Chapter 8.

The

Clashing

Of

Waves;

Act II,

Part II

"I've got my ticket for the long way 'round,
Two bottle whiskey for the way,
And I sure would like some sweet company,
Oh, I'm leaving tomorrow. What do you say?

When I'm gone (when I'm gone)
When I'm gone (when I'm gone)
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone . . .

You're gonna miss me by my hair,
You're gonna miss me everywhere,
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone . . ."

Cups (You're Gonna Miss Me) – Lulu and the Lampshades

~X~

"AWAY ON BUSINESS!

CLOSED UNTIL OTHERWISE!"

Tuff, Riley and Cassie all blinked at the sign posted on the door. They three of them stood outside the door of Dr. Marlin's small hospital and couldn't believe the inopportune timing of the sign's meaning.

Riley squinted at the extra sentence added below the bold words. ""So nobody go and do anything life-threatening and/or hazardous to your health; or else you can kiss your tail good-bye!" Hmm, Old-Timer does not mince his words, does he?"

"Shouldn't Dr. Marlin been back a few days ago?" Cassie asked the both of them, her tail circling her ankles.

"Yeah, he should've been," Riley replied with hands on his hips and a huff of calm frustration. "Little Oak Town is only a days walk from here."

"For a younger man, maybe, Riley." Tuff pointed out. "Without help, someone like Dr. Marlin would probably have to go a long way to get there."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Riley scratched at his chin. "Despite how much vim the Old-timer's got in him, he's still in his golden years."

"Wait." Cassie said, her ears raising a little. "You don't think something happened to him, do you?"

"I don't think so." Tuff crossed his arms. "I think I would've sensed it if something had happened. He could just be running late or maybe he lost track of time."

Cassie gave a small noise of agreement. "Mmn, maybe."

Cassie, Tuff and Riley had only just arrived in town about an hour ago. It had been a long walk through the dense forests and they had almost gotten lost twice due to the fact that neither one of them wasn't exactly clear as to the precise directions to the town of Great Maple. There was also the matter of Cassie needing to stop every eight minutes each time they tried to hurry, resulting in her slowing to a halt and trying to catch her breath. Tuff and Riley were patient with her. They knew she was still recovering from the injury and made it a point to stop and wait until she gave the okay before pushing on.

They were even sweet enough to help her over a few trenches that were too wide for her to jump and would cause her side to pull. By which, they simply picked her up into their arms and jumped over the said trenches and or rivers holding her as carefully as they could. Riley even made a joke about how she must've been filled with feathers like a pillow, which earned him a groan from Tuff and a blank smile from Cassie.

It was about mid-day when they had finally entered through the gates; she wondered why Tuff and Riley were so insistent on the fact that they go when it was nice and bright with the sun high in the sky. That and why she couldn't hurry on ahead of them as they were slowly making their way through the woods. She would've thought it was just them being chivalrous and not wanting her to wind up alone if it weren't for her catching glimpses of them looking around in constant alertness with hands twitching and edging near their swords each time something sounded from the trees.

Something else was clearly going on. Tuff and Riley had already told her everything about finding her in the cove and having the now absent Dr. Marlin treat her side, which she could easily piece together herself from the very few fragments of memory she had from her attack and near drowning. The huge bandage still wrapped up around her side helped some too.

But there was something bothering them; they probably didn't think that she noticed, but she saw them share a worried glance with one another time and again ever since she met them yesterday afternoon. Their ominous expressions kept bothering her. Did they know something that she didn't know?

She couldn't really tell for sure what had them so worried. Considering that the both the Luck Brothers were sharks, she didn't really believe that any wild animal would actually try and go near them. At least not in broad daylight. Then again, the both of them were only Half-Bloods. But even the most simple-minded of wild animals would be able to pick up the thin traces of Were-Shark in their scents.

Did Dr. Marlin maybe say something to them? Besides wanting to check her side, maybe he wanted Tuff and Riley to bring her to him for another reason?

Well, considering the rather ill-humored sign, she didn't think she was going to get her answers any time soon.

"Well, since going to Dr. Marlin's is out, what's the plan?" Riley put his hands behind his head laid-back.

