It was a beautiful summer day and Marina was waiting on the beach for Harold to go diving
together. Marina had known Harold for close to four weeks now. After their first encounter
and the lunch date that followed they started to hang out together a lot more.
Harold comes walking down the beach and Marina runs up to him, "Hi Harold!" she yells out happily as she runs up to him. "Hey Marina! how are you?" "I’m good! oh umm I have something here I wanted to give you, I hope you like it."
She hands Harold a strange looking amulet that he had never seen before. It was made of gold with gemstones inside it. "Wow what is this Marina? it’s really shiny and amazing looking!"
As Harold held it, it spun a bit in his hand. It looked like a cog and the inner gears turned when he spun the small outer gear. Marina replied: "It's an artifact that my grandmother gave to me. I don’t know where she got it but she told me so many stories about how she explored many places when she was young. She was an explorer and collector of rare and strange artifacts. She told me she found that one day on the ocean floor, so she attached a string in the hole there and made it into an amulet. She wore it all the time and never really took it off, but she gave it to me as her last adventure came to a close. She told me to give it to someone really close to me, so I’m giving it to you. I hope you like it!"
Harold put on the amulet and a bit of a blush formed on his face. "I-I love it! I’ll take such good care of it I promise!" Marina smiled and she started walking towards the water. "Come on Harold, lets go diving!" Harold looked at her with a questionable look. "But Marina I can’t go diving without an oxygen tank and goggles. I can’t breathe underwater like you can."
Marina pointed to a small area that had oxygen tanks and goggles. "I think they will let you borrow one if you ask." Harold looked over and replied: "Yeah I’ll go ask, wait for me."
As he walked to the oxygen tanks, he was stopped by a diving instructor. "Can I help you young man?" the young cheetah said standing in front of him with some goggles in his hand and a
oxygen tank strapped onto his back. "Yes, may I borrow one of these tanks to go diving
with?" "Oh yes of course you can! Please help yourself. Oh and here, have these goggles
too, I’m sure they will come in handy." The lifeguard winked at Harold and helped him strap
on an oxygen tank. He also helped Harold put on his goggles. "Thank you sir!" "No problem young man, have fun!" The instructor walked away and Harold walked back over to Marina.
The two went into the water and swam out a ways before diving down. They dove down deep but stayed close as the water got a bit darker. The two swam around for a while when
Marina beckoned to follow her. Harold followed her to a small cave and the two swam in. When they came out the other side Harold was amazed at what he saw. An old ancient sunken city was deep in the ocean inside the cave. Just then, Harold looked at his meter on his oxygen tank and noticed he didn’t have enough oxygen to make it back to the surface. Panicked, he beckoned to Marina showing her his oxygen meter. She beckoned him to follow her, which he did. She led him to a small hut and they swam inside. She climbed a small ladder and Harold followed. They came into a room filled with oxygen and she popped Harolds oxygen tank off his back. When Harold could speak again he frantically said: "Marina, I don’t have enough oxygen to make it back up! I-I think I’m stuck down here!" Marina stayed calm and looked at him. "Calm down silly hehe! You’re not stuck. we have our own ways to get divers around where we live." She walked over and opened a chest. Harold looked around a bit confused. "How is there air in here? I thought there wouldn't be air in a place this deep." "Those plants there release oxygen and can make places like this where others can breathe safely. Now here, put these on." Marina walked over to Harold and put a strange pair of what looked to be goggles on his face. The goggles were very foggy and Harold could barely see. She then put on a mask over his mouth and nose. "There now just breathe normally!" "But I can barely see anything! And this doesn’t have an oxygen tank on it." "You don’t need one, that mask extracts oxygen from the water thanks to the plants that are inside it. The same plants that are in this room. And those goggles are a type of plant that can attach themselves to your face, in return for mobility and a free lunch they stick to your face and feed when we swim to different places." "Oh... I still can barely see but let’s go!" Harold said as he walked into the wall, causing Marina to giggle at him. He rubbed his head and suddenly a bigger male Aquatic Sheep climbed up the ladder.
"Well hello there! I don't know how you managed to find this place but welcome! I am
an explorer and head of the museum in the aqua city. What brings you here? Are you young
explorers yourselves? By the way, you can call me Tidal."
