Yvie just concluded her dinner, two fish bones resting in front of the fire. Yvie sat back in the cave and let out a sigh of relief. By this time, about 3 hours had passed.

“I wish I could’ve had some chili flakes or something to spice it up… Ah well, what can you do? I am getting a bit thirsty, so I should get something to drink too.”

Yvie slips out of the grotto, and something spots her from the safety of tall stalks of kelp. She goes swimming around, looking near the reef for any signs. Deep near the bottom of the reefs, she noticed a long dark root that looked similar to a hose. Following the hose-like root, she came across a plant with a thick stalk. Despite the ocean currents, it showed no sign of budging from that spot. From the edge of the stalk hung three gourd-shaped fruits. Yvie took two of them and prepared to head back to her spot. A school of fish erratically swam past her, nearly hitting her in the face. The other fish in the area seemed to behave strangely as well.

“Is there a predator in the area? There shouldn’t be anything to rile the fish up this much at this depth. I’d better return to the grotto for now.”

Yvie swims back to the grotto and up into the crevice. When she exits the water, she’s surprised by three people now resting there. Back at operations, Palla was monitoring the situation.

“We had divers check the area ahead of time, so something like this shouldn’t be here,” Palla says. 

“There must’ve been an abnormality in the environment of Entasi.” An operator states. “It appears as though that’s the only creature to leave its location.”

Her spyfish captures a big fish with brown fur and spines along its dorsal side. The spikes were large and were seeping a green liquid.

“There’s no doubt about it, that's a Bladed Bearfish,” Palla says.

Palla glances at each of the cameras to determine a course of action.

“It looks like most of the examinees have found a grotto, and those that haven’t are already eliminated. If there’s no one in harm's way, then we can just let it be; no need to kill it if it wanders its way out of here.” 

“Ma’am! Someone’s leaving a grotto!” An operator shouts.

“Who the hell?!” Palla looks and sees Yvie looking around. “We’re gonna have to send a—”

Before she can finish her sentence, the fish begins racing over toward Yvie.

“Hell! They won’t make it in time!” Palla shouts.

As Yvie was floating in the water, she so terribly wanted to sigh. Aware that they knew about that bit of diver etiquette, from the faded mark on the wall, she decided to go looking for another grotto.  Before she could swim off, something burst through the thick stalks of kelp. The mere sight of it caught Yvie off guard, causing its spines to cut into her arm. A light cloud of blood filled the water as Yvie kicked it into overdrive and started dolphin kicking immediately. 

Looking back at the beast, Yvie thought, A bladed bearfish?! Here?! She continued swimming as fast as she could. 

The fish takes off after her, and with its superior speed, it appears right behind her. Yvie, knowing this, hits a turn and swims downward into a crevice between the coral reefs. The bladed bearfish rams its face into it to try and get her, but its size works against it. 

Meanwhile, Palla was visibly angry.

“Are you telling me none of them are available?! I told them to be on standby!”

“They may have left for the day, thinking the test was gonna be fine,” an operator states.

She notices Dodge sitting leaning in the corner, sipping some coffee.

“Dodge… Why are you sitting there?! Someone’s in danger!” She exclaims.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Dodge raises a hand, lazily defensive. “I’d have gone down there, but I feel like if she can’t handle something of this level, she can’t become a diver.” 

“Are you an idiot?! When we were green like her, neither of us would have been capable of killing it!! A bladed bearfish is vicious! They hunt down their prey until they kill them. Not to mention the fact she’s already been cut by its spines, so at best, she’s got about 10 minutes before the venom causes anaphylactic shock!” Palla shouts, nearly screaming.

Dodge leans forward, his mouth on his cup. 

“Anphy-what now?” 

“It’ll cause her body to shut down, you dolt!” She yells, throwing her fists down. 

“Oh, that’s what that is. Listen, if you’re asking for my help, then sure I’ll help her. But only if she can’t handle it. I’m one of the fastest out there. I could have her back in less than thirty seconds.”

