Real As the Sun
Chapter 11
Bruce, Anchor and Chum kept searching for their lost friends. Even though things were nearly impossible to see, their other senses made up for the lack of vision.
"Anything come up, Brucie?" Chum asked in a worried tone.
Bruce waited a moment before answering. "Not a thing, mate. But we 'ave to keep looking."
"'Ey!" Anchor stopped and put a fin on both his friends to stop them. "I think I'm getting something!"
They crowded closer together. None of them spoke for a while. "I'm getting it too!" Chum exclaimed.
"Come on!" Bruce said urgently, "S'gotta be this way!" Anchor and Chum quickly followed after him.
Meanwhile, in the depths of the darkness, Jetty raised her head in a rush. "Sebastian!" she poked him gently, "I think they've found us!"
He laid his fin on hers. "How do you know?"
Despite the fact that neither of them couldn't even see their fins in front of their faces, Jetty gave Sebastian a befuddled look. "What do you mean? Can't you sense them?"
"Sense them?" the poor shark was so flustered at having been lost in a dark cavern that he forgot to keep himself under cover. "Oh, yes! Yes, I can!" He took a deep breath. "I think they're getting closer…"
"Yeah, so do I!" she added cheerfully. "I believe we're getting out of 'ere!"
Sebastian actually laughed. "I believe you're right!" To his surprise, Sebastian felt someone grab hold of him gently, but then he realized it was only Jetty. She gave him a hug.
"Thanks for being a good friend," she said, "I'm glad that I joined your guys' club."
Sebastian felt a little nervous, but returned her hug nevertheless. "Well, I'm glad to be there for you," he said, somewhat hesitantly.
"Oh, they're here!" she said suddenly and let go of him. "Bruce! Anchor! Chum?"
"That you, Jet?" came a distant voice.
"It's Chum!" said Sebastian. "We're down here guys!" He started waving but stopped, embarrassed, when he forgot that even they wouldn't be able to see.
"We're coming you two!' Bruce called. Their voices were nearer now.
When eventually Bruce, Anchor and Chum came close enough, Sebastian could actually feel the vibrations given off the water from them.
"You guys alright?" Anchor asked.
"We are now, Anchor," Jetty said, "I thought you all'd never find us!"
"Aw well that's putting low!" Chum said, "We know these caverns like the back of our fins! Ow!" He felt something sting the side of his left fin. "What was that?" He asked and started rubbing the spot where he was stung.
A tiny little light appeared a few feet away from where Chum was stung.
"Uh-oh, jellies." Anchor said.
"C'mon mates," Bruce said, "Follow me!"
Together, the four sharks swam out of the cavern and eventually made their way home.
Later…
"Wow," Sebastian said. He was swimming in circles around the ship and musing over the days previous events. "Talk about adventure! I've never done anything so exciting in all my life!"
Chum traced a fin across his brow. "We thought we scared you for a second there, mate."
Sebastian let out a chuckle. Bruce smiled, somewhat nervously but glad that Sebastian got a thrill out of his experience. Anchor grinned and listened appreciatively at his friends' description.
"And then we stop and we're all lost, and we don't know where to go, or whether up was down, or -" Sebastian rambled on.
Jetty laughed at her new friends' enthusiasm. She swam off a little to the right, where an old, rusty sink was and settled herself there. She watched the tiger shark with amusement, and suddenly caught herself looking at no one but him. She blinked and shook her head.
'Daydreaming,' she thought, and actually believed herself. She was glad to be out of the cavern, even though, to hear Sebastian tell about it, it was a little thrilling to be down there. Jetty was glad to be with him. He was such a nice shark.
"Hey, Jetty!" Sebastian called her. She looked up quickly, escaping from her thoughts. "Come over and tell these guys your version of the story!"
She cleared her throat. "Well, alright." She swam up next to Sebastian. "After we fell way down into the current, there wasn't a thing t'see by then. Everywhere you looked, complete darkness! You couldn't see your fin in front of your face! Anyway, we swam about for a while, and we weren't sure at all where to go. Sebastian 'ere suggested we stay put, that way if you guys came looking' for us, we wouldn't be gone. So then…"
Bruce, Anchor and Chum loved stories, and this was a delight for theme to hear such an exciting one. The last story they heard that was just as interesting, if not more, was the one Marlin told them about rescuing Nemo.
"…But Sebastian was a big 'elp. If it weren't for him, I…don't know what I would've done." She looked at him gratefully. He bowed his head in humility.
Anchor observed them, and mused, "Exactly 'ow 'close' did you two get, eh?" He tried to hide his laughter, but to no avail.
Sebastian glared at Anchor. Chum tried to brighten things up.
"'Ey now, Anchor, there's really…no need…to make…fun of them!" He burst out laughing as well.
Sebastian shrugged, "What's so funny about this?"
Bruce giggled a little and rolled his eyes, a large grin on his face. "Don't mind them, mates! They can't resist poking fun every now and then." He giggled again.
Jetty blushed. "'Ey, he was awfully encouraging down there you know!"
"We're sorry, mates," Anchor said, easing his laughter. "You know we were only joking!"
Sebastian couldn't keep his frown any longer. "I know." He smiled at Anchor and Chum. He never could bring himself to be angry at the two for so long - they had very disarming personalities…if you weren't a fish, that is.
Bruce smiled, looking around at everyones' good humor. Jetty smiled too, but a bit uneasily. Anchor and Chum were still taking breaths from their laughter.
"So what's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Jetty asked, trying to get on a different subject.
"Well, we could always go out 'an see what we can find," Chum suggested after catching his breath.
"Sounds good to me," Bruce said.
Anchor nodded and looked at Sebastian and Jetty. "We're in!" they said together, then chuckled.
"Right then! Tomorrow it is! 'Ow 'bout we get a little something to eat now?" Bruce offered.
"That sounds good, too," Sebastian said and made his way towards the exit from the ship. The others followed, Jetty came last.
She kept her eye on Sebastian as he left. Before he was out of sight, he turned and waved for her to come, with a smile on his face. She looked a little surprised for a second when he waved to her, but she waved back and returned an edgy grin. She slowly swam out of the large hole, and sighed.
'He is wonderful.'
