darkSpyro

"Heh heh, sorry, but you would have to be a marine animal to do that." Cairo explained, not wanting to shatter her hopes but also not wanting to give her too much.
"Anyway, swimming is vital for every animal. The planet has more water than it has land, so swimming is a must." Cairo lectured, having a surprising amount of knowledge in that sense.
"Now then Rose, when you do swim, don't force your paws. Move them gently, as if it is the most natural thing in the world. Just think of it like you're floating in the air." he kindly explained, sinking slowly to see if Rose was understanding. She did float well, but she still had much to learn when it came to moving around the water.

"See how easy it is?" Cairo said with pride, thinking of himself as a great teacher. From a successful hunter to a great mentor. He was really starting to believe there was nothing he couldn't do.
"Next, we'll see how well you do... in a whirlpool. Just remember to never panic, and use your back paws to kick the water." he then commented, getting ready to circle around Rose.
"Oh don't worry, this will be a weak whirlpool, and no catching this time I promise." he guaranteed, imagining that Rose thought that he was going to pull her through the vortex like yesterday.

Cairo increased the whirlpools speed just for a bit, but when he noticed that he was starting to overdo it, he stopped.
"Well now, you did amazingly well." he complimented, though it helped that tigers were naturally good swimmers.
"Well now, it was a short lesson, but I think you're getting the hang of it." he commented happily, but his smile turned into a scary grin, as if signaling Rose on what was to come next...

At the Haven's shore, Sybil was enjoying the good, so far peaceful waters. It was a bit surprising for her that Cairo hasn't attacked yet, especially since she wasn't very alert. She then believed that he was either having some breakfast, or just maybe, Rose did like the birds and got up very early. She found shocking, and rather amusing just how the young tiger has grown fond of the exhausting game, to the point of being left wanting more just yesterday.

Cairo responded by shrinking his shoulders.
"Oh, nothing, just this." he said, trapping her with incredible speed in his mouth, leaving only her tail outside.
"Let's go for a little spin." he then said, going underwater and spinning around in such a fashion, it would make a dolphin jealous. It was later once again the same game of spitting and catching, with Cairo going underwater and doing his usual somersaults every time he caught her. He was determined to make Rose both thrilled and tired...

After thirty five minutes of that intense play, Cairo realized that Rose was still a bit restless, so tiring her out may prove to be a challenge worthy of him. After a final somersault, he was about to throw her and catch her yet again, when his stomach rumbled. He then let Rose out gently.
"Whew little miss. I must say those vein of yours are even sturdier than a tree trunk." he said with admiration, finding out hard to admit that it was him who was getting a bit tired. However, he attributed that to hunger.

"What I told you earlier was true you know. I haven't had any breakfast. I didn't expect you to be at the beach so early." he explained, assuming that Rose had hers before arriving. He then had any idea.
"Hey, I know. Let's change recipes. You catch me something from the Haven and I will bring you food from the ocean. I can't guarantee you it will be another stingray, but I will try to make it rare." Cairo suggested, so that way, both friends could have an exotic meal.

Cairo then carried her carefully and swam towards the Haven.
"Oh and Rose, you might wanna keep that stunt from earlier a secret from Sybil. i don't want to freak her out." Cairo said with worry, hoping Rose knew how to keep a secret.

Sybil was gleefully bathing herself in the pure saline water. Whatever was distracting Cairo, she hoped it lasted. Who knew how many times she would have the chance to enjoy the beach like that...

"Ok then. See you later. Oh, and about the catch, it can be anything, from a fish, or maybe a small animal." Cairo suggested, as Rose disappeared into the forest. He then saw Sybil from the distance, and decided to greet her.

When Sybil caught a glimpse of Cairo, she got startled and jumped out of he way, believing he was targeting her. For a moment she thought she finally eluded him.
"No no miss Sybil. Not right now. Just a polite greeting this time." he said, as he swam away to hunt. Sybil wasn't too comfort, so decided to wait until he was far away...

