S.S.D recon (private)

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight smiles weakly over at Doc as he approached her, wriggling in her wetsuit slightly unfamiliar to be wearing something to tight around her body.

"S-swimming stuff? I suppose, I mean, its not like it'll make me any worse than I already am..."

[augercorn]

Doc nodded as they aproched there destination. 

A river fed into the ocean but at where they met it created a shallow delta.  A kiddy pool compared to the acual ocean. But a good place to help teach midnight some basics. 

"So we really only use 3!types of swimming and finning which I'll show you later. The best one is probably; the breast stroke." He demonstrated on land the gesture with his arms "jeep your hands flat and tight and when they are about at your shoulders go right back. And with your legs your doing this number here" he brought his legs out and snapped them together "frog kick, nice and strong this is where your going to get the majority of your movement. And once your done with your arms frog kick. Arms repeat." 

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight watched Doc going over the strokes. Watching him perform breaststroke, her mind woke up. It was familiar almost, as if she knew what the stroke was. She nodded her head, and slipped into the water, happy at how her wetsuit kept her warm in the water. She practised the stroke a few times, even ducking her head under the water and holding her breath, no longer doing breast stroke and just flipping around under the water, occasionally popping up for air.

[augercorn]

Doc watched as she got in jumping on a sand dune so he could see her. "There you go; kick with your legs so you have constant momentum" she was doing good but could improve one a few thing "keep your dome out of the water ..." Then he say she was just goofing around playing  

at first doc was a bit upset she; but then he laughed. She had somehow won him over with her antics. And it looked like she was having fun.

he got off the sand dune and went in to join her 

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight continues to flip around in the water, not hearing Doc as she got familiar with the water. While a part of her knew she needed to learn the other strokes, she felt like she needed to understand the water. Just like she was trained. She was given a parachute and thrown out of an airplane to understand who planes fly, so she went underwater and swam under it to feel the water flowing around her. That's when she saw Doc entering the water, poking her head out "H-hey!"

[augercorn]

Doc wasn't sure what they were doing. he came a few inches away. The water was only about 5 feet at the deepest but he stretched out floating with his arms 

"hey" he said as he went underneath her skimming the sand coming up behind her with a spash 

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight continues to get used to the water, feeling it move around her, smiling at Doc as he went under water, returning to getting a feel of the water before yelping feeling something splash against her! Spotting doc behind her, she grins and splashes him back "Rude!"

[augercorn]

Doc giggled and curls up doing a flip in the water making sure his feet come out and give her an extra splash. Coming out laughing he stands up coming in close to her 

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight yelps once again being splashed, growling slightly before swimming in close to Doc, treading water and floating around him. "W-water ain't that bad, feels weird though..."

[augercorn]

Doc giggles "good" being comfortable in the water is an important part. He stuck his head under and watched her treading technique and said "ok your going to be wearing fins most of the time so get used to doing slow strong frog kicks to stay above the water like this." He spins in the water and sticks his legs out showing her how. 

Meh then flipped over. He looked to the mighty ocean which was still having constant 10 foot waves. He nodded "ok so I know this may be a lot to take in. But if your underwater holding your breath; first thing is when you feel like your choking and out of air .... Your not exhale a puff of air thru your nose. Just a little and you"lol feel better. Trust me it works" 

he then quickly went to the end of the basin and said "alright show me your breast stroke again!" 

Dude and blackwing then came over to the edge of the basin. Dude had taken off his hoodie and looked like a surfer dude in his shorts. He had a lot of scars all over his body. And a painful looking old burn scar over his stomach. He had his thermos and was watching.

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight tilted her head listening to Doc. Issue with fins would be more she was unfamiliar with them, though maybe they'd be easy to use. Adapting her treading technique as suggested, she found it was easier to remain above the water than previously. Looking over at the waves, she didn't like it. They were huge! One wrong movement, and she could, she shuddered as she pushed the thought away. She wouldn't drown! She could do this, step by step...her team needed her, Doc needed her.

Slowly she used her breast-stroke to move from one side of the basin where she was over to where Doc had moved. Her technique was sloppy and at times un-coordinated, but she managed to get over to him without incident, as to be expected with their gentle conditions.

[augercorn]

Doc lead her to the other side of the basin correcting her "ok keep your ears in the water and come up for air. Think of it this way; you don't hold your breath when you run and you don't hold your  breath when you swim." 

He took her around a few more laps tutoring her close. She was doing good. 

Dude was next to blackwing and called them all up. 

"Hey looks like we're getting started" he said to her as he swam with her out of the basin 

while they were coming out dude asked blackwing "all right man. So I need you to be midnight's swim buddy. Thing is you two are closer in size and if me or doc go down in the water we both got at least a hundred pounds on her ... Which I'm sure they made you do stuff like that in the commandos but I'm sure you don't want to in a real scenario! So just keep an eye on her out there" 

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight took a deep breath through her nose, realizing she had indeed been holding her breath more than she needed to, and slowly managed to fix it into proper breathing. When they were called back up, she stayed near Doc.

