He'd greeted his children as they came- pangs of worry ran through his mind, but... They needed something. It would do them no good to sit and stagnate at the camp, help back by their father. They wanted something to do.

This would be it.

Attikias gave a small greeting to each, a warm pat on the shoulder, and a warm smile. He had to have faith- and he acknowledged each of their words, hovered near Carja, and offered to pull the rest of the clan to her. 'If you get tired, Carja, let me know and I can swim a little.' He'd help anyways, kicking on his own, but he wouldn't compare to a creature with wings- all he had were twig legs and a tail.

He'd wrapped the spear around his shoulders before they continued on, turning on the light and flashing it before Carja. It faded deep into the water, filtered, but it would still provide something. He'd pull himself a little closer to Carja's back when they passed vents, his skin prickling at the heat- down here, it couldn't sweat except for the slick feel of water breathing. And yet they went on, and Attikias kicked with Carja, his mind reeling. Should he have not come?

No. He shook his head, his braided hair streaming behind it. He had to. His children wanted to, anyways, so he'd have to come to keep them safe.

He'd kept his grip on Carja, fearful when the shapes began to form before them. 'What...' His mind idly reeled when he shone the light on the Praetors, a shudder crawling up his spine. 'What are those?'

Would they be inside? But, no- the idiots of Order... Attikias clenched his jaw turning the light to the stone as light etched through runes, the way opening.

Down here, it felt like the very water was made of ice, and Attikias shivered. Quietly, he willed magic to spark at his fingertips- and yet, nothing came, and he frowned as he drew his limbs in. 'It's cold.' The thought was matter-of-fact, not entirely a complaint, and yet Attikias wished he could have brought fire down here. But what of the lava? He shook his head again, laying himself flat against Carja's back and making himself as slim as possible.

The light of his flashlight shone on everything they passed- the Praetors, the obelisks, the strange sigils on each. They were marked, and he wondered on this, but kept his thoughts close. What did they mean? More ancient developments, lost to the waters of time?

Attikias flinched back as the alien jellyfish twirled by, his light locked onto them. Don't touch anything alive. That didn't bode well- it was so alien down here, so different than the surface, that the elf's mind ran circles with fright. It was no ordinary fear- this was dread, gut wrenching enough to the point that he wanted to run, that he wanted to curl up and float there forever. 'But you can't.' His mind took a stranglehold on his body, forcing him to unlatch from Carja. If something happened, he'd be trapped here forever- 'Do this for Artio.'

He let out a small whimper from the back of his throat. He had to go on. He had to find the key. Shining his light forward, Attikias launched off from Carja's back and floated towards the caves of the cave, his light casting harsh shadows into the pockmarked holes on the floor. 'Do you know if it'll be floating, or fallen, Patrick?' he'd question, twisting around to ask this to the seahorse. 'It'll look like the other key?' Two questions, one elf, and once they were out there, he continued on in his search.

Who knew what laid hidden in the crevices. He didn't stick his hand down, only directing the beam of his light into each hole from afar, looking, struggling for something to bring back.

Galleon stayed quiet. The glow of her bright blue eyes and glowing pits immediately obvious, like a beacon in the dark. One that wouldn't prove terribly useful. Galleon ended up near the back of the group. Not by choice, but by her sheer biology. Her body was unfit for swimming, her tail pushed frantically at the water. It only slowed her down, exhausted her. Her whole body confused by the lack of resistance that the water offered.

The dark, the limp corpses engraved with symbols, and the alien creatures that swam by in groups, all of it was alien. Terrifying to a baby built for the exact opposite environment. Dry deserts, not cold abysses. Galleon was desperate to lean into another creature for support, but she was wary of them. None of them she knew, and vice versa.

"I'll look,"Galleon said. The mental link helped was definitely a help, considering she still hadn't quite mastered that talking thing. With a couple pumps of her tail, she was off. She wouldn't go far, terrified of the depths. She swam a short distance beneath the group, and using the glow of her heat pits, began to scour the ground immediately near the group. Searching the scrapes and shallow pits of the floor.

Descent.

And by Vargas was it a long one.

Khavur attempted to mimic the motions of other winged beasts around. Copy the way they moved their wings, if they moved them at all, or the way they maneuvered their bodies, tails, necks, whatever. There was no fear of drowning, so that staved off a lot of the panic that often accompanies "swimming lessons", if this could be considered as that. Still, Khavur could not get anywhere close to a perfect replica of anyone's technique. It just had too many parts in all the wrong places, not much prior practice if any at all, and just... didn't know the basics of swimming.

