The days and weeks have melted one into another, and it's practically impossible to tell just sure how much time has gone by, as the environment down here doesn't seem to follow day cycles – Rather, the sunlight isn't discernable down this far, and any light comes from biological processes governed by whims far less regular than the rotating of the planet.

Arkold's servant was indeed able to acquire for him a couple of the jellyfish-like creatures, and he has had some time to practice floating about in an air bubble contained within the body of one of the creatures, prodding at it and tugging on tentacles in order to prompt it to coast this way or that – Simply relying on his own swimming to push the thing along, after all, makes for very slow going, and risks capsizing – and disaster.

Today is another such day, bobbing around in the creature, trusting the wetsuit to ward off the cold a little while longer, and gauging how much oxygen is left, all the while, looking for some sort of deviation from the regular routine, some sort of opportunity to win the trust of the Triton, or otherwise gain some ground on the current arrangement.

Maza floats about as well, in another one of the living bubbles. Alas, there's not any real way to communicate properly from bubble to bubble – Maza mostly just follows Arkold around, and waves frantically whenever she sees some Sirens coming or some other hint of danger or that they might have wandered off too far for the Triton's liking.

Raneah swims along nearby, keeping pace with Arkold's bubble. Presently, Arkold has made his way into a rift nearby the Siren "base", such as it is, and there seems to be a small "forest" of seaweed here, along with large clumps of moss clinging to the rocks.

The fish here are pale and colorless, shying away from the faint glow cast by the innards of the jellyfish-creatures. Their organs and skeletons can be faintly made off before the pale fish retreat into the shadows offered by the waving seaweed.

"Onward, bubble," mumbles the bubble-bound wolf. He prods the spherical "vehicle" downward toward the forest of seaweed below, being quite careful to keep at least one hand holding onto to it at all times. He has no wish to repeat the mistakes of a few days ago. Or was it weeks? As he considers it, he realizes he isn't sure.

There are no hints of any Sirens nearby. They seem to be letting Arkold move out further and further, as normally someone would have intercepted him and turned him back by now. However, it's quiet – so to speak – out this way, and there are no hints of the distinctive pulsating forms of Sirens – or the Triton – to be seen anywhere nearby.

Raneah looks back and forth. Although it's really hard to tell by her face alone, and also keeping in mind that she tends to be appropriately skittish as a slave regardless, Raneah seems a little unnerved.

Maza's expression seems appropriately cautious, but if she's especially concerned about the additional trust the Sirens seem to be showing, her face doesn't betray it.

After letting his bubble descend somewhat more, Arkold slows it to a stop and takes another look around. Bizarre skeletal fish, things that on his homeworld might be considered undead or merely magical. Here they swim about free of magic, and the wolf's grimace upon noticing one or another of them only shows he doesn't like the thought of this. In his scanning however he also notices his slave, Raneah, being extra skittish today. (What's she doin'? Ugh, maybe she missed another ear-breakin' custom … ah well.) He lifts a hand and waves her closer while making room for her to surface her head in the bubble.

Raneah stops brooding, and swiftly darts over toward Arkold. There's a splash, and the mermaid feline's head breaks the surface of the water in the air pocket contained in Arkold's bubble. "Yes, sire?"

With his free hand the Jupani motions around to the area beyond the bubble. "What's 'ere? Why ain't anyone comin' to stop us from bein' here, and why do you look so nervous?" he asks her as he bobs along in the water.

Raneah answers, "Edible plants, and I do not know, and that is why."

"Huh," comments the wolf. He shrugs, then points the Siren back down into the water. "Eh well, back into the water with yah."

Raneah nods, then ducks back down. There simply isn't enough room for her usual splashy exit, so Arkold is spared any sort of spray at her departure. Maza's bubble has drifted over to a cluster of plants, and she seems to be taking samples of some of the plant-life and stuffing them into pouches, in the air of her bubble – In order to keep things dry, she tends to keep a number of pouches on strings around her neck, as most of the time they aren't out long enough for the oxygen level to deplete enough for the water level to rise that far within the jellyfish-like bubbles.

Being less scientific than his vixen companion, Arkold simply directs his bubble around Maza's own. He takes a growing interest in the odd glowing fish however as they become less ethereal in his mind as he becomes more and more exposed to them. After a bit, he even tries to sneak up on a small one to see if he can grab it.

