The Eagle and the LakeThe Healer of House Verkot finally rose from the Templar's bedside, leaving instruction with the guard to send for her if the halfling's condition changed any for the worse but she was confident that the girl simply needed sleep now to add to her healing. Marena was sorely in need of a bathing and decided to wander the forests, as was her want, to source hot spring or pooled river to rest herself. While sleep was one way of recuperating, so too was a bathing of her skin. The mermaid left the castle keep to head deeper into the forests and once some distance away, caught sight of a golden glimmer circling high to the sky above the treeline. Her bonneted head tilted back to watch hearing the bird calling cry. The golden sight was familiar....and familiar to one who she knew. The sight made her grin and she began to follow the large bird, humming out softly towards the creature and joining it in songcall. Her barefeet trudged through bracken and fern and over muddy track at times as she followed slowly, stumbling at times on her unsteady landlegs. She wore the black bonnet with its white frills that covered her matted massive hair mass, and her body was robed in the little black dress with the slits high to the thighs.
The eagle was a little smarter than any natural raptor and recognised that bonnet from before. She knew that her torian companion liked the owner of that bonnet and so she circled lower and lower, crying out so as to attract the girl's attention. Eventually she landed on a low branch hanging out over the road and peered at Marena out of one startlingly blue eye until she was sure she had the woman's attention.
The mermaid giggled and tilted her bonnetted head at the golden eagle with the piercing blue eyes
"She know it....she recognise her...she follow" The maid of the sea treated this now like a playful game but just hoped the creature would allow her the time it took for Marena to traverse the forest on her legs. Perhaps it would take her to the Ellybird, her new friend and fast becoming a rather special friend for the bardess had touched something of the mermaid's soul with her music and a recent quest companionship.
"Fly....lead her where...will" she spoke softly to the bird, though hoped it was not miles and days for the mer only had so much energy to find water's grace.
Akilina let out a high shrill call, which was meant to carry the command
"follow me!" To someone who could actually understand an eagle... She pointed her wing down the road to the east and took off laboriously, for she was a heavy bird at 15 pounds and started to fly off to the east a little bit, circling low enough to be easily seen...
The young girl sang as she followed the golden circling trail of the skyward creature, the eagle's flight path showing her the general direction through the forest. Marena headed east, though she was no navigator to land as she was to sea, she knew enough by the time of day and sun's rise of the directions. The language of the eagle was above her ability, the only tongue she knew well and to the waters was her mertongue, even common words and sentences escaped her knowledge at times. Her hands brushed to fern and long grass as she made her way and followed the eagle, laughing at times and totally unwary of potential predatory danger around her. The companionship of the eagle and what it represented gave her some assurety of her safety.
And indeed, Akilina kept a careful watch out for predators, both of the two and four footed variety, and it was only a very few more minutes before she arrived at her destination, leading her ground bound follower through a stand of trees and up to the shores of a pretty little lake, fed by a waterfall with a stone dock and two buildings of like construction attached to it. The raptor landed on a post at the end of the dock and waited for the girl to catch up...
Marena finally arrived through clearing and could almost taste the sweetness of fresh waters to her tongue even before she set eyes upon the little lake. She watched the golden eagle now settle to postal perch as she approached both bird and lake
"She knows....she knows....Elly's bird....watches for the Elly bird" the mermaid smiled brightly and moved to the edge of the pretty lake, lifting her gaze to the waterfall and sighing with delight at the serenity and beauty of the watery abode. She looked towards the buildings nearby but had no mind as yet to explore those. Her need was for a bathing and the cold waters of the lake with its waterfall was perfect for now. She shrugged off her black silky dress, letting it slither to the grass and untied her bonnet to lay atop the silk. Her golden head of hair was a mass of tangled matted curls, an ugly clump that lay heavy to her head and ran down her back. There was no one about but she did make quick scan of the area just in case before releasing the bonnet. If her hair had been untangled and unmatted, its length would have likely reached the Elly bird's own wingspan once unfettered by its curse. Marena dipped toe to the waters and Marena: edged in slowly, making wave to the eagle as if she were greeting Ellyssa herself through the bird's eyes.
The eagle watched the girl disrobe with purely platonic interest. She could leave now and pursue her dinner, but she felt something of her companion's protective instincts where the healer was concerned so she simply watched the girl, noting that there was something different about her head fur than other two-legs, but not really being sure. Though a part of her clucked internally at the evidence of lack of grooming... Surely the human would collect bugs! If she were a lesser bird, she might have considered hopping on the woman's shoulder and looking for bugs. But no, such would be beneath the dignity of such as she so she settled for watching her intently, first out of her blue eye and then out of her green.
