The Inklings were walking inside a forest, for a while: they seem to be lost.
"Huff, Grina… can we rest a bit? I'm tired…!" Bars said, while scratching on his left arm.
"No, otherwise those mosquitoes will eat us!" Grina denied.
"Aaaah, I so turfing hate them!" He tried to catch one.
"You can say that again…" Grina tries to squash a mosquito with her hands.
"Next time, remind me to get those anti-mosquito sprays: an Inkling's best friend!"
"Bars, do you like sprays in general?" She asked with curiosity.
"Yeah… but how did you know?!" Bars got a little surprised.
Grina giggles a bit.
"Because I'm smart, Squid!" Grina pulls out her tongue.
Bars doesn't seem to be convinced…
"Oh, look! I found a house! Over there!" The girls jumps with joy.
She was right: after the forest, there was another above-average sized farmhouse. There seem to be someone going back and forth, on an old rocking chair, right near the entrance.
"I see…! Finally!" Bars said, getting some deserved relief.
"Let's ask that elder person." Grina proposed.
The two friends got near the entrance, leaving the forest maze behind. The girl received the honor to speak with the old man.
"Excuse me?" She asks, gently.
He was looking down and seems to ignore the young lady.
"Ahem. Excuse me?" Grina speaks in a louder voice.
The man was breathing strongly, still not paying attention to the girl. She starts losing her patience.
"Well? Sir? Sir?!" Grina couldn't take it anymore. "LOOK AT ME, OLD SQUID!"
"Aaaah!" The man screamed in fear. "W… oh… … bah, kids."
Grina folds her arms, looking at him in a bad way.
"What kind of manners are that, mister?! Not only ignoring me , but also saying that I'm a kid!" She exclaimed, getting visibly upset.
"Yes… you're a kid… like all the others younger than me." He replied, while coughing a bit.
Grina decided to teach a lesson, to this crazy elder.
"I'm not a kid! Look at me!" She turns 360° around. "I'm a very young woman. A kid shouldn't even be able to transform in this more evolved form!"
"… tsk… you still look like a kid to me."
The girl realized that the elder seems to have a grudge against her.
"Why are you insulting me like this? It's just because I shouted?" Grina tries to reason with him.
"No… I don't mind the shouting… but I didn't want to talk to you, Technie." He explains, coughing loudly.
"Technie…? Wait… oh! Now I understand! You don't like people coming from the city, is that correct?!" She asks, feeling to get to the bottom of this.
"… wrong. I don't hate them… I was always neutral between Farmies and Technies." He said.
"Then, what's up with all the hate?!" Grina becomes frustrated.
"Eh eh eh… yes… you're still acting like a spoiled child. Pretending to have everything… without working on your own."
"T-That's not true! Stop it!" The girl wants to slap him.
"… however… I see you insist on the opposite…" He stops moving his rocking chair.
"Of course, I insist! And you don't even have any proof of"
"Grina! There's someone aiming on your forehead!" Bars pointed towards an open window, located to the Second Floor.
The girl instinctively ducks, to avoid any incoming shots.
"Retreat, Bars! This is a trap!" She shouts.
Both the Inklings ran away as fast as they could! No one got the chance to look back: the friends enter inside the forest, in a vague hope of leaving behind those mysterious attackers. Eventually, the adolescents start to feel the fatigue on their shoulders.
"Uff… uuuffff… I-I can't run anymore, Grina!" The boy said exasperated.
"H-Hang on! Puff… w-we are almost at Hunry's house…! I can feel it…!" The girl tries to encourage him.
Despite the weariness, the young lady's desire to survive gave her enough determination to keep dashing, going faster than a speedy Inkstrike! She was so quick on her feet, that Grina almost didn't notice something rather important: she arrived at destination!
Hun's farmhouse area seems pretty much the same, as seen before, giving the girl a well deserved relief. She is sweating a lot and could barely keeping herself up: Grina never experienced such fatigue, in any physical activity!
She turns around to see her friend: Bars was reaching Grina, while walking all wonky and buffoonish.
"Good news, Bars! Those creeps aren't after us anymore!" Grina smiled.
"Uuuuuhh… my legs… huuufff, my poor legs… they were already worn out, yesterday…" Bars said, gasping for breath.
"Look at the bright side: we have a house at our disposal!"
"Uh… what… we don't have one, Grina…" He decided to sit down on the grass, not giving a care about getting dirty pants.
"Are you sure about that? This building behind me doesn't look like a nice home?" She points at it from the behind, with her left thumb.
"But… but that belongs to Hunter and his family!" Bars doesn't agree with Grina.
"I'm sure they would not mind, if we take a quick rest inside. Besides, since no one is at"
"Wait, did you hear something?" The boy looks around, with suspicious.
Grina starts to listen, while looking up-right.
"… I think so… seems kinda vague…" She tries to comprehend.
