[FIN] What is this feeling? (Aryon x Ellette)

[Faithofthefallen]

This is a private RP between Faithofthefallen's Ellette


and -[The Spoof]-'s Aryon


Faiths Teepee
Spoofs Teepee

 

[Faithofthefallen]

The air was hot and humid, mosquitoes swarmed about the pair buzzing irritatingly in sensitive ears and nostrils. Ellette's honey brown eyes were flinty as she shook her head yet again in a futile attempt to shoo the little beasts away. After the cool crispness of their mountain cave, the hot moist climate in the lowland swamps was almost unbearable. Before them a treacherous looking bridge spanned the wide mire stretched out almost as far as the eye could see, with only a thin gray sliver in the distance hinting at an end to the nightmare. The water was thick and soupy, the trees around them were twisted, stunted, and thoroughly unhealthy looking. The bridge consisted of a series of moldy looking planks of wood strung together with a wet, fungus-covered rope and on the whole did not inspire much confidence.

Ellette cast a slightly desperate glance up either side of the muddy shoreline but there was no bridge in sight. The path that had led the through this muggy wasteland ended here and presumably continued on the other side. Despite years spent traveling, Ellette was unfamiliar with this part of the land and felt uncomfortable venturing away from the path. Aryon may have been here before but lately he seemed to be having a lot of trouble remembering were they were on that specific day, let alone where he had been in years past. Ellette glanced over her shoulder at the cerulean haired Uni that had quickly become her closest friend and constant companion with a worried frown twisting her features, feeling that familiar electric jolt sizzle through her insides as their eyes met.

A brief shadow flickered overhead, Ellette glanced up to the sight of her hawk familiar, Lioth circling above on motionless wings. Even as she watched, the the hawk tilted and spiraled down in long graceful loops until he was no more than inches above her head. He flared his wings and thrust down with feet to wrap his talons in her smoky brown curls, flapping a few times before settling. "It feels more like swimming than flying down here," he grouched, his beak clicking with each spoken syllable, "Whatever possessed you to venture down into this gods-forsaken mire?"

Ellette opened her mouth to respond heatedly, they had had this argument many times in the last couple days, but the irritating bird had already tucked his head under his wing in an infuriating semblance of sleep. She let out a long gust of air and cast an exasperated look towards Ary before turning to face the bridge once more. "It doesn't look very sturdy does it?" she observed to the stallion at her side, "And yet I don't know of another way we can get through this bog. And get through it we must as it separates us from the lands where you grew up. We're certainly not swimming," She glanced with disgust at the brown muck slurping around near their hooves. "I guess that leaves us with only one option..."
 

[That Artemis]

He looked around carefully, trying to pick out a landmark of some sort. It was strange, the last few weeks he had noticed that the landscape all seemed to blend together. At first he thought it was because, with nothing to tie them down, they had been traveling quickly. He'd tried to ignore the niggling voice in his head that told him that wasn't quite it. While they were indeed covering many miles every day, Aryon found he likely could not navigate back to their little forest cave.

He tried to hide his growing distress from Ellette but he didn't know if it was working. She had asked him if they were going the right way and he was becoming less and less sure of his answers. Thankfully, he remembered this bridge, if only because he had nearly died on it (or falling off it as it were).

"It looks worse than it is, I crossed it once to get to this side. Otherwise, if you really object that much, we could go around the swamp. It'll take about 3 days though..." he muttered.

The more he eyed the treacherous bridge the less he liked the idea of crossing it. Who knows, maybe he'd just gotten lucky the last time. The fall wouldn't kill you, it was getting stuck in the bog that would. He didn't fancy dying by drowning in that disgusting water...

"On second thought, that 3 day detour is looking more appealing the more I have a chance to think about it." he chuckled dryly.  

[Faithofthefallen]

Ellette cast a helpless look back the way they had come, there was a path a couple days back that had branched off to the left but it would be a gamble. She knew they definitely didn't want to be bogged down in this cursed swamp once the rainy season began. Finding that cave in the mountains had been a stroke of sheer luck, she didn't want to have to take chances with their safety a second time.

Her mouth twisted in a worried frown she edged closer to the soggy boards and placed a hoof on the first plank. It seemed steady enough she supposed, a little wigglier than she would have preferred, perhaps, but nothing that could be dealt with. She leaned foreword, putting all of her weight on the board, it sank a little with a slurping mucky sound that made her feel faintly ill but other than that, it seemed stable. "I think we may have to risk it. I can barely cope with the idea of spending another minute in this disgusting swamp, much less another three days at the very least. I might lose my mind." she laughed and butted Aryon gently with her head.

