TOYLAND

[KaraS]

Suddenly, Kara was treading water.

She looked around quickly for her friends and didn't see them. But she did see the longboat, upside down in the water. She swam towards it.

Taking a deep breath, she dove, trying to swim into the bridge where she could use the controls to right the ship. Hopefully there was an air pocket so she could breathe. Because she was starting to get dizzy from lack of air.

[Sandworm]

Sandworm was in agony. All he could feel, all over, was the sandtrout pulling him to the water at a molecular level, trying to combine him with the water which, of course, was impossible.

The next thing he knew, he was hovering above the water... he looked around, and saw his Jedi friend with his eyes closed, treading water, but holding him there...

"Thanks, Emram..." he shouted.

[JilaCosa]

Jila broke the surface of the water with her heart racing madly. She couldn't swim and had never had to test how long she could tread water. As she slowly waved the water around in front of herself Jila noticed that some of the other Scoobs had surfaced before her and others popped up shortly after.

"Sandworm," Rae swam over to Emram and then spoke again. "I'm going to transport you into your cabin on board. I've already seen it and it's dry, and it'll stay dry."

"Hurry please." Sandworm said weakly

"Yes, please hurry." Emram agreed. "Not so strong is the force within me yet." Emram grinned. It was a pretty good imitation of Yoda if he did say so himself.

"O-kay." Rae chuckled and Sandworm disappeared.

"Rag?" Jila called as she spun slowly in the water. "Rag! Ragnar! Where the frell is he? Rae! Where the frell is Ragnar? I can't find him! And where's Kara? I can feel her but I can't see her. I can't feel Rag at all!"

"Calm down Jila. Calm down." Rae knew from experience that everybody was about to feel Jila's anxiety.

"What's going on?" Kay was the first to ask.

"I can't find Rag!" Jila began to shake from stress and the cold of the water. "He's got to be under w-water. It's that d-damn ch-chainmail shirt he wears. Why c-can't I f-feel him Rae? W-we've g-got to f-find him or he'll d-drown."

"Concentrate Jila. Now." Rae knew they wouldn't have much time, not for anybody, Not with this cold. "Kay, Emram, see if you can untie a lifeboat from the longboat." Kara, where are you?

I'm under the longboat going into the pilot house. If I can get to the controls I can flip the longboat again.

Chryse, where are you? Rae called out to the Elf

I got caught up in the riggings but I'm okay now. I came up on the other side of the longboat. How's Sandworm?

Better now. He's in his cabin and dry.

"R-rae, I f-found him b-but I c-can't s-swim under w-water."

"Yes you can." And like Harry Potter and the gillyweed Jila's body changed; her feet lengthened, her fingers webbed, and gills appeared on her neck. Suddenly she was as warm as if it was the hottest day of August on land.

"Outrageous!" Jila yelled and then dove under the surface. Frantically she searched again for Ragnar knowing that his time had run out. Locating him Jila swam as fast as she could (which was pretty fast) to his position only to find him swimming up to her...... wearing a wet suit with oxygen tanks! "How...?" Jila was dumbfounded. He couldn't have had time to even grab them before he went over. How?

"Rae." Ragnar mouthed the single word and shrugged. It was enough. Jila then knew what happened. Rae had sent her down to make sure it wasn't too late. The two then swam back to the surface.

When they broke the water's surface a lifeboat was waiting for them.

"This is so cool Rae!" Jila flipped her feet in the water excitedly. "Can I stay like this for awhile longer?"

"Go and give me a look at the instrument panel so we can get the old girl back to rights" Rae said with a wink and checked out Ragnar out of the corner of her eye. When his chin lowered and he looked at her through his eyebrows she knew she had him. Jila took off with a laugh.

The pilot house didn't have an air pocket as Kara had hoped it would, the door had been open when the Longboat flipped and some of the windows had smashed on impact, so Kara had kept swimming until she got to the bottom/top of the stairs to the cabin area. The door was shut there and she wouldn't have opened it, even if she could have, because she didn't want to worry about flooding those decks too.

Jila found Kara shivering in the stairwell trying hard to hold her breath to try again.

"You're turning blue Kara." Jila said after she came into the air pocket with Kara.

"D-d-doesn't m-matter. G-got t-to g-get th-this r-rig t-turned over."

"Does matter. I need to get you out of here." Jila wanted to cry at how blue Kara looked but knew there wasn't time.

"G-get m-me an a-air t-tank f-from the b-bridge." Kara stuttered with the cold. "I-I'll m-make it f-fine w-with that."

Jila had her doubts but did as her friend asked and was back in a flash. Would Kara survive? She could barely move the breathing piece to her mouth so how was she going to be able to swim back down to the pilot house? Rae, I don't know what to do. Jila's mental voice radiated sadness. I don't think she's going to make it.

