Each day is as repetitive as the last.
I watch as squid after squid charges into unknown battles, with an incomplete training course to their name and identities more hidden than the boss - Grizz - himself.
I have been in this business for many months now, having failed very few challenges and being labelled a "Profreshional". I gather Salmon Eggs; fight off Salmonoids and aim to protect my teammates from our predator.
A predator we do not have to face, but we force ourselves to regardless.
I have took a Steel Eel head on with an E-litre 4K. The adrenaline that coursed through the entirety of my body was the only reason I managed to wriggle away and charge a single shot. If I had done it wrong; if my aim was slightly off or if my shot was not great enough: I would be splatted.
That challenge is just one of the many that have stood in my way.
I have watched countless inklings fall: boys, girls, talented, rookies... But, none of them have effected me as much as my first partner - Salmon Hunter C.
Salmon Hunter C was my partner in crime, the finest of all hunters I have ever encountered. Their skill was on par to my own.
We trained, we killed and we gathered eggs, but our bond ran deeper and we also shared joy, laughter and promised one another a "forever after".
This all changed one fateful evening.
"Ergh, Glowflies are on us!" I shouted, both annoyed and disgusted.
"Group up, team! Let's wipe them out and get our haul home!" C responds, preparing their Dynamo Roller to mow down the frenzy of fish.
Time stretches on. We continue destroying them and collecting our eggs, until Grizz contacts us, saying that we can bring our haul back!
Myself and C tell the other two to head back, as we prepare to do the dirty work and carry the eggs, despite our bodies aching and-
I watch him fall to his knees.
Behind him, I spot the salmon who had pierced him ever so aggressively and end their satisfactory victory.
"Grizz! Squid down!"
What he says after that is a blur. I try to stem the bleed; I try to give C hope, but all of that fails.
His skin whitens and his ink turns dry.
My happily forever after says goodbye...
His last words were sweet, and he made me promise to continue...
Made me continue to hope; to dream; to live.
I loved him, and now I continue our legacy. I train others and the system changed just to avoid the same tragedy.
It's just a shame that I will always need tenacity equipped to help me power forth, because - now - I will forever and always be:
One squid down.
