Chapter Text
“BIIIIIIG MAAAAAN!” Frye frantically shouted as she shoved her hand in her satchel, searching for something that could help.
Spade, rope, splattershot…No, no, no! She threw them out of her satchel and continued digging. “BIG MAN!!! GET OVER HERE!!!” She screamed as she threw out an aerospray, n-zap, and a dagger.
“Why are there so many weapons!? Didn’t I tell Big Man to pack some band aids?” Frye said to herself, knowing full well that Big Man was the one who always told her to pack more health items. But Frye was a girl of action. Shoot first, ask questions later. Her agility and strength always got her out of trouble. She always opted for packing more firepower in her satchel when treasure-hunting. She let Big Man handle the health-related stuff, because in her mind, she didn’t need any.
She still didn’t need it. No, it wasn’t her in trouble, but a stranger.
Frye reached the bottom of her satchel. She knew she had no band-aids, no gauze, no medicines…but she was hoping maybe Big Man had put some in there and she forgot to take it out. Why didn’t she listen to him more?
Frye dropped herself and her satchel on the ground. If Big Man hadn’t heard her yet, he might be at their campsite. They were currently on one of their treasure-seeking adventures, mining out forgotten areas surrounding Splatsville.
She looked at her mess of items surrounding her, embarrassment and hesitance making her not want to lay eyes on the stranger laying in front of her. Weapons, scavenging tools…fan?
A fan laid about three feet away from the stranger. It wasn’t hers; fans had no use when treasure-hunting. It must belong to…
Frye finally turned her eye to the stranger. She hadn’t seen an inkling with that sort of tentacle shape before. The stranger had pale white skin, and was wearing weirdly elegant black clothing, like someone who worked in an office might wear.
What was a business person doing here, miles away from Splatsville, in the middle of the forest?
The stranger had fainted, and Frye couldn’t leave ‘em there. Octarians were known the roam the area; they were freaky little tentacle-monster things that were always in an octopus form.
Not knowing what else to do, Frye slowly got back up and walked around the stranger and towards the fan. Picking it up, she realized it was heavier than it looked; it was made of metal! What? From the brown, 'wooden' handle to the white 'paper' sails, it was all metal. Strange.
She then finally looked at the passed-out blue Inkling with the strange, curly tentacles and odd, business-like attire. “What am I going to do?” She asked herself. She was great at many things; dancing, fighting, treasure-seeking...but conducting medical aid was not one of her many talents.
This is all my fault!
“Master Warrant Officer, Specialist Shiver is here.”
“Bring her in,” The Master Warrant Officer said dispassionately. The secretary bowed her head and let the specialist in before leaving the room.
The office of a Master Warrant Officer was the size befitting of an elite, but was also largely clinical, boarding on having the vibes of a hospital room more than anything. White walls, white flooring, and even a white desk…The blue-haired Octoling entering the room would never admit it out loud, but she found it to be almost creepy. Specialist Shiver was dressed in a simple black suit befitting of her own rank, with a patch on the left arm denoting her status. Her hair was styled just like everyone else’s of her status: curly, twin-tail tentacles in the back with two bangs in the front. What set her apart from the rest was that she carried a fan in her right hand. Although not part of her uniform, she had ranked high enough for that…personal quirk of hers to always carry that fan around….to be largely ignored.
The Master Warrant Officer was an elite Octoling named Pierre, though Shiver knew better than to ever use his real name when speaking to him. It simply wasn’t proper.
The Master Warrant Officer flicked a similarly-colored blue tentacle towards a chair. “Please sit.”
The elite Octoling, a man that was likely is no more than a few years older than Shiver yet had the demeanor of someone twice their age, said in a monotone voice, “Specialist Shiver, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors surrounding the Lieutenant Major.”
“The Lieutenant Major?” Shiver said, her hands neatly in her lap and her gaze steady. There were quite a few Lieutenant Majors, but it was obvious which one he was speaking of. “I’m afraid I don’t participate in rumor mongering, sir. I just focus on my work.” A partial lie, but speaking about the rumors that surrounded the Lieutenant Major bordered on treason. She’d rather play kiss the inkling before admitting that she participated in baseless gossip. And she would never gossip to begin with.
Shiver was totally too mature for that.
The elite Octoling likely would have rolled his eyes if he wasn’t such stiff individual. Maybe he needs to play a round of kiss the inkling, Shiver thought, inwardly smirking. If the rumors of how those hedonistic, free-loving Inklings have fun are true, anyway…
The Master Warrant Officer continued to speak, “You were quite young when she was…taken from us. So, you may not remember the day as clearly as I do.”
