Arc 1 Chapter 3 Strange Encounters
NOTE: This chapter is kinda short and deals with Blake meeting new characters, one of them, that could possibly do with his past. Still trying to get the hang of writing these chapters neatly and informatively as possible, but slowly improving. Enjoy the chapter.
"Blake!... Blake!" a voice could be heard. "Blake where are you!" the voice shouted again.
It was black, but soon a vague image could be made out. There was a man running down a metal corridor frantically looking for someone as he was shouting.
"Blake!... Blake!" the man shouted. "Son, where are you!" The man had yelled turning and looking around down the metal corridor.
Then the man stops and looks down with distress. "My son, where could he be?" the man says sadly.
Shortly after another voice could be heard, coming down the corridor of the direction the man had ran from.
"There he is! Get him!" the other voice says commanding.
The man turns towards the direction of the voice and runs away. Echoes of multiple footsteps could be heard coming. The image soon starts fading to black.
"Blake?... Blake?" a different voice was saying.
"BLAKE!" it yelled again.
"AAAHHH!" screamed Blake. rising out of the hammock and panting.
"Blake what's the matter!?" Cuttlefish asked hastily.
Breathing hard, Blake turned towards Cuttlefish. "I don't know (panting). There was a man running and yelling my name (sighing). He said I was...his son" said Blake trying to calm down.
"Your father perhaps bucko," asks Cuttlefish.
"I don't know Cuttlefish...uuhh, my head hurts," Blake said holding his head.
It had been months since Blake got pulled out of the cryostasis pod and woke up to this new world. Blake had been having these dreams every so often, but they had only been vague voices, unlike the vague image he had seen just now. Blake was a little shook up and couldn't make heads or tails of what it meant and who and why that man was calling his name, but Blake will soon find out that he is not the only one who's taken a long slumber to wake up in this new world either.
Blake got up out of his hammock, stretched and walked out ready for what the day would bring him.
"So what are we doing today?" asked Blake.
"I thought we might head down to the village, their's someone I want you to meet," said Cuttlefish.
"Ohh...that would be cool, I guess," said Blake.
"It's ok bucko, he's a friend;" says Cuttlefish assuring Blake.
"ok, then Cuttlefish," said Blake
Blake and Cuttlefish finished their breakfast and made their way out the door. They headed down to the village. Blake, overtime soon became a part of the community and adapting to the culture of the new world he was introduced to.
As they were walking, Cuttlefish turned to Blake. "This person would be really excited to meet you," said Cuttlefish
"he owns a shop up here, he digs up old human artifacts and studies them, seeing you a living breathing human maybe a dream come true for him, but don't worry he's a good guy or should a say crab," said Cuttlefish.
"crab?" said a confused Blake.
"Yeah, as I said before, inklings and octarians aren't the only ones that walked out of the ocean on to land. He's a horseshoe crab and he moved here a couple of years and has been a big help for the village, fixing things and improving our way of life with the ancient technology he has been digging up," says Cuttlefish.
"Wow, he sounds like a good guy, I can't wait to meet him," says Blake.
Blake and Cuttlefish arrive at the shop. It wasn't very big and had piles of crates and junk in front of it. Blake and Cuttlefish make their way to the door and walk inside.
As Blake and Cuttlefish walked inside they looked around seeing all kinds of human relics lining the walls of the shop. Blake and Cuttlefish make their way to counter, but no one was present. "Hello... is anyone in here?!" shouted Cuttlefish
Just then, the sound of junk falling emitted from a room behind the counter. "dang it! Be there in a minute!" yelled a voice from the room as Cuttlefish and Blake waited.
Soon a figure walked out of the room brushing himself off. He looked humanoid in appearance, but it had what looked like a horseshoe crab shell on its head. It was wearing a shirt with a scarf around the collar. It was also wearing pants with black boots.
"Hey! Cuttlefish, want brings you here and...who is that?" asked the figure to Cuttlefish before he pointed to Blae with a confused look.
"This is Blake, the human I was talking about," answered Cuttlefish then turned towards Blake.
"Blake, this is Ammoses Shellendorf, he digs up old human artifacts and uses it to improve our society, he's always been fascinated with human history and has been a great help for the village," said Cuttlefish introducing him to Ammoses.
