The human was confused. These creatures she encountered had names. What was her name? At least she knew where she was - within a lake known as Devil's Pond - but beyond that, she knew nothing. Reluctantly, she realized that as the sun set, the only choice she had was to return to the underground cave for the night. Taking in a large breath, she dove, and found she easily made her way in.
It occurred to her that while she had no curfew, she ought sleep. Regardless, she decided to investigate her temporary home. It seemed to be that the walls were engraved with many images depicting the story of the land.
The first image was that of a great wave overcoming a great landmass, as humans cowered below. She was shaken, as she derived that she was indeed within a semi-apocalyptic future. It was obvious though that some creatures had survived the horrid tragedies that befell the planet.
The second image was that of a group of humans who hovered over an image depicting an anthropomorphic squid, much like the creatures she had encountered before. They seemed almost agressive, as if they wanted to eradicate the creatures, and were creating a strange humanoid weapon. One human, however, was working alone on another project.
The third image depicted a wealth of human things left for future species to find. Behind the sole human in the image was a large capsule much like that which she had been imprisoned.
The final image haunted her most. It was her, inside a capsule, held frozen in time. Above her head was a crown of sorts, a tiara, which glowed with energy. Below it, in a cramped dialect, were five letters.
Reine.
She did not know how exactly she knew, but she was certain it was intended as her name. Tired from the day of exploration, and without anything better to do until morning, she decided to sleep.
A sudden sound arose as she awoke, like the mewing of a lost kitten, yet higher and louder. She swam to the surface and threw herself onto land, only to find herself met by the same female she had met before.
A sound, barely audible, was emitted from the girl, but it droned into silence. Reine assumed the girl was screaming so high that she could not carry her speech. With cautious steps, Reine approached, watching the girl carefully. The girl continued to scream uncontrollably, and deciding she needed time, Reine sat down at the water's edge and dried off.
After almost an hour of the girl trying to recuperate, she slowly approached Reine. Turning to face the girl, the creature backed up, obviously frightened. Reine stood, and finding herself not much taller than the girl, she held out a hand. The creature stared at Reine's hand, then ever so slowly, reached out and grabbed it.
Reine gave the girl a gentle shake, and smiled as gently as she could. It seemed to get the message across, as the girl smiled back, though her face still showed creases of uncertainty. They stared idly at each other for a while, and then, deciding that standing would do nothing, the girl began to speak.
"I know, that- that coming here was probably pointless, since you probably don't know what I'm saying," she began, staring nervously at Reine. "But I wanted to thank you for saving my friend. My name is Kala. I- I just never thought that there was other intelligent life that lived. In water, too! You're, like, amazing!" she closed her eyes and gently fell to the ground, the emotions far too much for her.
"Umm," she muttered, twiddling her fingers nervously, "I-if you can understand me, if that's possible... would you follow me? My friend, Iko... he wants to meet you." Kala looked up at Reine with honesty in her eyes, and unable to think of a better idea, Reine nodded, and Kala led her through the forest.
The two found themselves at long last in a small area much like a park, but many different species lived there. Kala held Reine back, and debated momentarily over how to get Reine through unseen.
Unseen... Reine thought she had heard a phrase using that word before. Was it possible...?
Kala, noticing that her new found friend had begun to dig through her pockets, turned to find her fiddling wit a small device. It appeared to be a watch, but as Reine put it on and gave a small dial a twist, Reine underwent a shocking transformation. Almost instantly, she appeared as one similar to Kala - an inkling.
"Wha- Why didn't you say you could do that?!" she cried in a hushed voice, afraid of alarming passerby. Reine merely shrugged, and Kala gave up trying to solve mysteries. They would probably solve themselves at that rate.
They both approached a small, shrimp-like being, who asked in a stuttery foreign lingo for some train tickets. Kala handed two over, and they boarded to find the place filled with different species.
Reine was intrigued by the wealth of evolved sea life. It certainly was interesting, in the least, to see how the creatures behaved. The most populous were a small race of jellyfish-like beings who seemed to have an appreciation for fashion. Many held what appeared to be brochures for things like new hats and clothes. Squinting at some writing on the boards above, Reine derived the used written language to be a strange English, and realised that the same was used for the shrimp driver.
The only other species she saw in great numbers were the same as the one she disguised as. They called themselves inklings - this she retrieved from a forgotten corner of her database during the ride - and she was highly intrigued by them. By far they held the most similarities to humans, and they all seemed engrossed in some sort of strange hobby or need - most of them had, somewhere on them, a weapon of sorts. Perhaps there was something dangerous going on...
Reine found that the youngest inklings used a weapon that had a square barrel and a small handle. Otherwise the weapon types seemed evenly distributed; she noted how different inklings acted and what weapons they used. It would probably come in handy to know.
They arrived shortly in a bustling city. Reine stared at the city in an almost odd way. Kala stood by her side and placed one hand on her friend's shoulder.
Surely, that isn't... she thought to herself, suddenly remembering a place from her past. Her head throbbed, and she almost fell over, but Kala supported her. Reine could not rip her eyes away from what she swore was Shibuya Station.
She shook herself. Now was not the time. She motioned for Kala to continue their trek.