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Juliana's experiences with the Titans up until this point had been...dubious at best. That wasn't to say that her journey hadn't been fun and interesting, no, far from it actually, but it certainly was jarring to go up against Pokémon of such incredible size. Combine that with helping to take down a group of delinquent students, balancing that with taking the gym challenge, and staying up to par with her classes, and you had a recipe for a very tired student on your hands.
Which, she supposed, was probably a sign that she should've rested a bit more before coming out to Casseroya.
She and Arven had one more Titan to take down, and one more type of Herba Mystica to collect, the spicy kind. She honestly had no clue what was waiting for her in the lake. The northwestern area of Paldea was one she didn't have much experience with, after all, since there weren't any gyms or Team Star bases out in this direction to have drawn her attention. Despite all of that uncertainty, she was completely steadfast in completing this mission. After all, Mabosstiff was so close to being alright again, and the idea of Arven being able to relax a little after pursuing this goal for so long pushed her to her feet as she called out Koraidon, who let out a quiet "Agiaaa," before allowing her to mount it and stepping into the water.
The lake was massive, Juliana realized; much bigger than she'd imagined it, anyway. The dark blues and browns of the water were rippled by Koraidon's flailing limbs in the water. Juliana chuckled. "I know you only recently learned how to swim again, but you really do look silly," She said. Koraidon huffed and doubled down on swimming as she guided it along, passing by several Dratini and Dragonair as she did. Families of Marill and Slowpoke also drifted by the two of them at their own pace.
As she left the shoreline of the lake, a familiar "Ro-to-to-to..." drew her attention to her Rotom phone, which floated itself out of her pocket to sit in front of her. As she accepted the call, Arven's excitable cadence came through. "Little buddy!" He said, not even bothering with a hello, "You're near a Titan, right?"
"Yep, last one!" She said, "You ready for this?"
"Ready as I can be, I suppose!" He said. Juliana could hear him trying and failing to be more optimistic about the situation. "I'll be there in a few minutes. Keep an eye out for the Titan!" Before she even had the chance to say goodbye, Arven hung up the call, and she sighed. He was one of the most impatient people she knew, which was saying something, because she also knew Nemona. As if to emphasize her point, a Veluza zipped past her, startling her and nearly sending her flying off of Koraidon's back. Koraidon looked back at her with its big, round eyes, and she rubbed its forehead to comfort it. "Aww, don't worry, buddy. I'm ok." She said. It was nice having Koraidon to do this with her, I'd she was honest with herself. She was never the strongest swimmer, after all, and Koraidon seemed to love being in the water, so it was a win-win.
Koraidon stepped onto the shore of a small island near the center of the lake, where Juliana dismounted it, letting her shoes sink into the shoreline, making her wince a little bit as she felt and heard the squelch of wet, soggy sand. It was late afternoon, and the reflection of the sun on the water cast a golden glow around the area, which was undeniably pretty. She considered taking out her Rotom phone to get a picture, but that could wait until they'd found the Herba Mystica, she thought.
As she stepped off of the tiny beach, Koraidon beside her, she was greeted with a curious sight; a ton of Pokémon were ashore, flopping around. There had to be at least a dozen of them, little fish-like creatures that came in various colors. At first she worried that they were stranded, but they didn't seem to be too distressed. Returning Koraidon to its ball, she walked over to one of the Pokémon, taking a closer look at it, to which she had to suppress a laugh. Upon closer inspection, this Pokémon looked more and more like food than a creature. With its orange colored skin and the small white protrusions on its underbelly, this Pokémon looked remarkably like a serving of sushi.
"Sure, I'll bite," She said to herself, taking out Meowscarada's Pokéball. "I'll need it for the dex, anyways."
Letting Meowscarada out was basically an open invitation for the creature to fight him, and it responded accordingly by immediately shooting out a jet of water at them. Meowscarada nimbly jumped out of the way of the water, and Juliana ducked to the side to avoid getting splashed as well. "Nice job, Clementine!" She encouraged. "Hit it with a Night Slash!" Clementine smiled her toothy cat-like grin at her before jumping into action and using his claws to cut at the sushi-mon, which let out a little cry, looking significantly weaker than before. "Thank you, Clem." She said, reaching into her bag to pull out an Ultra Ball. She assumed that it would be too much time and effort to catch this one in anything less. She lobbed the ball at the sushi-mon, which widened its eyes as the capsule opened up and pulled it inside. It shook for one, two, three times, before closing entirely. "Phew," She said, "Thanks Clem. Now...let's see what you are..."