[Emram]

Emram picked up the gist of Jila's mental message. He calmed himself, and then dove beneath the water, swimming into the ship. He found Jila and Kara in the stairwell, Kara a frightening shade of blue. Jila looked at him, a worried expression on her face. Emram winked at her.

"I'll set her up so she won't drown - can you get her to the surface?" Jila nodded.

"But what about the ship? We need to get it turned over. There's no air in the pilot house. As I understand it, you can't hold your breath for any longer than anyone else, while remaining fully conscious."

"True," Emram nodded. "But I can warm myself up, so I won't get as cold as Kara. I'll grab a breath mask and tank, and see what I can do. But you need to send Rag in here - he knows the ship far better than I do."

"OK," Jila said. But firstly, let's get Kara out of here." Emram nodded, and closed his eyes, to send Kara into a hybernation trance.



Rae was working her way around the upturned ship, checking on the other Scoobs. Rag was swimming along next to her, helping other onto the lifeboat.

"Rag! Rae! Help" Rae looked around, and saw Jila waving frantically, Kara held in her non-waving arm. Rae madly paddled over, and with Rag's help, got Kara into the boat.

"Rag, get down and help Emram," Jila panted. "He needs you to get the ship righted again."

"Well, Rag said, frowning," I'll see what I can do, but I'm not sure there's going to be an easy way to right her." He put his regulator back into his mouth, and disappeared under the surface.

"Jila, what's wrong with Kara?" Rae demanded. "If she wasn't breathing, I'd say she was dead."

"Oh! Emram put her in a hybernation trance," Jila replied. "I need to wake her up!" Leaning close to Kara's ear, she whispered 'rise and shine', the phrase the Jedi had set up as the signal to end the trance.

[chryse]

Chryse came up near the lifeboat. With the help of her friends she climbed into the craft and started shivering. "Is everyone ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, Rae, Ragnar and Emram are seeing if they can upright the boat." explained Kayde.

Chryse nodded and closed her eyes. She held her hands together in front of her like she was holding a small ball. In a moment, a small light appeared. It grew bigger and the elf's hands moved to accommodate it. In the center of the light ball was a small blue flame. It was very warm. Chryse set down the ball next to Kara. Then set about making more to keep everyone warm.

"Cool trick!" said Jila. "Can you teach me that one?"

"Sorry Jila, as far as I know, this trick is innate in elves. I've never heard of anyone learning it. But maybe Rae can help you figure out something similar." replied Chryse, rubbing her hands together near one of the balls.

Warming up, the Scoobs looked out over the water to see what the others were doing with the longboat.

[Emram]

Emram and Ragnar were down in the pilot room, Ragnar checking the controls of the ship. He looked at Emram, his expression, as far as could be seen behind his mask and regulator, was not positive. He pointed at the stairwell, and the two made their way back to the air pocket.

"It doesn't look great," Rag admitted. "It's possible I could do something, but the control panel isn't working properly - it's entirely likely that whatever I try could tear the ship apart instead of turning it over again. It's not really designed to be righted - it's not supposed to capsize."

"So," Emram said, "we need to look at a different option then. The main ship isn't full of water, thankfully, so it should stay afloat. As I see it, the main thing preventing it easily righting is the mast, rigging and sails." Rag nodded, glumly.

"Most of which is probably ruined, anyway," he replied. "We could cut away the sails, which would take a lot of the weight away that's keeping the ship as it is. But the mast is pretty heavy itself, and that isn't something we can easily replace - if we got rid of the mast, the ship would be out of commission for a goodly time."

"Is there any other option?" the Jedi asked. "I can try to turn it over, but not while I'm in the water, and not while I'm still weak. It's possible that the Magic users amonst us can do something similar, but whether magic is compatible with the Force, I don't know. I think the best thing to do at the moment is try to find some land nearby, where people can at least eat and have some decent sleep."

"What about my ship?" Ragnar demanded.

"Rag, it's a massive, capsized longboat," Emram explained. "It's not exactly likely to be picked up by a passing albatross. And who wants a capsized ship? All the while it's upside down, it's going to stay here. If need be, we can station people to guard it."

Ragnar paused for a moment, and then nodded reluctantly. Replacing their regulators, they entered the cold, dark water to return to the surface.

[KaraS]

"How are they doing?" Kara asked through chattering teeth?

Jila concentrated for a minute. "Rag doesn't know how to right the ship."

"Can he flip the switch to turn the longboat into a sub?" Kara asked. "That's what I was going to do."

"I'm not sure that function will work while the boat is upsidedown." Rae said. "But I suppose it's worth a try."

