"Trust me, it's better to go home than get caught in a storm around here," Jasper said. He glanced at the dark clouds. He could hear thunder rumbling in the distance, and the clouds flickered with lightning. "They tend to be bad around this time of year."

Dalea seemed to 'droop' in her mood. She nodded slightly and just started walking away again. Storms messed with her powers. They were either uber powerful, she couldn't control them or she couldn't use them at all.

As she walked away, Jasper pulled himself back up onto the rock. He had to be out of the water to change back into his bipedal form. As soon as his tail changed back into his legs, be wrapped the towel around his waist again and got to his feet. He stumbled for a moment, but he quickly got his balance again. Once he could walk properly again, he went inside to dress and close up the cottage against the storm.

Jasper spent a while taking care of his fish tank once he got inside. He reached into the tank, and smiled a bit when a starfish stuck to the glass reached out and tried to climb onto his hand. He gently unstuck it from his skin and set it on the bottom of the tank. Watching the tank was relaxing, sometimes. It reminded him of the reef on a clear day.

The storm raged outside for a while, but eventually calmed again. Jasper ventured outside once the rain stopped.

Dalea had fallen asleep in the cave. The storm totally drained her of her energy. She tried so hard to keep her powers under control. She hadn't taken in to account that the tide would rise later. The water soon got to the level of her feet. She was stranded on the rock. She could've just flown off the rock to safety, but she was exhausted.

Jasper was already in the water again. The water was cooler, after the rain, and slightly less salty than usual, but it felt good flowing over his skin and scales. He didn't notice Dalea still on the rock right away.

Dalea was leaning to her right a little and the water kept rising toward her. Her feet were now went, with the way she was sitting, so was her butt.

Jasper finally noticed her sitting on the rock when he noticed her feet dangling in the water. Silently, he swam up to her and lifted his head above the surface. The rock she was on was in a cave with a low-hanging entrance, and the water was already almost completely blocking the way out.

"That rock is completely underwater at high tide," he commented. "By about six inches. The cave doesn't completely flood, but it's probably a good idea to escape now."

Jasper ducked under the water again and used his tail to splash a little water at her to wake her up. It wouldn't be right to let her get trapped in the cave until low tide again.

"Not really," Jasper said. "The exit is there," he gestured to where the water was still slowly rising to fill the entrance to the cave, "and it's not very deep, I could pull you out." He looked at her. "Unless you want to sit in the water until low tide."

Dalea looked at him, paniced. "But...I-I can't swim!" She made a strangled noise. She was terrified.

"Easy, calm down," Jasper said, holding up his hands to placate her. "Just trust me, I won't let you drown." He held out his hand to her. "Take my hand, and slide down into the water. I won't let you drown, I swear."

Dalea's eyes darted around the cavern, then she nodded and took his hand. She had no other choice but to trust him. She held onto his hand tightly, probably tighter than she had to. She slowly touched the water with her foot, then slid into it. She shivered with chills. It was much colder than it was in the cave. It felt so weird to her. Her other hand was on the rock, keeping her head above water.

"Alright," Jasper said. "Now you have to let go of the rock." He held on to her hand, even though she was really the one holding on so tightly. He wasn't worried about her pushing him under if she panicked. He couldn't drown.

Dalea took a breath and let go, closing her eyes. She didn't know how to handle this. She did know that she wasn't going to do it again.

Slowly, Jasper towed her towards the entrance to the cave and then maneuvered her so she had her arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders.

"Hold on tight," he said. "I'm going to need you to hold your breath and stay as calm as you can while we get out of the cave."

Dalea felt like she was going to have a panic attack. She just nodded to him and waited till he moved to take a deep breath. Holding on tight wasn't a problem. She didn't even have the time to notice that way he was holding her was very inappropriate for acquaintences.

Once Jasper was sure she's taken a breath and was holding it, he quickly dove under water. Now that he wasn't wasting energy trying to keep himself at the surface, he was able to get them out of the cave quickly. Once he was clear of the rocks, he surfaced again for Dalea.

"Alright, we're good," he said to her as he slowly towed her towards the shore.

Jasper let her go once they were in water shallow enough for her to stand in. He didn't like getting any closer to shore than that when he didn't have to.

"Look, you didn't drown," he teased her. He gestured to the rock where he usually left his towel. "My towel is over there, you should try to dry off."

Dalea scrambled onto the sandy beach and looked at the water with fear and hatred. Then she remembered that it was her own fault and went sulky. She shook her head a little at Jasper's suggestion. "I'd need a torando to dry myself off." She was being spitefull, but not towards him. She mumbled a thanks and moved out of range of the tide. She then curled up on the sand and tried to dry that way. She mumbled softly as if she spoke to herself. She was talking to the wind. It flowed over her and messed with her hair. This calmed her enough to steady her breathing and have a small smile on her face.

Jasper had never seen anyone show that much hatred toward what was essentially his home. He saw nothing wrong with the water, and in fact liked it more than the land. The ocean was where he came from, it was part of who and what he was. When he saw Dalea look at it with such hatred, he shook his head a bit and dove under the surface. He wanted to settle down on the bottom for a while and look at the sky through the lens of the water. Everything seemed more distant from under the surface, and that's what he wanted.