Thelma

Human
looks

As a dragon
back story personality

From inside the quiet of the room, all that could be heard was the faint hum of the boat and the slosh of waves against the belly of the large cruise ship. After the day of festivities to keep every guest aboard both satisfied with their time and both enough to be happy with what they were doing, the day had mellowed out and many said guests had retreated into their rooms; and that is indeed where a certain couple would have stayed if not for the persistence of Kona.

It was now on the front deck of the ship that the pair resided, Kona beaming in the faint glow of the boats lights; lips in a gleeful smile, and crimson hued eyes alight with an excitement that could be momentarily rivaled with that of a child who had just found their favorite toy. Though, in his stance, it was not a favorite toy that he was currently lavishing his time with, but more of one of his favorite people. Thelma, to be quite exact.

" See, I just knew that this was a good idea, " Kona had continued on, eyes closing as he relished in his own self praise. In the beginning, Thelma had seemed rather reluctant to embark on a cruise when her husband had spontaneously erupted in excitement, and presented her with the passes to allow them on the boat. " You looked so happy this afternoon. " he added.

From beside him, leaning carefully with elbows on the railing and one finger idly curling a loose strand of pink hair, Thelma only uttered a distracted hum in reply. It was true though; in the beginning, Thelma was skeptical of just how Kona had gotten his hands on some passes for a cruise.. and if the cruise would even live up to an expectation of impressing her. Though only after the first two days, she had to admit that she was very impressed by the turn out.

Looking over at Kona, a faintly amused smiling spread over her glossed up lips; like any other day, she was pampered and dolled up looking, not that Kona would complain. Her lips glossy, eyelids dusted over with eye shadow and brightly colored hair tied up into a modest ponytail to keep it out of her face; all the while held up firmly with a bow. It was a signature thing for her, not counting her hair, to wear lovely looking bow.

" I'll admit, I was surprised, " Thelma said with a content look now dawning her face as she let go of the railing to instead take hold of Kona's jacket covered arm, holding onto it with idle affection. " I didn't think it would turn out as such a nice cruise. " she continued on and an amused chuckling of sorts left her when she spotted the almost offended scowl of a pout that came over her husbands dark colored face.

" But it's been very nice, " she said, and let her head nestle momentarily onto his shoulder; giving Kona just enough of a moment to affectionately brush a hand over a single freckled cheek.

Kona would have loved to simply rest in this rare moment of two on two affection; close to each other to completely indulge in each others presence, close enough to hear every breath they took and the faint warmth from each other. It was, despite his usual flirtatious demeanor and constant humor towards many ladies, moments like this that really.. warmed the usual flirt up. Not that he would verbally admit; he would instead cover it up with a jovial laugh and some sort of wink, be beating a hasty retreat.

Though in the end, the warmest of his love was saved for Thelma.

As their breathing became quiet, listening to the splashing of waves against the boat, a sudden screeching noise tore them from their bliss as well as the entire boat giving an aggressive lurch. If it hadn't been for them being so close together, and Kona having slipped an arm around his wife, he was sure she would have been thrown right over the railing. It was now that he pulled her defensively close against him, arms wrapped over her while in turn, Thelma clung to him in shock.

As the couple looked about wildly, alarming sirens on the boat now blaring loudly in their ears, a man's voice suddenly hissed and clicked to life through the many speakers that lay in the boat.

" Attention passengers. There has been a breach in the boat. Please leave your rooms and proceed to life boats- " he began, before there was another hiss of static and the voice cut out; mainly due to the sudden breach and water now flooding through the boat.

" Kona! "

A voice snapped his out of his thoughts, and he looked down quickly to see Thelma; still clung onto him, eyes widened in fear and for once, her usually characteristically confident look now washed away into a scared one. Seeing her like so, was enough to make his own stomach lurch.

" It'll be fine, " he hurried on as he detached himself from his frightened wife. He instead hurried to approach the railing on which side he had heard the loud screeching of metal be torn wide open. As he got closer, Thelma close behind, he gripped onto the cold metal rail and leaned his upper body over.

It was now he could see it. The entire side of the boat had been torn open, frayed bits floating away behind them in the water and water gushing into the boats wound from an unknown object. Perhaps a rock.. or something else. He didn't know. What he did know, though, is that by the amount of water flooding in, they didn't have enough time.

