p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px auto 1.286em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strongThis was supposed to be a short, fluffy, Taako and Angus story. It is exactly none of those things. It's nearly 16,000 words of mostly pure angst and Taako shows up like...twice. Magnus got me with his rustic hospitality and I'm pretty sure he has advantage when dealing with aquatic creatures so I guess this is A MangoAngo show. *shrug*/strong/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strongThis story is complete and I'll probably upload chapters once every two/three days until I get the companion piece done. Hope you all enjoy! /strong/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strongThis has been solely over on AO3 for a while and I decided to post it over here as well. I don't know how big the TAZ fandom is over here but I hope you guys like it!/strong/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT""span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Land-Walker things are dangerous." /spanHis grandfather had said. "span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"They are beautiful, and sometimes even useful, but never forget that they are dangerous, too."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus sputters as another wave washes over him. It is hard to move right with the netting tangled around his tail and one arm. He uses his free hand to push himself back above the waves, but his muscles ache and he doesn't get as far up as he would like to. The thin fibers of the net dig into his skin and blood clouds the water./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He keens high in his throat, but there is no one left to answer. His grandfather is dead, and the rest of the pod has left him behind. Left him here, tangled in this net, to die. Another wave washes over him. The tide is coming in and he is already tired. He is going to drown./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He forces his arm to push him up, to get his head up above the water again. He barely gets his nose above the waves to catch a breath. Maybe it's his last one. The net is tangled around the coral, holding him down./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He wishes he'd never seen the stupid net in the first place. He wishes he'd stayed away from it like the rest of the pod. He thought that he could maybe use it to catch fish, the way the Land-Walkers did. The only thing he'd caught was himself and the coral. And now he's going to die./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He calls again, but of course, no one answers. A shudder runs through his body. He doesn't want to be alone, he wants to swim in the middle of the pod, even though most of them don't like him all that much. He wants to sleep surrounded by the others, to be brushed and buffeted and teased even though sometimes it actually hurts instead of just being for fun./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He tries to rise to the surface again, but the tide has risen too far, his arm is too weak. He calls again, but it is quiet, feeble, the brightly colored reef fish drift around him as he sinks. He can hold his breath for awhile, but it's only prolonging the inevitable. He can't hold it long enough to outlast the tide. The coral scratches at his skin as he sinks to the bottom but he can't bring himself to care./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He stares up at the patterns of light refracting through the water. He and his grandfather used to do this together. Just sit quietly and watch the sunlight catch the waves. He can do it now, that's all he needs to focus on, just watch the patterns. Make pictures and stories and imagine a better place to be./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There is a low humming vibrating through the water. Like a mother calling her children. Angus chirps reply. Maybe the Sea Mother is real after all. Maybe she's come for him already./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"A shadow looms over him, sleek and strange. Something on the surface of the water, not a bird, it is far, far too big. It stops and the humming stops with it. Angus chirps again, more frantically. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I'm here, I'm here. Please don't leave me! I'm here!/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Something tugs on the net, it digs into his fin so deeply he gasps and water floods his lungs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"It span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hurts/span./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's lived his entire life in the ocean, he knows that breathing water hurts, but this is so much worse than the times he's gotten seawater in his nose. It burns down his throat and into his chest and he can't stop himself from coughing automatically, but that means he just pulls more seawater into his lungs. He can't control his body, it is turning against him, killing him with the instincts that are supposed to keep him alive./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Another tug on the net, more blood in the water, more water in his lungs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's dying./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"drowning./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"And then he's not. Then he's above the water, then there's cold ocean wind flowing around him. There's span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"air/span. He sucks it in and that hurts almost as much as breathing water but he doesn't care. He's not drowning, he's not dying. He's breathing in the salty air, he's listening to the voices shouting around him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Voices?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"It isn't his pod, they're shouting in a weird short way. Like the cries of seabirds. There's hands and voices and faces and he doesn't recognize any of them. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Who are you ?/span He wants to ask, but he can't make himself stop gasping long enough to ask. One of the voices rises over the rest of them and Angus turns to it automatically./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There is a man, a Land-Walker man with facial hair and clothing and span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"legs. /spanHe's standing on those legs, standing over Angus, looking down at him with his Land-Walker eyes and making Land-Walker sounds with his Land-Walker mouth and he's a span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Land-Walker/span./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus screams./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He tries to push himself away, but one arm is weak with exhaustion and the other one is tangled in the net still and the ground (he's on solid ground, they pulled him out of the sea, out of safety, out of escape) is slick with water. He thrashes, trying to swim even though that's stupid because he isn't in the water anymore./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The voices rise up again, like gulls that have found a school of fish. Angus calls again, louder higher, even though there's no way his pod will answer. He doesn't want this to happen, he doesn't want to be alone while it does./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"His