The Midnight Train to Nowhere

[four]

After the awe and initial relief of not being digested after the whale swallowed them, Leila spent many of her first moments inside the whale-bus struggling in vain to keep the freely flowing mass of translucent threads together in a mass of hair at least relatively tidy.

Upon hearing the voice of a stranger Leila turned around, and only then did she get a complete view of the interior of the bus.

Something of the shape of a chandelier, only made up of teeth, bone and coral and little bulbs of fluorescent organisms serving as the candlelight. A floor only gently rocking and showing no signs in movement of it being the interior of a humungous marine mammal making its way through the ocean. Seats, both empty and occupied by various sorts of aquatic creatures from lobster to trout - staring, questioning, at the folk just tumbled in through the teeth.

Speaking of the other humans, the lot seemed to be all there by now. She didn't at first understand why the ones who joined them only later appeared to be fresh out of a deep state of panic. The realization that they didn't learn that the whale was a bus immediately after she and Ran were swallowed came much later, and the idea that it might be that the other humans thought they were dead while she was frantically pulling threads of jelly-hair out of her face she found, actually, that bit silly.

"We- uh. Actually, we are headed for -" she uttered the first half of the sentence, only to fall silent when Inadi started speaking at the same time about them being on their way to a vacation of sorts, then explaining immediately after to a confused Leila about why the whole truth might not serve them well.

" - sorry." Leila muttered in response. She still didn't quite see the reasoning, but she decided that these kinds of decisions were probably made better by people who were not her. As Ace and Victoria started spouting questions and statements - most of the later being blatant lies - Leila worked hard trying to piece together a version of reality where all the fabricated facts could mend together without contradicting themselves.
She failed pretty miserably.

"...we are...certainly not headed for Orion? We're certainly not headed for Orion."

So she added to the collection of lies the only thing she without question found in common.

""So, you two aren't hurt, right? … This might take a bit of getting used to… or am I just the only one finding this weird?"

Without a clue as to what to do after that, Numair shuffling closer provided a convenient enough excuse to draw herself away from the conversation, hoping meanwhile that she didn't give away too much during the short interval where she was still part of it.

"We're okay, thank you." She said. She then Casted a glance towards the dolphin tail trailing from below Numair's waist, then at her puffy gown of soft semi-transparency, at Ran, and finally back at Numair: "...well, what doesn't?"

Her smile, though, seemed still that bit stiff as she still remembered the man standing in front of her as one of the early members of the human folk that was for a long time thought to be already dead.

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Ran oofed loudly as Riley pulled him into a tight hug. He can't help laughing sheepishly. Yeah it would have sucked a lot if Lelia had been swallowed out of existence. Digested and forgotten. Being an adult was really much harder than it seemed. Still he better be a little less enthusiastic … if that was even possible. He could have mentioned it before, but he wasn't sure. Somehow the longer he stays in Nowhere the harder it was for him to behave his age. He can't even remember how old he was anymore. It used to a fact he would try desperately to forget. Now err guess this wasn't a good sign?

"Riley, ฉันขอโทษ."

He faked a cough as he tried to clear his throat. Thankfully his koi friend was too busy chatting with Lelia to notice he was having trouble remembering how to apologize in English. He took a deep breath and wrecked his brains. Niran thought he felt nauseous till he realized it was the bus. Urgh, fish! Tuna fish! The one thing he could never ever bring himself to swallow. It was all his … someone's fault. That no good apple chip brought him that sandwich which made him sick for three full days. After that he was never the same again. Just the smell alone was enough to feel queasy. He turned slightly green and gagged. The lights along his body flicked rapidly between white and a pale yellow-green.

"Can fish even hurl?"

Keeping one webbed hand clamped over his mouth, Ran gratefully accepted Riley's more human like hand. Sitting down he tucked his head as close to his tail as possible. His reluctant scaly neighbor edged as far away as possible. The fish remained pressed to the side of the whale's cavity. The hooman sniffed and immediately clamp his nose as he swallowed yet another gag. Gosh why was he surrounded by tuna!

"So, you two aren't hurt, right? This might take a bit of getting used to… or am I just the only one finding this weird?"

Woozy eyes flicked to the part dolphin. They searched for something to look at and soon they remained fixed on the tattoos along the surfer's side. His lungs protested, but stubbornly the angler kept his nose pinched. Soon he was gulping the water rapidly. The whale better get there fast! Or probably he'd be the first fish to drown. No suffocate. That was a much better word.

"Nonny Nuns! Nail nings."

He smiled goofily as he played with the gelatinous folds of Lelia's gown. It was pretty cool that her clothes had become part of her body. He smoothed the billowy film. Inadi would look like a raccoon with his glasses fused to his face. Not a raccoon. What … eureka! Inadi the Barreleye!

 

[Fox of Spades]

​

Er, we're headed towards Orion...

Harper never got to speak his mind because Inadi pulled both Jasper and him close, then started talking about a vacation. It took him awhile to understand what Inadi was doing, but when he did, he had to admit that it was a pretty solid plan. There was no need to get the fish folk worried, so Harper smiled awkwardly and nodded his head. "Yeah," he tried to sound excited, "we're going on vacation," and as payback for putting him in the spotlight, he decided to tease Inadi a little.

The boy elbowed his friend lightly in the ribs and laughed, "Inadi finally asked Jasper out on a date, but he wanted a little moral support, so that's why I'm here."

A young tuna in a skirt and a sweater squealed at how adorable it sounded, and a flounder in a tie gave Inadi a grin and an encouraging thumbs up. Harper couldn't help but chuckle. Ace backed up their claim and he watched as she and Victoria made their way towards the fish that had mentioned Orion in the first place.

Leila and Ran were farther away from him, they were thankfully in one piece, and both were talking to Numair. Speaking of Numair, Harper made a mental note to ask him about that day on the Shakespearean when he got a chance.
​

"And what might be so bad about Orion, hmm? Obviously something interesting has to be there if you guys think it's best to stay away right?"

​

"So, yes. Is there something strange going up in Orion?

Ms. Claw laughed. "Ah, fish folk from near the shore. It's a pleasure to see a bunch of you here and I hope you all enjoy your vacation! It's pretty peaceful here, and hmm? No, no, I don't have any kids and neither does Benny, thank Celery."

The Dolphin in the back seat chuckled and Benny laughed too.

"Hey, what's that s'posed to mean?" Ms. Claw laughed again and Benny just rolled his eyes jokingly. "Anyways, I don't have kids either. Don't get me wrong, your children look lovely." He eyed the hooded figures and humans then grinned. "But it must get tiresome, having to look out for them, I mean, there sure are a lot of 'em. Are all of them your nieces and nephews?" Benny Trout was a tad curious, but Ms. Claw joked about him being nosy and he decided to get back to the topic at hand.

