Alines was almost bursting with joy, it filled him with such glee to be returning to his home after so many years of enslavement. He was twirling and flipping so much that it would have been almost impossible for Dasyra to keep up, if he hadn't remembered her inexperience with fins. His eyes finally spotted the city and he hollered with joy, "There! There! Its over there! Quick!" He grabbed hold of Dasyra's arm and, with enough force to almost dislocate her arm, he shot off towards the city. It felt so good to be home once again.

Geis couldn't breathe. Terror clawed at his sanity, reducing him to his most primitive instincts and he lashed out as firm, calming hands tried to grip him. They were unsuccessful. He heard voices but they refused to become distinct, and besides he needed AIR! He took in a deep breath but still it refused him: the air wasn't coming! The lupine started to see red as his chest heaved and his muscles burned. Why were they doing this to him? He needed-

There was pain as a fist rammed straight into his sparsely muscled side, winding him. He fell thrashing to the ground.

"Stay still stranger," someone said. Geis focused on the voice, trying to lessen the pain with nothing more than sheer willpower... unsuccessfully. The terror, muted by pain, still clawed at him, threatening to reduce him to gibbering madness. He saw fins and hoped he was hallucinating. "The spell was only half successful, you have terrestrial lungs and gills... we need to..."

The lack of air, the pain, the realization that he was underwater and that he was being treated by mer-creatures was too much for the poor loremaster and he passed out.

Feeling the pull of the current along with Alines pull wasn't helping. She was still trying to get used to this fin and the skills she had with it. She looked at her hands and the green from under her wrist had dissappeared. They seemed so far down but this is how merpeople lived.

When Alines pulled her hard as he saw his city she pushed back and slipped her hand out from his and then stopped and looked at her newly mutated body. It was so slimy and she had never felt this before. She could breath under water which was the first thing to freak her out.

As she was swimming behind Alines into the city she looked around something caught her eyes of a struggle then stopped and went to grab her bow but then stopped. Arrows move slower through water than on land. She placed it on her back then continued on with Aline."Hey I think something is wrong...they are hurting him..."

He tilted his vision spotting the confused being, "No..no looks like they are trying to help him. From what I see he attempted to pull off a transformation that he didn't have the skill to do..." He swam up to the mer-folk and the unconscious lupine. "We need to get him into the air.." Alines helped the others in their attempts to aid the poor being. They managed to get him to saftey and Alines returned to Dasyra. "We moved him into an air filled area ment for times like this, its where you can sleep. Shall we continue?"

"Yeah we can..."She took hold of his hand and still trying to figure out this fin she looked behind her and down at her as it started to sway from side to side and she freaked out."Wait...wait....am i doing this wrong....its gonna break..."She grabbed onto Alines and then opened one eye and looked down to see that it was fine.

"I'm just over reacting...everything looks like its going to be ok.."She took a deep breath and closed her eyes then held onto him as he continued to swim around his city."You do know Alines...that soon I will have to return to my land...but I will come back to see you..."

Alines sighed, "Yes I know," He didn't want to think about time in between the trips, instead he wished to savor every moment that she was present. He began to point out major buildings and sights. "What do you think of all this?" he put on the goofy grin at her struggles with a fin, "Ok here is what you do," he got along side her, keeping her steady, "Basically its like you have both of your legs tied together, you need to move them as one and do a sort of wave like motion throughout your body," He gently moved her himself so she could know what it felt like. "Now you try it."

"You should be fine now." The voice was weary, as if it was pained to say it. Geis wondered how he could hear underwater- or rather- how he could communicate. He tried, himself, but all that came out were bubbles. He opened his eyes, but the salt water stung and he was forced to close them. He tried, tentatively, to open his eyes again but his vision was blurred anyways.

"I'm sorry stranger, but rules are rules... you are not supposed to be here. We've allowed you the mercy of breath, but you should make your way to shore as quickly as possible."

Flailing about in the water, Geis couldn't tell up from down and crashed into buildings, fish and what he guessed were other mer-creatures. He heard a curse and then a strong grip on his neck. The voice felt like razors being drawn against the tongue.

"You can't swim!?" The voice hissed. "Why are you here then?"

Geis tried to speak but only more bubbles escaped. There came an irritable sigh and he felt his mouthbox stretch and change as it was molded by magic.

"There. Now explain yourself."

He coughed, his throat felt raw. "I was..." Geis started, trying to recall. He shook his head, despairing. "I... I don't remember."

Feeling Alines hands on her body she shivered some then smiled and looked over her shoulder at him. When he started to move her body she was getting the hang of it. Soon she swam away from him and was doing perfect keeping herself afloat. She smiled then looked back over at him."I'm doing it..."

