The Unexpected Hero

Rough Waters

As Peso exited the Octopod in the Gup E, he started to worry. He wasn't sure how long it had taken him to get from the Sick Bay to the Launch Bay. If he had taken to long, the fish could have been swept far from the Octopod, and he probably wouldn't be able to find her again.

He scanned the waters nearby, hoping to see a sparkle of silver in the heaving waters that surrounded the Octopod. His task was made all the harder by the fact that he was in a Gup, which was being tossed about by the strong currents and stormy seas that surrounded the Octopod. He took hold of the controls, and fought to turn the Gup around, hoping that the fish might have been swept behind him.

There it was! A flash of silver among the churning waters. He focused in on that flash and saw her, fighting hopelessly to get out of a current that was much to strong for a little fish like her, even on a good day.

Then, he realized the flaw in his plan. In the Gup E he wouldn't be fast enough to reach the fish in time and even if he was, how would he be able to help her while also trying to drive a Gup?

With no small amount of apprehension he came to this conclusion; he would have to swim for it.

The prospect scared him out of his mind, he wasn't brave like the Captain or Kawazii, but he had to do this. A fishes life was on the line.

He took a deep breath to calm his fears, then exited the Gup E. Without a driver, the Gup immediately was caught up by the currents and  was dragged along the ocean floor. Peso winced, knowing that he was going to hear a lot more about this from Tweak soon, however, right now that was not important. He had to save that poor fish.

He swam towards the current that held the injured fish, whose attempts to escape the current were getting weaker and weaker. She was running out of time.

Just as he neared the current he was caught in another, which carried him further away from his patient. The rough waters played with him, running him into rocks and trying to hamper his efforts to reach his goal. However, he was a penguin, and penguins were experts at swimming in rough waters.

With determined strokes of his flippers, he swam against the current, struggling to make it to the current the fish was in. " I help any creature that is hurt or sick, no matter what!" He muttered to himself, this became his mantra. Whenever he got tired or longed to stop, he reminded himself of this promise. For he was not the kind of penguin that broke promises.

He slowly gained upon the little fish, which had stopped struggling some time ago, exhausted by her battle with the waves. He came up behind her, and reached, trying to grab hold of her. "Gotcha!" He cried, as he grabbed the small fish between his flippers, and threw himself out of the current, curling his body around the fish to protect it from any further harm.

He landed safely, the fish still grasped between his flippers, to exhausted to move. He was worried about the her, but up close the injured fin looked less serious than he had originally thought. The rough waters pulled at him causing the sand to swirl around his feet, unbalancing him. He had to find some shelter, so he could work on the fishes fin.

He began to swim, and fatigue set in, he couldn't use his flippers to help him swim, as he was holding the fish, and the muscles in his legs burned like fire.

As the water frothed and churned around him, he felt movement in his flippers. The fish stirred, and moved her head just slightly, surveying their surroundings.

"Swim over the tall ridge with the pink corals on your right. On the other side you should find a small sea cave, where we can ride out the storm." Her voice was wavering and weak, she could barely be heard over the rushing of water.

Peso turned to his right and just as the fish had said, there was a large, jagged ridge, with pink corals that crowned only the very top. As he swam over the ridge, currents tried to push and shove him away from his goal, but he refused to be swayed.

He paused at the top of the ridge, fighting against the currents to keep his place, and surveyed the rocks below. The landscape was bare with a few rocks jutting up from the sea floor here and there, and a couple of tufts of seaweed, but it was otherwise unadorned. He scanned the ridge for any sign of a cave, or even a small crevice, but found nothing.

He desperately scanned the ridge one last time, to find that lifesaving cave. There! Right behind a particularly tall clump of seaweed that was being whipped around in the rough currents, was a slight shadow, not too deep, but it wasn't like he had an assortment of places to choose from. He quickly swam to the depression and brushed aside the sea grass with one flipper. The caves entrance was cleverly concealed whether by nature or precise planning, by the large, dense seaweed that grew exactly in front of the opening, shielding it from view.