"Uh… what… where… am I?" I asked hazily, my temples were throbbing and my limbs felt like jelly. i attempted to sit up but just collapsed back, ready to go under again. "Wait, I remember! We were shooting fish!" I mumbled in my semi conscious stupor, probably sounding like a lunatic. My eyes shot open. The Flyfish, the Captain! I bolted upright.
Lucas, who was reading a book quietly in the corner, stood up and rushed to me.
"Cynthia, your awake! Shhh. Stop, lie down, everything is fine, calm down."
"But what happened!? Is Zane okay, What about you!? Where are we, what happened!?" I exclaimed. "Tell meeee!"
"We're in the boat's medical bay, you were knocked unconscious and bleeding pretty badly when we brought you here. You pushed the Captain out of the way of the Flyfish. It probably would have killed him if it weren't for you. As for me, I'm fine. Ashtyn's arm was beat up pretty badly by missiles. She is actually in the room next to us, and don't worry, Coral bay is still okay. The Salmonids left after that last wave" he reassured me.
"Oh, Thank Cod everyone's safe." I tried to get out of bed, but my legs were too weak and they gave out. Lucas tried to support me, but the movement created a fresh wave of pain. I collapsed back to the bed and slipped back into unconsciousness.
The next time I woke up someone else was in the room with me. A boy with short purple tentacles, tied in a small pony tail, with some falling down the right side of his face. He was wearing a record shop Ep and had his back turned to me. He bent over and reached inside a cupboard before standing up and turning to me.
"Oh good, you're awake. I have some medicine here." He said cheerfully taking some pills from the container he was holding and putting them by my bedside table before pouring me a glass of Inkling safe water from the faucet.
"Thank you" I said, wincing in pain as I sat up in the bed. He came over and put some more pillows behind my head.
"Where's Lucas?" I asked the boy, putting the pills on my tongue and washing it down.
"Oh, him? Yeah, he's in the room over, keeping an eye on Ashtyn. I'm Mason by the way." Said the boy introducing himself, reaching out his hand.
"I'm Cynthia." We shook hands.
"Anyway, now that your awake and all, the Captain wants to see you all in his quarters. I'm supposed to bring you when you're ready."
"Okay, just give me a second." I pushed the covers away and stood up. The pain wasn't so bad anymore. I then realized that I was wearing nothing but my underwear.
"Ah! Sorry! I forgot about that! We found you were bleeding from you stomach too and we needed to get your clothes off! I'll go find you something to wear!" stuttered Mason nervously, stumbling out of the room.
I had pulled the covers off the bed and was trying to cover my exposed skin with them. I was blushing profusely and hopped back into the bed once he closed the door. He came back with a pair of leggings and a squiddor polo.
"Uh, I'll be in the next room" he said quickly, handing me the clothes and went through the connecting door. I got dressed and followed him.
On the other side was a room that looked similar to mine. Ashtyn lay in her bed upright, chatting with Lucas and Mason. When Lucas saw me, he stood up and hugged me.
"Hey, you're walking, that's good, how do you feel?" he asked holding me at arms length and examining me.
"I feel fine" I responded. "Aches and pains, but I'll live." I smiled. I turned to Ashtyn. "How about you, doing okay? That stingray work was pretty impressive." She just laughed.
"You should be complementing your brother, he was the one with the fancy laser maneuvers."
"Really!? That was you!?" I exclaimed, turning to look at Lucas. I had never actually seen my brother use a special, let alone a stingray.
He looked away sheepishly
"Ha, it sure was" Ashtyn chuckling a bit at Lucas's expression. "I wasn't able to operate the damn thing, so he took over." Ashtyn held up her arm for clarification. Her entire arm was in a reformer cast. "Yeah, my entire arm got liquefied from the missiles, have to wear this so my arm solidifies properly" continued Ashtyn, seeing my shocked expression.
"Yeah, and please forgive me Cynthia, but it's my fault you were injured, I shot the Flyfish out of the air, I almost killed you, so just please don't be mad or..." started Lucas, a bumbling wreck.
"Ha, don't beat yourself up about it, it really wasn't you fault. Hey, please, stop apologizing" I said to Lucas, trying to spare him anymore indignity.
There was a knock on the door. Mason went to get it, but it slammed open, hitting him in the face. A young inkling girl strode in. She had short green tentacles that hung loosely by her sides, she looked like she had just been working and was wearing an anchor life vest. "Hey guys-" she stopped and saw Mason on the ground. "Oh my Cod, I'm so sorry Mason. I didn't see you there." She bent down and helped him up.
"Hi guys" she began again. "I'm Emily!" she reached out and shook mine and Lucas's hands. "Anyway, the Captain was wondering when you guys were coming."
"Just now, actually" spoke Ashtyn, standing up with help from Lucas.
