[Orange Steve's POV]

I swim out of my house, excited for today. It's going to be pretty calm compared to the past week or so, I just need to- 

Oh, Origin dang it.

Nosy is back, and he's brought Nerdy and Loud with him. They're trying to look into the windows of Sabre's house. Why. Why must they be like this.

I swim over to them, and they turn to me just as I get close.

"Guys! What are you doing here?!" I exclaim.

"We wanted to see the alien!" Nerdy says.

"Yeah, it's no fair you've just been keeping him here for yourself." Nosy says.

"Wh- I am not 'keeping him for myself', you're making it sound like you think he's an item." I say. "He's been through a lot the past few days and still needs to adjust! And it hasn't exactly been easy on him!"

"Can you at LEAST bring him to the village?!" Loud yells. "We're getting bored over there and everybody's all worked up that you found an alien! It's all everyone's been talking about since Nosy told us!"

I facepalm, already tired of this. It was bad enough when just Nosy was on my back about it, now the entire village?! Seriously?!

"I already said I would bring him to the village a few days ago..." I sigh. "He's just not ready yet."

"Come oooonn..." Nosy whines.

They all start pestering me about it, and... nope. Nope, I don't wanna deal with this anymore. I remember why I moved away.

"Oh my- FIIIIIINE. FINE." I say, and they all back off. "I'll ask him if he's okay with it! It's not a 'yes', though! He might not want to!"

The three other Orange Steves in front of me excitedly smile and swim off. I sigh and go back over to the outside hatch so I can say good morning to Sabre. Or... I guess it's almost noon. He's normally awake by now and he's probably bored.

Climbing into the new base, I notice I don't see Sabre anywhere on the main floor. He's not looking through storage and he's not in this room... he must be in his room.

I walk over to the ladder and climb up, and...

Oh you've gotta be kidding me, he's still asleep.

Sabre's still just curled up in his bed, completely out. I sigh and walk over, trying to wake him up.

"Hey, Sabre, come on. Wake up." I say, nudging his shoulder.

Nope. Didn't work. I try again, this time shaking him a little.

"Hey! Dummy! It's almost noon!" I say a little louder. "You can't be sleeping in this late!"

He just rolls over and now he's facedown on his pillow. How.

"DUDE!" I yell.

"Zzzz..."

...This guy sleeps like a rock. Wait- hang on. I have a fish's tail. I've been able to slap things with my tail fin before. Hmm...

...

...Welp. Hopefully he's not gonna be too mad at me for this.

—————————————————————————————————————

[Sabre's POV]

I wake up to something hitting my face... actually, something hits my entire upper body. Ow.

I immediately get up and look around, but I lean too far left and fall, still tangled in the blanket. Next thing I know I'm lying on my back on the cold metal floor, Orange standing over me. Confused and a little half-awake, I just stare.

"Uh... you okay buddy?" Orange asks after a minute. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you that badly."

"...What?" I say.

"...You are awake right?"

"Think so...?"

Orange starts to laugh. I then rub my eyes and sit up, untangling the blanket from around my legs and tossing it back on the bed.

"What time is it?" I ask, getting up from the floor.

"Dude, it's noon." Orange says, calming down again. "You were like- dead asleep. I had to slap you with my fin to wake you up."

"...Oh." I say, a little embarrassed. "Sorry."

"It's fine, it's not really your fault." Orange says, smiling.

Orange then glances out the window, and suddenly looks panicked.

"Is there something outside-?" I ask, starting to turn around, but Orange faces me forward and pushes me a little towards the ladder.

"Nope, everything's fine! You can go ahead and head downstairs, I'll uh- be there in a second." Orange says quickly.

"Uh... okay?" I say, walking over to the ladder and heading down. He's being weird.

I hear Orange walking upstairs as I reach the bottom of the ladder and start to head to the storage room. I need to check what I need to make a battery charging station for my Seaglide and other devices, and see if I already have the materials. That's really my only plan for today, unless Orange has something. He probably will, knowing him, but I don't mind.

Walking into the storage room, I glance at a few lockers before looking towards the window and-

Oh god not agAIN AAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

I immediately run, screaming, back out of the room and duck under a desk. Orange comes down the ladder, notices the other Steves smushing their faces into the window, and starts towards the entrance hatch.

"Gosh dang it, I told those guys not to-" I hear Orange mumble before he jumps through and into the sea.

I stay under the desk while I hear Orange talking to the Orange Steves outside.

"Guys! What did I tell you?!"

"Technically, Nosy told us what you tol-"

"Funny, not the time to be a wise guy."

"Aw c'mon, Orange, we just wanted to see him!"

"For the last time, he could visit the village later, just not now!"

"Why n-not? I-It's not like w-we'll hurt h-him."

"He only got here a few days ago, he still needs time to adjust! You three almost made him have a panic attack!"

"We didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't mean to scare him, but still. Just- go back to the village. How are you guys even getting here anyway, the water on the path to the village started to sting."

