Chapter 17.

The

Clashing

Of

Waves;

Act III,

Part VIII

"Hey oh, never let go of me . . . (Yo!)
Hold tight, it's gonna get hard to breathe . . . (Hold tight, baby!)
And never, never let you drown, (Never!),
Even if we're going down,
Hey oh, never let go of me . . . (It's Travie)
When I'm sinking . . .

Loose lips sink ships that's what someone told me,
But this boat will stay afloat for as long as you hold me;
We been through rough water anytime it was tougher,
But the fact I came back to remind you I love ya,

And if that's not enough, well I can one up ya;
I pinky promise touch thumbs I'll never make you suffer,
And all I ask in return is some reciprocation;
I'll be your oxygen when you're running out of patience,

So take a deep breath, and hold it tight;
My heart is yours, just reassure me that you'll hold it right,
Don't be offended, I'm just the cautious type;
To always be around and hold you down and never under, like . . .

Hey oh, never let go of me . . . (Ha, never let go!)
Hold tight, it's gonna get hard to breathe . . . (Hold tight, baby, hold tight!)
And never, never let you drown, (Never!)
Even if we're going down, (Going down!)
Hey oh, never let go of me, (Yeah, yeah . . .)
When I'm sinking (Yeah, let's go!)

Oh, oh, oh, oh . . .
Said, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh . . .
I said oh, oh, oh, oh . . .
Said oh, oh, oh, oh, oh . . ."

"Rough Water" – Travie McCoy Ft. Jason Mraz

~X~

At first, there was dark.

And then there was water. Cold, unfeeling water.

Air danced in front of his eyes, floating to the point of disappearance in the sky of airless water.

Tuff's face contorted from below him, his identical green irises losing their glow and growing dark as his eye lids threatened to cover them. His panic of losing his air started to morph into that of eerie calmness; his thrashing lessening and lessening with each ball of air that went past his lips.

It wasn't long before he stopped entirely, his eyes rolling into his head and lids falling as his hands did to the ocean floor.

'No . . .'

Riley Luck's heart thudded painfully through his chest with panic. He snapped his hands away from the log crushing him and clutched Tuff's shoulders, shaking him rapidly. No matter how hard he shook him, it was in vain.

Nothing. Tuff didn't move. Not even a twitch.

Oh, God, please don't let this be happening . . .

His big brother was dying and he could anything about it.

He felt water spilling out of his own eyes, mingling with the salt water and disappearing. Along with those tears came a burning, uncontrollable anger. Anger that he had felt dwelling inside of Cassie the entire night. It was no wonder she had gotten so furious with the both of them before . . .

This was impossible. He couldn't believe how drastically hopeless this situation was.

Here he, Tuff and Cassie were trapped at the near bottom of the sea, with Tuff stuck under a frikin' monster log of all things holding him in place and he and Cassie giving it all they had and still the thing wouldn't let his brother go.

On top of which, he was sure nearly ten minutes had gone by already and his skull was already starting to feel like it was about to pop. And Cassie was probably not that far off from drowning too . . .

Argh! Where the hell was a damn lift when you needed one? Or a branch or a –

Jawbreaker.

He had totally forgotten about the massive sword still strapped to his back. Grasping the hilt, he hatched an idea.

It was long shot, sure, but it just might work.

He unsheathed the sword as quickly as he could in the thick waters; the blade glinting briefly from the ongoing glow of the fire still raging beyond the water's surface. Turning it in his hands, he dove forward. Once his boots touched the sandy ground of the ocean floor, he swerved himself around and jabbed the tip of Jawbreaker straight in the spot where the log met the earth.

He got it in but the former tree trunk, being as stubborn as ever, almost seemed to try and hold it in place with the press of a python, making Riley almost bounce back when he tried to push it in further.

Riley let out a grunt in frustration at this. He would not let this overgrown piece of wood take his only family away from him.

Time to show this thing how stubborn a Quillotian Sharkman could really be.

Grabbing the guards of the hilt with both hands, he pushed against the sword hard; his teeth clenched tightly, somehow just avoiding his tongue and jarring within his mouth as the force of the log kept trying to rebound him back. Sand and water started to shift as he moved, his feet tipped firm on the floor and aching at the amount of weight he put on them. Jawbreaker moved its blade in every so often, half-inch by half-inch, but not enough to slide it as far as he wanted it.

Cassie's blue face then made itself known as she circled above him. She was looking as blue as he was red, her lips held in her mouth to keep her air from slipping while her eyes were alight with just as much fear as he held in his heart.

He didn't have to time to explain. He simply pointed sharply to his sword and wiggled it for emphasis before returning to his pushing and shoving. Thankfully, she caught on quick and placed his hands over his and mimicked him as best she could from behind him.

