The Learning Pool (Private with Family)

Delphin snoozed in his small nest, the sound of water filling his ears. He was packed in close with his siblings, and to his right was Arkhor, his father. Near his home, was a lagoon. A clear, calm and deep lagoon. It was full of fish, and the occasional seal. Delphin called it the Learning Pool. The Learning Pool was a perfect place for a small dragon to practise swimming, with no currents, it was still and calm, and most importantly warm. It was deep, perfect for diving, and the fish in it gave opportunities for hunting practise. The little blue SeaWing loved it, and as the only hatchling in his clutch with fins, he was very much so more advanced than his sisters, in swimming with speed.

Delphin awoke, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Birdsong filled the air, and sunlight pushed it's way into the cave. "Dad! Wake up! You promised to show me the pool properly!" he whispered as he clambered onto Arkhor, tugging on his wings. Delphin stretched out his toes and flexed the spines on his back to reveal webbing, and fanned out his tail, before sitting impatiently, staring at his father with yellow eyes.

It was an early morning, with Delphin awaking him as he gained his bearings, giving off a yawn with a slight mumbled speak "Al..Alright.. give me a minute" as he opened his eyes, squinting from the bright sunlight peaking into the den. Glancing towards Ocean he noticed she was still asleep, nuzzling her side slightly, "I'm gona take him to the lagoon... you get some rest" Pulling himself on his feet, glancing back towards the hatchling "Alright keep quiet its still early." he whispered.

Taking soft steps out of the den, he headed towards the lagoon, clearly Delphin wanted to spend more time in the water. Since Ark was busy most of the time with helping out Shine he did have very little free time, this did sadden him but with Atlas leaving it has hit the tribe hard. Within a few minutes they arrived at the pool, giving him a smile "What did you want to do first?" as he slowly entered the warm waters.

He muffled a squeal of excitement as he raced ahead of Arkhor, stopping just before the water. He slipped into the warmth of the pool, rolling onto his back. "Can we practise fishing?" he asked, and paddled a little on his back. He could hear voices, saying "Swim, Swim! The Dragons!" but chose to ignore them, but looked evidently confused.

Creeped out, he paddled to the protective form of his father, staring at the fish below him, as they zipped around in fear of the two predators. Creepy. Must be going mental. he joked to himself, before glancing up to his dad. "I've just heard voices, telling me or something to swim?" he explained, utterly bemused.

Ark smiled when he responded with fishing, evidently he was exited. "Sure Delp, we can start with fishing." as he watched him look confused he was curious, something must be wrong he thought as Delphin returned to his side. "Hey? whats wrong?" he spoke with a saddened look on his face, nuzzling him with his snout. Soon Delphin replied about hearing voices, this made Ark slightly confused. Within moments he came to realize then this might be his power, he could understand sea life. It was also possible that he could control them too. Ark stroked his wet paw over his head, "Don't worry... I think you might have found your hidden power" he smiled "it could be the sea life your hearing, since thats one of my powers."

Looking to easy the tension he splashed Delphin with his tail, "Lets start... anything you catch here feel free to eat, as much as you want. Want me to show you?"

He took a pause, before exclaiming "Awesome!" he looked rather excited, and shook his head. "I'll try one first." he chimed, as he'd already been thinking about fishing, and had many untried methods. First, he flapped his small wings, lifting into the air. The clear water made it very easy to fish, and he dove in snatching a fish in his jaws.

Unfortunately, Delphin had never bit a live fish before, and the little silver snack went flying around the pool. In a chain reaction, so did the whole shoal, small as it was. They swam around him in a speeding circle, and if he hadn't of had gills, he'd of drowned by now. "Destroy the dragon, destroy the dragon!" they chanted in their strange voices. What's going on? he thought to himself, not bothered at all as the fish closed in on him. "Stop!" he commanded, and in an instant, they halted in their positions. He snatched a particularly large one and swam to the surface.

Ark on looked as Delp zipped towards a shoal, smiling from his eagerness it wasn't long before he returned to the surface, noticing he seemed to stop the fish below, smirking he responded "I see your using your power, but wheres the fun in that" he chuckled. Creeping up beside Delp, giving him a tail splash. "Go on, I want to see you catch them"

Ark didn't really mind him using his power, but he needed to learn how to catch them without using his power. After all it did provide skills, which was what it was all about not just simply catching your food.

