Chapter 5: Street Urchin
A/N: I'm addicted to minute maid lemonade cans, someone send help!
The night held a lazy glow, stars and moon alike illuminating the landscape with soft light. Not many inklings were out at this time of night; most of them were already fast asleep from a day of Turf Wars. That didn't stop the duo from slinking around, stopping across from the train station, one of the figures knelt down, observing the tracks their quarry had been leaving behind.
Satisfied they were going in the right direction, the figure strode forward when- "ACHOO!". "Marie!" Callie half whispered half scolded. "Try to cover it next time, we don't need anyone checking on any commotion, Especially if they have a chance of recognizing us." Marie wiped her nose before replying sheepishly "I know, I know. Sorry about that!" before offering a toothy grin to her cousin. Callie rolled her eyes, and continued on the path. They were close now, she could feel it.
Unknown to Izzy, the weekend had finally come. And with it, free time for Callie and Marie. What better way to spend it than by chasing down an elusive forest dweller? Unlike Izzy who had mostly done circles, the duo actually knew their way around the forest, and it wasn't long before they followed his tracks to the train station. Callie and Marie were actually some of inkopolis' best known pop stars: The Squid Sisters.
To keep anyone from recognizing them, Callie had donned a plain white bandana and a fishing-type hat, while Marie wore a beanie and a pair of sunglasses. It wasn't the most elaborate of disguises, and anyone who knew them would see through the facade in a heartbeat up close. Luckily, not many people were around the station this late at night.
It wasn't very long before they saw a lump lying outside the alley to inkopolis plaza, obviously sleeping as evidenced by the soft snoring and rhythmically rising and falling of its' chest. "Alright, nice and slow. We need to check a few things." Callie stated, before pulling out a notebook with a list of tests to perform. "First test! We need to-" Callie stopped mid-sentence, before noticing Marie was already making her way towards to creature. "Marie!" she hissed frantically "Get back over here before it wakes up!"
oo0OO0oo
Izzy let out a small yawn before cracking his eyes open and surveying his surroundings. His search ended abruptly when they landed on two figures covered in shadow, one attempting to stealthily make its' way towards him. "Ha ha… hi there?" the closest figure offered him. Izzy's arm had taken on a light bluish glow, the ASL sensing his stress increase. Noticing this, the one that had spoken had begun to back up slowly, the other figure still standing quiet and still. A few minutes passed as the two groups stared each other down, before Izzy abruptly pushed himself up, and ran for the wall. He heard to two yell out as he jumped, and pulled himself over before landing roughly on pavement.
oo0OO0oo
"Oh great, we lost him." Marie whined, pouting. "We need to get to it before anyone sees it, it would cause a panic! Or at the very least, gossip and rumours." Callie said, scratching her chin. "Judd said that if this is the same creature he assumed it was, it is highly intelligent. We could maybe reason with it?" Marie thought for a moment "Yeah, but I don't think he would speak inkish. Maybe we should call Agent 3? He is in town right now."
oo0OO0oo
Izzy brushed himself off, before freezing in place. Next to him was a tall, lanky looking person with what looked like an urchin resting upon his head. Next to him were what he assumed were snails, also fast asleep. Behind him lay the shells of many empty shells, along with a screwdriver. One of the snail's' eyes popped open, stared at Izzy, and began to shake. The movement caused the other snails to open their eyes, and suddenly there was a small chorus of clacks as the snails all vibrated into each other.
A single purple eyelid raised slowly, and a green eye from the urchin peered out at him. The urchin tightened his grip around the screwdriver to his side before emitting a grunt. "Think you could pull a fast one on ol' Spyke, eh mate? What are you, a cop? You ain't looking very fresh." Several things ran through Izzy's mind at the same time. A. This was a literal street urchin. B. Urchins speak squid. C. He sounded like he came straight out of Britain. And D. What in the name of all that was holy did "Fresh" mean?
Izzy really didn't want to get too involved in the affairs of the city-dwellers, whether they were squid or otherwise. He turned around, giving a small 'hmph' before walking confidently through the alleyway. Once he was out of sight, he slowed his pace to a crawl, taking care not to make any noise. Coming to a corner, he glanced around it and saw a group of five ink creatures conversing near the open door of an apartment. Narrowing his eyes, he decided it would be best to wait them out before attempting to make any moves. Laughing, the small group dispersed, all heading in different directions.
The one who he assumed lived at the apartment stood in the doorway and stretched, before staring at the exact location Izzy was hiding. Refusing to panic, he froze, stiff as a branch. The ink creature shrugged and actually walked into the open plaza area, closing the door behind him, he took what was presumably the side alley on the opposite side of the building. His curiosity peaked, Izzy advanced around the corner, clinging to the shadows, prepared for the ink creature to jump out at any time.
Once he reached the corner, he took a very small peek… and saw nothing. Continuing down his new path, Izzy went from careful to full blown endangered. The alley was dark and noiseless, twisting and turning as the bends rounded one another. His mind was telling him no, but his recklessness and adventure sense were saying yes. Against his better judgment, he slipped into the alleyway.
He spotted the ink creature (he needed to find a better term soon) with what looked to be a gun out, pointing it at what appeared to be an octopus humanoid. Eyebrows raised, Izzy scooched closer to listen in.
The ink...ling? Yeah that sounds right, the inkling pointed the rifle type weapon at the octoling before growling out a command. "Drop your weapon and your ink tank, and slide them over to me without breaking them." The octoling complied, obviously frightened by the whole ordeal. "Please sir." it sputtered, hands in the air. "I don't want to be here, it was a mistake I swear!"
The inkling picked up the tank and gun, before holstering the weapon and slinging the tank over his shoulder. "I'll help you." He said simply. Izzy was thoroughly confused, wasn't just pointing a gun at the octopus? Were octopi and squids separated by racial prejudice? He was so caught up in his thoughts, he missed the half end of the conversation. The inkling still had his weapon pointed at the octoling's back, but his finger was off the trigger.
Izzy started to sneak away, when his foot caught on a metal can, both the inkling and octoling alike froze before the inkling whisper-yelled a "Wait!" Before Izzy could fully retreat, he turned around, still in the shadows and watching them closely. "This isn't what it looks like…" the inkling began.
"Cut it." Izzy said gruffly "I'm not going to tell anyone. Besides, even if I did, they wouldn't believe me." The inkling looked mildly surprised, the octoling even more so. "Thank you sir, I don't know how to repay you Mr…?" Izzy was amused with the response he received. "I think they would be too focused on me to care about the octoling there anyway. And I am not your elder, but you can call me… Delta." With that, Izzy disappeared around the corner, he had a lot of stuff to think about.