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P** art Nine: "To Fear or Not to Fear"**

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Almost too quickly to be believed, four times Father Sun had ascended into and descended from the summer sky. Four times Sister Moon had shined as well as faded out of the nightly heavens.

Thus, after Nyrina was reunited with her freshwater pearls thanks to her human rescuer, after the Dynamic took to water for the first time in three days, four easy days of May had quickly passed by for the Urchinhides sailing southward. In turn, during those four said days, during the entire course of the rather easy-going journeying complete with naught but beautiful weather, several things had come to be for the otter family.

Firstly, having had his coin always refused by they who were willingly sailing him to Pebble Plateau, even though he'd been repeatedly told he was an honored guest who hadn't needed to bother working off his supposed "lodgings", Ivan had found different ways of earning his keep on the Urchinhide craft. Indeed, with much gusto, having allowed his hard working nature to take over then, the human had gone about doing a makeshift list of tasks. Tasks that'd included assisting Clampter with his daily chores, washing clothing and cooking food with Mistdrop, navigating for Hudder as well as regularly keeping a check on Nyrina's overall health which had become so much brighter. Thanks mostly to her champion, obviously, as her family had kept teasing her.

Still, having had the last few days to think over it to herself, why was it that Nyrina was never able to keep a frown on her face whenever Ivan was around? Why did she always smile when with him? Why was there an unexplainable increase in her heartbeat when she exchanged a glance with him?

Well, he had saved her from certain doom, after all. That was more than enough reason for her to admire him like she did, wasn't it? Yes. Not only that, known only between them and no one else, he'd also kept her freshwater pearls from being lost. Thirdly, with him having always been at her side, she'd begun to better face her inner fears where she could now at least outrun if not fight off the shark of the deep that came to try to hunt her down through the murky waters of her nightmares.

So, in her secret if not appreciative opinion, even though they'd only just met several days ago, it was becoming plain to the Urchinhide daughter that her rescuer was a very special asset to her. Better put, to help her fully heal from her shark attack, he was more than likely a saint that the goddess herself had intentionally sent into the young she-otter's life to make her feel bolder, stronger, wiser.

Not merely just to make her stronger in every regard, mind, but to her strengthen her family too. For after having been nothing but helpful to them since he'd boarded Dynamic, Ivan was, without a doubt, now the older brother that Clampter had never had before. He was a tireless aid to usually overwhelmed Mistdrop. He was a patient student under wise Hudder. And most of all, he was Nyrina's unfaltering guardian friend during any situation.

Truly, the human man of Norlinth had turned out to be everything that the Urchinhides had needed for a long time; a source of comfort. In turn, during all of his dutiful work, the Norlinthian had shown nothing but the fact that he'd enjoyed himself tremendously while fitting in amongst them. Without having needed to pay them in gold, he had still earned a place in their lives. He had become a dear friend of theirs.

And now, side by side, during the early afternoon of their fifth day of sailing down the length of the Seidon River, Nyrina was presently helping Ivan pull in the fishing nets that'd been trailing behind the Dynamic since morning. Actually, at the moment, it wasn't really her helping him haul in what the nets had caught. With her presently wrapped in bandages that hindered her movement, the human was more assisting the recovering she-otter as she thoughtfully watched him. All of which wasn't so terrible a thing, of course. He had been helping her with most everything today thus far.

Since earlier that morning when Nyrina had finally been allowed to come outside for the first time since the shark attack, her mother had asked her human champion to take on the task of keeping an eye on her. In turn at having been asked, with his same faint yet warm smile, Ivan had been more than happy to accept the role of watching over the Urchinhide daughter. And where other she-otters throughout Felldew would have honestly found it annoying to be doted on for everything, Nyrina had come to subtly like her Norlinthian guardian. Especially since the hot summer weather of today had made him shed his upper clothing to show what was underneath; a physically fit, toned, tanned, muscular torso.

At first, when having been invited to do so by Hudder earlier, Ivan had been a bit hesitant at taking off his robe, jerkin along with tunic. Now though, with sweat glistening on his strong frame, with his skin browned under the sunlight, here he now worked with his upper body unclothed for the world to see. Indeed, standing at the rear of the Dynamic with his robe, jerkin and shirt tossed aside, the human man now casually towed in the rather full fish nets while Nyrina did her best not to... stare at his obvious muscles for too long.

