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Is This Me? 009 - Calm

 
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PopeAlessandrosXVIII
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:40 pm    Post subject: Is This Me? 009 - Calm Reply with quote

Calm






Shifting in Tariths lap, Darkon holds out a hand. The man grasps it firmly and helps the boy to his feet. The sun hangs low in the sky, it's red light making the sky blush. A cloud slides over it, dimming the world even further. Fellion stumbles to her feet, her eyes glistening earnestly. His own legs feel a little weak, so Darkon leans on his companion for support as he glances towards the back of the boat. Something inside turns his eyes away from what little he can see through the wreckage. 'I did that, I think. Tarith said that it frightened him. I. . . . .I do not think I want to do that again' Turning to Fellion he tilts his head. The clouds in front of the sun move, lighting the waters around them, and as he looks at her he can see the sun reflected there as well. The light there makes her glow seem all the more bright. 'I feel a draw, and Tarith says the other shore is not safe' Glancing up at Tarith he lets his gaze fall back on the girl before them a moment later, his mind set. “We must go where it is safe.” His soft voice seems rough and he finds himself swallowing before he continues.


“We will go with you. We will go to your home. I. . . . .Thank you for helping us.” He blinks his slow blink as a smile spreads quickly across her face at the news. Her mouth opens and a warbling note comes out, sounding much like a bird call.


______________


Fellion feels a rush, overjoyed that he was giving her the chance to pay him back. Her croon carries across the water, turning the heads over several dock workers on the shore. Leaning against the railing she says simply “This way!” before tipping backwards over the edge. The instant she strikes the water she relaxes her hecta. A rippling wave of scales spreads down her legs, growing thick and stiff after a few seconds. The scales seem to branch out between her two weaving legs, knitting the two limbs into one powerful tail. Kicking hard once she breaches the surface, the water trailing down over her hair and body, giving her a faint sheen. She gazes up at the faces looking down over the railing at her. She feels her fingers itch as the webbing returns between them, her claws extending into sharp black points.


“This way.” she repeats, motioning with her hand for them to jump in. It takes several seconds but eventually the man lands in the water beside her. The packs he had carried over the side float to the surface before he does. As soon as Tarith surfaces he motions for Darkon to follow. The boy hits the water and the sensors along her body begin keeping track of the both of them. The dull slow beat of their hearts, the soft sway of their arms in the water. Her eyes pass to the man as he swims closer to the one who had captured her mind so strongly, an arm strung through their packs. Her brows furrow as she gets an odd message from him. Sinking down beneath the surface she confirms that he indeed has a tail. As it swishes gently through the water it send off small electric ripples in the water. The strip along her body hums as it brings in information from all over the lake.


Swimming close she pops out of the water right beside the males. Tarith starts slightly, but Darkon simply looks at her, as if waiting for something. The ship moves on slowly, carrying away the carnage like a dream drifting from ones waking mind, and as the cloud of red dissipates around the young boy, so too do the thoughts of his violent actions from his mind. Reaching down she tugs at a couple of her scales, her face wincing in pain as they pull free with little clouds of blue blood. “You will need to follow me as I will go.” She holds one out to each of them. “Place them in your mouth, do not swallow. That would hurt. As long as they are in your mouth, you will breath through your nose. Take in the water and you will breath, like me.” Turning her back on them she pulls her hair aside revealing gills over her shoulder blades.


_____________


Tarith looks at the girl, an eyebrow raised. It's not that he didn't believe her, but he knows he's going to have a hard time convincing himself to inhale water. He glances over just in time to see Darkon slip the large scale, almost the size of his whole tongue, into his mouth and close it tight. A moment later he disappears beneath the surface, the girl a moment later. “Here goes nothing” he murmurs. Pressing the scale to his tongues he locks his teeth together and dips his head under the water. It takes a few seconds of looking around before he spots the two moving slow circles in the water a couple yards off, staring back at him. Suddenly his eyes seem to clear and the lake world around him snaps into a new focus. He can see clear to the bottom, the multicolored shells and stone lining it catching the last rays of sunlight. Teeth still clenched he swims lower in the water and at last takes a breath. It's definitely different from breathing air, but his mind soon stops protesting to the thick feeling of the water moving through his body.


Kicking hard he looks about as he swims closer to Darkon, who had managed to suspend himself upside down and was examining Fellion's tail tips. The clear water lets him see almost clear to the nearest shore, while looking towards the middle reveals a venerable forest of tall kelp plants. The three of them are not alone in this magnificent watery world however and as he watches a dark red fish as long as himself moves out of the forest for a moment before turning and slipping silently out of sight once again. His heart begins beating fast as he imagines what else could be hiding just out of sight. He feels a tug on his arm and nearly jumps out of his skin. Whipping around he lets out a bubbly sigh as he sees it's just Fellion, pulling him along towards where Darkon is. Now upright, if there is such a thing underwater, he seems to be examining a group of fish swimming in their direction.


