Hey guys! Welcome back to my story! Sorry, I haven't been posting in a while, it was mostly lack of motivation and inspiration and my school exams. By the time this gets out there, school will be over, and I'll be able to post more (without pesky exams getting in the way.) And with that, onto the new chapter!
Everyone tried their hardest to not move, even though the position they were in was hard to maintain. They just stared and 8, waiting for a response. All she could do was stare. Why would they go through all this trouble just to welcome her? And was she really joining? She hadn't really put much thought into joining the Splatoon until now. She thought good and hard about it and decided, why not? They helped her escape the Metro, Pearl helped her with the final blow of Tartar's statue, and all of this because she was lost and the Cap'n needed help? It's the least she could do. But she was still confused as to why they went through the trouble to do this. and for her? An octoling that barely knows any of these Inklings? She shrugged it off and decided that it was for the best.
"Well, what do you think?" Marina asked, curious as to what her response would be.
"T-Thank you...' She managed to get that out. She was still at a loss of words, but that seemed to satisfy everyone. After that, she helped them clean up all the pieces of confetti and also helped pack up the lasers in their boxes. The clean up took about 18 minutes. Then, something hit her. Not physically. She forgot to ask someone where they even were! She caught a glimpse of Jacob by the corner of her eye. She turned around, but no Jacob. 'Guess the Jump Pad messed up my head for a while.' 8 thought. Now with her conclusion, she decided to help everyone else clean up the party confetti and party poppers.
Jacob saw Eight trying to help clean up with everyone else, and decided that it was probably better for her to get something to eat first. "No no, We insist on cleaning the mess ourselves. it was our idea to begin with, so you don't have to help. Go help yourself to the refrigerator in Cuttlefish Cabin." Jacob told Eight. Eight gave him a look at first, but she heard a noise coming from her stomach.
"Now that I think about it, I'm starving. I'm going to listen to you this one time, but next time I'm gonna going to help you in some way." Eight said. Jacob just chuckled and went back to cleaning.
Eight entered the run down but homey Cabin. There was a 'Home Sweet Home' mat as soon as she entered the cozy home. She looked around the place. According to Jacob, it's much bigger than the one in Octo Valley. There was a green chair, in front of an old no-color TV. There were a few blankets on top of the couch. There was the Spawn Point Pad over to the right of the chair. And to the left was a staircase. She looked ahead, past the chair, and there was yet another door, but this time she saw a counter and a sink.
She headed towards that room, assuming it was the kitchen, and she had never seen a more beautiful room in her life. They had everything available to her, and she could each as much as she wanted! She was in awe and now feeling more hungry than ever. So she went and opened the fridge. and it was magnificent! Fatty Tuna, Crabby Cakes, more Crabby Cakes, and just straight up crabs! The one that caught her eye, though, was a dish of grilled shrimp and tuna. But as she was grabbing her delectable snack, it hit her.
"Wait a minute... Is this even allowed? I mean, they weren't fully sentient, to begin with, but... WAIT DO THESE GUYS FEEL PAIN?!" Eight slowly gazed at the fish's eyes, letting these thoughts racing through her mind. She slowly put the plate back and decided to just eat the kelp salad that was on the side. As she took the salad bowl out though, there was Inkling writing on it. She couldn't tell what it said, so she went over to Jacob for a translation.
"Hey, Three! You know what this says?" Eight asked, showing Jacob the bowl with the Inkling writing on it.
"Oh, that's my salad! the Inkling says my name on it, but you can go ahead an have it. I'll just buy a Crusty Seanwich later." Jacob told Eight.
Eight gave the salad another look. It didn't look as good as everything else, but why not try something new? "You sure I can have it? I can find something else to eat if you want.
Jacob chuckled again. Eight thought that Jacob had a nice laugh. It made her feel calm. "Yeah, I'm sure you can have it" Jacob told her, patting the top of her head. That was a bad idea. Eightinstinctivelyy grabbed Jacob's arm, tripped him, then twisted his arm and threw him with full force against the ground. After Eight realized what she had done, she felt so guilty.
"Oh Cod, are you ok Three? I'm so sorry, I'm not really used to being touched by someone who isn't trying to kill me." Eight exclaimed, try to help Three up. she called everyone else over to see if he was ok.
"Guy guys, I'm fine. Look, see" Jacob exclaimed, getting up and standing up. But he immediately fell back down to the floor.
"Eight!" Jacob yelled. That got her attention easily.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you it was all my instincts fault it was all the training I got from the Octarian Military I'm sorry again and again I'm sorry!" Eight ranted as she continuously bowed and bowed again and again.
"Eight, Eight. Calm down. It's fine. I'll probably be fine in a day or 2, no need to beat yourself all up." Jacob said, trying to calm her down.
"..." Eight was just being silent.
