#like for example they’ll be look like how I grew my flutes from nothing to the biggest badonkydonk you’ve ever seen in 2 months

[minstrivia]

gymtok gets me so annoyed, half the creators just straight up lie for views 😭

[dailyaudiobible]

11/13/2019 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 27:1-28:26, Hebrews 11:17-31, Psalms 111:1-10, Proverbs 27:15-16

Today is the 13th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It's great to be here with you on this 317th day of the year, which is our 317th day together as we’re making our way to the Scriptures this year. We’re continuing to work our way through the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament and the book of Hebrews in the New. And we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Today, Ezekiel chapters 27 and 28.

Commentary:

Alright. So, yesterday we were talking about what is known as the “hall of faith” found here in the book of Hebrews. And, so, we continued walking down that hall of faith in today's reading. And, so, what we've done basically is begin in the book of Genesis and then the author of Hebrews begins to point out instances in the Hebrew Scriptures where faith was like the irreplaceable part of the story. And, so, we spent all of our time walking down those examples in today's reading from the Old Testament, right? So, it was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice for God was testing him. It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future of his sons, Jacob and Esau. It was by faith that Jacob when he was old and dying, blessed Joseph's sons. It was by faith that Joseph when he was about to die talked about leaving Egypt. It was by faith that Moses parents hid him for three months when he was born. It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be identified with Pharaoh's daughter. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover. It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as they were on dry ground. It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days and the walls crashed down. It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed. So, you can see it was “by faith”, that phrase pounded over and over as we’re looking at the examples simply starting at the beginning of the Bible and working our way forward. This is because the author, the writer of Hebrews was pointing out something that had always been obvious but hadn't been seen, hadn’t been understood in this context. And the larger point is the same point that the apostle Paul made in his writings, it was by faith that all of these things happened not by adherence to some sort of code or ethic. It was by faith. Faith was the component that…that changed all of the stories. Like today We worked from Genesis all the way to the book of Joshua and without faith all of the major characters and all of the major decisions of those stories that carry the narrative forward in the Bible wouldn't have happened. Like what if this was the hall of disbelief that we were walking down and all of these people had the supreme opportunity to live by faith with God in covenant, but they chose not to, right? We would have…we would either not have the Bible or we would have a different Bible. And this is the point that's being made. Like, faith is the key to our union with God and our awareness of the spiritual realms. Faith has always been the essential component of life with God. It still is. Nothing has changed there. Without faith we can't please God. And in all of the examples that we read of today in the hall of faith, God responded to their faith. So, we’re talking about faith because we’re walking down this hall of faith, but we have to think about our own faith. We can certainly look and go, like, “He's…that's right…that's right…faith was the thing because all the way back to the beginning I can see that now.” But what about your faith? What about our faith right now? Because what we are putting our faith in is essentially what we are giving our hearts to in worship as if it were God, as if it were going to be able to bring us life. So, let's think about it because that's the point. That's what the author of Hebrews is trying to show here. Where is your faith because without it you're going nowhere? So, it would be a good thing to not lose it, and it would be a good thing to know where it is at all times. So, it comes down to, like, in whom, or in what have we put our faith? We see from the hall of faith with…that when people against all odds put their faith in God, God responds. That hasn't changed. So, maybe we’re waiting for God to respond only to sit down and realize we do not have faith that He will and we have put our faith in someone or something else. Or maybe we put our faith in ourselves and we’ve gotta dig out of this. Maybe our faith is in the wrong place. Something to think about today.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit we invite You to help us think about that, to begin to unpack where is we’re putting our faith because it's been made abundantly clear, we will never please You without faith. And, so, forgive us for all of the times that we’ve tried to navigate without it or that we’ve put our faith in something that can't deliver, and given our hearts in worship to that thing or that person. Forgive us for these things. We see the foolishness of our ways. We place our faith, all of it…all of it…there is no plan B…all of it is in You and You alone. We invite You Holy Spirit to come into that. Show us all of the areas that we’ve placed our faith in other things. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it is home base, and certainly where you stay tuned and connected to what's going on around here. So, be sure to do that.