"Where is coming from? It's weird…"
"Just a sec…! The house… yes, it's coming from the house!" Grina said convinced.
"Dasquid?! So, there WAS someone inside!" Bars commented, surprised.
"Whoever is indoors, we have to check it out and quick!" She said, getting a bit serious.
Her friend sighs and stands up.
"I don't feel like fighting, you know… I'm too tired!" He said exhausted.
"Come on, it could be someone in need!" Grina run towards the entrance.
"… uuuuggghhh, wait for me, shorty!" Bars snorts, as he forcefully follows the girl inside the old-looking residence.
As the two friends were near the house, the noise became more recognizable.
"What-a…? A… a baby is crying?!" She said near the door.
"Huh?!" Bars took time to listen carefully. "Yeah… sounds like it!"
Both were left speechless: they look at each other waiting for someone to have logical idea, that could explain this odd sound. Noticing how no one was saying anything useful, they dashed in the building and follow the crying sound, all the way up on the Second Floor.
The source of such childish scream, seems to come from the Adult Bedroom. Once the Inklings entered inside, they got petrified about what their eyes were seeing: laying on the large bed, there was a baby Squid crying on the top of clearly-bigger clothes.
Grina rushed near the bed and picks the baby up, hugging warmly.
"Shhh, shhh, shhh…" She cuddles the baby, giving quick kisses on the head. "Don't cry, little one... Mommy is here, now…"
Thanks to Grina's comforting skills, the baby starts getting more calm and stops crying.
"… is this a joke?" Bars asked, incredulous.
The girl didn't answer: she was concentrated looking at the baby's mood.
"W-what's going on?! What's thi"
"Bars, shut up now… it's not the time." Grina stops him.
"Sorry…" He apologizes.
Grina took a great look at the baby: she smiled sincerly.
"You're a such adorable little girl, you know that?" The young lady caresses the baby.
"Ehm… Grina? Can we talk for a moment?" Bars asked, this time politely.
She turns towards him.
"I know your worries…" The girl shakes slowly her head. "How could someone leave a princess all alone, in this house? If I'd get the responsible…"
"And they left clothes behind? It seems a bit weird, man…" He scratches the back of his head.
Grina thinks about it, for a moment.
"Yes… that's weird!" She said, while looking at the clothes. "… and you know something even more odd? Those clothes are from Inkopolis."
Bars looks at them too, getting surprised.
"But… why? This child's parents are coming from there?" The boy starts thinking about it.
"Maybe… without any sort of clear clues, we'd never know." The girl starts looking around. "Wait. There's a note!"
"Huh?!" Bars stares in the same direction as Grina does, noticing a piece of paper on a dresser. "Oh! Let me read this: probably some indications from the missing parents!"
He took the note and starts reading it, trying to not be too loud.
"I'm sorry if I'm getting to the point already, but I don't have too much time left and I'm sure both of you will understand everything, very soon. Read this carefully: you have to get to the nearest town and find black trucks. Follow them and"
Bars stops reading, getting close to the note with the face: he seems to not understand something.
"And…?" Grina asks.
"Uuuh… I don't know, honestly." The boy replied, confused.
"What?! Let me give a look."
The girl got near Bars, still hugging the now calm baby Squid. She reads mentally, the whole note: the last part contained single phrases wrote in a slightly worse quality.
"I want my mommy? I'm scared? What does this have to do with the rest?!" Grina fails to comprehend the significance.
"Beats me, pal." Bars shrugs clueless. "As this situation couldn't get any weirder!"
Suddenly, the girl slowly widened her eyes as she keeps reading that note over and over, getting a big suspicious vibe all over herself. She took her friend's note from the pocket and does a direct comparison, with the mysterious paper.
"No… i-it can't be…" Grina gets so shocked, that she sits unintentionally on the bed. "T-there's no way…"
"Grina?! What's up with the creepy face, all the sudden?!" Bars becomes worried.
"… take a look at the handwritings, Bars. Both of them." Grina said, while looking at the baby girl.
The boy does what she requested: he becomes a bit puzzled.
"But… those two… they surprisingly match. Even those phrases at the end! … no wait."
Bars finally realized the connection.
"You… you mean this note was wrote by Mirii?!" He asked in panic.
"Yes… a-and not only. Did you remember where those clothes came from?" She points at them.
"Uhm… huh… those seems the same kind, that Mirii would wear." He rubs his chin.
"Add that we found a baby girl on them…" She starts getting panicked.
Bars thinks about it… and suddenly, he opened his eyes.
"Waaaait a minute…! No… no! Y-you can't be serious! T-that doesn't make any sense!" Bars looks at the little Squid.
"I-I know… it sounds very stupid and impossible, but… but… this baby… she's… … M-Mirii!"
"ARE YOU SQUIDDING ME?!" Bars shouts in desperation.
The baby starts crying loudly.
"Bars, you idiot! You scared her!" She exclaimed, as the girl comforts baby Mirii again.