Bound by Honor

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He wasn't even going to ask how she knew he was a fire elemental. It wasn't like she'd seen him use fire. Maybe it was just a mermaid thing. He didn't much care right now and being eaten was the last thing on his mind right now. Apparently this mermaid didn't know as much as she might assume. No, all he wanted right now was air! And soon enough he was getting it, gulping it and feeling the smoldering, dying embers of his flame flare up slightly, alive again and greedily eating up the air provided. It wasn't nearly enough before he was pulled back under to go through more halls until they reached a throne room.

At that point he didn't even look to the Elder, but rather around to see if more air was available. It wasn't and the fire elemental grit his teeth, forcing himself to just keep calm, absentmindedly bowing, but that didn't last long as Evel was suddenly taken away and panic flashed through his eyes, another flare of lightning streaking across his body before it faded again and he closed his eyes, trembling as he struggled for some control.

He still felt like he couldn't truly breathe, but forced himself to focus on the old mermaid, dark green eyes narrowing to slits. "I don't know what the hell your daughter dragged me and my friend down here for, but let's get some things straight. I don't want to be here and my friend almost drowned because of your daughter so I'm not inclined to trust you. Let's not even get into the fact that she tried to eat me first! If you try to keep us, I will hurt your people." And that was a warning he could live up to.

Damn, he couldn't breathe! Anrar's body sparked more lightning and he took a deep breath his lungs felt but his fire did not, trying to calm again. "She's not my mate and she hasn't been forced to do anything. She chose to look that way and dress that way, so don't nag her about it when she wakes!" He snapped that bit, protective of Evel and then finally glared, his eyes snapping fire his body could not produce. "Why am I here? What is the Agua del Mistico?"

And why the hell couldn't someone have told him about it on LAND?!
 
"You ask so many questions, fire elemental, but only few I may answer." The old woman smiled before snapping her fingers. The doors into the room were shut tight as water lowered to give the man some room to breathe. "I'd rather you not die in my throne room so I will give you air." She twirled her tail a bit, bright purple scales, the same as her daughter's shining in the room. "I apologize for my daughter's actions against you and the young one. She is only a child. Now, to ease some of your concerns, you are in the mermaid city of Lorelia. It is the only city closest to the mainland. The Agua del Mistico is this strange water that used to belong to your kind. However, we mermaids were given this water by one of your elemental friends."

As the old mermaid explained to the elemental, Delilah was busy trying to find something more comfortable for Evel to wear, in her opinion. She hummed, not noticing that the young elf was waking up. The first thing Evel noticed was that she was underwater. The second thing she noticed was that she was breathing. This confused the already disoriented girl as she had a rather horrible headache busting through her brain. She looked around for Anrar, worried.

When Delilah turned around, Evel instantly recognized her and moved to attack. "You... where is he? Where's Anrar?" She as caught by surprise when the mermaid simply pushed her on the bed, holding her still with her tail while she checked her over for injury. The poor knight took this as being attacked and screamed out, ignoring the mermaid's orders to hold still. She struggled against the mermaid, too panicked to listen to the woman tell her that her friend was fine and she needed to calm down.
 
Many questions? He'd only asked, two.... Were these creatures mind-readers as well as temptresses? He didn't want to think about that, was finding it hard to think at all and then the oxygen his dying body needed was flooding into him and Anrar saw black spots like he might pass out for a moment, pulling in ragged breaths. The fire inside him started to build slowly, very slowly, back to a better level, as good as it could get underwater, even as he listened to the older mermaid.

At her last statement, he shook his head, blond hair darkened and plastered to his head, face and shoulders. "They are no friends of mine. I do not know them. I was not raised with them." he corrected, just a bit calmer now that he could breathe, but no happier with being here. A little warning if nothing else would have been nice before he and Evel were dragged down to the bottom of the seabed. Evel...stars, he hoped she was alright. He didn't trust these creatures to keep their word. They seemed as fickle as the wind to him, making decisions on a whim.

"This water...do you know where it is? If your daughter brought me here, then surely it was so I could gain information." And if not, he had no problem electrocuting each and every one of them until they decided keeping him wasn't worth it. To say Anrar was extremely distrusting right now would be an understatement and he probably wasn't going to relax at all until Evel was brought back, and even then not by much.
 
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"Yes. Unfortunately, the water was given to the water faeries for safe keeping. However, if you need some immediately then I know how to make it." The elder said, leaning back in her throne with a strange smile. She had always enjoyed the elementals. They were such an interesting race.

