Open [Sunset Falls] Sentient Things (Zadok)

[Zadok Shadows]

Zadok stares into the sky and sits down with a light thud. In his head he unsure how to feel. He wants to feel angry with her that she did that to him; he honestly he did something wrong. but another part of zadok believes he over reacted. He knew in his heart that even if he could kill her he wouldn't. Ever since he killed his parents he vowed never to kill for the wrong reason. Though he feels recently his moral line is fading, unable to truly judge in his mind what's right or wrong. He takes his waterskin out and takes a swig. "I'm sorry...I over reacted. It's just I try not to hurt good people. Now I feel so angry all the time." He bows his head and sighs deeply. He chuckles a little "I remember the stories of the ontani. They said that they were as beautiful as they are deadly and lived years beyond humans...I must seem like a toy to you...maybe I should use my magic till I overgive, last time I did it I almost died. It's alway interesting to see how far I can go. It's easy when your not afraid to die."

[Uleru]

He doesn't react how she expects him too. Shock, she expected, horror was a given. But depressing guilt? That was completely foreign. He crawls ashore, crying as if their interaction had broke his heart. The Otani's laugh dies in her throat and she frowns at the weakness he is displaying. How did he survive if he could be gulled into the water by monsters? She supposes Wailers could lure him down an alley by singing to him. She pities him, to be honest. But her pity is poisonous and she resents the fact that he can drag it out of her. That is, of course, until he sets the bush ablaze. "I could boil the river now. See if a water body of an Otani can boil into steam. But I still believe that you're a good creature. But I am nobody's play thing." Her frown instantly becomes a vehement hiss that only serves to make her more ugly. She backs away from the shore as the oil in the leaves pop and send sparks into the darkening air. How dare he threaten her! Though she seriously doubts that he can dry up a river, much less kill her while she is in the water, the threat itself rubs against her like a thistle. But his anger dissipates and he suddenly looks hollow again. He falls to the bank with a light thud. She eyes him uncertainly. "I'm sorry...I over reacted. It's just I try not to hurt good people. Now I feel so angry all the time." "I remember the stories of the Otani. They said that they were as beautiful as they were deadly and lived years beyond humans...I must seem like a toy to you...Maybe I should use my magic till I overgive, last time I did it I almost died. It's alway interesting to see how far I can go. It's easy when your not afraid to die." She is almost -almost- tempted to say 'go ahead' and swim away. She pities him, and that frustrates her more than she would like to admit. But she does feel for him, so she drifts back to shore and rests her elbows on the bank. "Play with me." she demands. Its not like her asking for a kiss, or tempting him with turtles, its a forward demand. "Play with me and forget everything else. Lets find stones and catch fish and discover something. You don't need to think of the past to play, right? Just for a bit. No more tricks, I promise", she adds solemnly. And she means it. What this boy needs is a game, she is sure of it. If she can just get him to laugh maybe she wont be so inclined to morn his past with him.

[Zadok Shadows]

Zadok looks up "you know that I always try to believe in the best of people that there is always good in them. It's nearly cost me my life on many occasions. I guess that's why I stepped into the water. That and the thrill of a new adventure. Some believe your species are monsters, but I think you beautiful creatures." Zadok is very hesitant to enter the water again since he threaten the otani. There's a reason why sailors sometimes don't come back from their voyages. "Ok" he puts up his long sword and trench coat. He mumbles "everybody has to die sometime...maybe today's my day" he steps in "I am sorry though. I'm just scared now that if I did hurt an innocent person I couldn't live with myself. I've killed before... many times, but only if it was the only option I had left" he walks in shoulder deep "ok let's find something fantastic" he says in a almost happy tone with a warm grin.

[Uleru]

For the first time since she has met this strange man on the banks of the Avitar, he is smiling. The Otani cant help but smile back as she disappears back under the skin of the river, only to surface looking as fresh and full as she was previously.

"Good! Now swim fast lest the water steals you away again", she jests, turning back to swim upriver again.

