Completed Watery Wishes

[Anibesa]

5th Summer, 517
"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

It was hot as usual, and Anibesa had risen from a few hours of sleep she'd managed to get after a restless night.
Being an Ethaefal of Leth, she preferred to spend the nights outside, but she still had to sleep, and so she did so. She'd slept for a few hours, in the entrance to her tent so she could refresh herself in the moonlight.
Unfortunately, sleeping in the open wasn't as easy, and she'd found herself being woken by a few wild animals that had attempted to sneak into her tent, and eventually she'd given up trying to sleep, and instead caught up on that sleep during the morning once the sun had rose.

Now she was somewhat refreshed and ready to get on with her day, and today she had planned to practice swimming, to maybe try and get a hang of how to swim when she actually wanted to swim, and not just manage to barely stay afloat when she was desperate.

It wasn't long before she was on her way, and the community pool ended up closer than she thought it was.

Grinning slightly, she glanced at the pools, seeing one smaller pool that seemed somewhat shallower, maybe designed for a more relaxing soak, and a much larger and deeper pool that seemed as though it was designed for swimming.

Sighing, she glanced around to see that nobody else was there, and feeling slightly nervous she removed her shirt and pants, so she was stood in her underwear, before she sat on the edge of the larger pool.

"You can do this Ani!" she encouraged herself, before sliding into the pool messily, a splash sounding as she slid under the water before finding herself and holding onto the side of the pool, using it to hold herself out of the water as she looked around again, making sure nobody else had arrived.

Then she stretched her legs out to find that if she stood on her tip toes, she could just touch the bottom of the pool, so she let go of the side of the pool and tentatively walked to the centre of the larger pool, her arms flailing as they attempted to propel herself through the water at a faster speed.
Eventually, her erratic arm movements caused the young woman to slip and for a few brief moments her head slipped under the water and she lost sense of which was up.
It took a few moments before she managed to find the bottom of the pool with her feet and she brought herself back up to standing, coughing and spluttering as she surfaced.
Word Count441
Season Total: 4147

[Anibesa]

"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

Having managed to steady herself and convince herself that she wasn't still under the water, she managed to calm herself and she spent a few moments breathing deeply.

"Stop being a wimp!" she hissed at herself, before carefully attempting to lift her feet off the floor and let herself sink under the water, just to get herself used to the feeling.
She needed to convince herself that she was in control, and that this pool was safe, before she could even attempt swimming, though she doubted she'd manage to swim, no matter how hard she tried.

Feeling herself floating in the water was an oddly serene feeling, though as her feet touched the bottom again she began to panic.
She quickly opened her eyes only to find herself seeing a blurred slightly blue darkness, and she instantly stretched her legs, propelling herself upwards so her head met the air again and she took a deep breath, before glancing around to make sure that nobody was there to see her probable failure.

Then she breathed in deeply one last time before raising her feet off the bottom of the pool, and she began to move her arms in a semi-circle, attempting to push the water behind her.
It was hard work, and coordinating her arms was proving to be quite a struggle, but she could tell that she was managing to move herself forward slightly.

For a few moments it worked, but soon she found herself sinking below the water again, unable to keep herself afloat, despite being able to move.
Carefully she reached a foot down to touch the floor of the pool and she pushed herself back up to standing, trying to find a way that she could stay afloat while moving.

Nothing came to mind at first, and for a few chimes she stood awkwardly in the centre of the pool, thankful that nobody was around to see her.
Word Count322
Seasonal Total: 4469

[Anibesa]

"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

Inhaling deeply again, Ani lifted her feet from the bottom of the pool, this time kicking her legs repeatedly in an attempt to just floating.
She didn't particularly want to move at all this time, instead wanting to focus on managed to stay above the water. She'd already figured out that she could move forwards, but without the floating she would not be able to even attempt swimming anywhere deeper than the pool.

So attempting to remain calm, Anibesa kept her legs tucked up slightly, repetitively moving them in a cyclical motion, kicking out with one leg and pulling back with the other before switching directions.
After a few moments, Anibesa realised that her feet hadn't touched the bottom of the pool yet and a wide grin spread across her face as a warm laugh escaped her lips.

