Seaworthy
"There, I saw the one you seek going in," a hunched eel-like creature rasped in the shade of a damp alley, pointing in the direction of the Singing Squid with her tail. Two shadowed figures loomed over her, one wielding an ornate trident of whitish gold.
"Excellent," he hissed, tossing the eel a large money pouch.
[-]
"WHAT!?" Mermista roared, practically shaking the tavern's foundations and sending half the patrons scurrying.
"It was actually Adora's idea," Sea Hawk answered, nonchalantly stroking his mustache.
"WHAT?!" Adora blurted, bolting upright.
"You remember, back in the Northern Reach?" Sea Hawk glance back. "You gave me an uplifting speech about how cool and awesome I am and how I don't need Mermista to validate me!"
"I… I did?"
"Well, words to that effect," Sea Hawk said airily.
"Adora," Bow whispered, leaning over the table. "Did you seriously tell Sea Hawk to break up with Mermista?"
"No!" Adora whispered back. "Maybe. I don't know! I was all… floopy from Entrapta's murder-virus. I said a lot of weird stuff, okay?"
"Well, you can't break-up with me 'cuz... cuz…" an enraged Mermista stammered. "I'M DUMPING YOU!"
"Yes, compromise!" Sea Hawk beamed. "The foundation of any healthy relationship."
Before Mermista could get another word in, every one of the tavern's porthole-like windows shattered inwards, allowing seawater to slosh across the floor. A dozen ichthyoid warriors in shell-like armor stormed the room, armed with thickly woven nets and barbed spears.
The five young rebels instantly formed into a tight circle, Adora brandishing the Sword of Protection, Bow notching an arrow, Glimmer's fists radiating violet, Mermista summoning a water whip.
"En garde, ye brigands!" Sea Hawk brandished a small telescope before starting to sift awkwardly through his pockets. "I could have sworn I had that photon cutlass a moment ago. No matter! I'll take you on bare-handed! Have at thee!"
"That will hardly be necessary," a cold voice spoke.
Two new figures stood in the tavern's doorway. The first was a slender blue-scaled youth with fleshy tendrils framing handsome angular features. He was clad in a gold-white breastplate, wielding an ornate trident of the same material. Behind him, loomed a hulking anthropoid crimson crab.
Mermista rolled her eyes. "Great, it's Hydrus."
"One of your cool other friends?" Sea Hawk asked.
Mermista shrugged. "Kinda."
"That's Prince Hydrus to you, Salinean," the blue-scaled youth snapped back. "The one true master of Etheria's oceans, come to claim a consort worthy of ruling the seas by my side!"
"Eeew, gross!" Mermista gagged. "I don't even like you!"
"What? No, not you!" Hydrus blurted, pointing a webbed finger at Sea Hawk. "Him!"
Mermista raised a single skeptical eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"AH-HA!" Sea Hawk cheered as two fish warriors dragged him off. "Look who's suddenly cool enough to hang with your friends now!"
"Not so fast," Adora cried, holding aloft her sword. "For the honor of Grayskull!"
A kaleidoscope of shimmering energy enveloped Adora's form as she charged, transforming her into She-Ra; Princess of Power.
"Clawdius!" Hydrus barked.
The man-crab lunged forward at Hydrus' command, catching She-Ra's blade in mid-swing with his oversized claws.
"Dang, you are… abnormally strong," She-Ra grunted through gritted teeth, struggling to wrench her sword free before the crustacean warrior sent her flying across the bar with a flick of his claw.
"Enough!" Hydrus bellowed once Sea Hawk was clear. He struck his trident against the waterlogged floor, sending a bolt of lightning surging through the young rebels' bodies.
Mermista was the last to lose consciousness, Hydrus looking down on her with a grin of contempt.
"I win," he whispered.
[-]
The Fright Zone
Rogelio was, to put it mildly, bad with words. That was why the saurian Horde Trooper poured over his notepad as he wandered the lonely corridors of the barracks. He'd been working on this letter for weeks now, stealing precious minutes between missions and training. He was already on his sixteenth draft. Every word had to be perfect for...
"Ouff," Kyle blurted, slamming into the young saurian's broad scaled chest. "Sorry, Rogelio. Musta zoned out for a sec there."
Rogelio froze like a unilope in a searchlight.
Kyle cocked his head quizzically. "Were you looking for someone, buddy?"
