Three watched as members of the Trailmaker family entered the room, amused as much by their atypical formal attire as the expressions they had when she saw who was waiting for them. Next to her, Eight uttered a very soft giggle, equally amused.

Marina and Pearl both stood, with Pearl flashing greetings in tuk'yan while Marina bowed slightly at the waist saying, "It's nice to meet you formally, Mr. Trailmaker and epesea. I'm Marina Ida, and this is Pearl Pygmy."

Three had learned from Eight that it had taken Marina a fair amount of practice to pronounce 'epesea', the formal and polite way to address an inkyar's mates if more than one was present. The practice was also meant to serve as a reminder to the wives that they were meant to be united.

Gyari, and the three wives he had brought all sat on the opposite side of the short, rectangular table. In the middle were a few binders and paper stacks, which they all eyed warily.

"Let's cut straight to it," Pearl said. "Marina and I want to sponsor your racing team."

All four looked surprised at her and looked at each other before Gyari spoke. "Um, thanks very much, but can I ask where this is coming from?"

"Callie and Marie told us about it. We thought it was a good idea and as much as we love turf war we like to think we cephalopods are capable of doing more than just shooting ink around, don't you?"

"Absolutely!" Gyari replied. He glanced briefly at Three, then calmed himself down. "Sorry, it's just… a little surprising. We've had to fight tooth and nail for what little support we've managed to get. Oh, let me introduce to you my wives, Silvia, Clio, and Sierra. Sierra will be crew chief, I'll be managing the team, and Clio is handling driver training."

Each inkyora bowed their head in turn. Silvia's matron scarf was absent as this was strictly a business meeting. She was here representing her family, not her shoal. Sierra was an inkyora with a mantle and eyes the colour of the night sky, and her expression betrayed anticipation under a business-like mask.

"Why have you had such a hard time finding sponsors?" Pearl asked. "I would think with your reputation you won't have a hard time at all."

"A lot of people don't appreciate racing as a sport," Clio answered. "Most people think it's just sitting down and turning a wheel. In reality there's a lot more to it than that."

"And a lot of people, especially not of our generation, don't find it all that interesting, so none of their kids got involved with it either." Gyari huffed, his mantle turning burgundy with irritation.

"Racing can definitely be exciting if you have a bunch of competitive teams and rules that promote skill and a good car setup. Problem with the Calachoran Touring Car Championship is that, while there's a passionate following, most people who actually learn about it just aren't interested. They just see a bunch of the same cars they see driving on the streets, just with numbers and sponsor logos. I guess most people just aren't interested in that."

"Oh I don't think that's true," Marina said. "It's just that the leagues haven't been able to provide the kind of racing fans want due to lack of funds, something that should be amended this coming season."

Sierra learned forward, excited streaks of bright orange lighting streaking up her mantle. "What do you mean?"

Pearl chuckled. "Callie and Marie aren't sponsoring your team because they've decided to sponsor the entire league."

Their eyes went wide, their mantles all turning a bright surprised orange. Pearl and Marina both laughed and even Three couldn't help but grin in amusement.

"It's not official yet. They're still in talks with the league, but I don't think there will be much debate on their end."

"Definitely not!" Sierra was almost shouting. "The league hasn't had a primary sponsor almost since it was founded. Having two popular celebrities funding it will mean exposure and publicity, a lot more than just the money."

"That too," Pearl agreed. "There's even talks on having a road course right here in Inkopolis; although, I'm not exactly sure where it'll be held, I've heard it'll be in Xapheerell Ward."

"A road course," Gyari breathed. "Wow, we haven't had one of those in a very long time. Having one right in the middle of Inkopolis would be huge!"

"Exactly! Driving super fast down city streets with no traffic? It would be awesome!"

Marina giggled and patted Pearl's shoulder, subtly telling her to calm it down. "So, while we don't plan on setting anything to paper today, we thought we could at least get the conversation going so we can have everything done in time for you to get to the grid for the coming season." She pulled out a sheet from the pile and set it in front of her.

"So, why don't we go over the basic team setup, how you plan on operating, and we'll probably have some questions and go from there."

Hours later, the Trailmaker family left the office, all of them looking very upbeat and cheerful, thanking Pearl and Marina for their time.

