[Public] Shoreside Break

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra made a mental note as her eyes studied Ela more throughoughly, who was the one who rose to the occasion of procuring a bat by using what could be asumed was her semblance. Once that was out of the way though, Aster was the first to have his three tries… with less success.

“Don‘t worry man, that was good. I‘ll try next, if you won‘t mind.“ Vlithra said, trying to sound a bit more cheerful as she approached Aster to take the offered blindfold and club from him. She takes a bit more time to get onto the starting position and securing the blindfold around her head and over her eyes. Much like the big lug Aster, she had no problem wielding the stone club as she moved forward, blind to the world around her, but aware of it‘s many sounds. Vlithra had a nack for perceiving things she wasn‘t actively looking at, it really helped her moving around at higher speeds and around the battlefield. So she went into this with quite a lot of confidence. However seeing only black was an entirely different story… so much so it proved difficult for her to determine exactly how far she was going. That was the point of the blindfold, sure… but it was nonetheless irritating for her. With that in mind… she stepped forward a bit… raised the club... and her first swing came down…

...and missed. At this point expected, but she had the right direction in mind, she was sure of that much at least. She had misjudged the size of her steps, that was the issue. So naturally she took a few more steps forward. She cleaved, once more, down in front of her.

The club met sand again… though it really wasn‘t far from making a sizable gash in the melon. Maybe as step more and she would have gotten it. To her this was getting bothersome. Maybe… did she misjudge the angle after all? So she took another step forward and unbeknowest of her, was standing right in front of her target. Her mind wrestled with her assessment and doubt had crept in. This was it.

“There!“ Vlithra proclaimed as with an explosive motion she raised and swung the bat down like she would swing her sword down at something. And yet… she hit nothing more than sand. She had doubted her initial assessment and realigned her swing further to the side… a good meter away from the melon, more sand splattered onto the towel.

With a defeated sigh, her body slumped to a more casual posture as she removes her blindfold, only took unto the travesty that was her standing almost in front of the melon, but having swung to the side of it. “Aw come on.“ She says, dissapointment in her voice as she goes back to the others to hand the blindfold and club to the next.

[Bastion Sandstone]

Bastion smiled and nodded at Forrest's reassuring words. Guys back home wouldn't stop teasing him, calling him names and whatnot for having almost passed out on a beach. It would be all in good fun like guys do, but Forrest just told him it was ok. He thought he was going to like the man.

"Aren't piñatas usually on strings?"

"Well sure, but this is the same principle, right?"

Bastion sat andd watched as Aster took his swings. Bastion was more confused than anything as the big guy kept missing, pounding the sand like it wasn't in too tiny enough pieces already. The cowboy had to shield the top of his can to make sure no debris flew in and he lowered his hat to shield his face. Then Vlithra was up. Surely she'd splatter the watermelon so bad that it wouldn't be edible, and they'd have to flee to the ocean to clean off. But her attempts where largely the same, if not a bit closer than Aster's. She seemed to deliberate and guage her swings, but still missed.

Them spinning around disoriented them more than he had expected. Perhaps some training in darkness would be good every now and then. He narrowed his eyes, his brain working far better now with some cool water in his system. Was what he was thinking of cheating? It seemed more like strategy to him. And there might have been a bit of pride wanting to show off for his fellow classmates, those strong enough to make spectacles in the Tourny. He looked to Forrest.

"You gonna take a swing?"

[Ela Motley]

Well both Vlithra and Aster certainly were impressive, one more so in the staggering amount of sand he kicked up when he slammed the club into the ground and the other in her application of tactics for a simple game such as this.
Yet, they both did fail, sadly enough, Ela would have really like to congratulate either of the two.
As Vlithra held out the bat and blindfold after her turn was done, Ela turned to the other party guests, none seemed interested for now, Ethan was spectating, while Forest and Bastion were talking among themselves.
Ela shrugged, as she walked up to Vlithra and took the bat and blindfold, Ela did as the other two had done, taking the bat, walking a few steps away from the watermelon, putting on the blindfold and then spinning in circles, yet, as she did, Ela was keeping track, she knew the direction she had faced before putting on the blindfold and kept count of the amount of turns she did.

