Kalaban shades his eyes and scans among the atolls and clumps of mangrove for a passage wide enough to admit the width of the Reef Runner. Finding such a path is not particularly hard given the shallow draft of the Reef Runner and haphazard spacing of obstructions, yet it occupies him. With the vessel nearly becalmed in light wind, he has the luxury of hours to look at the same array of atols and reefs, over and over again, weighing one route versus another, and trying to will the vessel to finally get there.

To say it was "hot" would be like saying fresh boiled lobster with melted drawn butter on a bed of lettuce and flounder filet was "good." The bandana on his head is soaked along the sides with sweat and the bridge of his nose has reddened despite his tan. The others think he is insane to stay in the crow's nest in the oppressive heat, especially with no pressing need for far sight. In truth, though, he loves the heat. He was born to it. And besides, up here even he can feel the thin ghost of a breeze gently caressing the sweat from his shoulders.

Finally, even Kalaban gets bored. He flips himself out of the nest and into the rigging and lithely descends to the deck in a twinkling. Krick, lashed to the mast, eyes him without emotion.

"Kalaban looks like cooked meat," the Korb remarks in his expressionless monotone.

Kalaban does not appreciate any association between himself and food in the eyes of the Korb, even one (presumably) made in jest. "Ah. Yes. Well done meat. Very well done. Not at all tastey," he adds, bowing comically and backing toward the stern. "I think a swim might be in order to cool down. Care to join me?"

Something clouds the Korb's multifaceted eyes for a moment. "No."

Kalaban grins. He strides purposefully past Armando and strips off his vest and pants, leaving only his undershorts. Armando, leaning on the idle wheel, stops testing the air for wind and looks at his crewmate.

"Whassa matter? You hot?" he teases. "It's no hot. I thinka maybe you brains fry too much in the crow's nest.

Kalaban smiles his toothy smile. "I am as hot as your wife's temper, Manny..."

The pirate blanches at the mention of his spouse. "Donta call me Manny...."

"Mannnnnnnnn.....y overboard!" he yells, laughing and diving off the stern.

Armando shakes his head and watches the thief swim just beneath the crystaline water. He pats the dagger on his belt. "Hey... maybe you take-a this? Dont you a-remember ....*Shark's Reef.* Heh?' As Armando well knows, the thief, his head below the waves, can't hear his warning. "No? I guess-a not." He returns to his steering.

Kalaban crests a few yards to the port. The water is warm, yet it feels slightly cooler than the air. The sun beats on his unprotected head and shoulders, so he dunks them again. Surfacing, he checks for the clump of mangroves with the crown-like shape of taller trees he had spotted from the crow's nest. He had seen oranges on those trees.... that would be a treat.

He spots his target, and rolls on his back for a nice backstroke. It feels good to stretch and to move without having to break much of a sweat. He can almost taste the oranges....

He bumps into something that yields to his hand. Alarmed that he might have struck something with teeth, he spins over. He sees it is not a shark.... it has the grey skin and white belly of a dolphin. It is listing to one side, and swims very weakly away from him for a few feet. Its blowhole is nearly under the surface and sputters eratically.

His series of night swims with Selkie has immunized him to fear of these playful creatures. He was even allowed to stroke them.

"Oh... hey... sorry..." he swallows. He considers resuming his swim, but curious he changes his mind. He swims closer. The dolphin is injured in some way. "Poor guy.... or girl. I wonder how you tell the difference."

Selkie had enjoyed the respite from the daily sailing, and was happy to be able to swim in the daylight. It was nice to see the vivid colors of the reef, and enjoy the variety of fishes which swam about under the sun. She had ventured far out from the boat, in the opposite direction of the mangroves, heading for deeper water, in hopes of coming across one of her more shy friends, the sea turtle. She was in luck. An ancient turtle, more than six feet in diameter had been picking its way among the kelp beds outside the coral reefs. She helped it find some of the more juicier tidbits among the kelp, and in return was treated to share in its companionship and stories of the deepdwellers.

