Splatoon: The Drafted Squid
Get Scooting if You Wanna Get Scouting, Phish!
The sun above the grassy plains was setting. Already, the once vibrant blues and greens of the plains was switching to various shades of violet, orange, and finally, the all-consuming night sky painted black, the only thing sticking out in the darkness being the stars in the sky and the warm colors dancing from a fire pit. Corralled by a circle of small rocks, the fire danced on with an undying fervor. Embers rose and dropped on a whim, attempting to send empty threats to the grass, blocked only by the stones surrounding them.
Lying by the fire, four sleeping bags stretched outside faced upwards towards the stars. Within them, four snoozing Inklings with helmets sat at their sides rested comfortably on the soft mounds of grass. The flames cast light on each of their faces; Ophi slept in a somewhat precarious position, close to the fire, her sea creature necklace still strung around her neck as she snored softly. Curled up in his own bag, Rinse was asleep close by the fire as well, his face practically gazed over the flames in his sleep had his eyelids not been shut and aimed towards the stars. Finally, Phish and Portic were sitting off with their toes pointed towards the heat source, curling up in the bags, with Portic sound asleep, hugging the dirt as if it were a pillow.
But despite the welcoming prospect of getting a good night's rest, Phish was wide awake, staring at the stars with a frown. One day had passed, and he and the others had already encountered was incredible in all of the wrong ways. He had dodged death twice, and yet he still did not feel quite right, as if they were just miracles. Why did he have to wage a war? Why did they not decide to send more qualified Inklings instead of drafting random squids?
Also, why was there an octopus sleeping across from him?
Phish frowned, arching an eyebrow towards the sky. Silently turning on his side, he blinked, noticing a dark violet blob huddled away from the fire. It was somewhat difficult to make out, but he could definitely hear the snores of Mai as she dozed on the hills. How she managed to keep warm so far away from the fire was certainly a mystery. Perhaps octopuses did not need the comforts of warmth in the dead of night as much as squids did. Either way, having her around was certainly problematic, to say the least.
Out of all the things that could have happened today, making a friend out of his species' sworn enemy was a shocker. Yet somehow, Mai was kind enough, or at least neglectful enough to spare his life. Thinking long and hard on that, he realized something else. Had Mai not spared his life, then perhaps he would not have been able to shove Ophi out from the destruction of the ink beam, perhaps. Which was another question he would have to ask later. Though, he supposed that the name "Great Octoweapon", or as he preferred, "giant metal deathtraps" could suffice for the time being. The fact that there could be more somewhere out there was just more stressful. Sure, shooting one another was one thing, but the fact that the Octarians had sci-fi machines that he only saw in movies had him wonder if it was too late to change sides.
On the other hand, the Inklings he had met during the first day of a continent spanning war were extremely docile. Compared to the stereotypical buff army men he thought he was going to deal with, and so far the only example, Rinse, was soft spoken at worst. Portic was certainly the character, and for better or for worse seemed outspoken like a child. Which was bizarre considering that he figured that they were both the same age. Then there was Ophi. Despite the fact that Phish could waltz right up and ask her about her past, he did not feel like doing so. It was almost calming just having her around, despite the fact that she practically turned him into the butt of a joke on being the "stupid" one from hours ago.
Sighing, he just turned over on his side away from the light, closed his eyes, and attempted to sleep on the ground.
"...Psst."
Once the very quiet noise reached his ears, he shot a glare towards where he last saw the octopus lying under the night sky. There was nothing but a round patch of grass where it looked as though an animal had torn up the plants to make a suitable bed to rest on. Blinking, he immediately started gulping down in preparation of spotting her standing over him, as the fire cast a light towards him. One fine long shadow stretched out into the dark, prompting him to glance upwards towards the flames.
"...Psst!" The voice whispered again, extremely close to his face.
On one hand, Phish was reassured by the fact that Mai was not actually attempting to assassinate him, standing over him. On the other hand, he was not sure how he felt with Portic beaming down at him with the brightest smile that he could manage.
Again, Portic leaned in. "Psst!"
"What?" He asked just as quietly with a scowl, purposely letting his eyelids droop to act as if he had been rudely awakened.
The gesture seemed to fly over the taller Inkling's head, who just grinned and went on. "Me and Rinse are gonna go scout ahead and see what those octopuses are doing. You should come!"