The door opened and a small snippet of a scream filtered through before the door closed behind a guard. "Grand Elder, Ma'am, the elf that Delilah has brought refuses to calm down. She awoke earlier and seemed to have panicked when she saw Delilah." The guard reported, unsure of what really to do. They weren't trained to deal with panicking elves that were threatening to kill their leader's daughter.

In the room where Evel was, she was screaming her lungs off, threatening the princess right and left. "If you don't let me go, I'll shoot your head off! Let me go and give me back Anrar!" The mermaid had no struggle keeping the elf in place, but it was starting to get annoying listening to the incessant screams of the elf. Delilah knew that if she lelt go, the elf would most likely hurt herself or do something stupid, so she hung on, more than just annoyed with the elf.
 
Faerie. Right, the people they'd been heading to before all this happened. Wait...make it?

Anrar opened his mouth to question, but the sound of the scream - he knew that scream... - cut him off and his eyes widened at the guard's words. Evel. He ducked back into the water without hesitation, swimming strongly for the door and whether the Elder chose to let him out or the door just naturally opened, Anrar went surging down the hallway, following the sound of the screams easily, ignoring and avoiding anyone who looked at him or reached out for him with an ease that came purely from adrenaline.

The door to the room was open, guards at the entrance and it only took a flare of lightning, a zap really, to get them to move with short cries of pain and plenty of swearing. He came into the room then and immediately reached for Evel, dark green eyes meeting Delilah's with a clear demand to let her go even as he spoke to the elf in question. "Evel! Evel, it's all right!" His arms came around her, pulling her to him securely as his voice lowered, quieter like she would know.

"Easy, little bird, easy. I'm right here. It's all right."
 
Evel gasped as she was taken into Anrar's arms. She looked around, still trying to process everything. "A-Anrar... You were... She was... I couldn't breathe." She looked up at her friend, completely scared and confused. "What happened? She was going to eat you. You are going to eat him." She looked over at Delilah, anger piercing through the confusion and fear.

"Sweetheart, I'm not going to hurt your friend here! I would never anger an elemental on purpose. They are nasty creatures to get on the bad side of." Delilah said, shaking her head. Evel glared at the mermaid, not trusting her in the slightest. She was a devil, a beautiful devil, but a devil no less.

"I should shoot you through the head, but I don't seem to have my bow." Evel growled out, making sure the mermaid knew she was not happy. Delilah simply chuckled, not believing the lilttle elf who couldn't even swim. The small elf sighed before turning to Anrar with a look that said, "Explain, pleaese?" She still wasn't sure how they were breathing underwater and why the mermaid was being so... so casual!
 
He hadn't released her. Anrar wasn't entirely aware of that, but his arms refused to let her go and his hand kept petting her hair down when the water picked it up again. It was to help calm her, but more to reassure himself that she was all right. He hated hearing her scream like that, had nightmares of her screaming like that and being unable to reach her. He had to feel just a bit of amusement at Evel's rant to Delilah, though, and he was sure to give her that faint smile he reserved just for her when she looked back to him. He finally had the presence of mind to loosen his grip on the small Knight a bit, keeping his hand on the small of her back and the other moving to push his own floating hair back as it got in his eyes.

"It's all right, Evel. You're all right." he assured her first, pushing her hair back this time, trying to ignore that suffocating feeling all over again for the moment. "Delilah gave us both some seaweed of some sort that makes it so we can breathe and she's not going to eat us. Apparently your words about me being an elemental saved us. We're in Loralia, a mermaid city. They have the water we need...or rather can make it. The faeries are the ones who keep it now."

He shook his head. "It's far simpler and yet far more complicated than it sounds, and right now I'm not doing a good job of explaining it." He acknowledged that, his mind beginning to have a hard time focusing again and Anrar took Evel's hand and pulled her toward the door and out into the hall, back toward the throne room. The mer-folk gave him a wide berth after the lightning jolt he'd given the guards.

"The Grand Elder can explain it better, I think." And he needed air again.
 
Evel blinked as they got back to the throne room and poked their heads above the water. She looked up at the old mermaid, curious. "Ah, the young elf is awake. That is good. Now, would you like to learn how to make the Agua del Mistico or are you going to try and find the faeries?" The old mermaid asked, tilting her head.

Evel looked over at the old woman and whispered to Anrar, "Is that the Grand Elder?" She watched a bit the old woman skeptically. She looked so... strange. It was just strange seeing someone that old in a bikini top. It was almost gross when she thought about it. She then noticed that her hair was plastered to her face. She moved some of her hair out of the way.

The large room was beautiful now that Evel was looking at it. The sea was clear to see from the ceiling and blue coral surrounded the wall. The guards that surrounded the doors didn't subtract from the beauty a all.
 
