Granblue Fantasy: A Skyfaring Were-shark in Auguste

The crew can only watch with a mix of trepidation and concern as the gigantic beast writhes around in the air above them.

 

“T-That’s a really big shark…” Mari says, cowering behind Meg.

 

“Yeah, what gives!?” Vyrn yells. “I thought we already did sharks!”

 

“Shrrrrk!” It yells, circling around the confined grotto. The shark-like monster would be a striking sight indeed were its mere presence not such a concern. Its deep blue skin giving way to a stark white on its underside evokes the image of the vast ocean leading to a sunny beach, but there’s another, much stranger aspect to its appearance that grabs the attention first.

 

It almost appears as if it’s been sliced into three segments, with the head and tail being almost completely separated from the body. The only thing connecting each part being a series of thin strands of a goopy, grey substance within the missing gaps. It’s still able to move around in the air like a regular shark would, or at least as regular as a shark can be in the sky realm these days, but its behaviour suggests that something is very wrong. Its blue eyes scan the intruders as it flies around, seeming to focus on Ursula and Meg much more than the others.

 

“I believe we may have found our primal beast.” Vira says calmly, her sword drawn. “Let us hope that it does not mean us any harm.”

 

“SHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK!!!”

 

Almost as if to prove Vira wrong, the beast lets out a deafening roar that reverberates throughout the cavern.

 

“Sharksharksharksharkshark!” Ursula suddenly calls out, flying around in a disoriented panic.

 

“Ursula?” Mari calls out.

 

“Ngh!” Meg grunts as she reels over, putting a hand to her head.

 

“Meg!” Mari calls out, running over to check on her.

 

“Head… hurts…” She groans in response.

 

“Lyria, can you try communicating with the beast?” Vira says, taking command of the situation.

 

“I-I’ll try my best!” Lyria says as she starts focusing her energy, her pendant glowing a bright blue.

 

“Thank you.” Vira then turns to Luminiera. “Stay out of range of its attacks and focus on illuminating the area. If it truly is hostile then we’ll need proper visibility in order to defend ourselves.”

 

The primal gives an affirmative nod before floating towards the cave’s ceiling, with many of her bits following suit in order to shine down on as wide an area as possible.

 

Vira looks back towards the monster to see it starting to clumsily swoop at her. She swiftly jumps out of the way of the attack, shielding her eyes from the sand that was sent flying as a result, and upon lowering her arm sees the giant shark start to turn around as it flies back into the air. Vira prepares herself for another attack, only for it to instead start slamming its body into the wall separating the cave from the ocean. The ground rumbles with every impact, but the wall shows no signs of breaking any time soon.

 

“Shrrrk! Shrrrrrrrk!” It calls out.

 

“It’s not trying to attack us?” Djeeta wonders.

 

“Not for the moment, at least.” Vira says, taking the moment to assess the situation. “Regardless, it certainly seems distressed about something. Any luck, Lyria?”

 

Lyria’s brow furrows. “I’m trying, but something’s wrong! I don’t think it can understand me!”

 

“Is there anything else we can try?” Vyrn asks. “Can Ursula try talking to it or something?”

 

Alas, Ursula is still in a state of panic after hearing the beast’s roar, and it doesn’t seem like she’ll be able to try talking to it anytime soon.

 

“Snap out of it Meg! What happened!?” Mari says, putting a hand on Meg’s shoulder.

 

“S-Sorry…” Meg mumbles with a pained expression. “The shark… won’t stop yelling… too loud…”

 

“What do you mean!? Come on, we’ve gotta do something!” Mari tries gently shaking Meg to snap her out of her stupor.

 

“SHRRRRK!” The beast seems to have taken notice of this action, and suddenly stops attacking the wall to fly right up to the two of them and roar menacingly.

 

“Meeeeeg…” Mari whimpers, too scared to move.

 

“Oh no you don’t!” Djeeta immediately takes advantage of the monster now floating right above the sand to take a swing at its frontmost segment, causing it to direct its attention to her instead of trying to harm Meg and Mari. The captain just barely manages to dodge out of the way in time as it charges towards her, seemingly unharmed by her strike.