Cassie felt her ear go up at some whispering going on behind her and gave a dry look at a pair of young women looking at her and pointing at her in what they apparently deemed discreet. Turning her head back, she suggested, "Perhaps we should see if we can find a tailor. I need to get my shirt mended and honestly, it seems like some of the locals are starting to wonder if I'm color-blind." That last part she added dryly towards the said women, unbeknownst to Tuff and Riley.

Tuff rubbed the back of his neck again as he said with small blush, "Uh, yeah, you're probably right. Since we're the subject though, sorry again about the clothes. I know they're not really in style, but we couldn't really have you have walking around with a ripped shirt with a broken zipper."

Cassie looked down at her wardrobe in what could be described as blank conformity. She was currently sporting Tuff's forest green vest which was buckled by three small brown strips and Riley's loud, bright pair of red pants that was hopelessly wide around her skinny waist and almost went past the middle of her knee. She discovered, much to her own embarrassment, that she would have had to hold them up by one hand constantly to keep them from falling past her hips. Luckily, she managed to salvage her large silver buckle belt from her old clothes which was more than capable of holding up the shorts. Any flirty jokes that Riley would've made on how she looked in them was instantly put on hold when a frowning Tuff quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. The final touch was the blue-and-green matching sleeves of her previous outfit that she wore on her arms and legs, the cloth clashing greatly with those of the taller, older and broader men in front of her.

If Vince were here, he would probably be joking about her losing a bet.

"It's alright," Cassie shook her head. "But we should still go see if we can find someone who can hopefully repair my top. There's sure to be one in town somewhere." She gestured briefly to the satchel that Tuff had set over his shoulder. She had wanted to bring her top with her and Tuff, being a gentleman, offered to put in his satchel so she wouldn't have to carry it around and draw unwanted attention. A rather futile effort considering how she was dressed now but she appreciated the offer regardless.

"Yeah, you know I think I remember seeing a Tailor shop when Tuff and I first came here." Riley said, looking around. "I think it was somewhere near either the bookstore or –"

"HEY!" A gruff voice suddenly sounded from behind them.

Tuff and Riley immediately flinched at the sound. Cassie looked at the both of them in confusion as they groaned simultaneously with an "Oh, no . . ." What was the matter with them?

A moment later, Cassie saw why.

A huge colossus of a man was stomping his way towards them. "Stomping" was putting the term lightly, each time this man's foot hit the ground Cassie swore she could feel the ground shake a little beneath her feet. "Colossus" was a well-earned word because this human was huge. He was ridiculously ripped, his thick arms bulging from the rather tasteless vest he wore and his matching pair of legs stretched the equally as unappealing trousers he wore as far as they could go without ripping. At his full height he stood at least three heads over Tuff and Riley and at least four heads over Cassie, his shadow effortlessly going over them all. He had greasy blonde hair cut haggardly short, bland brown eyes and a horrid case of scratches all over his face.

Cassie's nose scrunched up at the heavy odor radiating from him. He smelled like a large brewery that had died. Judging by the sour expression on his face, one might as well have. His breath was equally as rotten when then grunted at Tuff and Riley, "I thoughts I told youse two to stay outta town! What? You two eager for a beatin'?"

Riley, as much as he abhorred going near the human's most likely genetically horrid smell, edged close to him and growled back, "What? We can't even do business here?"

"Business?" The human sneered. He butted his forehead against Riley's so he was right in his face and the Shark-man had to use everything in him to keep himself from gagging. "The only business youse sharks are good fors is makin' off with other men's girls and ransacking the town's fish supply!"

Riley rolled his eyes at him. "Hey, it's not my fault that your girlfriend thought my teeth were hot."

"Youse must have a real hearin' problem, shark-boy!" The human growled, pushing his head back with a very deep scowl.

This time, Riley's eyes nearly crossed at the abhorrent smell and he almost toppled back a step. "Yeah, too bad my nose works just fine."

The human growled lowly, his gaze growing murderous and his teeth grinding together. He looked ready to strangle Riley before Tuff quickly pulled him back and stepped in his place. "Look, we don't want any trouble, we just want to find a tailor and we'll be on our way."

