The Song of the Siren (Accepting :: OPEN)

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Joshua propped his elbow on his knee, head resting on his fist. "Sounds like it's pretty risky. And if you're all drained, why risk it? We needed everybody. And she'll wake on her own." He agreed with Narcis and Nezik on this one. From what he understood, it was too much of a risk for simply waking Katalina. Besides, like Nezik had said, there wasn't anything pressing that only Katalina could do. Anything she had needed to do, the others could do for a little while. "Though it sounds like everybody needs to rest right now." He cast a glance at Tianara. It couldn't have been easy for her to reach and find all of those ocean children.

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara caught Joshua's glance her way, and her eyes narrowed briefly - whether in irritation or warning, it was difficult to distinguish. But then she nodded. "As you say," she replied. "If all three of you put together can't get enough power to wake her, it means that you all need rest. She will wake when she's ready." She smiled. "Joshua and I will keep an eye on things while you sleep."

Nezik seemed more than willing to go along with this. He took Jinx by the arm and towed her away. She didn't actively protest, either. She really must be tired, brooded Tianara. With a sigh, she sat crosslegged on the beach and stared out at the water.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

((OOC: Bumpeh.))  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

((Sorry.....Somehow I managed to miss your post....))

Joshua shrugged when Tianara narrowed her eyes at him. He'd just said what he thought. He watched quietly as the merfolk disappeared, then glanced at Tianara. "Worried?" He asked quietly, wondering what the girl was thinking. "Everything will be fine." He had to believe that. It was that or give into dispair and he didn't want to do that. The sun was sitting low on the horizon, it's last rays turning the water orange with hints of red.

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

((OOC: It's fine.))

Tianara pushed back her dark hair. "No. A little. Yes," she muttered finally. "Yes, I am. I want to believe that it'll all be fine, but I just can't really feel it. I don't have faith, not like you and the others do." She stared very intently at the setting sun, its rays bringing colour to her pale skin. "I just can't really believe that we'll come out of this okay. All of us." Her lips trembled slightly, then firmed. She was right on the edge of her endurance, and it showed. "Call me paranoid," she murmured.

She saw the water turning orange with the last of the sunset, but in her mind it wasn't the sunlight. In her mind's eye, it was broad daylight, and the orangey-red colour of the water came from blood.

With a low, sad sigh, she shook her head and tried to dismiss the image. "I just don't know what to do," she whispered, more to herself than to Joshua.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Joshua sighed, watching Tianara. "I know what you mean. But I have to believe." His gaze slid out across the water as he explained. "It's either believe or drown in dispair. And if I do that, then I'm no help to anybody. But I guess we all deal with the stress in different ways. This is just how I deal." He shrugged, not looking at Tianara. He was slightly embarrassed, but felt it was true. "We've done all we can for tonight. Rest. We'll deal with everything as it comes." He told her softly, reaching out to rest his hand on her shoulder. "You can't do anything if you're exhausted."

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara laughed weakly. "You're very strong, Joshua," she said quietly, her hand raising to rest over his as she continued to gaze out at the water. "I wish I could handle all this so well." She shook her head slowly. "I keep telling myself that we all know what's coming, that we can protect ourselves. But I don't know. I just..." She sighed. "I wish I could see the future, sometimes. Just so I could feel like we had a chance."

Embarrassed, she looked down. "And listen to me, dumping all my troubles on you when you have more than enough of your own." She worked up a smile, and weak as it might have been, it was still something. "I'll rest later. Someone needs to keep a watch out, just...just in case. And all the others are sleeping."

Realizing that she still had her hand resting over his, she dropped it slowly, flushing a bit. "Someone might need to talk to us, that's all. And I don't know if they'd be able to get through to you."  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Joshua blushed at the praise. He didn't of himself as strong. He just did what he had to. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze then pulled his hand back, sensing he might be making her uncomfortable. "Why don't you go see Kiro?" He suggested. "You wanted to go see how he was doing didn't you? And there's no pressing needs right now, so you might as well." He urged her to go, hoping that maybe Kiro could convince Tianara to at least relax, if not rest. He didn't like how worried and tired she seemed. He was beginning to suspect that it was a trait of all merfolk - A dislike to rest when something is happening, even if it was dangerous to their health.

