Under Cover of Moonlight
"Hey, tell me, Katelyn. Why did you decide you want to name him?"
"Hmm?"
The sun has set over the horizon, plunging the area around Bluefin Depot into darkness. As street lights began to flicker on all over the area, Mei-Lin and Katelyn are seen huddling underneath a sheltered bench located just outside Bluefin Depot, a blanket of snow covering the bench above them. The former was holding a half-finished cup of coffee and the latter was gently carrying the Super Sea Snail given to her earlier, the little shelled creature rattling slightly in the winter chill.
"I just thought…" Mei-Lin continued, "Well, Spyke mentioned that the Super Sea Snail is meant to be payment of some variety, you might have to part ways with it soon, so…" She stopped talking when she realized that Katelyn's too busy warming the sea snail with her arms and hugging it tightly to listen to her.
"Oh, forget I asked." Mei-Lin said, taking another sip from her cup. "I was only wondering, since…"
"That's a stupid question!" Katelyn finally replied, a grin on her face. "A little cutie like this fellah deserves a name! Right, little guy?"
"Coo!" the sea snail squeaked, prompting another burst of pure bliss from Katelyn as a silly smile blossomed on her face.
Mei-Lin simply shrugged, and set her coffee cup beside her. Rummaging through her backpack, she withdrew a sketchbook and a pencil. Noticing this, Katelyn perked up.
"Ooo!" She exclaimed, "What are you drawing now?"
"Ah, I just thought…you'd like a picture with the sea snail before we set off." Mei-Lin replied, opening the sketchbook and facing Katelyn. "Anyway… Could you just…face me? And hold him like….yeah, that's good." Katelyn happily obliged, with the sea snail looking curiously at Mei-Lin as she began to do a quick sketch of the scene before her.
"We're back! How's it going?" A voice called out from the left of the sheltered bench. Stopping briefly from her sketch, Mei-Lin turned to the source of the voice to see Chris and Cobalt approaching them. Interestingly, Cobalt appears to be carrying two Sploosh-o-matics in both hands, casually tossing them into the air and catching them.
"Oh hey!" Katelyn exclaimed, looking over Mei-Lin's shoulder and seeing the boys approaching them. "Mei-Lin's just been drawing me and the Sea Snail here!"
"You draw?" Chris said, looking at Mei-Lin's sketchbook. "Huh, you're actually pretty good at this!"
Mei-Lin blushed a slight auburn color from the remark. "Ah…it's nothing much really, honest…" she mumbled under her breath.
"I know, right?" Katelyn replied loudly, "Mei-Lin actually won an art contest for the Snowballs and Skiing Splatfest! She's extremely talented when it comes to drawing, and I've always seen her draw up…until…" The rest of the words died in her throat as she realized what she almost bought up, and as Mei-Lin visibly reacted and stopped sketching abruptly. There was a brief awkward silence in the air, aside from the Sea Snail cooing curiously, not being able to read the atmosphere.
"So… what have you two been doing while we were away?" Cobalt finally said, at an attempt to break the tension.
"Oh, right, right!" Katelyn replied hurriedly. "We were trying to come up with a name for this little fellah right here! I can't think of anything good right off the bat, so I was asking Mei-Lin the whole time while you two were away!"
"Yeah, she was." Mei-Lin said, putting down her sketchbook and finishing the last of her coffee. "I think she's gotten a bit too attached to the little guy."
"Oh c'mon Mei-Lin! Anyone would be attached to them! Look at 'im! He's so cute!" Katelyn held up the Sea Snail high in the air which responded with an excited giggle. "I always wonder why people never bother to keep them after Splatfests, they're little bundles of therapy if you ask me! First time I ever gotten one of these guys!"
"Huh? Didn't you receive Super Sea Snails after that last Splatfest?" Chris asked, "Even the lowest ranked player on the losing team gets at least two snails for participating, you never got one?"
Katelyn stopped playing with the snail for a moment and put it down gently. "Ah, well…" she said awkwardly. "I wasn't at the plaza at the time when…THAT…happened. I think you remember by now why I wasn't around." Dismissively shaking her head, she turned to Cobalt. "Hey, Gas-face! Don't suppose you got any idea who to name this fellah?"
