G: A small body of water, surrounded by all sides by a huge rock wall... Inside is an island with a house on it, inhabited by an anthro otter. She walks out to go for a swim, but as she was about to, she notices... a dolphin on the beach? She rushes over to help it out, seeing a blue blush on it... "A-Are you OK!?" She asks as she tries reviving him.
L: Thankfully, it doesn't take long for the dolphin to start recovering, spitting up water from his lungs before starting to repeatedly cough and gasp.
"D-don't know... I-if I'm okay..."
G: The female otter sighs in relief, looking down to the dolphin as he gasped. "That's good to hear... Just breathe, for now..."
L: The dolphin sits up, slowly catching his breath as his blue blush fades. He's a bit oddly-colored for a dolphin in places; pale orange markings on his head make it look sort of like he's wearing goggles, and the flukes of his tail are the same orange as well.
G: The otter did wonder how he got those markings... Her fur is mostly a yellow-orange color, though nothing much out of the ordinary. "You must've gotten lost from out in the ocean..."
L: "I think so... I remember swimming into a cave to explore it, but... There was a really strong current pulling me deeper in, and I couldn't get out before I drowned..." The dolphin looks over at the otter. "I guess you must have gotten me out of there."
G: "No, you washed up here on your own... I could help lead you the way out, but I haven't been in that cave too often, myself..."
L: "Wait, is that cave the only way out of here? I don't really feel like my lungs are in any shape for another long dive right now..."
G: "To my knowledge... probably? I haven't seem any other ways out besides that cave. Listen, if you can't dive right now, I think I can make a spare bed for you to rest in...
L: "Some rest would be nice, heading back down there right now wouldn't end well..." The dolphin gets up. "My name's Lenn, by the way."
G: "Lana. It's nice to meet you. Now then..." She leads the dolphin inside the house to rest for now.
During the rest, though, she heads out into the water for a warmup swim, not to mention checking the area just in case for other entrances... She didn't want to risk having to go in that twisting cave...
L: It doesn't seem like there's any way to leave the area other than the cave Lenn had gotten trapped in earlier. Even climbing up the rock wall surrounding the island certainly isn't going to work.
G: "Gah... hah... hah... d-dammit..." She cursed to herself as she surfaced, swimming back to the island to check on Lenn.
L: Lenn seems to already be doing a fair bit better, having a nap for the moment to help himself recover.
G: At least he's recovering fine... She decides to sit and wait for him to recover.
L: After a while, Lenn gradually wakes up again, sitting up and stretching before looking over at Lana. "Right, I think I'm about ready to get going... The cave's still the only option, right? You didn't happen to find anything else?"
G: "No, unfortunately." The otter sighs as she gets up and graps a sheet of paper to double check something. "These are all the paths I managed to map, so it'll be a start... but it's mostly gonna be guesswork."
L: "Well, that's better than nothing at least." Lenn gets up to have a look at her map, doing his best to memorize as much of it as he can.
G: There's at least an air pocket or two... maybe there's more for them to find?
With the map memorized, Lana looks to the dolphin and nods. "I'm ready when you are."
L: "...Right, let's get going. Lead the way to the entrance. Hopefully we'll both be able to hold our breath long enough..."
G: "Same here, too..." She heads out into the ocean, and towards the cave entrance. Thankfully, it's above the surface, but they soon reach a dead end. "Alright... It's now or never, here... Huaaahhhp..." She dives underwater.
L: Lenn gets a couple deep breaths, before holding one and diving down with Lana, ready to start heading through the cave and hoping it'll go better than his first time there.
G: With the map in mind, the first few turns should be simple... but afterwards, who knows? She leads the way for the first few tunnels, at least... even if she doesn't know which way the ocean is...
L: Subtle little squeaks and clicks come from Lenn as the two swim, the dolphin using his echolocation to help himself get a better idea of the cave's layout. He does his best to keep track of the way out as well, in case this doesn't end up going well.
G: Lana makes sure that she doesn't disturb the echoes in the water, so that they can remember the ways through. They're still in charted territory for a few more tunnels...
L: Lenn still remembers the layout of this section from the map, and while he's a little nervous, he tries to stay confident, trusting that he and Lana will be able to get through safely.
G: Lana hopes that everything will be fine. She can't use echolocation, so she's practically blind past the map. Thankfully, if the paths were right, they'll be able to grab a breath before heading deeper into the caves.
L: And sure enough, before much farther, the two come to an air pocket that's just big enough for both of them! Lenn swims straight to it, as he knows better than to pass up on a chance to breathe in a place like this.
G: The otter smiles in relief, as she admittedly felt a tiny bit of a need to breathe... She swims up to take a breath with Lenn.
L: Lenn breathes a little heavily for a moment, though he hadn't been under much strain. "Alright, I think this was about as deep as your map showed... Let me take the lead from here, I can see pretty far with echolocation, even past turns."