Visit the Community section of the website. That's where the Prayer Wall lives.

Visit the Daily Audio Bible Shop. That's where resources like the God of Your Story can be found. If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com and I cannot thank you enough for your partnership as we continue this journey forward. There's a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, you can press the Hotline button, the little red button in the top of the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Rachel from Pennsylvania and I heard a prayer request from a guy who was struggling with his job and also his eyesight. I didn’t catch his name, but I think it’s the second time I heard a prayer request from him about his eyes. So, I wanted to pray, lift him up to God for prayer. Dear God, please help this man who called in for prayer for his job and his eyesight. He’s been struggling with a job and he left one and then started another God and he’s having the same problems in the second job and he doesn’t know what to do. He’s starting to doubt You. So, I just want to lift him up and please God make Yourself real to him. Show him that You’re…that You’re there, that You have a plan for him and please just give him peace about it. Maybe You already have. I think the prayer request was maybe from August. So…but if he’s still struggling God, please give him a boost, help him out and also please help them figure out what’s going on with his own life or just, You know, I want to lift up whatever is going on with it to You and please heal it. He seems to lose site in his eye every now and then, I think he said his left eye. So, God just please pour out Your Holy Spirit on him and healing in Your name. Amen.

Hi, DAB will you pray for my son William. Today, after battling forces for many years saying that he is worthless, and he is not loved and that he is useless another student at school told him the same thing. He decided that he __ went into the bathroom to eat a lithium-ion battery. We spent the whole day in emergency and the state decided to send him into the psychiatric ward. Please pray for him. Thank you.

Hey DABbers, this is his messenger in upstate New York and I also wanted to give you guys a praise report. My father-in-law had a procedure for his heart this week and things seem to have gone well. So, the prayers were answered for that. My best friend of like a decade and a half or something, she’s been fighting her insurance agency through something with her roof and there’s a claim and they just admitted guilt and as a result hopefully they’ll pay to fix all the stuff that’s broken in her house because of this roof. So, I just praise God that that’s happened that her prayers are answered. And I don’t know how much of a believer she is. We’ve had a lot of conversations about that, but I just hope that she could develop a relationship with Jesus through this. You know, she asks me, you know, why would she have to go through all the stuff and why would it have to be so hard and I just pray that maybe that’s for her relationship with Jesus to blossom if not develop. She’s currently fostering a young boy his name is Anakin. So, I just pray for her, that she can have the wisdom that she needs to do a good job to raise him in a godly way. And pray for the young the young man, that he can be surrounded by people that are…that will guide him to God and to Jesus and, you know, I just praise God for all these amazing things that I hear from my little Cherry and from Victoria Soldier and from Blind Tony and from all of you guys. I just keep praying for Aaron in Oklahoma, for, I think it’s Jared the encourager, For Rebecca with your flute and your photography. Guys it’s just so awesome to hear from you and to hear how God is working in everybody’s lives. Just keep hope, keep running the race, keep being steadfast, knowing that there is a purpose for this and todays trials and tribulations will be tomorrow’s testimonies.

Hey guys how you doing this is the Prodigal, John. Hey, I wanted to call in with a praise report. There’s a change for you, ha? But prayed for my son and he…looks like he might be turning things around. So, thank you for your prayers for him and thank you for your prayers for me. I’m still struggling to get my business turned around, but God’s blessed me with some good new partners and we’re taking some massive steps to turn the business around. And, so, prayerfully we’ll pull out of this thing because the alternative is bankruptcy, which is no good. Anyway, thank you for your prayers. As you can hear, I’m tired. I’m busting my butt, have been forever but God’s been gracious enough to show me a little light which is…which is awesome. So, I wanted to let you know that every one of you who call in, I pray for you and I feel for you. I feel your pain because I…and again…I am thinking of pain. I’ve got…I’ve got to have my shoulder replaced, terribly invasive surgery and by back is broken for the third time and I’m trying to live with it at the moment. But I want to pray. Today I pray for you and I’m a little bit behind. That’s on me. Just been way too busy. But today I wanted to call out Biola. She called in. She was out on her walk and she sounded so happy and her voice is just like grace and I know a lot of people feel the same way. Blind Tony your poems are great. Awesome stuff, everybody. And Sinner redeemed, still waiting to hear from you brother. I feel like were soulmates bro so give a shout back. Brian thanks to you and Jill and everybody for what you do. And just pray for you and pray you all make it a blessed day. God bless you. Bye-bye.

