Chapter 4

Meeka groans when she wakes up. She lifts a hand up to her head, she pulls her hand away when she feels something wet. Meeka looks down at her hand, and shudders when she sees her own blood on her fingers. Meeka wipes her hand off on her jacket, ignoring the fact that she's probably staining it. She blinks a couple of times, then realizes that it's dark, and not because of her eyes. Meeka puts a hand up to her face to see if she's blindfolded. She sighs when she feels cloth over her eyes.

"That's just great.." Meeka mutters to herself.

Meeka hears the familiar sound of footsteps, and tries to get back into the position she was in before she woke up.

"I think all of them are still out."

"Well, yeah. We weren't exactly gentle when we took them out."

"I don't care about the Inklings, but if the girl is still out when we get back to base, we're in serious trouble."

There's grim silence after that. Meeka strains to hear if they're talking again.

"Maybe we'll just have to delay, because I don't want to get back when the girl is still knocked out. I think we-"

There's a loud thud as Meeka falls face first into the ground. She inwardly curses at herself. Meeka lays there, hoping that she can fake that she's still knocked out. She hears footsteps walking in her direction, then they stop.

"Get up."

Meeka lays there, her face pressed against the floor, pretending that she isn't awake. Rough hands grab her, and haul her to her feet.

"Nice try." A voice says, and it sounds close to her ears.

O-O-O

"Wait, let me get this straight. Your friend, an Octoling, went to Octo Canyon. A place nobody knew still existed?" Liv says in disbelief.

Mikmic nods, "We need you to help us. It could be very dangerous."

Liv grins, "Well, since you say dangerous… I'm in!"

"Okay, grab your gear and meet us at the entrance to Salmon Run in a half hour." Mikmic says, as she starts to walk away.

Alex glances at where Liv stands, but then soon follows Mikmic out of the house.

O-O-O

Meeka knows that she can't escape, she has no weapon, she doesn't have her eyesight at the moment, and her friends are locked up in who knows where.

"Where are my friends at?" Meeka asks.

"So, now you're speaking?" A voice says, and Meeka can bet that the Octoling is smirking.

"I just want to know if my friends are okay. Please." Meeka says, turning in the direction of the first voice.

"They're fine, for now. Although, I don't think our leader is going to let them leave in one piece." A new voice says.

"What?! My friends are going to die?!"

"I never said that. I just said they wouldn't leave in one piece. That doesn't mean they won't survive." The second voice says, a hint of irritation in the voice.

Meeka sighs, and her shoulders slump, and her head lowers to the ground, and she doesn't say anything else.

O-O-O

"Are we all here?" Calleigh asks.

"I think so." Alex says, as she shifts the Blaster in her hands.

They had five people going on the rescue mission. There was Calleigh who had Dualies, Alex with a Blaster, Liv and Renka with Brellas, and Mikmic with an E-Liter.

"Okay, then let's go get our friend." Mikmic says, a glint in her eyes.

Calleigh motions for the group to follow her, and she heads towards an alley, where a tunnel lays.

O-O-O

"Umm.. Madison?" Rose says, as she walks up to the Octoling.

"What?" Madison snaps.

"We have a situation." Rose replies.

"Well? What is it?" Madison asks as she stands up.

"The girl is awake. Emmy and Stella are bringing her to you now."

Madison nods curtly, "Return to your post now."

Rose opens her mouth to protest, but Madison glares at her. She closes her mouth, and turns away, and starts walking back to her post. Rose pauses, and looks back.

"What do you think will happen to her?"

Madison looks at her, "I don't know. I assume that she's going to be staying with us from now on."

"Oh." Rose turns away again, and walks back towards her post.

O-O-O

"If I ever have to come through this tunnel again, it'll be too soon." Mikmic complains.

"Shut up. It's not that bad, and besides we have to come back this way after we get Meeka." Calleigh says.

Mikmic shoots a glare at the back of Calleigh's head, but she doesn't complain anymore.

"Nice choice, Mikmic." Calleigh calls over her shoulder.

Mikmic slaps the back of Calleigh's head. Calleigh just laughs, and continues walking forward.

"Do you think they're okay?" Renka asks Calleigh, her eyes are wide with worry, and she won't stop moving the Brella around in her hands.

Calleigh opens her mouth to respond, but Alex beats her to it. "They're totally gonna be fine! Meeka is capable of looking out for herself!"

"Did I ask you?" Renka says, her eyes flashing dangerously.

Calleigh steps in between the two Inklings, "Come on, don't argue right now. Save that for when we've gotten Meeka back."

