Apparently water magic could drown the user if it went wrong. Kaimana's eyes widened in surprise at that-- sounded dangerous! Comet seemed so young, and yet they already dealt with those terrible realities? They said their spells weren't good yet, that swimming would be important when they got better with their magic. Well that added a sense of urgency to the whole lesson, didn't it? Kaimana couldn't take the danger of water away. The potential to bend water to one's own will sounded like as much of a blessing as it did a curse. Maybe this was just something Comet had to live with, to grow into rather than to lean away from. Kaimana was impressed with the willingness to step up to that challenge that Comet was already demonstrating.

'What's your magic?' Kaimana shrugged. "I don't know much of anything about magic, besides the fact that it gives us life. If I had any particular magical abilities, I was never made aware of them." Kaimana thought for a moment. "Well, maybe the ability to give magic is a magical ability. I did that to a stone that already had life laying dormant inside of it. A person known as 'Pride' told me that was possible. Now the stone is slowly growing in my temporary den, and one day a creature will hatch out of it. I wouldn't call that any specific kind of magic though. Just part of the gift of life." Kaimana was also very good at taking life away, if you were a fish.

"Do you feel ready for, say, a final test? We can go to an island on foot to try out another swimming exercise if you'd like. I know you wanted to go to one. After that, we can call it a day if you'd prefer." Kaimana smiled, leaving the option open for any answer. If Comet still wanted to rest, that was fine too. Kaimana was very happy to be able to converse with them.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet could tell that Kaimana had many thoughts about her response to her question. Perhaps not all of them were good, as she seemed a bit surprised and worried. But she couldn't read minds, so she didn't continue trying the decipher the jaguar's facial expressions.
She listened to her answer about if she had magic or not. It was some good wisdom. "That's weird, I thought everyone had some sort of ability. Your stone sounds cool! I know of a stone like that too, daddy told me that when they hatched they would name it Abraxas. Then I would have a sister!" Comet wondered if she would be able to give magic herself. Perhaps she create a stone like that too? Maybe she would try when she was older, right now she was busy practicing her other things.
"Yes!" she said enthusiastically, perhaps after all this practice she would have enough endurance to make it to the island. She waited for Kaimana to go first, like all the other times in case she needed help.

@Kaimana

Did everyone have some sort of ability? The possibility didn't sound entirely bizarre. Whatever magic was, it seemed to be able to do quite a lot of things. It was in every gembound, Kaimana knew. It was what gave them life, and how they transferred life to others. So then, had her ability just been dormant this whole time?

Comet's next words pulled Kaimana from her theorizing. So Comet had a father, who had a stone like hers? One with life in it, that he would revive. He already had a name picked out? How interesting! How interesting indeed. "Is that so? Congratulations to your father, then! And to you! I hope you treat your sibling well, Comet." Kaimana felt she needn't be worried about the treatment of Comet's sibling-to-be. Comet seemed like a sweet child. She hoped their family would be happy and get along.

That was one of the concerns Kaimana had about the life in the stones. You couldn't really tell who was going to come out, could you? In that sense, it was like meeting a new person. Except not just a new person -- a brand new person. Did traits from the stone's past life carry on into its next? Was there any way to tell, to predict what could hatch from that stone? Kaimana supposed not. And perhaps it was best to not be known, but to be discovered in time. Wouldn't that invalidate the job of time, if you could just bypass it? Or invalidate the point of the unknown, if you could just know it without even trying? Part of the fun of meeting someone was the surprises.

Comet seemed to be very ready to get back to the lesson. Kaimana hadn't been planning on swimming to the island from this distance. "Shall we walk closer? Swimming to an island from here, as we've seen, would be rather difficult." She would leave it up to Comet, although she hoped the child wasn't so excited that they had become blind to their own inexperience. Kaimana would be here to drag them back to shore if they had, so a safety net was guaranteed, but of course that didn't stop her from wishing they would make the better decision anyways.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet smiled at Kaimana's congratulations. She couldn't wait to meet her sibling herself. She wondered what animal they would be. "I already have a brother actually, his name is Sun and he is a gibbon!"
Her mind drifted off to thinking about it. She imagined all the fun things they would do when Abraxas hatched. They could play games, go hunting, play, and fool around together! Although Sun was already really hyper himself.

She listened to the jaguar's opinion on swimming to the island on nodded. She hadn't actually considered the idea of walking closer first. "Yeah, sure." Comet walked along the shore to the point where it was closest to one of the many islands. This would be a good starting off point. She waited for Kaimana to go first.

@Kaimana

So Comet had... an entire family! A father, a brother named Sun who was a gibbon (whatever that was), and another sibling on the way! Kaimana smiled. "A large group you've got there." Then again, every group felt large when your group was composed of yourself and a magical rock. And the ocean, Kaimana supposed, when they felt like it. That was a rather large group all things considered! But most of its size came from the inclusion of the ocean, and the ocean rarely spoke, so it rarely felt like anything but forlornness.

They moved along the shore until they felt comfortable with the distance between where they stood and where they wanted to stand: on the isle across. Comet was waiting for Kaimana, it seemed, so the jaguar hastily made her way into the water and began to swim out.

She made it about a third of the way before turning back to Comet and watching to see if they followed.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet had never thought of her group as large, she thought it was a normal size. But then again, she had never actually visited other groups before, so she wouldn't know. It must be awful lonely for Kaimana to be alone by herself.

She watched the jaguar swim out about a third of the way between the island and the shore. Not too far, and a good starting point. Comet readied herself; after this if she wanted to make it to the island there would be no going back. She took a deep breath, and swam out. Her paws fell into an even rhythm which kept her going and she even overshot a bit past Kaimana, so far it was going well.

@Kaimana

Now for the next part of the journey! Kaimana began to paddle forward once she was sure Comet was following and doing okay.

Kaimana was breaking it down by thirds. She wanted to make sure Comet wasn't slowing down or falling under. So far, they seemed to be doing pretty good! "You alright, Comet?" the jaguar said, keeping herself afloat in place with her head above the water.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

"Yes!" said Comet, but didn't say anymore. She was focused on swimming and didn't have much energy for talking. She waited for Kaimana to swim the next third before following. Her strokes started to falter, and soon she found she didn't have enough energy. She was going under. "Help!" and then she felt her head sink below the water.

@Kaimana

A response came, and Kaimana felt relieved. Quickly, and unfortunately, that response and the security it brought with it was desecrated by another; 'Help!' Kaimana was going to have to turn this ship around, wasn't she? Well, no, they were two thirds of the way there, it would be easier to sally forth. The problem was that she was going to have to do most, if not all, of the work for the last third.

Unfortunately, when Kaimana swam back and tried to grab Comet's scruff, she missed. That was alright, nothing to fear. Her calm nature remained undisturbed. She would simply try again, once she got the water out of her throat.

@Comet

Comet

Arctic Wolf

Comet watched Kaimana's dark shadow pass overhead. She was saved! But the head that came down just narrowly missed her scruff. That meant she was going to have to try and save herself. She couldn't even believe this was happening! She had water magic, but she was still drowning! Quite unbelievable. Comet forced her paws to work.

With the little strength that they had left, she fought her way to the surface and felt herself start dropping down again. Quickly she clung onto Kaimana, hopefully in a way that wouldn't impede her swimming.

@Kaimana