A (Fish) Tale of Two Worlds (ZellyxM3G)

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona did her best to row to their destination, following Kai along to some extent, but with her lack of arm strength she could only go so fast. Still, she wasn't so much a weakling that it would take too long to arrive at their destination. Wanting to start a conversation in the meantime, she asked, "What's the neatest thing you done ever seen in one of these?"

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

Kai disappeared beneath the boat briefly before popping back up at the rear of the little row boat. "I think one time I saw a royal ship of some kind." he said with a grunt as he started to help push the little dingy along to relieve her of some of the work. "There were these huge fancy paintings, and there was this one big room that was really fancy. Another one was a pirate ship, filled with treasure and all these skeletons, which was honestly kinda creepy."

 

[M3Gnificent]

"I'll bet! ...What was the creepiest thing on there? Skeletons aside, I mean." Fiona had an odd sort of fascination for the macabre at times, perhaps originating in her grandfather's war stories he'd tell her in her youth.

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

"Sorry, I think skeletons were as bad as it got. Although there was the one time..." Kai grew rather solemn thinking back. "I saw a ship go down once, but by the time I got there I couldn't save a single person. Just a bunch of debris and dead bodies floating down to the bottom of the sea." he shuddered at the thought. So many looks of terror frozen in place, and blood for the less than lucky few who got a wooden beam stabbed through them.

 

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona, noting Kai's discomfort, was rather quick to change the topic. "So, how long you guess 'til we arrive?" she asked, feeling a bit guilty for asking her prior question.

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

"Not too much further. I know the ocean like the back of my hand." Kai was quick to perk back up. He was excited to show her around his home, or at least the environment he lived in and what he'd been doing before he met Fiona proper. Fiona had shown Kai her world, now it was Kai's turn to show Fiona his. Eventually he stopped pushing the boat and swam around to the side. He held the boat steady with one hand and offered her his other to help her out of the boat.

 

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona was quick to don her gear, accepting Kai's helpful hand only the moment she figured herself ready. It was kind of scary, being this far out in the ocean with no large yacht to keep her safe. At the same time, though, it was thrilling. Who knew what excitement waited for her below? What adventure? It scared her to death. She could hardly wait. "I'm ready when you are." she finally said, offering a short not as she did so.

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

Kai led her beneath the surface of the water, the light shifting and dancing through the waves overhead to the underwater world below. It was kind of funny to the merboy, swimming alongside Fiona like this, tail beside legs. It was like an underwater canyon, with high cliffs and clumps of coral like brightly colored bushes dotting the rocks. Schools of fish of all kinds swam around them, weaving through the coral and rocks, streaming in and out of the occasional cave in the surrounding cliffs. "Well, here's home!" Once they'd gained a bit of depth, Kai let go of her hand to swim in front of her and throw his hands out wide, like he just brought her to a theme park for a surprise. He of course hadn't even considered as to whether or not she could even hear him through her diving gear. "Well, part of it, I guess. I've come a long way from where I was born since I started exploring the ocean and ship wrecks like this."

 

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona was, unfortunately, unable to comment on the magnificent sights surrounding her or to reply to what Kai was saying. This did not stop her from tearing up a little, amazed and touched at having the chance to see such a beautiful place. Part of her almost wondered why Kai would want to leave such a place just to see the surface. Speaking of Kai, hearing him was a little difficult, but she managed to figure out the gist of what he was saying by reading his lips when she could. She gave a small nod of affirmation, following dilligently along lest she get herself into some form of trouble or another.

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

Kai led Fiona to one of the caves fish were swimming about in and stopped outside. "Hang on tight, okay? Never tried going through her with someone else, but I'm not going to let anything happen to you." he assured her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and swam forward where a strong current picked them up and sped them on through the cave where it spat them safely out in a large spacious area with the wrecked ship sitting at the bottom.

 

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona, despite the circumstances, felt her cheeks reddening a little as Kai wrapped his arm around her waist. It was nice being this close, but that would only embarass them both - that was, assuming she actually could talk beneath that scuba gear and be heard. But she couldn't. So she simply let him lead her along, enjoying the feel of the current pushing them through and the sight of the wrecked ship immediately afterwards. It really was quite beautiful. She looked toward him with a smile, not that he would be able to see it, and gave a short nod to signify that she was ready when he was.

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

Kai traded smiles with her even though he couldn't see hers. Down he led her to a large hole in the side and looked around before swimming in and took her hand, helping her past the jagged wood forming the hole. "This one's another pretty high class ship, so you should still find something pretty nifty down here. Although knowing your family, it may not be anything special." he said as he moved through the murky gloom. There were still some skeletons here and there, still dressed to the nines in fancy clothes, but he was no longer bothered by them.

 

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona nodded once more, examining one of the skeletons before going on to search the rest of the ship with Kai. She was careful not to stray too far, because again, she learned her lessons despite popular belief. She saw a few baby fish swim through one of the skulls, and found it oddly fascinating. Life and death intertwined, and all that deep garbage. Still, the baby fishies were cute and colorful so she was happy.

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

"Come on, there's one room you really need to see." Kai somewhat awkwardly opened the door to the room and lead her into the hallway. A keen eye would guess it used to be a cruise ship with how fancy the decor was. Tattered paintings hung in tarnished frames along the walls and ornate curls and flowers patterned the carpet. The merboy weaved through a few more holes and floors, stopping in each room to make sure Fiona was following him, before they came to a large spacious room that could probably hold a few hundred people. At one end of the room were two sets of large double doors, and the opposite wall was covered with tall windows, broken by whatever fate the ship met. There was a second floor in the form of a horseshoe shaped balcony with a staircase on either end by the windows, all supported by tall narrow pillars carved smooth from wood. The floor was one big flat area of wood with the occassional hole in it, and off to one corner were waterlogged instruments (a few violins, a bass, some flutes, and a piano), while up above, a grand chandelier floated effortlessly in the water, the chain connecting it to the ceiling the only thing keeping it in place. It used to be a grand ballroom. "This is my favorite room in the whole ship." he said with a smile as he swam out into the middle of the room. "I like to imagine all the people dancing here, and what one of those balls looked like." His tail made quick little movements as he propelled himself around in the water, pretending to dance with some ghostly partner while mimicking what some of the music box dancers looked like. "I guess now that I've gotten some taste of what their music sounded like, I can give them some music now; at least in my head anyway." Raising a hand over his head, he moved it in a little circle, spinning his ghost around as he played a tune in his head.

 

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona gave an unheard chuckle at the sight, amused and rather endeared at Kai's ballroom dance. She was perhaps a smidgen jealous of his imaginary partner, but alas that was a simple price to pay for seeing such a wonderful room. It left a bittersweet feeling in her heart, both fascinated by this little piece of history and a little melancholy at the belated emotional realization that this really was one a place of life and merriment. She swam over to the piano, deciding to play along with the fantasy and mocked the tune of her favorite song with her fingertips against the keys - purely going through the motions for the hell of it. Of course, she made sure to face Kai the entire time, making it clear that she wasn't ignoring him or anything.