[PRP] A Fish 'Venturing Out of Water (Lillison & Namaqua)

[Wolfs Heart]

Lillison

[Basically I left this open that you can bring whoever you want to Mene, however Nama looks really awesome razz ]

Lillison peered through her locks of hair at the school of fish who followed her around. "Stay safe guys..." she whispered as she poked her head out of the rough ocean waters entering the Sein Lagoon. She glanced back below the surface, she hadn't been on the sands since she was a little girl as far as she could remember, but right now with the tossing of the waves and the incoming storm she really wanted to get to the shelter of the Loka Nei Forest. "I'll be back after the storm" she reassured them. She pulled herself onto the rocks, her tail flopping around awkwardly, after she was completely out of the water her tail transformed into legs. Lillison looked at her foreign legs and wiggled her toes, giggling at them and then began to make her way into the forest, crawling like an infant because she was afraid to stand up quite yet. Being an adult, she was a lot taller then when she had walked as a child and if she fell it would be a longer way down. She was utterly exhausted by the time she reached the shelter of the trees and sighed heavily. At least she could have a small break from the storm in here though. Lillison looked around her at the beautiful forest, her purple hair, wet and heavy clinging to her face and body.  

[Menelie]

[Namaqua it is! He needs some interaction, the poor shy thing. /punts]

Namaqua had felt like something of a loner lately. He didn't feel at home in the Great Tree yet like all of his fellow Faun, even the ones who had found their way there with his lady Artemis. He felt awkward and a bit of an outsider. And so today he'd ventured away from Laisidhiel, even though there was clearly a storm on the horizon, to go exploring. Perhaps he'd find someone like himself.

Thoroughly enjoying his solitude while walking through the trees, Namaqua is alarmed to hear something moving a short distance away. Having developed a keen ear from hunting with his lady Artemis, he stops immediately to listen. It was coming from just beyond a bushy stand of trees. He fights the urge to run away; his curiosity had gotten the better of him this time. Creeping closer, his blue eyes flick all over the ground, and occasionally up in the trees, in case it had been a squirrel or other small tree-climbing creature.

Imagine his surprise when he finds a young woman slumped on the ground! She looks completely spent, her purple hair clinging to her skin and panting.

"A-are you alright?" asks Namaqua in a quiet voice after a moment of stunned silence.  

[Wolfs Heart]

[Ah, Lillison is rather shy too so this shall be fun]

After she had finished admiring the beauty of the forest Lillison started to get nervous. The forest was incredibly noisy with strange sounds that were foreign to her, nothing like the quiet beneath the surface of the ocean. Strange squawking of birds, the rustling of leaves, it was all frightening. Then Lillison heard the sound of the ground breaking as something approached. She scrambled awkwardly on her hands and feet to get behind the tree she had rested near and then she saw a strange beast with wild marking on his face, hair all over his body, and two sharp looking protrusions coming from the top of his head. Lillison quivered with fear as her pearly blue eyes trembled, staring up at him, hoping that he had not noticed her, but he looked directly at her and spoke to her. Lillison gulped and barely uttered out a sound, her voice broke through her fear towards the end "I'm just- seeking cover". She managed to say after trying again. Lillison hoped the strange beast would have mercy on her for the duration of the storm.  

[Menelie]

"And you've fallen?" he inquires curiously, squatting down on strong haunches to be more on her level. The fear wafted from her almost as a smell, and he could only assume he was the cause of it.

"I can help you up if you'd like. Do you have a place to weather the storm?" He offers a large hand and a warm smile, but without teeth. Namaqua knows how to look predatory, and how to avoid that as well. He makes himself smaller and less-threatening. Hopefully this young woman would see that he meant no harm.  

