Sure, she was an elf, but that didn't mean that she didn't enjoy basking in rays of the glorious sun, and what a place to do it?
The sun was just about to hit the edge of the water than spanned out before her, reflecting off the waves to amplify the light itself. She could barely even look out, but didn't mind spreading out her cloak over the sand, and laying down on it before closing her eyes. This small paradise was just another stop she had decided to make in her traveling. When there was no plan, enjoying life was easy, and that was what Vianca was about.
She smiled propping herself up on her elbows to look out over the water again, half expecting some dolphins to jump out of the water to complete the picture. However, even with all of this she still missed her woods with trees that loomed over you so high you couldn't even see the leaves.

Muriel wandered along the waves, her shoes over her shoulder though the hem of her dress was soaked up to her knees by the rhythmically rushing waves that pooled around her ankels. So far, no sign of her friend, but she was sure he would appear soon, that is if he didn't want to die a very long and slow death. Spying a figure lying out on the beach just a little ways ahead of her, she began to walk towards the person, noting much to her surprise when she was just a little ways off the person was an elf.

"And elf not cloistered in the trees? Well, now I have seen everything."

Her tone was amused and light, and not unkind at all. Hopefully it wouldn't be taken the wrong way, for this elf looked at least interesting to talk to. She couldn't say that for some of the other creatures she had seen around these parts.

The sound of crunching sand reached her ears before the girls voice did. She sighed for a moment as she took one last look at the sun which had just begun its disappearing act. As she looked up at the girl who seemed very amused with herself, she thought that perhaps conversation would be a nice break from the sound of breaking waves which was about to lull her to sleep.
The girl wasn't very tall, but then again Vianca was sitting down so the almost half a foot difference went unnoticed. Everything about the girl screamed comfort with her surroundings, so she wondered how attached the girl was to water.
Her question under any other tone may have been a quip, but she was too happy for that. It crossed her mind that perhaps she could perpetuate the joking, but instead, she just patted the sand beside her.

"Not all elves are conceited you know... We even occasionally come without pride, but that is a diamond in the rough."

She winked at the girl with a coy smile. In her travels, she had noticed that there seemed to be a general consensus that all elves were very full of themselves. Then again, she had noticed the same thing while she lived among them. More than likely, she had her moment, but as a whole, it was part of the reason she had decided to travel abroad instead of staying and protecting their home as so many elves did. It was then she remembered the girl was still there.

"So, who might I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Muriel took the proffered seat, dropping her shoes beside her as her quiet smile widened slightly at the wink.

"Diamond in the rough indeed..."

The elf seemed very friendly for one of their kind, even perhaps humble with the way she made sport of her own race. Curious for where this conversation might go, for it was always a pleasure to find someone as amused by others as herself, she leaned back on her elbows and settled in for the time being.

"You would be meeting myself, and I am called Muriel by most, heartless vulture by a few who may or may not have reason to do so, and on the very rare occasion 'WITCH!' by those whom have no brains at all. And you are?"

She laughed at the woman, of course she would not give simply her name, no that was too straight forward for this woman. If nothing else, the girl was full of a zest that permeated through even her speech. Truthfully, the girl reminded her one of her younger sisters when they were young. She had never let anything get her down.

"Pointy ears a couple times..." She said touching her ears with another smile. "But usually some variation of Vianca."

Her witch comment struck her though, and suddenly the connection became so obvious that she was disturbed she had not seen it before.

"You must be a water elemental? Or some variation of such? If I am wrong, then my apologises, but I very seriously doubt that I am. I myself am a little magically inclined, though I make others do my work for me. I am a summoner."

She had not met any others like herself, but all-in-all people usually at least knew what it meant.

A laugh as always a good reply to recieve, and she relaxed all the more if that were possible as she studied the female beside her.

"Then Vianca I shall call you, for 'Pointy ears' takes too much energy to say. That, and if there's other elves around you have to explain which pointy-eared creature you want, and heaven help you if one of them takes offense...yes, far too much work in the end."

