Fantasy [ - game of survival - ] tylluan x kabboom

[tylluan]

Isa

washing up.

She should've known something was wrong the second it went quiet. The water was murkier than normal - she couldn't see a hand in front of her face. But even so, she went forwards, not backwards. Away from the distant calls of her kin and closer to something shining, determined to end the life of the land-dweller that had fallen into her domain. It was the same old story - some underdog trying to prove themselves. Maybe it was just sheer recklessness. She wasn't really sure. Either way - she'd gotten herself into this mess, and she intended on getting through it, no matter what.

She knew it was a mistake when pain tore down her side. Gritting her teeth, Isa whipped around to see the glinting culprit sink down to the seafloor. A harpoon? It had only grazed her, but it had grazed her fin. It was enough to cause pain when she swam forward, and enough for her to falter as the current began to push her.

"Oh," she breathed out, hearing the muffled crack of thunder from above the sea. A storm had whipped up. How hadn't she noticed? She should never have strayed from clear waters, but she'd been so determined to chase her prey, to chase down that damned ship.

The graze bled. It hurt a little more than it bled, and both were enough for her to divert too much attention to it. As she turned to look at the mild wound, another rumble sounded overhead. She sighed slowly, bubbles floating upwards. It would be fine. The storm wasn't strong enough to throw her around too badly, and she could go deeper into the ocean until the storm passed. Then she'd find her way home. There were no problems here. Steeling themselves, she began to swim downwards. Another crack. She ignored it - and maybe that was her mistake, really. It hadn't occurred to her that the ship was still in the area, nor had it occurred to her that while this storm was an inconvenience to her, it was something more dangerous to those who lived on the land.

Isa didn't know what was coming for her until it hit her. It was enough for her vision to blur, and then fade to black.

The first sign that something was wrong: freshwater.

Her gills filtered the water just the same - it was all oxygen-filled for her kind. Isa groaned as she rolled onto her stomach, fingers curling against the rocks below her. She took a deep breath and tried to figure out reasonings for the freshwater. Maybe she was dreaming. This happened, right? Sure, her kind always dreamt of living elsewhere. Her father had been a river-dweller, after all. This was normal. She half-opened her eyes, and was quick to realise that it was much, much worse than that.

Sunlight filtered through the trees and dappled the calm river. It would've been a beautiful sight had panic not seize up her chest as she got up and swam in a circle, scaring the nearby fish away from their feeding. The river was large, sure - and she could sense that it likely had access to the entire island, with a large body of water at the center. That was...it was a lot of space, of course, but nowhere near the size of the ocean. She could smell saltwater on the air, but she knew there'd be no way to access it. Isa ran her hand through her curly hair, eyes narrowing as she followed the current of the river. Her side ached, but she didn't have time to think about that.

The lake wasn't as far as she'd expected. She grimaced at the sight of ducks, winced as she brushed past some reeds. Isa had done a mission in a city river before - it didn't take much to transport a mersoldier, really. It had been much worse than this - in comparison to a city, this was paradise. But Isa was from the sea, and she belonged in the sea. While prey ran plentiful and the water was clean enough to see through to the bottom, she didn't like it. It was off. There was something wrong.

Finally, she reached the shore and rested her elbows on the grassy bank, resting her chin in her hands. The treeline was thick - the air was near-silent. She strained to listen for a few moments, then groaned audibly.

"This is wrong," she said. A duck looked at her. "Shit!" as her voice raised, the duck quacked with alarm and swam away from her. Isa rested her forehead on the grass. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, keeping her human-half on the ground like this. She rolled over to look at the sky, tail splashing loudly in the water. "This is how I die," she told nobody in particular. "My own hubris. It has overcome me."

code by valen t.

Spoiler: uncoded post

She should've known something was wrong the second it went quiet. The water was murkier than normal - she couldn't see a hand in front of her face. But even so, she went forwards, not backwards. Away from the distant calls of her kin and closer to something shining, determined to end the life of the land-dweller that had fallen into her domain. It was the same old story - some underdog trying to prove themselves. Maybe it was just sheer recklessness. She wasn't really sure. Either way - she'd gotten herself into this mess, and she intended on getting through it, no matter what.

She knew it was a mistake when pain tore down her side. Gritting her teeth, Isa whipped around to see the glinting culprit sink down to the seafloor. A harpoon? It had only grazed her, but it had grazed her fin. It was enough to cause pain when she swam forward, and enough for her to falter as the current began to push her.

"Oh," she breathed out, hearing the muffled crack of thunder from above the sea. A storm had whipped up. How hadn't she noticed? She should never have strayed from clear waters, but she'd been so determined to chase her prey, to chase down that damned ship.

The graze bled. It hurt a little more than it bled, and both were enough for her to divert too much attention to it. As she turned to look at the mild wound, another rumble sounded overhead. She sighed slowly, bubbles floating upwards. It would be fine. The storm wasn't strong enough to throw her around too badly, and she could go deeper into the ocean until the storm passed. Then she'd find her way home. There were no problems here. Steeling themselves, she began to swim downwards. Another crack. She ignored it - and maybe that was her mistake, really. It hadn't occurred to her that the ship was still in the area, nor had it occurred to her that while this storm was an inconvenience to her, it was something more dangerous to those who lived on the land.

Isa didn't know what was coming for her until it hit her. It was enough for her vision to blur, and then fade to black.

The first sign that something was wrong: freshwater.

Her gills filtered the water just the same - it was all oxygen-filled for her kind. Isa groaned as she rolled onto her stomach, fingers curling against the rocks below her. She took a deep breath and tried to figure out reasonings for the freshwater. Maybe she was dreaming. This happened, right? Sure, her kind always dreamt of living elsewhere. Her father had been a river-dweller, after all. This was normal. She half-opened her eyes, and was quick to realise that it was much, much worse than that.

Sunlight filtered through the trees and dappled the calm river. It would've been a beautiful sight had panic not seize up her chest as she got up and swam in a circle, scaring the nearby fish away from their feeding. The river was large, sure - and she could sense that it likely had access to the entire island, with a large body of water at the center. That was...it was a lot of space, of course, but nowhere near the size of the ocean. She could smell saltwater on the air, but she knew there'd be no way to access it. Isa ran her hand through her curly hair, eyes narrowing as she followed the current of the river. Her side ached, but she didn't have time to think about that.

The lake wasn't as far as she'd expected. She grimaced at the sight of ducks, winced as she brushed past some reeds. Isa had done a mission in a city river before - it didn't take much to transport a mersoldier, really. It had been much worse than this - in comparison to a city, this was paradise. But Isa was from the sea, and she belonged in the sea. While prey ran plentiful and the water was clean enough to see through to the bottom, she didn't like it. It was off. There was something wrong.

