A pair of feathery wings ~ Aeris

[Ashari]

Samheen 20th

The evening had grown so late it had stretched into the next day, and with that change brought a change within the swanmaiden as well. She could already feel it as she walked through the halls. Each step was more uncomfortable than the last as she made her way toward the quiet chamber with the glittering water.

At last she arrived and her dainty white feet hit the water just as the change overcame her body. She could feel the bones adjusting and moving, losing density and hollowing out into the lighter frame of a winged creature. Her arms transformed and she slid into the man-made pond in the center of the room overcome with exhaustion from the events of the evening and the mass of information she had been forced to absorb. It was a lot for a simple girl used to village life.

Almost as soon as she had transformed she felt sleep come and pull naggingly at her frayed psyche. A melody seemed to fill the air and she drifted off to the land of dreams in no time.

It was here where she truely awoke, and felt oddly rested already. She was still in swan form, but she was moving through a wide pond, no a lake.. no, it was the Mu At, which to any creature of her size, appeared to be an ocean. The water was cool, and reeds grew around the edge of the lake. Long-legged birds she had seen from youth jumped around parading their plumage for all to see, proudly displaying their bright red hues.

Aeris had, of course, seen them many times before. They were feeding now, pulling at the grasses and searching for water bugs. Her own stomach moved, and she was encouraged to a similar urge to engorge herself on the succulant greenery of the Mu At. In the rainy season, when everything bloomed, the plants came alive, and the bugs erupted from hiding.

Some were motled and brown, and hid in the deepest waters, not wanting to be seen, blending in with the muddy surroundings. Others were bright and shiney, green and reflective with an opalescant content to their wings. These were the large bettles that looked more like moving gems than crawly creatures. These and so many more, like the buzzing flies that fed on fish carcasses, and squiggly worms that would someday be winged beauties, moved about the swan.

[Aeris Mourir]

The change was magnificent. It had never been some gruesome, stomach turning process .. on the contrary. Magic played an immense role in the metamorphosis, making it seem effortless, liquid smooth. Her body crashed internally, and sleep over came her.

When she awoke, she was in a rather familiar place, Lake Mu`At. Other life forms floated about the water; playing, eating, just simply relaxing. The concept of birds being like people never amazed her .. really they are more alike than anything else. They feel emotions, they feel pain. They have their survival skills, they even work. She kicked her feet and swam about.

aeris spread her wings and flapped sending tens of hundred of little water droplets from her wings into the massive body of liquid. While she did that, the maiden stretched her wings, like it was her actual arms. The swan settled back into her floating position and simply kicked under the meniscus. She pecked at some ferns here and there; also snatching some insects from the air.

[Ashari]

The music continued to flow through her, like sands spilling down from the top of an hour glass. It was smooth and continuous and sounded as if it were being played on a stringed instrument like a harp or a mandolin, maybe even a common lute. The player was amazingly talented, however, so it was doubtful that it would matter what the instrument was or of what quality. Aeris felt at one with the sad song as it mournfully spilled across the water. A woman's voice, seemingly eminating from the water and the sky and the plants themselves, filled everything and encompassed even the swan as her webbed toes pushed through the water.

if only I could have been there
I'd be a hand for the sinking
if only i could have been there
I'd be a prayer for the dying
see the pain etched in my face

I'm so sick and tired of
the taste of tears
the sting of pain
the smell of fear
the sounds of crying
as you're standing at the edge of your life
what do you remember was it all you wanted

I'm trying to earn a set of feathery wings
I wish I could protect you here
oh, please don't cry
now smile as you're standing
at the edge of your life
your troubles are over
mine are just beginning...

And then suddenly Aeris was changed, she was not who she was before, she was in human form, and her feet sank into the depts of the muck till the mud rose to her ankles. She was bathed in the water up to her shoulders and small fishes swam about, just barely touching her as their scaled bodies were moving as one through the water. The melody continued, the instrument continued to spread it's aura about her.

"What are you searching for, two legged one?" A fish swam to the surface, it's wide mouth opening and closing as it spoke to her. Big silvery eyes watched her unblinkingly. Her hair rested on the surface of the water and she could feel the fins of the minnows as they manuevered through it.

OOC: Lyrics: Feathery Wings ~ Voltaire.

