Chapter 16.

The

Clashing

Of

Waves;

Act III,

Part VII

"On the ground I lay,
Motionless in pain . . .

I can see my life flashing before my eyes . . .
Did I fall asleep?

Is this all a dream?
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare . . .

I will not die (I will not die)
I will survive . . .

I will not die; I'll wait here for you!
I feel alive, when you're beside me!

I will not die; I'll wait here for you!
In my time of dying . . ."

"Time of Dying" – Three Days Grace

~X~

SHANK!

"Guh -!?"

Cassie felt a wave of warmth splash over her chest just seconds before the suffocating coil around her throat loosened and lifted away. Her world was still so black so she couldn't see what happened to set her free, but she could sure feel the sweet, heaving pain of her breath coming back into her lungs.

God, it felt as though she had broken away from drowning all over again . . .

Her side was hurting her again. All the stitches must be torn by now . . .

Some of the darkness disappeared from above her, giving way to a bright red, yellow, orange, burning, heating force. What was that . . . ? Wasn't that the fire coming closer . . . ? Her eyes were still clouded over, her light-headedness made it so she could barely see the outline of the body now standing over her own pulse sporadically each time she blinked. If only she could breathe . . .

". . . sie!" Was that his mouth moving? She didn't know. Her ears still felt they've been stuffed with cotton. ". . . Cass . . . ou oka . . . ?" What was he saying? What it really a he?

Wait, there was another one. He was as fuzzy as the first one, only he seemed closer. Close enough for her to see red and green. ". . . Assi . . . ! . . . on, we ne . . . o go!"

Who was it?

Who were they –

Tuff and Riley.

Tuff and Riley saved her again.

That thought was almost like it had flipped a switch for her vision. Everything instantly started to clear up from around her; the thunderous symphony of the flames, the night sky becoming aglow from the combustion's deadly radiance, the shadows blanketing the mirrored faces of the Luck Brothers, nearly making their fearful expressions disappear.

Tuff appeared especially afraid as he kneeled before her, his sea green irises luminescent not with firelight but with so much worry that it was almost scary. Was he truly that concerned about her? She felt touched.

She also felt another massive headache coming on. Maybe when this was all over, Dr. Marlin could give her some more medicine. Provided they didn't end up coming out like a Calypso Island Hotpot Special . . .

"Cassie?" Tuff's tone was anxious at the daze that lingered in her eyes. "Cassie?! Are you awake? What are you doing?! We need to go, now!"

Cassie was about to ask what he the world he was talking about – Let's face it, she was in a total haze at this point – when she made the mistake of turning her head to the side.

The thing laying beside her jumpstarted her energy back into her system, making her shoot right up from where she was laying on the ground and scrabble up to her feet, almost toppling right back down into Riley's extended arms.

The Master now was face flat from where he had been rolled away from Cassie. The psychotic gaiety that had been plastered over his horrific face was now nothing more then frozen shock. Tuff's two swords sticking from through his back and out of his chest were more than explanatory to the dark red pond pooling the ground where he lie.

Cassie felt her stomach lurch. Her mind must have been trying to play tricks on her, or otherwise trying to scar her for life, because the ghost corpse of, what she now knew was, the Master's mate threatened to surface over his; the huge bleeding canyon where the shoulder was supposed to connect to the throat missing and replaced with a nightmarish waterfall of red copper that spilled with blood already shed. There was so much blood . . .

A tug on her arm snapped her out of her trance. She turned her head around and saw Riley looking at her with as much worry as Tuff if not more. She knew that she must've looked like a real sight to him, what with the dirt still on her cheeks, the brushes of blood staining her clothes and the obvious fear beaming from her eyes that were hidden only by wells of tears that wished desperately to come out. Where they were born of horror for what she had just saw or pity for the poor deranged soul that was no longer among them, she didn't know.

She chose to push it aside. No time to be losing her composure again. No, Tuff was right. They had to get going and now.

Cassie abashedly cleared her throat to rid it of the indignant squeak that came out when she spoke. "I–I'm fine. I'm fine." She repeated to Tuff who looked like he was about to say otherwise. "I'm not important now. We need to get off this Island, quickly."

"How?" Riley asked. "There's no bridge anymore and, I'm sorry, but that cliff's way too high for even Tuff and I to jump off and survive."

"Riley's right." Tuff added. "Save that "chasm of death", there's no other way out of here."

"I know a way." Cassie spoke up suddenly. Tuff and Riley both looked at her. "There's definitely another way out; but we'll need to get through the forest first."

Tuff looked at her like she had just grown a second head. "Cassie? I don't know if you noticed but there's no forest anymore but a raging inferno?!"

