Adventures of the last Wild Dragon

Chapter 262 262: Below the Waves

Violet chased after her companion as she darted down the tunnel, her cry of indignation echoing down the path mixing with the playful giggle coming from Luna up ahead.

The short chase did not last for very long however, given that Luna had to come to a stop at the exit of the cave lest she risk falling down the near vertical slope of the mountain beyond.

Still the short chase did wonders for Violet, it helped settle her slightly frayed mind, aided with reconnecting her mind and body after the experience of nearly loosing herself in the gifted memories of the long lost dragons of a bygone era.

When Violet caught up to Luna she was greeted with the sight of Luna being enveloped in a familiar glow as her body rapidly shrank back to her humanoid form.

Coming to a stop Violet gazed out at the blue sky and nearby mountain peaks that lay before her. She found herself becoming slightly nostalgic of the sight, despite only having seen it on that day herself. She shook her head as the fleeting emotion faded away as she grounded herself, just in time to feel a familiar and comforting weight land on her back as Luna teleported up to settle at the base of her neck.

"Alright girl let's go!" Shouted Luna in anticipation.

Before Luna had been a slightly reluctant flyer, knowing the usefulness of the ability but being marred with some slightly traumatic memories from Violet's first few eventful flights.

Now with the influx of memories that she experienced alongside Violet, Luna held a much different view on flying. She now found herself eagerly anticipating the feel of the wind rushing past her, the feeling of weightlessness when they went into a dive, the odd feeling of weight that would envelop her wings when she pushed herself faster.

That last thought did cause her to take a moment to center herself and reaffirm her being as an arctic leopard, not a dragon.

For whilst Luna did not find herself being so completely overwhelmed by the memories as Violet did, she did still experience all of them right alongside her, it was inevitable that she too would find herself influenced by them in some way.

"Hold on tight." Violet said as she broke out into a run before she lept out of the cave and into the open sky before them.

Violet opted to allow them to fall for quite some time, their speed rapidly rising as she only directed their fall enough to ensure that they didn't collide with the mountain below. Soon though, she did extent her wings.

The familiar strain on her large wings reminding her of who she is as their flight evened out and they gazed out at the scenery before them.

Whilst Violet was quite interested in exploring the remaining mountains and discovering any long lost caves and treasures that may still remain hidden within. She was currently more interested in visiting the ocean at the current moment in time.

So she angled her wings and changed their flight course to be northbound. She soared around the mountain, the ground below facing past as she banked allowing Luna an excellent view of what lay below them.

Once the pair had passed by the mountain all that lay before them was a vast open sky, below them lay the foothills of the mountains that swiftly turned into open grasslands, this too swiftly sloped downhill until it reached the ocean where the grass transitioned into first rocky ground and then finally into a sandy beach that ended with the gently moving tide.

Violet began her descent when they were around halfway to the beach, she descended gently allowing them plenty of time to observe the deep blue of the ocean, they witnessed the waves crashing against the shore where rocky outcroppings jutted out into the water.

The blue waves glistened in the midday sun as it shone overhead, its Earth countering the refreshing chill of the wind that brushed past them during their flight.

"It truly is beautiful isn't it." Stated Luna through their bond.

"Umm it really is."

The two companions admired the scenery for the duration of the flight, each of them split between admiring the sights and organising their thoughts of what they had experienced earlier in the day.

Soon enough however, Violet arrived at the beach. With now practiced ease she gently alighted on the sandy ground, only lightly disturbing the sand with her landing.

"Are you going swimming like this or in your humanoid form?" Asked Luna as she hopped down from Violet's back.

Violet took a moment to think on that before making her decision. "I think I'll go like this, I should learn how to swim properly as a dragon."

Luna nodded at her words, then she too made a decision and light swiftly enveloped her as she changed back to her true form. Shortly after she stood besides Violet in her beast form as the two of them stared out at the waves.

"Last one in has to make lunch!" Luna then shouted before she dashed forwards, swiftly leaving Violet behind her.

Violet let out a chuff of annoyance tinged with humor before she rushed after her companion. With Luna's impressive agility their was no hope of Violet truly catching up to her, still the dragon did have the advantage of size.

So whilst Luna moved swifter and with greater alacrity, Violet could easily traverse greater distance with each stride, couple that with her use of her wings for an added boost Violet managed to almost close the distance before she kept into the air and dove head first into the water with a great splash.

Luna too had not held back, leaping into the water with all of the feline grace she possessed. Luna's comparatively small splash was swiftly overwhelmed by Violet's explosion of water when she plunged below the waves.

Once in the ocean Violet opened her eyes and beheld an entirely different world from what lay above the waves.

Sprawled out before her lay an expansive coral reef, its rainbow of colours a feast for the eyes. Swimming amongst the corals was a uncountable number of fishes, the vast majority of them on the small size, better resembling regular fish with no advancement to mention.

Yet with Violet's enhanced eyesight she could see quite far and managed to catch glimpses of larger forms darting between the colourful corals in the near distance.

Eager to find out exactly what lay in wait for them Violet expanded her presence. Careful to follow the tricks taught to her by Ivy to ensure that she blended her presence in with the environment so as to not announce her presence to all able to detect them.

Her presence spread out, encompassing quite the distance around her and feeding back a good amount of information.

As she had first assumed the vast majority of the fishes present in the shallows of the coral reef were very low leveled. Only when the reef dipped down after som distance did the average level of the sea creatures increase in strength.

Violet detected a number of tier 3 beasts populating this lower level of the coastline, yet she did not detect any tier 4 or stronger beasts in the shallows.

Still she did spot that the reef seemed to dip down even further quite some distance away from her, she could only vaugely make out that from her current vantage point but she assumed that stronger beasts would likely call that place home.

She then spotted Luna gently swimming around besides her. Violet's companion was lazily swimming around as she observed the various corals that dominated the sea floor around them.

The various sea creatures around them had already swiftly swam away from their explosive enterance so their was little to observe in their current surroundings.

With this in mind and understanding that they would be able to hold their breath for quite some time thanks to their high endurance the two began to swim deeper into the ocean in a quest to explore this entirely new world.

It did not take them long before they entered the area dominated by tier 3 beasts. Here they spotted a number of larger fishes and other lifeforms that called this environment home.

From cephalopods hiding within the corals, only exiting from hiding to snatch up a passing fish, to larger fish eating at some of the seaweed and sea grasses that littered the ocean floor.

Still this area was of little interest to the two and they continued to delve deeper into the ocean, soon arriving at yet another drop off point where the ocean floor dropped by a good 50 meters this time.

Before them towers of rock and coral rose up as if hoping to reach the sky far above, between these coral towers vast fields of kelp and other aquatic plant life allowed for a bevy of beasts to call home.

Their arrival in this new domain did not go unnoticed by the residents of this place. For they were not eager to allow new predictors to enter into this area unchallenged.

So it was that Violet and Luna watched in amused interest as a small host of giant crabs that resided on a nearby coral tower began angrily snapping their claws at them. It was only when one particularly large crab clacked its claws and a powerful jet of water shot towards the two that their amused gazes turned sharp as their relaxed attitude shifted gears as they eagerly looked forward to the upcoming underwater fight.