"Strange Find Upon the Shore" Log Date: 2/3/02 Log Cast: Raven, Flashfire, Vardeus Log Intro: The crew of the human ship _Windrider_ has suffered much in the last few months, as they've been lost in unfamiliar seas -- but never in any of their wildest dreams could they have concocted the horrific monster that rose up out of the waves to shatter their vessel as they drew close in to an alien shore. Many of them have been lost overboard... including the Captain's young cabin boy and the Captain himself. Only young Maerro was witness, however, to how strange squeaking fish-like creatures helped him and the man he so admires survive long enough to get to the shore -- for Vardeus has been wounded in the battle, struck during the melee by one of the great monster's tentacles, which had hit him with one of the body of his very own crew. And now, as the sun rises on the morning following their momentous battle, the humans lie in profound exhaustion upon the beach. But that beach is already inhabited -- and the Others who live on this shore are about to be greatly shocked by what they find the waves have offered up to them.... ---------- Early morning on the small island that the Raft tribe calls home seems to show little sign of the storm from the previous evening. Unaware of the battle that occured out in the Vastdeep during the storm, Raven walks calmly through the forest heading for the beach where the tribe will soon be gathering for their morning meal. From one hand dangle the carcasses of two fat ravvits, her share of the morning's kill. She turns to the one walking alongside her, **It has been long since I have enjoyed a hunt so well.** she sends with a bright smile on her features. Fortunately the weather isn't too bad any more, but when it rains fur gets wet. Being in possession of said fur, it's been a fairly wet Flashfire that went out on that hunt with Raven. Having only been around visiting again for a short amount of time, it's been good to hunt with someone, opposed to going it alone as he'd been doing during his journey. A couple more ravvits are in tow with him, a bit of a smile lingering. ** Good hunt. ** he confirms. Raven grins and nods her head vigorously in agreement before her head snaps up at a silent send from her waterbound bond. Her expression quickly shifts to one of all seriousness as she starts toward the beach with a more purposeful stride, **There's something on the beach that's got Chatter all excited.** she sends to her companion. ** Wonder what it is. ** Flashfire send-murmurs, making more of a concerted effort to keep to send now that a bit of the unknown is coming into play. ** Let's put the ravvits away, then look. ** he suggests, the very tall fuzzy elf taking on a look of curiosity. It is always the way with storms that remnants of their passing strew themselves across the sand -- and last night's storm was no exception. Traces of its vigor might be glimpsed between the trees as the pair of elves emerge out into the open: bits of driftwood, tangles of seaweed, shattered fragments of rock and shell. But two large shapes crumpled in boneless heaps upon the sand are neither wood nor weed, rock nor shell. And one of them is moving. _Pain_ is the first thing that registers in Vardeus' consciousness, as he groans and stirs feebly where he lies. Somewhere within his head the storm still seems to linger, thrashing within the confines of his skull; somewhere in his chest, it feels as though someone has knifed him, the ache spiking each time he draws in a breath. Not yet able to open his eyes, he rolls onto his back, striving to make his limbs move as the next thought focuses in his head. _Maerro--!_ Raven shakes her head as Chatter is entirely too wound up to get much out of him other than *strange things* and *don't like* feelings from him. She nods her head in response to Flashfire's suggestion, **Let's just leave them at my tent.. the others will take them down.** she sends in reply as she steps onto the sand which is already warming under the daystar's morning rays. Flashfire nods wordlessly, head tilting a bit to one side at the general sense he's getting of the situation. Hard to explain, but the wolf in him doesn't like something..something isn't quite right. Once the ravvits are set aside, he begins to jog towards the beach. _Maerro. Have to get to Maerro..._ But Vardeus' chest feels on fire, and the violent spasm of coughing that flares up within him, brought on by his body's striving to rid itself of the last of the salt water he's swallowed, doesn't help. Drained, shaken, sweating, he rolls back onto his side once again... and only then, does his fumbling hand find the sprawled form of the boy beside him. It seems a small eternity before he can open his eyes, and another eternity still before he can croak out worriedly, "((Maerro... lad...?))" Raven hurries to her tent and hangs the ravvits from a leather thong by the entrance, then follows the anxious sends of her bond toward a rather obscure part of the beach where hardly any of the Raft denizens bother to go. She hurries along the sands and stops short at the sound of a pain wracked cough that carries over the excited chirps and squeals of her wavedancer bond. She lifts a hand to signal to Flashfire, **We're not alone here.