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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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"I don't want to be alone anymore...
Ixchel mumbled the words under her breath as she started to calm down once more slowly but surely. Her eyes looked back toward him as she sat there wiping her eyes.
"I've been alone for so long..."
Her eyes looked toward the sand as she lowered a finger drawing lines in the sand nonchalantly. Ixchel stopped and hugged herself before looking up toward Zim.
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The shaman had a pretty good idea where she was going with this. He was not against it. However, he wanted to see her use a little of her own strength. He sometimes wondered if that in the past, he coddled her too much. He realized she might not develop as a person if she came to rely on him often. It was nice to be wanted, but this was also for her sake. He did want to see Ixchel grow as a person. She was younger than he, and certainly had the potential for it. He just had to make her see that.
Passive though firm in his position, Zim gazed back at the meek seeming Ixchel. There was basically two options he was aware. They go back to his jungle home which he warned her about, or they spend who knows how long wandering again. It would take a good amount of time just to leave the desert and she likely wasn't capable of it right now anyway. And for that matter, he wasn't looking to run off blindly again... not until the matter of avenging her against her captors, anyway.
Ixchel, whether she appreciated it or not, was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Zim's secluded yet fearful home or the barrenness of the desert to whatever lay beyond.
You're going to have to grow stronger, Ixchel. Please don't take this as a sign I don't care for you. If anything, I'm trying to do something for you that others might not even attempt. Or that I, in the past, would have considered.
Zim sighed to himself and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Well... you know what choices you can make, Ixchel. You need to decide and say it aloud. This oasis is just that. A temporary place of rest."
Tough love, tough love...
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/They say that time will heal/
/The truth shall set us free/Well that depends/
/on what it is/
/that you choose to believe/
-Holding On, VNV Nation-
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel sat there and pushed hair from her wet cheeks as she sat there with the silence ticking the seconds away. Shuddered a bit and looked up to meet Zim's face as she looked up toward him as she spoke. Hearing his words, she blinked slightly and licked her lips before looking toward the cool water within the oasis.
"I want to go back with you...."
She closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath trying to calm her nerves.
"Even if it is just for a little bit that you would have me with you...."
She looked up to him once more and seemed to brace herself for the worst of blows. The blow that would hurt her heart the most.
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It was a start. Zim gave her that much.
"All right... but remember, I did warn you about the jungle there."
Zim smiled a bit and nodded. "It's about two miles to the east of here... maybe about forty minutes of walking on the sand."
"Gather yourself together and take a good long look at the sun. Because it doesn't shine very much in that place..."
Zim retrieved his fan and offered her a hand up.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel let out a breath she hadn't know she was holding as he finally spoke. She looked toward him and looked upward toward the sky. Yes, she did love being in the sun's warmth, but to be with Zim it wsa worth the sacrifice...or so she thought at that moment in time.
Ixchel smiled softly though with a slightly nervious look. Ix didn't have much to gather sept for herself. Her hand rested within his and she stood up. Dusting herself off, she looked back around at the oasis before waiting to move out.
"I'm ready."
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Zim nodded, hand in hand with Ixchel. Zim gathered his belongings in a small shoulder pack and refilled his water canteen, in case they got thirsty. He then filled his other hand with his familiar striped walking stick. Together, they stepped out of the oasis hidden by the sand dunes and made their way east. There was no telling what would befall this couple now, but they were willing to meet it together.
The trip was largely uneventful and hot, broken up by periods of Zim pointing little snippets of information concerning desert life they came across. A snake here, a cactus there, a beetle there... informative, but not a great deterrent versus the open heat.
Fortunately, the trip wasn't too bad thanks to portable water. Taking a break after a large sand dune, Ixchel found herself looking at a daunting expanse of tall dark jungle trees, casting a deep shadow beneath them. Curiously? The entirety of them is surrounded by a very run down bronze fence, warped and bent in places, but otherwise standing. A similar looking archaic gate could also be seen.
