Tests and Samples (Reserved)

[Dave Strider]

No matter how his colleague was dressed, this was not just a fun trip to the beach. Sollux had some important data to collect and Feferi was making it very hard for him to take his work seriously. “Fef…We have things to do.” He muttered just loud enough for the young woman to hear him.

”I know. Don’t worry. I’ll take temperatures and collect samples from the reef. Besides I can’t go to the beach without getting my feet wet.” Feferi replied with a giggle taking off her skirt and tying up her hair. With bags, forceps, water proof paper/pen and thermometer she dived into the water without a care in the world.

Sollux was a little more apprehensive about getting into the water. In his line of work he had seen some not so fun things. He studied as a water toxicologist at a local university. And had been hired by a mining company when they got the contract to start a project off the coast where he lived.

Feferi was a longtime friend who was working at a school on the beach. She was a marine conservationist and a biologist. She competed in free diving competitions and could move through the water like a fish. She deserved to be out here way more than Sollux did and he knew that.

He sat himself at the side of one tide pools and took the samples he needed and counted organisms. Noting everything he needed to. He needed to look for drops in population and change in PH level. While Feferi looked at the reef about 20 meters off shore and noted the health and population out there. Sollux only ever got in the water if he had a tank. He didn’t trust it.

As much as the water fascinated and impressed him he was terrified of it.

Characters:

[Rose for the Hunter]

Spoiler:

Sayuri who'd just moved the region a few weeks back was swimming around the shore near the shallow coral reefs before she became very startled when she noticed Feferi and quickly tried to get away. She was unaware of the old fishing nets that had been discarded nearby and shrieked when she ended up getting caught up int eh fishing nets and struggled drag gin herself on shore nearby the rock pools and flickered her tail up as she lay on her back to try and untangle herself from the nets "I should've been more careful" she muttered as she struggled to get her tail untangled from the nets still.

Unaware of the other human nearby she seemed almost unaware before she looked up and saw a human figure and only hoped she wouldn't be spotted, it was hard for her as it was being caught up in nets and having to beach herself in order to sort herself out. If humans found her she dreaded what could happen so only hoped to be left alone by the young man. She waited for her legs to dry as well before they would turn into legs and then moved away from the water quickly, a single drop and her tail would appear again. She had a costume and t-shirt on luckily "Sorry to ask but what are you doing here?" she shouted up at the man as he seemed to be doing his work. A few of the scales had become caught in the net which she now held in her hands behind her back.

[Dave Strider]

Sollux heard commotion farther up the beach but ignored it. The ocean made a lot of noise or it was just Feferi coming back to shore… though usually she is out in the water for a lot longer than this. He didn’t look up until he was spoken too and he was a little surprised to see a complete stranger standing a few feet from the beach. He did a double take before finally speaking up, “Uh… I’m studying… What are you doing?” He said lifting up an empty shell as though that was proof of what he was doing. He felt stupid and immediately tossed it back into the shallow water… and his lisp sure didn’t help with the whole stupid thing. Then he noticed the net she was holding. “You know fishing is prohibited here because of the mining project off the shore… right?” He said, assuming that that was what she was doing out here.

[Rose for the Hunter]

"I got caught up in the net when swimming is all" she said to him "and what mining project, I only moved here a few weeks ago so haven't heard much about the whole thing" she said being honest "I'll throw it away afterwards, it's quite annoying to have it still around here though" she said to him and then asked what he was studying "Surely there isn't much too study here?" she asked curiously as she watched his reaction. "If so what've you found I can tell you the sea is a little too acidic near the shore but it's more of a neutral PH near the deep parts" she said to him nonchalantly after she received an answer from the university student.