Holding out a hand over her skirt, she quickly shooed the water out of it and into her palm, swirling it around a bit before forming it into a small ball and rolling it around in and out of her fingers.

"And if by Elemental you mean that I simply like to play with water and the water tends to play back, then yes, I am one. No need to apologies for being right. A summoner? That is a diamond in the rough, I've heard of your kind and have never had the pleasure of meeting one. What sort of beasties do you cater to?"

She truly was curious as to the answer, for it never hurt someone to expand their horizons further, and here as an opportunity that she may never see again.

She watched the girl's motion, truthfully, she had always been a little envious of those who were able to more directly affect things. They had of course tried to teach her that with nature and wind, being the preferred forms in her area, but she had never taken to it. In fact, for a very long time her family had believe that she did not have any magic at all. It wasn't until one day she had been holding a piece of malachite she had found and a pixie sized monster had sprung out of nowhere. She had been so surprised that she had stepped on it. When she told her parents later, they had seemed unusually happy. It was then they had figured out her power. And to think, if it weren't for that, she could have been an archer.
Of course, she had just met Muriel, and boring her with stories from a childhood long past would likely put her company to sleep. Instead, she opted to simply answer the question that had been asked, not anymore.

"I prefer a variety, anything from monsters to animals.. it all depends on what components I can get my hands on. Unfortunately, my power is rarely as beautiful as yours, and has few other benefits besides in a fight. Perhaps that is why I try to make money from my powers. I am a relatively good person over all, but I have spot for money. Ah, if only I could have found some rich elf and settled down... Alas, no such luck."

"Alas, indeed. But beauty is entirely in the eyes of the beholder, and I am sure some of the creatures you can conjure are quite lovely."

Letting the water go, it slid through her fingers and back into the ground, creating a slight damp spot in the sand. She did love water, in all its forms and moods, but she still envied someone who was able to call forth creatures of all sorts and sizes with perhaps only a crystal of sorts. Such beings would be very useful to have around, and were likely wonderful companions in times of loneliness.


"What are your favorite materials to work with? And what creatures generally come out of them? That is one thing about water, it has very little variety in and of itself."

She was impressed by the girl's eagerness, usually people found her ability boring.

"First, I would never say that water lacks variety, besides its three different states, there is also the variance in power from a trickle to..." She pointed out around her "... the ocean. But on to the subject at hand, I usually work with precious stones... most of the time the stone will have some bearing on the creature summoned. For instance, a pearl might get you a water being, or a diamond an angelic being. The quality of the stone will improve the quality of the being, and the power of summoner of course effects it. Some summoners are not even able to call things forward. In the case of demonic being, a summoner can lose control and their being will turn on them. Look at me rambling on. What about you? How did you learn?"

She leaned back again, waiting for the girl's response.

She chortled a gentle, amused sound, though more at herself than her companion. It felt so wonderful to have a good conversation by the sea, it had been a long time since such a thing had occured.

"Please, rambling conversations are the best sort! But if you insist..."

Rocking herself forward so she was sitting up, she pulled a roughly woven necklace of hemp with a glass bead set in disc of fired clay in the center from under her dress. Worth almost nothing accept in its sentimental value, she showed it to her companion as she replied. Her tone was light, with no sadness present, but there was also a sort

"My father was a water elemental, my mother a normal human. He died before I was born, this being all I have of him, and my mother was married again to another man just after my birth. Becuase of that, most of my learning has been trial and error, though occasionally I'll stumble across another elemental who will give me pointers of one sort or another. Sometimes when I have trouble mastering something, though, concentrating or focusing on this bauble helps me get it right. Maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me, or maybe he really is watching over me from somewhere afar, but either way it is a comfort at times."

Suddenly she laughed again, the necklace disappearing back under her clothes as she let loose her quiet mirth.

