『Ƨtory
xxxxxxxxxஇxxŦime』
•●•ஜஇஜ•●•
"My life is nothing more than a vivid tale scripted on parchment;"
§__° _இ_ °__§
❖Ŧħɇ Ƨⱦⱥɍƨ Ⱥɍɇ Łɨҟɇ Ɇұɇƨ❖
XணxWind gently tossed feathery, green tendrils of wispy grass about, sending undulating waves throughout the lush meadow, keeping an unsteady rhythm with the ever changing breeze. A lake stood alone in the centre of the meadow, looking like glass reflecting a perfect, painted moon. High above the lake, casting a long shadow onto the still, undisturbed surface of the water, was a tall cliff, standing salute in the night air. The rocks glimmered and gleamed as if they were precious stones present in holy light, which was merely that of the moon’s. The stars weren’t even alone on the still night. Firebugs dotted the grass of the meadow, creating the illusion of the heavens on earth.
All seemed well, and all seemed quiet in that small space of safe haven. Small animals scurried about under the brush of small hedges that littered the expanse of grass. Deer slept under the few trees, sparse open green space. There was only one thing that seemed unique in the peaceful place; and that was a young woman.
She lay on the sandy, soft shore of the lake, her arms above her head as she lay on complete bliss. Her bare feet were wet, same with the hem of her beautiful crème-coloured dress that rested neatly at her ankles. Brown hair, shimmering like an angel’s, haloed around her head, giving more affect to her cherubic features. Round, soft cheeks, high cheekbones and a fine brow only gave her more beauty. Thick, dark eyelashes rested upon the tops of those cheeks, brushing the soft skin.
Breath evenly whispered out her parted, full lips that were shaped like a perfect cupid’s bow. Her nose was slight and upturned, placed perfectly on her face to accent every part of her face. There was no escaping the fact that this young woman was breath taking.
The soft sound of lapping water brought her from her shallow, though restful, sleep on the sandy shoreline. Slowly, her eyes open, showing the most marvelous thing about her; her eyes. They were such a light shade of violet that they put even the most well-pampered lavender flowers to shame. Those very same eyes followed the sparkling stars, bringing a faint smile to her full lips.
There was more sound from the lake, as if it, too, were waking up from a sound sleep. The young woman, perhaps only seventeen of age, sat up and stretched out her slender limbs. She was quite rested and lively, but she didn’t move, she only sat on the shore and watched the moon and stars dance on the rippling surface of the lake’s water, as if they were moving to the melodic sound of its lapping. If she listened to it for too long, she would surely fall asleep again. This thought brought a smile to her face once more. Again, she might fall to the trickery of that beautiful lake.
Only for a brief moment did she close her eyes. She made one wish to the water and then opened those lavender orbs to lean forward and kiss the surface of the surface of the serene, beautiful lake. It did not take long for the water to answer her wish, because in its reflection stood a tall figure, donned in a white shirt.
“Nanalii,” Came a voice, deep as an ocean and as smooth as silk. She brought her purple eyes up from the surface of the water at the sound, a huge grin lighting up her perfect features. “You look well.” Said the voice in that same luscious tone. Oh, how she did enjoy it.
The man whom had spoken was wading through the water to meet her. She had already jumped to her bare feet and was trying her hardest to run through the crystalline water without falling. Soon, though, she was in his strong arms, her hands on his broad chest. It had been a ‘while’ since she had seen the man. Stepping back, Nanalii examined him closely, trying to see if anything was different about him.
“You look the same as always;” She mused, smiling rather wickedly, “wet.” She finished with a laugh as if facial expression turned into that of a pout. “Splendidly wet, Lannair.” She whispered softly afterward, making a smile touch the corners of his lips, gracing them.
He was full of contrasts in his looks. Quite opposite of Nanalii. His cheeks were sharp and high on his face. His lashes were longer than a man’s should have been. There was a porcelain tint to his pale skin, making it gleam white in the moonlight, as if he were some nightly, graceful apparition. In contrast to his skin, his hair was a dark black that shimmered like onyx in the light of the moon. It was amazing how one viewed another in the night… Though, there was one feature of his that was absolutely exquisite, something he shared with Nanalii; his eyes.
