Skein's... over-protectiveness was met with an almost naive optimism and apologetic smiles to anyone Skein was particularly rude to. He knew Skein wanted them all to be safe... but wasn't the saying safety in numbers? Why be mean to all the people that could help you? Dragon's interference was welcomed (though he felt sort of bad for Skein being called out like that) and Dragon's comment about the knife was met with an enthusiastic "Yeah!!"

The fish excitedly zipping around didn't register as anything more than a lesser, at first. There were so many gembound, all talking whether through voice or thoughts. Once he did realize this was a potential friend, and also talking directly to him, he grinned. "Yeah!! A knife is lik-" Cut off by the little fishie's breakneck pace but seeming to go with the flow, he'd watch them swim an impressive six inches. "Whoa!! I can nyoom too! Watch this!" He'd swim in a loop, (hopefully) not accidentally bumping into anyone in the crowd in the process.

He was almost left behind as Patty lead the group in the descent, too distracted by this new fishy friend to notice until most of the group was already quite a ways below the water. Letting out a panicked squeak and not wanting to be left behind, he'd quickly catch up to the ground, falling into line behind Dragon as he swam. Like his father he was both used to murky waters and made for them- arguably more so, considering his gills and extra fins.

Around halfway through the journey to the depths his enthusiasm was already greatly reduced. He would've been dragging his feet, were they on land and he had feet to drag. Letting out a tired little grumble he'd latch somewhere onto Dragon's back or tail- whichever was the most conveniently available- and spend the rest of the journey content to simply hitch a ride. He'd stare out into the dark and darkening still waters, gaze tracking whatever was illuminated enough- whether by baubled light or otherwise- to be visible. The macabre skewered insectoid bodies made him press closer to Dragon's back- that won't happen to THEM, right?

He seemed to perk up, somewhat, once they finally got to their destination. It was darker than he was ever used to- even darker than the orb-lights ever got. He'd detach from Dragon, though still staying practically glued to his side. He'd trail after Dragon, occasionally stopping to investigate some nook or hole in the ocean floor before scrambling to keep up before he lost sight of Dragon entirely.

@Skein

The Orarian's offer to help was met with a grateful rumble, before Patty led them all down into the darkness.

Whale was used to diving, but never so deeply. That was a talent of sperm and beaked whales, not for humpbacks, but she pressed on doggedly nevertheless. The pressure crept up and up, bringing a rather claustrophobic feeling with it, and she let out a mournful-sounding groan as they passed through the door. At least she was used to the cold. It was barely a mild chill through her insulating blubber.

By now, the jumble of thoughts from the Pattylink had mostly faded into silence, save for Patty himself's guidance. Rebels, she assumed, giving a dispassionate look to the Praetor body parts littered around. An attack righteously repelled. The Orarian's sudden groan of pain had her dipping toward the creature, offering a flipper or her back to its tendril and a concerned rumble.

She remained a steady support, save for a flinch when the first bioluminescent jelly-creatures came into view. She knew those--they'd killed Wolf Splishy Splashy Fishbeard within five minutes of her meeting the frogfish. "I know of those," she warned, both over the Pattylink and out loud in a sonorous bellow in case her thoughts were missed in the increasing noise over the link. She herself hadn't been paying much attention, other than to Patty's narration. "They are deadly. They will send you into stone with a mere touch."

No one was charging up to the lightstings this time around, thank goodness, and Whale returned her attention to the search. It was dark save for the bioluminescent creatures and the lights of those around her, and an attempt to summon a wisp created only a faint flicker of blue that soon vanished. Maybe that didn't matter so much, though. Maybe it would be easier to find something that produced light when it was dark. She drifted along the cave floor, peering into the ravines for any hint of light.

@Orarian for vis
Whale has warned people about lightstings, and looks for glowing objects (but without a successful roll :pensive:).

It realized, with some surprise, that it was better at swimming than Blight. It would have thought that his wings would help--wings were kind of like fins, after all, and fish were good at swimming and had fins. But it seemed that its paws and tail (fin and all) worked better to propel it. Was it because wings didn't move like fins, it wondered? They did look kind of awkward.

