Rinse - [ Open ]

Twilight slowly turned itself into dawn. The sun's claws extended over the land of Aleha, stretching to where Ariel was quietly sleeping to herself in the forest. A giant oak arced into the sky above her, appearing to spear into the clouds themselves before tapering into the leaves that protected the forest floor below. The tingle of warmth echoed through her slender figure, making her roll slightly to the side. A small lump in the tree poked her in the back hard enough to wake her from her slumber. Immediately, Ariel stood up and looked around, making sure the area was still as safe as it was the night before when she had chosen it. Of course, if it wasn't Ariel would never have slept through the danger with the spirit of the tree protecting her, but it couldn't hurt to be a little overly protective. There was nothing there, and nature seemed to be as calm as it would be deep in the wilderness.

Allowing her magical energy to flow around her, Ariel summoned the spirits of wind which flowed around her. Letting her shoes trail on the ground for a second behind her, she lifted into the air and few up into the oak, settling on one of the higher branches. From there, the entire land lay out before her. Rivers flowed quietly. Trees stretched their branches ever higher, trying to reach the clouds above. The wildlife seemed to be going through their lives as peacefully as ever. Before, this scene would have moved Ariel. Her smile would have appeared easily and all her tension would go away. But now, nothing seemed to give her the warm feeling. Even though the sun was twinkling through the leaves warming her body, her soul felt as cold as it would have been visiting Wrynos in the depth of winter.

Feeling as awake as she could be, the elf woman let herself slide out of the tree and begin a rapid falling descent. Of course, she urged her magic into the wind once again, and flew into the air quietly, this time circling the giant oak a few times, then flying to her favorite spot. It took quite a little while before she arrived, but it was worth it. The ground beneath this spot had small pockets of magma deep within the earth, and luckily there was a reservoir of water very close by. The heat from this patch of earth heated the water and made a hot spring hidden in the depth of the forest. There was a less than audible patter as both of her spry feet landed on the ground next to the spring. No one seemed to be around other than the deer and other critters that called the surrounding area home.

Seeing this, Ariel slid off her clothes, exposing her flawless, luminous skin. Folding her clothes and placing them aside, a few deer had come to admire what the new creature in the area was doing. From the edge of the pool, Ariel let the tip of her foot dip into the water, testing the temperature. Feeling it was perfect, she gracefully slid into the water, not causing a visible ripple. The heat of the water was soothing on her skin. Looking around again, Ariel lowered herself slowly into the water until it reached her lips, then dipped even lower until she was submerged completely. She came up just as slowly, allowing the water to drip from her body, and run in groves down to the surface. The Sun was rising over the horizon, so her bath had to be hurried up.

Once she was clean, Ariel used her spirits of wind to dry herself. From there she threw on her clothes and took off once again. Flying high in the air, Ariel spotted the city that she was off to visit. Her food had run out, so supplies seemed to be running low. Eating animals was something that elves just didn't do, so she needed the vegetables and herbs that she could only get from a human city in this part of the world.

A few hundred meters away, she landed, out of sight of the guards of the city. That was something she had learned in the past. Humans didn't take too well to people flying over their gates and landing inside. She was almost placed in the dungeon once before for such a blunder and wouldn't be making the same mistake again. The gates loomed over as she passed into the city. Human cities were always amazing to elves, and this was quite a city, Royal by the looks of it.

Her hood was kept very low, so she wouldn't draw too much attention, but her ears were very visible, making her race obvious. As long as they didn't hear the stories of her past, now distant enough that most humans wouldn't hear unless it was a bedtime take, they wouldn't know her anyway. Once she got into the city, Ariel moved around until she ended up in the center of the city. A very large fountain shot water into the air while human families sat around enjoying the company of each other. In the nearer past, just the scene would have made her sick with grief, but her soul seemed to have healed to the point she just couldn't feel that anymore.

A young girl was sitting on the fountain, so Ariel sat near, but not right beside her, taking a quick rest before continuing her supply run.