Silver; a colour that made his contrast complete. They danced about, much like the water he was standing in. They were almost like metal, though liquid. He often explained them as mercury, saying they were beautiful just as much as they were intoxicating. Both were dazzling and dangerous.
With a small smile, Nanalii stepped forward again, reaching up and held his face in her fragile-looking hands. Leaning forward, Lannair wrapped a muscular arm about her waist, pulling her to him and to his perfect, thin lips. She closed her eyes with the contact. It was pleasant, feeling the cool touch of his mouth against her own feverishly warm ones. She pulled back after a while, making sure that it didn’t go much further than that. They didn’t need to do this again. It had barely been two days since they last joined together.
Lannair, however, looked confused as to why she pulled away from him. Had he done something wrong? Upon seeing the look on his face, Nanalii laughed, plucking at the white shirt that clung to his sculpted body.
“My brother is near, Lain!” She cried out with another laugh before slapping him on the chest with an open palm. “Don’t look so wounded!” She was teetering on the edge of bursting into laughter and on the verge of breaking down in to tears. If her younger brother knew the relationship she was having with an Unseelie Fey then he would have had a fit. “You already know that he distrusts you. He is always calling you unfaithful and a rat. All because of one thing…”
“I am a Kelpie?” Answered Lannair bitterly through clenched perfect teeth.
Nanalii shook her head and then walked away from the water, heading onto the shore and feeling the gravelly sand stick to the bottoms of her bare feet. “He doesn’t care much for you because you made a pact with the Shadows, Lain.” Her tone was factual and brisk, as if she were bringing up an old topic.
An old topic it was. They argued often about it and she even started to cry. He had soothed her by confessing that the Shadows had to control over him and instead welcomed him warmly. Lain had even gone as far as to tell her that he made a friend, revealing little Incubo, whom was but a shadow kitten at the time, to her. Nanalii had warmed up to it, but Lain could tell she was uncomfortable with it around all the time. ‘After all’, he had said, ‘What beauty is there in this world without the contrasts of shadow and light? It would be nothing but flat colour.’
That had won her over, and she had given him a look that melted his heart. A look so full of purity and innocence that he couldn’t help but fall for it every time she used it on him. Innocence was his weakness. All thanks to that wondrous woman, Nanalii.
Now, though, those innocent eyes were clouded by crossness and her lips were pursed in an obvious pout. “You know full well what the Shadows can do, Lain.” She then looked away and stared at the top of the high cliff. “They can become corrupt and something entirely different.” He wasn’t about to tell her that he already knew that…
Lain raised his hands, letting her know that she won and that he would not argue. He had no interest in fighting with her. All he wanted to do was spend the rest of that glorious night with her. Reaching out, he attempted to grab hold of her slender waist, but she bounded out of his reach and started to run for the cliff. He shouted after her, leaping through the water to get to her side, but it was too late, she was climbing the large rock wall already, giving Lannair no choice but to smile and say, “I can see up your dress!”
There was a laugh from high above him. “It’s not like you haven’t seen my panties before!” Nanalii called down to him. It was a short moment before she reached the top of the cliff and leaned over the edge, giving Lannair a good scrutiny with her bright eyes.
Nanalii may have been over one-hundred feet above him, but Lain could still see the gleam in her eyes from where he stood in the shallow water of the reflecting lake on the side of the cliff. There was a soft smile on his lips as he began to asend the rocky side on the cliff. One handful of rocks, another, and another, and soon he almost to the ultimate goal. Hands wrapped around his clinging, wet, white shirt, hauling him up to onto the flat surface of the cliff top.
“Hey, now, I could have gotten up here on my own.” Lannair chided and Nanalii laughed.
“Well I wanted to help you.”
“You did indeed.”
