Al'sia Meets Silen

Author's note and warning: the following story contains subject matter for mature audiences only. I won't list all the possible "offending topics", I'll just warn you that I don't get offended by much and I tend to forget what things might offend other people. - Lissa

Al'sia didn't bother to look around to see if anyone would witness her removing her boots. She'd been coming to this hidden pool and its little waterfall for years and no one had ever come along and caught her. The rules against being seen barefoot, or worse, nude, seemed arbitrary to her, anyway. Asking about them would only get her a spanking and she still wouldn't know why it was supposed to be bad. Pulling her old ragged dress over her head, she dropped it on the boulder with her boots and stretched out her arms, allowing the spray from the waterfall to cool her.

Sitting on the moss covered stone, she slipped carefully into the waist-deep water, gasping at the cold. Pushing forward in the closest thing to swimming she'd taught herself, she shivered. The cold seemed most intense in her private places. She liked that even though she wasn't supposed to think of those places. Being nude always made her think of those places and what they were feeling.

The pool was small, barely two hundred feet across in any direction, and fed by a waterfall that made more spray and noise than would be expected for only a twenty foot drop. Completely surrounded by a surprisingly regular ring of flat topped boulders, its bottom was formed of small smooth pebbles that gently sloped toward the waterfall, where it became too deep for Al'sia to risk exploring. She'd never found an outlet for the water but didn't worry much about it. Being raised with stories of magic and fae folk had taught her that things didn't always have explanations that made sense, although she'd been doubting the use of 'magic' as an explanation recently.

Taking a deep breath, she ducked under the water and pushed as far as she could go before the water pushed her back up. Ducking under the water was the easiest way to wash her five and a half feet of thick brown hair unless she could get her family to help, which brought other problems with it. Not that washing was a necessity. Most people didn't, since it would mean exposing their bodies and even at home there was the risk someone would see. Al'sia loved the feeling of soft, smooth skin and fluffy hair, even if it did bring suspicious stares, which she would get anyway.

Being only five feet tall at nineteen made her different, and different was not a good thing. Her tiny breasts contrasted with the large boulders most of the women her age seemed to carry in the upper part of their dresses (although she suspected most of that was not entirely natural, as the movement (or lack of) of the masses wasn't the same between different people). To make matters worse, from the villager's perspective, her skin and eyes were a golden brown rather than the usual pasty grayish pinkish sick-looking (to her) hue. It was her opinion that more sun and less clothing would improve their looks a lot. Altogether, she was a freak and nearly outcast, a blight on her family.

After scrubbing her hair and body with cold, clear water for a while she climbed out to lie on the boulder with her clothes and let the morning sun warm her. Stretching her arms out over her head, she dozed off.

"Well well well. What do we have here?"

A deep, soft voice woke her gently. It felt as if her whole body was vibrating with it. She started to reach for her dress.

"Be still."

Instinctively obeying, she lay back on the boulder, feeling her face grow hot in embarrassment.

"Haven't seen one of your kind around here in ages. And such a delicious looking morsel, too."

The voice belonged to a man of indeterminate age, clean shaven, with very long brown hair. The hair drew her eyes, as men didn't let theirs grow long. He was dressed as a boy, in a loose light tan shirt, knee breeches, stockings and simple leather shoes. At least his eyes were on her face, not staring at her body.

"My kind?" Al'sia couldn't make sense of that phrase. Kind of what?

"You may sit up, little bite." The man's smile was faint, but pleasant. He sat down cross legged where he would be in front of her when she did.

Accustomed to taking everything as a command, Al'sia sat up and assumed the same position. As the man looked her over her face flushed, growing warmer. It was improper to look at another person's body, but since it was illegal to show it the rule of etiquette didn't normally matter much. She wanted to put her hands in her lap to hide her hairless little mound but was afraid it would draw more attention to her nudity rather than help her modesty.

"Don't worry, little girl, I don't really intend to bite you. Well, unless you wish me to, but that can wait until I get to know you." He reached out and caressed her face. "How did you manage to find my little pool?"

