Raine shuddered violently and then calmed and Tyler came into view. She cocked her head, not realising that she'd actually voiced her terror out loud. "I'm find, it was just a dream," she said, more to console herself than Tyler. It was a scary dream, but it was still only a dream. She realised that she'd probably have bad dreams about that experience for a while. Or maybe, just as long as she was a mermaid. Maybe it was a side-effect of the concoction she'd taken in order to change form. Who knew? Definately not she. Raine wondered if the Hebalist even knew, for she certainly hadn't told Raine.

Following Tyler down to the bottom, Raine looked around them, noticing where the sun was. It was probably around mid-day, or early afternoon. She'd been woken early before dawn by the Herbalist, and it hadn't been very long since she'd turned, but she didn't know how long she'd slept. She was still very tired, but the full-body ache had waned, and would continue to do so as she got used to her new form.

Noticing the persistence of the otter, Raine smiled. "She's quite insistent," she noted with a soft laugh. She swam over to see the packs Tyler was putting together. "Can I help you with something?" She asked, wondering what he'd want her to carry.

Tyler nodded as Raine said it was just a dream. -Seems more like a nightmare- His brain wandered off to that, wondering what could have scared her enough to cry out like that. Raine didn't seem like the person to shriek because a bug was crawling on her... so *just a dream* probably didn't cut it here. This got him thinking exactly how she turned into a mermaid, and if the change was permanent. Would she be stuck down here in this wretched place forever? -If only there was a *special potion* to turn me into a human- Tyler thought with a slight snort, gazing over the supplies and trying to think of what else they would need.

Tyler finally glanced at Raine as she spoke, nodding with a slight sigh as he glanced down at the furry animal hovering near him. "Not at the moment, I don't think. Unless you would like to answer some questions I may have." Tyler answered, tipping his head a little. "How did you become a mermaid? Is this change permanent, and if not... how long do you have? If you pass the deadline, will the change become permanent? Last but not least... should we wait a day to rest, or leave now, or when do you want to leave?" He asked, deciding knowing sooner rather then later would be good. Especially if they were going on a mission like this.

Raine contemplated Tyler's questions for a moment. She knew she would have had to tell him at some point, whether he asked or not. If he was volunteering his time and expertise to her, it was only best that he knew all of the details. No-one had told her to keep anything a secret, so she wasn't held to any oath. She finally nodded. "I can answer your questions, I don't mind, but it's easier if I just tell you the whole story," she said, looking around for a perch and then changing her mind. Instead, she decided to just quit stalling and dive in headfirst.

"My Queen fell sick weeks ago. At first, everyone thought that it was just a mild passing sickness, but Fae monarchs are fed magic by the throne and the land of their court, so it is rare for one to become ill. It was days before they realised that it was more than just a mild passing sickness. She quickly got worse, and the land started to suffer. You see, a fae monarch has a two way connection with the land- they can feed magic to it, and draw magic from it. When a monarch is sick, their magic is depleted and therefore they start drawing from the land. It happens almost automatically, and it is a great effort to stop, but when one is deathly ill, one has no strength to stop." Raine picked at her fingers, glanced up at Tyler and continued. "We couldn't find a treatment, nothing worked. But then in the early hours of the morning today, the royal herbalist came knocking at my door with a cure: Oprianna's Seaberry, a plant that no-one on land has seen, except the fairy who wrote the ancient text it was found in. The herbalist told me that they believed it's the only hope to save the Queen, and that I had to find it or she would die. She showed me what it looks like, told me to find a guide, and made me drink a tea that turned me." Rain squeezed her eyes shut. "It was... horrible." She shook off a violent shudder and continued.

"To change so completely is to change on a cellular level. Your insides literally have to rearrange themselves, breaking down the useless parts to make new useful parts. The pain was excruciating, like nothing I have ever felt, and will ever feel after I change back. The tearing pain came first, and then the gills appeared, meanwile my legs seized and stopped working and I fell on the rocks. I had to drag myself to the waterline, and I would look far more worse for wear if my skin hadn't had to re-arrange itself with for the tail. And just when you think it's finally over, your legs meld together and your lower half re-arranges itself from the inside out. I don't even know when I lost my wings in all of it. One moment they were there, the next they weren't." A pang of grief hit her square in the chest as she mourned the loss of her wings, so stunning and revered by many. Raine gestured to her necklace, her fingers smoothing over the royal crest pendant. It was a short necklace, almost a chocker, with black pearls that would eventually all turn light. Raine had to remind herself that it was an indication of time, not a collar marking her Royal property.