[Dave Strider]

Sollux guessed that also made sense… even if he hadn’t seen anyone out on the water when they had gotten here. He didn’t think much more on it though. When she commented on throwing it away he spoke up though, “Actually would you mind if I took a look at it. As for the mining project they’re digging out the ocean floor for resources. Not oil or anything like that minerals. The disturbance on the floor has the potential to be really dangerous to the toxicity and animal population. That’s why I’m here…” When she brought up how the pH levels were near shore compared to off shore he cocked an eyebrow and gave her a look. She wasn’t wrong. “That’s usually how it is on populated beaches. But I’m here to watch for fluctuations. I’m the one who’s head is on the line if that changes during the next few months…”

He rinsed his hands off in the pool of water in front of him and wiped it on his pants. He got up and walked over to the girl. Sollux stood at just over 6’ tall and was taller than a lot of people… even if his thin frame wasn’t completely imposing. When he got closer to her his eyes noticed something shine in the net. It looked like a tropical fish scale… and while seeing tropical fish on the reef was not weird… seeing them with scales that size was. He had been about to ask how she would know anything about the acidity in the water but got sidetracked. “What fish do those scales belong to?”He said motioning to the net behind her back.

[Rose for the Hunter]

Tensing a little Sayuri looked to him "I don't know it was already in the net before hand" she stepped forward a little to avoid the water and looked to him a moment "Must've travelled quite far though for it to have that colour scale, they do wash up from different places all the time." she said hoping questions wouldn't be asked anymore than that. "Must be a beautiful fish though to have scales of that colour" she smiled her green eyes watching his actions carefully. "Well I've down a few tests myself, there are more in the depths then in the reef your friend is exploring, i'm guessing so anyway since I almost swam into her not long ago" she said smiling at him a little. "Also you might want to tell them to stop that then, the dug up ground can cause problems in the oxygen in the water and make it dirty"

[Dave Strider]

Hummed in agreement. He really hadn’t heard of any fish that could have scales like that in the area. He didn’t know how much he could believe she had done tests. “Well Fef is checking populations and well being of the reef. It’s the hub of life around here. Also… she doesn’t have equipment so she can’t dive too deep… At least she shouldn’t be.” If she came back up again with an ear problem he would keep her from going back into the water by herself.

He laughed when she said he should make them stop. “Now that is not my jurisdiction. I’m just supposed to keep them from doing anything that seriously damages the surrounding area. If they start to affect things this far from the mining site then I have to say something. But no way can I go up to these rich, powerful guys and say: ‘sorry you have to shut down this billion dollar project because fish can’t breathe’. Nope that’s not happening.”

Another voice chimed in from along the beach. ”We are here to make sure that they don’t mess up everything. We test the chemical make-up of the water regularly and implement quick fixes when possible. It’s a shame that they have to do it but… I know I don’t have the money to keep them away from gold and silver.” Feferi said as she wrung out the long ponytail over her shoulder. “I’m Feferi, by the way. Nice to meet you-…?” She paused to wait for a name as she held out her still damp hand to the stranger.

[Rose for the Hunter]

"I'm just telling you, if fish can't breathe they can't live" she said to him bluntly before she turned to Feferi and hesitated for a moment "Sayuri, nice to meet you Feferi" she said shaking her hand but quickly dried it off on her clothes although a few scales did appear near the top of her shorts she was lucky she didn't transform. "I need to get back to my house soon so I'll see you again sometime" she said to them "I live near here anyway and I usually check up on the place myself to be honest since I like to swim often"she said smiling a little before she headed to her home which was near the beach and was like any other persons. However, she ran into quite the problem before getting there and although it had only been a small amount it had taken a while to react but stumbling over she looked back and groaned "Perfect" she muttered and looked to where the scales had been ripped out from the net and tried to hide herself near the rocks so she wouldn't be noticed.

[Dave Strider]

Feferi waved goodbye to this new acquaintance. Sollux just watched as she walked away. He probably should have offered her a ride? He didn’t know. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who had been to expensive school. Sayuri… he had a feeling he would see her again and he didn’t know if that was good or not. He looked down at where she had been standing moments ago and picked up one of the vibrantly colored scales that had fallen from the net. ”Hey Fef, have you ever seen a fish with scales like this on the reef?” He asked with a cocked eyebrow. The dark haired girl took the scale and looked it over.

“Can’t say that I have. Looks like it’s from a fish way too big to be anything on this reef. The biggest thing you’d find anywhere near here with scales this size are a few species of sharks… maybe some groupers or tuna… but nothing this vibrantly coloured… It’s gorgeous…” She said watching as it gleamed in the sun.

Sollux didn’t say anything. His mouth was set in a hard line. “Let’s get going.”

