G: Still nothing... An Oshawott thought to himself as he kept searching around deep underwater for the rumored temple he's heard about deep in the sea. "Mmf... Nn..." Soon, he surfaced and took a deep gasp of breath to fill his lungs before heading back down, eventually seeing a strange hole in the ground... Curiously, he would swim down and inside it to see... some strange ruins. A temple of sorts?
But as he swam in, a current suddenly pulls him in further and further, forcing bubbles out of his lungs as he got pushed in!
L: The current drags him quite some distance into the temple before it finally lets up, depositing the Oshawott into a large room. Thankfully, it was oddly well lit, enabling him to see several halls branching off the room, as well as... An enormous creature, likely 10 times the Oshawott's height, with a mostly white body and light blue belly, and two blue spikes above their eyes. He recognized them immediately; Lugia. And they didn't seem too happy to see him, as he heard their voice in his head. "You're certainly nosy, aren't you? You think you can just come here as you please?"
G: He looks up as he feels his body slow to a crawl, swimming up to see... the Lugia? This must be the place... He'd be worried and surprised as he heard the voice of the Lugia in his head... Not used to telepathy, though, he didn't know how to respond well... so he tries mouthing the words he wanted to speak while thinking them, though didn't talk. "No, sorry, I... I didn't want to disturb you, I... just heard rumors about this place, and..."
L: Lugia rolls his eyes. "You're lucky I'm here, and just happened to be on my way out. I'll get you back outside, but I'll be wiping your memory of where the entrance to this is after that. Hold onto me, that current won't be stopping any time soon, but I can overpower it." He gestures to the pair of spikes near the end of his tail.
G: "Why do you... OK..." He would nod in response... He didn't have much of a choice, did he? Either swim out and forget Lugia, or remember but drown... He would rather live, so he held onto the spike... "...mm..." But the current knocked quite a bit of air from the otter's lungs. It's getting a little harder to hold his breath.
L: As soon as the Oshawott gets a good grip, Lugia takes off down the path the current had brought him, the rushing water hardly seeming to phase them. Slowly, though, they begin to have some trouble swimming, going slower and slower before eventually stopping entirely, even as they struggle against the current. "It's... Not normally this strong..." After a few more seconds, Lugia relents, letting the current drag him and the Oshawott back to the room they'd been in. "This is bad... The main shutoff for that current is farther along than I can go right now!" Lugia looks a bit nervous as he checks how the Oshawott is doing.
G: The Oshawott looks worried as he held on tight, the current nearly dragging him away again, especially as his lungs burned harder as time passed! And with the news that the Lugia's unable to swim up... "...m... mm... W-Why... Can't hold... Need air... Mgblbl..." His cheeks were turning rather purple with how low on air he is.
L: After a moment of hesitation, Lugia opens his mouth a little and blows out an unusually large bubble, about the size of the Oshawott's head. Before it can float away, he grabs it between his finger and thumb, and holds it in front of them. "Breathe. It's not fresh, but it's air, and no one deserves to die just for trespassing."
G: "Mm... mm?" He looks up with a cute, desperate expression in his eyes, but they soon look more hopeful as he sees the bubble! "Mmgblbl... Give it... P-Please!" He cries out, as the process of the Lugia bringing it down felt like ages. But thankfully, the Oshawott held the bubble with his paws and put it against his mouth, taking desperate gasps for as long as the bubble allowed before holding one more breath. "...thanks..." The Oshawott didn't feel fully refreshed, but it should last a few minutes, at least...
L: "There's another way outside, thankfully. Haven't used it in a pretty long time, and it'll take a while to get there from here, but that's our best option. Stay close, I'm not letting you drown. Ride me if you want, whatever takes less effort for you." Lugia points to one of the halls, and waits for the Oshawott to either hold onto him or start swimming on their own.
G: With how fast the Lugia is, and how turbulent it is, maybe it's easier for him to swim on his own. He nods in response. "Please hurry, though. I don't know how long I can survive on these bubbles..." A slight burn occured in his chest as he said this, swimming towards the Lugia, again... He didn't know that Lugia needed to breathe eventually, though.
