Flame looked over at Umber who still had his head down. His eyes were closed and he looked as if he was slowly drifting to sleep. He listened to his slow, soft breaths while watching as his chest slowly rose and fell to the sounds of the wind on the shore. His entire body was still and looked at peace for the first time all day. The sounds of the waves mixed with the strong smell of sea salt and laughter that filled the air made everything feel relaxing; not nearly as relaxing as he was before he fell asleep though. This made him almost feel bad about having to wake him up to sing to Chromis, but he knew that he wouldn't mind. That didn't stop him from feeling sorry that he didn't get much sleep though. If he could, he would have taken all of the energy that he had gotten from his sleep and given it to Umber. He'd stay up for a week just so that Umber could get one night's rest if he had to.
"Umber, wake up," Flame whispered while patting Umber on the back. "we're about to sing to Chromis."
Umber poked his head up and looked around drowsily when he heard this and let out a sigh, realizing that they were at the beach. Flame thought that Umber might have been dreaming of being at home in bed, eating his favorite dish, or even flying through the sky. Umber loved flying since it gave him time to look around at the different plants, animals, and dragons. Flame especially loved flying; something about the cool wind slamming against his face and fluttering through his wings always made him feel at ease.
"O-Oh sorry, I forgot," Umber said.
This made Flame feel a little bit worse because now he knew that Umber was dreaming of doing something he loved. He didn't think about it too much though because he knew that Umber would never approve of him feeling bad over such simple things.
He looked around the table and saw Simoom had Chromis, Atlantic, and Endwatcher sitting to her right. Umber was sitting next to Endwatcher, Shrimp was next to Flame, and Avalanche was next to Shrimp which circled back around to Simoom. Flame was grateful that they didn't have to sit next to her; she radiated an aura that made Flame want to either punch her in the snout or retreat back to Umber to protect him from her.
"Okay, so the way we're doing this is we sing to Chromis, he gets a piece of cake, we give him his presents, and then I have a surprise for you three!" Avalanche said. "Once we're done eating everyone else can have a slice if they want."
WE FORGOT A PRESENT, Flame panicked. He looked over at Umber who had the same expression on his face. They had been so caught up in making the whole party perfect all week that they had completely forgotten to buy Chromis a present.
"We- uh…mom?" Flame said. "can I talk to you for a second? In private?"
"What is it Flame?" Avalanche questioned.
Flame quickly got on and walked over to Avalanche and pulled her aside to a different part of the beach that was out of earshot of everyone else. He knew that Umber knew exactly what he was talking to her about, so it didn't surprise him that he seemed like he was trying his hardest to eavesdrop.
"Make it quick," Avalanche said. "I don't want to keep Chromis waiting."
"We forgot to get a present!" Flame said.
"Oh, I know." Avalanche said. "That's why I got him one from all of us."
"R-Really?" Flame questioned.
"Of course! We know how hard you two have been working on this, so we knew that you'd forget," Avalanche said. "And also, if you were going to get something for Chromis you would've gotten it at the store with that SeaWings present."
How did I forget a present for Chromis but not Starf! Flame thought.
Flame felt a huge wave of relief fall over him when he heard this. It felt as if he had just made a fifty-fifty shot at life and lived to tell the tale. He shot a look at Umber, trying to tell him that things were all good but ended up making some weird ugly face that Umber gave a confused look to. Flame quickly raced back to the table and sat back down next to Umber.
Umber was clenching his talons against the seat and he could practically hear his heart racing. He was making it pretty obvious that something was wrong and he hoped that nobody else had picked up on it and got suspicious.
"So?" Umber asked.
"Don't worry, she got us a present," Flame whispered. "She knew that we'd forget."
From Flame's view, he could also see the same reaction from Umber; a wave of relief falling over his whole body. His muscles went from tense to relaxed and his expression changed from looking panicked to relieved.
"So, any questions on how we're going to do this?" Avalanche questioned. There was a pause for a few seconds. "Alright then, let's sing to Chromis."
