Chapter Text
It was times like these where life was the worst. Shane sat alone in a dark room, hunched over that stupid laptop. He liked his job and his schoolwork, of course, but on late nights like this, it stopped being fun. With a drawn-out sigh, he shut the laptop and flopped over onto his back. The ceiling looked grey in the low light. This weird feeling, he hated it. Somewhere close to sadness, but so much more hollow. He wanted to do something, but there wasn’t anything he really wanted to do. He knew perfectly well what this feeling was called, but he didn’t want to say it, or even think it, even though it had already entered his mind…
He abruptly stood up, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. He needed to distract himself with… something that wasn’t work. He grabbed his phone, shoving it into his pocket as he stepped out the door.
It was a little chilly - not so much so that he felt like he needed a jacket, but just enough that it was uncomfortable. But uncomfortable was fine. He just needed something. He forced himself forward, slowly trudging down the narrow path. He had been down this way plenty of times before. Any time he needed a distraction. That was probably the best part about living near the ocean. He didn’t want to go in the water, of course, but watching it and listening to it was amazing. It wasn’t very far, but he was walking slowly. The grass thinned leading to the sand, and the path ended at the small wooden fence, but Shane stepped over it and continued ever closer to the water. Down here, where the cliff hung over the beach, casting a shadow that hid it from any that may be watching from above. The sounds of the water and all that comes with it would echo against the rough brown stone, which, despite the volume, somehow made it more peaceful.
He sat down in the little blue adirondack he had brought down a few months ago, just staring out at the ocean. It was strange, how the thought of going in there made him feel sick, but standing at the edge, listening to what was probably all the creatures he couldn’t see, that he was so afraid of, he felt so calm. Reaching down into his pockets, his hand brushed against his phone. He hadn’t brought anything but that, he realized, but he didn’t want to go all the way home just to get a book and come right back. His sigh echoed with the rest of the sounds, as his gaze slowly drifted to the right. … he didn’t think he had ever really gone farther that way. And, since he had nothing to do at the moment, that seemed as good an option as any.
Standing back up again, he took his sweater off and set it on the chair, not wanting to risk getting it wet. He considered taking off the rest of his clothes as well… but, as much as he didn’t want them wet, being naked would be worse. With a shrug, he set off down the beach.
Sand was always awful, the way it somehow snuck into your shoes, your pants, your hair, your mouth, even when there was no way it should have been able to get there. And walking on it, that may feel satisfying, but it’s also unstable ground right next to the ocean, that could shift with a step and send you into the water… That thought made him step a bit closer to the cliffside. Still, as always, it was nice. The overhang didn’t stretch along the whole beach, and he felt the sounds shift as the echos slowly went further and further behind him. Slowly fading crashing waves, bird calls, distant sounds of civilization, and… some, uh… something. Wait, no. That one came from ahead of him. He kept going, ever so slightly faster than he had been before. That could have been some kind of animal or something…
It wasn’t long before a cave came into view, maybe ten to fifteen feet across the opening, and from the looks of it, even bigger inside. Funny how he didn’t know this was here. He would have seen it any of the hundreds of times he came down here, if he had just walked a little further down the beach. As he peeked into the cave, as if on cue, there was that sound again. Or rather, multiple sounds overlapping each other so he couldn’t tell what any one was. The inside was dark; of course it was, it was a cave. He could see that it was pretty big, and that the water from the ocean flowed into the center. And there was… something else in there, it looked like. Oddly… shiny, for lack of a better word. He couldn’t quite tell– the reflection of the light was all he could see. He carefully stepped around the thin strip of sand leading into the cave, trying not to touch the water. A drop of water splashed down onto the top of his head as he crossed through the opening.
Whatever the thing was, it moved– backing further into the darkness as he came closer. Shane stopped where he was, squinting. He didn’t understand what this thing could be. It was shiny, and it was alive– which would make him think it was some kind of dolphin or whale– but if that were the case, it didn’t make sense how it was able to move like that. He reached down into his pocket, not taking his eyes off the thing, only to realize that he had no pocket to reach into. Right, he left his sweater back there. His phone must still be in it. He wasn’t sure what to do here. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to approach a huge wild animal like this, but… he was so curious to at least see what it was… However, as soon as he gathered the courage and took a step forward, it splashed him with water.