"It’s nice to meet you Mister Tidal, I’m Marina and this is Harold. We were going to just look around a bit and explore if that’s ok with you?" "Why young lady of course it is! Look around all you like! If you happen to come across anything of interest though, please let me know so I can document it for our people!" "Of course we will! Thank you mister Tidal! We will be off now though so we will see you later!" The two waved goodbye to Tidal and headed down the ladder into the water. Harold was astonished as his goggles became crystal clear when it hit the water. It was as if he was not wearing anything on his face at all! He had then noticed Marina's hair was acting strange. It acted like tentacles when she was still and not moving. He
decided to ask her about it some other time. "Lead the way Marina and I’ll follow, ok?"
"Ok Harold, this way!"
He followed her out of the house and over to the city. The two went into the houses exploring what they had inside. There was little to find but they were having a lot of fun going around and seeing what things they could find. Marina swam over to an old barnacle infested gate, they investigated the gate and found a lever that used to be for making the gate open. They grabbed the lever and pulled hard on it. The lever creaked and slowly started to move. They heard a loud bang and the lever went flying in the direction they were puling. The two watched as the gates rumbled and creaked, sliding open. Barnacles rained down as the gate rose up and came to a stop fully opening the path. They looked at each other and smiled, swimming inside the gate.
As they entered the area illuminated by bioluminescent underwater mushrooms, the mushrooms glowed a beautiful white and lit up the entire area. They swam around the area wondering what the place could have been. Stone pillars stood around the area with long worn out cables on them, wrapped in seaweed. Large patches of ground were squared out with rocks. The area used to be a garden for the kingdom. Kelp and seaweed grew where crops once did and glowing mushrooms grew around the area.
Marina noticed a path leading up to the giant palace in the middle. She tapped Harold on his shoulder and pointed at the path leading up to the palace. Harold nodded and the two started swimming up the path. After a little bit of swimming they ended up at the palace main door. The door was really big and looked golden. Marina tried to push the door open but it was jammed. Harold tried helping, but it was no use. Marina looked around and saw that the door was opened just a little bit, enough to put something in to pry it open.
"Harold we can pry this door open, do you see anything we can use?" "Umm... yeah how about this plank? It’s sturdy and still has strength in it." Marina nodded and Harold jammed the plank in the door. It was a tight squeeze, but the plank just fit. They both worked together and pried the door open. As the door came loose it swung open slowly with a loud creak. They swam inside and had a look around. Harold followed Marina around until they came to a giant door. They both pushed hard on the door and it swung open, revealing the throne room. Marina was looking around when Harold sat on the throne. "Hey Marina do I look good as a king?" H said in a silly pose, Marina giggled and nodded "You look great on that throne!" "Haha, than---" Just then Harold hit a small switch hidden on the throne and both thrones moved. Harold jumped and swam away from the thrones in a hurry. The thrones went underground and got covered by a seal. Behind the thrones was a door hidden by the very old seaweed covered curtains. "Nice job Harold! Hehe you are great at finding hidden things!" "I-it was by accident!" Harold blushed at Marina's praise, but then swam to the door and helped Marina push it open. The door swung open with a loud creak and they swam inside.
As they came to the top of the stairs, they walked out of the water and into a room filled with air. Harold took off his mask and goggles and was amazed by the sight. They entered the treasure room. Marina and Harold stood there looking at the treasure being illuminated by the glowing mushrooms. They walked over and grabbed a few coins and looked them over "Oh my gosh Harold... T-This is amazing!" "Y-yeah it is! Wow there's so much treasure in here!"
Just then they heard a splash, making them look behind them. Tidal was standing there looking at what they found. "My my look at that, you two are certainly amazing! You solved all those
problems and made it here! But my goodness look at all that treasure! Well, it’s all yours since you found it. Haha don’t worry kids, I won’t take your treasure away from you. Though if you ever want to donate some to the museum I’d be eternally grateful."
Marina smiled: "Mister Tidal I would love to donate some of this to the museum! I think it would help to attract more people there to see your collection and to make them be inspired to explore and make discoveries of their own too."
Tidal gave a hearty laugh and clapped his hands in excitement. "You will donate?! Oh thank you young lady! Oh thank you so much! I will be forever in your debt! So you both will be sharing all this treasure right?" They nodded and searched around a bit. Tidal called them over as he came across a door with a gear in it unlike anything he had ever seen, but Marina noticed it was shaped like the gear necklace she gave to Harold. "Harold may I see the necklace I gave you?" Harold stood there dumbfounded. "Huh? Sure Marina, do you think it would fit?"