G: She hasn't pushed enough, thankfully, so it only took a few breaths to calm herself. "Yeah. Please do."
If only she could help more. She isn't even sure she can even last longer than a dolphin...
L: "Be sure to let me know if I miss anything that might be helpful. You know this place better than I do, even though I'm not sure that's really saying much."
G: "I'll try my best." Lana said, taking a deep gasp before diving underwater, again, waiting for Lenn to come down.
L: Lenn gasps before heading back down too. As he'd said he would, he leads, keeping up his echolocation as he now searches the uncharted section of the cave.
G: She's not able to do much besides follow the dolphin down all these paths. Twists, turns, and the currents down each section...
L: This time around, knowing to expect the currents, Lenn stays ready for them. He keeps close to the walls in the hope of not getting the full effect of the currents, and makes sure to grab onto parts of the walls when it starts getting a bit intense.
G: The otter follows along, making sure to avoid getting dragged away. Though it's clear she's using more energy for some of the currents. She holds a paw against her chest. "Mgbl..."
L: Lenn looks back at Lana to check on her. Seeing she's having a little bit of trouble, he gestures for her to hold onto him so she can save her oxygen.
G: Lana didn't want to inconvenience him too much, but she grabs on. She needed to conserve air for now... At least here she can focus on looking for air or anything else important.
L: The dolphin is thankfully only slowed a little bit from bringing Lana with him like this. Though, he's clearly beginning to get a bit nervous, as the two gradually get farther from the air pocket while having no promise of finding another...
G: And Lana isn't able to see any others. She comforts the dolphin as best as she could, although tiny trembles in her paw are occuring every so often. Still no air to breathe...
L: Lenn continues searching through the cave without stopping, trying to ignore his urge to breathe. Surely at some point there'll be SOMETHING different, ANY sign that they're going the right way... But until then, he wanders pretty much aimlessly, hoping it won't take too long.
G: It's all blending together. She's focusing as best as she could, keeping a mental note of all the turns for future reference. Dead ends, looping paths... time being wasted, meaning her focus needs to be diverted to not drowning...
L: Gradually, Lenn's need for air begins to make itself clear as well, and his chest heaves every now and then. Some grunts become mixed in with his echolocation sounds, but he keeps his air secure for now, not losing any bubbles.
G: She really needs to breathe. Her grip tightens as her chest heaved, letting out a whimper... But in the middle of one of the currents is an air pocket! Desperately, she kicks off and swims for it... but isn't able to reach before being dragged off by the current!
L: "Mmm!" Lenn ignores the air pocket for the moment and swims after the otter, not wanting to lose his new friend in the cave's seemingly endless tunnels.
G: She grabs the edge of the wall, though is slipping from it slowly...
But then she sees Lenn! "Gbl!!" Her cheeks are a deep red, her chest thumping to remind her that she needs air! It's so close, but she can't fight the current to breathe...!
L: Lenn quickly catches up to Lana and grabs her, holding her to his chest this time to ensure she doesn't end up being pulled away again. Carefully, he works his way back against the current, heading toward the air pocket again...
Or at least the direction he thinks it's in, as he's a little unsure he kept track of where he was going during the rush.
G: She holds tight to the dolphin. A heave forced the air in her cheeks to leave, causing her to grit her teeth! "Nmmmmgh..." Thankfully, the path Lenn chose is the one with the pocket. Now is just the matter to... b-breathe... She wants to breathe so badly...
L: Even Lenn is beginning to puff up his cheeks in strain at this point... But, he still takes care to not be pulled by the current. It takes a somewhat frustratingly long time, but he safely makes it up to the air pocket, lifting up Lana so she can breathe too as he catches his breath.
G: Finally... She paws and finally surfaces for breath with the dolphin's help, gasping heavily and lightly coughing. "N... gh... hah.... hah... hah..." Too breathless to say anything, she nods and smiles at Lenn to thank him.
L: Lenn nods back, able to talk since he wasn't quite as breathless as Lana. "Next time, if you really need air badly like that, let me know, and I can give you some of mine... I don't want you drowning while I'm still doing okay."
G: After some breaths, she nods. "...ok... i-i didn't... want... to be a-a burden..."
The otter said as she held onto the side, still having trouble recovering air and energy. After a little while, she does nod to show she's ready.
L: "Believe me, you'd be less of a burden taking my air than if I had to drag your drowned body around... Anyway, deep breath, and we'll get going again."
G: "Alright. I'm ready as I'll ever be... Haahhh..." She stays as calm as she can be before holding her breath and grabbing onto the dolphin once more.
L: Lenn gasps and holds his breath once again, and dives back down with Lana. Remembering the current is there, he quickly grabs hold of bits of the rock walls to make sure he's not pulled away, and resumes the exploration.