Renka shoots a murderous glare in Alex's direction. "Fine, but don't expect me to save your ass if you get caught."

Alex's hand forms into a fist at her side, "Right back at ya. I would never save an arrogant jerk like you."

"You little!" Renka tries shoving Calleigh out of the way.

Calleigh holds Renka back, "Stop it! We don't need this!"

Renka rips her arms out of Calleigh's grip. With one final glare at Alex, she stomps off down the tunnel. Calleigh looks helplessly in the direction that Renka went.

"I'll go check on her."

Calleigh nods, and watches as Mikmic heads off into the direction that Renka ran off to.

"Sorry, about that. I just can't stand her."

"It's fine. She can be hot-headed at times." Calleigh sighs, "Let's just keep going."

O-O-O

"Madison is ready for you to bring her." A third voice says.

Meeka lifts her head slightly, noting that the third voice used a name. Meeka stores that info away for later, and tries to prepare herself for whatever is going to happen next.

"Alright, we'll bring her over. Is the rest of the squad going to come?" The first voice asks.

"I'm not sure, but I'll get them anyway." The third voice says.

There's silence for a second, and then Meeka hears footsteps that gradually get quieter. The hands holding her start to move her forward, she resists, and plants her feet firmly into the ground, which slows her down a little bit.

"Quit that! You're going to see her whether you want to or not." The first voice hisses.

Meeka promptly digs her feet harder into the ground, and slumps down, making herself a dead weight. Both of the Octolings growl in annoyance, and drag her anyway.

O-O-O

"Alright we're almost at Octo Canyon, stay on your guard." Calleigh calls back to the rest of the group.

There's a murmur that lets Calleigh know they heard, but that's it. She sighs, the tensions had been high ever since Renka and Alex had fallen out.

"You good?"

Calleigh turns to the voice and sees Liv standing there.

"Yeah.. I'm good. Are you ready for this?"

"I mean as long as I get to shoot something with my Brella I'm ready." Liv shrugs.

"Umm.. okay." Calleigh looks ahead again, twirling the Dualies around in her hands.

"Do you know Meeka well?" Liv asks.

Calleigh pauses for a second, then replies, "Yes, I know her well. Which is why I hope nothing happened to her."

There's a long pause of awkward silence again.

"Is there something going on between her and Renka?" Liv asks, her voice a whisper.

"No, not that I know of. Why?"

"Oh. It just seemed like there was something going on. I mean, it's pretty obvious."

"How is it obvious?"

"Well, Alex told me about what happened at her house. And then just now, how she got really defensive, really randomly."

Calleigh looks away, "I don't think anything is going on between them. They don't go together, so it wouldn't work."

Liv just shrugs, "Why do you say that? Are you jealous or something?"

"What? No! I'm just protective of Meeka I guess. I don't want her to get hurt."

"So.. you're like her sister or something?"

Calleigh smiles, "I guess you could say that."

There's a long pause again. Liv tosses her Brella from hand to hand, and hums a random song. Calleigh glances at the shorter Inkling, then focuses her attention back on the tunnel.

Liv's voice breaks the silence again, "Does anyone know anything about Meeka's past?"

Calleigh shakes her head, "No, no one does. She doesn't even know what her past is. But.. she told me she doesn't want to remember it either way."

"Well.. if she didn't want to remember it, why did she decide to go to Octo Canyon?" Liv asks.

There's silence from Calleigh. "I.. I don't know why."

"Maybe she did want to know after all. But she didn't want you to know. Maybe because she thought you wouldn't approve?" Liv says thoughtfully.

"Meeka wouldn't lie to me." Calleigh says dismissively.

"Mmhmm."

Calleigh turns and glares at Liv, "I know her! She wouldn't lie!"

"Okay.."

Calleigh huffs, and speeds up until she isn't walking beside Liv anymore. Although Calleigh is left with the haunting thought that Meeka purposefully went to Octo Canyon.

O-O-O

Meeka continues to struggle against the Octolings, but it's not use. They continue to drag her towards who knows what.

"Where are you taking me?" Meeka asks.

"You're going to be introduced to our squad leader, she's going to get you ready to meet our real leader."

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"Don't worry. It will."

Meeka frowns, "How?"

There's silence.

"Umm.. just don't ask questions."

Meeka sighs, but doesn't say anything else. There's a sigh of relief from the two Octolings holding her. Meeka feels the Octolings let go of her, and she falls to the ground.

"Why is she blindfolded?" A new voice asks.

"We didn't think she should be able to see anything."

"Take it off. If she's going to be staying with us, she needs to know who we are, and what we look like."

