A Dangerous Meeting (Renssomsseghessh)

[Fades]

22 day of Spring, 512AV

“Oh Harlan, my feet are so sore,” Fades said as Harlan landed next to her on the dock. She unceremoniously flopped herself down on her hinny and off her aching feet. “That walk through the city required more energy than I anticipated” she sighed as she watched the sun go down. “And I didn’t realize it would take all day.” Harlan stood next to her silent as usual, but she could practically see his thoughts as he tilted his head to the side to look at her out of one eye. “I know, I know. It’s my own fault, but you can’t complain, you just flew around everywhere. I’m the one with blisters.” She shifted her weight and couldn’t get comfortable. She wanted to soak her feet in the cool waters but her legs wouldn’t reach the water from here. She grudgingly stood up again and walked back down the dock to the shore. From there she made the short walk to the water’s edge. She found a nice big brown rock and plopped herself down again and stuck her feet in the water up to about mid-calf.

The sunset was so pretty with all the different colors. She loved how the light reflected off the mostly still water. She slid herself closer to the water and started making waves with her legs. The ripples on the water made the light do all sorts of interesting things. Harlan walked up next to her but didn’t seem to be as amused as she was. She glanced at him and then around where she was. No one was nearby. “What the heck” she said, and with that she pulled her shirt off and slid all the way into the water.

It was colder than she thought. Especially on her feet which were much deeper in the water. She made sure her shirt was still on the rock next to Harlan as she turned to face the sunset across the water. She was starting to adjust to the cooler temperatures of the water now and the rays dancing on the water were even prettier at this angle. All the reds and yellows glowed on the water all around her. She stayed that way until the sun was almost gone. She was just considering hopping out when Harlan suddenly let out a frantic squawk. Fades yanked herself around in the water and immediately started swimming back to the rock. Harlan’s feathers were all ruffled up and he had his wings expanded in a threatening gesture. Fades followed his line of sight to somewhere just behind the next rock a few feet away. She quickly hopped out of the water and snatched up her shirt putting it back on. Fades watched her companion and based on his actions she figured someone was either approaching quickly or was already there just behind the rock. “Harlan, have your claws ready in case we have to fight,” she mumbled under her breath. She prepared herself for the worst and shouted “Who’s there?!”

[Renssomsseghessh]

The sun's glow was beginning to set, and Seghesh was just beginning to unfurl his long coils to return to his dwellings for the night. His scales were warmed from a long day spent curled in on the shore, basking on a rather large rock that he had found not far from the waters edge. Perhaps it was strange that he had chosen such a spot this day to sunbathe, but for now the Orchard held little in the way of peace for this Dahni...

So, with the darkening sky overlooking, the snake slowly undid his form, allowing his body to begin to extend to its full length, letting his head rise above the rock as he made his way to the sand. Absently Seghesh noticed the girl standing there, the bird beside her making such a fuss. The Dahni, however, felt little for either. He had eaten not too long ago, and such lowly creatures were of no concern to him.

Thus he slowly unwound, stretching out to his full length at last and made to the lapping waves just past Fades and her creature, and he would have been content to leave them thusly unharmed if only that damned bird would quiet its raging. The creature kept up its pursuit, fluffing its feathers and making such noise as if it expected to frighten off the proud Dahni. Well... that just would not do.

Turning with a sudden lash of its head, Seghesh hissed and opened it's mouth wide, allowing the bird and girl to see his fangs and to know that, if he so chose, he could swallow them both in a single bite. His great tail lashed at the sand as he wrapped his body around the pair, rearing high as he completely encircled them with plenty of length to spare. Arching his head high over the pair, Seghesh looked upon the girl with eyes that spoke volumes of his soul. They seemed to say "Yes... You are merely prey to me. Your life can easily be taken..."

The Dahni remained as he was for a few seconds, letting the vastness of his intimidations to settle upon the girl's shoulders before he finally turned and made for the waters once more, the sound of his scales on the sand a signal that the girl's life would be spared this day.

[Fades]

Fades heard a slithering sound just as the biggest snake she had ever seen in her life rounded the rock. He was huge. And he looked ticked off. Harlan stopped squawking but he kept his wings out ready to fly to Fades defense. Snakes were one thing Harlan never feared. Fades on the other hand, was blown away by the sheer size of the creature. His head alone was as wide as her shoulders. She was suddenly reminded that she lacked a weapon of any type. It took all her strength not to flinch when the giant snake snapped its huge jaws open in a hiss. She saw the dangerous fangs slide down into view from the roof of his mouth. They shined sickly in the fading light of the night. His jaw slowly closed as he continued staring at her and Harlan. After what felt like forever but she was sure was only a few seconds, the snake finally looked away and began to slither off. Fades swallowed hard. She wasn’t going to move till she knew he was gone. She knew this by when Harlan’s feathers returned to normal and he turned to look at her. “Come on Harlan, let’s get back to the ship,” she said, “I don’t want to be out here anymore in the dark.”

