diamonds in the water

[undine]

note :: o p e n thread.

---

Long fingers danced noiselessly along the field of overgrown grass, roaming quickly. Often the fingers would pause to allow a pale palm to glide over the green blades. The owner of said traveling hand lye on her side, a soft smile on her full lips as her eyes remained closed and her mind continued to speed unwaveringly. Though it was a bright day, the light scarcely crept through the tops of trees to shimmer down. Hours had passed since she had awoken to the sound of an alarm, though as always it somehow seemed time was moving much more slowly. When she had dressed early in the morning, pulling on the gray cowl neck sweatshirt, black trousers and white sneakers, she had preplanned hours of senseless roving. Eventually she knew that she might grow tired of the laziness and in the end, she would find herself sitting down in front of an empty canvas. Still, she chanced it and within thirty minutes, after she had finished her breakfast, Undine was gone from her little house. Shutting the door behind her, forward she went with no true purpose for the walk.

First, the chocolate-eyed girl had stuck to a speed more suited for humans, but within fifteen minutes, her ever-quickening mind raged at the lack of movement. This was one part that was upsetting, having to realize that the entire world moved much too slowly, and even worse that ones own body could only keep up a pleasing pace for a few minutes before it gave out. Undine had begun gnawing at the inside of her cheek, her thoughts easily taking in the scenery but still having enough free time to nag at her for not making any progress in distance. Gaps, spaces and all of the in-betweens, she could conquer them easily, and her impatience increased when her eyes flickered over a jogger. Only a single whine of protest managed to escape her throat before a somewhat more focused thought forced it into silence. Time moved too slowly. Soon she was reciting everything she could remember from the most recent book she had read. Something law, it was a boring read, and as what she could still recall soon faded as most of the uninteresting things do, she was again left with the little muscles in her calves aching to be used to their greatest capability.

A little boy had only ran by her for a fraction of a second, but the second seemed an eternity as her dark eyes flashed and unraveled everything about him before his foot hit the ground and he moved on past her. This was too much, his red hair had been whipped into disarray and his loose blue t-shirt had waved in a wonderful way, trailing behind him as he raced off to a destination she did not know. Beneath her, she had not even noticed that she spend up until she noted the sense of gratification. The speed was faster, but not what was within her ability to reach, and already her small body was being drained of energy from just this, it could be no less than 3 mph. Slow, too slow, she increased her speed by a fraction. Restraint was wavering, after two and a half minutes she bolted at a full sprint.

Elated by her physical movement finally catching up to her minds pace, she did not notice until she had tripped on something that she was heading to less stable territories. Falling down whilst going at such speeds was no doubt dangerous, and so she retrieved a gash on her palm from a pointed rock as she futilely attempted to catch herself. Undine hissed at the pain, but ignoring it came easier than it would have just two years ago, she was used to this type of thing happening nearly once every week. Lifting her head her eyes zoomed instinctively over the scene to decipher where she had fallen, slightly surprised. It was very accurately for a former city dweller, the middle of nowhere, though a nowhere that she remembered as Yellow Pine Wood. A loud sigh came from her as she lifted herself from the ground and did a circle to view the area better. Within seconds, after she glimpsed a stream of sparkling water she had decided that it was much too beautiful for her simply to ignore.

Now here she was, lying relaxed on her side three feet from a stream that glittered as small rays of light managed to find their way through the dense cover as she daydreamed about nothing of key importance. Were there enough sense in her head, she might run towards civilization for the sake of not allowing herself to be stranded. However, she did not have the energy that came with a will to tear herself away from this sparkling setting; Undine could analyze that herself. Raising her hand into the sky she turned it to stare at the palm, she wiped most of the blood off with the blades of grass, but at the moment she imagined having the power to heal herself would be more useful for someone as clumsy as she was. Undine sat up and brought her hand to her face, it stung somewhat still. Annoyed with her condition she fell back forcefully with a loud thump, she cried out when her head thudded on the ground, hitting it twice as it had bounced back up before coming down again to rest. The bruises would appear by nightfall.

“It never fails to happen!” Her voice, shouting from the irritation with herself, pierced the air. Another sigh passed through her lips as she rolled on to her stomach. Firmly she pressed her left hand against the cool grass as she pulled her right hand into her chest. Quiet humming drifted from her to accompany the gentle sound of the leaves and grass swaying against the wind. There was no particular tune, just the small eighteen year old with long dark hair doing what she always did, making up tunes and songs because her feeling simply couldn’t control the urge.

“Hum, duh duh, hmm - diamonds in the water glitter in the sky…” Undine’s fingers twirled around the leafy earth.

[ian]

[W] Slight Language

---

Driving, he was in the car with his family driving to go to Grenoble just for some random family trip for the summer. He was messing with his sister, she was trying to read and he was bothering her as normal. Mom was singing some song on the radio and Dad was driving along shaking his head. Ian then jerked when he heard his Dad scream something that resembled closely to the words 'Oh my God.' Then the car was screeching to a halt but it was stopping too slowly. Ian's eyes were wide as he saw the big rig swerving out of control and the end fish tailed right into their car as well as some others. Was like some bad roller coaster ride that he was going round and round like clothes in a dryer. When his eyes opened again he looked around seeing the car was upside down. His mom and dad were in their car seat belts just knocked out completely. To his side he can see and hear his sister crying and whimpering about her leg. Ian was not in pain just had some scratches along his body.

