A mix of Luck

[Anonymous]

Thalia sat on the edge of the pier, smiling as the ocean water moved back and forth under her.  She idly moved her feet forward and back, enjoying the feel of the cool water rushing between her toes.  Lifting her head she enjoyed the gentle breeze that lifted her hair slightly and brought the light scent of salt to her nose.  This was the first time she'd seen the ocean, let alone been close enough to touch it.  She sighed slightly as she wished she could share this with her family.  But they would never dare leave the forests.  She would just have to tell them all about it when she returned!

A nearby fisherman let out a yell of joy as he reeled in a particularly big fish.  "I've done it again!  This is my lucky day!"  Thalia smiled knowing it was her luck that had helped this man.  Noting the number of fish he'd caught, she figured he must be a very good man.

Deciding she was thirsty, Thalia leaned down to scoop up a handful of the clear, blue ocean water.  Expecting it to quench her parched throat she lifted the water to her lips.  She sipped a small amount and immediatly spat it out.  "Blah!"  She said, trying to wipe off the salty taste from her tongue with her hand.  "Maybe I don't like the ocean so much..." she thought.

[Anonymous]

Escaping from a town far away had been fun...he had lost his companion along the way however. Not killed, just...lost, unable to find at this time. He'd find his companion once more, but until then he went back to travelling and looking for new adventures, looking for new people to learn about. There were so many strange races here that were completely different from the ones he knew on his own home world...

He followed the air at this time, the smell of moisture had been strong upon it, and he followed it. The more days he walked, the stronger the smell had gotten. Of course, the smell had turned a slight foul when he walked...salt was in the air. Ocean. He knew that smell well. While water didn't matter much to him, he liked fresh water better than salt. Fresh was sweeter, it felt better, it smelled better, and it tasted better, but he could survive off both!

He was just that awesome after all.

There was a fishing community however when he arrived near the ocean, which meant that fishy smell and what not. He decided to explore, find a good pier perhaps and do some freezing. Ah how he loved to freeze things, and for that matter, loved to stir up a lot of fog and mist, just to confuse people. It always made him giggle, and it was harmless fun after all! No one got hurt, at least, perhaps not too hurt.

There were some people on the pier at this time however, fishermen mostly...though there was one woman that caught his eye. Ooooh. Female.

His attention was captured by a suddenly yelling fisherman. The man had just caught another fish. "I've done it again! This is my lucky day" He called. Hiding in his strange clothes of long pants and a long sleeved shirt with a hood on it he focused. One white eye, one red eye, flashed suddenly as he focused on the man. That was when the turned his back to unhook the fish...he wasn't paying attention to one of the barely alive fish who flip flopped near him...and he stepped on it.

There was a bit of yelping as he slipped suddenly, spilling all fish he had caught, most of them falling back into the water.

"Oh. How unfortunate." His voice was a whispery hiss of sorts, soft, but filled with amusement. His eyes went back to looking for the woman, who was taking the time to sip the water. Oh bad idea. Just as he thought, she spat it out. With a small laugh he shook his head. "The ocean is filled with salt water there lass, your kind really shouldn't drink it ya know! Not good for your people I understand." He told her as he slowly knelt down next to her, reaching a hand out to the water.

His hands were covered in a strange gauntlet, one that had ice stuck to it. He dipped his hand into the water, which slowly began to turn into mist on the surface as he brought some of the water up to his hood and drank. "Ahhhh...me however, I could drink this stuff all day!" Reaching up to his hood he slowly pulled his hood back. His once glowing eyes stopped...the gauntlets suddenly disappeared, becoming flesh and blood, soft and delicate looking. He even had black hair, cropped short and keeping them away from his eyes. He was...human?

"Name's Palzerus, or just Pal! What might I call you, besides beautiful?" Pal was a flirty little thing, there was no doubt about that. He did so enjoy to praise and flatter, to enjoy life as much as he could. After all, it wasn't everyday a wraith could turn from human to wraith and back again!

[Anonymous]

Thalia turned pink when she hear someone say "The ocean is filled with salt water there lass, you kind really shouldn't drink it ya know!  Not good for your people I understand."  Someone had seen her make that stupid mistake.  She'd been trying to hide that she was an outsider.  She started to reply and then coughed, her throat trying to remove all traces of that vile form of water.

The man knelt down next to her and extended a hand towards the water.  Her eyes widened as she noticed the gauntlets that covered his hands, and the strange way ice seemed to be clinging to it.  She watched mist coil up from the surface of the water as his hand met it.

"Ahhh... me however, I could drink this stuff all day!" he said, bringing the salty solution up to his hood where it disappeared into a mouth she couldn't see.  She stared at the glows that came from under his hood.  One glow was white and the second red, and they seemed to be where eyes should be located.  He removed his hood and as his face appeared, his strange gauntlets disappeared as did the glow.  He now had hands and seemed to be human, which was odd.  Then again she seemed to be human as well.

She turned a deeper shade of pink as he called her beautiful.  She was unused to such interaction, her people tended to be more refrained.  However she took a liking to this stranger named Pal.  He seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn't let others keep him from enjoying all life had to offer.  Coughing a little more, she smiled.  "Name's Thalia.  Nice to meet you, Pal."

