Hi! This is Penguin, and I just wrote my first PoTN story, about Pike's moving yet funny backstory! <33 I decided to show this story to the public, so please don't steal/copy it! OC is by me and @BoreaIis IMPORTANT: These symbols mean talking: " " and these mean thinking: { } Without further ado, I present: Change the Tides - The Story of Pike “Hey, guys! Wake up!” Pike swished water playfully over Swamp, his schoolmate. Swamp lifted his head slowly. “Hello, Pike.” he said flatly. “You snoozer-squid! It’s time for our first hunting class!” Pike cried. All the pikes his age already knew how to hunt decently, but this was the time they would learn new techniques and tricks! Pike plunged into the drop-off, to meet his other schoolmates and his new teacher. As he arrived, he stopped abruptly and stared in disdain. His new, awesome, amazing hunting teacher was Slug! Slug was the most BORING and OLDEST fish in Pike’s school. He barely spoke, and seemed to spend his whole life eating. Well, pretty much all the other pikes seemed to spend their whole lives eating. “There you… are.” said Slug s-l-o-w-l-y. Oh yeah. Slug was also a slow talker. Slug paused. The pikes waited. A minute passed. “What happened to Slug?” whispered Fat Bertha Jr. “I do not know,” replied Rock plainly. Pike sighed. “Slug is SLEEPING, obviously! Let’s wake him up!” {Why is it that the other pikes seem to have nothing in their brains? All they think about is food. Am I just different?} Slug paddled forwards, the other pikes trailing behind. They had arrived in The Seaweed Lands, a new hunting area for Pike to discover. Pike wriggled around in the seagrass, excited to be in a new area. “Come here, Swamp! The grass is so comfy!” Swamp eyed the tall grass suspiciously. “It might be dangerous,” he replied slowly. “Come on!” cried Pike in exasperation, “Some grass won’t hurt you!” {Why was Swamp such an idiot sometimes?} Pike was distracted by a flash of movement. A crayfish! It was swimming backwards, heading towards some rocks. Pike launched himself forwards and opened his mouth wide. He snatched the crayfish and crunched it between his sharp teeth. Slug watched from a distance. “Good,” he stated, “I have… taught you… well.” You didn’t teach me anything! fumed Pike, but he kept his silence. It was night. Pike was back home, in his favorite patch of seabed. {I don’t know what’s with me. I’m so different from the others. All the other pikes were so simple, so plain. None of them wanted to have fun, or go on adventures! Also, there was something… special about him. He could swim faster than the other fish and underwater currents never affected him. It was almost as if he could... change the tides. Eventually I’ll find someone like me.} He kept telling himself that as he fell asleep. That morning, Pike decided to go explore. He wanted to test his theory… that he could change the tides. He swam far away, where no other pike would find him: in the shallows. It felt unusual having the floor so close to his scales. He could hear the waves crashing against the rocky shore. Change the tides. Waves slammed into him and pushed him dangerously close to the shore. Change the tides. An enormous wave was building up. Frozen with fear, Pike faced the raging surf. Change the tides! As the huge wave thundered towards him, ready to pull him onto shore, Pike felt energy shift under his scales. For a split second, his heartbeat matched the rhythm of the tide. Power came within him, and exploded from his body. The water swirled at his will. Pike leapt into the air, the water serving as a bubble to protect him. The feeling was exhilarating. Soaring over the lake, he could see everything! The Seaweed Lands, his favorite seabed patch, rocks and sand and earth and life! “Yahoo!” screamed Pike as he climbed higher and higher into the sky. He could see the whole lake! Wait… Near the shore, he saw a flash of turquoise scales. {I probably just imagined that.} Eventually, he lowered himself back into the water, his mind spinning from the thrill. I’d better get back home. He swam back, using currents to propel him forwards. {I’ll come back tomorrow, he promised himself. }
Part 2: The next morning, there was another boring hunting class with Slug. Pike swam reluctantly to The Seaweed Lands to meet up with his school. All the pikes were busy. Swamp was nosing under some dirt, Rock hunted under a rock, Ripple was near the surface of the lake, Fat Bertha Jr. was eating her catch, and Slug was sleeping. Again. Suddenly, a bright purple thing whizzed past near the surface. “A fly! Yummy,” cried Ripple, and bit down. “No!” screeched Pike, “That’s a fishing lure!” Too late. Ripple was being dragged along with the boat. Pike quickly reached out with his powers. He could feel the fishing boat through the water. He summoned a wave and slammed it into the boat. Surprised, the fisherman yanked his fishing rod. The cord snapped, releasing Ripple and the lure back into the depths. Pike waited until the boat went away. “Ripple! I’ll remove the hook!” called Pike. He pushed through pillars of seaweed and spotted Ripple. The fish was thrashing furiously, trying to get rid of the hook. “Hold still,” said Pike, peering at the hook. He gripped the metal firmly in his teeth, and pulled. The hook slid out without much damage. Ripple was free, thanks to Pike! “My mouth hurts,” complained Ripple, then swam away promptly to continue his hunt. Pike was left behind. “Thank you for saving my life, Pike!” he muttered to himself, “Oh, no problem Ripple! I’m always glad to help a schoolmate!” Pike whacked his tail angrily at a pile of reeds, terrifying a small bass. {I’ve had enough of this. I’m going back to the shallows.} Waves lapped at the shore. They no longer scared Pike. He was practicing making jets of water until suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching on land! He quickly ducked underneath the water.. “Okay, let’s continue our attack skills,” came a voice. I understand them? How is that possible?? “Sounds good to me.” came a masculine voice, and the clack-clack of paws on stone. They’re not humans! They’re animals! Pike created a bubble around him and silently, very silently, rose out of the water and hid behind a rock. He gasped. On the shore, he could see a mammal- a wolf! And next to it was the most magnificent creature Pike had ever seen… A dragon! A dragon with turquoise scales, with beautiful pink and blue patterns. I must be dreaming. Dragons don’t exist. A whoosh of wings distracted him, and he saw an owl coming down from the sky and aiming towards the other creatures. Pike half-expected the wolf to leap up at the owl and eat it, but instead, he simply said “Hey, Twilight!” “Hello,” the owl replied, landing on the ground. Twilight fluffed out her wings and asked, “What are we practicing today, Borealis?” The dragon replied, “We’re thinking of attack skills, that sounds good?” The owl hopped towards them, “Sounds perfect.” As Pike watched, his first discovery was, Those are not normal battle moves. Plants exploded from the ground. Flames were blown, and light came down from the sky. And from each move, Pike could feel energy radiating off of them. The same energy I felt while using my powers. He knew it. These creatures have powers like me! I found them! He could feel a tugging… A force urging him towards them. It’s like fate. Little did he know that Fate itself brought him to them. He took a deep breath. Pike emerged from his hiding spot and came to face the creatures- the creatures who were just like him. I won’t be so different anymore. “Hey guys,” said Pike, “What’s up?” Notes: This story was really exciting to make. I made it entertaining on purpose, because Pike is such a fun character when he's with his friends. Basically, Pike is getting annoyed of living with the other fish, and he decides to find others like him :D I might be making more stories about the PoTN, so please lmk if you liked my story! Byee!!