While Rose was catching, Cairo did his own hunt. Using his complex sonar, he began searching for something small and edible. At first, he thought of giving some seal meat to Rose, but then decided that was probably going to have too much fat for someone like her. After a while of searching, just like he expected, he didn't found another stingray, but he did found a couple of flounders. They were easy to catch, but they were so hyper and sometimes reclusive, so you had to kill them immediately. He tried to find some squids, but with no luck, so he complimented the flounder with some chinook salmon, which were quite abundant.
"Oh well, this will have to do." he said, holding the food in his mouth and heading to meet Rose...

'I'm not staying cooped up here all day just because of some orca...,' Sayan thought to himself as he headed away from the creek and followed the river towards the beach. He approached with caution and stayed hidden, watching from behind a bush.

When Sybil was sure the pat Cairo really didn't plan on targeting her, she returned to the water. She was getting ready though, for a surprise attack, if it happened. Maybe not right now, but she was certain that it was going to happen later on in the day as long as she remained in the water. She could only imagine how poor Sayan was doing. She really felt for him yesterday, when he was practically terrified of going back into the water.

Cairo took a little while to arrive, but he came after a few minutes Rose had arrived. He then opened his mouth and from it came the two flounders along with fourteen chinook, with some of them still alive.
"A meal like this could last us for about half a day, but I bet it could last you for about a week, eh Rose?" Cairo commented jokingly, kinda making fun of Rose's size. He couldn't wait to see what she had brought for him...

"Well, it's a lot for me." Cairo said kindly, contemplating the trouts. They look a lot like salmon, but he knew they weren't. Ad was even more curious about the pidgins.
"Time to trade then. Look, these are flounders. Very easy to capture, yet quite hard to find. And of course, we have the always trustful chinook salmon. They are very common in these waters." Cairo explained, looking forward to the new food.
"Help yourself." he said kindly to Rose, starting to eat.

Cairo really enjoyed the trouts. He didn't know if it tasted better than the chinooks or if it was just the happiness of a new taste.
"Not bad at all. I should have asked for Sybil to bring me one of these a long time ago." he said, as he continued to taste the new fish. He then went to the pidgins. It wasn't bad, but in his opinion, not very good either.
"Hmm... these ones could do a bit better." he said, trying not to sound too critical, yet swallowing the bird nonetheless. All in all, he was really enjoying that quality time with Rose.

"Well, expect more time like this. Now that I have given my leading position to Jet, I have a lot of free time." Cairo kindly said, really surprised on how much he enjoyed spending time with the young tiger. If he had known, he would have done that a long time ago, even if his leader position wouldn't have had allowed it too much back then.

As Sybil was done bathing, she looked around the ocean for any signs of Cairo, and found to her surprise that he was almost at the exact same spot yesterday, and that speck of orange must be Rose. So it was her then that was keeping him busy. And just like yesterday, they seemed to be talking. It really pleased her that the two of them took the time to spend some time together, not just play games. She was really proud of Rose, and was so glad that she chose her as her successor.

Cairo ate his part of the trade, but since he brought a lot more food than what Rose could tolerate, so much of the chinook was left.
"First, you can store that for Sayan and miss Sybil later. I want to share with them as well." he explained, not wanting the fish to go to waste.
"And it's not healthy to play with a full stomach you know. We wait a while, alright?" he then suggested, getting his playing spirit at work, but having enough self control.

Sybil was tempted to join the conversation, but then decided to not interrupt then. She then headed to Sayan's den to see how he was doing, unaware that he was already nearby.

"My, you really are a restless one, aren't you?" Cairo said in awe, finding hard to believe that Rose was up for more and that she didn't even want to wait for them to digest their meals. But he knew that she was probably going to insist if he didn't gave in.
"Fine now. I can use the dessert." he finally said, jumping towards her before she could react and making her disappear in a single chomp. He then retreated into the water with his dessert...

Meanwhile, Sybil went to Sayan's den, only to find that he wasn't there. Since she doubted that he was anywhere near the beach, so she assumed that he must be taking a stroll somewhere to get his mind off the trauma of yesterday. It was his time off after all. Since he could be anywhere, Sybil decided not to look for him, and since she already enjoyed the beach, she took that time to return to her tree and clean it up, hoping that Cairo was distracted and that he wasn't waiting for her.

Jaerl:
The little falcon is already up and fixing up their home. As Sybil enters he smiles and his eyes sparkle in the light. Gathering new moss and replacing the old moss, he makes sure their home is not only clean but comfortable.

