The Floating World [Private: Slight & Ryuko]

[SlightPhobia]

Prologue: Faeries have existed since the earth was covered by water. When the waters receded, humanity split into two divisions. There were humans, the first kind. There were those who lived on the blood of the first kind, the second kind. Then there were the third kind: Faeries. Humans first revered them as gods but after time passed, fearies became feared. When they weren't killed out of paranoia, they were slaughtered for their body parts. People sought them for immortality. People sought them as evil to be vanquished. People destroyed their land and drove them away. Eventually, the few that remained created a floating world, forever hidden behind clouds and traveling across the sky. It was called the floating world. There faeries kept court, grew gardens, and occasionally descended to the human world for various purposes. There were a few rules to the floating world that were sacred.

First, humans were not to become aware of the floating world. Those who discovered it were destroyed or forever confined to the floating world. Second, faeries were not to willfully make humans aware that faeries were, in fact, real! Those who made themselves noticeable were brought before the council. Lastly, every people were lead by the most powerful of their nations known as Devas. There were nations of people who found Devas by warring and there were those who found their Devas by tradition, breeding, and more peaceful means. We begin our story between two kingdoms.

The Eastern Sea people were, at large, a peaceful people. They were aloof and spent most of their time reading, writing poetry, and painting. The men were trained in the art of war. The women were reared in the feminine arts-- which included horseback riding, archery, and fitness of course! The lineage of the Eastern Sea people was one of royal blood. The strongest were always born into the royal family. The present King was a prince yet. Single, strong, and full of zeal for the law, Shui had been after the hand of a beauty for a great while. He had many rivals for her hand, but one he detested the most. The Fire King was in pursuit of his love interest, and not for any morally upright reasons either!

The Fire King came from a nation of fire people. They fought with each other brutally to obtain dominance. None had come to challenge the present Fire King, perhaps because of the string of brutal overthrows that had happened every time he was challenged. The fire people were a relatively small people as a result of their ways. Those that didn't fight for dominance in the kingdom were servants or nomads. There were few higher-ups in the kingdom, though they all congregated most of the time in a splendid palace made of granite studded with fire red gemstones. Alcohol was the beverage of choice be it fine grade, or straight fuel oil grade. Anything that burnt was often offered to the fire king as a bribery to keep him away from other kingdoms. There were a few kingdoms that would not submit to him though. Shui was one of the thorns in his side. Rather than send him bribery, Shui frequently slaughtered his servants and fought with him directly. Shui never attacked randomly either. He always attacked after the Fire King had descended upon some human village or forest and had burnt it all. Then, the Fire King was usually subdued and drug back to the floating world for confinement. Ah~ He'd been under so many house arrests, it was obscene.

In retaliation, occasionally the Fire King, known by few as Agni, would ride his fire stallion through the Eastern Sea of the floating world, evaporating so much water, there was a massive salinization of the water. Fish died due to the imbalances of salt. Merfolk were awfully upset and ill. The fighting between Shui and Agni was petty, to say the least. Their fighting was so petty that Agni had gone after the woman Shui loved simply to irritate Shui! Unknown to Agni, his physical encounter with Shui's lover had resulted in a child. Most importantly, the woman Shui loved had then rejected both men. Who needed all that Drama anyhow? The woman and Agni's bastard child were vastly kept away... Who knew what they had been up to over the past decade or two? Or had it been centuries? Time was such an unusual thing to faeries. It passed in great clusters or not at all, it seemed.

[[Feel free to write up anything you like about Aelieth's mother. You may personify Agni's advances as wanted or unwanted. Her conception may be forced or consensual. Shui would never do anything non-con, of course so you may personify their parting as tragic or angry. Play with it all you like!]]

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All was quiet in the fire kingdom today. Shui hadn't assailed him for nearly a year. This was odd indeed since there was a good chunk of the human world on fire at present no thanks to Agni's drunken escapades. He'd descended a few months ago to punish some human he'd observed worshiping the sea. How are they do something so profane! Somehow, an entire town had been burnt, which spiraled out of control into a massive series of wild fires. The heat and flames only served to fuel Agni's power.

