Streams

[Anonymous]

Lately, these days, Castien had been finding himself alone in the woods. Granted he had run into some people, but things were just not looking up for him at all.

He managed to find a place that was pretty cozy in his eyes, a small clearing next to a stream that just so happened to have a rather deep section at this clearing-- about 20ft deep to be exact. Not only that, but the ground was cushioned with the perfect covering of lush grass and large rocks made an excellent lean-to and place for him to sit upon. Even though he had spent a few days in the area, he had nothing there. Spending his nights as a phoenix kept him comfortable, then he would fly off to food and come back. He did, though, have a single book to read. The pages kept him from loosing his grip on humanity and slinking into a fully animalistic being. He had seen it once and his bother bore the scars of that creature. Castien didn't want to think about the prospects of him following in such foot steps.

Currently he had bored of the book. Slowly disrobing, he then stepped into the water. Deciding a swim in the frigid water would cool his head more than just literally. And finding the interesting rocks and small caves interested him.

[Anonymous]

Now, Lucy wasn't someone who was cut out for the 'adventuring' life. Granted, when it came down to it, what was worse – wandering the forests, or being stuck in the same time for days upon days on end, without anything to do?

She had decided that wandering the forests in search of Connlaoth wasn't a bad idea – after all, if she went prepared, how hard could it possibly be? She had packed a trusty looking map, a good supply of dried meats and flatbreads, a piece of flint and steel to make fires, a bit of first aid equipment, and a small bit of gold she had charmed out of the local tavern-keeper. The barkeep had given her a lot more than she thought she could squeeze out of him – but considering the fact that he had refused to take her to Connlaoth, it was the least he could've done! After all, what kind of gentleman leaves a young lady like Lucy out all on her own? Why, no one seems to know how to treat a princess in this world, Lucy harrumphed to herself, while fixing her miniature crown atop her head.

The pink-haired girl looked down at her crinkled map while simultaneously dodging puddles and mud piles, while looking up occasionally at her surroundings. "From the looks of this map," she murmured to herself, "It appears I'm somewhere in the middle of the 'Draconi Forest' ... but I could very well be in the Niahi Woods as well! Oh dear..." She scratched her head, and then pulled her hand back to examine her fingers, and to her surprise, found dirt underneath her nails. Lucy literally jumped backwards in surprise – how atrociously unladylike! How unlike a princess! Just how long had she been out here in these wretched wilds? A week? Two weeks? A month! What if she never found civilization! Or worse, what if she died out here? Alone, in the cold, in the woods, with nothing to do and nothing to eat and no one to entertain her and give her gold to pay for her dresses!

I'll die!, she thought, and she found her hands shaking in rhythmic spasms – it was a surprise that she did not drop the map in fright. She bit her lip with a fierce intensity, almost to the point where it would've bled, but shook her head, and found determination shining in her bright amethyst eyes. No, die she shall not! Lucy Neste was made of tougher stuff than to let a few birds and bees and trees get the best of her, wasn't she? And if she wasn't, than what kind of princess was she, anyway? She'd stop for the day and find a place to rest and find some fresh water to drink, and sooner, rather than later, she would definitely get out of here! It was a scary situation, but she'd get through it, of course!

Lucy stopped by a nearby stream and set her pack down beside her, plunging her hands in the cool water. She curled her fingers inwards and scrubbed her nails on the inside of her palm, watching the dirt remove itself from her dainty hands. She hummed to herself jovially while she washed her hands, but, in the stream, caught her reflection in the water. Why, she was a wreck, wasn't she? Oh, and her crown was dull – it had definitely seen better days! Lucy reached her arms up towards the crown, for she planned to wash it in the stream as well, but her head bobbed too far back, and the crown tumbled off her head and into the stream, dropping downwards with a plop!

Instead of floating, however, the crown decided to sink.

"Wait!" Lucy called to her crown, sticking her arm in the stream in an attempt to get her crown back. "Come back, you blasted thing! Don't leave!" But the crown continued to sink, and to Lucy's dismay, this stream was quite deep – deeper than any stream she had ever seen! And she wasn't a good swimmer, far from it, at that.

She crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her chest. "And this is why a princess should never leave her castle..."

