Join Dawn, the adventurous filly; Bodi, the ward of a zebra shaman, and Astern, the orphan pirate as they set out on an adventure to explore the Naue islands and oceans off the coast of Baltimare. Who knows What strange and interesting places lie beyond the horizon?
Last thread here! http://desustorage.org/mlp/thread/25985422
Previously on Across the Ocean:
>Dawn and Bodi explore a weird cave house underneath butt island and find a map possibly leading to treasure
>Exploring the cave further reveals another room with a pond
>Dawn and Bodi fall into a trap. Dawn hides in the pond while Bodi attacks and gets stinkbombed
>Dawn cuts Bodi free from a trap. Bodi pukes and has to leave the cave
>Dawn finds somepony living in the cave and talks to it
>There's an orphaned colt living inside the cave named Astern Gear
>Dawn convinces Astern to accompany herself and Bodi on adventures
>Astern makes Dawn and bodi fix his stuff they broke
>Astern shows Dawn and Bodi around butt island and tells them his backstory
>the three foals go back to Dawn's house. They introduce Astern to Heartwine, who leaves to get clovers for Astern
Our story continues below!
----
Heartwine says she should be back shortly, and leaves to go fetch some clovers for Astern. Seeing that you have the house to yourself for a short while, you decide to make some daisy sandwiches while you wait.
The three of you enjoy sandwiches and a few glasses of refreshing water together, munching merrily and relaxing after a long day of adventure. It doesn't take long for Astern to get fidgety, and he soon hops down from his seat and starts to trot towards the front door.
"Where're you going, dude?" you ask.
"Gotta pee!"
"Oh... Uh, the bathroom's that way." You point towards the hallway opposite you and give Astern a weird look.
"It's out there, too!" he retorts.
"Kid, get your butt to the bathroom," you reply with a dry chuckle. Astern huffs and spins around, trotting off into the hallway.
A few moments pass, and you hear Astern yell from the bathroom.
"Woah, there's nice water here!" You hear giggling and a lot of water being poured from a faucet. It sounds like he found the bathtub.
"Ugh, what's he up to now?" You stand up and trot towards the bathroom, with Bodi following closely behind. When you reach the bathroom, you see Astern standing inside the tub with a joyous and implike smile plastered on his face. He's completely wet, his hat is tossed to one side on the floor and he's pouring a bunch of liquid from a shampoo bottle into the tub. The water's on full blast, and he doesn't have the tub plugged, but there's bubbles EVERYWHERE. You also notice he didn't flush.
How do you react?
>>26054958
Adult me is a bit angry. Child me tells me to turn off the water so that we don't get in trouble when our mom comes back. I learned that you shouldn't waste it even as a child.
I also want to give astern a bubble beard while getting one of my own.
>>26055034
Tell him you just can't waste soap either, but nice work thinking ahead. I bet you need a good bath.
>>26054958Bath-tern a cute.
Plug drain, stop water. And... flush the toilet. At least he recognized it.
Retrieve brush and let's get scrubbing.
>>26055034
>>26055433
>>26055732
"What're... that's not... Astern, you can't waste water like this. And kid, you gotta flush after you pee." You show him how to plug the tub and flush the toilet, and you turn off the water after letting the tub fill a little.
"Well, you've got bubbles everywhere already, so... let's go ahead and get you washed up, squirt."
Big sister mode engages as you try cleaning up the squirming colt. "Aaaah stoop, You're not my moooom" Astern whines as you scrub his ears with a loofa. "Shush, chump" you retort with a giggle as you continue scrubbing the dirty colt. He must have rolled in all kinds of muck while he was on that island, as he's turning the bathwater dark.
Astern scrunches his nose in defeat, blushing slightly and scowling a bit at the treatment he's receiving. Bodi simply shrugs at the colt and chuckles, shaking his head at the humor of the situation.
