Jay snickered as the filly tried to splash him back. Though she was higher up on the bank than he had been, few of the droplets actually reached his face. When she lunged forward however, that was a different story. For such a small body, she had managed to conjure up quite a sizeable wave, sending water splashing dramatically across his partially covered chest and back. A slight shudder ran through his body. The temperature of the water far from matched the warmth of the outside. Though it was somewhat cooler due to the altitude, the bright sun still warmed the earth and left the colt feeling warm on the inside too.
He continued to dance around, relishing in the slightly biting cold of the water and the smooth, soothing effect it had as it caressed him more gently than any living being ever could. Nothing else he had found ever cradled him so gently as water. It filled his gaps perfectly, smoothing out the roughness he had felt when he had first been ousted from his herd. Water had been both his lifeline and his solace. After all, he had followed the river to get to where he was now. Water had always appealed to him. It was such a powerful element in creation, sustenance, and destruction. He had seen the new greens after a spring rain, and he himself had lived off of the water from the streams and rivers around him. When food was scarce, algae and underwater plants still filled his stomach. And lastly, when floods ripped across the valleys after a drought, well. Both creation and destruction wrapped into one. The filly's giggled stopped suddenly, and he spun around to see what had happened. She had just slipped under the water.
He had noticed her hesitance earlier to go deeper than her legs allowed, but thought nothing of it. The longer she stayed under, the more he started to worry. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds before she surfaced again, but the colt once again felt air fill his lungs. He didn't realize he had been holding his breath much like she must have been. He sloshed his way over to her, gently nudging her, making sure she was okay. He was worried at her silence as she shook the water from her head, but broke into a wide grin when he heard her speak. He laughed as she sprinkled him with water yet again. Though they had gone back and forth several times, splashing each other, he had yet to tire of their little games.
If a horse could raise an eyebrow, he would've. You've never been fully underwater before? Her reaction to being dunked answered his question though, so he followed up soon after. Would you like to go for a real swim m'lady?
The sun was still high enough in the sky that the chill of the water would not stay on their pelts for long. He imagined that after a short, introductory swim, they could clamber their way back onto terra firma and graze, letting the rays dry their coats and warm their minds. He turned so that he was once again facing the center of the lake. The water rippled slightly, but he wasn't sure if there was a slight breeze or if it were the result of their prancing around, or perhaps the microcosm lurking underneath the surface.
Either way, he pushed forward into the deeper water, waiting for the release of when his hooves would leave the ground and he would start to fly. Just before he ducked under, he turned to see if Izzy was following. After all, he wanted tos hare the beauty and magic of the underwater world with her and he couldn't do that unless she accompanied him. He had only seen glimpses of the world in this lake. Red breasted sunfish darted away the first time he had submerged, their scales flashing in the wiggly rays of sun. The trout schooled deeper in the lake, surfacing to snatch the flies as they landed on the water, and he had spotted a small snake slithering at the bottom looking for smaller minnows to snack on. Of course there were the lush fields of algae and lake plants waving in the gentle current as well, but he would never tire of the view.