"Actually, I have a question," Flame said. "What are we singing to Chromis?"
"Happy Hatching Day, of course," Avalanche said. "What else would we be singing?"
Flame sat there for a second with a confused look on his face before Avalanche picked up on it, then it hit her like a truck. She had never celebrated any of Flame's hatching day parties and he had never been to one either. He never heard the song before and certainly never learned it from anyone else.
"Oh- uh…Umber?" Avalanche said. "Can you teach Flame the song quickly?"
"You…never taught him the song?" Umber questioned.
Avalanche just stood there with a look of guilt spread across her face. It was obvious that she didn't want to bring up the kind of mother she used to be toward Flame, so Umber backed off. It's not like he would have argued about it anyways since he hated arguing.
"Uhm, y-yeah, sure I can," Umber quickly backtracked. He turned towards Flame with sympathy written all over his face.
"While they're doing that, I'll light the candles," Avalanche said.
She reached for the handle at the top of the cake platter and lifted it. The cake was a mix of different reds, purples, and blues that perfectly matched Chromis's scales. It had writing on top of it in some kind of red goo that read "HAPPY FIRST HATCHING DAY CHROMIS". Flame assumed that she had the cake custom-made and had to pick it up from whoever had made it. She took a candle that she had stuffed in her wing that was shaped like a one and lightly blew a plume fire onto the top of it and stuck it in the middle of the cake.
"You two ready?" Avalanche said to Umber and Flame.
"Yep," Flame said.
"Alright," Avalanche said. "3, 2, 1!"
"Happy hatching day to you,
Happy hatching day to you,
Happy hatching day dear Chromis.
Happy hatching day to you!"
Flame felt a little embarrassed while singing this, but it made Chromis happy and that's all he really cared about in the end. The whole reason he went through all this trouble was for Chromis, after all. A little song isn't so bad compared to all of the other things he's done to set everything up.
"Alright, blow out the candle!" Avalanche said.
Chromis then took the biggest breath that he could and watched as he blew. The candle didn't go out because he really didn't blow all that hard, so he did it again, and again, and again until Flame got tired of watching and blew it out for him.
"Yay! Woohoo!" They all screamed.
Flame saw his face and could definitely tell that he was having fun so far. He had a big smile on his face and some of his scales were emitting a slight blue hue. This got even bigger when he watched as Avalanche grabbed one of the plates and carefully cut a piece out of the cake and plopped it on the plate for him.
"Wait! Before you eat that, I have one last thing for you," Avalanche said. "This is from me, Flame, and Umber."
"But I want to eat the cake," Chromis said.
"You can't have your talons full of icing for this though," Avalanche said. "You can eat it right after, I promise."
"Fine," Chromis reluctantly agreed.
Avalanche opened her wing and pulled out some sort of scroll and handed it over to Chromis who immediately opened it, probably wanting to eat the cake. Flame could see the excited shine in his eyes that glittered like gold when he realized what it was. It looked like the scroll had just given him all of the answers to all of the secrets of Pyrrhia. Just from his face, Flame could tell that whatever she had just given him had to be good. He felt a little bad that he forgot to get him something, but was grateful at the same time that Avalanche got something that was from all of them.
"Well?" Avalanche said. "Show everyone!" she said with a smile.
Chromis turned the scroll around so that everyone could see it. Immediately, Flame recognized it was a graphicoll. Not the ones in the style he usually got; the words were bigger and simpler compared to the graphicolls he had. The language wasn't complicated either. From the few lines that Flame was able to read before Chromis turned the scroll back around, he could tell that the scroll used much easier words than his did.
I should've been reading these to Umber! He thought. This would have helped him way more than telling him to read the more advanced ones!
"It's just like the ones Flame has!" Chromis smiled. "I love it! Best hatching day ever!"
Flame could only imagine how Avalanche was feeling right now. She finally had the chance to redeem herself after messing up with Flame as much as she did and there was a big smile across her face when she heard it. If Flame wasn't as exhausted as he was, he'd probably be happier for her than he was now. Just looking over at Umber made him think of lying against him in their bed and falling asleep in an instant.
