Chapter Text
Ghost had just finished training with the Mantis Shrimp Lords, and they were exhausted. Their fins were drooping and swimming took way more effort than usual.
They quietly crawled onto the black rocks used to sunbathe, already enjoying the strong sunshine on their cold scales.
Cloth lay nearby, seemingly asleep. She looked like a very good pillow, so Ghost crawled a little closer, squeaking to get her attention.
When they came closer, Cloth flinched, turning slightly to face them, and snarled . Her claws scraped against the rocks and her face was an angry glare.
Ghost instinctively scootched away, whimpering silently. What had they done wrong? Why was she so upset at them? Why was she so scary?
Cloth frowned, shaking her head slightly, confused. "W... what? Little warrior? What happened?"
The little pup kept their head low, shivering slightly. She made a low noise in her throat, moving a touch closer. "Hey, what's wrong? I-I'm sorry about that, I kinda blacked out for a second...I thought you were a threat."
They weren't a threat, why did she think they were a threat? Surely they did something wrong. Cloth ruffled their hair gently. "I'm really sorry, Ghost. It won't happen again, I promise!”
Little Ghost didn't want to cuddle anymore. They shook their head, letting out an unhappy squeak and inching closer to the water.
Cloth looked hurt but understood. Ghost slipped back into the water and swam away, still shaken up by the whole experience.
Maybe Myla would be better.
She wasn't.
Myla was by the beach and was most likely digging in the mud for 'treasures' and singing. Ghost immediately noticed she was doing neither. She seemed confused, swaying slightly. She'd try to get up, before her arms would give out and she'd plop back down onto the sand.
Was she OK?
Ghost peeped softly, hauling themselves onto the muddy sand. Myla didn't notice, her breathing labored and raspy. They peeped at her, tugging on one of her fins to get her attention.
It worked a little too well.
Myla immediately went into an aggressive stance; fins flared as much as possible, back arched to look larger, tail thrashing behind her, a low hiss in her throat. Her warning hiss was interrupted with a coughing fit.
Ghost squeaked, backing up as far as they could. Their frightened squeaks seemed to have snapped her out of her aggression. Myla blinked, lowering her tail and flattening her fins. “G-Ghost? Is that you?"
They didn't answer, staring at her and trembling. Ghost had instinctively entered a defensive stance in reply to Myla's aggression; flattening their body and looking as small as possible, fins pointed back and head low.
"O-Oh! G-Ghost!" Myla stuttered, "I didn't know it was you! I-I-I didn't know who you were! I didn't know what I was d-doing!"
What was going on? Why were Ghost's friends acting so aggressively towards them? They must have done something wrong. Did their friends not like them anymore?
Myla could tell they were upset and she scooted closer. "H-Hey, I'm so, so, so sorry, please don't be upset…I'm so sorry-"
Ghost wasn't having it. Whimpering, they headed to the water. Their escape.
"N-No, wait, don't go! I'm really sorry, I-I didn't mean it-" She reached to try and grab their tail, and Ghost pulled away before she could.
She must hate them. They had to leave. They had to leave right now.
Ignoring her pleading apologies, Ghost slipped back into the cold waters and hoped Myla wouldn't follow.
She didn't.
Ghost didn't return to the reef until later. They hated being alone. But they hated being snarled and hissed at even more.
They returned later in the day, everyone would hopefully be out to go hunting for dinner. Good.
The little pup dug around in the sand for something to eat - they were hungry too - and found a tasty looking crab.
Poking their head out of the surface, they swam over to a rock to sit and enjoy their crab dinner.
Cracking the crustacean open, Ghost eagerly tucked in.
Part of the rock behind them began to move with an angry grumble.
Looks like they weren't alone for dinner.
A long, navy blue tail shifted nearby, camouflaged in the shadows of the black rocks. Tiso groaned as he stretched, cracking his neck and knuckles as he stirred from his sleep. They had disturbed his nap, so it seemed.
Ghost hesitantly offered him a crab leg.
Tiso blinked, then looked at the offered crab leg disdainfully, a low hiss in his throat. Ghost felt their blood grow cold. He growled at them - a warning growl, telling them to get lost - and there was no recognition in his eyes.
