Noel and Caleb swam out of the way as quickly as they could, but just learning how to use their new aquatic limbs didn’t exactly allow them to move as fast as they desired. The creature’s webbed claws still found some part of them to slash out at as they dodged its attack.
“Aaargh!” Noel found herself screaming a muffled watery scream again at the feeling and took a second to check herself for any wounds. Luckily the claws weren’t able to find flesh or any other body parts, but her shirt was now in tatters floating uselessly around her. But now wasn’t the time to be concerned of such matters, as the creature was coming at her since she was at a closer distance to it than Caleb.
Doing her best to dolphin kick away from her attacker, Noel clutched her harpoon tightly in both hands and tried to fend off the creature with it. Unfortunately trying to focus on two things at once was easier said than done, especially in a panic, and the next thing Noel knew, the monstrous beast had its shadow looming menacingly over her, just a couple of seconds away from sinking its claws and teeth into its prey.
“Get away from her!” Right at that moment Noel heard Caleb’s voice ring in her head, and a split second after that saw Caleb himself ram a stone against the creature’s side with his hand. This apparently hurt the thing enough to turn its attention to Caleb instead, because just as he was about to strike again with the stone still in hand, its head fiercely turned around to face him, teeth bared like an open bear trap about to snap shut on a wild animal.
“Oh shit!” The very sight of its blackish-green eyes staring right back into his own had startled Caleb so much he kicked out with his fin to back away. Again, with their swimming still being a work in progress this didn’t fully help him get away, but he was luckily far away enough from the creature when it slashed out at him, which only managed to take out his shirt.
Not even pausing to check for injuries, Caleb continued his futile efforts to swim away from the monster by kicking his tailfin at the water with all his might and even throwing the stone between his pursuer’s eyes, which only dazed it for a split second. However, all of this had given Noel enough time to properly adjust the harpoon in her hands after the creature had almost knocked it out of her grip. Screaming another watery scream, she swam at the creature as fast as she could, and before it could make any sense of what was going on, Noel slashed the harpoon out at it.
“Dammit!” She cursed, as her attack had missed. What was worse, this move had drawn the thing’s attention back to her, which Caleb tried to direct back to himself by unsuccessfully trying to stab it with his own harpoon.
“You little shit, you’re not getting her on my watch!” He shouted at the creature through his mind, making it turn its head around again. Thinking to herself she won’t miss this time, Noel lunged at the creature and managed to slash a mark on its other side with her weapon. But this unfortunately resulted in the creature flailing its body madly out of pain, causing its tail to violently smack Noel away and onto the ocean floor with a small puff of sand.
Noel was too disoriented from the impact to properly pick herself back up, so she failed to notice the creature swimming right at her with what felt like vengeance in its eyes, very clearly angry from the way she had managed to injure it, all while Caleb was failing to catch up to it and turn its attention back to him. By the time Noel’s vision came back from being all fuzzy from the hit, the first thing to greet it was the monster’s ugly dark green face opening its mouth wide, coming ever so closer with no time to get out of the way.
Noel put her hands up in front of her by instinct and clenched her eyes shut, expecting the worst to happen, but all she felt was a sharp swat on one of her arms, and then came the muffled sounds of the creature screeching in pain, the same sound it had briefly made when Noel had attacked it.
She gathered up the courage to open her eyes and lower her arms to see what was going on, and saw the creature flailing about in the water just a mere foot away from her, madly trying to grab at something on its back that it couldn’t reach, like a person who had an itch on an area that their hands didn’t extend to.
“Are you alright?” Caleb swam down to Noel and tried to check every part of her body before she replied, “I think I am…” but then noticed a whisp of red coming from her arm where she felt the sharp swat, and saw there was a small cut on it.
“One of that thing’s teeth must have done that when it swerved around right in front of you.” Said Caleb, taking a closer look at it. “Does it hurt?”
Noel shook her head and muttered, “I wonder what made it-“ but then she saw the answer to her question that she didn’t have time to finish saying when the creature turned its back to them and revealed the silver turtle hanging onto it, its teeth tightly sunk into the scaly flesh and refusing to let go no matter how violently the creature shook its body around.
“It’s distracting it for us! Now’s our chance to finish it off!” Noel stood up from where she lay and looked around frantically for the harpoon she had dropped when the creature hit her. She found it lying on the sandy ocean floor not too far away from her, while Caleb gripped his own tightly in a scared vow to finish off their attacker.
Once both of them were armed, they looked into each other’s eyes and nodded once in a kind of agreed determination, before lunging together at the still flailing creature and successfully landing a couple of fatal stabs onto its backside and neck.
The creature let out its loudest screech of pain, then the sound began to grow more and more quiet. Likewise, the creature’s movements also grew more and more sluggish, until no more sound escaped its mouth and its body didn’t so much as move an inch, all while a red stream of mist that was its blood continued to escape from its stab wounds out into the open water.