After you've scrubbed Astern clean - or as clean as you can: you're not scrubbing all of him. You're holding the loofa with your mouth and you'd rather not get that acquainted with the little guy. He can clean certain areas himself - you stand back a little and smile at him. You see Astern grin before making a bubble beard out of the foam from the tub.
"Aaarg! I's Bubblebeard the bold!" His appearence causes you and Bodi to giggle. You take some of the clearer-looking bubbles and make a beard for yourself.
"Aye! And I'm, uh, Foamy the Fierce! Avast, ye!"
Astern giggles. "You look silly! Fillies don't have beards!"
"Well I do, scallywag. What're ye gonna do about it?"
Astern splashes around in the tub. "Imma fight ya! I's say yer a faker, Foamy! Fillies don't get beards, and you's is fake!"
What do you do?
>>26056046
Yous callin' me a liar?
>>26056046
Our beard might not be real but our fierceness is. Also his isn't real either! Whoever can "arrgghhh!" the loudest wins.
>>26056046
Only the toughest fillies can grow beards like this. You sure you wanna risk it?
>>26056090
>>26056139
>>26056206
"Ye callin' me a liar, ya daft scallywag?" You retort. "I'll have ye know I'm the toughest filly in these waters!! I say yer the faker here!"
"Nuh-uh! Yer the faker, fake-beard foamy!"
"I'll have yer guts fer garters with talk like that!"
"Walk the plank!"
"There ARE no planks! Hah!"
"Yar!"
"YAR"
"YAAR"
There's only one thing left to do at this point, really: the foal with the loudest "yar" is obviously not a fake. The two of you yar as hard as you can, much to the amusement and slight discomfort of Bodi.
The yarring continues for quite a while, actually, untill you both try to yar as long as you can in one breath. You win by default, as your lungs are just a tad bigger than Astern's.
"Hah! I told ye I was no fake, lad." you say boastfully.
"Okay, fine! You's isn't a faker... but fillies don't get beards so yous still a weirdo!" Astern sticks his tongue out and smiles as if he'd just made the biggest comeback possible.
Now that your yarfest is over, what do you do?
>>26056655
I'm surprised our throats aren't tired. Let's finish cleaning him up and then getting him out of the tub. We need a dry towel. Then we comb his hair and make him look nice so our mom is impressed by him when she get's back.
>>26056692
We need to go FULL big sister. Ask mom if we can keep him.
>>26056655
That fucking gif.
>>26056655
Dry off the colt and attempt to comb mane.
Have things go hilariously wrong.
>>26056692
>>26056835
>>26056971
(1/2)
"Hey... like, you guys should probably get dried off," Bodi interjects. "I think your mom's going to be back before too long."
"Spoilsport," you reply with a teasing grin before coughing. Maybe you went a little too hard on the "yarr"s back there.
"I'm going to go clean up the kitchen," Bodi says before leaving you and Astern to get dried off. You have Astern hop out of the bathtub - of course, he shakes off and gets water everywhere first; you scold him for that, saying colts aren't supposed to shake off indoors - and do what you can to dry him off with a towel.
Since Astern hasn't had a good bath since being stranded on the island, the act of drying him off caused his mane and coat to poof up spectacularly.
"I's a puff!" Astern says with a giggle.
"That you are!" You say, giggling along with him. "I bet you feel a lot cleaner now!"
"I feel like a puff," Astern says again, this time holding a leg out and inspecting himself.
"A clean puff." You ruffle his fluffy mane and shoo him into the kitchen while you dry all the specks of water off the walls and floor.
>>26057641
(2/2)
Soon enough, Heartwine reenters the house with a bag of groceries. "I picked up a toothbrush for your friend there," she says, levitating the toothbrush out of a bag and setting it on the table. "Why, did you take a bath while I was gone? You look a lot cleaner!"
"I's a puff!" Astern says, puffing out his chest at Heartwine. "I see that!" your mom replies with a smile. "It looks like you have a little something in your mane, dear." You had attempted to brush the colt's mane, but it was curly enough that the brush got stuck.
"Oh, yeah... funny thing: I can't get the brush out."