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara's eyes softened. "No," she said after a moment. "There's no need. He's sleeping just now. He's fine." Clearly she had reached out and felt for him. Joshua's intent had backfired on him - she was just extending herself more than before to check on her brother now. She smiled wearily. "I don't think I should wake him when he needs the sleep so."

Realizing what that had to sound like, she sighed and shook her head. "But he's injured. It's not the same." She looked up at him curiously. "You're worried about me," she said slowly, frowning. "Why?"  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Joshua sighed as he realized what Tianara had done. Great. Well there went that idea. She only went and extended herself even more. He glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "I'm worried about everyone." He told her simply, turning to look out across the water as darkness slowly claimed it. He continued to speak, explaining himself. "We all need to rest. What good is anyone if they're so tired they can't do anything? And I don't think it could have been easy for you, reaching all those ocean children. You look tired. And I don't like it."

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara frowned a little. She felt like there was a flaw in that logic somewhere, but she couldn't find it. "Well, I know that we need to rest, Joshua," she said, not looking at him but very steadily out over the water. "But we need someone to keep watch, too. We can't all be caught sleeping if something comes." She listened to the rest of his explanation in silence, and then shrugged. "It wasn't really as hard as you might think. I just looked for those that felt like me..." She trailed off, and sighed. "And yes, I'm tired. I won't try to pretend I'm not. I'm tired. But I don't feel I should go to sleep and leave you by yourself."  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Joshua chuckled quietly, shaking his head. Leave him by himself? "Tianara, I've been on my own for years. It's nothing new to me. I'll be fine." He waved one hand dismissively. "I'm not the one who was trying to reach everyone. So if you don't want us all sleeping at once, then I'll take first watch. I can wake you later, if you're that desperate." He figured that, of them all, he was the least tired. He hadn't really done much, much to his disappointment.

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara's dark blue eyes finally turned to him, and they were dead serious. "You were never dealing with being one of the leaders of a war before," she replied smoothly. "You were never dealing with the monsters that Kiro said were in the woods before. It's not a reflection on you, but I think we should be in pairs. I can wait until one of the others wakes up to sleep." She tucked her hair back behind her ear, her gaze going out to the water. "Tell me about life as a human, Joshua." It was as much out of curiosity as a plea to change the subject. "Tell me what it's like out of the water, in places like the town."  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Shadow Hunter, Silent Hunter
The forest is yours alone
Night Hunter, Quiet Hunter
None disturb your hunt

Joshua sighed but accepted the change of topic. It was obvious the stubborn girl wasn't going to give in and sleep. Though a small voice in the back of his mind told him she was right - He'd never really dealt with anything like this before. He stared out at the dark water, purples and blues shifting on it's surface. He was quiet for a minute, thinking. "I'm not sure if I'm the one you want to ask about that." He said finally. "I've always been on the outskirts, my whole life. Never really fit in." He went quiet for another minute. "I'm not entirely sure about life in the water so I can't really say how it differs. I'll just say what I can I guess, answer any questions. Humans are on odd species. We're so diverse, so different that it doesn't even seem like we're one race. Our physical appearance is different everywhere in the world just as much as the culture is."

Beneath the Blood moon
The forest you watch
Beneath the Blood sky
The forest you hunt

 

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Tianara smiled to herself, still gazing out into the dark. "You're pretty good at it," she commented. "Teaching, I mean. So what is this culture like? This part of the race? I'd like to know what the world I'm going to live in is going to be like." She looked up at Joshua. "What are people like? I know it's hard to answer questions like that. They're so general. But what are they like? What is it like to be...well, human, I guess."

She seemed to realize that that was a strange question, because she shrugged her shoulders half-humourously. "I know it sounds silly. And I know you don't spend much time around others. I'm just curious."