Good morning this is Janice from Illinois and I’m asking this morning for prayer for my husband Bill. He has been diagnosed with lymphoma and has had several treatments and there are many, many complications that have occurred. Right now, he’s on a respirator and we’re just praying and hoping that he will be able to breathe on his own soon. Just praying for healing and Father just help me to strong. Thank you.

[niyes-lahiffe]

Apparently Love is a Journey: Chapter 4

This chapter isn't exactly on the sappy side, but...MAN it was so fun to write. I never said that this would all be about romance ;)

<<<previous/next>>>

Ao3

Nino certainly hadn't expected the school's topic of the day to be about mythical monsters, much less ghosts. However, as abrupt and random as the topic was, he wasn't complaining at all. He actually loved it when the class decided to talk about things more on the foreign side of school, like love and food instead of politics and math.

Unfortunately, as interesting as the subject was, his mind was too focused on other things, such as the weekend previous and how he had actually kissed Alya. The boy also thought about how beautiful she looked this morning, and though it wasn't like that was anything new, something different came off of the way they smiled at each other and talked before the lesson began. Nino was knocked out of his stupor when the teacher neared the end of her lecture and asked if there were any comments or questions.

Kim of course took the opportunity to smugly announce, "Pah! I'm not afraid of ghosts! All the people in these stories are ridiculous."

"Ghosts don't exist, dummy," Alix snarkily said back, her eyes unamused. "Neither do the people in these stories."

"But that's just what they want you to think, Kubdel!" Kim leaned forward excitedly. "Ghosts do exist and I can prove it!"

The pink-haired tomboy lifted a brow questioningly and said, "Prove it, then."

Kim waved his hand dismissively. "Pffft, not now. I meant later."

"Wasn't Sabrina technically a ghost when she was akumatized?" Max suddenly asked curiously. Sabrina and Chloe turned toward him, their eyes sharp. "I'm not taking sides or anything because this debate is ridiculous, but-"

"Yeah, Sabrina technically was a ghost," Alix said. "But you guys turned into diabolical super villains, so you weren't any better. Mylene was a ten foot tall purple raging monster, but that still doesn't mean that actual monsters- or ghosts- exist."

"I'll prove you wrong, tinkerbell, just you wait!" The moment Kim's sentence was finished, the bell rang at comedic timing. Kim quickly grabbed his stuff and dashed for the door, blocking it so no one else in the classroom could get out quite yet. "Every boy in this classroom is coming with me! Adrien, Nino, Ivan, Nathaniel, and Max." He pointed at each boy respectively, and Nino felt a sense of dread when Kim's finger landed on him. "We're going to my house and prepping for a ghost hunt."

Adrien and Nino shared a concerned look but, both knowing they couldn't change the stubborn Kim's mind, they grabbed their bags and followed the athlete, along with the other boys, out the door nonetheless. "Be careful out there!" Mm. Bustier called after them.

"You're all ridiculous," Chloe muttered as she and Sabrina trailed out of the classroom once the boys had disappeared.

The rest of the girls were gathering around Marinette's desk, already knowing a plan was forming in the bluenette's mind simply by the playful smirk on her face.

"We're crashing their party, right?" Alya pompously asked her best friend.

"Duh."

------------------------------

The girls were gathered in the Forest of Fontainebleau, setting up the things they had created when they were at Marinette's house a few hours previous. It took them a good while to travel to the forest but they knew that this would be so worth it. Alya had been texting Nino and he was the one who informed them where the boys would be headed for their little 'ghost hunt'. When she told told the girls this, Marinette had exclaimed, "You've been texting Nino?! When did this happen? More importantly, you're not telling him our plans, are you?"