Khavur tried to treat it like flight, but flight had different rules! Khavur could put a lot of energy into starting flight, knowing that gliding and hopping off of surfaces would help it recover! It wasn't really endurance-based because it didn't have to be. Applying this logic to swimming in open water... sucked. It was a strong start, for sure! Probably looked goofy as all heck, but it was bold, powerful! Very quickly, that gusto would vanish.

Tired and woefully unprepared, Khavur would fall into its own invented pattern of motions (good!), but lag behind (bad). Sooner rather than later, it would have to be propelled entirely by the will to survive and any idle brain conversations happening in its mind (public or private). The exhaustion only built and built, and Khavur would likely forget every thought it was having later, but... one would stick. An early bird of a thought. Bird..? Crab...? What was the aquatic equivalent--? Anyways. It was a marvel that this was the kind of world Labradorite-One was made to thrive in. What a purpose to have. Had it seen any of this before, experienced it...? Darkness, open space, absolute abyss? Khavur only wished it could catch a glimpse of the labradorite down here, truly in its natural environment... to better understand it, and also to keep an eye on it for... keeping an eye's sake. But alas, the labradorite's form was built all too well for darkness and open water. Not even its glowering red lights traveled far in the deepest depths of the water.

...

....

.....

By the time they'd gone from hot to cold again, Khavur had felt all of its muscles screaming bloody murder possibly two or three times. Why did the count matter anyways? It just about wanted to surrender to the waves at this point. Geez. More thoughts of labradorite; brief, amazement mixed with a sour note of envy. But it would pass. It would all pass sooner or later.

The strength of Khavur's training and experiences had allowed it to come this far. It could endure tribulations, even though it was not necessarily built to. Thus the paradox of perfection. Tangentially: the heat, Khavur found, was enjoyable in an odd way. Not quite comfortable like snuggling with Maximus, but sort of... prickly. Khavur found itself charmed by the unfamiliar sensation. Perhaps that was because Khavur was kind of... out of it, by this point. The cold, on the other killing claw, was... less enjoyable. But the utter relief and triumph of having made it along with all the rest more than made up for that.

...

....

.....

Patrick's -- Patty's words were barely registering, but at least Khavur didn't have to put so much extraneous work into moving down and down and down quite as much. Surprisingly, it didn't feel as dead inside as it thought it ought to... which was pretty gratifying honestly. Testing and utterly breaking a limit it had never even noticed before... Would the labradorite do as well in the air? They were rulers of separate domains.

Ah, but something of intrigue arrested a fragment of Khavur's fleeting attention! The "army of Order", in all their macabre, insectoid glory, floated dead in the waters. The bits and pieces Khavur saw from occasional flashes of light were a little bothersome, yes, but also highly interesting. Khavur did not understand much of anything about "Order" and "Chaos", really only that they were supposed to be on the "Chaos" side. It would have to ask Vargas about these... if it remembered.

...

....

.....

"WELCOME TO THE BLACK CITY. ... O FIND THE GREEN KEY ... LOST ... SOMEWHERE ..." Something something about not touching life. Thank. Goodness. Was it possible to collapse on the floor of an ocean? Because that sounded really tempting right now.

Alas, Maximus certainly would not allow that. Khavur hated bogging them down with all of its exhaustion. It would be a valuable lesson! In never doing dumb stuff like this ever again!!

So they had to find a key. Khavur felt, instinctively, like it shouldn't go too far from anyone else. ...Would it really be of any help at this point? Well... Khavur could at least try to stabilize itself in the water and see what it could see from where it, uh... "stood". It did not have the energy to move too much, not now. Possibly not for the next two dozen cycles. But! Khavur did have quite a few functional eyes. It was the least it could do...

Khavur is using the Baubled Band + TWO! heads to look around.

Khavur did not say anything via the Pattylink.

Dragon was a doting and loving father, but never call him a helicopter parent. Brandle's "I got a knife!" was greeted not with alarm but supportive enthusiasm: "A KNIFE! Very good!" he boomed. It did, at least, come with a fatherly caveat: "Point it at the enemy!" It was hard to be overprotective when his first act as a hatchling had been to attack a three-hundred-foot-long Master.

Skein's behavior, however, earned a rebuke--one that also reverberated along the link, accidentally available to anyone listening in. "SKEIN! What have I said about how we treat strangers! USE YOUR POLITE WORDS," Dragon instructed. But there was no actual anger in it, just surprise; and there was no hostility as his child gripped his tall-ridged tail.

As he entered the water more deeply, he gave them a last command: "Stay close to me, children--and to one another!" And then: down he went.

Deeper.

Deeper.

Darker.

