I have had the wonderful opportunity to write a background story for a guild mate. So here it is, and of course, comments are welcome.
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It is at a sacred birthing pool in a quiet nolthrir village where we begin our story. A small body of water lay nestled in the shade of great deciduous trees, and is kept filled by an underground spring. On this day, Senistee is born to Farhla and Jhenson. The midwife hardly had a chance to cut the umbilical cord before the babe started swimming laps in the pond. Her parents could hardly believe their eyes, and wondered if Farhla's womb had been a vast body of water in which Senistee swam since conception.
They smiled and laughed and looked proudly on their new daughter. A gentle breeze carried with it the smell of snowbuds, and the sound of rustling leaves overhead. Though the pool was small, the aquatic elf managed to get up some speed as she swam about. Senistee soon tired, and nearly swam back into her mother's womb! Jhenson laughed heartily at that, "She already knows where her home is."
As she grew, the teal nolthrir's passion for the water never waned. She'd often skip morning prayer to take a swim, or play hooky from her school lessons for an exploration of the depths of the lake. Whenever Senistee wasn't around, she could be found at one or another nearby pond, lake or river.
"Senistee!" her mother called out as she was running out of their house. "You're not to go out and swim until you've finished your chores. Those fish wont clean themselves." she scolded in her caring but firm motherly voice.
The young elf sulked back in and picked up a fish from the large bucket of them on the kitchen table. She would hardly put forth the effort to do the task that lie before her, slowly and disinterestedly filleting the fish. As soon as her mother's attention was distracted, Senistee dashed out the door and ran for one of her less frequented lakes. "Senistee!" her mother called out again, but was too late; the defiant elf was already beyond earshot.
This lake was deep, and allowed the nolthrir to practice her swimming abilities vertically as well as horizontally. She practiced swimming loops and corkscrews and sharp turns. She practiced fast swimming and quick stops, and slow glides and rapid starts. But, by far the most exhilarating part of the swim was to build up significant speed from the lake's depths, and breach the surface, performing some extravagant aerial maneuver before diving back in again.
The stubborn child's negligence of her duties would often get her into trouble with her parents, and lonely nights with no supper were the result. Jhenson and Farhla would soon find, however, that their punishments were ineffective. Senistee's resourcefulness matched her stubbornness, and she would chase the fish for food, or challenge a nolthrir boy to a race to earn some trias. All throughout adolescence, she never got into serious trouble, and for that her parents were thankful.
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One day, in her late teens, she decided to go visit that deep lake again. After reluctantly completing her chores, catching and cleaning fish, she ran out, not bothering to ask if there was anything else that needed doing. As soon as she caught sight of the water, the nolthrir sprinted for it and dove in, happy to be able to do what she does best. Without hesitation, Senistee began practicing her routine of aquatic acrobatics. She didn't even notice the ylian man fishing in a boat near the other shore. Indeed, he hadn't noticed her either, for his idea of fishing included shut eyes and a quiet snore.
After a few fanciful movements, the aquatic acrobat decided to try an aerial maneuver that she had thought of. This one required all of her strength in order to gain enough speed to fly high into the air. Senistee plunged into the depths of the lake and prepared herself for the stunt. With the powerful force of her extremely muscular legs, she shot up at an incredible rate. The bright light of the crystal made it difficult to see anything above her; she didn't expect there to be anything in her way. It was only at the last second that Senistee noticed the boat, and managed to just avoid it on her trajectory out of the water. With such a force, however, she caused the boat to tip over, and the poor sleeping ylian had a very sudden awakening.
"Woa", splash! Into the water went the ylian, rod, real and all. He struggled to keep afloat, but he was no swimmer, and his rugged boots only helped to weigh him down. Senistee managed to salvage most of her dive, and came up to the surface to see who it was that she almost ran into. She eyed him curiously, amazed that he was unable to swim at all.
"Grab your boat!" she called out to him, but it was no use. The man was in too much of a panic to think straight; he was just blindly trashing about. He quickly lost the energy to keep his head above water, and sank into the lake. The nolthrir sighed and swam after him. In an instant she was upon him and grabbed him about his waist, hauling his heavy but limp body to the surface. The blue elf dragged his dead weight to the shore, and laid him down on his back.
"Hey" she said to him smacking him on the cheek. No response. The color was rushing out of his face. "Hey!" she called out again, genuinely concerned for the man's well-being, but unsure what to do about it. Senistee looked around, worried that someone might be watching. "I'm gonna get in trouble for this one." she said to herself, and slammed her fist into his stomach in a fit of anger.
The ylian's reaction surprised her. A lung-full of water spurt out of his mouth, and he coughed up some more, while trying to catch his breath. Senistee was immediately relieved to not have killed a man accidentally. "Hey, your all right." she offered. "Back on dry land."
It took a few minutes for the ylian to catch his breath and recuperate from the ordeal. He instinctively rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on the source of those words. Senistee shot him a smile in return. His first impulse was to berate her for her carelessness, but the combination of her soft voice and captivating eyes swiftly changed his demeanor. He had never been this close to a nolthrir before, nor she an ylian. Unsure what to say, the young man just smiled back at her.
"Sorry" she confessed. "You can't swim?" she asked incredulously.
"Ay, I cannot" he replied sheepishly. His thick ylian accent caused the elf to giggle. "Thank yea fer saving me life."
Senistee averted her eyes, "Well, you should watch were your boat is going."
"I didna expect the fish to be flying out of the water!" he exclaimed with a laugh.
The aquatic elf looked back at the ylian. Her deep green eyes caught hold of his brown eyes, and her thin blue lips curled into a smile before she joined him in the laugh.
"Vubut's the name miss." he said, and tentatively sat up.
"Senistee" she replied and bowed her head, allowing her long, vibrant green hair to fall across her face like a curtain of seaweed.
Vubut permitted a light smile to cross his face at the sound of her name. His eyes fell upon her to take in the entirety of her beauty. Her frame was lithe, yet muscular. Senistee's regular exercise routine did not detract from her hourglass shape. To the contrary, her muscular legs enhanced her curves, giving her a look of powerful allure. The nolthrir's skin is an even teal color, speckled with dark blue and light green freckles. A clump of blue freckles dotted her face beneath each eye, and matched the blue of her thin lips. A cute button nose gave Senistee a childish face in harmonious contrast to her mature body. While swimming, Senistee would wear the same outfit. She had on an off-white thin silky blouse which she'd knotted just below her breasts, and a matching pair of shorts.
Vubut's eyes ended their exploration first on the webbing between her thin fingers, and finally on the gills upon either side of her neck. They were closed since she was out of the water, and appeared to be a light-blue scar tissue to one who has never seen gills before. Senistee took notice of Vubut's extended gaze, and blushed slightly, causing her cheeks to turn purple. "Ah, well I should go fetch your boat." she said, a little uncomfortably.
"Ay, much obliged miss Senistee." Vubut returned, glancing out to where his capsized boat floated, and then back at Senistee as she stood up and walked off into the water. The young ylian took off his shirt and boots to allow them to dry while Senistee pushed the boat close to shore.
Vubut pulled the boat the rest of the way out of the water and righted it on the sandy beach. The man was no stranger to hard work, and Senistee noticed his muscular torso. "Ah best be off miss. No more fish'n fer me today" and with that he slung his boots across his shoulder, tied his shirt around his waist, and hauled his boat up over his head.
Senistee watched the young man walk off down the path while casually floating out into the middle of the lake on her back. She smiled brightly before plunging deep into the lake once more.
