in over my head

Sohalia

Tal patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. Soh appreciated the gesture, smiling up at her friend - though she couldn't help the slight blush at the contact. It was getting easier - she supposed that being soaking wet and half dressed with a person would do that, though. What was a nice pat on the shoulder between friends, anyway?

When Tal brightened, Soh couldn't help but grin, relieved that his spirits seemed to be improving. "I told you that you were doing well!" Her suggestion to change the lesson plan was accepted, and they spent some time working through holding his breath underwater, then progressing to actual swimming. In truth, Tal was doing well, for a first-time swimmer, and one who'd had a previous bad experience. Soh was a decent teacher, patient and forgiving, and by the time they were ready for a break, she was proud of how far her student had come in such a short time - and she'd forgotten to be nervous around him.

As they emerged from the water to prepare for a break, Soh watched her friend with worried eyes. Why did he seem sad? His question didn't clarify anything for the young woman, either. She flopped down on the shore, cocked her head to one side and looked up at Tal with a confused frown on her pretty face. "What kind of creatures are you looking for?"

As Tal told her of his quest, Sohalia leaned back on her hands, tilting her head back to catch the afternoon sun on her face. She hummed thoughtfully, then sat up straighter, her damp hair tumbling over her shoulders. She met his gaze with a triumphant look and a mischievous grin. "Have you ever heard of ringing algae?"

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going

"Yeah, y'did," the courier admitted, cheered and feeling like he really could trust Soh's compliments at least a little. It made it easier to trust her instructions, too, as they progressed through a swimming lesson that had him... well. Not sinking anymore, at least. Only practice and more practice would make him graceful in the water, but until that day came he could at least keep himself on top of the river instead of flailing beneath it.

Tal had developed quite a bit of endurance over the past couple of years, but the new exercise was still tiring and he was ready for a break when they settled on the shore in the sunshine to wring out their hair. Sure, he'd made a lot of progress, but it seemed like he was still a long ways from being able to fulfill Safrin's quest and that tarnished some of his triumph over the day's success.

Maybe he'd been hoping for some commiseration from his friend, but Soh's bright smile was far from sympathetic. If anything, she seemed to have a secret up her sleeve and Tal wrinkled his nose in thought at her question. "Algae... that rings? Can't say that I have," he admitted slowly. "What's that got t'do with seein' a deep-water critter?"

Sohalia

Tal was improving as the day wore on, but he still wasn't particularly graceful in the water, and for a moment, Soh second-guessed her idea. Diving into the depths would certainly be pushing him out of his comfort zone, if nothing else, and it was possible that her plan could go horribly wrong. Still, she was an optimistic sort of woman, and her hesitation lasted for only a moment.

"I read about them!" she explained eagerly. "They're supposed to make air bubbles big enough to stick your head into, so you can breath underwater - for a while, anyway. The only down side is that they make your ears ring - but that's more annoying than anything, really." Her excitement suddenly lessened as she considered that Tal may not like this plan. After all, it would have to be uncomfortable to be underwater for that long, given his recent experience with the glotter.

"It's just an idea," she added hastily. "But - I thought, maybe, it could help?"

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going

Something his friend had read about wasn't nearly as good as something she had personal experience with, in Tal's opinion. But on the other hand, there was something to be said about beggars and choosers, and it was the best idea he'd heard yet.

'Best' being defined as 'not relying on Sah.' Sure, he could ask his frenemy for help and he knew the hunter would give it, but not without a great deal of teasing about it before, during, and after. Tal's pride was delicate and he wasn't sure he could take that much.

"Bein' able t'breathe under all that sounds good," Tal agreed, albeit cautiously. "I'm willin' t'face the ringin' for Safrin. So... now we just gotta find a critter so deep down the light doesn't reach. Uh... how far is that, d'you think? An' is there anythin' or anywhere like that in the Symphony?"

Sohalia

Soh couldn't blame her friend for his hesitation. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like it might not be the best idea. Tal had just learned to swim, after all, and she was talking about diving into deep, dark water with the hope that this mythical algae would allow them to survive. Even if Tal was willing to brave the depths for Safrin - Soh made a mental note to ask him about the herald, if they survived their adventure today - was it right for her to lead him on what might be a deadly wild goose chase?