For if she did, her face never failed in heating up until she had to hide it in her hands. Still, even where she hid away her face, she couldn't help but peek through her fingers at the handsome male before her. Then, as she behaved like a love sick clam, feelings of passion always began to burn in her chest. For untold reasons, her sensible brain would next fog over with crazy, rapid if not inappropriate thoughts. Thoughts that she, while shaking her head to clear it, couldn't take seriously at all but inwardly scoffed at.

Sure, Ivan had boldly rescued Nyrina from certain doom. He'd brought happiness back into her life after having returned the freshwater pearls to her. He was quickly becoming a favorite of her family. Yet... that was no reason for her conscious to run wild with romantic fantasies over him, was it? No! He as well as she had only just met for the first time less than a week ago. A WEEK ago!

Truly, they had been together for close to seven days. Thus, it was natural that they were perhaps beginning to take the steps in building an admirable friendship... but not a romance. Not yet, anyway.

Either way, during the next half hour where she sat on the edge at the rear of the Dynamic, with her elegant feet along with tail blissfully soaking in the passing river water, the Urchinhide daughter eventually built up the nerve to explain something to her towing human friend; her reasons for having kept her freshwater pearls a secret from her family. With a brave heart, she went on to tell her champion in a hushed whisper that, although breaking her family's rules, she'd been off on her own early that one morning gathering the pearls so that she would have the perfect gift to give to her perfect mother on her birthday next week.

When she finished telling her story about collecting the freshwater pearls to please a family member, Nyrina instantly knew she'd done the right thing in revealing her secret intentions to Ivan. For after he'd heard everything, he gave the she-otter another one of his encouragingly warm smiles, a wink and then voiced his own opinion of the matter in a brotherly tone.

"Again, the goddess does not appreciate Felldewans keeping secrets from one another, Nyrina." He chuckled, pulling wriggling nets of river fish up onto deck where he began dumping portions of them into nearby buckets of water, "Still, I believe she doesn't mind these _kinds_of secrets that make others dearest to you smile. No, she would make an acceptation for this kind of situation. After all, if she did not, your mother's smile would not be as big in turn. And the bigger a Felldewan smiles, the merrier a Felldewan becomes, the happier the goddess is."

"That's what I thought." Nyrina giggled, trying to do her best to help her human hero portion out the fish that would be beheaded, gutted along with skinned next by them both, "I mean, I didn't disobey the family rules like my trouble making, little brother would have. I went off on my own because I knew I could make my family that much happier if I succeeded at gaining some freshwater pearls."

At this, smiling a big smile of gratitude, she admitted, "And in the end, I did acquire some of those pearls like planned, thanks to you."

"No thanks is required, miss. I was more than happy to help you find the peace you craved for." Ivan admitted, finally having emptied a fish net of its lively contents and moving on to the next one with his she-otter companion's aid, "And you are right. You had a good reason for why you went off alone. The only set back was that you were, well, assailed by a shark. That's not something that anyone could have seen coming their way. Such a tragedy was most unfortunate to have occurred against you when you only meant to do good."

"Yeah, well, it happened. Whether the goddess meant to punish for me my sins or not, I was still knocked around by a shark. Whoopee." The Urchinhide daughter sighed bitterly, feeling her bruises twinge a bit at the mention of the shark attack, "About that shark... I'm sorry if I keep waking you up in the night because of my nightmares, Ivan. They're not so bad, you know. Not as bad as when I first began having them but I just keep closing my eyes at night and seeing... a cavern of razor sharp teeth coming towards me from the darkness of the water below."

At thinking about how aggravating her nightmares of late had been, the otter daughter brushed her dark hair out of her bright eyes distractedly as she went on softly explaining, "No matter how hard I try, I can't swim fast enough to get away from the thing. It's just about to get me and then I wake up with either you, my mother or father holding me. I suppose that's the way of nightmares though, right? As all Felldewans say, you can't outrun your fears."

