Chapter Four – Remnants of an Old Friendship
Tela groggily opened her eyes and winched as the sunlight glared harshly, she yawned as she pushed herself upwards from the sofa into a sitting position. Then proceeded to try and rub the sleep from her tired eyes as memories of last night floated to the surface.
Tela remembered dancing with Sora till the sun had started to rise, she left Suki's bar with the Inkling and remembered having her arm around his shoulders for support as they walked down the street, she felt so exhausted that… she must have fell asleep on him.
So that means… Tela looked around the room with wide eyes as she felt panic set in. Sora must have bought her back to his apartment and today is the day she was SUPPOSED to be at the Octarian world base for her mission!
Another fearful thought popped up as Tela reached up, then let out a breath as she felt her hat still jammed on her head concealing her tentacles. Thank the Octo Sora didn't take her hat off when he had placed her on the sofa. The little flaps on either side of the hat were still down, concealing her none pointy ears.
No need to panic, I just need to fetch my armour from behind the alley way and head back to Octo Valley. Then I'll just come back here to continue my search, yeah... that sounds good.
"Sora?" yelled Tela as she got off the sofa and made her way towards what she thought might be the bedrooms, just as she was about to knock on one of the doors, the one behind her opened to revel a freshly showered half-naked Sora holding a towel around his midriff.
Tela's eyes grew twice their size as her mouth dropped open, a deep blushed burning its way across her cheeks as her heartbeat started to speed up. She mainly focused on his bare chest, tracing the abs and the lines of his stomach which travelled down to his naval before disappearing behind the towel.
Octarian males couldn't achieve humanoid forms like females could, so to see a bare chest like that intrigued her. There was just something oddly attractive about it and Tela had to fight the urge to touch it, wondering if it felt soft or hard.
Sora, upon exiting the bathroom and finding himself face to face with the girl simply watched her expression as she blatantly raked his chest with her eyes. He was surprised at first, then a little smirk lit up on his face.
"Take a photo Terry, it'll last longer." His voice seems to reverberate with mirth and playfulness.
Tela jumped and quickly looked away, bringing her hand up to her mouth to bite down as she tried to control her blushing and the weird heated feelings in her body.
Octo sake! Why couldn't he just come out fully dressed or something. I can't even think straight and I feel like I'm gonna have a heart attack. I… no Octarian male has ever had this effect on me as Sora does, and I don't know why. Geez… I bet he thinks I'm gay now or something… since I'm pretending to be a Inkboy…
"S-sorry…" mumbled Tela as she took a huge step back, refusing to look at the Inkling. Just knowing he was there wearing nothing but a towel made it hard for her to speak.
"I just want to thank you umm… dude, for letting me sleep here and to let you know that I have to get going."
"Aw! I was going to make you my famous brunch!" pouted Sora sadly, though his emerald eyes gleamed merrily.
Brunch? What was a brunch?
"Sorry but I really have to be somewhere right now, maybe next time?"
"Next time then. I'm holding you to that Terry."
Sora playfully punched Tela in the shoulder and then waved her off as the Octoling turned and left through the apartment door, eyes constantly avoiding that alluring bare chest.
Tela realised with much gratitude that when she left the apartment building it was close to where she wanted to be, she could see the tower of the Turf Wars Lobby straight ahead. A clock nearby on a building made the Octoling do a double take however, as she read the time and almost tripped over.
"It's 2.35pm!? This is insane!?" she yelled in a panic and then started to sprint across the street towards the alley way. Tela couldn't ever remember a time she had slept that long, not since the days when a baby Levi use to keep her up at night with incessive crying.
"Excuse me. Pardon me." Shouted Tela, pushing Inklings aside in her desperate bid of reaching the alleyway, grabbing her armour and getting back home. The Inklings turned around to shake their fists and yell words that most likely were rude, not that the Octoling cared anyway.
Tela skidded when she reached her destination and then yelp in pain when she crashed into a trash can, knocking it flying along with herself. Inklings stopped on the sidewalk to stare at the trash that was now being scattered everywhere.
Tela ignored them as she moved to the end and pushed aside the trash can to revel the white plastic bag. She snagged it with a triumph smile and raced towards the grate which she dived into in Octopus form, thankfully this action transpired so fast that none of the Inklings noticed her form wasn't a squid.