"That probably was not nearly as interseting as you expected to be, was it? I'll have to work on that, or I'll have people falling asleep everytime they ask me about myself."

She looked at the girl, trying to understand how she should respond. For some, a memory like that could well uppain that had been ignored for many years and needed to be dealt with. However, it was not so with this girl. There was acceptance, and an inner strength that had come through the years. Vianca's smile softened, but not because she pitied the girl, but because she was impressed by her.

"Actually, I thought perhaps you should write a book about it. Sounds like a good 300 pages of reading to me." She laughed a little. "Elves live for a long time. As far as I know, my parents are still alive. I have not been back to see them in quite some time. I had all the training that a magic weaver of any kind would want."

She started reminscing about the long days of training when she wondered if it was even worth it, but now she was grown and enjoying the fruits of that labor. She truly did enjoy her power, even if sometimes she wished she could do more.

"300 pages my foot, I very much doubt anyone would want to read about the wanderings of some random water elemental, especially when they try and read my horrendous hand writing...you have quite a sense of humor for an elf, Vianca."

Her tone was more ironic this time, and held perhaps a hint of dryness, but still held the same light amusement as before. Her eyes suddenly held a curious gleam as she began to fiddle with her long braid, twirling the tip unconciously between her fingers. The thought crossed her mind that it might be considered impolite, or even downright rude to ask this of an elf, but her need to know won out over the voice of caution.

"Say...how old are you? I mean, you look relatively young to me but I've always been a horrible judge of age and goodness knows elves are even harder to place that humans."

She spoke some what hesitantly, sincerely hoping her question wasn't ill met.

The girl had looked like she was aching to ask something, but when the question Vianca could only start laughing. It took her a while before she finally recovered enough to look at the girl.

"And here I thought you had some very pressing question that would make me uncomfortable." She began to laugh again, though it was a little more contained. "Don't worry, I take no offense at the question, but I can't answer for sure. I am at least 200 years old, but I stopped celebrating a while back."

Now that she thought about it, elementals were known for not aging as quickly as humans, something abut the immortality of their element. She looked at the girl, perhaps she wasn't as young as Vianca had assumed.

"And what about yourself? How many years do you boast?"

"Hey, you never know...though I am very glad not to have offended you."

Her smile broadened as she shared in the joke on herself, laughing along with her new aquaintance. Counting on her fingers, she came up with a total that didn't seem quite right. Pondering that, she drew her brows together and counted again, only to come up with a different number entirely. Suddenly breaking into a startled laugh, she smacked herself lightly on the forehead with the heal of her hand and then shook her head as if to clear it.

"I honestly don't know, and I have less years to keep track of then you! So that's why I used to keep Miguel around, he was always good with numbers and things...I suppose I am somewhere between my third and fourth decades of life, but days of births and such have so little meaning that I haven't bothered to keep track of them for some time."

She continued to laugh for a bit, more and more amused with herself and her inability to remember anything that she considered frivolous or less than important. Forget her own age? Who would have thought!

Considering her response, Vianca found herself surprised, albeit pleasantly. That was indeed older than she would have thought. The girl's love of life was not something usually attributed to those of her age. Living so many years in this wold seemed to suck that out of people.
She looked out over the water; the sun was now half gone. She had realized the amount of time that had passed, but she was enjoying the conversation, with a girl a fourth of her age. She smiled at that though, feeling very old at that moment.

"Miguel? You had not mentioned him before... A male friend of yours?"

Now it was her turn to hope that she would not offend the girl or bring up any painful memories. When she was young, she had been in a relationship or two, but all had remained very innocent, and ended when they had gotten tired of being together, or when the boy had been moved. The worst was when they moved because she always felt that something could have come from it.

"Well, he is indeed a male, though I am not so sure I would label him as 'friend', perhaps 'tag-along' would be a more apt description. One that has the most wonderful ability to get in all sorts of trouble without even trying."