_____________


Darkon watches at the cloud of fish, each the size of his palm, swim ever closer. Several feet away they suddenly turn, becoming a solid wall of gold and blue before dipping down and swooping past the small group beneath their feet and fin. In every direction, fish of many colors dart here and there, most in large swarms. A few of the larger ones swim alone, and the smaller ones seem to avoid them. Darkon takes it all in, eyes darting about. 'There is so much color here. So many different forms of life' When a dark shadow, as long at the ferry they just left, seems to slither past along the bottom he suddenly feels Tarith's arm around his waist. He looks up at the man and sees him staring hard at the shadow as it goes by. He turns his eyes over to Fellion and notices that she too is watching it intently.


Unable to ask for an explanation, Darkon instead catches Fellion's gaze with a wave of his hand. She raises an eyebrow in question, and all he can do in response is point at her, and then to where he can see the water bubbling and thundering in the distance. She follows his hand then nods. Tarith lets go of the boy so that they can better keep pace with the mer-girl as she makes her way to the waterfall. He begins wondering just what her “people” will be like. With Tarith as his only companion, and the people on the boat his only contacts other then him, the concept itself seems odd to him. 'Does it mean they will all look like her? Tarith once said that he and I are of different races, that is why we look different. I guess, this will be that same as that' Her tail sways up and down in front of them, beating the water with each stroke. Focusing on the blue light surrounding her he tilts his head, wondering why only the three of them seem to have a glow. 'Well, we three, Lassich, and the one inside. . . . .' His mind swiftly shifts away from the red one inside, something repelling him away from the thought.


Soon the rumble of the falls is all he can focus on. The white churning waters, only a few yards away, seem to pull on him, drawing him closer. Fellion swims in front of the two boys, a slightly concerned look on her face. She points first at the falls, then to herself, followed by what looks like her pulling on something, before pointing at last to them. Darkon tilts his head, confused. He feels a tap on his shoulder and looks over at Tarith. He smiles before grabbing the boys hand and pulling him around a bit. Darkon finally nods in understanding, turning to Fellion he holds out his hand. Her brows furrow once more in concern, but she moves forward anyways. Reaching out she takes his hand and an instant later he feels a sting as she puts a cut along his wrist. Before Tarith can rush forward she pulls her hand back.


As she does so, what looks like a chain slides out from inside Darkon's body from the cut on his wrist. Tarith swims up to the boy's side, grabbing his injured arm. The wound had only bled for a second, and the pain was gone. Looking up he sees anger shining out from Tarith's eyes, but from some reason Darkon feels an understanding for what Fellion had done. Reaching up he touches Tarith's cheek before swimming out of his reach. Grabbing the chain nor protruding from his body he pulls, kicking hard so he moves backwards. Fellion goes along, letting herself get pulled. She smiles wanly at the man, seemingly glad that Darkon understands her intentions were not vicious.


______________


Tarith tries to calm down, finally understand her action. For a moment he had been scared that she was going to keep on cutting. With another bubbly sigh he holds out his own hand for her to do the same to him. She moves in, repeating the process, and Tarith wonders at the odd sensation of hecta at work. Grasping the chain tightly he watches her move to Darkon. She clasps her hands over his so that he's holding tight to the chain before turning about and facing the wall of white bubbles behind her. Her hair parts down the middle as a large fin rises along her back. The dark green spines catch bits of her hair as it rises, making it flare out slightly more than usual. With a final tightening in her shoulders she darts forward into the white mass, drawing the two along behind her as it they were nothing.


Tarith's eye widen as he realizes that he can't feel the pressure of the water beating down on them. 'It should feel almost crushing here' His last glance down before his vision is entirely obscured are the flat blue stones at the bottom of the fall's pool, beaten smooth by the ever pounding waters falling from above. When at last he can see once again his heart skips a beat. They are a fair ways above lake now, moving slowly up the streaming water. Looking up he sees Fellion, a look of fierce concentration on her face as she swims hard against the flow. To his side he sees Darkon looking out over the lake, his eyes taking in the whole scene.


The opposite peak doesn't reach as high as the one they climb now so soon it's upper reaches come into view. Four legged beasts wander across it's face, some resting on a smattering of ledges here and there. Far below the lakeside town they had been heading to looks like a collection of red blotches on a brown plain. The couple dozen red tiled roofs dotting the shore make odd shapes at their angle. It takes a few moments for him to realize it's most likely the change Fellion's scale made to his eyes that makes some of the stuff further away seem very blurry. He recalls how when he's passes this way how he could still see the large city he'd fled from some ways in the distance from a vantage point much like where he is now. Turning back to the far mountains he follows their ridges back as they snake across the land into the distance. The blue blur makes him think of a very large stithis, slithering across the land.


