Catch a Wave (Ended)

[Lux]

Riptide returned carrying another board, this one colored the same way as his body with blue and a yellow stripe on the top and the reverse colors on the bottom. As he flew to the beach he could see Aquariaa twirling the board around like it was her dance partner. Normally he'd worry about someone handling a board like that, but despite the black griffoness's quirky personality, he trusted in her.

"Well it looks like your ready to surf," Riptide said looking out at the ocean. The waves were getting a little high, but not dangerous. Thankfully the skies also looked clear so the waves had little chance of being rough from storms.

"Alright, so normally I'd be paddling out to where the waves start if there was a pony with me, but since we're both griffons we have a choice. Do you want to paddle out or fly to the sweet spot where the waves start?"

[Gerrard]

Aquaria saw her friend return and quickly snatched up the board, freezing it as she stood at attention. She saluted the male griffon with her free talon while holding back a giggle of her own.

When asked about her preference though, she quickly forgot about laughing while her mind went over the possibilities. It would be faster to fly, but then they would be done faster. Then he would leave sooner, that wouldn't be as fun! "We can paddle out like ponies, I already know how to fly, let's practice paddling. Race you to the sweet spot," she cheered in an excited manner while tucking the board under her wing and making a break for the water.

Aquaria quickly reached the water and scooped the board up in her claws while she prepared to jump. The younger hybrid leaped into the water with the board beneath her. A sickening thud filled the air as her chest slapped against the floating board roughly. A normal person would have been stunned by the impact, but she was too excited to let it phase her, the black griffoness speeding along the surface like a natural. Aquaria seemed like a novice, but it was very clear that she at least knew how to swim and paddle fast!

[Lux]

"Alright then, we'll paddle out then..." Riptide began to say when suddenly Aquaria took off into the water like a rocket! She may have been new to surfing but the griffoness could swim like a fish!

"Hey," the bright colored griffon said as he ran into the water before diving on the board, "Alright then. If you want a race, let's race!"

He began to paddle fast, breaking through where the waves crashed and further out into the ocean. To add to the speed, Riptide stretched out his wings and flapped them so that he could get more speed over each swell of the waves.

"Later," he said with a grin as he passed by Aquaria, although after he did slow up to give the griffoness a chance to beat him.

[Gerrard]

Aquaria was paddling up a storm as she darted through the water, her form piercing the waves as they weakly crested forward. She was feeling rather proud of herself, expecting this fun game to be easy. But when her friend flew past her, she narrowed her eyes in disdain of his actions. "Cheater," she growled while catching up to her teacher.

Aquaria would have cheated to catch up, but the playful hybrid would rather lose a race than be a chest, even if it was just a silly game. When she finally caught up to him, Aquaria sat on her board and folded her forelegs in a serious manner. "What now teacher," she asked in a normal voice while wearing a frown. While she may not have looked it, the young griffoness was having fun. Her dark tail wagging contently in the salty water as she waited for direction.

[Lux]

Riptide paddled until he got to a certain spot in the ocean, one are that he was used to visiting as it was a perfect spot for hopping on a wave. For Aquaria, it was also an easy area to get onto her first wave. He noticed that Aquaria was wearing a frown, which for a moment made him wonder if she was ok. But seeing her tail moving back and forth and the way she sat on the board she was enjoying this experience.

"Cool, you made it here. Alright, so now we're looking for a good wave, one that's big but not too big. When you see one that's good, you need to paddle as quickly as possible to get on top of the wave and then stand. So, I'm going to let you pick the wave. If you find one, call out to me and I'll follow you on it."

[Gerrard]

Aquaria quickly got over his cheating, her seemingly short attention span managing to distract her. She nodded and looked around for her next prey, a wave she would have to rodeo! The griffoness quickly spotted a wave that was coming and paddled ahead. "Over here teacher," she called out like an overgrown child while she started the climb!

The younger hybrid was a strong enough of a paddler to go where she wanted. Aquaria clawed at the water frantically and quite literally found herself on the top of the wave, nowhere near the rideable face of the wave. Her shaky feet managed to hop up on the awkwardly positioned board. Of course she failed for a myriad of reasons, the primary one being her slamming her paws on the back of the board and knocking it right back into her face. The spectacle happened so seamlessly that it was over in seconds, the excited youngster dunking herself underwater with a stunned exp<b></b>ression on her face.

