Camping by the Bay (Aela)

by **Vaas** on June 26th, 2012, 3:41 am

After Wind Dancer's angry flight back into the woods, Vaas looks at Aela, laughs to himself, and says in a equally mischievous tone, “Aela, you should know me by now. Common sense doesn't run in my family and adding flying on a Wind Eagle to the Vaas' Doing-Something-Stupid-List. Should be nothing new to you.“ He had Malvarin explain the art of the wink during their negotiations over the price, and he gives her a wink. Hoping it wasn't too stupid looking. He says in a nonchalant way, “Windy is always mad at me at some point in the day. Besides...he is growing so big. What is a parent ever going to do.“ He ends his sentence with a fake cry, and puts the left over fish besides him. Saving it for the bird if he couldn't find anything in his first hunt on his own.

Vaas feels the wind growing a bit colder as the sun start to drop and he turns to the sound of her voice. He asks her, “If your getting cold Aela, I have a extra blanket in my backpack.” Honestly, he had nothing planned for the rest of night other than get to know Aela a little better. He lays on the ground with his head on his on his backpack. He turns to her and says, “Honestly Aela I have a whole lot of nothing planned this evening. If you want, I can sing some children songs or play my flute.” He liked Aela. She is a good person. Vaas is glad she is opening up and joking around with him. When he first met her, he was wondered if she was a little turned off by carefree way of thinking. Now she laughs at his jokes and enjoys pelting him with twigs. He really needs to figure out where she is getting them from and hide them.

Vaas looks over to her when she asks about his inspiration for getting into music. He frowns at his real reason wishing it was something more exciting like somebody brought him to the amphitheater when he was a child, and he feel in love with the sounds and voices of the musicians. However, his tale of getting into music was nothing flowery. He decides to be honest with Aela since she is a such a close friend. He says softly but clearly without looking at her, “Honestly Aela I had to learn music or I would have ended up as a dek. If I didn't have the fire as Selia explains it. I would have ended up in the dek caste because of my blindness.” He pauses thinking to himself about the day. He was lead down to the long hallway to the Valintar office. He frowns and says still staring up at the sky, “Honestly the day I was brought to Valintar was the scariest day of my life. I thought my fate was sealed. They would take away my flute.. and Wind Dancer and give me a mop. I was scared and angry at the world that week. I told myself. I would runaway from Wind Reach if they made me a dek.” He looks in Aela direction and laughs, “I really would have made a terrible dek since I am too opinionated and I talk wwwaaayyy to much.”

by **Alori Sai** on June 26th, 2012, 6:10 am

With a second twig in hand, Aela started to eat the fish that it held. She had been hungry and quickly devoured the first fish and was now half way done with the second. It was lucky for Vaas that he couldn't see her or he might have wondered if the girl ever had fish at all. She giggles at his joke about his list and even about his hawk then shakes her head in disbelief.

"Well if he's mad with you, then you must have done something."

She finished the fish, and gripped one end of the twig and held it out in her hand. With one eye closed, the other flashing emerald green and mixing with the reflection of the fire in the pit, focused on him. She raised the twig up just in front and aimed it towards him as if to toss it. She giggled a bit then turned and tossed the twig into the fire. Leaning back, she looked towards the sky again, she could feel the cooler wind drifting in but the fire still held warmth. "No, I'm fine." She said rubbing her shoulders to create a bit more heat in her body.

"Wow, really?" She giggled once he told her of his plan for the day. "So you came this far just to sit and play your flute?" She paused for a moment as she reached down and unlaced her boot and took them off. "You know Vaas, I don't think your music is that bad that you would need to come all the way out here just to practice."

Sitting up and looking toward him, she listened to his story and was instantly touched by it. It was a sad story and one very different from her own. It was thought from an early age that she would be a glass blower like her father and so from there it was only the natural progression. She was glad that he felt close enough to her to tell her such a personal story, but it was more than that. She had never thought of herself as being anything less than a glassblower, only what she needed to do to become an Endal. She led a gifted life, but it was very hard for her to see it with her sights always on the horizon.

