From the depths, a new story.
Pyke coughed as he awoke, the seawater filling his lungs. It felt like he was breathing a new type of sludge, the saltwater a bit more viscous than he was used to. Groaning, Pyke lifted his head up in a daze only to be immediately shaken out of it by what he could see.
He seemed to be once again on the seafloor, but still very close to land. The sand beneath him reminded him of a sandbar, rays of sunshine scattering and flooding the seafloor. The sun hung high in the sky, the sunlight nearly blinding. Strange sounds filled his ears, but none of the whispers from before came to him.
With a grunt, Pyke got up, his hands and knees aching. It felt like he had run a few marathons. His body ached, and the world around him seemed foreign in some way. Like it wasn't the ocean that he remembered. The sand was thinner, the ocean free of blood and not flooded with metal.
It was then that he realized. This wasn't the ocean he remembered. It hit him like a leviathan charging straight towards his skull.
He had recently been tracking down a mysterious mage, Tyrian Malign if he remembered correctly, when he had been swallowed up by a portal conjured by the mage. The portal nearly knocked him out, but its intended purpose rang true; he had been transported to a forgotten ocean. Pyke growled at that. He wasn't in the mood to walk all the way back to Bilgewater, if he was even anywhere near Bilgewater.
Something ran into his back.
"You looking for a fight?" Pyke snarled, turning around. Pyke's eyes widened when he was greeted by a fish the size of his hand, the thing's eye making up about 70% of its body. It had a small beak and swam in circles before quickly swimming away.
Pyke was a little bit faster on the uptake, however. He managed to grab it by its tail.
"What the hell are you supposed to be? I know I didn't see any fish like you when I was in the sea." He said. The fish made no response, only sitting limply in his hands, its single eye unmoving and unblinking. Pyke sighed, letting the fish go as it swam off… to a swarm of similar looking fish. Pyke rubbed his eyes with the saltwater, hoping the stinging saltwater might awaken him from a trance of some sort.
It didn't work.
Grumbling, the Bloodharbor Ripper turned around, only to be greeted by a slightly familiar sight. He seemed to be in a shallow coral reef. A safe shallow of sorts. All kinds of fish darted around, from fish that looked like green bags to ones that looked like a mix between a manta ray and… was it a rabbit? The thing's 'ears' moved around, seemingly listening for signs of danger.
It was then that Pyke was hit again. The wet noise irritated Pyke, causing him to fly around.
Immediately, he was greeted by one of those strange fish he'd seen earlier. It swam back to its group, faster this time so as to not get caught.
Pyke walked forward, approaching the group. They moved, heading towards a small crevice within the coral shallows. He grumbled, following them as they darted around. Eventually, after only a few minutes of walking, he was greeted with a shadow above the sea.
Pyke narrowed his eyes as he looked up. Whatever he was looking at had glass at the bottom of it, likely a hatch of some sort, and was in the vague shape of a potato. The rest just floated above water, orange bags keeping the thing atop the water.
Pyke turned to saltwater as he attempted to enter through the bottom. Unfortunately, it was water-tight, not allowing him in. Grumbling, he went around, looking toward the side of this dingy.
He noticed the bars on the side, leading to what looked to be a hatch topside of the thing. He quickly turned back corporeal and was climbing the bars, the metal coating covered in the same orange as earlier.
The hatch on top was not hard to open, taking only a strong tug. Upon opening it, Pyke went inside the small floating house, or dingy, or whatever the hell it was.
Pyke fell to the floor of the thing with a wet slap, the structure dipping down only a small bit before quickly hitting equilibrium. Pyke took a quick glance around.
The inside of this pod was spartan, the white walls reminding Pyke of the marble ruins at the bottom of the seafloor. There was two seats. One was unoccupied, a yellow and black bar coming down from the top. The other held a man in it, who did not seem conscious. Pyke looked the man over before crouching down to get at eye level. The stranger's blue mask obscured his face, leaving nothing for Pyke to see. Pyke nudged the body.
"You alive?" Pyke asked, his voice still sounding as if he was underwater. He didn't get a response, only the drip of a fluid responding to him. As Pyke listened closely, he could hear it nearby. Pyke looked down, and it was only then that Pyke noticed the blood that had pooled on the floor beneath the man, all of it coming from a wound in his head that was almost done healing. If he would live that long, at least. Pyke said a quick word of respect to the man, as he had clearly not escaped the ocean's wrath. The poor sod likely barely got out before he was thrown around, if the purple bruising was anything to go off of.
