perfect, as always(open)

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{senka floros*}
featuring--! --! ---! ---!
How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again you reel me out then you cut the string
How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?
I won't take my eyes off the ball again first you reel me out and then you cut the string

Well, this was a lovely change in event, hmm? With the humans in the rider’s pact, it was sure to bring problems from my lovely homeland, but none of what I was expecting. A possible war over having human in a pact? Well, we were sharing this land with them, right? Then what was the big idea?! It was for a cause, it was to keep them equal, right? Ah, I didn’t care. All I knew is that I decided to come back to the home of my people and stay here. Njord was pissed about the whole thing, which was not surprising, so I had decided to move to our home in Luthivíra for the time. It was pleasant and quiet, beautiful in everything about it. And the beautiful gems of the people were very eye appealing.

Having woken this morning to the birds singing, I chose to dress in a short dress that was still strapless and had a diamond like hole in the back to show off my tattoo. My sea-form eyes were outline with beautiful shadow to match my sea-form colored strapless dress and my nails were quickly painted to match. Lips were outline with a light red paint and I smiled at myself in the mirror. ”Perfect, as always!”

[/color] Smiling at the mirror, I grabbed my small bag from my table and moved down the hometree I lived within’. Moving outside, one could tell that I was beautiful as my hips swayed perfectly with my steps. I was possible the most beautiful thing in this city outside of the city itself.

Pushing my brown hair from my eyes, which I had brushed to be as beautiful as ever, I looked around the city. Everyone knew who I was when they saw the Tattoo on my back, the symbol of my family. My riches were beyond those of common elves, my family had been around since before the riders had been born, during the war of the dragons. Oh, to be around during those times. Smiling, I moved into the park nearest my home and I smiled as I watched the birds and animals roam.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

You used to be alright, what happened?
Did the cat get your tongue? Did your string come undone?
One by one, One by one. It comes to us all. It's as soft as your pillow
You used to be alright, what happened
Et cetera, et cetera. Facts for whatever. Fifteen steps
Then a sheer drop

’word count 0.359
’tagged none has come
’song 15 Steps--! Radiohead
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Emma]

Luthivíra really was the most beautiful city I had ever been in, and the quietest. I was lying in bed, unwilling to get up just yet, listening to the birdsong outside my window. The sun seemed just as unwilling to rise, because it was still hiding beneath the horizon. The soft blue of twilight filtered into my room, and I felt a fantastic sense of peace and laziness come over me.

And then the explosion happened.

I felt it before I heard it. My entire bed jumped in surprise, almost knocking me against the wall. Ripples of energy rolled under the floorboards, and then I heard the muted boom from deep within the house. I sat up in bed, drawing the covers around me in fright. I thought I could smell smoke, and wondered in terror if the house was on fire. I looked around, listening to see if the tree was in pain or anger. There was silence, and then it gave a long moan- annoyance, not agony. That was good, at least. I patted the trunk reassuringly. Had the explosion come from one of the mines, or was it just-

A second explosion roared out from beneath me, and this time a voice came along with it. “OH, BLOODY HELL!”

I dropped the covers from around my shoulders and gave a little sigh, both of relief and annoyance. We weren’t under attack, and the mines were perfectly all right. The explosions were coming from Mum. Mum, after years of pondering and switching between phases, had finally decided that it was her purpose in life to be a ‘magical scientist’, and discover how the two were linked together. Unfortunately, she wasn’t very good at the science part. I had tried to explain to Mum just how long it took to learn the ins and outs of chemistry, but she was only concerned with putting two things together and seeing what pretty colours it made. Normally, I approved of Mum’s hobbies, but not when they could result in hurting the tree. The city council might even show up one morning and tell us to leave because we were too noisy. Rubbing my face, I leapt out of bed, smoothed down my white nightgown, and began to make my way down the spiral staircase. Mum’s ‘lab’ was right down by the roots of the home-tree, so I had quite a ways to go. I had barely gotten to the main floor, however, when Melari, one of the servants, came rushing up and waving her arms.

