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 Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 11:55 pm
It was a lovely, if mild, summer day- just slightly overcast, with a lovely warm breeze blowing through the trees. And as such weather rarely encouraged productivity, Rylan had surrendered to whim, as per usual, and had decided that it was a day for a picnic. Thus, before anyone knew it (or could object too loudly), she had seen to it that a basket was packed, and within half an hour she and Jiang-Chen were rumbling down the road towards Cyrus in the back of the car with their lunch between them.
Upon arriving at Rylan’s chosen location- one of the larger and less manicured parks nearer the outskirts of the city, they left the car and set off across the grass- Rylan with Jiang-Chen on one arm, and the picnic basket in the other. If she knew where she was headed, she didn’t seem inclined to share, following one of the dirt trails through a small stand of trees, humming happily to herself. ”Mother, do you happen to have a destination in mind?” Jiang sounded rather plaintive, though he’d say that it was beneath him to whine. ”My scales are getting dry and beginning to itch. Will you get my spraybottle out of the basket please?” Rylan didn’t pause to dig through the basket, though she did pick up her pace slightly. ”Of course I know where I’m going dear, we’re almost there, so hold on just a minute longer- Ah, see, we’re here!”
‘Here’ was a pond on the other side of the trees that looked as if it could have come straight off a postcard. Right down to the pair of brightly colored ducks paddling about near the far bank. Rylan smiled. ”See, I told you we were almost there. I thought you might like this spot- you can have a swim before lunch if you like, while I set up the blanket?” Jiang looked mollified. At his nod, Rylan approached the bank to let him down into the water before setting the basket down and spreading the blanket out on the grass, resuming her humming.
Sparing one last glance at his mother as she worked, Jiang flicked his tail and headed off further along the water’s edge to explore the little pond and surroundings, though the ducks gave him nasty looks for his efforts.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:32 am
Natalia's escape had been successful. Sunlight broke through the leaves, highlighting parts of the trail that led her to her pond. She walked swiftly, as if her destination was a haven. It's not like she didn't like her sister or Amma. She did, very muchly so. But sometimes Pana gets too excited and Amma plays her music loudly. They laugh and dance and it seems like a terrible good time but...
Her backpack bounced against her back as she walked. Inside, was a book about stormy, dreary nights, much unlike today. The quiet of the pond and the sweet sunlight should opposite Amma and Pana's dance party. The trees broke and she was here.
But her usual spot was different today; she wasn't alone. Right next to the bank swam a boy.
...
If she returned now, she was sure not to get any peace. Maybe he wouldn't mind some company? She never met a boy her age but she heard that they thought girls had cooties, so maybe he'd swim away without giving her much trouble. Her amber eyes glistened with curiosity. She walked over to the bank and plopped herself down in a dry spot, her Afro bouncing with the sudden change of height.
"Hello?" she asked, more than greeted.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 1:06 am
Jiang himself had been treading water, momentarily occupied with returning the duck’s nasty looks when he heard the sound of footsteps on the grass. Assuming it to be his mother, he didn’t immediately acknowledge the presence, instead maintaining his staredown with the fowl.
The voice that addressed him, however, was certainly not his mother’s, and that was when he turned to find a girl that hadn’t been there a moment ago. ”Ah, good day.” He greeted, nodding his head politely. If he was at all suprised by her unexpected appearance, or upset at having his peace disturbed, he wasn't letting it show. He was admittedly slightly confused by the inflection to her greeting though- was she trying to ask something, or just unsure of herself? ”Is there something I may help you with?” Hopefully she wasn't going to try and make him leave- they'd been here first, after all, but an altercation was the last thing he felt like dealing with.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 1:03 pm
The backpack slipped off of Natalia's shoulders as she continued to settle herself into the location. Another quick study of the boy revealed a pair of horns protruding from his silver hair. Natalia was in the presence of the spirit of the pond! Or so she believed. She had seen magically creatures before, and she supposed that she was one herself, so maybe she shouldn't be in awe. But, it's not everyday you meet a pond spirit.
"Is this your pond?" She asked with shy curiosity. The answer was obvious, and the question stupid, but she wasn't quite sure what to say to a pond spirit.
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 9:10 pm
He watched as the girl settled down and made herself comfortable, taking it as a good sign that she wasn't going to try and chase him off- excellent, the day was looking up after all. With a lazy flick of his tail he drifted a bit closer to the shore so they could speak more comfortably.
...Wait now, his pond? Now he was really confused. He blinked up at the girl several times, brows furrowed slightly. "No, of course not." Did she think she was trespassing or something? "My name is Jiang-Chen, I came here with my mother for a picnic." He made a vague gesture down the bank to where Rylan was sitting on her blanket- she appeared to have pulled out some embroidery project or something, and wasn’t paying them the slightest attention. "To my knowledge, this is a public park."
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:13 pm
"Oh! So you're not the pond spirit? You seemed like one..." Natalia asked, surprised. She was slightly disappointed. But that lasted momentarily as the splash of a tail caught her wonder.
"Jiang-Chen. I'm Natalia!" She pushed herself onto her belly and wiggled to the edge. Her arm out reached towards his as far as she could reach without entering the water.
"Your tail is very pretty.. It must be nice to have one."
