407/Splash Fighter II

Splash Fighter II
Date of Scene:	13 May 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Feral, Aquaman

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Feral has posed:
There is another world beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between history and myth, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the world of the sea, where life began. It is an area which is called the Twilight Zone.

Swimming easily through the cold, crushing depth where sunlight begins to lose its battle with the ceiling of ocean water, a streak of grey sandpaper scales passes by - a lonely traveler in a tremendous expanse. The mingled scent she leaves behind in the water is a tiger shark's - which belongs here - as well as a human's - which most certainly does not.

Without any scuba tank, swimsuit, or equipment of any kind, Vanya turns her head this way and that to peer through the endless water with greyish eyes sheathed behind a transparent third eyelid. Her flattened, same-colored nostrils flare as they cycle seawater for a familiar scent while more passes freely through gills on the sides of her neck and chest.

It's hard to call her a mammal right now, with smooth sharkskin overgrown across major areas, her vitals, and other delicate body parts, but the shape of her skeleton and accents of human flesh where the sheathe isn't needed mark her unmistakably as member of a race that doesn't naturally belong here.

Then again, she might be a new breed of Atlantean. Maybe she got bitten by a shark during a moon-high tide.

Aquaman has posed:
There are a many great things, great adventures that may befall those that dare to invade the depths of the ocean. There are monsters down here. There are many things that could make even the most dangerous surfacer fear for their life. The truth about what goes on beneath the sea is something that not everyone is privy to.

Luckily, Arthur Curry is someone that's privy to everything.

Taking a patrol swim through the sea, Arthur Curry is killing multiple birds with the same stone. Not only does he get a light workout in, but he also gets to keep up with the latest gossip from among the starfish. He listens intently as he swims through various underwater neighborhoods in an effort to clear his mind from the stress that's involved with being both a king and a hero.

Arthur says nothing as he approaches the area where another swimmer may already be involved.He makes quite sure to stay downwater to make sure that his presence isn't quite detected.

He's going to watch. For the moment.

Feral has posed:
Taking slow but powerful strokes, webbed digits and a couple fins propel the wereshark forward at an unhurried pace and a noticeable upward tilt, bobbing up and down against a less-than-neutral buoyancy. Given time to study here, some things come into clearer focus. The woman herself is a predator, no doubt, with a body primed by the aquatic inner strength of her less humanoid fore-bearers but lacking somewhat in their thick fat reserves - a human silhouette rather than a tapered cylinder. It's a shame; they'd make her float better.

Upwater, facing away, and too far away to feel waves or electric pulses, her shark and human senses fail to grasp the King in her presence.

Aquaman has posed:
Aquaman has been trained in all manners of Aqua-Stealth by both his Atlantean Tutors and some of his Aquatic Friends. He might as well be a fish himself. In fact, the way his Trident is clipped to his back makes it almost seem as though he's rocking a fin himself during his following of the wereshark. He's making sure his movements are slow and deliberate, keeping with her own movements to make sure that any ripples he makes mold right into the ones created by her.

~ Vuu-Vuu-Vuu-Vuu--Vuu ~

Aquaman casts a wide net with his Marine Telepathy at this point. Just poking about in the water around the to see what's nearby, if its predator or prey and what's on all their minds. Just in case he has to save someone. Or some fish.

Feral has posed:
The wereshark slows in her strokes when the telepathic wave washes over her and floats bewildered for a moment before moving on. There's a vague, faint ping from her mind, present but not fully-formed and coherent. What's intelligible is normal fare for a shark: a hunting instinct.

She's searching for something but it's not clear what... until a faint scent catches her nostrils and the finned woman turns and speeds up. Further away in the same direction, the mind of a tiger shark pings back.

Aquaman has posed:
Arthur pays close attention to the wereshark and her movements, especially after he gets some instinctual inklings popping into his mind via telepathic reaches. He narrows his eyes to focus his vision on where she's headed but he's also reaching out with his mind again to see if he can't see what's going on ahead of her and in that direction. If he can get a bead on what she seems to be after... maybe he can make it go away. Or warn it. Or just, simply, know what's about to happen.

~ Vuu-Vuu-Vuu ~

The Aquaman picks up speed as he tails the wereshark. This time he cares not about whether or not she knows he's following her. Or he forgot to be careful.

Feral has posed:
Vanya kicks along as the tantalizing whiff of prey excites her senses and encourages deep gillfuls of water. But as she makes her turn to follow the scent and the King speeds up behind her, something changes - he's no longer downwater.

An elusive striped silhouette begins to come into view as the full scope and breadth of an adult shark slowly cruises through the water ahead. The wereshark allows herself to drop and descends into the depths underneath him as she slows down again and tries her own hand at creeping stealthily... until another telepathic burst makes her pause and the fish-woman turns around.

A grey hybrid of human and shark eyes look up at King Arthur.

Aquaman has posed:
~ Vuu-Vuu-Vuu! ~

Aquaman hurls a push and some urgency to the shark that's in the water to make sure it goes and goes far enough away to no longer be within the scent yardage of the wereshark of a woman that's looking him in his face right now.

Arthur pulls up short and floats in the water there, locking eyes with the wereshark that's looking in his direction. "I hate to say I told you so..." Aquaman quips lightly as if making sure that she understands he knows exactly who she is. Maybe he's got an impressive memory. Maybe he remembers her scent. Or maybe he's just that damn good. It's likely all of the above.

Aquaman crosses his arms over his chest in a disappointed Monarch of the Oceans fashion.

Feral has posed:
Vanya looks back to see the distant shark retreating and frowns at Aquaman. "I wasn't done with that," she grumbles the high-pitched tone that comes from tight human vocal chords in fast water. Kicking downwards, she rises in the water to float eye level with the sea king and treads in place.