On a personal level, she didn't like it. Why, why Blackwing and not doc? Sure size maybe, but she got along better with him, surely they'd adapt! She was about to open her mouth before stopping herself. Last time she opened her mouth she had nearly been kicked off the team, and opted to not this time. While the prospect of being thrown into the waves with Blackwing, and not doc, didn't leave her calm, she just had to hope Dude knew what he was doing...

[RainbowDaringDash]

Blackwing, while they had been swimming, had been training himself with a knife, and practicing his martial arts, making sure he stayed in top shape. He wasn't big on the whole swimming thing,  though he trusted Chill enough, at least from his backstory, to hope he knew what he was doing. After awhile he came over with Chill to where they were swimming. Then, he was told to be her partner. He was a little.... uneasy about it. 

"Sure, iv done it twice over. But it would probably be better if Doc helped her learn, i doubt i can teach well, but if you just want me to stop her from drowning i can do that" He replied, unstrapping the side arm he had brought with him, dropping it on the ground, along with the knife he had carried with him. After that, he pulled off his shirt, throwing it next to the gear he had discarded. His body didn't have many scars, at least not visible ones, his black coat making it more or less invisible. But on his chest, there was one that was visible, and stood out among the few other scars from knives.

"You ready?"

[augercorn]

Dude nodded and once his team was gathered around him said 

"ok so probably a bad choice on my part but our pilot the maim is out there!" 

Dude pointed to the sea and sure enough in the zodiac with all there useful stuff was scootaloo being dragged out to sea by the mighty surf. Soon enough there only viable way home and millions of dollars and heartache worth of gear would be gone!

doc looked out and his eyes went wide "&!!!!! You planned this didn't you a@@h0l?3!" He yelled dude looked out as scootaloo and there essential gear got dragged out further "yes... But not this bad! Well looks like we got to rescue her! Be $&/@:$ carfull those waves are like wrestling the terminator!" 

Doc knew he couldn't wait longer and ran off. He yanked off his boots throwing them near blackwing's pile and sprinted straight to the ocean. He got up to his knees in the water and it was cold. Not the the worst he  ever faced but it was indeed stop your heart cold. He jumped diving in the water immersing his entire body at once. This automatically  forced his body to adapted to it. He came out and ran until he hit the end of the sand bar and did a cross stroke thinking he would be fast enough to reach her in time. He saw a huge wave coming in and dived under. He felt the wave go over his body In a familiar sensation. "Peace of cake!" He said to himself as he came back up for air. Only to see the giant maw of white come at him. A wave broke right at him; forcing him to face all the streangth of the ocean at once! 

";$:&:" he swore as the wave hit him

the wave slammed him to the sand floor under water, and dragged him along. Like dude said it felt like he was wrestling the terminator or some kind of machine! Doc rolled over and tryed to stand up only to find ... He couldn't the surf was trying to kill him and keep him down! 

Doc summoned his anger and his strength and jumped up with all his might reaching precious oxygen! 

But he also found himself back at the sand bar having made no progress!

[RainbowDaringDash]

Oh for the love of-

He yelled at himself internally. There was all their supplies drifting out, but also a member of the team. Why she didn't just use the Zodiac and get back here, he had no idea, though he had to act quickly.

"Midnight, we gotta get out there!" He yelled, taking off his boots, throwing them in the now increasing pile,sprinting into the water at full speed. It was FREEZING, though he pushed it to the back of his mind, starting to freestyle as fast as he could out there. After he got a little out, he started breast stroking, his legs giving slow but powerful pushes while his arms broke the water in front of him, taking breaths each time he did it. But just like Doc, he saw the wave coming.

REALLY, GODDAMN IT

He yells internally, quickly ducking under the wave. He had seen what had happened to Doc, there was a second wave that smashed into him right after. He held his breath, keeping his calm, he held his breath, mentally counting down the time. He kept moving, doing one stroke kick, stroking and gliding for as long as he could, then, after his mental clock his twenty, he burst out, starting to swim as fast as he could towards the Zodiac, coming up for air once per movement. He turned his head to check on Midnight

[Shadowbolt0]

....He did what? Midnight felt a cold shiver as she spotted the young girl out at sea. How...How could he think this was ok?! She was probably terrified and all so, they would learn how to handle the waves? Jesus, that was smart. Force them to learn, or live with the guilt forever. It was... far too familiar to her original training. Hearing Blackwing, she nodded her head and ran after him into the water. While colder than where she'd been practising, it wasn't a shock to her system, but she froze seeing the huge wave knocking Doc back! She felt her panic about to overrun her as she took a deep breath, her training kicking in, and she felt her chest, where she could feel her heart beating, become nothing more than a empty void. A lack of emotions where only cold logic operated in the snipers head.

