Her Beasts Volume Four

Exploring Underwater

After the contract was signed and an oath was sworn by all the necessary parties, Iris could finally relax. Boreal had left, promising to return later that day with a male who could help Iris and her mates with the matter of breathing underwater. Apparently, one of Boreal's mate's other males had an air ability and he was going to badger them into helping them out for the afternoon. Pearl and her mates had also left, promising to return after they ate their own meal. It was likely they would return with the male who had the air elemental abilities in tow. 

Iris was quite happy that the negotiations had gone well and could only attribute it to Pearl's help. While Iris had done her best to prepare items that would hold appeal for the mermaid tribe and was willing to reduce any burdens related to the construction of a road, that didn't change how poorly the negotiations could have gone. A tribal leader more like the previous Wetlands Tribe leader could have been less cooperative and uninterested in taking any unnecessary risks, no matter what Iris offered them.

Basil wrapped his black fox tail around Iris and smiled down at her as he fed her some roasted fish. He laughed as he playfully teased her

"You sure seem happy. Still, as pretty as you look when you are happy, I bet you'd look even prettier laying beneath me with your cheeks flushed and your skin exposed."

Iris blushed a little, but she just rolled her eyes at Basil's words as she concentrated on eating. It was nice that he never quite seemed to get bored of flirting with her, but his constant teasing was starting to make Iris more immune to the shock of his words. While she'd certainly still blush, she wasn't nearly as affected by his words now as she had been previously. She was simply growing used to his behavior and couldn't be as easily shocked.

Ember rolled his eyes at the vixen, tempted to smack the vixen for being so improper with their mate out in the open like this. They could have company at any time and Ember couldn't stand the idea of anyone else thinking of their mate like that. Most males weren't worthy of Iris and Ember hated the idea of them making his little mate uncomfortable with their hungry stares.

However, there was no need to worry as most females tended to eat a lot more than Iris. Pearl and her mates didn't return for quite a while, which left Iris more than enough time to enjoy her three mates' time. Still, the peace didn't last forever as Pearl returned with six males in tow. While Pearl had thirty males, there was little need to tow them all around when she was in the ocean. There was relatively little danger from other beastmen since few of them could swim, much less breathe for long under the water. The only real danger Pearl had to worry about here was the local wildlife. Sharks or electric eels could still present some level of danger to her, but it was unlikely they could overpower several of her males.

Iris had prepared to go under the water in Pearl's absence. She didn't exactly have a proper swimsuit and she doubted that her mates would agree to Iris wearing as little as a traditional swimsuit would cover anyhow. It would be too revealing and there would be several males, who were more suited to being under the water than her mates, around. Thus, Iris could only wear some of the snakeskin pieces she had bought from Yellow Rock City and turned into clothing. The snake skin wouldn't be as heavy from being water-logged as normal beast skin would and it would also dry quickly once Iris left the water. 

Pearl called out to Iris

"Hey! We're back!"

Iris smiled as she walked closer and replied

"I can see that. Is it time now?"

Pearl easily replied

"Yep! This is Finn, the one with the air ability. You'll want to get in the water and take a deep breath before submerging yourself under the water. Then, he can form an air bubble around your head. He will have to regularly renew the air in it, so make sure to speak up whenever the air feels too thin. Our voices are muffled underwater, but I imagine the effect will be even worse with the bubble, so make sure you all stick close to us. I'll make sure we don't go too fast for you and Finn has agreed to stick by Iris's side so he can bring her to the surface, if needed, or otherwise flee if any danger shows up. My mates will prioritize me first, but will help your males as much as they can, Iris."