tail bangs into the walls, into the Land-Walker's legs and one of them slips on the water and falls. The voices are shouting and then there's hands on him, there's a body pinning him down. The Land-Walker is heavy and strong and Angus can't throw him off. He's too tired, too scared./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's shaking, from fear and from cold. The ocean wind he was so happy to feel is bitingly cold above the waves. The Land-Walker is warm though, hot, even. Like rocks warmed by the sun, so different from the other members of his pod./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The voices have died down, now, he realizes, no longer high and harsh like the cries of gulls. Now they're low and quiet, but they still have that odd clipped cadence to them. They bite off the sounds too soon, their tone doesn't change as they speak. It is utterly alien./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The Land-Walker pinning him down speaks, his voice vibrates through Angus' body and he flinches. He's almost caught his breath now, he should be trying to escape, trying to throw this Land-Walker off of himself. He can't seem to make himself move though. He's just laying here, breathing hard even though it hurts, he can't even make his fingers twitch. All he can do is lay here while the Land-Walkers talk in their strange clipped language, move their hands shift their feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The one pinning him down makes a sound, a low hissing span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"shhh. /spanLike he's angry, but he doesn't do anything more than give that warning. Angus realizes that he's making a sound. A low keening chirrup./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Don't hurt me, I'm little./span He is saying, the way he did when the older pups played too rough. Like this is some game the Land-Walkers are playing. Like they'll stop and let him go if he just asks them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The one pinning him down makes the warning span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"shh/span again and Angus makes himself stop. He somehow makes his free arm pull back to his chest and his fingers curl loosely at his own throat. It still hurts and he wishes he could stop breathing so hard./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The Land-Walkers are speaking lowly now, so quiet he almost can't hear them. Some are speaking in the same angry, hissing way that the one holding him down is. Their hands flail in strange, meaningless ways, not the smooth, distinct ways of the pod. The one holding him down doesn't gesture, only speaks in that low voice. He has facial hair too, not on his lip like the smallest Land-Walker does, but on the sides of his face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"If this were any other situation, Angus thinks that he would be excited to see Land-Walkers so close. He's only heard descriptions of them before, only seen the things they've left behind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He wishes he'd never even heard of them now. He wishes he could be safe with the pod, even if they played rough, even if they made him sleep at the edges because he wasn't strong enough to force his way to the middle./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"His mind is wandering, he realizes. It wants to think about other things, not about how close he came to drowning, not about how close he is to death even now. He still can't make himself move, his muscles are stiff and aching, his tail stings with every breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The Land-Walker sitting on him shifts and Angus knows that this is his chance, he should twist and buck and throw the Land-Walker off of himself. Should take this window to dive back into the ocean, even drowning would be better than whatever the Land-Walkers have planned. He doesn't move though./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He stares at his arm, willing it to push him up, he tells his tail to thrash. Neither of them move. He is paralyzed by fear, he can't do anything but sit here while the Land-Walker cautiously shifts his hold./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus' eyes are unfocused and the world is painted in soft blurs. A strange feeling steals over him, not calm, he doesn't think that he will ever calm down again, if he survives. But the world seems further away, the things going on seem to matter less. He thinks that he might faint, if this goes on much longer, but he doesn't. He just floats, like a newborn pup in the shallow tide pools./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The Land-Walker with the hair on his cheeks, the one who'd hissed warning to him when he called, the one who'd held him down until he'd stopped thrashing is speaking again. His voice is low and rough, like gravel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The other's break off their own discussion and come closer. Angus watches their feet, the strange way they move. They don't walk like seabirds, for all that they talk like them. They come closer and it should make him panic all over again, but he is still in that strange, distant place. It is easier to lay here on the strange, too smooth, ground than it is to try and fight against them. They keep winning anyway./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The small one with the hair on his lip motions to the one with the hair on his cheeks and the weight is slowly lifted from Angus. The cheek-hair man keeps his hands on Angus' shoulders, but they are barely pressing down now. Angus watches the ground tilt with the motion of the waves. There is blood in the water on around him, he watches the red stains swirl and diffuse in strange patterns./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The voices say quiet, but he thinks there's a thread of urgency in them now. The small one is speaking again, his voice is even more clipped and his gestures are shorter now, almost like real words, simple words, though. He points to a few of the Land-Walkers, and they move as he does. Is he the pod leader, then?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Do Land-Walkers have pods?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair Land-Walker moves when the lip-hair Land-Walker directs him, his hands shift on Angus' shoulders. Tugging him, moving him. Angus' tail twitches, but it would be so much work to make a fuss now. He is so very tired. He lets the Land-Walkers do with him as they will, their voices wash over him like ocean waves, their hands keep touching him and he keeps twitching, but doing much more than that seems pointless. He can't stop them anyway./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"They tug on the net and it hurts enough to drag him back from the strange drifting place. Angus shakes his head and tries to pull away, but the cheek-hair Land-Walker is still holding him. He tries to say span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"stop it that hurts me. /spanBut the Land-Walker hisses warning again and holds him tighter./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The net is lifting away now, though, he realizes. The Land-Walkers are cutting it away, and even though it makes his heart beat faster to see the knives in their hands so close to his skin, they do not cut him. He watches the netting