"Hmm. You'll be fish food soon enough." Pyke muttered, looking around the pod. It was then that he spotted the white chest toward the front, integrated with the floating thing.
Pyke slowly got over to the chest, rummaging through its contents. There was a brick covered in paper that felt like it held some kind of hard food, though even Pyke felt hesitant to try it. There was a bottle of water, which Pyke promptly put back. There was also a slate of some kind, the side the same color white as the walls while the rest seemed to be made of blue glass. Pyke tenderly picked the object up, inspecting it.
"What is this? Some kind of magical artifact?" Pyke wondered, flipping the slate around and appraising it. It almost looked like a magic object, if his experience with sunken ships were anything to go off of. Inadvertently, Pyke touched a small button. It was then that the slate flickered, showing signs of light. Pyke nearly dropped the slate as it came on and spoke in a monotone female voice.
"Hello! If you are hearing this, then you have survived an emergency evacuation of a capital-class ship equipped with Alterra technology. Congratulations: the hard part is over. Your PDA has automatically rebooted in Emergency Mode. This operating system has one directive: to keep you alive on a hostile alien world. If that is not possible it will alert salvage teams to the location of your remains." The slate said. Pyke shook his head as he drank in the information.
He was on an alien planet? What the hell was an alien? A ship had crashed? He must have gotten into one of the lifeboats then. The poor sod beside him was likely one of many casualties.
And what was this about keeping him alive? Pyke had almost died multiple times, most of them didn't work. The sea just called him back each time. And when the sea couldn't call him back, it remade him.
The 'PDA' booted up, and immediately a warning flashed.
"Warning, severely low oxygen levels detected. Please remember to breathe and stay above water." The 'PDA' said in its monotone female voice. Pyke swore as he nearly chucked the thing across the room.
The warning flashed on the tablet before Pyke decided to fiddle with it. He touched the surface, the interface responding. He was shocked when the slate went away from the warning and showed… did this thing call it his 'inventory'? According to the PDA, he was wearing a non-standard Type-6 Nomad suit, along with his bandana. His harpoon was registered as 'Anomalous Serrated Object'. Was that what people called knives these days?
It was then that the warning appeared on the screen again. Grumbling, Pyke hit away from the spot, looking back at his inventory. There was nothing else of note, though what startled Pyke the most was that the 'inventory' didn't log his list. Pyke chuckled to himself as he went to pull it out.
Pyke's laughter died in his throat when he couldn't find it. With a startled look, he pat himself down, looking for the piece of paper that had guided him. The list… it had to be on him somewhere. He never misplaced it, so where could it be?
Pyke's surprise gave way to frustration. His list wasn't on him? He never drops the damned thing. Could this have been one of those rare times? Where could it…
Oh, Pyke remembered. The memory surfaced and Pyke felt pissed.
Before he had been shoved into the portal… Tyrian had taken it from him. Saying something about, "a corruption". Pyke's eyes narrowed with newfound determination. He was going to get away from this… alien world… and then he was going to find Tyrian and kill him.
Pyke went topside, standing on top of the pod he had gotten inside. It was then that he heard something.
"Warning, radiation spike sensed from the Aurora. Detonation in 10...9...8"
Pyke looked around in fear, trying to get a sense of where the 'Aurora' could be. It was then that his eyes found something he had seemingly ignored this entire time.
The ship… It was massive. It looked like someone had taken the bottom halves of a ship and fused them together, ridding the ship of masts. How did the thing move through the ocean? Better question, what kind of guns did that thing have and where the hell did it sail from if it was that size?
"5...4-our...3-re-re-re-re…"
Pyke prepared himself for a blast from the ship. If it was that large, it would likely have a huge blast radius.
Unfortunately, Pyke underestimated it, having never dealt with the forces of radiation.
With a sound mightier than thunder and with more force behind it than a lightning bolt, Pyke was sent flying away from the lifeboat that he had just exited. His eyes blurred, he heard a ringing in his ears. His body flailed as he was sent back into the water at an extremely high speed. But worst of all, he found himself in another strange environment.