G: The otter holds onto the dolphin tight so she doesn't get dragged away to who knows where. She doesn't know how big this cave system is, and a few wrong turns could mean disaster.
L: Just as clueless about where to go as ever, Lenn wanders the cave in search of any sign of an exit, trying not to think about how he and Lana will end up if it doesn't go well...
G: Lana's worried about this. If they don't make it... would they even wash up back on her island? Will they even wake up? She's so scared...
If only she could use echolocation...
L: Lenn tries to hide how worried he is, but it's still clear he knows what the most likely outcome of this dive is going to be... Still, he keeps up the search, doing his best to relax and keep his heart rate down.
G: Ngh... She can't remember. Have they been this way before? Or was it that earlier? And is this... She's losing track of where they even are, now... She guides the dolphin down paths they haven't been down... hopefully.
L: At this point, Lenn is starting to get unsure about it too... So many of the tunnels look the same, and trying to remember so many areas is starting to be a bit too much. He tries to convince himself that he still knows how to get back to where he and Lana had entered, but he doesn't think he does any more.
G: "...mmf..." Lana shakes lightly, now, looking around in worry. No air pockets in sight, and no way to mark used paths. Her fur suddenly flows quite quickly... Is it just her or are the currents getting harder to swim through...
L: Lenn pauses his swimming for a moment as he recognizes it too. The currents are gradually getting stronger... He takes more care in positioning himself and Lana to minimize how much they're pushed, but it's starting to be less effective, needing him to hold on more tightly to the walls.
G: Desperately, she held on to avoid losing her dolphin pal! Though a paw slips off and she nearly falls again! "Mmfgh! GBL!" Suddenly, she sees... some kind of light? Maybe it's a way out, if not an air pocket... or even a rest point so they can recover somewhat...
L: Seeing that light too, Lenn heads straight for it, hoping this dive through the cave will finally be over soon. Especially since he's feeling a bit of strain in his chest at this point.
G: Lana's worried... She's feeling worse off in terms of needing air, and she doesn't want to worsen Lenn's form when swimming through by taking air. "Mmmf... mm..." She just decides to tough it out, hoping her lungs can still push further for a little longer...
L: Expecting that Lana will know when to notify him she needs his air, Lenn carefully presses onward, getting closer to wherever the light is coming from. Strained grunting is starting to be audible from him as well.
G: "Mm! Mm! Gbl... Mmf...!" She holds close, pressing her body to the dolphin's to slow any drag going against them! She can see the light going brighter... They have to be close! But her chest heaved in and caused a pained gurgle...
L: Lenn looks over at Lana to check on her, making sure she's not going to be pushing herself too far. Hoping that the two will surface soon and it won't be much more issue, he focuses back on progressing toward the light, trying to ignore his need for air.
G: She's in so much pain holding her breath. It's all she can focus on, now, besides staying on the dolphin. But eventually they reached the light. A hole in the top of the cave, though it's too small to get through... but it's fueling an air pocket!
L: Lenn's brief excitement fades as he sees that the air might not be reachable... He tries putting his muzzle up through the hole, but it's not long enough, and just using his blowhole wouldn't work either. He grumbles a bit in frustration, before whining a little from strain.
G: "Mgbl..." No! They were so close, and now... They need to do something! She grabs onto something to avoid getting dragged back down, despite her dwindling air supply! She needs air sooner, looking down to find something to make a bigger air pocket somehow... Big enough for a muzzle or a blowhole to breathe from...
L: There's some loose rocks around, maybe they could be used to widen the hole? But, Lenn seems to have just given up on the possibility of accessing that air pocket, and starts to think about where to go next.
G: They didn't have time to search! Her lungs are on fire and are about empty! Desperately, she grabs a rock and begins hitting against the air pocket... "nn... mm... mmf... gbl..."
L: "Mm!" Realizing what Lana's trying to do, Lenn picks up a rock himself and starts beating on the sides of the air pocket too, beginning to worry about Lana potentially running out of breath as he strains too.
G: She's struggling to focus and hold onto the side. But she can tell they're making progress! Maybe a few more hits and- "GBLAGBL!" She drops the rock and holds her neck, whining desperately! Lana looks to Lenn with a worried and pained expression... "...mm... mm..."
L: Lenn stops as he sees Lana struggling so hard... He drops his rock and swims to her, then lowers his head and gestures to his blowhole, wanting to share some of his air with her despite being a little bit low on breath himself. "Mm... Mmk!"
G: She looks to Lenn, then to the air pocket...
Looks big enough to her for Lenn to breathe... so she nods and takes the opportunity. "Mm... Mgh..." Lana quickly swims over to grab a breath from the dolphin.