After a few seconds of soul searching under the sea, the embarrassed griffon popped her head out of the water to look around. "They conspired against me! How nefarious," Aquaria declared semi-seriously to nobody in particular while she checked to see if her beak was still attached to her face.

[Lux]

Suddenly the black griffoness took off like a rocket towards a wave, calling out as she started to climb. Riptide quickly paddled to catch up as the wave started to curl. He reached the top and stood up on the board wings out stretched to add to the balance. As he surfed, he saw a short distance away Aquaria falling off her board, lost in the wave. For a moment he wondered if the new surfer was ok, but then a familiar black feathered head popped out along with the surf board.

"There you are," he said jumping off his board intentionally and paddling over, "That was a gnarly wipeout there. I think you were a little too far back on the board. That happened to me one of the first times I tried surfing. I ended up with a mouthful of water after that. But that was fun, wasn't it? Do you want to try again?"

[Gerrard]

Aquaria listened to her instructor and giggled at his words. Her rose colored eyes watched him intently before drifting off to see a new approaching wave. "I got a beak full of board. It didn't taste very good. Perhaps a bit too karpy," she explained with a thoughtful expression on her face as she invented a new word. This was all new to her and the feathered feline decided to try to make the best of her situation.

After thinking over her plight for a few more moments, she crawled back onto her board and let another wave wash over her, the griffoness clearly okay with the water itself. A grin crept across her face while she struggled to hold back a laugh. "I will conquer you, you fierce beast! Let's go my noble steed," she declared in her cute sort of way, the younger griffon considering the board as her enemy.

Before she could negotiate her board's surrender, another wave was upon the pair. "Of course I want to try again! Meet you at the top," she declared in a playfully competitive way while she paddled to keep pace with the wave.

[Lux]

Riptide wondered if surfing was a good thing for his new found friend to experience. He was always interested in showing ponies new things, and what better way to do so than with his number one hobby! Still surfing was not for everypony or griffon and no matter how he tried to show how fun it was there would be those still uninterested. But thankfully Aquaria was still excited to try again, willing to conquer the board!

"Radical! Glad to see you're still interested! I have a feeling you'll be surfing like a pro soon."

Suddenly the black griffon took off, ready to find another wave.

"Hey," Riptide said with a chuckle, "This griffoness is sure funny. I think we're going to have an awesome time together as friends!"

With that the brightly colored griffon took off on his board, trying to spot which wave Aquaria selected. He caught sight of the red and yellow board with the griffoness on it and quickly paddled up to where she was.

"Alright, get ready to hop on the board!"

[Gerrard]

Aquaria was clearly having a good time, the hybrid struggling to keep her composure as she giggled at her fortune. Her tail was wagging fiercely when his voice broke her free of a happy stupor. "Oh ya, I gotta get on the board. Whoops," she replied in her usual positive manner as her talons gripped the board.

Aquaria was firmly planted on the face if the wave, her dark form preparing to spring into action! She made an ill advised hop onto the board, her four limbs landing simultaneously on the bright object. Through some miracle, she had succeeded in mounting the board!

"Victory," she cheered to seemingly nobody in particular as she congratulated herself. The young griffoness took an I'll advised auto pilot on the board as she headed towards land. Like the novice she was, Aquaria was oblivious to the wave she was on! The pipe soon curled around her, the dark feathered griffon getting swallowed up in a rather large wave as it dunked her underwater.

[Lux]

Riptide watched as the black griffon hesitated a little but then suddenly jumped up on the board.

"Yes! Looking Awesome Aquaria," he said seeing her on the board. Unfortunately his excitement was short lived as he watched the wave curl around her, swallowing her in the water.

"Aquaria," he shouted as he surfed to where he last saw her go under an then flopped back on the board, hoping that the griffoness would appear. Otherwise the yellow and blue feathered griffon would have to rescue her from the depths.

