Sink or Swim [Razkar&Uleru]

[Edreina]

51st Spring, 513 AV 17th Bell Anchorage Flotilla, The Cuttlefish Water rushed up and over Edreina, filling her vision with blue and her ears with emptiness. For a chime, she hung there, suspended, weightless. All around her, unbound hair floated like some forest of red and gold kelp. Looking down, her golden, freckled skin was given yet another pattern by the gently lapping waves above, turning little slivers a pale silver. To the young Svefra lass, it felt as if all time had stopped. But, all too soon, her breath began to slip away and she had to return to the surface. She used her fingers like comb-teeth to pull her hair back and away from her face, tucking it safely behind her ears. With a laugh, she beckoned for the Myrian to join her in the Suvan. The look on his face showed that he may have been having second thoughts, as if learning to float was one thing, and swimming another. In Edreina's mind, they were both essential parts of her life. Hoping to encourage the foreigner, Edreina took a deep breath and dove beneath the water. Back in her element, the child of Laviku spun and twirled, using her lithe frame to its greatest advantage. Twisting and turning, Edreina played about beneath the waves for a chime or two before surfacing once more, a gleeful grin on her face. H The water seemed to sooth her aches and pains brought on by her earlier lesson with the Myrian. Beneath the water, the light bruising on her ribcage already seemed to be blooming as did the darkening of her knuckles. In her motions, Edreina had felt some stiffness, but not too much to keep her from becoming the teacher once more. Just as the Myrian looked like he had finally worked up the nerve to join her, Edreina felt something smooth and supple brush against her leg. A cry of surprise escaped her lips just before she realized what was happening: all around, Whitewave dolphins swam and played together. The one that had brushed her leg was now darting back to its pod, dorsal slicing through the water easily. Momentarily distracted from the mission of teaching a Myrian to swim, Edreina darted beneath the water and propelled herself towards the pod, grinning as dolphins darted to and fro, intrigued by her approach. Stopping to tread water in their midst, Edreina's smile was one of utter excitement. Such pods were not not uncommon about the Flotilla but Edreina had not trully interacted with a pod since the passing of her own Tavan. A cold splash awoke Edreina from the morbid musing into which she was about to pass. Looking in the direction of the splash's origin, Edreina was met by the long, toothy grin of an adult Whitewave dolphin. Her smile returning, Edreina splashed back at the dolphin which only excited it further. The dolphin then used its powerful tail to rise out of the water just enough to slap its pectoral fins together, creating another splash. Grinning, Edreina lunged at the dolphin and landed atop it. With a great expenditure of strength, she managed to push the dolphin back under water fully. But, just as she thought that she had won the tussle, the dolphin shot off beneath the water, carrying her along sideways for several feet until Edreina had to leg go, laughing so hard she had trouble staying afloat. When her new friend finally returned, Edreina reached out her hand, palm down. Little black beaded eyes stared at her for a moment before the dolphin swam forward and pressed its beak against her palm. The exchange was oddly heart-wrenching for Edreina. As much as she wanted to continue bonding with this creature and have it become her Tavan, her companion, the thought simply hurt too much - she had failed Bu, and she would not fail this one. Melancholy smile lifting one corner of her mouth, Edreina scratched the dolphin along the dorsal line as she knew they liked. The action was met by the rapid, happy chattering of the young dolphin and another playful nudge. "As much as I would like to keep playing... I have to help my friend." Edreina motioned back to The Cuttlefish and to Razkar who was waiting with an interested look on his face. Even if the dolphin did not understand what she had said, Edreina knew that her point had gone across - perhaps through body language - as it left to swim and play with its podmates once again. Still smiling, though perhaps not as brightly as before, Edreina began swimming back, ready to teach the Myrian how to move in the water as she did. Though his mind may not have had the know-how, Edreina knew that, as everyone else, Razkar's body would have the natural instinct to swim. "Ready?" She asked as brightly as she could, smiling despite the look of concern that flashed over the Myrian's face.

