I'm a Stingray?

As they gazed towards the left, it was fair to say that both of these fine males were rendered out of words! After a moment of trying to find the best form of expression, Timothy was the first to speak.

But he could only lightly shout, "What the fuck!"

"Why are you yelling? This isn't so weird," That same female tone questioned, as she felt a tad irritated already.

The old man decided to hold the conversation by the horns after that point, and he softly described what most would struggle with.

He simply reminded, "Dana, we saw you getting killed... Of course this is weird."

It was easy to figure out why these couple of friends were utterly baffled. Dana floated near them and conversed quite a bit too, that should not be possible!

And it seemed like her ashes and countless bones, had been put back together as well. They have been merged with one another in such grand perfection, that not even a blemish could be told apart! In other words, she was back in one piece.

This scene seemed bizarre in quite a few definitions, but thankfully this fine bony-lady decided to remind them of an important detail.

Through a small stutter she explained, "Purified radiation is holding my soul and bones together... I don't really feel any pain."

"And it looks like that same radiation has restored your body," The geezer helped her fulfill the explanation.

Timmy began feeling quite excited, so he began yelling a thought out. It was a detail that he managed to pick up, and he craved an answer. Regardless if such an out-burst, spooked the others or not.

He shouted, "Does it mean that you're immortal now!"

After giving the hero quite a bit of a stare, Gerlach sighed and began pondering those few words over. Which allowed him to reach such a realization as well.

Which was why he followed along, "Hate to say it, but the boy might have a good point."

"Oh, I'm not immortal." The skeleton assured.

And then continued to explain, "Radiation holds me together, but that attack has weakened it a lot."

At this point she realised that her words didn't make much sense. Which was why she stopped talking, all for the sake of pondering over her own dilemma.

And after a moment, she sealed the explanation by adding. "I think this radiation has a life-force too, in some weird way. Now half of it is gone... so I have to be more careful."

Due to being quite quick at catching up, the old shrimp managed to add thoughts of his own. "Taking damage like that again, could actually kill you. Now I kinda understand how you're alive!"

These friends were mostly confused right now. And they were trying to push away the shock of the skeleton's return, by trying to understand just how she managed to survive. Knowledge was comforting to a certain extent, so they craved it.

[Your friends are quite right. Half of the radiation she carried before is gone now. As if that same radiation, had withstood all of the damage]

[Dana, if you can still hear me; I encourage you to look for another crystal that can give you powers. I think it can increase your radiation quantity, meaning that you'd be able to handle more damage in the future]

"I can hear you very well, system." The fine lady ensured.

Yet her bony-features turned into a frown, and she didn't shy away to remind. "I have no idea where to find those crystals. It's difficult to find a single shard of that weird worm's body. Feels like looking for a drop of water in the ocean."

"We will find one, don't worry." Her stingray friend comforted.

He tried to be of aid, although it was easy to see that the young boy was half-conscious right now.

So such a statement could either be considered wishful thinking, or uttered out while being half conscious.

Perhaps all of this excitement had not treated the hero so well. Too much emotion while under a severe injury, didn't seem like a proper combination.

Dana noticed that her friend's eyes were moving upwards a bit too much, so she got closer for the sake of putting up an attempt to help.

This fine lady wasn't sure what was going on, because she had been knocked out for quite a while. But the sight of the wound that this boy carried, helped understand that the battle did not unravel to their favour.

As for now; Dana was quick to understand, that it wasn't the best idea to fall asleep, while under the influence of such a wound.

Which was why she first shouted, "Stay with me, Timmy!"

And afterwards uttered something that might help him pay attention, "I need you to survive, hold on! Do you want to know, why I got bitten by that dumb fish so easily?"

It didn't seem like the young man was present, so she had to continue speaking rather than waiting for an answer.

So with quite a bit of honesty, she added. "I got distracted, because I wanted to prove myself to you."

"What?" The sea-pancake suddenly questioned, as his pupils returned and expanded quite a bit.

Embarrassment struck the fine lady rather heavily, as she realised what just came through her mouth.

But there was no going back now, this topic had to be talked about; especially since it proved effective to keep the hero awake.

So even though she was hesitant, Dana found motives to slowly continue. "I really want to look important in front of you. It's difficult to pick what I should feel..."

Afterwards she realised that her words barely made any sense. So she decided to seek the very root of these emotions, and break it down into definitions.

A moment later, she decided to remind him. "You saved my life that day we met, so I respect you a lot. So I don't mind being by your side, for a really long time."

The lady was quick to understand that she had become a bit creepy, so she wanted to bail herself out by allowing the boy in topic, to speak.

It was easy to give him some space to chatter, as she only had to ask. "Uh... all of this is very confusing, isn't it?"

Such stunning words had truly captured the young man's focus so far. His eyes twirled around in all directions, as he tried to make sense of this conversation; but this confusion also managed to bring quite a few flowery emotions.

Eventually, he became self-aware enough to answer. "Yes, this is confusing; but I kinda understand you. This is how I feel about my siblings, although they didn't save my life..."

After spotting that this talk was becoming too complicated, Gerlach decided to intervene. "The emotion you two are talking about, is loyal friendship. Both of you appreciate each other, and want to help one another as well."

To end this form of conversing, he also had to add. "You two are young right now, but these emotions will make sense as you grow, don't worry."

Yet regardless of how much he wanted to push this conversation away, the skeleton lady still had a few more things to say; which was why she tried to express another aspect of this friendship.

Even though it took a bit of effort to find the right words, she still managed to recite. "Our shrimpy friend is right. I want to be here for you, and share the pain as well. I owe you a lot, you saved my life after all."

At this point Timmy became a tad angry, and urged to assure the value this woman had. "You just died to help me, that's too much already! You don't owe me anything, stop worrying about that."

"Maybe you two aren't so young anymore," Gerlach added, as his lips rested on one another.

He felt proud of knowing this couple of stingrays. Not only did they prove powerful before as individuals ~ but they're also able to straighten out their emotions, even after such a tremendous battle. Normal children might not be able to do that.

However, Dana decided to take the lead of the talk by adding. "Thank you... erg, friend. You think we are even now, that means a lot to me..."

The hero wanted to assure that she won't endure such damage again, due to distraction. So it was best for such a topic to be faced directly.

That was why he chirped, "We are equals, so maybe you should stop trying to prove yourself. You're a skeleton now, because you backed me up in battle against that collector."

Once such a day had been reminded, it was important to add. "If anything, I owe you a lot."

"We don't owe each other anything. Let's all try to keep our own asses safe." Another female tone interrupted the conversation.

And just then, a long fish dropped near them. It was a carcass so to say, and its skin carried different shades of blue.

Osira appeared near them afterwards, and advised. "We should only help each other in bad times like this one, or else it's every fish for themselves."

"This girl is exaggerating, but she's right." The geezer decided to weigh in, so every emotion could be straightened out.

"I guess," The black-grouper agreed for the sake of pushing this touchy topic aside.

And then she had an urge to ask, "I got you the barracuda you asked for, Tim. This should heal you, right?"