Marena had the thought in the back of her mind that the eagle's eyes were like a glass through which her friend might sense her, maybe even see her. She did not know the name of the bird, if it were told, it was forgotten, but she recognised it well enough. The mermaid swam first atop the lake water, stroking the coolness to the sides and around her body, not yet diving. She turned to cast glimpse to the familiar bird from time to time, wondering what Ellyssa might make of this. But finally the water's touch to her skin brought her control to keep legged form at end. Marena's legs fused beneath the pool, transformed to one heavy large tail of bluey-green scale that was longer than her landlegs and ended with a sweeping broad tailfin of a deeper blue. She made a plunging dive, lifting her scaled rear out of the water and following through with her tail, the tail fin standing some three feet in height above water furling and ready to thrust downwards upon submerging. Marena dove and her tail thrust to propel her deeper and along the lake's bottom. For many minutes she remained below and only a small bubble trail gave sign of her path until even that dissipated when the mer began to breath water. She rose again, golden head rising to peer out to see if the golden eagle still remained on its perch.
Of course the golden eagle was maintaining her silent vigil, mostly watching the antics of the strange woman, but every now and again looking all around for possible threats or prey. The sight of the girl sprouting a fish tail caused a measure of confusion to the proud huntress. Fish were for eating, but people, as Ellyssa had been at pains to teach her, should be left alone! Besides, this was rather too large a fish for her to contemplate catching! Ruffling her feathers in annoyance, she launched herself into the air, and, as if to reassure herself about her place in the world, she stooped to catch one of the more normal fish which had been disturbed by the mermaid's splashing, flying to drop it on the dock once it had stopped wriggling.
***
The mermaid emerged from the lake, the water droplets glistened in the morning's rays as they streamed off her face and golden lashes. Her tangled mass of matted golden hair lay at first like fountain but to the sun's warmth soon bounced back to heavy and voluminous weight behind her head and down her back. The willowy sea maiden swam towards the lakeside, gently idling her broad tail's bluey scaled fin to propel herself leisurely with matching breaststrokes to finally hoist her betailed form to the edge. The water now ran over her tanned body and drenched the grassy bank where she sat. Marena had taken refuge and slept the night in the pretty lake with its nearby buildings. She knew whose residence this was having followed the redwinged's golden eagle the previous evening. Marena sighed with no small contentment. She had found good source for her needs to this side of the forest to allow for her necessary bathing regime and even without needing to ask permission, she knew the torian would not be minding her use of the lovely lake.
Were she to sea and rockside, were she to be typical mermaid bathing now under the sun, were even she to be with comb and glass, it might seem like suitable scene for the sea maiden to comb out the heavy tangles to her lustrous locks of gold. But strangely, she did not. She did not even touch them other than to shove back an errant matted sodden tangle to stay with the others behind her back. Thus were her plump breasts exposed with their coral tipped nipples where often the mermaids would offer more tease to the passing vessels by allowing these morsels of lush flesh to be only partly exposed by having their swathes of glory trailing across bosom and nipple. This particular mermaid stretched her arms, lifting her chest to the sun and her sea green eyes caught sight again of the large eagle and made a twisting wave of her raised wrist and hand in light wave to the skybird, a beaming bright smile now playing to her lips. Her greeting was soft and silky, but of a common that was broken and stilted
"Morning ...Elly's bird...may she find the best...bugs and...fish and breakfast well" the mermaid giggled softly, lazing to the lakeshore.
The eagle offered an unmistakeable nod to the mermaid and, seeming to reach a decision, launched herself off of her perch, circled once over the lake and then flew off over the forest to the Northwest, vanishing from Marena's view as she landed on the balcony outside the main room of Ellyssa's treehouse, and, seeing the torian through the window, sent a visual report of all she's seen of her guest to Ellyssa. The torian in turn sat bolt upright and smiled at the images. She had known Marena was a mermaid, but to see the proof in Akilina's memories was quite startling. And she hadn't seen that matted blonde lump of hair before... She wondered why the mermaid didn't take care of it.... Briskly, feeling much recovered from her illness, she stood up, banished her flute into its magical storage, strapped on her satchel and weapons and, throwing her cloak over her shoulders, she stepped out onto her balcony, still out of sight of Marena.
