Ankyra Sound Float away, then come right back to me

This one's for @Spyridon ! It happens directly after this thread...

You could see her ribs through the skin. Aella was gaunt, emaciated; yes, she had always been thin, but this was one extreme that she had never reached. Why had she been so stupid? Why leave a place where you were perfectly fine and go out to the merciless world? She did have reasons, she felt alone, and she had for a second regretted having left Temiscyra to follow Aktaie. What a big failure it had been her attempt to know more about the world.

She had been sent to look for Spyridon, the one male she had intercepted in the borders back when she was one of the coastal guards, and although she didn't know that he had gotten a promotion to the rank of Epivitoras, she knew that he was obliging and that she would be safe in his hands. But the problem was that she had ran out of strength to howl out for him. She could only walk deeper into the woods, hoping to be found by him, and so she did.

----------------------------------------------- ~ o ~ -----------------------------------------------

Spyridon was busy going about his normal duties. Filling caches, ensuring that Kevlyn was safe, keeping an eye out for Larus, should he ever return. The last one, Larus, was especially troubling. It was Spyro's duty to keep the spawn safe, even if they were the lowest-ranking members of the sound. The fact that he had managed to slip away did not bode well for the Epivitoras. He kept waiting for the punishment from Caiaphas, but none came. And so he continued to search when he could, coming up with nothing each time. It was disappointing, to say the least.

A familiar scent (not, unfortunately, one that belonged to Larus) caught him off guard, and Spyro froze in his tracks, sea-green eyes seeking out the body to whom it belonged to. "Aella," he said, once he caught sight of her. Or at least, what was left of her. She was nothing but skin and bones, and a soft whine escaped him as he took a step toward her.

Her limbs were numb. She couldn't have explained why she was moving at all, her body, weak as it had never been, was pulling her down like a rock sinking to the bottom of the ocean. She just wanted to get somewhere she could take a long nap and not worry about life for a while.

Her spirits were low too. It was probably the most unusual thing about her right now, but hearing Spyridon's voice saying her name changed things a bit, it wasn't so dark anymore.

"Σπυρίδων?" she woofed faintly, looking around for the male's face, and when she found it, a painful smile pulled her cheeks up "Ω, αγαπητέ μου Σπυρίδων. Είμαι τόσο χαρούμενος που βρήκα. Χρειάζομαι κάποια τρόφιμα, παρακαλώ, δεν μπορώ να πάρω τον εαυτό μου ... Και θα ήμουν πραγματικά ευγνώμων για ένα κρησφύγετο όπου μπορώ να ξεκουραστεί. Καϊάφας μου επιτρέπεται η είσοδος, μου είπε να ψάξουν για εσάς ... Ήταν ένα λάθος, αφήνοντας ..." she woofed looking down, regretting once again her stupid decision. She had now moved all the way to the consort's side and was nudging his flank in a hug. She had never hugged a male, ever, but she had never felt so happy to have found someone either.

----------------------------------------------- ~ o ~ -----------------------------------------------

When she touched him, pressed into him, Spyridon stood still, using his own body to prop her up. It was not affection that made him do this, only his duty. She was clearly in a poor state, and it was likely hunger, sickness, or both which led her to act in such a way to a mere consort. Spyridon knew nothing of love, of compassion, or of romance. He knew only how to care for the sirens and the spawn. They were his wards, and he was their caretaker. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Ακολουθήστε.” Gently, he allowed her to use him for support as he guided her toward the coast. She was a siren, even if she had lost her way. It was likely the time away from the sea which weakened her. Eventually, they would arrive at the common coastal cave of the sisters, where Spyro intended to leave her to rest while he fetched food from a nearby cache.

Aella didn't talk anymore, she didn't have the strength, she just moved closer to Spyro, and putting her weight -which wasn't much- on his flank, the fiery amazon numbly followed the consort to the coast. It felt like ages walking to the coast all the way from the forest, her limbs moved but she wasn't commanding them anymore, they moved by pure instinct.

When they reached the cave, Aella simply dropped her body on the floor and silently awaited for Spyro's return. She needed food, a lot of it, but she just couldn't resist falling asleep. It would've been hard for Aella to tell for how long she slept in such state, it could have been minutes or even hours, but during that time she didn't dream. Even her mind needed a rest.