Aela smiled towards him after he ended his story with a joke. That was his way, never to let a serious moment stay for long and always quick to lighten the mood. Still she could see it, even with the smile on his face and the far off look in his eyes, there was pain and sadness. She could only imagine what his life was like, and even then she wouldn't be close. They were from two different worlds in more ways than one and they only had to walk the cities streets to remind them. "You could never be a dek Vaas, you have too much talent." She smiled and pulled herself back to her feet. "They'll have to see it one day.." She paused again, lifting up on the tips of her toes and arching her back, with her arms stretched out above her head. "If not..then we'll just have to make them see it."

by **Vaas** on June 27th, 2012, 3:00 am

Vaas gives Aela a mock hurt look when she makes the statement about him being the reason for Wind Dancer's fool mood. He counters her teasing with his own, “Hey, I am a the perfect servant to his Majesty. I ask him to fetch his food once and he flies off in a huff.” Vaas knows this is good for the hawk if he is ever going to catch prey on command. He needs to learn how to catch prey on his own. He really enjoying this trip because he thinking he really starting to connect to Aela. However, his mouth drops with her statement about coming out here to practice because he is so terrible to listen to in the city. He gives her a fake pout and says to her in a quiet melodramatic voice, “Fine, I will play my silly little flute in my mushroom forest alone..without anyone there to judge my noise...alone only me and my mushrooms friends.” After his over dramatized scene was done, he gives her a wink to let her know he was joking.

After hearing the last statement Aela said, Vaas just sit there in silence for a moment. She actually made him speechless. He never had a friend that would openly admit to sticking by him no matter what came his way. Vaas hears her stand up, he looks in her direction, and says warmly to her, “Thank you Aela. You don't know how much you said means to me.” He crawls over to his logs pile and tosses in a log. Once he sits back in his spot. He says to her without looking up, “If you ever need someone to talk too in the future Aela, my door is always open to you.”

Still tongue tied by Aela statement, Vaas starts rummaging through his backpack and pulls out his flute case. He puts it in his is lap, opens the case, and pulls out his metal flute. He starts cleaning the inside of the flute and he says to her, “So.. Aela since your my number one fan now. Would you rather me play my flute for you or sing for you?” He starts cleaning the inside of the flute with his rag. He was meaning to do it when he got to the camp, but he was too preoccupied in getting the camp set up for them. Honestly, he needs to start learning a instrument. He can sing and play at the same time. He says while warming the flute by his chest, “Wait I have a better idea before I perform for you.”

Vaas realizes something as he holds his instrument to his chest. He kind of smells from the sweat of the day. He starts to feel self conscious about it since he has to share a small tent with her tonight. If it was just him, he wouldn't care, but Aela might care if he smelled like a shoe. Besides he is blind, so he not going to be able to see anything. He decides to ask the question, “Aela I am thinking about going for a swim. Wanna come?”

by **Alori Sai** on June 27th, 2012, 5:41 am

"You don't have to thank me Vaas." She said without looking down at him. She could tell that her words had struck a cord with him and that he hadn't expected such a reply. She meant every word, but he didn't have to thank her for being honest and speaking her mind. In truth, she had meant her statement for him as much as for herself. The passion to become an Endal burned brighter in her with each passing day. Her circumstances were different that most that wanted to become an Endal and that made it more difficult. Most aspiring Endal had already bonded with a Wind Eagle by the age of 14. This was another reason that some people looked down on her dream, believing that it was impossible for her to bond with one at her age if she hadn't already.

No matter what they said, and how many people were against her, she would never give up on her dream, nor would she allow a friend to either. It just wasn't in her character. She turned back to him, a soft giggle escaping her lips as she brought her closed fist to rest at her hips and leaned down a bit to look at him. "Number one fan?" She mused, reaching down to find a twig and tossing it at his head. "Don't get cocky."

She was curious as to why he suddenly changed from wanting to play for her and instead asking her to go swimming with him. She stared at him for a moment and took in his words to see if there were any underline meaning to them. Finally after letting him sweat a little, she smiled, reaching her hands behind her head to unwrap her hair. "You know Vaas, that's the best idea you've had all day."

Without another word, she turned and headed down to the shore, assuming that Vaas was following her. She allowed her fingers to slip through her hair as she combed through it and let it fall back onto her shoulders. As she reached the shore line, her green eyes lit up at the vivid blue waters that surround the mountain and bay. "Now this is more like it." She smiled, stepping lightly, the smooth sands curving up and around her feet and between her toes tickling them.