It takes several tries, all of which seem to be destined to be fruitless. While Arkold may be a deadly weapon in the flesh, when he's on dry ground, or maybe even wrestling an Akwavi in a flooding pit, he's having a rough time trying to maneuver this brainless jellyfish-like creature, and capture semi-translucent fish in the dark depths of the ocean. Plus, it doesn't help that his bubble is one of the most conspicuous light sources in the area, warning off the obviously smaller fish. However, on his last try, as he's chasing after what seems to be a school of little faintly glowing fish, he catches something … something translucent … with the school of fish inside it. It feels like he's got hold of something's tail … something as big as he is.

(Uhh … nice fish?) The wolf's expression just drops all at once. A second ago he was mildly amused by his game of chase the strange glowing fishes, and now he just looks like someone threw a stick grenade at his feet. He lets the tail go and slowly reaches for his knife. Very, slowly.

The little glowing fishes float off, and their luminescence slowly dissipates and fades. Whatever it is that he grabbed … he can't see it, and once the little fishes are gone, he has nothing to use to determine its position by.

Meanwhile Arkold's expression manages to actually droop more, until he looks remarkably unhappy about his invisible opponent. Still, he's uncertain if it even cares he's around. Regardless he moves to draw his knife anyway while hoping that his overall limited motion will serve to make him seem like less of a potential snack.

Everything is still and cold … Maza keeps getting bits of plants and stuffing them into pouches. Raneah swims lazily back and forth, keeping not far away from Arkold, lest he call for her. And then … there's a slight disturbance in the water, as if something just swam by … but Arkold sees nothing. And then … something bumps his jellyfish dome and knocks him back only a little bit, but with an irresistible force. The water ripples a bit, and suddenly it becomes evident just why Arkold couldn't see anything – It's a translucent fish, but one even more translucent than the others … and so large that it fills his vision, save for what he can see through the leviathan. It was no tail he had grasped earlier. It was a fin. He can vaguely make out the outline of something roughly shark-like in shape, and at least as large … and as it slides past him … it makes its way leisurely toward … Raneah.

As the creature passes, Arkold's eyes widen. His muzzle drops slightly and he finds himself and his skill significantly unimpressive in comparison to the invisible giant stalker. Once he realizes its target is not him, but most likely Raneah, he moves to act. Turning to Raneah he points toward her and makes a fist. He then frees his other hand for a moment to point where the invisible monster went and then makes chomping motions with that hand until this hand seems to 'chomp' on the fist hand.

Raneah just gives Arkold a perplexed and helpless look, and does the perfectly natural thing of starting to swim toward him in the hopes of finding out what he means … which, alas, brings her all the closer to the creature headed in her direction.

The water ripples a bit, as Arkold can vaguely make out the faintest silhouette of the creature's jaws opening up.

The jaws would seem to be facing away from Arkold … toward Raneah.

Arkold points at Raneah again, then points upward. He puts extreme emphasis on this up motion by repeatedly pointing that way. He even goes so far as to mouth a panicked 'Go!' in an attempt to signal her. It's a quick signal, but its all he thinks he can do in time.

Raneah gives Arkold another confused look … then starts swimming upward. The phantom-like creature adjusts its course accordingly, and opens its mouth wider as it closes in on Raneah.

The wolf's ears flatten back against his head. He frowns greatly as he tries for one more attempt to signal her. However, as he goes to make one last signal, he recalls something from some time ago. Instead he opts to make the Mariner's sign for danger. This he repeats for extra clarity.

Raneah's eyes widen a few degrees when Arkold makes the sign, and then, with a snap of her tail, she shoots upward … as the jaws of the creature come snapping closed – on nothing but water. The creature thrashes about angrily, and it loses its invisibility as traces of glowing color – reddish-pink – rush through its body, spelling out its considerable form. The buffeting of its thrashing tail sends Arkold and his jellyfish-bubble bobbing off, but fortunately not capsizing in the process, even though a few bubbles are knocked loose despite the wolf's best efforts to keep control.

(Thank the … uh … whew.) The wolf lets out a sigh of relief even as his bubble is pushed back across the forest of seaweed. He does his best to hold on as he tries to make out what is happening above him with Raneah.

The mer-cat jets off, with the large translucent predator in pursuit, and they disappear over the ridge. A few moments pass while Arkold regains control over his "mount", with no sign of the scarred mermaid.