[Gerrard]

She was glad to hear the compliment from her instructor, but that would have to wait until after she resurfaced! Aquaria found herself getting slammed to the ocean floor, her rump colliding with a lucky patch of underwater mud. She yelped underwater but maintained her bearings, the hybrid quickly figuring which direction was up.

With a few quick breast strokes, the griffoness managed to limp her way to the surface. When she emerged, Aquaria let out a deep gasp for air, coughing up a large amount of seawater as she floundered about at the surface.

"Sneak attacked and my loyal steed flees the battlefield! Some companion it turned out to be," she halfheartedly joked, her words not sounding as energetic as before. The normally jovial diver did seem a bit out of it while she tried to regain her composure.

[Lux]

Just as he began to consider performing a rescue mission, Aquaria popped her head out of the ocean, chocking for some air. He knew that feeling, being tossed deep into the water and then having to swim to the surface. The sea was beautiful but it was also dangerous at times.

"Phew! You're ok! Awesome! I was getting worried there that you weren't going to come up and I'd have to find you. Just take it easy as after a ride like that you'll need to regain your strength."

Upon mentioning her "steed" running away, Riptide realized that the board she was on was missing!

"Uh oh, I forgot to tell you that there's a a rope that you can tie on your leg so it doesn't float away. I'm just going to float above you an see if I can find it. Shouldn't be that hard."

[Gerrard]

Aquaria was tired and sore, the diver not used to being tackled by large waves. The normally giddy griffon was now a bit more somber. "That didn't feel very good," she complained with a frown, the younger hybrid explained while she treaded water.

Upon mentioning that the strap went around her ankle, Aquaria giggled lightly at her foolish mistake. "It's called a leash right? I think my board would have walked me back to shore if it was strapped to me," she added with a weak laugh as she watched the more experienced surfer go look for the board that had escaped her.

[Lux]

The brightly colored griffon could see that the last wave threw Aquaria for a loop. The griffoness was used to diving and retrieving items but not getting knocked over by a wave while on a surfboard.

"Just relax and catch your breath," Riptide said looking down at her to make sure she was still afloat while looking for the board seeing that despite looking weak she had still a sense of humor, "Yeah, that is called a tether or a leash. Actually one time I was surfing at high tide when a wave plunged me and the board straight down into the sand. Before I could recover, the current pulled the board right from under me and then fired it right for my head! I think I was seeing stars for a few seconds after that."

He then saw a yellow object bobbing in the distance something he knew was his board.

"Ah... there it is! Hang on a sec while I grab that!"

With that the griffon took off to grab his board, hoping that Aquaria would be ok.

[Gerrard]

Aquaria nodded as her friend told her to wait for his return. This had all been really fun so far, even if she thought the water was out to get her. When mentioned that he got slapped in the head by his board, she giggled and frowned in close succession.

"Surfing seems really dangerous and painful. No wonder I scoop up ponies every day," she explained with a light laugh. The sore griffoness was starting to regain her cheerful and upbeat personality, even if her body ached all over.

She patiently watched her friend locate his rampaging board, the older griffon seeming to be an excellent herder. Aquaria paddled over in the direction of Riptide and made her way to the shore. She had had her share of surfing for the day though. While the sport was fun, it was definitely harder than it looked!

[Lux]

Riptide wrangled the loose board along with the one he was using. It was hard for him to swim with two boards but he tried his best to paddle while fighting the oncoming waves. The colorful griffon thought that he would just meet Aquaria where she was, but instead he saw that the black griffoness was heading towards land. By the time he struggled to meet up with her, Aquaria was already on land.

"So, had enough surfing," Riptide said not surprised seeing the griffon looking tired, "I have to saw you did pretty awesome for your first time surfing. You did have fun thought, right?"

Riptide hoped that she did as nothing could kill a fun time or a chance to meet a new friend than forcing someone to do something that they didn't like.

[Gerrard]

The feeling of sand between her talons entered the mind of the hybrid as she reached the shore. She normally dreaded going home, but today was an exception. There weren't many waves on the land to ruin her fun. There were even less treacherous steeds here to abandon her. Aquaria let out a weak yawn and stretched out her sore body, contorting her spine awkwardly before returning to a normal position.