"I'm fully aware, Tuff." Cassie stated. "But we have a much better chance surviving that then staying here!" She then pointed behind them. "And I'm not the only one who thinks that!"

Tuff followed her finger to where it pointed at the wolves', or rather their tails as they begun to trek backwards at the closeness of the fire. Lit branches landed only feet from them but that was enough to send them running for the quickly disappearing trees.

With their Master dead, they clearly had no more reason to stay, so the Blue-Skinned Woman and Twin Sharkmen made no nevermind to them anymore. The last things the three heard from them was their retreating howls and barks as they leapt into the flames. Their sounds were almost immediately drowned out by the thunderous cracks and hisses.

Cassie couldn't help but wonder how much it would take for them just to survive. Probably as much as it would take her and the boys.

Everything that they had.

And that was a challenge she was willing to take. She was not going to lose the both of them again. Not again . . .

"Cassie, even if we did follow the wolves, there's still a very strong chance that we'll die!" Tuff protested once again. "We can't risk going in there!"

"Tuff, I know that!" Cassie responded, none-too-kindly. "You honestly think I don't know that?! I know we may wind up dying but it's worth a chance!" She shook her head at him. "Tuff, I don't want to argue this with you, as you pointed out, we're running out of time and that's something we can't waste!" She propped her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow at him. "So, what I want to ask you is this, Tuff Luck, since I am most definitely going into that forest whether you like it or not; are you and Riley the type of men to leave a young, injured woman like me alone in a burning forest collapsing all around me?" Almost like to prove her point, a rather large and very well-done tree trunk cracked from its roots before falling to the ground with a jarring thud.

Tuff blinked at the said tree, then at Riley's shaking head, then back down at Cassie. "In light of the situation, I guess not."

"Good." Cassie gave a nod of satisfaction. "Now let's get out of here before anything else happens –"

THUNK!

A sharp, unrelenting nerve-splicing pain sliced through Cassie's body, making her voice give way to a shrill, choking scream.

Tuff's and Riley's exclamations of her name fell on deaf ears as daggers of pure agony began to bite into her mind. She barely comprehended her body falling hard and deep into a mixed cloud of sweat, motor oil and tea spice, all that registered was the avalanche of needle-like stabs blooming from her spine. What the heck was this? What could be causing her so much pain –

Her tail. Her tail! Something had stabbed her tail!

Cassie didn't remember turning her head, but when she did, she wished she hadn't.

The Were-Dog, the very same one that they all had assumed was dead, apparently was the only one who didn't get a firm grasp of the idea. Even though he was the one with the frikin' swords stuck through his body.

His dark socket looked even emptier than before, burning into Cassie's face with a vengeance while thick ribbons of blood coughed and gurgled out between his lips. A black, cold rock had taken place of his other eye, a sure sign that all of his sanity was gone. Incoherent chokes and snarls ripped from his mouth, the saliva blending with it and flying out towards her as he attempted to speak.

Cassie felt her eyes drift lower and her heart thumped hard against the bones of her ribcage when she saw one of the Twin Swordfish's bloody blades in his paw, sticking straight down and through her tail fin, pinning her to the ground like a butterfly's wing. Guess that explained where that pain came from – Oh, god, did he just twist the blade?! Maker, that hurts! That hurts! THAT HURTS!

"You will not get away from me!" The Master choked out at her, all vigor and strength from before disappearing at the growing number of lost buckets of blood from his body. "You– You– YOU WON'T! YOU CAN'T!" He grabbed her leg hard when she tried to kick at him and used it as leverage to pull her towards him, ignoring her shouts to "Let go!" Man, couldn't this guy take a hint?!

Something else tried to tug her from behind, pulling on her trapped tail, making her injured side seem like a paper-cut's worth of sting. She weakly swung her tight fists at the source, clueless where she was aiming and purely desperate to just stop the pain –

Something firm yet soft caught her hand, holding on to it as carefully as it could. The heat of it was soothing to the hot blood stirring in her veins. "Cassie, stop. It's okay. We won't hurt you. It's us. It's okay. It's okay." A warm, gentle voice drifted into her ear.

She froze. Who would be – No, of course, Tuff. The first thing she heard out of all this misery. Who else would it be? And the one tugging her was Riley. Almost the exact same way he did when they met. This time she didn't complain.

A monstrous cough brought her back down to reality. Her eyes refocused just in time to see gobs of blood spill onto her tail, the red copper clashing with dark blue copper. Cassie's throat tightened at the strong iron smell.

"YOU ARE MY PRIZE! YOU ARE MINE! YOU WILL NOT RUN! I FORBID IT!" The Master's voice was hysteric again, this time bearing finality in his mad plea. He was utterly convinced that his word was the law.