Her Pokédex registered the Pokémon as Tatsugiri, the Mimicry Pokémon. Made sense, she thought, considering how much it looked like a tasty meal. The white protrusion on its underbelly was actually a throat sac, she realized, making it look even more like sushi when inflated. She laughed. What a strange Pokémon.
Still, though, this did little to help her look for the Titan. The lake was huge, and this island was one of many, though she thought it was probably the most curious if it housed the Tatsugiri. Speaking of the Tatsugiri, they were behaving strangely—well, stranger than they were acting before. She didn’t really have a clue of what they actually acted like. Some of them had begun…crying? Vocalising? She wasn’t exactly sure what the purpose was, so she couldn’t put a verb onto it. Soon enough, the entire island was rife with the sound of sushi, so loud that Juliana could barely think straight.
She winced and covered her ears, walking over to some of the creatures, which all looked incredibly sad and forlorn. “Hey,” She attempted to soothe as she knelt beside them, “What’s wrong?” She got no answer except for more crying. She didn’t know what she had been expecting, to be honest. Rising to her feet, Juliana began checking the rest of the Tatsugiri, which all responded the same way.
Frustrated, she walked farther up the island, up a small hill, to where she spotted a Tatsugiri that looked…different. Not by much, mind you, it was just a bit bigger than the others, and its cries much, much louder. “You,” She said, once again to no one but herself, “This is your doing, isn’t it.” The Tatsugiri cried even louder, if that were possible, as if taunting her to come closer. And though she would’ve loved to say she was above being taunted by a fish, she was not. She adjusted her hat with a huff, fixing her braid, and marched over to the offending Tatsugiri.
“Taitaaan,” It cried.
“‘Tai-tan?’” She repeated. Oh, but that sounded like—
Before she could make the connection in her mind, it was made for her when an absolutely massive fish burst out of the water at her, splashing her with water and eating the Tatsugiri, much to her horror. She jumped backwards, just out of range of the fish’s mouth, lest she be eaten as well. Well, she supposed she had her Titan, didn’t she?
The Pokémon was huge, like all of the Titans before it had been. With a large gaping mouth and pectoral fins the size of Koraidon, she knew this thing was not to be trifled with. It looked and behaved like a water-type, though, so she quickly grabbed for Clementine’s Pokéball, back in her bag, and sent him out. If he’d looked confident before, he looked positively despondent now that he’d seen what he was up against. “You can do it, Clem,” Juliana praised, “We’ll get lots of sandwiches and treats later, I promise.” The finicky Magician Pokemon scowled, but acquiesced as he fell into his battle stance.
The fight didn’t take long, as she suspected, since Clementine’s powerful grass type moves made quick work of the fish. As she had scrambled for her Pokédex, she’d been able to identify it as Dondozo, the Big Catfish Pokémon. Thanks Pokédex, she thought, it sure is a big catfish. The Titan Dondozo bellowed loudly at her before sinking beneath the water again and swimming off towards a far-off rock face, where she could assume the Herba Mystica was. She sighed, attempting to wring out her hair and hat as she returned Clementine to his Pokéball. “Well this sucks,” She said. At least with the other Titans, she hadn’t gotten wet. Sure, a few scrapes and bruises here and there, but not wet .
There was nothing left to do but follow Dondozo up to where it had swam off to. She released Koraidon from its ball, where—in a rare instance of cheek from it—it cocked its head at her and snickered a bit. “Alright, very funny, I’m soaked. Let’s get moving, you big lug.” Smug and satisfied with itself, Koraidon allowed Juliana to mount it and stepped back into the water. The late afternoon sun was beginning to set as evening crept up on her. It was beginning to get a little cold, and she regretted coming out this way before changing into her uniform that had pants instead of shorts. She’d been doing some training out by Alfornada and it had been pretty hot down there, though she supposed that only made sense for Southern Paldea. After all, at home, it almost never dipped below 60 degrees.