** she sends as she draws her dagger and creeps toward the top of a small rise in the sands. Flashfire's brought a long spear of his own with him, clutched in his right hand as he moves along with Raven, nodding quietly. ** Can smell something..strange. ** he answers, nose wrinkling a tad before he shakes his head. ** Not right. ** he decides. Shortly, the two of them are able to see just what is so Not Right, as the sight of two strangers can be seen. ** Timmorn's Blood... ** _Something's wrong..._ Why can't he think? Vardeus frowns muzzily to himself, dismayed at the slowness of his reactions, the sluggishness of his thoughts. There's a desperate urgency somewhere underneath layers of shock and confusion and pain, but he can't remember more than something being... wrong. Trembling, the Vraeyan captain hoists himself up onto one elbow, anxious to make sure Maerro is all right, alive... breathing... But the pain flares up again, and Vardeus winces, clapping a hand to his bruised and battered brow. Raven watches as one of the shapes on the beach moves, tries to sit up and with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach realizes that the washed up people are much too big to be elven. She glances over at Flashfire wrinkling her nose, **Five fingers...** she sends with disgust. With a resigned sigh, she starts toward the two forms lying there in the sun. Round ears, five fingers, so tall and..well, not elfin - they're definitely humans, and it causes Flashfire's hackles to go up a fair amount. ** Careful..I've never /seen/ any like these! ** he sends, as confused and uncertain of the situation as he's probably ever been. "Back.." he whispers towards Raven, reaching out towards her with a claw-tipped hand as he acts as though giving more space at first would be the best course of action. The one is moving, but the other...and neither look very good. Two of them, indeed. One small, closer in size to an elf... young, perhaps? But not moving. The other, the one that's struggling to rise, has turned an anguished expression upon the smaller. But aye, the bigger one... there's a smell of injury and weakness upon him, and even as he claps a big bronzed hand to his head, he almost crumples again beneath the nausea that roils through him. Vardeus' stomach surges -- without delivering, fortunately, for there is nothing left within him to send back up through his salt-scoured throat. Raven Long, straight hair, black as a raven's wing, flows in a silken fall to the tops of her thighs. The top portion of her hair has been swept up into a ponytail and is held securely in place by a band of deep green cord. A fringe of dark bangs hangs over her forehead drawing attention to the pair of bright, almond - shaped eyes that glitter like polished emeralds from her oval face. A pair of dark, finely drawn brows arch high on her forehead over her dark lashed eyes. High, rounded cheekbones, a pertly upturned nose and full, pink lips make up the rest of her facial features. Her well-rounded, compact body is definately that of a Wolfrider though her light tan and mode of dress bears testiment to her life amongst the Raft elves. Two tiny swatches of dark green cloth do little to cover her firm, well-rounded breasts. The scraps of material are held up by a tiny cord around her neck. Three more cords span the distance between the scraps of cloth and look hard pressed to serve their purpose. A single, narrow strip of green ties snuggly at her spine keeping her scant top firmly in place. Her midsection is left bare, showing off her smoothly muscled stomach. A ragged edged loincloth of deep green covers the bare essentials as it hangs suspended, low on her abdomen, by a band of golden - tan material. Sewn at the top of the loincloth is a large, white clapshell that draws the eye to the loincloth which flutters between her legs with every step she takes. The revealing cut of her clothes reveal four parallell scars high on her right thigh, the ever present reminder of a long ago scuffle with a plains cat. A curved yellow coral dagger rests in a green and gold sheath, held against her left thigh by two strips of tan material. High on her left arm is a slim band for the same tan fabric apparently placed there simply for decoration. A piece of unworked jade hangs from a narrow cord around her neck suspended just above her ample cleavage while a pair of matched shark's teeth dangle from the lobes of her delicately pointed ears. Carrying: Necklace Chatter Statue of Chatter(#10419C) Flashfire At first glance, it is clear that Flashfire isn't at all like most elves. One can see a fine layer of fur over any skin that's exposed - even his face, but nothing shows on his palms or beneath his feet. Its color is a rusty reddish-brown. The Glider-tall elf's face is marked with larger-than-normal eyes of a golden yellow, surrounded by a mane of fire-red hair that darkens a bit as it trails down to partially frame the rest of his face. It is a bit darker at the roots and his hair rests somewhat wildly on his head, with no rhyme or reason as to where it falls. His pointed ears are upswept, and a thickening tuft of fur-like hair can be seen around his earlobes. His nose pokes out slightly, turning up very faintly at the tip, and when his lips part, you can notice his canines are