Citizen 428 Hypatia

Vunix was stretched out on the banks near the water's edge. She was calm on the outside, but on the inside she was feeling just a bit nervous. Today was the day she wished to prove herself and venture to the trench. She spent most of her time in the shadows, and she heard so many whispers and rumors about it- some were obviously far fetched talkies of enormous sea monsters. Obviously some rexal just wanted to gloat and impress the company they were talking to. She rolled her eyes, tapping the sands beneath her lightly with her tail. Or at least she hoped they were just silly rumors. Truth be told, she had no idea what was down there, but she was itchy to find out. 

She stood up and shook the sand out of her scales before closing her eyes and focusing her magic. She had been practicing her breathing spells for this, so now was the time to put them to the test. Her apertures glowed a pastel orange before the inky black female dove beneath waters, swimming down and into the murk. 

Little did she know she had company, Ogenus was already far below picking up whatever he could find on the sandy bottom. Though they were so deep down into the sea, there was a surprising amount of light. Be it from the animals, or residual magic, once his eyes had a moment to adjust it wasn’t too bad. He fanned the sand away from an object partially buried, gently wedging it out from the sand. It looked to be some ancient pottery shards, he curiously laid it back on the bottom and looked around the area, curious if he may be able to discover more pieces. Though by now he knew better, they had probably either been long washed away or spread too far, or perhaps collected by another curious rexal. 

Vunix was swimming straight down at this point, her large webbed paws helping propel her downwards at a quick rate. Her sleep scales barely creating any drag against the waters around her. She had only grabbed one bag, not expecting to find much, if anything, but wanting to be prepared regardless. She had also packed a small knife in the bag in case of emergencies. As she continued, she marveled at how odd the trench was, the sides were pocketed with caves. But in the caves it wasn’t dark, there were pokings of glow and lights. It was like everything down here was a soft light source. Luckily with her dark coat, it made it easy for her to blend in, even with all of the light.   

After a short while, she managed to spy another rexal down in the deep. It wasn’t something she was prepared for, she thought she would be alone, especially so early in the morning. Though perhaps other’s shared in that same idea. She sighed inwardly, if they were like that maybe they would be fine by themselves, then. She thought to herself, until she caught a glint from the side of her eye. What looked like a dark murky mass was heading towards the other rexal, it was too far to be able to tell what it was yet, but she saw the other was too engrossed in whatever they had found to notice. She groaned, swimming a bit closer so that she was in speaking range and sent him a telepathic nudge, hoping that they would accept.

As Ogenus continued to gently dig, he was about to give up hope until he felt a small nudge, recognizing what it was he accepted. He wouldn’t be able to talk down here otherwise, so it was the smartest thing to do. He looked around and saw nothing, however, and no other rexals were in sight until he heard the message come through finally. “Something is headed towards you, turn around.” That was all, and the voice was surprisingly raspy. Before he had a chance to ask who he was speaking to he turned around and was able to visualize a very curious shark that was headed his way. He had dealt with many sharks in his past and so he wasn’t very bothered, but had he not had a warning he could have very easily lost a section of his tail or worse. Once the shark got closer, he simply held out a paw and guided the shark in a different direction, where the slow moving animal then kept on swimming.

Vunix furrowed her brow, a bit confused. She had always expected sharks to be more dangerous, but maybe that is just what the elders said to keep younger rexals under control. She grumbled to herself before getting a little closer to Ogenus, moving into a small bed of kelp that then lit up once it was disturbed, giving away her position.

The glow caught his eye, causing him to turn and finally lay eyes on the female. Much to his surprise, he knew her. She was usually very quiet, probably due to her unusual voice drawing a lot of attention. She had always made the male uneasy, probably due to her slinky and suspicious nature. Still, he owed her thanks, and so he gave a slight bow to his head before giving her a telepathic reply, “Thank you for that, that could have ended very badly on my part if I hadn’t turned around in time.” He looked back up and gave her a small smile, “Are you here to collect?” He asked. 

Vunix swatted at the keep, causing it to increase in glow. This whole place was weird.. Everything was new to her and she realized just how inexperienced she was. She looked up at the large blue striped male before answering his reply, “Say nothing of it, anyone else would have done the same. This is.. My first time here.” She rasped, wanting to look away from Ogen. Normally others would wince at her speech. But she noticed he seemed rather indifferent, drawing her gaze back to him. “I’m guessing you have been down here before?” She asked once more, if he was more accepting she wouldn’t mind a few pointers so that she could return with a prize or two to prove that she was seaworthy. 

Ogenus smiled, maybe she was just a bit nervous around new people. Her voice didn't bother him at all but she seemed a bit sensitive about it. “I could show you a couple places I like to go, if you would like company I could tag along. If you don’t, I can be on my way. Deal?” He asked, hoping to be able to repay the favor to the inky colored female.

Author: Atrocias