The young girl watched the eagle take flight after small acknowledgement of her morning's greeting and sighed following it with her sea green gaze until it fell out of sight behind the treeline surrounding the lake. The creature's absence was felt and the mermaid was alone again with but the fish to play with and she had teased them to sleep with her song already that morning. She inhaled deeply and peered up towards the buildings wondering whether to leave the lake side and explore a little more of the property. But, Marena did not feel in any rush to take the land legged form. She had spent long enough in the town stumbling around on her legs that to find perfect forest retreat like this....warranted some lazy times with her tail. Yet the mermaid was by nature a social creature and the fish really held no appeal for more than a few hours. She lay back to the grass, spreading her arms out wide and watched the puffs and wisps of cloud passing. Her bluey-green tailfin still idly toyed with the lake water where it dipped.
Fiery red wings spread wide and the air mage hurled herself into the sky and glided just above the treetops, descending over the gentle slope to where she could now see Marena, half out of the water. In a span of a few moments, she alighted in a flurry of beating wings nearby. Folding them she moved to drop into a crouch near the lovely, naked merlady and smiled her greetings.
"Hello Marena, I see you have stumbled upon my home. You are most welcome!"Marena felt the stirring of the breeze across her damp body yet saw no movement of treeleaf that suggested the winds had picked up, only to be startled out of her sunbathing reverie with the deeper sweep and rush of winds and appearance of a set of broad feathered redwings with its red headed torian make landing nearby. Her initial reaction was of surprise at the sudden disturbance with thought to slip back to the lakewaters and take cover to hide her golden mop but as she rose to sit and twist body to prepare to slide back into the lake, the realisation came to her that she knew this figure and form and it was not a threatening one and definitely not unwelcome. Marena no longer felt the urge to hide, not even her 'shame' from this new found friend and a bright beam of an inherited siren's smile passed across her lips and shone through her almond shaped eyes. Softly yet happily she uttered her own greeting and sat upright fully as she spoke her silky words of stilted common
"Ellyssa...is greeting. Yes she followed...her bird...and found her waters...so pretty. Is thanking...most gracious...for her welcome yes"Ellyssa allowed her eyes to run freely over what she could see of Marena's form, appreciating the rounded orbs of her breasts, her cute little navel adorning her belly but especially the magnificent blue scaled tail.
"I had no idea your tail would be so pretty Marena" she said breathlessly as she walked along the shore and stepped onto the stone dock, walking out into the lake a little. She fingered the clasp of her cloak and hung it on a pylon, adding her weapon belt atop it. Her satchel she set on the deck beside her.
"The water looks nice. Would you mind if I join you?" she asked lightly.
"Or if you prefer, we could step into my bathhouse where I have hot and cool springs and soap..."The mermaid smiled at the compliment for one of her tail was truth, her tail -was- magificient and knew the truth her redwinged friend made. But a gift was to be returned so she made one of her own, another truth given softly and quietly
"Her wing...so large and beautiful, her flight...must be grace..itself. To air, like to water...they both strong and...of grace" she giggled lightly and gestured with a slender hand towards the lake, shuffling her scaled bottom closer now to its edge. Her sea green gaze had followed Ellyssa's derobing, unembarrassed to be so directly staring at the girl's body but it was followed with a few words
"Elly bird...lovely all over yes" before she slipped hers smoothly into the cool waters with narry a splash and lifted her arm to beckon to the torian
"She wish to....see her world....it start with ..lake yes.....come"It was the work of only a few more moments for Ellyssa to shed her gloves, boots, loincloths, leggings and bra, baring her form to Marena's eyes, not seeming to mind that regard on her pale, lightly freckled flesh. She took another moment to cast a spell on her wings. Conscious both that she could not swim beyond the most rudimentary dog-paddle, but also that she was very buoyant due to her hollow bones, she stepped off the pier and allowed the wind to lower her gently into the water, causing barely a ripple as the water rose to just below her neck and she started to tread water, looking to the mermaid with a breathless anticipation.
Marena watched everything, the young voyeur, sculling a few metres away, curious how a bird-girl would cope in the waters. The sea maiden moved swiftly towards the redwing once she was neck high to reach for her arms,touching them lightly beneath to help the torian's buoyancy as her legs kicked out to tread the water. Smiling to Ellyssa she posed her question in her silky soft voice
"Elly..friend of the skies...she ask her...will she trust her life to her...in these moments...trust her to keep her safe in her...world?" Her own tail was curving and swaying gracefully in the lake about her providing her all she needed to stay afloat and head above water without much arm movement required.
