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Post by Aqualad on Apr 11, 2012 16:56:03 GMT -5
Being the proud owner of a set of gills, Garth would never have to know the experience of drowning. But he imagined that if he could drown, it would feel a lot like this conversation. He had asked only a couple of simple questions, and in a flurry of garbled words, only half of which he managed to grasp, the excited human had buried him with her reply.
And before he could inquire as to what kind of a doctor it was that wrote books about felines that wore hats, Katie had already launched into a long speech about... well, about nothing in particular. There were a few things in there that he would have liked to ask more about, particularly her family and the place where she lived, and most importantly he wanted to interject with a protestation about her naming a fish after him. It was a brand-new codename, the last thing he wanted was for it to be shared with a goldfish (possibly the most lame of all the fish...). He couldn't get a word in edgewise, though, and he opened his mouth a couple of times to try, but always ended up simply shutting it again when she leaped onto her next randomly selected topic.
Even as she spoke, she seemed to be struggling a little more with staying both afloat and stationary. He effortlessly followed her along, partially out of a sudden need to keep an eye on her (for the safety of the ocean, of all things), but mostly because her rambling conversation was sweeping him in like a tide. She was clearly expending more energy now, because her questions were coming slightly slower - she needed to intake more of this harsh air they were currently breathing. And there was something else that caught his attention just as the last of her questions was spouted out.
"I'm..." He started, and then looked away distractedly, as if he had heard something. A frown creased his expression, "...Working on that..."
A gloved hand appeared out of the water, and he held up a slender finger to indicate for her to be quiet.
The boy listened for a moment. He couldn't hear anything.
But that was what worried him.
"I think something's wrong..." He told Katie, his dark eyes still darting over the empty scene. "Listen, you'd better get back to your family." He looked back to her at last. She definitely looked like she was getting tired, and suddenly the pre-teen was struck with a sense of urgency, like he wanted to sink and disappear in an instant, and he didn't even know why. But first thing was first - he needed to get this little human to safety. [/font]
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Post by Katie Hearth on Apr 23, 2012 23:39:21 GMT -5
Katie covered her lips with her two hands and looked at him questionably when he motioned for her to remain silent. There was a short, punctured pause that gave her enough time to glance back and forth around the water, uncertain by the shift in demeanor. Was he playing some sort of game? The urgency in his voice resonated and she was reminded of her mom and how, whenever something out of the ordinary caught her attention, she would demand her and her siblings to remain silent. Katie felt uncomfortable. Her wide-eyed expression had been tagged by a baffled phrase, “what‘s wrong?”
Aqualad at present kept his poise and remained relatively calm. The only thing that seemed so out of place- so eerie and uncomfortable and unbelievably deafening was the silence that stretched into the ocean. Not even the lapping of the waves (the same ones that pushed and pulled her lifesaver away), could penetrate the stillness in the air. There were no seagulls, no real noise. Her sister’s radio was muted by the distance pressed between them. She couldn’t even hear Charlie’s obnoxious voice or her mother’s voice over her sibling’s banter. It had only occurred to her then that the ocean was taking her away from the boat, which remained a good distance away now. A little less than a football field away but close enough for her to see it in its entirety.
Without another protest, Katie paddled towards the only destination in sight with only the prospect of climbing the white plastic ladder‘s mounted besides the boat. Her legs kicked hard on what seemed like a bottomless pit of water, her arms splashed wildly, she tried to fight against the currents, head craned slightly towards the blue clad boy in what felt like a moment of desperation. The last thing she wanted was for him to disappear on her in her moment of need. Just seeing him there brought a small sense of comfort when she realized her predicament; she couldn‘t get passed the strong current. With a beating heart that promised to burst through her chest, and two wet eyes, she began to whimper.
“I can’t swim back.”
Every kick she mustered at the expense of her energy, every inch she covered, Katie felt that, in the end, she was falling back to where she started, and then a few steps further back from square one. She kicked harder, pushed farther, took a series of breath to keep calm. Nothing worked. The alarm that went out in her head intensified when she saw something underneath the water. At first it appeared to be a shadow- which, in the mush of her panic stricken mind, didn’t make sense. A squeak escaped the confines of her parched lips and she realized, not only was something out there, but it was circling them. Before she could even open her mouth to warn him, something big emerged from the water, not too far away, a jagged fin. The shark underneath the water was hungry and the bird it had devoured had not been enough to quench its appetite.
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Post by Aqualad on Apr 25, 2012 16:14:39 GMT -5
Garth had gone back to scanning the area and listening for something - anything - to signify where this weird sensation of uneasiness was coming from, when some words from Katie snapped his attention back to her. There were tears in her eyes, all of a sudden, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was because she was struggling to stay close to her boat, or perhaps because she could sense that something was wrong too. Maybe both. That would at least explain why she hadn't protested at his suggestion that she leave this time.
Realizing that he was going to have to take her back to her family's boat, the boy was about to circle around her so that he could push the orange ring from behind, when he sensed a presence. For a split second he looked up and saw the look in the young girl's eyes - a look of terror, that was the only way he could describe it, and then he turned his head, following her stare to the sight of a dark fin, slicing through the surface of the water toward them.
His own eyes widened in a moment of fear, and his heart hammered faster at the sight. A shark, and not a small one either... it must have been attracted by the girl's thrashing about. Garth had seen plenty of sharks, but only from a safe distance, and only ever handled by professional tamers and hunters. He had never come into contact with one himself... until now.