"Oh, yes. Orion, it's such a shame." He was looking at both Ace and Victoria with a serious expression. "There's been an emotion stealing fish, and it's been plaguing Orion for awhile now. It feeds off emotions and fills people with nothing but apathy." Benny shivered and rubbed his fins together nervously.

The Dolphin in the back seat was standing on his tail now. "It'd be best if you stay far away from the city. That darn fish comes and goes as it pleases, people have been trying to stop it, but they end up emotionless zombies just like everyone else."

Riley was floating not far from the crazies and she looked at both Sacha and Gary curiously, she wondered if there would be a change in plan, or if they'd proceed to Orion anyway. "So," the girl whispered, "what are we going to do now?"

C didn't respond, she was listening intently to what the fish folk had to say.

And Luke, he was standing beside Ran and Numair, chatting happily. "Nums, did you hear him talk in that weird language?" He pointed at Ran then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "D'you think he was talking in whale?" Luke was whispering, but it was loud enough for both Ran and Leila to hear. Not longer after, Ran started looking sick and he faced both Leila and Numair with wide-eyes.

The fishes paid no attention to their shenanigans and continued to speak about Orion. Benny the trout sounded scared. "So far, there's no cure, the afflicted just stare blankly at walls or do absolutely nothing. They're completely apathetic and it's frightening." He cleared his throat. "I hope that convinces you to stay away from Orion. Aside from a few brave souls, the place is practically a ghost town now."

The radio crackled to life and the bus went quiet.​

NEXT STOP BLUE FLOUNDER BOULEVARD:​

C swam towards her fellow hooded figures. "That's our stop, we'll get there soon." It didn't matter what those fishes said. The black pearl was at Orion. She knew a few rebels there and didn't doubt the fishes would help them obtain the item. The girl lowered her voice a little so only Sacha and Gary could hear her. "We can swim to Orion from there."

She went quiet then tapped Gary on the shoulder. "Ask for her opinion." She nodded her head in Victoria's direction, C was still a little upset about the carpet, but understood that despite Vicky's muddy boots and vase breaking tendencies, the ex dragoon was good at what she did.

Plus, Gary and Toby adored Vicky so she figured her pink-haired friend would make a good messenger.​

 

[Capt. Blu]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Her nose scrunched up a bit when Vicky called her, her niece of all things. Then, for some reason the group became one large family. When Ms. Claw spoke about how tiresome it must've been to watch them all, Ace smirked and looked back at Vicky. "Yeah, Aunt V, you've got a lot of kids. It must have been really difficult when they were babies. Heh, but I'm so glad you let me go on the trip with you." She turned to the aquatic creatures and grinned wide. "She's such a nice aunt." Well there were no dead things nor any monsters or disappearances...so of course Ace pouted a little. However, she did perk up again when she heard the story of an emotion stealing fish. That sounded like danger and Ace was probably number one at putting herself in danger. One day that would backfire on the redhead, however she didn't know when that day would come so she lived it up fully. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"A fish that steals emotions? Apathy?" There was a short pause as Ace mulled over the idea of it. "That sounds...We should totally go and check it out! That sounds kind of cool to check out." She looked over at her...cousins and then smiled. "Did you hear that? The nice," She paused to get a look at the fish again. "The nice fish guy said there's a monster who steals people's- er, creatures' emotions." Though, to keep up an act, Ace was sure they were going to turn her idea down- but then again, Ace wasn't even sure if they were going to Orion or not... Oh, if she only paid attention to the conversations. Then she would have a better idea of what they were doing sometimes.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Ah, they never let me pick what to do anyway." She looked over at the ones that decided to talk to them. "I decide one thing, but it's normally some sibling overruling. No fair at all." She sighed and drifted lower into her seat, barely realizing Benny's fearful gaze- and probably shocked one considering he was trying to convince them to stay away and Ace wanted to go. "Ah, what a bummer. Well, as long as we do something fun, eh? Can't blame a shark for that." She slumped in her seat before swimming off to the others gathered in the back and off to the side. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Ms. Claw laughed nervously to ease Benny's rather confused shock. "Ah, she's just a child. Adventurous sure, but I'm sure you aren't really going to think about going there. It's much too dangerous." The others nodded in agreement. Ace however went about swimming around, still debating whether or not to bother Inadi or mess with Sacha's tentacles. She figured if she moved one off course, they just might get tangled again. That, or she could possibly listen to the conversations so she could figure out where they were headed.[/BCOLOR]

 

[Cephalogod]

Everyone had gotten on the bus safely, it seemed. Sacha did a quick head count before sighing in relief. Nobody had gotten left behind, which was already a step up from the last time they had taken the bus in order to gather information. It had taken ages to reunite with their informant.

The humans had started to chat with the rest of the fishies onboard and Sacha nodded in approval- it was a good way to diffuse any suspicion, as long as they kept their stories straight. A large extended family from out of town- that should be fine. And Gary wasn't getting into any manner of trouble, and was sticking close. A bit too close, if her happy drumming on his multitude of limbs was of any indication. Still, it was worth them not botching the mission.

He gingerly lifted one of the tentacles, followed by another. Okay, this wasn't too hard. Gary was given a gentle nudge back away as he managed to free the knot that had formed, standing without too much trouble. "Okay, I'm good. Stay close, alright?" He gave Gary a stern look. Now he just had to figure how to move them so he could walk without tripping over himself-

"We can swim to Orion from there."

He gave a small nod to indicate that he had heard. The emotion-stealing fish had been a surprise, but when had any of their excursions ended easily? At least they knew what they were up to this time. He caught Ace's expression as she eyed his tentacles with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I- please don't."

 

[Kimchi]

Hearing Ace, Inadi, and Riley's comment about her new aquatic look made her scales become a tad more vibrant in color and she thanked them with quick nods and a smile. Flattery is always a good confidence booster. Meanwhile, Numair seemed extremely doubtful about being in the water, actually quite terrified to say the least. His tail had some funky designs, but if she had to vote for best transformed, it would have to be Leila. She definitely looked stunning!

When the conversation strayed to the movie Frozen and linked back to their friends who had passed away, she was alarmed at first, but the initial fear was eagerly blanketed by sadness. How many times would those memories come back to haunt her? She wondered these things as she reflected on sacrificed members of the group. Suddenly, Leila swam off leaving a trail of nothing but bubbles behind her as she headed straight for the lights.

No sooner had the lot of them started to chase after the girl had a pair of bright lights stared them down followed by a rumbling noise that resembled the tune the metro trains would chant back home. Shockingly, that was one of the things she could still recall, reason being it was her main mode of transportation therefore she would hear the noise multiple times in a single day. Panic resurfaced as they all questioned whether the thing was safe or not. By now, it was apparent that the massive creature was in fact a whale. Voices erupted and traveled through the waves as they tried to call Leila and Ran back.