(( I guess I can join this? I'm Oceana (Ark, you already know that), Delphin , your mother.))

Oceana woke up with a start and immediatly wanted to go back to sleep. Realizing that her mate wasn't there and neither her son, she went out to investigate. Hearing some laughter near the small pool in their den, she half walked, half trudged herself across the den with her tail sagging. Arriving at her destination, which felt really long to her even though it was across the room, she peeked out to see Ark and Delphin playing at the pool. Oceana figured out that he was trying to swim. "Good morning. Or is it afternoon? Anyways, Ark, you teaching Delphin how to swim? Can I help?"

Delphin heard his mother's voice. "Hi! I'm learning to hunt!" he replied, before submerging once again. Slowly, he trawled the pool. These little fish had all but disappeared. Confused, he sunk himself to the floor, walking along the sand watching as crabs and plaice sunk into the sand before him. All he needed was a flash of silver scales, but, there were none.

He drifted up to the surface, shaking the water droplets out of his eyes. "I can't see them!" he cried out, growling to himself. The pool life returned to normal, now that the apparent danger was gone. "How can I find them, dad?" he asked, looking between his dad, and his half asleep mother.

Ark chuckled, gazing towards Ocean he replied "Sure, you don't have to ask, after all hes your son too" soon after Delp sank back down, looking to catch another but to no avail, giving him a smile "You have to be fast and quiet, sometimes it takes time." then nodding towards the life below, "See? remember your the hunter, so of course their going to hide and run. Go and have another go" turning back towards Ocean "Come on, its warm" he smirked

He gave a nod, and sped back down. The fish were unaware, and were busy feeding. Snap! His jaws locked onto one, and this time his serrated teeth locked onto it. Yes! he thought to himself, and swam to the surface, bursting out of the water wings outstretched. Shakily, he flapped down onto the sand. The salmon leaped up and down, but a claw soon stopped that. "That was so cool! I didn't even know how to do that, but I did it!" he cried, looking between his two parents with very high energy levels. Good luck getting him to sleep tonight.

"What's a power? Delph asked his parents a few minutes later as he tucked into his food.

Watched as Delp successfully caught a fish with his jaws, smiling as he returned to the surface, "Well done Delp, see its not that hard" glancing back over to Ocean he smirked "Won't be long before hes better than ya" chuckling slightly, then turning back towards Delp he replied "Well, a power is like an ability, for example you can talk to sea life and control them. Your unique Delp very few have powers"

Oceana watched on the side looking with curiousity and amusement as she watched Delphin tried to hunt. Of course, Oceana could've helped as well, but she wanted to see how Arkhor coached. Finally, after a few minutes, Delphin caught a salmon. "Nice job Delp. You make for a very good tracker. Another hunting technique that my friend Atlantis taught me was a vertical attack. Want me to show you what it is?"

"That's pretty cool, I guess. " he said, before turning to the sound of his mother's voice. He liked the sound of Tracker. "What is a tracker, exactly?" he questioned. He'd heard the name Atlantis before, too, but not sure where. He must be a leader or something. He gestured to show him.

In the sunlight, his blue scales danced and sparkled, mimicking the steady bob of waves.

Glancing towards Ocean with a curious look on his face he smirked "Hey that would be good" then turning backs towards Delp as his tail curled in the water, "A Tracker is a role in the tribe, your mother is an elite tracker, they are the main hunters and scouts" he replied with a smile

"Yup! I'm a tracker. And why elite? I train the newcoming trainees that want to become trackers. By the way Ark, do I get to train one of my hatchlings if one of them wants to become a tracker?" Oceana asked hopefully. It would have been fun to do that. Then she looked at Delphin again, "Oh! A vertical attack. As what I remember of what Atlas told me, you just hunt vertically. Simple!"