But as the same as all times before, nobody else thought the same as him. Primarily because unlike him, they were perfectly sane.

Cassie could hear Riley's voice warp into a growl from above her. "She is not YOURS, YOU FREAK!"

"NO! SHE IS, HALF-BREED! SHE IS MINE! SHE WILL DIE! SHE WILL! SHE –"

The world suddenly disappeared behind a curtain.

Something covered in streaks of bright, burning colors thundered and came falling down, just like the bridge –

Tuff's warm voice floated into her ear again, this time deeply apologetic. "I'm sorry, Cassie, this is going to hurt." She was confused. What? What was going to –?

Two sets of strong, thick arms wrapped around her waist. Without warning, they yanked her right up, something pulling taut, giving way to garden blossoms of pain until –

RiiiIIIPP!

THUD!

CR-ACK!

There were screams tearing the air. Were they hers? Yes, there were. Both hers and . . . The Master? Why would he be screaming?

Surely he wasn't in much pain as she was, because something in her was hurting so bad –

"Cassie? Cassie?! I'm sorry, Cassie! I'm sorry! Please stop screaming! I'm sorry!"

"Tuff, grab your swords! This whole forest's coming down on us! Hurry!"

"But, but, Cassie –!"

"I've got her! Just grab your swords and c'mon!"

Something lifted her off her feet. Pain ricocheted throughout all of her, making her breath halt and her screams short and choppy. She felt something slip under and around her, pressing her into warmth, motor oil and fish. Riley was holding her again.

Nothing came into focus for her. All she could see was bright yellow and red and orange. All she could hear was sharp, gruff screams and crackles and snaps. All she could smell was smoke, blood and the sea. All she could feel was movement and heat. All of this locked in around her like a box.

A box?

No, she hated closed spaces. Boxes. No. Give her subs any day!

She couldn't be trapped! She needed to be free! She needed the sea!

The sea.

The sea.

She had to get back to the sea.

Vince was waiting on her.

She had to get back to him.

She couldn't lose him again.

Not like Faust.

Not almost like Tuff and Riley.

Tuff and Riley.

They could take her, couldn't they?

She tried to speak. Her mouth took in air only to cough it back up when something thick and stifling came in instead.

She needed to talk. She needed to tell them.

The sea. Could you take me back to the sea?

She was moving. Was she flying? Sure felt a lot like it.

No wait, she was swimming.

Swimming, yeah, that made sense . . .

Maybe all this was a dream. Maybe she never even came to an island after all! Maybe all of this was just one big dream! Maybe Riley and Tuff were just nothing but a dream . . .

That last part pulled at her heart. Riley and Tuff.

The Luck Brothers. They were both dreams? Just dreams?

Riley wiping away her tears with a smile as he grins, "Forget about it, Cassie."

Tuff nodding with a small reassuring smile, "I promise we will be back."

She had just begun to pray that Tuff and Riley would still be there when she woke up.

They had to be. After all, she still needed to apologize to them for breaking her promise.

That was her last clear thought before her eyelids begun to grow heavier and heavier . . . And heavier . . . . And heavier until the whole world went black for the second time.

~X~

"Where are the boys? I don't see them! Do you see them?" Was the first thing out of Dr. Marlin's mouth as his hay yellow eyes were starting to widen at the island-wide fire.

"I don't see them anywhere! I can't even see Cassie or that beast anymore!" Mother Logai said just as frantically. "God, that fire is nuts! It's gonna eat that whole island!"

"And those three kids with them!" Dr. Marlin added.

"Where the hell are Henry and the guards?!" Mother Logai pulled at her ears in pure frustration. "If my frikin' Mote reached them, they should've been here by now!"

"Don't ask me! Sending them the Mote and following me was your idea!" Dr. Marlin snapped.

"Hey! You're the one who was all ready and raring to go and get himself killed by some deranged lunatic!" Mother Logai snapped as well.

"At least I wasn't wasting my time ogling at jewels! Where the heck did you even get those anyway?!"

"None of your damn business, you nosy old fart!"

"Don't you start calling me names, you overgrown hamster!"

"HOW DARE YOU, YA BIG –!"

A firework's show worth of ear-popping cracks pounded into the atmosphere. Dr. Marlin and Mother Logai turned their heads, watching in horror as the flames started to grow higher and higher into the sky. The flames were so large, if any bird were dumb enough to fly over it, they'd be grilled alive within a matter of minutes. And that would just be a regular-sized Avian.

"Okay, forget everything I was about to say!" Mother Logai quickly suggested. "We gotta find some way to get to that Island, so please say you know another way!"

