L: Not too long ago, a way was created to let people easily get to distant galaxies in just moments: "Launch Stars". One such galaxy in particular, Beach Bowl Galaxy, caught the interest of a certain dolphin, Lenn... Deciding he had to go there to check it out for himself, and wanting to bring a friend with him so he wouldn't be alone, he put some thought into who he should go with, but was having some trouble deciding as he wanders around outside.
S: nearby, Emi the Shiny Squirtle was walking around, just about to pass by Lenn, he adjusted his glasses as he walked, smiling as he's having a good day
L: Deep in thought, Lenn isn't quite paying enough attention to where he's going, and accidentally bumps into Emi. "Oh! Sorry about that, Emi!"
S: emi couldn't help but giggle a tad as he fixes his glasses
"Oof, that's alright Lenn, but watch where your going! Hehe... you looked like you were thinking about something"
L: "Yeah, I've been trying to decide who to bring with me for something... You've heard of those Launch Stars, right? I wanted to take a trip to this place called "Beach Bowl Galaxy" with one, and I wanted to bring a friend along too, but I don't know who."
S: "Wait, hold on back up here, Launch Stars?? Beach Bowl Galaxy? Are you sure your ok?? Cause that sounds crazy! I mean I love Mario Galaxy, I played it alot as a kid, but even I know that stuff isn't real"
L: "I don't know what Mario Galaxy is... But these are real, and there's actually a Launch Star not that far from here. I can show you, if you need me to prove it."
S: "You don't know what Mario galaxy is?! Dude you've been living under a rock, it's like one of the most iconic games ever! But yeah I need some proof cause I don't believe there's launch stars and beach bowl Galaxy, if there is I'm gonna go crazy"
L: "More like I've been living under the ocean, you know I only got my anthro form less than a year ago. Anyway, yeah, come with me." Lenn leads Emi along... And, sure enough, there's a launch star! Although it's fenced in, with a team of people there seemingly running the whole setup for it.
"See? Told you it was real!"
S: emi's mouth drops open in shock as he sees the Launch Star from Mario Galaxy
"O...m....g!! It is real! No way!! That's incredible! If beach bowl Galaxy really exists then I don't know what I'll do, cause that was my favorite galaxy in the game! And man, those folks are really making sure the launch star is safe, heh'
L: "Yep, it does seem like they take these pretty seriously. Definitely for the best, I wouldn't want to risk getting lost in space..."
S: "Me neither honestly, so it's good that they take it serious, anyway...I gotta see if this launch star actually works!"
L: "You know what? How about you be the one I go with? We'll try this out together, and see if it ends up being fun to be in such a different place."
S: "Really? You'll let me come with you?! Alright awesome! Thanks buddy!!" emi hugs lenn tightly, thanking him greatly for this
L: Lenn hugs Emi back. "No problem! Now, let's see if we can just go, or if there's something that needs to be done first..." He starts heading over to the fence.
S: "Ok!" emi quickly follows him close behind, hoping it won't be too complicated to go
L: One of the people there, an anthro otter, notices Lenn and Emi. "Hey there! Are you looking to use the launch star?"
Lenn: "Yep, we want to head over to Beach Bowl Galaxy."
S: "Yep yep yep! I'm so excited!!" emi's tail wags like crazy
L: Otter: "Ah, I love that place! Alright, we'll get this locked onto there." He and his team get to work, adjusting the angle of the launch star in just the right way over about a minute. "Alright, that'll do it. Have fun out there!"
Lenn: "Thanks, we definitely will!"
S: "Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!! I can't wait!!"
L: A gate in the fence is opened up, and Lenn heads to the launch star with Emi.
Otter: "Just keep in mind, it'll launch you automatically, you don't have to do anything like in Mario Galaxy."
Lenn: "Alright, good to know."
S: "Aww, I was hoping to do the little spin like in the real game, but oh well, I'll take what I can get!"
L: Otter: "Hey, nothing says you CAN'T spin if you want to!"
Lenn: "Heh, we could definitely try that out..." Lenn touches the launch star, and it gently pulls him to the middle of itself. "Oh wow, this is weird..."
S: "Well I'm gonna spin then! That should be fun!" emi touches the launch star as well, managing to get both of them in there in the middle
"Whoa, so cool!"
L: The launch star starts to spin faster, lighting up.
Otter: "Alright, get ready! It's about to send you guys off!"
Lenn: "Man, I'm getting really excited too!"
