Island in the Sun

[Kamon's OOC]

"No harm will befall you here, Mae."

He let her stand for a moment with the water up to her middle. She was afraid. It was an understandable fear. The water of many worlds held numerous dangers. Even the water itself could be a danger. But here she would be safe. The waters around the islands were controlled to keep away the things that might devour a swimmer. A few little nibblers might get through from time to time, but with the two of them together she would be ultimately fine. But baby steps. If he pressed her too hard now she would resent him and everything he was trying to do to help her. That just wouldn't do for him.

Gently he gave her hand a squeeze, and after she'd had a few moments to become acquainted, he gently pulled her out to the point where she would have to swim, though he kept his hand within hers. If she floundered, he'd pull her close to keep her from panicking.

"Relax, breath slowly."

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

She trusted him.

That realization struck her all at once, with full force, as though a tidal wave had taken over the shore. Why? When had that come to be? When had he stopped being predator in her mind?

Unashamed, she clung to his hand as they got further and further into the water, until her neck was submerged and water nipped at her chin.

"I don't like it" she said, with a tense voice. "Can we go back?"

But he just carried on, until she could no longer touch the bottom and was forced instead to swim. Thankfully it was not something you grew out of if you didn't utilize the skill in some time, like riding a bike it became somewhat intrinsic. She released his hand, truly a necessity if one is to remain afloat, and kicked her legs.

Her face, despite the heat of the sun, was pale though.

And then she went under.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

He let her go, treading water lightly. She seemed alright for a time, despite saying she didn't like it. If she kept up she'd do just fine. The waves were gentle enough that he doubted there to be any riptides to threaten their lives. Her face was pale, though. The fear had its grip of her. Had she not mastered that emotion yet? Well, she was still young and not nearly as trained as he was, so it was entirely possible. At least she wasn't facing it alone. Her panic could very well have killed her if she'd ended up facing the water on her own. Such thoughts served no good, though, save to annoy his mind with thoughts of her dying.

And then she went under and he felt a momentary grip of panic swell around him, but then he reached out to her and embraced her in his arms, drawing her to him and keeping her above the water as he pushed her into shallower waters and settled her gently on the bottom where she could sit in the water, but with her head well above it. The first thing he did was check to see if she was breathing alright. When he was satisfied she was, he brushed her hair back out of her face.

"You're alright. I told you I'd let no harm befall you."

He could only wonder what it was that caused her to feel such fear of the water. Was it water in general or was it the ocean? He didn't know, but he knew she was safe now, and that was what mattered.

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

She felt weightless.

Her body floated around for a few moments; surprisingly she did not flail, she did not panic, she just lay there...

And then she was pulled free.

With a sharp gasp she found herself back into the shallows where she was set on her butt. A small shudder ran through her, and she set her head in her hands. Slowing her breath. Trying to return her calm. She was okay. She was okay...

He brushed hair from her face, and she leaned into his touch. He was talking, and she knew that the words he spoke were true. She was safe. He had saved her.

She turned her head against his shoulder and whimpered. She felt somewhat shaken, and yet... At the same time... Part of her wanted to get back out, to find the weird tranquility which had come with being submerged.

"I'm okay" she whispered.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

She put her head into his shoulder and he sat in the shallow waters holding her. Though she had seemed shaken, she now seemed relatively calm by comparison. She even said she was okay. Well, whispered it, but he'd heard her all the same. She hadn't exactly been flailing about in the water, but at the same time her descent had been entirely unnatural. That was why he'd pulled her free of the waves and been concerned for her well-being. That said, she did seem rather calm now despite huddling against him. There were questions meant to be asked, he just wasn't sure whether to wait or to ask them.

In the end he waited until she seemed to have fully regained herself before speaking.

"I'm not sure whether you're afraid of the ocean, or if you can't swim. You seemed capable for a moment and then you just- sank."