L: Once Lana has her lips on his blowhole, Lenn carefully exhales into her. While he wishes he could keep the air for himself, he can't just let his friend drown. Plus, he's confident he'll be able to use that air pocket after.
G: She finally calms down, her lungs refilled enough to at least not have her chest caving in for a long while. With enough breaths, she would pull away and grab onto a nearby rock, though held onto Lenn so he doesn't get dragged away.
L: Lenn closes his blowhole again before any water can get in. He looks strained, but quickly goes up to the newly widened air pocket and is just barely able to get his muzzle into it, finally getting to breathe and talk. "M-man, this place sucks... H-hope we'll get out soon..."
G: Unfortunately, the otter is still stuck holding her breath underwater, for now. But she is able to hear Lenn enough to give a nod in response. How much more do they have, anyway...
Actually, wait. Before she forgets, she grabs another rock, perfect for marking paths... It may take time, but it's best to do that than waste it taking the same paths.
L: Lenn takes one more deep breath before coming back down from the air pocket. While he doesn't get what Lana's planning with that rock, he grabs another himself just in case it'll help. With that, he resumes navigating the tunnels.
G: With that, the otter quickly swims alongside the dolphin, stopping at every section to mark paths they took and whether or not they loop back on each other. Hope it works, because it does take a while to mark the walls with just a rock...
L: Quickly recognizing what Lana is doing, Lenn helps using the rock he'd grabbed. Even though this is taking some time, he's sure it'll end up saving time overall since they'll know if they go to places they've already been now.
G: Thankfully, this makes the swim through more caves smooth sailing for the time being. And the currents seem to be letting up, too! Maybe they're near the end...
...and good timing, too. The otter's beginning to need air, once again...
L: Lenn eagerly swims on, his hope rising as he notices the currents aren't quite as strong any more. He does make sure to keep checking on Lana every now and then though, ready to give her air whenever she asks.
G: She wishes she got a chance to get a proper breath earlier, since Lana feels like she's unecessarily burning time for this request! She taps Lenn's shoulder, gurgling lightly as if asking for air. "Gblbl! Blbl! Mmf!"
L: Nodding, Lenn offers his blowhole to Lana again. With there not being any extra air around this time, he really hopes this'll be the only time he'll have to give some of his to her until the next air pocket.
G: She takes the air to refill her breath as much as possible. "m... Mm..." Once she's all good for the rest of the swim, she pulls away. She can feel the end of this maze is nearby.
L: Lenn can only hope that really is the case, as he's starting to strain now from the loss of air. "Mmh..." He keeps on swimming, looking for any sign of an exit.
G: "Mm..." More time passed as they kept going, but soon... "Blbl!" Lana points something out... It looks like an exit! H-Hopefully!
L: "Mm!" Lenn swims straight for it, holding out hope that maybe this time it really will be a way outside... But if it's just another air pocket, that would certainly still be nice.
G: "Gblbl!" Suddenly Lana lets out a pained whimper, holding her neck once more! Whatever it's there, she hopes it's not water she has to breathe...
Eventually she pushes off the dolphin, able to swim through the weak currents, now...
L: Lenn winces in strain and puffs his cheeks, a few bubbles briefly leaking from his blowhole. Getting out to the true surface can't happen soon enough... He sticks close to Lana just in case.
G: The light gets brighter as they get close... but soon, they make it out! The surface is above them... but it's also very far...
L: After a moment to get his bearings, Lenn starts swimming straight up toward the surface. This is a lot deeper than where he'd first entered the cave, but he's almost certain he and Lana will be able to surface fine... Almost.
G: She grips her neck again, her lungs hungry for air... but she doesn't ask for help. She swam up on her own, pushing through the water to reach the surface.
L: Lenn's face is red from the effort of holding his breath, but he doesn't slow down, heading upward as fast as he can. While he has enough air in him to be able to give Lana another breath if he has to, that really wouldn't leave him with much left for himself.
G: Lana looks to the dolphin, making sure he's still alright. Her cheeks are turning a deep red, too, though a hint of blue is appearing! "Nn... Gbl... Blbl!"
L: Lenn visibly gets concerned as he sees Lana's blush beginning to tint purple... Before he shudders a bit, his own need for air getting more intense. "Blp! Mmmm!"
G: Just... better to keep going... Though she swam down to swim close to Lenn! She's willing to help, despite her lungs craving sweet, sweet air...
L: Lenn nods, trying to tell Lana he's okay. He has a good amount of experience with being low on breath like this, though he's having trouble staying calm at this point.
G: She nods, but her lungs still hurt, and it feels like it'll be forever until she can breathe air! Considering there wasn't much around her island, it's safe to assume she's not practiced in going without air for so long...
L: Holding Lana's hand to try to help keep both her and himself from panicking, Lenn resumes swimming up. He can't even see the surface yet... But he refuses to give up.
