Oceanna Blue

"Would you like a little music?" Sam asked.

Tapping on her comms device, she selected a list of classical music. It was soft, but powerful and the creature seemed to bounce slowly to the beat.

"Come on, I'm hungry," Sam gestured for it to move.

But the creature just mimicked her, waving its tentacles as she had her hands. She sighed and smiled, before bending and taking the shiv from her belt. The creature pulsed softly and Sam wondered if the length and intensity of each pulse meant something. Lifting the shiv, Sam took one of the fruits and cut it in half. Taking one half, she bit into the soft, delicious flesh, before pointing back to the citadel. This time the creature seemed to understand and shifted back down the hall. Sam followed behind, but with a small gap. She didn't want to rush the creature, or make it feel threatened.

Stepping into the citadel, the creature slipped into the water, but didn't actually go anywhere. Sam sat herself down at the edge of the water, before realising she was completely nude.

"Shit," she grumbled to herself, thinking about her tentacle monster thoughts from earlier.

Shrugging, she placed the fruit down beside her, before plucking one off and tossing it lightly towards the creature. Before the fruit hit the water, it caught it in a tentacle and took it into its mouth. Sam smiled and nodded, earning a nod in return as she went back to eating her fruit. The creature hung around, watching her from the water as she ate several pieces. It kept its head above the water, but otherwise remained submerged, which told Sam its gills were most likely on the underside. Then it was time for the fish. Plucking it from the spear, she gave it a quick scan, getting similar results from the previous. It was safe to eat.

With a glance at the creature, she started gutting it.

***

The awkward thing was far less awkward in the... in the space... The creature had no way to describe the feeling of being in the sky, but still underwater. Somehow there was sky where there shouldn't be, and the awkward thing seemed to do far better here. It wondered where the awkward thing came from. It still remembered the loud noise that signaled the arrival of this place. The flashes in the sky, the streaks of light, followed by the mighty crashes in the waves. This was the largest piece that the creature had found and the awkward thing was the only one of its kind the creature had found. That was until it sent its dead member into the water.

And here, in the sky, the vibrations felt different. In the water, the vibrations were intense and pleasurable. But here in the sky, they were light touches, caresses. The awkward thing made similar vibrations. But they weren't as long or as structured. They seemed to have a pattern though. The intensity of them changed when the awkward thing was displeased, versus being happy. Their communication was awkward and the creature tried to pulse its colours in a way that made it easy to understand. The awkward thing seemed to watch it carefully and it hoped that it understood that the pulses were communication, in the same way that its vibrations were its own. Because between the pulses, the vibrations and the head shakes and bobs, they seemed to have a rudimentary way to communicate already.

The creature hung around and they ate the fruit together for a time. The awkward thing looked very strange with its... soft shell? Soft shell with hard parts? And then it occurred to it, the shell held in the sky. The awkward thing couldn't be in water, it needed the sky. But... The awkward thing had its legs in the water as it ate the fruit, so it must be... Maybe the awkward thing breathed the sky like it breathed water?

But that was a question to discover later. For now, it had to work out why the awkward thing was taking out the insides of the fish... It seemed almost a waste to get rid of. But the awkward thing seemed to make a strange face, before holding them out towards it. The creature reached up slowly, raising a tentacle from the water. The awkward thing rotated its arm and deposited the insides onto the creature's tentacle. The creature's suction cups caught the awkward thing and suckered it in place. The look on it's face became very sharp and the creature could feel it growing tense. So it released the appendage a moment later after cleaning off the fish juice. The awkward thing pulled back, and held its appendage to its face, before it seemed to suck sky into itself... It DID breathe sky... Then the awkward thing looked at it and smiled.

"Thank you," the awkward thing said.

Not that the creature had a clue. It just enjoyed the soft vibrations that came through the sky and pulsed softly in pleasure.

Chapter Seven

Sam grunted as she hauled the net up into the citadel. Getting purchase with her boots made things easier and she quickly dragged it out of the water. Blink, as she had named it after the blinking lights it produced, swam in behind, pulsing softly.

"Help?" her comms said robotically.

Sam smiled and removed her helmet. "No thanks. I've got it," she said to her friend.

