Okay, this took me forever to write. Please love it and eat it alive.

Rinee felt as if she was floating through water.

Overhead a sunny sky greeted a peaceful looking kingdom. There was a big castle near the center and smaller villages around it's base. The buildings were white with red roofs and there were flowers of every species lining the windows.

Her perch lay on a mountain high above the valley. Thick tree trunks lined the forest behind her and grass tickled at her bare toes. Broad leaves shaded the entire forest, and gave it a peaceful feel to it.

A gentle breeze danced around Rinee and she reached up to keep her hair from playing wildly in front of her.

A smile curved along her face as she took in everything, 'I've never seen anything so beautiful.' her voice murmured quietly upon her breathe.

Upon her words clouds began to gather overhead, blocking out the once bright sun. The cumuli gathered until they were a sinister shade of purple-black. An bad feeling rose within her as they swirled around the castle like a whirlpool.

Lightning crackled around her and the wind grew fierce, causing her breath to catch in her throat and gape in awe. The wind whipped around her wildly and forced her to crouch to the ground, lest be swept down the mountain.

She could feel the pressure drop around her and before she could move, the center of the clouds produced a shimmering green beam that enveloped the kingdom.

Rinee sheilded her eyes as a bright flash surged from the kingdom and only a moment later, the wind died down. Carefully she pried her eyes open only to stare aghast at the empty plain in front of her.

What was once the beautiful Kingdom had been reduced to nothing more than a crater. Words escaped her at the sight...how could so much beauty...be destroyed that easily!?

A booming laughter gathered her senses again to above her where the clouds were now swirling. She watched in horror as the lightning crackled around her and the wind kicked up so fast she clutched the grass to keep from being swept up by the vortex around her.

The same sickly green light bathed her and tingles of electricity ran through her. She tried to scream but nothing came out...

Rinee jerked awake only to find herself completely immersed in water. She clutched a hand to her mouth before her breathe left her and kicked wildly, following the bubble she had released.

Her lungs began to ache as the bubble left her sight. Who knew how deep under water she was! And how the hell had she gotten into water in the first place?!

Mentally shaking away the plaguing questions she concentrated on holding her last breathe while visions of Toyo flashed through her head. Visions of her life, family and friends. And of the prom she would never have. She kicked violently even as her breathe gave out from between her fingers and her lungs seared with hot pain.

A dizziness swept over her, like it had before she ended up underwater. She saw a glimmer of light only feet ahead but her vision was blurring and her body was refusing to continue to flail towards the surface. Darkness swept over her again before she felt herself lifted up and pushed through the water. Her last thought was about her cat Oreo.

Tharean Keshkus nodded awake with a start. The horse underneath him climbed out of a the small ditch he had crossed and continued the long dirt path they were following. With a sniff and a stretch, the elf settled back into the saddle. He loosened his hold on the horse and did a full body stretch before settling again.

He'd fallen asleep on their trip to the beach. And as fun as it sounded - it was anything but. The horse nickered, whispering in mind-speak to the elf, "Finally awake?"

Tharean gently patted the horses neck, and a cloud of dust billowed in the morning sunlight. "Just catching some sleep." he replied aloud, not bothering with mind-speak, "How close are we?" Both he and the horse gazed at their surroundings for an answer.

"Seems like sunset we will be there." The horse nodded in agreement, "With a short break Tharean, my legs are tired from travel."

"Alright Nico. We'll stop to rest." The horse took no hesitation before coming to an abrupt halt, throwing the elf forward a good bit. He blinked and scowled before dismounting. "Little more warning next time-"

"I'm stopping young prince, hold on."

Tharean rolled his eyes at Nico and lifted the saddle and pack off of the palomino's haunches. He removed the bridle and set everything down against a tree while the palomino knelt on the ground slowly. The elf stood to his full height of 6'3" He had fair light blond hair that appeared almost white, and ice blue eyes that would send shivers down any enemy's spine. He was a medium build but could hunt easily and survive a fight if he needed.

Nico rolled onto his back and whinnied while he writhed playfully on the ground. Tharean snorted and cracked a smile the palomino. He was the youngest horse of the royal mustangs that roamed around Tenkhu. He lacked experience in war riding, but trail riding and messaging was his specialty. His long legs were built for speed, so it was no surprise that galloping across vast fields was his favorite pass time. His youth granted him a more limber and flexible reach, he was Tharean's favorite - despite the palomino's attitude.

Nico rolled over so that he could shake the dust off his head. His voice echoed softly in Tharean's mind, "That's better, damn spot's been itching for an hour now." The elf chuckled at him: he was a naggy horse, but he was the best for the job.