G: She's trying to stay calm, grabbing the dolphin's hand with a whine and a gurgle! Her kicks were quickening at an alarming pace!
L: More bubbles leak from Lenn's lips as he strains to keep holding his breath, his chest heaving and whines now being audible. He holds his mouth shut with his free hand, trying to keep from losing more air.
G: The light's beginning to grow brighter! As she swam, suddenly, her chest heaved and forced her to stop! "GBLL! MM..."
L: Lenn pauses just after Lana stops, watching her. Seeing how badly she needs air, he wants to give her more of his, but knows it'll leave him without much for himself... But, if things get bad enough, he'll be willing to do it.
G: She looks to Lenn and shakes her head. She also knows if one of them makes it, then maybe they can get enough air to save the other...
She doesn't want to drown, though. She shouldn't unless it's absolutely necessary.
L: Lenn certainly doesn't want anyone to drown either... He resumes swimming, hoping Lana will still be able to do so at this point. The heaving of his chest is gradually getting more intense...
G: The otter whimpers cutely, soon simply using her legs in a dolphin kick while holding her mouth closed! Each heave disrupted her form, slowing her down! Soon, her cheeks turned a deep red, and the surface still feels so far away...
L: But, no matter how far the surface is, it's getting closer. Lenn keeps reminding himself of that to try to keep from panicking, but it's getting harder. More bubbles leak from his blowhole for a moment.
G: Suddenly, more bubbles left the otter in a heave! Judging by her chest and desperate face, it must be the last ones she had! "Mm... mm... mmg..."
L: With that, Lenn can't just let Lana suffer any more. He offers his blowhole to her again, trying not to think about the fact that this'll leave him with very little air left to hold.
G: She wants to say no, though. She can't just...
Quickly, she holds onto the dolphin and put her mouth on the blowhole, inhaling deeply to refill her tired lungs.
L: Lenn whines a little as his lungs are almost entirely drained... He's glad Lana will at least be doing a little better, but that stale air likely didn't even do a whole lot for her.
G: ...Lenn's already drowned before, when he woke on the island. He shouldn't be the one to drown again, Lana thought. Maybe she shouldn't be the one with the air...
She didn't break the air kiss. Instead, she exhaled and inhaled some more while she thought. It might help them continue for a bit longer, but this is hardly foolproof... Soon, she exhales and then pulls away.
L: While he's a bit confused at first, Lenn figures out what Lana's intending, and is certainly thankful to keep at least some of his air. With the freshness of it sort of split with Lana's, it still cut down on his time, but by a lot less.
G: Unfortunately, Lana couldn't hold on any longer... and took in a deep, watery gasp! "HGLGLLL!! GBLBLB! BABLBLG... KGBLl!" She paws, kicks, struggles, cries out, bubbling out whatever air she ever had gotten and replacing it with gulps of water!
L: "MMM!" Lenn holds Lana, covering her mouth to try to keep her from taking in any more water, and begins to carry her up with him. As his blush begins to tint purple and his lungs burn, he knows it won't be all that long until he's drowning too...
G: "Mm... mm... mm..." She looks up to the surface, whimpering in pain. thankfully, she isn't gasping water, but it's too late to help her while they're underwater. Her vision is darkening, and her strength is dropping...
L: The surface has finally come into view, but it's still so far away... Since he's holding Lana, Lenn can't cover his mouth or blowhole, and keeps losing bubbles as he fights to hold what breath he has left.
G: She tries to help by kicking, but she couldn't keep it up any longer. Everything went dark, and her body stopped moving... "...bl..."
L: Lenn shudders as a countdown starts in his head, the dolphin beginning to close in on drowning as well... Seeing that Lana's pretty much passed out already, he uncovers her mouth to try to swim faster.
G: Indeed, she's passed out. All she's doing is weighing the dolphin down, now. She's no longer struggling, but will that still be enough for him to make it in 30 seconds...?
L: There isn't even a moment where Lenn considers letting go of Lana, even with her flooded body slowing down his swimming. The seconds tick down in his head as his face starts going blue, and he shivers all over while bubbles constantly trickle from his mouth and blowhole. "Mblblrl...MMBLRBLRBLL..."
G: The light shining down means he must be getting close, right? Besides a few fish swimming by, there's nothing to stop him from surfacing! Just... keep... going...
L: Lenn starts to panic, frantically trying to keep swimming... But, while still having some distance from the surface, his countdown hits 0. "HUU-GLAGL! GLRBGLLBL!" He coughs up bubbles and gasps again, beginning to drown for the second time today.
G: Unfortunately, nothing seems to react to his presence. It might be time to let go of the otter and grab a breath for himself... before they both end up drowned on the sea floor...
