Chapter Fourteen:
Bottled
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Dean thought that stabbing the giant's caging fingers with his paltry knife would be the end of its patience. But it surprised him and waited out his attack. Dean couldn't help himself. Everything was just too much to deal with and he'd thought that if he surprised the giant, he'd be able to get away somehow. Even knowing that it would likely be pissed off for cutting up his leash and trying to escape him. Dean thought he had nothing to loose so he kept up the stabbing until his hands hurt. His anger and frustration and fear all making his strikes wild and haphazard after a few minutes. It didn't do any good though. The skin was the thickest Dean's ever seen. Like trying to cut rubber tires from construction vehicles. His despair and disappointment was crushing him. He's gonna die down here. Again.
Dean gave up and slumped down in the wide palm underneath him. Feeling a vibration in the water but not paying too close attention to what it was. Sound waves of some sort. It's probably debating with itself how to finish him off or punish him for his attack.
Waiting for the end to come. Imagining the huge fingers that made up his cage coming down all around him as if it was crushing up a piece of paper into a ball. Folding his tiny body up into a mangled heap before tossing it aside. Or, more likely, tossed into its mouth.
Dean was hoping that it would be swift, and that he'd at least be killed first instead of being swallowed whole and alive. Dean looked at his small knife for a moment. Wondering if he should end his life himself. Thinking that he'd be far more humane about it.
Maybe in his next life he'd do things right. Maybe he'd remember this whole thing and avoid the temptations he'd felt to go to the ocean. Knowing now what he could do to warn humanity of the threat down here. He wouldn't be able to stop the monster in the time between learning how to walk and talk again in the next life, but, maybe he'll be allowed to remember all of the previous lives he lived before, to give his new mind and body a head start. Or maybe he'll stay dead this time.
Maybe he'll meet up with Bobby again in the next life.
A few memories nudged at the back of his mind about just that, confused at the familiarity that he remembered when he'd met Bobby for the first time. Sure he was just a snot nosed kid at the time, but the feeling stuck with him. Dean felt safe there. Like he was family.
But before he could thoroughly explore this memory and feeling, he was distracted by the sad sounds the giant made once he saw what Dean had tried to do with his tiny knife. Clicking softly, sadly, at him.
Dean was just about to cut his own gills up to make sure he drowns again, when he was jostled about and nearly lost his hold of his knife. He gripped it tighter in hand and saw the large fingers encircling him shift slightly, angling a bit further from the giant's upper chest down towards its belly and tucking in closer.
Dean felt the giant's wing fins move out and to the sides and the body glided effortlessly along the ocean floor. Thankfully, it was much slower than Dean suspected it could go. Man, if it swam flat out, how fast could his captor move?
Dean put his hands on one of the fingers to steady himself and to see where it was taking him. He noticed a few faintly familiar rock outcroppings. It was taking him back to the ship. Dean folded his knife up hastily and pocketed it so he wouldn't loose it. The enormous body settled down into the sand and its hands moved closer to the ship. Testing, waiting. Dean couldn't help but reach his arms past the large fingers to touch his home. Thankfully that action didn't piss off the giant like it had done time and time again earlier.
Surprisingly, a single large clawed finger lifted and Dean was able to squirm out between the other fingers to dive head first through the hatch and into the hold of the ship. Nearly beaming his head on the railings in his haste. The hold got even darker a few seconds later and he spun around to see the giant palm covering nearly the entire hatch. Figures. Never mind that now, Dean has work to do.
He wasted no time at all in shoving things back into place, going by touch mostly since his eyesight in here was a bit strained. He found a glow stick and cracked it open, tossing it to the side when it nearly blinded him in the dark. It softly illuminated the whole cabin. He nearly cracked another one on out of habit, but found that he didn't need much more light than the first was giving off.
Dean freed up a path through his cabin and finally found the SAT phone. Thank God. It wasn't where he first thought it would be, forgetting entirely for a moment that it floats. He was looking for it on the floor instead of a nook in the ceiling. His mind having to flip around to realize he's deep underwater and things aren't going to behave like they did topside. He noticed that even his legs and feet were attempting to act like they were back to normal too. The fin toes, for lack of a better term, were closer together instead of spread out. His knees bending how they're supposed to until he stared at one and made it bend the wrong way. Cringing again at the sight and sensation.
Dean will never get used to that. Especially not the fact that it no longer hurt him to bend his damned legs in all the fucking wrong directions. Dean took a deep breath and shivered when he felt the water instead of air shift down and out through his rib gills. Fuck sake is anything still normal with him?
