Author's note: This was one of my assignments in History wherein we were tasked to write the Battle of Mactan in the eyes of a fish. This was my entry. 

Saline Red

It was a period when the night was deep that the waters were too cold, too cold for a good night's sleep while the light, provided by Aba, who dwelled beyond the surface, much above the surface where rocks rested, swept and barely thrust through the exterior of my cold home.

A listless creature such as I would aimlessly swim wherever my heart desired. Pass through wherever and whatever in this diverse nautical bailiwick, may it be the dancing seaweeds or other creatures of my kind larger and smaller of size, unless it was food. I'd tend to open my mouth widely and let my prey enter, then snap! close it and let my innards digest it until I felt full.

It was my usual daily routine, until today. I swam through a surface much different, much shallow than the deep, dark parts of my wide home that I would journey in where I could barely see a ray of light, and the snug warmth of waters gifted by Aba ceased. My kind had told me to never go to the shallow part of the sea, where rocks had dwelled, and these sprinkles called sand were abundant, and the waters were less. They said in that area waiting was a broad object that possessed a color browner than kelp, its end blunt and barely sharp yet managed to float above the waters. They were called balanghai. Whenever it was there, a whatchamacallit made of weaved string was in company. If you get close to it, especially with a school or a shoal, it would suddenly close, trapping you and your peers, and grabbing you upwards. The string would come back down, but you would never return.

I have seen it a few times, and I was horrified that I'd only watch from afar and silently weep for my kind who would get caught. But today was different. There were more of these balanghai things floating. Among them was a larger balanghai than what I would usually see. I feared. Did they come to capture most of us now? Is my time at end?

However, that was not it.

Suddenly, a pair of differently shaped fins came. They were gigantic and thick enough to stomp on the hard surface that contained the water. They had no scales for integuments and were of a different color. On my one eye, I could see that one set resembled pearls, and on my other eye was another set that reflected the color of the balanghai. Afraid yet curious, I swam to a curtain of coral where I could hide. It was neither near nor far that I could perfectly see those unusual fins swim in an unusual way.

Seeing those pearl-like feet swimming farther and farther to the shallowest part of the sea, a thought snapped across my mind. It was strange, truly strange. Is Aba punishing us? Eons ago, it was just the balanghai that threatened our lives, and not too long ago, there was an attack that alerted us. It started with a loud noise, then a large, spherical object assailed from beyond. It hit several of my kind and their dwelling. Was that bound to happen again?

I went back to my senses when a bursting cry suddenly reverberated that caused a ripple in my entirety. Even the coral that I was hiding in shook. I became more inquisitive of the situation. I was still afraid, but the curiosity burning within me gave me courage. I swam away from the coral, then went near to the surface so my eyes could see what was happening up above.

I was astonished.

There were creatures that had hard, luster integuments that reflected the sun's rays. They were fighting against another set of creatures with much thinner, softer-looking integuments with the same color of kelp. One that I had seen earlier. Oh, I know! They're the owners of the unusual fins I had seen.

Most of the pearl creatures were against the kelp creatures, but several of the latter were against each other. I noticed that they had different integuments as well. It seemed that one side was with the pearl-like creatures, and the other wasn't.

Unlike me, they had another pair of fins on their upper body, which held different attachments. The pearl-like creatures had a long, sharp object and an oddly-shaped thing with thin shrapnel that would fly in a particular direction. The opposite set had a larger weapon that they used to fend from the shrapnel, a long, stiff shaft—like an eel, but had a sharp edge and a thin, curved and sharp thing that they would use to strike against their enemy. They would throw rocks at each other as well, that'd cause a ripple in the water.

They were shouting and fighting, and the kelp-colored creatures would attack the pearl-like creatures' lower fins, and they would get struck by the latter's long weapon. Each creature struck deeply would lie flat on the sea. A red substance coming from them started to pool my clear, clean home, soiling it. It was blood.

There were cries. There were screams. There was red. There was blood.

I observed further and noticed that the pearl-like creatures were securing someone whose hard, topmost integument was knocked off two times. They called him captain. I figured he was an important figure in their school. However, this captain creature would stand firm and look at his companions.

Suddenly, the kelp-like creatures made another large bellow as a fiery, red matter with a black body of puff emerged. It was like it was eating the surface area. It was destroying something, even though I couldn't see it clearly. I sensed that the kelp-like people had gone angrier than they previously were.

The creatures attacked each other more fiercely, and I shivered on my spot when a kelp-like creature shot the captain's façade but was killed by the latter's sharp extension. The captain pulled off his extension, and the kelp-like creature fell on the water. Like the other creatures who had dropped flat, it also oozed blood.

However, the captain seemed to be injured. I could see one of his upper fins was working differently than the other. He was about to take his further sharp extension resting on his lower half but failed because of the injury. The kelp-like people noticed that, and together, they struck the captain, starting with his leg, which oozed thick, viscous blood.

He turned and looked at his retreating companions and screamed at them. I watched in horror as they continued to hurl him until he, too, like the other creatures, fell on the water. When he did, the pearl-like people began to cry and retreated to their enormous balanghai among several kelp-like people who seemed to be their companions.

Meanwhile, the remaining kelp-like creatures who stood on the shallow waters laughed, and one used his sharp integument to take off the dead captain's head, showing it off to the retreating people.

I swam back to the surface, knowing that everything had ended. Horrified.