THEY SAY BE AFRAID , ELEJEN

[CASSIUS ARRIAN VENCINTIUS]

It was dark in this part of the world. Through the thick cover of tree branches the sky had obviously darkened and silver specks shone brilliantly against the black sky. Even though the sun had vanished beyond the horizon the air was still sticky and damp, making it all too easy for any bug to stick all over you. The swampy lands of Limblock also seemed to be a hazardous place to be during these hours. Crickets and other swamp life were alive with sounds and every step that Cassius took was greeted with the harsh slosh of thick, murky water up to waist. It all looked like miles of swamp from where he stood now, stuck in the middle of it all. There was so much allege growing at the top of the water that he could never tell land from the green gunk. It was an uncomfortable place to be in the dark of the night, no doubt. But the determination of Cassius was hardly put out. When his mind was set on something he usually managed to do it. This swamp was hardly what he saw as a life threatening task and he confidently held his hunting sword over the water, keeping it ready in his hand.

The water made him feel uneasy. He was completely unsure of what things were drifting below its surface and could hardly even figure that out in the daylight. He had been through this swamp before though. It had been the day that he had escaped that damned floating city. Remarkably enough he had made it through this as well on that same night. But his head had been so full of just the idea of getting away that he had done nothing but run through it, not paying attention to anything around him. It had been a run for freedom that night. Tonight he was going back in that direction for answers.

Sirena had requested that he stayed with her in the abandoned village in the forest a bit longer, just until all of his cuts and damaged bones had healed up completely. But he couldn’t rest and found himself plagued at night by horrendous nightmares. Now that he had gained his freedom it seemed his soul was thirsty for the next task at hand. His body was stubborn, often wearing itself out quickly. That’s where a strong will came in though. He was lucky he had it or else he would have been dead years ago.

Cassius continued through the water, patting his left hand over anything that looked like it could possibly be land. Unfortunately it was just thick allege every time. The land beneath the water was like quicksand if he didn’t move fast enough and was constantly trying to suck his feet in. When something slithered around his ankles Cassius was quick to react, leaping up and away from it and then (to his dismay) getting pulled underneath the water because of his own weight slipping beneath him.

When he came crashing down into the water he found himself afraid to open his eyes. Not because he dreaded that there might be dead bodies or horrible creatures but because he was concerned that something would want to damage his eyes. When he felt the slick, slender, serpentine body again though he had to force his teal eyes to open up and find it. It was not difficult either. An enormous snake had decided to try and make Cassius its victim tonight. In the dirty water he couldn’t tell exactly what it was but it looked to be a pale ivory color. He started back toward the surface but in between watching the snake and looking up it must have managed to wrap itself around his waist in a large careless looking loop. Well the loop wasn’t so careless now that Cassius was trying to move away from it. The snake’s body tightened around him, surprising him and making him gasp for air. This resulted in swallowing a huge amount of the swamp water making him immediately feel sick. But he tried to ignore it, pressing his fingers between his skin and the snake’s. He pushed them apart, barely lifting the snake from him. It seemed useless so he tried wriggling free, feeling the fabric of his shirt trying to rip loose of his neck.

An idea struck him then. The hunting sword! It was missing in action though and he was astonished to find that his right hand was empty and still pressing against the snake along with his left hand. When the realization hit him that he must have dropped it he felt a sick heat in his stomach. The snake wasn’t letting up either, seeming perfectly calm in comparison to Cassius.

At this point he reached for anything around him. Floating sticks, debris on the swamp floor, but nothing was turning up and he was getting dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Desperation was kicking in now and he found himself clawing at the snake’s scales. This did irritate it. And when he sunk its teeth into it that did the best job of getting his attention. It’s body loosened and Cassius didn’t hesitate. He swam as fast as he could away, darting toward the surface.

