Anxious Heart

"…Hey, Eliza…"

"..."

"So… I was thinking…"

"..."

"No, what I meant to say was…"
"Unless it pertains to the mission at hand, hold your tongue, civilian. Now is not the time for idle chatter."
"...I…alright then…"

Mei-Lin sighed as she turned away from the octoling, choosing to survey her surroundings instead. Ever since the two had separated from her group, they had been traversing a long cave tunnel that has been slanting diagonally downward for the last hour. It was hardly anything to look at, in fact it resembled the tunnel that the group went down with Octavio before they reached the breach, only with significantly more wear and tear. Fluorescent lights flickered weakly in their lamps, heavily corroded paneling creaked under the duo's footsteps, and a deathly silence permeated the air. It did nothing to improve the inkling's mood in the slightest.
She looked back at Eliza, currently in front of her staring unflinchingly into the distance. While there were times when Katelyn had disturbed her in the most inopportune moments, one of which costed her hours of drawing, she would've taken those moments in favor of having to stay with this unpleasant woman any longer. The inkling did nothing to hide the look of contempt in her eyes.
"No this, no that, and bloody uptight on top of all of it, to boot. Sigh…" Mei-Lin thought to herself. "I didn't think I'd miss that girl and that overly saccharine nature of hers…"

As the duo walked on ahead, Mei-Lin noticed that Eliza was twiddling with the visor over her right eye, occasionally tapping buttons on an earpiece to the side. She also seemed to be muttering words that the inkling could barely hear. Curious, she turned an ear towards the octoling to attempt to listen in to what she was saying.

"…The building before you used to be part of a larger military complex. Built in response to the construction of Smokestack, it was meant to…"

Mei-Lin shrugged, and stopped eavesdropping. Whoever Eliza was talking to, it was very likely not concerning her.
"She did say she was going to take care of the four of us." The inkling thought to herself. "I suppose it can't be helped…"

"…I'll get straight to the point. Katelyn, send me your camera feed, I'll direct you out of the vents…"

"Still… she's doing an awful lot of work." Mei-Lin mused. "How does she do it? She's so determined… not like…"

"…Ever since Chris began the discussion with you, Milord. It was your orders to make sure that I aid them to the best of my ability, yes? I am simply doing as you have told me by being their guide in Sector 0…"

"Sigh… I wish I could be just as brave as her. But…I…"

Eliza finally stopped talking to her earpiece, and went back to staring ahead down the tunnel ahead of them. Her gaze didn't flinch even for a moment.

"…no. I can't just keep thinking like this. At least…"

"Umm…" Mei-Lin spoke, looking at Eliza. The octoling didn't even turn toward her. "So…"
"What is it, inkling?" Eliza replied coldly. "I told you, unless it is relevant to the mission-"
"I…want to ask." Mei-Lin could feel her vocal cords struggling to squeeze out her words. "Could you… train me? It's just that…"

"..."

"I…I want to be just as strong as you are. I don't want to be the one that's a burden to the rest of my team. So…"

"..."

Mei-Lin looked down towards the floor, slightly crestfallen. "…If it's not too much trouble… I mean, it will make it easier for you if I could look after myself, so…"
"…hmph." The octoling very slightly turned her head in Mei-Lin's direction, before looking back.
"Is that a no…?" The inkling asked, her tone uncertain.
"…If we make it to camp, and I don't have to protect you along the way, I'll consider it. BUT…" Eliza stopped briefly, looking back at the inkling. "My training regimen is strict. You've been warned."
"…Okay. I'll try..."
"..."

As the octoling turned back towards the path ahead of them, while it was faint, Mei-Lin could almost muster a trace of hope.

"We're almost there."