She paused, wondering what else she should say to the first potential friend she'd met on her journey.  "Um... Why are you here?"  was the first thing that came to mind, and she so she said it.

[Anonymous]

She even seemed to have an adorable little cough didn't she!

Pal loved how he looked, both in Wraith form and in human form. He just looked out of the ordinary. In Wraith form he looked...well people couldn't really see him actually, but from what they could see he had those gauntlets, the large clawed gauntlets with ice forming on it. Terrible weapons, meant for ripping, slashing, killing, that sort of thing. They also focused his powers over the element water, ice, that sort of thing. His eyes were just...well they glowed. They didn't show any hint of pupils, it looked just like glowing mist in the shape of eyes.

However, when in human form, they looked kinda nice...they looked gentle, subtle, full of life and mirth. Not to mention he had gotten boyish good looks, at least he believed they were.

"Pleasure is alllllll mine, or it could be yours." He gave her a knowing wink. He liked to flirt, maybe he was serious, maybe he wasn't, it was hard to say at this point. All she should have figured out by now was that he was harmless...and shameless. Mostly shameless! He didn't harm many people, at least not on purpose. He was cursed to give those around him bad luck...and to give himself a bit as well.

"Well if you mean here in this town it's because I want a good douse of water, but if you mean right here beside you it's because I can't say no to meeting a pretty thing like yourself." He told her with a grin, showing her his teeth which...while white there was something off about them. They looked almost like...they were skeletal. He was not a normal person, that was for sure.

"Now I'm gonna give ya this warning now little missy, and you can decide whether or not you want to stay around me. I'm bad luck. Very bad luck. I've got an aura of bad luck about me so...people sometimes get hurt...sometimes they lose things and what not...but there's always an upside to it. See that guy over there..." Pal pointed toward the man whose fish spilled everywhere. He was cheering for some reason. That's when one could see that some strange white objects had spilled from one of the fish's mouths. "See that right there? Pearls. He lost a bunch of fish, but in the end he got himself some pearls."

Pal laughed a little bit as he turned his attention back to Thalia. "So then, can I ask you what you're doing here?"

[Anonymous]

Thalia laughed and smiled as Pal continued to ...what was the word?  She remembered two village girls talking about a guy who talked to both of them in the same manner.  What did they call it?  Flirting!  He was flirting with her!   Deciding she liked this 'flirting' she began to listen more closely so she could flirt back.

As Thalia listened to him talk she stareted to notice how he seemed... different from other humans.  While Pal's hair was a nice black color, it had intresting blue and red streaks through it.  She was pretty sure that humans didn't have hair that naturally came like that.  She also noticed how his eyes were white and red.  Thalia ha'd never seen a human with eyes that color!

Her smile widened when he called her "a pretty thing."  Thalia was one hundred percent sure now that she did enjoy this flirting humans seemed to partake in.  She wished her own people had such means of courtship, that would make things far more intresting.

Then Pal smiled, and Thalia noticed how his teeth seemed more like the skeletons dead humans left behind.  Maybe he wasn't human.  But then again she hadn't seen any humans from outside of Adela.  Perhaps where he came from the humans here would be considered strange looking.  Though her mind recalled those strange glows from his hood and the gauntlets he'd been wearing before lowering his hood.

His tone became more serious all of the sudden, and he began to explain how he was "bad luck."  Realizing he was no longer flirting, her smile faded and she listened carefully to what he said.  He pointed to the fisherman that her luck had helped.  Her jaw dropped slightly in shock as she began to wonder if her luck had failed somehow.  Then it clicked and she realized that Pal was saying he'd caused the fisherman to lose the fish, and gain the pearls that came with this bout of bad luck.

She smiled a bit as he returned his attention back to her.  "Well I'm going to explore the world!"  She said, a little proud of herself.  "I've never seen the ocean before, so I decided to come here first.  It's amazing!  Except something's wrong with the water...  Oh, by the way, don't worry about your bad luck.  I happen to be good luck myself."  She giggled a little as she made this announcement.

[Anonymous]

She was a strange one, at first she seemed contemplative, but more and more words of praise and adoration seemed to get her to smile wider and just brighten right up even more. He had run into some women who didn't like flirting, at least not the kind he liked to do. He liked to compliment beauty, looks, personality, smiles, laughs, that sort of thing...while a few he had met liked to fight, to show domination, just like animals.

Suffice to say he had to walk away with some wounded pride, among other things.

"Explore the world now? That's a pretty big place to explore." Of course, a lot of people did so love to explore the world, just like he did. He was mostly looking for anything that would interest him, that would be fun for him. Finding people along the way of the adventure was better. They were a lot more interesting than just scenery and what not. Heh, besides he could do things with people that he couldn't do with trees and bushes and a sunset.