Dean startled when he heard and felt a series of bangs and scrapes and saw that the monster was replacing his palm with a huge ass boulder to block his way out. Great. Well... maybe he can use a pry-bar or something to move it later when the monster's asleep. Not now. He doesn't know how long it takes for it to drift off. A huge mistake he'd made earlier in assuming it was sooner than it was. The monster spying on him when Dean thought it was asleep. Not creepy at all.
The clock on the wall was waterproof and glowed softly, reading 12:43 am. Huh. He thought it was later than that. Ok. He'll wait till like 4 am or something before trying to escape again. In the meantime, he'll do what he can in here.
The ground vibrated a little and Dean went towards the boulder blocking the hatch and felt the water currents shift around. Peeking past it to see the huge body encircling the ship a couple of times. Oh. It's planning on sleeping around the boat. Well... that's unfortunate but not really a surprise. It rumbled something tiredly and Dean figured it wouldn't hurt to wish it goodnight right back. After all, this will be the last time he has to talk to it, if all goes well tonight. It hummed happily back and Dean just stared out at what he could see of it's happy face as it shifted slowly into a peaceful slumber. Quickly being obscured by an arm pillowing about the head.
Dean pried himself away from watching it to go back to work. Surveying what was left of his ship. Clothes were drifting about that he neglected to fold up after doing the laundry yesterday. He bundled them up and shoved them back into the closet for now along with his shoes that he stared at for long moments. Shoes he might never wear again.
He can't think about that right now. He only has a few hours to figure out how to send a message top side to either rescue his ass if they can, or to warn them away for their own good.
Dean's not sure what he wants more right now.
Of course he wants to be rescued but what was the cost he's willing to pay? Or what other's would have to pay on his behalf?
Maybe he can just send what info he has, and let them decide if it's viable to do a search and rescue, or if it would be better to just drop a nuke down here instead. Fuck. Dean's not exactly willing to die if he doesn't have to. Sure he was going to seppuku himself earlier but he was convinced that he was going to be food for the monster. Dean had thought he'd have to die in a similar way as he did today, so that he'd correct his mistake for coming back to life when he had no business doing so.
Maybe all this was punishment for choosing wrong. Choosing to go against the laws of nature to save his own hide. Dean grazed his hand down his altered legs. The fins that were growing tiny scales that itched if he thought about it too hard. At least the colors his legs were becoming were more light to medium browns instead of the blues that the giant was sporting. Dean hoped it would help him hide better from the monster if... when he gets out of here.
So many fucked up things happened to him in just one day that him growing scales was the least of his worries right now.
Dean pulled himself along towards the bow and noticed that there was a decent sized pocket of air there. What luck! He let the SAT phone go to float there and turned to retrieve a life vest from under his bed, letting that go to float in the air pocket as well. He's going to need it like a table up there. Dean scrounged around and finally located a few spare batteries and swam up to the bow area again to deposit them on the life vest. Wishing they'd dry out fast enough for him to be able to use it.
He's not entirely sure if he is able to take the GPS apart from the deck's control board, but if he can, he'll need to be able to work where there's air. That means after he takes it out, hauling it inside the cabin and on over to this air pocket. Letting it dry out completely before hooking it up to the battery for power. But... it would likely be useless this far down. So, maybe that's not a good plan of action. Dean left the batteries up there to dry out in any case. No sense letting them rust to uselessness. The air pocket was only the equivalent square footage of a very small closet. Maybe a couple of trunks at most. Not really enough to get much done. Probably not even enough air to dry anything out in either, since the whole rest of the ship is sunken. He supposed he could waste time gathering up every bubble from every cupboard and space and add it to the pocket but he's got other things to work on now.
Dean stared at the air pocket for a long while. Thinking how just that morning, that space would be seen as life giving when he was actively drowning. But now, he's pretty sure it wouldn't be good for him to try and breath air again. Not just yet. He might have to though. Delaying that until he had everything in order first. If he drowns by inhaling air, he's going to be pissed that it was for nothing. He'll have to get everything all sorted out first so that if he does die, he at least gets the message topside first.
But what's the message should he send?
Dean thought about it for a long while. Going through several ideas before landing on one that might work for the delivery method part of the message at least. Figuring out how to get it up there and back to civilization. If he puts the SAT phone in an air tight bag and sent it up, it should last long enough for the emergency beacon to attract whatever ship is closest. He also has this lantern that has a good long battery life to it. Strong led lights that should last a few days of constantly running. Attracting someone by its light if they're close by. He has more glow sticks which might work out as well. Saving the lantern for himself down here.
