Solo Fun in the Sun

[Nieve Glass]

9th of Summer, 518 AV

Nieve had caught glimpses of the many swings around the beach near the mercantile, but had yet to to truly visit the area to explore and, yes, play on the swings. That, she decided, needed to be corrected.

It was late afternoon; the sun was still above the horizon, casting a warm and slowly dimming light over the pale sand, which was gradually beginning to cool as Syna ever so slowly gave way to Leth. It was the perfect time of day to run around and not have to worry overly about the heat.

Nieve trotted along the sand, leaving small pawprints behind her as she went; gradually, she broke into a lope, extending her wings to their full length. She stretched them out before flicking them, then giving a flap. Bunching her muscles, she crouched and leaped into the air with another flap, then a third hard one before the wind caught her wings and allowed her to soar upwards with slightly less work.

Flapping to gain altitude, Nieve settled at a comfortable height, extending her wings to catch any updrafts and soaring along comfortably, tucking her paws beneath her; the wind ruffling through her fur and feathers felt divine, the breeze welcomed even on a cooler evening such as it was.

With the speed of her wings, it took Evie less time than it would have if she walked to reach the mercantile, coasting along. The sun had made some progress towards the horizon by the time it came into view; heading towards evening as it was, it seemed there was nobody around.

Tucking her wings into her side, Nieve dove down through the air, snapping them out again and stretching out her legs when she neared the sand to slow her descent, hitting the ground running. She slowed to a trot and then a walk, shaking her wings out before folding them along her flanks again.

Sure enough, the first of the swings started nearby; dozens of them in all sorts of shapes and sizes hung from the various trees, and Nieve let out a little trill of delight. She bounded forward, stretching up onto her hind legs and leaping on the sand as she batted at a simple rope swing before changing into her human form in a swirl of lights. She batted at the rope a few more times before turning her attention elsewhere, allowing the rope to swing by her.

A basket swing hung nearby, drifting gently in the breeze. Nieve padded over, crawling onto the cushioned seat and pushing off the sand with her feet before tucking her legs under her, giggling to herself as the seat swung and swayed. Pushing herself onto her knees, Nieve twisted her body so that she faced into the open basket, putting her palms on top of the round seat and peering up to see where it was attached to the tree above.

The rope was surprisingly long, and attached to a sturdy branch of a mango tree, of all things. The Kelvic's stomach suddenly rumbled as she realized she hadn't had dinner yet. She had two options to reach the mangoes; one, she could simply shift back into her yowlwing form and leap up to knock a few down, or two...

Nieve eyed the rope of the swing. She wasn't overly strong, built more for speed and agility, but she wasn't soft or straight-up weak, either. Standing, she gripped the top rim of the basket swing as it swayed and spun with her motions, reaching up to grab the rope and clambering onto the top of the swing.

She could feel the top of it flex beneath her feet, light as she was; not wanting to break the swing, Nieve gripped the rope tightly and jumped up, winding her legs around the rope. Immediately, the muscles in her arms protested; holding onto the rope was harder than she had thought. She had no idea how she was going to climb it, but now that the thought was in her head and she had started, she was stubbornly set on doing it, or at least giving it her best effort.

Word Count: 693

[Nieve Glass]

Gritting her teeth, the muscles in her arms already beginning to burn, Nieve began to inch her way up the rope. She walked her hands up it as far as she could, then yanked herself up, rewinding her legs around the rope and taking a rest; though, calling it a 'rest' was a stretch, since it still took effort to hold herself up.

She hadn't even made it halfway up the rope and she was already panting, her legs beginning to burn as well, her inner thighs and palms sore from the rope. Clenching her jaw, Nieve gripped the rope higher, continuing to pull herself up, arms beginning to tremble.

She managed to just barely make it to the halfway point before her arms gave out on her. Yelping, she clamped her legs hard around the rope, catching onto it again to stop herself from sliding too far down; her thighs were truly feeling the rope burn by then, though a quick glance down showed they weren't bleeding.

Realizing she wouldn't be able to climb the rest of the way, Nieve slumped against the rope, barely managing to hold herself where she was, her whole body trembling with exertion. Painfully and slowly, she lowered herself down the rope; she slipped a few more times, causing her to grimace as the rope chafed her already irritated skin, until she was perhaps only five feet from the ground before letting go of the rope, angling herself for the ground.

Nieve hit the sand with a thump, letting out a huff as she tried to duck into a roll, failing somewhat miserably due to her exhaustion, and simply lay sprawled in the sand on her back for a long moment, panting for air. Her palms and inner thighs stung from the rope, but the air was soothing on the friction burns.

Finally catching her breath, Evie propped herself up onto her elbows, glaring at the rope as if it was personally responsible for her questionable decision and lack of strength to be able to follow through with said decision. Muttering something under her breath, Nieve glared at the shadows flitting around the jungle's edge as they laughed.

"Not funny," She growled, not even bothering to speak in Makath as she pushed herself to her feet, wincing at the sand rubbing into her sore palms. With a huff, she transformed back into her yowlwing form. The pads of her front paws felt just as sore as her palms had.

Shaking out, she crouched down low before leaping up onto the top of the swing; this time, the basket barely indented beneath her weight. Another leap and a few strong flaps of her wings had her reaching the low, thick branch that the rope was securely wrapped around. It was much easier, faster, and much less painful...perhaps she should have stuck to the flying method from the beginning.

