Birdie swam through the depths, searching everywhere for Rose, but she (or her body) had seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
She had circled farther and farther from the vessel, and was about a half-a-mile out when she heard the second splash, and realized that another person had gone into the water.
Turning, she saw a small murky figure swimming, then suddenly, the figure seemed to be grabbed and pulled strongly downward and away. Birdie turned in a flash speeding back to the area of the ship.
A few hundred yards away, she heard a third splash, and saw Samwise plunge into the water in a rush of bubbles. "So it must have been Frodo who went over the side before. But where IS everyone?!"
At that moment, Birdie saw a small figure swimming for Sam. The shape was man-like, but very small and covered with spines on the head and back. It swam strongly with arms and legs, almost as well as the Mer-Folk, and it was heading directly for Sam.
Birdie rushed in, putting her body between the fish-man and the halfling. Flipping around she slapped the creature sharply with her tail. It backed off with a trail of bubbles and a sharp hiss. Grimacing in pain, it circled around the skin-changer in dolphin form, and again made a grab for the body of Samwise...
(O.C.C. - OK Samwise. Your call. Do you want to make it back to the ship, or follow Frodo and Rose?)
|