[Anonymous]

Castien had found a rather interesting rock and had been examining it for quite some time until a gold glint hit him. He looked around and soon saw this gold.. thing sinking toward him. Interested in this strange item, he swam over and caught it. Upon looking at it closely he noticed it was a crown.

Confused, he looked around. Wondering if some royalty had met their demise in this very deep part of the stream-- he had heard stories of the inability to swim that many royalty had. But, as he looked further up, he saw what seemed to be a person-- a girl. And, uncaring that he was naked, he swam up to the surface and slinked out onto a rock that was a few inches below water.

Castien watched the girl for a moment because she had not noticed him, but he soon decided to catch her attention by sitting on the rock rather loudly with his feet in the deep end. He ran his fingers through is wet hair, then held up the crown. "Interesting thing to toss into a creek."

His voice was shallow. Watching the girl as if to wait for her to dive in the water as a suicide method. She looked rough. Dirty, and depressed. He wasn't used to such a site-- and for it to come right to his temporary home??

He slowly stood up for one moment of complete reveal to her, but stepped off the rock and plummeted back into the deep water. Soon enough, though, he surfaced just in front of her, popping only his head from his eyes up out of the water. He was curious about her. A princess out of the castle? Or, maybe she was a fake and was playing dress up?

He surfaced a bit more and held up the crown in front of him. "Is this even real? Princesses should be in palaces. Not woods."

[Anonymous]

Distracted by the sound of something emerging from the water, Lucy turned away from the stream toward the noise, only to be met with the sight of a man – a naked man, sitting on the rock near the river. The beggar princess gasped – which sounded like a combination of a mouse's squeak and a crow's caw – while flailing her arms about, before eventually, putting her hands over her face, as if such a motion would protect her virgin eyes. So now, for those at home keeping score, she was lost, dirty, hungry, and she had seen things she definitely was not supposed to see until her wedding night! How, praytell, could this day possibly get any worse?

Eventually, the strange man did plop back into the water, but Lucy was hesitant to take her hand away from her eyes, just in case he decided to flash her again with his indecency. Really now, the nerve of this man! Perhaps she would've sat there with her hands over her eyes forever, if he had not held up her crown, the very crown she had dropped into the stream, and mused about the legitimacy of her trinket – commenting that, should she be a princess, she should be in a castle, not in the woods. However, she barely registered these statements in her mind – at the moment, all she could focus on was the fact that this man, strange as he was, had found her crown!

She removed her hands from her face, and placed them on her hips instead. "Why, of course it is real! That crown is about as real as I am Lucy Neste!" She reached one hand out to him, in an attempt to take her miniature crown back from him, but alas, he was too far away, and she feared that if she stretched out any further, she would fall into the stream.

"If you were a gentleman – which, I am sure you are not, given that you're running naked in these wretched wilds – you would return that crown to me! It is..." She paused, still trying to take the crown from him, to no avail. "... a precious trinket given to me by ... my father, I think ... and I would very much like to have it back!"

She gave up trying to take it from him, and hoped that he would just give it up out of the kindness of his heart. The best thing to do in this situation was to probably stay silent, but Lucy was blunt, and could not hold back her fiery words.

"And, while we're talking, you should really put some clothes on, sir! It isn't gentlemanly, you know, to run around naked in the wilds! Why, young maidens should not see naked men – it isn't right, not at all!" And she placed her hands on her hips again, and harrumphed to herself, but despite her displeasure, her crown was at the mercy of this strange, naked man – and she didn't like it, not one little bit!

[Anonymous]

The sudden display of an attitude amused Castien, especially since her cheeks were flushed. And, each time she reached for the crown, he kept it just out of reach. "Oh? A trinket from your father?" He mused, eying the crown, then the girl as he placed it on his head.

"You yell at me for being naked when you came to my home and dropped your 'precious' crown in my swimming hole. Forgive me your highness for my indecency." Following his words, there was a splash of water and the man was now gone-- but, in his place, afloat on the water, was a gorgeous blue phoenix, with that very crown upon it's head.

"I hope this is more decent for your tastes." the bird let out in a sing-song voice. His eyes focused on the girl. "Or, do you rather the man return to your sites?" Well, one thing was true, Castien was in one of his moods, and this poor girl was being teased because he was bored out of his mind.

"I can give you an ultimatum, dear princess. I'll give you back your crown. But, if you wish to stay the night in this clearing-- and wish me to get dressed. I have to ask you to clean yourself up. I take pride in appearances."

