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Description
Had some time to spend so tried to write some stuff. If there's some grammar or spelling mistakes then plz ignore these, I'm not a native speaker+ my brain went mush eventually :')

For perhaps better reading, here's the Google Word document

#1: First Dive
Featuring Alarea and Pamphilos

“You ready?”

“Ready.”

After letting the final rays of morning Sun warm her back, Alarea took a deep breath and submerged into the sea together with Pamphilos. They had spent a few prior days in the shallow waters as Alarea was fine-tuning her breathing spell while Philos was either helping along or spending time at the shore gathering pretty seashells. Today Alarea decided she wants to try out the real thing - dive into the mysterious depths of Posian Trench, like many other Rexals did almost every day. Pamphilos agreed to come along for Alarea’s safety, even though she promised to be careful and seemed quite confident about this undertaking she still felt like she could definitely use a guide for her first dive.

Meter by meter they sunk deeper into the seemingly endless blue-tinted void. They went at a calm pace, using mostly just their tails to take them further while letting their bodies adjust to the changing conditions. It didn’t take long when Alarea felt a soft playful nudge against her consciousness, recognizing Philos behind it.

“You’ll be fine, just don’t forget to focus on breathing.”

Philos sent some encouraging words after Alarea opened the link. She glanced towards him and was greeted by a pair of shimmering eyes and a friendly, somewhat goofy grin. She felt her spell working just fine as her magic gushed through her chest to the surrounding water and back in, exchanging carbon dioxide in her lungs for freshly filtered oxygen.

“So far so good, how much till the bottom?”

Alarea replied in an enthusiastic manner, though she didn’t manage to hide the slight anxiety of doing something for the first time. Philos gazed towards the depths and took a moment to think before replying.

“Well, the bottom of the trench is really, really far. Only experienced rex go there, we’ll probably reach the first step of the terrace in a little while.”

Alarea nodded to that and kept focusing on the rhythmic flow of her magic. At this point she also realized how the pressure around her kept rising. She felt like her armored hide had shrunk and was a number smaller than it was before. Despite that the hide was now like a soft shell around her and seemed to lock in place, not squeezing her too much. The protective armor also had a downside - as it was tighter against her body Alarea also felt how in addition to the pressure the temperature also dropped, effectively sucking away her body heat bit by bit.

Luckily, as Philos promised, the bottom’s silhouettes became visible and a few stronger swimming strokes later, Alarea planted her forepaws in the soft muddy sand, sending up small clouds of the substance and scaring away a couple smaller fish who had hidden into the ground nearby.

This was it.

She forgot the potential dangers for a moment as pure joy overtook her heart. All the practicing, countless failures and few successes had led to this moment when she reached the depths that were considered true diving.

“Wow, you did it! Good job!”

Philos swirled around her with ridiculous grace, giving her another childishly goofy grin while being genuinely happy for his friend’s great achievement. He even made clap-like movements with his paws, which made him look even more silly. Alarea looked at him with gratitude and then watched the sand settle on her paws, after which she let out a few smaller bubbles and then observed them race towards the distant surface. They were deep enough for some of the colors to become murky but she could still see the far-away glittering surface and rays of light protrude towards her before they dissolved into the sea. There were also schools of fish passing by above them, only visible as nimble shapes minding their own everyday lives before slipping back into the dark veil.

“Yeah, I did it. This is amazing!”

Alarea responded with excitement while starting to become more alert of her surroundings again. She gently pushed herself off the ground and headed towards a coral reef a little further away and Philos followed her. Or, at least, she assumed that’s what it was based on the stories and descriptions she had heard. Philos went past her, still flowing through the water way too elegantly for his size while Alarea’s movements were more crude.

“What did you see?”

Philos sounded like an excited kid, ready to jump head-on into a new adventure while Alarea managed to remain more tame. Part of her was worried about the cold temperatures as she felt she can’t stay below here too much longer.

“I just want to look around real quick, is that what they call corals?”