"Uhm, well, there's, uh –" Dr. Marlin's mind went into overdrive as he tried to think. He tore through his mind like a bad habit as he went through old memorized island maps and charts that he made point to study when he was teenager, much to the annoyance of the Jakkai woman in front of him. "– I can't really think of any other route to that island, except –"

Riley and Tuff's camp. Those four words crashed on Dr. Marlin's head like a cement brick.

Their camp. Where they had found Cassie.

"The boys' camp!" He exclaimed.

"Huh?" Mother Logai blinked at him.

"Over at TealSide Cove! I know a current that goes by here that drifts right by the other side of that island!" Dr. Marlin clarified. "That's how Cassie ended up meeting the boys! Her body simply floated with the current and led her to Tuff and Riley!"

"How does that help us?" Mother Logai asked him, happy that he had something although she had no idea what it meant.

"Judging those three's actions so far, they're probably going to head to the south of Blue Island and try to escape on the current from there." Dr. Marlin hypothesized. "If we hurry, we can probably reach them at the boys' campsite."

Mother Logai nodded and was just about to turn around to head into the brush with him when she halted in mid-step. "Wait . . . The south side of Blue Island?"

"Yes, that's what I said." Dr. Marlin confirmed.

Mother Logai looked at him as though he had just grown a third head. "Haddie, the south side of that island is nothing but a huge cliff! That thing's a drop-off that goes nowhere but the ocean!"

Dr. Marlin's face went blank at those words. ". . . . . . Oh, dear."

Mother Logai, instead of berating him like she always did, simply nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we better hurry!"

There was no need to tell the Good Doctor twice.

~X~

"Riley! Look out!"

BAM!

Tuff threw out an arm to stop his brother from crashing to the ground along with a searing hot tree now in front of them. Riley stopped as told, and then gave him a quick thanks before leaping over it as high as he could. Tuff only hesitated a second before following him, a couple of lit branches falling where he stood.

Tuff coughed at the harsh amount of oxide in the air. He pulled his collar over his mouth to block it out and was greeted with the scent of his own body. He cringed at the smoke stinging his eyes. Geez, how dragons managed to deal with this, he'll never know.

Pushing that thought aside, he turned his attention to the girl in Riley's arms. He cringed at the sight of her; Cassie stopped screaming a little while ago but her face still twitched and twisted each time her tail slapped against the ground. A huge blot surrounded the tear along with small static-like crackles around it, the dark blue color making its trail on the dirt as she was jostled in a well-meaning Riley's arms.

God, her tail. Tuff still hated himself for what he and Riley had to do to her. But it couldn't be helped. They had to rip her tail from where that Mad Dog had pierced it with Tuff's sword. It was either that or let be flattened by that falling tree back there and there was no way that he was going to let that happen.

Wish he could say that he felt the same way about the "so-called" Master.

It was a little cruel of him, but Tuff couldn't help but think that he got what he deserved.

Tuff's head pounded at him, telling just to run. Run. Run on ahead and forget about Riley and Cassie – Tuff automatically told his sixth sense to shut up.

Tuff knew full well what Chaos was going on to make him feel his sense so strongly. After all, the three of them were running through a forest fit for Hell.

Fire and smoke greeted them wherever they turned, a storm of flame crackle, tree falling and infernal roars blasted into their ears, making it hard for the both of them to concentrate. The air was hard to breathe and suffocating, the oxygen in the air disappearing with each birth of a new flame. The heat that overpowered the air would've made the inside of an oven seem weak in comparison. Tuff was somewhat amazed that the very ground they were walking on hadn't been turned into fire.

Looking back up at his twin, Tuff could see that Riley was clearly having a harder time breathing than he was, considering he had to focus on that and carrying an unconscious Cassie at the same time. It was especially hard considering that Riley had to give all his focus so he would avoid bumping into any trees and catch his clothes or Cassie for that matter, on fire. He looked like he was breathing hard but Tuff couldn't say for sure due to the sound of combustion and flame.

"Tuff!" Riley breathed out, coughing heavily as he adjusted Cassie in his arms. "What's the plan here? I'm a little lost!"

Tuff felt his heart clench in worry. "I-I don't know, Riley! Cassie said just to head this way!"

"Yeah, but do we turn or –" Riley suddenly went into a harsh coughing fit, the lack of air getting to him with water running down his face. Tuff's stomach twisted as he nearly fell over but was relieved when he didn't. "– What do we do Tuff, because I can't take much more of this!"

"I know, me either!" Tuff hacked. "But with all this fire, I can't even tell left from right!"

That answer did nothing to lift their spirits.

This was hopeless. There nowhere to turn to. They couldn't go back, the path was blocked. And they couldn't just wait around or they were sure to die. There was nothing they could do. Absolutely nothing –

A weak voice coughed. ". . . The trees a-ahead . . ."