And, here was his prude, stuck-up attitude. But, really, he was a nice guy-- once you get to know him.

[Anonymous]

This strange naked fellow was, by far, the biggest... non-gentleman the beggar princess had ever come across on her travels! She had met drunkards and ne'er-do-wells, senile old men and miserly barkeeps, but at least all of them had some shred, just the tiniest bit of gentlemanly decency in them. But this one! This one had the nerve to take her crown and put it on his head! On his head, as if it was his! Lucy, in all her days as a wandering princess, had never found someone who had the audacity to wear her own trinkets!

"H-hey! A gentleman should never wear the trinkets of another woman! T-that's just...!" She couldn't even find the words to explain just how wrong this situation was. There was not a word in her vernacular that could properly describe the sheer audacity someone must have – especially a naked man – to put her crown on his head! For a moment, all she could do was sit there stammering, searching through her mental rolodex for a word to describe this ghastly situation, but none came to her. She just sat there and pointed uselessly at her crown, as if, somehow, the motion would magically give the crown back to her.

Eventually, he spoke again, and apparently he was mad at her dropping her crown into his hole, and Lucy found the nerve to speak up once again. "Well, I didn't mean to! And, to be frank, I didn't see your name on this particularly swimming hole, sir. What gives you the right to own this creek? Don't tell me you're a –" She was going to say 'prince,' but before the word could come out of her mouth, the naked man dove under water, and what emerged was not a naked man – but a phoenix! Yes, a phoenix, she had read about them in her days at the dusty libraries in La'marri. They were bright, beautiful creatures of fire, birds that were reborn from their own ashes. But this one – this one was ... of the water element? But how? Lucy was effectively shocked into silence.

That ungentlemanly naked man was really a phoenix this whole time?!

Well... that still didn't change anything! Once a naked man, always a naked man, even if you suddenly were a phoenix... She crossed her hands over her chest, as if to say, 'I'm not impressed,' but it was a poor attempt to hide her curiosity. How, pray tell, had he managed to change into a phoenix – one that dwelled in the water, at that! It was something she had never seen before, phenomena that she had never even heard about, and she was sitting right in front of it – a water phoenix! She was staring at him as she mulled these thoughts over her head, and for a while, almost forgot about her situation, but then he spoke, and his words resonated in her head.

"I can give you an ultimatum, dear princess. I'll give you back your crown. But, if you wish to stay the night in this clearing-- and wish me to get dressed. I have to ask you to clean yourself up. I take pride in appearances."

Her thoughts rushed in her head all at once and far too quickly for her to sort them all out. He was going to let her stay here? Maybe he was a gentleman! But wait, had he just asked her to clean herself up? Who did he think he was, her father? And anyway, she had been planning to do that in the first place, before she had dropped her crown! And hey, that wasn't fair – she took great pride in her appearance as well, but it was hard to look like a princess when you were lost in the middle of a blasted forest.

There were two routes she could take: she could say that she didn't want to stay in this clearing anyway and promptly leave, or she could just clean herself up. Leaving wouldn't do her any good, and who knew when she'd find another stream...

"I was planning to tidy up anyway, I'll have you know, before I dropped my crown – so I'll agree to your ultimatum," Lucy bargained, nodding to herself. "But, you'll have to leave – I can't tidy myself with you hogging up the stream, you know!"

She looked down at the stream, and recalled how easily the crown had sank down to the bottom of its depths. Suddenly, the task of bathing in a stream was very daunting, and she looked up at the phoenix, her face flushed. "Wait! Is there a shallower end to this stream? I ... I can't swim, you see, and the last thing I want to do is drown..."

[Anonymous]

He would've smiled at the girls blatant shock at who he was, but that was not possible with a beak. Stretching out his long wings and tail feathers, Castien remained quiet as she agreed. He merely swam over to the edge of the creek, lowered his head so the crown gently slid off his head and to her side, then waddled over to his clothes. After some careful positioning, and a splash of water, he was human. And fully clothed-- though soaked.

He stood up and looked at the girl. "You can't swim?" He smirked at the realization that what he heard was true. He waved his hand slowly and it seemed all the water in his clothes were drawn out and then emptied into the creek.