"(gasp) A live human walking among us...this is so EXCITING!" yelled Ammoses as rushed toward Blake studying him.
Blake felt a little uncomfortable with Ammoses grabbing his arms and looking down his mouth studying his biology. Ammoses was overly excited that a member of an extinct race was in his store and could not pass the opportunity to learn about him.
When Ammoses stopped examining Blake he was quick to ask him about human history, technology and how he survived all these years.
"Woah...slow down Ammoses, the lad lost his memory in that metal contraption I found him in on the beach. So I doubt he'll be able to answer any of those questions," explained Cuttlefish.
"oh...I'm sorry, it must be hard on you to not remember anything about your past or your own culture," said Ammoses apologizing.
"It's...ok," says Blake putting his head down. "I assumed I was the last human in existence, I'm sure you haven't come across any other metal pods like the one you found me in," asked Blake sadly.
"Well...we did come across a metal pod, but it was much smaller than the one you were in," said Ammoses.
"smaller?" said blake with confusion, picking his head back up.
"yes but... what was inside wasn't a human," responded Ammoses.
"what was in it?" asked Blake curiously.
"It said it was a "cat"," said Ammoses.
"a cat? wait...it said?...cats don't talk!" said a bewildered Blake.
"well it didn't talk with its mouth, it spoke through our minds, I was shocked myself," exclaimed Ammoses.
Just then a cat came out of the room that Ammoses was in. It jumped on the counter and stared at Blake. The cat was white with strange markings on it. The marks made the cat look like he was wearing black trousers with suspenders. He also on mark under his neck that looked like a black bow tie but the strangest thing that stood out about the cat was its arrow-shaped tail. Then it stood up on its hind legs and spoke. "Nice to meet you, Blake," the cat said.
The group stared at the cat as the air seemed to be filled with anticipation. Blake just froze in shock not believing that the cat had spoke to him, but not only that, it talked to him through his mind like Ammoses said it would.
Blake finally unfroze and screamed "WAAAHHH!" as Blake fell back.
"Woah bucko, you OK?" asked Cuttlefish.
"Sorry for scaring you," said the cat looking down at him.
"What tha...y...y...you can...talk!" shouted Blake in surprise.
"like I said he can talk to you by thought, and by the way his name is Judd, I named him since he didn't have one, " said Ammoses.
"But how is that possible?, cats are not supposed to talk or talk by thought!" said a bewildered Blake.
"I'm not sure, I can't remember anything before I was released out of that metal freezer," explained Judd.
"I guess we have a lot in common then, I'm sorry you can't remember anything either," said Blake getting up.
Blake walked up to Judd and picked him up, petting him as he purred happily. "ah...that feels good," said Judd as he was getting petted.
"I feel like I've seen you before, but I'm not sure why," said Blake to Judd.
"I felt the same way too, but I was unsure as well," said Judd.
After a moment Blake placed Judd back on the counter.
"Well bucko I hate to spoil the visit, but we gotta get going, you can come back and visit anytime you want," said Cuttlefish.
"ok, Cuttlefish, I'll see you and Blake later," said Ammoses as Blake and Cuttlefish headed out the door.
"It was nice meeting you, Blake, I hope you'll come back soon," said Judd waving at them.
Blake and Cuttlefish were out the door. Judd was stuck in thought as Ammoses noticed. "what's the matter, Judd," asked Ammoses.
It's just, I've seen Blake somewhere before but I can't put my paw on it," exclaimed Judd. Then Judd's stomach growled. "It sounds like it's time for lunch," replied Ammoses.
"maybe some salmon will get my mind off of it," said Judd heading back into the room.
Blake and Cuttlefish were out of the shop. Cuttlefish turned to Blake and said "so, what did you think about Ammoses?" asked Cuttlefish.
"I thought he was a little...strange, but he was ok, I guess, I hated I couldn't answer his questions, it's just hard that I can't remember anything before I woke up," replied Blake.
"I'm sure it is Bucko, not being able to remember anything," responded Cuttlefish.
"yeah...but when and how did ya'll find that cat, I mean Judd. I still can't get over him talking to me, this world is getting crazier and crazier, "asked Blake.
