Chapter 1

Yeah, so this got taken down off of fanfiction for a while (it's a long story). However, I was planning on rewriting it anyway so here's the new version. As of publishing this, any old versions still floating around the Net are considered non-canon to this fic's universe. So just a few housekeeping things to take care of before I start

1) Disclaimer for the entire fic, since I don't feel like typing it out 40+ times: I own nothing official

2) Credit goes to 466 Gaming for the awesome cover, which is used with their permission

3) Yes, there are some slight similarities between this story and Pure White. Solace knows about them and I have their permission to write this fanfic. Please do not accuse me of stealing things from them. (And go check out their fic while you're at it if you need something else to read)

4) This story is the second of four fanfics to take place in this universe I've created. You don't have to read the first story in this series to understand this one, as they are all stand-alone fics in their own right, but it definitely will greater expand the world I'm building in these stories.

Link to the first story:

https(:/) .net(/)s(/)12899025(/)3(/)Before-the-Darkness

Just remove the parenthesis and then copy and paste the link in and it should work

And that's pretty much it. Happy reading, people. Reviews, follows, and favorites are always appreciated.

The smoldering sun beat down upon the earth with hazy rays of light, smothering the town with an intense heat. A soft golden glow seemed to soften the edges of all the buildings painted a drab white. Down by the shore sparkling water dyed a clear crystal blue lapped along the beach, combining with the light breeze to create a natural melody.

This was the sight of a small city called Splashtown, arguably a country bumpkin's home when compared to the great city of Inkopolis that lay far to the south. Perched right at the northernmost tip of the continent, nestled between mountains, it certainly was a picturesque place. The buildings were short, the tallest among them no more than three stories tall, and a relaxing atmosphere encompassed the entire area.

Few people ever came to the city. As far north as it was after the buildings there was nothing, just a vast endless sea that no one dared to try to cross. Its location more than anything else doomed it to never have a grand and lively population more befitting of a sprawling metropolis. Instead, farmers and towns' folks looking for an escape from all the hustle and bustle settled there. Things were normally quiet and peaceful, making it very much akin to a typical country town.

One thing that should be noted, however, was the almost complete lack of teenagers. Yes, there were a few here or there that had stayed home instead of undertaking what was commonly considered a major right of passage for inklings. But largely all teenagers were gone, off running wild in Inkopolis as they tore up turf and tried to become fresh. Such concepts were almost foreign in Splashtown, but even this far away they couldn't help but capture the imagination of the youth.

One such youth happened to be lying asleep in her bed, frolicking in a land of dreams. Her abode was painted all white, a masterpiece of winter speckled here and there with a few tiny specks of black. It was a simply furnished place, with a desk pushed up against the wall opposite two windows, a chair skewed just out of alignment positioned next to it. There was a small bookcase tucked in an alcove, a pair of dressers, and of course the bed the owner of the room was asleep in.

She was a curious sight to be seen, only recently having celebrated the all-important fourteenth birthday. Dusky bronze skin poked out from beneath the covers and long floppy tentacles marred only by the black mask surrounding her eyes. The teen was still, save for the faintest shifting of expressions on her face and the soft airy sounds that escaped as she breathed. All in all, if it weren't for one small detail she would have been rather average.

A thin, watery beam of sunlight dared to enter this peaceful abode, dancing along the wall until it came to land on her face. The inkling winced and uttered a short, sleepy grunt of complaint before flopping over onto a side. Snuggling deep down underneath the covers, a sleepy sigh escaped her form as she sleepily prepared to slip back into slumber.

The beam of sunlight was not to be deterred, however, and much to the girl's misfortune she had landed facing the window. More rays streamed into the room as the sun continued to march towards its zenith, bathing the world with a golden hue. They also happened to shine directly into the girl's eyes, causing her to twitch in annoyance before groggily blinking them open. With a yawn, she slowly sat up, hazily blinking the last trails of drowsiness away before lazily stretching.