"Well, I can assure you there are shallow parts-- but no place deep enough to bathe but here." he admitted truthfully. "I can help you out. I'm a very good swimmer, and washing clothes is easy for me. Insta-dry." he moved around his dry clothes and smiled. "You can trust me~"

And now... his mood had changed a little.

[Anonymous]

For all of his strangeness, the man was, at least, honest. He lowered his crown near Lucy's side, and the beggar princess couldn't help but smile gleefully at its return. He had really kept his word - and was now even offering to help her!

"And just a minute ago, you were holding my crown hostage," she mused, and was not sure if she was amused at this situation or not. Granted, his mood seemed to do a complete one eighty – before he seemed abrasive, but now, he wanted to help? Lucy found herself thinking once again, maybe he is a gentleman! But – but wait, how in the world was he going to help her bathe? Or wash her clothes? Neither could be done without her somehow taking off her clothes, and despite how many scenarios she ran in her head, all of them ended up with her being naked in front of him. Lucy's face, at the thought, was as pink as her hair.

"It's... it's very nice of you to offer, but...!" And how was she supposed to explain why this situation was awkward? "I don't doubt you're a good swimmer, but there's no way you can help me, you know, bathe! I-it can't be done!" she blurted out, and realized she did not sound very ladylike. Lucy found herself flailing her arms around, the way she did when it felt as if it was impossible for her to be understood. "Unless I bathe with my clothes on, or wash my clothes with my clothes on... No, I don't see how this can work..." She was musing now, looking deep into the water, and realized how frightening it would be, if she were to drown, if somehow he did end up helping her but accidently let her slip and die in those watery depths...!

"Oh, are you sure there isn't a shallower part of the stream? If I go in such deep water, I'll surely...!" And she stood there, rigid as a stone, unable to speak the word that could describe her fate. "I'd drown," she whispered, as if whispering the word would deter such a fate from happening from her. She inched away from the water, like a cat from a puddle, and shook her head nervously, biting her nails in anxiety – an old habit that she thought she had dropped long ago.

[Anonymous]

He rose a brow at the remark of holding her crown hostage, but shrugged it off. Rather, he more mused at the image of an increasingly nervous girl.

"Why couldn't I help you bathe? It wouldn't take much really.. All I would do is just help keep you afloat, really." It was becoming obvious she was afraid of the water. He ruffled up his damp hair and thought a moment, then he pulled his long braid forward and untied the long ribbon holding it. Brushing his hair with his fingers to unbraid it and let it loose, then pushed it over his shoulder. "What if I'm blindfolded?" He questioned.

Seeing the girl attack her nails made him chuckle and he reached down to stop her. "Bad habit for a princess~ Now. I'm sure you'll be happier once you're clean. And I don't need to see to move in the water. Plus. You saw me." But he didn't really care. Though his pale skin bore some burn scars, he found himself to be rather attractive-- so he thought.

"Who else is here but me? And who's going to believe me? I'm a legendary creature. I don't even exist."

[Anonymous]

Why couldn't he help? Why, wasn't the answer obvious? Lucy had to struggle for words to describe this situation once again. "You... you can't help because... it's just not decent," Lucy cried, shaking her head. And even though she had seen him naked, well, that wasn't her fault! She kept biting her nails, hoping it would ease her fears, but, to her surprise, he put his hand out to stop her. Surprised, she stopped chewing on them – in any other situation, she would've complained that he had no right to tell her to cease, but she decided to let it slide. He was strangely helpful, but Lucy still couldn't hold her tongue against him.

"Well... yes, but that was totally different! You just kind of popped out of nowhere, and, I had no choice in that matter, really," Lucy explained, to counter his argument, but besides that, there really wasn't any reason to refuse his help if he was willing to blindfold himself. She thought a moment, and almost reached her hand up to bite her nails again, but thought against it – and shook her head, sighing in defeat. She was out of options, and he was willing to help her after all...

"Who else is here but me? And who's going to believe me? I'm a legendary creature. I don't even exist."

"But you are real!" she cried out defensively, and that part of her, the part that loved books and learning and knowledge, shook her head once again. "You are a strange... water phoenix of some sort, one that I have never seen, but you are real. I've seen you with my own eyes, haven't I? And as far as I know – this isn't a dream."

