[Training] sent your sea ravens

Noah waited.

It took him a fair bit of trading, but he figured out a way to send word to Hadama in his underwater city. He was sure he could have gone a more official route through the land king to get to the merking, but since this was no official visit and merely one for his own pleasure, Noah took to the ways of Torchline's streets.

He started to doubt the validity of his endeavor, though, as the sun started to set on the other side of the ocean. The Sentinel frowned as he kicked at some sand and stated pacing short and shallow divets in the slightly damp sand.

The route it took may have been circuitous, but a message did indeed reach the Sea King of Torchline eventually. He was hearing petitions in the Underwater City that day, and he had to see to his people first, but once the last merman had laid out his case and been granted the requested permit to expand his kelp beds outside the City Hadama gave his councilors a solemn nod. Before they could protest his departure he was already gone, Aquaporting to the stretch of coast where the missive had indicated his favorite sparring partner would be waiting.

He broke the surface of the sea nearby, pushing his hair back with a shake of his head and taking a deep breath of the fresh, salten air. "Noah," he rumbled in greeting, setting aside his metaphorical crown and letting some of the tension ease from his back and shoulders as he regarded the rugged man on the beach with quiet pleasure. "Welcome. How can I help?"

Noah had carved several canals in the sand with his feet before Hadama arrived. He turned to the merking and offered him a bright smile. "The usual. It's getting to the end of the season, after all. Thought I'd get a spar in with you before Deepfrost sets in." His head cocked at the end of the sentence, hands coming to rest on his hips briefly. "I hope you have time for that."

Noah took a few steps closer to the water. He eyed the merking succinctly. His hands lowered off his hips as he did so. Bare feet let him into the shallows of the water, just until the waves were shy of soaking his knees and the hem of his light cutoffs. He was prepared to spar in the water, if the Tidebreaker agreed to such activities.

"Indeed," the mermanta agreed, delight sparkling in his emerald eyes and quiet laughter filling the Bond with silent pleasure for Noah's thoughtfulness. "I am in need of a good workout." Being King involved far too much treading water while listening to people's problems. Though Hadama did his best to resolve them, he was happiest when he could be more active. Noah's offer had come at the perfect time.

"This is worth making time for."

He raised his arms above his head in a stretch, popping a few vertebrae as he loosened up. The arms came down and his eyes gleamed sapphire blue with mischief as the wavelets around Noah's feet and calves became a riptide, attempting to pull the demigod out into deeper water.

Noah, too, was in need of a good workout. The mer was a perfect match for such a thing. So far in their trainings together, Noah had been challenged. Hadama was an entirely new type of opponent to him -- someone who couldn't match him on land save for the night of the full moon. His magic, even, was a challenge to Noah. He had sparred with Deimos many times and the Sword had used his own control over the elements, but Hadama seemed to have a different strategy over the mastery he held. It intrigued Noah as much as it challenged him.

As Hadama agreed, Noah felt the pull of the water. It grappled at his ankles and calves and did, as intended, pull him out. Half of that was because the demigod allowed the maneuver, and half of it was because of the power of Hadama's magic. Noah focused on keeping his head above water as the sands slipped from beneath his feet. As if called upon for the Sentinel's defense in times of peril, an ethereal, sunlit stag formed behind the merking and charged.

Even on the night of the full moon Hadama was no match for Noah on land, and well he knew it. His balance improved with every excursion, but given those only happened one night a month he still walked with care and moved with more gravitas than grace when attempting a two-legged gait. It did not trouble him; he knew his weaknesses as well as his strengths, but he was grateful that his Halovian friend was willing to play to the latter today.

As long as the demigod remained within ten feet of the mermanta he would not drown, even if he went underwater. But if he stayed in the air Hadama had other options. Sapphire eyes narrowed in concentration as the winds around them began to whip up and small clouds began to form and gather around Noah's head in order to obscure his vision--

A shift in pressure behind him was all the warning Hadama received, but he was familiar with the trick now. He dove to the side, his shoulder taking a glancing blow from an ethereal hoof as he was unable to dodge completely, but his grunt was largely hidden underwater where he submerged himself just far enough to avoid another charge but close enough to the surface to continue his attempt to use his Storm Call to temporarily blind the human who remained addicted to the air.

Noah didn't know that his proximity to the king would make a difference at all in his ability to breathe under the water. All he knew was that he needed to keep his head above at all costs, unless or until the magic around him was disturbed.

His stag, flaming and brilliant and glorious, charged for Hadama. It dealt a glancing blow to the king's shoulder as he ducked beneath of the surface of the water. It threw its massive, crowned head in victory and then dissipated in glistening sunlight and stars.

The storm was enough that it forced Noah beneath the water. He sucked in a breath as the storm clouds surrounded his head, and used his arms to bring himself down, while using his body like a torpedo to smack both of his feet flat against Hadama's already injured shoulder.