He frowned and looked out over the water. Perhaps she just hadn't really been ready to go out that far and had frozen up entirely. That could account for her sinking as she had. It wouldn't be the first time he'd seen someone freeze up in that manner before. He knew it would be best for her to try again, though.

"Do you want to try again? This time I won't pull you out unless you signal you want me to, but I'll be right there with you."

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

She could feel his comforting arms around her; he did not push her to move, to talk, to do anything. He simply sat with her for a time and allowed her to come to. And she did. Her breathing regulated itself, and soon she felt able to lift her head back up. She did not look at him to begin with, she set her gaze out to the water they were sat in and sighed very slowly. Remaining put, she stayed there huddled against him... Not quite ready to relieve herself of the unexpected comfort.

"I... I can swim" she said, biting her lip. "It's just, it's been a long time, and I was never really confident, the water is strange to me."

Was she a coward? How could she be afraid of water, of all things? She could fight beasts, and men, she could face hordes and armies... But not an ocean? What was wrong with her?

"Yes... I'll try again."

She made a move to rise, should he permit it. She didn't go far though, she waited for his encouragement. She could do it, she could face this... She had to.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

He waited until she was ready and allowed her to move when she was. When she took steps forward into the water, he sat watching her. When she stopped, he stood and moved towards her. She wasn't in that far, but she was still doing well to go back in at all. Considering she had nearly drowned herself the first time she'd gone out there, to go back out again was good. He walked towards her, but didn't touch her, and didn't stop until he'd moved past her and out where the water came up to the middle of his chest. He stood there for a moment, looking down into the water, and then turned to look at her.

"You're doing well, keep coming."

If she faltered, he'd be there. If she went under and panicked, he'd be there. Teaching someone to relax was turning out to be hard work. That was alright, though. Teaching her to relax would be extremely beneficial to both of them in the future. He'd feel safer with someone watching over him that enjoyed her time more than she did feel obligated to spending all her time working.

"Feel no fear, just the gentle nudge of the water. There's nothing here but gently flowing water and me. Nothing will happen, and if you need me, just tell me or show me and I'll help you."

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

She felt...

Stupid.

Child-Like.

Here she was stood within the rolling surf, on a most beautiful planet, with the most insane surroundings, and she was faltering. Allowing her irrational fears to take grip over her actions. Looking to her employer for encouragement to... What? To swim? It was crazy. This whole damn thing was beyond mental.

No more. She could swim. She had swam before, she would swim again. Pushing aside the anxiety, stomping on the memories which arose, she took several strong steps back toward him until the water was to her shoulders and the drag had become so bad that swimming was the only option. He was there if she needed him, but in that moment she had decided she didn't want that support.

This was his vacation, just as much as hers.

So she splashed some water in his direction, allowed her expression to soften, and simply said "Catch me if you can."

And then she pushed off. It was difficult at first, as she made her first few strokes away from him and into the crystalline waters. Her fears rose then hit a brick wall, blocked from surfacing all together. She wasn't a child. She would not act as one.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

She was hesitant and for a few moments he thought he was going to have to coerce her into the water once more. And then, rather suddenly, she changed. It was an immediate reversal of how shed been acting, as if shed made the decision to no longer care about her fear and just accept it. This was a good thing, really. In essence she had mastered her fear. And the end result, she rushed out to meet him at the depth of water he was in.

Then she splashed him playfully, and told him to catch her if he could before turning and swimming away from him.

"Well, that's more like it."

Progress. She was finally starting to let her hair down and have fun. Everyone knew how to have fun. It was a sort of inherent mental understanding. They just had yo be shown that it was alright to have fun. And then they could. Now she was beginning to see this and he liked the result of her doing so, even though he'd gotten sprayed with water.

He turned and swam after her with smooth, easy strokes, not pressing too hard to break the current so that he didn't tire himself out rapidly. She had a few strokes on him for certain, but he was sure his long arms would eventually let him catch up to her, which they did as he came up on her feet and reached to grab one, yanking it back and down to try and knock her off her pace and backwards while he made to swim around her.