come away easily beneath their hands and he wonders if they mean to hurt him at all./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Is that why the cheek-hair one is hissing at him, so that he doesn't struggle and accidentally cut himself? Are they trying to help him? Not hurt? It hurts when they tug on the net, of course, but they themselves aren't causing any harm to him. He makes a questioning chirp at the cheek-hair man, and tries to raise his free hand to ask a question./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair man hisses again and catches his wrist. He pulls Angus' hand back against his chest and then says something to the cutting Land-Walkers. They pause their work and the cheek-hair man shifts so that he is sitting behind Angus, his chest pressed against the fin on Angus' back. It isn't comfortable, really, but it allows Angus to watch the cutting Land-Walkers while they work./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There is already a little pile of netting beside them, stained with blood. His stomach churns and he looks away from it. Looking at his tail isn't much better, he's covered in scratches and there is blood sluggishly dripping from too many places. He looks at the cutting Land-Walkers instead./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There are two of them, working quickly and carefully, murmuring to each other as their knives flash in the sun. One of them is small and light and her hair is long and golden. The other one is male, built in a stocky, solid way with some strange..thing on his face holding little bits of glass in front of his eyes. They are both wearing red jackets./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The woman looks up at sees him watching her. She says something in the strange clipped language of the Land-Walkers, but her hands don't move. Angus tries to ask a question, but the cheek-hair Land-Walker grabs his hand again and pulls it to his chest. The cheek-hair Land-Walker says something in his rumbling voice and the cutting Land-Walker replies and then gets back to work./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The other cutting Land-Walker tugs on the net and Angus gasps as a sharp stab of pain sears up his tail all the way from the tip of his flluke. A high sound escapes his throat and he reflexively pulls his tail away from their hands./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair Land-Walker is hissing warning again but Angus ignores him. He wiggles his other arm out of the net and tries to pry his wrist free. Moving hurts, but he can't make himself stop now. There's a long, confusing moment where he is trying to thrash free again, and the Land-Walkers are trying to stop him and everything is noise and pain and then the cheek-hair Land-Walker has both of his arms wrapped around Angus' torso and he's hissing and speaking in his low growly voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus gets tired again before he's even close to escaping, in fact, now he's even further from escaping because the cheek-hair man is holding him even tighter than before. He keeps hissing, and Angus remembers that the Land-Walkers are probably trying to help. They want him to stay still so they don't hurt him more on accident./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"At least he hopes so./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair Land-Walker is crooning now, Angus realizes, like a mother to her new pup, only much, much deeper. His arms are wrapped around Angus like a hug, almost and it's been so long since anyone hugged him. He didn't realize just how lonely he was, shunned by the pod with his grandfather dead and his parents missing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He turns his head and hides his face in the strange material of the cheek-hair Land-Walker's clothes. He can hear his heart, it beats a strange tempo, but it is still a heartbeat, and Angus matches his breathing to it. The cheek-hair Land-Walker is hissing again, but Angus thinks maybe it isn't just a general warning. Maybe it means hold still./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He keeps his face buried in the cheek-hair man's jacket, it is dark and safe in there. There is the occasional tug and pain at his tail, but it is easier to bury himself further in the man's jacket than it is to fight. Eventually, the tugging and cutting stops and the Land-Walker's are speaking around him again. Their voices are low and quiet now, quieter than they've been before./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He lets the sound wash over him, like sea waves, like bird calls, meaningless, but comforting. It means he isn't alone, there is something else living, moving, existing nearby. He feels himself drifting closer to sleep and he can't think of a compelling enough reason to hold back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="CENTER"***/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He wakes when cold air washes him and for a moment, he thinks it is the other members of the pod. They like to splash him while he tries to sleep, sometimes they even push him under. He whines at them to leave him alone and strange voices answer him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Not his pod-mates. Not even other mers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus opens his eyes, but the world is dark, there is faint, red tinged light, but he can't see anything. His whole body aches, his tail feels like it's been shredded and his throat isn't any better. He calls for someone, anyone to make the pain stop, but of course, no one answers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"No one but the Land-Walkers who maybe possibly rescued him. They're making the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hold still/span hiss again and Angus makes himself obey. They haven't really hurt him yet, not intentionally at least and he wants to be able to trust them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Their voices murmur around him, hands occasionally brush against his skin, warm and gentle. He hears the gravely voice of the cheek-hair man, and the high voice of the lip-hair pod leader and the woman who had cut away the net. There are others as well, but he can't imagine faces to go with them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The air smells funny, the salty scent of the ocean is faint, now, replaced by something harsh. Angus wrinkles his nose against it. Sounds echo in a strange way, like they're in a cave and he can't hear the wash of the ocean waves./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He makes a questioning sound, but no one answers. There is an odd shuddery sound and a hand touches his forehead. The Land-Walker makes the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hold still/span sound again and there are hands holding his arm away from his body. They tie something around his arm, too tight. He frowns and tries to pull away but they keep making the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hold still/span sound and they won't let him take his arm back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There is a hand on his head, half petting his hair, half holding him down and he can't decide which it is doing more. If it's holding him down then he thinks that he should struggle, but the fingers are also shifting in a sort of nice way so maybe it's just a Land-Walker