songerein | [closed] 🌿 the seaweed is always greener

Alright, Kor. There’s one thing we gotta do before we go diving.

[The two boys are sitting in a little wooden paddle boat out on the water just off from a hidden cove near the wastelands...

They’re a fair ways away from the shore now where he’s sure Vanitas is just waiting and fuming. But since the boy can’t swim it’s not like Sora could take him out on a special task like this. No, the only other person that Sora could trust with this sort of thing is his other best friend Kor Meteor. And that’s why he holds out a potion between the two of them.]

We gotta drink this stuff. It’s supposed to be able to help us breathe underwater. Once we can it should be no problem for us to get down to the ocean floor to look for a bunch of these pearls we need to find.

[These special pearls are full of a particularly pure dreamotion energy. He doesn’t know too much about them yet but if Kor has questions about the mission he can ask them now.]

[When Kor heard about this mission Sora was doing, and why he was doing it, part of him felt sad. Not because it meant Sora was going to stay in Songerein, but because it really drove home the fact in his mind that Sora may not have a home to return to outside of here. And that when they wake up, they really may never see each other again.

But it also made him resolute. Even if there was no future for him in his own world, there was a future for him here. If that was the case, he'd do anything to help Sora. It wasn't even a question for him, of course he'll help his best friend, his brother from across worlds.

When the potion is held out, Kor takes it in hand and drinks his share without even the slightest bit of hesitation.]

I'm ready.

[It's a little bittersweet, isn't it? All these years together now and yet there might actually be an end to it. But Sora's resolve has been made up about this decision. He has to find a way to stay here and make a life that's long lasting. Because he can't be sure if Vanitas can go home at all and if that is a risk then he rather take the risk of keeping them here to save Vanitas' life rather than risk him really being dead. And Destiny Islands... Sora's feelings have gotten complicated.

But Kor looks so ready to help him. He doesn't ask a single question and takes the potion and drinks half like it's a choice he barely has to think about. And that warms a part of Sora's heart. If there is one person he knows he can always rely on no matter what it is... It's Kor.

It's going to be so hard to part with him someday. But... They'll always be brothers.]

Okay. [Sora takes the potion and then drinks the rest of the liquid.] Then all we got to do is swim as far down as we can go. We might need some dreammotion to make some lights. We've got that, right?

[Sora sets the bottle aside and then he's kicking off his shoes and getting ready to jump into the water.]

Us? [Kor perks up, putting on a real show of bravado.]

We're the best dreamotion users here! We made a whole beach, [citation needed] light's a piece of cake for us!

[Likewise, Kor starts removing his boots, getting ready to jump into the water with Sora.]

Too bad we can't just turn into mermen like we did in that one dream you had, huh? That'd make this a cinch for us then.

[Sora grins brightly in return. He won't argue about that, Sora totally thinks they made the entire ocean for the entire town to enjoy!]

Haha, you're right about that! This is going to be the easiest job yet!

[And with that Sora pushes himself off the side of the boat and into the water. He treads there as he waits for Kor to join him.]

But I think turning into mer would make this job a little too easy. I want a little bit of a challenge too! Come on, let's go and see if we can find any deepwater sharks to wrestle with on the way down.

[And it's time to drop down into the water. Sora holds his breath out of habit when he dives but when he's completely underwater they'll find they can breathe and talk just fine.]

Whoa?!

[Kor dives in after Sora, and the shock of the cold water hitting him makes him gasp out for air, making it all too apparent to him very quickly they were now able to breathe underwater completely.]

Whoa?! Sora, haha! It worked!

[It was a weird feeling, very different from experiencing it in a dreamscape.

He swims out away from Sora, and then waves to him, calling out to him.]

Over here!

[He doesn't actually have anything to show him, he just thinks it's cool they can talk and breathe underwater.]

[Sora grins in return and swims like a fish right toward his friend. The water is as cold as he expected but after a moment or two of paddling through the water, the cold doesn't seem all that bad. Summer ocean water is always the best.]

This is so awesome?! And we don't even have to be part fish to swim like this right now!

[Kudos to whoever made the underwater breathing potion.

Sora then looks downwards at the depths of the ocean below and he can see the faint outline of the rocks and seaweed growing below them. He hopes that somewhere nestled in all that ocean life there are some special pearls to be found.]

I'll race you to the bottom?

Edited 2023-07-19 00:39 (UTC)

Alright, but don't think I'll go easy on you just because we're friends!

[There was some fun and exciting about this, experiencing the ocean in a way he never has before, and he is absolutely riding that high he's getting from it all.

He takes a brief moment to scope out where they're going to. He doesn't know exactly what they're supposed to be searching for, what makes these pearls so special. But he's sure Sora knows, and that's good enough for him.

