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Story/Callum are

Lexal/Sark/Hiro

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After the adiposal aftermath of the first checkpoint, Callum and Lexal are far more cautious their next challenge. They suspect it will endanger their lives once more, but it is tales of the Siren's Song that strikes the most fear into their hearts and stomachs.
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Part III
After an arduous climb up the ladder, the duo plopped onto the deck with a sluggish wobble. Lexal leaned against Callum’s heaving middle, sinking into the ponderous dragon pillow and feeling as though he weighed a thousand pounds. Hiro came over and guffawed at the sight of them, nudging Lexal’s soft tail with a foot and giggling to Callum. “That Sir Baker title didn’t hafta be taken literal or anything,” he laughed, extending a green scaly paw to the drake as Sark helped Lexal up. Even the captain couldn’t help but bear a shadow of a smile at the pair of explorers. They looked as if they’d stuffed pillows into their pantaloons and sacks of flour in their vests.

Callum poked Hiro’s pebbled middle lightly. “Figured you could use the company,” he replied.

Lexal pouted, rubbing a thick pearled roll subconsciously before producing the piece of bronze compass to Sark. “I think we’re on the right course,” he grunted.

The captain of the ship took the piece and nodded, inspecting it carefully. He lead the tubby team over to the map and placed the jagged compass on it. The next destination was a little inlet several leagues down the coast, surrounded by high cliffs and stamped with a musical note. “The Song of Slate,” Sark murmured. “Ominous place down current.” He turned to the others, “We should be there by daybreak.” Shouting orders to the crew, the larger shark began preparations to set sail once more.

Callum smiled weakly to Lexal, his stomach sagging heavily against his waist. “Onward and forward?”

The shark sighed, squeezing his voluminous side repeatedly as if trying to come to terms with its existence. “I guess.”

Hiro stepped forward and gripped both their bellies, sending a jovial jiggle along their sides. “Onwards and outwards, more like! This’ll be fun!”

***
The Song of Slate was a jagged series of peaks and outcroppings that sheared the coast abruptly, as if a giant had dragged a knife where the ocean met land. Seventy-meter cliffs plummeted into thrashing waves, with razor-sharp cutbacks and crevices cut into its sides. It was an ugly, desolate place, devoid of any life, save for prototypic bacteria and steelhead barnacle. The map detailed a small inlet tucked about halfway in along the slash of cliffs. That was where Sark was heading now, taking care to keep a safe distance from the treacherous coastline.

Callum eyed the cliffs with reproach, his softened stature wobbling gently with the keeling of the ship. The cuts in the cliff faces seemed as sharp as his now-pillowy bulk was soft. His and Lexal’s uniforms had been stretched and relaxed to accommodate the new amplitude of their figures, with the cloth comfortably tightened in their seams, hugging to each roll and bowing under the respectable curve of their bellies and rumps.

Hiro had a field day coming up with shanties about whales, manatees and other large sea creatures that failed to live up to the splendor of doughy duo. It was actually reassuring for Lexal, as the foreboding cliffs dampened his mood further while he fretted over his large snowball of a belly. Hiro’s good-natured digs kept him flustered enough to remain light hearted. At least until Sark’s lookout, a literal crow in the crow’s nest, sighted the inlet and cawed down to the others. “Inlet in sight!”

Sark stepped forward, peering through the sea spray. Callum and Lexal narrowed their gazes, straining to see what lay within the slit of an inlet.

The beach was staggered with layers of slate, seeming to sing as waves brushed over them in sharp, lolling tunes. Callum nearly choked as he looked further up the beach. A slender path led up the layers of slate, each slick with seaweed and algae, and at the terminus stood four figures around a small tide pool. He couldn’t see what was in the pool, but the figures flanking it could only be there to guard something of value. ‘The next piece.’ Callum’s gut tightened and pressed against his strained shirt, lurching at the thought of traversing those slippery stairs.

Lexal seemed to amplify his preoccupations. The soft-bellied shark backed away a couple paces, his thighs brushing together as he looked to Sark. “C-can’t we fire at them first?” he whimpered, nodding to the cannons, “Make it a bit easier for us?” A pit of fear rooted itself in the shark’s stomach. Navigating this type of terrain with a sack of lard strapped to his waist was almost as terrifying as the sirens themselves.

The captain of the ship shook his head. It was against maritime law to fire on non-hostile land based targets, though even the muscular shark felt a shiver run through his spine when he looked at them.

Each figure was hooded, hunched forward slightly and cloaked in robes slimy with kelp and sea detritus. They stooped and swayed around the pool, as if the strong winds funneling through the inlet might blow them away at any moment. “You know I can’t, Lexal,” Sark sighed, patting the smaller shark’s shoulder with a jiggle, “But if anything goes wrong, we’ll be sure to send help right away.”