Now, she was done spinning, Ela got her bearings for just a second, it helped that Ela was used to working with a limited field of vision, due to her commonly employing helmets with her armor.
Now to enact her plan one turn left, another and another, Ela was slowly retracing her steps until she was facing the melon dead on...wait, how many steps did she have to take forward?
Uhmmm... Ela was a bit stumped, she was so focused on the spinning that she had forgotten to count the steps.
She'd just try her luck, Ela took one big step forward and then lifted the bat above her head, she swung with just enough strength to smash the melons yet her bat was met with only a soft 'thud' as she hit the sand.
But, she could hear the shifting of cloth as she pulled the crude bat back up, it seemed to have gotten caught in the towel.
With one more smaller step Ela was basically right in front of the melon, carefully Ela aimed, lifting the bat up one more time and then swung, with a wet crack the melon was hit dead on, splitting clean down the middle as Ela spilled its juices all over the towel.

Ela lifted the blindfold, a smile on her face, her tactics had paid off, pumping her fist a little to excitedly in the awkward nerdy manner befitting the biggest nerd on this beach.
"Looks like my strategy paid off, here, let me share my spoils."
Being happy, and charitable as always, Ela took the two pieces of melon, breaking them up into six pieces with her bare hands, handing one piece to every single one of her guests.
"Eat up everyone, before Forest here gets us seconds."
Ela said, as she handed the green bean the bat and blindfold, flashing him a smirk as she did.

[Forrest Waldstein]

"Umm... I think I should sit this one o-" Forrest started but was interrupted by Ela smashing into the watermelon. She made it look so easy, despite the initial miss on the first swing. Nevertheless, she looked impressed with herself that she managed to pull it off. Forrest seemed to shrink away, hoping that by reducing his physical presence that Ela would not hand him the club and blindfold. Oh how badly the universe wanted to torture poor Forrest today...

Forrest was dumbfounded for an instant when Ela handed him the club and the blindfold. Regardless if everyone else was looking or not, Forrest still felt many pairs of eyes upon him, which only contributed to his anxiety. Sensing no other way out of this, Forrest reluctantly grabbed the club and the blindfold. Upon taking the full weight of the club, it seemed to be a bit too bulky for someone of Forrest's strength, especially when others such as Vlithra and Aster and Ela appeared to wield it with ease. It was as if he was a child playing a strength tester game, with the hammer being a club a size or two larger than optimal. Forrest took note of the watermelon's position before being blindfolded and spun around.

Shit... where's the watermelon? Forrest mused, losing all bearing on his immediate surroundings after being spun around. Though he could sense roughly where the rest of the group was via hearing, it still left too large of an area to search for the watermelon. Well, what better way to begin than with the good old college try?

Forrest stepped forward several paces and took a swing, the club practically throwing him around, and landed with a thud kicking up plenty of sand. Forrest waited for the tsunami of sand to subside, taking a deep breath before assessing his position (and to ease his performance anxiety).

I think it was to the... left... Forrest thought, turning to the left and stepping forward, swinging once again. Once more, Forrest had only kicked up a bunch of sand. However, he felt something soft his right foot. Could that be the towel? Determined, Forrest took his final swing in the direction of the soft object...

With a wet splat, the club struck true. Forrest could hardly believe the stimuli he was receiving. Taking off the blindfold, he observed his handiwork. It wasn't quite as neat or even as Ela's attempt, but it was still successful nonetheless.

[Ethan Sagol]

This game was definitely fun.

Ethan accepted the blindfold from Forrest. "Let's see if I can make it three in a row," he commented jovially as another melon was set on the ground before picking up the club and covering his eyes.

