Darkness.
That's what Queen Nalani awakens too. At first there is nothing, only a void that she is trapped in.
A limbo. It is faceless. It is silent. It is darkness.
But it stills purrs at her, daring her to taste a drop of the darkness. Nalani likes it here, there is a certain comfort in the soft embrace of the shadows but she knows she cannot stay, she has to get back to the Westwoods. Hestia. Rowan.
No, Nalani, thinks, I need to return.
So Nalani takes a breath and emerges from her sleep, leaving the Goddess' grip and she is then born anew.
Light floods her eyes as they open for the first time and Nalani blinks rapidly, her black eyes, glassy and vacant as they try to adjust to her surroundings.
Wildly, her onyx orbs dart around, trying to make some sense of where she is. Salt. That's the first thing Nalani can smell, an overwhelming powerful stench of salt. The sea. That's the first thing Nalani hears, she hears the hypnotic murmuring of gushing waves.
She feels something soft under her, her finger reach out and then familiar feels the similar texture of a fur blanket. Many blankets by the feel of it.
I haven't left the sea, Nalani thinks, wondering why she's on something dry that isn't land.
She hears voices approaching. Queen Nalani immediately tries to sit up, but winces in pain as she does so, her hand flying to her side, the source of the pain.
She tries to move but accidentally ends up rolling off her makeshift bed and the piles of soft comfortable soft blankets. Her head falls down hard onto wood and she tries the same manoeuvre again, only to have the same results.
Hissing in pain, Nalani tries to scramble in a corner behind a pile of odd supplies in a feeble attempt to hide, calling wind to muffle the sound of her movements, tightly clutching the unfamiliar long white shirt she was dressed in and clutches her knees which are in unfamiliar trousers that seem to have something on them. A silver hair. Animal hair perhaps. Strange. Where is she?
Muffled voices whisper, "The Black Council and Vivianne Westwood won't be happy with us for not bringing her back straight away."
More shuffling as they come closer, still whispering, "We saved a Queen's life with the help of the elementals, they will likely be thanking us, especially as that council all answer to Pele."
Nalani's heart thumps frantically, beating like a drum as she breathes erratically.
Pele? Pele Murtra? Head of the Black Council? She doesn't know what to think. What do they want with me? Nalani thinks.
The footsteps are scarily close now and she draws in a deep breath as they are a few metres away from her.
Another voice speaks, "I'm going to find Nimue."
Who's Nimue? She wonders curiously as she continues to listen. One pair of footsteps is walking further away from her but there is still one pair that is horribly close to her.
She hardly dares to breath and she is certain that the person can hear her heartbeat. The barrels she's crawled behind are suddenly moved and at first she is blinded by the sun but then she makes out a silhouette. It is tall. Definitely male and seems to be reaching his hand out.
Nalani moves a few larger fluffy clouds in the sky to block out the sun and she finally sees everything.
The man is Rowan Westwood. One of her closest friends years ago before they were separated. He is the son of Mathias Westwood, Vivianne's brother who lived further south in Rolanth.
But the title Rowan used to cherish the most as that he was hers and she was his. He is different but still the same.
He was grown incredibly handsome after five years away from her he is even more so, and of course he is taller. Rowan is tanned from obvious hours under the watchful eye of the sun, and he has some muscles from him training to become the warrior he was sent off to Bastian to turn into when Priestess Mab in particular thought they were growing to close.
Well that and his parents never really knew what to do with him, desiring to travel abroad and Rowan used have outbursts with his gift, with a particular affinity for water, or more specifically ice - he used to freeze things constantly. So permission was granted for him to study at Bastian City for a few years and then return to protect Nalani, having learned displine and control. But it was also a small excuse for his parents to be free of him and travel. Nalani never liked either of them. Mathias and his wife have always been shallow people, they were never suited for having a child so it's a mystery why they did.
He has light brown bronze hair that seems lighter from the careful caress of the sun's heat, beautiful laughing eyes as green as the sea, with hints of blue, making them almost a deep shade of turquoise as they sparkle in the sunlight. Due to the scorching heat, he only wears a pair of loose dark blue trousers and the necklace chord she gave him five years ago with a shark's tooth on the middle, resting on his tanned chest.
He smiles down at her as she hesitantly takes his hand and he pulls her up with ease.
"Lani, you're awake," he says grinning at her with the same ease that he always used to when they were younger. Before they were separated. He still uses that pet name for her.
Nalani continues to just stare at him, for this still may be a dream and she is not sure if it is a fragment of her imagination or cold reality. Rowan looks at her in concern,
"Are you okay?" He asks, staring at her expressionless but beautiful face, "You've already managed to wound yourself further."
