Deo glared at Porphyro. Was this man making fun of her?! By now, the flowers had stopped growing in her hair, but she'd already been found out. At least she assumed that the strange man realized it was flowers falling out of her hair. She clenched her little fists and took a threatening step towards Porphyro.

"Who are you??!"

"Porphyro," he replied simply, hoping to be infuriatingly vague. Oh yes, he would have so much fun with this one, especially if he could convince her to keep him around. He decided on this as his next goal as he leaned casually against a rock, glad to be far enough away from the sea that he wouldn't have to worry about spray. He definitely did not like getting wet, but he liked the sounds of the ocean - so powerful.

Honestly, Saul would much rather she didn't sing in his native tongue; being charmed once was enough for one day, and now all he wanted to do was carry on on his merry little way towards the land in the distance. He could feel it in his very bones; however, what she said next caused him to pull up short. Keep Selkies as pets?! That was an outrage; though his people spent most of their lives as seals, they were no less sentient and strong as she was. To be charmed into being someone's puppet for the rest of his life...an annoyed, quite annoyed, look crossed Saul's seal face now, and he twisted in the water again. "Thank you for the warning, siren," he snapped, roughly now. "I cannot believe your people would enslave my people as pets....thank you for the song, but I will very much be going now." He twitched his tail, glaring, and took off towards the land again as fast as he could go.

Deo twitched. Just a one word answer? This guy was just trying to infuriate her!

"W-well!! I don't care who you are!!" She stammered, turning red again. "This part of the beach is private property and you can't be here! If you leave now, I won't have you arrested!!"

The attendants looked at each other in worry. They didn't want any more mayhem like arresting someone would cause. Though they were a bit surprised Deo was giving the man a chance to leave. Normally she was even less patient.

"Or," Porphyro countered, a rather evil smile on his face. "What if - just consider this, if you will. What if I scare your horses..."

With a cock of his head, he sent a suggestion of pure fear to the idle horses. The poor beasts flew into a panic and tried to bolt for home, disregarding anything else around them.

"So you can't escape. Then caught you, kept you as my prisoner, and killed anyone who tried to interfere?"

He had a light smile on his face. He wouldn't actually... well, maybe. It sounded fun, keeping a prisoner. Hm. Maybe he would. He was making this up as he went along. Killing? Probably not, as that could get messy. But those servants looked scared to death by their companion, so he was fairly sure his bluff of killing them would at least work to delay their coming to assist. That, and the wild horses.

Ooh, and he could force her to explain her magical flowering hair. Yeah, he would definitely try this kidnapping thing. But he waited for her response first, smirking evilly. He was fairly sure he could catch her, even if she ran - after all, he had all kinds of tricks up his sleeve.

Deo's face suddenly paled, her already large eyes going wider. There was suddenly a very evil look in Porphyro's eyes and she actually took a step back. She wasn't one to ever back down, but past all her spoiled ways and quick temper, she was still just a girl. And right now, she was scared. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was.

"You wouldn't dare!" Her voice squeaked a bit. "I'm of royal blood and you would be executed for this!!" She shot a look over her shoulder at her attendants and then gaped. Rather than trying to arrest this awful man, they were fleeing. The horses were wild again and they went after the steeds, gaining control and then quickly riding away. The second Porphyro mentioned 'killing', they lost any tiny bit of loyalty they had to Deo. There was no way anyone was willing to die for a spoiled brat.

Deo stuttered for a second, completely unable to form words. She took a few stumbling steps after her fleeing attendants, reaching out a hand as if she could someone force them back to her side. Wh-why was this happening?! Her arm shook slightly, still stretched out.

"W-wait-!!! Why....Don't leave me!!!! I ORDER YOU TO COME BACK!!!!!" But her screams fell to deaf ears.

Porphyro laughed, hard.

"Oh, look at that! Look how fast they run! How fickle you humans are, always abandoning one another in times of need. And you, what did you do to them so that they only look back to make sure they are not being chased? You are coming with me, miss. Perhaps you will learn a thing or two."

He moved quickly forward, intending to grab her arm while she stared after her fleeing attendants.

Well, that went even better than planned, he thought smugly. Except... great, what now? I guess I'll just start walking until I find a good place to hide, preferably a cave where no one can find us and I'll know my way around. He knew caves often showed up on the beach, but he would have to find one that didn't get flooded every high tide.

Eilea scowled at the retreating back of the selkie and shouted, "Do not get at me for warning you. I warn you so it won't happen to you." she crossed her arm and harrumphed. "Besides, if you are heading to land you may as well travel with me. I must go visit my father, and we are headed the same direction. If I travel with you, I can prevent the ensnarement."