As for Shui? He had been unleashing his frustrations to the east in typhoon form. Why? It wasn't anything the humans had done. He unleashed typhoons to keep the earth in balance, to help the winds even out, and to keep the order of nature. Occasionally he had to unleash a typhoon to regather his strength too. Human lives were lost... and human lives were regretted, but thus was the cost of being a faerie.

Both men were equally brooding over the same thing. They were fixed on the mother of Aelieth. Shui was worried about the child becoming curious about her father. Agni, unaware of Aelieth's existence, was brooding over how he would invade Aelieth's mother's land to make advances again. He was at the peak of power now, what with all those wild fires burning! He was itching for a little mayhem.

[;X And... I apologize for the hideously short post, but there isn't much I can do until I figure out where your girlie is and how she intends to make an advance toward daddy dearest.]

[Ryuko Matoi]

After she had been forced into sexual interaction with the fire king agni, Shenseru, an earth faerie, had moved back to her own lands. Despite the fact she loved the water faerie prince of the eastern seas, she refused to go into any romance anymore. Though after a few months of being in her own kingdom, she gave birth to a child. An earth faerie, who she named Aelieth. She knew Agni had hurt her too much, so she decided to leave the child with the only one she trusted: the water prince (teeny tiny bit of prologue, I want you to continue for how Aelieth was raised)

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Aelieth was outside of the room she had been staying in at the eastern sea tribes, in the royal palace. She knew little about her mother, who she knew had left to a place she was not told where it was, but she had come to realise there was one more blood relation she had not known yet. A man, from who the rumors were quite bad. After a long time of thinking, she decided it was now time to go and meet this man, to at the very least, end her never ending curiosity. She walked up to her adopted father.

She walked up behind him. "eh... Shui? Ey? I think it's time... I want to see him..." She said knowing he would realise what this was about.

[SlightPhobia]

Just how did a proper man go about raising a little girl? Had Aelieth been a son, he would have known precisely what to do! That was only partly true though. Even were Aelieth a son, there would have been certain tenderness factors lacking. Aelieth’s upbringing had been a royal one. She had more ladies in waiting than she could have counted and as she was an earth elemental out of her realm, she had also lived a somewhat sheltered life. Shui was not ashamed of the child however, as her father had been a fire elemental, he feared the scrutiny of his court. There were those who fawned over princess Aelieth… and then there were those who knew precisely how she had been conceived. Half of the court believed Aelieth to be Shui’s daughter—the other half knew the truth. Fire elementals were not to be trusted. They were hot tempered, terrible people! The were uncultured, unsophisticated, and not at all elegant! The men of Shui’s court likely pressed forward with interest. A fire-cracker of a girl might have been a refreshing change o the women of Shui’s court. Most women didn’t let the hem of their splendid robes ripple more than the bars of a sand dune. Women who laughed freely, ran with the men, and weren’t afraid of dirt were rare. They existed in Shui’s court—but for the most part, the women took on more classical behavior. Aelieth grew up in a sea of black hair, no less. Everything about her was different from the decidedly Asian featured water people.

Shui had not been entirely absent though. He looked in on his surrogate daughter often. He sat by her quietly at night, stroking her hair until she was asleep. He kept the gossips at bay… and yet? He also stayed at a distance from her. In Aelieth, he saw his beloved who had put him away. He saw his shortcomings as a man. He had failed to protect Aelieth’s mother. There were sure to be heated arguments between Shui and Aelieth from time to time too. Shui was sure to push the feminine arts, modesty, and any questions about the fire kingdom would be met with harsh refusal. Her early childhood would have been full of stories about how terrible the fire people were. Aelieth likely heard of her true parental lineage from court gossip. Shui would never tell her the truth… Not for fear of hurting her—not for fear of losing her.

For these reasons alone, it was much to Shui’s horror that Aelieth had interrupted him that day. What had daddy dearest been up to? Shui had been instructing a class of students in the art of wielding the Guan Dao or pole sword. He’d nearly sliced off a chunk of his own hair when Aelieth addressed him. “...” Pausing, the tall, reedy sea king waved his hand to his head servant and stepped away from his fleet. “…Daughter, is now the best time to bring up such a topic? Who has been weaving such lies? You know you are my own…” He insisted. He knew the more he insisted his paternal claim over Aelieth, the less she believed him these days.

