A basic dive lesson...
Sea Lane
Surrounded by bedrock walls worn smooth by the passage of time and water, the sea lane is just wide enough for sailing ships to pass through to the docking caverns beyond. Walls wet with sea spray and the action of the waves, the water here is shadowed by a bridge high overhead that crosses from ledge to ledge. Gaping and large enough to fit a dragon within it, lies the actual entrance to this large sea cave, huge metal doors set to either side making this area easy to seal off from the weather and thread.
Swimming about are Eri, Tessa, Mayri, Bao, Tursi, and Tillek
Obvious exits:
Seabreak Pool Lounge's Ledge Infirmary Pool Docking Cavern Outside Hall Waters
Marchanta swims gracefully in from the northwest.
Jessa sits on one of the walls, watching the water below her. She is dressed in swimming attire, with a skirt wrapped around her waist. A pale furred ferret is perched on her head, and it appears to be clinging to her hair, perhaps not wanting to fall in. A green 'lizard is sitting near Jess, not doing much of anything.
Marchanta walks into the lane, also dressed in swim attire, a green perched on her shoulder chirruping happily at her. She smiles as she sees someone else in the lane as she walks towards the water. "Hello." The green flies off her shoulder, landing close to the other, still chittering.
Jessa turns her head and grins "Hello". The ferret continues to cling, even more so with the movement of Jess' head. "I'm Jessa," she introduces herself, continuing to grin. Her green chirps back to the other green, but remains sitting near Jess.
Marchanta smiles as she slips gracefully into the water, dunking once before replying. "I'm Chanta. It's good to meet you Jessa." Her green, Relina, is heartened as the other starts 'talking' to her, and cocks her head before letting loose, chattering away noisily.
Jessa grins, "Yup, good to meet you too." She casts a glance at the greens, causing the ferret to hang on even more tightly. Aren't they just annoying? Her own green, Okeana, chatters back. Annoying little stomachs. But sometime's they're cute. "You're from the Ista Dolphinhall, right?" Jess hasn't ever seen Chanta up at Seacliffs, but then you never know, considering how unobservant Jess can be.
Marchanta laughs and nods. "Yes, they can be anyway." She nods at the question. "Yep, from right here. I take it you're from Seacliffs? I'm just guessing since I haven't seen you around here before."
Jessa nods her head and continues to grin. "Yup, I'm from Seacliffs. They sent me down here to deliver something, and then pick something up. And they also told me I could stay about a sevenday or so, get a few lessons done here." She shrugs her shoulders, well, at least she probably won't have to do chores down here.
Marchanta nods, smiling. "You like it here? I was down at Seacliffs a while back, it was nice, but...I can't imagine leaving here." She shrugs lightly before doing a few lazy backstrokes, then treads water again. "You had any lessons yet?"
Jessa grins, "Well, I like it at Seacliffs. I like it here. But I still prefer Seacliffs." There's a familiarity there that Jessa doesn't have with Ista. She shakes her head, "Nope. Not yet."
Marchanta grins and nods. "I understand that. We each love our own places." She raises a brow. "You haven't? I'm surprised. Or have you just got here or something?"
Jessa nods her head. "Yup, that's true." She still really loves Keroon, she may not miss Keroon, but she's proud of Keroon. And now she's proud of Seacliffs and loves it there. "I've been here since two days, maybe."
Marchanta nods. "I'm even more surprised you haven't found someone to give you a class." She cocks her head, evidently thinking for a moment then grins. "How about I give you one?"
Jessa nods her head and grins. "Sure you can." Jess would be happy, and then she would be able to say that she did have at least one lesson during her short stay at Ista. "So, uh, what are you going to teach me?"
Marchanta shrugs faintly. "I don't know, what lessons have you had or do you want? It seems though lately all I've been teaching is diving, but don't mind since it's fun."