"I'm glad you like it," Avalanche said with a smile.
"Can you read it to me, Flame?" Chromis looked over at Flame.
"Shrimp probably could," Avalanche paused. "...underwater."
"But…the water will ruin it…" Chromis said.
"That's why we got the waterproof paper!" Avalanche said. Her eyes were full of excitement as if she had been waiting to tell him about it for years.
"REALLY!?" Chromis exclaimed.
"Yup, we can read it underwater together as long as you want," Shrimp said.
"Can we go read it now?" Chromis asked.
"After dinner," Shrimp said. "and after we play that surprise that your mom and I planned."
"Fine," Chromis agreed. "Wait, surprise? What are we doing? Is it another present? Is it more cake? I'd love more cake!"
He's really starting to sound like Umber, Flame thought. That is totally something Umber would say. At least he's keeping his appetite under control right now. I bet he can't wait for dinner.
"I'm glad you asked," Shrimp said. "You three are going to be finding the lost treasure of this beach!"
Flame looked at him, confused. He had never mentioned anything about a surprise before, especially not one that included "lost beach treasure". Simoom looked pretty excited about it, so Flame assumed that she probably knew beforehand.
Is it some sort of surprise for me and Umber too? I've never been interested in any "treasure hunts" before though, so why tell Simoom and not us? Flame thought. Maybe they don't trust us? No, maybe they didn't want us to insist on doing it because they knew we would be exhausted.
"Rumor has it that a dragon hid a treasure chest full of mysterious items thousands of years ago," Avalanche said. "and we just so happen to have the map!"
"That's so cool!" Endwatcher said.
"Well once we find it, I'll share whatever is in it with you since I'm so generous," Chromis said.
"I'm glad you're so kind," Atlantic said sarcastically.
Flame stared at them all and could tell that they were having a good time and that Chromis had good friends. At least he wouldn't grow up as he did; lashing out at the world and blaming everyone else because his mother disregarded him. At least he had made up with her though and was trying to be better.
He walked over to Shrimp and could tell that he immediately knew what he was going to say to him. He recognized the look of concern from Umber and knew that he didn't want him helping, but that wasn't going to stop him from asking.
It's the least I can do, he thought.
"Flame, I'm not letting you help us with this," Shrimp said. "I think you and Umber have done enough today. You can go home to sleep if you want. I'm sure Chromis would understand."
"C'mon! I'm not even that tired!" Flame protested. "I think I should help you. It's the least I could do-"
"Flame, go to sleep. Please," Shrimp interjected. "You've already done the "least you can do". Actually, you've probably done the most you can do by now."
"Just this one last thing! I'll go to sleep after, I promise!" Flame begged
"No," Shrimp said. "Go get some sleep."
Flame looked at Shrimp's face and once again, he recognized the look. It was just like how Umber looked when he begged him to stop pushing himself or bottling up his feelings. The scene from earlier played in his head at super speed as he remembered all of the emotions he was feeling at the same time. He realized that it wasn't just Umber he hated seeing with that face; it was everyone.
"Okay fine," Flame said softly. "sorry."
"What?" Shrimp said. "No, don't apologize. Just…go rest."
"We still aren't going home though," Flame said. "right, Umber?"
"Yeah," Umber yawned. "we can just sleep in the sand or something."
"We'll do that then," Flame said. "C'mon, Umber."
"If you insist," Shrimp sighed.
They both stood up from their seats and looked around the beach for a spot. There were so many places to choose from, but he had to think about it. They were all going to do a treasure hunt, so they had to be far enough away so they didn't interfere with anything. It also had to be close enough so that they weren't too close to the other dragons down the beach. There were certainly many dragons down there; Flame could hear their roars while he and Umber were looking for a place to rest.
