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((OOC: @Lucky: Ohhhh, riiiiight. XD This is doubly 'smart' of me since I just reread the entire thread the other day.
@Trey: Okay. See you when you get back.))

Tianara flashed Joshua a quick glance and an easy smile. Finally recalling exactly what she'd wanted to ask Sorry - and considering that it probably was important, and Joshua's words gave her an opening - she nipped in to ask, "Do you have any idea? How many will be coming, I mean? I think there are some wider caverns where we could hide boats and things," she glanced at Joshua as though for confirmation, "and there's a lot of space, but if you have any ideas about how many we'll have..."

Katalina looked considering. "Not as many as I was afraid of at first," she said. "Most of the younger ones - the ones without a human family yet - will be going home to their clans. A lot of the older ones already have places to go, places to send their families. They've planned ahead for problems. I don't know how many we'll get, but I wouldn't be too worried." She smiled a little, and weary as it was, it was sincere. "Keep stocking, I suppose, for as long as you can."

She looked over at Joshua and lifted a brow. "Do you need us to help you unload? It sounds like you have a lot."

((OOC: Oh, shush, you. xp ))

Katalina looked at Joshua with mild amusement. "And are you worried that Jinx and Nezik and I will find bringing in a number of boats too tiring?" she asked. "You will have the help of the merfolk - at least, the three of us. Most will be sticking close to their clans for now." She looked tired for a second. "In the more populated areas, they're already having some problems with boats." This seemed like a strange thing to mention, until she clarified, "More than usual, that is."

Tianara closed her eyes. She had been expecting this. Her mother had talked to her about things like this before. "They're like whale boats, right?" she asked quietly.

"Traveling where there are no whales and never have been whales," Katalina confirmed. The implication was clear enough. A whaling-type boat would be armed with harpoons and nets, among other things. If they weren't looking for whales, they might be looking for the merfolk.

After a second, Katalina shook her head. "Where's your boat, Joshua? I'll pull in the kids and we'll help you with unloading."

Katalina looked amused. "Unless everyone is intending on arriving at the same time, I think we can handle it, Joshua," she replied. "These are our home waters - we're used to turbulence." A flicker of a smile appeared. "But it's sweet of you to worry."

"It's possible that they're just very poor whalers who can't figure out where they last saw the whales," the mermaid said at last. "But there it is." She and Tianara were both silent about the other theory. There was an impression that this was something they would speak of later. But not now. There was no need to think about that on top of their worries about stocking now.

Tianara blinked and coloured slightly when Joshua spoke to her. "Oh. Yeah, sure." She gave Katalina a quick smile and said, "I guess we're putting it into the boat first. Be back in a minute. Maybe two," she amended, realizing how much they had put in the cabin. She turned and headed back to shore as well, easily catching up with the boy. Katalina, meanwhile, headed off to round up the other two.

Tianara just laughed. "Well, you don't need them anyway, right?" she said lightly, following him up the beach. She twisted her hair absently to get some of the water out - already she was picking up on little tricks like that. Much as she liked being wet, she didn't want to get the boat and preserves and such wet as well. She had the feeling they wouldn't take to it as much as she did.

With one look back at the merfolk out in the cove, she followed the boy into the cabin. Joshua had already taken a fair amount of what was there, and Tianara managed to balance what was left into one fairly heavy load. It was a bit precarious, but as long as she was careful, she'd probably be able to get it all to the boat.

Taking slow, careful steps, she made her way down to the little boat and set her bags with his. She watched how he was loading the bags, but figured out quickly that she wasn't going to be able to help with that part - it was a one-person job.

"Here, Joshua," she said. "You stay in the boat. I'll just pass you the stuff. Will that work?" She'd already picked up another bag and was offering it.

Tianara took a few seconds to arrange the bags by weight, then passed them up to him each time he reached out for them. "Does it matter, how the boat balances?" she asked curiously. While he started to explain, she listened quietly, passing the bags up to him absent-mindedly. Finally, she reached out for a bag and felt nothing touch her fingers. Confused, she looked down. There were no more. They were done.

It was kind of a shame. She'd liked listening to him talk. It had been interesting.

When he offered her his hand, she gave the boat a nervous glance. She had only just recovered from the heights thing, and now she was throwing herself right back at something else she was afraid of. But she could manage it, she told herself sternly. She would have to.

Taking his hand, she slowly stepped into the boat and took her spot. "I could swim," she teased weakly, managing a small smile. "I'm sure I could keep up." Though she was smiling, it was only partly a joke.

Boats, heights and storms. For a girl who'd been so fearless underwater, she was really starting to rack up the phobias on land. It bothered her, and not just a little.

Tianara smiled at him, touched. It was nice to know that he wouldn't judge her no matter what she chose to do. But it was also a bit of a problem, too - that meant she had to rely solely on herself for decisions. And she didn't always know which one was best.

"No, I'm going to try this," she said at last, after a minute or two of considering. "I need to learn. I can't always swim everywhere." When the boat rocked as Joshua jumped in, she paled and gripped the side, closing her eyes until the movement stopped. This was ridiculous. Why should she be afraid of the boat? It wasn't like the water underneath her was any threat. The worst that could happen was that it tipped over, she told herself. It would be okay.

Once they started out towards the reef, she opened her eyes again and fixed them on the coral, making herself steadier by seeing places she knew.

Katalina came up alongside the boat - not close enough to get tangled in the propeller, though with one as small as that the boat would be more damaged than she was, most likely - and followed them. "All right?" she asked Tianara, noting the girl's fixed stare.

"Oh. Yes. Fine," the brunette replied, managing to smile in Katalina's general direction while not taking her eyes off the coral.

Apparently satisfied, Katalina turned to Joshua and told him lightly, "Nezik and Jinx are following at a discreet distance. They're a little more wary of the propeller than I am." She knew exactly where it was, and had no fear of getting caught in it. "Where are we landing?"

Katalina continued along the side of the boat, occasionally swishing her tail farther away from the propeller but otherwise not seeming to give it much thought. "An open one on the water, hm?" she said thoughtfully, looking towards the cliff face. "Excuse me a second."

She disappeared under the water, leaving Joshua and Tianara alone while he navigated the reefs. Tianara smiled a little, having turned her intense focus from the reefs to the cliffs. "She's going to take Nezik and Jinx and go find one for us. You know that, right?" asked the girl. "Unless she already knows where one is, and she's just going to go check on it."

Her theory was confirmed a minute or two later when Katalina resurfaced and said cheerfully, "I'm taking the kids off for a little bit. We'll find you, don't worry. Be back in a bit." Then she dived again, and a few seconds later there was a flash of silver as the three merfolk sped past them and were off.

Tianara smiled again and shook her head. Sorry was a sweetheart.