"Come on dearest, lets get this nightmare over with." She started and glanced at him discreetly. Had he noticed her slip of the tongue? She most definitely wasn't ready to fill Aryon in on her new found feelings for him. She was too twisted up inside to be able to explain it right anyways, she didn't know what she wanted.  

[That Artemis]

Aryon looked skeptically at the bridge yet again. He did remember the crossing to get to this side, but the bridge had seemed a lot less...unstable then. He too wished to be gone from the bog as quickly as possible, but for some reason he could not get passed a sudden fear of the rickety old bridge.

"I don't know, this was dangerous the first time I went over it. I count myself lucky that I survived the first crossing, I feel like it's tempting fate to try again." he hedged.

His fears were enough to push Ellette's odd nickname for him to the back of his mind. It was probably a slip of the tongue anyway, no reason to read too much into it.

A mosquito landed on him and he brushed it away, not before it left an itchy welt however. Three more days of this...he sighed.

"Alright, never mind. I hate the idea of this bridge but I suppose it's a choice of death by mosquito swarm or falling into the gloop, never to be heard from again." he lowered his head, settling in for a sulk.  

[Faithofthefallen]

"..falling into the gloop...?" she repeated softly to herself with a rueful shake of her head, Aryon had a way with words sometimes. She braced herself and stepped foreword onto the rickety structure and breathed a sigh of relief when the thing didn't collapse, "I think we'll be okay," she said in a reassuring tone, "If one of us falls off, the other will just have to fish them out again."

They proceeded across the bridge for a few miles until their starting point was no more than a hazy shape in the distance. The far shore was still to far off to be viewed clearly as well, "Unnerving," she muttered with a glare at the surrounding bog. Lioth had 'woken up' from his nap and was also peering at their soupy surroundings with suspicious eyes, fluttering his wings nervously every so often. Perched on top of her head the way he was he looked like some sort of bizarre headdress, she couldn't imagine what had him so worried, if they encountered trouble, he could always just fly off to safety.

...Not that he would, Lioth was with her till the end, it was unkind of her to think such things regardless of her mood. It wasn't her familiars fault that she felt she was breathing in water and that the various insects that infested this area seemed determined to leave itchy raised welts on every centimeter of her body.

"I wonder if anyone ever encounters other groups headed in the opposite direction?" she wondered aloud with a sightly hysterical giggle, "I think I might want to find whoever built this contraption and give them a good kick in the vitals...." She squinted her eyes, tying to pierce the fog and clouds of gnats to see an end to their misery, not noticing the shadowy shapes that were slowly making their way through the water towards them.

-splash-  

[That Artemis]

He smiled uncertainly at her confidence, he didn't want it to come to having to pull her out if she fell. He didn't know if he could. The thought scared him.

With reluctance, he took his first step onto the rickety bridge. The wood creaked underneath his feet and he made sure to step lightly. There were occasional holes in the boards where somebody's foot had clearly fallen through but surprisingly most of the planks were mostly intact. When Lioth took his perch on top of Ellette's head he couldn't help but chuckle, the bird blended in with her hair and looked like what he thought one of those harpies he had heard of might look.

"Ha, now that I would pay to see," he joked, truly he would like to give the builder a little something for the trouble as well...like a kick to the head.

Another mosquito bit him and he sighed in frustration, when he heard a splash and looked around curiously, "What was that?"  

[Faithofthefallen]

1.) Snakes attack Aryon
2.) Snakes attack Ellette
3.) Snakes block off the bridge
4.) Snakes follow them in the water
5.)WTH, a crocodile attacks xD
6.)The bridge starts collapsing...mysteriously  

[Faithofthefallen]

Something bumped against the bridge, making it buckle and wiggle unnervingly, "What the-" Ellette began, spreading her hooves for balance.

The exclamation was cut off short as her section of the bridge suddenly gave a mighty lurch, throwing Ellette and Lioth off the bridge and into the water. Ellette screamed, Her hawk familiar gripped her smokey brown curls in his strong talons and struggled vainly to keep his mistress aloft with mighty strokes of his wings but he was forced to let go as something long and sinuous shot out of the water to wrap around Ellette's torso and drag her down into the murky depths of the swamp.