thing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The hands on his arm are poking around now, tracing something in his arm. There is a voice, even lower and gruffer than the cheek-hair Land-Walker's speaking. The Cheek-hair Land-Walker responds and Angus realizes that he is the one holding him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He flexes his fluke, a habitual motion that he's done so many times before, but this time it sends a fresh stab of agony up his spine. He gasps and flinches and the Land-Walkers are making more urgent sounds now, telling him to hold still even though his instincts tell him to move span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"away/span from the pain. But the pain is in his tail and he can't leave that behind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Breathing hard, he tries to hold still and the pain does fade to a dull ache. The hands on his arm are gripping more firmly now, and he doesn't think he could jerk his arm away if he needed to. It makes him nervous and he tugs experimentally at the grip./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The gruffer voice barks something and another hand wraps around Angus' wrist, pinning it to the ground. He whines complaint and tugs at his arm again. It jolts his tail, but now the Land-Walkers are starting to scare him again. He tries to look around, but all he can see is the faint red light, there are even fainter shadows, but they don't look like anything./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair man is making the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hold still/span hiss again, but Angus isn't sure if he should listen./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Don't hurt me./span He tries to say, but why would the Land-Walkers understand him? He certainly can't understand them. There is a little pinch in his arm, little more than a pinprick, barely noticeable and the hands slacken their grip. They are still holding him firmly, but he could pull his arm away now, he thinks./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Was that all they wanted? Angus tries to turn his head, to see what they've done to him but he thinks that they have covered his eyes with something. In a moment, they untie the thing around his arm and then they're pressing against the pinched spot, but nothing hurts any more than it did before./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He doesn't understand what they're doing and he thinks maybe that should scare him, but they also haven't hurt him. Angus experimentally pulls his arm towards his chest and the hands allow him to take it. That was all they wanted then, he guesses. He cradles the pinched arm close to his body, trying to feel along the same place the gruff man did. There is a little bit of something stuck to the place where they pinched him, but other than that his arm is fine./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He cautiously lifts a hand to his face and yes, there is something over his eyes. It feels like the jacket of the cheek-hair man, draped carefully over the top of his head. He tugs it away and none of the Land-Walkers stop him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He is lying on some sort of unnaturally flat place, it is hard as rock, but impossibly smooth. Above him, there are lights, like multiple suns above him. They hurt his eyes if he looks directly at them so he turns his attention to the gruff man at his side./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's small, almost as short as the lip-hair man, but his hair isn't just on his lips or cheeks, its all over his face. Was this how Land-Walkers decided who was in charge? Was this actually the pod leader? His hair is silvery white, like Angus' grandfather's had started to turn before he died./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The possibly pod leader catches Angus' eye and immediately calls the others over. They come slowly, speaking in low soft voices. If he ignores the strange, short sounds and only focuses on the tone, he thinks that they are trying be soothing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"It's hard to do, laying down the way he is, but Angus sets aside the jacket and hesitantly signs span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hello?/span He trills uncertainty as he does./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The man with they the glass in front of his eyes gasps and leans forward. He says something to the other Land-Walkers, his tone quick and...excited? Angus thinks. Then, he moves his hands, and it isn't just gestures, its span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"words/span but they're wrong./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"A different language, but they're span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"trying/span. Angus moves his hands again. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Who are you? Where am I?/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"What he says doesn't really matter, there's no way for them to understand each other, but it will be enough to at least try and meet them halfway, right? Maybe they won't hurt him if they think he's trying to talk. Or maybe they span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"will/span hurt him but it's too late for that./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The other Land-Walkers are vocalizing, but they don't speak with their hands. The eye glass man replies with his voice too. Angus watches them, trying to understand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Maybe...Maybe they're the opposite of mers?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"What if they use their voices for the little details and their hands for bigger things? But when the eye glass man spoke, it looked like a proper language, not just emotions. It's too confusing and he wants to go back to sleep./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The possibly pod leader shoves something into the eye glass man's hands and grumbles something. Angus pays attention to the sounds this time, trying to pick out..something. Words, maybe? He tries to think about how a vocal language would work./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus tries to sit up on his elbows, but the muscles of his tail scream protest and he falls back to the smooth-rock with a gasp and a loud crash. Immediately the Land-Walkers are back at his side, their hands hold him down, but he thinks that maybe he can trust them a bit. They tried to talk to him and they haven't hurt him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He makes himself relax, still breathing hard from the pain and the Land-Walkers are chattering around him. The maybe pod leader is shooing the eye glass man away and the woman who had cut Angus out of the net is trailing after him. The cheek-hair man has a hand on Angus' chest, keeping him from sitting up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus whimpers and lifts his hands to sign, but he doesn't know what to say, it doesn't matter what he says. They can't understand him, and he can't understand them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair man takes one of Angus' hands in his own, not restraining, just... holding. Like a little hand hug. It isn't as good as a real hug would be, but Angus thinks that a real hug would hurt so he squeezes the hand hard./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The man arranges the jacket over Angus' chest without breaking their hand hug and Angus feels himself drifting back to sleep./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strongThis story is complete and I'll probably upload chapters once every two/three days until I get the companion piece done. Hope you all enjoy! /strong/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strongThis has been solely over on AO3 for a while and I decided to post it over here as well. I don't know how big the TAZ fandom is over here but I hope you guys like it!