She was engrossed in a particularly interesting tale of a mermaid when the dolphins' urgent cries were heard. Selkie called them to her, and was greeted with a wave of water which rushed at her with utmost haste.

They were females, and among them many babies. She did not ask them of the details right away, time was of the essence. In Shark Reef, an injury would spark the interest of many of its most aggessive residents. Especially if there were blood. She would know soon enough what the story was. After the dolphin was safe.

Grabbing onto the fins of two of the adults, she rode upon the top of the wave, moving as fast as the Reef Runner at full sail, and heading straight toward the mangrove swamps.

Kalaban ponders his dilemma. He is a good swimmer, but he is no where near good enough to drag a dolphin (expecially if it is unwilling) back to the Reef Runner. Besides, what would happen to it there? Yamalla might fix it. Braata might insist.... but still, how to get it there? Krick might think it should be lunch or stay in the water as food for something....

The thought disturbs him. In Shark's Reef there is sure to be no lack of predators that would take advantage of a hurt dolphin. He looks around nervously, feeling a bit vulnerable. "How did you get here alone anyway?"

The water is not deep here, but it is slightly over his head in most places. He finds a patch of brain coral to stand on and tries to coax the dolphin toward him. It doesn't or can't obey. He feels a bit ridiculous, talking to a dolphin. It isn't like he is Selkie or anything....

He slaps his forehead. "I am so dense! She would know what to do with you... um... I guess I could go back and get her. You wait here, and don't feed the shar......"

A thrashing in the water draws his attention. Instinctively he grabs for his main gauche... and remembers with dismay he did not take it. He did not take anything.... He squints into the bright water in the direction of the sound, and sees the unmistakable cut of fins above the waves. There is something in between them too, but in the bright sun he cannot make it out.

He could swim for it. If the sharks chase him though he will be lunch before he gets halfway to the atoll. Besides, he can't just ... leave this dolphin here...

"Hey! Dolphin! Would you come just a little closer? I mean, if I have my feet under me at least I have a little leverage." This time, the hurt animal does respond and weakly moves to within arm's length. Kal tentatively strokes its side.

He squints toward the sounds, much closer now, still coming obliquely from the sun and hard to make out. He feverishly reviews his paltry stock of anti-shark lore. "Let's see. Punch them in the nose?" He looks toward his wounded friend. "I don't suppose you could... like... call for help? Now would be a good time."

Selkie's keen eyes make out two familiar forms in the direction they are heading. One is the hurt dolphin, floating weakly at the surface. The other takes her by surprise. It is Kalaban. He apparently has found something to stand on, for he is not bobbing about as is his normal mode of swimming. She frowns, not sure why he is there.

Kalaban smiles. This is a welcome development, just what the situation required, and far better than sharks. "Hi!....."

As they near, she scans the horizon for signs of the namesakes of the reef. Off in the distance she sees it. The surface of the water is cut cleanly by several fins, belonging to very large predators, heading in their direction. Maybe a minute or two before they hone in on the two up ahead, she figures. Less if there is blood. But she tastes none as her friends coast to a stop in front of their destination.

Kalaban nods a greeting. "Hi.... lucky you came along, we have a little trouble..."

Clicking instructions to her guides, warning them of the incoming threat she spares a quick glance at Kalaban. Her brow furrows, and her eyes dart nervously between him and the dolphin. Without a word, she dives under the water for a closer look at the dolphin.

Kalaban watches as her lithe form circles the hurt animal, touching here and there on its hide, and finally focusing in on one of its pectoral fins. Selkie surfaces for air right next to him, instructing the dolphin with a quiet whistle and a few clicks. The dolphin rolls over for her, placing its now apparent broken fin close to her.

"Hi. We are glad you are....." he starts for the third time. It would be nice if she would acknowledge his existence.

She spares one more quick look at the incoming sharks, then closes her eyes, and places her hands gently on the dolphin.

Kalaban bites back his fourth attempt to greet Selkie. Something has started that he dare not disturb.

