The Cavern's Little Secret

The nerves had gotten to Zeke far too many times by now. The anthro bird’s mind filled with what-ifs and daydreams whenever he caught a glimpse of the swaying seas, leaving him sighing and fidgeting while he went along his way. But this time… He wanted this time to be different.

He wanted to actually go for it.

Although it was early, the air and the water were both warm enough here. He’d ogled this little corner of the beach plenty of times before, deserted enough that no one would wonder why there’s a naked bird guy taking careful steps across the soft sand and towards the calm shore.

Zeke didn’t feel like bringing anything with him this time. No mask, no fins, no wetsuit, even. It was just gonna be him and the water; no better way to squash this deep contradiction inside him.

He shuddered the moment he felt the seawater slide along his talons. He was scared, no other way to put it. The lofty, colorful fantasies about swimming in the depths and exploring caves and shipwrecks and flooded old buildings… They had all clashed hard with reality: he wasn’t a good swimmer at all. Sure, he could swim, but he had yet to really get the hang of it, splashing and sputtering more than he’d like.

But… He didn’t want that to stop him this time. He packed a strong pair of lungs, after all; what’s wrong with using a little more energy than needed if he could hold his breath just fine enough?

He’d spent ages rationalizing his journey into the deep like this, still telling himself it was gonna be totally fine as he kept wading forward, the slow waves finally brushing up against his chest.

Zeke had gotten deep enough. He took a little hop and started to swim forward, barely keeping his head above water while he splashed past the waves and spat out errant droplets of seawater.

…I’m really doing this! He thought. I’m most of the way there! He told himself, despite knowing he’d barely started…

The growing confidence gave him such a boost of energy that he didn’t even mind how sloppy his kicks were, or how inefficient his technique was. He’d basically zoned out for a while, swimming out so far that it was hard to spot the shore by the time he finally took a look back.

There was only one way to go from here.

Zeke started treading water as best he could, taking just a few peeks under the surface to get his eyes a bit used to the clear saltwater. He could already tell it was quite a long ways to the seafloor, but… He’d had this exact scenario in his head for way too long. He wanted to make it real already.

The bird took slow, deep breaths, puffing up his chest and slowly pushing the air out in a careful rhythm, yet working hard to keep his head above water… Not wanting to delay this any longer, though, he suddenly took a thorough, deeeeep inhale, held it, and sank below the surface.

The splashing of the waves soon gave way to a droning, yet soothing ambience, nothing but water all around him.

Yet, amid that overwhelming sense of calmness, a very faint, very brief voice made itself known. His fear lingered, if only for a moment.

It said, what if that’s the last taste of air you’ll ever get?

Despite how poor of a swimmer he was above the surface, Zeke at least had an easier time diving to the seafloor. All he needed to do, after all, was kick and wave his arms hard enough to sink deeper and deeper. The further he went, the more the ocean pushed down onto him, helping him sink… Surely, he’d be fine as long as he didn’t go too deep. And this corner of the sea was at least shallow enough to avoid that.

“Gblbl.” He barely felt the tiny bit of air that casually slid past his beak; the rush of touching the sand on the seafloor was too fun to let him notice that. On any other day he might’ve settled just for this, bragging that he overcame his anxiety for just one day… But something about today felt different. Zeke wanted to really prove himself, and not even the long swim back up could deter him from that.

All it took was one glance to his right.

A gloomy, rocky hole snuck away behind a mess of seaweed and barnacles, wide enough for him to easily fit through. It didn’t seem that deep inside, just a bit darker than expected. Zeke felt himself smiling a bit, stray little bubbles slipping out past the sides of his beak, and he lunged towards it.

The sunlight reached inside well enough, though it took a little effort to see inside clearly. The bird went along anyway, carefully grasping at the rocky walls as he pushed himself further…

Something glimmered at the end of this little cavern, barely visible and embedded within the wall. It was so close he’d only need a little more effort to squeeze through these depths and reach it, but—

“M-Mmphgblbl…”

Zeke felt that tug already. His chest grew uncomfortably warm, and stale bubbles forced their way out of him, making him hurriedly cover his beak with a wing. He curled up a bit, sizing up just how close this glimmery thing was now, but… It wasn’t worth it. He knew how easily things could go south if he pushed himself too hard.

Reluctantly, the bird turned himself around and made his way to the exit, leaving a tiny trail of bubbles behind him. Even bubbles as small and quiet as this were clear and audible within the lonely cave…

Enough that something within them was stirred awake.

Zeke felt a different kind of tug immediately. “GHHMPHBL—??” As he looked back, he saw a long, smooth and warm tentacle had wrapped itself around his ankle, gripping him hard enough that no amount of kicking and fluttering could loosen that hold.

“Ghmph, mmmph!!” The bird had no time to calm himself down, or try to figure out what this thing even was. He frantically shook his leg and squeezed the tentacle hard to try and pry it off, filling the cavern with his nervous, muted grunts.

