[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Gloria could not stop grinning. This was not because she was happy (though she was, in fact, happy), but rather it was a side-effect of her unusual face, for Gloria was an eel, and as an eel, she spent a lot of time in the deep water.

It was no surprise, therefore, that Gloria was an expert in all things salvage - from flotsam to sunken chests, gold to old shoes - and that her services were highly marketable in a world dominated by land-dwelling creatures.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

She sped through the water, her natural bio-luminescence giving her a strong advantage over the competition as it allowed her to see in the darkest places, whilst leaving her gaping bag-like mouth free to grab hold of whatever she found.

Ordinarily, she preferred to work alone, but this time she had been hired to joined a team of wreck-divers who were searching for a lost ship in the deep ocean, and she was already showing off what she thought of as her natural superiority.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Found another one" she said, though it came out slightly garbled due to the large, disc-shaped object in her mouth. She could not leave the water - unless they got her a very large tank - so she spat the object out into the crate they had lowered over the side of the boat, and it was soon hauled up for the team to examine.

Gloria waited by the boat; she knew she had found something valuable when a pleased cry came from the crew, and the crate was dropped back over the side, now empty.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

She dived again, and watched the fish scatter with glee as she zoomed past them, back to the place she found the disc. Hers was an unusual arrangement, she knew, for what could a creature who never left the water want with land-dwellers money?

Hers was a world of blue and green, of forests of kelp and cold depths, and she loved it, but there were some things - shiny, warm things - that only the surface could provide.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Her first commission had bought her an enchanted heat stone - it glowed ever so slightly, and although it was small - no larger than a pebble - it kept her den warm through the bitter winter months, when the cold currents of the North chilled the waters she favoured. She could handle the cold, but it was nice not to have to, and the luxury of a warm den was something other sea-dwellers envied her for.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

She thought about the stone now, as she swam in into the frigid depths, where only creatures like her dared to go; anything that couldn't generate light soon got lost down here, and only the quick - and those with low standards - could make a decent meal out of what could be found.

It always fascinated her how the bright fish of the upper, shallower sea were so different from the grey, sightless creatures she could see now, meandering about their business.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

She feared nothing, confident she could spot and out-swim anything that decided to make her its lunch, though in truth there was very little that could, given her size.

As she swam on, she began to see the dead coral she had found the disc under, and with a grin she reached the ocean floor and began nosing around again. She had no doubt her next find - whatever it would be - would lead her straight to the wreck.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

And she wasn't wrong, though it did pose a problem, for what she found was a little blaze snicky, and that could mean only one thing - the wreck lay near a hot vent, which would pose a problem for anyone, including herself, who was not built for that kind of heat or who could not wear a protective suit, as she had seen some other divers do.

She swam as close as she could, and as the water reached her limit she spotted her target.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

There lay the wreck, lying broken in two against the vent. It was coated in life, but to get so near would mean death; Gloria was forced to retreat, though she fixed its location in her mind.

Not wanting to return empty-handed - though she knew her discovery would be welcome, despite the danger - she hunted around until she found another disc, smaller than the first but much heavier, with some sort of chain attached to it.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Gloria was surprised by how much the disc weighed, and by how much it actually slowed her down, but soon enough she was nearing the surface. She could just make out the crate, though the sunlight was beginning to fade, and she tipped her treasure into the crate with relief.

"This one's heavy" she called out, as the crate began to move, "and I found the wreck, but I don't think we'll be able to get close to it - it's broken in two up against a hot vent."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

A cheer went up from the crew, and Gloria wondered if they had heard her. From what she could hear of them, this thingamijig - whatever it was - was actually what they had been looking for, as it had been on board the wreck when it sank.

A stout Kalamarei leaned over the edge of the boat to let her know they were done, and a pouch of coins was lowered down to her in the crate.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

She was swimming away contentedly, wondering what she should buy next, when she felt the pouch get very, very heavy, as if a great weight had added itself all of a sudden. She did not let go of it, but it was a struggle to return to her lair with her burden, and she was thoroughly exhausted by the time she did so.

What on earth happened? she wondered, teasing open the pouch to see what it was that had given her so much trouble.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

There, lo and behold, lay the disc with the chain, but it was no longer grubby and crusted with door and algae; it gleamed golden in the faint light of her enchanted urchin lamp, and Gloria was mystified as it certainly should not have been in her pouch.

She assumed it had made its own way to her, based on when she felt the weight of the pouch increase, and she turned it over with her snout to look at its other side.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

On one side, the item has a strange, rotating arrow, but it was unlike any compass she had seen. There was no dome of bubble of liquid, and the arrow was not a free-moving piece; instead, it was engraved into the front of the disc, which rotated as one piece.

On the back of the disc, there was an engraved inscription, which Gloria did not understand until the words swam together in her mind; it read "I find what I seek".

[Wild Pet Found]

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Gloria was perplexed; on the one hand, this item had clearly wanted to be in her possession, and the inscription clearly implied it would seek out it's own arrangements; on the other hand, it could very well be that it couldn't leave the ocean after spending so much time in it, and more than anything else Gloria wondered exactly what it wanted with her.

She snorted as a bit of sand tickled her nostril, and a stream of bubbles rose to the roof of her cave.