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 Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:56 pm
Aoife tilted her head and smiled back, wondering if he wanted to say anything more.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:03 pm
Joey didn't know what to say. So, he just smiled and turned away. He began to walk back to the shore, feeling like he should have said or done something else.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:15 pm
Watching him leave Aoife wanted to stop him, for a moment feeling like she wouldn't see him again. But she shook her head and called herself silly. She looked up at the sky for a moment longer.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:15 pm
Joey paused. It was eating away at him. He felt that he should say or do something, anything before he left. He couldn't think of it though, but he couldn't drop the feeling. He stood in the waist high water, trying to think about it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:52 am
 Joshua nodded sadly at Katalina. "Lifespans can always be shortened." He glanced back at Nellie, a smile forming on his lips. "Can I come back sometime?" His gaze wandered around the clan. Aishtarte said he would come back as if it was a given, but he had to wonder if the rest of the clan would like it if he came back. So far, two of them had talked to him. Two, out of the entire group that surrounded him. 
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:15 pm
Aoife turned to him seeing that he was still there. "Hey Joey. See you tomorrow?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:25 pm
Joey turned and offered a small smile. "Of course. I'm not going anywhere." The feeling that he had felt disappeared, much to Joey's delight.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:33 pm
She gave him a bright smile and jumped beneath the water's surface, heading towards the reef.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 5:30 pm
Joey watched her leave. He then turned and walked out of the water and onto the shore. He climbed onto his beached boat and laid down in the small cabin that he had. There was room just enough for a hammock. He sighed.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 6:03 pm
Aoife found a comfortable spot and planned to wait until morning.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:47 pm
"Yesyesyes," said Nellie promptly. Her answer sounded much as it would have had he asked Is water wet? "Josh come back," she added, grinning up at him hopefully. Her eyes were big and pleading.
Aishtarte nodded as well. "Yes, of course. Ask Sorry to bring you, should you have difficulties finding the rocks again." With a gentle smile, she continued, "Our clan will not be so shy the next time, perhaps. What say you, Grandfather?"
Several other nymphs looked at Joshua in sync, almost as though they had practiced it. One or two shifted hesitantly forward, but the others just watched silently.
Finally, slowly, a very wizened old nymph - surely nearing the end of his lifespan, if Aishtarte was - came forward, supported by two younger undines. He inspected Joshua from head to toe, then at last spoke in a booming voice that belied his elderly figure. "You may return, human."
Katalina smiled. This clan, at least, had accepted him. If they could, perhaps it wouldn't be too unsafe to bring him to others. "Thank you," she said before Joshua could speak. "But Joshua, I think it grows late. Perhaps we should go now."
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:05 am
Joshua's grin was huge. "Thank you so much." He glanced over at Katalina. "Is it really that late?" A wistful note entered his voice. Inside the cave, he hadn't noticed the time passing. Slowly he released Nellie from his arms. He didn't want to leave, but now that Katalina had mentioned it, Joshua could feel weariness beginning to drag at his limbs. He waved to the clan before turning to the mermaid, letting her lead the way out.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:51 am
Nellie reluctantly plopped back into the water. "Byebye," she chirped.
The undines sank, one by one, under the water again. There was soon no trace that they'd ever been there.
"I'm afraid it is," said Katalina softly. She sounded very tired. "Come on, there's another way out, and I don't know if I'm up to going back up through the rapids." She led him through another, much slimmer tunnel that came out on a fairly quiet river. "Unfortunately, you can't get in that way - it's impossible to find the break from the outside," she explained.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:06 am
Joshua nodded and followed Katalina. It made sense. He knew of several other caves that had only one entrance but multiple exits. Outside of the stone tunnel, he could see it was indeed late. 'The sun is pretty much gone.' He thought, casting a glance at the sliver of sun that remained on the horizon. Darkness was fast approaching. Looking around, Joshua found something interesting. "We went in a big loop!" He could see the reefs and calm waters of his home cove in the distance. He set out towards them at a leisurely pace. Now, with nothing to tempt him on and fatigue in his muscles, he wasn't swimming as strongly as he could have.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:10 pm
Katalina laughed quietly. "Something quite like it," she agreed, accompanying him. She tried not to go too quickly - even at her most exhausted, she could outswim a tired human.
"So," she began, flipping over and floating along beside him somewhat dreamily, "had enough yet, or will you meet me tomorrow for a continuation of the tour?" She mentally listed off those he hadn't met yet. She could only think of two or three, but figured that would be enough to at least get him started.
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