[Aeris Mourir]

As the swan paddled through the resistant force, the music was a bit more appearant. Her feet methodically stopped kicking and Aseris simply sat upon the water listening, listening to the heart-felt melody.

The music glided over the lake's surface like it was oil. The actual words played an important part in the song as well. It was the entire process; notes and lyrics alike that make such an impact on the angelic bird. Aeris felt so sad before, during and even after the melody had been voiced.

The graceful swan was suddenly in her humanoid form. She didn't know how it had happened, but in dreams there doesn't have to be sense to anything. Aeris could feel the tiny fish fluttering about her body .. they reminded her of butterflies. As they darted in and out of her hair, the song continued, and the sorrow remained as well.

A fish popped it's face out of the water and started to talk. Nothing to bizaar in the mind of a swanmaiden.

"A home," she simply said.

[Ashari]

The fish seemed to swirl around her entire body, caressing her legs and slithering past her abdomen. "Home?" If a fish could look at you with questioning eyes, well, it was doing that right then to Aeris, as it somehow appeared confused by the notion. "You've no fins nor flippers, this is not your home. You belong with the bipeds." It had a fine vocabulary for a creature whose brain was no bigger than the girl's thumbnail.

Diving beneath the surface the cold-blooded thing was lost to her eyes and soon intermingling with the rest of it's kind. They seemed to be swimming faster now, and were nudging up against her body with more force. What had been soft tail fins seemed now to be as sharp as razors as they sped past her virgin skin, it's white purity almost glowing in the murky depths.

Aeris felt a nip at the soft flesh on the inside of her arm. The little beasts were bitting her with their gummed bony mouthparts. Another quick taste of her skin could be felt on her thigh. It seemed that there were more of them now, like they were swarming. Their silvery scales caught the sunlight and sparkled, it was mesmorizing as they moved and undulated beneath the surface of the water. The song had all but dissappeared as the water began to churn more violently as they spun around her small frame.

Her feet were nearly stuck in the brown muck of the lakefloor, but if she were to put some effort into it, it probably wouldn't take much to move. It was a decision on where to move. She could go deeper into the water where the little fish didn't like to swim since they were more likely to be eatten by a bigger fish, or she could move to the water's edge and be entirely out of their grasp.

[Aeris Mourir]

Aeris opened her mouth to volly a reply, but the strange fish dove under the water ... disappearing from her sight. Then it started. The little bastards starting nipping at her like she was some dead carcass for them to feed on. Well, she wouldn't have it.

The maiden wiggled her toes in the mushy brown earth and eventually got somewhat free. There was an important question that seeped into her mind; where to go.

The larger fish had told her that she the lake wasn't her home. She was a biped, so therefore belonged with them. Within a matter of flickers of the submergence of the leader fish, she began to make her way towards the water's edge.

[Ashari]

Away from the water was probably her best bet, and with a good deal of fussing she was able to make her way through the muck. It had been easier to do this when she was a swan. Maybe it was the wide webbed toes which spread evenly across the mud added with her light weight, or maybe it was just because she didn't notice the squelching noise before as she pulled her dainty toes from the depths sending murky bubbles to the surface.

At the bank, where the reeds grew high, she was finally away from the attack of the little fish. Here the birds were hunting them, and they feared getting any closer. The great crimson plumage of the long-legged creatures was sought after by many to adorn their clothing and hair, but few succeeded in catching the winged creatures as they fled to the air for safety.

"Bugga's aren't they?" The beady eyes of one of the great birds met Aeris'. "And not much of conversationalists either. Betta fa eatting then talking I do say." If it was possible, the bird grinned, it's long curved beak didn't change, it was something in the eyes. "Are you cold?"

It was then that Aeris realized she was quite nude.

[Aeris Mourir]

As she pushed through the bottom mud, she suddenly wanted to be a swan. so she could simply glide right above it. It didn't happen, but she still desired for the shapeshift.

Aeris was happy to get away from the frenzied little fish. They were like wanna-be piranas, frightening if nothing else. Creepy.

The swan saw several other birds picking at the water, no doubt nipping at the matter beneath it's surface. She didn't ponder the thought since that's what they do. Aeris was looking back at the water when one of the winged beings spoke to her. Her head turned instinctively towards the casual voice.

"Wow," she said in a nonchalent way. "You're beautiful," Aeris added. "Buggers isn't the word I would have used, but, yes they are," the bony mouths still fresh on her skin. SHe rubbed her arms more out of comfort than anything else.