Cocking an eyebrow yet again, Phish rolled around in his sleeping bag until he face elsewhere. Standing over him somewhat menacingly was Rinse, who carried a Bamboozler and some sort of large brush, coated with blue ink on its bristles in his hands separately.
"...Where'd you get that?" Phish asked as he began to sit up, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
Without a word, Rinse glanced backwards towards a small tent set-up across from the fire. Out of the shadows of the tent, a few wooden hilts poked out, messily stockpiled on the bare grass. Narrowing his eyes and turning back towards the others, Phish gave them yet another skeptical look, much to Portic's chagrin. Now, while Phish's subtle eyelids flew right over his head, the dark scowl he was given was like stapling a badge that said, "I really don't want to hang out with you" on his shirt.
Huffing, Portic crossed his arms and glared. "Alright, fine. Go ahead and stay here with boring Ophi then. Because me and Rinse are going to go out and have fun."
"Fun?" Phish asked with a frown, shaking his head, "Whatever man. Have fun getting yourself krilled."
As Phish began to lay back down, Portic fell to the floor, leaning right by his side, staring at him with a frown. "Oh, come on! We need more than just two guys if we're going to go scouting!"
"Okay, then why haven't you tried asking Ophi?" Phish yawned, curling up into a blue squid-shaped ball.
"We already tried that! Rinse?" Portic swiveled his head towards the less talkative Inkling.
Sighing silently, Rinse marched over to the last Inkling squad member who still remained fast asleep. Towering over her, Rinse glared at the feminine face poking out of the sleeping bag still practically asking to be burnt by the flames nearby. Reaching down, Rinse scooped the bag up from underneath, making sure that Ophi remained still in the bag, lightly snoring. All of a sudden, the Inkling carrying her began shaking her up and down rapidly, her medium tentacles and necklace spinning around as well. Eventually, Rinse paused the spin cycle.
"Nngh… No. Not yet." She murmured, her tongue wiggling outside her mouth just barely.
Without warning, the palm of her hand smacked Rinse in the face. Then again. She repeated the action quite a few times, Rinse simply blinking each time he anticipated getting smacked. Eventually, her hand rested on Rinse's nose, and, as if it were a switch, pulled on it to the side, without any objections from him as she fiddled with the bridge of his nose. Eventually, her hand drooped, and Ophi went back into complete sleep mode, snoring quietly with a smile as if that had never happened. Kneeling down on the grass, he placed Ophi somewhat further away from the fire and gave a polite bow, before walking back towards where the others were, Phish watching in awe from the safety of his own sleeping bag.
"...Jeez." Phish rubbed the back of his head.
Standing up by Portic, Rinse stretched and yawned, adjusting his nostrils. "...She's still knocked out from the metal octopus incident."
Phish's nonexistent squid eyebrows drooped. "Okay. So before we do anything else, let me ask one question. Alright?"
"Alright." Portic nodded eagerly.
"Hypothetically, if I were to deny the request the first time, then would you pester me into going with you?" He asked, reverting back into a humanoid Inkling, brushing down his tie.
Shaking his head slowly, Portic just smiled back at him. "No, after all, I have Rinse here."
As he glanced at the larger Inkling who gave a gruff nod, Phish just yawned and gave a nod, then closed his eyes. Stretching his arms in his comfortable position, he rested his head on the ground.
"But then again, what happens if he gets injured?"
One of Phish's pair of eyelids masked in black shot open, a brown iris peering to the side. Portic leaned by on the grass and inspected each star in the sky with a seemingly great interest, as did Rinse. Face hardening, Phish began closing his solitary eye once again.
"And for that matter, if he gets injured, what happens if they catch me?"
"Portic!" Phish shouted, sitting upwards irritably.
Jolting up to his feet as Phish left his knapsack, already advancing on the other Inkling, Rinse started stepping to the side as the angry squid humanoid began stomping over towards the other Inkling as the flames continued their flamenco dance on their small patch of grass. While backing away, Portic started glancing towards the side quickly, a smirk emerging on his face. Holding his ground, halting immediately.
"Shh, Phish, you'll wake her up!" He spoke in a whisper, pointing to his right.
Rolling his eyes, Phish continued to stomp over towards him. "Yeah right, after that, I doubt anything can-"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was bashed with a hefty projectile that seemed to come out of nowhere which smacked him directly on the face. Flinching and rubbing the immediate area where he was hit, he glared down, expecting a rock. Instead, a helmet rolled around by his feet.
"Phhhhish…We're trying to sleep." Ophi groaned, rustling about in the grass.