It would be nice if he could get the life raft up there for all the equipment he wanted so send up, but, it was too large to fit past that boulder that's blocking the hatch. Whatever he cobbled together had to be able to fit past it. Dean had an idea to use several Ziploc bags in a line to help it stay afloat. It couldn't be one big bag so he tied them up along using some thin rope. Using duct tape to make sure the line didn't come undone at the first wave or fish bite. He double bagged each Ziploc of air as well. Tripling the one for the equipment since he's pretty sure he wont need them down here. He found a few boxes that Bobby must have packed in there, knowing Dean's shit at buying kitchen stuff.
Dean was searching his kitchen for the freezer bags because they were thicker and stronger when he noticed his waterproof GoPro. That's right! He'd bought one for the trip, to let it drag under the boat to get a few neat shots of the fish that swam around him. He'd already gotten some good footage of the trip he'd made, and using the few buttons on it, reviewed the footage. Grinning to himself at the sight of his smiling face doing a selfie with the coastline behind him and Bobby's tiny form waving from the shore.
Dean couldn't really hear the audio and remembered that the audio sucked when it was in it's waterproof case. Well that's awesome. Huh. Ok, so he could try and write out a message and record that with the GoPro, but, it's not exactly like pencils and pens work underwater. He's going to have to record himself in that air pocket if he wants to get the message out. He supposed signing one letter at a time could work, but he's not exactly fast at it. Dean also doesn't know exactly how much battery life the GoPro has left on it. He forgot to charge it. Charging it now is hopeless since everything is underwater and turned off. Dean's pretty sure he would be electrocuted if he tried to turn the ship back on again and touched anything metal.
Dean found one of his laminated maps and using a thick grease pen circled the area he thought the ship went down. Marking where he knows he anchored last night as well, then making an arrow towards the last place he thinks the ship was topside.
Trying to remember the coordinates. The grease pen worked a bit for writing out on the opposite side of the map so he thought carefully about what to put down since the letters would have to be quite large to be legible.
If he tried making a message to the military, they might not kill the monster. Dean's seen enough movies to consider the possibility that they'd want to try and capture it and study it instead. Or, worse yet, they'd think it was a hoax and ignore the message entirely. Dean wanted to get in touch with Bobby. To tell him why he wont be coming back home.
Dean was trying so hard not to get emotional about this. To come at it in a logical way but everywhere he looked he was reminded of conversations and debates that he'd had with his friend on how to build it and what to pack. Even his dad wrote back some helpful advice, mixed in with stories of Dean's childhood dreams. Dean remembered the trips to the lake and the many nights he spent doing research on marine vessels and animals. One of his favorite books was now half floating around his bedroom, waterlogged and damaged. Dean carefully reached over to grab it and close it before the pages tore anymore. He tucked it between his mattress and the frame to keep it more secure. The ink was starting to smudge on other papers that floated around and he hesitated handling them. If just touching them would make them fall apart faster. He debated sealing them up in more of the Ziploc bags when he had an idea.
He remembered a cute story of that famous message in a bottle that found it's way across the ocean and had some money inside the bottle to have it shipped to the owner's address. Asking the finder where they lived and where the bottle had ended up. Another story of a different message in a bottle that asked the finder to write down on the paper the info and to chuck it right back into the ocean to find someone else. Calling the number to let them know where it was last as well. To follow it's progress around the coasts.
He was amazed that it actually worked. Dean's hopeful that his SAT phone and its emergency beacon would be a hundred times more likely to be found than a wine glass bottle. Maybe there's enough floating debris up there to attract attention already?
Dean got out a pad of paper and tore off the thin plastic cover for it, glad that the grease pen could write on that too. He wrote out Bobby's name and address carefully and found his emergency cash under the bed in a lock box. Stuffing a couple of hundred dollar bills he had inside the note because it's not exactly like he'll need it now that he's a sea monster's pet. Hopefully the money will guilt the finder into returning the package to Bobby's house. After a second thought, he left a note on the back saying the finder of this package would receive even more money once they delivered it to Bobby's. Hopefully Bobby wont turn them away at the door.
Fuck. A lot of his plan was riding on hope and a stranger's kindness.
Dean folded his legs down and sat on the upper edge of his bed. Everything was at an angle and made his head hurt if he tried to right it in his mind. Forcing himself to accept this angle as permanent and that the ship's not going to just sway to the other direction like it's in rough waves.