He whirled around to face his startled wife, and grabbed hold of her hand. In a flash he was hurrying off the passenger's deck and back towards one of the many sides of the boat. If he remembered correctly, when they had walked out this morning, he had seen life boats tied up to the sides.

" Kona, where are we going?! " Thelma demanded, though she made no move to pull her her hand out of her husbands; instead, she clutched onto it for dear life.

" I'm getting us out of here. " he replied firmly as he finally approached said life boat. It was now that he released Thelma's hand, ignoring a few too many confused passengers stepping from their rooms to instead go inquire of the loud bang near the front deck. He could only watch, pausing in mid yank at the tarp over the top of the boat, to watch as the poor souls wandered away. Mercy for them..

Instead, he snapped back to the boat. Finally getting the tarp off the top, he impatiently pushed it aside and went to tug Thelma insistently. He helped her inside the boat, despite seeing her hesitance at stepping into a boat suspended who knows how high from the sides of the boat. It was thus his turn. Being careful, the blue haired man began his careful meander into the hull of the small life boat and, with some difficult, began to pull at the levy system holding the boat up.

" Thelma, pull the other side! " he demanded, gesturing a finger at the ropes that were near her. As his wife began with shaking hands, he could hear now distressed yells from above as the situation finally sank in with the other passengers. Ignoring the tight feeling of his throat, almost guilt, he continued to lower the boat.

What was minutes seemed like agonizing hours to the couple before their boat finally hit the slosh of water. It was also by now, that the large cruise ship had began it's terrifying descent into the ocean around them. Part of it was gone, swallowed up by the weight of the water, while the other was holding on for dear life above the ocean surface, people yelling, crying screaming-

He couldn't listen. The small boat was rocked roughly by the enormous sloshing of waves from the sinking ship, Thelma clutching the side of the boat while Kona hurriedly tried to unravel the rope around the oars. He could only focus so much on the task at hand with the sounds of despair behind him as he finally got them out and pressed into the water; get Thelma to safety. As the dark skinned man finally got the hang he needed to move the small life boat away, he did so in a rush; paddling with all his might as his white sat huddled, hands tightly clutching to hug herself and wide eyes staring at the devastation behind them.

As their small source of life finally got far enough away from the wreck, the pair sat down in the small hull of the boat together, Kona's arms around Thelma, and her's around him in return. It was here, from their safe distance, that they could only watch in silent horror at the boat that was slowly receding into the ocean, people's yells becoming quiet as ten minutes- twenty minutes- thirty minutes, went ticking by. What seemed like the span of an hour, the nose of the ship finally plunged into the cold, dark waters below them.. gone.

The couple did not speak. They stared, in shock, at where they once had been. What could have been their grave. It was this sudden realization that brought tears from Thelma as he buried herself close to Kona, and he in return, tightened his grip around her even more solemnly, protectively.

Kona would let nothing hurt her; or take her away from him.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

It was hard to coax Thelma to sleep. She was restless, she was afraid, and she was tense; even if she was also tired. When she finally did, carefully covered by Kona's jacket, he himself did not make an attempt to join her in sleep. He instead sat awake, up on one of the wooden seats, to watch as the waves rolled under them and moved the small boat along. He watched the stars instead; counting how many he could find, if he could see any constellations.. any sign of planes, or life.

He found nothing though.

It was disheartening. It was especially so when he looked over at Thelma. He felt so much at fault. He had been the one to bring those tickets; he had dragged her on this cruise.. and now look where they were. Stranded in the midst of the ocean, and it didn't seem like anyone else was even alive. They were alone. Scared and alone.

Despite this weight now dragging him down, seeming to choke him, he would not let it show. He would do all in his power to instead be strong for Thelma. He would do all in his power to be strong for her, and to keep her safe from anything that happened. Nodding this silent vow to himself, he glanced carefully down at his sleeping wife and instead, lowered himself from the seat to settle down beside her.

He watched her shift in her sleep at his sudden presence beside her, her nose wrinkle slightly and eyebrows furrow together, before she drifted off at ease once again. The sight made Kona smile; a gentle hand brushed pink hair away from her face and behind her ear, before he rested one of his arms over her and instead allowed himself to drift off into a tense, uncomfortable sleep.

