Tubbo stared out at the slow moving waves, feeling the pod sway beneath him. Techno and Fit had left barely 10 minutes ago, leaving him by himself while they attempt to find out what had happened to the two people that sent out the distress call. He had spent almost the entire time pacing from one end of the pod to the other, listening to the conversation between the two adults over the mics in the mask.

He can't recall a single time where he had been this nervous.

The weak, crackling voice from the radio still echoed around in his head, replaying the desperate call for help like a broken record. What if they waited too long? What if they had been alive when they received the call, but have succumbed to starvation in the hours they had hesitated to go out and rescue them? Tubbo doesn't know if he can live with this guilt. He should have fought harder against Techno. Maybe scream so Fit wakes up and backs him up on the rescue mission.

Anything but just sit there, silent, waiting.

Anything but sob in Techno's arms as the night slowly progressed and the sun started to rise.

Anything but silently stare at the wall while feeling Techno behind him drifting in and out of consciousness, never fully sleeping.

Fucking bastard dared to use the argument of Tubbo being tired, when he himself has barely slept at all himself. He probably got more sleep than Techno! But even knowing that, he knew he had no chance when both Techno and Fit decided to keep him inside the pod no matter what. Two against one is so unfair...

Tubbo groaned in frustration, leaning over to bury his face in his hands. He knows he promised Techno to stay inside the pod, but sitting on the ledge of the open hatch won't do any harm. The occasional cool spray of water helped keeping himself grounded, as did the cries of the weird avian creatures that occasionally circle up in the sky.

That thought made him pause, lifting his head from his hands to instead look up at the sky. A few fluffy clouds slowly drifted across the sky as the weird flying creatures gracefully caught the breeze. The young human frowned and squinted, trying to get a better look, but they were too far away.

Birds... or something of the same nature as birds. An airborne, air breathing animal. Which means that they probably have to land somewhere that isn't covered by water. So, if those creatures are actually similar to birds... there has to be solid land somewhere. Somewhere close too. Well, that depends on the stamina of the creatures, actually.

Maybe that should be their next goal, along with the habitat builder that Fit wants to make. Find wherever these birds are landing. If there is some sort of island or even a larger section of dry land, that area could make a good base too.

A voice crackled to live on the little mic, accompanied by a rather uncomfortable static noise, startling Tubbo a little. "Watch out for those big manatee things." "Yeah, I got it. They shouldn't follow us once we are past them." Techno's and Fit's voice drift from the little device inside the mask, easing Tubbo's nerves a tiny bit. He can still hear them. They are fine.

"Are you guys talking about the gas spewing guys? The ones that Fit pissed off once?" A rather annoyed, but affirmative noise was the answer. Not one of Fit's proudest moments, when he got too close and was almost knocked unconscious by their club like tail. At least he managed to swim away before the weird gas balls exploded. Techno had lectured him for nearly fifteen minutes, then dotted over him to make sure he was alright.

"I still really want a sample of that stuff. Maybe we can use it for something." "Absolutely not", came Techno's answer, almost instantly. Tubbo huffed, but he had expected that answer anyways. "Not without some sort of proper container for it. Who knows what that stuff does to us", Fit added to the response, a bit more gentle than the other had done. "Once we do, you can go crazy with experiments." Tubbo grinned in victory, even though neither of the two adults can see him. "Awesome."

The excitement only lasted for a little while.

Only a few moments after the exchange, the mic connection cut off. The two were too far away now and continuing onwards, leaving Tubbo truly by himself for the first time since he got rescued. It was an odd feeling, having nothing but absolute silence, knowing it's not because the two adults were just currently silent or napping. The somewhat calm atmosphere changed back into nervousness and unease.

Tubbo stared out at the slow rolling waves, into the direction where his friends had disappeared to. Now all he can do is wait for them to come back in one piece. And maybe accompanied by more survivors.