"No. Tis' best to face them." Her human champion cheerily replied, his eyes shining proudly in the sunlight, "Especially when you have friends and family reinforcing you. And if you haven't noticed, she-otter, you have plenty of support here. Your night terrors will only last so long. Be patient."

At this, at talking about the last four nights where she'd been having rather frightening nightmares involving her not being able to outswim mysterious sharks attacking her, Nyrina glanced nervously over the edge of the raft. As her human champion attentively watched, she nervously pulled her feet as well as tail out of the current while she grumbled, "By the goddess, I'm going to sound weird, Ivan but I have to tell you something. Even with what's happened to me during these last few days... I still love the water. I really, really, REALLY do."

"That's not weird for you to say, Nyrina. Not at all. With you being an otter, it only makes sense for you to love the water." Ivan sagely spoke, turning his soft gaze onto at the calm river before him, "And why wouldn't otters love the water? It is and always has been the source of life for this world. Without it's refreshing qualities, everything would be devoid of color, of sound, of purpose. There would only be emptiness."

Next, the human playfully nudged the she-otter beside him as he warmly added, "But enough of me talking about such things as emptiness in this good world of ours. Water is an otter's livelihood. It is everything to your kind. Considering what I've learned about them during my many years as a traveling pilgrim, it could even be said that otters are water itself given solid form. You play enough in it for that saying to mostly be true, no?"

"Heh, yeah, that sounds about right. We otters could be water nymphs, couldn't we? The only difference is that we're a bit furrier than the ones described in your old legends." Nyrina laughed, feeling a little heartened, "Okay, so, I'm not going to be weird for what I'm about to say to you then? Silly me, of course not. You more than likely know what I'm going to talk about before I even say it, right? You're a human, after all. You humans of Norlinth know everything."

"Now that's an overstatement. Humans don't know everything. We know plenty about this world but not all of it." Ivan admitted, sitting down at the raft edge as well as leaning back to casually look up at the sky above that was as blue as his eyes, "For instance, no, I do not know what it is that you're going to say to me, Nyrina. I'm no mind reader. Nevertheless, as I promised your mother this morning... I am here for you. So, do not be afraid. Please, I would like to hear what you have to say at the moment."

"Okay, okay. In all honesty, I've loved to swim since I was five. As you said for my kind, swimming has been my everything. Yet, during these last few days, being close to the water like this has made me feel... Oh, I don't know..." The Urchinhide daughter muttered darkly, looking nervously at the Seidon River once more before nervously pulling her knees up to her chin, "Now that I'm close to the water again like this, I suddenly feel... unsure? Does that make sense?"

"Yes and no." Was Ivan's soft reply, his smile never fading, "Please clarify what it is about the water before us that makes you abruptly feel uneasy."

Sadly, the she-otter looked to her human friend and tried to explain better, "Well, I have to admit that ever since that shark attacked me... I feel like a part of me still died back there when you rescued me. Every time I look at the river here, every time I think about how my tail got scarred, it feels like I'm suddenly being watched by something I can't see."

At speaking of something she couldn't see watching her, Nyrina thought she saw a large if not hostile shadow of a creature dart away into the murky depths of the river below her. Had it been there? Or was it simply her imagination running away with her senses like it did during her nightmares at night?

Pushing herself a little further away from the edge of the rear of the Dynamic, the she-otter whimpered, "It's always been dark in those depths below the water's surface. I have forever known that. Until now, however, I haven't ever noticed how dark it is down there."

"Ah, yes." Her human champion admitted, gazing leisurely down to the dark bottom of the river below, "It is a tad dark down there... isn't it?"

"Yeah. And that's just it, Ivan. What could be down there, hiding out of my sight?" The otter daughter wondered, growing more paranoid by the moment, "Sharks can't be this far inland, can they? No, they can't. It's stupid of me to even think of something like that. Yet, why do I get a knot in my gut each time I look at the murkiness of the river then? I know that shark isn't there but... I didn't think there was one where I went pearl searching either. But there was one there and now... Oh, I can't make heads nor tails of what to feel or think about my love for the water."

There was a long lapse of quiet shared between the uncertain she-otter as well as her human friend. The birds sang sweetly from the forest all around. The insects chirped together in natural choruses. The random fish darted into sight before diving back into the shadowy waters below. The Seidon River gurgled, trickled along with mumbled its way along almost invitingly.

