Chapter 14
'Dashi, have you seen Ashima?' Barnacles asked as he walked into the HQ later that night. 'I've looked everywhere for her but I haven't been able to see her.'
'No, no haven't seen her.' She replied, pressing some buttons on the screen. 'Just give me a minute and I'll track her radio down.' She waited, the fillies icon coming up on the map. 'Says she's aboard Captain, maybe she's in your room?'
'First place I looked.'
'Gym?'
'Not there.'
'Kitchen?'
'Not there either.'
'Ah, You there Cap?'
'Yes Tweak, I'm here.' He replied, looking up at the screen. 'What seems to the be the problem?'
'You better come down to the launch bay Cap, you need to see this.'
'Alright, I'm on my way.' He headed for the Octo-chute, landing in the launch bay. Tweak was there, waiting for him as he came out and he looked around. Everything seemed to be in order. 'What's the matter?'
'This way.' She replied, the polar bear following her over to where the air tanks were stored and she pointed to the radio and cap on the floor. 'Found this a couple minutes ago-'
'Oh Ashima.' He mumbled with a sigh, kneeling down and he picked the squashed cap and radio up.
'There's an airtank missing too Cap, and her airtank harness is gone.'
The polar bear ran a worried paw over his head as he stood up, holding onto her cap and radio. What have I done? He could feel the panic rising inside himself but forced it back. No. He needed to have a level head if they were going to find her. 'How long do you think she's been gone?'
'No idea. The last time I saw her was when Dashi was showing us her photos.'
That was eight hours ago! She'd be out of air long before now. 'We've got to find her.' He quickly pushed his emotions and thoughts back, reverting to strong Captain stance. 'Tweak, sound the Octo-alert.' The bunny ran to the button, the siren sounding through out the octopod. 'Octonauts, to the launch bay.'
It didn't take long before all the Octonauts were assembled, well, all but the one who was missing. Barnacles waited until Turnip was present then started the briefing. 'Octonauts, Ashima has run, or technically, swum, away. She was last seen at Dashi's photography display-'
'That was eight hours ago Captain-'
'I know Shellington.' He replied. 'Which is why time is of the essence. We have got to find her, and fast. She only took one air tank, she would be long out of air by now.'
'Captain-' Dashi hit a few buttons, bringing up the map onto the screen. 'Going off estimates, Ashima would have had only about two hours of air. She would most likely have swum for the surface so she could breath.'
'She would probably have tried going for the nearest land.' Inkling mulled, rubbing his chin with his tentacle.
'Dashi, what's the nearest land to here?'
'Already on it Captain.' She hit a few more buttons, zooming in on an island on the map. 'The nearest land is almost a hundred miles away, this little island South of us. Other then that, the nearest land is one hundred and fifty and one hundred and seventy five, West and North respectively.'
A hush descended upon the crew. While a horse or in this case, a pony, was able to swim for long distances, that distance would most certainly be impossible. Barnacles ran a paw over his head. Ashima, why? He could hear her words repeating over in his mind, about how she had nothing to live for. There were any number of dangers in being in the open ocean. Currents, whirlpools, not to mention sharks and other dangerous sea creatures. That was if she'd even made it to the surface. If she hadn't, and her air tank had run out there was no chance for her at all. No. You can't think like that. 'Octonauts-' He cleared his throat, getting their attention. 'We're going to start a search while we still have a little daylight. Kwazii, you're in the Gup B. You'll be taking this grid here.' He quickly got up the map coordinates and sent them through to him. 'Keep in contact.'
'On my way Captain-' Kwazii ran to the platform, doing a somersault into the seat.
'Tweak, you're in the Gup D. You'll be taking here and here-'
'On it Cap.'
'Shellington, Dashi, you're in the Gup C. Your search coordinates is grid four and seven.'
'Oh our way.'
'Peso, Turnip, you're with me in the Gup A.' He turned to the Professor. 'Professor, can you coordinate the search from the HQ?'
'Most certainly Captain.' Inkling agreed.
