[quote=@Stern Algorithm]
She looked over to Lyra for reassurance before continuing, [color=a187be]"We're wet and tired, and probably lost, and I'm not even sure why I'm out here right now..."[/color]
[/quote]

The river creature was fascinating, but when ShiZhen expressed her  discomfort Lyra's attention jerked. [i]We... are?[/i]

See, Lyra wasn't what you would call a sensitive sort. Perceptive, sure, but she's not really skilled at reading emotions, or whether she'd offended anybody, or if she's pushing someone too far. Even without knowing a thing of what they're supposed to do, she was having good fun running around the forest.

But ShiZhen was tired and worried and maybe even scared. Maybe she shouldn't have dragged her around on her quest against the pranksters. Maybe she should have at least asked her about what she was feeling.

Lyra opened her mouth to apologize, but closed it again as she felt the eyes of the water serpent on her. "Ah, yes. We'd like to cross your bridge, please." 

She eyed the river nervously. It rippled unnaturally in the creature's wake, as if it wasn't just an elemental but the entire river. Is the entire river a living creature...? At least it didn't seem hostile.