The first thought to flash through his mind - 'What would Aquaman do?' The answer that flashed up alongside it wasn't particularly helpful. Aquaman would use his aquapathy to get rid of the shark somehow, and that wasn't an option for him. It looked like it was going to come down to physical confrontation... but although he was strong, he was not as strong as his mentor, and he didn't know if he could face down a creature as big as this one. He wasn't strong enough... but one thing that he knew he could count on was his speed. If he was alone, he was sure he could out-swim this thing... but he wasn't. He needed to keep Katie safe, and that meant drawing the shark's attention.
"Stay here!" He told Katie, his eyes still fixed on the fin as it streaked toward them, "I'll come back for you!"
With that, he ducked under the water, and immediately kicked out, as hard as he could, so that in an instant he blasted forward, toward the shark - which was as big as he had predicted - heading straight for the monster's gaping maw, filled with rows of sharpened teeth. Then, just as the two approached each other, the boy twisted his body in an expert maneuver, narrowly slipping out of the way of the shark's mouth and instead swooping by its side, and as he did so, he threw out a fist, aiming for an eye and connecting with the side of its head. It was close enough, and the desired effect was created - as Aqualad continued to shoot through the water, he saw the monstrous fish curve its path to pursue him.
Good. He had drawn it away from the human... now it was only he who was probably going to be eaten alive...
The thought seemed to send another wave of power to his legs, which he kicked out rapidly and began to plummet down through the water, hoping to lead the shark into some kind of environment where he had the upper hand. He needed sharp rocks, narrow caverns, long, tangling seaweed... something!
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Post by Katie Hearth on Apr 26, 2012 23:54:12 GMT -5
Katie had protested when he signaled that he would be back and all of a sudden she felt the weight of abandonment. Her heart may as well have sunk to the bottom of the ocean because the moment he took off, disappearing in a swift dive, Katie felt a numbing feeling. He left. Aqualad claimed he would be back but, within the bubbling fear, she was hesitant to believe. No matter how hard she looked into the water, she couldn’t figure out what was going on. Had he really meant it? Would he come back to her? The alternative was much more frightening. What if he didn’t come back, what if he ran away? Her flesh prickled with Goosebumps, her throat felt raspy, she wanted to sob and even though she held herself fast with determination, Katie couldn’t help her relapse of weakness when in a moment’s notice, he would not appear again. She could only think about the worse case scenario, that somewhere along the way, what he really meant to do was just leave her to her own demise. It would have been easier to just ditch her. Deciding that she couldn’t just rely on a stranger’s word, she tried harder, pushed farther away as far as her feet could take her. She even cried out to her parents.
No one responded.
Katie hugged the lifesaver tighter. If she was grateful for one thing, it was the anticipation that died down when she realized that the shark had yet to attack her. She could only hope, as she searched about the landscape of pure sea, that her new found friend had something to do with it. It was the only consuling thought that inspired her to try.
Underneath the surface, away from the tangible fears of the young child, the wondering shark felt the impact of something hard clashing to the side of its head. Anger flashed and its path was already laid out, it had turned abruptly in the direction of the Atlantean in hot pursuit bearing a row of sharp teeth. When you were a creature of prey, logic was not on the top priority list- the lone shark simply cared to appease his appetite no matter what. The sleek creature followed after Aqualad, nipping close to his heels but not close enough to bear down on the delicate ankle bone of his foe. It crashed into the occasional sea life, whether it was a passing fish that did not zip through fast enough pass the cat and mouse chase, or a reef. His anger was all it took for him to overlook the small hits he would take- anger and an uncontrollable, unchecked, hunger. It tore through currents and abolished anything that got in its way. If he was lucky enough none of his kinship would arrive in anticipation for his meal.
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Post by Aqualad on May 6, 2012 11:22:03 GMT -5
As they descended through the water, Aqualad did his best to swerve their path into anything he could to slow the shark down - but the fish was like a juggernaut, crashing straight through the chunks of rock and coral that got in its way, completely single minded in its pursuit. This wasn't working, the boy realized with a terrified glance over his shoulder. It wasn't even slowing down!
The only thing moving faster than his legs which still propelled him forward faster than he had ever had to swim before was his mind, which raced for some kind of tactic, some way to escape this, and fast. Despite the fact that there was a horrific monster of a fish gnashing at his ankles, the thought of Katie, dwelling alone and frightened on the surface above, popped into his head. He needed to get back to her and make sure she was returned safely to her family.
His wide eyes darted about in the darkness of the depths as they passed by a rigid wall of sharp rock that went for miles down into the sea and stretched out as for as he could see in front. He saw a jagged crack in the surface a little further down, and, out of desperation, he hurled himself toward the opening, very much conscious of the jaws which snatched at the water right at his feet.
He barreled toward the dark crack in the wall of rock, and the dreadful thought that he wouldn't be small enough to fit in struck him all at once - but he didn't have time to alter his course now. All he could do was speed toward it... and brace himself for the impact--
If he could have cried out, he would have, as the razor-sharp rocks of the opening scraped the skin and muscle of his left shoulder... but he made it into the dark shelter of the space in the wall. His back hit against the surface within. The space wasn't big, only a few feet of cover, but, clutching his shoulder in pain, he could only hope that the sharp rocks of the opening that he had sliced himself on would be enough to dissuade the shark from its prey.
The dark little shell that he crouched in rocked and shook with the impact, and Aqualad could only wince and pray while the shark crashed against the opening, still champing its jaws, desperate to eat... but it remained outside. Little chunks of rock and dust floated down in the water inside the wall, but the structure held firm. The blood from his injury was driving the beast wild, but as he watched he could see that the rocks were ripping at the shark's face with every attack it made.
Still holding his shoulder and staring out at the predator, Garth could only wait for it to cease its assault, and hope that its injuries would make it forget about both him and Katie.
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