Spring Dance: Freshwater Waltz

Basil had left the swamp, an instinctual drive had driven her into clearer waters. This was the first time in her life she had experienced such a feeling, but she had long since learned to not fight against her nature. Instinct had guided her ancestors for this long, and it will continue to guide her and her bloodline until the end of time.

Having lived the full of her life in murky waters, Basil was almost overwhelmed by all of the new smells in the river. How clearly she could smell them all, able to quickly identify a thousand scents before she even finished drawing breath. But there was one that stuck out to her- called to her. The river carried the scent of a male that was resting further upstream- waiting for a female like herself to seek him out. It was new, but the instinct drove her to follow it. And so she did.

It took her three days of swimming against the unknown currents to reach where the male’s scent had become strongest. Here, the currents had eased, allowing him to build a nest for him to rest in between hunts. Basil noticed the smell of blood thick in the air, showing the other aqrion’s success at a hunter. She released a bellow from her throat to summon the male to her presence. There was a quiet. And then a returning deep bellow.

Emerging from a nest hidden behind a dam-like structure of fallen branches was the male. He was, to Basil’s surprise, a deep red in color with a bright blue tail. Clenched in his jaw was a somewhat recent kill as he approached Basil with a mixture of curiosity and caution. Keeping his eyes on the new female, he slowly set the body of some land creature he dragged into the water and drowned on the riverbed floor. 

As he backed away from it, Basil felt herself hit with a mixture of fatigue and a ravenous hunger. Without much thought, she found herself upon the body of the creature, tearing into its flesh and swallowing it. The red male watched her. Basil caught his flippers twitching and his jaw flexing as if he wanted to join the frenzy, but he had managed to restrain himself. Only when there was little left of the corpse but bones, did he attempt to even speak to her.

“I’m Aries.” he simply introduced. He held himself with pride to her, displaying himself in such a way that showed off his body. Aries was covered with scars, a physical story of fights he survived. This, of course, was very appealing to the other swamp skimmer.

“Basil.” she gave her name in return and, without realizing, had closed the gap between the two of them. From a distance, Aries had looked confident and sure of himself. Put up close, she could see the nervous anticipation hiding under the red swamp skimmer’s surface. This would also be his first time.

“Shall we?” he asked, his voice was calm but Basil heard the shakiness of his breath. Basil hadn’t even realized her own heart pounding in her chest. She wanted to answer, but instead felt her jaw lock. She swallowed and nodded instead, rubbing her nose against Aries’ before they drifted into place. They locked eyes with each other and for a moment, it felt as if even the river’s current paused for them. A twitch of anticipation, and then instinct took over them both.

Generations of genetic knowledge lead them through the moves of a courtship dance. They intertwined, feeling the power of each other’s muscles in the moments they touched. A display that allowed a more flashy aqrion like Aries to show off his markings. His bright reds and eight false-eyes that lined his sides.

Basil felt a shiver as their bodies brushed passed each other one last time, down the length. The dance was short between swamp skimmers, but it was exhausting. And it all led to an explosive finale. They swam away from another, getting considerable distance from one another. Then in a burst of speed, rushed each other. They breached the surface together and twisted for flair- each trying to reach as high into the sky as possible.

It was night. For a brief moment, Basil saw the stars behind Aries react to his presence. He was calling upon his arcane magic, using the moment to show off his more uncommon latent element. Basil was impressed at the control and the forethought of doing such a thing. 

They landed, both angling themselves as to hardly make a splash despite their larger bodies. Basil gasped, shivering as the adrenaline left her body. And then she felt warmth as Aries brushed his nose along her side.

“You’re from the swamp?” he observed, “You came all this way?”

“I felt I had to.” Basil answered simply, brushing her nose under his throat. She felt him sigh as a shiver went down his spine. “And I simply listened.”

“Do you regret listening?”

“I don’t.”

“Then shall we?” Aries asked again.

“We shall.”