Grinning, Portic nodded along. "Yeah Phish."
"...You've got to be kidding me." Phish grit his teeth, hands trembling.
"...Please?" Portic asked with the purest face he could manage, holding his hands together tight.
Biting his lip, Phish glanced tiredly towards their snoozing comrade, who laid there silently. Huffing, he switched his stare back towards the other males, who just smirked and awaited him. For a moment, he was unsure whether or not he truly wanted to leave. After all, just leaving a small sleeping squid, lazily sprawled out on the floor in the middle of nowhere was just an issue in itself. Nevermind the fact that it was cold outside, for all he knew, Ophi could be splatted behind their backs. Getting up to his feet, Phish attempted to say something.
"Psst."
Beak clenching in annoyance, Phish was just about ready to give Portic a piece of his mind, raising his fist towards the other Inkling.
"Whoa, Phish!?" He yelped, shielding himself from the blow.
Pausing with his punch frozen in the air, Phish blinked, glaring towards him curiously. "Stop making those noises."
"...What noises?" Portic blinked with a frown.
Frown dissipating, Phish arched an eyebrow, turning around. Eyes narrowing, he peered into the darkness, staring at the large tent in front of them. From behind the tent, a pair of two violet orbs stared back at him. Just barely could he notice a hand wave back at him in the dark. Phish immediately mouthed a "No", much to the hidden Mai's discontent.
"So...You coming?" Portic asked from behind, unaware of the Octoling.
There were two options here. One, Phish could go back to sleep and get well rested for tomorrow, which he would much prefer. The only problem was the fact that if any of them saw Mai, it could end in much more bloodshed than he would have liked. On the flipside, if he could lead the two away from the Octoling…
"Hmm…You know what?" Phish hummed, staring over towards the Octoling, which just nodded with a cheery smile, giving him a barely visible thumbs-up in the dark, "Alright, fine. But we're all coming BACK if we don't find anything."
As he hummed, he tilted his head a bit, his tentacles bobbing behind him. Adjusting her short tentacles, Mai switched into an octopus, crawling around the tent. Portic smiled, unaware to their plot.
"Really? Alright! We're going on an octopus hunt, fellas!" The lean Inkling cheered, marching away.
With a solitary nod, both Rinse and Phish followed him as he continually spun his Inkbrush as a baton, drops of blue flung to and fro as he spun. As they began their "scouting mission", Phish shot one worried look back to camp. Back by the tent, Mai leaned on the sides, giving him a short wave. For a moment, Phish found himself grinning very slightly.
"This could actually work out." He thought, eyebrow raised.
"Hey, no second thoughts now!" Portic called, "We're going to go find us some Octarians!"
Blinking, Phish turned around, eyes opening in shock. Already, the other two Inklings were ascending hill after hill, waving to Phish as they went. With a sigh, he stood up and stared out at the sky, the moon still shining brightly. Taking a deep breath, he followed after them, still holstering his...or Mai's Octoshot by his hip. He too ventured over the grassy knolls that were blemishes on an otherwise flat landscape.
Behind him, Mai sighed, glancing around. "Alrighty lady, looks like I'm sleeping over at your place."
Taking a step by the tent, she poked her head inside. The contents of the shelter slowly caused her lips to curl up into a smile. The floor littered with weapons, simple guns and brushes, but weapons nonetheless was truly a sight to behold. At least, Mai thought so. Retracting her face from the tent, she whirled around to check if anyone was looking. Ophi was still sound asleep. Smiling, the Octoling quickly set out to search through the mess, eventually dragging out something that resembled a bamboo pole.
Taking the Bamboozler by the nozzle, she swung it once like a golf club, smiling. "Don't mind if I do..."
Mai was not the only one practicing their swings. Walking off into who knows where in the dark of night, Portic lead the charge, pretending to slice any rapscallion that dared crossed his path with his Inkbrush, spinning about, tossing the weapon into the air ever so often.
"...So what's your plan if we do find any Octarians?" Phish asked from behind, scaling up the incline his comrade was on, with Rinse following after him.
"Whack 'em! Easy." Portic spoke up, beaming with pride.
Frowning, Phish crossed his arms and glared at Portic. "Were you drafted too? You realize that your 'Throw yourself at the enemy' attitude almost splatted us."
Rolling his eyes, Portic just went back to attending to his imaginary marching band. "Nah. I volunteered for this. Me and Rinse, actually. Should've seen the look on the recruiters' faces when they saw us walk up."