The burly shark gulped again, his softened appearance seeming to sag under the weight of the looming responsibility. “Th-thanks, Sark. I’m sure it won’t come to that, but thanks.”

Callum padded up to his friend and bumped him amicably with his globular belly, “C’mon fish breath. You think a couple of seaweed-covered crones can best us? We just outran a maelstrom of poison darts!”

Hiro coughed, peering at the two explorers and smiling gently. “Well out waddled at least.” Callum almost shoved the gator overboard for his timing, but Lexal managed a meek giggle. The alligator’s attempts at humor never seemed to fail in lightening up the mood.

Settling his cushion-sized rump against the railing, Lexal slowly slipped down the ladder and into their faithful rowboat. He looked up to make sure Callum was coming, only to be greeted with an equally large dragon tush hovering threateningly over him like a black-clothed planet. Lexal moved quicker.

The rowboat dipped far lower as the two settled in. This time Callum took up the oars, more accustomed to operating with the additional weight than Lexal. To the derg, he saw their predicament in a bittersweet light. He was godlessly unstable his first couple times on the boat, struggling to get his sea legs, but he also felt pity for the shark. Lexal was forced to adjust his center of gravity to a body that rolled, shifted and wobbled with twice its standard weight. The awkwardness wore itself clearly on the shark’s soft face, a look of worry and apprehension framed by a pair of pudgy cheeks.

Whistling one of the sea shanties he’d heard Hiro sing to pass the time, the fat dragon pulled the low-riding boat over the swilling waves, enjoying the cool spray of sea salt against his doughy sides. Despite the looming cliffs cutting against the water, he felt more relaxed than Lexal, who struggled to stabilize himself despite a pendulously wobbling belly. Callum felt tempted to tease his companion, but was interrupted by a low sweet song filling the air.

They both heard it at the same time, a soft warble trickling in among the hiss of sea foam and the waves. It had an ethereal quality to it, timeless and soothing, as if someone were singing through the water. Though neither realized it at the moment, the gentle notes seeped through their clothes and rolled sides, taking root in the foot-thick strata of flab along their middles and slowly adding to the masses of pudge. Callum grinned weakly to Lexal, seeing the shark look up over his shoulder to the crones warily. “Those are sirens,” he whimpered.

Callum frowned, turning as they drew nearer. He didn’t feel as though he were falling into a trance. The music was certainly pleasant, soothing even, but he still had a grip on his senses. Under his cotton shirt, the drake’s stomach ever so softly lowered against his lap, eating up the space against his knees with a soft roll of belly, but he didn’t notice.

Once they docked against a ragged jetty of rocks layered with a thick film of seaweed and algae, Lexal tentatively led the way off the boat. This time neither was in a hurry to dismount, with the shark rocking nervously on the balls of his feet and waiting for Callum to catch up. Lexal’s pearly middle quivered like a 30 gallon bag of sand, sagging from his waistband to level with his hips. His tail’s movements were sluggish and thick, the base widening by another couple inches. With each passing moment, the song rose in pitch and grew more agitated.

Callum pulled himself up next to his companion, resting a chubby arm on the shark’s shoulder and grunting. “You’d think they’d have an escalator or some ‘Caution’ signs, huh?” The rocks were cool under his feet, his blue claws gripping at the tendrils of kelp as they struggled to retain his wobbling inertia.

Lexal rubbed his paws together, “Maybe we should head back. Test our luck with the crones another day.” He jiggled his belly for emphasis, “When we’re not packing a couple spare bowling balls around our waists.”

“Hey, c’mon,” Callum rubbed his companion’s back, “We’re already here. If we get pinned down, we squash them. Maybe you could smack ‘em with that tail of yours.”

A faint grin graced Lexal’s lips, his cable of a tail lifting for a moment off the weed-choked rocks. With another extensive sigh, the shark nodded and the pair of them began to tread forward. Each pace was slow and calculated, but neither minded. They knew one slip or fall could be fatal. The singing began to seem more like a buzzing, as if sand flies were lodged in their ears. It stifled concentration and made the slow going that much harder, but with a meaty arm wrapped snuggly around one another’s back, Callum and Lexal maintained their balance.

As they neared the tide pool, the swaying of the sirens became frenetic. Lexal paused for a moment, flexing his beefy arm fearfully where it was secured around Callum’s waist. He could feel the drake’s scales and shirt shifting and tightening, growing as broad as a barrel. Rolls of scaly pudge gently squishing into Lexal’s forearm where it was snugly secured the drake’s heavying body. The shark realized his own tread felt heavier, as if he’d swallowed a grouper. Crying out, the shark almost lost his balance, causing Callum to curse. “Callum, the music! It’s like the darts!”