Tuff and Riley jumped as though they heard a gun shot. Was that . . .?

They each turned their heads and got their unspoken answer.

Cassie looked barely awake; her golden irises looking as cloudy as the smoke, but still seemed coherent enough to raise her head and raise a shaking finger to the ignited gathering of trees a few feet from them. ". . . Those t-trees . . . I went through them a-and . . ." She went through her own hacking fit this time, her eyes spilling just as badly as Riley's. Tuff moved to help her but she held up a hand against him. ". . . And I-I w-was out . . ."

Both of them felt hope start to bud inside them. A way out? Just through those trees?

Riley spoke both their minds as he smiled through his tears. "That's good enough for me! Tuff! Catch!"

"What? What are you –?!" Tuff's heart nearly leapt out of his throat when Riley suddenly tossed Cassie right at him like a sack of potatoes. He grunted as he caught her haphazardly, her moaning at the sudden jarring movements all the while. Once he had a decent grip on her, he immediately started, "Riley! Are you crazy?!"

Riley brought a hand behind him and unsheathed Jawbreaker in one fluid motion. "Sorry, Tuff, but I needed my hands!"

Tuff felt his eye twitch as the glint in his smile. "What are you going to do? Just chop through those burning trees?!"

"Do you have any better ideas?!" Riley countered, readying to swing the massive blade.

Before Tuff could say, or protest more on the matter, a violent crack sounded from behind them.

When they looked up, the sight would've made even the bravest lumberjack pee in his pants.

One of the largest, widest, thickest and most ignited trees that they had ever seen in this small island forest probably was one of the tallest and proudest standing trees there was. At least before Cassie had accidentally shot it with the last emergency flare. Now, with the close circle of burning trees closing in around it, the heat and fire had started to eat away at its base, making it ready to go at anytime.

As one would've guessed by now, given the flow of events, this was that time.

Following the pattern of a certain bridge the Luck Brothers had no fond memories of; the monster tree gave one last vicious crack before moving. It teetered back for just the tiniest moment, giving Tuff and Riley some momentary relief . . . . . Before teetering right back forward.

Right.

Towards.

THEM.

Both Twin Sharkmen knew what to do. Tuff pulled Cassie to his chest, close enough to tuck her head under his chin and bring her legs up far enough for her knees to touch his collarbone, his grip on her tightening so hard it brought a small moan of pain from her lips. He made a quick promise to make up for the inevitable bruises later as he bellowed, "RILEY!"

"Yep!" Riley only nodded once before swinging his sword up and –

WHOOSH!

SNAP! CRACK! SNAP!

Both brothers made no thought as to what was on the other side. All they did was watch an opening come apart before them from the slices of Riley's sword, jump through it and somehow avoiding the flames that wanted one last lick at them –

– And finally see their feet come in contact with nothing but thin air as they realized too late that they had just run off the tiniest cliff in all of Archipelian History.

They both looked at each other as they begun to plummet.

Whoa. Déjà vu.

Their individual screams almost seemed to weave perfectly into the disharmonious convergence of the roar of the blistering night wind in their ears and the monstrous crack of the behemoth tree as it split right down the middle and followed after them from above. Tuff's pounding heart almost was in perfect sync with the pounding in his ears when he felt Cassie's semi-frantic touch at his sides just seconds before smacking right through the sea's surface.

Smacking right through into oblivion.

~X~

Cassie had only just come to when she and the Sharkman holding her plunged right into the cold, dark waters of the sea.

She meant to tell Riley and Tuff about the cliff but she was so loopy that she could barely think straight. The biting, bitter cold of the salt water woke her up in a matter of seconds. As did the feeling of Tuff letting go of her from the force of shock. The salt stung at her tail but she forced it out of her mind. She had had enough of dealing with pain tonight.

She pushed her lips into a thin line, holding as breath as she had in, and tried to see where Tuff was. She whirled her head around for a few minutes before inwardly cursing. She had forgotten that one couldn't easily make out anything in the dark night water. All she could do was keep a sharp ear out and listen to the sound of water being pushed and pulled by the slow swings of her hands and feet. He would let her know he was near somehow. She had plenty of time spent in the ocean with Vince to figure that out.

Which made the sudden appearance of something very large, greatly heavy and extremely steamy clearing the surface all that more stunning to see.

The unstoppable object was as big as a small whale, its descent to the ocean floor matching the sound of that of a sinking ship, ominous and terrifying. Before she even thought of swimming out of its range, she felt something plow into her stomach, effectively pushing her out of the way. Before she even saw what did it, the giant thing sunk right past her, the power of the currents surrounding it pushing against her body and sending her into a tailspin before it landed in a storm of dirt and seaweed.