As the duo emerged from the tunnel, Mei-Lin was astounded by what she saw, stopping in her tracks to take a moment to soak in the sights before her.
Wherever they are now, it most certainly looked to have seen better days. A few feet away from where they are, a giant archway marked the beginning of what looked to be the long-abandoned ruins of what was once an amusement park, a neon sign that no longer shone hung onto the archway itself, the words "Low-Tide Park" barely discernable in the faint light given off from the tunnel mouth. Beyond the archway, the crumbling remains of what looks to be theme park attractions lay all over in suspended islands, the remnants of carnival stands, tea cup rides, rollercoasters and inkslides slowly gathering dust and cobwebs from the passage of time.
The inkling decided to make a mental note to draw everything in front of her once she has the time.

"Where are we…?" Mei-Lin asked, looking around with a look of curiosity.
"…Low-Tide Park. Or at least… what's left of it." Eliza replied, "Back in its heyday, civilians would come here to relieve stress, normally from the fact we were forced to live underground. Ever since the earthquake however, this landmark was one of many that was buried in the rubble alongside many other places."
"It's so quiet… " Mei-Lin said, looking around. "It feels very lonely just to be wandering down here…"
"It is silent for a reason. Low-Tide Park didn't fare very well compared to the other domes in Sector 0, because the foundations here weren't particularly reinforced. If there was anyone living in this vicinity, they might very well be long gone by now. Only ones left would likely be vandals and street rats hiding out here like absolute fools."
"I see…"

The duo advanced past the archway into the ruined amusement park beyond, the two uneventfully passing by the decrepit remains of various attractions. Moments later however, Eliza abruptly stopped by a dust covered merry-go-round in the middle of a plaza, motioning Mei-Lin to stop.
"Wait." Eliza said, looking around with shifty eyes. "I hear something."
"W-what is it?" Mei-Lin asked nervously, in hushed tones.
"…Hold position. I shall be scouting ahead." The octoling said sternly, "You got a weapon, I assume?"
Rummaging through her backpack, Mei-Lin withdrew the New Squiffer that she had held on since yesterday, before realizing what she was being told to do.
"Good." Eliza said flatly, without giving time for Mei-Lin to reply. "Stay here for seven minutes, and watch yourself until I return. Keep quiet."
Mei-Lin was taken aback by the request, but nodded anyway, nervously fidgeting as she looked down at the Charger in her hands, and back at the Octoling. "I… I'll try."

As Eliza leapt over a nearby fence and disappeared into the darkness, Mei-Lin sighed and sat close near one of the mounts, which was a mock seahorse created out of porcelain that was cracked in multiple places, with one eye missing. Looking back down at the weapon in her arms, the inkling's thoughts briefly drifted towards its original owner.

"I wonder… how is he doing?" Mei-Lin thought to herself. "He's… different. I've never met any other inkling that's been that nice to me aside from Katelyn. It feels… nice."
As quickly as the optimism came, however, it was swiftly overshadowed by melancholy. The inkling sighed as she tossed aside the Charger, the weapon landing a few feet to her right.
"Bah. What am I thinking. Not even Katelyn understands… what I've been through. He'll never understand. I'm better off alone."

Two minutes passed as Mei-Lin stared into the blackness that was what remained of the dome ceiling. Unlike the domes above that had music being blared all over the area, the speakers in this dome very likely fell apart along with most of the infrastructure thanks to the earthquake. Now whatever background noise remained was the distant howl of wind in the far distance, occasionally punctuated by the sound of an amusement park ride trying and failing to reactivate itself, the out-of-tune whine echoing pitifully all over the fragmented remains.
Listening to this, Mei-Lin slowly lost track of time. While in reality two minutes only passed, it felt to the inkling as if an hour had passed.

"...where's Eliza? Shouldn't she be back by now?" Mei-Lin thought, looking around briefly. "Perhaps she's… forgotten about me? Maybe… it's better that way..."

"Oy! Look what we've got here!"

"!"

Mei-Lin gasped, abruptly sitting up and turning towards the source of the voice. To her surprise, there were two octotroopers dressed in rags staring back, with a large octobomber with black streaks tattooed into his tentacles accompanying them, presumably the leader of the group. The three octarian goons were leering at her with a menacing expression, causing the inkling to instinctively back away a few steps.