+++++

The next time they were out on the water was three days later. They took a boat owned by Feferi’s family out to the site of the mining. Up on the platform Sollux went over his findings with the bigwigs. Feferi took the time to take a dive and check chemical levels as best as she knew how to. Actual mining had not yet started. They were still in the process of setting things up. In this rest period quite a few fish could be found underneath the platform. Nothing seemed wrong and Feferi was happy to see that the area they were going to be working in wasn’t nearly as big as she had thought it would be.

When Sollux was done and they were both back on the boat they headed to the reef. Sollux was going to join Feferi underwater this time. With a tank of course. Strapped up to the tank of air he felt a little bit more secure but still he was iffy about being down there for too long.

The reef was beautiful, he would admit. It was colourful and so obviously full of life. He followed Feferi as she swam but he found himself not trusting the water behind him. He would constantly look over his shoulders. It was just a habitual thing. But maybe it was for the better.

[Rose for the Hunter]

Sayuri had headed to deeper waters a few days later a few of the loose scales on her tail had fell into the coral near where they were no exploring, She dove deeper in the water earlier on in the day and was heading back before she noticed something interesting and her attention turned to the clams that contained pearls which she carefully reached in to take knowing they'd make another one. She smiled "Pink pearls" she said happily and put them in the small bag she had around her waist whenever she swam, she'd made it herself to collect anything interesting while she swam and made sure the material could handle being underwater for long periods of time. She spent her time exploring the place unaware of Sollux and Feferi before she nearly bumped into them. Luckily her tail was hidden behind the rocks and she quickly moved back a little to hide completely. "What are they doing out so deep, most won't come near this area at the moment" she muttered to herself cautiously.

[Dave Strider]

Sollux would glance up every time Feferi went up for air. He didn’t like being left alone here. When she was surfaced he felt as though things were a little less beautiful and a little creepier. He thought he saw something off to the side. Around a large piece of coral. It looked large. Like it could have been a couple meters in length. The shine of the animal immediately made him think barracuda. Feferi had just swum back down and Sollux gave her the signal to surface.

When they hit the surface Sollux was quick to get back in the boat. He told her about the large fish he thought he saw. She replied that she would go back down and check things out. Sollux let her go down.

Feferi didn’t believe there would be a barracuda at this time of day. And a dive down proved that she was correct. There were no really big hunter-killers down there. She saw a few bottom feeding sharks and an eel but no aggressive fish. She had noticed more of the pretty scales Sollux had picked up the other day. It wasn’t just a one time thing then. She seriously had no idea what fish it could belong to. She decided to swim around the reef looking for a possible match for the scale and the animal Sollux said he saw.

[Rose for the Hunter]

Recognising Sollx and Feferi she hadn't noticed Feferi heading back down o swam up to the surface, her hair hiding her finned ears from when she was in water. "Ah you again, what was your name again, I'm not too good at remembering them" she said her arms crossed on the edge of the boat as she looked to him. "What are you doing around here, more tests?" she asked him curiously as ever as she looked to him. "I've been here a little while I didn't notice you two were around until a short while ago so came to say hello" she smiled a little and looked to him waiting for an answer from the tall man "also you seemed rather uneasy in the water are you ok?" sounding a little concerned. "Also I never found that fish that scale was from" she lied knowing it was her own scale.

[Dave Strider]

Sollux was again surprised when it was not Feferi who showed her face at the side of the boat. “Oh, well I never gave you my name so I’d be surprised if you knew it. I’m Sollux.” He said scratching the back of his head. “Yeah we’re doing more tests out closer to the miners platform this time. Should be doing tests out here for months.” He fell completely silent and looked out at the ocean as she mentioned he looked uneasy. He let out an audible sigh before replying, “I’ve worked with water for a long time and I know how dangerous it can be. So… sometimes it’s a little unsettling being down there.” He stood and pushed his wet suit down his chest, the wet fabric a little bit too uncomfortable now that he was on the boat. “You wanna climb up here? Take a breather, have a drink.” He offered opening a cooler on the other side of the boat. “When Feferi’s back up we’re going to head back to shore.”