It is a sunny, hot day. At eye level, the water's surface in the distance sparkles in the sunlight and winks into his eyes like a thousand gems. The air smells of salt, seaweed and mangrove. The background music to Selkie's work is the lapping of waves on the mangrove roots and soft breathing. His. Hers. The dolphin's.

He forgets that he is here, he forgets he is a man up to his neck in water and standing on a coral in shark infested water. It is like he has become a part of the sea instead of a visitor to it.

For the first time he becomes acutely aware that she is naked in the surf. Her hands are on the dolphin, her chest touches it's side as part of a gentle embrace. The contrast between the two melt away before his eyes. Different flesh, made of the same, primal stuff. Diffent lines to their bodies, but both cut from the same simple, elegant and graceful concept. Sleek and beautiful forces of nature.

He blinks. It is funny how the ocean plays tricks on the eyes ....

Selkie's brow furrows and a moment of pain flashes across her features. At that very moment the dolphin wriggles free of her and swims energetically away.

Kalaban's feet suddenly seem to come back under him. He is again a man in an ocean, standing on brain coral. "Are you all right?" he asks, not at all sure what to do if she is not.

She comes back to herself, the pain receding into a dull throbbing in her arm and a few tender spots elsewhere. You are lucky if that is all that happens to you when battling with a hungry shark. Kalaban's presence and his words finally sink in, and she nods. "I'll be fine..." Selkie replies hoarsely, her breath ragged with strain.

"Thank you... for staying with her..." she adds, looking at him curiously. "We should get moving... the sharks will be here any moment..." she states, her legs still treading beneath her holding her afloat. She moves her arms to begin swimming, and starts to sink below the waves, as her face pales noticeably and a small cry escapes her lips.

Quicker than a heartbeat, a dolphin is beneath her, lifting her up, and allowing her to grab onto its dorsal fin. She grimaces and grabs on with one hand, holding the other arm tight to her side, careful not to move it again. Another dolphin swims to the surface, placing itself in front of Kalaban.

The dolphin hamstrings Kalaban at first... he had instinctively jumped from his perch on the coral to help the struggling Selkie and once again found a dolphin between him and her. This time it is different, though. The dolphin is not playing chaperone. His mind races...

The animal towing Selkie churns its powerful tail and quickly gets up to speed heading toward the little atoll Kalaban had spotted. The dolphin in front of him flicks its dorsal at him to show he should do the same.

Everything had changed within a few heartbeats. It is no coincidence that Selkie, having helped the dolphin, is now hurt. Somehow she took its pain. He is as certain of it as he is that now, he... of flesh, sinew, hair and lung, is being offered the dorsal of a dolphin.

"This.... is.... amazing." He takes it in two hands. The skin is textured, surprisingly soft. The dolphin immediately sets off after his companion, leaving Kal to admire the substantial wake left behind by their speed.

The sharks Selkie had referred to circle the area where they used to be, sending a shiver of relief down his spine. There are many ways to die, he thinks... but getting eaten like a peeled shrimp has to be the worst.

Within a few seconds they are in shallow water at the sheltered side of the atoll. Mangroves encroach on the lagoon, their roots like a thousand fingers dipping onto the sand and coral looking for purchase.

Selkie knows her arm is broken. When she was very young, she fell while climbing the exterior of the lighthouse, cracking her arm into one of the many boulders which lay beneath. Her father set it for her, without a word. His large calloused hands gently eased the bones back into their proper position, and then splinted and wrapped the wounded fin (as he called it) in clean linens and put it in a sling over her neck and shoulder. He made a tea for her, which eased her pain, and sped the healing along. A tea made from roots she knows can be found beneath the mangrove trees which dot this tiny atoll. A hot tea, and a kiss for her head, was all she needed to fix her up right, he had told her. But that was then. Now she will just have tea.

The dolphin eases her into water shallow enough for her to stand, and she wades up onto shore wearily, whistling a thanks. It offers a ride back to the ship when she needs it. She leans over and kisses its bottlenose and smiles, sending it back to the reef until later.

The other dolphin is not far behind them, bringing Kalaban on its back, and dropping him in the shallows. He sees her wading up onto the shore, her arm held motionless at her side.