“Miss Euryale, you can’t come down now. Lady Venali caused a chemical spill.”
“Oh! Is everyone alright? What's happening?”
Melari tucked a piece of white hair behind her ear, seeming aggrieved. “No one was injured, but the basement is compromised until Lujon can clean it up. Please stay upstairs, milady.”

She bustled past me, leaving me alone on the steps. I could hear shouting and swearing coming from the basement below, so I figured it was probably smart to stay out of the way for now. I turned around and went back up the stairs, and was quite out of breath by the time I reached my room again. I went to the washbasin and splashed cold water on my face, then went into my wardrobe and started tossing around my clothes. Mum had gone on her weekly shopping spree the day before and my wardrobe was almost bursting with even more dresses, each of which I would end up wearing only once in my whole life. Eventually, I found something I liked- a yellow brocade dress that went to my ankles, embroidered with black flowers. It was strapless and sleeveless, so I went through my drawers until I found a fitting pair of long black gloves to go with it. I struggled out of my evening gown- I wasn’t used to getting dressed on my own- and took about five hours to do up my corset by myself. On went the pink slip, the white stockings, and then the dress and gloves. I snuck into my closet and took out a big pair of black ‘peasant boots’, as Mum called them. All my other shoes were tiny slippers or heels, however, and completely unsuited for running around in the wilderness.

Once I was dressed, I stood in front of the mirror and removed the worst of the ratty tangles in my red hair with a fine-toothed comb. Then, pulling up my hair into a proper yet practical up-do, I stepped into the heavy boots and bounced down the stairs, my shoes thumping noisily all the way down. At the main floor, I scurried out of the reception room and out the door, only stopping to grab a pen and notebook. I was greeted by gardens of red lilies and crystal statues adorning the walkways, still dark and catching only a few rays of light. The sun was still shy, only peeking just above the horizon. I was a little sleepy, but glad that I had the whole day ahead of me. On top of which, it was so early that I practically had the whole city to myself. I bounced along the avenues, humming. Mum’s house was near the outskirts of Luthivíra, and I only had to pass a few parks and houses before the deep forests of Du Weldenvarden greeted me. I stopped just outside the line of trees, bowing politely. Then I made my way through.

Some people were afraid of the forest, especially humans. And I could see why. It was so dark, even when the sun was right overhead. Strange animals lurked in the bushes, and it was very easy to get lost. But if you ever got lost, all you had to do was ask the trees for help. They were very friendly, for the most part. The ones in Ellesméra could be very cross. Here in the forest, they were serene, usually sleeping. I walked among them, passing my hand over the trunks and feeling the spirits stirring dimly within them. I kept going for some time, heading north. I listened to the insects and the birds. Eventually, I felt something crawling up my leg. I looked down. It was some sort of beetle. I squealed and shook my leg until it fell off. It flopped onto the ground on its back, then rolled over and got back on its feet. I looked at its shiny back. It was very light blue. I’d never seen that kind before.

“Sorry,” I told it, bending down. “You gave me a jump. Would you like me to do your portrait?”
I had absolutely no idea if it understood me or not, but it seemed inclined to stay still and nose around in the leaf litter. Satisfied, I sat down on the soft floor of pines, opened my book, and began to draw furiously on a blank sheet of paper. I drew the pincers and claws with great detail, using little arrows to point out where it was blue so I could colour it in later. I sat there for only a few minutes, drawing. I was barely finished when the beetle suddenly opened a filmy pair of wings and took off. I waved at it as it went, wondering what had scared it off. Then something big and wet dropped in front of me. I blinked and looked down at it. There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky when I’d left the house. How could it be raining? Then another drop fell, landing on my head this time. It was warm and sticky. Not rain, then.

