Carja panicked as the limbs wrapped around her, thrashing like a fish, jumping and bucking and doing whatever she could to break free. Her head snapped beneath the water and she panicked, bubbles gushing from her maw before she snapped it shut, holding what breath she had left. She had to get free!!

Her claws kicked out at the water and her head met air again, lungs gasping for it as she kicked and thrashed, fighting as desperately as she could to keep her head above the water at least.

"G-GET HELP!", she cried to Comet, thrashing and wiggling as much as she possibly could.

@Comet

Comet could see the tentacles tighten their hold on Carja as the dragon started struggling even more. She had to help! Carja called out for her to get help, but, when she looked around, there was no one nearby. Well of course not, they were in the middle of a storm! Who in their right mind would even come out here during a storm?

The pup was about to try and bite the tentacle holding the dragon when she saw another one come of the depths straight towards her. At this point she was starting to wonder how her legs were even holding up against all this, and she tried flinging herself to the side so that it would miss.

A slithery twist, a jerk of talons, and Carja had broken free. She would likely be left floundering in the water--could she even take flight, like that?--and who was to say what the scent of her bleeding tongue had yet to draw in.

The tentacles jerked free--and they had missed Comet, but there she still was, a wolf in a surging sea.

Easy prey, no? There was a pause, the tentacles slinking back beneath the waves--and then they shot out, in an attempt to ensnare the wolf pup, all sleekly-gleaming black muscle and pulsing suction-cups.

Back on shore, the large Redfang was still struggling to return home, to the sea... but it was too far from the water, as yet. It was trying, but thus far, failing.

Comet can evade the creature with a roll of 16+. Carja can attempt to aid, or free herself, or stop the Redfang from escaping...

@Carja

Carja snarled as the tentacles whipped past, aiming for Comet. She dove after them and swam, teeth gnashing as she reached out her claws to reach for the monster and distract it long enough for Comet to leave. She kicked at the beast, trying to get it in the eye or something. If the message wasn't clear, it was now.

That one's MY friend!

"GO AWAY!!", she snarled under the water, bubbles leaving her maw, "WE'LL LEAVE!!"

She slapped her tail and roared at it, darting her head up to gulp for air before roaring at it again, hoping to scare it off. She was a creature of oxygen, not water.

@Comet

Comet gasped in relief as she watched the tentacles recede back into the water-- only for them to shoot back up again straight towards her. Oh no this was bad. The tentacle monster looked like it still had a lot of energy, and it wasn't giving up, while she had barely any left. "Run Carja!" she would let the monster take her, hopefully Carja would be able to escape. But the dragon came back to attack the tentacles, diving towards them. This would be her chance to escape, then Carja might be able to fly them away-- if her wings weren't damaged. She mustered up some more energy in a feeble attempt to dodge again.

Dragon's claws scored over one of the creature's many eyes.

It was hauling itself--and Comet--at great speed into deeper water, so that by the time the dragon struck it was dozens of yards into the surf--and just about to sink.

Distraction... successful; Comet was released to flounder, to sink or swim on her own, and no fewer than four tentacles shot up to ensnare Carja's legs--and to submerge with her tightly-gripped. The beast was massive, muscled, each single tentacle like a great constricting snake as it dove deeper.

Comet would see the tentacles simply drag the dragon-creature beneath the waves. In an instant, all that was left was storm; it was as though the dragon had never existed at all, nor the kraken-beast. The wolf cub was left alone.

Sinking, plunging deeper and deeper with its considerably bulky prey, the tentacled monster blinked its many eyes. The one was scratched, bruised shut; the beast's mantle seemed to rotate, as if to examine Carja balefully. A horned, pointed beak became visible, then; it briefly parted to reveal an enormous, lamprey-like mouth beneath, full of long, hooked teeth. Then the creature had plunged deeper, each stroke of its tentacles thrusting them farther, and farther.

Farther from air. From breath.

Farther from the now-distant roar of the storm above, of the wind lashing the surf, of the rumble of thunder.

Farther from the light.

Would Carja's ears pop? Would she panic, drowning, flailing in what might be her final moments?