Blink pulsed a slightly different pattern. "Affirmative."

It had taken a while, but the translation software in the comms unit was something else. With all the programming involved with detecting light-speed transmissions to audio feedback, it had recorded every light pulse. Through a system of trial and error Sam had associated certain pulses to specific words. Blink seemed to understand her audibly, but wasn't really able to make any noise itself. But Sam was distinctly aware that this strange creature, intellectual, was at least her equal. It thought, it felt, it could rationalise, problem solve and over the weeks she had come to realise that Blink had been watching her for a long time. Learning her movements, calculating risks and determining if she were a threat, before making the first move that began their friendship.

In the end, Sam just decided to enjoy the fact she wasn't alone on this planet. Even if Blink was nothing like herself. Blink still ate, slept and did things it enjoyed. Making friends apparently was top of that list as she had seen Blink trying to coax others of its kind to meet her. They didn't seem hostile, and from the flashes they produced, it seems they were more wary of her than hostile. So Sam had taken it upon herself to learn about the strange creatures. One of the ways she was attempting was by giving gifts. Blink had started with that, so now it was her turn.

Sam had set up a net and with Blink's help, scared a bunch of fish into it. After dragging said net back into the Yamato, Sam grabbed out the few she needed and tied the net up to prevent any more fish escaping.

"I'll put these away," Sam said to Blink.

Blink's pulse came back with an, "Affirmative."

Carrying the fish into the kitchen, she made quick work gutting them. She had a lot of practice at the process now and supplemented a lot of her meals with fish. After placing them within the dehydrator, she checked the meat already in place, before going back for the waste. She wasn't sure what to do with it all at first, until she'd started looking into oxygen production. Then it was obvious. It had taken her several days to build, fill and test, but down the length of the mess hall, was a large metal tub. It was only two feet deep at the deep end, due to the angle the Yamato was on, but it was inside that was important. The algae had been difficult to get her hands on, and even more difficult to get into the tank without accidentally introducing something she didn't want.

It had taken a little time, but by feeding the algae with the nutrients from decomposing fish guts and the installation from full spectrum lighting. She had effectively created a system of renewing the oxygen content within the Yamato. She didn't breathe a lot and the algae would only absorb as much carbon as she created. Then with the slow but steady drain on the batteries causing a constant charge and drain, water production had increased. So the first root vegetables were beginning to grow in hydroponic setups under the same lights that grew the algae. All in all, Sam was happy with how everything was turning out. So after feeding the algae, she made her way back into the kitchen and collected some of the yellow fruits. With those in hand, Sam made her way back to the citadel where Blink was waiting patiently.

"Just give me a moment," Sam smiled.

Blink flashed and Sam understood this one even before, "Confused."

Sam stopped and adopted their first communication tactics. They had originally started with singular words, yes and no. That had changed to other things like good and bad, stop and go. Eventually that led to simple instructions and eventually simple questions. But they had a long way to go.

"Wait, short time," Sam said evenly.

Blink nodded quickly as it flashed, "Waiting, friend."

Sam smiled. That was one of the words she hoped had translated over properly. It made her feel warm when Blink used it. Worst case scenario, it meant that Blink associated it with her, but it was still nice to think it really meant friend. Sam spent a few moments packing the bag she had made. Like the net, it had been made from one of the vines, but Blink had cautioned her from cutting too many. Which made sense when she thought about it. She was just glad it wasn't a cultural taboo or similar. So after getting the bag full of fish and fruit, she tied it around her shoulders and fit her helmet back in place.

"Come on Blink, lets go make friends," she called, grabbing her spear as she stepped into the water, it was clipped to a short length of vine that would allow it to dangle beneath her. It kept her hands free, didn't snag in the water too much, but didn't make her look threatening.

The flash from Blink translated to, "Friends, good, yes."

Slipping beneath the water, Sam followed Blink as it swam out the door. She had long decided against closing the door. Blink didn't usually come out of the water and when it did, it was usually after a rather energetic night Sam was sleeping off. Energetic meaning Sam programmed her sex machine to a random pattern, before tying her legs down and setting time delayed handcuffs to the frame above her head. She considered it a treat, as she was always sore the next day. But it did mean if she slept too late, sometimes Blink came looking for her.