Finally, she reached the shore and rested her elbows on the grassy bank, resting her chin in her hands. The treeline was thick - the air was near-silent. She strained to listen for a few moments, then groaned audibly.

"This is wrong," she said. A duck looked at her. "Shit!" as her voice raised, the duck quacked with alarm and swam away from her. Isa rested her forehead on the grass. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling, keeping her human-half on the ground like this. She rolled over to look at the sky, tail splashing loudly in the water. "This is how I die," she told nobody in particular. "My own hubris. It has overcome me."

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

She was alive. Dead as she was, she was still alive.

Corianne flicked through her mental book of memories, as she bobbed up and down on the salty waters. The pages seem blurred, awash with blemishes as the ink in the manuscript melded with the blue sea. The tingling on her flesh came back to her, in tiny clumps of pain and soreness; after what felt like an eternity, she could feel the rotten wood that her arms wrapped around, her ragged pants dragging down her left leg, and her free right leg desperately kicking to keep her afloat. The marred pages wiped themselves clean, as the waves that hit her face splashed her back to life. She remembered where she was, who she was - and how fucked she was.

Her eyes made out a vague island-shaped blob of sand and trees ahead, and started kicking like hell to reach it. The piece of ship that she had in front of her was barely functional as a buoy, and she was taking in more and more water with each dip beneath the waves - frightening, given the reminder that she doesn't actually know how to swim. Corianne had to make it to the sandy shores, or she'll drown beneath the waters - and be food for the mermonsters below. Riding each and every wave she could, the island inched closer and closer to her, teasing her to let go of the driftwood and paddle for it, but she kept cool; only on the last bit of distance did she let go, letting her former piece of ship mast fly off to her left as her legs grazed over rough coral, drawing some blood, before finding solid purchase on smooth sand.

She took her time appreciating the earth beneath her feet with a celebratory lying-on-the-sand-while-gasping-for-air session. And while she baked in the sun and started to shiver with the cold air brushing across her wet body, the details of the naval battle that sunk her ship came back into her mind. She was just a cook, working away on the flagship Sword of Andalon, the pride of the kingdom. Corianne had just finished peeling the last of her potatoes when a gnarly storm set in - horrors unimaginable crashed and banged against the hulls, and the naval marines who passed by her door wore progressively glum looks on their faces as the night grew darker. The captain had just gave her the word to take up arms before something broke through the aft of the ship and flung a loose barrel lid at her head. She came to, the Sword of Andalon was going under and she hopped into the stormy waters, flailing and thrashing among other shipwrecked crewmen before snagging driftwood and just hanging on for dear life. And here she was.

Recovering her senses, the girl did a double-take of her current situation: her pants had fallen off and were basically torn to shreds, so that just left her soiled underwear and soggy shirt. Her amber eyes scanned the surrounding beach area, with her calloused yet lithe hands stroking through the tangled onyx-colored mess that was her hair, hoping to put it into a bun or something. The blindingly-white sands were home to a multitude of creatures, ever so tiny, slithering and running about in the fine silicate material beneath her, and also a fair amount of driftwood, tattered paraphernalia, busted-open crates, random knick-knacks and... corpses. Stifling her urge to retch up yesterday's lunch, Corianne tried to ignore the stinking bodies and reached for the nearest few utensils she could find: a spear shaft with its infinitely more useful head broken off, leaving a vaguely sharp wooden stump, accompanied by some weird mer-thing items she couldn't exactly make out. She stuffed the latter into her pants-turned-satchel, and held the former with whatever courage she could muster, and walked into the forest in search of... anybody, in nothing but a damp shirt and her underwear.

The more she walked, the more shade and greenery she saw, deeper into the isle - and the more dread and pain she felt. Even as just a cook, she was aware that the war effort wasn't what it seemed back home: if the mer-savage was like what the cheery nobles spoke of, the navy wouldn't have been ground up this badly. Now, she's on a nameless island in the middle of contested waters, with no other fleet of important size within the vicinity to even pass by and notice her, and surrounded by mermonsters. She could subsist on this isle for, what - a week? A month? She doubted her ability to make a boat strong enough to go back home, and her martial skills - more specifically, the lack thereof - was the whole reason she was put on the most prestigious flagship of her realm as a simple cook, nowhere near enough to repel any mermonsters should she come across them. There was no other way off this island.

'This is how I die,' Corianne thought. "My own hubris. It has overcome me." That second part infused her with panic - she was pretty sure she didn't think that second part out loud. Eyes darting around, she found a quaint little lake with grassy banks and frolicking ducks - and a mermonster. Her heart pounded against her frail ribcage, and her arms barely held up the spear in an intimidating manner, trembling as the spearhead pointed at the enemy. She gulped as she inched closer as silently as she could - the thing was unaware of her presence yet. Part of her mind yelled at her to run away with everything she had in her - the mer-people were unable to go on land, they couldn't, right? Another voice in her head whispered murmurs of murder - they were at war, after all, and an enemy is an enemy.

But the part that won her over was her fear of dying alone on this island. She desperately needed another companion as soon as possible, and judging by how her footsteps were the only one she found on the beach, this was the closest thing to one she'll find in a long while - enemy or not. With a shaky voice and her spear raised high, she announced her presence. "St-stay right there, mer-beast! You've got- uh, nowhere to hide!"

 

[tylluan]

isa
​

Her gaze fixed firmly on the ducks in the water, on the fish she could see below the surface. It could be useful to hunt, but she didn't think she had the energy for that. The sun above was nice, anyway - maybe she could find some boulders to sun herself on. It would take a long while to figure out how to get from the river system back to the sea - so she could take her time with it, and take it at a pace she was more comfortable with. That sounded nice. She sighed slowly through her nose - and the scent caught her seconds before the voice did. ​

​

Merbeast. She blinked rapidly and moved quickly, sliding back into the water before she turned to face the stranger, pupils narrowed to slits to expose pale green irises as she assessed the situation. It was a human. Or, at least, she was pretty sure it was a human. Two legs, no horns that she could see, no tail...she could've been mistaken, of course - she'd heard of plenty of beings that had the same traits, but she wasn't going to study the creature as much as she would need to figure out what it was. She lowered her head until just her eyes were above the water, considering her options thoroughly. Isa didn't think that this being could overpower her, but she had an advantage due to the land around them. ​

​

"Nowhere to hide?" she repeated dubiously, turning a circle and scaring away a few of the ducks that had settled nearby. Her tail - long and strong, reminiscent of a tiger shark, - splashed in the water, causing strong ripples in the otherwise calm lake surface. Isa lifted her head again and pulled her lips back to reveal serrated canines, dark brows pulling down. "I have an entire network of rivers to hide in. It is you who cannot hide."​