L: As much as he really REALLY doesn't want to, Lenn looks down at Lana... And lets go of her, now able to swim at just about full speed while he keeps trying to breathe water. He promises himself he'll rush back down for her once he gets air, and hopes she won't sink too far.
G: Just a bit further, now... Just gotta hold on for just a bit longer...
Lana slowly sinks down into the depths, not a single movement or bubble leaving her...
L: Lenn starts to get extremely dizzy, his vision fading as the surface gets closer and closer... And finally, he manages to get through, gasping air at last and desperately coughing up the water in his lungs to get ready to go right back down.
G: The otter kept sinking, still unconscious...
Into the darkness... Deeper... and deeper...
...though something seems to catch her, unknowingly...
L: Lenn isn't aware of that, and as much as his lungs hurt, he knows he has to go down for her as soon as possible. As his blush goes to red, he gasps a few more deep breaths before holding one and returning underwater. He whines a little, feeling a tiny bit of water still in there... But he doesn't want to wait any longer before rescuing Lana.
G: The otter's saviour swims up to the surface, though is worried if they can even help...
...but then they notice Lenn diving down. As they swam toward each other, Lenn could see... Another dolphin? Looks to be a feral one...
L: As he realizes he's not alone in this, Lenn smiles despite the pain in his lungs. He goes down to that other dolphin, trying to help them bring Lana back up.
G: The dolphin smiles, helping to bring the otter to the surface. Some bubbles did leave his blowhole, but he still has enough to handle the swim to the surface, even while holding onto Lana.
L: Lenn is already struggling again, not having properly caught his breath... But he knows he'll make it to the surface again without much more issue. He just hopes he's going to be able to revive Lana once he does...
G: The dolphin helps as best as he can, bringing Lana to the surface quickly enough... Of course, he took in deep gasps to breathe, making sure the otter doesn't fall.
L: Lenn gasps at the surface as well, going back to coughing for a little bit before being able to talk. "Th-thanks for that... N-need to get her on land... C-can't do CPR in water..."
G: The dolphin nods, still breathing. "U-Use my back, OK? Maybe that can help."
L: "Th-that might be enough..." Lenn lays Lana on the feral dolphin's back, and sure enough, that'll be enough support. After doing his best to get the water out of the otter's lungs, Lenn starts trying to revive her.
G: The dolphin stays as still as possible, letting Lenn do his thing to make sure the otter is revived.
After a bit, she'd soon begin coughing and waking slowly.
L: Lenn sighs in relief as Lana begins to recover. "Good, you're gonna be okay... M-man, you were out for so long, I was worried you weren't gonna wake up..."
G: "Gh... hh..." Lana kept gasping heavily as she woke up, shaking on the dolphin holding her up.
"B-Be careful you don't slip off of me! Get enough air until you can swim! I don't know if your friend can carry you, yet, either..." He said.
L: "I think I'd be able to at this point... But just be careful, you're in no state to be swimming right now, you might've had this worse than how it went for me earlier..."
G: "Gh... U-Understand. Feel... exhausted..." Lana said between gasps and coughs, eventually making sure to hold onto the feral dolphin to avoid slipping off. He looks to Lenn, afterwards. "OK. There's an island a fair distance away, but the waters are turbulent to swim through. Do you think you can hold on enough to handle that?" He says, asking Lana if she's alright enough, to which she gave a lightly breathless "maybe."
L: "If you get too tired, you can hold onto me. I think I should be fine to carry you..." Leen looks at the other dolphin. "Would it be okay if you came with us, just to be sure?"
G: "Of course! I offered to carry her, after all! We should hurry, though. I think if we stay here too long, we're liable to be dragged underwater... I think." The feral dolphin said, feeling the otter readjust her grip for the swim ahead. "L-Let's go, then!" Lana said in response.
L: "And I'm gonna need a break to relax for a while now that I've breathed water again... Lead the way to that island, let's get out of here."
G: "Alright! Follow me!" The dolphin called out before beginning to swim, Lana holding on tight as they head down the water.
L: Lenn follows along, trying to ignore the soreness of his lungs. "We really ought to figure out a better way to get to and from that closed off island, that was way too close..."
G: "Island? I suppose the otter came from there?"
"I did. Not sure how... Been living there for a while, but never came out into the open ocean. Cave out was long and confusing..." The otter replies, her energy now recovered enough to easily hold the dolphin, though not to actually swim. Good thing, too, as the waters are starting to get rough...
L: Lenn puts more focus on keeping himself on the surface. "Make sure you've got a good grip, Lana, I can tell the waves here are gonna be getting more intense."
G: "I-I'm doing my best!" She says in worry as they reach the waters. Some water splashes onto her accidentally, with the dolphin she's holding onto taking a breath and closing his blowhole to avoid gasping water In case he sinks!
