229 Diving In

Vy stirred awake in the wee hours of the morning. Lycster was still fast asleep within her furs while Aether awoke a few moments after she did. 

-You can sleep for longer if you like.- she said to him. 

-It's alright, I'm not much of a sleeper anyways.- he responded with a yawn. 

Vy turned back into her human form and took out a thick set of fur blankets to cover Lycster with as he remained sound asleep. Once she was certain that he was comfortable, she stretched out her body and walked further into the cave. 

On the second day they were stuck in the cave, Vy realised while she wandered further in and found that there was a body of water. The top layer of it had frozen over, creating a layer of ice. Uncertain of how long they might be stuck in there, Vy created a hole in it for fishing. 

But she did not bring a fishing rod with her, for she was going to dive in. After mastering her sea form many moons ago, Vy rarely had the opportunity to use it. This was the perfect opportunity for her to do so. 

The first time she entered the water, the chilly temperature jolted her senses. She had never felt more alive. Lucky for her, her body quickly got accustomed to it and she was able to move freely with little fatigue. 

Vy closed her eyes and cleared her mind as her sea form took over. It was the form of a Gourami Fighting Fish[1], about the size of a regular great white shark. Her scales, much like Aether's were in shades of midnight blue, wine red and dark amethyst. Her tail and fins fanned out, similar to that of a peacock strutting its tail feathers. 

Her half-moon shaped tail fin propelled her as she moved in a wave moving through the water. Aether took to his serpent form, trading his feathered wings for fins to allow himself more freedom of movement within water. 

He swam next to her as they explored the underwater world beneath the ice layer. There were many different types of fish swimming around them, mostly in schools. Vy was searching for her prey, but it was not as easy as she had hoped. 

"This is not as easy as I thought it would be," Vy commented as she missed another school of fish for the third time. 

-You're trying too much to be like a fish.- Aether said to her. 

"So I should think more like me?" Vy asked. 

Aether nodded.

Vy pondered for a couple of moments before she came up with a plan. She potted for the larger fishes that swam out alone, not in schools. Once she spotted the right prey, she sped up towards them and caught it in her mouth. 

It took her a few more tries but she finally caught one in her mouth. Immediately, she used her Kyu form ice powers to freeze the fish in a thin layer of ice. This prevented the fish from escaping. 

With this success, she caught a few more in the same manner and soon enough she had amassed a small school of fish of her own. 

She brought out a net from her spatial storage to haul all the fishes as she swam through the water. Aether swam to the back and looked at their catch of the day. He then swam up to her and shook his head. 

-I think we need a little more.- he suggested. 

Vy looked back at the net icicle fishes. She mentally counted the number they had. It was more than enough for each of them with more to spare. 

"Are you sure?" she asked him. 

Aether nodded. 

-More is better than less.- he commented. 

He was right. Having some for spare would be good too. Cold weather, after all, causes their body to use up more energy in the long run as it needs to generate the heat to keep them warm. 

"Alright then," Vy replied as they resumed on their hunt. With the weight of the fishes weighing down on her a little, Vy found it more difficult to catch any more prey. 

Hence, she left it up to Aether to catch the last few they needed. After some time, they finally had the amount they wanted. When Vy looked around, she noticed that they were quite far off from where they were. 

In the vast body of water, with no clear landmarks to give Vy her bearings, she had no idea where they were. Since they were in the water, she could not rely on her sense of smell either. As she turned to see from side to side, Aether knew exactly what it meant. 

-I know the way back- he said. 

Vy instantly heaved a sigh of relief, "Oh thank god. If not, we would be swimming around here in circles for who knows how long." 

She swam up next to Aether as they made their way through the icy waters. Unlike the coral reefs, there was not much to look at around them, apart from the darkness of the water that surrounded them. 

Aether and Vy had swum a little deeper previously while they were doing their hunting, but even then there wasn't anything interesting to see. No wonder the Bleak Lands was named as such. Even in its waters, it was bleak. 

Not before long, Vy and Aether caught sight of the fishing hold Vy had made in the ice. They made haste, swimming up to the surface. Using her tail fin, Vy attempted to propel herself out of the water. 

The weight of the frozen fishes weighed down upon her a little, but she overcame it with Aether's help as he did the same while sharing the weight of the net. Together, they leapt out of the water. 

Vy turned back into her human form in mid-air, holding one end of the net in her hands. Aether turned back into his winged serpent form as he leapt out of the water. Together, they landed away from the ice-covered grounds, on the stone flooring of the cave instead. 

They could have slipped and fell, but both of them were lucky and did not. The net of fishes landed with a thud near them as Vy looked up, worried that the noise they had made likely woke Lycster up. 

Before she could mouth any word of apology, she was surprised to see that Lycster already woke up. Had they been away for that long? But what she was more surprised by, was the fact that they had a guest. 

Someone was sitting next to Lycster by the fire. 

"Hi Vyrena, it's nice to meet you again," Dygo greeted her.