This continued on for a second or so before Riley gave out another grunt. This was sooo not working. Even with Cassie helping him, his sword couldn't get far enough under the log. His lungs were burning with his ribcage, begging him desperately to try and breathe. He was sure that he only had one minute left before his mouth opened and –

Riley's eyes went wide when he felt . . . something crackle over Cassie's hands.

Some sort of flap of skin started to grow between the spaces of her fingers, a light blue/purplish coloring that panned like the fins on a frog. She flexed them only once, ceasing the crackles of light before realigning them over his fingers.

On pure instinct, Riley turned his head.

What he saw could only be described as one of the true beauties of the underwater world.

Three rows of dark blue stripes graced Cassie's cheeks as two extra pairs of fins flitted against her hair over the first pair on her ears. Three slits opened up on each side of her throat, protruding gills that sucked in water and pushed it back out as though it were fresh, clean air, allowing Cassie to open her mouth with a relieved, quiet sigh. Her tail, although still torn in that one spot from before and still leaving a diluted trail of navy blue, radically doubled in size; the base of the dark-blue/light-blue tail growing as wide as Riley's biceps and the fin surrounding it expanding right along with it. A bright, white-yellow light glowed from the appendage, lighting up the dark reaches of the sea water and casting shadows over the three of them.

"WHOA!" Riley's mind spoke outloud, sending a spray of bubbles out of his mouth before his hands slapped over it, trapping his air back inside before it got away from him.

Cassie looked at his sword and its awkward position between the ocean floor and the log. Nodding briefly to herself, she swerved to the top of it and pushed down on the hilt with all her strength. Riley looked confused until he saw the log make the slightest movement upward.

What she was planning came to him all at once. Push down then forward. The log will do the rest. It was so ingenious Tuff would've been proud if he were awake.

Without any further hesitation, Riley followed her lead; he took hold of the hilt and pulled it towards him, allowing the sands underneath him to shift and cloud, sliding Jawbreaker's blade much further under the log than before. Riley would've laughed if he didn't feel so much pressure in his head and lungs.

This routine of pushing down and pushing forward went on three more times, Cassie and Riley giving it their all and each praying desperately for Tuff to hold on for just a bit longer; Riley gave one final mighty shove so the tip of Jawbreaker's hilt touched the ground –

WHOOSH!

Cassie quickly moved out of the way so the log wouldn't smack into her as it flew upwards, floating in mid-water before coming back down and hitting the ocean floor with a powerful thud, rolling away into dust and seaweed. Riley was all too happy to see the accursed thing go.

And he was even happier to see his brother's free body now slowly floating from where he'd been pressed down like a stamp.

But the celebration would have to wait.

They needed to get out of here.

They needed to get air for him and Tuff. Otherwise . . .

Riley didn't even finish that thought before sheathing Jawbreaker, grabbing Tuff's arm and throwing it over his shoulders. Cassie soon popped up on his other side, taking his arm and slinging it over her own smaller shoulders with a small smile of relief. Nice to see one of them was smiling after all this horror . . .

In perfect sync, they pushed off the ocean floor, leaving a wave of clouds in their wake and propelling themselves up into the upper waters. The both of them wrapped their arms around Tuff's back, their mixed grip doing its best to keep him from dropping back down into the cold shadows of the sea quickly disappearing below them.

Riley looked at Cassie only for a second as they sprinted through the water, knowing her thoughts exactly as he caught the worry flickering like candles in her bright eyes. Neither one of them would relax until the Sharkman between them was breathing and kicking once more. Which made them all the more eager to hurry.

Riley watched as the lights of the forest fire shone through the thin surface above them, growing brighter and stronger as the three of them drew closer and closer. He couldn't help the smile. They were almost there, they would be –

A powerful force charging into them from out of nowhere snapped him out of his thoughts and his hold on Tuff.

Riley panicked and opened his mouth to shout out Tuff's name, once again smacking his hands over his lips to stop himself. He swung his hands and kicked his legs to fight against whatever power was trying to take him from his brother but it was relentless. What the heck was this thing that kept pushing him blindly in circles to nowhere –

A current.

He and Cassie had swum themselves right into a current.

God. Damn! It!

Tuff was right. Somebody up there did have it in for them.

It was a probably Nanna. No doubt about that.

He tried to make senses of his surroundings; he blinked his eyes back open each time the flood of the current forced them closed, but all he saw was flashes of fire shooting into the water – His own feet as they went under and over, under and over, under and over again and again – A flash of blue and blonde connected to something pale and red as something reached out to him only to slip away –

For a single moment, Riley's entire world went black. The next moment the force spinning him like a top drove him up, his body rising much too fast and his mouth opening, taking a gallon of bitter, salty water down his throat –

SPLASH!

GASP!

He broke the surface, piercing through it like a bullet and choking on the rivulets of water leaking out of his mouth. He coughed hard and spit out everything in his mouth before he nearly went under again with a splash. His body moved of its own accord, clawing and kicking the water and pushing himself forward. His lungs so badly needed air but the ocean water kept getting in the way, flooding into his mouth each time Riley's mouth went past the water's surface and making him hack it back up.