The boat lurched, it skidded and was then halted. Both of them shot up from their sleep, eyes squinted against the sudden light of day, as they became rather uneasy. The boat was no longer rocking around.. it wasn't moving. As their eyes became use to the sudden blinding light, they were rather shocked - but also relieved - to see that their tiny, dingy little boat had been pushed by the ever shifting tides onto sand.

It was Kona who got up first, balancing in the boat as he instead stepped out. A tiny jolt went up his spine at the cold water washing up to his ankles, and soft sand being shifted between his toes as he began the careful task of trying his best to yank and drag the small life boat up closer to shore where it wouldn't go drifting away.

" .. Where are we, " Thelma spoke up, her voice groggy, as she was finally helped out from the stranded boat by Kona. When she looked around, the beach seemed to stretch on out of view. The sands were white and soft looking though, and the water splashing around their feet a few moments ago was as clear out to a point. So clear, she could spot small little fish darting out and about, their scales glistening in the sun, before they disappeared.

" It looks like an island. " Kona replied as he walked up from the waters to instead step on dry sand; it felt nicely warm under his feet, and he sighed in relief that they were no longer trapped in that little boat.

" Of course it's an island, Captain Obvious. " Thelma replied teasingly at her husband as she waded up to the dry sand, handing him back his jacket. As much as he wanted to scowl at her teasing, it was also slightly comforting. She was back to being the same as ever... teasing him whenever the chance arose. " I mean, if this island is anywhere close to human life.. or life at all. That aren't animals. " she continued on as she hurried farther up the dry sand, away from the water.

" I wouldn't know. " her husband responded as he tugged his jacket back on, zipping it up and walking after Thelma. Farther up the beach, the sand abruptly broke off into lush grass where, if they continued walking forward, would be a jungle; the tree's loomed imposingly out over the beach and towards them, thick foliage sprouting all inside and, if one tried to peer closer in, was much too dark to even see. " Though it looks tropical.. ".

Beside him, Thelma had made a rather disgusted noise. Tropical? That must mean there was animals, and bugs and.. who knows what else all around in there. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with an infested jungle like this! Who knows what could get at her when she was sleeping, at her hair or at her face- .. wait a minute.

Gasping loudly, enough to make Kona jump and look over at her, Thelma began a hurried frenzy of fishing out a small pocket sized mirror from her pocket, for make up purposes of course. She held it up once she got it out, and made an almost horrified sound when she saw the current state her make up was in.

" I look awful! " she said in a shrill voice, as her her hand frantically tried to rub away any smear of makeup that happened. In front of her, her husband let out a heaving sigh and instead reached to stop her fussing, staring at her closely and sternly.

" You don't look awful, you look fine- " he began, before his hand was swatted away and Thelma began, once again, fussing over her disheveled hair and ruined make up.

" That's easy for you to say! You don't wear makeup, I can pull off makeup so nicely and now look at it! " she said, her tone upset. Instead of pushing the topic any more, Kona simply chuckled, shook his head, and began a trek back towards the boat, Thelma momentarily pausing to stare quizzically after him.

" Kona? Where are you going! "

" Maybe if I can dry out the boat, I can make a fire.. " he called back, as he did so to do just as he has said, whilst Thelma hurried to wait near the waters edge for him... both unaware of the set of prying, pupil slit eyes watching them from the humid darkness that was the jungle; scales shifting as a pair of figures ultimately retreated back into it's foliage covered depths.

" Did you see them? "

" How could I not? They blunder around loudly with those stupid looking, clumsy feet. " a voice replied as the two made their way along, returning loyally to the lair that they always found themselves trailing back towards. Though they were not humans, oh no - each of these woman only looked so human from their head to their hips, before skin melted away into scales and their lower bodies were replaced with muscled snake bodies.

The larger of the two, with a lower body mirroring a python, abruptly ceased her slithering to stare at her companion beside her. While smaller, but only slightly, she was still just as potentially deadly as the python bodied naga beside her.

" They're going to be like the last ones, " she continued, hands waving and a slight hiss of annoyance left her as Blood Dream began to ramble on, her boa counterpart already curling her lower body up as she awaited the rant that was about to slip from hr muscled companion's lips. " People who say they're just explorers- men of science! They'll come, saying they mean no harm, saying they only want to study the island. " she continued as she slithered in a circle around Isis, before stopping in front of her.

