Completed In Hot Water (Garland)

[April Windweaver]

April's curiosity piqued at the list of Garland's injuries. Sounded like he'd seen quite a bit of action. That, or he was extremely clumsy. She was willing to believe the former. With the attack on the main gates and the chaos that ensued, she was willing to believe that one or two calls to action may bring squires like Garland into harm's way.

It made her wonder, though. Syliras was one of the safest cities she knew of. How could something like that even happen? And for that matter, why? April was not interested in politics and the like, but she did have to wonder who they managed to piss off for terrorists to start hitting the city.

It was a rare moment for April to have such deep thoughts, but the relaxing atmosphere of the Spa was already doing wonders on her psyche.

She paid her way into the spa and picked an open locker to start storing her possessions. Her mind continued to fill with questions as she started unbraiding her hair and putting the clips into her pockets. Her hair was much longer than it looked; reaching all the way down to her collarbone. Her brain spoke up again. It was mages, right? Magic users. Hm... That seemed like a lot of damage for just a couple folks. Must've been some impressive magic.

She slipped out of her clothes and stuffed them into the locker, removing her undergarments last. The cloth wrap around her chest didn't really have any structure, so she had to just ball it up when she put it inside. Magic users... She should do magic. It wasn't that hard, right? She could see herself throwing balls of fire from the bow of her ship.

April was as bare as the day she was born. This, she liked. Modesty was not a number one priority for her. She enjoyed the feeling of freedom that came from being stark naked. But there was one last item that needed to be removed.With a reluctant sigh, she removed the bandage around her bicep.

It was difficult to see in the light, but she was branded just below her shoulder. The skin was red and irritated around the raised skin.

Her eyes found Garland and she smiled. A memory resurfaced from that morning. Her smile grew. With her towel folded neatly at the side of the pool, April slipped in. Her body shivered as the warm water rose up to her neck. It felt so good to be in the water again. And this time without fear of sharks and creepy Chordae. Giggling, she dove underwater and swam up towards the knight-in-training. She could see his distorted figure from under the water and resurfaced at the edge of the pool.

"What's the matter, shy? Hop on in, I promise I won't bite... Too much." She laughed and dove underwater again as the dyes in her hair started to wash out, leaving a fading trail of color behind her.

[Garland]

"Shut up!" He blushed and took off his towel and placed it by the edge of the spring. He gently went into the water, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't tempted to cannonball in, and make a huge splash, but he already got in trouble from the owners the last time he did that. The warm waters were really soothing, hence the name he guessed. He gave a small sigh and rested his arms by the edge of the spring. This was really relaxing, and April was the opposite of that. She was like coffee and this place was like tea. He couldn't just sit back and relax, but he couldn't go all out on fun either.

"Hey, April. You're leaving a rainbow of a trail behind." He said, hoping they didn't get in trouble for this. Though he was happy that she was leaving behind the trail, it meant that he won't be getting any wandering eyes from April, since her dye had covered the surface of the water.

Garland didn't get a good look at april when he entered the water, since she dove under the water and all. He wanted to see what she looked like without the dye and stuff, and he might be able to convince himself that she was wearing clothes and whatnot. Mind over matter, at least to avoid any embarrassing incidents like earlier.

Oh gods... Why did we have to come here?

[April Windweaver]

After getting the last of the dye out of her hair, April swam back up to Garland to resurface and propped herself up on the side of the pool. She hair was matted to her face and she had to shake her head to get it out of the way, flinging water onto the squire. The color of her hair could only be described as "aggressively orange". It was like the sun had come down from the sky and rubbed off some of its color onto her. In the low light of the spring it still managed to stand out.

She lifted herself up a bit so that she could rest her right elbow on the edge while her left arm crossed across her breasts and clung to the lip of the pool. At this distance it was possible to see the branding: a plain "F" emblazoned in burnt skin. It looked to be several years old. In fact, it looked somewhat stretched out, as if she had earned it before she fully grew. April looked down with it and gave a sheepish grin.

"It's uh... not... my proudest achievement. It uh..." She looked around nervously before whispering. "It means 'brawler'. Or... 'Fighter' I guess. I... I wasn't a very smart child. Picked a fight with one too many people. I... hope you don't think ill of me for it." She finished off her statement with a sincere and toothy smile.

"Anyways..." She said, letting go of the side of the pool so she could swim around to Garland's other side. "I never did ask, how old are you? I mean... you look pretty young to have such a big..." A smile twitched onto her face "...set of muscles. I mean, is that just par for the course with Knights, or are you just an Isur in disguise?"

[Garland]

He gave a comforting smile. "Don't worry, I think it's pretty cool... I do have some questions about that that mark though, but I think I should ask it later in a more private location." He couldn't help but notice that April had such a nice head of hair, it was a stark contrast to Garland's bland brown hair. He's glad that she had the decency to cover her chest though.