"Cold? No," thw maiden said. "Takes a lot to get me cold .... it's not common among my kin to be cold often," she stopped suddenly. "How can you talk?" Aeris knew it was a dream in all, but still, such dreams weren't this bizaar. "Let me rephrase, how am I able to understand you?"

[Ashari]

"Well, thank you kindly." The bird replied, and as it did so, it's feathers seemed to fluff out a bit in a manner of pride, especially those at the handsome creature's chest and atop his head, those of which nearly stood on end. Looking down at the water again he busied himself pulling up some reeds before answering her questions. Perhaps he was pondering, or perhaps the food was just more important.

"Oh, well, you've got the magick about you. It happens that way, that you might understand things that you wouldn't normally understand. This isn't real, anyway." His wings shifted. He seemed to shrug casually.

"Just as I'm not real, but I mean something to you. Betcha wondering what. I can't really tell you that, but I can offer a bit of advice, and that's if you plan on going into the man-village, you might want some clothes, elsewise, the men themselves are likely to treat you a might bit badly like they did the last girl who wandered out of the lake."

The bird paused his speech and then preened some of his tail feathers, pulling beneath the surface of the long hollows to clean and perfect their alignment. In the process on of the rear crimson feathers slipped from his body, as they normally would when molting. It landed atop the smooth water and gracefully he reached down and picked it up in his long beak. Lifting his great neck so that his eyes were level with Aeris's he pushed the red feather over to her.

"Here." And then he squaked and his feathers all rustled against one another as another bird, not too far, took to the air. He did the same in a fluid movement that Aeris had not yet perfected in her own flying, for such things take much practice to learn.

In a flicker she was alone, and naked, and holding a single foot long red feather on the shore of the great Mu At lake with not a single care in the world that she needed to tend to, and yet with a great urge to be doing something, anything, except standing by the water's edge.

[Aeris Mourir]

"...the last girl?" she inquired hastily. She hadn't known of any of
the colony venturing out on their own; it was an abomination to do
such a thing. However, in her case, her fellow kin welcomed the fact
that she was spreading her wings. Aeris' parents wanted that for her,
so her sisters accepted the concept.

"Oh, thank you," she sincerely said when she took the magnificent feather from the winged creature. She twirled the object in her fingers over and over watching the red hue blur the faster she did it. It was a simple act, but she enjoyed feathers and the complexity that enthralled the strange mass.

She heard the other water fowl take off and soon the bird that had been eating and preening in front of her was gone as well. She was alone. Aeris didn't feel alone though. Even with both of her parents on the other plane, she had never felt abandoned or left behind. It was the fact of life that few could trick. The swan that was standing on the lake's edge, was a different story.

Feather in hand, she took a few steps and was completely out of the liquid. The swan paced backwards and finally turned around to walk away from the giant puddle. Where will this take me?

[Ashari]

"Yes, the last girl. She was not one of you." Perhaps he sensed the train of thought she was running with, but it seemed as if he was sure that the other girl that had come from the lake was not a swanmaiden.

The feather itself, as she turned it and caused it to change color, went from a bright red, to an almost black hue. It was dazzling and no wonder that she enjoyed playing with it, and watching as it transformed in color. It was light, but large. Each one of the smaller pieces of feather clung together except at the very tip where there was a split. That had been the reason the bird pulled it from his plummage. It was marred, but still elegant.

Out of the water she felt warmed by the sun overhead. It quickly dried her of the dampness that clung to her porcelin skin. The light beat down on her flesh heating her to the core after the stint in the cold water. As it warmed her, however, a very strange thing started happening to the feather. It started getting soft, and then bent in the middle falling over either side of her hand that was carrying it like it were an elastic mud, but still thin and crimson. The white of the central stalk of the feather faded and melted in with the rest of the red as it started slipping from the young woman's grasp, threating to fall into the dirt at her feet.

[Aeris Mourir]

Something ran through the swan as she was enlightened on the news. It was comforting to know that others hadn't ventured out before her. Aeris wasn't an attention whore, but she enjoyed being unique. She lived with a colony of woman all that were like her; fair skinned, agile, beautiful. She was sick of being just like everyone else, but her inner thoughts wanted to be just like everyone else. Why couldn't she just be normal ... a human. Somewhere inside of her heart she knew the answer.