Now what Evel was with him and he was more sure that nothing was going to happen to her, Anrar relaxed a bit. It helped that he could breathe again and the elemental nodded to the smaller Knight's question, looking to the older mermaid with a little more respect now, but not much. He still wasn't thrilled about being dragged down here against his will and was looking forward to leaving. But he'd be polite if they'd help them.

"I suppose that would depend on how long making the water would take. Time is of the essence, we don't have a great amount of it." he answered in a more quiet way, more like himself now that he wasn't so panicked and unsure.

If it was going to take more time to make the water than to get to the faeries and get it from them, then Anrar knew which he'd choose. The King and Queen needed the water soon and the Princess had to be rescued. Since they had to do things in that order, he would rather get the first part over as soon as they could. The young girl was far more important in his eyes right now and Anrar now had to wonder if that was because of the memory of the girl on the beach. Had something happened to her that he felt so protective of females and children in particular?

He had no way of knowing yet.
 
The Grand Elder sighed. "Then you should go to the faeries. It would take too long to gather the materials to enchant the water." She gestured to the guards. "Show them to the surface and give them two sea snail shells." The guards nodded before motioning for the two to follow them up through the tunnels.

Evel looked over at the guards before looking to Anrar. She was only floating because she was holding onto the man. She wasn't sure she could swim on her own, but she knew Anrar didn't like being touched too much. She didn't want to make Anrar even more uncomfortable than he probably was already.

The guards waited for the two impatiently, each holding a snail shell for the two. They were strong, tall in a sense and had black tails that signified their rank in the society. Evel wondered how their armor, a strong metal, wasn't rusting after being in the salt water for so long. It was quite curious, to be honest.
 
Well. This had been a colossal waste of time. Well...maybe. At least now they knew if they came back to the ocean that they wouldn't be eaten and who knew when they might need the help of the mer-people. Fine, so not a total waste as making allies was a good thing, but certainly bad timing. The blond made a bow as he was able to the Grand Elder, though, and then looked to the guards and back at Evel, a bit puzzled as to why she was so hesitant at the moment. He knew she couldn't swim, but he'd help her, so why...

Deciding that if it was something she wanted to talk about they could do it on land, he took her hand in his own and kicked toward the guards, pulling her after him, wanting more than anything to be back up on land again....and wondering what in the world the snail shells were for.

He didn't mind her touch. Evel, as long as he knew what she was going to do, was the one person he didn't mind touch from, no matter how much of it she gave. She was always hesitant about it and he'd never worked up the courage to tell her that....well, he actually liked her touch. Since he didn't like everyone else's, though, that would beg the question of why hers was fine and Anrar...he didn't know if he could really explain that. No more than he could explain the fearful tightening that came to his chest every time she was in trouble or the sinking feeling he experienced when he watched her ride off on a mission without him.

He didn't know if that's how one was supposed to feel about a friend or if it was something different, something she might not like. He wasn't ready to risk their friendship over discovering what it was that made him sometimes want to trace her face and made him wonder what her lips might taste like.
 
Evel was quite happy when they were back on land, nearly dropping to kiss the ground. As much as she loved looking at the ocean, being in it would was a completely different thing. She sighed as one of the guards handed her a snail shell. "This will summon mermaid warriors should you blow in it. It will also dry you off if you tap the spiral in the shell." The guard explained before diving underneath the water.

Evel blinked before looking over the shell in curiosity. With a tap, she felt a burst of wind start to blow out of the shell, drying off whatever part of her body she aimed it at. This surprised her at first since she was aiming it at her face at the time. This made her hair stand on end before she moved it away, making the completely dry hair fall back in place. She finished drying herself off and moved to check on her horse.

The stallion was glad to see its rider back and nuzzled Evel, wrapping his head around her to hug her. She smiled and stroked his mane, muttering how he was a 'good Epona' for waiting for her and keeping her things safe. She gently slipped the shell into her bag, getting ready to keep moving.
 
Land!

Stars, he never wanted to leave it again! The elemental could feel his fire gaining strength, replenishing, curling into a small flame inside and while it would take time for it to build strength again, it was no longer suppressed and that made it happy which therefore made him happier.

Anrar raised a brow to the purpose of the shell and he watched Evel from the corner of his eyes, resisting the urge to chuckle at her experience before he used the shell as well, a bit more tactically than she had, though, making sure his hair wasn't going to go flying everywhere when he did his face and blond mane. It was so beyond tangled right now that he dreaded having to brush it out. He wasn't overly gentle about untangling the knots.