​

Despite the confidence in her voice, she knew she was bullshitting. Maybe she was relying on the potential of this stranger not knowing much about her kind, or maybe she was just trying to seem stronger than she was. Isa's side still ached and she must've caught it on something, because fish came to her side, attracted by the scent of blood. She batted them away with one hand, water catching the webbing between her long fingers. She wondered what state this stranger was seeing her in - dark hair tangled and undecorated, brown skin mottled with bruising. She didn't have any weapons on her - not that she needed them, but it was always a comfort. Hell, she didn't even have her armour. It made her feel exposed - the flesh of her upper-half was much softer than on her tail. And yet. She needed to appear threatening, needed to seem as strong as she would've been back with her unit. ​

​

Isa shook her head and rose from the water until only her tail was submerged, resting on the sandy lakebed beneath her. She put her hands on her hips and eyed the spear. ​

​

"Do you think you can injure me with that?" she asked, then laughed. Isa had always been rough in voice, but her laugh was much rougher. "Who are you, to dare point that at me? You are clearly no soldier." ​

​

But was she not? Isa couldn't tell. Humans looked much different when they were underwater and terrified, and she wasn't sure she'd ever seen one in their own territory. Shit. Was she the trespasser here? She doubted it. When she lifted her head to the air to scent it, she couldn't smell anything but this human and...decay, maybe. The greenery around her stopped her from scenting properly. It wasn't like the ocean, where she could find anything she wanted. It wasn't like the sparse isles the mer had taken over for their semi-aquatic allies, either. This was an entirely foreign land to her. Emphasis on the land. If there was a land-dweller settlement here, she would likely be the last to know about it. ​

​

This human, though. They would be the first. She drummed her fingers quietly against her own skin, eyes narrowing at the enemy. ​

​

"Are you stranded?" her lips curved upwards. Just slightly. Continue playing confident, and all will be fine, one part of her said. But another part of her shook its head quietly. Or this being will kill you for your cockiness, and you'll be worse off than you started. It was a dilemma - to be an arse or not to be. She tilted her head down slightly. "We're not called merbeasts." she said, instead of the witty and potentially hilarious words she most definitely had stored up in her mind. ​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

The mer-girl spoke back to her. And she's not afraid - fuck! There goes half of Corianne's plans. With each additional word that came out of the mer-beast's mouth, her confidence and fool's courage diminished little by little, until she'd lost every bit of strength she thought she had. The shitty excuse of a weapon she brandished slowly lowered, its pointed tip barely directed at the mer-monster. The enemy had pierced through her own thin veil of lies disguised as threats, and she'd run out of ideas - other than trying to kill the damned monster, of course.

Eyeing up the opposition now that her chances of stealth had just gone out the proverbial window, the shy cook couldn't hide the amazement at the mer-girl's features; she was most amazed at the long, shark-like tail the mer sported, swirling the waters after her taunting circle around the lake. The mer-monster's human upper half, bruised from the beatings of yesterday's storm, looked surprisingly... well, human - were it not for the marine appendage, and her terrifying serrated teeth, Corianne might've mistaken her for a girl she once knew in her home shire. But this wasn't her home town - and this thing wasn't her friend.

"You don't look so hot yourself. How's that side of yours, huh?" Corianne mustered with her frail, meek voice, gesturing with her spearhead at the mer's bleeding side; they do bleed red. The mer-monster's words struck true on two aspects: Corianne was no fighter, and she wasn't even sure how to use this spear, in all honesty; and she really was stranded on this isle. The mer was wrong about one thing though, and that may just be the bargaining chip Corianne needed to hold her own in this conversation. "Maybe I am stranded - but so are you. Our magics spill into the sea when the ships go down; you try to escape through the river, and it'll choke you dead. I've seen it happen myself." The mana that powered their warships were a volatile breed, kept in check by the ship mages - once the vessel goes under, the energies leak into the water, its destructive properties corroding and corrupting all natural life around it. She'd seen it happen during a previous battle, even rushing to the upper decks to see it occur: the sight of mer-warriors bobbing up and down on the surface near the wreck of the Pious Conqueror will be hard to wipe from her mind. Only other ship mages can siphon it out from the sea for reuse - but again, no one else is gonna pass this godforsaken rock any time soon.

Shifting her balance, Corianne opted to get closer to the bank, but still far enough away that the thing won't be able to harm her if it decided to go for a lunge. "I... I propose a truce. We are both in need of help, and we are both stuck here. It w- won't be good if we continue to be at each other's necks. Could we work... together, for now?" Corianne lowered her spear down to her feet, trying to hide her quivering left leg behind her more dominant right to appear more intimidating - though she was sure she looked no more menacing than grass to a cow.

 

[tylluan]

isa
​

Curiosity filled Isa as she watched the human - for she was sure that this being was human, now. Her eyes flicked down to her own side and she frowned minutely, closing her mouth and brushing her hand over the wound. It had been irritated by the storm, pulled a grade above a graze - but nothing that wouldn't heal quickly. Even now, the bleeding was starting to slow. There were plenty of fish that could aid with keeping the wound clean, and she didn't doubt that rivers held them just as plentiful as the ocean. If the clear waters were anything to go by, maybe they were even in a more plentiful supply. She huffed through her nose, gills underneath her ribs flaring slightly as she did so. ​

​

But more importantly - new information. Isa's head tilted to the side, hair falling aside to reveal her pointed ears, tinged with the same green of her eyes at the tips. She hadn't known that land magic did that. She'd heard horror stories of mersoldiers who were stranded, of course, but she hadn't thought about the possibility of vicious magic being the main thing keeping her here. She'd thought that she'd have to find a way to a river connecting near the beach, one that fed from saltwater. That solution was shattered, and her teeth worried her lip as she glanced away from the human, running her hand over her jaw quietly.​

​

"Why must you keep such a vicious magic?" she asked, though she did not expect an answer. Isa tilted her head upwards to the sky, letting the warmth of the sun fall over her face, sighing slowly. This was nice, at least. Sunning would be good here. "Perhaps you are right." her own words surprised herself - she snorted quietly and shook her head, looking back to the human with a quietly curious gaze. She lowered from her intimidating posture and instead swam closer to the bank, examining the spear quietly. From the corner of her eye, she spotted some smooth rocks that looked like they did well in the sun. ​

​

The distraction caused her to move away from the human, nose twitching as she scented the air. Her hands splayed over the smooth, warm surface of the boulder. Warily, she glanced at the human, then at the spear again. But she didn't think an attack was coming. A truce, she thought, gills flaring once more as she heaved herself out of the river and onto the rock. It took some maneuvering, but eventually she managed to settle on it comfortably, with only her tail fin in the water. Isa rested her chin on her arms, finally able to settle comfortably - but cautiously. If she had to move quickly, she could. But she didn't think the human knew that. Sunning was a private affair - something an enemy didn't know about, she supposed. But then - did humans sun? Maybe they did, and maybe this wasn't as private as she thought. Regardless. ​