Jasper stayed back, unsure of what to do exactly, but the moment her two friends got vacuumed into the giants mouth, she wished she had done something to pull them away from the beast. Horror struck, her logical thought process was telling her that whales were omnivores and a man in the bible had survived inside a whale once. Same with Nemo's father and Dory. As she mentally panicked and tried to process what the heck was going on, the humongous fish made its way towards them and Ace got sucked in as well. She couldn't believe it. Her friends were being swallowed to their doom right in front of her eyes and all she could do was watch like a dusty book on shelf. Feeling someone grab her hand, she floated by Inadi's side lifelessly as she completely blanked.

"Calm down, it's all fine-"

The situation was clarified and it was established that this whale was in fact a bus. Of course, Nowhere and its animal transportation. It seemed like a majority of mobiles required being eaten. C beckoned them to enter as the whale, now appropriately called Willy, opened its jaws to let them in without needing to be inhaled. A sigh of relief floated out of her mouth in bubbles as they all regrouped again. A trout questioned where they were from in curiosity and a few other passengers chimed in. The last question was about them going to a place called Orion and from the atmosphere in the room after the location was mentioned, it didn't seem like a land of rainbows and unicorns.

Inadi hooked Harper and her into a friendly lock as he made up a sly story as to not get these inquirers riled up. Jasper laughed nervously and a fading tone as she nodded and agreed with him. Luckily, Ace began to distract them with wonders of her own about what exactly Orion was. Victoria played it cool too, pretending that the other bunch of them were her children. Jasper sat observed in disbelief. How did these people stay so calm and collected and regurgitate fictional information out of their mouths so hastily? Its like lying came naturally to them or something. Her instincts settled on going with the flow and just keeping her honest trap shut.

Leila on the other hand looked just as flustered and added her supportive reassurance that they were certainly not going to Orion. Jasper inflated her cheeks with air. Anyone with the ability to read tone and facial expression could easily tell that Leila was actually saying the exact opposite of what was streaming from her mouth, but the questioners were getting too distracted by the lying three to really decipher what Leila had said. Harper was spitting some lies out too and Jasper just continued on with what she did best in these types of scenarios, smile and nod, just smile and nod. The passengers seemed to be taking the couple's vacation idea pretty well and had her tail flicker in embarrassment.

Talk of an emotion stealing fish finally weaved its way into the convo and she perked up a bit. How is that possible? Emotion stealing? Its not like emotions were physical objects... But they could be in this realm. The tie in of zombies made her cringe, it also linked back to death memories of Haku and Leon. Ace appeared enthusiastic about checking it out; a typical reaction from the adventurous female. As the fishes they were chatting with parted at their designated stop, Jasper swallowed uneasily about the thought off turning into an emotionless braindead. It made her shiver.

Turning to Inadi and Harper, her brows were tightly scrunched together and she wore a frown. She had a strong feeling that Orion was the place they were headed. The trips for items were never safe, ever. "Well, at least we know what we're up against right?"

 

[Fox of Hearts]

​

Windows, windows, windows? Where were all the windows? The poor angler was practically gripping the edge of his seat hoping the bus will stop soon. He was either gonna die from the lack of dissolved oxygen or make everyone horribly embarrassed. He'd definitely pick the second option over the first any day. The hushed conversation wasn't making him feel any better. The word zombie caused his stomach lurch once more. He didn't care if the apocalypse was waiting at Orion. He needed to get up now! Ran heaved as the bus shuddered.

"Brace yourself folks! It's gonna get choppy. Will ate too much B-grade plankton this morning."

A bright yellow 'fasten your seatbelt' sign flashed seconds later. The hoomans seemed a little puzzled why every other passenger was fighting to buckle in. The message was starting to sink in when there was a loud ptooot. They shot in front, shuddered and then leaped forward again. The remains of the exhaust left a weird sour smell quite similar to kimchi or sauerkraut. Ran, who was too busy hanging on to the front railing for dear life, received the brunt of the fumes. No wonder these seats were vacant. None of the fishes wanted to sit so close to the bowels.

Coupled with the reek coming from the tuna, the poor man turned a nasty shade of green. He clamped both hands over his mouth and was summarily flung out of his seat when the bus spasmed again. He lay on the ground groaning as the 'fasten your seatbelt' sign went off. Will was able to swim relatively smoothly after the 'big one'. Ran swallowed hard and reached for the dangly cord. Every other non-hooman passenger gaped as the cord lowered.

"AUUGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Two miles from Blue Flounder Boulevard!" The Captain cried.

There was a loud rumbling. Then there was a pause. Next minute Ran was jettisoned out the blow hole into the deep blue sea. With the rowdy passenger safely ejected, the whale bus swam for the remaining two miles then parked in front of the bus stop. Somewhere high above the depths Ran was soaring as multi-coloured words came tumbling out of his mouth. He hiccoughed and a last full stop was regurgitated. Having reach maximum height, he was on a long (not-so-glamourous) descend. Niran prayed he'd miss the bus that was currently making a huge U-Turn. At least there were no more smelly tuna around.

(Homage to the awesome Kimchi! Have a turbulent free flight back to the Philippines!)

 

[Fox of Spades]

"Hey, Ran? You don't look so good. Tobs, don't you think he looks a little green?"

The fasten your seat belt signs were glowing a bright yellow, but Riley was too focused on Ran to really notice. "You almost look as sick as Numair." The surfer looked better now, a little shaken, but better. Back on the ship Numair had been pretty much catatonic. "Hey, Numair?" Speaking of the surfer, she glanced in his direction to check on him. "How are you holding up?" Riley waited for him to answer then looked around.

A bunch of excited fishes were talking to Inadi and Jasper and asking about their vacation. Benny was gaping at Ace and her crazy ideas and Mrs. Claw was asking Victoria about them and how things were inland.

The speakers crackled to life and said something about the bus having an upset stomach. A bad smell blanketed the room and Riley scrunched her nose in distaste.

"AUUGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Ran—" Suddenly, the grownup of their group was lying on the ground and reaching for a cord. Before Riley could say anything else, he was propelled out of the bus at a maddening speed. "Crap..." She looked at Toby and Sacha with wide eyes, "I'm going to go after him." The next thing she knew, she was yanking on the cord and being jettisoned out of the whale bus too. Riley closed her eyes tight and felt the water against her face and skin, it was cold and soon enough she was outside, floating in a never ending sea of blue.

It was empty outside, save for a bus stop in the distance and Ran. She swam towards her friend worriedly, hands cupped around her mouth as if they were a megaphone. "Hey! Hey, are you okay?"