/strong/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT""span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Land-Walker things are dangerous." /spanHis grandfather had said. "span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"They are beautiful, and sometimes even useful, but never forget that they are dangerous, too."/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus sputters as another wave washes over him. It is hard to move right with the netting tangled around his tail and one arm. He uses his free hand to push himself back above the waves, but his muscles ache and he doesn't get as far up as he would like to. The thin fibers of the net dig into his skin and blood clouds the water./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He keens high in his throat, but there is no one left to answer. His grandfather is dead, and the rest of the pod has left him behind. Left him here, tangled in this net, to die. Another wave washes over him. The tide is coming in and he is already tired. He is going to drown./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He forces his arm to push him up, to get his head up above the water again. He barely gets his nose above the waves to catch a breath. Maybe it's his last one. The net is tangled around the coral, holding him down./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He wishes he'd never seen the stupid net in the first place. He wishes he'd stayed away from it like the rest of the pod. He thought that he could maybe use it to catch fish, the way the Land-Walkers did. The only thing he'd caught was himself and the coral. And now he's going to die./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He calls again, but of course, no one answers. A shudder runs through his body. He doesn't want to be alone, he wants to swim in the middle of the pod, even though most of them don't like him all that much. He wants to sleep surrounded by the others, to be brushed and buffeted and teased even though sometimes it actually hurts instead of just being for fun./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He tries to rise to the surface again, but the tide has risen too far, his arm is too weak. He calls again, but it is quiet, feeble, the brightly colored reef fish drift around him as he sinks. He can hold his breath for awhile, but it's only prolonging the inevitable. He can't hold it long enough to outlast the tide. The coral scratches at his skin as he sinks to the bottom but he can't bring himself to care./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He stares up at the patterns of light refracting through the water. He and his grandfather used to do this together. Just sit quietly and watch the sunlight catch the waves. He can do it now, that's all he needs to focus on, just watch the patterns. Make pictures and stories and imagine a better place to be./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There is a low humming vibrating through the water. Like a mother calling her children. Angus chirps reply. Maybe the Sea Mother is real after all. Maybe she's come for him already./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"A shadow looms over him, sleek and strange. Something on the surface of the water, not a bird, it is far, far too big. It stops and the humming stops with it. Angus chirps again, more frantically. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"I'm here, I'm here. Please don't leave me! I'm here!/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Something tugs on the net, it digs into his fin so deeply he gasps and water floods his lungs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"It span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hurts/span./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's lived his entire life in the ocean, he knows that breathing water hurts, but this is so much worse than the times he's gotten seawater in his nose. It burns down his throat and into his chest and he can't stop himself from coughing automatically, but that means he just pulls more seawater into his lungs. He can't control his body, it is turning against him, killing him with the instincts that are supposed to keep him alive./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Another tug on the net, more blood in the water, more water in his lungs./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's dying./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"drowning./span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"And then he's not. Then he's above the water, then there's cold ocean wind flowing around him. There's span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"air/span. He sucks it in and that hurts almost as much as breathing water but he doesn't care. He's not drowning, he's not dying. He's breathing in the salty air, he's listening to the voices shouting around him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Voices?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"It isn't his pod, they're shouting in a weird short way. Like the cries of seabirds. There's hands and voices and faces and he doesn't recognize any of them. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Who are you ?/span He wants to ask, but he can't make himself stop gasping long enough to ask. One of the voices rises over the rest of them and Angus turns to it automatically./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There is a man, a Land-Walker man with facial hair and clothing and span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"legs. /spanHe's standing on those legs, standing over Angus, looking down at him with his Land-Walker eyes and making Land-Walker sounds with his Land-Walker mouth and he's a span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Land-Walker/span./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus screams./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He tries to push himself away, but one arm is weak with exhaustion and the other one is tangled in the net still and the ground (he's on solid ground, they pulled him out of the sea, out of safety, out of escape) is slick with water. He thrashes, trying to swim even though that's stupid because he isn't in the water anymore./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The voices rise up again, like gulls that have found a school of fish. Angus calls again, louder higher, even though there's no way his pod will answer. He doesn't want this to happen, he doesn't want to be alone while it does./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"His tail bangs into the walls, into the Land-Walker's legs and one of them slips on the water and falls. The voices are shouting and then there's hands on him, there's a body pinning him down. The Land-Walker is heavy and strong and Angus can't throw him off. He's too