When the hot, night air hit him he tried to breathe but found himself still choking. He continued forward, the water seeming to become shallower as he went. He was close to land. He didn’t bother to see if the snake was following him. There was now enough land beneath him to where he could sit on his knees and be out of the water. He immediately threw up.

A good amount of swamp water cascaded out of his mouth along with some bile that stuck to his chin. He was plagued with heavy, tired breathing and covered in allege. His sides felt bruised and swore and he was ready to collapse. His heart was racing and his ears filled with water, making the world extremely dull. He finally let his body collapse into the shallow water, resting his head on his arms to keep his mouth out of the water.

He suddenly felt very stupid and careless.

TAGGED ELEJEN
WORDS 1040
NOTES HERE'S YOUR CAS & ELE
LYRICS ET BY KATY PERRY

[ELEJEN]

Earlier, Cretinin had been a source of amusement for Elejen, but the Humani didn't entertain her any longer. The furry fiends were a bunch of cowards. If you took a torch to them, they would all scatter. That was amusing, actually, but once you had seen it so many times, it grew dull.

So, Limblock, was her second choice. It was murky, plagued with darkness, insects, and a rime of filth that you couldn't wash off. It was a perfect spot to watch the animals struggle for life that they so desperately clung to. The humming of the crickets was also a nice touch. She quite enjoyed it here.

Elejen had managed to make herself comfortable in a tree far above the water. She sat on the branch, clasping the trunk with her hand to keep her balance. Her fingers ran across the bark to remove the bugs as she sat there. She didn't want any of the nasty things to crawl onto her.

Though it was dark, her eyes were able to penetrate the night and the fog. The bats were fighting over some insects, when, frankly, there were plenty on the trees. The birds were all nesting in their roosts or in their houses. Lizards and frogs were just starting to emerge from their lairs to catch a few insects themselves. All in all, it was peaceful save for the thick smell of rotting foliage and standing water.

Elejen moved along the branch until she was against the trunk. She swung her leg onto the other side of the branch, and let her back fall against the side of tree. Her head rested against the bark, unconcerned with the fact that plenty of those pesky bugs would be getting on her face. She just wanted to listen to the sounds of nature. Was that so much to ask?

Her eyes began to flutter shut delicately, like the wings of a butterfly. The lullabies of the animals were putting her to sleep, mostly because she was exhausted from years of overuse. It was a difficult life for a goddess, but she managed to make it look good.

She exhaled a breath of relief as she settled into her position on the tree. Her mind became at ease as well as her heart and body. All tension had been removed from her muscles. Elejen was completely relaxed, even though there was a battle going on beneath her. Wait... a battle? Surely not.

Elejen jolted from her slumber to find that the once-still water was suddenly in turmoil. It was tossed back and forth until a man came into vision. He seemed extremely... waterlogged. And sick, at that. She watched him with an amused grin on her face. He was fair for someone so far into the swamp. She had expected him to be as ugly as sin (such were the reclusive types), but he was pretty. Something she couldn't resist.

Elejen ported herself down from the tree to its base. It was a bit more difficult to see him so low to the ground, but she managed. Her eyes were adapted to this sort of environment, unlike a human's. Which meant he would have no clue what was coming.

She again ported herself, but this time, to a spot not too far from the man. Though the ground was damp, Elejen took a seat upon it, watching Cassius for a moment. It was obvious that he was tired and worn out, but Elejen wanted to have some fun, regardless.

Elejen leaned over a bit, deducing exactly who he was and what was wrong with him. Before she returned, her hand reached out and grabbed his hair, tugging on it to bring his head up. She leaned sideways a bit to let herself into his vision. A playful grin assumed the position upon her lips as she looked at him. "Feeling sick? I'm no doctor, but I think you should see one," she voiced in a teasing manner. Once she was done talking to him, she released her grip upon his hair. She moved back into her own place, then stood up. Elejen wiped her dirtied hands on a few leaves handy from the nearby trees and then returned her attention to Cassius. "Are you going to let a little illness beat you?"