When he was done he gave a short whistle and Firekicker stopped his browsing in the sand to trot over, steps and tail high before he snorted at the elemental, covering Anrar's arm in snot and sand. He grimaced and wiped it on his leg, giving the horse a look. "I missed you, too." he grumbled, petting the stallion's neck before he put his own shell away in a safe place and then looked over to Evel. He hesitated a moment, something Anrar never did, but in the end he moved toward her.

Gaining her attention by moving where she could see him, he looked down at her in some faint worry, searching her face. "I did not ask; are you all right?"
 
Evel blinked and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine... When we camp for the night, I'll brush your hair for you. You always end up pulling too much out." She said, leaving no room for argument before mounting her horse. The stallion whinnied, ready to get going. Evel smiled, ready to get going.

She wondered why the mermaids seemed so willing to ally themselves with an elemental. Little was known about the race so why would they trust a man who was of a race that they didn't know they could trust. It was incredibly weird that the mermaids would pass up a free meal. She chewed on her lip, the thoughts of the mermaids coming to kill them later starting to freak her out.

The small knight started to head out in the direction of the faeries, knowing that Anrar would take the lead soon enough. She simply just wanted to get going after being underwater for so long. They had to get going if they wanted to save the princess and the king and queen.
 
Anrar smiled a bit to her words, knowing that if she was giving orders then she had to be feeling fine and he shook his head, but mounted up after the woman and turned his own stallion after her Epona. He came up alongside Evel, but looked back out over the water, thoughtful. He'd swum in these waters before, his memory had shown him that much, so why hadn't the mermaids harmed him or that girl he'd been with at that time? Could it have been that they'd known them, that they'd known not to go after them for some reason?

It was interesting to think about, but all the same, he'd rather be away from the water right now. He looked down at his hand and resisted the urge to sigh. No flame yet. He felt...strange without it. Empty almost to not feel the warmth flowing through his blood. He hoped it would come back soon.

They traveled for about another hour, but still had not reached their destination and the sky was growing dark. Anrar could see the shape of the cliffs in the distance that they needed to get to, but there was no way they were going to find anything in the night and the blond reluctantly called a halt to their movement. They'd go first thing in the morning, probably about a half-hour's ride to get to their destination, but at the moment they needed to get away from the beach and Anrar led them up the shoreline and back into the treeline, traveling a short distance before stopping again and finally dismounting, looking over at Evel.

"We'll go in the morning, when the tide goes out. I don't...know exactly where the Faerie are, so we might have to do some searching. We can't do it in the dark." He knew she trusted his judgement but he thought it only fair to tell her what he was thinking. They were a team, equals and she had just as much say in their decisions as he did.
 
Evel nodded before getting off her own horse and tying him to a tree. She rubbed his head before pulling out a small comb. "Alright, sit down so I can work through the knots in your hair." Her hair was short enough that it didn't affect her much when tangled, but Anrar's was another story. Besides, she liked touching his hair. It was soft and smooth.

As Evel waited for Anrar to sit, she looked over the forest. She imagined herself jumping between the trees and shooting down enemies. It was a freeing feeling, or at least she imagined it to be. The chirps of birds made her smile as she hummed while Anrar sat.

Quickly, Evel started to gently untangle the man's hair, pulling apart knots and brushing through it gently with the comb. She continued to hum, using soft strokes and gentle touches to make Anrar's hair as smooth as it usually looks. Being able to do this for Anrar made her feel warm and tingly, but she ignored the feelings to focus on smoothing and untangling out Anrar's hair.
 
Anrar would have been surprised by her sudden command if he'd not known Evel as well as he did. Chuckling softly, he shook his head and gave her a look. "Patience, little bird." he intoned before moving to make a fire and then take the bridle and saddle off the horses, fitting them with their halters and tying them securely. He'd feed them after Evel was done, but in the meantime they shouldn't have to wait with all their tack on.

And the fire was just common sense as it was getting darker, colder and it would provide light and warmth. When he was done with those things, noting that Evel was watching the forest and listening to the last fading sounds of the birds before they nested for the night, the blond came to sit down like she'd wanted. When she started, he recalled the first time he'd let her do this. He'd probably been around seventeen in mental maturity - he didn't know how old he actually was - and he'd come back from a skirmish after killing his first man, completely out of sorts and withdrawn, practically jumping at his own shadow. He'd cleaned up and then had been attempting to brush his own hair, but it had been so tangled that he'd given up and had simply curled into his knees and had started to cry. It wasn't until he'd felt a touch on his head that he'd looked up and Evel had been there, comb in hand and wordlessly she'd started on his blond mane...and he'd let her.