Climbing out of the water, her feet tred softly on the wet sand, leaving no sign of her passing. She heads directly toward a stand of mangroves, and drops to her knees before them. She pulls her small knife from the sheath strapped to her calf, and begins digging at something beneath its roots.

Kal hustles out of the lagoon. Almost immediately the heat starts to dry the seawater off of his skin, leaving behind the slightly stiff and sticky residue of salt.

He trots along the shingle toward Selkie, trying to concentrate. He saw her hurts... her arm is damaged, she is bruised. She is obviously in discomfort. He can help... if she will let him. He finds his focus on his intentions wandering with his eyes though. She is naked and tan. Her sleek wet body glistens brightly in the afternoon sun. It is most distracting....

"Hey. Selkie? Are you hurt? I can help. Let me examine your arm, it might need to be immobilized...."

Selkie finds what she is looking for, and pulls forth enough of the root for her tea, setting it on the sand beside her, and replacing her knife in its sheath. She pauses for a moment her brow furrowing slightly as she is reminded that she is not alone. Grabbing the roots she had harvested in her hand, she answers her concerned companion. "It is broken... I will fix it..." she explains.

She looks around for the next piece she needs to make her tea and spots a likely source. A group of palm trees, their pods deposited on the ground beneath them, further up the beach. A good possibility for a container to boil the roots. She stands and walks towards them, taking her roots with.

Kal sighs. She ought to stop furrowing her brow or she will get wrinkles around those perfect sea green eyes....

"Would you like me to look at it? I only have a few hundred questions that I promise not to ask. I don't doubt you can fix it, but it wouldn't hurt to have a second opinion as to the problem. A fracture, if that is what it is, can be tricky to diagnose. And there is the question of whether you have other internal hurts. I know I don't always act the part, but Oscar (and I) know what we are doing..."

He follows her toward the palm trees, studiously avoiding looking below her waist.

Selkie sighs. He is persistant, she'll give him that. Like an otter who thinks you are holding out on him. She stifles a smile at that thought. He is rather like an otter, playful and nosey, but not as good a swimmer. "It is a very small fracture,... doesn't need to be set... just needs what I am going to fix it with..." she tells him, bending down to retrieve one of the fallen pods, and looking it over closely for signs of cracks. It will do she decides, then turns and heads back to the water to fill it.

He is still a bit star struck from the experience in the waves, not to mention curious. Although the sweet scent of oranges beckon him, he decides [against his better judgment] to stay and watch. At least for a few moments.

He brushes the ants off of a fallen palm trunk bleached white by the sun. He sits down and makes himself comfortable.

"I admit, I have not seen a fracture treated with seawater before. Are you going to use a little magic?"

Selkie wades into the water, filling the pod with seawater, then turns to Kalaban and cocks her head, holding both the roots and the pod full of water cradled in her good arm. "I guess some might call it magic..." she answers him, trying to figure out what term she would use to describe what she is going to do.

She stands waist deep in the clear blue water, the waves pushing at her gently. She shrugs her shoulders. "I guess I would say that I am just going to use the elements to aid me..." she informs him, then heads back out of the water to a shady spot underneath a large palm.

Kalaban thoughtfully rubs his lower lip. He has a lot of questions, but he does not think now is the time to ask them all. There is the one burning question though... this one he would risk. "Elements? I did not know the elements could heal. Is that what you did to help the dolphin?"

She brushes a hollow into the sand with her foot, and carefully sets the pod into it, so as not to spill any of the water. "No..." she answers, then kneels before the pod and dips her finger into the water, swirling it about. A few moments pass, her eyes focused on the water in front of her, and then she withdraws her finger, and begins snapping the roots into smaller pieces and tossing them into the pod.

"No? Then it is something else. Something that makes a broken dolphin whole, and at the same time cracks the arm of a young (and, I might add, attractive...) lady?" He goes over to where she has set the gourd and squats, looking up into her face and trying to find her sea green eyes. "What do you call it, Selkie?"