Silence surrounded the two after that as they stared into the starry sky. It was so different and crisp compared to its blurred, watery cousin that rippled on the lake’s surface. But there was silence from Lannair for a whole different reason. He needed dearly to tell her something he had done, about something he had met, but he knew that she wouldn’t like. For it was the corrupt Shadows.
Standing, Nanalii began to walk toward the ledge of the cliff that hung over that deepest part of the lake before she turned back and stared straight at, no- more like into- Lain. “I know you aren’t telling me something.” Her tone was dry, the kind of tone she adopted when she was upset about something.
“You have to promise me something first, love.” He whispered to her in reply before he, too, stood. She pursed her lips but nodded silently. Lain cleared his throat and stepped forward on the rocks, feeling the heat they gathered from the day warm the bare skin on his feet.
“I…I met the Darkness.”
There was silence from the beautiful young woman as she stared at Lain. Perhaps, after all, she wasn’t doing to get mad. Though, something glittered in her violet eyes sent his happy thought fleeting. There was nothing but rage filling her features until she exploded. “Lain!” Her voice was high, cracking with her anger, “I told you it was dangerous!” She lifted a hand and swiped it across his face in a swift slap.
Lannair was stunned. He had never been slapped. He had never been hurt by gentle Nanalii, but now she murderous. She seemed so out of control.
Nanalii took a step back, her bare feet gliding across the crumbling, brittle, rocky surface of the cliff. “How could you betray me like this?!” She demanded, taking yet another step backward.
“Nanalii, don’t-” Lain was about to warn her about the nearing cliff drop and tentatively approached her.
“Don’t interrupt me!” She screamed and tears rolled down her soft face. “Don’t even come near me!” She shoved at his chest, but he was much larger than her and all it did was make her unbalanced.
Her legs stretched out for behind her, regaining her balance, but the ledge was too eroded away to hold even her slight weight…and she fell. “No!” Lannair cried and shot forward, reaching uselessly for her hand, but it was too late. She was already careening down the cliff wall heading straight toward the water.
There was a loud ‘crack!’ as she hit the water’s surface, and from how high she was, it would have felt like hitting concrete, causing the same affects as any hard surface. Her spine shattered and she went into immediate shock, sinking like a rock, disappearing underneath the now dark, foreboding water’s surface.
Lannair couldn’t have dived in after her, or he would have suffered her same fate. Quickly, he swung down the ledge of the rock wall, descending as swiftly as he could, but it was at least ten whole minutes before he was safe to drop into the water.
Cold liquid rushed to meet his body as the water enveloped him, dragging him down. His lungs struggled to adjust to the changing environment. He finally took a drag of water through his mouth. He looked about the dark water, looking for a sign of Nanalii. A wisp of brown hair, a twinkle of her violet eyes, something. Anything! Out of his peripheral vision, Lain caught the flutter of a crème dress and now unnatural paleness of her skin.
Lannair was to her within seconds, dragging her body to the surface. Their heads broke through the dark shield of water and Lain took a long drag of the air, his lungs once again struggling to adapt to the change. Tugging Nanalii through the water, Lain swam as swiftly as he could, but there was no hope.
As he lay her on the sandy shore, he watched as blood and water seeped from her nose and mouth. There was no telling what she drowned in first; the water or her own blood.
“No…” He whispered as gathered her cold, lifeless, water-logged body into his now aching arms. “You can’t leave me. You can’t leave…”
Lain cradled her close, but a new sound beside his near silent sobs brought his attention away from the dead young woman in his arms.
“My God…” said a voice from a boy with almost the same features as the dead woman. He must have heard the yelling not to long before the incident. “What did you do…?” He sounded as if he were in shock.
Lain laid Nanalii down and stood staring at her brother in dismay. “Yuki, you don’t understand. I-”
“You killed her!” Accused Yuki, his own purple eyes alight in fury. “You monster!” He ran to his stiff, cold sister and resumed Lannair’s cradling. “You treated her like one of those filthy vermin you drag in and drown! Those other useless Fey!” He cried at the young Kelpie man. “Did you plan on eating her too?!” He demanded.