"Fear. It is fear that you feel is watching you at this moment, Nyrina." Ivan stated wisely at long last, looking to encourage uncertain otter maiden with him to be strong for the future, "It was fear that made your ancestors allow themselves to nearly be enslaved. It has been fear that has crippled many a family, many a ruler, many a warrior in Felldewan history. Fear is the most lethal poison of all. However, fear is naught but an illusion."

At this, confidently lowering his feet into the water, the human grinned in a brave manner to his worried she-otter companion. Before her eyes, for her sake, he was braving the possibility of a shark being in the water. He was willing to risk his toes being bitten off at any moment by whatever was supposedly hiding in the murkiness of the river bottom. He was proving to the watching otter daughter that with him with her, everything was okay for her to go on soaking her legs without fearing her safety.

"It is fear that is making you question the safety of this water you, me and your family currently sail upon. Indeed, seeing as you have healed a bit in body, it is fear that you will now have to face next in the coming days." He explained, sounding ever so sage like when looking so young at the same time, "It will be a bit hard. It will be a bit strenuous. However, no matter the trials ahead, don't let fear ruin your love for the water of the world, Nyrina. Water is your everything. Without it, you will live a life not worth living. Without it, you will never find happiness again."

"Yes, I know that." Nyrina honestly agreed, looking to her human champion and suddenly finding that she didn't mind staring into his gentle, encouraging, sapphire blue eyes. Next, when she was offered his hand, she took it without question, allowed him to pull her forward and let her feet/tail soak in the water beside him. "I have to overcome my fears of the water next, you think?"

"Indeed. Where you may have evaded the shark's attack on your life, the after effects of such an attack are longer lasting if not more dire than some folk give it credit for. I know of what you are going through, Nyrina. Whether you know it, you are damaged not only in body but in mind and spirit." The human man explained gently, not meaning to scare her but alert her of what was to come, "I knew that even when I pulled you up that slope and saved your life... something did die inside of you; your sense of security. And if you would allow me, I will help you revive that. Not only I will help you, mind, but your whole family will take part as well."

"I'm damaged in body, mind and spirit?"

"If you fear the water around you for the first time in your life then yes, you are damaged in those regards. But do not fret. You will heal. It may prove to be a difficult journey. Healing, I mean. Yet, with a family such as yours at your side, goddess willing, I will see you become yourself again in due time. I promise you that."

"You promise me that?" Nyrina wondered in bewilderment, always surprised at seeing how ready Ivan was to help her even though he'd been helping her without end since they'd first met, "Why? You've done so much for me already, Ivan. Even if the goddess wants it from you, I can't keep weighing you down like this. It's unfair. It's selfish on my part."

"No. It is not selfish on your part, my friend. For it is not your fault that you are hurting at the moment." The Norlinthian replied, looking firm about his decision in helping his worried otter maid friend, "It was the shark that attacked you. It is the shark that is to blame for all of this. And where it was the shark that hurt you, I will be the one to help you now. And do not fret about me staying at your side, Nyrina. It is my pleasure to see you healing day after day."

As they allowed their feet to soak in the water side by side, as they took comfort in each other's presence, there was a long if not content silence shared between Nyrina and Ivan. While they didn't say anything for a while, the Urchinhide daughter couldn't help but not feel as afraid of the shadows of the murkiness below her anymore. She no longer saw any shadowy outline of some huge aqua predator swimming in the shadowy bottom of the Seidon River. No, with her human rescuer at her side, all she saw was water now.

And with Ivan aiding her, she would not allow her fears to get the better of her in the future. Truly, no matter what would be coming in her direction during the coming days, the otter maiden wasn't going to lose her love for the water. She was going to be brave for her family. She was going to be brave so that Ivan wouldn't have to keep getting her back onto her feet.

She was going to be brave so that she could go swimming without fear again someday!

But still... somewhere deep down in her stomach, Nyrina felt a little wobbly. Sure, maybe she would be brave in due time. For now, though, if he was willing to aid her, she was more than grateful to have her human champion stay close. For if she ever needed some kind of outside friend to rely on for support, if she ever had any questions that needed answering, he would undoubtedly be there.