"I never did ask, how old are you? I mean... you look pretty young to have such a big..."

Don't you dare say it... He thought and blushed.

"...set of muscles. I mean, is that just par for the course with Knights, or are you just an Isur in disguise?"

"Oh. I thought you were going to say something else." He blushed and coughed. "A bit of the knight's training and the time I spent as a kid either fighting off bullies or helping out an old man with chopping down wood and fixing up stuff around the city, carpenter's aide and all. I'm sixteen by the way... Well seventeen now, since my birthday ended last fall... I didn't really celebrate it, I don't remember what I did... Weird." He said and relaxed while April was swimming around him.

He smiled and flexed his muscles a bit. "But yeah, I do have very large muscles, but that doesn't mean I'm dumb though! For some reason a lot of people think that. Anyway..." He smiled and splashed some water on April's face. "Hehe."

[April Windweaver]

"Seventeen, hunh? Well how about that. I'm 2 years older than you!" She stuck the tip of her tongue out playfully. Her posture readjusted so that she had both hands on the side of the pool and her stomach pressed against the side.

"Carpenter's aide? That must've been... fun?" Her lips twisted into a crooked frown. "I can't imagine doing that for a living. Too much work, not enough play. Besides, I don't like being told what to do." She nodded to punctuate her statement. April was a free spirit, there was no way she could keep a job longer than a season. Even her current job she was already bored with. How could she ever get enthusiastic about carting fish around?

While the squire boasted his muscle mass, April reached up to squeeze on his arm to feel for herself. It was thick and solid, but still had a bit of give. Impressive, to say the least. Her fingers felt coarse as they ran up the length of his bicep, no doubt torn by the years of raising sails and lifting anchors. An involuntary smile spread on her face as she felt up his arm. "I don't think you're dumb... For the most part" She teased with a mischievous grin.


"Gwaa!" April threw her hands up to block the water, giggling like a schoolgirl as Galrand splashed her. She retorted with a splash of her own before giving him a shove. Of course, April was only a fraction of Garland's weight so it felt like hitting a brick wall. Her hands stayed pressed against his chest as she grunted and groaned, trying to push him backwards.

[Garland]

"It was fun for a while and it gave me a little spending money along with my chore money." He said and sighed. "Besides, I get to do a lot exploring around the Bronze woods, though always in the safe zone I guess. Bah, now that I've gotten some skill in fighting and protecting myself I guess I could go and explore if I wanted to."

Garland gave a small frown. "Now I barely have any time for myself. Sometimes I get a day off but it's usually back to the daily grind." He gave a small smirk. "In all honesty, you're carefree-ness or whatever really testing my resolve for joining the knights." He said and just now registered what he said. "Uhh... Not that I would ever leave the knights ever." He gave a small nervous laugh.

And then he got splashed by the water. "Hey!" He said and splashed her back. "I'm gonna get you for that." He swam towards her and splashed her face. He slipped and fell landing on April, dragging her under the water.

[April Windweaver]

April chuckled. "Well, I could always do with an extra crew member. But I don't want to take on anybody who isn't sure about it. If being a Knight is better for you, then you just keep on keepin' on, soldier boy. Once I leave in the Spring, I think I might come back to Syliras every so often anyways. This place is pretty alright." That is, if she set sail at all. No doubt the idea of staying in Syliras was growing more and more attractive. Of course she could never take on a real job like shopkeeping, labor, or any of that Knight business, but she could always work as a fisherman. Er... fisherwoman.

Still, the prospect of not adventuring made her a little wary of that choice, but if Garland was the bellwether for life here in the city, then maybe she could find a different kind of adventure. Plus, magic. Magic was definitely a thing she wanted to check out now. Because, honestly, who wants to mess with a pirate mage? That'd be like trying to fight a bear with sharks for hands. And the sharks are also mages. On fire.

She still had some time to think it out.

Instead, she immersed herself into the fun she and the squire were having as they splashed about.

Unfortunately, the pair got a little too rowdy and April felt herself overwhelmed by Garland's body as the two of them sank into the pool. Instinctively, she tried to swim up only to smack into Garland. She gasped, but realized that she did not, in fact, have gills. Instead, her normal, human lungs struggled to process the water coming through and soon the Svefra found herself running quickly out of breath as she tried to reach the surface. Within a few short moments April found her vision starting to dim around the edges and her limbs starting to go noodly.

Please don't let it end like this. What cruel god would let me drown OUTSIDE of the sea? That's... that's almost ironic. If not cruel. I never thought my watery grave would turn out to be at the bottom of a petching swimming pool. Oh, hey, I think I'm passing out. No, wait... yeah, okay I'm going to pass out.

[Garland]

He managed to break free from that little tussle, and then he swam up and took a deep breath. He coughed out the water that got it's way into his lungs. "April?" He couldn't find where she was he figured that she was still underwater. He took another deep breath and dove back down.

