Melvin wandered off into a place where the fluffy family wouldn’t dare follow, or so he thought, Dead Man’s Swamp. A swamp that had claimed numerous men in the span of a few months, operations in the area had been abandoned, the few homes that were in a five mile radius had been evacuated and abandoned.
Melvin looked on at the green sludge that bubbled in the waters, algae, it’s always been algae. What hid beneath the algae was a whole different story, there were beasts that ate men in a single bite, but it’s been so long that nobody’s sure whether these leviathans had remained or died off. Melvin hoped for the best and looked around the waters to find something to boat across the swamp with. He remembers water lilies with pads big enough to hold a couple of men on them, if they could hold two full grown men, they’ll have no problem with a single man.
Melvin waded through the gunk that was the algae, making his way through mangroves and other aquatic flora. He held the things in his arms up high, so they wouldn’t get wet and possibly be ruined.
“Mistah! Mistah nu gu! Wawa bad fo’ fwuffy!!” The fluffy stallion called out to Melvin, its calls falling on deaf ears as Melvin was too focused on finding one of those monstrous lily pads. “Pwease, mistah! Mummah nee nummies an housie!” The mare pleaded, now getting desperate and looking for a way to get to Melvin without treading in the waters.
Eventually, Melvin found one of these lily pads, already exhausted, he quickly got on and rowed his way through the swamp with his arms. He looked around for any sign of the fluffies, none, they were out of sight… and now, out of mind. Melvin took some time to rest, gazing up at the sky as the sun was as cruel as ever. He intentionally went through the swamp to lose the fluffies, seeing them more of a liability than anything, he and his gang already had to fight and scavenge almost every day to survive in this world. He then thought to himself.
’Hey, wouldn’t these things be a good source of food…?’
He furrowed his brows as he thought about it extensively, his train of thought broken by a vibration in the waters. A low bellow that came from the deepest part of the swamp. Melvin had a long way to go before reaching the shore to these waters, although he could get away with simply wading through the waters, there’s no knowing how deep the swamp could get in some areas and if there were anything that could eat him in a matter of seconds. Then it hit him, the lily pad folded into itself, pinning Melvin lightly as it sank. Something had hit one side of the lily pad, hoping to tip it over and get at the man that sat in it.
Melvin now desperately splashed around, leaving his scavenged goods to sink into the swamp, climbing back onto the now folded lily pad with his machete in hand. He looked around anxiously, trying to row back to where he came from, the only problem… he had gotten lost. He felt his heart pounding at his chest, seeing the shrouded form of something long and thick as he looked into the waters, his breathing was quick, fearing for his life. He kept rowing towards one direction and one direction only, hoping that he’d row to safety before the man-eating beast could claim another soul in its stomach. He tried keeping calm, trying to fool himself into thinking that this was just some curious creature that would do no harm to him, ultimately failing as the beast brushed against the lily pad from under.
He kept rowing, with no intention to stop, feeling his eyes well up with tears from the sheer amount of fear and adrenaline pumped into his veins. He was sure that this leviathan would dine on him today, he was in the middle of these waters, in the middle of its domain.
~~~
The fluffy family waddled around the edges of the swamp, hoping that this’d just have the form of a giant pond. “Wasbewwy… wat du when mummah an fwuffy find mistah…? Fwuffy gu wif mistah?” The mare looked over to the stallion, the stallion sighing, nodding at the question.
“Yeh, Wasbewwy find mistah and mistah giv nummies and housie! Maybe mistah fink dat fwuffy can gu wif mistah in wawa… maybe mistah nu kno dat wawa bad fo’ fwuffy.” The stallion wondered, did Melvin think they could cross water? Hopefully it was all just a misunderstanding, maybe he’d even come back for them!
The stallion looked over and gave his mare a smile, to reassure her that everything would be okay.
SPLASH
”SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE-“
One of those leviathans had burst out of the waters like an alligator ambushing prey, all the mare could see were those long, thin, fleshy whiskers as they were dragged back into the waters. It clamped down on the stallion and retreated into the swamp in a matter of seconds, leaving the mare widowed.
“SPESHUW FWEN!! NUU! Hu huu…” She held out a hoof, now keeping her distance from the edge of the swamp. “Nuu… hu huu… speshuw fwen… hic.” She now mourned her mate, tears flowing down her cheeks. She trekked on, hoping to find that man again, hoping to fulfill the last wish of her stallion, to at least find a safe place with food and someone to care for her and her foals.
~~~
Melvin breathed heavily as he tried his hardest to stay afloat on the lily pad, soon enough, he saw another one of those lily pads off in the close distance. He quickly started rowing towards it, a few feet away before the beast struck again, it knocked him off of the safety of the lily pad, he sunk. With quick thinking, he held his machete in his mouth by the handle, feeling the muddy floor of the swamp about seven feet away from the surface of the water, pushing himself up with a jump before desperately starting to swim towards the other lily pad. The beast almost had him during the jump towards the surface, brushing past his feet, he felt the beast’s slimy skin and heard it bellow once again.
The moment he felt the rim of the other lily pad, he quickly climbed onto it and started to row towards the shore he saw at the distance, it was far, but he hoped the waters would get too shallow for the beast’s graceful swimming to be of much help aside from a slight boost. His arms were tired, his legs were tired, his whole body was tired, but he wasn’t safe yet… he rowed with all his might, the beast coming back to knock him out of this new lily pad. Melvin looked back and saw the silhouette of the beast approaching, transferring his machete from his mouth to his hand, he clutched the handle as he approached the back of the lily pad, raising his machete up high and waiting for the right time to strike. He saw the beast’s head and hacked at it, a small wound, but enough to shock the beast enough that it retreated. Melvin sighed in relief, quickly going back to rowing towards the shore.
He finally reached the shore, quickly getting off of the lily pad and collapsing on the muddy shores. He quickly pushed himself up, breathing heavily as he dragged himself away from the shore.
Melvin panted, looking back at the swamp as the waters churned with the man-eating beasts within. He looked aside before spotting one of the fluffies that had followed him from before, scowling as he had to deal with that now. He stood, going against his body’s desire to rest, just to leave.
“M-mistah! Mummah nee mistah! Nee housie an nummies fo’ b-babbehs! Hu huuu…!” The mare rushed over, she was also exhausted from all the walking and running away from the leviathans that she did. She saw Melvin walking away from the swamp, trying to reach him before she was left behind.
Melvin ignored her cries, not stopping for her at all, he just kept walking until the mare’s cries grew quiet. He then looked over to where the mare was, she had already reached him, how she did, he didn’t know. The mare hugged his leg, tears streaming down her cheeks while her foals held onto her fluff and peeped. “Mistah, p-pwease! Mummah nu hav speshuw fwen nu mowe… hu huu… Babbeh nee nummies…“ She begged through snot and tears, pulling at Melvin’s heartstrings, but not enough for him to pick her up and comfort her. He just let her tag along.
“Muh… Mistah wet mummah gu wif y-yu…?” She asked with a sniffle, to which Melvin just nodded at her, without as much as a glance towards her. “Fank yu!! Mummah su happy…! Mummah have housie an nummies fo’ babbehs! Fank you, mistah…!” She thanked him, her little wings fluttering with joy, with even more tears flowing down her cheeks.
Melvin scoffed, continuing the trek towards the gang and their shelter, now with a new member in tow. He didn’t really want this to happen, heck, he even tried to lose them by going through the swamp. Well, the jokes on him, he lost what he wanted and earned what he didn’t.