The man in the white suit plunged in, little populations of bubbles frothed desperately upward. His ears burned with searing pain. He clutched a large river stone, and his face was frozen in fear. Looking up he saw a viridian light through midnight waters. It got smaller, and he wondered where bottom was, if there was one. The weight of the water pressed in on him.
Will they follow? he thought. The water was mute around him, almost comforting. He could feel his heart beating against his insides like an epileptic in a tonic-clonic seizure, even though the cold was starting to slow down his metabolism. The viridian light dimmed. They found him.
There was a splash, an disturbance above. He could feel the pressure wave. Then there was another. Two of them. They were a mess of legs, dark forms, struggling to swim toward him. He didn't realize they could swim. Their body plan didn't look particularly aquatic. He didn't know if they could see or hear or feel him in the darkness. He struggled to keep his breath, but he choked, and a big silvery bubble escaped and pushed upward. They stopped above him, then aligned themselves in his direction, and pushed down with their legs, paddling rapidly.
The man screamed, letting loose a volley of air into the water. He tried to turn over, and pushed the stone ahead of him, kicking with his legs, further downward, darker downward. He heard sounds in the water, moans and crackles. They were communicating with each other, somehow, even under water. His ears ached, and he pushed.
Something reached up towards him. At first he thought it was some sort of underwater plant, then remembered the planet had nothing resembling plants. He screamed again, exhausting his breath. It wrapped something thick and warm around his chest, and it tightened and pulled. His lungs burned needing oxygen. Eyes or milky orbs floated towards his face, catching the faint viridian ember above. He tried to swing the stone towards the orbs, but they retracted. He dropped the stone, hoping it would hit the owner of the appendage that was holding him, but the orbs came back, and something grabbed his feet.
Then he saw orange in the orbs. The flamethrower, he thought. He spun around as much as he could, to look above. One of the land creatures had his legs, tearing at his pantlegs. Red clouded the water. The orange light was intense. More land creatures fell in, their legs akimbo and shivering.
The thing below him tightened its grip. He heard his ribs cracking. His friends were too late. He blacked out.
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