What was she even doing here?

She watched as the big Scherzando's massive paw slammed into her frozen body, unable to do a thing – only Shouri's timely intervention prevented her from taking the attack in its entirety.

The massive lion crushed her and Shouri underfoot, slicing them to ribbons with its razor-sharp claws.

Blood splattered on her face as Zino cleanly pierced Shouri, who took the deadly attack in her stead.

Ilea Vim crushed her with his mere presence while Shouri stepped up to handle the problem.

Why was she so useless that her Maestro of all people had to protect her?

And now she drowned. The one thing she should have been good at, she couldn't even do that right. What was even the point?

"Paci, you've never been a burden. I love you, how many times do I have to say that?"

The otter's eyes snapped open. She could breathe, though her nose and throat stung ever so slightly. Life-giving oxygen filled her lungs as carbon dioxide exited in a rapid dance. It took her some conscious effort to slow her roll as her lids refused to shut. She was alive, right?

The plush bed under her was nice, but how did she even get here? It was dark out. The light of the waning crescent in the sky was barely enough to illuminate the room, really cementing just how late it had gotten.

The otter sat up, rubbing her head which throbbed painfully. "Ugh…" she groaned.

"'bout time," a gruff voice graced her hearing (and elevated her heart rate once again). "Captain Wik," Pacifica finally spoke after calming herself back down.

The older otter walked over and pulled up a chair to the side of the bed, taking her seat.

"Your Maestro has a hell of an arm," Wikolia led off with. "Huh?" Pacifica blinked. "That cheeky brat slugged me good when I told him what I did to you." "Sho did?" "If I were a lesser woman the three of them woulda killed me given half the chance."

It did track that Shouri, Taika, and Rebecca would react that way to Captain Wik nearly drowning her. But hearing the explanation from the woman herself made it click together a little easier.

"Why did you do that?" asked the young otter. "Simple, provin' a point." "Which was?" "The water ain't yer friend, 'specially not the ocean."

"We're otters, if you hadn't sabotaged me, I would have been fine," Pacifica grumbled. "But your friends aren't," Captain Wik countered. "That little spitfire could sleep through a house fire but could you?"

Pacifica frowned, not liking the imagery but getting the point regardless.

"There's more to it than that. Water ain't yer friend. Just like that playboy's your Maestro, you're the Maestro of water. You need to control it, subjugate it, make it yours. That's how you use our ad-Lib."

She didn't like the way this conversation was going. Her dad had taught her all her life the wonders of water and the sea, and here was this woman telling her to make the water her servant?

"That's just the way our ad-Lib works. We don't get the luxury of making friends with the water. But once you make it yours, you can make sure it will never hurt them."

That was a confusing prospect, but Pacifica's mind returned to what Captain Wik had done earlier in the day. So easy, so effortlessly, and apparently all while Pacifica was trying to (unknowingly) explode the water in question. Even under those circumstances, Wikolia was able to keep the water entirely under control. It was crazy to think about.

"We'll keep going at it tomorrow. The lunar made some good stew, go out there and get some of it," Wikolia rose from her seat and left the room.

Pacifica sat for a moment, considering what to do. She was hungry, but her face suddenly grew hot. She couldn't face them! She drowned! An otter! Drowned!

Maybe Captain Wik should have left her on the sea floor. That would have been preferable to facing her friends after that pathetic display.

Her stomach growled. How painful was starving to death really? Another growl.

"Fine!" the otter cried out.

The door creaked so so loudly as Pacifica tried to make her great escape, earning a wince with every second that she slowly pushed it open.

There came enough of a clearance that she was able to slip out of the room. A new problem presented itself: she had no idea where she was going. This led to the poor otter wandering around aimlessly. That was until she caught the scent of the promised meal. She followed her nose until she wound up in the kitchen.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Oh! Paci!" exclaimed Taika. "Pacifica's awake?"

And then the otter was surrounded by her friends before she even realized it.

