Deepest Secrets of the Sea

[AroraDestiny]

The port town that Cathereiene lived in was situated mainly on a cliffside that sloped down to the water. There was a perfectly formed harbor with few rocks. Shielded by the tall mountains and bluffs. Ships could remain there fairly safely even in bad storms.

But it was the other side of the cliff away from the city harbor that facinated the 19 year old woman. The cliffs were quite dangerous if you were not aware of the way down. Even then your footing had to be very sure. Many jagged rocks stuck out from the waters here and under the warm waves were many hidden caverns.

Since Cat was 8 or 9 she would come to the small beach at the base of the cliffside and collect things that washed up. Such as the strange seashell locket she found one day when she was 13. She would often strip to her chemise and swim here as well. Exploring several of the hidden caves was a favorite thing to do.

It was a cloudy and misty morning this particular day. She wore her usual simple dress,blue as the sea itself today, as well as the locket she found years ago. Her long dark brown hair was simply braided and pinned up to keep it from whipping in her face from the breeze off the water. Barefoot but watching her step carefully she combed the beach looking for anything that might be of intrest.

 

[Alreania]

The water crashing against the rocks seem to be singing a mystical tune to those who walk along the beach. Many say there was a young woman who drowned centuries ago, she was tied down to rocks and thrown down into the water by the king who was jealous of her strength, power, and beauty.

The breeze seems to be getting harder as the water crashes harder against the rocks and upon the shore, the sky gets darker, in the distance the rumble of thunder can be heard.

Up ahead she can see a couple of rough looking warriors, dressed in black leather, upon their chest is a red dragon. Enemies of the land Cathereine walks upon.

 

[AroraDestiny]

Cat begins to wonder if a storm is brewing as she rounds a bend on the beach. Suddenly she stops in her tracks.

Red Dragons!? I wonder what they are doing here....

She backs up a few steps and ducks behind some rocks pulling the dress she is wearing around her legs so it wont blow around. She pulls forth her small dagger just to be safe and peers at them through cracks in the rocks.

 

[Alreania]

The Red Dragons patrol the shoreline, they look down and notices foot prints. One of them bends down to check the prints out and find them to be fresh. He looks up to where Cathereine is hidding at and motions towards the rock. Both of them unsheath their swords and quickly make an advance onto where Cathereine is hidding at.

They see it is a young woman holding a dagger out and they begin to chuckle, they advance to her thinking she will be easy target. "Don't be affraid you little slut. Don't make this hard on yourself. All we want is your body and we will let you go." They get closer to her and that is when Cathereine slashes at one of them and causes him to stumble backwards a bit, leaning against some rocks as he holds his heart where she struck him at.

The other warrior knocks the dagger out of her hand and then back hands across the face as he starts to rip her clothing off. "That does!! After I rape you, I shall shove you off into the water to drown." After that was said, the thunder begins to roll loudly and the water seems to crash harder upon the shoreline.

 

[AroraDestiny]

The cliffside is getting wetter now from all the ocean spray. It would be impossible to climb it quickly or even to climb it at all. The men who advance her think of her as an easy target. As they come close she aims and plunges her dagger into the heart of one of the men. The other one manages to knock the dagger from her hand and begins to tear at her dress. Still Cat will not give up and is glad for the time she spent watching the other boys spar without weapons.

Cat lashes out with her legs in one fast swipe sending her would be rapeist stumbling back into the other man. She takes this oppurtunity to run down the beach along the cliffs. There is a dead end but it will give her some distance and time to formulate an escape plan.

If they catch up to her she will fling herself into the sea. Better to die in the cool depths then to be raped by those men.

 

[Alreania]

The one that was stabbed in the heart only got a flesh wound and is able to pull himself up off of the ground, looking at his partner with anger in his eyes. Both of them pulls their swords out and advance towards where she ran off too.

A dark grin crosses their lips as they see her up ahead, this time instead of killing her, they are going to cut her in pieces. They are only 10 feet from her, their swords held tightly in their hands. "Come here you little slut so we can spread your blood all over the shoreline...." Just as he said that a stream of water hits the one who was stabbed and he is crushed up against rocks and then dragged out to sea.