Alya laughed in response. "Relax, girl, I didn't tell him anything except that we're planning something. I refuse to tell him any more than that. He was just nice enough to tell us where the boys will be going soon, so I personally think we should thank him later."

"After we scare him and the others out of their socks, of course!" Rose had said excitedly.

Now they were here, setting up their glow-in-the-dark ghost props in the trees as the sun starting setting, sending almost ominous purples and pinks throughout the sky. This was almost too perfect.

It was then that Alya had a brilliant epiphany.

"Hey, Marinette?" When Marinette turned to Alya curiously, she continued, "I need to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

Marinette's face contorted in disgust. "The bathroom? We're in the middle of the forest, Alya! There's no place to go to the bathroom."

"That's quitter talk." Alya giggled at her best friend's repulsed expression. "Don't worry, girl! I'm not afraid to go to the bathroom in the middle of the forest. People have done it before; it's no big deal." With that, she shrugged and ran away, smiling to herself. Of course she wasn't going to the bathroom.

------------------------------

"YOU BETRAYER!"

Nino squawked when Kim tackled him head on, falling to the floor in a heap of wheezed breath and tangled clothes. "What did I do?!" Nino squeaked, barely able to get the words out due to loss of air.

Kim placed his hand firmly on Nino's chest to keep him pinned there, getting up slightly to glare at the DJ. "You've been texting the girls!"

"I've been texting a girl," Nino responded as he grabbed Kim's wrist. In a sudden and swift movement, Nino had Kim affixed to the floor, gently but firmly squishing his friend's cheek against the carpet. "And what's so wrong with that, anyway?"

"Dude, how did you do that?" the other boy rasped. He tried squirming away but Nino had no mercy. He grunted, "This is a boys night! No girls allowed!"

Nino raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, why didn't you just say so, dude?" He stood up as Kim took a few gasping breaths, the athlete weakly getting to his feet as well. "I would've put my phone away."

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Kim muttered as he dusted his shirt off with his hands.

"Kim, we might want to be leaving soon," Max interrupted. "I'm still puzzled as to why you chose the Forest of Fontainebleau to go ghost hunting, as it is a fair distance from here to there, but it's already starting to get dark." He used his head to point to the window, the sky outside beginning to turn dark.

Kim nodded. "Right. Let's get a move on, then!"

------------------------------

The girls jumped when they heard a rustle in the tree above them and, when they looked up, they were more than surprised to be greeted by a specific orange super heroine.

"Rena Rouge?" Alix said disbelievingly. "What are you doing here?"

Rena comfortably settled herself on a large branch as the rest of the girls gathered around the tree to greet the hero. "I could ask you the same thing, small fry," she winked, smirking at how Alix obviously did not like the nickname. "I decided to go wandering a bit during patrol. I recognize quite a few faces here so I know you're not around these parts. I was just wondering what all this stuff is for." She pointed at the surrounding props hanging from the trees, the glow-in-the-dark starting to become more prominent in the setting sun.

"We're giving the boys in our class the scare of their lives!" Alix said eagerly, nearly bouncing with giddiness.

"It's gonna be awesome," Juleka chided coolly.

"We made these masks that we're gonna use to jump scare them!" Rose squeaked delightedly. She held up the mask she created as an example, the surface of the mask far too big for any of their faces, adding to the hilarity and the spookiness. Her mask was covered in pink and yellow, unsurprisingly, but it still sent a chill down anyone's spine who looked at it.

Rena nodded, a smile on her face as she placed her fingers on her chin. "How 'bout I help?"

"You would do that?" Mylene happily asked.

"Of course! Boys are stupid. I'm sure you guys have good reason to be here."

Alix agreed, "Yeah, Kim's an idiot. He believes that ghosts are real."

"That name sounds familiar...isn't he that one boy that challenged a panther to a race?" Rena inquired as she laughed inwardly. Her dad had been livid the day he was akumatized, coming home from his work with the biggest scowl she had ever seen.

"Like I said. Idiot."