Ghost was frozen in place.
With another growl, one louder and more aggressive, Tiso swiped at them with his claws. The little pup barely managed to get out of the way with a loud peep, feeling his claws dig into their tail. It wasn't deep, but it hurt a lot.
The little scratch started to bleed, and Ghost squeaked in fear.
That squeak seemed to snap Tiso out of whatever state he was in. He blinked, confused, rubbing his temples. “Ach- Pale thing, what’s wrong?”
Did...did he not know? Ghost was shivering in fear. He had hurt them.
Tiso frowned, slithering closer. “Hey, what’s wrong? What’s got you shaking like that? Did something happen?”
Ghost shook their head, feeling tears well up in their eyes. He hurt them. He hurt them.
“Hey, c’mon don’t cry! What’s got you so scared?” He asked, growing concerned. His eyes fell on the scratch that he created. “Who did that? Did someone hurt you?”
Ghost shivered, shifting away from him.
Tiso looked hurt. "Hey, d-don't look at me like that. I didn't do anything!" He reached over, pausing when he noticed his claws with trace bits of Ghost's blood on them.
He started shaking. "W-What happened? Ghost? Who hurt you? W-Why do you look so scared of me?!" He was getting louder, which only succeeded in making Ghost shift further and further away. "Stop looking at me like that!!"
Tiso gulped. "I-I don't feel so well-" but he was interrupted by a horrible sounding coughing fit that ended with him starting to gag. He shuddered, spitting out blobs of orange and chunks of bloody plastic.
Ghost had seen enough and didn't want to see any more. They turned to enter the water.
"D-don't go! I'm fine, I'm fine! It's just a cough." He tried to assure them. "Ghost? Kid? It's fine!"
But it wasn't.
They had found Quirrel resting on the soft sands near the entrance to GreenKelp. Ghost swam over carefully inspecting their sleeping friend.
Quirrel was curled up slightly, antennae twitching in the gentle currents. He snored quietly, head resting on his arms.
Ghost whimpered, nuzzling into his side to try and wake him up. But he yawned, lifting up an arm for the pup to worm under. Quirrel was used to this by now, and could literally comfort Ghost in his sleep.
Little Ghost happily squirmed closer to their adoptive uncle, wiggling under Quirrel’s arm and shifting the sand nearby for maximum comfort. Quirrel was soft and warm, and his breathing calmed their nerves. They felt safe. Nothing could hurt them when Quirrel was around, surely.
At least that's what they thought.
Pain spiked through their tail and they yelped, trying to pull away from whatever was causing it.
Quirrel snarled, their tail firmly locked in his mouth. He bit down a bit harder, sending more jolts of agony through them.
What was he doing?! Why?! Ghost squeaked in pure fear, scared and confused as to why he would be doing this. What had they done wrong?!
Quirrel grimaced, spitting out Ghost's tail in disgust. Their void blood wasn't very appetizing, evidently, and tried to spit it out.
Ghost's mind was racing, clutching their tail for dear life. Quirrel's bite wasn't that deep, nor was he venomous, but the sting of betrayal almost hurt as much as the actual wound.
"Eugh, what is this stuff?" Quirrel muttered, still trying to get the void taste off his tongue. His fins twitched, finally noticing Ghost's distress. "Little one, what's-"
Ghost shivered, looking as small as they could. They couldn't believe it...they were afraid of him. But clearly, he could do damage. He hurt them.
Quirrel quickly connected the dots; the void blood in his mouth, Ghost's injury and very apparent fear, his lack of memories.
Quickly skittering to his feet, he held a hand over his mouth, mortified. "Little one... y-you're hurt…"
He stepped closer, reaching out to scoop them up. Or finish the job, maybe. "Come here, let me see so I can bandage you up."
Ghost shook their head, sobbing and still clutching their tail.
Quirrel looked so sad, so hurt. But what he felt couldn't compare to how Ghost felt. "Little one, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Let me fix it! I can fix it-"
He skittered closer. Ghost felt something bubble in their chest and they hissed . Quirrel looked surprised, antennae and fins flat, and they too were surprised.