Stepping out into the eternal twilight of the ocean depths, Sam kicked off and started swimming. Blink swam slowly beside her. She had seen how fast it could move. Like squids on earth, Blink had a siphon that could propel it along at a high speed. But when swimming with her, Blink used a gentle pulse of its tentacles to propel it through the water just a little faster than she could comfortably swim, then pausing before the next pulse.

She was nervous about this trip. She'd come as far as seeing the distant shape of the area where Blink lived with its... Clan. But this would be the first time she would be approaching. Blink led her through a system of canyons. They varied in height and they remained high enough in the water column that Sam could see where they were going. But she noticed they never went high enough to be in open water, instead they took the slow route following the canyon.

"Swim straight," Sam said, pointing at the destination as her Comms unit played her voice through the water.

Blink pushed ahead in the water with a surge of it's limbs, before pulsing a response, that made Sam frown. "Big danger."

Blink moved closer and Sam slowed. It raised its tentacle and pointed in a similar manner to how Sam pointed to things. Straining her eyes in the darkness, Sam could barely make out something moving. It may be easier to spot it directly overhead, but off in the distance...

"Is that a kronosaurus?"

Blink pulsed, "Predator."

Sam grimaced thinking about it, before deciding she needed to keep a better eye on her surroundings. There were numerous predators in the ocean. Most things left her and Blink alone. Either due to size, fear of Blink ALSO being a predator or fear of the unknown in case of herself. But anything large enough to bother Blink, was something to be wary of.

According to the comms, it took a little over two hours to arrive at their destination. A soft chime had alerted her shortly before they arrived and Sam had spent a moment changing air canisters. It only took a moment and Sam made sure to store the canister back in her bandoleer to refill back at the Yamato. As they approached Blink's home, she spotted several pulses in the distance. They were too far for her comms unit to pick up, but Blink's reply certainly did.

"Friend, unknown," her comms unit said.

She figured as much, this would be her first interaction with Blink's people. She swam along while Blink continued it's silent conversation. Others gathered around and flashed themselves. Sam's comms unit quickly became overwhelmed and she switched off the talkback. It would simply record for now and see if it could make sense of anything later. The pulses came quick and from all around as they finally arrived at the outskirts. It looked like simple cave systems carved into the walls, but they all had various decorations. Strange corals, flowers and fruits hung in front of entrances like curtains. There were dozens of the yellow fruit vines in the centre and the reef promoted thousands of fish to live in the area.

"Hello," Sam said.

She already knew the vibrations of her voice would cause a reaction, but the sudden cessation of flashing was startling for a moment. Blink flashed its lights and Sam smiled recognising the pattern for the word 'hello.' She hoped one day not to need the translator, but it certainly helped for the time being. At least when she wasn't underwater.

"Gifts," Sam said, as Blink translated for her.

Trying to hold steady in the current, Sam pulled the bag from her back. A few of the creatures moved away, while a couple moved closer. A few pulses of light flashed around, but she ignored them. Holding up the bag, she showed them the contents. The fish were still alive and the fruit were clearly visible in the bottom. She offered the entire bag to the closest creature. But it didn't want to react. Instead, Sam undid the ties at the top and opened it just enough to get her hand in. Reaching to the bottom, she took a fruit and pulled it out of the bag to show them. Pinching the bag closed, Sam held out the fruit, hoping some would take it.

Blink flashed the word "Friend," along with a few other things, but none seemed to want to approach. That was until a disturbance broke. A small creature, Sam realised a child broke free. Its parent tried to stop it, throwing out a tentacle, but the small creature dodged. Sam froze in fear wondering what was about to happen as the small creature slammed into her arm. It's tentacles wrapped around her and she felt the fruit get pulled from her hand. The small creature pulsed the same, "Friend," that Blink did.

"Hello little one," Sam smiled.

It froze for a moment, before it's parent surged forward, flashing brilliantly. Sam held still as it flared itself open in an obvious threat display, flashing rapidly. Blink responded just by coming closer to her, so she thought she wasn't in any real danger. And a few moments after it returned to its original state, the little one pulsed, "Friend."

