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Pft. Harness or not, Morgan was relieved to finally be released from that leash. This just meant that he could just go home and try to work his way out of this thing. Either way, he had freedom now. Also, since one of the guys [Sethrian] took liberty to drag the crazy woman into the water, then Morgan had no need to act out his plan to swim far far away. So much thanks went to that man. He'd definitely have to send him a gift basket or something, but for now, Morgan was going to run for it while he had the chance, and run away he did.

[ Exits ]

"No," Sethrian said, "I'm not. And if you threaten me with bodily harm again, I may well open a police report against you before returning you to whatever loony bin you escaped from." As he spoke, Sethrian carefully started to pry Lilia's hands off his clothes, fairly certain her fingernails were taking some of his skin along with them (ow...this was not the way to get passionate claw marks from a woman, that was certain. Owww. He had a feeling he would be spending the evening cleaning the salt out of the gouges left by her fake nails).

"You are going to begin acting like a Human being instead of an enraged bovine or you will simply swim yourself back to shore," he informed Lilia, finally freeing himself from her. "In fact, I believe I shall be taking my leave now, thank you. Good bye." With that, he gave her a little shove away from him (slightly toward the beach and to the side since he didn't want her to wash out to sea...well, he did actually but since that could get him into trouble, he supposed he'd have to ensure she didn't) and started back toward the beach alone.

Really. Who the hell did this woman think she was? Besides Genghis Khan apparently.

Sethrian was on his way away from Lilia, intending to leave her there in the retreating tide, when something struck his back and hung there like dead weight. It took him a moment to realize it was Lilia, and she was clinging to him like a deranged monkey. Seth angrily spun around, trying to claw her arms off his shoulders.

"Get off," he said flatly, managing to catch her wrist. "I don't care who you are, you don't treat people like this." He was, of course, forgetting that most people didn't throw someone in the ocean for insulting them either. Then again, she'd hit him first so Seth suspected he had a right to throw her in the ocean. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite able to pry her off since he couldn't really reach her and she was disturbingly good at monkey death-grips. So Sethrian did the only thing any self-respecting man with a woman on his back while standing in the sea would do.

He took a deep breath and sat down in the ocean.

Now, the water wasn't actually all that deep. It currently, was no higher than his waist when standing. But of course that meant it was well over his head when sitting. He actually expected Lilia to do the intelligent thing and let go of him and stand up on her own (despite that the whole 'do this thing on your own' thing seemed to kind of elude her). Lilia, however, was either extremely stubborn, or extremely stupid. She held for dear life. He could hear the muffled, watery sound of her gagging on seawater, but Seth was determined not to surface until she either let go, or he ran out of air.

He actually thought the latter would happen first until her arms went strangely limp. Finally! He was heading for the surface when he realized she was, well, starting to float away. Augh! Really? The little idiot had actually held on until she'd lost consciousness!? What sort of inconceivably stupid--Sethrian made a blind flail toward her through the water in a moment of panicked fury grabbing her arms just before the current carried her out of reach. He yanked the psychotic (and possibly dead) woman against his chest and dragged her to the surface, sputtering and coughing himself, as he gulped in air. Tucking Lilia under one arm, Sethrian stalked to the beach--as well as one could stalk while wading through gallons of foamy water and holding an unconscious woman.

As he threw her to the wet sand, muttering curses and insults under his breath, Sethrian fumbled in his pocket for something he had a sinking feeling he was going to need in a few seconds. Kneeling beside Lilia, a very frustrated Seth laid his head against her chest to see if she was breathing. She was...he paused.

Why was her chest...soggy? He knew he should be worried about the fact she wasn't breathing but her boobs really did squish very oddly when he checked for breathing. That in itself was kind of concerning. So Seth kind of poked one experimentally and it definitely squished in a decidedly spongy manner. It was almost as if it was actually made of tissue rather than flesh. Oh Lord. He shook his head. This woman.

Seth pinched the bridge of his nose and, with a strangled sigh, held the little box from his pocket to his lips, tapping a delicious white mint into his mouth. This was not what he signed up for when he came onto the island but he was sure as hell going to try to make the best of it now that he was here.