With his mount now under his control Arkold takes a moment to rub his muzzle to ease the stress of what has occurred. Near-death moments aside, there was more to what happened than he might like to admit. (Eh, why? I, coulda let 'er get eaten and I'd have been sittin' pretty … ) He shakes these thoughts off and tries to locate the golden vixen Maza and her bubble.

The bubble is still where it was before. Maza seems to have completely missed the entire encounter! A near-death experience … and nobody to appreciate it. However, Maza looks up with a start … as several Sirens appear over the ridge. It looks like the Triton is among them.

Toward Maza Arkold tries to signal exactly what happened with his hands. He however gives up once the mass of Sirens approaches, and because he recalls just how useful that particular bit of signaling was last time. Motions abandoned, he turns to face the approaching Triton and scratches behind his ear uncertainly.

The Triton is flanked by his favored Sirens, and the whole group converges upon Arkold's position. The Triton slows, and then he opens his mouth, making a low noise that reverberates through the waters … but as the vibrations hit the translucent membrane of the jellyfish's skin, the noise is somehow changed back to sounds that Arkold can appreciate … though it sounds artificial, like a voice made by a one of those Chronotopian "talking machines", consisting of horns with strange bladders and filters, making a strangely tilted facsimile of sapient speech. "Well done," says the Triton, though the voice is not recognizable in this fashion. "You did well against the Sea-Wraith. Very wise, to send off your slave and lead it after her. If you had let it eat her here, it would have turned on you next. You show considerable level-headedness in the face of conflict. And you show great potential."

The wolf continues to scratch at his ear, although now its more than a bit self-conscious. "Ah well … " he starts. A grin crosses his muzzle, and he inclines his head to the Triton. "I was just doin' what I thought was, uh, best."

"Don't worry," the Triton says, "you will get another slave to replace the one you lost – It is only befitting."

Maza, within her bubble – which has gotten closer to Arkold's – casts a worried look in his direction, and then glances about at the surroundings.

Arkold's hand slides from his head, splashing into the water numbly. "Raneah … didn't make it? Eh, I … " He struggles with words he is unfamiliar with, uncertain of what to say or even the words to use. After a moment of silence he clenches his fist. "Is she really lost?" he asks, for the moment dropping his rogue accent.

Triton's "voice" can be heard, "Do not worry about the quality of your new slave. She will be much fairer than the last one. I will send her to your quarters." And then the Triton, without ever answering – or even acknowledging – Arkold's question, swims off, with his entourage, heading over the ridge.

The Jupani just nods slightly, before he inclines his head to the Triton as he departs. Once the Triton is gone the wolf lets his clenched hand release while growling quietly at nothing in particular.

Maza's bubble comes alongside Arkold's, and lightly bumps into it. She points to Arkold, then herself, then she holds up one hand and opens and closes it several times, then takes one hand and "dives" it into the layer of water in her bubble and brings it up again, and points at Arkold once more.

With an exhausted expression Arkold turns and regards Maza. Despite looking at her, his eyes seem to be focusing somewhere beyond her. As if he doesn't notice her existence at first. However once she starts signaling he nods once, and moves over to make some room.

Maza takes a deep breath … then dives into the water, swims under the two jellyfish … then surfaces again inside Arkold's sphere. She gasps for breath, then says, "What … happened? And where's Raneah?"

The mention of "Raneah" causes the wolf's ear to flick in a nervous tick. He points upward with his free hand before shifting his gaze to look up there as well. "She's dead," he answers quietly.

"But … how … when … ?" Maza sputters, looking at Arkold with lost eyes.

"I hadda go and do somethin' stupid. I awoke some 'Sea-Wraith' while I was tryin' to catch a fish, and it didn't care 'bout me. It went after Raneah. I tried to signal her but … I … " The wolf leaves his muzzle open, stopping in mid-sentence unable to continue. It's as if he's unable to even speak the words, to express his feelings in a way that is quite nearly alien to him.

"But … " Maza looks up to the ridge. "I heard the Triton. I … Were they waiting up there the whole time? Couldn't they have done something? It … it sounds like he knew there was one here!"

"He was testin' me … to see what I'd do," says the wolf. His eyes narrow and he turns his gaze toward Maza. "He, was testing me! You, Raneah … you were to be bait, and I was just some gladiator here to win his favor. It ain't right to, rrr, it ain't right when its someone but me!"

Maza looks at Arkold with an expression of disbelief, and then says, "He's … he's some sort of monster." Then, she puts her arms around Arkold and hugs him, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot. I missed the whole thing. I'm so … sorry."