"Ammoses said that he and a few inklings that were at one of his archeological sites came across a small metal pod like you were inside it, a few months ago, " said Cuttlefish. "They took the pod to Ammoses's shop and released him from the pod unsure how to make him out," said Cuttlefish again.
"wow...that's something, I hated that he's like me, can't remember anything from before," replied Blake.
"yeah...Ammoses showed me and I was just as perplexed as you were bucko," said Cuttlefish. " I didn't know what he was or why and how he got there, but Ammoses was definitely intrigued by him and decided to let Judd stay with him in the shop," said Cuttlefish.
"hmmm... I feel I've seen Judd before, but I don't know why?" said Blake.
"maybe you have since both you were found in those pods," replied Cuttlefish.
"I would think I'd remember a telepathic talking cat," said Blake as he sighed.
The two continued to walk in the village as they approached what appeared to be a clothes store. "well here we are, Mimi's wares, it's the local clothes store, I thought maybe you can get some new threads, bucko. you've been wearing the same thing since I found you," said Cuttlefish.
Blake looked down and pulled on his shirt, then looked back at Cuttlefish. "I've gotta go real quick, bucko. I'll be back, go look around," said Cuttlefish," Cuttlefish then gives Blake some money for clothes.
As Cuttlefish left, Blake headed into the store. He looked around and picked out some clothes that he liked. He soon walked over to the counter and was greeted by an orange-tentacled female Inkling, she was one of the inklings that approached Blake at the contest to meet him. She had gotten a small crush on him and was too timid to tell him.
"Oh...hey, Blake. You found what you like," asked the female inkling.
"yeah, I...think so," replied Blake.
"that's good, umm...by the way...my...my...my name is M...M...Mimi, I...I met you at the contest, "said Mimi shyly trying to hide her blush.
"it's nice to meet you, Mimi...I uh, thought it would probably be time for me to get some new clothes. I think I got what I wanted," said Blake.
he placed the clothes on the counter, they were comprised of a white shirt, brown shorts, and sandals. Mimi rang up the clothes on an old-timey cash register with a lever on the side of it. Blake then gave some money and thanked Mimi.
"Umm...anytime B...B...Blake," said Mimi shyly again.
As Blake was walking out the door. Mimi called out.
"Hey, Blake," said Mimi
"yeah," asked Blake as he turned towards Mimi.
Um...you think we could hang out sometime?" asked Mimi as she rubbed her arm with a red face.
"sure, Mimi, "replied Blake.
Blake walked out of the store to be met with Cuttlefish, "well did you buy anything?" asked Cuttlefish.
"yeah, but I hated that I had to use your money," said Blake.
"it's no problem, bucko, anything for a friend, I'm just glad you found some new clothes," said Cuttlefish.
"Thanks, Cuttlefish, " said Blake.
"hey, you know Mimi likes you," said a smirking Cuttlefish.
"uh...yeah I kinda could tell by how she was acting," said Blake with a blush rubbing the back of his head.
"well, I'm getting hungry bucko, let's head back to the cabin," said Cuttlefish.
Cuttlefish and Blake soon leave the village and head back to Cuttlefish's cabin.
The day had been exciting and interesting for the two. Blake had met Ammoses, Cuttlefish's friend and archeologist of human artifacts and history who was highly fascinated by Blake. Blake felt awkward about his encounter with the horseshoe crab and was intrigued by his interest in human culture.
He met Judd the telepathic cat who like him was frozen in time in a pod and had no memory of his past and how he got in that thing and why. Though Blake felt as he knew or met the talking cat somewhere before and that them being in those cryo pods may not be a coincidence.
Blake bought new clothes and met his first inkling crush who was afraid to tell him how she felt about him. Cuttlefish hinted and teased Blake about it, but Blake could see through the orange-headed inkling's behavior.
Blake and Cuttlefish head back to the cabin for the day. Cuttlefish and Blake eat dinner, though Blake is getting burned out on the Krabby cakes, hoping they'll eat something else. The two of them soon retire for bed from all the excitement from today, but many things were running through his mind about the dreams he had been having and meeting Judd. Blake just shrugged it off and fell asleep.
I wonder what else was in store for Blake and what other encounters and events will transpire in the future. Who knows. We shall see.
AFTERTHOUGHTS: Well like the name of the chapter, Blake meets three new main characters that will play important and supporting roles later in the Arc.