Around and around he went, until he had no clue which way was north. He held still long enough for the disorientation to wear off, then turned two steps to his left and swung down with all his might.

Whiff. No matter, he had two more shots at this.

Turning to face the other direction, he tried again.

Whiff. Ethan knew he could easily find the melon if he used his Semblance, but this was a game and that would be cheating.

However, he didn't need to cheat to know where the melon was....

The ocean was behind him. A wicked smile appeared on Ethan's face as he turned three steps to his left and swung down. The club just barely contacted the melon, successfully breaking it open but doing little more than that. Taking off his blindfold, he saw that while he'd successfully located the direction of the melon, he'd failed to account for his position drifting as he spun, and he'd only hit his target because of the size of the club.

"Less graceful than I would have liked, but a win is a win," he said with a grin. "Who's next?"

[Asterion Khryseos]

With Ethan's attempt finished, Aster reckoned that everyone in their group had had a shot at breaking open a melon of their own. Not everyone's attempts had been successful - the small crater in the sand where he'd slammed the length of stone down was evidence enough of that. And yet, despite his abject failure, he couldn't help but grin about the whole experience. Surrounded by friendly faces, good food, and cold drinks, the whole experience was a welcome change of pace from somewhere plagued by Grimm and the smell of spent shells.

"So, who wants to start the second part of the game?" Aster called out, once he was sure that everyone had had a turn, and enough melons had been sufficiently pulverised by the might of Beacon's best and brightest. "Now that the melons are split, the only part left's to eat them!" He beamed, until he spotted an intact one. It was possible that it was the one he'd failed to even scratch but he'd not been paying enough attention to know for sure. With a little sheepishness to his movements, Aster held it up, and chuckled a little. "But I think three's not gonna be enough for all of us. Anyone mind helping me cut up the rest?"

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra watched on as the others took their respective turns at the game, only to grimace in annoyance as the remaining contestants hit their targets. She was frustrated that she didn‘t manage to hit one and it ticked her off a bit. However the expression didn‘t last, since she didn‘t want to spoil the mood by being mad at herself. She could at least take solace in the fact that the others struggled at first as well. And it was fun in the end, so she couldn‘t complain. Besides there was still the better part of the game, eating the melons.

“Sure thing.“ She declared after Aster asked for assistance in cutting the rest of the melons. Since she didn‘t intend to make things messier, she looked into the stuff that Ela had brought with her in the search for a knife. She could tear a melon open with ease, however it was quite the unrefined way of doing it and it caused too much of a mess.
With a knife procured she inspects it really quick before putting a melon in front of her on the folding table and spinning it like a basketball in between the wooden surface and her finger, stopping it shortly after. She seemed to do a spinning trick with the knife before brandishing it with a tight grip and slashing through the melon in a clean horizontal motion.
“Just bring ‘em here. I‘ll cut them up proper.“ Vlithra exclaims as, for a moment, it didn‘t seem like she cut it at all. That was until she placed the top half next to the lower and cut each of them once more.

[Bastion Sandstone]

Bastion had his own strategy for crushing a melon, but it seems like he had missed his chance. Oh well, it looked like Ethan had displayed roughly the same strategy, maybe. Bastion had planned on using his own basic compass and orient him to sounds around him. Where others were standing, the ocean, etc. He shrugged as people went to eat, it wasn't like he had an ego to prove by smashing melons. And fruit, juicy and tasty like watermelon, made his mouth drool. And Vlithra was carving them right up.

He was the first to partake in eating the fruit as it was cut up, cheeks stuffed with the fruit as he tasted the sweet food.

