This wasn't my planned vacation ((Juno))

[CastlesInTheSky]

Once upon a time, in the lovely land of Serendipity, there had been a woman of water. Some would call her a river nymph, others called her the b-...erm, the disagreeable maiden who had stolen their fish off the line. Her hair was long, her skin pale, her eyes green. Some would call her beautiful, some would call her a w-...well, rather, the slightly 'overly playful' woman who had splashed them with pond water and ran away with their significant other while they cleaned the mud from their face. Either way, whatever people seemed to think about her, she didn't seem to mind.

Well, except when that thought was "Let's enslave her and sell her off in the most shady trading town in Serendipity". Then there was a problem, a very large problem.

Unfortunately, that was how she came to be in her current situation; her hands tied with a rope behind her back, as they had found her to be disobedient. She wasn't currently being shown off for sale. She was sitting, her expression prideful and her nose in the air, as if she had won something. Her dress was nice; an attempt to make up for her less-than-compliant nature towards both the buyers and the sellers. Fortunately, however, was the fact that her enslaver wasn't a particularly mean man, but rather more desperate. He had heard of a beautiful water nymph nearby and made his move, enslaving her and traveling to Cerenis in hopes of selling the beautiful maiden. He wasn't the greatest businessman, and at this point was begging everyone who was going by to take a look at her. She had purposely made her hair go in every which way, and generally presented herself the entire day badly.

Another man came up, glaring at the first one.

"What are you doing? I always knew you wouldn't ever make a penny.", he hissed. He grabbed her by the arm, pulling her upright roughly and smoothing out her hair, or attempting to at least. When she refused to do as she was told, he yanked on her hair and grumbled something to her. She stood now, frowning deeply but standing nonetheless and behaving in general. The man smiled charmingly to the people going by.

"See here, a real water-nymph! Beautiful maiden who will clean, cook, whatever you want!"

[Juno]

Ah, Cerenis! What a beautiful town it was! And so close to water, too! The sun was bright, the waves crashing against rocks in the distance. Yes, this was definitely the place for him to be! No, the perfect place on land for him to be! The markets, the people, the sights! Oh, he was enjoying it all so very much!

He saw a bustling crowd of people in the distance, though, and continued on his merry way towards them, coin purse bouncing at his hip. Dressed in simple clothes, all black, a thing that was worn almost daily by him, Keir made his way over to see what all the fuss was about. He heard a shout, something about a water-nymph?! No! It couldn't be!

Curious, so curious, he made his way over, swooping down through waves of people to stand before the young woman and the man holding her so roughly. He frowned. "Ah...hello." He was mostly looking to the nymph, only gracing a mere glance of his blue eyes to the man selling her off.

"Might I have a word with her? See what she's really made of?" he asked, though it was more demands than questions.

"Prove you're what he says he is," he pleaded, though he made it sound gruffer, not wanting to give himself away.

[CastlesInTheSky]

The slave selling man perked up at the sight of a potential customer. The one that had failed reluctantly sat in a chair nearby, frowning. The selling man smiled even when the other frowned. He chirped a short "Hello there" and was about to thoroughly explain who and what she was with quite a many details fudged, since he really didn't know almost anything, when he was cut off by the 'customer's' request.

"Sure, sure." The man seemed pleased to have any sort of business.

Mina had been looking away, not paying much mind to either of them until she felt the harsh grip on her release. She glanced around, her gaze landing on the man with blue eyes. Her eyes studied him briefly. She had never seen someone with such dark hair with such light eyes. Interesting.

So, he wanted her to prove herself? That she would.

She looked around for a moment, spying a bucket of water near the selling man's feet. She watched it, and soon the water began to swirl around, faster with every moment, and soon it exploded out of the bucket like a fountain, splashing all over the slave seller. He sputtered, angry and surprised, grabbing her by the arm again roughly. She forced a neutral face but her eyes still sparkled with amusement as she looked at the man in front of her. If he had been a customer, surely he wouldn't stick around?

[Juno]

Watching her expectantly, Keir's gaze only flickered to the sloshing swirl of water in the bucket once, eyes steadied on her face, studying her as she splashed the man behind her. As he grabbed her up roughly, though, he frowned and put a hand out, placing it over the seller's.

"Ah, don't be so rough with her... What's your price?" He didn't want to buy her, but if it would take money to free a fellow creature of water, he would do it. Keir was mighty curious, too, how she'd managed to get herself caught up in this mess.

[CastlesInTheSky]

The seller loosened his grip as the man displayed his disapproval. Mina didn't struggle away or anything of the sort, as she had already found that to be useless. She was intrigued though at the kindness of the man. None of the people she had seen thus far had said much of the sort.