[Rose for the Hunter]

Sayuri shook her head "I feel more at home in the water but I'll have that drink" She said to him rather comfortable where she was "and the ocean is dangerous yes but also beautiful beyond belief with mysteries that you can't even imagine" she said softly and moved over to where the cooler was although stayed in the water leaning up just enough to take the drink from him and open it up before taking a sip "I'm sure you remember my name Sollux, I'm Sayuri" she smiled a little. "Also for the record I doubt you'll find a fish that large in such waters, I've not seen one that's for sure plus tropical fish don't usually dwell in this area, well not that I've seen any and I come to dive every day here"

[Dave Strider]

Sollux cocked an eyebrow as Sayuri decided that she would rather stay in the water with her drink. Well he wasn’t about to say anything about it. He was pretty sure Feferi would rather stay in the water too if she was on the surface. Speaking of Feferi she was taking her time underwater he hadn’t seen her surface anywhere near the boat.

“Well I don’t really know much about the types of fish here. That’s not my job. I know this water is way too shallow for animals that big. Only open ocean fish get that big. At least that’s what I’ve learned…” He said sitting down on the bench in the back of the boat and taking a long drink.

[Rose for the Hunter]

Sayuri sipped her drink thinking a moment "Hmm guess so, but if it got caught in that net the body might wash up somewhere" she said "Sad as it is, it's most likely the case" she muttered and sipped her drink again "Hey how long has your friend been down there, she didn't have nay diving equipment correct?" she asked him and after getting an answer she put her drink on the side and then headed down trying to find her. She looked around and fining Feferi she worried and keeping her tail hidden behind some reefs she signalled for her to go up. "Go up already, you need to breathe" she shouted as well wondering if she'd be heard. When no response was heard she wondered a little closer "Feferi?" she nudged her and tried to get her to reply back.

[Dave Strider]

Feferi had been on an ascent from a drop off point not far from the reef when she experienced quick light headedness and blackness in her peripherals. She only knew she was going to pass out a moment before she did. As a free-diver she knew this was something that could happen. And she knew she could trust Sollux to find her before anything serious happened to her. The only problem was the air trapped in her lungs at this point was heavy and bordering on toxic. So she sank a few feet before Sayuri came up to her.

She did not stir when prodded and that would be the first sign that she needed to ascend immediately. Right now she was maybe seven feet from the surface and a few meters from the boat. On an average dive Feferi was good to hold her breath for about seven and a half minutes but this was seriously starting to push her limits.

[Rose for the Hunter]

Sayuri grabbed her hand and ended up telling her to close her eyes and got her up to the surface "Be more aware when free-diving" she said to her "You could've drowned, Sollux can you help her onto the boat and make sure she doesn't get back in the water?" she asked him as she swam over with Feferi. "Let her rest and then head back to the shore ok?" she said and née she was on board she grabbed her drink in order to finish it and sighed after such a stressful event. "Feferi are you ok now?" she asked her "and have a drink as well ok?" she said to her finally calming down herself after that panic and stayed with her arms on her boat edge but still wouldn't come aboard.

[Dave Strider]

Feferi did not regain consciousness until they hit the surface. She took in a deep breath and coughed, spitting out a couple mouthfuls of water. Sollux was at the side of the boat in an instant helping her up. “Jesus Christ…” he muttered to himself as the swimmer leaned against him and continued breathing hard for a minute or so. “Are you okay, Fef?”

“I’m fine. Just a little out of breath.” She said looking up at Sollux and smiling. The young man hugged her tightly whispering a couple apologies. She shoved at his shoulder and stood up. She looked over at Sayuri, “It really is very nice to see you again. That could have ended a lot worse. It was a silly mistake on my part, and that was the first time I’ve ever had that happen. It’s not uncommon. I should have been wearing a tank. ” She wrung her hair out and stumbled a little. Sollux was immediately there to grab her arm and keep her from hitting the deck. “Oops, still a little oxygen lacking.” She said tapping the side of her head.

She grabbed a bottle of water and sat down. “I did find more of those scales down there. The ones from yesterday. I’m going to study them at the lab tomorrow. The biggest thing I saw down there was a 4foot reef shark.” She said still having work on the mind.