I looked up and my blood turned to ice. A huge, scaly head loomed above me. Saliva was dripping out of its slightly open jaws, revealing rows of white, glimmering fangs as long as my hand. The one eye I could see was locked directly onto me, and the jaws opened wider. For a moment, I was frozen like a deer in headlights, clutching my notebook to my chest and feeling my heart thundering like a stampede. Then a snarl came from the jaws, and the slightest tinge of smoke. Abruptly, I stood, turned around and ran faster than I had ever run in my entire life. I heard a roar behind me and managed to run even faster, my feet practically flying over the grass. I heard no birdsong or animals in the brush anymore. There was just me and the dragon. I crashed through branches and vines until I burst out into the outskirts of Luthivíra. Relief almost made me fall over, but I kept running. I turned my head left and right, searching for anyone that could help me, but it was still early and most people were still asleep.

I ended up in some sort of park, and finally saw another elf- a woman, older than me, walking along the pathway. She had wavy dark brown hair and jade-green eyes with a revealing green dress to match. Something was vaguely familiar about her, but I was too desperate to take much notice. I changed direction and purposely barrelled right into her, wrapping my arms around her middle and pulling at her. Words came pouring out of my mouth.

“A DRAGON! I saw a DRAGON! Call the guards! It’s gonna EAT ME!!!”

Words;; 1560
Characters Used;; Euryale Gorgophone with Veela Venali
Muse;; S'alright.
Thoughts;; I haven't written with Euryale in forever so I'm a bit off with her. XP

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{senka floros*}
featuring--! --! ---! ---!
How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again you reel me out then you cut the string
How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?
I won't take my eyes off the ball again first you reel me out and then you cut the string

As I walked through the park, the sound of something… An explosion could be heard from a home. Which home? It did not seem to massive as soon I noticed elves were walking in and out and seemed to be taking care of it. Such an odd thing, but from what I had heard, a few elves of this city had taken up the art of chemistry and science more. As I walked easily, my sea-foam colored dress matching some of the lightly colored items within’ the park. The benches were made of beautiful stone and I smiled. It was such a beautiful place, I couldn’t help but just relax. Oh sure, the riders were gone from the land, but I was sure it would be easy to get from here to there after everything settled down. Besides, I couldn’t leave my friends forever… So many friends I had made in Illrea and most had gone to the island off of the mainland. Such a shame really, not being able to watch some of the male riders… They were very handsome. I found myself biting my lip slightly as I thought over the sight of those strapping elven men as they did their training in nothing but a pair of trousers.

As my day dream seemed to lengthen, I was jarred from it due to another explosion and what sounded like a yell in anger. The words, I could not make out, but the mood was easy. As I placed my hand against one of the many trees, I listened to it speak, it’s own sleep taken from it due to the explosions. Well, they were annoyed, but nothing seemed to be in pain… Which was a good thing. A few elves seemed to poke their heads in before being shooed away by the servants of the house. Apparently they held it under control, which was a good thing. As I watched everything unfold from the home tree where the noise was coming from, I merely watched in amusement. Now, everyone was in a buzz, going in and out, bring in water it seemed to clean. This would take a few hours it seemed, so I figured it was time for me to continue my own exploring and enjoying my relaxing day.

As I made it around the park a second time, I noticed things had begun to slow down at the house, but they were still busy and as I got close to it, the servant came out waving her hands. ”Ah, Miss Floros, I doubt you want to come here.” I tilted my head in curiosity at her words. ”The lady of the house caused a chemical spill, we are still cleaning it… I don’t want anyone getting hurt by what she has done.” It was a fair enough reason and I bided my farewell. I found myself smiling brightly as I went down road, finding myself leaving the city for a little stroll. Everyone seemed to know my name in this city, though they needed to. We were such an old family, it was smart for people to know the right people. As I walked slowly down the road, something in the forest seemed to make the sleeping tree stir slightly and I found myself stopping to listen. As the trees began to sway from the wind, a roar could be heard… A dragon? I smiled as I turned towards the sound of the mighty beast. As I moved back towards the city and into the park, I began to cross it to get to the other side of city and to the forest again, but as I was about to exit the park, I felt something grab me and pull me away.

”What the hell!”