Suddenly there was a thunderous pounding at her door, a sharp drumbeat echoing throughout the room.

"Move it, Quinn! You're going to miss the train!"

Quinn groaned out some semblance of a morning greeting before reluctantly climbing out of bed. Her legs wobbled a tiny amount as the inkling slowly stumbled around the room.

"Man," she mumbled to herself as she got dressed, "I've been fourteen for a little less than forty-eight hours and mom already wants me out of the house."

She sighed in frustration before starting to tug on her white shoes.

"I don't really see what her problem is...it's not like I'm going to miss the…" She trailed off as everything her mother had said to her registered. In a panic, the girl shoved her feet the rest of the way into the sneakers before snagging a gray backpack off the back of the chair as she bolted out of the room.

"Oh for the love of fish sticks, why'd I oversleep today?" She blurted out, racing down the stairs two at a time. Predictably the teen's mother was standing at the bottom, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Good morning, Quinn," the older woman said with a loving smile as she followed the girl through the house. "Did you sleep well?"

"Sure did Ma, though I might have slept a bit too long."

"Of course you did," the girl's mother chuckled softly and handed her a paper bag. "Once I realized you had turned your alarm clock off I decided to pack you some breakfast. After all, it's going to be a while before I can make you another meal so I might well do this one last time before you strike out on your own."

"Yeah…" Quinn took the sack and put it in her bag, surreptitiously glancing at the clock. It was only 6:45, and the train didn't leave until 7. That was plenty of time for her to make it to the station and get on board.

"I'm going to miss you mom," Quinn turned back to the woman and gave her a quick hug, bouncing a bit in her childish wish to get on with her journey. Seeing this the woman smiled and ruffled the girl's tentacles before reluctantly moving to hold open the door.

"Oh, don't let me keep you any longer. I know how important this is to you, sweetie. Make sure you call me once you get to Inkopolis. I love you, Quinn."

"I love you too, Ma. Tell Harley I'll miss him!" With that parting remark, Quinn raced out the door and down the street towards the station. Her mother, who was named Autumn, watched her go with a fond and wistful look on her face.

"They grow up so fast, don't they?" She remarked with a sigh, a sad smile forming. "Oh Jonathan, if only you were still here to see how our children were doing."

A faint cry of delight suddenly split the calm and tranquil atmosphere of the place, echoing out from inside the house. It was the last resident of the humble abode, a ten year old inkling named Harley. He had apparently decided to pick now as the perfect time to get into some sort of mischief, and with another sigh, the woman turned from the door to go see what was the matter.

She did, however, allow herself one last cursory glance over her shoulder in the direction of the station. No doubt Quinn would be on her way there right now, getting ready to head for the big city. It would certainly be a lot less lively without the young inkling around, though she was confident that Harley would find some way to fill his older sister's shoes.

"Ma! There's a lizard in my room, come and see it! Can I keep it, please, please, please?"

"A lizard? I swear these kids will be the death of me one day," she muttered with a shake of her head before raising her voice. "I'll be right there Harley! Whatever you do don't move!"

Oh kelp, kelp, kelp, you really goofed up this time Quinn ol' girl," Quinn panted as she sprinted through the town, buildings passing by in a blur. There was the small school she had attended as a young girl, right next to that the library where she could recall checking out information on turf wars and then kind old Mrs. Porter's general store. All these places and more were filled with fond memories, but now they seemed so drab and confining compared to the allure of Inkopolis.

"You just had to sleep in today, didn't you? You couldn't get your lazy butt out of bed for a train ride? How the kelp do you think you're going to make it in Inkopolis with an attitude like that?"

She continued her verbal self-beratement all the way to the grand brick building on the south side of town. A quick glance at her phone showed that only ten minutes had elapsed. She had made it with time to spare. With a celebratory cheer, she strode confidently into the station... only for her look of glee to slowly morph into one of shock, confusion, and horror. There were no crowds of stragglers trying to board the train, no families saying last minute goodbyes. The platform was completely deserted, the tracks abandoned. Wherever the train was, it wasn't at the station anymore.