"Well, that seems to have gone well," Eight said, taking a moment to stretch her limbs. "They seemed happy."

"Everyone's happy to have their art and hard work recognized," Marina said. "Honestly, I'm pretty excited too. As someone who loves machines, I'm a little ashamed I haven't gotten involved sooner."

"We've been busy trying to get Off the Hook going," Pearl reminded her. "Now that we have, we can do other stuff. Who knows, maybe this'll help inspire a whole new kind of music for us to make! Can't stay stagnant, gotta' keep movin'!"

"Haha, of course. And thank you, Three, for coming. Having you here really seemed to keep them at ease. I know you're busy, even with Callie and Marie still stuck in the hospital."

Literally stuck, Three thought. Although the two had slimmed down considerably over the past few days, they still had a ways to go before they could move on their own. So she and Four had been running errands for them, making sure business was taken care of and bringing them papers and forms, as well as their laptops from home so they could manage their emails; although they'd had to use their tentacles to manipulate the keyes since their hands and fingers were currently immobile due to the swelling. Their condition was not public knowledge however, and even Pearl and Marina didn't know the truth of it.

"Eight," Pearl said. "We probably won't need you until this evening. Why don't you and Three spend some time together. It's been a while, right?"

"It has," Eight said. She slowly wrapped her arm around Three's and snuggled up to her. "It's always been business between us lately."

Three displayed patterns of apology and let out a tiny sigh. "Well, I have a few hours to spare. I guess I –, I mean, I'd love to spend those precious hours with you."

"Then off with ya'," Pearl said, making a shooing motion with her hand. "Get out of here and do lovey dovey stuff ya' kids."

Eight blushed a little then began gently pulling Three towards the door. As they went, Three looked back at Pearl and signaled You sure you don't just want us gone so you can do your own lovey dovey stuff? Pearl just gave her a mischievous smile in response.

Octavia balled both fists on her desk. The room was entirely silent as Avrika, Lord Hobber, Lady Sever, and Lord Sabbart awaited her response. Even the dust in the room seemed to hang in the air.

"Have the Salmonids forsaken us?" She asked, her voice low and tightly controlled.

Lord Hobber swallowed to clear his throat. "Not entirely, but it's only a matter of time until they ditch us completely. For the time being, they still need our equipment, but that will only last until the crabs are able to provide what they need entirely themselves. We aren't precisely sure what their arrangement is; however. Even with the documents Betanuss was able to photograph, we've got little more than speculation in that regard. All we know for sure is that the Salmonids were providing power and golden eggs to the crabs for their experiments. We aren't sure what they were getting in return. Perhaps the inklings have more information in that regard by now."

"Perhaps. I want you to try and grill the Salmonid representative next time there's a trade. I know even it's not exactly intelligent but do what you can."

Hobber nodded unhappily, his shoulders sagging. "I'll do what I can, but it will mostly likely feign ignorance and we should be prepared for their deals with us to end right there."

"Then it ends," Octavia replied coarsely. "They've stabbed us in the back, trying to play all sides against the middle."

"Agreed," Lord Sabbart said. "From what I was able to interpret from the report, this has been going on for at least a year, well before we even entertained thoughts of peace with the inklings. They must have been planning to betray us from the start."

Lord Hobber hung his head and Avrika felt terrible sympathy for him. He'd only been trying to improve their situation but had unknowingly gotten the Octarians caught up in the midst of a major international political scheme.

"No need to apologize, Lord Hobber," Octavia said. "You did what was right under the circumstances of the time. Recent events; however, have made it abundantly clear that we can no longer be ignorant of the world at large. Our long isolation has made us weak and vulnerable, not to mention ignorant."

Sabbart nodded in agreement, his eyes lighting up as if he had somehow just changed the dictatrix's mind on something major.

"I agree. If possible, we should try to use recent events to accelerate our talks with the inklings and try to get in touch with their government directly. I feel like a clock is ticking."

Octavia considered for a moment and then nodded. "Ambassador, what are our options?"

Avrika fought the impulse to shrink into her chair, stiffening her back to maintain a stiff, upright, posture. "Ma'am, I have made contact with other inklings, including an acting matron; however, there are no direct routes as of yet. I imagine there will be some kind of fallout from these events however, which may give us some roads in, but I will still have to go through Callie and Marie to find them. In the meantime, I suggest we start thinking about how we should spend the money we've earned through the sales of our equipment and our military services."

