Clouds and Currents - VoK & HW 2021 Event Prompts
Author's Notes
Your method is successful— the darkness in the air either doesn’t notice you or is too slow to catch you before you reach the lagoon. The water is a perfect temperature and clear of anything that obscures your vision. You are one small speck in the large empty depths that beckon you down.
Then, the dark shadow crashes through the water’s surface above. Now you have a good look at it backlit from the moon’s light far above.
When the shadow hits the water after you, it transforms. Large and sleek, and suddenly not as ethereal as a shimmer in the air. No, it looks like a sea creature-- a huge one. You have no idea what it could be. Whatever it was prior to this was hostile... but you don't know what this thing will do now. It blocks out the moonlight, casting a long shadow into the deep water. The water that urged you to submerge is not as insistent, as if waiting for you to make a decision.
RISE | AVOID | DESCEND
It is your move.
The Trial, Part Two - Night Adventures
The water was peaceful and clear, for a moment, as Tamaya dove into the pool. Her distraction had worked, and the energy, or whatever it was, hadn't noticed her until she was already submerged.
Unfortunately for her, it seemed that a bit of liquid wouldn't be enough to stop whatever it was. As she drifted, trying to sense where to head next, the moon's pale light began to vanish. When she turned her head to look back over her shoulder, it was obvious why - Whatever that thing was, it had followed her, and taken up a new form, something much larger and much more physical than before. She couldn't quite identify it, but it looked almost like something from the trenches that most all citizens of the sea kingdom knew and took great care to avoid.
Still, avoiding it? That would be easier said than done. Whether dream or reality, she could breathe underwater - Always could, for some reason, even before Neptune got his paws on that potion that had let Nahia do the same - but lions like her simply weren't built for moving quickly through the sea, not in the same way that a fish or whale or eel or seal or whatever this thing now was were built for traversing the ocean. It was the same logic that had led her to the plan of driving the titan into the sea to slow its advance and give them an advantage, albeit in reverse. So, no... avoiding it would be too tricky. It could surely outmaneuver her in this state. And heading upward would do her no good, given the fact that this creature was now swimming above her, blocking out the light from the moon above the entrance - If she wasn't agile enough to dodge any potential attacks, she certainly wouldn't be able to avoid it if she swam right back up to it. And even if it wasn't so large and so much better suited to the sea than her, it could change shape and follow her back up to land if she opted to get out.
So, then. She had to trust her gut, trust the fact that this lagoon was calling out to her in the first place, and trust what logic she could find.
Tamaya dove further into the water, seeking out whatever might lay in its depths... and hoping that, left undisturbed, the creature would allow her to continue.
Author's Notes
Wordcount: 411 (Out of 100, 200, or 300)
Reward: 3 Ancient Coins