" And you do remember what happened last time.. " she said, making her lower her head slightly in shame. How could any naga of their clan forget? The humans from so long ago arrived, saying they only wanted to explore the island and, in their biggest mistake, allowed them. It was then that they were betrayed. The humans turned on them with weapons and, while they were able to slaughter these intruders and feast on them, many were wounded.. and even a few lost.

Judging by Isis' reaction, she remembered. Puffing herself up slightly, Blood Dream stared at the naga as she finally looked up, hands idly clutched to her chest and eyes watching Blood Dream.

" .. Then why did you not kill them? " she asked, making the bigger naga sputter in slight shock at the question. She knew that Blood Dream could have slaughtered the humans in an instant. She was larger than Isis, and years of working in the clan had left her well muscled and defined; a constant sneer on her face and a defiance light in her eyes that simply dared an outsider to challenge her. " I know you could have done so in an instant. "

Isis, on the other hand, was not as muscled as Blood Dream. She lacked muscle and had only what seemed chub on her human-like upper body; but it was fitting of her, as well as her rather exotic, beautiful looking face and warm colored skin. She was, in any aspect, a beauty.

When she did not get an answer from Blood, Isis smiled faintly and continued on, speaking as if in her own little world; " They were curious, right? They did not have any equipment with them like the other humans.. they were alone, too. Plus, " she cut off, and a bashful shade of red flourished in her cheeks as she smiled a bit more, ", the human male looked.. charming. "

Hearing this, the larger naga's eyes widened as she stared at the boa naga, before an abrupt laughter left her; if anything, Isis would have expected her to be annoyed that she was, in the slightest, pitying the humans. It was a constant thing, even when frowned upon by the other naga. Isis was curious about humans.. about who they were, how they acted. She expected Blood Dream to instead be angry and not let out an.. uncharacteristic laugh.

" I can never sway you on your weird interests, " she said, once her small laughing fit has subsided, and she instead sighed loudly and rubbed her temple in frustration with a single sharply nailed finger. The two lingered in silence for a bit, staring at each other, before defeated sigh left Blood dream.

" ... Fine, "

Surprised looking, Isis stared at her. " Fine what? "

" We'll help them.. but not up front! I refuse that either of us show ourselves to them. " Blood Dream said, ignoring the sudden excited expression that was over Isis' face and her hands clasping together so tightly. " But don't get no wrong idea! I ain't helping them because I want to, it's because you do! " she warned, as both once again turned to begin their slithering back towards the den, Isis having a much more gleeful slipping then Blood Dream.

By the time night had fallen, Kona had managed to construct a crude looking bed from the large leaves of the jungle tree's for both Telma and himself; sure, it wasn't the most pleasing thing for Thelma, but it was better than sleeping on the sandy ground, she was sure of that. Now, Thelma was sitting carefully close towards a fire her husband managed to construct of dried branches and other wood, watching as Kona struggling to wade around in a nearby tide pool in an effort to catch fish; anything they could eat!

At a particular lunge forward, he went splashing ungracefully into the water and even with water now in his ears, he could hear Thelma laughing loudly at his blunder. He sat up swiftly from the cold water, eyes wide and blue hair now soaked, before scrambling to his feet to begin the awkward fumbling back towards dry land.

" I never knew it could be so funny to watch you be a klutz, " Thelma mused, getting a frustrated grumble from kona at his lack of fish. It had taken a bit, but she had once again primped herself up. An hour of combing her fingers through her messy hair to once again put it up into a ponytail, and using some water to clear off any smudged make up, left her feelign rather nice about herself.

" It's a lot harder than it looks on television, " Kona replied as he settled himself against the large canopy leaves he managed to forage from off the ground, arms folded carefully and tucked against his stomach as he paused to stare carefully at Thelma, frowning. " Sorry but.. I can try again in the morning. "

" That's probably the best thing to do, wouldn't want you slipping like the klutz you are in dark water and hurting yourself. " she replied, smiling smugly at her husband as he only huddled closer to the fire, his face in a pout at her words. It was then she shook her head, casting off his scowling and instead looked about.

" I don't feel comfortable sleeping out here on a beach.. " she confessed, though it was no surprise to Kona when she did say so. He only grunted and looked back at her, eyebrows raising slightly when he heard his wife and her doubts. How could he blame her though.. what sane person, stranded, would enjoy sleeping on a beach?

" It'll be fine. " he said, and she looked back over towards him with a small scowl. " Nothing will happen to you, I'll make sure of it. " Kona added with a firm nod, and for a second Thelma seemed to relax at her husband's gentle words. She did indeed believe she would be fine.. but, she was just.. worried, as always.