[/color]x] TAGGED;; cassius ]
[x] WORDS;; 729 ]
[x] MUSE;; fuck you by cee lo green ]
[x] NOTES;; teehee :3 ]
[x] CREDIT;; goes to Heidi::Hellion @ Caution 2.0! Steal ett & I'll nom chur soul kthnx! ]
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[CASSIUS ARRIAN VENCINTIUS]

Right now he wasn’t worried at all about the creature that had just tried to drown him. If it had wanted to go after him again then it wouldn’t have given him the time that it did. It had moved on, searching for its next victim to strangle under the dark water. Cassius just now as beginning to realize what a miserable way to die that would have been. The beast had just squeezed the confidence right out of him and taken him by such surprise he’d lost his hunting blade. It really was a dismal situation but he already knew that he would be getting up in a moment, as soon as he regained his breath. He was stubborn and had been through pains like this in the past. He found himself constantly trying to compare this situation to other bad ones. In doing so it boosted his assurance that he could get back up and make it out of here without dropping dead anywhere. The swamp creatures would not be having him for dinner and his bones would not be lost in the murky waters here. He’d make it back home to his adoptive sister and he’d eventually find his family again.

He was trying to slow his breathing, since the faster it went the more likely he seemed to start choking and coughing up water again. He was sure that if he panicked at all he’d be heaving up a lot more than just what he had swallowed under the water.

With full own determination, Cassius pressed his right palm in the ground, preparing to lift his upper body up off of the muddy bank. Something caught hold of him before he could get up though. Fingers curled into his matted hair and his neck was jerked as his head turned in the direction of the person tugging on him. At first he had squinted his eyes shut from the sharp pain of getting his hair tugged on. His teeth gritted together to stop his breathing completely and opened up his eyes which had become somewhat red from being opened under the water.

He found himself staring at a woman, her form fuzzy because of his tampered vision. He breathed a little easier just knowing that it wasn’t something completely foreign to him. Cassius was still very unsure though and really just wanted her to go ahead and let go of his hair so he could scoot away from her and maybe burp up whatever else seemed to be blocking his breathing passages. She took her time though, speaking. He could hardly understand her through the throbbing in his head and the water in his ears. Everything was disoriented and she seemed to get the idea that he was feeling this way. She just looked like she was finding it all very amusing. This was beginning to classify her as an instant enemy.

When she dropped his head, he pushed his hands into the ground and forced his body up. His stomach rolled, wanting to heave but he swallowed it back, looking at the mud to try and stop the spinning. He spit a bit of some foreign looking things from his mouth before casting his stare back up on the woman. She had something else but it wasn’t coming in complete and everything was still buzzing.

Give up was the only thing that he heard and those were two words that he hardly knew the meaning of. He didn’t even bother asking her what she had said or what she was even talking about. He could care less if it had anything to do with doubting him.

“Who are you?” he asked her, his voice heavy and raspy for his previous encounter. He pushed himself up to his knees now and then forced himself to stand. His knees felt like they wanted to collapse into themselves but he obviously wouldn’t allow it. Even though his stance looked somewhat flimsy he still held his ground, giving her a suspicious stare.

He almost wanted to ask what she was. How many human women wandered through here at night?

TAGGED ELEJEN
WORDS 690
NOTES SHE'S MEAN.
LYRICS ET BY KATY PERRY

[ELEJEN]

Elejen wasn't sure what to make of this determined human. He had just struggled for life in the swamps of Limblock and now he was questioning her. It seemed like humans were the most courageous species of them all. They sure had a lot of gall to challenge her, but since this particular human was so pretty and weak, she wasn't going to take his words as an offense, as she normally would.

She watched Cassius stand up, though obviously his body was not willing to do so. Whatever was in that water sure gave him a hard time. She could almost just breathe and knock him over. Elejen didn't attempt to steady him, because that would be nice. In his case, it might also seem a little awkward, as it was foggy and vision was blurry. But a lot of good things happened in inopportune moments.