The rock face she’d seen Dondozo swim towards was coming closer into view. She could see a wet, rocky outcropping she could stand on, which she was thankful for. She didn’t exactly want to have to ride on Koraidon in the water while fighting the creature, not to mention her Pokémon, and even further not to mention Arven, who didn’t have a Pokémon to ride on in the first place. Now that she thought about it, Arven was exceedingly late this time around, and she was beginning to get a little peeved. Why was she the only one getting wet here?
Koraidon hopped up onto the rocky outcropping and Juliana stepped off, further wiping herself down of water and returning it to its ball. Her soggy hat drooping down in front of her face did nothing to improve her mood, and resolved that after defeating the Titan she would splash Arven so that he knew how it felt. Jokes aside, she took note of her surroundings again, shocked when she saw, instead of Dondozo, the same large, orange Tatsugiri that she thought had gotten eaten by it! She scowled. She’d been tricked by a fish . That definitely wasn’t the best feeling.
She walked up to it, releasing Clementine from his ball again, who definitely wasn’t happy with her this time as he recoiled at the feeling of water around his paws. “I know, I know,” Juliana said, taking in the sight of the very angry kitty in front of her, “I don’t like being wet either. Arven and I will make you a really, really nice sandwich for you later to make up for it.” She pleaded to her Pokémon with her eyes, knowing she really would have to make it up to him later for all she’d put him through today. He sniffed, but, same as before, dropped into a battle stance just as the ground shook beneath them.
Dondozo was back, and it was back with a vengeance it seemed.
The catfish’s large tail emerged from the water and swung at the wall in front of Tatsugiri, caving it in completely, similarly to how she’d seen other Titans open up the caverns that contained their respective Herba Mystica, and Juliana covered her eyes and ducked to avoid the incoming wave of dust and debris. This time, though, Dondozo did not immediately attempt to gorge itself on the legendary herb. Instead, Tatsugiri leisurely wandered inside the cavern, gobbling up some of the spicy substance before coming back out back onto the outcropping. Juliana—and Clementine—could do nothing but stand in stunned silence, because honestly, this was weird.
“Juliana!” Arven’s voice from behind her surprised her and made her stand up straight. “Did you find the Titan?!”
“Uh, yeah?!” Juliana said. “Why don’t you look in front of us!” She said. Arven’s brow furrowed as he turned away from her and looked out to where she’d pointed. “AH!” He said, jumping back a step as he took in the sight of Dondozo and Tatsugiri, to which Juliana had to hold back a snort. “So THAT’S the False Dragon Titan?” He said.
“I guess so,” Juliana said. “Though it doesn’t really look like much of a dragon to me.”
“Gonna have to agree with you on that one, little buddy. Are you ok? You look…”
“I’m fine, I know I look ragged, I got splashed by that thing.”
Arven backpedaled faster than a professional cyclist. “Ah, gotcha. O-Oh, uh, I wasn’t trying to say you looked bad, you look—I just—” Juliana didn’t know why, but the words brought heat to her face, and she quickly turned away from him before he could see, desperately hoping that her wet hat offered any sort of cover. “ In any case , we should get to work,” She said. “A-Agreed!” Arven said, definitely embarrassed. Juliana had to admit that it was pretty cute.
Just as soon as they’d finished their short conversation, Dondozo went ahead and did something that was familiar to Juliana, but not familiar to Arven as it swallowed up the Tatsugiri in front of them.
“Well yeesh, I didn’t come out here expecting to see the food chain at work, but I guess that’s what you get when you watch Pokémon in the wild, huh.” Dondozo bellowed at the pair as Arven fumbled for a Pokéball. “Ok partner, let's get this over with! Mabosstiff is waiting!” He sent out his Greedent, who, prompted with a battle, swallowed whatever berries it had in its mouth and brought up its fists to fight.
Clementine and Arven’s Greedent made a great pair, with Greedent's Bullet Seed cover fire making plenty of openings for Clementine to slash at the False Dragon with its claws. Juliana spared a glance over at Arven, who was smiling that wide smile of his as he cheered Greedent on. She couldn’t help but smile in return.
In no time at all, the Dondozo was backing off, the same way that it had before. Arven turned, triumphantly, away from the water to look at Juliana. “Alright, well, now that the Titan’s taken care of, next up is the Herba Mystica.” He said, looking towards the cave. However, a sound that was familiar to Juliana but not quite so for Arven rang out from behind the two of them. Juliana scowled and turned around.