Arkold's moves to intercept the hug in a reflexive action, but he can't move that fast in so short a time. So his hand just hovers in the air a few inches from Maza with his body positively tense at the hug. He looks at Maza with a mix of shock and emotional exhaustion unable to protest.

The hug doesn't last long, and it's not really clear if the hug was for Arkold, or for herself. "I hate him," she says, in an uneven voice. "Did they sit and watch it eat her? Did they listen to her scream? Does he enjoy that sort of thing?"

The Jupani remains in much the same frozen position as when he was hugged, even after Maza lets him ago. He only moves to talk and to slowly drop his hand back into the water. "I don't know. But, I can't stand it. I pointed her that way so'd they'd 'elp 'er, no so her death could be on my 'ead! I, didn't think anyone got a worse deal than I have … but Raneah, Vhai, she got the worst of raw deals. She had her life ruined by me, dyin' alone while her own people watched, just do they could see what I'd do! Rrr, I didn't think I'd be this way … "

Maza opens her mouth, but she can't seem to conjure up any words worth saying. Before she has much time to consider this, however, an approaching figure catches Arkold's eye – a lone Siren, swimming toward the two jellyfish-bubbles, from back over the ridge.

Arkold shifts his eyes to watch the approaching Siren. "My new slaves has arrived," he informs Maza quietly. He then points in the general direction of the approaching slaves. "I wonder if they'll have me sacrifice this one too. Or you. Who else gets ta die for Arkold? Even on Rephidim we treated slaves better than this."

Maza bites her lip. "I think it's going to get crowded in here. And I'm using up your air. I'll go back to my bubble for now. Unless you think otherwise." She looks askance to the wolf.

With a nod Arkold directs Maza off. "Right. But eh, first tell me … Do you think I killed Raneah?" He looks at the vixen carefully, searching for her reaction.

Maza looks at Arkold, and shakes her head. "No. You wouldn't do something like that." And then she takes a breath, dives under the water … and swims back to her own bubble.

"I wouldn't?" asks the wolf of an empty bubble. The words echo in his head, and as he considers them he turns to watch the Siren approach.

The new Siren swims up. Her hair is crimson red, matched by red tiger-stripes that run the length of her golden-orange body. She bears no obvious scars or deformities that Arkold can discern, and appears to be in good health. If she has been chosen to be Arkold's slave, it does not appear to be on account of any failing in physical appearance.

Though the echo of words fade, the don't escape Arkold completely. The comment attaches itself somewhere in his mind and even as he shifts his thoughts to regard the Siren before him it doesn't cease to gnaw at him. He studies the Siren carefully in an attempt to memorize what she looks like before he waves her to join him in the bubble.

The Siren nods, then dives and comes back up again, surfacing in Arkold's bubble. "I am Delah, sire. Though if my name does not please you, you may name me whatever you please."

She seems to be properly deferential … but she doesn't seem to be quite so cowed, quite so utterly surrendered to her lesser value as Raneah was. Her bearing suggests that she knows that she's beautiful, and takes some pride in it, slave to a land-dweller or not.

"Delah is fine," says the wolf. He tilts his head to the side and inspects her now that she's this much closer. "You're not like the, last one. I take it you are of different station than she … was?"

"Station?" queries the Siren, looking puzzled.

Arkold scratches his head a moment as he works out the words. "Eh, position. Rank or, uh, caste. Because Raneah was scarred she was of lower station than you and treated with contempt. Because yah are beautiful, you hold yourself in a way that shows y'ar better. Does that make sense?" he asks.

Delah smiles at the word "beautiful". "Of course, sire. I will please you."

"Uhh … huh. Please … ," repeats the wolf. He starts to grin widely but quickly catches himself and clears his throat. "We kin discuss this back 'ome. I ain't gunna be breathin' much longer if I stay 'ere, so we're goin' back. Go tell Maza we returnin' to the cave."

Delah nods and smiles. "I can take you back quickly. I am very strong and fast. Faster than Raneah. We saw her running from the Sea-Wraith. He will catch her in no time,but I can out-swim Sea-Wraiths easily. Shall I take you back quickly?"

"Wait, is Raneah still alive?" asks Arkold. His ears perk up.

Delah shakes her head. "Oh, she's probably eaten by now."