Wrestling to get his seat belt off him it was like a mere second before he heard the loud noise. The large big rig was actually transporting lots and lots of gasoline and when it was flipped to the side it split gas. That is why that smell was ringing since the streets were filled with gas and his families car was near the rig. He didn't see it coming though at all since he was wrestling with his seat belt. The gasoline truck was on fire from the head on collision with the drunken bastard who threw the man off. So the truck exploded then fire was spreading everywhere. Ian looked up and when he looked up the flash of light came towards him and it was hot, very hot. He did not understand why he had not died but that was the last thing he had ever saw in his life time. Though the flash was the one last thing he saw it was not the last thing he heard. His sister, screaming, it was horrible to even tolerate to the point he was trying to reach out for her. But he could not see and it was just so torturous that he could not help her, could not see her. There was nothing but that flash that kept at him and the heat making him sweat more and more....

Jerking awake in his bed he sat straight up from his nightmare of his past coming to take him again for another turn. He felt someone's hand on his hand so he flinched since he did not know someone was there. 'You were screaming in your sleep again, Ian.' He heard the soothing voice of his adoptive mother. Which he went nodded slowly and felt the tingling feeling of the sweat on his face. "Was the dream again." He said to his mother and she just patted his head then kissed his cheek. Informed him that she laid out his clothing for him for the day on the edge of his bed. He nodded slowly then he wiped his forehead and heard his door shut. God he hated today already other then it was a Saturday and he did not have to get ready for school. That was a good thing since he hated school sometimes since people picked on him. It only has been nearly 2 years since the accident that caused him to be blind. He was not used to it still since people used to be his friends but now backed stabbed him, cast him aside like old news. Well guess you had to find out who your true friends were at some time in your life.

Getting out of bed slowly he walked his way to the bathroom which he knew was about 5 steps from his bed in front of him. When he was in there he felt for his towel to make sure there was one there, felt it. Then went over to the shower and turned the knobs after feeling the braille dots. One read hot, one cold and the other one was shower so he turned the hot on then the cold a little to make his water luke warm. Then he turned the shower on and entered the shower. Simple routine he was used to and things were made simple for him like the soap dispensers were on the wall, marked buttons. He didn't take long in the shower since he wanted to out outside. Despite the fact he can't see where the hell he was going at times he liked to go explore his little town. Since he did kind of have a map in his head where he was unless he got caught off track. Which did happen a lot since he couldn't see and people got in the way. Sometimes he was pushed out of the way since lots of mean folks who had no heart picked on him. Which was never a good day for him but hell he tried not to let it get him down.

Exiting the shower he grabbed the towel then dried himself off prompt so he would be able to get dressed. Throwing the towel around his waist and shoving one piece of the towel under the other part he walked out of his bathroom. His hand was out so he did not run into his door, dresser or frame of the door. He just went straight for his bed then got dressed in what was laid out for him. Some boxers, dark jeans though he did not know the color, then a long sleeved dark grey and black shirt. He had no idea the colors or what he was wearing but he trusted his mother. Slipping on socks then his converse laid out for him as well he was set. He didn't brush his hair since it didn't matter what he looked like for he didn't try anything with females. No not since his girlfriend he adored before his accident dumped him when she found out he turned blind. Supposedly she could not deal with it and left him. He was a heart broken 15 year old then and grew up a little in the two years now to be wiser 17 year old. Did not flirt, kept friendly to people and still was on his own personal mission to make people laugh.

When he was set he got his walking stick then he was out for the adventure which he was heading to the woods today. He liked to hear the peacefulness of the nature around him since sounds were his only happiness. Setting out into the day it was warm enough so what his mother dressed him in was appropriate. Didn't need a bothersome jacket with him at all. Though it was sad since he liked the rain instead but hell did not matter since he wanted to just go into the forest, explore sounds. He mapped out his route already in his head walking about two blocks down his street then turned left to be straight to the woods. Good thing he lived in San his whole life, practically, prior to the accident because he had a photographic memory. Which in no time he was out into the forest since he heard birds chirping louder then normal. Also the smell of wood overtook his sense of smell and he smiled off. Tapping in front of him now and then just to make sure something was not in front of him big. Also swinging his walking stick slightly side to side so that he would not run into anything, like a tree. After some years he was used to the routine though he still did run into things. Ever now and then he felt a tree then stopped to slowly walk around it so he would not run into one near it or something.

Once he heard the familiar stream he stopped and did not even notice anyone there at all. He was just listening to the babbling of the stream water as it made its way to wherever it was going. That was when he heard someone yelling in the distance. From where he was standing she should be able to see him but he did not see her at all. Where she yelled rung in his ears to show she was not too far down the stream and he followed the stream down. though he was moving rather slowly so he would not trip and fall or run into her literally. Soon he heard the beauty of the voice ring out again but this time in song so he smiled. Now he would be able to find her better and say hello to the stranger with the kind voice. "Hello?" He kind of said softly as he slowly moved and he was nearly in front of her. Just about the distance of his walking stick if you set one down in front of him twice. Naturally gravity and mother nature had something else in store for him. As he made his way towards her trying to be nice, say hello, he did not feel the root so he tripped fell down. Walking stick flung away from him and he was on the ground face forward. Embarrassing to him to the max, his face turned a color of red then he slowly was making his way to get up to his knees at least but moved slowly since he was in pain.