Shiver bristled. “I remember, sir. It cut my graduation ceremony short.” You’re also only like…five years older than me? Pah.
A red eye hit hers. “Yes, but I was there. During the battle, when those inklings destroyed part of our city, wiped out half of the military, and blasted us with their so-called music”. He scoffed, surprising Shiver to see this sort of emotion out one usually so stoic and calm. “They took her. One of our best and brightest. She should be one of the Elites, but instead, she’s gone.”
Shiver resisted the urge to open her fan, instead keeping it closed as her hands gripped the glossy black iron handle tightly. In her line of duty, she usually could use her nervous energy to her benefit – hiding behind her fan gave her an aura of elegance and wonder – and hid the fact that she was at a loss of words. Yes, the loss of the Lieutenant Major was devastating, but…that happened years ago. What did that have to do with her?
Big Man was at a loss of words.
Of the duo, he was always the more responsible one. He let Frye be the fighter while he was the healer. He was also the cautious one. Frye loved treasure-hunting – and he did too – but it was dangerous. So dangerous. The Octarians could be anywhere. He always told Frye to be more careful, to carry more than just weapons and scavenging tools, but the hotheaded inkling never listened to him. “We’ve been doing this for YEARS, Big Man, and we’ve never gotten hurt!” She’d always say, “I’ll be fine!”
Well, Big Man could admit that Frye was fine…physically, that is. Just moments ago, she had come barreling into their campsite, out of breath and filled with terror, with a fancy-looking inkling on her back.
“BIG MAN! FIX HER!” She shouted, practically throwing the stranger into his lap where he sat by the campfire. He got up in a start. “Ay? Ay!? (Who is this? What happened!?)”
“I DON’T KNOW! They just kinda jumped out at me I shot ‘em!”
“AYYYYY!? (YOU SHOT AN INKLING!?)”
“I THOUGHT THEY WERE AN OCTARIAN! Barely any Inkling comes out this far! Fix himmmmmmm!” Frye whined, grabbing Big Man’s satchel off from the ground and thrusting it at him.
He immediately opened it, taking out gauze, wraps, and medicine. “Ay…Ay…Ay? (Well, if you shot ‘em with just an ink weapon, the damage shouldn’t be too great. How long has he been passed out?)”
Frye looked down at her nonexistent watch, “Oh, like 20 minutes? I don’t know! How come she’s not waking up? I just used my splattershot on her, I swear. Like, two shots. I didn’t even splat her!”
Big Man checked the blue stranger for any damage, but curiously found none. “Ay-ay-ay? (I don’t think she’s injured. I think she just passed out. Maybe she’s lost?)”
“Ay-Ay. Ay Ay Ay. (Frye, help me put ‘em in the tent then grab some grub and water. We’ll wait for ‘em to wake up. I think she’s dehydrated.)”
“O-okay.” Frye said. Together, they lifted the stranger up and entered the Deluxe CoroCoro Heavy Tent. The tent was so big it was like a minihouse, with a ‘lobby’ area just inside the entrance, and three plastic ‘doors’ located on the nylon walls that led to rooms. It was large to accommodate someone the size of Big Man, and tough enough to withstand multiple blasts from Octarian ink weapons.
The room to the left was Big Mans’, the room in the front was Frye’s, and the room to the right was storage. Since they only had two beds, they placed the stranger in Big Man’s room. Frye almost wanted to argue to put them in her room since she was the one who shot the stranger, but she figured now wasn’t the time to argue. She quickly grabbed some grub from the supply room and went back to the unconscious blue Inkling.
With nothing left to do now but wait, Frye finally had some time to calm down from her adrenaline-fueled past half hour. She looked down at the stranger who was laying almost peacefully on the cot.
They had a pale white face with twin tentacle ‘pigtails’ that curled up behind her, and two more tentacles at the front denoting bangs. Frye hadn’t seen an Inkling who looked like them before…
“Ay? (She waking up yet?)” Big Man asked from the doorway of his room.
Frye shook her head “Shouldn’t we bring them back to Splatsville?”
Big Man shrugged, “Ay…Ay? (She probably should go see a real doctor…but how are we going to carry her and our gear all the way back there?)”
“I don’t know. Are you sure you didn’t pack some ‘wake up right now you’re scaring me to death’ pills in your satchel?”