She was so happy and twirled up around in a circle then flipped back down and swam over to him. When she did she wapped her arms around his neck and hugged him."THANK YOU THANK YOU..."She laughed some then moved back and continued swimming along."This city is so beautiful...makes me not want to leave.."

Alines sighed, all good things had to come to an end someday. "The spell dosn't last forever, but you can recast it. So I don't see much of a problem, visit whenever you want." He grinned and patted her on the back, "besides, you're getting the hang of swimming with a fin! Race you to the tower's peak!" He shot off to a distant building, launching upwards towards the tower.

"OH NO YOU DON'T..."She took off through the water and soon was fin to fin with him. She looked over at him and giggled some then still being new at this she started to slip back. Making the way up the tower where Alines was she could just laugh. It was quite funny because she had tried to swim as fast as him but couldn't.

"Well while im done here...I want to stay for a while...so that air feeled area would be nice for me to stay in when the spell wears off..."She smiles then swam in a backflip.

"Sure thing...just please don't tap the bubble, the noise is unbearable." He chuckled and suddenly went ecstatic, "FISHY!" Alines rocketed towards a fish that was, from what can be figured from a fish's actions, joyfully approaching. "Aww who's a good boy? Who's a good boy!" He pat the fish which glubbed happily.

As the fish came over towards them she just stood there and raised a brow. How could someone be friends with a fish. But then she stopped and looked down at her fin."Duh..."She sighed and slapped her head softly then swam over towards Alines and looked at the fish."Its ...cute....what is it....."

She laughed some and continued to floated behind him. Looking to the left of her she saw some dolphines swim by. She had always loved dolphines."wow...."

"This here is my lil ol lionfish, quite a sensible fish," He rubbed the side of his fish while watching the dolphins, "Yeah, dolphins, very smart. This one guy taught one how to dance to a mer-folk song, got the moves almost perfectly. By almost I mean everything that a dolphin is capable of, no hand movements." He chuckled and the lionfish 'sat' on his head, its eyes trained on Dasyra.

She moved her eyes up to the fish that was now sitting on Alines head. She smiled some then tapped it on the head softly and swam back some. Taking her fingers she ran them back through her hair and smiled. Her hair was very soft under water. For a moment she stared up at him then blushed as she ran her hands down her fin. "I think im gonna like it down here..."

The merman smiled and looked back into the city. "Feels so good to be back, I bet news of my return has already gone throughout." He sighed contently and slowly did a backflip. "So where do you want to go next? Food? The bubble?" He tossed a crumb out to his fish, and in a flash, the crumb was gone and into the belly of the lionfish.

"Well im just glad that I got to you in time.....I wish I could have gotten to you sooner..."She sighed a bit then and looked again at his scars. But then she snapped out of it."Lets get some food....i really don't know what you could cook at the bottom of the ocean but im sure i'll find something I like..."She smiled then swam over to him and wrapped her arm around him.

Her hand patted the head of his fish once again and hopped that he would follow along."So who rules everything down here...is there a king....or queen..."

"You don't remember!" Geis felt claws digging into the back of his neck. He was suddenly and painfully aware that what he had to say was going to decide whether he lived or died. And he was also aware that whatever he had just said, truth or not, was the wrong thing to say. Definitely wrong thing to say. He felt more probings and realized that whoever it was that held him was looking for a pressure point. Unfamiliar with his physiology though, he/she/it couldn't find it.

"I... really... don..."

"Shut up!" The voice hissed. A word flashed through Geis' mind. Naga. He wondered how exactly he had known it. Probably the scaly feeling. He tried to recall everything he had heard about the water-fearing nagas but drew a blank. That they were cousins of land nagas was no help to him-

"Why," he heard her say- he was now sure it was a her and not a him despite all her strength, "should I believe anything you say?"

"Because it's true?"

This, apparently, was the right answer. The pressure eased and he heard her laugh, great throaty chuckles that echoed curiously around him. He opened his eyes and was gratified to realize that he could now see clearly. His throat didn't ache either.

"For some reason, I believe you. You're too stupid to be a greedy, landloving thief." Geis bristled at the insult but didn't question it. She had just saved his life after all. He owed her *some* courtesy at least.

"The spell will expire in two or so hours. Be sure to leave before it does." The pressure eased completely. He turned around, but the naga was already moving away, apparently more interested in returning to work than in him. He was hurt by the seemingly inconsequential nature of his own existence but didn't truly mind. She, no doubt, was the guardian of these lands. Like any Alpha she had assessed him and rendered judgment. He could now explore-

He tumbled head over heels again as he tried to move forwards and realized, once again, that he couldn't swim.