If squid monsters could shrug and sigh like an exasperated human, she was sure this one would have. Instead it seemed to start prodding and pulling at the little one. Eventually Sam felt it's grip loosen and it started to pull away, so Sam held out the bag. The little one snagged it with a tentacle, flashing, "Friend," over and over again. The large one just ignored her as it moved off. But that turned the tide of their opinion. Several more came closer to examine her. A couple of them flashed in a pattern that Sam recognised as their greeting. She was proud of recognising the more common patterns. They moved around, jostling and bumping one another.

Sam held out a hand and more than one reached out to touch her. Though they didn't touch her anywhere else. They didn't seem to put their tentacles on each other very often either, but physical bumping happened frequently. Sam laughed softly, before switching on her comms unit. She selected an old classical piece that played a soft melody and she watched as the creatures all froze in place. Blink flashed rapidly and got a few flashes in response, but she'd worked out a long time ago, their sense of touch was highly tuned. They probably lacked ears, but their entire bodies felt the vibrations in the water and music for whatever was quite pleasurable for Blink. It sometimes requested specific songs using simple numeracy.

Several hours later, due to the shift in the current and another change of air canister, Sam lifted herself out of the water. Swimming was both wonderfully relaxing, and exhausting. Pulling off her helmet, Sam quickly stripped off the rest of her suit. She carried them inside and put them on the rack she had installed at the bottom. It was no different than the one at the top, only now she knew it was safe enough to use both, especially with blink around.

Heading back into the citadel, Blink rose out of the water with a few flashes her comms unit didn't pick up.

"Sorry Blink, I don't understand."

She grabbed her soap and shampoo, before stepping into the water. She didn't feel weird about being naked in front of the creature, after all it was naked too and extremely reluctant to touch her.

Blink flashed, before pointing a tentacle at the soap she carried. "Question," came the translation.

That could mean a few things, but Sam figured Blink meant, 'what is it?'

"Soap," Sam said, pointing to the bar. "Shampoo," she pointed to the bottle.

"Question," Blink flashed again.

Sam nodded and offered her hand to Blink. "Examine," she said.

It was something they used to say that something should be checked thoroughly. Blink was reluctant, but picked up her hand. The tentacle was cool and she felt all the fingerlike suckers run over her skin. It felt all over, before releasing her.

"Bad," Sam said, pointing at her hand. Then she wet them, added soap and scrubbed while Blink watched. When she washed the soap away, she offered her hand back to Blink. "Examine."

Again, Blink reached out and took her hand, repeating the motion, before flashing something that translated as "Different, unknown."

Retrieving her hand, Sam pointed at it and smiled, "Good." Then she gave her skin a quick rub and said, "Bad." Holding up the soap, Blink nodded at her.

So she got to work. Starting with shampoo, she washed her hair and rinsed it off. Then she scrubbed herself down with soap. But it was Blink's sudden touch that caught her unaware. Its tentacles brushed over her shoulders from behind. She froze, but it didn't suddenly grab her or do anything other than lightly stroke her skin. Turning around, it shrunk back for a moment.

"Bad?" it flashed.

Sam smiled and shook her head. "It's okay."

"Confused," came the response.

Sam sighed and nodded. Then she held out her hands. "Good," she said.

Blink seemed to hesitate for a moment, before reaching out for her again. It touched her arms gently, before moving to her shoulders. Sam just smiled, before holding up the soap and using it to scrub her chest and stomach. Then she held the soap out to Blink. If it wanted to learn about her, it could scrub her back. So when the creature took the soap, Sam turned around and pulled her hair over her shoulder. Blink just looked at her for a moment, so she pointed at her back.

Blink flashed, "Affirmative."

It's tentacles were soft, but firm as it ran the soap over her shoulders. Sam smiled despite herself. The tentacles running over her skin seemed to suck and scrub at her and Sam found the experience quite pleasurable. Little by little the tentacles scrubbed further and further down her body. They tickled the sides of her ribs and over her ass. Before she knew what was happening, a tentacle pushed between her ass cheeks, scrubbing there too. Then one pressed between her legs and Sam froze as she felt hundreds of small suckers gently massaging inside her labia. As one sucker latched to the tip of her clitoris, Sam reached down and grabbed the intruding limb. Immediately, Blink froze.