Rena Rouge leaped down from the branch she was perched on with a grunt before she grabbed the illusion-making flute off her back. "I'd be happy to help. With my little friend here, we'll be able to scare those boys so bad that they'll be begging for mercy."

"Your flute's power is to create illusions, right?" Marinette asked. Her smile grew when Rena nodded. "That's perfect!"

------------------------------

The sun was barely above the horizon now, the soft pinks and oranges slowly beginning to fade into deep purples and blacks. The Forest of Fontainebleau was surprisingly quiet as the boys continued to venture deeper into the woods, the crunch of their shoes stepping on twigs and leaves and the occasional hoot of an owl being the only noises that disturbed the great grove.

"I can't believe I let you guys drag me into this..." Nathaniel murmured, only to be hushed quite harshly by the others.

The eerie atmosphere of the place sent unconditional chills down Nino's spine as he and the others hiked further and further into the deep wood, each boy accompanied only with a flashlight. Nino had expected the 'ghost hunt prepping' at Kim's house to be more than just grabbing a few flashlights and spending the rest of the time watching ghost movies. He couldn't help but agree with Nathaniel. This whole shindig was nothing more than straight-up ridiculous. Of course ghosts didn't exist. Everyone here except Kim knew that, but no one could escape said boy's stubbornness.

Adrien suddenly squeaked. Every boy turned around sharply and pointed their flashlights at the model, who was seemingly panting with relief once his expression could be read. "I-uh-I thought I saw something...but I guess not." At his assurances, everyone else shrugged and continued to trudge forward.

"SHH!" At Kim's abrupt command, everyone stopped walking. They were silent for a moment before he continued, "Did you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Oh, jeez, where did this fog come from?" Nino waved his hand in front of himself in an attempt to blow the sudden fog away, but it only seemed to grow thicker as he did so. At each passing second, he could see his friends, who were only mere steps in front of and behind him, less and less. "Uhhh, you guys?"

And that's when chaos ensued.

The fog vanished as though it were nothing, and there were these absolutely terrifying creatures in its place. Their expressionless faces were ginormous, and they leaped down from the trees and began wailing.

All Nino could hear was screaming. He didn't know if it was him who was screaming or the other boys around him, probably both, but loud cries of fear was all his brain could pay attention to as he tried finding something to grab onto in all the ruckus.

------------------------------

The girls pulled their masks off and grabbed their flashlights to look at their targets eagerly, and once they could see, they were anything but disappointed.

The boys were in absolutely hilarious positions: Ivan, who was surprisingly emotionless, was carrying a very petrified Max in his arms as Nathaniel clung onto the buff boy's neck for dear life. Kim was full-out on the floor, his eyes as wide as saucers and his limbs stuck in positions that looked quite uncomfortable, and Adrien and Nino were clinging onto each other as though their lives depended on it.

The girls suddenly exploded into roaring fits of laughter, ranging from cute hics and giggles to full-on ugly guffawing. Alix clutched her chest and fell back to the floor as she wheezed, kicking her feet in the air. Alya had to hold herself onto Marinette in order to prevent herself from dropping to the floor, as well, and Mylene was leaning forward and snorting uncontrollably. Rose and Juleka weren't laughing as hard as the others but they still had their fair share of tears shed.

"You should've seen the looks on your faces!" Alix gasped as she slowly got up from the ground. "KIM! I didn't know you could scream like that!"

"HA!" Kim suddenly exploded, causing all the boys around him to jump again. He quickly got off the floor and pointed at the short girl, his grin cocky though he was still panting and shaking from the previous scare. "In your FACE, Alix Kubdel!"

Her expression went from smiling unconditionally to perplexed in less than a second. "Wha-?"

"Ghosts actually DO exist!" He folded his arms and looked at her smugly. "You juuust missed 'em."

Alix stomped up to him, a 4 foot ball of pure rage now. "You idiot!" she hissed. "That was us! How could you not-I'm gonna- UGH- I'm gonna...kick you in the shin...-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, tinkerbell!" Kim grabbed the top of her head with one hand and used what was left of his strength to push her away slightly, though she still complained loudly and thrashed her hands towards the barely empty space in front of her. "What do you mean 'us'?"