"Who am I? Who... am I?" Elejen repeated the question as if she were trying to remember. "My name isn't important, and I don't want you to be alarmed, but I'll tell you anyways. My name's Elejen. I'm assuming you've heard of me." She grinned in his direction, but through the haze, it was practically to no avail. He wouldn't be able to see the general sarcasm on her face.

"It's a pity... I can't really make out who you are," she said, squinting her eyes, though she could see him plainly. She stepped closer to him and closer until she was just a few inches away. "Ah, there you are." Elejen wrinkled her nose a bit in mock embarrassment, as she had clearly come too close. But that was her intention.

Her optics peered around the swamplands, her mind wandering. She concentrated for a moment, causing the fog around them to thicken. If anything, the lack of vision could be a good thing. Humans were amusing when they were without their senses. She had seen them in pubs and taverns, where they were without vision, hearing, taste, et cetera. It was all very entertaining to watch them fall down and just act completely foolish.

"It's nice out here, isn't it? Why, I almost fell asleep until I saw you, drenched and sick on the embankment," Elejen commented with as much concern in her tone as she could muster. It was a difficult task, but if she was going to convince this human that she wasn't as heartless as she usually proved to be, then she was going to have to try hard. "I was wondering if you were okay." Honestly, truthfully, really, she was a little worried. She hadn't seen such a pathetic sight in quite awhile. Though, if he was a follower of Elejen, then he wouldn't have any problem in believing her. To followers, she could do no wrong and everything she said was fact. Now, if only all of them could be like that.

[/color]x] TAGGED;; cassius ]
[x] WORDS;; 502]
[x] MUSE;; dancing in the dark by bruce springsteen ]
[x] NOTES;; crappy but i'm tired =p ]
[x] CREDIT;; goes to Heidi::Hellion @ Caution 2.0! Steal ett & I'll nom chur soul kthnx! ]
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[CASSIUS ARRIAN VENCINTIUS]

As he stood in the dark swamp land he could feel his head going in and out of focus. He was eager to sit down again and regain himself after his battle with the serpent. Something told him that he would have fared better if he hadn’t swallowed all of that water and been held under for such a time. But Cassius held himself where he stood, trying to keep his concentration firm and, well, concentrated. There was a reason for him to have his guard up now and it wasn’t only because he had been shaken by the snake attacking him. This woman standing before him seemed to be not even equally dangerous to the snake but rather more so. And that was starting to sit very uncomfortably in his stomach. He didn’t like it one bit.

When she spoke to answer his question he did everything in his power to block out all other sounds. The sound of his own blood pumping throughout his body was the toughest to obscure. It seemed to be mostly plaguing the inside of his skull, making it extremely hard to hear clearly. But, somehow, he managed to think beyond it and his ears could make out the sound of her voice again. This time, however, he could actually make out the words that she was saying to him rather than just a murmuring sound.

Her claim was… almost completely unbelievable. It was an amazing one, in fact. It was not a normal thing for women to go around and say that they themselves were the goddess of the world in all her glory. A disciple, maybe, but the actual goddess? It left Cassius feeling very uncertain though and he thought rightfully so. When one was making such an astounding claim then perhaps they should have the capability to prove it to the person who they were telling it to. After all, it wasn’t’ everyday that you even had the luck of running into a god or goddess, was it? It seemed like a once in a life time, if not completely impossible chance to stumble upon.

Cassius couldn’t help the awkward look that he was giving her now and hadn’t the strength to step back from her as she approached him. But as she grew closer to him it also gave him the opportunity to survey her. He tried to decide without words whether she really was the goddess of life or not. But a mere body standing before him didn’t seem to be giving him any kind of answers. She looked like any other women that he had seen in his lifetime. She did have an exceptionally beautiful sort of glow in the dark shadows of Limblock but he wasn’t really taking that for a sign that she was a goddess. He was very much skeptical about the woman. Unsure of what to make of her right now. He wanted to dismiss the possibility of her being a goddess but then, at the same time, he couldn’t. She was here in Limblock in the late hours of night and seemed to be having no trouble getting around as she wasn’t dirty or anything. She was completely alien in comparison to him.