Honestly, Nyrina couldn't very well speak to Clampter about her fears could she? Nah, apart for her tease of a father and serious mother, she would at least have her human friend to speak with now.

"Me overcoming my fears... It's going to be like when I was little where I, heh, used to be scared of the dark." The Urchinhide daughter finally admitted, feeling a little foolish about speaking about her childhood all of a sudden. Even if it was with someone she trusted outside of her family. "My father always told me that there were only things in the dark when I was afraid. But if I wasn't afraid, there was nothing in the dark because I had a hold of my imagination. Like you said, Ivan, fear was an illusion then. And I know it is now but..."

"But you cannot get over the "what ifs", correct? You cannot grasp the fact that there is nothing around here that will harm you, no?" Ivan cut in gently, squeezing her soft hand reassuringly with his own all of a sudden, "I know, I know. You cannot overcome your sense of fear at this moment. For now, Nyrina, you must focus on healing in body. Then, when the time comes, with help from your family, with help from me, you will heal in mind and spirit. In the future, you will not question the water like you do now. You will trust in it again."

"Yes, of course. And if you really don't mind... you'll be there to help me with that, won't you?" The Urchinhide daughter questioned thoughtfully, smiling a hopeful smile, "I mean, you've helped me with plenty already but... As you say, you'll really be there to help me heal in mind and spirit during the days to come, right, Ivan?"

"Indeed. Seeing as I have aided your recovery thus far since we departed on this journey five days back, I believe I will be here for you when you reach the overall end of your healing." The human explained confidently, "You should know that I would be most grateful to take part in such an experience as helping you, an otter, love the water once more. It will be my first honorable time in doing so."

"I would really appreciate it if you did take part, Ivan. Again, I hope it doesn't sound weird of me or selfish to say so but..." Nyrina admitted, feeling a little embarrassed all of a sudden and messing with her braided back hair, "I'd feel five times better if you were there helping my family helping me come to love swimming again. From what my mother has told me, that should be sometime in two weeks when I can take off these bandages. You think you'll be around then?"

"Your father predicts that our journey to Pebble Plateau should take around a week and a half." Ivan explained, adding swiftly at seeing the uncertain look in his otter maiden companion's eyes, "However, the future is an unpredictable thing, she-otter. Whether be it due to bad weather or some other distraction, the Dynamic could take longer than two weeks to sail south where I'm bound. And even if I do get to where I'm going before you fully recover... I would still be there to see you swim once more."

There was a long, thoughtful if not tender quiet passed between Nyrina and Ivan after this exchange of inspiring words. As her human rescuer went back to unloading the fish nets, the she-otter was beginning to truly understand the truth in her parents' words about the optimism of humans. She was starting to comprehend just how beneficial it was going to be to have Ivan in her life.

For after no more than five days in his presence, she had come to see he was endlessly supportive, bold along with understanding. During the days to come, he really was going to be a saint sent to her from the goddess. And if he alone was such a saintly figure... Then was the rest of humanity, the residents of fabled Norlinth, just as grand?

Duh. Of course they were. They just had to be!

"Nyrina, I actually have an idea about the freshwater pearls meant for your mother." Ivan abruptly cut in to Nyrina's thoughts, making her come back to reality, "See, I've been on the road for quite some time and picked up a number of handy traits. One of those traits of mine is that I've tinkered in crafting."

"Oh?" Nyrina wondered back curiously, "You have a skill for crafting?"

"Yes. See, in the past, I've dabbled in jewelry making. And seeing as you have the pearls and I have the skills, I'd like to ask you to allow me to make your mother's perfect gift a little more perfect." The human explained, dropping his voice low as Hudder approached from the tiller, "With your permission, I'd like to fashion darling Mistdrop a pearl necklace."

There was a long moment of silence. Then there was an explosion of excitement!

"You could do that?!" The Urchinhide daughter hissed eagerly back, her more than happy face mere centimeters from Ivan's humored own, "Are you serious?!"

"Indeed. I'm serious. After all, with me being a guest aboard your family's ship, I would like to help you make your mother happy." The young human man replied, focusing onto throwing the empty nets back out into the river behind the Dynamic, "Yet, let's save this discussion for another time. Here comes your father now-"

Without even registering it for a moment, something happened between Nyrina and Ivan.