 

“Captain!” Vira calls out as she runs to her side. The shark loops back around to charge at them, with both women being prepared enough to not only avoid the strike but counter with a slash of their swords to the midsection and tail, but once again the beast is barely fazed by their blows.

 

This isn’t looking great for us. Vira thinks to herself as their opponent readies itself for yet another attack. Our attacks are doing little to slow it down, and I do not know how long the two of us will be able to hold out, especially while keeping Lyria and the others safe. I can’t rely on Luminiera’s power while she’s preoccupied with keeping the cave illuminated for us, either. As much as I hate to admit it, we may be outmatched here.

 

“Mari, you need to take Meg and retreat back to town! Lyria and Vyrn, you must escape too! Our assailant is too large to pursue us once we leave this cave!” She calls out after narrowly avoiding another charge. The monster seems to be getting faster and more determined with each attack.

 

“But what about you guys!?” Mari yells back.

 

“The captain and I will hold it off long enough for everyone to escape!” Vira and Djeeta brace for impact as the shark attacks too quickly for either of them to dodge. Both manage to raise their blades just in time to defend themselves, but the sheer size and strength of their attacker means the impact of the blow is enough to send them flying regardless.

 

Seeing her master in danger, Luminiera sends several bits in front of the shark before it can attack again, and they all start rapidly flashing bright lights in its face in order to disorient it. While this does buy them time to recover, it’s only the briefest of moments as it simply forces its way past the bits after getting over the initial shock.

 

“Luminiera! Do not draw attention to yourself!” Vira yells. “We’d all be done for if you were to fall here!” Luminiera looks to Vira with some concern before conceding, and calls the bits back to the ceiling.

 

“We’ll be right behind you!” Djeeta calls out as she gets back to her feet.

 

“Okay!” Mari manages to grab a hold of the panicked Ursula with one arm, and then puts Meg’s arm over her other shoulder to help her walk back to the entrance.

 

“Sharrrrrrrk!” Ursula wriggles around in Mari’s grasp, and it takes quite a bit of effort for her to keep her arm around the shark.

 

“Be careful you two!” Lyria calls out to the two who are staying back as she and Vyrn start fleeing as well.

 

“Ngh… Where… are we going?” Meg wearily asks as Mari starts leading her away.

 

“We’re getting you out of here, Meg.” Mari answers.

 

“But… primal beast… attacking…” Meg mumbles back.

 

“You two are in no state to fight this thing! We’re going to get somewhere safe and come up with a new plan once you’re feeling better.”

 

“No… gotta… gotta protect… Auguste!” Meg yells, starting to struggle against Mari. Even in her current state it only takes a fraction of her strength to push away from Mari, causing her to let go of Ursula in the process, but it’s for little reward as Meg finds herself falling into the sand mere moments after starting to run towards the monster.

 

“SHRRRRRRRRRRRK!” Before Mari even has a chance to call out to Meg, the beast has borne witness to Meg tumbling to the ground, and shifts its attention directly towards the Erune who is now standing on her own. Mari just stands there in shock as it starts to charge her with renewed anger as she’s once again unable to move her feet, and Meg can only look on in horror as it closes the distance between itself and Mari.

 

No… she thinks as the adrenaline starts to overpower her disorientation. She struggles to her feet, but she can already tell she’s too late to act. If I can’t protect Mari here, what right would I ever have to ask her to…

 

“MARI!” Vira sprints as fast as she can in her direction, only barely able to catch Mari in a diving tackle in time to get her out of the way of the shark as it charges past.

 

“You… You saved me, Vira…” Mari says in disbelief once she realises what happened.

 

“Of course.” Vira says calmly as she gets up and helps the larger woman back on her feet. “Now the three of you need to escape before it-”

 

“URSULA!”

 

“SHARRRK!”

 

Before Vira can finish turning her head to look at the commotion behind her, a figure runs past at blistering speed, and she can barely believe her eyes as she watches Meg, with Ursula fused with her left arm, make a beeline for the primal beast as it starts to charge in their direction once more.

 

“W-What in the skies…” She says in shock at the sight before her.

 

“I guess now you’ll get to see why she’s got so much merchandise.” Mari chuckles.

 

“Shrrrk?”