The other man looks around with fear in his eyes, a mist flows over the water and towards Arora. As the mist passes over the water a figure of a naked woman seems to step out of the water. Her figure in perfect harmony, her breasts full and round with hard nipples, her legs well toned along with her arms, her red hair flows softly in the wind. The water crashes up against her and seems to mold around her body an forming into bluish plate armor, the armor forms over her body and comes down into a metalic skirt, just bearly covering her prize. She holds her hand out as the mist begins to swirl around her hands and forms into a sword, a bluish handle along with a bluish blade. Her eyes glare at the man and in one swift motion he is cut in half and his body gets washes away.

 

[AroraDestiny]

Cat stumbles backwards as one man is suddenly crushed and then watches as a woman appears. Her eyes slide nervously from her attacker to this woman who just appeared from the sea. The water seems to form armor and a weapon on her perfectly shaped body. The other man dies a hideous death before being washed out to see.

Trembling Cathereine backs into a corner as far from the water as she can get and tries to will herself to dissapear. The power comming from this woman is amazing and Cat is not sure if she be friend or foe. Certainly nothing like this had ever happened on this hidden beach before.

 

[Alreania]

The woman straps the sword to her back and it seems to melt into her armor as if nothing was there, she turns on her heels and looks at Cathereine. A gentle smile crosses her lips and she steps foward. Noticing her dress is ripped in the front a bit, she reaches out and begins to tie it back together. She steps back a bit and examines Cathereine.

"Are you ok m'lady?" Her voice is soft and gentle as it glides on the wind. "My name is Alreania...."

 

[AroraDestiny]

Cat peers at the woman cautiously and then feeling no evil from her she stands and takes some pins from her hair and uses them to help hold the front of her dress up. Her hair falls down in wet strands around her face.

"Thank you. My name is Cathereiene. You are Alreania... but who ARE you really? Where are you from? Are you some kind of witch?"

 

[Alreania]

"My full name m'lady is Alreania Moonstar. I use to be of this land that you walk on but centuries ago I was thrown into the Ocean by a king and the goddess of the Ocean rescued me and turned me into her champion and I served under her for thousands of years. I use to be a princess but not anymore and no I am no witch just a warrior." She pushes some hair from her face a bit.

"I surfaced because my goddess wished it of me because the ones you call 'Red Dragon' is posioning the Ocean and it is slowly killing off my goddess so I came up here to find a way to save her."

"Could you tell me a little bit about yourself and who you are if you don't care to?' Her voice is angelic yet seductive.

 

[AroraDestiny]

Alreania Moonstar was a beautiful name but her tale was nearly unbelieveable... Cat had heard of mermaids and sea people but had never really thought it possible. She wasnt one to elimate the theory completely but it had always seemed a fable to her. Then there was the fact she claimed to be the Princess Moonstar of old. Many had claimed to be relatives of the fabled ghost princess but none could prove it.

"I can tell you very little except my name is Arora Cathereiene Dremora and my family has lived here on this inlet for generations. My father owns a shipping company and my mother is a handmaiden to the current queen. The Red Dragons are ever trying to take control of our little sea port but they are fortified more inland. If you want to know more about them our city councel would tell you anything they knew of them. We all hate them and thier evil ways."

 

[Alreania]

"It is a pleasure to meet you Arora Cathereiene, you are indeed a beautiful woman. It seems like things have changed since I have last been up to see what the world looked like. I bearly remember what it use to look like long ago before the King tried to kill me."

She smiles at Cat and watches her for a moment but something cathes her eyes and she reaches behind her back as the sword seems to seperate from her armor and she holds it in her hand as she looks around and then looks out into the Ocean. Her eyes get wide. "The Red Dragons are out in the sea." She places a hand to her forehead as if something is happening to her and she stumbles backwards a bit. "They are dropping stuff overboard and posioning the sea, the Goddess is getting weaker from their actions."

 

[AroraDestiny]

Reaching forward Cat links an arm around Alreanias waist to steady her a bit. She turns and looks out towards the harbor.

"Wait and see our village will stop them."

