Splatoon: The Drafted Squid

A Starry Night

The campfire blazed on into the night, it released small embers which were swept away from the grass below by the thankfully vigilant winds, precariously carried off to burn elsewhere. Despite the gusts blowing past it seemed as though the spritely bonfire would not yield to the wind's merciless, yet soft at the same time, tugs on its heated glow.

Sitting upright on the side of the hills, Portic and Rinse gazed up at the stars, up until Portic twisted around and spoke up, "Hey Rinse?"

Rinse turned on his side slightly curiously. "Mhm?"

Portic peered up at the sky brightly as the stars blinked back just as bright. "What's the weather going to be like tomorrow?"

Rinse leaned back on the grass and twisted his head up towards the sky, and squinted up at the stars. "Cloudy...or sunny. It might even rain."

Portic sat up straight and glared at Rinse. Rinse cocked an eye at him curiously, only for Portic to lie down on his side with a pout, rustling the grass underneath him.

Portic crossed his arms. "I thought you were some sort of weather guru!"

A small smile cracked very slightly onto Rinse's face. "I just know about a few clouds during the day," he explained as he leaned back and yawned. "I can't use the stars to determine if we get rain or shine, Portic."

Portic snickered. "Dude, what? You're built like a tank and can tell clouds apart from each other. Are you actually being humble about this?"

Rinse's smile faded away into his default stoic expression. "Eh, I just things I happen to know."

"Yeah? Betcha a bunch of coins Phish and Ophi can't tell a circus from a cucumber nimble mobile," Portic announced proudly and reassuringly.

Rinse cocked an eyebrow puzzledly at him, silently repeating what Portic just said. The other Inkling continued to stand up on the hill ignorantly and blissfully with a foolish grin on his face. Portic blinked all of a sudden, frowned at his comrade, and plopped down on the grass with another, even bigger pout on his face, and slugged him lightly on the arm. He glared at Rinse, irritated, while Rinse lounged casually on the cool grass and gazed at the sky.

"You know what, you're teaching me these cloud things first thing tomorrow," Portic demanded with a point of his finger.

"Why?" Rinse shrugged and stretched across the grass.

Portic huffed and stood upright. "You're the one always telling me that 'nature is a gift' and other vegan junk."

Rinse frowned and peered back at him with a half-lidded expression. "I'm not a 'vegan'." He settled into the grass. "So I know a little about nature. Not many people care about it."

"If you admitted you were a Squid-quatch I wouldn't hold it against you," Portic muttered absentmindedly.

Rinse shrugged again and gazed up at the stars. The reaction prompted Portic to turn around and inspect him with a newfound curiosity as he switched into a squid and crawl over and under him. Rinse simply yawned in response and turned on his side while Portic attempted to discern whether or not his friend was a mythological creature.

Meanwhile across the turf sat a campfire and four other Inklings. However, "sat" was an exaggeration, as one was sprawled out in a coma at this point. Sumera, still unconscious, laid with her head back on the dirt and a jolly old smile on her face. Despite their leader lying still down on the ground, they continued to peacefully unwind with the time they had.

Well, at least one of them did anyway.

"Mm! Mith goof!"

Phish and Ophi sat still and in awe across the bonfire and watched their new squadmate chow down. Several wooden sticks laid strewn about by the logs with bits of fins and fish skeletons messily attached with chunks of meat and skin missing. The scene looked like a massacre and judging by Cherida's eager expression and the crumbs on her cheeks, it would continue for quite some time.

She rubbed crumbs off of her face and beamed. "This is fantastic!" Cherida glanced towards the grass and prodded Sumera's side with a cleaned stick, "You want some, lady?"

Sumera yawned.

"More for me!" Cherida cheered.

The other two could hardly stop watching her eat. The practical apron she wore was still stained with ink as was her face. However, unlike before, her tentacles rippled with the same color as the rest of their squadron: a brilliant blue in stark contrast to her previously orange tentacles. The patterned stripes of blue in her tentacle twisted like screws dangling off of her head, quickly replacing the once orange hue.

Phish leaned in by Ophi and asked, "So what's with the tentacles?"

"I think it's an army thing," Ophi murmured, mesmerized by the eating spree, "In the event we shoot each other by accident or jump into the wrong ink, we can stay safe."