The dense mist engulfs her almost immediately. The sky is getting steadily darker, but the spray is still so bright that her phosphoresces has yet to shed its glow. Which is not too much of a problem, as there seem to be many things in the plunge pool that glow as well.

Aware that the human can't reach the deepest part of the pool, Uleru endeavours to bring something up for him. It will have to be impressive to justify why he should stay and play with her. Which will be difficult, for he seems to be legendarily hard to impress if her first gift was any indication.

She scours the bottom, sifting through pearly rocks and being momentarily distracted by strange creature as she works. Whatever this place is, it gives her the impression of being much more than it seems. She could run up every river and search every pool from here to Ahnatep and still not see these same sights again. Mind you, she has never been this far up a river before. She should ask.

She hums while she goes, turning over rocks and picking at shimmering weeds as the waterfall crashes down above her to make a beautiful, bubbly chandelier. And its by this glow that she discovers something she has certainly never seen before: an antler.

The thing is no more than four pronged, and hasn't been in the water for too long. She ignores the garishly coloured plant life it rests on and picks up this strange object with the tips of her fingers. Finally! Something that'll surly impress the human.

She kicks up from the river bed and paddles to the bank, holding her new treasure to her chest.

"Zadok! Zadok, look what I found!" her voice cracks with excitement. She holds the object close to her face as she examines her new curiosity. Its not wood, but its the same color and the same kind of density. Maybe bone? But bones like this must come from a strange, monsterous creature. Besides, its covered in a thin, downy layer of velvet fuzz that most certainly doesn't belong in strange and frightening beasts.

She hears the telltale slosh of the human wading through the water and she turns around and thrusts the antler at him. "Well? Well? What do you think it is!"

[Zadok Shadows]

Zadok was never the best swimmer. He was able to trail behind. He sees Uleru dive under the water. He wishes that he could join her under the beautiful water bellow. He feels himself getting colder as the day comes to an end. Though he can't shake the feeling something was wrong. He believes it is just his paranoia. He focus back on what is happening when Uleru comes up with something in her hand. He sees that she is trying to impress him. He doesn't understand why; he believes that he should be the one trying to her. Though what she did have in her hand left him curious.

"Well? Well? What do you think it is."

Zadok wishes to share in her bliss weather it is genuine or not.
"Well by the look of it I believe it is the antler of a land animal. The question is is why there was only an antler left this...Uleru what else is in the river here?"

[Uleru]

"Well, by the look of it I believe it's the antler of a land animal. The question is, why was there only an antler left...Uleru, what else is in the river here?"

The Otani waves a transparent hand distractedly to his question: "crawfish, trout, frogs, and some glittery things I cant name", she lists. She's not really listening. This antler has all of her meagre attention.

He names her little oddity, but doesn't elaborate. She is left to her imagination as to what an antler is, and from what part of the body of a land mammal it was torn off of. Deductive reasoning tells her that it doesn't belong in the body. So it must be a protrusion. A horn-like appendage, maybe?

She turns it to the side, imaging it attached like it would be to a ram. That is to say: straight out the side of the head. But no, that cant be it. It wouldn't be able to fit through the trees...

Uleru eyes flick to Zadok from the corners, suddenly aware of his tension and jumpiness crackling through the chilling air. It suddenly occurs to her just how odd his previous question is.

"Ah, why?"

A sudden, shill bird shriek cuts through the rushing falls and sweet whispering. Apparently its not the water they need to be watching out for.

[Zadok Shadows]

Zadok looks to the sky after hearing the shriek. His paranoia began to increase. He tries to ignore it. He sees that the otani is a little confounded about what the antler was for. "You see Uleru sometimes certain land mammals have these pairs of bones sticking out the sides of there head. These antlers would be used as a way for the animal to protect themselves. They were also a status symbol. The alpha of the herd would often have the biggest set of antlers. People often look for antlers like these to make handles for knives." Zadok looks to the sky. He can barely see the outline of a bird creature. A part of him is scared for his life. Though he feels mostly excited. With a grin on his face he looks at Uleru. "Ohh this is going to be really fun or life threatening...possibly both"

[Uleru]

Zadok hardly finished uttering that foreboding statement and fixed that cocky grin on his face when the Otani grabs him by the throat and forces him under the deeper water-

-Barely missing the twelve inch talons that have plunged into the water behind them.