 

[MixedUpGuy]

Looking over to Harper after his coy little remark Inadi let out a scowl on his face and chuckled. "Yeah, moral support. That's exactly what you are buddy!" He told him through clenched teeth, trying to keep his smile as genuine as possible. He made it seem like he was a coward or something too frightened to ask a girl out on a date. It wasn't that hard all things considered. I mean sure his hands were sweating and shaking like crazy the night he was going to ask Jasper to go steady. And there was the constant stuttering at times during their first walk together.....okay. Perhaps it was a little bit harder than he remembered it being. But that seemed like such a long time ago that Inadi had practically forgotten the whole thing. There was so much other stuff to distract him from thinking back to it, but now that he was a smile popped on his face when he realized how happy he was when she said yes.

The fish began reacting to their little story and it seemed like everything was going well in regards to keeping things quiet and civil in the room. The less attention they garnered the better. They were already strangers in this place, they didn't need to be getting lectures from the locals about the danger of their journey. Though Victoria seemed to be getting some good information about it without tipping anyone's concern or curiosity. Thank goodness for that.

One of the fish people they met talked about some kind of emotion stealing fish in that Orion place. Seemed like an odd thing to hear. Dragons, witches, zombies. All the things they had been fighting in Nowhere were simply trying to kill them. Now there was a chance they would run into something that would leave them alive but in a state where you couldn't tell if they were. Just a husk practically with no way of telling how or what they felt at any given point. And with no apparent way to reverse the thing it was becoming very clear that this whole little adventure was going to be another difficult ploy to come out on top in. Wonderful.

Looking over to Jasper and Harper after the girl made the comment about the fish, Inadi shook his head. "Yeah but we have a lot more disadvantages here than we have at any other spot in Nowhere. Before it was either we were out gunned or out manned by whatever beastie of the day decided to come our way. Now?" Inadi pointed down at his tail fin, as he was still having trouble maintaining good control of his new movement. "Now we are out maneuvered. All likelihood says this fish or whatever it is isn't just an strange new enemy. It is going to be faster and way smarter than us when it comes to knowing the layout of this place. That thing has probably been swimming with fins for years now. We've only got maybe a few hours before we have to get at least decent in case of a chase." Inadi said as he crossed his arms and looked down at the ground with his brow furrowing.

He was nervous, that much was clear, but Inadi also had some heart in the idea that perhaps the hooded figures would provide a good helping hand in case something did happen to them. Same with Victoria. But if something happened to them then the rest of the humans would be stuck on their own with little hope or help. Again, a wonderful thought.

Later on in the bus ride fishes of all kinds kept coming up to him and Jasper asking about their vacation. Inadi started to feel really bad as he knew Jasper hated being hounded by people, so he did his best to gather all the attention away from her. Problem was that all those fish could ask questions so quickly he had a hard time keeping up with all of them. He even tried to ask Ace to tell stories of her days with her old boss back home, but those were drowned out by the constant new queries that were being shot towards him. At one point though, all questions stopped and he while Inadi was unsure why he would eventually get the explanation soon.

The whale bus came to a screeching stop and it made Inadi lurch where he was and get thrown a few feet ahead of him. As he did so, Ran seemed to be shot out of a cannon right past him and it eventually left him out of the bus entirely. Shaking his head after the jarring movement, Inadi looked up to see Riley now going out to try and find their lost companion out in the ocean. Picking himself up he began swimming after Riley to join her. "Wait up Riley! You can't be going out alone!" He said as he turned his head back towards the whale bus seating area. "Toby, you've picked up this swimming thing better than a lot of us already! Let's go get Ran!" Inadi yelled back, not sure where the boy ended up after the brakes hit but he hoped he was in good enough shape to join them.

Finally catching up to Riley he felt the cold water hit his skin and he shivered in response. "Good grief it's cold out here! Just how deep in the ocean do you think we got?" He asked Riley as he continued swimming along side her to try and get to Ran as quickly as possible. "Hey Ran! Come on bud! If you're going swimming in this cold of water you should at least brought some mittens or something!" Inadi joked, hoping that it was a proper time for it. The long nosed fish-man had no idea just how hard Ran had been thrown from the bus, but he certainly hoped it wasn't too jarring of a ride.

 

[Capt. Blu]

Ace floated in one spot and laughed. "Aw, c'mon...I wasn't even going to do anything." She smiled as innocently as she could at Sacha before swimming away to poke at some more of the fishy people. One small fish child found Ace to be rather fascinating for some reason, maybe it was the hair or the fins. Whatever it was didn't really matter considering his mother pulled him away when Ace began to spin him about with her tail, and doing rather dangerous things that shouldn't be done with a kid- at least in his mother's eyes.

It didn't matter though because Inadi called her to tell stories about boss and the gang she was in. Ace didn't think it was a bad idea to tell stories about them. She trusted her companions to not call the cops on her. "Well," She settled herself right in between Harper and Jasper. "Boss isn't much of a talker. Only in business situations and all. But I remember one time, he was doing a trade. I was suppose to be in the park, waiting for him to pick me up there...But I didn't listen. Then again, I don't follow too many of his orders." She chuckled and shrugged. "Well, I was hiding in a secret spot in the warehouse and watched. Boss handed the guy one briefcase...and the guy handed him another...and then- Bam!" She clasped her hands together. "Deadshot. Right in his head. It was a massacre. Boss is fast too, and he killed the others before they could reach for their guns. It was amazing! And when it was over-"

She paused when she heard the sound of Ran yell and then Riley and Inadi go swimming afterward. "...Should we stay and wait? Our stop is coming up soon after all." She shrugged, not feeling the need to follow since those two had. The bus had seemed to stop too. "Ya know Harper, we're not doing a very good job at keeping low if Ran's gonna make the bus stop." She leaned against Harper, careful not to bend her fin and then laughed.

"You've got one crazy family, eh? I don't know how your mom handles you all. Too bad I'm just a niece. I don't get to have as much fun as you guys." Ace was really selling the family bit.

 

[four]

Leila found puffing water out of the bottom of her jellyfish gown her new placeholder action when she didn't know what to do. The rim of the translucent shell of organic matter rippled rhythmically as the jellyfish umbrella contracted and relaxed, propelling her body upwards so that it hovered steadily just a few inches off the ground of the interior of the Whale bus; Leila's longer tentacles only scraping against the floor.
The chatter inside the bus persisted, but she had long lost track of what exactly it was all about. She did, however, hear about what they called an "emotion stealing fish" - about as word salad as it can possibly be - and the part where Ace headshot something with a finger-pistol.

What was Ace shooting at again?

Leila was then forced to concentrate on keeping balance as she felt the rumbling bus jolting into a temporary stop, the change in speed shoving all the passengers forward. Yelps and short screams spread throughout the bus as some toppled over, some barely avoided toppling over -

"ey be careful -"

-and Ran and Riley being propelled through the opening of the Whale's teeth and out into the nearby waters.

Biting on her lip Leila turned to look at the others who are still in the bus: Inadi swam quickly and followed the two, making it out through the teeth before the enormous jaws that were the doors sealed once again.

"...Should we stay and wait? Our stop is coming up soon after all." Ace.