"That's... home."
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel looked about at each of the things he pointed out here and there. She mentally noted the information that he was teaching her on their journey back. She was greatful for the various breaks of water from the canteen to break up the heat of the journey.
As they reached the jungle area, she stood looking up toward the expanse of trees taking it all in before looking toward the fence. Her eyes looked over the shadows and the light they would seem to keep out. Ixchel's night vision wasn't exactly the greatest but it worked for her.
"It's amazing...."
She looked about at the sites taking it all in in amazment.
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"This is a very special, old place, Ix. Besides you and myself, only one other person's visited her in any recent time. You could even say it's almost a plot of land that time forgot."
"Inside, there are plants that no longer exist in the world, which bear fruits and vegetables long since gone from modernization. Some of the trees bear different fruit altogether, if you can imagine that."
"Be advised, I did state no other people have been in there. It doesn't mean the jungle isn't inhabited. I wouldn't trade it for the world, frankly."
Zim shrugged and casually began to approach the gate.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel blinked as her amazment seemed to grow even more. She continued to look around wondering if she could spot any of the forgotten things hereslf.
"It is amazing...I've never seen anything like this before..."
She smiled looking toward Zim before seeing that he had already taken off toward the gate. She eeped slightly to herself and caught up to him walking a little bit behind him. Though amazed, it was a new place she had never been to and although she was with zim, she was a bit nervious about it all.
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At a distance, there was little to separate what could have been from the current age or the previous one. Maybe there was, but one would need to be a botanist at the very least. The trees inside the surrounding rusty fence line were large and thick, covered with vines and parasitic roots, the kind you would find in pictures of National Geographic.
The two arrived at the gate... oddly made of a bronze, and looking none too recent, unsurprisingly. The crest of a flaming sword was inscribed upon it like a mantle that would connect when the two sided gate was closed. The general opinion anyone could take from this was neither this nor the fence would keep out anyone with half a mind to do so. They looked to be originally seven or so feet tall, but too much wear and tear left them bent and traversable.
Zim tugged on the gate and with a bit of effort, it opened. Notably, he had to visibly push to keep opening it more, indicating it would shut of its own accord.
He glanced over his shoulder to Ix, and with a twinkle in his eye, gestured that she was free to enter. In reality, he speculated about the irony of bringing a snake themed woman here. Zim knew very well what this place was, even if no one else could.
That said, the interior was nothing short of perpetual night and shadow. Soft glowing motes like a cross between fire flies and will o' wisps floated about the plants, with all the seeming consistency of a living snowflake. Light, however, was at a minimum even with their scattered presence. Ixchel would probably need a minute or two to adjust from the previous total light, to the bare minimum.
Zim's eyes, meanwhile, seemed to glow yellow of their own accord. A little strange, but he wouldn't be hard to find in here. She could also see the white outfit on him, but it would be reasonably to say that short of his eyes, he'd border on invisible in this place with his mottled paint-like grey skin tone.
The air inside was much cooler, or at least far less intensive. It was more humid, but nowhere near as hot as outside.
Zim's eyes shifted about often as he waited to Ixchel to adjust, as though watching for something.
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"The only true color in this world is perception." -Zim
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel watched as Zim pushed the door open and slipped toward the inside of the gate. Her eyes were wide as she moved her head just trying to take it all in. As she slipped inside, she quickly let out a slight whimper as she was blinded by the darkness. It took a good 6 minutes for her to get moderate site of what was around her. She hugged hereslf as the air was suddenly cooler though it did feel better then the scorching heat outside.
She gasped as she looked around at the flowers and the various bugs. She ran over toward one patch of flowers and moved her hand down to smell the various aroma. Jumping back and letting out a slight yelp, she looked toward her fingers as blood started to bead and fall from her finger tips and thumb.
"Ouch..."
Ix looked around once more and spotted Zim before moving up toward him just able to see his eyes. She jumped back a bit looking toward his face as her eyes widdened.