We followed Emily out the door through the corridors of the ship. It was very clean and modern looking but the whole place still had a classic, nautical vibe about it. It was hard to describe. Eventually we made our way to a large door with a golden plaque. In very ornate inkish it wrote Captain Kyuzane Nori: Grizzco Industries. Emily knocked once.
"Enter" came a familiar voice from the other side.
We all filed in and took our various places along the room. It was quite large. The furnishings were antique yet also functional. Ranging from old maps, to various Navy equipment. An old pair of octoleet goggles stood on a table to one side. A large desk made of solid oak dominated the room. More maps and equipment were laying across it. The back wall was just windows, and they looked out onto Coral bay, revealing that we had still not left port. The chair was facing the windows but swung around when we entered.
"Ooh, the captain's being dramatic, this is important" I heard Emily whisper to Mason, who just nodded with a confirming expression.
Zane sat calmly in the chair, he looked a tad battered but otherwise unscathed from the recent salmon run. "Thank you all for coming" said Zane with a slight dramatic flourish, taking off his hat and laying on the desk. "I have asked you all here to discuss an important announcement. I have recently been speaking with the boss, and I have some good news.
"I knew it!" excitedly muttered Emily
"Due to recent events, I have acknowledged that some of those among us have demonstrated extraordinary skill and tenacity during…" he went on in a formal tone.
"Ok Cap, let's not get carried away here, just tell us what's up" interrupted Ashtyn with a tired smirk, "I have a killer headache and don't wanna be here all day."
"Yeah, tell us the good new Captain" chimed Emily. Mason, one again, just nodded in agreement
"Ugh, fine" groaned the Captain, standing up and muttering about "no fun" and "respect for superiors"
"Emily and Mason, Mr. Grizz and I have agreed to raise your rank from overachiever, to profreshinal for your masterful use of weaponry and ability to preform under pressure."
"Yes!" they both shouted happily hopping up and down and hugging.
"Alright, that's it for you two, leave us. Ashtyn and I have some important business to discuss with our guests, get back to work and NO SLACKING!"
They both gleefully went out, talking about all the stuff they could buy with their raises and all the exclusive gear they could get. The door shut with a thud and Zane now sat back down. Ashtyn walked over and leaned against his desk.
"So how are you two feeling? asked Zane with a look of concern, his dramatic formalism gone.
"I'm doing better than before, much better thanks to those painkillers." I responded, wondering what the two older cephelopods wanted to discuss. Lucas responded similarly and Zane went on.
"Ashtyn and I asked you alone to tell you two things. The first, I personally want to thank both of you, for saving my life and many others. Without you, me and my crew would be sleeping with the Salmonids."
"Oh, you're welcome, you saved me and my brother, I couldn't have done anything else" I replied, humbled by this octarian's gratitude.
"Yeah, you too Lucas, without your skills and quick thinking, those two sqiudos wouldn't be around to enjoy their raise." Added Ashtyn, referencing the younger crew members.
Lucas just smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.
"And the other thing is mainly for you Cynthia, and I've discussed this with Lucas already, but I understand that you recently failed a job interview and are, shall we say, financially limited."
I looked at Lucas, shocked at the personal information he had shared with people we had only met recently, even more so about our money situation.
"I thought you said you had enough money for both of us! Even if I didn't get the job!"
"I didn't want you to stress!" he said defensively.
Ashtyn picked up where Zane left off, regaining our attention. "We think that you, Cynthia, should apply at Grizzco industries."
"What!? Me!?"
"Uh, yeah," continued Zane. "You've demonstrated to us that you're brave, quick thinking, selfless, and more then capable of handling Salmonids, you'd make a great employee, I could even try and get you onto my crew. Ashtyn will be out of commission for a while and I need some one cool and competent to watch my back. Of course, you'd need to go through basic training but no interview is required, especially with a Captains recommendation. It pays well and comes with many perks, although the work can be grueling and quite dangerous, as you know"
"Oh" I said in a small voice, flattered by his opinion of me. I looked from Lucas to Ashtyn to Zane, all gave approving nods. "Okay, I'll give it a shot!" I said with determination.
"Fantastic, I knew you would." Replied Zane happily. "Ok, tomorrow, at 10 o'clock sharp, be there at this location for training and equipment familiarization." Lucas can accompany you and I should be able to get either Mason or Emily to help you with your training." Said Zane, sliding an orange card with the Grizzco logo over to me.
"Ready to make the world a better place Cynthia" said Ashtyn with a lopsided grin.
. . .
There we go, another chapter done. Sorry for that break, school was just hectic the past couple of weeks and I have a PhD in procrastination.
Anyway, I found it fun to give Zane some iconic Grizzco lines in some of his dialog, just for a touch of familiarity.
The next chapter will begin Cynthia's career at Grizzco, so stay tuned and please, give me some feedback on my writing and the story so far. Just a little bit of feedback goes along way to keep me motivated.
Au revoir!