She ducked under the wave, managing to keep up with Blackwing but dropping behind him, getting slower and slower as her unfamiliarity of water started to slow her down.

[RainbowDaringDash]

He noticed her falling behind, slowly starting to lose distance to him. He knew he needed to catch that Zodiac, but he had to make sure that Midnight was okay to. He dropped his pace, falling a little back so that he could talk to her, despite how hard that was while swimming. 

"You all good?" He calls out, keeping the same pace as her. He kept his eyes forward though, if a wave came, he wanted to be ready.

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight was struggling in the water, she had to admit this wasn't what she thought it would be, and the sniper was fighting a losing battle against the current. She heard Blackwings voice, looking around and managing to spot the griffon close to her.

"Y-yeah.." she yells unconvincingly "I'm fine, we must...find her..."

[augercorn]

as doc came got his bearing he saw dude next to him. Doc gave the "I'm fine" hand symbol and they swam neck and neck catching up to blackwing and midnight. Doc was about to pass him when dude stopped him

doc looked at him oddly and said "now isn't the time for testing and observation!"  Dude shook his head and pointed. 

Blackwing and midnight were actually doing good. But they were about to face the worst part of the surf where most of the waves were breaking. Dude said "well yes and no ... Were going to catch them if they go under." He said easily. 

Doc wasn't sure about it but he nodded. And stayed behind with dude keeping an arms distance just like in training. 

Just as mid and black got out a little further a huge wave tubed in front of them! It was going to crash right on them! 

The wave came over sending them them both in the water and tumbling around like toys!

[Shadowbolt0]

"....Oh what the hell is tha~!" was all she managed to get out. The wave had broken right on the small sniper and sent her spiralling underwater, forcing her to hold her breath as she was thrown around like a ragdoll by the waves. She tried to fight the water, to pull herself up against its overwhelming current, unaware of how pointless her struggle was, thrashing about under the water. She needed to get out from it! She felt her need to breath rising, a wave of worry as a horror came to her. She needed air, and she couldn't get it! She was about to open her mouth before she remembered she was underwater, and couldn't! She could see the surface, it was so close yet...she co-couldn't...r-reach it....Her vision started to blur slightly..no..n-not like this....

[augercorn]

Doc treaded the water ducking under the wave which has already crashed and sent the foam over him. 

He came back up looking around waiting ... Doc began to worry when he didn't see midnight or blackwing. The water was fairly dark but he began looking around hopping to see them. 

Dude did the same looking for them. He said "go ahead" and dived down. 

Doc didn't even nod or give him an approval he dove down looking for her.  The water dark and cold. The salt stung his eyes. His heart was racing ... Not good for holding your breath. He ignored it just focusing on scanning and screening. 

He took a few strokes towards the shore and sure enough there she was! 

Doc's heart raced as he flew forward grabbing her! In his recon training there was extensive training on how to rescue a drowning person. All this he ignored as he held her close in his arms and swam up; kicking with his legs not daring letting go of her.

soon they got the air and the sweet, sweet oxygen. Doc gasped and immediately began shouting "midnight! Babe!"

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight's vision was fading, her arms weakly fighting the current as, something dark started moving towards her. It seemed to grab her, but the girl didn't have the strength to fight as she was lifted, somewhere. That's when she felt the water leave, and she risked opening her mouth, taking a deep breath..of oxygen! She opened her eyes as she gasped and panted for air, greedily sucking it into her lungs as her awareness slowly comes back to her, coughing slightly as she realizes she's in Docs arms.

She threw a glance over the water, past the waves, as the zodiac, and at the pilot trapped on it. S-she had to...rescue her!... "T-the...pilot..." she sputtered, coughing some more, shuddering in his arms.

[augercorn]

Doc squeed her ribs to help her choke up some water. 

doc couldn't help but admire her raw determination; here she was almost drowned and she was still focused on her objective!

he dunked them both under a wave and came back up "can you swim?" He asked her; clutching tightly 

[RainbowDaringDash]

Blackwing couldn't do anything other then get rag dolled by the wave, tumbling around, trying to get his bearings. He quickly broke the surface the moment he was able, only to get pounded by another wave. He couldn't think, just feeling..... unsecure with how uncontrollable this was. After a minute, he tried to break the water again, scanning around the moment he broke the air, as well as taking in a breath of air. He was trying to find midnight, but he couldn't see her. Going under, he looked around, then saw her, but before he could do much, he noticed Doc had got her, pulling her to the surface. He went to the surface, though once again quickly going under a wave. He was glad that she was okay, though he planned to talk to Chill about this after...

"You two okay?" He called out, looking towards the Zodiac, slowly drifting further away. He looked back, staring at the two of them for a moment. He groaned, making his mind up. He started swimming towards the Zodiac, wanting to stop it before it got to far for any of them to swim.