"Speech"

It had been a while since they'd stumbled into Pisces. Well, maybe not too long, but it surely felt like it had been cycles ago she'd dragged motionless and bloodstained Kimen here all the way from Orion. But it couldn't have been that long; after all, they still needed to clean off the blood. In her usual vigilant state, Eira moved towards the water, keeping her remaining eye on Kimen.

That was a mistake.

With a sharp shriek, she disappeared headfirst into the water, floundering for a few moments before she regained her composure smoothly and dragged herself out of the water. "Demons," she hissed, in a tone that suggested these sorts of things happened all the time. Her slick white form perched on the water's edge, she realized that there was a dark red cloud in the water where she'd fallen.

Well... that was easier than she'd expected. Maybe it wasn't demons after all. Nah.

Looking at her reflection though, there was still some patches clinging stubbornly to her fur. She looked around for her partner, waiting for him to start cleaning first before she took her eyes off him.

table coded by banshee | for free use!

@Kimen

Kimen managed to climb to his four paws. Something he had been virtually unable to do since the attack. His shoulder still clicked as he took his first few steps though that was nothing out of the ordinary. He saw that Eira moved towards some water and fell in as she was watching him. He laughed though laughter soon turned to a cough as it pained his chest sharply. He didn't let the cough defeat him though, he was actually somewhat used to it. He was more happy to finally be standing again, he needed a stretch. With the struggle of each step in the back of his head, Kimen moved towards the water to join his partner, looking to enjoy their closeness some more. "Oh my dear Eira, always the one to liven the mood." He commented with a smile, trying not to be mocking in tone, though his voice made it at least seem playful. "Speech."

@eira

"Speech"

Sopping wet and dripping, Eira looked sharply at Kimen trying to decipher whether was any malice behind his words. He'd been acting, differently... since he'd been wounded. maybe the demons had gotten to him in more ways than one. Shaking herself violently so that the majority of the water scattered from her fur, the otter made her way over and sniffed his muzzle, her remaining eye intent and focused, whilst around the hollow socket her brows had creased.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary... She straightened up, wiggling her whiskers to remove a droplet or two. "Uh, ah... 'Course?" she murmured questioningly, trying to figure out a way to properly respond. Livening the mood wasn't... actually the intent, but she didn't seem upset about it. In fact, she was quite relieved that such a tone had crept into his voice. It reminded her that this was still the same old Kimen. That in mind, the blue-masked, one-eyed otter had a bit of an idea, and she turned to Kimen again. "Do you want me to do it again?"

She slowly turned away from him and wandered towards the waters edge, rubbing at a bloodstain below her wounded eye. It ached quite powerfully- but at least it removed the stain. Eira winced visibly as she raised her head to try to check on Kimen through watering eyes.

table coded by banshee | for free use!

@Kimen

Splashy has been wandering through Pisces since the little one had hatched. She didn't really know where to go or what to do, and just wandered around. She hoped that maybe she would find someone. Just one other person. Just one would be fine.

As they turned a corner, they saw that such was not to be the case. There were two near a pool, a waterfall cascading down into it. Splashy blinked and hesitated. She didn't want to go near them, but she also didn't really want to be alone for much longer. So they approached.

"U-uh, hi..," she whispered, wondering what their reactions would be. Did they want someone to approach? What if they wanted to be alone? They seemed like they were busy. And...injured? She looked over toward the water and saw that there was some blood seeping in it. She gave an involuntary shudder, wondering what had happened to the two.

"If you're busy, I c-can leave," she murmured, small body pressed low to the ground. It was wet, and she hated it, but for now she managed to ignore it. Oh, of course they wouldn't want her here! She should just leave, find someone else. Besides, there were two here, and that just seemed a bit much for the kitten.

@Eira @Kimen

((Replying on mobile so no fancy table for now))

Kimen admitted to himself, he felt a little different. It wasn't that he saw the world he was in from a new lense. It was more that he had changed the way he felt about it. The world was still a foul place, he had no love for it, but he wasn't going to let that get him down. If this was where his life was to be lived, then so be it, he thought. Better to live life then to lie on the ground, useless and wimpering, as he had been too many times before.

As he was happily limping towards her, Kimen saw Eira washing her broken eye. It always saddened Kimen to see it. He hated that someone would do that to his Eira and that he could do nothing to fix it. He had seen it only a couple of times before during their rest in Pisces, each time his eyes fell on the abscense of hers angered him more than the last.

Eira beckoned to him and Kimen replied with "Sure!" He was curious to see what she'd do, he could see in her expression that she plotted something. He approached his partner and his curiousity was soon subdued by a sudden and sharp feeling of fear. Someone approached them, their voice gentle and shy. Kimen's heart pounded and he froze on the spot, glearing towards the source of the sound. Ever since his hearing returned he had been weary of many small noises, even lesser gembounds in the far distance gave him a fright. His mind returned to the moments before his attack, his first encounter with the other residents of the caves, the thunderous gallops of the stranger were the last things that he could hear before being knocked out cold.

Kimen tried as hard as he could to move from spot and edge closer to Eira, knowing that she'd protect him. Eventually his legs began moving and he marched as fast as he could towards her, opening the recently sealed wounds that had barely healed properly.

Click...

