Summer Games - DoA: Playing with Polyps

Although how she ended up taking care of this little one was beyond her. Voxalia, sometimes, didn't exactly feel qualified to do this despite having raised her own kids... But that was off topic. She shifted her head, gesturing towards the game. It wasn't too hard to miss, as there were those intriguing little polyps sprouting on across various rocks, the newcomers, or more accurately, returning sea skimmmers, swimming nearby to show various groups just how to play. Gentle vines of kelp gently swayed to and fro, following the sea currents as it softly moved by, occasionally sent rolling and twisting as various wildlife much larger than itself rushed by, clearly in a rush of excitement to get to a new game. 

 

As Voxalia and the little one she was looking after swam towards those craggy rocks lined with polyps, she learned quickly how the game worked by observing, the little one struggling to keep from racing on ahead to have a little fun in their game. Chuckling softly to herself, she called to the little one ahead of her, several metres ahead. "It's not too hard, all you need to do is hit as many polyps as you can, and we can make it a little more exciting when you get the hang of it!"  

 

The excitement she tried to portray in her voice seemed to work, as the little one suddenly rushed on ahead of her, towards one of the unoccupied sections. It had around two dozen little polyps sprouting and shrinking on the rocky ledge, plenty of entertainment for him! Although from her angle, Voxalia could see some other, larger stations, designed to entertain... Stronger and larger creatures.

 

There was a convenient stick laid around, having a small rock tied with kelp to its base to keep it down, and the top wrapped thrice as thick with the soft kelp. Taking the stick up in his tail, the little one lifted it, tentatively swinging it behind himself as Voxalia caught up, pulling her head back as he swung it behind him WITHOUT looking! 

 

"Hey, don't hit me, hit the polyps." She laughed, the small pup giving her a rather guilty looking grin over his shoulder. Readying himself, tongue sticking out of the corner of his maw in concentration, the pup shakily rose the stick... Before hitting it down against one of the polyps. The polyp, poor thing, shrunk back into the hole, fortunately unharmed thanks to the layers of soft kelp surrounding the stick. The pup trilled in excitement, swinging the stick down again onto the polyps. 

 

Whack! Whack... Thud!

 

"Awww! I missed that one," He whined softly, Voxalia inclining her head towards the polyps. 

 

"Don't worry about it! It was the first one you missed, try again." She said, encouragingly, but firmly, not wanting the little pup to give up. Raising the stick again, he continued to try and hit those polyps time and time again, the smile widening over his face as he managed to hit more and more of those polyps, beginning to time it so as they sprouted once more, they would be struck with the covered stick, shrinking back into hiding.

 

"Do you want to have a bit more of a challenge?" Voxalia asked, to which the little pup glanced over his shoulder at the large Aqrion, humming gently. 

 

"Sure!" He grinned, "What's the challenge?" He asked, to which Voxalia hummed, before inclining her head to the polyps. 

 

"Why don't you try hitting as many as you can in a minute?" She offered as a form of rough goal and something that he could do. She could see him thinking, considering how he could go about doing that... It was almost clear that he'd decided something and she began to start counting as soon as he swung that stick down against those polyps. 

 

He giggled in excitement, swinging his tail time and time again, cracking down against those sprouting polyps, but with so many spread over a larger surface, he was having a hard time keeping up with all of them. But that wouldn't stop his determination! Oh no, it just made him try even harder.

 

Whack, whack, whack!

 

Voxalia nodded, "Time! How many did you get?" She asked him, the pup panting a little bit as he smiled up at her. 

 

"I managed to get 27!" He chirped, happy, but obviously a little worn out from the experience, but it was clear that he wanted to keep going. But before she could even say anything, he smiled, moving a flipper to point at her. 

 

"Why don't you help me? I'm sure with your help we could hit even more! I can't keep up with how quickly they sprout."

 

Voxalia considered what he asked for a few moments, but with the excitement almost oozing off of the pup, how could she say no?

 

"Alright, let's see how many we can get then!" She sung, moving over next to him, deciding to use a flipper instead of the stick, and to be gentle with it. As they began to sprout again, she smiled, watching him waiting at her expectantly. 

 

"On your mark... Get set. . . GO!"

 

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Summer games entry #1 for DoA ^^

 

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17 - 862 words

6 - Event (Summer Games)

 

Voxalia is a Starter - https://www.deviantart.com/aquella-imports/art/Voxalia-0003-718503178