"Don't call me Gas-face." Cobalt replied, slightly offended. "Well… let me think."
Cobalt leaned at the side of the sheltered bench for a moment, deep in thought. Finally, he perked up and looked at the sea snail.
"How about naming him Salty?" He said.
"Excuse me?" Katelyn replied, puzzled. "Why…Salty?"
"It's the classic phase to describe sore losers." Cobalt said with a straight tone. "And why the heck not? It's totally fitting since every Splatfest we fight over these guys, salt comes standard with all Splatfests."
A chilling winter wind blew through the road as the rest of the gang digested the absurdity of the name. In the distance two inkling bystanders, presumably brothers on an evening stroll sneezed loudly as the gale blew past them.
The Super Sea Snail eventually broke the awkward silence with a cheerful 'coo'.
"See? He likes it!" Cobalt said, laughing. "Alright, from now on, your name is Salty!"
Chris made a 'cuckoo' gesture behind Cobalt's back, with Katelyn nodding gently in agreement while trying not to bust out laughing. Even Mei-Lin was struggling to keep a straight face.
"So now that that's out of the way," Katelyn said, gently patting the newly-named Salty on his head, "What were you two up to? Cobalt seems to have bought a second weapon with him."
"Ah, right." Cobalt replied, holding up the weapons in his hands. Upon closer examination, one of them was the Neo Sploosh-o-Matic he kept around, while the other was a normal Sploosh-o-Matic differentiated only by the lack of a manufacturer sticker. "That was Chris's idea. Mentioned something about danger and stocking up on ordinance, those were the only things I caught. So I bought along one of my spare weapons, never used it since it's not exactly my playstyle, but having extra options available doesn't hurt."
"I bought along a charger, never know if we might need to keep our distance." Chris added, holding up a New Squiffer that was strapped to his back.
"A…charger?" Mei-Lin asked, perplexed.
"Long ranged offensive weapon, designed to send a long line of ink for very long distances from far away." Chris explained, "Instantly splats anyone hit by the stream too, but personally I never use them because I never found them very useful for my team, by covering turf or taking out opponents. I only bought this along in case my Dual Squelcher's not adequate enough."
"Ah I see." Mei-Lin said. "Sorry for asking, I'm not that knowledgeable when it comes to Turf Wars…"
"It's okay. Speaking of, where's Spyke anyway?"
"Been here since an hour ago, love." A voice replied. A shadow detached itself from a nearby alley and became Spyke. "Not a bad idea ta bring extra weapons for the trip, boys. Backwater Barricade is fairly dangerous for outsiders." He then looked at the girls. "Though… you two gonna be alright? I don't see weapons on you two. You two really okay for the trip?"
"It's okay, I can pull double duty taking care of both Mei-Lin and Salty here." Katelyn replied, tapping the Inkbrush Nouveau holstered to her back. "I'm no damsel in distress, ya hear?"
Spyke raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. "Wait, who's Sal…" He frowned slightly as he realized what was going on. "Hmm, I see you named the Super Sea Snail. I don't think that's much of a good idea."
"Why?" Katelyn replied, gently patting Salty which was shaking slightly from Spyke's gaze.
"Well, let me put it that way…" Spyke sighed. "My merch comes and goes, and I do need every last credit. I can't spare sentiments for even one, so I don't usually bother naming them. No sense trying to maintain a bond that doesn't last very long."
Katelyn remained silent, simply looking down at the sea snail and gently patting its shell.
"Well, it's almost time to go." Spyke said, looking at the moon in the sky. "We better hustle, we have little time before the way to the Barricade opens."
Checking to see that nobody was watching them, Spyke waved the group towards a back alley that seemed to curve into Bluefin Depot itself, with Chris and Mei-Lin following close to the urchin while Cobalt and Katelyn lagged behind. While he kept silent about it, Cobalt was certain that he saw the slightest glint of a tear in Katelyn's eyes.
Bluefin Depot itself wasn't much of a sight. While this abandoned train station had seem much activity when it was used for Turf Wars, the location had now fallen into further disrepair now that nobody played Turf Wars anymore, the corroded metal that formed the structure creaking ominously as if the entire place would fall apart at any given moment.