Pal's grin grew when she said she was good luck. "Oh really? Well let's hope your good luck holds out for you! Heh heh. Ahem. Well there's a reason that the water tastes wrong. See it's called salt water. Oceans have high levels of salt in them, while lakes and rivers and what not have none, or very little in them." He told her with a small smile as he reached down and scooped more water up. However he started to use his other hand to swirl around above the bit of water in his hand. Slowly he pulled his finger away, but never stopped swirling.

The water was pulled upward into a sort of icicle, clear almost all the way through, except at the bottom where it was white. "You just have to know how to manipulate it, that's all!" Pal broke off the portion that held all the salt in it, tossing it back into the water before handing over the icicle over to Thalia. "And there you go. Fresh water! Boy do I love being in control of water and ice." Still his mind was filled with a few dirty thoughts, ones he could have made about sucking on an icicle.

Hee.

"I'd suggest we try out swimming but the ocean never really was a good place to swim in. A river is a much better place, there are less sharp painful thingies that want to eat you...or are just slimy. Yech. Slime." Pal gave a visible shudder as he stuck his tongue out in disgust. He quickly retracted his tongue though. "So have ya eaten lunch yet? Not sure about yourself but I could a bit of food." Granted he didn't really need to eat anything but he still liked to when in human form, just because things tasted good. "Though I'm guessing around here it's gonna be a lot of fish and fruit...I saw a few farms around here so we might get lucky with some lamb or cow, maybe vegetables as well."

Pal was always thinking, always on the move. He got to his feet, dusting himself off before he offered a hand to Thalia to help her up. If she did take his hand, she would probably notice right away that he was cold, very cold for that matter!

[Anonymous]

Thalia watched in wonder as the salt was separated from the water.  That did explain the water's disgusting taste.  She took the icicle, wincing a little at the cold.  She'd seen icicles before of course.  They formed on tree branches during the winter, and she loved the way they sparkled in the sun.  Tentatively, she stuck her tongue out and licked it.

It was fresh water now!  Thalia happily put the icicle in her mouth enjoying the cold, fresh water; completely oblivious to the fact that dirty thoughts could be provoked by such action.

She wrinkled her nose when Pal suggested swimming in the ocean.  To have all that nasty tasting water swirling around her, sticking to her skin, she did not like that idea.  Plus there was the fact that she had only tried swimming a few times in her human form.  And it was very different from walking on water as she did as a Kirin.  Then he talked about slimy creatures and things that would eat her.  That scared her for sure.  She decided at that moment she would never go swimming in the ocean.  No matter how pretty it looked.

Lunch.  That would probably be a good idea, as Thalia realized she hadn't eaten since early that morning.  The icicle was nice but it wasn't filling.  In fact it was almost gone.  She popped the rest into her mouth and crunched it, enjoying the way water spurted out when she did.

"Well, I'd love to eat!  But I'm a... what you call... um..."  What was the word?  "Oh ya!  I'm a vegetarian."  She was a deer like creature after all.  She reached up and took Pal's offered hand only to squeak and pull away in surprise.  "Your hands really cold!"  She exclaimed, before taking it again.  She wasn't sure what to think about the coldness of his skin.  But she was starting to get more and more sure that he wasn't actually human.

[Anonymous]

Ah if he were a weaker being he'd actually have the gall to make a comment about her sucking on the icicle. Instead he kept his humour...mostly contained as he just tried to ignore her for the time being. There would be time for that later right? Yeah! Not...that he expected anything yet...or maybe there was a chance. SHe did seem to like flirting. Hm.

No, best not to think of that right now. Best to be on his mostly innocent behaviour!

"Vegetarian? Well that explains your shapely body!" He grinned as she squeaked, pulling her hand away from him. "Oh, yeah that's...that's cause it's...y'see I'm not human. I mean you probably could've gotten that by now. I'm a Wraith actually. Dunno if you have 'em here, but we're basically spirit manifestations of elements. Underneath this handsome body lies a skeleton twisted with power and ice! We all sort are made from ice...cause our original creators are Ice kings in a way..." Pal's face looked troubled for a moment before he remembered they were holding hands.

Helping her up was easy, he at least had a bit of supernatural wraith strength so it was no problem. "I'll explain it to over lunch, it's a bit of a long story really! No worries!" Pal and Thalia didn't really have to wander long, in such a small place the Inn was the place to go for food and drinks. He took her right to it, getting them a table and making sure to order her some vegetables and such. He of course got some fish and some a bit of steamed vegetables. He made sure to get them some nice big glasses of water as well, fesh water.

"There we go, good fresh water." Pal raised his glass to his lips and took a big gulp of it, sighing contently. It was a sweet water taste, that was very good! "Anyway, lemme tell ya a bit about myself then! Anyway so like...thousands of years ago there were these two twins. Mercanaries for hire. So this vampires hires them to do a job with him, he was rich so he paid them quite a bit. However about...half way through their little mission the twins turn on him. Rob him at point, and call in a horde of Goblins on him. Now apparently before the goblins killed him, he let out this scream that carried through the mountains. It was a curse. The twins turned into these creatures, they were not dead, but they weren't alive either, a mix between the two. They became these...spirit element creatures. After that, people turned their backs on them." Pal paused in his story to start drinking some more water, and help himself to a little bit food.

