[b]Cliff Sing Wind colony, population 53[/b]

Eyes clasped shut, Clear See Far grinned against the cold splash of water on her feathers, soon replaced with the beautiful hum of the underwater ambient. She blinked at the salt as rumbling shapes erupted into the water on either side of her; when the bubbles floated away, three Katyusha were revealed in the dark blue void.

Silver webs washed over Clear See Far's skin as she kicked deep into the current. The best sweetleaf, she knew, grew the farthest down, and Clear had always dreamed of breaking her grandfather's record. She knew she could do it - Clear was the best swimmer the Cliff Sing Wind colony had seen for years, if the broodling gossip was anything to believe - and what better night for it than tonight, the night of the full moon, when the Deep Gardens were brightest lit?

A startled whiskerfish wiggled away from Clear See Far's sweeping arms and wings as she swept past the highest shelf of the Gardens. Though this was a route the young Katyusha had taken many times, she had not yet grown accustomed to the Deep Grip, which set quickly to work on her ears and lungs. But Clear steeled her nerves and dove on.

Past one bed, another, and Clear felt her lungs struggling in agitation. [i]Another night,[/i] she hummed to herself, and settled into the soft net of fronds, tearing them free from the dark mud. When she had filled her talons she pushed off from the bed and reached up to the distant blue surface with long, slow strokes. Clear smiled as she past each of her flockmates, who had stopped far above her.

Finally, just as the Katyusha felt her lungs were at their limit, Clear burst from the water and heaved the sweet air in large gulps. She had drifted far away from the diving-log - or perhaps it had drifted from her? - so, with the confidence of a successful hunter, Clear See Far swam briskly back, retrieving the sweetleaf gobs from her talons and packing them into what hollows the divers had not already filled with the stuff. Still recovering from the dive, Clear hung onto the log by an arm and lifted her ice blue eyes to the moon. [i]Yes, yes - another night![/i]

Filled with the primal joy of the animal in its element, Clear See Far tilted her head back and howled a high, vibrant note, which swept across the waters to be joined by the throngs of Katyusha who danced away the moonlight on the rocky shore.