"Hmm... Let me see it." Your mom leans over and parts Astern's mane a bit before lighting her horn up and detangling his mane enough to extract the brush. "There we go."
"Can we keep him?" You ask, grinning persuasively and facing your mom.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Can we keep him? He doesn't have any other family, so can we keep him?"
Your mom has a concerned expression for a moment. "Sweetie... he can stay for a few days, but we can't just take in a new family member like that. We need to talk to your dad first."
"Fine..." you reply.
"He's staying with Koko and I anyway for now," Bodi adds.
Your mom prepares another quick meal with the clovers, and the three of you monch away again.
"So, honey, what're your plans for the evening?" your mom asks you. What do you say?
>>26057693
Probably draw a picture of me, bodi and astern. I can't think of anything that we need to do other then just relax and sleep.
Actually, maybe we can spend the night over at bodis? We can take a blanket and pillow.
>>26057784
>>26057981
((Last one for the night, fellas. ))
You shrug. "Maybe I was going to draw some pictures for our sea log."
"That sounds like fun, sweetie."
"Oh, hey mom, can I stay over at Bodi's tonight?"
"Isn't that up to him to decide, dear?"
"I'm okay with it," Bodi replies. "Astern's staying over anyway. Koko wants to talk to him about some stuff he's been through."
"I see," Heartwine says. "Well tell Koko I said hi, and hope things go well."
Bodi nods. "Well, I think I need to get going, man." Turning to Astern, he adds, "C'mon, man."
Astern hops off his chair again and follows Bodi as they leave for the evening.
"I'm gonna go upstairs and grab some stuff," you tell your mom before bolting to your room.
After grabbing some crayons and paper, as well as your blanket and pillow, and hugging your mom goodnight, you depart for Bodi's cottage.
You go to Bodi's room, where you see him but not Astern.
"Where's the little punk at?" you ask Bodi jokingly. "Koko wanted to speak with him. I dunno how long he'll be, man."
You spend time doodling pictures of the three of you off on maritime adventures and waiting for Astern to come back. Bodi is propped up against his bedpost, but he looks like he's dozed off.
It's mostly quiet in the cottage, but suddenly you hear a few faint noises coming from another room in the cottage. You can't make out much, but it sounds almost like a voice. Do you investigate?
>>26058357
Yes. I think that we should investigate.
Have a good night.
bloop
>>26058357
awww
up you go
I wonder what kind of food bodi has for breakfast.
Time for a bump.
Woo hoo. Sleepover.
bumping from nine.
bump to live.
bump to live.
boop
Page 1
>>26059026
>>26059026
You try to sneak your way through the halls of Bodi's cottage, leaving Bodi to snooze against the bed. You want to find out what's making that noise: after all, Astern's been gone for a while, now that you think about it.
A few creepy shadows assault your progress towards the source of the noise, causing you to pause..., Koko's cottage is eerie at night. Maybe this is why you don't stay over that much whilch at this point sounds a bit like... chanting? You think you can hear Koko's voice, and maybe Astern's, though it's mixed with sniffling every so often. Is he crying?
You hear something else... other voices... though they sound somewhat muted... like whispers... it creeps you out a little. The other voices don't sound natural, that much is for sure.
You cautiously sneak closer to the voices, which are coming from behind a door. You smell something odd, like an incense, but not one you've smelled before.
"...Like bolts of light... mhm...
"...This vision you..."
"...like darkness..."
You don't know what's going on, but it's making you feel afraid. You know Koko's a good zebra... you think. You don't know what sort of magic this is, and you're not sure what you should do next. What do you do?
>>26068400
Whatever koko is doing is strange but it won't be anything bad. It's best to just ask her about it later.
>>26068400
Quickly retreat back to Bodi and curl up beside him for comfort.
>>26068519
>>26068560
You feel scared. Zebra magic is scary and this room is scary and these shadows are scary and these noises are scary too! You retreat back to the safety of Bodi's room as quickly and quetly as possible, and by the time you make it back you're beginning to sniffle a bit yourself.
