Mara paused for a moment at the sounds of the girl's voice, and her eyes returned to the human girl, who had moved back some while Mara had been struggling. The small space was...comforting. At least a little bit. If the girl meant her any serious harm then she wouldn't have backed away, would she? She would have presumably gone right for the kill or the capture. Her tone of voice didn't sound particularly malicious, either, and Mara was glad to hear her speaking English, a language she recognized. Lea, her grandmother, had taught her grandchildren the language, as well as other human languages, many years ago. She had said it was important to learn as many languages as possible, even human ones, and since they had lived so close to America they had primarily focused on English. 

Her thrashing had become less violent, and she was mostly still except for the occasional nervous struggle. Her wide eyes watched the human, partly wary and terrified, but also undeniably curious. She was who she was and new things, even scary things, always fascinated her in some capacity. After watching humans from a distance for so long she never believed she would actually be so close to one before. A part of her always wondered if everything her elders had told her about humans was absolutely true. Surely there had to be some exceptions...but she had never wanted to risk it. Now here she was and she could only pray that this human wasn't as monstrous as the stories claimed.

The girl said she wouldn't hurt her, her tone sounding genuine to Mara's ears, and she asked her if she could understand her. Mara couldn't help but nod in response. She wriggled a little, moaning a bit in effort and from her aching limbs. She hated feeling so confined, she was used to having the freedom of her arms and tail and the freedom of an entire ocean to swim through. Maybe the girl noticed her wriggling because she promised to get her out of here. And not to hurt her. Mara looked at the girl as she rose to her feet, looking intimidatingly tall on her two legs. As she approached Mara wriggled nervously again, but when she was asked to stay still she managed to do so and took the moment when the girl was kneeling beside to look into her face. The girl was young, not much younger than herself. That was a comfort. Surely she was too young to be malicious and bloodthirsty.

She was told that the nets would have to be cut off, and a few moments later the girl was holding a knife. Mara's instant response was to wriggle again, and she became wracked with nerves as she tried to breath normally. Then she looked at the girl again and went still. Her face was young, sincere, and free of malice. The knife wasn't a big as Mara feared it was, and she didn't think the girl could kill her with it. And she knew that without help she would never be free of this wretched net. So when she was asked if the girl could approach to cut her free from the net Mara closed her eyes, took a breath, and allowed herself to believe that the human girl meant her no harm.

Mara's large brown eyes met the girl's and she nodded her head.