Lannair didn’t know how to respond. He just sat in silence and watched as Yuki mourned his sister. “Yuki… I swear I-”
“Go…” Came a whisper in response. “Just go…”
That Lain did, slowly backing up into the water before he eventually disappeared into its now blood stained depths. The stars no longer looked welcoming on its surface, but more like evil, preying eyes.
END.
All seemed well, and all seemed quiet in that small space of safe haven. Small animals scurried about under the brush of small hedges that littered the expanse of grass. Deer slept under the few trees, sparse open green space. There was only one thing that seemed unique in the peaceful place; and that was a young woman.
She lay on the sandy, soft shore of the lake, her arms above her head as she lay on complete bliss. Her bare feet were wet, same with the hem of her beautiful crème-coloured dress that rested neatly at her ankles. Brown hair, shimmering like an angel’s, haloed around her head, giving more affect to her cherubic features. Round, soft cheeks, high cheekbones and a fine brow only gave her more beauty. Thick, dark eyelashes rested upon the tops of those cheeks, brushing the soft skin.
Breath evenly whispered out her parted, full lips that were shaped like a perfect cupid’s bow. Her nose was slight and upturned, placed perfectly on her face to accent every part of her face. There was no escaping the fact that this young woman was breath taking.
The soft sound of lapping water brought her from her shallow, though restful, sleep on the sandy shoreline. Slowly, her eyes open, showing the most marvelous thing about her; her eyes. They were such a light shade of violet that they put even the most well-pampered lavender flowers to shame. Those very same eyes followed the sparkling stars, bringing a faint smile to her full lips.
There was more sound from the lake, as if it, too, were waking up from a sound sleep. The young woman, perhaps only seventeen of age, sat up and stretched out her slender limbs. She was quite rested and lively, but she didn’t move, she only sat on the shore and watched the moon and stars dance on the rippling surface of the lake’s water, as if they were moving to the melodic sound of its lapping. If she listened to it for too long, she would surely fall asleep again. This thought brought a smile to her face once more. Again, she might fall to the trickery of that beautiful lake.
Only for a brief moment did she close her eyes. She made one wish to the water and then opened those lavender orbs to lean forward and kiss the surface of the surface of the serene, beautiful lake. It did not take long for the water to answer her wish, because in its reflection stood a tall figure, donned in a white shirt.
“Nanalii,” Came a voice, deep as an ocean and as smooth as silk. She brought her purple eyes up from the surface of the water at the sound, a huge grin lighting up her perfect features. “You look well.” Said the voice in that same luscious tone. Oh, how she did enjoy it.
The man whom had spoken was wading through the water to meet her. She had already jumped to her bare feet and was trying her hardest to run through the crystalline water without falling. Soon, though, she was in his strong arms, her hands on his broad chest. It had been a ‘while’ since she had seen the man. Stepping back, Nanalii examined him closely, trying to see if anything was different about him.
“You look the same as always;” She mused, smiling rather wickedly, “wet.” She finished with a laugh as if facial expression turned into that of a pout. “Splendidly wet, Lannair.” She whispered softly afterward, making a smile touch the corners of his lips, gracing them.
He was full of contrasts in his looks. Quite opposite of Nanalii. His cheeks were sharp and high on his face. His lashes were longer than a man’s should have been. There was a porcelain tint to his pale skin, making it gleam white in the moonlight, as if he were some nightly, graceful apparition. In contrast to his skin, his hair was a dark black that shimmered like onyx in the light of the moon. It was amazing how one viewed another in the night… Though, there was one feature of his that was absolutely exquisite, something he shared with Nanalii; his eyes.
Silver; a colour that made his contrast complete. They danced about, much like the water he was standing in. They were almost like metal, though liquid. He often explained them as mercury, saying they were beautiful just as much as they were intoxicating. Both were dazzling and dangerous.