"Y...your eyes!"
She looked at him before moving closer to him as if to inspect and get a closer look at his eyes.
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"Hrm? What? Something on my face?" he blinked, letting the gate close on its own.
The surrounding iris of his eyes were certainly alit with a soft yellowy glow... perhaps it aided him in seeing in such shadow.
"Oh, you pricked your finger on something. Here, let me take care of that."
He bit into his thumb and then took her hand. Then, with the same gauzey white material he made the fan from, he wove in a spinning pattern around her fingers, making for a soft absorbent band aid.
He then winked and smiled.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel continued to look at his eyes before moving a hand up to seemingly wave infront of his eyes, or this would have been done had he not taken her injured hand into his own.
She watched him as he bandaged her fingers with his webbing and frowned slightly as she looked at his handywork.
"I wish I could do something handy like this..."
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Zim put an arm around her shoulders and grinned. "Oh, I don't know. I think there's better ways to be useful than by using blood magic. Heh. Let me tell you, having to bite my palm or fingers to get a little going results in some soreness after a while. The little wounds are cleaned on the spot, but it doesn't dull the sensation any."
The shaman then pulled back and milled around for a moment, thinking of what to say. "Technically, doing that isn't the real intent behind it... but as I said, I like to improvise. Keeps the mind sharp and my options available out here. And it's certainly nothing I can use in a market or anything. Just a little something for survival's sake. Spider webbing is strong, clean, and efficient. Makes for a good adhesive bandage in a pinch."
"Most people your age don't know what they want to do with their lives. They're just coming into their own, making choices and decisions for themselves, and learning new things. I'm sure you'll be able to do certain things better than others in time."
"That said, would you like to visit the hidden orchard? That's the place where all the old trees grow various fruit."
"Or would you prefer a swim in a creek? There's a series of small waterfalls that emerge from a natural in ground spring at the head of it."
"I'd show you what lives here, but I don't imagine you'd care to meet them too closely," he chuckled. He imagined Ixchel would only get frightened to see the local creatures.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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As Zim wrapped his arm around her, she pressed back into him ever so slightly. While he talked about blood magic and biting his hands and fingers, she looked at her own hands and moved her thumb along her forefinger a bit.
When he pulled away, she dropped her hands to her side and just watched him as he went on talking about the various things to see. Her head tilted to the side and her stomach growled once more as she stood there. The figs she had earilier, the total of about 3, didn't seem to be holding over now. She was hungry and not sure if fruit would cover it all. To keep her form as human, she did have to eat high quantities of food, but thanks to her captures she wasn't even sure she COULD turn not that she actually wanted to. Ixchel hated what she truely was, but that was only cus the fact of what she went through in her life because of it.
"The orchard sounds nice."
Fruit would be able to tie her over long till something more...meatiful could come along.
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"All right. Follow me and stay close."
Whether it was for protection's sake or not, wasn't clear. But even with his white sheik's outfit, he would tend to vanish if he strayed more than about twenty five feet outside her vision.
The walk itself led them through soft sandy soil with a mixture of fertile dirt, often covered with bits of moss or snagging roots. They pushed their way through bushes and giant ferns. To say it was overgrown here was perhaps an exaggeration. The only thing missing in any abundance was grass. Aside from a few of the weedier sorts, there was almost none to speak of.
Ix could feel eyes through the darkness watching the two of them, and perhaps eying her up specifically, but nothing seemed intent on making itself known.
Soon, they arrived into a small dusty clearing filled with wide trunked trees. Hanging above them was a tight knit canopy of fat leaves, blocking out any possible sun. However, the funny little motes of light were a bit more common here, making it a bit easier to look around.
