Then, they heard a roar.

Was it- No it... it wasn't one of theirs.

It was loud and low, sending vibrations through the water itself. They all flinched, and Techno was surprised some didn't get knocked back just by the force of volume alone. Especially not when he felt his hair moving to it and his neck shivering behind the high collar of the suit. Both humans and creatures stood on edge, a feeling of dread settling over the whole group.

The aftertone of the roar hummed through the water, echoed against the hull of the empty ship... It sounded so full, so loud, so... so- close. Far too close for their liking actually.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw hands next to him holding on stronger to the dark hair, white knuckles barely visible with the fingerless gloves. He didn't have time to judge or come up with some sort of plan, not when his own hands ran cold and his body, of its own accord, gripped harder itself. A moment of silence passed, all humans clung to their creature friends, looking around frantically, trying to find the source of the sound.

Foolish, with barely any hesitation, once the roar passed, pushed himself off from the ground, shaking the humans from his shoulders with an urgency while shrieking at Roier.
In a flash, before they even knew what had happened, their hands were forced loose from Foolish's hair and Roier gathered all five of the humans underneath his own body in an attempt to shield them, much like his father had done when they got attacked back in the kelp forest.

They watched Foolish's massive form tense, fins flared outwards and sharp teeth bared in a snarl. He roared, this one familiar and, despite the volume and proximity, it seemed far less scary to them.

And suddenly, as if it appeared out of nowhere, a massive blue and orange body sped towards Foolish, who met it head on with a screech and the swiping of claws. Almost instantly, there was yellowish blood colouring the already murky waters. Techno couldn't tell which creature it belonged to.

The creature that attacked them was just as massive as Foolish, maybe even bigger, with four massive fang like extensions around their head that were trying to impale their friend on it. There were no other limbs on the creature, nothing humanoid or any kind of flippers or fins. Just the head with its massive fangs, a long body and at the end an almost whale like fin rapidly swinging up and down as it measured it's strength with Foolish's.

Roier screeched, visibly torn between guarding the humans and helping his father, who struggled to evade the attack as he plunged his claws into the creature's neck. Despite both of their sizes, the two creatures turned and twisted with incredible speed and agility, circling around each other in a deadly dance. If their lives weren't on the line, it would almost be mesmerising.

The humans could do nothing more than to hide underneath Roier. Their meagre weapons will not do any damage and if anything, trying to interfere could distract Foolish and get him into even more danger. Roier must think the same thing, as he still hasn't moved to try and aid his father. Or he was too protective over the humans, which would be surprising. Techno would choose his father over some strangers.

Foolish screeched as one of the fangs managed to pierce into his shoulder, ripping into his flesh and attempting to pull him closer for a bite. He twists and screams, sinking his claws into anything he could reach, until he managed to pull himself off of the fang with a pained roar, slipping under the jaw and turning to bolt, getting a little distance between them so he could catch his bearings.

The creature tried to follow and snap at his tail, trying to pull him back into the fight, but he reacted quicker and turned his body abruptly, delivering a powerful hit with his tail that had the creature involuntarily snap to the side, twisting it's body away from Foolish, who managed to get a little more distance before he turned back to the creature, one clawed hand hovering above his injured shoulder.

But it seemed the creature had a different idea than to try and fight him head on again. Instead it found a smaller, easier prey.

With it's body turned from the hit, it had spotted Roier and the humans hiding with him. It roared and bolted towards them, abandoning it's previous target. Roier roared at it, baring his fangs, refusing to move from his position protecting the much smaller beings. But instead of colliding with the creature in another bloody battle, it's jaws and fangs snap too far away to reach any of them.

Foolish had his claws embedded in the creature's tail, his own tail swinging rapidly to pull the creature away from Roier and the humans. It roared and thrashed, but couldn't free itself from Foolish's grip until it turned around and re-engaged combat. When it did, Foolish bolted around and placed himself between the creature and Roier, slashing at it's tail and smacking it again with his own tail, all while screeching at his son.

Roier understood the message clearly, turning and grabbing the humans, moving them away from the battle as fast as he could. "Wait! We can't just leave him!" Tubbo wriggled and tried to break free, but Roier was far too strong for any of them to break out of his grip. "What can we even do?! We have nothing to help him fight! We only distract him!" "But that doesn't mean we should leave him like this!"

They stopped a little ways away, still able to see the fight through the murky water, but far enough to safely bolt should the creature decide to come for their asses again. Roier will not just leave his father by himself after all, but he will still listen to most of his orders when it comes to his and the humans' protection. He resumed his position above them, shielding them from anything that might decide to surprise them as they continued to watch the fight, Roier's muscles tense should Foolish get seriously injured and need his help.

Which might happen sooner than they expected.

Because when they looked back, Foolish was losing.

Both of them had drawn blood, leaving deep, bleeding wounds on each other, but while in the beginning the defiance of their friend was convincing, it now seemed to slowly seep away over time. Instead of quickly swimming out of reach most of the time and even practically teasing the larger creature with his agility, his movements became more erratic, more desperate. His tail did not hold that same soft waving they were used to anymore, it moved abruptly, freezing in place, doing a sharp swoosh, and holding still again, always trying to keep it out of reach from the creatures attacks.

His head moved too quickly, going in circles, just barely getting out of the way of those fangs and jaws before they could bite into part of his face. For god's sake, he held his hands close to his body and if he ever moved them, it was more to push himself through the water, further away from the other creature than to actively slash at it unless he was certain he could safely hit it. He was playing more defensive... more scared.

But the other thing went on,
Swam closer.
With every snap and bite.
Even closer.

Maybe if the crew had been closer, they could've seen the way Foolish's eyes widened in a panic, how his movement became more frantic, but they were mere humans. They couldn't make out something with such quick motion, especially from so far away. From their perspective, they could only see the broader picture.