[Razkar]

Razkar mind wanted to join the figure in the sloshing waves, but his body was more definitely against that idea. Even though he'd tried to tell it a hundred times that it had already been in the Suvan and survived - thrived, in fact - his hands refused to let go of the deck rail.

We'll be fine, he tells himself, taking a deep breath recumbent with salt and frying fish, coaxing his body to relax, because we are strong, and we learn... and she will help us. She did yesterday, so-

There are sharks in the water! Lying bastard!

Razkar's body stiffened and his organs churned when smooth, sleek, pale shapes appeared gliding under the water. Shimmering and indistinct, he could still easily make out the dorsal fins and the cold purpose behind their swishing tails.

"Edreina!" He shouted out, suddenly panicked and gathering up his ax without even realizing it. "Get out water! There are-"

His warning trailed off in sheer shock as the laughing Svefra - laughing... that should have been a hint - dived under the water and moved as smooth and fast as those swarming shapes she was...

"... sharks?"

No... No, they weren't. He watched with his jaw hanging slack as she surfaced and began playing with one of the creatures. It was not a shark, he could see that now. Their heads were more rounded, less angular, none of the pure killing design that all sharks possessed. Their snouts were blunted and when one of the creature chattered giddily, he could see their teeth were blunted, too.

"What are they...?"

The swaying deck and his over-anxious body were forgotten as he watched the strange, joyful scene unfold. Edreina, hair still shimmering and flaming despite the water, frolicking like a water nymph of myth with one of the non-sharks. Playing, wrestling... talking?

The Myrian just shook his head. Emotions warred inside him. Memories of the Charoda surfaced, those loathsome interlopers in Myri's jungle, and his ire and disgust rose... but then were squashed. These Sea People, they had no gills or scales or flippers, but... but he was seeing what he was seeing.

Perfect harmony. Peace.

Then the moment was gone and the swarm of benign... things, moved on. Edreina turned her flashing blue eyes back to him and beckoned him with a shouted "Ready?", sending a cascade of droplets flying with her swaying arm.

Razkar straightened. She would protect him. He trusted her. The realization shot through him and his body finally obeyed. He sheathed his ax and unbuckled his weapon belt, letting it fall to the deck. Clad only in his loincloth, unarmed and insanely not even minding, he took a breath...

Once you step off the cliff, you really don't need to worry anymore.

... and threw himself off the Cuttlefish.

Hot and speeding air whistled past him and was transformed into an all-encompassing bubble of roaring water with his impact. He sunk under the waves, body immediately panicking as all solid contact vanished.

Razkar quashed the emotion as thoroughly as he could. He was the master of his body, not his primal fears of unfounded urges. He let himself break the surface, natural buoyancy doing the job, heaving a great lungful of air into grateful lungs.

The lessons came back to him. He starts to kick his feet in the powerful, slow motions that Edreina had taught him, moving his arms like a gently flapping bird... and he was wading again.

The Myrian turned until he faced the Svefra, grinning but with a frown on his face, too.

"What were those fish? They did not eat you."

[Edreina]