"Oh, when that happened we just started using the cave system that goes under the path."

"There's a cave system-?"

"If you visited home more, you would know."

"Whatever. Just- shoo. You're scaring Sabre."

"But-"

"Happy, I will go grab a stick if you don't leave."

"Okay, fine."

After a few minutes, Orange comes back inside and kneels down next to the desk I'm under, smiling at me.

"Hey, it's okay, they're gone now." He says.

"Thanks Orange." I say, him helping me up while I crawl out from hiding. "What do they even keep coming back here for anyway?"

"Oh, they're from my village, and they're all really excitable. Anything new is found, and they come swimming over. They did the same thing to Red for a while when I introduced him to them, heh..." Orange explains. "Wait, 'coming back'? Have you seen more than those three?"

"Yeah, one was looking through my window last night and it scared me." I reply. "I was hiding behind my bed for a few hours, out of sight from the window he was looking through. He had a bunch of nets, for some reason?"

"Gosh darn it." Orange says, facepalming. "That was probably Fisher, because of the nets. He's one of the few that goes out at night. Sorry about that."

"It wasn't your fault, it's alright." I say.

"Well uh, speaking of them... I have something to ask you." Orange says, a little nervous.

"What?" I ask.

"They all keep pestering me to bring you to the village, both here and at my house. They keep following me and looks like they're pretty committed to pestering me until I bring you there." Orange says. "Do you, uh... want to go? I'll only bring you to the village if you want to."

"Will it get them to leave me alone?" I say.

"Probably... maybe." Orange says. "I dunno."

"Well, it's worth a shot." I shrug. "I'll go."

"Alright, thanks buddy." Orange says, giving a sigh of relief. "C'mon, get your stuff. I'll lead you there."

I go grab my suit and helmet, putting them on, then quickly head back upstairs to get my PDA and scanner. Then, I pop into the storage room to grab a bit of food and water, just in case. Orange smiles as I walk towards the hatch with him, and we both go out into the ocean.

The water's cold, as always, but I get used to it pretty quick. Orange swims next to me as I take out my Seaglide, and we've only just started towards where he said the village was, when;

"OH MY GOSH HEY!" A loud voice suddenly yells next to me.

I scream (again) and quickly swim behind Orange. Orange seems surprised as well, and has to take a moment to collect himself before facing towards the stranger, another Orange Steve.

"Loud, seriously?!" Orange says. "You said you'd go back to the village!"

"I know, but then I saw Happy, Funny, and Shy come over and I still want to see the alien!" Loud replies... loudly. He's almost yelling again. "He looks cool!"

Loud then suddenly swims past Orange and near me, and I keep backing up as he gets closer.

"C'mon, lemme see him!"

"Loud-! Back off, you're scaring him!"

Loud doesn't listen, and soon enough he's chasing me in circles around Orange while Orange tries to stop him. Eventually, Orange has enough and just grabs Loud's fishlike tail and yanks on it. Loud yelps and quickly stops, and I swim close to the surface.

"Owww! What was that for?!" Loud says, clutching his finned tail as Orange lets go of it.

"I told you to cut it out!" Orange says, scolding him. "It's your own fault, dude! Quit trying to get so close to Sabre, give him some personal space for goodness sake! You're only scaring him!"

Orange and Loud bicker for a little bit while I move closer to the surface, noticing my oxygen getting low. I go back under as soon as the tank's refilled, swimming behind Orange again as they come to a resolve.

"Look, Loud, I'm taking him to the village right now. Once we're there, then everyone can meet him." Orange says. "You mind showing me where that cave system you guys have been using is?"

"Wha- Why didn't you just say so?!" Loud exclaims, excited. "Yeah, c'mon! I'll show you!"

Loud quickly swims off, and Orange and I follow. I'm lucky I have my Seaglide, or I wouldn't be able to keep up.

As we swim through the ocean, me occasionally having to go up to the surface for air (which Orange has to explain to Loud), I notice the scenery around us starting to change. The soft green kelp and seagrass starts to taper off, being replaced by small patches of bright red seagrass that resembles the grass on land. I see species of fish that are normally uncommon to see in the Safe Shallows become more abundant, and some species disappear entirely.

We soon stop at the entrance of a cave, a few unnatural light sources made of a bioluminescent plant wrapped around sticks lining the rocky walls.

"Here it is, leads right to the village!" Loud says.

"Any Crashfish in there?" Orange asks, peering into the cave.

"Nope, we cleared them all out when we found the cave." Loud says. "It's fine."

"I should go refill my oxygen tank, just to be safe." I say, pointing to the surface. "We don't know how long this cave is."

"It talks?" Loud says, surprised.

"Of course Sabre talks, ya dum-dum." Orange says, annoyed. "You guys keep making it sound like you think he's an animal or something."

"What? No we don't!"

"Yes, you do."

"Don't!"

"Do."

"Don't!"

