Welcome to Gaia! ::

It's not your fault, Katalina replied dully. He would have pushed himself too far no matter who'd been with him. He was - is - really stubborn. After a few minutes of silence, the two merfolk surfaced. Katalina said something quietly to Nezik, who nodded and turned towards Joshua. Even from where they were, the boy's ashen face was clear.

Katalina's eyes met Joshua's briefly, and then she turned and swam towards the cliffs.

Nezik closed the distance between himself and Joshua. He didn't seem anything like the exuberant child that had met them in the caves. He looked dispirited, hurt.
Guilty.
"Is it my fault?" the boy asked after a minute or two of silence. "If Narcis dies, is it my fault?"

Katalina, just out of sight of the cove, caught sight of a girl. And the silent shape she was leading...
Narcis, she thought disbelievingly. Then she sped towards the two.

"You found him," she said softly once she reached them, her eyes on the girl even as she carefully reached out and brought the Siren's still body to a halt. She had thought him gone. But this human girl had found him and brought him back.

"Is he all right?" she asked, before cursing herself for such a stupid question. Whether he was or not, he'd been found. From here, she could look after him.
Or Riiya and Korai could, she thought unwillingly.

"Thank you," she said haltingly, trying to remember if that was the correct expression of gratitude - she'd used it with Joshua, but then she was used to Joshua understanding what she meant even if she used the wrong words. "Thank you for bringing him home."

"But you brought him back," said Katalina softly. "He could have gotten trapped in the rocks, or swept out into the ocean. But you were there, so he didn't." Resting the Siren's body across her arm and shoulder so that he wouldn't fall again, she started off back towards the cove.

"Let's go find out," she said to Rose. For the first time since she'd heard about Nezik going missing, a small smile worked its way across her face. It made her look almost beautiful again.

Nezik merely looked down. He obviously didn't believe Joshua, but didn't seem to find it worth arguing about. He never would have had to make the choice if it wasn't for me, he thought.

Katalina, assuming that Rose was still with her, moved quickly back to the cove. Well, as quickly as she dared - more of a drift than her usual full-speed-ahead. But all the same, the cove came in sight before she'd gone too far. Narcis wasn't as heavy as she would have expected, although the water perhaps had something to do with that.

She thought about speaking to Joshua and Nezik, but there was a chance they wouldn't hear. So she went for the telepathy again, despite the fact that her head was starting to ache. Joshua, Nezik. We found him. Rose and I. We're coming back. Can you see us? She waved one hand so that there was no chance they might be missed - she would have waved both, but the other was still supporting Narcis.

Just a minute, pleaded Katalina. I'll tell you when I can speak to you - I'm starting to get really tired. Once she reached them, she simply said, "He's not great." Which was possibly the biggest understatement she'd ever said.

She gently shifted the Siren so that his weight was more comfortably distributed. "I don't know what I can do for him except let him rest," she admitted softly. "I've never seen anyone push themselves to this state before."

Katalina looked down. "I..." She fumbled for words for a minute, then finally just shook her head. "I don't know," she said quietly. "I was, but I hadn't overdone it the way Narcis did. Taking the human form takes a lot out of us, and only the most experienced can hold it for more than a couple of hours. You two were gone for..." She looked up at the sun. "Almost four, it looks like."

She shrugged, her eyes sad. "I don't know. All we can do is let him sleep and see what happens when he wakes up."

"Keep him here," said Katalina immediately. "I don't trust Riiya. Korai would look after him, I know, but Riiya's the kind who needs her leader to look strong at all times. If we brought him back like this..." She shook her head. "He needs to stay here."

Nezik had been studying Katalina as she spoke. Suddenly he frowned and asked something in their own tongue. Katalina went red and shook her head at him fiercely. The boy lifted a brow, but shrugged and maintained his silence.

"Anyway," said Katalina, still a little flushed. "Is there somewhere where we could get him out of the sun?"