Rogelio quickly stuffed the notepad back in his belt, gingerly opening his mouth to speak.
"Yo, idiots!"
Both Horde Troopers stood to attention as Force Captain Catra stalked towards them, her yellow left eye twitching slightly from lack of sleep.
"Oh, hey Catra. How was the Northern Reach?" Kyle asked.
"Cold," the feline Force Captain snarled. "Grab your gear and report to dock seven. We're shipping out."
"Uh, neat. Where are we going?"
Catra rounded on the lanky human, baring her fangs. "If you needed to know, I would have told you. Now stop asking stupid questions and MOVE!"
"Yes, sir, Force Captain, um… ma'am!" Kyle gave a panicked reflexive salute before scurrying off.
Rogelio watched Kyle go before turning to Catra.
"Well?" Catra asked, fixing the saurian with a look that would make anyone's blood run cold.
Rogelio said nothing, slinking off.
[-]
The Sea of Demons
The Dragon's Daughter V skimmed across the frothy purple-green waves as the evening moons hung low in the sky. Mermista stood upon the ship's prow with silver trident in hand, angrily scanning the horizon.
"Mermista, I just want to say how sorr-" Adora began before Mermista cut her off with a glare that could freeze oceans.
"Never mind." Adora retreated aftwards, pretending to secure the mainsail.
This is not your fault, Adora," Bow whispered, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Mermista and Sea Hawk just have some… issues to work through."
"Boat's not that big, Bow," Mermista said icily, glancing back. "And there is nothing for me and Sea Hawk to 'work through'. I'm only going on this dumb rescue mission 'cuz it's like my duty as a princess or whatever."
"So... who exactly is this Hydrus guy?" Glimmer asked awkwardly.
"Our dads were like frenemies or whatever," Mermista said. "They always made us compete in these dumb contests back when we were little, which I always won. So now, Hydrus is obsessed with conquering Salineas to prove he's better than me or something, which he's not."
"I just hope Sea Hawk's okay," Bow sighed. "I can't imagine what he must be going through right now."
[-]
Castle Kraken
"Mmmm..." Sea Hawk sighed contentedly as an octopoid masseuse rapidly kneaded his upper back with eight muscular tentacles. "Poto, my man, you are a miracle worker. I've been trying to get that crick out of my neck for months."
"Thank you, sir," the cephalopod burbled.
Sea Hawk rose from the massage table, donning a robe of sea spider silk band tossing the octopoid a gold coin. "For your troubles."
"Thank you very much, sir," Poto said cheerily, catching the coin in before slithering off.
Sea Hawk poured himself a glass of blue lotus nectar, lounging on a divan before a panoramic window as a pod of hornwhales glided past.
"Ah, Sea Hawk," Hydrus said as he entered, sidling up next to the pirate on the divan. "I trust you're making yourself... comfortable?"
"Indubitably," Sea Hawk answered, sipping his drink. "Though I am a might peckish?"
"Guard, hors d'oeuvres at once!" Hydrus barked at a waiting minion, who instantly went skittering for the castle's kitchen.
"You know, Sea Hawk," Hydrus said softer, shyly brushing aside one of his head tendrils. "I've long been an admirer of your exploits; how you ran the fifty-klick Galebreath Gauntlet in less than twenty klicks, navigated the Straits of Serpentine, and single-handedly vanquished Bakkull the Sea Demon."
"Hrmm, I don't recall that last one," Sea Hawk mused, stroking his moustache. "But it certainly sounds like something I'd do."
Hydrus leaned closer. "Imagine what we could do together. We could be Kings of the Sea!"
"'Kings of the Sea' you say?" Sea Hawk echoed thoughtfully.
"Claim riches beyond imagining."
"Riches beyond imagining."
"And finally take vengeance on Salineas!"
"VENGEANCE!" Sea Hawk crowed enthusiastically before his brain could catch up with his mouth. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that part?"
The hulking man-crab from Seaworthy lumbered into the lounge. He raised a crimson claw, snapping it in a precise rhythmic pattern.
"Ah, so our other guest has returned?" Hydrus smirked. "By all means, Clawdius, show her in."
"Other guest?" Sea Hawk asked.
The chamber's door slid back to reveal a one-eyed octopus-woman flanked by two soldiers in high-tech armor. All three bore a crimson bat-winged symbol Sea Hawk recognized all too well.