He sighed and pushed a few stray locks of inky black from his face. Glaring at the setting sun as though it were somehow related to the fire kingdom, he sighed another heavy sigh. “This court does like to talk—useless talk,” he mumbled bitterly. He wanted to heft those worthless court women over his lap, thrust up their ruffled hems, and tan them until they vowed never to speak another word of it again! No such thing would come about though. Shui was a respectable hand. Perhaps he had spanked Aelieth—but it would have taken the direst of circumstances to inspire it. Shui was indulgent—perhaps too indulgent of his adopted daughter.
Flatly denying Agni’s claim to her was foolish though. He knew she knew. With a bowed head, he confessed: “…I do not want you to see him. Ever.” Shui’s voice was stiff. “I will hear no more talk of this nonsense,” he hissed between clenched teeth. “The Fire Kingdom is not a place I ever want for you to visit; I do not wish you to visit it even in your imagination.” Even if it meant his daughter hating him, Shui was stubborn enough to remain ironclad on that topic. He was not allowed into the fire kingdom. He could not go with her to protect her—and if he did? Imagine the chaos that would erupt! “Go and find your lady in waiting, child. If this does not please you, bring me my flute. I will play for you a little… but please, no more talk of the Fire King. He is no good for you.”

Stubborn! Shui was terribly stubborn, just as Agni was. If Aelieth wanted to see her real father, it would likely have to be stealthily. She’d have to sneak away from Shui—she’d have to sneak into the fire kingdom and hope Agni knew who the devil she was. She had only one thing in her favor. Aelieth was an earth faerie, not a water elemental.

[Ryuko Matoi]

The girl had allways been a handfull... she was stronger than all of the kids, more rude and reckless than all of the girls and most boys even. Despite the tries of making her into a propper lady, it just ddidn't work. Aelieth was just her own person. She loved Shui as her own father... and he knew most about her. The moments she is with him, and he strokes her hair until she's asleep, are the best moments to her. But she had also recieved one oh the fire faerie aspects: their temper. A lot of times came where the girl got angry and broke somethong


Aelieth also had a little secret (shui can know this). Whenever she's alone in her room, she goes to a secret hiding spot, where she recieves two kitty ears and a tail. She then puts them on and likes to pretend she's a little kitty. This is her soft side.

"Shui... don't do this... you know how important it is to me... and DON'T TREAT ME AS A CHILD!" She said, her las words were more of a yell. She looked at him with an icy glare. 'You can't keep me in this sophisticated birdcage forever..." she said quietly but clearly with an edge. She sighed, all her gestures showed anger.

[SlightPhobia]

No matter how furious the girl became, Shui took matters in stride. He wasn’t a man to brazenly punish heavily handed unless it was one of his soldiers throwing a fit. He could be made furious over issues of rank, and of course when laws were flagrantly broken. His duster lashes met and for a moment, he breathed in and out through his nose as though mulling the issue over. Shui was stubborn, but he considered himself to be a rational being. Emotions did not pilot his ship often. “No,” he replied fluidly. “You are not old enough, you do not have the experience to make that decision. As long as I am able… I will hold you back,” Shui confessed. One other thing he was? Brutally honest.

His daughter’s cat-like behavior was completely a mystery to him. He couldn’t understand to take on the behavior of an animal people. Shui was not a fan of domestic cats anyhow. They hated water and so they had a natural version to him, most of the time. He was a fan of birds, fish, and exotic marine life. He had a beautiful tank of tame sea fish that begged to be stroked and even broke the surface of the water in anticipation of seeing their owners. Fish made wonderful pets… when you lavished them with affection as Shui did.

“I’ll hear no more talk of this nonsense. You will not be going to the fire kingdom, daughter. Is that perfectly clear?” He replied smoothly. His pale, sea-blue eyes locked with hers in a way that was both loving and correcting. “I shouldn’t like to correct you in front of my men, daughter. Please take care to remain elegant… your future husband may stand present…” Whether that was a threat to spank the young woman or simply a threat to reprimand her verbally remained unclear. “I do not care for your tone at present. You are a child to me because you are my child. You do not belong to the Fire King. You are my child.” He concluded possessively. Leaning forward, he broke social taboo and allowed his palm of long fingertips to slide over his child’s cheek. Stroking her cheek affectionately, he tried to pacify her rage with touch.