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 11:48 pm
Well, that was certainly a new one. "I cannot say I have ever been called a pond spirit before. But no, alas, I am not. I am a dragon." Maybe pond spirits and dragons looked alike? He'd never met one himself, so maybe it was an easy mistake to make. As she introduced herself and held out a hand, he came closer himself- it left him with his belly in the mud as the water became too shallow- and reached out a clawed hand to very carefully grasp hers. "Natalia. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance." Meeting someone new was definitely better than he'd hoped for when he'd first been dragged out of his bathtub this morning.
He couldn't help but preen just a little at her complement of his tail- it was nice, to have someone's first reaction be just a straight up complement, with no questions about why he didn't have legs, or how he moved around on land. He didn't even mind those questions too much, generally, but still- it was nice. The polite upturn of his lips widened into something much more genuine. "Thank you Natalia. I like it very much, yes."
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 12:18 pm
Natalia retracted her hand and placed it under her chin to prop it up. Her feet kicked up and down in excitement. Meeting a pond spirit was exciting, but a dragon? Now that was life-changing! She hadn't really read much about dragons, but she had seen a movie where a knight had killed one. She supposed that the dragon was evil; it was burning down a village. Jiang-chen didn't seem evil though. In fact he was very polite. Her head tilted in curiosity.
"Being a dragon must be exciting. I never met a dragon before, to be honest. (Or much of anyone else for that matter..) Do you have other dragon friends?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 6:47 pm
After Natalia released his hand, Jiang considered moving away again until he wasn’t touching the bottom, but quickly decided to remain where he was despite the shallow mud he was resting on. It was a comfortable distance for conversation, and it wouldn’t be hard to wash off in the deeper water later. Settling down, he mirrored her position somewhat, with elbows set lightly on the bottom and his chin resting on linked fingers- it still left his face a good few inches above the water’s surface.
He hummed slightly, contemplating her question with a slight tilt of his head. ”It is difficult for me to say if it is exciting to be a dragon- I have never been anything else.” Well, except an incense burner, but that was another story. ”I confess, I have never met one either, myself notwithstanding. I would like to, one day, but perhaps we are simply not common in this area.” He paused for a moment, seeming deep in thought. ”For that matter, I should like to meet a pond spirit someday as well.”
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Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 7:06 pm
"I'm sure they exist, considering that dragons exist." Natalia chimed in, thoughtfully. If she were a pond spirit, she'd never leave this pond. It was tranquil here. The sunlight glistened the slight waves: the air was heavy with drifting pollen. Sometimes an angry cloud of bugs would swarm her, but even that wasn't so troublesome.
But for all the time Natalia visited this pond, she never saw the pond spirit. Maybe it's sleeping, she thought. She usually came during the day; she wasn't brave enough to adventure here during the night. Once she thought she saw the pond spirit bubbling up from the mud, but it only turned out to be a toad.
"Do you think it's sleeping?" She asked, interested in some input to her theory. "Maybe it sleeps at the bottom of the pond, and comes out at night. I would like to think a pond spirit wouldn't leave it's home."
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:57 pm
He frowned lightly, clearly not quite on board with her logic. ”I do not believe that one necessarily proves the other. Dragons most certainly exist, as here I am, but I have never seen a pond spirit.” Even before her last comment, if she’d mistaken him for one, he assumed that she’d never seen one either. ”We would need to meet one to be sure, of course.” Ah, if only it were that easy.
He paused to consider her theory, tapping a claw thoughtfully against the scales of his cheek. ”If that is true, I would not wish to disturb it while it rests- it would be terribly rude.” He briefly considered that his swimming earlier may have disturbed the spirit, but a series of loud quacks from across the pond quickly put his mind at ease- if those stupid ducks didn’t bother it, certainly nothing he’d done could be considered disrupting. ”If we wished to attempt a search, it would seem prudent to return after dark, when the spirit may be awake.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:50 pm
"Aahhh." Natalia sighed, slightly disappointed. Jiang's logic seemed sound enough, and she supposed she'd hate to be rude and wake the pond spirit (she refused to believe it didn't exist, however) but sensibility doesn't sate curiosity. There was no way she was coming back here at night time, not even with Pana by her side. She figured that Jiang wouldn't be able to return either. He seemed brave enough, he was a dragon after all. However, mothers (judging by her own) don't seem like the adventuring type. She drew a small circle in the mud with her finger, as she thought.
"I hope I didn't interrupt your swimming." began Natalia as she brought her gaze back to Jiang. "I am enjoying our conversation though! But if I'm keeping you, feel free to continue."
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Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:18 pm
His look clearly said that he shared her disappointment. “Unfortunately, I live some distance from the city. While I occasionally have opportunities to venture out after dark, they are few and far between.” How aggravating. Now how were they supposed to find out if there was a spirit in the pond? ”I do not suppose you have more convenient access after nightfall?” He didn’t sound terribly optimistic- if she could just come anytime at night she probably wouldn’t have sounded so disappointed, after all.
He was still half thinking, half sulking over their problem when her voice brought him out of his thoughts. ”Hm? Oh, no, not at all.” He waved a hand absently, dismissing her concern. ”I have a great many more opportunities to swim than I do to meet someone new, so please do not think yourself a bother.” Even though he’d never been to this particular pond before, it would always be here if he came back another day- he could explore more some other time. Maybe the ducks would even be gone.
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