Sea Of Feels

9- Guard Dog

KrakenKid
"Guard Dog" was a nickname for CannibalCrab that really spread around the Conch Command.

Whenever I spoke to people about him, normally the lower tiered men, they might slip up and call CannibalCrab a guard dog by accident, or just because they were so used to calling him that in private. It was more of a slang term really, so they tried to avoid it in reports and such so people reading them wouldn't get confused about a real guard dog using a shotgun.

There was another reason why me and the other Tide Changers avoided it: CannibalCrab absolutely hated the name. He'd sometimes freak out whenever someone called him it, especially if that someone was me.

As funny as it is to piss him off, he holds grudges over people who call him that, and it's really hard to get him to cooperate when he's offended and refuses to do anything I say, so I have to refrain from it.

However, no one, not even CannibalCrab himself, can deny that it's true.

I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but CannibalCrab developed a habit of always guarding my every move. He's always had my back and never hesitates to chose to my safety over his.

I think that was the problem.
Because war spares no one, and especially not the self sacrificing type.

The day of our final push against Atlantis was chaotic to say the least.

Both sides were utterly exhausted and just wanted it all to end. Who would win was a mystery to all, so I decided to give us an advantage by attacking swiftly and without much warning.

This battle would be all or nothing. Everything I held dear was on the line.

When telling everyone my plan, I appeared confident to convince them to agree and go along with it, and though it worked, there was one person who saw past my facade.

I was preparing myself in my tent when they confronted me. I loaded my bandoleer with ammo for my gun as well as packing some explosives to stir up some extra chaos for Atlantis. I didn't hear them come in until they made themselves known.

"KrakenKid-" I let out a short scream and whipped around to come face to face with a confused but amused crab.

"A little warning next time!" I said, catching my breath from the sudden scare and trying not to show that I was embarrassed by his sudden appearance.

"Sorry." He held back a snicker but was failing miserably at doing so. He collected himself and spoke again. "So... How are you doing?"

"Fine." I told him, still trying to figure out what else I needed and dug through my stuff.

"Are you sure?" He pressed on. "Because this battle's kinda big."

I could tell he was hinting at something, but I still couldn't place my finger on it. "So?" I answered.

CannibalCrab eventually huffed and gave it to me straight. "Don't tell me you're not nervous, I saw you when you were talking about it."

I tensed for a second, but relaxed the next. This was CannibalCrab I was talking to, I could admit it. I turned to him and let the words slip out of my mouth. "I'm scared." I barely even processed it but I kept going. "I am! Really! It's all or nothing, and if we fail, everything goes to Atlantis. My life, my home..." The deeper I went, the more breathless I got. "Darrel, you, Blooper... Atlantis will take us all and I won't be able to do a thing."

I closed my eyes lightly and slid down the wall until I was sitting. "Chances are that if we lose, I won't even see the outcome because I'll already be dead."