It seemed it had only been one hour before they sat out on their missions. The day had gone past without incident. It didn't take long for the hunting and gathering to feel like routine.
A pleasurable routine.
New ways to survive. Confidence in shooting skills. The day's harvest.
Fi and Blue had a few hours to spend on shooting practice. No excessive talent existed for shooting guns with Fi. She managed to hit her mark more often than not, but would still have trouble on a moving target.
The women arrived in camp before the boys. With the recycling station they set up dinner for everyone, and started chatting.
Both of them finished their coffee, refreshing their energy. They were sweaty and dirty after the days toiling.
Fi was just about to suggest taking a shower before eating. Swimming. She wanted to go swimming. The deadly lagoon calling her, she rose up.
"We need to go swim in the lagoon this instant," the words splurged out of her mouth. Blue raised her right eyebrow and rubbed her slightly crooked nose.
"Are you not scared? You almost died there last time," said Blue. She set down her empty cup. She knew after Fi said something, it was about to happen no matter what. Blue didn't have the heart to stop Fi even if she could.
"I am," said Fi with an earnest gaze. She put her hands on her hips and continued.
"I love swimming more than I am scared of it."
Blue smiled at Fi's mannerism. If there ever was a question who had the most authentic character, it would most definitely be Fi.
Wrapping her hand around Fi, Blue started leading them towards the shore.
This time Fi didn't go in without a weapon. She took off her jumpsuit, but strapped the holster around her lingerie clad hips. The knife wasn't left out either.
Blue threw a thumbs up at Fi. Clad in the same type of attire, they both dove into the clear blue lagoon.
The cool sensation enveloped their bodies. The water couldn't have been better.. The view underwater was just as beautiful as last time. Colors everywhere. Fish, corals and a multitude of other wonders of the sea soothing their eyes with their splendor.
They stayed far away from the strangling seaweed, close enough to shore that they could escape if trouble did appear. They swam for a whole hour until they were fresh and clean.
With the water to her waist, Fi was on her way ashore. She stepped on something different. It squished under her foot like a dog toy. Lifting her foot, she stood there staring. What she had stepped on was a yellow little blob the size of a tennis ball.
It was retracting to its original form. It started growing. No it wasn't growing Fi realized., but coming closer to her face.
She shrieked, alarming Blue. Blue splashed into the water with a gun at the ready.
The water sprayed as the yellow blob materialized just a few centimeters in front of Fi's face. It stopped. Right in front of her eyes and hovered there.
A second passed as her eyes adjusted to the blob so close to her. It was an adorable little octopus. A yellow octopus was in front of her face waving its little tentacle menacingly.
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Laughter echoed over the lake as Blue lost it, her edge from danger completely subsiding. She fell onto her butt in the water because she was laughing so much, her short blue hair still wet from earlier.
"I am really sorry Mr. Octopus. I didn't mean to step on you." said Fi bowing slightly. It was like the octopus understood it was a mistake and only cocked its head at Fi.
Out of nowhere, the yellow octopus jolted and flew backwards away from Fi. Instantly alarmed, Blue lifted her gun, scanning for potential threats. Quickly she relaxed again, noticing the energy around and rushing into Fi.
Fi was gaining her powers.
The k20 energy became turbid around Fi. Opposite to her heart on the right side of her chest, a small orb formed. With a crack, it manifested into being.
An influx of energy flowed through Fi's body. A microscopic web of crystalline material stretched all over. From the end of her fingers till her heels. Soon, all her insides were covered in the crystal.
The world broke open once more. It was like a second birth. Dreams did become reality. Viridescent eyes with a newfound depth gazed at Blue.
A shudder shook Blue. Nothing so beautiful existed in her memories. This was something she would never forget.
The water swirled around Fi's legs, lifting her high in a frothing column of water.
Releasing her control over the element of water, the column crashed, splashing bright blue wetness over the beach.
The whining of the wind against her was gone in an instant, the water's call diminishing it completely. A slender body disappeared into the depths without a ripple. She was finally home.
At the bottom of the lagoon some twenty meters deep sat a girl with a light brown complexion. Shoulder length hair, a few tones darker than her skin, floating around. The hair never entered her field of view.
First thing she noticed was that she could now stay under water indefinitely. Her body naturally filtering the water into breathable air.
Trying the limits of her skills, she quickly exhausted herself. Glad to see that no matter how tired she got, she could still breathe. It didn't seem to consume much energy, if any.
Not wanting to enjoy the miracles of the lagoon alone, Fi tried creating pockets of air. To her surprise, it seemed quite possible. Testing how long she could hold the air bubble, she found out one air bubble didn't consume too much energy and seemed to be about what she could do passively.
The pocket was double the size of a human head. It could be attached to anything and would follow it around.
Fi was cautious and realized to test for how long the air lasted. It seemed to last for about ten minutes. It would be shorter with any use of excess energy. Fi put a note on the Dream that she should try to add air into these to make them permanent for the wearer.
The Octopus had been following Fi around while she was testing. It seemed to like the energy waves emanating from her body. It hesitated for a while before finally setting itself on Fi's shoulder.
Only giving the octopus a short smile, she focused her attention on testing.
Hours passed. The sun started setting behind the treeline in the east, the ice tree glimmering in the last rays of the sun.
A kind moonlit night set itself on the Island.
Blue came and checked up on Fi. Seeing she was okay and getting used to her powers, Blue left for the campsite.
One of the three round moons sat straight above the lagoon. Energy would have to run out at some point, and that was now. Fi was completely out of energy.
Maybe she wasn't. Fi's eyes shot up as she remembered. Silver Exhaust. Quickly opening the Dream she saw it on a status indicator to the right.
'Silver Exhaust available for two minutes and five seconds' it read.
Fi waited with bated breath to see if the timer would go down on its own. It didn't seem like it did. The conclusion was that she could enter the mode for the amount of time indicated.
A bright smile, competing with the moon's brilliance, lit her face as she activated Silver Exhaust.