I'm a Stingray?

Eventually it appeared that Dana's efforts were worthwhile. As these crystal fish simply chose to cooperate, right after they embraced a bit of logic.

At first only a few of these fish were brave enough to approach the same stingrays, who slaughtered members of their tribe a moment ago, but that eventually became beneficial.

After the majority witnessed that these few crystal fish weren't being attacked, the others simply were motivated to swim forward.

This created a domino effect. The entire tribe became convinced that this little team of stingrays were hostile, only if they were attacked.

Some of these odd fish felt comfortable, and some were still doubtful; but the overall peace between the two parties had drastically replenished.

After tens of sentences that guaranteed assurance, Dana decided to put the team's main task in front of everything else.

That was why she calmly asked, "Okay so we're all friends now, great. Now do any of you know where we can find the source?"

Neither of the team were exactly sure regarding what they should expect from this... source?

They were even clueless regarding how connected this source was, with the overall disaster up on the reef. They couldn't quite puzzle things together.

The team even assumed that this massive tunnel didn't have anything to do with the overall disaster.

But it was these exact uncertainties that pushed the team forward. If this so-called source had useful information to share, then the team felt pressured to figure things out.

Contrary to what the stingray lady hoped for, the tribe members shared an aura of silence.

Neither of them answered Dana's desperate question, and at this point it almost seemed like these creatures hid something.

So she had to pressure once more, "Really? Neither of you know where we can find the source?"

"We don't know..." A crystal fish lightly answered.

And then urged to add, "But there's this big fish who probably knows,"

"Okay then where can we find that fish?" Timothy decided to intervene.

"It doesn't like being interrupted, so it's a bad idea to send you there." Another one of these odd fish decided to point out.

But then the hero assured them with a cocky smile, "That's okay. We can fight it if that's what it's looking for."

"That's a bad idea," Another crystal fish between these tens, advised.

But before a long debate could have broken out that solely featured ego, Dana decided to advance this exchange of information.

"Can any of you take us to this big fish lady?" She questioned.

"Yes," Several fish answered all at once.

With a small sigh the stingray lady expressed, "Problem solved then."

"Actually there is one more thing," Another one of these weird fish broke into the conversation.

"What is it now?" Dana asked, as her patience swiftly spread thin.

That same fish who spoke out earlier, now revealed. "Your friend killed our mother. Now we need to find a new one or our entire tribe will die within a week."

"What does that even mean?" Timothy mumbled from a distance of a few feet.

Before any sub-topics could have unfolded, Dana advanced. "Okay and how can we help you find a mother?"

"We don't need to find a mother," A crystal fish corrected.

And then added, "It's easy to make a mother, either of us just needs to eat a Gantap crystal."

"And just what the hell is that?" Timothy intervened once more.

"It's a crystal," The other answered, unintentionally sassy.

And then continued, "But it's guarded by a flame-haired snake, so we can't get one alone."

Snoopy could put two and two together, enough to figure out what kind of species these fish referred to.

He had actually almost killed what could have been the same type, so of course he felt confident to face another one.

That was why he stated, "I'll go find this crystal for them, you two just go meet that big fish or whatever."

It felt fair for Snoopy to handle this extra situation, as he was the one who killed this tribe's mother to begin with.

"You want to split up?" The stingray lady questioned for the sake of pressuring the other.

With a casual tone the other assured, "Yeah, it shouldn't be dangerous so it's not a big deal."

The idea itself sounded good enough, as it should help the whole team progress a few steps forward, even though they were working individually.

But all the fine lady could think of, was. "I'll be alone with Timmy?"

The idea made her already nervous, and she could feel herself becoming awkward from this point even.

For a minute she was frozen on her spot, and wasn't exactly talkative either.

She did not notice that Snoopy had already left with a handful of fish, for the sake of soughting that weird crystal.

And the hero was in front of the lady at the moment. He kept waving his tail for the good lady's attention.

It took her another half a minute to break out of that trance-like state, but now she could at least cooperate.

She also heard her friend stating, "We're ready to go meet that big fish. Are you doing alright?"

"Uh I'm good," The stingray woman answered all honestly.

And after a light sigh the hero expressed, "Thought that your powers paralyzed you or something."

And before the other could have fully analyzed the surroundings here, the hero gestured for her to follow along.

They slowly swam out of this cavern, and found themselves in the large tunnel that they originally had travelled through.

It was confusing how these fish made their way around in this area, as every wall was just coated with crystals, so naturally it would be difficult to make any details out.

But yet these odd fish were oriented enough to swim in a straight line, and were still aware of where they were headed.

Eventually they swam towards a small tunnel that resided on the other side of this large main route.

And of course they followed this rabbit-hole deeper, to meet what they swiftly traveled for.