Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ahio grinned, looking very pleased that Ikaika was enjoying his deep sea delicacies. As a completely biased observer, he loved the food in Po'lua, and being able to share it obviously brought him great joy. "Fight back it does," he said with a nod. "The price you pay for living in such a remote place, I guess. Everything is that much more keen to survive."

He stood again, feeling antsy already after a few moments of sitting, and began to pace slowly around the living room, studying the map. "Yea, you're right," he said, finally setting the map down on the couch next to Ikaika. "Just have to go up. The hard part is sometimes knowing which way is up."

That and avoiding the myriad of hunters that lived in the deep ocean. Some of those creatures grew plenty big enough to go after people. But... they wouldn't think about that right now.

"We'll have to be careful of the currents. They can sweep us far off-course if we're not paying attention. But they'll also help us orient when it comes to direction." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully again. "Dad said it's not as scary as maybe it sounds, once you know what you're doing. But the first few times swimming through the deep ocean are unnerving."

He seemed perhaps a little worried, but did his best to hide it from his young charge. After all, if there was any situation that warranted faking it till he made it, this was it. Ahio was one of the strongest swimmers in his family. They would be okay.

"Do you want more food?" he said finally, turning back to Ikaika. "I'll need to throw a pack together before we leave, so you've got some time."

"Great!" Ahio beamed. "I'm glad you're enjoying this food." He bustled into the kitchen once again and returned with a fresh plate, this time popping a stari into his mouth with a solid crunch. Once he'd set the plate down for Ikaika, he disappeared into the next room and reemerged a minute later with a nicely-sized utility pack, to which he'd strapped a spear.

"We'll pack some for the trip too, just in case we need snacks," he said, leaning the bag against the couch. Making all these preparations seemed to calm some of his nerves, and he rubbed his hands together delightedly. "I don't know about you, but I'm pretty ready for this adventure."

"I think once you're a little less full, we can go!" Ahio said, sounding pumped up by the thought of seeing natural light for the first time. He flopped down onto the seat next to Ikaika and sprawled back for a second.

"This is going to be fun," he said enthusiastically. "I've always thought that I wanted to go out for an adventure, but I never really had a reason to. This is as good as any! I can't wait to see all of the strange new things up on the surface!"