Kassandra imagined a play-by-play of Pol’s life, pieced together from the snippets given to her: a scrapbook of dramatic proportion. A disastrous altercation with a cherished family member, some terrible tragedy (?) wrenching her from her home world, a tumultuous entry into Novus complete with a shark attack which left a lasting wound, only to rediscover a thought-lost relation and have it not go to plan. Kas felt her heart seize at the thought of (what she imagined) was a wanting of a glorious reunion only to be left with a desperate, grasping sort of disconsolate emptiness when it doesn’t go exactly like the picture in her head.

The picture in Kas’ head, of course, was most likely quite different than the one in Pol’s.

“And I thought my life was some sort of ridiculous,” Kas whispered, only a little reverent. She watched her new friend stretch and move her body, still in awe at the strangeness of it, the beauty of it. It made her slightly self-conscious of her own bulky, too-big frame; to add insult to injury, her star-painted coat was clogged with mud that had hardened in the beating summer sun and begun to itch. Kas winced, twitching a little.

“I’ve been in the sea but I’ve never been in it. I’ve stood in the surf. I imagine the danger is less there.” Pol was the expert, of course, and was definitely correct in her cautionary explanation, but the crackling of Kas’ mud shell when she moved was enough to make her think maybe the sea wasn’t so bad after all.

“I hate to mud and run,” Kas said, unable to fight down a giggle, “but I’m afraid if I stand here baking like stinky pottery I’ll just make a fool of myself.” She wiggled a bit, uncomfortable. “It was lovely to meet you, Polar. I do hope I’ll see you around the court!”

Kas knew there were some fresh, cool springs around, smaller than the lake proper, and a little bit easier to manage. She bid her goodbyes to Polar North and went off in search of a nice, bubbly pond to take a dip and clean herself off in.