[Ela Motley]

Ela placed the rest of the watermelons close to Vlithra, so the tigress could work her magic, Ela herself was waiting her turn until everyone had their fill and Vlithra also got a chance to eat, while she did she intently watched Vlithra work, her skill with a knife was quite something, at least to Ela who didn't have much finesse when it came to these things.
"You can handle that knife quite well, Vlithra, do you often cook?"
She scooted up just a little closer, to watch Vlithra work a bit more as she propped herself up on the table.
"Maybe you can teach me some of those tricks? That way cooking would be a bit more fun for myself, not that I don't enjoy it already, but you know, could be more fun."
She shrugged once more as she looked at Vlithra with a smile, she hoped she wasn't disturbing the tigress too much with her questions and having scooted close enough to watch her work in detail.

[Forrest Waldstein]

It was Forrest's turn in line as Vlithra began cutting up the watermelons. Much like Ela, he had been observing Vlithra's knife skills as she had cut up the watermelon. Despite his shy demeanor, maybe cracking a joke would be beneficial.

"Now that I know how good you are with a knife, I'll try to avoid getting on your bad side." Forrest joked as he received his own cup of freshly cut up watermelon.

Pleaselikemyjoke... Forrest mused nervously, doing his best to keep his nerves in check.

[Ethan Sagol]

This tigress Faunus knew her way around a blade.

Ethan waited his turn in line, watching a few others compliment her on the practiced ease with which she sliced the melons. When he reached the front of the line, he accept his plate with gratitude and found a place to sit near the hat-wearing fellow who had scarfed his own slices with remarkable speed.

"You must still be quite dehydrated to eat yours so quickly," he commented wryly as he picked up one of his own slices before biting into it, savoring the cold sweetness before continuing.

"I need get to know the area better," he commented to the group at large after finishing a slice. "Anyone want to go exploring with me later?"

[Asterion Khryseos]

It didn't surprise Aster in the least that Vlithra was the one cutting up the melons. He couldn't say whether it was some facet of her personality, or just her skill with a sword making him inclined to believe she could cut apart a melon with ease, but he supposed it hardly mattered. He had his fruit chopped up and ready to devour, and after this long in the heat without his Aura up, a juicy slab of melon was something he thought he'd appreciate greatly.
"You should see her with a sword!" Aster remarked, upon hearing Forrest's joke. Given that he'd been on the receiving end of it twice, he figured he was something of an authority on the subject.

[Vlithra Qing Long]

As Vlithra cut the watermelons further and handed them out, her gaze narily looked away from the knife as it performed it‘s task guided by the muscle memory of her hands. Though as focused as she seemed, it was clear she intently listened to those around her, specifically Ela at first. The interest she showed with her question and inquiry earn her a grin from the tigress.
“Yes actually. I used to cook when I lived with my uncle prior to Beacon. The guy was always an artist first and a cook last, so it came natural… both the cooking and tricks I mean.“ she off handedly explained to Ela as she went on to hand the next batches out.

The tigress registered Forrest‘s remark on the side, which she at first simply chalked up to him stating the obvious... up until Aster added on with his own remark which made the tigress visibly giggle.
“Hehe… yeah. You can attest to that for sure. Hope I didn‘t rough you up too much at the rally.“ she mentioned before rolling another one of the watermelons in front of her on to the figurative chopping block.
“Speaking of...“ she trailed off, directing her gaze to Forrest. “...haven‘t I seen you at the rally before? I‘m certain I missed your name when I got here.“ she continued, her gaze becoming almost inquisitive as she worked her knife magic again. This time she spun the knife, at the blade, in between her fingers once around and back into the palm of her hand as she waited a moment for an answer.

[Bastion Sandstone]

"Yah, Yu-" Bastion swallowed the fruit in his mouth. "Yes you have, Vlithra!" He swung an arm aroundd Forrest's shoulders, smiling big time. "This is the guy who beat me, Forrest Waldstein. This guy's Semblance is crazy strong, he does all the plant stuff! I didn't even have a chance, looking back. And I wasn't pulling any punches either!"

Vlithra was a striking woman, strong, and had an attractive appeal. Bastion was already spoken for, but he knew his friend Forrest wasn't. And who wouldn't want to shoot their shot at the tigress? Well, baring her faunus nature, that is.

