To the deep

Total Word Count: 2859

Platform: Discord

Roleplay:

Ignia and Aequor were standing on the sand, facing the ocean. Aequor was eagerly striding into the sea before he turned his head to the female behind him. He frowned, "Oh come on; I know the water's not your ideal climate, but surely you can stand it for this?"

Ignia looked at him like he was stupid, which brought a chuckle from him, "It was either this or the cold, and you know it!"

She looked displeased with the Kelpie before she sighed, "You know I can only breathe air, right? I'm not like you; if we don't find it quickly, I'll drown."

Aequor laughed, "Yeah yeah, but at least it's a nice day for a swim."

Both of them stopped talking for a bit before Ignia finally sighed and started following. In the end, Aequor was right. Neither of them was suited for the cold climate that was the top of a mountain. At the very least, with the ocean, Aequor could pull Ignia up from the depths to get air.

At least, Ignia hoped so. Hopefully, the air pocket around the fortress wasn't a rumor.

It had taken Rjali longer than she would have liked to get to the beach, as she'd spent hours fretting over where she would go for her rite of passage. Her parents had reminded her that she had choices, and that had paralyzed her with indecision. She often struggled to decide what to eat for meals, let alone what to do for the first real adventure in her life! 

Even now, as she neared the shoreline, her tail dragged in the sand and her whiskers twitched nervously to and fro, looking over her shoulder as if she expected someone to come chasing after her and tell her to stop, that she'd made the wrong choice. 

The kelpie heard voices, and as she crested a rise in the sand, she peered toward the shore where gentle waves lapped at the sand to see two other drakiri, a nightmare and a kelpie like herself. The other kelpie had beautiful wings, and she immediately felt intimidated by them. They looked like they were ready to face anything, and there she was, timid and unsure. 

She took a deep breath, held it for a moment and let it out as she surged forward over the slight rise and started down toward the other two, managing to keep her footing in the sand until she stumbled right at the bottom where it leveled out. 

"Hello!" she called, trying to sound braver than she felt. "Are...are you two going to the fortress?"

Ignia was startled by the newcomer, as she looked to see a yellow kelpie stumbling. Well, at least Ignia felt a bit better about herself. She smiled at the kelpie as Aequor nodded at her.

Aequor seemed excited by the prospect of having another to come with them, "Yeah! would you like to come with us? you can help me with my friend Ignia here!"

Scratch that, Ignia scowled at her friend, "Aequor I'm not a genetic dead-end."

Aequor immediately looked at Ignia that he thought she was lying about believing so, "Of course you're not, You just can't breathe in the water." He then looked at the yellow kelpie and smiled, shifting his fragile wings, "I'd love to have you on our adventure!"

Rjali looked between the two drakiri as they bickered amongst themselves, realizing that these two were at least friends, if not long-time friends. They were familiar with each other, which made her the odd one out. Should she go with them? What if they decided to leave her behind if she was too slow? Or what if they ran into trouble down there and she couldn't help them as much as they thought she should have, and they turned on her? 

The kelpie was wracked with anxiety, evident in how her whiskers quivered, but she finally convinced herself to nod at least once. She had to do this, she had to. 

"Thank you," she said. "I'll do my best to help you, but I'm not as good in a fight as I'd like to be."

Aequor nodded, "Don't worry about that! I've already planned a bit ahead and know alot about the local wildlife. As long as we don't seem like a threat to predators we'll be fine." He then motioned to the water, "It's time we get onto our quest!" He then started to the water excitedly.

Ignia smiled, "You'll do better than me at least!" then just shrugged at the yellow Kelpie, "Aequor can seem a little overbearing to some people but I just roll with it." She then carefully followed, obviously worried about the fact she couldn't breathe underwater, but wanted to go with her friend anyway.

At least they seemed confident...maybe that was her role, the worrier of the group. It would be her best quality. 

She shook herself, held her tail high and trotted toward the shoreline. At least this she was confident in...swimming was her favorite thing to do. She wasn't a terribly good hunter, she wasn't a good fighter at all, but she could out-swim the best of them back home. Her parents used to joke that she was the queen of the swimmers, and that's why her name meant royal. She certainly didn't feel like a queen as she dove under a short wave and swam easily deeper, looking back over her shoulder to make sure Ignia was able to keep up with them. 

