Wind-Swept

Oh, the wind, the wind... She loved how it felt, arching across her shoulders and down her back, twisting cool fingers into her hair, smoothing worries off of her brow and sliding a frisky caress up her ankle.

If she jumped, would the wind catch her? Would it be strong enough to float her to the Earth, leaving her splashing playfully in the waters far below? Would it feel like flying? Behind closed eyes, she imagined it, gliding through the air, hair blown back, scarf slipping free and flitting behind her, winding through the air like an eel.

As she imagined the laughter slipping free from her, it did so, the sound ringing out over the falls and their pounding, brutal waters. She was knee-deep in pushy, eager flows that whispered in burbling chirps for her to jump, jump, jump! She could imagine it, as vivid as reality, behind eyelids flickering and fluttering; she could feel herself melting and molding into the waters and down, down she would go -

"Hey! Hey, don't jump!" Some stranger's voice rang out behind her, shattering the gleaming images that danced in her mind.

She opened her eyes and looked down. The waterfall roared below her, and the white foam reminded her of an open maw. Goodness, she was high!

"Hey!" The sound was accompanied by sloshing now. She lowered her arms from their akimbo at her sides. The whispering waters receded to mere currents, and the yearning dissolved like footprints in sand. Slowly turning, she peered at the stranger who was quickly slogging closer.

He was unremarkable at first glance - peasant's clothing on a peasant's body, spray making his hair cling to his head in a wormy mop. His face was screwed up in a grimace as he struggled to meet her where she stood, at the tip top edge of a waterfall. He had quite a ways to go.

"What are you doing?" She called out, head tilted to the side.

The more she watched him, the more details sparkled and gleamed on him. She noticed that he was strong - the clothing, wet from his travel into danger, clung to corded muscles. His hair, though sopping wet, shimmered with color in the sun like a raven's wing. He had markings on his face that she did not understand but they fascinated her. The clothing, too, was no mere peasant's clothing. She liked how many pockets it had. She could tell. The ones past the stranger's knees were bloated and floating from the water's wild attempts to drag them down.

"I'm - " He stopped, blinking to look at her face. She was now grinning broadly. "I was... trying to help you?"

She snickered. At the sound, he scowled, but that just made her laugh even more. Her wild grin spread, and she raised her hands to contain the expression on her face. Her odd confidence wavered but for a moment when he cocked his head at her revealed hands.

Where five human fingers would have been, there were three, almost birdlike talons, dark-tipped and sharp. They extended from rough hide, like oiled leather that covered her wrists and faded into pale freckled skin at her elbows.

She dropped her hands back to her sides, nervously twisting the claws into her clothing. Her rough spun tunic was torn short past her waist and cinched with a leather belt, but the sleeves were shorn at the elbows as if left unfinished. Her trousers were obviously cut for a man, and she very obviously didn't care.

The Stranger stood knee-deep in flowing river-water, staring at her with annoyance bordering on bemusement. He let out an exasperated sigh and pushed sopping hair from his eyes. She giggled when she noticed that his teeth were sharp, and his eyes were not human. This was good - Humans made her nervous. Because of what she was, of course.

"You... don't need help. Do you." He crossed his arms.

She took a great breath and barked another laugh. He just looked to funny, standing there! Delighted by the new face, she decided she should speak with them. So, she hopped in place to spin and face him. Her foot slipped and she wobbled on the other, throwing her arms out like wings, nervous energy crackling at her fingertips, literally, and as her heart thudded into her throat, and her smile twisted dreamily into the image of her falling, falling, falling -

The Stranger caught her hand and pulled her off of the edge. Somehow he had made it however far to snatch her from a potentially catastrophic fall. She blinked, snapped out of her reverie by foreign strength, and the first thing she noticed was that his hair curled a bit around his face, and one strand was stuck in the fine jet hairs angled at the tip of his chin. "Oh!"

He smirked at the expression on her face - no doubt perplexed more then it was frightened.

She bit her bottom lip and looked up at him from under her lashes, cheeks pink. "...Well, maybe a little help?"

He helped her back to shore, sopping wet and grumbling as she giggled through 'eeps' and 'oops'. She was not themost graceful of creatures, and these stones were slick. Once they made it back to the rocky bank, she rung out the bottom of her shirt. WHen she glanced over, she saw him deflating the water-filled pockets one by one. She tittered, one talon on her lips in delight.

"So. Who are YOU, then?" He asked.

She tightened the scarf around her head, tongue pressed between her teeth and poking out ever-so-slightly as she focused on the knot. Talons were better for taking knots apart, not making them.

"Me?"

He rolled his eyes, a half smirk still sparkling with river water on his face. "No, the waterfall."

"That's the Forever-Fall." She nodded.

"I meant you. YOU. What is YOUR name?"

Her grin returned, and she bowed at the waist. "Delighted to meet you strange-stranger! You may call me the wind!"

"I'm not calling you that." Expression flat, one eyebrow raised.

She groaned, face turned into a pout for about two seconds, before her mood swung again and she shrugged gaily.

"Then you may call me Neria."