She stopped right in front of formations that seemed like a bunch of thin pipes glued together and stuck into a rock by someone else. Next to them there were several more fan-like structures and a few funky branched bushes. Between all that various species of fish darted around, seemingly disturbed by the unexpected visitors. Alarea extended her arm with the intention to trace the structures with her finger but then she immediately remembered how fragile they can be so she reconsidered, settling with just observing the agitated little fish.

“Ah, yes, they are. Also, come check this out!”

Pamphilos seemed busy looking at something behind the corals while flailing his arm in an inviting manner. Alarea made sure to move over the corals without bumping into them as she headed to Philos. Reaching closer to him she witnessed how the boundless ocean floor declined even deeper like an enormous stairway into darkness, all steps decorated with numerous underwater species of plants and algae, boasting various formations of rock and even more underwater creatures fussing around in their kingdom. What intrigued her the most was a shipwreck in the distance - eerily dark and calm but still temptingly inviting.

“Impressive, isn’t it? This view never gets old.”

Pamphilos chuckled as he saw Alarea’s jaw drop at the sight and remained floating right next to her. After he let her gaze around in awe for a few moments he patted her on the shoulder to get her attention and smiled widely at her.

“I believe that’s enough for the first time, let’s get back to the surface to warm you up.”

“It is starting to get a bit chilly indeed, but I definitely want to come back down for that ship.”

Alarea responded in a cunning manner while gesturing in the corresponding direction. As enchanting as the new world down here was to her, she felt the cold pinch her a bit too hard to enjoy it even longer.

(1112 words)

#2: Shipwreck Sightseeing
Featuring Alarea and Pamphilos

The day had rolled into its second half when Alarea woke from a short nap on the warm rocks at the beach. When they got back from her first dive, her teeth were clattering uncontrollably and she rushed out of the water. Pamphilos marked the spot with a bit of magic and followed her. Back at the shore he unwrapped the snacks he had brought along and together they had a decent lunch, after which Alarea couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore and allowed herself to take a short beauty sleep.

“Oh, look who’s awake! Feeling better now, I hope?”

Pamphilos’ greeting voice was full of bustling energy while Alarea yawned widely and stretched herself like an overgrown scaly cat. After her little exercise she noticed how her companion had spent his time stacking various ocean-polished rocks on top of each other, decorating the small beach with a few artistic towers. At that moment he was adding the last pieces to the final monument.

“Much better, I’m ready to go back in.”

She walked closer to Philos, remaining on all fours and close to the water as she saw the devious glimmer in his eyes.

“Last one’s a stink bug!”

Pamphilos shouted while darting towards the waves as fast as he could, which Alarea anticipated. With a few jumps she was greeted by the chilly water, however she recovered fast from the mild shock and rushed after her companion towards the familiar spot in the sea.

This time Alarea was just a smidge faster to reach the purple-colored misty orb levitating right above the waves, hypnotically sinking and rising at their pace.

“Not fair, you were more rested.”

Philios pouts demonstratively but then lets out a short chuckle, he really didn’t mind being the stink bug after all. After exchanging a few notes and Philos snuffing out the orb, both Rexals inhaled deeply and once again turned their muzzles to face towards the blue deep.

This time Alarea also had no problem channeling her magic through her chest to help her “breathe” underwater, however as the pressure rose and temperature dropped rapidly she could feel her scales hug her tighter and the frigid waters extend its fingers for her body heat. She had practiced a warming spell before but she definitely wasn’t advanced enough yet for it to help for more than a couple of minutes tops. With that in mind she extended the mental link towards Pamphilos, to which he reacted and opened the door.

“Do you know any tricks that could help in case I get too cold? I don’t want our exploration to be cut short because of that.”

“Hmm, I might be able to help you only a little but we still need to resurface and let the Sun warm you up once again. Just let me know when it’s time to go back up.”

“Alright, will do!”