With a small smile, Nanalii stepped forward again, reaching up and held his face in her fragile-looking hands. Leaning forward, Lannair wrapped a muscular arm about her waist, pulling her to him and to his perfect, thin lips. She closed her eyes with the contact. It was pleasant, feeling the cool touch of his mouth against her own feverishly warm ones. She pulled back after a while, making sure that it didn’t go much further than that. They didn’t need to do this again. It had barely been two days since they last joined together.
Lannair, however, looked confused as to why she pulled away from him. Had he done something wrong? Upon seeing the look on his face, Nanalii laughed, plucking at the white shirt that clung to his sculpted body.
“My brother is near, Lain!” She cried out with another laugh before slapping him on the chest with an open palm. “Don’t look so wounded!” She was teetering on the edge of bursting into laughter and on the verge of breaking down in to tears. If her younger brother knew the relationship she was having with an Unseelie Fey then he would have had a fit. “You already know that he distrusts you. He is always calling you unfaithful and a rat. All because of one thing…”
“I am a Kelpie?” Answered Lannair bitterly through clenched perfect teeth.
Nanalii shook her head and then walked away from the water, heading onto the shore and feeling the gravelly sand stick to the bottoms of her bare feet. “He doesn’t care much for you because you made a pact with the Shadows, Lain.” Her tone was factual and brisk, as if she were bringing up an old topic.
An old topic it was. They argued often about it and she even started to cry. He had soothed her by confessing that the Shadows had to control over him and instead welcomed him warmly. Lain had even gone as far as to tell her that he made a friend, revealing little Incubo, whom was but a shadow kitten at the time, to her. Nanalii had warmed up to it, but Lain could tell she was uncomfortable with it around all the time. ‘After all’, he had said, ‘What beauty is there in this world without the contrasts of shadow and light? It would be nothing but flat colour.’
That had won her over, and she had given him a look that melted his heart. A look so full of purity and innocence that he couldn’t help but fall for it every time she used it on him. Innocence was his weakness. All thanks to that wondrous woman, Nanalii.
Now, though, those innocent eyes were clouded by crossness and her lips were pursed in an obvious pout. “You know full well what the Shadows can do, Lain.” She then looked away and stared at the top of the high cliff. “They can become corrupt and something entirely different.” He wasn’t about to tell her that he already knew that…
Lain raised his hands, letting her know that she won and that he would not argue. He had no interest in fighting with her. All he wanted to do was spend the rest of that glorious night with her. Reaching out, he attempted to grab hold of her slender waist, but she bounded out of his reach and started to run for the cliff. He shouted after her, leaping through the water to get to her side, but it was too late, she was climbing the large rock wall already, giving Lannair no choice but to smile and say, “I can see up your dress!”
There was a laugh from high above him. “It’s not like you haven’t seen my panties before!” Nanalii called down to him. It was a short moment before she reached the top of the cliff and leaned over the edge, giving Lannair a good scrutiny with her bright eyes.
Nanalii may have been over one-hundred feet above him, but Lain could still see the gleam in her eyes from where he stood in the shallow water of the reflecting lake on the side of the cliff. There was a soft smile on his lips as he began to asend the rocky side on the cliff. One handful of rocks, another, and another, and soon he almost to the ultimate goal. Hands wrapped around his clinging, wet, white shirt, hauling him up to onto the flat surface of the cliff top.
“Hey, now, I could have gotten up here on my own.” Lannair chided and Nanalii laughed.
“Well I wanted to help you.”
“You did indeed.”
Silence surrounded the two after that as they stared into the starry sky. It was so different and crisp compared to its blurred, watery cousin that rippled on the lake’s surface. But there was silence from Lannair for a whole different reason. He needed dearly to tell her something he had done, about something he had met, but he knew that she wouldn’t like. For it was the corrupt Shadows.
Standing, Nanalii began to walk toward the ledge of the cliff that hung over that deepest part of the lake before she turned back and stared straight at, no- more like into- Lain. “I know you aren’t telling me something.” Her tone was dry, the kind of tone she adopted when she was upset about something.