Panting from the brief but intense adrenaline rush he had felt from their killing blow, Caleb said, “We did it, didn’t we…? We killed that thing… Oh my god, I was sure we were goners right there…”
Meanwhile Noel retrieved the turtle from the dead creature’s body and held it up to her closely in a grateful manner to say, “Thank you so much for coming back in time to distract it, we wouldn’t have been able to pull that off if it wasn’t for you…”
However the turtle bowed its head while being held in Noel’s hands like it was guilty of something, despite her words of thanks for saving them.
“I never should have left you two alone, I was in such dire need of filling back up on my strength that I failed to sense any danger coming your way before going off on my own… it’s my fault this even happened in the first place…”
Noel shook her head reassuringly at the turtle and said, “Nobody blames you, so please don’t say that… You still came back for us just in time, that’s the third time you’ve saved our lives ever since all this disaster began, and words can’t express just how grateful we are for you…”
The turtle lifted its head to look back at Noel, who patted it gently on the shell in an attempt to comfort it and let it know neither her or Caleb were resentful towards it for leaving them without knowing danger was coming - it was still thanks to it they were alive and were free to move on.
“Do you really mean that, Noel?”
“Of course.” Noel replied, somehow managing a smile for the turtle despite still feeling the rush of adrenaline from almost dying mere seconds ago. “What would either of us do without you?” And as she said this, in spite of what they just went through, at that short moment Noel felt something towards the turtle that she hadn’t felt during the past three days or so.
From all the times the turtle had protected her and Caleb from danger and provided the answers to all their problems, Noel realized she had begun to feel the same kind of relief a child would feel towards a parent, almost like the turtle was becoming something of a guardian figure to them in the face of this disaster. Of course, she knew the turtle would never be able to replace her or Caleb’s families, but the care and security it provided them when they needed it the most felt almost on par with the typical form of parental comfort she used to feel when her family was around. Maybe it was the still tragic fact that their families were now long gone or because the turtle was acting like the one beacon of relief in the middle of all the chaos, whatever it was, this feeling Noel had for the turtle felt more evident than ever after this near-fatal close encounter, and for that she couldn’t be more grateful. Words were not enough to properly describe it.
But as grateful as Noel felt for the turtle, she wasn’t yet ready to let anyone else know this because she felt like it would rub Caleb the wrong way when she very well knew he needed her by his side like she did with him after the emotional devastation that was the loss of their families. It was true she was grateful towards Caleb for being with her, as much as it might be embarrassing for her to directly say it to him. Hence why she didn’t want to potentially make him feel worthless by letting him know how grateful she was for the turtle to the point she felt a certain way towards it.
That was why she was relieved at how all of this didn’t translate into a tangible form of thought in her head just yet as the turtle nodded at her to return its gratitude for saying such kind words to it, with Caleb swimming up to them saying, “Are we good to go now that the thing’s dead?”
“It’s best that we do, in case the smell of blood draws in any other unwelcome beings here.”
Noel nodded in agreement and slung her backpack onto her shoulders more securely. “Let’s move.”
“Hang on, speaking of blood…” Caleb swam up to Noel and examined the arm which she had cut from almost getting eaten by the creature earlier. “I think we’d better patch that up for you, don’t you think? It’s still drawing blood…”
“I can help with that, since it’s possible to use the shapeshifting abilities to this kind of use.”
The turtle made its way over to Noel’s cut arm and concentrated on it, and in no time at all her arms was all better as if the injury had never happened.
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“Whoa, thanks.” Noel stared in awe at her newly healed arm. She then smiled at the turtle in thanks and did the same to Caleb saying, “Thank you too for thinking about that, I almost forgot about it myself…” It was then she realized Caleb was shirtless, and she felt herself blush at the sight of the moderately well-toned figure he had from his father making him work out for his health after graduating high school, since he spent so much time indoors to record gameplay videos.
This time Noel’s thoughts must’ve been readable because Caleb also blushed just as much and turned his head away, replying, “That thing tore the whole front of my shirt back there, so as I was swimming the still-intact backside just kinda slid off me, so yeah, sorry about the indecency…”
“Never mind that, it’s fine…” Noel muttered. She glanced at her own ripped shirt and proceeded to take it off herself, adding, “You WERE complaining about how our clothes seemed to hinder our underwater movements…” When the shirt was removed Noel was left only in a sky-blue bikini top she had been wearing underneath her clothes.
Despite him looking away from her out of embarrassment, Noel could still hear Caleb’s thoughts regarding her garments and she replied, even more embarrassed than she was before, “I just figured since we’re going underwater I might as well wear something appropriate underneath, nothing else!”
“I didn’t say anything.” Caleb lied with an even redder face. Thankfully the turtle broke the awkward moment by swimming in between them and waving its front fins about at them.