With flowing movements the Rexals headed towards the hazy looming figure of the previously spotted wreck. Once they reached the tip of the only standing mast, Alarea could see how multiple pieces and chunks of wood had broken off the wreckage, as if the old ship had given up on hope of ever sailing in the winds again and accepted its fate. As they descended closer to the deck, she could see how it was covered with mud and inhabited by some seaweed and billions of mollusks instead of sailors. The former storage rooms, living quarters, cabinets and lockers were now used by fish as a convenient shelter from predators, while the predators themselves - the sharks - were patrolling around the premises, ready to snatch up anyone who bravely ventured too far from their home. However, now in the presence of two adult Rexals the sharks cautiously kept their distance as they didn’t want to potentially become someone’s dinner either.

“I have a feeling this place is already picked clean from treasures, but we can still take a peek inside.”

Pamphilos made a suggestion while heading towards a larger opening in the ship’s body. Alarea followed him through the hole that looked as if a colossal someone had taken a good bite out of the wooden structures and then decided it’s not tasty enough, spitting the pieces right back next to it. She immediately thought of stories of sea monsters she had heard as a little pup and the mental image of a kraken chomping on vessels like this just for fun made her shudder for a moment.

Once they had reached into the hull, Alarea had to stop for a moment to admire the scene in front of her, as if it was taken straight out of a masterful artist’s painting - the rays of light penetrated absolutely every opening they could find, descending on the surfaces like lively curtains and illuminating the details within. Various tall aquatic plants had set root within the artificial cavern, lazily swaying their leaves at the lifegiving light. All sorts of fish, big and small, minded their own business till they noticed the newcomers and with a blink of an eye darted to narrower spaces into hiding. In addition to all that, Alarea noticed an octopus in the middle of this beautiful setting, while it was observing the Rexals with both curiosity and wariness. The mottled creature held onto something shiny with one of its tentacles and seemed to be sitting on top of an empty treasure chest. With a friendly smirk, Pamphilos gestured Alarea to keep the distance while he calmly approached the octopus, showing it his harmless intentions. The octopus didn’t seem to mind Philos’ presence as it even extended a couple other tentacles to examine his face, which Pamphilos allowed. Alarea drifted a little closer as well, just to watch the interaction progress. After the octopus had determined that Pamphilos is friend-shaped, it brought forth the tentacle holding the unknown object, placed it into Pamphilos’ palm and then smoothly scooted away into another room.

“What present did you get?”

Alarea inquired curiously while trying to take a peek, to which Pamphilos smiled playfully and hid the object into his palm.

“I’ll show you on the surface. Let’s look around a bit more, maybe we’ll manage to find something interesting for you as well.”

So they did, exploring the wreck further for a little while and picking up various souvenirs in the process. As Pamphilos guessed, other Rexals had already indeed taken the most valuable treasures with them but they still managed to find some shells, couple weird-shaped shards of wood and a miniature thin slab of something metallic to take with them before they called the mission a success and headed back up towards the Sun.

(1116 words)

#3: The Sunken Canyon
Featuring Alarea and Pamphilos

“I want to try going one step lower.”

Alarea stated determinedly while laying on her back, letting the afternoon Sun warm her white belly. In this position it seemed like the world was suddenly upside down, including Pamphilos in front of her who was constructing a small hut out of the rocks for a crab that was chilling next to one of his clawed feet.

“Well, I sure don’t mind going one more time today. Let me know as soon as you’ve heated up properly.”

Philos replied in an oblivious manner as he was occupied with finding just the right stone for the hut’s roof, which he fortunately found with ease. After letting out a soft exclamation, he picked it up and fitted the roof to its place while Alarea rolled over on her stomach and remained in that position.

“I think I’m ready, we can go as soon as you’ve finished the house for your little buddy. I believe it can handle decorating and furnishing its new home itself.”

“Huh? Oh, I believe it can. They seem to be a smart crab”

Pamphilos chuckled at the comment while watching the little crustacean eagerly skitter into its new property. He brushed his palms clean, admired his craft for one more moment and then turned to his enthusiastic diving trainee. Alarea heaved her heavy body up and started walking towards the waves rolling onto the beach, Pamphilos following closeby. She decided that this time, instead of swimming and then taking the dive, she’ll dive right away and simply stay right above the bottom of the ocean as it declines, perhaps then the transition between conditions will be more pleasant. After establishing the telepathic connection with Pamphilos she informed him of her intentions and he praised the idea as he was happy that Alarea wanted to experiment around a bit in order to find out how the diving works the best for her.

