The two weeks in the forest came to an end when they came to a hotel on the 14th day night in the forest.

The bus they were all in, was now occupied with people who were half asleep, and some who were still obsessed with the beauty of what they got the luck to view. They were cherishing every scene. ‘They’ were mostly people in the camera crew.

Niko and Raelynn had their laptops out, and they were going through the pictures one by one. Some stood beside them, and some stood behind them. Nevertheless, all the pairs of eyes were admiring the pictures and video clips they had taken during the trip.

[...]

[Mariana Trench]

The massive cruise made all the people raise their heads, bending their necks to get a full view of it. The blue sky added an extra effect to the thrill and the adrenaline which was already pumping through their veins.

The blue of the sky matched the angry waves that were storming toward them.

Ian, who walked in the middle of Mason and Raelynn, felt the salt taste on his tongue while he was explaining to them what plans he had to do today with the camera crew.

After hearing the command given by the ship captain, they all started getting on the ship.

“We are going to dive inside the seat! This is like the very first time I’m actually doing this!”

“Oh my God, the cruise is huge… I like how the top of it looks like that!”

“This is like a dream coming true…!"

Almost everyone was hyped to walk inside the ship. But the comments were from Ian's camera crew which was led by Niko.

The crew of Goofy was equally excited but wasn't showing it off considering how much experience they had with such situations.

More than anything, for the camera crew led by Raelynn and Niko, the entire trip was based on work.

Getting inside the cruise, everyone had different thoughts, and feelings and was looking forward to a new experience considering that Ian had explained what they’d be doing once they were inside.

[...] After they got into the ship, with a huge roar of the engine, it started. People from different corners of the ship gathered on the front deck of it and watched the sea with great interest.

The ship came to the middle of the sea and everywhere around… it was plain blue.

The sky, the blue ocean—everything looked magnificently attractive.

Some had their hairs going out of control because of the wind, and some were enjoying the sight of the shore while talking.

“So, there are so many different types of sea creatures when we get to the inside, just…. Enjoy!” When Ian said that to the crew, they all cheered.

“But on the second round, when we get down there, I want y’all to get as many as shots you can. It might be sample shots, I don’t mind, but any and everything you see and you feel awed at, just take shots. If you feel like, the first time might be the luck for the beauty because the second time we’re going down, they’ll be gone, take your cameras with you. Either way, I want each and everyone to enjoy down there, okay?!” Ian said making everyone nod in acceptance.

After a while of enjoying the site, Ian announced that some of the people from the camera crew and the VFX department were planning to go down the sea—dive and take some shots.

"I've never interacted with whales before and I heard there are, inside," Raelynn said with horror in her eyes.

"Oh yes. Not to mention, many other sea animals—fish. Just pray you'd get to spend more time with me because it seems like you've been doing nothing with your life but stay behind cameras," Ian said jokingly.

Since the time flew at a speed and they were enjoying every second of it, Ian and Raelynn grew closer just like everyone else on the ship at the moment.

“Ah! I beg to differ, sir,” Raelynn commented sarcastically.

They got ready to go Scuba diving. With the guidance of professionals, in no time, every one of the people who was suggested to go inside was ready.

This was the second time Ian was scuba diving. The first time was in his previous world. Since he hadn’t felt the feeling ever since then, he was personally craving the experience. From what Ian knew, people say scuba diving opens up a world of possibilities, from facing your fears to learning new skills and exploring places beyond your imagination. And that was exactly what he remembered from the first time he did.

After a few minutes of preparation and advice from the professionals, they dived inside.

For Raelynn, she had quite a lot going on in her mind.

‘What if water enters my mask and water goes inside my lungs?’ ‘What if I forget the hand signals and give the wrong signal to the instructor?’. The confusion was if she showed a thumbs down, underwater it means that she was okay with going more down underwater but on land, it means “Oh Hell No!”.

This was not just for her, all the first-timers had so many other questions battling in their thought process.

The small boat they got in, made everyone less nervous because of how the instructor talked to them.

“Take a deep breath! This will be the best experience that you’ll ever have in your life, so… Enjoy! Let’s go down as soon as you’re ready,” he said.