[undine]

Every note that she sang quietly to herself began to form a specific rhythm, as if the person singing it had actually heard it somewhere before. Words were never the easiest to find, and occasionally she paused for a second to search through her mind to discover the one word that would fit into place and allow her continue. Whatever song this was, it would surely never win any kind of award if it were written or sung by someone who was known. No one really cared for music about nature, now if it were in context to love, romance, or that, then of people would pay attention to just about anything for three minutes out of simple curiosity. Undine sneered to herself for one brief second. How fickle the fame of those songs, fans lost interest in them usually just as quickly as their feelings for emotions that should be considered more deeply. Break up songs also bothered her; it just felt like no one valued actual feelings anymore. It too sad, probably the reason why her own random songs were always about the places she was at or what she was doing.

“Lush patch near such a shimmering stream, painted perfect a pretty picture…” She rested her chin on her right hand as she tilted her head to the left to look toward the water. Undine began humming again, deciding to stop the words for now while she stared at the water. Peaceful was a word that described the feeling the curly-headed girl felt. While scenes in this town were surely beautiful, this place now was an even further retreat from life from human interference. Perhaps all along she had been meant to live in a place like this, even during the time she was a child she always found herself annoyed when staring a large brick houses, and instantly became content whenever an area filled with nothing but wild life. Unaltered landscapes were the best and were what beauty should be described; even the deserts filled with no plant life and had only the limitless sky or swamps of green water and hundreds of trees growing within it. A small frown came across her face as her mind flickered over the thought that due to her presence, this place was not actually nature as it originally, even now she was likely to be denting the grass with her tiny outline. Quickly she picked up her feet at least to allow a little less indentation, she really wanted to be selfish and stay here so she must at least try to leave as little evidence as possible that she had ever existed in this location.

Undine waved her legs in the air, she smiled widely as she knew that this was precisely why plenty of people assumed her to be younger then she was. Being small and having the tendency to act a little too much like a kid gave people that impression, not only that but without makeup it was even more convincing that she was only somewhere around fifteen. That was a bother when she had run away from home as at that time she looked about twelve and then eventually went to get a job after settling into a place. Usually she had to put on quite a lot of makeup, very unnatural and she did not like it, she liked being natural, just like this place. Wrinkling her nose, she puffed out her cheeks, just because she was so short even her ID never really convinced anyone unless she had the makeup on that added about two to four years to her face. People were ridiculous, all the fake faces roaming around made it so she could not even be acknowledged until she had it one as well. Gently she pulled both her right and left arms into her chest, her right hand forming a fist and the left hand taking hold of it as she rested her head there.

That was the exact reason why she liked it here, she was not wearing any makeup and for now, she fit in perfectly with the natural. Well… somewhat, but she certainly was not going to prance around as if this were The Garden of Eden! A quiet snicker interrupted the continued humming as she thought of the idea. If anyone were to run into her during something like that, she could only imagine his or her reaction. Just as if someone had been listening in on her thoughts, a voice, not her own came from just a few feet away or possibly farther, it was a quiet voice. For a second she blinked while watching the water. What she heard must have been wrong, she could not have been psychic as well as fast. However, out of curiosity she lifted her head from her hands to look for the person who represent the voice. Undine saw him just at the time he fell forward onto the ground. This was very similar as if she was watching the remake of her own tumbling just earlier, only there was a can that flew out of his hand. Her mouth was hanging open until she finally remembered that it was not polite. A quiet click came from her mouth at the second her jaws snapped her mouth shut. This was a surprise, she had been so surprised that someone had actually came upon her while she was here that she totally forgot how easily she could have stopped him from hitting the ground.

Guilt hit her, she hadn’t saved him from the pain of falling, a pain she knew was humiliating while in front of others but also painful. Quickly, inhumanly quick, she lifted herself from where she was lying and fled to his side. Her stomach clenched in distress as she saw his red face, he was embarrassed. Suddenly her hand flew up as she hit herself on the forehead, this was her fault of course, and she was the culprit here. Naturally her mind soared within less then a second and came to conclusion that he had probably seen or heard and came forward out of curiosity that had him ignoring where he was stepping. Yes, his fall was entirely her fault. Though she could easily blame herself for him tripping, her stomach knotted even further when her thoughts reminded her that she had not even risen from her place to help him. That was dishonorable being that her speed were definitely to be used in these such instances.

“Are you alright, not hurt are you? I’m so sorry.” Her dainty hands reached out and took both of his arms as she helped pull him to his feet. Undine felt the shame that always came when she knew she could have helped a person but failed.

[ian]

Now he could of sworn he did hear someone around but he did not hear no one calling back to him so he just followed the voice. The sound of the voice was honestly quite soothing and he wanted to see if the owner was as pleasant. Didn't expect he would go and make a fool of himself right in front of her. Then again when he not make a fool of himself falling or running into something. Was not his fault he was still getting the used to things though he did have a good instinct of where he was going. Also he was aware with his walking stick always kept it low to the ground just in case. He tried to get around roots and such since he already knew they would be out there. He missed one though which sent him tumbling to the ground and he hit hard but wasn't hurt. Staying there on the ground for a moment longer then he should of be began to stir to get to his feet. Well get to his hands and knees anyways since he had not a clue where his faithful walking stick went off to. Surely it has flew somewhere away from him during the tumble.