Leila looked down at her body, then at the other end of the room where the gates were sealed. She wasn't fast enough to catch up even if she decided to make it out, anyway? She was sure they were going to be okay outside. Leila nodded and stayed.

They were going to be okay outside.

She found herself also slightly concerned about what the potion had done to her - not that she wasn't grateful for it's effect sparing her from the fate of a pair of dead, water-filled lungs; but the fragile nature of her transparent shell and the fact that it seemed that she couldn't move at speeds that would be to other fish the pace of a leisurely stroll.

She would really not wish to fall behind.

Leila pushed a few more puffs of water, and drifted herself closer to their group. With Ace ceasing temporarily her tentative attempts to mess with his legs, Leila stopped besides Sacha.

"Emotion stealing fish." She said those three words as if there was no reasonable connection to be found between the concepts they represented, "Have you ever encountered anything like that?"

 

[Fox of Spades]

"Inadi, Toby, wait—" Harper reached out to grab the older boy by the hand, but Inadi and Toby were soon out of reach. He was hoping they could all stick together, but knowing Riley and Ran weren't going to be braving the ocean alone was a comforting though. "Shouldn't we go after them?" He was hoping either C or Luke would suggest they do, but the former just shrugged and stated that they could regroup once they got to Orion while the latter was poking Numair and making sure that the surfer was still alive.

So much for wanted criminals, the hooded figures didn't inspire much confidence. Actually, they didn't inspire any confidence.

Their little criminal organization was composed of a pink-haired time bomb, an apathetic amnesiac, a care-free and possibly suicidal boy, a catatonic surfer, and a tall guy who liked to cook and clean. How these people had gotten themselves so well-known, it was beyond him.

Their only hope was probably Victoria, and it made him wince. Harper couldn't look her in the eye, not even after Inadi's speech. They had all played a part in Avian's death, there was no denying that. He threw a glance at the ex-dragoon and sighed, it didn't look like anyone was going to tell the bus to stop.

"Ya know Harper, we're not doing a very good job at keeping low if Ran's gonna make the bus stop."

He snapped out of his thoughts and stared at Ace's razor-sharp teeth. Awhile ago, she had told them a little more about her life and Harper wondered what she would do if they got back, if she'd go back to the same adventurous routine or if she'd start fresh. He doubted things would ever be the same for any of them, but didn't speak his mind.

"We never do a good job at keeping low, especially you." He joined his friend in laughter and made a silly face, "you're either burning something down, or the brightest thing in the room." If they left Nowhere, he would miss them all.

"Hey, hey, Will!" Luke was floating on one of the seats, his hands cupped around his mouth in an attempt to create a makeshift megaphone. "Are we there yeeeeeet?" He collided into Numair and Gary when the whale bus screeched to a halt.

C pulled him off of them and nodded in Victoria's direction. Benny Trout and Mrs. Claw were giving them weird looks.

Benny gave Victoria a pointed glare, "I thought you folks were steering clear of Orion." There was a hint of venom in his voice. "Bring a bunch of kids and stopping near the city doesn't sound safe at all." He wasn't saying it to her face, but he was calling Vicky a bad mom in his own way.

Willy the whale was opening his mouth really wide and C mumbled something about it being time to go.

Harper gave Leila and Sacha a hesitant smile and began swimming. They ended up at a bus stop not too far from the city of Orion. Ran, Toby, Inadi and Riley were nowhere in sight, but they could see the city lights in the distance.

​

The City of Orion: Victoria, C, Sacha, Gary, Numair, Luke, Harper, Leila, Jasper, Ace​

Luke placed an arm around Sacha's shoulders and let out a low whistle. "It looks abandoned."

The lights in the distance flickered ominously and there didn't seem to be a soul in sight. Harper swam on ahead and stared, "it is abandoned."

♠ ♠ ♠ ​

Open Sea: Ran, Inadi, Riley, Toby

Not long after, Inadi and Toby shot out of the blowhole and began swimming towards them.

She half-expected the bus to stop and for Victoria to swim out and start yelling at her naughty 'children'. It never happened and soon Willy swam out of sight and sound. "Shit," she wondered how they were going to find the others now. Everything in the ocean looked the same and she was pretty sure none of them thought to bring a compass along.

On the bright side, she and Ran weren't alone and if they kept swimming in the bus' direction, they were sure to reach Orion eventually, right?

"Tobs! Inadi!" The girl waved her hands and did a little cartwheel so they could see the orange of her tail. "We're here and Ranran is okay, a little sick looking, but he'll live." She flashed them all a grin then nodded in Inadi and Toby's direction. "Thanks for coming after us, guys, my sense of direction sucks bad, so it's really appreciated." Inadi asked about the sea and she shrugged. It was Nowhere, it could go on forever and ever. "It's like another world down here, who knows where it ends."

There was no trace of the whale bus' existence now, and they were surrounded by a blanket of blue. It went on as far as the eye could see and while it was beautiful, Riley was worried they would get swept off course by the current.

"Hey, Tobs, you're a pretty good swimmer." She tapped him on the shoulder and pointed in the whale bus' direction. "Would you mind taking the lead. If we keep heading forward, we should be able to catch up to the others soon enough."

 

[Cephalogod]

Sacha watched in dismay as Ran was jettisoned out of the whale. So much for not leaving anyone behind. Luckily Riley, Inadi and Tobi went after the man, so he uncomfortably settled for making sure that the rest of the group arrived safely at the bus stop. They should be alright out there; the bus stop wasn't too hard to find.

Leila drifted over after Ace became otherwise preoccupied with matters that didn't involve him getting tangled up in his own appendages. "Emotion stealing fish. Have you ever encountered anything like that?"

He took a moment to think back to their previous excursions, finally shaking his head. "The closest thing was a creature that absorbed color from its surroundings. Nothing like this." He blinked at the girl, before he tried for a small but reassuring smile. He didn't quite want to make Leila worry. "I'm sure it'll be fine. We might not even see it." He hoped it would be a quick in-and-out sort of thing, but who knew? Things never went as planned when it came to their little ragtag group. They could still hope for an easy mission, though.

The bus soon arrived at the station and Sacha peeled himself off of the pole onto which he had been clinging, following the rest of the group as they left the bus. The stop was still a ways away from the actual city, but they could see lights blinking in the distance through the dark water. Luke threw an arm around Sacha, and Sacha nodded in response. "Because of the fish," he guessed. "I wonder how long the city's been like this?"

The group surveyed the lights for a moment more in silence. Somehow the lights of the city made for an eerie scene, and he half expected the emotion-stealer to swim out from the gloom at any moment. How big was the fish anyways? Perhaps they should've asked for more information on the bus. It was too late for that now, however, and he began to drift uncertainly towards the city, flipping backwards so he was looking at the rest of the group.

"Should we go? Or wait?" There was no sign of the people who had gotten off the bus beforehand.

