Old Ship Gathering: Gathering 1

An old ship lies sunken at the bottom of the kelp forest. It has become overgrown by coral and other underwater plants and animals over the many years. The wood has become frail and easy to pull apart due to all of the damage thrown upon it. There are small schools of fish darting in and out of the gaps in the deck, poking their heads out to check if there’s any dangerous creatures nearby, before quickly shooting back inside again the moment they see the giant Aqrions swimming nearby. The ship is the perfect place to gather small plants and crustaceans usually only found on the coral reefs, as it provides the perfect base structure for them to colonize and create a whole new community. The giant kelp forest is a dangerous place for such tiny, fragile animals, so the old ship provides the perfect safe home for them to live in.  

Three young Abyssal Aqrions are drifting around just outside of the ship, poking their snouts into all of the different holes as they search for anything worth gathering. Nearby, The Grimm is carving through the water, chasing after the small fish that are gathered around the coral, her massive jaws snapping at their tails as they try to escape. In years gone by, The Grimm had been the one to smash the massive holes currently found in the underside of the downed ship, dragging it down from the surface and to the crushing depths below. She has actually encouraged some of the younger Aqrions to spend their time there so they can learn to hunt animals of an appropriate size, while remaining fairly safe from larger predators.  

Ronald is excitedly chasing after a large crab scuttling across the ship’s deck, growling and chomping at it while trying to avoid the rather sharp pincers. Dorris stares at him in silence, rather unamused by his antics as she turns back to pulling at some of the chunks of coral. Lace is a small distance away from them, digging through the sand that has piled up around the sides of the ship in search for little animals hiding away. On the other side of the ship, The Grimm has stopped chasing fish, instead beginning to pull apart some of the wood, wanting to create an opening large enough to shove her head inside in search of whatever is hiding within.  

Ronald pokes his head into the ship from one of the holes above, unsuccessful in his attempts to chase down the crab. He sees the ominous figure of The Grimm’s head poking in through the bottom of the hull, crimson eyes glinting in the low light. Creepy for sure. Regardless, he tries to weasel his way into the ship’s belly, making a happy noise at the Giant Aqrion as he starts digging through the piles of boxes and supplies the boat had been carrying when it had been sunken. Grimm just huffs at him, reluctant to get too close to such a strange Aqrion.  

She ends up floating next to Dorris and Lace. Dorris had gathered all of the coral she wanted to take with her, setting them all in a little pile so it can all be placed into a small bag for carrying. Lace has managed to find a small handful of worms – little curly worms that have scary little fangs chomping at anything that touches the sand surrounding them – she pulls them up, placing them alongside Dorris’ bundle of coral and sponges. Grimm isn’t great with younger Aqrion, especially ones that she hasn’t met before. She also dislikes Abyssal Aqrions for being generally larger than herself, petty as that may seem.  

Ronald joins them a few minutes later, hauling with him a large chest he has managed to find and dropping it in the sand near the other three Aqrion. They all gather around the chest, working to pull apart the old wood so they can access whatever is hidden inside. It takes a solid while of work, but they are all eventually able to break the lid off of it. The four Aqrions gather around the chest, trying to poke their heads into the box to see what is inside.  

Much to everyone’s disappointment, the chest is entirely empty, void of any exciting sunken treasure. All there is inside is a small handful of pebbles and what looks like broken glass. Ronald looks rather upset by the lack of exciting objects, but Dorris and Grimm simple seem very amused by the lackluster finding. Lace offers Ronald one of the worms she had managed to dig up, giving him a rather sheepish smile when he just pouts.  

Lace and Ronald begin to start dragging the chest away, setting it beside the boat’s hull so that it is out of the way. Meanwhile, Grimm and Dorris continue to start pulling away chunks of coral and other plants from the side of the ship. When Lace and Ronald are done putting away the chest, the two of them break away from the ship and begin to tear away chunks of kelp from the massive forest. Occasionally, each of them needs to bring their small haul back to their large pile of goodies so they will be able to carry it all away once they’re finished.  

From between the strands of coral, are small patches of sponges, and Dorris is quick to pull some of them off of the ship’s hull. From the new gaps between the wood and coral, several small crabs begin to scuttle out, and Grimm snaps them up quickly, able to avoid the snapping pincers with ease thanks to many years of practice. Lace and Ronald are pulling away chunks of the kelp and algae growing off of the tall plants.  

Once they have gathered a significant amount of coral and plant matter, Grimm decides to take on the job of sorting all of the different things they have gathered into different piles, while Lace goes between Ronald and Dorris, helping them to move some of the larger items. After moving everything away, the four Aqrion all start to pack away each different type of item, placing them away in small bags for them to carry the items back to their home. It takes them a good while considering how many different things they have gathered. All of the bags are heavy, especially the one containing the coral. To fix this, both Dorris and Lace grab either side of the large bag so they can try and lift it up together.  

Grimm and Ronald team up to lift the hefty bag of kelp, still struggling slightly, but eventually able to start shifting it. It takes them all a while to finally get everything back to their den where they can sort through all of the different items. They pick out Grimm’s portion of their haul, before the Giant Aqrion can head on her way, leaving the three other Abyssal Aqrions to decide what to do with their portions of the items.  

Points:

Dorris 0261