Aqualina swam back toward the kelp beds in hopes of finding some dinner before going home to the pod. She was not willing to eat with the others. She needed to cool off.

Azielle swam straight back towards the pod. She was thinking of telling the Matriarch what she had heard. On her way she passed Adron, the guard. She smiled. Now they would get into trouble, she thought. She showed him her satchel with a fish in it, to prove she was just hunting, a fine cover story, and kept going past him.

Adron turned around after watching the other young mer-folk go back to the schools and hunt for dinner. He went straight to Matriarch Tristalina to give his report.

Tristalina’s pursed her lips and furrowed her brow at Adron’s news. This was not good. Her pod members seen near a human artifact. She would have to move the pod tonight, maybe toward deeper water. That would mean less kelp and more difficult hunting. She would also have to lecture the youths.

That evening after dinner, Tristalina gathered the pod to leave.