He saw nothing but fog for just a few moments before everything came back to the solid, dimensional images. He was surprised to see a rather familiar rickety boat bobbing up and down at the smooth rise and fall of the waves.

Tealside Cove?

How the hell did he, Tuff and Cassie end up at –

TUFF and CASSIE!?

CRAP!

Riley paddled his arms like the natural Half-Shark swimmer he was, forgetting all about the water filling his lungs and focusing all his attention on the coming stretch of land. As he drew closer, he could already make out the sight of the campfire, the docked sub, Cassie kneeling over Tuff as she pressed hands down onto his chest –

Riley doubled his speed at the sound of soft sobs reaching over the splashes of water on sand.

Riley's body was absolutely drenched as he finally made contact with the sand; his clothes were heavy with salty water that fell onto the sand, turning spots of grain to clumps of mud and the drops of water from his hair dripped into his eyes, making him have to rub them out constantly to keep sight of the two people he sprinted towards.

When he reached them, the sound of his heart dropping was loud enough to rival a boulder's descent.

Cassie's face was as wet as his if not more, now void of stripes and trekked with heavy tears as her small hands pumped air into Tuff's still chest desperately. Tuff's only movements were from the small shake her hands gave him, his eyes still shut and his skin now turning pale as snow with damp bangs of red plastered to his forehead. Riley shuddered horridly at the eerie and complete calmness of his expression.

Cassie was trying so much not to blubber like a baby as she continued to push her palms against his chest, although her voice told him that she wanted to so badly. "T-Tuff! Please!" She stopped pushing hard enough to dip her head and deliver air between his now open lips. His chest rose as his lungs inflated and she went back to pushing feebly into him. "T-Tuff! P-please don't do this! Don't d-do this t-to me! Y-you can't die! Not yet!" She paused once again to give him air. "Not a-after all y-you and Riley have d-done for me! You can't j-just let go like t-this!"

Riley fell to his knees beside her, his hands going over hers, gaining her attention. Cassie looked up at him, tears burning bright from forlorn orange eyes, the very sight of it wrenching Riley's heart. But not as much as the cold stillness of the unbeating heart under their hands. The reality of all this sinking in made the pain that shot through his body all the more saddening.

Tuff was gone.

He had been under the water for far too long.

Riley watched Cassie's eyes go wide as his thoughts reached his eyes, his own melancholic tears flowing as freely as hers before he shut them tight and looked away.

Riley wanted to scream. He wanted to shout out to the sky and curse everything that crossed his path. He wanted to be numb. He even wanted to rip his own heart out if it meant stopping the cruel, stabbing pain from ripping him to pieces.

He just didn't want any of this to be true.

Tuff Luck, his big brother, was de–

The sound of something shifting caught his attention, making him open his eyes. He blinked in confusion when he saw Cassie take her hands out from under his and grab her still bleeding tail, laying it over Tuff's chest. "Cassie, what are you –?"

Cassie never even heard him. Some kind of unidentifiable emotion rung in her voice as she said to Tuff's frozen face, "I'm sorry to do this, Tuff, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Riley blinked in bewilderment. What the heck was she – ?

Cassie's orange irises vanished under flashing burning light. Her tail was quick to join her, the fin taking on the hue of a familiar neon yellow-white light with sparks of crackling electricity that grew into snakes of pure energy. Riley jumped back from the sheer power of it, his eyes going wide when he saw the bright tendrils around her tail shot out and filter themselves into Tuff's body.

Riley felt panic welling up inside of him. He automatically assumed the worse of this.

Was Cassie trying to barbeque his brother's body? What would drive her to –

Tuff's gasping body arched so suddenly it would've been possible for him to break it.

Riley let out a short gasp before scrambling back to him; Tuff's eyes were shifting from black to green to white, his open mouth gasping and coughing as though he were drowning again. His body went through a series of convulsions, the shock of what Cassie did to him sending him into frenzy of twitching limbs and hiccuped whimpers. The sound of it was like hearing a hurt baby pup, so soft and innocent it was heart-breaking.

His chest heaved once, twice before Tuff rolled himself onto his side, his mouth emptying a waterfall of bile and water onto the sandy ground as his face dripped saline and mucus. Cassie pulled her now paint-like streaked tail away and quickly crawled over to him, her hands coming to his back and rubbing his back as gently and carefully as she could. Wanting nothing more than to help, Riley came up and braced Tuff's arm from where he was leaning on it so he wouldn't fall over into his own steaming pile of puke.

She tried to speak soothingly to him although her face was still contorted with absolute fear and dread. "Shh, Tuff, it's alright, i-it's alright. J-just let it all out, o-okay? I-it's only shock so just let –" A choke made her pause as Tuff shook like a rattle under her hands. "– Mmm, let it out, okay?"