--

He awkwardly stretched and arched his back, attempting to get the salve on every inch of his burns. It had worked for the most part, with all of the burns on his front and side treated, as well as the one on his face. His hair was messily pulled back into a short ponytail, Techno's borrowed hairband keeping everything together. It was by no means perfect, quite the opposite actually considering he never tied his hair before. But it holds for now while the paste dries and gets absorbed into his skin.

He discarded the leftover paste with a frustrated groan, giving up on reaching the last few spots on his back by himself. At least he has regained almost his entire mobility now, with the burns not hurting and his skin softening again with the help of the paste. It was freeing to not feel the uncomfortable pull of too tight, injured skin anymore. Those vines really were some sort of miracle healing medicine.

With the salve now applied, he was left with nothing to do once again. His nerves were already acting up again, making him grab the mask and click the mic a few times, checking if he could reach one of the others. But there was nothing. Of course they aren't back yet, the coordinates were so far...

Tubbo tossed the mask aside, back to the rest of his equipment.

He needs something to do. His first thought was the pile of cables, metals and ores that were left in the pod for him, but he had no motivation or ideas what to do with those things. Maybe he could figure something out with the fabricator, but he doubts there is anything useful that can be made with so little resources. Usually his head was filled with ideas for new machines, trinkets, tools... but today, right now, nothing came to him.

Tubbo sighs, taking the red jacket that innocently laid on the floor, wrapping it around his shoulders once he was sure the paste had dried enough. It kept him warm considering a good chunk of the suit protecting his shoulder and side was damaged. Sure, Techno's jacket was also a bit charred and had a few holes, but it was better than nothing. And it brought him comfort.

Carefully, he climbed back up the ladder and resumed his position sitting on top of the pod, silently staring out into the distance and waiting for his friends to come back. He turned his head to stare at the ruins of their once so great ship, watching some of the fires that were still burning. It was honestly impressive that most of the fires hadn't gone out yet. Sometimes you could hear metal creaking or stuff exploding.

His eyes trailed over the ruins, focus jumping over the waves, seeing the white foam at the top of each wave build and break again. He looked for nothing in particular, just grazing the horizon and the things dotting it. Something to distract himself with, anything that could catch his interest.

No matter how many times it may have danced across his vision, the broken spaceship just now seemed interesting enough to actually look at. Almost on instinct, he began to search for the familiarity of the, at this point, memorized name of it painted on the side. His father had allowed him to pick the colour of the paint, despite the trouble he could get into for not having it applied according to protocol. One of the few moments where he seemingly genuinely had cared for his opinion.

Spotting the scratched and darkened, barely visible letters towards the front put a sad smile on his face. The orange paint clashed harshly with the blue and white colour scheme of the ship. But it had been his, a little mark he was allowed to put there. While the name was still weird, seeing it brought back memories that he had grown a little fond of.

Big, bold letters proudly read "Q.S.M.P" and a '04' in red colour following it.

God, how proud he had been to be let aboard that ship. Proud to make a contribution to such a great cause, especially when so young. Even if he never could memorize what QSMP even stood for, it still seemed nice to gaze at the name on the metal side. The M was barely visible among the destruction and the Q looked more like a C now, but he knew they were there.

He wrapped the jacket tighter around himself, trying to ignore the memories flooding his mind, faces and names that he will never see again. His eyes squeezed shut when he saw his father, one of the few memories where he had smiled, laughed even. Tears prick the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry dad... I'm so sorry."

Suddenly, the pod rocked beneath him, sending him scrambling to find purchase on one of the handles next to the hatch, screaming out in confusion. His eyes frantically searched the waters around the pod, trying to see what was happening, clinging to the handles on each side of the hatch as the pod continued to sway dangerously on unnatural waves, threatening to tip over if it weren't for the flotation devices.

He attempted to open the hatch and disappear into the pod, but froze when he spotted something next to the pod. As the swaying calmed down, a fin poked out of the water, trailing in slow circles around the pod. It was massive, about the length of Tubbo's arm maybe. Right behind it was a second one, the exact same colour, only a little shorter. The scales were a dark grey, slowly growing lighter towards the bottom.