He nods, determined.]

Ready... set...

Go!

[And down Sora goes with a splash! He doesn't hesitate in diving down as fast as he can to race his best friend into the depths of the ocean.

Down and down they go... They'll find that the potion works wonders in keeping them healthy during their dive. There is no change in pressure in his ears and his breathing is still working as if he could be breathing air right now.

And as they swim their way down they'll get closer to the seabed. There will be a collection of strange growing plants and faintly glowing rocks that give them a source of light. The sand reflects the light to give it a luminescent glow. There are some schools of fish swishing by and little crabs and other shelled creatures that waddle across the bottom too.

And somewhere down here there should be something like glow-in-the-dark clam shells. That might be a good place to start looking.]

Almost there!! ...Whoa, it's really neat down here. It's like being on another planet.

[If Sora was in awe of the sight, Kor was one step short of fanboying it. The image of the glowing scenery etches itself in Kor's mind, leaving him feeling marveled. He's always loved the sky and its majestic beauties, but who knew the ocean could be just as beautiful?]

It's... incredible...

[He sounds dumbstruck as he says that, barely able to find the words to describe what he's seeing. Another planet? That was a good way of describing it, it was almost otherworldly down here...]

So... We're looking down here?

[He slowly swims around the seabed, keeping an eye out for anything that might catch his eye.]

Yeah, it's so incredible I can't believe it's grown from what we dreamed up at the start!

[Sora and Kor did not dream up any part of the ocean. Here or back then.]

The pearls are supposed to be in shells, right? So we should try to find some of those down here, yeah!

[Sora kicks off to search a little near Kor. His hands skim the sand trying to find any special-looking clams or oysters... There's got to be something that will be a sign that they're the right ones.]

Maybe a shell that looks like it's different from other ones?

[Kor can't help but muse to himself how incredible their imaginations must be that they created not only an entire beach and ocean, but also so many incredible things beneath the ocean. They are truly amazing!

While Sora goes in one direction searching, Kor goes in another direction, skimming along the sand looking for anything that catches his eye. It's not long before he unearths (unsands?) something, holding up a shell.]

How about this?

[It was kind of weirdly shaped, and a little sparkly, but not what Sora's looking for.]

[Sora looks up and he nods.]

That does look like a shell! I dunno I think we've gotta open it up to check. Uh, how are we gonna open it, though?

[He swims down a little ways away and finds another shell that looks similar. Both of the shells are a bit sparkly but they don't look sparkly enough...

As he searches through the sand he does find what looks like... an old drum? How did a drum get down here? It's not rusted, though.]

Hey! Look what I found! It's a drum? Like the musical kind?

[Kor's floating there trying to pry it open with his bare hands. He's not having much luck with it, though.

Just when he gets ready to make a tool out of dreamotion to rip it open, he hears Sora call out. He drops the shell and swims over to him. A drum? That sounds cool.]

Whoa... It really is a drum! How'd it get down here? [Littering is bad...]

Do you think other instruments are down here, too? What if there's a whole band under the sea?

[They're getting distracted.]

I wouldn't be surprised if there was, sea creatures and merfolk love using musical instruments.

[So maybe these drums aren't litter and actually belong to some mermaid living down here? They're totally getting distracted but Sora pats the drum anyway to make a little bongo bongo 🎶 noise.]

Haha!

[But just as he does that... the special shells glow to the beat.]

Huh?!

Whoa!

[Kor's amazed, first by Sora's musical talent here. A+ bongoing, he always knew you had it in you. But then he's amazed all over again when the shells start glowing to the beat!]

D... Do that again, Sora! But even better this time!

[Bust out that drum solo.]

Whoa? Huh?

[They might have stumbled on something important here! Sora pats the drum again and shows off his newly found bongo skills with a simple beat. And with each pat, the closed oysters and clams start to glow more and more. And one even pops open!!]

Hey! I think they like the music or something?!

[That might be the key to opening all of them!?]

Whoa! Amazing! Super cool!

[It was the simple things in life that truly amazed Kor, like glowing shells.

Now he wishes he had his own instrument, like a sea guitar or something. That'd be cool. But instead he has to watch, what with there only being one drum.

He swims around, and goes over to the very first shell that lights up when Sora starts playing, giving it a poke. Maybe it'll do something?]

[Sora will continue to beat his drum with a simple playful beat and the shells that Kor pokes do seem to glow and slightly open when he plays! ... But they won't open entirely!]

Hey, I think it's working! But uh, maybe we need to make more than just a beat?

[Kor might get lucky and get some sort of instrument to play. If they can find something else maybe they can create a melody and really jam.]

I wonder if we can find something else that you can play too?

[closed] 🌿 the seaweed is always greener

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