​

"Fine," her tongue tested the edge of one of her canines. "A truce it is. Working together - sure. We are both stranded," she sighed slowly. This was a horrible predicament to be in, but she supposed it would be nice to have an ally - no matter how temporary. "And what, pray tell, are you bringing forth? I am commanding these waters, where fish are plentiful for food. What do humans do? You hardly look streamlined to hunt anything," she lifted her nose to the air briefly, "and your skin looks so soft, I would think that a predator may pierce it too easily." ​

​

She spoke as if these things were just a matter of fact, rather than insult. Isa had never encountered humans outside of combat, where their lungs could not tolerate the waters. There were certainly more formidable foes - though she supposed their advancement was something to admire. Or their bravery. Or was it stupidity? She didn't know the difference, really. ​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

Oh thank the gods, a truce. Corianne's shoulders sank in relief at the mer's compliance. In truth, she had no other plans if the mer had just simply said no - as embarrassing and pathetic that would've been. Now, the mer-girl had reached further up onto the bank, resting her human parts on a sizeable boulder while her mesmerizing fish part remained in the water - just far enough away that her spear wouldn't reach the mer in time, and just close enough for a dastardly lunge to snatch her leg. Damn merbeasts.

Ignoring that, however, it seems an agreement has been met. With a sigh of relief, Corianne slumped down on her ass, and sitting down with her legs pointed away from the mer's side of the lake. With her hiked up adrenaline, she hadn't even noticed how fatigued she was until the soreness of her calves screamed out to her, and her throat protested the lack of water intake since she came to. Waiting for when the new 'friend' wasn't looking, her amber eyes glanced down for but a second, looking at the vague mer-constructs neatly stored in her makeshift satchel. Even now, she couldn't devise a reasoning or use for them, but they could be weapons or something that deployed a distress signal, or something that helped these things fly, or walk on land or something - surely those things don't exist, but what does she know about mer-stuff?! She can't risk the mer learning of these things... yet.

Her eyesight lessened and lessened, until it began wobbling in a way that she couldn't comprehend or describe. The protests coming from her parched throat grew louder and louder in her mind, calling out for water. Glancing over to the mer-girl on the rock, Corianne decided to trust in the truce they'd agreed on, and crawled up to the water with her spear left on the shore. Kneeling on the mossy, sandy banks, her calloused hands cupped together to bring lakewater - freshwater - up to her face. The ecstatic taste was cool, almost sweet... and sandy, but she couldn't care less about that last aspect right now. She was sure it would result in bellyaches or other ailments, but she simply couldn't wait for a fire to get going.

Taking the opportunity to also wash her face with the sweet fresh liquids, Corianne was slightly startled by the mer-girl's words of 'encouragement'. Glancing up to meet the mer's gaze, ignore the teeth, ignore the teeth, Corianne gulped down her resolve and spoke back. "I don't need to aggressively hunt," her memories of setting up snares in the countryside bolstered her courage, "we humans have ways of hunting without being present. And, my name is Corianne. You don't have to call me 'human' or whatever else you call us." Scooting back to her original sitting spot, left hand twirling around the grass, she set her gaze across the lake, skipping stones across the water with her imagination. "It'd be nice if I knew what to call you too. You know, now that 'merbeast' isn't an option anymore."

A moment of silence, as she simply focused on the way the water shimmered, its surface disturbed by the recent wake of mer-tail. Her mind now ran over the survival instincts her brothers and friends taught her - at least, what little she actually remembered. Being a town cook didn't exactly leave a lot of opportunities for her to utilize those skills, and they simply faded away. She knew how to make fires, though - that's a start as good as any. Beginning to look around for rocks that looked pointy, Corianne intended to search for an impromptu blade she can use to get wood, and then something to kindle a fire - one step at a time. "Besides, we are in luck. I'm a cook, and a very good one at that - maybe I'll get to show you some human cooking."

 

[tylluan]

isa
​

Head tilted with quiet curiosity, Isa considered the human through half-closed eyes. Her third eyelid had flicked down in her drowsiness, but that was of little consequence - the world dulled, but otherwise, her vision was as sharp as ever. She settled properly on the boulder, stretched out in quiet content, as she listened to the sounds around her. The heartbeat of the human - much faster than her own, the breaths taken in through nose and mouth on a frequent basis. The quiet splash of fish jumping to catch flies near the surface of the water. This island was thriving with life - and yet she and the human were the only two who could communicate properly. Her riverspeak was certainly not enough to community with the local fish.​

​

Isa did not move from her comfortable position when the human gathered water. She was surprised to see such a need for it - but, then again, most living organisms needed water. Whereas she lived and breathed it, the human drank and washed with it. Of course. ​

​

“Ways of hunting without being present?” she echoed, blinking until her third eyelid retracted again. Her stomach growled lowly at the thought of food, and she slipped into the water again to get the fish used to her presence once more. ​

​

Back home, she hunted with a pod. Of course, that had been prior to being recruited to protect their home - and then her pod had been other mersoldiers, often her age or slightly younger. Even now, she could envision it - her father circling quietly and drowsily, as if he never dreamed of hurting the schools of fish they were mingling with. Her sister, tilting to the side, curious of something in the distance. And her mother - ​

​

It would do no good to think of them now.​

​

“Cori-anne,” she said, breaking apart the syllables. “I see. My name is Isavayha. Most call me Isa.” a pause, as she studied the fish closer to her. “Merbeast is very inappropriate.” ​

​

Her brows furrowed briefly as Corianne spoke, as she half-listened while examining the fish. It was surprising; alongside various carp, minnow, trout and dace, there lay much more dangerous fish. Hidden closer to the middle of the lake, where the sands were much further down and the water harder to see through, she could sense catfish - and maybe a goonch. Somewhere in the waterways was something just as large - but she wouldn’t worry about it for now. None of these things were threats to mer; she was stronger, faster, and much more intelligent. Fish learned to stay away or remain peaceful to her kind; sharks often accepted them as companions, due to their similarities. Her heart was struck with overwhelming loneliness - but now was not the time for that. ​

​

“What’s a cook?” she asked, before reaching out to grab a rather fat-looking trout. It didn’t last long in her grip and she was about to move to her rock to eat, but...right. Human. Truce. Her nose twitched as she glanced at the now-skittish fish. Annoying, she thought, and slammed her tail into a carp that had underestimated the length of it. She picked this up and threw it onto the shore, where it wiggled only momentarily before it perished. Isa, having decided that this was enough, swam back to her boulder and settled down again. “Do you do things with your food before you eat it?” she narrowed her eyes, “I thought that was an old wives’ tale.” ​

​

Her stomach growled again, and she began to eat her trout, tail-tip lazily swirling the water below. ​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

It didn't take her long to locate a rock that looked promising, plus some flint-type rocks that could start a fire. Standing up and walking back to the treeline, she began gathering branches, tree bark, anything that would burn, all while keeping an ear out for the mer - Isa. With the first few swings, it was very apparent to her that it was harder than it looked when her brothers did it - her stone hand started to ache with the first few impacts, and she was lucky she'd picked the lankiest branches she could spot. Gathering a good hodgepodge of tree bark and branches and fallen logs, Corianne returned to the mer's boulder just in time to hear Isa ask about whether humans 'do things' with their food. "Yes, we do," the pile of wood dropped onto the ground. "It tastes much better - you'll see."

