Ocean Flowers

Akeem did not go into the depths often. He preferred staying near Fidelia’s village, only going deep enough to submerge himself completely. When he needed to hunt, he would go a bit deeper to be able to catch fish but he didn’t rely on them fully for his diet. And sometimes, like on this day, he would go deeper into the water to go treasure hunting. It was fun and he thought Vita would like it but she was only now getting used to the water. Maybe sometime he could take her with him. She had a better eye for treasures than he did.

Despite his large size, Akeem was careful when he went diving for treasure. He was aware that even larger dragons lurked in the depths, ones that would be very territorial. They reminded him a bit of Sobek, the grumpy Fire dragon that somehow was ocean-locked. Well, not ocean-locked, but Akeem has never seen him actually go on land. Not that he thought he would like the land, not with all the space he had. He might actually enjoy the ocean more, now that Akeem thought about it. He could grow his territory more.

Take that back, Akeem did not want Sobek in the ocean. 

His eyesight was slowly getting better to adjusting to the darkness of the ocean depths. It still took awhile, but he had a feeling that if he went down more, the adjustment would go quicker. Schools of fish would swim past him, some deciding to stick near him. They liked to gather at his tail and under his wings. Their little scales rubbed against him, a soothing sensation.

They scattered when Akeem swam down to a sunken ship. He hasn’t seen this one yet but it looked old. Seaweed and coral had already taken over the ship, stretching out before him. On the side of a ship was a large, gaping hole. He could see tendrils of seaweed sneaking out, gently brushing against coral that guarded the entrance. It was too small for him to fit in there - like most ships - but he could fit his head in to peer around.

He really wished Vita would come with him on these visits, she would have an easier time looking into the ship.

Akeem cautiously swam closer, the seaweed brushing against his legs. Spreading his wings to catch himself, the water pushing up on the leather allowed him to flat. He grasped at the edge of the broken boards to hold himself before he tilted his head forward to look in. Before the seeking seaweeds could touch his nostrils, suddenly a bright, colorful dragon shot out from the hole.

Immediately, his head craned back to follow the sudden movement. His wings flapped, causing the kelp around him to move as the water was agitated. His tail swished back and forth as he twisted his head around to try to find where the little dragon went. It had to be little if they were staying inside of the broken ship.

Akeem did not have to look for long when the little dragon swam back towards him. They were very colorful, streaks of oranges, reds, and blues making up their body with only a few darker colors breaking it up. They tilted their head curiously at him before swimming closer. Instinctively, Akeem tilted his head back but the little dragon followed.

She was checking him out, Akeem realized. She swam around his head, nosing at his tentacles and ears before swimming back to look over the rest of his body. As he tried to, once more, follow where she was going, she had already disappeared from his sight. Suddenly, his wings were pushed up and immediately, his head snapped downwards. She was rubbing against one of his leather wings before she swam back towards the hole.

She looked satisfied? That’s what Akeem thought at least. Her fins fluttered open like flower petals and she let out a soft coo. With a swish of her tail, beckoning for him to follow, she swam down into the ship’s belly. Cautiously, Akeem allowed himself to peek his head inside. He only saw her tail disappear into a forest of kelp.

When he did not follow, she peeked her head back out and gave another coo. Oh, gotcha.

It took a bit for Akeem to comfortably push his head in deeper. His nose twitched as the kelp fluttered against his nostrils. She seemed to not mind and disappeared back into the kelpy nest. He followed after her and his eyes widened once he saw what she was trying to show him.

The little place she had gone into was actually not-so little. She had made the ship belly a beautiful nest. Kelp surrounded them with flowers somehow growing on them. They rested on them like they were vines. Around the lower part of the kelp, creating almost like a bed, was twining pink and blue coral. More flowers donned the floor of the nest, entwined together with more seaweed that curled itself with the coral.

She had settled herself in the center, looking quite pleased with herself. He could imagine she had been tending to the nest herself for quite awhile. And she was looking up at him, expectedly. Offering a smile, he bent down to give her a nuzzle as if saying ‘good job.’ Her fins fluttered again and she closed her eyes, leaning into the nuzzle.