"...How does that work?" Phish asked curiously.

"Myeah! Muh oink ond yoors-"

"Huh?" Phish twisted his head.

Ophi perked up. "Right! So, hang on. The thing about the ink we use in our Bamboozlers is that, technically, we could easily hit each other by accident and hurt each other."

"Uh huh," Phish nodded, "So?"

"She must've sampled one of our ink reserves, or come in contact with one of us, or something," Ophi explained, "It's sorta like that, but you'd have to be careful with mixing ink."

Phish shot her a look. "...She ate someone's ink?"

"I- Well-" Ophi stammered with a blush, "No?"

"Nuh," Cherida mumbled and shook her head, "Wutch muh."

She reached a hand down to their unconscious commander, still chewing on a fish. As she snored, Cherida lightly pressed her hand to her tentacles laying on the grass. Cherida's tentacles began shifting in color. The orange in her tentacles began to dissipate quickly as the blue began to overtake the appendages.

"See?" Cherida mumbled with a smile as she took her hand off of Sumera's tentacles. Only a few traces of orange remained.

"...Ah," Ophi commented and squinted at her suspiciously.

"When the shell could we do that?" Phish whispered. Ophi simply stared at him, just as confused.

Phish and Ophi continued to stare at Cherida as she laid waste to the river fish. Though it may have been due to the fact they were all charred beforehand, Phish swore that each fish she picked up grimaced right before she munched them. Eventually, during a lapse in her endless spree of bites, she paused, wiped her face with her apron, and offered a fish to the pair across from her.

The both of them perked up. "Ah, no, thanks, it's fine," they managed to stammer out, the two shooting a stare towards each other soon after.

Cherida shrugged, reached back, sighed contently and laid back on the grass. "Whew! You all sure know how to cook!"

"All we did was spear a few fish and raise them above a flame," Phish whispered into Ophi's ear.

"Be polite. She just came back after her Splatoon was destroyed. She deserves it." Ophi muttered back and managed a smile towards Cherida. "It's okay, right?"

"You betcha," Cherida stated, closed her eyes and rolled on her side. "I'm done. See you in the morning!"

It only took about two seconds before the light sound of snoring accompanied the soft crackling of the fire. Phish and Ophi gawked at her as she joined Sumera in dreamland, both of whom were knocked out cold.

Phish smirked back to his right. "You're right Ophi. That's the worst case of PTSD I've seen."

Ophi rolled her eyes. "...At least it's better than 'commander'."

"She does have a point though." Phish stretched his arms.

"...That we're decent at cooking?" Ophi spoke up in a light tone with a smile.

"'I'm done' more like it," Phish spoke up and fell back towards the bonfire, landing with his tentacles just out of the flame's reach. "Welp, I've accepted our fate."

"Phish!" Ophi groaned at the other Inkling. "Again? Really? What is it going to take for you NOT to give up?"

"Being safe at home." Phish scowled at the sky.

"Aren't you tired of complaining?" Ophi frowned down at him.

Phish sat up and crossed his arms over his knees. "Listen, sorry I'm being a 'downer', but maybe I can't deal with the fact that any day now, we could get crushed like a twig."

Ophi stood up over him. "Phish, that's how it's always been! You just haven't gotten to see it firsthand until now."

Phish sighed and shook his head. "Maybe not, but I for one sort of liked the idea of being secure."

"You're hopeless," Ophi grumbled and shook her head. "What's happened has happened Phish."

"You can't tell me you're completely fine with this!" Phish argued back at her.

Ophi shouted back at him irritably. "Well, it's certainly better here than where I've been!"

A gust of wind blew by the campfire. The embers fizzled and the fire wavered underneath the cold. With a hot-blue face, Ophi resigned herself to sitting with her legs crossed, with her hands on her cheeks.

Phish's expression softened. "...Huh." He stood and stared down at her. "Well okay then."

Ophi glanced away slightly. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

"No, it's fine," Phish mumbled, "Sorry."

Phish shrugged and sat down silently. For a moment, everything was quiet, and the fire seemed to crackle less frequently. The slight snores of their two companions and the wind persevered. All the while, Phish's tie flapped in the chill air of night.

All of a sudden Ophi's face began to glow blue. "...Ugh."

"Ophi?" Phish tilted his head.

