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Katalina frowned at the word, confused. "Lam...i...nate? You know what, never mind. I'll see it later," she said lightly. "You're right. Getting everything you need is the important thing right now."

Kiro noticed Joshua's glance his way and smiled a bit, shrugging one shoulder in a sort of what-can-you-do gesture. Tianara trusted Joshua, he knew that much, and Joshua had brought his sister back to them. That in itself made the boy perfectly capable of looking after Tia in Kiro's eyes. There was more to it, of course, but Kiro didn't think he ought to mention it. At least not yet.

Tianara looked up in surprise when she was addressed. At Joshua's question, she wrinkled her brow and then chuckled softly. "We've been through this," she reminded him. "I can read, but my training got interrupted before I could learn to write."

Kiro looked mildly distressed. "That's right," he muttered, "it was. I'd forgotten all about it. You should have reminded me, Tianara - I'd have found time to teach you."

Tianara dismissed it with a wave. "It's okay. It can't be too hard if I already know how to read, right?" She looked at Joshua hopefully. "Right?"

~

Citara stared at him. "Of course English is my second language," she responded sharply. "You must have really had your head twisted by your time on land, if you're already so arrogant as to think that just because you speak English everyone else must too."

At his question, the beginning of an exasperated sigh came up - but it never came out. She'd abruptly realized he was teasing her. A little smile came to her lips. "No, you aren't. Our children never do. You can't get around me that easily."

Turning in the water, she looked after the boat. Then she glanced back at him, one fine brow raised. "Looks like you're stranded. So now what?" If he were a normal ocean child, she wouldn't have had a qualm about inviting him to the cavern where she currently lived. But he wasn't. And she didn't know if she could trust him. He'd ruined her waters, after all.

And yet, she couldn't find it in herself to just leave him.

A puzzle.

"It was a while ago," said Tianara lightly. "I'm not surprised." She was a little less certain about her ability to learn to write quickly, but because she could tell that Joshua believed in her, she knew she'd find it pretty easy to believe in herself.

"Well, if that's all settled," said Kiro, "I need to go back. The matriarch needs to hear about this, if only to rein in the more impetuous young ones." He kissed his sister's forehead, nodded to Katalina and Joshua, and slipped out of the coral.

Tianara remained quiet until he left and then sighed, shaking her head. "Now he's going to be annoyed with himself because he forgot about teaching me to write," she said, sounding dryly amused. "Joshua, are we going up to town right away? I mean, you're going to need your stuff as soon as possible, right?"

She sounded nervous, and indeed she was. Going to town, at least the past few times, had been no picnic, and she wasn't sure she was ready to face the stares and whispers of the town again. But if Joshua wanted her to, she'd try, she thought. She had to learn to deal with them eventually.

Katalina's lips twitched as she looked at Joshua. "Well, in that case, I'll be off, too," she said. "I'm taking Nezik and Jinx back to the clan, at least for a while - I think we'll all be safest to stick together until...until," she trailed off, "well, something more...definite happens. Let me know when you have those maps, and I'll come by for a look."

She drew back into the coral, leaving Joshua and Tianara by themselves.

Tianara broke the silence after a moment. Nodding uncomfortably, she said, "Okay. I guess that's a good reason," she added, trying for teasing and failing rather painfully. "And then I can send it back home and not worry that something will happen to it."

She sighed. "I wish I wasn't so nervous. It's silly to be nervous, isn't it? I mean, they're just people. They're just like us. But..." She smiled apologetically, shrugged. "You know."

Honestly, she actually had no idea if he did know or not, but that wasn't the point. Even if he didn't, he'd understand what she meant.

Tianara hesitated a brief moment longer, then nodded her tentative assent. Joshua was right. She needed to learn. And where better than the town by her family caverns, with a trusted friend as a guide?

And besides, humans were probably like other animals. They could sense fear. And where you sensed fear, you would think there was something to be afraid of - and close in.

She took a long, shuddering breath, and then struck out in the water after Joshua. She would be fine, she told herself repeatedly. She would be fine.

And that mantra in mind, she followed and eventually overtook her friend. Just as they reached the shore, a thought occurred that she probably should have asked earlier.

"Joshua...if someone asks me about it, about where I'm from I mean....what do I tell them?" she asked, uncertain. Obviously she couldn't tell the truth, but nor could she say she was from around this area. She was unfamiliar with it, and unfamiliar in town - no one would believe her.

((OOC: Do you want to play the other guy, or should I?))

Tianara hauled herself out of the water, looking fairly soaked but otherwise none the worse for wear. "All right," she said, brushing back the long, silky wet strands of hair. At his next words, however, she smiled very slowly. "That sounds good."

Getting to her feet and brushing away some of the wet sand, she offered him her hand cheerfully and said lightly, "But you'll have to tell me what the place is like as we go there. I shouldn't have to look at you for every answer, right? That would make people wonder."

Her wide dark blue eyes seemed to shine a little bit as she spoke. "Is it beautiful?" she asked quietly. "Like it is at home, around here?" She gestured around the cove they were sitting on at the moment. Her gaze took it all in for a second, and then at last she smiled over at the forest.

"Well," she murmured after a moment. "I suppose we should get going. We have a lot to do."

Tianara kept pace with him, smiling as she listened to his words. "No," she said at last. "I think that is everything that I need." She thought for a few minutes and at last nodded. "Yes, that's at least the basics. What should my family be like?" she wondered aloud.

She didn't really know what a human family was like. It had been so long since she had even asked Kiro about his - it always made him sad when she asked, so she tried not to. But it had left her with uncertain ideas about her family.

So as they wound their way along the forest trails, Tianara got lost in thought. She knew there was a mother and a father. There were probably other children. Were they similar to a merfolk family, with a leader and so forth?

She could ask Joshua, but she thought it might be rather a stupid question. So she decided she'd puzzle it out on her own. It couldn't be that hard. She'd learn by observation.

Tianara nodded to his answer, and was about to ask another question when she realized she could hear the sounds of the town - cars, people babbling, dogs barking. Her nerves immediately took over once more, and she edged up until she was closer to Joshua.

"Okay," she murmured softly, though it was unclear whether she was talking to him or to herself. "Okay."

Pushing back her long dark hair once more, she took a deep breath. "I can do this," she said quietly. But she stayed close to Joshua as they entered the town.

She scanned the town slowly as they went in. Really, she didn't know what she was looking for while she did it - maybe a threat. Maybe she just wanted to feel like she was in control of something.

But it occurred to her once more - and shockingly painfully - that people just like the ones around them now were the enemy if this war should ever fully come to be.