Ellyssa was of course sobered by the question posed to her in that manner, but even though the girl had made mistakes as a healer, her intent had shown through clearly in all their previous interactions, and Ellyssa had not yet regretted trusting herself to Marena. Without hesitation, she nodded.
"Of course I will, my friend" she said softly.
"What do you need me to do?"Marena tugged off the little silver ring she wore to her finger and slipped it onto one of Ellyssa's. The enchantress would likely instantly recognise its powers that gave the mermaid a good level of defense and bore the spell of Tongues. Marena had no idea whether Ellyssa knew it already or even spoke her own language, so very few did, so for simplicity, she just gave her the ring for this time.
"First...to wear this.....then...to swim deeper" And the mermaid then guided the redwing to swim further out with her towards the middle of the lake, well out of her depth to be able touch the bottom with her feet. Marena kept that light touch under Ellyssa's arm all the way, keeping her voice soft and calm watching for signs of any panic.
Ellyssa studied the ring being handed to her and recognized the patterns of the enchantments on it as enchantments that she herself has woven before on several occasions. She realized that she didn't actually need the ring, but she simply smiled and allowed the mermaid to put it on her finger. Carefully, with some effort, the redwing swam after the mermaid, into the center of the lake. She wasn't actually worried, because even though she couldn't really swim, that had never bothered her in the water because of her buoyancy. She looked to the beautiful mer with the badly matted blonde hair expectantly.
"What now?" Her mismatched eyes seemed to say.
The mermaid beamed a grin and there was a playful element to the sparkle in her sea green orbs
"Now....is to go under....and to stay under....not...to be afraid....she not let harm...please...to trust" her stilted silky words were cut off as the mermaid sunk beneath the surface, the golden mass of her matted hair sworled around them both. She gave a gentle tug at first upon Ellyssa's arms then realising the torian had a certain buoyancy in the water that kept her afloat, she tugged harder to draw her under, now curling her heavy scaled tail about the girl's legs and letting loose one hand from its light hold to wrap about the redwing's waist. She drew Ellyssa down beneath the lake waters only a couple of feet from the surface so that if her eyes remained open, she would still easily see the skies of blue and white above.
Under other circumstances, the torian might have felt arousal building at the feeling of being wrapped into the embrace of the naked mermaid, her legs trapped by a powerful tail, her breasts pressing into soft, supple flesh. But despite her curiosity and trust in the other girl, there was a moment of sheer panic as she was pulled beneath the surface. She swallowed a mouthful of lake water before holding her breath desperately as her eyes tracked up to the sky which she loved so dearly. Her wings began to churn the water behind her.
Only a few moments passed during which Marena let Ellyssa flail in the lake water with her arms, that first sign of panic before she curved her body fully around the girl, breast touching to breast and reached now with her hands to cup Ellyssa's face firmly, drawing herself closer, Marena now placed her lips to the girl's to press in for that necessary kiss. Her lips were soft, warm and teased Ellyssa's to part to share of the kiss, eventually fully encompassing her mouth with her own at a slight angle. Breath was shared, sweet life giving breath that would enable the redwing now to breath beneath the waters for a time. Marena however, clung on to the girl tightly while beneath until Ellyssa realised she could actually now breath under water and her panic would subside.
Ellyssa was startled out of her panic to feel Marena wrapping herself around her more fully. The touch of those soft lips awakened a dim memory of something she had read and that (and a completely natural desire to kiss the lovely creature) prompted her to spread her own lips and drink deeply of Marena's. Her arms wrap around the mermaid as her wings stilled. Her right hand drifted up Marena's bare back to press against the back of her neck gently while her left drifted down over flesh and then scales to pull against the part of her tail where her ass would be if she were on land.
