Welcome to Gaia! ::

James nodded taking off his clothes and revealing all the scars on his body. There were burn scars, slash scars, drill scars, and patches of skin that looked like they were sliced off. "He's the smart on but we are about the same strength." He said jumping in the water.

Jacob sighed as he took a seat in a stool. "No thanks. I don't like fruit." He said feeling that the girl he was with was simple minded.

"Well, if you want to starve, that's fine," Keahi replied, unperturbed. She ate the mango slices slowly, looking at her boy. He was very hansom, but he seemed to expect her to entertain him. That was just...wrong. She wanted someone who would serve her. Not the other way around. But maybe she could change him. Train him. And if it didn't work, she could always trade boys with Taima. "Alright, I'm done. Lets go hiking. I know this great trail that goes right over an active lava flow. Sound like fun?"

Taima sighed. This wasn't turning out the way she had planned. But at least her boy was sexy. Perhaps he didn't need to be the smartest, but at least he was charming. She swam next to him.

"You certainly have a beautiful physique," she observed as she circled him in the water. "And it looks like you have interesting stories, too. Care to share?"

Taima reached out and traced one of James's scars. A single tear fell from her eye onto the scar. The flesh flushed and flattened, and healed like there had never been a wound in the first place. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. She should have known that the only toys Grandmama would get them would be proven resistant to harm.

"Luckily, you're in paradise now," she murmured. "We do things differently here."


Keahi arched an eyebrow at her boy. His vanishing act was a neat trick, but it could get annoying really fast.

"Come with me to the lava fields, and you'll learn everything you need to know," she replied.

She hooked her arm in his and led the way out the door. As they hiked along a black rocky path that the jungle hadn't overrun yet, she talked.

"What's to know?" she wondered out loud. "I told you who my significant predecessors are. I'm obviously marooned on this island for my own good since neither my sister nor I can control our tempers. I'm worse than she is, actually. I'm more like Grandmama--which is why I'm her favorite. Anyway, she occasionally tests us with...companions. She's a bit traditional with that sort of thing, but the theory is that when we can control ourselves enough to not kill--or put in a coma--anyone around us, we'll be released upon the unsuspecting world."

Taima smiled into his shoulder. "Paradise exists. Our little slice right here is proof enough. There's nothing to do all day but relax and have fun. And I can think of a lot of fun things we can do."


"It's kind of like getting a dog after you've killed a pond full of gold fish," Keahi laughed. "The more mistakes you can survive, the better chance I have of learning to control myself. I am not one for torture as a rule, but it canbe fun in the right setting." She winked. "We're almost there. Ready?" She took his hand and led him through the last bit of dense jungle and around a large black boulder.

Taima kissed James' shoulder. "Yes, relax. Unwind. Chill out. Take five. Get laid and just let go," she expounded. "It's not as if you'll be put to work in the mines, although I can think of a cave or two that needs some exploring. Are you good at holding your breath?"


"You think all dogs are cuddly Labrador puppies?" Keahi teased. Then she pulled Jacob around the final barrier and they were on the lava flow. Most of this side of the island was black lava rock. Several molten red rivers of lava lazily wound down the shallow slope. The sun sparkled off chunks of volcanic glass and steam shrouded the jagged edge where flow met seawater. "Isn't it marvelous?"

"Then take a deep breath and follow me," Tamia said.

She inhaled and slipped beneith the surface of the water, holding onto James' hand and pulling him under with her. She led him through a hole at the bottom of the pool and through a long tunnel. Then they reached another chamber and she swam up to the surface again. They broke the surface deep in a cave. The top of the cave was covered with tiny blue-green lights, which gave off just enough light to see vague outlines by, even for a demi-goddess and a demon.

"Lava tube," Tamia explain as she swam slowly to the edge. "Ancient enough for glow-worms to take up residence."


"You really are hot stuff," Katirel teased Jacob. She waded into the lava flow and the intense heat burned her sarong quickly. She turned and looked at him--almost shoulder deep in molten rock. "Join me?"

Tamia smiled seductively and closed the distance between them to give James a brief kiss...which last longer than can strictly be defined by "brief."


Keahi admired Jacob's scars as she snuggled up to him in a small recess in the river of lava, where the current wasn't too strong.

"No one's ever shared this with me," she said absently. "Not even Tamia. I'm glad your here. Whatever the reasons and wherever you've been and done and seen."

Tamia grinned when she felt something hard and pointy down below. In response, she just pushed harder into the kiss. The pressure pushed him over and she fell with him under the water.

Keahi smiled and leaned into Jacob's embrace. "So, what do you want to do next? Surf the boiling surf over there? Throw lava-bombs at palm trees? Or make out like wayward teens at inspiration point?"