Edreina's smile gained true light at the sight of the Myrian doing as he had been taught, letting instinct take over as he kept himself afloat. It was either his skin color or a true showing of ineptitude that the Myrian showed little to no signs of their sparring - if one could call it that - upon his skin; the only blemishes were years old. "What were those fish? They did not eat you." The assumption that Dolphins were fish nearly sent Edreina into a fit of giggles. Svefra children learned the difference between dolphins and their kin and those of sharks at a young age, so such a lack of knowledge caught Edreina off guard. Stifling herself, for fear that embarrassment would keep the Myrian from asking questions in the future, Edreina only smiled widely as she responded. "I keep forgetting that not everyone knows what we do... Those were not fish... they do not breath underwater, and they do not lay eggs. Those were dolphins - Whitewave Dolphins to be more exact. Dolphins give birth to live young, and they breathe air, just like us. They do not eat people, but fish instead. And, as you could tell, they are very very very playful." Edreina smiled at the memory of playing with their Tavans alongside her siblings when they were children. "But, dolphins are not the only creatures like that..." Edreina responded to the Myrian's thoughtful look. "Orca are like large dolphins, but they travel in smaller pods. Then you have whales, they are as large as ships and travel beneath the waves, singing the most beautiful songs..." Once, when she had been little, a family of whales had approached the Flotilla with curiosity. Edreina still pretended to hear their music at night when sleep evaded her. "Oh! And the Keai are also like dolphins in that they breathe air and give birth. But they are more like cows, very slow as they eat algae and kelp, traveling in herds. You may have seen a herd of them off of the shores of Falyndar, escorted by the Highshoal pod..." Edreina herself had never seen the Highshoals as they cared for their herds, only the envoys that they sent to buy and sell goods upon the Flotilla. "Sorry, I have lost myself..." Edreina smiled shyly, embarrassed that the foreigner's question had sent her upon such a tangent. "Back to swimming! Are you ready for your next lesson?" If he wanted to talk more of her customs, Edreina would happily indulge; if he wanted to get to the lesson well... she would certainly do that as well.

[Razkar]

"I keep forgetting that not everyone knows what we do... Those were not fish... they do not breath underwater, and they do not lay eggs. Those were dolphins - Whitewave Dolphins to be more exact. Dolphins give birth to live young, and they breathe air, just like us. They do not eat people, but fish instead. And, as you could tell, they are very very very playful."

Razkar kept the thoughtful frown on his brow as he devoured her words. He was so intent that he barely remembered to keep his limbs moving... then noticed, to his surprise, that they were already do so on their own. Instinct, he guessed. All it needed was the right circumstances to spark it's power.

"They swim but do not breath under water?" He repeated, puzzled but intrigued. "And no eggs? Can not be fish, then. And fish not play. Strange creatures..."

But there was yet more! Razkar found himself rapt as Edreina blurted on, clearly elated to have a new student to pour her information into.

"But, dolphins are not the only creatures like that. Orca are like large dolphins, but they travel in smaller pods. Then you have whales, they are as large as ships and travel beneath the waves, singing the most beautiful songs..."

Razkar nodded quickly when she mentioned whales. Now, he had heard of them. His people said they were leftovers from the ancient days when leviathans still prowled the oceans, big enough to devour entire ships with one nonchalant bite.

"I did not know whale sing. I hope I hear one day."

"Oh! And the Keai are also like dolphins in that they breathe air and give birth. But they are more like cows, very slow as they eat algae and kelp, traveling in herds. You may have seen a herd of them off of the shores of Falyndar, escorted by the Highshoal pod..."

"Ahh...!" Razkar said as if solving a puzzle, grinning proudly and daring to wade around her in his practiced slow, careful circle. "Like fish you mention! Keai and shark, remember? Now I know. But have not seen. My clan live in deep jungle, not by water. Only fish I see are Yellow Tail. They bite but taste good."

"Sorry, I have lost myself. Back to swimming! Are you ready for your next lesson?"

"Yes!"

Buoyed by the sudden rush of information, mind further broadened on the myriad of creatures beneath his water-treading feet, Razkar let out something like a warrior cry. A few eyes snapped his way in a mix of surprise and confusion. They were only enhanced when they saw a savage circling one of their children.

Razkar chuckled to himself. Perchance they would unsheath their weapons? Was he no better than a shark in their eyes? Well, perhaps, but not nearly as aquatic. Not yet, anyway...

"Am ready for lesson!" He said smiling, already more confident in the water, enough to let himself dip under the waves... then bob to the top and spray a messy squirt of water over his head. "With such good teacher, will be like doll-phin, Mistress Edreina?"