L: Lugia nods, and leads the Oshawott along the hall. This place was like a maze, but Lugia seemed to know where he was going, sometimes turning down branches and sometimes not, but never hitting a dead end. A few bubbles occasionally trickle from Lugia's nostrils, and he starts to blush, the tiniest bit of strain becoming visible on his face in a way that seems like he's trying to hide it. He looks back at the Oshawott. "You still doing okay?"
G: The Oshawott kicks and swims onward, managing to follow the Lugia as best as he could. Thankfully, he can keep up so he doesn't get left behind. When it turned back around, the otter would nod in response...
...and would see the signs of running out of air appearing on the legendary. He's hesitent to think so, for a bit, but with the blush, bubbles, and enough of a strained expression, he could tell Lugia is no fish. "...Are you?" He would ask, the slightest burn for air appearing for him.
L: Mentally sighing, Lugia's blush intensifies from slight embarrassment. "...You can tell, can't you? I'm not truly aquatic, I can't breathe underwater. I don't like others knowing that, because it doesn't make sense. Arceus just didn't give me gills, and I don't know why." As he explains to the Oshawott, he stops trying to hide his need for air, puffing his cheeks and no longer holding back his strained grunts. "I can at least hold my breath a long time, and give air bubbles to people who need them."
G: He looks down to him and nods... "...I guess so... Mm... But... it's fine... M-Maybe they forgot? Or... I-I don't know, can we just go...?" He asks, clearly impatient. If even Lugia can drown, then that means they have to go... He starts straining a tiny bit more before quickly swimming onward at a slightly faster pace. He just hopes Lugia has enough air to make it out... even after sharing some more bubbles the Oshawott will inevitably need...
L: "It's not much farther to the exit tunnel, and that itself isn't very long. Try to stay calm, you're going to be fine." Even as Lugia himself was starting to feel a burn in his chest, he continued leading the Oshawott through the halls. About a minute later, the two come to what appears at first to be a dead end. Lugia runs a hand over one of the walls, then presses on a certain spot, which sinks in slightly. Just after, the opposite wall slowly slides open, leading to a tunnel in a natural cave. "Should only be a couple minutes' swim from here."
G: "Mm... Mmf..." But it's clear the Oshawott wasn't able to hold out much longer. On top of the air he was given being stale, he also didn't have the lung capacity of a legendary. But maybe he could last a few more minutes... Maybe- "GBLBL... H... Mmmf..." He would look up to the Lugia with a begging and desperate expresion, wanting a breath rather soon.
L: "Here." Lugia blows out another bubble and passes it to the Oshawott again. "Don't feel bad about asking for these, my lungs are probably bigger than your entire body." While he didn't like losing air when he was already in quite a bit of need for more, it wasn't like it was going to be much longer until he and the Oshawott were out in open water, easily able to surface.
G: With a deep gasp, his lungs would be filled with the stale air, again, giving him some comfort. Though his lungs were still burning, he can probably ignore that long enough... Hopefully.
Maybe he has a better chance at surfacing compared to the Lugia? Maybe that means he could remember this experience... if he even survives.
L: The two Pokemon continue on through the tunnel, with only a couple of turns... Until they came to a dead end, a pile of large rocks blocking what may have been the path ahead. "N-no, NO!" Lugia's reaction confirms the situation, as he tries to shove the rocks aside to no avail. He looks back at the Oshawott with a fully red face and panic in his eyes. "Th-this was the way out, it's caved in!"
G: The Oshawott's heart sank... before a heave oxcured in his chest as his cheeks were also a deep red! "Mm... Mmf... Gblbl... No- Mm..." He couldn't say much of anything else, as he's too focused on conserving air in his emptying lungs! Desperately, he would even try slashing at the rocks as some kind of last ditch effort! But all it did was waste precious air! But it might not even matter, if they truly were trapped. Unless the Lugia knew where they could breathe from...? He looks back at him desperately. "...air pocket?"
L: Lugia shakes his head. "I-if there is one, I don't know about it... That current back at the entrance, though... Ghk... It'll still be going, b-but there's another way to turn it off... We can make it there!" By the tone of his voice, he doesn't seem very confident that he could hold his breath long enough, but it's clear he doesn't intend on giving up.
G: And by the expression and the changing hue of the freediving otter's face, he's clearly running on fumes. And he thinks the Lugia might not be able to afford another air-sharing bubble.
So... maybe Lugia should just go on his own and retrieve him later? The Oshawott can't hold onto the legendary's tail on the last precious oxygen in him! In fact, he's close to gasping water, too! "Hmmf... mmf... mm... Gmmmf..."
