Archive of Our Own ^beta

Gillion sat below the ships deck. Still and stoic despite the harsh rocking of the ship, as waves crashed against its side. 

It had been hours since Chip’s confession in the casino, but his words swirled in Gill’s mind like a whirlpool. Chip had lied to him,disrespected him, his honor, and in turn his people. 

When Gill was a guppy he had heard stories of humans from the elders. They had told him Humans were a race of selfish people. Caring for nothing, but power and control. He had believed them wholeheartedly, after all who would he be to doubt the teaching of the elders? But when he met Chip and Jay he knew there had to be more to them. They had pulled him out of the ocean, made him part of their crew, and had showed him friendship and kindness, he had given them his trust and protection in return. 

Now he couldn't help but think that maybe the elder's stories held more merit than he had considered,.

When Chip had pulled him out of the ocean and brought him aboard "The Big Chipper’’, he couldn't help but think that it was his second chance. A chance to show that he was truly the undersea's champion, their hero, it was his chance to bring pride and glory to his people. So he he had decided to assist them in their adventures, after all they had done him a service and he was bound to repay it. After Loffinlot, he had felt he had payed his debt, but he had grow fond of his crewmates and set out to continue to assist his companions, who had shown him nothing but kindness. If only he had realized what a fool he'd been.

When Chip had first brought him aboard, Gill couldn't help but be suspicious of him, something about him made Gill feel uneasy. But after spending some time aboard with him, he had come to the decision that Chip was harmless, he was no more than a kind stranger looking to expand his crew. After some more time Gill grew a certain fondness for captain, at first purely friendly, like with Jay and old man Earl, but soon it grew to be something a little more complicated. It didn't really matter anymore, not after what Chip had done to him.

As he sat he couldn't help but wonder why. Chip had found him in his most vulnerable moment, and had deceived and humiliated him. For what? There must have been a reason, perhaps he had hoped to gain something from Gillion. No, Chip had done it for nothing more than his own amusement, it was nothing more than a sick and twisted joke.

Maybe, he reasoned, it was simply a misunderstanding,maybe Chip had expected him to be privy to a joke he just simply didn't understand. No, Chip knew what he had done, why else confess it? Under the threat of death no less. 

As he thought it all their adventures on Zero, and Loffinlot, his deal with Nicklous, his conversations with Chip and Jay, he couldn’t help but to despair. He fought back tears, as his despair turned to frustration, and then to anger. Chip had taken advantage of him at his lowest point, and his misdeeds couldn’t go unpunished. After all, this was a matter of honor, and who was Gill without his? He was Gillion Tidestrider, Champion of the Undersea, Hero of the Deep, and he could not allow himself to look like a fool. 

With that thought, he stood, and to the best of his ability he attempted to quietly make his way to the ladder that led above deck. As he climbed up, he couldn't help but to look back at where Jay and Chip were resting. Had it really all been no more than a joke to Chip? Was that really all he was to him? In that moment Gill decided that it didn't matter, Perhaps it was for the best, whatever he and Chip could have had would have only impeded on his destiny. He glanced a final time at Chip and hoisted himself onto the deck, and looked out onto the ocean, his home. He couldn't think about that now, he had a long night of spell-casting ahead of him, and battle to be fought in the morning. /p>