“Ay-Ay (Hey, you only shot her with an ink weapon a few times, she should be fine.)”
He paused. “…Ay? (You only used an ink weapon, right?)”
“Yes!! I didn’t use my knife. Or my dagger. Or my – “
“<Ugh, what happened?>" A dazed voice said in an unusual tone - it nearly sounded like singing. Frye and Big Man looked down at the bed as the stranger opened her dark-red eyes. “<Oww, my head…woah!>" She exclaimed after catching eyesight of the Inkling and Manta Ray in front of her.
“Woah, hey, easy there!” Frye said after the stranger suddenly sat up in bed. “We’re helping you! Uh, want some water?” She said, thrusting a bottle of water at the stranger who backed away from her outstretched hand. She put the water on the bed then held up some food “Are you hungry? We got granola bars and chips. Big Man here can whip up some hot food over the campfire if you wanna wait…”
“Ay. (Frye, did you understand what she was saying?)”
“No, she's not making sense. I think she’s just confused.”
“Ay…Ay…Ay… (Well, it doesn’t sound like Rayonese…or Jellish...or Spanish.)”
The stranger still sat on the bed, frozen. Frye wasn’t sure if they were scared or simply too weak to move off the bed. “Do…you…speak…Inklish?” She said slowly. “Or Rayonese?” She said pointing at Big Man, who waved.
The stranger narrowed their eyes. The other two didn’t know it, but Shiver was calling upon her years of training to stay calm and collected. Shiver pointed at Big Man, “Ray-oh-nees?”
“Yes! Do you speak Ray? Or Inklish?”
“Ink-leesh?” Shiver said, pointing at Frye, who nodded. She then pointed at herself. ”<Shiver>"
“Ay-Ay (I don’t think she understands us.)”
Frye groaned.
“Ay-Ay! Ay, Ay! (At least they’re awake! Try to get ‘em to drink water, I’ll go make some dinner!)” Big Man said excitedly before leaving the tent.
Frye and Shiver looked at each other. Shiver remembered the Inkling shooting at her, and now she’s in her bed. Knowing how crazy Inklings were, she was wary of squid girl’s motives. So, she continued to stare.
And Frye stared back.
Shiver continued to stare.
And Frye stared back.
...Well, If the Inkling was planning on being crazy, she probably would’ve done so by now. She unceremoniously pointed at the bottle of water that was still on the bed, making Frye jump at the sudden movement. “<Hey,> Inkleesh, <Can I have that?>"
Shiver quirked an eye up at her denbrother and densisters. They were quite childishly flipping between their octopus and Octoling forms, jumping all over the place in a frenzy doing an Inkling past-time they called ‘squid-bagging’.
“You all better get in line before denmother returns." She scoffed as she smoothed her lovely dark blue dress down.
“Don’t be so BORING.” Her only denbrother said, swimming up to her. With no ink around to jump into, it was slow-going trying to swim on the floor tiles.
Shiver rolled her eyes, “I’m just being proper."
Her denbrother jumped up, reverting back to Octoling form. He was an unfortunate shade of green. “No, you’re being BORING. Shouldn’t you be more excited than we are that you can turn into an Octoling?”
“I am excited, I’m just not being childish."
A pink densister jumped up next, turning into an Octoling before turning back into an octopus. “I saw Shiver squid-bagging in the dorm last night~”
“I did not!”
“You did~”
“Ugh, children."
“You’re only a year older than us!” Her denbrother said before turning back into an octopus and spinning in place.
“Being older means I’m in charge.” Shiver said, “So, please, get back in line before denmother sees you all acting like Inklings and holds us all back another year!”
With a collective groan, the group started to revert back to their octoling forms. A densibling complained, “She’s not even here yet. No one is watching us."
“Hmph." She opened her fan up with a snap of her wrist. "They’re always watching."
“Ay-Ay? (Learned your new friend’s name yet?)” Big Man asked Frye as he poured prawncake batter over the skillet.
“No, I can’t understand her at all. Big Man, what if when I knocked her out she went all crazy in the cranium? Like she thinks she’s speaking inklish but she’s actually saying everything backwards and her hearing is upside down?”
“…Ay. (…I don’t think that’s how it works.)"
“Well, have you ever been knocked out for 20 minutes? After just two ink shots?”
“Ay. (No.)"
“No! Then how would you know if I didn’t break her?”
“Ay…Ay…Ay? (I…don’t…know?)”
