Cathay saved Rand's life after he'd been chained in the water and cut to attract the sharks by fellow gangsters. However, Cathay and her dolphin companions freed him. Cathay and her family are not fantasy mermaids and only the females in her family are mermaids. Cathay and her siblings are the result of her mother rescuing a seaman. Her mother and her grandmother and the rest of the merpeople have kept themselves secret for generations and are occasionally hostile. Since Rand's rescue, wanting to win Cathay's respect has caused to look for more respectable work rather than being just a thug.