Hunter Or Huntress

Chapter 55: Deep Dive

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That had been a bit more emotional than he had expected. He did feel rather sorry for a few of them. Jackalope having lost so much. Fengi never having had much in the first place. Sapphire who hadn’t seen any except one of her siblings or parents in the last decade. Still, all of them had been able to produce something happy from their childhood. So they had focused on that as much as they could.

It had been nice to learn a bit more about them. In fact when he thought about it by now they almost all seemed to know more about him than the other way around. He really needed to do something about that. He was in a different world and surrounded by locals. Yet he had spent every waking moment learning what he needed to get by and teaching them about his home.

He had started probing them for what they were willing to tell him. Sapphire had been very forthcoming mostly going into details about her home and time in the capitol. Her two older siblings had both become escorts for traders while she had tried and failed to get into the royal guard. Then she tried sports. She had even done rather well apparently that fancy necklace she wore was a victory prize for something called tonsalra.

It sounded almost like an aerial agility course where you scored points. Flying through rings, timed runs, hitting targets, that sort of thing. Apparently that was how Dakota originally found her, Sapphire had decided she wanted a place to call a proper home other than the city. She put up a posting for if a keep could use her preferably as a huntress. It sounded almost like a job application for joining a family which was a bit odd to Tom, but it had clearly worked.

He reckoned that would be a sight to see one day. What a surname too, Rayland. Sapphire Rayland. It sounded more like the lead singer in a rock or metal band to him. Him figuring out what exactly they were all capable of, had seemed to open the floodgates somewhat as they all went into what they could do and why they thought they could do it.

It was an interesting proposition. they all believed that what they could do tied to what they were experienced at. Esmeralda had always liked singing, Jackalope relied on her strength for as many things as she could get away with. Dakota had worked hard under her mother to develop the skill.

Healers were for obvious reasons extremely important and sought after. resulting in the practice of trying to train one being rather common.

He didn’t even need to guess at what Kokashi could do, the dude just told him. In fact, he was so eager to tell as much about himself, a few of the others gave him a bit of a stink eye. The whole situation with him basically being a surveillance operative wet dream complicated a few things though. He should probably check if Kokashi was on night guard if he decided to break out the laptop again for example.

He had hit the mark with all his guesses though. Sapphire had even shown she could actually lift a small stone and move it around a bit. They had a weird word for it of course. Tom just decided to call her Telekinetic. Even if it was rather weak that was a proper superpower, healing was too but still, that was so cool. The sun had begun to get lower in the sky and they needed to get back in time for dinner.

He managed to coax Fengi up, reasoning she should be warmer than the others by now and they were getting ready to depart. He wondered what kind of talent she might develop. Would he maybe develop something when he was here? That would be sweet! He couldn’t make his mind up on what though…

He was still going through possibilities when he found himself dangling beneath Feng, as they soared above the lake. This was likely the most daredevil thing he had ever done willingly and he was so excited that even the magic stuff would have to wait. He felt more like a bomb about to be dropped on target than somebody about to jump.

He had explained in detail to Fengi this was all about speed, specifically the lack of it. If she just dropped him doing a hundred he would smack into the water and skip like a stone likely breaking a few bones or worse. Since there was no way she could hover with him on board, she would need to pull up vertically. to slow down and stall, then release him when they started falling. She would start hovering now that his fat arse wasn’t on board anymore and Tom got the chance to do the most awesome dive ever.

It was essentially a reverse dive-bombing, he thought it was a brilliant plan. Fengi though had been a little worried, but she agreed in the end following multiple reassurances it would be fine.

Fengi came down low, skimming across the water going as slowly as she could manage with him on board and then pulled up to vertical. The resulting attitude was a bit more than Tom had anticipated so he just begged the lower gravity wouldn’t make him go splat. By his estimates, this was more like fifty rather than thirty meters so it was still going to hurt quite a bit no matter what.

The fall was excruciatingly long, he had no way of knowing just how long it was but it felt like an eternity. At home, the fall would be like a hundred-meter jump in terms of air time. The thought of just what he had gotten himself into crossed his mind, along with questions like, how deep was the water, was the bottom soft and was Fengi technically street criminal?

