G: Out in the deep ocean, an anthro Oshawott floats along the surface for a bit. Wearing his swim shorts, his necklace, and his goggles, he would take some deep gasps before diving straight down, using his natural flippers to swim quickly.
L: After some time, a shadow becomes visible in the distance, fairly quickly growing... Eventually, its source becomes clearly visible; a very large eastern dragon, mostly green in color, swimming surprisingly fast despite seemingly hardly doing anything. They see the Oshawott and stop some distance away, not wanting to intimidate him, and they wave to him.
G: As he swam down, he would see the huge shadow, bubbling out some air in surprise! He didn't expect to see a dragon down here... He waves back and swims closer to his head, smiling and letting out some bubbles.
L: The dragon gestures toward the surface, wanting to introduce himself and knowing that would be more than a little difficult underwater. He holds out a hand - or maybe a foot? - that's almost as big as the Oshawott, offering to carry him up.
G: Tempo would tilt his head, looking to the surface and nodding. Introducing would be hard, even if Tempo had an easier time speaking clearly underwater than most. He swims onto his hand, accepting his offer.
L: Nodding back, the dragon starts rapidly ascending, the rushing water pressing the Oshawott against his hand, though not quite to an uncomfortable degree. Within seconds, the two reach the surface, the dragon lightly gasping before looking down at the Oshawott. "Hope that wasn't too rough of a trip for you."
G: Tempo would hold onto him, not hurt by his grasp, before the two would surface, causing him to take in a light gasp of his own. "Huah... No, it wasn't. I just started diving, too, so I should be fine."
L: "Alright, good. So, my name's Cirrus, who might you be?" Cirrus keeps holding the Oshawott in his hand so they don't have to swim, though they would be able to hop off and back into the water if they wanted.
G: The Oshawott would head back into the water and swim on his own. It felt natural to do, after all. He can practically swim all day. "My name's Tempo. I'm here for a bit of a dive, of course!"
L: "So am I! Maybe we could dive together for a while? Although, if we are, maybe I should get closer to your size." Cirrus backs away a bit as mist surrounds him, and after it clears, he's much smaller, seemingly only a tenth of his previous size.
G: "Hm? What do you-" He would swim back in surprise upon seeing the mist appear... before approaching once he saw the new size. "...Th-That's... actually quite impressive! I mean, I don't mind either way, but I'm fine with this!"
L: Cirrus laughs. "I always love seeing people's first reaction to me doing that. I can go even smaller, but this ought to be fine for now. Are you ready to head down?" He starts taking some deep breaths.
G: Tempo would start taking some gasps of his own, floating on his back as he nods, holding his breath and diving underwater without hesitating.
L: With one more gasp, Cirrus dives down with Tempo, puffing his cheeks surprisingly big. He floats beside Tempo and smiles at them, letting a trail of bubbles loose for a moment.
G: tempo's own cheeks didn't puff out much, unable to do so. But he would swim down at a quick steady pace, only letting a few bubbles leave him.
L: Cirrus keeps pace with Tempo, now keeping a tighter hold on his air. Soon enough, the seabed becomes visible, though there doesn't seem to be a whole lot around where they are, just some rocks and seaweed.
G: Perfect for at least a calm swim. He swims alongside the dragon, looking over and smiling as he did.
L: They both descend until they're just above the bottom. Cirrus floats in place, a bit disappointed there isn't much around, but at least not being alone made it more fun.
G: Tempo's always glad to have a freediving partner by his side. He looks over to him and smiles, letting out some more air.
L: Cirrus smiles back, and lets himself sink to the bottom, laying down on his back and looking up at the distant surface, its waves barely visible so far down.
G: Tempo relaxes with him, lying down and exhaling some more bubbles. However, he does start to feel a burn in his lungs...
L: Not noticing Tempo's strain, Cirrus blows some bubbles as well. After a few tries, he manages to puff out a bubble ring, and smiles as he watches it float away.
G: Tempo would smile, barely straining, anyway. He would do the same, though he doesn't take too long to make one. It's certainlt beautiful.