[Ela Motley]

Ela listened in on what everyone saying, a lot of interesting things were being said, she giggled at Forest's joke, turning into laughter as Astarion built on it, yes those dexterous hands wielding swords would be much scarier, though, not that scary.
Vlithra growing up mostly alone with her uncle and not her parents did sound a bit sad, it was no wonder the tigress was so self reliant.
She would not bring up any potentially sad topics, instead just complimenting the tigress again.
"You taught yourself well, it's quite impressive, maybe you'd like to show me a bit more of what you taught yourself sometime?"
She asked, shooting Vlithra a smirk as she scooted a bit closer.
"I am a pretty good cook myself, so I'd love to see what kind of food you can prepare."

The topic of the Rally then caught her attention, Forest had a semblance that fit his name like a glove and he had beat Bastion who by the look of things, didn't seem like a push over either, the whole thing earned him an approving whistle from Ela.
"Summoning and I assume controlling plants does sound quite useful, you've seen my semblance already, I prefer a much more simple and "solid" approach."
She giggled a little at her own pun.

Regardless, Ethan did have a point they should do something.
"Well then, who would love to go swimming?"
Ela asked into the round as she stowed away her hat.
"Perhaps we could play something too, I'm open to suggestions."
Ela then undid the knot holding her skirt as she stood in her bikini, and finally undid the hair tie as she began to walk towards the water at a leisurely pace.
"Follow along folks!"

Once she reached about waist high, she let herself fall backwards into the water and just peacefully floated along, waiting for the others.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Why do I even bother... Forrest mused, internally demoralized at the failure of his attempt to make Vlithra laugh. The double whammy of Vlithra missing the joke and also not knowing him was adding insult to injury. However, he couldn't fault her completely. Forrest mostly kept his head down and took notes during any lectures. They also had yet to be paired up in any practical classes. It seemed fruitless to keep trying... until Forrest felt a familiar arm wrap around him.

"Yes you have, Vlithra! This is the guy who beat me, Forrest Waldstein. This guy's Semblance is crazy strong, he does all the plant stuff! I didn't even have a chance, looking back. And I wasn't pulling any punches either!" Bastion said.

Forrest couldn't help but grin. It was a dorky grin, but still one of happiness nonetheless. Color flushed his cheeks as he received praise from his hype man and some support from Ela.

"Yep, that's me!" Forrest added, chuckling a bit as he felt the much needed ego boost from both of them. Forrest would then follow the others to the water, hoping that the activity would stop him from dwelling on the blunder.

[Ethan Sagol]

Swimming sounded like fun, and Ethan had no doubt that there were games one could play while in the water. After cleaning up his plate and napkins and smacking his hands together to loose the juice, he charged into the water with enthusiasm, wanting to get the part where his hair got wet out of the way as soon as possible.

After thoroughly dunking himself, he shook his head to fling the excess water out of his hair before using his headband to tie it back into a short ponytail. "Thanks for the invite," he told Ela as he waited for others to join them in the water. "It's good to relax after a long week of lectures and essay-writing."

[Asterion Khryseos]

If there was one thing that Vlithra hadn't had to worry about, it was roughing Aster up. The man was a towering wall of strength and sinew - between that and his Aura, the only thing she'd ever have to worry about wounding was his pride. Even then, the broad grin and the light laugh he gave in response to her remark was enough to show that he hadn't taken the loss too harshly. Or, if he had, he at least managed to hide it well enough that he seemed perfectly fine. Whatever the case was, he was quick to shift focus when the topic of swimming was brought up.

Initially, he stepped back slowly, putting some distance between himself and the ocean's edge. But it didn't seem like he was avoiding it, if the focussed gaze he maintained on the water's glimmering surface was any indication. The reason for his distance was made clear moments later, when he bolted forward like a bat out of hell, and leaped as high and as far as he could into the sea. A bellowing cry of "CANNONBALL!" Could be heard ripping through the air as he hurtled down towards the water like the world's loudest anvil, before being abruptly cut off by a great splashing of water.