[/color]

“A DRAGON! I saw a DRAGON! Call the guards! It’s gonna EAT ME!!!” I looked at her as if she were crazy. Why would one want to call the guards. The dragons did not harm elves, we had a pact with them and we lived in harmony. ”Why, the elves and dragons live in peace… I was about to go and find the dragon myself and greet it… Such beautiful creatures.”[/color] I could not help but smile and looked up at the forest. As I let my mind sweep towards the forest, the trees merely spoke of aggravation for being woken, but my mind searched for the creature with great intelligence, but nothing came… ”Ah, they must of left… Or they are very good at blocking out their minds from being found.”[/color] Both were very good possibilities. Looking back down at the woman, I noted how familiar she looked and realized it was the lady whom lived in the house where the explosion happened… Or well, one of them. With her beautiful yellow dress, I found myself admiring the beauty of it. [/blockquote][/blockquote]

You used to be alright, what happened?
Did the cat get your tongue? Did your string come undone?
One by one, One by one. It comes to us all. It's as soft as your pillow
You used to be alright, what happened
Et cetera, et cetera. Facts for whatever. Fifteen steps
Then a sheer drop

’word count 0.811
’tagged none has come
’song 15 Steps--! Radiohead
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Emma]

Well, that had not been the reaction I had been expecting. I just stared at the woman, open-mouthed. She was completely calm, even smiling gently as she looked up and gazed out at the forest. It had been so long since I’d seen an elf that wasn’t unhappy or grumpy. It was nice to see someone actually cheerful, and I felt myself becoming a little less agitated. I felt safer now, and I hadn’t heard the crash of the dragon chasing me for several minutes now. But still, what was a dragon doing so far south? They all lived up in the Crags and didn’t much like to socialize with elves. Nobody even knew why they were here. That was actually the first wild one I had ever seen. Normally, I would be excited, but the thought of that dripping saliva and those huge fangs still made me shudder. I continued clinging to the older woman just in case. It had to be blocking its mind. Maybe it was just waiting for me to be alone again, and then it would leap out of the trees and bite me. I started to tell the woman this, but then paused. She had stopped looking at the forest and was now staring at me- actually, at my dress.

I felt self-conscious- I knew I hadn’t done it up properly, and Mum would kill me if she saw. But now that I was right up to the woman’s face, I realized that I did know her from somewhere. She was very pretty even for an elf, and she had that dark hair and unusual eyes. I’d only seen brown hair on humans before. Suddenly I was able to put a name to the face, and I felt my face turn bright red. I stepped backwards, tearing my arms away from her. Placing my hands on my thighs, I bowed low, my entire body burning hot from embarrassment. How couldn’t I have seen that this woman I’d manhandled was a Floros? Their house was one of the oldest and most respected in all of Du Weldenvarden. A small, foreign family like mine was completely overshadowed by them. And now that Auntie had run off to join the Riders, we were in hot water already. I had heard horrible tales of minor families falling into tragedy after offending great houses, like being drowned in oceans or poisoned.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t recognize you- that was so rude of me to just grab you like that! I’m so, so incredibly sorry. Please don’t feed my family to the sea serpents, Lady Floros!”

Words;; 437
Characters Used;; Euryale Gorgophone with Veela Venali
Muse;; Not bad!
Thoughts;; Small, but tis dialogue. XD

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{senka floros*}
featuring--! --! ---! ---!
How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?
Won't take my eyes off the ball again you reel me out then you cut the string
How come I end up where I started? How come I end up where I went wrong?
I won't take my eyes off the ball again first you reel me out and then you cut the string

A Dragon! My brother would have already gotten on armor to go and dispatch it. For all I knew, even though I was hundreds of miles away, my brother probably felt my excitement and I would merely get lectured about controlling my emotions. Ah, I didn’t care! There was a dragon near where I was living! I wanted to jump up and down, but I couldn’t. That would just be rude, especially with a woman completely scared of a dragon. Why would one be scared of a dragon? They were at peace with us, they lived with us! They might not socialize with us, but they lived with us! That had to mean something, right? As I looked at the woman, I saw her fear, but it confused me. Why was she scared? Most hated them and wanted to kill a dragon because of the riders, though I didn’t understand that. The riders were about peace, they just didn’t want to get involved when they were supposed to stay neutral. They couldn’t pick favorite, yet our people thought they were traitors for doing their job? It was strange. I just shook it off, I choose not to speak about it to my brother or anyone for that matter.

