Once a Thief: Part 5
----- What Happens in Southsun… -----
Note: This story may contain sexual situations, strong language, images, etc...
Intended for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised.
Intended for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised.
Then there were the petals of the pink-haired woman.
After their deaths, Tressa had watched Kimura; watched her grieve at the loss, and work toward picking herself back up. While the Black Rose was reluctant to leave the contract game, Kimura had successfully lobbied for the couple to attempt a change, and thus far, the sylvari had to admit to herself that it didn't seem like a bad deal. House Dejarin would call upon their unique skills whenever needed and pay them both quite a bit for doing so. For the first time, the assassin had the stability of a career, along with the stability of a friendship that she found herself longing to explore.
Kimura giggled. She couldn't help it. It was the first time in a long while she hadn't been on assignment, or being chased, or drinking her depression away. And, she had direction now: Paige had agreed to her terms, and the duo would now be working for the woman. She stepped onto the beach, barefooted, threw her boots to the side. "The sun! The salt air! And, just look how clear this water is, Tressa! Isn't this great?"
Tressa tried not to frown too much. "A bit… bright," she said shielding her eyes as she glanced around. "But, I do like the flora; a bit sparse, but grand petals."
"I thought you sylvari liked the sun? Don't you guys like… eat, or grow, or… well, get some kind of something from the sun?" Kimura said as she unfastened the straps of her arm-length gloves.
"I am a midnight blossom. I awoke from the Dream in the darkest of nights," Tressa exclaimed dryly, as if the answer was complete.
Kimura rubbed her neck a minute awkwardly. "Ah, okay. So, I didn't know that. I suppose it makes sense."
A thorny eyebrow was raised. "You didn't?"
"No, I didn't." Kimura said then scrunched her face at a thought. "You know… all the time we have known each other, we really rarely ever spoke."
"I said… enough," Tressa said inadvertently winking.
Kimura sighed looking out onto the dancing water. "Well, for us to be practically strangers, I'm really glad we're both here now."
Tressa took a stepped off the stairs leading to the beach, walking a bit uneasily on the loose sand and came to stand beside the thief. "We stopped being strangers, Kimura, the moment we lost our garden."
A moment of silence was had, followed by a long exhale before Kimura nodded. "Aye. We did." She looked to Tressa with a grin. "Well, what are we doing here? We're here honoring the memory of our… garden. Come on, let's go swimming. I see some huts on the path down here we can change in.
After a few minutes of changing in their respective huts, the women emerged. Kimura had a small yellow micro bikini which showed off the young woman's shapely and toned form. Tressa, awkwardly looked down at the small petals she'd grown to cover her privates. The leaves consisted of a red leather-like surface to make a small skirt, complete with black dots upon it. Her bio-luminescent glow was so vivid it was seen even in the brightness of the setting sun.
Kimura was unsure if the sylvari was pulsating red from embarrassed excitement or if she'd simply forgotten to suppress it. In either case, the look completed the ensemble. She looked a bit longer than she'd meant to, then realizing her stare, quickly looked to the water. "This place is amazing. The views are so lovely. I hear up on the island there's a lot of Karka. Maybe we can go have a bit of fun when we're done here." She paused, hearing nothing further from the sylvari and glanced back to see Tressa staring unbashful at the woman's body. She flushed a pink hue.
"You are very… bright."
Kimura's voice cracked. "I… um… I don't get much sun, okay? Something about being a cat burglar will do that."
Tressa grinned a red smile. "Not an issue with me, actually."
Tressa tilted her head for a moment, trying to understand the statement. She landed on deciding the playful banter was not meant as an insult and did as instructed. She dove - a bit unceremoniously - into the lagoon, surfacing and shaking her fonds.
Kimura giggled. "See? I told you: You didn't know what you were missing! Everyone needs time to unwind every now and then! Nothing wrong with letting your guard down every once in a while. You know… have some fun!"
"I have had very little time for such things. Time in the Nightmare Court was… Well, there was little time for recreation. It was virtually non-existent."
The woman's teeth were brought to her bottom lip for a moment, unsure if she should ask, but when Tressa tilted her head, Kimura finally did so. "You mentioned your time with the Court. I guess… I was wondering how you got there…"
The Black Rose sighed, leaned back to let the water enter her leafy ears. "As its name implies, I suppose."
After a long pause, Kimura's brow furrowed with a sorrow that she'd brought the topic up. She apologized, sunk down, letting the waterline to her nostrils, staring lime-green eyes at Tressa, worried she'd gone too far in her question.
Tressa turned upright, watched Kimura intently, decided on something unsaid. After a moment, she blinked her yellow orbs and pulsated a golden glow. "What is it you would like to know?"
Kimura surfaced and shook her head slightly. "Nothing in particular. I… I just wanted to know more about you is all, that is… if you want me to know."