"A tailor, huh?" The human said condescendingly, getting in Tuff's face like Riley's and Tuff couldn't help but make a face at the said stench. "Guessin' youse shark-boys are lookin' for some nice suits to be buried in, huh? Not that stinkin' man-eaters like youse deserve somethings so nice!"

Cassie, who had kept silent up to this point, had felt her patience running extremely thin each minute with the intoxicated giant spitting venom in front of her. Who did this human think he was, calling these two man-eaters? If it weren't for them, she wouldn't even be here right now! Eyes narrowed and now thick-lightning designed tail risen behind her, she stepped up behind Tuff and stood on her tip-toes so she could peek over his shoulder. "Excuse me, but you have no right to call them that! If anything, these two are farthest things from that!"

The human took one look at her before suddenly breaking out into a disgusting grin. "Heyyy," Cassie felt ready to vomit herself as she watched his eyes roam over what he could see of her body. "Youse a pretty young thing, aren't youse? Why's youse hangin' out with this chumps? I bet I could show youse a real good time . . ."

He made a move to grab her but Tuff was quicker; his hand snapped out and grabbed the man's meaty wrist with a python's grip, the giant grunted in pain as Cassie swore she heard the bones in it crack. The next second he growled in a low voice that didn't sound like his at all, "You leave her alone."

Cassie gave a small shudder at the intensity in his voice. She had hardly heard him speak like that. It was nearly like something was trying to take over and push the man known as Tuff Luck out. No doubt it was the Shark in him talking, judging by the amount of strength that she saw him putting into clutching the now swearing Giant's limb. She had no idea whether to be relieved or frightened.

The human yanked his wrist back and rubbed it in a lame attempt to relieve it of its soreness. Looking at him, then at Cassie then at Riley, and back to Cassie again, his eyes glinted with some sort of an epiphany. His face twisted into another deep scowl as he muttered, "Ohhh . . . Now I see what's going ons here . . . Can't believe I didn't see this sooner . . ."

Tuff frowned at the suspicious tone of the human. "What are you talking about?"

"What? Youse think I'm an idiot?!" The man bellowed. Tuff and Riley bit back their reply. "I know why youse two are here with this missy; youse two are the ones that's been killing all our girls!"

Tuff, Riley and Cassie's eyes all went wide at that accusation. Killings?! Cassie looked at the man like he had instantly grown three heads. Tuff and Riley, however, knew what he meant completely.

"WHAT?!" Riley exclaimed in disbelief. "Where the hell did you get that from?! Tuff and I have nothing to do that!"

The man gave a curt "humph!" as he crossed his tree trunk-like arms across his chest. "That's just what a murderer would say. Not thats I expect anything less from youse beasts!"

"Where's your proof that they're even responsible?" Cassie quipped at him sharply, stepping out from behind Tuff with hands on her hips. Tuff looked at her, astounded by her boldness towards this drunken idiot of a human but didn't let that stop the worried expression on his face from showing at her likeliness of being grabbed again. "Do you have actual evidence or are you just condemning them simply for the convenience of it?"

Clearly this human never heard of common sense because he scoffed at her like she had just said something stupid. "I don't need no stinkin' proof! Sharks are cold-blooded, murderin' beasts! That's all theres to it! If I says they's guilty, they's guilty! End of story!"

Cassie felt her temper flaring at his ill-mannered logic. A familiar tingle started to flow through her veins and into the column of her tail. If he said one more thing about the two men behind her who she could feel getting as hot under the collar as her, he was going to have hell to pay . . .

"You know, they's probably readying to make a meal outs of youse too, sugar," He added with a smirk that made Cassie's ears lower in annoyance. "Which gives me more than enough reason to make shark fricassee' out of them before –"

Anything that the Colossus would've said next was abruptly cut off by a very undignified and a very high yelp.

His hands flew to his back side as he whirled around in search of the assaulter, only to be greeted by thin air. The Luck Brothers and Cassie didn't have to see his face to know his confusion. Honestly, they were a little confused themselves about what would cause such a giant of a human to squeak like a little girl.

Their befuddlement didn't last long; a second later, a sharp voice then made itself know by chirping from below them, "Boy, I'm down here!"