“I don’t know what’s the big deal here, but I thought we agreed to get moving before the blood attracts anything else!”
This finally snapped Noel and Caleb out of it and they apologized to the turtle for their tardiness, before taking off from the ocean floor and away into the open water stretched out infinitely in front of them.
* * *
To all of their relief, nothing else alarming happened as they kept swimming towards the location of the rift that the turtle said was the closest to them from where they were. In fact, it was rather peaceful. Noel and Caleb could certainly do with some peace after the life-threatening fight earlier.
What they also could do with was more time to practice swimming with their tailfins, which the journey more than provided. The longer they swam through the water the more they started to get used to practically dolphin kicking their way forward, just in a much more flexible – not to mention faster – way than legs could manage. Occasionally they would also change their postures to practice swimming backwards in case they needed to make emergency getaways from dangers in front of them. Whenever Noel and Caleb did this the turtle would look out where they were going for them so they wouldn’t swim into anything other than water.
“You’re doing much better than before now. I’m glad to see you two getting used to swimming with those, since you’ll be needing it for a very long time.”
And speaking of the turtle, it continued to make itself helpful for Noel and Caleb even when danger wasn’t imminent. For the rest of the day it kept using its senses to see if any other monsters were lurking in nearby waters, as well as to detect edible things such as clams or small fish for all three of them to fill themselves up with on the way.
“Thanks a lot for everything you’re doing for us, I can’t emphasize enough how much of a lifesaver you are.” Noel told the turtle as it lured in a couple of edible fish from nearby for her and Caleb to dice up into bite-sized pieces and store in the plastic containers (the process was far from pleasant, but like everything else they were doing right now, this was the only choice they had for survival).
“Don’t stress it, you know I’m glad to help you out with everything you need on this task. So do stop with all your thanks, you’re starting to flatter me too much.”
Even as he placed the last of the slippery and slightly bloody fish pieces into a plastic container with a cringing face, Caleb let out a laugh at this response and said, “Thanks for the advice – that’s the last time I’ll ever say thanks, I swear.”
When it came around to actually eating the things the turtle collected for them, they all agreed it would be best to keep moving as they ate since they didn’t fancy the idea of settling down on the ocean floor and potentially becoming sitting ducks to any predators.
Glancing at an open clam to brace herself for the taste before eating it, Noel muttered, “I’m kinda surprised there’s still any life left in the sea for us to feed off of at all, considering what the aliens are doing to everything else.”
“You did see how big they can get, they’re probably not interested in the smaller life forms like these now that they have bigger prey in sight. Bigger prey for them to fill themselves up better. Whether it be prey or one of their own, it seems like small things are always worthless to them…”
“Well we’ll show them bigger isn’t always better, because here we are to send them all back home.” Said Noel, before taking a deep breath and quickly throwing the clam’s insides into her mouth and chewing it up even faster so she wouldn’t have to taste much of it. Next to her, Caleb was holding a piece of fish in front of him and trying to convince himself it was no big deal. “You eat sashimi and all that jazz, this is the same thing…”
Maybe it was because the turtle had made sure they’d be able to stomach it much better like it said so, but Noel and Caleb found themselves to not be as disgusted as they thought they would while eating the extremely raw seafood, though it was still a taste they would avoid if they could.
“Yeah, my legs aren’t the only thing I’m gonna miss in a long while…” Caleb muttered by the time their first meal was done. “But if it keeps us going, I’m willing to take it.”
Noel couldn’t agree more.
* * *
Many hours of swimming and another course of passably undesirable raw seafood later, it was time for them to finally settle down somewhere for the night. Fortunately they found such a place in the form of a very dense kelp forest where the turtle said they could hide from any enemies outside.
“They won’t even so much as glance at this stuff since they’re all carnivores, so as long as we stay well hidden in here we’ll be able to spend the night safely.”
“Great plan.” Said Noel. She tried looking outside through the kelp but all she could make out was extremely tiny slivers of dark blue that was the nighttime ocean, so she could see for herself what the turtle meant. If nothing could be seen from the inside, then the opposite ought to be true too.
“And yes, I’ve sensed the kelp and can tell it’s edible, so you can stop wondering to yourself.”
At first Noel was confused at this sudden comment, then she turned to see Caleb examining a stray piece of kelp next to him like a dog sniffing at a new brand of dog food. He paused awkwardly after hearing the turtle’s words and said flatly, “I was just curious if we’ll be eating nothing else than raw fish and clam innards for an indefinite time, thanks for letting me know – last thanks, for real.”
“Oh well, do get some well-deserved rest. You’ve been swimming all day after all, not to mention that hassle I had to save you from at the beginning of it all.”
“You deserve the rest even more than us.” Noel replied, and helped the turtle settle down on a small patch of sand in between the surrounding kelp. “Looking after us like children all day long, it’s probably enough to make anyone tired to the bone.”