Eventually, they found the perfect spot. It was far enough away from the party site so that they didn't mess anything up, and up the beach enough so that they wouldn't be bothered by the screams of the dragons or worse; get shaken awake by a dragonet or "unapproving" dragon. It was also close to the water, so they could lay there and enjoy the calming sounds of the waves and heat from the sun. It was getting dark though and the sun was beginning to set. That made the dinner better though; they both preferred eating when it was dark out; it gave a better feel to eating outside when you couldn't see much in his opinion. They began clearing out all of the rocks, throwing them to the side just like Avalanche and Shrimp had done for the party site.
He could see Simoom walking towards them in the distance. He was about to say something when he saw her sit down and rest her head on her talons as she shot them a growl.
The hell is wrong with her-, he thought. I bet Avalanche or Shrimp made her watch us! Take that, bitch!
Once it was clear, they both laid their head against the soft sand next to each other. They were both lying on their right side with Flame facing Umber's back, so he habitually wrapped one of his wings around him and intertwined their tails. It's not like it was cold, not by any means. But he knew that Umber enjoyed this, so he pulled Umber closer until Flame's belly was touching his scales. His mind immediately started wandering through many different thoughts as he slowly slipped away into blissful peace. He couldn't tell if it was the exhaustion or the fact that he was glad to finally be laying down, but he felt like he was in dragon heaven at this moment; the waves in the background and the slight breeze that was blowing against each of his scales made him feel at ease. The sun felt like a warm blanket made up of Umber's scales being wrapped around his whole body like a jacket.
He could finally relax.
"Can we do the treasure hunt now?" Chromis asked impatiently.
"Just wait for Flame and Umber to find a spot to sleep," Shrimp said, "They stayed up all night making the food."
"Fine!" Chromis complained.
"Simoom," Shrimp called out. "can you make sure that nobody disturbs Flame and Umber while we're on this hunt? I know you don't like them, but they've worked so hard on this and at least deserve some sleep."
Simoom stared at him with a look of anger for a few seconds before speaking up.
"You want me to watch those two stupid dragons?" She pointed at Flame and Umber. "You realize they made out in front of Chromis, right?"
"Oh my moons Simoom," Shrimp said. "You're still caught up on that? I bet Chromis has completely forgotten about it by now! Just- watch them until we get back and stop holding grudges! We won't be long."
"Fine. I'll watch your stupid step-son and his stupid boyfriend sleep while you go on a treasure hunt," Simoom pouted.
"Thank you," Shrimp thanked. Simoom was already walking towards them and was barely in earshot when he said it.
Chromis watched as Flame and Umber began clearing out rocks from a spot by the water. They were throwing them off to the side in a pile and he couldn't help but wonder why. Many ideas came to mind but none of them seemed reasonable enough to be true.
"What are they doing with the rocks?" Atlantic asked. "I mean, I get they're in love or whatever but why are they collecting them?"
"They aren't collecting them," Avalanche said. "you'll see later."
Then, they then both laid down in the sand. They got unusually close to each other, but he assumed it was probably because they were cold. He had never seen Avalanche and Shrimp do this though, so he got a little confused. Then, he watched Flame wrap one of his wings around Umber; it almost covered his entire body. Compared to Chromis, Umber was massive.
So they are cold, Chromis thought. How can they be cold when it's so hot outside?
After a few minutes, they both went still; so still that Chromis thought that they were dead until he saw Flame's wing twitch a little. He assumed that they were both asleep and then his mind instantly began racing through all of the different things they would find in the buried treasure chest.
I wish they would do it with us, Chromis thought. Oh well. More treasure for me!
"Are they finally sleeping?" Endwatcher asked.
"Looks like it." Shrimp paused and studied them for a few seconds. "Yup, definitely sleeping. Who's ready to find this treasure?
"ME!" Chromis, Atlantic, and Endwatcher screamed at the same time.
"Shhh," Avalanche shushed. "Don't wake them up."
Avalanche started pulling the last thing out of her wing. It was another scroll and Chromis could see some ink that was soaking through the paper. It was beat up and looked like it had been sitting around for thousands of years. There were some ripped spots, it had stains on it, and the paper looked fragile; it looked like just holding it would make it crumple in your talons like a pile of ash barely being held together. Just the sight of the old map made him get an excited feeling in his chest. He just wanted to grab it and open it already and study every line of ink he saw until he could pinpoint the treasure.