"... the kelp? I know I'm here on time...did I get the wrong day or something?" Quinn frowned as she pulled out her ticket to study it, confirming she had the right date and time. Glancing around as she slowly walked into the large room, she soon spotted a sign of life. Sitting behind the ticket window was an old horseshoe crab, snoozing away the day.

"Hey, old man!" Quinn hurried over to him, doing her best to stifle a chuckle as he bolted upright and smashed his head against a shelf due to the thunderous greeting. "Where's the train? It's supposed to be here for another five minutes! Look, I've got my ticket and everything!"

"The train reached full capacity at 6:30 and departed ahead of schedule," he replied with a peeved look directed at her. "You'll have to wait for the next one. Go home and try again in a month."

"A month? You've got to be kidding me, this is the only place around for miles that has a train station! What do you mean try again in a month?"

"Now you look here you young whippersnapper. A month is not a very long time at all, and if you have any sort of brain in that head of yours you'd not only have gotten here earlier but you'd also have known that the passenger trains have been running on a monthly basis for almost a quarter of a year now."

"You can't be serious…"

"I am. Now go home to your parents." The grumpy crab shut his window and switched off the lights. "Kids these days, fire in their blood and not a lick of common sense to temper it with. They need to learn respect for their elders."

With that he flopped back down onto the desk, ready to sleep away the rest of his shift. Quinn stared at the now closed ticket booth in horror before running over to the board that displayed the schedule. Much to her chagrin, it was as the man had said - the next passenger train to Inkopolis wasn't scheduled to arrive for another month. Trains that bore supplies and labor crews that were working on building some sort of machine nearby came in biweekly, but sneaking away on one of those would be nearly impossible. No doubt the inexperienced girl would stick out like a sore thumb.

"You really messed up big time, didn't you?" She muttered in disgust before shaking her head and starting to wearily trudge out of the station. However, a flash of movement caught her eyes, bringing the teen to a stop. Was that another cephalopod scurrying around a bend in the tracks? Why would someone go out there?

"You know...come to think of it, who's going to stop me if I walk all the way to Inkopolis?" With a thoughtful frown, Quinn studied the map on the wall. It would be dangerous, but if everything went well she'd be in the next town by nightfall. Would it be a risk? Absolutely. Quinn had no weapon, and without cell phone service in the wilderness if something catastrophic happened there would be no way to summon a rescue. But on the other hand, what was there to really be afraid of out there? Maybe an occasional Salmonid or two, but certainly not anything that posed a great threat.

Besides, like most teenagers, Quinn was an inquisitive inkling. She wanted to find out who that mysterious and shadowy figure was. Perhaps it was another traveler like herself, trying to get to the de facto capital of inkling civilization rather than remain out in the country. This, more than anything, helped the girl decide what to do. Her mind made up, Quinn stole one last look around the station, making sure that no prying eyes were watching. Then, with a confident gait, she jumped over the turnstile and darted across the platform before hopping down to the tracks below. Wasting no time, the inkling girl scampered out of the building, breathing in the clean salty air as she began making her way down the track.

For several hours she trudged along the tracks, alone in the overgrown vestiges of nature. Silence permeated the air, broken only by the twittering of birds and gentle splashing of the waves against the land. It was a breathtaking place to be certain. The steel tracks wound along a set of sheer cliffs, great magnificent walls of stone that steeply pointed high into the sky and plunged down into the sea below. Clear blue waves lapped at the shore, the toxicity of the water hidden by the dazzling bits of light that reflected off of the whitecaps. Occasionally gulls flew overhead, cawing and laughing among themselves, or one of the unevolved sea creatures breached the surface of the water. But in terms of intelligent life, Quinn was alone.

