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P** art Eight: "The Beginning of Something"**

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As Dynamic lazily drifted its way down the length of the Seidon River, with open fields passing sometimes before being replaced with enclosed areas of forest, the hours quickly came to pass by. The sun soon reached as well as passed its zenith in the heavens. Thus, early in the warm afternoon, with Ivan standing high up on a makeshift perch of the main mast looking out over the treetops for anything interesting, lunch consisting of seasoned freshwater salmon, grilled shrimp and fresh river water for drinks was announced by Mistdrop.

"I suppose all of my little sailors are hungry, no?" The Urchinhide mother announced loudly from her seat by the cooking fire for everyone to hear, organizing food onto smoothly carved, wooden plates of elm, "Well, fret no longer. Food is ready. Lunch is served. Come and get it."

"Hah! Finally, I can get these impatient teeth of mine into those delicious fish my beaut' of a wife has been flauntin' in front of me all bloomin' day!" Hudder laughed happily, locking the rudder of his craft into place so that it would sail straight down the middle of the river, "Yer a naughty thing, my dearest, provokin' this gruff, hungry, hard-workin' husband o' yers with such fantastic aromas."

"Are you sure I'm not an enchantress casting spells upon you instead?" His wife teased, giggling as her husband hugged her tightly, "Pray, if I'm such a naughty thing then why is it we got married in the first place? Why is it you're coming to me now rather than swimming for the nearest shore?"

"Well because, er..." Hudder grumbled, trying to think of a comeback, "Ahem, begging yer pardon, dumplin'. I didn't mean naughty in a terrible fashion. There's also the good kind of naughty where-"

"Enough! That's enough out of you. Our son is present, you gruffy, hungry, hard-workin' husband o' mine." Mistdrop said while impersonating her spouse rather well, smiling knowingly to herself as she made him eat rather than talk, "Here use your mouth for something else other than speech like you know you want to."

"Ho ho, gladly!" Was the Urchinhide father's immediate response, digging in to the plate of freshwater food before him like he'd been on a three year famine since morning's breakfast, "Say, Clampter, my little rogue, where do ye' think yer goin' with all of those shrimp?"

"I'm going to go eat them, of course." Was Clampter's snippy response, carrying the whole, sizeable wooden bowl of freshwater shrimp away from the cooking fire, "I caught them like you said you wanted me to do. Now I get to eat them."

"Sure, ye get to eat them, laddo." Hudder said, following his son purposefully while eyeing the shrimp hungrily, "But not all of em'. You'll get sick fer' sure. You gotta share those."

"Share? Hmph, if I share with you, I won't get any." The Urchinhide son stated, quickening his retreat from his father, "You'd swallow them all in one gulp like you always do."

"Nah, I wouldn't do that." The Urchinhide father said between mouthfuls.

"Yes, you would." His son argued back.

"Wouldn't!"

"Would!"

"Fine, I would. And I will!" Hudder exclaimed, grabbing up his son suddenly and tickling him in the sides which caused much shrieking laughter in the process, "Gimme those shrimp! I'm yer pa, so ye gotta do as I tell ye'. Ye' hear me?"

"No, no, no! These are my shrimp. I caught them fair and square!" Clampter wailed, crying from mirth as he tried to keep his father's whiskery face out of his bowl of shrimp, "Ma! Pa is trying to eat my food again. Make him stop - No, get out of my shrimp! Those are mine! HELP!"

"Honestly, those two. It's like living with two hedgehogs constantly poking each other in the night and claiming it's not on purpose." Mistdrop chortled as Ivan arrived at her side, smiling at the sight of the otter father joking around with his son, "Ivan, listen, I need to go rescue my son before he and his shrimp are eaten by his father. However, Nyrina still needs her lunch. Would you be so kind as to take it to her while I rescue my boy?"

"I would be honored." Was the young human man's reply, taking the plates meant for him as well as Nyrina from Mistdrop, "Funny. I saved your daughter from the jaws of a shark. Now you must save your son from the jaws of his father. What is it with your family and jaws?"

"No idea." The otter mother laughed, "Oh, also, Ivan, dearest, be a bit understanding with my daughter when you bring that lunch to her. She's a bit... tender and emotional at the moment. I'm sure you understand why."

"She would be a bit tender and emotional. She will be for a few days more. A shark attack would have such an effect on someone, wouldn't it?" Ivan said wisely, understanding the words of warning being given to him from the otter mother, "Still, perhaps the presence of her rescuer would steady her emotions, no?"

