80 Days: Under the Waves

by Sharp Spark

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My spirits were lifted as I discovered one stand selling so-called sea cucumbers. Personally, I was quite fond of cucumbers on dry land, and certainly assumed that a saltwater variety would be quite different, but still adequate for consumption.

Oh how wrong I was!

I knew something was up as soon as the sharkpony trader handed me the basket with my purchase, his smile sparkling with amusement. Nonetheless, I held my head high and trotted over to a nearby alley to inspect the wares. What I found inside weren’t cucumbers in any sense of the term, but rather wriggling wormy creatures, slimy to the touch!

I could not tell if a prank had been pulled on my behalf, or if the nomenclature of the deep truly was so backwards as to be totally unrecognizable. Either way, I was too disgusted to return and complain, and after depositing the basket in a nearby garbage bin, I hastily left the market behind.

Eschewing the city proper, I explored the outskirts…
A nearby ship described as a cathedral drew my interest...