With water running in rivulets from his tousled black curls, and soaking his blue shirt against his finely chiseled muscles, Sethrian leaned over Lilia, hand cupping her feminine jaw as he tilted her head back and brushed her soaked hair off her face with his strong, masculine fingers. There were little sparkling drops of water clinging to her dark lashes and her cheeks--so recently flushed in anger--were pale and freezing cold. The sun was setting behind him, casting the backdrop of the sky in rosy pinks as their shadows lengthened across the damp sand of Nirvani. Seth leaned down, eyes intently focused on her parted lips (which were turning kind of blue). The world around them went silent as he leaned closer...

And pinched her nose viciously before unceremoniously placing his mouth over hers and blowing an angry puff of air into her lungs. He set both hands firmly on her chest and pumped three times. Each time he did so, her obviously stuffed bra squished out rivulets of water and soggy bits of tissue. It would have been enough to make him laugh if not for the fact she was kind of not breathing.

Another puff of air--more pumping her heart to get it going again. And with each pump--squish, squish, squish.

Breathe, squish, squish, squish. Breathe, squish, squish, squish.

And finally...finally, the woman began to cough, sea water spilling out of her mouth as Sethrian rolled her to her side. He flopped next to her, the back side of his hand rubbing against his mouth.

"Idiot..."

Under the shadows of nightfall, floating through the darkness over the calm waters, a small boat drifted ashore towards the island's harbour. It wasn't that of the usual boats which docked here (especially at this hour). For below deck in a cargo hold rested a young brown haired male with a white mare and a large shepherd / collie dog. Of the trio it appeared that the mare remained calmed and somehow put the other two companions at ease. Her master was dressed in different hues of greens and white while their canine friend had brown red-ish fur. Muffled groans filled the air as the cowboy slumped onto the floor, feeling a but queezy in his stomach.

"How much longer...?" Ashton Locksley (or simply 'Ash') scanned the darkness surrounding him and the two animals. He never did like sailing or being stuck in a confined space for too long. His canine (Okami) whimpered and pranced from one end of the cargo hold to the other. Meanwhile the mare (Namine') gave a soft snort and moved to rest on her feet. What felt like an eternity had only been minutes before the boat slowed to a stop. Not another word or sound was spoken as Ash bolted up onto his feet and hurried in the dark to tack up his mare. With a sense of touch the cowboy was able to buckle on her saddle, reins, lead, and saddlebags with ease.

"aarrff aarrff aarrff" Okami barked and suddenly bounced around with excitement. "Alright alright, I'm comin'," Ash grumbled softly. Only to the animals did he speak softer. If it were any human being he'd growl and snap in reply. As soon as Namine' was tacked up he reached out to grasp hold of her lead and guided her up on deck, Okami bounding at their feet. "aarrff aarrff" Paused in thought Ash inhaled deeply to feel the night air fill his lungs as hazel eyes peered up to the sky above. Then with a growled thanks to the ship's crew he strutted down the gangplank, followed by his companions. What sounded like a celebration in the distance instantly caught the canine's attention. Ears perked upright he listened and sniffed the air. Echoes and scents tickled his senses. "aarrff" His tail started to wag in a blur.

The second boots, hooves, and paws touched the sandy shore Ash moved to hoist himself up onto the saddle. Instinctively both hands tied the lead rope snug and then took hold of the reins. "What is it boy?" he realized that something had Okami's interest. Whatever it was it looked to be coming north of the beach. "Hah!" With a swift kick and tug on the reins he commanded Namine' to turn about and proceed onward at a brisk trot. The canine wasn't too far behind the duo. In a whisp of sand this trio disappeared into the shadows towards the town and its celebrating townsfolk.

{exit to Town Square}

"Oh, you know the story," Angela said dryly. "The poor little rich girl who got tired the rules and etiquette and decided to go it alone. I grew up with just my mum and after she died, my rich father showed up and carted me off to a mansion with servants. And I never quite got used to being Lady Angela Tremaine so I left as soon as I could. And my father followed me."

"He was only supposed to be staying until I was settled in, but then he bought the bloody winery and decided to stay."

She turned to look at Xeiro, smirking up at him playfully. "What?" she asked in mock surprise. "You're over thirty? I can't believe that!" She pointed ahead, to the boat moored at the docks. It wasn't like there were many other there, but the one she pointed to had the name 'Lady Helene.' "There she is. She looks pretty good considering my father's barely been out recently--probably needs a good clean up though."