A few good-sized bubbles leaked out of her mouth in surprise. Ach! What was the matter with this island?! Had they no comprehension of no aggravating the injured?! Cassie's hand went to her side and pushed down on it out of pure habit. Didn't they know that you weren't supposed to push, throw or otherwise spin someone who had a dozen stitches in her –

. . . . Wait.

What the heck?

Cassie looked down at her side before pressing against it again. No she wasn't hallucinating. There was nothing.

No pain. No pulling from the stitches. No liquid fire burning her body.

Just . . . Nothing.

Cassie couldn't believe it. What could have . . . ?

A hand at her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. "Cassie!"

Cassie turned her head, seeing Riley looking at her in a near panic. No plume of red floated behind him as she expected; all traces of physical pain gone and replaced with fearful drops of water that floated from his near glowing sea green irises. What really shocked Cassie was that his mouth remained as tightly closed as hers as he spoke, "Cassie! It's Tuff, I need your help!"

He gestured down below them, prompting Cassie to look down. When she saw what made Riley so scared, for the third time that night, Cassie Matsyendra saw something that shook her to her core.

The thing that had nearly crushed her had instead chosen another target. Tuff Luck wasn't dead – Thank Maker for that! – But everything that was below his solar plexus was trapped under the object's weight. He struggled hard to get free but no matter how hard he pushed, the thing just would not budge, the only evidence of his fight with the monster thing was the clouds of sand that drifted up around him. If that weren't enough, his face was started to contort from the amount of breath he was losing . . .

Cassie didn't waste any more time; she gave a sharp nod to Riley and dove straight down. She could hear Riley swimming energetically behind her, but focused primarily on pushing herself towards the Red-Haired Half-Shark she knew had just saved her life a minute ago like he had a dozen times before. Her torn fin protested as it flapped behind her but she bit back the pain. No time for weakness . . .

Tuff's eyes opened when Cassie reached his side. He instantly knew what she and Riley, when he caught up with her, were trying to do and waved them back wildly, water blowing against their faces. He then pointed to her bulging mouth and the thing that trapped his legs, pushing against it feebly with a look of defeat.

Both Fishman and woman knew what he was saying. There was no way to get this thing off him before they all ran out of air. Riley and Cassie had to leave now before they drowned with him.

Riley shook his head vehemently, his spikes of red swaying rapidly in the water as his eyes glowed in defiance. His answer was as clear as day. There was no way in hell that he was leaving his brother behind to die. Not if he could help it.

And Cassie was right there with him with a shake of her own, her thoughts almost the exact same as Riley's. Not after all they've done for her. She owed the both of them more than that much.

Looking at the thing, she discovered with startling clarity that it was actually a tree. Or rather was a tree, considering all the scorch marks on that that still rose with steam from the soaking bark and the giant wound of splinters that stuck out from where it cracked from its trunk. Now it was nothing more than a piece of nature dying in an unnatural and unfamiliar environment. And if she and Riley didn't hurry, it would take Tuff right along with it.

Riley pointed to Cassie then at Tuff's side of the tree before making a pushing motion with his hands. "Hurry!" He spoke once again without using his mouth. "Swim over next to Tuff and help him push, I'll stick to this side and pull!" Cassie agreed with a nod and did as he said.

Once she was next to Tuff, she fell into a waterlogged squat, her toes squishing the watery dirt and pressed the palms of her hands against the steamed bark. Tuff still tried to convince her to just go, shaking his head and jerking it sharply in the opposite direction. Cassie ignored it, just like the annoying sting in her tail, and started to push against the tree.

Her muscles immediately weakened, her arms shaking at the solid weight. With the miniscule amount of air threatening to burst her lungs like a balloon, there wasn't much that she could give. She didn't let that negative thought deter her; she stood her ground, biting her lower lip and pressing all her upper body weight into her arms, drawing up all that she had in her, anything to get this damn tree to move! Riley was just as stubborn as she was, digging his now sharp nails into the husk of the tree and pulling at it for all that it was worth, the veins in his arms bulging proudly at his efforts.

Tuff could see they weren't giving up, even though their faces were starting to turn blue from the need of oxygen, Cassie's even more so than usual, making her look like a blueberry ready to pop. A stream of diluted dark blue floated above her head, a sign that her exertions were starting to get to her. God, she would definitely bleed out at this rate . . .

How long would it be before her lungs would give out on her? Or worse?

How long would it be before her body would stop and she would be left with floating lifelessly up to the surface?

And this time, there would no one to help her.

And who was to say that Riley wouldn't be quick to follow her?

That horrifying thought scared him more than anything else.

