Hidden in the Depths

Chapter 21

Once he was fully patched up and fretted over by Roier for at least another twenty minutes, Foolish went to take a much-needed nap. He curled up further on the sand, looking both uncomfortable and at peace at the same time as he drifted off. No one could blame him for it, he had lost quite a bit of blood, and the adrenaline crash surely robbed him of the last bit of energy he had. The humans were much the same, once the adrenaline and panic had settled down.

This was not at all how they expected this little mission to go. This was supposed to be just scouting, checking out the area. Even if there were dangerous creatures, the plan had been to stay far enough away so no one would get hurt. He had even promised Pac and Cellbit that there would be no danger. Now Foolish is injured and had almost lost his life, just because they made him go into a territory the humans were interested in.

Tubbo refused to leave his side, working through black hair aimlessly as he chatted to their large friend, not even caring if he was awake or listening to him. Although it did seem like Foolish was giving it his best attempt, eyes fluttering open every now and again as Tubbo rambled on, still softly rumbling as he did. He only stopped when Techno had to drag Tubbo inside to refuel his oxygen tank, the rumbling stopping as he seemed to melt into the sand below, chest slowly rising and falling with every intake of air through his gills.

Roier remained restless, constantly on guard and patrolling the surrounding area. While Techno is confident that with Foolish, the rumbling meant that he's actually purring, Roier is most definitely growling as he was swimming around. It was intimidating, and one of the main reasons why currently, all five of them were staying inside their base, now that they have Tubbo inside because of the oxygen. None of them even knew of Roier was mad at them or not. During the travel back he seemed fine towards them, but he's also been avoiding them for most of the time since coming home.

Not that any of them could blame him for it either, he almost lost his dad because of them.

"You think they have an actual nest somewhere?" Tubbo was sitting by the window, combing his fingers through his own hair has he stared out the window at Foolish. All of their hairs were starting to become increasingly messy and tangled, even with them trying their best to work out all the knots. "Maybe, they probably had some sort of cave or little valley where they went to sleep. Especially while having a kid. They are both far too territorial otherwise." Fit stood next to Tubbo, staring out into the waters as well. He was starting to grow his hair back as well, a little bit of fuzz covering his head. He had already started complaining about it.

Pac was slowly massaging the stump of what remained of his leg, grimacing at the soreness. The wound itself was healing, whatever magic salve these plants have reducing the pain, but the wound was still too fresh to lose any of the stinging along the stitches. "What do we do now?" Fit turned his head almost instantly, which would have made Techno snort if he were in a better mood. "What do you mean?" The younger Brazilian sat up a bit straighter, biting back the wince that came with the flaring pain. "We need a new goal no? The ship is no option, so what do we work towards now?"

It was an attempt to distract them all, try and lighten the mood a little. At least someone was trying, with Cellbit and Techno just silently brooding about god knows what and Tubbo mostly concerned for Foolish. "I guess one of the things I want to do is instal the radio and fabricator down here. Maybe remove the beacon from the pod so we can attach it to the base. That's about all I have planned, just get everything we need so we don't care about the pod anymore." Pac nodded, reaching over to try and snatch up the PDA from the floor, where it had been left after breakfast.

"That has been the plan for a little bit, yes. And after that?" Now Fit was silent, just humming and staring out the window again. Pac could see his reflection on the glass, how his brows were furrowed in thought. He lifted his hand and scratched his chin, where stubbles of a beard were slowly showing as well, just like with all of them. Even Tubbo had a bit of facial hair, although very faint. "I don't know... Survive I guess." "We need a set goal, we'll go insane otherwise."