"What?!" she bubbles soundlessly, dumbfounded alarm clear on her face and the shocking yellow colour of her body, "What?!"

The water is relatively still above them, but the denseness of the mist prevents them from seeing any more than a foggy outline of what just attacked them. Its a bird, she can see that. But its a massive bird with wings like sails and a strangely lumpy profile; like it's made from clay by someone who only had a rough idea what a bird was suppose to look like.

She clutches Zadok to her with both arms wrapped around him like a vice. He keeps moving, damn him. Its safer under water with that monster on the prowl! But his struggling becomes more insistent until he is almost attacking her with heels and elbows. The Otani comes to the realization that he might need some air.

She lets him go and gives him a boost to the surface, but with one hand still hovering around his ankle should the shadowy bird-creature decide to make a return trip.

Another unearthly shriek, and she can spot the animal moving high above them. Syna has almost set behind the mountain now, and the mist is losing its luminescence. Uleru brings her hand up to her face and makes a horrible discovery; with the lack of light, she's starting to glow.

[Zadok Shadows]

Zadok came up for air coughing furiously. He felt almost suffocated being dragged under water by the otani. Before he could think more on the subject he heard another terrible shriek. He looked to the sky and saw the large bird dive toward him. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hit it with his sword. He outstretched his arm toward the charging bird and released his flame ability. The bird dodged zadoks attack and began to circle. Zadok looked to the sky then into the water to discover something amazing. He saw that Uleru was glowing. He knew that if he stayed above water he would die. He took a deep breath and swam under the water to the glowing otani. He looked behind her to find an entrance to a cave. Zadok began to point behind her to show her his discovery.

[Uleru]

Zadoks pointing to get her attention is not lost on the Otani, though her eyes are trained upwards, and she looks behind her to see a narrow crevice behind the thrust of the falls. She nods her consent before taking him by the wrist and towing him to the tiny cave.

The birds follows their movements with low, lazy circles, aided by the glow of the monster below it.

They reach the fissure and Uleru turns around to face him. She commands the human to open his mouth by way of hand gestures, and before he could so much as raise a quizzical eyebrow she has her mouth locked onto his. Its not sweet like their first kiss, this one is distracted and obligatory, like a strange version of CPR. Which is a fit comparison.

Uleru pulls res into the cavity of her chest, no more than a breaths worth, and changes it to air as it leaves her throat. To be passed onto Zadok by way of lips. Giving him another few precious minutes underwater while she scouts the cave.

Pulling away, she wraps his hand around a protruding rock (lest he float away) and gives him direct eye contact that says, quite clearly, 'do not move'.

Her hand is the first thing to enter the cave. Casting its glow around in the dark like a candle, she makes sure there are no more surprises for them. But all there are are more glittering rocks and tiny jewel fish swimming in pods. The entire cavern is no more than two meters wide at its widest, and maybe four meters deep, like a giant hidden wound in the cliff. The celling is domed slightly, and there is a small pocket of air. But to be on the safe side, the Otani reaches out her hands and lets a large globe of ethereal white Res grow in her palms. She lets pieces of it go at a time, changing their nature to air by way of large bubbles, to widen the small pocket of air and let the water leave the cave with the carefully controlled pressure.

Once she deems that they can get at least as far as their chins out of the water, she lets the rest of the res dissipate, and goes to fetch Zadok.

She pulls him in and gives him another boost to reach the air pocket, materializing beside him a moment later. The whole cave radiates with a sort of soft glow that the plunge pool itself has. But Uleru has quickly become the brightest thing in the room thanks to the semi-darkness, illuminating their surroundings with a yellow colour she has yet to shake from her body.

Levelling eye contact with the human, she says what she has wanted to say since the first angry bird-shriek was heard: "What by the sea kings scraggly beard was that, and how do we get past it."