Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( This RP is open to anyone and everyone who is looking for a little activity, as I am. If someone posts though and takes more than a week or two to respond, don't be surprised if you get skipped in the posting order. Granted, if it is just me and someone else, then this won't happen, but I thought I would mention it! ))



It was getting colder, and Caoimhe didn't like it. There was something familiar about it, the kind of thing that tended to make her head hurt if she thought about it too much. The trees all around her were dripping leaves like a running faucet so that the ground swam in a sea of browns and golds.

The Selkie Fa'e had tried to fight the impending season, to stay indoors next to the fireplace, but her soul was not accustomed to walls and ceilings. So, taking a handful of money from Gristla, Caoimhe set off that morning to buy a jacket from a local thrift store. It was tan and suede with fur lining the inside and bulging out at the wrists and neck. It was hooded, which Caoi liked, and some small girlish part of her enjoyed the fact that it complimented her tanned-leather bodice and shorts. No matter what Gristla said, Caoimhe refused to wear pants so, as a compromise, the stubborn girl wore thick leggings up to her mid-thigh and a pair of simple boots.

No sure where she was walking to, Caoimhe eventually ended up at the edge of a river somewhere to the East of Barton Town. It was lightly shaded by bending trees, and the ground was firm beneath her feet. She tripped awkwardly in her shoes, still completely unaccustomed to the feel of them, and once she reached a good spot to sit, the selkie Fa'e stripped them from her feet, wiggling sock-clad toes in the air.

After collapsing into the grass for a moment, Caoi relented her relaxed position and began fishing in the dark brown messenger bag at her side. Her lips pursed as she dug deeper, but eventually relaxed as she found the missing item. Tossing a way glance over each shoulder, Caoimhe pulled a small children's book from her bag entitled "Clucky the Duckie and other Assorted Tales." She had finally graduated into books with pictures on every other page, and had secretly begun reading in her spare time outside of lessons with Gristla.

She really felt like she was a scholar now, and the girl still beamed each time Gristla added another gold star to "Caoimhe's Reading Chart" in the bedroom they shared. Of course, Gristla wanted her to read so that she could educate herself and get a job, but Caoimhe cared for a different reason. After all her time in Gaia, the Fa'e still had so many unanswered questions about her birth and the meaning of her life, and though these questions generally did not plague the simple girl, she had found her mind wandering more and more to them. She reasoned, if no one would tell her anything, then she would just have to learn to read so she could research it herself. It made sense to her.

So, propping her back against a tree, Caoimhe took a deep breath and began to recite the lines before her like a student learning to speak in a foreign language for the first time. "Clucky was a very special duckie..."

(( I don't know if you know Caoimhe's backstory, but just know that she hates all dogs/wolves more than pretty much anything else in the world and will not listen to reason when one is involved. ))

A familiar feeling prickled on Caoimhe's skin as she finished another page. Clucky had just managed to get out of the fishing net some negligent human had left by the riverbank, but things weren't looking good as he went to investigate a discarded tin can. But her trepidation was not for the little fictional duck; it was something worse.

There was a smell, not one that Caoimhe could readily identify; it had been a year since she had faced its ardour. Tracking in her old world had given Caoimhe slightly heightened olfactory senses, but this smell--this smell she would never forget.

They found me.

She was on her feet in an instant and took off running along the river bank. Her short stature kept her stride small, but she made up for it in speed. In her haste, Caoi left her book and shoes in the grass. It didn't matter. If this wolf was here from Aranorn, then her life was already over. All the sanctuary Gaia had offered her was gone, and telling them that she was special and a Fa'e would do nothing to stop it.

Somehow, the Eninac must have found a portal like that Spirit Guy had and now they were here to kill her. But how had they tracked her? Gristla would be able sense them before Caoi ever had a chance, being a scientist and a natural-born Enilef.

As she leapt over a small log, Caoimhe felt a shudder go up her spine. What if Gristla was already dead? What if the only person who mattered to her had been killed by this or maybe some other Eninac mercenary?

The old Caoimhe would have stopped to fight, but the selkie Fa'e found her feet less stable. Her mind screamed for her to run, to fight for the life that was now hers. She had just gotten her freedom; she would not give it back.

Rushing past the river, Caoimhe ran until her lungs burned, determined to evade the wolf at all costs. She knew he might catch her, and only then would she resort to fighting. Her full lips whispered a small prayer to the rushing, chill air that her month of lethargy had not killed her warrior spirit.

Tossing a gaze over her shoulder, Caoimhe nearly vomited. The wolf was not a wolf anymore. It was a man. Well, a wolf-man. Lovely, just lovely.

They had evolved? She had been gone one damn year and the son's-of-bitches had created a new breed of warrior. Typical. Just typical. Now what was she supposed to do? The old Eninac were dogs--big dogs, but still just dogs. Punch anything hard enough, and it will stop fighting back.

But this thing was big, much bigger than her, and though Caoimhe did not usually let her petite form prevent her from fighting twice as hard, the prospect of throwing a few swings at the New and Improved Eninac Hyper-Warrior was not her idea of a fair fight.

Her legs did not stop moving. In fact, they pumped twice as hard at the unknown creature. Ahead of her, the river bent toward thicker woods, and Caoimhe's hopes raised. She could feel the source of the river somewhere in that forest, and she knew she would be able to find it. Eninac might be able to run, but she had them all licked on swimming. And if this creature caught up with her, it might be her only hope.


(( I will be away from the computer for Friday and most of Saturday to go visit my mom back home. Just a head's up! ))

Ducking beneath another branch, Caoimhe cursed to the wind. This thing spoke the Gaia language? Most Eninac used some weird kind of mental communication thing that Caoi had never really been very good at, choosing to voice the growling drawl aloud much to Gristla's disapproval, but this creature actually spoke the Gaian words. What else was he capable of?