"What she means," Alya interrupted confidently before Alix could start throwing curses, finally able to catch her breathe, "is this whole 'ghost ambush' thing was planned by none other than us." She gestured to the girls around her, all of whom were also starting to calm down.

"Still a shame that you guys missed Rena Rouge," Marinette chimed in. "She helped us."

"Rena Rouge was here?" Nino asked, surprised.

"Yup," Alya replied, walking up to the boy. She sighed dramatically as she wrapped her arm around his waist, his own hand coming to her waist, as well. "It's a real shame, for I missed her, too. That's what I get for going to the bathroom in the middle of a forest, I guess."

She didn't exactly know what her and Nino's status was currently. They weren't boyfriend/girlfriend, but they were definitely more than friends at the moment.

She tried to ignore the very confused but also smug look Marinette was giving her.

Nino chuckled. "What a shame indeed." He suddenly playfully pushed Alya away and she yelped, barely able to catch her feet. "You scared the living snot out of me, though! How cold you?"

"You guys deserved it," Alix said smugly. Kim had stopped trying to prevent her from hitting him so she took the moment to give the boy a playful look before kicking his calf swiftly, giggling manically as he grabbed his leg and complained loudly.

"Kim," Max said, walking up to said boy who was now rubbing his bruised leg. "There's something I have to tell you."

"What?" he grunted.

"Ghosts don't exist."

[a-black-pegasus]

Swelling Rivers

River god Au! Big thanks to @gatlily for the prompt! Well enjoy folks!(oh my God this is long I apologise in advance.)

______________________________________________

To the small island village, the river was like a coin. It gave clean water, enough for both them and their herds to drink, and it provided food, plants to gather, and plenty of fish to fill their fishing traps. In essence, life.

But like all coins, the river had another side, a more deadly side.

Crocidiles, and the rare jaguar were spotted by the river side, either sunbathing in a patch of sun, or creeping up to the banks for a drink. Both would snatch a person up in a heartbeat though, if given the chance to. Besides the wildlife, during the rainy season the river swelled and became a torrent of speeding water, washing away all unlucky enough to fall in. In short, death.

But still, water was water, and it needed to be gathered daily— this was the chore of Leia Hame.

Every morning before school, and afternoon before dinner Leia came to the river with her water jug to fill. Many of the village teenagers did so, but Leia was a bit different. While others would come to gather their water or fish and leave, Leia spent every extra moment she could down by the river side reading, doing some extra fishing, or just dipping her feet in the water.

Some called her brave, most called her foolish, but Leia neither cared nor stopped going. Her grandfather whom she lived with didn't care either and waved the concerns of others away with the same reply.

"Crocodiles are idiots, and as long as you don't poke around them like a moron they'll leave you be. As for the jaguars," he shook his head. "They hunt at night so I doubt you'll run into them unless your doing something you're not supposed to do. Why else would you sneak around at night?" And he would raise a thick eyebrow, and stare at them till they relented.

One day during the rainy season, Leia was by the riverside sitting on a rocky ledge over the river. Her feet dangled above the foaming water as she read. But unknown to her someone was creeping up behind her.

"What are you doing Leia? Testing the water for crocodiles are we?"

Leia jumped, sliding slightly on the rock before turning around to see who was behind her. It was a girl named Kai. "Oh it's just you, Kai. I thought it was someone important." She jibbed.

Kai was the daughter of the chiefs second in command, and thought herself important.

Kai scowled. "You know I hear their testing out new jaguar traps, you should volunteer as bait."

"Ah, see I would, but you would fill the position perfectly!" Leia smiled sweetly." Your smell would lure them in for miles!"

"I don't smell nearly as bad as you, the reason you catch so many fish is because they think you're one of them!" She snapped.

Leia rolled her eyes. "The reason I catch so many fish is because I'm not scared of a little water!"

Kais face flushed. "You think you're so brave. Always coming down here, you're going to end up eaten by a crocodile or drowned one day." She warned.

Leia placed a hand on her heart. "Aww, Kai, if I didn't know any better I'd say you cared."