Octavia eyed her for a moment, then her lips slowly spread in a grin. "Redirection. You're really starting to learn your trade, Betanuss."

Avrika's cheeks flushed and she felt her stomach tighten. "Ma'am that wasn't my intention –."

"Oh shut up and take the compliment. Besides, it's not like we can do much else. How do you propose we proceed there?"

Avrika, now even more flushed, recomposed herself and reset her mind to calculate the problem. "Well, we should come up with a priority list for equipment and materials and then try to find the closest equivalents the inklings can purchase for us. Maybe if we can give them a general idea of what we need, they can show us a list of options and we can choose the specifics for ourselves." She scratched her head. "I am honestly still not entirely certain how money works."

"I have some basic books on economics you can look at," Lord Hobber said. "It will be good for you to learn. Ideally, we should also have some other staff trained to handle finances. As I recall, there used to be an entire section of the government dedicated to monetary matters."

"The Ministry of Imperial Finances," Lord Sabbart nodded thoughtfully. Avrika could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. "Yes, I think it would be good to train some people to do that, especially since we'll probably have to establish a national treasury of some kind."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Octavia said, bringing the discussion to a halt. "Lady of War, are there any updates on how we fared in Inkopolis? What are the troops saying?"

"The immediate results are unchanged, Ma'am. Morale among the troops is very high. They feel they have won a tremendous victory against an enemy that had not been trained to fight, and against superior odds. Even the siege the Ambassador endured has spread among the army."

Avrika winced. That was due to Aishi and Kalisha, who had fought alongside Gamma-Three. They had barely arrived at the outpost before they began telling their splatoon mates about what they had experienced.

"That said, the 'loyalists' are not happy about us fighting for the sake of the inklings. They have their own plants in the army and I don't know who all of them are. Many of the ones I do know are, unfortunately, indispensable. I'm afraid the hate is very deeply rooted."

"We can only hope that changes with time. Whatever the case, we don't have to worry about the inklings being a threat anymore, not unless we do something to make them very angry, which is the only thing about the loyalists that concerns me."

Avrika shuddered at the thought. If they did manage to infuriate the inklings at this point, especially Callie and Marie personally, the damage they would unleash, especially now that they were concerned about another opponent entirely, would be devastating. They wouldn't let them off that time, they would finish the job and conquer them completely, probably killing any member of the loyalist faction besides.

"Regardless," Octavia went on. "I want our troops to start training more in anti-crab and anti-salmonid tactics. Conflict with them seems inevitable at this point."

"I agree. It will be done."

"Good. Ambassador, I want you to go back to the inklings as soon as possible and try to move things along any way you can."

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll do what I can."

"That's all any of us can do. It's been working for us so far. Let's just hope it's enough to avert disaster."

Despite recent events, Work Detail hadn't really changed, save for the keenly felt absence of a few souls, especially those who would never return. Despite that, the octolings carried on as best they could, somehow managing to get their work done despite fewer available numbers.

Callie had asked Four to go there and check on things, see how they were coping, see what they were struggling with, and so on. Clearly, she was worried about their well being and what negative effects they might be suffering from after such a brutal fight. Unfortunately, despite her intention to stick to the background, Four's presence proved to be a disruption.

Four tried to smile politely as group after group of octolings came to her, asking about the 'Great Hardware Store siege. Four honestly didn't know what to say to them. She figured the story would have gotten around by now, but everyone wanted to hear it from her perspective, even the girls she'd commanded.

She tried to act as though she hadn't done all that much and didn't remember all the details. In truth though, she doubted she would ever forget it. Even now, almost a week later, she could remember every detail of that horrible night with terrifying clarity, so the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it.

When she suddenly received a phone call, she felt like she'd been saved, using the opportunity to excuse herself and head for a private space. Once she made it into the hallway, she answered.

"Hello? Jezza?"

"Uh, hey." Her brother sounded hesitant and uncertain but not upset, which was welcome. Four wasn't sure she could deal with more drama right now. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, you know, just tryin' to keep busy. Are you calling because you heard what happened in Inkopolis?"