Tuff begun to push again, his hands joining Cassie's on the tree's surface and pressing as hard as hers. He could feel his teeth clench painfully together as he pushed with all his might. If the three of them could just get this tree to move just a little, he could slip his legs out and they could hurry to the surface.

The tree was putting up a hell of a fight regardless, it was determined to stay put like a stubborn Were-Walrus. Tuff opened his mouth to curse; he couldn't even feel his feet anymore –

Tuff's eyes snapped open at his fatal mistake.

Air bubbled out of him like water in a tea pot, giving plenty of way for torrents of stifling, choking sea water to rush in down his throat like a faucet.

Good, god what had he done?

His bones began to stiffen. His fingers began to grow numb. Burning, stinging salt tore at his eyes and lungs, making the whole world spin off his axis from around him. He thought he heard Riley's voice scream into his head but he heard nothing. He though he saw Cassie's eyes thrash frightfully beside him but his head was aching, making everything dark and dizzy.

Wow, things really were getting dizzy.

Oh, yeah, he was drowning, now he remembered.

Was this what Cassie felt when she was drowning? Suffocation, sedation and calmness? It was kind of . . . Relaxing, to be honest.

Heh, a Half-Shark meeting his death by drowning. That was original.

Was Riley trying to wake him up? His hand was at his shoulder, shaking him desperately as his unheard words vaporized in his mind.

Tuff hoped he didn't. He was actually calm enough to go sleep now.

Sleep . . . . That sounded nice. An actual deep sleep, without his insomnia getting in the way.

The whole sounded rather lovely.

Almost as lovely as that strange light that started to glow from next to him. So pretty and bright . . . Maybe he can get a better look at it later when he woke up.

The fact he never would again made no mind to him as the world faded into pure, blissful nothingness . . .

~X~

Something was wrong. Dr. Marlin could feel that in the pit of his gut. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

He and Logai were just a few feet further from reaching the camp. It had taken them longer to find the path to it then expected, five grueling hours to be exact, considering that they had to stop countless times to catch their breath before picking up where they left off. It was still in the wee hours of the morning, the dark night sky beginning to grow light blue at the rising sun, but still making it impossible for his old eyes to properly see where he was going. Not to mention, he probably broke his earlier record of tripping over random rocks and weeds by a hundred times over.

Golden years, his tail!

His inside joke did nothing to ease the gnawing fear that was building up inside him. Something was sooo not right.

Mother Logai, sticking her tongue out in disgust at the mud caking her claws from their run, caught the look of distress on his face. Oh, no. She knew that look. "Haddie, what's wrong? Do you sense something?"

Dr. Marlin kept up his pace, his bones jarring painfully within him but making no mind of them as he said, "Something bad is happening, Logai. And I got a gut feeling it has to do with the boys and their "Cassie" friend."

"What do you mean?" Mother Logai asked, not at all liking his ominous tone.

". . . I don't know." Dr. Marlin almost murmured.

Mother Logai's heart skipped a few beats. Oh, crap. He didn't know what was wrong. That was never a good sign.

That had been a definite sign of danger whenever they were on adventures back in their days of youth. Something about the situation they were in would just float past her head, but Haddie would never miss a beat; he instantly would get tense and be ready for whatever was about to head their way. The only downside being he usually had no idea what it was. That always led to a boatload of nasty surprises. Lord knew they both had enough scars to prove it.

What could it be that had her oldest and, damn her for saying so, dearest friend so worried now?

Before she knew it, the two of them had broken through an opening, leading them out of the huge forest and onto the slip of land that was known all around as TealSide Cove.

It would be dawn soon, just a few more hours and –

She let out a grunt when she suddenly crashed into the back of Dr. Marlin's knees. "Ow! What the –!" She stumbled back but abruptly recovered and stomped in front of him in huff. "Haddie, what is wrong with you? Why did you just stop like –"

Dr. Marlin looked right on ahead of her, her words never reaching him at all. Mother Logai felt her fur bristle at the look in his eyes. The far off, dazed look of utter shock. She didn't hesitate before slowly turning her head as well.

Who she saw shocked her as much as they did Haddie.

Cassie's back was to them as she sat on the beach, her legs and feet sinking in the small waves that fell onto the shore and shrunk back out into the sea again, her tail laying prone behind her, her torn fin nearly all dark blue and held over a small puddle of matching color. If she knew that Mother Logai and Dr. Marlin were there, she didn't make any move to tell them, her head hung low and her shoulders trembling.

An uneasy silence hung over them before Mother Logai made the first move; she went on all fours and raced over to her, reaching her in no time at all before exclaiming, "Cassie? Cassie! Thank God you're alright! We've been searching for and the boys nearly all night!"