They had never hissed before.
Using Quirrel's surprise to their advantage, they flicked their tail (ignoring the pain shooting through it) to swim away.
"Wait! Don't go! Please!" Unlike the others, Quirrel gave chase.
Ghost swam, trying to be as confusing and difficult to follow as possible. Finally, a little bit into GreenKelp, they found a small cave and ducked into it.
They curled up as far back as they could, giving themselves a moment to catch their breath and silently sob.
From outside, they heard Quirrel skittering closer. "Ghost? Ghost, please come out!" He begged, and Ghost saw him reach inside their cave. "Please...I'm so sorry…"
They weren't falling for that.
Ghost had realized their blunder quickly; this cave had no exit. They would have to wait for Quirrel to leave before they could.
So they waited.
Quirrel continued to try and reach them, still spouting off apologies and pleads, until he grew quiet and drew his arm back.
Ghost continued to wait for a few more minutes to make sure he was gone. It felt so weird to avoid Quirrel , someone they held so near and dear to them.
They poked their head out of the cave, seeing that Quirrel was not gone, but had merely laid down next to the entrance.
The two shared an uncomfortable silence, shame washing over Quirrel's features and fear flooding through Ghost's.
Ghost darted deeper into GreenKelp, risking a look behind them to see if he was following them.
To their bittersweet relief, he wasn't.
Ghost had one last hope; Hornet. If little Ghost wanted comfort, she would give it to them, only minimal questions asked.
Today had been a no good, awful, truly terrible day. They had been hissed at, snarled at, scratched, and bit. Little Ghost wanted, no, needed some physical affection right now.
Hornet was their best bet.
They searched GreenKelp, looking for her and also doing their best to hide, just in case someone came to look for them.
Hornet was deep, deep in GreenKelp, surrounded by so much kelp and plants she was almost invisible, even with her bright red accents.
She was resting on a rock, cleaning her needle. Ghost's felt hope flutter in their heart...but something was wrong.
Something was off with her.
Hornet only cleaned her needle when she was relaxed and felt safe. But her pose was much too stiff. And the way she was cleaning her needle was strange, repetitive, incredibly unnatural. It wasn't right. It was if she was stuck in an endless loop.
They swam a bit closer to try and get her attention. Hornet’s gaze was distant, foggy, with traces of orange light. She didn’t even notice them.
She continued to polish her needle.
Ghost peeped at her, only managing to get one of her ear fins to twitch slightly. It didn't even look like she was breathing.
She continued to polish her needle.
Finally, they turned to tug on her tail. That would have to get her attention. As soon as they did so, Ghost felt something whizz by their side.
Hornet loomed above them, mouth twitching into a furious sneer. Numbly, they felt their side to find a slice in their flesh. A deep one.
She had thrown their needle at them.
Ghost’s mind went hazy as they saw the water around them grow dark from their blood.
The two siblings had fought needle to nail before. Training and sparring, Hornet tested the pup to make sure they were strong enough. She had drawn blood before, and after the fight, she’d patch them up and comfort them.
This was different. And it was bad.
Hornet was leering at them like they were prey, looming over Ghost. The orange in her eyes flickered and she hissed in pain.
Ghost needed to get away, they needed to flee. They weren’t going to wait around for Hornet to strike them again. Their side was killing them, sending red hot flashes of pain through their spine and into their skull. But they had to flee.
As Ghost started swimming, they could hear her call after them.
They weren’t listening.
They had to run away. They weren’t safe in the reef anymore. Mind racing, they mentally thought about what they had to take with them. Their nail was still in their cave, but that was too risky. The reef was dangerous, and they could always find another one.
Ghost kept swimming. Hornet continued to call after them, growing more frantic and faint. Their vision was growing dizzy, but they didn’t stop. They needed all the distance they could get.
They headed out towards the open water, the reef growing more distant behind them. They thought so, anyway. It was getting hard to see. Or think. Everything was so dark and cold, their side killing them.
Ghost eventually gently crashed on the ocean floor, breathing shallow and the world going black.