Drat

"I'm not quite sure who is in charge, things can change in years of absence. As for food, I think you will like the kelp bowl." He nodded thoroughly and darted off towards a 'resturant' The fish glubbed and followed suit, obviously pleased to have its owner back. Every time Alines looked back he couldn't help but smile.

She turned and looked over her shoulder. For some reason the person she saw when she arrived Something felt really wrong and she let go of him. She gripped her stomach and stopped just sitting there infloat. She needed to go back and help him but then she didn't want to leave Alines.

"Wait...Kelp...eww...thats like seaweed right..."She kept looking back but was still stopped just swimming in that one spot.

"Well..uh yeah." He wondered why anyone wouldn't like kelp, "Ok um how about some uh...'sea fruit'?" He crossed his arms and traced her gaze up to the distant figure, "Uh.." he swam up next to Dasyra. He watched for a moment longer before swimming up to the struggling being.

Now if I put this foot in front of the other... Geis thought to himself as he did his best to move forwards. He ended up tumbling in a direction he did not foresee and almost crashed straight into a vendor who hissed angrily at him, giving him a small push so that he zoomed in a different direction. People were giggling at him, apparently amused that one so unused to the rigors of the water world were down here. He glared at them and they laughed all the harder.

He finally smiled too as he realized that they were showing him how to swim as they moved to and fro and he tried to mimick their 'swishy' motions. Most of them spoke in a tongue that reminded him of fish and sunlight, and he answered in common, hoping someone would understand. They did not.

He tried to... well... swish like they did, but the intricacies of such maneuvers escaped him. He realized, that with his fur, he was being slowed down. There was an reason to everything- waterproof scales underwater seemed to be very, very reasonable. With a grunt, he forced his body to accommodate the weird motions and, ever so slowly, began to make progress.

"Some sea fruit sounds good...."She smiled then tired not to worry about the person she saw behind her. "Lets just go..."She smiled again then wrapped her arm around his and took off swimming down into the city. There was just something about her that always wanted to her to help people. But at times she couldn't always be there to help them. She looked over at him.

Alines eyed the poorly situated lupine and sighed. He was making progress so that was good for the lupine. He tried not to laugh but it was hilarious. A fuzzy dog with fins, what will come up next? Pigs with wings? He shook his head and attempted to communicate, as he did have knowledge in outside languages thanks to him prior imprisonment. "Hello."

It was in mid-twirl that Geis realized that someone was trying to communicate to him in a language he understood. Trying to (unsuccessfully) make the world stop spinning he settled on just having it revolve in a consistent manner. He saw dozens of colors flash by: yellows, whites, reds, blues, greens... these mer-people seemed to be all the colors of the rainbow and more. He wondered how they had ever survived the larger predators that he had heard of to exist: giant fish with teeth as big as his arms when the world was young. He filed that question away as something to be considered on a later date.

"Hullo..." He said dizzily, continuing to spin uncontrollably. He heard what sounded like encouragement (but could have been anything) from other mer-creatures but ignored it to focus on speaking without heaving out his lunch, which would, now that he thought about it, be extremely awkward underwater. "I could... use some... urrrrp... help."

"Oh right," He grabbed hold of the lupine and steadied him. "Better, now could you please explain what are you doing down here?" He released the lupine and crossed his arms. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly in a more curious look. His pet neared and floated by Alines' head.

Holding up a finger, the lupine begged for a moment of peace as he stopped spinning but the world continued to. His lunch nearly did escape him, but at the last moment, he managed to keep it in. He sighed and sagged in relief. That had been close and the current had been heading towards him- he might have choked and died, or worse, be forced to reswallow what he had already swallowed.

He shivered despite himself. He wasn't a cow darnitall. Cows re-ate their food. He was a lupine!

"...could you explain what you're doing here?"

"An excellent question," Geis admitted. Then he shrugged. It threatened to send him head over heels again but he managed to steady himself in time. "And to be perfectly honest, I do not know the answer. I was... in a forest... and then..." he looked expressively around him, "then I was here."

"Uh huh..." He scratched his head, having no clue how that could happen. "Perhaps you tried to teleport?" He looked to the other mer-folk for any ideas. When they had none he stuck with the teleport theory. "So now that you are down here, you should probably head for shore. I'm sure somebody is willing to show you the way." He not-quite-glared at one in particular who gave and volunteered.

Dasyra was swimming around then soon saw that Alines had swam away from her. She looked around as a school of fist came and started to swim up in the air and puts her arms up above her hair. She smiled again then let her hair settle down by arms. Her hair was very long and it shinned in the water.