"Huh?"

"Nevermind, you'll find out eventually. How about you? Things okay over there?" The long pause pretty much answered the question on its own.

"I mean… Dana's not doing so great. She and her friends are basically fighting nonstop and it's the same with all their moms, including Ma'. Things are getting kinda' nasty."

Four tried to imagine Dana and her friends fighting with their mothers standing behind them and shouting at the other mothers. Dana was a vicious verbal abuser and she rarely lost arguments even if she was proven wrong. If they were actually managing to keep things even, then things would be nasty indeed.

"So, what's actually being done?"

"I honestly don't know," he sighed. "Pa' and I are just tryin' to ride out the storm." He sounded tired, frustrated, and just weary of it all. Four genuinely felt sorry for him, but what could she do? If she showed up again, she would only make things worse.

Four pinched her brow, her mantle awash with dark colours as she tried to think of something she could do. "Is there anything you need?" She asked. "I mean, not tryin' to blow you off but I just don't know what I can do for ya."

"I just wanted someone else to talk to, I guess. I haven't been able to hang out with my friends much 'cause there's always one or two of the girls who come and tell us why we should be on their side."

"In other words all the females are divided and they're trying to gain more influence by getting more males on their side."

"It's always the inkyora whose responsibility it is to deal with social issues like this. No business of ours." The smugness in his voice was palpable and Four couldn't help but grin at his use of Little Reef's adherence to traditional gender roles to avoid getting involved. Oh, sweet irony.

Well, that's what you get when you try to shoehorn society into little boxes.

"Sorry to hear all that. I'd invite you over so you could take a break from it all but things are kinda' hectic around here too. Be a little while before things calm down, and I'm super busy."

"There some kind of music festival coming or what?"

"Nah, it's more like recent events have got people rescheduling things. Oh, I guess Christmas albums will be coming out soon too."

"Oh yeah, I guess it is that time of year. With all that's happened, I forgot. Are you still coming home for Christmas?"

Four frowned, a small pain suddenly appearing in her chest. "I… don't know. I doubt I'd be welcome. Maybe even especially at Christmas."

"Don't say that. You know Ma' would love to have you for Christmas. We don't do presents anyways."

They'd always been too poor for that sort of thing. Presents were only for birthdays. Instead, they would always go and visit their extended family in the next county.

"I guess we'll just have to see," she said. "I'm tied up here right now. Actually, I should probably head back."

"Oh, yeah, I guess you're working, sorry. Uh, I'll try to keep you up to speed on what's goin' on here as best I can but…"

"I know I know. Look, why don't you go and talk to a priestess about what's going on. Maybe that'll help you deal with it. Should probably take Pa' too."

"Yeah… maybe. You know we've never been that spiritual, though."

"Yeah, and how's that been workin' out for you and the rest of Little Reef lately? You've got nothing to lose."

Another pause. "I'll… talk to Pa' about it. See ya' I guess."

"Yeah, see ya'. Say 'hi' to Ma' and Pa' for me."

The call ended there. For the first time since she had returned from Little Reef Four experienced a sense of loneliness. You were always supposed to be able to go back to your family, but with the Drama surrounding her declaration of Dana as elvi-yan, she felt as though things would be too awkward. It hadn't exactly improved the family's reputation overall, but she still didn't regret it. From the sounds of it, Dana hadn't done any self-reflecting either.

Burying her bitterness as deeply as she could, Four pocketed her phone and headed back into the common area of the warehouse. She was half-surprised to see Three there.

Three had been even busier than her, taking care of Callie and Marie's business errands as best she could and acting as their proxy in numerous meetings. The well tailored business jacket and skirt she was wearing was atypical of her, but Four had to admit she looked very smart in the outfit.

There was an additional hubbub deeper in. The orphans had just arrived for work. The orphans really had changed since first arriving. Rather than a disorganized bunch, they organized themselves ahead of time into their squads, each one carrying whatever equipment necessary to do their planned job, and most of it under their own initiative. Their formerly cautious and hesitant behavior was replaced by a look of pride and self-confidence.

As she surveyed them, she noticed two especially familiar members standing together just off to the side, waiting with High-Priestess Gallora. Gangrin and Mia stood chatting a little as they observed their fellow orphans, probably making some of the same observations she was.