[...] She’d always thought of scuba diving as an activity for serious adrenaline junkies. But as soon as she hit the water, she realized that it has far more in common with yoga and meditation than it does extreme sports.

‘Oh fuck’ she whispered to herself and dived inside with everyone else. Her thoughts were taken back by how it all felt.

On land, switching off your brain (and your phone) can be a struggle. Breathing is something that just happens without thinking and rarely do we take the time to stop and just ‘be.’

They went deeper inside the water.

She felt when she was diving, it was a totally different ball game because being immersed underwater was such a sensory experience. Everything she could feel, hear and see comes into sharp focus.

Her breathing became slow, purposeful, and rhythmic. And she’s suddenly aware of how her movements connect with each intake of breath.

It was hard to feel distracted when nature is putting on a show-stopping performance and she was right there on the stage. She felt as if she was finally living in the moment without giving any thought to the future.

Something she hadn’t considered before was just how human-centric our lives are on land; particularly in Western society. Everything seems to revolve around the human experience: from motorways to fast food. They are the centre of the universe (or so they think).

But when she first entered the marine world as a diver, it’s a different story entirely. All of a sudden, she was the outsider. A guest in someone else’s home.

Going to the deep, she saw small fish going in the opposite direction she was going. And that was my first encounter with the marine world.

Seeing a coral reef for the first time is a humbling experience. She had to stay within her limits but she was suddenly met with a deep sea creature which she took a picture of as soon as possible.

At where she was, clownfish weave among anemones and bump head parrotfish munch on their favourite coral. Everything in the sea has its place and purpose. Nothing was theirs to take or touch. Suddenly, their world feels rather tiny and she realized just how awesome and precious our oceans are.

Taking the camera out, she took a picture of the anemones and the other creature.

Although she was admiring everything around her, the sea creatures, colonies, plants, and aquatic life, her worse wear of sharks hit in.

This irrational fear of sharks followed her as she kept diving from where she was, to another place “I just hope we don’t see a shark,” she told her diving buddy, moments before taking the plunge.

Suddenly, when she had her first encounter, she was surprised at how she felt. This was the moment she had been nervous about ever since she got in. Yet, she felt no fear. Just peace and appreciation.

It was a lone blacktip reef shark and she watched in delight as it zipped gracefully between the coral, in search of a hiding place. For the first time, she saw sharks in a new light.

Vulnerable, not menacing. Just animals trying to survive in a world where up to 100 million sharks are killed each year by humans. When someone puts it that way, it’s easy to see who the real bad guys are.

Being underwater can throw up all sorts of unexpected challenges, be it a flooded mask or a strong current. Stressful situations like these can easily lead to panic, especially if one is a novice diver. But when they panic, their body goes on high alert. the heart races, your breath quickens and logical thinking goes out the window.

More than anything else, her first scuba dive gave her a much deeper appreciation for the oceans and a renewed sense of environmental stewardship to protect them. Now she understood why divers are so passionate about ocean and reef conservation. They know just how much is at stake.

Coral reefs are wondrous places. As well as looking beautiful, they’re also a source of food and habitat for thousands of species of fish. She understood it clearly.

The ocean reinforces the value of keeping your cool when things get tough. It taught everyone to stop, breathe, think and act. And that’s a good mantra for above water too. Life can be stressful. But even when a situation feels out of your depth, you’re still in control. So take a deep breath.

[...] Everyone came out of the water, and they had different thoughts going in and out of their mind, just like Raelynn experienced.

“....Although initially, you were scared, once you went down there and saw your goal, of what you came here to achieve, everything else seemed irrelevant,” The instructor said.

That was a moment of realization for Ian and everyone else, “Once you have your goals clearly cut out and in front of you, the journey becomes more purposeful and enjoyable”

“Alright!” Ian said, grabbing the attention of everyone. “We’d go down once again, so take the cameras and…”

He planned what he wanted in the next session of diving with everyone else. On the spot, Ian made rough visual effects just to see what they’d get from there. Many of the team members had ideas and new visual boards in their minds.

With gigantic cameras, they all once again went in.

The fun-time diving ended, and Ian planned to send a high-end camera in a submersible tube to the deepest part of the Mariana Trench when they return the next time to take the final shots.

In brief, everyone was happy by the end of the day.