"The effects only last for fourteen days, and my necklace is the indicator of that time. Twenty-four hours from then I first touched the water, one pearl will turn light. Every twenty-four hours after that the pearls will continue to lighten until they are all white. I have to be out of the water by the time the last pearl turns white otherwise I'm stuck in this form forever."

Raine studied Tyler for a moment, contemplating his last question. "If I had a day to spare, I would say that waiting until tomorrow would be best. But I don't, and therefore we shouldn't."

Tyler tipped his head slightly when Raine said she would have to tell the whole story. For some reason... stories always comforted him. He could sit down, not have to worry about something trying to kill him, and just get wrapped up in the tale. No one really ever knew this but Tyler was also a great storyteller... scratch that, the animals knew. He would sit for hours and just tell them stories, relaxing in the soft calm caress of the water.

Tyler finally tore his mind away from that and listened, his questions being answered one by one. Raine was definetely hesitant to answer... and no wonder, because it seemed like the harship, trials, and agony she had gone through were terrible. When she was done he pondered what she said for a little bit. So this berry was supposed to cure her queen/adopted mother... they had sent her... Tyler's mind got caught on that. Why wouldn't they send someone more... expendable? Someone they trusted, but not their own daughter. What if Raine didn't make it back? This just made Tyler even more steadfast in helping the mermaid. He was not going to let her die if he could help it. Then his mind wandered to the times... only two weeks. Yes, she was right. They needed to get moving now.

Tyler lifted his head as he was done thinking for now, watching Raine for a moment. "Well let's get a move on then, we wouldn't want you to be late." He said gruffly, an actual slight joking tone creeping into his voice. This was something Tyler could never really comprehend about himself... he was a humorous man at heart. Since the war had ripped out his heart and torn it to shreds, it was hard to be a jokester now, but Tyler found he was slowly gaining that aspect of him back the longer he stayed here. -Plus this isn't something to joke about, so can it and let's go- Tyler thought grumpily to himself, picking up a bigger pack and handing another little bit smaller one to Raine. "We both have medical supplies, but you will carry the majority of it." He announced, then picking up the bow and slinging it over his shoulder. In his pack he held all the weapons, though Tyler had reduced that number to a couple extra daggers, arrows, and nets. "Are you ready?" He asked Raine, though the question was a little bit at the otter too... who was hovering nearby with a tiny medical pack on her back because why not.

Sorry, a really short one, but I figured that a short reply is better than no reply XD))

Raine's grinned and nodded, both fearful of leaving this lovely sanctuary, and eager to get to the berry. She took the back Tyler held towards her and put it on, tying the straps over her ribs and the top of her chest. At first, the odd material of the pack on her skin felt strange, but she quickly got used to it. "I'm ready," Raine confirmed with a nod of her head and a soft smile.

"I'm curious," she started. "What makes up a medical supply kit under water, exactly?" She as interested to know how different it was to above water. "Above water we usually just carry cotton bandages, some purified water, and the essential herbs- mainly because we can find almost anything else pretty easily. In our kingdom, at least, medicinal herbs grow abundantly, and there are very few poisonous plants." It seemed like the terrain below water in this part of the world was very different, and it was hard to find good vegetation in abundance.

Tyler started out, going out the bigger entrance he had bashed through himself. He waited until Raine came out then grabbed a couple bigger rocks and placed them in front of the entrance, a slight gtimace on his face. Tyler filled the gaps in with smaller rocks, then pulled up some seaweed, ground it into a paste like thing between two rocks, and slathered it over the whole structure. -That should hold for now- He thought with content, rubbing his forearms for a second before continuing onward.

As Raine spoke Tyler's head tilted, showing that he was listening though he continued onward. "Well, like yours, there's a lot of different herbs. Or... less like yours... a lot of weird looking and gross smelling seaweed. Almost all of the healing seaweed was destroyed in the war, and is now mostly found in gardens and the couple places where the war didn't rage. Since we are going straight through the battle field, it will be hard to find any useful seaweed. The only plants that thrive now are poisonous ones. That's about it... just different kinds of seaweed since we use that for everything. Seaweed to wrap as bandages, seaweed pastes for healing, seaweed to eat as medication." Tyler let out a small sigh as he finished explaning. Stupid underwater seaweed.