He rocketed down like a spike with considerable speed slamming into the water with a huge splash. He guessed the water spout must have been impressive in this gravity. The water depth though was not quite what he had hoped for as he hit the soft muddy bottom both his legs sinking in deep. At least it hadn’t been rocky.

It was still a rather unfortunate situation though, as he started trying to wiggle them out of the mud. It didn’t help he couldn’t see anything thanks to the muck he had kicked upon impact. Perhaps water breathing should be his magic thingy. He guessed it wasn’t a matter of making a choice and boom there you go, as helpful as that would have been right now.

It took him nearly thirty seconds to get his legs free. With his heart pounding his and lungs starting to burn as he went for the surface. Careful to use slow controlled strokes. No use rushing you should stay calm at all times when underwater. Just like father said. That had been one hell of a scare though. He needed to be quicker on slowing down next time. Or find some deeper water.

He broke the surface to find Fengi circling above looking very worried.

“That was fun” He went, pretending like nothing was out of the ordinary as he tried to hide his heaving for breath.

“How deep did you go!?” Fengi asked, sounding equally worried and baffled.

“Found the bottom, you went a little high there”

“Sorry I didn't mean to. Did it hurt?” Tom was a little sore after the hit, he had been slightly off-kilter as he came down.

“Only when I hit the water. Don’t worry, it was fun. Thank you!” He would likely be feeling that one tomorrow, but it had been worth it. Even if he didn’t feel the need to try again at this depth.

“He’s okay” She shouted back to the others who were standing on the shore. Jackalope and Sapphire had even waded out into the water a little. Oh, that was adorable. The most incompetent rescue operation ever launched and it was for him. He laughed a bit as he started swimming back towards shore. No reason to tell them how close that had been.

Fengi started to circle around him as he swam shouting down to him

“That was amazing, the water even hit me!”

“Not bad for little old me”

“You are neither and you know it”

“Hey just because I'm too fat for little puny Kokashi doesn't make me that big” He did his best to sound insulted, clearly not convincing her.

“Hah! You aren't fat, you're big-boned.”

“Well, why use me as the dead weight then? If I’m so heavily built?”

“Well he skipped kitchen duty to come along, that means he’s gotta participate. Jackalope is heavier too and you know it. Would you call her fat?”

“Not if I wanna live.”

“Besides you had your parachute” She replied as if that would have solved everything.

“No, I didn’t, it needs to be repacked”

“Ohh…” Was all the response he got. Perhaps he should have made that point clear, he thought to himself.

When he got back out he was of course wet again, along with most of his clothes which had been used as towels by the girls. He too was getting a cold by now that the sun’s heat was starting to fade. Dakota had called it a day. sounding a little grumpy, Tom had managed to tire out three of her huntresses enough to render further flight training pointless. so with that, they made for home.

She insisted he rode with her back though. She argued that Esmeralda was kinda occupied with a now recovered Kokashi Which she refused was indeed recovered and the other three had done more than enough hard work for today. It was hardly more than a jump home anyway.

“Did you do that on purpose?” Dakota asked him as soon as they were properly airborne. Had he touched her inappropriately or something?

“Uhm sorry Did what?”He tried, sounding apologetic.

“Show me up in front of them all of course!” Her tone was a rather hard one. Right the swimming obviously.

“No, I didn't think they would go in”

“Why did you beckon them all in then?!” Yeah, she was mad, no doubt about it.

“To tease them a bit. I thought you were all afraid of water”

“Water is dangerous to us Tom, It kills… Regularly.”

“It kills my people too and there are humans who are afraid of water as well. It just how it is” He felt her change direction as they approached the keep going to circle it instead”

“And yet you let children play in it?”

“Fire kills too, you still use it for cooking”

she replied with a displeased grunt. “You wouldn’t get it,”

Tom thought for a bit as they came around the keep.

“No, I think I do. You’re a leader, you need to set an example”

“Pretty hard to do that when I keep getting outdone all the time”

“Come on being afraid of water isn’t that bad, not even for my people”

“No, but not being brave enough is!” Right, that was true, but to claim she wasn’t brave enough was absurd. He was silent for a bit thinking over what to say, here she just kept circling so he guessed she wanted an apology or something. She wasn’t getting one though.

