Deeper Waters [Leviathantale]

Ch9 - Friends

Cookies POV

You had spent an entire month living with Reaper and Geno. Whilst you did sleep in the nest with your beloved parental figures, the majority of your time was spent by the reef. It seemed like the two lived a life that was mainly solitary, and it followed a routine that made things predictable for you.

Reaper was usually away from home, you remembered him saying funny things like 'marking territory' and 'deterring trespassers'. You didn't really know what that meant, just that it kept your papa too busy to stay and you didn't like that. Geno was always busy hunting off on his own and never seemed keen to play much. He mostly left you to play alone at the reef.

You were ecstatic when Geno taught you the basics of hunting, even if the lessons were short. Whilst your blunt claws still had not healed enough for you to use them, you at least knew how to catch and hold small prey, and your teeth were sharp enough you could just tear into them that way if you needed to. You mostly tended to just let them go, you didn't like eating without mama and papa.

You had also learned how to identify oysters and open them up, though you thought they tasted slimy and gross, and so did all the vegetation he had introduced to you. You remembered him calling you a funny word after some of it made you sick. Carnival-ous? Carnivorous?

The colorful fish of the reef were more interesting to hunt anyway. You could chase after them, try to find them in the little nooks and crannies they tried to hide in. It was so much fun! Like hide and seek! Crabs were your favorite, though, and you still sometimes crunched on the shells, much to everyone's horror.

Things were nice, but a little too uneventful. You were bored. You found yourself keen to explore, to go further than the reef, to see what wonders might lay beyond it. You wanted to see what other kinds of sea critters might exist (mostly to see what they tasted like). And more importantly... you wanted somebody to play with! If mama and papa were to busy, you were determined to find some friends instead!

So, the next time you were left to explore the reef alone again, you decided instead to go further away. Surely it would be okay so long as you got back before mama wanted to take you home, right? All you had to do was make sure not to take too long exploring!

You swam through the reef, continuing forward even as the waters slowly begun to grow deeper and the coral more sparse. You were so excited! What fun things would you find out here? Oo! Could you find something pretty to bring mama and papa? They couldn't possibly be mad at you for sneaking off if you got them something cool!!

You swam for a very long time, occasionally diving to the seabed when something caught your eye. So far, you had managed to find weird shiny circles, multiple colored pieces of glass, a shell that had a really mean crab in it, and some sort of wire.

Well, you hadn't found the wire, more like gotten caught in it. You had to spent an hour trying to pull it off your tail, but once it started hurting, you realised the desperate tugging only made it hurt more. Since it didn't affect your movements, you decided to just leave it, even if it was uncomfortable.

In the distance, you spotted the silhouette of a strange creature. It had a long body that curved in the water, a mouth filled with sharp teeth, a fin on the top. The tail was long but not like yours was. You stared at it in wonder, taking in its appearance as you did so.

"Woah! What are you?" you hummed out excitedly as you made your way towards the creature. There wasn't any of these at the reef! When you got closer, you realised it was bigger than you. You weren't worried by that, it just meant you could give more hugs later. "Are you a shark? I remember the nice researcher lady showed me lots of pictures of sharks! I bet you're super fun to play with!"

You were disappointed when the creature did not respond to your loud exclamation. It had clearly heard you though, as it turned your direction and started swimming towards you. Why couldn't they speak? Did they not know how to? Maybe they just didn't want to talk because they didn't know you yet!

"Hiii! I'm Cookie!" you chirped out cheerfully, giggling when the creature attempted to swim right at you with open jaws. It was fast, but you were faster, dodging out of the way with a grin. "Oo! Are we playing tag!? I love tag!"

You hadn't been playing for long before arms suddenly gripped you and you were being pulled away. "Hey! I was playing!" you protested, confused at what was happening. Why was he taking you away? You wanted to play with the pretty shark!

He only gave a displeased grunt in response, causing you to pout as you were practically dragged away. His grip was firm enough you couldn't pull away, but it didn't really hurt, it was mostly just uncomfortable. He wasn't being very fun. Was he just mad he didn't get to play too? "If you wanted to play, you could've just joined in!"

"Look, uh, kid, sharks ain't safe. Yer gonna get yerself killed," the stranger let out, finally slowing down and releasing you from his grip.

The shark you had been playing with was nowhere in sight now. It took aaaages to find that one! You didn't want to have to try and look for one again. Maybe the mer could be your playmate instead?

You gazed at them with curiosity, swimming around them in circles with a newfound enthusasm. They didn't look like mama or papa, and you weren't sure if that was terrifying or exciting. "Who are you?" you chirped, grinning.

His eyelights widened as he struggled to keep his attention you. "Fuckin' 'ell, yer fast," he grumbled, which caused you to finally stop circling him.

"Huh? What does 'fuckin ell' mean, mister?"

His face instantly flushed a brilliant shade of red, sockets widening. "Fuck! Er, no, shit, wait, gaah," he stuttered out. "Its a bad word, kid, dun listen to the shhhhrimp I say," he let out.

You giggled at his flustered attempt to correct himself, amused by the unusual words in his vocabulary. "You know lots of funny words!" Why did he look so exhausted at your exclamation?

"Er... You got a name, kid? Name's Red, by th' way." That was a cool name! Red, like the color of his tail and his eyelights! Maybe you should have named yourself black? Or dark grey? No, Cookie was heaps better! There was no way you'd change your name now!

"I'm Cookie!" you chirped out. "Wanna be my friend, mister?"

"Uh. Suuure. If it gets yer tah slow down. Just. Er. Where are yer parents? This ain't safe waters fer a babybones..."

You knew mama geno was probably at the reef, but you weren't going to say that. What if he made you go back? You still wanted to play! You could go back later! "Uhm... I dunno?" You finally let out. It wasn't technically lying, you weren't sure where the reef was anymore.

"Shit kid, that ain't good-" he paused and groaned again. "Edge is gonna kill me when 'e figures out I cant fuckin' stop swearin' round a fuckin' babybones, fuuuck..." he added in a whisper. You probably weren't meant to even hear it.

"Who's Edge, mister Red?" You giggled adorably, flicking your tail a little.

"Ya know what? Fuck this, I'm takin' you tah Sci. What Edge don't know can't fuck me over, or whatever the sayin' is," he groaned, grabbling your arm and swimming off once more.