Hidden in the Depths

Chapter 11

Tubbo stared out at the slow moving waves, feeling the pod sway beneath him. Techno and Fit had left barely 10 minutes ago, leaving him by himself while they attempt to find out what had happened to the two people that sent out the distress call. He had spent almost the entire time pacing from one end of the pod to the other, listening to the conversation between the two adults over the mics in the mask.

He can't recall a single time where he had been this nervous.

The weak, crackling voice from the radio still echoed around in his head, replaying the desperate call for help like a broken record. What if they waited too long? What if they had been alive when they received the call, but have succumbed to starvation in the hours they had hesitated to go out and rescue them? Tubbo doesn't know if he can live with this guilt. He should have fought harder against Techno. Maybe scream so Fit wakes up and backs him up on the rescue mission.

Anything but just sit there, silent, waiting.

Anything but sob in Techno's arms as the night slowly progressed and the sun started to rise.

Anything but silently stare at the wall while feeling Techno behind him drifting in and out of consciousness, never fully sleeping.

Fucking bastard dared to use the argument of Tubbo being tired, when he himself has barely slept at all himself. He probably got more sleep than Techno! But even knowing that, he knew he had no chance when both Techno and Fit decided to keep him inside the pod no matter what. Two against one is so unfair...

Tubbo groaned in frustration, leaning over to bury his face in his hands. He knows he promised Techno to stay inside the pod, but sitting on the ledge of the open hatch won't do any harm. The occasional cool spray of water helped keeping himself grounded, as did the cries of the weird avian creatures that occasionally circle up in the sky.

That thought made him pause, lifting his head from his hands to instead look up at the sky. A few fluffy clouds slowly drifted across the sky as the weird flying creatures gracefully caught the breeze. The young human frowned and squinted, trying to get a better look, but they were too far away.

Birds... or something of the same nature as birds. An airborne, air breathing animal. Which means that they probably have to land somewhere that isn't covered by water. So, if those creatures are actually similar to birds... there has to be solid land somewhere. Somewhere close too. Well, that depends on the stamina of the creatures, actually.

Maybe that should be their next goal, along with the habitat builder that Fit wants to make. Find wherever these birds are landing. If there is some sort of island or even a larger section of dry land, that area could make a good base too.

A voice crackled to live on the little mic, accompanied by a rather uncomfortable static noise, startling Tubbo a little. "Watch out for those big manatee things." "Yeah, I got it. They shouldn't follow us once we are past them." Techno's and Fit's voice drift from the little device inside the mask, easing Tubbo's nerves a tiny bit. He can still hear them. They are fine.

"Are you guys talking about the gas spewing guys? The ones that Fit pissed off once?" A rather annoyed, but affirmative noise was the answer. Not one of Fit's proudest moments, when he got too close and was almost knocked unconscious by their club like tail. At least he managed to swim away before the weird gas balls exploded. Techno had lectured him for nearly fifteen minutes, then dotted over him to make sure he was alright.

"I still really want a sample of that stuff. Maybe we can use it for something." "Absolutely not", came Techno's answer, almost instantly. Tubbo huffed, but he had expected that answer anyways. "Not without some sort of proper container for it. Who knows what that stuff does to us", Fit added to the response, a bit more gentle than the other had done. "Once we do, you can go crazy with experiments." Tubbo grinned in victory, even though neither of the two adults can see him. "Awesome."