[PRP] Stormed asunder (Pelagia and Rhodanthe)

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Tonight, the water was churning. Though the sun had set, a sickly greenish glow was still present in the cloudy sky. The color was reflected in the water, where Pelagia swam fiercely against the waves. Her familiar Rhodanthe clung to her long mane. Rhodanthe was a river otter, not a sea otter, so she was not entirely comfortable in the tossing depths of t he ocean.

"Do you see them?" asked Pelagia, raising her voice to be heard above the yowling wind. She squinted forward to where she could see a ship silhouetted against the dark sky. The ship was riding much lower in the water than it should. She thought she could see it listing to one side as well, but it was hard to tell from this distance. She had seen ships wrecked here before. Rocks hid beneath the surface of the water where weak human eyes couldn't see them. In weather like this, it was even more dangerous.

She thrashed her tail harder, speeding up her pace even more. She hoped she would reach them in time.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"I do see them!" cried out Rhodanthe. She caught her first glimpse of the ship, tossed about in the foul weather. She held on tight to Pelagia's mane, but didn't feel in danger. She herself couldn't swim properly in this storm, but she had every trust that Pelagia could. They had been in much more dangerous situations than this and come out all right.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Coming from the still distant ship, Pelagia heard cries of alarm. They were definitely in trouble. She was going as fast as she could, but the waves were hindering her, slowing her progress when she needed to be most swift. "Hold your breath!" she told Rhodanthe, trusting the familiar to comply. She dived underwater without another word.

Completely submerged, she moved a lot swifter. She could see fish around her, strange dark shapes in the sediment-filled water. They flitted out of her way as she powered forward.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

The salt water stung at Rhodanthe's eyes, so she shut them. Blind, she could only trust that Pelagia would surface before she needed air. From under the water, she could hear things differently than above. There were the usual sounds of waves and churning, but far off, there was something else. There was a sort of wooden groaning, as if the ship was about to tear apart...  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Pelagia surfaced. She gulped greedily at the air and heard Rhodanthe doing the same on her back. She looked ahead. They were close now! Even in the darkness, she could make out individual forms. She paddled in place, keeping steady while she took stock of the situation. Sailors seemed to be trying to load smaller boats for evacuation, but the angle of the ship made it difficult. There was something else going on too, something with the mast.

Suddenly filled with dread, Pelagia traced the mast upwards. The ship was listing, but the mast was at a perilous angle all of it's own. Something had damaged it greatly, and now it was in danger of falling. The sailors had wisely stashed the sails in advance of the storm, but the rigging and yards always remained. If the mast fell, it would not only kill people, but would damage the ship even further. "It's even worse than I thought," she whispered to Rhodanthe a moment before diving again.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Rhodanthe saw the mess they were about to get into and swallowed. It was always worst right before they plunged in. That was what she tried to tell herself, at least.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

As she swam, Pelagia passed through a school of fish rushing urgently in the opposite direction. Fish were too stupid to understand something as complicated as a shipwreck, but sometimes she wondered. Maybe they had more insight than anyone gave them credit for.

When she surfaced again, she was right alongside the ship. She could smell the fear on the humans and see it in their faces. Their language was unintelligible to her, but she didn't need to understand it to hear the urgency. What was the best way to help them? Suddenly, she felt powerless.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Rhodanthe sucked in air, and then tried to survey the situation. There was such a chaos of sound and movement that it was hard to focus. There were humans running every which way, pushing, shouting.... and one getting thrown overboard by the impact of a wave.

"Look! He fell!" she gasped.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Pelagia whinnied in distress she saw him topple overboard. Immediately he was underneath the water. Some humans couldn't swim at all and he had fallen from high enough to damage him. Humans drowned so easily...

She thrust her head underwater, looking. She could make out shapes, but debris had fallen into the water from the ship. Was that debris, or a human? Knowing that she needed to calm her mind, she shut her eyes for just a moment.

As she focused, a glow began to surround her. This was the gift of holy light, a power she had inherited from her angeni father. She could not use it nearly as strong as he, but it was still a blessing in times like this. The light surrounded her in a soft glow that filtered even through the murky water. With the illumination, she was finally able to make out the distressed human. He was there! She thrashed her tail and jetted forward.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

When they reached the human Rhodanthe sprang into action. Pelagia had the hard part, keeping him afloat. Her job was simpler, but even more important: Keeping his face free from water. She let go of Pelagia and instead grabbed onto the shoulder of the human, starting to grip onto his head as Pelagia lifted.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

The human didn't move as she maneuvered herself underneath him. He seemed unconscious. That was very bad. Water could have gotten into his lungs, and humans could die from that even if you got them to dry land. She got under his body and then rose herself upwards through the water. She broke through to the surface, paddling awkwardly with her heavy load.

"How is he?" she asked Rhodanthe, craning her head around to take a look. She expected to see an unconscious human. To her surprise, his eyes were wide open, staring at her with disbelief.

... No, not disbelief, it was horror.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

Barinthus had been attending a meeting with the mer delegation when the weather turned sour. He decided to swim home, though he soon began to have second thoughts. He was a strong swimmer, but even for him the waters were challenging. What was worse- the storm only seemed to be getting more violent by the moment.

Due to the nature of the weather, it didn't surprise him at all to see a human ship foundering. It didn't make him happy to see, but he usually didn't take it upon himself to meddle in human business. He almost just continued along his way... but he paused instead. He couldn't exactly explain why, but this time he was deciding to do something else. This time, he was swimming towards the wreck instead of ambivalently away from it. He was a little exasperated at himself, sticking his neck out in such dangerous weather. It wasn't like him.

He saw something odd in the water as he approached, something glowing. With surprise, he realized it was another soquili! And... she had a human on her back? "Do you need help with that?" he asked, right before the human started to shout.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

It was a look that Pelagia knew all too well. Humans feared her. That was the truth of things. She didn't know quite how it had happened or why, but that was it. This human recoiled away from her like she was a shark. He shouted something she couldn't understand and then pushed off her, back into the water.

Immediately his head went beneath the surface. He was still stunned from his fall and his body wasn't responding to its need to swim. She was aware that another soquili had approached but didn't have time to have a conversation. Instead, she ducked underwater and grabbed the human by his shirt. She pulled him up enough so that his head was out of the water again, but now he fought her. He pummeled at her haphazardly and she squeaked in pain as some of his blows hit. Rhodanthe was chattering in alarm on her back and there were chaotic sounds from the ship, but all she could do was try to hold onto this one human. She had to keep him from drowning!  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

"What's going on here?" Barinthus found himself confused. The mare looked like she was trying to help, but the human was attempting to fight her off. Could he have misread the situation? There were certainly soquili that would harm a drowning human and try to hasten them on their way to the afterlife. Suddenly he wondered if she was actually trying to drown the creature.

"Give him to me!" he demanded, biting onto another part of the human's clothing.  

[Revolutionary Roniel]

A sharp knock over her head left Pelagia reeling, and that's when she realized that the kelpi was grabbing onto the arm of the human. The kelpi gave a tug and she inhaled sharply in horror. He was trying to steal the human from her, to drown him! "Stay away!" she shouted, or at least, tried to. Her mouth was still full of the human's clothes... though the human was no longer attached to it. His shirt had torn away, leaving her holding only a piece of cloth in her teeth. She spat it out and glared at the kelpi.

"You won't hurt him!" Being violent was against her nature, but she had a human to protect. She whipped her tail out of the water and slapped the kelpi upside the head.