“Aw, come on…” he muttered to himself. So much for not wanting to get wet…
He went still as the creature let out what sounded like a short, quiet laugh– one that wouldn’t have been heard if it hadn’t echoed in the cave. If it were a normal situation and someone laughed at him, Shane probably would have sarcastically laughed along, and poked fun at them. But right now, he was… still. His mind was racing as he tried to figure out what was happening. He didn’t think… whales, or whatever this thing was, could laugh, and, glancing around, it didn’t look like anyone else was here, though it was hard to see anything on the other end of the cave. Unless it made that sound, and it wasn’t what he thought it was. But that didn’t make any sense. It had to be a person somewhere. What else would it be? He coughed, clearing the confusion and the tightness in his throat.
“... um. What? Is someone in here?”
A beat of silence. The whale thing shifted, and someone spoke– quiet and slightly raspy, but also loud. Like their voice was… amplified. But, in a way that sounded far more natural than a microphone or something of the like.
“Yes. What, are you stupid?”
Shane tensed, confused.
“... it’s dark in here. I can’t really see if anyone’s in here.”
“... oh yeah, that’s a thing.”
’that’s a thing?’ what was that supposed to mean?
“Are you in here because of the, uh…” he glanced up at the creature. “This thing?”
He squeezed his eyes shut as he was splashed once again with water, but he could hear the person laughing out loud. It took them a moment to catch their breath before speaking again, in between short laughs and amused huffs.
“Okay then, I guess you are stupid?”
“What are you talking about? Why do you keep saying that?”
They snorted, stifling another laugh so they could speak.
“’The this thing?’ You sound stupid. And you haven’t even realized yet??”
This guy was starting to get on his nerves. He sighed. “Fine, okay, whatever, I’ll bite, I guess. Realized what?”
The wet sand under his feet shifted, a small amount at the edge falling into the water. The creature shifted, sliding back into the pool of sea water in the center and leaning closer. Which… it could apparently do. Shane had no idea what was happening right now, and that scared him, but… despite that, he slowly looked up.
The thing leaning over him at least looked somewhat like a whale, at least half of it. Or rather, an orca (which he was aware was closer to a dolphin than a whale.) But as far as he knew, there was not a single kind of whale or dolphin that had arms, or hands, or a humanoid torso and head. He stumbled backwards against the cave wall, breath speeding up. Whatever it was, it was infuriatingly amused by him.
“Oh? No scream? How disappointing…”
… it was big, and scary, that was for sure. But seeing it's behavior, hearing it say that, he didn’t really feel scared anymore. This wasn’t a monster. It was just some asshole. That wasn’t scary, not in the slightest. That just made him mad…
“Uh, what the hell? What is wrong with you?”
It stiffened, glancing to the side, then back down at Shane. “... excuse me?”
Against his better judgement, Shane pushed away from the wall, taking a step towards the creature. “Oh, come on. You heard me. What was that? ‘No scream, how disappointing,’ that’s insane! Are you just some freak that likes that?”
Its brows furrowed. “... you know I could, like… kill you, right?”
“Then why haven’t you?”
“Well- no, cuz’...” the creature straightened up as much as it could with the cave ceiling, shifting uncomfortably. “I mean… I didn’t-” it cleared its throat, forcefully shifting back to a lower, more serious tone, “I didn’t have a reason to before.”
“You don’t sound too sure about that.”
“Yes I do! I just- I- GRAHH, JUST GET OUT OR I’LL… I’LL EAT YOU!”
Shane winced at the volume. This thing was loud.
“... you can’t just kick me out. What, is this your cave? Do you live in this cave? Because it looks a little small for you.”
It paused to glance around the cave, noting how its head was pressed against the roof uncomfortably, and leaned down slightly.
“... no, of course not…”
“Then why are you in here?”
Its eyes briefly flicked towards the door. “I’m just… in here. I don’t like it in here.”
Shane didn’t buy that for a second. This guy was awful at lying. He stepped a bit to the right, looking the thing over. Jeez, it was big. It leaned back away from him, but not quite before he noticed something sticking out of its upper back, and something else wrapped around its tail.
“... if you don’t like being in here, then why can’t you leave?”
It clearly seemed to have a habit of avoiding eye contact, as it once again looked away. “I can leave.”
Shane scoffed, gesturing towards the opening of the cave. “Then why don’t you?”
It glared down at him, grumbling, and lowered itself further into the water, moving through the water towards the exit. Shane watched silently, unsure if he was disappointed or relieved that it was leaving. There was no need to figure it out though, as he heard a strained groan, and realized it wasn’t going past the exit. It seemed to be stuck on something underwater. Eventually, it shouted in frustration and collapsed, lying in the stream that flowed into the cave. Shane snorted, drifting closer to its side.
“Uh… what was that? What happened there?”
No response.
“... are you mad?”
It growled, not looking back at him. Huffing in amusement, he cautiously placed a hand on its side, and it jerked away immediately, snarling back at him.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!”
