Swimming Lessons

“Deep waters out there boah,” Roswell drawled from the beach. Dexter scowled back at her and continued to wade out into the shallows. Kisse was standing closer than her sister but still didn't venture into the waves. She watched the tabby Utah paddle beyond the point where his toes could still reach the ground with a gnawing anxiety in her gut. Dexter was convinced that swimming was the final frontier lying between him and the true secrets of human civilization. Kisse couldn't believe the bad luck she had to be landed with two human-obsessed raptors but she had to admit it'd be a shame to watch him drown. She'd grown quite fond of his more measured approach to a hominid fascination, she reckoned it had done wonders to temper Roswell's more conspiratorial tendencies.

Dexter took a deep breath before dipping his head below the waves. He opened his eyes, his vision blurry and wavering, making the sand beneath him look like it was flowing like a river. He tried to focus on the grains, tried to distinguish them from each other but his blurry vision wouldn't let him. Dissatisfied, he pulled his head back up and gasped, flushing the salt from his nostrils. His feathers were beginning to feel heavy, like he was swimming with weights on and they were tiring him faster than he would like. Recognising his own shortcomings, he turned back to the shore and began his steady paddle back to semi-solid ground.

Kisse was waiting for him in the shallows, the water soaking the very bottom of her feathery legs as the waves lapped around them. 

"How goes the seafaring?" she asked, a hint of teasing to her tone. 

"About as well as expected," Dexter said, more like thinking out loud, "The visibility was poor even in clear water and my feathers weighed me down a considerable amount."

"Wow, what a revelation," Roswell scoffed, "Raptors aren't built to swim."

"I still think it's a valuable thing to learn," Kisse reassured him, "It could be useful if you fell into the river or something, just treading water enough to get to the banks."

"True," Dexter sighed, scratching his chin, "But the Sunken City remains out of my research."

"I'm telling you," Roswell shouted, standing up and shaking the sand from her feathers, "humans are out in the jungle, not under the water, why even bother looking at their artefacts when you can find them instead!" Dexter looked at Kisse, familiar exhaustion on his face but it shifted to a spark of mischief.

"Roswell, would you not ascribe to the aquatic ape theory? Considering we know so little about the waters of these islands?" Roswell cocked her head.

"Aquatic... ape theory?" she asked, cautiously like it was a trap. She was closer now though, to the point where the waves were rushing over her toes.

"Well, I don't put much stock into it, but there are theories that humans returned to the sea to avoid mass extinction. One would imagine you'd be interested in learning to swim for that branch of investigation alone," Dexter said casually, like this was common knowledge. Maybe it was in these circles, Kiss had no idea. 

"I... I didn't know about this theory," Roswell admitted. "Perhaps some level of swimming aptitude would end up being useful after all."

"You're welcome to join me in the water this summer, you too Kisse," Dexter invited both twins. Kisse laughed.

"For survival purposes only, there's no way you two are dragging me on human hunting missions underwater, that's where I draw the line!"

"Survival purposes only," Dexter promised, raising his hands in surrender, "We can start now, come stand in the deeper water but keep your claws in the sand." Roswell splashed in about as far as chest-high water, her claws planted firmly on the ground under her while Kisse entered in a more subdued fashion. "Good, now try using your arms to push yourself through the water, don't kick off the ground if you can help it," the tabby Utah instructed. Roswell gave one kick to strike off from the sand and began to slap her arms against the surface of the water.

"Like this?" she grunted, squinting through the salty water splashing back in her face.

"Not quite, but excellent first try," Dexter encouraged, sounding genuinely enthused. Kisse looked down at the sand wobbling under the wave and sighed, it seemed she would be caught in the middle of their nonsense once again. At least she would get some swimming lessons from it, watching with interest as Dexter redirected her sister into a more efficient paddle.

“Alright Kisse, your turn!” he called cheerfully, drenched completely from Roswell’s vigorous attempts at keeping herself afloat. The dappled Utah trudged her way to dry land and sprawled out fully on the sand to begin baking her feathers dry again. Kisse steeled herself for her own lesson, ready to learn the basics of keeping her head above water.