Three sighed. "try looking at it from this viewpoint. After I'm fully 'healed', I'll spar with you. I wanna know how strong you are, cause you might be stronger than the so-called 'Infamous Agent 3' even though I'm not that great. And you HAVE to teach me how to do that. You must be ripped! (I think I weigh like 8 stones, around there..)
"Ok... Sure. Again I'm very sorry." Eight said, bowing one last time. Jacob chuckled again.
"Stop with the bowing. I don't wanna feel like I'm overwhelming you or something like that." Jacob asked.
"Uhhhh sure. I'll stop then." Eight responded.
"Well, It's getting pretty late. Almost 8:00 already? Jeez we were out for a while. Why don't you go to the Cabin and take a nap? Our room is to the very top left once you go upstairs. I don't think I'll be able to show you around the most part of Inkopolis. So I'll ask Callie or Marie to show you around tomorrow. Once I get better, I'll show you the ropes of being a Hero, and I'll get you registered for Turf Wars. How does that sound?" Jacob explained.
"Wait... OUR room?" She asked, giving him a look
"Hey, I didn't pick the rooming options. But yes, We will be sharing the room." Jacob explained.
"Ok, but don't try anything funny, got it?" She said, giving him a deadpan stare.
"I wasn't planning on it, but noted." Jacob told her.
"Good. Now again, I'm sorry. I'm going to take a shower. Where's the bathroom?" Eight asked.
"Second door to the right, upstairs." He told her.
"Ok got it. Thanks." Eight said as she walked into the Cabin.
As Eight walked up to the bathroom, she looked around. There were pictures hanging off the wall. There was Cap'n and Three, and 2 girls she didn't recognize. She assumed they were Callie and Marie and continued to the bathroom. She went inside and locked the door behind her. She slowly took off her dirty, ink-stained clothing, along with her ink tank. She selected the purple-pink ink option by the shower and started the shower. Purple-Pink ink started raining from above, and she immediately got in. But to her surprise, it was too hot. She forgot how hot ink could get. She got right back out and selected the colder option until it was just right. She slowly shifted herself to be right under the shower head. And it felt sooooo good. All the dirty ink and dirty just slowly faded away, along with her worries and anxiety. She also forgot how awesome showers were. She spent a little more time in the shower, using tentacle conditioner and shampoo. once she was done, she grabbed her towel but...
"Threeeee!" Eight called out. There was silence until Three answered back.
"Yeah, what's up?" He yelled from their room.
"I don't have any clean clothes to put on!" She yelled. There was silence once again, but she heard a small little laughter from the other room. "What's so funny about that?!" She exclaimed.
"Nothin nothin. I'll get you some clean clothes." Jacob said, snickering after saying that. A few minutes later, Jacob knocked on the door.
"I'm about to slide the clothing in. I won't look." Jacob said
"You'd better not!" Eight yelled out. She opened the door, and then she then saw the door open and clothing slide in, then the door closed again. She locked it again, just in case. What she got was apparently called an Annaki Yellow Cuff, a Squid Hairclip, and some clean striped socks. She put everything on and headed towards her bedroom.
"Hey, Three." Eight said, walking on him reading a book about the Octarian Language.
"Oh, hey Eight. I was just studying up on your native tongue, so I could learn how to understand it." Three explained.
"I could help you out sometime if you would like." Eight offered him.
"You'd help? Well if you're fine with it, could you help me grasp the understanding on this symbol?" Three said, pointing at a symbol on page 39.
"Well, that one is usually used with verbs. It means 'Currently'" Eight explained. The 2 of them spent the rest of their free time learning and describing the Octarian Language. even Eight learned a few facts about her own native tongue.
"It's already 10:56?! Jeez, time flies" Three exclaimed.
"Yeah, but now that you mention it, I am feeling pretty tired. I think I'll go to bed now." Eight told Three, getting into the covers of the couch in the room.
"Uh uh. No, you don't. YOU are sleeping on the bed." Three exclaimed.
"Nope. Sorry, buddy. You guys already gave me enough hospitality, I'll take a hit for the teaAHHH WOAH!" Eight exclaimed as Three (barely) picked the couch up and threw Eight on the bed.
"WHAT THE CARP DUDE" Eight exclaimed.
"Nighty Night." Three said as he turned off the lights and made his way to the couch. Eight tried to move around, but it was really dark and she couldn't see what is where. So she had to stay on the bed if she didn't want to bump into anything. So, she unwillingly laid in the bed and tried to go to sleep. She was excited and happy that she got another chance at life, all because of the Cap'n and Jacob, Marina, and Pearl. because of all of them, she gets another chance, and she refuses to mess it up.
"Night Three" Eight said, as she slowly faded to sleep.
Heyo everyone! This is where the chapter ends, but I already have a rough draft of my next chapter! So that'll be coming out soon. (Hopefully) And hey! Finished it before 11:00! Anyways, I would like to thank everyone who read this, I've been gone for such a long time and I bet a few people just left the story, but to all who stayed, thank you. and with that, see you in the next chapter! Stay Fresh Off The Hook!