L: Lenn tries to keep himself on the surface, knowing he wouldn't be able to hold his breath very long right now. "S-stay close, we can't lose each other here!"
G: The dolphin stays near his fellow cetacean, the otter shielding herself from the rough waters as best as she can. It's a stretch until the island, though it is slightly visible after a bit of swimming.
L: With how exhausted he is from his earlier drownings and rescuing Lana, Lenn is slowly starting to have trouble staying on the surface, trying his best to not go under.
G: "Lenn!" The otter squeaks out in worry, offering to try and help, somehow. She's recovering, but she might not be able to fight off the water if she slips!
L: "I-I'm fine, focus on yourself!" But, over time, he's looking less than fine, panting from the effort of keeping himself above the water.
G: Quickly, she grabs onto Lenn's shoulder, trying to help him stay above the water! Her other paw was slipping off the fin of the dolphin who's carrying her, though!
"Mmf..." The feral dolphin's struggling. With carrying Lana and swimming quickly through rough waters, his precautionary breathholding is running out.
L: Lenn looks over at Lana with fear in his eyes. "M-maybe we should've gone somewhere else..." He holds onto the other dolphin, though tries not to force them underwater like that.
G: He tries his best to go, with both of them holding onto him... "M-Maybe... b-but... can't stop now..." He tries his best to jump up above waves for an inhale, and it helps a little, but his lungs still crave more air!
...then Lana quickly takes a breath and pulls herself up, locking her lips to his blowhole to exhale some breath and restore some of his strength!
L: Lenn watches the two to make sure they'll be okay... And, not quite paying as much attention to where he's going, a wave splashes against his face just as he inhales. He starts coughing, almost about to panic!
G: "MMGH!" Lana hears the dolphin and quickly pulls away, grabbing Lenn... but she slips off into the water! "GHAH!" She's able to swim, still, but there's a bit of distance to go!
L: "B-be careful, Lana!" Lenn stays near her, and in the interest of not taking in water again, he holds his breath like the other dolphin. Though, his lungs are already sore, so he certainly won't be able to last as long as before.
G: The otter decides to follow along and hold her breath. She's drowned for longer, though, so she's worse off in terms of her breathholding condition... The other dolphin jumped above the water for air and for the others to locate him, causing the otter to start swimming over!
L: Lenn manages to swim to them too, but he's getting even more tired... He can only hope everyone gets to land before the exhaustion starts actually getting serious.
G: The otter does her best to help Lenn swim, despite her weaker swimming skills! Meanwhile, the feral dolphin swims over to help them... but he's also getting exhausted by the constant waves and the swimming he's done...
L: The land keeps getting closer, annoyingly slowly, as Lenn slowly begins to already have some strain in holding his breath. "Mmh... Mm!"
G: Lana tries her best to help Lenn stay calm... but then she lets out a whimper as her chest tightened! "Mmm... Mgh..."
At this rate, it might be best to try resisting the waves underwater! They're already holding their breaths, so she points down as she waits for a time to inhale some extra breath before diving down.
L: Lenn nods, and gets ready... When he's certain it's safe to do so, he takes the biggest gasp he can before diving. The water's still rough just below the surface, but not far down it's already feeling easier to swim through.
G: Perfect. She's able to swim through the water rather easily compared to before... Every so often, she checks on Lenn, then looks forward to see the feral dolphin also underwater to lead the divers onward!
L: Lenn continues to follow the other dolphin. He tries not to think about how hard it's going to be to catch his breath if he has to surface before getting to land, and just hopes he won't have to worry about it.
G: It's a bit of a swim, but they're reaching shallower waters after some swimming! The otter's now swimming quickly, wanting this swimming to finish sooner rather than later!
L: Able to just ignore his need to breathe for the moment, Lenn is relieved this trip will finally be done soon, and happily speeds up to follow.
G: The quick swim and drowning from earlier meant Lana's chest is hurting, but she can't give up. "Mgbl..." One paw held her mouth as she swam, seeing that the waves above them still aren't letting up!
L: And with how tired Lenn is, he can't hold his breath anywhere near as long either. He's not covering his mouth yet, but he's got his cheeks puffed up and his chest is visibly heaving.
G: The otter smiles lightly, trying to ignore how much she really needs air... She holds Lenn's chest to help him calm down, but knows time is short.
L: Lenn nervously glances up at the surface, the water still too rough for him to want to risk surfacing... He looks over at Lana and tries to smile, but he's gradually getting more worried.
G: Lana's clearly worried for him, too... Plus, she's recently drowned compared to Lenn. She's theoretically worse off, but she won't let herself give up so easily... And with the island seemingly getting closer...
L: Lenn stays determined to keep going, but as his need to breathe gets worse, he soon starts holding his muzzle shut with one hand while still swimming with the other. "Blrbll...Mmmblpbl..."