L: Once more, though, Lugia puffs out a bubble - somewhat larger this time, as he has some trouble controlling his exhalation - and gives it to the Oshawott. "Th-that's all I can spare. Get it in you quick, and hold onto me!" His chest starts to heave, and the Oshawott can see his face just starting to turn purple.
G: Just before he would gasp water, he would inhale the big bubble. Despite it's size, though, most of it was stale air, only giving about a minute or two! He would soon swim down and grab onto the Lugia, whining and holding his mouth against the legendary's body! "Mmgblbl... mm... mmf..."
L: Lugia starts swimming again, trying to be careful not to lose the Oshawott despite starting to lose his composure. Bubbles trickle from his lips as he quickly gets back to the temple, navigating its halls once again as he grabs his neck with one hand and whines, his lungs fiercely burning.
G: Just how far is this...? The Oshawott's grip tightened more and more as his breath ran out, soon letting go and taking a gasp of water! "GBLABLBLBLL!!!! HLK... Gblrbl... KBLL... KAABLBL... bl..." His grip soon slipped, leaving a panicking and weakening otter desperately pawing!
L: "NBLO! MMGH!" Lugia shouts out loud for a moment, losing even more air. He grabs the Oshawott and tries to swim with them as he nears his own limit, bubbles repeatedly spurting from his nostrils and quivering lips. "S-stay awake! We can do this!", he said via telepathy again, hoping the Oshawott would be coherent enough to understand him. Though, at this point, he didn't really believe either of them had a chance any more...
G: He could barely hear his voice in his mind, barely staying awake as he kept gasping water. At least he's somehow hanging on, despite the water flooding him. But the Oshawott's gasp did prove that it might just be impossible to survive this. He's growing too weak to even move, his entire body growing limp.
L: Not too long after, Lugia accidentally sucks a bit of water through his nostrils. He gulps, then coughs a cloud of bubbles, letting go of the Oshawott and stopping to grab his neck with both hands, kicking frantically in one last struggle to not inhale. Finally, it's too much, and his mouth opens wide to suck in an aquatic breath, water almost visibly rushing into his mouth and down his throat. Choking and gargling, he desperately thrashes, before darting up to the ceiling and pounding his fists on it, his face beginning to turn blue.
G: As the Oshawott floated down, his eyes fluttered closed as the breaths he took slowed down until they stopped. His lungs are flooded, and he could no longer stay awake. He shouldn't have gone here...
L: With his draining energy slowly calming him down, Lugia picks up the drowned Oshawott again and starts awkwardly swimming, his coordination starting to suffer. No bubbles follow his weak coughs any more, and he struggles to keep his lidded eyes focused on what's ahead of him. Owing to his status as a legendary, he endures his flooded state and continues to swim for nearly a full minute before his fading strength isn't enough for him to move. He finally sinks to lay on the floor, releasing the Oshawott as well, their body happening to land in his field of view. As his vision fades, he focuses as much as he can to send them a faint "...I'm....ssorry..." With that, he finally passes out, right next to the Oshawott he'd tried so hard to help.
G: But it meant nothing in the end... Normally, this would probably be the end of them, but... suddenly, the Oshawott could feel himself wake up in... a strangely familiar room, breathing... or rather, coughing up water... His vision slowly returned, and he could see... the chamber he fell into and ran into Lugia... who seems to be right next to him.
And it looks like they're in a bubble?
L: Water gurgles up out of Lugia's mouth as he too starts waking up, fighting to get air into his soaked lungs. After a coughing fit, he sits up and bumps his head against the top of the bubble. "...What...How...How are we okay?", he says out loud for once, now that there's no water around to obscure his voice.
G: The confused and disoriented otter looks to the legendary by his side, but shakes his head. "Don't know... You... ever drown?" He would ask, wondering if it has to do with Lugia, himself. He does notice each breath is making the bubble shrink little by little...
L: "No, that was my first time... If this was me, I didn't know I could do this, and I've been around for centuries. Maybe it was the temple itself, somehow? ...Not sure I want to test that." He lowers his head as the bubble starts to press against it again. "Think this air's gonna run out fairly soon. We should be fine this time, when we met I'd already been down for half an hour."
