The Song of the Siren (Accepting :: OPEN)

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Katalina considered. She didn't even know if she could speak above water, though she knew she could sing there. She'd done the stereotypical mermaid thing and sat on rocks singing several times.
She examined him narrowly for a moment, then said, "Katalina?"
Or rather, she asked it, like a child trying to answer what she fears may be a trick question. "My name is Katalina?"
Without noticing, she'd sunk back chin-deep into the water, ready to bolt if she saw another boat coming.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

"Katalina, eh?" Joshua played with her name as he said it. "Nice name." He smiled, then noticed her behavior. 'Almost as if she's looking for something....' He himself glanced around as well but only saw the wide ocean behind him and the beach in front. "Are you looking for something?" He asked. "There's no boats here if that's what you're worried about. Half-Moon Cove is known only to me." Joshua told Katalina, hoping she would stop being so mistrustful of him. He didn't want to hurt her, only get to know her.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

"Boats pass by," Katalina retorted. "All the time. The big ones, with the boxes all piled on the back. So I hide."
She flicked her tail again, this time in annoyance.
"Who are you?" she added after a moment, seeing as he didn't seem to be planning on introducing himself.
They were on the surface now, she thought. If he tried to catch her, she could get away. With that in mind, she relaxed a little.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

"Maybe so. But none of the boats ever come this close. They're afraid of hitting their bottoms on the reefs here." Joshua retorted right back at her. When she spoke her question, Katalina startled him. "Me?" He realized she was right and that he hadn't introduced himself. "Sorry!" He scratched the back of his head and laughed. "I'm Joshua Ritchen. I live at the cove here." He pointed to the beach behind Katalina. "I study the sea life here!" He grinned.  

[SavingPollyOliver]

Logic sat on his favorite rock in the reef, basking in the sun. His long inky hair was plastered to the rock beneath him, and his tail swished in the water gently. When he heard the voices, he stopped. Like a bullet, he slipped into the water, not making a splash. The chill of the water after the heat of the sun made him gasp quietly. But he made a series of clicks and whistles under the water and a deep grey dolphin came to his side. "Makai, who is that?" he asked.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

"They might see me. I'm shiny," Katalina pointed out, looking down on her scales. Then her eyes narrowed. "You're an...an ocean-grapper?" she asked, frowning. She meant oceanographer, but didn't know how to pronounce it. "Don't they cut up dead fish?"
The thought had made her a little sick. Why waste good food that way?  

[Lucky_Tiger]

"You mean oceanographer? And NO!" Josh shook his head violently. "I study sea life in their natural habitat. Besides, no one's ever going to learn anything from me." He smiled sadly. "I'm a loner." He waved a hand at the ocean surrounding them. "I do this for my own curiosity. No one will over learn about you from me. Or about this cove. Too many people in the world would want to wreck the peace here."  

[SavingPollyOliver]

Logic smiled. "Glad to know that he won't hurt us." he laughed, patting Makai on the back. He did a little happy spin and laughed again, so overjoyed to find a kind human that he wasn't careful about keeping his voice down. Makai let out trilling squeaks himself.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Katalina nodded a little, uncomfortably. "Poor Joshua," she said quietly. Being all alone had to be hard. She rarely spoke to other mermaids, not being a social creature, but at least she knew she had the option.
In a gesture of almost human affection, she patted his shoulder. Then she immediately withdrew her hand as though she expected it to burn her.
"Where is your cove?" she asked after a minute or two, flipping over to try and see the beach, though she kept one wary eye on him, just in case.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Joshua jumped when she patted his shoulder. After her mistrust, he really hadn't expected that. To answer her question he simple pointed a little beyond her left shoulder, where a smudge of sand and trees could be seen on the horizon.

Suddenly, Joshua looked around as he heard laughing. "Who?" He questioned. "No one else lives even remotely near here...." Marie suddenly swam off from Joshua and Katalina. "Marie!" He called after her. She turned, looked at him, squeaked something, then continued swimming. Joshua started to swim after her, then remembered Katalina. He stopped, torn between the first mermaid he'd ever seen, and finding out who was also here.  

[SilentShadowDreamer]

Katalina noted his jump, but didn't mind it.
When he started to swim away, she flipped a languid hand at him, then dived under the water again and began to swim towards the point on the horizon he'd indicated.
It was said you learned the most about humans from where they lived. She intended to learn a little more about Joshua.
A good place to start would be his cove.  

[spartan309]

Mellow was asleep in the little dingy of a boat he was on. He was close to the shore but didn't even know it. He started to toss and turn from the nightmares he was having. The turning flipped the boat over and Mellow fell into the water. He woke up immediately and tried to swim up but couldn't since he doesn't know how to swim.  

[SavingPollyOliver]

Logic felt a nudge on his shoulder and spun around again to see a new dolphin rushing at him. He let out a few clicks to show his friendship. Makai also let out the same series of clicks as Logic. "Hello, there, girl. I don't recognize you." he said, holding out a hand.  

[MommiiDearest]

Persephanie left the rocks at the shore and swam away, not knowing what to do anymore. She headed for the reef's, knowing she could always find some form of life there.  

[Lucky_Tiger]

Katalina made Joshua's choice for him. As she swam off, he wondered what she was going to his cove for. Shrugging, he turned and swam back to the direction the sounds had come from. As he swam Josh called out for Marie but she wasn't responding to him. 'That's not like her.' He thought.

Marie nudged his hand, sensing that this new person was friendly. And he could talk! Sometimes it was hard getting Joshua to understand what she wanted. She squeaked the rough dolphin equivalent of her name to him.

((Bedtime. crying I'll be back on tomorrow morning. Night!))