In her moment of triumphant joy, however, she forgot to keep moving her legs and mistaken let them rest, and the feeling of sinking quickly startled her as she stretched her legs out a bit too enthusiastically, her toes hitting the bottom of the pool with quite an amount of force, and a feeling of pain spread through her body from her left toe.

"Petch! Shyke!" she yelled quite loudly, as she lifted that leg and cupped the toe in her hand, attempting to hop through the pool until she reached the steps, and sat down on the shallowest one so she could check the toe.

Nothing looked unusual. It was its usual light flesh tone, and it didn't look any bigger than usual, or any more crooked. Though the nail seemed to be missing a small piece that must have been bent and broken off by the force of her toe hitting the floor.

"Stupid toe... Why's it got to hur' so much!" she grumbled too herself as she let go of her leg, leaving it to soak in the water for a bit, hoping that it would stop hurting so she could go back to attempting to swim, rather than having to go to the Panacea and have the doctor look at it.
Word Count353
Seasonal Total: 4822

[Anibesa]

"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

The pain in her toe began to subside until it was a low and dull throbbing that didn't seem to burn as much as it had done at first.

Frowning, she glared at the water determinedly before sliding into the deeper water again and carefully placing one foot in front of the other until she was back in the centre of the pool again.

This time she'd get it, she was certain!
Carefully, she lifted her feet up and began to kick them, then she combined that with the circular movement of her hands that she'd worked out could move her forwards, and she attempted to swim.

It was uncoordinated and she hadn't managed to time the movements of her feet with the movements of her hands properly, though she managed to hold herself afloat and move forwards for a brief period of time, and a wide grin spread across her face before she felt herself sinking and her head slipping under the water, so she slowly eased herself back into a standing position.
She ran her hands through the red hair of her mortal seeming, brushing it back so it wouldn't risk getting in her way, before she inhaled, making sure she was calm.

Then again she leant forwards and picked her feet up slightly, repeating the process and managing to stay afloat slightly longer than the last time, though she realised that it wasn't enough yet, and that she had a long way to go.

"Maybe I'm not doing the arms right?" she questioned herself out loud, before attempting to try a few different arm movements.
Fanning the water seemed easy, though when she tried it she felt no movement in the water and no forces trying to move her.
A few other movements didn't feel quite right either.

Getting frustrated, she opted to hit the water and drag her arm back in a circular motion, and the feeling of the waters movement combined with the force pulling her forwards almost caught her off guard.
"Maybe that'll work..." she mumbled to herself, eyes scanning the area as she prepared to try those arm movements.
Word Count356
Seasonal Total: 5891

[Anibesa]

"Common" | "Fratava" | "Tukant"

Again she dug her arm into the water, pulling it behind her as she lifted her feet from the floor of the pool, kicking them as evenly as she could while she brought her other arm down into the water and dragged it behind her.

This time she seemed to be moving forwards, and her head only fell below the water level briefly before resurfacing the next time her arm hit the water.

A grin spread across her face as she continued for a few more moments, before her legs began to tire and she moved herself so she was standing in the water, her wet and matted to her face, though her mood not impacted by that fact.
She felt a growing sense of triumph, though in the back of her mind she didn't doubt that she'd have forgotten something by the next time she tried to swim, but for now she had managed to swim, albeit messily and uncoordinated.

Sighing happily, she began walking, slowly and laboured, towards the shallower end of the pool, ready to get out.

She pulled herself out of the pool and sat on the stone for a little while, hoping to dry off a little bit before she dressed herself again. Plus, while nobody else was there she wasn't overly worried about anyone seeing her undergarments.

She realised that it would have been more practically to have removed her undergarments as well, to have avoided getting them soaking wet, and to have reduced the time it would take to dry off properly, but hindsight was s great thing.

Sighing, she lay back and looked towards to sky, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun for a bit, just enjoying the chance to relax, until it came time to get dressed again.

Grinning slightly, she pulled her clothes back on and made sure she'd put them on properly, before leaving the pools and heading back to her tent.

[Gossamer]

Grading!

Anibesa

Experience: Swimming: +5, Observation +3, Planning +2

Lores: Syka: Sleeping In The Open Can Be Dangerous, Syka: Location & Function of The Community Pools, Swimming: How to tread water, Swimming: Stubbing toes can be dangerous!, Swimming: How Moving One’s Body Specific Ways Produces Specific Results

If I missed anything let me know!

Goss