sharp, definitely a telling sign that Flashfire is a 'throwback' of sorts, wolfen qualities stronger in him. Those attributes are clearly enhanced by his current appearance. Flashfire wears no clothing over his fur, though it is thick enough to allow him to look decent in the necessary areas. His weapons of choice are either a spear or a bow and arrows, a spear commonly found in his possession these days. Once smaller and somewhat lanky, he's undergone quite a...growth spurt, suddenly, even more lanky than before. It seems that, for the most part, he's able to get around pretty well in this new form. Raven's expression becomes grim as she moves close to the two forms on the beach and though she knows none of the human tongue she tries to make her wishes known to the one that seems to be awake, "You're not welcome here, five fingers," she says as she points at the taller of the two humans and points at the sands shaking her head vigorously, "You should go," she adds then points back at Vardeus and then back at the water since that's obviously where the two came from. Flashfire murmurs aloud in that elfin tongue, "Do you know what this means, though? If they're from...somewhere else?" It could mean a lot of things, really. For the moment, he still stays back, gripping that spear in more of a protective way rather than a threatening one. There's a part of him that wants to get rid of the humans, but another that may want to know who they are and how they got here. These are nothing at /all/ like the Olbar or Hoan humans. He watches Raven, waiting to see the response her words and actions have. As the shadows of the two newcomers fall across him, the human starts violently, one shaking hand moving to the daggers sheathed at his belted waist. But then, despite the strange angle at which he sees Raven's determined figure, it seems to galvanize him somehow. His hand falls away from his weapons, only to lift imploringly... and, paradoxically, an enormous lopsided smile wavers into being across the tanned features of the Tall One. Eyes as blue as the ocean that seems to have thrown him and the smaller human up onto the sands focus their attention upon the she-elf -- but their gaze is a glassy one, the stare of someone lost in dreaming. Or delirium. "((R-Rilke...? Praise the Skyfather... I-I-I never thought I'd see you again...!))" The voice is low and gravelly, rougher by far than any elf's... and cracked, furthermore, by strain and effort. But even so... is that _joy_ in the human's unintelligible words? Raven blinks as the five finger grins up at her like a long lost friend and jabbers away in his unintelligable words. She glances over her shoulder at Flashfire with a confused expression and speaks to him, "They're definately not like any humans /I've/ ever seen before. This one's happy to see me!" she says and points at him with a mixture of expressions that span from wonderment to aghast. She then turns back to Vardeus and mutters under her breath, "Redtide definately won't like this..." as she takes in the completely battered appearance of the two lying on the sand. To say Flashfire's like a fish out of water might be about right. When Vardeus turns to Raven and speaks, his brows furrow. "What'd he say? Can you understand? It's like no round-ear I've ever heard.." Not that he's heard many. There were just one or two times, and the human he met seemed to want to worship him, too. "Don't like this.." he worries, admittedly looking a little concerned at the state of the two humans. "..who are you?" he asks. The big human's balance is none too assured -- but somehow, he manages to haul himself, swaying, to his knees. As Raven's companion comes up behind her, he blinks groggily up at Flashfire... but, if the look on his battered face is any sign, with only a moderate surprise. Battered he certainly is, the strange garments he's wearing rumpled by water and sand and torn by rocks. His forehead, just over the right eye, is severely bruised -- and perhaps this is the explanation for his disoriented air, not to mention the hand he lifts unthinkingly there. A fleeting wince... ... but then, Vardeus grins in giddy relief at the small dark figure before him. "((Brought... a friend, Rilke? Smart thinking, sweetling... I'm... not sure I can lift Maerro right now!))" Now the alien blue eyes glance back and forth between both elves, and once again the human's expression turns anguished, before he shakily turns to try to lift the boy. "((You've got to help me with Maerro... please... I think he's hurt...))" Raven shakes her head slightly in reference to Flashfire's question, "I never learned human words," she admits as she tries to gather what it is that the awake human is trying to convey. She watches him closely then glances over at Flashfire, "I'd say he's worried about the young one though," she says finally and reaches out a tenative hand to touch the distracted man on the shoulder trying to convey a sense of ease though she doesn't know how well it works, "Check the small one, will you? See if you can find anything wrong with him. We may need to call for Splash." She then turns back to Vardeus points at herself and speaks one word, "Raven." hoping that he might catch on to their musical language at least enough to call her by her name. Flashfire