Rjali did worry about the nightmare--they weren't often found in the water, were they? Would she be able to make it? Would it be rude to ask...?

Aequor also was looking back at Ignia, not going his top speed. With his wings he was able to swim faster, as he used the to propel himself forward. He kept to the surface so Ignia could keep her head above the water, while he scanned the sea floor. The rare times he wasn't living in the deep ocean he always was with Ignia. Their relationship was sibling-like, even though they were of different bloodlines. He wasn't worried about the yellow Kelpie- They could swim fine.

Ignia was glad she was a good swimmer comparatively to other nightmares. It came with having a Kelpie friend that she learned quickly. She could hold her breath longer than most land fairing species too- She just needed to not panic. She hoped they found the fortress quickly, else she'd wear out- She poked her head into the water here and there to see Aequor swimming below her. Even with her darksight she could only tell where he was by his white dots.

Rjali generally stuck to the shallower waters, as she liked to watch the sun rays on the ocean floor as they danced around in the waves. There was more to see among the coral reefs too, fish to watch swim from a distance, eels to play tag with. She'd had a wonderful childhood, full of wonder and games, but she was no longer a child. She had to prove that to her parents--and to herself. 

She dove deeper, feeling the cooler water pass over her gills as her tail fins fanned out to help propel her forward faster. She wasn't trying to outswim the others, but she wanted to get there as soon as they could, especially for Ignia's sake.

Aequor spotted a huge shark swimming east, and went to follow it. Was this the shark spirit? it was way larger than any normal shark could be. It wasn't long before he spotted the fortress.

Ignia took a deep breath and dove as soon as she saw the pocket of air, by the time she managed to get there she was all but gasping for breath. She turned to watch the two kelpies follow

The massive, dark form came into view and Rjali's jaw dropped open. It was massive, bigger than any shark she'd ever seen, probably bigger than most whales...she didn't entirely understand that it was a spirit, so she tread carefully as she waited for Ignia to swim down. She would have offered the nightmare help swimming down, but feared that it would be taken as a suggestion that the other drakiri couldn't do it on her own. Besides that, was this not supposed to be a test of strength as well? Who was she to interfere in another's rite? 

She swam to join Aequor, lifting her head up into the bubble of air not to take a breath, but to look around and see what there was to see--also to speak. 

She said, "Are you alright--uh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. I'm Rjali, by the way. I was thinking if we're going to do this together, we...might as well know each other's names, you know?"

Aequor nodded, and then walked into the pocket of air; "My name's Aequor! The nightmare’s my friend Ignia. We go WAY back!" He then climbed up some steps with Ignia now following suit.

Ignia nodded, "I prefer dryer, warmer climates than Aequor's deep sea exploits."

Aequor and Ignia. Rjali took a moment to commit the names to memory. She took a step forward out of the water, looking around at the cavern and feeling her anxiety creeping back up. It was dark here, cold and unfamiliar. She heard the sounds of the water dripping off of them as they all walked out of the ocean echoing around the space. 

"Aequor, what kind of wildlife could we find here?" she asked, trotting to catch up to the other two drakiri.

Aeqour looked pleased he was asked something, "The most dangerous thing we have to worry about is predatory fish- Though they can't breathe in air so we'll only worry about it later when we leave again. To be honest though, most of them don't come near the suffice, besides sharks, anyway. We'll probably not see anything too interesting here, unless you count semi aquatic crabs interesting."

Ignia just passed them and was staring at a giant door. She frowned, "I don't think we can get past this." She looked around and found a small hole. Well great, she couldn't fit in there.

Rjali listened to the other kelpie's assessment and felt some measure of reassurance, hoping that nothing decided to try its luck and reach them. She was sure that something would go wrong if they had to fight, even though her travelling partners looked more than capable of defending themselves.

She followed Ignia to the door, looking over it with awe. Who had constructed it? And why had they abandoned it? What lay beyond it? Questions with no answers were adventures waiting to happen, that's what her father had told her. 

She trotted over to the hole in the wall that Ignia had found, sniffing at it and kneeling down to look further in. Simple comparison suggested Aeqour wasn't going to fit either...but she might. 

"What...what do you think is on the other side?" she fretted, looking between the other two drakiri.

Aequor followed Rjali and stared at the hole, frowning, "There might be a release for the door on the other side."