To make matters worse, the tentacle was starting to pull the bird deeper inside this cave; it packed enough strength that he couldn’t avoid going wherever it wanted him to go, no matter how desperately he held onto the fragile, rocky walls. They crumbled between his fingers, and he inched further and further away from the exit every time his hold on them broke off, deeper into the unknown corners of this shadowy cave…

And there were a lot more tentacles waiting for him. They slipped out of the darkness and towards Zeke, not mindlessly but methodically, reaching out to the rest of his limbs and just barely keeping their distance while he flailed and tried to swat them away.

“Ghhrghgblbl!!” It was when a sudden, harsh heave rocked the bird’s body that the other tentacles saw an opening. As he tensed up and darted his eyes everywhere in a momentary, dazed panic, another tendril wrapped around his leg for good measure, and two more grasped the other leg. The moment Zeke freaked out and tried to unwrap them, his wrists were also enveloped by the long, meaty tentacles, completely immobilizing him.

No, no no no! Not like this, don’t let it end like this! He could barely think to himself among the cacophony of dire thoughts that dashed through his air-starved mind. But how was he supposed to escape from something like this? There was no clear weak point, and even if there was, all four of his limbs were now in full control of this thing. Zeke could only let out a bubbly squeal and wriggle helplessly as he was dragged into the furthest reaches of this cave with ease.

And whatever this thing was… It knew exactly how to force all that stale air out of him.

All it took was a smaller, softer pair of tentacles, poking at the bottom of his curled talons and gauging Zeke’s reactions. Unfortunately for the hapless bird, he happened to be very sensitive down there, almost immediately flinching and letting out a flustered little noise the moment he felt those tentacles brush up against his soles.

That was all the reaction this thing needed to see and hear before it went all-out.

“Ghhhgh—!! Mhmmmphblbl!! H-H-Hrglbl…!” Zeke stood no chance. The tentacles quickly got to work poking and rubbing and teasing every inch and groove of his flailing talons; some tried to find the weakest points at the bottom, while others slid between his toes with surprising slickness, traveling far enough up his legs that they playfully rubbed up against the thicker, stronger tentacles holding the bird in place.

A flurry of noisy bubbles spilled from his beak, and his pupils turned into tiny dots. He could barely hold back after that initial burst, closing his beak shut, suddenly reminded of how bad his air supply had gotten. The heaves pushed hard against his trembling body, and no amount of thrashing around could loosen those tentacles’ grip on him, not even a tiny bit. Worse than that, though, despite the harsh stings of airlessness, and knowing that he was gonna drown here and never make it back out…

Zeke couldn’t stop his body from reacting like that.

It was a mere twitch down there, but just feeling it at all made Zeke shudder, and not in a fun way. His mind and his body couldn’t be more out of sync, wrapped up in thick, monstrous tentacles while so far away from the surface. The mere thought of it, ending up as a waterlogged victim inside this remote, lonely cave, made him let out a muffled whimper. Yet all the action was having its unwanted effect on his body, both as worsening convulsions that made his chest cave in and as vague, instinctive hints of arousal that he couldn’t hold back no matter how hard he tried to.

“Mmph, ghmmph, hrmph—!!” Zeke had already run out of options at this point. The tentacles were too thick and strong to be clawed at, yet smooth enough that any attempt to grasp them was pointless. It made his hands slip and lose their already-feeble grip, precious energy spent accomplishing nothing. Too far away to be heard or seen, too buried within the dim cave to expect rescue anytime soon, even too sloppy of a swimmer to make it out at this point without starting to drown…

To make matters worse, he began to notice a few of this thing’s peculiar behaviors. It wasn’t just some curious aquatic denizen dragging an unusual guest in to inspect it closer. There was a calculated, methodical effort to its successful catch, like it already knew exactly how to deal with creatures like Zeke. And the more this frazzled bird tried to fend him off, the stronger its tentacles’ grip became, and the more of them slid out of the unknown reaches of this cave to get their own feel of this bubbly prey.

Zeke felt an unwelcome shiver the moment some of those tentacles started to explore other areas of his heaving body. Even with a few of them still sliding all over his splaying and curling talons, he quickly knew when another batch of tendrils reached out and poked at something else. He didn’t know at this point whether to keep struggling and tire this thing out, or go limp and play dead. Either choice, though, would quickly become moot when he felt those tentacles glide along his inner thighs, and gently wrap themselves around his crotch. He couldn’t stay still, and he couldn’t coordinate his tugging and squishing against the stronger tendrils, either.

And he really, really wasn’t in the mood for what the tentacles seemed to be offering; there was no universe where the bird could enjoy what was being done to him, despite how much his body had begun to contradict him. His sharp contractions sped up, leaving him grunting and whining after each time his chest pumped up and down. The sliding and fluttering tentacles against his soles kept forcing his mouth open, just a bit, wringing out vocal reactions that depleted his air. Every little bubble was an extra morsel of air that, even if stale, he could never get back.

At the same time, the more slender and slick tentacles went right to work fondling Zeke’s dick. As much as he tried to ignore and prevent it, they were working him up expertly, coiling around his length and holding it just firm enough for the up-and-down motions to get him hard. Zeke let out a panicked, bubbly grunt and kicked his legs, which only made his burning lungs feel worse, emptier, leaving him convulsing multiple times a second. All this thing knew, though, was that the rubbing was having the desired effect; his dick had gotten fully erect quite fast, and getting his balls massaged had also sped up the process…

Zeke was already dreading the inevitable.

