AN: I'm sorry for the wait on this chapter . I am a student, and school is getting pretty difficult for some reason. Who would have thought that going to class is actually somewhat helpful? Anyway ;;. here it is! Please review!


Chapter Four : Waterlogged

Silence crept over the world, the wind whispering a gentle shhh across the grassy plains. Trees dotted the rolling landscape like foamy spray in a verdant sea. There were wild flowers too. Patches of them everywhere, some large some small, and the colors were more beautiful than those of a painter's brush. She was home again. Walking through the meadows and smiling as the tops of the grasses tickled her outstretched palms. Wild scents caressed her nose. There were roses growing nearby, their sweet odor soft and tender like the touch of her mother's hand against her cheek. Then, shy and subtle, there was the scent of daisies peaking out in the lower grasses like the wide eyes of the village children when they watched her working the horses. And always there were the blackberries. The ripest would burst and sweeten in the sun until their scent hung in the air like a lover's kiss. If she had to describe it in one word… Well, it was already on her lips, playing on her tongue with impish delight: bliss. If only she need never leave…

As if in response to her thoughts, a small growl caught the young girl's attention, completing the notion of paradise. Tae smiled, turning to look down at the snowy dragon that had chosen her. "What are you doing, Naru?" She asked him tenderly, reaching out her arms for the gangly little creature who quickly proceeded to launch himself against his bonded's chest. The girl giggled, snuggling the scaly leviathan close and nuzzling her head against his own. Even though he was only a couple weeks old, Ninaru was already the size of a small dog. So, when he shoved his front claws abruptly against Tae's chest, it was no surprise that she went tumbling over. Or rather, it was a surprise as she gave a small gasping laugh when the dragon began to wriggle and writhe in her arms, desperately trying to nip at her chin. She pushed him away, darting up and running away while laughter spilled between them. He hummed loudly, chasing after her as they played their game of tag.

Minutes passed, maybe even hours, and the pair came to a small stream. Tae rushed into the cool water without hesitating, the rejuvenating liquid reaching up to lap against her calves and knees. Ninaru, too, dove head long into the water, his wings glinting and flashing magnificently as he flapped them against the fluid to send a sparkling wave rushing against his bonded's legs clear up to her waist. Tae cried out in shock as the liquid connected with her cloth pull over and instantly seeped through to her skin. Goosebumps spread down her legs, most prominent where the water returned to the stream in the form of thin rivulets. The young girl giggled, sending her own wave back at the gangly little creature. Ninaru growled menacingly, but it sound more like the sound of a terrier and the girl just laughed again at his small display of power. "Oh, let the whole world fear your awesome power! Hail the dragon king!" She teased the fledgling, offering a bow to appease the grumpy thing. Naru puffed his chest out, holding his head a little higher to fit his new status. Tae shrieked with laughter at her dragon's behavior, splashing him again before dashing out of the water. "Come on, Naru, let's go get something eat." Tae cooed over her shoulder, skipping a few paces away before pausing to glance back for her dragon.

Unlike in reality where Ninaru had followed her without hesitation, the diamond creature still stood in the stream. However, something was wrong with his stance. His legs were spread to place his feet away from his body to give him maximum balance, and his little claws were dug into the pebbly bottom of the stream bed as if he needed to be rooted to the spot. The Rider wondered at this for a moment, thinking how odd it was that now he would be threatened by the current when it had never happened before. Still, she stood as a statue, waiting for some reason before she would go to check on her dragon. She watched Ninaru as he arched his neck, his jaw hanging open as if he were trying to wrap his mouth around a particularly large bite of food. But there was nothing for him to bite into and still he struggled as if something had jammed his mouth open. Naru made an odd chortling noise, as if he were trying to growl around something stuck in his mouth, and beneath that a strange gurgling. As Tae's mind made the leap, water spurted from the dragon's mouth but he still seemed unable to get a breath. She saw his eyes widen with fear and pain and she imagined his lungs burning not from fire of his ancient heritage but from the need of oxygen. She saw his legs wobble, threatening to drop him, and she tried to lunge forward, tried to reach him, but it was like the world had sped up around her while she remained in achingly slow motion. Naru stumbled from the stream, struggling to reach his bonded, the confusion in his expression turning to desperate pleading as he made his way to her wearing the feet of a drunk.