Darkness surrounded her, she saw a whirling confusion of bubbles as she went under. Ellette kicked frantically, trying to find the bottom with her hooves and use it to propel her way back to the surface but they had been crossing over a stretch of deep water, and she was weighted down by the thick coils wrapped around her middle. Finally, her hooves touched the bottom, a tangled mat of roots and branches.She bent her knees to push herself back to the surface but at that moment another thick coil twisted around to wrap around her forelegs and the snake twisted violently, flinging her down and frothing the water around her. With all her might, Ellette tried to twist her way free of the thing but the snake was too heavy, too strong, the coils around her compressed, tugged, making her gasp out her last mouthful of air. Drowning had always seemed like it would be such a peaceful way to die, the victims always seemed as though they were merely sleeping. But this, this hurt more than anything she had ever experienced, and the feeling of helpless suffocation was terrifying. The crushing pain in her chest sent her into a panic, she writhed and jerked like a madwoman, desperately trying to throw off the creature as it dragged her through the water.

Finally, summoning every ounce of her strength, she managed to get her hooves under her and to push off against the bottom, shooting her way back to the surface. She threw back her head as she broke through and gasped deep mouthfuls of air but almost immediately the heavy bulk of the snake began to drag her back down again. "Aryon! Lioth! Help me!" she choked out, the stallion was just out of reach. Lioth swooped down immediately and pecked at muscular grey green trunk that imprisoned her,when that failed to scare off her attacker he resumed his previous strategy, trying to hold her at the surface by pulling at her hair.  

[That Artemis]

Aryon had been nervous about the bridge in the first place and was on high alert for the slightest indication that it would fail. When something bumped it, he first thought that it was tension in the ropes suddenly giving way and his mind went blank with panic. Images of their bodies settling to the bottom of the murky water after a futile struggle to escape the waters danced behind his eyes and he found he could not move his limbs.

When Ellette was suddenly bowled over into the water, he thought he was seeing things. The sight of her struggling against a writhing green snake, thrashing about in the water, did not register immediately. Had he hallucinated in his final moments to spare himself the pain of drowning?

At the sound of her desperate scream however, he leaped into action. A section of rope was loose and dangling already so he made the snap decision to rip it free the rest of the way, tossing the length of rotting rope to his friend in desperate hopes she would grab onto it, "Ellette! Grab hold of the rope!", he shouted through his teeth.

((Roll:
1. The bridge falls because of all the action going on.
2. Ellette grabs hold of the rope but is dragged under by the snake.
3. Ellette grabs the rope and is pulled to safety, but with an angry bog snake still wrapped around her middle.
4. The snake lets go after being attacked one too many times by Lioth and Ellette is towed to safety.))

((edit: well, that's unfortunate....whatever shall they do now??))  

[Faithofthefallen]

Ellette coughed and spat, trying to clear he throat and lungs of the stagnant water and desperately trying to suck in as much oxygen as possible as her churning legs fought against the heavy body pulling her down. Lioth could not hope to combat the sheer muscular strength of the bog snake but between the two of them them managed to keep Ellette's head free from the water. Over and over again, Ellette blessed the day when she had met her hawk familiar, she promised herself that if she managed to escape from this situation alive she would remember to show her love and appreciation for Lioth on a more regular basis.

The thick trunk tightened aroung her middle, crushing her lungs and making her yelp, the feel of the slippery scales sliding against her sides and belly made her skin crawl with revulsion. She hated snakes. Hated them!!!

Ellette turned her head when Aryon called her name and grabbed onto the rope with her teeth, grimacing at the foul taste of the moldy material. "I Gttch ittt" she called out and felt herself being slowly towed through the water. The snake tightened once more and managed to slip another coil around her, imprisoning her forelegs. Hot tears began to well in her eyes, she didn't want to die, not right now, now like this. She could only thank the heavens that the creature ensnaring her killed by constriction rather than by poison or she likely would be dead by now. Although the snake was proving to be troublesome enough even without that added complication.

Her heart sunk as she heard a traitorous creak from the bridges boards as she drew close. No!! with a mighty crack that echoed through the bog like a detonation the section of bridge holding Aryon collapsed into the soupy water. Ellette dropped the now useless tow rope, "Swim, Ary" she commanded, feeling an icy calm wash over her as she began to fully comprehend the futility of their situation. Both could not survive, but at least she could die knowing Aryon was safe. "Head to shore!"

((Roll:
1. The snake ensnares Aryon as well
2. The collapsed portion of the bridge stuns the snake, loosening his coils
3. Lioth brings them more ropes from the stable portions of the bridge
4. The snake rears up out of the water to attack his victims head on))  

[That Artemis]

Aryon grinned victoriously around the rope he had clenched in his teeth. The taste was not one he would ever be able to describe and hoped never to encounter again, but a little discomfort was most definitely worth less than his friend's life.

Just when he thought the situation was looking a little less grim (but still pretty bad, considering Ellette had a huge bog snake trying to squeeze her to death), the sound he had been dreading ripped through the air. The bridge collapsed with a pathetic creak and 'snap!' noise while he lost his balance and flew into the water near Ellette, the length of rope still clenched in his teeth.