He watched as she unrolled it carefully, revealing a map with many intricate lines that detailed the surrounding area. There was one thing that confused him though; as detailed as the map was, a few of the locations had been drawn over with drawings that looked like they had been pulled out of his coloring books. The map had an "X" on a certain location and Chromis assumed that it had to be the location of the map. His excitement had only grown. It felt like a tsunami that was banging against his insides, begging to be let out.
Maybe the dragon knew we'd find it someday! Chromis thought. Maybe it was a NightWing that wrote it when they could tell the future!
"Ooh!" Chromis exclaimed. "Let's hurry up and find it! The treasure can't wait all day!"
"Shhh!" Avalanche shushed again. "They won't be happy if you wake them up! Here, look," Avalanche pointed to a part of the map. "It says that the treasure is somewhere in the forest. You can be as loud as you want once we get there."
"Okay," Chromis agreed. "Let's hurry up though. I want to find the treasure already!"
"The treasure isn't going anywhere, Chromis," Shrimp said.
"What if someone finds it before us though?" Chromis worried. "Then none of us will get anything!"
"Nobody's finding it without this map." Avalanche held out the map in front of Chromis and pointed at the "X". "don't worry."
"Still, let's hurry!" Chromis said.
He started darting toward the forest, kicking up sand and debris with every step. Excitement ran through his whole body like a strange jolt of energy from a rogue lightning bolt that struck him, giving him even more motivation to run every time he thought about it. A few times, he swore he could see the leaves move in a way that looked like it was waving for him to come closer; like the forest was calling for him to search it for the mysterious lost treasure.
He could hear the many stomps of everyone following behind him. It wasn't long until Avalanche and Shrimp caught up and Endwatcher and Atlantic were still far behind. He looked back and could see them running as fast as they could and Atlantic was in front of Endwatcher. He couldn't tell if that was because she was faster than he was, or realized faster than he did. Ultimately, he ended up guessing that she just realized faster because Endwatcher was definitely faster than she was; he's seen him outrun her multiple times whenever they played tag.
"Slow down!" Atlantic frantically yelled. Chromis just kept running though because he knew it would be worth it in the end.
He finally reached the forest and started pushing different leaves out of the way while getting slapped in the face by twigs. He was running as fast as he could until he felt a pair of talons grab his shoulder.
"Okay, Chromis," Shrimp said. "I think it's time to slow down now."
"But the treasure is waiting!" Chromis argued. "We can't let any other dragons take it before us!"
"For the last time, nobody else is going to find it," Shrimp assured. "Remember, we have the map and they don't. Besides, we're going to lose Atlantic and Endwatcher if we don't slow down."
"Fine!" Chromis huffed.
As they waited, he stood there and stared at the scenery. He thought there was probably a reason Flame and Umber liked looking at it so much, so he was going to give it a go while he had time. There were leaves falling around him and he listened in on the sounds of animals trampling the leaves and twigs, running up trees, but he didn't feel calm, he didn't feel relaxed, he didn't feel anything except annoyed that he had to wait for Atlantic and Endwatcher to catch up.
How do they love this so much? Chromis thought. This is so stupid!
After a few more seconds of standing there and waiting, he could hear footsteps behind them, crumpling leaves under their talons and swatting branches to the side. As he was listening, he spotted a crab in the dirt that had its shell cracked and it was lying upside down, presumably dead.
Weird, he thought.
That's when Endwatcher and Atlantic finally caught up, panting as they skidded to a stop a few feet away from Chromis. Endwatcher was covered in mud on one side, and the other was perfectly clean. He was spitting out mud while panting at the same time.
"What happened to you?" Chromis pointed at Endwatcher.
"I might have fallen into a mud puddle." Endwatcher said. The look on his face showed that he was obviously embarrassed. "I got most of it off, but a lot is stuck in between my scales."