It was hard trying to see under the water, but he needed to save April, he wasn't going to lose her in a pool. After a few seconds he felt her skin and grabbed her tightly.

April... I am not losing you. Not like this. He thought as he swam up and pushed her up to solid ground. He then climbed up after her. He pressed his palms together on her chest. Come on... They trained her for this... Oh crap... He started pumping her chest.

"Come on, April." After 30 compression or so(he lost count) he tilted her head a bit and took a deep breath. He then pressed his lips on her and blew into her lungs, hoping that she would be fine. He started pressing her chest again and doing what he was doing earlier, instead of finding someone with actual medical training, like the owners of the spring. Like Calyna Zia...

After a while, said owner came in to see what the commotion was all about. Calyna rushed over and bent down beside Garland. "What happened?"

"I sorta knocked her underwater and... well... This happened." He said, still pumping her chest. "Tell me I'm doing this right?"

"Uh... You're doing fine. Keep doing that, she'll come to." She said and gave small worried look towards Garland. His eyes look... wet, was he crying? Strange. "She should be fine now."

[April Windweaver]

She dreamt of the sea again.

She was lying on the deck of her ship. Her body was too heavy for her to sit up, so she had to roll herself over on her side to get a view of what was going on. From what she could tell, everything was normal. The sky, the water, the clouds, all of it was where it was supposed to be. The only thing odd was that she felt pinned, unable to stand up. Even when she moved her arms and legs it felt like unnatural, like she was just pulling the strings to her puppet body.

Then something started to tip the boat. She gasped, feeling herself slowly slide backwards towards the front of the ship. The sky slipped farther and farther beneath her as the boat continued to skew itself forward with April sliding faster and faster towards the water. She tried to grab onto something, but everything she touched broke apart until the entire ship snapped in half and sent her tumbling into the water.

But just as she hit the water, the world shifted. Instead of the sea, she was now falling from the sky. The wind slapped at her face and yanked at her limbs as birds whipped by her in squawking, squealing droves. The clouds felt like hundreds of thousands of tiny needles slicing her open as she passed through them. She was headed towards the water again, but this time when she hit it she was tossed upwards onto the side of the bath, the stones in the floor starting to break from the molding and slowly rise up. She could walk now, but just barely. Every step she took made more of the stones float away, some right under her feet. The walls were moving up and down and rearranging themselves in different patterns.

She was getting dizzy. So dizzy. She was going to vomit. Something was burning up her chest, as if it were going to burst. She couldn't breath. She felt something warm on her lips.

And then she woke up.

April sputtered to life with water pouring out from her mouth. Her lungs hacked up as much of the water it could and feeling slowly returned to the rest of her body. She drew in a long, jagged breath. Her lungs swelled, and consciousness returned.

"Bghu... guh... chhk..." Her words only brought more mouthfulls of water. She was reaching out, clinging to Garland's face and neck. Every inch of her was covered in goosebumps, every part of her shivering. Her brain couldn't process what was going on. There was far too much information assaulting her at once. She felt cold, like a corpse. To her, Garland's face was burning hot, but the only source of heat she could find.

Even her eyes looked non-functional. They were empty and void, rolled up behind her eyelids. Whatever light managed to pass through them ended up as large, formless blobs. The girl that had just moments before been full of energy and life now looked catatonic and half-dead.

"H-hel.. hel... help me... co- c... cold... cold... help..."

[Garland]

"Calya, get some towels, please." He said as he held April close to his body, trying to keep her warm. He was glad that she's fine now, but he's still very worried about her.

Calya had ran back to the girl's locker and grabbed out a few towels. Garland took the towels and wrapped them around April. "You're gonna be fine... Deep breaths, okay... I'm glad you're okay... I'm so sorry." He gave a sigh of relief, he was more than just glad that she was alright, he pressed his head against hers, there was a sudden comfort off his chest.

It has only been one day but April was very special to him, it was strange to like somebody the day after you met them, but he didn't have time to think about that, he was too busy trying to calm April down, and hopefully get her warm again. "April, are you alright? Do you feel okay? Umm... I know that was a stupid question but... I'm worried about you." She seemed fine now, a bit shaken up, but otherwise fine. He put his arms under her legs and carried her to a lounge chair and sat her down.

He knelt down beside her and held her hand, he knew that she was going to be fine, but his heart was still beating like crazy, he sighed again. "I shouldn't have brought you here, this is my fault." He said.

He wouldn't blame her if she decided not to talk to him ever again, he would understand why, and he can't blame her for almost drowning her. He would usually try and smile here, maybe do something to keep her mind off of her near death experience, but right now he was feeling guilty for this, he should just leave after he gets his gear back at her boat. That would be a good decision. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to see me again after this."