You see Bodi still asleep against his bed, snoozing contentedly. It calms you a bit to see him, but you're still a bit unnerved at what you just experienced. You nuzzle into his side, leaning against his side and taking a few deep breaths to calm yourself.
"Huhhwha...?" Bodi sleepily opens his eyes, having been awoken by you.
"Bodi, I'm scared..." you mumble softly. "Your house is scary at night."
"Ah..." Bodi yawns before readjusting himself to let you rest against him easier. "It'll be alright, Dawn... You're safe, don't worry..."
He's trying to stay awake for you, but you cen see Bodi catching himself from nodding back off several times. You feel a lot better like this, but you still are concerned for Astern.
"Think he's okay?"
"Huh...?" Bodi blinks at you. "Astern?"
"Yeah. Do you think he's gonna be alright?"
"Mhm... Koko's probably... trying to figure things out more..." Bodi yawns again before rubbing your back reassuringly.
"He'll be fine."
Several minutes later, and still no signs of Astern. Bodi lost the fight with sleep, and his head is propped against yours as he slumbers. It's rather peaceful in here, and Bodi's doing a good job of keeping you warm. Sleep does sound nice, but you wonder if you should stay alert for Astern. What do you do?
>>26069197
I think that we should sleep. I'm not going back out to that hallway again.
>>26069197
I'm sure it'll be OK to sleep. Koko's not an evil enchantress... is she?
>>26069197
Yes, let's sleep.
>>26069197
Bodi's cozy. Submit to the lull of sweet slumber.
Ask Koko about what you experienced in the morning, try to stay vague until you're reassured that the matter isn't so touchy.
>>26069197
shh, only dreams now
>>26069248
>>26069258
>>26069262
>>26069314
>>26069726
(1/2)
Morning comes before you know it, and you blink your eyes open, having been awakened by a few dusty beams of sunlight that filtered through the window. Bodi's gone, but he somehow managed to prop you up with a pillow before he left. He's most likely meditating in his usual spot.
Stretching and standing up, you notice Astern asleep in the bed behind you. A releived smile warms your face, and you walk up to him, lightly brushing his mane and smiling at him maternally. You're glad he's back safe.
That reminds you: you need to go ask Koko what that was all about... without letting her know you were spying, that is.
Walking back out into one of the hallways shows that this place is a lot nicer-looking in the day. There's a lot of masks and other eccentric items hanging everywhere that are creepy in the dark.
You make your way into the kitchen area to find Koko mashing some herb stuff with a mortor and pestal.
"Hello, dear child; Hope that your sleep was mild."
You nod, figuring out your best plan of attack. "So... I see Astern's asleep. I didn't see him last night much... was he okay?"
Koko nods and continues mashing herbs while she speaks. "Troubled last night, your small friend was. The truth was that I had to find out the cause." She sets aside her work and places some big leaves on the table she's sitting at. "Astern at sea has seen powerful magic; the kind that set him on a course most tragic."
>>26069922
(2/2)
"Powerful magic? Is that the rip he was talking about?"
"Aye," Koko says with a nod. "a rip in the sky, made oacean waves to fly."
"So... like a storm?"
"That is correct, dearest Dawn. The magic Astern saw... was in fact the Meallán."
Your eyes widen at this revelation. So the rip Astern saw...
"Does Bodi know?" Koko nods.
"Um... I heard some weird noises last night..." you admit. "They were kind of scary."
Koko apologises and tells you that she was trying to learn more about what exactly Astern saw, and she used a bit of old magic to help her see what he saw.
"Wait, you can do that?"
Koko nods again.
"Woah..."
Well, glad you took care of that. You feel a lot better knowing that Astern is safe, but the fact that he saw the Meallán... You wonder what those storms really do.
Is there anything else you want to talk to Koko about while you're here?
>>26069929
how do you make Meallán's stop or go away? How long will it be around? What's for breakfast?
>>26069929
So.. are his parents really, uh, gone?