Everyone looked down at those words. There standing at a height of two feet and three inches was a creature that definitely seemed out of the norm . . . Even by Archipelago standards.

She was short and furry, almost matching the appearance of a Were-Weasel; her long, thick brown hair tied up in a professional bun set in between her pair of large floppy square-like ears, matched the same shade of brown fur on her paws, bowed legs, and the markings of her cheeks, ears and tail. Her markings bore a sort of tiger-like pattern, the design bold and fierce against the golden brown fur covering the rest of her body. Her eyes were equally as fierce with the color of dark rich gold, a shade of yellow currently sparking irate at the foolish human towering over her. She held no fear at his size, even going so far as bringing up the small yet thick needle that had pierced his posterior.

The human gave an incredulous look towards the odd woman. "Mother Logai! What was that for? I ain't dones nuttin' to youse!"

"For once, you're right." "Mother Logai" said, taking the needle and sticking it into the pin cushion strapped on her wrist. "You've done nothing to me, but as usual, you're being a totally wasted ignoramus who couldn't tell a rat from his own mother while smelling like he had drunken the town's brewery out of business."

"HEY!" The human exclaimed curtly. "Leave my mum outta this!"

"Gladly," Mother Logai said bluntly, setting her hands on her hips. "When you stop getting blitzed like an idiot and throwing around stupid accusations at every random half-blood beast-boy that comes by like a child," Tuff and Riley looked a little miffed at that part but stayed silent. "And treating every cute girl that comes by like she's your own personal play-thing. What, that dumbbell Sally wasn't enough for your tastes?"

The man's face fell at her words, his expression like one a little boy who was being reprimanded by his mother for being naughty, causing him to swing a beefy hand towards Tuff and Riley, the latter of whom looked ready to bite his finger off if it weren't for Tuff's shaking head. "But, Mother Logai, those half-blood mutts are responsible! Who else could have been killing all those innocent girls?"

Cassie immediately felt the urge to step forward and smack him as hard she could; but Mother Logai beat her to it by jumping up to the giant's face rather amazingly and promptly giving the human's cheek an abrupt "thwap!" with her paw.

The three of them winced at the sound and even more so at her harsh tone. "Don't you dare call them that; I know for a damn well fact that your mother raised you better than that! They are just as human as you are. Do you honestly think they would be dumb enough to come here if they were behind these killings?" She didn't the man time to answer as she continued, "You know as well as I do that these horrible murders have been going on long before these two boys came to town. So don't you dare insult the memory of each of those girls and their families wounded by these tragedies by crucifying innocent men simply because of the opportunity!"

Mother Logai's face remained hard despite the pitifully sad look that the human was now giving her as he cradled his reddening cheek. Tuff, Riley and Cassie all could not help but admire the strong vim she was showing towards someone who could probably flatten her in a heartbeat.

"Mother Logai . . ." The man whimpered pathetically down at her, shocking everyone save the said woman by sounding like he was close to tears.

Mother Logai wouldn't hear of any complaints he was about to give her. Instead she snapped, "Don't "Mother Logai" me, boy! I'm not gonna hear a word of it until you're stone cold sober!" She brought up a hand behind her, pointing in a direction know only to her and commanded, "Now, you go home, get a strong tonic, food and water in your belly, a greatly needed shower, into bed and stay there! And if I so much as hear you cracking open another bottle, I swear I'm coming after you and sewing you up into your blankets like a cocoon! NOW GET!"

The human, whose expression went from shock, to nervousness, to absolute bed-wetting fear, booked it as fast as he could; he whimpered like a toddler all the way, never stopping even as he tripped and fell face flat into the dirt.

As they watched him scramble back to his feet, his cries growing more and more obscure as he disappeared around a corner, save Mother Logai's calmly agitated face; the expressions on Tuff's, Riley's and Cassie's faces were priceless.

Mother Logai gave short puff of air as she looked down the street where the shockingly weak-willed Colossus of a man vanished to. "Pssh, unbelievable . . ." She mumbled to herself. "Men are all the same. They act all big and macho, but the instant the get a taste of their own medicine, they run screaming for the mothers." Turning towards them, she added, "I swear some men are such –"

She was abruptly cut off when Riley suddenly reached down, grabbed her by her shoulders and held her up like she was a great idol who had dropped out of the sky. His face easily portrayed that as he said in complete and total awe. "That. Was. AWESOME!"