"We can go play in the water after!" Atlantic suggested. "Then you can get all that mud off of you and we can play a game!"
Chromis knew what game they would play and based on Endwatcher's unamused look, he knew too. They were going to make him play a game that was nearly impossible for him to win, and he never has; not once. They would challenge him to catch them in the water while they swam circles around him while mocking him the whole time.
"The map says that the treasure is right up here!" Avalanche said. "Follow me!" she said, bursting into a sprint.
"Gah! More running?!" Endwatcher complained.
"Suck it up," Atlantic said. "We're about to find treasure that's been hidden for thousands of years!"
"Whatever," Endwatcher scoffed.
Endwatcher then started into a light jog, while Atlantic and Chromis began sprinting and passed him almost immediately. They could hear Avalanche's footsteps ahead and tried to follow as best as they could. They tripped over a couple of roots a few times but managed to stagger back up into their sprint.
Then, they heard Avalanche's footsteps come to a complete stop and they almost crashed into her tail. He looked past her and sitting there in the dirt was a massive x carved out. Chromis realized that this must be the place where the treasure was and he quickly began digging at it.
"Here it is!" Chromis said. His talons were digging at the dirt and were throwing dirt behind him already. "Come on! Help me you two!"
Immediately, Atlantic began digging up the large "X" with him while Endwatcher stood there thinking if he wanted to get even dirtier.
"Don't just stand there Endwatcher," Atlantic said. "help us!"
"I don't want to get dirt under my talons!" Endwatcher said. "I hate how it feels."
"Wah, wah," Chromis mocked. "Help us or you won't get anything!"
"Gah! Fine!" Endwatcher reluctantly agreed.
They were all digging now, digging up dirt into a huge pile behind them. It took them at least 30 minutes to dig and the hole was at least 4 feet deep now. Avalanche and Shrimp were sitting down by now, staring at them as they dug. That's when they hit it; a weird wooden box with a golden band that went from either side of the chest both ways was now visible from underneath the dirt and they all began digging even faster.
"That's it!" Atlantic said. "There's the treasure!"
"I wonder what's inside!" Chromis said.
Excitement and adrenaline were running through his whole body now that spread at the same speed as shock and disgust did when Flame told him where eggs came from. He began wondering what could be inside and was digging at the dirt harder than ever now as his mind raced through all the things they could do with whatever was inside the strange golden chest.
Maybe there's animus touched items in here! Maybe there's gold! I can't wait to see what's inside! he thought.
At last, the dirt around the chest was finally gone and it could be taken out with ease at a glance. Chromis tried to lift it, but it was far too heavy for him to lift and he only ended up getting it a few inches in the air before dropping it, sending him back in a stumble.
"It's really heavy!" Chromis said. "Help me lift it!"
Immediately, Atlantic and Endwatcher put their talons around the top of the chest and Chromis did the same a few seconds later, once he was able to get back up. Still, they weren't able to get the chest out of the hole; there wasn't enough space for them to get a good grip on the dirt and they all ended up dropping it.
"Mom, Dad," Chromis called. "Can you help us lift this out?"
"Sure, but you have to give us some if we do," Avalanche said.
"Ugh! Fine!" Chromis reluctantly agreed.
With ease, Avalanche reached down and gripped her talons around the chest and plopped it on the ground, sending debris all over. The gold on the chest wasn't sparkling like gold though which Chromis thought was weird, but he didn't pay much attention to it; he was too distracted by the fact that there was a chest that was thousands of years old sitting in front of them.
He slowly reached his talons closer to the chest, gripped the latch on the front, and flipped it open. To his surprise, the chest had a bunch of scrolls in it. They didn't look beat up, or even old for that matter, so he immediately got confused.
"These don't look very old…" Chromis said.
"Open one!" Avalanche said excitedly.
He quickly grabbed one of the scrolls and opened it from both sides. He instantly recognized what was in the scroll; more graphicolls. Except this one didn't have any big special letters on it or simple and easy words. It had small, long, compressed words that he could hardly read. At this, he realized that the chest wasn't thousands of years old nor was there any gold or animus touched objects in it; it was another surprise that they set up.