"Sea Hawk, my dear," Hydrus said. "Allow me to introduce Force Captain Octavia of the Horde!"
[-]
A single thin spire of black granite rose from the churning sea, crowned by a ring of battlements where two ichthyoid warriors stood guard.
"Are you sure this is the right place, Mermista?" Glimmer asked, studying the black spire through a telescope from the ship's crow's nest. "It looks kinda small to be a castle."
"No duh," Mermista answered. "That's just the watchtower. The rest of Castle Kraken is like submerged or whatever."
"Hm, underwater castle?" Bow notched an arrow. "Neat."
"Only one way in then," Adora said, unsheathing her sword. "For the honor of Grayskull!"
[-]
One of the ichthyoid guards tapped his fingers along the damp granite of the castle's watchtower, yellow eyes glazed over as he stared out over the wine-dark sea.
Tappata...
Tappata...
Tappata...
"Mmrrggl," the second guard snapped in annoyance.
"Mrrglnrrgll," the first guard shot back.
"Mrgglllmmfff-" The second guard fell flopping to the ground, enveloped by a net-arrow.
Before the first guard could raise the alarm, he was blinded by a burst of violet light.
"SPARKLE FIST ATTACK!" Glimmer crowed, socking the ichthyoid right in the jaw.
[-]
Deep beneath Castle Kraken lay a vast gloomy grotto. At least a dozen Horde Troopers flittered about an immense metallic structure that made them seem like sea fleas by comparison. Or so Octavia thought as she watched from a walkway high-above. Her dark green lips peeled back in a smile of grim satisfaction.
Beep-beep
Octavia pulled out her com-pad. Her smile instantly evaporated once she saw exactly who was calling her. "What do you want, Catra?"
"That's 'Force Captain Catra' to you, dumb-face," Catra's image snarled, tapping her rank badge.
"I am sooo sorry," Octavia drawled with mock-obsequiousness. "What do you want, Force Captain Catra?"
"We're en route to the target, is the Weapon ready to go?"
"Just running final safety checks."
"Well check faster! We didn't spend weeks smuggling the components to Castle Kraken just for you to be late!"
"What's all this 'we' talk? This was my plan?"
"It was your plan. Now, it's mine."
"What?! You can't do that?"
"I'm Lord Hordak's Second-in-Command, I can do whatever the heck I want! Unless… you want to take it up with him?"
Octavia clenched her pointed teeth.
"Didn't think so. Oh, and Octavia…" Catra smirked viciously. "Keep your eye on things down there for me."
Once the screen went black, Octavia punched the cavern wall, leaving a fist-sized crater in the damp granite.
[-]
"HIYAAH!" She-Ra cried as she brought a shell-shaped steel door crashing down with a single kick, flanked by a battle-ready Bow and Glimmer. "Never fear, Sea Hawk! We're here to… rescue… you?"
Mermista emerged from behind the trio, glaring with cold disdain. "Why am I not surprised?"
Sea Hawk lay upon a pile of deep purple pillows, surrounded by three scantily clad sea elves of various genders. One of whom was currently dropping tiny candied starfish into the pirate's open mouth.
"MERMISTA!?" Sea Hawk cried with joy, throwing himself at the sea princess' feet. "Thank goodness you're here! You can't imagine the torments I've been forced to endure!"
"I don't know," Mermista sneered. "I can imagine a lot."
"So, just for the record, you want to be rescued, right?" She-Ra interjected awkwardly.
"I'm afraid no one will be rescuing anyone, today," Hydrus said coldly. He stood in the ruined doorway, flanked by Clawdius and three ichthyoid warriors. "Take them."
[-]
"Force Captain!" A panting Horde Lieutenant ran up to Octavia, giving her commander a stiff salute. "Rebel commandos have breached the castle, including at least three princesses!"
"Dang it, Hydrus," Octavia swore. "Skip the safety checks and prep for launch! I want this thing in the water now!"
[-]
Mermista and Hydrus clashed, the prongs of their weapons interlocking as they struggled.
"Uuugh, seriously?" Mermista drawled. "You even ripped off my trident?"
"No, you ripped off my Trident!" Hydrus snarled through gritted teeth.
"Mermista, Hydrus, please!" Sea Hawk pleaded. "We're underwater, everyone has tridents here!"
