Diving Too Deep

Diving Too Deep' is the first story in the Tales of a Lonely Wolf' series.

The First Tale
Flashing lights. Blaring sirens. Creaking metal.

These were the things that Ulric woke to. When he opened his eyes he found himself crumpled in the corner of a dark metal corridor, repeatedly illuminated by a red glow from above. His head hurt from where he'd cracked it against the steel wall, but with great effort he managed to pull himself to his feet. The loud klaxon was beginning to deafen him, making the pain worse with each passing second.

Need to turn that thing off...

He took an uneasy step forward, realising the floor beneath his feet was uneven - tilted downwards in direction of the main cabin at the front of the ship. He'd find the main controls there.

He worked his way down the cramped passageway, nursing his head as he tried to recall what had happened. He remembered the ship suddenly stopping, snatched out of the air like a paper aeroplane by an overenthusiastic toddler. The force from that alone had knocked him out. What had happened since, he had no idea.

The bulkhead door ahead of him opened easily enough with a sharp turn of the wheel. Judging by the dire state the ship appeared to be in, that was probably going to be one of the few things that hadn't broken. All the dark metal bulkheads around him were warped and dented, barely holding together. Whatever had brought them down had done a number on the hull, that was for sure, and there was no way of knowing if the ship was even still in one piece, until he opened more of these doors. He wasn't looking forward to what he was going to find on the other side.

He pressed onwards, stumbling slightly on the uneven ground until he reached the cabin. He found the door slightly ajar, and realised that somebody had opened it while he was unconscious, as he remembered closing it before they were brought down. Was it Siena, the pilot? She had been at the controls when he left...or maybe Gilroy, the engineer...

Upon entering, he soon discovered the room was empty. Several small lights indicated that the ship still had power, but all of the windows were covered by reinforced shields designed to stop Grimm from smashing through the glass, blocking out any view of the outside. He didn't dwell on it for very long, however, and quickly moved to shut off the deafening siren at the controls.

It took a solid minute of searching, but finally he managed to bring silence to the ship. Proper lighting followed, allowing him to see properly for the first time since waking. The small cabin was too cramped for the young Huntsman's tastes, but it had a cozy feeling that allowed him to relax as he tried to wrap his head around the situation. They'd crashed, that much was obvious, and the others had seemingly vanished. What was most worrying, however, was that they had been flying out at sea when they'd been brought down. The mainland was miles away in all directions, too, so where the hell were they?

Ulric's mind turned to the reason why they were so far out in the first place. Several transport vessels had disappeared in the area, and they'd been sent to look for survivors. Unfortunately, it seems he was the one needing rescue now. What worried him most, though, was why they had crashed in the first place. And so suddenly, as well.

Seems there's a good reason why these waters are so dangerous.

Refusing to simply wait for rescue, he decided to investigate the state of the ship. The slight incline of the floor made it feel as if he were trudging up a steel slope rather than the deck of an aircraft, but he managed it. He soon found his way blocked by another bulkhead, but when he moved to turn the wheel, he found it securely shut. He tried again, pulling stronger this time, but once again the wheel remained firm. He let go, settling into a grounded stance, and gripped it a third time, putting all of his weight into the movement. Finally, after several strained seconds, he felt the metal begin to shift - slowly at first, but then more easily.

Suddenly the door swung open towards him, and Ulric found himself swept backwards off his feet as a wave of seawater slammed into him. He grunted as his back slammed against the bulkhead behind him, thankful that he had closed it as he'd come but struggling to right himself as he passage quickly flooded with water. Within moments all of the air had been forced out, and he found himself submerged completely.

Turning back wasn't an option as this point, he realised. All he would achieve would be to lose more air, and be forced back from where he'd come. He therefore steeled himself and fought his way forward, moving against the now-equalised water with greater ease into the next room.

That's when he realised the growing red tinge in the water around him. At first he thought he'd cut himself on a jagged piece of metal, but with his Aura that would have been impossible. No, the blood he saw wasn't his. And there was so much of it around him, filling his vision completely. At first there was nothing, but then, he saw them. Dark, writhing shapes ahead of him, like snakes in the shadows.

He jerked his head back as a row of jagged yellow teeth suddenly jumped out of the red-tinged water towards him, snapping at his face angrily. The creature they belonged to was long and thin, shaped like an eel with scaled skin black as pitch and a bone-white face like a mask. It rushed at him, moving to plunge into his neck as several more of the creatures swarmed forwards towards him - chunks of meat falling from their hungry mouths. Acting entirely on instinct, Ulric moved his arm outwards and snatched the first creature by the head before it could bury its teeth into his flesh, moving quickly despite the water dragging him down. He closed his fist around its neck and locked his other hand around its contorting body, before giving it a savage twist. The creature's head dislocated with a pop that was drowned by the water, and it quickly began to disintergrate between his fingers.

The next one was faster - biting down hard on his forearm before he could catch it. His grey Aura burned as it fought to keep the sharp teeth at bay, but no matter how hard he shook it would not release him. Ulric instead reached down to his side, drawing the handaxe that was holstered there and buried it into the creature's body. Despite his impressive strength, the sharp metal only barely cut the surface, and still it would not let go. Gritting his teeth, Ulric's arm began to glow with power as he focussed his Semblance into it, and then when he swung again the axehead cut through the water as easily as air, cleaving the beast in two like a hot knife through butter. And so, the second one dissipated before him.

The two remaining eel-like creatures swam back and forth, just out of reach, as if searching for a weakness, before suddenly turning and swimming away. Their sudden retreat surprised the Huntsman, who had been taught that the creatures of Grimm would usually fight to the death rather than withdraw from a fight - save for the oldest and most experienced amongst them. Did that mean they were centuries old? He doubted it. But what other reason was there?

Sheathing his axe, Ulric continued his swim forward, only to find what the four creatures had been feasting on.

(WIP)