Marina took off the string and fit it in the indentation on the door. The gear turned inside the door and then stopped. After a minute Marina took out the gear from the door thinking it did nothing and reattached the string. Just then the door opened, so they walked in and saw two pedestals bearing two very beautiful golden gemmed crowns. Marina gave Harold back his necklace and looked around. She noticed there was a switch on both walls and two pressure plates on the pedestals.
"Harold, you take that switch and I’ll take this one. Mister Tidal, when I count down from three me and Harold will press these switches and you will take the crowns, ok?" Tidal nodded and got into place. Harold walked over to the switch and put his hand on it and Marina walked to her switch and placed her hand on it. "Ready everyone? 3... 2... 1... NOW!"
As they did their role they heard four loud clicks. They seemed to have done the puzzle correctly as they now had the crowns in possession.
Just then they heard a noise and looked where the crowns were. Behind the pedestals was a hidden wall with an extra crown and two very black cut rocks. They all walked over and took the three items "Oh my goodness! Miss Marina may I see that gem you picked up?" "Of course Mister Tidal, here." She handed him the stone and Tidal looked at it carefully. "Oh.. my.. Miss Marina, you and your friend here have come across two super valuable gemstones. These are of the rarest and most valuable in the world! And given their size these are worth a fortune I’d say!" Marina and Harold looked at each other in surprise. "H-How much exactly Mister Tidal?" Harold said, curious about the gems and crowns. "Hmm... I can't say exactly since I don’t know much about gems but I know for a fact these are worth a lot. These are flawless and expertly cut to perfection. If I had to estimate I’d say around... four million for each of these gems minimum and six million maximum." Marinas and Harolds eyes went wide and their jaws dropped at hearing the price tag for their gemstone finds. "Now for these crowns... these small ones here are worth about twenty to thirty thousand since they are made of solid gold and have some nice flawless gems in them.. as for this crown I’m holding though... I cannot be too sure.. if I had to guess I’d say around two to three million. the reason is for this gemstone in the front. See kids, this black gemstone is called onyx and is a very rare and valuable gemstone. But these are yours so you may take them."
Tidal gave back the crowns and gems to Marina and Harold. "I will have someone from my team ship your shares to your houses, so you don’t need to worry about anything."
Marina grabbed Tidals hand and placed her small crown in his hand. "This is for helping us mister Tidal. Please put it in your museum for everyone to see!" Tidals eyes watered a little bit “Oh Miss Marina you are so kind, thank you so much! I’ll put this up with those who discovered it! If you will excuse me I will go tell my team to start packing up your finds and take them to your houses!" Before he left Harold and Marina told Tidal where they lived and he ran off to go get his crew.
Marina turned to Harold and spoke to him "Harold its getting late. I saw the time on Tidals watch and it’s going to get too dark if we stay here too long. Let's head back to the surface ok?" "Yeah, my mom will get mad if I get home too late. Let’s go back." Harold put on his goggles and mask and headed out with Marina. They swam out of the palace, through the gates where they entered, through the city and out of the cave where they entered the city. They swam up to the surface and then swam to shore. Marina carried Harolds goggles and oxygen tank he borrowed and sat them on the ground. "Harold.. Thanks so much for coming with me, I had a lot of fun." "Me too Marina, we should do this again soon, but for now I need to get going because it's getting late."
