Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rosalina laughed. She floated on her back, twisting in the water like an otter. She smiled shyly. "I stopped after my mum died. Sure I'll come"she replied.

Katalina watched the three others cautiously for a moment or two, then sighed. Time to risk it, she decided. What's the worst she can do?
When they began swimming towards shore, she joined them, surfacing on Joshua's other side. She glanced at the strange girl for a heartbeat, then turned her gaze to Joshua. Nonchalantly, she asked, "Where are we going?"
Damned if she'd ask for an introduction.

Katalina's eyes flicked to Rosalina, and she gave the slightest hint of a nod. Then, laughingly, she replied to Joshua's comment, "You mean he dragged you kicking and screaming, right?" Pushing her hair back, she asked, "How close is your camp to the water? I'm afraid..." She flushed. It was an embarrassing admission. "I'm afraid I'm not old enough to have earned my human form yet."

Katalina looked at the water through which they were currently going. "Not much farther," she admitted. "I've got hands, so it's not like I'll get beached or anything, if that's what worries you. The only issue is that it's harder to breathe air above water than under it for long periods of time...I mean, without a human form." She shrugged. "But that's the only real difficulty."

Katalina nodded. "As long as we don't stay there very long, I'll be fine," she promised. At his question, a faint flush crossed her features. "I...don't know, exactly. At least three hundred, I believe," she murmured. "But as I don't know many other mermaids, I couldn't say for certain."

Katalina smiled wryly. "I could always hang back, and rejoin you once you come back into the water," she offered. Inwardly, she was a little surprised and a little amused. Joshua was the first human she'd ever spoken to - okay, not that she'd spoken to many - who, upon hearing something like that, would not have immediately wanted to know how old she was, and how much longer it would be until she got her human shape. She didn't know why, but that curiosity seemed to be a natural trait.
Except, apparently, in Joshua.

Katalina shrugged. "Well, you'll be onshore anyway," she pointed out. "Either way, I'll be watching from a distance." With a little shake of her head, she added, "It'd be fine, really."

She took back her thoughts about Joshua's curiosity when she noticed the question in his eyes. She figured she might as well tell him - her age wasn't what was embarrassing. "I have a long time to wait before I can join you on land, still," she said lightly. "I'm only a hundred and seventy. Or so."

Katalina blinked uneasily when he whistled. "What?" she asked, genuinely confused. "I know it's young, but it's not that young, is it?"
Then, figuring that he'd meant leaving her alone, she assured him, "It's fine. I'll wait for you." She flipped over and swam away, back into slightly deeper water. There, she sank until she was just below the surface, and watched them go.