Tharean reached into the saddle pack and procured a skin of water. He drank to his fill and gently poured some into Nico's open muzzle. Feeling refreshed and watered the palomino rolled back into a stand and shook himself, while the elf replaced the skin and watched, "Ready?" Nico simply nodded his head, and stood still so Tharean could replace the saddle.

Nico leaned his head down so the elf could tie on the bit-less bridle. Bits were not normally used for horses unless they were prone to rebelling. The majority of the royal steeds were rather cooperative and didn't require bits. Nico was no exception, unless there was a bit. Then he would probably have run from the kingdom - considering there were no fences, this was rather easy to accomplish.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Tharean mounted and promptly nudged Nico in his flank to signal that he was ready to start. Nico nickered and started off with a slow walk, stepping back into his riding shoes, then picked up the pace. They would need to catch up to the last few minutes to make it to the beach before sunset.

Then was probably the most ideal time for them to be at the beach because of how close they were to water. Considering that this was Shuesta's forest they were traversing through, the closer to the water they were, the farther from the beast they were.

The elf mused. Large beasts were hard to find now-a-days. Save for the unexpected meet and eat that normally passed between witnesses and the beasts. Most were rather carnivorous so encounters were normally fatal.

He had never seen the beast for himself, but it's not like he was going to stick around to find out what it looked like. Shuesta did most of it's hunting at night and normally feasted upon smaller wildlife like deer or elk. Seldom did it prey after elves, but if it were hungry enough...

Humans travelling through the forest were like walking buffets, especially in groups. Tharean clenched his teeth at the thought, reminding him of his mission. As the prince of Tenkhu, he was ordered to seek out the Ateyaonian guard and pick up a human they had found in their ocean. It wasn't that the undersea queendom wasn't partial to humans, it was the fact that humans used lungs to breathe, and would probably drown.

Tharean was not a big fan of humans himself. He didn't discriminate badly but he veered away when he had the option. Humans killed his parents a long long time ago and the memory still burned at the edge of his mind. Their cries of pain as they died protecting him. The look on his mothers face as the blood seeped from the corners of her mouth...

Shuddering he shook his head to clear the memory. 'Best not to dwell in the past...' he drew in a breathe, feeling Nico's skin twitch a little bit at his leg. Gently he patted the spot and alleviated the small itch Nico was just about to nip at.

'Thanks..'

"Welcome.." he replied just as short.

They continued on until they finally reached the beach. Tharean made a point to ignore the memories that the human was dredging up and padded them towards the waterline.

With a deep breathe of thick salty air, he looked around for the guard. He spotted a figure down along the shoreline a ways and nudged Nico into a trot. On his approach he quirked an eyebrow at the humanoid mess that lay upon the beach. The mess cleared to become a young girl as he drew closer. The guard must have spotted him, because by the time Tharean reached the girl, the massive Ateyaonite slid from the ocean and approached him.

The lower half of his body was of a dark green and black serpent, while the upper was very humanoid. Well defined muscles lined his black and green arms and torso. Instead of hair, a thin dorsal fin stretched from his nose to the end of his tail. His thin strong fingers gripped the long silver, single bladed spear in his right hand. Large slitted yellow eyes greeted the elf. Unlike most aquatic creatures in the ocean, the Ateyaone were equipped with a spare set of lungs. So lingering for a short on the surface would not kill them. However, if they loitered too long in the sun, they would dehydrate and perish. Making a very nice meal for Shuesta, if he happened upon it.

The elf dismounted and the Ateyaonite greeted him with a bow at his humanoid waist, "Prince Tharean of Tenkhu. It is an honor, sir."

The elf nodded, "Aye." he paused looking down at the fiery locks that created an ocean of red around her head and shoulders. She lay on her back with one arm on her stomach and one at her side. She wore a light blue top and slacks. The ocean lapped at her bare feet and it appeared that her top half was somewhat dry, while her bottoms were still soaked.

"Is this the human your Queen sent message of?"

"Yessir." The creature lowered down, putting his spear into the sand, then picked up the young maiden, "I shall mount her to your steed."

"Alright," Tharean nodded, watching quietly as the creature lifted her and gently set her on her stomach across Nico's back. The creature turned back to him and bowed, "My Queen sends her thanks."

The elf flashed the princely smile he used for political situations, "Aye. And thank you guard for handling her, I'll take her from here."

The guard bowed, grabbing his spear then retreated back into the sea.