"O-okay," she decided, but then her voice took a firmer, more authoritative stance. "I shall allow you to help me, but only if you blindfold yourself." She nodded firmly, and told herself that she was going to be brave. Sure, she was trusting her life in the hands of a total stranger (one who had been naked before her, mind you!), and sure, if something bad happened, she could possibly drown and die a watery death... But, she had made her mind up! She was going to do this and get clean – for it was unladylike for a princess to look so dreary in front of a man, even if he had been questionably ungentlemanly before.

She took a step toward the water, but froze up near the edge. Poor Lucy couldn't even muster the courage to put her toe in the stream; no matter how hard she tried to make herself move, it was of no avail. She looked toward the stranger, back to the stream, and back to the stranger again, inching behind him, as if he was a mighty shield that could protect her from death. "You can go first!" she offered, her voice shaking from nervousness. Oh, and then she'd have to undress herself too, after he blindfolded himself... What a bothersome situation!

[Anonymous]

"Not decent? Um... what's not decent is feeling the need to cover yourself up! In order for me to be a phoenix, I have to be naked, It's natural. So, therefor, nudity has no real value to me, unless you were my lover, per say." Castien was honest about that. Heck, his people walked around in the bare minimum and that was only to protect from the lava.

He shrugged at her outburst. "True. You saw me. And you, and my people know I'm real. But, to most... I'm a legend amongst legends." He didn't mind it though. Less worry of being killed.. or something amongst those lines.

Then, she finally agreed to let him help. He nodded, but paused his move to put on the blindfold when she inched for the water. He chuckled as she inched back and hid behind him, then he pulled off his shirt and tossed it on a rock. Doing the same with his pants. But he left on his shorts. Looking to the girl, he then blindfolded himself and confidently backed up into the water and just dropped into the deep hole, doing that to show her where the drop off was.

He came up to the surface and braced himself on some sharp rocks, holding out his arms to help her into the water.

[Anonymous]

He was really going to help.

A part of Lucy had thought that maybe he wasn't really going to help her out here – maybe he was just fooling around, she thought, or at the last minute, he'd laugh and tell her good luck, before diving in the water and leaving her alone. But there he was – arms outstretched, really ready and willing to help her out. He had ever gone so far as to blindfold himself, and had kept his promise, once again.

Lucy bit her lower lip, and suddenly wanted to apologize for being so rude to him before, but ended up making a note in the back of her head to do so later. It was almost surreal, to run into such good luck, and the beggar princess did not want her luck to suddenly run out on her.

She reached for the buttons on the back of her pink gown, and undid them messily, before turning to the ribbon tied around her waist and undoing that as well. Perhaps she should've worked a little faster, but even though he was blindfolded, Lucy was paranoid as ever, and couldn't help but wonder if, maybe, this was a trick – maybe he could see through the bandage, or something – but a part of her knew that wasn't the case. If anything, he had been nothing but honest with her for the whole time she had met him – if not abrasive, at first, if not teasing, at first.

The dress came off, as well as her undergarments, which she hid under her dress and left on the shore. The girl took another look at the stranger, and mustered up all the courage she had, and made her way into the water, same as he had done. Instantly, her fear climbed back to her at once, and the reality of the situation – that she was in such deep water – overwhelmed her. "Oh no, oh no, oh no," she muttered under her breath, and found herself clinging to the stranger for dear life, her arms wrapped around his chest, shaking like a leaf.

"You won't let me drown, will you? Y-you have to promise!" she cried out, and if he promised, maybe she'd feel a little better – he had kept all his other ones, after all.

[Anonymous]

Castien wasn't expecting her to lung into his arms, but he didn't think she'd take too long. He patiently waited for her to come over and winced a little as the rocks cut into his feet. He adjusted to her weight and the figured a little extra support would make her feel better. He gently brought her close to him and wrapped his arms around her for support, wanting her to feel safe. He was shocked, though, that she was so against his help but so eager to bring herself right up against him like that. Then again, how else would he help?

"I wont let you drown. Promise." he stated calmly. Keeping them afloat. And, in a flash, large phoenix wings sprouted from his back and dipped into the water. Swaying back and fort and making it easier for him to hold onto her. "See? I got you." He said confidently.

"I can do a little trick too." He mused, and the water started to churn, then bubble. The bubbling which would help her get cleaned easier while he held onto her. He loosened his grip a bit, wanting to give her room to wash up.