"So after that, they started a clan. They found they could give other people this curse...they could make more of them. So they started doing that. Sometimes they used alive people, and sometimes they found skeletons and used those...people retained a little bit of their original memories and what not but...not a whole lot. I was dead when they found me, killed by my own badluck. They had no idea I had that curse on me when they used my skeleton...but here I am! Not quite in the body that I had before but still good enough am I right?" He gave her a knowing wink before he went back to his water and food, enjoying it, savouring it. He wasn't one for the vegetables but...what could you do right?

"So, can you indulge me about yourself? I'm very interested to know about you! Only fair after all, I told you all about m'self."

[Anonymous]

Pal's comment about Thalia's "shapely body" got him another smile.  However, this was more of a smile of self pride.  She'd seen little of humans in her forest home, and had to guess what was considered attractive by humans.  It seemed she'd guessed right.

She listened with interest as he explained about his true form.  She didn't even notice that she was still holding his freezing hand and that he hadn't helped her up yet.  Manifestation of ice... well that explained that icicle he created.

He pulled Thalia up with surprising ease.  Wraiths must have superior strength to humans she mused.  Pal guided her to a nice Inn where he ordered her some glasses of water, as well as some food to eat.  She looked around curiously, observing the way the people laughed at chatted or played cards with each other.  Humans were definitely fascinating creatures.

Thalia picked up her glass of water, smiling when she discovered it tasted just like the water from home.  She happily began to eat the vegetables Pal had ordered, especially enjoying the lettuce.  She continued to eat the delicious veggies and sip the water as Pal explained his kind's origin.  She found her self a little horrified as she learned of the twins deceit and their cruelty just to gain some money.  However she wasn't sure she condoned the punishment they received... not to mention it seemed to be more of a blessing to the two.

Thalia smiled and nodded as Pal finished his story.  "You're current body is fine." She said, doing her best to give him what she thought was a flirtatious smile.   "Hmm... Tell you about myself?  Well you already know I'm lucky!"  She giggled a little and nibbled and took another sip of water before beginning a stream of sentences that was supposed to be an explanation.  "Well I'm actually not human either.  I'm a Kirin!  We're like the better known unicorns, but more like a deer than a horse.  And I guess we're part fish as well since we have carp scales... and lion is in there some where as well, since we have lion tails.  Though we are part horse, as we have manes similar to theirs.  And we also have a single horn as well, but it's more of an antler.  Lastly we're supposed to be part dragon, but I..." She trailed off as she noticed two of the more shady bar patrons were observing them.  Why would they be listening in?

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Thalia said.  she really felt like smacking herself on the head.  "We need to get out of here as soon as possible!" She hissed at Pal, doing her best to look like everything was still normal.

[Anonymous]

Pal could flirt with this young lady all night, it was so easy to do, and it was fun! Plus he wasn't lying about it so he felt good about it. Not that he would openly patronize a lot of people, but he liked it better when he could flirt and take a lot of creative roads with this whole thing. She had a good smile as well so whenever he did flirt he got a nice little smile shot his way. He hoped for that matter that they were genuine smiles and not the ones that were fake while they thought about how much of an idiot he was.

Eee that was always a bad thing.

Still, she did want to go with him to eat so that was a good feeling. It meant things were going on the right path then! Pal wasn't sure where this would all lead to but damned if it wasn't going to be an adventure!

Pal was glad that she seemed to enjoy herself as they ate and drank. He like to tell the story of the Wraith Twins, more so because he had been forced to learn the Origins of his species. Plus it was a kind of fun story, perhaps a little dark here and there but still good you know.

"You think so? Well, thank you!" That was a new smile on her...was she actually flirting with him? Oh my. He returned the smile, even a wink as well. Maybe she was interested in him, that was a good sign then wasn't it? Maybe his luck really wasn't all that bad! Maybe she was good luck. Pal kept his mouth shut, focusing on just listening to her talk and tell him about her strange self. He had no idea what a Kirin was but she was explaining it to him so he wasn't going to be out of the loop. However she suddenly stopped talking and he blinked, wondering what she was looking at. He turned his head to observe some of the bar patrons looking at them, more specifically at her.

They didn't look at her like he had the first time he met her, they were looking at her with more of a greedy sort of look than interest or desire. Uh oh. He knew that look in them though.

"Y'know I think I'm gonna agree with ya." He tossed a bit of money on the table to pay for the meal and took a deep drink of his water. Pulling his hood up suddenly he seemed to change once more into his wraith form, his eyes glowing into that strange mist, and his hands turning back into the metal gauntlets with claws. Suddenly he seemed to start spewing a strange fog from his hood, one that just began to flow and fill the area around them. That's when Pal suddenly grabbed Thalia, hoisting her pretty much on his shoulder and bolted for the door. Once they were outside he closed the door behind him and sealed it with a bit of thick ice. Pal of course put Thalia down afterward, one hand pulling his hood down.

"Sorry about that. You seemed that you wanted to get out quickly, and that was quick! Plus those shady guys back in there can't follow us...at least not through this door so erm...let's move quickly!" Pal told her as he ushered her to follow him, deciding if they headed perhaps away from this side of the small town would be a good idea.

