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Riptide Jewel was tentative about getting into the water. His past made him incredibly wary of it, of how it could trap. Yet, he was at the beach, was he not? It was vast, open sea. He would be fine, right? Still, his glaring yellow eyes darted about from beneath his bangs as he approached the water. Slowly but surely, it washed over his claws, sending a shiver down his spine. It was warm, thankfully. He did not enjoy the cold, and would not have continued further if it was cold water.

Wave after wave rolled gently over his claws as he waded further inwards. Soon enough, it brushed against his belly, then up his sides, until finally, it covered his back. All that was left was his head, sticking out above the water for now. His strong shark tail swayed back and forth slowly, claws digging lightly into the sand. He could do this.

Finally, he fully submerged himself, pushing slowly through the water until his claws barely touched the sand. Underwater, his hair floated about his head, allowing him to see better. Thank goodness. He took long, slow breaths, before gently paddling out into the water further. The waves were calm, which helped him out a lot. Slowly, he swam along the nearby cliff face, enjoying the sunlight filtering through the water.

Suddenly, something hit him, knocking the breath out of him. He let out a cry and kicked away from it, kicking whatever it was in the process with his big hind claws. Riptide shot a few feet away, before turning to round on whatever it was that hit him with a snarl.

"OI!" he shouted through the water, glaring at the Aquatic.

As the other pony moved closer, Riptide tried to move backwards, but found it hard to do with his shark tail. s**t! His yellow tipped pink hair floated about his face as he stared at the other pony, mouth still open in a snarl, baring all of his teeth. His front claws were raised, ready to strike if the Aquatic got too close to him. The other pony began to circle him, and Riptide could barely hear what was going on around him. Had the Aquatic noticed his Dragon traits? Were they going to do something to him? He tried to prepare himself for anything.

But what happened, he wasn't expecting.

Riptide literally slowly blinked at the other. Very confused. They offered their name, then immediately launched into questions for him. He jerked backwards slightly, eyeballing the other, noticing they didn't hide their shark teeth either. "Riptide..." he muttered, using his claws to kick himself backwards in the water a bit. He didn't want to answer any of their other questions, and barely wanted to give his name. Hence why he only gave his first name.