L: Cirrus continues happily bubbling away, uncaring of how much air he's spending doing so, though he does check on Tempo to make sure they're doing alright.
G: Tempo wouldn't care about his limit for a bit, but the heaves would grow harder with each bubble ring. "Mmgh... Mmm..." He pushes off the sand to sit up, curling up his legs... though he wouldn't swim up.
L: By this point, Cirrus has let out a pretty significant amount of his air, and he stops blowing bubbles as he feels a need to breathe. He too, though, stays where he is for now.
G: Tempo's worse off. He only had a six-minute hold, so of course his lungs were emptier with all the rings he exhaled. He trembles in pain as his lungs continued to hurt. "Mmgh..."
L: As Tempo's struggles become more audible, Cirrus looks over at them, getting a bit worried. He taps on their shoulder, giving them a concerned look.
G: He looks over to him and nods, his cheeks turning a deep red... Tempo would kick off the sandy floor and swim for the surface.
L: Cirrus floats up off the bottom as well, deciding it's about time he had a breath and wanting to make sure Tempo would get back to the surface fine.
G: Tempo would swim up quickly, soon surfacing for a quite desperate gasp of air. "H-H... haah... t-too... many rings..."
L: Surfacing just after Tempo, Cirrus gasps as well, though not quite as desperately. "Hah, hah... Y-you like pushing yourself down there, huh?"
G: "i-I mean... A-a little... H-Hah... But you didn't seem as desperate for air as me... Even after so many rings."
L: "I can hold my breath a really long time. My record is about 47 minutes, partly because my body apparently generates a little bit of oxygen."
G: "really? I-I'm kinda jealous... I can't last longer than 6..." He seems disappointed in himself... Sure, sea otters strangely have a weak hold, but... it feels way too short for an aquatic mammal...
L: "I could give you some air down there, if you'd like. We're too different for a typical air kiss, but if I'm at my full size, I can blow bubbles under you and you can inhale them. Pretty wasteful, but it works."
G: "Sure. And if you want to, we can go even deeper underwater. I... have a special charm to help me in the depths."
L: "...A charm, huh? Is that that necklace you've got on?" Cirrus taps the blue heart Tempo's wearing around his neck.
G: Tempo would nod a little. "Keeps me safe from water pressure... and kinda against drowning. It's... kinda strange to say, but when I do drown, I'll wake up with more air..."
L: Cirrus looks a bit confused. "It... Gives you air? I suppose it wouldn't make sense to lie about that, so it must be true, but... Weird."
G: "It's... yeah... But it takes an hour for it to wake me up. And you can't last that long..."
L: "...Technically, I can, but I'd be well into drowning by that point. If we went under at the same time, I'd still be awake for another few minutes."
G: "...But I don't know if you'd still survive drowning... I'd say we shouldn't push it."
L: "Not like I want you to drown in the first place! Yeah, let's just be careful. As careful as we can be when we're planning on going really far down, at least."
G: "OK... I'll let you know when I need air. I can speak clearly underwater, but I won't talk until I need a breath."
L: "Wish I could talk clearly underwater. Never been able to figure that out." Cirrus backs up as mist surrounds him again, and he returns to his full size, moving back over to Tempo and coming up beneath them so they're on his back. "Alright, hold onto me. We shouldn't waste much time down there just getting to where we're going."
G: "Got it." He smiles and takes some deep gasps, soon holding onto one of his spikes so they can head down. Tempo takes a few deep gasps, holding it after a while.
L: Cirrus gets a few good breaths as Tempo does, holding one once they do and diving below the surface. He moves incredibly fast through the water, though not enough that Tempo would have difficulty holding on. Within seconds, the two have returned to the seabed, and Cirrus searches along it for an even deeper area.
G: Tempo would look around, smiling while still keeping a grip. He would soon let go as he sees a hole in the ground into deeper waters, pointing to it to let Cirrus know. It's wide enough to comfortably swim inside as the giant dragon, too.