Both Rexals glided through the chilly environment, watching how the floor turned from plain light sand to dark thick bushy algae, then back to clear white sand, then abstract stripes of mud started to appear together with some jagged rocks and boulders while underwater flora peeked out from the soil or covered surfaces in batches like soft carpets. As they journeyed further, the infinite space around them started to remind of its existence, dimming the lights with its massive layers of water and wrapping everything into tranquil shadows. Eventually the boulders became a dominant sight and soon the seafloor started to reveal the dark bedrock underneath the sand. Alarea tapped against Pamphilos’ mind to get his attention and then gestured towards some of the upward-standing boulders - it seemed there were strange intricate symbols carved into them, stretching over the majority of the flat visible surface. While the rest of the terrain was mostly covered by vegetation the alien boulders stood out by being squeaky clean.

“Sadly nobody knows what these are or why they’re here, despite numerous studies. But at least they’re pretty to look at.”

Pamphilos explains the funky sight before them as they swam closer to the roughly chiseled and decorated ornaments of the deep. Alarea used the opportunity and traced some of the shapes with her claw, feeling how perfectly smooth the tracks in the stone were.

“These are masterfully crafted, hopefully one day we’ll find out who made these and why.”

Alarea sighed longfully, then from the corner of her eye she noticed how the line of corals and seaweed suddenly stopped. Turning to look better at it she realized that this was simply the edge of the first steep drop.

“We’re already here!”

She let Pamphilos know with eager tone and with lively strokes approached the recession. Glancing over the edge she witnessed something stunning reveal itself down below - in the sandy and rocky surface, deep, twisty and whimsical paths simply invited to explore whomever happened to pass by. It reminded Alarea of the patterns of marble statues all over Atlas but here nature had given more effort to the thought by creating a true maze. Just as with the shipwreck, this place wasn’t barren of life but the polar opposite with plenty of tiny silhouettes whisking around above and within the great pathways.

“This underwater canyon is nicknamed The Maze, you can probably guess why. Let’s go check it out!”

Pamphilos introduced the wonder to Alarea and then took the lead when proceeding towards one of the banana-shaped openings with her following closeby. She could feel the pressure increase around her as they went deeper towards the rocky labyrinth and descended into one of the pathways. In there, Alarea had to take a moment to marvel at the layers in the sandstone and textures of the harder rock supporting them underneath. She also observed how the life had adapted to the surrounding environment here - many fish were in the same shades as the striped walls around them, moray eels peeked out from their small carved caves and the bottom of the submerged highway was paved with crystal clear white sand, laced with wide-leaved bushes of plants and fuzzy algae. The sand effectively reflected the scarce rays of light that reached here, illuminating the place up more than the neighboring cliffs hunching over in the distance.

“I wish I could move in here, I love this place!”

Alarea smiled widely at this thought of hers and made a couple spins around herself to take in the beauty. Pamphilos joined her and with his usual elegance flowed past her, heading towards a section with a tunnel. Alarea noticed his intentions and raced past him inside the passage before shortly reaching the other end. There the Rexals were greeted by sandy clearing highlighting the multiple ways leading to different directions, each potentially holding even more amazing sights to see.

“Let’s see what treasures we might find before heading back up.”

Pamphilos picked out one of the paths but was suddenly stopped as Alarea had grabbed his tail. With a surprised face he turned to look at her just to see pure happiness radiating from every detail on her body.

“Thank you so much for introducing me to this world, Pamphilos.”

She thanked her mentor with genuine gratitude, after which she let go of his tail, released a childishly excited giggle and in a blink of an eye disappeared into one of the maze’s mysterious passages.

(1069 words)

Writing © and Alarea ©
Pamphilos © and Rexals ©

Please do not copy, trace or distribute!