Dean held the camera in his clawed hands, picking at the rubber seam aimlessly, thinking of how he can tell Bobby of not just the monster but of all he'd learned. That Dean had lived many lives before this one, and now that he's quiet and contemplative, that he's pretty sure Bobby himself was in a couple of them. Bobby didn't look like he does now, but the name Robert echoed in Dean's memories. First as a young sharply dressed man who was eager to learn about horseless carriages, and how to build new and better ones from Dean's original designs. Dean was then surprised his young friend became much much taller than Dean in the next life and everywhere he looked was suddenly muted colors. Damn near black and white.
Dean's brow pinched as he closed his eyes shut tight and was shocked to see two furred feet resting on an older Robert's stomach. The perspective was a bit jarring but Dean realized that his old friend wasn't the tall one, he was suddenly small. Using his hands and feet to stand and walk on. He was also furry. Dean was a dog.
Great. He remembers life as a dog once. Well... at least he was owned by Robert. And, if Dean wants to think about it in a different way, Robert was his 'dog' first. Following around an old man like a pup as Dean taught him how to build the motorized carriages in the early 1900's. That's right. He was a carriage maker in a former life. He had a wife but no kids even though they were surrounded by other people's kids. A safe place for them to stay when their parents went to work.
Dean closed his eyes tight again and pulled up the other lives he'd lived too, trying to sort them all out. He had been a gardener too. During the great depression. Oh and he was once a Native American boy, living in a Sioux camp a way long time ago going by the clothing and the homes he'd seen. He doesn't remember what years things happened in when he goes back that far. Maybe knowing the year wasn't important to a Sioux boy. A woman calling his name, Dowan. Calling his name for supper, and then in terror. Dean drags a hand on his chest and his heart lurches for a second. He was shot. There was an accident and he had gotten hurt. His mother held him as he died. Then his memory fades and it seems as though it comes back to him just long enough for him to see paws in front of his face. He remembers looking up and seeing a squirrel's head nosing at him then hearing a piercing shriek and seeing an enormous owl come right at them.
Dean shutters back to the real world just as his mind's eye sees the ground drop out far down away from his newborn self, as the owl must have taken him away as a snack. Fuck. That's just fucked up.
Well that's not scary and disturbingly accurate right about now. Feeling like he's just another snack for a different giant being. Wait... was that where he got his fear of heights from? Remembering the terror of flying off in the talons of an owl?
Dean pushes that aside but hesitates to think back on his other lives. Knowing that he died in each and every one of them just by the sheer fact that he's alive in a different body right now. He makes up his mind when he sees he still has time before his self imposed deadline of 4am. Closing his eyes once more, he lets his memories drift back to him. More pop up from the two longest lives he'd lived. And a few more from the shorter ones. Counting them up in his head and labeling them to help himself sort them out. The most recent seems to be the gardener. He remembers seeing more modern technology at the end of that one. No cell phones or internet, but, that all came from his current life. This one had the 80's and 90's in it. A college kid named... what was his name... Castiel. A different apprentice he'd had. Or friend. Dean knows he felt responsible for the kid and that it was similar to how he felt with the young Robert a century before. Someone that needed guidance. A friend. Huh. This Castiel kid might still be around. Of course he'd be what over forty at least by now. Dean was born in March 1997, and if he died 9 months prior then that would be July 1996.
Castiel was maybe 19 when Dean died so he should be about 44 now since he himself is 24. Dean was starting to wonder if he should look him up when he gets home again. Or if he'd just end up scaring the crap out of the kid... man. Wow this is gonna take some getting used to.
What's he gonna say to Bobby? Hey, I know there's no possible way you remember this but, you were my apprentice back when horse and buggies were popular, then, you'll never guess what happened, I died in my sleep and woke up as your dog! Crazy huh? Here's where you and I used to live and where I lived in the next life too. Yeah. That will go over real smooth. Maybe Bobby will find it amusing to know that he, like Dean, was always into cars and vehicles. Going by the memories of guarding a mechanic's scrap yard that had just as many steam powered buggies and regular horse carriages as it did early automobiles.
Dean tried to do some math for how old Bobby is now and how long he must have lived in that previous life and the intervening times but gave it up. Bobby might have been an animal or two as well which would be a hard story to sell to him. Generally people don't want to think about reincarnation involving past animals, only human lives. More respectful he guesses. Everyone wants to say they used to be a great king and queen in a previous life, but most likely were just some critter in the woods or kid from the streets. Dean's one of the few souls alive that knows the truth now. Not only about the reincarnation thing, but the fact that humans came from the sea much later than other land based animals.
Needless to say, he had a lot to talk about if he wanted to tell Bobby everything. But how to do it and not sound crazy. In fact, how to tie it in with the story of the sea monster that's snoring softly just outside his sunken ship.
