Chapter 4 - An attempted morning rescue
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A few hours passed since Ariel, Urchin and Sebastian all found their way to the dolphins, and they could no longer continue unless they got some sleep. So without hesitation, the group went to sleep and did not wake up for a few hours.
When Urchin opened his eyes first, he saw the bright sunlight shining down upon his group, as well as bubbles erupting from some vents.
"Ariel, Sebastian, Wake up, it's morning." Urchin tried to wake up his friends, And had success in doing so.
"...Morning Urchin." Ariel's voice was deepened a bit from her sleep.
"Mornin' mon." Sebastian yawned and stretched his claws out.
The group took time to get their eyes opened and fully awake. Then they had a chance to see what Urchin saw.
"So...now what do we do?" Asked Urchin
"I'll be checkin' the surface, mon." Sebastian swam for the surface and peeked out of the water.
What he saw shocked and awed him greatly - a massive structure with the sounds of sea life either sad or begging. there was a giant sign on one of the buildings which read "Sea-life city." Sebastian couldn't read it, but judging by the shapes and pictures on the side of the other buildings, he figured they were in the right place. He submerged back into the sea to tell Ariel and Urchin where they were.
"It's a human place...dere be paintings of fish and udder tings on de walls." Sebastian reported.
"So it's worth looking into." Said Ariel
The group didn't know if it would work, but they figured going through the ventilation system in the water might be their way in. Ariel looked at the vents up close, and found one was slightly open.
"Here Urchin, help me." Ariel tried to force the vent door open.
Urchin flexed his pre-pubsescent biceps and swam over to help Ariel rip the door open. with the efforts of both, the vent broke open, and they were able to go in.
"Let's go, Sebastian." Ariel motioned for Sebastian to follow.
The group swam through a long tunnel, about 8 by 8 feet, enough space for them to fit. Sebastian crawled along the floors of the vents, remaining cautious of what laid in front of him.
"Should we call out for Billy?" asked Urchin
"No, mon! Ya never know what dem humans might do." Sebastian warned
"We'll keep looking around...maybe there's a way into a bigger tank or something." said Ariel.
With 5 minutes since their entry into the vents, they could hear the sounds of a crying whale.
"That sounds like Billy." Said Urchin
Ariel used her sense of hearing to try and decipher where Billy might have been. With a minute of tracking, Ariel found another vent, and this one led into a huge tank. Ariel peeked into the tank...and there was Billy, all curled up, and crying like a whale.
"He's here!" Ariel motioned for Urchin and Sebastian.
Urchin and Sebastian peeked into the tank and also saw Billy there.
"We can't get him through the vents. He's too big." Said Urchin
"So we have to figure out another way to get him out of there." Said Ariel
"We'll 'ave to get in dere and maybe den we can figure it out." Sebastian began using his claw to unscrew the bolts holding the vent. With 5 minutes of work, Sebastian had the vent unscrewed, providing entry into the tank.
"Good work, Sebastian." Urchin congratulated the crab
"Yah man...call me...de safe-cracker!" Sebastian laughed.
The group got into the tank and swam over to Billy. Billy heard their swimming and turned to see them.
"Hey...it's you guys...how did you find me?" Billy stopped crying, as he now had a ray of hope.
"Never mind that, are you ok?" asked Ariel
"Not really...all they've fed me is..." Billy almost looked sick when he ended with "...rotten tuna."
"Blegghhh!" Ariel and Urchin stuck their tongues out in agreement of how bad that would taste.
Then some voices came to life on the surface. Ariel could barely make them out.
"...you know it's cruel to keep that whale in that tank! He's too young to be taken from his family!" yelled a female voice
"He's our object, I paid for him in full, and he will be trained to perform, Tracey!" yelled a male voice.
Sebastian broke the surface and looked at the humans, who appeared to be arguing. One of them was a young lady, in her mid-20s, wearing a greenpeace shirt and leading a group of people who looked much like her.
"These are wild animals, not stunt-creatures to put on a stupid show!" the lady, who was named Tracey, kept arguing. "We will not stand for this whale's illegal capture! You must release him now!"
"He was captured legally off the shores of Denmark, Ms. Blythe!"
"You bought him off some greasy fisherman!" Tracey replied back.
Sebastian bailed back down into the sea and gave the news to the merfolk.
"Dere's some humans up dere who are arguin' about Billy." Sebastian reported
"But King Triton says humans are all the same. How can that be?" asked Urchin
"Daddy's wrong...If what you're saying is true...then not all humans are the same." Said Ariel.
"That still doesn't help us in getting out this whale." Urchin added.
Back on the surface, some whale trainers looked into the tank...and they saw 2 figures with what looked like a small fish in the water.
"Hey! Theres tree-huggers in the whale tank! Get em out!" The trainers yelled out. Of course, that meant tripping the alarm.
"What! There's none of our group in there!" Tracey spoke.
When the alarm sounded, that was more than enough motivation to get Ariel and Urchin out of there. They had to leave Billy behind.
"Sorry Billy, we're going to have to figure something else out!" Urchin followed Ariel out into the vents.
"Ok..." Billy went back into his corner of the tank to wait.
Sebastian was the last to go through the vents. While Ariel and Urchin were able to go really fast, Sebastian got left behind.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Sebastian ordered
But while Ariel and Urchin were able to get out of the vents undetected, Poor Sebastian got grabbed by a human in a wetsuit.
"Oh, it's just a crab." The diver thought.
Sebastian didn't take his capture lying down. He took his claw and pinched the diver.
"OWW! he pinched me!" She yelled out
"Oh, did the poor little human get a boo-boo?" Sebastian taunted.
He continued to try and escape, but was caught, and quickly netted.
Sebastian kept quiet as he was placed in a net by the diver. She then swam back for wherever she entered, taking Sebastian with her.
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