The Inkling smiled as she made her way back from another turf war. She'd won, and bought herself a cute new hat with some of her winnings. Although it wasn't every day that she shed money on such mundane items as hats, the hat was too adorable. Besides, she kind of got the feeling that the clownfish in the clerk's anemone hair would say something mean if she didn't.
Coral - the Inkling - was tired now, though, as it was late, and she'd decided to call it a day and head back home. She found that battling at Mahi Mahi resort drained her - probably because of the amount of times she fell in the water.
The sun was touching the horizon, illuminating the clouds around it. The sky shone red. It was sunset, and it was quite a beautiful one too. On a normal day, Coral would be busy with her eyes transfixed to the sky but, as she was about to find out, this was not a normal day. Instead of the sky, something else had caught her eye.
As she left the plaza, the Inkling had to pass several dark alleyways, and it was then that she stopped. A shadow flitted across the brick wall, and Coral found herself suddenly bursting with both fear and curiosity.
She wasn't (that) stupid, she at least knew that wandering down dark alleyways this late was stupid and dangerous. But... there was something pulling her towards the shadows, luring her to what was probably her death.
Something reckless surged inside her, and she stepped bravely towards the alley's entrance.
Out of the corner of her eye, the Octoling sensed movement. She whipped her head around and flattened herself against the wall.
Peeking out from behind it, she caught a glimpse of an Inkling. Panic rose in her chest, but she supressed it, clutching onto her stolen gun with both hands. This was what she was born for, right? This was the reason she existed. To kill the Inklings.
Granted, it wasn't really a pleasant existence, but she never let that get the best of her during a situation like this. Especially now that she was in enemy territory. She couldn't let her guard down, what with a (probably armed) Inkling a few feet away.
She lived for this, didn't she - what was she waiting for?
Alda dived out from behind the wall and aimed her gun at the Inkling's face. It all happened so fast, she doubted it had any time to react.
The gravel crunched under her knees, startlingly loud. It seemed to awaken the Inkling to the danger, as it took a step back. Alda used this to her advantage, taking aim and firing a rapid succession of metal bullets at the silhouette of the Inkling.
It seemed to have good reflexes, though, as it dropped to the ground, bullets whooshing over its head. A few nicked its tentacles, but otherwise it was unharmed. Alda scowled. She was hoping the Inkling would go down in one shot, but already it had begun to rise, appearing to be almost unaffected.
Alda quickly reloaded the gun and sent another round at the squid. The Inkling wasn't as lucky this time, catching a bullet in the shoulder and staggering.
Feeling a swell of triumph in her chest, she raised her gun again. Intending to shoot once more, Alda pulled the trigger. But - to her dismay - the gun gave a defeated 'click', signalling that the chamber had been emptied. Alda was out of bullets.
Giving a frustrated groan, she gave up, deciding to take a different approach. The Inkling had backed up even further, clearly affected by its injuries. Using this to her advantage, Alda took a swift step forward and slammed the butt of the shotgun into the Inkling's head, sending it crashing to the ground. It was completely defenceless now and completely at Alda's mercy.
Alda stared in shock down at the defeated creature. Never before in her life had Alda taken the life of another. She wasn't a commander, or even a very powerful Octoling. She was a private, a nobody. Anybody at her level would be elated to find an Inkling at their mercy. Imagine if everyone back home found out! Alda the Inkling Slayer!
Alda the... murderer.
She took a step back. She couldn't do it. There was an Inkling lying at her feet, injured, terrified, completely helpless; it wouldn't be hard to end its life. But... this wasn't splatting someone. There would be no respawning, no coming back from the dead. Alda shuddered.
Sure, she'd splatted Inklings before. Countless times. She relished in trapping them, watching them getting stuck in the ink, then sending them back where they came from. She'd splatted that ridiculous pain-in-the-arse Agent 3 before, too.
But this... this was murder, plain and simple. Alda couldn't do it. She ran.
Coral laid in the darkness for what seemed like an eternity. There were no sounds except for the howling of the wind, the rustling of trees and the unsteady beating of her heart.
Slowly, the Inkling lifted a trembling hand to touch the wound on her shoulder, and it came away sticky with blood.
Coral let her hand fall back to her side. She'd never seen a weapon like that before, one that didn't shoot ink. Those weren't allowed in Inkopolis - but, she guessed, her assailant wasn't from Inkopolis.
Speaking of her assailant, how had it gotten into Inkopolis? Where there more? What were its plans? Coral squeezed her eyes shut. She dreaded what this would mean for her home. Would it escalate from here, would she be seeing entire troops of Octarians razing her city to the ground in the near future?
No, that was a stupid thought. Besides, the Octoling hadn't killed her. Why didn't it kill her if it planned on destroying Inkopolis?
...Why didn't it kill her? Surely it wanted to. The opportunity was right there, Coral was completely helpless, the Octoling could've very easily ended her life.
Well, for whatever reason it fled, Coral was glad. She didn't particularly want to be turned into sushi.
It was after the stars had begun to shine and Coral's blood had long matted to her shirt that the Inkling finally regained the energy and willpower to sit up. It was painful, but after carefully inspecting the wound, Coral deemed it not too severe. The bullet had only nicked her shoulder and although it hurt like hell, there was only minimal bleeding. Thus, she went home. It took her a while, and she fell over more than once, but she made it back in one piece. She cleaned and dressed her wound, did a little tidying up, had some dinner, and went to bed.
Funnily enough, now that she was home, her injuries were attended to, and she was safe, she found that she was unable to sleep. The events that had occured weighed on her mind, and Coral shifted uncomfortably in bed. This was going to be a long night.
Alda punched the nearest wall, hard. Why hadn't she killed that damn Inkling? It was right there! It was the perfect opportunity to properly strike down her first Inkling, and she had let it go to waste.
Nursing her hand, Alda leant back against the wall she'd just punched and sighed. She wondered where the Inkling was now, whether it'd gotten home safe or died of its injuries. Despite Alda having been the one to inflict them, she felt... bad.
Did everyone feel like this when they hurt someone? Alda didn't know. But, whatever it was she was feeling, the Octoling didn't like it one bit. She fervently wished she was back home, where it was normal and she was safe and she didn't have to worry about Inklings or getting food or where she would sleep that night.
Speaking of where she would sleep that night, where would she sleep that night? It was cold, and dark, and damp, and - Alda stopped herself. There was no need to get worked up about it. She would simply find somewhere to sleep, and make do with it. She wasn't a baby, she wasn't going to fuss around and make a big deal of it. She was a warrior and warriors... evidently slept in the garbage.
Shuddering, Alda made her way over to one of the more shadowy parts of the alley, pulled a discarded tarpaulin over her head and sat down on the ground. This, Alda found, was extremely unpleasant.
She found herself envious of the bugs crawling around on the brick walls. At least some of them could fly away from their problems. But no, not Alda. Alda had to sleep in crappy conditions with a muddy tarpaulin over her head and cold wind stealing any warmth from her body.
This was going to be a long night.