Cobalt Premium: Return from -45M

Original line art: https://www.patreon.com/posts/cobalt-plus-aya-14886760

Not sure if it will sit well with Nathan's version of the story, but here it is - this will also go on our DA page, celebrating the lifting of the ban!

https://wave-lens.deviantart.com/art/Return-from-45m-712356401?ga_submit_new=10%3A1509313455&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1&ga_recent=1

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Breathholding is best.

Chihaya didn't tell anyone, but holding breath was what seemed to have intrigued her the most since meeting her Cousin Aya and training and exercising herself into an adept free diver. Of course, she loved the beauty and serenity of the sea and its colorful species, but only through breath-holding – sealing shut her constantly wheezing, ventilating lungs and daring herself through the limited time that her body could sustain – she thought she could be one with the ocean. And Chihaya actually enjoyed the strain and suffocation that come from the lack of air. Even after a prolonged hold, Chihaya read, there was still a plenty amount of oxygen within your lungs, and what matters is if practice and self-control could make you withstand the pain. So she would embrace it, to the point that her lungs would jolt and start uncontrollable spasms, in a desperate attempt to draw in air and keep their master alive. Then she would finally let herself rise. Sometimes by the time she surfaced her lungs would be all flooded, and it took her a long time to cough them out, but that was okay. The joy and liberation of breathing again, and the fulfillment of breaking her record (Chihaya usually kept her dad’s diver watch) was overwhelming.

Except that, recently, she has had to hold it even longer with Aya. The reason is two-fold: because the pair is now into checking the wreck of USS Simmons inside out, as opposed to SS Yaeyama-maru which had long been their home grounds. Simmons was 45 meters deep as opposed to Yaeyama-maru being 20, and it took much more time and expertise to swim down and through Simmons and still be comfortable. Her new friend Saki seemed to dive with no issues (she was very good), and so was Aya as she quickly adapted to the new depth and pressure. But for Chihaya, it was still a stretch – if you consider that it was 90 meters already of swimming with no air to the bottom of and back, and Chihaya took a decent time before she could even do a 100m free dive with no fins (now she could do 200+, but that was after a lot of training!). The other reason was that her swim buddy Aya was simply getting better and better and it was hard to keep up. Nowadays, dives with Aya regularly topped five minutes, even six, and surprisingly she didn’t seem to be out of breath afterwards. Sometimes Chihaya would come up to the surface, all coughing and gasping, but then was surprised to see her buddy nonchalantly climb back up onto her rubber boat, casually comb back her hair with her hands, and immediately get ready for her next dive. Chihaya was a solid competitive swimmer even before coming to the Island, and did lots of workouts and mile-runs off-time to stay in her perfect shape and maintain her cardio, but her cousin was probably too talented and her physical growth was simply making her better and stronger. On top of that, Aya had a natural sense of directions underwater – overall, water world was always murky for Chihaya, and she sometimes has had to cup her hand above her eyes into goggles and blow in air. But this would consume her precious air reserve, and still it was very easy to get lost in a wreck’s dark lower decks. More than a few times, Chihaya completely lost her way in the darkness and, panic-stricken, had to be guided out by her very able companion, much to the amusement and teasing from the latter after resurfacing. So it was imperative that Chihaya would stick with Aya. 

And so it happened just like this today. Chihaya and Aya was on the second deck of Simmons as they sought to explore all of what was inside its sunken hull. Chihaya was gently hovering with her arms, tiptoeing on the rusted steel deck, while Aya was crouching and trying to pry open a hatch to the lower engine deck. There was not too much of debris around them - meaning the ship was abandoned in an orderly manner - but the ports to the lower decks were closed shut which posed a mystery. Aya first tried out with her hands (not a good idea; underwater surfaces tend to be rugged and sharp) with no avail, and then picked and inserted a decaying component of rodwork into a tiny opening. All these were done in silence, after a dive of four minutes and still counting. Chihaya looked on. She knew offering any kind of help would quickly deplete her and potentially send her into panic. Aya looked focused on her work but sometimes looked back toward Chihaya for advice – which Chihaya did not have any, as her sole goal at the moment was to just to continue on with her breath control as long as she could. Disappointed, Aya got back to addressing the hatch. If the hatch did open, Chihaya thought, would Aya go down from now? That was unthinkable for any human being but not too far-fetched for Aya. A chunk of stale air abruptly came up her throat, and Chihaya had to clutch her teeth and hold it back in. Her chest quivered and her stomach caved in, and it took a lot of willpower to kill the spasm and keep holding her breath. Good that Aya was not looking, she would certainly have teased me for this!

After what felt to be an eternity of looking-on, Aya lift her face and their eyes met. Aya seemed to be giving up now, and her face looked a bit strained. Chihaya was a bit surprised, as after minutes of self-retrained she was feeling she could go on more. But yes, they had held their breaths well over six minutes now, and it was time to for any land animal to go up for air. Aya jolted her body in her usual dophin-like swim style and Chihaya followed suit – with Aya’s soft soles almost touching her face. A couple of turns and climb-throughs and they were clear, and the water suddenly got brighter. 

The ascent was slow. The duo hardly moved their limbs and almost let themselves float since their tightly pressured lungs did not give much buoyancy. Maybe it would take another minute and a half before reaching the surface – but that was fine. Chihaya was surprised at feeling this comfortable, and was proud that she had not ushered her talented best friend to take her back. Chihaya was holding her breath, and so was Aya –with equal time spent, equal distance taken. Equal pain. Aya smiled, her pearly teeth showing, and Chihaya smiled back. No vocal chords were used, but a thousand words were exchanged in silence through the water medium. 

Chihaya was one.