Throughout the entire journey back and the treatment of injuries, Techno had to will himself not to throw up. The poor guy's leg was a mess, the remaining stump tightly wrapped in scraps of fabric and a belt cutting of the blood flow as best as possible. It was a mystery how this guy was still alive. If blood loss wouldn't kill him, then an infection definitely should have. There were stitches, but some had ripped open again from the movement, too fresh to hold tight as they moved him about and swam all the way back, even with Techno and Fit carrying him most of the way.

But here he was now, alive and breathing. In pain, but alive.

They had washed his wound as best as they could with the last of their water supplies, after he had taken a few gulps of it first, leaving half a bottle for the wound. Fit already confirmed that he would go out and hunt some fish as soon as they were done. After the wound was washed and they had given their best attempt at replacing the stitches with what is left of their medical supplies, they quickly applied the salve over it. With great relief they realized that it pretty much sealed off the stump and prevented any further blood loss or movement of the stitches.

The man hasn't said a word since his rescue, only making pained whines and wheezes whenever he had to move. His friend, Cellbit if he heard Tubbo correctly, had only given a brief answer to the question if there were both able to swim if they give the injured man a mask. It forced them to swim near the surface, since they only had three masks, but it was better than nothing. Techno had to wait at the surface until Fit guided them up to him, unable to hold his breath for so long.

That was not something Techno wanted to think about. Not really. It doesn't matter anymore, they were here and will be taken care of as best as they could provide. Bringing up any memories of their time trapped in the pod is a terrible idea anyways, those two are probably traumatized far too much as it is.

It had taken him a bit, but he did recognize the two as people he had helped into one of the escape pods. The black haired man had his leg crushed by one of the support beams crashing from the ceiling. Back then they had spoken in a language Techno couldn't identify, not even sure if they spoke English at all. He was a little glad that they did, but they would have figured out a way to communicate regardless.

"That should do it. The pain-relieving effect will kick in any minute hopefully, it did for our buddy at least." Fit gently patted the shoulder of the injured man, wincing at the pained whine he got in response. "I know. I'm sorry we can't do more." The man looked like he wanted to respond, but nothing outside of wheezes and raspy groans leave his throat. "You've done plenty for us already." The brunette's- Cellbit's- voice was just as raspy and will most likely take a few days to fully come back to him, much like the still unnamed man. If his voice will come back at all. "Thank you. For saving us."

"Of course! We came as soon as we were prepared and had your coordinates figured out. Well, they did. I wanted to come too, but they wouldn't let me, which was still unfair, by the way." Cellbit laughed, weakly patting at Tubbo's knee, not really able to lift his hand any higher to reach his shoulder. "Probably for the best. You look terrible." The teen huffed, lifting a hand up to the burn on his face. "Yeah I know. But it's mostly healed up to where it doesn't hurt anymore. I already went out to swim once and it didn't hurt, I would have been able to handle it."

Techno watched the interaction carefully. Tubbo had never talked about Cellbit when he came visit him in the garden area of the ship, but it seemed like they were good friends. Why had the teen never brought him up before? Then again, he wasn't sure if he ever brought up Techno when he was with Cellbit. That would be interesting to know.

"I would try and catch us some food now. Can you two handle the injured?" Tubbo gave an immediate nod, while Techno hummed a confirmation, deciding to check the med kit on what supplies they had left now. There was barely anything left... How were they supposed to get more? The plant salve can't be used for everything, probably. Maybe they could get more from other pods...

Fit deemed that as a good enough answer, grabbing his equipment and leaving the pod to hopefully catch both food and the weird water fish. Techno decided to put the med kit away and worry about that later, instead taking Fit's spot next to the injured man, who he still doesn't know the name of.

There was an awkward silence now, unsure what exactly to talk about. Techno hated it.

"So..." He cleared his throat a little, thinking over what he could do to start a conversation. "There isn't really anything for you to do here. Tubbo and I could work on making more paste, so we have a bit more to treat your wounds. Those scratches on your face look pretty bad... Cellbit? Was that right?" The man nodded, shifting a bit to get more comfortable, scrunching his face a little when something seemed to start hurting again. "Yeah, that's my name. And his name is Pac. Yours?" "I'm Techno. The guy who just left is Fit. You already know Tubbo it seems."

Cellbit frowned, turning his head to look at the youngest. "Tubbo?" "My new name. I abandoned the old one for... reasons." The older hummed, nodding. He obviously wanted to say more, maybe ask the reason for it, but he refrained from doing so. "Alright. I try and remember-" He started coughing, dry throat finally complaining about the sudden wave of conversation. Tubbo immediately patted his back, even though there was nothing stuck in the other's throat. "Fit is getting more water, rest your voice until he gets back."

The man just nodded, heaving for breath once the coughing fit finally stopped.

Techno gave the two a sympathetic look, not sure how he could help the situation. Instead, he focused on the pile of vines in the corner opposite to him and Pac, frowning at the little pool of water forming around it. They seemed fresh, a lush green and still glittering with little water droplets. And last time he checked, they had barely anything left.