tired, too scared./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's shaking, from fear and from cold. The ocean wind he was so happy to feel is bitingly cold above the waves. The Land-Walker is warm though, hot, even. Like rocks warmed by the sun, so different from the other members of his pod./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The voices have died down, now, he realizes, no longer high and harsh like the cries of gulls. Now they're low and quiet, but they still have that odd clipped cadence to them. They bite off the sounds too soon, their tone doesn't change as they speak. It is utterly alien./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The Land-Walker pinning him down speaks, his voice vibrates through Angus' body and he flinches. He's almost caught his breath now, he should be trying to escape, trying to throw this Land-Walker off of himself. He can't seem to make himself move though. He's just laying here, breathing hard even though it hurts, he can't even make his fingers twitch. All he can do is lay here while the Land-Walkers talk in their strange clipped language, move their hands shift their feet./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The one pinning him down makes a sound, a low hissing span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"shhh. /spanLike he's angry, but he doesn't do anything more than give that warning. Angus realizes that he's making a sound. A low keening chirrup./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Don't hurt me, I'm little./span He is saying, the way he did when the older pups played too rough. Like this is some game the Land-Walkers are playing. Like they'll stop and let him go if he just asks them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The one pinning him down makes the warning span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"shh/span again and Angus makes himself stop. He somehow makes his free arm pull back to his chest and his fingers curl loosely at his own throat. It still hurts and he wishes he could stop breathing so hard./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The Land-Walkers are speaking lowly now, so quiet he almost can't hear them. Some are speaking in the same angry, hissing way that the one holding him down is. Their hands flail in strange, meaningless ways, not the smooth, distinct ways of the pod. The one holding him down doesn't gesture, only speaks in that low voice. He has facial hair too, not on his lip like the smallest Land-Walker does, but on the sides of his face./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"If this were any other situation, Angus thinks that he would be excited to see Land-Walkers so close. He's only heard descriptions of them before, only seen the things they've left behind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He wishes he'd never even heard of them now. He wishes he could be safe with the pod, even if they played rough, even if they made him sleep at the edges because he wasn't strong enough to force his way to the middle./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"His mind is wandering, he realizes. It wants to think about other things, not about how close he came to drowning, not about how close he is to death even now. He still can't make himself move, his muscles are stiff and aching, his tail stings with every breath./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The Land-Walker sitting on him shifts and Angus knows that this is his chance, he should twist and buck and throw the Land-Walker off of himself. Should take this window to dive back into the ocean, even drowning would be better than whatever the Land-Walkers have planned. He doesn't move though./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He stares at his arm, willing it to push him up, he tells his tail to thrash. Neither of them move. He is paralyzed by fear, he can't do anything but sit here while the Land-Walker cautiously shifts his hold./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus' eyes are unfocused and the world is painted in soft blurs. A strange feeling steals over him, not calm, he doesn't think that he will ever calm down again, if he survives. But the world seems further away, the things going on seem to matter less. He thinks that he might faint, if this goes on much longer, but he doesn't. He just floats, like a newborn pup in the shallow tide pools./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The Land-Walker with the hair on his cheeks, the one who'd hissed warning to him when he called, the one who'd held him down until he'd stopped thrashing is speaking again. His voice is low and rough, like gravel./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The other's break off their own discussion and come closer. Angus watches their feet, the strange way they move. They don't walk like seabirds, for all that they talk like them. They come closer and it should make him panic all over again, but he is still in that strange, distant place. It is easier to lay here on the strange, too smooth, ground than it is to try and fight against them. They keep winning anyway./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The small one with the hair on his lip motions to the one with the hair on his cheeks and the weight is slowly lifted from Angus. The cheek-hair man keeps his hands on Angus' shoulders, but they are barely pressing down now. Angus watches the ground tilt with the motion of the waves. There is blood in the water on around him, he watches the red stains swirl and diffuse in strange patterns./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The voices say quiet, but he thinks there's a thread of urgency in them now. The small one is speaking again, his voice is even more clipped and his gestures are shorter now, almost like real words, simple words, though. He points to a few of the Land-Walkers, and they move as he does. Is he the pod leader, then?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Do Land-Walkers have pods?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair Land-Walker moves when the lip-hair Land-Walker directs him, his hands shift on Angus' shoulders. Tugging him, moving him. Angus' tail twitches, but it would be so much work to make a fuss now. He is so very tired. He lets the Land-Walkers do with him as they will, their voices wash over him like ocean waves, their hands keep touching him and he keeps twitching, but doing much more than that seems pointless. He can't stop them anyway./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"They tug on the net and it hurts enough to drag him back from the strange drifting place. Angus shakes his head and tries to pull away, but the cheek-hair Land-Walker is still holding him. He tries to say span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"stop it that hurts me. /spanBut the Land-Walker hisses warning again and holds him tighter./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The net is lifting away now, though, he realizes. The Land-Walkers are cutting it away, and even though it makes his heart beat faster to see the knives in their hands so close to his skin, they do not cut him. He watches the netting come away easily beneath their hands and he wonders if they mean to hurt him at all./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Is that why the cheek-hair one is hissing at him, so that he doesn't struggle and accidentally cut himself? Are they trying