Cetus was already black, in its depths--hardly any light filtered in from above, and its silty sediment meant the alligator (and likely his children) were well-used to murky waters. He was made, too, for swimming: his limbs were neatly tucked against his flanks, his permanent grin imprinted on his rigid face as his muscled tail did all the work. Even light strokes from side to side propelled him down quite quickly: and if his children held onto him as he descended, so much the better. He was careful to watch out for them, careful to monitor their locations, though he trusted them to avoid doing anything too foolish.

Dark eyes, as they sunk even deeper, took in the... questionable... sights. The impaled white insectoid things, mere husks beneath the sea. The door, the glowing glyph, and the obelisks as they descended lower still. All the while, Dragon's mind was working. Nemean did this, hm-? How, and why? Is this why Aquarian called her a betrayer-?

When at last they reached the bottom--it felt as if he'd been swimming for years, though the water-breathing came easily to him, as the swimming--Dragon turned to find Patrick in the dark. He could feel the creature speaking into his mind--into their minds--and it was an odd sensation, but he accepted it as necessary.

Another key-?

Dragon scanned the bottom--all black, with hints of light here and there belonging to unknown things. "Remain close, Children-" he reminded them, then remembered that all could hear his thoughts. "Brandle. Skein. Stay close to your father. Let us find this key--Aquarian will be pleased."

At least--he hoped he would.

Magic flared behind dark-adapted eyes, so that his vision grew a little clearer--sharpening the shapes in the distant murk, and allowing him to see the light a little more brightly. Then he began his search: slowly criss-crossing the ocean floor, the sweeping of his tail propelling him through disturbed silt as he scoured the gaps and pocks along the rocky ground.

Blight had plunged into water, before, a thousand times. He hunted fish by skimming the surface, sometimes snatching their silver glint from the waves and sometimes diving deep to snatch something he'd spotted a little lower.

Never, however, had he continued with momentum lost, struggling his way deeper into the dark, as sheer depth began to press in against his ribs. It was surprisingly claustrophobic, despite the expanse stretching out in every direction. Panic nearly set in, a few times, but he fought it back; he could breathe just fine, as much as he kept fearing he was drowning.

Worse was the fact that though he was built for flight, flying, and diving, he was not built for extended swimming. His wings at first flapped at the water, but he found that the resistance of the sea wore his forelimbs into exhaustion quickly. The paddling of his hind limbs did little. He was able to slither downward like a snake, as he did sometimes swim, however: a curl of his neck followed through along his spine, his tail--like Dragon's--sweeping along behind him. Without its lateral compression, though--without the height of an alligator tail--it did not propel him forward nearly as easily. He kept close to Carja, though: her offer had been met with a few murmured, friendly words, and he did his best to ride her wake, or get a (careful, although his teeth were sharp enough) grip on her offered wing to drift alongside her. Still, it was hard going.

As a result, by the time they'd passed beneath the doors and their morbid guardians (creepy...), and entered in among the black obelisks, he was worn through.

Muscles trembled with exertion, and it was with immense relief that he realized they had reached their destination--sort of. At last, he thought, wearily.

Whilst the others set about searching, Blight took this time--exhausted--to float in place, unnerved by the press of water from all sides, by the darkness, by the glimpse of others here-and-gone in the shadows that flanked him. He reached for his magicka, hoping simply to rest for a moment, for now.

As a little strength trickled back in, as his muscles eased their tightness, his glowing eyes slipped half-shut. Good-... that felt good. Thank the caves.

Hestia waited patiently, not one to rush into anything. Gentle eyes flickering from one gembound to the next with a soft smile upon her face. There were so many of them! All of different sizes and species! Even some hybrid just like herself! And as fate would have it she did have someone take her up on her offer! They seemed to be a gembound, a rather interesting one too- possibly a hybrid? She smiled, they seemed very kind; having tossed a necklace to a gembound within the water below. They soon climbed upon her back and held on, gurgling their thanks to her. She was more than happy to help, especially to someone so nice!

It's nice to meet you! I'm Hestia- though you- already know that! Hold on tight, I'm quite attuned to the water despite my-element! Should be a nice smooth ride!

Slowly she began to wade into the water, each step allowing the water to creep higher and higher till soon she and her new friend(?) were submerged; as were many of the other gembounds. There were so many of them, all descending into the water, deeper and deeper. At first it was rather- loud; there was so many gembounds of course! That paired with the ambient sounds well- it was alot; but she did well, focusing on the task at hand. Occasionally checking to ensure the gembound who was atop her shell was still holding on securely and was alright.

