It was a lake --lake's were, for all intents and purposes, for swimming. As far as Lani knew, at least, and even if they weren't, it wasn't like an authority of man could stop her in the first place. Her dress had been removed, tossed carelessly to the side --she could always buy a new one-- and her lithe, pale form slipped into the cold water. She didn't need the added weight of clothing, and instead decided swimming in the nude would not only be more fulfilling --and get her cleaner, perhaps?-- but it would also allow her the freedom of once more connecting with nature. Her eyes sparked in a feature of enjoyment and she stepped towards the goal --the center of the lake-- as she wiped off in a fit of enjoyment. Hand over hand, feet kicking, arms flailing in a calculated manner. It was all rather precise and on-point. She grinned, swimming only faster and kicking stronger, her eyes on the prize. What was the prize? Well, in actuality, it was a rock she found the last time she was here, and stuck in the middle of the lake for the next time she came. It wasn't particularly huge, nor was it particularly small --an average size rock, it was just shiny and caught her fancy. She liked it, of course, and she was more then prepared to go for something if she was just going to be in a pool.

She brushed passed fish as she waded to the shallow bottom of the lake, her eyes searching in the moonlight as she peered through the flowing water and into the ground below --there! She snatched it up quickly, eying it greedily, and much like a crazy person, and then waded her way back to the shore. Her eyes sparked with an incredible excitement --as though she was prepared to go for the long run in the end, a crazy look of excitement in her eye. With a dangerous edge, she tossed the rock by her clothes and entered the depths of the inky moonlit water, tendrils of raven-colored hair dipping out and fanning around her, then being pulled under with her, emerging as she did. Shaking her head and tipping it to the side, she ran her hands through it, feeling the slippery, silky texture, and then released it behind her once more, letting it fall out in a manner quite unbecoming for a woman of her stature --what was her stature now? Ray was gone. Seelee was...well, who cared where that bint was. Lani did. She'd never admit it --not on her life!-- but she cared oh so much. Meera was always busy being a Goddess. It seemed as though everyone was disappeared or busying themselves save Lani. She was still roaming on her quest to learn more. Knowledge was power, and power would one day be known as Lanilmathien. It had to be. She was power. She was Magic incarnate --she promised herself that. Of all entirety, she was Magic and it was her. Lanilmathien was a Sorceress of Imythess --a skilled Sorceress with aptitude in numerous fields-- and she could accomplish anything she set her mind to. She had power, and she lusted for so much more.

The moonlight hit her lithe frame as she moved through the waves, and her eyes flittering up to it as she gently lifted her body in a weightless state towards the top of the lake, allowing a gentle notion of floating. She didn't move suddenly, she didn't spike herself randomly. She just settled down, and rested, feeling, for the first time in months, comfortable. Ray wasn't a Goddess anymore, so she had no one to follow -no one to lead her to war, and no one to allow her the grace that Magick gave her. No, she didn't have anyone anymore in that department. Seele was --Oh, Goddess, what was Seele? He and Lani had an odd past, one she wasn't necessarily positive mattered in this case, but she would count it none the less. Seele was himself --he was mysterious and elusive, so she couldn't count on finding help in him. Meera would always be there for Lani, as she made it oh so clear, and Lani was proud of that fact, as she managed to stay friends with a Celestial, despite her ties to the more evil side of life. She was, overall, an interesting person --Meera was much more then Lani could ever hope for in a friend, and she praised that fact. Her eyes sparked again as she realized past that she only had enemies. Paladins, Vampires, all of them only enemies to her. She wasn't very adapt in the friend department, that much was clear as it was. Drats, she'd need to work on her social skills before she took over Imythess and ruled it with a tight fist --it'd be easier to understand your victim, then kill them.

And it'd be so much crueler.


[[Sorry for the lateness. =D]]

(( Ooooh, I like your writing! So very interesting o.o ))

Such a pretty night, Ranie decided it was. The stars overhead, the soft breeze that smelled like the lake, the quietness of being alone as far as she knew. She rather enjoyed being away from her village, and was so more and more as time passed. If this one place was so beautiful, how might the rest of the world be? Atleast some places would be like this, maybe even better. She'd love to see more places like this. Even places not-so-nice as this lake, she'd like to see, though. Anywhere, really, she'd like to go.