"That's... the idea, yes." Mistdrop admitted, smiling a hopeful smile to the human man, "If you bring her lunch today rather than me, we could make it a practice. You paying visits to Nyrina would help her remain brave rather than cave into tears like she..."

"Like she was doing all last night." Ivan said for the Urchinhide mother, showing that nothing escaped his attention, "Yes, I heard your daughter cry out a number of times last night. It was not a pleasurable experience during any of those moments. And so, if me bringing Nyrina her food daily will help her keep from crying during the days to come then I am more than willing to partake in such a practice. For your family's sake and her own."

"Thank you, Ivan. Thank you very much."

"No thanks needed. It is my absolute pleasure." Ivan honestly quoted, walking towards Dynamic's hut while adding over his shoulder, "Good luck in saving Clampter from his father. Truly, you'd best do something fast or those freshwater shrimp are going to spill all over the deck and no one will get any."

Ivan did whole heartedly wish the otter mother luck in separating her quarreling husband from her son. He did so as he walked towards Dynamic's hut, opened its front door, entered, then took a moment to recognize the place where he'd slept last night.

The otter family's living quarters/hut was a quaint, comfortable, well-built foundation constructed from firm timber with a reinforced, leafy roof overhead. Here, on the inside, it was big enough to have a dinner table along with several chairs squeezed in. On the floors were comfortable, blanketed sleeping mats filled with straw; one of which Ivan had quite comfortably slept in after having come aboard last night.

What Ivan was interested in looking at most in the hut, mind, was the one secure fish net crafted hammock hanging up off the ground to the left where Nyrina - wrapped tightly in many blankets, bandaged in many places - was... squirming, whimpering along with grimacing. At once, it was clear to the now concerned human what was going on. She was having another, intense nightmare of her shark attack yesterday. She was lost in her sleep. And as he gently moved forward towards her, Ivan even came to hear the Urchinhide daughter mutter some things in her troubled state of mind.

"No... I can't see... Go away... Stop chasing me..." The she-otter groaned, tossing and turning in what was her very comfortable bed, "I need to get them back... Why won't you let me... get them back for my mother...? Stupid... shark..."

Standing over her, not saying anything but listening intently to what was being said in the quiet room, the human didn't do anything for a moment. Like how she'd suffered through them all last night, he was certain that poor Nyrina was now having another nightmare about a certain razor mouth chasing her. What he wasn't so certain of was what the she-otter had been grumbling about since last night where she'd had to be repeatedly woken up by her parents, calmed down along with soothingly put back to sleep. Then, an hour later, the same process of getting her to stop crying was enacted once more.

What was it that Nyrina needed to get back? What was it she wanted for her mother? What was it that was evidently causing her more pain than the fact that she'd been assaulted by a shark yesterday? Perhaps her pain in question had to do... with the unique pouch filled with treasures Ivan currently had belted onto his waist?

There was only one way to have these questions answered. And not wanting to see her go on enduring her nightmare any longer, the human ever so carefully set down the plates of food, pulled up his sleeves... and rested one of his hands on ailing Nyrina's forehead. With the other hand, he gently held her nearest hand.

At once, with a start, with a gasp, the Urchinhide daughter tried to sit up to see what had touched her. In turn, having expected this, with a bit of strength, Ivan held her down to keep her from doing anything harmful to herself. "My apologies, Nyrina. I didn't mean to wake you like this." He instantly said, trying to reassure the frightened she-otter lying in her hammock bed, "I tried to bring you back into this world as gently as I could. Are you alright?"

"I... Yes, it's alright. I'm okay. I was... pretty much awake before you came in." Nyrina softly admitted if not lied next, her green eyes looking red tinged but sincere in the sunlight that poured in from the one window of the hut. Just by the redness of her eyes alone, it was obvious that before the human's arrival, she'd been crying yet again - like last night - for reasons only she knew of. "Why... Why are you here, Ivan?"

"Well, first off, your mother wanted me to bring you some food for lunch. You need to have something to eat to keep up your strength. Strength will help you heal faster." The human brotherly explained to the otter maiden, pulling up a seat from the dinner table so that he sat alongside her, "Secondly, I wanted to come and see how you were doing. How are you feeling?"

"Terrible." Was the instant answer back. It actually dripped with... frustration. This Nyrina was going to be a bit different to speak with than the one yesterday it seemed.

"Are you in pain then?" Ivan wondered with all due respect.

"Of course. I was attacked by a shark."

"Is that why you have shed so many tears since yesterday?"

"Wouldn't you if you had nearly died?"

