Pearl skipped down the trail, her little paws leaving prints in the wet melting snow. Before long the snow down here in the lower lands would be completely gone. Even now blades of green grass were bravely poking up through the snow, seeking the warmth of one of the two suns. Evergreen trees on either side of the trail had long lost their own collected snow and the bushes under the tree canopy were covered in white and pink flowers.

"I can't believe we get to learn how to swim!" Pearl said to her companion, a light blue appaloosa Belemiod, who was trotting along beside her.

"I know! I think we are getting close. I can smell the ocean from here." Ramsay answered her back excitedly.

"Tolly said that her friend was a really good teacher. I can't wait to meet him. Do you think he will be on time? I hope so. " Pearl said, she began to skip faster. "Come on slowpoke."

Her skipping turned to full on running and Ramsay laughed as he tried to catch up with the more nimble welp.

Laughing they ran down the trail. Wet snow was flung out behind them and Ramsay's long front claws left distinct marks in the trail. They were out of breath by the time they came to the trail's end and were greeted with a long and narrow beach.

The beach was covered in sand with a couple of large rocks scattered across the surface, that sparkled as they caught the sun's light. The ocean smell was strong now. The suns light glitter off the water and a slight breeze ruffled his coat. Sitting on a large boulder was a dark blue appaloosa reef Belemiod, his long rudder-like tail hanging down the rock.

"Welcome, welcome, you must be the two welps that Tolly told me about. My name is Indigo." Indigo called out before jumping off the rock and walking toward them.

Pearl stared at Indigo. It was Ramsay that answered him. "Thank you. And yes, when Tolly heard that we wanted to learn how to swim she said she knew just the Belemiod to do it. It's nice to meet you. This is Pearl," He indicated the light blue and grey Tsabhua next to him. And I am Ramsay."

"Well now that we have learned each other's names shall we get started?" Indigo said.

Both Pearl and Ramsay both nodded eagerly. Indigo chuckled. "Let's start by getting into the water. I have checked this beach out and the slope here is nice and gradual. No sudden drop until far out to sea. Which makes this the perfect spot to learn to swim."

Indigo indicated for the both of them to move into the water. Pearl obeyed immediately, practically prancing in and purposely splashing the water. She stopped when she could still touch the ground but her head was above the waters.

Ramsay was a little more hesitant. His big claws would make it harder to swim. He walked into the water with much more care than Pearl did and stopped when the water came to his shoulder. The water was colder than he thought it would be and the water kept lapping at him, making it feel like he was slowly being rocked.

"Alright now I want you to walk out deeper into the water. When you can no longer reach the bottom don't panic but just keep moving your legs but this time make reaching and pushing movements. But only one at a time. Pearl, I want you to start." Indigo said swimming toward Pearl so that if needed he would be there to help her.

Pearl didn't wait but did as he said. She continued walking and she soon found herself stretching neck to keep her head above water. She felt her feet leave the soft sand. And she did as Indigo suggested. She switched to making her legs reach and then pull back and she was pleasantly surprised to find herself moving forward. She did it again with more confidence.

"Good, Good. Now let's see if you can swim back so that Ramsay can try." Indigo said as he casually swam next to her. With his help she managed to turn around and get back to a spot where her feet were once again touching the ground.

Indigo turned to Ramsay. "Alright your turn."

Indigo spent all day teaching the young welps to swim and by the time Pearl and Ramsay had to leave they knew how to swim and even how to dive. They waved goodbye to Indigo and made their way back to the village too exhausted to do any skipping and racing. But they carried with them treasures they found on the ocean floor to show their parents. And they vowed to come back and see what other treasures they could find now that they had learned how to not only swim but to dive.