The fins were accompanied by a low rumble. The same low rumble Tubbo had heard before. It sounded a bit off now that he was above the surface, no small space to echo around or travel through water. But he could recognize it regardless.

This was the creature.

The one that had climbed on their pod.

The one that, maybe, had brought them the vines to heal his burns.

Tubbo watched it slowly circle the pod, fin smoothly cutting through the water. It was difficult to make out defined shapes, but he could see that the creature was, as predicted, massive. The colourful mass beneath the waves must be at least a hundred feet long, maybe even bigger. He had never seen an animal this big in his life. The colours of it scales seem to be a mix between greys and yellows, but the water makes it hard to see if there are any other colours on it.

All Tubbo could do was watch it glide through the water, in awe at the fact that it seemed peaceful. If it were hunting him, it would have probably already tipped over the pod to get to him. It did climb on the pod before...

It did a few more circles, slow and steady, seemingly more careful with its movements now after it almost knocked him over. Was it... guarding him? Waiting for something? He wasn't sure... but it was still rumbling, whatever that was supposed to mean.

Then it stopped, the fins no longer cutting circles around him. Instead, they now pointed in a way that showed the creature was facing the pod now. Looking at it. Looking at him?

Carefully, he leaned over the edge a tiny bit, clinging to the support handles to not lose his balance. This was a terrible idea, he knew that. He was tempting fate with a gigantic creature that could probably swallow him whole if it wanted to. If it even was a predator. But it hadn't harmed any of them yet.

When he leaned over an almost dangerous amount, he spotted two large, glowing spot, looking straight at him. Those were it's eyes... it was looking at him. Watching him.

The two stared at each other for a long while. Tubbo didn't dare to move, almost didn't dare to breathe, mesmerized by the glowing eyes just a tiny distance below the surface. The creature didn't move either, although the glowing spots shifted occasionally, indicating that it was probably moving its head around. Involuntarily, Tubbo imagined a giant cat, tilting it's head in confusion.

Maybe that's what the creature was doing. Watching the confusing new creature it had never seen before, figuring out whether or not he was something dangerous. Which seemed a little silly, considering the size difference between them. But hey, maybe Tubbo could be extremely poisonous. Dangerous to eat.

The creature was the first to break the silent staring contest. It moved closer to the pod, closer to the surface, exposing more of its grey scales as well as some of the sandy-yellow ones. Tubbo nervously leaned back, unsure if the creature's intention, but stopped halfway and stared at it with his jaw hanging open.

A hand lifted out of the water. The same colour as the fins on it's back, with webbed fingers and sharp claws. But it was a hand. A massive, humanoid hand.

For a moment he thought the creature would grab him now, or attack the pod. But then he noticed that clutched between the large claws was a bundle of green vines, which the creature placed on the flotation devices, being oddly careful in doing so. Then the hand disappeared beneath the waves, the creature returning to stare at him from the safety of the water.

Tubbo didn't know what to think. The plants sat so innocently on the orange rubber, as if they held no significance whatsoever. "So you were the one that brought them..." The creature remained unmoving, just staring, most likely not understanding what he is saying. Yet Tubbo still felt like he should show he is grateful. These plants saved his life... or at least made the healing easier. But he didn't know how to say thank you to a creature.

Turns out, he doesn't have to.

Out of nowhere, the creature began moving again, doing a final loop around the pod before zipping away, disappearing fully into the water and out of sight. The speed with which it moved was incredible, far faster than what he expected such a large creature to be capable of.

But why did it run? Did it get scared? Is something else coming? Did Tubbo do something wrong?

He wasn't sure.

What he was sure of was that Techno will have a heart attack when he tells him what happened. First time they leave him alone and the large creature immediately comes back. Even if it didn't harm him, the opposite actually, the teen knows that Techno doesn't trust it one bit.

When his heart at finally calmed down a little, he carefully used the ladder on the side of the pod to climb down and grab the first few of the vines, carrying them up and throwing them into the pod. They were running out of the paste for his burns, so a new cluster was actually just what they needed.

