Chapter Ten: Another
Munch kept himself from panting as he gestured to the tiny fish along the sea floor. It seemed that all around him the water was filled with gabbiwogs. They kept together in a loose group, with Munch as their ringleader. He was exhausted; it was difficult for one Gabbit to herd such a large number. There were a hundred and fifty of them, and being young, they were prone to wandering off on their own. In a normal situation, Munch would've been responsible for helping to care for only a few, while the juveniles other than himself would've done the same. But now, Munch mused, he was considered an adult.
Ever since he'd released the can of a hundred and fifty Gabbit eggs, he'd become good with numbers quickly. He could assess a group of them and automatically know how many were in that group. He could add quickly too, and almost without thought, and this made counting them all a quick and easy process. Or at least it should have. While the gabbiwogs were eating, he counted them.
"Seven, twelve... nineteen, thirty-two... fifty-one..." he muttered, ignoring his loss of air. "Sixty, eighty-three, ninety-nine, one hundred-twelve... one hundred-forty-nine..." As Munch counted, he stopped, tilting his head. Where was the last one? Immediately his heart began to pound as he recounted, only to come up with the same number. Was he losing his mind? He counted them a last time, and had already begun to swim in frantic circles, pressing his hands against his face and shaking his head. He rocketed to the surface.
"Oh no, oh no," he muttered, panting as he took another breath and returned to the feeding gabbiwogs. He had to find the last one -it had to be nearby. Munch whistled loudly to get the gabbiwogs' attention, and told them with another whistle and a look to stay. He didn't want to leave them alone, but the thing had to be nearby.
He began his search by ranging in ever-widening circles, keeping one eye on the feeding offspring and the other for the missing gabbiwog. It was quite possible the little creature was drawn towards shallow waters. Oh, how irritating it was, hunting for it. In all reality he should've just left it behind. A hundred and forty-nine Gabbits was still a nice number. But Munch was frantic. He'd promised to take care of them, and it was his sole responsibility to preserve his species. The momentary panic he felt switched on to a defensive anger when he finally did find the gabbiwog.
Something was chasing it. His eyesight was very keen, but his instinctive, defensive anger brought about forgetfulness. He charged.
------
Gabby leisurely chased the gabbiwog, who seemed clearly to enjoy itself, and once or twice it would turn on Gabby, who would continue the mock chase and flee herself. She didn't see the charging blur until it was too late.
Something collided with her body with a painful thud, and Gabby went spiraling off into the distance, the air completely knocked out of her. Gabby choked, stunned, and hurried to the surface. Her attacker almost didn't give her a moment's rest, growling angrily and chasing her. Gabby leapt right out of the water and splashed under, only to land on her attacker. He scratched snapped, and instinct made Gabby reply to him in kind.
The gabbiwog, terrified, cheeped loudly, which snapped the two fighting Gabbits to their senses. Neither had been injured, although they were still riled with an instinctive anger. They stared at one another, wide-eyed and blinking. Munch wasn't sure, for a moment, if he was staring at his own reflection or not. He'd not seen another Gabbit in a long time and it took him a moment to acknowledge it. Gabby wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not.
Munch noted that this was not his reflection, but a light blue color. He could spot the violet and green colorations. It wasn't a common Gabbit color, as many of them would shift to a bright orange or a yellow, with some color variations. She was younger than him, still retaining a few features of a Gabbiwog that she'd eventually grow out of. She might've been only half a year his junior. He couldn't guess it accurately. Still, she was here and alive and he was overjoyed.
All at once the fight was forgotten. Although they did not know one another, the two fell into a moment of seamless acrobatics. They chased one another, danced, and spent a few moments following one another's movements. The call of kin had been answered. Munch couldn't really believe it himself, but there she was. He remembered also that his Gabbiwogs were still nearby, so he whistled to Gabby and the wandering gabbiwog before leading them back to the others.
Oh no, Munch thought when he saw them. They were scattered everywhere, and that sea rex could return at any time. He felt foolish for having left them behind. He glanced over at Gabby, who returned the look and, although she didn't understand what he wanted, she knew that the young Gabbiwogs needed to be close together. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was common sense. She swam off in one direction and whistled, attempting to get their attention.
The gabbiwogs perked up, and Munch swam in the opposite direction. The result was phenomenal. The Gabbiwogs, following an age-old instinct, acted like Meep as the older Gabbits rounded them up. When Munch counted them all, he was absolutely pleased and relieved. Now that they were together, he approached the strange female Gabbit.
"What's your name?" he asked, even though under water.
"G-Gabby," she replied. "I can't... I don't talk ...right."
Munch blinked and asked, "Where'd you come from? Did you grow up alone?"
Gabby nodded. "Ma'...Ma'Spa." That was the word, right? She hoped it was.