Dean turned and laid on his bed, looking aimlessly up and over at the air pocket and the hopefully drying battery and lantern. Trying to come up with a convincing lie that's not entirely a lie so that when other people see the tape and read the message that they wont think it's a hoax. He could play it off like an amateur movie. Or, show off his body and claim it was for a movie about a sea monster. Give a shortened version of his life story as if it's a story idea for a book or film. Better yet, since he has no clue about the right terminology, he could say that he met some people and they were the ones with the fake prosthetics and asked him to model for them. Yeah. Ok, so, he ran into some people that were making a movie and needed an extra to fit into their mermaid costume. That's reasonable? Right?
Bobby would know the truth immediately but other people watching the tape wouldn't think too much of it. Besides how awesome the prosthetics look. And the CGI. Dean needs to get a shot of the sea monster out there to help show them what he's up against. He'll figure out a way to tell Bobby first that it's all real and from there, Bobby will convince others.
This could work.
Dean wanted to write down these ideas first before he says them but his pencil and paper wont work while wet. He would have to work in the air pocket and even then, he'd have to have at least his eyes above the waterline to see anything he writes. He should test if he can breath air first... but he's not all that eager to drown again. Choking on air having a whole new meaning now.
He will just have to make do. So for the next hour, Dean came up with a good plot line that included all the important events and revelations. Saying the main characters names as ones from a 90's movie that he and Bobby saw a month ago. True Lies. Hopefully Bobby would get the double meaning without being too explicit.
Dean rehearsed what he was going to say on camera. It would have to be fast. Breathing in water between sentences. He put the camera up on the floating life vest and wedged it so that it wouldn't move after he hit record. He cleared the way to the hatch and checked to make sure that the monster was still out there. 'Cause this would be doubly doubtful if there was no big finale to the footage.
He put the map up in the air pocket on the wall behind where he would be in front of the camera. Feeling air on his arms was a little freaky as he held them far above his submerged head as he worked. He raised his head slowly above water but kept his nose plugged with his fingers and everything below that underwater so he could still breathe. Looking around without ripples disrupting his vision. He wiped his eyes a few times and realized that it was blurry because his eyes were producing weird goopy teardrops. A gel like substance instead of real tears. He knew about this substance from looking up dolphins and other sea creatures. He just didn't think this was one more thing that had changed about himself. Hopefully his eyes hadn't changed much beyond that. Or that it wouldn't show up on film if they were like, cat eyes now, or like a damned goats.
It was still disconcerting to him to try and see through the goop at the air filled pocket. Finally wiping enough out of his eyes to see that it would have to work. Dean used his free hand to secure the map better now that he could see where he was placing the push pins. He nudged the SAT phone out of the way, behind where the camera was going to film. Setting up the scene for the unknown audience.
Dean ducked back under water and took a few steadying breaths. 4:12 am. Fuck. Times up.
Dean turned on the lantern and hung it from the ceiling to light the area. His eyes hurt in the hard white light but the camera could only pick up so much on it's tiny built in light.
He reached up and shook his hands off thoroughly of water droplets before he hit record on the camera and lifted his whole head and shoulders above water. Only realizing now that he forgot to put on a damned shirt or pants. Can't stop now. If he wants to edit he'll have to take the camera fully out of it's protective waterproof case and risk it getting wet and damaged when he tries to edit out this part. As it is, the case is open just enough to let the microphone catch his words. He shook his head, ducked under briefly to get a quick new fresh breath into his lungs.
"Bobby!" Dean started and almost startled. He didn't intend for that to come out as a weird almost purring chirp. Fuck he almost sounded like the sea monster out there. Forget about that! Go!
"Bobby," he started again quickly. "You'll never guess what happened! I ran into a film crew out here that needed me to play an extra! It's a Cthulhu like film about a half man sea monster that was found in the middle of the ocean and is about 200 feet long. The main character is Harry Tasker and his lovely wife Helen and they got caught by the monster and it sunk their ship. It scratched their skin and then their blood mingled and it transforms them into mermaids. Isn't that wild? They even put me in prosthetics!"
Dean nearly chocked on the last lines as he was out of enough water to breathe, so he ducked off to the side and off camera to quickly inhale and exhale water through his mouth and gills. Getting the color back in his skin. Fuck this sucks to talk in air, even humid air like this. The air practically burns his throat now. He shook his head and composed his fake smile again as he turned back into the camera's viewing range. He tried to make the move look natural as he lifted up his leg to the side even though he could have lifted it up straight in front of himself with how dexterous and flexible they are now. He can't let it on that he's majorly deformed now. He pulled his 'fake' leg up and showed off his feet. Making his hands spread out the toe fins instead of just doing it naturally. Trying to sell the idea that it's all fake. Resisting the urge to move his elongated webbed toes on instinct when his claws tickled the undersides.