"Hey! Who'd have thought an inkling would wander down here alone?!" One of the octotroopers said, turning to his companions. "Whaddya reckon capturing one's worth, boss?"
"Heh, she must've blundered down here like a dunce, look at her! She doesn't even look like she knows what's goin' on!" The other octotrooper continued, "We couldn't ask for a better target!"
"Indeed. I'd imagine she'd be worth boatloads." The octobomber growled, motioning towards the inkling. "Grab her."

"W-wait, stop!" Mei-Lin stammered, frantically groping for the weapon she tossed aside as the hooligans approached her. "Can't we just…talk this out?"

"Aww, look at 'er, she's begging!" One of the octotroopers laughed. "Your call, boss?"
"Hmph. Looks like she needs to be taught her place." The octobomber pointed a large tentacle straight at the inkling. "Rough her up!"

As the octotroopers rushed straight at her, Mei-Lin's fingers finally managed to grope around the handle of the Charger. Hyperventilating, the inkling quickly pointed the weapon straight at the encroaching octarians. It didn't take a sharp eye to notice her hands were trembling in their grip.

"Back away…!" Mei-Lin's voice was palpable with terror. "Don't come any closer!"

The two octotroopers abruptly stopped in their tracks, looking down at the Charger pointed right at them. Moments later, they looked at each other for a few seconds, before throwing their heads back and laughing hysterically.

"What…what's so funny?" Mei-Lin hesitated. "If you get any ideas, I'll…"

"Shoot us?" One of the hooligans laughed. "Yeah, about that."
"That would require you to have your ink tank attached. Which you… um… haven't." The other one continued. "Whatcha gonna do, bravado us to death? HAHAHA!"

Mei-Lin briefly turned her head behind her, noticing that indeed she had completely forgotten about attaching the ink tank to her back. Without it, the weapon in her hands was literally useless.
But just as her mind barely processed this information, one of the octotroopers charged straight at her while she was off guard, knocking her off balance and causing her to lose her grip on the weapon, the Charger clattering onto the concrete floor. The other octotrooper approached the unfortunate inkling, grabbing her with a tentacle and pinning her to the merry-go-round by her neck.

"Please… stop…!" Mei-Lin's voice was ragged, as she struggled to breathe. Her arms groped desperately at the tentacle holding her in place, attempting to struggle free to no avail.

"Heh, fancy that, Bobby! I didn't think there'd be someone out there even more pathetic than you are!" The octotrooper currently not pinning the unfortunate inkling in place chuckled. "But this girlie here just proved me wrong!"
"Oh, be quiet, Paul!" The octotrooper named Bobby retorted. "I don't see you helping me subdue this frisky one! Get your suckers over here!"

As Paul approached her, a tentacle balled up into a fist, Mei-Lin decisively attempted to escape from Bobby's grasp by turning into squid form, slipping out of his grip and tried to crawl away as fast as she could. Unfortunately for her, she didn't get very far before both octotroopers ran after her and sat on top of her longer tentacles, effectively pinning her to the ground.

"Ugh. I always forget inklings were slippery ones." The octobomber grumbled menacingly, floating up towards the auburn squid cowering on the floor. "I'm sure we got a remedy for that."

With that, the octobomber began smashing his large tentacles on top of Mei-Lin, each blow stronger than the last. One after another, blow after blow, Mei-Lin felt like a mountain was being dropped on top of her head each time. Every time she tried to take another breath, another blow knocks it straight out of her.

It hurt a lot. But not only did every blow hurt physically, each slam felt like it eroded away at her hope.

She closed her eyes, wishing silently that it would soon all end.

But it never did.