"Do."

I just swim up to the surface while they go back to bickering again. It seems like Orange doesn't really get along well with the other Orange Steves... maybe that's why he moved away from them. I should ask about that later.

I spent a few seconds longer at the surface, wanting to make sure my oxygen tank got as much air as it can. I don't want to suffocate in a cave... I've heard the horror stories of cave diving. I don't want to go like that.

I dive back down, meeting Orange and Loud at the entrance of the cave. As soon as I'm with them again, they enter the cave, Loud leading the way while Orange and I follow. I have to put away my Seaglide, as the cave is just narrow enough to where there's not enough space to use it.

"Remember, we have to go through this cave quick." Orange says.

"I knoooowww, it's like the 5th time you've said that!" Loud replies. "I get it!"

"Do you know why I keep saying it?" Orange asks him.

"...No."

"Because if Sabre runs out of air in here, he can't go back up to the surface."

"And?"

"...I could die?" I say, kind of concerned that he didn't know that.

"Wait really-?" Loud asks.

"Yes. Really." Orange says. "So we need to get through the cave quickly."

Loud speeds up a bit, probably now anxious about that. We still follow close behind.

The cave is actually very pretty; there's a number of different minerals lining the walls, the glow from the path of torch-like lights reflecting off of them and making them glow. Cave plants thrive and occasionally brush against us as we move through the cave system. There's a few forks in the road sometimes, but Loud and the torch-lights guide us to the right path.

However, I notice my oxygen getting low. Both Orange and I are getting worried, hoping the end of the cave is soon.

"Loud, how much further does the cave go?" Orange asks, sounding nervous. He keeps glancing at me as I start to slow down.

"Just a few more minutes and we're out, why?" Loud says, glancing at us.

Loud then sees that I'm running out of air. He quickly maneuvers himself to where he's next to me and grabs onto my arm, now swimming faster than before.

"Orange, c'mon! This'll go faster if you help!" Loud yells, Orange barely keeping up behind us.

"I can't swim next to both of you, the cave is too cramped!" Orange yells back, now sounding panicked.

"You're just scared!"

"Is this really the time?!"

"I DUNNO I'M PANICKING!"

"SO AM I!"

They both continue yelling at each other as we rush out of the cave. As the tank runs out, it gets harder and harder to breathe. I try to preserve the oxygen I have left by holding my breath for a few minutes at a time, but by the time we're out of the cave the tank's entirely empty... and the surface is much further above us than it is in the Safe Shallows.

Orange and Loud quickly start carrying me upwards to the surface, me trying my best to swim, but I'm starting to panic and the lack of air is getting to me.

My vision already starts to fade, and...

Suddenly, I can breathe again. Orange and Loud had gotten me to the surface in time, and while I catch my breath I can focus enough to listen to them again.

"Hey, are you okay?! Can you hear us now?!" Loud asks, letting Orange keep me upright while he backs off. I guess he's finally listening to Orange about the personal space thing.

We then dive back underwater, still close to the surface, but now I can see the area around us. It's a bunch of plateaus rather than sandy hills, absolutely covered in tall, bright red seagrass. There's a large group of structures that look like houses on the ocean floor too, on top of a particularly tall plateau, and I can sometimes see some other Orange Steves swimming around.

"Uh... y-yeah, I'm alright, I think..." I answer, collecting myself. That was close.

"Dang, you scared me there buddy." Orange says, helping me as I start swimming again. "How are we gonna manage going back through...?"

"Well, you could go around, but that'll take longer." Loud says.

Orange quickly turns towards Loud with an expression of disbelief.

"...Are you telling me we could have just gone around the mountain and it'd still be fine?" Orange says.

"Uh... yeeeess?" Loud says nervously.

"Why didn't you say so?!"

"I didn't think it'd be that bad!"

"Well it was!"

"Not like it's my fault!"

"Y'know what? Whatever, fine, it's fine." Orange says, facepalming. "Just- go to the village and give 'em the heads up that we're here."

Loud nods and swims off towards the ocean floor, and in a few minutes we can hear him within the village yelling about us being at the village. A bunch of different hues of orange suddenly appear as little dots swimming around the structures, the other Orange Steves likely getting excited as Orange explained.

"Well..." Orange says. "You ready? I hope they don't crowd you too much."

"Don't think so, but not like we have much of a choice." I say, already getting nervous. "I just want them to stop basically stalking me."

"You and me both, Sabre." Orange sighs. "I'm gonna tell the Leader about that, he's the most level-headed out of everyone."

"You guys have a leader?" I ask.

"Yep, every Steve race does." Orange says. "The Orange Leader is pretty cool, in my opinion. Now c'mon, let's not keep them waiting. The longer we wait, the more hyperactive they get."

Orange starts to swim towards the village, and I follow, not exactly excited about this. But, oh well... doing this for Orange. I can handle an hour or two of very excited fish people bombarding me with questions and stuff.

...Right?