[Wolfs Heart]

Had she fallen... that was an interesting question. Lillison had never tried to stand up, so she hadn't necessarily fallen, even if it did appear that way. "Well... no." She answered truthfully. Lillison observed him for a moment, still trying to evaluate this beast. If he had wanted to attack her, he would've done it already, right. She was in a fairly helpless situation to offer much of a fight. "I thought I'd weather the storm here" she answered him, her voice becoming more steady but still timid. Lillison took his hand and began to stand up, her legs trembled for any number of reasons: she was cold, afraid, and she wasn't used to being on her feet.  

[Menelie]

Namaqua chuckles gently. "I wouldn't weather it out here if I were you. I'd find some kind of shelter. The winds will come and some of these trees will undoubtedly fall down." He contemplates bringing her to the Great Tree, but their customs were still new to him, and he didn't want to risk bringing her there, only to have her tossed out into the storm, rejected as a foreigner.

"You seem unsteady--are you sure you're alright?" he asks.  

[Wolfs Heart]

Lillison hadn't thought about that, she was mostly concerned about the rough waters from the storm, and she figured the trees would bare enough protection from the elements. "Heh, this was my idea of shelter... what could be better?" she asked. Lillison's previous ventures from the water had never taken her beyond the sands of the beach, even to be in the forest was new to her, she had no idea what kind of things could possibly be further inland. Her gaze drifted down to the ground and her legs still shaking, she quickly drew back her hand from the strange beast and propped her back against the tree for support. "I'll be okay." she told him... as long as he didn't ask her to start walking...  

[Menelie]

Namaqua makes sort of a scrunched-up face, the face of one who clearly doesn't believe what he's just heard. He sighs, squeezing his eyes shut, and ruffles his hand through his hair. She was being difficult on purpose, he was sure.

And...why did he care, even?

The answer was simple, of course. His lady Artemis had taught him compassion for living things, even the ones they were hunting. "Will you please come and seek shelter elsewhere?" he asks in a slightly pleading voice. He hopes she'll agree, finally, but even Namaqua doesn't know where he'd lead her. The Great Tree wasn't an option, and was pretty much his only experience with the people of this Isle. He supposed there were others, who were taking shelter in other places, perhaps their homes, but where could he take this unsteady and frightened young woman?

Namaqua keeps his gaze steady. She was shaking, trembling. He could still smell the fear wafting from her. He sighs and rubs his face. Why would she be afraid of him? He isn't that much physically larger than her, and really, Namaqua was the least threatening Faun he'd met. There were many more Fauns more intimidating than he.

Although....perhaps she'd never seen a Faun before. It was conceivable, if she lived in isolation.

"Why do you fear me?" he asks softly, tilting his head curiously. He's mindful of the wind whipping around them, but knowing that she'd never willingly come with him unless she trusted him. He entertains momentarily the thought of just picking her up, but that wouldn't help anything.

[Apparently the muse came back. O-o]  

[Wolfs Heart]

[Ooo, welcome back Mene's muse]

Lillison had looked up from the ground and had noticed the change in his expression and it made her even more nervous, he wasn't angry, but it sort of seemed like he was. Her gaze slowly dropped back to the ground. She almost wanted to jump back into the ocean, it was getting cold and uncomfortable up here. There was damp dirt and dead leaves stuck to her legs and hands from making her way to the forest and sitting on the ground her hair was rather unruly due to the elements. And if he asked her to go any further in seek of shelter she'd have to show him that she was not a good walker, was definitely not from the land, and be even more helpless then she already was in the case that he got hungry. Why on earth had she left the ocean?

Lillison had ignored his question for now, mostly lost in her own thoughts of how to escape back to the ocean... although she could hear the winds picking up through the forest and was almost certain the ocean would be worse then when she had left, especially in that rocky lagoon. Lillison escaped her thoughts just in time to hear his second question, why she was afraid of him. Once again, Lillison's eyes scanned his body: the strange hooves that made him some sort of beast, the wild markings that reminded her of the warning sign of a poisonous fish. There was a lot of reasons she was afraid, although she couldn't just tell him he was a beast, that would be rude. Though, if he was really a beast being rude wouldn't be a bad thing, but he had most certainly been courteous to her. There was no easy answer to this question it seemed, "You are different," she finally said simply, a word loaded with multiple meanings since he was both different from what she had seen in her life and different from what she had expected and feared.  