Description
Had some time to spend so tried to write some stuff. If there's some grammar or spelling mistakes then plz ignore these, I'm not a native speaker+ my brain went mush eventually :')

For perhaps better reading, here's the Google Word document

#1: First Dive
Featuring Alarea and Pamphilos

“You ready?”

“Ready.”

After letting the final rays of morning Sun warm her back, Alarea took a deep breath and submerged into the sea together with Pamphilos. They had spent a few prior days in the shallow waters as Alarea was fine-tuning her breathing spell while Philos was either helping along or spending time at the shore gathering pretty seashells. Today Alarea decided she wants to try out the real thing - dive into the mysterious depths of Posian Trench, like many other Rexals did almost every day. Pamphilos agreed to come along for Alarea’s safety, even though she promised to be careful and seemed quite confident about this undertaking she still felt like she could definitely use a guide for her first dive.

Meter by meter they sunk deeper into the seemingly endless blue-tinted void. They went at a calm pace, using mostly just their tails to take them further while letting their bodies adjust to the changing conditions. It didn’t take long when Alarea felt a soft playful nudge against her consciousness, recognizing Philos behind it.

“You’ll be fine, just don’t forget to focus on breathing.”

Philos sent some encouraging words after Alarea opened the link. She glanced towards him and was greeted by a pair of shimmering eyes and a friendly, somewhat goofy grin. She felt her spell working just fine as her magic gushed through her chest to the surrounding water and back in, exchanging carbon dioxide in her lungs for freshly filtered oxygen.

“So far so good, how much till the bottom?”

Alarea replied in an enthusiastic manner, though she didn’t manage to hide the slight anxiety of doing something for the first time. Philos gazed towards the depths and took a moment to think before replying.

“Well, the bottom of the trench is really, really far. Only experienced rex go there, we’ll probably reach the first step of the terrace in a little while.”

Alarea nodded to that and kept focusing on the rhythmic flow of her magic. At this point she also realized how the pressure around her kept rising. She felt like her armored hide had shrunk and was a number smaller than it was before. Despite that the hide was now like a soft shell around her and seemed to lock in place, not squeezing her too much. The protective armor also had a downside - as it was tighter against her body Alarea also felt how in addition to the pressure the temperature also dropped, effectively sucking away her body heat bit by bit.

Luckily, as Philos promised, the bottom’s silhouettes became visible and a few stronger swimming strokes later, Alarea planted her forepaws in the soft muddy sand, sending up small clouds of the substance and scaring away a couple smaller fish who had hidden into the ground nearby.

This was it.

She forgot the potential dangers for a moment as pure joy overtook her heart. All the practicing, countless failures and few successes had led to this moment when she reached the depths that were considered true diving.

“Wow, you did it! Good job!”

Philos swirled around her with ridiculous grace, giving her another childishly goofy grin while being genuinely happy for his friend’s great achievement. He even made clap-like movements with his paws, which made him look even more silly. Alarea looked at him with gratitude and then watched the sand settle on her paws, after which she let out a few smaller bubbles and then observed them race towards the distant surface. They were deep enough for some of the colors to become murky but she could still see the far-away glittering surface and rays of light protrude towards her before they dissolved into the sea. There were also schools of fish passing by above them, only visible as nimble shapes minding their own everyday lives before slipping back into the dark veil.

“Yeah, I did it. This is amazing!”

Alarea responded with excitement while starting to become more alert of her surroundings again. She gently pushed herself off the ground and headed towards a coral reef a little further away and Philos followed her. Or, at least, she assumed that’s what it was based on the stories and descriptions she had heard. Philos went past her, still flowing through the water way too elegantly for his size while Alarea’s movements were more crude.

“What did you see?”

Philos sounded like an excited kid, ready to jump head-on into a new adventure while Alarea managed to remain more tame. Part of her was worried about the cold temperatures as she felt she can’t stay below here too much longer.

“I just want to look around real quick, is that what they call corals?”

