In this chapter I practiced a bit on the writing: tell me what you think about it with a review!
The cars' engines were roaring on the left, the smell of smoke was rather heavy and dominant. Laughs and voices were seemingly coming from all directions, through a crowd of Inklings and other humanoid sea creatures.
A loud whistle blasted from behind, although its volume wasn't that high. Mirii's head rose, her irises bounced left and right, her eyebrows were a bit down.
"If my memory is as perfect as I claim… the Headquarters are somewhere in that direction." Mirii's irises stopped to the right. "Although, the exact steps I did yesterday are a bit too blurry in my mind…"
8-bit notes accompanied by electric guitar sounds came around the girl: her ears rose. Her head turns down, then right with her irises following the same kind of movement: her sight caught her right hand holding a smartphone. Its screen was showing a number and two circles: the one to the left was colored green and the right one was colored red.
Her right thumb went over the green circle, as her right hand moves right on her right ear.
"Hello?" Her head rose a bit.
MIRII, WHERE THE SHIP ARE YOU?!
Her eyebrows lowered, her mouth downturned.
"Watch your language, Tonna." Her eyelids lowered to the middle. "Also, lower the volume"
MIRII, THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO ACT CALM! ARE YOU OUTSIDE OF THE HEADQUARTERS?!
"… why that question?" Mirii sighs silently.
Because the permission you requested was valid only for yesterday! You were supposed to be here at 8 AM!
"I'm sorry for the delay, Tonna." Mirii closes her eyes. "Unfortunately I found a man who wanted to splat me during a blackout, which in all probability he caused. Also, my mother's story took away too much time for me to return in the middle of the night."
… darn it, darn it, DARN IT! I was just nominated a chief yesterday and now I'm already risking this position?! I WANT TO BE A CHIEF, DARN IT!
"Stop shouting in my ear, Tonna." Mirii rose her head, as her eyebrows lowered a bit more and her mouth downturned even more. "A chief doesn't lose their patience in such ridiculous way."
Oh, you sure have the possibility to be all wise and superior in this situation! In such situation, you were suppose to run as you never did before… the one who's going to lose the rank will be you anyway.
"What about you?" Mirii's eyes squeezed a little.
Oooh, don't worry! I'll receive the kick in the butt too… except you will be sent back to Ranger rank, right with the newbies.
Mirii's eyes expanded, as she inhales loudly with her nose.
"What are you implying?!" Her teeth gritted.
I'm implying that the other chiefs will be the ones judging your delay… and every words I'll pronounce in your defense will be automatically seen as biased. Luckily the other chiefs don't know anything about your delay… so, start running as much as you can!
"If I'm sprinting without knowing which direction I need to take in order to reach the Headquarters, I'll do nothing but wasting more time." Mirii rose her head, snorting a bit.
Well, unfortunately that's your problem: you have to somehow make it to the Headquarters in record time, without receiving any unneeded attention from the chiefs.
"I can't sprint like a total fool, Tonna!" Mirii bends a bit forward, as her eyebrows lowered. "I'll end up getting lost throughout this unexplored area of Inkopolis!"
Boohoo! The little Squid is crying… wake up, Mirii! The world isn't made to be controlled by one or more beings: in the surviving game, those who are fast keep on going… the slow ones get eaten for lunch.
Mirii growls, as her left fist clenched.
Remember this advice and you'll always stomp the enemies… so, start running! Quick!
Silence got in: her right hand went in front of her face, as her right forefinger pushed a button located on the smartphone's top-right corner. Smoke came out of her ears, veins popped out from her forehead.
"To think the Headquarters aren't even available as a location on the Inknet…" Her right hand moves away, as the girl starts trembling a bit and lowering her eyebrows even more. "… there is only one thing I'm going to do."
Mirii bends forward, as her fists went back and forth and her legs alternatively kick the air in a fast rhythm.
"I'm going to utilize my impressive speed… wisely."
Her irises turned slightly to the right, catching the glimpse of three blue signs, each with a white arrow pointing in a direction and a black text in the middle.
"What I remember about the Headquarters was the fact that it's located in a quiet neighborhood: that sign saying Oceania Avenue… I know for a fact that it has the lowest amount of apartments in the whole city. Maybe…"
The girl tilts to the right, as she gradually turns in that direction almost reaching the sidewalk's edge. The wind was pushing her tentacles back.
"I have a hunch that following those Oceania Avenue signs will lead me right where that refined, clean sidewalk is located. Come on, Mirii… you can do this!"
On the left, another blue sign with a white arrow in the middle, which contains the words Oceania Avenue: Mirii turned right over the sign, stepping on the road. A car horn sound jumped out in thin air, as the girl bounced a bit herself. Her head still staring at the sign.
"One positive thing about the situation is that the Headquarters shouldn't be that far away from me… but that still doesn't mean I'll move in autopilot: my eyes will not stop working, until I get the results I want to receive." Mirii snorted a bit with her nose, as her mouth was capturing great amount of air.
Tilting to the left, the girl turned in that direction: she kept tilting to the left, until her left side impacted on the sidewalk. A yelp left her mouth: her hands were on the ground, her mouth wasn't stopping yelping… her arms were shaking. Her eyes squeezed as hard as they could, her teeth did the same…
Her legs resumed their kicks, as they felt on fire… her mind was feeling that as well. The girl groaned, her eyes weren't blinking at all.
"I… AM… NOT… IMPERFECT!"
The wind was getting louder, the steps were lasting less than a second, her back bended forward. A male Inkling with a pipe in the mouth was turning his head with his eyes right on the girl: Mirii's irises pointed at another blue sign, with the white arrow containing the familiar words.
"This smell of fresh air… yes, I must be very close to the Headquarters!"
The girl smiled, her heart starts beating a bit slowly.
"Over there, I can see the cleaner sidewalk I was thinking about… that's how you wisely use your own speed: none of your energy and time is wasted." Mirii lowered her head, smiling even more.
Slowly, she tilts to the right as her feet passed above white lines moving in a vertical way. Her eyes were blinking, her mind was seeing images of buildings near a sidewalk: one image in particular was still, which was depicting a rather tall building.
Next, she was seeing a crowd of people sitting behind a table full of plates which had different meals: mostly bacon and eggs, but also had toasts with strawberry marmalade on it. Her stomach grumbled.
"Once I reach the Headquarters, I truly need some energy…"
Slowly on the right, a tall building was gradually emerging from behind two other buildings.