Ariel:
Ariel pulled herself up onto the rock in the middle of the little lake, she was restless. Her crystal blue eyes turned as she gazed at the sky longingly before sighing softly. She hummed softly before smiling slowly as her mind played a soft tune, she knew only she heard the music, and that was enough.
"There is music in the air, can you hear it? It's in two, no maybe three, or maybe four...and I see me dressed in white with four feet that feel so light. It's as though they've never ever touched the floor."

She had the tune now and she pulled herself up a little higher her voice becoming stronger. She knew she could sing, but usually she only sang for herself, she soothed herself with her words. She might be trapped by the water, but her voice let her go wherever she sang.
"One dance just you and me, beneath the moon beside the sea. One dance and it's happily ever after, one dance and he will see we're not so different...you and me. Just us two, me and you...once dance."

Her fin flipped as she gazed back up her body swaying slightly.
"There are stars that fill the night, can you see them? There are two or three or gee, a million more. And I see you in their light...Who me, a dance? Alright...Just to move and glide with you across the floor..."

She lowered herself a bit sliding back down into the water a bit.
"One dance-" Suddenly she stopped and looked around, the song was broken as she slipped back under the water nervously. Was it Will or some unknown danger that had distracted her?

William:
Will had been hiding, ever since the shadows had lengthened enough for him to take a hiding place within a bush and be able to watch the small lake. The sun, fading as it was, still hurt his eyes, but he couldn't sleep any longer and knew that if he had stayed in his den any longer, he might just have torn some things apart. And he really didn't like spoiling his artwork or any of his other possessions for that matter.

He was less well-kept today, a rarity for the otter who relied on his appearance. Well, maybe not relied on, but he certainly liked to look his best. No, today he was down to just his pants, sash, and vest. He wasn't even wearing his boots. But his hair was still pulled back in a tail for the most part. Despite that, he probably looked like more of a pirate that way, his grandmother would probably be proud. Grandfather was another story. Oddly enough, the old Captain liked to look his best, and for his kids and grandkids and etcetera to do the same.

He watched quietly as Ariel came out, not at the shore or even looked around for him, that he noticed. He should have expected that, after all. He was a monster and he'd warned her himself to keep that in mind. He thought about leaving, going out to hunt and foregoing the promise to meet with her every night.
But she started singing.
Will was transfixed. He'd heard her singing before, but not like this. It was such a beautiful sound, he had no words for it. He could work for lifetimes and never write a poem or carve an image that could convey the emotion and beauty in her music, never even come close. It was a drug to his ears and he wanted more. Now he remembered why he brought her here to stay with him. Her singing touched him and he wanted to feel something like that.

He missed whatever noise sent her back to the depths, but when she dove beneath the water again, but his senses automatically became alert. He stood slowly and ran towards another sound, what must have scared his star. Growls, the sounds of a fight, and yelps of pain rose in volume within seconds of him diving into the underbrush.

Ariel:
Ariel slowly poked her nose out of the water, her ears pricked as she scanned about the growling sounds worrying her. What was it? A yelp sent her daring back under the water before she slowly moved a bit closer to the shore. She leaned up against the bank trembling and afraid, but she needed to know what was happening. Why did it concern her though? She'd be safe if she just hid in the water, but that was the sound of a fight and it could be Will or Xylia or some innocent out there being attacked.

She pulled herself up and flipped her fin quickly to throw herself onto the shore. She gave a mild shake before dragging herself towards the sounds worried.

William:
Will watched with feral eyes as the fox ran off, blood from where he'd cracked his head against a rock trailing down into one eye. He rose a paw and hissed as he wiped it away. Another sound behind him drew his attention and he turned, ears back and teeth bared in warning.
Only to see Ariel.
The look immediately left his face to be replaced by one that looked almost like concern.

"What are you doing out of the water, Ariel?" he asked, taking a hesitant step towards her. He was suddenly glad that he hadn't worn his shirt. The fox had gotten a good bit to his left front leg and worried his flesh. It would have torn his nice shirt to shreds. He tried his best not to limp, but figured what was the point. No doubt he was bleeding, Ariel would see that pretty clearly. Of course, he left the stupid, would-be poacher in a much worse condition.

Ariel:
"Oh Will!" She dragged herself over and frowned at his leg, his fur was stained red. "You need to wash this off and wrap it up...are you alright?" She craned her neck to peer into the forest worried. "What was that thing? Were you trying to have dinner? You should be more careful!" She tugged on him trying to get him back towards the lake, it was a futile effort on her part since she couldn't even move herself with her paws wrapped around him.

William:
Will flinched at her tugging and he tried to blink the blood from his eye again.
"Please- Ariel, stop that, please," he grit his teeth and slipped his leg from her grasp, inducing more pain as he had to put weight on his injured one. He started limping back to the pond, keeping an eye on her, or trying to anyways, to make sure she kept up. And nothing happened to her, of course. More hair had come free from his tie and hung about his face, making him look even more disheveled than he had been.