This was disappointing to be certain. One of the main reasons why Quinn had left was to see if she could catch up to that shadow, but it appeared that her hesitant pace at the start caused too much of a delay.

"They didn't trip and fall into the water, did they?" Quinn muttered, peering over the edge of the cliff to look at the sea far below. It certainly was a long drop, and unintentionally a bit of adrenaline pumped through her veins at the thought of falling. With a rather shaky posture, the teen backed up against the rocky wall, putting distance between herself and the sheer cliff.

"It's okay, Quinn. Just don't look down and don't think about how you're one misstep away from certain death and it'll be fine." She spoke with a false reassuring tone, trying to convince herself that things would be okay. "There's nothing to worry about, nothing at all."

"Where is Octavia? She was supposed to report back from her scouting ten minutes ago."

An unfamiliar voice echoed in the air, snapping Quinn out of her train of thought. So someone else was out here after all? Well, two creatures at the very least - the one speaking and the one called Octavia. For a moment Quinn considered revealing herself but something about the way they spoke gave her pause. The accent was strange, atypical for how inklings spoke around Splashtown, and the stiff mannerisms were unlike anything casual friends would use. And then there was the matter of the fact that this Octavia was supposed to be coming back from a scouting mission. That in and of itself was highly unusual. Now if Quinn had been smart she would have slipped off somewhere and hid, but she was simply too curious to pass up an opportunity to see who these two strangers were.

Quinn frowned before creeping along the wall so she could just peek around the next curve in the cliff. What she saw almost caused her hearts to stop in the midst of their triple beat pattern. A group of bipedal creatures dressed in combat gear was standing on the tracks, at least half a dozen of them. These were no ordinary inklings, however. Though they had tentacles and walked about on two legs and were obviously evolved cephalopods, they were most certainly not one of her own kind. Instead, they were a group of creatures that at this point most people thought had completely died out.

"Octolings…" Quinn bit her tongue as soon as the word escaped her lips, preventing one of the dozen or so cuss words that sprang to mind from following it. How could they be here? Why were they here? Splashtown was out of the way, to put it mildly. There was nothing of interest in the area, save for whatever government project was being constructed to the north. Quinn knew not what the work crews were building, just that something was being built. But it would certainly give a reason for octolings to be investigating.

Musings on what exactly the squadron was doing in the area and how it might have related to the project, however, were best saved for another time. At the moment, Quinn had to get out of the area before she could be spotted. The Great Turf War over a century ago had soured inkling-octarian relations, and chances were the girl would be splatted on sight if the octoling soldiers discovered her presence. With that thought in mind, Quinn jerked her head back around the corner, only to come face to face with one of the unexpected enemies.

Judging from the look on her face, it was clear the octoling did not expect Quinn to turn around. Both members of the unusual pair were taken a bit by surprise, and the inkling was the one to recover first. Thinking quickly Quinn tackled the octoling, flinging a hand over her assailant's mouth to prevent a warning cry from slipping out to alert the others. A dull thud, thankfully unnoticed by the octoling squadron, could be heard as the pair hit the ground. Briefly, they scuffled first one winning and then the other though it was clear who was the better fighter. With no combat training, Quinn was clearly outmatched, and the octoling wrestling her to the ground was strong. Soon her hands were pinned, and the triumphant octoling prepared to raise the alarm.

Seeing no other option, Quinn managed to awkwardly knee her captor in the gut. The breath rushed out of the octoling's lungs, and she dropped her weapon while reflexively curling into the fetal position, trying to recover from the blow. Quinn dove on top of her, ripping the weapon away from her foe before shakily taking aim and pulling the trigger. A few ink bullets flew out, striking the octoling in the face. They didn't do much, instead trickling down her cheeks and dripping onto the ground before the gun ran out of ink. Quinn sighed before electing to go with the brute force option and smashed the weapon against the octoling's head.

The octoling let out a small squeak and went slightly cross-eyed before collapsing, out cold. No doubt she'd have a sizeable bruise in that area later, but at the moment that was the least of Quinn's concerns.