"I'll stop running the second you stop breathing, Eninac b*****d!" Her screams were growls, all low and rumbling, mixed with a distinct click and smack of her tongue manipulations. It had been so long since she had spoken the native dialect language of the Eninac of Aranorn, and though Caoimhe doubted she even got the words or pronounciations right, she knew any Eninac would still get the jist. For an added effort, she tossed a seething gaze over her shoulder and snapped in the Gaian tongue, "BITE ME, DOUCHEBAG!"

Her heart was racing faster now as she continued alongside the stream, praying the it emptied into a very large body of water, one that she could dive down into and stay submerged for days. It would be impossible for this wolf to keep pace with her swimming, let alone hold his breath like she could.

But how did he know she was a Fa'e? He must have been stalking her, she reasoned. Great. On top of everything else, the Eninac had managed to manufacture an intelligent merecenary, one capable of manipulation? She would have to alert Gristla, if her guardian was even still alive. Swerving around yet another tree, Caoimhe pushed the thoughts of death from her mind and focused on running.

Caoimhe thought that the beast spoke the Gaian language, but whatever "ninnyhammered" was, she knew it wasn't normal. It didn't matter what the wolf man said. The selkie Fa'e would no sooner stop and trust him and chew off both her hands at the wrist. And no amount of logic was going to stop her. To Caoi, there was only black when it came to the Eninac. No trust, no innocence, no mercy. She would not stop running, and that was it.

If she could only reach the water she sensed ahead, the warrior would be out of luck. She would outswim and dive him in a second, and the selkie girl was not above waiting underneath the surface for as long as she needed to while he kept fighting for breath. Still, her legs were starting to burn a little from disuse. In Aranorn, she would have laughed at a small job like this, but after a year of lethargy, her muscles were busy shaking off cobwebs.

So, he wanted to play dumb to his own language? Fine. She would denounce him in the Gaian words. "I'm not talking to you, you pawn! And if you have touched a hair on Gristla, I'll rip your eyes out so you can only listen to your own screams while I gut you alive!" Could she really do that? Honestly, Caoi had no idea, but it sounded threatening enough.

"Stop rambling about Fa'e! I'm not a Fa'e! I don't even know what that Fa'e thing is!" Playing stupid, eh? Two could play at that game! The edge of the deep lake came into view, and Caoimhe felt a prickle of relief at the tip of her spine. Once she was in the water, he was done for, she knew. She'd escape and go check on Gristla, and then it would be okay. It had to be okay.

In the back of her mind, Caoimhe jumped at the thought of speaking with another Fa'e, but the fact of that matter was simple. If it looks like an Eninac and moves like an Eninac, then it is probably an Eninac. She couldn't see past it.

The lake came into view like the light at the end of the tunnel, and without stopping, Caoimhe dove headfirst into the water, taking her bag under the surface with her. The water was cold, but something in the girl seemed completely accustomed to the temperature. She paddled out to the deepest spot and tread water cautiously. Beneath her, the healthy spring churned little whirlwinds of chilled water around her ankles, and Caoi felt refuge hovering above its depths.

"Stop right there, Eninac!" she commanded in vain. Silver was already sitting at the water's edge, but Caoi wanted to feel like she was in control of the situation. "If you try to hurt me or Gristla, I will find all your pups and kill them singlehandedly." She lowered her voice to sound serious, keeping her feet pumping beneath the water.

Caoimhe blinked her large eyes slowly, and for a moment, she looked innocent, drifting casually in the water like a child first learning to swim. However, drawing her eyebrows together harshly, she contorted her soft pout into a scowl and barked, "I know what you are!" Her words sounded hollow, even to her, but Caoi would not weaken her resolve.

Still, if he was an Eninac, how did he know what a Fa'e was? Caoimhe didn't even really know what it meant, just that the label had been slapped on her forehead the second she was deserted here in Gaia. He was probably just lying, she reasoned, but the girl could not resist pulling him for information. If he was hunting her down, it made sense that he would find out about the people she was with know. Perhaps he had done the research she wasn't able to do yet thanks to a repressed reading ability.

"And if you know so damn much, then tell me. What is a Fa'e?" She rolled her legs forward under the water, and to strengthen her stance, she added, "Prove it to me that you know what I am." Though it was not visible to Silver, Caoimhe held her breath, eagerly anticipating the possibility that this stranger might have an answer to the question she had been chasing all year.

Caoimhe stopped moving. Her arms fell slowly to her sides, and her legs stopped creating little whirlpools at the surface. Even the smug smirk that had been tugging at her lips dripped off of her face for a moment, destroying the confident visage she tried to maintain.

She was a reborn soul? She was some magical something-or-other in another life? What other life? Caoimhe didn't remember much outside of Aranorn, and she didn't think enough about where she really came from to put many of the pieces together. All she knew was that Gristla found her. That was all the Enilef woman told her. Was she leaving something out? For that matter--

The problem with stopping swimming is a lack of natural buoyancy.

The selkie Fa'e sputtered as she slipped below the surface, flailing her arms madly for a moment before she came back to her senses and continued to tread water. There was no real way to play it off as intentional so Caoi just acted like nothing had happened. "How do I know this isn't some Eninac lie you created? It's a pretty story, but I don't buy it." She narrowed her eyes. "I was born in Aranorn. I'm not from some other life."

She paused again and rolled back on to her back, naturally shifting and twisting gracefully in the water. Still, she kept her face level and stared straight ahead at Silver, fighting the urge to blink even. "The oath of an Eninac mercenary is worthless to me."