She is startled when she looks up. Concentrating so hard on her tea preparation, she did not realize he had approached. Her eyes grow a bit fearful, but she steels herself and stands her ground this time. "I don't have a name for it..." she looks down at the remaining roots in her hand, which she has snapped more times than required for the tea. She tosses them in, and finishes her answer. "I just will it, and it happens..." Her hand slides down her leg and she pulls her knife free, plopping it blade first into the water.

"Oh. Of course," says Kalaban playfully. "It just happens." There is a symmetry about her that he is finding quite compelling. He has a name for what she did -- even though she doesn't -- it is selfless compassion, something uniformly lacking in almost everybody he has ever met. He has this urge to do something... anything... to show some appreciation for it.

He bobs up to his feet. "I like mysteries," he says. "But they make me hungry. I shall be right back. Don't move, please. I would rather not try to swim for it, especially since those circling fins out there tell me it would be a shorter trip than I would hope for..."

He smiles a glittering smile at her, catching once more a glimpse of those sea green eyes, and takes off like a cat into the mangroves.

She watches him disappear into the trees, her curiousity piqued. The throbbing in her arm brings her back to the task at hand however. Closing her eyes, she lets her breath out slowly, focusing her energy on the knife in her tea. The metal starts to warm, then soon glows red hot, causing the water to steam around it, and soon bringing the whole mixture to a boil. She lets it steep for a time, the essence in the roots bleeding into the tea. It will help the bone mend properly when she heals it, and her mind to focus on something other than the pain. Then she will be able to calm the sharks which circle angrily around the reef, and they can return to the ship.

Selkie realizes she is finally alone on the beach, and looks more closely at her surroundings. It is a nice little island, with much life, and a source of fresh water from the looks of the trees in the direction Kalaban had headed. This would be a good place to stock up on a few supplies. She will come back, once she returns Kalaban safely to the ship, and the heat of the day has lessened. Looking down at her mixture, she releases the heat from the blade, and grabs the handle, sticking the knife into the sand. Her eyes wander to the stand of trees Kalaban had disappeared into, curious as to when he'd return, and what surprises he would bring back.

It is rough going through the mangroves. The tangles of limbs and sharp twigs and leaves jab at his mosty exposed body. He snorts at them, determined to get through them to the taller trees beyond. Finally, after several feet of bulling through them, he determines his best strategy is to crawl at their feet, where the limbs do not present much of an obstacle and he need only wade through the roots.

As the ground becomes more solid, the mangroves taper off into an assortment of ferns, low palms, bushes.... and the orange trees. Kal grins, eyeing the fruit. They would be worth the scratches.

Kalaban marches around the seaside of the mangrove stand, grinning and shaking his head that he had not thought to go around them the first time. He holds a half-dozen prime oranges, all he could comfortably hold. The sweat on his back mixed with the salt from the sea stings and makes him thirsty for the juice of his fruit. He postpones his pleasure, however, for a greater one.

He spots Selkie, sitting on her knees in the shade, looking into the mangrove stand near where he had entered. Her guarded expression is gone.

He again takes the opportunity for a guilty look at her. She is far from his classic idea of desirable, and yet seems all the more desirable for it. He would like to think this is some weird infatuation brought about by circumstance, but it is too puzzling, too baffling, to set it aside as a quirk. She seems in better health now... although that could just be a trick on his memory. Even at this distance, he imagines those sea green eyes...

He shakes off his mood and splashes over toward her in the surf, making plenty of noise so as not to surprise her. When she turns toward him he holds up the oranges. Although she quickly finds another place to look, he is rewarded with a bashful smile.

His annoying scratches are forgotten.

"I hope you like oranges..." he says, smiling broadly. "I saw these from the crow's nest and I had to have them. I love fruit.... and my mother warned me against going too long without some on a sea voyage."

He sits down opposite her in the shade. He holds out the largest... "Here?"