G: "Guess I should figure air-breathing legendaries have large lung capacities... It's fine, for now, at least..." He looks out of the bubble, nodding in response before taking a deep gasp and swimming out of it before it pops, or the air gets too stale to even breathe. Hopefully this swim goes a lot smoother, this time...
L: Lugia gasps as well, leaving the bubble only barely big enough to fit him, and pushes out of the bubble. Once he leaves, it seems to destabilize, bursting out a large cloud of normal-sized bubbles that float away. He starts heading toward where the override for the water current trap is, but stops. "Hang on, maybe we were out long enough the current stopped...", he says into the Oshawott's mind as he swims to the entrance... And encounters no resistance! "Ah, good, this'll be easy. Come on, we can just swim out, now."
G: Guess something had mercy on them... At least he can finally breathe in fresh ocean air after so long underwater. He would follow the Lugia up the path until they reached the open ocean... Although he forgot how long this path up was. He got tossed and turned around it when he first arrived.
L: About a minute in, Lugia pauses to press on a discolored brick in the wall. "That current shouldn't happen, now. If it does, and I can't swim against it again, we've got plenty of time to go back for the override switch." Thankfully, the rest of the trip out goes without incident, and the two Pokemon finally reach open water.
G: The Oshawott is at least glad the current won't start again, but there's still the rest of the swim. When they reached the ocean, he sighs a few bubbles in relief, especially since when they did, he could feel his lungs burning quite a bit. "Mm... Mmf..." He looks to the Lugia and nods, swimming to the surface to take a breath.
L: Lugia exhales upon surfacing and breathes normally, having not yet been under any strain. He smiles and closes his eyes as he floats on his back. "Finally... Gonna have to clear out that escape tunnel and check what happened with that trap at some point, don't plan on drowning again."
G: The Oshawott would surface next to him, panting and gasping heavily, once more. "Hah... haah... hah... O-Oh how I missed the ocean sun... so much..." He panted out as he floats on his back. It's a miracle he even made it, even with Lugia's help, he felt.
L: After a moment of silence, Lugia speaks up. "...I said before, that I was going to remove your memory of the temple... But, I've changed my mind. To be honest, you've grown on me, to the point that I'd feel bad for making you forget. You're welcome to come back in the future, I'll set up that trap so it ignores you."
G: "...I..." He looks up to the Lugia and nods. "...Thank you. I'll keep this secret from everyone else. But maybe I'll come by to see if maybe I could practice some freediving from a legendary breathholder like you?" The otter would suggest.
L: Lugia chuckles. "Of course. I've certainly picked up quite a few techniques in my time, that I'd be willing to teach you. I wouldn't be surprised if your breath holding record was doubled by the end of that! Could also show you how to blow bigger bubbles like I can, though that's a bit complicated."
G: "I can't make bubbles. At least, not the kind you make, anyway. In general, not just the size. But I would love to learn techniques from you." He does yawn and look up at the darkening sky. "...but maybe later... It's getting late, and... drowning did kinda take a bit out of me..."
L: "I suppose it is... I'll bring you back to the shore." Lugia dives under for a moment and rises up underneath the Oshawott to get them on his back, then starts swimming for the shore, doing his best to keep himself stable so his passenger would have an easy time staying on him.
G: He would be surprised, still, getting dragged along by the Lugia as they swam back to shore! It Might be hard for the Lugia to stay hidden, but at least he can swim super fast...
L: Despite how far out the two were, it doesn't take long for them to arrive at the shore, and Lugia lays down to allow the Oshawott to climb off him. "Hope that wasn't too uncomfortable for you, figured you'd like a chance to ride a legendary."
G: "I mean... I didn't need it... but thanks..." He smiles and jumps off into the sand. "and... sorry for suddenly intruding into your domain."
L: "Ah, don't worry about it, it's kind of my fault for not just blocking the entrance. Have to get going now, can't leave the temple entirely unguarded for too long. I'm looking forward to seeing you again, whenever you decide to come by." Lugia heads back into the water and dives below again, quickly swimming out of view.
G: He would nod in response and head back into the city. This certainly was an interesting dive out in the deep ocean. One he wouldn't forget...
![[RP LOG] Sunk and saved](https://va.ib.metapix.net/images80/overlays/writing.png "[RP LOG] Sunk and saved"){kind=small}