He gave her a playful wink. He knew he was flirting, but he knew it was harmless enough... or hoped it was. The Myrian's attraction towards her needed some release, and acting stiff and restrained would confuse her at best and drive her away at worst.

Razkar did not want that. She was one of only a very few souls he had bonded with since he had broke from the canopy in Falyndar, nearly four seasons and what seemed like a hundred years ago.

Salty water ran down his tanned face and made it shine oddly. He gave an awkward little bow in the water and put on the intent mask of a student eager to learn.

"When you ready..."

[Edreina]

Edreina was so surprised to see a Myrian who had, only yesterday, feared the water with such vehemence that he shook at the sight of it allow himself to dunk under the water that she was caught off guard even further by his following actions. When he spouted water at her, the action was so care-free and un-Razkar that Edreina let out a shocked laugh and splashed back, letting her palm create a small cup as it rushed forward in the water, creating a small wave that rose and then collapsed on her friend. Forcefully soaked in his own right, Edreina laughed once more at the absurd sight of a Myrian in the Suvan. "With such good teacher, will be like doll-phin, Mistress Edreina?" His wink caused Edreina to laugh behind her hand, hiding a brightened blush. A good teacher? Ha! Most of the progress made was due to the Myrian's own body, his own instinct. He was simply flattering her, teasing her. With a grin, Edreina splashed him once more. "You will be more like a shark... But, a rather... playful shark." Edreina made a pseudo-snarling face at the Myrian, freckled nose and brow crinkling, chomping her teeth together once before dissolving into laughter once more. A playful shark and a Myrian learning how to swim, equally absurd in Edreina's mind. "When you ready..." Nodding, Edreina waded back a few feet, giving herself enough room to demonstrate. "You can use this type of swimming when the water is calm, and you just want to get from one place to another without too much effort." With that, the Svefra went onto her back, floating atop the water's surface once more. With slow, measured movements - giving her student plenty of time to observe - Edreina raised her arms from out of the water and placed them together over her head, back upon the water's surface. Like oars, her arms moved in unison back towards Edreina's body, creating small waves but giving her a quick burst of speed back towards the Myrian. Lifting her arms while she continued to drift, Edreina made the motion again just when her momentum from the prior cycle began to die. "If you want to keep yourself moving a little more quickly, you just move your legs like you do when you're wading..." She added the gentle, continuous kicking to the motion which kept her moving more quickly between arm-powered drifts. Back beside her student, Edreina returned to a vertical wading, brushing her hair back out of the way once more. "Now you try." She motioned for him to wade away as she had and attempt it for himself.

[Razkar]

"You can use this type of swimming when the water is calm, and you just want to get from one place to another without too much effort."

The smile ran from Razkar's face but he did not completely harden. He just understood that now was the time to concentrate and learn, not play like a child. Still wading and keeping his body steady in the... actually comfortably warm water, he watched the fiery-haired Svefra lean back... float on the surface...

Her arms moved upwards and rivulets ran down her pale arms, then they vanished as she puts them back into the waves... and then sweep them forwards from her head down to her waist. The waves rippled and shimmered above her arms, force of her movement propelling her body across the surface.

The Myrian noded slowly. Hmm... yes... that seemed to make sense. He was no great student, but he had heard the learned teachers of Taloba talk about the "movement forces" of Mizahar. Those logical exchanges of energy that allowed things to move and pause. This seemed like that kind of exchange. He watched Edreina intently, eyes slightly narrowed, as she slid towards him over the water.

"If you want to keep yourself moving a little more quickly, you just move your legs like you do when you're wading..."

Razkar nodded as things got more complicated. More coordinated, too. Her legs did not move too quickly, in fact slower than her arms, but aided the forward momentum they afforded her with slow, powerful jerks that sent up little gouts of spray and water in her wake. With all four limbs more churning the Suvan, she was moving twice as fast.

"Now you try."