It had become something they just did now, a wordless gesture of care and affection that was known only to them.

Now it help the elemental relax and the tension drained out of his body, a slight smile curling his lips at her humming, working hard to resist the urge to lean into her hand like a dog might when her palm smoothed out an area. If he'd had the ability to purr, he would have been doing so long ago.
 
(HAPPY NEW YEAR!)

Evel smiled as she finished brushing out his hair, smoothing out the blonde locks. "There you go, all smooth again." She stood up and smiled, putting the comb away and grabbing the bed mats, laying them out for the two. "Which watch do you want?" She asked, for once giving the choice instead of just saying that she would take first watch and end it on that.

The night always soothed the girl, lulling her into a strange sense of security and calm. Even though her guard went down during the night, she knew that she could count on her comrades to watch out for when she was unguarded. The small knight smiled as an owl hooted, making sure she knew that it was night time.

The fire burned bright, illuminating the area around it. Evel made sure to stay near it, cold after being dragged underwater and then blown dry. The fire illuminated her blonde hair, making it look almost like tiny flames were dancing across it. She seemed drawn to the fire like a moth. It was strange, seeing how she always was so captivated by the flames.
 
(Happy New Year to you! I still have an hour. LOL)

Anrar's dark green eyes were nearly glazed when she stopped and he had to blink a few times to come back to the present and his surroundings, giving Evel an appreciative look when she smiled at him. He yawned then, but was quick enough to hide it when she came back, and he made himself stand, stretch a bit and wake his body up, though, his mind was a bit more stubborn about it. "I'll take the first." he offered quietly, knowing she needed the sleep even if she didn't like to admit such a thing.

He approached closer to the fire then and crouched, reaching out to put his hand into the flames, eyes growing half-lidded as he gave a sigh of relief, feeling the flames soak into his body, building the core-fire that sustained his very life-force. If it went out, so did he. It was in no danger of doing so right now, but it was still weak and while he didn't know all the reason behind this, he did instinctively know he that he needed more fire.

So he stole it from the campfire, but it was easy to build it up again with a bit of gentle blowing. In the meantime, Anrar looked over to Evel and stood, speaking softly. "Hold still a minute." Waiting until she complied, knowing she would because she trusted him, he reached for her hand and took it in his own, placing their palms against each other and then putting his other hand over hers. Anrar concentrated then, very carefully. If he screwed this up he could end up burning Evel, but he wouldn't mess up. He wouldn't hurt her. His power didn't want to hurt her because he didn't want to.

No, what he wanted was to give her warmth and very slowly, red glowed under his skin, growing warmer and warmer until finally he held it there. It wasn't hot enough to burn but very warm and concentrating, the blond let it lift from his skin in a red haze that was not quite fire even as it was. It was the heat it produced and he watched it with some satisfaction before he pushed that warmth, up along Evel's skin, spreading it until it started to envelope her whole body in a red haze.

It was the warmth of fire in its purest form....and Anrar had no idea how he'd done it.

It left soon after, leaving the warmth behind, but the red haze fading away and the elemental met Evel's paler green eyes, biting his lip a bit, a bit nervous as to what she might think.
 
Evel blinked when she felt the warm enter her body. It felt... amazing. Like having Anrar constantly hugging her. She smiled at Anrar before laughing a bit. "That... that was absolutely astounding! I mean, I can still feel the warmth... That was so cool! I didn't know you could do that." She held back a yawn, the warmth now making her sleepy and wanting a good night's rest. She would only get half the sleep since she would have to wake up for second watch, but any sleep was better than no sleep.

The small knight started to lie down, getting ready for at least some rest before waking up to the morning and another day of questing. Hopefully this whole adventure would end soon and the two could relax and finally sleep without having to worry about watching for enemies or saving the princess of the realm from the centaurs. She honestly would love to curl up in her own bed with Anrar next to her and...

That instantly put her thoughts on hold. Anrar next to her? What was she thinking? It was improper for a man and a woman to sleep in the same bed without at least asking to court! And why would she want Anrar in bed with her? Sure, he was handsome, charming, maybe a bit skittish but comfortable around her at least, quiet, and protective, but he was her friend! Friends didn't do that sort of thing! That would also give Laro a whole onslaught of opportunities to tease them and call them queer.

Evel bit her lip. How did she feel about her friend and comrade? Why did he make her heart race by doing even the simplest of things for her? Why did she feel this way like she was... she was... Oh stars above, she was in love. She quickly pushed the thoughts aside. She could write them down later, right now she just needed to sleep.
 
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