His surroundings continuing to be in turmoil, evasion had been momentarily forgotten in favor of regaining control from the environment. Limbs kicked against the tug of waves, and he writhed, fighting back with every muscle he could engage. It was more luck than attentiveness that alerted him to the nearing presence; a chance roll in the water spun his line of sight directly toward Pelt's approach, her snout zooming closer by the second.

Alarm moved him. Back legs propelled by an extra ounce of panic-infused strength, Fahl swept down, bubbles of unheard curses spewing up from the corner of his mouth as he did. While he glided below, the seal's shadow stretched long above him. It promised capture if he did not flee faster and distance from its touch.

@Pelt

Even as she stretched her nose toward him, Fahl sped downward and away from her. She still had catching up to do. With a violent wriggle, Pelt picked up speed in her dive. She felt the water pressure increasing, and the resistance as she cut through the water, and relished it.

Bubbles swept up from the iguana's mouth, helping to keep her target in sight through the underwater turmoil. Pelt's eyes were focused on Fahl's movements, trying to predict any sudden turn that might come. Closer. She had to get closer.

@Fahl

Turned away from his opponent, focused on speed, Fahl might as well have been blind to his opponent's movements. While he'd yet to exert himself to the point of flagging, desperation to swim out of the seal's shadow had its own exhausting effect. It rested like a heavy weight upon his mind, and as he seemed no closer to fleeing into open water, his tail swung in a last-ditch effort to evade and buy time.

He turned but did not dart in any definite direction. Instead the iguana spun. And continued to spin. Ripples of water that'd ran alongside him now twisted with his momentum. A weak eddy formed, a barely distorted image at its center. Needless to say, he'd be an easy catch, even as he broke away from his whirl to take an abrupt left.

At this distance, tagging could be accomplished with as small an action as a simple bop of the nose upon his hide.

@Pelt

Even as she drew closer, there was an eddying of water around the iguana, blurring and distorting his shape. Pelt almost slowed with confusion—was there something wrong with Fahl?

Either way, concern could come until after she'd tagged him. Pelt lunged with her nose aimed straight toward the center of the rippling whirl, only to have her lunge perfectly coincide with Fahl's turn left. She surged past where he'd been only fractions of a second before, and struggled to turn quickly with a muttered curse that sent bubbles rushing to the surface.

@Fahl

After his turn, there wasn't much else that Fahl could do beside keeping ahead of his pursuer. And for that to happen, he needed to endure the constant crash of waves upon his hide, to continue powering through the water without pause. Rocketing forward in the newly chosen direction, limbs were held close to his body, streamlining him as much as a lizard was capable of being. His line a straight one, following would be far from difficult.

@Pelt

At least now she knew her weakness: she was not as agile as the smaller creatures. And it might--no, it would certainly be difficult to turn and dart away quickly once she tagged Fahl. Drily, Pelt wondered if she would be stuck as "it" forever: tagging the iguana, only to be tagged back mere moments after.

But she was going to jinx herself thinking like that. Pelt put on a burst of speed as she swam toward Fahl. This, at least, she was good at. The iguana was swimming in a straight line, not utilizing his advantage, and she would take advantage of that. As the gap between them grew smaller, she lunged forward to tap him with her nose.

@Fahl

Unsurprisingly, mind only focused ahead, Fahl did not see anything zooming up from behind. The nose lanced past a swaying tail to land upon his tailbone. Pushed into a wild somersault, his mouth was one moment closed and determined, the next moment open and spluttering. Bubbles of shock trailed up in plumes, disbelief evident in how he choked on water for much longer than any sensible Gembound ought to.

Impulse overtook surprise, and once he regained control, the iguana rushed at Pelt. A paw lashed out for a hasty tap back, the results of which he did not wait to discover.

Then he rocketed up. Silence fell away as the surface was pierced, the sound of splashes its replacement. Water spewed out from him, and a wheeze of, "Ffffuhhhhh," emerged as air filled lungs. Incapable of saying what he meant in full, profanity was reduced to unintelligible hacks.

@Pelt

Immediately after she felt her nose touch, Pelt threw herself sideways through the water. Waves tossed her to and fro, and she felt herself accelerating to the surface as she stopped resisting the buoyancy of the water. She didn't see the iguana anywhere in the blur of water and bubbles, but she spotted him as she broke the surface and took several quick breaths.

As she had avoided a tag-back and Fahl was not so far away, Pelt did not linger. She plunged underwater once more, but didn't dive. Instead, she stuck near the surface, choosing to go for horizontal speed over depth. Whether this strategy would work remained to be seen.

@Fahl

Shoulders trembled and quaked as Fahl grappled with regaining his breath in full. It appeared that while his size came with benefits, greater agility and speed primarily, endurance was not one of those. Such a small span of time had leeched it away from him, and restoring the empty reserves took more time than a couple gulps of crisp sea air. Although frustrating to discover a physical limitation, at least it had nothing to do with his magic, an option he had yet to explore during this bit of sport; burns weren't exactly deemed as fun, nor would they be fair.

Related to thoughts of size, if Pelt's bulk had been less, her brief emergence might have escaped notice. However, the waves cleaved apart as if a giant hand had chopped down upon the bay. Gray hide could be glimpsed before water filled the created space once more, the surface rippling in the wake of the disturbance. With the view glasslike the closer to the top one was, her silhouette stayed unmistakable, surging along.

Tension had seized hold of him at the initial sight, but now it bled away at her retreat. Whatever uncertainty existed as to whether or not his tag had touched, that dispelled. Clearly he was still the designated pursuer. Fahl lingered for a generous lungful to keep him steady in his chase. Then, bubbles bursting into his eyes as he descended, legs kicked out and tail whipped in a familiar propelling lash.

Underwater and this close to the surface, the aftereffects of Pelt leaving remained. Waves buffeted his body, and overcame his determined efforts, pushing him the opposite direction from the seal.

@Pelt

It occurred to Pelt as she swam that it seemed like they'd be retrieving something from deeper down later. Easy though it was to stick near the surface--Fahl was falling behind, as far as she could tell--she supposed reluctantly that it would be good practice to dive deeper.

Pausing only to gasp in another lungful of air and refresh her reserves, Pelt plunged down into the depths of the bay. But all this full-speed swimming was starting to take its toll on her. Pelt's strength flagged, as did her speed, and her descent was almost sluggish. Combined with the reduced horizontal speed, it was a glaring opportunity for Fahl to catch up.

@Fahl