SWOOSH!
THUD!
"What the blazers!? You're not Agent 3!?"
Tela looked up from the ground after leaving the grate and saw Cap'n Scuttlefish staring down at her, his large eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Great, she completely forgot about the old Inkling.
"S-sorry sir but I'm in a rush." Her voice shook slightly as she pushed herself off the ground and ran towards the kettle she had used to get here. Cap'n Scuttlefish began to wave his walking stick frantically in her direction.
"Get back ere' lass! It's not safe!"
Tela ignored him and dived into the kettle which only took a few minutes to transport her back to the warehouse where she had been confronted by Agent 3 the day before.
"I hope commander Lucia doesn't get mad at me for being late." Muttered Tela as she striped off the Inkling clothes and quickly put her own back on, she pulled the cap off and pulled her tentacles from their tight bun with a sigh of relief.
Then she shoved the clothes and cap into the plastic bag and hid it in the space between two large chucks of debris, they were her disguise after all. Nothing to do with the fact that they were nice clothes and Tela enjoyed wearing them. Nope…
There was no point trying to clean the fake black eye mask due to having nothing on her now to wipe it off, so she pulled her Octo-Googles on which hid the markings. Her Octoblaster gun thankfully still laying where she left it, only problem was, there was no Inktank since her old one got broken.
"It… it shouldn't be a problem… I think. There should be spares at the base. I'll just have to nab one without the Commander noticing."
Then the Octoling now battle ready, ran to find the kettle that would take her to the cavern world where the base she needed to go to lay in wait.
"Where have you BEEN ROOKIE!?"
Tela flinched at the screaming angry tone of Commander Lucia as soon as she walked into the power room, her recently acquired inktank strapped to her back without anyone thankfully noticing that she had swiped it from the storage unit.
"Commander Lucia! I apologize!" said Tela falling into the Octarian salute greeting, quite surprised and crestfallen to see the commander here.
SLAP!
Tela reeled backwards as her face exploded with heat and pain, she could have sworn she saw stars due to the force that had hit her right cheek.
Commander Lucia snarled after backhanding Tela with incredible strength. "I do not need your pathetic apologise rookie! Now get to that zapfish and GUARD it! Be thankful it hadn't been taken during your absence, for if it had I'll have personally SPLATTERED YOU MYSELF!"
Tela squeaked with fear and raced over to the glass bulb containing the mini zapfish. Her cheek still burned and she had to fight the urge to cry, she was supposed to be stronger than this.
Hours passed and still no sign of Agent 3. Commander Lucia seemed to be determined to punish Tela as much as possible, she let all the other Octarians and Octolings have a quick lunch break except for Tela who had to stay behind and continue guarding.
More hours passed and the poor girl tried to ignore the rumbles and painful twists of her stomach as it demanded to be fed. What she wouldn't do for one of the Inklings Amazing Kelp burgers right now.
"Thank the Octo gods…" whispered Tela in exhaustion when the night guard squad walked in to take over from the day shift. Tela went to followed her squad for a decent night's sleep, but was stopped when an arm suddenly appeared before her preventing her to continue with the others.
"I don't think so rookie." Commander Lucia glared at her with narrow eyes, her voice dripping with venom.
"You're to stay here and continue guarding the zapfish to make up for the time you lost this morning. That's an order!"
Tela gritted her sharp teeth in seething anger as she nodded her head and walked back to her post. Stupid Commander…
This is just great. Another 10 hours of stupid guard duty with no food and no sleep. Tela stretched her shoulders to try and rid the tension that was building. The other Octoling and Octarians that stood beside her muttered between themselves, occasionally pointing and glancing in her direction. It was obvious what the subject of their mutterings were about.
It was now past midnight and Tela was starting to struggle, her eyes felt so tired and a yawn escaped from her mouth every 5 minutes.
Her thoughts started to drift to yesterday's events, exploring Inkopolis and all the things it had to offer had been amazing. None of it came close to being fascinating as Sora himself though, the Inkling boy. Strangely enough, she missed his company. There was just something about him that had her captivated.
