She calls out to the man on the street, "Sir, can you help me?"
It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep. Is there somewhere you can tell me?"
He walks on, doesn't look back, he pretends he can't hear her
He starts to whistle as he crosses the street, seems embarrassed to be there
It was always like this.
She'd try to get the tiniest bit of help from a passer-by, but very person she talked to would just ignore her, as if she was nothing.
The girl had been born normally at first, to two seemingly normal parents. But, just before her first birthday, they started to notice some strange new features. Scaly skin, webbed feet, sharper teeth, darker skin, almost green in colour, and an unusual liking for water.
It wasn't long before the improbable truth was uncovered.
Her mother was you run-of-the-mill human, but her father came from a long line of human-crocodile hybrids, and had passed his genes onto her.
She became the talk of the town. Her father became paranoid, stressed, and guilty that his daughter's defects had been entirely his fault. As a result, he ran away, leaving her mother to raise her on her own.
She had blurry, but fond memories of her early days. Her mother had done as much as she could to make her baby comfortable in her own skin. For the first time, she was given a name: Crocness.
They both coped well at first, but their bliss was to be short-lived. By her fifth birthday, the people had become more resourceful, and had found more ways to harass the family.
Fearing the worst, her mother put her into an orphanage.
Crocness never saw her again after that day.
To make matters worse, a few days later, after constant bullying and teasing from the rest of the kids, she was forced out of her new home.
The streets had been her home ever since.
She was just trying to find a way back. A way to live a somewhat normal life.
Oh, think twice, it's just another day for you and me in paradise
Oh, think twice, it's just another day for you, you and me in paradise
By her count, it was at least thirty minutes before someone else passed the dark, narrow alleyway.
The man looked over, just as the last had done.
"H-hello…"
She gingerly got to her feet, and tried to make her way forward. The webs between her toes had been dried, blistered and were bleeding. Tears dripped from her face as she stumbled.
In response, the man only did what everyone else had done- he gave her a disgusted look, and walked away.
She calls out to the man on the street, he can see she's been crying
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet, she can't walk, but she's trying
Oh, just think twice, it's just another day for you and me in paradise
Oh yes, think twice, it's just another day for you, you and me in paradise
Just think about it, uh - huh, just think about it
Wiping the salty, stinging liquid from her face, Crocness fell into a familiar state of depression.
She knew that there were plenty of people in the world. Most of them probably had other people or things in their lives that were more important than her.
But, those two men…they were slow walkers. They were calm. If they had anywhere to go, they sure weren't showing it.
Even a simple greeting would make her happy. But they weren't even willing to spend a few seconds doing that.
She wondered whether all the good people in the world had disappeared.
Oh Lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh oh Lord, there must be something you can say…
Suddenly, she heard footsteps. She inhaled, cleaning herself up as best she could, and preparing for another round of the same old rejection.
But, she immediately saw that there was something unique about the third man who had passed her.
Unlike the other two, who had been bundled in coats, this man was wearing what looked like a golden chest plate, with chiseled six pack abs molded into it. He was wearing black trousers with a red stripe, and brown boots. His hair was long and dark, and it obscured a large amount of his face.
Waiting for the right moment, Crocness pinned herself up against a wall and listened as he spoke to himself.
"Please tell me my hair is OK...is it OK?" He brought what looked like a hand mirror up to his face, before smiling and putting it down again. "Ah, of course it is."
She couldn't help but giggle at his vanity.
In the same way, the man couldn't help but hear her.
"Excuse me? Is someone there?" a cool Canadian voice asked.
Crocness gasped, resuming her tight, rigid position of before. He's just reeling me in, she thought bitterly. Just like everyone else in my life-
"It's OK." his voice reassured.
Unlike every other time, she could tell that there was no sarcasm intended in his words. No hatred, no patronization, just gentleness.
Maybe she could trust him.
"Come on out. I won't hurt you."
Slowly, she left the cold comfort of the wall, seeing his face for the first time. He flashed a smile at her as she stood across from him.
"If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been out here?"
"W-well, I..." She stuttered, a million conflicting thoughts rushing through her head. If I tell him the truth, he might not like me...
