Fisherman's Luck

Dragon's Wrath (III)

After his eyes had adjusted to the burning of the salt, Luc located the hole in which Blaze had disappeared into and dove in (after getting stuck in the entrance several times and losing a precious amount of breath).

Lungs already burning, Luc found himself in what looked like the hold of the boat. It was darker than expected in this area and he couldn't really make out much. He decided to look for the closest exit out of here to refill on air.

Luc could make could something faintly glowing in the distance. He paddled towards it clumsily. The light was shining in from a crack in between several crates stacked up and mashed together. There was no way he would be able to push them aside.

At this time Luc was now panicking for air. Was this really the end? Maybe Blaze had already found another way out of the wreckage. Maybe everyone had already escaped, with him being the only one left? It wasn't like anyone was willing to come back to save him.

Luc was jolted out of his dazed stupor by a fat chub swimming over to him. He tried to grab it, but it darted out of his reach. Luc stared at it with remorse. Even at the point of his death, he wasn't lucky enough to in the presence of a more valuable fish.

But something about the chub seemed odd. It began bumping into him with its snout, and every time he tried to grab it, it swam a short distance away, only to return a moment later.

This eventually began to frustrate Luc, despite his lack of breath. He was not going to let a dumb fish best him at the moment of his death!

Luc lunged forward at the fish, nearly managing to snag it, but its slippery scales allowed it to slither away. Having now touched success, Luc was newly reinvigorated. He shot forward in a burst of speed, trying to capture this elusive mongrel.

Luc blindly sped through the water, not knowing where he was going or why he was doing so. His vision eventually began to flash red and his movements began to slow. Right before Luc's body gave out on him, the chub halted.

Luc's mouth opened in a soundless roar and he exploded forth, crashing through wood and out of the water.

He coughed and hacked endlessly, not caring where he was. All he wanted was to suck in as much air as possible. His vision slowly returned back to normal and Luc opened his eyes to look around.

Marianne, Blaze's lady friend, was huddled atop a tall pile of crates, clutching the drenched and unconscious body of Blaze in her arms.

"Hi," said Luc, standing up and immediately allowing a steady stream of water to flow into the previously sealed room.

The woman continued to stare at him, not saying a word.

"Well we're in a pickle, aren't we," said Luc, scratching his head.

Still not a word.

"Any ideas?" Luc asked.

The woman raised a hand and made a motion towards her mouth. It was probably some kind of rude gesture, but Luc was already used to getting those from women. He just ignored it.

Luc surveyed their surroundings. There was nothing in the room except that tall stack of crates. He glanced over his shoulder at the rapidly growing water level. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all.

He tried to block the flow of water with his body, but he only managed to stumble and peel off another large section of the already bulging wooden wall, double the amount of water that was flowing in. Luc tried to calm his breathing. He immediately found that trying to think about the situation made him all the more nervous.