As time passed it grew darker...quieter...the water warmer and oh how she loved it! Being able to also stay submerged for so much longer than she could naturally- and she was rather gifted with her lung capacity! But this!? Oh it was so pleasant to not have to worry, to enjoy the water against her skin and how weightless her form was; where she was meant to be. Suddenly though the water grew darker, dimmer and even more silent; everything muffled against the pressure on ears. She could barely make out the gembounds beside her, so she stayed closed; still relaxed as her shell riding companion seemed to still be aboard... and so far- nobody was in trouble?

Before anxiety and nerves could set in the group came to a great stone door. There- was... bodies-husks? Old and worn...a warning of sorts? She could only breathe- calmly; an attempt to anyway. This would certainly be a story for her mother to hear! She watched with interest as their guide slotted a key into the stone, purple light flaring outward and soon the door began to glow- gorgeous patterns of which she had never seen before!

Patrick the guide spoke up again- in his tone of voice which seemed rather energetic and... cheerful?? one might say?...in a way? Either way she listened intently, she would ask if her mother knew of the 'Order' of which Patrick spoke of. She was rather curious, but that would be for another time. Soon they all began to follow Patrick again. Into the darkness of Fornax yet again, but this time it was colder now; still a temperature she enjoyed; soothing to her thick hide. Though the pressure was- definetlly stronger her...she was sure she'd be fine. Occasionally check back at the gembound atop her shell to check if they seemed- alright themselves.

There were more bodies down here, impaled and limp. skeletal and hollow and a warning to all. They were inscribed with- something? Sigils that she had never seen before either but that was of little importance; she knew a warning when she saw one. And once more their guide spoke up, welcoming them to the Black City! Now- they needed to find a key?...a GREEN Key... okay that seemed short and to the point. They were all told it would take time- and it would be tiring, but she was up for it! She had made it this far, there was no giving up now!

Aside from the gembounds there seemed to be little else- other than... well creatures unknown...and well- jellyfish?...though before she could admire them for too long the guide had warned them all- rather feverishly to NOT touch anything alive. She hummed to herself, glancing around and back at the gembound upon her back.

I'll swim around- and we can both scan the floor; would be the safest I think.

She smiled, slowly swimming around for them both to scan around for the key, or well anything of interest. She would take care to not wander too far away from others, best to stay somewhat nearby incase anything should go awry.
@Beast

Carja dove deep, making sure that Attikias and anyone else who had grabbed a hold were hanging on tight. Her tail served as a useful tool, propelling her forward easily as her hind legs did most of the work, slightly webbed feet (nothing like a duck's foot) assisted in her swimming. The deeper down they went the more anxious she became, her throat tightening.

”I have seen what creatures live down here,” she thought, broadcasting purposefully, ”Everyone, be cautious. The first monster I encountered was impossible to escape from and nearly drowned me. The second... the second hunted what was nearly my downfall.”

She reached out to Blight and held a wing out to him, urging him silently to grab it. She was strong enough to carry them both along, and Attikias was barely anything to her. To be fair, though, she was more than ten times his size.

”... I don't know what those are,” she thought to Attikias, frightened.

But she couldn't turn back. Not with Ascent here. Not with her child so close and in so much danger.

Carja almost alighted on the bottom of the sea, bubbles rising from her nose as she walked forward slowly, careful of her tail and wings in case they bumped into anything. But a glowing green key ought to be easy to find, right?

”I'm going left, Blight, can you come with me?”, she asked, carefully swimming forward, ”You can hold onto me if you want.”

@.Blight and @.Attikias

The other creature of the sea declared herself as Whale. Yes, she was of the Ocean, and this made the Orarian more comfortable even as dozens of creatures of the other world descended into the sea.

Artio was imprisoned, and needed to be free. A friend of the one who embodied the angry Ocean; and how the Orarian had felt her fury churn the sea. Yes, this was something that the behemoth would aid in.

thank you, the Orarian spoke, deep voice hushing as the vast ocean became a torrent of bodies, voices, and sounds. the orarian is with you, whale, the creature insisted, shrinking in on themself until they were merely a shadow looming underneath Whale. There were too many others, overwhelming and invading, so for now, the Orarian paid mind only to those closest to them, and ignored the dozens of voices that prodded at their mind.

Thankfully, as they descended, the group fell much quieter. There was the occasional thought, but most individuals focused on keeping up with the group. The Orarian was used to diving low, but it was strange to not be affected by the pressure of the water. When they finally reached the first gate, the Orarian tried to sense what all had made it down here, and what else lay beyond-- the creature sensed things more from vibration in the water than by sight-- and magic usually supplemented it.