"Um, your pool? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I've never seen anyone here before." The touch of fingers on her face that weren't slapping it was a new, and pleasant, sensation.

He smiled again, more of the indulgent smile an adult would give to a child they were trying to coax into obedience than a sign of happiness. "That is not an answer, child. Neither to the question I asked nor to any other that would have been implied. How did you find your way here?"

"I, um, I just followed the deer trail, then walked around the strange tree and saw the path, so I followed it. The pool is so nice and private I started coming here a lot." She felt a need to talk but since she rarely did it was hard to think of things to say.

"There is no strange tree. They are all as they should be. Perhaps you could be more specific?" The man put his hand down on her knee, caressing the bare skin.

Shuddering, Al'sia closed her eyes. His fingers were soft as they stroked her skin lightly, not rough and calloused like her father's. "The one that looks like an oak with maple leaves and pine needles and shimmers a little when there's moonlight on it." Opening her eyes and glancing at his, since looking directly would be offensive, she noticed they weren't the usual faded blue, but a shiny grey that could almost be called silver. He was almost as different from the villagers as she was.

"Oh dear. I'll have to fix that. You say no one else has found the place for many years? How many?" The man seemed a little agitated.

"Um, maybe ten or eleven? I was just a kid when I first saw it. Back when I believed in fae folk I thought maybe it was a magical connection to faery." The man's fingers had gripped her knee firmly for a brief moment as she talked. "It makes a good landmark. Without it I wouldn't be able to find this place. I tried going different ways and never could."

"Ten or eleven years? That's not so bad. Then no one else comes up the way you do?" The man seemed to be relaxing again, his smile looking genuine as he put his other hand on her other knee.

"No, sir. Our house is the last one on the edge of the village. There were more, but they were burned down to make the wall. That was before I was born, though." Al'sia always thought the wall was rather stupid, as it was nothing more than a burned ring around the village sprinkled with salt four times a year. Salt was expensive. A waste of good money to keep nightmares away. "Nobody crosses the wall in this direction. If they need stuff we don't have they go south, and the hunters go east." To the west was a river too rough and rocky for boats, but that seemed obvious to Al'sia so she didn't mention it.

"Well, that does explain some things, it does." The man's hands cupped and caressed Al'sia's knees. "What is the wall for?"

"To keep out nightmares and imaginary creatures." Al'sia couldn't keep her voice from showing her disdain. A tinge of bitterness edged in as she added, "I don't know much about it, it was before I was born and nobody talks to me if they can help it."

"I see." The man caressed her knees again, sliding his hands up her thighs a few inches and making her shudder. "Then my pool is safe from interlopers, except for you, child?"

"I'm not a child. I'm almost twenty." Al'sia bit her tongue, too late, as she snapped at him. Being childlike didn't bother her, being called a child did.

"You are still a child." He looked pointedly between her legs, then at her chest. "I recall the twenty year celebrations, when your kind pass from childhood."

"That's sixteen. There aren't any celebrations, though. Maybe small parties if you have enough friends." She took a deep breath. His look at her private places and the motion of his hands were making her feel dirty as her body responded to them. "They're not my people. They don't like me."

The man moved his hands back to her kneecaps and rested them. "My apologies, little one. I'm afraid that your people don't really get to change the meanings of things, although I have an inkling as to why they tried in this case." He shrugged, "it's not important. It is more interesting that you do not consider yourself one of your kind." Raising his hand to his chin, he looked upward, as if in thought. "Perhaps you are an Outsider."

The way he said the word 'outsider' made it seem to be more than a description of her state of being shunned.

"Let us see! An experiment is in order." He leapt to his feet and grabbed her hands, yanking her to hers.

The man had seemed large while sitting in front of her, but standing he looked gigantic. He was easily two feet taller, and his hands seemed to have grown as they held hers. His chest had seemed unremarkable as they sat facing each other but was suddenly massive, like the woodcutter's and the blacksmith's. Looking up to his face, she thought his chin looked harder.

"Come, my child, we shall endeavour to discover things." His voice had taken on a childish excitement. Releasing one hand, he tugged her toward the path.

