Léan captured a passing fish, quickly, and nibbled on it as they swam along. Which way, now? he asked, upon coming across a fork in the river.

Monty looked around then nodded to the right. This way.

Emy's eye twitched slightly, but said nothing.

Léan waited for him to lead the way, and then quietly followed him. He had a bad feeling about this particular stretch of river, for some reason. He just couldn't put his finger on what it was...

Emy soon felt Leandre's unease, squeezing his hand gently. Then she kept her eyes on Monty. She was suspicious of him still, she'd never gotten used to the staring whenever he'd look at her. She decided she was going to get something to wear now. She didn't like that feeling that he knew what she looked like....in a personal way.

Monty could feel her eyes on him all the time, he'd gotten quiet used to it. He'd heard something following them, but it didn't appear to be anything too vicious.

Léan would help her find something to wear, if that was what she really wanted. It was about a fifty-fifty split...half of all mermaids went topless, and the other half wore something over to cover up any unmentionables.

He didn't keep an eye on Monty, per se...he had excellent peripheral vision and literally watched him out of the corner of his eye.

Monty suddenly moved to the side, out of sight. Emy stopped and looked surprised. Then she looked around to try and figure out why he'd done that. Unknown to them, there was something swimming up behind them.

Léan was puzzled for a moment as well. Then, every hair on his body stood on end, and he grabbed Emy around the waist, noiselessly moving them both off to the side.

Emy squeaked slightly as she was moved. But she stayed quiet afterwards, looking out at the large-ish shadow that was moving through the water.

Léan pressed them both against the floor of the river, tail straight up in the water in a territorial, aggressive stance. He would attack anything that looked remotely hostile if it came close.

Emy starred in almost disbelief as a gator slowly swam up the river. It was strange to see them so far. Where did it come from?

Léan, surprisingly, didn't mind alligators. Crocodiles were another story, since they were naturally aggressive to merpeople. Alligators kept their distance unless something provoked them, or they were interested in passing merpeople. He didn't interact with them much, since he rarely ventured into fresh water.

Nevertheless, he remained vigilant.

Emy, being human, was naturally afraid of it. She moved as far away from it as she could, trying not to draw it's attention.

Léan took hold of her arm and gently shifted her back, so that she was behind him. She was better off directly behind him than anywhere else. He kept alert, to make sure there wasn't any danger.

Emy blinked slightly at Leandre, but didn't protest. She freaked out when she saw Monty about two feet away from her, shrieking. The gator looked over in their direction, slightly on edge, but mostly curious.

Léan didn't react in the least. He simply stayed where he was, still, and looking a tad threatening. He could defend himself well in battle, and was rarely intimidated.

Monty grinned at Emy. Sorry I scared you. "But you know, you're not too hard to figure out."

Léan simply glanced back at him, and then returned his eyes to the alligator. "Forgive my keeping it a secret." He spoke perfect English, even after having not spoken it for a few days. "One can never be too careful. Abominations are not well-tolerated beneath the water."

'Abomination' was the technical and easy-to-remember term for a changed human.

Emy looked defensive, but after she heard what Lean said, she pulled away from him as well. The gator looked straight at her and she looked back at it.

Monty just chuckled softly. "I don't think she likes being called an abomination." He was wary of the gator though, it acted strange.

"It's not an insult. It's a technical term. Like...to describe a donkey as an ass," Léan informed her, amused. "It isn't bad." He watched the gator curiously.

Emy still did not like being called that, she didn't go back to Leandre. She just watched the gator as it came closer to her cautious of the two males. It didn't seemed to be worried about Emy at all.

Léan folded his arms across his chest, accepting her stubborness. He reared up at the gator, hissing slightly as a warning. If he did something, Léan would attack.

Emy didn't like it and she didn't understand why Leandre didn't understand that. But when he hissed at the croc her eyes widened slightly. "Shhh....don't do that." The croc had looked as though it glared at Lean and moved slightly away from him, but closer to Emy. She looked at the croc, staying still as to not tick it off. It came up close and gently nudged her with its nose.

Léan half-ignored her. He quieted down, but he remained reared-up, almost puffing himself out to look bigger than he really was. All in all, animals didn't sit well with him. Especially large, predatory ones.

Emy couldn't help but giggle softly when the croc did that. Then it looked up at her, curiously. She just smiled kindly at it. "Are you lost? Crocs don't usually come all the way up here." The croc looked at her sort of sadly, though kept a wary eye on the other two mermen. Realization lit in Emy's eyes. "Its a baby...it's a baby! That's what's going on!" She said excitedly, but in a low voice. She gently touched the end of the croc's nose, rubbing it a little soothingly. "Its ok....I'll help you find your mama."

Oh, great.

If there was one thing Léan hated more than the general human population, it was babies, of any species. He couldn't stand children. He had no patience for them. At this revelation, he hung his head, and lazily turned to swim away, off to sit in solitude for a while.