Cassie didn't respond at all to that. Not even when Mother Logai's paw touched her shoulder while coming around to her front, "Where are Tuff and Riley, anyway? Weren't they supposed to be with you– OH. My. God."

There was reason for those words. In Cassie's lap, Tuff and Riley Luck's heads rested nearly lifeless as their bodies greeted the surf the same way as she did. Their faces were eerily calm, with small trails of water and vile leaked out of the corners of the mouths. In a way they almost appeared to be sleeping. Cassie's hands rested limply on their shoulders, shaking just as badly as her own shoulders.

Mother Logai was speechless beyond words. So many questions went off like sirens in her head, but she tried to rational about it, starting off with "Cassie, what in the world –?"

A sniffle stopped her short. A sniffle that turned into a powerful sob. Cassie's body twitched as though it was coming back to life before it suddenly lunged towards the Elderly Jakkai, burying her face in her chest as her voice wailed painfully, "Oh, Mother Logai~!"

Mother Logai was scared to death of the amount of sadness coming from the girl. The girl that cried against her showed no trace of the girl who happily smiled at her as she handed her a bag of jewels for payment to fix clothes the day before. No, in her place stood a young woman who had seemed to gone through hell and back, scared and hurt beyond measure.

Which was why Mother Logai's arms went around her the instant she felt the hot tears soaking her shirt, her paw coming to rest in Cassie's damp, curly hair and stroking it gently. Her voice was soft, like it would be when speaking to a newborn baby as she whispered in Cassie's ear over her heavy sobs. "Oh, honey, shh. Shh, it's alright, it's alright, shh, everything will be alright." She said these words blindly, of course. After all, she had a strong feeling what had happened to the two men that were as quiet as corpses in her lap. She tried not to let her fear show as she added, "It's okay, don't cry. Haddie gonna take good care of your boys, don't you worry. The both of them will be just fine –"

"No." Cassie's choked voice broke her off, albeit a little muffled where she was still held against her warm chest. Mother Logai looked down at her, confused. "There's no need for that."

Mother Logai felt her heart twist at the sound in her voice. Good lord, did Cassie not know what happened to these boys? She had obviously been more scared than she thought. Nonetheless, she tried to explain, "Honey, the both of them are –"

"Alive."

Mother Logai's ears went up at that simple word. WHAT?!

She held Cassie out in a jerk and felt her eyes go wide at what she saw. Cassie giving her the brightest, fullest and most joyous smile she had seen on her yet. "Tuff and Riley, Mother Logai. The both of them are okay. They're alive."

Mother Logai blinked at her. At this point, she was convinced of only one thing; that Cassie had totally lost her mind.

She heard a sound of agreement and looked behind Cassie. She wasn't at all surprised to see Haddie kneeling on the sandy turf, having come out of nowhere and pressing two claws against Tuff's wrist carefully. Doing the same with Riley's wrist, he gave an affirmative nod. "She's right. I got two pulses. They're weak but they're there. The Luck Brothers are going to live to see another day." To Cassie he added as gently as Mother Logai did, but with pure honesty laced in each word. "They'll be just fine, my dear. Just fine."

Mother Logai couldn't believe it. Her mind was entering a complete tailspin of confusion. Her eyes looked towards a still crying Cassie who was starting to giggle as though she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

Her mind went blank. Well, almost. All that was really there was JUST WHAT THE HELL HAD HAPPENED?

She opened her mouth to ask Cassie just this but Dr. Marlin stopped her with a fervent shake of his head. Not now. Let the hysteria run its course.

Mother Logai wanted so badly to object but the sound of Cassie choking on her tears with her laughing prompted her to instead stick a lid on it and gently pull her close to her once again.

Her paw went up and down Cassie's back in a soothing circle as the Blue-Skinned Girl's chokes and laughs gradually begun to die down. Dr. Marlin sat down next to them, content with silently watching them as the waves washed over his legs as well. Soon, Cassie's shoulders lessened their tremble and her voice fell into soft whimpers of elation as she cried her self to sleep.

The beach went into silence around the five of them, save for the words Cassie found as liberating as swimming free in the ocean before fading all together, "They're alive . . . They didn't die because of me . . . they're alive . . . they're alive . . ."

Me: YEOW! SO MUCH DRAMA! XD

I know I've said this before and I'll say it again as I mean it; I'm am SOOOO SORRY! I know it's late but I hope the content was worth it! Even though I knew I suck at writing action scenes . . .

I went through so many rewrites of this chapter in my head it took so much of my time and I apologize greatly for that! But once again I hope you enjoyed it, if not don't be afraid to hate me!

Once again, I own nothing save you know who, so 'til next time!