They reached the end of the mountains that evening, and with the end of mountains came the end of the snow drifts they'd been plowing through. Before they stopped for the night, Oriel had noticed the difference.

"The water on the ground. Where is it?" it asked, sweeping one leg out in front of it as if searching for the snow.

"We left it behind," Koleyn explained quickly, tugging the blue one ahead impatiently.

Oriel stumbled forward. "Behind?" it asked, desperation tinging the musical tones. "There's no more water?"

"Of course there's water," the elf said exasperatedly. "There's always water."

"But not here. No water touching." Oriel broke away to cross its arms over its chest, feeling the new driness of its skin. "Without water...."

Koleyn deflated. "Here," he said, pressing the water bottle into Oriel's hand. "Carry that. Is that better?"

Oriel gripped the bottle tightly, rubbing it against its cheek. "Not enough."

"We have to go through here!" Koleyn protested. "It's the only way back to the sea."

"No small waters? No..." it struggled for the word. "No river?"

"Not nearby. We can get to one by midmorning tomorrow, but it takes us out of our way."

Hope grew in the sea creature. "River?"

With a sigh, Koleyn gave in. It seemed that he kept giving in. "We'll go."

The smile he received in return made the delay worth it.

Oriel slept curled around the water bottle. By midmorning the next day, as Koleyn had promised, they reached a river. It was small, barely a stream, that was a double arm's reach across and only waist deep on the elf. This didn't matter to Oriel who plunged in as if it were twenty times larger, and with a glee that made Koleyn watch it with a wide eyed wonder that he hadn't turned on anything in years.

The creature submerged itself in the still water, pulling itself out at the edge nearest Koleyn. It trailed a hand through the river, stroking over the heads of a few fish and a single turtle, face full of serene contentment that Koleyn had never seen before. The elf's heart nearly overflowed, knowing that his mission was a good one.

Oriel turned toward the elf as if toward the sun, smiling. "I see you," it said. "And you are as gentle as your heart." It reached a hand up. "Come. Help me out. You will bring me home."

Almost helplessly, Koleyn pulled the streaming, blue, naked creature out of the water and began their trek down the river to the sea.