When Baylee woke up, the first thing he felt was the cold touch of water all over his skin. The hell? he thought, opening his eyes as his brain began to wake. Alright, so there's water. I'm in it. Huh. I don't remember sleeping in the ocean. Oh wow, my lungs hurt. I should- Wait, I can't breath this shit! He panicked, spinning around as he looked for the light. He saw a shimmer of red, and began swimming rapidly, feeling the air escape his lungs with every motion. Eventually, his head broke the water and he felt the cold night air on his face. "What the fuck!" he said aloud as he whipped around and around. Everywhere he looked, there was only water…except for the burning wreckage of a large shipping container floating a good 1000 yards away from him. Then, suddenly, BOOM!, an explosion on the main deck, then it slowly began to sink. He looked around some more, thinking he heard the sound of oars in the water…
(Mind if I jump in? No Vanguard members, I promise)
((Yeah, of course! Baylee's in a different dimension, anyways.
(Okay, cool! Just a sec, I need to get a base idea for this character)
Cain swam beneath the human male, making slow circles as it inspected him. Its seaweed-like fins flared and fanned the water as it slowed and sped up. Its horse's snout scented the water as it gazed curiously up at him with depthless black eyes. Its sea green and black tiger-striped pelt of slimy flesh hid it from prying eyes. Its seaweed mane drifted around its head and thick neck as it swam. Its long body twisted and danced through the water, narrowing into a powerful seaweed-like fin at the end, propelling it through the ocean with ease. Its forelegs were that of a horse's.
Baylee shook his head like a dog, clearing the water from his face without him having to quit treading water. After a few moments of studying the burning wreckage, he remembered what his high school history teacher said. "When the Titanic sunk, most of the casualties came from the whirlpool the ship had caused as it descended into the deep." "Oh, fuck!" he said aloud, although he didn't try to swim away. He knew he wasn't fast enough. Instead he began to formulate a plan of how to survive the inevitable vacuum. Maybe magic will do its shit, was what he came up with. Admittedly not the best plan, but it was better than nothing.
Cain continued to swirl beneath the human, cocking its head to the side as the human spoke. Then it whipped its head towards the sinking ship, feeling the tug in the water. It'll owe me, it thought, then swam up towards the human. It positioned itself to surface right beneath the human so that the human was on its back, then broke through the swell of the waves, the human on Cain's slippery back.
Baylee's first thought when he felt something push his body over the surface of the water was, Oh, shit! Sharks! This theory was quickly debunked after a moment's glace down at the being he was now hitching a ride on. Okay, some type of magical beast I can't be the only one, I guess.
"Uh….thanks?" he offered weakly.
Cain twisted its horse head to look at the human and nickered. It manipulated its sticky hide to suction the human to its body, keeping him in place while Cain turned back around and took off at full speed. Its powerful tail cut it through the water and launched it over the cresting waves. The shipwreck grew smaller and smaller as they went.
"WhhhOOAH, hot damn that's fast!" he said, feeling the wind push his hair up and dry his eyes out. A stray splash doused him in even more water, but you can't really make someone more wet after they'd gone 6 meters below the surface.
Cain snorted and slowed just a bit, aiming for a tiny island he spotted a few minutes ago. He will owe me, Cain continued to say to itself. Revealing itself was perhaps a bad move, but the human would have died if Cain hadn't interfered. He will owe me.
He blinked a few times, shaking his head once again in a weird series of motions. The hell's going on with my eyes? Everything was gently fading into a blur of blue, black, and a darker black that really told him jack shit.
"What the hell…?"
Cain was blissfully unaware of the human's predicament, instead focused on not diving and eating the human just to preserve Cain's hidden existence.
"Uh…can you speak my language? I know two, if that's helpful at all."
Cain flicked its ears back to listen to the human. Should I?
"I can speak your tongue, yes." Cain's voice was slippery and watery, not quite male nor female. Just… a voice.
"Well, uh…I'm starting to loose my vision." He didn't seem to terribly worried, but it definitely was a concern,
"There is an island just ahead." Cain didn't know what to do about the human's blindness, so it simply stated that.
"Alright, thanks. Anything I need to worry about upon landin'?"
"Stay on the sand and not go back into the water," Cain said. It sped up again, eager to rid itself of the human on its back. They eventually reached the edge of the island, close enough for the sand to brush Cain's belly but still far enough out that there was still water for it to swim in. "Here."
He slowly slid off of the back of the beast, the water coming up to his chest. "Would you mind guiding me? Can't really tell where I'm going."
Cain huffed a breath and nudged the human forward, changing its tail into legs so that it resembled a very wet and oceany horse. It continued to guide the human through the water, leading it further up the shore and towards dry land.
"Thanks." he felt the feeling of dry sand in between his toes after a few minutes of silent walking and plopped down on his back, groaning. "What a fucking hour…"
Cain snorted and walked further up the shore to look for washed up seaweed. While I'm here… Its hooves sunk into the sand and kicked some up as it walked, dragging its snout along the ground in search of food.
"If you don't mind me asking, what are you?"
