Stavanger Bay her early leaf's a flower

In that moment, none of them feared. Doe watched as their beloved girl launched herself off the cliff, graceful and lithe despite her youth. And for a moment, she did fly. She soared over the rocks and sailed straight and true - and then, abruptly, dived into the ocean blue. The mother in her could not watch as her girl hit the water, but she heard the familiar plop and a splash that seemed far to quite to have been made by her strong Quill, the child of her heart. And when she looked into the water again, it was to see a dark head surface only to be pulled under once again.

Heedless, Doe followed. She knew that she must not interfere, but all of the sudden she could not stand the injustice of it - that her daughter should face a fate that Doe had not yet weathered. So Doe jumped and fell like a swooping gull, nose slicing into the water without fear. She must not interfere, but she would swim beside her girl, show her that she was not alone, that it could be done, that they were Cairns, and they would always be strong enough.

Plunging into the icy depths, Doe could not bring herself to regret her rash descision. Even as her nose stung and the current dragged her, and her lungs began to beg for air. The woman fought against the Wickedness, knowing that any relent in her struggle would show unwanted weakness to their deity. Doe fought and soon breach the surface, and in her first breath, offered a rallying cry.

"To papa, lamb!" she gasped, turning her nose toward the blurry white shape on the shore and pumping her legs hard. She could not see the dark form of her daughter, but knew that it would change nothing if she could.

They must not interfere.

"Just swim," sang the mother, paddling faithfully as each swell of the waves seemed to bring her one step back and two steps forward. Would the wickedness offer their foundling girl the same help? "Just keep swimming, Qilaq - Don't stop until you get to Appeh!"