The rush of thoughts through the link was quickly becoming a roaring cacophony, and it retreated from the group with a grimace. They were quieter farther away from Patty, and so it stayed at a distance for the entirety of their descent. The pressure was an added annoyance. Water-breathing magic, as it turned out, did not equate to pressure immunity. It often wriggled with discomfort as it swam, feeling the water press against it from every side.

The zooming silver guppy was not noticed at first, until it made noise. Bedlam stared at the little fish with its one unmangled eye, feeling... rather odd. Fish were normally food, and it'd never seen a talking fish, but this one was... kind of cute? It thought maybe that the fish was--how did Blight put it--cool. Like he had friend potential. It offered the fish a grin, though it wasn't sure if he noticed.

It stopped to nudge at a Praetor's husk as they passed through the gate, batting at its antennae. It had never seen an insect this big before. Is it good to eat? ...crunchy...? it wondered, and resolved to take a sample with it when they returned. It caught Patty's (quieter, thanks to the distance) warning not to touch anything too late, and backed away hurriedly. Well... at least the Praetor wasn't exactly alive. It'd still been following instructions, kind of.

Blight's fatigue did not escape its attention, and it swam up to him, offering the pouch gripped in its teeth. A green orb. Fox said it heals. Upon further consideration, it attempted to summon the odd, tasteless yellow fruit that Blight seemed to like for some unfathomable reason. Magic sparked, but what appeared was not a shining banana but a rotting banana peel inside its mouth. It gagged, jerking away to hack the putrescent mess into the water. Ugh!

Summary: Bedlam stays behind the group a short distance to avoid the thought-noise, smiles at @Friend, pokes a dead Praetor, and offers @Blight a green orb

ASCENT

The Blacksmith offered no reassurance, which was... concerning. "Are we really ready?" they worried to Carja, but then they were all off, diving into the depths of the ocean, and they could only follow.

It was not fun. They weren't built for swimming: their wings quickly became waterlogged and unwieldy, and the battle between gravity and their natural levitation was making them feel all wonky in the water. And then there was all the noise! Mental noise, that was. There were so many thoughts at once that Ascent couldn't even focus on a single one. It reminded them of the flashing scenes in the Riftstorm, in a way. Less dangerous in the short term, probably, but they could see all too well how Patty might have been driven mad.

If they were afraid of breathing underwater at first, that was quickly forgotten as they began to pant with the effort of swimming so long. A stitch in their side developed before long, and they wished they were smaller so they could hold on to Whale, Hestia, or someone else who had offered. If there was a brighter side to all of this, it was that at least the cold was less biting with the heat of their exertion.

Wide eyes cast fascinated stares in every direction as they finally entered the Black City. What were those glyphs on the obelisks? And all these new and mildly terrifying animals--? They steered well clear of them, Patty's warning and Carja's stories at the front of their mind, but how they wished they could investigate!

But there was a task to be done. Curling themselves into a vague ring-shape, they descended into one of many dark holes in the pitted cave floor. They had no bauble--but so many animals were bioluminescent here that hopefully they'd be able to avoid them, and the key was supposed to glow. Still, they didn't descend too far. A glow would hopefully be obvious near the top, too, and they didn't want to stray from the light and safety of the group.

Summary: Ascent's bad at swimming. They have curled into a ring and are looking for green glowing things in the ravines/pits.

Had she accidentally broadcast that brief panic to everyone? Now they definitely know I'm here. She thought, making sure to keep it to herself this time. She drifted towards the bottom edge of the group, keeping an eye on Electrum and Haven- but when neither came stomping over to scold her for being here when she definitely shouldn't, she relaxed. Somewhat.

Telesto was more than accustomed to the sensation of being underwater. It was comforting, actually, to know that (in most cases, anyways) she was the biggest, most dangerous thing around. This was different, though. For one, the sheer number of others, whom she tried to avoid so she wouldn't accidentally slap one with her tail. But somewhat more distressingly, the dark. She was used to sunlit, relatively shallow waters. The rivers in Polaris and Pegasus. Even in Leo or Pisces it never went deep enough for it to get very hard to see. As they went deeper and deeper, their surroundings became a dark void only broken through by the glimmering bauble or ominously glowing rune. The 'idiots of order,' all impaled and lifeless husks.