[Ryuko Matoi]

The girl's anger began to rise once more. Her hands were clenched into fists. She clearly tried her hardest to remain controlled, but it was mostly too late. She took a few steps closer, spreading her arms wide as if to challenge the man. She knew she was physically stronger than him, because of her sheer brute strength, but she also knew the older man was faster, more experienced, and had an insane reaction time. Her footsteps echoed bluntly trough the halls, her weight being a factor of her lack of elegance.

"Now you listen! First off! no, you cannot hold me back any longer. If I want to go somewhere, I will, you should be happy I at least inform you. Second, you and I both know, that the whole elegance thing won't be happening! I weigh three times what you do, make screeching noises when I move too quickly, can punch trough bloody walls, and yet you STILL don't see the soldier potential in me! I am sick of this! all of it! Being trapped here in this hole, where everyone sees me as a freak, where I am forced to be something I am not! But why would you care! I'm just a claim right?!" she said, losing her cool.

In a rush of anger she lashed out with her fist to one of the pillars in the room, ending up with her fist halfway trough it. She just stood there now, glaring at him, her fist still inside of the stone surface of the pillar. "But if you want me to prove it... then fight me. Have a duel with me, let me prove it!" she said coldly.

[SlightPhobia]

Shui was insanely strong, both physically and magically. He was at the top of his people—in the prime of breeding, no less. What he lacked in brute strength, he made up with prowess over his element. He commanded his water element like the King of the sea—he wasn’t given his title superficially. His eyes darkened somewhat as his daughter stood adamantly against him. “I will not make war with my daughter,” he flatly stated, staring her down.

Every pillar point she made was valid. She wanted to fight—the fire people were born to fight, he supposed. “Is that what you wanted me to make of you?” He replied. He did not raise his voice. As the pillar shattered from the force of his daughter’s fist, he lifted his hand, forcing water from the ponds that surrounded them. A pillar of moving water replaced the support and with a snap of his finger, his men moved to remedy the structural deficiency. Some moved to hack down a sturdy tree—what a waste of timber! Still, it was necessary. Within the next few minutes, it would be fixed. “Isn’t that what they would have expected from you? The child of the Fire King… a violent, blood questing soldier… Why would I make you into that?” He responded smoothly.

Twirling his Guan Dao, he stabbed the sharp end into the floor. The blue tassels at the end of the spear-sword flagged with the wind the moving water created. “Would I put something precious to me in harm’s way? Would I put you at the front of the line so the fire people could spirit you away? Do you think they would treat you any better?” His eyes, beautiful and full of sadness suddenly seemed a bit old. Though his face was that of a man in his prime, he had lived many thousands of years. “Even if you hate me, child… I understand what is precious to me and what I must do to protect it…” Her demands for a fight met a deaf ear.

Though she rambled about her unusual build and makeup, Shui ignored it. He had been painfully aware of these things—of the scorn and mock his people had put her through. What he was in denial about was the fact that clipping a bird’s wings could kill it… he refused to acknowledge that some birds could not be caged. He sighed and quietly addressed his soldiers. “…Turn your backs.” Why? The reason was apparent soon enough. The man evaporated into a violent slosh of water. An instant later, a pillar of water bust up directly behind Aelieth. Materializing into a watery version of Shui, the water-like man’s eyes softened in apology before a solitary smack rang out. He did not strike Aelieth’s face. That wouldn’t have been alright at all for him! Instead, grown woman or not, he let his palm sweep forward while they were back to back. His palm of whip-like fingers cracked down against her bum, producing an unmistakable smack. “I will ask you one final time to stop this nonsense… If you try me again, I will put you across my lap as I did when you were but a small girl. Strength is not a crutch for poor behavior, daughter…” At least he hadn’t used the word young lady.

The soldiers were flush faced now, trying to ignore what was going on behind them while simultaneously repairing the damaged pillar.

[Ryuko Matoi]

The girl's face went completely pale as she got the first swipe. She had no idea Shui would so something like that. Her face then turned to a full cherry red, like she always had when she was angry. She didn't move this time though, but she did make a sweep with her arm behind her, hoping to break the water clone of her father. Her strike was not really accurate, but did clearly have a lot of brute power in it. The metallic screeching of her steel skeleton filled the room.