Aside from the clearing, there was a small unused fireplace made of a circle of stones to one side, and nothing short of a rainbow variety of hanging fruit from above, most of it accessible with a jump or a climb up one of the knobby trees. It was unusual to see pineapples growing next to cherries and bananas, all on the same branch. Really, there was no rhyme or reason to it. Ixchel had only to look around and really think of what she wanted, and it would most certainly be here.
Zim took his pole and swatted down a small pear-like fruit. Rubbing it clean on his tunic, he took a bite. "Guavas. After I became a shaman, I used to visit islands that grew these and I just became addicted to them. Such a smooth sweet taste."
"Here, you can use my walking pole to knock down anything that catches your eye. Just eat whatever you take. It would be disrespectful to the trees to let too much go to waste."
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel took the staff and hit one of the fruits that Zim had been eating. Two fell down and she looked around a bit more before walking over to another tree and tapping one fruit that fell down and hit her hard on the head.
"OUCH!!!"
She quickly put her hand on her head while she looked toward the fruit with a bit of distain. The round object rolled a few feet and she went to pick it up. Content with just the three for now, she moved back toward Zim and started to eat the orange. Opening her mouth, she bit into the rough skin and pulled it away sputtering a bit with its juice trailing down her chin.
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Zim ate the guava rather casually, although he couldn't help but stare a bit when the orange dropped on her head, and elicited such a strong response.
Did she just hurt herself with an orange?? Is that even possible? Zim wondered.
"You, ah, got a little dribbly there on your chin, Ix," he said, pointing at his own in reflection.
He shrugged. He wasn't in the blistering sun anymore so it was time to get out of this sheik's outfit he made up. Finishing the guava, he began to peel off the clothes and numerous sashes that held it together. Taking less than a minute, he folded them on a rock and kicked off his boots, wiggling his toes.
"Much better."
Zim was back to just his usual loincloth attire as he turned around and began to put away his desert clothes into the small pack he carried. Even the boots could be folded.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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"This tastes horrible!!!"
Ixchel exclamed as she looked at the orange. It was of course the peel she was referring to being horrible. She licked her lips and placed her lips to the crack she had made with her teeth and started to try to suck the juice from inside of it. It seemed she hadn't grasped the consept that the peel could be removed.
"But the liquid is nice...."
She bit another place and sputtered before sucking at the juice once more.
Ixchel pulled back a bit and noticed the derobing that Zim was taking part in. Her cheeks flushed a bright red as she saw him in his usual attire before quickly lowering her face and going back to her battle to get the juice out of the fruit.
After draining as much juice as she could, she picked up the guava and took a small bite of it not quite sure of how it would taste. Yes Zim liked it, so she desided to give it a try.
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"Never had an orange before, I guessing?" he asked, eventually facing her again. "Yeah... most people don't eat the peels. I think I once had a boss that discarded his cigarette ash in 'em after lunch."
Noting the guava was gone moments later, he found Ix had seized it. It was thicker, but smoother kind of sweet versus the citric orange. He intended to finish it, but he let the matter go. There would always be another. He wasn't especially hungry yet, in any event.
"Well, this is the orchard, in a nutshell. Not much else I can say about it. But if you ever need a good snack, this is the place."
He sat down crosslegged and watched Ix try the different fruits she gathered. Zim decided to let her decide what to do next.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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After Ixchel had finished the fruit, she stood up and dusted herself off before looking around. Tilting her head to the side, she ran a hand through her hair and frowend slightly.
"Is there a spring, or river or lake or something around here?"
She looked toward Zim as he sat watching her and moved her hand to itch at her opposing hand's bandages. You can put the snake out of the girl, but not the girl out of the snake. She felt dirty and grimy having been in the desert for a few days on the run from her capters and those that wanted to kill her. She was safe now...and it was time to get clean!
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Zim perked up. "Sure! There's that creek I mentioned before. It's fed by an underground spring. The water apparently runs through limestone as it's completely safe to drink. I'll take you near the falls. Makes for a nice sight."
Smiling, he took his walking pole in one hand and Ixchel's in the other.
