[CONTENTID1]♒ Ulla to the Rescue ♒[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

Joon swam as fast as he could. He wasn’t the best swimmer, and Ulla obviously had experience with how quickly she moved, so he struggled to catch up. He called her name multiple times to get her attention, but she didn’t look back once. Instead, she did a quick dive. This had Joon stopping in his tracks. When Ulla had plunged herself under, a shiny, jet black fin had popped up and then disappeared again.

“What in the world?” Joon asked himself.

He waited for her to rise again so he could ask her that very question, but she didn’t. Ulla didn’t rise after ten seconds or thirty or sixty, and Joon began to panic. He called out for her, dumbly thinking she could hear him. She of course didn’t answer. Not wanting to waste any more time, Joon dove underneath too.

The water was thick with the night sky overhead. Joon could see nothing. He turned this way and that, and still nothing but the moon shining through. After more than a minute, he was forced up for air to which he took in a giant gasp. He didn’t wait long before diving again.

He did see something this time. A pale blob waved smoothly in the distance. It was almost out of the moons reach and Joon knew whatever it was had moved deep into the sea, and was still going. As he stayed watching it, he could see it getting smaller and smaller.

Soon, Joon was forced to swim up again as his chest began to burn without oxygen. Reaching the surface, he came upon the moon’s huge face shining eerily over the coastal city, and at its head, looming, was the castle. It was more than a mile away; he hadn’t realized he swam so far out.

Then there was Ulla. She had yet to surface, making Joon terrified for her, but then, remembering the obsidian fin, he also felt fear of her. Could she have been that pale blob he saw? If so, why would she be swimming so far into the sea?

Wanting answers, Joon took one last giant breath of air, and went under.

The pale blob was almost out of sight now. There was only a sliver noticeable against the inky water, and although Joon was slightly terrified, he still swam after it.

It happened fast, his lungs giving out. He hadn’t swam more than a few yards before his mouth gasped open without his permission and he inhaled volumes of water. He’d never been good at endurance, and this proved his lack of fitness.

 Joon’s entire being burned with need. He was too far from the surface now though. Ulla was down here, for whatever reason, and he was going to try and find her, he had to.

It was hard to concentrate though. He could no longer see the pale blob, and his vision was slowly becoming blurry. It was so dark, and his eyelids were becoming heavy. A spasm coursed through him, and Joon tried to cry out, but only swallowed more water. There seemed to be a never ending stream of water, but he wouldn’t turn around. He would not give up, so he kept moving deeper into the darkness.

It felt amazing, being in the deep blue again. Ulla would have swum loops of excitement if she wasn’t on such a dire mission. Still, she couldn’t help but grin knowing it wasn’t two legs behind her, but one beautiful and strong fin. Her grin widened into a full out smile when she saw an even more beautiful and strong creature heading straight for her.

Glut, the big lug, was torpedoing his way to her, but when she opened her arms for a hug; he missed and swam right on past.

“Glut?” she turned calling to him. Anything else she might have said died on her lips though.

Ulla’s eyes may not have been as good as great whites, but she too saw a blip in the moonlight that lit up the water above. She didn’t know what it was, but if Glut bypassed her for it, then whatever it was must be important.

It didn’t take long for her to turn and swim into seeing distance of glut and the thing he was dragging to the surface. She could see dark cloth, black hair, and a pale hand. In that one moment, it felt like her heart cracked. She swam faster.

The three of them broke the surface, and Ulla immediately went to Glut’s mouth that cradled an unmoving human. “No, no, no,” Ulla whimpered. She went straight for the male’s neck, checking for a pulse. She could cry out in happiness when she felt the faintest beat.

“Hold him still,” she ordered glut. She then pressed down on his chest a few times before putting her lips to his and breathing in. He wasn’t in the best position for mouth to mouth, but there were no flat surfaces or anything to prop him against so Ulla did her best to work with what she had. She also tried to ignore the fact that it was the second time they technically kissed.

After the third attempt a small sputter escaped