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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 17:27:10 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 17:27:10 GMT -6
Lu at first made a face. Commands? That sounded like someone bossing her around, which she wasn't pleased about! But then the second part, the bribe, hit her ears and she perked right up. Ashe was going to take her treasure hunting? "Treasure hunting?" She let out in a gasp. That sounded so exciting, so fun and exotic! "Me?!" Her eyes were wide, looking up at Ashe - who was tall enough he was standing on his feet, chest half out of the water - she gave a violent nod, to show she was ready for these 'commands'.
Ashe beamed down at her, giving a nod of his own to show he was serious. "First up, I want you to go under water on command. If we're traveling by water, and we're about to get seen by someone, or if... I dunno, it starts raining fire. It'll be a good idea to get under water and stay there! Alright?" He bent his knees, so he was closer to the water. "When I say 'under,' go under! One... two... three... Under!"
[Ashe: 1 18/20 Lucrecia: 9.1 / 11.1 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 7
Submerge 1]
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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 17:41:10 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 17:41:10 GMT -6
Together, both man and dragon dunked under the water. Ashe opened his eyes under water and saw Lu looking at him, curiously. She was holding her breath effortlessly, though she comically had her cheeks puffed out. He supposed that might be what he looked like, to a dragon. He smirked at her and rolled his eyes, and she rolled around in a tight barrel twist, mimicking those eyes. He laughed, letting his air out of his mouth and feeling the not so clean water enter. He gagged and gestured to return to the surface.
Together, they came up, splashing water in all directions. Lu was graceful about it, looking smug and pleased with herself, but Ashe was gagging on the muddy water and gasping for air. When he'd recovered, spitting out the most of the water he took in, he smiled at her. "Good job! That was perfect. You gotta stay down until I tell you it's safe to come up, alright?" He prepared himself to go under again, paddling water and lowering himself to his shoulders. "Ready? Three... Two... One. Under!"
[Ashe: 1 19/20 Lucrecia: 9.2 / 11.2 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 8
Submerge 2]
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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 17:54:05 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 17:54:05 GMT -6
Ashe had them repeat this process over and over, staying underwater longer and longer each time they went under. At no point during these exercises did Lu seem to struggle with holding her breath, and Ashe wondered just how long she could do it for! He made sure to praise her each time they returned to the surface, telling her what a wonderful little girl she was and how impressed he was.
"So, I see you can hold your breath for a while without struggling, huh?" He said, keeping his voice light. She gave him a big nod, making the water splash with the force of it. She was proud! She was sure she could hold her breath longer than any human could, even Uncle Ashe! "Do you know how long you can hold it?" He asked her. It was doubtful she would know herself, though the question was worth asking.
Lu thought about it a moment, but counting time was not among her many strengths. Being a dragon, not a human, and then also being a baby...
"Wanna see how long?" He offered.
[Ashe: 2 0/20 Lucrecia: 9.3 / 11.3 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 9
Submerge 3]
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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 18:02:25 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 18:02:25 GMT -6
"Yes! Yes, how do I?" Lu asked, eyes sparkling. She gave an excited little wriggle.
Ashe chuckled and reached out a hand to playfully swat at her under water, which she deftly avoided with an exaggerated roll over the questing fingers. "You go under the water as long as you can, and I'll count! How's that sound? My max is a minute and forty-five seconds. See if you can beat that?"
Lu gave an eager nod. That didn't sound like that long at all, she figured she could beat that easily! She loved proving she was the best at things. Of course, she didn't have the opportunity that often, due to the fact she was just a little thing and Ashe - or her father, or siblings - were older and bigger than she was. But she, unlike they, would continue to grow!
"Alrighty then, on the count... Three... Two... One... Under!" As Lu ducked under the water, Ashe mused to himself at how different it was training something sentient - even smarter than he was! - as opposed to a regular animal. The word stuck a lot faster, and she knew the task.
[Ashe: 2 1/20 Lucrecia: 9.4 / 11.4 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 10
Submerge 4]
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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 18:51:54 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 18:51:54 GMT -6
The time ticked by, Ashe keeping a rhythmic count of the seconds passing in his head. Lu was passing the one minute marker when Ashe became aware that she wasn't where she had originally gone under. He saw a shadow moving around, swimming around him and even felt something around his feet. That little stinker wasn't sitting still to see how long she could last! She was swimming around! Had she forgotten what she was doing? He hoped she hadn't grown bored enough to ruin this experiment.
He kept up the steady count, pleased when she did pass him - though not by much. She came up at one minute and forty-seven seconds, and he rolled his eyes when he saw the expression on her face. She was curious, big eyes blinking.
"Lu... Do you remember what you were doing?" He asked her slowly, watching her expression to see if anything clicked over.
"Swimming!" She answered quickly, pleased. She was a strong swimmer!
"Holding your breath as long as you could... remember?"