The world below, in mere moments, was now still, pitch black, and eerily hot. Flashes of oily rock slicked by, illuminated by the bioluminescence of the monster and the dragon both: bizarrely symmetrical, only the crumbled tops of something more ancient. They seemed to be almost the ruins of something else, something... greater, something lost to time--or perhaps lost to another place? One held a glyph, even; a strange sigil, pulsing a deep and unnatural violet, something almost painful to see. And then the tentacled monster turned, gripping Carja, turning her to feed-

-and something else came barreling in from the dark. Carja would see only the briefest glimpse. It was all eyes, teeth, fins; it gave the impression of something impossibly large, sleek, black. The tentacled beast was torn away in its passing, the wash of water dragging Carja away, upward, in the powerful surge of its wake. She was free--but she was not alone, down here.

The water tasted of blood.

@Carja

Carja's thoughts were void of any wording as she desperately tried to get the monster to get away from the wolf.

"HA!", she said, as her friend was released, "Take that you-"

Tentacles wrapped around her and she gasped, just in time to be dragged beneath the water. Her wings billowed around her like sails, her eyes widening as the surface grew further and further away. This time she wasn't so stupid as to roar at the beast, desperately needing to keep what air she had. Her eyes closed and she desperately hoped she wasn't going to die down here. She couldn't die down here!

Her ears gained the cottony feeling of a pressure change and she instinctively swallowed, popping them and allowing her to continue to focus to try and break free, her powerful tail not making it easy for the creature.

Panic had long since turned to anger, anger about the creature daring to separate her from her family. Her eyes caught the glyph in the corner of her eye, her eyes widening. What... was this place?

Teeth filled her vision and she tensed, ready to bite and claw and go down with a fight-

She surged upwards, spinning around and around, horribly disoriented, the creature having yanked that thing off like it was a leech. She thrust out her wings to right herself, needing desperately to breathe.

The bubble formed around her head, thick and big, allowing her to breathe out and then breathe back in, holding it again. Of course, she wouldn't be able to do this for long, but it allowed her extra time as she made for the surface, moving like a serpent with her tail moving up and down, her legs and wings tucked in to allow her to move towards the surface as fast as possible before whatever creature that was there came for her, instead. She was never touching Fornax after this...

@Comet

Comet felt the tentacles tighten around her, and pull her further and further away from the shore. This was it. She was going to die. Her muscles had barely any strength left in them to struggle, so she let herself go limp. That energy was going to be needed for her to swim back to shore when this was over. If it was going to be over. Was she going to die?

Suddenly, the tentacles released her, and she looked to see that Carja had hit the monster. They were safe now, all she would need to do was swim back to shore. But the tentacles were fast, and the dragon disappeared underwater along with the monster. Comet was alone. She would need to dive, and go save Carja, but she could already tell something like that was going to be impossible. She was too tired, but she had to do this! The pup was about to dive down when she saw the shape of the dragon swimming up towards her. Yes!

But now, there was the problem of if she could stay afloat. Comet doggy paddled in place, too tired to fight against the waves, but having enough energy not to sink. She waited for Carja to come up, and wondered what happened to the tentacle monster.

The breakers had grown large; had anyone else been present to observe, they might have praised Comet's heroism, her bravery, in what would have been undoubtedly fruitless attempts to save the dragon that had been dragged below.

The surf threw her violently with each surge, her weakened muscles at least being carried to shore by the natural tide; torrents of rain obscured from her Carja's ascension from the surface, if only briefly.

There was no further sign of the monsters of the deep. Only the raging sea, and the lifting fog, empty of tentacles or fins.

Behind the two Gembound, at least a little aided by the storm's raindrops pouring across it, the big Redfang was yet again trying to flop toward the sea; if no one stopped it it might yet escape, though finally killing it would certainly put a stop to its attempts. Was its determination to survive heroic, or comical-? Maybe a little bit of both.

@Carja

Carja breached the surface and gasped for air, shaking her head and instantly padding for shore, desperate to get the Hell out of the water and onto solid ground, and then possibly just run away. A wave crashed over her head and she was under again, panicking harder than before. Her tail thrashed and she shot under the waves instead, going and going until her arms started to ache.

Please I don't want to die-! she thought, practically sobbing as she just tried to feel sand under her feet, swimming towards shore as fast as she could, following the push of the waves.

She wanted her dad. And screw Redfangs!!

@Comet