Jessa nods her head and grins. "Well, I've had a few swimming lessons, like arms only and legs only and the crawl. I haven't had a dive lesson yet though. So, if it wouldn't bother you, could I have a dive lesson?" Jess removes the ferret from her head, Nebbie doesn't seem to enjoy the water at all. The ferret scampers over to the chattering 'lizards, cocks her head, and stares at them.
Marchanta nods, swimming to the wall and pulling herself out of the water with an ease born of turns of practice. "Okay, it's really not that hard." She grins. "And I think you'll enjoy it, everyone else has." She stands up, stretching out for a moment. "Easiest way is to just show you slowly, then do it. Beyond that, you just have to practice."
Jessa nods and stands up, removing her wrap-around skirt and setting it down. Nebbie continues to stare at the chatty 'lizards. She grins, "OK then, so can you show me?" She's ready, whenever Marchanta feels like starting.
Marchanta laughs and nods. "Of course, was just letting you know how I was going to teach you." She moves up to the edge of the wall. "Okay, you stand on the edge of the wall, or whatever you're diving off of. Close enough that your toes are over the edge." She wiggles said toes to show Jessa. "You have to bend your knees just slightly, and hold your arms just behind you." She does each as she says it, bending her knees and moving her arms. "Easy enough so far." She grins. "Then, when you're ready to dive, you swing your arms forward over your head, holding your hands just a bit apart, and jump off." She shows the swinging motion but doesn't jump just yet.
Jessa watches Chanta and grins, stepping to the edge of the wall herself. She wiggles her toes, yup, they're just over the edge. Then she eyes the senior appie and positions her arms behind her back. Jess then moves her legs in to mirror the position demonstrated by Chanta. As she does so, Jess sort of stumbles. Were she on stable ground she would be fine. But perched on a wall ... there goes her whole balance and Jess falls into the water with a nice big splash.
Marchanta watches as jessa goes through the same motions she herself just did, nodding and smiling, until the apprentice falls into the water. Chanta blinks for a moment in surprise, then starts laughing, unable to help herself. She takes a step back, bending over to rest her hands on her knees, shaking her head. "Jessa, that wasn't quite what I meant by jumping off."
Jessa sputters a bit, and wipes her face with her hand. "But I didn't jump off!" she protests, "I fell off! And I didn't mean too!" Once Jess is out of the water and back on the wall, she too begins to laugh, "Bet that looked funny, huh?"
Marchanta raises both brows in surprise and amusement, then starts laughing again as she nods at Jessa. "It was hilarious! Are you okay though?" She slowly stops laughing, trying to catch her breath. Hard to swim if you can't breathe.
Jessa continues to laugh as well, sitting on the wall again. Jess nods her head and chokes out, "Yep, I'm fine," before she resumes laughing. She can just imagine how funny that looked.
Marchanta shakes her head at Jess, still grinning broadly. "That's good. Now shall I show you how the jump is /supposed/ to look? When you're not falling in anyway?" She smiles as she moves back up to the edge.
Jessa nods her head and resumes her usual facial gesture of grinning. "Yup. So then next time when I want to get in the water, I can dive and not fall in."
Seneca swims in from the east.
Seneca bounces in from the north, her hair raising and falling with each step. She stops suddenly, noticing the two people on the beach. "Hello there. What's your name?" she asks, eyeing Jessa.
Marchanta smiles and nods, toes again going over the edge, and knees bending. She moves her arms behind her, and almost stumbles herself as she hears someone else. She turns, surprised.
Jessa grins, noticing that Chanta herself almost fell in. That would have been even more funny. Jess too notices the approach of someone, and turns to look. "Um, hello. I'm Jessa." She idly wonders if the girl didn't happen to notice that Chanta and Jess were busy.
Seneca looks embarrased, "Did I interupt something?"
Seneca says, "Oh, by the way, my name's Seneca."
Marchanta smiles and shrugs lightly. "Sortof, but that's alright. Just glad I didn't fall in." She grin is shot at Jessa. "I'm Chanta. Good to meet you Seneca."