Four pushed them to the side of her thoughts for the moment and approached Three.

How are things here?' Three asked through tuk'yan. 'No troubles?'

Three felt personally responsible for all the deaths that had occured under her command, including those that had been in Gamma-Three. She blamed herself for not forseeing the ambush. Unfortunately, with all the crabs dead, they had no way of knowing how or why the ambush was sprung at Fortress-Seven, and not knowing the answer to that was one of the things still hanging over Three like a stormcloud.

Four wished her sister didn't hold herself to such unreasonable standards but Three was just one of those kinds of people. She would have to talk with Eight sometime about ways of taking some of the guilt off her shoulders.

'No troubles.' Four replied, gazing upon the same view as the various Work Detail members prepared to head out. They would be returning to Xapheerell Ward, cleaning up the remains of all the dead crabs which, by now, were only blood stains on the streets and sidewalks. The bodies had already been disposed of. Callie and Marie were apparently paying for the cleanup, at least in part.

"What of them?"

Four lifted her chin at the sound of Three's voice. She had gestured towards Mia and Gangrin, both of them still waiting.

"They're waiting for you."

Four grimaced. She had no reservations about Mia anymore but Gangrin wasn't someone she wanted to confront, especially after seeing him at the wharf and he had probably seen her. She expected him to give her some kind of rebuke or snide remark.

"Tani."

Four flinched. Her given name wasn't one she was used to hearing from Three's. She timidly looked up into her sister's eyes, seeing her firm but sisterly gaze bearing down on her.

"Whatever it is can't be anything compared to what happened in that hardware store. Go and face and then move on with your day. Putting it off only makes it worse."

Four's mantle turned a gloomy blue-grey, but she flashed green in acknowledgement and excused herself.

Gangrin and Mia's disposition changed when they noticed her approach. Mia was calm but also tense with anticipation while Gangrin looked anxious, his eyes looking up with the occasionally nervous glance at her. What was with that?

Four bowed her head to the high-priestess, pulsing white, careful to remember her manners. "Good morning, High-Priestess."

"And good morning to you, young one. I must say it's a pleasure to be here today."

Four frowned, her mantle displaying confusion and curiosity.

"Yes. The children hardly need any supervision anymore. I'm the only priestess that has come today. They've matured a great deal since they started working with Work Detail, and so quickly it's hard to imagine. Things have improved dramatically at the orphanage thanks to that and I think they are all much happier too."

Four felt herself relax a bit. That had been one of Callie's goals with this whole experiment with the orphans. It seemed the octolings really had rubbed off on them in a positive way.

"I'm glad to hear it. It really helped me too. Maybe, soon, you won't have to come at all."

"It would be nice if they could be fully independent. Being an orphan in the orphan's temple does tend to interfere with one's development. Getting them out and on their own may seem like we are simply tossing them out but it really is for their own good sometimes."

Her gaze next turned to Mia. The other girl's face had none too subtle eagerness to it, like she was waiting for Four to tell her what her next exciting adventure would be.

"I'm pretty sure your punishment's over by now, Mia. You don't have to stick with me anymore if you don't want to."

Mia smirked. "I'm stickin' 'round whether you like it 'er not. If you don't think I'll be useful then I'll prove otherwise."

Four smiled back. "You don't have to prove your usefulness, Mia. You already have anyway. Don't worry, I'll find somethin' for ya' to do."

And that brought her to the great zapfish in the room. She looked sideways at Gangrin who was staring straight ahead, hands folded behind him, shoulders tense. She glanced back at Mia who pulsed Grey. Galleria communicated even less.

Sighing inwardly, Four faced him squarely. "So, you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," he said stiffly. "I'm over it."

"Uh huh."

Four gritted her teeth and chided herself silently. Yeah, she was upset with him but she shouldn't let that colour their interaction. She made that mistake before. So, taking a deep breath, she tried again.

"I'm glad to see you're okay. I imagine getting splatted outside of a turf war arena was a bit of a shock."

"I'm fine," he repeated. "I'm just… bored, is all. Thought I might actually try to do something."

"You want to come back to work?" Skepticism rippled through her mantle.