[Menelie]

Namaqua wants to carefully explain that he's basically a peaceful woodland creature, and a vegetarian besides, but he isn't sure how much help that would be. He doesn't want her to get the impression that he'd eat her otherwise. Yech.

"Everyone's different," he says calmly, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. He ruffles his hair with his hand once again. "It's clear to me you've never seen a Faun before, so let me explain. I'm a Faun. I have hooves instead of your strange-looking feet and fur to keep me warm. The markings on my face and body help me hide from enemies." He shrugs gently.

"I've heard there are other types of Pae on this strange Isle, but you're the first I've met." He realizes he doesn't know her name, but now hardly seemed the time to ask. "And now that you've seen that I'm peaceful and not predatory will you please come with me to seek shelter from this dreadful storm?"  

[Wolfs Heart]

Her strange-looking feet? Lillison giggled, which to the faun would seem to be coming out of nowhere after how frightened she had been and probably still was. But her strange looking feet were as foreign to her as they were to him. Lillison looked at her blue toes and wiggled them around. If only he could see her tail, that was not strange-looking at all. She thought her tail was so much more lovely then these strange-looking feet of hers.

Lillison shook her head to break her train of thought, she had nearly forgotten there was someone there and that she was scared. His hooves, which she was now looking at, still looked scary, like they might stomp on her. Or if he kicked her... ouch. For now, she was going to have to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Are you poisonous?" she asked him. Lillison typically wasn't near to any vividly marked fish to ask them, she wondered if he would be truthful with his answer.

Lillison wasn't sure how far away she should go from the ocean or where shelter might be. The inland of this island was foreign to her. "How far to shelter?" she asked.  

[Menelie]

"Am I...?" starts Namaqua, shaking his head in bewilderment. What in the Pantheon would give her that idea? It seems so out of context for the faun, so random. And yet, looking into her face, he can see that, at least for her, the fear is well-founded. He ruffles his hand through his hair yet again, beginning to be exasperated with her.

"No, I'm not poisonous," he says in what he hopes is a reassuring voice.

And then there was that second question. How far to shelter. The truth is that he doesn't know where they'd weather this storm. He looks around. The ground seemed all flat through here; no hills for caves or trenches to hide in. "I'm not entirely sure of that one," he answers her second concern. He looks her over. "Why?" Why should she care how far it was? If she continued to think he was dangerous, then why should he be more dangerous further away? Women, thinks Namaqua, trying not to roll his eyes.

"I suppose we'll just have to walk until we find something." The thought of leaving her here does occur to him, but he quickly dismisses it. He isn't cruel, merely cynical at times.  

[Wolfs Heart]

Lillison tilted her head back and forth, her eyebrows arched in a curious expression. He did seem quite confused about her, maybe he knew nothing about Naiads. It was possible that he didn't even know she was a Naiad, she was rather different looking outside of the water. He had been kind enough to explain himself to her. Lillison continued to evaluate the situation. She decided to trust what he had to say, he seemed as confused by her as she was scared, there wasn't really a reason to lie.

"I'm a Naiad" she answered, hoping that word would have some meaning to him.  

[Menelie]

Namaqua arches an eyebrow at her. Naiad. The word meant nothing to him. Perhaps she was attempting to explain what sort of a being she was to him, as he'd explained to her.

"You're going to have to explain yourself," he says frankly, folding his arms over his chest.  

[Wolfs Heart]

Lillison sighed, unsure of how to explain what she was. "I came from the ocean. I live with fish." What if he didn't even know what the ocean and fish were, this could take a long time. "Usually I have a tail with fins, instead of legs. I'm not used to walking..." she explained to him, that was why she was worried about how far it was too shelter. Lillison had no idea how far her legs would carry her.