"I don't know what this stuff is made out of but the realism is amazing." He started again, hearing another damned purring chirrup mixed in there. He had to soldier on quickly as his throat started to burn again in the air. "So their plot is that all humans came from these gigantic sea creatures that came to land and evolved into humans and can be transformed back into mermaids if they mix blood and drown. The main man had lived 8 reincarnated lives and this is the ninth one. He met the same important people again in a few of their lives but never remembered them clearly before."
Dean hastily leaned to the side to breath deep as he pretended to put his leg back down. "So now the main character is stuck as a kind of half man half merman and is being held captive by the sea monster. I'm in their fake movie ship now underwater." Dean couldn't help a pleading look at the camera for Bobby to recognize the ship's interior even if it's all messed up from the attack. He blinked the sudden tear from his eye as he said, "I am not supposed to show you this, but I think it's cool. I'm gonna show you what I can of the sea monster so you can see what kind of trouble I'm in. THEY'RE in. Haha." He said hastily. Fuck. Don't screw up again.
Dean shook his fingers out of the water to get the stray droplets off as he reached for the camera. Caught up in nerves for a moment, he nearly forgot the rest of the message he wanted to send. "Oh, before I show you that, Bobby. I want to let you know that the only way I could get you this exclusive footage was if I sent it to you like this. I'm hopeful that you'll know what to do with it, who you can show it to before the uh, film gets wrapped up and the hero either survives or dies down here. The sea monster is huge and very real... looking. Blue on it's back and tail. Two huge wing like fins on it's back. Five fins on each side of the tail with four acting as the end fin. The upper half looks mostly human. Animatronics are so lifelike. It's very fast and strong. Pulling the ship down with just it's clawed hands. I just hope it doesn't eat the main character before help arrives! He'd have to wait nine months to see his family again! But by then who knows what he'll be in that new life." Dean forces out a chuckle. Dipping again to the side to breathe deep again. Anxious that the viewers are gonna notice how many times he ducks off camera.
"Anyway, to the people that find this package first, please send it to Robert Singer. 218 Maple Ridge Dr. Baker City, Oregon. Bobby will give you an extra 200 bucks from my account for your troubles. Please don't share this with anyone else. It's top secret!" Dean winked at the camera and saw a drop of the goopy tears fall down, wiping it away quickly as he fixed his face and hair with trembling fingers. "Sorry, the contact lenses are getting to me." he lied easily, not knowing if he had changed eyes too because he couldn't see them in the mirror too clearly. Best to cover his bases. On his last breath he said, "Miss you Bobby, Dad, thanks for everything. I hope I'll see you soon, or... or I'll see you in another life." He smiled sadly and ducked down enough to quickly suck in some water into his mouth and out his gills before he choked up again. He slowly reached forward towards the camera to seal up the case again without getting it wet inside. If any water got in, even a few drops, it would make its way inside the camera itself and ruin it. He lifted it up in his clawed hands and then angled it over his shoulder to give the camera a close up of his circled map as if it were an accident to show it in detail as he fumbled it around to face forward again.
The camera got a look at his legs before he could move them behind himself. Forcing them to bend like a normal human's. He pushed aside a few of his clothes that he didn't put away well enough and swam towards the hatch. Pushing the camera out of it and looking at the tiny viewfinder to see that it could get the sea monster. He could see the arm pillowing the head, but the head was turned slightly away. He moved his arm out with the camera held in a tight grip so didn't loose it as he tried to get as much of the sea monster as he could. Jerking back to it's face when he noticed the water move suddenly around his arm. The monster had turned his head towards the ship but it was still deep asleep. Inhaling and exhaling deeply. Dean lingered the camera on it a bit longer before turning it to face his own face again. Smiling wide at the camera and giving an obvious thumbs up as if he's very excited to see the big fake monster set. Before the audience could wonder why he didn't add any more to the commentary he waved goodbye and turned it off.
Dean stared at its screen as it read off the 20% battery it had left on it as well as the gigabits of free space before it went to black and all lights on it turned off. Theoretically, Dean could keep on filming till the battery was dead, but, there was a chance that where it ended up, the viewers might not have a compatible charger for it. The message was more important. All important. He got all the necessary information on film and now it would be up to the people that found it to return the GoPro to Bobby's.
Dean stroked his thumb over the plastic case. This will be in Bobby's hands if all goes well. The last pictures of Dean Winchester. Lost at sea.