Nothing was making sense. Her world was literally shattering around her, pieces of reality falling with glimmering edges to clink and clatter against one another. Still, the dragon floundered for air, urgently rushing to reach his Rider and the constant question in his eyes of 'why?' Why wouldn't Tae save him? Why wouldn't she reach out and help him? Why wasn't she rushing to his side to help? Why was she doing nothing? Tae screamed, but found her voice strangled down in her throat. She couldn't move, couldn't speak. All she could do was watch as her dragon drowned on the water materializing in his lungs; watch as everything she knew collapsed into nothingness and a devastating sense of 'wrong' settled over her.

No! She could not let Ninaru slip away! She would not let him go! She couldn't! Tae yanked her foot away from the ground with a squelching noise, the oozing and roiling earth fighting fiercely against her progress. With each moment wasted trying to reach the dragon now locked in fitful spasms on the ground, more and more of her beloved Naru's life force was slipping away. "Naru! Ninaru!" Tae finally managed to choke out, the force behind her voice making her seem even more terrified. The pearly dragon squeaked feebly at the sound of his name, but another mouthful of water seemed to refreeze his small frame and his body was still once more. "Ninaru!" His mind was slowly receding from hers, the constant glow he had created slowly fading away into darkness. "Ninaru!" There was so little between them now, she could hardly feel his presence at all. "NINARU!" Tae's heartbroken scream ripped across the grassy plains, her world having finally completed its own destruction.

And then… Nothing.


Tae bolted upright in the thin mattress that passed as her bed, gasping for breath and covered in a cold sweat. For a single heart stopping moment, she didn't know where she was. All the young woman could acknowledge was the darkness that surrounded her, and every once in a while, small bursts of ephemeral lights like stars blinking in the far distance. The young Rider blinked as well, rubbing the final clinging remnants of sleep from her eyes before trying to decipher her surroundings. Now that her blood did not pound so swiftly and drown out any other sound, Tae could make out the muffled bark of human voices broken every so often by a sharp, biting roar that seemed to cut through even the thick boards of the support beams holding up the deck above. Beneath the rough, guttural language of those who would see that ship to port, was the gentle and soothing hiss of the sea brushing against the vessel's ribs. In the back of her mind, an alike sound whispered a lulling shhh, but Tae pushed the memory away as if it held the plague in its pacifying tones.

Returning her focus back to the room that held her, the Rider realized what had once been blinking stars were merely shafts of sunlight appearing and disappearing with the heavy footsteps on the thick deck above. For a brief moment, the woman lost her strife while watching the light ballet, the rays moving with the available space so that they looked to be twisting and twining around one another in their intricate dance. But then that moment was over, ended by the heavy thud of a boot sole connecting to the deck, and her peace and awe of that subtle beauty was replaced with the heart hammering horror of her recent nightmare.

"Ninaru!" Tae gasped aloud, yanking the tangled covers away from her legs before rolling nimbly out of bed. Where was her dragon? Where was Ninaru? Her heart was pounding again, and perhaps if she had taken the time to notice the tendril of soothing reassurance that drifted into the corner of her mind she never used for her own thought, some small portion of her terror might have been sated. However, panic held her captive and she rushed across the two feet of mahogany floorboards separating her from a spiral staircase that would take her into the belly of the ship. Here she was underwater, and the wooden siding creaked and moaned at the pressure. Any other time this might have worried her, but then all she cared about was finding her precious dragon. "Ninaru?" Tae cried forlornly into the utter darkness of the boats cavernous undercarriage. She sighed in relief when a low humming began and a golden glow created a small amount of light to see by.

What troubles you little bird? His voice was calm and gentle as it always was, and now a note of concern flavored his familiar lyric even as a single sapphire-violet eye opened to watch her protectively. The boat rocked slightly as he shifted his position, his massive weight throwing the ship off center briefly before he settled onto his belly in order to curl his long neck around his Rider to create a sort of safety net that she fell into obligingly.

I had a dream… The young woman replied, her mental voice breaking as the harsh memories surged upward in her mind. Ninaru scanned them over until she was able to shove them away again, then nuzzled her with his scaly nose. Tae wrapped her arms over the ridges lining the tops of his nostrils. Naru I want to go home…

Ninaru hummed deeper, the glow brightening slightly as the fires stoked in his belly and chest. His eyes closed and he urged his Rider into the melody of his song. When Naru hummed it was no monotonous purr, nor was it the dull roar of rocks sliding against one another. No. When he hummed it was with rhythm and meter, there was always emotion in the sound, and as Tae curled against the softer scales behind her dragon's sharp curve in his jaw, the lilting and crooning notes sounded as a lullaby to her ears.

