Summer 2nd, 459 AV
Lacerta and Mila were back in the water again, continuing the agreed lessons. They’d made their way to a deeper area, but that was sheltered by rocks, so the waves were minimal. It was also quite a clear day, making swimming quite the ideal pastime. Lacerta was able to stand at one point, and did so, though everywhere else was too deep, even for her seven plus feet. The Konti, however, was keeping herself easily floating by doing… something with her legs. And that was what she was planning on learning today… how to ‘tread water’, as the swimmer called it. It was basically leg motions, which, if done correctly and ‘forceful’ enough (Mila was very adamant on that fact) you could stay afloat for as long as your stamina lasted. She’d offered to go ten chimes or more, but the Eth had had to decline, considering time restraints. Though… maybe later.
Her friend found a rock to sit on, and perched herself there, slipping easily onto its wet surface. ”Right… so, to tread water, you need to sort of move your legs in circles… keep them bent, at a right angle, almost as if you’re sitting on a chair. Then you sort of ‘swirl’ them around in circles, like this.” She took two fingers and began demonstrating. They didn’t cross over, though the way they moved was… odd. Once one ‘knee’ went into the middle, and left, the other followed. Like they were going in odd circles… It made sense though. The Konti pushed off the rock again, and began demonstrating. The water was clear enough, and allowed the Ethaefal to generally see what the leg motions were. Once they were in her own brain… she pushed off her small ledge and into the deeper water.
At first she floundered, arms pulling at the surface, but she quickly tried to lift her knees up to ‘sitting’ height. She then tried to swirl them in circles, as demonstrated. It worked… kind of, but not very well. Her legs felt slow in the water, and soon enough, she was sinking. ”Force!” Mila urged, treading water just a few meters away. Nodding, while trying not to drown, Lacerta pushed harder, trying to force herself to the surface. Her legs were hurting a little, but she was able to stay afloat for several moments. However, her thighs gave out from the odd motion, and she kicked awkwardly back to the shallow spot.
”Good job! Now… you just want to be able to do that for several minutes on end… try again when your legs are feeling better. This will be needed for the next thing we’re working on.” The sailor eyed her companion skeptically. From only lasting maybe twenty ticks, she didn’t understand how it was even possible to go as long as ten chimes. The Konti had even claimed she could go for a full bell… but the Eth seriously doubted that. It sounded way too hard to her, nearly impossible, in fact.
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