" You should get some sleep. " he added finally as he tossed around on his make shift bed, finally seeming to settle down as Thelma did the exact same thing. She was, once again, using her husbands jacket as something to both cover herself with and sleep.. it was comforting to her.

It was silent for a while as the fire crackled and sputtered, before Thelma began to quietly speak; " .. Thank you. " she murmured, drawing the jacket closer to herself and staring at Kona from past the ember glow of the flames.

He responded by opened his eyes and looking at her, a smile curling his lips and an arm tucking under his own head to use as his own personal pillow.
" Love you too, "
Days had rolled on like this for what seemed like too long. Kona would do his best to retrieve anything edible, from suspicious looking fruit to even the few times he would catch a fish and gleefully bring it back to cook up for Thelma and himself; though he had to face reality. They weren't finding enough to eat.. it was only a matter of time before they-

His thoughts were constantly plagued by this. That they would starve out here.. it was a terrifying thought. They were hungry, thirsty, tired.. he didn't know how much longer he could continue on like this. How much longer could he protect Thelma?

It was this thought that plagued his dreams and even plagued when he was awake and was forced to see his wife becoming more and more tired. She would spend most of her time on the bed of leaves, sleeping away in exhaustion while he himself struggled to try and find something to feed them.. until one morning, that was.

As Kona tossed in his sleep when he felt the sun's rays beating against his eyelids, something brushed against is hand; it felt cool and smooth, and his eyes shot open in original alarm. Sitting up, his expression expecting the worse that an animal would be there, and blue hair disgruntled looking, he was pleasantly surprised to see.. a jug? It looked like it was crafted of skinned and tanned leather, with a cork placed tightly in the top to keep whatever liquid inside.

As he kept looking, he was even more alarmed and surprised to see small bundles near it wrapped it the very leaves they slept on; a wide variety of things when he opened them up in hesitanced. Dried fruits, dried meats in more than one bundle, what looked like flint for fire starting and, when opening up the hide jug and sniffing, what also looked to be regular water.

What should have been confusion as to where these items came from, he was giddy. As he hurriedly snatched these items up in one arm, he scrambling awkwardly over on his knee's to where Thelma was still sleeping. Although he was sure his wife would try to weakly swat at him, this was much more important! Food! They had food!

" Thelma! Wake up! " he said with a wide smile as he began to hurriedly open up one of the leaf wrapped bundled with the fruit in it, his wife sleepily managing to sit up and stare, rather annoyed looking, at her husband. There had to be a good reason he woke her up.. the sun was only just parting ways over the tree's behind them.. she could kept sleeping!

Her annoyance, however, was subsided when she felt something sweet being insistently popped into her mouth when she opened it to grumble at Kona. After hesitantly chewing, surprise spread over her face at the sweetness that was the fruit adn she sat up a bit more to stare at her husband, whom was chewing up some fruit with renewed vigor.

" You found food? " she questioned, gratefully taking the leaf wrapped bundle when it was handed to her so she could eat some more of it. It was such a wave of relief on her empty stomach, and so quickly the grumbles of hunger seemed to die down.

" No! " he replied excitedly as he pulled out some of the dry meat. He brought it close and began to inspect it, eyeing it carefully and even going so far as to sniffing it. It almost smelled like jerky.. but it's taste? Peeling off some of it, he slowly began to chew up the tough meat before his face lit up. Tasted like it to! " It was just there, by my bed! " he said as he handed his wife the rest of the meat, to which she paused and stared at him.

" .. You're feeding me random food? What if it's rotten?! Or has some sort of.. disease in it?! " she said in shock and immediately handed the food right back towards Kona. He huffed slightly in annoyance at this and stared at his wife, holding onto the bundled carefully in his palms.

" Do you feel sick? " he questioned, to which Thelma fell silent.

" .. Well, no. " she answered meekly, watching as her husband once again placed some of the fruit inside his mouth and munched all too happily.

" And you're hungry.. so don't push it away. " he replied, handing the bundle of fruit back to his wife whether she wanted it or not. He sat there expectantly, chewing on a strip of meat, and Thelma stared skeptically at the bundle in her hands. She was indeed hungry.. and this looked so good.