>>26069929
What does she think Astern should do now? Live with her? With us?
>>26070077
They're in pony heaven now, anon.
>>26070077
>>26070445
(Last one for the night, guys.)
You try to skirt around the question, but you ask if Astern's parents are alive or not.
"So... are Astern's mom and dad... you know..."
Koko sighs. "Sorry child, but the answer I do not know. What the storm did to Astern's parents, his vision did not show."
She explains that they have as equal a chance of being stranded as they do of having perished, but she doubts that they made it.
Her answer leave you unsatisfied, but you suppose it's as good an answer to what happened as you're going to get for now.
"What's going to happen to him?"
"Do not fret about young Astern gear. If he needs a home then the colt I will rear."
You smile broadly. "You mean it!?"
Koko nods. She says that everypony needs a home, and if he needs one he's welcome to stay with her and Bodi.
You feel happy for Astern, but you still have questions about the Meallán.
"So how do you stop it? The Mellon, I mean."
Koko tells you that she hasn't quite figured that out yet. With Astern's help, however, she's determined that the storms themselves may very well be masking... something else. Seeing your confused expression, Koko explains that the storms might very well be a disguise of sorts that another entity is using to mask their actions.
"So there's something in the storms?"
"Perhaps. I know not for certain, what lays behind that curtain."
You ask how long the storms are going to be around. Koko says she doesn't know that either, but she guesses that they might last for a while.
Not knowing what else to ask about the Meallán at the moment, you ask what's for breakfast. Koko says that there's granola in a breadbox if you want some.
A few minutes later, and you're enjoying a nice bowl of granola at the table. Koko's gone back to grinding herbs on the other end of the table. She'd probably be willing to answer more questions if you had more to ask her.
There's also other stuff you can do. The day's still young, after all! What do you do?
we should ask what time astern went to bed last night so we can see how long we need to wait before we should wake him up and bring him on adventures.
should we do some chores with him today?
bumpin
Meep
>>26071327
could be
page 1
Should we start calling astern poof?
Board has been moving pretty fast lately. Wonder why that is.
How about we do some chores and stock up on food at the store since we ate on the island?
boop
To page 1 yet again.
>>26071327
>>26075257
>>26076617
You ask Koko what time Astern wound up going to bed. She says that he was up for most of the night, and that he needs rest to recuperate. Looks like Astern's going to be asleep for a little while. You could probably use that time to do chores if you wanted.
You ask Koko if she has any chores that you could do for bits.
"There is an ingredient for a potion; the item I need is in the ocean." She mentions that she needs a certain type of coral for a potion she's working on. It pertains to her ongoing research into the Meallán. She smiles at you and says that she'd pay you nicely if you'll retreive some chunks of the coral for her.
"If you wish for something less wet, I have herbs you can always get." Sounds like the other option would be a simple scavange for some herbs.
Do you take her up on either offer, or try to find some other way of earning bits?
>>26078617
Ooooh, let's go get coral. Ask her where and us and Bodi will fetch it.
>>26078617
Where can I find the herbs? Where can I find the coral? What color is it? How deep in the water is it? I wouldn't mind collecting some herbs. We can find some other job though.
We had to do something for willow right?
>>26078631
>>26078638
Harvesting coral sounds fun. You ask Koko what's involved in collecting it.
"I am glad, child, that you ask; collecting this ingredient might prove a hard task."
"Is it dangerous, then?" you ask Koko.
"Dangerous is a word your task might keep - the waters around the coral might be quite deep." Koko explains that the coral you're looking for is a deep purple, and grows inside the mouth of underwater caves. You might need a light to see the coral if it's deep enough underwater, and Koko says you can borrow a few glowrods she has if you need.
"Do I just hold my breath while I get them then?"
"That indeed may be your best wish, as I do not think you make a good fish." Koko's teasing makes you giggle a bit, but she explains that if it's too deep for you or Bodi to get it, then you can always look for herbs instead.