Maybe he was far away from the girl so she did not see him fall at all but when he heard the voice go to silence he knew. His face became somewhat of a red color since this was embarrassing to him. Guess he surely surprised her with his grand entrance which was not planned at all. Stupid gravity, he slowly got up from the ground just to sit up onto his knees and stayed there. Brushed himself off a little since he assumed he gotten some dirt on him for he landed on the ground. Though he cannot see where the dirt was he just brushed himself off until he felt satisfied with his work. Even if he was still a mess like he cared since he hardly was trying to impress someone. Brushing his hands together for there were some small speckles of rocks in his hands. Now he felt just a tad better, didn't know he kind of cut his cheek and was bleeding. He did not feel the warm prickle of a droplet of blood collecting from the scratch one bit. Mind was too distracted going to look for his walking stick so he could get back to his feet. Patting the ground slowly searching for it but it was no where close to him at all.

Suddenly he heard someone get up so he knew he was being watched so he stopped the pathetic searching. Was about to say something out but the person went to his side well close to him. Didn't pinpoint where she was exactly since she did not say nothing at first but he can smell her perfume near him. Knew it was a female since the sound of he voice was too feminine and the smell of her perfume too sweet. When she spoke to him asking if he was alright all he did was smile off, nod. "Yeah I'm alright. Used to falling at least once or twice a day." He remarked in a cheery tone of voice before he kind of pushed his bangs out of his face. Soon he felt something wet, the blood, so he took his long sleeve then wiped his cheek softly. He did get the blood but kind of smeared it on his face but it felt like it was gone to him. "Don't be sorry it was nothing you did at all. Entirely my fault for not felting whatever it was I tripped over." He blinked slowly then looked off to the side randomly hearing the sound of the water close. Soon he felt her hands in his hands which he welcomed, guess she was helping him up.

He did not need the help but took it anyways then lifted to his feet not using her to pull himself since he felt he was heavy. Did not want to make her tumble over or anything even though he did not know what she looked like. But she seemed tiny since her voice was very petite and cute. When he was on his feet he let go of her hands since he didn't want to hold onto them. He was a complete stranger after all and that would maybe make her feel uncomfortable. Beading of blood came back on his cheek since it was not done bleeding out. Did not make a move to wipe it since he did not know it was going again since was not of his attention. If he could he would be looking down at her but didn't know she was short. He just looked off in some random direction then smiled off since she was nice to him. "Thank you for helping me up." He said in a kind voice to her since he was grateful for her to be around. But now he was lost did not know what to do and did not make some attempt to find his walking stick. Hell she can walk away or already could of walked away and he would not of known. Then he would be stuck out there wondering the woods lost.

That would be pretty sad, actually, when he thought about it then figured his walking stick was not around. So he spoke up for a little help, well some more, since he needed someones else's to spot out his transportation around. "Do you see a walking stick around here? It fell someone when I fell down. I'd look for it myself but probably take me longer then it would for you. Would really help me out or else I'll be lost in the forest for days." He joked around with her then snickered. He moved some hair from his face so his eyes were shown. Nice color of brown but has a slight fog over them since he was blind, anyone can tell he was apart from the walking stick. Standing there he was afraid to move around in case he fell again, embarrassment. Which the redness in his cheek went away except for the smudge of the blood spot and the forming of more blood from his wound. Hopefully she did not run off or something or he would be in trouble. Though the stream was near he still would have some trouble listening to sounds to get him set on the way back home. Also he did not know how far he was in the forest, he just knew he was in the forest. His favorite place to go off and hide just to listen to the sounds of nature.

[undine]

Noting the cheerful tune to his voice, her stomach eased up just slightly. Smiling she nodded in understanding to what he had said. Her own clumsiness left her with many bumps and bruises in a single day and today the rather ugly gash on her left palm was minor as there was still plenty in waiting. This person, she imagined was also clumsy, though probably not nearly as uncoordinated as she was. As he continued speaking, she tilted her head noting that he had yet actually to look her in the face, strange. Though it was probably, still due to him being embarrassed she thought. People tend to avoid eye contact or looking directly at a persons face when nervous. Distraction lasted less than a second when she finally noticed what he had done when he wiped his hand across his cheek. Blood was smeared mostly leading downward, but she could still see the cut. Undine felt her stomach clench again, she really had been useless to this person.

When he had risen to his feet, he pulled his arms away and the grasp her hands had on him loosened to allow him the distance. Surely, he felt nervous, that was the single reason her mind focused on when he continued not to look directly at her. Undine held the sigh in as she felt it threatening to interrupt the momentary quiet. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she witnessed, in slow motion, the blood building up on the cut. Soon it would ooze and slide down his cheek; these were the times she wished she were overly cautious and had brought a first aid kit with her, it wasn’t like she didn’t need one every single day. Being able to see that he could do well with a band-aid, she began allowing the rude thoughts directed at herself to spill easily over every other thought before it pushed them all out to take over. If only she cared more about her personal state, she would have brought one, but no, the brunette cared little about the scrapes and cuts she got each day. The blood she spilled, she thought was nothing. However, staring up at the red that stained a small piece of this stranger’s cheek she thought plainly that in the future she would just have to carry a few things on her in the future.