The dragon went rigid, suddenly feeling as if he weighed a thousand pounds. He saw Lexal’s hoodie begin to unstitch at the seams as steel-grey flab pushed laboriously against the fabric. Lexal’s face was ripening with an additional chin sagging under a deep frown, but the drake refrained from commenting on it. He was sure his own was no different.

Looking down into the pool, the drake spotted the piece of compass sitting at the bottom, shimmering and casting bronze light over the craggy walls. Callum pointed downward and shouted for Lexal to be ready to haul him up when he was ready.

The shark only nodded, his gaze flicking over the howling crones, pupils shrunken to pinpricks. The shark’s flabby body undulated rapidly with uncontrollable trembles. His boots slipped and slid against the kelp, Callum’s shouting muted as though their accumulating waistlines muffled the his voice. The shark’s form sagged lower, pushing like a medicine ball stuffed in his hoodie. His tail squeezed in his paws as he watched Callum prep for an impromptu dive.

All around them, the sirens danced faster, their robes billowing like kites in a hurricane. The singing became a searing scream, spiking the rising amounts of flab along the explorer’s figures. Lexal groaned in exasperation as his stomach surged outwards, a massive pearly orb the size of a beanbag bouncing out of his torn hoodie.

Callum felt his swollen gut bulge and sag heavily, pulling him forward into the pool. He went with it. Falling in a wild ark, the dragon descended into the pool with a mighty splash, soaking Lexal and the sirens. His figure rippled under the surface, becoming fortified with deposits of pudge. Blinking furiously, Callum looked around and spied the metal piece. A large W and part of a shattered N shone in crystal. He had to fight to keep from floating to the surface, each stroke growing harder as his sides pushed against his shirt and his legs squeezed together, each bulging through their seams like sausages in too tight a skin. With one last mighty effort, he snagged the metal piece in a chubby hand and shot upwards.

Bursting clear of the surface, Callum paddled over to the side of the pool where Lexal did his best not to keel over from his own sagging bulk. The shark’s belly hung nearly level with his knees, his tail a meter-wide cylinder of flab capped with an arrowhead fin. Callum grappled to the edge and struggled to pull himself out. It was painful with the singing sharp as a knife’s edge and several slate slabs digging against his barrel-busting bulk. Lexal spotted the floundering dragon and yanked Callum up and out, making the dragon cry out as he flopped on his belly, feeling as if he were draped over a scaly couch. Looking up at the ponderous white sack of pudge filling his vision, Callum managed a weak grin, “Soft landing indeed!” He held the bronze piece in one chubby paw, “Let’s get outta here!”

Together they waddled down the steps, disregarding safety for speed. Halfway down, Callum tripped and careened into Lexal, taking them both into a painful, wobbling roll. It was a miracle they weren’t seriously injured, though Lexal figured their added bulk might’ve also cushioned the various blows. Lexal winced as each blow lanced his fattened form, cruelly emphasizing the damage of the siren’s song on his waistline. Together they tumbled down the slight incline and into the unfortunate rowboat. The vessel protested loudly, sloshing treacherously as its occupants weighed it down and wobbled against its sides.

Callum quickly sat up and plopped onto the rowing seat where it promptly snapped under his colossal weight and jarred the boat. Lexal yelped as his ponderous white belly jiggled with the violent motion. It was now level with his eyes as he propped himself against the front of the boat. Callum managed to set the oars despite his belly pooling over his knees and began to row themselves away from the screaming sirens. As the sound faded, the dragon found himself rowing parallel with the water as the rowboat listed dangerously level with the surface. His barrel of a gut pressed against Lexal’s, their figures practically filling the vessel as it teetered and tottered its way back to the ship.

Lexal panted softly, before feeling something cool rest atop his massive marshmallow of middle. Looking up, the shark saw the second piece of the compass, gleaming bright and wobbling like a small raft in the ocean. Reaching up, he plucked it off his gut while Callum adjusted his butt, finding domed cheeks wedged tightly against the sides of the boat. The shark glared hard at how much the compass piece sank in, bobbing in the flesh of his stomach. His rounded cheeks flushed in annoyance as he glared at Callum, “I’m not a jewelry cushion, you know.”

Callum smiled sheepishly and shrugged, gesturing around the limited space of their raft. There was nary an inch of the vessel that wasn't overflowing with shark lard or dragon blubber. “Sorry bud, we’re a bit limited on space.”