Sitting down, her nose caught a fishy smell, like there was a- yes, a fish, nearby, hence the fishy smell, real genius Corianne. The trout was just slapped on the shore, in its final throes of life without water. "Oh- is that for me?" She spoke meekly, her voice taking a higher pitch with the surprise. Was it that easy for mer to catch fish? At least they'll both have fish to eat, but for that to work, she'll need a skewer or something to hold the thing in place, which means more branches. Great. Cooking's much easier when all your tools are already made by the town blacksmith.

Smacking flint together into a small tinder made of dry grass she picked and some pieces of tree bark, she produced a few incandescent sparks, spilling onto the tinder. As she struck them together again and again, more and more sparks were being produced, though the noise they made was a jarring gnashing, which didn't impress or please her that much. After a few more tries, the tinder finally caught fire, eliciting a gasp of surprise and jubilation - she didn't expect to get it going this quickly! Nurturing the kindled flame with a few slow breaths, she picked up the larger piece of bark that the tinder sat upon, and placed it in the center of the little pile of branches she'd organized. Blowing into it lightly, her perseverance blossomed into a wonderful crackling fire, growing larger and larger on top of the stony piece of the lake bank she chose. A few yips of joy escaped Corianne, and she glanced back at Isa with a smile, caught up in the heat of the achievement. "See that? I did that!"

 

[tylluan]

isa
​

A hum of doubt sounded in Isa's throat as she ate, teeth making quick work of the fish in her hands. She watched Corianne from the corner of her eye, glancing to the branches and logs with mild curiosity. She'd seen fire made before - after all, not all of the sea kingdom lived within the sea. But they were all similar in the sense that they ate raw food; fish or meat for the carnivores, herbs, fruits, and vegetables for the herbivores - and both for the omnivores. In theory, mer were omnivores - but Isa hadn't ever tried plant matter that wasn't seaweed, and she wasn't too fond of seaweed as anything more than a convenient plant to keep prey fresh as she travelled with it. ​

​

"Of course it's for you," she murmured between bites, licking her lips free of blood. She shifted her weight so that she could eat and watch what the human did - watching the sparks. Was that...really how humans made fire? She frowned at the incessant noise of it, but said nothing in complaint. If the human needed a fire, then that was, she supposed, how it could be done. She'd only ever seen it done with magic - but perhaps her kingdom's wilder magic was more in-tune with this sort of thing than humankind's magic. Or perhaps this particular human had no magic. She wasn't sure if it came innately to them or not, and she didn't really care to ask. ​

​

When the fire started, Isa tilted her head back. She was surprised at how the warmth spread - and even more surprised at the human's excitement. Isa finished her fish, swallowing the tail quicky, then leaned forward to examine the flames. She leaned over her boulder until she could feel the warmth on her face, and waved her hand near it. It didn't have any magical properties that she could sense - it was just a fire. She blinked and leaned back again, tilting her head to look at Corianne once more. Had she not expected to get a fire going? Maybe it was much harder than it seemed. Though she didn't smile, Isa gave a small nod. ​

​

"You did that," she agreed, sliding back into the water. Moments later, she returned with a handful of reeds. Once she was back on her boulder - a comfortable resting place while she was awake, - she dropped the reeds onto the ground, as close to the fire as she could get them. "Will it dry those out?" she inquired, head tilting to the side as she continued to watch the flames. ​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

With more stuff laid out and many more possibilities opening with her fire, Corianne was in a much better mood. Within less than ten minutes, she had both made a valuable ally and a fire - though thinking of the bigger situation slightly marred her smirk. But at least she had a few things to do now, and that's good enough for her. Spurred by her grumbling stomach, she hastily departed for the treeline, in search of pointier branches. Using her little hand-axe to knock down more necessary wood stuff, Corianne returned to the sight of a handful of reeds plopped on the ground, and an inquisitive Isa tilting her head with a question. With an initial stammer, the cook found her words as she elaborated on the process. "O-oh, uh, sure, I'll just- uh, get them set up nicely on a stone, or draped over a stick, and we'll get the fish and reeds done cooking. Then you'll get to taste cooked fish."

Skewering the trout from mouth to tail with a sturdy, straight-ish branch she sharpened up with her stone, Corianne then set up a few stones near the fire to keep the skewer above the flames, and more or less stationary. Setting the base of the wooden stick underneath a few heavy stones, and angled upwards with a cradle made of stacked pebbles, the trout hung proudly in the air, left side facing the flames; to its left lies a flat stone almost adjacent to the fire itself, home to a handful of reeds, laid out and flattened against the rock. Sitting down comfortably, all Corianne could think of now was to engage in small talk, at least until the fish gets cooked. Shifting her balance from one buttcheek to another under the noon sun, she picked her words carefully. "So... uh... how did you get here? The war, I mean."

 

[tylluan]

isa
​

The process seemed near-barbaric to Isa, but she watched with something akin to morbid curiosity. Will it not burn? she wondered, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she watched the flames lick at the fish above it. But she couldn't deny - the smell was already more interesting, more complex. Her nose twitched as she considered this, stomach murmuring a complaint to her. Her body seemed to agree - the afternoon sun was for basking and napping, for socialising with friends and family. Doesn't this technically count? she thought drily, gaze drifting to Corianne lazily, eyes half-lidded. It was a surprise when the human spoke again, but Isa found that she didn't mind it. She turned the question over in her mind, swatting away a fly that chose to land on her side. ​

​

"The war," she echoed, "has brought in a mandatory draft for our army. Anyone who is..." she paused, thinking carefully. Humans had a different terminology when regarding age, but she couldn't quite recall. She sighed quietly. "Anyone who is roughly one hundred and ninety moons old had to apply. Of course, the younger you are, the closer to home you'll get deployed. Most of the younger mer do not see the frontlines," she paused, resting her chin on the sunbaked warmth of the boulder below her. "But I'm nearing my two hundred and fortieth moon. Hence, I was deployed on the frontline. What about you? You hardly seem like the warfaring type." ​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

Listening to the mer, the human girl's legs subconsciously found themselves shuffling closer to each other, her hands soon draping over her naked thighs. Corianne lent her ear completely to Isa, though her eyes mindfully darted over to the fish once in a while - can't let their only meal so far burn up while they were caught up in a conversation. Her amber eyes went bug-wide upon hearing of the mandatory draft for the mer-kingdom; the town criers and nobles spoke only of uncivilized sea-savages in primitive tribal arrangements, making war because their 'foolish mer-gods' whispered words of poison into their heads, ordering them to war. As she continued to listen - with some confusion at the moon-age part - Corianne slowly came to the realization that her lot was worse than she thought: most of the young mer-people don't even see the frontlines? What was she, a backwater villager cook, doing as a chef on a Royal flagship? The marines she fed on the Sword of Andalon were barely her age, with some even younger! ...Were the mer-men killing humans that much?