"I will bring myself to the cave. Your duty is to find if Raneah is alive, and if she is, save her from death. You will then bring her to me. If she is dead, you will report that to me. Go." With a wave of his hand he gestures the Siren to off to her assigned duty.

The Siren doesn't immediately leave. "Why should I? She is ugly. I am tired. You do not want to be bothered with her, sire. Here, let us go to the cave, and I shall distract you."

"I'll not abide by destruction of my property, by sea-whatevers or the armies of the worlds! I will also not tolerate insolence, and I find you are … questioning … my judgement. Is this to be expected of you?" growls the wolf. He glares at the Siren as he awaits her response.

The Siren shrinks back, her ears folding back into her head-hair. "I do not question you, sire. I do as you bid." With that, she abruptly ducks into the water, and zips away from the two bubble-pods.

Maza follows the departing form with her eyes, then looks at Maza with a raised eyebrow, and thumbs over her shoulder at the departing Siren and shrugs with her hands held up.

*** Note to GW: Looks at Arkold, that is. She's not that introspective.

The wolf rubs his muzzle tiredly, all though generating so much anger is hardly a difficult task for him, directing it right now is. He glances at Maza and gives her a smile before he points upward. With the hand that holds the jellyfish-bubble he directs his 'vehicle' upwards toward the Siren base.

Some time later … and with oxygen getting uncomfortably low … Arkold's jellyfish-bubble breaks the surface of the water in the cavern. Maza's follows shortly thereafter … and she promptly dives out of it and swims up, gasping for air.

Arkold pushes himself from under his own bubble and scrambles for dry land. Once he is beached enough where he needn't swim to float he coughs a few times and rolls on his back to rest. "Some day, eh?"

Maza coughs and gasps, kicking off her flippers and then struggling out of her wetsuit. "Some day? Yes … yes, that it was. By the First Ones … when I get out of here… " She collapses against a rock, smoothing out the folds of her tank-top. "Raneah … she wasn't much of a talker … but she really didn't deserve that."

The badly corroded little bells in Maza's tail make a pathetic little *RATTLE* sound.

"I've seen lotsa people die, and maybe you 'ave too. I don't know what volunteers get … I jus' know I've seen people die," says Arkold. The wolf rests where he is, not bothering to remove his gear or to pull himself completely out of the water. "Raneah was different though. I didn't want say it but we were the same, 'er and I. More than yah even kn- … " With furrowed brows Arkold rolls over to eye Maza. "Why in Dagh's name do yah got bells on yer tail, anyway?"

Maza just glowers at Arkold, then sighs. "It's a family tradition. They normally ring pleasantly when my tail swishes. But they weren't meant to be subjected to this sort of mistreatment. I'll have to get them tended to when I get … out of here." She furrows her brows. "Somewhere dry."

Despite himself, Arkold laughs. It's not an out-and-out belly laugh but more worn out response to an absurd situation. "Family eh? Wanna hear somethin' even more funny? I used to be a noble. Now I'm jus' a nobody jerk," he says in a weary voice. "And Raneah was jus' like me. Got scarred for what she thought was right, got dragged away to serve some … eh … someone like me. Only I got it a bit better."

Maza raises a brow. "A noble, hmm? What family?"

"Volkenheld. Or at least, I was a Volkenheld until they disowned me. Charged with murder and theft, broke into the palace. They got ridda' me when they heard," answers Arkold. Finally he sits up and begins removing his wetsuit, starting at the flippers.

Maza mouths an "oh". "Yes … yes, I think I can see theVolkenheld jaw-line in you," she says, after scrutinizing the wolf a bit. "And that would explain your … hobby."

Arkold glances over his shoulder at Maza as he removes the other flipper. "So yah know of my family, eh? Well, heh, Iquit the yorspice habit some time ago. Can't say it was my choice though, didn't exactly get a big supply in the cells of the Khattan Emirate." He pats his knife and returns his gaze to his work. "The Legion sure gave me an alternative though."

Maza wrinkles her nose distastefully. "Yes, they did. So … do you think you'll ever be able to kick the habit? Or have you even tried?"

"Tried? Hah! It's what keeps me goin'. You don't think I made it this far jus' because I had something to shoot for did you? I can't just go back to Sinai even if I were released. Truth is, I don't know what I'm even gunna do," answers Arkold. He tosses the flippers over his shoulder toward his pile of things and then begins on the wetsuit itself.