Marena lingered longer to the kiss than would have been absolutely necessary, for some reason this songmistress called to her and the sweetness of the kiss inspired Marena's own song. The kiss shifted from an earnest full press of lips to a more subtle tasting of the sweetness of it, a light exploration even as she drew the torian down a couple more feet to the shadier depths, the lake waters a little murkier but still light passed through atop them from the skies. Drawing her head finally back she arched slightly, feeling Ellyssa's grip to her rounded scaled bottom she grinned, unabashed to be in such embrace with this new friend. Her words when she spoke next were in the mer tongue and as graceful as she was in body within the waters, so too now her speech flowed as gracefully too, still of soft and silken tone but the words had a certain old fashioned quality to them
"Ellyssa, sweet angel of the skies, beautiful creature who flieth the blues of above, welcome to my world. I shall show to thee the pleasures of it"Ellyssa found herself being drawn deeper, but as soon as she realised that she could breath normally, her panic was replaced by wonder and curiosity! Her brows arched at the archaic address from Marena, but she had always known that the woman could not be so halting in her speech below the surface of the water. With the aid of the ring and her own enchantments, she understood it as if it were her own tongue, though of course she could only speak common and torian, and she didn't know how well she would be understood underwater.
"Thank you for your enthusiastic welcome oh beautiful and gracious dweller in the deeps" she ventured with a smile, watching the bubbles from her attempt float to the surface.
"Long have I wished to see you in your own habitat."Sound travels with more muted ability in water, but this close and with the gift of breath, the torian's common was understood and heard by the mermaid. Fearful that her natural boned buoyancy would have the girl rising all too soon, Marena still held on to her with arm about the waist. Their breasts still brushed at times and hips nudged with the sway of tail and leg
"Wish you to see deeper and make an exploration with me, beautiful songbird?" her voice was a song itself beneath the water, silky and enticing to those that had ear or lack of will. But Marena was ...well Marena... and innocent of the lurings of her race, though a siren's daughter she was making no effort other than by what came naturally to draw the redwing into her mer clutches. In fact, Marena was just grinning with shining and radiant pleasure at having female friend to share her watery world with.
Ellyssa seemed unaware of the dangerous lure buried in that voice. It was unlike any she had heard before, but she was a trained bard and had a voice fit to manipulate its hearers herself. She kept her left hand around Marena's waist, idly rubbing her scaly rump as she looked into sea green eyes.
"I would gladly make an exploration with (or of, she thought to herself) you that you wish to make oh finned dweller in the world beneath the waves" she said, easily matching the other woman's turns of phrase if not her language.
"Then hold on to me closely and should thee feel shortness of breath, ask again for my kiss" the mermaid then twisted her agile body and drew the torian's arm about her waist to have her back now against Ellyssa's torso. With a strong flip of her bluey-green scaled tail, she propelled them both deeper to the murkier green depths of the lake. Her golden matted clump would buffett and bob behind her and Ellyssa would have to avoid getting mouthful of the gold tangles. Here and there, Marena would point to small shoal of lake fish then to one bigger monster who lurked to shadier depth, likely a pike or spikey toothed catfish. She would swim through the lake fern and frond and draw the green plant to brush against the redwings skin. At times she would turn and twist and with frontal embrace again, guide the torian to the rocky edges of the other side of the lake. In between the sights she would speed up the motion, so that Ellyssa would feel the rush of waters pass around their bodies, not so fast as the girl might fly to the skies but a different sensation of speed in the denser waters.
"And what if I should desire thy kiss for other reasons?" The girl said almost under her breath as she was drawn against Marena's body and swept on a whirlwind tour of her lake, seeing things she hadn't even imagined as someone who had never swum below the surface before. She spat out a clump of hair as they swam and wondered again why Marena didn't care for it. Sure, it was rather ugly in its unkempt state, but there was no reason that it couldn't be startlingly beautiful, she mused to herself as she folded her wings tightly against her bare back to reduce the drag.
"It is simply amazing down here" she enthused.
"Thank thee for showing it to me."Finally, Marena slowed their whirlwind tour of the depths of the lake to turn and blink golden lashes while facing Ellyssa, pondering over her words, ensuring her ugly shame is sworling elsewhere than Ellyssa's beautiful face or in front of them too much
"Then, thee may and perhaps shall I learn it is desirous also" then the mermaid grinned girlishly, her youthful body coiling about the torian's whose own threatened to rise to the surface again. Marena drew her back by wrapping arm about her waist again.
"This is my pleasure, rare it is to have friend to share this with.......the oceans now, those are truly spectacular, but also more dangerous Songbird. Perhaps thee will share that with me too in time" she was unaware of Elly's thoughts and musings about her tangled cursed hair, just happy that the girl was with her.
[[OOC two beautiful RP sessions went into this part and I have posted the whole of it as it flowed just as the RP was, changing only a word or two and the tenses to align. Thank you Ellybird for this delicious RP and story addition]]