"My dress!" Al'sia had to leap off the boulder to avoid stumbling as he easily overcame her attempt to stop.

"It will be here when we return." He continued pulling her along the path.

Running to keep up, Al'sia giggled at the sensations running naked through the forest were giving her. They were bad, admittedly, but exciting and fun. Her feet seemed particularly affected; the feel of leaves and twigs and pine needles under them was a nearly overwhelming bombardment of pleasure.

"You need more experiences, little one. I think you have been deprived of sensation." Approaching the tree, the man pushed Al'sia ahead of him. "Tell me what you feel."

As she was pushed toward the tree Al'sia put her hands up to protect her face. Instead of crashing into the hard surface as she expected she found herself pushing at air. Nearly solid air, but air. The tree itself had turned transparent, the forest on the other side clearly visible through a faint image of the tree that had been there. As she was pushed harder the air became more of a thick liquid, molding around her body. She could breathe easily even though the thickness felt as if it were filling her mouth and eventually her lungs. Trying to distract herself didn't work as it pushed inside her bum and vagina, her mind flooding with some of the dirtiest feelings she'd ever had. She was no longer being pushed, but was completely encased in the odd tree. Closing her eyes, she wallowed in her bad thoughts, her body trembling and her breathing becoming ragged.

The man stood and watched her for a moment, smirking, then pulled her out.

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind regarding more experiences, child. At least, not yet." He held her hands as she panted heavily, her face red, and supported her as shudders ran through her body.

Al'sia could tell that the feelings in her body had been leading to something, but she hadn't been allowed to get there as she was pulled back to the ordinary thin air. The thick substance flowing back out of her was nearly sufficient but ended too soon. She was tempted to lean on the stranger to get her breath back under control, but wasn't quite that brave.

"It turned invisible and then to, um, mushiness, I guess. Like invisible syrup that wasn't sticky." She wanted to go back in.

"So you can see and feel magic! How wonderful! I haven't met one of the Touched before. Sadly, you're usually put to death as soon as you're born. You know, being different and all. Your kind doesn't have a lot of tolerance for difference." Pulling her to him, he lifted her, one hand holding her bum and the other arm around her back pressing her firmly to his chest. "Come, my little nymph, let us walk while you compose yourself."

Al'sia smirked, as his hand on her bum was the thing that was making her agitated. Extremely aroused and uncomfortable, she whimpered as his hand moved across her cheeks. Seeing that he wasn't about to put her down she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest. Her body was tense and slightly shaky as he caressed her bum again. She whimpered.

"Why are you crying? This is a grand thing! Being Touched and still alive is wonderful for you."

"I'm bad. I'm naked and I keep thinking dirty things and now you say I'm some kind of horrible fae thing." As she talked, her whimpering turned to full crying. "I don't want to be bad!"

"I never said any such thing! Fae things are not horrible nor bad. Being touched by magic is not bad, no matter what your kind says. I'll tell you what's bad. What's bad is convincing little girls that the natural use of their body is so horrible that even thinking about it is bad. It's what those parts are made for! How could it be bad to use them that way? What else is bad is telling little girls that something that happened to them before they were born is their fault and makes them bad. You are only bad for things you choose that you know are wrong. If you didn't choose it then you cannot be held responsible for it. Such nonsense!"

Al'sia could feel the passion in his voice and arms as he ranted. What he said made more sense than what she'd been raised to believe, but he was a stranger holding her naked body and making her think dirty things. To be honest with herself, she admitted the dirty thoughts were her own, since she had them all the time, even when no one else was around. She enjoyed them even though they tempted her to touch places she shouldn't.

Moving the arm from around her back he put a finger under her chin and lifted her face, turning it toward him. Tipping his head down, he kissed her forehead, then her nose, then chin. Pulling his head back he looked her in the eyes, smiled, and pressed his lips to hers softly.

Never having been kissed on the mouth before, Al'sia was startled and froze. His tongue sliding across her lips made her shiver and part them. Shuddering as he pushed his tongue into her mouth, she trembled, closing her eyes. She knew she shouldn't be kissing him. It didn't make her want to stop.

