Welcome to Gaia! ::

It would be long before the serpent roused himself from the land of dreams, the sun peeking into the tent and threading its way over his face causing him to stir. He shifted beneath the blanket with a grumble and a growl, turning this way and that as if to escape the sun until at long last he opened his eyes to greet the day with a startled hiss. Damion might be used to the high levels of sunlight around the rest of Gaia but that did not mean he had to enjoy its presence. He gave a mighty yawn and stretched much in the same way a cat would, arms reaching out above his head, feet pressed to the ground and forcing his back to arch and the blanket to sleep off his body.

The serpents that marked his torso were once again in their proper places this morning, without a hint that they had ever shifted at all. They, like he, glared out at the world for a brief moment as his mind tried to remember where he was. Tilly's smell, so strong now after a night of being so close, brought back most of his memory and with a sharp jolt he sat up with wide eyes on her. He had not expected her to stay it seemed as his face flushed with relief and pleasure to match the smile that split his lips.

" Tilly...."

Once again his heart beat just alittle harder without any given reason and Damion payed it no mind as he moved over to her on his hands and toes. Sunlight played across his body and warmed it as it cut through the tent opening, giving him energy he undoubtedly needed and waking him up further like a shot of coffee. There could have been dirt on his body like there was in her hair but it was harder to tell with his already dark skintone. It showed alittle better in his black hair, little shots of brown streaking the back of his head and some of the sides to which he payed no mind. After all, this was his element and he should be comfortable in it.

" Yes."

Damion thrilled at her touch, reaching up to gently grab her hands in his and lean forward to press his lips to hers. Even now he could taste the faint sweetness of the candy and now her own natural taste. It wasn't a long kiss, mere seconds at best, and afterwards he released her hands to balance himself better and sit on his toes.

" Did you?"

He could still feel where she had lain on his chest, a ghost of the pressure that had been there. It was far from unpleasant and the elemental found himself looking forward to the next time that feeling was there. It was a far cry better than some corpse laying ontop of him from where he'd been too weak to remove it, laying there until he found the strength. And the smell was better after all.

Outside the tent the sounds of animal life filtered in softly, the sounds of birds twittering softly, a soft russel from where a small creature ran through the grass. It amazed him abit that nothing had changed to the rest of the world and yet his own perceptions were very much different. It was as if they were incased in their own little bubble of life. And that suited him just fine.

Damion cocked his head to the side in thought, sitting back on his heels with his arms resting on his horizontal thighs. He knew of many, the trails of the woods known well to him, but each one had their own dangers to deal with in getting to them.

" I know of...several nearby."

He finally conceded with a nod, smiling again as the thoughtful look vanished. Sometimes being a wanderer had its advantages after all. Without further explanation he began to pack up camp, his mannerisms practiced and ritualistic despite the small amount he actually had to pack up.

" The closest is maybe 30 minutes from here. The streams come down to the woods from the mountains far from the north, but this one I beleive comes from a natural spring."

Damion looked over his shoulder at her as he folded up the canvas clothe that had been their shelter. His hands moved with minds of their own and not once did he have to look at them, packing the clothe into a tight, neat little bundle. This was stowed with the blanket into his pack and then slung over his shoulders in one swift motion, the elemental adding his shirt to the bundle without a second thought. Better to absorb the sunlight.

His hand found hers without hesitation, a gentle squeeze to reassure her accompanying it.

" Well then, this way."

There was no trail to follow across the fields to the woods, or atleast not one they were following. Their feet crushed the long grass to the ground in a serpentine pattern that wound its way around unseen obstacles. Small animals and birds fled at their presence, whole flocks of small birds taking flight in mixing patterns, swarming into the sky to join their kin already there. Damion seemed to delight at those moments, small twitches accompanying them and light jerks towards the birds that were quickly stopped when their hands grew taught.

" I'm sorry. I like chasing birds."

