My Little Treasure

chapter fourteen: (part 4) a polar family reunion

(Kwazii's pov)
I woke to the sound of the octo-hatch opening "who in the seven seas is up at this hour?" I thought standing from the comfort of me bed, I walked over to the window and saw the captain swimming away from the ship "what's that polar bear up to?" I pondered wondering where he was going, I flipped me eyepatch up and pulled out me spyglass to take a closer look, "mm, wonder why he doesn't have an air tank on" I thought out loud, at the sudden realization that I said that aloud, I turned around only to see saber still fast asleep "phew" I sighed relieved I didn't accidentally wake the lass, I ran to the launch bay to check the security cameras, I saw what I expected to see, barnacles bear getting ready for bed the same way he always does, nothing abnormal there, after a while I noticed the captain having trouble sleeping "that's odd, he's usually out in a matter of seconds" I thought puzzled as to what the problem was, that's a another difference between me and him, if the captain's tired he's usually able to go straight to sleep, I can't sleep unless it's dark, so if the lights are on it's pretty much pointless for me to even try to fall asleep unless I have a spare eyepatch on me

After a while the captain got out of bed and started towards his window, he leaned on the edge of his desk and watched the ocean go by, I know the captain all too well, I can tell just from his face he's thinking hard about something, just then he changed into his uniform and and jumped in the octo-shoot "I wonder where he's going?" I wondered scanning the rest of the cameras to see where he went, turns out he was headed to the launch bay, he held a air tank in his paws for a minute or two but then sat it down, he turned around and walked out on to the pier and jumped in the water, I switched cameras once more, he swam towards the octo-hatch, hit the red button with his paw and then left

"Mm, I'd better go after him, I hope nothing's wrong" I said quietly to myself, I decided to take the gup-C out to look for the captain, as it is a multi passenger gup and the ice breaker attachment can smash through ice like nobody's business, it's basically the best gup for the job, I front flipped into the ship and headed out, I hope the captain's alright, the only thing I know is I have to find him, I drove for a while and couldn't see anything but ice, so I pulled out me spyglass to try and locate me best friend, "there you are" I remarked happily after spotting the captain, just then a bunch of ice caved in around captain barnacles "yeow, ice avalanche" I exclaimed, I sped towards the wall of ice, I reeled back and sent the gup-C full speed into the the ice, I've got to break through it

(Barnacles's pov)
I sawm for a while before stopping "better head up for air soon" I thought, I didn't bring a air tank and I can only hold my breath for 15 minutes, just then a bunch of ice caved in around me, creating a barrier between me and the surface, I felt a small pain in my chest, I'm almost out of air, I ran my paw over the side of my neck, tracing scars from old injuries, you can't see them because of my thick fur but if you know where they are you can feel them, I then traced over the scar on my left eye (pictured above) the injure came from a walrus tusk, my vision isn't the best in that eye because of it, I'm not completely blind on my left though, I can still see shadows, it's enough to be aware of my surroundings, although I do rely more on my hearing than I do my sight for this reason

I placed my paw on my chest as my need for air grew, my body is growing weak and I'm feeling slightly lightheaded, it won't be long until I lose consciousness, out of all the things that have happened to me, drowning is not the way I want to go but I don't think I have much of a choice now *smash* I turned towards the noise and saw a crack appear in the ice *smash* something really want's to get in here, I'm starting to get a little bit worried, I don't know what's on the side of this ice wall *smash* the third times the charm, the ice broke and to my relief it was kwazii in the gup-C, I swam towards the hatch on bottom side of the gup and pulled myself out of the water "captain, are you alright?" Kwazii asked concerned, "thanks to you" I replied happily after catching my breath, "good, you had me worried matey" kwazii responded, that's the last time I leave the octopod without telling anyone "is everything okay?" He questioned, kwazii knows something's on my mind

"Couldn't sleep very well, decided to go for a swim to see if that would tire me out but of course there's never a dull moment in the arctic" I explained, kwazii stared up at me as if expecting me to say something else "you're still nervous aren't you?" He finally spoke, "slightly" I replied solmy glaring at the floor, "it's  alright matey, I'm here for you, besides we're heading to the anarchic before to long" kwazii said as he placed his paw on my shoulder in an understanding manner, "you're right" I sighed walking towards the front of the gup, I checked the time on my octo-compass "mm, almost morning, guess there's no point in trying to sleep now" I explained as I took the steering wheel and headed back towards the octopod, "well I know how you like to work late" kwazii laughed, "that's true, that's probably what I'll end up doing when we get back" I responded, "I suppose the octo-map could use an update and you are our resident mapfinder" kwazii added, he's gotta point, the octopods map hasn't been updated in a while and I am the bear for the job "right again kwazii, just perhaps we keep this little escapade between us, I don't think my parents would be very happy if they found out I almost drowned" I said, "aye matey, sounds like an idea to me" kwazii responded, we spent the rest of the trip back talking about things that we needed to get done abroad the octopod, I'm glad kwazii followed me out here, tonight could've ended very differently for me if he hadn't

(End of chapter fourteen: a polar family reunion)