She didn’t mean to say the part about the turtle looking after them like children as it had just slipped out by accident, but the turtle didn’t seem to think much of it – if at all – and just simply lied down on the sand in a comfortable position, before closing its eyes and becoming still.
“It must have been really tired indeed, to instantly fall asleep like that.” Said Caleb. He had stopped examining the kelp and was trying to make some room on the sand for himself to sleep on as well.
Noel nodded silently and followed suit. As she did so Caleb added, “I suppose trying to make sure two humans – now merfolk – remain safe throughout a journey to fight against an alien race they’re completely unfamiliar with IS really tiring… And not gonna lie, despite how dangerous that journey is expected to be, it’s thanks to it I feel confident that we can pull through. I mean, just look at how much it’s done for us today, and it never asks for anything in return…”
Noel paused while clearing out a spot on the sand big enough for her. She hadn’t expected to hear such words from Caleb that implied he too felt the same way towards the turtle as she did. Noticing this sudden pause, Caleb quickly said in a reassuring tone, “H-hey, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that I can’t help but feel secure from it unconditionally providing us all this safety and everything… of course I’ll always be grateful that you were here with me this whole time, so please don’t think you’re any lesser company than-“
“That’s not what I was thinking.” Noel interrupted Caleb, smiling with relief to know she wasn’t the only one with similar thoughts in mind. She resumed what she was doing and added, “If anything, I’d find it weird if you didn’t feel safe after all it’s done for us, so it’s natural of you to think that. And another thing, we both agreed when-“
She had to pause herself for a moment there because she couldn’t dare say “When we found out our families are most likely dead” in front of Caleb. The last thing she wanted to do was rub salt into the wound of the only one close to her that she had left. So quickly pushing these thoughts out of her head before Caleb could hear them she instead said, “-we agreed at one point we’re in this together no matter what, so let’s stick to that promise and not think for one moment that any one of us is lesser than the rest.”
It didn’t feel nice at all to remind herself of that one day, but she had to tell Caleb what he needed to know.
Caleb looked more relieved after being told this and said, “You’re right, how could I have forgotten we ever promised that to each other? We are in this altogether, and I suppose that means we’re all grateful for one another’s company, right?”
Noel nodded and smiled again at Caleb, who returned the gesture. Under normal circumstances they would have felt like exchanging gentle pats on the back or even a brief hug for each other’s comfort, but for some reason it just didn’t feel right to make such bodily contact when they didn’t have their clothes with them anymore. So all they could do – other than make sure they couldn’t hear each other’s thoughts on the subject – was just simply exchange smiles from a distance before lying down on the sand and saying, “Well… goodnight I guess, we’re gonna need the sleep like the turtle said, and it’s pretty dark now...” “Yeah, goodnight. Sweet dreams.”
Caleb fell asleep after a while, but Noel found herself staying awake for a little longer. It’s probably my nerves, that’s all, she thought to herself.
She looked down at her own body while thinking back to how her interactions with Caleb went after their fight with the lizard-esque monster. While nothing spectacular, she did possess a slim figure with just enough “well-endowed” features that men like Caleb would probably admire. Praying to god that the turtle and Caleb were both asleep for real, Noel thought, “Guess this is just another thing we’ll have to get used to during the time we search and take down these rifts, we can’t let ourselves get distracted by the… unfortunate indecency we have no choice but to sport…”
Noel shook her head as if physically trying to shake the thoughts out of herself. The last thing she needed with Caleb aside from accidentally hurting him with poor choice of words was for things between them to get less than friendly over something that was the least of their problems right now. Their priorities were clear as day, and ought not to be sidetracked only because they were showing more skin to each other than they normally would.
“Look on the bright side, he was right when he implied the lack of clothes would help us more in swimming through the water…”
She turned over and looked upwards to see thin patches of the watery sky high above them casting equally thin rays of silver moonlight which filtered through the swaying kelp. Drawing her attention more to this peacefully calming sight as well as the surprisingly soft feeling of the sand below her gradually calmed her nerves down. Once calmed down, her mind went back to the time they had spent swimming in the open water all day, and all the underwater sights they came across that they never would have even seen on a TV documentary, such as what she was looking at right now.
Noel couldn’t help but think to herself despite the dangers that were lurking everywhere, and despite the severe lack of typical marine life one would expect to see under the ocean (no thanks to the aliens probably taking care of that), the sights they saw along the way were nothing short of spectacular. She thought, “Maybe that could help us cope with the pressure of everything else… if we can’t work our way around it, we can at least make the most out of it…”
She snorted a little and closed her eyes. “What am I thinking, I’m really trying everything to ease myself so I can sleep, aren’t I…”
And with that, her train of thought was cut off soon after as her mind and body were put to rest.