At some point, Techno felt awfully reminded of an Eagle battling a snake. Just that this golden snake was zipping around the Eagle with no real chance, just barely escaping at this point not even trying to attack, and the eagle had its talons nearly grappling the sleek body of the other and so close to just ripping it in half. He was trying to safely escape, without making the creature attack his son or small friends.

The battle carried higher and higher. Foolish trying to gain more space up, the creature following close behind, jaws snapping, roar echoing throughout the waters.

At some point Roier shuffled them all closer together, tried to whine at his father, instead just burrowing the screen of teeth against the scales of his own arm and tracing lines there. It would be too dangerous to let the creatures hear them now, especially as it got more frustrated with it's prey constantly escaping. It had already switched it's attack to them once, they can't risk it again.

One of the creature's fangs caught into the hair of Foolish, making him screech as it tried pulling him forward to the opening jaws.

Roier pushed them back further while roaring towards his father, yet still staying in place, once again torn on if he should abandon them to pick a fight with the creature. Tubbo stared with wide eyes, already beginning to yell and swim forward before Fit ripped him around, pressing his face to his chest, not allowing the teen to see any more of what might happen.

The teeth of the creature snapped widely as Foolish struggled against the grip, attempting to slip out of the hold or even untangle his hair from the large fang it got caught on. But it didn't work.

A roar from the creature and just a weak beating tail from their friend. He was going awfully still in the creature's grasp, still pushing against it's fangs and jaw with his hands to not be pulled in.

Techno nearly turned back around even in his horror, but still he stared, unable to do anything to rescue or even aid Foolish.

The creature reared up, momentum taking it and Foolish skywards, their friend hanging on by his hair at the fang, getting dangled in between the hundreds of teeth. Roier finally moved, bolting forward with a screech towards the two fighting creatures, Foolish getting pulled into it's jaws-

A disgusting, loud crack echoed through the water.

A cloud of yellow blood almost exploded around the two and Roier froze, halfway towards them. A loud, painful screech echoed around them, carried across the sea and for a second, they feared the worst.

But then the gold and silver tail of Foolish moved, his body turning and quickly swimming downwards towards them, followed by a trail of yellowish blood as he sped away. Unharmed, for the most part, but with a giant fang still dangled in his hair and in his hands. Ochre colour oozed out of the end of the fang into the water, forming a sickly cloud behind him, leading all the way back to the creature.

The creature, who now turned away and fled the scene, now only three large fangs left as it moaned and whined in pain, the stump of its fourth fang heavily bleeding.

As soon as Foolish got close enough, Roier bolted to press against him, almost sounding like he was wailing as his father shakily purred and leaned his head on top of his. They clicked and chirped at each other as the younger pulled away and started fretting over the still bleeding wounds on Foolish.

Fit finally let go of Tubbo, who turned and swam towards Foolish, giving his best attempt at hiding his head as Foolish lifted one of his clawed hands to carefully lay over the teen, giving him a quiet purr too. "You scared me... I thought you would die..." His sob broke Techno's heart.

The other humans swam closer too, Pac being assisted by Fit now, carefully assuring Foolish they are glad he is mostly okay, even if he couldn't understand what they were saying. Hopefully the message got across. He didn't seem mad at them for wanting to go towards the ship, mostly just glad that all of them seem unharmed.

Techno looked towards the ship, where the creature blood had now dissolved in the water, as if it had never been there in the first place, but he's sure other predators could still smell it. Especially with Foolish still bleeding... and the water is so dirty around them... fuck the resources of the ship, they had to leave. Now.

"Let's go back to the base before more of them show up. Foolish needs to be patched up too, maybe we can use the vine salve. He's the one who brought it, so it probably works on him too." Tubbo agreed instantly, gently petting Foolish's head as he chirped at Roier. "Foolish?" He looked up at the small human instantly, looking as attentive as ever, if a little tired. "Home. Let's go home. You need rest."

Foolish purred and gently nudged him, lowering his head for him to hold on. The large fang was still tangled in his hair, but they could worry about that later. With Foolish hurt, they decided that Fit would stay with Cellbit and Pac on the way back, even if they're sure that their weight means nothing to a creature this large. Techno stayed with Tubbo, just in case.

The way back was slower, patiently going at Foolish's exhausted pace, but they at least got into cleaner water relatively quick. Roier kept looking around and switching on which side he swam, guarding his father against any smaller predators that could smell his blood and try their luck dealing the final blow. None of them dared to come close the moment he screeched their way.

Soon enough, they reached their base, where Foolish slowly curled up in the same place he had slept the night before. The moment he was settled and the humans let go of him, Roier zipped towards the kelp forest to retrieve vines. Fit hovered by Foolish's head, spear in both hands, guarding him in case anything showed up. Not that Foolish was too weak to defend himself even when wounded, but they don't want to risk it.

Despite a little protest, Cellbit and Pac retreated into the base while Techno grabbed what vines and paste they had left to start helping Foolish heal up. Tubbo grabbed the bowl of salve and swam over to Foolish's face, carefully smearing it across a bleeding scratch. It served it's purpose, successfully sealing off the wound and hopefully easing some of the pain.

Techno worked on trying to grind down the plant into more paste when Roier returned, arms full with the same healing vines. To their surprise, he began chewing them into salve before spreading it over the wounds, chirring and clicking at his father whenever his mouth was free. Foolish chirped back, holding still as they all worked. Since Roier was back now, Fit started to work the fang free from Foolish's hair, letting it drop to the floor once he got it out.

"Just so we are clear." He looked down towards them from his spot by Foolish's head, still lazily untangling some of the hair. "We are not going back to the ship."

"Agreed."

"Yeah... let's not."