Earth Kingdom does have such delicious treats~ It's my favorite place to go." Was Miss Pink watching her eyes? She opened them wider, still smiling, for better inspection. It wasn't uncommon for people to get curious, after all.

Her gaze didn't stay for long though, distracted by the injuries on that otherwise unblemished skin, eyes gaining a tint of yellowish-orange as her companion became lost in her thoughts. It was accompanied by a falter in her smile, and both were gone as fast as they appeared when the moment of silence was over. Were they injuries with bad memories? Perhaps she shouldn't ask.

"Eleri? What a pretty name. I...forgot why I wanted to come here, actually. It must have been treasure hunting, yes. Or sight-seeing. I do like the sand and shells." A pause to admire the light on that shell, another to wonder if maybe she should take off her boots to feel the sand between her toes, and a final one to see if she could make a hill out of it. Not a very large one, it seemed.

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

Surprise registered on Eleri's face as she let her head tilt a little. "A Wind Fey raised in the Earth Kingdom...that is an interesting upbringing. I've been to there though...the Wind Kingdom I mean. I met a Dark Fey there up along the mountain." Her arms went around her form as her thoughts drifted again with it, "There seems to be a lot of Dark Fey around nowadays." Her voice faded out softly.

"Then again I've only been able to travel out in the past year or so...perhaps I am just not as aware as I once thought." She rustled a hand through her own hair, letting the curls flail wildly for a moment before she leaned in to Kalas, "You forgot why you were traveling here? Are you okay?" A pale hand reached out and the back of it touched to the other Fey's forehead lightly. The pulse of life filled her own mind as she could feel the water within the flesh and blood. As she shifted a few small shells fell into the sands.

"Well you came to the right place for both." Leaning in she smiled, letting her hand drop away, "This place has lots of sand, and lost of shells. They get left here as offerings of the sea, left overs of ceremonial dresses and jewelery. There is no end to what the waters bring to land." Pink lips spread into a bright smile.

"Some say that water is wind's twin...the way it flows and molds into the smallest spaces and fills the biggest. Unshapable unless force by the hands of others, and without air or water no life would flourish." She laughed softly as she poked at the fallen shells, letting some fill with sand, stacking others up into small towers.

[Kalas Lith'ard]

Kalas did not draw back from the hand on her head, instead closing her eyes for the brief moment it was there. Such a nice feeling, the warmth of flesh, compared to the cold rain that even now fell lightly from the sky. "Oh yes, I'm sure I'm fine. I would have noticed something wrong if I wasn't." A somewhat silly statement to make. "I set out a few months ago, you see." Was that a good reason? Did it even normally take that long to make a trip from the forest to this place? These were questions that she didn't bother to think of herself.

Shells. Shells were pretty. She lifted a few from where they'd fallen, crafting a small smiling face in the sand in front of her, finding a small stick and placing it by a tower, as if it were a small fay in a city of sparkling rainbows. "If the water is wind's twin, I wonder what that makes the earth? Its cousin, maybe. Oh, it would be nice to think we could all be so close." And the light could be their mother, and the darkness their father, both constant and fleeting in their own ways.

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

The habits of the Wind Fey were curious, amusing, and almost childlike in a very sweet way, she didn't know whether to enjoy it or be worried of it. Then again Eleri was not use to such sweetness in the recent months from other Feys...it seemed more habit to be on the end of rumors or reprimand, or as early as the past few weeks...violence. "It is not often that one forgets where they travel and for what reason. Even if just to travel and get away with no place in particular they still have some reason to be moving along a path away from home." Watching Kalas' hands as she made her little face in the sand, and the little wooden body stuck in earth was slowly growing damp.

The rain, Eleri had nearly forgotten about the rain as it filled upturned shells, flowing down the stack like a trickling fountain. "Earth is shaped by all elements in one way or another...it is one of the few influenced by every element. Perhaps a cousin, and perhaps something even more important. It would be nice, wouldn't it." Eleri frowned, the downturned lips gentle in their curve as she looked up at the dark clouds.

"Tell me Kalas, you are traveling are you not? Have you encountered those of the Darker Courts at all?"

[Kalas Lith'ard]

There was a pause at the mention of home, and she stared thoughtfully up at the cloudy sky. Had she properly closed up the house when she left? Perhaps when she returned there would be animals living in it. The sudden image of a bear sitting at the table caused her to blink, and she returned again to the conversation at hand.