After just a few minutes many fishing boats are riding the Red Dragons away from the harbor and a few are casting down nets to pull the barrels of poison out of the water. Two of the red dragon men are taken into custody by the townspeople and brought to the city prison.

"They have been deliberately trying to poison our fish supply for about three months. We have patrols out daily but they learn our change times and use that moment to dump thier poison. We have recovered over 50 poison barrels already. Perhaps it would be wise if we talked to my village about this. But I doubt they would believe you are from the sea or a ghost princess."

Cat helps Alreania rest against a rock. She looks her over a moment then nods.

"You are almost the same size as me. If we can sneak into the cellar and get to my bedroom without my mother or father seeing you you can borrow my clothes and pretend to be ahh... someone... a diplomat from our allies perhaps. It wouldnt really be a lie."

 

[Alreania]

After a moment she pulls herself to her feet and looks at Arora. "Perhaps it will work. We need to stop the Red Dragon from dumping all that posion into the see, if the Goddess dies then the Oceans will die as well and the food supply will be gone from the waters and the Ancient evil that is asleep for hundreds of years will wake up and cast everything into darkness."

She shakes her head a moment. "Lets go to this cellar and then go to your bedroom like you said and help me dress up. We need to take action or all your people will die and the Red Dragons will rule over everything...."

 

[AroraDestiny]

Carefully scaling the small path up the cliffside they manage to get into her familys house and into Cats room unseen. The house she lives in has about 5 bedrooms and is a small two story country manor. Her room is fairly simple. A full bed draped with a fluffly hand made quilt. Some dark blue curtains and a large collection of things she found on the beach over the years on her walls and shelves. An old ships wheel, some shells, some water stained portraits, an old chest.

Cat helps Alreania dress in a simple dress and braids her hair in the general style of the other village girls. Something glitters near Cats dresser that catches Alreanias eye. Its a metal jewelry box carved with symbols of the sea goddess. It sits closed a key hole its only clue that it still might open.

 

[Alreania]

She enjoys wearing new clothing from the shoreland people, enjoying the feeling of the material against her body. She sighs softly getting her hair done for the first time in a long time. "It has been a long time since I have felt this way. I am normally patroling the ocean to make sure nothing goes wrong."

Something cathes her eye and she walks over to the metal jewel box, she notices it has the Goddess symbol upon it. "Where did you get this at?" She looks over to her armor that is put into the closet, moving over to her armor she reaches into a secret pocket and pulls out a key. Moving back over to the box she places the key into the hole and turns it. The box open and what Cathereine sees is something unbelieveable. She can see the vast ocean before her eyes, fish swimming around. Then she sees mermaids swimming around a beautiful woman, sitting in a throne overseeing everything and beside her is Alreania, standing by her goddess side proudly.

 

[AroraDestiny]

She smiles and thinks that even in a dress with her hair braided Alreania is still an aluring woman and it will take time to convince anyone she is just a village girl. She watches as Alreania opens her jewelry box.

"I never could open it.... wow!"

She watches the scene unfold before her. It looks so real but she can hardly believe it. The orb of water floats above the opened box showing a lovely scene. Soft music plays reminding her of the oceans soft harmony.

"I found it it a cavern I was exploring. I couldnt open it but I thought it was very beautiful. I didnt have the heart to force the box open it didnt seem right. Now I know you were meant to come here."

 

[Alreania]

"This box was given to my by the Goddess when I came back to the land before but it was stolen from me and I couldn't find it for a very long time so I returned back to the Goddess. I felt better living in the Ocean than I did on the land. Things changed alot and it still is changing." She smiles at Cathereine.

"Perhaps one day I can take you down to where I live at and you can see the Ocean as I do but as for right now we need to stop the Red Dragon from killing the sea."

 

[AroraDestiny]

She smiles and places the music box with Alreanias armor.

"It is yours and it was my honor to keep it safe until you could take it once again. I would like to see the things you speak of in the sea but I cannot breathe underwater anyway. Lets go to the council building and see what can be done."