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

Her strokes were swift but not necessarily the strongest. A sudden rush of adrenaline helped to propel her forward, and a slight laugh left her. She was doing it, she was actually swimming.

Aaaaannnddd then she wasn't.

Her arms were moving, her feet tried to kick, but she found herself going back instead of forth. She remained afloat by sheer willpower alone.

"Cheater!" She exclaimed, trying to pull her foot back as he swam around her. She grinned though, and once free she swam after him and tried to catch one of his limbs. He'd turned this into outright war... And she wasn't about to lose the first battle.

 

[Kamon's OOC]

He only glanced back briefly before diving beneath the waves. So she could swim, and she COULD enjoy herself if she took the chance to. The smile was evidence of that fact. Now he just needed to keep her smiling, though he certainly intended to not let her best him at swimming. That would be rather disgraceful on his part. Even in water he was lithe, though he certainly wasn't a Nautolan. Through the water he swam, pressing down to the ocean floor, utilizing the Force to slow his need for oxygen, and strengthen his muscles for greater gains. Once he was down, he singled out a section of the coral on the bottom that could provide a suitable hiding place, and circled around it.

Would she follow, though?

Flitting around the coral, he reached into the Force and used it to make himself blend in. Now he really WAS cheating, but he didn't care. It was all in good fun, anyway. If she remained the jovial self that she currently was, he figured she'd get a kick out of it in the end. He'd already shown her he could stay under for quite a while, so she didn't really have reason to worry. All there was now was waiting to see if she had the courage to dive down and find him or not.

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

Just a moments hesitation, before she switched off her anxiety and dived down alongside him. Maelasi was not so well versed in using the Force to conserve oxygen, so she knew that she was on an internal timer before she had to break the surface to breathe oncemore. The water, though surprisingly clear, was still difficult to see through the deeper she went, and locating Leos was extremely difficult.

Once, twice, three times she rose back to the surface for breath, each time determination dragged her back down in search of her wayward Master. Soon she began to tire, it was even more exhausting than combat, this swimming malarkey, perhaps because she had to control her breathing...

She did not find him. Instead she floated back to the top for a fourth time and kicked her feet to keep herself afloat. Instead of diving to find him she tried to look from the surface, but he was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't even get a hold of his Force Signature, which concerned her.

"Leos?"

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

DUN DUN.

He moved quietly, keping his presence masked, doing everything he could to keep her from noticing. Oh, he was horrible for this, he was certain of that. She was either going to get a serious kick out of it, or she was going to hate him forever. Maybe a mixture of both. He moved up through the water, noting her feet as she tread water. There was the sound of, something, as she called for him, but being beneath the water as he was, he couldn't quite make out what it was that she'd said. He had a suspicion that she was calling out for him, but he didn't make any sound to alert her to his presence. He even did what he could to keep from expelling much in the way of carbon dioxide as he rose.

DUN DUN!

And up he came from beneath her, kicking heavily towards the end, grasping her legs, and propelling upwards and out of the water, sending her a little ways up in the air. For a brief moment she might feel like she could fly. But of course she would come down eventually!

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

Still nothing. She frowned, and turned in the water. Her eyes narrowed to the distance, looking for any sign of him. Then to the shore. Nothing. Nada. Not even footprints in the sand which might indicate that he had left.

Concern turned into panic. What if he had flailed? Sunk as she had? She turned again, one last time, before something grabbed her by the feet and launched her high.

Maelasi screamed.

She soared overhead, before plummeting just as swiftly back into the water. Thankfully she caught herself, closing her mouth to refrain from swallowing too much on her descent.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

Oh that scream!

Her terror was delightful, but in an amusing sort of way. She landed with a splash that cascaded over him. He waited a moment for the water to settle and then ducked under just enough to where he could see her as he swam towards her. If she'd hit too hard, she might be disoriented and he didn't want her to drown. That said, he approached her with the distinct knowledge that she was more than a little bit likely to want to kick his backside again and again for doing that.

