DoA Trials: Courage 2 | Aramun, [Unagi], (Laugom, Vozgall)

Trials of Aquella 1 (Courage 2) for Aramun aq758 [guide dragon Unagi aq98]

Milestone 6 for Laugom if108 and Vozgall if113

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It was a dark and stormy night, no matter how desperately Vozgall wished it weren't.

 

"Just- plegf!- hang on! I c- reuch!- can see land- bleck!- I think!" Laugom sputtered. Speaking underwater? Easy for a ship breaker. Speaking through dry air? Simple enough to figure out. But speaking while turbulent waves slapped him in the mouth every other word? That was proving to be slightly more difficult.

 

"What's that light?!" Vozgall asked, shouting to be heard over the wind, the rain, the roaring sea, and the ominous creaking of the battered little skiff that bore her weight. Vozgall's paws, all six of them, were splayed against the wood, every claw digging in hard enough to rake up splinters.

 

Out there, bobbing just above the roiling waters, were an array of pale white lights. Vozgall squinted, but her eyes had no hope of making out the long, sinuous, dark form beneath the water. Unagi, on the other fin, knew quite well what was going on. “I can tell there’s naught to do to convince you otherwise,” Unagi told her young companion.

 

Aramun simply nodded, and then moved forwards, to take up her chosen task.

 

Laugom was in the water, using his nose-horn to drag the skiff across the churning waves, while trying not to destroy it. This was easier said than done, given that Laugom hadn't ever actually tried to keep a ship intact before. Usually ship breakers were trying to, well, break the ships.

 

When he ducked beneath the water once more, he saw a light, just as Vozgall had spoken of. Only, this was not the same light Vozgall had seen. Just coming down from breaching the surface, almost perfectly synchronized with Laugom, was another creature. To Laugom, Aramun looked like a massive shadow blotting out a whole section of storm-churned water, with a glowing yellow beacon hovering over their head. A remora, tiny in comparison, stubbornly clung just beneath that wavering light, latched to Aramun’s face with all the sheer stubbornness that kept Vozgall latched to the skiff overhead.

 

Laugom was so occupied with Aramun’s appearance, he failed to notice Unagi’s sinuous form diving downwards. Vozgall noticed those white lights disappear, but perhaps it had just been lightning, or a mirage brought on by the water in her eyes…

 

"Oh! Pardon us, only we didn't mean to be here- is this your territory, mate? Not to worry, we'll be right out as soon as this briny storm lets us- ah? Ah, thank you, thank you ever so, mate!" Aramun had overturned to curl fearsomely-clawed flippers around each side of the skiff, and was now dragging it forwards much faster than Laugom's nose-horn-trick could. Their little remora held on for dear life as they began to carve a path through the turbulent waters. Aramun was not just any creature- they were a rescuer! 

 

Laugom thought to mention this new development to Vozgall, and popped out of the water to all the cacophony of the storm, now with the bonus addition of Vozgall's piercing shrieks of terror. 

 

"I found a friend!" he cheered, boosting himself as far upwards as he could, now that he could get some distance from the skiff without worrying that it'd go and capsize before he could get back. "Chin up, mate, we'll soon be out of this storm, none the worse for wear!"

 

Vozgall wailed, at such a pitch and volume that she'd be the envy of any banshee.

 

Laugom dropped back down beneath the surface, and looked to Aramun. Though buffeted about by the churning currents, he could still hear- huh. It almost sounded like voices. Voices saying some rather unsportsmanlike things...

 

"...leave them to..."

 

"...holding everyone back from..."

 

"...be wasting time on..."

 

Laugom looked down, and saw shadows circling below, down where the chaos of the storm was not quite so severe. The shadows were large ones, and some of them were adorned with glowing lights. One in particular spiraled up from the depths, crowed with white angler bulbs. Unagi’s tone was not quite as derisive, but it was certainly bemused, “Young pup, can you still not be swayed? You are a proud one indeed.”

 

Laugom looked to Aramun, who had not abandoned their task. They were still doggedly steering the skiff, with their little remora wriggling against their snout as if trying to contribute just that much extra fin-power. Powerful lashes of Aramun’s thick tail forced the heavy skiff along, towards some goal only they knew.

 

All the while, the voices from below snarked and sneered. Unagi laughed, a darkly amused sound that was nearly lost beneath the roaring waves and rumbling thunder.

 

Laugom popped up to check on Vozgall. The bedraggled woldren was still clinging to the skiff like a big hairy barnacle, though the wailing had stopped. It was clear that she didn't dare relax a single toe for fear of being washed off the skiff and into the sea. The energy that would’ve been wasted on wailing had to be redirected to those poor, wet, cold, tired toes.

 

Of course Laugom would catch her if she fell, but- well, it was best if Vozgall stayed on the skiff!

 

“Just hang tight, mate! We’ll have you out of this mess before you know it!” It was entirely possible that Laugom’s words would end up proven wrong. He wasn’t certain if Aramun could be relied on for much longer, given that everyone except their little remora friend was telling them to abandon the skiff.

 

“Will you?” said a voice behind him. Vozgall managed just one more shriek, and Laugom turned to see Unagi arcing out of the water, angler bulbs bright through the sheets of rain. “We’ll see how much time Aramun has to spare for you.”