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Starring up at the trees above from beneath the deep water, you waited and listened. What was there to do when you were stuck, constantly swimming in a never-ending circle all alone at the bottom of your dark home? Being an Ashray wasn’t very much fun, not when your family and relatives had left you long ago. The dark sky was beautiful, and you could see the shining stars just barely through the tree leaves casting a shadowy abyss over your pool of water. You wondered, who among your family was alive and how many had become puddles in the sunlight. As your eyes continued to scan the stars in silence, you flapped your translucent wings and descended to the bottom of the water, quietly resting against the lake floor and closing your eyes. Daybreak would be soon, and that meant it would be time to sleep. But with nothing better to do, going to bed early seemed to be the best way to make time pass.
It wasn’t normal for an Ashray to wake during the day, or be awake at all during the sunlight shined. All the fish at night cowered away from you, hiding in multiple little holes within the floor and the side of your lake home. This also made it hard for you to eat when you got hungry so starving had to be another one of your favorite pass times. Yet, loud noises from many beings seemed to echo from above the water of your home, someone probably about to intrude upon your dwelling. You cracked open your eyes slowly, fish swimming around happily in peacefully, in plenty of bunches. Dark green figures seemed to kneel close to the edge. Their conversation was muffled due to the distance, but it didn’t sound like they’d be jumping into your waters soon. With a slight huff, you close your eyes once more and went back to sleep.
On the surface, the ruler of the Tempest Alliance was standing away from the edge of the new-found lake they could use for fresh water and food resources. However, despite Gobta getting close and sticking his hands into the cool water, there was a power here he could sense. It felt like it could be strong if it was in a pack, but the power belongs to a single being, and almost felt lonely. As the blue-haired man stepped forward, he looked down into the water and quietly scanned it, none of his skills working in finding out where the current power was coming from.
“I remember this area, this lake used to be guarded by many Ashrays, but it seems they’ve all disappeared. Whether they’ve left of their own accord or were killed, this lake looks safe enough for us to use now,” Benimaru spoke. Rimuru quietly turned to the Great Sage in his mind, questioning what Ashray’s were without having to embarrass himself in front of his own comrades.
“This area used to be home to a large pack of Ashrays, which can often be mistaken for sea ghosts. They are completely translucent and nocturnal. If exposed to sunlight, they melt and become a puddle of water.” Rimuru nodded his head in understanding. Though invisible for now, the single power he felt must have been a leftover Ashray. With a smile, Rimuru turned back to his companions and nodded his head happily.
“All right everyone, we’ll be setting up camp here for the night, we’ll fish and eat happily,” Rimuru exclaimed with a raise of his fist, everyone else cheering in happiness alongside him. Everyone set up tents as friendly chatter filled the air. Rimuru quietly stared down at the lake before walking away, deciding on helping with raising tents.
As they raised the tents and a few creatures rested, the night rolled its way across the sky and small lamps and they created fires to see within the dark. Rimuru watched happily as Gobta and many others of his people ran and jumped into the water, enjoying the cool water on the hot night air. Sighing gently, Rimuru leaned back against a tree with his Kijin sitting peacefully beside him.
“Hey Benimaru,” Rimuru spoke, trying to catch the attention of his subordinate.
“Yes, Lord Rimuru?”
“You said Ashray’s used to live here yet you couldn’t feel here anymore. Would there be a reason for a pack to leave one behind?”
Benimaru quietly pondered of his King’s words, thinking and tracing back to all the information he knew about the creatures before giving a gentle shake of his head and facing Rimuru.
“Ashrays hardly ever separate from their pack, much less a single person. If there was one left behind, it was by accident or on purpose. Either all the Ashray’s that once belong to this lake got named and walked off, forgetting someone, or they voluntarily didn’t want a name and stayed. Why they would do something like that is beyond me,” Benimaru shrugged before facing the lake and watching his comrades play. The slime in human form nodded his head in understanding, watching his friends swim around happily and splash water at one another. His eyes seemed to zero in on Gobta as he was suddenly yanked under water, causing Rimuru too suddenly stand from his position.