But if I don't tell him anything, he might just leave. Which would be far worse.
"Well, you see, I'm not entirely human."
She could see his eyes widen, but continued nonetheless.
"My dad came from a race of people infused with reptile DNA…let's just say, I got lots more from his side. And the people we lived near…yeah, they didn't really like the fact I was different."
She saw a flicker of anger in his eyes.
"It got a bit too much for my dad, so he ran away when I was born. My mum cared for as best she could, but it got too much for her as well, so I got sent to an orphanage…I got kicked outta there as well, which brings us up to now."
The man didn't say anything, instead advancing towards her. Crocness' first instinct would've been to run, but now she knew that he meant no harm, and let him get close to her.
He took her arm and raised it to eye level, brushing his hand gently over her scaly skin.
His expression at this point was pretty much unreadable.
You can tell by the lines on her face, you can see that she's been there
Probably been moved on from every place, cause she didn't fit in there
"I'm Gildar." he said. "What's your name?"
"Crocness." she replied. This was the first time she'd ever gotten to a first-name basis with a passer-by.
"Listen, Crocness, I'm going to make you an offer." he explained. "I know a place, not too far from here, where you'd fit right in with everyone else. There's no discrimination, no judgement, and you'd be safe and warm every day and night. Interested?"
She nodded, though not quite believing what she was hearing. "What sort of people do you have there?" she asked curiously.
Gildar chuckled, flicking his hair. "Oh, where do I start? There's a huntress, an alchemist, a ninja, a knight, a barbarian, there's even a guy who's half bird! And then there's me, your friendly neighbourhood Viking-slash-handsome-guy."
For the first time in years, Crocness properly smiled.
"And that's not even the best part." he continued enthusiastically, his love for this place becoming extremely clear. "You wanna know what our job is?"
She nodded again.
"We defend a castle."
She asked to have his answer explained further, as again; she couldn't quite believe what she was hearing.
"Well, there are these pesky kids who try and invade pretty regularly, you see. And, through the usage of slime, foam and a rather large moat, we do our best to stop them."
"And, does it work?" she enquired.
"Not that often." Gildar replied, looking to the ground. "We get a new king or queen every week."
"Wow, talk about an unstable monarchy!"
"Yeah, they overpower our weaponry most of the time. But that doesn't make it any less fun. So, what do you say? Are you in?"
Crocness had already made her choice.
"Sure."
"Brilliant!" Gildar exclaimed. "On behalf of all the Defenders, I'd like to personally welcome you to the team!"
Seconds after he'd finished his sentence, Crocness pulled the Viking into a hug.
"Whoa, what was that for?" he asked, regaining his bearings.
"I just wanted to say thank-you." she replied.
"You know what?" Gildar asked he helped her gather her few possessions. "I think I'm gonna like you."
They both laughed, and squeezed their hands into one another.
Crocness had a feeling that her life would get a whole lot better from here on out.
It's just another day for you and me in paradise
It's just another day for you and me in paradise…
...I think I ship Gildar with four people now. I've come a long way from my days of mindlessly pushing for Gildista to be canonized. x3
Hi guys! Firstly, so sorry for the prolonged absence. A mixture of school, Christmas holidays and writers' block is all I can blame. D:
Secondly, I'm going to take some time to address an issue which has the Splat Fandom divided- the three new Defenders, and the exclusion of some others. My viewpoint on it is that, in my ever faithful headcanon, the older Defenders never really left Splatalot in the first place, they're just working in a different part of the kingdom. Therefore, interaction between ALL Defenders, old and new, will still occur in my fanfics. :D
Third, to all those who enjoyed this and may also have enjoyed A Wolf Tale, my first Splatalot fanfic (which this is in no way related to, and I highly suggest you read), more Splatalot fics from me have been in the pipeline for a while now, it's just that that pipeline is very long...and needs a lot of maintenance. x3 (translation: I'm a bit too busy with my other fanfics right now, but I'll get my splatty ones up eventually.)
I hope you all enjoyed this!
Wishing you a happy life,
Blaze xoxo