This one seemed to be filled with Kelp, and a lot of it. The green weeds were everywhere and seemed to caress him as he stabilized himself, slowly gathering his bearings.
"What the hell was on that ship?!" Pyke swore to himself.
Pyke shook the ringing from his ears as he floated slightly. He looked around, seeing the glowing plants around him. There were all kinds of weird fish around him, each one surprisingly strange and yet familiar. There were ones that looked like sacs, ones that had giant eyes, and ones that looked very close to regular fish. There were even ones that looked kind of like boomerangs.
Pyke continued to look around, seeing a sea-floor that was open. He sunk down to it, feeling the kelp and other greens brush against his legs and boots. His cape fluttered with the current, unaware of the false majesty that he projected.
Pyke kneeled, going over his options in his head. There was a crevice nearby, which he could likely go into. But what Pyke needed most right now was a way back to Bilgewater, and a fast way at that. He wouldn't get anything done just by sitting around. It would probably be best to eventually get the ship from earlier working, or may just find a portal. The blast seemed magical, so maybe that was his key out.
Unfortunately, one of the nearby fauna decided it wanted a saltwater burger in the form of Pyke's calf.
Pyke let out a hiss as he felt the long jaw of whatever was biting crunch down, almost causing him to lose his leg. Pyke pulled out his harpoon, slicing into the creature, blood floating out into the water. It let out a slightly strangled growl as the creature's lower body was separated from its frontal fins and mouth, the creature's expression caught in between fear and acceptance.
It was then that Pyke got a good look at the creature. He knelt down, dislodging the beast from his leg. As he did, some of the teeth fell out. Pyke regarded each of the teeth with curiosity, choosing to stow them away for later use.
"New creature encountered. Designating creature; Stalker. Their threat level has been calculated as 6." The PDA chimed in. Pyke debated throwing the PDA thing across the seafloor, roughly. It took a few breaths for him to calm down, the adrenaline still coursing through him.
Pyke took the slate out, looking at it again. Surprisingly, it had created a full biography for the creature he had just encountered, along with details about the creature that were very in-depth.
Stalker, Carnivore, the teeth grow back constantly, and they chew on things to dislodge teeth? Cat-like eyes for night hunting, and the thing was likely the fastest fish around. Pyke sat there for a moment before he made the comparison to crocodiles and sharks. He then looked over to the danger level. It was scored from… 0 to 21? What?
Pyke sat in bewilderment before putting the magical device back in his pocket, looking around. There were quite a few more of the things roaming around, but they were picking up pieces of metal and swimming around with them. Pyke eyed them wearily for a moment before beginning to move once more.
-|§|-
Pyke breathed the salt-water in heavily as he recovered from the most recent assault. Those damn things, which the PDA had deemed as Biters, were troublesome. They reminded him of perhanas, and he hated the numbers they came out in as he had gotten to this new biome.
The new area he had gotten to was a large plain underwater that had grass as red as blood, the soft sand sifting underneath his boots. The PDA seemed to think that the Biters were a danger level 10, and frankly, Pyke agreed with it. These damn fish were more troublesome than any Stalker he had encountered.
Pyke continued walking, brushing a hand over his brow, as if wiping away sweat. Pyke swore that he'd just turn into a bunch of saltwater if he encountered some Biters again.
Fate had other plans.
Pyke was flipped over as the ground beneath him was uprooted and a creature came from beneath the sand, its purple scales giving way to a mouth filled to the brim with teeth.
The sound of growling was heard, and Pyke looked down just in time to see the maw of the beast ready to greet him with a thousand slicing letters. All of which was to his concern.
The mouth of the creature clamped down upon his arm, attempting to eat it by slicing it off of his shoulder. Pyke growled in pain as he turned to saltwater, moving to the side. The fish was clearly confused, looking around for the prey that had entered its territory. Pyke rematerialized behind the monster, right on top of its back. The creature realized this, shaking vigorously to get Pyke off of it.
"New creature encountered. Designating creature; Sand Shark. Their threat level has been calculated as 9. Take caution when encountering these creatures." The PDA stated. Pyke snarled as he drew his harpoon, looking to the Sand Shark. It swam in circles in an attempt to get Pyke off. Pyke had other ideas.