“Woah, the little sushi guy escaped from becoming the Titan’s lunch?” Arven said, looking at the orange fish, who was crying again, just like on the island from before.
“Taitaaaaan!”
“That’s enough from you!” Juliana said, stomping forward, sending water splashing up around her feet, “Fool me once, fish, shame on me. Fool me twice…I’ve been fooled by a fish twice, and that makes me mad!”
Tatsugiri, the same way that Dondozo had a few minutes before, began to glow with the strange red energy of the spicy Herba Mystica, and Juliana quickly realized she’d made a mistake by walking up to it. After all, despite being tiny like it was, it was still a Titan Pokemon, apparently, and that came with the nice herb-y perks.
“Juliana!”
Arven’s voice from behind her snapped her out of her thoughts as she felt arms circle around her from behind and swivel her out of the way of a powerful jet of water as it appeared just where she’d been standing mere moments before. “What’s the matter? Are you ok?!” Arven asked as he quickly backed away from Tatsugiri, never letting go of Juliana. “We can’t be that out of it when dealing with Titans!” As Juliana’s rational mind caught up with her adrenaline-addled body, she looked up at Arven, who was still holding her. “Y-Yeah, sorry,” She said, turning away again to hide her face. Shit. “I got distracted, I guess…”
It seemed that Arven also seemed to realize that he was still holding her, and he quickly set her down on the ground. “Well, make sure you stay sharp!” He said, awkwardly patting her on the shoulder, “Don’t want my little buddy getting hurt!” And for the first time since meeting him, Juliana resented that nickname.
Tatsugiri wasn’t content with letting the two have a moment about what had just happened, as it roared out its annoying voice again. Greedent and Clementine stepped forward in front of their trainers, ready to fight. “Alright gang, let’s do this!” Arven said. “Titan or not, here we come!”
Tatsugiri was more difficult to take care of, since it didn’t seem to take as much damage from the grass-type attacks that they threw at it. Understandable, since as Juliana thought back to her Pokédex entry of it, it was apparently part dragon-type. It blasted out all sorts of powerful attacks at them, which was beginning to take their toll on the Pokémon and their trainers. “Arven, we need to end this soon,” Juliana said, panting from avoiding another stray jet of water sent her way, “I’m not sure how much more Greedent and Clem can take.”
Arven nodded at her, looking tired himself, before turning to his Pokémon. “Greedent, let’s give it all we have! Just a little bit more!” He said. Juliana did the same for her Meowscarada, shouting out encouragement in the form of offering more treats for him later. Seeming to take some energy from their trainers, the two fighting Pokémon doubled down on finishing the battle.
“Alright, Clem, use Flower Trick!” Clementine’s face took on a devilish smile as it began its ‘performance’, waiting for the exact right moment to drop the rigged bouquet onto Tatsugiri. Greedent also seemed to participate, using Tail Whip in an attempt to further distract the second of the two False Dragons. The bouquet dropped as Tatsugiri was fixated on Greedent’s shaking tail, and the powerful flare of energy from it seemed to completely stagger Tatsugiri, who, finally, mercifully , was completely quiet.
“Oh thank Arceus,” Juliana said, feeling like she was about to fall over, “It’s over.”
“Phew, yeah, that was a toughie.” Arven said, walking over and putting a hand on her shoulder to steady her. “Seriously, though, are you ok?”
“I’ll be fine, no need to worry yourself over me,” She said, returning Clementine to his Pokéball. Arven quickly followed suit with Greedent. “I’m just glad we can get the Herba Mystica now.”
As if on cue, though, there was a loud, familiar bellowing from beneath them. Tatsugiri had the audacity to smirk, which is something that Juliana thought it would be impossible for it to do, as the Dondozo from before, which she’d thought had run off for good, swam up from below the surface, rocketing out of the water and into the sky. Juliana’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening.
“Arven, brace—!”
The sound of Dondozo’s breach and subsequent re-entry of the water was almost deafening. More concerningly, though, was the force of the veritable mini-tsunami that was created by it. Juliana grasped for Arven’s hand, hoping to find something to hold onto, but the wave hit before she had a chance to.