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Niran lay flopped on his side for a few minutes. His nose flared slightly as he panted. Absorb the water… flush it out… absorb the water… flush it out… he had absolutely no clue how this worked, because as far as he can tell, he didn't have gills. The motion was soothing, so he continued inhaling and exhaling the water in an almost rhythmic fashion. Though he managed to give them a weak smile, he couldn't bring himself to laugh. The few attempts caused him to clutch his stomach and fight back the memories of the dreaded tuna. Considering how often he suffered from food poisoning, it still amazed him that he only got sick once since he arrived in Nowhere and that was due to him scarfing down those brightly coloured berries Ise tried to snatch away from him.

"Love those tail colours, Rils. Reminds me of your hair." He said as cheerily as possible.

Ran swam about experimentally. He managed to keep upright despite the occasionally wobbling. However deep down, all he wanted to do was curl up in quiet corner and sleep. Maybe some of Ise goop would do the trick. That tasty molasses-like substance seemed to cure everything even hunger pangs. Noticing his bubbly eel-friend out of the corner of his eye, he tried to fake that he was back to normal by attempting to copy Riley's cartwheel, but soon he was clamping his hands over his mouth again. The lights all over his body turned various shades of sickly green.

"Urgh! Promise me, guys, that you'll treasure your youth. I regret … ever eating bad tuna. Oh … err…" He laughed nervously. Where did the tuna comment come from? He needed to change the topic fast. "Didn't the bus driver say we are two miles from Orion?"

He pointed in a random direction. "Tobs! Shall we head this way? I think the sooner we swim somewhere the faster we'll find the rest."

The adult sensed the other humans didn't seem too convinced. Honestly, he wasn't that confident either, but they are currently in a lake. He took Toby's hand and swam eastwards. Turning back briefly, he waved to the other two. "I think it's impossible to get lost in a lake! And if we find zombies, we're definitely going in the right direction."

He tapered off after about 10 minutes of aimless sswimming. Who was he trying to fool? They were definitely utterly lost! Given his current track record, other than winning the dance competition, they were unlikely to reach Orion within the next hour. He gripped Toby's hand as he held back. There was still one other person – well other than Toby – who hadn't said much.

"Inadi! Actually would you prefer to take the lead as well? I think … I dunno." He paused as he tried to find a more diplomatic way to say what he needed to. "I trust Tobs, but I'm hoping … maybe between you two, we can find our way to Orion sooner? I'm not the best guide."

He pulled the other three into a mini group huddle then spoke in a mock whisper. "It's because of me, Tobs and I were running for our lives in the forest. We followed my suggestion and landed up in front of a huge, furry clock monster!"

The usually cheery artist pretended to hang his head in shame. He hoped the kids weren't going to be disappointed in him. The thought alone made him feel even more useless. "So yeah… I don't want us to run smack into any other freaky thing. Not till we find the rest."

 

[Capt. Blu]

Guess they were waiting. She looked up at Harper, having slumped down while leaning on him, and once more grinned widely. "I don't- I'm not always burning something! But either way, I can't help it...fire is fun to play with." She snickered before adding, "I'm not bright at all. I'm a...contained little candle." She laughed lightly before sitting up.

The bus stopped soon enough and Ace hopped, or swam, out of her seat. "We'll catch up with the others, no problem. Well, they'll catch up with us I should say. Still, no problem." Before she swam out of the bus, she overheard Benny and Claw's rather rude and accusing words. So, Ace decided to... 'help out'. The shark mermaid swam in front of Victoria and grinned mischievously. "Aunt Vicky has a lot of patience with her kids. Though I don't think she appreciates those rude tones of yours. Hehe, my parents on the other hand aren't so patient. If dad hears his little sister is upset he doesn't...hesitate to bite. Now worry not! We aren't doing anything bad at all! She'll make sure of it." Ace happily showed her shark teeth again and then gave a polite smile before turning to Victoria.

"C'mon Aunt Vicky, everyone is leaving!" Ace giggled and swam away following the others out. The swim didn't seem to take too long, and now they were facing an abandoned city. "Empty or not, we should find that fish- uh, wait, we aren't looking for that fish are we? I don't think we were ever going to look for that fish, huh?" Something told her that the group probably wanted to stay away from the dangerous creatures. "What are we looking for anyway?" She prepared to race into Orion in order to see what was in there, but in mid take off, she stopped herself and ended up flipping upside down- just to ask that question and another.

"Are we going to sit here and wait for everyone else? That doesn't sound like much fun...but I do need my partners in crime. There's less of a game to play when they aren't here..." But the idea of waiting for the others did sound like such a boring idea. Sacha had the same question too, so it would probably be up for debate. "Wait or explore. Wait orrr explore...I think I'm going to go for the exploring. Besides, they couldn't be that far away right?" The ocean around them looked all the same, except for the city in front of them. But all they had to do was keep straight and they'd be at the city too! Well...that's what she was hoping for. "And they do have long-nose with them. He's pretty sensible. Hehe, and I'm sure he'll be hurrying as fast as possible to make sure his favorite goldfish is a-okay." She grinned, trying not to laugh as she teased Jasper. "I'm sure they'll be fine. What do you guys think?" She directed her question to her companions before looking at Victoria as well.

 

[Warden]

Dear sweet marshmallow, she shouldn't have lied about being the group mother.

First because the spunky and criminally active girl was really enjoying the lie, and second because when some of the humans were forcefully evicted from the bus, the fishes simultaneously turned to glare at her. "Yes, but you just saw one of my kids get blown out of the bus. I couldn't very well leave them behind, right?" Victoria snapped back at Benny, her jaw tightening, before swimming out to the bus stop. Let's hope none of them remember that it was actually a fellow adult who got thrown off…

She didn't move out of earshot fast enough to miss Ace threatening the suspicious fishes, and a smirk graced her lips which were shaped into a frown ever since the beginning of the trip.

"Ugh," Victoria made a disgusted noise as what's left of the humans pooled around with her. The whale started moving away, the passengers no doubt shaking their head at the evil mom who dragged her kids out to Orion, but there was no sign of Ran and Riley. "All right, everybody stay put. Roll call!" the huntress put her hands on her hips, waited for these silly people to stop talking to each other or moving around, then started noting who was with her and who wasn't.

Starting off with the Hooded Figures… C, Sacha, Gary, Numair and Luke. Lost Souls were down to Harper, Leila, Jasper, and Ace. Ah well, the others probably weren't stupid enough to, oh I don't know, die. They would probably meet up later, so no sense staying in one place for far too long.