“I remember someone charging through the darkness, in a storm, in the middle of a battle. To save me once again from going splat. Now if that someone was a coward they would have just given up and let me drop. If they were even a little bit of a coward they would have let me go once they figured out they were going to crash."

"Now if they were deadly afraid of water and knew they were going to crash into water at night in a storm at speed, and they still didn’t let go? Then that someone has to be the bravest person I have yet to meet! Was that you? Or someone else?”

Tom really hoped his ridiculous accent hadn’t ruined the speech too much. He was rather proud of how it had turned out in the end.

“Coming from the one who charged down into dark corridors with a dozen darklings waiting for him” her tone softened up a bit, so it must have sorta worked.

“That wasn’t bravery that was stupidity” Tom clarified for her, even if it had worked that had been a very stupid thing to do.

“And swimming through said storm dragging the one who failed to catch you along the way… and why did you have to laugh” Ohh right, dammit dory!

“Sorry, thought of a kids story about a fish, which only knows to just keep swimming”

“A kids story!?... You were in a life or death situation and you wasted breath laughing, at a kids story!” Okay, he could see her point, but he had believed her to be unconscious at that point.

“I never claimed to be that smart okay!” He did get a laugh for that even if he couldn't decide if it was more maniacal or incredulous.

“Not that smart... You're kidding right!? You know more than any scholar I have ever heard of, and my father is one!”

“Smart and knowing a lot is not the same. I have done many stupid things. I’m even keeping track to see how many times the stupid things go well.”

“You know it’s stupid and you do it anyway?”

“Yes… an old saying goes, If it’s stupid but it works It isn’t stupid”

“What kind of a saying is that. It even manages to contradict itself!”

“But it works” She sounded like she was going to try and argue with that for a second before thinking better of it.

“If you think I’m the bravest then you are definitely the craziest” she finally replied with a shake of the head.

“Crazier than Jackalope?”

“Yes! Definitely!” Well, the anger was gone even if she just sounded baffled instead now.

“Damn...” She was probably right, but still.

With that, she had come around to the landing pad, where the others were getting a few odd looks on account of the still-damp clothes. Tom being dripping wet did appear to shift curiosity to him and Dakota.

“What have you lot been up to?” Rachuck demanded looking at the two of them inquisitively.

“Tom decided to go for a swim, those three elected to join him and I think they are all crazy.” Dakota stated matter of factly “You can get off now Tom, the wet clothes have managed to make even you cold”

“Right sorry”

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Everyone wanted to know what it was like to swim. Judging by their faces more out of morbid curiosity than anything else. Sapphire enjoyed the attention though, well as soon as she got on some dry clothes on she did.

At dinner Herron, Balethon and Unkai had all come over to have the tales of the day recounted in detail. Balethon and Unkai pretty much took turns telling them how brave they were. This resulted in a rather annoyed Dakota who was clearly sick of listening to the two of them.

“If you two knuckleheads are trying to get them to propose to you, I suggest you find out who is the brave one first. Or they will” Sapphire tried to suppress a chuckle at that. The two guards turned to face each other. One short chest-puffing contest later, they had achieved exactly nothing. Well except looking hilarious.

Then Jackalope got involved.

“Are you telling me this is the best this keep has to offer? A pair of posturing chickens? I might just try to keep Herron awake for long enough to hear my proposal then” Esmeralda damn near choked on her drink at that one.

Sapphire joined in “And what happens if a water demon invades, huh? Are you gonna run away or hide behind us?” She did try to not sound quite so mean.

“What, you mean Tom?” Fengi added with a laugh

The despair on their faces was rather evident at the prospect that they could either admit defeat or face their peril. The staring contest continued even if it looked more like they were finding out who was less of a coward, rather than the bravest now.

“Yeah I thought not” Jackalope concluded, with a smirk of superiority “Go have a chat with Tom and the kids, you might learn something”

Slack earedly the two of them departed, Herron kept his seat though having stayed out of that whole proceeding. He just shook his head a bit with a smug smile.

“Well that was underwhelming” Jackalope concluded.

“Well, you were rather hard on them. Don’t forget you've only known how to swim for a few hours” Sapphire went in a bit of a chuckle.