Knowing this information, do you still take her up on the coral job, or decline for now and take on the herb fetch instead?
>>26079095
Do we even know where an underwater cave is or will we just sail around and occasionally stick out head in the water? Yeah we can look for the coral.
>>26079178
Yeah the one in Astern's cave
>>26079095
yes
>>26079178
>>26079625
>>26079748
You nod and say you'll look for the coral.
"Splendid, Dawn. The coral will help me learn more about the Meallán."
Koko walks you to her map in the other room and points to a small island situated just to the southeast of yours.
"This location shows, just where the coral grows."
Koko warns you that part of a large current system passes close to the island, and that you need to take care not to hit it, lest you get swept further away from home than you need to be.
Current. Purple coral. Cave mouths. Got it. You wonder if the cave mouth on this island will look anything like the one on Butt island. Guess you'll find out soon enough.
You make your way outside to find Bodi and let him know about your task. You find him in his usual spot, but doing some sort of wing excercize instead of meditating.
"Hey Bodi!" you shout. Bodi winces slightly from the volume before rising to his hooves. "Hey man, what's up?"
You explain your task to him and tell him where to find the coral. Bodi nods and stretches his wings a bit. "So, we going to take the Horizon there?" You nod. Was there any other way you were going to get there?
"Is Astern coming along?"
"Nah," you reply. "Poof's resting still. Koko says he needs to recoopercate."
"I see."
the two of you board your trusty raft, and unfastening the Horizon, you make your way east. It takes about half an hour of riding a slow current before you come across a shallow stretch of water. This must be close to where you need to go. What do you do now?
>>26079845
We have the bigger lungs so we'll dive and look for a cave entrance first. After that bodi will give us a glowstick and then we go into the cave and try to find that coral. Make sure we have a bag with us too.
Oh, and incase the cave we go in doesn't have it we go back to the ship and then it'll be bodis turn to dive while we catch our breath.
>>26056046
>Sister
>Small COLT
ehehehhehehe
at one point or another she's going find his 5th leg
>>26079883
>>26079902
"Hey Bodi," you ask as you look down into the water. "Think you can get me if I run out of breath down there?"
Bodi nods and digs out some twine from the cabin of your raft. "Yeah man. Here, if I tie this to your leg, you can tug twice if you need me to pull you back up."
"ooh, good idea!" You grin and hold out your back leg towards Bodi so he can attach the safety rope to you. After you're secured to the rope, you wait for a good spot to jump in. You giggle and cannonball into the sea when you get above an area that looks promising. Bodi chuckles and shields his face from the waves you've splashed onto the raft. Surfacing, you splash at him again. You didn't need to take off your hat as you left it back at Koko's.
"Ready? Oh and can I have one of those glowstick things?" Bodi nods and passes one to you.
"Here goss" you say through the glowrod between your teeth. you take a slow, deep breath before diving underneath the water. The salty water stings your eyes a bit, but you manage to look around at the rocky floor once you make it about ten feet under.
It looks really pretty here. There's perforations all throughout the rocky floor, and small fish dart around, curious to the newcomer in their waters. There's some sort of coral here, but nothing deep purple. You see the floor takes a dip a few feet in front of you, and there's more plant life off to your right. Which path do you explore once you dive back down?
>>26080461
I think we need to go deeper and take that dip.
I wonder if we need to bring a lot or a little. Let's bring a medium amount and hope that's enough.
these are some fun deep sea adventures.
have a good night
Time to bump
Page 10 bump.
There be seaponies here.
we should check those plants when we find that coral just because it'll be fun.
needed bump
waiting bump
((Guys, so sorry for disappearing on you all. My router's crapping out I believe, and I had no internet most of the day today. I won't have a new router till tomorrow, and I'm actually leaving town on Thursday and will be gone till like Sunday.
Basically, I'm thinking about putting the story on hold until I get back home this weekend. I'll ask you this, though: do you want me to do one or two more updates first, or do a Q&A sort of deal? I don't expect y'all to keep the thread alive till Sunday anyway heh.