Riley looked at her and frowned sadly. He could not even imagine the fear riding through her at this point. In the short time that he had known this girl, he had only seen her frown like her puppy had just died each time something bad came to her attention, but never had he seen her looking as miserable as a lost, little girl.

Him, he hardly ever got scared, aside from the occasional creeps that all Beastmen get. But the very idea of seeing his Older Brother in pain that Riley couldn't fix no matter how hard he tried scared the living hell out of him.

Which made the happy relief aching in his veins all the more reliving as he leaned down and whispered softly into Tuff's ear. "She's right, brother, j-just relax. Y-you'll be okay, alright? Y-you'll be – You'll be okay . . ." He knew his voice was an exact replica of Cassie's and his hands trembled in agreement right along with him, tightening their grip on Tuff's arm like he would go up in thin air any second.

Tuff's voice gave him a start when the last few pieces of vomit left his mouth. "R– . . . R-Riley . . . ?"

Riley's heart cried out in pain at the near whisper. "Y-yeah, yeah! It's me, brother, I'm right here! I'm right here, Tuff, I'm right here!"

Tuff's bangs covered his face as he slowly leaned back, almost falling flat on his back again before Cassie caught him. She moved herself a bit so when she lowered him down, his head would find itself to her lap, a makeshift pillow for a no doubt incredibly achy head. ". . . Y-you . . . Al-Alright?"

Riley gave a small laugh despite himself. "Yes, Tuff. I'm fine. I'm fine, Cassie's fine, we're both fine."

"You're the one we're worried about." Cassie chipped in calmly, her eyes dripping a whole new wave of tears, this time with happiness and hopefulness that he would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Tuff groaned when Cassie's fingers softly grazed his temple, brushing the bangs out of the way and letting his red, tired sea green irises become clear. "C-Cassie . . ."

Cassie leaned her head down so she could have direct eye contact with him, a few tears splattering across his cheeks unintentionally.

". . . N-never . . . Never g-get flattened b-by ninety p-pounds of w-wood . . . N-not fun . . ." Tuff's words were as random as the dilation in his eyes.

Riley and Cassie blinked at him, then at each other . . . Then busted out laughing, earning heavy, hacking coughs from Riley and a bathtubs' worth of tears from Cassie. Tuff from below them was silent but seemed coherent enough to give a small, weak smile of his own.

If anyone else was there, they would've thought it crazy to see that after just a few moments of sheer blinding terror, the Blue-Skinned Woman and the Red-Haired Sharkman were laughing their heads while the other Red-Haired Sharkman lay in the woman's lap barely conscious but smiling nonetheless.

The three of them were soaking wet, cold as death, and some parts of their clothes smelled like they had just gone through a double rinse of combustion, blood and sea salt.

But they were alive. They had survived the terror that was the "Master of the forest". They were okay.

Riley gave another cackle/cough before smiling down at his brother. "You gonna be okay, Tuff?"

It looked like it took Tuff all his energy just to give him a weak nod, but he still smiled. "Y-yes . . . I think so . . . I just feel so . . . S-so tired . . . I-I think I'll . . . I'll t-take a n-nap . . . . now . . . ." His head lolled back into Cassie's lap, his eyes fluttering closed and small, silent breaths parting through his lips, a small trail of water and vomit dripping out of the corners.

Riley shook his head. The big fish-head. He had absolutely no stamina left in him after that. Fell right back to sleep.

Cassie looked a little worried but Riley put his hand to her shoulder, stopping her before she went into another near meltdown. "Hey, relax. He's just asleep. Everything just caught up with him and he needs some rest. We all do, to be honest."

Cassie started a bit, her eyes still budding tears but his words sunk in and she gave him a nod. "Mhn, right. It's been quite a night."

"I'll say." Riley agreed. "Which is why we're going to have a very long talk about what I just saw a few minutes ago and just a few seconds ago when all of us have had a good amount of sleep."

Cassie's ears flitted in confusion. "What, why can't we just talk now?"

A sour, bitter feeling was starting to crawl up the back of Riley's throat in response to that question, along with a train-wreck of fainting spell making his mouth twitch. Oh, crap.

He hid it well though, sighing and taking Cassie's hand into his own, bringing it to his lips and kissing her knuckles softly. "Well, I'm not gonna lie to you, Cassie; I feel like crap, my lungs are like water balloons and I've positive that my lunch is just about to join Tuff's before I pass out. So, don't be surprised at what's about to happen."

Cassie slipped her hand back from Riley's just when he –

HLOHRK!

Riley felt sand touch his forehead as his body lurched to the side, his side twinging in protest at the awkward angle of his waist while something disgusting, wet and hot burned up his throat and spilled out of his mouth. He heard Cassie exclaim his name in shock and felt the soft touch of her hand at his shoulder. Her cool skin against his somewhat made the agony of half of the ocean coming out of him a little less painful . . . Almost . . .