[Rose for the Hunter]

"Then sit down and rest for a bit" she said to her and nodded "It's fine, you'll see me quite often, I was telling Sollux here I come swim out at sea everyday" she said to them both smiling a little. She looked to them and listened to what was safe pretty sure her scale wouldn't give anything away she didn't seem to bothered by it. "It's most likely just something that's drifted over the seas or possible something those sharks had a go at or some scales that might've fallen off the net I found" she said to them. "Also if you two ever have time I live at the house over there" she pointed to the white house on the cliff by the sea "You can stop by if you ever have a moment, I have some nice teas from where I came from originally with me too." she grinned at them.

[Dave Strider]

”Probably… but I can’t help but be a little curious. I grew up on these beaches and haven’t seen anything like this before now.” She said with a small laugh.
Before Sollux could say anything about not going to her house for tea sometime she chimed in once more, “We would love to come over some time. I’m sure you have a wonderful view from up there.”

Sollux didn’t say anything to that. He didn’t really have much of an opinion to voice on the matter anyway. “But right now we should probably head back to shore. Feferi should go to a clinic or something.” He said hoping up into the driver’s seat. Feferi moved to the back of the boat getting ready to raise the anchor. “Are you sure you don’t want a ride back to shore?” Sollux asked looking back down at the girl off the side of the boat.

[Rose for the Hunter]

"Yeah I'm sure" she said to them, "I'm still exploring the life down there before I head to the shore" she said as he finished her drink and left the bottle with them. "and I hope you find your answer to where that scale came from" she said to them with a smile before she moved off from leaning on the edge of the boat and waved as they headed back to shore. She then headed back underwater her tail flickered in the air a little as she began to dive down again. She spent a good while down there before she headed back onto the shore and let her tail dry out before she could walk back to her small house. She dried off properly this time around and smiled a little to herself knowing they weren't really going to find much on that scale.

[Dave Strider]

Feferi ended up on medication for nearly a week after her accident while diving. Not only had she passed out but because of the depth of her dive and the speed she came up she seriously injured the inside of one of her ears. It was not possible for her to get back in the water for a while after that. So a lot of the tests had to be done by Sollux alone.

His phone buzzed in his pocket as he stopped his truck at the beach. ‘I’m doing tests on that scale now. I started to think that maybe it’s from a sailfish farther out at sea. I’ll let you know if I find anything <3’ Sollux smiled at the screen of his phone. Even if he wanted her to stay in bed or whatever… there was no way he was going to keep her from doing what she wanted.

On the beach he went back to work collecting samples from near the shore. He didn’t have to go out on a boat today and he didn’t even need to get his feet wet if he didn’t want to. He caught himself wondering if he would see Sayuri out here or if he should just go visit since he was here.

[Rose for the Hunter]

Sayuri meanwhile and been caught up in a rather unfortunate accident, turns out an old fishing boat was still being sued to catch fish, having not noticed it she'd ended up caught in the net and struggled to get herself free in the panic of the huge amount of fish that was around her. What've I done? I've been caught! she thought in panic and looked to the net try to find a weak point in order to escape. She ship beached rather quickly noticing the weight of the load and then released the net, Sayuri falling to the ground with a thump. "Ouch" she groaned and they looked to her rather shocked as she quickly backed herself up into the sea or at least tried "Oi, Oi what's this?" said one moving closer as they grabbed her tail "LET GO NOW!" she yelled at the top of her voice and pulled her tail free from the fisherman.

[Dave Strider]

Sollux looked out at the water and saw a boat a few miles off the shore. He would have ignored it if it weren’t for the fact that he could see the crew hauling a fishing net up into the boat. Sollux let out a sigh and headed back to the truck. He retrieved a megaphone and a pair of binoculars. Stepping up to the shore, the sole of his shoes being licked by the water and he sounded one of the alarm noises preset into the megaphone.

“Fishing is prohibited in the area. Leave the area immediately or authorities will be contacted. This is your only warning.” He said wincing at how horribly nerdy his lisp sounded when amplified so much. He didn’t mind when only Feferi heard it, which was usually the case, but when he was trying to be intimidating it was just embarrassing.

Using the binoculars he noted the name on the side of the boat. Then he tried to get a good look at what was on board. All he could see was a large thrashing fin. A sailfish? Maybe a shark? Chances were it was something they could be fined heavily for.

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