I'm a Stingray?

Chapter 107: Loner

A shark was quick to answer out of the crowd but disappointment was evident in her tone. "I know a spot where like hundreds of them live, but they're pretty useless. Why do you want them?"

"I've heard they taste nice and want to be the judge of that." That was an utter lie, stingrays of his species don't even have taste buds.

Disagreeing in every way she could but trying to be nice as well towards the little marine animals that they subconsciously consider a leader now, the lady shark cited. "They taste bland, at least for me as a shark. Those shrimps aren't even so fulfilling but I don't know what you flat-ones consider tasty so go for it."

"I'm curious." Tim answered and tried to brush away the emotion to argue with this lady. There wouldn't be anything to argue about, he never saw one of these shrimps before and everyone knew that considering he admitted it.

Continuing the plan to finish task 8, he questioned. "Where can I find them? Shouldn't be hard to spot right? You said that there are hundreds of them."

Trying to break down the location easier instead of rushing through the sentence, she laid out. "Days ago, Marlo told me which place you called a home. Surely you can get back there?"

"Of course, it's my home." The little boy assured and listened attentively.

"The border to the mist is right near your home. Go to the border and then turn left, you need to follow the line for about 2 kilometers so that will be the most boring part of the journey." Sounded understandable enough, the curious stingray had already prepared a mental preview of where to go.

Having a feeling that he won't remember more if this explanation stretched, he questioned. "And after swimming that far away, the shrimps are easy to spot right?"

Proving that she is somewhat smart at remembering, the reef shark contradicted. "No, not at all. You will find a bit of dead coral that stands upright and is very pointy. My only guess is that humans separated it that far from the reef but it's a great way to navigate."

"Okay." Tim answered and used every bit of his brain to try and remember the pointy coral specifically. "So they live in the pointy coral?"

At this point having doubts about the little boy and the leadership they have assigned him to, she continued to explain. "No. After that you need to go a bit deep in the mist, go straight down and a tunnel on the side of the sand wall will be easy to spot unless your eyesight is hilariously bad. That's where the shrimps are."

After pondering over all the information she deciphered, the same shark weighed in a thought. "Not worth the effort if you ask me."

Knowing that he doesn't really have a choice, Tim found an excuse. "Nah, I need to taste those shrimp."

"You know how to go there then." The lady shark answered and decided to also weigh in. "The shrimps are easy to tell apart, they are white and as big as you."

"I'm coming with you." Snoopy volunteered right after the conversation seemed to have met an end, the opportunity to thank the lady wasn't even given.

But the hero was quick to refuse, "No no, that's a bad idea."

"To go and hunt shrimp? Common, I could do it with my eyes closed." The little boy made a good point and Tim couldn't really find a valid reason for his brother to stay here.

But it only took seconds to figure out his own feelings, the young fighter just wanted to be alone for a while and didn't want anyone to tag along.

Remembering the whole disaster that struck them tomorrow, he answered. "Actually I needed you to stay here and repair that hole in the entrance, the rest of the tribe would help you."

At this point he had figured out a grand excuse and felt confident that he could kill two seagulls with one stone, "But for you and our siblings I have a better idea."

"What is it?" Snoopy jumped right away, his eyes were sparkling in excitement as the mission already sounded large.

Feeling a bit lazy to talk right now but feeling that it's the only option, he sunk into detail. "See our reef is dying and I need you and our siblings to follow the border line near the mist and find any animal to come and live in this same reef. In theory, it will keep everything here from dying."

Weighing in a more crucial part, he cited. "Also you need to follow the opposite way of where I'm going. Steer clear of any tunnels there too, it didn't go well for me."

Feeling that this conversation has been going for far too long now, he seeked the diamond stingrays without allowing Snoopy to speak any longer and requested. "I need one of you to be my second in command, look out for this place while I'm gone. Shouldn't be too long."

"Okay, easily done." The lady amongst them answered and dismissed the boy as if this wasn't anything important.

Afterwards he finally made it out of the den and sighed in relief when no one was following him. It was a bit confusing regarding why he wanted to be alone but after swimming for about a hundred meters, he managed to decipher a bit of the emotions.

This entire life had been rough but these days especially, were torturous or impactful at least. He wanted to be alone and take in everything that had happened, and what would be better than silence to let these thoughts come in and spread out of his brain to ease up a portion of the burden that constantly seemed to grow larger.

With the ability given for once, he began taking in excitement once thinking about what upgrades would be available for purchase. 2 of them are a complete mystery but the other has to be the tail-venom upgrade.

That managed to strike excitement in his little heart and therefore he began swimming a bit quicker.