It went by quicker than expected. He didn't feel anything else wanting to come up but it his insides still hurt like hell and a monster of black sleepiness was beginning to creep up from inside his head.

Tuff had the right idea. Some sleep would be nice.

After all, they'd been up half the night fighting hungry wolves, insane over-grown mutts and forest fires fit for an outdoor seaside cook-out. They deserved some "R" and "R".

He felt grains of sand slip into the tears of his shirt – Wait, wasn't there supposed to be some huge gushing wound right there? – As he fell onto his back. The night sky was dark again, the fire a faint glow now that they were a good few miles away from what was once Blue Island.

Riley wondered why there weren't any stars in the sky . . . .

He felt Cassie's hands at his shoulders again, this time pulling at them to get him to move. Unlike a damn log he never wanted to see again, he moved easily over the smooth, gritty surface. He had forgotten that she had a lot of strength for a little girl.

He didn't knew where she was pulling him, nor what it was that she put under her head that felt so soft and warm . . . He heard something murmur when something cool touched his forehead, brushing his bangs. Was it him? Maybe it was Tuff.

He turned his head and knew instantly it was not a mirror he was seeing, but Tuff as he lay quietly beside him. He looked so peaceful . . .

Tuff's gentle voice cracked the dream of memory like stained glass. "Riley? Riley? C'mon, you big Sea-Slug, wake up."

. . . . Sea green irises blinked open, the first things Riley Luck saw being the unmoving yellowish brown roof above his head and Tuff Luck's face turn from concern to relief.

"Hey, you're awake, finally." Tuff breathed out as Riley's head turned towards his. "I was beginning to worry for a second. You just started mumbling in your sleep a few minutes ago, I've been trying to shake you awake but I keep forgetting that you sleep like a rock."

Riley was on a bed. He figured that out when he reached up with his hands and felt up the semi-fluffy pillow under his head. Tuff saw this and chuckled, "Yeah, I know, the pillows aren't exactly comfy but it's definitely better than sleeping on hard ground."

Riley didn't respond to that. He blinked at nothing in particular. Then he sniffed the air, picking the heavy scent of medicinal herbs and old sheets. Then he sat up, the blankets falling to his waist in one fluid motion. Then he blinked at his brother who was getting a concerned look in his face again.

"Riley?" Tuff's tone was careful as saw how Riley was staring at him so blankly. "Are . . . Are you okay?"

Once again Riley didn't respond to that.

Instead, he did what any brother would've done after almost seeing his twin die in front of his eyes.

He shot straight for Tuff with an elated cry for joy, latching his thick arms around his neck in a death grip and buried his face into his shoulder, his smile bright enough to light a candle and his voice on the verge of tears as he convoyed his happiness as clear as a summer day, "OhmakerTuff,I'msohappyyou'reokay!I'msosorryforbeingabadbrotherandnearlylettingyoudrown!Iwassoscaredthatyou'dleftmeforever!IpromiseI'lldobetternexttime,I'llneverletgoagain,never,never,never,never –!"

A sudden rapid, frantic poking in his side stopped him mid-sob. "Riley! RILEY! AIR~! CAN'T BREATHE~! PAIN~!"

Riley let go immediately at the near breathless sound of his voice; Tuff's face had turned an uncomfortable shade of purple when Riley's muscles constricted around his windpipe, his eyes nearly bugging out of his sockets before he let him go. Tuff breathed in massive gulps of air and rubbed at his throat gingerly, "Geez, Riley, I haven't exactly healed up yet, you know?"

"Sorry," Riley rubbed at his neck sheepishly. "I'm just . . . Just relieved, you know?"

Tuff looked at him, sighing, ". . . Yeah, me too."

Riley gave a short laugh, saying, "So, now that we've gotten that across, do you mind filling me in on where we are?"

The room that he and Tuff were in was sparse; there were two rows of beds with drawn curtains rods above them that sat across from each other, he and Tuff both sat in the same row with a small nightstand separating the beds. A table stood propped up against one wall, baring a few jars and bowls with a small cabinet hanging above it. The room was tiny, making the furniture close in together and giving the atmosphere a kind of homey, calm feeling.

"We're in the infirmary of Dr. Marlin's hospital." Tuff started. "He and Mother Logai found us when we washed up on Tealside Cove. It took the guards a while to find all of us but they carried us back once Dr. Marlin and Mother Logai ran everything by them. It was near morning then and now its like sometime like two in the afternoon."

Riley's expression was almost comical as he snapped his head at him. "What?! We've been asleep nearly the whole day?!"

"Yep." Tuff nodded.

"So we've missed breakfast and lunch?!" Riley asked, utter disbelief in his voice and face as he gripped at his hair madly.

Tuff gave him a flat look. ". . . And Cassie's current whereabouts make no nevermind to you at all?"

"Oh, yeah, Cassie!" Riley exclaimed at the change of subject. "Is she okay? Where is she? The last I saw her, she was crying her eyes out on the beach."

