#SFF #AtoZChallenge Underwater

A speculative fiction short story from a dreamer

A continuous #sff story during April. May Rose is the main character (🧑🏽 they/them pronouns).

"Be careful that Piers doesn't chew off any of your limbs. I doubt the basket has a tourniquet or another way to stop the bleeding," May said once Jade had calmed down and finished petting the humpback whale before them.

"Humpback whales have baleen plates, like our hair and nails, made of keratin."

"No teeth?" May asked, climbing in behind Jade. 

"We're going to be fine. Besides, you told me to trust the baker." Jade flicked on the small light that Piers had given her before transforming. 

Moments later, the couple was in the whale's stomach. 

"I do not like this," May said.

They could feel Piers take off further into the water. 

"Hello, May Rose."

May looked around. "Who said that?"

"Who said what?" Jade asked while getting comfortable.

"I'm in your head. Piers explained this before." 

"Oh. Hi, O'tien," May said in thought. There was no response. May repeated the greeting out loud. 

"If you wish to converse, you'll need to physically touch the stone, not just pocket it. Please relay the message to your companion as well."

May explained about O'tien as best as anyone could. Jade rubbed her head. 

"Just hold the stone."

Once they both held their stones, they heard O'tien speaking.

"Piers is going to need to dive deeper underwater. You'll both want to hold your nose and try to exhale from your ears. Yes, I know that isn't how human's exhale. But it will protect your eardrums." 

By the bottom of the dive, the couple was gripping Piers' inside. 

"This cannot be safe!" May screamed the thought.

They could feel the hurricane propelling the whale through the water.

"It does feel like the wormhole I took to get here," Jade remarked. "Why didn't we have to be naked this time?"

May answered out loud. "Your clothing could have carried too many contaminants from your timeline. A spore could have disrupted the ecosystem. It was easier for you to arrive naked, bathe, and be given new clothing."

"Huh. I just figured you wanted to see me naked." Jade said while reaching to tickle May.

"Focus on staying in place."

"When was the last time you relaxed?" Jade asked with a pout.

"I'll relax when you're safe."

Jade motioned around them. "I don't see any specific danger."

Perhaps because she said that, or perhaps because it was likely to happen, that was the moment Piers was first attacked. The battle was against a giant squid-like creature, O'tien told them. The stomach they were stored in was being squeezed. May gripped the weapon they brought along.

"Should I climb out and fight it?"

"Fearless of you, but I got it," O'tien said.

The journey went on like this. When Piers would surface for air, May and Jade would open the provision basket to eat a small meal. Then the dive would throw off their balance. And the speed would have them hanging on. More attacks had O'tien fighting to save them. 

May had to hold on to Jade, who somehow drifted off. "Wake up. Piers is surfacing. We need to take bio breaks and eat something." May kissed Jade awake.

"I was dreaming of running in a grassy field. Will there be grass where we're going? Fields and sunshine? Pretty flowers?"

"Honestly, I don't know," May answered.

"Were the Andes hit hard by the devastation?"

"I don't know that, either. It's just the spot where another overlord, a good one, is supposed to take people from who have stones. We're supposed to get to go to a good world and live free. According to O'tien, your twin sister is there. That's how he and Piers knew you weren't who I claimed you to be."

"My sister is alive?"

"I didn't get to tell you that? Oh, yes. She was taken just before you. That explains how they brought back the wrong, I mean, how we got to find each other."

Question: Would you want to travel inside of a whale?

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