"Of course I would. I have, in fact. But it's not the shark that's causing you to cry so much. No, that's not what is weighing on your mind at the moment, is it?" Ivan modestly said with patience, making Nyrina look at him for a moment before looking away, "It's not the shark that made you cry last night so many times. It's not the shark that was making you cry before I just came in... was it?"

There was a moment of silence shared between Nyrina as well as all knowing Ivan. It was broken when the human man began to simply eat. And what he ate he very much enjoyed which he made known with a goodhearted chuckle. In turn, having someone speak to her with good intention rather than let her fume to herself in the hut, he hoped his words would help the otter daughter open up a little bit more about discussing her inner pains.

"With the way she cooks, I can see why your mother truly is an enchantress over your father." The human admitted, enjoying the salmon tremendously as Nyrina listened while looking out the window with a grimace, "The smell alone of your mother's cooking would make folk come to investigate from miles around. Yet, all of those who would come to investigate would be disappointed, I'm afraid."

"Why?" The Urchinhide daughter wondered back, feeling odd about the random subject being discussed, "Why would they be disappointed?"

"Well, I just saw your father eating outside. And with the way he scoffs, there wouldn't be any of your mother's cooking for anyone to enjoy when they arrived, would there?"

At this, Nyrina couldn't help it. A giggle escaped her lips. Despite her secret feelings of depression of not having gotten freshwater pearls for her mother yesterday, despite her hurting body, despite her teary eyes, she knew Ivan had a point by saying her father was a scoffer for he truly was. And if anyone ever did happen to come to investigate Mistdrop's cooking like Ivan theorized, there wouldn't be any left to try. Not when Hudder would undoubtedly have gobbled it all down within moments.

"Nyrina... Why are you crying so much in here?" Ivan gently wondered next, placing the she-otter's food onto her lap encouragingly, "It's not because of the shark. Even with how short of time we've been together, I already know that you're not someone to dwell on that. You're stronger than your fear. You showed me that yesterday with how open you were. With how trusting you were... No, you weep because of something else. I know it, you know it. There's no reason to hide from it. You can talk to me. I saved you. I am here for you."

"I... No, I can't talk about it." Nyrina said, sitting up gingerly to begin eating the good food before her, "Really, Ivan... I can't."

There was a silence that followed where the otter daughter did her best not to make eye contact with her watching human rescuer. And as she attempted to not meet his eyes, she got the growing feeling that no matter what she denied at this moment... he knew there was something else to it. He knew there had been more to her going off on her own yesterday morning. He knew that there had been more to the story she'd told her parents about her going "skinny dipping" further upstream.

"The thing you can't talk to me about, it didn't have to do with why you went off on your own yesterday morning, did it?" Ivan abruptly wondered, pretty much hitting the nail on the head which made Nyrina - despite her not wanting to - almost choke on her food, "No, It didn't have simply to do with you going, ahem, "skinny dipping". Of that, I am certain."

"It's like I told my parents... I went off on my own to go for a swim." The Urchinhide daughter replied simply, still keeping her eyes cast down on her food, "That's all."

"That's all?" The human repeated, knowing that that wasn't the truth for his own reasons, "Hm, funny, you weren't going to that certain area of the stream for anything shiny then?"

At the mention of "shiny", Ivan's words made Nyrina unwilling glance at him. His smiling face entranced her next as he began to explain, "You know, during yesterday morning we met, Nyrina, the goddess wasn't only watching over us. I believe that she in fact brought us together. You see, while you were swimming, I was looking for certain treasures rumored to be located near the Seidon River. Rare treasures known as freshwater pearls. Have you ever heard of them?"

Nyrina couldn't say anything. For some untold reason, deep down in her gut, she already knew the game was up for her. Just by looking at her human rescuer's eyes, she could guess that something was about to happen. Whether it was good or bad, she couldn't tell at the moment. And with no other options for her to try to take, being bed ridden until further notice, she just had to wait and find out where this conversation was going to take her.

"Yes you've heard of freshwater pearls, haven't you, Nyrina. They were why you were present at the river at the same time I was yesterday morning, weren't they?" Ivan went on, producing a leather pouch out of his robes next, "And when the shark attacked you... I suppose you lost what pearls you had collected beforehand, no?"

"I... Yes... I lost what pearls I had collected." Nyrina admitted, feeling new tears beginning to form in her already puffy eyes at revealing her secret intentions, "That's... right..."

"And for having lost the pearls, that was your reason for crying so much last night. That is why you're going to cry now." The human sighed to the trembling she-otter, looking at the pouch in his hands hopefully, "Hold on, wipe away your tears. There's no reason for them. My word, how have you not dried up into a withered thing due to all of your weeping is beyond me."