Maza frowns, and seems to deflate a little. "That's it? Huh. All right, not like I took you for a closet devotee of the First Ones or of Primus or anything like that … but sometimes it looks like there's this little bitty good Arkold inside you, just begging to be let out. Except you have to keep up this tough exterior, show the world that you're oh-so-bad … Why? I've seen you kill some of those fish out there. And you obviously did a number to some Corsairs. Why do you have to prove anything?"

Arkold stops what he's doing and places his hands on his knees, letting his eyes glare into the water as he considers Maza's words. "I don't know! I, just hate everything so much, and if you don't act strong in the face of everything … everything can see it!" He smacks his fist into his other hand. "You wanna hear what's really funny? I was scared when I knew Raneah was done for. Not just because it was my fault, but because I saw myself in her. That could'a just as easily been me dying alone as other people watched … or laughed! You think it's untrue, but it almost happened! I, don't want to die like that."

Maza frowns, and looks down. There's a long pause, and then she says, "I don't want to, either. I keep imagining that you're going to get into some sort of fight, and Triton will get what he wants out of you and you'll get yourself killed … and then I'll just quietly die back here … and nobody will ever know what became of me. And … I'm not really sure if anyone will really care."

The wolf jerks his head around and points right at Maza. "That's it! No one cares what becomes of us! Vhai, we're not people, we're trash. Thrown away when we're all used up. I used to despise Savanites, because they were free slaves and I was like how they used to be. I hated that. But, curse it all, I don't care so much now. Good for them! They don't have to be trash anymore … "

Maza frowns. "Well, maybe to them, we're trash … but we don't have to act like it. This is a whole new world here. Sure, we're in a mess of a situation right now … but … I think we can get out of this. Who knows? Maybe you can make some sort of peace. And what if you can't? I'm amazed you even want to try. That's a fair deal better than any trash would bother."

Maza hugs her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin on her kneecaps. "If you can't make peace … then I'm awful proud of you for at least hoping to, Arkold. First Ones know, we haven't gotten much in the way of chances here."

The wolf lets his hand drop and rubs the back of his head. "You gotta point there," he admits. He's silent for a moment as he lets that sink in before he nods. "You know what, I, I'm gunna try and get us out of here. And … I think I'm gunna give it a shot. If I'm going to die here, then I'm not gunna be laughed at. I'm, going to be remembered. But Vhai, I don't think I do want to die … I, just, want to prove I'm not trash. Maybe I still need to learn to believe, I don't really like being this way."

Maza gets up and walks over to Arkold, sitting down beside him. "Good for you, Arkold. You just hang in there. We're not dead yet. Not by a long shot."

The vixen then tries to smile. "And, who knows? Maybe if you're really nice to your slave … I don't know … maybe you can make a positive impression. Maybe she'll think it's so alien to be treated like a real, thinking, feeling being … and not like … like … well, you know!" She gestures helplessly with her hands.

With a grin, Arkold reaches over and pushes Maza a bit by the shoulder. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?" He shakes his head slightly at her and moves to continue removing his wetsuit. "Whatever happens, Maza, I want you to live okay? Don't die here. Vhai, maybe if we ever get outta here I can try that idea I had. We got a lot of talent amongst us rejects, we'd make somethin' of a great mercenary group. Then, maybe we could change some things."

Maza smirks, shaking her head. "Yes, you could kill things, and I'll distract them with my vulpine charms!" She swishes her tail. *RATTLE* Her smile momentarily fades as she sighs at her tail. But before she can dwell on that too long … the surface of the water breaks, as a couple of mermaids float up.

"Heh, if you think I'm lettin' you near combat, you're sa- … eh?" Curiously Arkold turns his head around toward the surfacing mermaids before he leans forward to get a loot at them. His ears perk up so he doesn't miss anything.

One of the mermaids is Delah, with a somewhat sour expression on her face. The other is the limp and somewhat bloodied form of Raneah, carried in Delah's arms. "I have returned, sire," announces Delah, "and I have done your bidding." She swims up to the "shore" formed by the sloping rock shelf and shoves Raneah's body unceremoniously onto the shallows, then backs away, as if Raneah's form were something distasteful, not to be touched for any longer than necessary.

The Jupani's eyes widen and he leaps to his feet, forgetting he still has part of a wetsuit around his legs. Quickly he kicks the rest off. "Maza! Can you do anythin' to help Raneah?" he asks.