"So… why aren't zapping me like you did back at Seaworthy?" Mermista parried Hydrus' own trident. "What… did you forget to recharge it?"
"Shut up!" Hydrus snapped. "You've mocked me for the last time, Mermista!"
"Uh… you're the one who started this," Mermista snipped back, stepping back. "Just because I'm stronger, smarter and prettier than you!"
"You are not prettier than me!" Hydrus roared, lunging forward without noticing the patch of seawater Mermista has surreptitiously summoned. The would-be Sea King went sliding headfirst into another column.
Mermista smirked. "I already mentioned 'smarter', right?"
On the far side of the chamber, She-Ra was dodging the furiously snapping pincers of Clawdius.
"Okay, I admit you might be as strong as me," She-Ra panted as the man-crab drew back a massive red claw. "But I bet you're not as fast."
She-Ra rolled to the side as Clawdius struck, his giant pincer embedding itself in a column of coral. Before he could wrench it loose, She-Ra's sword morphed into a hefty warhammer and sent the man-crab flying.
"Glimmer, Bow, you guys okay?" She-Ra asked.
Glimmer and Bow sat atop three battered, bound and temporarily blinded ichthyoids. The moon princess flashed a small smile. "Yeah, I think we're good."
Before the young rebels could celebrate their victory, the entire castle began to shake and rumble. The chamber darkened as the panoramic window was blocked by something floating in the waters beyond.
It was shaped like a titanic skull of greenish metal, crowned by giant energy cannon. Eight thick robotic tentacles hung from the thing's neck, a crimson bat-winged symbol emblazoned its side.
"Oh, by the way, Hydrus is working with the Horde," Sea Hawk pipe in matter-of-factly as the metal monstrosity's cannon swiveled towards them.
[-]
Horde Mecha-Kraken
"Target locked, Force Captain," the Lieutenant reported as Hydrus' castle rotated onto the bridge's view-screen. "Awaiting your orders."
Seated upon the bridge's command chair, Octavia rested her chin on steepled tentacles and smiled. "Fire!"
It only took moments for one energy blast after the other to gradually reduce the submerged fortress to bubbling ruin.
"Well, that's enough fun," Octavia said. "Take us out of here."
"Aye, Force Captain," the Lieutenant acknowledged, setting course for their true target.
[-]
Ruins
She-Ra strained to hold her Shield of Protection high, supporting a roof of collapsed rubble while Mermista used her powers to maintain the precarious air-pocked.
"Glimmer, can you teleport everyone back to the Dragon's Daughter?" She-Ra asked.
"Maybe… if I pace myself," Glimmer answered. "But I can only take one at a time."
She-Ra glanced at the rest of the huddled survivors. Bow, Sea Hawk, an unconscious Hydrus, his warriors, as well as his frightened sea elf servants. "Start with the servants. Mermista and I will hold out as long as we can."
Glimmer set to work, methodically shimmering in and out of the makeshift shelter with a survivor in tow. Each trip draining her more and more. She'd managed to get all the sea elves and ichthyoids clear before staggering to one knee.
Bow rushed to steady her. "Glimmer?!"
"I'm… okay," Glimmer panted. "I just… need a little more time."
The rubble above began to rumble.
She-Ra's teeth gritted. "We don't have any more time!"
It was at that point that Clawdius began to stir from his stupor.
"No, no, not now," She-Ra groaned.
Clawdius rose to his feet. His black glassy eyes sweeping the scene before locking on She-Ra, taking a step forward. Before the Princess of Power could react, the man-crab raised his massive claws to reinforce the roof.
She-Ra smiled weakly. "Thanks."
Glimmer went back to work, teleporting out Bow, Mermista and Sea Hawk before finally returning for She-Ra and Clawdius. "One last charge. You guys ready?"
"Definitely," She-Ra grunted.
Clawdius nodded.
All three vanished in a burst of violet light as the temporary cavern came crashing down.
[-]
The Dragon's Daughter V
Hydrus' unconscious form slumped limply, lashed to the ship's mast. His head lolled back and forth in time with the softly lapping waves.
"Nrggg... No, Papa... I don't wanna be a pianist..." he mumbled drowsily before a water tendril struck him across the cheek. "OW!"
"MERMISTA!" Bow protested. "We don't hit prisoners!"