"There isn't a reason for my tears?" Nyrina wondered wetly, accepting a handkerchief she was handed by her rescuer, "Truly?"

"No. For whatever reason you wanted them, you didn't lose your desired pearls after the shark attack, Nyrina."

"I... I didn't?" The otter daughter wondered, feeling confused before finally noticing the pouch being held up to her which made her heart flutter in her rib cage, "Wait, that's... That's..."

"This bag is yours, correct?" The human guessed, examining the worn yet attractive leather pouch of the she-otter in his hands, "Yes, I gathered as much. I found it downstream a moment before I heard you calling for help yesterday with that shark jumping up after you on that muddy slope. It struck me curious that you told your parents last night that you were only out on your own because you wanted to swim. I thought about everything last night, listened to your weeping and I gained my answers. You and I couldn't have been at that same area of Seidon River by coincidence. We were both looking for pearls. And in a sense, we both found them."

Next, Ivan opened the leather pouch with a humble smile, took Nyrina's tender hands into his own, then poured all twelve shining freshwater pearls into her shaking palms. And this was no dream on the she-otter's part, mind. The pearls were very real. They were back in her possession! Thanks to her human champion, thanks to the goddess's mercy, she had just gained back the perfect gift for her perfect mother!

"I... They're all here... Ivan, I don't know what to say..." Nyrina whimpered, gazing happily from her hero to the silver treasures in her hands, "Thank you. Thank... you..."

"Of course." Ivan said with a small, relaxed smile, giving Nyrina her pouch back as well as standing up with his empty plate, "The goddess doesn't favor tears, Nyrina. Not in any form. Especially not from an otter as pretty as you. She wishes happiness from us all. And thus, I have given you back your happiness, no?"

"Yes!" The Urchinhide daughter said at once, holding the pearls close to her breast while she just couldn't stop crying. These were tears of sadness anymore, of course. They were happy tears. The happiest in her life. "Yes, you have."

"Good. Then stop weeping, please. For me, be happy. For your family, be happy. Heal in body, mind and spirit. No more will you sob during the nights to come. I have given you your reason not to do so. I have given you the inspiration you need to drive that shark out of your mind forever." The human gently commanded, gracefully stepping away towards the door, opening it, then hesitating going back outside as he said lastly, "Seeing as you haven't told your parents about them, I figure that those pearls have some kind of secret meaning to you, right?"

At seeing the answer in her pleading eyes, understanding that there was indeed a reason for Nyrina's secrecy in pearl hunting yesterday, Ivan smiled once more. Gently, he explained, "Then don't worry. They're between just you and me, she-otter. I won't breathe a word of what happened here to your family. However, secrets are not welcome things in the eyes of the goddess. When you are ready to tell me your secrets, come and find me."

"Ivan, wait." Nyrina blurted out, making her human friend pause in leaving her, "So, have we set sail down the Seidon? Are we out in the river again?"

"That's true."

"And you're aboard? You're coming with us?"

"Again, that's true. I will be on board for about the next month." Ivan answered, looking inquisitive, "Is that alright?"

"Of course!" The Urchinhide daughter exclaimed in a near shout, getting a grip on herself as she added, "I mean, yes, that's more than alright. I'm glad you're coming with us south, Ivan. Honestly, I'm glad you're here."

"Thank you for saying so, she-otter. I too am glad to be sailing south with your family." The human chuckled back, already feeling like he'd done his part in not only saving Nyrina's life but now had helped her start to become her bright self again. Next, when he looked back outside, Ivan couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "I am also glad to see that your little brother hasn't been eaten by his father."

"I'm sorry?" Nyrina wondered in turn, a bit lost as to what was happening on the deck of the Dynamic outside of her hut, "You're glad _what_didn't happen?"

"It is nothing." Ivan said back, stepping outside, "Pay it no mind, friend. Rest now. You need it."

And with that said, with a soft click of the door, with a relieved sigh from Nyrina as she laid back into her hammock with easier spirits as well as tears of happiness running down her face, the human ventured back outside into the sunny summer world where Mistdrop now walked about the deck with the bowl of shrimp in her paws, enjoying very much how she was being chased by her husband and son who were ever so hungry to have what she had in her possession.

In the end, it seemed that Goddess Gaia hadn't punished the Urchinhide daughter for having been alone yesterday. No, she'd been merciful. Thanks to a certain human follower of hers, her holiness had given Nyrina relief from her aching heart. Not merely just that, mind. She'd given the young she-otter - she who was going to stay "out of water" for a while - a renewed sense of hope for her future once more as well as spark something very special in her heart. A spark that would eventually lead her to always want Ivan at her side.