He may have been a poor swimmer, but he knew his limits quite well, and thus he knew had gotten past the point of no return by now. His face crumpled up, exhausted by this whole encounter but with no chance to catch his breath. He felt himself getting uncoordinated, dazed, with vague and fleeting attempts to swim away easily frustrated by the warm, thick tendrils wrapped around his wrists and ankles. More of them had attached themselves to the tired bird by now, holding his waist, coiled up around his thighs and, of course, swirling and playing with his stiff, throbbing dick. One of them even poked his cheeks, which had acquired a deep shade of purple and were quickly fading to blue.

All of these tentacles would be needed, of course, when the bird suddenly coughed out his last remnants of air and drew in a gargled inhale. “HRRK, COUGH, GHRGRULP—!!”

He reacted immediately, wanting to cover his beak or clutch his throat, only to have his arms held tight and pulled firmly behind his back. His coughs and gurgles and muffled yelps echoed across the small cavern, and his violent convulsions were easily held back by the mass of tendrils keeping him in the dark depths.

There was no relief to be had here. Zeke drew strained gulps, every coughing fit quickly followed by a heavy, full-force gasp. He tilted his head back and shook hard, his vision already turning into a fuzzy, dark mess. The instincts to escape and to breathe amounted to nothing, leaving him thrashing and waving his legs, mouth agape, without being able to swim anywhere.

And during all this, the softer tentacles were still going at it down there, toying with both his shaky, splayed talons and his twitchy dick. There was far too much panic and waterlogging going on for Zeke’s mind to even process any of this, but the body was reacting on its own regardless. It didn’t need much more indulging — only some precise coiled rubs on his tip and along his length — to reach its obvious endpoint.

It was a mere formality by now. As Zeke began to wrap his oxygen-starved brain around this situation, the dreadful combo of agony and arousal sent him into shock. He came hard, his whole body tensing up so suddenly he almost realized what was going on. Fierce twitches pushed out spurt after spurt of cum into the brisk seawater, making his talons curl and grip at the tentacles sliding along them. The bird let out shaky, alarmed gurgles, unable to focus his gaze on anything while this wide-ranging mix of emotions rattled his body.

He shuddered forcefully, spending so much time pushing out one batch of cum after the other that his drowning throes were already weakening. If there was any relief to be had from such a drawn-out orgasm, he sure didn’t feel any of it. The endless minutes without air had numbed him all over, and his vision had already gone pitch-black. His heart, thumping hard against his chest from the moment that first tentacle gripped him, finally began to falter and skip beats.

“Grk… Hglp… Ghhglup…” Faint gurgly noises slipped out of him, mere remnants of whatever fight he still had left in him. His leg shook and twitched on its own, and he’d occasionally open his beak slightly to gulp a little — a last-ditch attempt from his brain to see if his next breath would miraculously be a dry one. It never was.

The tendrils could loosen their grip quite a lot now, giving Zeke’s limbs more wiggle room. But all he could do now was twitch, curl a toe or finger here and there, as he floated completely limp in the seawater. His eyes were wide open, and the light within them had already gone out, leaving them unfocused and hazy — with a hint of fear still visible. The blue blush on his face was overpowering, as were the similar shades of it on the tips of his fingers and toes.

“…Ghh.”

Zeke’s body gave out not long after. After one sudden, full-body shiver, strong enough for the tentacles to tighten up just in case, the bird went completely still. His heart stopped, and a tiny bubble slipped out of his beak, escaping with such ease compared to the restrained bird…

A slight curl of his toes was all he could manage now, and that was it. He remained stiff, all that loud grunting and bubbling and yelping replaced by the calm, empty silence of the water. Most of the tentacles retreated, giving the drowned Zeke slight fondles and playful tugs on the way out. He didn’t react to any of them, of course, not even the soft tendrils unwrapping from his dick and poking it, wiggling around the string of cum still attached to his tip.

“…”

Four tentacles still grasped each limb, and they carried Zeke’s lifeless body even further out of sight. They carefully settled him inside a cozy room tucked inside the cavern, decorated with the faint bioluminescent glow of small crystals. Zeke would’ve been frightened to see what was being hidden in here if he was still alive…

Several other drowned bodies, all long gone, were laid out along the crowded room, all spent, naked and with various degrees of fear and arousal still hinted at on their cold, blue-blushed faces.

Zeke was laid to rest right between them, sinking slowly and quietly onto the floor. Its efforts rewarded for the day, the unseen thing’s tentacles finally let go of the bird entirely, letting him sleep for good among all the other unfortunate drowned ones. At the same time, the tendrils brushed against some of the other victims, poking and brushing against them here and there before picking one out of the limp crowd. It dragged him out of the hidden room to play with him next…

…And Zeke, as tired and fearful as he looked in his last moments, would at least get a bit more use. Eventually.