Selkie studies him for a moment, the uncertainty reflecting in her eyes. Maybe it is the relaxing effect the tea has on her, or the relief of not feeling the painful throb in her arm, or just that his smile is genuinely warm. Besides, she likes oranges, and apparently so does he, due to the trouble he went through to retrieve them, judging by the numerous scratches on his body. She sets down the remainder of her brew, back into its hollow scooped in the sand.

Her arm she still keeps motionless at her side, for it is still not healed. She nods and takes the orange with her other hand, finding a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Thankyou..." she says softly dropping her eyes to the fruit in her hand. "I do like oranges... but I think I need both hands to enjoy it..." she adds, her shy smile finally released.

She sets the orange carefully in the sand, and closes her eyes.

"Do you want me to peel it for you? I am expert at peeling.... Selkie?"

Her breathing grows even and deep, her concentration focused on some hidden inner place. She rubs her hand over the wounded arm slowly. A pale green light glows softly under her palm as it passes.

The light fades, and she opens her eyes once more, reaching out to grasp the orange with both hands.

Kal has already started to open it. He smiles sheepishly and drops the orange into her hands. "Oops. I thought you were asking for help. How's that arm now?"

Her eyes meet his for just a moment, then she quickly looks back at the orange, her nimble fingers removing the rest of the rind. "It is better..." she states carefully. "... but needs rest"

Kal nods. He pries out a section of his orange and chomps down on it, letting the juice pour down his thirsty throat. "Can you swim? Yam and Braata are missing us by now."

She nods, noting the enjoyment Kalaban gets from the orange. "... the dolphins will help again... but..." she frowns slightly looking at the many fins cutting the surface of the reef still. "I need to calm the sharks..."

Kal smiles. "You can do that? I am glad you can calm them. I don't think they care for fruit..." he says, tossing one up in the air and catching it, "and it wouldn't do too much good to bop one with an orange, not to mention it would be a waste of precious citrus."

He gets up and stretches. The muscles in his lean torso bunch, then relax. He looks around at other resources, keenly aware of their situation and processing what they have available that might make the trip through "calmed" sharks easier.

"If you only have one good arm... maybe we should rig up something to make sure your... escort can pull you full speed ... and that you don't lose your grip. What do you think?"

Selkie tosses a large piece of orange in her mouth, and smiles shyly. "I will not lossse my gwip..." she informs him, orange and all.

Kal chuckles. For some reason, her fragile smile puts him in a fine mood. He scoops up his four remaining oranges and idly juggles them a turn or too, then pops them into the crook of his arm.

"Tsk. I came out this way specifically to collect some oranges, and foolishly forget to bring along a sack or a net to carry a bunch back. Down to four..." He sighs, then looks at Selkie with a smile.

"Four's enough to share though. So, I guess I am ready when you are. Swallow your orange before casting though... Yam tells me bad things can happen if the words of magic are garbled... even by orange pulp."

His desire to share the oranges with the rest of the crew brings about another 'otter' characteristic which she appreciates greatly. The need to collect the fruit instead of having it at hand on the ship reminds her how much she misses her garden, with its assortment of colorful peppers and bountiful plants. It wouldn't be difficult to grow their own citrus trees on the Reef Runner. Maybe she could ask Yamalla if he would build some boxes, it wouldn't be difficult to find some soil, the rest is simple. She can return this evening and collect what is needed.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the realization that Kalaban is ready to leave, and mentioned something which she is not certain of its meaning. She swallows the last piece of orange, then tilts her head and looks at him a little confused. "Casting? Magic words?"

"Magic words. As in magic spell? Aren't you using magic to talk to dolphins, calm sharks, pet seals, and whatever else you do with such natural charm?"

The confusion remains, though curiousity causes her smile to return. "I don't think it is magic... it just comes naturally to me... I will things to happen.. and they do... I guess maybe some might call it magic... but I don't know any magic words or spells..." she shrugs.

Kalaban looks at her thoughtfully. (Now, why am a *not* surprised it comes naturally?) "I guess it just goes to show... Yamalla doesn't know everything," he quips. He looks out at the fins in the distance. "I guess I am ready whenever you are. Just say... go... when it is time to go. And can I have that same dolphin as last time? I think he likes me...."