Seneca nods in agreement, "Nice to meet you too. I notice you are both Dolphineers," she states, looking at their bracelets.
Jessa grins back. So what if Jess isn't the most graceful and balanced of people? At least she's cooled off now. Jess eyes the other girl, not saying too much.
Marchanta continue to smile, and nods. "Yes we are." Jess may not be graceful, but amusing, comic relief? Yep, she's both of those.
Jessa grins and nods to the girl. Jess may not have ever been talented. Back at Keroon she was known as quite the troublemaker, and was always a good one for comic relief.
Marchanta grins at Jess as she moves up the edge, toes again over the side and knees bent. She moves her arms back and takes a slow breath, then swings her arms up and jumps off the ledge at the same time, entering the water with a small splash. A moment later, her head pops out of the water a few feet out, grin still on her face. "See? Want to try now, or need to see it again?"
Jessa watches Marchanta closely, eying the movements of her arms and knees, as well as Marchanta's form. Once Chanta is out of the water, she nods her head, "Could you please show me that again?" Perhaps it would be better to see that again, just to be sure.
Marchanta nods and swims back towards Jess, pulling herself out of the water and positioning herself again on the edge. Knees bent, arms positioned, and against she jumps off as she swings her arms forward, another small splash following her entry. This time, her head pops up further out, with another grin as she turns back towards the appy.
Jessa grins, "Can I try now?" she calls out, positioning herself first. First there are the toes, wiggling over the edge slightly. And the knees are slightly bent. And she's staying balanced, not falling in. She pulls her arms back, but then looks to Chanta first for approval. "Does this look right?"
Marchanta nods. "Sure! Give it a try." She studies Jess's form, then nods again. "Looks good!" She stays back where she is, just in case the apprentice /does/ botch this dive, like by falling in again instead of diving.
Jessa pulls her arms back, inhales, and then jumps. A bit too late she remembers to swing her arms forward, and ends up doing a very beautiful flop onto the water. Ouch. That looked painful. A huge splash results, and Jess sputters and comes up.
Marchanta starts to call out about the arms, then winces slightly as she sees the 'dive', and swims over to Jessa. "Are you alright? That didn't look like it felt too good."
Jessa treads water and nods, "It did hurt. My stomach hurts." Then she starts to swim back to the shore. "But I'm gonna try again. I'll get it right today."
Marchanta smiles sympathetically. "I bet it did. I did that a time or two myself." She nods. "It's good to try again, that's the only way you can get it right. Don't try for perfection though, it takes practice for that." She grins. "More that one days worth generally."
Jessa climbs out of the water. Yeah, well, she may not master it in a day, but she can get pretty close, close enough that she will be able to practice on her own, and eventually perfect it. Again Jess positions herself. Toes slightly over the edge, knees bent slightly, arms positioned behind her. She inhales, then pushes off from the edge and swings her arms in front of her. However, instead of keeping them together upon impact, they separate and the ensuing splash is a bit too large for a dive.
Marchanta laughs softly, shaking her head. She climbs out of the water, sitting on the edge with her hands braced by her knees as she leans slightly forward. "Good...much better. Only one small problem, which I'm sure you've figured out for yourself."
Jessa swims back to shore, and pulls herself out again. She beams slightly. At least she didn't fall ungracefully into the water, and she didn't flop on her stomach again. "Yup, I know, I gotta keep my hands together." And she probably should keep her back a bit more straight and rigid, but Jess kind of figured that out herself.
Marchanta nods, smiling. "I knew you would realize it. Try again, if you can get that problem fixed, it should be a pretty good dive this time." She scoots to the side to give Jess more room, and watches.