"Yeah… I don't remember agreeing to that," Mermista drawled. "Now spill, Hydrus-"
"Prince Hydrus!" the prisoner snarled. "And it doesn't matter what you do to me! Soon, the Horde will conquer all the lands of Etheria, leaving me to rule the Seas! Now, who's the insecure narcissist with daddy issues?!"
"Uh… still you," Mermista said. "Now where's that robo-monster headed?"
Hydrus chuckled darkly. "Haven't you guessed by now, Princess?"
Mermista's eye widened in uncharacteristic terror. "Oh, no."
[-]
Salineas
Captain Nerites had served many roles over his still fairly young career; butler, Captain of the Salinean Royal Guard (well, basically all the Royal Guard for while there). Now that the kingdom's population was back somewhere above single digits, he'd found himself mercifully able to focus on one job at a time.
At the moment he was overseeing a fairly routine cargo inspection of a sea elf vessel carrying a shipment of fresh spoo, a foodstuff that he supposed technically qualified as meat.
Nerites picked up a small rubbery greyish cube, sniffing it before involuntarily wincing. He placed it back in the crate, waving on the sea elf dock workers.
In truth, he found the routine oddly relaxing. The worst thing he usually had to deal with on harbor patrol was the odd pickpocket or tavern brawl. No enemy had attacked Salineas from this side of the kingdom in living memory.
Which to why he was momentarily stunned when an immense tentacled monstrosity burst from the harbor's still waters, disgorging at least a dozen Horde Troopers from its underbelly.
[-]
The Sea Fright, flagship of the Horde Navy
Catra watched through binoculars as thin whips of black smoke began coiling upwards from beyond the Salinean Sea Gate. It was only a matter of time before Octavia destroyed the Runestone that powered the mystic barrier, leaving the Horde's armada free to swarm across the entire Etherian coastline.
The corner of Catra's lip curled up cruelly, imagining the look on Adora's face. "KYLE!"
"Aye-aye, Force Captain!" Kyle saluted awkwardly. "Or is it just regular captain now? I'm not exactly sure how Naval ranks wor-"
"Shut up and get my pad!" Catra snapped. "I wanna record the Sea Gate crumbling into the ocean like a stack of soggy ration bars."
"Aye-aye, Captain Force, I mean… uh… Ma'am!" Kyle scampered off, nearly smacking into an exhaust funnel.
Catra shook her head. "I'll never understand how he's not dead yet."
Rogelio watched Kyle dash off. He clutched a letter in his saurian claws, smelling battle on the wind. It was now or never.
[-]
Salineas
"Royal Palace in range, Force Captain," the Lieutenant said, working the helm. "Target locked."
Octavia raised a tentacle, holding it for a moment. "Fi-"
The entire bridge abruptly lurched to one side, sending Octavia hurling out of her command chair.
"The Heck was that?!" she panted, crouching on all eight limbs.
[-]
She-Ra's stood atop the Mecha-Kraken's hull, arms straining as she wrenched the amphibious war machine's main cannon free with a screech of tearing metal. She spun on her heels, sending the giant energy weapon flying far beyond the Sea Gate.
[-]
The Sea Fright
"Come on, where is it?" Kyle fretted to himself, frantically rummaging through a stack of crates assembled on the ship's deck.
Rogelio sidled up behind Kyle nervously, claws fidgeting with the letter in his hands. He'd opened his mouth to speak when Kyle suddenly spun around on his heels.
"Rogelio?! Ya got help me!" Kyle grabbed the saurian by the collar, eyes bulged in terror. "Catra wants her pad to record the fall of Salineas only I think I forgot to pack it and if I don't find it she's gonna send me to Beast Island or dunk me in the Slime Pit or… Oh, hey, what's that?"
Rogelio followed Kyle's gaze upwards, where what could only have been Horde energy cannon was falling out of the sky.
The weapon plunged into the waves just off the ship' portside. The spot where it landed glowed and bubbled before exploding in a plume of torrential water that nearly overwhelmed the vessel.
Kyle was slammed by a wall of water that hit like a tank, sweeping him out over the ship's railing. He screamed, flailing in mid-air before suddenly lurching to a stop.
Rogelio hung from the ship's side, claws of one hand dug deep into the metal hull while the other tightly gripped Kyle's wrist. With a surge of strength, he hurled the young human back over the railing before climbing after.
