[prp] Splash [Cherish x Yongliang]

[FitzRoyal]

The morning was bright and clear. Blue sky, twittering birds, and a bright warm sun made it seem like the perfect day. The only problem was that it was a bit hot out. Well more than bit. The glorious sun was slowly burning the forest, and its inhabitants into a crisp. It managed to smother everything. Even in the shade it was too hot to move. Every plant, every creature, was slowly losing its vigor. This included Cherish. She couldn’t even work up the enthusiasm to sing, one of her most favorite things to do. So she went searching. Leaving behind her sister, mother and Orrin, she slipped into the forest underbrush, randomly picking a direction.

And after several minutes of stumbling through the forest she reached heaven. Or the closest thing to it on a day like today. It was where the sea ran into its freshwater counterpart. A delta, littered with sediment islands, and slow moving water. It was shiny, sparkling and the best part was the lack of waves. Apparently the rivers opposing flow prevented them from appearing.

Gleefully Cherish trotted down the bank and approached the crystal clear liquid. She thrust her muzzle into it, and began gulping it down. She never even thought to enter the water, since she had never seen another soquili go in.
 

[Leez0rz]

As usual, Yongliang had his mind set on chilling out and having a peaceful morning. Venturing out from the sea for a bit, his wandering had him in the slower waters of the delta, where the fresh water from bodies of water on the mainland filtered back into the saltwater of the ocean. He was more accustomed to the saltier water being brought up in the sea, but for once, he wanted to try swimming upstream to break out of his usual routine of casually swimming about the ocean's bottom.

With a flick of his tail, he was propelled forward upstream before settling back in place. He wasn't particularly in any rush to get anywhere, nor did he had his heart set out on swimming upstream. He was fine as he was, swimming in place in the middle of the delta. The water level was comfortable enough to swim around in without the fear of being put in a situation where he would be basically on land. He had no clue that the water was clear, with all the sediment about, for anyone above him to see his brightly colored body.  

[FitzRoyal]

The water was refreshing cool as Cherish gulped it down. Cool and just what she needed on a day like today, although it really didn’t help with the hot sunlight that was beating down on her back. But it was soo good. Cherish dipped her muzzle back into the water…and spotted something moving?!

Startled, Cherish leapt away from the riverbank, but it only took a few seconds for her curiosity to overwhelm her. She tentatively approached the glistening water’s edge again. And watched as a small creature, brightly colored with blues, yellows and oranges swam about in the center of the delta. And with such a luminescent blue, Cherish just had to see it.

She needed to see it.

She watched it and watched it, but it was too far out for her to nudge. Too far out for her to play with. Agitated by the heat and her inability to reach the mysterious creature, she did the only thing she could do. Sing.

"Row, row, row your boa
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream…"

Her childish voice, filled with sweet purity, drifted across the river and through the surrounding trees. And she immediately turned back to the creature, hopeful that it would notice her.  

[Leez0rz]

With a flick of his tail and effortless kicks with his fore legs, the stallion moved forward against the slow current. It did not take long before the current gently pushed him down river again where the stallion would repeat this process. He was enjoying the cool water flowing against him, but felt the warm sun on his back.

Unaware of the presence of another Soquili, the stallion did not think that there was any danger to be concerned about. His tail slightly dragged against the sand, allowing him to stand upright for a moment. Since he nothing to anchor him to the ground, the current pushed against him.

The melodic sound that penetrated through the water's surface caused the stallion a moment of confusion. It was not something he would recognize to be the sound of the ocean. His red eyes searched the depths of the water that surrounded him, and yet he could not make of anything in the water that would make that kind of noise. This left one last place that the stallion was not too certain about. His eyes looked up to the sky, where the world was not surrounded in water. Drifting downstream a bit, his tail felt around for a root or rock that he could anchor his body to. It only took him a moment to find that anchor and drift along with the soft current. Taking this opportunity, he tried to get a good look at the world above him without breaking the surface of the water. Still, he could not see far enough to see what had made that melodic sound.  

[FitzRoyal]

Cherish watched as the creature moved, back and forth, back and forth....and then it changed it pattern. It was coming closer!? Vibrating with excitement she watched as it headed towards her.

Closer
closer
and then it stopped.
Just out of reach.

"I don't want to lose you!" The tune was song in the highest pitch she could manage and it came out more as a screech than music. Cherish was bouncing back in forth on the edge of the bank, need and fear warring against eachother. Finally Cherish gave in.

And leapt off the bank into the cool water.

She hit the water ungracefully and all of the breath was forced out of her. Flailing. Scrawny legs kicking out in every direction, Cherish attempted to swim through the blackness. Upwards. But which way was up? Eyes shut tightly against the cool liquid, she had no way of knowing which direction she was headed. And she had very little breath left.