“Up! Down, 97. Up! Down, 98. Up!”

Hohoholy crap, my arms. They’re crying. They’re going to burst. I forced my head up, finding Commander Lori and pleading with my eyes for her to end this.

Her own eyes narrowed and she kicked sand in my face. Pffffbbbtbtbtt. “Face down, Rocca! And down! 99.” Everyone lowered to the ground, some letting out relieved sighs, others gulping. Lori smirked. “Up! Hold it up there!”

“I wonder who will fall first.” Coraline said. It’ll be me, right? My arms are practically jelly, and my abdomen is sore. And God, this is just as hard with two legs instead of a tail.

“Oof!” Tima dropped onto the sand next to me and let out a defeated groan. I followed thereafter, ready to rest. The rest of the pod went down like a wave, except, of course, Chinchilla.

“Did I say to stop!?” Lori yelled. I propped myself back onto my arms, prompting the rest of my teammates to pull themselves up just as fast. “Okay fine, down. Take a rest.” The sound of our collective sighs beat out the crashing ocean waves.

“Forget walking,” Tima muttered, “I don’t think I’ll be able to swim.”

I flopped over onto my back and let the autumn sun bake me. “Right? I can’t believe she actually went through with a hundred. I think my arms are going to fall off.”

“You should be grateful.” Lori sneered as she passed us. My limbs automatically flew up like a cornered otter. “It took all of you ten full minutes to meet on the beach. Would you like to perform the remaining 400 pushups yourself, Rocca?”

“No sir.” I muttered.

“Hmph.” She threw back her head and continued down the line. I turned to Tima and twisted pinched fingers from my temple. (She’s nuts.)

“You’re going to get the rod again,” she giggled, turning from her spot. The long hair she often used as a curtain to hide her face fell, revealing a beard of sand. It was my turn to laugh.

“You got a little something,” I said as I reached over to brush her chin. She lurched up, flustered, and started wiping at her face. With the white sand gone, she now pawed shyly at her blue face scales. She had the misfortune of growing them where a man’s beard would normally sit, and she’s been self-conscious about it since we were kids.

I suppose that’s where I lucked out. On a regular basis, with no bintilet in my possession, I only grew scales at places like my shoulders and elbows—sometimes at my neck if I wasn’t too careful. I’ve learned to keep my concentration on my face. It’s the place most susceptible to scales, and I will not have my cuteness tarnished with them.

“Everyone up, we need to get moving.” Commander Lori ordered as she waited next to Coraline. I was the first on my feet and watched as some of the less experienced in my group struggled to stand on their legs. This was the whole reason why it took us ten minutes to regroup.

I looked over my shoulder at the number-10 spot where Tima’s legs wobbled. Unlike me, she didn’t have a living parent who had money to buy her a bintilet growing up. She wasn’t used to this.

I held out my hand. She took it. I stared at the blue patterned scale awash from her fingertips to her elbows.

“It’s 11am. You guppies made a one-hour swim four hours. We’re behind schedule.” Lori paced up and down the line, eying us as if we were the lowliest of plankton. “We will be meeting the other pods of Spring Troop at Panglao Point.”

We followed her finger to a tall cliff about a mile away. While it seemed close, in theory, there was likely a lot of uphill mileage unaccounted for.

“Will Captain Valle be joining us?” Ofelia asked from the other end of the line. I too was curious if we would ever catch sight of our elusive troop leader.

“Nah.” Coraline answered.

“He has better things to do than make an appearance at an insignificant outing.” Lori snapped.

“Your mom is a captain and she always goes.” Tima muttered to me.

Lori’s head whipped towards us, eyes ablaze. “What is it about being the weakest link that suddenly makes you bold enough to interrupt me during a debriefing!? TIMA!?”

Tima straightened and blushed. “It was nothing, sir.”

“Someone will have to carry the pod line. I’ll leave that to our current anchor—you.” Lori nodded at the thick knotted rope behind us. “Everyone else, pair up! Don’t worry about keeping formation since most of you are still learning to walk. Let’s go!”

Coraline and I gathered the hundred-ish feet of rope while Tima cleared space in her rucksack for it. A little bit of it peeked out of the top, stuffed to the point that the sack’s tie couldn’t keep it pinned.

“Do you got it?” Coraline asked as Tima attempted to lift it to her shoulders. It was easily twenty-five extra pounds, maybe even more considering its wet…

“I…I think I’ve got it…” Tima’s annoyed curses drifted from my attention as I spotted the pod begin their trek to the path. It was like watching baby turtles making their first attempt onto shore. Oh my god, I could totally surpass them.

I could be in first place for once!