The bus stop was literally composed of two huges pillar of rock bedecked with clams and mollusks. Seaweed grew in patches near the base of both, and half of a giant oyster was propped up over the columns to serve as a roof. Seeing how the weird circular object tied to the left beam flashed intermittently, if any of the missing humans kept an eye out they would see this bus stop in no time.
"It would take a blind person to overlook a bright red light in the blue sea," Victoria gestured above them, and then tilted her head towards the city which flickered faintly in the distance, "I think we should move. No sense staying here waiting for that apathy fish to find us. Ah, but I'll go where you- wait, where are you going?" Something caught the nobody's eye and she zipped away from the main group, towards a flash of pink who was hurtling towards Orion.

"Whaaaat!? Oww ow ow ow!" Gary shrieked in the distance as Victoria tackled her down and nabbed her by the ear.

"… I think we should move too," Numair whispered as he swam up over the bus stop. Nothing but the color blue for miles around, save for a scattering of colors which were either rocks or clams. "Well, in any case, we have to figure out something to make sure the others go in the right direction once they arrive here. Or are we seriously going to wait?" he sat down on the roof and stared down at his fellow humans. Even if none of them had made a decision yet, they were already starting to drift away from the structure.

"I guess it can't hurt to stretch our legs… or fins," the surfer mused to himself and dropped down, mingling in with the main crowd. He crossed his arms over his chest, squinting at Gary who was trying to escape from Victoria's grasp. He was pretty oblivious to the fact that he was half-naked whilst everybody morphed into nice fish forms of their previous selves, clothes and all, but then again Numair used to spend most of his time in the beach where nudity was normal.

"So, uh, let's put this to a vote. Wait equals zero, Move equals 3. Anyone else?" he turned to the others. At least Gary wasn't hitting anybody with the pole, though the day was still young.

 

[Gossamer]

​

"O-oh! Oh gosh, Ran!" Watching Niran get shot out of the blowhole left the boy baffled, he was caught somewhere between freaking out and laughing at the spectacle. No doubt it was a humorous scene, but just how dangerous was it out in the deep blue? Not to mention the whale showed no sympathy and trotted, or rather, swam along to Blue Flounder Boulevard. Riley's expression and Inadi's instructions were more than enough to convince Toby that this was more or less a predicament for the groups oldest member.

"Okay, i'm coming!" He shouted, fumbling around to unbuckle the seatbelt that had prevented the boy from suffering the same fate as poor Niran. With a push and a click, Toby shot out of his seat and into the ocean. He swam a few yards behind Inadi and tried his best not to look at his nose sword too much, out of good manners. Thankfully Riley's bright hair and tail could be seen from a distance. The tone of her shouting was enough to infer that Niran was probably okay.

As Riley greeted Inadi and Toby the boy briefly observed Niran's condition. No doubt he was a tough sport, but he looked a little beat up at the moment. It was almost as if his age was having a hard time keeping up with his energy as of late, or maybe his body just wasn't able to handle Nowhere's delicacies. A week ago he was tumbling around the Dark Side intoxicated after consuming who knows what, and now his face was as green as algae as a result of some bad tuna. It couldn't have happened to a more optimistic guy. The boy couldn't help but wish for the power to snap his fingers and make Niran better, and maybe less prone to illness.
​

"Hey, Tobs, you're a pretty good swimmer. Would you mind taking the lead? If we keep heading forward, we should be able to catch up to the others soon enough."​

Toby pulled his worrisome gaze away from Niran, listening attentively to Riley's request. "Er, yeah I can do that, but. Uhhmmmmm," He spun around in the water, his eyes darting all over the sea. "I-I've lost my sense of direction, to be honest I don't even know which way is up right now." Thankfully Niran chimed in, already up and ready to go pulling on his hand. Toby cooperated and just like that they were all floating along in what felt like the right direction.

"Y'know, everyones all cool with traveling in a giant whale bus, but nobody wants to put some signs up or anything to tell you where to go. Not even a phone to call a whale taxi." The boy tried to twirl his hair with his index finger as they trotted along in silence, but it was far too wavy and all over the place since they were underwater. "Do you think everyone would freak out if we told them that humans ate fish food? Or trap tiny fish in a glass tank forever until they die? Hmm maybe we should keep all that to ourselves,"

Toby continued to babble on as they moved forward. He didn't let go of Niran's hand, simply because he wanted to be near the guy in case he conk'd over all of a sudden, but he was having a hard time keeping still. Being underwater was surreal and he wanted to enjoy it as much as possible before they inevitably left.
​

"Inadi! Actually would you prefer to take the lead as well? I think … I dunno. I trust Tobs, but I'm hoping … maybe between you two, we can find our way to Orion sooner? I'm not the best guide."​

The boy looked back and forth between Inadi and Niran, trying to piece together the request. "Er, well it's kinda hard being a guide when you're underwater. There's like, nowhere to go and everywhere to go at the same time." It wasn't until Niran pulled both Inadi and Riley into a huddle that Toby was really confused. Niran wasn't really whispering but he wasn't really speaking aloud either, it wasn't until the boy heard his name that his childish paranoia set in and he half expected them to break from the huddle and shout "Last one to the bus stop is a rotten piece of coral!" And then swim off at light speed, leaving the boy in last place. Surely they were discussing more important matters, but still...

He decided to take advantage of this brief timeout to stretch his fins and swim in circles around the huddle, twirling and maneuvering around to his hearts content.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

The City of Orion

"Present!" Luke stuck his hand in the air like a preschooler and gave Victoria a grin. C stared at him for a few moments then raised her hand as well.

Harper mumbled a weary 'I'm here' then looked at the others. "We're missing four people, and as much as I'd like to wait and make sure they're alright. Victoria and Numair have a point," he gave them a small smile, "staying put doesn't feel very safe...not when the fish is on the lose. Besides, they have an adult with them—I mean, Inadi's there and he's got a good head on his shoulders." It wasn't that he didn't trust Ran, Inadi was just more mature, that was all. "Though like Numair said, we should leave them a message."

He looked around and wondered how they we're going to do such a thing. "Hey, Ace? You wouldn't happen to have a cutter would you?" And then to the ex Dragoon. "Or Victoria, do you have your swords with you? I'm not exactly into vandalism," Harper looked a little flustered, "but we could carve something into the bus stop, just to let them know we were here and want them to catch up."

Luke did a little roll in the water and laughed. "Sounds good. Now hurry up, and let's go go go!"

"We should break up into teams." C nodded her head. "It'll be easier for us to find something and easier for them to find us." She pointed at Ace and Gary. "We'll check the north side." Then she turned to face Harper and Leila. "You two, go with Sacha and Numair and check the west side." Harper nodded his head and C smiled a little before turning to look at Victoria. The woman still owed them a new carpet and some decorations, but it was time to bury the hatchet. "Sorry about the knife," she mumbled, "would you like to come with us?"

"What about us?" Luke piped in as he gestured to Jasper and himself.

C blinked slowly and pointed to the east side of the city. Luke noticed a large abandoned building and fist pumped at the idea of an adventure.