She stopped right in front of formations that seemed like a bunch of thin pipes glued together and stuck into a rock by someone else. Next to them there were several more fan-like structures and a few funky branched bushes. Between all that various species of fish darted around, seemingly disturbed by the unexpected visitors. Alarea extended her arm with the intention to trace the structures with her finger but then she immediately remembered how fragile they can be so she reconsidered, settling with just observing the agitated little fish.

“Ah, yes, they are. Also, come check this out!”

Pamphilos seemed busy looking at something behind the corals while flailing his arm in an inviting manner. Alarea made sure to move over the corals without bumping into them as she headed to Philos. Reaching closer to him she witnessed how the boundless ocean floor declined even deeper like an enormous stairway into darkness, all steps decorated with numerous underwater species of plants and algae, boasting various formations of rock and even more underwater creatures fussing around in their kingdom. What intrigued her the most was a shipwreck in the distance - eerily dark and calm but still temptingly inviting.

“Impressive, isn’t it? This view never gets old.”

Pamphilos chuckled as he saw Alarea’s jaw drop at the sight and remained floating right next to her. After he let her gaze around in awe for a few moments he patted her on the shoulder to get her attention and smiled widely at her.

“I believe that’s enough for the first time, let’s get back to the surface to warm you up.”

“It is starting to get a bit chilly indeed, but I definitely want to come back down for that ship.”

Alarea responded in a cunning manner while gesturing in the corresponding direction. As enchanting as the new world down here was to her, she felt the cold pinch her a bit too hard to enjoy it even longer.

(1112 words)

#2: Shipwreck Sightseeing
Featuring Alarea and Pamphilos

The day had rolled into its second half when Alarea woke from a short nap on the warm rocks at the beach. When they got back from her first dive, her teeth were clattering uncontrollably and she rushed out of the water. Pamphilos marked the spot with a bit of magic and followed her. Back at the shore he unwrapped the snacks he had brought along and together they had a decent lunch, after which Alarea couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore and allowed herself to take a short beauty sleep.

“Oh, look who’s awake! Feeling better now, I hope?”

Pamphilos’ greeting voice was full of bustling energy while Alarea yawned widely and stretched herself like an overgrown scaly cat. After her little exercise she noticed how her companion had spent his time stacking various ocean-polished rocks on top of each other, decorating the small beach with a few artistic towers. At that moment he was adding the last pieces to the final monument.

“Much better, I’m ready to go back in.”

She walked closer to Philos, remaining on all fours and close to the water as she saw the devious glimmer in his eyes.

“Last one’s a stink bug!”

Pamphilos shouted while darting towards the waves as fast as he could, which Alarea anticipated. With a few jumps she was greeted by the chilly water, however she recovered fast from the mild shock and rushed after her companion towards the familiar spot in the sea.

This time Alarea was just a smidge faster to reach the purple-colored misty orb levitating right above the waves, hypnotically sinking and rising at their pace.

“Not fair, you were more rested.”

Philios pouts demonstratively but then lets out a short chuckle, he really didn’t mind being the stink bug after all. After exchanging a few notes and Philos snuffing out the orb, both Rexals inhaled deeply and once again turned their muzzles to face towards the blue deep.

This time Alarea also had no problem channeling her magic through her chest to help her “breathe” underwater, however as the pressure rose and temperature dropped rapidly she could feel her scales hug her tighter and the frigid waters extend its fingers for her body heat. She had practiced a warming spell before but she definitely wasn’t advanced enough yet for it to help for more than a couple of minutes tops. With that in mind she extended the mental link towards Pamphilos, to which he reacted and opened the door.

“Do you know any tricks that could help in case I get too cold? I don’t want our exploration to be cut short because of that.”

“Hmm, I might be able to help you only a little but we still need to resurface and let the Sun warm you up once again. Just let me know when it’s time to go back up.”

“Alright, will do!”