When it disappeared from sight, Tharean let his face relax into a frown. Politics. Same as always. Short, simple and luckily, uneventful.

He kept his gaze on the sea where the Ateyaonite disappeared. His kingdom and the queendom of Ateyaone had always been on good terms. Especially after the humans raided the main city of his kingdom. That was when his parents....

Nico nudged his shoulder before his thought process would continue. The elf smiled and softly stroked his nose. Tharean glanced to the girl perched atop the palomino, memories left him as his mission specs resurfaced. "We had better find a place to set up camp."

A spot close to the beach would suffice, he mused. They were still outside of Shuesta's primary territory, so it was unlikely that the beast would bother them. Rest would do all of them good, and traveling at night through Shuesta's territory was completely out of the question.

He pushed passed Nico and led the way back to the dirt path. Hopefully by the next day he would be relaxing by the fire in his room. Being the prince both had advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was the wealth and the admiration from his people. The disadvantage was the responsibility and danger the royals were in, particularly considering war and politics.

The elves were a very peaceful race - generally. The only exception were the bretheren kingdoms in the northern region who continuously competed against the dwarves and humans for resources. There were very few humans in the southern region, but the elves still welcomed humans. Even after the human raids, the elves still accepted the humans - to a degree.

Tharean slowed and walked beside Nico as they approached the bank that led into the forest, making sure the redheaded human did not slip off. Nothing like letting a guest break their neck when they're unconscious. He frowned, the messenger said that they had no idea how she had gotten that deep in the ocean, so suddenly.

There was a possibility that she was from the north, or simply a wandering human that fell off a craft. His brow furrowed as they passed the first tree: That made no sense what-so-ever. From what the messenger had spoken, she was clamoring to reach the surface when a guard found her and pushed her so she could get air. Unfortunately she lost consciousness and had to be resuscitated into breathing again. They kept her at the beach, sending a sea hawk to carry a message to Tenkhu. The message was received just as noon struck earlier that day.

Tharean was chosen to pick her up because, to be quite frank, everyone else was busy. Between foreign affairs and gearing up for the nomadic general Kino to show up within the week, everyone was strapped for time. And if Tharean wasn't "lucky" enough, he never had had a lot of experience with the Ateyaonian queen. Good thing he didn't have to meet her this time.

Word was that the queen was a creature that resembled a cross between a fish and a human. She was supposed to be a beautiful sight, but with the way the elders described her, he wasn't so sure he'd want to meet her. Not that he was one to discriminate, but he wasn't a big fan of fish in the first place.

Then again, with the way the elders described things, a simple hare would sound like a rabid creature.

Tharean and Nico approached a small clearing and the elf stopped in his tracks, taking in the setting closely. Nico walked a little further before stopping and turning his head towards him, "What is it?"

"We'll camp here," the elf eyed the area surrounding it, "Seems good a place as any -"

"There is still daylight, we can get back -"

"Not with two people on your back."

Nico took in a deep breathe and looked towards the direction they were supposed to traverse, "Fine..."

Tharean smirked, straightening up then lifting the girl off of the saddle and gently placing her on the ground. "Unless of course you would like to be meet Shuesta for yourself, then be my guest."

Nico glared at the elf, and shook his head, ignoring his statement as Tharean removed his saddle and bridle.

Rinee came to with a groan. Her whole body felt achey and heavy. Her whole mind felt fuzzy and groggy. Was she still alive? The events before she lost consciousness felt more like a dream, including the part where the clouds were laughing maniacally - which had to have been a dream. She didn't think clouds laughed like that...maybe a giggle or something but not an evil cackle.

She moaned and turned onto her side. The bedding she was on was rather stiff and uncomfortable, her back felt like it was stabbing her. There was a blanket under her head and another draped over her body. She yawned and settled back to go back to sleep when she noticed something rather off.

Her clothes were missing. It was hard to mistake with the intimate feeling of grass against her torso...legs...rear...breasts. She became instantly awake and shot up, pressing the blanket against her breasts to keep covered.

Rinee looked around with wide eyes around her, wondering what the hell was going on. She was greeted by two pairs of eyes who looked at her shocked from the other side of a campfire. She bit her tongue from freaking, seeing her clothes on a line, but still stared wide eyed at the blonde haired man who stopped mid-sip of his bowl to stare at her. As well the golden horse beside him who had lifted its head from laying down.

"What happened- where..." her heart was in her throat as way too many thoughts tried to process through the fog. She looked around trying to collect. Trees, equaled forest. Campfire equaled camp. Clothes on line equaled ...well they were drying she assumed. And the fact that she was covered in a blanket equaled that even though she had been stripped...

