The Reef

4-A fruity find

He hissed in pain as coral scraped against his more tender wounds.

The cave he had chose for the night was way too small for him to fit properly. It was hardly sanitary either; he could feel the sea lice burrowing their way between his scales.

He wished to have someone come to his aid, to comfort and protect him like his... brother... did. But there was no one now. Everyone in his school is either dead now, or traveled as far away from the area as they probably could.

Going out to look for the remainder of his school was a fools errand. He never caught the direction they darted when it all went down. And trying to find them now is like finding a needle fish in a forest of coral.

For now he'd have to wait for the migration.

And until then, he will have to suffer through his isolation.

Chapter start

Error peered through the entrance of the cavern.

The sun had just risen. Casting its warm glow down onto the reef, highlighting the corals and early morning fish.

The boys had just woken up and Error had a tuff decision to make. Either leave them alone while he hunts, or take them along. The later would of been fine if it wasn't for Null condition at the moment. His gills weren't healed all the way, and to much movement could open the wounds again.

He couldn't just not hunt. The boys needed food.

"Daddy?"

Error snapped out of his thoughts and looked behind him. Null was sitting up, his eyes hazy with exhaustion and slight pain. Void was curled up next to him, his eyes wide with curiosity. "Were are you going?" Null asked, the thought of his father leaving and getting hurt like he did terrified him.

"I'm going out for food..." Error said and seeing the fear in his sons eyes he added. "And I'm bringing you two along."

The moment Void heard this he darted up, excited to go out and about. He cooed and giggled. Null look relieved his dad wasn't going to leave them but was hesitant to go out after last time. Error slipped back to them, scooping the up boys carefully as to not damage Nulls healing, and placed them in his satchel like bag. Null curled around his brother as Error settled the bag comfortably along his chest.

With a skilled wave of his tail, he slipped into open waters and away from the den.

His eyes scanned the coral. Not wanting to go near the clearing in small fear of a repetition of yesterday, he looked for a new area. He was hesitant and unsure as to where to go.

With a heavy sigh, he turned in the opposite direction of the clearing and began to head towards a thick clump of coral. With a flick of his tail, he sailed over and past the thicket. His eyes scanned the horizon, trying to find something interesting.

The fish in this area were to small, and fast; dashing in between corals at the sight of him. So hunting here wouldn't work. He'd need to go further. That worried him.

He could honestly go as far as he wanted. The strings in the cave gave a magic pulse that was like a beacon, so he can't get lost. But he didn't want to run the risk of running into a hostile mer or other sea creature with the boys. But it's also invers for leaving them in the cave. Error didn't want to go to far and something dangerous find the boys.

Pushing that out of his mind, he trudged forward.

It was nearly noon when Error was finally near the end of the thicket. He could see a drop off just ahead.

Using his hands, he dragged himself out of the coral. The sun was at its highest, he needed to move. The shallow hole he hid in was completely exposed now.

But something made him stop.

A strange movement up ahead that worried him.

Long, slender silhouettes stretched from the bottom of the small drop off to the waves above. They swayed with each ripple from the surface.

Error hesitated, not knowing if this was a threat or not. But the way they mover and how he could see fish, large and small, swimming through, he could safely assume they were nothing to be worried about. He moved forward, despite the eerie shadows that loomed within.

As he got closer, he realized he was right. The silhouettes were nothing to be afraid of. They were just long vines. Seaweed or kelp he believes it's called.

He could se fish of all different sizes dashing around inside the forest of kelp.

The overwhelming pain wasn't as intense as before, but still forced him to stop every now and then to let out a dry sob of agony.

Checking that the boys are secure, he slipped forward into the forest.

After seeing a few large fish swim close to the top of the kelp, he decided to check it out.

At the very top of each vine, where large orange oval like fruits.

Large fish, having more strength to withstand the waves rolling the fruit covered ends, dialogue the fruit from the vines and frantically eat it before others come to steal the meal.

Error, with the boys tied tightly to his chest, swam up to the ends. The current was much stronger than he anticipated, pushing him into a clump of vines. His head thumped against something hard making him recoil. When he turned he realized it was a clump of fruit he accidentally bumped into.

He didn't dare look back.

He grabbed a few, batting away some fish that tried to steal it, and settled down near the edge of the kelp forest.

He dragged him self to a decent sized opening in the ground. He peered inside to find a dark cavern.

Liking his lips, he bit into the orange fruit.

They wouldn't spot him in here.

And almost immediately died in laughter.

With out a second thought he slipped inside.

Null and Void peeked out of the satchel and gave their dad a confused look. Null spoke up, his little voice raspy and strained. "Is it safe?" He questioned.

Error nodded, swallowed and giggled a bit. "Yeah, I think it's ok. It's just the flavor caught me off guard..."

This spiked Voids interest. "What's it taste like?" He asked enthusiastically.

"Like fucking strawberries."

Moments later, shells began to clank together.