Thinking about it, he wouldn't mind a dip himself. The desert was always a gritty place to hang out in. And it couldn't hurt to rinse sheik outfit either.
The journey was not terribly far, although there was no path whatsoever. Ixchel might note the colorful beetles and scarabs that were plentiful by the trees here. Brilliant designs and wide shells (baseball sized) could give an impression of easter eggs.
The two arrived at a modest sized sunken basin in between the creek. Not too unlike an in ground pool with perhaps only 2-5ft of water at the most, the entire area was contained within a long running trench. Seemed more like a small canal than a creek, really. There was no exact way down, except for many hanging vines laying on the ground, long since uncoiled from the numerous nearby trees. An easy six foot climb down on one and you could be standing on some pebble covered shoals. To the right, the creek drained away further into the jungle, with a six foot wide canal. To the left, the basin. And further upstream, the sight of several plateaus, each of them running water down like mini-waterfalls. Additionally, the basin was fed with small spouts of water from the surrounding walls. Hanging plants and moss decorated most of the rocks within the watery trench.
The sounds within were primarily that of bubbly running water and songbirds over head somewhere within the canopy. Back towards the jungle, the trees seemed filled with the chittered and clicking sounds of cicadas or other insects.
Zim planted his pole into the ground and slid down a vine into the trench, walking only briefly towards the canal's side. He stooped over in the foot of water and began to soak his other outfit thoroughly. If Ixchel continued to watch, he would soon create a web strand running across the trench to hang them from, very much like a clothesline. His pack would then be tossed back up to the higher ground by the pole.
"If you're looking for deeper water, try the basin over there. It's about five feet in the center, I think. I'll probably be over there shortly."
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Gasping as they came the creek area, she looked around in awe of the beauty of this place. She smiled softly and gulped as she grabbed the vine. Ix slipped down seemingly with no problem and smiled as she watched him work his magic with the closeline.
Moving toward the water where it was deeper, Ixchel removed the clothing and bandages from her body. Walking a few steps she sank into the water up onto her neck and dunked herself under the water's surface. Poping back up, she threw her head backward causing her hair to fly back from her face and dance in the air before landing in the water behind her.
"Ahhh...So nice."
She murred softly before turning around and looking toward Zim with a smile upon her face.
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Not taking terribly long with the mundane maintenance of the desert outfit, Zim hangs it up to drip dry, at least for now, and heads back to see how Ixchel's doing.
She looked happy from the center of the basin. "Just what the doctor ordered, aye? Heh heh-"
From the corner of his eye, he noticed Ixchel's discarded primitive clothing. It warranted another grin and a bemused raised brow. "Ahh, gotta love water. Makes everything so PG-13," he joked to himself.
The shaman stepped in to about two feet deep and took seat, half submerged. Cool water running over his tired feet and the sight of a pretty girl made for a good day, he thought.
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Ixchel
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Member #3933
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Posts: 431
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Ixchel raised her hands out of the water and she carefully moved her hands over the deep wounds around her wrists. The water stung a bit, but the cool water felt wonderful against them. Her back stayed turned to him as she ran her hands through her wet hair attempting to get as much gunk out of it as she could.
Her body disappeared under the water once more and stayed under for a few minutes. Popping back up, she breathed heavily and sputtered ever so slightly pushing the hair from her face. She seemed to be fine and brought water to her face to rub into her skin.
Moving out of the deep part of the water, she moved and sat down in a pool that came up to just below shoulder level. Her legs moved up against her chest with her knees poking up from the water. Hugging herself, she rested her chin on her knees and looked down at her reflection with a solom look upon her face.
Movement could be heard a distance behind them as the two rested in the water. It was unknow at that point what could be making the noise. While Ix sat there, she watched a few bugs seeming to play on the water's surface before an odd lookign bug with a long body and four wings landed on her knee. Unknowing to Ixchel that it was a dragonfly, she watched it flit its wings slightly.
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