Treasure Cave

We pass by several lakes, some small, some large, until finally coming up to a huge lake, with several rocks jutting out in an area around it, where we decide to take a break.
Lunaris and Makito start preparing some rocks for a campfire, while I place down some wood to use as fuel. Eris, meanwhile, looks outward at the lake, seeing the many fish near us, and nods.
"Right... I'll capture us some more fish!"
I look at her and nod.
"Alright, go ahead. Always good to have a lot of food read-"

"Don't capture us!"
"Yeah what are you saying?!"
I look over at he shore of the lake, noticing some fish staring right at us.
"Yeah you heard us!"
"We don't taste good! We promise!"
'Of course I'd hear them...'

Eris notices the two fish by the shore and is about lunge at them, when I quickly stop her just in time.
"Wait!"
She looks back at me and steps out of the way as I sigh and crouch down near them.
"Why should we not capture you lot?"
"We want to live!"
"Yeah, come on! Let us go!"
I nod and say.
"Fair. But we want to live too, and that includes eating so we don't starve. So what can you offer in return to us not getting you?"
'Is it just me or am I actually acting like a real dragon for once? This is awesome!'
"We... We know a cave with treasure!"
My eyes widen as I hear that.
"A cave with treasure? ...Interesting."

While I talked to the fish, the rest of the party stared at me, which is when Makito asked.
"What is she doing over there?"
Lunaris looks at him as she puts her hands on her hips and says.
"She's talking to the fish, you don't understand them?"
He shakes his head.
"Definitely not... Can you?"
"A little actually, yes."
She goes back to staring at me as she continues.
"I'm not that good at it though. Not like her. So I can only understand a few words of what those two are saying."
Eris then looks at the two fish as a realization hits her.
"...Does that mean... I've killed...?"
Lunaris pats her on the head and says with a gentle smile.
"Don't think about it too much. It's the way of life, if you hadn't, then we would be dead instead. Well... Some of us."

Finally I approach the party as I urge them to follow me.
"We've obtained a new side objective, let's go! Pay attention to the fish, we'll be following them!"
All of them nod without complaint and we walk towards the lake, Makito and Eris pausing as they see me take a step into it.
I turn back towards them, confused.
"What? You hungry? Don't worry, we'll eat lat-"
Makito shakes his head and says.
"Not that... Are we actually going INTO the lake?"
Lunaris turns back.
"What, you can't swim?"
His cheeks blush slightly as he looks away, before saying
"...Maybe."
She sighs and approaches him.
"Hang onto me then. I won't let you drown, okay?"
He takes a deep breath and nods, determined, before holding onto Lunaris as they both step into the lake.
"Great, with that taken care of, let's go!"
I turn back towards the lake and continue walking, with it soon turning into a swim as I keep following the fish further and further in.

...

We get to the middle of the lake and the fish dive downwards before looking up, waiting for me to follow.
"Right..."
I turn around.
"It seems we'll be going under now. I'm not sure how long we'll have to hold our breath but-"
I looked at each of them as I spoke, freezing as I stared at Eris.
"...How are you standing above the water...?"
She looked around getting embarrassed as she noticed all of us staring at her.
"It's... Just a little magic is all..."
"Then why didn't you cast it on us?! That would have been much easier!"
She flinches.
"Ah! You never asked... Please don't eat me!"

I sigh for a moment while she's crouching in fear, before quickly asking.
"Can you do some magic for us to be able to breath underwater then? I don't know how long we'll be under. At least make yourself more useful than just being the cook you know?"
'I say that as if any of us could cook at all... Well, she doesn't know that.'
She nods aggressively before getting back up and slowly putting her hand up, and with a deep breath casting her magic, causing a blue glow to appear around us, before finally finishing with a wink and a cute pose.
After that, she blushes and quickly gets into the water.
"That was awesome Eris! Boss did you see that?!"
"Good one elf!"
"...Yeah... Sure..."
I stared at her with blank eyes.
'It probably sounded majestic in elvish, but to me...

"Bubbly bubbles! Please water, let us breath! Mwah!"

That's all she said before winking and striking a cute pose... Understanding everything really comes with some cons sometimes.'

Finally we all dive underwater, following behind the fish as they entered a hole in the bottom.
'Elf magic is no joke at least. Somehow it feels like purer air than even outside! I wonder how this works?'
It takes us a ridiculously long time going through this tunnel, but finally it starts to open up more before we end up in a big room.
It was a fairly large and long room, with a bunch of natural rock pillars throughout, and it was filled with glowing vines on the walls giving the whole area a cool ambient light.

We can finally stop swimming as we get into it and look around.
Eris and Makito had a shine on their eyes as they looked at the whole room, while Lunaris seemed mildly impressed.
"Well, what do you think? Pretty impressive isn't it? You won't eat us now right?"
"Yeah! Look at this treasure! Amazing isn't it?"
I look back down at them.
"The treasure you mentioned... What is it?"
The fish start swimming in circles as if happy.
"All these pretty lights of course!"
"Yeah! This is a great playroom! All of us come here all the time!"

I nod at the laughing fish as they play, and look around once more.
"Nicely spacious. Yeah, this probably would be a cool place to live and play... If it didn't take absolutely forever to reach it!"
Lunaris turns towards me, saying.
"Well, at least it's pretty!"
I nod.
"Sure, it is pretty. But..."
I look back down.
"It's also flooded to my waist in water..."
Makito waded through the water toward me, before asking.
"So, you're not going to make this your home?"
I quickly shake my head with a serious look in my eyes.
"Of course not! Are you crazy? I don't like it wet. Or at the very least, I don't like it flooded."
I sigh and continue.
"Let's just not waste more time and go back."
'I don't know what I expected with this. What else would fish consider a treasure after all... I guess I should be lucky it wasn't just to show the lake bottom.'

...

"Haaa... Such a waste of time. All I am now is hungrier than before."
We had all made the trip back, having just gotten out of the water, before Lunaris put her hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry Rako. You'll find a great home someday, I'm sure!"
I nod dejectedly.
"Sure. Let's just go to a different lake so Eris can catch some fish. Like I mentioned, I'm hungry again."
I can hear some splashes of the happy fish from before as they hear this, while Eris just acts surprised.
"Eh?! More fish...?"
Lunaris laughs as she pats Eris on the back.
"You're our designated fisherman! Congratulations! Remember, don't think about it!"
She looked at Lunaris with worry, before saying as she looked down.
"Ehhhh... Alright..."