She crossed her forearms at the elbow, her fingers pulled at the bottom of her Vinati as she pulled it over her head and dropping it into the sand, revealing the first of two pink undergarment pieces. Leaning forward, she pushed downward on her Bryda, twisting her hips a bit as she worked it down her slender thighs, and finally down her legs and under her feet. A subtle splash signaled her entrance into the cool waters, and she allowed herself to drift under for a moment before coming back up for air. The water felt soothing in her hair and on her skin, bringing a much needed freshness to her. Her hair was now soaked, and matted to her head and face, causing her to use both hands to pull the clumps away from her eyes.

by **Vaas** on June 28th, 2012, 1:43 am

Feeling the twig bounce off his head once again, Vaas was about to say something clever, but Aela didn't give him a chance to respond since she already made up her mind on swimming. Vaas hears her walk away in the direction of the sound of the ocean. Vaas smiles to himself, put his flute in the backpack, and grabs his staff. Before he heads down to the beach. Vaas listens for any sign of Wind Dancer when he hadn't heard from him. He makes the long trip down to the beach. The walk wasn't too bad since he took the path by the stream.

He remembered Malvarin mention the stream path would be the easiest through the forest. Knowing Aela, she must have just blazed a trail through the forest without a care in the world. Whenever, Vaas heads somewhere he must take it slow an steady. Eventually, he makes it down to the beach, and he hears Aela already enjoying the surf. Once Vaas is at the beach, he stops and smells the sea air. Vaas thinks to himself, “It kind of smells like fish.” He hears the sound of surf rolling into shore and hears the faint sound of Wind Dancer calling out in the distance.

Vaas walks over to the part of the beach Aela is swimming, and he accidentally steps on her byrda. Hoping she didn't see him step on her cloths, he moves around them and sets his staff by her cloths and starts removing his boots and bryda. He stays in his small cloths and makes his way to sound of surf. He never been to the beach, so this is new experience for him. The closest thing to swimming for him was swimming in the Tisuma Baths, and that water doesn't move all at all unlike the sound of water in the bay. The air coming off of the bay was cool, but the sand still retained some of the heat of the day. When he makes it to the edge of the beach, he feels the surf push the water and sand over his feet. It is a interesting feeling as the water takes away the sand from under and around his feet. The water seems cool, but it certainly wasn't frigid. He calls from the beach to Aela, “Aela! Yell to me, so I can find you.”

He steps into the water and suddenly falls forward as he notices the sand under the water and near the edge of beach is slightly deeper than he originally thought. As he is falling forward, he gets hit by a wave crashing into the shore sending him cart wheeling back. He jumps up thoroughly annoyed at the assaulting waves. He decides to put his shoulder into the incoming wave. He gets hit by the first wave, and he barely maintains his balance. He moves forward about ten feet and the water comes to his waist. He feels the water level drop to his middle of his upper leg, and suddenly he get clobbered by another large wave. All he feels around him is water, and he jumps up out of the water, runs his hands though his long hair, and starts spitting out the sand and salty taste from his mouth.

by **Alori Sai** on June 28th, 2012, 9:31 pm

Deep green eyes stared through a mess of long red hair towards the beach. Aela was surprised to see that Vaas was still slowly making his way down. She arched a brow towards him as she lifted her hands to her head, letting curved fingers pull her hair back behind her ears. He was an odd fellow she thought, and it had been his idea to swim yet he seemed to be rethinking it now as he slowly made his way down. She shook her head and closed her eyes as she drifted back under the cool waters a second time. In her private tranquility, a sea of blissful euphoria engulfed her. Calm, watery arms curled around her small body and slowly, effortless carried her under the surface. She could stay like this, wrapped in natures embrace, as nothing more than a pebble in the grand ocean and yet, a part of something amazingly unnoticed by most.

She could let it all go, the stress of being a glass blower, her frustration of being a late bloom, and even the somewhat normal, day to day trials of being a young woman. It had all disappeared in the massive sea of blue and drowned in the waves of forgotten woes. Rising back to the surface, her dainty frame appeared and broke through the layers of water as she exploded out of it. A sharp gasped escaped her parted lips as she exhaled her first breath before sinking back into the waters. She slipped her fingers through her soaked, and somewhat now curly hair, and pulled it away from her eyes as she looked toward the beach again.

"Hurry up Vaas! What are you waiting for?"

She called back to him as his reluctance to join her seemed to waver. At that moment as he took careful steps to examine the waters before moving further in, she wondered if this was his first time swimming. Aela wasn't a seasoned swimmer, but she had gone a few times over the years and was comfortable in the water. She started towards him, swaying her arms and peddling her legs until she could feel the sand under her feet again. A sudden shriek came from the little woman as the first wave crashed into her and sending her scrambling forward before it made it's way to Vaas. Aela moved a bit faster now, trying to get to him when she was hit with a second wave.