AJ:
I lay down under a tree and watch the waves of the ocean come in as well as recede. My deep, dark midnight blue eyes gleam in the sunlight. My tail is wrapped around my tiny form as I lay down.

"Oh, hello there Jaerl..." Sybil greeted politely, kinda expecting him to be there. He has been visiting her for the last couple of weeks, much more often than before. She knew well what his intentions were, but she didn't have the heart to tell him off, and all she could do was hope he realized it by his own.
"Hmm, well... I see you did much of the cleaning..." Sybil said while looking around, realizing that there was practically nothing else to clean off. It actually displeased Sybil a little bit, since she thought she could entertain herself for a while with the cleaning, but she didn't let Jaerl know. She stayed home for a while with him, being better to spend time with the sensible young falcon than living in the constant risk of being attacked by an exaggeratedly playful orca.

"Oh no, not this time." Cairo said in between teeth, acting like bars trapping Rose.
"Now listen little missie, I admire your spirit, but we have to wait a while. Trust me, the last thing you want is being tossed and turned with a full stomach." Cairo lectured, applying that to him as well. He found it cute how Rose was probably the one who needed to learn self control, and not him like he and Sybil originally thought.

Cairo was glad that she understood, but he decided to keep Rose inside just in case she decided to try to swim away and tempt him to chase her.

Cairo gave a quick yawn, but after seeing that Rose didn't took that chance to escape, he knew something was up. He then heard the sound other breathing, and came to the right conclusion; she fell asleep, which wasn't surprising considering the feast they both had.
Oh well, what one can do? he said in his mind, heading to the Haven. When he was close to the shore, he too took that chance for a quick rest too, knowing that it was the best way to go through digestion and recover some energy. He knew that he was going to need it if he wanted to tire out the playful Rose.

But Cairo didn't wake up. It was hard to believe, but he was really tired. His earlier feast, summed up with the morning exercise Rose made him go through really had him worked up. In his younger days, he would have waken up much sooner and resume the game.

Sybil remained at her tree, glad with Jaerl's company. She didn't know wether to tell him about her agreement with Cairo, considering what a worrywart he was.

Cairo woke up with the sudden yell to see Rose half outside.
"Man, you're really asking for it." Cairo said with subtlety, trying to get back his playful spirit. He began by raising his head to make her fall in again.
"Alright now, get ready for this!" he then said, spitting her up high into the air and catching her time and time again. This time for real, he was meaning to exhaust her...

After about thirty throws, Cairo caught her firmly in his mouth, and went deep underwater while rolling around to make her dizzy. It was as deep as he has gotten, and after a while, the energy he longed for was finally returning to him.

But Cairo pretended to ignore her. He started to turn her around his mouth, trapping her several times below his tongue before repeating the pattern. Whatever Rose said, Cairo wasn't going to listen to her. He simply continued playing as if she was a toy or his usual prey.

After about one hour of spending some time with Jaerl, Sybil was starting to feel the need of playing with Cairo.
"Well Jaerl, thank you so much for cleaning up. I'm heading for the beach for a while." she said, as she began to climb down. It was mid afternoon, and Sybil found incredible how she was willing to engage in the game at that very moment. That morning she wasn't in the mood, but now that she was well rested and fed, she was up to it. Maybe at last she was beginning to grow fond of what was becoming an intense routine.

Cairo responded by moving her from cheek to cheek, giving the impression of chewing. His high spirit has finally returned to him thanks to Rose, whom he continued to ignore. It then occurred to him to look at the direction of the Haven, where Sybil was coincidentally appearing from the foliage and into the shore. This really pleases him, since he hasn't seen her all day and was in the mood to play with somebody else. Moving Rose below his tongue and grasping her firmly with no hopes of escape, he began to stalk Sybil.

Sybil looked at the horizon to see if there was any signs of Cairo. Once again, he managed to hide very well. She knew how surprising he could be in his attacks, so she kept high guard, unaware that he was getting nearer and nearer...

After seeing the appearance of Cairo and some of what followed after, Sayan decided to do just as Sybil expected and take an scroll. He didn't want to take any chances of being taken away to sea nor did he want to just do nothing the rest of the day.