Leila woke up staring at the ceiling. "How did it get like this?" she wondered. Jiro was outside her window, and trying to break into her thoughts. She stared at his shimmering white-grey scales and bright sea-grey eyes. She stared at the silvery white oval on her palm.
"Still can't believe it, Leila?"
"No, I can't," she answered.
----------------------------------
Three years ago, Leila wasn't the person she was now.
She was walking down the street, heading for the beach. The beach just south of Teirm, north of her simple cottage. The wind was at her eyes, the sun beating down on her face. The smell of the sea lured her in, invited her to come to it's embraces and splash under the salty sun. She could see the pure white sands off in the distance, tickled by the turquiose waves. This was her beach.
She tentatively put her toes in the water, to test the temerature. It was cool, and she dove in wearing just her underclothes. The passion of the ocean drew her farther in, and she dove under. The clear, cold water was refreshing under the punishing sun. She kept swimming farther and farther from the shore. When she looked back, she couldn't see the mainland at all. Suddenly the ocean didn't seem so friendly anymore.
She decided to drift along, floating on her back. For hours, she lay on the surface of the sea, and eventually she had to close her eyes to keep out the sun. Of course, she drifted off to sleep.
-----
"She's fine, look, she's waking up!" A voice swam in her head. Without the energy to move, she had to settle to open her eyelids a sliver.
"Hey, you! Are you alright?" Another voice called. She opened her eyes further, and saw sailors standing around her. She was on a cot, and covered with a coarse white blanket. "Where..."
"Sshhh. save your energy." Said one with black hair. At that moment, a crash was heard and several Urgals stormed through the ship. They talked in an unfamiliar tongue at first, then said something in English.
"Yeess, haalfliing, take..." They tried to pick her up, but dropped her as she screamed. Leila didn't have much strength, but she ran with all her might to the edge of the ship. Knowing what she had to do to lose them, she dove into the unforgiving abyss of the sea.
