"I'm fine," he answered, but accompanied that with an exaggerated head motion just in case. He drew closer to her as they went, slow and steady. It wouldn't fail him, would it?

And sure enough, he started to see something. What was once a beautiful city had come to a standstill.

"I'll take a closer look," he said and signaled, dipping into nooks and crannies a whale couldn't reach. There were people drifting under some of the smaller structures...like mercreatures of legend. He touched hesitantly.

"...I think they're alive? But unconscious?" He tried to communicate this too with a series of shrugs.