[Ashe: 2 2/20 Lucrecia: 10.0 / 12.0 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 11
Submerge 5]
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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 18:52:16 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 18:52:16 GMT -6
Those big baby eyes got even bigger when realization hit. "Oh!" She gasped. She remembered now, she was supposed to hold her breath as long as she could so she could beat Ashe! But then she had seen a fish and swam around after it. It darted away quicker than she could react, but that had made her forget the goal and she'd started swimming around Ashe to amuse herself. Since the man stayed out of the water, she grew bored of this, too, and came to the surface. Way too soon. She could have held her breath for so much longer!
The problem here was dealing with attention spans. Though willing, Lu was no seasoned warrior. Ashe chuckled at her and patted her on the head reassuringly. "Let's try it again. Under!" He told her. He took away the countdown, and was pleased to see her immediate reaction. She ducked under the water, paddling just a little bit, slow, slow circles around Ashe. She was trying to keep her focus this time!
[Ashe: 2 3/20 Lucrecia: 10.1 / 12.1 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 12
Submerge 6]
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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 18:52:31 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 18:52:31 GMT -6
It took a few more tries, but they got to two and a half minutes with Lucrecia, and Ashe decided that was good enough for now. Each time he'd said the word 'under,' she had ducked under the surface, so he was pretty sure she got the gist of that anyway. He called her back over when she hit the one hundred and fifty second mark, her little lungs working perfectly. He cheered her on, knowing she would last even longer the older she got, the bigger the lungs grew, and the more capacity both lung and blood would develop.
"That was brilliant, Lu! Now we can swim under any obstacles we face, when we go treasure hunting. But you know something else we need to learn? We need to be able to swim in place, to just hold our position. Pretend... Pretend there's a mean old guard, trying to keep the treasure from us." At this, she made a determined face, a scowl.
[Ashe: 2 4/20 Lucrecia: 10.2 / 12.2 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 13
Submerge 7 - fin]
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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 18:52:45 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 18:52:45 GMT -6
"What we have to do," Ashe continued, speaking of the guard. "Is wait for him to get out of the way before we can swim past. Maybe - maybe it's a sea monster, waiting to eat us. And we have to stay still until it gets bored and swims away. When I say, 'Wait,' that means I want you to stay where you are. Alright? And wait until I give the all clear." Ashe kicked off the bottom of the river and started doggy-paddling, keeping pace alongside his baby dragon. She was all giggles and squeals, her imagination no doubt running away with her. Tales of treasure hunting and monsters and adventure!
Glancing around for a good spot to practice, Ashe found a large boulder sticking up out of the water. He swam up to it and peered around it. Then he pulled his head back, and raised an arm to prevent Lu from swimming around it. "Lu, wait." Lu blinked, knowing that word was supposed to mean something... Something Ashe had just said...
[Ashe: 2 5/20 Lucrecia: 10.3 / 12.3 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 14
Tread Water - 1]
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Halcyon
Jan 30, 2023 18:53:15 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Jan 30, 2023 18:53:15 GMT -6
"Wait here," Ashe repeated. He peeked around the rock again. Lu thought about waiting, then she started to drift around the rock, too. She wanted a look! Ashe gently backed her up with a sweep of his arm. "Remember, we wait right here. Minimal paddling, just keep yourself afloat. We aren't going forward yet, there's a... a MONSTER up there!"
Lu remembered now, remembered that Ashe said on their treasure hunt she would have to wait, staying still in the water. She wanted to see what was going on up there so badly though! She could hardly contain herself! Every time she tried to go around, Ashe blocked her way with an arm, scooting her back to where he wanted her. That was so unfair, if you asked her! But she gave up after the fifth try or so.
"Wait," Ashe said more firmly, giving her a stern look. She snorted bubbles at him and rolled her eyes, like a mutinous teenager.
[Ashe: 2 6/20 Lucrecia: 10.4 / 12.4 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 15
Tread Water - 2]
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Halcyon
Feb 1, 2023 20:48:22 GMT -6
Post by Jack on Feb 1, 2023 20:48:22 GMT -6
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Halcyon
Feb 7, 2023 18:50:46 GMT -6
Post by Ashe on Feb 7, 2023 18:50:46 GMT -6
"Wait," Ashe said again. She was struggling a bit with this one, and he chalked it up to eagerness for adventure, and an overactive imagination. She didn't realize he was only making it up, did she?
When she started to drift forward again, he gently edged her back. "Wait..." He told her again. She gave him a pouty looking face, the most pouty looking face he had ever seen on a dragon. "Just a little bit longer..."
"But it's hard!" She whined. Ashe tensed; that phrase caused many a knee jerk reaction in him, from comments to suggestive looks, and he had to remind himself that; one, he was talking to a dragon, not a human lady and; two, she was basically a child. While he could make comments like that with Santiago and know his partner would get it - and if he didn't, he would get it after Ashe explained it and also giggle over it - he definitely would not to Santiago's daughter.
Right, it was difficult for her to stay in place.
"Gotta focus. Move your legs and tail, part forward and part backward motion. To stay in place."
[Ashe: 2 7/20 Lucrecia: 11.0 / 13.0 *Ashe is using Sever Bond Dry Season 16
Tread Water - 3]
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