Blobby's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

The creature shot upward, dragging Bobby in its teeth. Blobby clung to Bobby's arm with one hand and the mask hose with the other. Water rushed past the glass lenses. Blobby pulled hard, but the teeth held. The yellow eye rolled toward Blobby, hungry and awake. Then the water burst open above them. A shape dropped down fast. It was a pink square blob, hard-edged and blunt. A jagged scar split its face. In its hand it gripped a long metal harpoon. Blobby had seen this one before, among the traders who crossed the ridge. Blobby never learned why he swam these pools. But he swam like he owned them. "Kyle," the pink square said, jabbing a thumb at his own chest. Bubbles poured from his mouth. He did not wait for thanks. Kyle kicked straight at the creature. He drew the harpoon back. Then he drove it deep into the creature's side. The creature convulsed. Its jaws snapped wide. Bobby popped loose, still gripping the glowing stone. Blobby caught Bobby full against their soft body. The two blobs spun in the dark water. The creature thrashed and dove, twisting off the harpoon. It sank into the deep and vanished. The pool went still. Blobby kicked upward, hauling Bobby along. Kyle followed. They broke the surface together. Blobby ripped off the mask and gulped real air. Bobby coughed. The triangle atop his head drooped, then straightened. He was alive. He still held the biggest glowing stone in one arm. "You came back for me," Bobby said. "I did," Blobby said. The words shook. "I said I would." They dragged themselves onto the flat rock at the pool's edge. Kyle climbed out last. He planted the harpoon and leaned on it. Water dripped from the scar. "That thing will heal," Kyle said. "It'll remember your smell. It'll remember mine too, now." He looked at the glowing stone in Bobby's arm. "You dove all this way for a rock?" "For my friend," Blobby said. "The rock came with him." Kyle snorted. He pried the stone from Bobby's grip and turned it over. The glow lit his flat pink face. "These are worth trading," Kyle said. "I hunt the thing down there. You want more of these? You'll need me." He tossed the stone back to Bobby. "But I don't work for free." Blobby looked at the pink square with the scar and the harpoon. Blobby had planned to fill a temple with these stones. Blobby had planned to be worshipped. Now a hunter stood between Blobby and every stone left in the deep. "You saved us," Blobby said slowly. "So what do you want?" Kyle grinned. It was not a kind grin. "A share," he said. "Of whatever you're building up there." Bobby clutched the single stone. Blobby stared at the dark pool. One stone would not fill a temple. And now the only path to more ran straight through Kyle.