Closed [Pavi Lake] By The Water

[Eada Vine]

6th of Fall 513 AV

Eada inhaled the cool air. It still held a breath of summer and she smiled. She had been traveling to Syliras for weeks now and they were just a few days from the city. A wave of excitement tangled in her stomach, at least, she told herself it was excitement, but the nerves were hard to ignore.

She climbed over a rock, scuffing the toes of her shoes. And there is was - Pavi Lake. It looked so surreal and so massive. Huge fingers of salty rock pointed toward the sky and when Eada inhaled this time, there was a hue of salt. She understood now why the people she was traveling with stopped here. They hadn't wanted to go into the city, but took her this far because they wanted her to see the lake.

They said some find it too harsh to be beautiful, but the uniqueness of it took her breath away, especially as the first beams of morning sun glittered over the surface. They had told her to come at sunrise too; it was at it's finest then. So they dropped her an hours walk from the lake with a series of instructions of how to get to the city.

She sat down on a large rock and for several minutes watched the water. She swore a dark shadow moved just beneath the surface, but she blinked and it was gone. She sighed. It was so beautiful here.

She felt a note trickle through her head and she reached for her fiddle. This place was inspiring, she realised. She pulled the bow across the strings and sighed. She had never tried composing before, but she had played enough music to know patterns that worked. She watched the waves shift around the stone columns and played another note, and another. Each time trying to remember the last. After a few minutes, she tried to play it back, but she couldn't get further than the first few notes. She sighed and let her fiddle fall to her lap.

Never mind, she thought and lifted it again, deciding to play something she knew. It was a tune her mother taught her, soft and light, and the notes rang across the surface of the water. She smiled, watching the lake as she played.

There was a splash and her gaze snapped to a spot on the water, her fingers still moving over the strings. There was nothing there, but out of the corner of her eye there was movement and she whirled, catching a flash of fleshy tones. She stood up, leaving her fiddle on the rock. She had heard rumours about this lake. That the salt water was filled with strange creatures: scaled monsters and... people with fins, able to craft beautiful melodies with their voices. She hadn't just seen a...

Don't be ridiculous, Eada. But she supposed they might be attracted to her music.

[Robert]

The lake. He seen it before. Yet merely on paintings, or heard about from travelers who stopped in his father's smithy. It was supposed to be a jewel, yet somehow he never thought about visiting him. He had work to do at home. And his father was way too protective to let him go out alone. Funny how things decided to turn around. The prodigy explorer. Or so it seems. He wasn't exactly traveling light. He wore his banded mail armor with attached spikes. A steel shield resting on his back that covered most of it. A freshly crafted longsword could also be seen sheeted in the scabbard. He didn't exactly look friendly, with the spikes on his shoulders, his arms, and the spikes on his metalic gauntlets. But at least it was warm inside. On his shoulders, leather straps could be seen, giving away he was wearing a backpack. All this armor and weaponry could give a thought about the person being a knight. Oh how wrong they would be. The man...Or some would even call him boy, looked young. Barely entering his twenties. Without facial hair and the youthful shapes on his subtle smile. His dyed snow-white hair which reached down to his neck waved with every step. His cheeks lightly red, and beads of sweat were forming on his forhead. Armor was heavy. The whole was pushing his body down to the ground. But it's better he got used to it now, than never. His mind was filled with posibilities he could encounter. Where he could go. What he will do. The naive mind of his was playing along. 'Could become a knight!' or 'A famous mercenary!' his mind spoke out, cheerful as it could. Thought he knew neither of that is possible. He wasn't exactly taught how to use the sword on his hip. Nor was he in a condition to wear the armor for twenty four hours. Yet he had to. And it was paying a toll. He was getting more and more tired. The lake now right infront of him. The best thing to do now is simply sit down and wait for a moment. Yet his inner monologue was interupted...By music? His head quickly jerked from left to right, trying to find the source. A bard? Alone? 'Maybe I could be a bandit!' His mind yelled out inside of him, which caused his subtle smile to vanish. He couldn't. Shaking his head to get the ill thoughts away he stood silently and listened to the sound. The soft and light tone was pleasing to the ear, and the fiddle was such a gentle instrument to begin with. Thought he did inspect the one playing it slightly more than the instrument itself. He didn't know about strange watery creatures, but her music did attract someone closer. He made a few steps towards her, faking a cough to clear his throat and possibly get her attention without startling her. "You play nice." He commented afterwords, slightly out of the blue. He was bad with starting up meaningful conversations. But from the looks of it they were alone near a lake. A conversation wont just hit him across the face if he didn't make an iniciative.

