JIAO
Jiao watched, perched on a rock on the edge of the water, distanced from the humans that had crowded around her. They didn't understand this as well as her, she thought; this was not their woods, their home, not the creatures and legends they had grown up with. As she saw the siren lean out (and raised a troubled hand to her mouth, covering her gasp) she felt that she had to do something.It was clearly a song of death, of the end. There was likely no chance for the creature, if she was so solemn as to sing for her own demise, so Jiao would not try to save her.
Instead, she took the shawl off her shoulders - green and gold, dyed with beautiful subtle hues and embroidered with the most delicate flowers - and floated over the water to Undine. When she was close she draped the cloth gently over her shoulders, hoping to help her feel a little warmer, a little more cared for and dignified, in her last moments.
Surprisingly quiet and reflective, Jiao then returned to her rock and watched, knees drawn up and eyes full of something not quite fear.
Leave all of my regrets to sink like shipwrecks
Through oceans dark
Through oceans dark