She sneered. "On the contrary I look forward to it, you set a bad example. What if one of the little kids decided to follow you up here?" Her eyes trailed to the water.

Leia locked eyes firmly with Kai. "Then I would keep an eye on them. There's nothing dangerous about water if you're not being stupid." She turned back to the water. "Only an idiot would fall into the river." Leia shot back.

There was a beat in the conversation, but then Kai seemed to growl. "Guess that makes you an idiot then!" And she pushed Leia off the ledge.

Leia plundged into the water. It was bitterly cold, her legs and arms worked furiously to bring her back to the surface. Gasping for air as she was swept away, Leia tried call out for help, but only ended up with a mouth full of water each time she tried. It was a struggle to just keep her nose free.

She was pushed away down an unfamiliar path, where the stream became rockier and the trees grew thicker. Reaching out Leia tried to grab at the rocks to stop herself, but the slick stones cut her hands, and slipped out of her grasp.

Arms started stiffing with cold, legs began to cramp up, panick ebbed through her like a slowly crawling spider as she realized she couldn't stay up for much longer. As the river turned she smacked her head against something and lost consciousness.

The next thing she knew, someone was thumping her back, until water spewed out from her lungs, and she breathed in again.

"Little one, are you alright?" A clear bubbly voice asked. When Leia finished coughing out her lungs she rolled to her back, took a deep breath, and flinched.

Before her stood a giantess. From her head, long trails of thick ivy floated around as if still in water. Her large eyes were swirling pools of bright gold, tinted with brown flecks. A long sheet of dark green moss draped across her form, covering skin the color of the pale sky reflected in still water.

Leia pushed herself back, trying to get as much distance between herself and it as she could. She didn't go far, the entire area seemed to be surrounded by thick stalks of bamboo.

"What.... Who are you? What do you want?" She demanded.

The giantess swished her stray hair back and giggled.

"Such strong demands from one so small. I have not told a soul my name for at least a centry."

"What?" Leia questioned.

You could hear the smile as she spoke. "I am the rushing of the river, the gardener of the banks, I am quencher, thirst slacker." There was a beat of silence. "I am vitality and life that flows through all who drink from me. I am River." She spoke excitedly. "It's been many years since I've had a mortal!"

Leia was thoroughly bewildered but stayed silent and tense. What did she mean "had a mortal"? She decided to ignore that last part.

"Um, Yea but...like, what do I call you?"

She sighed. "I do have a name, but it would be unpronounceable to you, what I gave you was the translation of it." After Pausing to think for a moment she continued. "You can call me Malana if you wish." She moved her hand forward frowning. "You are injured."

"I'm fine." Leia said hurriedly, trying to shrink away from the hand.

Malana chuckled. "No you are not, let me see."

"Hey! Wait stop!" Leia yelled as she wrapping a hand around her. Lifting Leia close to her, and moving to the middle of the water.

"Show me your hands." Malana asked.

Leia held her hands close to herself, and shook her head. "N-No."

"Are all mortals like you Leia Hame?" Malana questioned curiously. "So stubborn that they would not receive the help of even a goddess?" She smirked at Leia's shocked face, and in her moment of brief bewilderment Malana snatched Leia's hands.

"How do you know my name?" Leia whispered.

Malana tsked and moved her fingers away. "I have known you for a long time, you are the only one that lingers by the river anymore." She grinned. "I have enjoyed your company, and I hope your fall into the river will not scare you away." Plucking a string of ivy from her hair, she held if over Leia. It wiggled and glowed with life as it crawled down and wrapped around the cut on her hand.

Leia shivered as it crawled down her. "I didn't fall, I was pushed." She said bitterly, then added staring at the plant. "That is so weird."

After a moment her hand tingled, the vine shriveled up, and crumbled into dust. The cut gone. Malana did the same to her head, and this time Leia didn't complain.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome." Malana bowed her head slightly.

Was this all real? How could it be? Perhaps she was dead and this was some sort of purgatory or in her head. None of this could be possible. Her thoughts were interrupted when she— Malana, began to move up stream.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you back, but do not worry" She added. "I will see you again."

