The wave crashed over the beach, swiping all the debris away and pulling it back to the sea. The water was pulled back, down the beach only to be thrown back forwards. The sound was so natural, relaxing. It gave you the feeling of everything being washed away, leaving you with exposed, yet so open that the feeling is exotic. The waves didn’t stop, just in and out, in and out, a great mass of bluish green rushing towards the white beaches of Imythess. The sand was a glittering mass of pure white sand so soft and cool to the touch. The sun shone down brightly from the clear blue sky, an over bright light that was almost false in the still cold early-spring days. The trees were waving in the slight sea breeze that had the smell of brine on it. Out to sea it was a lot stronger, thrusting up the cold water and flinging it back into the sea.

The brightness of the day seemed so out of place, the glittering waters, the pure white sands, the glaring sun and the clear blue sky above. It was all like a fantasy on a grey spring morning. A deception, a trick of the mind. But, in this almost perfect summer-like day, there was someone (or something) who didn’t belong to the picture. Beside an old, gnarled tree stood a young man, clothed in black. His long hood was down, revealing his insipid face; thin eyebrows curved over a pair of gleaming, dark eyes of a colour that seemed indescribable. His hair was a similar colour; long, and straight reaching past his shoulders. Strands of his hair floated in front of his face, shorter than the rest. Dark was the only word that described the colour of his hair and eyes, dark and mysterious. His thin lips were pressed tightly together, and there seemed to be something morose around him.

Velkarian stepped forward his eyes plastered onto the sand, watching his shadow appear as he took a step under the sun. His shadow seemed to drain away all the brightness and colour from the landscape around it, what he didn’t notice was that he himself seemed to dull down things, figuratively making it a picture of black and white. His worn-out black boots barely sank into the sand, leaving a faint print behind. He walked towards the water his eyes wide. Velkarian had never really ‘seen’ the sea. Of course, he had been on a ship, traveled around, but one couldn’t call that seeing the sea. He had stayed in his cabin, examining maps, reading manuscripts or just enjoying the movements of the ship. He hadn’t watched the waves leaping up to meet the sides of the ship, or heard to seagulls scream their cries at the sailors. He had, technically, avoided any contact with the sea, but now he felt a need to fill his inquisitiveness.

Slowly his feet led him to wear the waves came in, he pulled off his boots and took a deep breath. Velkarian closed his eyes, letting the water slosh over his toes, and gently pull the water back. He sighed. The feeling was…nice, something he hadn’t experienced before. He grabbed his boots and walked on. He kept the sea to his left, enjoying the sharp smell of brine and the sweet smell of moss floating from the forest. He didn’t realize how much time had passed, with the rhythmic yet not predictable patterns of the sea he had seen time as a little and unnecessary thing. He stopped and listened. Was that another heart beat he could hear, or was it the answering echo of his own beating heart? After a couple more minutes he was positive that someone had been following, he turned around to look.

<long first enterance, I got carried away>

Indeed, Laoura was one to follow the man, but not along the sands. She had changed her shape to that of a small blue-silver fish which was nearly invisible beneath the waves, taking advantage of the flashes of sunlight against the waves to disguise her movements.

When he chose to turn, believing he was being followed, the fish promptly leapt from the water, but instead of falling back down into the comfortingly cool water, her form began to smoothly shift from small fish to full-sized human being. Like the man, she didn't exactly appear to belong in such a setting as a sunny, beachside day.

She wore a light blue sarong and was barefooted with a sleeveless blouse which matched the sarong. Around her waist was a belt where several thin, short daggers hung on one side and a sheathed scimitar on the other. Even though she was dressed for the beach in her light clothing, there was an aura of darkness around her as well. It might have had to do with her long black mane of hair, or her very pale skin.

"Good afternoon to you, sir," she greeted him with a smile.