She didn't notice the feather mysteriously melting until it had nearly touched the ground. She stopped suddenly allowing the solid liquid seep between her fingers. Aeris wanted to freak out, but this didn't seem all the odd. A bird was just talking to her ... and fish did try to eat her. She felt the warmth of the sun on her back and knew that when she woke up it was going to be a trying day.

Jin was going to find out that what he liked was a creature of legend, a creature of unsurpassable glamour. For once in her life she didn't want to hide anymore. She wanted to be able to walk down the Amun Rah streets and have people wave at her because she was their friend, not because they wanted her for whatever reason. It was a day that might never come true, and with that she let the rest of the disintegrating object fall to the ground.

Was such a pretty feather too ... she contemplated. "What now?" she asked to anything that would listen.

[Ashari]

The feather slipped from her grasp as if made of oil and made a small splash as it contacted the ground her smooth white feet walked across, and then it smoothed out into such a thin substance that it was nearly invisble, but as her feet crossed it, she could feel the change, as if it were made wet by something, and yet it was a bit different as well. It was not difficult to cross though, and with in a flicker she was back on regular ground, walking off of the dirt and into the mixed path of sand and earth.

There the road split to either lead into the desert where the swanmaiden had ventured in search of the great and vast city of Abu`Sahir, or to the close man-villages that her family had constantly warned her off. A single sign, made of beaten wood, pointed arrows in either direction, begging her to make the choice. Left was Abu`Sahir. Right was Nashreen and the other encampments.

The sun overhead continued to pour down on her soft white shoulders, beating them into submission with the hot rays, slowly burning her tender flesh that was used to at this time of day being covered with feathers. However, she was instead bare, all of her, and each place was being beamed and seen by the great god Uphuron above in the bright blue heavens, so much different than the night time home of Anasis she regular saw when in her humanoid form.

[Aeris Mourir]

As the terrain changed she just shook her head. "Dreams are so creepy," Aeris muttered. Her entire head shifted from place to place since that's what birds did. They never looked with their eyes, but their head. She absorbed the altered information but didn't dwell too long on it. It was a dream after all.

The swan maiden dug her toes into the sand and kept walking. Nothing was going to stop her. It was her subconscious and who better to take advantage of it than herself.

Suddenly a sign appeared in front of her. Aeris' mind didn't take any longer than a flicker to decide to go to Abu`Sahir. She bravely started down the left path. Hot powerful rays beat down on her skin and she didn't particularly care for it. "Uphuron ..." she said with an all-knowing voice. "Anasis ... can you give me a little shade?" the swan pleaded with the merciful goddess. The pale white feet that were attached to the body kept continueing foward no matter what she asked.

[Ashari]

The sands were even hotter againt her feet than the mixture of dirt and sand had been, and it seemed as if they might burn right off of her legs. Still, though, no release came from above as she walked alongside a sandune that separated her from the other path. Anasis might've heard her plea, but there was little the goddess could do midday, during Uphuron's peak of power, to stop the powerful rays from burning her tender flesh. And burn it did. Her head was swimming in the heat of it.

"Miss?... Miss? Are you alright?" A voice from above her, on the sand dune, seemed concerned at her walking around the desert alone, and unclothed. "Hold on..." It was a man, and he was wearing a white tunic and very light tan breeches. Actually, if it weren't for the fact that they were paired with the white she might've thought them to be lacking any color at all.

Hastily the young man moved down the dune until he reached her. Like a gentleman, he averted his eyes from her smooth skin. "Here." Quickly he pulled the tunic off of his shoulders and handed it over to her. "You are so fair, Uphuron must be murderous to torment your skin so." He waited for her to take it before he looked up and then he gave a smile. "I'm Gunthar. Will you let me take you back to the village? You shouldn't be out here alone, the raptors... and worse... the half-giants. A woman like you would be a prize to them." He frowned.

Gunthar wasn't much to look upon, not like Jin, and he seemed a bit simple, but he was kind and caring, and generally looking out for the wellbeing of the beautiful swanmaiden. Giving a gentle smile he moved his hand to the small of her back as if to guide her, but didn't actually touch her. "Your feet must ache with travel. Would you allow me to carry you?"

[Aeris Mourir]

The pain didn't stop her. Oh, she felt the scorcing agony that Uphuron was so easily able to deliver but it didn't halt the fair skiined swan maiden. However, with such resislience their came a price, a price of level headedness. Suddenly a man appeared on one of the dunes and she was slightly thankful for.