"I got you a collection of them!" Avalanche admitted. "Some of them are harder than the others, and some of them are easy! I got them so you can learn to read better because I know how much you enjoy them!"
But…I promised to give Endwatcher and Atlantic some of them, he thought.
He handed the scroll he was holding over to Endwatcher's clean talon who shot him a confused look.
"I told you that we would split them, so that's what we're doing," Chromis said. "...after we go swim!"
"Wha- really?" Atlantic said. "Don't you want to collect them all?"
"There's plenty here for us all!" Chromis paused. "But we can worry about splitting them once we get back from the water."
"Yes! I love the water," Atlantic screamed.
"Are you gonna make me play that stupid game again?" Endwatcher said.
"Pleeease! Just one last time," Atlantic begged. "I'm sure you'll get one of us this time!"
"...Gah! Fine," Endwatcher hesitated. "One more time and I'm done playing this game."
"Race you to the water!" Atlantic said.
Chromis watched as both of his friends bolted away. He could hear twigs and leaves cracking and crumpling under their talons as they ran. He couldn't help but feel happy that he had a way to thank them for being his friends. After all, Chromis was horrible at first impressions.
"Thank you," Chromis said softly, leaning in for a hug from Avalanche and Shrimp. they hugged back and could feel their massive talons wrap around his back as he stood on his hind legs.
"You're welcome, sweetheart," Avalanche said. "Now go play with your friends! They're going to realize you aren't there soon!"
"Okay!" Chromis then pulled away and began bolting through the forest.
He took off through the forest and began to hear the footsteps of Atlantic and Endwatcher in front of him after a few minutes. He was jumping over roots, being careful not to trip and fall into mud like Endwatcher had done. Eventually, he caught up with the two just as they were leaving the forest.
"SLOWPOKES!" he yelled as he passed them. "I GAVE YOU A HEADSTART AND STILL CAUGHT UP!"
He was treading through the sand at this point, kicking it up as he desperately tried to make it to the water before Atlantic or Endwatcher. He was really tired at this point, but he couldn't stop now; he was far too close and had caught up too fast to just give up.
He jumped in the water and sent it splashing around in tiny drops as Atlantic and Endwatcher made it to the shore. They both eventually jumped in with him and Chromis could immediately notice how much cleaner Endwatcher's scales looked now that they weren't covered in mud.
He splashed water in Atlantic's face and she splashed back, and then Endwatcher joined in and they started to have a splashing battle. The water was warmer than earlier when he went in while Flame and Umber were away. He and Simoom played tag, which Chromis had obviously won.
That's when Chromis went underwater and grabbed Atlantic's ankle and began dragging her under. She must have forgotten that she could breathe underwater because she struggled for a few seconds before letting Chromis take her. He dragged her a couple of meters away from Endwatcher and immediately stopped the splashing battle that was happening. He popped back up with Atlantic by his side and looked Endwatcher dead in the eyes.
"You ready, Endwatcher?" Chromis asked.
"Wait-" Endwatcher said.
"Too late!" Atlantic went under the water and immediately began bolting through it at lightning speed.
"That's your queue to swim!" Chromis said and immediately went under the water and swam in the opposite direction of Atlantic.
Endwatcher bolted under the water as fast as his arms and wings would take him. He couldn't breathe underwater or swim super fast as Chromis or Atlantic could, so he would try to trick them with mind games. They never worked, but it was the only way he was going to get a chance at catching one of them.
Chromis watched as he swam as hard as he could toward him with his face full of determination. He always found it funny how hard he would try to catch one of them. It was as if Chromis couldn't swim circles around him as if it was nothing.
He had only made it a few meters before Chromis watched him go back up to the surface, gasping for air. He looked up and could see Endwatcher gleaming down through the clear blue water at him with a death stare. His glare looked like he was a deadly predator ready to strike, except he was in someone else's hunting grounds. His snout was wrinkled and he looked like he was getting angry at the fact that they somehow managed to drag him into this game again. He had his talons clenched and looked like he was about ready to punch Chromis in the snout to which he lit up his scales in a way that translated to "come catch me" in Aquatic.
