The barbarian was the most impatient, that was plain to see, and not unexpected.  Ato let his gaze fall on each, measuring. The new human was an unknown, but things hadn't devolved to a fight while he was gone, so there was something. He couldn't trust this Oren yet, but he was coming to trust the rest already. That was unexpected, yet it felt right in a way he couldn't explain.

It was time to go, and his gaze returned to Vesra. The poor girl was terrified. Ato wondered what had happened in her past to engender such fear of the water in her heart. He supposed she must have nearly drown at some point. Walking over to her, he took her hand. She flinched, but he held firm, not letting her shy away. "Be strong, sister, and it will be over soon enough. Two swims and you are through, yes? I see a fire burns within you, stronger than you know, and this is merely another test to overcome. I will help you along. Come now."

He he'd her to the edge of the water, then turned to the others. "I will go first, to take the light ahead so you know how far to come. Sixty feet. To the light, then up to the air. We'll get you up first Vesra. The rest, wait a minute for me to get her out, then follow." With that, he led her down the tunnel and into the water. "Ready?"

"Fine," the goblin said, "Come." He gestured for the goblin to follow.

"If your heart desires freedom," he added in goblin, "Now is your chance to prove it. If you make it through this swim, you may make a name for yourself, away from the lash." He wondered if the goblin minded shoveling refuse. Parleydin could always use a hand in the stables.

Kayn was ready for the swim, waiting for Ato's cue. 

Gerbur shook his head. "I... I just climb wall, wait for water to leave. I no make it that far! I... me no know how to swim. And me scared of water." His head sways a little and his eyelids flutter as he takes some deep breaths. Judging by his leg and the amount of blood beginning to seep through the bandaging, and the amount of blood he's already lost, you reckon that there's a very real possibility his presence would attract sharks. If he didn't faint first from the loss of blood.

Orel sighs and pulls out a dagger. "He's your pet, but he's endangering my safety. I'm not letting that goblin get in the water and bring all of the sharks in the ocean to us."

At the mention of sharks, Ato pauses, looking back over his shoulder at the injured goblin and Orel standing nearby, dagger in hand. He glances quickly sideways at Vesra, then back to Orel. "This will be risky enough without that chance as well," he opines - and offers his advice with a quick sideways jerk of his head.

Orel struggled to get free of his lovers pin, but she was strong. Vasha saw her hook draw blood as she pressed it so firmly against the skin of his neck that it drew blood. He winced, but smiled, whispering in her ear, "Well, this is an advancement if I've ever seen one... and I might just like it a little."

"But fine!" he loudly says. "You can deal with the goblin's blood in the water. At least let me go through first, so I don't have to deal with the inevitable sharks that will come our way for him. And whoever mentioned me joining on with you all: forget it. That vampire lady is insane, and there's not a snowball's chance in Valakut [Valakut is a chain of volcanoes spanning along the southern portion of Zendikar, as well as the largest volcano of them all. It is commonly known as the Molten Pinnacle.] that I'm going to work under her."

 This is going to get ugly fast, thinks Ato. Time to go.

"Enough - we need to go, now.  Deep breath!" Without waiting for a reply from Vesra, he drabs her by the arm and dives underwater, dragging the druid with him before she has time to overthink it and panic on him.  He swims to the vertical shaft and pulls her up and out of the water, back from the edge to make room for the others to follow."I'm sorry, but it was for the best.  Stay put - the rest will be right behind." Then he dive back into the water and drops down to the main tunnel, dagger in hand as a beacon, to direct the other swimmers up and to the air pocket.

Kayn obliges quickly, diving into the water and swimming to the small cave without issue. The next swim though... he wasn't sure how well he would to with that one. Kayn smiles as his head pops out of the water and his eyes connect with Vesra's. "Oh, hello invoker," he says, pulling himself out of the water. "I hate water too." He shakes like a beast, spraying water all over the cave floor. Finally, he waits for the others.

"Ready?" The merman asked, holding her hand in his. Before she could respond, a scuffle began to break out. It all happened so fast, but she saw the flash of her sister's hooks and the red of blood. 

Before she could protest and put herself in the middle, the merman grabbed her and tugged her into the water. She barely had time to breathe before he was dragging her through the water.

She surfaced in the next chamber with a cough, spitting out a mouthful of water. "What the-" she began to swear, but Ato didn't stick around to hear her protests. 

Vesra wasn't alone for too long, as the goblin joined her shortly. "Where is my sister?" She gasped as soon as he surfaced. 

"Sister? You are not lovers?" The goblin thinks for a moment. It all kind of made sense now. He responds to her question, "She playing with human pirate, I think. He say something about his balls and she smile at him." He gives the Invoker a shrug. 

If Vesra wasn't so scared, perhaps she would have laughed. "No, we are kin," she said, trying to get her mind off of things. "We shared a womb, and we've shared everything since." His comment about the pirate caught her by surprise, but she doubted it was entirely accurate.

"She's always had a thing for humans," the druid said. Talking was helping. Talking was keeping her calm.

"I don't pay much attention to the talking. I like to do watching. I see how people act and what they do." He sits on the other side of the cave as they wait. "I learn by the watching. What one does and how another reacts. It is the instict... like an animal. All of us are animals." He nods at the last part, "It is very easy to make sense of things when this is learned."

"I think you'll get along well with Vashie," Vesra smiled. "She likes to watch people too. And take notes. Speaking of, where is she? Where are the rest of them?"

Kayn was impressed, "I did not think she knew how to write. She stabbed the list with a dart instead of writing. Hmmm." This makes him even more curious of the sisters. Were they both invokers, he wondered. The wait in the small cave was actually quite relaxing. He liked Vesra. "I am Kayn, Invoker. It is an honor to meet you." 

"She knows how to write," Vesra actually laughed this time. The goblin was doing wonders to put her at ease. "Vashie just likes action. She wanted to intimidate as many people as she could." 

"It'a a pleasure to make your formal acquaintance, Kayn," the druid produced another flower and offered it to him. She liked Kayn quite a bit, even if he seemed to think a little too highly about her abilities. "I'm Vesra. Just Vesra. Don't call me Invoker, that's- that isn't me."

Veythe watched the mess as it happened, lips pressed thin while she waited for Ato to come. While it might seem harsh for her to not really care a lick about the little goblin, she honestly didn't. Right now survival mattered more than trying to do anything in regards to the thing, and honestly Kayn was more interesting compared to the sniveling creature. He knew his own culture better than she did.

Orel, though, Orel was starting to get onto her nerves. Self-sufficient, self-importance, and survival were all well and good--but now she found herself grinding her teeth. Trustworthy, but not by much. Veythe inclined her head when Vasha made her move, and then when Ato darted off she sucked in a breath. Two minutes was going to suck but she'd try. For the sake of their begin water at the end of this mess, and food, and to give the damned woman a piece of her mind. She'd better not die.

Are we leaving the idiot for last? Veythe signs to Vasha, her eyes glanced over to Orel.

Veythe nodded her head and faced the pool of water. She gave Vasha one last parting glance before she went in for the swim. She sent a silent apology towards her tools again as she pulled her head under the water and started to drag herself along. Veythe kept her lips pressed thin--she hated the taste of salt water--and struggled to keep her eyes open despite the sting. Thankfully the light wasn't too far away and in shorter time than Veythe expected she resurfaced.

"Ugh, I taste like salt," Veythe spat as she licked her lips and sucked in a nice breath of air. She glanced around and pulled herself onto dry land next to Vesra and the goblin. "Your sister's coming soon," she said, and dearly hoped it were true and nothing got in the formidable kor woman's way.