With flowing movements the Rexals headed towards the hazy looming figure of the previously spotted wreck. Once they reached the tip of the only standing mast, Alarea could see how multiple pieces and chunks of wood had broken off the wreckage, as if the old ship had given up on hope of ever sailing in the winds again and accepted its fate. As they descended closer to the deck, she could see how it was covered with mud and inhabited by some seaweed and billions of mollusks instead of sailors. The former storage rooms, living quarters, cabinets and lockers were now used by fish as a convenient shelter from predators, while the predators themselves - the sharks - were patrolling around the premises, ready to snatch up anyone who bravely ventured too far from their home. However, now in the presence of two adult Rexals the sharks cautiously kept their distance as they didn’t want to potentially become someone’s dinner either.

“I have a feeling this place is already picked clean from treasures, but we can still take a peek inside.”

Pamphilos made a suggestion while heading towards a larger opening in the ship’s body. Alarea followed him through the hole that looked as if a colossal someone had taken a good bite out of the wooden structures and then decided it’s not tasty enough, spitting the pieces right back next to it. She immediately thought of stories of sea monsters she had heard as a little pup and the mental image of a kraken chomping on vessels like this just for fun made her shudder for a moment.

Once they had reached into the hull, Alarea had to stop for a moment to admire the scene in front of her, as if it was taken straight out of a masterful artist’s painting - the rays of light penetrated absolutely every opening they could find, descending on the surfaces like lively curtains and illuminating the details within. Various tall aquatic plants had set root within the artificial cavern, lazily swaying their leaves at the lifegiving light. All sorts of fish, big and small, minded their own business till they noticed the newcomers and with a blink of an eye darted to narrower spaces into hiding. In addition to all that, Alarea noticed an octopus in the middle of this beautiful setting, while it was observing the Rexals with both curiosity and wariness. The mottled creature held onto something shiny with one of its tentacles and seemed to be sitting on top of an empty treasure chest. With a friendly smirk, Pamphilos gestured Alarea to keep the distance while he calmly approached the octopus, showing it his harmless intentions. The octopus didn’t seem to mind Philos’ presence as it even extended a couple other tentacles to examine his face, which Pamphilos allowed. Alarea drifted a little closer as well, just to watch the interaction progress. After the octopus had determined that Pamphilos is friend-shaped, it brought forth the tentacle holding the unknown object, placed it into Pamphilos’ palm and then smoothly scooted away into another room.

“What present did you get?”

Alarea inquired curiously while trying to take a peek, to which Pamphilos smiled playfully and hid the object into his palm.

“I’ll show you on the surface. Let’s look around a bit more, maybe we’ll manage to find something interesting for you as well.”

So they did, exploring the wreck further for a little while and picking up various souvenirs in the process. As Pamphilos guessed, other Rexals had already indeed taken the most valuable treasures with them but they still managed to find some shells, couple weird-shaped shards of wood and a miniature thin slab of something metallic to take with them before they called the mission a success and headed back up towards the Sun.

(1116 words)

#3: The Sunken Canyon
Featuring Alarea and Pamphilos

“I want to try going one step lower.”

Alarea stated determinedly while laying on her back, letting the afternoon Sun warm her white belly. In this position it seemed like the world was suddenly upside down, including Pamphilos in front of her who was constructing a small hut out of the rocks for a crab that was chilling next to one of his clawed feet.

“Well, I sure don’t mind going one more time today. Let me know as soon as you’ve heated up properly.”

Philos replied in an oblivious manner as he was occupied with finding just the right stone for the hut’s roof, which he fortunately found with ease. After letting out a soft exclamation, he picked it up and fitted the roof to its place while Alarea rolled over on her stomach and remained in that position.

“I think I’m ready, we can go as soon as you’ve finished the house for your little buddy. I believe it can handle decorating and furnishing its new home itself.”

“Huh? Oh, I believe it can. They seem to be a smart crab”

Pamphilos chuckled at the comment while watching the little crustacean eagerly skitter into its new property. He brushed his palms clean, admired his craft for one more moment and then turned to his enthusiastic diving trainee. Alarea heaved her heavy body up and started walking towards the waves rolling onto the beach, Pamphilos following closeby. She decided that this time, instead of swimming and then taking the dive, she’ll dive right away and simply stay right above the bottom of the ocean as it declines, perhaps then the transition between conditions will be more pleasant. After establishing the telepathic connection with Pamphilos she informed him of her intentions and he praised the idea as he was happy that Alarea wanted to experiment around a bit in order to find out how the diving works the best for her.