“No really its fine. If I hadn’t let you surprise me like that, I would have been able to keep you from falling in the first place. Really, I should be sorry.” Undine’s eyebrows knitted together, she really wished he would look at her so he could at least see how serious she was about apologizing. Not having attention focused on you by a single person when it could be significant was frustrating. Her full lips tightened as did a little bounce, her way of letting him know she really wanted his attention. Saying you were sorry had more meaning when the person the apology was meant for looked at you. Instead of repositioning his head to look down at her, he spoke again. Why wouldn’t he even look at her to ask his request? He did blame her, it was the only thing that made sense. Usually people let their feelings dissipate by now and were capable of looking a stranger in the face.

Of course, she realized that he hadn’t even finished speaking. Her thoughts were moving speedily allowing her to get ahead of what was being said. Even though she could possibly be wrong, her conclusion had already been reached. Undine removed the frustrated grimace from her face and unthinking pushed out her lower lip in a pout. Looking up at the sky, her deep brown eyes were circling with depressed emotion as she agreed thoroughly with what she assumed the boys thoughts, he was right to ignore her. In what to her seemed like a few minutes, she came back to human pace when she heard snickering coming from the person standing in front of her. Looking at him carefully, which luckily didn’t require too much strain since he was probably only nine or ten inches taller then her, finally his eyes were visible to her. They were brown like her own, only they seemed very faraway and much more unfocused than any pair of eyes she had seen. Again, her mind picked up speed and understood everything very quickly.

Undine’s dark eyes flashed quickly and found for what they had been searching. Within less than a second of him asking for her help, had she already sped to retrieve it and returned to his side. Gingerly she reached out with her arm took hold of his right wrist. She placed the walking stick in his hand and then released her hold. Imagined thoughts of his disliking toward her faded, they were replaced with an awkward sense of relief. He probably didn’t have any ill feeling toward her, she realized, the reason he had not looked at her was because of he couldn’t see her. However, the ease she got from understanding was mingled with concern as to her being the lure that dragged him farther into the wood, he was curious she guessed, when he heard her. It was probably the shouting he had heard that caught his attention she realized, and her head dropped a centimeter as she could only think that he might have thought someone was in trouble and had come to see what the matter was. All these thoughts, were again happening within a second.

“You’re really alright then? Oh, your cheek is still bleeding. Ugh, I should have caught you! Its not like I’m not fast enough…” The last bit was muttered more to herself than it was meant for him to hear. Undine did a quick sprint to the stream, dipped a small bit of the fabric from her sweater sleeve into the water, and zipped back. She put the part of the sleeve that she had put the water on in between her thumb and forefinger before reaching up with her arm to clean the blood more properly. The process was quick as her hand worked speedily, though softly as they also removed some of what had been smeared previous that had already begun to dry. The only downside was she did in the end find herself on her tiptoes, as she looked the side of his over to be sure she done a sufficient job.

“That’s better, the cut isn’t so bad now that I can see it. The one on my hand is much worse, lucky.” Undine smiled, obviously very pleased with the discovery as she lowered her hand and let both her feet rest flatly on the ground.

[ian]

"Honestly, don't worry about it, not your fault at all." He remarked to her in some reassuring tone of voice to let her know it was not her fault at all. He tripped since he was not paying attention to where he was stepping. Maybe if he lifted his feet more off the ground then he wouldn't of tripped on the uplifted root. Or maybe if he had putting his walking stick down lower to the ground he would of felt it. But it was his own mistake and should of known better since after all, he should be used to this. As well as he knew this was a forest with roots so he should of been paying hell of a lot more attention. Could of ran into a damn tree if he wasn't too careful. Smiling off since he was in a good mood since he did actually hear someone and was right. Also since she did help him up which he was more then grateful for it too. Sure he was not looking in her general direction but he felt he really did not need to do such a thing.

After all what would be be looking at other then a voice in his head talking and him imagining what she could look like. Only way he would be able to see her is if she allowed him to see her by touch. When all settled on his feet he kind of asked for his walking stick had no idea she was sort of offended he was not looking at her. Though he was looking down in some sort of direction but his eyes were looking elsewhere. If he could see he would be looking directly at her since he liked eye contact. At least he did kind of try to turn his head in the direction where he heard her voice. Asking her kindly to get his walking stick he did not even know she left then came back so fast. In fact when she took his arm so quickly after he asked her to get it for him he was shocked. "Wow, guess it was right in front of me as normal?" He shook his head in some small embarrassment since he guessed he just didn't feel it near him.

Did not suspect her to zip off to get it then zip right back in front of him. He took hold of his stick since now he would be able to see where he was going, a little. "Don't worry about me I'm alright. I've taken worst falls before in my two years of my condition. Even worst falls before my condition was even a problem." He joked off then he went smiled when she said he was bleeding. "Really? I thought it was something else. I wouldn't of even known the difference if you didn't tell me." He was going to go wipe his own cheek off but she came back to him. He felt a gust of wind this time as she rushed to the water then rushed back. This eyebrows kind of pushed together a little curiously before the cool water hit his warm cheek. He did not flinch though instead he bend down a little since he knew she was smaller then he was.