But the magic backfired, whether from so many strange sources of bacteria, or due to being already overwhelmed, and a low groan came from the creature. The behemoth drifted closer to Whale, reaching out a tendril for stabilization.

@Whale for visibility

There were so many gembound here, and Hunter, sweet, darling Hunter wanted to make so many friends. The best way to do that? Clog up communications by answering every stray thought that came across. "Like the idea of holding onto someone. Who can be held onto? Also, how many healers, how many fighters?" Hunter grinned underwater, spinning to try and locate who had that thought, but he couldn't quite. He waved his hand. "I can fight! Me! The one with the flashlight and spear!"

"I'm Hestia, and I can carry a few of you upon my back! Climb aboard, my shell or my tail- or anywhere really! I have more than enough room!" Oh, a new friend! Who had the shell, could Hunter make them out through the shifting waves? "Hi Hestia! I'm Hunter!" "This better be worth it. Please be fucking worth it." "It will be!"

"I am Whale, and I can carry smaller beings! I can fight, too," another quick swivel about, and this time he was pretty sure that he spotted the big whale that voice belonged to. "Are you the whale? Nice to meet you! Let's kick some ass!" Oops-- maybe not that strong of a language, his dad was right there... "Are we prepared enough?" "Do you see how many of us there are? We got this! Everybody, together now--"

"Well, at least we know we have strength in num-"
-ad'shere shOotshOOT SHOOT shooTSHOot shooTSHOOT Who was panicking? Oh no-- "Hey, are you okay over there?!" "- goodnness! Is she that upset to see us...?" "That will be distracting." "Egads, we'll need some way of keeping this sorted-" "Wait, maybe we can think our name with our thoughts?" Hunter suggested hopefully in the mess of colliding thoughts.

"I can breathe down here!" "Isn't it cool?" "Woah!! Hi! This is so weird- but cool!!" "So cool!" "Hi-- ooh, cool!"

"Dad! Dad! Hi, I'm here, sorry I'm so late, hi Hunter, hi Carja!! Let's go find a city!" Oh, that was Asteri! Hunter searched the crowd, falling back to where the leopard was, and grinned toothly, tail swishing over his brother's flank. "About time you showed up! We almost left without you!"

"Whoever wishes can ride upon my back! I am the glowing black dragon! Ascent, my dear, use your tail to propel you, it'll be easier. And hello Asteri!" "Hiii Carja!"

"We don't know them--we cant trust them! That fox could've put bad stufff in the orbs! And that weird purple guy could, I dunno, i don't trust what he made, either! We can't trust anyone here." Who was that? "Hey! That weird purple guy is my dad! And he's not weird, he's cool! You can trust him!" Hunter butted in, wishing he knew who had said that. His dad was nice, and had worked hard to get things together for this big adventure. "Don't listen to our conversations!" Oh, oops. "Oh, jeez, sorry! I wasn't trying to! But don't say mean stuff about my dad, alright?!"

The swim wasn't easy, even with his natural semi-webbed toes and strong legs. Hunter kept close to his leopard brother, using his flashlight to try and keep track of the others. Attikias made sure that Carja and the rest of the clan stuck close too, which was good. The heat was near sweltering at one point, like his fur was going to be burned off under water-- and thankfully it became cold once more. If it wasn't for his sleek pelt and natural fat, he might have froze, though. He worried about his dad though.

"It's cold." So Hunter wasn't imagining it. He had no idea that his father was cold, but he could guess; with the man's bare skin, even if most of it wasn't exposed. "It's Hunter: Dad, are you okay?" He had been practicing prefacing his thoughts with his name the whole way. "If you need a break, there's plenty of furry-folk to snuggle, I bet." Including Hunter, but hey, the kid wanted to get to the adventure part.

The search was on now, though. He tapped on Asteri's shoulder and waved for the leopard to follow him away from Attikias's flashlight. Split up to search, right? At this point, other thoughts continued to leak through, but like a hound with a scent, the spunky fisher-elf hybrid was on the hunt! His flashlight was like a beacon, cutting through the inky darkness.

the crossed out text is from other people's posts, hover for source!

Esther wasn't so sure about this, but they offered to help already and took two items. It was too little too late, as the saying was. So when it was time to dive down, they did. The light of the... Seahorse along with the items the gembound had would help with sight, but Esther didn't need it as much as some. That was until the water became darker and darker - the only light helping was from the baubles and the glowing one leading them.

It took time, but they finally made it to their destination. With a task now, of finding the green key - whatever that meant. Swimming about, Esther began to look, with their little light but... It would be fine, they hoped.