Rolling his eyes, the shark distracted himself by tinkering with the crystal gears, noting the letters and the intricate etchings of bronze in its surface. “We’d better be able to fit this together.” The compass piece rolled on his doughy chest mockingly.

“Me too,” the drake pulled the oars towards him, his paws rolling along the broad curve of his belly, “Guess we’ll have to talk to Sark.”


Sark was indeed able to provide some answers. After hoisting the pair of blubbery explorers up via winch, seeing as a ladder was as far fetched as the siren’s song, the captain of the voyage had couple of heavy-duty stools set up around the map table. Hiro was over the moon at their increases in size, promoting Callum to Sir Cumference and christening Lexal as the Great White Whale Shark. Neither appreciated the nicknames, but neither could deny they weren’t apt for their current predicaments.

Both explorers had bellies that put the barrels of beer in the ship’s cargo to shame, sagging low and heavy against their thighs amid partially torn vests and shirts. Callum’s rump looked like a pair of couch cushions strapped together while Lexal’s tail was thicker than the ship’s main mast. Their gait was now a slow, rolling waddle, which caused the ship’s timber to creak wherever they went. Hiro had slapped Lexal’s stomach, turning the white orb pink as the shark heated with embarrassment. Callum responded by belly bumping the gator, giving his companion a moment of reprieve. He loomed threateningly over Hiro, using his bulk for a bit of intimidation.

“I'm gonna toss you in the tidal pool,” Callum warned, half jokingly. Hiro only offered a weak grin while Lexal rested on a stool and stared the map distractedly.

The gator managed another laugh, though it was tinged faintly by fear. He resolved to be out of range of those bellies the next time he indulged in a quip.

“Alright,” Sark plopped the newest bronze piece next to its brother, each clunking softly around on the map. “We have two slices of compass, and the map’s giving us a good idea of where the third is.” The muscular shark tapped a claw on the parchment, sliding his finger down the coast further to a large stretch of jungled beach. It seemed the direct antithesis of the Song of Slate, with verdant swaths of rainforest replacing inhospitable cliffs and gentle white beaches spread over the razor sharp crust of the inlets. “I think I know where the next part might lie,” he pointed to a portion of the coastland. “There’s a ship run aground some miles up the coast. A great beast a vessel. Wench’s Wind if I recall...”

Callum eyed the map uncertainly, his belly pooling thickly against the lip of the table as he reached down to pick the pieces of the compass up. They fit snugly in his palms, cool against the soft scales of his paws. “Have we had any luck on fitting these?” he asked Sark, before looking to Lexal.

Both sharks shook their heads. Lexal drummed his paws on his belly, sending gentle wobbles through his form. “I talked to a couple crew members about the first piece. They said the best they figured, it went together like a watch, with all those gears and crystal pieces.”

Sark nodded, “They’re impressive workmanship, for sure. I can’t imagine the trouble to cut crystal gears, let alone fit them with bronze.”

The drake bought the pieces close, eyeing the jagged N where part of the compass cut off. Holding them closer, the fat dragon tried working their internal gears into place, slotting the serrated rungs in so they meshed cleanly. With a faint click and satisfying SNAP, the two pieces suddenly clasped together magnetically. Their ragged division seemed to disappear, the bronze and crystal markings completely smooth. Callum fumbled with the heavy piece, before setting it gingerly on the map.

The others leaned in with interest; Hiro chattering excitedly into Sark’s ear slit while Lexal regarded the compass and the still absent Eastern chunk. “We need to get that last piece,” he muttered, looking over to Callum’s bulk and then his own as if to assess the damage and the rewards. The drake had a feeling he and Lexal would be loathe to move by the end of this. He hoped Lexal would be willing to see the quest through, and kept that notion to himself.

Turning on one heel, Sark began barking orders, the ship springing to life with its colorful sails and spritely crew. The wind suddenly caught the sails in full, pushing the Flying Flounder along at an energetic pace. Lexal, caught off guard by the lurch of the vessel, promptly toppled into Hiro, taking both himself and the gator down under a gut large enough to be a landmark. Mumbles and curses trickled up from the gator as he was buried in shark pudge. Lexal turned a vibrant red and tried to apologize as he rolled off. Callum offered a hearty belly laugh at that, before another gust of wind carried his big-boned form into a graceless descent. He toppled over, directly into a grumbling Hiro who’d just begun to sit up. The drake giggled as Lexal helped him up, still embarrassed by the whole ordeal. Beneath them, Hiro lay dazed on the deck.

The gator stared up at the sky, grumbling sourly. Two massive, supple orbs loomed overhead, leaving him wondering. ‘Why are there two moons in the sky?’