"If you even attempt to catch me I'm sure I would of smothered you. Then you would of gotten hurt then made me feel bad in the end." He smiled out just in general to his remark since he was clever enough to know her voice was more lower then him. Meaning she had to be maybe forehead to his chest or something along that. He felt her gently remove the blood from his cheek, guess he smeared it on his face earlier. "Thank you, even more kind of you." He said since she had been so kind to him this whole time though complete strangers. His smile faded when she said she had fallen and hurt herself worst then he had. "I'm sorry to hear that. You cleaned it off at least and wrapped it in something?" He asked since he could obviously not see to tell if she did nurse her wound if it was as bad as she made it sound.

Bitting down on his bottom lip he thought for a moment as he stood there. Sure she was some stranger but she did lure him out there with the sound of her voice. He was curious and didn't mean to distract her in really anyway other then to listen from a distance. But here he was in front of her, he thought, talking to her now face to face. Which suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks to his head that maybe he should stop being such a block head and introduce himself to her. "Oh where are my manners at all. I'm Ian, Ian Johanson." He put the walking stick into his left hand since he liked to us his right hand to shake. He put his hand out expecting her to take it from wherever she was in front of him. Guess this was the best way to make a new friend, fall in front of them, then show them how helpless you are. Sometimes he wished things were back as normal, normal life.

[undine]

Planted in the middle of her face, her small nose wrinkled disapproving. Hearing him state for the second time that she was not to blame unnerved her as very clearly she could see how all of it could be pushed onto her shoulders. As was typical however, she did not press it any further and chance an argument. This was regrettable, were she to release her objective thought rather than suppress them, the conversation that she had with people would likely go more smoothly in terms of understanding, as people rarely understood the emotions that flowed across her face and flashed in her eyes. Passive personalities grew irritating over time, though more specifically for those which whom they belonged. Undine could see that the boy standing in front of her was a polite person and probably would not allow her to get away with blaming herself. Were she to start an argument on which of them was really at fault she imagined that it could last for quite a long time.

Boy, the word fluttered through her mind for less than a second but still had quite the impact. A quiet snicker pressed through her lips. Once having looked him over earlier she had assessed that he was likely still attending High School. The idea of someone younger being taller than she was both funny and annoying. Amusing in the sense that she could pass for a sophomore since everything about her was little, even her face could not pass for the age she was without enough makeup. Annoying in the sense that she needed to look up at everyone, even the people who were much younger then she was. Without thinking, she raised herself on her toes making herself half a centimeter taller. The difference was minimal, barely noticeable. Her expression fell and an intense feeling of gratefulness washed over her knowing that the boy could not see her neither her revealing expressions nor her futile attempt at adding height.

"You aren't serious are you? You can't have had worse before, that would make you nearly as... no- even more deadly than I am. Coming all the way out here, are you crazy?" Undine’s mouth was half-open in shock as her voice pitched an octave at the horror. The idea of someone who was possibly clumsier than even herself was almost frightening, but that very person also being blind added a thicker wall of concern to hold the situation. Both her feet were flat on the ground, though now her posture had changed as she put her right hand on her waist and leaned closer to him, scrutinizing the possibility that perhaps he was not very sane. Leaning toward him caused a feeling of regret as it was clearer how short she was as she stood now with a tilted posture. Really, she almost scoffed; he should be worrying about his safety more than he apparently was. Just wandering in the woods where sticks, roots and rocks were all waiting pleasantly for any idiot, namely the female idiot making a presently looking somewhat bothered by the thought, was asking for trouble. He could not see either, it was really asking for trouble.

"I'm always smothered so it wouldn’t have made a difference, if you were any taller you could step on me." Taking hold of his free hand, she put it on top of her head and let it rest there before dropping her arm back to her side. This should make it very clear, she knew he had already guessed that she was shorter than he was when he bent himself lower earlier, but she doubted he knew exactly how short she was. When he spoke about her own wound and tending to it, she raised her left hand and looked at it while frowning. Over the years, she had become so used to nearly breaking her own neck that she did not care anymore. Even now, she had a bruise from three days ago on her shin from when she fell of her bed. Even thinking of wrapping the gash up seemed humorous, it would heal soon and there would probably not even be scar. It was difficult to leave scars on her skin no matter how many times she was cut up.

"I wiped the blood off on the grass. This is really normal for me, it become kind of silly and you don't care about it anymore after a while of walking into walls and falling over." She laughed softly. Undine took the hand she had put on the top of her head earlier and brought it to her palm over the two-inch wound, it had just barely begun to form a scab, "See, it’s pretty small considering what I’m used to. Deeper more than anything, it doesn’t even hurt. In a week there won’t even be evidence it was there." Speaking to someone who couldn't see was definitely different. This was a first for her, and she felt that she should help as much as possible to paint the picture to him clearly, so he could at least visualize what was happening. Frankly, she was enjoying how things were going. Currently she felt somewhat useful as if it helped just a little for her not responding fast enough earlier to prevent him from falling.

"Nice to know your name! And I'm very happy to inform you that I'm Undine Ribbon." The curly headed teenager took his hand and shook as she let out a short laugh.