Lemme know what you think. Sorry about all this.))
>>26090373
I would like the updates since I can't think of any questions at the moment though I will try to think of something that maybe you can answer at the end. does this sound good?
I thought of some basic things to ask. What made you start this cyoa?
How much of it do you have planned?
Is there a lot that we can explore?
>>26080491
>>26081176
>>26081718
>>26090414
You need to go deeper. It doesn't look like there's any coral on this part of the rocks.
Breaching the water with a gasp, you part your mane from your eyes and tell Bodi about what you saw.
"I fink va Coral might be furver under," you say through the glowstick in your teeth.
"Alright. Just remember to tug twice if you need me to pull you up."
You nod and take a few breaths to get your heart rate down a bit before diving back under, leaving Bodi on the raft.
The hole gets dark quickly as you make your descent. It also feels a lot colder down here, even though you're only about six or so feet deeper than earlier. There's still some plant life and a few fish in the hole, and...
Hold on. You think you see some coral! It looks purple enough from what you can tell from the green light of your glowstick. Better try to get it anyway before you run out of breath.
You swim down to the coral and attempt to break it off from the rocky base. It breaks off hard, and by the time you manage to get a small chunk of it off you begin to feel light-headed. You were hoping for more, but this'll do for now,
"It's... all I saw down there," you say, setting the coral and glowstick on the raft.
"Well, that's better than nothing, man," Bodi says, helping you slide onto the raft to catch your breath.
"So, want to look down there more, or are we gonna move on a bit?"
>>26090924
move on. there's gotta be more somewhere.
>>26090924
Is it possible to get more if we go directly to it?
>>26090978
>>26090989
"Eh... I say we move on. There's gotta be more around here somewhere."
You look over the edge of the raft while Bodi steers you around the shallows. Eventually you find another dark spot, and you jump back into the water. Taking another deep breath, you dive back down. You manage to go further than you did in the last hole. You're not sure how deep you are, but you'd guess that you're about fifteen feet below the water's surface.
From the light of the glowstick, you determine that there's a lot more coral down here. You can see a big clump of coral directly in front of you, and lots of other plant life surrounding the rocky cavern floor. You also notice something a bit... weird. It seems there's another source of light somewhere down here. It's a light blue glow, but you're not sure what exactly's making it.
You find yourself getting a bit light-headed again, and break off another small piece of coral before you return to the surface.
"There's... a lot more down there!" You pant for a few seconds before telling Bodi what you saw.
"There's another light down there? Huh... Also, like how many trips do you think you'll need to make to get enough coral?"
You pause for a moment, looking at the two small pieces on the raft. "Uh... like four more trips?" Bodi nods. "Just lemme know if you wanna switch out or anything."
"Okies," you say before diving back underneath. After you get enough pieces of coral - you hope Koko didn't mean whole coral plants when she said pieces - you find out what the other light is. Long, blue plantlike tendrils are emitting light and swaying with the currents. They were behind you the entire time. It looks like the tendrils are at the mouth of another passageway. Do you investigate?
>>26091565
Yes, were adventurers after all.
>>26091565
We should be able to take a peek to satisfy our curiosity.
>>26091613
ADVENTURE!
>>26091702
>>26091613
>>26091685
>>26091702
You tell Bodi you're gonna check out something you saw down in the cave, and setting the last piece of coral on the raft, you dive back down to check out the blue glowing tendrils.
You make it to the mouth of the tunnel the plants are in - well, you think they're plants, anyway - and take a quick moment to look around. It looks like the tunnel goes on for a little ways, as you can't see the end of it, even with the light from your glowstick and the tendrils. It also looks like most of the tunnel floor is covered in them for whatever reason.
You adjust your position to see into the bed of tendrels, and... you think you see something! A little ways into the bed you see some sort of jar or bottle. Whatever it is, it's made of glass that's been down there long enough to have a scaley shine on it. You wonder if you can swim to it before you run out of breath.