"Are you okay?" asked Rebecca. "We were so worried!" Taika fretted over her watery friend. "I wanted to tear her throat out," Shouri grumbled.

"I'm fine, feel kinda lame really," Pacifica admitted. "No, you're fine. She told me she specifically held you under with her ad-Lib until you passed out," Shouri said, trying to reign in the growl that was slipping into his voice.

With that revelation, a lot more of that whole situation clicked together for the otter. Her mind raced with possibilities, none of them leading to a good place. Once again she could have very easily di-

Shouri's voice cut into her spiraling thoughts: "The wetsuit looks nice, really shows off your curves."

Pacifica's brain stopped. "My what?" She looked down. Her face reddened upon catching sight of the form-hugging neoprene attire. There was no stuttering, denial, or even leaning into it. Only the screams of a flustered otter.

Now clad in her day clothes instead of the wetsuit, Pacifica sipped her soup at the table. The rhythm from her tempo with Shouri and the others filling the void left by the previously constricting swimwear. A lot more things began to make sense to her while she ruminated them over her hot meal.

Water was dangerous. Just because she was gifted the ability to breathe in it (under normal circumstances) didn't mean that her friends were afforded the same luxury.

Another thought came to mind – how exactly was Captain Wik going to teach her how to control it?

She recalled the first user of Pioggia Fragole she saw up close. His fluid motions, the way the water danced around him. Pacifica just couldn't imagine Captain Wik doing the same thing. But that's what Pacifica wanted. Her soul was crying out for that elegance, that beauty.

Her mind drifted to Rebecca, how she fought, how easily she linked one attack to another. In a way, Rebecca danced around the battlefield like Pacifica wanted. Even when teaching her, Rebecca was fully invested in improving Pacifica's footwork. Dodging, positioning, and moving herself around in a way that allowed Pacifica to chain her movements along with her spellcraft into opportunities. Swinging the momentum of movement into strikes that the enemy couldn't hope to counter.

Pacifica could only see herself in that way – the fluid motion of a river that swept away her opponents in its dangerous beauty.

She sighed. It wasn't really up to her, now was it?

"What's up?" "WHA-!?"

And Pacifica's soup exploded. Shouri blinked a couple of times, now coated in delicious beef stew.

"Sh-sho!" squeaked the otter, grasping her chest in a vain attempt to calm her racing heart. "Maybe we should clean this up before we talk?" he offered.

A hearty nod of the otter confirmed her answer.

One cleanup of the dining room and themselves later, the two were back at the table.

"So back to you, what's going on? Talk to me," asked the Maestro.

There was a moment of hesitation before the otter spoke her mind. "Well, I don't know if Captain Wik is going to teach me the way I want to be taught; if that makes sense?"

"Hmmm…" Shouri stroked his chin in thought, considering her words. "Something like you're afraid she's going to make you fight in a way you can't see yourself doing?" he pieced together.

"Yeah, exactly!" Pacifica exclaimed. "I want to fight kinda like Rebby does," she admitted.

Shouri remained silent, allowing her to continue.

"She's like, really pretty but also fierce? I dunno." "She's enrapturing, blazing radiantly as she forces her opponent to dance with her, anyone that opposes her direction is swiftly removed from the stage," Shouri waxed poetic.

"Mhm mhm!" Pacifica nodded heartily. "She's so cool and beautiful and makes it look so easy," she let out an adoring sigh, resting her head in her hands. Her gaze rose to see the subject of their gushing poking her head around the corner, ears folded back.

"Rebby?" "You two are so embarrassing," the accused vixen mumbled, stepping into view. "Sorry we love you," Shouri scoffed playfully. He motioned for her to join them. Against her better judgment she approached, but before she could have second thoughts she got grabbed.

"Let us talk you up sometime!" the boy grinned roughing up the vixen's hair. "Stoooop!" Rebecca laughed, weakly protesting the tousling she was receiving.

Pacifica smiled warmly watching her friends play fight. Moments like this were worth protecting – this was her motivation to put up with whatever Captain Wik had cooked up for her.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.