I guessed my own calm attitude was calming the heavy breathing woman down. That was nice. I hoped that she was not freaked out by my want to get to the dragon. I was just friendly and beyond excited sometimes. Could it feel me excitement? Was it listening to my thoughts? They were so powerful. Oh gosh! It was an exciting thing. As I turned to look at her beautiful dress, I noticed that it was arranged in a rather strange fashion. All of the sudden, her expression seemed to turn into one of embarrassment. What did I say? What did I do? Did I say something? I don’t remember saying anything. It was like something came before her and she stepped backwards quickly and then she bowed before me.

Oh know… Not one of these things. ”I’m so sorry! I didn’t recognize you- that was so rude of me to just grab you like that! I’m so, so incredibly sorry. Please don’t feed my family to the sea serpents, Lady Floros!” I looked at her for a moment and for some reason, I felt my head thrown back from laughter. Feeding them to the sea serpent? Really? I could help but laugh so hard at her.

”Oh please, call me Senka… I’m not into all of that traditional stuff. The only thing I do traditional in my family is our lovely tattoo… You’re fine.”

[/color] My brother my consider it rude, but I found everything so amusing. ”Where did you get that dress. So pretty.”[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

You used to be alright, what happened?
Did the cat get your tongue? Did your string come undone?
One by one, One by one. It comes to us all. It's as soft as your pillow
You used to be alright, what happened
Et cetera, et cetera. Facts for whatever. Fifteen steps
Then a sheer drop

’word count 0.463
’tagged Euryale Gorgophone
’song 15 Steps--! Radiohead
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Emma]

Much to my absolute horror, Lady Floros started laughing. Apparently, what I’d said was the most hysterical thing she had ever heard. My face went from white to burningly scarlet with embarrassment. Nothing could be done about it. I kept my head down, and silently thanked Nyx that nobody else was around to witness my social blunder.
“Oh please, call me Senka… I’m not into all of that traditional stuff.”
I raised my head now, and just stared at her in silence. What?
“The only thing I do traditionally in my family is our lovely tattoo… You’re fine.”
I looked at the stylized ‘F’ tattooed across the woman’s back, and then gazed intently at her face. Reading people had never exactly been my strong point, especially elves. She had to be joking, surely... but all I could see on her face was genuine enjoyment. Her teeth flashed when she smiled and her eyes glittered. Her eyes wouldn’t be sparkling if it wasn’t real. And if I wasn’t sure before, her next statement convinced me that she really wasn’t upset.
“Where did you get that dress? So pretty.”
“Um...” I blinked a few times, then looked down at myself. She really didn’t care that I’d jumped on her like that. What were the odds? “Mum- Lady Venali bought it for me. In Ceunon, I think. I’m sorry, it’s just...” I scratched my head. “You’re the first important lady I’ve ever met that isn’t cross with everything and everyone. What’s your secret?”

Suddenly, from some distance away, I heard an enormous roar that nearly made me jump out of my skin. My reaction was usually to snatch the nearest person and cling to them, but I managed to stop myself from physically assaulting Senka again. I’d been so preoccupied with my faux pas that I had entirely forgotten about the angry reptile running loose in the woods. I took a moment to ponder just how absurd it was that I was more afraid of social embarrassment than something genuinely worrisome, like being eaten whole by a dragon. I wouldn’t want to see the inside of a dragon’s stomach. It probably smelled horrible. I waited as the roar died off to collect myself. It wouldn’t help matters if I swooned now. Senka hadn’t seemed disturbed by the dragon’s presence, so I tried to explain the matter.

“Miss Senka, even if that dragon doesn’t want to eat me, it’s still bowling around in the trees! The dragons said they wouldn’t leave the Crags, but this one has, and maybe there’s even more than one! We have to tell somebody!”

Words;; 435
Characters Used;; Euryale Gorgophone with Veela Venali
Muse;; Fairly good. ^^
Thoughts;; I'll bring Veela into this eventually, I swear. XD