I hop across the wet platform which sinks down into the roaring water beneath me. Lots of water floors in the dungeon lately.

 

The segmented section of stone pushes down into the wet beneath me, displacing it before splashing back up as I leap off of the square construction. You know what this reminds me of?

 

It reminds me of that floor. It was a long time ago. But it was uh… it was wet and slippery and there were tentacles. It was a really fun place, I remember that. But I don’t really remember what floor it was. I think I ate a fish there once, that was nice.

 

“Fish!”

 

Fish. I nod, looking down at the water as I land on the next platform. Maybe there’s a fish for me to eat? I get down onto my knees and grab the rim of the stone platform, looking over the edge into the water to see if there’s a fish. The water shimmers, reflecting back a soft ambient light that seems to shine from everywhere above down onto the roughly turbulent surface. We really shouldn’t make any noise. We wouldn’t want to wake her. The great old one who sleeps at the bottom of the water. I wonder if this floor is a part of her segment of the dungeon?

 

My tongue flicks out as I smell the air around myself and watch carefully for any signs of movement with my serpentine eyes.

 

Narrowing my gaze, I look for any disturbances in the wet. Suddenly, I see something move and I lunge, smashing my face down into the water as fast as I can and snap with my jaw. The current surges as my teeth clamp down on something soft that squishes beneath my teeth, flopping and flailing as I pull my head back out of the pool. A fishy tail slaps the side of my face as I bite down harder, slowly killing the fish. I feel something red drip down my bones.

 

The fish wiggles, its head and tail slapping up and down against my cheeks. The slime squirms around inside of me, pushing herself up to look at the fish. “Fish!” She starts wiggling up and down, copying the fish’s movements. The fish continues flopping around in its death rattle and I sway from side to side like a serpent, copying it’s fishy dance.

 

Fish.

 

Something can be heard behind me and I turn around to look at the hero-party approaching from the staircase behind us. Are they here to steal my fish? I sway my snaky body around in a display of dominance towards the hero, who doesn’t seem impressed. What a jerk. Sssss~

 

I want to hiss, but as my tongue sticks out, it touches the cold, dewy fish and honestly it feels kind of gross. Blech.

 

Spitting out the dying fish, it falls into my hands and as it does, I wonder. I don’t have a tongue?

 

Lifting the fish up, I offer it to the hero-party. But just his party. Not the hero. That jerk.

 

“Fish?”

 

A fireball smashes against my body, enveloping me in a raging flame. I watch as the fish bubbles from the intense heat and then simply crackles apart, frothing as its fatty body literally melts into goo. I listen as the slime gribbles in what amounts to pain for her kind, the radiating heat turning my armor into a literal oven. Quickly, I drop into the water.

 

There is a hiss.

 

Ssssss~

 

But it’s not a snake, it’s just the hot metal cooling off.

 

The surface above me, where I just was, explodes as more fire crashes down onto it, as they try to stop me from escaping again. Haha, those dummies. I don’t think they can swim. Or if they can, they don’t want to risk going into the water. Plus they need to breathe air, like a bunch of losers. They’re can’t be something in the water, like I am.

 

“They’re the worst! It’s like they’re not even trying!” complains the slime and I nod, agreeing with her as we sink into the black depths. Another fireball explodes on the surface, creating a strong wave that splashes around loudly.

 

But down here, I am safe. All I feel is the roaring of the ocean and the gentle tide that stems from something that shifts in the distance. From a massive, hulking leviathan that sits off in the distance, buried beneath the water like a giant buried beneath the dirt. They really should be quiet, they’re going to wake her.

 

As I sink, quietly, remembering all the fun times I had with my fish, I realize something. I’m in the water. There has always been something in the water, but today, this time at least, it’s just me. Just me and the slime and the dead fish that floats away as I release it from my grasp. Sorry fish.

 

In some involuntary spasm of its dead body, the fish smacks its lips. I take that as a sign of its understanding though. Note to self, save the fish when I escape the dungeon.

 

“Fish!” bubbles the slime, waving goodbye to our fishy friend.

 

Fish.

 

Another fireball explodes, creating a larger impact site, the wet pressing away from the force of the explosion. A ripple shoots throughout the floor and then, everything changes.

 

The force of the gentle, sleepy current that sways in and out, moving in synchronicity with her deep breathes, intensifies. The ambient roaring, that is present in all sources of water in the dungeon, becomes louder and louder. Until it drones with a frightful cry that would honestly hurt if I had real ears. My body tosses and turns as the water spins me around and around.

 

Those dummies. They woke her up again. She always gets so mad when you wake her up.

 

Strange masses shift in the darkness around us, strange, long tendrils of embulating flesh move through the water. Thick, giant tentacles that slide along the mud of the floor of the dungeon, that swirl through the crashing water as they begin to stir. As she begins to stir. Turning my head to the side, I look at the great, titanic silhouette sitting in the distance. I watch, as one, giant eye shoots open, the yellow pupil glowing with a tired fury. Like an overworked mother roused from her rest.

 

Ah, I’m sorry mama. It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me. It was them. It was them! I was being good! I turn, kicking to swim away as fast as I can. I don’t know if she believes me, but I don’t want to find out. It’s best to just not be here at all in this situation.

 

The tentacles whip around in a fury, slashing through the water with sharp cracks as they slap against each other, sending out sharp, thundering clashes like the striking of leather against flesh.

 

I’m not here. It wasn’t me. I’m just a fish. I’m just a fish.

 

Wiggling my heavy body that keeps sinking further and further on its own, down into the deep waters, I pretend that I’m a fish.

 

Maybe she won’t notice me then.

 

“Fish!”

 

Fish.

 

 

---

Fish

 

*~+---SPECIAL THANKS---+~*

Henry Morgan,  Shadowsmage, The Grey Mage, Spencer Seidel, Slime girl chapters 4 lyfes, chp2001, Shaoraka, James_is_Playing, Collin Love, Sage, Solarlancer, Diu Lei Lo Mo, Lord DragonRose, MetusZerum, Pike, ItsCool, Beowulf, Yenin, James Nagy, Darastrix, Chymor, Sebastian Viller, Chotley Ferguson, Matthew Forlines, Lasse, Harley Shockley, Halima, Colin Clark, Anna Turner, Dontspam Meho, David G Ross, Steven Lindsay, Missus Mouse, Imran, Indigo, Stefan Mensink, James Panao O'Connor, Igors Zvaigzne, Zikarioa, Dionisio Trigo, Ingo Wiarda, Michael Maddox, Micha, S T, All-In-Vane, Autonomous Spaghetti, Alex, Nick Tinsley, Michael Lau, Mackintackin, Jose, Maximum0428, Peter Jørgensen, Tzucaza, Neil Dube, Alexis Lionel, Carlos Ramirez Guerra-librero, Jo Gucoka, Matticide FOWD, Satherian, Matthew Orenstein, Popper369, Boohya, Ryan Gallagher, Enleed, Oliverthms, Novo, Ignatius Colotta, Christian Kenney, Andrew B, Casel002, Raven67854Gaming, Tomas Wood, Chris Meeker, Ivan, Patterson, Daniel Rhodes, Scryde, Krimson Fox