"Hello?" she said as more of statement than a question. "Who are you?" the flicker Aeris asked she knew it wasn't going to make much of a difference anyhow. The swan was pretty sure she didn't inquire too loudly but she ended up knowing his name in the end.

She smiled when the man finally reached her. She was able to view his face, the bright beams of light from the kind and generous Uphuron blinded her enough so spots formed instead of a tangible face. She was content in seeing a face, it was a vast difference from a talking fish.

The smile still played across her lips. She found it ironic that he was adverting his eyes since the common man would have probably raped her out on the dunes. The curl of lips was one of thankfulness and trust than sick humor. She gracously took the tunic from him and slipped it on. Aeris nearly fell over but stood her ground. "Thank you."

"Back to the village?" ... Anasis must have a plan for me to send you. "Carry me?" She actually thought about the notion. "Sure, why not." She waited for him to hold out his arms and she promptly hopped into them. To the village it was.

[Ashari]

The white tunic fell nearly to Aeris's knees, making her suitably covered, for sure. Gunthar smiled. "Ok. Come here." With strong arms he picked her up as if she were light as a feather. Even in this dream world it seemed real, and she could feel his muscles, the tendons, the blood rushing through his veins and even his heart pumping in his strong bared chest. Each beat seemed more pronounced than the last.

"The sun burned you." He said, somewhat randomly as they walked back up the sand-dune from whence he had come. "Why were you in the desert alone? I'm not even supposed to be out there alone, and I'm strong." He looked at her with eerily green tinted eyes, almost too light for his dark complexion, and yet mesmorizing all the same.

As they talked he continued to move, back down the other side of the sliding slope, and onto the original path to village's capitol, Nashreen. "There is much going on. Fighting. I'm not allowed to fight." He looked at the horizon as if that bothered him, as if he thought he should be fighting. "But, Gunthar can't do anything about that now." He shrugged, and when he did so, she moved upwards a bit.

"Maybe you could be the missing princess. Would you like to be a princess?" His thought pattern was strange, and it seemed to jump from one subject to the next without a stringing between ideas. "You are beautiful like a princess." Gunthar nodded. "We are almost to home now." And in a short time, faster than it seemed possible, they had arrived at the city. "You walk now." He set her down on the soft dirt. It was much cooler than the harsh sands.

"Come to my house. I will give you something to wear. Ok?" He asked. His eyes met hers, so bright, so green. "Something for a princess, not tunic."

[Aeris Mourir]

Aeris saw his muscles working dilegently holding her up firmly with a graceful touch. Hard to pull off being a man of harsh conditions, but he some how pulled it off.

His voice pulled at her attention and she replied, "just a little." She was tough as nails even in her dreams. She nodded her head when appropritate no knowing exactly what to say.

"Not allowed to fight?" she inquired. "Fight for what?" Aerus hastly added.

"No, no I'm not your royalty," she quirked an eyebrow. Did she want to be a princess? Surely any woman would kill for such an offer, even one in a dream. "No," she said firmly. "I don't want to be a princess." This dream was going somewhere, Aeris knew it.

She smiled at the fact that he noticed her attractiveness. It was never long before someone commented on it. "Sure," she replied at the fact that he had put her down and she now had to walk. Her toes dug into the soft, cooler ground. Much better.

"The tunic is fine, I kinda like it actually," Aeris interrupted. The gears in her mind turned, and it was more than obvious she was thinking about something. The swan opened her mouth and then shut it. She opened it again and actually spoke this time. "What are you doing here?" she found that her throat was a bit dry. "Happen to have any spare water?"

[Ashari]

"We are fighting because of the princess." He said. "Because they stole her, but the chief doesn't know which who stole her, so he is fighting with everyone, but Gunthar doesn't know how to follow directions." He looked cross, it appeared to be a negative comment he recieved often.

The young man's hands went into his pockets as she turned down his offer to be a princess, and then as she turned it down further. He thought he was being told twice, and didn't realize that she was more arguing with herself. "Sorry, sorry, Gunthar sorry." He quickly replied, seeking her forgiveness like a child would. His eyes sought the ground and one of his feet kicked at the dirt as he leaned back and forth a bit. He didn't seem to spend much time stay still.

