Carja loved Leo, actually. Despite the fact that one of her estranged (or was she the estranged one?) family members resided here and probably hated her a lot- but that wasn't the point. The point was: she had gills, and fins, and she was going to use them!

She just had to gain the courage to try them out, because getting used to the idea that one could suddenly breathe underwater wasn't easy. What if she breathed through her nose rather than her gills and drowned?

Flying above the bay, she circled widely, coasting along on the sea breeze, some brave skycallers using her wake to glide on as they searched for prey down below. They weren't big enough for a meal, barely even a snack, so Carja paid them no mind and continued to fly, hoping that at some point she could gain the courage to dive down and descend beneath the waves. To swim like a fish and become the water dragon she'd only barely been before.

She thought to that strange gembound, Deep Dark, and remembered a body well-suited for the ocean, long and lithe, draconic despite having no wings or fire. It really made her rethink her whole definition of 'dragon'.

But now she was just stalling.

Looking down again, she swooped towards the beach and landed, running along to slow her momentum before she approached the waves, wondering if there were monsters down there. Maybe, maybe not.

"Come on," she sighed to herself, "Stop being a baby and just... go for it!"

But she still hesitated, still lifted a foot as the next wave slid up the beach towards her, scared to dip a foot in lest a tentacle reach out to grab her. Her front feet were discolored and the skin beneath scarred from her burns and there were puncture wounds on her back. Constant reminders of her trauma.

This thread is AW to any encounters! Fighting, casual interactions, etc. Just no death please

Pelt was in. a Mood. and had been for some time now. You could call it restlessness--being fidgety, but in a far more violent way. She itched to do something. Just yesterday she'd almost set aside her hatred of Cetus in order to satisfy a sudden urge to pretend to be a swamp monster and scare daylights out of the idiot weaklings who lived there, but the thought of mud and mosquitoes had turned her off the idea before she'd even made it halfway there. UGH.

Well... there was always Leo! Since she'd probably wrecked all her hopes of getting a reward out of the Blacksmith when she'd attacked the idiot fox, maybe she should go wreck his workshop too. Haha, could you imagine the look on that wimp's FACE?! ... behind the mask, anyway. Hey, that was actually a pretty good idea! If only it wasn't up a volcano slope, too far away from the water for Pelt to make a quick getaway.

But... there was a third option. Look at that! A hulking black figure on the beach. Hesitant. It looked almost... peaceful, or meditative in a way, though Pelt was a bit far away to tell. But peaceful people were Pelt's THING! She loved them! -- loved wrecking their peacefulness, anyway. A quick peek of her nostrils above the surface to take a breath in preparation, and Pelt was surging underwater toward the black dragon.

She'd leap out of the water with a shrieking laugh just as she reached Carja, aiming to snap her teeth closed mere inches away from the dragon's scales in a friendly jumpscare. Unfriendly jumpscare. Whatever. And if Carja flinched, or got herself caught in Pelt's teeth by accident? ... Well, that wasn't her fault.

@Carja

Carja reacted how anyone would when a set of large, sharp teeth suddenly jumped out of the water at her. By lashing out and trying to claw whoever the fuck was trying to kill her, of course.

She lashed out with a started yelp, magic coming to her aid immediately. Her claws were white-hot when they flashed forward, seeking to maul and then immediately cauterize, making it so the wound would absolutely scar.

"What are you doing?!", Carja snarled, snapping her wings down to rise into the air, her fins spread out in a thread display, her heart pounding in her chest.

Wait. She just barely recognized this creature... she'd seen it before, shouting and acting like a complete jerk whilst the Blacksmith tried to organize everyone and help them enchant rings for their quest down into the depths of Fornax. Immediately she didn't like this gembound.

@Pelt

"GOTCHA!" Pelt screamed with laughter at Carja's sudden yelp, jerking herself in a roll away from the dragon's claws. "Calm down!" she wheezed, struggling to get enough air to talk past the fits of laughter. "It was just a prank--you should have seen your FACE, HAHAHAHAHA!"

Oh. OH. And what's this? Pelt got a whole THREAT DISPLAY, too, in return for her efforts! Wings spread, fins raised, just like a poor frilled chaser who thought it was so much bigger than it was! Pelt couldn't stop laughing, slapping flippers and tail against the water's surface as she rolled in the shallows. It was a miracle she didn't snort water up her nostrils.

"Oh- oh my god," Pelt panted, the frenzied giggles finally petering to a stop. "Ha! Didn't look so big and powerful then, didja?! You looked like one of those lizards, but black and fishy--" she sniggered, threatening to dissolve into laughter once more.