Never had he been a friend of magic, or not the magic that seemed common around here: people appearing and disappearing, reading his thoughts; it all came as a shock to him. But never had he experienced this. At first Velkarian didn’t see anyone but then a fish leapt out of the water and turned into a beautiful young woman. He gasped and took an involuntary step backwards, his heart beating a delicate rhythm against his chest. He felt rather than saw the power that she held, it was a feeling that nobody could mistake. Velkarian had a natural ability to sense the presence of a Pure Creature, one that was from his times, anyone like him had that, just his was very strong. He hadn’t met a Pure Being for years upon years, and he had searched all the lands looking for them, caring not if they were of Light, Dark or Grey. The lady’s overpowering sense of supremacy knocked his ability away; he couldn’t even sense the reassuring aura of his Pureness. He attempted at a polite smile, when she spoke. He let his mind take over and order his mouth to talk.

“Good afternoon to you too, milady. And a fine afternoon it is, might I add.” He felt like saying more, but talking about the weather was just an excuse, and it would make him seem incapable of saying anything interesting. His gaze flickered over her, quickly so that he did not seem rude. She was beautiful, unlike him, she seemed to make the colours of the beach bleak and boring, and it was hard not to look at her. Yet there was something, darker about her, not evil but certainly shadowy. He noted the daggers at her waist, and forced himself to stay still. He never had been a social person, always preferring to stay silent, or if necessary, he would excuse himself politely. With a sigh, he remembered all of the times he had run away from a tavern in panic. Gradually he had been able to stay in there without making any hasty choices and had even been able to strike up some conversations. He felt almost proud of his improvement, but now was not the time to think about it. “That was quite…”He paused to think of a word that would describe what she had done, and come up with tedious words that hardly matched his thoughts. “Quite amazing, I’d say.” Velkarian finally said. He really wasn’t good at this thing called talking normally.

In response to his comment about the weather she shrugged. "It's nice, but not quite my favored time. I'm afraid having fair skin makes me partial to darker weather and times of day, such as nightfall."

She had sensed his shock, and guessed it was because he could sense her for what she truly was. She partly wished she had hidden her aura, but it mattered little to her. It did annoy her sometimes when people treated her with almost overbearing respect and even worship, sometimes making her forget herself as a child of chaos, the way she was before she became a goddess.

"Thank you," Laoura said softly, noticing his awkwardness and overlooking it. "My name is Laoura," she said with a slight bow of the head, a habit she had picked up in Tethyr, taking the place of a curtsy, which was, in Laoura's opinion much too girly for the warrioress.

Laoura took a quick glance at him, studying what he looked like. She had been watching him from beneath the waves, but the eyesight of a fish is not the same as a human's and water had distorted whatever she saw above.

Immediately she knew he was a being of darkness as well, belonging to shadows and the nighttime, possibly even darker than herself in demeanor, for Laoura encompassed all that is night, which is both the light of a thousand stars and the eternal darkness which is their backdrop. He wad also one of the more interesting people she had encountered in a while. Then again, it was rare for her to walk upon the face of Imythess, as she had her own divine duties to attend to, which sadly too often drew her eyes from the people of the land.

The sea carried on its delicate rhythms, unpredictable yet so entrancing. Velkarian smiled at her comment, the smile made him look a little clumsy in his black robes, but he couldn’t know that. “Laoura, such a flowing name. I must admit my name is not half as pleasant as yours. I’m formally known as Velkarian.” He smiled, acknowledging her slight bow with a lopsided smile. “Yes, I must say that I prefer the night better to the day. Few manage to recognize the beauty of darkness, the paleness of the moon, and the far-away glitter of the stars.” He glanced around him. Everything was so silent, but for the eternal sighing of the waves, there was no other sound. No twittering from a bird, no croaking from a frog, not even the comforting murmur of a stream. He could feel his feet sinking into the soft sand, and he longed to walk with the receding and advancing waves.

“Perhaps our conversation should be accompanied with a walk. If you wish, Laoura.” Velkarian suggested, his pale smile danced on his lips. He could feel the power around her, and her comment about the night made him think. Perhaps it was just a co-incidence, but perhaps he was talking to someone way above him, someone with a higher status. He had never met anyone like her before, only seen the common people of the villages and towns that were scattered across the lands. He had seen tribe chiefs, lords of people, but they had all treated them like equals, and unlike him, they had all been mortal men. He wished to know more about her, her mysteriousness and her power, but some secrets were not meant for his ears. He smiled at her.

((I'm sorry to say that I'm going away on holiday for a week, I shall be returning on Saturday the 26th bye!! I think it's the 26th anyway...))