B'fi frowned. She had just heard the tale that S'ke had told of A'nil, and what he and his offspring had attempted to do in their former pod. Such behavior from any mer was completely unheard of, and these Outsiders had attempted to bring that madness to her pod! She beckoned G'lis closer and consulted with him briefly. Finally, he nodded his support, then backed away.

Turning her head to where the males of her pod were holding the other Outsiders captive, B'fi glared fiercely. She flicked her tail, moving closer, growling softly as the wound on her belly pulled. D'wa immediately swam up beside her, silently supporting the matriarch. Briefly, B'fi brushed against her in appreciation. Then she faced her attackers, spines hackled.

"Your actions here have only proven your madness," she snapped. "No rational mer would ever have attempted to do such thing. You are a danger to every mer in the sea!"

A'nil growled and tried to lunge forward, but his spines were broken and useless, and his injuries had weakened him. He was no match for the mer who guarded him.

B'fi hissed. "Your former pod Banished you for you madness," she continued, "and still you did not learn. You are a sickness. And I will not allow such sickness to remain within my pod!" Her spines lowered, and a look of sadness passed briefly over her face. "And neither can I allow your sickness to spread to other pods."

She looked to G'ra. "You and the others elder take them. Break what spines remain intact, and leave them for the sharks." Sighing, she turned away as the Outsiders protested and struggled against their captors.

D'wa rested a hand on her shoulder. "It had to be done," she said softly, knowing her sister hated having to mete out such punishment.

"I know." B'fi rested a hand over her belly, careful of her wound. "But I fear for the child I carry now. To have such madness in the sire, in his offspring...what will become of this one?"

D'wa nibbled at her neck in reassurance. "You forget, X'an's friend is also an offspring of A'nil. And he carries no madness." She glanced over at the pair, who had continued to hold onto each other throughout the proceedings.

B'fi nodded. She had wondered at the closeness displayed between the two when she had questioned S'ke. X'an seemed extremely protective of this Outsider. Perhaps...she had heard of such pairings in other pods, but never seen one for herself. Perhaps this S'ke would not remain an Outsider. She would watch and see.


X'an looked on in worry as judgment was pronounced upon A'nil and the others. Would S'ke share their fate as had happened in his former pod? Would he again suffer because of the madness of his sire and siblings? He turned to G'lis. "Not...I mean, what about S'ke?" X'an reached back and clutched S'ke's hand. "Will he...?"

G'lis cocked his head. "X'an, did you think more on the story of L'in as I had instructed?"

"Huh?" X'an frowned. "Isn't this more important that a story?" G'lis did not respond, but merely smiled faintly and waited. X'an huffed out a frustrated sigh. "Fin. Um...L'in and his friends were left to the sharks after they tried to take the pod's beta female." He scowled harder. "But S'ke wasn't like that!" he protested. "He tried to help! He warned us about...oh."

"Oh?"

X'an calmed visibly and thought hard. "L'in didn't even try to help because he thought it wouldn't do any good." He grinned. "So does that mean S'ke isn't going to get in trouble?"

"Lin's guilt was as great as that of his friends because, when he knew their actions to be wrong, he made no move to stop them. By witnessing their actions and doing nothing to help the young female, he was as responsible for what happened as those who carried out the abduction itself." G'lis swam forward and gently caressed S'ke's face. "You conquered your fear and came to speak with me; you did what you could to aid the pod. And when X'an was under attack, you came to his aid despite your own injuries. Your actions set you apart from the others. You hold no responsibility for what has happened here."

X'an let out a shout of joy as he grabbed S'ke in a tight embrace. S'ke, pink with embarrassment, wrapped his arms around X'an and hid his face against his neck.

X'an hummed contentedly. "Does that mean S'ke can stay here?" he asked after a moment. "He won't have to leave the pod, will he?"

"He may stay."

X'an turned swiftly in shock to find B'fi and D'wa had come up behind him. After a moment, he realized what she had said, and grinned. "T-Thank you!"

B'fi looked at him intently, head cocked, then turned to S'ke. She smiled. "Such an odd pairing," she said softly, before turning and allowing D'wa to help her to her resting place.

X'an blinked. "Um..." He shook his head. "G'lis? What did she mean by that?"

G'lis chuckled.

"G'lis?"


A'yo frowned as she watched X'an swim off with G'lis, twining himself about that other Outsider. S'ke. What was it about him that made X'an look at him the way he did? It was so very...strange.

Perhaps she would speak to the other females about this.


X'an blinked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, X'an."

"But...I mean...that's really possible?"