[Anonymous]

She had been scared before – and to say that she wasn't scared now would be a downright lie – but with the water phoenix's arms wrapped around her, Lucy found it hard to be nervous anymore. She was still shaking a little, but his calm words put a halt to her fears. I won't let you drown, he had said. Promise. And somehow, that made everything all the more easier for Lucy – because he had promised. A silly grin overcame her features, one that he could not see, sadly, and she nodded, feeling a little braver than before.

"I trust you," Lucy voiced, her tone clear and strong. "since you've promised, after all." But with every complement always came a hint of doubt, because paranoid ran through Lucy's veins just the same as blood and beggaring. "J-just don't break it, okay? ...Gentlemen aren't supposed to break their promises!" Despite her words, she was sure that he wouldn't let her down, and was even surer of him when phoenix wings burst forth from his back, a miracle, right in front of her eyes. That would probably never cease to amaze her, and she meant to ask him a boatload of questions about it, but first, she had to tackle this task – showing in this stream.

The stranger produced yet another miracle – in a flash, the stream began to bubble, and Lucy's eyes widened in amazement. "Amazing!" she exclaimed, and poked at the bubbles, as if doing so was a proper method of examination. Being a magic-less human, such feats had always put her in a state of awe, and she was distracted once again from her task at hand. "You really are amazing! How are you even doing this? I've never seen a magic like this before..."

The beggar princess spent a good minute wondering about the bubbles before remembering that she was sitting in a stream naked for a reason. "Oh, right, sorry, sorry," she muttered, shaking her head. She scooped the water in her hands, washing her tired and battered body, watching with relief as all the dirt fell from her form, as she began clean. She was quick about it, but the more she spent in the stream, the more confident she felt. "You know, this really isn't so bad," she said with a laugh, and hummed a childhood tune under her breath as she bathed.

So brave, she became, that she dared to wash her hair in the stream. Feeling bold (too bold), she ducked her head under, holding her breath, and began to scrub her hair clean. The smartest thing she did in this situation was closing her eyes, and for a time, she did keep them closed. When her hair was squeaky clean, Lucy, daring as she was, made the mistake of opening her eyes. Again, the sheer depth of the water overwhelmed her, and, panicking, she brought her head up, flailing, grabbing onto the stranger again.

She scrambled toward him, clinging to him again, messily, so that her hands were flailing all over the place. "No, I was wrong!" she cried in fright, "This is really bad...!" In her flailing, she reached up near his face, looking for something, anything to grab onto, and, in a flash, she pulled down part of his blindfold. She didn't notice, though – was too scared to notice. Eventually, she did calm down, and buried her face in her chest.

"I'm done, I'm done!" she cried, shaking her head, wanting out as soon as possible. "We can go now, right? Right?"

[Anonymous]

Castien was happy she finally came to terms with the fact that he wouldn't let her drown, and held her as tight as he could with giving her room-- which was really tiring on the arms. Coupled with his wings moving about and causing the water to bubble up so she could clean up easier.

He probably should've thought it all through, considering she seemed very... distractable. And he almost sweat-dropped when she apologized for staring at the bubbles. But, now she was finally cleaning up. Which was awkward in itself. He had to be cautious of his hands and what not, and that was hard when he couldn't see. He was only comfortable about the water-- not fully with holding a naked, and wet girl.

And then she ducked under water. As if to make matters worse! Her movement tugged him in closer, and her choice of ballast probably wasn't the best on this young man. It took a lot to keep everything in check, so to speak. But, the biggest surprise is when she bolted up and started flailing. Next he knew his face was being clawed at, and then he could suddenly see.

The shock of being able to see and her flailing cause him to accidentally got his feet tangled with hers and they went under the water for a minute. But he was quick and turned her around in his arms so she was facing him and swam up to the drop off and put her on one of the rocks a few inches below water and rubbed at a scratch on his face.

Then, he just froze and looked over to her. Patted his face where the ribbon would be, then quickly turned around so his back was to her.

"..........." Castien was worried she'd hurl rocks at him now because of that. But it wasn't his fault!