The wave slammed into the rocky outcropping they were standing on and exploded outwards, separating the two of them as all of the air that Juliana had been hoping to hold onto was forcibly removed from her lungs as she was carried by the water into the lake proper, separating her not only from Arven, but her bag and Pokeballs as well.
She’d never been the strongest swimmer. It had been a relief at the time to know that Koraidon was able to swim, but there was no Koraidon with her to help her as she frantically kicked her legs to try and reach the surface. But she was so tired. So, so tired. And as her movements slowed and her eyes began to shut, the emotion that took a hold of her was a deadly calm.
Arven picked himself up from where the Dondozo’s wave had landed him, sputtering and gasping for air. What a way to end a battle, he thought, attacking them like that. Sometimes the Titans could be particularly vicious. He patted himself down, making sure all of his belongings were still with him. His backpack, soaked through, landed a few feet away from him. Leaning down to pick it up, he groaned as soreness lanced through his whole body. That really hurt. He quit trying to pick it up for a moment as he looked around instead, searching for Juliana. Upon first glance, she was nowhere to be found, which immediately made his body tense up.
“Little buddy?” He said, standing to his feet and calling out around him. “...Juliana?” No response. He spotted her backpack a few feet away from where the two of them had been standing when they’d been attacked, and hurried over to it. All of her Pokéballs, including Koraidon’s, were stowed neatly inside, but she was nowhere to be found, and he was beginning to get worried.
He looked around again, hoping that maybe she’d just gone up the nearby hill to dry off or something…though he knew she would never leave her Pokéballs behind like this to do that. As he spun around, something barely caught his eye. It was in the water, a decent distance from the outcropping’s shoreline.
A blue hat.
Arven’s eyes went wide as he went through the motions in his head. Wave hits the shoreline, he’s sent flying backwards, she’s sent…
Panic seized him like a Seviper curling around its prey. Without thinking on it any further, he lept into the water.
The water stung at his eyes as he swam, and his already sore body definitely wouldn’t appreciate the amount of effort it took him to swim like this, but it hardly mattered to him. The water was cold , which only further made him worry. She was still wearing the school’s summer uniform. It must be freezing out here for her, let alone being underwater. He couldn’t see her. How deep had she sunk while he had just sat around?
Would any of this have happened if he hadn’t asked her to help him?
After swimming for what felt like hours but must’ve only been a few seconds, he finally spotted a shock of white—her uniform shirt—in the endless deep blue that surrounded them. He kicked harder, praying to anything listening that he could reach her. He reached out, grabbing her around the waist with one arm and using the other to wrap around her shoulder as he kicked straight up towards the surface, his own lungs beginning to burn and scream at him to get out, get out, get out—
His head breached the surface, and he coughed, the sound echoing out around the otherwise peaceful lake.
Breathe.
He could almost hear his mother’s voice telling him to prioritize survival, and though the thought of her pissed him off, he knew in his mind that that was the right thing to do. He swam to the outcropping, the shoreline, hastily hoisting Juliana up onto the side and pulling himself up beside her.
She looked peaceful, almost as though she were sleeping, if not for the paleness of her skin and the slight blue tinge to her lips. “Alright, we’re on shore,” He said, “Now it’s time to wake up. Please.” He said. It was nonsensical, but he couldn’t help it. “Please.”
She won’t wake up without you doing anything, you know that, Arven.
His mother’s voice, again, rang out in his mind, and he would’ve been a lot more concerned with that fact had she not, once again, been right. Hours of time in the lighthouse…so much time reading. He thought back. He knew proper CPR procedure. He did.
Hands on the chest, one hundred beats per minute rate, thirty compressions with a depth of 2 inches, two rescue breaths, repeat.
Two inches felt like a lot, especially with the size of his hands on her more petite frame, but he obeyed that pragmatic voice in his mind as she counted.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
The counts played in his mind, trying to stay on pace despite how panicked he was.
6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
He was taller than her, sure, but he’d never felt so much bigger than her than right now.
11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
What was he going to do if this didn’t work? This was his fault.
16, 17, 18, 19, 20.
She still made no signs of moving or breathing, and Arven felt himself growing a horrible pit in his stomach. Don’t go.
21, 22, 23, 24, 25.
It felt so hopeless. He continued, regardless, clinging to the hope of him being able to do something for her since she’d done so much for him. Please.
26, 27, 28, 29, 30.