This was the only Aquatic that Endwatcher knew and that's because Chromis had taught it to him over time. He had done it so many times that Endwatcher eventually asked him what it meant, so he told him. Endwatcher's face only got angrier at seeing him do this.
Chromis watched as he plunged under the water, barreling towards him as fast as he could. Chromis had swam up a couple of feet, so he was near the surface of where Endwatcher was. His talons were only a couple of inches from touching Chromis when he quickly darted out of the way and sent him flying with a quick whip of his tail. Atlantic had come over to join at this point and they were both swimming circles around him. As he spun around for a second, he quickly recovered and leaped toward Atlantic. She quickly lit her scales up, momentarily blinding Endwatcher before she swam away again. He quickly started racing back up to the surface for another breath of air.
"Should we let him catch us this time?" Atlantic flashed in Aquatic.
"You can let catch…" Chromis paused, trying to think of how to flash his scales next. "...you, not me," He slowly flashed.
He wasn't very fluent in Aquatic, but he could speak it. He focused on Dragon more than Aquatic since he almost never had to speak Aquatic to anyone except Shrimp or Atlantic, and they didn't mind anyways so it didn't matter too much.
"No thanks," Atlantic flashed back.
That's when Chromis felt a rush of water against his shoulder, followed by a set of talons gripping his scales. He quickly looked up and saw Endwatcher staring at him with his arm outstretched and his talons gripping his shoulder. A look of glee quickly formed on his face and Chromis began to feel stupid for letting himself get distracted so easily. He wasn't the most fluent in Aquatic, so speaking it took him longer than other SeaWings and that's why Endwatcher caught him; he was too distracted from thinking about how to say what he was going to say.
Endwatcher raced back up to the surface as fast as he could and Chromis could already tell what was about to happen once he got up there with him. He made sure to go nice as slow about it; it was like his swim of shame. He looked over at Atlantic who was already laughing about it and bubbles were coming from her mouth as she did.
He looked back up and could see the black outline of Endwatcher staring at him and could faintly see his face; it was full of glee and triumph, with a little bit of mischief mixed in. His mouth was already open and Chromis knew exactly what he was preparing to say as soon as his head poked out of the water.
At last, Chromis finally reached the surface and reluctantly poked his head out of the water. At first, he thought that Endwatcher wasn't going to say anything after a couple seconds, but then his hopes were crushed. Crushed like a boulder had just fallen on top of him and pinned him to the ocean bed and he was stuck in place for the rest of his life.
"I KNEW I WOULD GET YOU! TAKE THAT CHROMIS!" Endwatcher said. "That's what you get for making me play this stupid game so many times!" Then Endwatcher did something unexpected. Atlantic was already at the surface and he gave her a high five.
Did she have something to do with this?! Chromis thought. I am so going to get her back if she did!
"Told you it would work!" Atlantic said.
"I KNEW IT!" Chromis exclaimed. "You were planning something, weren't you?!"
"Well, duh," Atlantic said. "I got tired of seeing Endwatcher lose, so I let him win. Obviously I wouldn't let him tag me, so I took advantage of your poor Aquatic."
"That's not fair!" Chromis complained. "You can't just take advantage of me like that!"
"All's fair in life," Endwatcher said. "Especially when it was unfair to begin with."
"Whatever," Chromis scoffed.
"OKAY, IT'S TIME FOR DINNER YOU THREE!" Avalanche yelled.
"Coming!" they all said at the same time.
Author's note: Okay, once again I had to stop going into detail and actually had to remove an entire part (which I will include next chapter) because it was over 7k words haha. I love the love-hate relationship between Endwatcher and his friends too, I think it's really cute! Also, this would've been uploaded yesterday but I was going through something, got sick, and even lost my "k" key (all happening in order haha). Also, yay! Chromis POV! He was pretty fun to develop haha.
