Night Swimming

by **Lixue** on June 24th, 2012, 4:08 pm

Lixue felt miserable. It was as though someone has made her eat sand multiple times. Her mouth was dry and rough and her throat was scratchy. No matter how many times she swallowed, her tongue still seemed to take up all the room inside her mouth. Limbs were shaking, possibly the adrenaline wearing off? Slowly, the strength sapped from her appendages was returning. Ly was still crying, choking back sobs. Why was he so upset? It was not as if she died or anything!

Then it hit her. She could have. The life had temporarily left her body, drowned beneath an onslaught of water. She hadn't even known… There was only black. No thoughts, no vision, no people circling her head and saying nasty things. As if she had been deaf, blind, and dumb. Wasn't Dira supposed to collect the dead souls? Was there no ghosts? Did the process take longer than Lixue had been dead? Or maybe the goddess had known Lixue was to be saved? The near-death experience opened questions Lixue did not even know she had. For example, how did it feel to have your soul torn from your body? Did one feel pain after life? What did it feel like to be dead? Could an individual still complete everyday tasks like when they were alive?

Speaking of dying, where was the person who Lixue had foolishly attacked? Had they run off once it appeared she was no longer fighting back? Or had the individual held her head under water, tried to drown her? Or had the Samaritan drug her to the shore, tried to save her life? What part in the drama had Ly played? Lixue knew he had zero medical experience besides she had told him, and that was if he listened! Taking into consideration the fact that Ly was sobbing almost hysterically and how he knew almost nothing medical, Lixue figured the stranger must have saved her. Had she accidentally attacked a good person; mistaken them for a criminal?

Glancing around, even as she was being rocked, Lixue tried to spot the stranger. She wanted to apologize, wanted to have an apology, wanted to… Wanted to know what she wanted. Maybe the individual could help give answers to questions Lixue had not even thought of. Clearing her throat in a painful way, Lixue hoarsely called out, "Wait! Come back here!" And quieter, out of ear-shot, "Please?" Would the person halt, travel back to the pair?

In the meantime, Lixue tried to calm Ly. His crying made her heart hurt, forced it to thump arithmetically. Bringing a hand up to rest on his cheek, Lixue tucked her head into his neck. Fingernails soothingly created circles on his skin and a quiet "shhhh"'s fell from dry lips. Slowly, the tear droplets quit splattering onto Lixue's dark hair. And soon enough, the dry sobs stopped shaking his body. Leaving only her curled up in his lap, him holding onto her tightly.

by **Alea Davenport** on July 30th, 2012, 12:27 am

Alea flinched when Lixue called out in that hoarse, painful voice. It sounded to Alea almost as if she wanted vengeance. It occurred to Alea that now was her best chance to run away, but she feared that if she did, Lixue might hurt herself further trying to go after her. Alea was already feeling guilty enough as it was. She could probably handle anything the two Vantha might do to her, and it couldn't be worse than what she was already feeling.

Alea parted the water slowly and quietly as she approached once more, but on second thought decided to deliberately make small splashes, to let them know she was coming. Enough trouble had already come of Alea keeping quiet, and with her voice out of commission, she had to use every other available means to communicate.

As she stepped again onto the shore, she finally remembered the Vantha ability to freeze water. This potential punishment for Alea's mistake had not occurred to her, but now that she'd thought of it, she could not stop the scenes of bitter cold that flooded her mind. She shook her head sharply, trying to dispel the images. Lixue and Ly would not do that, Alea reminded herself. Her tendency to imagine the worst was going to get the better of her one day if she wasn't careful.

Feeling skittish, Alea knelt next to them. Watching Ly carefully, ready to flee at the first sign of hostility, she slowly reached out a hand toward Lixue's, to let her know she was there. Alea could not say anything, so this was the best she could do. It was so dark, she could barely make out the figures in front of her. She had only recognized them from their voices, but they had no such way to recognize her. Would they ever know who she was?

by **Lixue** on August 12th, 2012, 6:17 pm

It was painstakingly apparent that Ly did not like the woman kneeling before them. His body stiffened, he was deadly silent, and the arms wrapped around Lixue tightened imperceptibly. Lixue herself flicked him, to gather Ly's attention, and keep him from doing anything rash. When Alea's hand touched her, Lixue jerked. The cold flesh was not what she was expecting and it showed. So did the shaking of Lixue's hands as her body was still regaining control. Pins and needles erupted where Alea touched. In the darkness, Lixue could barely make out Alea's shape. Did not even know who it was.