Leia mumbled under her breath. "Is that a threat or a promise."

Malana just laughed, and carried her home.

When she was dropped off at the same ledge she was pushed from, she snuck home and changed into dry clothes. If Kai was surprised to see her alive the next day, she didn't show it. In fact no one seemed to know that Leia almost drowned yesterday! Leia didn't know whether to feel dissapionted or relieved that she didn't have to explain how she survied.

Over the next few days, the river calmed a considerable amount, despite the rain still continuing. She wondered if it was the doing of her new "friend". Kneeling to lower her jar, Malanas face popped out of the water.

Leia jumped and nearly dropped the ceramic jug. "What are you doing here?" She hissed.

"I came to see my favorite mortal." She grinned. "Of course your my only mortal."

Leia rolled her eyes. "Im not your mortal, but if someone sees you they're going to freak out!"

Malana smiled and reached to stroke Leia's hair. "Very well, I will leave for now but take this." The river lapped up the bank and dropped away leaving a small reed flute on the ground. "Call for me soon." And Malana bowed her head, and dissapered back into the water.

Leia picked it up and examined the small whistle. It was a child's toy, a simple five note flute that villagers often gave to kids during festivals.

That night, when the moon came out, Leia snuck out of the house and crept to the river. Finding a secluded spot just in case, she pulled out the Reed and blew a note. The water gurgled and bubbled, before Malana came bursting out in her full height.

"Greetings! It is good to see you again!"

"Shhhh!" Leia raised a finger to her lips. "You're going to get me in trouble! I'm not supposed to be out here." She wrung her hands nervously.

Malana nodded and changed to whisper. "My apologies little one. I am grateful you called for me." She curled her fingers on the bank mischievously. "Do you want to see something pretty?"

"Er... Sure?" She shrugged.

Malana picked Leia up. "Great! Hold your breath." And she dived back into the water.

This time, before Leia hit the water she took a deep breath. Under the water it was dark, the light of the moon did not reach far down. Malana kept a good grip around Leia as she rushed down the stream, faster than any run Leia had done before. Malana seemed to know where she was going, she took many twists and turns and at one point Leia was sure they were going up stream. Every half minute Malana would lift Leia above the water for a breath, and every time Leia was lifted, she could see that they were heading deeper into the jungle.

At last instead of lifting Leia up, she dived down deeper and slipped through a tight passage of rocks. Malana broke through the surface into a place of pitch darkness. Leia shuddered, and took a couple deep breaths. Wherever they were, it was cold and she could hear water in the distance.

"Where are we?" Leia asked nervously, her voice echoing.

She felt Malana drape a warm hand around her back. "Shhh. Silence you'll scare them." She warned quietly.

Leia tensed, scare what? What was here? She grabbed onto Malanas finger tightly and squeezed her eyes shut, not that it made much difference.

After a few minutes Malana pulled her finger away. "It's alright, look." Malana nudged Leia's head over.

Slowly she opened her eyes and gasped.

Hundreds of soft green lights covered the far side and ceiling, they pulsed and glowed slightly as if alive.

Malana was grinning behind her. "What do you think? I come here when I need peace."

"It's amazing." Leia stood up, the hand falling aside to let her get a better look. "What is it?" She whispered.

"Their glow worms, they don't like unfamiliar noises though."

Apologizing, Leia sat down quietly, to listen to the distant rumbling of far off water, and watch the wavering glow of the worms. It might have been the constant lull of water, or the dry warmths of the giant hand, but after an hour, Leia drifted to sleep.

Malana smiled, glad that her mortal felt comfortable enough to fall asleep in her hand. She brushed Leia's hair aside, and moved to lean against the cave wall. Settling Leia on her lap, she ripped a piece of moss from her clothes, and draped it over Leia's sleeping form.

"Goodnight Leia."

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Omg that was so loooooooonnnngggg! I'm almost sorry I made you read all that. I didn't want to split it into a two parter because I didn't have enough story for a second part.

Well as always send me a writing prompt and I'll do my best.