A salty, oceanic scent filled the air. Riding the gust that carried this calming smell was a pair of crested bluegulls. Having recently mated, the seabirds were looking for a suitable place to nest; they had been soaring for 2 days straight. Feeling concerned for his partner, the male bluegull made a brief honking sound. He was going to dive into the sea to get him and his mate some food. Hearing her companion's signal, the female bluegull made her way down to roost on the surface of the water. The male then got himself into position in the air and dived beak-first into the water.
With his way illuminated by the shine of the moon, the seabird began using his orange webbed feet to paddle through the water. His sights were set on a colorful coral reef in the distance, where a wide array of fish would likely be found resting for the night. Sure enough, the bird located a black-finned balloonfish tucked cozily in a pink section of coral. The seabird slowly extended his pale yellow beak towards his prey, extracting it from its hidey-hole without waking it up. The bird closed his eyes in contentment. Black-finned balloonfish were a favorite food among bluegulls, so he was sure that he and his mate were going to enjoy this catch.
As the bird made his way back to the surface, he saw two entities zoom by in the area above him. The seabird made a quick startled sound before stopping himself; he did not want to wake his food. Besides, the foreign creatures were far away from him, so what threat did they pose? The bluegull continued on his way until he noticed a 3rd individual approaching. However, this one was not as distant as the previous ones. In fact, it was headed straight at the bluegull! The bird, scared for his life, squawked loudly and waved his wings around. This ended up awakening the balloonfish, who very quickly realized the situation it was in. Enraged, the fish sucked in liters of water, puffing itself up to 5 times it's size as well as revealing an array of purple spikes. The fast-approaching creature, unprepared for this development, crashed into the puffed-up fish, making a pained sound as it spun out of control. After recovering from the surprise of the event, the bluegull looked around for where his prey had gone. As it turns out, the balloonfish was directly behind the bird, and it rammed into the poor animal with the full burnt of its spines before expelling water and swimming away.
The bluegull shook himself free of the spikes and grumbled. While he was immune to the poison of the black-finned balloonfish, he was not particularly fond of the pain the needles provided. Furthermore, he had lost his catch. Finding another prey items was not going to be as easy the 2nd time, he figured, nor would the catch be as meaty. Accepting this reality with indignation, the bluegull returned to the surface to take a breather.
Noticing her brethren's cries of affliction, one of the fast-swimming sea creatures turned around to notice her little brother barreling towards her at a wild speed. Using her strong arms, the older organism created a miniature whirlpool to stop the younger ocean-dweller in his tracks. "Gee, Siquioce," said the young adult fish person, "What happened to you this time?"
Making a sad face, Siquioce whimpered, "I'm sorry, Ulaka, I couldn't see anything! I was just swimming and then I got poked by these scary needles!"
Ulaka patted her brother's shoulder reassuringly and responded, "There, there, it's not your fault. The waters are pretty dark around this hour." Turning Siquioce around, Ulaka continued, "And look, you weren't even hurt that badly! It's just a flesh wound."
Sniffing, Siquioce asked, "R-really?"
Ulaka nodded and replied, "Yes, really. Fortunately, that seaweed patch you tumbled through earlier gave you enough protection to avoid being poisoned. Just goes to show you that there's a bright side to everything, right?"
Clasping his webbed hands together, Siquioce responded, "Yeah…"
At that moment, the other fish person swam over, looking quite peeved. "For the love of Tomanil, sister, was it really necessary for us to bring this runt over on the hunt? He's doing nothing but slowing us down!"
Ulaka glared at her slightly younger brother, saying, "Come now, Makun, don't speak of poor Siquioce like that! Why shouldn't he come with us? This is valuable training for him."
Makun scoffed and replied, "I would hardly call it that. The boy is doing more bumbling than he is participating."
Ulaka had Siquioce lay with his pale green belly to the ocean floor before replying, "Really? Are you telling me that you would've rather gone as a duo? Did you forget that us Samanians are to travel in groups of three?"
Makun retorted, "I am aware of that, but did we have to bring Siquioce of all people? We could've brought Aeso, Hoté, anyone! Why, then, did you decide on our youngest brother?"
Ulaka used her tongue to coat her fingers in a clear slime before answering, "That's because you're not thinking outside of the box. Is it not wise to prepare the least experienced of us for what's to come? Trust me, I have a plan. I thought you would understand, considering the fact that you are next in line to go on The Expedition."
Makun rolled his eyes and returned, "Please. Your plan is not one of an intellectual. It is one of a fool. The only thing that Siquioce's presence will bring us is a one-way-ticket to a megafin's stomach."
Siquioce started quivering in place, stuttering, "M-m-megafin?! No, I don't want to be eaten!"
Ulaka made a shushing sound and said, "Calm down, Siquioce, you do not have to worry about getting eaten by any of those nasty sharks. Ulaka's here to protect you. Now, sit still while I remove these spikes."
As Ulaka did her handiwork, Makun said in a disdained tone, "I suppose that you're too busy babying our little brother to notice that our target has escaped. What plan do you have for this?"
Ulaka looked briefly at Makun, flashed him a sharp-toothed smile, and said, "Oh, it is quite simple, really." After treating her little brother, Ulaka floated in front of her siblings, "Okay, everyone, listen up. We're going to be using some handy echolocation! Siquioce, I trust that you remember the lyrics?"
Siquioce nodded and responded, "Yes, sister!"
Makun groaned, "Come on, must we go about this in such a childish way? This is a hunt, not a preschool!"
Ulaka held a finger to her mouth and barked, "Hush, you. Learn to have some fun once in a while." Clearing her throat, she continued, "Okay, everyone, on three! One..two…three!" Both Ulaka and Siquioce began singing a low-pitched tune, with Makun unenthusiastically murmuring along. After a few more seconds of this, Ulaka declared, "Aha! I've got something! Siquioce, do you sense anything?"
Rubbing his temples, Siquioce mumbled, "Mmm…ehh…I…think?"
Egging him on, Ulaka asked, "Is it maybe…to your left?"
Siquioce thought for a minute longer before opening his eyes in realization. "Yeah!" he exclaimed, "I see it! It's a big, big thing, too!"
Ulaka wagged her finger and corrected, "It's not one big thing, Siquioce. It's multiple smaller things! Do you want to go and see what they are?"
Smiling, Siquioce answered, "Yeah!"
Ulaka laughed, "That's the spirit! Come on, let's go!" So, the two fish people swam to the point of interest, with the 3rd begrudgingly following along.