“So you’re really gonna play this game?” She questions.

“She signed the waiver, didn’t she? She knew what she was getting into.” He takes another sip of his coffee. “For now, let’s see what she does.”

“You’re something else.” She states.

As Yvie was between the reefs, she began to swim underneath them as the bladed bearfish would ram into them. All she could do was follow the path laid out for her between them and had to squeeze to make it through at some points. The hard coral was cutting into her skin, causing her to grimace with each inch she traversed. 

The blood from the wounds rose in the water and aggravated the bearfish even more. When she finally emerged on the other side, it appeared that the bearfish wasn’t in sight. Before her was a steep drop. After looking down, she almost missed it, but she could see a mysterious dark figure floating in the distance. It felt human, but remained unflinching when it saw her.  

With time running short, she couldn’t afford to pay it much mind, leaving her with a heavy choice. Between the choice of directly challenging the bladed bearfish or choosing to go deeper, Yvie chose to dive into the ravine.

A bright light shone across her face, helping her spot a structure in the distance. It reflected the sunlight above into her eyes and became her target, but the bladed bearfish had found its target and began swimming toward it with dogged determination. 

The shape Yvie spotted was a sunken ship caught at the edge of the ravine. She swam for it with all her might. Its bloodthirst was so strong that Yvie could feel it inching closer to her, and each time it steadily drove her to panic. She held on to whatever strands of calm she had left and swam through a shattered window on the boat just before the beast could reach her. Yvie grimaces while checking her abdomen, then looks up at the shattered window to find that she cut herself on the glass. The blood agitated the beast even more, causing it to slam repeatedly into the side of the ship. The ship is slowly inching into the ravine. Yvie could see the vastness of the ocean floor on the other side of this ship. Yvie whips her head back and forth, frantically searching the ship. 

Naught but rotting wood and shards of glass as far as she could tell. She goes through each of the rooms, finding nothing of note. She comes across a door to the captain’s quarters, but it appears to be sealed shut. Yvie tries to force it open, but, unable to gather her strength, she fails. She wraps her legs around a support beam, then grabs hold of the locking wheel, and puts as much strength as she can into turning it. With every ounce of her strength, she manages to turn open the door and push in, using her legs to push against the support pillar. 

The door opens enough for a skeleton to come drifting out. The sight sends her back, then pulls her toward its finger. A small ring with a strange aura around it, causing a thin shroud of rainbow light to reflect off its strange metal-like surface. She could feel the aura as she held it in her hands; something about it screamed that it was beyond the norm, making her realize exactly what it was.  

“This… It’s an artifact! But I don’t know what it does. As much as I want to put it on, I don’t know what it does.” 

She decides to take it along with her as well. 

Yvie inspects the man’s outfit. She sees his tatters for pants and checks his beltline, finding a pouch. There, she pulls out a rusty combat knife. A glimmer of hope fills her eyes. As she was heading back to the main room, she spotted a stick lying in the corner. Although somewhat rotten, she takes it with her. She then takes stock of everything she has.

“A combat knife, some stalks of kelp, two Lupa Fruits, and a stick.”

The shaking had seemingly come to an end as Yvie watched it circling the windows, eyeing her. To her right, however, a small spyfish appeared.

“Yvie!” A voice says from the fish. “If you can hear this, then nod.” 

She looks around to try and find the source, then nods after spotting it.

“We’re ending the exam early. Almost everyone’s been evacuated. Once they’ve all been handled, I’ll be coming for you. So just hold out until then.” 

Yvie nods.

The ship suddenly shifted much harder than before as if it were beginning to slip. Yvie looked at the edge as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

She peered back at the spyfish before turning her attention back to her tools. 

She cuts the kelp into multiple strips and begins braiding them together into a rope. She makes two more separate ropes and then uses one of them to affix the knife to the rotting stick, creating a makeshift spear. Finally, she uses the two remaining ropes to tie them around each of the gourds. She then hangs the conjoined gourds around her neck and grips the makeshift spear she made. 

