//------------------------------// // Jaws... and Tentacles... and One Easily Aggravated Whale // Story: Lyra's Voyages 2: On Strange Tides // by Prince_Staghorn //------------------------------// Day 2... Nothing but open ocean for miles around, no land in sight, the wind blowing the smell of salt in my face. It was magical. Ditzy rode the wind with the seabirds, Ocean Wave leapt in the waves made by the bow, having fun with a pod of two-finned Rhinoceros Dolphins. Maud stayed in her cabin, since sea air made her uneasy. The captain was a grizzled old diamond dog with a mechanical arm, which he said he lost to a Sea Tooth, a giant reptile that occasionally came up from the depths. We didn't speak much. We had left the kelp forests of the Emerald Sea behind, and were now heading southwest through the Great Pelagic Ocean, straight to Echidna. There wasn't much life to be seen. *** A few hours passed, and I take that back. The boat was surrounded by small silvery fish, thousands of them, stretching for miles. It was beautiful... The massive form of a Western Megalodon burst through the school, briefly towering over our boat before sinking down, and the beauty turned to horror. To the port side, tentacles exploded through the surface as a kraken joined other predators in the feast. The dolphins and seabirds that had followed us took off to get their share, avoiding the larger predators. Maud had by now come out to look. A killer whale sized dolphin leapt over the boat. It was a phantasmal green, with glowing stars in its hide. I stared in wonder. "A Delphin... but that means..." More Delphins swam through the fish, and it wasn't long before we saw their parents. A massive blue, star-studded form rose up, spraying a fine mist from its blowhole. More Cetus rose up, a large scarred male guarding them and the Delphins. You see, like the Ursa or Lupus, Cetus have a juvenile and adult form, starting out as Delphins, then later aging into the sperm whale-like Cetus, which were very protective of their young. A single other whale was visible: a Jasconius, big enough to be mistaken for a small island, especially with the algae covering its back. We had sailed into a gathering of predators, even if the Jasconius was a baleen whale, and we were all in something small and fragile. The Kraken decided Delphin flesh would be more filling, and grabbed one that strayed too close. The squealing creature was dragged under. The scarred bull Cetus noticed, as did the rest of the pod. they charged, the resulting wave tipping the boat. THAT had the unfortunate effect of making it look like a wounded whale, and the wounds caused to the bull as he fought the kraken stained the water red, mixed with the blue of the kraken's blood. The Megalodon smelled it, and must have thought our boat was its target. Fifty-three feet of shark rose at full speed from the depths, its jaws sinking into the boat and sending me, the Captain, and Maud over the side. Not knowing what else to do, we swam towards the Jasconius. Climbing atop the giant whale, we watched, helpless, as our boat was demolished. Ditzy alighted next to us. Ocean Wave was nowhere to be seen. "What now?" The Captain spoke. His voice was a gruff, harsh bark. "We make camp. These things don't dive unless you're stupid enough to light a fire on their back, so no fires. You all can eat the green growing on it." Maud seemed unfazed by this turn of events. "What about you?" The diamond dog pointed. A small herd of red beasts was ambling across the whale. They resembled cows, but had eight legs and ten bright blue eyes. Kujata, giant amphibians who picked parasites off the whale's back. So long as it kept him from getting hungry enough to turn on us, I was okay. Now we could only see where our ride would take us. As I found a spot to sleep, I could only hope Ocean Wave was okay. This hadn't gone the way I wanted.