...night lake.... (Illia)

[0]

12:30 PM.

It was two-and-a-half hours past curfew. But now it was shadowy, and so were the lake’s waters. Black, it reflected the nighttime sky as the clouds began to clear, revealing patches of darkness that held little silver specks within them, twinkling both in the sky and as a reflection on the water’s surface.

After having been here already for two hours -- swimming, playing with fish, swallowing fish whole; just overall enjoying the night in her true Chimera form while curfew was on -- Sigma finally crawled out of the lake's waters, dripping wet, and returned to human form. Though her clothes were drenched she decided still to stay here at Nymph's Lake for a while longer.

***

Sakura wasn't feeling it. For some reason she just couldn't seem to fall asleep in her assigned dorm room. It was strange, because she usually could, no matter how awkward it was for a Jidra such as herself to be encased in some sort of animal skin. She would sleep standing up but that would look...odd if someone 'accidentally' stepped in. Especially if that someone were pureblood human.

So instead, Sakura snuck out of the dorms, through campus grounds, past the woods and into the valley in which Nymph's Lake sat. There, she wandered by the sandy shores, kicking pebbles into the dark water before she took up a place on a small cliff overhanging the waters. She sat on the edge and allowed her skin to dissolve off around her, disappearing into thin air. When she was back in Jidra form she sat there as a tall, healthy sakura tree, her thick roots planted in the ground and clenching onto the edges of the cliff.

***

Sigma walked past overhanging rocks, climbed nimbly up the side of a short cliff, and found herself a nice tree to ascend and rest in. She was completely unaware as to what the plant really was. Even as a light breeze blew she was unable to the notice the barely discnerable way that the tree's branches bent against the wind. Though maybe that was because the wind was just too soft that night.

Sigma tucked herself away in a dip between the tree's trunk and a mid-hanging bough. There, she leaned against the bark and half-closed her eyes, allowing them to wander around the entire area of Nymph's Lake as she slowly began to doze off....

[Iƪƪia]

Stumbling past the trees, tripping over the rocks, getting her clothes caught on a branch once or twice, Ivy burst out of the woods and onto the grassy plains. However, the lack of trees and large rocks didn't seem to help much, and as she walked she was constantly leaning to the left. She didn't bother resisting it and trying to walk straight. In all honesty, she didn't know where she was going.

It was then she came upon the lake. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea for her to be near water at the moment, but she approached anyway, dropping down heavily on the shore. On her hands and knees, she peered into the depths, though there was nothing much to see down there. She splashed the cool water into her face, shivering as she then shook her head, sending tiny water droplets everywhere. The impromptu shower seemed to have succeeded in sobering her up a bit. Or maybe not really. Well, she had a moment of clarity either way.

"This isn't my room," She muttered to herself, standing up and looking around in confusion.

With a shrug, she began to walk along the lake shore, managing to keep a fair amount of distance between her and the actual lake, so if she were to fall it hopefully wouldn't be into the water. She walked on for a bit before she was nearly smacked in the face with a... A tree. Damn thing came out of nowhere!

She walked around it, then sat down against the trunk, wrapping her arms around it for support. Sighing, she looked at the water, then back to the tree, which was rather difficult, so she settled on resting her cheek against the bark.

"Ah, Misser Tree. You're my only friend."

[0]

"If you say so," came a barely audible whisper, only slightly feminine.

The tree's branches shook and the leaves twirled on their stems. Sigma felt herself jolting awake when one bough in particular -- in fact, the one she was resting on -- began to shake violently, and then come to a sudden halt. Startled, she looked up and around in confusion, for there was almost no wind at the time. When her eyes moved to the ground she caught sight of someone there.

Unlike the jidra Sakura, the chimera found herself unable to tell if the person was actually human or not -- and all thanks to her messed-up senses. So she kept herself hidden for the moment, watching the person with curiosity. After a while of nothing being done, she became bored and decided to call down to the person.

"Hey. You! Who are you?"

[Iƪƪia]

Yawning, Ivy repositioned herself so that her back was against the tree. It wasn't really very comfortable, though she knew she'd be able to fall asleep right there. That thought made her jolt up so that she was sitting upright. Sleep? Who actually slept during the night. Besides, there was stuff she had to do... Wasn't there? She knew there was some reason why she had decided to come out here at all... But what was it...

Set the tree on fire! A small voice antagonized her.

She looked back at the tree and then down at her own hands, contemplating this.

"I do like fire," She admitted, "But fire's too soothing. It'll just put me to sleep."

She could feel the beasts disapproval, which she promptly ignored. At that moment, she heard another voice, and a moment or two of thought later told her that this voice wasn't in her head.

Looking up, she located a girl sitting upon one of the branches of the tree. Her tree. And she had the nerve to ask who she was? The question caused Ivy to become strangely defensive. Perhaps it was just because she was drunk. Or perhaps it was because she wasn't really sure what her name was supposed to be anymore. Or perhaps it was a reason which she had not yet thought of.

"Oh, I know who I am... Who are you?" She retorted, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes. She was here first, so she should hear her name first... Right? And even if she wasn't here first, then she should... Should... Whatever. This required more thought than she was willing to give.

[0]

The tree recoiled slightly -- but just slightly -- when the other chimera had mentioned fire.

"Well, I don't know who you are either," said Sigma in reply. She thought for a moment whether she should give this strange person her name...eh, why not? She might learn the other's in return.

"I'm Sigma," she said at length, figuring it too tiring to say her full name -- and quite unneeded. This person...she almost thought she'd be lucky to get this one's name, the way she was already acting towards her. By the way, was she catching a hint of liquor on this person's breath? Strange, she'd never smelled that before around here, and was quite unsure exactly what it was -- other than some type of alcohol.

The jidra Sakura thought to her imaginary, What to do, Non?

To which she heard (or rather imagined) his reply: Sit, wait, watch.

Skin or not, can't turn human without being squashed, anyways. Have to wait for the girl to at least climb down from her branches.

[Iƪƪia]

Making a sound of disgust, Ivy turned away from the girl in the tree, her nose in the air, eyes closed.

"So we understand each other then," She said, not really understanding what she had just said, but thinking it sounded good.

When she finally heard the girl's name, she arched a brow, looking back up at her. Sigma? Sounded fake. Either that or her parents didn't like her much. Maybe they had a whole ****load of kids so after awhile they stopped getting creative. She probably had siblings that were named, like... Theta and... Upsilon. Man, those would be some jacked up kids. Well, at least this girl wasn't named Upsilon. She didn't think she'd be able to trust an Upsilon.

"My name, then..." She muttered, figuring she should introduce herself now.

Not you're real name!

"My name's, uh... Name's Ivy! Nice t'meecha!"

Here, she extended her hand up to Sigma before realizing that it might be hard for her to shake her hand while she was all the way up in that tree. So instead, she switched to pointing up at the girl, nodding in acknowledgement.

Getting to her feet and clutching the tree for support, she managed to steady herself well enough so that she was able to walk away from her support beam for a few feet without falling over.

"So... What brings you to my humble abode this fine night?"

Speaking of which, didn't students have curfews? Apparently, it was important that they be followed lest they get in trouble or get killed. So far she hadn't had either of those problems. Illia might have though... Eh, she must've got in enough trouble to last them both for a long time.

(OOC: Okay, really sorry about the huge wait >.< I been uber busy these days)