"I gotta ask though...why were you so scared?"

[Anonymous]

Thalia found herself feeling like Pal had frozen her with those ice powers of his.  She was sure those men were bounty hunters; and from the way they were looking at her they had probably knew what a Kirin was, and the price one could fetch.

Thalia suddenly found herself doubting Pal.  What if he was a bounty hunter as well?  By the moon, she was such a fool for whole heartedly trusting a stranger!  But... if he was a bounty hunter he wouldn't have brought her to an inn.  He would've tried to lure her somewhere he could catch her.  Unless he was just plain stupid, but that didn't seem likely from the way he talked and acted.  Sure people who are dumb can act like they're brilliant, but she was sure his wit wasn't some sort of act.  She reached the conclusion that he was most definitely not a bounty hunter, and she needed to trust him if she wanted to get out of this inn in something other than chains.

As this whirlwind of thoughts was roaring in her mind, Pal through a hand full of money on the table and took a big gulp of water.  He then pulled up his hood, changing as he did so.  The glows that must be his wraith eyes had returned, and he was once again wearing those strange gauntlets.  Fog began to billow from his hood that filled the inn and hid them from the view of the bounty hunters.

As the fog thickened Thalia saw the hunters stand up, one knocking his chair over with a bang that resounded through the now silent room.  But Pal was too fast, and they too slow.  He picked her up, supporting her with an arm and shoulder.  He ran through his fog to the door, the bewildered hunters were still at their now empty table.  Once they cleared the doorway, Pal shut it and sealed it with ice.

He set her down and removed his hood, once again returning to his human form.  He began to apologize for the hasty exit, but she was just grateful they'd gotten out.  He set off, motioning for her to follow.  She quickly did, as she could hear loud bangs coming from the door that meant the hunters wanted out.

"I think... No.  I know those men are bounty hunters.  And they seem to deal in the Kirin trade."  She grimaced as she said this, remembering some childhood friends she'd lost to hunters like those two.  "They no doubt were planning on capturing me and selling me to the highest bidder... or worse.  They migh-" She paused, and forced herself to continue.  "They've tortured Kirin before, to find the rest of that Kirin's clan."

"I'm sorry... It was stupid of me to go blurting that out when I knew there are people who hunt my kind.  I should've thought of that.  I'm sorry, I endangered both are lives by being so stupid."  She bit her lip, forcing herself to calm down and fight back tears that were approaching.  Yes she'd been stupid, but crying about it wouldn't help them.  They needed to get away from that inn.  And more importantly, they needed to find a way to do so without leaving a trail.  There was no point in escaping if you gave your hunters a nice path to follow.

[Anonymous]

As if Pal could possibly hunt down a person like Thalia. He had a bad sense of direction, and he had no idea what a Kirin was. Why would he deal in a trade object he had no idea what it was? But, he was going to help her away from those shady men. They did not look at all friendly afte rall.

"Bounty hunters eh? Well they won't get you, I promise you that." Pal told her with a toothy grin. He wasn't going to let any two timing bounty hunters get his prey. Prey of some sort...not sure what to really call her at this point. She was neat though so that was all it was! "Sounds like a couple of people to avoid...torturing and kidnapping, that's just very unfun to say the least." She didn't like to talk about this it seemed...but she seemed to get through it at least.

"What? You...ah hah hah hah! No it's alright! They couldn't possibly hurt me. Swords and knives and daggers do not hurt me, I've got no organs or anything like that. The best they could do is chip a bone or something like that." Pal told her with a small shrug of his shoulders. "Don't worry about it there darling! Ah don't cry now." He reached his hand out to gently cup her cheek. "You only really endangered yourself...Er, but that's not important! No, because they can't really hurt us! You've got me with you, and there's no possible way I'd let them get you! You're my friend after all." He gently let his hand slowly fall from her face, smiling calmly at her.

"Now, let's go find us some fun! I say we head...that way! Toward the forest! We'll get a nice headstart on them." Pal took her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers as he started to walk rather quickly, dragging her along with him. "It'll be fun! We'll head toward another coastal town. We just gotta trick 'em is all! What we'll do is we'll go to the forest and then like...lounge for an hour or so...and then get to another town. It'll be fine! Just...we'll make sure ya don't slip that cute little tongue of yours and say something that will alarm people to what you are." Pal stopped for a moment, looking to their hands and letting go. "Ahem...well Thalia, let's get ourselves to the forest!"

Well this might be fun! Of course Pal had some ideas of what they could do, but he had to remember that he should probably keep himself clean, and not do his original thought...

Still, convincing her to skinny dip with him would be a fun challenge! After that everything would be easy!

[Anonymous]

Thalia gave Pal a small smile as he tried to lighten up the mood.  However, when he assured her that he himself was put in no danger by her loud mouth, she certainly felt relieved.  True it was a bit worrisome that Pal was pretty much invincible, but he seemed to have her best interests in mind so she had no reason to fret over that.