Aquaman has posed:
"I do not allow hunting for sport in my oceans. Not like this." Aquaman understands that there are some surfacers that do such things for a living but they don't particularly want to feel the wrath of the Aquaman. Deals have been made with those idiots. "If you were here to feed, which I'm gathering you're not since you're in my face, perhaps we would be having a different conversation." Aquaman doesn't budge. Not even in the water. It's almost like the water is holding him still with how stalwart he's become. "I do hope I'm making myself clear." These must all be the only warning shots she's going to get.

Feral has posed:
A fish in the ocean water but not it's friend, not truly a resident, Vanya is forced to tread and float opposite the king of the sea. She cocks her head and one eye widens - if her eyebrow still had hair, the expression might be easier to read.

"So you're saying if I eat that shark you'll let me? Do you honestly think I swam *this far* just for some shark skin?" A shark-toothed maw is exposed by a slight, disgruntled sneer.

Aquaman has posed:
"I am saying that those are my sharks and you don't seem to be their natural predator. So I'm going to tell you to leave them alone. Once." Aquaman is one with the water and doesn't seem to be too worried about anything happening. His royal presence is often enough to persuade others to do what they are told. He is actually hoping this one will do as she's told so that he doesn't have to show her the hard way.

Feral has posed:
Vanya spreads her arms wide to showcase her unarmored and unarmed body in all its chimeric nature. "I think I am their natural predator," she contests. "I think I've killed one before with my bare hands and I'm ready to kill my second one too."

"And if it makes you feel better you can float around and watch me eat it right in front of you," she adds with a shark-toothed smile. "What I do is no different than what sharks do to each other, I'm just... a little more evolved."

Aquaman has posed:
"I don't give second chances."

The Monarch narrows his gaze once again as if to make sure that he's being as crystal clear as he can possibly be at this point in time. He floats backwards just a bit to show that he's backing off. "I don't need to watch you. I have an entire kingdom to look after. But if you defy my wishes, and I /will/ know if you do, then you will find out in very short order why I am King of all that exists below the surface."

Feral has posed:
Vanya growls, flashing the full width and breadth of her jagged teeth, bristling her fins and baring small but jagged-looking claws at the monarch of that very same DNA.

"What are you going to do, *drown me*?" she barks, her anger and indignation palpable through even the little piece of her mind that is shark enough to reach the Atlantean's. "I'm one shark away from being as much a part of this world as you are and I'm already part of this food chain. I'm not getting my meal from some bowl of shark-fin soup!"

Aquaman has posed:
"Then perhaps I should take you to Amnesty Bay. They have the best Shark-Fin Soup." Aquaman would be making a joke if he wasn't so serious about this. "You know my rules. You are in my domain and you will abide by my rules. If you do not, you will suffer the consequences of your actions." Arthur glares in her direction once again. "Whatever they may be."

"I understand your need to be a part of something. I do." Arthur even takes this moment to attempt to appeal to whatever part of this wereshark is not the wereshark.

~ Vuuuuuuuuuuu ~

Aquaman might be attempting to calm her down. Or to keep her calm. Or to make her more amicable. Whatever keeps this from turning into something more dangerous. "There is no one on this Earth that understands that better than me. But just as we all want to be a part of something, we must also remember to play our parts as they have been given." Aqua-Knowledge Dropped!

Feral has posed:
Vanya's shoulders begin to drop and her arms give a push against the water to keep her afloat as she shrinks back down, fins tucking halfway in and lips closing back to ... just a little toothy. The wild look seems to come naturally to her and there's still a little fang as the wereshark glowers beneath the surface. Whether Aquaman's words or thoughts are having the effect is hard to tell.

"Then you won't have any trouble with me eating that shark," Vanya concludes staunchly, venting a little of her flash-pan temper where she can. "That *is* my part - it's what I do."

The wereshark's arms go out again as she gestures Aquaman towards her. "Go on, search me for a harpoon. I dare you."

Aquaman has posed:
"It doesn't have to be. You do not have to be a savage." Aquaman states with relative ease. He's pretty sure that he knows what she's going through. Not on the level that she is but she's been in her position but in a different way. That's how he felt when he first got to Atlantis. Everybody was on his case.

"Listen. I am not telling you what to be. I am not saying you can't hunt to eat. I only wish to inform you that if there's a severe dent in my tiger shark population... then we will have more than words." And for some reason, that Trident of his takes this exact moment to glint in whatever light is available down here.

Feral has posed:
"If one tiger shark is a 'severe dent' then you have bigger problems than me," Vanya deadpans before another comment sets her off in a different way. "And what's wrong with the way I live?" she snaps, bobbing up and towards the Atlantean with an offended glare - it's a milder sort of anger at least.

"I would think you would be *happy* with how I live - just one more shark in the ocean. I want a fish, I find and eat a fish. Or are you really saying I should pay someone to go out in a boat and drag a net around until they catch a shark with it?"

Aquaman has posed:
"You're purposefully twisting my words to appeal to your own sense of worth. I understand. I've done that myself." Aquaman rolls his eyes just a little bit. "I've hunted before. I know what it can do to you. I'm assuming you're not all shark and I'm, perhaps stupidly, appealing to your human side. Be careful. You may not know what you're capable of until you find yourself unable to do anything but /it/."

Cryptic words are given before Aquaman turns on a watery dime and starts to swim out. "If you need me, I will be there."

Feral has posed:
Vanya takes in the monarch's warning and only frowns mildly to it, not bucking his warning, perhaps just not understanding the depth of it. "I only need you to leave me alone so I can have dinner."

And like that, she flicks a fin and puts her back to Aquaman - and her front towards the last direction the shark was in.