Meeka feels hands at the back of head, then the blindfold is being taken off her face. She blinks a couple of times, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the dark. Meeka blinks again, and she focuses on the shape in front of her. It's the Octoling from the battle, the one that got her here. Her fists clench at her sides, and she stands up and faces the Octoling.

The Octoling raises her hands, "I'm not here to fight you. None of us are."

Meeka scoffs, "Oh, really? Why did you kidnap me, and harm my friends then?"

"We kidnapped you because you didn't come peacefully. As for your so-called friends, you won't need them anymore surely?"

"What are talking about? I'll always need my friends."

The Octoling sighs, and looks to someone behind Meeka. "Did you tell her nothing?"

Meeka glances behind her, and sees a green haired Octoling shaking her head. She turns back to face the other Octoling.

"Tell me what?"

The Octoling waves her hand dismissively, "I'll tell you that later. Right now, you need to know who we are. I'm Madison." The Octoling introduces herself.

"The ones behind you are Emmy," The green haired Octoling waves, "And Stella." Stella gives a small nod, but that's it.

"Follow me." Madison motions with her hand, and then walks away.

Meeka watches Madison walk away, her head spinning. Who were these Octolings and why were they suddenly being nice to her? Meeka is snapped out of her thoughts when something pokes her in the back. Meeka turns around, and sees Emmy looking at her, a mischievous grin on her face. Right away Meeka knows that it was Emmy who poked her. She glances at Stella, but the Octoling only nods in the direction Madison went. Meeka sighs, and starts walking in the direction Madison went. I'll just play along until I can find Finley and Denny, and get out of here.

O-O-O

Calleigh stops, and raises her hand to let the others know to stop too.

"We're here. Be cautious."

There's a soft murmur, and nothing else. Calleigh grips the Dualies tightly in her hands, then starts to make her way forward. She raises her hand up, expecting a burst of light, but it stays dark.

"Calleigh? What's going on?" Alex asks.

"It's.. it's really dark out there."

"That's it? Let's just go." Renka snaps.

Calleigh starts moving forward again, her Dualies raised in a defensive position. She stops when she's just outside of the tunnel entrance.

"What.. What happened here?" Mikmic whispers.

Calleigh steps farther out of the tunnel, into the middle of the wreckage.

"I.. I don't know." Calleigh shakes her head, as if to banish her thoughts, "Spread out. See if we can find anyone."

Calleigh sets off, stepping around the pools of ink that cover the ground. She squints when she sees a glint of gold on the ground. Calleigh walks over towards the gold, her fingers on the triggers of the Dualies. She bends down, and picks up the object.

"Guys! I've found something!"

There's silence, then Calleigh hears footsteps heading towards her.

"Is that?"

"Yes, Renka. It's Meeka's necklace, the one she's always wearing." Calleigh replies.

Renka takes the necklace from Calleigh, and turns it over in her own hand. She stops turning it over, and flips it open. Renka and Calleigh both look at the picture inside, their confusion clearly etched across their faces.

"Who is that?" Calleigh says, her voice low.

"I have no idea. But, whoever it is may be connected to whoever took Meeka in the first place."

O-O-O

Meeka stops, her breath catching in her throat when she sees Denny and Finley tied up together. She glances to the side, and sees both Emmy and Stella watching her closely. Meeka faces ahead again, and notices that Madison's hand is hovering over where she has her Octoshot. Meeka shakes her head, and Madison's hand moves away from her weapon. In that second, Meeka darts forward to Denny and Finley.

"Denny! Fin!"

She crouches down beside the pair. Meeka is dimly aware of the Octolings moving behind her, but she ignores them. She lifts Finley's head up, and looks at his face, noting that his eyes are closed, and he has a gash on his cheek. Meeka moves one of her hands, and starts to wipe some of the blood off of his face. Finley stirs a little at her touch, but he's still unconscious. She pulls her hands back, and turns to Denny. Meeka looks him up and down, wincing when she sees the scratches and cuts on his face and torso. She starts to reach a hand out towards him, but stops when she feels a hand on her shoulder.

"Leave him." Meeka immediately recognizes Madison's voice.

"I can't. They're both my friends."

Madison hisses, "Why do you hold onto them so tightly?"

"They've been there for me. They're like my brothers."

Madison reaches out, and turns Meeka's head until she is looking her in the eyes. "They are not your real siblings though. Your real sibling is back at our base."

Meeka jerks away from Madison, "What? I have a sibling?"

Madison nods, "Yes. She's been searching for you for two months."

"Why two months?"

"Because, that's how long you've been missing."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

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