Her tone was thoughtful, and somewhat irritated, but one could tell she was teasing her old friend even if he wasn't there to defend himself at that time. And given the way she did so with ease, it came with the feeling that it was something she had done very, very often in the past.

"He 'decided' to leave home at the same time I did, though I strongly suspect it was closer to 'got kicked out', and so followed in my trail for a good couple years until he lost his heart to a piece of wood and I went on to continue to explore the places and peoples that I stumbled upon."

Laughing at the memories of those early years, her smile grew fond, though more in the way that one was fond of a younger sibling or a yappy puppy, rather than a very close friend or a past lover. He had been so hopeless at first, not even able to make his own campfire or gather edible plants when money was low, it was a miracle he ever finally learned enough to set out on his own or she might be stuck with him still.

"He's a good lad, even if he is a bit of a dunderhead half the time, and I do hope his staff training went well for him. Consumate flirt he may be, if he can't take care of himself he'll never find a girl."

She laughed at the girls description of her friend but could clearly tell that there were no feelings besides a friendship and maybe a brotherly love.

"Ah, I see, one of those? They are lucky to have us, aren't they? Truthfully, without women all men would be lost, between mothers and then lovers, they need us more than I think any would like to admit."

"They are rather helpless on their own, aren't they?"

Chuckling to herself, she laid back down in the sand, staring up at the deep blue sky that reminded her so much of her lovely water. The smile on her lips was one of genuine peace, and she relaxed in the cool breeze that blew in off the sea. Glancing at her companion, her next question came completely out of the blue, one of those moments where her thoughts connected to her mouth before she considered the wisdom of it or not.

"Do you sing?"

She had the grace to color slightly as she realized after the fact how one might take that as prying and rude, but still waited curiously for the answer. She had always envied those who had the ability to use their voice to make such a beautiful sound, and had never heard any elvish songs at all.

Her head tilted as she looked at the girl, it seemed a rather random question to ask someone. She was not quite sure what about her had cued the woman in, but she doubted she wore a sign.

"Yes... I do indeed sing. What made you ask?"

The girl was smart, of that Vianca was sure, but she had not realized how intuitive she was. Singing was one of her greatest pleasures in life, but she was not one for impromptu exhibitions. Muriel had not asked for her to sing, only asked if she did. Therefore, she was not about to start singing.

"Though most of my songs are in a different language, and unless I am wrong, I doubt you would understand Elven. Any songs that I know that are not Elven are riddles... I am slightly obsessed with riddles."

She smiled at her own understatement, though the girl could obviously not understand how most of an understatement it was.

Muriel shrugged, her smiel growing wider. She had hoped, for there was the rumor that all elves possessed voices like those of the gods...not that she thought hearing Vianca sing would grant her immortality or anything but she was sure her voice was still quite lovely.

"I love music, actually, but I'm not much of a singer myself and instruments do not do well in the damp or wet where I often find myself. Being a water elemental, well...it has its advantages and disadvantages."

Her voice held a slightly wistful note, though she still smiled as she unconciously played with her braid in one hand, her fingers twirling through the unruly strands playfully. Glancing at the elf again, she added,

"Would you mind singing something for me? I don't understand elvish, but neither have I ever heard anything sung in that language either. I'll trade you something for it if you want, anything that you ask."

With a somewhat self-deprecating laugh as she considered her offer, she finally concluded,

"It's not like I have a great deal to give, or much to lose in whatever I give."

"For a song? All I ask is an audience that is not too quick to criticize. Singing is always my pleasure."

Even though she said it... she still felt a little weird randomly breaking out into song on the beach, but she had an audience for once. Muriel's request could not go unheard. So she began. Even if her mind had been hesitant, nothing in her voice showed that. Her voice was low and warm, yet in a sense, it was almost alien. It flowed out of her like it had once been part of her, a gift that she was bestowing upon the world.

O môr henion i dhû:
Ely siriar, êl síla.
Ai! Aníron Undómiel.

