--Ooh here's where they've been hiding the good stuff!--, went through Kiro's mind when he saw something sparkling in the shine of his shoulder flashlight. It was coming from a large, half rotten table that was coated partially in aquatic overgrowth.
Many decades under the sea had done a lot to this shipwreck - inside just like outside.
"Nicemph!", Freggie said when she picked up a piece of somewhat overgrown but clearly golden cuttlery!
Her voice was muffled but that was normal as she was speaking into her stretchy cheeks. Just like the male dolphin, she was freediving after all.
Kiro swam close, inspecting a silver chalice before nodding and placing it into the net we was wearing at his hips.
"Beep beep"
Also at his hips was a small stopwatch attached. He was using it to time how long Freggie and him were on a diving during their scavenging task. From past events they had learned that just listening to their urge for breath in their chests could be deceiving!
The beep indicated another full minute - their fourth down here. Seeing this time reminded him of certain tension in his lungs. While his air was not fully stale yet, just needing to hold his breath, keeping his diaphragm tensed for so long, was a bit of a strain.
He assumed that swimming back out and to the surface from this room deep inside the wreck would take about a minute and a half. That meant he still had solid leeway, but they had to be cautious and stay relaxed.
That last point was something the two scavenger partners could help each other well.
So he tapped Freggie's shoulder as she was just stuffing some valuable stuff from a shelf into her own bag.
The swimsuit-clad frog girl turned around smiling and breathed the air from her cheeks so she could speak more.
"We've mhhhit the jackpot!", she exclaimed and Kiro watched her cheeks inflate cutely and become slightly transparent in the process. He envied her for this ability as he was not able to speak well without loosing much air.
He nodded as a response and showed an OK-sign with his hand. That was a confirmation and question at the same time. Freggie placed a hand onto her own chest for a moment, rubbing slightly through the glossy, purple fabric and then nodded and gave the sign in return.
Yet quickly she pointed at his head, or more exactly at his blowhole.
As usual the dolphin was a bit shy to ask her for help, but he did not want to have to abort their dive too soon. The trip back up and down here was tedious after all and they had already done it three times without finding many valuables like here.
Freggie chuckled out a bubble or two from her lips as she could see in his eyes what he was thinking. They had worked together for so long. Swiftly she placed her webbed hand onto Kiro's upper belly right above the waistline of his speedos. She gave his tense diaphragm a gentle massage which only made him blush a little.
Without further words or signs, Kiro lowered his head, showing his blowhole to her. When closed firmly it had a crescent-moon shape and it was surrounded by a blue waterdrop symbol.
Like they had done numerous times before, Freggie first sucked the air from her cheeks and then pressed her smooth lips onto his blowhole. The dolphin's long beak brushed against her chest since she was a bit smaller than him. Gently he held her in a hug while he relaxed that muscle which kept his airways sealed.
He exhaled first, making Freggie's cheeks inflate with his warm air.
Freggie squirmed lightly in their position but it was a sign of joy. Actions like these always had a pleasant effect on her.
Soon she let some of that extra air into her lungs, deflating her cheeks partially, only to replace that filling with the mixed breath from her chest.
On their own, both Freggie and Kiro had a breathholding limit of about eight to ten minutes if they pushed themselves. Freggie did have a particular advantage once it came to the absolute limit, but their air was equally semi-stale no matter what.
Despite the fifth minute being about to end, their breath was not useless yet.
However while Kiro was not getting fresher air when he finally inhaled from her cheeks again, this had still allowed his diaphragm to relax. Stale or not, just breathing was helping a bit. This usually let them stay done for ten minutes comfortably.
"Feelin goohd?", Freggie asked while they were still connected and the vibrations of her voice reached his inner ears without even passing through the water.
He just tapped her shoulder as a confirmation and signal to break the special "kiss" when a loud noise suddenly echoed.
"Mwgrbl?!" Freggie's lips slipped away and she covered her mouth for a moment to keep control over her air. Luckily Kiro had closed his blowhole in time.
Nevertheless he was wondering and worrying what that sound was. It had sounded like some large number of objects toppling down, hitting the ground. Maybe part of a ceiling too.
