When Sai-Rin came to her senses, the first thing she did was cough out all of the water in her lungs, which evaporated on contact with the street she found herself laying on. Finally catching her breath and opening her eyes, she saw what looked like a city, all tinged with red. She barely had the strength to lift herself up. Her legs didn't feel right. So Sai-Rin just laid there on the ground, weak, cold, and numb. Sai-Rin's eyes began to feel heavy with exhaustion.

"Hey, you ok there?" Sai-Rin's eyes snapped open, hearing a voice close to her. "I....I don't know..." she whispered. "You need any help?" the voice asked. The voice was rough, but at the same time, it made Sai-Rin feel safe in this strange new place. Sai-Rin weakly nodded her head.

Immediately, she felt arms wrapping around her and picking her up. "Don't worry. Just close your eyes, and I'll take you somewhere safe. I promise." the voice whispered comfortingly. Sai-Rin's head leaned against a fluffy shoulder. "I'm Sai-Rin. What's your name?" Sai-Rin asked before drifting off to sleep. There was a pause for a bit, then the voice spoke again. "My name's Husk."

~Husk POV~

I can't believe I'm doing this. It's so unlike me to help someone in a place like this. I shouldn't even be out here. I should be back at the hotel, but here I am, with a new arrival in my arms. Still, I can't help but feel bad. Sai-Rin looks so young, maybe in her late teens.

She feels cold, and she's all wet. She must've drowned to end up soaked like that. Her head is resting heavily on my shoulder, and I can feel the fur there getting damp. Finally, I arrive back at the hotel and lightly kick the door open. I ask Baxter if he has any big tanks lying around. He takes a look at Sai-Rin and brings one out, already filled up with water.

It looks to be about six to seven feet deep. I nod to him as a thanks, and push the tank against the wall. Then, I carefully lift Sai-Rin up over the edge of the tank, and gently drop her in while doing my best not to get splashed. Almost immediately, her eyes open and she starts panicking, struggling to get to the surface. She's not making a lot of progress, though. Shit, is she unable to swim?!

I stand up on a barstool and lean out over the water, careful not to fall in myself. The second Sai-Rin's head breaks the surface, I grab onto her and pull her out of the tank.

~Normal POV~

Sai-Rin tightly gripped the person who pulled her out of the tank, shaking and crying. "Hey, it's ok, Sai-Rin. You're out of the water now. You're safe." She heard Husk's voice again, and looked up to see what he looked like. She was surprised to find herself looking at a humanoid cat. His fur was dark grey, except for his face and chest, which were white. He wore a small black top hat with a red ribbon tied around it, and a matching bow tie.

Strangest of all were the bright red and black horizontally striped wings that extended from his back, the undersides decorated with various playing card suits. "Thank you...." Sai-Rin whispered, her tears beginning to subside. She felt one of Husk's paws petting her hair. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know you weren't a good swimmer." Husk said. "I just assumed that because you were a mermaid, it would come naturally to you." Sai-Rin froze up for a bit.

Mermaid? What was he talking about? Sai-Rin looked up at Husk. "What do you mean?" Husk made an expression like he was mentally facepalming. Gently setting Sai-Rin down, he found a full body mirror and brought it over.

Sai-Rin didn't know how to feel about what she saw. Her once tan skin was now so light blue, it looked almost white. Her blonde hair was periwinkle blue, and her bangs covered up her eyes. She brushed them away to see dazzling turquoise eyes in place of her green ones. Finally, replacing her legs was a smooth midnight blue tail.