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Waking up from a sound sleep was a bit of process for the Queen. Palace pampering had dulled her survival instincts, allowing her to sleep without requiring a part of her to remain alert in case of danger. Lost in her wonderful dream, her fingers gently massaged Turin's flesh before her eyes fluttered opened and her mind returned to full consciousness. It took a minute or three, but she eventually sprang upwards in a state of shock and embarrassment. Her blue cheeks flushed. "Turin I-" She didn't have anything. She only prayed to the Waters she didn't do anything in her sleep, or worse, say anything in her sleep that may incriminate her.

Oh wait. She did that while awake.

She noticed his squirming and flinching, and immediately was brought back into the situation. She put a hand to his forehead. He wasn't burning up anymore. "Oh thank the Waters."

"How are you feeling?"

Tariel did watch him carefully. What he said, was it true? She was looking for any tiny sign that it might be. She hoped it was true, at the same time, hoped she imagined it, or it was just delirium. He wouldn't look at her, which made her feel a bit sad about it. Had she done something wrong in taking care of him. She frowned a little.

"Thank the Waters," she whispered and leaned to kiss his cheek being that she was close enough. She was so thankful. The days waiting for him were the most agonizing of her life. "It's been two days, so I think search parties might be out by now. If you are up to it, we should probably get going. I'm sorry I don't have food for you. I wasn't so lucky the last time I went out, and I didn't want to wander too far from the hole and lose you."

"Turin, do you ... remember anything ... of the last couple days?" She looked down at her own fidgeting hands, nervous.

A small smile crossed Tariel's lips and the desire to just snuggle with Turin was overwhelming. It took all of her willpower to keep from cooing and just letting the moment last. She knew they needed to get going, but damn if she didn't want this feeling to last. It was when he pulled away and reacted flustered that she was snapped out of her fantasy. "You have no idea how relieved I am that you are better," she said softly.

He didn't mention any of what he'd said to her that was now forever etched in her memory. She decided not to press the issue because he didn't seem to be happy she asked. She sighed and tried to stretch a bit in the small space. "At least we'll have another adventure story to tell our grandbabies." she paused a moment, blushed, and tried to back peddle a bit, "I mean, your grandbabies and my own grandbabies. I didn't mean yours and mine-" she was practically glowing with embarrassment. It took a moment, but she calmed down, blowing a few bubbles out of her mouth in exasperation.

"Should we get going?" She didn't think there was anything other than thoughts of leaving that'd try and derail the embarrassment.

Sticking her trident through the cave opening, blunt end first, she put it in Turin's outstretched hand, and then followed him out into the water. Nothing was different than the last few times she was in this spot. No over-sized predators, no signs of life, really.

"Turin, do you think it's odd that there aren't many fish around here? I think it's worth investigating, when we get back." Her tone had changed from 'if' to 'when' which was a promising sign from the apprehensive queen, who just a couple days earlier was swimming away from her responsibilities.

Leading the way, Tariel started swimming at an incline, heading for the faint rays of sunlight she could see in the distance. Her goal was to at least surface by the days end. They were both rested, and Turin seemed to be doing fine, albeit sore. Even taking it easy she was optimistic.

She wouldn't even think about the possibility there were other predators watching them.

They swam in silence for a while. Normally that would bother Tariel because she liked to talk, even if about mundane or silly topics, because long silences were awkward. But Turin spoke, catching her off guard. She had been deep in thought, going over the things Turin had said in his delirium.

"Hmm?" she looked at where his glance landed on her trident. "Oh, this. I actually don't know. I was just really angry, and I kept thinking how badly I needed it ... and then it just appeared." She pulled the trident up and inspected it before holding it out to Turin. "Its mine, too. The one Tua said belonged to the Queen. Do you suppose ... it's one of those abilities the real Queen has? Tua said they'd manifest eventually, if I was the real Queen." the words coming from her lips made her realize her mistake in running away. The real Queen. She felt horrible again, but managed to mask it. No need in wallowing any more about it.

"I guess that means I am the real Queen." she muttered, her tone dripping with defeat. "Tua said my Court will have things like that happen. Maybe you could will your spear to your hand?"

Turns out, quite a while yet. While the pair were making good time, they still had a long, long way to go. The first couple of days had been filled with more awkward conversation and slightly less awkward silences. After reaching the surface at last, at least that question hadn't been the default go-to conversation starter anymore.

Of course, they'd surfaced at some uncharted, unknown portion of the Isle with no way to travel inland with access to water. Turin hated to admit, but the journey they had taken over the land before had been rough enough, as short as it was. He wasn't sure he could handle a hike over the land of unknown length in his current condition. They would have to find some sort of water access, or at least something that looked like it could minimize the time they'd have to spend on land.

Turin could only imagine the chaos that had to have stirred up the palace by now. His instructions to his daughter had been given with the thought that he'd go out for maybe a couple hours or so and retrieve the Queen; no need to panic anyone. If Tua hadn't seen what had happened and immediately rushed back to raise the palace in arms, then Moana had to have said something to someone by the next morning.

