Swiftcurrent Creek count the stars that are shining in your eye

whoosh goes all the air from my lungs

[table width=65%][tr][td]

Instead of answering his question, the stranger went off on a tangent. He thought for a second that he'd said something wrong; perhaps this woman was here to tell him of Caiaphas' vanishing, or her death, and simply couldn't fathom the words? It felt as if his heart was clutched by a hawk's talons and they were trying to puncture through; then, when the womans words actually took on form and he could hear her, things unraveled quickly.

First of all, the tension within Tryphon eased up. He didn't know if Caiaphas was dead or not, and this fire-haired woman likely didn't know. Secondly, she seemed mad — perhaps due to age, or the strange ornament upon her neck — and the more and more Tuwawi rambled, the less and less Tryphon wished to linger. The fur on his nape stood on-end and he took a step back, fearing that whatever sickness brewing in the crone could pass to himself — but then Tuwawi spoke the name Larus and -- and ---

Stop! He shrieked, sounding more like a child now than he had in many days. His tail stood high across his hindquarters like a banner of warning, and he had pulled away from her with a mix of cacophonous emotions contorting his features — Stop, whoever you are. Caiaphas is my mother — w-was, or, or whatever — and I am Tryphon, but I don't know what you're talking about! Is that why you've followed me?

Perhaps this is a trick, he thought. Maybe she does this to every lone wolf she finds. How pitiful. And briefly he felt the stirrings of empathy for her, because the woman must have been alone for a very long time - and lost so very much - to be this delusional. Tryphon decided to be kind then. He swallowed his confusion and his fears, took a bold step towards the strange woman, and commented: You know of -- of the sea, of which he meant Caiaphas but was too nervous now to speak the name and cause more havoc so are you one of them? A siren? A.. A Nereides? 

The boy was prepared to remove himself if the situation worsened, which he presumed could happen. But he was jsut as curious as he was afraid. Tryphon, to some extend, did miss the frightening woman of the seaside, as she was the only mother figure he could remember - even if those memories were clouded by pain and regret.


[/td][/tr][/table]