"Fox. Fluffy, red creature, very pointy in the face and tail. I guess I haven't been prowling enough lately, I think he wanted to try and move in on my territory," he growled in explanation as he walked straight into the shallows of the pond and started washing the dirt and blood from himself. By the moon, did his head hurt. His wounds had already started knitting themselves back together, but his head still hurt from the blow.
And probably the blood-loss, too.

Ariel:
"I'm sorry..." She quickly let go of him flopping back down and dancing from one paw to another worried by his limp. She dragged herself after him and slid into the water moving to lean closer and softly touch his leg. "Are you going to be alright?" She asked softer looking at him worried and trying to help him rinse the wound. She wanted to brush his hair back and tell him not to get into silly fights over land, but of course...it wasn't just land to him, like the water was her home the land was his.

William:
Will sighed and let his head dip in defeat. He'd handed that fox's bum to him, but he hadn't walked off unscathed. And she was being so sweet and her singing was still floating in his ears, he couldn't stay distant. He moved his head until it touched her shoulder, his eyes closing.
"Don't fear, see?" he asked, his words murmured against her shoulder as he raised his injured leg. The bleeding had stopped and all that was left was a few angry red marks beneath his cream-colored fur.

"We heal fast, on the outside." He hadn't meant to add that last part. It just came out and it took a few moments to realize it. He didn't react besides squeezing his teeth tightly together.

Ariel:
She relaxed a bit as he moved closer and gave a soft laugh as he rested his head down on her shoulder and told her not to fear. Why would she be afraid of him, he was the injured one...and she had a bad feeling she had hurt his leg. She softly used a paw to stroked his hair back and peered at his leg worried. Yet it seemed her concern was for naught because the flesh was mended. "Oh!"

She nodded at his words, he was special far more so then her and luckily adept to injuries. On the outside he had said which made her wonder what he meant. If something hurt him too deep or cut some inner organ did that mean he wouldn't heal like that? "I'm glad you're going to be okay...I was worried..." She sighed softly and nuzzled him, he was close close it wasn't hard to do.

William:
"Why would you worry for me?" Will asked softly, not sure if she really heard him or not. Part of him hoped she didn't, for even in his own ears his voice sounded like some kind of pathetic. And his head still ached. It must be screwing with his mind. When he tried opening his eyes, the world spun a bit until he closed them again and he kept saying dumb things that he really shouldn't be saying.

"Would you sing like that, for me?" he asked, rubbing his head lightly against her soft fur. She was nice and warm and soft and no matter what he did she always came back and started acting as she cared for him again. How could she ever think lowly of herself?

Ariel:
"Well it would be kind to say it's because your my friend, and I would worry for you as a friend, but if something happened to you...no one else knows I'm here Will..." She murmured softly, maybe it was a cruel truth, but it was the truth and she doubted he would appreciate her sugar coating it. She wanted to though, she wanted to tell him it was just because they were friends, because she knew he would worry about her.

"Will? Will are you alright?" She leaned in closer his eyes seemed so unfocused. She softly stroked his head back again with a wet paw. "You'll be alright? Your hungry?" She asked softly, he had to be, didn't healing like that cost him as much energy as any normal otter would expend to heal. The only difference was he did it faster and had to regenerate that energy faster...and energy meant food.

William:
"Hit my head on a rock. It's why I had the blood on my face. Just dazed, I think." Well, yeah, he was dazed, but she was likely right, too. He probably should eat something, but he doubted he would do very well on a hunt. He probably shouldn't have let the fox go, should have taken from it at least a little. But he didn't take from males, as a rule. It just seemed wrong to him.

"But you didn't answer my question. If I asked, would you sing like that for me, if I asked?" He must have been out of his mind. Why in the world would he ever be so persistent with such a question? Well, because he liked her singing, dammit. It was just... He didn't want to be open again, he hadn't even really healed on the inside.

Ariel:
"You heard me sing?" She blushed her skin warming under her fur, she had hoped he hadn't but obviously he had. She suddenly felt silly for singing nonsense in the middle of nowhere with no music playing. Of course the music was in her heart, but she couldn't explian that properly to anyone, it was a part of her a part of the water.

"Yes...I could sing for you, if it would help make you feel better?" She murmured softly her hair slipped over her shoulder brushing him. He was heavy, but it was comfortable anyway, they seemed to fit well together with the water helping her cradle his head. He kept her warm, and she felt the ghostly memory of his fangs grazing her neck.

William:
Will sighed, moving his head a bit so that he could rub his nose against her fur.
"Couldn't sleep, I was out just before sunset," he explained and smiled a bit. That could have been part of it, too. He hadn't slept at all that day, or if he did it had just been for a few passing moments, maybe an hour or two. And he had been out in the sun. He hadn't been full out in the light, so he didn't feel ill, but no doubt even the minimal exposure had weakened him. And then he fought with that fox, losing blood and hitting his head.
"It was beautiful, beyond words-" He stopped speaking abruptly as he started to fade out of consciousness, his body going limp.

Ariel:
"Will?! Will!" She tried to move him to sit up worried. "Will! come on wake up...you need to eat!" She pulled him into the water a bit hoping he wouldn't get mad, and hoping it would revive him. She didn't want anything to happen to him, he was her friend after all.

