Day 1 | Mirth
Gt July Prompt List
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When stranded on an uncharted underwater planet, alone and surrounded by hostile lifeforms, there are only two possible outcomes: adapt and survive, or die trying.
Spoilers: For the game Subnautica
Content Warnings: Mentions of death and violence. Mentions of drowning and suffocation.
Introducing the Subnautica AU
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Fritz finds himself laughing uncontrollably.
In hindsight, it shouldn’t have been as funny as it was to him. But once he started to laugh, there was no stopping it.
Even though he’s positive he’s the only survivor of the ship that crashed on an undocumented and hostile planet. No hope of being rescued as he fights for his life using technology that might as well be magic to him. Nothing but certain death lying in wait for him at every corner.
But maybe that’s why he had such a visceral reaction. To something as simple as a fish getting stuck in the rock and exploding out of sheer frustration.
He hadn’t even been confident on how he should’ve reacted. The teenager thought he was a respectful distance from the sulfur plant inside the tunnel he was just outside of to collect materials. Apparently this particular crashfish didn’t appreciate it and decided to come after him. Seemingly attempted to be stealthy and decided to squeeze through a narrow hole. A move that, if it worked, would’ve left Fritz dazed and bleeding.
Fortunately for Fritz, it hadn’t worked. Ended up with the territorial fish firmly stuck, unable to swim forward or backward. Went completely still for a full minute as the confused teenager watched before exploding.
Not because anyone or anything got close enough to trigger the reaction. No, purely out of frustration. Decided that would be the best course of action.
Fritz had stared for a good minute. Felt a smile tug on his lips when he realized what happened. Couldn’t hold back a small giggle after it bubbled in his throat. Unable to stop as his laughter grew louder, stronger, to the point there were tears in his eyes as he desperately tries to gasp for air.
"Me too,” Fritz wheezes as he clutches his stomach, his body in pain but unable to stop, part of him not wanting to. “Me too.”
How ironic the fish that tends to cause him the most grief is the one that makes him laugh for the first time in days. Most likely this will be the only time he finds a reason to, but he’ll take it. Hope that he can be treated to such a sight again in the future. Give him something to look forward to amidst the daunting task of surviving without any promise he’ll ever be rescued.
The flashing from his HUD warning he’s about to run out of oxygen jerks Fritz out of his daze. Takes a long and slow breath as he quickly swims up to the water’s surface. Sends fearful glances below him as his air replenishes.
The last of his mirth vanishes when his eyes catch a blurry but unmistakenly large figure swimming in the distance. The Aurora stretching into the sky as smoke continues to bellow from the once magnificent ship. The reminder just how insignificant he is on a planet completely submerged in water.
...if a fish half his size valiantly protects its home despite clearly being outsized and outmatched, then Fritz can too. It’s about time he finally looked at everything the Lifepod can make.
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