S: "This is gonna be epic!!!!" emi waits until the last second, and managing to time it perfectly he does a little spin just before the launch star could send them off
L: Lenn tries spinning as well, but he's a bit late. The two blast off from the launch star, and start flying through space!
Lenn: "Woah, this is awesome!" Thankfully, for whatever reason, the two are still able to breathe.
S: "Whoaaaa whoa whoa!!!!!! Hahahaha awesome!!!" emi wasn't even thinking the logics of space, but deep down he is happy he can breathe fine, he puts his arms out like an airplane as they soar through space
L: Lenn happily puts his arms out as well, enjoying the trip. "Even this on its own is great! I can't wait to see what Beach Bowl Galaxy is like!"
S: "Me too bud!! I heard it's an awesome place! Paradise even! But man, I don't know how it's gonna compare to this awesome flying! Wheee!!!" emi does a full spin in the air, his tail wagging happily as well
L: After about 20 more seconds of joyous flight, the two are just about there, with the planets of the galaxy coming into view. "Oh, here it comes! And that looks like a lot of water, nice!"
S: "Aww man! The ride is almost over? Dang...at least the galaxy is coming up! And wow that's a lot of water!"
L: The two land on an island on the galaxy's biggest planet. A few more islands are around, and about two thirds of the planet is just water! "Wow, you were right, this looks great!"
S: "Whoa...so this is beach bowl galaxy! It looks incredible! Much more awesome in person!" emi tales a look around happily, there was blue penguins on this place as well, just as emi predicted, some of them swimming in the water
L: Lenn surveys the area, but is distracted by the penguins. "Um... What are those? They look like some kind of bird..." Apparently, he's never seen a penguin before.
S: emi giggles slightly
"Oh, those are penguins! You don't normally see these little guys since they live mostly in the Arctic, but for some reason these penguins here love the sunshine and warm waters here I guess"
L: "Ah, that makes sense. Never been to the Arctic before."
One of the penguins hops up on shore near the two. "Hi there! You guys look like you're new here!"
S: "Hehe, yes we are! I'm Emi, and this is my friend Lenn, we just landed here a few minutes ago"
L: Lenn: "Yep, and we're here to try out swimming in such a different place from what we're used to."
Penguin: "Well, you've definitely come to a good place for that! There's plenty to check out here!"
S: "Awesome! Man I can't believe how cool beach bowl Galaxy is! Look at the penguins here too, they look so cute!"
L: The penguin blushes at having been called cute. "Oh, well, thanks!"
Lenn: "Come on, Emi, let's get started!" He heads for the water.
S: "Right behind ya! But first" emi blushes a tad himself as he gives the penguin a hug, smiling and wagging his tail as he does, then he takes off his glasses and puts a pair of goggles on that he had with him and joins lenn down to the water
L: Penguin: "See you guys there!" He dives back underwater.
Lenn: "It's gonna be neat to see so many people swimming around, I only ever really see that in pools."
S: "I know right! Except the people are all penguins! So fun! Now let's see how good this water is!"
L: Planning on doing just casual dives, Lenn doesn't prepare much, just taking and holding a single deep breath before diving.
S: emi takes a couple of deep breathes before pinching his little nose shut and holding his breath before diving as well
the two once underwater can hear the beach bowl Galaxy underwater music somehow, making this experience surreal
L: Lenn pauses in confusion at hearing the music. "...Oh, they must just have a radio somewhere down here." Putting that aside, he takes a look around the underwater environment, smiling. "This place looks just as great down here as it did on the surface!"
S: emi giggles out bubbles
"That's no rabldio! And ybles I agblree!" emi causally swims deeper to explore, there were some penguins down here as well swimming around, occasionally humming along to the tune that's playing as he loves it
L: Lenn stays fairly close to Emi as they explore, happily looking around at all the unfamiliar things. He does still try to find the source of the music for a while, but he eventually concludes it really is just coming from nowhere.
S: emi swims over to some of the penguins that were down here and happily waves and smiles at them, his cheeks puffing up a bit
L: The penguins wave back, and one gestures to a large bubble nearby. "If yoblu need aiblr but dobln't feel liblke surfablcing, jublst breatblhe from onble of thblese! Thblere's loblts of thblem around!"
Lenn: "Ooh, that's pretty handy!"
S: "Ah nicble! Thblanks for showing us thblat!" emi smiles cutely
L: Lenn: "So, what are you guys up to?"
Penguin: "We weblre actually jublst about to hblave a breath hblolding contest, iblf you two wablnt to join ibln!"