"Did anyone else just hear that?"

Voices, and they were getting closer. Quinn paled before shifting into a squid and sinking down into one of the small puddles of ink that had dripped onto the ground. Was it a risky hiding spot? Absolutely, but along these sheer cliffs it was either flee and be chased, hide, or jump into the water and hope for a quick death. Hiding was most certainly the riskiest of the options, but if she got caught she'd be dead anyway.

No sooner had the teenager made it to her position did the squadron round the bend, their black and red tentacles sticking out like a sore thumb among the dusky tan rocks.

"Octavia!" The leader, a tall octoling with kelp woven into her tentacles, looked shocked as she observed her fallen comrade. To be fair, the sight of their squad member lying out cold on the ground probably had never crossed their minds. It wasn't like they were near a large city or anything. The closest civilization was miles away, and even then most inklings wouldn't want to mess with octolings. The group swarmed over to surround Octavia, some of them standing mere inches away from Quinn. She stiffened and held her breath, hoping that no one would discover her.

"What do we do, Odette?"

"Yeah, what do we do? Should we investigate?"

"Quite you lot," the leader ordered in a frustrated tone. "And as for what we are doing about this we are to proceed with the assumption that Octavia's mission got compromised. Fan out and search the perimeter. You there, contact the extraction team and order them to get here on the double."

Inside the puddle, Quinn paled and let out a tiny squeak before she could stop herself. Instantly she began to quietly panic. What if they had heard her? That would've been disastrous. The ocolings began to spread out, peeking behind rocks and searching the cliffs for someone or something that could have caused their teammate to be knocked out. Odette drew near the small blob of ink the inkling was hiding in, frowning as she knelt down to study it.

"Strange...no clashing ink colors…" the woman mused quietly to herself. "Almost as if we had a traitor among us…"

Quinn was still as the stony-faced cliffs, trying not to move, not to breathe for fear she could be discovered. Before Odette could investigate any further, however, a shout came from one of her cohorts.

"Odette! The retrieval squadron will be here in five minutes. We are to proceed to the rendezvous point."

"Very well...we shall have to investigate this matter another day." The leader of the group stood up, brushing her black tentacles out of her face before walking back to her team. "You two, grab Octavia and then we're moving out."

"Yes Ma'am!" The team saluted, a few of them picking up their fallen comrade, before hurrying after Odette. Quinn waited in the puddle until they were far out of sight, not daring to retreat from her hiding place. Only after the five minutes had elapsed did she finally slip out of the ink, shaking her head a few times in disbelief as her hearts beat in a fast triple beat due to fear and adrenaline.

"No way...they're supposed to be extinct," the girl muttered, a thoughtful frown on her face. "And what are they doing so close to Splashtown anyway? There's really nothing noteworthy here. That figure I saw back at the station...that had to have been one of them. But still...why come here?"

The teenager sighed, trying to make sense of this puzzle. Splashtown was literally in the boonies of the boonies, so far out in the country that it was considered rural even by those standards. It made no sense for octolings to come here. But yet they had been scouting for something. An attack, perhaps? At that thought Quinn paled and turned around, starting to run back down the tracks towards her home. She had to warn them, had to go protect her family, had to-

"Wait just a cod darned minute!" Suddenly the short girl came screeching to a halt. "Would any of them believe me anyway? I mean, octarians are supposed to be extinct. And there's no weapons there to fight them off either…"

Now that threw a wrench into her plan, so to speak. With no weapons, it would be next to impossible to defend her home, and no one would really believe her anyway. This was something that she couldn't do on her own, much as she hated to admit it. No, Quinn would need help, and the best place to find that would be Inkopolis.

Her mind made up, the inkling girl turned smartly on her heel and began walking towards the distant city once more. She'd go to Inkopolis and find some people to help. It wasn't a foolproof plan, but it was better than going back home and fighting a losing battle against an invading force.