Mere seconds after the plume of water splattered back down, he rose above the surface, grinning wide - almost madly. "Come on in, the water's fine!"

[Vlithra Qing Long]

“Maybe I will.“ Vlithra offhandedly answered to Ela as she diverted her attention back to her question, promptly receiving an answer from the resident cowboy. She cleans the knife she was holding of any residue watermelon before putting it down, grabbing a piece of her own and listening. The name, Forrest Waldstein, did ring a bell and it was just as she took a bite she remembered.

This is the guy that beat Al. she mused pondering what she had heard of that particular fight. The fact that Al had lost to someone who conjured plants was perplexing, yet gave her some insight that she would most likely use once she‘d encounter him in the rally. If Forrest hadn‘t been on her radar until now, he sure was now.

“CANNONBALL!“ she only heard from Aster as the burly bull jumped into the water. There was no use in dwelling on the rally really, so with a smile she looked on as veryone went to the water to finish eating her piece of watermelon.

She didn‘t need any further invitation. Much like Aster did before her she got some distance between herself and the ocean, only to break into a full on sprint. She leapt to the sky with a semblance empowered jump, not at the same intensity she did at a previouss party and dived into the water without much of a splash. And one powerful stroke of her arms later she resurfaced, her body leaving the water up to her midriff to bask in the sudden shift of feeling the water around her followed by the warmth of the sun. Yet it doesn‘t last as she slinks back into the water up to her neck and swims towards the shore.

“It sure is refreshing. Even though I was already in the water today.“ she comments as she gets to an area she could stand in to pull back some of the loose strand of hair in her face.

[Bastion Sandstone]

Bastion was trying his best to hype up his friend, and even Ela pitched in! But she only seemed to think, not one word offered. Well her mouth was filled with watermelon, but she seemed to pick up on something, the way she stopped chewing and looked at Forrest.

Then like a whirlwind people were off to the water, Vlithra with them. "Ah man," Bastion sighed. "Well, she at least took notice of you, and she won't forget your name now. Just gotta do something impressive infront of her now." The cowboy patted Forrest on the shoulder as they walked down to the water's edge.

"I guess no one else cares about their clothes getting wet, huh? I certainly didn't bring any trunks." He gestured down at his long heavy jeans with their wide leather belt, and his large white poncho. "Getting these wet would really get the sand to stick to 'em like catcus burrs on a cat."

[Ela Motley]

Ela saw the two consecutive cannonballs coming, while one was much more impressive than the other, even sounding impressive as Aster's massive frame hit the waves and Vlihtra's slimmer body then followed, Ela just took the splashes, giggling as she pulled her now very drenched bangs out of her face.
"My my you should watch out to keep enough water in the ocean for us to swim in, unless it's your plan to splash it across the entire beach instead."
Ela joked, as she looked at Aster and Vlithra, then her gaze drifted behind the two, to Bastion, who still stood ashore.
Maybe he needed time to get changed and was looking for a changing area, he did get lost before, she better help him out.
Ela went back to the beach, then picking up on what he said, he had NO clothes?
Oh, that was easy.
"Ah, just hold on a second Bastion."
Ela did think of this, in case someone lost theirs to the waves or they got broken, with huntsmen you never knew what crazy semblance may shred some swimwear, her own was a likely case.
She got to her bag and pulled out some black swim trunks, they were her dads, but Bastion didn't need to know that.
"Here you go, take these, would you like me to show you to the changing area?"
She asked with a friendly smile...maybe she should ask Forest, Ethan or Aster instead, gender differences, the bro code and all, but Bastion seemed like a calm man, so she'd just wait for his answer.