He sounded apologetic though his face was anything but, eyes bright and wide and a mischevious smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Upon entering the woods though the animals became slightly larger when they fled at all. Their feet cracked fallen branches and dead, rotted logs with equal measure, dead leaves creating a soft and silent carpet for them to walk on that sunk inwards with each step. Damion's bare feet made little noise and when he did break a stick it was quickly followed with a full stop, his head swiveling this way and that in search of danger.

Always though they started again through the trees with the sunlight barely breaking through the canopy. Strange and complex shadows cast themselves in their path and hid creatures dwelling under the warm and wet leaf cover. Several times serpents leaped from underfoot to slither off in search of safer dwelling.

" We aren't far. You can tell because the trees are still small."

Damion indicated with his free hand, pointing out several trees that were obviously much younger than the rest.

" This section of the forest is newer though I doubt any of these trees are younger than 20 or 30 years."

" No, I'm not."

He replied without looking down at her, watching a dragonfly snatch a bug out of the air.

" And yes, you might."

This time he did look down at her, his face set in a serious expression. Damion did not mean to insult her but neither was he a man to give false hope. Despite the serious expression on his face and the obvious gravity in which he had spoken, he was overtaken by a smile.

" But that's why I'm here. To be a bigger and badder predator than anything else that would dare cross our path."

Few creatures could match his boast, several sentient and the others decidedly not, but none could be said to match his passion for the fight. He would defend her until his last breath and even then spend that last breath on laughter in the face of Death. This was his natural habitat the same as the swamp, the same as any environment really. Soon after he had fallen silent even they could hear the sound of running water over stones. The ground became firmer, with more dirt visible as the stream came in sight. Cat-tails lined the banks in spots and small, rounded stones dominated the other locations in a kind of beach. The stream couldn't have been deeper than waist high on Damion, which would make it slightly higher on Tilly.

" Here, this is the place."

The water ran clear over a bed of multicolor stones and branches that had become stuck underwater for some time, bits of water plants growing between these and rocks and at times close to the shore. Fish, small minnows to palm sized blue gills swam freely in the water and soon scatter as the approached the water. The canopy above them filtered the sunlight down to them and illuminated little but it was clear that this was a safe enough place, with only the hoove marks of deer or other small creatures to show that it was visited at all.

Damion blinked once before nodding, clearly not understanding but not arguing the matter as he spun in place to face back the way they came. There was nothing there for him to see but atleast he gave off the pretense of being vigilant. Instead of watching for danger though he watched anything that moved through the air which included several dragonfly's and a butterfly that floated through the still air. There was no breeze to aid the chill of the water, so Tilly's first brush with it was just as cold as it would get.

No creatures moved in the water now although several fish were clearly visible hiding in the water weeds, peeking out at her from their hiding places. When she entered the water they scattered further downstream like tiny black comets, seeking safety from this obviously vicious predator elsewhere. Damion could feel them in the water barely, a tickle on his brain that brought a smile to his face. While he wasn't as in tune with the element of water here or at all he did possess some skill in sensing things and manipulating it. It just seemed like something he would keep from Tilly for now, the Hydra shutting the sense down as he would just as easily close his eyes.

To amuse himself he crouched down and began to weave little things together, whatever he could grab as long as it was flexible. There wasn't any particular pattern he was shooting for and in all reality it looked like a retard had gotten hold of too much glue, but it occupied his mind and his hands while she bathed.

He looked back from his little arts and crafts project, now about the size of a dinner plate and made up of twigs, leaves, reeds he had found near to him, and the like. Even a few feathers had been stuck in to give it more color and style. Seeing her dressed though made him discard it with a flick of his wrist, the construction flying like a frizbee further down the stream to land with a small splash. He didn't care about it at all, it was just a way to pass the time.

" Better?"

There were times where he went a week or more without bathing, too intent or busy to bother with the simple preening of his body. But he did understand that to many people being clean was very important and even he found the act of sitting in water to atleast be meditational in a way. He stood up to walk over to her, careful not to touch her in the event she got dirty again. He was well aware of how filthy he was.

Damion wiped at his face alittle to free the sides of dirt where he'd been sleeping on it. Granules of filthy fell from his face in a rain and the elemental wondered if he should also bathe, although that would wash away the natural smell he produced.