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 Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:57 pm
Alec grimaced after the first pull, the mud barely sloshing at his sides as an indicator that he'd barely moved at all. He hadn't realized it would be difficult for a person of her weight and stature to drag him with ease, as he was sure he weighed more than she did. He regretted this decision when she resorted to tugging in bursts of strength, positive his arms were going to be jerked right out of their sockets every time she got a good foothold. Fortunately the ordeal didn't last long and to his surprise, he soom felt cool water flowing past his streamlined body.
For once he found that his awkwardly-angled head wasn't so awkward anymore. Without bending, twisting, he was able to see perfectly ahead of him. This was of course when his neck was naturally straight and when that happened, his head had to be submerged. In fact, he was entirely submerged for the first time ever since his change. It was inevitable that a compounding panic began to arise in his body language, evident by a sudden flailing of his limbs.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:06 pm
"Oh damn..." Awen muttered when she saw the shark start flailing. And it had been going so well, in Awen's mind anyway. Manuvering herself around the man so she tread beside him Awen put one hand over his back and held on best she could.
Size or no the shark was fairly easy to move now that most of his weight was suspended in the water. Essentially the girl attempted to push the man in such a way that his head would come out of the water at least enough for him to breath.
"Alright." She said. "Calm down, calm down! I gotcha."
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:24 pm
Water filled Alec's throat as he unconsciously opened his mouth whilst flailing like mad by the side of the lake. The entire time he thrashed, he could envision himself sinking like a rock to the bottom of the lake and drowning as he wriggled his pathetically shrivelled limbs in an attempt to save himself. His fears were becoming a reality. He'd die here at the bottom of a huge body of water and no one would ever find his rotting, watery corpse....
This is why that when the instant he felt Awen's reassuring touch, he clung to her neck like a terrified child. His chokehold wasn't painful but it had enough strength to it to communicate his fears. The teen mananged to mumble something inaudible as he coughed up water, thin leg-fins now almost vertical as they gently swirled at the water without thought.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:34 pm
"It's okay, you're okay." The manta cooed to the shark. She winced slightly at the grip on her neck but honestly it wasn't horrible. She kicked hard enough to keep the both of them afloat with what seemed like ease.
"Listen Alec, this is going to be really hard for you but you've got to learn how to breathe through your gills." She tilted her head best she could to look at him. "When you're in the water you have to stop letting drowning clog your thoughts. You will not drown, I promise, I will not allow it. What you have to do is focus on not breathing through you mouth or nose. I'll help guide you along first so that it won't be so bad. I'll keep us on the surface of the water so if you feel you can't I'll pull you back up, alright? But you just have to let the water pass through your gills, it's how we breathe. We'll take it slow, you'll be fine." She held the shark in a firm grip trying to reassure him. She really hoped he wouldn't back out now, he was already in the water and it would just be easier to do this now. She had no idea when his next change was supposed to happen but he really should get used to breathing water now before he had to.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:47 pm
Despite his fears, he remained still and tried to calm himself. There was no way he'd still be there if he had any method of fleeing from the challenge but a sprint to the shoreline wasn't exactly possible. A part of him didn't want to leave Awen there anyways, as if her subsequent disappointment would be much more painful for him to endure. "Kay. Bu' 'ow?" He gurgled, the water still lingering in the cavities of his throat even as he pivoted himself to return to a sort of swimming posture. He'd at least give this a try.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:53 pm
Awen sighed a little bit at the question. "To be honest I don't know. I transformed at the bottom of the lake during the blackout, if I didn't use my gills I would have drowned. It came naturally and now it's easier to me than breathing air the old fashioned way. I was kind of hoping that once the water starts to pass over them your instincts will take over."
Biting her lip a little bit she gave the man an awkward smile. "Kind of why I said we'd keep you at surface level until you were comfy, I'm not sure if it will work. Um.... so don't exactly hold your breath, just try to keep for mouth and nose closed to it. The best way I can describe is just..breathe from your neck. Try to visualise it like that and it might help, your body may just take over. If all else fails just... well... listen to the shark, you know?"
Thinking that was enough of an explaination, or at least all she could think to say about the subject she took a breath and grinned. "So, whenever you're ready, just say the word."
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 7:13 pm
Listen to the shark. Last time Alec listened to the shark inside his mind he bit a hole though Zach's wing... again. It wasn't as encouraging as he would've hoped to hear but it'd have to do. She was being so kind and patient just like a big sister, he couldn't ask for anything more. "Gotcheh." He tried to respond enthusiastically. This wasn't going to hurt, why was he so terrified? Awen was much better equipped for the water than he was, if he was going to drown she could at least have the ability to warn him in advance. Right?
He wasn't sure how this was going to go but he was ready for whatever was coming though admittedly, he was psyching himself up in the meantime. Keep your nose shut, mouth closed. Did she say mouth closed or just sorta not letting water through? He was positive he'd seen fish glub around in a fishtank with their mouths open, didn't they?
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 7:21 pm
Trying to reflect on the advice she'd given him Awen was starting to second guess everything she'd said. But he had given the the go ahead... she put on an encouraging smile and hoped everything would go alright. She tried to think of how she breathed and tried to compare it to everything she said. Her own nerves started to get the best of her as all the thoughts got muddled and she just had to let them go.