[Forrest Waldstein]

Seeing as how everyone seemed to be jumping in the water, Forrest figured he'd follow suit. Forrest was a bit self-conscious about taking off his shirt at first though, but figuring that practically every other guy would do the same he'd have to as well. Besides, his shirt wasn't waterproof, the saltwater would definitely ruin it. First, he looked over to Bastion considering he had to go to the changing area and wasn't sure if he was more comfortable with Forrest bringing him over there.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be alright. Anyway, now's your chance!" Bastion said before he followed Ela to the changing area.

Forrest nodded as he took off his backpack, shirt and flip-flops, placing them down somewhere he'd remember. His physique was slim, yet marked by good definition. Forrest's physique resembled a mix of a swimmer's and runner's build, leaning more towards the latter in appearance. The only thing his physique lacked was size, but hopefully that would change in time. Nonetheless, his body was definitely beach-ready. Good thing Forrest learned how to swim, too. Silvanus knew how important of a skill that was, and trained Forrest by having him swim in rivers upstream against the current.

Just gotta do something impressive... Forrest mused as his mind buzzed with ideas of how to impress Vlithra. Thinking quickly, Forrest ran up towards the edge of the water, creating a ramp with Sylvan Anthem. Running up the ramp, Forrest figured a good acrobatic display would be a good sight for Vlithra to see. As Forrest reached the edge of the ramp, he jumped, curling his body into a ball as he rolled forwards in a front flip as the ramp disintegrated. For some extra flair, Forrest extended his body into a diving position as he began descending, going into a twisting dive as he plunged into the salty water.

[Ethan Sagol]

Clearly these people were extremely comfortable in the water. Ethan wasn't quite there yet, but once he'd been swimming for years the way the rest of them had, he'd no doubt get there.

Many a splash was sent up as the others entered the water, and Ethan couldn't help but smile at their antics.

He whistled appreciatively as Forrest launched himself into a twisting leap before diving into the water. "Nice moves," he called out once Forrest's head surfaced again.

[Asterion Khryseos]

Aster quickly noticed that he wasn't the only one that wanted to make a splash with their entrance. However, he only managed to notice this fact seconds after he'd finished wiping all of the salt water from his eyes. Before he had the chance to process just what Vlithra was doing, Aster was hit by a wall of seawater, slamming into him and leaving his eyes stinging. Some not-insignificant amount splashed into his mouth as well, leaving spitting and spluttering - partly from shock, and partly to try and get the taste of it off of his tongue.

He had scarcely managed to clean the water out of his eyes a second time - and only just about managed to get the worst of the saltwater's stain from his mouth - before he spied another figure leaping high into the air. Their routine was far more elaborate than his and Vlithra's comparatively crude displays, and their technique looked to be far more refined, but he could tell that the end result was going to be the same. He braced, with his mouth closed and an arm raised in front of his eyes, but it did little to shield him from the splash.

Still, despite the fact that his mouth tasted more like the inside of a salt shaker, and his tear ducts had probably been stoppered shut by the amount of sand washed into them, he cheered and threw his hands up in celebration.
"Nice one!" He called out, not even hesitating to cheer on Forrest, despite his situation. "Man, if you fight half as good as you dive, we gotta spar sometime!"

[Vlithra Qing Long]

Vlithra looked around just in time to watch as Forrest conjured a ramp out of wood and jumped off it into the water. He did so with an elegant stunt that had him entering the water with similar grace than Vlithra did. Suffice to say, it was impressive. Though she too had to shield her eyes from the incoming wave of seawater.

“Not bad.“ the tigress admits, wiping theremaining saltwater from her face and then raising her hands above the water to applaud as Forrest surfaced again. She looked upon the newly created wooden structure afterward.

“You even made a ramp to go along with it. Think we could use it as a springboard?“ she commented with a slight grin.

[Bastion Sandstone]

Bastion followed Ela to the changing area where he stripped down and changed into the black trunks. He was a little glad, he was about to use his poncho as a makeshift swimsuit, but that would have dragged him down with the weight now that he thought about it.

And that's when he froze, one leg in the trunks.