S: "A breatblh holblding contest? Uhhh nblo thblank you... i-ive never competbled in one beblfore and I'm worried I'm gonnbla gblet too scared to do tblhat..."
emi giggles out bubbles nervously as his face turns red
L: Lenn: "If he's not up for it, I don't think I'll join either."
The penguin shrugs. "Fair enblough. If you chblange your mind, Ibl'm sure someone arblound hblere would be ublp for one if yoblu ask."
S: "Ybleah...sorry, I've jublst never beblen in one befblore and I'm worrblied ill get scarbled...it's actually hablrd enough for me to comble doblwn hblere believe it or nblot..."
L: Penguin: "No worries! Ibl hblope you feel bebltter soon!" He and a few other penguins nearby head up to the surface to get ready.
Lenn: "Maybe you should get some air too? Your face is getting red. Hey, you could try out that bubble!"
S: "Nblah, I'm goblnna surblface" emi swims up, which wasn't even that far and gasps for breath once he does, as he looks at the penguins getting ready for the contest, he couldn't help but cry a little, he was being a complete chicken as tears stream down his face
L: Lenn surfaces next to Emi to get a breath as well... And he quickly notices Emi's tears. "A-are you okay?"
S: "H-huh? Oh I'm fine! Really!" he keeps on crying, wiping away his tears, he deep down wants to join in and try the contest, but worries about what might happen
L: "No, you're not fine. What's wrong? Are you getting scared of diving back down?"
S: "....ohh... I just feel like such a chicken for not doing the contest, I mean I've never done one before but I'm worried about pushing myself, since I've never really pushed myself before... and I don't wanna leave those penguins hanging" emi looks at the penguins, still sad
L: "Hey, you don't have to be scared! If anything goes wrong, the penguins and I can all help you out pretty easily, there's nothing to worry about."
S: emi sighs sadly, and he doesn't like being sad, so he responses with
"Oh, alright fine...if you promise to protect me then, let's do the contest then"
L: "Alright, let's go! And just in time, too!" He quickly swims closer to the penguins. "Hey, Emi and I are going to join in after all!"
Penguin: "Oh, nice! Looking forward to seeing how long you two can go!"
S: "Uh yeah...heh heh" emi sweats a bit nervously, it was clear he was still scared to push himself because he's never done it before
another penguin happened to notice what was going on, frowning at the sight
Penguin 2 - "Doesn't look like Emi is ready for this..."
L: Penguin 1: "Definitely not, I know that look..."
Lenn: "Yeah, he's really nervous about pushing his breath holding, he's never done that before."
S: Emi - "Nope, never...I've always kept my dives very casual, I don't do serious things like that...so that's why I'm so scared"
Penguin 2 - "I guess that's understandable"
L: Penguin 1: "A friend of mine used to feel that way too. Once he did it the first time, though, he was a lot less nervous about doing it again."
Lenn: "I imagine so, the first time doing something is always the hardest..."
S: Emi - "Y-Yeah, and im just so...so nervous to push myself..."
Penguin 2 - "I can tell, your shaking like a leaf!"
L: Penguin 1: "Well, we're all gonna do our best to keep you safe, alright?" A couple other penguins agree.
Lenn: "And we don't have to go all that deep either, that might help."
S: Emi - "I-i guess...but still I'm not 100% sure...I came here to have fun, not be stressed out..."
L: Penguin 1: "And it'll BE fun! Who knows, you might beat some of us, too!"
Lenn: "That'd make it worth it, right?"
S: "I mean, I suppose so... I'm still not really sure, I don't wanna drown...but I'm gonna try my best to do this...even tho I'm likely gonna freak out"
L: Lenn: "Doesn't sound all that convincing... But, we have to try." Lenn gives Emi a hug.
Penguin 1: "Alright, everyone start getting ready!" He and the other penguins start taking deep breaths.
S: emi hugs lenn back and starts to take some deep breathes too along with the penguins
L: Lenn starts preparing as well.
Eventually, one of the penguins starts up a countdown. "Alright! 3, 2, 1!" With that, he, the other penguins, and Lenn all dive.
S: but Emi didn't dive, he was too caught up with all the bad things that could happen to him if he pushes himself too far
L: Everyone soon surfaces again.
Lenn: "Come on, Emi, don't keep everyone waiting!"
Penguin 1: "I can't promise people aren't going to start losing interest soon..."
S: Penguin 2 - "Come on emi It'll be fine! I promise!"
Emi - "I-im sorry...I couldn't do it!"
L: Penguin 1: "Maybe it was at least just a one-time thing? If we try again, that might do it..."
Lenn: "Can you give it another shot, Emi?"