L: Cirrus stops to look down the hole, and smiles as he finds he's unable to see the bottom. He looks to Tempo again and gives them a thumbs up, before gesturing to his back again.
G: Tempo nods and grabs onto him, again, letting out a small trickle of bubbles.
L: After Tempo gets a good grip, Cirrus rushes down the hole, hoping it would have something interesting. It goes surprisingly deep, and Cirrus groans a bit as the water pressure grows.
G: Tempo didn't, but the groans would worry the Oshawott. Maybe they should head back up, in case it gets too dangerous for the dragon...
L: Thankfully, not long after that, the passage opens up into a huge cave, and Cirrus pauses to look around. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot to see, but the dragon is still happy to have gone so far down.
G: Tempo's happy and quite excited. It was a long swim, however, and the otter started to struggle. His lungs were burning a little.
L: Cirrus looks back at Tempo, smiling at first, but then looking concerned as he notices they're having some strain. Knowing that Tempo will say when they want air, though, he tries not to worry too much.
G: For now, he deals with the burn. Nothing he's not used to, yet. Onward he goes.
L: Even after a search of the cave, there seems to be no way to go deeper. Cirrus doesn't really mind at this point; he and Tempo must be over 1,000 feet down, and the dragon's body is aching from the water pressure.
G: Tempo would look around a little more before nodding to the dragon. They should head back up. nothing to do here, and Cirrus is in pain... "...mmf..." But the burn in his lungs is growing more intense as time went on.
L: Cirrus nods back, and starts making his way back up to the very distant surface with Tempo in tow. He almost sighs in relief as the pressure decreases, the pain it caused quickly fading away.
G: But the pain in Tempo's chest only grew, as he struggles to keep holding his breath... "Mmf... mmgbl... CIRRUS! AIR- MGBL..."
L: Cirrus stops and tries to say "Got it!", but his bubbles block out his voice. Gently pulling Tempo off him, he maneuvers himself to get his head below them, and exhales a cloud of bubbles that float up to Tempo, giving them a brief window to breathe.
G: Brief enough to fill his lungs a good bit, but they weren't completely filled. Once ready, he grabs on tighter and looks up.
L: With Tempo doing better and holding on again, Cirrus continues heading up, passing the bubbles he'd exhaled and soon leaving the hole, back up at the seabed. Instead of continuing to the surface, he stays just above the seabed, wanting to push himself. If Tempo wanted to surface, though, Cirrus wouldn't be averse to it.
G: Tempo would look over as they stopped on the bottom... He did wonder why specifically, but at least it's a good place to train. Especially for the otter's weaker lungs.
L: At a much more casual pace, Cirrus glides along the seabed, conserving his energy so he can stay down longer. He's starting to feel a need to breathe, but he's clearly fine with delaying surfacing for now.
G: Tempo would follow him alongside the bottom, slight need for air appearing in his lungs. The bubbles he was are running out.
L: Eventually, the seabed begins to slope down, and Cirrus is happy to go deeper, especially since there'd likely be something to look at long before reaching the incredible depth he and Tempo had before.
G: Hopefully so, and especially before their lungs give into the water. Tempo would squeak a bit in pain, tightening his grip on the dragon.
L: Cirrus looks back at Tempo for a moment, then continues going deeper. The incline becomes more steep as it goes on, and Cirrus begins feeling the water pressure again, though it's not yet back to a painful degree.
G: Tempo waited eagerly, holding off on asking for a breath so soon. Even so, his purple cheeks indicated he should ask for a breath. "Mm-Mmgh..."
L: Not thinking to check on Tempo again just yet, Cirrus reaches what is essentially an underwater cliff. From here, it wasn't going to take much more depth for the pressure to start being an issue again, so he decides to stop here, settling onto the seabed.
G: Tempo would let go of the dragon to grip his mouth shut, kicking his webbed feet desperately! "Mmgh... Mm..." He would even swim for the dragon's head to show how desperate he is! "H-Help..." He cries out in a raspy tone.