@Carja

Carja narrowed her eyes and snorted, steam rising from her nostrils as she landed, drawing herself up into the most elegant, imposing figure she could. She glared down at Pelt, tail lashing behind her in agitation.

Immediately ice flared up all around the leopard seal, using the water as fuel to try and entrap Pelt within it, to turn her into, essentially, an ice cube. Only useful for floating, really.

"I don't appreciate people snapping at me as if they're about to tear out my throat," she said with a growl, "And I especially don't like bullies."

She was done with aquatic things for now. Fuck the ocean. Honestly there was just too much stuff down there that could kill her, including this very immature and rude gembound. James was definitely right to yell at her, honestly.

@Pelt

Beady black eyes widened slightly as steam rose from the dragon's nostrils. Shit, she wasn't about to breathe fire, was she? No thank you; Pelt was not interested in become roast leopard seal. "Hey, chill out-" she began, lunging away, only to abruptly... stop as the water around her simply became solid.

Pelt gasped at the sudden change in temperature, and would have shivered had there been enough space inside the ice cube to. Beady dark eyes glared out at Carja--clearly, she would have like to say a number of rude things, if she were not utterly frozen still. It was agony--not being trapped in the ice, as she was well insulated anyway, but not being able to say all the mocking thing she wanted.

No, all she could do was glare. And look utterly ridiculous as her mouth gaped half-open, the ice encasing her bobbing gently on Leo's waves.

@Carja

Carja ensured there were holes for the seal to breathe through, she wasn't that cruel. But her mouth did spread into a menacing grin before she threw her head back and laughed.

"You should see your face!", she mocked, "You should see your face! Not so big and powerful now, are you?"

Of course, she was throwing Pelt's words back at her. The seal wouldn't be harmed except for a bruised ego, which was what she was counting on. Some people needed to be taken down a few notches.

"I hope you've learned your lesson," she said, walking forward and dragging Pelt onto the shore so she didn't accidentally flip over in the water and drown.

Hm... she was actually a little hungry. She called on her magic, wondering if it would do anything, but felt nothing but a fizzle and assumed nothing happened. Instead she simply sighed and dragged her tail through the sand, making her way back to the sea.

"I'll be right back," she said, and jumped into the water, disappearing beneath it.

Huh. Her gills worked. Cool.

@Pelt

Pelt positively snarled, muscles working fruitlessly. What a feeling it was to strain to move and simply not. Her eyes narrowed further at Carja's taunt, mirroring her own from just moments ago. All right, FINE. You got her there. Learned her lesson? You BET she did. Next time she popped out of the water to jumpscare someone she'd remember to watch out for magic. (Or, y'know, just bully someone who looked weaker than a frickin' dragon, but where was the fun in that? Say what you will about Pelt, but she picked on people of all sizes equally.)

And then Carja was just... swimming away. ARGHHHHHH! Her tail wiggled a few millimeters weakly in what would have carried enough force to stun or kill a small animal had she not been frozen. At least Leo was warm. She could have been trapped in Ursa--maybe she'd never have melted, then.

@Carja

Carja returned after a few minutes with a few flailing fish in her jaws. She shook herself out like a cat and made her way up the shore, passing Pelt on the way. She lay down in front of the seal and dug in, looking rather pleased of herself.

The ice was melting, bit by bit, and it wouldn't be more than an hour before it had melted enough to free Pelt.

"Nice day," she said pleasantly, "Don't you think? Lights are shining, clouds are nice and fluffy... yes, I like it a lot."

She ate heartily, her tail flicking back and forth as she yawned, definitely thriving off of Pelt's misery. She deserved it, though. Pelt was an asshole.

"How about this," Carja said, "If you promise to never see me again, I will let you out of your ice cube. Blind once for yes, twice for no."

@Pelt

Pelt closed her eyes with exasperation as Carja just went and began picnicking in front of her. The audacity. The pain of being on the receiving end. Maybe if she could fall asleep it'd go by quicker. Honestly, though, if it'd happened to someone else, Pelt'd have found it hilarious.

'Nice day.' Oh, now she was making conversation? One-sided conversation probably meant to make fun of Pelt's predicament, but there was still no way she could sleep now.

Ah, but now she was being offered a way out! Pelt snatched it up without hesitation, blinking hard. There were plenty of other potential victims in the caves, and even if there weren't--what was a promise worth, anyway? It was probably for the best that she couldn't laugh in this ice cube.

@Carja