Delph was impressed. "Cool. I'll try to hunt. He lifted off into the air, hovering ever so slightly over the pool. His eyes swept the pool for something tasty. Crab, that'll do. Delph then plummeted to the sandy bed of the pool, and grabbed the grab. It's pincers couldn't penetrate the scales on him, so, he was perfectly safe. "Put me down, son!" the crab shouted at him. He put it down, dropped it to be precise, onto a rock, which broke it's shell.

Glancing over towards Ocean, "Of course you can, after all your a better hunter than me" turning back towards Delp he watched as he dived into the calm waters, moments later surfacing with a crab in his paws, chuckling slightly "Looks like his getting the hang of it, a natural" returning towards Ocean, pulled at her paw, "Come on.." as he gave her a hug when she entered the pool.

He swam around slowly in the warming waters, and climbed up onto a rock, on the side of the lagoon. From this viewpoint, he saw the ocean. It was a beautiful day. The water was a clear blue colour, and birds skimmed the waves, which were calm and soft. The smell of salt teased his attuned nose, and he turned to his parents. "When can we swim in the sea?" he asked, and dived headfirst into the water, only to resurface by Oceana and Arkhor.

Delph smiled, at the two dragons before him, his grin cheesy and wide. "Pleaaaaseee?" he asked in a sing-song voice.

Turning back towards Delp as he surfaced he smiled, giving a slight chuckle. "Sure, but you can't stray to far from us" he replied as he stroked Delp's forehead. "Alright come on, Ocean you coming?" he asked as he started to exit the pool, water dripping off his scales and paws. Then gesturing towards the little one with his tail, allowing him to climb onto his back.

He leapt excitedly upward, laying down gently, his heart beating madly. Wow! he thought to himself. Delph looked at Oceana expectantly. "Come on, you'll love it!" he chirped happily, ready to launch into the salty water already.

He'd never been in the ocean, but rumour has it that all sorts of huge things live in there! Bigger than his parents, bigger than EarthWings! Well, maybe not that big, but pretty big. "I'm so excited!" he exclaimed, as if it wasn't visible at-all.

Oceana nodded, "Sure, I'll tag along!" She dove into the seas and began to swam out into the open. She opened her mouth and began to speak to Delphin, "Delph, the the sea is a wonderful place, and quite beautiful, but you must know that you can get lost easily or you may get hurt. I was hurt once by a shark, but luckily, Ark was there to save me." She shuddered at the memory and then turned around to swim out farther into the open.

Ark carefully entering the calm waters with Delp on his back, giving Ocean a smile as he followed, and reminded Delp about the dangers. Ark frowned slightly with her mentioning that shark attack, which actually made them closer leading to them becoming mates. Pausing for a moment he grabbed Delp with his tail easing him down to the cool waters, as the water splashed against his face, Ark smirked "Hey remember what I said, don't stray to far" patting him on the head with his paw, and lowered his snout to nuzzle him. Glancing back towards Ocean he nuzzled her too, and whispered in her ear "Hey, hes a good swimmer you should totally train him to be a tracker"

Something dark started moving through the water. Something dark, and very big. It had to be at least 8.5 meters tall, and about fourteen meters long. The creature swam through the water towards Delphin, looking menacing. It was deep underwater, and it had a narrow, slim tail. It looked like a shark was approaching the small, tiny Delphin. Or at least that's what it appeared like.

"Swim away! Swim away!" said the fishes.

(The creature's Ray, btw XD Hope you don't mind me playing the fishes for you, Delphin. )

Delph heard a low noise... Swim away? He kicked his tail into action, and screamed at his dad to run. Away he went, after his mother. "I hate the sea. I hate the sea!" he yelled as he caught up with his mother. I know what I'll do!

Fish, attack! he yelled inside his mind. "Aye, aye Captain!" they chorused, and every single fish that had ran attacked his older sister.

Shortly after speaking to Ocean, it wasn't long before Delp started screaming towards them. Glancing back towards him as he scurried over, noticing that Delp commanded the sea life below to attack the creature, dropping his head to get a clear vision. Realizing it was Rayla, with just a simple thought he seized the attack. Chuckling he stroked Delp's forehead "Its alright Delp, its only Rayla" giving a smile he used his tail to reveal Rayla by lifting her to the surface.