She stretched her arms as she walked along a game path though the grounds surrounding the lake. Her silvery-blonde hair whisped behind her in the gentle breeze, straying out of place. Oh well, as long as it doesn't get too messy.. She thought to herself, looking back at the stars.

The trail she followed, she discovered, lead out to the lake... Of course it did, that's where the animals would go to drink... She looked at the calm waters, the sky reflecting on them. Smoothing her white dress, and brushing off fallen leaves, she walked to stand in the open, gazing at the land. Her eyes fell upon a pile of clothes... She didn't hear anyone come up, perhaps she had been too far out, or the person had come the opposite direction? Clothes.. and a rock... where's the owner?

She scanned the area again, her eyes finally falling upon someone. She tilted her head, wondering what the person was doing out here so late. Shrugging off her wonderment, she called " Good evening... I'm sorry.. if I'm bothering you? " was she being a bother? Probably, she decided.

[[Thanks. xD I like yours too. =] ]]

"To be a bother would signify that I've knowledge you are here, or that I have decided to acknowledge your presence, neither of which I have yet to burden my mind with."

Lánilmathién was, perhaps, a tad bit cruel when it came to the matter of intruders, but she had grown on the solitude that had become her life. She was alone in this world now --all but Meera had seemed to lose contact with her over these past couple of months, but perhaps that was not entirely their fault? It was her fault, she reminded herself. She was the problem in that equation --she had disappeared, dropped off the face of Imythess for various reasons, most of them involving her own quest for Magick and power. She had disappeared, and when she returned she discovered Seele was immersed in his own world and problems, Ranewen was gone, and Meera was busy at her own temple. It seemed Lánilmathién was the one who lost contact, not anyone else, and even though she was oh-so-upset about the matter, she couldn't do much. If the Fates wished for Lánilmathién and her sister, her off-chance future lover, and her good friend to become close again, then they would be directed together --she would make the decision when it came time, not before, and certainly not after. She pulled her raven-feather locks again, piling them on her scalp with a sharp twist, and simple curve. She stepped towards the shore, slowly, each step residing on the lake bed with a simplistic, soft squish.

She didn't show emotion --she would not show anyone that she was enjoying this experience. The water rushing along her features, seeping into her pale flesh with a beautiful feeling, and her body reveling in each and every touch of the cool water. The moonlight that reflected down on her was bright and beautiful, twitching and twinging with a rush of energetic presence. Eyes calculated, cool, and filled with joy, the female slipped out completely, the water dripping from her ankles and bare breasts, running over her curves with a simple pleasure, and touching the sand in soft droplets. Grabbing her gown, she slid it up her features, shaking what little sand off that she could, and, once she had pulled it over her frame and fastened the corset right, she grabbed the rock and slid it into a secret compartment, reminding herself to grab it later and test it's magical properties. Smooth, yet jetted edges would be perfect as a conductor of energy in almost any spell she cast, and thus she needed to remind herself to use it properly in Blood Magick of all. Properly, any spell would be cast as a powerful one with the most proper caster.

Lánilmathién turned then, her eyes flushing over the female in front of her with a very intrigued glance. She couldn't be too old, nor too young. She was a mature female, though she looked as though she had proper training in the manners of Magick, nor blademanship. She was an innocent woman, it seemed, and it was only Lánilmathién's twisted sense of honor which made her wish to teach this child how to defend herself. She wouldn't, of course, as Lánilmathién took no students, but she could if she had wanted -she could certainly be a teacher for someone of the Arcane arts, if she wished to give away all the secrets she had in her own workings of Magick, which she definitely didn't wish to. She was a woman of secrets --she got where she was today solely on the promise that she was willing to kill for the sake of Magick. When it came down to it, she did kill to get some of her Magical secrets, and she would gladly do it again if it meant she could have power. Twelve people, if she remembered correctly, were murdered for the pure joy of her killings.