"--Oh, yes, We have water. The best water is in Nashreen!" He grinned and pointed over to a well a few meters away. "I'll get you some." With the exuberance usually only known to youth he bounded over to the clean well and started hauling up a bucket. He returned quickly with a large cup full of the sweet and cold nectar of life. "They built the city because of this spring." He said assuredly. "Oh, I'm here because the other men left. Gunthar wasn't supposed to leave Nashreen, but good thing... I found you outside. Now you are safe." He grinned a lopsided smile and raised his hand to scratch his head.

"Some of the men are going to sleep forever, that's what Neyla says." He replied. "I saw some of them, brought back from the battlefield. Neyla says I might have to fight if they come here, to Nashreen, but she doesn't think that will happen. I would do anything to protect her, I will protect you too." He said. "But.. what are you doing here?"

[Aeris Mourir]

"Is the chief in the village now? ... if he is take me to him," she said. She knew where the princess was, but she wasn't going to divulge that information just yet. Aeris started to work a plan in her mind, of how she was going to negotiate for something ... what that something was she didn't know.

Her mind was still concocting when the word water sifted into the mess. "Oh, thank you Anasis!" she muttered as the swan maiden followed her guard to the well. Gunthar handed her the cup of water and she sipped at it. It was never like her to gulp down any liquid- maybe it was her swan side.

A smile formed on her face when he was declaring that he would protect her. The apprentice was not without her own wiles, mainly that of her beautiful looks. There was only a few men that could look beyond she a pretty face. Since most males think with their junk instead of their mind, a simply flip of her hair would send any man to his knees. It wasn't something that she concretely knew since her theory had never been tried.

"Well, I am here because it is my dream. Why I am here, specifically, I am unsure. All I can think of is that it has to do with the Princess," she took another sip of the sweet liquid. I hate dreams.

"Who is Neyla," the woman asked quizzically.

[Ashari]

"Yes... he is..." Gunthar looked at her as if he didn't understand. "Gunthar thought you didn't want to be princess." He said. "Change your mind?" He smiled as she drank the sweet water. "It's good!" He laughed and dipped another cup into the font, pulling out some of the crystaline beverage for himself now that she had been satisfied. He took an eager swallow of the cold water and then grinned.

Setting the cup back down on the wellside he stared off into the distance, atleast past Aeris, but it was as if he were looking directly through her, for he was peering in her direction as his eyes glazed over. He bit his bottom lip and casually scratched his bare stomach and then made a pop noise with his lips before smiling again, and actually looked at Aeris. "Yes." He said. "The princess does need help."

"Neyla? Oh. She's... my friend." He finally decided. "She's a secret friend though, no one knows about her." He nodded. "You can't tell anyone!" There was an urgency in his tone as his bright green eyes met hers with a fear locked within them. "They would think Gunthar is crazy, but she told me I'm supposed to help another way. Maybe you are how."

"Come back to my hut. Neyla is there, you can meet her, and talk with her. She will explain everything." He paused. "Please." He lifted a muscled arm and pointed to a small building at the outskirts of the town. "That's my home. It's really nice." It had a thatch roof and the walls were made of some wood and more grass and reeds woven together as if it were a huge basket. Many of the houses were made in a similar way. Tree branches were used as a base and then the long Mu-At grasses intertwined to create the outter walls. Most, like Gunthar's, were round, but there were some square and rectangle homes mixed in as well.

[Aeris Mourir]

Aeris opened her mouth to convince the person before her that she indeed did not want to be a princess, but thought better of it. Obviously this creature wasn't going to grasp the concept of no, so, she took another avenue.

"I would like to talk to your leader about the Princess at hand," she left it at that.

Hmm, a friend that no one knows about ... the swan maiden was a little weirded out about this, but was assured that she was indeed real. However, she couldn't unquirk her seemingly-permanent eyebrow.

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed," she hushed the man. "She's there, really? Show me the way," she hastly said.

[Ashari]

He nodded emphatically. "Yes! Neyla likes my hut. She says it is the most beautiful of all of them. Gunthar built it." He nodded some more and then started leading the young woman, only clothed in his shirt, toward his home.

In different circumstances, this would be a rather innapropriate scene, her so barely clothed, him half-way nude as well, but somehow it didn't feel that way, and Gunthar gave off no exudence of sexual energy, atleast not nearly the amount that Jin was constantly carrying about him. It didn't take long to reach the hut, and like a gentleman he opened the door for her.