Not really thinking it through, happier than ever before in her life, thankful to the goddess for having brought him to her, the Urchinhide daughter threw her arms around her human champion's neck, pulled him close to her and then... planted a swift if not grateful kiss on his cheek! A kiss that made her freeze, realize what she'd just done and then caused her to hurriedly go to gutting fish with her eyes focused on everything but Ivan who, having enjoyed her show of abrupt affection, simply went about his own business.

Only where the she-otter's face was redder than the scales of the fish she was beheading, his own expression honestly shined with happiness. Whistling under his breath, hauling in fish, he went back to work with a brighter flare in his heart than he'd had a moment ago.

Had something just begun between the she-otter and her champion? Or had it been a moment of simply being caught up in the secret scheme of giving Mistdrop a perfect gift? Who could really tell at the moment? Only goddess of Gaia and the passing of time would reveal answers.

Either way, smiling to himself, having noticed the odd behavior being shared between her daughter and daughter's caretaker before approaching them, Hudder coolly walked to the rear of Dynamic. Once standing over Ivan who was beginning to gut fish with Nyrina, the otter father chortled, "Aw, no more whispering between you two? No more shady dealings? No more hugging now that I'm around? Hmf, how disappointing. Here I was hoping to catch a bit of juicy if not naughty gossip being exchanged between you both to relate back to Mistdrop."

"Father!" Nyrina exclaimed at once, feeling hotter than ever in the face at her devious father's teasing but also relieved to know that he hadn't seen her kiss her human rescuer only a minute ago, "I - we - Ivan and I are simply gathering the fish together like you want. That's all and nothing more."

"Yes, so I've noticed. It's only taken ye' both about, oh, fifteen minutes to do so when it should 'ave taken you five. And don't bother denyin' it. Ten of those minutes were of you two cuddlin' over here." Hudder snickered, watching his daughter fidgeting uncomfortably while Ivan simply if not innocently smiled up from his task, "Don't ye' act innocent with me, young man. I saw ye' sit down with my beaut' of a daughter a moment ago. I saw you staring into her eyes and hold her paw. Are you going to sweep her off her feet next? Ye' thinkin' of draggin' her off fer yer own? The shame."

"Ahem, no, sir. Me carry off your beaut' of a daughter? Why, she's in no condition for that, don't you know? Rather, I'm going to help her gut these tasty fish actually." Ivan said truthfully, making the otter father snort with mirth in turn, "And I was only staring into Nyrina's eyes as an act of healing. It is always good to make eye contact during conversation. It helps brighten the spirit if not reinforce the conversation."

"Hm. Brighten the spirit, you say? How very romantically put." Hudder replied, a wicked twinkle showing in his eyes that made Nyrina roll her own, "Yes, well, done romantically or not, I'm goin' to need those fish today, you two heartthrobs. Tonight, we're goin' to be having a grand dinner to celebrate the good weather and dearest Nyrina's recovery thus far. That and we need to thank the goddess for havin' brought you along for this ride, Ivan."

"Ah, a celebration, eh? Sounds great." The human said back, looking happy about the idea, "You have as good as a reason as any Felldewan these days to enjoy some partying. Either way, I'll have this fish freshly prepared for you to cook soon enough, good sir."

"See that you do." Hudder said back, smugly winking at Nyrina who put her face in her hands when hearing his next words, "And be sure to not get too distracted by the... prettier things around here in the meantime, Norlinthian."

"I cannot guarantee that. Still, I will do my best." Ivan replied modestly, actually taking both of the otters off guard with his show of honesty, "Everything here is distractingly beautiful, you know. The river, the sky, the forests and the two she-otters presently giving me their attention. So if you want me to do my work quickly, you'll kindly quit making me look up from my work and at your beaut' of a daughter. With the way she shines like the splendor of the sun, she's rather blinding."

And with that said, with a gentle wink to the she-otter daughter opposite of him, Ivan resumed cleaning fish. In the meantime, burying her reddening expression into her paws until she felt like she was going to suffocate, humbled Nyrina did her best not to explode from her overdose of current blushing. That as well as from her playful father's antics.