Her train of thought was snapped in two as Isa reflected the question onto her. With visible flinch, and a natural stammer as she pieced together her own pages of history. "Oh, uh... well, y-you're not wrong, heh! Ah... I'm a cook. I served up meals onboard the Sword of Andalon - tall mast, has a statuette of a winged angel with a golden sword at the front, a lot of depth charge launchers, you might know it." Corianne began to lightly rock back and forth, eyes gazing skyward as she recalled further than that. "Other than that... I was from a small village. Moved to the city for work, heard of the war, and I signed up for good pay - well, that's not the only reason I signed up: it feels kinda childish now that I say it, but the marines onboard looked kinda... cute." Corianne suppressed an embarrassed smirk, though it wasn't too hard to accomplish; the memory of the marine corpses floating above water mixed in with their own blood could dampen any childish crushes ruthlessly.

 

[tylluan]

isa
​

The scent of burning flesh couldn't be called unpleasant - but she wasn't quite sure if she liked it, with her sensitive sense of smell. It blurred the other scents around her - but, then again, fire often did that. Her gaze flicked between the human and their surroundings, eyes narrowing as she scanned the treeline. Sometimes, the bushes or the leaves high up in the trees moved - but she couldn't tell if she was just exhausted, and so she said nothing. Instead, she half-closed her eyes and settled down again, listening to Corianne. ​

​

"I know it," she murmured. She'd been taught the hard way to avoid certain ships and only approach to take down humans. She had a scar on her back to prove her youthful foolishness - a cockiness that her superiors had been both impressed with and frustrated with. She wondered what they thought now. Was she on the list of the dead, ready to be engraved on the centerpiece to town? Or was she just a nameless mer, lost to sea after the disorientating last battle? She frowned thoughtfully, mulling over both that and the woman's words. "You signed up to a war because some of the marines were appealing to you?" she echoed doubtfully, hoping she hadn't heard that correctly. Good pay - she could understand. "Do humans not have a mandatory draft?" she couldn't explain why, but her blood ran cold at the thought. ​

​

Isa couldn't imagine why humans would choose to enter the war. Maybe she was just jumping to assumptions - she wasn't entirely sure. Maybe Corianne would correct her. ​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

The question caught Corianne by surprise. Why would Isa think her people lack mandatory drafts? It hadn't crossed her mind that this was a more desperate fight for the merfolk; all that came to Corianne's attention was that mandatory drafts come when the kingdom really wants someone else dead, and is willing to commit all of its people to the cause - at least, that's what she thinks. Isa's other judgment, though... that got her to rub her forearms in anxiety and some sort of cringing response.

"Well, when you put it like that, it does sound more stupid..." Corianne's eyes, intent on avoiding Isa's, went up to the green canopies instead. "As for a mandatory draft, we do have something like that in place, but I don't know if it's in effect yet." Her two beads falling back down onto the mergirl, she tilted her head with a smirk. "Maybe if an admiral washes up ashore, we can ask them."

 

[tylluan]

isa
​

A single eyebrow quirked upwards as Isa listened. Something like that. She wondered if the humans were as desperate as the seafolk, or if she'd given too much away about her own people. Did it matter? Isa highly doubted she'd get off this island. She rubbed her jaw with one hand absently, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. After a moment, she let herself slip back into the water. Her tail had started to dry out in the sun - an uncomfortable experience. Once settled in the water, chin resting on a boulder so she could still talk to Corianne, she hummed a low note in the back of her throat. ​

​

"This war feels pointless," she said, despite how mutinous it sounded. If her superior officers heard her, she'd be whipped, no doubt. But it was true. Corianne didn't seem so bad - she'd heard of negotiations going sideways because of the greed of humans, but she didn't quite understand. This was the first human in its own territory that she'd seen, the first time she'd actually interacted. And it just made even less sense. ​

​

Of course, there had been some human criminals who'd joined the seafaring side - pirates, she thought they were called. But they didn't actively join the battles. They were only allies to themselves, really, but Isa didn't see that as a bad thing. It was a sense of self-preservation. If they made their livelihood through fighting other humans and staying on the seas, why shouldn't they keep to their own business, and only make an allyship with the seafolk? She sighed slowly and managed a small smile at Corianne, the tips of her fangs showing as she did so. It was an awkward movement.​

​

"This sucks," she said, about their general situation. "Is there anything interesting in there?" as she spoke, she raised a hand to gesture to the treeline. ​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

She let the mergirl's words sink in. Short, sweet, to the point, but true. "Yeah, no kidding." Corianne shrugged, as she glanced back at Isa. These merpeople, after all is said about their stance on humans, are pretty good-looking; the cook wondered if they had makeup and herbal mixes for beautifying when underwater. Her lips almost vocalized those mysteries when the counter-question came. Her train of thought broken, she stumbled through the first few words of her answer, but eventually got one out.

"Oh, uh, there? No, I'm afraid. Just rocks, trees and leaves. Maybe if you go a bit further, there might be animals we can hunt to eat, but I don't think I'm in the best position for that." Flexing her legs out and using both arms to support behind her, Corianne leaned back a bit with a slight hum. Her feet drew closer to the open flame bearing the still-cooking fish, burning away any leftover moisture she still had from walking on the beach. "Is there anything interesting down there?" she asked after a short while, gesturing to the lake Isa was in.

After some more conversation, Corianne mused on their situation in longer terms. What is she missing to survive? Food: check-kinda, fire: check, shelter, water filtration, anything to help other people see that there are survivors on this island - all not checked. She can probably improvise a little lean-to shelter really quick, but eventually she'll have to venture further into the jungle to see what's out there. And with her current martial 'skill', she's more likely to get mauled to death by bears or something. "Hey, if we're gonna get off this place, I think I'll have to go into the jungle to uh, find stuff. I'm not exactly a soldier, so... can you teach me how to use a spear?"

