Somewhere deep down below the Ocean's waves, stupored fish were floating. It started with a few and then more. Some of their eyes weren't even moving, forcing only a weak push of fins when neccessary. Their mouths agap, much akin to a lifeless axphyxia. They came out from the murky depth in dark shadows to then illuminate like floating souls in shimmers of light.
Dropping her carving rock and climbing her legs down to ease behind her rock, Audrelina gazed upon their approach until they drifted overhead and all around, ignoring any knowledge of her as they passed in eery silence.
Many fish had the look of misery, incontent with their lives on a regular occurence, and some were naturally slow, but the fatigue of these fish wasn't normal. Some of their expressions displayed petrification. Something in the Ocean was wrong.

A surging ripple within the water shivered Audrelina, alerting her attention from the floating souls to faster newcomers; frantic fish, fly-running prawns and burst-popping octopi and squids. Next came the schools of fish in disaray, conflicting the current causing Audrelina to grip her rock tighter to save from being swept away. Before Audrelina could call for attention, low rippling sting rays, sporting out placed smiles by those wafting above, joined the rush of fleeing sea creatures.

Something was happening.

As a loner, Audrelina would always opt to avoid company, but watching the Octopods: her primary descendants, joining the rush, she wasn't sure she wanted to be the last to stick around. Pushing herself up upon her arms and out from her rock, exposing her presence, her attempt to plunge into the Ocean traffic and join everyone else was quickly retreated. Serpent faced Frill Sharks were billowing her way.

Forward rolling and pumping her skirt of eight tentical legs in a downwards dive, Aundrelina hid beneath her rock between the sea grass and sand, gathering her many strands of tangled matted plats to clasp against her head. She didnt want her hair picked up and plumed by the current, giving her away. Changing her peached skin hue and red tenticals to match the colouring of her surroundings she kept her face to the sandy bed. Huge bodies now within the traffic were spotting out the sun's light streams as they swept overhead.
Forcing her breath to hold as much as possible, Audrelina swallowed down the overwhelming urge to cry, but large orange crabs carpet running the Ocean bed and racing right beside her face, managed to pull out her whimpers. A ruthless current was building from the chaos, rocking her body to hit against the stone. Her lips trembled and her freckled cheek grazed against the sand and gravel, breaking blood. While Audrelina stayed cowering beneather her rock, no sharks paid the octopus maiden any mind, seemingly too afraid for their own lives to care for hers.

Startled by a bony crustacious prodding to the head, Audrelina squeeked, raising her gaze to see one of the orange crabs stood before her face, its eyes blinking at her and looking back and forth while dancing its feet in nervous trepidation. Taking a few steps it looked back to her, took a few more steps and then beckoned her with its claw. Audrelina shook her head and the crab went running off, unable to wait or persuade. Audrelina trembled, worried to move and worried to stay. The stronger the Ocean traffic raced the more the current built. The rushing blast of water smacking Audrelina flush against her rock. It was then a massive shadow from somewhere far above cast overhead and the traffic turned to a disorder of mess. No one knowing which direction to flee, bumping into each other and crashing. As the mass directly moved over everything went darker. Moans and shrieks and squeeks and hisses and gobbles and even screetches in their many sounded out through the rush.

Trying to drag herself out from her rock shelter against the water force Audrelina found herself caught on a jag of rock. Her seaweed woven bodice hooked by a frond and bulb. Tugging it in a panic and unable to see, the frond held fast, keeping her submerged in the darkness of the overhead shadow.

"Come on, Please come on, Don't do this to me now!"

Shifting as best she could three of her tenticals took over from her hands, touching out the jag to get a better idea of how it was caught, unlatching it as quick as touched. Pitching out her arms and widely sweeping out Audrelina pumped out, lunging into the darkness and hysteria. Facing the direction the traffic had gone she held her arms straight behind her in a streamline arrow, undulating her eight tentical legs in tandem, pulsating sinuously, injecting speed through the water to get on course. The octopus maiden tried to drive herself into the main traffic stream to hit the speedy current flow but with the dark mass still looming, Audrelina kept hitting into others, knocking herself off course. Each time she had to stop and gather herself her tenticals furled into other desperate creatures, causing havoc to them while her pluming hair of matted plats and tangles endangered those trying to pass above.
Disoriented, Audrelina could only curse herself for straying too far from waters she knew. She always got caught up looking for good rock bases to scratch her art into, using coloured rocks and crushed plant hues, grafitti'ing her own imaginative ideas. Her independance being her biggest asset and quality. She hadn't see her birth family since young and she hadn't been interested in making friends because she didn't feel like she fit among anyone. The mermaids sniggered at her and the mermen teased or jibed her. They thought her socially inept and too awkward while she found them unnecessary and simple minded. There wasn't many of her own kind either, leaving Audrelina to enjoy her own company and preferring the presence of creatures. She loved to watch the Jelly fish popping and the Squids dancing. But right at this moment, Audrelina wished more than anything that she wasn't alone. Wished she'd never ventured so far into unprotected waters. Confused and circling, she wished someone could give her direction, pull her back to her senses. A short moment later, as the light filled back in, she figured this out on her own, because when she turned around to see a dragging entwinement of suffering Ocean life stuck in an expansive carpet of inescapable netting, she quickly jetted away from it, believing that this might be the day she was going to die.