Soon, Mei-Lin no longer had the strength to struggle any further. As her entire body went limp, the octotroopers stopped sitting on her as she reverted back to normal, her arms and legs trembling meekly as a trickle of auburn leaked out of her mouth.
"No…no more." She felt a teardrop stream down her cheek as her entire body went numb. "I… I give…"

"Let that be a lesson to you, inkling. Now stay put." The octobomber threatened. "Larry, fetch me the ropes. We got another one to bag… Larry?"
The octobomber looked around, expecting company. What he didn't expect however, was the sight of yet another octotrooper careening towards them, the sentient tentacle tied up in ropes grabbing the attention of the other three octarians.
"Oy, Larry! What happened to you?" Paul shouted, running up towards the downed octotrooper. That was, at least, before a fist came out of nowhere and collided with him square in the jaw, the impact causing him to fall onto the floor, groaning in pain.
"I found him skulking around. I knew there were fools running about trying to catch a quick buck." Eliza said coldly, relaxing a right fist from the punch she delivered earlier. She stared straight at the octobomber with a threatening glare, taking up a fighting stance. "Now, I do believe you're hurting my escort there. Back off."

"Why, you-" Bobby turned angrily towards the octoling, balling up a tentacle to deliver a punch. As the octotrooper ran straight at her, he threw the punch, only for Eliza to dodge out of the way and deliver a swift knee to the octotrooper's abdomen. Bobby fell to the floor, squirming in pain as he struggled to get up.

"Sloppy." Eliza commented, turning towards the octobomber. "You're the only one left. If you know what is good for you, leave. NOW."
"GRRRR!" The octobomber smashed his tentacles on the concrete floor, charging straight ahead with both of them upraised. "Don't think I'd go down as easily as they would!"

As two fat tentacles smashed down on the octoling, Eliza caught both of them with both arms. The impact caused her to slide back, as she barely held up the weight of the octobomber's entire body alone. Her arms and legs visibly shook with effort at the crushing weight of the giant octarian.
"Heh! Whaddya think?" The octobomber smirked, "I've been training myself and my lads in melee combat, just in case any annoyances like you show up! Have a taste of Big Al's submission technique!"
"Hmph." Eliza simply replied, "I'm not impressed."
Then something happened that the octobomber named Big Al didn't expect. Rapidly, the long tentacle coiled around Eliza's entire body unfurled itself, and wrapped around the octobomber and grabbed hold tightly.
"Huh?! What in the-"
"Got you."
Before he could process what just happened, Eliza lifted the giant octarian's entire body with the limb while using her arms as leverage, and with a battle cry she smashed Big Al onto the floor behind her in a suplex maneuver, the impact causing the floor to briefly shake.

"I warned you. Now you pay the consequences." Eliza's unusually long head tentacle unfurled off the dizzy octobomber, the giant limb falling limp next to her as she breathed heavily. "Now get out of here or I'll make you all regret it."
Bobby was the first of the hooligans to recover from being incapacitated. With two tentacles, the terrified octotrooper grabbed his fellow companions, as he pushed away at the partly spherical body of his boss, rolling him away from the octoling.
"That supersized tentacle is a neat trick, I'll give it that!" Big Al yelled as he was being rolled away. "But don't think you're all high and mighty just because you're some freakshow of an octoling, we'll be back! I promise ya!"

Mei-Lin watched from the floor as the hooligans disappeared into the horizon, and Eliza meticulously coiled the exceptionally long tentacle around her body again. It was evident that the maneuver had taken a lot out of her as the octoling was hyperventilating as she slowly put the tentacle back where it was, her limbs still shaking with effort. But not even a minute later, she had fully recovered.

The inkling watched as Eliza walked up to her, her cold eyes staring down. For a few seconds, the octoling simply stared at her, as she was unable to do anything from the floor aside from looking around.

Then she spoke four words. Immediately, Mei-Lin's heart sank. As the octoling walked off out of sight, she lay onto the floor, too numb from pain and shock to get up.

Eliza had spoken the very last thing she wanted to hear at this very moment.

"…you disappoint me, inkling."