Just as he reached her, Kimen's left shoulder clicked in place, too stubborn to move once more. Kimen winced with the pain and cried with fear, in his mind this was the exact same situation as the moments before the attack. Except now he was sliding. The floor was damp with a mixture of water and blood from when Eira climbed back out of the water. With his shoulder locked in place, Kimen fell face first into the water. "Ei-" He cried in panic, the water now consuming him.

@Eira & @Splashy

From where she looked, she could see someone approaching. The otter, immediately, was all systems go as she shook the pained tears from her watery eyes. Trying to stand tall as she could, she moved over to the newcomer, her crowned head held high and mighty. It was the first time she'd met another denizen of these caves! The demons didn't count. Not at all. "Greetings, young one," she said, her voice, though rough, neither dangerous nor aggressive. They were scared, Eira could see that from where she stood, and she didn't want to scare them any more.

"Be not afraid! For I'm no demon." the otter gave a resigned nod, and attempted a comforting smile despite her worn looks. It probably wasn't a very convincing smile, if anything. If her one eye wasn't enough to scare one, the scars and pain visible with her movements probably would be. Still, she tried her best to reassure them. "I serve to protect the caves from demons... 'tis where I got these wounds." she gave a brisk nod, glancing back as she felt Kimen's warmth standing close. The look on his face was... disconcerting.

"What is it...?" she asked, businesslike in tone. Uncertainty rose in her chest and a wave of protectiveness swelled. "Is there-!?" she was cut off as her partner suddenly slid into the water.

Demons?!

Here and now!?

Without a second thought, the albino otter plunged into the water next to him, her webbed paws finding hold in the thick fur on his belly. She'd never swam properly before, but it felt... natural. the feeling was kinder to her paws than rough stone and although she flailed slightly, she felt as though she were strong here. But she hadn't the time to dwell on it. Heaving a deep breath herself as she struggled to keep their heads out of the water, Eira found only water but struggled to Keep Kimen above her. Even if she couldn't breathe, he most certainly wasn't built for the struggle.

She had to keep pushing! She had to! Heaving and heaving, she grew more and more tangled in his fur and struggled ever more to swim. Several bubbles escaped from her nostrils and she flexed her powerful body, to no avail. It was his fur, and his gem- his gem, both heavy and sharp, pricked her and tore into her chest as she put her forelimbs around him from behind- whilst his fur only served to drag him down.

@Kimen

Splashy lowered her ears as one of them began to walk away and toward the other. She then turned her attention to the white one. "H-hi," she whispered. The white otter scared her quite a bit. She had one eye, and lots of scars. They then blinked. What was a demon? They didn't particularly feel like asking, so they kept quiet, despite being curious. Splashy then jumped in surprise as all of a sudden, the other fell in the water.

They froze in fear as the white one jumped in after him. What could they do? The white one seemed to not be doing very well in getting him back up. They had to do something! But what? They were nothing more than someone who had just recently hatched. And here were two nearly full-grown gembounds, and even they couldn't get out! There was absolutely nothing the kitten could do, as far as they knew. So they crouched there, fear rooting their paws to the ground. They gave a small whimper and looked around. Maybe someone else was nearby? It certainly didn't seem like it.

@Eira

Her legs kicking and muscular body writhing, Eira was getting nowhere; but as she poked her head out of the water, they weren't any further away from the bank, and that gave her a little bit of hope. Panting furiously, she forced her partner's head to stay above the surface and writhed and kicked her way back towards the shore. It was slow progress but she wouldn't give in. She couldn't!

They got to the shore, and Eira kicked and flexed with all her might, the water foaming with her edforts. As she raised her muzzle above her surface, after a deep breath ahe cried "Kimen! Don't let them win!" her voice high pitched with desperation.

She kept pushing, pushing, but after a while of getting nowhere, she drove her claws into his fur and grabbed instead the scruff of his neck. Letting go of his fur she tried her best to haul them both ashore, only to get nowhere. After only a few inches she was dragged back by his waterlogged weight.

@kimen @splashy

"Hhhnnng." Kimen tried as hard as he could to pull himself up, his bones still stiff and recuperating. He was glad that he could feel the solid ground on his paws as he clambered onto the shore. He managed to do so with little difficulty to his own surprise. While he did rely on Eira to keep him afloat and breathing, he was proud that he didn't need her to regain his footing. Perhaps he had grown so used to stumbling or falling that climbing onto the shore would come easy to him. The feeling of pride was regretfully not enough to liven his mood. He was now soaked much to his distaste. To uncomfort him even more, the stranger had not fled, making him embarrassed by his little trip. "Y-you!" Kimen spoke through chattering teeth, ""y-y-y-you d-did this!" He glared right at the stranger, believing in his own lie in an attempt to have them leave or even worse, for Eira to make them.

@splashy @eira

Splashy watched, her ears lowered flat against her head and her body pressed low. With widened eyes, she watched at the otter once more failed to get the red panda out. A little bit later, he managed to pull himself out and she breathed a sigh of relief. That relief was short-lived, however, because soon he turned on her, accusing it of being her fault.

Eyes widened even more, they began cowering in front of them. It wasn't their fault! They didn't want this to happen! their tail and head were low, pressed up against the wet ground. Splashy let out a whimper, unsure of what to do. Did they want them to leave? They would most certainly leave If they wanted them to, especially considering the way the red panda was glaring at them.

@Kimen