How many days had it been now? A week at least...possibly two? Hard to say when the Naiad Captain had spent part of the duration either in a fevered delirium, or out cold completely. There would be search parties covering the Isle by now, branching out into the sea once more. Turin's mind was preoccupied, thinking of his trained officers and how they'd be handling the situation according to their training. Swimming at a constant, steady pace alongside the Queen, he no longer felt the desire to break every silence with conversation.

It was exhausting anyway.

Normally, Turin would have leapt at the suggestion that there was something he could do for his Queen.

Normally, he wasn't nursing injuries, starvation, and exhaustion.

So, for once, he took the comment for what it likely was: only a comment, not an order. "Of course," he answered quietly, seeking a rocky outcropping that lay low in the water. He didn't even have the energy to pull himself out of the water as the Queen had done. Finding a section of rocks near the water level, he did well to stretch his upper body over the top and rest his head on his arms tiredly. From the waist down, he remained in the water, tail slowly trailing in the currents as they twisted through the rock formation.

They didn't say much, but they hadn't for some days now. He didn't know what Tari was thinking, but maybe she was just as tired as he was. That was pretty much his excuse; he was too tired to keep up the pretense of talking. He'd never been much good at it anyway.



Weeks. It had been weeks now and no sign of the Queen or her bodyguard. Hope was waning, but it wasn't gone yet. They wouldn't give up until they found them.

Or proof that they were truly gone...but no one was saying that part out loud.

Nevertheless, the search continued. Scouts and hunters alike had spread out over the Isle and the hunt had continued into the sea from whence they came. One such scout was making his rounds, heading north from the lagoon as instructed, looking for any signs of--

Wait a minute. A shockingly bright spot of color caught the Naiad's attention. Off in a small rock formation just off the coast. Only a fish, perhaps, but he could have sworn it was pink and orange...worth a second look...

As he watched, the currents shifted again, the waters flowing in and out of the rocks with the tides, and brought the object into view once more: a large tailfin; larger than any normal fish this close to shore, even in the sea. An Aernyn tailfin to be exact. Hope surging in his chest, the scout surfaced in a rush and scanned the rocks ahead.



The current kept shifting, but it was gentle for the most part. Enough so, that the Aernyn Captain was drifting off to sleep with the repetitive motion, back and forth, back and forth...

He sat up with a start as a long, low-toned noise split the air. It was the sort of sound that carried long distances, without needing massive volume to do so. That was how it was intended, he knew, for he recognized the sound and reacted instinctively.

The sound of a hunter's horn.

Even so, he was not prepared for the surprise when a dark-hued Naiad swam up to the rocks, conch shell horn still in hand, and started speaking to them.

"Your Majesty! Sir! Oh, thank the Waters, you're both okay!"

Turin blinked a bit, slightly more alert when the Queen said his name again. Yes, okay, he wasn't hallucinating then. Good. "Well done, soldier," he saluted weakly, not caring if the scout was a hunter or a guard or a chef at that point. He just wanted to get the Queen safely home.

He'd been doing his best to hide the truth from the Queen for a few days now. Perhaps they wouldn't have been in such a dire situation if he hadn't been faring so badly in secret. Field dressings for wounds were supposed to be temporary measures until one could return home for proper care, usually within a few hours. Not weeks. His strength had been waning while his pain only grew. He wasn't sure how much longer he would have fared out here without outside help.

At least he'd be sure that the Queen would be safe now.

The scout seemed somewhat surprised, first by the Queen's sudden affection...and secondly by her frail state, all the more obvious in such close quarters. Frowning a bit, rather than allowing himself to enjoy the moment of relief, he merely patted the Queen's back for now, mind already on what must be done to get the pair safely home. "You're...not looking well, sir," he said hesitantly to the Captain.

"Yeah, there's a reason for that," Turin quipped, humor as dry his skin was getting lying here above water. He was feeling a bit irrationally snippy as well, but he told himself it was the lack of food wearing on his temper, not the sudden affections shown to some nameless scout who showed up with a hunter's horn. Nope. That would be stupid.

"I assume there are others coming?" he asked, answered with an accenting nod. "Good. Take the Queen ahead when they get here. I'm only going to slow everyone down. But a message needs to go ahead. I'm going to need help by the time we get back to the Temple." He was in commanding mode once more, no room for pride if it got you killed. He knew what a bad state he was in and he needed the information passed along before he was unable to do so himself. "Severe puncture wounds, multiple, torso area. Field dressings weeks ago, they're likely infected now. Need treatment as soon as possible when we get back. Weak and malnourished as well; that's secondary." After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Have them find my daughter. She may be able to help with the worst of it At least get me stable so I'm not taking up other resources."

He turned back to the Queen with a sad smile. "I'll see you back at the Temple, your highness. See? I promised I'd get you back safely..."

Exhaustion finally claimed the Captain in the warm embrace of sleep, as he felt he'd passed his responsibility for the Queen's safety to ones who could guarantee it better than he at this point. They just had to escort her the rest of the way. He'd done the hard part.

The scout pulled away from the Queen to catch the Captain before he could slide from the rock into the depths. He shook his head slightly, then towards the matriarch, he explained, "There are other search parties on the way. Any who heard my horn will be heading this way and can escort you back to the palace. I'll make sure the Captain is well taken care of," he promised.