 

The massive shark seems to hesitate when it sees Meg running towards it, but Meg continues with full force and uses Ursula to punch it square in the jaw, disorienting the foe. She doesn’t let the opportunity go to waste, laying into the monster with a lightning fast combination of punches, kicks, and slashes with her hunting knife, before ending with a very sharky uppercut as an intense cyclone shoots out of Ursula’s mouth, sending her opponent slamming into the cave’s ceiling before falling back down into the sand.

 

“Shrrrrrk…” The beast almost sounds dejected as it groans in defeat.

 

“That was for trying to hurt the other crew members.” Meg says as she walks up, strapping the knife back to her thigh.

 

“And this…” She grabs its tail with her free arm as Ursula chomps down on the other side, securing her grip. “Is for trying to hurt Mari!”

 

Wow… A certain onlooker thinks as her heart flutters.

 

Meg starts to swing around in circles, building up a shocking amount of speed considering the sheer weight of the beast she’s carrying. 

 

“Shrrrrrrrrrrk!” It yells helplessly.

 

“Leave! Auguste! ALONE!” Meg lets go, sending the primal crashing right into the cave wall at such a speed that the whole cavern shakes.

 

“Shrrrk…” The shark groans as it falls back into the water. Meg simply stands there at first, watching the water for a few moments before taking a deep breath, satisfied that it’s likely not going to resurface any time soon.

 

“Sharrrk!” Ursula yells as she separates from Meg.

 

“Is… Is everyone okay?” Meg asks as she turns back to the crew with a wave.

 

“Meg! That was soooooo cool!” Mari immediately runs over and hugs her from the side as the rest of the crew walks up, and Luminiera floats down to stay by Vira’s side.

 

“M-Mari… I’m sorry.” Meg says solemnly. “I couldn’t… You nearly…”

 

“It’s okay, Meg.” Mari holds her just a bit tighter. “The important thing is that we’re all okay. And besides, you were able to save the day as usual in the end.”

 

“Uhhh, guys?” Vyrn says with no small amount of apprehension. “Is it just me or is the cave still shaking after that last attack?”

 

Vyrn’s fears are immediately confirmed when a huge chunk of rock falls from the ceiling and splashes into the water, followed by a few more landing in the sand not far from where the crew is gathered.

 

“Crap, it’s caving in!” Mari exclaims.

 

“Everyone, get out!” Djeeta commands.

 

Mari lets out a squeak as Meg suddenly picks her up without a moment of hesitation, holding her in a princess carry as she makes a break for the entrance alongside the others. The situation continues to grow more treacherous as the rumbling gets louder, and the ceiling starts to collapse at an even faster pace.

 

Lyria focuses on her pendant once more as she continues to run. “Tiamat, lend us your power!”

 

A strong gust of wind starts to blow from behind, giving everyone just enough of a boost to make it to the stairway before it’s too late. None of them stop running though, not wanting to slow down even the smallest amount, even as the Luminera bits only fly just far enough ahead to light the area immediately in front of them. The tunnel is well built, but the rumbling continues even though they’re no longer in the main cave, and small bits of debris fall all around them. Who knows how long it will hold out?

 

“Keep moving! We are almost there!” Vira calls out as a light becomes visible at the end of the tunnel and the rumbling starts to grow more distant.

 

With one final sprint, the crew finds themselves back in the church, and the stone structure moves back into place to hide the tunnel once more.

 

“Is everyone… all right…?” Djeeta asks between deep breaths.

 

Vira quickly scans the group. “Yes… thankfully everyone is accounted for.”

 

“That was a close one, I thought we were goners for sure!” Vyrn says.

 

“Yeah… Are you okay Mari?” Meg asks as she looks to the woman still in her arms, who only looks back at her with a blush, and eyes wide in shock.

 

“O-Oh! Sorry Mari, I really s-should have asked before picking you up like that…” Meg stammers as she starts to put Mari back on the ground.

 

“Stop.” Mari says quickly, putting a hand on Meg’s arm.

 

“H-Huh?” Meg looks back in confusion.

 

“Not yet. Let me stay like this for a bit longer.” Is all she says in response.

 

“O-Oh, okay.”

 

The crew leave the church to find somewhere they can sit down and process what just happened, although in Mari’s case it would seem she’s already found a very comfortable spot in her lover’s powerful arms.