Maza's eyes go wide in surprise, and she rushes over, leaning over. "She's still alive!" she reports to the Jupani, and drags her further up the slope for better access. She looks about, then sighs, and tears off strips from the belly area of her tank top, making bandages to wrap around Raneah's wounds.

"Go ahead and use my jacket if you need to," calls out Arkold. He rushes over to where Maza has dragged Raneah and he quickly removes his knife. This he offers over as well. "Anything else yah need to save 'er, just ask."

Maza asks, "You wouldn't by any off chance have saved some little container of alcohol, would you? Everything's so blasted moist and unsanitary down here." She sighs. "But, to be honest, I don't know that much about first aid – I could end up killing her, for all I know. But it's not like we have much to lose at this point."

"Eh, lemme check," responds the wolf. He kneels down by his things and puts the knife near Maza before he begins digging through the pile of clothes, drugs, and gifts from the Triton. "Oh and eh, if you need boilin' water, this water gets pretty hot. There's probably a vent around here somewhere."

Some time later, after some treatment of Raneah's wounds to the best of the combined abilities of a couple of people who really know very little about proper medicine, Raneah is bandaged up, and resting on some dried lichen and Maza's wetsuit.

Delah has since disappeared, promising to come back should her "sire" need her, "once he's finished wasting his time with the ugly one". After some time, Raneah stirs a bit. "Unh … " She mutters some gibberish, then finally opens her eyes, looking about the room.

"She's awake," notes Arkold as he leans closer to the mer-cat. He had been sitting and watching her since she had been placed on the wetsuit to rest, keeping his muzzle propped on his hand as he kept an eye on her. "How yah feelin' Raneah?"

Raneah blinks up at Arkold, and says, "I am fine, sire. I am sorry for getting myself wounded. I will be more careful."

Maza sighs and covers her face. "She's back to normal, all right."

Arkold smirks. "Heh, well, chew on this. We saved you. Not 'cause yer my property or anythin', but because I … WE, didn't want you to die. I, thought it over and I can't jus let people be thrown away like trash." The wolf reaches over and pushes some of the mer-cat's hair out of her face. "Doesn't matter what you, or I, or anyone looks like really."

The mer-cat blinks up at Arkold for a few moments … and then turns to one side so that her scarred side is down, facing the rock. "As you say, sire," she whispers, then glances querulously up at Arkold again. "You saved me. I … I am glad, sire."

The Jupani reaches over and pushes his own hair out of his face. He then shifts his head so that Raneah can see his own scars more clearly. "Don't think these make a difference." He points to the scar that runs up his lip and across his nose before he smiles. "Someone with more sense than I mentioned I might wanna treat you as a person. Well, I had been, but eh … I'd been coverin' it up behind a bunch of posing. I thought you'd wanna know, I felt pretty guilty when I thought you were dead."

The mer-cat looks back up at the wolf with her one good eye. "Why, sire?"

"Well … it's selfish, but eh here goes. See, we're a lot alike you and I. I used to be a noble. It's kinda like, how you were before. Then I lost that and I was sent here. I got most of my scars durin' that time. I, was more 'er less someone's slave myself. So, watchin' you die was like watchin' myself die. But, that wasn't all of it. See, I really didn't want you to die because of me. Because I felt responsible fer what's happened to you. And well, I didn't really want you to die at all … because I, uh … you know," answers the wolf. He fidgets a bit with his free hand, rubbing his arm.

Raneah struggles to sit up on her makeshift bed, regarding Arkold for a long moment.

Raneah then just leans over and against Arkold's side.

Arkold blinks in surprise at the Siren's action. He shifts himself so he doesn't fall over, but he makes no effort to push her away or complain. Instead after he is balanced he hesitantly places an arm around Raneah's shoulder and looks over to Maza for a moment questioningly.

Maza smiles, resting her chin on one hand, and grins the more when Arkold looks at her way. She gives Arkold an "okay" sign and nods approvingly, winking, then reaches over and gives Raneah's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I think you'll be doing fine, Raneah. We'll do our best to make sure you get better. You're our friend, and we care about you." *RATTLE*

"Uh yah, that's it exactly. We may have been enemies in the past but I, don't want to hurt you or see yah hurt ever again. You'll see, I'll try my best and make it up to you. Maybe, maybe someday we can end all this fightin'," says the Jupani. He adjusts his seating around a bit so he can lean against the rock and provide Raneah with more comfortable support.