Even Razkar noted that there was less hesitation in his movements this time. Was that to do with his confidence or his faith in her? He did not fully know, but today he let himself fall back... ah, yes, he remembered this. The warm, wet embrace of the Suvan as his ears fell back into it, deafening him... floating on that mattress...

His arms raised high and a rain of seawater sprinkled his face. He smiled. What was a few more drops now he was in the sea, after all? Then he lowered them next to his head, spread out straight... and he pumped them down towards his waist-

Petch!

-moving forward so fast that his head sunk under the water, eyes and nose and mouth filled without a second to react.

Razkar growled and spat at the same time, face coming up but keeping his body horizontal. No! He would not fail like this! Eyes still blurry from the stinging salt water, he corrected himself, kept his limbs moving gently... raised his arms again... lowered them...

He saw the concern writ large on the bobbing Svefra's face, and gave her a smile.

"I am fine. Learning is not always good first time."

Razkar let his head fall back... and moved his arms more gently. An invisible force summoned by his own limbs shifted his body forwards, sliding across and just under the waves. He felt the dull rush as he moved faster than the water, started to pump his legs... no! Slower! More languid, controlled... fluid.

As good a word as any. He slowed and within moments, his upturned face seeing nothing but blue sky saw instead a freckled face with a red halo surrounding it. Blue, still, however. In her smiling eyes.

"This is not so bad." He said to her as he passed. "But swim on front is harder, I guess. Oh, before thought goes from head: what weapon you want train with today?"

[Edreina]