Ignia looked at Rjali, "Well, looks like its your time to shine!" she smiled

Rjali looked at the hole in the wall again, anxiety sending her whiskers twitching and turning again. She feared what was on the other side of that door, simply because it was unknown. Her mother had always encouraged her curiosity, but cautioned her to be careful at the same time. Now she stepped forward with great trepidation, forcing herself to take slow, deep breaths.

I can do this, she thought, reassuring herself. I can do this...I'm the ONLY one that can do this...if I don't, we all fail the rite. I have to, for them--for me.

She stepped forward and knelt down, wriggling to get her shoulders through the hole as she squeezed forward. She laid her fins flat against her skull and her back so they wouldnt get scraped up too much, and forced herself through the wall. The cold stone pressed in on her, dark dampness all around. Her breath came faster and more shallow, her heart pounding in her chest, and she reached a point where her chest was too broad to squeeze through.

She writhed, unable to take a full breath as panic drove her to try to force her way through. All that served to do was scrape her scales against the stone and leave her even shorter of breath.

Rjali squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath for a moment, feeling her pulse jumping in her own throat. She remembered her father sitting with her, teaching her how to regulate her breathing above water when she was first learning how to swim, as it felt much different to breathe below the surface. In and out, slowly and deliberately, no gasping, no panting, slowly...

She slowed her breathing, eyes opening as her mind calmed. The kelpie wriggled backwards until she had enough room to slide her arms forward, reaching out with them and wriggling forward again. She could feel the stone just barely scraping her chest and back enough that she couldn't get through, until she took a few deep breaths and then forced all the air from her lungs. She pushed through the rest of the way and finally reached the other side, staggering and siting down hard on the other side.

"I did it?" she breathed, stunned. Then louder she laughed, "I did it! I did it you guys!" 

She leaped to her hooves and reached out toward the door with her whiskers, feeling around until she found something that felt out of the ordinary. She reached up on her hind legs and pressed on a loose stone, feeling it sink into the rest of the wall. Something in the door slid across and she trotted over, setting her shoulder against one of the doors to open it enough to peer through.

"Well come on slowpokes!" she said, her voice and eyes bright.

Aequor smiled at Rjali's excitement before following her in, "Where do you suppose-" he stopped and stared at the foretress's interior. It was grand, two staircases flanking a long hallway.

Ignia followed silently, once she caught up with Rjali she grinned, "I'm proud of you! we make a good team!" Ignia ignored the voice in her head that told her she only slowed them down.

Rjali beamed, proud of herself and grateful for the compliment the nightmare had given her. She followed along, a bounce in her step that hadn't been there before. She looked around with a renewed sense of purpose, and instead of being terrified by the massive landscape, she could look at it with approval and breathe in awe, "Wow...Aequor do you know who built this place? It's massive!"

Aequor looked back and laughed, "Unfortunately not, there's no research on this place at all. I think we should just take it in as is though. As infuriating it is to have hidden places in the world, they'll always exist."

Ignia raised an eyebrow at his comment, as if she didn't believe he'd accept that.

"I don't think it's infuriating," Rjali said as she looked around at the structure. "I think it's exhilarating! All these new places to explore and see, so many things to learn. I-I think I want to see as many things as there are in the world to see...or maybe I should stay home with my parents...I'll have to think about it." 

She felt a little of her old instinct to remain on the fence come back, but she was starting to see what being decisive could get her. If she'd been too scared and uncertain to go through the wall she never would have seen this place and considered that she might want to see new places all the time.

Aequor smiled, "Hey, I could show you some very neat places! There's very amazing locations deep under the water."

Ignia smiled, she was a little jealous that she wasn;t gifted with the gift of underwater breathing, "And I know some cool land locations"

"I think I'd like that a lot," she said, looking up at Aequor and then Ignia. The offer humbled her as she realized that there was so much more that the world had to offer which she had yet to discover. If she had friends to go along with her, she thought it would be a lot more fun, and they could tell her about the locations they visited. 

Her frill stood on end when she realized what she'd just thought of them as--friends! She...finally had friends. And she hadn't even had to think about it. She felt a warmth spread in her that had nothing to do with the chilly environment around them, and everything to do with the time she would spend in the future with these two drakiri she had been so anxious about approaching not too long ago.