Breaking the kiss as Al'sia's breathing became rapid and ragged, the man smiled at her.

"You can open your eyes, now, it's over." He smirked as she obeyed, "was it so bad that you didn't want to see?"

Giggling, she looked away shyly. "It wasn't bad! I liked it. Nobody ever tried to kiss me before. I don't know why I closed my eyes, they just wanted to close."

Setting her on her feet, he caressed her bum one more time before taking her hand and leading her out onto the animal trail. "I'm surprised no one has tried before. You're such an adorable creature."

"I should get my dress if we're going away from here." She looked up at him as she skipped to keep from being pulled.

"No, I prefer looking at your body. Such a pretty shade of brown."

Al'sia smiled even though the mention of her body felt naughty. "Everybody else says it's bad. Not a natural color for people." She bit at her lower lip. "Where are you taking me?"

"We're just walking, getting to know each other." He looked down at her. "For someone with so many issues with nudity, you accepted the order to stay undressed easily."

Shrugging, she looked down at her feet as she skipped alongside him, feeling childish. "I have to do what I'm told. Since getting upset never changes the orders and usually gets me a punishment, I mostly just accept it no matter how it makes me feel."

"You never say no?"

"The punishments for getting upset are bad enough! I'd probably get killed for saying no. Father is always telling me he'd kill me if the law would let him, and Mother adds they might do it anyway some day."

The man frowned. "Do you think they mean it? I've heard that some parents consider empty threats like that as 'motivating'."

"Yes, they mean it." She squeezed his hand. "You're the only person who's ever been nice to me."

"That is so hard to believe. You're so delightful!" He suddenly turned around on the trail and scooped her up, setting her on his hip as if she were a toddler, and hurried back the way they'd come.

"Um, what?" Al'sia looked around worriedly. Sudden changes bothered her.

"What's your name? Your birth name?" The man was walking a lot faster than she would have thought possible.

"I only have one name. Al'sia."

"Al'sia. You can call me Silen." Stepping onto the path to the pool, he carried her to the boulder and set her down. Picking up her dress he helped her put it on, then put her boots on for her, smiling as she moaned when he touched her feet. The smile didn't stay long as he picked her up again and carried her back to the trail.

"What's going on?"

"I am slightly displeased with your people and going to do something about it." He put a finger to her lips and smiled as she kissed it. "Sh. Your life is about to change, I only hope you don't come to hate me for it."

Al'sia stopped talking. She wanted to tell him that if he could change her life then she could never hate him, but the order to be quiet had to be obeyed. Her need to follow orders was deeper than just fear of consequences, it was a compulsion that made her feel as if the world would end if she didn't, and the feeling would get worse and worse until she did whatever it was.

Reaching the wall around the city Silen stopped and looked at the burned line. Looking determined, as if confronting a great obstacle, he stepped across the line. Turning to look at the line, his brow furrowed in thought, he suddenly laughed loudly.

"When they put the salt out here, do they say anything, chant, or sing?"

"Oh no! That would be like doing magic and the law is very clear about that. Nothing that even looks like magic."

"Well, it seems the fools don't understand how the wall works then. The burning and the salt are just symbolic. Without the spoken spell it is just a waste of time and salt." He laughed again, not as loud, as he headed down the street. "Which house?"

Pointing toward the first house past the line, slightly apart from the rest of the village, she said, "there."

Marching up to the door, Silen banged on it with a fist, shaking it violently.

"Be careful. Father doesn't take care of things so the house is kind of falling apart." Al'sia was nervous, but riding on the large man's hip, his big arm around her back, was helping her stay moderately calm.

A man much smaller than Silen yanked the door open from the inside, yelling, "what do you think you're ..." he trailed off as he looked Silen and Al'sia. "What are you doing with my daughter? Set her down this instant."

Pushing the man into the house, Silen had to duck to get through the door. "Where are her possessions?"

"She's wearing them. We don't waste good money on bad things."

Silen looked at Al'sia, "is that true? You own nothing but what you're wearing? No favorite doll, no knife, nothing?"