"Yeah, sure .." Jo's hand drifted to her side only to remember that her compact was in her bag back where this whole mess began. She considered things for a quick moment, assessing how long it took to get here then calculated how long it would take to get back there and come back with it.

"Um ... it's back at the beach, five minutes to get it?"

She asked it as a question, her eyes darting over to the two sailors then back to her as if not completely trusting her alone with the pair even if they were in such wretched shape.

"Sure thing," Melanie replied, glad that Joan still had her wits about her. When she noticed Jo's furtive look at the two men, Melanie up a fist, spiked by the edges of broken shells. It served as a signal- "I'll be just fine. Just hurry back"

With a nod Jo had raced off leaving her there with the pair of sailors. Mo, was groaning every so often, in pain but trying to be macho with the gathering of so many people about him so as not to appear to be in as much pain as one would have guessed.

In addition to this Mel could hear the on again off again chittering noises of the beetle somewhere at the back of the cave as it buzzed about something at the back of the cave ...

"Ok, let's just move to the mouth of the cave, in case it gets choppy out there..." Melanie's mind was currently whirring about, leaving her unable to process the events smoothly. She needed to be DOING something. She needed to keep herself active. She paced back and forth across the stony floor of the cave, the shards of the shells close to piercing her skin. She wanted to just chase the beetle away, let all of her pent up aggression out against the beast.

Instead, she was stuck with two injured men trying to act tougher than they actually were. Mo needed attention, but they needed to get him into better light. "Mo, can you stand?"

"I think so," he answered then attempted just that as he staggered up to his feet. He kept his weight off of the injured leg and through Vaughn's assistance hobbled over to the mouth of the cove better in the light.

The waiting was the hardest part. All the while Mel could here the beetle moving about back there hidden by the darkness though Jo soon returned, out of breath from running most of the way. Compact in hand.

"Got it," she panted as she sucked in breath. She looked over at the two men then back at Mel, mouth words to her without speaking aloud. "They behaved?"

She then glanced further into the cave. "Alright then, how should we do this?"

"Ok, so the beetle hasn't moved too much," Melanie began, jumping straight into action mode. She winked at Jo, just to assure her. "I'll head in first, in case it took over the area inside. If the area's clear, then I want Jo to get in there and use the compact to flash some light in the darker parts of the cave. It won't be much, but I'll manage." With the orders stated, Melanie raised her armed fists into her boxer stance, proceeding slowly, ears preened for the sound of clattering bug legs. The area where they had been forced to stop was clear, so she turned to Jo, and gestured for her to come over.

This was it.

Jo came as instructed, her eyes trying to pierce the gloom in vain in an effort to locate the beetle. She could hear it though even if at present she was blind to it as she angled the compact this way and that to capture light upon the mirror and deflect one of the beams into the cave.

A thin ray was captured and deflected allowing her to scroll through the darkness slowly until at last her beam of light fell upon it. The beetle was there, lounging on one of the rocks towards the rear of the cove. When light struck it, the thing grew agitated and fled from the beam ducking behind the rocks as it flew away briefly.

The area illuminated they did not notice it come out from either side of the little pile of rocks so it was safe to assume it was there, away from their light that seemed to affect it a little. At least that was what appeared to happen.

"There!"

Jo jumped at the sudden voice that belonged to Vaughn who had crept up behind them, a hand extended with his finger pointing towards the rocks where they had seen the bug.

"Ok, got it," Melanie shouted back, her eyes now scanning the rocks. The bug was there all right, scittering about. What was she supposed to do now?
"Vaughn! Try to blow the whistle!"

Vaughn blew the whistle though nothing happened. No wait, she could not hear it moving for a brief while, perhaps half a minute, maybe even a minute before she could here it moving again somewhere back there. Vaughn glanced at her then dug through the front pocket of his tattered pants.

Still there. He produced something that looked like a mabel. "Food pellet ... it's doused in enough chemicals to put it to sleep for a time though we have to get closer to deposit it if we are going to have a chance of it eating it.

"Pass it here," Melanie murmured in Vaughn's general direction. The light wasn't doing much to aid her,but she could make out a shifting form in the darkness. "Maybe she's hungry..."

He tossed the whistle to her, no sooner than he had the beetle acted. She could hear it moving, the rapid opening then beating of it's wings as she could see it's vague shape in the darkness with the little light that penetrated to the rear of the cove.

It flew straight towards them as if it had debated there as to it's next move. Something stirred it into action whether hunger or fear it was hard to say, perhaps even territory that it was now claining as it's own and aggressively defending.

Melanie swore as she flailed wildly at the bug, backing up towards the entrance she had come through. If she were lucky, the bug would have been knocked aside, but Melanie wasn't about to count her chances. She pressed the whistle to her lips a let loose a shrill whistle. Hopefully, it would at least distract the bug with its sheer annoying sound. Give her enough time to figure out how to carton off the cave and alert the teachers...

As she batted at the beetle it showed that it was quit manueverable as it darted backwards away from her blows. She placed the whistle to her lips as she backed up only to collide with something.

A scream. Jo's as she turned around. Gone was the beetle and gone was Mo and Vaughn. In there place was a tall slender creature, mauve skin and a mass of tentacles instead of legs much like the lower half of a centaur being that of a horse.

Mouth tendrils danced near his mouth as white eyes glared down at her. A musky aroma now exuding itself into the air as words carved there way into her skull. Miss me?

"A-A-Aegir?" Melanie gasped, backing away from the tentacled monster, her instincts failing to develop a more appropriate response. How could that be? Aegir was a dream, a figment of her imagination, something composed of simple fluff and grey matter. He wasn't supposed to be real in any way, shape or form. Yet here he was. Even Jo could see him.

Melanie's face flushed red, as memories of that dream throbbed within her. What had happened to her back there? She had LOVED it back there. It felt so good to be free from worry. Just bucking her hips and feeling the endless joy-

Melanie halted her mind, even as she smelled the famaliar aroma the alien gave off. She was not about to become Aegir's toy in real life. Not like she had been in his dream. She raised her fists in the air, though one treasonous voice echoed in her brain, It wouldn't be SO bad to give in.

Yes, slave, in the flesh this time. He answered as her mind flooded with thoughts of the past. He watched amused that she would lift up her hands against him. Blows, bludgeon blows, would have little effect on him though she would learn that he supposed in time.

In constant awareness of her thoughts, his mouth tendrils twitched, his eyes swing towards her as he launched a sea of tentacles at Jo. He did not look at her though he managed to coil numerous tentacles around her limps and yank her closer to him.

Yes, it was pleasant. He reminded her, reading her very thoughts.