Selkie grins and drops her eyes to the ground, slightly embarrassed. "Yes... *she* does like you..."

"Sure. What's not to like? *She*... heh. Figures." He looks away, elated that she smiled for him -- again -- and mindful that she is shy. He idly tosses an orange and catches it. "Well, maybe you could tell *her* thanks for the rides. It is pretty thrilling."

Selkie grins, agreeing with his statement, then stands and pours the rest of her tea out. She then lays the gourd in the sun to dry and walks toward the water. "You can tell her... she can understand you..." she informs Kalaban, reaching the water's edge and wading in up to her slender waist. She slows her breathing again, and closes her eyes, waving her hands slowly over the surface. Colorful pale mists, of white, yellow, and red form out over the area where the fins circle. The mists coalesce into one, and sink into the depths.

A few moments pass, then the fins begin to disperse, dropping beneath the waves once again, swimming away lazily. Selkie opens her eyes, and dips her hand into the water, stroking the back of a playful ray which is circling her legs. She whistles a short pattern, then turns to look over her shoulder at Kalaban, still standing safely on the shore. "They will be here soon..."

Kal grins broadly, making a show of stepping gingerly into the water. "I am trusting you on this, Selkie," he says. "I am sure we taste all the sweeter now that we have eaten orange."

His diminishing concern over the sharks is far overshadowed by his mood, which continues to brighten at every smile and grin. He takes several steps out into the water, until it is at his thighs, and then jumps up and down in alarm, grabbing his foot.

"Ow! Ah! OW! Something has got me!" He hops up and down and pulls his foot out of the water, feigning surprise it is still there. "Oh," he says sheepishly, his grin widening. "Just a crab." Then he falls backward into the cool water, laughing and splashing.

Her grin broadens as she watches Kalaban splash about. His clowning causes a slight chuckle to escape before she turns back to watch for her friends. Selkie spies the wave coming at them, and dives under the water to meet them.

Kal sputters and grabs the oranges that slipped from his arm. Selkie is gone... probably under the water. He wades out deeper and nearly jumps out of the water when a dolphin leaps out of it right in front of him and dances on her tail.

"Yike! Hey! Not fair, my fine finned friend! Scaring the beejeebers out of a two legged landlubber!" He laughs at its antics, clutching his oranges tighter. "Come here, you..." he warns playfully.

It comes closer. It backs away just out of reach at the last second before he can grab its fin. It chitters at him. He is sure it is laughter. "Just like a female. Playing hard to get....?"

He lunges for the fin, misses, gets up, tries again, misses. Finally, he pretends to ignore the dolphin and it comes closer, perhaps knowing it is just a game and playing along, or perhaps curious. This time, he grabs the fin. "Caught! Now what shall I call you? I doubt I can pronounce your name in dolphinese. I think... "missey"... that fits. Especially since you make me miss...."

The dolphin whistles at him and flips its tail, lurching them into motion, and causing two of the oranges to slip from under his arm.

Just then, Selkie surfaces, blowing a stream of water from her mouth, and holding something in her hand, that shy smile lighting up her face. Her dolphin pops up next to her, chittering at Kalaban and his newly monikered Missey.

Kalaban's dolphin turns quickly, now heading toward the pair with Kalaban still riding along on its dorsal.

"Whoa Missey! My oranges...."

Selkie gathes up the floating fruit and pops them into the net she has salvaged from the depths. She brings her dolphin next to Missey and Kalaban and holds it open for him to add the remaining two. He complies.

She is close to him in the azure sea. A few droplets of water trickle down her cheeks, accentuating her shy smile. He looks into her eyes for a moment. They are so... deep, full of life and mystery. Sea green. The eyes draw at him, prying at his self control and making him feel at the same time, thrilled and uncomfortable.... He smiles a shy smile of his own.

Wordlessly she takes hold of her dolphin again with her good hand. The four of them... Kal, Selkie and the dolphins speed through the modest swells on the sparkling water toward the distant Reef Runner.