"I'll turn you into sashimi!" Pyke yelled, slicing into the shark with his harpoon. The shark reared back, knocking Pyke off. The shark began swimming above Pyke as it bled freely into the water, clearly attempting to flee. Pyke wasn't done yet.
With a mighty jump, Pyke caught up to the Sand Shark, who's eyes opened in clear surprise. Pyke made a mighty downward slash, attempting to cut the shark in twain.
The shark barely moved out of the way fast enough, losing one of its frontal fins in the process. Blood was now pooling in the water, and now, it was pissed. The shark was backed into a corner, and it was going to fight with every bit of its ability now. With a roar, the shark rammed itself towards Pyke, intent on goring him on its frontal dorsal fin and tearing his guts to shreds with its teeth.
Pyke let out a grunt as the shark came down on his head, attempting to tear it off. Pyke thrust his harpoon forward, stabbing the shark in the heart. The shark didn't budge, only tearing at his neck with renewed vigor. Blood from both parties were beginning to come out in droves, buckets of the stuff likely being spilled. The PDA decided to add its two silvers.
"Warning, critical damage dealt. Please find a medkit soon." The PDA intoned. Pyke ignored its warning, instead turning to saltwater again. The Sand Shark thrashed around, attempting to find Pyke. It shifted above it to see, but it was too late.
Pyke was already above it, his harpoon being thrust down with both hands.
The Sand Shark let out a final wail of pain as it was cut into many pieces, the water itself being used to slice its body in the crude shape of an 'x'. Pyke looked over his wounds, each one bleeding and mixing into the water. The blood was attracting more of those Bitters, and Pyke felt like now was an opportune time to leave.
"You're gonna need a lot more than that to kill me." Pyke muttered, walking onward into the sea, his wounds slowly patching themselves up.
-|§|-
Pyke had been traveling for a long time now. Walking across the sea-floor was not efficent nor was it exactly fun, especially when the red grass came up to your neck and all kinds of tiny seaforms thought you were good for lunch. Thankfully, his luck seemed to be looking up as he was no longer staring down corridors of red grass, but rather more calm and dark waters.
Pyke squinted off into the distance at what he saw. Were those mushrooms? They had to be mushrooms.
He wasn't given much time to think as his PDA decided to say something.
"Incoming transmission. Attempting to interpret language." the PDA said. Pyke stood at attention for a moment, wondering what he had just triggered. He was on high alert, looking around for any sign of movement. He saw a flash as he felt the water nearby become super-heated and something fall in.
The voice had clicking noises within it, constantly interrupting its speech, "Eight new biological subjects designated. Mode: Hunting / Analyzing. Sharing subject's location with other agents. Unknown entity spotted; sharing location of immune with other agents."
A large, squid-like thing had teleported a distance beside him. It was seeming aloof, looking around the water. It almost looked like a servant of Nagakabouros, its 'dress' of tendrils flapping about in the water.
Pyke looked over to it, getting a full veiw of its front and stomach. He was startled to see that the creature was not fully biological.
"You looking for something?" Pyke asked, the question aimed at the creature. The creature seemed to hesitate for a moment before turning to him. Its lifeless purple eyes scrutinized him, as if reading his very soul. It let out a series of clicking noises and warbled sounds. The PDA chimed in.
"Dead biological material has interacted with agent 1121. Asking for further direction on next action." The PDA translated. A series of clicking and chittering was heard, upon which a small roar was spared.
The thing stopped in the water for a second, looking to Pyke. Pyke stared back, his eyes looking down on the creature. The thing let out a mechanical click as it turned away, going further into the sand-laden biome.
"No response given; returning to original objective. Sharing response with other agents in case of future interaction."
Pyke let out a breath of water he didn't know he was holding. At least he knew those things were slightly intelligent and used his magical device.
He pulled said magical device out, ignoring the drowning message, immediately looking for an explanation.
"This PDA was specially made to help with radio signals and other means of communication. As such, the message intercepted from being so close to the individual was able to be translated quickly. Some words may be inaccurate due to translation." The PDA seemed to explain. Pyke rubbed his temples as he thought about this object for a moment.
Pyke sighed, walking ever forward in an attempt to get back home.
Elsewhere, from within her prison, a leviathan reached out into the world.
"... Sister? Is that... you?"