Thalia relaxed as Pal put his hand to her cheek, showing he really wasn't mad.  Though his hand was freezing cold as usual, she found she didn't mind that much right now.  Then she really smiled when Pal called her his friend.  His previous actions had pretty much declared that fact already, but it was nice to hear it out loud.

Pal grabbed Thalia's hand, and set off towards the forest.  At first he was dragging her, but she sped up to match his pace.  She found holding hands like this was... relaxing.  She'd never done anything like it before, since Kirins didn't have hands.  As he began to talk about resting in the forest and such, and Thalia realized she really did miss the serenity of the forest.  Not enough to go back permanently, but enough that she would enjoy visiting her home.  Of course she wouldn't bring Pal to the part of the forest where her clan lived.  They weren't very understanding towards outsiders.  There had been too many losses to bounty hunters similar to those Thalia and Pal had just escaped.

Suddenly Pal stopped and let go of her hand.  She was a bit surprised, but wasn't sure how to react.  So she just let her hand go back to hanging by her side.  However the forest beckoned, and she let her confusion slip away.  She set off at a swift pace, "Come on!  You'll love the forest!" She giggled, and did a little skip in her excitement.  She turned a slight shade of pink, realizing that probably was a bit odd.  But she kept her head up and continued forward, hoping to hide her embarrassment.

Thalia began to explain to Pal what she considered the wonders of the forest, “Well you see there’s all these beautiful trees.  And they stretch up so high; and their branches cover up every inch of the sky, making the forest look like it has a green ceiling.  And there are so many delicious fruits there!  Though don’t worry, there’s lots of fish in the streams and ponds that run through the forest.  And the water is cool and delicious; it tastes a lot like the water from the inn in fact!  We’re going to have so much fun!â€?

[Anonymous]

Probably not the best idea to say something like she had a loud mouth right? Of course she had sort of said it but...at this time it was neither here nor there! Oh no! It was really in a sort of...flux that wasn't anywhere! It was just to be ignored.

He wished he could heat his body up and not be as cold as ice to the touch but...well he was trying his best to be comforting. He didn't want Thalia to be upset, and he wanted her to be relaxed around him. If he made her believe that he was invincible, or very close to it at least, she wouldn't worry about him getting hurt! That way she would just need to watch out for herself. It would be nice if she only needed to think of herself, that way he could watch over the both of them! Perhaps secretly of course.

"Right, I bet I will! Just like every forest I've met before perhaps." Pal said as he followed after her, noting her rather uncontained excitement at this point. She seemed really happy that she was going into the forest. Maybe she was part of it, like some sort of Dryad or Druid. Whatever the case, he wasn't going to deny her this trip into the forest. Pal smiled as she started going on and on about the forest, he just smiled politely as he followed her. He didn't really see the big deal with the forest, but...he wasn't going to fight her.

Just like he liked a foggy riverbank, she liked a forest. When they finally got into the forest, Pal noticed the light wasn't filtering through as much, so it was a bit darker. Not too dark, more so since the green leaves were producing a sort of green light. "Streams and ponds eh? Anything deep enough for us to swim in, or in the very least for me to clean my clothes?" He did want to clean his clothes, but any excuse to get naked near a beautiful woman...who was he to argue?! He wasn't after all. Then again...

There was a difference between flirting and courting. This...Kirin...did she understand things like one night stands? He didn't want her to think that because he was doting compliments on her that he wanted to be her mate for life. Ick no! Tied down like that would be just worrisome! He wasn't ready to give up something like his bachelor years. Ugh. Flings were just a worry when the opposite member of the relationship didn't know what was going on.

Hm. Was she even really female? She said she was also something else...hm, he wouldn't have to worry about her getting pregnant would he? Nah! They couldn't possibly be compatible after all. That was just silly! Not to mention what a kid would be like, with their good luck and bad luck stuff together. How did you bring this stuff up with someone? Oh yeah, I just want to mate with you a few times, so do you know anything about sex and what not? Right. That would get him slapped and called a pervert or she'd storm off and he'd have to try to win her back to his side once more.

[Anonymous]

Oblivious to her companions thoughts, Thalia led him into the forest.  She smiled as the rays from the sun were softened to a nice shade of green from the canopy overhead.  It was nice to visit something she knew so well.

Pal inquired if there were any streams or ponds around that he could wash his clothes in, or even swim in.  "Oh yes!  In fact we're right near one!" She replied, altering her direction slightly so she would arrive at the intended destination.  She looked down at the clothes she was wearing, noticing for the first time how dirt had somehow worked its way into the fabric.  She hadn't realized that humans needed to wash their clothes.  Thalia wished she had "borrowed" more clothes from travelers before starting her journey.

"Ah! Here we are!"  She said as she pushed aside some shrubbery.  A small brook bubbled happily in front of them, the water tumbling over small rocks to splash into a small pond.  "Isn't it nice?" She asked with a smile.