A beat passed in silence.
“What is that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, first of all,” Shane pointed up at the thing lodged in its back, “it looks like you were stabbed, and second,” he gestured to what he could see of its tail, and the thing strangling it “I don’t know what that is, but it’ll probably cut off circulation.”
It stared incredulously. “... are you saying you want to help me? … what the fuck is wrong with you? Are you crazy? Why aren’t you scared of me?” One last time, it attempted to pull itself free, again, to no avail.
It was insane to think that this… giant sea monster thing was just a guy. Just a really annoying, really messed up, really big guy. He sighed, running a hand over his face.
“Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Bits of rock and drops of water pelted him on the head as it slammed its fist into the cave wall. “YES. CLEARLY.”
“Well,” Shane scoffed, “why would I be scared? You haven’t done anything to me, just run your mouth. And, y’know, even if you really wanted to, you’re stuck here.”
“OH my GOODNESS, you are the most INFURIATING HUMAN I HAVE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE OF MEETING."
“What, because I offered to help you? Do you want to be stuck here?”
“I- no, obviously not! I just-” it stumbled over its words, “I don’t… want, uh- you just- I can do this by myself!"
“Then why haven’t you?”
It gave another scowl, but didn’t retaliate. “... fine. Sure. Get this thing off.”
He nodded, grinning up at the furious fish thing. He steeled his nerves again and grabbed onto its side, trying to climb up the slick side. The water rippled slightly with each small, uncomfortable shift, echoed off the walls and amplified by the silence.
“You know,” he began, carefully sliding down its tail towards the water, “that, uh… what is that, a spear?” He glanced back up at the thing in its back. “... whatever it is, I, uh… I can’t get that out right now. Pulling it out would be bad if I can’t cover it up quickly. But I can get the… net thing.”
It tensed as he looked up at it. “... you’re... insane or something.”
“Clearly not as much as you.” He grinned.
Examining its tail, it was definitely a net that had it entangled. Made of some kind of… synthetic stuff, with balls at the edges that weighed the creature down, resting at the bottom of the pool.
“Can you get your… tail… out of the water?”
It huffed, begrudgingly lifting its tail as he said, and the water level lowered slightly. Shane slid further down, first attempting to pull the net off. It was really tough stuff, though… and he didn’t have anything sharp to cut it with. Reluctantly, he reached down and grabbed the net, straining to pull the whole thing out of the water. Those weights were heavy– it was a shock that they hadn’t broken the net. Though, he didn’t really know anything about fishing and stuff. With one final tug, the rest of the net, and the weights along with it, were dragged onto the sand, knocking him on his back. He lay there for a few minutes, just trying to catch his breath, but he could feel the thing glaring at him. He sat back upright, scooching closer to one of the weights and beginning to untie the rope around it.
“... you couldn’t do this yourself?”
It flinched. “... no. Dunno what this stuff is, but it’s tough. And I can’t really move.”
“What about untying them?” he asked, gesturing to the now untied weight. He moved on to the next one. “That’s what I’m doing. It seems to be working.”
“Obviously, I can’t do that, or else I already would have. The ropes are too small.”
“Right, of course they are. Because you’re some kind of big freak.”
“Well,” it scoffed, “I’ll have you know that I was not insulted by that.”
Pulling the next weight to himself, he chuckled. “You say that, but that just made you sound suspicious. Now I think you’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“Aren’t you, though?”
He heard it make a muffled sound, but it didn’t speak.
“... you have a name?”
“... what?” It looked back to the best of its ability. “Why do you wanna know? You think we’re friends or something?”
Shane nearly choked on a laugh that time. “What- what are you talking about? I just asked for your name.” Only one weight remained. He pulled at the ropes one last time.
“I don’t want to give you my name. I don’t want to get friendly with you.”
Shane hummed, dropping the final weight and tossing the net over the other side. “You have problems, man. I just wanna know what to call you, other than ‘big fish guy.’”
Then, as he lifted the loose net, it slid off its tail and into the water, only leaving small red marks where it once was. The creature was still for longer than it should have been.
“... is it off?”
“Yep. It’s off.” Shane yelped as he was suddenly knocked off its tail and covered in wet sand. It dragged itself out of the cave, laughing, and disappeared under the water with a huge splash. It could faintly be heard as it darted through the water, until it was no longer in range. All that was left were the ripples still settling in the water. Slowly, cautiously, Shane stood back up and trudged over to the exit. He stood there for… a while. He felt oddly calm while it was here, but now, it felt like all of that adrenaline hit him at once, realizing what just happened.
“... what the hell?”