“Exactly! I’m an Inkling murderer!” She said, falling to her knees in a dramatic fashion. “All my dreams are forfeit. Take me to jail!”
Crunch…crunch…
Both Frye and Big Man turned around to look at the blue stranger, who was standing in front of the tent. They were eating from a bag of sweet kelp chips while watching the scene in front of her. Frye then suddenly turned into her squid form and somehow managed to launch herself the stranger, turning back into an Inkling at the last second. “You’re not hearing me upside-down, are you?” She turned back into a squid and landed on the ground in front of blue-tentacled person, who lifted an eyebrow at the sight but continued eating the chips.
Frye flipped her squid form upside-down, looking quite ridiculous to the Octoling. “Can you hear me now?”
Is this…an Inkling courting ritual? Shiver looked up at Big Man in confusion. Big Man simply poured more prawncake batter into the skillet and said, “Ay. (Food’s ready in 5 minutes.)"
“I’m sure you’ll be able to go to the next ceremony, Shiver,”. Mira said, pity evident in her golden-copper eyes. Shiver scoffed, looking away. Shiver's skin was still blue, matching her blue-tentacled hair and her not-fully-formed blue hands. Meanwhile, Mira had beautiful tanned skin that contrasted nicely against her rosy red tentacles.
"I don't want to go to the next ceremony, I want to go to this one. I'm just as ready as you are to pass basic. Being held back over not having an Octoling form yet is just.. embarrassing." Shiver said, crossing her purple-blue arms together in a huff.
“Y'know well as I do that we all mature at different rates - hey, I'm not trying to be mean here!” Mira said as Shiver shot her a steel-cold glare. “I'm just saying - you already knew your clan tends to have a harder time getting an Octoling form than others."
“I know, I know! It’s just…” Shiver started, before trailing off for a moment. She looked back at Mira, “I thought we’d at least go through basic training together before separating.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Mira used her newly-formed fingers to twirl a lock of her hair. “Well, I mean…we’ll still write to each other, right?”
“…right”.
After a delicious if awkward dinner, Shiver stood by the campfire, mulling over her thoughts.
The Inkling and Manta Ray seemed nice enough. The Inkling did shoot her upon first contact, but Shiver couldn’t blame her. In fact, Shiver was somewhat mad at herself for not realizing the Inkling was nearby. She was better than that.
She was also knocked out…embarrassing, to be sure, but no one she respected would ever know of this. She was just tired. And hungry. And dehydrated. No one she respected would ever know how many prawncakes she packed away, either.
Now, what should she do?
She looked at the yellow Inkling, who was not-so-subtly shooting Shiver worried glances as she pretended to help the Ray with dishes.
“What should we do with her?” Frye whispered as if the blue stranger could understand them.
“Ay…Ay-Ay? (Um…maybe start with teaching her Inklish? Cuz I’m pretty sure she thinks your name is Inklish.)"
“Gah! I’m not a teacher. I’m a treasure seeker and dancer extraordinaire! Also, I’m really good with a knife!”
“Ay? (Maybe she can communicate through dance?)”
“Hm…maybe, but probably not, no. Okay! I’ll teach them my name. And learn how to say theirs. Wish me luck."
“Ay! Ay-Ay! (Ohh! Get their pronouns while you’re at it. They’re just so mysteriously androgynous!)”
“I’ll try!” Frye said as she marched over to the mysterious stranger.
Shiver cooly regarded the approaching Inkling. “<Hello,> Inklish."
“Okay, nice try! But, I’m actually Frye. Frye!” She repeated, pointing at herself and nodding.
Shiver said nothing.
“Fur-eyeeee”, she said again. “Me! Frye!”
“…Me, Frye?” Shiver said, this time pointing at her own self.
“No! Not you, Frye! Me, Frye!” She exclaimed. She then pointed at Big Man “He, Big Man! Not Rayonese! I’m Frye! Not Inklish!”
Shiver tilted her head and flicked her eyes at Big Man. “He, Big Man?” She said.
“Yes!” Frye cheered. “Big Man”.
Shiver looked at Frye. “Me, Frye?”
“No. Nooo!”
For some reason, Shiver smirked. She pointed to herself again. “Me, Frye!”
“No!” Frye pointed at herself. “I’m Frye!”
“I’m Frye!”
"Y-you - No! I'm Frye!"
"No! I'm Frye!"
“Gah!”
“Ay-Ay? (Is everything okay over there?)” Big Man called out.
“No!” Frye stated, “Now she thinks she’s me!”