But we have almost arrived. I am sure there would be consequences to turning back now… The leviathan cooed soothingly in her mind, his eye closing shut with a slight 'shup' of his eyelid sliding downward.

Still…

I know little bird, I know…

They sat like that in silence, Ninaru humming lowly, and his Rider curled against the side of his throat, when the ancient creature gave the suggestion that perhaps some practice in magic would help to occupy the young woman's thoughts until they would reach their destination. Tae agreed and began to stretch her consciousness, preparing for her exercises.

The crew members' minds were mostly shielded with only a few exceptions, but they were of little importance at the moment and the young Rider was reluctant to invade their privacy anyhow, so she continued on. She was surprised at the amount of sea life that lived in the salty waters between Alagaësa and her homeland. For her entire life, the ocean had been a force of destruction and a thing to be feared – as far she knew, she was the only one of her people to have ever thought of crossing it – and had been considered as a barren wasteland of undrinkable, toxic water. Tae had suspected fowl and frightening creatures if any at all to call that place home, but she was pleasantly surprised at the simplicity of their minds. It seemed as if all they worried about was food, mate, and territory. She dug through their tiny minds and could find no manner of speech, she couldn't even find any hint of communication other than physical and chemical. Physical communication being to trespass upon another's territory or mate, or to steal another's food, and chemical being the substances they released when they were ready to breed. But there were no words, vocal or otherwise, to be found in their uncomplicated thoughts. And with no speech, there was no showing of emotion. They were neither inherently evil creatures, or unmistakably kind. They simply were and that seemed to be enough for them. Tae passed them by after a few moments, pleased with her findings and eager to report them back to Treagan though she suspected he would already know.

Continuing on in her scan of the vast ocean, the young Rider came across another life form, this time of a more sophisticated intellect than the first creatures. While this animal too seemed to travel in a group, when Tae touched their minds collectively she could determine a distinct familial bond between them all; much like the familiarity she would associate between herself and someone from her village. When she dove deeper into their thoughts, she was blown away by the level of communication they shared not only amongst one another, but with her as well.

Come swim! Come play! So many voices assaulted her mind at once creating a cacophonous din amongst her thoughts as if she were standing in a large hall in which everyone was trying to yell over one another. Finally, she retreated from all but one of their minds.

Hello? Tae tested, hesitantly at first, gauging the creature's reaction to her invasion of its mind.

Hello! Hello! Come with us! Come swim! Come play! Be happy! Here we free! The creature sang back, its voice an interesting song not unlike what the chirping of a bird might sound like under water.

Where are you? The young woman replied, instantly reassured by the creature's bubbly nature.

We swim! We play! We in home!

Where is home?

The creature felt something Tae likened to confusion and she wondered if her words might have been too complex for the beast, but it quickly recovered and replied. We in deep-wide-blue! We in home! Come play!

I can't come play. She was almost saddened by the fact that she probably wouldn't be able to ever see the creatures who so urgently pleaded with her to come and play, to join their fun.

Can't? What is?

I cannot, I am unable. Tae tried again.

Unable?

I no play.

Finally the information seemed to sink in, and it took an unreasonable divot from the creature's happiness. Come play? It asked again, this time seeming almost sorrowful.

No play. What are you?

Again she seemed to have confused the beast. We are we? We swim! We play! Come be with we in deep-wide-blue! Now the glee had returned and the animal seemed already to have forgotten their previous shared words. It was apparently a creature capable of a dizzying array of emotions, and the speed with which it jumped from one to another was almost enough to give the Rider whiplash as she tried to keep up with it. If it understood one thing she said, another thing she would have thought to be idiotically simple flew over its head and sent it spiraling into depressed confusion.

Just as Tae was coming to this conclusion, a wild panic struck through the beast with almost tangible strength. What's wrong? Tae asked as Ninaru spoke in her mind.

Tae, there is something in the water. The dragon said, a note of unease resting in the curls of his mental voice. The young woman ignored him however, too absorbed with the knowledge she was gaining from the sea bound creature to pay much attention to what her bonded was saying. Besides, she already knew there was something in the water, she was talking to one of them wasn't she?

Wrong? The creature asked confused once more, but the emotion lasted only a short while before it was replaced again with the mind numbing terror from before. Wrong! Swim! Flee! It cried in her mind, making her heart pound almost painfully against her chest with the speed she assumed its own was racing at.