Drowning. The deep dark. The Underneath. Bottomless, oxeygenless space. He shivered.

He wanted to turn back, wait on the beach for everyone to return, go back to the dorm.

...

No. He could go into the water. He'd be fine. Bastion grit his teeth and steeled himself. He put the trunks on, and stepped out. He still had his hat on.

He had missed Forrest's display, but Vlithra was talking to him with a smile on her face. Well well! He did... well, well! "You guys seemed to have made a finer spray than a tornado at an oasis. What'd I miss?"

[Ela Motley]

Ela, while halfway on her way back, did turn to look back at Bastion who...seemed to have a mild panic attack.
She had her experience with those, so she kept an eye on him, but did walk to join the others in the water.

But, maybe it was Lin rubbing off on her, that Ela got a bit of a devious idea, as she sprinted towards the water stone began to envelop her, as soon her entire body was enveloped in the substance, her steps now digging deep into the sand as she ran and then focusing all her power into her legs she leaped forward, over the entire group of people as she then kicked down with both legs thrusting herself into the water.
The resulting splash was enormous as a literal ton of mass was dunked into the water, at rapid velocity, reaching at least 30ft high and about as wide, even coming with a decently sized wave of its own.

Yet, Ela did not emerge.
As the part she had jumped into was deep enough for her to be submerged, so, instead of diving up, Ela slowly walked back to the shallower part of the water, her armor falling apart as she walked.
Soon she emerged, laughing, once her face was out of the water, the last part of her armor coming undone being her boots finally letting her float on her back as she looked to the other.
"I apologize, but I simply had to try this once."

[Forrest Waldstein]

Forrest couldn't help but grin widely as he received praise from everyone who saw his dramatic entry into the water. It was mostly to impress Vlithra, but it seemed that everyone thought it was cool. Treading water, Forrest had to reply to all the praise he had just received from the group.

"Thanks!" Forrest replied to Ethan.

"Oh yeah, definitely!" he responded to Aster's suggestion with an eager smile.

"Yeah, I'll keep the ramp around!" Forrest added excitedly at Vlithra's suggestion. It seemed his plan had worked! This was a good sign, and hopefully this streak of luck would stick around.

By now, Bastion made his way back to the beach, wondering what he had just missed.

"Just made a ramp, wanna try it out?" he asked Bastion.

Just then, Ela made her way to the water, stone surrounding her whole body as she leapt into the air and made a gigantic splash upon entry. The colossal waves pushed Forrest and the others away from the epicenter of the mini tsunami Ela created. Forrest was able to resurface not long after the waves threatened to swallow him up. Although initially worried for Ela when she didn't resurface immediately, his worries were put to rest when Ela finally came floating to the surface.

[Ethan Sagol]

I'm glad it's shallow enough to stand in here, a bemused Ethan thought to himself as Ela created a torrent of water with her own leap. He looked over at the ramp, grinning as an idea formed.

"Guess it's my turn," he said as he trudged up the beach, giving himself enough room for a run-up.

After taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, he ran up the beach, crested the ramp, and abruptly vanished just as he was about to leap off into the water. At the same instant, a splash that was much less impressive than the one Ela had made raised up from the middle of the group. After a few seconds, his head surfaced a few yards further out than Forrest. "Ta-da!" he called, a wide smile on his face as he raised his arms above his head in triumph.

[Asterion Khryseos]

Every jump had Aster cheering loudly, and throwing his arms up in celebration of their apparent enthusiasm. He paid no attention tot he fact that his doing so flung water everywhere, even when it splashed into his own face, soaking his eyes and stinging his nose. Whether he was ignoring the discomfort, or was simply too involved and oblivious to notice the fact, was anyone's guess. Regardless of which it was, he was quick to close the distance once everyone was in the water, drenched and gleaming in the sun's unfettered glare.
"So, what we do now?" He asked, shaking his hair dry like a dog. "How about a game? There's gotta be something we can all play in here!"