[ian]

Even though he could not see her he can tell she was looking him over but he did not care at all, smile remained on his face. He shoved off her regrets of it being her fault he fell down since he did it so often. Since he is blind it is a little obvious he would have a number of falls even in his own home. Which is why the family he lives with got a one story instead of a two story home. Better off without stairs or else poor Ian would end up killing himself by falling down the stairs one day. He was careful though when it came to going or getting around on his own. He has been living in the town for about 12 years of his lifetime so he knew the place like the back of his hand. Though two of those years he has been blind as he lived here but still 10 years of going around town is implanted in his head. He doesn't get lost to often unless someone throws him off his walking pathway. When she spoke up about him being serious that he fell all the time he laughed. He didn't answer right away since she kept talking, didn't want to be rude.

When she finished he laughed some more, shook his head a little, then he had his response already ready. "Yes much worst then tripping over..." He went slide his walking stick against the ground. He found what he tripped over then kind of tapped it, didn't make a rock sound, but a hollow-ish sound. "...tree roots." He moved his stick back to just his side then he spoke on about things. "I'm used to getting hurt anyways. Even before my condition happened I was not to careful with myself. But I'm a tough boy so don't even worry about me." He smiled off then laughed a little more being completely cheerful with her right now. "Also I come in the woods all the time. I like to hear the sounds of the nature since it is peaceful and so I come out here. I'm not lost at all. The stream right there...." He pointed over using his hands, which he directly pointed at the stream, since he can hear the stream with his ears. "....leads right into town. If I follow it the wrong way and go into the forest more I know since the sounds of the town fully leave. Right now, I'm thinking just far enough to not hear the sounds of the town but know it's not too far." He said showing her that he was not lost and she shouldn't worry about him.

By the sound of her voice she sounded so worried for him but he was trying to calm her down that he was in no risk. He did this all the time, even fell a couple times, he was going to be fine out there. Finally he made a weak joke to change the subject of him not being careful out there. He was just fine and knew where he was also what was going on since he was not mentally retarded. He mentioned about if she went to catch him she would of been smothered under him. He knew she was shorter then him but had not a clue really. That was until she went remarked something and he rolled out in a small laugh then questioned it. "Oh really?" But his question was answered when she took his free hand then set it on her head. He stopped the laughing then knew where she was now, she was small. Now making the height difference he nodded slowly then said something, but nothing to be rude. "Okay I would of killed you if you caught me. Your pretty....short." He remarked which he slowly took his hand off the top of her head. From that simple touch he got the feel of her curly hair. So now he had that in his mind that she was short and had curly hair.

He didn't want to linger on her shortness since he felt bad she might be uncomfortable around him or something. So he pushed out his concern for her since she sounded like she did not even care at all about herself. She made it sound like she really harmed herself so course he got concerned. Since after all he did hear her scream something earlier, which caught his attention along with the singing. He pursed his lips a little when she said she wiped it off on the grass. Well that doesn't sound sanitary at all for a wound and was sure she needed to clean it off, properly. But he was not going to stand there and lecture her about it. She was a big girl and if she wanted to tend to it her way then so be it. He was happy though she did help him out though he still didn't get out she went so fast to the river and back. He felt a small gust of wind also when she came back so he felt that was odd, maybe she ran? He wasn't sure but he wasn't going to question it at all he was just going to let it slide. He was after all not going to pry into her life when he just began to barely getting to know her and such. He felt her grab his hand again and he was curious of what she was going to show him this time.

Was her wound, he went leaned his walking stick to his side and held it with his arm but used his hand to grab her hand. Gentle though, he was being gentle with her since he was gentle with everything. Felt her scabbed up wound and didn't seem so bad so he nodded and he couldn't resist. His hands kind of traveled her small hands and petite wrist and left it at that. He let go then smiled off, let out a small laugh, then he had to remark something. "No the cut doesn't seem bad at all. But, wow, you are tiny. Sorry I hope you didn't mind. I wasn't trying to get fresh or anything I was just curious." He said to her and apologized for touching a little more then she allowed. Though didn't seem like she was angry since he nicely introduced himself. She did as well, he smiled, he held out his hand to shake hers to make this a proper meeting. "Undine, that is a unique but pretty name. I bet the name suits you very well." He remarked, small hint of a flirty response, but it was a kind of dry sense of a flirty response. He just simply meant that she must be pretty to match the pretty name. He wasn't much of a flirter type of person, he gave up on girls, but he was friendly. After shaking her hand he let his hand go to his side then he bite down on his bottom lip to think.

Well he didn't want to stand there all day, so he made the first move, for he wanted to sit down near the stream. "Well, no sense of standing around. I think I'll grab a seat near the stream. Welcome to join." He remarked then smiled off at her, he turned a little towards the stream then walked into that direction. He wondered off slowly to make sure he didn't trip and fall down at all. That was all he needed to do was make a fool of himself again in front of her and hurt himself. When he reached the stream he felt to the left of him with his walking stick to feel there was a tree there. He walked near the tree and put his hand on it then he turned around, sat down on the ground. This was a good spot for him to sit down and rest and he didn't know if she was going to join him or not. He would loved if she did since he didn't want to be alone. But if she didn't want to hang out with him he didn't or wouldn't of held it against her at all. He placed his walking stick to the side then let his eyes look off at the street. He was just visioning it there in front of him and he did wish that day never happened two years ago, Course he was not about to go and mourn about it since he needed to get over it. Really move on, which he did, and he had grown up so fast for all the friends he knew or love he knew was also were all fake.

