ATLANTIS VALOR AEGEUS.
Amidst the deep waters rushed Atlantis upon his orca, fiercely pursuing the tiger shark for today's hunt. His dependable nature had granted him the lovely opportunity of hunting this vicious predator all by himself while his companions had dropped behind to take care of a couple bull sharks, the smaller and less aggressive of the sharks they'd set out to hunt for the day. The tiger shark was a ferocious one, likely because the hunting group had chanced upon it when it was about to feed, provoking a starved beast. "You're our best, Valor," they reasoned, "If there's anyone that can triumph over it, it's you." and promptly left him.
He urged his orca, Aeneas, to move faster, quickly patting his sleek black body and he obeyed, his tail thrusting harder to drive them forward faster. Aeneas weaved through underwater arches and rock formations with trained mastery, having practiced such swerves and dodges regularly with Atlantis since his juvenile ages. Atlantis liked Aeneas the best out of the couple of orcas he previously owned and had outlived; he was the fastest and also the sturdiest. The exceptional flexibility and muscularity concentrated in his fluke and tail made it a formidable steed indeed, one which was unparalleled among sharks and orcas alike ever since its birth.
The tiger shark was rather intelligent, however, and knew to swiftly escape the hoard of mermen on their powerful orcas, or at least isolate one from his group. As it dashed, it would purposefully squeeze itself through rather tight spaces, hoping to shake off the large orca. As a result, Aeneas began to abruptly pause and falter in his movements in order to avoid crashing into rocks which was rather dangerous for Atlantis who had to tighten his grip on the orca's dorsal fin while holding his trident in one hand. However, the tiger shark had been also intentionally speeding up throughout the chase and led its pursuers towards a massive wall before personally swerving off to avoid danger, while the huge killer whale and his rider practically hurled themselves into the jagged surface of the rock formation. Aeneas had slammed head-long into a pointed edge of the wall, the collision forcing Atlantis to similarly be thrown off his back. Seeing how the hunters were now disoriented and vulnerable, the tiger shark rushed back in to attack. Mustering what little cognition was remaining in his dizzied state, Aeneas defended the unconscious Atlantis from the shark by whipping his powerful tail upon the shark's body and breaking its ribs to paralyze it. The killer whale now sinking weakly into deeper depths as the impact had been immense enough to cause a concussion even in the stronghold that was the orca's body.
...
Atlantis had only bleary memories since that collision. He drifted to and from consciousness as he laid on the shores of the beach, the crimson slowly dripping from his body to mix with the ebbing tides and grainy sand. The constant flow of water never allowing his wound to congeal or clot and instead, only subjecting him to a worsening condition where his already pale skin grew whiter and his lips turning ashen from the blood loss. The vital and dynamic hunter now looked no different than a helpless whale washed ashore, counting the hours until its eventual demise.
He didn't remember much but only the sensation of being pulled from the freezing waters that used to refresh and revitalize him to drier land and visions of a human holding and grabbing his face and abdomen where the puncture wound from the rocks lay. The injury wasn't a gaping hole but a moderate puncture that, when coupled with a harsh crash, caused him to lose consciousness. He recalled feeling the sudden sharp pressure on his lesion and his midsection being tightly wound with what he could only presume was a piece of cloth from his savior. Atlantis made as much effort as he could to properly open his eyes and note the man's face as he worked to bandage him. Perhaps it was his cloudy mind at work but the man appeared almost angelic, the blonde hair seeming like threads of gold and the aquamarine of his eyes a pleasant green hue. Atlantis closed his eyes, burning the image of his visage into his mind while resting to conserve his energy.