"...At our age?" The Inkling with a tie asked.
"Yeah! Why not?" He grinned, leaning on the side of the hill, "It's better than having to stay in a stuffy classroom somewhere, constantly worrying about how the war would turn out when, hey! Why don't we just finish the war ourselves? We figured, 'we can krill a few people if we tried', ain't that right Rinse?"
Rinse blinked at his companion, biting his lip. "...I'd prefer the classroom, honestly. It's pretty calm there."
"Aw, really? Well then, don't worry, when we're all done here and can go home, I'll gladly follow you and keep you company!" Portic smiled, nudging the other Inkling on the shoulder with his elbow.
At the words, "keep you company", Rinse just smirked and nudged Portic back while he spun about. "Not in the classes I'd enroll in."
Phish felt as though he should say something, but the combination of a certain murder related statement was thrown about in the last few statements and the frantic and ultimately dangerous way Portic swung around his brush and the generally menacing way Rinse carried himself combined with the fact his trigger finger twitched by the Bamboozler dissuaded him from attempting to. Staring ahead through the dark, he frowned, hardly gleaning anything from the black shroud that covered the world around him. Humming as he twirled his brush, Portic halted suddenly, his eyelids closing together. Rinse blinked, following his lead, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"What?" Phish blinked, attempting to peer through the dead of night.
They did not say a word and just continued to stare straight ahead, regardless of what would happen. Whatever they were doing, the silence that was substituted for an actual answer was already ticking Phish off.
"Seriously, what are you two looking at?" He whispered frantically, thoroughly antsy.
Yet again, he was met with nothing but silence and two Inklings looking at presumably nothing.
Irritated, Phish's voice rose. "Are you two trying to mess with me or something?"
All of a sudden, Portic turned around and shrugged. "Sorry, sorry, I thought I saw an Octarian."
Phish's eyes went wide. Peering out at the dark fields ahead, he raised the Octoshot by his side, shakily holding the trigger.
"Yeesh, calm down Phish. I just said I 'thought I saw an Octarian'." Portic sighed, shaking his head, "Nerves are getting to you."
Scowling, he simply lowered his firearm and sighed, sitting back on the hill. Portic smiled, swinging around his Inkbrush again without a care in the world. As he did so, Rinse stared over into the distance, frowning.
"...'An Octarian'?" He asked in a low murmur, shuffling slightly.
Portic just continued slashing the air with his brush. "Yeah, why?"
Standing up with a grunt, he aimed his weapon into the night, eye poised just above the nozzle. "Because I think you may have miscounted, Portic."
The other two Inklings froze in place. Glancing ahead, they scurried over to where Rinse was standing, eyeing the darkness carefully. If they looked close enough, they could vaguely spy lights. At first, the other two assumed it was the stars. Then they noticed the lights turning. A few of them even grew closer. Eventually, the lights turned until they shone upon them brightly, prompting the trio to shield their eyes with their arms.
"Well, isn't this a surprise?" A female voice called out from behind the lights.
Stepping into the spotlight, an Octoling, smiling deviously with her goggles attached approached, carrying herself with an air of elegance grinned at the others. Octotroopers surrounded them from all angles, carrying the lights themselves while the Octoling circled around them, the others unsure of what to do next.
"There are still survivors. I was sure that we splatted the rest of them." She smirked, shaking her head, "I should congratulate you for surviving thus far."
Rinse and Phish backed up, glancing around them cautiously, both still carrying weapons in their hands. Portic, while he had ceased constantly swinging his brush, smiled politely, hoisting the brush like he was a batter winding up for a pitch as the Octarians began closing in, slowly aiming their weapons at the small squadron.
"Unfortunately, as amazing as that is, that would only undermine my position as the one who is in charge of wiping you all out." She grinned, flashing her pearly white teeth.
AN: Okay, okay, I'm sorry for the less complete chapters, but with this whole school and work business resuming since the summer, I'm going to have to slow my roll a bit to manage all this work. But I'll see what I can do with the limited time frames I get!
But aside from crippling workloads, let's take a look at some reviews. Thanks Sir Recurring Guest of the Squid's Blue Table for reviewing!
I'm rather surprised you like that name, good anonymous sir. It will certainly help you stand out as a true patron of nobility. Or at least have a distinct name that will turn heads.
Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to see how I can fit stuff into my schedule. See you.