Léan ducked underwater and then pushed her up onto the walkway. He was surprisingly strong--he did swim, exercise, all day long, after all. "Go home and get some rest. I am ready whenever you are ready to break me out of here. Just take your time."

((Night!))

Artemis blushed a little. "Ok, but at least let me give you the fish before I go," she said. It wasn't a statement- she really wanted to make sure he would have food.

ooc: My Wi-Fi's acting screwy, and people are going to fix it on Friday. Until then, no net access! D:
Right now I'm on a friend's computer. ^^

((D: Okay!))

Léan nodded, his tail swishing back and forth eagerly. He was still hungry. He had a bottomless stomach, and any food he could get was good...

((I am so sorry I haven't been on! Nobody came to fix my Wifi. TT^TT So after I get off, there's no telling when I'll return! D: ))

Artemis smiled, grabbing the fish and dumping them in the water. She still had the buefin una in the trash bag- she was afraid that it would eat the other fish before Leon could.

((It's okay! Take all the time you need to get it fixed.))

Léan was quite pleased with the fish, for he scooped them all up and gobbled them down easily. He seemed to be in a slightly better mood than he had been for a while.

ooc: Thank you so much! I got my Wii's Internet working, so I'm pretty happy about that! XD

Artemis smiled at him, happy that he was happy. "Alright, I got a surprise for you," she said, dragging the trashbag containing the bluefin tuna over so she could dump it in. "This one almost pulled me overboard!" she joked, even though it was true. "Are you ready for it, or are you full?" she asked.

((Hooray!))

Léan had been getting full, but it seemed like his stomach completely drained itself once he laid eyes on the tuna through a small hole in the bag. He could recognize that smell from miles away.

"I could eat tuna even if I was 100% full," he retorted, grinning.

Artemis grinned, laughing a little. "Oh darn, you know what it is? Oh well, here comes the catch of the day: Bluefin tuna! But apparently you knew that already," Artemis joked, opening the trashbag and releasing the tuna into Lèan's tank.

ooc: Darn it! I have writer's block!!! D:

((D: I hate writer's block so much.))

Léan liked battling with aggressive tuna. This one looked aggressive. Quickly, he lunged at it, holding onto it and biting like...like a lion, and a zebra...predator and prey. It didn't take him long to bring it down.

Artemis watched him in awe and with slight fear. "Oooh, that's gotta hurt!" she said when Lèon bit the tuna. After it died, shesmirked. "Poor thing... It didn't stand a chance..." Suddenly, she felt her fever spiking again, and she shuddered, laying on the cold metal and curling up into a ball. "D-Darn fever," she stuttered. "Wow, the room's spinning so fast..." Indeed, the room seemed to spin before her eyes. Looking up at the ceiling, she silently prayed for her fever to stop spiking.

Léan nibbled on the tuna, watching her lay down and suffer with the fever absently. He didn't know what to do when humans fell ill. "...Perhaps you should go home, and rest for a while?" he suggested, blankly.

Artemis nodded, smiling a little. "You're right.. I probably should. That, and get something cold on my forehead," she said, slowly sitting up and gathering her things. "I'll see you tomorrow Lèon," she said cheerfully, standing up and heading for the door. "Goodnight, and enjoy your tuna," she told him.

"Have a lovely evening." Léan nibbled more on his tuna. He was thinking about where exactly he would go when he was released. He had to head to the Bering Sea, first, to find his brother. Then...he would probably seek out a city that was friendly to 'abominations,' which were humans changed into merpeople.

Artemis made it home before collapsing on her bed. She dragged herself out of bed to get a wet cloth before quickly falling asleep, tossing and turning from a horrible nightmare.

Artemis was tied up, crying as they took Lèon away. He was suffering, and it was killing Artemis to watch this. "Stop hurting him!" she cried, tears streaking down her cheeks.

Then, Leo came out of the shadows with a knife and started stabbing Lèon. Artemis cried even more as she tried to break free, as Lèon died before her eyes.

Artemis woke up screaming and crying, which woke up her mother. Her mom rushed into the room, holding Artemis as she cried and shook violently from her dream.