 

[tylluan]

Restlessness ran underneath Isa’s skin, and she sighed as she circled in an attempt to get more comfortable. It was hard to - something in the rivers connecting to the lake was larger than she was, and it unsettled her. Nothing like a catfish, either - those were easy to dodge and easy to take down. Though unease pricked her skin, she doubted it was something that would be capable of causing her harm. She ran a hand down her grazed side idly, lips dipping into a frown as she listened to both the human and the sounds of the world around her.​

​

“Nothing much interesting. A lot more fish than I expected,” she looked around below her, brushing a hand over the sandy lakebed. “Pretty rocks. Lots of sand. It’s freshwater.”​

​

There was nothing much else to say. She hadn’t encountered water this clean before, but that wasn’t to say the ocean was filthy. It was more that this island was clearly untouched by - well. She glanced at Corianne.​

​

It would have been useful to be something other than a mermaid in this instance. Though she could see a river that branched into the jungle, she doubted things would be conveniently next to it, or within a range for her to protect Corianne. Her tail-tip flicked out of the water as she considered her options. It was only when the human spoke that she began paying attention again, pushing her hair out of her face and squinting thoughtfully.​

​

“Sure,” she said, her voice laced with amusement. “I can teach you to use a spear. Hand it over, and I’ll start by showing you how to grip it.”​

​

To make it easier, Isa slid forward until she was almost - but not quite - beached. She could slide back into the water, but she was close enough to reach. She wondered if Corianne was aware that Isa could leap from the water to take her down - but her own restraint and their truce meant that there would be no use for that. Still. The thought was amusing in itself. A powerful tail made an excellent weapon in itself.​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

Hand it over? Sure, I'll- waitaminute. Corianne suddenly felt apprehensive about this impromptu lesson now. Even she could recognize that the humans' advantage was their tools and reach on land; mer-people were formidable in the waters no doubt, but they can't do much at all on land - she's pretty sure even if Isa lunged, she wouldn't reach the spear right about now. But to hand over the only thing keeping her alive so far? ...Maybe that wasn't a good idea.

Ah well, can't cook catfish without gettin' in its cave. She'll have to risk it for the greater reward of actually being competent with a spear. Her anxiousness barely concealed, she reached over to her spear, eyeing her cooking meal as her hands grasped the shaft, and then shuffled over to Isa, handing her the spear. Shuffling backwards a bit, just out of reach, Corianne leaned forward and focused. "So... show me some basic moves, I guess."

 

[tylluan]

Isa rolled the spear in her hands, eyes narrowing as she studied it. Then, she took the tip against her serrated canine and began to sharpen it until it was a fine point - a hell of a lot sharper than it was. It took her a few moments, but once it was done, she tested the point against the pad of her finger. Even the lightest touch caused a small bead of blood to appear. She swiped it away with her tongue, offering Corianne a raised eyebrow and a pointed look.​

​

“Step one,” she said. “Your weapons must be as sharp as your fangs and your claws. Should you not have those,” another pointed look, “then they must be as sharp as you wish them to be.”​

​

After a moment, she adjusted her grip on the spear. It was different to what she was used to, but she could work with it. Once her hold was firm, she gave a few experimental stabbing motions. Satisfied, she looked at the human.​

​

“See how my hands are positioned?” she held the spear up for her to see. “I’m much better with a dagger, but we get brief training in all weapons, just in case. Anyway,” her gaze lowered to the spear again. “Strike fast. Lead with your dominant hand.” her smile was all teeth as she threw the spear back towards the shore. “Spears prefer open-spaces. If your opponent grabs it, you’re done for. That’s why you strike fast. Any questions?”​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

Her eyes widened in shock and fear as Isa sharpened the spear shaft with her mer-teeth. She was capable of that, all this time? Only now did the true notion of 'truce' sink into the human cook's brain - it wouldn't have mattered if Corianne had the spear in the beginning, Isa would've just snapped the twig in two if she attacked. Shaking those fears off, she continued to watch as the lecture was soon supplemented with narration. Her own hands mimicking the mer-girl's motions, Corianne condensed this new information and stored it in a neat corner inside her head. "Strike fast, dominant hand, got it. Do I do anything with the shaft itself, li-like if they get too close for my spearhead?"

Glancing over to her fire, her lungs inhaled sharply as she saw her overcooked fish. The skewered trout was overdone on one side, and the reeds on the stone were starting to look burned. Temporarily ignoring the lesson, her cook instincts took over and nearly burned her hands touching the reed stone. Making an audible hiss of pain, she switched over to the trout, flipping it delicately on the skewer, making sure she didn't upset the stones she'd put in place to prevent it falling over. Going back to the reeds, Corianne just settled for picking them up from the stone itself, and returned to Isa with a bunch of cooked reeds in her left hand. They burnt less than the rock.

"Your reeds are done. Ya wanna taste?" the offer went out in a sing-song voice, temporarily forgetting that she was in the middle of a conversation. Her smile faded as she glanced down at the spear and remembered that she was in the middle of learning spear-work. Switching mental gears back to combat, she had a (stupid) question. "So, uh, what do I do with my feet?"

 

[tylluan]

A particularly brave fish brushed past Isa, and she flicked her tail to get rid of it. It veered off-course and swam away, clearly put off by the strange being in its waters. She sighed slowly and rested her chin on the surface of the water, letting herself float calmly. It was rare it was utilised in the sea, but she’d still been taught how to float her humanoid half in the surface of water. It was strange. Stranger, still, for her gills to process freshwater. They worked surprisingly calmly, so she doubted it was harder than handling saltwater. Still. She missed the sea.​

​

“Just stab?” she suggested, gaze flicking back to watch Corianne return to the fire. She watched every movement quietly, nose twitching at the foreign scents.​

​

Isa took a moment to consider the girl before she slid onto her boulder again, hands held out for the reeds.​

​

“They aren’t for eating,” despite herself, she smiled faintly. It was a foreign expression to her - mer rarely bothered with facial expressions and had better methods of communication. “Now they’re dried, I can chew them up and put them on my wounds.” she shrugged lightly. It had been something she’d seen done a few times and had heard done a few more, but she didn’t entirely know how believable it was. It was meant to promote healing in mer specifically; something easy to find when on missions that wouldn’t cause any harm even if they didn’t do any good.​

​

At the question about feet, Isa snorted and flashed a toothy grin, tail-tip splashing in the water.​

​

“You’re going to have to figure that out for yourself,” she said with mock severity, picking at her nails idly. “I’m quite lacking in feet. I have a tail.”​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

Blushing with embarrassment over the stupid footwork question, Corianne simply turned to her left, occluding her face from view. "R-r-right, yeah, I totally forgot..." It seriously didn't occur to her that the mer-girl, with a shark tail for legs, doesn't know how to do footwork in underwater spear fighting. Trying to distract her mind from that moment of critical brain failure, she instead focused on what she saw right now: the trout being cooked to perfection over the flickering campfire; the vaguely leaf-shaped shadows bearing down on the pebbles and stones of the lake shore; the lush green forest she'd emerged from a few minutes earlier, still shifting slightly with a cool wind; an indistinguishable shadow moving through the tree trunks- waitaminute.

