Citizen 733 Pidgeon

Pidgeon’s smile stretched wide across her face as she sidled up to the Edge of the dome. Behind her, Vandros was still droning on about some boring warnings, but Pidge had heard it all before, and she was actively tuning her adoptive father’s voice out. Her mind was too busy, whirling through all the things she wanted to do once she was finally an adult. She could look for a house. Buy a deer! Go exploring the dome, or Elders forbid, actually venture to the surface. The pyramid that had burst to light in the trench was supposedly capable of taking you there, without the long journey. Why worry about breath safety when you could friggen teleport?!

Pidgeon was jolted out of her train of thought by Vandros’ friend, a bright blue lass called Eanice. She had decided to stick her nose into their business again, and was currently giving the sisters an inane little list of pointers, her lilting, posh voice piercing Pidgeon’s ear horns like needles. Honestly, why did she always have to be around? It boggled Pidgeon’s mind what her father enjoyed about having the fussy blue rex around, but.. Today wasn't about that. Nodding along with the droning words, her eyes flicked to the left, catching Kassidi’s sweetpea blue eyes. 

Pidgeon’s telepathic prod was gentle, and she waited for the returning pressure to send her thoughts. It came back nearly the same instant, and Pidgeon forged ahead “You ok there sis? You look like you're going to throw up.” Her tone was playful, but earnest. Kassidi’s eyes were stretched wide, with her ears angled almost painfully far forward as she nodded along to whatever advice Eanice and Vandros were currently sharing. 

“You should be listening to them. You don't want to get lost down there, do you? Or bump into something poisonous, or more dangerous than you can handle, or that can distract you enough that you stop using your magic??” Kassidi’s voice flooded into her head, admonishing as much as it was loving. The trepidation and… Near panicked tone was strong in her sister’s mental voice. Vandros had started speaking again, with only minor additions or corrections coming from Eanice. The tail end of the advice they were sharing carried through the bond as Kassidi replayed it for her, but Pidgeon cut the connection off with a snort, shooting back a message of her own.

“I'm not worried about it, we’re both great swimmers, we studied the poisonous animals chart, we’re both big enough to take on anything down there, and half of his advice is things for rexes his size. We have plenty of magic. We can do this.” Pidgeon’s smile widened even further as she nudged Kassidi’s side. “You worry too much dad. We’re gonna be fine. Can we go now?” Pidgeon asked, cutting Vandros’s voice off in the middle of Yet another set of warnings. Honestly, what was the point of going through all the years training if he was just going to repeat it all five minutes before they started?

Vandros’s eyes narrowed at Pidegon, and she stuck her tongue out at her dad with a cheeky smirk. Eanice chuckled at the exchange, tapping Vandros’s shoulder as if to give him permission to just let them go. Pidgeon struggled to keep her expression flat at the woman’s tampering. Seriously, why was she here? “Ugh. Impatient as ever, huh Piglet? Just… Be careful alright? Don't touch anything you shouldn't, and come back as soon as you can. We’ll come get you ourselves if you spend more than half an hour down there without sending a beam up, alright?” Pidgeon caught the particular expression on Vandros’s face, with his brows knitted in worry as he looked between his daughters.  

“Of course dad.” Pidgeon and Kassidi responded in tandem, before looking back at each other with a smile and a laugh. They’d always been on good timing with each other, but saying things at the same time only really happened when responding to their father, a trait the white and brown rex seemed to find… Endearingly creepy. Eanice seemed to find their talent amusing as well, as she seemed to think it was ok to giggle at them. Pidgeon held down a growl. 

“Alright. Don't forget, there’s no helping each other down there without failing your ceremony. Send two bursts if you get in trouble, and we’ll come help whoever needs it.. And.. this probably goes without saying, but i'm proud of you both, finish or not.” Vandros stalked towards them, placing a paw on each of their throat armor’s to reach his head up and nuzzle each of them in turn. Pidgeon ducked her head down at the same time Kassidi did, resting her forehead against her sister’s while her muzzle rested on the top of Vandros’s head.

The little family stayed that way, in their familiar hug “Right. Go ahead then!” He said, his throat thick with emotion. 

Pidgeon needed no further encouragement. Rubbing her head against Vandros’, she turned to nudge her sister. With a pensive nod, Kassidi waved Pidgeon off “I just need to tell dad something, I'll join you in a sec. Try and find us a warm spot?” Kassidi’s voice shook, though Pidgeon could tell she was trying to keep it steady. Shrugging, Pidgeon whirled, dancing the last few meters to the edge of the dome. 

The translucence of the dome’s magic was… odd near the ground, as it still displayed the sky. It was almost as if the sky reached down to touch the ground, but with much clearer currents and the shadows of fish flickering in and out of view. Pidegon had always struggled to regulate her temperature in the depths, something that Kassidi seemed to excel at. Piercing the dome outside of a water current was a must for her to acclimate properly. Examining the currents through the Edge magic, she tried to shut out the mumbling and sniffling from behind her.