You swim closer to the bottle, getting closer towards the glowing tendrils. You wonder what the tendrils feel like, and you reach out your hoof to touch it... and immediately jerk it back in pain. Whatever these things are, one of them just stung you!
You can feel the pastern of your leg swelling up, and immediately it becomes a LOT harder to hold your breath. You probably need to get out of there quickly, but the bottle still looks tempting... do you risk going for it again?
>>26091959
No, it's not gonna move.
We can come back for it.
>>26091959
I think we need to leave. Tell bodi what we saw and then he can go down and get it. We can also warn him not to touch the blue tendrils.
>>26091959
Flee!
>>26091989
>>26091990
>>26092024
((Last one for the night, guys.))
Forget the bottle: you need to get back to the surface! You spin around and try to swim back up, but you find that progress is slow with your swollen leg. You struggle a bit before remembering what Bodi said about tugging the rope to get him to pull you up. Gettting ahold of the rop proves a little trickier than you figured it'd be, and you wind up using your mouth to tug the rope while holding the glowstick as best you can with one hoof. You feel the rope go tight not a split second after you tug twice, and you try to hold your breath as you're hoisted up and above the water.
You gasp and cough loudly as soon as you're above water, and Bodi pulls you onto the raft.
"You okay!?" He asks in alarm, parting the mane from your face to make sure you're okay. You groan slightly, lifting your swollen leg to show him.
"Bodi, those things are poisonous or somethi-" Your statement is cut short as you gag and cough up... bubbles. You and Bodi both stare at the bubbles drifting off into the air for a second.
"Umm... was that..." Bodi starts.
"Uh... yeah, I think it was," you reply. Both of you are unsure what to make of this, and you exchange uneasy glances.
"Does it hurt?"
"Um.. a little bit," you reply. "It's more numb than anything, though. What do you think that stuff was?"
"I... don't know." Bodi says slowly, still looking at your leg. He takes the knife out from the cabin and places it against your pastern.
"Hold on. If this thing left any stingers, I need to get them out."
He scrapes your pastern off in case there's anything stuck still, and puts the knife away.
"Do we need to get you back to Koko's?" Bodi asks.
You shrug. You're not really sure what to do. "Mayb-" More bubbles.
What do you do?
>>26092466
Do the bubbles contain air?
Maybe it makes us able to stay underwater longer.
We should test that in shallow water though.
>>26092466
do we have spare rags or something? If we do Bodi could go down to collect a sample with the knife and wrap it so we can carry it back up. Also he could throw a loop of twine over the bottle to drag it into the open.
>>26092486
Better to collect a sample for Koko.
>>26092466
Danger! Let's get to Koko quickly, yes.
>>26092466
something is happening that I don't understand so we must go to koko and ask if we should be worried. It's probably harmless and it'll fix itself.
>>26090414
((Meta time! To answer your questions from earlier:
>What made you start this cyoa?
Well, I didn't know about /cyoag/ till a few months ago. I've always been a fan of cyoa books and I used to read a lot of them, so when I found out about /cyoag/ I got excited. Didn't see any good adventure stories that I liked, so I thought I'd try my hand at making one.
>How much of it do you have planned?
Well, I have a big thing planned that I'm trying to get to at some point that might give this story some direction. I have more characters interactions planned than story events, though, so I'll probably have a bunch of minor inconsistencies. Apologies in advance for the ones I don't catch.
>Is there a lot that we can explore?
Mhm, you can go anywhere you want, really. That's what the map is for.also if I can get the big thing incorporated then they'll be a lot more to explore too.
But yeah, thanks a lot for your input. Means a lot to me. Also since that was the last story post till Sunday most likely, you don't have to keep the thread alive till then if you don't wanna. Your call.))
>>26092594
I'm excited by the prospect that we can go anywhere we want though I'm not sure how well we'll do considering we're kids and our ship is a just a raft. Big thing sounds fun though! Terrifying too.
>>26092594
Your story is refreshingly lighthearted so far.
People sometimes take cyoas far too seriously.