Dark Courts? Fey? Had she met any of those? She picked up her stick man, toying with it in her hands, as she thought. "I may have. But most likely not. I haven't spoken to anyone in a while, you see. " She'd taken a very winding path to get here, circling entirely around it at one point; she could still remember the sight of the Kingdom of Light, far off in the distance, and that glimpse she'd gotten of the Fissure of Woe.

Maybe she'd meet more people if she followed more conventional paths. But she had the whole world to discover, and she did so love to explore. A slight frown crossed her own face, though, influenced by the other. Why was that? Maybe her question was what had made her frown? "Were you bothered by a member of the Dark?"

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

It seemed to Eleri that Kalas was not someone use to many people the way she went into long lulls of silence and contemplative looks. It made the Fey seem cute in a way that made Eleri want to keep poking and prodding at her, keep talking and finding out more about the other. Standing up Eleri stretched her arms into the air, letting her bones pop and shift, taking pleasure in the rush of warmth at her movements in the chilly rain.

"Do you often tend to avoid others Kalas?" She walked a little ways down the dune she'd been upon, the sand slipping out from under her feet before she turned back again, "I find that the people one meets upon the journey are more important than the journey itself...it shapes us. Even my meeting with the Dark ones." She tried to return to her usually bright smile, but it just didn't have the same feel.

"It is why I am bound back to the very Kingdom I serve. A stupid war I was born too late to know of, but just significant enought to make Fey's less kind to one another." For a moment the waves rose a little higher than they were even for the high tide as they swept up the beach nearly to the very place her companion for the moment sat. The water lingered there, swirling around before slipping slowly back down...leaving in its wake larger shells with more intricate designs and rocks smoothed with years laying under the surface. Picking a larger shell up she carried it back to Kalas before holding it out for her. "I guess in a way you are lucky...to not see another person would be to not know how to hate them. There is no war for the Fey who lives in solitary existance."

[Kalas Lith'ard]

Oh, was she leaving? Kalas moved so that she was sitting on her toes, watching the other Fey stretch and walk away. "I hope I'm not avoiding anyone. I do like making friends." Though admittedly she'd absentmindedly ignored people before. Did it count as ignoring if she hadn't noticed they were there? Though it had been years since she'd been anywhere with people for her to fail to notice.

The poor thing seemed bothered, somehow, by the topic of the Dark. She could feel it, and it made the weather seem colder than it really was. Or maybe it really was colder, she thought as the waves found their way to her feet. Had the water been this high before? But any worries she may have held were silenced for the moment by the beautiful shell in Eleri's hand. So pretty, so colorful...though the conversation was still somewhat serious right now, wasn't it? She took the shell, smiling softly. "But to never see others would also be to never learn to love them. And wars can never end if the Fey can't learn to love." A finger traced the curve of the shell, admiring its color and shape. Perhaps she could take one home. And one of those smooth rocks, as well.

[Eleri Danu'Fada]

"That is a plus of meeting people wen traveling. There is always the chance you will make a new friend. In fact that is how I make a lot of my own. I feel like I have more that live outside of the water than inside." Eleri released the shell as the other took it, pleased that the Kalas seemed to like what she'd drawn up from the waters, "What you say is true about love as well."

Pushing wet curls from her face she gave a small chuckle. For such an innocent looking Fey that the Wind wanderer seemed to be she spoke a good number of wise truths. Fingers clutched a rounds stone, brushing the sand from it. "It seems that we Fey are too much like the humans....not all of us can live with each other, but we cannot live without one another." Tossing the stone from hand to hand she let it roll over her fingertips, its cold smooth surface sending goosebumps along her skin. The rain had begun to lighten up now, but her gaze didn't go skyward, instead they stayed on Kalas.

"I was born very close to the end of the war, I guess I feel that some of our elders have put undue struggles on us. I have seen many things that have been and will come, and I fear that it will be a long time till any Fey sets aside their differences to love one another. You are one of the few people that has given me hope that not all of us are set on distruction." Licking her lips she could taste the salt on the air as she returned to sit with Kalas, "Don't ever lose that Kalas...it is a gift to have such thoughts as those and be able to share them. Some have to live hundreds of years before they realize such things as that."