"Nothing," she muttered as she glanced around the site.

"Alright." Phish shrugged and leaned backward on the grass tiredly.

With a frown, she peered towards their other companions, and she set her head down. "...Aren't we novel heroes."

"Eh." Phish shrugged with a scowl on his face as he sat cross-legged on the grass. "More like zeros."

"I-" Ophi's tentacles flapped erratically.

"Sorry, forget I said anything." He shook his head solemnly and laid back on the grass.

Ophi's tentacles eventually stopped fluttering and dangled aimlessly in the chilled night wind. She stared at Phish with a stare of contempt, then sighed herself, and lowered her head as she sat back down by the fire. She gazed listlessly at the wood as it crackled and burnt.

"What was your life like?" Ophi spoke up suddenly.

Phish arched an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean. Before this war." Ophi folded her arms together in front of her lap.

A few embers drifted past Phish's face. Lips pursed, he blew up into the air and wrapped his arms around his head.

"Before?" Phish's eyes gazed at the sky. "When you put it like that, I guess I can't help but say that not much has changed."

Ophi tilted her head in confusion, and her tentacles flopped to the side. Phish could not help but smirk as the two of them draped across the grass.

"Hey." Ophi took her tentacles and wrapped them together. "Not about me."

"Does it have to be?" Phish asked, to which Ophi nodded back at him, and to which Phish sighed back at, "Nothing's changed."

"That's a lie." Ophi tossed the knot of tentacles over her helmet.

"Nothing," Phish repeated, "I just took work that I needed to. Minor construction, development, anything they'd have on hand. I wanted to pay my bills."

"And the war?" Ophi sat up straight.

"I told you. I got stuck in the draft," Phish muttered with a scowl and shook his head, "Fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Thought it'd be something I might get paid for and went for it."

Ophi blinked and stared at him in confusion. "Wait, you…You 'fell' for a draft?"

"...I'm finished talking about this," Phish muttered as he laid on his side, hiding his face.

"Hey, come on! There must be some benefits out of this. C'mon," Ophi stated with her fist underneath her chin, "Like...like working in Inkopolis, after the war ends, you might be able to…um...maybe get bonuses for your service?"

"Sure," Phish muttered as he glared up at the stars, "Maybe."

Ophi sighed and shook her head. The two sat in silence. Every so often, one of the two would feed the flames tufts of grass or small twigs.

"Phish, could you do me a favor?"

Phish glanced up from the flame and stared at Ophi. Hands on her lap, she stared directly at him from across the fire. As the flames writhed in place, Ophi stared him down, much to Phish's discomfort. He nodded back to her.

"I know it's hard, it's still our second day 'on the job'," Ophi explained as she crossed her legs, "But...could you try to lighten up?"

Phish frowned. "Hmm?"

Ophi glanced up and away. "I just, I'd hate to see anyone get hurt. I'd hate to see you get hurt. You know? An attitude like that…" Ophi stared him down again, hardly an expression on her face. "It's dangerous."

Phish made another sour expression. His facial expression melted away quickly, however, and he simply stared down at the grass in defeat. Ophi stared at him as he sat silently on the dirt and grass for a good long while.

"Alright."

Ophi perked up and gawked at Phish. Phish just glanced away.

"What are those two doing?" Phish muttered absentmindedly.

A smile crept up on Ophi's face. "Okay then. I'll hold you to that in the morning."

Phish cocked his eyebrow and turned back. "You're going to sleep already?"

"Mm. I'll be able to think better in the morning," Ophi explained as she pulled her sleeping bag from the grass behind her, "I mean if you could-"

Phish nodded. "I'll take the first watch."

Ophi smiled warmly at him. "Thanks, Phish. Good night."

"Night," Phish muttered.

Ophi beamed at him one last time. Wrapping herself up in the comforts of her sleeping bag, she curled up on the ground and let herself drift to sleep. Alone, Phish stared down at the fire.

"Hey. good idea. Night guys!"

Phish had to dodge to his left as a sleeping bag fell on the grass. The warm feeling he had dissipated extraordinarily quickly and was replaced with that of annoyance. Standing tall above him, Portic was there, perched on the back on Rinse. Carrying both his companion and his own sleeping bag, Rinse lowered himself to the grass.