Thalia slipped off her shoes and socks and then walked over to the pond to notice a colorful fish darting around.  Curious she peered at it as it swam in a random pattern.  Suddenly it darted off to the deeper section of the pond.  Without hesitation Thalia stepped out onto the water.  Her foot stayed on the water's surface, as if the water was a continuation of the land.  She continued across the pond, no longer intrested in the fish, instead she was just enjoying the coolness of the water on her feet.  She reached the center of the pond and spun around to face Pal again.  "So how do you plan on going about this 'washing of clothes'?" She questioned him.

Before he could answer, she added another question.  "Also what do you do while your clothes are being washed?  I thought humans did not like to be without their coverings."

[Anonymous]

"Really? Sounds good to me then!" She seemed almost...oblivious in a way. Hm. Not only would this be a challenge of some sort, but at the same time...would it be...er...good? He didn't want to woo a person who was almost oblivious to it all. Bah. Worry about morality a little later. Right now actually cleaning his clothes sounded like a good idea. "You might want to think about doing the same thing." Pal noted idly, having seen the bit of dirt all over her clothes. Hmm, might be an interesting thought eh? He'd be able to wash his clothes, help wash her clothes, have a fun romp on the riverbank, clean themselves off just in time for their clothes to be done! Huzzah!

Oh he was so clever! He wasn't going to try and flaunt sexual prowess at this point, but he had stamina out the wazoo! He wasn't sure what a wazoo was though.

Pal smiled as he walked after her over the water, just like she did. However he had to create a special sort of fog under his feet but...that currently wasn't important. He could walk on water just like she did. "Well I-" He was going to answer he question but suddenly she broke in with another question and he just shrugged his shoulders. "You forget something there cutie, I'm not human!" He pointed as spun about for her, smiling a little bit. "All wraiths are underneath their robes are basically a magic fog and some bones. That's it. When I've got this human form thing going, I don't actually feel naked, cause the skin and such is covering my actual body, which is really just bones." Plus, why would he be ashamed of himself? He could choose his looks to a degree when he transformed, so he was proud of it.

"Humans are such silly things Thalia. Modesty is their silliest thing I find." Pal strolled back to the bank as he started searching his clothes. "Now let me see here...I know I have a bar of soap left..." He muttered to himself as he checked the hidden folds and pockets. Finally he found it, pulling it out and grinning. "Perfect! Now to set up a nice washing spot.." Kneeling by the trickling brook he froze two walls about a foot and a half apart. He created little tunnels between the two walls of ice, allowing water to enter from one wall and escape through the other. This would make it so water could still flow and not be interrupted, but at the same time not get polluted by the soap. "Ta da! And now I can wash my clothes, and the brook and pond can still be fed upon! How am I such a genius?" With that being said he stood up and began to strip down from his clothes, tossing them within the water as well as the bar of soap.

"Ah! So nice to be free and easy again!" Pal knelt, slyly looking over to Thalia, a slightly wicked grin on his face. "Watching me now are you? Naughty girl. " He let out a slightly impish grin as he started to wash his clothes, running the soap over them and trying to get the dirt from them. He kept his...excitement to himself of course, it was best not to ah...jump the bow and expect things to happen. After all, he had just met her! Granted there were times he had heard of when people just met and sex could happen but...it was best not to think of it as being one of those times. Just had to distance himself from the current situation.

[Anonymous]

Thalia smiled and giggled as Pal called her a "naughty girl."  He was teasing her for looking at him when he had taken his clothes off, another type of flirting.  Maybe she should flirt back?

"What's wrong with being naughty?"  She asked, in what she hoped was a flirtatious way.  Thalia then walked over to where he was washing his clothes, and slid hers off.  She didn’t like clothes much herself.  She found them constricting, and thought it was strange when she her entire body wasn’t in contact with nature.  However, she’d observed humans enough to understand that those who did not wear clothes would be shunned by their society.  It was refreshing to be with someone who understood the silliness of clothing.

Thalia held her clothes in her hands, watching how Pal moved the soap over the cloth of his clothes to remove the dirt clinging to the threads.  Once she was sure she had the technique down, she dropped her own clothes in the water with a small splash.  She selected her shirt and began to mimic what she’d observed Pal do.  She smiled as she held up the shirt and discovered she’d removed almost all the dirt.  Only a few flecks remained embedded in the fabric.  It was good enough for her, so she placed it back in the water to sit.

She washed all the rest of her clothes in the same manner, and then found herself at a loss of what to do.  Pal hadn’t done anything with his clean clothes yet, and she’d never seen anyone wash clothes before today.

Thalia sighed a little as she once again found herself once again clueless.  She wondered if Pal thought she was stupid.  She shook that thought off quickly.  Even if he did, he’d learn soon enough she just hadn’t experienced much outside of Kirin life, and that she really did have a brain.

She returned her mind back to the wet clothes.  Perhaps she was supposed to put them back on?  She almost did, but realized that probably wasn’t the case.  They were too wet and uncomfortable.  Though maybe they did put them back on?  Well she would just have to ask.

“What do I do now?â€? Thalia inquired.  She lifted up the soggy garments which sagged with the weight of the water held in their threads.  Some of the cold water trickled down her arm, but she didn’t mind.  She liked the cool feeling of water.  In fact she wanted to drink some, but she remembered her experiance with the salty sea water.  Soap water probably wouldn't taste much better.