Tiro! Él eria e môr.
I 'lîr en êl luitha 'úren.
Ai! Aníron...

Rithannen i geven
Thangen i harn
Na fennas i daur
Ôl dûr ristannen
Eryn echuiannen
I ngelaidh dagrar
Ristar thynd, cúa tawar
Dambedir enyd i ganed
Si linna i 'waew trin 'ylf
Isto i dur i chuiyl
I ngelaidh dagrar

She had closed her eyes somewhere in the middle, but now opened them again with a smile as she quietly ended her song in a decrescendo.

"A little long I suppose, but it was one of my favorites..."

"That I can do."

Muriel closed her eyes as the words and notes flowed over and around her much like her beloved water, caressing her ears gently with its ebb and flow. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before, but the her friend's voice was strong and despite its unique nature she felt her self being carried away in its tide. When the final notes died away she opened her eyes to stare back up at the sky, feeling blessed to have be allowed such a solo performance for nothing more than an attentive ear.

"Beautiful...you have a wonderful gift, Vianca, your voice could out sing that of a Siren. Do all elves sing like this?"

She smiled, enjoying the fact that Muriel had liked her song. She had of course always been told she had a nice voice, but that was mostly by other Elves. If nothing else, she knew that Elves had voices that were much different than a normal human.

"Not all Elves, I would say that most can at least carry a tune, but most are not made for solos. Then again, perhaps I am overly critical of my own race. I love our songs for their stylistic beauty, but then human songs have a tendency to be a little more fun. You will never hear an Elven drinking song."

She laughed at the though of her graceful language coming out of the mouth of some drunk. She looked at Muriel once she had recovered.

"But I am glad you like the song."

Muriel laughed along with her at the idea of elves drinking and singing while waving mugs in the air much like their shorter, and rather hairy companions did. Though it took a little bit longer to recover than the lady elf, she sat back up as she wiped a tear from the corner of one eye before she replied.

"Yes, we do have our rowdy ballads and silly ditties, but very rarely do you hear humans, or even elementals, create something of that sort of beauty with only their voice. I enjoyed your song greatly, and I thank you very much for it."

The sun was now much lower than it had been previously, its last rays just barely peeking over the edge of the ocean. The sea was aflame with its golden splendor, shades of scarlette and indigo mixing as the waves continued rolling towards the shore. Her smile grew somewhat thoughtful as she looked out over the waves, thus her tone somewhat distracted as she continued to study the beautiful scape before them.

"You said you liked riddles, any particular reason why?"

"My you are astute... I happen to be in love with riddles. Mind games are a particular joy for me. I don't usually play them with other people, but if a riddle makes me think for days all the better. I very rarely give in and ask for an answer if I can not figure it out on my own."

She leaned back relaxing after the posture that an Elven song requires. Perhaps the girl had a riddle or two to offer up. She would be a little surprised if the girl had something she had not heard in the past 200 years, but then again, she had been surprised before. If she did have a riddle, Vianca would be more than happy to take a stab at it.

Muriel almost snorted as she murmured,

"Somewhat stubborn, are we?"

The jibe was gently given, though, despite its somewhat pointed edges. The water elemental sighed as she shrugged, holding her hands as if helpless in a rather comic gesture.

"I would spin you a riddle if I could, lady elf, but alas, I have been said to be as transparent as the element which I a part of. I fear that even if I knew a rhyme that might usually have you chewing on it for days you would simply pluck it from my mind with an ease that would leave me most embarressed. And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Her tone was light and rather self-deprecating, though she broke into a quiet chuckle as she spoke the last few words. She had often embarressed herself, but why bother avoiding those moments? They would occur regardless of what you did to stop them, so why not enjoy them when they came? They always made for wonderful stories later on, and if you keep your eyes open they generally made wonderful blackmail as well.