Dean wiped more and more of that stuff from his eyes as he was overcome with emotions. Regret for not sailing fast enough to avoid capture. For going on this trip solo. For not planning better for emergencies. For not telling Bobby and his dad how much they meant to him. For not thinking of any better way to get this message out there. That he had to go this route for their safety.
He had to put it in Bobby's hands. Dean knows jack shit about what to do now. He's trapped down here for the foreseeable future and can't help in his own rescue. If Bobby decides to send in the navy, there might be a chance it could kill the monster and then he'll be free, but, there's also a chance that he himself could be taken in and studied like an alien or creature himself. He could only pray that they'd see his humanity and listen to him plead his case before they break out the scalpels.
But... the world has to know about that monster. Has to know what might be coming for them next. If it decides to attack all humans because of Dean, it'll be all his fault. He chose to come back to life and interact with it. It's anyone's guess what the monster will decide to do now. Or when someone comes to investigate.
Dean went back to the air pocket in the bow area. Turning off the lantern to preserve the batteries. He put the GoPro inside the large freezer bag, then putting that one inside two more to add some layers up. Shaking them out to hold as much air as possible. He set about putting in the last known coordinates into the SAT phone's memory. Then found the settings for the emergency beacon. He took a moment to himself to come to terms with this. Once it's on, the battery will only last for so long. It's now close to 5 am. He sighed and got it all turned on and working right. Frowning at the display that read there was no signal. Obviously there was no signal down here. He knew it would work topside. It had to.
For good measure, he pulled out a couple of glow sticks and put those in-between two layers of the freezer bags to keep the light from being blocked by the camera and SAT phone on the inside. The yellow light from them made his eyes dilate just a bit more now that he was becoming accustomed to the dark down here.
He went back to the SAT phone settings and put in a few phone numbers if anyone wanted to call Bobby or his dad up before sending the whole package to Bobby's house. He also punched in his cell phone number too on a whim even though his cell is hopelessly soaked in the bedside nightstand. Debating if he wanted to send his cell phone too, but, realized that that act would look very strange to whoever finds this package. No one parts with their all important cell phone. GoPro's are not cheap, but, they aren't as vital to people as their cell. It would give the wrong impression.
And... there was that possibility that Dean will make it to the surface on his own, and he'll need some way to call for help. If he can manage to get the life boat out and up, and maybe he can, uh, tie himself to the underside of it so he doesn't have to use up his energy to hold onto it or swim. He could ride the bottom of the life boat to land and safety in the weirdest way possible. And if that's the case, he could bring a few more things of his with him since he wont need the space inside the life boat for himself to sit in. He looked around and thought about what all would fit on the life boat and how to tie his ass to the bottom and have it be comfortable enough for him. He figured a hammock for himself would be best. So he could just look through the netting and make sure that the monster isn't following him. And, he could use his leg tails to propel the life boat along once he sees a land mass underwater.
It felt good to have a plan of action going. Even if it's a pipe dream.
Still... if it doesn't work, then that small package is all that's going to be left of him. He better send something sentimental along too.
He went to grab his favorite Led Zeppelin t-shirt and took it back up to the air pocket and wrung it out as best he could, shaking it free of as much water as possible before using it to wrap around the GoPro and the SAT phone to help pad it further. More importantly, to give something to Bobby to bury of his. After another moment, Dean left the bundle on the life vest to find his wood bead bracelets and tucked that inside the bundle too. Wondering if Bobby will bury either the bracelets or the shirt and keep the other. Giving his dad something too. Dean swam back and forth in his bedroom, looking at the knickknacks and deciding on the key-chain to his old car. His dad would know how much it meant to Dean, and Dean imagined John putting it on his own key ring to keep his son's memory close.
Damnit there's those fucking tears again.
Dean shook himself out and tucked the key chain into the bundle, tying it up with some string to keep it from unraveling. Filling it up with air and sealing it shut. Then, taking out his duct tape and securing the seamed edges and putting it inside the bag with the glow sticks. Sealing those seams too for good measure. He then filed up a string of the smaller sandwich bags and tied those securely to each other and went towards the hatch. He had some difficulty handling the air filled bags due to his new sharp claws and their buoyancy. When he popped one of the bags he saw the bubbles float up to the angled ceiling. Those air bubbles will be stuck there for a very long time. It reminded him he should probably fix some kind of string to the whole thing so he can tie it off inside the handrail so the whole thing doesn't float up to the surface before he's done constructing it outside of the ship's hatch. He can only fit both arms up to his elbows past the hole in the boulder blockage. Limiting his mobility.