He sank all the way to the bottom at first, and for one horrible moment he didn't know which way was up. Opening his eyes didn't help, the water was murky normally and was even worse with all of the silt kicked up by their struggles. It stung his eyes in fact and he pushed up desperately with his legs, hoping the surface was close.

His head burst from the water and he gasped a great lungful of air reflexively, but dropped the pathetic piece of rope in the process. When Ellette cried out in pain, he turned to her once more in horror to see the snake coiling itself around more of her body. When she told him to swim away he pushed his despair away; she thought she was going to die here. He could see it in her eyes, a hysteria but also a gleam of determination. She would not be the one to save him, not this time.

Aryon did not notice right away, but Lioth had grasped some more rope from a different section of bridge further away and flung it at the two of them with a piercing cry to get their attention.

((Roll:
1. Both grab the rope successfully
2. The rope falls short by less than a foot or two.
3. Aryon ignores the rope, helps free Ellette (succeeds)
4. Aryon ignores the rope, helps free Ellette (fails)
5. dude, this is a bad situation....(not really an option)))  

[Faithofthefallen]

Ellette's struggles grew weaker and exhaustion began to take its' toll. She kicked furiously with her back two legs but it was almost impossible to remain afloat with her front ones bound together. Without Lioth to hold her head above the surface she would have sunk by now. Without warning, the snake gave a mighty twist, breaking her familiar's hold and sending him tumbling through the air and sucking Ellette once more below the murky depths, the thing obviously meant to drown as well as crush her.

Ellette was unnaturally still as she slowly glided down into the water, her hair billowing around her in a cloud. She thought back to the previous winter and the time she had spent with Aryon since then. Nothing else in her life was important enough to intrude on those happy memories, with a small bubble of shock and elation she finally embraced that which she had been hiding, even from herself, for months now. She was in love with Aryon, deeply, desperately, and hopelessly in love with a stallion that had already committed himself to another mare...One whom she had pledged to help him find... In the moments before her death she allowed herself complete honesty, the fight for Aryon was a competition she had lost before she had even known she was playing. One of the main reasons she wanted to help him find the elusive mare was to get a good look at the female who had stolen from her the future she might have built with Ary, the children they may have had together. That life belonged to someone else and the pain that blossomed from that realization was even worse than the burning in her lungs. She had to save him and the only way he would leave was if there was no hope for her. With grim determination she opened her mouth and prepared to take the breath of water that would end her life.

The coils around her tightened once again, the thick trunk jarring to the side from some heave impact. The snake writhed madly and then mercifully, loosened his hold. Ellette clamped her mouth shut and kicked her way once more the the surface where the snake was fleeing in fear of....Aryon?
"Thank you," she whispered, pulling herself close enough to nuzzle him, "Thank you Ary, I don't know how but you saved my life!"

((Roll:
1.) Ellette passes out from her injuries and exhaustion, Ary and Lioth tow her to shore.
2.) Ary faints as the shock and danger of what he just did registers (rofl)
3.) They swim to shore together
4.) Something in the water pushes them to shore in an inexplicable show of kindness.))  

[That Artemis]

Aryon floundered helplessly in the water, he didn't know what to do. When Ellette sunk beneath the surface, he panicked and swam desperately towards her, he didn't know what he would do once he reached her but he had to do something.

The water became still but for his own struggles, and he knew he didn't have much time. Something brushed against his leg and he was sure it was a coil of the snake's body. He dove down, lashing out furiously with his hooves and horn. His motions were slowed by the water, but he still felt satisfaction at the force he was putting into his efforts. His horn was like a razor, cutting into the muscle of the snake and he could see clouds of red forming in the water despite its opacity.

Suddenly the body writhed away from him, sending him flying back away from it in the process. He broke the surface of the water once more and took a gasping breath, flipping thick strands of dripping hair out of his face before searching the surface of the water for any sign of Ellette, prepared to dive down once more and take the snake head on if it meant saving her.

When her head broke the surface and he saw her heaving in big gulps of air, the relief was so strong it actually hurt. His eyes watered, whether from the sting of the dirty water or from relief, he would never tell. He couldn't speak, only nuzzle her back, thanking every god he could think of that she lived.

Without noticing, they had drifted to shore at one of the little islets that the bridge anchored upon. The section of bridge they had been on was gone, but ahead it looked okay. Perhaps the current pushed them towards it, Aryon didn't care as he helped Ellette out of the stinking water. They were both safe, and all he wanted to do was rest for a while.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly once they were both on dry land.

((Roll:
1. They rest for a few hours.
2. They decide to get a move on, hoping no other complications arise.))