Regardless, it was too late, and she was now perched on the branch of the mango tree; the sweet smell of the fruits was thick in the air around her, and her stomach rumbled, momentarily making her forget her aches and bruised pride.

Trotting inward along the branch, Nieve crouched, eyes focusing on the branch above her, ripe with fruit, not too far above where she sat. She leaped up, her wings flapping to help her gain height, and her front paws hit the branch; she dug her claws in, pulling herself up easily.

Tail stuck straight out and wings slightly pushed out to help her balance, Nieve padded down the slightly slimmer branch. Dropping onto her belly, she reached below to bat at the fruit hanging so tantalizingly close.

It took a few strong swats from her paw, but finally one of the ripe mangoes went plummeting down to the ground below. Repeating the process, Nieve batted at two more mangoes, sending them falling as well before she was satisfied.

Leaping off the branch, her wings snapped open, and she slowly spiraled down in a circle, wincing as she landed on the sand. Shaking her paws off, a moment later she stood in her human form. All of the shifting back and forth was making her even more hungry, so she padded down the beach towards the ocean where the mangoes had rolled, collecting the three fruits before dropping down to sit crossed-legged in the sand.

She didn't have a knife, but she had little trouble ripping open the thick skin of the fruit with her teeth and spitting it out to the side. It wasn't as easy a way of eating the fruit as she had been shown, but it would do. Nieve hungrily dug into the soft yellow-orange flesh of the fruit, humming contentedly.

She occasionally got a mouthful of the skin, which was tough to chew and had little taste, but she didn't mind. Juice stained her fingers and hands, dripping down her wrists and chin as she tore into the fruit heartily; while she loved her meat as any predator did, the fruits of Syka were always juicy and delicious.

Leaving the slightly firmer middle core of the mango, Nieve tossed it to the side and picked up a second one, fingers and mouth sticky as the juice began to dry.

Word Count: 879
Total: 1,572

[Nieve Glass]

Finishing up the other two mangoes, Nieve stood, kicking the peels and cores down for the ocean waves to grab and dispose of. She waded into the water, hissing as the salt from the sea water stung her palms and thighs, washing the sticky mango juice from her hands and face.

Content she was no longer sticky, Nieve bounded back onto the sand, shaking her arms and legs and giving her head a quick shake as well to rid some of the water from her hair. Sated for the moment, she returned her attention to the real reason she had ventured down to this section of the beach; the swings.

Evie made her way over to a simple swing that was a plank of wood held up by a rope on either side of it. Holding one hand on each rope to keep it steady, she placed a foot on the plank and hoisted herself up so she was standing on it.

The wood wobbled beneath her feet as Nieve gripped the ropes on either side, taking a moment to adjust and find her balance. Her toes curled over the edge of the plank as she lowered her body slightly, thrusting herself forward before straightening and yanking back on the ropes.

A steady combination of the two motions gradually brought movement to the swing, until Nieve could stand straight and contribute to the swing's back and forward motions with small thrusts of her hips. She flew back into the shade of the trees lining the edge of the jungle, then out over the sand and beneath the warm rays of the sun, which was creeping closer to the horizon, colouring the sky a beautiful medley of pink, red, and orange.

Despite her sore palms, irritated further by her grip on the ropes, Nieve relaxed, grinning to herself as she swung back and forth. She stopped thrusting her body, allowing the swing to continue its path, gradually beginning to slow. As it arced up to its highest forward point, Nieve suddenly released the ropes and jumped forward and off the swing.

Her landing was much more successful than the clumsy fall from the rope earlier; not as high and having been prepared this time, Nieve hit the ground feet first in a crouch that allowed her to tuck into a somewhat clumsy roll forward that turned into her rolling down the sand on her side. She giggled as she came to a halt near the ocean's edge, her still damp skin now covered in sand.

Hopping up to her feet, she waded into the water to clean herself off once again before trekking back onto the sand; the soles of her feet were still full of sand, but that was to be expected. Trotting over to the swing she'd just jumped off, she caught it and wiped the sand off the seat before wandering further down the beach, examining the different swings.

There were so many! And so many different kinds, too. The basket swings seemed common, and understandably so; they were comfortable, and Nieve was already planning on curling up in one for a snooze when she'd had her fill of playing around with the other swings.

Purposefully ignoring the rope swings, Nieve settled on a hammock swing, this time simply sitting and kicking herself back and forth. The sun was finally sinking below the horizon, and with it, Nieve found her energy dwindling as well. Hopping off the hammock swing, she approached the nearest basket swing and clambered inside. She pushed herself off with one foot, allowing the swing to sway gentle before she brushed as much sand off her feet as possible, tucking her legs beneath her and curling up on the cushioned seat.

Stifling a yawn, the Kelvic rested her head on her arms, blinking sleepily as she gazed out at the ocean. The gentle back and forth swaying of the swing was soothing; she could hear the shadows whispering as they crept out onto the beach as the sun set, and a myriad of beautiful colours played over the ocean, the waves crashing quietly.

Her eyelids heavy, they slowly drifted shut. Another, weaker yawn left Evie, and she blearily reminded herself to stop by the Panacea on the way home to see if she could pick up any sort of salve to soothe her rope burns before the swaying of the swing took hold of her, and lulled her into sleep.

Word Count: 745
Total: 2,317