Dean cursed and let the package float in the room while he went to retrieve and put on some gloves so he keep the claws away from the bags and he can work. He went and got a new air filled bag and fixed it to where there was the space in the line. Now the tricky part. He can't fit the whole thing out past the boulder in the bundle in one go, so he had to let each small bag out past the gap one at a time. The largest one was last and just barely made it through. Dean biting his lip the whole time, praying it wouldn't pop and be lost down here. With the weight of the t-shirt around the camera and SAT phone, it now relied on the air of the small bags to keep it floating.
He struggled to get his hands outside after the line of bags but managed to tie the end of the string to the spot at the other side of the large bag. Making the whole thing look like a cubist daisy in a way. He wiggled it and grinned widely at how it stayed together. A bit of duct tape over the tied ends and voila! After a second thought, he let it float out on his 'porch' while he went to get a few last large freezer bags and filled them up with air too, fixing them to the end of the string as a kind of life boat bag for the package. More air the merrier.
Dean looked back at the sea monster, almost forgetting it was there and sighed in relief that it was still sound asleep. But it wouldn't be for long. Dawn was probably going to break in an hour or two.
Dean said a little prayer and untied the string from the hand rail and shoved the other large bags out of the hole last. He watched it travel up through the dark water, the glow stick lighting the way like a reverse shooting star. Arching away from him due to the ocean currents and becoming nothing more then a speck of light in the dark. He kept on watching long after it faded.
"Please... please let someone find it and know what to do." Dean whispered and sunk down to sit on the narrow stairs. Resting his head against the boulder. He roused himself when he realized he didn't sleep at all tonight, and moved towards his bed. Tucking the sheets in all around the edges after he realized that he would likely just float off of the bed in the middle of the night if he didn't secure himself to it. He was always a restless sleeper and lord knows where he'll end up with his twitching leg fins thrown in the mix.
Dean shimmied himself down under the covers and used a few things in the room to help weigh it down on himself. Curling up under the sheets, he fell asleep at last. It was actually a relief to know he did what he could and left it up to fate to decide what to do with him now.
.
.
It was well past dawn when Sam woke up, sleepily looking around and spotting the sunken floating thing. He stared blankly at it in confusion before the events of the previous day rushed at him.
He grinned to himself when he recalled that his brother was alive and well, and probably still asleep in his tiny vessel. Sam debated with himself if he should wake up Little one or let him sleep. He crept forward quietly and listened to the slight sounds coming past the rock he'd placed at the entryway. Glad that it hadn't moved in the night and that Little one was still sleeping inside.
Sam knew he'd need the rest. It couldn't be easy to go through so much trauma in one day. So he let him sleep as Sam left to find himself some food. Substantial food. Something with a lot of meat. After all, he will need something to tide him over for awhile since it might be some time before he's ready to leave this area. Sure that Little one wouldn't want to part with his vessel just yet. And, it's not like Sam has a good place to store the little one where he wouldn't get hurt. Sam will need to teach him how to hunt for his own food, how to find shelter, how to survive, if for some reason, Sam isn't right there with him. An absurd thought of course, but, he knows from experience that down here, you have to be able to rely on just yourself if you're to survive. He had to since he was just a kid.
Sam knows for certain that his parents never intended to die on them. That they would have protected their kids for decades before even thinking of letting them venture off towards the deeps. But. Their lack of planning for the worst could have been disastrous for Sam. And Dean too, if he'd survived that shark attack. It was dumb luck that Sam survived on his own for so long. He's sure that Mer's aren't meant to live solitary lives. Just because he did it, didn't mean it was ideal. Traveling with Dean again... it will change everything for him. He has to become like a father figure to him.
Sam smiled softly at the thought. He'd never been with a female before to have an egg, but he ended up with a kid anyway.
The notion didn't fit quite right in his head though. Dean wasn't his kid. Dean was his old brother. Sam decided to see himself as just the older brother now. Teaching his little brother the ropes. Repaying the debt. Dean saved his life, so now, by protecting and teaching Little one, Sam will save Dean's life this time.
Sam left the area he was going to consider home base for now, and is able to hunt down and eat a few Mola Mola. Their large size fills him up quite nicely. He brought back one and buried it in the soft sand to save for later. He was just about to remove the boulder when he stopped to listen to the interior. Soft sounds of snoring reached his ears and he frown to himself.
He must be more tired that Sam thought, or, that whatever animal Little one was before the change just naturally sleeps for half the day. He'll just have to be patient. He doesn't want to upset little one first thing waking up. So he reclines again and thinks about what he'd like to teach the little one first. What lessons are most important. It was simultaneously daunting and exciting.
This was going to be a good day. A day for discoveries.