Casting Kona a sideways glance, she began to do exactly as her stomach was urging her to do; eat. As she did so, her husband made a content noise at seeing her eat and the two sat back, sitting in silence and often swapping each other some fo the fruit and meat, as well as taking sips from the fresh water in the jug.

" ... Where do you think it came from. " Thelma spoke up in mid gulp of some water, handing it back to Kano. It seemed, much to his pleasure, that even this slightest food was regaining her energy. It had been heartbreaking to see her struggling to stay awake.. so this put him at ease.

" I don't know. " he confessed and closed his eyes for a moment to think about this carefully. A mere animal couldn't have done this.. so, people? Perhaps this island wasnt a barren place after all. There had to be humans on this island that did this.. but if he said that so bluntly to Thelma, she would only become nervous out here again. " .. Luck, "

" Oh shut up. Luck can't bring us food and water. " she snapped quickly, making her husband raise his hands in defeat and chuckle to himself. Though for now, it seemed that his slight humor had washed away tension, and the couple spent the rest of said morning eating until their stomaches were contently full of long needed food.

This continued, much to his suspicion. He would wake to find new bundles of food every morning, food and other items that they could use. One bundle even had some sort of twine in it for him to fish with while crafting a crude looking rod.. but, it was working much better than him flopping about trying to grab things with his hands.

As the sun was setting one night, he decided that it would be the night he would see just what was delivering these needed items. As the sun retreated and the stars began to peek out, as well as a hanging moon now casting a silver light, Kona lay on his bed in wait. His eyes were what appeared to be closed and asleep, but in all truth he was awake. He knew Thelma was asleep by the way she breathed.. but not him.

He was laying there for what seemed hour; constantly struggling to keep himself away to figure out just what exactly what delivering these bundles. Just when his strength was about to give way, and he himself was going to slip off into a restless sleep, he heard something. Foliage shifting and, whoever it was, moving across the sand. It.. sounded odd. Like something slipping.

He became ever so tense when the noise got closer to the bed he had made, and a familair rustling of bundles being set down. Only when he was sure they were on the ground, did he shook up and awake. His eye's sure were not ready for the sudden change of lighting, as everything was bleak for a second before they finally became sue to it; enough to see the retreating figure of a person into the jungle.

He glanced down swiftlty at the bundles; and sure enough, there they were. Many bundles of things that would help them. Without thinking twice, he hurried up onto his feet and, not even thinking of the possible dangers that could be lurking in the jungle they had been doing their best to avoid, ran straight after the figure that had ran away.

As soon as he got into the jungle though, he was immediately shocked at how humid it felt; like there had been a viel that separated the heat from in here to the cool feeling of the air out on the beach. Despite this, he pressed onwards. He could faintly see something rushing ahead of him.. it had to be whoever was giving them things! With a renewed determination, his running became even more frantic.

" I only want to talk! "

Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this; when he finally bursted through some thick foliage, getting quite a few scratches along the way, he tumbled onto some flat, smooth stone and lay there for a moment, stunned at the sudden change. When he peer up, what looked like a giant mouth of a cave loomed before him; and when he looked down at the base, two figures stood.

One was smaller than the other; her skin was a warm color, her body gentle and her face having a sort of exotic beauty to it that momentarily left him stunned and almost.. tranced. The one next to her was more or less intimidating; muscled and a well defined upper body, short black hair in curls that were sprinkled with red streaks here and there. Both were wearing on their upper body tops that hide away their entire upper body, with a few bird skull ornament here and there and many feathers as well.

If he had been any more interested in the two for much longer, he probably would not have even noticed.. the snake bodies. His eyes lowered and he was rather shocked to find the different scale patterns and just how long said lower bodies were. His once intense determination withered away into that of worry as he stared at the people- no, the naga's. When he looked up, they had turned away from each other to instead stare at him, wide eyed and almost shocked.

His first instinct was to run.. though when he went to get up, he didn't get more than a foot before the bigger naga came rushing forward, an arm extended and abruptly grabbing hold of his tattered shirt collar to keep him in place. Whatever interest he had before, was completely gone.

" Wait! " a gentle voice insisted, and Isis came hurrying over, her prehensile lower body swiftly moving her forward and towards the pair. It was here that her hands gently dislodged Kona from Blood's grasp. Up closer, she was.. even prettier than before. " He said he only wanted to talk, Blood, " she continued, though much softer than before.

