Nameless
Red didn't know much, if anything, about the world above. Honestly he didn't care about the world around him. He just didn't want to take part in the Ritual or to be stuck in that archaic city for the rest of his life, forced to pick a mate he barely knows in order to keep the city alive and well with as many new lives as possible. Such a life wasn't for a young shark like him. So he devised a plan. The night of the Ritual was one that the entire city would be in attendance. It was mandatory and also important as a way to maintain their former empire as well as for young sharks to finally gain an individual name instead of the nicknames the adults have used over the years to differentiate between them all. Mandatory meant everyone within the city. Everyone included the guards at the entrance. The only ones that would not be in attendance were the patrols that were vital to keeping the city's location a secret from anything and anyone. From there, it's simply following the wall that the city is residing within until he reached the surface.
Slipping away from the crowd was easy, all of the residents were focused on the speech by the Magistrate, allowing Red to dash along the streets of the brightly lit city with little to stop him. He had already prepared a few days in advance with a small waterproof bag he could toss over his shoulder containing his clothes and his gauntlets. This particular weapon was one that composed the category of self defense weapons that nearly every citizen had. Every child attended classes to help them learn to defend themselves and survive in every aspect from stealth to hunting. It was seen as necessary for those whose world would constantly be in peril of being discovered and needed support in every aspect of life. These classes were meant to create jack of all trades to allow for sharks to be swapped around without too much issue. Thankfully, this aided to a successful escape from his cavernous prison to the world outside. First thing that Red noticed was how cold the water was, chilling him to the bone from the moment he entered the water. His tail swung from side to side as he swam upward along the wall of the trench, his eyes scanning the area above him for any patrols that could swim over the trench and spot his currently vulnerable position. He reached the top of the abyss without incident and quickly slipped into the enormous reef that surrounded the drop into darkness. The next several hours were passed in quiet trepidation as he swam from cover to cover, hiding in the large tunnels that pervaded every inch of the massive reefs at even the slightest inclination that he had been spotted. It was unknown how many hours had passed before the shark finally reached the soft sands that marked the edge of the beach and his safe new safe harbor. He was far enough to be free from the patrols and to finally swim to the surface. Red breached the surface silently, his eyes blinking in the dim light as he focused on the shore in front of him.
He kicked out towards the shore with renewed vigor, the chill of the water forgotten as he approached his destination with fervor. The sand felt surprisingly warm underfoot as he stumbled onto the sand with a loud sigh of relief before collapsing onto his knees to take a moment to regain his breath from the exhausting trip. The chance for rest was welcome but brief as he heard soft footsteps in the sand that weren't his own before looking up at the face of a young..... Lynx? He believed that's what the species was called but there were certain features that seemed off. However, Red was more focused on the fact that she was wielding a very sharp looking weapon of a somewhat strange design directly at his throat before he found himself surrounded by several armed individuals.
"What are you doing here?" her voice was rather sharp and questioning from the start which didn't bode well for the young shark as his eyes remained focused on hers, hearing the sound of something clicking into place behind him which caused his eyes to narrow slightly.
"Enjoying a nice swim, who doesn't? Or are the beaches illegal now?" his reply was given with an overly relaxed tone, seemingly intent on annoying the woman in front of him as her eyes slowly scanned over his form before looking at him with a raised eyebrow as a small blush unintentionally rose to her cheeks.
"No but entering a military compound unannounced certainly is illegal. Along with the disturbing.... Lack of clothing." Red couldn't help the cocky grin that overtook his face, filled with razor sharp teeth from ear to ear as he gave a wink.
"Well I felt the need to strut my stuff tonight, a little bit of fresh air always helps to keep an appealing figure~ Why, looking for a closer look?~" The question immediately drew more of a blush onto her face as she growled softly, taking a step forward and showing what she thought by pressing the tip of the blade against his throat. Before Red could begin digging an even deeper hole for himself, one of the individuals with the lynx gained both of their attention as he held up the bag the shark had taken with him from his former home.
"He's got a few weird pieces of metal in here and some clothes ma'am but not much else, what are your orders?" She stared at the individual for a moment before letting out a sigh and stepping back, refocusing her gaze and her composure on the shark kneeling in front of her.