Where are you going? Tae cried, feeling strangely deserted by this new creature.

Away! Away! Get away! Must get away!

Away from what?

Away from the giant-tooth-and-fin! Away! Away or stillness! The creature's voice was growing smaller and smaller in the young woman's mind, as if the distance between them was rapidly increasing.

What is the giant-tooth-and-fin? Tae asked it urgently, a fear all of her own slowly creeping into existence.

Giant! Many times we! Eat! Kill! We flee! We be away or stillness! If we be stillness then giant-tooth-and-fin eat we!

Eat? Exactly what was in those waters? Tae whimpered, clinging to her dragon like a child. Ninaru hummed louder, nuzzling his Rider closer to him, but the fear persisted and she asked the creature one final question. A question she worried she already knew the answer to. What is stillness?

The creature's voice was quiet and small over their connection, fading quickly as it fled. Stillness! No swim! Red water! Away! Away or stillness! Away or red-! And then the creature was gone, its voice silenced either by the distance or by something else. A 'something' Tae did not want to think of for very long.

Tae, there is something in the water… Something big… Ninaru repeated softly, nudging the young woman to her feet. She noticed then that his eyes were opened and that he had stopped humming. Something was wrong, he was too calm, too well hiding of the note of alarm that only she would ever be able to hear in his usually soothing voice. Go above. Inform the captain, and I will try to contact master Treagan and maser Abraeil and ask their council on the matter. Go now, quickly! He nudged her again, the ridges on his nose pushing sharply against her back and shoulders as she stumbled for the stairway she had descended previously to reach him.

Time seemed to slow down, and her feet dragged sluggishly as if held in a thick bog. But Tae knew somewhere in the back of her mind that it couldn't have taken her more than a minute to reach the upper decks. "Captain! Captain!" She cried, receiving both wary and curious looks from the crewmen who paused their work to watch the girl – still dressed in her bed clothes – race for the captain. "Captain! There's something in the water!" The Rider called up to where he stood, cupping her hands around her mouth to make the sound carry better.

The captain of that vessel's name was Darrow Gale, and many said he was as wild and restless as his name suggested. He had vivid green eyes and hair bleached by the sun that fell in choppy layers to the tops of his shoulders that he cut himself; usually it was worn in a messy ponytail. Darrow was a well formed man, his muscles pronounced and chiseled into his figure from a lifetime on the sea. His crew whispered that salt ran in his veins along with the blood and that was what made him so fierce. Tae didn't care, with his no nonsense attitude and hooked nose that was left crooked like a hawk's beak from a bar fight he never would agree to talk about, he exuded the bad boy persona that made girls fall in love even with the idea of him. Although on a normal day Tae would have been no exception to this, then her fear was too great for her to think of anything other than getting the crew and her dragon to safety. Preferably on dry land.

"What was that, miss?" Darrow called back, a crashing wave having drowned her voice in its pounding hiss.

"There's something in the water!" She yelled louder, pronouncing each word with care in the hopes that he would hear. Her nails dug into the side railing of the ship, creating small notches in the wood as she used it to balance herself.

Everything afterward happened in such a blur, one second she was fine, and the next gravity seemed to have turned off. Tae vaguely recognized Naru's voice in the back of her mind, saying her name with a strange sense of urgency. And then there was the shift to Darrow's gaze, as if he had seen something out of the corner of his eye; the shadow that had crossed his face when what he saw was not a welcoming sight. He yanked his gaze back to her, and reached out a hand, his mouth opening as if he would say something. Perhaps ask her to explain exactly what was in the water with them. But he never spoke, or if he did, his voice was lost to the sound of wood cracking and giving way to insurmountable force. Something had hit the boat, and hard. For a split second, the young Rider was aware of herself falling, the railing that had once kept her standing having slammed abruptly into her ribs and thrown her over its shoulder. She flipped over and over in midair before finding an equilibrium with her back facing the water. Darrow extended his hand further like he could reach her, and for some reason, Tae reached out her own hand like she would catch herself on his arm. But when gravity found her again, it pulled her down without hesitation, vengeful that she had escaped its hold no matter how brief the amount of time it had been.

Somewhere within the ship, Erevu was waking crankily and alone before he could take in what was going on and his irritation could turn to fear as well. And Ninaru… His bellowing roar, as he realized he could not save his beloved Rider, echoed in Tae's ears as she split the roiling waves with the back of her neck and shoulders, the frigid water closing over her with an icy grip.

And then… Nothing…