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Time started slipping by since the day Nereus discovered all her tasty oysters magically disappeared and her beautiful home ransacked. She suspected a jealous neighbor saw her take them home and stole them. But silly them forgot her shiny pearl.

Which soon doubled in size. Much to her glee.

Then turned yellow. Not quite so much excitement there.

Which brought her to that moment, staring at the large yellow pearl in her hands that was starting to shake. It was becoming apparent that the 'pearl' she found in that special lake was more than what she bargained for. A crack ripped through the side, causing her to jump and let go of the orb. Instantly she dove forward to catch the object, cursing under her breath meanwhile. What was she going to do? Did taking it from the lake break it? Should she take it back?

Another crack. "Oh no, oh no, oh no. I'm sorry little pearl! I broke you!" Did she have something sticky to put it back together? She started darting around her little home, the orb still in her arms as she looked on all her shelves. "Oh nooooo! You were my greatest treasure!"

Crack! At the louder snap she froze in place, her emerald eyes slowly looking down at the pearl. A hand stuck clean out of it. "Oh...my...seashells. Glory to the Queen, you're an egg." As the egg shook it suddenly split in half to have the pieces fall away, revealing a small, bright eyed baby.



Instantly the babe started crying, prompting Nereus to quickly hold it against her body in comfort. "Shhh...shhh...shhh...There, there." She had a baby, in her arms. Right then. Who would possibly believe her story that it came from an oyster? The naiad looked down onto her yellow head. A baby...her baby now. It was strange, all these years she wanted a companion...and now...now...

"I guess you'll need a name...I'll call you Aysel." The female whispered as the cries softened. She slowly closed her emerald eyes. "And you are my Greatest Treasure."

~~~~~~~~~~ Two Birds with One Stone ~~~~~~~~~~~

This new world was still so strange and unfamiliar for Lysanthus. After he had spent a while in the small ocean surrounded by land, it was time for him to return to the more open waters that he was used to. Lys still wanted to stay close to this new... should he even call it a home. This is where his people seemed to gather, and he was still so intrigued that there were others that looked like him. The lake where most of them seemed to gather was enticing, but it was difficult to be enclosed like that.

Lysanthus was returning back to the shores from a short hunt out in the deeper waters. He poked his head out of the waters cautiously, all of his life taught him to be mindful of dangers. It seemed mostly quiet as his green eyes scanned the shoreline. The male relaxed and turned so that he was floating on his tummy, resting his head on hands, his elbows snug in the sand.

Lys could see beautifully colored birds flitting in the trees just up the way. There was something relaxing about laying out here in the shallow water, a different style of life then the one he had grown up with. Lys broke out some of the fish he had gathered and began eating, unconcerned about the fact that it was raw.

Lysanthus' head quickly dropped, so that his eyes were just level with the water. He had recognized the greeting word, but the rest had been spoken so quickly that he was unable to pull any meaning from them. Lysanthus was not so easily scared, so he didn't run away immediately. This creature was like him and not like him at the same time. It had some resemblance to what he would look like if he stepped out of the water right now, yet the fins the other pae had were very unusual.

"Hel-lo" Lys responded as he lifted his head from the water. His voice sounded uncertain with the word he had spoken.

Lysanthus gave the other a puzzled look. His language skills were only so far along and he had understood perhaps 3 of the words that had been spoke at best. "Talk... slow... Sorry?" The words were slow as the naiad had to search his brain for each one. Lys frowned, it was all so frustrating for him when these pae spoke to him and he could hardly understand. And then it was difficult for him to communicate that he didn't communicate.

Lysanthus watched the gestures that the pae with large fins protruding from his back. They probably went with the words he was saying. He thought for the most part he was understanding the male. At least until he got to 'family'. It wasn't as if Lys had a family where he could even relate the strange gesture that was made to accompany the word. 'Danger' was something that Lys could understand though. "Dan-ger? Lys help." He agreed, bringing his chest out of the water just enough that he could pound his fist against it in a display of might.

Lysanthus exposed his crudely made spear to the other. "Cup."

As Lysanthus watched Raken again, his face twisted with confusion until finally his eyes widened in understanding. Cup had been a word that was used a lot when he was preparing for the strange ritual he went through. "Cup..." Lysanthus turned around, digging through a satchel.

When he turned back around he had the very cup that Raken sought in his hand. "Cup?" Lys asked. But it made no sense to him, maybe he was confused about the word 'danger' but he didn't think a cup would be very helpful for that. Lys supposed you could chuck it at something in a pinch, but a spear was so much more... to the point.

Lysanthus now sat in the water, a cup in one hand and a spear in the other. The other male seemed excited about him bringing the cup out. This made Lys think that the other pae just didn't realize how good a spear was for danger. "Dan...ger." Lysanthus repeated, shaking the spear, trying to put the emphasis on it. Lys jabbed it at the air a few times to show its effectiveness. The naiad wasn't sure how he felt about giving up either object, they were both vital to him.