doesn't know much about whatever types of injuries the humans have aside from the fact they look like they came out on the wrong end of an encounter with a snowcat up in the Frozen North, but it's enough to know that they're /not/ in good shape. Inching a little closer as they definitely don't look like much of a threat, he nods quietly at Raven's words. "I've learned some.." After all, Cutter knows a fair amount. "But these are all different. He's mindsick.." he determines, shaking his head slowly. No idea what he's talking about though, as more words come out, only generating a more confused expression in the wolfelf. Without giving his name yet, he keeps his spear in the right hand as he crouches next to the younger one, cautiously touching at his shoulder then head with a hand. The smaller human still breathes, but his form is slack and limp, weighed heavily down by unconsciousness, exhausted slumber, or both. As he sees Flashfire crouch down at Maerro's side, Vardeus struggles to turn to face him -- but his ribs protest this notion of his ongoing verticality, and another spasm of coughing wracks him. One broad forearm presses against his chest, while his head threatens to loll forward... and only then, dimly, does the human seem to realize that Raven has touched him. Weakly, he lifts his head again, blinking at her uncertainly. "((Wh... what did you say, Rilke? Can't... understand you... did I hit my head? I...))" Raven watches the confused human and sighs as he turns back to her and talks more gibberish but, she has noticed the repeating of that one word, Rilke. She frowns a bit, catches hold of both sides of the man's face and makes sure she has his undivided attention before she points at herself once more and slowly pronounces her name this time, "Raven." Strange that this tall one seems to be equating her with someone he knows even though she's nearly half his size and is eye level with him since he's on his knees in the sand. Flashfire is, of course, taller than Raven, but still not one who approaches the height of any full-grown human. Fairly lupine eyes shift uneasily from Maerro to Raven and Vardeus then back again, tensing when she grabs him that way. "Careful.." he warns before placing his hand over the younger boy's head, feeling for any possible bumps. He saw the way Vardeus' looked, after all. "This one's knocked out," he adds. _Something is still wrong..._ Vardeus does not seem to object as the she-elf's small hands take his face in their palms; indeed, as his attention settles unsteadily upon her, that look of almost prayerful gratitude softens his countenance once again. But inexorably, the idea sinks through his shock and pain... Rilke is speaking... strangely. Why can't he understand his little sister? "Rrraaaav'n?" he mumbles, as her face blurs in his sight. Raven smiles encouragingly and nods her head then points to him with a questioning look, "Who are you?" she asks even though she knows he can't understand what she's saying. She then glances over toward Flashfire and smiles, "Do you think he needs Splash's attentions right now or should we wait?" She not entirely certain about that but, she points at the boy then turns back to Vardeus miming sleep by putting her hands together and resting the side of her face against them while closing her lupine eyes. "The young one sleeps," she says as she opens her eyes and watches to see if Vardeus might understand what she's trying to sign to him. Better Raven to try this signing stuff than Flashfire. The ideas just aren't coming to him right now, simpler things on it instead, like..well, making sure these strange ones are safe, if that's the intent. "Not sure yet.." he answers Raven, lips twisting following Vardeus' attempt at speaking her name. He hasn't given his yet. "((Rilke, sweet... n-not the time for games,))" the human rasps, his bruised brow furrowing in anxious bemusement, as he strives for a stern, earnest expression. Impish, playful little Rilke... he's missed her, gods, how he's missed her and all the rest of his family, but... why are her words so strange? And why is she making those strange gestures with her hands? The effort of sorting it begins to make Vardeus' head spin... and all at once an ardent desire to get Home crashes over him. "((A-aye... gods, Maerro needs a bed... the lad needs to sleep... get me home, Rilke...?))" These last few words rumble out of the human pleadingly, his eyes turned yearning, desperate. And then, all at once, as unsteadily as a tree about to topple from a bolt of skyfire, he tries to get to his feet. Raven's eyes go wide as the rather overlarge human tries to get to his feet. There is an instant of indecision and then she decides to offer him what support her small frame can give. She looks over at Flashfire with a very worried expression on her face, "I guess we should try to get them to my tent.. I can sleep outside and make sure they don't get into trouble." she says. Raven silently adds, 'And maybe we can get them away from here before Redtide finds out about them...' Flashfire literally hops back a couple feet from the younger of the two five-fingers, grabbing his spear tighter in his hands as he makes certain the man isn't going to advance on them and try to hurt them or something. Granted, he hasn't