It definitely had not been from this room, but one nearby. With a bit of relief he confirmed that it had not come from the door they had entered either, so it was hopefully not something blocking their way out.
Freggie shrugged but just when they wanted to return to their scavenging, another, much weaker sound came to their ears.
"m..mwbl.. owbl..glbl.."
It was someone aching - and bubbling!
The two scavenger's eyes widened. --Are we not alone down here?! Someone is in trouble!--
Quickly they forgot about their efforts to gather valuables and swam towards another exit of this large cabin. The sound had come from a long, eerie hallway. It had multiple portholes with rusty windows in tact that let a little bit of sunlight inside.
When they passed by, they got a great view of the ocean floor. The surface was hardly visible though.
"G..GH.. GHLBL!"
The sound became louder and it was impossible to miss that this was someone about to panic. Despite this reducing their oxygen efficiency and leading them further away from the escape route, Kiro and Freggie sped their kicks up until their vision was slightly clouded by mist in the water.
This was a clear sign that great movement had happened very recently here and thus it led them right to another cabin.
As expected, the ceiling had caved in together with all the debris and stuff from the deck above.
Kiro used his flashlight to shine through the dust in the water and underneath all that rubble they saw a figure squirming!
Something was reflecting the flashlight with a similar golden shine like the treasures earlier but it was the scared eyes of someone - of a penguin girl!
Kiro did not know who that was, but she clearly was in trouble. Her torso, legs as well as one of her wings were pinned under a large shelf that was part of the debris.
She stared back at the two freedivers while still trying to push the half rotten wood off with her free wing, only for her to cover her beak with it a moment later and squirm worse.
Clearly she was down here freediving as well. --Pengus can hold their breath so much longer than us! She must be down here for so long or loose her air.--, Kiro thought while swimming up close and dropping his flashlight down.
From near, they could see that while her facial feathers were white, her cheeks and the area above her beak were showing a purplish shade. She was clad in a one-piece armless wetsuit.
"Hold on! We'll help youmbl!", Freggie said as she had reached her first. She had not been careful with how full her cheeks were however because a few bubbles escaped her.
Without hesitation, she put her webbed feet down ontot he wooden floor to start lifting the shelf that was pinning the unforeseen fellow down.
Kiro joined her quickly but despite everything being lighter underwater, the shelf was barely budging.
"M..mww.. mgblbl!.."
*A few bubbles trickled from his blowhole while his face was turning slightly red. Even a spasm of his diaphragm occurred as his body was trying to make him breathe again very quickly.
Nevertheless he pushed that thought aside just like Freggie did and eventually the shelf started lifting.
The penguin quickly shuffled out from underneath. No doubt she was bruised, but apparently nothing was broken because she was kicking her legs - panicked!
Freggie and Kiro could see in her eyes that she wanted to thank them, but her chest gave a vigorous convulsion and she pressed both her wings over her beak. That didn't stop many bubbles from escaping her, especially through the nostrils.
She clenched her eyes and dashed off through the door. Her webbed, orange feet were kicking hastily and a bit erratic.
"She may ..PSSSH.. get lost!", Freggie exclaimed while her lungs forced her to re-breathe the air from her cheeks.
Kiro knew she was right and they followed the desperate penguin back out of the room, only to see her pulling at one of the portholes.
An exit to the distance but yet visible surface seemed so achingly close. Yet the two scavengers - and probably the penguin girl too - knew that those portholes were usually rusted shut.
Suddenly she reached for her neck and another burst of bubbles seeped from her throat. This time the air stopped however before she could close her beak!
Nevertheless she kicked off the wall, dashing back through the hallway. There was no doubt the penguin was an excellent swimmer and freediver, but in this situation, the others had an easy time catching up because she clearly wasn't at full strength.
It seemed like the escape route she knew about was similar if not identical to the one Freggie and Kiro had planned because they passed back through the room with the cutlery and then back out into a large galleys (ship kitchen) area.
Here the penguin girl was becoming even slower. --She is going to drown!--, Kiro knew when she curled her body with one wing at her neck and the other clamping her short beak firmly. Her chest was sucked in hard, showing the shape of her ribcage even through the white and black wetsuit and on top of that it was shaking, convulsing in and out.