Léan had an interesting night. He wasn't tired, so he didn't sleep. He had a dream about a real place, underwater, that he had never been to before. He shook himself awake when he realized that someone, one of his own kind, had been using a psychic power to invade his dream and show him where a safe place for 'abominations' was.

He grumbled, not liking the feeling of being invaded, and grudgingly went back to sleep.

ooc: Ooooh, there are psychic mermaids? owo COOL! XD

I'm getting pretty tired though, so this is my last post for today. Night! ^^
Also, I'm getting writer's block. Shall we skip to the day of the escape while they're riding in the back of the truck or something? ><

Artemis eventually went back to sleep, now having happier dreams about herself and Lèan.

((It's very rare, but some merpeople can have magical powers, mostly limited to elemental powers and shapeshifting, or psychic powers--like seeing ghosts, telepathy, telekinesis, seeing the future. Léan isn't aware if he has any of these. X3 Sure, we can skip ahead, but you'll have to do the first post on that, since Léan's stuck in the tank. Night!))

Léan couldn't get back to sleep after he'd had that odd dream, so he'd simply relaxed and daydreamed to pass the time.

((That's so cool! :D
Ok then!))

The night of Lèan's escape came quicker than expected for Artemis. She had said goodbye to her mom and little brother, promising to come back soon. As she packed up the last of her Space Bags with her manga, cell phone, laptop and other things, she took one last look around her room, wondering if she would ever see it again. Her mom had promised to keep her room availible if she ever came home, so all she needed to do was to convince Lèan.

Artemis wasn't ready to say goodbye forever. Someday, she would come back and sleep in her bed. Until then, she had a blow-up mattress in another Space Bag. She had bought a large waterproof suitcase to pack her things in, putting some money in the front pouch just in case. As she came to the last of the Space Bags, Artemis paused when she saw her scrapbook. She opened it up, smiling softly when she saw everyone. Back then, her hair actually had color, until she got sick. She then came to a picture of herself in the hospital, giving Tristan a noogie. "I'll be back," she whispered, repacking the Space bag and putting the last of them inside.

Artemis got to the aquarium 15 minutes before her friend,so she took her time setting up the voice recorders and making sure the remote worked before sneaking up to see Lèan. She closed the door behind her, setting the timer on her watch to alert her 5 minutes before her friend got here. "Lèan? Lèan are you up?"

Léan was awake. He was sprawled out across the rocks, seeming tired. He lifted his head when he heard Artemis' call, but nothing more.

He looked sick. Merpeople did not last very long in captivity. They often took sick and died. He would spring back to life once he was back in open ocean and felt the sea breeze.

He finally dredged up the motivation to swim up to the walkway and prop his arms up on it, resting his head on the cool metal.

"Lèan, are you OK? You look sick," Artemis said, now very worried. She laid on her stomach so she could look into his eyes, brushing a strand of hair from his eye before smiling softly at him. She realized that she WAS in love with him, and she couldn't help but wonder if he felt the same way....

Léan was much paler than usual, and his eyes were just a bit bloodshot. "I don't feel very well. I think I need to get back to the ocean as quickly as possible..." he replied, softly.. When it came to the feelings of others--unless it was fear or impending anger--Léan could be very oblivious.

(Poor Lèan. :()

Artemis nodded. "Well, it shouldn't be long before my friend gets here. Just try to wait a bit longer, OK? My friend usually keeps a big tank of seawater in the back of his truck for transporting injured animals... Would that help?" Artemis was worried about Lèan, and she wanted to help him any way she could.

"I won't be good until I'm in the real ocean...I don't think that will help. I'll wait it out..." Léan assured her, relaxing. He didn't want to do too much moving, after all. He felt a little nauseous...

Artemis nodded, smiling softly at him. "Then I hope my friend, Aidan gets here soon. He should be here in-" she then glanced at her waterproof watch- "8 minutes. I set a timer to warn me 5 minutes early so I could do one final check to make sure everything works." She then grew serious, gazing into Lèan's eyes. "Lèan, I will do whatever it takes to get you back in the ocean. I won't let you waste away in this tank."

"Thank you..." Léan's eyes were half-closed, and a bit listless. He just wanted to stay as still as possible until he was back in open ocean. He hated depending on others to help him...but when he was marooned on land like this and falling ill, he didn't have a choice.