Birdie swam towards the great hulk of the Wizards' ship, the herd of ship worms behind her. As she she approached the side of the vessel, the creatures seemed to sense that their next meal was at hand. They passed her at incredible speed, whipping their way through the water without a splash.
The first of the great ship-worms came to the vessel. Opening a surprisingly large mouth cavity, rimmed with a solid plate of rasping teeth, the bizarre beast attached it's mouth to the wooden hull.
And then seemed to do nothing! There was no sound, no tremor to the ship at all. But by fast inches, the head, then the body of the great worm slowing started to disappear into the ebony wood sides of the massive ship. More and more of the creatures attached themselves and began to feed, until at last the bottom of the Blue Wizards' ship looked like it was wearing a lacy, tattered skirt. At the rate that the ship worms were feeding, the great vessel would be a worm-hole ridden shell within an hour. A child's fist could bunch a hole in it that would send it to the bottom.
"And everyone who is on it, too!" thought Birdie. But where was Pio? She had seen her in the distance, when she had first jumped into the water, but now she could see her no where. Had she already secretly boarded the vessel?
Birdie heard the splash of oars, and her eyes widened as she saw a small skiff leave the side of the Blue Wizard's ship. The exchange was taking place! Birdie cautiously raised her pointed snout above the water level until her round dark eye was above the waves. Suddenly the sleek, wet head of the Mer-Man appeared beside her. "And so it begins", he said. "Let us hope everyone plays their roles well."
They watched together as the the skiff appoached the small boat that had been lowered from the Elven vessel. The two craft met, and agreement seemed to have been reached, for Child left the Ringbearer's skiff, and sat down with Rose in the other dory. Then the small boat carrying Sam and Frodo continued it's journey towards the huge black and blue ship.
Sam was struggling mightily with the oars against the waves, and Birdie sank beneath the surface and secretly helped to push the craft forward, in order to spare the hobbit's strength for the far more serious ordeal a-waiting them. She was 99% certain that Mith was still with them, but a small 1% of her hoped that she was not pushing the halflings towards certain death.
Suddenly Birdie heard the thudding of feet on wood echoing through the water. Turning and lifting her head, she saw treachery! The sailor who was rowing Child and Rose back to the Elven ship had tried to stab the halfling women, but Child - good ol' Child! - had pulled a dagger from her skirt and gutted the seahand like a halibut. This was a side of Child that continued to amaze Birdie, no matter how many times she had seen Child defend herself in similar "tight spots". Who would have thought!
Suddenly, Birdie remembered: where was Pio! If she had been in danger of drowning, the Mer-Man would have said something. But where had she gone?
A cluster of giggles suddenly burst from under the Blue Wizards hull. Darting among the waving worm-tails dangling from the wooden sides were...Mer-Maids?
"Oh, my word!" The Mer-Man floated behind Birdie, arms crossed across green chest, with a disdainful look on his face. "Is this the kind of company the fair elf maid keeps?"
But...they're Mer-Folk, like you...aren't they?" said Birdie
"Nonsense! Silly Mer-Sprites. 'Melusine Sauvage'," He leaned close and whispered in Birdie's ear-hole, "Aborigines, you know. Not our kind at all."
The Mer-Sprites spotted the Mer-Man at that moment, and flocked around him, rubbing their bodies against him and playing with the kelp-brown hair. Birdie noticed that their teeth were filed to sharp points, which did indeed make them look very much the Melusine Sauvage. She wondered nervously if dolphin was on their diets.
"Hoydens! Bawds! Unhand me!" blustered the Mer-Man, as the bevy of wild beauties continued to flirt and coo over their more "civilized" cousin.
Birdie's dolphin smile actually seemed to grow a little wider as she watched the antics, but then she remembered the missing member of the party. She poked her nose tentatively among the tangle of worm tails, appreciatively shorter since they had begun their feasting.
"Pio? Pio?! Are you in there? The exchange has been made. The halflings are onboard the Blue Ship. Pio, where are you?"
[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]
|