Edreina quickly stifled a laugh as the Myrian threw himself off balance and ended up with his head beneath the Suvan. How many times did she do that herself before finding her natural rhythm and balance? That skill was not one that she could teach, only that he could learn and adjust upon himself. When he looked at her, she was quick to banish the smile and arch her eyebrow, as if concerned. "I am fine. Learning is not always good first time." This, Edreina - and her bruises - could not help but agree with. She knew that he would handle it well, a man so good with weapons did not become such without hours of practice and perseverance. Slowly, before her eyes, the Myrian's body began to adjust ever so slightly, his motions becoming more fluid and eased. The sight made Edreina smile as only a teacher could when they saw their student succeed. "This is not so bad... But swim on front is harder, I guess." His tone shifted quickly from relaxed to pensive, as if coming to a realization through several chimes of consideration. Edreina furrowed her brow, thoughtful as she considered his assumption. Swimming on the front was harder, yes, but it was more applicable in a greater number of situations. "Harder, yes... But once you learn how to do it, you will find it more useful than this." She motioned to his current, languid strokes. "Oh, before thought goes from head: what weapon you want train with today?" Edreina puzzled over this for a moment, chewing on her lower lip as she always seems to do when thinking. After a moment, a hesitant answer came forth: "My own body... I suppose. I do not own another weapon, so I think it would be better to become a master of what I possess instead of trying to tackle something I might never use again." After a moment, when Razkar seemed to have fully gained understanding of their current concept, Edreina decided to move on to the next step. She moved over to the net so that she would not have to support herself as she demonstrated this more difficult process first out of the water. Tucking her heels safely into the net and leaning back slightly so that she would not tip over forward, Edreina removed her torso from the water. The droplets that clung to her skin looked oddly like a second, silver layer of freckles. "'m not going to waste your time with a doggy-paddle. All you do is lay on your stomach and kick your limbs like an animal. It is clumsy and energy consuming. I'm just going to move on ahead and teach you the best way to swim..." She paused for a moment, seeking understanding in the dark brown eyes that watched her so religiously. Once it was noted, she continued: "You're going to be on your stomach with your face in the water... You will need to learn how to pace your breathing for this one..." First she showed him what she meant by that, placing a hand in front of her chest to make the demonstration more viable. Taking a quick, deep breath, she raised the hand and then lowered it, showing that she was not holding her breath. She repeated this, the held breaths lasting about as long as each inhalation. "This lets you swim more quickly instead of worrying about keeping your head above water." She watched as the Myrian practiced this first concept, gaining a greater control of his breathing. When it was as correct as possible without actually taking place alongside the other motions - for that would teach him how to apply the method properly - Edreina nodded and moved on. "You will be moving your arms like this..." Slowly, Edreina demonstrated pulling her arms back one at a time then raising them in a wide arc - as if over the water's surface - before knifing them back into the imaginary water, fingers together like little paddles. "And, as you are doing this, you will be taking your breath under a stroke..." At this point, she lowered her head so that it would be going through the water like an arrowhead. Each time she arced her right arm, she turned her head and took a breath as it passed over, straightening her head as her arm straightened out. It felt wrong to be making the motions out of the water, but once she took to this stroke, she would not be able to talk, only show. Lowering her arms back to her sides, she finished the explanation. "Your legs are, in all honestly, going to be the easiest part. You kick them constantly, strongly... like a drum beat. Left, right, left, right, left, right. More power, more speed..." This concept seemed to register easily with the Myrian. Now for the fun part... Crouching slightly, Edreina smirked, heart rate already spiking ever so slightly as blood pumped through her limbs, preparing for the exertion it knew was to come. "Now I will show you..." After a chime of getting her breath under control, Edreina exploded off of the net - and the boat it was against - in a burst of motion that quickly had her pushing away from The Cuttlefish. She made her motions quick, practiced, efficient. As her right arm began it's cycle out of the water, she took her breath. Once a fair distance out, she tucked her body in and rolled underneath the water so that she was on her back, paddling in a similar way before rolling her body and continuing as she had before. Growing closer to Razkar, she slowed down dramatically, having shown him the power and speed of this stroke and now how it was created. As she paddled by, she kept her head in the water during her left arm's stroke and then turning her head to breathe as the right crossed over her. All the while, her legs churned the water rhythmically. After fully passing the Myrian, she pulled back, her head leaving the water as her legs dipped deeper into it. She waded back over to him, breathing a little harder after the exertion. "You will not get it at first... If you're not careful, and you do not time it right, you will attempt to inhale the whole of the Suvan. Do not try to move as quickly as I do at first... only try to get the stroke and your breathing to align properly. Speed and power will come as you practice." As she had been speaking, she had rested a hand upon his dark shoulder and met his eyes, impressing the importance of what she was saying. She did not want the Myrian to attempt to move as she had on his first try. Underneath her fingers, Edreina could not help but notice the way his muscles rippled and bulged gently as he kept himself afloat. "Besides... I have no doubt that you will become quicker than me in no time. You have more strength..." She patted his shoulder teasingly, grinning and winking before pushing herself a few feet away. "Come now... It is your turn."

[Razkar]

"My own body... I suppose. I do not own another weapon, so I think it would be better to become a master of what I possess instead of trying to tackle something I might never use again."

Razkar frowned, respecting the apparent logic of her words but knowing it was a logic far removed from the reality of battle. Knowing low blows and vicious strikes with empty hands was useful. But against opponents with long, sharpened poles of steel in their hands, it was not.

"I do not think that is best idea." He said in his typically matter-of-fact fashion, waiting until she met his gaze before continuing. This was yet another lesson he had to impress. "Knowing to brawl is good. Body is a good weapon. But steel and iron are better. More in battle. Would you fight man with sword with hands? No. You would use sword, or some other thing."

She looked away, face conflicted, and the Myrian risked reaching out to her. Even after their time submerged under the waves of the Suvan, her shoulder was still warm to his touch. She looked up again and Razkar dipped his head slightly, accentuating his gaze.

"I am only think about best for you in fight. Please think on this."

Edreina nodded and Razkar let go, both of her and of the subject. He certainly did not want her mind elsewhere when it was the only thing stopping him from drowning. Well... not technically true, he thought somewhat smugly. At least you'd last a while before dyng of exhaustion, after her lessons.

