#elsewhere

"Oh" Ariel realizes "That's BAD?"

"But what if we found a battle where you could triumph?"

Ariel nods "maybe Ellie could help you, me too if you don't mind? Strength in numbers"

She perks up. "Are there merrow here that we can slaughter?"

"If we get back to the water, I am sure I can find some. Or bleedwaters. They are EASY to track. I can SMELL them! Miles away!"

"Oh" A pause "I don't know?"

Perhaps a bit of a boast, perhaps a bit of truth.

"I'm sure we can find something to fight. There's always dark creatures." A pause. "They can smell me. Which is why Dama Ash doesn't like me going out by myself..."

"Thallian are jerks" A nod

"Jerks!" She agrees with some vehemence.

"But... I fight in the water. I do not know how to conduct battle on land. Can you lure them into the sea?"

"Well, they really hate Beaumayn, so maybe Ellie could?"

"A perfect plan! You lure them in, and I'll slaughter them! The hoofed one can slay with her tiny spears!"

"Ooo nice"

"It could be good for you to learn to fight on land, too. You would be most intimidating then."

"True! Then you'd be a warrioress on THREE THIRDS the world"

"But my enemies are in the water, as our my people. There's nothing on land worth fighting for." She reasons.

"How much do you know about land?"

"It's awful." She has sunk down so that she barely skims the surface. "My gills don't work, and everything is parched and you cannot move freely, I'm slow and heavy, and the sun burns..."

"Oh, but it's not always so bad, there's cake"

"And Churros"

"And churros!"

"And books, and movies, and flowers..."

"And we have nice music you may not know about"

"We have flowers. AND books. They are precious, and must be treated with care. Which is all well and good because they are boring. AND music."

She blows bubbles of frustration. "If it is night time, I can navigate back to the waters by the stars. I am salt-hearted, the sea cannot be that hard to find."

"I don't know anything about bleedwaters, but you probably shouldn't fight those alone."

"They tricked us before. They won't trick me the same way again." She boasts. Then, tilts her head. "I will not be alone, if you fight with me."

A look to Ellie "Should we tell Holger?"

"I am not certain how to fight under water..."

"thrusts over slashes" Ariel says

"Use the sea." She says, swishing back and forth with strong strokes of her thick shark tail. "Blind them with the light that filters down, or attack from above or below. Scare a school of sculpin past them to distract them then hit when they are looking the wrong way. BITE!"

"Or use the witching cold." She shivers a bit!

"But I can't breathe underwater." Sensibly.

"That's easy enough to fix."

"it IS?" Ariel blinks

Blink blink. "Yes?"

"How?"

Lu rummages through her pockets - more a series of small, tightly fastened pouches strung on cords that are part of her sleek-fitting outfit. Even a Piskey might struggle to pickpocket from a Mer outfit, made to prevent any belonging from accidentally floating away.

She finds what she was seeking, a small container made of iridescent shells held with a clasp. Snapping it open, she displays a single light green orb that glistens damply, the size of a bit of candy.

"Oh" Ariel looks wistful, then says "if you can only take one of us, you best take Ellie. She's a better fighter"

"Do you have no magics of your own? To summon air, or grow gills?" Curiously.

She includes the mysterious Fontaine in her question, remembering he is there, if politely ignoring the scheming.

"mm? No I don't think Ariel has the power, she knows some fine spring magic" Fontaine says

Ariel blushes "No gill growing"

"But if you really need to breath underwater" Fontaine says "I too have something that helps" He says "Sometimes I need to keep people under the surface longer"

"I have magic! But not that magic. I can see the future, and the past. I can use sovereign, but Yessica doesn't like that much. Nor Ariel."

"I'm a DeBuke, we don't do noble titles and stuff... I like Ellie because she's Ellie, not because she's a countess" Ariel nods then she looks at Fontaine "You had magic to let folks breathe water ALL THIS TIME?"

Fontaine smiles "it doesn't last forever.." He gets up (He has pants) and goes to a small foot locker and opens it.

"We have arts of sea-faring and cold-calling, of seeking omens in the currents and tides and moonlight on the waves. Of speaking and calling, and changling. It is all very mysterious and wondrous, but none of it so useful as a spear at my hand." She grins. "Though I do like 'dolphin-leap', and 'hidden waters'..."

"...Wayfare and Chicanery?"

"Here we go" He pulls out a conch "You take a hit from it like an inhaler, and for the next while you can breath under water. It only has so many inhales though" He hands it to Ariel