Both Rexals glided through the chilly environment, watching how the floor turned from plain light sand to dark thick bushy algae, then back to clear white sand, then abstract stripes of mud started to appear together with some jagged rocks and boulders while underwater flora peeked out from the soil or covered surfaces in batches like soft carpets. As they journeyed further, the infinite space around them started to remind of its existence, dimming the lights with its massive layers of water and wrapping everything into tranquil shadows. Eventually the boulders became a dominant sight and soon the seafloor started to reveal the dark bedrock underneath the sand. Alarea tapped against Pamphilos’ mind to get his attention and then gestured towards some of the upward-standing boulders - it seemed there were strange intricate symbols carved into them, stretching over the majority of the flat visible surface. While the rest of the terrain was mostly covered by vegetation the alien boulders stood out by being squeaky clean.

“Sadly nobody knows what these are or why they’re here, despite numerous studies. But at least they’re pretty to look at.”

Pamphilos explains the funky sight before them as they swam closer to the roughly chiseled and decorated ornaments of the deep. Alarea used the opportunity and traced some of the shapes with her claw, feeling how perfectly smooth the tracks in the stone were.

“These are masterfully crafted, hopefully one day we’ll find out who made these and why.”

Alarea sighed longfully, then from the corner of her eye she noticed how the line of corals and seaweed suddenly stopped. Turning to look better at it she realized that this was simply the edge of the first steep drop.

“We’re already here!”

She let Pamphilos know with eager tone and with lively strokes approached the recession. Glancing over the edge she witnessed something stunning reveal itself down below - in the sandy and rocky surface, deep, twisty and whimsical paths simply invited to explore whomever happened to pass by. It reminded Alarea of the patterns of marble statues all over Atlas but here nature had given more effort to the thought by creating a true maze. Just as with the shipwreck, this place wasn’t barren of life but the polar opposite with plenty of tiny silhouettes whisking around above and within the great pathways.

“This underwater canyon is nicknamed The Maze, you can probably guess why. Let’s go check it out!”

Pamphilos introduced the wonder to Alarea and then took the lead when proceeding towards one of the banana-shaped openings with her following closeby. She could feel the pressure increase around her as they went deeper towards the rocky labyrinth and descended into one of the pathways. In there, Alarea had to take a moment to marvel at the layers in the sandstone and textures of the harder rock supporting them underneath. She also observed how the life had adapted to the surrounding environment here - many fish were in the same shades as the striped walls around them, moray eels peeked out from their small carved caves and the bottom of the submerged highway was paved with crystal clear white sand, laced with wide-leaved bushes of plants and fuzzy algae. The sand effectively reflected the scarce rays of light that reached here, illuminating the place up more than the neighboring cliffs hunching over in the distance.

“I wish I could move in here, I love this place!”

Alarea smiled widely at this thought of hers and made a couple spins around herself to take in the beauty. Pamphilos joined her and with his usual elegance flowed past her, heading towards a section with a tunnel. Alarea noticed his intentions and raced past him inside the passage before shortly reaching the other end. There the Rexals were greeted by sandy clearing highlighting the multiple ways leading to different directions, each potentially holding even more amazing sights to see.

“Let’s see what treasures we might find before heading back up.”

Pamphilos picked out one of the paths but was suddenly stopped as Alarea had grabbed his tail. With a surprised face he turned to look at her just to see pure happiness radiating from every detail on her body.

“Thank you so much for introducing me to this world, Pamphilos.”

She thanked her mentor with genuine gratitude, after which she let go of his tail, released a childishly excited giggle and in a blink of an eye disappeared into one of the maze’s mysterious passages.

(1069 words)

Writing © and Alarea ©
Pamphilos © and Rexals ©

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