He tilted his head at her, looking her over again, his own face seeming lost and in some sort of careful awe. But his eyes met up with her own when her voice pierced through the sound of crickets and his pounding head again. This time though, the words went right through him.

“Prove it to me,” he challenged her skeptically. His voice was still cracked sounding but it was soft, nowhere near as prominent as hers seemed to be. It was almost intimidating. “I cannot simply believe what you say to me when there are so many lies in this world… what would a goddess be doing in a swamp?”

TAGGED ELEJEN
WORDS 651
NOTES YEAH PROVE IT, CIELY.
LYRICS ET BY KATY PERRY

[ELEJEN]

It had been awhile since Elejen was so close to a human. She usually tried to stay far from them, since most couldn't keep their grubby hands off of lovely ladies like her. They were lustful, greedy types, but that was what drove their ambition so Elejen didn't see a problem with it. As long as they were achieving something.

She could see this human quite clearly, though he seemed to be having a difficult time depicting her form in the haze. She could remove the fog, but she liked the mystery that it shrouded both of them in. And it was also fairly essential to life here in Limblock. Tampering with it would throw off the nature of the swamp.

As much as Elejen would have loved to "prove" to this person that she was the goddess of life by zapping him with a lightning bolt, she was going to be kinder to him because he had a pretty face. Though, normally, challenging her would really cause her anger to brim over the edge. But, seeing as how her form was rather plain-looking to be a goddess, she would let it slip.

"You want me to prove it?" Elejen repeated thoughtfully, biting her lip all the while in concentration. "I don't know. You are asking for a lot here." She sighed as she stepped away from him in disdain. Her gaze remained on him, though, unfaltering. "Watch the sky." As she issued her command, clouds suddenly began to swirl about the canopies of the trees. Elejen thinned the fog out a bit so he might actually see the sky. As the clouds brewed, lightning struck the ground at Elejen's feet, and lit up the whole swamp. An array of devilish eyes peered at her from the darkness of the trees, water, and grass. They glowed like wildfires when the lightning created a brilliant light.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the clouds were gone. The sky was as clear as a crystal. Every individual star seemed to twinkle brighter than it had before, as if they had been polished. Even the moon was a brighter white, almost ivory.

"Does that prove it?" Elejen questioned icily with a smug smirk. "And if you must know, I was in this swamp because it's very relaxing. A goddess can't always spend her time creating life, right?" She snorted softly in reply to her own question. That's how completely ridiculous she found it to be. All work and no play would make her very dull. She felt that she had found a happy medium.

Elejen spun around on her heel, facing away from Cassius now. She eyed the stagnant water before her to simply turn her attention away from Cassius. She was anticipating him to get down on his knees and start worshiping her right there, but she wasn't going to say anything. If he didn't, well, that was his loss. Less favor only affected him.

On the other hand, now that she had proven that she truly was the goddess of life, he would only think of her as some holy being. Or, at least, that was the basic assumption. Honestly, Elejen didn't want that. On Esune, she was every bit susceptible to human things, save for mortal peril. She was worshipped all the time, and when she came to Esune, she wanted to entertain herself. Esune was nothing too serious for her. And neither were the inhabitants of it. But she could see Cassius taking this situation very seriously.

[/color]x] TAGGED;; cassius ]
[x] WORDS;; 600]
[x] MUSE;; blow by ke$ha ]
[x] NOTES;; does that prove it?! ]
[x] CREDIT;; goes to Heidi::Hellion @ Caution 2.0! Steal ett & I'll nom chur soul kthnx! ]
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