*Hey Rag!* Rae telepathed. *Try turning the boat into a sub.*

[Emram]

Rae waited for a reply. Suddenly, Rag and Emram surfaced, and swam over to the lifeboat. Rag took his regulator from his mouth, and held onto the side of the lifeboat with one hand.

"The controls are all underwater," he explained. "There could be all kinds of electrical issues, shorts, and who knows what else. If I flip any switches, anything could happen. I really don't think we can afford to take the risk."

"Is there no auxilliary bridge anywhere?" Rae asked. Rag shook his head.

"There is, but the controls there are limited - pretty much propulsion and basic life support," he answered. "Emram suggests we try to find some land, and see if we can get people over there for some food and rest. We can work out what to do later."

Rae looked at Jila.

"You've had a nice swim today," she said, "how do you feel about flying?"

[Sandworm]

Sandworm was in the cabin, silent and alone...

He liked it... the quiet. But he hated being unable to do anything.

He sat, and waited.

[KaraS]

"Don't forget Sandworm." Kara said. "And wasn't there a puppy in Kay's stateroom?"

[JilaCosa]

"yeh,yeh,yeh" Jila's eyes lit up as she nodded briskly. She loved to fly. Wind in her hair and all that. Then a second thought hit her. "What'll it be, transformation, dragonback, with wings, or without? Whatever it is, I'm there!"

[Rivyn]

"This won't hurt a bit," Rae told her. "Just think... polyjuice potion."

Jila started to protest but it was too late. It felt like there was something in her back trying to cut its way out.

"Screaming can help," Rae grunted, her face pale.

Jila forgot to scream when great, reptilian wings sprang out of Rae's back. She stared in shock, her own pain forgotten, as Rae's wings gave a heave and she was abruptly hovering several feet above the water, her wings flapping idly.

"Hey, lookin' good!" Rae chuckled, grinning weakly at Jila.

Jila glanced over her shoulder, expecting wings similar to Rae's. She was shocked to find that her own newly acquired set were white and fluffy. Angel's wings.

"Smart ass," Jila answered, giving a practice flap. "Hey!" she protested. The water-logged feathers were heavy!

"Oh, just use one of Chryse's witchlights to dry out," Rae told her, surveying the surrounding Scoobs.

Some of them could be given wings of their own. Others were just not compatible with the school of magic. Well, there was the life-boat and those who could not swim could be carried. But what to do with Sandworm? Very Posiedan Adventure. Once they found dry land, a plot-hole would be easy enough to establish.

She watched Jila flapping and grinned. The woman was beating her wings like a humming bird, far too hard and fast. She was going to get tired really fast. Angel's wings! She giggled and glanced at her own wings again. It couldn't have been gossamer dragonfly wings. Just had to be something out of the eighth pit of hell, didn't it? Well, at least they were strong and sturdy.

Jila, angels are subtle creatures. Follow suit, will you?

Huh? Oh... Jila's wings slowed. Then stopped. "Hey, I'm still flying!"

"It's called floating. Angel wings have a built-in antigrav field. You hover, and use the wings for course adjustments and propulsion," she explained before swooping down to the life-raft. "Hey, everyone okay down here?"

"Nice accessories," Ragnar answered with a grin. "All you need is a spiky hairdo and goth makeup."

And stilletto heels?

She frowned and stared thoughtfully at him, wondering where that loud little thought came from. The mental image that hit her was... odd to say the least. Pole dancing?

Yeah, right, Rag. I'd need a built-in antigrav field of my own to pull that off.

His eyes widened.

"You have a twisted mind, Viking," she informed him, trying and failing to keep her amusement hidden. "Not sure where you got it from, less sure I want to know."

The others within earshot frowned at this comment, 'out of the blue' from their perspective.

And if you show that to anyone, I'll have your... horns.

Ragnar rested a defensive hand on his helmet and gave her an apologetic look. "Look, can we talk about this later?"

"In detail," she promised, her smile widening. "Okay, we need to find land. Once we do, we can regroup, hire someone to tow the longboat in, find the nearest drydock..."

"Row, row, row your boat," Emram muttered. "Which way? We don't even know where we are."

"I always know where I am," she countered. "Look, you guys hang tight. Jila and I will do a little Recon, find the nearest promising island, and we'll go from there."

"No oars," Kara pointed out, frowning. "Are you going to tow us God knows how far to land?"

"No, I am," Crais answered, drawing a startled yelp from half the occupants of the lifeboat. "One of the upshots of being a mandroid."

"Ungodly strong and almost impossible to tire out," Rae agreed. "So, what's the picture look like down under?"

"Fairly shallow water," Crais reported. "You don't get this in the middle of the ocean. We're near a continent or island chain, have to be."

