I wasn't fired, I'm RETIRED [wandering_giraffe][M]

[Goldie]

Nik couldn't help but laugh loudly at her question, but immediately regretted it as pain shot through his side. Quickly that same laugh turned into a cough, a groan, a gasp as he tried to control himself while gripping his side.

"A siren?" He laugh-gasped again and focused on taking slow breaths to figure himself out before he was back in the whole 'out for five days' scenario that he had landed in just a few moments before. No, he needed to just breathe and stop laughing. "Gods no. I don't have a tail, Elara. Shit what a funny image! Ahhhhh....I need to stop laughing. Hoooooooo.....breathe Nikolai.....breatheeee....."

And then she confided in him about her past and he could sense the pain that brought her. The pain that clearly simmered below the surface and she worked so damn hard to keep from bubbling over. And no wonder. That was some very heavy shit....

"Elara..." he gently reached forward and placed an arm on her shoulder, "I meant it when I said you aren't a liability. Magic is useful but it's kinda like playing with fire, yeah? And it sounds like your parents knew that and still wanted you to learn it."

He chewed on his lip for a moment trying to decide if it was appropriate to ask the question that was forming. It was a very personal question and making jokes was way easier than these deep conversations. But...she was also upset and he was out of candy....

"Did you feel like you were ready?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara shook her head.
"No, that was the worst part. I knew I wasn't ready, but they reassured me every thing would be fine...and then it wasn't fine. Next thing I knew, they were gone. And I vowed to never, ever use my abilities again...until today."
She took a small, shaky breath. She wanted to try to heal Nik's wound, but what if she hurt him worse?
"Your wound isn't getting any better. I could at least try to heal it." She idly fiddled with her pocket, and frowned as she felt something in it.
She dug the thing (which ended up being multiple things) out of her pocket.
"Are...are these those candies you were always eating?"
They probably weren't in the best condition, but they were better than nothing.

[Goldie]

"Listen, I'm no saint. I've done some shitty things in my life, but I can say with absolute certainty that what happened was not your fault. I don't know much about your family and all, but people you trusted encouraged you when you weren't ready and it backfired. To me, that's a them problem, not a reflection on you. Ya got me?"

He eyed her hand warily when she offered to heal him, "Ah....no.... I'm ok." He responded slowly, "I uh....like to heal the old fashioned way. Might take longer, but it hasn't failed me yet!"

And then there were candies...

"Yes...." they were definitely damp and definitely no longer held their usual perfect oval shape, but..."You should have them" he reached over and closed her hand around them gently, "They're especially good for helping with feelings."

[wandering_giraffe]

"I'd prefer rum...or any alcohol actually." Elara sighed and dropped the candies onto Nik.
"You have them."
She sunk into deep thought. How were they supposed to get out? They could try to swim out, using the rings Nik had. Or...that was the only option it seemed. She sighed.
"When we get out of here I'm going to drink so much rum."
"I guess, whenever we feel ready, we can try to swim out. Seems like the only option we have."

[Goldie]

Nik nodded in agreement, "yeah...seems so....Dammit this is gonna sting like a mother f-" he stopped suddenly and looked closely at her, "you sure you're ok? You got hit real bad against those rocks....and it's not going to be an easy swim."

By this point he had placed the ruined candies down on the stone floor and wiped a sticky hand on his pants. Saltwater ruined an otherwise perfect confection and he wanted none of that half-drowned nonsense. Thaleia could have them when she inevitably returned...

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara took out the ring Nik had lent her, idly messing with it as she contemplated how best to go about this. She honestly had no idea if her ship was still anywhere close to where they were. She turned to Nik.
"I feel ok. We don't really have a choice, do we?"
Elara carefully stood up, trying to remember how she had swam in here. The cave system was like a maze, honestly.
"I can try to get us out of here but no guarantees. It all still feels alittle hazy."
She inspected the ring.
"This doesn't have like a limit on it, does it? Like I'm not going to run out of air or something?"

[Goldie]

Nik nodded abd fiddled with his own ring.

"Can't say I know for sure. About the limits I mean.... I've worn this thing for ages and never had an issue but that doesn't exactly mean it won't run out eventually. And I know the way well enough to get us out. Basically just follow the glowing seaweed stuff if you get real turned around. After that, look for light." Assuming it wasn't night time.