It was 3.00 am in the morning when Commander Lucia came sprinting into view, her weapon clutched tightly in her hands.
"Attention squad!" she yelled, skidding to a stop in front of the startled soldiers, all now wearing expressions of being fully awake.
"Agent 3 has been spotted by the Octo-Copters and is heading this way. So, guns up and ready, start shooting on my command!"
Agent 3 is here? But why?... He's never come this late before… I wonder what's changed? Tela raised her gun as the familiar dread and uncertainty begin to rise, her finger trembling on the trigger.
There was a flash of sky blue.
"FIRE!"
A torrent of purple ink went flying as every Octoling and Octarian opened fire, except for Tela who froze.
Agent 3 pulled out a small device and threw it at a group of Octarians who all suddenly tried to scramble out of the way in panic.
SPLAT!
The device exploded, covering a huge area in sky-blue ink and splattering the Octarians who were caught in the inky blast. Tela started to shoot the ground around the zapfish, covering the floor with purple ink. If she wasn't going to shoot the target then she might as well be useful in some other way. Having the floor covered in purple ink gave them the slight advantage.
Agent 3 dived into the pool of ink he had made and disappeared in Squid form. The remaining Octolings and Octarians all began to race around, flapping in a state to find the Inkling.
How did he get so good? It's like he was born to do this. Tela stopped covering the ground and moved to stand closer to the zapfish, she could hear the noise of electricity that sparked off its whiskers.
"Find that Inkling! NOW!" scream Commander Lucia as everyone renewed their search effects.
Tela stayed still as she concentrated, trying to hear any sounds that might indicate where Agent 3 was. Then she felt her body stiffen with fear as pressure was applied to her lower back, warm air on her neck made her heart pound rapidly against her chest.
"Don't. Move." Said a low voice right behind her ear. Tela's arms trembled as a hand was placed on her shoulder, the Octoling suddenly realised the pressure on her back was the barrel of a gun.
"Agent 3." She hissed as his warm breath remained on her neck, she tried to hold back a shudder but failed miserably.
"Glad to see you remember me. Now…I need you to move slowly to the left for me, ok? Nice and slow."
Tela did as she was told, not wanting to be splattered. She felt him move along with her, his hand still clasped on her shoulder firmly. Then suddenly he twisted her around so fast that she fell into his arms, Agent 3 pressed his face close to Tela who squeaked at the sudden closeness.
She could see her own goggles reflecting at her from the Inklings black shades, a wide grin on his face as Tela felt her face burning.
"Good Octopus."
Then Agent 3 swung Tela around and let go, sending her flying backwards. She landed in a puddle of sky-blue ink, letting out a cry as she struggled to free herself.
I can't believe he got the better of me again! I don't understand why he didn't splatter me, it would have been faster than doing all of that! Also… how did he know it was me?
The other Octolings and Octarians attention were caught at the sound of Tela crying out, they started shooting as soon as they noticed Agent 3. They didn't realise that the Inkling had already thrown an Ink bomb their way.
It exploded in a shower of ink, coating the soldiers and splattering them. Agent 3 smirked before nabbing the zapfish, he turned his head towards Tela who was frantically free herself from his ink.
"Oops… did I throw you in there?" his voice was laced with sarcasm as Tela snarled in rage.
"EAT SALT!" Tela screamed, spit flying as Agent 3 shook his head smirking.
"That's not very nice, you know salt is bad for our bodies, right? Ink ya later Octoling!"
Agent 3 leaped into a puddle of blue ink and disappeared, leaving behind a fuming Tela who was trying to reach her gun that had been tossed to the side when she was thrown.
Then as if it could get any worse, Commander Lucia came rushing back with a couple of Octolings. The Commander's eyes grew wide as they stared at the broken glass bulb that use to house the mini zapfish, then they travelled to a squirming Tela stuck fast in a puddle of sky-blue ink.
Commander Lucia then puffed out her chest as her face suddenly grew red, Tela who noticed this little display tried to brace herself for the obvious storm that was coming.
"STUPID PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR AN OCTOLING!"
Tela winced as she quickly casted her gaze down in shame, damn did she have a powerful set of lungs on her.
"TWICE! Octo damn twice rookie! Don't think I haven't been watching you! I saw how you refused to follow my command and instead hid by the zapfish like a COWARD!"