"I'm not going to waste your time with a doggy-paddle. All you do is lay on your stomach and kick your limbs like an animal. It is clumsy and energy consuming. I'm just going to move on ahead and teach you the best way to swim..."

Razkar nodded, understanding her logic yet again. He had seen this "doggy paddle", or thought he had. He agreed with her: it was for children and animals, not males and females who wanted to skirt the water with speed and sureness.

"You're going to be on your stomach with your face in the water... You will need to learn how to pace your breathing for this one..."

Slower nodding now, eyes focused and intent and wanting to learn everything. Breathing... yes, that would be harder. The coordination involved here... it confused him. Perhaps it was beyond him. Then he angrily shook the thought from his head. All he had survived, all he had done, and he was concerned about what a race of barbarians did every day?

Not them, a knowing voice chimed in his head, just her.

"This lets you swim more quickly instead of worrying about keeping your head above water."

He watched her breathing and her hands moving, and thought he understood the concept.

"So... when you move arm up..." he moved his own arm upwards and took an exaggerated breath "... you take breath, then move face down into water... when arm goes into water... and so does you face... then move arm around... and up..."

"You will be moving your arms like this... And, as you are doing this, you will be taking your breath under a stroke..."

Her movements were like his, but so much more smooth and practiced. There was no hesitation in the way her arms moved up and down, almost a boredom, instead. But she moved slowly, instructing him well by letting him see everything she was doing.

"Your legs are, in all honestly, going to be the easiest part. You kick them constantly, strongly... like a drum beat. Left, right, left, right, left, right. More power, more speed... Now I will show you..."

Razkar had just enough time to return that smile before Edreina was just... gone. Muscles flexed under pale skin and there was a splash that blinded him and when he'd cleared his eyes... nothing but waves lapping against the netting. Then he heard the splashing, turned his head-

-and saw her powering away from him.

"Goddess..."

She was... impossibly fast. Her arms moved up and down, out the water, so smooth and fast that they were almost a blur. But then she slowed, and Razkar stowed his wonder, concentrating... yes... her head. It moved in sync with her right arm. Turning right... mouth breathing... then ducking down. But she was getting further away, and Razkar shrugged.

"Doesn't look too bad, but what about when you have to-"

With a flicker of movement that reminded him of those doll-fin creatures they had just seen, Edreina made a quick, graceful spin onto her back. Her arms kept moving, her legs pumping... and then she was on her stomach again, powering towards him.

"... turn... oh..."

"You will not get it at first... If you're not careful, and you do not time it right, you will attempt to inhale the whole of the Suvan. Do not try to move as quickly as I do at first... only try to get the stroke and your breathing to align properly. Speed and power will come as you practice."

Razkar took a deep, steadying breath, like he was goading himself into a long fall. He scratched the back of his head and ran through the motions in his mind. Arms... legs... head... yes. It could be done. But what if he was too slow? What if his coordination failed him? If he breathed in at the wrong time, he could choke, he could-

Edreina's hand on his shoulder brought his thoughts back from doubt.

"Besides... I have no doubt that you will become quicker than me in no time. You have more strength..."

To hear one who moved fast as a fish through the water have such confidence made Razkar's fears vanish like mist in the morning. He felt his lungs swell, his own face crease from a frown into a smile. When she winked and grinned at him before moving away, he actually felt heat in his cheeks.

"Come now... It is your turn."

Razkar looked away and fixed a heated gaze on the hull of the ship maybe... thirty yards away. A decent target. His nod was firm and his voice matched.

"Yes, Mistress."

He braced his feet on the hull of the Cuttlefish and powered off, reaching forwards with both arms and taking a deep, final breath. Not too hard, or he'd bury his head in the waves again-

-he was moving, moving fast, under the water, on it, over it-

Arms, move your arms!