S: "I don't really know, I'm just so worried about drowning and such.... since I don't even know what it's like being super low on breath considering I surface pretty often when I am low on air"
L: Lenn: "Well, I guess I'll try to describe it... It's like a sort of pressure that's constantly building up in your chest, and when you get really low, it starts to feel like it's burning."
Penguin 1: "And it can leave your lungs sore for a while after, but in my case, that's always cleared up after a few minutes."
S: emi yelps after hearing that
"I-i don't like that at all! That sounds so terrifying! Now I'm having second thoughts...I wish this was a more casual breath holding contest instead of being all intense with this burn feeling"
L: Lenn: "Hey, we might not end up getting to that point, you don't know!"
Penguin 1: "We do usually keep it more casual, but I don't know if that'll be different for this one."
S: "Oh screw it, I'll just try it this once, I'll dive under this time I promise..."
L: Penguin: "I hope so, looks like someone might be getting a bit restless..."
Lenn: "Okay, everyone get ready again, I think this'll be the one..." He and the penguins start preparing for a second time.
S: emi starts to prepare as well, hoping things go a little better this time around
L: After a while, it's time again, and the same penguin does another countdown. "Let's try this again... 3, 2, 1!" They all dive, and so does Lenn.
S: this time, emi dives under as well after a last deep breath, pinching his nose shut as well, the underwater music plays again, but this time a little bit louder, almost as if it's trying to comfort emi when he's so scared of pushing himself
L: Lenn and the penguins smile at Emi.
Lenn: "There you go! I'll do what I can to keep you comfortable as this goes on, okay?"
S: emi nods, not wanting to waste air on talking, he whines a bit as his cheeks puff up, little bubbles escaping him
L: Lenn holds Emi's hand as the group descends to the bottom, where everyone sits down and does their best to save their energy and last as long as possible.
S: the underwater music keeps playing, which is helping emi relax a little, but with how nervous he is, his cheeks are already a little red
L: While Lenn still finds the music's presence weird, he's getting used to it.
Over time, little bubbles leave the penguins, with a couple of the penguins looking at the others to see who might be surfacing first.
S: emi starts to get scared as his air gets lower and lower, the music wasn't really helping much anymore, more bubbles leave him as he slowly gets more nervous
L: Lenn covers Emi's mouth and nose for them. "I should've done this sooner... This'll help you keep your air in."
One of the penguins is just beginning to blush a little now...
S: emi is already starting to feel that burning in his lungs and he hates it, he squirms around uncomfortablely as his face turns more red from the anxiety
L: The penguin that had been talking the most before looks over at Emi. "...Are you sublre you're okay wiblth doing this?"
Lenn: "Yeah, I can tell you're REALLY not enjoying this..."
S: emi shakes his head, he didn't wanna do this anymore, his face fully red as he whines even louder, hating the burning feeling in his lungs
L: Lenn: "Alright, one sec!" He holds onto Emi and quickly swims back to the surface with him. "You okay?"
S: emi gasps for air, frowning as he got last place
"Y-yeah, that was really scary tho! I never wanna do that again!"
L: "Yeah, I had the feeling you weren't going to like doing that... Do you want to just relax on the beach for now to calm down?"
S: "Yeah... but dang I got last place! I couldn't beat a single penguin! I'm sad!" emi frowns more, looking up at lenn cutely but sadly
L: "Hey, it at least wasn't from you being beaten in breath holding. You were just too nervous to stay down there any longer."
S: "Yeah, I like everything casual, I know people like to push themselves but I don't like it at all, let's just relax on the beach"
and that's exactly what emi did, however...some of the penguins actaully surfaced because emi surfaced, they weren't low on breath they were more concerned for emi
Penguin 2 - "Is emi ok? I didn't wanna do this challenge anymore since I was more concerned about him"
L: Lenn: "He's fine, he just kind of... Panicked."
Penguin 1: "Okay, at least that's all it was... And yeah, I'm not really feeling as interested in a breath holding contest any more either."
S: "Poor emi...well I'm just glad he's ok, come on guys let's keep them company"
emi sits down on the warm sands and a couple of penguins join him
L: Lenn sits with the group as well. "Sorry we kind of messed up your game..."
Penguin 1: "No worries, there's always some other time for that."
S: Emi - "Yeah I feel so guilty messing it up, I wanted to have fun, not be stressed..." emi goes over to hug a penguin tightly
L: The penguin hugs him back. "It's alright... If you're still nervous about going back underwater, you could always take some time to explore what land the planet has."