The seller grinned. "You got two silvers on ya? She's a beauty after all."

[Juno]

His bright eyes flickered over her before staring at the man. "Pretty skinny...and a bit too short for what I need. One silver." He reached into his coin purse and pulled out one of the shiny pieces, holding it poised to drop for the man. As far as he was concerned, the haggling was done, but he'd keep going if he had to. There was hardly anything worth more to him in this moment, in actuality, but he did his darnedest to keep that from showing on his face.

[CastlesInTheSky]

The seller studied the man before him carefully, knowing he could haggle a bit more but deciding to let it be. He wanted to reel in the fish before he swam away and left the fisherman without a catch. "Fine, deal." He held out his hand and received the coin, slipping it into a coin pouch. He pushed Mina towards him without paying much attention. "Thanks for the business." He wandered off.

Mina stood, her hands still tied behind her back as she gazed up at the man before her curiously. "So you own me now, hm?" She looked up at him as if that was the last thing he possibly did.

[Juno]

Once the men were gone, Keir scowled after them before turning to the young woman before him. He frowned and shook his head. "No. I don't own you. I just wanted to...free you." With another shake of his head, he went around to her backside and began working on the ropes, doing what he could to loosen them before unwinding them from her.

Dropping them to the ground with a sigh, he gently placed a hand to her arm to lead her away from the spot. "Just how did you get yourself caught up in something like that, hm? Oh, and, uh, my name's Keir by the way..."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Mina was surprised and very pleased to be being freed from her current situation. She smiled. Kindness was found in the most helpful of places sometimes, and in the people one wouldn't expect. She slipped her hands away from the ropes when they slid off, rubbing her wrists thoughtfully and following where she was being led.

"Hm?" She looked up at him, smiling. "Ah, my name's Mina, a pleasure to meet you. Well, to make a long story short, I was traveling to go see the ocean and they caught me on the way while I was on land. I've never seen it before, and I still haven't because of those idiots." She shook her head. Stupid people, selling others for money. She had never understood the idea of slavery fully.

[Juno]

"The ocean? Oh, you haven't!? Oh, oh!" He reached a hand out to stop her, turning himself and pointing with his other hand in the direction he had come. "Would you like to go? It isn't that far! You can hear the waves, can't you?" He paused for a moment, cautious with his enthusiasm. "You're...really a nymph, right?"

[CastlesInTheSky]

Mina was curious to see the ocean now. She had been in salt water in other places, preferring rivers and streams, but the ocean sounded interesting. She stared in the direction he had pointed as if the buildings would suddenly move aside and let her see what was beyond.

"Sure, I'll go. And  yes, yes I am." She smiled at him.

[Juno]

Keir grinned mischievously as he reached to guide her along with him. "A nymph...how nice. I'm a creature of the water as well, you know." He left it at that for now, wanting to make a game of it.

[CastlesInTheSky]

"Oh?" She met his mischievous grin with a sly smile, being guided along to the ocean. "And what are you, then?" She was itching to know who and what this man before her was. It was in her nature to be curious.

[Juno]

"Hm, I won't tell you just like that!" he teased, his head raising with his pride. He thought himself mighty clever, indeed. "Have any guesses for me?"

[CastlesInTheSky]

"Awww!" She pouted in mock frustration. And her identity had already been given away. No fair. "Hm, so it's a game then. Let's see..." She studied him for a moment. "Are you... a Encantado?"

[Juno]

"Nope!" Keir grinned as he eyed the first slants of blue beyond the buildings before them. "I'll tell you one thing only as a hint! One thing! I...am a handsome devil." He had a short burst of laughter then, cupping his mouth with one hand. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Ahh...but really, I am a prized steed of sorts."

[CastlesInTheSky]

Mina chuckled along with him. Well, that wasn't helpful in the guessing. She did agree that he was handsome, but it still didn't help anything. "Hm, a steed? Then are you... a Ceffyl D?r?"

[Juno]

Keir hissed in a breath in mock pain, and a short chuckle followed. "Ah, you're very close, very close, but not quite." He sniffed the salty air, smiling to himself. "Shall I just tell you, Mina?"

[CastlesInTheSky]

Mina chuckled. Okay, what was it. She must know it somewhere in her mind. "No, no no. I think I know!" She thought hard for a moment, breathing in the ocean air. "Hm....Oh, oh, a kelpie?" She looked at him curiously.

[Juno]

Gah, she'd gotten him! Smiling kindly, he nodded. "Yes, a kelpie. Fine choice, fine choice." Keir eyed her for a moment, taking in the look of her. "Nymphs aren't afraid of kelpies, are they?"