Ignoring Blood's protest from behind her, Isis turned to face the confused and very concerned looking human, his hands lifted in slight protest of being attacked by either one of them; though he had to admit, the way Isis neatly folded her hands in front of her and lowered her head, cheeks flushed bashfully, made her much less intimidating.

" My name is Isis, " she introduced, leaving him even more dumbfounded than before. He stood there, eyes darting between Isis and the naga whom she called Blood- .. what a non intimidating name. " I- .. I didn't mean to leave so quickly. " she continued on, as Kona looked back at her. " I didn't expect you to wake up.. "

As his intial shock left, he couldn't help but smile nervously. " .. So it was you who was leaving things there. "

" Oh, no! It was us both! " she said with a smile and gestured a hand at Blood, who only looked away stubbornly with a scowl; though, they could faintly make up the embarrassed flush of color in her ears at the sudden praise. " We saw how much you were struggling.. "

If it hadn't been for them being.. non human, he would have been touched by their mercy and help.. but then again, he was still rather stiff and frightened by the two human-like creatures in front of him; though he didn't dare to interrupt when she continued on.

" If it had been any other group of humans, we would have killed them, " this made Kona gulp nervously and stare wide eyed at the two naga, but she continued on with a gentle smile, hands clasped tightly towards her own chest in glee. " Though you aren't like those past humans who came with their weapons.. and their violence. " she continued, and her smile faultered just slightly.

" Though just because we're so forgiving, doesn't mean the rest were. " Blood Dream cut in, making Kona pause and stare at her skeptically. Wait.. others? There were other naga here, slithering about the island, with a hatred for humans? Thelma and him were just sitting meals! This thought made his face slightly pale, and he watched with a slight nervous shift. What if they came after him and Thelma?

" Don't worry though, " Isis said with a smile, and a single clawed hand reached over to carefully pat him on the head, the simple action enough to make her almost giddy looking and a flush of red enter her face once again at the mere, fleeting touch. " I've talked with the others.. and they promise to leave you unharmed so long as we say so. "

While those words were comforting.. how could he trust these two? How did he not know that they were probably plotting Thelma and his' own death? Saving them all for themselves... but he had to admit. If they wanted to kill either of them, they could have done it a while ago; even Isis herself, who looked so kind and gentle, with her warm smile.

" .. So does this mean you'll stop helping us now that we know you're here? " he pressed on, making the two exchange glances before sharing a small chuckle between each other, Isis being the one to look back towards Kona with a chuckle and smile.

" Of course not! I find you and your wife rather fascinating.. " Isis said shyly with a smile, her head lowered and a smile over her face; it was rather adorable when he looked at her.. and, despite everything, he found both the other naga rather attractive. Her obvious strength, the intense look over her face.. " We want to keep helping you both.. and.. since you already found out what we are, we don't need to hide anymore! "

That was rather true.. he knew who- what, they were now. He saw no reason for them to be hiding from the two of him anymore; and as long as they were promising nothing would happen to him or Thelma.. what could harm? He knew possibly throwing his trust in this wasn't the best idea to be doing but, he saw no other way to ensure him and Telma's survival.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw a hand extended to him, and is eyes followed the hand, up their arm, to come face to face by Blood. The naga was staring intently at him, looking from his face every now and then, before looking right back towards her hand. Was she.. trying to insist that they shake hands on it; like some sort of contract?

" .. We can keep helping you out. So long as you don't try to go against us. We've had too much of that in the past. " she said, her hand still held out towards him expectantly. It seemed whether he liked it or not, he would have to shake her hand whether he was expected too or not.

Kona stared quietly at the extended hand for the longest while, eye's barely open to squint through the darkness before he looked up at the two naga; Isis' expectant smile, and Blood Dream's intense stare.

He had no choice.. not that it was such a bad thing. Reaching out, he took her hand, almost amazed at the warmth it sent, and shook it.

" Deal."

His return was silent, as it was still night; and surprisingly, that night he slept rather soundly. He did not toss, he didn't turn, and he didn't struggle around in a restless sleep. It was before he left, that the two naga had promised to come in the morning and not in the night to possibly scare him or his wife when it was so dark out.

When light did come, and the two naga arrived, it took much persuasion and calming from Kona's part to get Thelma not to throw herself into the ocean and swim away frantically from the pair of serpentine humanoids. In fact, much to his pleasant surprise, he found that his wife warmed quickly up to the company of the two women. It was only natural, he supposed.. only so much she could spend around him even.

