A furred serpent began to flick about in the water.
The paws would push and paddle, while it's neck and tail slithered, and it shot about and looped upon itself as a dark blue light began to shine in the turquoise eye, the other amber eye shining a rich yellow as light shone from the many golden quills along his body.
A shimmer of blue violently rushed down its body, making it almost look as though it were being squeezed by the blue energy, forced to bend like rubber underneath it, being pushed and pulled and kneaded by the power inside and out.
A pain, almost familiar, ripped into the dragon as it felt itself being crushed by the pressure of the ocean, bent and twisted, yet not nearly as bad as the light had been, it's body strengthened and it's increased vitality almost acting as a shield.
Don't worry though, it still hurt enough to make it scream underwater.
As it's head slowly slipped through, the head seemed longer and thinner now.
The bump on it's nose was now bent back a bit, but the tip was more narrow and sharper, while also pointed back due to the diagonal direction the horn now seems to grow at.
The bumps on the back of it's head were unmoved, though also a bit sharper.
It's neck was not narrowed, but it's body was.
Before it had a thicker body and a thin neck and tail, with 4 legs and 2 wings from his body like any normal western dragon.
But now it's chest was narrower, barely thicker than the neck and base of the tail, appearing more like a furred snake with a dragon head and wings coming out, while the legs were now further apart as it had grown in length by nearly an entire half of its previous length, and about half that growth was between the front and back legs.
The spines beginning to show on its neck and tail were also bent back much like the one on its nose, and had more of a point to them as well, while the wings were larger but also curved more along the length, less straight out like bat wings and more like the curvature of bird wings now, though still covered in a short, soft fur.
The two small growths behind its two wings now stood out more as actual spines coming out the sides, but with a stretch of skin from them to connect to the rest of the body behind.
As the wings bent and pushed the water in a motion similar to flight but not the same to propel itself through the water, the two spines also flexed up and down.
Two new wings slowly beginning to grow behind the original two it would seem.
Around where the two full wings and front legs were, 2 small bumps on either side between the leg and wing for that side had begun to form as though a goose egg or joint under the skin.
The end of his tail no longer had just a tuft of more fur, but actually stretched out horizontally before coming to a rounded point with longer fur covering it then the rest of the dragon, but not as long as before, as if the triangular tip that western dragon's are famous for.
~ ~ ~
I always loved to swim. Although it hurts a lot right now.
The joy and wonder of water and the freedom and lightness I always felt floating along the waves.
Flying is strenuous, and I haven't felt that "wonder" or "power" of flight yet, probably because I can't fly very high and it's very hard to do.
But this?
This is easy, simply, and relaxingly breathtaking... after the pain faded away of course.
Seriously ouch! Fuck! You ever get shot by a pressured stream of water?
Well neither have I, but I'd imagine it's similar to this.
Just an omni-directional pressure washer that feels like it might cut you.
Yeah. But still... the ocean can be pretty relaxing.
I can breathe in the water now, and I can head in deeper.
Coral of many colors, stones and loops of rock and life, colorful fish schools, and so much more reflected in the light I emitted.
I turned in my twisting serpentine motions, and caught sight of the golden quills emitting light-
'Huh?'
...wait those aren't quills?
But they're golden, and in the right places, but now...
I stared at the soft glowing golden scales scattered along my body.
'...well. I guess I am finally growing in scales? How far along in development am I even?'
I have NO idea how long my phases of life are? Or like the milestones from baby to child, child to teen, etc?
What is the dragon equivalent? I've been called hatchling, so I can read that as me being a baby, but I'm clearly further along in development now that I've fused two elements!
Water is very far behind light though.
I can already feel how it's changing me.
Light increased my senses and made me have more vitality and stamina, water has made the way I feel distinctly change.
I feel flexible, loose, relaxed, and just... I can't really explain it.
It's like part of my muscles have become water, and now my body can just flow in movement without needing to tense up.
But really...
This world is beautiful, don't you think?
The skies are so clear; the air smells good and fresh.
People stink like hell and are awful, but nature is beautiful.
I never went deep sea diving or scuba diving or anything like that in my past life.
I was just a casual swimmer at lakes and pools.
But I've seen the pictures of plastic and cloth in the ocean, and I know it's not necessarily the absence of pollution that is why the water here is so clear and beautiful, but...
I dunno.
There's something to be said for a world clean and pure.
I swam by a bit of coral and slowed down as I twisted around to circle around it, seeing as I couldn't just stop moving in the water(am I part shark now?!).
'That coral-awakened thing was mad his kids weren't awakening before they got eaten right?'
'...'
'No. I can't just go around awakening an entire ecosystem can I?'
'...should I?'
I mean I totally could I guess-oh wait no.
Head pain.
Ouch.
I mean I could try the gentle Kire version of just touching their will with mine, and maybe a connection will grow over time, but I get the feeling that type isn't guaranteed.
'...actually doesn't that make it better? I'll just swim around and touch my every living thing with my will. If they awaken, great! If not, well, they probably were never going to awaken anyways.'
I can awaken anything as long as I have the elements for it, and while I can't use earth magic, it still exists within me.
So all I'm missing is darkness.
Can't awaken anything with the darkness element as part of its pair.
So I spent a good deal of the night swimming around, having fun, and spreading my will around to look at things like I have some 360° magic vision power, except I also happened to be lightly touching the lifeforce of everything around me as I did so.
Eventually, late into the night, I came to a stop as the reef fell away in a dark abyss before me.
I'd been swimming around coral and rock and it was beautiful, but all the sea floor was around the same height, seeing as it was a reef and all.
But here was the edge of that reef.
I looked into the darkness of the inky waters before me, dropping away out of sight.
'Damn that is... ooh boy.'
[...he-o -chli-]
What the hell?
My ears twitched in the water, somehow automatically adjusting for the sound distortion to see if any rushes of movement were being transmitted as waves I would feel and hear.
The voice just now... it sounded... slow? And very, very distant.
Like really drawn out, as if someone very tired, but I didn't feel like it was old.
In fact it mentally felt very... pure?
Young, naive, pure, innocent.
Powerful though.
Or well, powerful in comparison to most wills I've felt. Not so much to my will.
I actually wonder how powerful the will of that goddess is seeing as I couldn't detect that back then? That'd be interesting to see.
Okay well, now here comes the question.
Do I go into this scary-ass darkness of the actual open ocean to find whatever just spoke to me, or do I fuck off and run away?
'...'
I resolutely prepared myself, bunching up my muscle to propel me, and breathed deeply(in the water, it's a weird sensation).
Then I turned my head and bolted for the shore.
'HAHA! No, fuck you! I've seen horror movies before you creepy child trying to lure me!'