Tela's head shot up as she frowned, it was true she didn't shoot on Lucia's command. But she didn't hide like a coward, she trying to help! Tela went to open her mouth to say so… but the Commander stopped her by raising a hand.
"I don't need excuses!" she hissed lowly. "I need results, and it's obvious I'm NOT going to get them from the likes of you!"
Commander Lucia pointed to the doorway that led outside, the same direction that Agent 3 went in his escape.
"You are released from duty. Now get out of my sight."
Tela felt her whole world shatter at those simple words… She… she wasn't part of Octavios army anymore. She wasn't useful anymore… she was useless.
A couple of Octarians came over and sprayed Tela with purple ink so that the Octoling was no longer trapped by Agent 3's ink.
Levi… I'm so sorry! I wanted to help make the future better for you. I… I wanted to feel useful… to feel wanted and know that I was a part of something great. I really am a stupid Octoling…
The Octarians that had freed her, grabbed her by the arms and began to drag her life-less body across the floor. They then threw her heavily onto the dirt floor outside, Tela simply laid where she had landed as inky tears streamed from under her googles and down her reddening cheeks.
"You won't be needing this anymore."
Tela raised her head off the ground to see Commander Lucia holding her Octoblaster gun.
"Hand over your armour and your inktank if you please."
Hot shame coursed through her body as Tela stood up and stripped the armour off and handed them over along with her inktank and goggles, the fake Inkling mask around her eyes were faded and hardly notable due to the constant flow of tears.
Then, in nothing more than a bra and pants Tela began to make her way to the home of Janjan, completely and utterly broken.
Tela sat with her legs folded to her side on Crazy Old Janjan pea-green lumpy sofa, Levi curled up beside her asleep.
Levi had woken up to the sound of her sister had worked herself up so much in excitement that she now laid between Tela, passed out with exhaustion.
"Thanks for the clothes Janjan…" whisper Tela with puffy red eyes, she had cried all the way to Janjan's house and almost gave the poor old Octoling a heart attack at the state she had arrived in. Janjan had forced her into the shower after the young Octoling had explained what had happened, and gave her a bundle of clothes to wear.
The clothes were a simple black t-shirt and black shorts. Janjan gave a low hearty chuckle and handed a mug of steaming herbal tea to Tela who took it with thanks.
"What you talking about Tulip dear? Those clothes belong to you anyway, I'm surprised they still fit you."
It was true, the clothes were slightly tight but not to the degree that it caused the young Octoling discomfort. Tela took a small sip of the tea before lowering the mug to her lap and sighing.
"I messed up big time Janjan…" her voice was low and full of sorrow. Janjan sat down on her rocking chair and casted a look of sympathy in her direction.
"I always dreamed of helping Octavio in making our worlds a better place to live in for our kind, but I just ruined everything. I'm such a pathetic excuse for a Octoling."
"Now enough of that self-pitying talk little missy!" said Janjan firmly as she began to rock herself gently. "Things will be as they will be. I never liked the idea of you joining that army anyway."
"Why?" asked Tela surprised as she looked at the old Octoling with wide amber eyes.
"Why!? Because of that Octavio! He's so busy in getting revenge on that old friend of his and the Inklings, that he's completely disregarded the rest of us!"
Tela was shocked at Janjan outburst.
"How could you say that Janjan? DJ Octavio is trying to help us! Those Inklings are living the high life up there without any thought of us suffering, it's only fair that we have their zapfish to help power our worlds back up. Why should we suffer and not them!?"
Janjan shook her head with a look of great disappointment, Tela who had started to work herself up in a state calm down with a sense of confusion at the old Octolings expression.
"Oh Tulip… you're just as blinded and mis-lead as the rest of those fools who followed DJ Octavio."
Tela frowned, her amber eyes filled with uncertainly. Blinded? Mis-lead? What did she mean?
"Let's think for a moment, shall we? Think back, 100 years ago when the Great Turf War broke out between the Octarians and the Inklings."
Tela nodded her head, the frown still apparent on her face. Where was Janjan going with this?
"We lost the war, but what if we reverse the roles. What if WE won the war instead, and the Inklings lost? Tell me Tulip, what would have happened then?"