"Yes. I'm even willing to prove myself prior to earning any pay."

Four hummed in that faux curious way only girls seemed to be able to. "She glanced at Mia and Gallora again, but they offered little other than looks that told her she should give him a chance.

"Do you know anything about business and economics?"

The sudden appearance of Three's voice caused Four to whirl around as she approached. Her hard gaze fixated on Gangrin, calculation behind those dark-red orbs.

"Uh… yeah. My parents were business people so I ended up picking up a lot of what they knew."

"Good. As it happens, we need someone knowledgeable about that to help an important partner make some big purchases. You could help them make an informed decision."

Four's eyes widened. She was talking about Ambassador Betanuss. Were they really going to involve him in something that important? They barely knew him.

"I could do that!" He sounded confident, even eager. "I might need to do a little research but that's all."

Three eyed him closely, trying to see past his smile to anything that might lie beneath.

"Fine," she said. "Well let you do it." Then she leaned close and Gangrin's smile vanished under her glare. "But if you disobey our orders, if you break our trust even once, I. Will. End. You."

Gangrin's complexion changed to something resembling an ostrich egg, his light-green eyes filled with something akin to terror. Good, best he learns early.

Mia watched with admiration of Three's authority and confidence. High-priestess Gallora smiled like she thought Three was joking. Four knew better than to correct her misconception. Three did not make idle threats.

Eventually, Gangrin managed to flash a very-light green in response, total submission to Three's will. Three then withdrew and faced Four.

"Send him to Xapheerell Ward with Mia. Callie and Marie want to hear how they're doing and to start the process going making her an official matron."

"Oh my," said the high-priestess. "You children certainly are getting involved in big things, aren't you?"

"Just doing what needs to be done, High-priestess," Three said, bowing respectfully. "If you'll excuse me, I have things to do too."

Three left and Four turned to Mia and Gangrin. "You can hop on the buses with everyone else to get to the Ward and leave the same way. Mia, Gangrin's your responsibility. Keep him alive."

"I don't need to be babysat," Gangrin protested. Four ignored him.

"Go on you two. I should probably take the high-priestess to see Tephy."

Gangrin frowned, and as Mia started to drag him away towards the waiting buses, he asked. "Why? What's she been doing anyway?"

"She's been helping care for the wounded who aren't able to work right now. I want the high-priestess to see the good work her children have been doing."

"Wait… Tephilla is?"

Four looked at him. "You changed, didn't you? Is it so hard to believe?"

Gangrin's expression faltered. He said nothing before turning away, and wrenching himself free from Mia's half-hearted grasp.

"He's still a work in progress," the high-priestess said. "But he's gotten much better."

"Let's hope so," Four said. "But I guess we've all changed. Mia, Tephy, him, me, Vella…" she paused. "Hey, what ever happened to Marsh? I haven't seen him."

The high-priestess gave her a beaming smile.

Vella hoped she had the address correct. The Inkopolis Bay waterfront was a maze of small streets, alleys, and wharfs, organized in a way that only seemed to make sense to the locals when she asked them for directions. It didn't help that they all spoke in a dialect that was nearly incomprehensible to her. She could do little more than smile and nod, pretending she understood the directions they gave her and just continue on.

Eventually, she spotted the familiar-looking ship, its name written in bold golden letters on the flank of her bow. She had learned only recently about the different parts of a ship, and the tradition of referring to a ship by a female pronoun. It seemed odd to her until she learned that it had been a tradition of the Precursors and even her own ancestors had used the same practice prior to the war. Perhaps it was simply natural.

Reaching the wharf where the ship was tied up, she spotted a familiar face at the bottom of the gangplank.

"Marsh?"

The inkling boy turned from the pile of boxes he had been about to take from. His mantle brightened noticeably upon seeing her.

"Uh… Vella, right?" He frowned. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

Vella lightly bounced the large package she was carrying. "Delivering something to the ship. It's from Callie and Marie."

"Oh?" He looked up the gangplank and then picked up one of the boxes. "Come with me then."

Vella did as instructed, following him up the gangplank and into the ship's interior. It was darker than she expected but it was a short trip into the storage room where Marsh dropped off his box before taking her up a steep staircase. They arrived in the wheelhouse where they found the Captain staring at a tattered book atop the wooden control board. He looked up as they approached him.