to help him? Not hurt? It hurts when they tug on the net, of course, but they themselves aren't causing any harm to him. He makes a questioning chirp at the cheek-hair man, and tries to raise his free hand to ask a question./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair man hisses again and catches his wrist. He pulls Angus' hand back against his chest and then says something to the cutting Land-Walkers. They pause their work and the cheek-hair man shifts so that he is sitting behind Angus, his chest pressed against the fin on Angus' back. It isn't comfortable, really, but it allows Angus to watch the cutting Land-Walkers while they work./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There is already a little pile of netting beside them, stained with blood. His stomach churns and he looks away from it. Looking at his tail isn't much better, he's covered in scratches and there is blood sluggishly dripping from too many places. He looks at the cutting Land-Walkers instead./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There are two of them, working quickly and carefully, murmuring to each other as their knives flash in the sun. One of them is small and light and her hair is long and golden. The other one is male, built in a stocky, solid way with some strange..thing on his face holding little bits of glass in front of his eyes. They are both wearing red jackets./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The woman looks up at sees him watching her. She says something in the strange clipped language of the Land-Walkers, but her hands don't move. Angus tries to ask a question, but the cheek-hair Land-Walker grabs his hand again and pulls it to his chest. The cheek-hair Land-Walker says something in his rumbling voice and the cutting Land-Walker replies and then gets back to work./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The other cutting Land-Walker tugs on the net and Angus gasps as a sharp stab of pain sears up his tail all the way from the tip of his flluke. A high sound escapes his throat and he reflexively pulls his tail away from their hands./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair Land-Walker is hissing warning again but Angus ignores him. He wiggles his other arm out of the net and tries to pry his wrist free. Moving hurts, but he can't make himself stop now. There's a long, confusing moment where he is trying to thrash free again, and the Land-Walkers are trying to stop him and everything is noise and pain and then the cheek-hair Land-Walker has both of his arms wrapped around Angus' torso and he's hissing and speaking in his low growly voice./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus gets tired again before he's even close to escaping, in fact, now he's even further from escaping because the cheek-hair man is holding him even tighter than before. He keeps hissing, and Angus remembers that the Land-Walkers are probably trying to help. They want him to stay still so they don't hurt him more on accident./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"At least he hopes so./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair Land-Walker is crooning now, Angus realizes, like a mother to her new pup, only much, much deeper. His arms are wrapped around Angus like a hug, almost and it's been so long since anyone hugged him. He didn't realize just how lonely he was, shunned by the pod with his grandfather dead and his parents missing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He turns his head and hides his face in the strange material of the cheek-hair Land-Walker's clothes. He can hear his heart, it beats a strange tempo, but it is still a heartbeat, and Angus matches his breathing to it. The cheek-hair Land-Walker is hissing again, but Angus thinks maybe it isn't just a general warning. Maybe it means hold still./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He keeps his face buried in the cheek-hair man's jacket, it is dark and safe in there. There is the occasional tug and pain at his tail, but it is easier to bury himself further in the man's jacket than it is to fight. Eventually, the tugging and cutting stops and the Land-Walker's are speaking around him again. Their voices are low and quiet now, quieter than they've been before./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He lets the sound wash over him, like sea waves, like bird calls, meaningless, but comforting. It means he isn't alone, there is something else living, moving, existing nearby. He feels himself drifting closer to sleep and he can't think of a compelling enough reason to hold back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="CENTER"***/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He wakes when cold air washes him and for a moment, he thinks it is the other members of the pod. They like to splash him while he tries to sleep, sometimes they even push him under. He whines at them to leave him alone and strange voices answer him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Not his pod-mates. Not even other mers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus opens his eyes, but the world is dark, there is faint, red tinged light, but he can't see anything. His whole body aches, his tail feels like it's been shredded and his throat isn't any better. He calls for someone, anyone to make the pain stop, but of course, no one answers./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"No one but the Land-Walkers who maybe possibly rescued him. They're making the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hold still/span hiss again and Angus makes himself obey. They haven't really hurt him yet, not intentionally at least and he wants to be able to trust them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Their voices murmur around him, hands occasionally brush against his skin, warm and gentle. He hears the gravely voice of the cheek-hair man, and the high voice of the lip-hair pod leader and the woman who had cut away the net. There are others as well, but he can't imagine faces to go with them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The air smells funny, the salty scent of the ocean is faint, now, replaced by something harsh. Angus wrinkles his nose against it. Sounds echo in a strange way, like they're in a cave and he can't hear the wash of the ocean waves./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He makes a questioning sound, but no one answers. There is an odd shuddery sound and a hand touches his forehead. The Land-Walker makes the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hold still/span sound again and there are hands holding his arm away from his body. They tie something around his arm, too tight. He frowns and tries to pull away but they keep making the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hold still/span sound and they won't let him take his arm back./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"There is a hand on his head, half petting his hair, half holding him down and he can't decide which it is doing more. If it's holding him down then he thinks that he should struggle, but the fingers are also shifting in a sort of nice way so maybe it's just a Land-Walker thing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The hands on his arm are poking around now, tracing something in his arm. There is a voice, even lower and gruffer than the cheek-hair Land-Walker's speaking. The Cheek-hair Land-Walker