"Whoa!"

Another shriek was pulled from her followed by a giggle as she tried to steady herself. The sand beneath her feet was soft and seem to give way with the least amount of pressure, and the water's reach wrapped around her abdomen holding her up, if not pushing her forward. She finally reached him and could clearly see his discomfort etched across his face. The moment was more humorous than serious and Aela had to giggle about it. She reached up again, moving her fingers through her hair and pulling it behind her ears. Her earlier attempts had proven pointless as she was hit with two waves that made her hair even more messy. Aela stood in front of him, a hand to her forehead and fingers lost in the whirls of tangled hair. Her garments were soaked through, appearing a darker hue, and her skin, covered in tiny beads of water glistened in the sun's rays.

"Maybe we should stay in the shallow end?"

by **Vaas** on June 29th, 2012, 3:53 am

Vaas not the greatest swimmer in the world. About the only thing he could do is tread water, float, and move forward under water with his feet. The ocean might have been a little too much for his swimming skills, but being a proud Inarta male, he would never admit it to Aela his mistake in judgment. While standing there, Aela voice suddenly appears next to him and she suggest heading to the shallow part of the beach. He nods to her and with a impish grin decides to splash her using his whole arm in the water to get her drenched. Hoping the water hit his target, he laughs as he jumps into the water and starts sort of starts swimming to the shallow area. In the water, Vaas can feel the waves rolling around and under him. He can feels the grit of the sand upon his skin. He comes up for air and says with a laugh to Aela, hoping she is a good deal away from him, “Aela that was just pay back for all the twigs you been throwing at my head earlier.” He gives her a wide grin and lays back in the water. This part of the beach seemed calmer with less wave action than other part of the beach.

Vaas decides to try floating on his back. He remembered a fellow chiet at the baths instruct him on how to float on his back. He had to lay there as still as possible and occasionally and gently move his feet and arms up and down to maintain him floating on the surface. He tries to mimic the chiet's instructions, but he still continues to sink into the water. Still trying the float, he can hear the sound of sea birds and sound of Wind Dancer moving closer to their area of the beach. As he tries to maintain his floating body, Vaas mind starts to wander to the different Inarta songs involving the sea. He remembers the drinking song involving a fisherman singing about catching a keg of fine ale in his net. He was so happy he caught the keg. He said hell with fishing and brought the keg into port for all his friends to share. Vaas starts singing the verses he remembered from the night before while drinking with Malvarin as he lays in the water.

During the song, Vaas starts to change the tone of his voice to mimic a stereotypical pirate, and sings out loud to whoever listening,”Lock doors. Hit the floor. Send the eagles away. Because now the fisherman are out, and we are going to play. Hoorey!” Vaas yells to Aela in his fake pirate accent, “Come over hear Aela. The water is quite nice.” After yelling over to Aela, he continues making up odd to strange lyrics for the song he doesn't remember. Eventually the song just becomes a series of gibberish words. He stops singing his song and just smiles up at the darkness.

by **Alori Sai** on June 29th, 2012, 9:49 pm

A yelp sprang from her lips as she was suddenly assaulted with splashes of water. She quickly through her hands up to try and cover her face. Of all the times for him to actually nail his target, why did it have to be her? Aela turned away from him and moving a bit further into the water to escape his watery wrath. Thinking on how much pay back he was going to get, she didn't noticed him swim away from her until she heard him calling out to her again.

"Pay back huh? Oh I'm so going to get you Vaas!"

Aela starts to make her way too him, with sand already under her feet, she had only to slowly walk while pushing her body forward and pushing her arms through the water to move a little faster. As she moved closer, fully intending to give him a friendly thrashing, she noticed him starting to sing while floating on his back. She smiled, thinking of the times before when he had played and sung for her and their other friends. But this song was different and took on a funnier tone. Aela giggled as she listened, thinking the whole time that he must be making this up as he went.

Leaning back opposite him, she allowed her body to flow as she started to sing along. She didn't have a clue to what they were actually doing and her voice probably sounded worse then his but she continued. She sang a bit louder, her words echoed his own as her only way of learning the song amongst her giggles and the salty water that crept into her mouth every so often.

"Lock doors."

"Hit the floor."

"Send the eagles away!"