Currently, Spyke and our heroes are currently perched on one of the many concrete roads surrounding the area that formed the harbor around the depot itself, the rolling waves of the sea only a few steps away from their position.
"Sooo…" Cobalt said, looking around puzzled. "What are we doing here so close to the water?"
"Patience, love." Spyke replied, staring at a spot in the water. "Just give it a few more minutes, and you'll be on your way."
"Would you mind explaining why we're so close to the sea?" Chris asked, looking at the water nervously. "I don't feel like breathing in this salty air any longer than necessary." He rubbed his throat in discomfort as the sea air made his breathing slightly uncomfortable.
"Can this have anything to do with this 'timeframe' you mentioned?" Mei-Lin asked, examining the water levels. "Taking a guess, this is something to do with the tides of the sea, is it?"
Spyke snapped his fingers at Mei-Lin. "Precisely, love. You're a sharp one, I give ya that. Ya see, Backwater Barricade's entrance is only revealed at certain times of day, in accordance to the moon in the sky. Notice anything with the water?"
Sure enough, the water appears to have been slowly building up as the moon rose higher in the sky. The waves lapped higher and higher, some of the salt water splashing up onto the harbor a few meters away from the group. While the inklings cautiously began to step away from the encroaching water, Spyke had been staring at a specific spot in the water the entire time.
"Just a bit more and…"
As the waves reached a certain point, a buoy suddenly bubbled up from the bottom of where Spyke has been looking at the entire time. Many things happened at once afterwards in quick succession: a concrete wall abruptly rose up out of the sea bed, blocking out most of the sea and leaving a large pool of saltwater; a sound like a plunger being pulled out of a sink resounded from the pool; the water quickly being funneled out of the pool through what appears to be a grate at the very bottom of it. While the inklings stared agape at the scene before them, Spyke chuckled loudly at their reaction, until the water stopped draining and leaving a damp sea bed with a few unfortunate fish flopping meekly on the sand. Finally, the grate slid open with a *clunk*, leaving a sizeable hole just big enough for one inkling to fit in at a time.
"Well…this wasn't something I expected." Chris said, still trying to digest what just happened.
"Oddly convoluted way to hide an entrance, if you ask me." Cobalt commented, "So, we're expected to go inside that hole? I dunno, looks very risky, you do realize saltwater is liquid death for us right?"
"I'm sure the snowcoat o' yours should suffice in blocking out the water." Spyke replied. "Anyhow, the guards should be coming out soon."
"Huh?"
Out of the hole, a pair of spindly orange arms gripped onto the sides, and pulled up a tall urchin from its depths, followed by a second shorter one that grunted with effort before pulling himself out of the entrance.
"Oy, Riley!" the latter urchin said, looking around. "Ya sure we can't just remake da entrance or somethin'? All this climbin' is tirin' me out!"
"Aww shaddap Beano!" the tall urchin named Riley replied. "We've been through this so many times, we don't have ta worry about coast guards catchin' us if the entrance is hidden like this!" He began scooping up the fish that were flopping about on the seabed, drooling as he did so. "'sides, we're getting easy dinner like this! Fancy somma that sashimi tonight, mate?"
"Sounds good ta me!" the urchin named Beano replied, then noticed Spyke looking at them. "Oy, Spyke! Haven't seen ya in a while! How'sa business doin'?"
"Spyke? Hey there boyo, and-" Riley then noticed the inklings next to him, and panicked. "SPYKE! You've got coupla them inklings tailin' ya! Ice dem, quick!"
"Relax Riley, they're with me." Spyke reassured, though Riley still looked at the group with suspicion written all over his face.
"Nice to meet you too." Cobalt said, hopping down from the concrete harbor. "Now don't suppose you'll let us be on our way? We have important business to take care of."
"Well, if yer one of Spyke's…eh…colleges," Beano replied, glaring at the team with a look he likely thought was intimidating, "Sure you're aware of the entry fee, yah?"