She was better off than some of the more terrestrial gembound brave enough to tag along, but that didn't mean she didn't feel the exhaustion settling in tired muscles when they finally reached the ocean floor. She could certainly ignore it, for now, but the trip back up was sure to be even worse than the trip down, if only for the compounding exhaustion. Lets hope this will be the worst we'll have to do. But she already knew that to not be the case. The wouldn't have needed a small army to come down here if it were that simple.

The Key of Decay? How cheerful.. She thought sarcastically, once again carelessly broadcasting it to anyone still within the link's range. It was green, glowing... should be easy enough to locate in somewhere so devoid of light, right? Telesto spread out along with the others, searching the ocean floor for any sign of glimmering green light.

It quickly backed away from conversation with a brief nod, not really intending or desiring such. To Whale it'd meant a simple pointer- not a whole debate on the manners of masters. And Orarion, well... It certain caught it's interest, but Labradorite had no desire to peruse that curiosity. Right now it had a job to due, a job best done right.

It didn't even approach the collector's pile of trinkets. It could already breath underwater, and it's bioluminescence already provided plenty of light. Getting anything would be redundant. So it simply waited, keeping to the very edge so it keep it's distance while still listening to the conversation. And when they dive, it was eager, likely at the very front of the group. Deeper and deeper they went, from the shallow, lively waters it was used to to the deep, dark waters it was meant for. toxic red eyes- piercing in the dim, were now nearly swallowed by the dark. You might catch a glimpse of dark crimson, if you were lucky or looking for it in particular.

It knew of the hive, although it hadn't been a part of the Ursa assault. To think the hive had tried (and failed) to attack this underwater city... Well, at least The Hive would have no hold here. A safe place for it to hide, should the hive suddenly become much stronger and emboldened. But everyone else? Khavur...? Zoisite...? No. It would not hide. The forge was supposed to be a bastion of chaos, the scourge of order- If the situation ever became so dire it would fight alongside it's peers.

Speaking of Khavur, it's struggle had been noticed. Labradorite still had no intention of doing anything other than simply observing it from afar, making sure it was still keeping up at all. But, it was... Strange. Seeing the gembound that had so completely beaten it and Zoisite struggling at what was practically second nature to the Labradorite. It couldn't just let Khavur fall behind, though. Labradorite was somewhat better off on the sight department, having six luminous red eyes, but it was hard for even it to see at times. What would happen if any of them got separated from the group? Would the enchantments wear off, eventually, leaving them to drown cold, blind, and alone?

...Keep your form streamlined...Tuck in any limbs you aren't using to swim...Stay calm- panicked flailing will only exhaust you... These thoughts were more idle observations and pointers than anything else. They were directed at Khavur nobody in particular, but it could be easy to feel called out, to feel your swimming so bad that someone took the time to correct you on it.

Being told to 'Not touch anything living' immediately made it bristle with unease. A school of transparent, softly glowing creates drifted by on the current, but what else lurked in the dark? What else would pose a danger to the group? This mission? It took a deep breath, drawing on it's magic and preparing for the thunder of the approximately two dozen heartbeats currently present. Hopefully it could sort out what was friend from what was foe.

@Khavur (Vis!)

At first, the mental link bothered him as little as a rustling breeze might. Murmurs and offers of help flitted around, and as they were insignificant for the time being, he took them in stride. But that changed as the number of carelessly tossed, partially formed thoughts grew into a swarm. His brain was set abuzz, and the ensuing confusion left him grasping for some semblance of stability, sorting out his own inner monologue from the many barely distinguishable from each other.

The more excitable of those, the angry and panicked, screamed the loudest—so much so, in fact, that his muscles twitched when they zipped by. Unused to sharing space within his own head, he reacted readily in kind with a snappishness born of aggravation, humiliatingly enough.

-ad'shere shOotshOOT SHOOT shooTSHOot shooTSHOOT

'Wh... aaat's here? What? Who? Fire and flame, enough with the shooting! You're shi—making everything difficult to hear!'

'What a load of muck.' He was not looking forward to censoring every stray thought that trended toward less dignified turns of phrase. 'There a way to lower the volume on this?'

And then there was the paranoid one, whoever they were, full of rage and demand. Don't listen to our conversations!

'Shit out of luck there. It's all going directly to our brains. May I suggest you turning yours off?'

