Submerged in Water

When his eyes drifted over my form, I noticed a lump form in his throat. He managed to push it down but the movement caught my eye. I looked down and noticed there was still water covering his form, I managed to manipulate and control the water enough to get it off him as soon as he left the river, but I left some residue from when I had leaned into his chest.

I watched the slow rise and fall of his stomach, every edge and crease of his skin seemed to call to me. I decided right then and there that he had to be the most beautiful specimen on earth. No one could rival his good looks in combination with his innocence and his passion.

"You're scaring me again." He told me, his voice was back to normal. "What's with that look you're giving me?"

I breathed out a sigh of relief as my cheeks flooded with blood. "Sorry."

"Are... are you blushing?" Disbelief everywhere. "What were you thinking?"

I was about to deny everything and tell him it was nothing but then I thought, what the hell did I have to lose? I had noticed him staring at me in the same way.

"You really want to know?" My tone was teasing and truthful.

"Yes."

"I was just thinking you looked..." I was going to say 'hot' but thought the word sounded so immature and different from what I was actually thinking. "I was just thinking that you looked sort of like an angel."

"An angel?"

"You know, with the wings and stuff." My voice sounded so shy to my ears.

"Thank you." His voice cracked and he swallowed to moisten it.

I stood up and offered him my hand. I was expecting him to be hesitant and reluctant to get help from me, but he took it gladly and stood up. I noticed a fleck of dirt on his chest and I made to swat it away. We both watched the movement in slow motion. I left my hand where the dirt had been and looked into his eyes.

"We have school soon." He broke me from my dirty thoughts.

"Uhg, way to kill a moment." I brought my hand away from his chest. "My parents will flip if they find out I miss school again."

"Oh yeah, why did you leave yesterday?"

I told him the story about Scott, the confessional and coming out to the river all day to practice with the water. He didn't seem shocked by my revelation or anything, he just seemed worried.
"Are you okay?" He asked me. "I don't want you going suicidal on me..."

"Suicidal? No way." I laughed at that. "Far from it, but maybe a little crazy or messed up..."

Before I knew what was happening, I was being crushed against the softest flesh I had ever felt. His chest had a little hair near the navel area but was otherwise soft everywhere else. He wrapped his strong arms around me and whispered, "you're allowed to not be perfect, Emele."

I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder. It was comforting to have someone accept me in such a way. "I'm wet..." I protested.

He chuckled in my ear, it sounded like music. "I think I can handle a little water."

I twisted my neck, hiding in his shoulder. I took a deep shaky breath, releasing whatever fears or nervousness I had. I took all the weight that I had on me. About my best friends, about my biological Mother, about my own identity and gave it to Rune. Just for a few minutes, so I could have a moment of peace inside of me.

In his arms, I felt a deep sense of calm come over. His wings wrapped around us like a cacoon and this warmth spread through me that I didn't know I could experience. My body seemed to melt into his, my muscles relaxed, the scent of his skin filled my nostrils, reminding me of the water he had previously been in and some sort of soap I couldn't name.

"You did it."

I opened my eyes and stared at him. "What?"

"Look around."

He unwrapped his wings from around us and I stared at the river.

It was now frozen over.

"What were you thinking about?"

Confused, I said, "that's the thing, I wasn't thinking about anything. I was thinking about soap and..."

"Soap?" He couldn't help but laugh.

I giggled with him. "Yes, soap."

I was still staring up at him. A strange urge to kiss him came over me but I figured that might be too soon. He wasn't on the same page as me since he was leaning forward like he wanted kiss me too.

"What the hell is this?" The voice came from the forest.

We both jumped back a little from each other and simultaneously turned to look at where the voice had come from.

With her wings spread out to each side of her, a bow in hand and a quiver on her back, she looked like the female version of Rune. Her hair was long and golden and reminded me of the color of the rising sun that was to the side of my vision. She was wearing a short white frilly skirt, thigh high black tights and a black tank top that I assumed was exposed in the back so that her wings could be free.

"Robyn?" Rune was the first to ask.

"I knew something was happening between the two of you." She turned to the river that was now frozen over. "She's Kamille, Rune. I do hope you know that."

"Yes, I do know that." His voice showed his strength. He reached for his bow but she was already knocking an arrow.

"Don't even thinking about it." She told him.

He stopped in mid stride to his bow and stared at her. "How did you find us?"

"Easy." She chuckled against the wood of the arrow near her mouth. "I followed the frozen river."

"But why were you near here in the first place?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" She asked him, incredulous. "I had my suspicions about Emele since I first laid eyes on her when she first came to school. She was so pathetic back then, though, that I chalked it up to just an abnormal occurrence. That is until recently."

I reached out to the water source behind me, just in case I needed to create a shield of some sort, but the stream was hidden underneath ice and I couldn't break through the thick layer of it I had created previously.

"Listen, we don't want to hurt anyone." Rune said.

"Says the boy who was reaching for his weapon." She turned to me. "What about you, Emele? Are you still useless? Or can you fight?"

At those words, to put it simply, the river wasn't freezing any more. It was boiling.

"Useless?" I questioned, my voice was thick and venomous.

She noticed the boiling water. "Calm down, Kamille, I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt."

The steam from was river was rising into the air, making the area look hazy around me. I felt a gust of wind come out of nowhere to cool me off and I figured it must've been from Rune. He was worried about me.

"Robyn, listen to me." Rune tried to reason with her. "She may be Kamille but it isn't just that. She's in danger and she's no threat to anyone."

"Bullshit. No regular Kamille could freeze an entire river of water for half a mile in each direction." She hissed.

I blinked, breaking out of my anger. "If I'm so strong, why aren't you scared?"

"I have good aim." Her voice was confident.

She really was scared but instead of being passive aggressive about it or running away, she was just being aggressive. After all, Rune had told me an Oro's best defence was a good offence.

The water calmed behind me and I put up my hands up in surrender. I stepped towards her. "It's okay, Robyn. I don't want to hurt anyone." I told her. "I promise. I've been living in this town for a while now, if I wanted to hurt anyone, I probably would've done it already."

She moved back to avoid me and stumbled. She was shaking from the fear and exhaust that was coming over her. She tried to keep her bow steady.

In her moment of weakness, Rune came in with an attack so precise that it knocked the bow out of her hands and sent it flying into the forest.

"No!" I yelled at him. "Don't scare her!"

"Scare... HER?" He sounded angry. "She was the one with the bow in her hand!"

"That's because she was the one who was scared! Don't you see, Rune?"

I rushed forward to calm Robyn down. She was trying to run, to escape, as a last resort, but I put up a shield of water around the surrounding forest and above us so she couldn't escape. Her only means of escape was through me.

"Robyn, just calm down. I don't know what you know about the Kamille, but I wasn't raised in the ocean. I'm not some cult fanatic or homicidal socio-path. I'm just Emele. I was raised in this town. Please see." I begged her, tears were running down my face. "Please help me."

Whether it was from the broken sound of my voice, the tears or the absolute pain that was noticeable on my face, she seemed to straighten after that. I let the water shields down and brought the water back to the river. She stood staring at me and then turned to look at Rune, who looked at any moment, like he was about to run for the hills or attack her.

I shot him a look to back off.

When he relaxed, so did she. We all stood staring at each other for at least a minute, weighing the options, thinking through what was going to be said next.

Robyn spoke first. "Just what the hell is going on?"