'Right. Octonauts-' He, Peso and Turnip jumped into the Gup. 'Let's do this.'
Ashima watched the setting sun, still swimming on through the ocean. She'd been swimming for hours, her whole body ached dreadfully, her legs felt numb and her nose had constantly been bleeding. She stopped swimming again, letting the current carry her as she caught her breath again. She was tired, she was thirsty and she was hungry.
Her air tank was only a third empty, she'd gone straight to the surface so she could conserve her air. She activated her helmet so she could rest, breathing in the air gratefully as she caught her breath. There was no turning back. She had to find land or something of some description before time ran out. She was utterly exhausted. She knew that if she didn't find land soon she wouldn't make it. Well, what was the point of making it to land anyway?
A little nagging thought in the back of her mind reminded her of what Remi would think. Don't think you're better off dead, what would Remi want? She sighed. She hated this. Hated the battle inside her mind. The war between giving up and going on.
She de-activated her helmet again, sniffing the air. Finally, faintly, she could smell some vegetation. Finally. New life surged through her tired legs, the filly swimming strongly through the rising current towards the scent.
The moon had risen once the filly dragged herself onto the sand, thankful for the land beneath her hooves again. She was tired, oh, so so tired. And hungry. And thirsty.
Ashima sniffed the air, there was both water and grass further inland and she started towards the smell. A couple of birds fluttered away in fright as she walked through the trees bordering the shore, following the scent. There. A small spring bubbling from the ground.
The filly eagerly drank her fill, gulping down the water like there was no tomorrow till she had quenched her intense thirst. Looking around, water dropping from her muzzle she spied some grass growing, snatching at it eagerly. It tasted horrible, the filly spitting it out in surprise. It certainly didn't taste anything like the Vegimals kelp cakes. She sniffed the air again, trying to smell for more food but all she could smell was a storm coming in. 'Oh no.' She groaned. 'Not a storm.'
Wearily she started forward again, trying to find someplace to wait it out but there was none. The island was tiny compared to the one she'd washed up on with Remi, she was able to walk across it in no time at all. She cast a nervous glance towards the sea, the water getting choppy with the rising wind. Of all days to pick running away it had to be when a storm was coming. Oh why hadn't she checked the radar before she'd left?
The best shelter she could find was a couple of trees that had fallen, the filly lying down underneath them in exhaustion to get some rest before the storm hit. She laid her head down on the sand, watching the waves roll in against the moonlight. Oh why had she bothered running away? Even if she didn't belong with the Octonauts, at least she'd be warm, dry, and fed. She sighed, closing her eyes. It was what it was. She'd just have to make do. They wouldn't bother looking for her, would they?
'Looks like there's a storm coming in.' Dashi mumbled to herself, watching the computers in the Gup C as Shellington drove. She hit a couple more buttons, getting the readings on the incoming storm. It wasn't a huge one but it was a decent one. She hit the radio to call the Captain. 'Dashi to Captain Barnacles. Come in Captain.'
'Barnacles here. Go ahead Dashi.'
'There's a storm approaching Captain, it's about an hour away but heading towards the search location.'
'How bad is it going to be?' He didn't look down at the radio, instead focused on searching to surrounding ocean as he continued driving.
'It's not a slight storm but it's not a huge one either, it's in the middle.' She replied, getting up another screen. 'It's your call Captain.'
His mouth set in a hard line, he replied. 'We keep searching.'
Night fell, bringing with it the storm. The ocean was being churned up by the winds, the waves almost making it impossible to search the darkened waters. With the thunder, the rain, the lightning and the fact that it was now dark, visibility was near non-existent.
'Yargh, I can't see nothing in this stormy weather.' Kwazii complained to himself, bringing the Gup to a stop as he tried to search the water for any sign on Ashima. All he could see outside the windscreen was darkness. 'Kwazzi to Captain Barnacles. Come in Captain.' The radio was static, no reply being able to being heard. 'Storm must be interfering with the radio.'