sounded like he wants to based on just the tone of his voice, but one never knows. A little cautiously, he asks, "What happened to wanting them out of your sight?" In spite of things, he tries to smile about it just a little, flashing those canines of his. "..do you need help? What about the cub?" Vardeus sways alarmingly, color draining out from beneath his tan, as the world tilts this way and that around him. Somewhere in the middle of the whirling of his senses he realizes that Raven's little figure has come up beside him... and that she's trying to help him. Stoically, stubbornly, he squeezes his eyes closed until he's vaguely certain he can remain erect. But even when he opens his eyes again, stars wink in and out of his vision, between him and the confusingly blurred form of his 'sister'. _Can't fall over on her... bloody damn fine figure I'd make that way, aye?_ Then his fevered gaze swings round to Flashfire, and it seems to cost him further strength to speak to _him_, as he swallows his pride enough to hoarsely request, "((Please, friend... if you can carry Maerro... I... feel a little strange...))" Raven looks between Vardeus and Flashfire with a worried expression. The taller human doesn't seem to be doing too well now that he's up on his feet so she's stuck helping to hold him up and can't help move the smaller one. So, she querries Flashfire, "Do you think you can bring the little one along? I don't think this one will go anywhere without him." 'Little one,' of course, is absolutely relative in this instance, but Flashfire nods without a word again, leaving his spear behind to fetch later. Now, he's got a sleeping, somewhat roughed-up round-ear cub to carry, making his way to his feet with Maerro draped over a fur-coated shoulder. "Heavy..for a cub. Like one of us." It'll be a bit of a slow walk back to the tent. ** Why don't you want Redtide to know, now? ** he wonders. Indeed, the longer the big human stays upright, the harder it seems to grow for him. His left arm is still curled tightly about his ribs, and his breathing is odd, coming in tight, shallow gasps. The voices of the two beside him grow distant in his awareness, and though one corner of his dazed mind still puzzles at the high, soft, musical syllables, the rest of it is still set completely on the need to get Home. He begins to mumble again, staring more or less down at Raven, guilt etched into his expression along with his pain. "((H-have they missed me, Rilke? I've... got to explain to Father, Mother... I didn't mean to break my vow... Tyra, will Tyra forgive me? Got to tell them, I've... gotta tell them...))" Raven glances over at Flashfire and sighs, **Redtide does not hold any care for round ears of any sort.. not after what they did to him...** and that's all she has to say on the matter. Of course, in the depths of her send is a cold dread that still haunts her concerning her lovemate and chief-friend. She looks up at Vardeus then and shrugs since she has no idea what he's talking about but, she does urge him to start moving along the sands, pointing him toward her tent. "I know... maybe he'll be able to catch on that I'm not who he keeps calling me when he's had some rest and Splash has tended to him." Flashfire is careful not to poke Maerro with his sharp little claws, part and parcel of what he is, though to someone like Vardeus, he probably hasn't had the chance to see whether or not someone like him is considered normal here. ** What if Splash told him? ** It'd seem to follow that if Redtide found out about them here and would have a problem he'd have a problem if Splash told him, too. "Can't fix them ourselves, though.." he adds, no idea what would happen if they did and Vardeus wasn't as inhibited as he currently is. "I don't think he mistakes me for someone he knows.." he adds, keeping Maerro in place with both arms and hands. Follow Rilke. He can do that. How difficult can it be? He's climbed up the _Windrider_'s rigging countless times. He's ridden the fastest horse in Shalros, danced through swordplay with some of the best warriors in all of Vrae... So why is it so difficult for him to make his feet move, now? Gritting his teeth, sweat beading his forehead, the human stumbles into motion at Raven's urging. For all his daunting size, for all the well-muscled breadth of shoulders and limbs, the gaze he's fixed on Raven seems bizarrely helpless. Vulnerable and trusting, like a wolf-cub trotting along behind his mother. He keeps mumbling to himself as he goes, but now his low, hoarse voice has fallen down to a delirious whisper. Raven moves as quickly as she can with the human, urging him along the beach hoping that no one catches sight of the odd foursome. She sighs as she glances back at Flashfire, "I'll tell him.. I just will need some time to break it to him so he won't do something rash." Strange perhaps that a Wolfrider has to council one of the normally gentler Raft elves against rash decisions but, it wouldn't be the first time that the dark haired elf maid has done just that. She glances up at Vardeus as he mutters under his breath and makes absolutely no sense. Of course, the fact that it's an entirely different language that he speaks may have something to do with it. Not exactly accustomed to carrying the equivalent of an