Hooks

Chapter 3: Therion

Far from the surface in the opposite direction is where I live. I live in a town named "Coral City." Now you are probably wondering where Coral City got its name and the story behind that is quite interesting. Here in our ocean we don't do things without a reason. If we are going to name something as important as our city, the name will have a reason behind it. I can assure you of that.

Legend has it that a long time ago...way back before your great, great grandparents were born there was a town called Clausura. This town was home of none other than Therion. Therion was a huge, colossal fish with the snout of an alligator, the teeth of a shark, the eyes of a Bengal tiger, the horns of a bull, and the tail of a platypus. He was the biggest, baddest, scariest fish that ruled the seas. No one had ever dared to go near him and all of the citizens of Clausura feared him more than anything.
But, legend has it that one day...one brave fish stepped up in the city of Clausura and changed the city forever...

It was a dark, foggy night and all the citizens of Clausura had already settled into a quiet and peaceful slumber. However, one citizen was still wide awake. Unfortunately, no one knows the name of this brave and courageous fish or what he looks like but what we do know is that if it weren't for him, none of us would even be here right now. The citizen was said to be wearing a dark hood over him that night.
The brave fish set out of his house late that night and swam out quickly and quietly as he made sure that none of the citizens would hear him. He already knew exactly where he was going to: the cave. He started off on his journey as he made his way up towards Therion's cave.
He could now see this cave as he slowly and suddenly approached it. It was much larger than he thought it would be and was very dark inside. As the brave fish was just about to dare and go inside he suddenly saw a big, red eye open up before him. It blinked a couple of times and then seemed to notice the brave fish standing there before his cave. The fish then heard a sound that sounded similar to a whale's moan and startled, the fish lunged back. Therion slowly started to come out of the cave and as he did so the hooded fish's mouth then dropped open as he stared at Therion wide eyed. As the creature moved up towards him he started to swim backward and away from it. Therion then paused as he examined the fish up and down. The monster of a fish was now fully out of the cave and was looking down at the brave fish curiously. The fish decided that it was time to get it over with. He had to defeat Therion before Therion defeated Clausura. It was what he was born for. The brave fish slapped Therion on the back with all his might and it seemed to be completely neutral and do nothing. However, it made Therion very angry. He then started snorting and breathing very loudly which was followed by a huge roar. Therion started moving slowly towards the brave fish again and the brave fish was now not as brave as he was frightened. The colossal monstrosity's movements became faster and swifter as he was catching up to the brave fish.
The monster was now moving very quickly as he tried to ram into the brave fish with his large horn. The brave fish was trying to use his size against the monster as he went through small tunnels and around small plants. He watched as Therion staggered and crashed behind him.
Then...he glanced over and noticed something. It was a medium size coral reef. In the front was a cave and surrounding it on all sides were big strands of coral. The brave fish was gaining closer and closer to the reef.

At last, he had made it to the coral reef. He swam into what formed a tunnel at the front of the reef. Therion stopped in his tracks, snorted, and rammed into the coral reef's rift at full force. The reef shook but stood standing. The brave fish was trembling with fear. Therion continued to ram the tunnel but his head was way too big to fit inside.
The brave fish then came up with an idea. He swam out of the coral reef and Therion rammed the front of the brave fish's chest with his horns scraping them across the brave fish leaving a permanent red mark. Therion continued to ram his horn into the reef but every time he tried to, he was just a few inches short of turning the brave fish into his next dinner. Without thinking, the fish quickly got out of the tunnel. Therion rammed his head into the reef one last time. He went to pull his head out of the reef but had lost a lot of his strength and couldn't quite pull it out. Therion pulled with all of his might as he snorted but eventually he began to grow tired. His snorts and roars began to sound more faint as if they were dying off.  The noises he was producing were noises of which almost made you feel sorry for him. Sadly, this is where the legend's story ends. Some say that Therion never did get his head out of that reef and that the reef was the last place he ever saw in the ocean. Some say that Therion eventually managed to escape and get revenge on the hooded fish. Some say that Therion over time eventually did escape the reef but never returned to the city of Clasura. Honestly, I don't know what to believe.  They are all logical endings.  But, the true ending to this legend is something we just may never be able to figure out.  Due to the coral reef incident, in honor of the mysterious fish, the town was renamed "Coral City" and the name has stuck ever since.