USE SOMEBODY , AURORA

[JAGGER ION KOHANA]

Sweat felt like it was pouring down the front of Jagger’s brow. His fingers were cut and sore because of all of the brush that he found himself forcing himself through to reach his destination. There had been many rumors he had heard of riches being lost beneath the large lake here. An entire city had been sunk in these waters by the very beings that had created out of hatred for other creatures. It was an interesting story and all but the part that caught his attention the most was the fact that the city was still under the water. And what did that mean? That meant that there was still the possibility that there were things under there worth going for. When you were poor and wanted (courtesy of your mother), things were a little hard for you. He wasn’t exactly welcome in the human city anymore and some people apparently knew of his face. And that was his reason why this spiked his interest. Cool things weren’t really for him to use but instead a form of income for goods. He’d have to deal with wandering merchants are foreign cities The Aeries were rather exotic… so who said that the goods that they left behind wouldn’t be expensive too?

For a moment Jagger concentrated on getting himself pulled together. The foliage had pulled at his skin and made quite an obstacle for him to get through. How anyone lived in this mess of a forest, he would never have any idea. He sat in the thick blades of grass and muck near the lake cross legged. His brows were raised and he let out a few harsh puffs of air. Jagger wiped the sweat away from his face with the backs of his hands and the neck of his dark top.

After resting for a while, Jagger felt confident in his ability to swim. The half god pulled the majority of his clothing off, leaving only the tight leggings that he had on underneath his pants. Yeah, like he was going to get completely naked in a place like this. Something would probably swim into places they shouldn’t have been swimming in. In any case, now that he was stripped down to the grey leggings, Jagger made his way over to the water. His toes poked in it and he frowned. It wasn’t really that cold… he was looking forward to a nice cold dip in the water, was all.

Once he was in the water, he swan in long strokes until he could see through the clear lake the remains of the legendary city. He took in a deep breath and went below the surface. Since it was still bright out he could make out some of the shadows in the water. He kicked his legs for what seemed like ages and the city still seemed far off. His lungs were beginning to burn, he had to return to the surface. So, with the feeling of defeat, he started back up until he broke the surface.

He instantly took a gulp of the fresh air and shook the wet locks of hair from his face. They stuck to his forehead, just above his eyebrows.

Jagger looked disgruntled and he continued to bobbing over what he had found, unsure of whether he would make a second attempt to quickly. He had been determined and confident but now… he wasn’t feeling it. He had not expected this lake to be so deep. So instead of going back under the water he swam back over to the edge of the lake, sitting in the bits of grass and mud. He had no idea… how this was going to work out for him.

^{STARRING : JAGGER & AURORA
WORDS : 623
STATUS : FINISHED
NOTES : ANYONE WANNA PLAY?
LYRICS USED : USE SOMEBODY - KINGS OF LEON
LISTENING TO : NOTHIN
BANNER CREDIT : TANA
TAGGED : TANA}

[AURORA]

it's so hard to find someone who cares about you

She rested in the tree above the floor of the earth. She was trying to escape what chaos had ensued since the killing of one of their own. Oh yes, she knew very well of Elejen’s wrath, and rather than try to soothe the woman she kept her distance. It was difficult keeping herself busy during the day. Normally she slept, but for some reason she had been on edge lately. The fact that a god had been killed by mere mortals disturbed the goddess. She didn’t want to leave anything to chance. She didn’t want to end up dead next. Yet, her work at night called for her full attention, and now her body was getting out of balance. At some point, the goddess of dreams was going to need her own rest if she wanted to do her job right.

There was a rustle below her, disturbing Aurora from her mental state. Her teal eyes averted downward from the top of the trees to see that she no longer was alone. She remained in the tree, watching the stranger from below. She could make out some features, and there was an aura around him that seemed somewhat familiar yet strange to Aurora. It was a boy, his dark curls sticking to him. He must have been walking for some time now. She studied him, her mind not registering that he was removing clothes. When it did occur to her she quickly looked away, but there was something about him that was bothering her.

For a moment she thought, keeping her ears alert to the boy below. She focused on him, still feeling that strange presence around him. Suddenly the answer hit her like a ton of bricks. He was a halfling! Although they were rare, Aurora knew of one in particular. Elejen’s son, Jagger. Again she looked back down at the earth floor to find that he had now taken a dip into the water. What was he after? Treasure left behind from the floating city? Well, if that were the case he was going to have to swim deeper in the lake to get what he was looking for. Aurora remembered when the city fell those many years ago. It was hard to believe that such a thing would happen to the Aeries, but then again, at this point anything was possible. Mortals killed a god. That was a first in her book. It terrified Aurora to think what would happen next.

There was a sound, again disturbing her thinking process. When she looked Jagger had surfaced from the water, out of breath and empty handed. At this Aurora couldn’t help but laugh softly. She watched him from above, “The water is much deeper than it seems. Many have tried to reach the treasures below, but like you they’ve come up empty handed. I can help you, if you’d like.” Her voice was soft, but Aurora projected so it would reach Jagger below. She shifted positions in the tree so now she was lying down, but still watching the halfling from above. A strand of her dark hair fell in front of her teal eyes, and she huffed, trying to blow the strand out of her face.