The groups began leaving, one by one and Harper waved everyone goodbye. "Hey, stay safe alright, guys." And then the bus stop that had once been cramped felt so empty. It was just Sacha, Leila, Numair, and him now. "So," he nodded at both the hooded figures. "Um, so we're looking for the glass pearl, right? Do you guys know where it is and where we should check first?" Then in an attempt to make friendly conversation he looked at Numair. "Kind of amazing, how you wound up with them after the SSF." Then he was hoping Leila would say something to make things a little less awkward, but who was he kidding, Leila wasn't exactly the talkative sort and then he was just floating in place and thinking about how this was really the last item and how the hooded figures weren't exactly threatening once you got to know them.

Luke was swimming alongside C and everyone else as they made their way past the rust colored city gates. Orion was a ghost town and most of the houses were void of light and abandoned. Some looked like they were housing aquatic life, but most of the shuttered had been drawn shut and the doors barricaded. "It's almost like some horror movie, anyways. We're going to check the library." He grabbed Jasper by the arm and began to wave. Jasper didn't look as enthusiastic but she did her best to put on a brave face. "I'll catch you guys later." They took the road that would eventually lead them to the east side.

Soon enough, they were out of sight and C and her companions swam north. "Where should we look first?" They could go house to house, check out the city hall, the possibilities were endless and she wanted to get her companion's opinions first.

♠ ♠ ♠​

"Nonsense, we aren't lost." Riley pointed in the direction the whale bus had disappeared to. "If we just keep swimming," she was floating on her back and and smiling now, "we'll eventually get to where the others are going. It's not like we're in a maze, guys." She laughed at how Jumpy Ran was being though she did feel bad for him. Having an upset stomach underwater definitely had to be a new experience.

Toby began talking about whale taxis and she nodded her head in agreement. "That would have been helpful, though I don't think I want to be swallowed alive anymore. Anyways, let's go, guys! I guess I can lead us along." And that was pretty much what Riley did. They spent awhile just swimming and chatting, but soon enough they reached the empty bus stop. The city of Orion was in their sights, but they didn't see any of their friends around. "Well, the sign says this is Orion, but I don't see any of them and geez, this place looks so empty." Riley looked right and left and eventually sat down on one of the benches. "You think they went in the city?" And as soon as she had sat down, she had bolted towards the gate with a wide grin. "I guess that means we're heading inside then."

The girl poked her head into the gate and half-expected tumbleweeds to start rolling down the streets. "This emotion stealing fish really scared everyone away. D'you think we should check out the buildings...oh hey, what exactly are we looking for again?"

 

[Capt. Blu]

Roll call was needed, so Ace waved her hand. "Still here!" She called and began to swim around the group, waiting for a decision. When she was asked about vandalism materials, she patted her sides and shrugged. "Sorry Harper. No pockets. Uh, not saying I had one in the first place..." She looked away quite suspiciously. Looking around, she did notice a rather pointy rock though. She swam and grabbed it, passing it to Harper before attention was turned to leaving. Looking around for clues did sound way more fun than waiting- oh, and of course it would probably be dangerous to stick around.

"Oh alright! Groups, let's go-!" Ace was just about to dart off with Harper and Leila in tow, but C stopped her and told her that they'd be going the opposite way. "Aw man..." She turned and followed C and Gary to what she assumed was north. "I guess being stuck with the angry one and the clueless one can't be that bad. Oh! Yeah, Vicky come with us!" As everyone separated, Ace put a thumbs up. "No worries! I'm the definition of safe!" She laughed and then swam ahead of her new group.

"So, what are we looking for again?" She circled around a few colorful plants that could've been in someone's yard. It was hard to tell considering everything was underwater and everything was barricaded or at least looked empty. It didn't matter too much to her, so she continued looking for things out of the ordinary.

"Oh, do you think there's sunken treasure around here? What if pirates crashed around here too? I've never seen a pirate ship before, maybe that's around." In her swimming through the plants, she got her tail tangled in some seaweed. It slowed her down, giving the others a chance to catch up. "Aw, man... Well, since I don't see any pirate ships around here, maybe we can break into one of the houses. Or, some place that looks important. Normally, important stuff is in important places." However, everything looked pretty much the same to her. With a shrug, she decided to bite down on the seaweed and tear it. It proved effective, however seaweed tasted terrible and she ended up spitting it out. "Bleh, yuck. Don't eat that stuff. It's gross."

Now that she was free, Ace didn't hesitate to swim off again, ahead of the group. This time, she went right into a small cottage like home. The door was wide open and the window was broken, so obviously some investigating could be done. "Come on you three, you're moving too slow!"

 

[four]

"Stay safe."

Leila waved at the departing teams alongside Harper.

The two words, though, came out in a tone less reassuring than she would've hoped. An octopus, a clownfish, a dolphin, a jellyfish, and an empty bus station on the borders of a underwater ghost town. This was the bottom of the waters of Nowhere. And stay safe, she said.

Harper said a few things. It could be seen, though, that he likely intended only to attempt to suppress the silence so impending around them.

"The west side of the city." She said, only in repetition of the orders given by C, "We should go."

-
It was not that she was eager to begin the search, only that staying for too long at the same place was intuitively not a good thing to do. The entire environment made her feel strangely stressful, as half of her mind pleaded only to get out of this place as soon as possible while the other half was well aware that she had nowhere else to go in the vastness of the waters.

The cityscape of Orion fell within the valley of eeriness that sat between the familiar and the fantastically extraordinary. It was a town of glass and stone intertwined with the landscape of a coral reef, with aged, partially collapsed structures standing in between the twisted contours of stone and the creatures that live upon them. Currents pulsed gently through what was now to them the air, and the seaweed that grew upwards swayed in coherence.

Corals and seaweeds don't usually thrive in waters at these depths.

Carefully keeping her transparent appendages clear of anything that might tangle them, she swam a bit higher than the others in the group. A view from atop made the city seem only more empty.

Do they go through the town like this, or did they need to go into some of the structures as well? She wondered, although many those buildings that remained standing were damaged enough to have the concepts of inside and outside only discernable through mentally reconstructing where the walls would have stood. With the outlandish style of the architecture here, even that was difficult.

Leila felt a tug on one bundle of her tentacles as it brushed against the stone walls of a taller building, sending an unclosed window swinging slowly open behind them. She pushed towards the center of the street where the waters were clearer.

They were here to seek the last item, but she found it hard to do so over having being constantly vigilant of the surroundings.

"Back on the whale bus," She turned towards Sacha as she swam, "When you said we might not even see the emotion stealing fish, …

A sudden crackling sound stopped her in her tracks, and it took too long to identify the source of the sound being a nearby reef where a lonely crab had disturbed a small pile of rock in making its way around the place.
Relieved but not without keeping heightened her awareness of everything in the environment, she continued:

"Did you mean that as in we might not encounter it, or that we generally...are incapable of seeing it coming?"