"Honestly, I have no clue." Tuff rubbed at his temple in slight frustration. "I was kind of out of it when I came to and Mother Logai explained everything to me. Almost right after that, Dr. Marlin gave me some medicine to help with my lungs and I fell asleep. I woke up just a little while ago but I can't remember if I asked Mother Logai about Cassie or not."

That was when Riley really took notice of the huge strips of gauze wrapped around his chest. They went up to his collarbone and stopped just a little above the waist, some slight padding peeking through over his chest and abdominals made him draw up a brow until he remembered the events that caused it. Along with everything else after.

He must've been frowning because Tuff then took hold of his shoulders and gave a stern look of reassurance. "Hey, stop that. There's nothing to be worried about. We're okay. I'm sure Cassie is too, wherever she is and is just waiting for us to come find her."

Riley looked at his brother's face; he couldn't help but see that he still looked a little pale. His small smile was trying hard not to waver as it beamed at him and Riley focused all his senses on the feeling of his brother's heart as it pulsed through the veins in his hands. The images that ran through Riley's mind seemed almost like a nightmare.

A nightmare he was sure was going to be plaguing him for quite some time . . .

. . . Not that he was going to let Tuff know that, of course.

Riley smirked at Tuff. "Unless she tries and pulls another fast one on us again."

Tuff let out a noise of amusement. "In that case, we'll just have to catch her and carry her ourselves until we can find a chair, just like you said."

"Betcha never thought you'd say that, huh?"

"Heh, yeah. Honestly, it's kind of fun, I get why you do it a little bit now."

"So the chances that'll you'll stop blushing like a schoolgirl whenever I mention se–"

"Don't ruin it, Riley."

Riley chuckled at the casual admonishment in Tuff's voice. Tuff came over and put his arm around Riley's shoulders, pulling him in close with a smile. Another arm slinked around the other Sharkman's waist before a head connected to it came to rest on his shoulder. Neither one said anything else and simply sat. Something that didn't happen quite often for them.

Both Luck Brothers enjoyed the easy, comfortable silence that came over them. It was a great change of pace from the fast-paced horror and adventure they had just gone through in the last twenty-four hours. Moments like this, where they could just be in the others' company without any weirdness or distractions, were too far and between and were precious to them.

But this moment was especially precious.

They had had another one of their close calls tonight. One of those jarred pieces of time where the horror and fear of losing one another became all too real. Where neither brother was sure that they could walk away with only a few bumps and bruises.

No, tonight was definitely something to be remembered. Another reason to never take the other for granted ever again.

Riley had nearly forgotten what it felt like to have loneliness nip at you and almost pull you down with it. Just like back eight years ago when they left Quillotia . . .

"Mmmph . . . Tuff . . . Riley . . ."

That soft, sleepy voice brought them back to earth.

They broke apart and looked around the room. They knew who that voice was but they couldn't see her. She was definitely here though; Cassie was in there with them somewhere, her mindless voice in the drift of a dream.

". . . Guys . . . Vince . . . Where'd you . . . ?"

Riley looked behind him. One of the beds still covered by a curtain was quiet . . . Until he saw the tip of a very familiar tail peeking out as it dusted the ground. Giving a small noise, he tapped Tuff on the shoulder, getting his attention with an "Hmm?" and pointing toward the said bed.

Once Tuff saw it, more specifically the tail of the woman resting in there; he and Riley were quick to get up, resulting in Tuff wobbling a little bit and Riley catching him before he hit the ground, and head over to it. Riley held out a hand and pushed the curtain aside, the sound of the metal rings skidding on the bar making a rusty, mild sound that bit at the silence.

The only acknowledgement that Cassie made towards it was a small flicker of her ears and the slight sweep of her tail. She lay curled up on the old mattress, her cringing face buried in her pillow and her hands wringing the material of the blanket covering her body, all the obvious signs of her having a nightmare.

He could feel Tuff's body tense beside him. He didn't need to look to see what was wrong with him. Cassie's form was more animated then it was the last time she was dead to the world, but the results were still the same. She was stuck in the dark world of sleep, seemingly without physical pain ailing her this time but that didn't reassure Tuff and Riley at all.

In fact, seeing the small tears budding in the corners of her eyes as she whimpered softly made them feel all the more guilty.

The Luck Brothers looked at one another and frowned. Twins' intuition easily allowed them to convey their thoughts in a second. That and just being brothers and knowing each expression on their matching faces.

They had broken their promise to her. They had both swore to keep Cassie safe, to never let her get hurt.

And yet here she was, laying in the grip of the dark side of imagination, coming close to tears because they had made a dumb decision and left her alone.

Riley looked down and saw a small set of stitches on her tail. In the same place they had to tear her fin from the ground to save her from being crushed. He grimaced at the sight.

". . . No . . ." Cassie murmured. "Vince . . . Riley, Tuff . . . Don't go . . . Please don't . . ."

