The Whisper of the Nightingale

Chapter 64: The Passage of Time

It was barely past noon, but the low rising sun of early spring had already started its descent, shrouding most of the northern Sky Empire in premature darkness. However, not all parts of the vast mountain-range empire was as strongly effected.

Deep within the seemingly unending mountain forest located in the far south-west of the Rock Wren Prefecture, some defiant rays of sunlight trickled its way through patches in the heavy leaf canopy. One such opening was above a small and well-hidden waterfall.

Usually only wild animals and spirit beasts would be seen here, carefully drinking of the cool water that gathered beneath it, but not today. Today, a young girl had submerged herself in the crystal clear pool with a serene look on her twilight-lit face. Her eyes were closed as she floated with her head just above the surface of the water.

Dark, shoulder-long hair spread out like a flower around her pale face as the transparent water did little to hide the maturing body of a girl in her mid to late teens. While she could not yet be considered truly alluring, every muscle in her body was toned to perfection and there was an air of grace about her that would put an empress to shame.

Suddenly, roughly fifty meters away from the waterfall, there was a slight rustle in the leaves, followed by a muffled groan. Any normal girl would have panicked at the sound and hurried to cover herself up, but not this one. An amused smile crossed her face, and without opening her eyes she called out into the forest.

"Getting tired?" she asked, her voice soft like summer rain, but there was only a grunt for a reply. "I warned you that I would take my time. . . ."

Once more there was no proper reply but begrudged mumbling still reached the girl's ears; "why do girls love to bathe so much?"

The girl's smile widened and fortunately no one was there to see it, for they would have been spellbound by it.

"Although I find your wish to protect my secret charming, you know as well as I do that my senses are stronger than yours," as the girl spoke her smile twitched slightly, becoming more mischievous in nature. "If you insist on keeping me company, you might as well join me in the water. You're a great swimmer, after all."

Before the last words even left her mouth a loud cracking noise with a subsequent crash rang out through the forest - her guardian had snapped a branch, tumbling to the ground. The girl started giggling uncontrollably, forcing her to steady her feet against the rocks at the bottom of the pool or risk drowning.

"D-Don't be ridiculous!" the other person finally called back, his male voice oddly high pitched. The girl's giggles turned into hearty laughter and the boy in the woods cleared his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was deeper, manlier. "Ehem, I like my eyes where they are, thank you very much, and I will not have your bird poking them out over a mere waterfall dip."

"A mere dip, huh?"

Without the boy noticing, the girl had already left the cool waters and moved to stand behind her companion. The boy jumped up from the ground in a start, revealing the broken branch he had accidentally broken off earlier.

Now standing, the boy - or rather young man - was approaching two meters tall, and even through the multilayered robes he wore, his impressive muscular structure was apparent. Unruly blonde hair framed his slightly sun tanned face. He seemed to be around eighteen and he was refreshingly handsome.

"Ra-Raven!" he stuttered, his eyes widening as they fell upon the hip-long grey robe jacket that clung tightly to Raven's still dripping body. Quickly he averted his gaze and backed away a few steps, causing him to slam into the tree behind him.