She chose to ignore the first little quip, sure that the girl had not meant anything by it. She just seemed to be one of those people who used sarcasm as their humor, and Vianca was fine with that. All-in-all, she was pretty easy going.

"I very seriously doubt that I would divine the answer from something in your mind or actions. I am not exactly telepathic, although I will admit I had wanted to be. That is until my sister started complaining about it. If you don't have control over that power, it can be quite a pain."

She looked over at the girl who seemed to be able to laugh at herself. It was always a good quality to have. Too many people took life so seriously that they missed out on the little things.

Muriel raised her brows slightly in surprise, though she still smiled as she answered.

"You have a sister who's a telepathic? That had to be interesting growing it, it takes tattle-tailing to a whole new level...'Mom, she snuck out again last night!' 'How do you know?' 'I heard her thinking about it this morning...'"

Chuckling at the image it presented, she shook her head before tilting it to one side as if in contemplation.

"Elven siblings...was it only you and your sister or were there others as well? Whether your kind prefers small or large families is never something I've been clear on."

Truly curious she watched her companion with a somewhat earnest look on her face as she continued to play with her braid in one hand. How much she was learning today not only for her own amusement but for her general knowledge base in general, and all because this elf was being so pleasant in answering her questions.

She did not know if she had ever had such a curious audience, but it was nice. It had been some time since she had really talked with anyone about her life. Then again, some Elves might frown upon her so freely talking about their home life. Even her small village was very secretive.

"Actually, by the time she was born, I was older than you are. I had already moved out, but she and I were close, she stayed with me often. She and I were the only children our parents sired. As I said before, Elves live for a very long time, so having a large family would cause overpopulation. Perhaps for that reason, Nature made it so that Elves do not often get pregnant."

"Hm...."

Muriel considered her words carefully, understanding them in their simplicity and practicality. It did make sense that elves would only have a few children where as humans would have bratling after bratling after bratling, and then there was still a bun hidden somewhere in the oven when it was all said and done. Still, they usually didn't live past their 60th birthday, and those that did were usually so worn down by that point that they did almost nothing to contribute to society. To live for hundreds of years, though...she was very glad she did not have to amuse herself for that long, or she might actually find herself bored with life. Elementals usually did not live as long as elves, though some with extraordinarie amounts of power sometimes become rather immortal, but she would never be one of those.

"Well, though some may envy you your longevity, friend, I do not. Though the world is a constantly amusing place, I would not test the theory that it lasts forever, and I believe if I ever found myself bored after a couple hundred years I would simply keel over and die on the spot. To find no reason to laugh? That would be worse that death itself! No wonder your kind is always such a somber lot."

She could not help but laugh at the girl. True, sometimes life seemed to just ramble on, but there were always bright spots.

"You would be surprised how life changes. For instance, my meeting you has been an unexpected bright spot, and I am sure it memories shall bring me laughter for weeks to come. Sometimes life seems so circular, but then something new will come and you notice that..." she bent down drawing in the sand, "life is more like a series of loops. Things may repeat themselves occasionally, but there is always forward movement."

She smiled at her own little philosophy.

"Theory by Vianca..."

She smiled, pleased that she had amused her friend though she found her theory somewhat questionable.

"Thank you for your brilliant explanation of the universe and all that resides within it, but even if life is circular, I think I wouldn't want to go more than a few times around the loop before I met my end anyways. To walk a path you've walked before is quite dull, so why continue to do so?"

Shrugging amiably, she raised her brows as she set her mouth in a comic line.

"I suppose some races are acustomed to the idea of living for, well, close to forever from the time of birth, and others are quite well resigned to the flash in the pan that they become. I'm not opposed to remaining as I am, infact I am quite content in it, so long as no gods go messing around in my life and make me live forever, I will be quite happy indeed."

Nodding to herself as if her words held a profound wisdom in them, instead of the selfish and perhaps even childish wishes of a light-hearted elemental, she gave the elf a triumphant look even if she did laugh at herself in the process.