"Come on Will, be okay...if your not okay you won't get to hear me sing!" which was about as good as she got at threatening anyone. Ariel wasn't violent she was a peaceful sea creature. It scared her to see Will seeming to fade to sleep.

William:
The shock of more cool water drew him back to life, at least a little bit anyways and Will frowned over her threat.
"I can't eat. There's... nothing around, I can't... hunt. Don't wanna... take... from you. Could... hurt you," he mumbled as his head started to thump, as if someone was playing a drum within it. Maybe if he just went to sleep, it would be better.
He was deluding himself and he knew it.

"You'd... be okay. My sister, she... knows you're here," he added, trying to make her feel better about the situation. He could feel her vein against his muzzle, but he didn't want to hurt her. He'd never been this badly off before, having lost so much sleep, going out in the sunlight, and taking in less food in the past several days. His hunting had been off, he'd been catching fewer and fewer minis, and because he refused to really injure them, he had been going home on a less than full stomach at sunrise.

Ariel:
"Will...you have to eat something..." She softly stroked her paw against his jaw trying to get his mouth open...for what? Was she going to force his fangs into her own neck? Well...if it would help maybe she would just do that. She looked at him worried and nudged him. "Come on Will..."

"I don't want your sister, I just want you to be okay...wait whats your sisters name? Maybe she can come help you? Maybe I can go get her?" She started to try and squirm out of the water.

William:
"Mel can't help me," Will replied and gave in to Ariel's urgings. Something within him sang with joy as he bit her, letting her hold him at first as the pounding in his head faded away to a growing clearness of mind. His strength returned at a much slower pace, but he was able to wrap his paws around her in an embrace. If they dipped beneath the surface, he'd at least have the ability to bring them back up and maybe even push back towards the shallower water.
Ariel might not be able to drown, be he certainly could.

Ariel:
Ariel murmured softly as she felt his fangs slip into her flesh, it felt like the same spot he had hit last time. She gave a small shiver and pressed against him hopefully he'd be okay. She tried to keep herself from that strange floating sensation, she knew she couldn't hold it off forever, but for a little while.

She hummed softly and turned her gaze towards him. "What makes someone special? I suppose it all depends...it's what's unique in each of us, that we all share as friends."
Her voice was weak but she still smiled as she sang. "The difference is our differences, maybe small or great, variety adds spice to life. So we should celebrate..." she trailed off weakly her voice slowly fading into soft humming before that too slowly trailed off her eyes sliding closed.

William:
William pulled away almost violently when her singing stopped, he almost gave himself whiplash. It had been nice to hear her sing, even if it was soft and he couldn't really understand the words. Not because he couldn't hear them, he just couldn't comprehend the sounds through the haze filling his mind.
But when they ceased, his world came crashing back.

Will held Ariel up and gave her a little shake.
"Ariel? Ariel, open your eyes," he rushed out, his eyes wide with fear. Had he crossed a line? Had he taken too much? Please don't let him have hurt her. He hadn't meant to. Mel was right! He should never have thought he could keep her without hurting her.

Ariel:
She gave a a weak laugh at the shake and softly touched his paw. "Oh...don't shake Will...I-I'm okay..." She murmured softly and tried to force her eyes back pen, but it was hard. She felt so very warm and content, it would be nice to just take a little nap. Normally she slept under water but Will was keeping her warm and she was half in the water.

"I just...need some rest...and so you -you...you do-to." She tried to get her words to come out clearly but her tongue felt heavy.

William:
William hugged her when she spoke, glad he hadn't hurt her. Ariel was right, they did both need their rest, but he didn't want to leave her. He was still somewhat weak and an ache had started to settle on him, as if he had slept wrong. Which was impossible as he hadn't really been sleeping.
He wanted to stay with her, she took his other ache away. But he couldn't risk falling asleep and the sun coming out and killing him. But there was always another option.

He hadn't used the proper den, the one that connected to the water, not since he had brought Ariel here. He didn't think she would like him being that close. But he didn't really want to let her go, not yet.
"Okay," he said and dipped them below the surface. Keeping his paws tightly around her, he used his tail to take them into an underwater tunnel that came up into an air-pocket den, similar to the one his parents had. It was more spacious than his ground-den, but pretty empty.

Ariel:
"Oh William...this is so nice, I didn't know..." She murmured softly but she really couldn't manage much more. She nuzzled him lightly trying to reassure him that she would be alright. Her tail gave a slow turn in the water before she slowly drifted to sleep, her neck wasn't bleeding anymore, the blood dry on her pale fur. Her last thought was how nice it was to have a friend as good as William, even if he was a little different. Who was she to care about differences after all...and she had to meet his sister someday...incase anything ever happened to William again.

William:
Will almost shook her again when she fell asleep, but for the feeling of her heart beating stopped him. He had meant to ask if it was alright, but as she was asleep, he couldn't really do so. A yawn escaping him, he settled himself on a kind of shelf in the water, keeping him at floating level and from being able to sink down. He used to lie there on hot days, when the water was much cooler than the rest of the den. He settled Ariel partly on his chest, like he had the night she had tried to run away, gave her a small squeeze, and drifted off with her.