She bit her thumbnail nervously. She wasn't usually one to second-guess her plans, but this was the first time that her love of adventure had the potential to negatively impact someone else - someone who she cared for. But Tal seemed ready, and she didn't want to make him nervous by showing that she was having second thoughts. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'm not sure how far that would be. Does it have to be straight down, or does it just have to be somewhere dark? There are the Sunken Gardens - they're underwater caverns, where the Ringing Algae grow. I bet they're dark, and they probably have some interesting creatures."

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going

Tal didn't want to tell Soh that he'd done stupider things for less. Whatever good opinion she had of him, he didn't want to jeopardize with stories of his reckless youth. Which... was only a year ago. Or... a few months ago...

Either way, he appreciated her confidence, unaware of how much uncertainty she was also hiding as they both considered the plan.

"Um. I don't think it has to be straight down," he said slowly, working through the memory of Safrin's instructions. "Just... 'deep' an' 'where light doesn't normally reach.' My Goggles let me see in th'dark for about twenty feet or so, an' I just need t'use 'em to see... somethin' unusual, I guess. Fish or plants or somethin' I can't see at the surface." He shrugged a little helplessly. "I think underwater caves'd count. So... where can we get this magic algae, anyways?"

Sohalia

If she had really stopped to think about it, perhaps Soh would have determined her plan to be too foolhardy for actual consideration. After all, she was planning to take a brand new swimmer, throw him into deep underwater caves, assume they could find ringing algae to help them breathe, and hope they would be able to find their way in and out of the caves. To any sane person, that would probably sound like madness.

But Soh was a hopeful sort of girl, and this was a task that Tal had been given by the gods. Surely they wouldn't want to see him fail, would they?

"From what I read, we need to dive down to the bottom of the Symphony to find the algae, and the entrance to the caves," she told him cheerfully. "Once we find one, we should find the other. With the algae, you're supposed to just stick your head into the bubbles they give off and be able to breath. But - if the caves are that dark, we're going to need some way to stick together. Do you have any rope or anything like that on the Peregrine?"

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going

Oh, the gods would absolutely watch Tal fail. Sure, most of them seemed to like him well enough, but not enough to bend the rules for the courier who couldn't claim an overabundance of common sense outside of his work.

Which was probably why, even though he was scared, he wasn't backing down now when all wisdom indicated he should do otherwise.

'Well... down really hasn't been a problem for me," Tal mumbled slowly, remembering how much difficulty he'd had floating. Sinking just came more naturally to him! "But yeah, I've got plenty of spare rope. Just a minute..." He pushed himself up and scampered to the rope ladder, reaching the Peregrine's deck and returning a moment later with a length of light line. He cut it where Soh indicated he should and tied one end around his waist. Offering the other to his friend while Boreal looked on curiously, Tal took a deep breath. "Right. I'll follow your lead, Soh. An'... thanks. For helpin' me with this," he added, awkwardly bashful in his gratitude as he waded back into the water for another round against his nemesis.

Sohalia

Soh took the line that Tal offered and tied it around her own waist, tugging gently on it to ensure it was tied tightly. She then took the rest of the line and tied it to a tree on the riverbank. Holding up the length of rope, she said, "So we can find our way back." She would slowly let out the line as they swam; that way, they would have a clear path out of the caverns and back to the surface.

She smiled sweetly up at Tal. She could tell that he was nervous - and who wouldn't be? Swallowing her own discomfort, she patted his shoulder awkwardly, hoping that the gesture would calm him much as he'd calmed her earlier. "It's my pleasure! I've never helped someone with a quest before. It's going to be fun!" She waded into the water, leading her friend into their new dance with death adventure. She took one last look at the shore, her gaze flickering along the Peregrine, Boreal, and finally, Tal. Then she turned and led him out into the Symphony.

She took things slowly, giving him a moment to adjust to the feel of the current sweeping around his waist as they waded into deeper water. She gave him a few last-minute instructions - including a reminder to just tug on the rope if he needed help - and reminded him that they were looking for large bubbles floating along the bed of the river. Then, with a deep breath to steady her own nerves, she dove into the deeper water.

Fortunately, the water was crystal clear, and she had no trouble navigating to the riverbed. From there, it was but a moment's swim before she found what she was looking for, and she turned gracefully in the water to catch Tal's eye, pointing toward the bubbles she saw a few feet away. She swam closer, hesitated, then stuck her head inside, half expecting it to pop and dissipate - but it held, enclosing her head in a sphere of oxygen. She wouldn't be able to talk to Tal, but they would be able to breathe. And, she realized with a smile, the bubbles were fairly clear, with only the faintest green tinge to their exterior to color the waters around them.

