Aquaertus

Chapter Six - Naked and Afraid

I've run into a problem.

All of my clothes are shredded.

I have no clothes.

And although I'm the only person on this planet, I'm not too keen about swimming naked with the fishes.

I was trying to search through the wreckage from the USS Pertempto, and I thought that wearing my jumpsuit would provide more protection. As I was swimming into an open section of the rubble, something caught onto my jumpsuit, tangled it all up, and ripped through all of my clothes. I got a gash on my back, too. It didn't hurt much since it wasn't a deep cut, but it was a pain in the ass to clean.

Now I have to find a way to make some clothes. It hurts me to say this, but I think my best bet is the seaweed. It's been 3 weeks since I've landed on Aquaertus, and I still haven't dared to go anywhere near the forest. At night, I hear terrifying noises come from its direction. I seriously don't want to mess with whatever is in there.

Sadly, I'll most likely be able to make the best clothes from the seaweed. Typically, seaweed would have a layer of fibers on the inside of the stalk. I could use these fibers to weave thread and, in turn, make clothes. Plus, there's an abundance of the plant. I don't think many creatures would get upset over me stealing a few stalks, and I'll get the most material from it. Since it's not typical Earth seaweed, I might be wrong, but I need to try at least.

"Cynthia, I'm going to get the seaweed now. Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Errin." Her voice sounds lifeless but it's the only form of encouragement I'll get here.

I climb out of the pod, machete in hand, and jump into the water. It's much colder now that I have nothing to protect myself. I hope no fish try to come near me.

I swim over to the condensed neon weeds, staying close to the surface. The forest is only about 30 feet from the pod, but I take my time anyway. I'd like to stall this as much as I can. Thankfully, I'm close enough to the surface that none of the fish come too close

I finally reach the forest. I look down and I can't see the ocean floor - just an endless black abyss. I should not have looked.

I swim about 5 feet down and start to slice at the seaweed. I've been able to breathe longer underwater due to doing it everyday for 2 weeks, which makes the job much easier. After a few minutes, the seaweed is cut. Once the section separates and floats to the surface, the entirety of the stalk loses its color and turns blackish-brown.

Uh oh, I hope that doesn't mean something bad.

I cut 2 more sections of seaweed with ease, watching them drain of all pigment. I think that's enough. I grab the plants and I swim as fast as possible back to the pod.

That was terrifying. I hated that.

I lay the seaweed on the floor of the pod. It takes up a lot of space. I start to work on the seaweed, firstly removing the leaves from the stem. I could probably eat the leaves, so I put them in a pile to the side. I take a bare stalk and slice it open. To my satisfaction, I see a layer of thin fibers that I can use. I tear out all of the fiber and throw the stripped stem out the hatch and into the ocean. I repeat the same process with the 2 other stalks.

Now, I have a decently sized pile of tiny fiber.

I string the fiber together using a method my sister taught me. I can't remember if it was for bracelets or crochet, but it seems to be working. It's a painful time-consuming process, and my hands and eyes ache not too long after I start. When the sun sets, I have about half of the pile finished and a few feet of string. I'm going to need a lot more than this.

I decide to go to sleep and continue to work tomorrow.

After a decent night's sleep in the singular seat, I wake up and snack on the seaweed once I confirm it's safe to eat. Then I continue to work.

By midday I finish the rest of the pile of fiber. I have enough to make a piece of clothing, but I'll need more to fully cover myself.

I grab my machete and swim back towards the seaweed forest. As I get closer, the eerie sounds of the growth become clearer. The noises are louder than usual, which means the creatures inside are closer. I must have upset something by cutting down the seaweed the first time. I'll have to do this fast.

As speedily as I'm able to, I cut a length of 5 feet from 3 stalks, just like before. I watch somberly as this action causes the color to fade from the plants. I think I can finally get out of this creepy place now that I'm finished collecting the materials.

I start to swim up and away from the horrible forest when something latches onto my leg. Oh God, what is that?

I look down and see what seems to be a squid attached to my leg. The squid is the same bold color of the uncut seaweed, and about 3 feet long. Its tentacles are suctioned on my leg up to my knee. I must have destroyed its habitat, because the squid looks like it would perfectly blend in with the plants.

The squid continues to squeeze my leg, fury clear in its giant black eyes. I don't want to kill it, but I doubt it will let go. I kick my legs until my head breaks through the surface and take a huge gulp of air. The squid is still on my leg, and I don't think it's coming off soon.

I dip my head under the water again and bend my leg to get a better look at the squid. I can feel my leg bruising as the squid continues to constrict its tentacles around my calf. I really don't want to harm the creature, seeing as I'm definitely the bad guy in this situation for disturbing its home, but if I let this constriction continue I'll end up losing my leg.

I try to pry the tentacles off with my hand, which definitely does not work. I try the same with my weapon and that also fails. I slice part of a tentacle, which I hope will scare the squid off, but it's determined to stay on. Finally, I take a stab at the squid's head, praying I hit its brain and kill it quickly. Luckily, that's just what happens. Almost instantaneously, the squid falls off my leg and loses all of its color, becoming the same blackish-brown shade as the seaweed. I'm so sorry, little squid.

I glance down at my leg and see a number of circular bruises start to form, various worrying shades of purple and yellow covering my calf.

Forgetting about the injury for now, I collect all of my belongings and make my way back to the pod. I repeat the process with the new stalks, which consumes the rest of my day. I treat my bruises the best I can and I go to sleep.

Now that I have all of my string together, I can make the clothes. I somehow manage to craft swimsuit-like garments from the string and I put them on. They're a little uncomfortable, but it's better than nothing.

I can't believe how hard it was to make some damn clothes. I just wasted 3 days.