“I think they left one of them behind,” Rimuru muttered. He shed most of his clothes quickly, keeping his pants and shirt, and his sword as he rushed over to the lake with a small smile, he jumped up high before falling into the lake, others quickly getting out of the water to grab their weapons. As Rimuru fell into the water he quietly stared at your form, holding Gobta wrapped up in your tail that seemed to hold a dark purple glow too it, the Great Sage speaking up in his head once more.
“This Ashray’s barbed tail can scratch enemies and inflict them with poison.”
Rimuru gave a small smile before pulling his sword, easily dashing and shooting himself down out through the water, grabbing Gobta carefully and avoiding a scratch from the tail. Both of you raced through the water, Rimuru quickly shooting out of the water and into the air, quickly mimicking wings to stay above the water, only for you to come to a quick halt, your form visible to all of those around the lake, your body almost the entire size of the entrance. Rimuru smiled gently and turned his head in a questioning way.
“If you’re willing to calm down and talk we’ll listen to what you have to say, but starting a fight with someone like me is not a wise idea,” Rimurur called. He returned Gobta to the floor beside the lake and easily jumped back into the water, descending to the height of the Ashray before him and smiled gently.
“So you’re an Ashray, and from what I’ve been told you live in packs. You should know better than to pick a fight with someone like me,” Rimuru smiled. You stared at his friendly smile and you didn’t feel any aggression from him. You calmed down, flapping your gentle wings gently in the water to stay in place.
“I don’t know who you are,” you spoke. Rimuru’s eyes widened in surprise before pouting.
“I’m Rimuru Tempest!”
“Oh, the one the Words of the World told had formed a new nation, I’ve never seen you before, or really heard of you.” Rimuru seemed to cross his legs in the water, carefully sitting in place in front of you beneath the surface of the water, all of his friends staring down at him and yelling for him to come out. The blue-haired boy seemed annoyed, and you held your small wing out too him.
“I can take you deeper, and talk with you in peace if you’d like,” you mumbled. Rimuru smiled gently and nodded his head. Listening to you speak, he could hear the sorrow and the sadness, and the slight hope of finally finding a new friend. He questioned, have you been here alone for a long time? As he quickly held onto the back of your form, you dove deeper, the light slowly dimming as you both reached the bottom. Rimuru stepped off and sat down on the floor, the noises of his patrons now a distance whisper up above.
“My family left a long time ago… I stopped counting the days and wishing for their return, I knew all of my family and friends had become puddles in this world by now. Someone came by and gave a few of my pack names, granting them actual bodies to move around outside our body of water. They promised to come home, and they never did. The same man came back and granted more of us names, and more of us names. Everyone said to stay behind, watch the lake, protect it from people trying to destroy our home but now, now I’m the only one left,” you cried gently. You large body flattened against the lake floor in silence. Rimuru could sense the pain you feeling, the loneliness, the abandonment. To be left behind, waiting, only for no one to ever return back home. Rimuru stretched his hand out and pet you softly with a small frown.
“I’m sorry to hear they have abandoned you. I know you have a strong connection to this lake, but it appears to be a dark cage. How about I make a deal with you, and you’re free to reject this as you’ve done before,” Rimuru laughed gently. You picked up your head and looked at him quietly.
“I’ll give you a name, and you can join me and my nation. You can come back and check and see if any of your family finally came back as many times as you like. In return, we only wish to fish here and use fresh water. I will bring no harm upon your family once they have returned here, in return you won’t be trapped here waiting alone anymore. You will have a second home and family to lean on,” he spoke. Holding his hand out gently to you, the sudden welcome-ness of his arms and thought of being able to escape and maybe even travel to find the rest of your family was exciting and overwhelming. With a quick shake of your body, you agreed, and he smiled brightly back at you.
“Come, then.” Rimuru stood from the bottom of the ocean and shot up quickly, pulling himself out of the water and sitting on the grass, laying down on it with a sigh. He was quick to sit up and look down at your form, only inches from the top of the water. He placed his hand on his chin and thought quietly. He couldn’t just give one person a boring name like Fiela – 45H like he had done with the orc tribe after the Orc Lord had been defeated. As he thought and mulled names over, one finally stuck out as he looked at your form, reaching his hands back into the water to carefully put your head.
“Your name will be _____,” Rimuru smiled. His smile seemed to falter, giving a weak chuckle as he suddenly fell forward into the water with a splash, easily blacking out.