----------------------------------------------- ~ o ~ -----------------------------------------------

Convinced that she would be safe, Spyridon gave her a final look before shuffling off to the nearest cache. It took him no more than ten minutes to locate and dig up the remains of some long-dead creature, though he couldn't have known what it was when it still lived. There was plenty of flesh still clinging to a bone filled with marrow, and he knew it would be good for the weakened sister. Wasting no time, Spyro hefted the limb into his jaws and carried to where he had left Aella.

"Είναι παλιό, αλλά εξακολουθεί να είναι καλή," he said after placing the disfigured leg of whatever it was at her feet. She had been sleeping, but if he had not awoken her with his approach, his voice surely would. Like all the Nereides, she would gain her strength back quickly, especially being so close to the sea. Leaving had always left him weakened, and he could only imagine it was the same for them.

Sorry for the late reply, but it seems Aella can't stay on PPC status and I'll have to keep playing her. I'll be a little bit slow for a while but I won't be dropping her any time soon.

It wasn't hard to wake Aella up, not when she was starving and you had a whole piece of perfectly edible meat hanging from your jaws. The smell would've hardly been a pleasing one, but with the hunger that the red amazon was suffering nothing would be too bad to eat.

She got up quickly even though it hurt, and immediately started devouring the carcass. The taste of it didn't matter either, it was food, and in less than ten minutes, the whole piece of meat was gone, only the bone that held it was left, and even then, the siren kept licking ferociously to get every last piece. The whole process had gone without a word from the fiery siren, but there wasn't any awkwardness, the rest of the world wasn't important in that moment.

"Ευχαριστούμε, Σπυρίδων." she said simply and sat back down to rest some more. "Χρειαζόμαστε περισσότερους άνδρες σαν εσένα στις ακτές."

----------------------------------------------- ~ o ~ -----------------------------------------------

Fine by me!

Spyro watched as she ate, ensuring that he left a respectable amount of space between himself and the sister. It was good to have another of their own back, even if he could not say that there was anything particularly wrong with those who came from the outside. They were often integrated in time, but it took a good amount of time before he could speak to them as he would speak to a siren. With Aella, it was natural. She had been born into the culture and did not need to be reminded of how things worked.

Aella thanked him, then mentioned that the sound needed more "like him." His head fell slightly to one side. “Όπως και εγώ;” he asked, puzzled by her words.

It was because Aella knew how things worked that she put down her confidence on the consort, He was faithful and loyal, and Aella couldn't ask for a more perfect reminder of home than that.

The siren looked up at the male again, with a slight smile on her lips and evident trust in her eyes. "Ναι ... Η αφοσίωση και η αληθινή πίστη στις μητέρες έρχεται σπάνια σε αυτά τα εδάφη. Είσαι η ζωντανή απόδειξη ότι οι άνδρες είναι απαραίτητη, Σπυρίδων. Είμαι ευτυχής που σας αποστέλλεται μαζί μας."

----------------------------------------------- ~ o ~ -----------------------------------------------

fin?

Not knowing pride, Spyridon still did not comprehend her praise as a compliment. Instead, he attributed her words to being away and being weary. "Ύπνου, αδελφή," he said. "Θα ανακτήσουν τις δυνάμεις σας στο χρόνο." Consorts lived and breathed to protect and provide for the sirens. It was the way things had always been, and always would be. Spyro knew no other life, nor would he.

The Epivitoras circled the ground a few times before laying down nearby. He had no intentions of sleeping. Spyro would keep watch while she slept.

With his words, Aella closed her eyes, fully confident that Spyridon would stay there to look out for her while she slept, something she hadn't felt in a long while. It wasn't easy being alone in the world, not when you knew it was only your fault.

Things in the Sound had never been perfect for the ginger siren, but ever since Spyridon had gotten to them, the coast felt even more like home. It was tranquilizing knowing that at least they two knew how things worked in their Amazonian culture, and that as long as they stayed in Ankyra, that land would still remain a daughter of Temiscyra.

----------------------------------------------- ~ o ~ -----------------------------------------------