G: "Gblblbl... Gbl... blbl..." The otter lets out some more breathless whines, continuing through the worsening pain! "Mm... Mmf... Mmgbl... Mmm!!!"
L: Occasionally looking up, Lenn tries to figure out a time where it'll be safe to go up and breathe, but it doesn't seem like any time is going to be long enough... He just keeps trying to hold out as long as he can.
G: Lana coughs out a small cloud of air, gripping her neck tighter as she keeps swimming through the water! It's still too risky to breathe, but...
...wait, the other dolphin... It looks like he stopped, but he's also pointing up to the surface! He's a distance away, but maybe they can make it!
L: Lenn nods and follows their lead. His sore lungs are just beginning to burn now, and he keeps letting out little whines in his struggles, trickling a few tiny bubbles from his blowhole.
G: Her body wanted to stop, but she didn't want to weigh Lenn down! She can't give up, even as everything hurts! More bubbles left in clouds, leaving the otter turning blue and weak!
But soon, she feels something push her up, darkness making it harder to see!
L: Before much longer, Lenn's countdown in his head starts up again, starting to get a blue blush like Lana. He keeps struggling to swim, now uncovering his mouth to do so and leaving a trail of bubbles.
G: With the help of the force, though... she eventually pushes and surfaces quickly, taking a deep gasp of air!
Looking around, as her vision recovers, it seems like they made it out of the rough waters...
L: Lenn surfaces next to her with a gasp, his mental countdown cancelling as he finally gets a chance to breathe. It takes him a moment to realize he and Lana have gotten to calmer water. "O-Oh! W-we're finally out!"
G: The feral dolphin surfaces and takes a gasp into his blowhole, at least better off than the others. "Alright... Just a bit further... Then you can rest... from the water..."
L: "About time... S-so exhausted from all this..." Lenn continues swimming toward the island, eager to finally be able to recover.
G: Lana follows him to the island. "Hah... hah... M-Me, too... ugh... That... was awful..."
L: And, at last, Lenn gets to the island, immediately sitting down to finally catch his breath. "Hah... N-never wanted to get out of water so badly..."
G: "Ugh... s-same..." Lana said as she walked onto the sand, collapsing and gasping heavily. "...m-maybe... not going back home... for a while, though... Mind if I follow you for a bit?"
L: "Yeah, you can stay with me for a while... We need to figure out a safer way... To get you to and from your home..."
G: "Yeah. I... can't even remember the path we took... Even then, we didn't even make it up... How would I even... M-Maybe I'll think about this later..."
L: "If those rock walls around your place just weren't there... You know, I have a friend that might be able to help, maybe he could make a tunnel through... Or just knock down the rock walls entirely."
G: "Y-You do? That would be nice... I'd love to explore out here, more, and having access to my home would be great for that..."
L: "Okay, I'll let him know to come by next time I see him... And he might be able to map out the tunnels for you, too, he can hold his breath even longer than me."
G: "Oh, really? That would be useful, honestly! And thanks for helping me, even though I was... mostly just dead weight, honestly."
L: "Don't worry about it, I couldn't just let you drown. Your map of that place was pretty helpful, I don't know if that would've gone so well without that."
G: "Well, I'll need to update it... With your friend's help, it should be easier, at least. For now, I'm tired of the water..."
L: "Yeah, we definitely should just relax for a while... This is at least a pretty nice place, we certainly could've ended up somewhere worse."
G: "Yeah... I don't think anything will happen to us while we're here, at least."
Lana looks out into the ocean, seeing that the feral dolphin has already left. "Ah... Wish we could've thanked him for bringing us here, at least."
L: "Oh, totally forgot... Well, I'm sure we'll see him again sometime. Hopefully there's a way for him to go that's not through that rough water area..."
G: "Maybe it's only around the rock area that's rough, so maybe the rest aren't as rough... I hope, anyway."
L: "I'm sure he'll be fine, he's probably fairly used to this region of the ocean... For now, we may as well look around the island while we mentally recover."
G: "Sure. It does look like a decent size, but not sure if anything will be on it or not." She tilts her head. It's bigger than the one she lived on, at least.
L: "It'd be neat if there is, but I mainly just want something to do while we relax a bit. Just sitting here is gonna get kind of boring."
G: "Hm... I'm not sure, still, but we can take a little walk around to see what to do."
L: "Alright, sounds good." Lenn gets up, fully rested and ready to start exploring the island.
Lana follows the dolphin, and the two take some time to explore the island and unwind from all the trouble they'd gone through today. Eventually, they do finally part ways, but not before promising each other they'd meet up again sometime.
![[RP LOG] Winter Wrap-up - The Meltdown](https://sf.ib.metapix.net/images80/overlays/writing.png "[RP LOG] Winter Wrap-up - The Meltdown"){kind=small}