There! There was a perfect spot of calm water just there, a perfect glass like finish pressed against the edge of the dome. Turning her head back to spot Kass embracing Vandros, while their father whispered something to her, Pidgeon felt a flash of impatience. She had waited quite enough. “C’mon already, I've got that warm spot you were so interested in” Pidgeon groaned. It was only a few moment’s goodbye between her sister and Vandros, before Kassidi turned and joined her at the Edge, and they both took their final full breath of fresh air for the next few hours, before pushing through the magic as one.

The ocean water was colder than Pidgeon expected, but it didn’t shock her for long. Within moments she was twisting around to look back at her sister and responding to her questioning ping, “RACE YOU BACK!”, before shooting off into the endless water.

It doesn’t take long for Pidgeon to be surrounded by complete darkness. The light of the dome extended only over the mouth of the pit. When she turned around, all she could see of Kassidi was her shadow against the light of the dome. She will be fine, it’s time to branch out and become adults of our own making.

The deeper that Pidgeon descended, the freer she felt. It was as if she was swimming away from her childhood and what baggage that had brought her. Away from responsibilities and away from her worries for her future. Who cares about getting a house or apprenticeship when the ocean surrounds you like a heavy blanket, muffling your concerns under its immense pressure?

Soon the darkness of the trench was pierced by glowing fauna, Pidgeon narrowly dodging darting fish with bright flashes of bioluminescence along their sides. Everywhere she looked the darkness was shooed away by little flecks of light, light that would have been impossibly dim near the dome, with its sunlight overwhelming the ocean around it, but here, in the deep, even these little lights could be strong. Isn’t it comforting to know that everything has a place where it can thrive and shine, you just have to find it?

Pidgeon gave a whoop, unheard in the lonely ocean, and swam in a large circle, inspecting the rift from all angles. As she was hanging upside down she spotted it, something reflecting back her halo light in the rocks. As she swam closer, the item glimmered and winked at her, almost playful as Pidgeon’s halo light was occasionally obscured as she approached.

Wedged between two rocks, shoved into the crevice was a copper compass. It gleamed under the green halo light. Pidgeon grinned when she realized what she was looking at, “Oh how perfect! I’ll bring you home for Eanice, maybe then she can stop getting lost on the way to her house.”

Pidgeon gingerly pulled it free and cradled it against her chest. She turned away from the compass’ resting place and was immediately confronted with a glowing blob. As she was distracted something had drifted behind her. It was so sudden, Pidgeon was caught completely off guard, it took too many precious seconds to finally identify what was floating in her way.

An Obsitum mane! Pidgeon scrambled to change her course but it was too late, she went careening through the poisonous jellyfish in an instant. She wasn’t able to avoid its sting, instead using an arm to try and push it out of her way and prevent a direct hit to her core.

The pain was excruciating as its stingers pulled free, it was like fire was racing up her limb and Pidgeon knew she needed to do something soon. She had read of the Obsitum mane, she would probably survive the poison but the bigger concern was the pain causing her to lose focus on her magic, the one thing keeping her alive at the bottom of the ocean.

The typical quick remedies weren’t particularly available at the bottom of the ocean, except maybe a leech if she could find one. She didn’t quite have the time for that, but she could do something similar with her own magic, maybe, if she can pull this off on the first few tries.

The trick to creating a suction force is to create an impenetrable barrier with magic, one that even air cannot escape through. It’s not really possible in the Dome, air is quite small, it can get through the tiniest cracks and Pidgeon hasn’t mastered herself to the level where she can defy that reality by creating something truly airtight. She has, however, mastered the magic that helps rexals combat the pressure of swimming in the deep ocean, else she wouldn’t be in this situation. Using your magic to push away the weight of the water overhead wasn’t a simple task, but it was simpler than doing the same thing with air.

Pidgeon’s grip slipped a few times as she tried to pull the water away from her arm and create a vacuum in its place. Everytime she fumbled, the water slipped from her grasp and crashed back into her with immense force, like a whip crack. The magic is considerably more stable when it has a rexals body backing it up.

She could do this, she knows how this works. Why wasn’t she succeeding? The pain was clouding her mind and frustrated tears were starting to collect at the corners of her eyes. She could always give up, send up a burst of magic and call down her father. She could end this now, she might have to. Any longer and she might not have the time it would take for them to get to her.

No, she doesn’t need to give up, she can do this. She just needed to take her mind off the pain for a second. Cradled in her other hand was the compass she found earlier. Pidgeon didn’t pause to think. She shoved it in her mouth. Suddenly her senses were flooded with the metallic taste of the compass, the wash of salt that covered the whole device, and the way the smooth glass clinked against her teeth. It was a moment of clarity, just a second, but it was long enough.

It was the strangest sensation, as the poison was pulled back out the wound, but it was oh so relieving as numbness followed in its wake. She carefully extricated the compass from her mouth and gazed at it, “You’re definitely coming home with me. Seems like I need you more.”

Artist: Babykitten