Raine followed Tyler to the gap in the wall of the cove. Before she passed through the gap, she looked back, taking in the peaceful sight before turning around and meeting Tyler on the other side. She watched as Tyler closed the gap, feeling guilty that he'd had to make it in the first place. She'd gotten better about her claustrophobia on land, but knew that the stress of being in a new place she knew nothing about would have make worse. "I'm really sorry that you had to do that," she said softly, wringing her hands in guilt. She could see that, although he was strong, the physical effort of fixing what he'd done for her was aggrivating old wounds. It made her feel even worse. Raine wished she could help, but knew she oculd not.

"It sounds like a horrible waste land... Why didn't someone attempt to fix it up? I mean, sure, we have ruins from ancient fae wars, but most of it was cultivated by the kingdoms they fell under. Very few places lie unnaturally barren. I find it rather strange that your ocean kingdoms didn't do the same..." Raine observed their surroundings, noting the direction the Larchan lay in and wondering if they would have to go near him again. Hopefully there wouldn't be too many places on their journey that triggered Raine's claustrophobia, but she doubted it. One thing she knew was that the ocean was filled with terrain of all kinds, and yes, some were cave channels that went so deep it was impossible to get there any other way. She'd also seen pictures of geysers, and deep sea caves. She didn't know if if they were real sketches, probably not, but she guess they had to have some truth to them.

"So, what comes first? Oceanic desert with super scary sea serpents with fins of fire and scales that burn your flesh off with a single touch?"

Tyler lanced at Raine as he swam along before looking back at the land and unlocking old memories of the war, mapping their route along the way. "It's fine, as I said. A lot of things aggrivate my old wounds, that's normal and on this journey it can't be avoided. Plrsse don't feel bad or worried or concerned any time that happens, because it is bound to happen a lot, and I apologize if I keep grimacing or wincing." Tyler pointed out what he had said before once again, just to make sure. There was no way to avoid getting hurt, and for him... no way to avoid pain at all. They couldn't dwell on that or their journey might take months insead of weeks.

At Regan's words Tyler sighed slightly, his expression mournful as his black eyes scimmed the waters. "As I told you.... the mermen in charge of the whole underwater world, except me thank you very much, are jerks and idiots. That's putting it softly. They don't fight their own wars, don't care about the nature, and don't care about their citizens. After the war stopped everyone either got selfish and rich and retreated to the city, or got kicked to the curb like me. No one in the city cared about the land outside, and most of the ones that got pushed out ended up dying or living a trauma - fear filled like in some hole in the ground." Tyler explained the whole rather bleak situation sourly, his expression slightly grumpy. "The ones that did survive out here, like me, built little fortresses or villiges. Some of them grouped together and thrived rather nicely, and that's why there are a couple *green spots* on this barren wasteland of misery. All in all, the ocean is an absolutely terrible place. It would have been much easier to go to space and survive." He finished with a smile, though it held no happiness. Tyler wasn't the kind of person to give the *soft* version to somebody. He would say exactly what was happening, not over-exaggerated at all. Sadly, that made the underwater kingdom sound like hell without fire.

"Great guesses, but the active underwater volcanoes do." TYler answered cheerfully, then gave her a wry smile. "Lava that will burn your flesh off at a single touch. My tip... don't get too close."

Major apologies for the delays. Life has been hectic! Here you go, as promised!))

Underwater volcanoes sounded like a bunch of fun. Raine shuddered at the thought. They would be very fortunate to make it to the plant in one piece, but they would still have to make it back. Suddenly overcome with appreciation and gratitude, she vowed that she would do everything Tyler said without complaint to make the passage as easy as possible for both of them. She would have to come up with a way to repay his generosity.

Raine nodded, a soft smile picking up the corners of her mouth. "It's in my nature to feel all of those things, and to try my best to make it better. Please don't feel like you have to hide, and please don't apologise for you pain, it's not something you can help." She knew that it would be futile to try and change Tyler's mentality in a moment, but she hoped that he would be able to become comfotable enough to not put on a front.

Listening to Tyler's rant, a picture of the land of the sea began to paint intself in full colour in Raine's mind. It looked nothing like the old texts in the Royal library, where the sea-folk were painted as courageous and skilled in combat and where their leaders were depicted as generous and honourable. Really, the old scholars had gotten it all wrong. But how?. A question she had no answer to. "Has your history always been so bleak? Or was there a change at some point, where the wrong people took over the rule and the decline began?" Maybe, after her journey through the ocean, she would take it upon herself to write a more accurate account of history, so the truth of the sea could be seen by all.