Welcome to Gaia! ::

He'd returned to his waters.

It had been too long since he'd skimmed through his dream waters. He'd grown nostalgic for the brief adventures he'd shared with his favorite dreamers, his life on the outside world proving too stressful to step away from. More monsters had invaded the city, the innocent and unprotected remained at risk of perishing at the hands of such creatures. Not to mention, well, midterms... but alas, that was the life of a college student housing the body of an Elysion Guardian.

But tonight, at long last, he'd returned.

Waist deep in water, sandy blonde hair was pushed back and out of his face while his other hand began to brush against the sea's surface, searching for familiar faces within the images that came to life.

Blue eyes lit up as he recognized one of the many faces among the gentle waves. His glove pushed the others aside as teal hair fluttered in the breeze, the young woman resting atop a rock with....Oh.

It was endearing, really, to see someone other than a child dream of mermaid thoughts. Child-like wonder tended to dominate the fantasy worlds, so it was refreshing to see someone so close to adulthood dream of something similar. If anything, it presented the perfect opportunity for him.

"Perhaps your innocence has yet to disappear among the darkness, Lady Hydra."

His voice was soft, spoken to no ears but his own. Within a few moments, he'd submerged - blonde hair disappearing under the surface of the dark blue sea.





The darkness was coming - but not the sort he'd been expecting. There had been lightning in the glimpse he'd seen, yet he failed to realize how dreary the weather truly was in her dream until he'd made his appearance within it. As his head bobbed above the water, the wind whipped against his small, bald head and sent a shiver down his pinniped spine.

Diving back under the water, the small white seal thrust forward with his flippers, sending him directly towards the mermaid's rock, where he hesitantly poked his whiskered nose out to investigate. Large black eyes blinked and looked up at the Lady of the Rock.

Letting off a small whine, he revealed his presence to the young woman.

His head tilted as he watched her curiously and once the teal mermaid finally acknowledged him, he let out an appreciative, happy sounding chirp. A bruised hand extended itself out as she stretched to reach him, so he made no hesitation to scoot forward in the water, pressing against her rock to allow gentle fingers to feel his wet head, his black nose and the long whiskers that sprouted from his cheeks. The seal gave her palm a nuzzle and a kiss (or as much as a seal could manage, that is), before chirping in her direction again.

Seal's Eye hadn't noticed the many bruises scattered across her arms on their last meeting. Had they been there before? No...no, he would have noticed a fair amount, like she currently wore across her arms, her face, her.... The seashells and pearls covering her breasts failed to cover the dark patch across her stomach and a particularly nasty looking bruise running up her side.

It was alarming, to say the least.

Yet for her to still have dreams like this...

He did his best to waddle onto the rock alongside her, only to turn and leap down into the salty water with a large splash. Repeating the process two more times, he called out to her again, beckoning her into the water with her new, flippered friend.

As she finally slid into the water, the seal let out a triumphant ork! in appreciation for her act of courage. He was proud - she'd been hesitant in her dreams before, but she was slowly accepting the idea of challenging herself. One couldn't learn to swim without getting wet first, after all.

She called to him and he complied without pause, wriggling his chubby form across the surface of the water as fins pushed his blubbery self towards her. The seal stopped a foot or so away, choosing instead to splash back and forth, showing his excitement for her joining him in the water.

He was mindful not to overwhelm her or push her too far - the Lady Hydra would need to be willing to submerge herself before he could assist in guiding her further into her own dream, where anything could await them - adventure, beauty, peril - all possible within the creative mind of the young woman who floated in front of him.

Her hand extended itself out again and this time, he allowed himself to drift within her reach. The poor, sweet thing was still attempting to figure out how to swim and while it amused Seal's Eye to no end in the endearment of watching her, he knew she could probably use some assistance... or at the very least, a fuzzy companion.

Chirping, he bobbed forward and pressed his small black nose against her cheek, his whiskers twitching with his nostril's movement. He spread his fins out and pressed against her, allowing himself to become a buoy of sorts, if need be. Hydra was a clever girl - she was looking for the Guardian to help protect her. Only, the Guardian was already there... more or less.

He smiled to himself, biding his time until the right moment to reveal his impish little secret.

The seal nodded its head, as though it clearly understood her dilemma. Perhaps it did - it was a dream, after all.

Turning over onto his back, his flipper raised out of the water and he slapped it against the surface for emphasis, as if reiterating her statement about having long, awkward fins. His was at least flat across the surface on the end, as opposed to her split tail.

Glancing over towards the mermaid senshi, black eyes blinked at her expectantly. He breached the water with his tail again, the sound loud and booming as it slapped the water a second time. Then a third.

His head bent up, nose pointing almost as though it were gesturing towards his movements and was insisting for her to repeat them. Then, gazing back over towards her, Hydra might even think she saw the little seal wink at her.

He couldn't fault her for enjoying herself - after all, wasn't that one of the sweet, wonderful perks of escaping to a dream? Running away from responsibilities, from duties and the danger of heartbreak.

The flippers on both sides of him rose up to slap together like applause - the only thing Seal's Eye could think of to do, honestly.

It was almost awkward - what had begun as a curse had slowly been embraced as a gift, though without any true natural seal instincts, he was simply a man posing as an animal ---- which was weird in itself to dwell on.

Pushing his bottom fin, he tried to boost them both forward a tad, just to lead by example. The size of her fins outweighed his short and stubbier one, but he was determined to help her in any way he could.

He watched her with swelling pride as she took the plunge on her own and dove under the surface. Hydra's words hadn't been missed by the small animal, Seal finding himself curious of how the statement would have ended.

Nevertheless, there was a mermaid on the loose that was in need of guidance!

Dunking his own head under the water, the white seal wiggled his way downwards, using his fins to propel himself towards the turquoise mermaid descending into the depths of her own dream's waters. He let out a bark to assure her that he was nearby, before sidling alongside the young woman and giving her as much of a smile as a seal could manage.

Corkscrews and flips were the next trick of the moment, the seal excitedly doing both for his Lady's approval, fins and flippers spinning happily with the movement. Keeping her distracted, the Dream Guardian was busy adding his own delightful additions to her dream - large, colorful coral decorating the bottom of the ocean's floor with an array of beautiful creatures weaving in and out of the branches.