[Anonymous]

"Nothing at all Thalia, nothing at all." His grin spoke volumes, watching her as she slid her clothes off. Well, she sure knew how to pick a human body didn't she? Heh, this could be the start of something wonderful for the both of them perhaps! At least she wasn't shy right? Then again, this wasn't her true form, this was like...a borrowed form or something along those lines.

After he had finished scrubbing his clothes and she had finished with hers he sat back for a moment to let it sit and move about in the soapy water. It would help to clean what little bit of dirty may have been left. Pal of course made sure to act the gentleman and not look at anything below her neck, though he had already caught the full show just minutes ago.

He noted she looked confused, lost even. That gave way to finally asking him on what to do, making him smile a little bit. "Oh, that's the drying step in which we just do this. Pal gathered his wet clothes and stood, heading for a tree with low branched sticking down. Using those branched he draped his clothes out over the branches to hang, the water dripping downward. "We let nature dry our clothes, bit of sun, bit of wind, and then we're set!" Pal told her, going back to his cleaning station set up. He carefully began to manipulate the water, just like before. He was separating the soap from the water, just as he had with the salt.

"There! Now when the ice melts, no soap goes into the pond." Pal said proudly as he took the newly formed piece of icy soap and placed it near their clothes. He wished he could recycle that soap but sadly he had no idea how to condense it back into another bar of soap. No matter though! He had clean clothes now and that's all that mattered!

"Mmm...I wonder how deep this pond is..." Pal murmured as he stepped closer to it, peering down at it. Could he go for a swim perhaps? Judging by how big the pond was, and by how dark it looked as you waded out...yeah, you could no doubt go for a nice little swim in it! So without any further contemplation he just...jumped right in! It was actually quite deep, and this was good...not to mention the water looked rather clean as well...it was pretty clear overall. "Oooh...nice and warm too! Come on Thalia!" Granted, anything that wasn't ice cold was warm to Pal but that was neither here nor there.

[Anonymous]

Thalia went and found branches of her own to hang her soggy garments on.  Hanging them on a large branch, she stepped back to admire her handy work.  All the clothes looked far cleaner than they had before the washing, so she knew she'd done a good job.

She turned to see Pal separating the soap from the water, just as he had done with the salt water of the ocean.  He formed a block of ice soap that he placed near his clothes, away from the rest of the water.  Thalia smiled, she liked the fact that he was careful not to poison the water.  She knew many forest animals depended on this area for their source of life-giving water.

Pal then walked over to the pond, peering at its depths.  Thalia began to walk over, trying to figure out what he was looking at.  Suddenly he took a flying leap and jumped into the pond, creating a small splash.  Thalia squeaked and dodged the spray that came in her direction.  He called at her to come join him.  "Oooh...nice and warm too!  Come on Thalia!"  He said.

She careful walked over to the water, unsure of what to do.  She'd never really gone swimming before.  As a Kirin she'd always just walked over any water she'd come across.  But it did look like fun...  And if she started to have trouble she could just float.  She stepped forward onto the water, walking across its smooth surface until she was at a reasonably deep spot.  She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and let herself stop floating.

She plunged into the pond, the cold water wrapping itself around her body.  She accidentally inhaled a little in shock at the coolness of the water.  Instinctively she kicked her legs and waved her arms until she broke through the surface of the water.  She coughed out the water she had breathed in, her arms and legs still kicking frantically so she would stay afloat.  "I thought you said this was warm!"  She said before coughing out the last of the water.

[Anonymous]

Pal really didn't like the idea of upsetting a person like Thalia, who could no doubt call some sort of...conference with her people and that would just end in tragedy for him. The way she described her real form sounded like she could do a whole bunch of damage to him. Breaking bones was a really bad thing for a Wraith. It was best to keep compassion and such open at this time.

Pal floated in the depths, watching Thalia as she walked over the water toward him. He smirked a little bit, wondering just waht was going to happen to her. This was a bad idea, no one should just submerse themselves like that, though it was a good way for someone to get used to the water's temperature. He was laughing quietly as she suddenly plunged into the water, shaking his head. He moved in a little closer to her as she started thrashing about, noting her little bit of trouble. Ah that was just...well it was probably good and bad at the same time. Pal came closer to her, his arm wrapping about her as he focused on keeping them afloat with the help of a little bit of magic.

"Well it is warm to me...after all I'm a creature of ice right? Heh, you're nice and warm though however." Pal told her with a grin as he kept himself against her, indeed she was pretty warm, and it was an excuse to be against her naked. Hah! "Come on, I'll take in a little closer to the ground." He started moving, using one arm to hold her, the other was scooping at water to try and get them closer to the edge of the pond. When his feet hit ground he was able to bring her in with him, but he didn't let go of her yet.

"There you go, start off here in the shallow end where you can touch. You can just lounge, I mean watch this!" He let go of her to suddenly, moving onto his back and floating on the water's surface. He even crossed his legs and had his hands behind his head to keep it supported. Sure he was cheating just a little bit with a bit of magic but he was still having fun none the less. "Ta da!"