Day 3: Diving
Nacre, 2 days old competitor
Synope, "trainer"
This was a bad idea, Synope knew. A really, really bad one. Unfortunately she didn't have a better one, being far more at ease on water than in it, and only diving if whatever she was on was more dangerous than whatever she was diving into.
But there was something about the 'latest recruit', a newborn snapper who'd managed to, somehow, swim onto her ship, and demand a hug while absolutely soaking wet, that made him irresistible. Baby snappers were the worst. She'd babysat a few in her time, well, supervised was a better word for it, and they were really hard to resist.
The little one was very keen on water, not so much on expending his vocabulary. So far, all she'd gotten out of him was
wa'er,
'ood, and
cuddle.
"
Da'!" He said excitedly, pointing at the pool over which a diving board stood at what Synope considered to be perilous heights. The Games were known to accommodate all breeds of dragons, but there'd never been a mention of how old a dragon had to be. Come to think of it, a smaller snapper was perhaps a little less likely to empty the pool of its content, and less expected to pirouette like a ballerina in the air. And again, Nacre was her only available competitor.
His only distinct advantage, relative size aside, was that he sort of looked like water. That and his enthusiasm. Most other competitors looked stern and focused. Strangely enough, Nacre
was focused. On the water.
"
'Iny!" He pointed out. There were colourful ripples in the pool after the competitor before him breached the surface at an angle that couldn't have been pleasant. Would the kid actually be alright?
She'd checked that he was, in fact, orphaned, before enrolling him, although she had a feeling Earlgrey would expect her to actually at least help raise him, but some snappers had joined their clan recently, and she knew they, mostly, kept to themselves and probably wouldn't mind showing the ropes, or paths, to the new recruit. Baby. Child. Whichever.
In fact, if the snapper who'd occasionally acted as her second in command came back before the end of this, he could both look after the kid and take part. Win-win for her. Maybe not for the clan, but it was only day three and she'd already reached the 'it's not about the
game, it's about the fun you have playing it' stage of her competitiveness waning.
She never 'gave up', and was really bad at admitting any kind of defeat, but she could manage her expectations. Like hoping for the cutie to come out of this not traumatised by it, although she feared that the only trauma that could come from it was him asking to go again and being told no. She was very good at telling people no, but not to baby snappers.
"
Wa'er!" Nacre exclaimed as he plunged forward. Synope winced, eyes half closed, mouth wide opened as he spun in the air, gleefully flailing in what was definitely gymnastic-adjacent fashion.
"
Cuddle?" He asked with pleading eyes as he exited the pool. Out of his limited vocabulary she'd hoped he'd ask for food, she'd kept some snacks ready and managed not to eat them all herself. They'd be a little damper than anticipated, but she doubted the snapper would mind. He was a good kid and, at that age, still smaller than her.
"
Fren'" was all he added. If anyone asked Synope why there was water on her face, she'd pretend it was from the dive.
