Chapter Text
At long last, Prowl tumbled free of the rip current. Exhausted from fighting it, he let himself drift to the ocean floor where he laid still, surrounded by vast, open emptiness. There was no light this far below the surface; he’d had a lantern, but it had been ripped from his hand by the current, lost in the darkness just like he was.
Fortunately, he wasn’t lost alone. “Jazz?”
The sound rippled out through the water, dissipating until Prowl could no longer hear it. He didn’t hear a response either. Maybe Jazz was still stuck in the current? They had been together when it had caught them unawares, but that was no guarantee he was close by now. Prowl pushed himself up and called again, louder this time. “Jazz?”
Nothing. Jazz would be looking for him, Prowl was sure of that. The deepsea native knew that Prowl wasn’t fully used to navigating in three dimensions, let alone without sight. He just needed to wait for him, to let Jazz know where he was so he could get them both back where they belonged. Calling was one way, but another was movement. Prowl flicked his fins, floating up far enough to give his tail room to move without taking the ocean floor out of reach. He felt along the bottom, tapping with his fingers and using the occasional click to begin forming an idea of what was around him. Thick, silty sand spread out around him in rounded ridges, shaped by the currents that flowed over them. Prowl wasn’t the only piece of detritus that had been deposited here, he discovered, and he began digging up the other objects he came across to see if he could identify them.
The banged up sheet of metal might have come from a ship.
The slimy but solid strips could be wood.
The spiral shell had definitely been something’s home at one point, though it was cracked and empty now.
“~l~~ll~~lll~~ll~?”
“Jazz?” Prowl pulsed his EM field, searching for another in the water. “You where?”
“~~wll~!” The sounds coalesced into words, not all of which Prowl understood. “Where ąཞɛ you~?”
“Here! Am here.”
“~~hear~you ~~ʝųʂɬ stay~where you~ąཞɛ!”
Prowl felt Jazz come into range. The water moved around him before Jazz touched him, and combined with the familiar EM field, Prowl managed not to flinch. “Am fine.”
“I’m ʂơཞཞყ, ɬɧɛ water got fast ąƖƖ ơʄ ą sudden.” Jazz wrapped his arms around Prowl’s shoulders from behind, his preferred version of a hug. “You'ཞɛ not hurt, ąཞɛ you?”
“Not hurt,” Prowl repeated confidently. Just lost. “Where here? How go back?”
“That way.” A tap on his left shoulder indicated the direction. “You want ɬơ go back now or ƙɛɛ℘ exploreıŋɠ? ı know where ῳɛ ąཞɛ, ąŋɖ there'ʂ ą ƖąŋɖʄąƖƖ close ცყ.”
It took a moment before Prowl was able to answer, still struggling with the language. What he wouldn’t give for a book to study it from! But the people of the deepsea didn’t know what it meant to teach a language apart from growing up with it, which meant being patient with both them and himself. He was doing his best!
“Aww, ῳɛཞɛ you scared? You ɖıɖ good you ƙŋơῳ.”
“Not scared!” Jazz was still hugging him. Prowl rotated his tail to spin himself around so he could wrap his arms around Jazz too. “Not scared now.” He had been, but he was proud that he hadn’t panicked, and he’d been enjoying his minor explorations before Jazz found him. Whatever this ƖąŋɖʄąƖƖ was, he wanted to “see” it. “Want explore laendfaal.”
“Landfall.” Jazz nuzzled his helm crest, then gently broke their embrace. Prowl could feel his arm nearby, hand outstretched in offer. “ɖơ you need ą hand followıŋɠ me?”
Prowl took Jazz’s hand and squeezed, then let go as he shook his head. “No. Can follow fine.”
The clicks of Jazz’s laughter made him smile. “Yes you can!” He beckoned with his hand instead. “Come ơŋ! Ɩɛɬ'ʂ see what treasureʂ ῳɛ can ɖıɠ ų℘! ɱąყცɛ ῳɛ'ƖƖ find youཞ ℘ųʑʑƖɛ pieces.”
Once again they set off together, swimming a little less blindly into the dark.