"Thought I heard some unfamiliar steps," he said, giving Vella a tired smile. "What can I do for ya', little lady?"

Vella stepped in front of Marsh and presented him with the brown-paper package. "I'm delivering this to you. It's from Callie and Marie. 'For the ship', they said."

The captain let out a sigh, his face even seemed to show guilt. Nonetheless he accepted the package and began to unwrap it. His eyes widened at the contents, the brown paper revealing multiple sets of coveralls with the ship's name embroidered over the left breast in the same gold lettering style as on the ship's bow.

"Great father," he oathed. "These are high quality, and embroidered too? Can barely believe it."

"Is it that hard to believe?" Vella asked. "They have always struck me as quite generous and given the cold, would these not be welcome?"

"Aye, aye, I wasn't saying anything against the sort, but a lot of people don't really know what us sailors need. A good set of sailor's overalls is pricey so we wear ours 'till they're about threadbare." He smiled and held up one of the overalls. "The boys'll love these. Be sure to thank the ladies for us."

Vella bowed her head. "I will do so. They seemed quite concerned about your well being."

"Ah, we're fine," he said. "We've been mostly 'auling what was left of those crabs away and dumping 'em at sea for the fish. Not clean or glamorous but 'tis our debt to society I 'spose." He set the coveralls down. "Well, they'll always be welcome on any of my ships. And tell 'em to stop feeling guilty 'bout what 'appened. We're proud of 'em for what they did. We appreciate it."

Vella nodded. "I will tell them."

"Good lass. Son, walk 'er off, eh?"

Marsh's mantle flashed green and he gestured for Vella to follow.

"I wasn't sure I'd ever see you again," Marsh said once they were out on deck. "I'd already said my goodbyes at the orphans hall."

Vella arched an eyebrow. "You don't live there anymore?"

Marsh beamed with a smile almost as bright as the sun. "Nope, the Captain and his wife adopted me. Wasn't out of pity either. He said he liked the way I handled myself and acted like a proper inkyar would. Said he'd be proud to call me his son."

"Oh. Um… congratulations, I suppose."

"Thanks." He tilted his head away from her a little and Vella saw some uncertainty in his eyes.

"So, um, I saw you at the wharf, at least, once the fighting was over. I bet you fought a lot of those crabs too, huh?"

"I did. It was a difficult battle. There were many and many of us were injured or died. If we hadn't had such overwhelming numbers it could have been very costly."

"Right… Look, sorry for what I said about Octarians before. You can fight just fine, good even. I couldn't have fought like that without dying, probably."

Vella had honestly forgotten that argument, but it was nice to have it put behind them. "I am sure you would have done okay with some training. Honestly, the aftermath was worse. Seeing all those dead bodies and finding out who you've lost on your own side."

Marsh's expression sobered, his mantle turning a dark grey.

"Yeah… I bet that's rough. Uh, so, you gonna' be around?"

Vella shrugged her tentacles. "I might come through from time to time on errands. Work Detail is opening another location in Xapheerell Ward and many octolings will be relocating to the vacant apartments there. I will likely be moving there myself."

"Oh, so you won't be all that far since the harbour borders Xapheerell. Maybe we could… hang out… sometime…" His voice trailed off but Vella managed to catch every word.

Smiling, she unconsciously swept one of her tentacles backwards along the side of her head. "I suppose we could. I am certain I will have to find information about the shipping and fishery industries at some point. It would be good to have a contact like you."

"Uh… yeah, sure. We could talk about that kind of stuff."

"Yes, perhaps over drinks and sweets, as you inklings seem to be fond of doing. I will certainly bring plenty of questions to ask you about. I will contact you and we can arrange a time to meet."

"Yeah, sounds good. See you soon then, Vella."

"See you soon, Marsh."

Vella headed down the gangplank and back up the wharf to the street. She felt giddy and she had a spring in her step she hadn't had before. She wondered why.

Author's Notes:

This is it, the penultimate chapter (if you don't count the epilogue). I'll be leaving my final thoughts for that. I hope you all have enjoyed your journey and I also hope that you feel satisfied with how this chapter wraps things up before the epilogue.