Using the leftover string she had, she put the ring on it and wrapped it around her neck like a necklace. She waited at the ready as the fish would circle, and the moment it got near, she stabbed it with the spear, striking it in the body. Becoming enraged by that act, it began swimming faster and slamming into the ship more. Resolve filled her eyes as she patiently watched the predator circle. 

The bearfish goes around the ship once more, and Yvie manages to stab it near the tail. Going into a frenzy, the fish swims up to slam into the ship once more, causing it to drop out of the edge of the ravine and slowly descend. Yvie swims out, leaving her face-to-face with the beast. It lunges forward with a bite, but Yvie blocks it with the rotting stick. With its bite force, a rotting stick poses no obstacle, causing it to split in half. It swims past her, cutting her with its fins, while she grabs the knife. It circles back around to attack. She puts the knife handle into her mouth and grabs the gourds from around her neck. Seeing an unmoving target, the bearfish rushes at her the same as before.

“I bet you’re ready to eat. Just because I don’t look like I’m fighting back, you think you’ve won.”

She holds the gourds out before her as they chomp down. Catching it in its mouth. However, the sharp teeth aren’t enough to cut through the rope; instead hit between the fibers of the rope. Yvie sticks her foot through its cut wound and is taken along for the ride as the fish wildly swims around.

“Don’t underestimate a seaweave! They’re strong little ropes!”

The fish slams into the rocky coral wall, which cuts into Yvie’s back. Bubbles escape her mouth, and she drops the knife, but she tightens her grip. She starts using her control over its mouth to direct the bearfish’s direction. Naturally, Yvie begins heading toward the surface, but is fighting against the beast’s will the entire time. Constantly being jerked around the ocean begins to tire her arms out, but Yvie twists her wrists, wrapping the excess seaweave around them to lock herself in place.

Noticing her location, she can see the Dive HQ’s dive chamber entrance. She aims for it but feels herself weakening. Her strength was steadily depleting with each passing second. Whether it was blood loss or the venom, she was unsure, but she dug deep, calling upon every last ounce of her strength before pulling to force the creature upward.

The dive chamber was full of expectant examinees who were disappointed.

“Everyone, get back!” Palla shouts as she comes in barrelling from the operations room. The dive doors open as Yvie comes flying through at high speed. She collides with the ground as her arms come loose from the wrap. All she can see are flashing lights as she tries to move. 

Unable to understand any sounds or see much at all, at this point, Yvie is moving from sheer instinct alone, from the bloodlust directed at her from the bearfish. However, her body gives out, causing her to collapse backward onto the floor.

“Why aren’t those medics here already?!” Palla shouts.

The medics burst in seconds later, as Yvie’s vision fades away.

“Yvie!” Grace shouts as the medics put her on the stretcher. The medics check her pulse and begin moving much quicker. 

“There’s no pulse! Quickly administer the anti-venom!”  A medic calls out, and seconds later, Yvie’s arm is injected with a syringe. The medics call out several other things as they race her down the hall, leaving everyone else waiting near the almost lifeless bladed bearfish. Palla, in her anger, slams her foot down, crushing its head entirely with her heel.

“For now, everyone, please get changed, hit the showers, and go home. We’ll relay the information on what will happen next to you all soon.” Palla says.

She watches as everyone filters out of the room, and Dodge enters the room.

“I gotta say that was quite the show. She didn’t disappoint.” He says.

“I hope you’re happy. You got the fun you were looking for. She handled herself exceedingly well in the circumstances. But now she’s fighting for her life. If she dies, we’ll have lost a talented diver because of you. ” Palla says. She takes off her glasses and rubs her face.

“And she was only able to prove herself because of me.” He says.

Palla storms out of the room, cursing her co-worker. 

“You selfish asshole!”

SLAM

The door erupts behind her. Dodge sighs and throws his hands up before following suit.