The boy knew he wasn’t particularly welcome here. There was just something about the Day Courtians that was downright unfriendly… but it didn’t sway him. The world was Pan’s stage, and he refused to let something like bad attitudes get in the way of his explorations. Besides, he knew well enough to respect the land and its deity. If they knew that he was more than happy to pay tribute to Solis, perhaps the war-clan nomads who roamed the Day Court would pay him little mind. At least, this is his thought as he wanders through the desert, head on a swivel, looking for pirates. Better yet, looking for mercenaries, for Asterion had told him they existed here.
The sun beat down on Pan as he danced over the sand like a sidewinding snake, his hooves creating divets in the dunes that seemed to wash away with the whispering winds. Sweat gleamed against his skin even as the autumn breeze sought to cool him… but alas, it could do little against the desert sun. All of this was part of the appeal, he supposed, and Pan thought himself some kind of crusader seeking the secrets of the pharaohs as he traversed across the Mors Desert.
Ahead, there is a shimmer that looked too good to be real – a veritable paradise in the desert. Drawn toward the illusion, Pan felt his mouth begin to water as he thought of the crystal blue water touching his parched lips. It would be helpful for him to stop for a bit… to rest. As his lithe body travels closer and closer, it seemed that the oasis became more real. Remembering a cautious tale about the desert playing tricks on the mind, Pan is hesitant to believe Vitae Oasis’ existence until he is literally standing by the water’s edge. Now, he looks out upon it, his green eyes drinking in the sights as he dares to drop his lips to the smooth surface for a drink.
There is a hushed silence which falls over the land, and Pan’s ears prick forward and back, searching for any signs of danger… but what he didn’t expect was a ripple against his lips, distributing the still water in an anomaly with no explanation. Who… who’s there?!? The boy yells out to the empty desert, confused by the ripples that seem to start from the center of the pool. Stepping back, Pan is shocked to see the ripples followed by a series of bubbles. Something was under the water. Something… dangerous? Come out you yellow-bellied codfish! His words are all brashness with little bite as he smiles now, eager to see what his demands would expose.
It seemed the oasis had its own secrets to explain.
rulers make bad lovers, you better put your kingdom up for sale
She rests beneath the surface of the Oasis, with only her dorsal fin breaking the surface -- absorbing the warmth of the sun in the lazy afternoon air, her forelegs stretched out along the shallow muck, her body submerged in water just deep enough to hide her. There was no need to lift her head above the water for oxygen, this strange body of hers adapting whenever she found herself submerged, and so she simply lazed beneath the water.
At least, until her peace was disturbed by a stranger approaching the Oasis, and she slipped herself fully beneath the water for the moment to observe -- there had been strange happenings, recently, cloaked figures slipping beneath the waterfall for clandestine meetings, but it seemed like this boy had no such plans. Perhaps she might have left him to his business, had he not noticed her presence in the pool -- after all, it would be rude not to answer such a descriptive summons, wouldn’t it?
She pokes her head above the water with a bright laugh, only a few feet away from where he had drank his fill, and offers him a grin full of sharp teeth. “I can assure you, I’m no codfish -- although they are quite delicious!” Oh, the brashness of youth -- it gave them bravery most adults lacked, and for a moment she’s reminded of her own son. She misses Lykaon, for all of his terrible cruelty -- she can't help but love him, as terrible as he is, but she knows that it was for the best that their paths had parted.
What in the world? Pan was immediately drawn in by Jaylin’s appearance, trying to decide what exactly she was. Perhaps she was a mermaid, though not like the other mermaids he’d known (of course, Pan had already mistaken Isra for a mermaid… so it was not beyond the pale to believe that he might be wrong again). There is something about her toothy grin that draws him in, just as the sirens might call to men and drown them with their temptress song. But Pan is far from a man, he is simply a playful and curious boy, and he offers a lopsided grin in response.