He stared at the water like a person looked at an ex-lover they were none too thrilled to see, "I'm...probably going to need some help." He admitted, "and we should find some fish to eat....have you even had anything since being here?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara thought about that.
"You know, I don't think I have had anything...I was too worried about you."
Elara knew that wasn't an excuse.
"But you haven't eaten either. Have you?" Elara also wasn't very excited about having to go into the water. But they didn't have a choice.

[Goldie]

He nodded, rolling the extra ring around in his fingers.

"Well, can't say you're going to like it, but the rings will make it digestible at least." He slipped his legs into the water and continued to lower himself until it was up to his neck. A hiss of pain escaped him as the saltwater covered his wound with curling angry tendrils.

"C'mon, then." He said through gritted teeth before slipping the ring onto his finger and disappearing below the surface.

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara stepped into the water beforehand, then slipped on the ring. She ducked under the water quickly, her eyes adjusting to the darkness under water. Now that she wasn't under a ton of stress and injured, being under water was a whole new experience. She stopped and just looked. The few slivers of light that were present underwater seemed to glow, looking like strands of silver.
"Wow," she breathed.
"It's beautiful under here. I can see the appeal..."

Her stomach growled, reminding her of the task at hand.
"So how do we go about catching fish?"

[Goldie]

"uh....." Nik said hesitantly, "Well...I guess....we...chase them down?" the last time he'd actually gone and eaten a fish with the ring on had been back when he and Thaleia were an item. And she had caught it. He just kinda flopped around in the ocean and did his best, but even the smallest fish was always too fast for him. Now that he was thinking about it, how would they actually go about getting a fish? But they couldn't give up, they were certainly going to need it considering they probably had quite the journey to get back to her ship....or to a port....or whatever came first.

"Let's just...get to the open ocean and then figure it out, yeah?" Moving hurt. A lot. But he couldn't just do nothing or he'd die in this cavern and if he died he'd never eat another candy ever again and that was just unacceptable.

[wandering_giraffe]

Elara cautiously swam under the water, one arm around Nik to make sure he wouldn't tire out. She followed the glowing lights, managing to make it out of the cave without much trouble.
"You feeling ok, Nik?" She scanned the waters for fish, but couldn't see any...so far.

Off in the distance, masked by the less than clear water and behind the kelp forest, something was watching them. Gauging them, seeing how much of a threat they were. It would wait. Once they got past the kelp forest, it would strike. They would be no match for it.

[Goldie]

Nik shook his head, "No. Really really not." He admitted. The salt made every little scratch scream let alone the gash that was still very much open and in desperate need of a doctor's care.

He could barely kick his feet and felt like he was just a giant weight pulling Elara down. "Real sorry, Captain." He winced.

[wandering_giraffe]

The water made it easier to pull Nik along.
"Don't be sorry, Nik."
They got to the kelp forest again, and Elara nervously surveyed it, trying to find the best path to go through it.
"We should probably rest for a second, because once we start going through it, we can't stop until we're on the other side."
The kelp swayed aimlessly in the water, almost giving the illusion of wind blowing through the tree tops.
But on the other side...something was watching...waiting...it wouldn't be long now.

[Goldie]

Nik shook his head, "I don't think rest is gonna do much for us anymore. We're hurt and hungry and speed seems like the best option."

Well, whatever speed they could manage. The saltwater was oddly soothing against his wound, now that they were fully submerged, and he was starting to feel that tickle of adrenaline beginning to rise. They needed to get to the surface, to land, to the ship before they both withered away.

"After you," he joked, like he would be able to move aside and maneuver his way without her help.

[wandering_giraffe]