“You have to promise me something first, love.” He whispered to her in reply before he, too, stood. She pursed her lips but nodded silently. Lain cleared his throat and stepped forward on the rocks, feeling the heat they gathered from the day warm the bare skin on his feet.
“I…I met the Darkness.”
There was silence from the beautiful young woman as she stared at Lain. Perhaps, after all, she wasn’t doing to get mad. Though, something glittered in her violet eyes sent his happy thought fleeting. There was nothing but rage filling her features until she exploded. “Lain!” Her voice was high, cracking with her anger, “I told you it was dangerous!” She lifted a hand and swiped it across his face in a swift slap.
Lannair was stunned. He had never been slapped. He had never been hurt by gentle Nanalii, but now she murderous. She seemed so out of control.
Nanalii took a step back, her bare feet gliding across the crumbling, brittle, rocky surface of the cliff. “How could you betray me like this?!” She demanded, taking yet another step backward.
“Nanalii, don’t-” Lain was about to warn her about the nearing cliff drop and tentatively approached her.
“Don’t interrupt me!” She screamed and tears rolled down her soft face. “Don’t even come near me!” She shoved at his chest, but he was much larger than her and all it did was make her unbalanced.
Her legs stretched out for behind her, regaining her balance, but the ledge was too eroded away to hold even her slight weight…and she fell. “No!” Lannair cried and shot forward, reaching uselessly for her hand, but it was too late. She was already careening down the cliff wall heading straight toward the water.
There was a loud ‘crack!’ as she hit the water’s surface, and from how high she was, it would have felt like hitting concrete, causing the same affects as any hard surface. Her spine shattered and she went into immediate shock, sinking like a rock, disappearing underneath the now dark, foreboding water’s surface.
Lannair couldn’t have dived in after her, or he would have suffered her same fate. Quickly, he swung down the ledge of the rock wall, descending as swiftly as he could, but it was at least ten whole minutes before he was safe to drop into the water.
Cold liquid rushed to meet his body as the water enveloped him, dragging him down. His lungs struggled to adjust to the changing environment. He finally took a drag of water through his mouth. He looked about the dark water, looking for a sign of Nanalii. A wisp of brown hair, a twinkle of her violet eyes, something. Anything! Out of his peripheral vision, Lain caught the flutter of a crème dress and now unnatural paleness of her skin.
Lannair was to her within seconds, dragging her body to the surface. Their heads broke through the dark shield of water and Lain took a long drag of the air, his lungs once again struggling to adapt to the change. Tugging Nanalii through the water, Lain swam as swiftly as he could, but there was no hope.
As he lay her on the sandy shore, he watched as blood and water seeped from her nose and mouth. There was no telling what she drowned in first; the water or her own blood.
“No…” He whispered as gathered her cold, lifeless, water-logged body into his now aching arms. “You can’t leave me. You can’t leave…”
Lain cradled her close, but a new sound beside his near silent sobs brought his attention away from the dead young woman in his arms.
“My God…” said a voice from a boy with almost the same features as the dead woman. He must have heard the yelling not to long before the incident. “What did you do…?” He sounded as if he were in shock.
Lain laid Nanalii down and stood staring at her brother in dismay. “Yuki, you don’t understand. I-”
“You killed her!” Accused Yuki, his own purple eyes alight in fury. “You monster!” He ran to his stiff, cold sister and resumed Lannair’s cradling. “You treated her like one of those filthy vermin you drag in and drown! Those other useless Fey!” He cried at the young Kelpie man. “Did you plan on eating her too?!” He demanded.
Lannair didn’t know how to respond. He just sat in silence and watched as Yuki mourned his sister. “Yuki… I swear I-”
“Go…” Came a whisper in response. “Just go…”
That Lain did, slowly backing up into the water before he eventually disappeared into its now blood stained depths. The stars no longer looked welcoming on its surface, but more like evil, preying eyes.
END.