Carefully, she reaches a hand to his face, caressing his cheek gently to see if he was real. Rowan stops breathing at this and his sea green eyes bore into her black eyes as they lock gazes. Moments pass, but for both of them it seems like an eternity.
Everything stops moving around them, and for a moment it is just Rowan and Nalani. There is nothing else. But neither of them dares to move as reality swoops in and they both start breathing and blinking again. She hugs him, embracing him so tightly as if she worry's that if she lets go he may disappear.
"You're real!" Nalani whispers in wonder, in a quiet tone of awe. He strokes her long dark hair gently and then kisses the top of her head as they pull apart slowly. Despite five years of separation they fall back into their old familiarity with ease.
"I hope I'm real and that you're real for this is too good to be a dream," he says smiling down at her. Nalani starts crying at this, all of the shock piling down on her all at once. Rowan stops smiling immediately,
"What is it?" He asks, his tone laced with genuine concern. Nalani starts laughing while crying in happiness and disbelief as if overwhelms her.
"I'm happy!" She exclaims in pure happiness, "You're here. Rowan, you're real and you are here, with me on a boat in the middle of the sea."
Rowan laughs deeply and says, "Well it sounds incredibly unmethodical when you say it like that," he pauses, "but yes we are both real, we are on a boat in the sea, together. But we are incredibly close to Rolanth's nearest accessible port."
Nalani frowns and starts shaking her head with her usual defiance. The temple killed Finn. The Goddess will make her kill her sisters. Fennbirn is a island of killers and now she could escape. She is on a boat, it wouldn't be a long journey to Centra where she could start a new life and she'd never have to return. A new fragile feeling blooms inside her. Hope.
"I don't want to go back," she protests, feeling several emotions all at once and she begins to panic and look around her. This is all too sudden.
The boat isn't particularly large and doesn't have any cabins but it could still make the journey.
Rowan sighs, "Lani, I'm sorry but you have too," he takes a deep breath, "after I pulled you out of the water I hardly believed that it was you, but I could never mistake your face Lani. You were freezing and had many deep cuts and bruises over your sides, arms and legs. So, a member of my cadre, Morrigan, who is war gifted, cleaned your injuries and bandaged them up tightly. The elementals who watched you fall helped push you through the currents towards our boat."
Nalani nods, trying to process everything that has been said. But she still wants to leave. They need to turn the boat around immediately and then they can sail away.
"I'm sorry Lani, but we had to cut your tightly laced dress up to reach your wounds, and cut open your corset because you weren't breathing with it on, so you only had your undergarments," he said, flushing in embarrassment. Nalani shakes her head in dismissal and rolls her eyes slightly. Who knew a woman's undergarments made a tough warrior blush?
"I don't care about that, but who is Morrigan?" She asks, her tone a tiny bit sharper than she intended for it to be. She is always so naturally suspicious and quick to anger.
Rowan then shakes his head at Nalani and laughs causing Nalani's eyebrows to furrow in anger, her hot temper rising and she opens her mouth to shout but is cut off when a tall girl walks around to where they're standing.
She is devastatingly beautiful with long dark red wild curls and hard fierce flaming green eyes. She has an intimidating walk of presence and a firm expression. She has the look of a warrior and the intensity of a leader. She looks like Pele. She must be of the Murtra family of warriors. The ones who rose to power in Queen Arsinoe's reign and flourished in Queen Halia's as their power increased when a war gifted queen sat on the throne for the first time in generations.
"This is ..." Rowan starts
"Morrigan," the beautiful girl finishes in a confident manner, her arm draping around Rowan causally as if they were both close.
Rowan looks up at her and smiles at her. Nalani notes that every movement they make towards each other is natural. Morrigan then kisses his cheek in a casual greeting and Rowan continues to smile at her.
Nalani's eyes narrow dangerously as she sizes up Morrigan, viewing her as an opponent instantly. Nalani is tired, hungry and now seething with anger.
Queen Nalani has always been temperamental, especially when it comes to her weakness.
Rowan.
She's only just got her best friend back but it seems like she may have already been replaced. On another day she may have been calmer, but not today. Today she is exhausted, annoyed and angry.
Storm clouds gather overhead, reacting to Nalani's temper and Morrigan and Rowan both look up as Nalani sends the first lightning bolt that lands so close to Morrigan that it singes a few strands of her gorgeous red hair off. Nalani didn't mean for it to happen at the time but her gift just reacted in tune with her temper, it has been a while since her control has been lost like that. But then again it's been a while since she's seen Rowan.
Before Nalani can explain the accident, Morrigan's green gold eyes flash in fury and as she throws Nalani against the mast using her mind, the real battle begins ...