Ok, ok, Thirty compressions, now rescue breaths. He knew how to do this. He knew what he was doing here. No need to panic this hard.
He tilted her head back a few inches, pinching her nose between two of his fingers and pressing his lips to hers, exhaling as hard as he could into her mouth, watching the rise and fall of her chest as his air filled her lungs. Why wasn’t this working? Why was this happening?
Despite himself knowing that it didn’t help anything, tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he started up his second round of compressions. “I’m sorry,” He said aloud. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I’m so sorry,” He thought back to the other Titans. She’d nearly gotten crushed by boulders to get to Bombirdier, nearly been gored by the weird Donphan they’d seen in the desert, and more. And she’d done it all with a smile. He couldn’t smile, not right now.
Right now, he was wishing that the two of them had never even met.
…
As despair clouded his vision and he put all of his effort and focus into his compressions, he failed to notice Juliana’s eyes opening. He was unable to not see, however, her arms coming up to push him off of her, and he nearly cried out with relief. She shoved him off of her, leaning on one arm to spit out what had to be nearly a gallon of water, coughing and choking. He fell backwards into a sitting position, dumbfounded for a moment. He’d…done something right.
Good job, Arven.
“Arven,” Juliana croaked as she sat up. His mind was brought back to the present, freed of wishful thoughts of his mother for the time being. The tears that had formed before dripped down his face freely as he looked at her. Soaking wet, tired, and looking extremely worse for wear, but alive.
“Juliana…” He breathed out, unable to hold back his fear any longer. “I thought you…” She collapsed forward onto him, and panic momentarily grabbed back onto him before he felt her arms rise up and around him. “...Thanks,” She said, “I would’ve been a goner if it weren’t for you.” A desperate sound tore itself from his throat as he hugged her back. “I’m sorry,” He said, his voice grief-stricken, “...This was all my fault. I should’ve never made you come along for this. It’s been so dangerous for you…and I hadn’t even noticed.” Too stuck on thoughts of healing Mabosstiff that he’d almost lost one of the most important people to him. To his shock, he heard a tiny laugh.
“You’re so stupid, Arven,” Juliana said. “This isn’t your fault at all.” Every instinct in him wanted to argue with that sentiment. After all, he’d watched her almost die right in front of him because she’d been with him on these adventures. As he opened his mouth to dispute, though, she continued: “I’ve been coming along with you because I want to. You haven’t been making me.” She removed herself from where she’d buried her face in his shoulder to look him in the eyes, where he was surprised such an intense expression could even exist after what she’d just been through.
“And duh, you’ve been in danger too. No way I was letting you do any of this alone. You’d be dead too if it weren’t for me.” A bewildered laugh escaped him, because she was right. “Yeah, but—”
“No buts,” She said. “This might come as a shock to you, apparently, but I care about you and Mabosstiff. I want to help you.”
Any hope he had of arguing this point further dissolved in his mouth. He couldn’t exactly tell her not to care about him. He couldn’t say that he didn’t want her to, because that would be a lie. He’d become undeniably fond of her along the way during this journey, and to hear that fondness was reciprocated made him feel…happy. Really happy.
“...Ok,” He said, “But you’re gonna have to deal with the fact that I’m gonna do my best to protect you from now on. And no buts to that either.” Juliana snorted. “I suppose I’ll have to protect you too, then. So we’re even.” He laughed. “Sure, that’s fine.”
Juliana began to attempt to rise to her feet. Arven beat her to it, holding her hand to help her up and grabbing her backpack for her. “Alright,” She said, exhausted, “Now let’s go have that sandwich.”
At the mention of a sandwich, who else but Koraidon burst out of its Pokéball.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Arven said, rolling his eyes. “Once again, the sandwiches are not supposed to be for you!”
As Arven began arguing with Koraidon, who only looked at him with its huge, sparkling eyes as if pleading for that sandwich, Juliana let her head rest on Arven’s shoulder and grabbed his hand to hold within her own. Immediately, he clammed up, and turned his face towards her. “Arven,” She said, “I know I said it before, but…thanks.”
“…I’m just glad you’re ok.” He said, that still-fading feeling of relief coloring his voice.
Ready to start their strange picnic routine, they kept their hands locked as they walked into the cave in front of them, footsteps splashing with water as they did.