He looked around again but it was impossible to see what was out there. They had to find Ashima but in this weather it was only making it harder. He started the Gup forward again, slowly, looking around the water. Nothing.
Suddenly, the Gup was thrown, the Gup rolling over and over and over until it finally came to a stop. Kwazzi shook his head, trying to figure out what had happened when he realised that he'd crashed upon land.
'Shiver me whiskers.' He mumbled as he got out of the Gup, the pouring rain freezing him to the bone. He looked at the Gup, it didn't look like it was going anywhere anytime soon. He'd well and truly got the Gup crashed, again. 'Kwazzi to Captain-' His radio was nothing but static and he sighed as he gave up. 'No one can hear me.'
Kwazzi looked around, seeing some trees for shelter as the rain poured down and made his way over to them. There was nothing he could do, he'd just have to wait out the storm then try and make contact with the rest of the Octonauts. The trees offered little shelter but it was better then nothing. A flash of lightning lit up the island and in the light he could make out the shape of a filly curled up next to a tree. 'Well, I'll be a sea monkey's uncle! Ashima!'
The filly woke with a start, snorting as she looked up. What on earth- 'Kwazzi! What in the name of horse feathers are you doing here?'
'We've been out searching for you matey.' He replied as he walked over then knelt down beside the filly, trying to get out of the rain. 'We've all been dreadfully worried about you. What on earth possessed you to run away?'
'I don't know.' She replied after a moment, feeling heat coming into her cheeks as she blushed from the lie.
'I think ye do matey.'
The filly sighed then nudged his bandaged arm with her muzzle. 'That's why. I'm a monster Kwazzi, I went for Dashi, I bit you and I bit the Captain-'
'You bit the Captain?'
She hung her head. 'I didn't mean to, it just happened. Don't you guys see? I'm a danger to all of you. Why couldn't you just let me go?'
'When another Octonaut is in trouble we don't leave a crew member to handle it by themselves. We come help.' He replied, an especially loud clap of thunder making him jump. 'Whew. That was a close one.'
The filly looked up at the sky nervously and snorted. 'I'm afraid this storm is going to last sometime and there's no other shelter in the island other then this, I checked already.' She sighed, looking at the cat as he got drenched, the cat still out in the rain even though he was trying to shelter under the tree. 'I won't bite you-' She moved over closer to the trunk of the fallen tree so he could take shelter with her. 'There's no sense in you being drenched in my account, come on.'
'Thanks me heartie.' He replied gratefully, joining her under the tree. The filly moved back over, trying to share her warmth with him as he shivered. 'Thanks Ashima.'
'It's the least I can do, considering you're out here on my account.'
'Why'd you run away?'
Ashima sighed. 'It's a long story.'
'Well-' He glanced up at the sky. 'Considering we won't be going anywhere at the moment, I'd say you've got time for an explanation.'
'Captain, we're going to have to abandon the search-' Dashi exclaimed as they dobe back under the water. 'Visibility is nill and the storm is getting worse.'
Barnacles knew she was right yet the other part of him wanted to keep searching. Where are you Ashima?
'Captain?'
'I'm here Dashi.' He replied after a moment, diving the Gup down beneath the surface. 'Return to the Octopod. We'll search again as soon as the storm clears.'
'Understood.'
'Tweak, come in Tweak.'
'Here Cap. Go ahead.'
'We're abandoning the search.' It nigh tore at his heart to say that. 'Return to the Octopod immediately.'
'On it Cap.'
'Kwazzi. Come in Kwazzi.' The radio was nothing but static and he growled. 'We've lost radio contact with Kwazzi.'
'Captain, we need to return to the octopod, the storm is getting worse.'
He closed his eyes for a moment, forcing his feelings back down inside then resumed his Captain demeanour. As much as he hated to admit it and wanted to keep searching, she was right. They had to stop. The storm was getting worse, interfering with the radios. A sinking feeling settled in his stomach. If Ashima was out in this, the chances of finding her alive, or even finding her at all were slim. I hope you're alright Ashima, wherever you are. 'We're on our way.'
