Hooks

Chapter 15: Kambara

"Alright, Gummy. I believe that if we go this way we should be back on track, I said pointing right.

"Do I get to do more fighting?" he asked me with a huge smile.

"I don't know yet, we will cross that bridge when we get to it," I said.

"What bridge? I don't see a bridge..." he said looking around.

"Never mind that Gummy," I said ignoring his stupidity.

We continued to swim towards Coral City and Gummy cried and complained almost the whole way there. We reached a sign that read, "You are now entering Coral City! Stay here forever!"

"Is this your home?" asked Gummy.

"Yes, but it's not much of a home right now. Come on, we have to swim up towards the surface," I replied as I stared at the sign in disbelief.

We continued swimming towards the surface until a faint noise distracted us. It was the sound of an intense beating drum. We started swimming forward as we both followed the noise. The drum got louder and intense and Gummy started to cry.

"What's gonna happen Mark?" he yelled crying his eyes out.

"Gummy, shut your toothless mouth up," I said getting annoyed.

The drum was playing a constant, chant-like beat. Eventually we reached a large unfamiliar place. There was yellow coral surrounding us like a fence and we seemed to be in an enclosure. At the middle end of the throne was a large rock and laying on top of it was a large saltwater crocodile. On both sides of him were small coral-like plants with bubbles spewing out of them. Suddenly, the drumming stopped and the crocodile looked up at us. Gummy shivered and I could tell he was about to cry. The crocodile slowly began swimming towards us as he got closer to our faces. Neither of us moved a muscle. We remained there still hoping that we weren't about to become crocodile food. The crocodile smiled.

"Aye there! G'day mate! What are a couple of bloody little buggas' like you doing out here near the surface?" he asked me in a deep Australian accent.

"Are you gonna eat us?" blurted out Gummy.

"Gummy! Shut up!" I yelled nudging him roughly.

"Eat ya?" the crocodile laughed hysterically.

"Sharks have absolutely no flavor and a fish as small as yurself'...well ye' wouldn't even make a good snack!" said the crocodile.

"So, if you don't eat sharks and you don't eat fish like us then what do you eat...?" asked Gummy.

"Humans, mate! They taste delicious!"

Gummy and I's mouths both dropped and Kambara started laughing hysterically.

"You actually thought I eat humans??" he said laughing heartily.

"Although I do love me a good sized catfish..." said Kambara licking his chops.

"We're looking for robotic fish," I told the crocodile.

"Robotic fish eh? Crikey! That sounds like a dog's breakfast!" he said.

"A dog's breakfast...?" asked Gummy.

"It's just a saying you flaming galah!" he said.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to anger you Mr. Crocodile!" yelled Gummy as he began bursting with tears once again.

"Stop carrying on like a porkchop! Yur' a shark! Quit spitting the dummy and act like one!" snapped the crocodile.

"By the way, my name is not Mr. Crocodile. It's Kambara. Kambara the Kroc," said the crocodile.

"Nice to meet you Kambara. I'm Mark and this is Gummy. He cries a lot, I'm sorry. He has good intentions but no teeth," I explained.

"A shark with no chompers!? That's the funniest blazing thing I've heard all day!" he said as he chomped his jaws laughing.

"I KNOW!!!" yelled Gummy as he cried at the top of his lungs in a disappointed manner.

"Say, Kambara, have you heard of hooks?" I asked him.

"Hooks? Nah, I don't believe so. Why you ask?" said Kambara.

"We are looking for them as well. We could really use your help.

"Well, I suppose I ain't got nothing better to do! Why not?" he said.

"He's not going to eat us?" asked Gummy happily.

"No, Gummy. He is not going to eat us. He is a friendly crocodile," I assured the upset shark.

"Well what are you cobbers waiting for? Come on! We've got some robot fish to find!" said Kambara rushing ahead.

The three of us began swimming again as we rose up higher and higher to the surface of the water. Kambara already lived pretty close to where we needed to be so we weren't too far from where we were going.

It was then that we saw a large explosion in the water that sent all three of us careening backwards.