[Anonymous]

It all happened too fast for Lucy to comprehend. One minute, she was flailing about, trying to find something, anything to hang onto, and the next, she was falling, sinking underwater. For that split second, when she had been pulled underneath with the stranger, she could've sworn she saw her life flashing before her very eyes! Without thinking, she opened her mouth to yell, and only ended up taking in a big mouthful of water, which sank dangerously in her lungs. She hadn't been under for long, though, for he had brought them up as quickly as they had been down, but still, the incident left Lucy shaking, as if she had just been pulled out of a very bad dream.

He dropped her off at the drop-off point, on a rock that was sitting innocently in a couple inches of water. Lucy, glad to be on land once again, shivered, and coughed up the water she had inhaled, placing one hand over her mouth and the other over her chest.

"That was close..." she said, her voice creaking, due to the water she had taken in. "Too close," she verified, and shook her head, her long, pink locks swaying as she did so. Granted, despite the situation, he had saved her, didn't he? It was partly her fault they had went under, since she had been flailing about. She brought her eyes to look at up him, to thank him, and was smiling for that one moment, but the smile vanished as soon as she looked at him and noticed that the blindfold was gone. He had frozen – she had frozen, and then time turned back on.

Her face went from shock, to a bright, rosy pink in a matter of seconds. She closed her eyes, letting out a shrill scream while covering up her top with her hands, scrunching herself up in a ball on the rock, as if doing so would make her invisible. "You rogue!" she cried out, shaking her head vehemently, her eyes still closed, splashing water in his direction – like that would solve anything. "You knave! You-you...ugh! Y-you're not a gentleman at all!" Lucy couldn't think of anything else to call him at the moment, but continued splashing violently, like a child in a kiddie pool.

And the worst thing about it was that she still needed his help! The pink-haired girl looked over to where her clothes were, and wondered how in the hell was she going to wash them (or rather, dry them, since he seemed so good at it) without his help. No, there was no way she could ask for his help now, not after yelling at him like that! He'd probably smirk and just leave her to her own devices, or some other ungentlemanly thing...

"When I get out of this stream, I am so going to...!" she threatened, grabbing her dress and plunging it in the water, in a sloppy attempt to wash it correctly. Granted, the threat was hard to finish, considering Lucy was one of the most harmless people in this world. "...I'll... I'll do something!" she finished, shaking her head and grumbling. Her attempt at washing the dress was faulty as most, but it did get most of the dirt and grime off it. It was totally soaking wet now though, and she held it up in front of her, lamenting at its soaked state. She looked toward him, wanting to ask for help, and remembered how quickly he could dry clothes, but she could not get the words out of her mouth for the life of her.

[Anonymous]

Castien staid floating there with his back to her as she flailed and splashed him. In fact, the onslaught of water felt pretty good to him really. And, when it was gone, he couldn't help looking around to see if she fell off the drop off.

But, no, what he saw was a very thin, naked girl go get her dress.. Then return to the water. He looked away again and sighed. This had gotten interesting. She didn't even realize he didn't do it on purpose. And it was just habit to look and make sure she was OK. After all, she inhaled a lot of water there.

Soon enough, the constant flapping of his wings exhausted him enough that his wings literally just vanished and he slumped a little in the water. Noticing the splashing was gone he peeked over to see that she had her dress held up so he pulled the water from it and then sank.

He was a bit exhausted after all that trying to keep her in control. He just needed a breather-- well, more like a soak. He sat on the bottom of the drop off and rubbed that stinging cut from her nails.

This girl was going to be a headache.

[Anonymous]

She had expected some kind of retort, or say something in defense of his honor, but instead, he sank to the bottom of the stream, disappearing easily, leaving Lucy to her own devices. She was going to shout something down at him, but realized it was probably better than he stay down there for a moment – this way, she could be naked in peace, without having to worry about that devious blindfold slipping off again.

As Lucy washed her undergarments as well, she had to wonder – how, praytell, had that blindfold come off? He had been holding her, he hadn't had time to pull it off even if he wanted to. He had brought her up when they had went under, and the whole time, his hands hadn't wavered – so how? Unless it was an accident? She scoffed at the idea, wringing out her undergarments handily and slipping them back on. How could it have been an accident? There was no way it could've come off unless he had taken it off... right?

The beggar princess soaked her dress in the water once again, this time, being more careful with the flowing gown – after all, this was the dress she always had with her, since as far back as she could remember! Which, admittedly, wasn't a very long time... but still, it was one of her very important items, along with the crown that sat on the shore, and the golden cross and ruby pendant that hung around her neck – the piece of jewelry she hadn't  bothered to take off while bathing.