Saul paused, annoyed, and weighed his options. Travel with her? Don't travel with her? He was quite frankly done with talking with her, as his kind being slaves or "pets" of hers had rather annoyed him. Still, it made sense to keep her along for a little while. With a slight sigh, the seal shifted and looked back at her. "Fine, but only because you can prevent ensnarement. And if you try to ensnare me, I'll find a way to break it and attack you." With a flick of his tail to put an exclamation point on his words, he turned and began to swim without a care as to whether she was following or not.

Deo quickly stumbled backwards away from Porphyro with a tiny frightened noise. She couldn't believe this was happening. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING like this had happened before. Even though she was disliked, people still treated her well. When Porphyro reached out to grab her arm, she twisted away, loosing her balance and falling into the sand again.

"Leave me alone, you creep! And stop referring to humans as if you aren't one!!!"

"Alright, alright," Porphyro said amiably. "Walk that way and I won't touch you." He pointed down the beach, the opposite direction of where she came from. It was likely that he would find a cave soon, as he could feel them if they were nearby. Big holes in the continuous earth, pathways into the dark and unexplored...

A shame about the jewels, though, he thought, looking out over the ocean. There were probably all sorts of powerful ones, likely even amethyst. That was the stone he identified most with, and if anyone referred to its purple color as suggesting something about him, woe to them. He was absolutely obligated to mess with their heads until they thought differently. Longer if he felt like it. (He usually did).

He decided he would come back later to search, after he was done with the kidnapping, then returned his attention to Miss Flowers as one last thought came to mind.

"...human."

Eilea rolled her eyes at the angry Selkie, "Trust me, big boy, you are not worth my time." she then muttered in her own language and more to herself, "Not that I could ensnare you if I wanted to." She swam off, muttering to herself about stupid mage blood. Looking behind her, Eilea made sure the Selkie was behind her. "I'm Eileanora by the way, but just call me Eilea." she paused looking confused, "Don't Selkies typically travel in packs?"

Saul was beyond caring about her at this point; as was typical of Selkies during the Harvest Moon time, he was of a one track mind to get to land and stretch his rather human legs. It was strange, how he could be both seal and human at the same time...and as he surged through the water, rather graceful with his thick tail and body meant for swift travel, he stole another glance at her and was forced to come up short when she stopped. By then, Saul was just getting more annoyed than anything else, as the call to land was rather overwhelming, and he just wanted to keep going...not answer her pretty honest question. "I am called Saul," he said looking at her. "And yes, we typically we do. I am too young to have won my own pack yet, so I am traveling with a pack of males. And as it is the Harvest Moon, we split up rather than deal with our increased fighting."

Deo pursed her lips and glared at Porphyro for a while without moving before finally rolling back to her feet. She straightened her clothes and furiously brushed sand off them as if it were a crime for her clothes to be slightly out of place.

"Fine!" she snapped, figuring that she wasn't going to get out of this one, by trying to run away. She had her pride after all, though it was highly wounded at the moment. She didn't want to wound it any more. A vine was snaking its way from under her sleeve and she tucked it back inside before the perceptive creep could notice it. She started walking in the direction Porphyro indicated with her head held high and back straight.

At this point, she decided he probably wasn't human like her. It wasn't like she didn't know magic existed. She'd been cursed by a witch after all, but she did like to pretend that all that was a mistake. She hated magic after all. But what kind of freaky creature was this guy?!!

It was obvious that Porphyro was enjoying himself, evident in his cocky grin.

"Let's get to know each other while we walk, shall we? As I have said, I am Porphyro, and you're my prisoner. I like the earth, caves, and darkness. Do you like caves, miss Princess? Deep, dark, silent but for the drips of water and your own breathing... That's where we're going, you know. A cave. I can feel a nice one not far ahead, with lots of twists and turns to get lost in. What do you think of that, hm?"

Even if they were followed, inside of a cave Porphyro was at his best and could avoid any pursuit for as long as it amused him. The rocks around him would tell him of every footstep, every breath. So long as he could find a safe place to sleep, he could continue holding Deo hostage.

(i'm a horrible person. I apologize)

Eilea nodded her head at Saul's words, "That makes sense. I'd imagine a male could accidentally get killed in one of those fights." She then paused, "Wait, you said you are young? How old?" Her curious nature getting the best of her. Though if she annoyed the male, he'd probably just swim away. Even if that defeated the purpose of them traveling together to protect Saul from other sirens.

True to his word, Porphyro herded Deo inside of the cave. The entrance was small, but not hidden. It smelled like earth and seawater, and there were a few pools of seawater near the entrance. Porphyro was careful not to step in them, but in his haste to get away from one, got the toe of his sandal wet in another.

"Aah! Curse the ocean. It is only redeemed by the fact that it carves out beautiful caves." He was hopping around as he spoke, trying to shake off the water.