responds and Angus realizes that he is the one holding him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He flexes his fluke, a habitual motion that he's done so many times before, but this time it sends a fresh stab of agony up his spine. He gasps and flinches and the Land-Walkers are making more urgent sounds now, telling him to hold still even though his instincts tell him to move span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"away/span from the pain. But the pain is in his tail and he can't leave that behind./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Breathing hard, he tries to hold still and the pain does fade to a dull ache. The hands on his arm are gripping more firmly now, and he doesn't think he could jerk his arm away if he needed to. It makes him nervous and he tugs experimentally at the grip./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The gruffer voice barks something and another hand wraps around Angus' wrist, pinning it to the ground. He whines complaint and tugs at his arm again. It jolts his tail, but now the Land-Walkers are starting to scare him again. He tries to look around, but all he can see is the faint red light, there are even fainter shadows, but they don't look like anything./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair man is making the span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hold still/span hiss again, but Angus isn't sure if he should listen./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Don't hurt me./span He tries to say, but why would the Land-Walkers understand him? He certainly can't understand them. There is a little pinch in his arm, little more than a pinprick, barely noticeable and the hands slacken their grip. They are still holding him firmly, but he could pull his arm away now, he thinks./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Was that all they wanted? Angus tries to turn his head, to see what they've done to him but he thinks that they have covered his eyes with something. In a moment, they untie the thing around his arm and then they're pressing against the pinched spot, but nothing hurts any more than it did before./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He doesn't understand what they're doing and he thinks maybe that should scare him, but they also haven't hurt him. Angus experimentally pulls his arm towards his chest and the hands allow him to take it. That was all they wanted then, he guesses. He cradles the pinched arm close to his body, trying to feel along the same place the gruff man did. There is a little bit of something stuck to the place where they pinched him, but other than that his arm is fine./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He cautiously lifts a hand to his face and yes, there is something over his eyes. It feels like the jacket of the cheek-hair man, draped carefully over the top of his head. He tugs it away and none of the Land-Walkers stop him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He is lying on some sort of unnaturally flat place, it is hard as rock, but impossibly smooth. Above him, there are lights, like multiple suns above him. They hurt his eyes if he looks directly at them so he turns his attention to the gruff man at his side./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He's small, almost as short as the lip-hair man, but his hair isn't just on his lips or cheeks, its all over his face. Was this how Land-Walkers decided who was in charge? Was this actually the pod leader? His hair is silvery white, like Angus' grandfather's had started to turn before he died./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The possibly pod leader catches Angus' eye and immediately calls the others over. They come slowly, speaking in low soft voices. If he ignores the strange, short sounds and only focuses on the tone, he thinks that they are trying be soothing./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"It's hard to do, laying down the way he is, but Angus sets aside the jacket and hesitantly signs span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"hello?/span He trills uncertainty as he does./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The man with they the glass in front of his eyes gasps and leans forward. He says something to the other Land-Walkers, his tone quick and...excited? Angus thinks. Then, he moves his hands, and it isn't just gestures, its span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"words/span but they're wrong./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"A different language, but they're span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"trying/span. Angus moves his hands again. span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Who are you? Where am I?/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"What he says doesn't really matter, there's no way for them to understand each other, but it will be enough to at least try and meet them halfway, right? Maybe they won't hurt him if they think he's trying to talk. Or maybe they span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"will/span hurt him but it's too late for that./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The other Land-Walkers are vocalizing, but they don't speak with their hands. The eye glass man replies with his voice too. Angus watches them, trying to understand./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Maybe...Maybe they're the opposite of mers?/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"What if they use their voices for the little details and their hands for bigger things? But when the eye glass man spoke, it looked like a proper language, not just emotions. It's too confusing and he wants to go back to sleep./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The possibly pod leader shoves something into the eye glass man's hands and grumbles something. Angus pays attention to the sounds this time, trying to pick out..something. Words, maybe? He tries to think about how a vocal language would work./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus tries to sit up on his elbows, but the muscles of his tail scream protest and he falls back to the smooth-rock with a gasp and a loud crash. Immediately the Land-Walkers are back at his side, their hands hold him down, but he thinks that maybe he can trust them a bit. They tried to talk to him and they haven't hurt him./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"He makes himself relax, still breathing hard from the pain and the Land-Walkers are chattering around him. The maybe pod leader is shooing the eye glass man away and the woman who had cut Angus out of the net is trailing after him. The cheek-hair man has a hand on Angus' chest, keeping him from sitting up./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"Angus whimpers and lifts his hands to sign, but he doesn't know what to say, it doesn't matter what he says. They can't understand him, and he can't understand them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The cheek-hair man takes one of Angus' hands in his own, not restraining, just... holding. Like a little hand hug. It isn't as good as a real hug would be, but Angus thinks that a real hug would hurt so he squeezes the hand hard./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;" align="LEFT"The man arranges the jacket over Angus' chest without breaking their hand hug and Angus feels himself drifting back to sleep./p