L: Even as he starts to blush from his need to breathe, Cirrus quickly puffs out more bubbles for Tempo to inhale. They likely wouldn't be as effective as before, but it would still help.
G: Help a bit, causing him to breathe and relax. It's less helpful than before, but he would start to worry and look up to the surface. "...should... we head up...?"
L: Cirrus looks up... They were awfully far down to be pushing how long they can stay under. He attempts to convey through gestures that they should just get closer to the surface, and motions for Tempo to get on his back again.
G: Tempo nods with a worried expression, getting on his back, once more. "Hurry... Please..." He said, worrying more as their breaths slowly ran low.
L: The dragon takes off toward the surface, the water around him and Tempo quickly getting lighter. It doesn't take much time for the two to get to the surface, though Cirrus stops a few feet below it, wondering if being so close to air would be enough for Tempo for now.
G: It would be... even if it's already hurting to stay under. "Mmfgh..." He debated on swimming up, but he wouldn't go. Not yet. "Cirrus... You holding up...?"
L: Cirrus turns his head so Tempo can see his face, and gives them a thumbs-up. He's clearly under some strain, but not yet enough that he wants to surface.
G: Tempo would give a simple nod, gripping onto the scale a little tighter. "Mm... Mmf..."
L: Closing his eyes, Cirrus tries to relax, but Tempo can now hear his strained grunts and feel twitches beneath them.
G: Which only made him more worried, struggling as his lungs are burning, already about to kick up for the surface. "Mgblbl!!!"
L: Cirrus lets out some bubbles to try to relieve some of his strain, and looks at Tempo again, worried they might end up pushing themselves too far.
G: with his cheeks turning blue, again, he would eventually give up and swim for the surface.
L: The dragon doesn't stop them, and decides to head up as well, gasping with what would likely be significantly less desperation than Tempo would.
G: "*cough cough* Gah... hah... hah..." He looks over to Cirrus to check in on him, still panting to recover his breath.
L: While he breathes heavily for a little while, Cirrus fairly quickly recovers, and he makes a sort of platform with his hands to lift Tempo out of the water so they won't have to focus on staying at the surface. "You alright? You were going a bit blue at the end, there."
G: "Ugh... J-Just... kinda:.. yeah..." tempo would say between gasps. "Guess... I'm too used to drowning... Heh..."
L: "Not alone there, I've run myself out of breath a few times, too. I'm lucky I can fully recover from anything that doesn't kill me..."
G: "Glad you can... I'm glad I can wake up after drowning... Just glad you made it up before you did."
L: "I still had a fairly long time, don't worry. If I kept giving you air, think I would've lasted another 8 or so minutes."
G: "Yeah... But I still worried for you. I didn't want you to gasp water and not make it back to the surface."
L: "Well, thanks for that. So, you ready to head back down for a while? Maybe we could just chill this time, but I'd be cool with us pushing ourselves again."
G: "Maybe we should rest... I do wanna swim and push myself some more, yeah, but I'm worried about doing it too much. We might be too exhausted to swim back up."
L: "...Yeah, I'm still a little sore from going down that hole earlier. I can take you back to shore, if you want."
G: "Yeah... Sorry for that. Let's head back. I need a rest before... I dunno, we could swim together afterwards, or some other day."
L: "No worries, it's more my fault for not turning back." Cirrus gently sets Tempo onto his back, and heads for the shore with them. He goes pretty quick, though not to the point that Tempo would have to hang on, and gets to the shore in only a couple minutes.
G: He held onto the side until they reached shore, jumping into the sand and lying down. "hoo... OK. That actually took a lot out of me..." He would say, realizing just how tired he was from the swim.
L: "Get yourself some rest, we can swim again some other time. Pushing your limits can really take it out of you, I'm well aware of that."
G: "thanks..." Tempo would smile as he closes his eyes, resting for now.
L: Cirrus smiles and returns to 10% size, settling down next to Tempo to relax with him.
![[RP LOG] Rekindling a love of water](https://va.ib.metapix.net/images80/overlays/writing.png "[RP LOG] Rekindling a love of water"){kind=small}