[Eada Vine]

Eada jumped at the cough, jolted from her thoughts, and turned to the man. Seeing him didn't help calm her thudding pulse. He wore heavy armor, laced with spikes and ornamented with weapons. God, I'm such an idiot, Eada thought. Alone in the middle of the mountains without a weapon, playing music to draw attention to myself.

"You play nice," he said and Eada stepped back, holding her hands in front of her. But she couldn't go any further or she'd be in the lake.

"Please," she said. "I don't have any money." That was a lie, but a small one - a worthwhile one. "This is all I have," she gestured to her fiddle, "and it's barely worth a silver Miza." Another lie, but with any luck, he wouldn't know enough about instruments to pick up on it. She licked her lips and swallowed, glancing into the trees. "My brother's hunting, only two minutes away, and he'll be back soon - really soon." She didn't blink, nothing to let him know that she was lying. If he realised, she would be dead; she couldn't fight a squirrel, let alone a man with swords and armor.

[Robert]

The man kept looking at her. 'So I really could be a bandit. It's easy.' His mind mused, thought he said nothing for now. His hands were merely folded against his chest, the spikes on his gauntlet poking outside to not damage the armor itself. He found it amusing, if nothing else. The girl began begging. And going on and on how she has nothing. How she's not alone. Truth be told he did not believe her. He seen no tracks in the forest, nor he heard any wildlife startled by anything other than him. So it's either her brother was a master huntsman...Or there was no brother. The truth was he wasn't going to rob this one. But he did hate people lying to him. He gave her a look. One of those 'don't try' looks, his lips moving into a smirk. "You know I always did dislike those who lied to me. Don't know why...Just never could really stand them." He said, his armored shoulders being brought into a shrug. "To be honest with you...I saw no one around, so I'm worried your brother might of been eaten by a bear. Or something else." He added, in a slightly teasing tone. "Relax, alright? I wont rob you. I wont hurt you. I wont ask anything of you. I'm not a bandit. Just a traveler." He spoke, bringing his hands away from his chest, and showing his open palms to her, as a sign of not really wanting to hurt her.

[Eada Vine]

Eada widen her eyes as the man spoke and showed he could easily see passed her lies. She was nineteen, but she knew she looked young. Seeing as she couldn't lie to save her behind, she would have to look innocent and vulnerable. Well, she was innocent and vulnerable. She even had the wide blue eyes and lack of height to prove it.

"...I'm just a traveler." He seemed genuine in his words and body language, but Eada narrowed her eyes. A bandit would be skilled at lying, skilled at luring young girls into a false sense of security. But what choice did she have but to trust him? If he wanted to rob her, or worse, he would've done it by now.

"I'm sorry I lied, but if you were - or are - a bandit, it was worth a shot, right? If it meant you didn't rob me." She still didn't trust him, but forced herself to relax. Well, in all appearances. Her pulse still throbbed and her thoughts still whirled: maybe I could run? With all that armor, he couldn't run as fast as her... maybe.

She sighed inwardly. Just see what happens, Eada.

"What brings you here, then?" She asked, not yet daring to sit.

[Robert]

Kept silent, shifting his weight from his left foot to his right, tilting his head to the side. The cracking of bones could be heard as he relaxed himself. Yet another sigh followed. Was she trying to look innocent or was she. Period. Who knew. He really had no intensions of acting hostile. Not that he could. He maybe looked intimidating with the spikes and his sword, but truth be told he was merely a year older than her. Without any real experience as a combatant. Not that anyone would know that, but the thought was in his head. Seeing how the girl infront of him did not really trust his words, he shrugged, bringing his hand on the handle of his sword. His other hand would reach down to the leather straps holding the scarab in place. Undoing that, and the blade sheet would fall to the ground. Next off, his shield. It was attached to his back with a leather strap over his chest. With his right hand, he reached behind, hooking his hand around the shield's handle and draw it, only to place it next to the sword on the ground infront of him. Flicking his wrists, a click could be heard, as the gloves were unattached to his hands, and slid down. Now slightly less armored he'd make a step forward towards her, offering a smile to her. "To be honest. If I were a bandit I wouldn't really listen to you. I'm sure a bandit would take everything off you, if you have something valuable or not." He spoke out, not going too close to her just yet. He'd stop next to the rock she was sitting on earlier, resting his now bare hands on top of it. His two rings now showing. "Well. I was simply trying to find a place to rest up. Then I heard you."