[undine]

Undine nodded absently. Often her mind did this, she still listened closely to the words being spoken by the other person but it was nearly impossible for her to stay focused so precisely when her mind moved so much faster than anyone else could speak. Like a movie in slow motion, she watched him tap the roots that had protruded from the ground and wrinkled her nose. Nature was wonderful of course, but it was terribly annoying when it created such dangerous traps. If only trees spoke, wait, that would creepy. If they understood, yes that was much better. Were the tree to understand, then she could ask politely for it to pull itself back into the ground so no other person would trip over it in the future. Most importantly, so the one person who had just tripped on it would not do so again, he had just said that he took walks through the wood often.

Quickly imagery picked up as her mind envisioned him falling again, though he would probably be alone in the future. Ugh, not a great thought. It was possible the fall could be more hazardous the next time, though who is to say he would fall at all, it was her fault that he stumbled today. Perhaps the brunette should refrain from entering into the woods to be sure she was not the cause of his blood shed again. 'Again', she felt herself grow dizzy the second the word entered her thoughts. If it did happen again and she was the reason she would not be as surprised as today that she wouldn't be able to catch him. Another nod, more persistent and sure occurred and her curly hair bounced. She knew she worried too much over things that were probably meaningless, but it was difficult to stop once it had started.

"Does it? That’s good to know. I was so anxious when I bolted that I didn't pay attention to what direction I had taken. It’s lucky I fell just a second after I started running, otherwise who knows where I would have ended up. I would have been totally lost then." Without caring, she let the words come out smoothly. Generally, people in this town took her words in confused awareness, questioning the meaning while still thinking they understood, and others immediately took what she said and guessed easily that she was tainted. After living here for two years she had grown not to care about hiding the fact she was faster than everyone around her was, after all it wasn't rare to find someone with a more unique ability just around the corner. That’s what she liked about this town, though she had met one or two people who were weary of people with abilities like her own, most everyone had become accustomed to it and didn't take much interest.

When he claimed jokingly, she thought, that if she did catch him she would no longer be living she felt her jaw snap shut suddenly. Being somewhat temperamental wasn't so lovely, but it was lucky she hated to argue. Even though it was a joke, she liked it more when it was just her laughing about how little she was. Truthfully, though she would probably not admit it unless asked directly, the short teenager detested her puny stature. Everyone in comparison were giants, it made a person feel the need to pout constantly when even twelve year olds were growing taller than she ever would. In some way her height was a good thing she supposed, people didn't find her threatening, her hair seemed much longer on her little body than it would if she were just three inches taller. One regret however, would be that many people treated her more gently, as if she were a child. Undine clicked her tongue when her thoughts persisted; she was plenty tough.

His hand traced the cut on her palm softly, she supposed to be careful not to hurt her, though some part of her mind still insisted it was because of her height. Undine gave her head a moderate shake, he was probably just unsure about the contact since they had just met. Not everyone was like her, usually she warmed up too quickly for others, and he was probably less accustomed since she imagined it was difficult to interact with others when one was blind. It would be more difficult, she thought, to be comfortable if you couldn't look into the eyes of the person you spoke with. The feel of his hand traveling to her wrist didn't go unnoticed, though she didn't take offence as her mind continued on with the idea that he was trying to get a better picture of who she was.

"Get fresh with me? There’s no way you would, you're probably thinking I look about ten after discovering the shortness of me." A fleeting laugh followed the sentence, sounding more like a puff of air. "Actually my name is really sad if you know more about it, she was a sprite who gave up her eternal youth for what she thought was love." The story had made her nervous when she first heard it, and she wondered wildly why on earth her mother would give her such a name, which had some disturbing things attached to its origin. Undines, or Ondines had no souls until they married a mortal. No soul, the idea definitely made one feel joyous. In the case of one nymph, she had fallen in love with a Knight who pledged to love her always and they married. However, as is cliché for a man he lost interest in her after she had his child and began to age, and so he cheated on her and she cursed him with death the moment he fell asleep. Happy story really... she shivered involuntarily.

Undine walked more slowly to sit beside him, not needing any further invitation than what he had given to join him. At first, she decided not to say anything after noticing that Ian had a thoughtful look on his face and was almost certainly occupied with his thoughts. During the silence, though not long she took the opportunity to study his face. She had seen him probably once before, from a distance she thought. This face wasn't new to her, though she knew this was the closest they had ever been. With the knowledge that she could see his eyes, her mind clicked over memories recovering images far off glance of a boy who had his hair over his eyes any time her eyes passed over him. He lived in town, it was certainly not the first time she had seen only in the past it was the fact her eyes had skimmed an area and see him.

"You know I’ve actually seen you before, but far away. Your hair is usually in your face isn't it? You shouldn't do that, you're much more handsome when you can see your entire face." She smiled as she tilted her head continuing to focus her attention on him. "Just because you can't see doesn’t mean you should hide your eyes away." Undine extended her hand and pushed his hair further away from his eyes. A person’s eye would continue to have emotion no matter if they lost their sight she believed, and it was nice just being able to see them. Personally, she loved eyes the most and felt it was such a waste for anyone to conceal their own.

"I’m not getting fresh, No worries; I wont take advantage of you while I have you out here alone in the woods." Undine giggled softly and leaned back against the tree.