Garnet and Sky were on their way to do their first real deep dive supervised by Sapient when they heard the pattering of feet on the sand behind them. They turned to see Zulli bounding after them, a wide, mischievous grin on her face.

"Found you!"

Sky tilted their head. "You were looking for us?"

Zulli huffed. "Of course! I wanted to know where you were sneaking off too!"

"But… we weren't sneaking…?"

Garnet blinked slowly at the youngster, bemused. Sky, however, seemed to be more amused than anything.

"You really want to see, huh? Well, guess what: we're going into the ocean! To find rocks!"

Garnet got the sense that this was supposed to be framed as a bad thing, but Zulli's eyes widened with interest instead.

"What kind of rocks?"

"Boring ones. Very boring ones."

"I don't believe you!"

Sensing time tick past and knowing that Sapient would probably be waiting, Garnet glanced at Sky, who shrugged. "You can come along, I guess. What's the harm?"

"Other than all the hazards Sapient went over?"

Sky shrugged simply. "They can decide if it's too dangerous."

Garnet squinted, but Zulli was too ecstatic to say no to now. Xe sighed and took to the air after her and Sky, soaring out past the crashing waves to where the water was calmer to land and slip beneath the surface after affixing their breathing masks.

The water today was calm, the bright colors of fish flashing through the water around them as they darted away from the strangers to their domain. Garnet shifted to let all the bubbles stream off xir feathers, and swam down a little further to grab on to the coral reef erupting from the sands in a riot of splendor.

Xe waited as Zulli swam around in excited circles, chasing fish, while Sky looked around for Sapient.

The aquatic, far more familiar with their ocean home than the three surface dwellers were, swam out of the deep cerulean blue and waved, then frowned slightly at Zulli. Sky started explaining cheerfully, and Sapient's frown only deepened. When they shot Garnet a 'why didn't you stop this' look, Garnet could only grimace in resignation.

Zulli picked up on none of this subtext, happily chasing fish. Sapient rubbed the bridge of their beak unhappily, then took out a device and tapped something into it. Soon, another aquatic appeared out of the deep blues, with white splotches and fins.

"This is Indigo," Sapient gestured. "They'll keep an eye on Zulli. This way."

They lead the four of them further into the deep blues, the ocean floor fading from lively to more and more barren as it sloped ever downward. They lead them to the edge of the continental shelf as usual, but this time they stopped, and Indigo and Zulli, deep in conversation, nearly bumped into them. Sapient looked resigned, and Sky and Garnet pulled up before them, listening to whatever they had to say.

"There is a cave down below in the cliff," they signed, and pointed into the dark. "Bring me something from it."

Sky and Garnet looked at each other, nodded, then swam down into the darkness. They slipped into the cave and began tapping at the walls, looking for something easily grabbable. They swam deeper into the cave, and then Garnet felt something move under their hand and pried it off. Sky came over to shine a light on it, and they both frowned at the seaweed-encrusted box in Garnet's hands.

Sky brushed a shrimp off it absently, and tapped it.

"What do you think it is?"

"Don't know. But we can find out back up there. This place is creepy."

Sky nodded, and the two swam up to Sapient, Indigo, and Zulli to present their prize. Sapient was intrigued, tapping at the locking mechanism and examining the carvings on the sides.

"This looks like it was from long ago. I wonder what is inside…"

Zulli tried biting on the lock, but Indigo pulled her away. "No! You don't know where it's BEEN!"

Zulli yelled in protested, but Garnet ignored her with a small sigh, sharing an amused look with Sapient. Children.

In any case, the mystery of where the box came from was an intriguing one. Sapient asked to take it back to their tribe's historians, and Garnet and Sky agreed - though Zulli protested, so Indigo found her a - as they put it - 'better rock.' It appeared to work, and the five went on their separate ways.