Marvelous blood, she discovered, and what was even better was the amazing spells she gained from their deaths. It was this that made her a neutral party now -she cared for herself, and only herself. If she killed, she would do so without a problem. If she destroyed, it was due to her will to. If she saved someone, it was because she deemed it necessary. She cared little for anyone save herself, and it was rare that she showed the expression of good faith or pure chaotic nature. She did as she pleased, when she pleased, and however she pleased. The mark of a future genius --Lánilmathién didn't mind the knowledge be known that one day, she would rule this world with an iron fist. One day, this lone Sorceress woudl be master of Magick, thought, and power alike. She would be spectacular. Lánilmathién would be ruler.

That was a bonified promise.

Ranie raised an eyebrow slightly at the response she had gotten, " But... you have acknowledged me... and you do know that I'm here, now at least. You spoke to me... if you didn't want to acknowledge my presence you wouldn't have spoken to me, would you? " she stated plainly, and continued, " It seems that I am bothering you now, as you've stopped whatever you were doing before I came... So, you have, indeed, burdened your mind, as you say, with me. "

She studdied the woman, making metal notes about her. She didn't seem the type that was embarassed or flustered easily, that much was obvious to her. But the woman didn't seem to be either happy, sad, angered.. Nothing showed openly on her features. Perhaps that would come through when she responded again.. Ranie's mouth had gotten her in trouble plenty of times at home, her blunt statements never passed well with her elders. This woman cared for the belongings that she had, not wanting her dress wet or dirty, and also that rock that she had stowed away somewhere now.

Taking a stripe of cloth that was loosly tied around her wrist, Ranie tied her hair back, feeling that her normal games wouldn't work to find much out about this woman. Whomever this was, she doesn't show too much to others, Ranie decided and thought of other tacts to try and find out about her. Maybe that rock... That might be a good way, she thought.

Her hair now tied back, save for the shorter bits near her face, she put a sweet, innocent-looking smile upon her face, waiting, simply waiting, to see how this woman would react to her statement.

Arching a single, slim and trimmed eyebrow, the female studdied the child in front of her. She was curious, puzzled, and over all one who seemed as though she would enjoy everything that would come to her. She appeared innocent, but then again, so had so many people she had met. So many times. Why was it that the most innocent always became the most deadly? This was, of course, one of those questions Lanilmathien would gladly question, but wouldn't dare dream to. Simply because she was not innocent, and wouldn't dream of trying to be. She was deadly enough without having to pretend, she mused, and her silvery eyes flickered over every feature, taking in this girl without caring for a bit of modesty. "Touche." The reply came out along an amused, curved grin in which Lanilmathien found herself delightfully enjoyed. She found this girl...appealing. Lani was no lesbian, of course, but she did find it interesting that a woman with such an audible curiousity could just so easily fascinate a woman who kept all questions to herself.

"And if I was to say that I had yet to acknowledge your presence, as I asked for no name, and could have been speaking to myself, or someone who I assumed was here, but did not know it was you?" She grinned, but not about her previous statement. It was a creepy sort of grin, one which lead to her next set of words. "Tsk, tsk dear. If you were a burden to my mind, you would be dead and I would be collecting your blood for a spell. Don't think yourself so predominantly guilty of burdening my mind, or you may find yourself in that very position."

To some, this threat would seem half-assed. She was a woman with no weaponry in her arsenal from the visage all around her. She radiated magick from every pore of her body, and yet to those who knew nothing on the subject of the ancient and dark arts, she would seem to be nothing more then a simplistic child playing a game in which she held no sort of kinship. Lanilmathien flexed her slender, bony fingers, eyes glittering in the joy of watching this child, and then once more she stepped forward, slipping the rock from her dress fold and dropping it to the feet of the woman. She was definitely worthy of being in the presence of someone like Lanilmathien --a woman whose vain and selfish conscious would kill anyone whom she deemed unworthy-- and she would like the fact that the sister of a Goddess would give anything to everyone she felt worthy. "Call me Lanilmathien, future ruler of Imythess. That, my dear, is a gift to you. The quizative and quesitoning are the ones who make things worth while and are future leaders themselves. You have greatness flowing through your body, so don't subdue it. What do you do? Magick, blades? Are you trained in any profession. You intrigue me. Speak, or I may grow bored, and when I grow bored with someone...well, let's just say."

She paused for dramatic effect.

"Then things burden my mind."

