Sea Star - Orm Marius

Devil's Deep - 2022

"Hey Squirt, you doing okay?" Arthur called to Claudia behind him and Orm as  they swam. 

"Oh yeah," she panted.  "I just - I could use a breather."

"Yeah, of course." Arthur immediately stopped.

Orm reluctantly did too. "Need I remind you time is not on our side?" he  said.  "We don't have time for a 'breather'."

"Need I remind you that I don't have the Atlantean stamina you do," she shot back between pants.

"No, you needn't remind me." He took everything so literally. "That was why I said you shouldn't come in the first place. I knew you would only slow us down and be a burden."

"Hey, I offered to help you. If anyone is a burden, it's you-"

"Enough!" cried Arthur. "Lay off, both of you. Bro, I know we don't have a lot of time, but we can spare a few minutes For Claudie."

Orm just grumbled, about the current situation and the 'Bro'. 

"See, you really are a super tight butthole."

Claudia snorted in agreement.  "Like, super tight." They bumped fists. 

Topo floated up beside her and gurgled.  "Huh?"

"He said he can carry you the rest of the way, if you'd like. Anything for his other rescuer."

"Aw, thanks buddy. That's sweet of you."

"He says when you're ready, just grab hold of his tentacle and he'll do the rest."

"Which tentacle? Any will do?"

"Yeah."

She took a few more moments to catch her breath and then reached out for one of Topo's extended tentacles. She had barely grabbed hold of the end of one suction-y appendage when Topo took off, leaving the brothers in the dust - well, in this case, the bubbles.

"Whoo!" she whooped.  "This is awesome! Who's falling behind now?!"

--------------------------------------

"Ha! I win!" Arthur said like a child as the three flopped onto the beach, he first apparently, at last having reached their next destination. He and Orm collapsed onto the sand, heaving for breath after the long swim. As for Claudia, she was doing great, thanks to Topo's help. 

"Topo, go back to Atlantis and give them our coordinates," Arthur told their squid-like friend. 

Topo gurgled and slunk back into the sea and disappeared.

"Bye Topo!" Claudia called with a wave.  "I should get a personal octopus."

"Cephalopod."

She turned to Orm.  "Really?"

And although the suit was comfortable and agile and all, as they had established early on, she was happy to remove her helmet and mask for a while and breathe in the fresh air. 

Well, kind of fresh. The air was thick and heavy with orichalcum. A thick, green fog was being pumped out from inside a volcano.

"Dormant volcano, that's our spot," Arthur announced. "Onward!" And he began striding forward into the dense jungle.

"You sure it's dormant?" Claudia asked.

"That's what the fat fish said."

"You really trust that guy?"

And so onward they went, Claudia and Arthur keeping the conversation flowing, Orm staying - mostly - silent. 

"I hope Atlantis brings some snacks with  them," Claudia said. "I'm getting hungry."