Leave him
The decision was easy at this point. You sighed deeply, your muscles were aching with exhaustion at this point and you figured there was nothing more you could have done to help.
“Hey… Kid…” You mentioned. “I don’t think…” You could already see him starting to panic.
“NO! Please don’t leave me!” He cried out. Halfway in pain, halfway in fear. “Just go get my mommy. I want my mommy. Please.”
“Hey… That’s a good idea. Listen, I’ll go to get someone else for you, okay? What do you think about that? We’re going to try to get you out.” You said, lying once again, knowing that no other seal would have the dexterity to come down here and get him out safely. You knew that the pack would have been burning far too much energy just to attempt this rescue mission. “I’ll be back soon.” You mentioned, recalling what you said earlier. “Just wait for us okay? Don’t worry, please.” you begged, knowing quite well your true intentions.
“Okay.” he sniffled. From your time spent with him, he saw you as someone you could have trusted and you knew this. It hurt even more as you inched your way back out to the surface.
Before long, you’re once again at the surface of the water. The other seals are looking around, concerned, but relieved to see you.
“Could you find him?” The mother asked.
“No. I couldn’t find anything other than some shreds of fur. I think something may have got him.” You mentioned. “Something’s following us. We need to keep moving, or else we’re going to lose some others.”
“No Please!” She begged.
“Yeah, she’s right, I don’t want to risk my kids’ life right now, if something else is down there.” Another mother suggested. The crowd started to get tense for a moment, murmuring among itself before the largest male seal stepped up and gathered the crowd’s attention.
“No, she is right. We must keep moving on.” And like that, it was settled. Though the tension between different members of the group was so thick it felt like you were swimming through it even the moments when your upper body peeked out of the water.
Before long, you all seemed to come across another seal pack up ahead and just as you said earlier, you all cautiously approached them with your concerns.
“There are others here.” You could hear the leader of their pack sensing the pack you were with approaching.
“Make yourselves known, make it known we are not a threat.” The leader of your pack said. “We mean no harm, we are in grave danger.”
“State your intent.” The other leader mentioned.
“We are here because of a famine.” the large seal floating in the water said. You then came up next to him and continued.
“Yes. We are also here with a warning. Hard times are coming and we must work together as one.” You mentioned.
“Throughout history, each of our packs had remained separated, but at peace. You mean to bring warnings of hard times?” he mentioned before turning to his pack and muttering amongst them. “We can accept you if you pull your own part. Everyone here works for the betterment of the pack.”
“We agree with that. Though we hope not to intrude during our assimilation.” He mentioned. It was settled then and there. Both packs had started mixing and mingling during their integration and before long it was like one big happy pack.
Written by Drifting Dragon on 21 September 2023