Inside the remnants of an observatory, Mei-Lin and Eliza sat on opposite ends in front of a crackling bonfire. Mei-Lin watched as Eliza wordlessly opened a can of rations and began eating the contents, all without making eye contact with her.

The inkling's stomach growled in protest at the lack of food, but right now Mei-Lin couldn't care less about her state of being. On top of hunger pains, an entirely different kind of pain seems to have taken hold on her, and it felt as if an invisible hand had reached into her chest and squeezed her innards hard.

She still felt as numb as she was earlier, and all she could manage now was stare into the embers of the campfire. All the while with a slightly distant look in her eyes.

Eventually, Eliza finished the can of rations, and tossed the empty canister into a nearby pile of trash. Looking back down onto the campfire, the octoling then looked up at the inkling, who was still staring into the campfire.
"…Hey, inkling." She said.
Mei-Lin flinched instinctively, before looking up at the octoling. "…what?"
"You haven't eaten anything. Have you forgotten your rations for the night?"
Mei-Lin turned away again, looking into some unseen point in the distance. "…no. I'm just not hungry."
"I see."

A few moments passed with neither party saying a word. In the distance, the sound of another amusement park ride wheezing another ragged chime reverberated throughout the dome.

"…why did you not fight back?" Eliza eventually asked. "A Charger is more than capable to bring down two octotroopers and an octobomber."

"…!" Mei-Lin's hands clenched into fists, as they lay on her lap. She turned away from the octoling, not answering her question.

"I expected more from an inkling. Your companions… those three seem to know how to fend for themselves. You on the other hand… you just allowed those octarians to inflict harm on yourself."

"…that's… I…"

"I don't even know why your companions bought you in harm's way. Cobalt and Katelyn are able fighters, and Chris seems to be the intellectual of your team. I don't know what YOU contribute at all, you just seem redundant."

"…shut up…"

"In fact, I don't even know why I offered- Excuse me?"

"SHUT UP!" Mei-Lin shrieked, abruptly standing up. "STOP TALKING TO ME! WHY, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP REMINDING ME OF MY FAILURE?!"

The octoling watched, unfazed by Mei-Lin's outburst. "Hmph. I'm merely stating the facts here. You are merely a liability to your team, and I say this from my observations alone."

"NOBODY ASKED YOU! YOU DON'T HAVE TO REMIND ME! I KNOW! I KNOW HOW I'M… I'm…"

Auburn tears were visibly dripping from Mei-Lin's eyes by this point. Falling onto her knees, she began to sob into her hands, her entire body trembling as she wailed with anguish.

"…how I'm weak, how I'm a coward, how I cannot do anything! I know I'm useless, I know I'm not strong like the others! Even when my friends are threatened, I just couldn't do anything but watch!"

"..." The octoling said nothing, watching as the inkling clawed at her face, failing to stem the stream of tears flowing from her eyes.

"You're right, I am just a liability, but… you... I…I…*sniff*"

Eliza watched as Mei-Lin visibly broke down in front of her, her stoic expression slowly fading away. As the inkling gave up wiping tears from her eyes, she got up quickly, running out of the nearest exit leaving droplets of auburn behind her. Witnessing the heartbreaking scene, she sighed, and turned elsewhere.

"Perhaps… it would be beneficial if I leave her alone for a while." She said to herself. Without saying another word, she walked away from the bonfire, preparing a sleeping bag.

A breeze blew through the dome, shaking the base of a brittle set of stalactites rotted onto the ceiling. The tremor caused one of the points to dislodge from the rest, the rock cracking off and falling deep down into the abyss below.

Mei-Lin watched as the fragment disappeared into the darkness, her eyes still wet as she gazed down from the edge of the cliffside. She was sitting precariously close towards it, as she contemplated possibilities.

"I… I can't take it anymore…" she thought to herself, one last droplet falling from her face and plopping onto her lap. "I don't deserve mercy. I want it all to end."