It wasn't only Thelma who warmed up to the naga's, but he as well. When Thelma was busy wtih one, he himself was busy with the other. He was completely captured in the stories of their own people they would tell, their species, and even the island itself; it's animals, the plants, and the fruit and meat they would often bring as well.

The friendship he had intended in the beginning eventually flourished into more of affection.. between both he and Thelma, and Isis and Blood Dream. Where Isis was constantly eager to come and meet the couple every day, to either help Thelma in her pampering, or get comfortably close to Kona, it was the opposite to Blood. She herself was not as quick to be so 'cuddly' or 'lovey'. Instead, her activities, not being so cuddling, was instead replaced with more overly good humored wrestling and stories such as Isis.

As Thelma accepted this affection, he himself as well accepted it. It was all accepted between them all, with none left out and none unloved in the slightest way. Where others would see the polyamouros love as unnacceptable, it was quickly accepted and enjoyed between the small group.. blocking away any unwanted scowls from the other naga.

It was rather deep in the afternoon, the heat of the day rather merciful today on the small group, the pair were rather confused to find that they were not woken by the presence of the naga's of whom they had come to love. It was both a disappointment.. and a bit unnerving. The couple spent most of the time pacing up and down the beach side, before a rustle of the jungle caught their attention.

From in the humidity that was their home, the two came slithering out and onto the sand with a gracefulness that only one could properly imagine. Though when they approached, their faces were none too enthusiastic, but frankly worried looking. They approached both Kona and Thelma, hands fidgeting slightly and exchanging careful stares.

" .. We were on a patrol, " Blood began, her shoulders sagging and a slight heave of breath leaving the naga, as Isis eventually broke the silence when her companion did not continue her sentence.

" Off the coast, there was a rescue boat circling the island and soon.. it will reach this side. They will find you.. but they cannot find us. " she continued on, and a great look of almost sadness came over her face. They had, after seeing said boat, had come to the conclusion they could not keep them here against their will.. keep them from their people. " .. We know you came here in a wreckage, and we won't keep you here if you don't want. "

" So you can leave if you need too so badly, " Blood declared stubbornly, glancing away and scowling a bit. Despite her best efforts of hiding her upset demeanor at the two possibly leaving, it was doing no good at this point.

Hearing this, both Kona and Thelma had stiffened. A boat? Had the cruise ship sent out a distress signal? They could go home.. they could go back to the lives they had before. Forgetting the wreck, forgetting the torment they almost went through back on the ship.

The couple looked at each other carefully, eyes locked onto each other in almost silent confirmation, they both looked back towards the naga's with a slight smile that was slowly shared between them carefully.

" We can't go home though, " Kona replied and Thelma nodded gently, making the two naga exchanged a confused series of stares between each other. They couldn't go home? Though the boat was coming soon.. maybe turning the corner of the beach and looking right where they were. They could be saved.. they could go home.

" We can't go home if you two are here.. to leave people we love. " Thelma added with a bit of reluctance at this, smiling a bit and looking away bashfully, staring at Kona who looked back carefully at the naga. " It wouldn't be right.. we can't do it. "

" But- "

" Don't argue about it! " Thelma said stubbornly. The reinuion of their affections was short lived, the scale covered naga compressing both Kona and Thelma into an embrace of warmth, before both said scaley humanoids went rushing back into the humid jungle that would sheild them from the boat's range.

As Thelma began the rush forward, she paused momentarily when Kona reached to take hold of her hand and hold it carefully. He brought her close, surveying her face; it was lacking makeup, not that he cared, but thanks to Isis she had brought some naturally made things for her to use. She looked.. as beautiful as always.. and her freckles.

Smiling faintly to himself, a single thumb brushed over a freckle covered cheek and a fleeting peck was placed on her cheek as well. When he leaned back, her expression was a mixture of both amused and happy, while he himself smiled a bit more.

" .. I didn't expect this would happen. " she admitted, and glanced to the side as they began their short trek into the jungle to avoid said ship. " Then again, I didn't expect the boat to sink either. "

Beside her, he let out a humor filled laugh, and looked at her, eyes filled with both affection for his wife, and now new naga lovers of whom he had been pretty sure would not be found if it hadn't been for the unfortunate sinking of the cruise ship.

" I told you everything would be fine."