[Eada Vine]

Eada exhaled as he slid off his weapons and some of the armor. She didn't expect that it would make such a difference, but with the sword and shield on the ground her muscles relaxed. He could still hurt her if he wanted, but he seemed softer now. His bare hands looked younger than she was expecting and rings caught in the early morning sun.

She looked up at his face, squinting against the light. He was younger than she at first thought. Maybe her age, if not, a little older. She swallowed and sat down. He had a point; a bandit wouldn't care whether or not she owned anything valuable, or whether her brother was nearby (they'd probably kill him too, even though he was a figment of her imagination). If he was a bandit, she would be dead already. Or at least, lying hurt and broken in the middle of the Cobalt Mountains, which is as good as dead.

"Okay," said Eada. She sat down, not daring to take her eyes off him. "You can rest here, from whatever you were doing." She glanced at the armor and wondered if he was some kind of knight. She had never seen the Syliras knights, so had no idea what their uniform was like. She smiled; bandit to knight, that's quite a change. "I'm Eada."

[Robert]

With his weapon removed, and the shield resting besides it, he did feel lighter. The strentgh of the armor was still pushing the man down, but he was simply trying to ignore it. He knew that feeling will be with him from now on. Besides, if not else he has to make a good impression to the girl infront of him. Was it he or was she contantly looking at him? Maybe it was because she thought he'd kill her, but that was besides the point. Truth be told he enjoyed a little bit of attention. He'd offer her a smile, his eyes trailing over her as if inspecting her. There really were no weapons on her, unless they were well concealed. He took a deep breath, pushing himself off the rock he was leaning on. As the bard told of her name, he'd make a few steps closer to her, offering his right hand to her. "Nice to meet you, Eada." He responded. "My name's Robert. or Rob." Weither she'd return the handskake or not, he'd then step slightly back.

[Eada Vine]

OOCI was just thinking it would be useful if you could link you CS to your profile. It would be really helpful with stuff like descriptions! Thank you.

Eada folded her arms across her chest,a sub-conscious gesture, as the man looked her over. He smiled and Eada tried not to blush, but she felt warmth bleeding into her cheeks. She supposed he was good-looking, despite the fact his white hair looked slightly unnatural against tanned skin. She stepped forward and shook his hand. His palm was warm against hers and she glanced at the ring on his finger. It looked like a sun, but black.

But the most noticeable thing was his height. He must have been a foot taller than Eada. She let go of his hand and stepped back so she could see his face easier. She glanced at the water and exhaled, taking her eyes off him for the first time since they had met. She trusted that he wasn't going to hurt her. She almost felt safe, for the first time since the caravan she was traveling with had dropped her off. She supposed, if there were bandits or bears, he'd do a better job at defending her than she could.

She sat down beside her fiddle and turned back to Robert. "What are you doing in these parts? Are you from Syliras?"

[Robert]

(( Oh I knew I forgot about something! Done, now. ))

Let his hands fall down to his sides as he noticed her taking a seat. The duo of brown orbs on his face keeping track of her motions. He did notice the girl infront of him had blue eyes. Maybe just personal preferance, but she was quite appealign to look at. Better than sitting alone and resting, he thought. Thought the whole ordeal was slightly odd. instead of finding wildlife or some sort of hermit, he found her. A surprise, but not one he'd trade for anything anytime soon. He noticed her relaxing, thinking the previous bandit fear vanished from her thought. He almost felt bad actually thinking about it as he was approaching her. The fake knight was always the more sealed off kind. He wasn't exactly known to hurt someone for his own gain. Oh he'd laugh at the thought, but he didn't. He tried to act off as casual and relax as he could. It wasn't easy, however. Was that a blush on her cheeks? Maybe it was just him being tired and the armor taking it's toil, but he could of swear he saw it. Just faintly. Got him thinking. "I am, yeah." He responded, trying to cover up his slight nervousness with a slight bow of his head. "And no, before you ask I am no knight." His eyes as he bowed down, trailed over her yet again. Once he straightened himself back up, he crouched down. The strips of metal clinging faintly with the unusual movement. Once crouched, he'd tip his head up to look at her. "Doing here? Well...I'd say traveling. Hunting." He responded to her question, not really feeling like explaining to her traveling where. Or why. He didn't know that himself. "What about you? I must say you look way too nice to be a fighter. So I imagine traveling to be dangerous for you?" He spoke on, asking his thing. Yet he'd soon enough bite his tongue as he just realized what he said. 'Good job, Rob. A for efford.' The back of his mind spoke.