I opened my eyes to see Lonna about three inches from my face.
"Aaaahhhh!!" I jerked back, startled to see her right there.
"My my Wren, are all those from your world so jumpy? Plus you faint quite regularly."
"Look, I'm just overwhelmed ok? I've had a lot to process since I got here and I'm not used to waking up to a pair of crocodile eyes staring at me, let alone so close."
"We've never tried to harm you, so I don't understand what it is that frightens you so much."
"We have crocodiles in my world-"
"Seriously?! Are they feral? Is that why you're so scared?"
"Well yes, they're feral. But they also don't take on another form like you do. They don't speak. They're just animals that exist purely on instinct. So seeing one in my world face to face means that you're going to be eaten." Aside from ones kept in zoos and such. But I don't want to get into that. Some things are better left unsaid.
"Wow. Purely on instinct? That's so raw. They must be frightening."
"They are, but also pretty cool. If seen from a distance."
"How big are they? Are they as big as us?"
"No. I think the biggest one on record is like 20 feet or so."
"Huh." Lonna said. Her midnight black hair spilled in silken strands over her bare shoulders. She wore a sleeveless crimson mini dress that left her scales on her arms and calves bare. Realizing she still had scales, I looked at my arms. No scales. My calves. Nothing.
"Why am I different than you?" I asked.
"Perhaps you're meant to be different. If you were exactly like us, you wouldn't stand out."
"Perhaps I don't want to stand out." I said flatly.
"Sometimes what we want doesn't always coincide with our destiny."
"That's the story of my life." I said wistfully.
"Holy moon, if a carcass could speak of its woes, it would sound just like you. Now get out of bed and go bathe." She shoved an orange dress and accessories into my arms. "Take these with you and you can't come back until you stop with your sad-is-me nonsense."
After getting kicked out, I head towards the bathing waters. It was in the back and on the left side. Pillars of roots above ground surrounded the pool and the water filled an iridescent rock that went from glittering golden yellow to glittering pearly white. It was, by far the brightest spot in Drop Loch and I would spend more time here if it weren't normally occupied by naked people. And even if that sort of thing didn't bother me, what would everyone think if I hung out by the nudey pool all the time?
I passed slowly through the market, my too long of hair draped over my left shoulder. I was thinking about getting it cut when I saw someone drawing on another's skin with ink. Are they getting a tattoo? Curiously, I moved towards them to get a better look. The guy receiving the tattoo was white as snow. His skin and his hair. He looked an awful lot like Jinn, only masculine in every way there was to be masculine. Chiseled jawline. Built muscles. Great height. Was there anything he didn't have?? He looked over at me with red eyes, gawking at him like a dope. His thick brows raised up questioningly. "You're Wren. The girl my sister hates with every passion. Why do you stare at me Sweetness? I thought you were chasing Kian."
His voice was deep and sent a feeling through me that made me uneasy and blushing.
"No one is chasing anyone."
"Is that right." He stated with a small curl to his downturned lips.
"I was just curious about your tattoo." I said, avoiding the other topic.
"My what?"
I pointed to his arm, where an artist was drawing some kind of tribal band around his bicep, with sweeping colors of red, yellow, and orange.
He looked at his arm. "We call these Souls. And the soul depicts of your transformation during the coming of age ceremony."
My face heated up. "W-why?" I asked.
"It was amazing to see."
I looked at the Soul closer and saw a figure of a woman in a white dress on her knees, but bending backwards in some kind of dance pose, fiery red hair trailing further behind her and the hair became the tail of an orange crocodile.
"Do you like it?" He asked, voice unnervingly sultry.
"It looks cool. Have a nice day." I said and hurried away from him and almost running when I bumped into Kian. Great. Juuust great.
His charcoal gray hair was pulled up in a fohawk braid which had plenty of volume up top, but the sides were pulled tight against his head with the rest of the braid hanging down his back. Which was bare. Like his rippling muscled chest. Wait. What? Crap!
My cheeks heated up when I looked at Kian, who had that same annoying smirk that he seemed to sport lately.
"You!" I said, pointing at him. "Your attraction frenzy spell that you put on me will dissipate and your glorious body and handsome face will no longer haunt me! I can't believe that you would feed me a Lure stone!! I told you we had to keep our distance! Now you're going to find a mate with this next call and leave me in the dust!"
"How do you know that will happen? Did the Moon Goddess tell you?" He asked.
"No! No one needs to tell me it's just what has happened all my life!!" I held up my hand, listing examples with counting fingers. "My dad died when I was young. My mother married an idiot and together they ignored me. They spent most of the livelihood that my father left behind and got lost in drugs! My boyfriend, who brought me into his world of light, joy, and love cheated on me with my BEST friend!! They ditched me for each other. Do you get it now?! EVERYONE leaves!!"
I hadn't realized it, but tears were running down my cheeks and I ran as fast as I could ignoring all the onlookers to get to my bath.