Wow, another chapter! I'm on a roll! I hope you like it and again, any criticism you may have is welcomed.
Chapter 4
Sarah's POV
I'd just gotten out the shower and yes! My phone's charged! I wonder if anyone called…
"You have-6-new messages." Aw man. Let's see who called.
The messages played out:
Message 1: "Hey sis, I heard you're finally on your way to Inkopolis! Give me a shout when you get to the station!"
Uh oh…
Message 2: "Hey, it's me again. It's been a day since my last call and I see you haven't called yet. Trains can be slow though, so I figured I'd just head over to the station and meet ya there. See you soon!"
Oh dear…
Message 3: "Hey, um, Sarah? Is the train running late or did you miss it? Well, I guess there'll be more trains. I'll just keep waiting."
Oh no…
Message 4: "Ello there love. You've totally just won the Inkopolis lottery you did. Please call back and leave us your name, e-mail, social security number, credit card number, and bank account number, and we'll send your money straight to you we will. Cheers!"
Wait, what?
Message 5: "Hey, it's getting late, so I'm just gonna turn in for the night. I'll try calling back tomorrow."
Oh, okay then…
Message 6: "Hey again, it's me. So mom and dad said you did get on the train, they waved you goodbye and everything. That was 2 days ago. Should we be worried? I know it's easy to get caught up in all the amazing stuff here, Cod knows I did, so I'm going to wait one more day before filing a missing person's report. Try to call back soon. See ya! (Hopefully)"
Oh no! Otis! I completely forgot! I need to call him back!
I immediately dialed his number.
"Heeeaaauaallo?" He yawned. "Who's this?
"Hey Otis! It's me! I'm sorry!" I frantically apologized.
"S-Sarah?" He groggily asked. "Where ya been?"
"Sorry, I completely forgot! I'm so, so, so, so sor-"
"Hey now, it's fine." He assured me. "I know how easy it is to get distracted your first time here. If anything, you gave mom and dad a bigger scare than me."
"Sorry." I apologized again.
"You don't need to be sorry." He reassured. "I'll call mom and dad back and tell them you're alright and you can tell me everything at the café in Inkopolis square in the morning."
"Okay! What time?" I asked.
"Uhhh…10:00?" He suggested.
"Isn't that a little early?" I was surprised he suggested that time.
"Right, right." He agreed. "11:15"
"Alright!" I said. "Meet you there!"
After we both hung up, I brushed my beak, put on ma jammies, made sure my favorite shows were recording, and crashed into bed. Sleep came soon after.
In the morning…
"Ugh, what time is it?" I looked over to my clock. 10:40. Perfect!
I quickly got out of bed, brushed my beak, and ran out the door.
I then quickly came back in because squids who run into cafés in their jammies with no money are the opposite of fresh.
After changing and grabbing my wallet, I ran out the door again.
Bus was taking forever, so I super-jumped instead, arriving in Inkopolis Square in no time at all! I entered the café at exactly 11:15. Perfect! Now where's Otis?
I scanned the café I mostly saw Jellies, some Inklings, and a shady-looking Urchin on a laptop. They have free Wi-Fi here? Sweet! Oh yeah, Otis. Let's see…I know I'm looking for yellow hair and red eyes same as mine. He probably has my tan too. Last time I saw him, he had his hair tied back, sooo….
"Hey!" An inkling boy sitting in a booth waved.
I walked over to get a closer look.
Red eyes: Check
Yellow hair-color: Check.
He changed his hair though. Now he has that slicked back, spiky hair look that seems to be popular now.
"Otis?" I had to make sure.
"Yup." He smiled.
"Oh my Cod!" I sat down in the booth. "Last time I saw you, you had different hair!"
"And the last time I saw you, I couldn't tell where your face ended and your hair began." He cheekily replied.
"So what've you been up to?" I asked. He's been gone for 2 years after all and barely visited.
"Eh, mostly ink battling with my friends." He said. "That and my MakoMart job."
"Nice!" I added. "Gotta make that money."
"But enough about me." Here it comes. "What've you done so far? Why haven't you called?"
"Umm…well…" How do I respond? I'm pretty sure I can't tell him about the agent stuff. May as well start with the other stuff.
"See, I heard this amazing song on the train ride over. It was called 'Ebb and Flow' from 'Off the Hook' and it was the best thing I've ever heard, so first thing I did was buy a music player with headphones and one of their albums and then I was broke." That was embarrassing to admit.
We were then interrupted by a waitress asking what we'd like. I ordered the sweet rolls with sea cow milk. He got the same, but with an espresso.
"Then what happened?" he asked.
Well, I was down on my luck until I saw an ad that said 'Down on your luck? Need money? Come to Grizzco!' so I did." I explained. "Mr. Grizz must've seen potential in me because I was hired on the spot!"
"I've been there before." He said. "It's alright, but the boss is a little too shady for my liking."
"Well, thanks to him, I'm not living on the streets, so I like him." I added.
"So where are you staying?" He wondered.
"Flounder Heights." I answered.
"Really?" He seemed confused. "How've I not run into you yet? I guess it doesn't matter now. That still doesn't explain why you haven't called though."
"Oh yeah, I played a ton of phone games on the trip here and that pretty much drained the battery a lot." I remembered. "Then after my Grizzco shift, it was completely dead. I left it in my apartment to charge."
"Ah." I could tell he understood.
"Yeah…" I still felt guilty for not calling.
"So…ya play any Turf yet?" He asked, clearly wanting to change the subject as much as I did.
"Yeah!" I replied. "I'm already Level 9!"
"Wow." He was impressed. "You'll be able to play ranked soon."
"Yesss!" I was excited. "You play ranked?"
"I do." He leaned back. "For fun though. I don't care about ranking up too much."
"Well, that'll just make being the best easier!" I boasted.
"Sarah, I love ya," He leaned in, staring me right in the eye. "But you've got a long way to go before you can step up to me." His face was completely serious. "I've got 2 years of experience over you y'know."
I was actually feeling a little intimidated. Was this really Otis?
He stared in silence for five more seconds before he grinned and cracked up laughing. Yep, that's Otis. I couldn't help but chuckle too.
The moment right after, our food and drinks came and we dug right in.
Thanks for reading (if anyone's reading this). I hope you like the story so far. This chapter introduces Sarah's brother, Otis. He's a pretty chill guy who left for Inkopolis two years before Sarah did, so he has plenty of experience and was present for the first Zapfish disappearance, so he probably got some déjà vu from this.
Something that started bugging me is these chapters so far have been pretty dialogue heavy so far. I mean, I skipped to the end of the Octo Oven fight. That was mostly because I couldn't think of anything to write before then that wouldn't feel more filler-y than this chapter. Basic Octarian troops aren't very interesting on their own (that's probably why most people write about Octolings). I'll try to write in more action in the chapters to come.