"You never listen! Do you! I am not that little girl anymore! I am old enough to decide this on my own! And if you don't let me, I will go by myself!" the girl hissed as she stood in front of her father, looking up at him, her eyes fierce with raw passion and anger. She was known for outbursts, but this was no outburst. She had a clear goal here.

"You have been trying to mold me into a proper lady for all of my life! Stuffing me into girly dresses, making the maids do my hair, forcing me to do stupid things like learning how to eat, sleep, stand or even how to dance! That cursed ballet teacher is still bugging me around! The most fun I have on my day is when I can walk out on the yard, and smash in some rocks with my hands! I am a fighter! You can't change that!" she yelled, now more angry than first.

[SlightPhobia]

The girl’s elbow connected solidly with the water and as it did, the water burst, sending the man’s frame into waves of water. Of course it hurt him. You couldn’t strike someone and not have it hurt. The water merely regrouped in a separate spot, though this time he was in his solid form. Reaching up, he stroked the spot where his daughter had struck him as though fully contemplating what had happened. “It seems I have a child conflicted with what she wants. You do not want to be seen as abnormal however, you are not content with the societal norms of our people.”

Rather than grab and drag the child, he simply knelt down and sat on his knees. Smoothing the white silk of his over robe and white pants, he straightened his posture. It was perhaps an undesired stance for him to take as that was precisely how he’d sat in childhood when he’d pulled the girl across his lap, bared her behind, and turned it rosy pink. There was one difference now though. If indeed the girl was physically stronger than him, there wasn’t any way for him to make her physically submit. He couldn’t bend her across his knee- she was stronger and heavier than him. Perhaps he could have used inertia or points of grappling to do so however, he refused to enter any sort of combat with his child. “You are a stubborn child. Why should your lack of contentment reach broadly to everyone else? Are there not women here who enjoy how they are? Do the feminine arts not allow you to ride, master archery, and even practice swordsmanship?” He replied. “Perhaps we do not allow you on the front lines to kill… but that has always been our way. That is what contents our men and, as a whole, our women…”

Even then, the elegant man withdrew an ivory folding fan. Opening the ornate, scrolling pieces of bone, he began fanning himself simply to spend his energy. He refused to let his temper boil. Only Agni could really break the man. His daughter surely drove him close though… she was, after all, part of Agni. “The fact that violence is your only desired hobby shows that you have not matured. Even in archery, the first lesson is that fighting is an art of defense and protection… it is a means to keep the law, not a crude form of entertainment.” The soldiers were sweating awkwardly. What did one even do when the royals quarreled? There wasn’t one who was allowed to address Aelieth by her first name! She was ‘your majesty’ or ‘exalted princess’ to them!

“The first battle you must face is the battle against your own inner devils,” Shui calmly instructed. His voice came out almost in a pleasing hum. His fan snapped shut and his smooth face hardened somewhat. “Now you have pushed your father to his limits and I must do what I do not desire. Father must spank you.” Yes, he used the vulgar word and there were few soldiers present who remained straight faced. Some were scarlet red—others were smirking. There were a few who probably wanted to see a royal catch it. “Come,” Shui commanded. “I will not chase you and the longer you run from me, the longer I shall turn my hand against your bottom.” It was almost laughable to hear the commander use the sort of language he used! As much as Shui wanted to, he did not flush. Instead, he remained hard faced and tapped his fan lightly against his shoulder as though counting the moments his daughter resisted him.

[Ryuko Matoi]

The girl got more and more angry as the man talked. Shebknew what was to come. At least... she thought she did. But when spanking came into subject, she went from red to pale. Not having guessed he would consider that, she shuffled backwards a bit.

"Shui no. I am not gonna walk to you, eyes down, like a little child! I am a near adult woman, and you should treat me as such!" She said, her voice silent and serious. "Now I am going to leave, taking the last stated option... and I do not know when I will return..." she said almost threateningly

With that she turned around and stomped out of the room. Her angry foitsteps heard troughout the entire palace. She opened to door to leave the room.