By this point, a dull throb had settled into his skull, more so the result of mental overload than frustration though he suspected it also contributed to the pain. The actual dive couldn't have come sooner, and despite any misgivings about Patty's cheer, Fahl followed without protest. Perhaps with whatever strain or peril that accompanied their travels, the bickering would be at a minimum. Of course, he could only hope so.

And with their descent, the hope had seemingly won out for the most part. Removed from air, underwater possessed a somber quality, an increasing influence the farther down they swam. It existed in the permeating darkness of the depths and the silence therein. He had practiced to account for the eventual blindness; only surrounded by nothing but black and the others' presence did the gravity of the situation hit. With so much space and so few things he could discern by sight alone, navigation would be an insurmountable task. The knowledge of this kept him close as he could possibly be to the rest, trailing the glow of baubles like a tenuous lifeline that might eventually snap.

The squeezing of his heart could have been merely the pressure that held his entire body in an almost bone-crushing grip, but Fahl suspected more: fear, of the unknown and of what small scraps of information he'd been given.

It might have worsened a smidge when he caught glimpses of the Praetors, the evidence of the failed invasion present in their impaled corpses. A thought, dumb and obvious, slipped from him.

'Wouldn't want to be any of those... guys.'

And once Patty informed them of their next task, indignation flared up. 'What, do we need a key of every color?' he groused. 'Fine. Green and has a really concerning name. I'm on it.'

Patty's warning did not go unheard, but Fahl figured he might as well take his chances anyway for the sake of checking out the harder to inspect areas. He could be cautious enough, right? A tail flick propelled the iguana closer to the floor for a scan below, an eye kept out for bioluminescent sea creatures to avoid. 'Hey, light bearers! Anyone want to come with? Trying to avoid prodding anything I shouldn't.'

Fahl could have been thinking of safety first if it weren't for the fact it'd just now occurred to him to ask.

Garnet-Epsilon

The thoughtspace is chaos.

Not the fun kind.

With a wince, they do their best to keep up- following in the wake of some of the larger gembound to head down, down down.

Patty's rambling gets some special attention as they do their best to parse out what the slightly mad seahorse is saying, and grumping an accidental- "Good riddance." in a pointed response about the Praetors, which... blegh. Creepy.

One gets a flick of an open wing and, while Cirrus recovers from throwing themselves off their groove, swimming wise, they catch the call to find the Key of Decay, Green.

Got it.

So, they tuck both wings in and paddle around like a very determined chiuaua, nefore taking note of some bigger Gembound's swimming and... flapping their tail up and down.

It's flying... but not..? Caves this is odd...

They seem to be near... a lizard of some kind. Fahl.

Cirrus comes down near the lizard, and gestures to it's baubled bridle with a lifted ear, and a head tilt as is asking- Light?

@Fahl for visibility!

Indigo scooped up Cerilaine into her arms. "Don't drown," she said to the cat a little slyly, making sure Cerilaine had settled before she dove into the water.

She swam quickly; as she always did, keeping up with the main throng of the crowd but, largely, ignoring what they had to say bar Patrick, who seemed to be the only one who had anything of actual interest to say. It was pleasantly warm, then cold, and then Indigo was somewhere she didn't recognize.

A huff lurched out of her nose, sending a plume of bubbles into the air. The orders were simple-- don't touch anything, find the key. In the back of her mind she waited for someone to touch something as she kept an idle grip on Cerilaine, hovering a safe distance from the jellyfish.

Cerilaine scoffed good-naturedly, shaking her head to Indigo. A chuff, and she let Indigo take her, definitely unable to keep up with the throng of the group without her companion's help.

To say that the mental conversations were a bit overstimulating would be an understatement. As they passed along, the leopard pinned her ears back and watched around, focusing on the environment rather than the mental. She'd have to ignore it- it was too much at once, and all the same voice.

They'd come through the door, and Cerilaine stretched forward, listening to Patrick explain. Another key- she could do that. But, the others- they had split off, and her gaze followed them for a brief moment, squinting to the lights. There was a brief mental sigh. 'Use your magic.' That way, they could search in a far wider range than just their lights.

Bright eyes watched for Indigo's light, then raised up, her magic stretching out as far as she could in a radius around her. If it was like the other key, maybe it'd be triggered by this too...