~Fathom

Fathom and Indigo left not long after Darkstalker fell asleep beside Clearsight. Despite what he had said earlier, he was still scared for her. While she may have known this was coming, Fathom just hoped that maybe they could stop it.

About halfway to the cave Fathom and Indigo now lived in, Indigo began to talk.

"How was your trip to see Pearl?" She asked.

"I feel a little guilty leaving her without much warning." Fathom replied truthfully. "And about lying to her." He tapped his bag. "But I did have lots of time to carve some things to decorate the cave with. Nothing much. I gave her one of the Summer Palace. I made one for Darkstalker, Clearsight, and you, too."

"Let me guess; it's a spear!" Indigo said. Fathom laughed. It was good to be able to talk to her normally. "No, wait…a replacement for the beluga you gave me!"

"It was a dolphin!" Fathom protested. "And no. Keep guessing."

"Blob Jr.?" Indigo guessed. "That doesn't move. I don't know what happened to Blob." She looked at Fathom. "That's not it, is it? Fine then. Is it a sword? Shield? Armor? A dragon wearing armor?"

"You have the dragon part right." Fathom said. "Keep going; we're almost to the cave, I'll make you another one if you can guess what it is before we go in and I show it to you."

Indigo kept on guessing, some of them close but not quite. Fathom enjoyed this; laughing as if it was a time before the massacre, where this wasn't forbidden and treason. He hoped that she liked the sculpture he made.

They made it to the cave shortly, and Indigo walked inside first to make sure no one was in it, then walked back out.

"It's clear." She said. Fathom nodded and followed her back inside. The sun was rising, making it so then only the deeper parts of the cave stayed dark.

Fathom took off his bag, and sat it by the wall of the cave. He pulled out a small sculpture, and handed it to Indigo. It was a very-detailed sculpture of two dragons—he had made them SeaWings, since he knew how to do them well—sitting next to each other, tails twined and wings overlapping. Indigo's face was unreadable. "I-I'm sorry, do you not like it?" Fathom asked. "I can take it back, make you another one. It's just—"

"Shut up, scavenger head." Indigo said. She finally looked at Fathom and smiled. "I love it. Thank you." Fathom sighed with a sort of relief. He watched as Indigo sat it on a sort of small outcrop in the wall. She stepped back and looked at it.

Fathom stood beside her. He had made the small sculpture while thinking of Indigo. He hadn't fully been concentrating on what he had been doing. By the time he realized what he had been sculpting, the basic outline of the dragons was done and the only thing left to do was the details. He had made the dragons SeaWings because he knew how to do them better—but he realized that it was also because he saw the sculpture as him and Indigo. He scolded himself for his thoughts, having promised to Pearl that he wouldn't talk to Indigo. But here he was, standing beside her. Here he was, in love with her.

Indigo was the first to move, brushing her wings with his as she walked into a corner to sleep. Fathom did the same, although in the other corner, on the other side of the cave. He still couldn't be like Darkstalker and Clearsight, to feel safe around Indigo. If something happened to Indigo, and it was because she was around him, then he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He knew it was just in his head, that he was making up his own excuses to stay away from her. But so far, it was working. Sometimes he wished it wasn't.

…

Fathom woke up when the moon was high in the sky. When he sat up and looked around, he saw Indigo had already left. He wondered if she went to Darkstalker and Clearsight, or just to get away from him. He walked around the cave, his talons clicking on the rocks and squishing in the sand.

He heard wingbeats outside the cave. For a second he feared it was Pearl or Vigilance. He sighed with relief as Indigo walked inside. She had a small pouch wrapped around her neck.

"I got something for you." Indigo said. She walked over to the small sculpture Fathom had made and pulled out a small brush, paints, and another bottle. "I thought that…maybe you could paint it? I also got something that makes it so then it lasts longer. I hope you don't mind the paints I got…"

Fathom smiled. "It's fine. Thank you, Indigo." He said. He walked closer, and realized that the paint mainly consisted of the colors of their scales. He was a little surprised yet glad that Indigo chose these colors. He looked at her. "Can you ask Darkstalker if he needs me? I can go over if he does. If he doesn't, I'll start painting this." He said.

"Yeah. Sure." Indigo replied. She brushed her wing with his as she turned to leave the cave. Then she left, leaving Fathom alone.