Clearly satisfied with her answer about codfish, he dares a few steps forward until the crystal water laps against his legs. It is cool and rewarding in the heat of the desert… but even if it wasn’t, the boy is always drawn to the water, be it the sea, the river, or the oasis. In another life, he’d been a water elemental, twisting streams of water into intricate designs and playful fountains. Now, this magic is far from his grasp though, along with the memories of his boyhood games on the seashores of Eirhelm. These days, Novus was his greatest adventure, all those which came before little more than distant dreams.
What else is in there? Are there more mermaids like you? His silver ears creep forward to pick out their songs, but all he hears is the whisper of wind against the sand. I’m Pan by the way. Knowing that mermaids can be vain things, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a silvered pearl that he’d found washed up on the beach, offering it with an outstretched muzzle to his new friend, hoping to win her affections with the token.
rulers make bad lovers, you better put your kingdom up for sale
She curls herself upon a rock and watches the young boy wade further into the water, her forelegs tucked beneath her chest, and she doesn’t realize how much she might resemble the mermaids of old tales until the boy speaks again. “I’m not a mermaid, young one, and I am the only one who lives here in the waters.” That might have been the worst thing about her prison, here -- she was achingly lonely, confined as she was, when before she had been oh-so-social and vibrant.
“My name is Jaylin,” and she smiles when he offers up a polished pearl, taking it gently from the boy and turning it over and over with her telekinesis, admiring the smooth, shiny surface. She has always had a weakness for shiny objects, a fondness for anything that glitters, and she knows that this small gift will join her hoard.
It was easy for Pan to be personable with the lady in the water, pleased at her company as much as he was pleased at the warm water which lapped gently against him. While he could only detect a small sign of sadness in her voice, he is not astute enough to make the leap toward her being a lonely creature. As he thinks about what it might mean to be trapped in one place for his whole life, the boy shudders at the thought, unable to fathom being tied down – even if it meant being tied to a place as beautiful as this.
I like to explore. he offers simply. I came here once, a long time ago… but there were different faces here – a different king, but the same god – Solis, right? Long ago, Solterra had been a different sort of place. Those who lived here had been steadfastly religious, fanatical even. Now, it was a different crowd. There were rumors that these lands were ruled by a tyrant, but Pan had yet to see Raum or his army… he’d only heard the stories, of how he captured the queen of Denocte and led the Night Court through a series of tribulations. Still, it didn’t keep Pan away. He needed to voyage through Novus, to see all there was to see.
While he stands and ponders such things, there is a rustle in the bag at his hip, a sleek brown head popping out from within the folds of his satchel with an indignant sort of chirrup. Oh sorry… this is Oliver. The otter slinks forward, wrapping around his neck and offering Jaylin a coo of greeting. He likes to explore too… we’re looking for plants – for healing.
It was a simpler mission than one of diplomacy or vengeance, to be certain. Pan had never been much for politics, and gathering beautiful things was a task which came quite naturally to him. What is the name of your Oasis? he asks suddenly, wondering if perhaps he’d read about the Oasis in one of his books.
rulers make bad lovers
you better put your kingdom up for sale
She hums beneath her breath as she watches the young boy, pleased by the company that he offers her, even if perhaps he doesn’t quite understand her predicament. She is reminded, again, of her son -- of Lykaon when he had been young, before the bitterness and his inherited sociopathy had come into play in gruesome ways, before she’d been forced to admit that she loved her oldest son but she didn’t quite like who he had become.
“Exploring is quite fun,” She agrees, and she thinks with a pang of her lost wings, of how easily she had once soared above any lands she had wished to investigate, how easily it had been for her to move around. She had once loved to spend hours, days even up amongst the clouds, only returning to the land once her muscles had begun to ache too much to keep herself aloft. Now, here she was, trapped, although she supposed there could be worse places to be trapped.
“Solis -- yes. I believe so.”
She had never paid much attention to Gods, after all, and her attention was quickly grabbed by the strange creature that wrapped itself around Pan’s neck. Her first thought is that the creature is a snack, but instead the young boy seems to have given it a name -- interesting. Perhaps not a snack, then.
“I have never heard it named, no. It is always ‘The Oasis’.”