The only downside was the ringing, but they'd expected that. With a mental shrug, Soh waited until she could see that Tal had found a bubble of his own and then continued her swim. It was strange, being able to breathe underwater, but it was a lot of fun, too. She watched with interest as a school of fish swam by, eyeing her much in the same way as she regarded them. It drew a giggle from the young woman, and she swam on.

Before long, they had found an entrance to the caverns. Soh paused in front of the darkness of the cave, treading water and holding herself in place. She turned to face Tal and pointed into the cavern; she had just realized that while Tal would be able to see in there, she would be entirely reliant on him to lead the way from there.

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going

"Oh yeah..." Tal swallowed hard at realizing that they might have gotten lost underwater but thankfully Sohalia was planning ahead for both of them. Her shoulder landed on his shoulder and startled a wan smile from him, drawing him out of his fear and he reached up to squeeze her hand gratefully. Words would only screw things up, he was sure, so he didn't try to say more, just nodded in weak agreement that this adventure would be 'fun.' Still, it was what he'd chosen and he squared his shoulders and put on a brave face as he followed Soh into the water.

The current of the deeper river gave him a bad few minutes after the smooth flow of their little training bow. Panic threatened the courier's recent lessons but the rope that connected him to Soh was a tether to his own courage and he steadied at the sight of her ahead of him. He took a gulp of air and dove after her, his inefficient kicking nevertheless propelling him after her, down into the swirling water and away from the light...

His Goggles protected his eyes and his sight and he saw her gesture clearly. His lungs burned with the unaccustomed effort and he flailed his way hurriedly towards one of the bubbles, pushing his face into it without hesitation and taking a grateful gasp of air even before the whole bubble was over his head. He took a long moment to just breathe and float until the rope drew taut and he frantically doggy paddled his way to catch up with Soh.

Tal glared at the fish, suspecting that they were judging him for his poor form, and kept looking over his shoulder at them until they were out of sight. The ringing in his ears was starting to get annoying but he'd dealt with worse at high altitudes and he gamely followed his friend until she found a cavern filled with shadows. He paused, but his confidence was returning as the algae bubble held firm and the air remained sweet and easy to breathe and he flashed her a reassuring grin as he took the lead, pulling himself along the walls of the cave more easily than he swam through the water.

The light faded quickly from the entrance but he could see far enough ahead to spy gleaming scales along the bottom of the dark cavern and he flailed back until he could grab Soh's hand, squeezing it excitedly as he tugged her further in - forgetting that she couldn't see. The goldfish gathered here were large - nearly as big as his thigh - and appeared to be hibernating away the last of the Deepfrost chill. The sleeping school stretched as far as his magical vision could see, their scales like scattered treasure on the ground.

Tal swam (badly) above them for a few minutes, taking in the sight before he turned to Soh--

And then realized she couldn't see. Definitely-sheepishly he led the way back towards the cavern entrance and the light until she could see enough to lead the way back again.

Sohalia

Tal reached up and squeezed her hand, and Soh turned away to conceal a blush. It was actually quite nice, this casual physical touch, now that she was getting used to it. But she supposed that didn't mean that the flutter in her stomach at the contact was just going to disappear.

She tried to take things slowly as they waded into the deeper, faster-flowing water. It wasn't enough of a current to drag them under, but it was certainly enough to feel. They made their way into the water and worked their way down. Each time she felt the rope tighten against her waist, she glanced back toward her friend, checking to make sure he didn't need her. To her relief, he seemed to be handling their underwater adventure quite well, and they made good time to a cavern entrance.

It was there that she waited for Tal to take the lead, and he did with only a moment's hesitation. She followed carefully, stretching her arms out in front of her to make sure she wasn't about to run into anything that would pop her air bubble. Since she was effectively blind, it was a surprise when she felt Tal's hand close around hers, and she instinctively squeezed in an effort to give him reassurance. Or excitement, she realized as he tugged her forwards. She waited in the darkness, feeling a bit forlorn that she was missing whatever it was that had caught Tal's attention. Then he was tugging her back through the cave, and she followed carefully, keeping a hold on his hand until she could begin to see a faint light at the end of a tunnel. Following their rope, she led the way back toward the surface.