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[JAGGER ION KOHANA]

He sat at the edge of the lake with a less than pleased look on his face. He brought his knees up and slapped the bottoms of his hands against them, digging his fingers into the light fabric covering them. Then his hands came back up toward his face and wiped the water away in one easy swipe, his hair being slicked back afterward. A few strands of muck came off of him and he curled his lip in disdain. He waved his hands around, spreading his fingers so that the gunk slung off of him and back into the water. There were a few specks from the water stuck to his chest and legs but he wasn’t going to bother with it since he was still determined to go back into the water. He wasn’t about to simply leave after his long travel here. If he had too he would stay the night and try again in the morning. He wasn’t going to leave here until he was completely satisfied that either there was nothing to be found or he came out holding riches. If he could withstand the wrath of a goddess then he could hold his breath underwater for a little while.

For the moment he decided to rest though. Jagger took in deep swallows of the air around him and furrowed his brow, filling up with more tenacity. It was interrupted though by a voice that seemed eerily close to him. He nearly slipped back into the deeper water when he tried to jump to his feet. His finger dug into the plants behind him though and he instead found himself just sitting further in the water than intended.

Jagger’s eyes got to work quick looking for where the sound had come from and when he found it he was more than a little surprised. It was a woman lounging around in a tree branch. In his time, he had seen some pretty strange things but he wasn’t so accustom to seeing people resting in trees. For a moment he simply sat there in the water staring up at her with surprise. But, finally, he let it fall from his face and frowned up at her. She had apparently caught onto what he was doing and he suddenly felt embarrassed. He had hoped that he had at least been somewhat sneaky about doing this. Why would anyone else be out here? Unless… she was looking for the treasure too, but she hardly looked like a desperate person or a treasure hunter.

Once he had caught his breath he pushed himself up to his feet, still somewhat in the water. He lifted his chin, giving her a sneer. “Help?” he scoffed. “I assure you that I can handle this own my own without any help from… you.”

With that, the halfing turned his eye away from her and walked around the edge of the lake, keeping his eyes on her reflection in the water. People were tricky… and he still wasn’t sure if she had any tricks.

^{STARRING : JAGGER & AURORA
WORDS : 510
STATUS : FINISHED
NOTES : SUSPICIOUS
LYRICS USED : USE SOMEBODY - KINGS OF LEON
LISTENING TO : NOTHIN
BANNER CREDIT : TANA
TAGGED : TANA}

[AURORA]

it's so hard to find someone who cares about you

Teal eyes watched Jagger below, again blowing that loose strand of hair away from her face. She stifled a giggle as he seemed to jump at the sound of her voice. Then again, she would probably do the same thing if a strange voice suddenly sounded from nowhere. Amused, she continued to watch from above as the halfling tried to find the source of the voice. When his eyes finally found her, she gave him a soft smile and a little wave before her hand returned to tuck beneath her chin. Her feet kicked up from behind, alternating each leg in a slow swing up and down. The smile however faded as she caught sight of his sneer.

Well that was just plain rude! Then again, Aurora had heard stories about Jagger. Surely there was something good inside this boy? He was a bit of a rebel to his mother, but she knew all to well that Elejen hadn’t exactly been there for her son, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t love him. These were matters that Aurora made sure her nose was kept out of. Of course she knew about them, but not once did she bother to try to help in anyway. No, she wasn’t about to get involved in something that could potential come back to bite her. So, she kept her distance from the touchy subject of god and mortal relations.

With a huff Aurora shifted in the tree, maneuvering her body so now she was standing in the tree. Her arms folded across her chest as she looked down at Jagger. Stepping carefully she moved from branch to branch until she was over the lake. Looking below she could see the city submerged below the water. Yes, she remembered when the old floating city fell, but it wasn’t something that really concerned her. Her eyes shifted from the water to the boy who was now circling the lake, but she knew that Jagger would keep a close eye on her. She had heard that he wasn’t one to easily trust people.

Arms still folded she looked at him. “Are you sure you don’t wanna help? I’ll be glad to offer you assistance. It’s better than drowning over something you can’t get.” She wasn’t sure what Jagger would say. He already said no once, but Aurora wasn’t going to let that deter her. Watching Jagger she tried to think of a way that would force him to accept her help. An idea suddenly came to her, but she wondered if it was a little to suspicious. “Tell you what, if I can guess your name right, how about you let me help you. If I don’t guess right, I’ll leave you alone to do whatever you want to get down to the city. How’s that?”

Oh yes, it was risky what she was doing, but she didn’t care honestly. Sure she was a goddess and Jagger might not like that information if and when he found out, but it wasn’t going to stop her. It wasn’t like she had done something totally terrible to him before, but she knew he had a large distaste for his mother, but did that mean he hated all gods and goddesses? Well, there was only way to find that out.

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