Fades started the walk back to the Waterflower. Harlan flew above her keeping watch. When they finally reached the ship, Fades was exhausted. She removed her clothes and crawled into bed. “Good night Harlan.” Harlan suddenly jumped up into the bed with Fades, “hey, what are you doing?” He rested his sleek head on Fades’s chest as if he could feel her pent up feelings of fear and worry. “I will be alright silly. Sides, I have you,” she replied as she gently planted a kiss on the top of his head. “Thank you.” With that the two fell asleep listening to the soothing sounds of the waterfall.


As the sun rose on the new day, Fades was still troubled by her surprise encounter with a creature that clearly hated her. She sat up in bed and suddenly had a vision of Harlan being killed by a similar creature. Harlan detected her sudden tension and raised his head to glance at Fades. “Oh Harlan,” Fades said distressed, “what will we do if we run into that snake again?” Harlan shook out his feathers and stepped off the bed. He headed to the door of the cabin and waited patiently for Fades to open the door. “So are you not worried at all?” she quizzically asked. She opened the door for him and he took to the air immediately, likely to find food. “So I guess you just don’t care! Well, fine, I’m worried enough for the both of us,” she shouted after him as he vanished in the sky. Fades had breakfast and headed off into the city. Harlan would join her later.

[Fades]

She stepped off the dock and entered the city. She found herself next to the Pearl House, a bed and breakfast, as it looked, but she had never gone in. She walked on by and started heading up the tiers to the upper levels of Riverfall. Fades had heard of a very nice park in the upper most part of the city and was planning on visiting it. As she kept walking she passed many businesses and restaurants. She kept walking and passed Nysel’s Tower and further down was a strip of shops, called the Cavern Creations, she believed. The city was an amazing place and Fades thought it was beautiful. She also appreciated it because it was so close to the water that she so loved. Next she came across the Windswept condos. It looked like a nice place to live but she preferred her little Waterflower. She had grown very fond of her little ship and wouldn’t change it in any way. Finally, within the next block she could see the park she wanted to visit. As she approached she saw a sign, “Semele Park.” She can see a lot of stone statues even before she entered the park. Wondering into the park, she looked up at the first giant statue. It was of a man she didn’t recognize. A name she had never seen before was shown below it. Her reading of the Common language wasn’t very good and she wasn’t sure how the name would be pronounced. She continued on into the park and found a nice little shady section under a few blooming trees. She decided to lay down for a bit. The blooms on the trees were so pretty. The sky behind the trees was so very blue, more blue than any waters she had ever seen. As she daydreamed she slowly drifted off to sleep.

[Fades]

Fades felt something soft brush up against her elbow. The sun was warm on her face as she turned her head to look. Harlan was nestling down next to her elbow. His beautiful feathers were so soft against her arm. She took a deep breath and though about getting up. Looking at the sun, she figured she had been asleep for at least an hour, but she wasn’t sure. She stood up and started walking through a row of statues. Harlan watched her for a while before taking to the air to avoid walking. “I guess we should head back to Waterflower, Harlan,” she shouted up at him as he went by above her. She sighed not wanting to go back to her boat yet. She still felt like exploring. Harlan suddenly changed direction in the air and starting flying away from the harbor. “Harlan, what are you doing?” He ignored her and she realized he just expected her to follow him. She walked for blocks before growing tired of following him. “Harlan, come down here! Do you want me to follow you or are you just looking for food?” He squawked in response and just soared on in the blue sky. She continued following with an unhappy grunt. A few minutes later she saw Harlan swoop down and land. She caught up with him and the next sight took her breath away. She was standing at the beginning of acres and acres of grapes. Grape vines were everywhere as far as the eye could see. They were beautiful. Giant purple grape clusters spotted the organized field. The rows of vines were so healthy and green Fades couldn’t help but be amazed. She started walking down a row of vines wondering exactly how big this field was.

[Fades]

As Fades kept walking, she noticed that in the distance, the rows of vines were replaced with neat rows of trees. She broke out in a brisk run just to stretch her legs. The vines of grapes passed by her as she freed her legs. She took deeper breaths as she dashed toward the trees. She finally realized that she was running toward apple trees. Bright red apples dotted all the trees in the field. She slowed her run as she neared the first tree. Wow, she could smell the apples from here! Standing under the first tree now, she reached for the closest branch. Pulling herself up into the tree, she climbed as high as possible. The view was incredible. The field was enormous. To her left, some weird plants she had never seen before grew from the ground. On the right, she could see more trees with bright beautiful oranges. Wow, this was defiantly her new favorite spot in Riverfall. Harlan landed on a branch next to her. The two of them took in the sights together. They sat in the tree till the sun started to set. “Well, Harlan, I guess we should head back before it gets dark. Thank you for taking me here. I would have never known this place was here.” Harlan glanced sideways at Fades and then spread his wings. He let the wind ruffle his feathers before lifting up into the air. Fades danced down the tree, reaching the ground gracefully. She started the long walk back to the harbor with the sun beginning to set.