A stray tear made itself known as it fell down her cheek.

Tuff surprised the both of them by being the first to fall to his knees and lay a hand on her face, gently wiping away the tear with his thumb. "Hey, Cassie, it's okay." He said soothingly. "It's only a dream. Just a bad dream. It's the daytime, so you need to wake up this time, okay? Don't be afraid."

Riley saved the friendly teasing growing on the tip of his tongue that he sooo wanted to give him for another time. Instead, he took a seat next to Cassie's lightly shaking form, careful not to jostle the bed, and set a calm hand on her shoulder. Cassie was so small when compared to him and Tuff . . . "C'mon, Cassie. Don't be scared, it's me and Tuff. We're both okay."

Cassie's ears flitted again. Did she hear them?

Riley smiled comfortingly at her, even though she couldn't see it and rubbed her shoulder. "We're here, Cassie. Tuff and I, we're both right here."

"That's right." Tuff finished. "We're right here, Cassie. We're right here."

Their little mantra hung in the air for a few moments, misting into silence. Slowly, Cassie's ears flitted once last time before her face squinted softly; her blue lids opened, blinking tiredly and showing sleepy eyes the color of the setting and rising sun.

Tuff and Riley watched her as she began to focus her sight, lifting her head the tiniest bit and letting out a totally intelligent, "Muhm . . . ?"

"Hey," Riley grinned at her, his charm never missing a beat. "Welcome back to the world of the living!"

Cassie looked at him blankly, Tuff's hand sliding off her face before he snatched it back with a small flush of red on his cheeks. Riley bit back another little laugh at the lethargic expression on her face. "What's up, Cassie, still stuck in dreamland?"

Cassie didn't answer, finding her new surroundings more interesting as her eyelids and ears drooped with each turn of her head. "Hmm . . ." Her tail took on peaceful, wave-like pattern, the stitches not bothering it in any way at all as they rode through her fin.

Tuff looked at her, worried. "She does seem kind of out of it. Maybe she's still suffering from the blood loss in her tail?"

"I don't think so." Riley shook his head. "She seemed fine when she and I were trying to get you out from under that log."

Tuff's shoulders tensed at that before he suddenly gave him a berating frown. "Hey, yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that; what exactly were you were thinking? I told you and Cassie to go and save yourselves!"

Riley looked at him with a lax frown. "Oh, pfft, right, like that was ever gonna happen. Like I could ever leave you to die dramatically at the bottom of the ocean."

They didn't notice Cassie's ears twitching alarmingly at that. Her eyes snapped wide open with a small gasp. "The bottom of the ocean . . . !?"

"That's not my point, Riley." Tuff argued to Riley. "My point is that you never listen to me!"

"And it's a good thing I didn't, or else you'd be swimming in that big fish bowl in the sky right now. You're welcome, by the way." Riley replied, haughtily with arms crossed over his chest.

"Riley, you're not hearing me; you totally forgot about Cassie's sake. She isn't capable of holding her breath as long as we can, especially when she's hurt!"

"Ha! Shows what you know! I'll have you know that she's holds her breath like a fish and swims like one too!"

"More like a dead fish if anything."

"Hey, she's here now, isn't she?!"

"That doesn't change anything, I told you to do something and you deliberately ignored it! Can't you listen to me just once!?"

"Hey, I was not ready to just leave you down there to become algae and moss –"

"You never consider about anyone but yourself and constantly put us at risk –"

"– Cassie was doing just fine, even with her tail ripped –"

". . ."

"– Always thinking that we'll get out of it with our bodies in one piece, but I beg to differ –"

"– And may I point out she wasn't the one that got herself stuck under a monster log of all things –"

"– You're always so reckless and I'm the one who always has to make sure we – Ah! Cassie?! What's wrong?!"

Cassie was looking at the both of them quietly, rivers of water running down her cheeks. She had jumped a little at Tuff's voice, bringing a hand to her face and touching the salty water leaking from her tear ducts. It was almost like she had never seen tears before, even though she had probably cried numerous times the day before.

The Twin Sharkmen were pulling at each others' faces, comically antagonizing one another as they were arguing. They abruptly let go thought when the distressed woman lifted another hand to her face in dull shock and quickly moved in close to her.

"Cassie? We're sorry! Whatever we did, we're sorry!" Tuff began to ring off apologies to her anxiously as a squirrel. "Is it your tail? Is your tail hurting? We're really sorry, Cassie, but we didn't have a choice; we were desperate to get out and that nutty Were-Dog stole one of my swords and stabbed you! We didn't mean to hurt you, really, we didn't! God, you were screaming so bad we thought that you were –"

Cassie cut him off by swallowing down the air she began to choke on and lunging towards them, looping her arms around their necks and pulling them to her.