When the broke the surface, the bubbles disappeared with a loud pop! and the ringing in her ears began to dissipate. They'd floated a ways downstream, and she flipped on her back, swimming towards the nearby shoreline with Tal in tow, keeping an eye on him to make sure he was alright now that they were at the surface again. The edge of the water here was steeper, and she leveraged herself out of the water, twisting until she sat on the edge of the river. She held out a hand to Tal with a grin, offering him a hand up if he wanted it.

"That was incredible!" she said, positively overflowing with curious energy. "Did the goggles work? Did you find anything? What did you see?"

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going

Tal would never have had the courage or the basic skills to complete the task without Soh and he knew it. He paddled after her towards the surface, reflecting on how much he owed to his friend, and if his limbs thrashed through the water, well, at least they were moving more or less in the right order and directions to keep him headed up this time. Having air to breathe while he did so kept him relatively calm; or at least, calm enough to stop himself from hyperventilating every time he thought he saw a glotter out of the corner of his eye.

He envied the ease with which Soh moved and floated through the water, but he didn't try to copy his friend. He kept to his doggy paddling, working his stubborn way over to shore after his own bubble popped. He had a bad moment when he reached the shore and realized his feet still weren't touching the bottom, but Soh's hand was a welcome lifeline and he grabbed it and used it to steady himself while he heaved himself onto shore like a beaching dolphin.

He rolled over onto his back and lay in the grass, panting, while his friend cheered on their adventure and he found a tired smile just for her enthusiasm. "Yeah," he agreed, rubbing his ear as the last of the tinnitus faded. "It was pretty, uh, somethin'. But the Goggles worked an' I saw these big a--uh, old fish, sleepin' away on the bottom of that cave. Their scales were all sortsa colors and they were huge!" He spread his arms wide above his chest, measuring out roughly three feet. "Wish I coulda shared the Goggles with you," he added sheepishly, only new realizing that he could have tried that, except... "But I dunno if we could've managed it without poppin' the bubbles."

He reached up to pull the Goggles back down to hang around his neck then paused. Tal bit his lip, brow furrowed in indecision before he tugged the Goggles off and shyly offered them to Sohalia. "Look, uh... if y'want t'go back an' see for yourself... y'can borrow 'em?"

Sohalia

Soh helped Tal from the water and said nothing about his lack of grace in the water as he collapsed beside her on the shore. He'd actually done quite well, especially given that he had only just learned to swim that afternoon, and she beamed at him with pride in her teaching ability. She'd been so afraid earlier that she was doing disastrously, but now she'd helped him to complete a quest! So she must have been doing better than she'd thought.

She listened with rapt attention as Tal described the scene below the waves. Giant fish sounded so interesting! "I'm so glad we found something!" she squealed enthusiastically. And that it wasn't unfriendly, she added silently. She wasn't entirely certain she could have dragged them out of the cave in time, if it had come to a confrontation with a river monster. But it hadn't come to that, and she was thrilled with what they had managed to accomplish.

When Tal hesitantly pulled his goggles over his neck and offered them to her, Soh's eyes grew round in her face. She didn't know much about the goggles, but they seemed important to him, and she took them reverently from his hand. "I don't know," she said shyly, though a certain wistfulness was clear in her tone. "I'd be afraid I'd break them, or something." As she spoke, she pulled the goggles on over her eyes, just to see what it would be like. It was a strange feeling, having something attached to her face. She wasn't sure she liked it all that much, but if it would allow her to see in the dark...

it's just a spark, but it's enough to keep me going

Tal practically beamed under Soh's enthusiasm, finding it much easier to relax and enjoy their success now that he was on dry land and hadn't drowned. It was entirely thanks to her lessons and knowledge of the Symphony's flora and layout, and he grinned up at his friend proudly. "Me too! Hopefully I won't have t'do that again for a long time," he prayed fervently. "But I guess since we've started, we should keep up the lessons..." A resigned sigh followed his words, but considering it would mean spending more time with Soh it definitely wasn't all bad, and Tal didn't look particularly disappointed - however reluctant he was to get back in the water at that particular moment.

It was hard to let his Goggles go, but Soh had definitely earned the right to try them out. Tal forced his fingers to relax and fall back to his side as she took the magical item from his hand, and her caution helped him to give her a lopsided smile and a small shrug. "Nah, magic items are pretty tough. That's not just any ol' glass in 'em. Safrin's blessed 'em, so they won't break easy."

The view from the inside was normal enough; despite the darkened lenses that used to prevent snow-glare, sight was clear and crystalline. No shadow within twenty feet could hide any surprises from Soh now, and if there had been any illusions within five feet she would have been able to see through them.