So, I am in quite the pickle, err, deep sea cucumber here. You know, I was just peacefully swallowing a squid bigger than me whole. And then this guy, this audacious prick of a creature, decides he wants a taste of me? The audacity.
Predators generally don’t even taste good! Ah, now that I think about it, I didn’t care much about how things tasted now. I certainly still had taste, but it was for a different purpose. My taste buds, if you could call them that, were not as picky as a human.
Well, I guess that’s the result when the primary food source of your environment is whale shit.
I should probably be focusing on avoiding these tentacle things right now, they seem to be descending on me! That was fine, I could just move away from them.
Momentarily, the thought of fighting back came across my mind, but I immediately vetoed that option as ‘IMPOSSIBLE.’ Simply because of one reason:
Where the hell would I even start?
All I saw were red tentacles above, red tentacles to the back, red tentacles to the left, red tentacles everywhere!
Even with my other senses, I could not even detect anything resembling a ‘main body’ that I could chomp at.
Plus, the thing looked very unappetizing and unhealthy. What even was it?
As I examine the very thin tentacles while dodging them. There was a sizable enough gap for someone of my size, but I have a feeling that would not be the case for long.
This creature was kind of like jellyfish? Though I don’t know any jellyfish with such numerous stingers.
Aw man, stingers huh. If they were venomous, forget grabbing, I couldn’t even get hit by this or I can say goodbye to my continued existence.
Wait a minute… the tentacles were glowing red. All of them were, and I have already turned off my ‘lights’, so to speak. That means , I can see them because…
A foreboding feeling permeates my inner being; I have to try harder to get out of this garbled mess of tendrils.
I try to swerve in order to escape it from the side where I could actually see the tentacles end, but they were concentrated there. They brush towards me, cooperating and forming a shape similar to a net.
Something struck me, not physically, but mentally. I had thought I was the only creature here that could produce and detect red light. I assumed myself to have an absolute advantage because of it, mentally positioning myself as invisible and invincible.
In the first place, that was stupid. I was already equal in size when compared to the first thing I saw. And those seemed to be on the lower end of the food chain.
It was a very foolish assumption, born from a lack of information and false confidence.
Well, I understand that I’m but a fish in a bowl, but did I really have to be humbled this quickly? Can I at least lord over this small pocket of water for more than a couple minutes?
This thing also produced red light, likely for the same purpose my kind did, to hunt undetected. Likely, we had the ability to see or feel in each other in some way or form. I had failed to see it, but it saw me.
Perhaps, it approached exactly because I was there, and it thought I was easy pickings. That assumption was very much right.
The bare instincts of a deep sea creature were rooted in me, but my mindset was still that of a human. I was a part of a species that lorded over the earth for thousands of years. Naturally, even if I didn’t acknowledge it I still thought myself far above anything that didn’t resemble one. Which is pretty much everything I could find here.
Even if I was no longer in the ideal body of two arms and two legs, I did not view them as a threat because they weren’t intelligent. When in fact, if it comes to hunting and hiding, I knew nothing compared to animals that have grown used to living in such a hellish environment for a very long time.
Haaayst, the me who grew up in the city isn’t cut out for this. Can I go back to procrastinating multiple deadlines and complaining about it constantly?
I pressed forward, maneuvering around the never-ending swarm of tentacles as they swing around and weave nets to try and entrap me. Thankfully, it did not fully coordinate with itself, or maybe I should call it themselves given how ridiculously long this network of tentacles was getting. If it had actually proper motor skills, I would have been long dead.
Stamina is very much a concern here, the deep sea was not a good environment for a marathon with so little oxygen. I had not much time left to move around like this, and it would take even more time to recover.
Not only did I have to escape it, I have to get far away from it. Far enough that it wouldn’t get me while I’m recovering. And I’ll be damned if yet another one of those things appear.
Let’s just hope this place wasn’t teeming with biomass, but meeting with two different species within mere meters of each other in the vastness and emptiness of the deep sea proved otherwise
I wish I was just really unlucky here; this could be an exception; not a norm.
I noticed small fishes that stuck to the tentacles, illuminated by a faint glow. Their bodies, or rather dried husks were attached to the thin tendrils. Their very life was siphoned from them and used by this creature.
It was not only fish; I saw things with shells, invertebrates and even a crab-like thing in there! Most were around my size, if not larger. This mass of tentacles was an entire ecosystem. Well… not sure if corpses counted towards those.
I realized how pitiful my chances of escaping were. However, if there was one thing I was sure I had a modicum of confidence in doing here, it would be not dying!
I saw the head of a fish outlined by the red light that emanated from the tentacles, some strange sense of familiarity wells up within me.
I had to move, so I look at it for only a moment, but I engraved the sight into my mind. The fish had what I assumed to be jet black skin that was hard to differentiate from the dark background, it had big eyes that seem to capture the light that consumed it. It’s jaw was wide open, revealing a set of long, sharp and transparent fangs.
Was this… brethren? Was this how I looked now?
I feel as if a tentacle narrowly brushed my head, but I would be very weak now if it did. I realize that there was a direction I had not tried. One where the net of tentacles did not fully encompass me.
Down.
How did I not think to go down? Was it because I was familiar with the concept of down being the ground? That I could not fathom that I could go into virtually any direction now?
Okay, in all fairness, I rarely swam in swimming pools and stayed mostly on the coast of beaches.
Ugh, I deeply wish I could get hands, first thing I would do is use them to face palm. Well, here goes nothing.
I waited until there was a wider gap of long tentacles before swimming down as fast as my fins can take me. I push the water behind me as I went down, down and down.
The mass of tentacles was following suit, I felt it behind me. But how?
How was it moving? I did not see any limbs it could use to propel itself. Even if it does, it would not be moving downwards at a speed only a little slower than me.
Something fishy was up in the water here. My thoughts moved to a certain ‘easy’ explanation for all the happenings so far. However, I did not let my mind wander too much due to the mere implications of such an answer.
I occupy my mind with the thought ‘I must survive!’ and in the meantime, only focusing on swimming down.
It’s hard to keep track of time down here, and I assume my internal clock was already messed up. Did time even matter where I was? Still, my escape act felt like it took hours, but I assume it really only lasted a few minutes.
Eventually, the thing seemed to stop pursuing me, staying at around a certain depth above me. Was the pressure too much to handle? Perhaps it was a beast that stuck to higher depths. Actually, optimistic correction there. Thankfully, it was a beast that stayed higher up in the ocean.
Now that it has been brought to my attention, I felt more comfortable as I got deeper. I should swim down; any amount of comfort was good in this situation.
Oh, what I would give to get seated even on our hard sofa back home. That encounter was way too sweaty.
I felt tired too but the squid thing was still digesting in my stomach(?), so that would be resolved fairly quickly. Thankfully, the crisis was-
OH FUCK YOU! I was trying my hardest not to think about you and all your wretched burdens!
Thanks for the chapter keep up the great work!
And thank you for the comment! Unfortunately, I don't serve cookies here. But I have cucumbers! 🥒