"Take him into the compound and we'll question him there. And you," She raises her weapon again with the sharpened tip aimed directly between his eyes, "Put some clothes on before I feel the need to hurt you." Red still didn't understand the need to shut up as the smirk remained plastered on his face while staring up at the annoyed lynx.
"Oooo ya like it rough huh?~ Well I can definitely oblige to a nice private interview. Fair warning though.... It's gonna be a very rough ride~" She turned and ignored his flirting as she walked off towards the military compound in front of her, helping her to hide the blush on her cheeks from the shark behind her as he was forced onto his feet. After a quick minute to changing into his clothes, he was escorted into the facility. The process was surprisingly efficient, which was disappointing to the shark as he was taken through the process of fingerprints and mugshots. The speediness didn't give him enough time to use the usual cocky quips in order to enjoy watching others react. He was also disappointed that the cute lynx didn't escort him through the process, instead being led by a large dog with a no nonsense tone that was already making him zone out whenever he began speaking. After a process that he swore still felt like it had taken years, he was tossed into the cell and left on his own. Red sighed loudly before leaning against the cell wall with his eyes focused on the door. For a first day of freedom, it was a pretty big failure. He got captured by some sort of military, met a cute lynx to flirt with, was tagged and bagged, now Red is sitting in a cell. All in all, a pretty good day for him. Now to get himself out of the cell and to find a way to an actual city. But how?
That was the question that continued to taunt him as he looked over his steel cell, not finding any sort of weakness. It was the kind of construction that would make bank vaults jealous and frustrated him to no end as he slowly paced back and forth in his cell. The sound of footsteps after what could only assume to be hours of waiting was a welcome relief as he turned to face the new visitors. His grin immediately returned when he noticed the lynx from before standing in front of his cell accompanied by the large dog from earlier. Red grinned as he slowly stepped forward before resting against the cell door with his eyes immediately focused on her.
"Hey there officer kitty, finally up for playing with the fish tonight?~" The grin on his face was just as irritating as ever to her as she did her best to ignore the soft verbal jab while focusing on the task at hand. She glances over to the dog before motioning to the door. He opens the cell quickly before grabbing the shark by the jacket before pulling him into the hall.
"Woah hey! I'm all up for being rough and dirty but I'm preferring the cute little lynx, maybe another time big guy." His continual flirting was grating on her nerves in a way she didn't think was possible as the group made their way deeper into the facility. The trip was short lived but torturous to her face as a near constant blush burned her face with every step as she struggled to not turn around and immediately bury her fist into his face. As much as she and everyone else who's had the misfortune of listening to him would enjoy it. Finally reaching the interview room was a welcome relief to everyone as he was brought inside and immediately cuffed to the table.
They couldn't get out of the room fast enough and mute it, causing the sharks teasing to be cut off mid flirt and to drown the observation room in wonderful silence. Red didn't notice of course, tossing jab after jab at the one way mirror while the lynx enjoyed her brief moment of silence in the other room. Of course, they needed to interview the intruder and learn all they can before tossing him into a cell again. Which led to the dreaded question, who's gonna be stuck in the room with him to ask these questions? Nobody wanted to enter the room and everyone wanted this over and done with as soon as possible. All in all, including those that maintain and observe the rooms, it was a small group of 7 that had the dreaded task of deciding which among them would deal with the single most annoying thing since surprise drills. Something had to happen however and that was when it was finally decided that the best way to do this was by drawing straws. Lady Luck was always a fickle woman, especially when it came to games like this, and this time was no different as the very unlucky lynx came to have the shortest of the straws.
While the lynx may have been having a day that could only come out of her nightmares when looking at just how irritating it's been, Reds been enjoying what could be seen as the time of his life. It was only getting better when he saw the unwilling interviewer entering the room. Devoid of weapons surprisingly though it was probably for the better. But from her current feelings, she would probably strangle him if he didn't keep his mouth shut. Then again, this was Red and he didn't understand that he should shut up. This fact was ever obvious as he turned to face her with the same grin as always.
"Heeeyyyy it's you again~ Finally taking me up on my offer? Fair warning, I do get rather rough but you look like you can handle it~" The lynx, to her credit, kept her composure for the most part but she couldn't help the soft blush accompanied by a growl that escaped her lips before she sat down in front of the cuffed shark on the opposite side of the table.
