Shelly looked at him and said, "Why don't you get a different female from land?" Gold looked at her like she was crazy and said, "Mermen have their standards. The only reason Indigo brought you down here was because you are the most beautiful female he has seen from the land." Shelly said, "Thank you, but there are other females who are also beautiful. Is it more important to have such a high standard of beauty or to keep your race from going extinct?" Gold thought about it for a second and said, maybe they would accept a new female if she was a little less beautiful if they knew they were facing extinction. Shelly said, it might also help if you went on land to look for females. The Tiger Village I am from has the most beautiful female. The fox females are also very beautiful. Peacock females have bright colored hair."
Gold thought about it for a second and said, "I will talk to Indigo about it. He is the next in line to mate. He has earned his third stripe. I will let you go back to your village if you take him with you to search for a suitable mate." Shelly nodded her head and Gold left to call Indigo.He explained the situation. At first Indigo looked like his world was shattered and all hope was lost, but then he looked hopeful at the thought of finding a new female on land. He looked at Shelly and nodded his head. He said, "I will take you back to shore right away." Then Gold said, "Don't tell the others for now. They will only get depressed. We will tell them that you are going on a trip because the female wants to see the world.
Shelly told Gold, "When you take me to the shore, I will tell you a secret." She knew Jean was in the City of Beasts with the Ape King. She wasn't sure if the story would stay the same, but if it did Jean would return to the sea after the City of Beasts was destroyed. Shelly hoped she could change the fate of Jean and the merfolk. She remembered that Curtis killed most of the mermen and Gold killed Jean and them himself. She felt sorry for Gold. He had been abandoned by his mate for almost 10 years. He looked like a shell of a man.
Gold blew a bubble and helped Shelly to get inside of it. He brought her to the shore with Indigo following behind him. When they got to the shore Shelly saw her mates who were frantically searching for her. Winston ran up to Gold and Shuu and David were behind him. Winston lifted his claw to attack Gold. Shelly yelled, "Stop! Don't fight! I'm fine." Shelly was trying to get out of the bubble and was rolling around. Winston stopped the fight mid air and looked at her. The other males looked at her struggling in the bubble. Gold popped the bubble with his nail and helped her stand up. Winston growled a warning. Gold rolled his eyes and thought, I am not interested in your female. I have my own female. Even if Jean had abandoned him, she was still his mate.
Shelly's mates rushed up to her to help her up. Winston thought, I will have to keep a closer watch on her in the future. Shelly explained what happened. She said, "He thought I was Jean and that I was stranded on the shore. He brought me back to their tribe, but Gold told him I am not Jean. I made a deal with them that we could help him find a new female from land to save their tribe from extinction." Winston said, "Why would he mistake you for Jean? She has blue hair." Gold and Indigo looked at Winston and Gold said, "You have seen Jean? Where is she?" Winston nodded and said, "She is in the City of Beasts with the Ape king."
Gold looked hurt, but was determined to go find Jean. Shelly said, "Before you go, I will tell you the secret I promised you. Jean is the Ape king's mate. She has been with him since she left almost 10 years ago. She will return from the City of Beasts after it is destroyed." Gold asked her, "How do you know about this?" Shelly said, "I heard it in a prophecy." Gold thought about her words and nodded. He needed to go find Jean and save her from the destruction of the city. First, he would tell the next in charge of his departure. He looked at Indigo and said, "I will let you choose. You may follow me to the City of Beasts or you can go with them to find a new possible female. You can start your own merfolk tribe." Indigo thought about it and was excited to find a new female to have all to himself for a while. He said, "I will go with them."
Winston nodded. He would honor his mate's deal. The merman could follow them back to look for a female as long as he did not want Shelly. He was glad that Shelly could not bear young or else she may have been kidnapped and never returned. He did not want to think about the possibility. He would not be able to fight the mermen underwater. He could only be glad she was returned to them. They headed back to the village after the salt was finished. Shelly said, "When we get back, I will teach you how to filter the impurities from the salt." Indigo was interested in her methods. He thought only mermen could extract salt from the sea.
It took them four days to return to the village. They had to make more stops near the river for Indigo. He was not used to living outside of the water and his skin was very dry. They were attacked once and Indigo was a surprisingly good fighter on land. Without the water resistance he was extremely fast. He was already a 3 striped beast. Winston thought he might be a good addition to the village after all. At least until he found his mate and went back to the sea he could help protect the village.
When they returned to the village, Shelly told Indigo about the water hole. Winston said he could stay there and build a cave underwater. Indigo was happy to be back in water. Shelly was unpacking her new things in her tree house when Molly came by and wanted to talk about the trip. Shelly was happy to see her and told her about the mermen and the salt. David fell asleep when they got back to the treehouse to catch up on sleep. He hadn't had much sleep on the trip because he was too worried about Shelly. She asked Harvey to stay and look after him. He nodded. She told Harvey, "I am going to the water hole with Molly, can you tell Winston to meet me there when he is done speaking with the chief?" Harvey nodded and Shuu left with Shelly. Shelly secretly packed her clothes in her leather bag and brought them to the water hole with Molly. She said, "Let me introduce you to the merman who came back with us."
Shelly called for Indigo and he came up from the water with his long purple hair flowing behind him. He opened his purple eyes and Molly gasped. She had never seen such a beautiful male. Shelly cleared her throat and said, "Indigo, this is Molly. She is the most beautiful female of the village and the female cub of the chief."
Indigo considered my words and said, "Hi, my name is Indigo. I am looking for a female to start a new merfolk tribe with. Would you like to be my mate?" Molly blushed and nodded, "She said, I would love to, but I'm not sure if my father will let me move to the sea." She thought about it. Indigo was considering it. He knew the chief only had one female cub and might not be happy with her leaving the village, but the water hole was not big enough to support a family of merfolk unless her first cub was a female. Shelly let them talk about the details and walked away. She fulfilled her part of the deal by introducing Indigo to a potential mate.
She was glad he was not as stubborn as Bluepool from the book. If he did not accept Molly they would have to keep looking in other villages. She was thinking about going to the fox tribe first and then the peacock village if he still hadn't found a suitable female. Shelly hoped the merfolk would be able to adjust their priorities so they did not go extinct. They were really interesting and she hoped they could be peaceful neighbors.