wisdom begins in wonder
Sentimentality over for now, your attention returns to things like lichen and Undines. (Your goofy, happy, beaming smile remains as you speak, though, positively glowing with delight.) "Well if it's from here then it's prolly adapted to withstand the lichen, or live symbiotically." Doubtful that a creature endemic to the pond would have been so thoroughly overtaken, especially when there are reports of it being seen in the past year. Camouflage makes more sense, and you nod along with that possibility, casting a surreptitious look across the pond.
But the legends say behind the waterfall, so that's what you're gonna try. Swimming over to the rocks around the edge of the fall you pull yourself up onto a slippery surface, arms extended as you find your balance and nimbly leap to the next available stone. Soon you have carved a path to just beside the spray. For a moment you pause, flashing Oia a grin- and then it's into the new unknown, behind the curtain of thunderous wet.
But the legends say behind the waterfall, so that's what you're gonna try. Swimming over to the rocks around the edge of the fall you pull yourself up onto a slippery surface, arms extended as you find your balance and nimbly leap to the next available stone. Soon you have carved a path to just beside the spray. For a moment you pause, flashing Oia a grin- and then it's into the new unknown, behind the curtain of thunderous wet.