Upturning her hand, Lixue claimed the person's palm in her own. From the size and feel, Lixue could tell it was a woman. If the struggle earlier had not already told her that! Clearing her throat once, Lixue spoke into the blackness of the night, "...Thank you." A strange thing to say, yes indeed. Ly was not expecting it and recoiled in anger. Only the loud sigh exploding from his told of this mood change.

Lixue was thankful. She had not known what she would tell the person, but knew it had to be something worthwhile; something that told how she felt. When her mouth had first opened, nothing had come out. In the night, neither Ly nor Alea could tell. Finally, the words shot out unexpectedly. And were perfect. The woman, who Lixue had foolishly wrestled, had also saved her life. For that, no amount of words can express what Lixue felt.

After a tight squeeze of the woman's hand, Lixue released. "We must go. I feel like I should be checked by a doctor, to be certain all is well." Ly was overly excited to leave, to put space between Lixue and that foolish wench! Moving to his own feet, he tugged Lixue up with surprising gentleness. Ly's arms supported her weight and he kept to her right side. Slowly, the pair made their way into the darkness.

InformationI'm okay with stopping here if you are.

by **Alea Davenport** on September 3rd, 2012, 10:07 pm

Alea could sense Ly's hostility, and in her guilt she shrank from it. She hadn't meant to hurt Lixue... it was an accident! Or...instinct? She did tend to... react...hastily, when she perceived an attack... She was lucky Lixue hadn't been drowned for good! With the morose reflections, Alea swam back across the pond, diving underwater at times, in an attempt to escape the reality of what had almost happened. She pulled herself through the water, kicking her legs like a frog and surfacing only to breath.

When she finally reached the shore, she looked around. She had come up a fair distance away from her clothes, not being very good at navigating underwater. She walked along in the shallows of the lake and finally reached her clothes. When she got there, she found Tom, the cat who'd started this whole evening, snuggled up in the pile.

She tried to sneak her shirt away from him, but in his sleep, his claws curled more possessively into the cotton material. She tried gently picking him up, hesitating when he growled. If he woke up and ran off again, she'd never get him back home. But she couldn't move him without waking him up, and she couldn't get dressed without moving him.

Finally, Alea came to a decision. It was a warm night, not just warm for Avanthal, but actually pleasantly warm. It was dark, odds are no one would be awake to see her. She picked up the bundle in her arms, clothes, cat and all. Tom woke up and meyowled at the intrusion on his nap, but instead of trying to restrain him by force (which experience had prove futile), she quickly moved her arms into a comfortable carrying position, and soothingly petted the cat's head. It probably only worked because the bundle of clothes made a half-way decent bed, but Tom did finally go back to sleep.

She wouldn't be able to run, not without jostling the cat back away, so she'd have to sneak as quietly as she could back to the hold. The good news was, now that she tended to sleep in the stables, she only had to get the cat through one door, rather than up stairs and through corridors past sleeping Vantha.

The trip back was largely uneventful, expect for the time she spotted an Icewatch patrol--a polar bear and its bonded (the sight bringing a twinge of sadness at the thought of her own absent kelvic). She pressed herself to the side of a building, in the darkest shadows, petting her cat in small motions to keep it quiet, and holding her breath. If they looked down the alley, she wold be in their line of sight, but maybe if she didn't move, the shadows would conceal her form and she wouldn't be noticed. The polar bear did stop at the alley, sniffing at the entrance, but it shortly moved on. She wasn't sure whether she'd succeeded in hiding, or whether he had just decided Alea wasn't a threat, but she wasn't about to stop and ask. It had been a long night, and all she wanted was to get home and sleep.

by **Valkyrie** on September 4th, 2012, 4:53 pm

Lixue :

Alea Davenport :

You Will Be Collected if Worthy

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.

Night Swimming

Night Swimming

Night Swimming

Night Swimming

Night Swimming

Night Swimming

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