Kiro was unsure what to do, wondering whether they should just hold her in a hug, let her drown peacefully like he had done it for Freggie in the past, but the frog girl had a different idea.
She scrambled through a wardrobe hastily. The dolphin didn't know what she was looking for until she suddenly pulled out a large wok!
"Let's helgbl hergblu GLRURgrblbl BRLBL!", Freggie said, now purposefully not catching any air in her cheeks. She had pulled the wok by its handles above her head and pointed her lips up as well while she exhaled.
The air quickly gathered underneath the metal of the pot and pulled it up together with Freggie.
Kiro gulped, knowing how risky this was. They were still way over a minute away from the surface after all and his stopwatch just beeped for the sixth time. Yet he joined Freggie whose chest was deeply sucked-in now. Her ribs were showing clearly through the smooth fabric of her suit.
The dolphin quickly started exhaling as well. His lungs were slightly larger than hers but he needed air for himself. For the moment he did not care about that though while the wok got pinned by the buoyancy underneath the ceiling.
The penguin girl had ceased her attempts to swim because her efforts not to inhale water was taking all her attention.
No doubt her vision was blurring if not tunneling by this point as her face was turning blue. Yet her instincts of survival were still somewhat in tact and she had noticed Freggie's and Kiro's efforts.
The sparkle of the air surface was mobilizing the last of her strengths and she dashed up for them.
Freggie had stopped exhaling by that point - albeit not quite voluntarily - and Kiro shut his blowhole with what little he had left to go out of the way.
The wok was more than half filled with their mostly stale air but that didn't keep the penguin girl from gasping loudly.
"HAAahh Agh.. HGhg. .Glglbl.. -COUGH- Haghgh.. ghhh...-cough-.. nhh!"
She was panting hastily and coughed out water that had entered her windpipe, she was clutching her lower chest where her overstrained diaphragm was surely hurting but when she seemed to struggle to keep her head above the water, Freggie and Kiro helped her.
Finally after several breaths that brought the waterlevel inside the wok dangerously close to her beak, she calmed down a bit.
"H..hello! I am so.. sorry for troubling you! Thank.. thank you so so much! The ceiling came down and I.. already was here twenty minutes, I... M..my name is Plucy by the way."
Freggie rubbed the girl's back to reassure her as she was clearly still freaked out after such a dire moment.
Kiro wondered for a moment why Freggie was not answering but a look at her confirmed that she simply couldn't! The frog girl had given up the water last of her air for this airpocket. Her chest was clenched and her face purple but so was Kiro's as this reminded him of how badly he needed to breathe himself.
A strong convulsion hit him, making him cover his blowhole with a hand. "N..nhgmbl.."
Luckily in the meantime, Plucy had pulled herself together and her erratic motions became were more calm albeit she was panting constantly since the air clearly was practically used up.
"I'll leave the air to you!" she finally said and did rather exhale a bit instead of inhaling before she dipped under.
Kiro quickly wanted to let Freggie breathe that air as she had less than him but she shook her head.
Instead she smiled at Plucy and then opened her mouth. Kiro knew that expression on her face and that it had a hint of pride in it...
Plucy's eyes widened when Freggie let the water down her windpipe. her chest gave a vigorous shake but she focused on keeping herself under control.
"Noohmbl!"
Plucy shook her head wildly, about to panic again but Kiro quickly placed a hand onto her shoulder and then surfaced in the air pocket where he could gasp hard but also speak.
"HAaHH Agh, Plucy, don't worry! Leave her be, she is a frog. Her kind can breathe through their skin a minute or two!"
Plucy turned around and Kiro could see her worried face because he only needed to keep his blowhole above the water surface. He smiled softly softly and pointed at Frteggie.
"Look."
The frog girl was proudly sucking in another breath of water. Her face certainly had a purple-blue shade but she gave an OK sign with her webbed hand and nodded towards the exit.
"Let's go and talk at the surface. It's great to meet you, Plucy!"
Kiro said before sucking as much of the stale air in as he could and then followed the others onto the long but doable way out of the shipwreck~
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