Ocean mining, sapient, indigo | Fallow, Fog, Mystery, Depths, obs Pepper

Deciding that, perhaps, caves beneath the mountains were not the best places for those with wings, Depths was introducing Fog and Fallow to Sapient and their methods of mining underwater.

Mystery was also getting introduced to the experience of mining underwater, and Pepper was coming along in case anyone needed help. Given her adaptations to swimming, it was always good to have her along in the water.

They waited on the beach, chatting, when Depths pointed at Sapient's head popping out of the surf. The aquatic moved through the waves with ease, almost seeming to flow with the water until they were standing on the sand, water swirling around their ankles.

"Sapient, this is Fallow, Fog, Mystery, and Pepper," Depths nodded to each in turn. "All, this is Sapient. They've been a great help to us."

Greetings exchanged, the topsiders gathered their equipment, donned their breathing masks, and followed Sapient into the surf. Depths swam confidently, pulling himself along the seabed, while Fallow and Fog few overhead to breach the surface beyond where the waves broke. Pepper was already halfway into the water when she realized Mystery was still on the shore. Turning to him with a raised eyebrow, she nodded at the water.

"What are you waiting for?"

Mystery eyed the water with some waryness. "It looks… hungry."

Pepper looked at the roaring waves and shrugged. It was the way of the ocean - it was a force, and you could only ride it out for so long. "You have your breathings mask, you won't drown. And I'll help you if you get snagged by a riptide, yeah?"

Mystery hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Yeah."

The two stepped into the surf, and joined the others in the clear water beyond the clouds of sand churned by the waves.

The water was clear, shafts of sunlight shearing through it and catching on the bubbles still rising from Fog and Fallow's entrance. Sapient almost seemed to vanish into the blue depths, blending in, while they and Depths conversed via sign. Mystery and Pepper swam up, and Sapient nodded at them and then gestured at a new form emerging out of the blue.

"This is Indigo. He'll also be helping us out in case there's any trouble."

Indigo waved, and the rest of them waved back and introduced themselves. Mystery felt better, knowing there were more people along to help out if anything happened, and Pepper gave her a 'see? Told you so' look.

Mystery ignored it, distracted by the beauty of the ocean around. Fish flitted through seaweed, fleeing their approach as they passed, and stranger things were half-visible on the ocean floor below. The seaweed waved languidly in the currents, beautiful shades of green as all sorts of creatures made their homes in its leaves.

Indigo swam up beside Mystery as they passed, and nodded at it. "Captivating, isn't it?"

"An understatement," Mystery breathed, then sped up to catch up to Fog and Fallow who seemed to be treating the water as merely thick air. They moved fluidly through it, while Depths and Pepper chatted with Sapient, who lead them on into deeper, colder waters.

Eventually, they came to their destination: an undersea cliff face.

They began to set up - Depths and Sapient, who had the most experience in this sort of thing, sought the best place to mine, while Pepper and Indigo kept watch for anything that might find them tasty looking. Mystery, Fog, and Fallow, listened attentively to Depths and Sapient describing what they were doing - part of it was intuition, part of it was the instruments they carried.

A vein of ore was found, and the miners pounded in stakes to anchor themselves to the cliff face, while Pepper, Sapient and Indigo shifted to keep watch over them.

Depths and Mystery were in charge of pounding at the rock, while Fog and Fallow swam below with a net to catch the ore that fell. It was not easy work, Fog and Fallow having to be careful about getting hit by a stray rock, while Sapient, Indigo, and Pepper had to try and tell indistinct blobs from harmful or not. Meanwhile, Depths and Mystery had to break the rock with their pickaxes, an endeavor that often took multiple tries.

But, in the end, they got what they came for, and they all went home in one piece.