"Yes, X'an." G'lis chuckled as he watched the young mers blush and glance at each other from the corners of their eyes, even as their hands and tails gently twined together. "Why don't the two of you just...explore," he suggested. "I'm sure you'll see for yourselves."

Their blushes deepened, but the two smiled and darted off, still holding hands.

E'ta glided up next to G'lis and watched the two sub-adults swim away. "Not bad for an Outsider, hmm?"

G'lis smiled. "I do believe he'll be good for X'an. I had concerns about him following in young D'os' steps and becoming a loner, but I get the feeling that he'll be settling down nicely now."

"You could be right," E'ta agreed. He glanced at G'lis out of the corner of his eye. "I had noticed that you were not involved in any courtings this cycle."

The smile on G'lis' face twitched. "I had noticed the same of you," he replied casually.

Edging a bit closer, E'ta shrugged. "Not of the females interested me. I had...other things on my mind."

"Did you now?" G'lis murmured. He shook his hair back and stretched. "W'es will be helping B'fi and D'wa for a while," he said abruptly. With a twitch of his tail, he headed back to his grotto.

Eyes glittering, E'ta followed.

H'ar combed her fingers through her hair, tugging at each snarl. "I'm glad that B'fi will recover. From what I could see, her injuries looked severe."

D'wa nodded. "Yes, they were, but she's strong. She won't be back to full strength for a while yet, but in the meantime, she'll be keeping me pretty busy. She's worried that I won't be prepared to lead the pod should something happen to her. After this business with A'nil, well, she wants to make sure the pod will remain strong."

"You'll be a good matriarch. You have as much strength as B'fi," T'ar told her confidently.

"I hope so. But not yet. I'm just not ready for that kind of responsibility."

"You will be. When the time comes."

D'wa shrugged, flushing slightly. Glancing over at A'yo, she grinned and deliberately changed the subject. "So, X'an and S'ke are getting along well I gather."

A'yo frowned. "It's rather odd, don't you think? After all, they are both males. I thought only dolphins did that sort of thing."

L'il snickered. "Dolphins will do any sort of thing." The others erupted into giggles as well.

Calming down a bit, T'ar managed to speak. "Well, G'lis says that it happens in many pods, and really isn't that uncommon. Besides, isn't that surprising, is it? X'an never did go strange like the other males do during courting. And no offense A'yo, but he always acted so odd around females. Like we were some sort of...of squid, and he couldn't quite figure out why we had started talking to him."

"That's true," W'lo agreed. "I mean, I only ever saw him act even halfway normal around you, D'wa."

"That's probably because she's the beta, not just a regular female," H'ar said.

A'yo sighed heavily. "I admit though, it is a bit disappointing. I had hopes for X'an. Still, I suppose it's for the best. Can you really picturing him siring offspring?"

"Oh dear. One of him is bad enough." T'ar blushed. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant--" She covered her face and groaned as the others began to laugh.

"Besides, with the injuries R'li received from A'nil, he probably won't be able to win the matriarch again. The other males will have too much of an advantage over him. I think he'd make a suitable match for me, though." A'yo shook her hair out decisively.

D'wa grinned. "Be careful. B'fi may want to keep him anyway. He is rather handsome after all."

"Hmm. We'll see." A'yo plucked up a passing crab and crunched into it as she plotted the nuances of her first courting.

X'an playfully chased S'ke through the entrance to their cave. The two pulled up short when they found D'os already occupying it.

"Don't mind me," D'os told them. "I figured you'd be back here soon, and I just wanted to make sure I saw you before I left."

"You're leaving?" S'ke frowned. D'os was really the only other mer from X'an's pod that he'd interacted with, and he rather liked him.

"Yeah. It's time."

X'an was saddened by this announcement, but he'd always suspected it would happen. "I'll miss you," he said softly, and S'ke nodded his agreement.

"I know. Me too. But it's a big ocean out there. I need to see more of it. Something out there is calling to me."

"What?"

D'os grinned and shrugged. "Not sure. But I'll know it when I find it." He slid past them and out the cave entrance.

S'ke and X'an watched him go. "Do you think he'll find whatever he's looking for?" S'ke asked.

"You know, somehow, I think he will." He snagged S'ke by the waist and pulled him close, nuzzling at his neck.

S'ke sighed and nudged X'an's head up, pressing their lips together and nibbling his way inside to press his tongue against his mate's. After a moment, he pulled "Shall we try some of those things G'lis spoke of?" he asked in a playful voice.

X'an moaned and pressed himself closer, feeling the squirming sensation in his stomach build and spread. "Oh yes," he gasped out as he twined his tail around S'ke's.

The two drifted gently in their cave, hidden from the world as they gently explored these new sensations with each other.

Finit