As she sat up from the edge, she began walking towards the pitfall, bit by bit.

"They… probably don't care anymore. I'm all alone again. Nobody will remember me anyway."

A miniscule piece of the cliff crumbled beneath her feet. Watching as the piece vanished from sight, Mei-Lin hesitated.

"Just… one more step. It will… end quickly…right…?"

A thought crossed her mind. It occurred to her that the pebble that fell down didn't even make a noise.

"Why are you hesitating, Mei-Lin! One step. That's all it takes… and it will be over…"

Slowly, she began to back away from the edge. As soon as she was a meter away from the cliff, she sat down, curling up into a ball.

"No…no good. I just can't do it. I can't even do something as simple as... that…"

She squeezed her eyelids. But no more moisture came out. She had most likely exhausted her reservoir of tears.

"I'm… I'm just a coward. I can't do anything. I can't even die with dignity!"

Emotions swirled around in her mind. Grief. Despair. Hopelessness. She felt like an emotional wreck.

"You seem troubled, young lady. What ails you?"

Mei-Lin looked up from her lap. She was met with the sight of a hooded figure, with a flashlight in one hand and a walking stick in another. Uninterested, she looked away.
"…go away." She said. "It's none of your business."
"Hohoho. Forgive my nosiness, but it's not like it is easy to ignore the trail you left running." The hooded figure motioned towards the trail of auburn tears that Mei-Lin had left in her wake, which the inkling noticed. "Bah, where are my manners. My name is Hermit. Trailblazer Hermit, at your service."

"…Mei-Lin." The inkling introduced herself, emotionlessly. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, call it a hobby, if you will." Hermit replied, "Octo Valley is a land that's ripe with adventure! When I got wind of a place within it called Sector 0, my curiosity got the better of me! Now I reckon I've gotten myself in a pickle!"
Mei-Lin raised an eyebrow at the eccentric figure. "You got stuck."
"I suppose if you want to put it bluntly, yes." The hooded figure sat down on the dusty floor, next to the inkling. "But more to the point. Were you contemplating to commit suicide?"

Mei-Lin was taken aback by the remark. "That's…not…"

Almost like a switch was flicked, Hermit's tone changed from a mildly joking nature to a serious one. "Now, I really cannot say for certain what you've been through, I just happen to be passing by after all! But, suicide is never the answer. Once you throw away your life, it's over! There is always another way. Killing yourself is only the easy way out."

"There's no need to convince me… I couldn't do it…" Mei-Lin's voice was shaking with barely suppressed sadness. "But… that's even worse… isn't it? I'm a coward… that can't even take my own life."

"Ah… I see." The hooded figure nodded sagely. "You are a coward, you say… but, do you hate being one?"
"I-" Mei-Lin paused. No one had asked her such a question before. "I…do. But I can't do anything about it…"
"Is that so? But, I don't believe for a moment that you are helpless."
"What…do you mean?"

Hermit set down the flashlight next to him, turning towards Mei-Lin. In the darkness, she couldn't make out what was underneath the hood.
"We all have our crosses to bear." The hooded figure continued. "No one is ever born perfect. Indeed, some grow up with much larger crosses to bear than others, that's just how it is. Whatever ails you, it is most certainly not unique. But as we grow up, we are forced to confront those weaknesses. That is a process that everyone has to suffer from. There are multiple ways to do so… like gathering help from those around you."
Recollections flashed through Mei-Lin's mind. The countless times Katelyn had helped her. The time when Chris spared her during that match. Most prominent of all, the moment when Katelyn embraced her with Chris and Cobalt by her side.
"My…friends…"
"Yes. Friends, family, even venting to a random stranger like myself. It is understandable that not everyone can muster the determination to improve themselves on their own. But in these instances, those around you shall serve as your crutch, until you can stand up upon your own two feet. There is no shame in being a coward, it just means that when the time comes, you shall shoulder much more bravery than any of your companions."