Looking around she found Alines and then swam over to him and looked at the Lupin."Ello..."She smiled then swam behind Alines and placed her hand on his shoulder lightly.

"I do not..." His eyes opened wide. "The mage! He did this!" Not bothering with the other denizens of the deep he made vigorous ladder climbing motions that- somehow- managed to propel him upwards. The mermaid who had been volunteered nodded to Aline and, grasping gently onto the sentient canine, helped him up with great strokes of her mighty tail.

A few air bubbles and moments later, Geis was gone.

Alines scratched his head in confusion, shrugging and returning to Dasya. "Well there goes the lupine..." The lionfish was not far behind, it seemed to go absolutely everwhere with him. It could raise a few questions as to what it did in his disappearance. Perhaps it could be seen that there are a few spines lodged in the underside of the pirate's vessel ,from a creature unsuccessfully attempting to ram through. He sighed and scratched his stomach, "Now about that food..." He grinned, grabbing hold of her arm, and shot off once more. Destination: Food!

When he grabbed her arm and took off through the water she felt like her fin was about to rip off her body. She smiled a bit and just continued to swim with him. She was getting a bit hungry and could just imagine the wonderful taste of lembas bread in her mouth. She looked up and saw the surface of the water from where she was and smiled.

"Who would have ever thought that an elf would be down in the water as a mermaid..."She laughed but continued going with him.

"Well I would've, nothing is impossible...except impossible itself," He laughed and entered the construct and peaked over what they had, "It all looks so good now, having eaten table scraps for almost three years...I'll eat almost anything!" He swiftly ordered most on the menu and turned to Dasyra.

OOC: Last post, I promise.

IC:

As he went up and up and up, Geis brain finally realized just what it was he had seen and experienced! An underwater city! Excitement almost overran his good sense and he began to sink back towards the ancient city but the mermaid that was accompanying him prevented such action. She smiled coyly but the grip she had on his arm was of iron if not steel and the two of them still rose higher and higher, inexorably mounting the ocean waters.

"How far down...?" Geis wondered.

"I'm afraid you won't know." The siren's bewitching voice told him. With a jerk, Geis realized she was casting magic but before he could react or prevent it, the magic slammed into him, sending him spiraling away into an icy blackness.

...

Geis awoke on the shore of some beach. His head hurt abominably. What had... where had... oh right, the mage. The mage had attacked him somehow... sent him... here. He glanced curiously around him. It wasn't even a remote island- this definitely was part of the continent. He shrugged, mages were always weird. If he couldn't quite count on anything else, he could count on that. Wondering why all his possessions were soaked through, Geis made his way towards civilization once again.

Her eyes scanned over the menu for a bit then she looked up at Alines."I don't know you order for me...anything thats good."Everything was just so beautiful down here and she didn't know how anyone could leave. They had been down here for a while and she started to wonder how much longer she would have until she would have to go in the air area to release herself from this water pressure and the spell wearing off.

"Hmm," he tapped his chin, eyeing the menu for the items most similar to land dweller's delectables. "Yeah, thats a fozi cake." he nodded and flipped a coin over to the cook. He took Dasyra by the hand and led her to a table. "Here is where we dine!" it had a lovely view of the city from the balcony it was situated upon.

Here we go again with the pulling but she just went with him. This was a lot of fun and she didn't want to give it up for anything. She closed her eyes when they sat down then looked up at him."For some reason I'm so glad I met you...theres something different about you. Your not like land folks..."She smiled then moved her fin up and rubbed it against his.

Alines blushed as he felt her fin against his, "Maybe its because we don't call the guards on people when they accidentally knock somebody over?" He laughed quietly. Soon the food came and he waited patiently for Dasyra to start before digging in, even though he was quite hungry and eagerly anticipating his first meal back home. He put on his typical goofy smile and watched Dasyra.

When the food came out she looked down at it then poked it with her finger softly then looked up at him."Ok if I die..im coming back to life as a ghost and im going to haunt you..."She laughed some then closed her eyes and took a bite but it was actually pretty good."Oh wow...its not that bad..."She laughed and looked up into his eyes.

He hadn't noticed her other action because as soon as she began eating he dived in. His eating was a mix of eating everything as swiftly as possible and then also savoring every bite. He finished his meal in record time and looked very content. He yawned blinking sleeply, gaze fixed on Dasyra as she ate.

Once she finished eating she looked at Alines and smiled then saw that he had been done eating for some time now. She leaned back and closed her eyes in the chair she was in and just smiled. It was so peaceful down here. There was really nothing to worry about at times.