She leads Alreania to the village. As they walk together people stop and stare in awe of Alreania. The sunset on her already flaming red hair makes it seem to glow. Cat smiles knowing this would happen and knowing she is lucky to be Alreanias friend.

 

[Alreania]

She smiles at Cat and moves over to pick the box up and places it back on the shelf. "No, you can keep it. I don't need this thing anymore, not where I live at. Besides I will probably loose it again, it is yours to have." She brushes some hair from her face and follows Cat.

Her movement shows she isn't an oridnary peasant, her stride shows she must be of someone of great importance. She tries her best to walk like the peasants but isn't able to. She smiles at all who stop and stare at her, she isn't sure what to think of it. She is use to all the Sea People but not the People who live on the land.

 

[AroraDestiny]

Cat leads her to the council hall and to the desk where the three leaders of thier village sit speaking with the villagers about the Red Dragons raid on thier fishing water. Everyone stops and frowns at the entrance of the two women. The eldest man in the center stand and speaks with a dissaproving but kind voice.

~"Arora Catherereine, you interrupt an important meeting and bring with you an outsider."~

Cat curtseys low to the men.

"I am sorry to interrupt the meeting but this is very important. I bring a diplomat from one of our neighbors. She seeks to help us fight the dragons."

The elders turn and study Alreania closely. They look to one another and motion Alreania and Cat into a private room. There they explain about a threat behind the red dragons.

~"We have been informed that an ancient earth being has been awakened. A Red Dragon.. but not just a dragon.. an ancient wyrm. It has been controlling the minds of the people who live around the volcanoes base. The servents to the red dragon. If we are to stop the attacks we must destroy or contain the dragon. So you see ladies there is nothing we can do untill we gather some villagers to adventure to the source and destroy the threat."~

 

[Alreania]

She curties to the men as well and follows them into the private study and listen to them explain about the Red Dragon and the Army, everything they say is true about them and she knows what they are doing but she isn't able to locate the Dragon herself as of yet.

"M'lords I have been sent from one of your allies to aid you in the quest to stop this threat, if we are able to find this threat then they will help to launch their army to help you all out but we have to find out where this Dragon lair is at. I can help lead a few of your braviest members of you villiage if you will let me or I can choose someone to come with me but either way I am here to help." She places her hands upon her hips listening for the elder's answer.

 

[AroraDestiny]

~ "Ah certainly young woman you should go and gather some of your strongest men for this job. A lovely young woman like you shouldnt be placed in danger and we..."~

Cathereine steps forward and holds up a hand to them to stop.

"I hate to interrupt you ... men... but I am going with our allie to locate the dragon. Certainly we can find other men but wouldnt two lone people be less suspicious in the red dragon country then a horde of heavily armed men? We can dress as young men and join thier armies and there we can surely find thier dragon."

The council seems to consider this for a while and Cat looks to Alreania for assurance she thought of a good plan. Soon they turn back to the girls.

~"If you do this you risk your lives.. but your plan is wise and I know you would be the ones perfect for the job. Go then with our blessing but come back safely."~

 

[Alreania]

She starts to stay something but then watches Cathereine step foward to stop them, she smiles slightly as she argues with the council. After a moment she listens to them talk amoung themseleves and then giving them permission to go, she curties to them. "We won't let you down m'lords and I will make sure Cathereine's life will be safe, I give you my word on it." She turns and goes out with Cat.

They return to Cat's room and prepare for the jounrney that will take them into the heart of the Red Dragon Army. Some clothing is brought to them to make them dress up as young men she wraps a tight clothing around her breasts and has Cat to help her tie it in the back, she puts on a leather shirt and loose fitting leather pants, she gathers her sword and straps it to her back. "How do I look Cat?"

 

[AroraDestiny]

After gathering supplies they dress as boys. Cat braids her hair tightly and pins it and tucks it up under a wig of short hair. On that she places a mens hat and she dresses in a squires tunic and cloth breeches. She hides a small pouch of gold in the wrap around her breasts incase someone manages to pick thier regular waist pouch. They pack bags on a couple horses full of foods and blankets for the 3 day trip inland to the red dragons territory.

"Its fantastic! They will think we are boys wanting to join the great red dragons."