When it was obvious that the song had ended, and he was just making up words to continue, she decided that it was time for pay back. Pulling herself up, she quickly launched herself into his arms and pulling them both under water. A loud thud echoed in her ears as they were suddenly surrounded in the bubbly sounds in the waters. She shut her eyes tight as they went under and slowly opened them and stared at him. Tiny bubbles fumbled from her lips as she found herself giggling at the panicked look on his face.

Aela pushed her body upward and stood up again, while tugging on his arms to pull him with her. She laughed a bit louder at his disheveled, and surprised look, but quickly calmed herself to make sure he wasn't too upset with her. "Wow, you went down pretty hard, are you ok?" After checking on him, she moved passed him and stepped back onto the beach. Aela felt a lot cooler now, after being in the water, but didn't want to stay in too long to where her skin started to wrinkle. She stood there on the beach, her eyes closed, a smile across her lips, as the breeze blew through her damp hair and the sun's rays tickling her skin as it dried her. It was a good day.

by **Vaas** on June 30th, 2012, 5:59 am

All he remembers after Aela jumping into his arms is him sinking to the bottom of ocean. The water was comforting around his body, and he thinks to himself he heard Aela laughing at him under the water. He smiles at her when she pulls him up to the surface. He runs his hands through his hair and out of his face. He wipes his face of water, and he hears voice her concern for his well being. He looks in the direction that she was walking out of water and flashes her a grin and says to her over the sound of the waves, “Remind me never to try wrestling you, Aela. I think I will lose every time.” He starts walking to the beach and gives her advice about her singing, “You have a potential as a singer Aela. Aela don't hesitate to sing, believe in your voice, sing loudly so you can hear it, and if you get nervous by the crowds close your eyes and go to a place in your mind that makes you safe.”

Happy to be on land again, Vaas stretches out his arms and legs letting the wind from the bay dry his body. The swim in the ocean was refreshing and interesting experience for him. As he is drying, he can feel the salt start to harden on his skin, and he frowns to himself and says out loud to himself, “Well I didn't think this plan over now, I need to bath in the stream.” He stops his air drying, and says to Aela, “I am going back to camp and grab some soap. If you want to stay here, I can run back and get it for you.” Before getting his stuff, he turns to her and says with a smile, “It must be a beautiful evening isn't it? I am glad your enjoying yourself.” He turns and starts walking to his things.

Vaas makes his way through the cooling dry sand to the things lying on the beach. He uses his feet to guide his way to their things. He foot hits his staff and he reaches down to grab it. He bends over again and grabs his boots and his bryda. He looks up in the direction he came from and says to Aela, “You coming, Aela? If not, I'll grab some water for you.”

by **Alori Sai** on July 1st, 2012, 5:50 am

"Well thank you Vaas, I'll remember that."

She said as she turned back to face him. It wasn't often that she felt like singing but she did enjoy it and having him compliment her made her feel better about it. Deep down she wondered if he was just being pleasant and wasn't fond of her singing at all. He was a good natured sort of guy, and she wondered if he'd tell her truthfully if she sounded horrible.

"I did my best, but it was hard to sing along to a song that you just made up."

She narrowed her eyes towards him, her lips curving into a smile as she folded her arms across her chest. The pep talk he gave her was interesting, as if he expected her to go back to Wind Reach and hop into the Cedar Amphitheater. It had been fun singing along to his original pirate themed song, but she would never allow anyone else to hear her singing it, and probably couldn't remember the words to it if she tried.

"What plan? Do you mean going swimming?"

She started at him curiously and waited for an answer as she watched him head back up the beach. Vaas had a way of talking sometimes and Aela just didn't get him at all. Sometimes it would seem as if he were joking and other times more serious, but it was hard to tell. Maybe she had been too rough with him and he found her joke in bad taste.She was suddenly pulled from her thoughts when she spoke to her again. She smiled and slowly walked toward the area where she had left her clothing.

"It is, it really is. But you don't need sight just to know that. You can smell it in the air, and feel it on your skin."

Reaching down, she picked up her bryda and noticed a sandy foot print on the leg. The print was much bigger than her own foot making it clear who the culprit was. Her narrowed deep, green eyes flickered in the sun light as they followed him up the beach further. After dusting the sand off her bryda and Vinati, she headed back to the campsite. She didn't feel as if she needed a bath just yet, although the swim did refresh her a bit.

"You go on ahead, I'll just stay here."

Aela moved back in front of the fire and stood there, hoping the heat would dry her undergarments quickly so she wouldn't get sick, and could get dressed before someone stumbled onto their camp.