"You can fly pretty high," he intoned as he tread water near where shed gone in.

Now this was honestly the most relaxed he'd felt in quite a while.

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

Words flooded her otherwise hazy mind, and slowly she turned. Disorientated indeed. Instead of anger or frustration her eyes held wonder, before she grinned at him.

"I do fly pretty great, huh?"

She huffed a breath though, and looked longingly toward the shore. Forget sparring, forget warzones, this was tiring. Very tiring. And she wanted nothing more than to lay on the warm shore while the sun descended. She looked back to him for a moment, as though trying to see if he'd let her off the hook for now, before indicating to the shore with her head.

"Can we?"

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

He chuckled.

"Sure."

That had been an entirely unexpected response as far as he was concerned. He'd expected her to be angry at him. In fact, he wouldn't have blamed her for being angry at him. In all likelihood he'd scared her half to death just by being underwater for so long. She'd probably been worried that something terrible had happened to him. That wasn't the case, but how was she to know that without having verified it by seeing him? He'd also expected her to be mad about sneaking up on her like that and tossing her up into the sky to fall back into the water. But instead she'd seemed positively happy. If anything, he almost thought that she seemed a bit thrilled about it.

But now he swam back to the shore where their towels were, and walked up onto it, absolutely sodden with water. Shaking his head, his hair flung everywhere to spray water away, and then he lay his towel out before he lay himself down upon it.

"Tiring, but it sure was fun, wasn't it?"

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

Thrilled was more the word, for sure.

It had been exhilarating, to soar above even for just a few moments. She was also more than grateful that he had not drowned, so her relief had drowned out any anger she might have felt. No, his safety meant more.

Swimming back to the shore, more than grateful that he agreed, she all but crawled upon the sand and lay sprawled on her back in the sand. Her towel was forgotten for now as she basked in the heat and smiled.

"It was, yes. Thank you... For not letting me avoid it."

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Kamon's OOC]

He lay on his back, staring up at the sky for a little while. It was warm, outside of the water, and the wind was calm so there wasn't a chill. Now that he took the time to actually notice, the sun was beginning to inch down towards the horizon, meaning that soon enough it would draw towards darkness, and when it did, the stars would come out. Here, where there weren't the lights of a massive city, or where they weren't sitting on a ship in space where they could only see a minute amount of the galaxy at any given time, they would truly be able to look on the stars in wonder. It made him curious as to whether she'd ever done that before. Probably not, he figured. Given everything else it seemed unlikely.

After a few moments, he went and grabbed her towel, before bringing his down to where she was, and lying it down beside her. Hers he dropped next to her before he sat down, crossed his legs, and looked out across the water. He was so glad they kept all the mean beasty's in the water away from the shore. It made life easier.

"You're welcome."

He ran a hand through his hair, slicking it back.

"I told you there was much to be said for relaxing."

[member="Maelasi Eramar"]

 

[Lief]

She wiggled a little to get comfortable, creating a Maelasi-shaped indent into the sand, and sighed. He was fussing around, but right now her eyes were closed and she was enjoying the slight spray of the water which blew in from the ocean. It cooled her overheated skin, reminding her of her youth with the Kage. Such an oppressive world had known no bounds. Funny how one could lose that conditioning with enough time away.

After a few more moments of basking, she turned her head and squinted at him. He was closer to her now, sat upon a towel. Perhaps that was wise of him...

Rising up, she walked back to the water and tentatively dipped a toe in. Sand lined her back, and when she realized that the water wasn't too cool that she was going to end up shivering she sunk into it and allowed the grainy little pieces to be rinsed from her.

"Right you were, as always, Sir."

She didn't look at him but she pulled a silly face anyway. It showed in her voice.

[member="Ignus"]