Stripped. Oh shit.

Her whole mind simply went into overdrive at the thought. She looked him dead in the eyes, "Who are you?" Her voice waved - her throat was dry as a desert.

He only blinked and looked at the horse - who in turn looked back at him with an equally puzzled expression. She almost began to tremble. What was going on, and why the hell did he look confused like that?!

The man took a slow breathe, probably noting how she was on the verge of a freak out. He spoke slow and methodical, "Are you okay?" he had a arabic thick accent and troubled over his words.

"Uh...yeah?" her eyebrows furrowed, "Who are you?"

He bit his lip and looked at the horse, speaking briefly in a different tongue before turning back to her. The man frowned, pressing a hand to his chest, "-am Tharean." he then gestured towards her, "Unt yaou?" he shook his head a little to correct himself "Uh..! You?"

"Rinee." she clenched her jaw. Great. A language barrier. In the least he spoke a little English. She sucked in a breathe while he stood. Her eyes were trained on him while he reached up and felt to see if her clothes were dry. He pulled her bra and panties off the line, shook them out, then tossed them to her so that they landed in her lap. She stared at them for a second before looking back up at him. He was bent over by a tree obviously looking for something.

With haste she spun around and used the opportunity to apply her bra. The blanket fell around her hips and she flushed felt his stare as he turned to ask her something and stopped mid sentence. She had her hair in front of her as she fought with the clasps to hook it on. It wasn't enough that he was more than likely the one who took off her clothing, but now he was oggling her at that. After finally getting it on she turned around, she was about to say something when she was pelted in the face with her shirt.

Rinee blinked as it fell limply in her lap. She watched as he looked at her in shock, and chuckled, "I'm sorry." he said crisply. She glared at him and put on her shirt. With careful maneuvering under the blanket she was able to get her panties on. Although she knew she had to have looked awkward in jumping around while she pulled them up her legs and rear.

Right now she really wished she knew where her bag was. Or what the hell was going on at least.

Somehow the man seemed decent enough. He had not come near her since she had woken up, nor had he made any moves to declare his dominance in the situation. It was like he could read her emotions and discern that she was on the verge of freaking - which oddly comforted her. She watched while he grabbed a pot that was sitting beside the fire and then reach over and grab a bowl. Steam rose as he poured liquid into it, then stood and walked towards her. He knelt beside her and offered the green ceramic dish to her, "Eat."

She stared up at him, timidly using both her hands to accept it. This Tharean fellow looked a bit older than her, probably in his later-twenties. He wore a dark green, sleeveless, v-neck, tunic that was tied at his waist by a red sash with embroidered ends. He had a tattoo of some sort on his right arm-it looked like several symbols that formed a monogram of some sorts. He wore loose tan slacks. The ends where tucked into his shin length leather boots. He had a handsome face outlined with straight-long light-almost-white blond hair and pointed ears.

Rinee pulled a double take while he went to sit down. Pointed ears?!

'Woah woah woah...is he an elf?!' Absently (more so out of hunger) she sipped her soup, which was simply a gamey version of chicken broth. 'There's...no...way!' With her luck, she had somehow stumbled into a sci-fi convention. Which made as much sense as him being an elf for real.

She finished off her soup. Soaking in not only the taste but a barrage of information. And there was still a heap of questions she needed to ask. Like where the hell was she. How did she get from her room, to underwater, to the middle of a forest? Nothing made sense, and probably defied the laws of physics...unless Sean had something to do with this...and even he wouldn't be that evil.

Rinee tilted her head back to drink up the rest of the soup. Once finished, She set the bowl down and looked up at the man... "Tharean?" He turned around from looking in his bag, "Aye?"

She hesitated before speaking, "Where...where am I?"

The elf blinked, mulling over the meaning of what she had asked, then finally replied, "Tenkhu." Her eyebrows furrowed, "Tenkhu?" he nodded, "Where the hell is that?!"

Tharean cocked his head at "hell" and then hesitated before finally replying, "Okahli."

Rinee gaped at him as nothing registered. "Where is that?" The expression on his face could be taken down as priceless. She blinked, She had never heard of any of those names. Perhaps she was somewhere in Asia? That might explain why he knew English. Maybe Russia... or somewhere. She spoke slowly, "Is that like Europe or Asia?"

At the cock of his head after she spoke, she gaped at him and put her head in her hands. It was going to be a really, really long night.

I'm going to bed. I hope you liked it. Review or else I'll pour cough syrup all over you and feed you to a teddy bear. XD