Jessa nods her head, pausing a moment to rub her ears to get some of the water out of them. Then she stands up and positions herself again. She remains in this position a moment, perhaps thinking out the course of action. Then she bends her knees slightly and brings her arms back. She inhales. Then she springs from the wall, throwing her arms forward. She enters the water, keeping her hands together for the most part, though after they entered the water, they break apart only slightly. The only result is a slightly larger splash than necessary for a dive.
Marchanta smiles, waiting for Jessa to surface, then clapping. "Much better. Why don't you try it once more for me, then you should be fine to practice by yourself. It doesn't hurt to practice every week, 'cause believe me, if you don't then just jump in, it can be pretty....sloppy." She grins.
Jessa returns to the wall, pulling herself out near Chanta. She nods her head. "Sure, I can do it again." She likes to practice, it's quite fun to do. She's been practicing her swimming at least twice a day. Sure, she shirks her chores to practice, but hey, practicing is more important than chores.
Marchanta smiles. "Fun isn't it?" She gestures to the water. "So have another go." Personally, Chanta also sometimes shirks her chores to swim, especially when having a rough day.
It's generally accepted that apprentices shirk their chores. Even the journeymen and masters have to admit that they shirked theirs. It's a fact of apprenticehood. A grinning Jess stands up and nods, then steps to the edge once again. Toes over the edge slightly, knees bent, arms back, and last inhalation is taken. Then she springs off the wall, throwing her hands forward and together. She dives into the water, but makes the same mistake that she did at her last dive. Shortly after the entry of her hands, she releases them, elbows go little sloppy and skewed, and the splash is a little bit larger than should be.
Marchanta cocks her head as she watches the almost smooth dive. "The only problem I really see is you let your arms go wild after you hit the water. If you can fix that, you'd be a pretty good diver."
Jessa swims to the edge, trying to surpress a grin. Swimming while grinning is not good, swimming while laughing is even worse. She pulls herself out of the water. "Should I give it another go then?"
Marchanta grins and nods. "One more. If you do it again, only practice, and more practice will fix it. Though I would like to see one dive where you keep your hands together."
Jessa nods her head and steps to the edge. "Sure, I can do that." She positions herself yet again, the toes on the edge, arms back, and the knee slightly bent. Jess surpresses her grin, might choke in the water or get thrown off if she's grinning when she hits the water. She inhales, then exhales slowly. Another inhalation is taken, then she launches herself from the wall. This time, the apprentice does manage to keep her hands together, executing a good dive with a small splash.
Marchanta smiles and nods, pleased with Jessa, and claps again. "Very, very good. I think you've got it for the most part. But like I said, still practice, especially since it's something fun like diving." She grins. "I practice everytime I go swimming, mostly as a quick way to get in the water."
Jessa swims back to the shore, pulling herself out of the water, for what she hopes to be the last time today. She's had enough of diving right now. She'd actually like to return to the Hall and take a nice hot bath. She nods to Chanta and grins, waiting further instruction. If she absolutely has to, she will dive again, although she'd prefer not to.
Marchanta pulls her legs up, knees to her chest, feet on the edge, still smiling at Jessa. "Besides practicing, that's about it I guess. If there's anything else you need or want to do, go on ahead."
Jessa shakes her head and grins "Thank you very much." She whistles, a signal for her chatty green to join her, and then she stands up and picks up her wrap around skirt, using it as towel for the moment. Nebbie is also picked up and placed at her shoulder, although the ferret dislikes being near the wet apprentice, the ferret still not accustomed to water. "We'll be seeing each other." And then she makes her way to the Sea Hall to find a nice bath.
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The dive is done with the swimmer standing with their legs slightly bent at the edge from where they're diving, toes over the edge. The arms are straight and behind back, palms up. The swimmer then swings her arms forwards, pushing off with their legs and tucking their head between the 'v' their arms form. They enter the water at approximately a 45 degree angle.
All references to worlds and characters based on Anne McCaffrey's fiction are © Anne McCaffrey 1967, 2000, all rights
reserved, and used by permission of the author.
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