"Tubbo?" "Mhm?" The teen looked over towards him, tilting his head a little in question. Techno nodded towards the plants, still frowning. "Those seem fresh." There was a brief flicker of panic on his face, but it quickly vanished again. "They are. They were floating outside the pod, so I just grabbed them."

"How did you see them outside the pod when you were supposed to stay inside?"

"I sat on top of the pod for a while, too suffocating in here."

"Tubbo you promised."

"I didn't leave the pod. Sitting on top of it doesn't count."

Techno sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Teenagers... he was glad his siblings aren't at that age yet, even if it would be worse for his parents than for him. Was he this stubborn as a teen?

"Did you see how the plants got there?"

Tubbo remained silent, staring at the wall opposite of him, playing with his fingers. That's not a good sign. Techno knows the teen is a terrible liar, who rather avoids the subject or just stays silent. Meaning he does know something, but doesn't want to tell Techno. And if he doesn't want to tell Techno, then it's bad.

"Tubbo... what did you see?"

He finally looked back at Techno, obviously nervous, fidgeting in his spot next to Cellbit. The brunette watched him with worry, leaning over just a bit to bump shoulders with the youngest.

"Promise not to be mad?"

Techno's feeling of the whole situation only got worse. But he also doesn't want to scare his friend. It already felt bad enough that Tubbo was scared to tell him something.

"I promise."

Tubbo took a deep breath, trying to sit up a bit straighter.

"It was the creature, I watched it place the plants right on our pod."

Techno nearly had a heart attack. Not only was the creature close to the pod again while Tubbo was alone, but Tubbo was outside and close enough to fully see it. He looked at it instead of hiding.

Okay... keep calm...

You promised not to get mad...

It brought more healing plants...

It could be worse...

"What did it look like?"

Tubbo stared at him like he grew a second head.

"You're not mad?"

Techno shook his head, shifting a bit to sit cross-legged across from Tubbo. "I promised I wouldn't be mad. Now, you're the only one who has fully seen it. What does it look like? What did it do?"

The youngest sat up straighter, a grin on his face. "It's huge! I only saw it's general colour beneath the surface and some dorsal fins poking out of the water. Those fins are big and look like dolphin or shark fins from earth! Dark grey and at least the length of my arm! It had two of them! And Techno, it has a hand! A humanoid hand! It had webbed fingers and claws! It placed the vines on the pod and then left again! It's fast too! It disappeared so quick! When it arrived it bumped against the pod and then circled around it for a while. I don't know what it was doing, but I don't think it was hunting. It could have knocked me off or slashed at me easily. But we stared at each other for a bit! Like a staring contest!"

Tubbo's eyes practically glowed with excitement as he rambled about the creature. Seemingly fascinated by it, both from it's appearance and it's apparent intelligence. He wasn't scared of it. Wasn't worried it could be a threat. Maybe even already considers it a friend, or friendly, at least.

It's worrying.

"And that's all? It swam around, gave you the vines and left again?"

Tubbo nodded, still grinning. "Do you think we may get to see it fully when we try to make ourselves a base with the habitat builder? Could we make underwater windows? That would be so cool! I wanna see what it actually looks like! Maybe it has a humanoid face too!" He gasps, eyes growing impossibly wider. "Maybe it can talk."

"I doubt that. Even if it could talk, it will most certainly not be English or any other earth language. So far it has only grumbled at us... or whatever that sound is supposed to mean."

"Can I-" Cellbit coughed, trying to swallow some spit to get some moisture in his throat. It barely worked. "- ask what creature you are talking about?" Tubbo patted his back again, waiting until the coughing stopped. "We have a creature visiting us occasionally. It has for a while now. So far it has been friendly, only bumping the pod around and bringing us these vines we use for the healing paste. We have never really seen it, only glimpses of some scales or a fin."

He nodded, humming in thought. "Grey colour?"

"Yes. It has both grey and this sandy yellow blonde colour. And big glowing eyes!"

Cellbit and Pac shared a look, holding an entire silent conversation. They knew something... had they seen it too? They had been underwater the whole time and probably had a much clearer view on it.

"You've seen it, haven't you? Or something similar to it."

Both men nodded. "Only shadows passing over the pod. Something massive. I could never tell the colours apart when it was right against the sunlight." Techno hummed, trying to recall how deep down their pod had been. "It never messed with your pod?" "No. Not really. Just passed by."

Interesting...

Before the conversation could continue, there was a noise from the bottom hatch. It flung open a second later, revealing Fit with his spear, two of the weird water fish and two of the regular fish on it. "It's not a lot, but it's getting dark." Techno helped him climb inside and lock the hatch behind him. "Take me with you next time. I'll try and learn how to catch them. Tubbo can stay with Cellbit and Pac." The teen was already huffing in protest, but Cellbit just bumped his shoulder again.

"Four fish are plenty. Thank you Fit." Fit gave Cellbit a smile, placing the spear on the fabricator. "Technically it's two fish. These two purple ones make water." The brunette's eyes went wide. "You drink fish water?!" His throat immediately complained about the shout, making him cough violently. Tubbo immediately started scolding him for it.

Pac, despite his current weakness, started laughing at the scene.

Making Fit join right in, while Techno simply rolled his eyes.

Surviving this will only get more interesting from here.