With a kick of her feet she started pushing them both through the water. Her whole function in this would simply be a propeller and a safety net. "If you want to kick or whatever to help push you go ahead. Just lower your head into the water when you're ready to do so, I'll try to keep a relatively constant speed, but hey, lugging you around he lake isn't terribly easy. Just, you know, think like a fish, right?" She went slow at first but picked up enough speed she hoped for it to work.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:27 am
"Like a fis-blb-" The boy tried to echo, a look on anxiousness on his face as he was cut short by the abrupt sloshing of the water once Awen started swimming. She was stronger than she looked he thought, off conformation being no indicator of her fragility. He began peddling with his hindfins shortly after in an attempt to lighten the load she would have to drag until he had to courage to dunk his head under once again, yet it didn't take much time. The water was striking his face more than he had expected as his head was the only thing breaking the streamlined motion as he struggled to keep it above the waves. Finally he gave in; it was now or never. He was determined to finish what he started.
The warm water surprised him the moment he bent his neck downwards, feeling air bubbles rushing over what he could only think was a somewhat impressively streamlined body infront of him. In all his innocent amazement however, he almost forgot what he had meant to do. He could feel his gills somewhat fluttering but the longer he waited for some miraculous gasp of air to reach his lungs, the more his vision began to blur with the blackness that accompanied a faint.
This wasn't working, but he refused to come up for air.
Forgetting all rhyme or reason, he began to shake his head to try and clear it from the foggy, fuzzy blackness and light-headedness, mouth opening in an exasperated gesture. And then he felt it. The water rushed in like a tunnel was suddenly opened and the very molecules were eager to leap inside. Something closed, something opened, and the blackness crept away from his sight.
He'd been under longer than he thought and he'd stopped moving.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:00 pm
For awhile Awen just kept moving, thankful for his help in the kicking the manta ray smiled nervously down at the subject. For a time everything was fine, she wasn't sure if it had been working or not but he hadn't made a motion to come up for air so Awen had let it be. Swimming along she hadn't really thought about how long exactly he'd been under water. What kind of life guard was she supposed to be?
Suddenly the girl noticed that Alec wasn't moving. He'd stopped kicking and when that happened, the manta noticed. Just like she had before Awen heaved the man up so his face would be out of the water.
"Alec? Alec are you okay?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:14 pm
He was hard to haul upwards, being dead weight and all, but by some odd phenomena he hadn't sunk any lower than when they had initially begun moving. Surely if he was drowning, he would've thrashed or begun to fall.
Ye he was still as driftwood and just as Awen had begun to pull him up where the very tip of his nose would touch real air, the sharkboy seemed to spring into life. At first his body made a slow, bending motion sideways until he snapped his entire length and in one jerky and rapid motion pulled free from Awen and sailed clear of her altogether.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:21 pm
"Woah hey!" Awen tried to keep her grip on the shark man, to make sure everything was alright, but to no avail. The man was out of her grip before she even had a chance to fully register what was going on.
"Alec? What's wrong?" She called out, even though he was clearly not going to hear her properly being underwater. But there was sudden silence on the surface and with a frown Awen pushed herself into the water bellow. With concerned eyes she swept the area for Alec.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:36 pm
Contrary to Awen's greatest fears, the sharkboy could be seen not far away at all in the distance even in the murkiness of the sediment-laden water. He seemed to be circling, swimming in figure-eights, even so much as tipping to his side to peddle along in an odd sort of sidestroke. His backfins didn't seem to be hindering him at all though he used them more alike a seal lion than a shark, little rudders flicking about behind. If Awen could see his face as he passed by in one his large patterned formations, she'd see he was smiling, mouth wide but without the slightest hint of feral imtimidation.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:40 pm
Awen's concern faded as she saw the pattern and the smile on the sharks lips. Her heart filled with the joy of remembering some of her first joys of the water after so much dread. Soon the manta girl starrted swimming in a gentle circle outside of Alec's pattern radius.
Her own mouth was tipped in a grin as she kept her eyes on the shark, just enjoying watching the man enjoy himself so much in the waters. If ever he would look her way Awen would give the man a thumbs up and goofy grin.
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Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:21 pm
As awkward and new as it felt for the steams of water to rush by his weightless body, Alec felt calm and almost at home in the medium. He didn't even feel the least bit like a sinking rock as his body seemed to have a natural buoyancy to it. In the end, the sharkboy couldn't think of a reason why he had been so hesitant to take the leap now that he'd realized it wasn't bad at all. He of course had Awen to thank gratefully, seeing as her careful introduction had made the largest impact in the matter.
As he made another pass he could see Awen's congradulatory gestures and as foolish and child-like as he was acting, he couldn't feel any better. Swimming boldy up to the manta girl until he came to an underwater stop, the youngster waved sheepishly before realizing that the enternal breath he'd been savoring the entire time had run out. It only lasted so long?
Surfacing quickly, he glanced down at himself and waited for Awen to follow. It figured something would cut short his fun.
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