His shoulder was injured, but Hadama was already watching Noah from beneath the waves and when he saw the demigod begin to flex his arms for propulsion the mermanta was already moving. Graceful and sleek in his element in spite of his muscular bulk, he twisted aside from the kick in a tight spiral that flowed from his shoulders to the tip of his long, slender tail, tattooed scars glittering in the light of sunset that filtered down below the surface.

As Noah went past on the speed of his uninterrupted momentum the King attempted to launch a short, swift punch to the demigod's own shoulder. It only seemed fair to respond in kind, after all, and if Noah wanted a physical fight then Hadama was perfectly content to follow his friend's lead.

Noah was under no impression that he would be able to best Hadama under the water. No, he certainly wouldn’t even come close. But like their other spars, Noah wanted to use this time to stretch his mind and his muscles in ways his other sparring partners were not able to offer him like the mermanta.

Which was exactly what was happening as Hadama twirled away from him with all of the strength and grace. Noah attempted his own twist, but because he was not as swift as the one who had been born and raised in these waters, Hadama’s attack hit him squarely in the right pectoral muscle. Noah flinched, and had to stop himself from drawing in a breath — but then he realized, he already had been drawing in breath. His eyes widened and over the bond a confused bouncing of question marks hit Hadama.

Unwilling, however, to let his surprise ruin their spar, Noah tried to surge forward and begin grappling the mer in the water.

The confusion that flooded the Bond was met with dancing emerald eyes and a flash of a white-toothed grin in the twilight waters. No one drowns when they are with me, the King said simply, but there was no time for further conversation as the spar continued and Noah moved back onto the attack.

The grapple caught Hadama off guard, and before he could dodge away again the demigod had grabbed him. The mermanta wasn't used to being overpowered and he let out a grunt of surprise that was deepened by the water surrounding them as Noah's arms wrapped around his chest.

There wasn't a surface for Noah to pin him down to, however, and no air currently in his lungs for the human to squeeze out,but his ribs creaked painfully under the pressure. With a powerful flick of his muscular tail Hadama attempted to put them into a spin so that Noah was beneath him - and he could drag his sparring parnter across a sandbar in an attempt to scrape the demigod off.

STill clumsy in the water, Noah was relying on his strength for this attack. He felt Hadama’s body groan beneath his crushing power, and he couldn’t help but smirk. With a confidence he never felt before filling him (knowing he couldn’t drown as long as he stayed close to the mer), Noah started to squeeze harder.

Then Hadama shifted, his agility and grace so great, and sunk them to the bottom of the sandbar. Noah’s mind reeled with how to counter, even as he felt the manta push him against the sand and scrape him. Like ningo mess off a boot. ARms released and Noah tried to push against the king’s shoulders and chest, simply to get him off of him. Simultaneously he kicked his legs wildly to propel him in a forward burst to get out ahead of the king.

Hadama would never have described Noah as 'ningo mess' but the demigod's crushing strength necessitated immediate action. The mermanta was far too eager to be free of the grappling bearhug to prevent Noah from letting go, and he was shoved away before he'd quite realized what had happened.

Shaking his head to clear the daze from his thoughts, he watched Noah kick forward with silent bemusement before he realized what it would mean. They weren't very far from the surface, but if he let the other man get too far ahead of him...

He swam forward with a strong thrust from his tail, trailing Noah to keep him in range though he held off on further attacks. You can only breathe the water within ten feet of me, he called through the Bond, realizing almost too late that there hadn't been time to tell his friend the details earlier.

Honestly, the Sentinel had not anticipated nor expected his own speed beneath the water. Unlatched from the mer, Noah’s body shot out like a rocket. Before Hadama warning coir reach him, Noah felt it. Because his lungs didn’t have the stored air of holding his breath, the ache was sudden and crushing.

Panic filled the attuned bind and reflected in the demigods mind. For a moment all he could do was scramble, until his body willed him to push off the sandbar and use the same rocketing force for emerge on the surface of the water. As his head broke the surface, his pulled in a shaking and great breath. His lungs burned and the air felt like fire running down his throat.

He tread water u til his breathing was calmed and back to normal, the saltwater running down his face stinging his eyes slightly as it mixed with the sea air. ”Well that certainly stretched me.”

Hadama followed his friend, swimming strongly to catch up but once Noah reached the surface there was little more for the Mer to do. He simply surfaced nearby and waited, a ripple of concern washing gently through the Bond as the demigod worked on breathing air again - a trickier prospect than usual at the moment.

Indeed, the Tidebreaker agreed, relief that there was no greater injury than a few bruises and a fright joining the sincerity in his mental tone. A good match. As always. Noah was a reliable challenge and an excellent training partner who pushed the mermanta to his limits. Every time they sparred he learned something new from it, and he was thoroughly satisfied with the education.

He reached up to check the first bruise he'd received with a rueful twitch of his lips. Can I thank you with a meal at the Hanged Man? Though if the new father needed to get back to his family the King would completely understand.