"Whoo! Thanks, buddy," a soaking Kyle sighed, the crates he'd been searching a moment before drifting off on the waves. "Aww man, now I hope I forgot to pack Catra's pad."
[-]
Salineas
"Charge the Palace!" Octavia roared, gripping her command chair. "We'll smash the Runestone to dust with our bare tentacles if we have to!"
"Controls not responding, Force Captain," the Lieutenant replied. "We're... Stuck!?"
"WHAT?!"
[-]
Thick watery tendrils snaked up the Mecha-Kraken's tentacles, wrapping around its giant metal skull. Atop the Royal Palace, stood Mermista with hands raised and beads of sweat running down her brow.
The Mecha-Kraken took one tortuous step towards the Palace, metal groaning in protest, and another.
Mermista brought her hands down with a final surge of will. Her water tendrils toppled the Mecha-Kraken before dragging it back down to the harbor's murky purple depths.
[-]
Klaxon's blared as the Mecha-Kraken's bridge filled with water, emergency lights blazing red.
"Hull integrity collapsing! Orders, Force Captain?" The Lieutenant turned, only to be confronted by an empty and deserted command chair. "Force Captain?! OCTAVIA!?"
The emergency lights finally died, leaving the Lieutenant alone in the cold wet dark. As panic overtook her, something flashed above her head, slicing through the bridge's roof. A shining golden warrior stood in the gash above, framed by the deep purple sky, her hand outstretched.
"Quick, grab on!" She-Ra cried.
The Lieutenant hesitated, but only for a moment, before taking the offered hand.
[-]
The Dragon's Daughter V
The morning moons began to rise over Salineas, turning the dark purple skies a rosy bluish-pink. Several ships crisscrossed the harbor, dredging what remained of the Mecha-Kraken.
"You haven't seen the last of Octavia," the Horde Lieutenant said bitterly, lashed to the side of the ship's mast opposite Hydrus. "She's slippier than an ekto-eel."
"Maybe," Adora replied. "But Salineas has seen the last of the Horde's mechanical monsters."
"Could you guys keep in down?" an exhausted Glimmer mumbled from a nearby hammock as Bow played nursemaid. "My head feels like the Mecha-Kraken fell on it."
Sea Hawk casually sidled up to Mermista before falling upon his knees. "Mermista, my dearest, I owe you an apology. I thought you were taking me for granted. But seeing you fight through Hydrus' undersea horde, as well as the actual Horde, just to rescue me made this ol' sea dog realize how deeply and passionately you really do care. Can you ever forgive me?"
"I don't know," Mermista drawled with a smirk. "Keep groveling and we'll see what happens."
"Can do!"
Hydrus snorted. "Guess Mermista wins again. Yay."
"Prince Hydrus," Sea Hawk spoke softly. "I am deeply flattered but it just wouldn't work out between us. I'm a free-spirited rogue and you're, well… an evil vengeance-crazed despot. No offense."
"None taken."
"But somewhere out in this great big world of ours, there's someone who thinks evil and a salty musk are just about the two best qualities a fella could have!"
"You really think so?" Hydrus asked hopefully.
"I know so!" Sea Hawk beamed. "And when they finally let him out of that small room they have him locked up in, he'll move the heavens to find you."
[-]
The Sea Fright
"Ah-aah-choo!" A still damp Kyle sat in a quiet nook of the aft deck, shivering miserably. If he was very lucky, they'd make it back to the Fright Zone before Catra could find him.
He knew there was no logical way she could possibly blame the mission's failure on him. But Catra wouldn't let a little thing like logic stop her tossing him overboard on sheer bloody principle.
Kyle felt something soft and scratchy fall about his shoulders, a thick thermo-blanket. Above him stood Rogelio, holding out a steaming cup of stim-juice.
"Thanks, buddy," Kyle sniffled. He noticed a small pile of soggy white mulch clutched in Rogelio's other hand as he took the cup. "Say, what's that?"
The saurian shrugged, casually tossing the mulch overboard before sitting down next to Kyle. They stared out over the blue-pink waters together for a long time after that. Rogelio had been about to say something when he felt Kyle's head droop against his scaled shoulder, snoring lightly.
Rogelio smiled, drawing the blanket tight about Kyle's shoulders. That done, he sat back to watch as the rest of Etheria's moons rose over a dreaming sea.
The End