"Alright, who are you?" She ignored the question completely as the lynx while tossing him one of her own as she stared Red down, giving him the impression that she was trying to kill him with her eyes and failing miserably so far.
"Who me?~ Just a young shark that's managed to stumble onto somewhere he shouldn't be.... And found a beautiful kitten such as yourself~" The lynx let out another sigh as the all too familiar blush adorned her face again before she stood up and slammed her paws on the table.
"Ok, that's enough! Keep talking like that and I'll turn you into sushi!" Her anger seemed to grow with her blush as she growled at the shark in front of her who couldn't help himself from adorning the biggest grin he could in order to goad her even more. But, before she could begin showing her 'negotiation' skills, she was immediately called out of the room which caused her to pause before letting out a loud sigh. She smoothed her fur before shooting one last glare at the shark, leaving the interrogation room and turning to face the newcomer to the group currently watching through the glass.
"Sorry to interrupt ma'am, but we need to lea-" the entire base suddenly shook with a heavy impact that took more than a few of them off of their feet. The lighting flickered as several lights failed, leaving them in a dimly glowing room. The confused shark was quickly forgotten about as their instincts kicked into high gear with the lynx leading the charge out of the room and into the mayhem that was beginning to unfold outside. Now Red wasn't sure of what was going on or why suddenly things were turning crazy but the shouting and explosions really didn't bode well for him. He began to tug and strain the chains to try to get free, the bolted down table barely budging from his struggles as the base continued to shake and tremble from blows of unknown assailants before the wall suddenly collapsed as a clawed hand slammed through the reinforced steel with ease. The claws pierced into the table with ease before it retracted with the poor shark in tow. His loud shout of surprise went unheard as he was dragged out blinking into the light.
First thing he noticed was how long he had already been in the facility cause it was already somewhat early in the morning. Second thing was his current predicament of hanging from his chains still attached to the table. Third thing was the fact that the table in the grip of something that Red could only describe as an extremely large dragon currently staring him down with a gaze that most likely could kill from the presence of the massive creature alone. It was at that moment that brought out a masterpiece of words from his lips as he hung in front of the monster that had been rampaging through the military compound.
"Well err......... Hi?" The immediate response didn't inspire confidence as he was immediately tossed with the table. He was slammed through a group of soldiers before the table finally was torn away while his cuffs remained. To be fair, better than earlier, but that wasn't on his mind as he was tumbled through the dirt until he finally came to a stop a good distance from the creature as it refocused it's gaze on the soldiers. The shark let out a loud groan as he struggled to his feet with both paws, favoring his right leg as he limped over to a nearby piece of cover to watch the carnage from relative safety as soldiers were quickly turned into rag dolls. The shark limped from cover to cover to the closest building he could find. It was a small and stocky building with one side completely missing, scattered and mixing with the debris from various other buildings. While it was a bit difficult to pull himself into the ruined building, he manages to struggle enough to find himself within a small storeroom that composed the entirety of the building.
The injured shark scrounged through the ruined building for anything that could help him in his current situation but could only find a small workbench of questionable quality with a saw built into it and his gauntlets which were useless with his hands still cuffed together. Now while normally anyone would look at this and find it utterly useless, a desperate and keen shark such as Red saw the sharp tool as his one and only escape key to freedom. He stumbled over to the table, fumbling for a moment as he tried to figure out how to turn on the machine before it whirred to life at the click of a button. Now came the hard part for him. He positioned himself at one end of the table with the saw blade rotating away from him. Then he raised his arms before setting them on either side of the rotating steel. After a few moments of hesitation, he yanked back towards him as hard as he could and metal ground against metal with a loud screech before the chains were snapped in two and the shark landed on his back with a loud groan. But he was free finally and now he really needed to get out of there. After a quick hobble to grab his metallic gauntlets, he made his way out of the building into the current carnage again and right on top of the lynx from earlier in what could only be described as compromising in nearly every way possible. After the initial second of confusion and blushing, her response was a swift and immediate kick in the sternum that sent Red onto his back with a loud groan.
"What the hell are you doing out of the interrogation room?!" Even during the carnage, her voice rang loud and clear to the shark as he pulled himself onto his feet.