______________


Darkon watches as long as he can, but it doesn't take as long as he thought it would for them to reach the top. As they tip sideways once again, he rolls to watch the ground get closer. A sudden tug pulls him high in the water, lifting him above the jagged edge of the waterfall. She pulls them along for several yards before pulling herself on to the shore. It take a few seconds but at last she hauls Tarith and Darkon out of the water as well. Holding out her hands she says. “It is best on to leave the scales in when on land. Makes breathing hard.” With a nod they both remove their scales and hand them back to her. She tucks them into her hair before slipping back into the water. The grass around them comes right up to the shore of the fast moving river they had taken to get here. Up to his elbow the lush brown blades sway in the breeze flowing over the open plain.


Standing Darkon looks around. The ledge they stand on is rather large and as he look on down the river it seems to almost vanish into the horizon Tarith stands, shaking hard to get as much water off himself as he can before picking up their small packs and slinging them back over his shoulder. Tarith pats his head gently. “Fun ride, eh?” Darkon ponders the question for several seconds before looking at Tarith and cocking his head. The man chuckles, his tail wagging a few times before he turns to Fellion. “That was definitely interesting.” He stares at his wrist as the chain retracts and the wound heals.


She tries smiling again. “It is how we get the larger prey from the lake bellow up to the city. The Blood Chain makes the catch lighter. I. . . .Am not sure how it works, only that it works.”


Tarith nods. He doesn't really understand stuff like that either. Looking around he tries to spot anything but grass and rock. “Well, we're up here now. How much further to your people?”


She swims up close to the shore, propping herself up on her hands on the bank. “Not far now. Just over there, in the alcove.” Tarith looks off in the direction she indicated, meanwhile Darkon once again is faced with a word he wants to have defined. Tugging at Tarith's sleeve he waits for the man to acknowledge him before asking, “What is Female?I know it is the right word, but I do not remember what it means.” As he speaks his eyes stay locked on Fellion. Going from her hair to her face to her neck to her chest, he knows that Fellion is a female, but for the life of him, it makes no sense.


_____________


Fellion looks down at her own chest before glancing back up to see the flabbergasted look on Tarith's face. Leaving the man to explain she drops bellow the surface and darts up the river to a calmer part where it branches off in several directions. The stones up here that line the river are much more uniform then the ones in the lake, never shading far from blue and brown. Snapping up a few fish and a good handful of fresh weeds she gulps the snack down and moves back to the two on the shore. Popping up she takes in the scene of Tarith sitting on the grass, his face in one of his hands, and Darkon holding the top of his pants away from his body so he can look down into them. With a small cough she gets their attention. Tarith jumps up, a half smile on his face, and Darkon wanders over to stand beside the man, his brows furrowed slightly.


With a quick 'follow me' gesture with her hand she takes off up the river. The two on shore run alongside the bank, trying to keep pace. Here and there flowers dot the plain, their light fragrance floating on the breeze. In not time they reach the edge of a large lake. Not quite as big as the one below, but looking down into it from the shore one can tell it is definitely deeper. Close to the near edge the alcove is nearly a cave as it cuts deep into the peak and seems to go around nearly the entire lake. However, instead of an overhanging roof, there is a simple sloping upwards of rock leaving much of the lake exposed. Fellion recalls how when the light hit’s the slope just right it looks like a rainbow shimmering across the stone. Without a word she slips beneath the water and heads for the city.


______________


Tarith watches her vanish and collapses onto the grass, panting. His tail flops weakly but it is enough to amuse Darkon who proceeds to crouch down and stare at it's feeble movements. Time creeps slowly by as they wait for her return. Eventually the sun begins sinking beneath the horizon and the breeze turns cold. When Tarith finally sits up Darkon is shivering slightly. Pulling the small blankets he's packed as well as a few other objects to hold the blankets down he lays the cloth out on the grass to dry. In the meantime he pulls the boy into his lap and wraps his arms around him. Darkon snuggles in, seeking out warmth instinctively. Tarith stares out over the water, wondering just where Fellion could be, and what's keeping her. 'It's too cold to sleep right here, but is that what she intended? She didn't tell us how long she'd be' Looking over towards the rock wall he decides that if she isn't back by the time the blankets are dry, he'll move them over there so they can get at least a little shelter from the wind. Looking out over the lake again he wonders once again just what's going on beneath it's glassy surface.






+++++++++++++++++++



Hi, long time no see. Finally got it up, sorry for the wait! *Bows repeatedly* Anyways, Fellion has been gone for a while now, just what IS happening down there? Some sort of catastrophe? Are her people angry with her for bringing them there? Some sort of meeting keeping the council busy so she can't ask to bring them into the city? Come on, hit me with your ideas! What happening in the lake?
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Last edited by PopeAlessandrosXVIII on Sun Oct 14, 2012 6:13 am; edited 2 times in total
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Tikanni Corazon
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Pope!