The Black Rose turned her attention to the setting sun, with its last few remaining rays bouncing off the ripples of the surface. She took in a breath (even if she didn't necessarily need to), then nodded. "I sprouted in the moonlight; moonlight blossoming, as it were. And, it was with great scrutiny I arrived under the Pale Tree's ever watching gaze. Most children of the Pale Tree experience the Inner Dream as an enlightenment… A realization of how they fit into Tyria. Memories of the outside from those that came before, show them the world they will awaken into and how they shall perceive it. Yet, I was pulled from the beauty of the Dream and into that of nightmare. As all saplings do, I looked to the first mother for guidance."
"It's hard to imagine," Tressa said in awe. "The concept seems so different to me; I suppose to humans it is."
"Most humans cannot possibly comprehend what the Dream is to sylvari."
"I imagine not. But please, continue," Kimura ducked into the water again, her eyes fixed upon Tressa.
"I sought council and guidance, wishing to understand my experience. My questions, however, were ignored by the Pale Mother, whom threw me into a regiment of training; an attempt to thwart any dark ambitions." A vibrant red pulsated from her as she laid back, floating in the water staring into the awakening night sky.
Kimura mimicked the sylvari's posture, floating on her back to stare at the stars, her small bosom appearing and disappearing in the chill of the coming night.
"The result… Well, it pushed me further away from her philosophies and the Dream; into that of the Nightmare Court." Another red pulse came from the woman.
Kimura turned her head to look directly at Tressa's face as she floated up beside her. "You know, that always amazes me; your colors. How your skin glows like that."
"My skin is of midnight; my glow is of blood."
Kimura giggled. "Well, that's one way to see it, but… I've just never seen it quite like that before on anyone. I mean, I don't have a lot of experience or interactions with sylvari. Believe it or not," the woman laughed, "not many of them buy flowers. Wonder why?"
Tressa suddenly and unexpectedly laughed at the joke, the first time the pink-haired woman had heard the sylvari truly laugh. Her eyes widened for a moment, surprised how joyous it seemed and returned the laughter herself.
"You seem… different, Kimura."
Considering, Kimura nodded. "I dunno. I feel different. You know, I had plans. We had plans. Barrox, Plopp, and me and you…" She sighed as she waved the water with an arm. "But now, I don't know what will happen. Part of me is scared, but part of me feels… free. Like we're on the paths in front of us and they are endless. It's… well, it's rather exciting I suppose. And, I'm the one who chooses, you know? Not just going along for the ride."
"This is your first taste of freedom then?"
Kimura inhaled a bit of water than streamed it out, giggling at Tressa's confusion at the gesture. "I've always been free, but I was a part of something much bigger; something I really had no control over: a plan that wasn't my own. But now… Now, possibilities…"
Tressa smiled greatly as she returned her eyes to the stars. "The moonlight bathes us. Who knows what purpose it has. Why not enjoy the simple pleasure it brings, and not worry about tomorrow?"
"Yes!" Kimura exclaimed. "The future is ours! And, the night is ours!" She playfully splashed the sylvari.
The woman blinked at the gesture, then returned it, heavy handedly making a wave crash upon Kimura. The pink hair woman flailed a moment, grabbing onto Tressa's shoulder. Where she touched, a fluid red glowed from beneath the sylvari's bark.
"So, what are your thoughts about the future?" Kimura asked, pulling her hand slowly from the contact watching the glow as is shadowed her fingers.
"I have not thought of the future in quite a while. The Nightmare Court… the Pact, they all had long-term plans. Me? I am simply happy to bloom one night at a time."
"What about the path directly in front of us? The Dejarin woman and her group… Do you think it's worth trying? I mean, I know I need this more than you, but…"
Tressa watched in bewildered curiosity as her body's glow reacted without her command. "What I believe," she began without looking away from the phenomenon, "is that you are happy to be employed by her. Stability, as it were. And, me? Well… Evolution, yes?"
The rippling water forced Kimura closer. She cleared her throat, tried to speak as business-like as possible, despite their proximity. "Look, the moment you tell me it's not right for you, I walk too, okay? I meant it when I said we should stick together. We are all we have when it comes down to it, right? Besides, Barrox and Plopp would have wanted that. Yes?" Kimura said, playfully impersonating the sylvari's tone and inflection.
Tressa's yellow orbs fixated on the woman's lime-greens. "I know this, Kimura. This is why I have not returned to the shadows. There is… There seems to be something else that retains me."
"Oh really? And what's that?" Kimura asked with a coy grin. Before the sylvari could answer, Kimura giggled, turned and dove into the water's depths.
Tressa followed and the couple explored much more than just the underwater landscape together. On the surface, between the ripples, a soft red glow could be seen from an interaction deep in the depths of Southsun Cove; an interaction which Tressa's body longed for, before the Black Rose, herself, ever knew.
[To be Continued...]