Lucy wrung out the dress, which was now squeaky clean, and void of dirt, and wondered if, maybe, it really had been an accident. She recalled when she had been grasping for something to hold on to, and how her hands had strayed at his face. Suddenly, she did remember clinging onto a piece of fabric, and maybe, possibly, pulling it down. As stood on shore now, no longer on the rock in the stream, doing up her buttons, she bit her lip furiously at the thought – at the thought that she could've possibly yelled at him, again, for no good reason. She should apologize, shouldn't she? But however would she do that?

Adjusting her crown atop her head, Lucy stood at the edge of the stream, cupped her hands and called out, "You can come out now – I won't yell at you anymore!" She wanted to say, 'I'm sorry,' as well, but couldn't bear to do it, so she left things like that, wondering if he would pop back up. She shook her head, and called out again, "I promise!" And she meant it, and for someone as wishy-washy as Lucy, such promises were hard to find. Granted, would she keep her promise? That... was something that could be debated upon...

[Anonymous]

Castien had taken to looking at the rocks again, piling some up in an interesting fashion until he heard her voice echoing in the water. He looked to his rocks, then shrugged and swam to the surface. First popping out his eyes to make sure she was dressed, then he came over to the drop off and slipped out of the water in a crouching position. Looking at her in her soaked dress.

The second he had left the water, the deep cut on his face started to bleed-- having not had a chance to close up yet. But he ignored that and raised a hand to dry her clothes once more, siphoning the water out and back into the creek. Then he stood up and rubbed his wrist against his cheek. Eying the blood and shrugging as he got dressed himself and started a fire.

He figured she would be hungry, and he had some food there, enough to feed them, so that was good. So he grabbed some wood he had piled up and put them in the pit. Then, in a strange manner, he struck rocks together looking like he was ready to take off in an instance.

Once the fire started up, he actually shot back a bit. Looked at it, then waved his hands to get it to go.

In all the years of being burned at home, it was no surprise he had a fear of flames.

[Anonymous]

As soon as he came out of the water, the stranger, in that same way he had dried his clothes before, siphoned the remaining drops of water off Lucy's dress, and suddenly, it was like it had never even been wet. Lucy grinned in glee, but the smile fell from her face almost instantly as she realized that his face was bleeding. "H-hey! Your face, it's bleeding!" she called, even though such a fact must've been obvious to him. He didn't really seem to care, though, and didn't speak a word to her as he made his way over to a log pile, silently beginning to start a fire.

Lucy, not caring at all for his silence, pursued her lips, but decided she should at least do something about that nasty cut on his face. Seeing the blood pour from his face made her realize that it must've been her who had given him such a cut – he wouldn't have cut it on a rock or something, no, he was too good a swimmer to do that (being a water phoenix, after all). She recalled, again, how she had clawed at his face before, and had no doubt in her mind that it was her who had pulled the blindfold off, and made him bleed, as well.

She sat by the fire, opposite from him, and pulled her pack on her lap, rummaging through it. "I should have some bandages in here..." she mumbled, before finally, pulling a roll of medical wrap from her pack. She rolled a strip of it onto her hand, and made a move to go towards him, but hesitated, and stopped.

He was acting strange – as if the fire was going to rise up and eat him. Once the fire did start roaring, he even jumped back a bit, as if he was frightened. Lucy couldn't picture the stranger being frightened of anything, but even she was a little antsy around fire. Her dress was so full of ribbons, it'd be easy to catch on fire, after all! She looked toward him, fiddling with the bandage.

"Hey – about your cut, and the blindfold – I'm ... I'm sorry! It was probably my fault, well, I'm pretty sure it was my fault. I didn't mean to cut you! Or, or yell at you..." Well... "Okay, maybe I did mean to yell at you, at the time, but it wasn't ladylike of me to do so..." She crossed her arms nodded, approving of her own apology.

"Let's call a truce, shall we?" she extended a hand over the top of the fire, without thinking much of it, almost forgetting how he had jumped just at the sight of it before. She wasn't thinking of that – all she wanted to do was patch things up. His silence did unnerve her, and she'd do anything to have him talk again.