Ariel was only sitting a few seconds, but the crisp, refreshing mist from the fountain contrasting with the warmth of the sun was amazing. Those few seconds almost seemed like an hour. a small smile crossed her face out of the physical pleasure that seemed to allocate her. Just when she was enjoying it the most, she noticed the curiosity of the girl sitting near her. She seemed to be fascinated by Ariel. Just the thought that someone was genuinely interested in her was nothing new. Humans often wanted to speak to her. But most of those humans wanted something. Her beauty made her the object of many human men's fantasies. Her ability in magic and her race itself made human mages seek her out for training. Even people hearing the legend of the atrocities she committed wanted to just see the perpetrator of such acts that made even the elves exile one of their kind. That attention just flared and opened the old wounds of the past, which often left Ariel having the familiar nightmares that frequented her in her sleep.

The curiosity of the girl only seemed to increase as she leaned over, admiring what she could see of Ariel's face, and her elongated ears that were obviously visible through the hood. Making her examination more obvious, the girl tilted her head and leaned slightly over, trying to get an even better view. The look on her face was almost comical, and an even wider smile broke across her face. Such a thing hadn't happened in almost a century. Even the idea that a small human girl such as this could console her enough, with just a look, to make such a smile cross her face was ludicrous itself. And yet... it happened. Ariel turned her head slightly to the girl, letting her silver eyes go over the entirety of her form with a quick glance.

The girl had long black hair, bright blue eyes, a slender body, and pale skin. Her clothes were above average. Just by looking, the dress she was wearing seemed to be of an average make, but with an eye as observant as Ariel's, the making of the dress was of royal caliber. Nothing like the elven counterparts, but for a human dress made to look casual, this was of spectacular make. The hat was cute, and everything on her went well with each other. The girl seemed to notice that she had a funny look on her face and started stumbling over words trying to greet Ariel with. She giggled a little. To everyone else it would sound like small bells, a sweet sound that men fell entranced with. To the woman that made it however, the sound seemed foreign, almost disgusting.

Ariel's silver eyes locked onto the eyes of the woman. They glowed a brilliant blue in the daylight. Even with her small, almost doll-like appearance, there was a great beauty to be found there. When her eyes pierced into the soul of the girl, she saw no menace or devotional desire, just simple curiosity. A purity of emotion that, during her travels, Ariel had seen very little of. Deciding that this person was worth meeting, the elven woman opened her mouth slowly, calculating the words that she would say to this newfound person. "Don't fuss too much with introductions, your eyes are enough to stress your intentions. And elves aren't much to gawk at. In fact, I prefer human company anyway. It is nice to meet you, girl."

Ariel thought about giving her name right off, but the old elven cultural habits kept her from doing so. Names weren't something to be taken lightly, though humans seemed to have started using them more casually than in previous times.

Against her original signs, this girl seemed to settle herself down as she opened her mouth the second time. A fluid introduction of herself came out, and thus the girl was named Cadence, a pretty name for a human. Her purity seemed to draw Ariel to the girl. Most humans professed to be the kind of person this little girl was. By the second, this girl seemed to erode the cold shell that Ariel had put up so long ago. Her voice piped up again and asked Ariel her name. Her elf ears twitched slightly and she hesitated. Names were something that Elves held in very high regards because it gives power over others. Humans had, over many years, eroded this themselves, giving their names away casually and indiscriminately. Ariel took a few seconds to think.

Through her head ran through a thousand responses that she would have said before her exile. Most of them set to avoid the question. Before her exile, she would have just said the first one that came to mind and ended the conversation quickly after that, not giving a chance for humans to learn who she was, but that was a hundred years ago. Things had changed, her values had changed, and her very reason for living had changed. Her thoughts still raced, but she settled. Only a few seconds had passed outside, but in her mind, Ariel felt like it had been an hour. The girl had turned to face Ariel, putting her knees in her chest as Ariel had seen many of the elven children do around the older members of the village when listening to a story. This look, however, seemed more out of a sense of interest, while remaining defensive, than comfortability.

