Your kin has a strange dream of visiting the calm summer sea, the sky painted in sunset… and the foam dotted with a rainbow of colors. On closer inspection, it is a massive school of incredibly round fish, which bounce in and out of the water with reckless abandon.
When they awaken from this dream back into the familiar swamp, they feel a bit different… And they find that they can now hold their breath for much longer than they used to be able to, letting them explore the water with relative ease! What will your kin do with this strange new trait? Hunt down fish, or maybe swim through the deepest parts of the swamp to hunt for interesting things?
This effect will remain for the rest of the day. Once they go back to sleep, however, they will return to their normal self.
The scream of gulls over head and the smell of salt in the air recalled memories of the blazing hot summer. But the light of the setting sun was cold and dim and the wind whipped sand at his face in a way that only a winter wind could. And yet, Drowned felt neither hot nor cold. Even the sand attempting to assault his eye didn't bother him much. It was there more for atmosphere than anything else. This was, after all, just a dream. A dream with an important purpose, or at least it felt that way to Drowned. He was here, on this beach, for a reason. He was on a mission. What that mission was, he had no clue but he was sure it would be revealed to him eventually.
He continued on down the shoreline, with nothing but this feeling of purpose to guide him. It seemed like an eternity and also only a brief moment before he found what he was meant to find. Within the gentle waves that lapped against the beach shone a bright spot of colorful light. It moved with the ebb and flow of the current but then at times seemed to move of its own accord, going against the waves for a moment before rejoining the rhythm. And then, from time to time, a singular color would dart out from the mass only to quickly return. Overcome with emotion at having found his purpose, and immensely curious, Drowned rushed over to the strange light.
A school of fish was a somewhat expected find. Drowned had spent plenty of time at the sea and the movement of the mass of light had been familiar to him. What was unexpected, was the appearance of these brilliant, brightly colored fish. He’d never seen anything quite so…round. Each and every one looked as if it was on the verge of popping. But somehow they managed to swim with great ease, dancing around each other as if they were no bigger than a minnow. With great caution, Drowned stepped into the shallow water to join them. The school made way for him, but showed no fear of the buck- though he was quite concerned that the slightest of taps would make the fat little fish explode.
For a time, all were content to remain in the shallows and enjoy each other’s company. Drowned watched them with a child-like fascination, making sure not to move too suddenly. And the school swam around him lazily, one occasionally taking an exploratory nibble at his fur. Then, without warning, the school moved as one and darted into deeper waters, each fish turning in unison to look back at Drowned expectantly. He followed them without question. Deeper and deeper into the ocean they went until there was no sand left beneath his hooves and the water below was dark. The school descended into that dark water and Drowned knew he had to continue following. Down and down and down he swam with them until he was certain the ocean couldn’t possibly go any deeper. The colorful little fish all swam around him for a moment before collectively making their way to the surface again, but Drowned did not follow this time. He simply turned to watch them, sinking further into the depths. It was such a familiar feeling, falling into the darkness. The same feeling that had given him his name, but this time the air never left his lungs. It felt like he could stay down there forever. Maybe he would...
Drowned awoke with the unsettling feeling of floating. He was very clearly laying down with the earth right beneath him, but he still felt as if he were suspended in some deep, dark part of the ocean. It took some time for the side effects of his unusual dream to wear off, and when they finally did it was time to consider the meaning behind this dream. Dreams were an important part of life in the swamp. They gave nearly every kin their name, and like many others, Drowned believed that dreams were messages meant to tell the dreamer something. That something wasn’t always important- sometimes it was just to remind you of that one time, seasons ago, when you did something incredibly embarrassing. But this particular dream felt important. It was trying to tell him something, but what….?
He had an idea. One that seemed rather absurd and maybe a little bit crazy. He couldn’t shake the end of the dream from his mind, though. The feeling that he could have stayed under the water forever, never running out of air really stuck with him. Something about that in particular felt significant. Rising to his hooves, Drowned shook the dirt from his hide and stretched out the stiffness of slumber. There was a stream nearby that would suit his needs well enough.
A short journey brought him to the slow running stream. It wasn’t very deep, only about knee high but that’s all he needed. Drowned waded out into the water- which thankfully wasn’t unbearably cold -allowed himself a quick drink, then took a deep breath. He dunked his head fully under the water, initially with his eyes shut tight. But as time passed and he adjusted the sensation of being under water, he opened them. And as more time passed he found that his lungs never ached for air. His suspicion was right. For some reason, he was now able to hold his breath indefinitely. Or, at least for a very long time. He stayed under the water for a while, enjoying this new-found power. But this shallow stream just wasn’t going to do. He needed deeper waters.
Some ways to the north of him was a large pond. In dry times its size could shrink significantly and anything left near its edge would be swallowed up by the next heavy rainfall. Many seasons ago, he’d discovered the remains of a sizable boar at the pond’s edge. What had killed it, he couldn’t say, but it got the same treatment he gave every dead creature he came across. The boar’s body became a memorial to its life. Willow branches, pleasingly shaped stones, and many colorful blooms had been arranged around the corpse. Drowned knew it wouldn’t last forever, nothing ever did, and the boar and its shrine were undoubtedly underwater after all the rain the swamp had seen lately. Seeing what his work looked like now, after all this time and submerged in the pond would be quite interesting.
Another journey- this one a bit longer -and Drowned was at the pond. As expected, it was much bigger than it had been when he’d encountered the dead boar. The remains would be under several meters of water now. The thought of viewing it sent an excited shiver through his entire body. Hopefully this new power wouldn’t suddenly fail him while he was down there. Wading out into the center of the lake, Drowned took yet another deep breath and dove under.
Drowned knew what he sought wasn’t at the center of the lake- it had never gotten nearly dry enough for that to be possible -but he was extremely curious what else might lay at the bottom. Which, as it turned out, was mostly trees. Trees that he nearly got tangled in as the water was quite murky. And the further down he went, the murkier the water got until he couldn’t see much beyond a couple feet in front of him. It added a rather spooky and mysterious atmosphere to his little adventure and Drowned loved it. A perfect home for his work.
After a bit of time simply enjoying this strange new environment, Drowned finally began his search in earnest. He remembered finding the boar on the east side of the lake and- after surfacing to figure out where exactly east was -he began scouring the lake floor for his shrine. He had to be careful, moving too suddenly or getting too close to the bottom would stir up a fine silt that made seeing entirely impossible. But after a while he found the unmistakable shape of the boar’s skull. The rest of the skeleton soon came into view as well. To his surprise, much of his work still remained. The flowers were, of course, long gone, but many of the willow branches were still there and all of the stones seemed to be in their place. Everything, bones included, was covered in a thin layer of green algae and that seemed to be the only sign of anything living down here. Not that Drowned expected to find anything, it was winter after all. Evenso, the sight of this skeleton and the memorial he had built around it now submerged in this dark, dismal water with hardly any other life around had an effect on Drowned. It was sobering. And satisfying. He couldn’t have asked for a better result.
He spent a bit more time down there, admiring his work and exploring some before he’d had his fill. Returning to the surface, Drowned dragged his now soaking body to the shore and out of the water. He felt reaffirmed in the work that he did around the swamp. Even if his memorials didn’t last, or ended up somewhere no one would ever see them again, he still felt they were worthwhile. Not that their worth had ever really been in question. Drowned didn’t start this strange work of his for any reason other than he felt compelled to do so. All this little trip did was strengthen that compulsion. And with a renewed sense of confidence in his work, it was time for Drowned to find somewhere warm to curl up because that swim had left him absolutely frozen to the bone. He would have plenty of new ideas for memorials to think about as he did, though.