Looking into the distance, Mei-Lin contemplated what Hermit had told her. While the thought of cowardice being a catalyst for bravery felt like an absurd concept to her, it didn't feel entirely wrong either. Her mind drifted to her friends, and her previous thoughts of suicide.
Perhaps, had she perished, she will indeed be missed.
"Why…are you telling me all this?" Mei-Lin asked, turning to the hooded figure. "I don't deserve any of this advice…"

"Well, as I said before. I'm just a nosy old man. Hohoho!" Hermit then got up, brushing himself off. "Well, I best get moving. Sector 0 isn't going to explore itself!"

Mei-Lin watched as the hooded figure wandered away from her, disappearing into the darkness. It was a few moments after he had left however, that she realized he had left his flashlight behind.
"H-hey…!" she called out in the direction the figure wandered off. "You forgot your…"
Realizing that Hermit was likely out of earshot, Mei-Lin looked down to the flashlight in her hand, flicking it on as she retraced her steps back towards the observatory.

"What a strange person." She thought to herself.

As Mei-Lin returned to the ruins of the observatory, she noticed that the bonfire has mostly died down into a small flame. Next to it, the octoling was curled up inside a sleeping bag, quietly snoozing away.
Sitting down next to the octoling, Mei-Lin quietly looked around. It was then that she had realized she had misplaced her backpack.
"My… bag… where is it? …hungry…" She mumbled, getting up again and looking around. After a few minutes of searching, she sighed. She must have abandoned it when she ran away in a fit.

"Looking for this?"

The inkling turned to the source of the voice. Eliza was awake, patting a bag Mei-Lin recognized as her backpack with one hand and holding out the sandwich she had packed with the other.
"Thanks…" Without another word, Mei-Lin took the sandwich from the octoling and began eating it. In a few minutes, she had finished it.

"…I have contemplated my words." Eliza said, turning to Mei-Lin.
"…what?" The inkling was surprised. The octoling's tone has changed. It was no longer cold and heartless, mixed in there was a hint of emotion, which almost sounded like guilt.
"I reviewed my conversation with you a moment earlier. In hindsight, it was unacceptable to have spoken to you as if you were one of my soldiers. I had known you were fragile, but I had not expected this level of weakness. This was a scope I had not explored before."
"…oh." Mei-Lin looked away, ashamed.
"All I had known was strength and discipline, among my underlings, for myself, and for my enemies. I have not been trained to handle those that cannot fend for themselves, so I have most likely acted too harshly. I am in no position to request this, but I demand your forgiveness for my actions."

"Eliza…" Mei-Lin had never expected these words to come out of the octoling. She looked back at Eliza, with a look of pity.

"…I have decided." The octoling continued, putting a reassuring arm on Mei-Lin's shoulder. "Even if I cannot receive your forgiveness, I can offer you my training. It is the least I can do after what I have done."
"…Really? You will?" Mei-Lin perked up.
"BUT. On one condition."
"What…?"
"Try your best, and do not waver. That is all I demand."
Mei-Lin nodded. She was nervous, but there was also a feeling that wasn't there before.
"I…I will." She replied.
"That what I want to hear. Now, get some rest. I need you at full strength tomorrow."

As Eliza retreated into her sleeping bag, Mei-Lin rummaged through her backpack, withdrawing a sleeping bag of her own. As she set it up nearby to where Eliza lay sleeping, she allowed the ghost of a smile to rest upon her face.

"Perhaps… she's not as bad as I thought…"

AN: Well, this was one of the hardest chapters I had to put out. Two reasons mostly, one because writing emotional scenes can be really hard due to my inexperience in expressing moments of emotional high in writing form, and two because I actually feel guilty putting one of my characters through this type of torture. I'm so sorry, Mei-Lin!
But enough about that. Once again, I'm requesting feedback on this chapter. Is it still captivating, or does it feel somewhat eroded? It feels like the quality this time might have taken a hit, but that might just be me.