Finally, Ariel opened her own mouth and spoke. "I wouldn't make it a habit of asking any elf their name, but I guess I am not your average elf anymore. My name is Ariel, The Windrunner. If you have heard my name before in any stories, please don't repeat it around casually. I am putting my trust in you Cadence. I hope you will not disappoint me." Cadence may have seen the woman as a prude, or perhaps much too serious, but she had no idea how hard it was to break those customs that she had held so strictly in the past. Such a change for her was akin to a human tearing out their own hair. As such, Ariel felt weird having a person she had just met knowing her name, ignoring the fact that many probably heard her tale when they were children.

Ariel waited for the girls response, looking around at the trees. The first changed leaf of the Autumn season broke from its branch and ventured out on its own for the first time. Little did it know, its journey would end up crashing to the ground to be trampled by the other creatures of the world. Ariel placed her hand in the air quickly, diverting the wind currents in the area, having the leaf float quietly to her outstretched hand. "I seem to trust you for some reason Cadence, and I can't place why. It has never come so easy for me before, and that scares me. If you have not heard my story, then someday, I could tell you the real story myself." For some reason, just those words allowed Ariel to comfort herself to some extent.

A smile brightened the elf's face. Her delicate features had long since forgotten how to accurately perform that emotion, but it seemed she found herself wanting to smile a lot around this girl. She was shy, but her nature was... different, for a human. Her words were spoken softly. Her compliments were gentle and flowing. Everything about her screamed elegance. A human of her standards was really one in a million, meaning Ariel's luck in meeting this special girl was amazing. Her beautiful comments were appreciated, though most humans found the delicate and gentle features to be beautiful. But coming from Cadence, it seemed to be more meaningful. Ariel's heart felt whole again for the moments she was spending with this girl, so she continued to listen while her fragile new friend was speaking.

Her next words continued to make the elf feel welcomed. She hadn't heard the story of Ariel's pain, so that was a plus. In fact, the times that Ariel had been in earshot of the story, she had been made the villain somehow. It was true she had lost control of her power, but had it not been the traitor elf that caused the trauma leading to that end? Of course it had been. But that man had escaped from the place before Ariel's banishment and spread the story while Ariel wandered the wilderness atoning for her sins in her own mind. It was a blessing in itself that this new possible friend had not fallen to those lies.

Ariel turned to her, meeting her eyes again. Her silver irises seemed to glow brighter than before. Her magic blood moved through her body with renewed vigor. It was absurd that a human could invoke these feelings in an elf. Even more so, an elf that had been a loner since her birth over one hundred and fifty years ago. "Cadence, you really are a special human. Your gentle soul reminds me of the traits valued so highly in my kind. It really does me well to see a human like you." A smile crossed her face momentarily again as she stood from her resting place. She felt like showing the girl something, but her frailty remained forefront in Ariel's mind. "If you wish, we could see your kingdom from a better view. I don't want to make you sick though. Feel free to decline."

She kept humming and more, not able to stop. Her imagination was more like turning into a movie.
3-D motions, seeing blood and death, but then she saw a little girl and looked up from where she was standing. There was a door,with a girls name on it that said ''Karisa''. She couldn't believe her eyes once again, what's with the girl in the picture and the name. Of course it was the girls name but she thought she was the only girl with that name. Karisa eyes then flashed and saw the fountian she was sitting on and the girl and humans. It seemed a girl was looking at her, was she reconized as someone? Or...was is something else, either or she still wanted to know but she sat still. Her dress was a little dirty so as she hummed the song she remembered long ago she putted some water on it and started to carefully scrub. After a few moments it was finally gone and then a woman came by her.
Karisa saw the woman get closer and then looked at her.

“Ma’am… That song you’re humming… Where did you hear it?” She asked Karisa.

Karisa looked at her and thought of where she heared it from but she really didn't know. So she thought of an explanation of where she heard the tune from. Later then she thought of something,coughed to clear her throat and looked at her.

''I can't remember much things about where I got it from, but this tune I am singing is the only thing I remember. I knew it since I was three years old and I never forgot it since. Why are you so interested in knowing Ma'am?'' she wanted to say words as polite as possiable since she doesn't like to be rude. Karisa looked at her and wondered who she was and why she wanted to know. She got up and looked at her and smiled and she of course looked like a rare beauty.