[ Recognizing Pearl's sheepishness for shame, Kida's face softens into a warm smile. ]

Be at ease, Pearl. You could not have known. I have lived...

[ Her eyes slide away as she considers the number. Time flows so strangely in Atlantis, without the sun and moon, that sometimes days will feel eternal and years will go by in a blink. ]

...eight thousand years now. I am not very strong— [ She clenches her fist, her human fist. ]—but I am fast, cunning, and experienced in hunting. I have to use those skills when I fight, or I would soon be overpowered.