"When Riptide spoke to her, Aquaria quickly turned around and glanced back at him with a pleased expression on her face. "Ya, I had my share of surfing for today. Maybe you can teach me to avoid water ambushes another day. Thanks Riptide," she cheerfully replied before giving her instructor a sudden and tight hug.

"Of course I had a fun time! I got to go surfing, meet a new friend and explore the bottom of the sea," she replied with a smile, clearly having a good time. I might not have liked the ocean exploration much, but you need to take the good with the bad," she added with a giggle, looking back at her flank that felt bruised from slamming into the ocean floor.

[Lux]

The colorful griffon breathed a sigh of relief that Aquaria was happy after surfing.

"I'm glad you liked it. Maybe taking you out surfing for the first time during high tide wasn't the smartest thing to do. There were some totally gnarly waves out there, but you handled them really well. Maybe next time though we'll start you with the smaller waves."

Suddenly the blue and yellow griffon was ambushed by a hug that knocked him off his feet! It was shocking as he was a very observant griffon, something that one had to be when exploring the ever-changing ocean. But this griffoness, ever full of surprises took him off guard yet again. But it felt good to get a hug from her, a sign of how much she cared about him.

"Well, I'm glad that you liked surfing and it's totally awesome that you want to be my friend. I definitely want to be yours too. Anyway, want to come explore my house? I got some nifty thing there and I promise there won't be any waves there."

[Gerrard]

Aquaria was a good listener, even if her short attention span made it hard to focus at times! She listened to him explain that they essentially started at the roughest time possible, the griffoness nodding while she started to giggle at her misfortune. "I started on hard mode. Next time should be easy after mastering the hard waves," she explained with a cheer, poking her tongue out at Riptide while she playfully boasted about being an expert.

She was glad he didn't squirm about in her hugs like a lot of people she accidentally seemed to scare. When he asked her to visit his home though, her eyes lit up as she quickly nodded in agreement. "You will permit me entry into your lair? I wonder what it is like! There must be sea shells, sand, kelp, and fish," Aquaria speculated allowed as she tried to control her excitement in vain. Aquaria had already forgot about her soreness as she released her friend and stood at his side, eager to scout out his male cave!

[Lux]

Riptide couldn't help but laugh at the griffoness as if she actually planned to start surfing during high tide rather than it being an accident. That was something that the brightly colored griffon liked about her, that she didn't seem to sweat the small things.

"Of course you can see me lair! it's a really awesome house and shop, and has some neat stuff. no fish though, unless you're talking about the stuff I eat. And best of all it's very close to here."

With that the griffon pointed his wing to a bungalow style building sitting up on some wooden poles in the distance.

"Race you to there," he said suddenly taking off running along the beach, leaving a cloud of sand in his wake.

[Gerrard]

Aquaria always tried to stay positive, the griffoness just felt that her condition would match her mood. She giggled a bit as he spoke of his residence, glad he was playing along with her way of speaking. But when he spoke of his fish though, Aquaria gasped in disbelief, utterly stunned for reasons unknown.

"You have fish? I love fish! Do you have any red snappah? That's my favorite," she explained in her usual bubbly manner, her rose colored eyes widening in anticipation.

Before she could get an answer though, he had challenged her to a race to his home, and most importantly, the fish! "Coming," Aquaria declared excitedly as she charged after him. The diver was roughly as fast as Riptide, but she had forgotten about her soreness. Regardless, she ran on, oblivious to her aching before the pair reached his home. Aquaria panted heavily and decided to sit on her haunches and look over his home. Her sit was quickly matched by a yelp as she hopped back onto her paws before glancing back at her haunches.

[Lux]

Riptide heard Aquaria speak of fish but decided that the conversation would have to wait until after the race. He ran as fast as he could through the sand, digging into the unstable ground with his talons to keep from tripping over. At last he made it to the front door.

"Awesome, first place! That was a good race, wasn't it Aquaria?"

He then noticed that the black griffoness looked like she was in pain. It appeared that she was not as well as the two of them first thought.