Tuff and Riley held still in shock when Cassie perched her chin on their combined shoulders. To say that they were a little bit surprised was an understatement. That shock went away when they both felt her shoulders bob up and down against their throats. No sounds came out of her mouth, her desperately latching on to them and trying hard to bust out sobbing like a baby again. She had done enough of that in too short of time, unbeknownst to them.

Right now all Tuff and Riley Luck saw was a beautiful, sad lady in need of some serious comfort from whoever was willing to give it. Being who they were, who were they to deny her that?

They chose not to answer that. They simply pushed themselves closer into her, both pairs of arms wrapping around her lithe waist, tangling themselves in an odd criss-cross as a singular hand went up into her hair and the other to the small of her back.

"I'm really happy you both are okay." Her voice was so soft and sweet it was heartbreaking.

They gave each other a small side-glance. Riley's face calm but grinning and Tuff's smiling blankly with brotherly exasperation aimed at him before their matching irises shut themselves away.

Cassie bit her lip but said nothing as the gratitude of their silent kindness began to fill up inside her like water in a bucket. Tears stained their bare shoulders but she didn't have the courage to pull back just yet. She allowed the solid yet soft bulk of their bodies warm her, much like she allowed Tuff's to at the hour all this began.

It made no mind to her that Tuff and Riley Luck were still total strangers to her. Nor that fact did when Riley's lips brushed against the crown of her head soothingly as his fingers played with her short locks. Nor when Tuff's hand ghosted over the curve of her spine as he nuzzled into the hollow of her shoulder. It didn't make mind to her at all.

Including the blunt fact that they were most definitely not Vince or Faust.

No, this two were Tuff and Riley Luck.

Two Half-Shark/Half-Quillotian men, who saved her, fought with her and protected her from events that surely would've left her dead.

And that . . . That was just fine with her.

~X~

The three of them looked oddly cute . . . In an incredibly awkward kind of way.

Cassie had Riley at her right shoulder, his body almost at height with hers but still needing to bend just a bit so he could hold her, his forehead pressed into the side of her head and his small beard just barely the touching the joint connecting her shoulder and neck, his fiery red bangs bunched up against her hair. Tuff she had at her left shoulder, kneeling before her, making him have to squat his knees a little higher than he was supposed to so his head would lay against her, his chin touching one end of her collarbone and his own spikey red hair brushed up against her cheek. Her tail was curved around the three of them, the fin now bubbly and rippling, making them look as though they were cut off from the rest of the room. Both boys were showing hints of neutral smiles as Cassie was chewing her lower lip, tears dripping off her chin and on their shoulders or the floor.

Yep, that position really did not look all that comfortable to Dr. Marlin . . . But he wasn't about to butt in on their private time and point that out.

No, that would be rude.

Mother Logai from where she stood adjacent to him at the doorway gave him a look. She was a little surprised at his stillness. Keeping her voice quiet so the room's three occupants wouldn't hear her, she asked, "Well, aren't you going to go in?"

Dr. Marlin's ear flicked at her voice but he kept his eyes on what he saw before him. "It's not my place to interrupt people when they're having a moment to themselves. Besides, the hysteria is still running hot through that poor girl's system. She needs to let it out and those boys are the only ones capable of handling it right now."

Mother Logai arched an eyebrow at him although she looked anything but surprised. "Hmm, funny." She peered into the room again. "I thought that would've been gone when Poor Cassie cried herself to sleep against me."

"It has a different duration period for many people, Logi." Dr. Marlin pointed out. "Sometimes it takes minutes, others hours; but they all need to be dealt with calmly and rationally. Aaand other times, they just need to be slapped hard enough and they'll be fine."

". . . True." Mother Logai smirked at him. "You and I both know you have experience in that."

Dr. Marlin made a noise of agreement and nodded.

"By the way," Mother Logai began curiously, her eyes going back to the Mismatched Trio. "You said something about having info that you wanted to give Tuff and Riley about Cassie."

"Yes." Dr. Marlin confirmed her accuracy. "And?"

"Sooo . . . Do you want to fill me in on it too so when we get a chance to talk to them, I'll know what's going on?" Mother Logai asked, more like demanded with a paw on her hip.

Dr. Marlin gave her a side-glance then wordlessly digging into his coat pocket and pulling out a book, looking at the small tabs he set in the pages.

The very same book he had found that held the crucial pieces to this murderous Ghost Night Story-like puzzle.

"It's a hell of a theory, Logi." He stated. "One that's overlooked my old, idiotic eyes for some time. You sure you want to know?"

Mother Logai gave one, solitary blink. ". . . I'm all ears."

ME: SOSOSOSOSO SORRRY ONCE AGAIN FOR THE LATENESS; pardon me if I said this before, but writing about people drowning is harder than it looks!

But I promise I'll be better with the next chapter! Next chapter all shall become clear! So please stay with me for a little longer!

Plus, a huge batch of chocolate–chip cookies goes out to everyone who catches all the movie references I used so far in this arch!

'Till next time!