"Yeah, we are." Chris said, jumping down and helping Mei-Lin down as well. "We got the Super Sea Snail with us. Katelyn, come down here…Katelyn?"
Katelyn, oddly quiet for the entire trip since they came from outside Bluefin Depot, looked up for a moment from Salty, hopping down from the harbor to join the rest of the team.
"Oh, right." She said flatly, gently patting Salty as the little critter began to tremble at the sight of the two urchin goons. "He's here. Can you let us into Backwater Barricade?"
"Well, well!" Beano sneered, barely hiding a drop of slobber dripping down from the corner of his mouth. "Oy, Riley! Sounds like we won't just be havin' fish again fer tonight!"
"Yes, everything seems ta check out over here." Riley added, a glint of hunger in his eyes. "Guess we'll do ya a solid and guide ya along!"
The two urchins hopped down the hole in the middle, Beano hopping down too eagerly and resulted in a metallic clang as something hard collided with a ladder that was seemingly out of view.
"Guess you're in." Spyke said, turning and putting a hand on the harbor as he prepared to climb back out. "Well, good luck with looking for the cross. Me, I'm going to be back to scrounging up whatever I can as usual. Cheers, love." With that, he vaulted himself up onto the harbor and wandered out of view.
With some trepidation, Chris went into the entrance first, using his snowcoat to cover his hands so the saltwater dripping off of the metal ladder didn't burn his hands. After Chris disappeared from view, Mei-Lin followed suit, nervously glancing downward before climbing down the ladder rungs. Cobalt began to follow the two, but not before taking a second to talk to Katelyn.
"Hey…" He said, "I know you're likely nervous having to take the sea snail down there, but…"
Katelyn turned to Cobalt with a somewhat forced smile. "It's fine, Cobalt. You don't have to worry about me or Salty, I'll think of something."
Cobalt raised an eyebrow at that remark. "You sure? Look, if you're having second thoughts about this, just tell me. Spyke mentioned bonding with the Super Sea Snail is-"
"I SAID, I'll be fine!" Katelyn interrupted, her voice slightly strained, "Just…just go on ahead. I'll be right behind you, okay?"
There was a slight pause as Cobalt ogled Katelyn for a brief moment, before he shrugged and turned towards the entrance and began climbing down the ladder, stopping for a moment to look at Katelyn one last time.
"Whatever you say so," Cobalt said, "But don't do anything you'll regret, okay? I rather not have things get more complicated than they already are, if it's all the same to you." Turning to look at the climb below him, he disappeared from view, leaving Katelyn to wander to the hole in the ground.
Salty began to shiver in fear as voices of urchins emanated from the entrance as Katelyn got close to it. Noticing this, the girl patted the sea snail reassuringly, before giving the critter a tight hug.
"It's okay, Salty. I'm scared too." She said, looking down at the faint light coming from the bottom. "But I'll protect you. I'm not going to lose another friend, I promise you that. C'mon, let's not keep them waiting."
Slipping the sea snail into a pocket, Katelyn climbed down the ladder as well, leaving nothing but the sound of dripping seawater.
Or rather, that is what it seemed like from first glance. Not too far away, Spyke watched as Katelyn disappeared down the ladder. There was a brief moment of the street urchin glancing at the entrance to Backwater Barricade before shaking his head and chuckled to himself.
"Oh Spyke." He laughed to himself. "You've really went and gone soft, ain'tcha?" With that said, he leaped out of his hiding spot and climbed down the ladder after the team, just as a grate slid over the entrance alongside a trapdoor, and the concrete barriers keeping the ocean out descended underground, flooding the pool and leaving no trace of it ever being there.
AN: My god, this took WAY longer than it should to be released. Note to self: never procrastinate on time-sink games like Skyrim, you'll stop writing for a week at least.
On a behind-the-scenes note, I'm headed to Melbourne in 4 days as of this writing to start my University courses, which means no more playing Splatoon (boo hiss). Now I bet you're probably wondering: why is a university student wasting his time writing fanfiction about squid kids when he should be worrying about more serious stuff? Well as stated before I have a serious procrastination problem so submitting chapters on a regular basis is a simulation of what I may need to expect in the future, gets me in the right mindset if that makes any sense.