"After you." He said, and then stepped into the dark one room building. Quickly he stepped forward and grabbed a flint and steel, within a flicker he had a lantern lit and the most glorious sight filled Aeris's eyes.

It was no wonder Neyla thought this was the most beautiful home in Nashreen, bright tapestries covered the walls, and hung about the entire place were chips of glass, cut so that they caught the light, sending rainbows through the entire place that played across her fair skin, and sent shimmers of colors over his tanned chest. Grinning like a child he poked one of the pieces, and it hit another and sent a tinkling chime through the air. "Neyla?" He whispered.

There was no immediate response, but then there was a mystical wind that sent all the charms spinning, creating a kleidescope of color everywhere until a woman appeared in the center of the room, at the foot of Gunthar's bed. "Neyla! I brought some one." She flickered, like a candle, and disappeared. "No! No, she's ok. She's special like you. Guthar doesn't think anyone can see her. No one in town saw her, we were at the fountain, and everyone was passing around, and they couldn't see her, just like you can't be seen."

She reappeared and looked between the two of them. Her visage was ominously familiar. Something about the curve of her cheek, the turn of her nose, the light in her eyes. "Hello. Who are you? And how is it that you can see me?"

[Aeris Mourir]

Aeris kept the skeptical glance hidden behind her eyes; all they showed was a sincerity. She was lucky to have had him find her then someone else. However, she questioned his level of intelligence. She wondered if something had happened to the half-giant early on in life or if this how the race truely was. He seemed of have an almost child-like aura, something pure, untainted by hardships, that of darkenss. She was slowly becoming more and more aware of the impending dangers of life.

Gunthar led the way, and her mind drifted. By the time her subconscious finally got somewhere the two had reached his home. "Thank you," she uttered at the thoughts seemed to fade into nothing. He might not have had a complete sense of complicated things, but manners was one thing he was well versed in.

As Aeris' foot crossed over the threshold of his domicile, her jaw dropped. The maiden had never seen anything quite so enchanting in her entire life. The hues of blues and yellows was astouding and then her eyes caught sight of the wall decor. "I see why Neyla would prefer your home ... it's quite impressive," she added.

"I don't see," Aeris was saying as the tall being whisper. The swan hesitated since she saw no one, but suddenly the magnificant colors jetting about the walls like they were trying to escape. Aeris didn't budge as the woman came into view. The apprentice was nothing but started, however, only slightly.

As the the female appeared to fade back to where she came from Aeris took a step foward, raising her arm a fraction, "no, don't go." Gunthar jumped in and saved Aeris from attempting to coax the mysterious being.

Suddenly, her person solidified. The woman didn't seem so airy and wispy anymore. "I am Aeris Mourir ... and I don't know why I can see you ..." but something struck the maiden as she spoke to the magical presence. The flicker in her eyes was what caught Aeris' attention. "Where are you from and why am I here?" she vollyed.

[Ashari]

Gunthar watched the beautiful women in awe. Neyla looked as if she might be in her mid-twenties. Past the age of innocense and appeared somewhat worn. She was still a magnificent specimen of Amon Subhayan looks, however. "I would think you can see me because you are a ghost as well..." Neyla wore a blue sarong dress, wrapped around her toned body which was dyed and colored with darker and lighter tones of the cool color. Around her neck hung gold and jewels studded her ears. Golden bracelets wrapped her wrists.

"But then, you are wearing Gunthar's shirt... so unless you are a strong spirit I do not know how it could be. If that was the case, then you would be quite aware of your death." Neyla shrugged. Aeris could almost see through her, but not quite. She was semi transluscent, so spots of light caused by the hanging glass pieces passed through her body, but they were faded, dimmed by her opacity.

"But, I am from here, Nashreen. I lived here with my husband for several yahrens after coming from another one of the villages to be his wife. I died during childbirth." There was a somber tone to her voice, but she seemed to have come to grips with it. "And now I have Gunthar." She smiled to the young man who eagerly grinned back. "I'm stuck, I can't move on, but he is the only one who sees me, so I stay here in his hut, waiting to pass on to be with the goddess in the skies overhead. Until then, Gunthar has been watching over my daughter for me." Her she seemed somewhat fretful. "But now there is a war... and my people are in danger."