Maybe the creature knew...

He was just about to pick up the last few bits of the plants when he caught the sight of movement bellow the water again. But this time it wasn't a large creature. It wasn't a creature at all.

A head popped out of the water, pink hair standing out against the blue water as Techno swam closer. Tubbo grinned when he saw Fit's head poke out next, soon followed by an arm waving towards him. He waved back, dropping the plants back into the water.

Then, a third head appeared, with long dark hair.

Tubbo nearly fell off the pod. They had found survivors. They were still alive.

"Tubbo! Open the bottom hatch! We need-" The teen didn't wait for Techno to finish, instead racing to climb back into the pod, dropping down into the small space to unlock and open the bottom hatch.

Fit was the first to appear beneath the hatch, waving up at him before guiding the survivor to the hatch so they could climb in. Tubbo helped pulling them inside, helping them lean against the wall as they panted, trying to catch their breath, fogging up the mask a little. Tubbo quickly checked them over, but couldn't see any immediate injuries.

"It's okay, you are safe now. We have a bit of food for you, and water, here lemme get the mask..." He pulled at the fastening, loosening it before carefully pulling the mask off. The face that greeted him was familiar. Framed by dark hair and a small section of bright white curls at the front, was the face of a friend.

"Cellbit?"

The man smiled, his face pale and dark bags under his eyes, a bruise on his cheek and one on the left side of his forehead, a slowly healing cut over his nose and some scratches over his jaw and chin. But he smiled. After everything, he was still smiling. "Hey Toby..." He surged forward and hugged him, probably too tight for a frail body that has gone through starvation and dehydration. Weak arms circle around him, returning the hug.

Behind him he could hear the noise of Techno and Fit entering the pod as well. But it was accompanied by a pained whine and coughing.

Tubbo turned to see what was going on, seeing the two pull another survivor into the pod, carefully lifting him out of the water. He had shorter hair than Cellbit, black in colour with a few blue tips here and there.

"Careful, watch his leg. Tubbo, can you get some of the salve?" Fit carefully removed the man's mask as he asked Tubbo for the salve, dropping it on the floor beside him as he started to look him over for injuries. Tubbo nodded, grabbing the last batch they had, turning back to the adults, just to almost drop it at the sight. When Techno and Fit fully heaved him out of the water and helped him lean against the wall, Tubbo saw that one of the man's legs was gone.

Not mangled or injured. Gone.

He looked to be in far worse shape than Cellbit, face scrunched up in pain as Techno took a look at what was left of the leg. His skin was just as pale and bruised and he could see clear signs of starvation on him.

"Tubbo, the salve." He jerked back into reality, quickly handing the metal plate to Techno. "Sorry." "It's okay kid, we reacted the same when we saw it." Fit gave him a soft smile before returning to care for the injured man, who's name Tubbo does not remember.

All the teen could do was stand and watch as Techno began to apply the salve over the area where a leg once had been. Maybe it would ease the pain like it had done for Tubbo.

With the two adults crowding around the other man, Tubbo took to taking care of his friend, carefully placing a water bottle to his lips. Cellbit greedily gulped down the liquid, almost emptying the entire bottle at once. The teen knows this is probably a bad idea, having so much water at once on an empty and starved stomach, but he didn't have the heart to slow him down.

"You're okay now... we gotyou two."

------

!Important Note!

Hello everyone! How are you guys doing? Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Now, I have a little announcement to make.

A very good friend of mine that has helped me immensely with this story so far as decided to write a little story of their own. The important part? It's a side story to this one!

Since this story is mainly Techno's PoV, she asked me if she could write a mini story that shows Cellbit's and Pac's PoV from the crash all the way until they are rescued.

So, they are now writing a canon side story about their duo's survival since the crash!

The story is called "There's an Up (and We can't reach It)" on the account of LAzurLune. It is angst and not for the faint of heart! So mind the tags they put on it, so you know what you are getting yourself into.

I hope you enjoy their story as much as you enjoyed mine so far!

See you next week!