Inferno tumbled out of the vortex and into open water. She could hear laughter and the sounds of mermaids singing in the distance. Strapping her battle ax onto her back, Inferno swam toward the village. She stopped just outside of it, to check her reflection in a piece of glass. She saw a mermaid with wild red hair and  dark eyes staring back at her. The mermaids leather battle armour was stained with blood. Her tail was covered in orange and red scales. It had been so long since Inferno had looked at herself in a mirror that she had almost forgotten what she had looked like. 

    Unstrapping her leather armour, she tossed it into the open water and watched as it floated away. She rubbed sand along her ax, scrubbing away the blood. Once she looked clean and presentable, Inferno headed into the village. Swimming through streets that weren't full of rubble was an experience that Inferno had all but forgotten. She swam past taverns, shops, and even a school. 

    A few feet ahead Inferno could hear shouting. Five or six mermaids were crowded around two mer who were beating the ever loving crap out of each other. One a merman, the other a mermaid. The merman had blonde hair and blue eyes. The mermaid had green eyes, and spiky black hair. Her tail was covered in black scales, swirls of green and blue ran down her scales. And just below her waist were two white patches,one on either side, it reminded Inferno of an Orca. The dark haired mermaid clearly had the upper hand, she had the merman pinned against a wall and was twisting his arm behind his back. "I yield!", he shouted. She released him and swam away, heading to a merman who was holding her bag.

    "Come on Hurricane, let's go," She said, swimming away from the crowd. The merman followed, his dark blue tail glinting in the glow from the moon. 

      Inferno swam over to the closest mermaid, "What was up with that?" she asked.

       The mermaid turned to her and laughed, "You honestly don't know?."

       Inferno shook her head, "I'm new."

      "I'll say," the mermaid replied. "That mermaid was Tsunami, and she was teaching a much needed lesson to Pike. He's a stuck-up snob anyway, he had it coming to him." Inferno thanked the mermaid, whose name was Coral, for the information. 

    As she swam away, Inferno was consumed with thought. Tsunami was her mother. That crazy orca mermaid with the spiky hair was her mother! Orca mermaids were notorious for being aggressive and eccentric. They were free spirits. Trying to control one was like trying to force the tides to do your bidding. How was she going to convince that loose cannon of a mermaid to come with her?