"Oh I'm so sorry Aquaria. I didn't know you were hurt. Guess that wave did more than exhaust you. Come on, let's go inside and I'll get you some ice. As for the fish, of course I have some! That's like my favorite food! I guess it comes with the fact that my parents were fishing griffons. My pop would fly out into the ocean with his nets and scoop up the fish while my mom would sell them at the store. Sometimes we had quite a haul while others not so much. But my parents wouldn't trade their work for anything, except for me of course. Unfortunately fish isn't really popular here than it is in near Talonopilis. I tried to once share a fish with a pony but she looked like she was going to be sick and galloped away. But if you want some red snapper, I think I have some."

The building appeared like a two story home on wooden stilts to keep it high and dry from any large tides caused by storms. It was a modest looking house consisting of a store on the first floor as well as a kitchen and living room and two bedrooms and a bathroom above. On the sides of the house facing the beach and the road there were brightly colored signs in the shape of surf boards that read Riptide's Surf and Beach Shop. Upon stepping into the first floor there was a room with its walls lined with dozens of surf boards. There were also beach things like volleyballs, sunglasses, sand castle shovels, and other things for the beach.

"Welcome to my beach house. This is the store as you can see. Feel free to look around while I get some ice from the kitchen."

[Gerrard]

Aquaria smiled a bit as she tried to hide a grimace, her rear still stinging from her earlier encounter. She could see he was worried and felt a bit bad to be such a center of awkward attention. "Oh, the wave didn't really do much to me. It was more a result of my rump colliding with the sea floor after I got gobbled up by the ocean," Aquaria explained with a giggle, trying not to blame the wave even though it basically was what had injured her. The bubbly griffon didn't seem like the type to accuse anyone of anything, her friendly attitude always keeping her in good spirits!

She was glad that he liked fish as well, everyone should like fish, alas only her family seemed to like it. "Why don't ponies like fish, it was basically the best thing ever and they didn't even try it. Well a few tried, but the others squealed and nobody ended up having a good time," she explained, completely lacking an understanding of the pony perspective, or simply choosing to ignore it. The diver listened to him explain a bit about his parents and his similar encounters, and naturally felt compelled to share a bit about her own parents with him. "Well, I've never gone too far from the city. My dad though has traveled the oceans of the world and seen all manners of creatures. He is a bard who tells tales of fantastic creatures like Leviathan. My mom is a siren who sings at the local taverns. For some reason, only griffons seem to like fish," she giggled while in good spirits, her tail wagging lightly as he offered her the fish she desired.

The fish must have been inside of his home of course, and she was glad that he was letting her into his home. Aquaria ventured into his home and explored the store he had to offer. Many sounds of surprise exited her maw while she fawned over his collection of beach memorabilia. "All of this stuff is awesome," she cheered, slowly sliding a talon across the smooth face of one of his boards. Like a true novice, she had no idea what the different boards were used for, her only way of discerning them being by color. For reasons unknown, the yellow board had piqued her interest, the diver musing over it's exact purpose and design while she waited for her friend to return with the ice.

[Lux]

Riptide was busy in the kitchen fetching some ice but she heard Aquaria say that she was ok and that it was the fact that she hit the ocean floor that caused some pain. Surfing was definitely not for the faint of heart and inevitably somepony, or in this case griffon, would get hurt. At least nothing was broken, just from what it sounded like was a bruise.

"Well I'm glad that only your haunches were hurt. Those waves pack a punch when colliding to the sea floor."

The griffon returned with some ice wrapped up in a dish towel so it was easy to hold as Aquaria spoke of why ponies didn't like fish.

"Yeah, I had the same thing with the pony I tried to share a fish with. She saw me roasting it outside and when I offered her some the mare squealed and ran away. I think ponies don't eat meat. It's a shame though since they don't know what they're missing. Anyway, that's interesting about your parents. how one tells stories and one sings. That must have been fun growing up in an artsy family."

Before offering the ice, Riptide noticed that the griffoness has her eyes on a certain yellow board that stood out among the rest.

"Oh you like that one, huh? All these boards are different with their size, shape, color, and fins. This one was actually my first board I made for ponies. It took a long time to make one that a pony could use but it worked. Although I made other boards and sold many of them, this one is still waiting for an owner. Anyway, here is the ice. Are you hungry now for some fish?"