[[Bloddy horrible post, and it is kinda short, but I haven't had inspiration for the past couple of days, and I really needed to post for you. >.< I'll pick up posting speed soon, promise. =] ]]

(( Sorry that I haven't posted in a few days.. School just started back up for me, and Mom is being a headache, also... ))

Ranie smiled at the reply the woman had given her as she was looked over. This woman would, indeed, prove to be interesting. She delicatly folded her hand infront of her and put a slightly lost look on her face. How she loved games like this.

Watching as Lani tossed the rock to her, she changed her expression to one of slightly more confussion, and stooped to pick up the shiney stone up in her hands, " Such scary words, Ms. Lanilmathien.. You truly are to be the future ruler of Imythess? That's quite a claim, " She said as her pale eyes glanced at the stone, " That makes you royalty? I've never been in the presence of someone who was of Royal blood.... please forgive my rudeness.. " She smiled apologetically, a sparkle to her eyes. " I suppose that you really didn't burden your mind... not asking my name and all... I'm sorry for my asumption. "

Pausing for a second to turn the stone over in her hands, wondering what type it was, she then continued, " You know... I never asked your name.. Does that mean that you're burdening my mind? I think it does.. " She nodded to herself, her eyes falling back on Lani, " But that's alright, I don't really mind all too much. I forgive you, " She smiled sweetly again, all confusion having left her face.

Ranie wondered how far she could push this woman before the edge came up. It was always fun to see how short others' fuses got, after talking to her for a short time, though she had always known that none would ever try to harm her for her foolery. She couldn't be sure of anyone that she came upon now. Oh well.

" This, " She held the stone up, " is a nice gift. I thank you, I truly do. It's so pretty... like the sky, so very pretty.. " She smiled genuinlly. " And, to answer your question, Lanilmathien, I'm trained in not much... I never cared to learn a weaponskill.. I know a little magick, but my skills are not anything to brag about. I failed to pay attention during my lessens, you could say, " By not attending them, she thought with a small smirk to herself, " I don't know what 'greatness' you speak of.. I'm nothing great, if you mean in weaponry or magick. Perhaps in other ways, I like to think I am... but that is simply my view on the matter. "

[[Sorry. Life sucks right now. And my posting abilities do too.]]

“Oh, but you are, darling!” The exclaimation was almost outside of character for the female, but she felt no need to keep it in now, of all times. “Unlike so many in this blasted land, you think! You have a remarkable ability to think through situations in witty manners which I think I have seen rarely within this plane. Skill with a Blade? Bow? None at all, or to be a true master would not matter to a thinker such as you are. Skills with Magick? Enchanting? In this method, yes intelligence is key, but it is not everything. Intelligence, alone, is a lethal weapon that can be harnessed. You, my dear child, are an interesting specimen. I shall ensure I keep an eye on you.”

The words carried a tenderness with them, though Lanilmathien made no move to physically comfort this woman. Why would she? She was a ruthless and cold woman the majority of the time –despite her need and subtle leaning to Neutral classes, Lanilmathien still had a hard, cold edge to her emotions and thoughts. She refused to teach, she often refused to learn, but she never refused to acknowledge power. And in this lone thinker, a philosopher of the modern times, she found a presence unlike numerous others. She could, in her own right, be the next ruler of Imythess. Someone level-headed like that would serve the lands rig—wait. What was she thinking?! No. Lanilmathien would be the ruler. She would reign with an iron fist over all and she would do so with a just viciousness of benign enjoyment. It would be the only option in the end. She would manipulate. She would control. Lani would be the great and powerful Empress of Imythess, one day. She would be revered and feared and respected and honored. Worshipped, adored, and one day, she would be praised as a Goddess. She didn’t need to be a Clairvoyant to know these things. She just knew. It was the way of someone with as much hubris as she possessed. You believed you perceived things in one method, but in actuality it was certainly not in that way.

Lani studied quickly, orbs running over the lithe female form with such disgust and disdain that many around her would only look on her eyes and cringe in pain. “I suppose you are correct. I…Ap…ap…What in bloody hell is your name, then? Ah, nice, nice. Well, dear, you intrigue me. You speak eloquently and beautifully.”