Nice to see a new chappie for Is This Me? It's been a while for sure, but better late than never, eh? Wink As such, I had to skim over the last few chapters just to get the gist as to what's happening now, but that wasn't a problem. Smile

I enjoyed this chapter! I have to say, I do like Tarith as a character. Darkon is slightly creepy as children go, so I can't quite warm to him, though it's not a bad thing, me thinks. One gets the feeling that Darkon is supposed to be a character that others should be wary of. And Fellion is likeable too. I did like the fact that Tarith questioned the breathing underwater part, as it added some extra believablity to the character as a whole.

I'm also impressed by how you've kept the story in present tense through out. It's not easy to do that (or at least I've found it to be so) and it flows very well. Smile


Found a few things, mostly just some small spelling errors...


Quote:
She gazes up at the faces looking over the railing down at her.


In this sentence, the flow would be better if the 'down' were moved so that it's situated after 'looking', so it reads...

She gazes up at the faces looking down over the railing at her.



Quote:
“This way.” she repeats, motioning with her hand for them to jump in. It takes several seconds but eventually the man lands in the water beside her. The packs he had carried over the side float to the surface before he does. As soon as he surfaces he motions for Darkon to follow. He hits the water and the sensors along her body begin keeping track of him. The dull slow beat of his heart, the soft sway of his arms in the water. Her eyes pass to the man as he swims closer to the one who had captured her mind so strongly, an arm strung through their packs. Her brows furrow as she gets an odd message from him. Sinking down beneath the surface she confirms that he indeed has a tail. As it swishes gently through the water it send off small electric ripples in the water. The strip along her body hums as it brings in information from all over the lake.


Okay, though one is able to work out who's being spoken about in this paragraph, there are an awful lot of “he's” involved, and, though I personally didn't find it confusing, it did strike me as not sounding quite right. The part marked in red is easily changed for something like As the boy hits the water..., and it makes the flow that much better.

Quote:
Reaching down she tugs at a couple of her scales, he face wincing in pain as they pull free with little clouds of blue blood.


Her

Quote:
Several feet away the suddenly turn, becoming a solid wall of gold and blue before dipping down and swooping past the small group beneath their feet and fin.


They?

Quote:
Four legged beast wander across it's face, some resting on a smattering of ledges here and there.


Beasts

Quote:
Far bellow the lakeside town they had been heading to looks like a collection of red blotches on a brown plain.

Quote:
Not quite as big as the one bellow, but looking down into it from the shore one can tell it is definitely deeper.


Below

Quote:
The couple dozen red tiled roofs doting the shore make odd shapes at their angle.


Dotting

Quote:
It takes a few moment for him to realize it's most likely the change Fellion's scale made to his eyes that makes some of the stuff further away seem very blurry.


Moments

Quote:
Fellion this how when the light hit’s the slope just right how it looks like a rainbow shimmering across the stone.


I'm not entirely sure what the beginning part of the sentence is supposed to read, but I'm thinking that 'this' should be 'thinks'? And the second 'how' can go too.

Quote:
Pulling the small blankets he's packed as well as a few other objects to hold the blankets down he lats the cloth out on the grass to dry.


Lays


As for the DP, I'm drawn towards the idea of some kind of catastrophe having befallen the underwater city. I don't think that her people would be angry with her at having brought them along, given that they rescued Fellion. I'm wondering if maybe some enemy may have done something to try and destroy the city...and maybe the dying king/leader might have some information about Darkon and where the boy has come from/who he is/etc.


Much enjoyed Pope! Hope to see another installment of this tale very soon! Keep up the good work! Smile

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 4:08 am    Post subject: Thanks Reply with quote

Thanks for the input. I coulda swore I fixed half of those before posting, but I guess they slipped by me. . . . .I'm glad you still enjoy it. Writing in present tense actually feels more natural to me then past, despite the fact that I think MOST books are past Razz Anyways, that's one option for the poll, yays! Darkon is suppose to be hard to unde3rstand, so I guess creepy is a good a word as any for him Razz Hope I'll be able to keep going soon, Just need one more option!
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 11:02 am    Post subject: *Poof* Reply with quote

Okay, all edited up, thank you again Tikanni-chan. Now just need some more suggestions for a poll! I feel like writing! Razz
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:33 pm    Post subject: Oi Reply with quote

*Poke* Last try. If no suggestions, I'll just use Tikanni-chan's Razz
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 9:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I finally caught up Very Happy

good read, pope, good read.

Unfortunately, I really can't think of anything else to have happened.

While it's true i beleive her father might be displeased with her for going to the falls yet again and then have strangers pushed on him, it would mostly be dispelled by the idea that they saved her.

and without really any other ideas of what could possibly have happened, I'm gunna say that a catastrophy is your best bet.
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