⚠️TW for graphic imagery, attempted suicide, and disturbing events⚠️

After a short rest, Elara managed to get both of them through the kelp forest without much trouble. But on the other side...she stopped, even though Nik had said they needed speed. But it wasn't because she disagreed with him...there was a figure in front of them. It looked half decayed, flesh seeming to have melted off the bone and then just have frozen halfway off. Its face was frozen in a perpetual leering , psychotic grin, eyes seeming too big for its face and glowing solid white. It had silver fins that looked torn and bitten, and long, razor sharp claws on each hand.
Elara's face paled. It was a myklar, the stuff of a pirates nightmare. She had only heard of it in legends but knew that it always required something of its "prey" to pass...most of the time it was part of its prey's soul. But this one...this one looked like it wanted death. Nik was in no condition to fight it.
Elara protectively moved Nik behind her and drew her own sword.
The myklar raised its clawed hand threateningly and Elara raised a placating hand, gesturing to it to wait.
"This is going to probably scare you Nik...but I promise I know what I'm doing." That last part Elara said mainly to try to convince herself she knew what she was doing. She knew myklars needed their prey to be alive, and so if she stabbed herself, the myklar would be forced to heal her after it took some of her soul, otherwise, the myklar would die.
God she hoped this worked.
She steeled herself for the expected pain and thrust her rapier into her own torso, purposefully missing any vital organs.
The pain was immediate, white-hot pain rushing over her entire body. The myklar rushed forward, completely ignoring Nik and latching onto Elara with its claws, acting fast, extremely fast for something that's trying to take part of your soul. The myklar disappeared, and they were left alone again. There was just one problem. The myklar didn't heal Elara all the way.
"Ah, shit..."
Elara muttered, tears in her eyes from the pain.
"I really thought that would...fuck...agh...I'm sorry..."
Elara took as deep a breath as she could manage.
"Fuck...the ship is close...I almost made it back..."

[Goldie]

"Fuck. Fuck. What the fuck did you do!?" Nik cries while grabbing onto Elara to make sure she didn't fall deeper into the ocean.

He looped one arm around her waist and hissed at the effort it took. Gods he was in no condition for any of this. They just needed to get back to the surface...just needed to get some food and water and proper healing and then they'd be grand. But nooooo, that would be too easy.

So now he had to try and swim them both back up to the surface with his own torso ripped to shreds from Thaleia and the elf captain.

"Ya gotta stop trying to get yourself killed, idiot. If we get back to the ship in one piece you owe me a raise, got it?" And he muttered curses to himself as he kicked his feet to bring them through the kelp and out of the caves so they could finally start going up.

It took a long time. Gods, it took so fucking long, but they eventually broke the surface and Nik scrambled to pull the rings off of both of their fingers so they could breathe real air again. Then, with both arms looped under her armpits, he turned himself over and floated on his back with Elara resting on his chest.

"Oi!!" He shouted, not even trying to turn around to look for the ship. She had said it was close, so he just hoped it was close enough they'd hear him or see them.

"Oiiiii! Horseman! Fish-face!"

[wandering_giraffe]

By the time they broke the surface of the water Elara was pretty much just dead weight. She hadn't moved on her own accord in a long time.

There were excited shouts in the distance and a rowboat with a silhouette of a centaur could be seen. Nik's cries had drawn the attention of the people on the boat. In the distance you could see the Midnight Marauder. The rowboat was fast approaching.

"Oi! We thought the both of you had died"—-Aikios trailed off when he saw Elara, his elation evolving into grave concern.
"Is——is Elara alive?" 
Elara's skin had turned a sickening
grey hue.
"Let's get you both back to the ship."
And Aikios hoisted them, one by one, out of water and into the rowboat, motioning for the two pirates that were with him  to start rowing. He wrapped them in blankets and concernedly looked at both of them.
"What happened?"

[Goldie]

Nik grunted in pain as he was hoisted into the boat and his wounded side pulled and tore. It had already healed a lot more than it conceivably should have, but it had done some serious damage and that would take time.

"Siren. Fighting. Swords and shit." He croaked, unable to form full sentences after the strain getting to the surface had caused, "Creepy fish thing...El stabbed herself and it went away."

And he collapsed backwards, closing his eyes and pressing a hand protectively to his wounded side and just...breathed. Breathed real air, not some stale cave air, real fucking blue air.

"Is she alive?"

[wandering_giraffe]

Aikios checked Elara over.
"I...I don't know!"
"What kind of creature was it?!"
He immediately pressed his hand to Elara's wound and muttered something, his hand slightly glowing and then the glow transferring onto Elara's torso, where it stayed for a second and then faded.
Elara's chest was barely moving, Aikios had laid her down in the bottom of the rowboat so she could lie flat.
Aikios extended a hand towards Nik.
"I can try to heal your wound...what happened to you?"

Eventually the rowboat reached the Midnight Marauder.
"Can you stand up, Nik? Just to get to the medbay?"
Aikios grabbed Elara and they got on the Midnight Marauder.