[PRP] Deep Down ( Skald & Archituethis )

[CitrusCupcake]

Skald had taken herself into seclusion, going as deep as her body would allow her to, retreating as the pressure grew and settling in the murky depths amongst her beloved underwater hot water vents.

She sat amongst them for months, morose, mourning the loss of the single friend she'd made down here, wondering what it was that had caused the stallion never to be seen again. She had barely eaten, taking in enough to survive, and had grown thin, her body all angles and spikes.

One day though she had stirred, the currents had shifted, and the vents had slowed, leading her to move. She swam into shallower depths, the temperature slowly changing and her mind became sharper, and as she rose through the water the last of dark mood slipped away.

She had spent enough time alone, and after breaking the surface and sniffing at the air above, she dove back down, eager to search for proper nourishing food.  

[kaliskanny]

Archituethis made his way among the waves, catching the small, bite-sized fish in his beak. He'd spent time grazing on the kelp near the bottom, and had been craving a little protein. The stallion could always find a meal near the coral, small fish and shellfish that hid there. He darted quickly from out crop to rock and back, his webbed tentacles giving him a gliding speed.

He always hurried to get his meals near the surface done quickly, afraid to be spotted by other water dwelling soquili...or worse, the humans. He'd been alone for awhile now since his mate had disappeared. He feared that the two-leggers had caught her, but he hoped it was not true. Archi was used to being alone, his appearance giving him cause to hide in the depths.

He was caught up in his thoughts and almost didn't see the slender creature surfacing near by. He quickly darted behind a rock to see what it was. It had horns and spines, and no fins....yet it seemed to be another mer. He wrapped his tentacle 'tail' around the rock, trying to seem like a giant squid. That usually scared off other mers when he was trying to find food.  

[CitrusCupcake]

Skald foraged amongst the rocks, prying away molluscs with a leg spine, chewing on the salty and rubbery flesh that she scooped out of the shells, watching them drift lazily down to the sea floor after she was done with them.

As she turned in the water to search for more edible things, she caught sight of something odd, new even. She swam slightly closer, trying to work out what was wrapped around the rock, blowing out bubbles as she pondered.

It seemed almost squid like in origin, but the tentacles were larger. She wasn't frightened, merely on guard and she bobbed a little closer, alert for any sign of a grabbing motion towards her.  

[kaliskanny]

Why was this creature coming closer? Archi could feel the shift in the water as it approached. He splayed his tentacles a little, hoping that might frighten it back. He waved the spines on the underside of his tentacles, "Stay back."

The stallion peeked just enough the rock to see if his 'puffing up' was working.  

[CitrusCupcake]

Skald was most surprised when the owner of the tentacles spoke, and as she had not met many verbose squid the last thing she was about to was what he had said.

'Why?' she asked, swimming around to get into a position so that she could see better and she tilted her head quizzically as the creature behind the tentacles peered out from the rock.

'Will you hurt me? I cannot see why you would. I am no threat, and there is enough that we do not need to fight over food.'

It was the most words she'd spoken in a long time, and she was relieved that she had not lost the knack of it.  

[kaliskanny]

"Not unless there is a reason," Archi replied, peeking out more. He was surprised the voice was a female. He looked her over, confusion in his blue eyes. "What...are you? A mer?"  

[CitrusCupcake]

'Likewise.' Skald replied. She too would not make use of the many twisting, pointed spines she was covered with unless he made an aggressive move.

'I could ask the same.' she pointed out. it was a little blunt to be asking straight forwardly in that manner as to 'what she was', but she already knew she was different from other mers, lacking the fins that most seemed to have.

'I am a, well, one of nature's little whims. I have some Kelpie blood, but I am much more happy, and obviously designed to be in the water. And you?' she asked, her dark eyes looking over what she could see of the male.  

[kaliskanny]

"I am one of nature's mistakes," Archi replied simply, his voice quite. "I've never seen another like me....are there others like you?"

He laid his tentacles back down around the rock. The webbing made it hard for him to keep them splayed long with out tiring, and the mare didn't seem to pose a threat at the moment. "I've only come here to eat...the fish in the coral are quite tasty."  

[CitrusCupcake]

'There are no mistakes, nature doesn't work like that.' Skald blinked, curious as to why he would think that.

'Just because you haven't seen another like yourself does not mean there are none, but even if there weren't is that such a bad thing? It makes one unique, there is nothing wrong with unique.' she rippled her body, her thin tail moving behind her as she did so.

'I have never seen another like myself, and I would imagine I look interesting rather than pretty but I don't really care.'
Of course she had wondered if maybe the stallion she had met before had second thoughts about her appearance, but negative thoughts like that had slipped away with the dark mood.

'Feel free then, I think there is enough room, and enough food to feed us both without quarrel.'  

[kaliskanny]

Archi mearly shrugged and ventured out to resume trying to catch the small fish in the reef. "I had a mate...then she disappeared. I'm not sure why...I tell myself it was two-leggers to keep myself from thinking it might have been me."  

[CitrusCupcake]

Skald watched the stallion as he finally left the cover of the rock, curious, but not wishing to seem like she was staring. He was very interesting, and as far as she knew he was right, there were none that she knew of like him. But that didn't mean he was a mistake.

'There was..someone I believed I could care for as well. I spent some time with him and then I never saw him again. He was just gone. I, took myself into the depths and didn't want to see anyone else. I thought there was something I had done also. Or it was because I too am different.' she flicked her body, doing a lazy circle in the water.

'Now. Now I don't think that. If there's truly someone for me, he'll stay and worship me as I am.' she let out a bubbling chuckle.  

[kaliskanny]

Archi let out a soft chuckle, "Maybe our mates ran off with each other...."

He watched her spin in the water, "I can get that. I'm just hoping for someone who is not afraid of me."  

[CitrusCupcake]

'Maybe they deserve each other then.' Skald said as she continued to make lazy circles in the water, blowing a stream of bubbles in her mouth as she did so. She came to a halt and looked at the stallion through the slowly dissipating bubbles.

'I don't fear you.' she said, with a half-smile.
'Neither do I know your name. Mine is Skald.'  

[kaliskanny]

"My name is Archituethis," the stallion replied, watching the bubbles rise to the surface. "Or, Archi...for short."

He looked back at the mare, "You're not that frightening either. I've seen angler fish in the vast deep that are scarier than the two of us combined. Perhaps our mates didn't deserve us?"  

[CitrusCupcake]

'Architeuthis..' Skald repeated his name, making sure she pronounced it correctly.

'I like it, sounds better than mine.' she said. She decided that she liked it enough to use his full name more than the shortening of it.

'Thanks, nice to know I'm fairer looking than an angler fish.' she laughed at that, slipping through the water with a flick of her slender tail, swimming around the stallion and coming to a halt next to him.

'I would say they didn't, who wants regular looking anyway? Unique is far better.'