Monsters of Sea

The hoard of monsters were strange, to say the least.

The first that reached them was a giant squid, pink and orange with a horrible blue eye. It swam under their boat, shaking them around and threatening to toss them over board. Oppo boosted the engine, Yabko curled itself into a defensive ball, murmuring a chant over and over. But before Saif could unsheath his nail, it was over, swimming away.

“Woah, that was close,” Oppo chuckled, placing his hand over his racing heart. “We aren’t too far from the trench. We should start seeing more of those monsters. We got lucky this time, but we might not be the next. Be ready for a struggle.”

Moments later, they were threatened by a dull red octopus, just as- if not larger than the squid. It squiggled, if Saif had to describe its movement, slithery and jittery. His sword was out and ready, waiting for any sign of a strike.

If it tried to shake them off, Saif could intercept the movement and cut a tentacle clean off. If it smacked their boat straight through the center, they’d be sent adrift in no time. If it chose to pluck one of them, he could rush up and slice them down. If it was himself, he had the other nail at the ready.

He waited with bated breath for the tentacle to strike down.

Any second now.

Yep, any second.

Ugh. Is it going to strike or not?

Instinct laughed at him. Saif eased, sheathing the sword.

“It’s not attacking us?”

They pushed forward, leaving the octopus behind, only for a shiver of sharks to swim up to them, blue triangle fins poking out of the water. They almost panicked, a shark even got close enough to bump into the boat before awkwardly shimmying to the side and swimming away with the rest of its swarm.

“Huh… You’re right, Oppo. Everything that we saw were just creatures of the sea.” Yabko said, looking on as a pod of whales passed by. “No monsters.”

“I’m confused. There has to be at least something making this place dangerous.” Oppo itched his neon orange hair. “Why would it be called Deadline then? There’s a line you cross then you’re dead. But where is it?”

The strange thing about the hoard of monsters is that they weren’t monstrous at all. As the sun started to set, the ocean glimmered in the low light beautifully.

“You mentioned this happening. Monster. The word changed meanings.” Yabko said absent mindedly, leaning to the side of the boat so its hand was touching the surface of the water. Many fish came up to it, nibbling a little before swimming away.

“Yea… but it's weird. Some of the creatures we’ve seen are only supposed to be found deep in the ocean. Very deep. It's like they’re all swimming away from something chasing them up here to the shallow waters. Why would every animal try to come up to the surface at once?

Yabko’s face contorted, dipping their vine even further into the water. “It’s vibrating. A lot. Something’s getting closer to us, and fast. We should-”

Saif used to love swimming. When it came to any body of water, he was the first one in and the last one out. In one swim class that his mom signed him up for, he blew the coach away with everything he’d done. He swam quickly, and knew each of the moves before the coach demonstrated them. He held his breath so long, the coach had to pull him up to make sure he hadn’t drowned. He wasn’t scared to dive off the deep end like the other kids, and could swim over a dozen laps through the pool without breaking form. It came easy to him.

Despite not having the proper limbs for it in this bug form, swimming came easy to Saif.

So when a great whale rammed into the side of the boat so hard that everyone was sent flying, Saif quickly and easily made his way back on.

Yabko surfaced right after him, grabbing onto the sides of the boat with its tendrils and pulling itself up. “Mmm salt. I didn’t know the ocean would taste of salt.”

Saif looked around for Oppo, not finding him anywhere. He continued to look, hoping he hadn’t drowned by now-

There!

Deep in the water ahead, a spot of muted neon orange was getting smaller and smaller.

Saif leaped straight in, diving directly down to Oppo. Saif tried to grab hold of him, but the currents slipped everything out of his pincers.
Thinking on his feet, Saif shot up out of the water and back onto the boat. Yabko was already leaning over the edge, screaming for them. Saif grabbed one of Yabko’s vines, biting down on it and dove back in.

He kicked up as hard as his beetle legs could go, pushing down to where Oppo was struggling.

Saif swam around him, vine in mouth, wrapping it around Oppo’s torso and securing it under his arms. Saif pulled the vine a few times, causing Yabko to start reeling it back.

It wasn’t fast enough. Oppo was letting go of his last breath, bubbles clouding their vision.

Saif swam under Oppo, and kicked his way back to the surface, pushing Oppo along.

They broke the surface with a series of coughs and a deep wet gasp. Yabko pulled him up into the boat.

He was shivering, shocked and cold, but otherwise unharmed.

Saif debated giving Oppo his own cloak to keep him warm.

Instinct forbade him. Forcing him still the second put his hands on the lapel.

“Too much,” it whispered. “You’re doing too much.”

Instinct scuttled around the boat, looking through the meager supplies for something to keep Oppo warm in the cold late autumn air. He found a pile of plaid-patterned wool blankets that looked thick enough to do the job.

“Put that back!” Oppo yelled, stopping Saif from placing the blanket around his shivering shoulders. “Don’t use that one! Get another one. Please.” He added hastily through jittering teeth. They all looked the same to him, he shrugged. Picking another one at random.

There was quiet on the ocean. No monsters or ‘monsters’ came by as they caught their breath. Storm clouds blocked out the stars, promising a dark night.

“Thanks.” Oppo said, finally warming up.

Yabko curled closer around Oppo, shielding him from the elements even under the covers. “You are welcome.”

Saif poked the blanket, trying to slip under it without alerting the others.

“It was my mom’s. I begged my sister to take it with me. She made me promise nothing would happen to it. If it got wet, it would be ruined.”

Oppo sniffed, both Saif and Yabko comforted him.

“She and my dad were both Greats of Water. Called in for a meeting at the trench and never came back. On my birthday too.”

“Do you plan on following them? Becoming a Great of Water?”

“Absolutely not. Greater Water ruined my family. If it was that or a noose I'd choose the rope.”
Saif raised his eyebrows at that.

“...Are you interested in becoming a Great?”

“I- I’m not sure. I never thought about it.”

“Me neither. Florians live long enough without Great intervention. Maybe if one of the Beings proves themselves worthy of following, I would. The other benefits that come along with it are nice, but a lifetime of following a Being you despise sounds tortuous.“

Oppo nodded, “yeah. That’s how I feel too.”

The boat continued along, passing through the arch of a carefully balanced rocky outcrop that seemed rather threatening.

Up ahead, Saif spotted a decently small island with a singular coconut tree. Saif thought it would be nice to bring the fruits back, especially since his companions hadn’t eaten anything since they departed hours ago.

He readied himself to leap on when both Oppo and Yabko grabbed him at the same time, slamming him into the steel boat. He looked at them confused. They pointed at the palm tree dangling through the breeze.

Confused, Saif stared at them, then back at the palm, looking at its leaves and fruit. They paid him no mind, watching on in shock and horror. Saif looked back at the tree, waiting for something to happen.

Instinct shivered, drawing the sword. It spotted it.

The monster loomed closer, beckoning and Saif was the only one that couldn’t see it.
Saif focused where Instinct directed him, not up, but down. The bottom of the tree wasn’t connected to the island at all. It was floating ever so slightly off the ground. It bobbed up and down, matching the movements of the waves. Saif looked at the island, finding spots uncovered by sand that looked like a giant tongue.

There was no island.

They were sailing into the open maw of the monster.

Saif wasn’t going down that easily. He reacted first, pushing Oppo up towards the steering wheel.

The monster roared. Saif realized it was what they heard earlier.

Instinct started the fight.