elfin adult around like this, Flashfire's steps through the sand on the way back to the tent are also slow and plodding, a few grunts offered along the way as the weight seems to only feel heavier with each additional step. Likely, the sand hardly helps any of this. "Just..wish we could find out where they're from..these aren't Olbar or Hoan hoo-mans." He, too, only looks lost at the ramblings of the big man. The human, however, seems to have scarcely enough strength at the moment to keep himself moving. As he walks his left arm stays curled about his torso; his right dangles loosely at his side, as if he hasn't the presence of mind to do anything else with it but let it hang. "((Tyra will never want me now... family must be furious... and Tiana... never let me hear the end of it...))" Sunbronzed features crinkle again in absent-eyed, feverish dismay, until he fixes his attention anew upon the little Wolfrider to ask her in distraught tones, "((You're not... mad at me too, are you, Rilke? Tell me you're not mad at your big brother, sweetheart... please?))" Raven can only look up and shake her head since she doesn't have any clue of what the human is talking about. She breathes a sigh of relief as they reach her small tent, there is only a momentary pause as she hopes the two will fit in there without being too noticable. The thought that she needs a bigger tent crosses her mind but, it is fleeting as she reaches with her free hand to pull back the tent flap and point Vardeus inside of it. Raven's Tent(#6222J) A simple tent of supple leathers that can easily be set up on land or on a raft. It is large enough for three elves to sleep comfortably under it's protective cover. Contents: Flashfire Raven(#6358PJUXceo-0) Wait... This isn't... _Home_, is it? Vardeus pauses before the tent to which the elves have brought him, swaying from foot to foot, his expression growing increasingly uncertain. Once he stops, he abruptly sinks to his knees once again and his gaze wanders dizzily this way and that before it flashes back to Raven... and is that fright in the human's eyes? He's beginning to tremble more visibly, too, as he rasps to the she-elf, "((R...Rilke? W-where... where are we?))" Raven notes the fright on his face and she feels a bit of sympathy for this strange human. She lets Flashfire take Maerro in first and lay the boy down in the narrow, fur lined space that is her usual sleeping place. She reaches in and tugs out one of the smaller sleepfurs, intending to keep that one for herself as she glances over at Flashfire, "I think you might want to get Splash now. Once these two are feeling a bit better, I'll go talk to Redtide." That said, she turns back to Vardeus and pats him on the shoulder before motioning for him to move inside the tent. His vision keeps blurring, shapes and colors focusing and unfocusing over and over again, but Vardeus can grasp enough of his surroundings that a tremor of dread runs through his system. _I don't know where I am..._ But his mind jolts away from that, for that way lies the memory of chaos and a great inky shadow rising up out of the waves to shatter his precious ship and devour the remnants of his crew-- His trembling increases, and only at the level of instinct does he register the touch of the tiny hand upon his shoulder. Maerro is in there, what's left of his reason tells him; should he not stay with Maerro? Rilke wishes him within, it seems, but what of _her_? All at once, his face twists in desperation, his eyes turning suspiciously liquid. The human's big hands falter for the she-elf's little shoulders, as he blurts out, "((D-don't go, Rilke... don't go...!))" Raven watches the human's face go through many different expressions before he turns to her and grasps her shoulders. She very nearly feels like crying herself because she has no idea what he's saying but the tone of the voice is a desperate plea of some sort. She sighs and takes a hand in each of hers before she starts into the tent tugging the human's hand so that he knows she wants him to follow her. She only hopes that he will comply and follow her into the shelter of the tent so she can get him settled in and go talk to Redtide before it's all over the beach that there are humans here. Thank the High Ones... he _does_ crawl in after Raven, indeed, willing to do anything now so long as his precious little sister, restored to him, doesn't vanish again. The sight of Maerro tucked in under one of the furs stops him... and then, he can go no further. Vardeus collapses, going down hard on his side and grunting with barely contained pain-- But he's within the tent now, at last. Or at least, most of him. One sandaled foot still trails out through the front flap. Raven sighs as he follows her into the tent. She reaches for one of the larger furs and covers him with it. She smiles thinking that she was right to keep all of them after all. That done, she gently pats the bigger one on the shoulder and murmurs, "Rest now. Splash will be here soon, I'm sure," before she scoots back toward the tent flap and realizes that there's still a foot sticking out of her tent. With a sigh, she grabs the smaller fur she intends to sleep under and covers the foot. At least that will keep the others from finding out before Redtide does.... [End log.]