After taking a moment to make sure that the ground underwater didn’t slope steeply away from the bank, Pangaea took a cautious step in. The water was high enough to just cover his feet and soak the lowermost feathers on his legs, so he took another step.
“Uh, how’s the water?” Guido asked from the bank.
“Pretty good,” Pangaea replied. “I’m going to go a little further out, see if I can find anything.”
“Like what?” Guido asked, puzzled. “What are you looking for?”
“Just critters,” Pangaea replied with a shrug, “I like looking for aquatic wildlifeóthat’s, uh...swimming creaturesówhenever I’m around water. Maybe catch a few if I’m lucky.”
“Catch for what?” Guido asked. “To eat?”
“Prob’ly not. I’m partial to shellfish, but I don’t think I’d have the heart to use a living one to satisfy my appetite. No, I just like to look at them; hold them if it doesn’t mean I’ll be bitten or pinched too badly.”
As Pangaea talked, he continued to wade further out. The water was now nearly up to his knees, and he was doing his best to disturb it as little as possible, so as not to spook any aquatic wildlife that might be nearby. The water was clear enough that Pangaea could see right down into it, and it wasn’t long before he spotted his first creature, hovering in the water just below the surface a few feet ahead of him. “Ooh, a fish!” he cooed in fascination. “A Eusthenopteron, I think.”
“A useless what?” Guido asked.
“Uh, a lobe-finned fish. I mean, uh...a finned swimmer. A...oh, never mind. Hold on, I’m gonna see if I can get closer.”
His gaze fixed on the fish, Pangaea waded further towards it as quietly as he could. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice a small pit in the bottom of the pool, and on the next step he took, his foot slipped into it. Pangaea only had enough time to utter a surprised “Awk!” before he toppled unceremoniously into the shallow water with a splash.
“Pangaea!” Guido, still standing on the bank, squawked in alarm, “Are you all right? You aren’t drowning, are you? I can’t help you if you’re drowning! I don’t know how to swim!”
At that moment, Pangaea lifted his head out of the water, the soaked plumes on his nape slicked messily across the top of his head. He was lying on his stomach in water not much deeper than that he’d been wading through, just deep enough that his entire body (minus his raised head) was submerged in his sprawled position. Needless to say, he was thoroughly drenched.
“Well, it was bound to happen,” Pangaea sighed, “That’s pretty much how I always end up submerging myself when I’m reluctant to go all the way in.”
“Oh, you’re okay,” Guido said, breathing a sigh of relief. He paused. “You ARE okay, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Pangaea said, “But the fish swam away.”