Dead in D I T C H E S ((Rhi-Rhi))

[Anonymous]

Arachne drew in a sharp breath, relieved that she had finally made it to this wonderful valley. She desperately needed to get away from the city. Putting out her arms, she felt the cool summer breeze tickle her skin, cooling her down a bit. After standing there like a statue, she slowly slid down into the grass. Sprawling out on the hill top, letting the relaxing sounds of the river and animals lull her into a heavy doze.  

Waking up two hours later, she was startled to find she had let two hours of her day drain away. Muttering  the newly discovered Knight of the White lily, stripped off her armor. Setting it down on the hill top she slowly descended towards the river that was surrounded with large strong trees that stood watch like great guardians.

Lightly setting her foot into the sluggish moving water, she shivered at its cold bite. Shrugging it off she slid all the way into the water. Diving into the deeper parts, she stayed under the surface for the most part, loving the feel of the cold on her pale skin, and the feel of the rushing water against her. Only coming up every once in a while for a quick breath she let herself float down stream.

[Rhindeer]

It was a beautiful day, the weather mild, though the light breeze was a reminder of fierce storms to come in the following months. Stretched out on her belly on a flat boulder near the river's edge, chin propped up on her hands, Siobhan absently watched dragonflies buzz around the surface on iridescent wings. Yeah, she probably should have been up and walking right about now, making time and taking advantage of the daylight, but the day before had been a rough one and she couldn't muster up the energy to feel anything other than lazy, her muscles sore and a bandaged gash on her arm throbbing to remind her it was there--as though she could forget!

Even a Knight deserved a little time off, right? Right. And so, after bathing, she had just...decided to linger here a little longer. The sun felt good on her pale skin, nice and warm, though she knew she shouldn't stay out in it long or she'd turn red as an apple. Well, whatever, she was just waiting until her hair dried. Yes, that was exactly it.

Even though her braided ginger hair was already good and dry. Well, the underside was a little damp. That counted! That totally--

Huh?

A shape caught her eye, a human-like form floating down the river, and Siobhan jerked upright until she was sitting. Oh no! Did they need help? Was that a body? For a second, her own state of undress didn't even register as panic speared through her and she called out without thinking.

"Hey! You okay? You need help?"

...Not that that would help a drowning person much, but it wasn't like she could help much anyway. Siobhan couldn't swim.

[Anonymous]

Hearing a distant voice, she stopped and sat up. Sitting with the water neck deep. Looking around she didn't see anything, shrugging she started swimming down again, then she saw a shape on the far bank. Arachne rose half out of the water, her skin papery white and shivering and the breeze hit the icy water that dripped from her skin.

Focusing her good eye sight on the woman like figure she saw it was a woman...that looked familiar. Thinking real hard she remembered that this woman must be one of the Knights, she hadn't met all of them yet. Waving she called out "Yes I'm fine." then she trudged through the water and towards the woman who, didn't look much older than herself.

Finding her clothes she wrapped her under shirt on her self, her legs still bear though, turning back to the familiar girl she neared her. Once she was close enough she said "Hello, I'm not sure we've met yet but I'm Arachne."

[Rhindeer]

Siobhan realized, as soon as the shape in the water started to move, that she'd been mistaken.

It was a happy mistake! It would have been a real day-ruiner if she'd happened upon a body floating down the river! However, as the girl stood up--and revealed that she was buck-naked--Siobhan was acutely aware of her own nudity. With a sharp gasp and a flood of heat to her face, she scrambled for her clothes and yanked them on. What a wonderful first impression, getting caught sunbathing in the buff!

By the time the girl reached her, Siobhan was mostly dressed. She had her shirt on and a leg through one of her pant legs, and it was quite awkward carrying on a conversation when she was wrestling with her clothes. "Oh, yes, hello! Ah, I'm Siobhan and, well...I'm pretty certain we've never met before!" she said, and yanked her breeches up, quickly tying up the laces.

"But I'm fairly certain I'll never forget this meeting," she added with a sheepish grin.