His legs kicked out and he left them to it, knowing that would be the easy part. Instead he concentrated on his arm, swinging it under him vertically... yes... then raising it up, out the water, turning his head-

-and breaking the surface, taking a breath of liberating water as his arm chopped back down-

-turning his head back under the water, squinting under the blue. He grinned. He did it! No, was doing it! Fine, now the let arm. He raised it, legs still pumping, moving faster-

-turned to slow as he opened his mouth. A hefty draught of seawater slammed down his throat and the saltwater made him gag, but all he had to gag on was more seawater. His feet stopped in shock, in paralysis, he felt himself sinking-

-right before he hit the hull of the ship.

Petch it! Now we're going to die, idiot!

Razkar snarled at the Suvan as he flailed under it. No. He would not die here, killed by an element rather than a worthy enemy. He started to kick his feet and bob upwards. Keep moving, keep floating, Edreina's words echoing in his head.

When he surfaced, he couldn't help but give a shaky, panting smile. She was already fleeting towards him.

"I... I am fine!"

[Edreina]

When the Myrian began to flail, Edreina immediately went into action. Pushing off of The Cuttlefish and falling into her stroke instantly. With a sense of pressing urgency, she paddled her way towards her friend, arriving quickly. However, luckily, the Myrian had surfaced just as she arrived. Panting, flushed, and rather flustered looking, the Myrian managed to send a shaky smile her way. Knowing her friend was safe allowed Edreina to slow down, shifting into a head-above-water-breaststroke. "Way to give me a heart-attack!" She chided, unable to fight a smile that cracked her face. Teasing, she pushed the Myrian's chest so that both of them drifted backwards ever so slightly. Laughing, Edreina motioned back to The Cuttlefish. "Let's head on back. You can teach me a bit of... swordplay I suppose. You're right about that being a good idea, by the way," she admitted somewhat shyly. "I will swim alongside you, just so that you do not try to drown yourself again. Just... take it easy, okay?" Winking, Edreina set off at a steady breast stroke so that she would not outpace her companion. When the duo had almost reached The Cuttlefish, Edreina felt an odd, tingling sensation in the back of her skull. It was familiar, despite the fact that it took her a moment to recognize completely. Grinning, Edreina decided not to alert Razkar to the approach of her friend, interested in how he would respond.

[Razkar]

"Way to give me a heart-attack!"

He heard the words and read the concern, but the smile was as inevitable as a sunrise. Laughter followed it, from both of them. Nervous. Relieved. Until they were shaking and bobbing up and down with sheer joy that they (or he, more accurately) was still alive. The girl pushed his chest and he swayed on the waves, gripped his breastbone with mock pain.

"Oh, no, please! Hurt so bad!"

"Let's head on back. You can teach me a bit of... swordplay I suppose. You're right about that being a good idea, by the way."

Razkar couldn't help but grunt in self-satisfaction as they began a slow, lazy swim back across the small gap between the two ships, the Cuttlefish looming larger and closer ahead of them.

"Of course it is good idea. One thing this Child of Myri knows," he said, trying not to sound too smug as he spoke his own tongue, "it is how to swing a sword and when you need to do it."

"I will swim alongside you, just so that you do not try to drown yourself again. Just... take it easy, okay?"

Buoyed by his own words and his survival, Razkar couldn't help the smirk spread over his face. His strokes became a little stronger, faster, more confident, head held a little higher in the water. He shifted onto his back and grinned at Edreina.

"You worry? Not need to! I am better, and this is not so harFUCKINGPETCH!"

Something green and translucent appeared like a shooting star under the waves and erupted between his legs. Grinning. All sense of smugness vanished from Razkar's face and in a frothing explosion of movement he kicked out towards the thing's head.

"RUN, GIRL, MONSTER!"

Some small, insanely insistent part of his mind queried the logic of using the word run when in the water, but it was drowned out by the overwhelming majority of his brain concerned with kicking frantically at whatever the petch that sea-demon was, while at the same trying to get to the netting over the side of the Cuttlefish and thus accomplishing little of either.

It was also the same part that was wondering why Edreina was still smiling.