“I can swim, they can't,” Jackalope replied, seemingly unconcerned. “Besides that wasn’t the point. Those two just love showering with praise, but when they need to man up look what happens”

“Perhaps we should just carry them off in the night, one by one and teach them to swim,” Fengi asked, not seeming to realize just how horrible that would be for someone who had no clue what was going on.

“No, you will not!” Dakota stated in no uncertain terms. Perhaps a bit harder than necessary. She had warmed up a bit following the conversation she had surely had with Tom while circling the keep. Still, joking with water wasn’t clever around her.

Tom was at the kids' table yet again clearly doing his best to relay the day's experiences. Judging by how most of them were hiding under the table he had reached the swimming lessons. Even Kiran was hiding for this one even if he looked more like he was trying to protect his friends. Tom looked quite disheartened at his crowd's reaction, so she elected to go over and lend a hand.

He was apparently attempting and failing to tell some sort of children's story though. Rather than the day’s swimming lesson as she had been expecting.

“But why can’t the blue demon remember?” Holdey had asked from under the table

“She’s not a demon, she’s a fish and her name is Dory okay”

“Dory the blue demon,” Vigon replied from under the table, voice shivering. He was really getting too big to be doing that, he barely fit under the table anymore. It only made it funnier that Kiran was standing in front of him, fangs bared, seeming ready to defend his much older friends.

“Come on, she’s just a fish looking for her parents. That all” Tom tried without success, the defeat clear in his voice.

“Fish?” Sapphire questioned. That was definitely an English word.

“Well, I don’t know what you call them, things that live in the water”

“Easy, water demons” That wasn’t a difficult one.

“I wouldn’t call fish demons. They're small and cute. Quite tasty too." At that particular comment, there were a lot of distressed noises from under the table.

“Right of course you eat terrors of the deep. Do you just eat them when they are tiny or do you think it's fun to hunt them?" Sapphire honestly wasn’t surprised still to eat something that foul.

“Most fish don't get that big, maybe like this size tops” Tom held up hands to show. That wasn’t very large. Nothing like the water demons and sea monsters of legend.

“I’m not gonna pretend to know more about water than you, but isn’t that just a baby?”

“You eat babies too?” Turinia stretched out from somewhere.

That situation had taken a while to resolve. Ending with Tom swearing he would catch a fish someday so he could prove they tasted good and them all hoping he would fail for once. Sapphire had heard of people being forced to eat demon when times were hard. though it was often seen as an act of desperation.

The story seemed rather important to Tom and she eventually convinced him to try using something other than what they used for horror stories to tell it.

With that small modification, the tale of Nemo, Marlin, and Dory had been a lot more successful. It was a rather sad yet still heartwarming story if a little long. What a tragedy to be born not being able to remember anything and poor Nemo being taken away like that when so little.

Fengi had come over in the middle of storytime and taken Sapphire aside to talk. Nunuk had agreed with Dakota’s call on telling Tom some more about their magic. He had mostly figured it out himself anyway. Sapphire was a little baffled by Tom’s reaction upon being told they would no longer be keeping secrets on their magics.

Down by the lake they had told him they hadn't wanna tell him to keep an ace against him if they needed it and he hadn’t even flinched. She figured he might have figured that part out too though. He had done the same though and she had a feeling he still had a few aces left. Once they told him he had free reign, he predictably got out the notebook seeming very excited and did the rounds noting down what everyone claimed they could do.

He had gone through the list with Sapphire and Apuma during their language session the next day. Sapphire knew what everyone could do, it was something you were proud of after all.

“And Herron said he could also see through walls which a quick test using a door concluded was false. Anyone I missed?”

“No that should just about cover it.”

“Right then, so a few repeats. How good is Dakota’s sight?”

“She once read a book from across the grand hall” Apuma replied enthusiastically.

“Damn” He noted a bit more down in his notebook. “I heard what Esmeralda's voice can do first hand... can Rachuck heat up others or just him?”

“Just him, he tried with Kullinger once, he still complains about his shoulder after that,” Sapphire answered.

“Right, I see” more noting was done.

"Could he heat a thing?”

“I think so? Much easier to just use a fire though” Apuma responded seeming to ponder the question a bit.

“Noted” He really didn't need to say that it was more than clear everything would be. Sapphire felt almost as if they were under scrutiny for some offense.