Marina walked up to Harold and put her arms around him giving him a hug. Harold hugged back rubbing her back, the two separated and Marina started walking towards the water. She stopped and turned around. "Harold?" Harold was picking up his oxygen tank and goggles and looked at Marina "Yes?" "I-I... Umm.. I have something I need to tell you..." She walked up slowly to Harold with her cheeks getting red. Harold stood there looking Marina in her eyes not noticing her blushing "What is it Marina?" she fidgeted a bit and said "I-I... Umm.... Ever since I first saw you Harold I’ve been in love with you.. Y-You make me so happy.. A-And I wanted to ask... Will you be my boyfriend?" Harolds eyes lit up and his cheeks glowed with blush, he couldn’t believe it. Marina fell in love with him at first sight too! He snapped back to reality and responded "M-Marina.. when I first saw you.. I-I fell in love with you at first sight too. I-I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Every day I wake up the first thing on my mind is you. I-I will be your boyfriend. I love you Marina!" Marina smiled "I l-love you too! ... But it’s getting late. Shall we be happy next time we meet?" Harold giggled at her silliness "Yes, let's be happy together!" Marina went to walk away again but turned back around. Harold was holding his oxygen tank but dropped his goggles and picked them back up. Marina walked over to him and Harold dropped his goggles and oxygen tank to give her a hug again. She wrapped her arms around Harolds neck and he wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back, but this was no ordinary hug. Harold noticed Marinas face coming closer to his and before he realized what was happening he felt Marinas lips pressing against his. Harolds eyes went wide, his ears perked right up, his cheeks burned hot with blush, his heart raced and butterflies filled his tummy. He didn’t know what to do but his instincts kicked in and he just closed his eyes and kissed back. After a little while their lips separated with a little smack. Marina smiled at Harold and walked to the water. She waved at him and swam out to sea, and Harold watched her swim out and disappear under the waves. He sighed happily at the kiss and knowing Marina is his girlfriend now. He walked back over to the diving instructor and gave him the oxygen tank and goggles before heading home as well, looking forward to the future.
Marina swam back to her house and walked into her bedroom. She flopped on the bed and
sighed happily with her cheeks all red and her eyes closed. "Whatcha all blushy about Marina?" She opened her eyes and sat up startled. "A-Aqua! don't scare me like that!" "Well gee sorry, I want to know why you're all blushy that’s all." Marina looked away, a bit embarrassed to tell her twin sister what happened. "I-I... asked a boy I r-really like if he would be my boyfriend..." Her sister jumped on her bed laying on top of her and snuggling with her. “Oh you asked him huh? And what did he say?" "H-He said yes!"
Tears formed in Marina's eyes as she smiled at her sister. Her sister looked away unimpressed and Marina kissed her cheek and nuzzled her. "I hope he treats you well...he better... for his sake..." "Aqua he will, I hope I can get him to meet you soon, he’s so sweet and kind I’m sure you will love him!" Marina yawned and her eyes started to close. "We can talk more about him tomorrow Mari now get some rest, I’ll sleep here with you ok?" "Ok Aqua, mmm…Goodnight..." Marinas eyes closed and she fell asleep a few minutes later, her sister flopped over laying at her side. She kissed Marina on the cheek and closed her eyes. "I love you Marina, rest well sis." she said as she also fell asleep.
As Harold was laying in his bed, thoughts of the day where twirling through his mind. The underwater adventure was thrilling, the discovery of the treasure even more so, but even that paled in comparison to the way he and Marina separated on the beach.
The confession lingered in his mind. He had considered expressing his feelings on an earlier date, but he kept chickening out. Having her come forward like that and hearing her say those words, he felt like a burden had lifted from his heart. No more insecurity about her feelings. They were really together now.
He considered his other friends. Shane, Evalyn, Ryley, Tassy. The younger raccoon boy and cat girl in particular would probably not be too thrilled about the news. After all, Harold fully intended to keep together with Marina and this would mean he would have to stop having his old playdates with the other cubs. Knowing them too though, they would have plenty of others to play with as well.
One thing Harold did think about though, was his own needs. He had become used to casual sex before he met Marina. He has respected her boundaries throughout and would continue to do so, but he really had to restrain himself when they kissed. He brought the image back to his mind, the sweet smell of the girl, her soft lips pressing against his, the way they held each other. He could feel his member grow in response to the thoughts. He brought one hand down under the covers and started to rub his cock. “Marina…I can’t wait…”
“Marina? Wasn’t that that girl you talked about earlier?”
Harold sat up shocked as he heard his twin sister’s voice. “Aedre! W..what are you…”
The girl laughed “You should really close your door brother. But I never thought you’d *oomph*“
She removed the pillow from her face and sniffed it. “Wait…did you throw this with the same hand…ewwwww! But I’ll knock next time I need you for something brother.” She giggled as she left her brothers room.
As she closed the door, Harold fell on his back again. Thinking about Marina and where this relationship would bring them both. He soundly fell asleep with a large smile on his face.