Mother Logai blinked at him, a little confused at his praise. Then, when she got it a second later, she grinned all but humbly. "What, that? Oh, shucks, Sweet-pea, that was nothing; I gotta deal with that idiot son of a fisherman at least twice a week. Practically child's play by now."

Cassie, almost as impressed as Riley was, then pointed out, "But that man was huge! He looked like he could've squashed you like a bug."

"Oh, sweetie, please!" Mother Logai waved her off. "I've faced off against plenty of me like that in the past. That was nothing compared to what I went through when I was about your age!" Her fur bristled a little, her smile showcasing something between horror and humor. "Which for all your sakes, I won't repeat unless somebody here wants to have nightmares for the rest of their lives."

Tuff gave her a small smile as he said, "Well, all the same, thank you for your help. A couple more minutes and that man would be missing a finger and the three of us would high-tailing it off the island."

Mother Logai's ears twitched light-heartedly. "Oh, don't mention it, child," Riley had set her down by now and she dusted herself off as she continued, "I hate it when humans try and get away with whatever crap they try to pull over other species. Gives the rest of us mammals a bad name . . ." Clapping her paws together she then said, "Well, now that we've got that put aside; I heard that you're in need of a tailor."

Tuff's eyebrows rose a little bit in surprise. "Huh? How did you –?"

Mother Logai simply pointed to the two appendages on the sides of her head. "Ears like these don't miss much. Not that I need it with the way you've got this poor girl dressed!" She pointed to Cassie at that last part. Cassie flushed a dark blue as she adjusted her, or rather Tuff's, vest awkwardly. Mother Logai "tsk"ed at her, shaking her head. "Really, sweetie, that red color is sooo not you; I could hear those trousers of yours from a mile away!"

"O-oh, uhm, actually," Cassie stuttered, greatly uncomfortable all of sudden. "These clothes aren't really mine, they a-actually belong to . . . To them." She gestured briefly to Tuff and Riley at the end of her sentence.

Mother Logai looked between the identical twin sharks before made a small "o" of understanding. "Oh, I see . . ." She frowned at the bright, loud colors of Riley's purple and yellow shirt and the green knee-patched pants and the soft yet flashy tones of Tuff's red vest, sky blue long-sleeved shirt and cool gray pants before rolling her eyes and rubbing at her forehead. "Well, that certainly explains a lot!"

"Hey, why argue with a classic look?" Riley shrugged impishly while Tuff sighed lightly at him.

Cassie gave another small giggle at Riley's honesty.

"Do you really want me to begin, Sweet-pea?" Mother Logai retorted with a dry eye.

"You seem to know an awful lot of what you're talking about." Tuff stated with a knowing glance.

"Naturally, dearie," Mother Logai jerked her thumb towards herself with a proud grin. "Name's Logai TigerPelt, Top seamstress of Pound Island and the sole Median Jakkai of the Archipelago; and now I'm gonna make it my sole mission to change your young lady's look, even if it kills me!" Looking towards Cassie, she added, "Got a problem with that?"

"Nope!" Cassie smiled brightly. "Not a one!"

"Good!"

ME: Hello, once again, and I know I've said this before but I'm saying it again; I AM SOOOO SORRRRYYY! I swear I didn't mean for this chapter to be late!

I've been having some real trouble sleeping these past few days and I end up losing time because I'm trying to get some more sleep!

I swear to you I will not let you down, though! I will keep to this story, as Mother Logai so eloquently puts it, even if it kills me!

Speaking of which, Mother Logai's Jakkai species is actually a part of another fabulously funny comic that I read called "Slightly Damned" written and drawn by the fantastic "Chu"! To read go to either "raizy. deaviantart. com" on Deviantart or the comic's website "sdamned .com".

I had a lot of fun introducing Mother Logai to the world of "Tidal Wave"; after all, a story with a kooky old man deserves an equally kooky old lady!

Anyways, with promises of a swift update, till next time!