Lenn: "I definitely want to do that myself at some point, I want to have seen everything this galaxy has to offer."
S: "Yeah I mean that'll be nice, but honestly I just wanna relax right now, maybe do what I was originally gonna do and casually dive underwater to explore, I'm feeling ok now"
L: Lenn: "I think that'll still be fun, yeah. Plus, I relax better underwater."
Penguin 1: "Well, we'll be over here for now if you want to talk."
S: "Ok then, come on Lenn let's do some more exploring underwater, casually" emi fixes his goggles then takes a single deep breath and jumps into the water, swimming down to explore
L: Lenn follows shortly after with a single deep breath of his own, swimming down to join Emi. "I wonder if there's something really cool around that we haven't seen yet... But with how small this planet is, probably not."
S: "It's wblorth a shblot to look around" emi kicks his little legs down deeper to see if anything valuable may be hidden in the depths of beach bowl Galaxy
L: Lenn stays close to them like before. Over time, he's finally starting to vibe with the music, humming along a little.
S: hearing lenn hum along to the underwater song made emi smile, humming along with him as he kept swimming around
L: Lenn smiles as well, looking around the environment. "Even if we don't find anything else, I definitely do still really like this place. This won't be my only time coming here!"
S: "Sablme heblre! I'm definitely combling bablck!" they keep swimming underwater for a while, aside from a few fish there's really nothing to special down here, but emi is having fun regardless, even as his face turns red
L: "Remember not to get too carried away, you should probably breathe fairly soon. I'm gonna try out one of those big bubbles, myself..."
S: "Oh! Me tbloo I'm gblonna tblry as wblell" so emi and lenn go to one of the big bubbles that the penguins mentioned
L: "Alright, let's give this a shot..." Lenn holds onto the bubble, does his best to press it against his blowhole, and carefully inhales. The bubble shrinks some as he successfully breathes in. "This feels weird, but... It works." He lets go of the bubble so Emi can breathe some too.
S: "Hmm..." emi takes the bubble himself and breathes some in as well
"It dobles feblel weiblrd bublt eblh... air is air"
L: "Haven't had one of those since before I had my anthro form... Neat that they kinda just show up here, it's pretty convenient."
S: "Mmhm, agblreed" emi keeps swimming around and enjoying himself, doing a couple of flips and tricks in the water too
L: The two have fun together for a few more hours, but eventually, it's starting to get late.
"We should probably head back to Earth soon, it's getting a bit dark."
S: "Aww man... I guess your right... at least we can take that launch star back home and have a fun trip!"
L: "Right, yeah! Even leaving is gonna be pretty fun!" Lenn starts heading for where the planet's launch star is.
S: some of the penguins come up to give emi and lenn a hug goodbye, hoping to see them again soon as they approach the launch star
L: Penguin 1: "I hope you feel better about breath holding eventually, Emi!"
Lenn: "Same here, it's easier to have fun underwater if you can be comfortable for longer."
S: Penguin 2 - "Exactly! Take care on the trip back!"
Emi - "Thanks guys, I hope I'll get better soon as well" emi touches the launch star and it gently pulls them to the middle of it, ready for launch
L: Lenn gets into the launch star as well. "See you guys again sometime!" He waves to the penguins, and this time manages to time a spin right with the launch star sending them off!
S: emi does as well, managing to spin as well as they take off back to earth, emi screaming happily as they fly
L: Lenn laughs in happiness from the flight, having just as much fun as the first time.
Soon, the two land back on Earth, not far from where they'd first left from. "Man, today's been great!"
S: "I know right! I would ride those launch stars everyday if I could! It could instantly bring a smile to someone's face!"
L: "We should explore the options for those sometime, I imagine there's a lot more. I'll let you decide in the future, I get the feeling you know a lot about these from Mario Galaxy."
S: "Oh definitely! And don't worry there's a TON of cool galaxies that we can explore, I'll start making a list, but for now...I'm beat, I'm gonna go home, thanks for an awesome day Lenn! See you later!" emi gives lenn one more hug then happily skips away back to his house
L: Lenn waves goodbye to Emi, then starts heading to his own home, smiling as he wonders about what he and Emi might see the next time they use the launch star.
![[RP LOG] The Aquatic Rite](https://va.ib.metapix.net/images80/overlays/writing.png "[RP LOG] The Aquatic Rite"){kind=small}
![OC breath hold/drowning sequences [2/2]](https://va.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5405/5405507_lolboy4_phinsgottabreathe_noncustom.jpg "OC breath hold/drowning sequences [2/2]"){kind=small}