"'Scuse me, Phish," Rinse murmured as he laid the sleeping bag flat on the grass.

Portic jumped off of Rinse's back and landed on his own sleeping bag. "Sweet dreams!"

Phish shot him a glare. Confused, Portic tilted his head, then spotted Ophi. After one look at her fast asleep face, Portic made a low "ooh" noise in understanding. Portic winked at Phish, mouthed "good night", and shrunk into a squid. His sleeping bag jumped and jolted as he made an effort to get inside, much to the others' amusements.

"I can stay up with you, if you wish," Rinse offered as he laid on the ground.

"No, it's...it's fine," Phish muttered.

As if activated via voice commands, Rinse nodded robotically. Finished, he shut his eyes and snored lightly, joining the rest of their platoon in dreamland. With a sigh, Phish reached back and gripped the grass, tossing a handful into the fire.

"How's it going?" He heard someone whisper to him.

"About as good as usual, Mai," Phish muttered to the voice.

Mai poked out from the shadows on her knees and plopped herself down by Phish. Alarmed, Phish spun around quickly, only to feel Mai's finger press against his lips. She silenced him just as quickly, much to Phish's displeasure. Phish made a face and rolled his eyes, much to Mai's amusement.

"You keep doing that and you'll be stuck with one of those faces. It'll make one shell of a wake-up call for the others," Mai whispered with a quiet laugh.

There was a lapse of silence. Mai cocked her head in confusion.

"Mai, what did you do before the war?" Phish asked.

Mai smirked. "You're just asking me this now?"

"I was a little wrapped up," Phish explained as he adjusted his tie again.

"Do you want the long version or the long version?" Mai asked as she laid on her belly, absentmindedly twirling a blade of grass around her finger.

Phish frowned. "The-"

"So, I was just your everyday Octoling," Mai began with a wink, "Still pretty young, pretty as always."

"Hur hur," Phish teased, pulling his tie through a loop.

Mai pursed her lips. "I was on my way home, just touting a buncha ingredients for a sandwich, you know me."

"I really don't," Phish argued.

"On the road home, I ran into these two other Octolings," Mai explained as she plucked the blade of grass from the earth, "They were in armor like this, guns in their hands. They told me to come with me. I said 'flip off'. Then they said 'no', and I said 'or what'?"

She sat upright. "Sooner or later, give or take a few mandatory training sessions and orders, I ended up being told to scout out and potentially assassinate any Inklings that came our way.

"You're an assassin?" Phish scowled.

"If I was," Mai smiled at Phish sweetly, "I'm a pretty sucky one."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Phish muttered.

Mai perked up. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

Mai feigned a blush and held her hands close to her hearts. "You really DO like me!"

"I'm just following Ophi's orders," Phish muttered.

Mai winked repeatedly. "Sucking up to the leader, huh? I getcha, I getcha. Because when you suck up, she can suck-"

"Okay, good night!" Phish shouted a little louder than he wanted to.

Ophi stirred, "Phish, shhhhhhhh."

To Phish's right, Portic chimed in, "Some of us are trying to sleeeeep."

Phish sighed quietly and remained silent. Satisfied, the others returned to their slumber while Phish tended to the fire. Out of the corner of Phish's eye, Phish watched Mai pull his sleeping bag closer to the flames. Switching into an octopus, Mai cozily buried herself in the sleeping bag with the cattiest expression she could manage. She yawned and burrowed deep into the soft sleeping bag. Snoring soon followed.

Phish shook his head. For the rest of the night, he watched the fire, making sure it did not take to the grass. Eventually, the fire dimmed and fizzled out, leaving nothing but ash and burnt wood. Soon after, Phish followed suit and felt himself fall asleep on the grassy floor.

AN: Again, I'm testing the waters in terms of updates. Mostly because these are a bunch of unfinished chapters I just recently finished.

Today was a bit of a weird day. It started off nice. I even walked out to the park. I never would've expected that fiasco to go down at YouTube headquarters. I hope that everyone there will be in the best shape they possibly can in spite of the disaster that happened.

On that note, let's review the reviews. Thanks, Guest and R.C.D. for reviewing.

I'm sure I might finish this story one day, Guest, maybe not today, but I'll finish. Maybe.

I'm glad you enjoyed the characterizations, R.C.D. I had fun with them.

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, see you.