Munch had gathered immediately that her speech was handicapped because she had no idea how to talk. He would have to teach her. It would also mean she didn't know how to speak in song either, which saddened him.
"Were there others?" he asked, hopeful.
Gabby shook her head sadly.
Munch frowned, an eye constantly on the Gabbiwogs, and thought to himself.
During the days that followed Munch took Gabby and the offspring to shallow waters. He and Gabby spent much of their time talking and he taught her how to speak as well as sing. She learned, over time, the complex system of whistles and gestures that made up the Gabbit native tongue. There were various commands, invitations, and songs that described moods. And it was during this teaching that Gabby's loneliness finally abated.
He taught her about Worry fish, the Gabbit's favorite food, and she admired their tiny bodies curiously. They were almost like backwards fish, she noted, and much easier to catch than the larger fish from before. They were also delicious, much to her delight. He did not tell her what the strange device on his head was, although she had asked.
"I had to catch bigger fish in the river," she confessed. She still used simple words, but her vocabulary had increased a hundredfold.
Munch nodded.
"Gotta do what you gotta do," he said quietly.
-----
The Gabbits were growing steadily and Munch was growing restless. It was nearly time to move to the Spawning Springs.
"So they can get their lungs right?" asked Gabby.
Munch nodded. It was apparent that they do so, otherwise they'd either stay in their gabbiwog state forever or probably die. he didn't want to know. He spent much of the next several evenings explaining what it was they would be doing. He himself had never had the need to go upstream, as, like Gabby, he had ventured downstream to the Spawning Springs. Gabby remembered these springs with a shiver, for it wasn't so long ago that she herself had been a prisoner there.
The Gabbiwogs were excited. They were eager to explore the world outside of the water and Munch was all too eager to help them. Gabby knew that from the Spawning Springs, they would go further upstream to Ma'Spa, the Gabbits' true home. She hardly remembered the place now, but she knew what it meant for her kind. If they could survive the trip to Ma'Spa, the Gabbits' future was ensured. It excited and terrified her. She'd been downstream, but never upstream, and she knew it would be a constant battle for all of them.
-----
Unfortunately, the day of their departure was halted. Gabby had gone off by herself, as she often did lately. Maybe it was because she'd spent so much time alone. Or maybe she just liked to think. Gabby pulled herself ashore and lay in the sand. She knew Munch had told her not to go up there. It was dangerous too close to the woods and the estuary alone. But Gabby didn't care. She only wanted to relax for a moment.
"Well, well, well. We didn't even have to go lookin' this time!"
The voice was all too familiar. Gabby whirled to see Hal.
Hal laughed, and spoke again. "Aw, it's all grown up. Where's the rest o' yer little pals, Gabbit? We've been waitin' long enough!"
He leaped. Gabby dodged, hitting the water quickly and diving deeper, where Munch was waiting. He didn't look happy.
"Are you nuts?" he growled. "I told ya not to go!" His anger, however, didn't seem entirely directed at her. "We won't be able t' get to the river as long as they're here. They'll pick us off as we go."
Gabby looked around. "How do you know?"
"Boats," Growled Munch. "They have a boat and a net and it's gonna start all over again." He looked sadly at the Gabbiwogs, who were huddled close together near the bottom of the pool. "We can't go further out to sea or they'll die."
Gabby frowned.
"They need to be stopped," Gabby said. "I've been running from them since I was small. I led them here."
"Well," Munch huffed. "How?"
Gabby swam away from the Gabbiwogs and went to look at the boat. It was docked in the estuary, and through the water she could spot the distorted forms of two Outlaws moving about. The net was suspended from a large pulley that jutted out over the side of the bloat. They had to destroy that net somehow. She swam about and under the boat, trembling, before fleeing and rejoining Munch.
Munch himself looked very disappointed, angry, and almost frightened. He wasn't about to leave the Gabbits' side.
"Well," he said at length, "Find anything?"
Gabby nodded. "Yeah, there's a net hanging off the side of the boat. If we get rid of it we can... but... how to we get rid of it?"
"A net?" Munch asked. He thought a moment, then reached up and tapped the contraption on his head. "This thing don't work underwater... I might hafta charge it up before I use it again, if it even works anymore."
"What... what is it?" she asked.
"Oh, I dunno," said Munch. "Vykkers put it in my head 'cause they wanted me to track down and open up animal traps. But I can do other things with it. 'Cept... there's this drink I used to... I could shoot electricity from it."
Gabby was interested. She looked back towards the boat and frowned. They'd be off soon.
"I can go and see if it's up there. What's it called?" she asked. The thought terrified her, but she could do it.
"Ya won't find it, but thanks," he said sincerely. Then he became serious and turned to the Gabbiwogs. "We gotta get them somewhere to hide."
Gabby nodded.
