Hunting: Loch Ness

Jack swam her fastest, headed for the rock formation they had spotted when they had first entered the murky loch. The coves were at the opposite end in, of course, the deepest portion of the loch. Jack had seen vegetation there before, and it made sense that the ingredients they needed most would be in a difficult location and in the very place of slumber of the monster.

The rock formation was just about in the center of the loch, and Jack figured from there they could calm down, regroup, gather their bearings, and continue on from there. She worked her limbs until she reached the rocks. She sunk onto one and let her heartbeat slow.

Michael swam up and sat down beside Jack on the rock. He slid back his sleeve and pushed the little button on his waterproof muggle watch to light the dial. He looked at the time and showed it to Jack. They were going to run out of time with the gillyweed if they werent' careful. It was easy to lose track of time when everything around them was so disorienting. Michael figured they were soon going to need either more gillyweed or the bubblehead charm to stay under much longer.

Angus was trying to keep an eye on Mari, knowing that Michael would be keeping an eye on Jack as it was. He felt like it was getting even colder. Either that or the dark cold water was getting to him. He shivered involuntarily. He liked diving, but he didn't usually pick water like this. He was more accustomed to the warmer Mediterranean waters. Leave to Britain to have completely inhospitable diving conditions, he thought.

Jack held the rock formation, arm slung around as she peered after her for Mari, the last of their party to follow them to their destination. She found her anxiety to get going rise and she looked forward- she could see the cove from here if she squinted. She pulled herself around the rock formation, travelling it in a circle. She could see no signs of nature. And yet, this worried her more than anything. And another thing...:

Where were the fish?

Mariana joined them on the rock soon after checking that nothing came their direction yet. It was hard to say how much time did they spend since they entered the lake, but one thing was for certain, it was running out. Bubble-head charm might work for swimming, but she did not imagine how will they squeeze into tight caves with big bubbles on their heads. Fortunatly her camping gear was just outside of lake in the purse she left there. What were they supposed to do now? Float and wait for Nessie to find them.

This was about the most barren place he'd ever seen. Nothing but muddy water, it seemed. A few plants. Lots of rock and no fish whatsoever. Wait. What? No fish? Where had they gone? He had passed some when they first dived in. Not many worth making the main course of a seafood fry, but still. They were there. He saw nothing now. Not much of anything. Was that typical? Did the fish run at the presence of the large sea beasties? That didn't seem logical. Some of the lore he'd read about Nessie as a kid said Nessie was an herbivore. Some said Nessie was carnivore and savage. Hm. Now he wondered which one it really was. If Nessie ate plants, then there was no apparant reason for the fish to desert them. Unless...they were buggering off from something else.

Michael didn't like the feel of this. It didn't have the feel of just a happy little day diving. He wasn't sure why he was feeling edgy, but he felt like they had been both abandoned and spied upon simulaneosly. It made him uncomfortable. He looked around and didn't see anything immediately threatening, but since when did that mean anything? Sometimes the larger threats came from what one could not see rather than what they did. He motioned to Angus and Mari to move closer. He did not feel good about having anyone farther apart that what they could reach by extending hands.

While everyone continued to gather around, Jack pulled her pack off of her back and plunged her hand into it, searching for- AHA. She knew she had more gillyweed! She quickly divied out another hour's worth for everyone before eating hers. She grimaced as it slipped down her throat. She shook her head and figured it would be better to just go forward. She pointed in the direction of the caves and then took off for them.

As you dive deeper the light coming through the lake becomes dimmer, a lot faster than you'd expect. Two cave entrances appear beside each other, each nearly identical in size, one on the left and one on the right. You can split up or you can choose one and go through it - but you should choose soon, the noises around you are getting louder, and it's sure safer down there than out in the open.

Mariana was the first one to swim forward even passing Jack when she concluded the direction of her swimming. They were getting deeper and deeper, were they going for the bottom? In a few minutes some crates were visible all over this part of the lake. If those were the caves then they sure had a heavy task. Nessie was getting more louder. She stopped there looking at Jack, Angus and Michael. Too many caves they needed to split up into pairs or go each on their side. She shoved another gillyweed down her throat. They needed to do this fast or go back to surface and wait a while for their next attempt, but after all she let others decide, she was not much of a leader apart from the quiditch team,