Squinting to try and make out more detail, Corianne saw the telltale movement of a creeping tiger, but with a much darker pelt that blended in rather well with the dark forest, and was that a spiked tail? Trying her best not to panic, she reached one of her hands out at Isa without taking her eyes off the creature. "Hey, hey, can I have that spear back real quick?" Adrenaline started surging through her veins, and she desperately fought the choking feeling in her chest.

 

[tylluan]

Isa’s teeth idly scraped at the reeds, making up a mixture in her mouth. Once she was sure she had enough, she put the pulp over her grazes - almost immediately, she felt relief. She bummed quietly to herself and poked around at the skin, but, satisfied that there were no more wounds, she cleaned her hands off. Her gaze slid upwards when Corianne spoke again, and she rested on her tail as she lifted her body up, scenting the air. ​

​

Something was definitely there. Her eyes narrowed as her pupils widened to take in more light, watching the animals’ movements. One hand reached over to pick up the spear she’d discarded, and she managed to gently throw it into Corianne’s waiting hand. ​

​

“I can’t help you when you are on land,” she said, slowly lowering her body again. “Lure it into the water if it does attack.” ​

​

Slipping back into the water, she circled patiently, her fin breaking the surface of the water. From here, she could still see the treeline and the pacing animal. She wasn't acquainted with land animals, so she couldn’t say what it was. Was it big? It seemed like it, for something on land. Her nose twitched and she shook her head, waiting in the clear waters. Maybe it had been coming for a drink. ​

 

[Kabboom]

Corianne

Isa slipping into the lake water wasn't comforting for her, not one bit. The prospect of luring it into the water wasn't appealing either, considering that Corianne doesn't know how to swim; despite all that time together, the girl didn't bother to share that fact to the mer-girl - a foolish decision made in distrust, and would probably contribute to her undoing right now. The spear managed to work its way back into her hand, though the lesson from Isa found much less purchase in her mind from the fear and panic. She'd never seriously fought anyone or anything before, much less fight for her life. Her breaths becoming more rapid, Corianne steadily shifted her spear with the pointy end forward as she got into a more defensive posture - after a few seconds of shuffling, she looked like someone impersonating the stance of a professional spearman. Focus now, Corianne. Strike fast, strike fast, lead with the dominant hand... or was it the second hand? Strike with the... hand? No, that's not it! Strike with the... strike, lead, strike lead, strike- Her mind spiraled out of control with false recollections, quickly silenced by the thing audibly growling at her.

Concealment now compromised, the creature steps forward from the shadows. It looked like a tiger, as Corianne assumed from her first sightings, but with much less fur and more muscle in its legs and throat area; the neck itself bore an irregular circular white stripe going around it, seemingly drawn onto the creature. The monster had 4 yellow eyes, two on each side of its leopard-like head, all narrowing their feline red irises on the frail human target that stood before it. In its mouth was a grotesque zig-zagged row of sharp teeth, complete with dangerous canines sticking out and drenched with saliva and blood - residue from a fresh kill, no doubt. The growl emanating from the beast shook Corianne to the core, whittling away at whatever resolve she thought she had of fighting this thing; perhaps sensing this weakness, the monster had no qualms about approaching her slowly but surely, keeping its head low and its eyes peeled. Swaying in a circular motion behind the mass of the monster was its near-prehensile tail, segmented into chitinous growths tapering in size and length as they went toward the rear, culminating in a bulbous rocky mass with four obsidian-like spikes protruding from four sides, like a mace on a budget.

Before Corianne could even say her last words, the monster surged forward in a surprising burst of speed, its growl evolving into a blood-curdling roar. With a horrendous shriek, the woman ran backwards, with the last thing registering in her mind being the spearhead's impact with the monster's left shoulder before she felt water on her feet, and tumbled into the water from the beast's inertia. With the spear out of her hands, and legs feeling no dirt beneath her, Corianne began to panic. She had no air in her lungs - the screaming took care of that! She was going to drown! Flailing helplessly beneath the waterline, Corianne unknowingly contributed to her own fate by making herself heavier and inadvertently paddling herself to even deeper waters; her eyes were also sealed shut from fear. Now, she could only hope for Isa to save her from both the monster and the water.

 

[tylluan]

The mersoldier watched the beast with a calculative gaze, watching how its muscles moved beneath its skin. Its smell was unlike anything she'd scented before; clearly, it had to be land-based. Her head tilted as she rested in the water, akin to a crocodile laying in wait. Isa continued to watch the unfolding of the fight with the sort of quiet calm that came with years of practice. She was young, sure, but she had seen many a battle. The key, she had learned, was staying calm. Panic could come after a battle - never before or during. Her gaze flicked to Corianne as the girl panicked and she snorted quietly, watching for only a second before she moved. ​

​

Moving smoothly, Isa ducked underneath the human and tilted onto her side, careful to ensure that the girl's flailing didn't harm her dorsal fins. Once she was sure she had a secure hold of the human, she hefted up with a strength that came from swimming every day, even during sleep - her muscles were lithe and helped her remain streamlined, but that didn't mean they didn't come in handy. She ensured that Corianne's head broke the surface of the water - all while keeping a partial eye on the beast on the shore. She couldn't put the human on the rocks or anywhere near there - it would be far too dangerous. Instead, she swam backwards slowly until they were in deep enough that it would take a strong swimmer to reach them. There was nothing dangerous in the lake yet, so Isa let herself feel secure enough to bare her teeth at the beast. ​

​

"You know," she said idly, glancing around to see if there was anywhere she could put the human. But, as she'd learned earlier during her explorations, there wasn't a piece of land within the lake itself - only around it. "I'm not going to make a habit out of saving you from drowning." ​

​

Her tail swayed back and forth beneath her as she kept herself firmly upright; it was becoming difficult, with the added weight of Corianne, but she could handle it. What she couldn't handle was both the human and the strange beast - it was one or the other, and she could only watch as it paced back and forth, as if gauging to see if it would be worth following the human and the mer. This is a problem, she thought idly, gills fluttering as she took deeper breaths than normal. Isa was not much when it came to land beasts. Sea serpents? Sure, Isa had wrestled with plenty of those. Dangerous sharks? Deep sea fish? Anything aggressive in the deep seas? She could handle that. But a four-legged beast with the ability of pacing on land? Those were far beyond her, and she was truly beginning to realise that as she watched it pace restlessly. ​