"But which one?" Chryse asked, staring out at the brilliant blue water.

"Don't know." The mandroid gave a noncommital shrug. "Not enough flora and fauna to judge. Good news is that the climate and depth are all wrong for giant squid."

"Small favors," Rae said. "Okay. You kids hang tight. Jila and I are off on the road to... where ever. Crais'll keep you updated on our progress. Ragnar, be a good boy."

Jila, coming?

She did not have to ask twice. Having grown somewhat accustomed to the wings, Jila gave a hard flap, doing a backflip in mid-air before taking off after Rae.

"Rae, this is great!" Jila laughed, delighted.

"Altitude has its benefits. Better than dancing with Spy in the ballroom used to be, hmm?" She winked.

"Wonder how things are on the higher plains these days," Jila answered softly.

"I try not to wonder about events on plains I can only visit if I die first. Oh, hey, look!" she pointed to a smudge on the horizon, a little more green than blue. "Is that land?"

"Only one way to find out."

Crais, we may have found something. Tell the others we're going to investigate.

[KaraS]

Kara watched Rae and Jila fly off with a sigh. The little boat rocked as Crais moved about. When had HE gotten there? Kara didn't remember him being there before. Plot hole or alternate universe? Kara hoped not. Those things were always more confusing than helpful.

Kay peeked over the side and the boat rocked some more.

Something peeked back.

Kay yelped and jumped back and the small boat almost went over. By the time everybody had recovered, the face in the water was gone.

"What was it?" Emram asked but Kara was afraid she knew. She looked at Ragnar and the Viking rolled his eyes. He had the worst luck with mermaids. For some reason they always wanted to drown him.

The boat rocked again, even though nobody inside it had moved.

"Oh boy, here we go again." Kara muttered.

[Sandworm]

Sandworm sat in the boat, hangng on for dear life...

"Not water, please..."

[RagnarRB]

Ragnar had been puzzling out just what kind of discussion Rae meant to have with himself, the purely innocent dear viking teddy bear, and just what stray thoughts she implied. Pole dancing? Rae? Interesting concept. He wondered for a moment...at least until Kara yelped in suprise and he caught a quick look at a mermaid himself.

Great, just great.

He hoped it wasn't one he knew, or worse, one Kitten knew. Back when, during the great race, the mermaids had fallen deeply for ArticKitten's little charms, not to mention her squewed view of reality. Kitten had presented herself in a rather interesting light and himself in not so favored a one.

Wonderful indeed.

At least there was one problem he had a solution to.

"I'll go get Sandworm."

"But he cann't get wet..."Chryse started, and rightfully so.

"He won't. If i understand it right the problem is with water touching him. There's a deep sea diving rig in the aft stowage complete with helmet and emergency air supply. I should be able to get it and drag it to the cabin he's in. Once I seal him in it it shouldn't be much of a problem to get him to the surface. As long as the O2 holds anyway."

Ragnar reached for his air regulater.

"Are the corridors wide enough?"

"I think so."

No one was really sure they liked the idea, but hey, they couldn't just leave him stranded. Sandworm that is. Now Ragnar? leaving him stranded was a whole other thing! ...

Ragnar slipped back into the water. Kara leaned foreward and placed a hand on his shoulder. He paused. "Hey Rag, before you go...What was Rae talking about?"

Ragnar looked at her questioningly."When?"

"Just before she left, when she was glaring at you then broke out in a criptic grin."

Ragnar shrugged. How had Rae glimpsed that vision?

He'd been trying to be a good viking a get a grip on that particularly playful thought...and not smile too much. Not that it didn't make an interesting fantasy vision in one's mind mind you, but it'd first hit him when they accelerated the ship and whatever he'd experienced no one else had. He'd be lying not to admit the image of Rae pole dancing was the one that stuck in his memory the clearest, ...gee wonder why...but still...what had they meant? What had he actually experienced? All those images concerning the various Scoobetts? and Why?

He gave himself a mental shake. He'd actually done a good job ignoring it until Rae brought it up. That's the problem with fanciful thoughts. The more you tried to ignore them the more you remembered them! He looked straight at Kara and 'fibbed'...it sounds much better than 'lied'. After all, how would he ever forgive himself if he did such a thing! Instead he played ignorance...or should that be innocence?

"I haven't a clue. Sounded kind of strange to me too. I guess I'll find out later." And he was certain he would.

Kara just looked at him a second not sure if she was missing something or not.

He wasn't sure either. He almost wanted to blurt out Rae started it but he refrained. The image in his minds eye seemed a tad ungentlemanly for his normal character as it was. No need for him to get snippy"I'll be back shortly with our resident sand dweller."

And with that he slipped under.

Now about those Mermaids?