Inside, the cave was larger and stretched off into darkness, though it seemed to have a very faint glow deeper in. It would've felt ominous to Porphyro if he wasn't so preoccupied with being wet.

Deo stumbled through the sand, sputtering insults and objections the entire way. A cave? She most definitely did not want to go to a cave where lord knows might happen to her, but at this point, she was becoming quite afraid of this strange man. The way he talked had her shivering and she didn't know what he might do if she made a run for it. What with her lack of athletic ability, she probably wouldn't get far anyways.

Just as they reached the entrance of the cave, Deo blanched and stopped walking. She had this awful feeling and she wasn't one who was very well attuned with instincts so it really unsettled her. "H-hey...I'm not going in there--" she started to say, but her words were suddenly drowned out by Porphyro cursing the ocean. Whatever apprehension she had been feeling disappeared as she raised an eyebrow.

"This is just great. Don't tell me you're afraid of water?" She kicked at a puddle to splash some more on Porphyro though it irked her to dirty her shoes.

Porphyro gave her a death glare.

"I'm not afraid of the water," he said acidly, highly offended. "I just don't like it, so please be more careful."

The "please" was more of a threat than politeness. Stepping out of range of the puddles, he peered into the cave, a slight frown creasing his brow. Were the chills he was getting from the brat and her affinity for water splashing, or...? No, he thought, don't be stupid. You've been through hundreds of caves. There's nothing you haven't seen. There's probably just a bunch of water in here.

Still, instead of going inside any further, he sat on the driest rock he could find and placed his hand on the cave wall, seeing what it was made up of.

{Tis Rae, posting from a new account. :) Sorry for taking so long; my other account got hacked, and I was kind of avoiding the site because I was annoyed.}

Saul cocked his head at her question, but they were fairly close to shore now. Not close enough to hear the fight going on, Saul instead arched his streamlined back a little to peer at the shore, then looked back at her. What was her question? Something about how old he was? In Selkie culture, one only asked that if one really wanted to know the answer...and he supposed that the mermaid was curious. Perhaps. His eyes narrowed a little as he contemplated answering. "I'm twenty one years old," he replied finally, batting away a curious fish with one flipper. "Not quite old enough to have my own pack."

Deo rolled her eyes and tried to kick some more water onto Porphyro, but he had moved too far way from her to reach. Giving up, she crossed her arms and considered the cave. "Well, I most certainly am not going in there with you. I suggest you simply forget this ridiculous plan of kidnapping me!" she hmphed. She didn't know why the strange man wasn't dragging her into the cave already, but she was glad. Maybe she could convince him to see reason after all.

Porphyro didn't seem to have even heard what she said. He was looking into the cave with a slight frown on his face.

"Do you feel something... odd about this cave?" he asked. After really feeling the rock, he had no doubt there was something fishy going on. "I think, for once, I agree with you. I'm not going in this cave, either."

He stood up and took a st-

Wham! He staggered back, nose bleeding slightly. "What in the name of obsidian was that?" he wanted to know. He tried to go back to his rocky seat, but he'd moved farther into the cave and was met with another invisible wall. Slowly, he put his hands up to feel a solid wall preventing any movement towards the exit.

"Uh oh."

Deo followed Porphyro further into the cave, curious as to why he was acting weirder than usual. Her curiosity was definitely not doing her any good, but in a strange situation like this, she couldn't suppress it. "Yeah this cave feel's weird, but that's so 'uh oh' about it?" she asked, looking in the direction Porphyro was.

Porphyro had a distinctly worried look on his normally cocky face. He made a twirling motion with his finger.

"Turn around and try to walk out of the cave - slowly."

He explored the barrier in front of him with his hands. It wasn't smooth and flat like he thought it would be. In fact, it seemed to shift at his touch, as if it were alive, but it wouldn't give more than an inch anywhere. He was trapped. When he shifted back a bit, the barrier followed him.

Deo crossed her arms and sent Porphyro a glare for a few long seconds, but eventually she decided to do as he asked. Not because he told her to, but because he kinda just told her to leave. Hell if she wasn't going to take the chance while she had it. She hated caves and water and getting her nice clothes dirty. So she took a step, pausing when it seemed her arm hit something in front of her. She narrowed her eyes.

"Hey you!" she snapped to Porphyro. "Did you grab my arm?" She whirled to face him as she tried to take another step back. Or tried to anyway. Her back immediately came up against something a bit like a wall of rock which she knew was definitely not there. Right? She turned to face it, slammed a hand into it. Alright she thought unexpectedly calmly. there was an invisible wall in front of her. Suddenly, she flung herself at him and clutched the front of his shirt, shrieking.

"What did you do you bastard?!!!"