Tela looked down, her fingers on her chin as she began to think. What WOULD have happened if they had won the war. There was no room on the surface so the Inklings would have been forced underground instead of them. The Octarians would been in possession of the Zapfish and have all the power they could have ever needed, while the Inklings would have nothing.
The Octarians would have had everything… and the Inklings would be forgotten. Just like they were.
"I guess there is hope for you yet after all lassie loo!" smiled Crazy Old Janjan warmly as Tela looked up with a guilty and sheepish look.
"I guess you're right Janjan, we really would have done no more than the Inklings. All this time I hated them, jealous of what they had. Yet it's not really their fault… is it?"
Janjan shook her head.
"No Tulip, it's not. Let me tell yeh something, after all I was there when the Great Turf War happened! Ah… despite the years, it feels like it had happened only yesterday."
Tela sat up straight at this piece of information, of course… Janjan was 120 years-old. Why had it never occurred to Tela in asking about the war?
"Before the Great Turf War Octarians and Inklings were on good terms with each other, none more so then Octavio and Scuttlefish. They weren't just friends Tulip, they were the best of friends. You never saw one with the other."
Scuttlefish? Why did that name sound so familiar? Tela's amber eyes widened when she remembered Agent 3 address that old Inkling in Octo Valley by the name of Cap'n Scuttlefish. It was hard to believe that DJ Octavio and that Inkling use to be best pals, it seemed so unreal.
"Those were the good ole' days that." Janjan nodded her head as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, a warm contented smile on her face. Then the smile slowly turned to a frown.
"Then tension began to grow as the sea level started to rise, everyone was panicking and fights broke out. Yet Octavio and Scuttlefish always managed to diffuse the situation before they got too out of hand."
Tela drank the last drop of tea and placed the mug on the table before her, her eyes never leaving Janjan for a second.
"I was placed on a research team consisted of both Octolings and Inklings, I remember taking quite a fancy with an Inkling boy about a year younger then me. What was his name again?... Ah yes, Inka… I remember going weak-kneed and blushing hot like a volcano every time that handsome young Squid walked into the same room as me."
Tela started to blush heavily herself as Janjan giggled like a little girl, Levi stirred slightly but then snuggled further into her older sister lap still asleep.
"I remember how we use to sneak away when everyone was busy, fooling around here and there. Then Octavio did something that no one could have predicted, he turned on his own friend and declared open war for the territory."
Janjan seem to sink further in her chair, her expression showing deep regret and sorrow as the memories of that day played in her mind.
"All the relation between the two-species vanished as Octarians and Octolings turned on the Inklings. I'm ashamed to admit Tulip lassie loo that I was one of them. I was so caught up in the false lies of Octavio that I ended up attacking my dear sweet Inka. Our fight was… terrible… I had so many dreams of us being together… starting a family…"
A tear slipped down the old Octolings cheek, as she continued to talk.
"We built mighty vehicles called the 'Great Octoweapons', machines that required no engine to move. We overpowered the Inklings with them in over a day, Inkopolis was completely in our control."
"Then what happened?" asked Tela, her amber eyes wide in wonderment. She wanted to know how the Inklings had taken back Inkopolis when they were obviously overpowered.
"The birth of the Squidbeak Splatoon is what happened lassie loo!" laughed Janjan as she wiped away a few stray tears.
"Lead by none other than Octavio ex-best friend, Scuttlefish! He had discovered that the Great Octoweapons had a flaw, they used cables for their power source. It's quite embarrassing, one only had to pull the plug and poof! Machine down."
Tela narrowed her eyes, how had such an obvious flaw gone unchecked? It was almost as if Octavio WANTED them to lose.
"Finally, after a year of constant wars over the island, the Inklings came out as the winners. Octavio lead his battered and defeated people underground, and the rest well… I'm sure you know what happened after that Tulip lassie loo."
Tela was shocked and overwhelmed.
This is unbelievable! The story DJ Octavio told us in the army were completely different, he made the Inklings sound so… evil. Yet we were the ones are started that stupid war…
For the first time in her life, Tela felt like she was the bad guy. Agent 3 was right, they had no right to steal the Inklings zapfish.
Janjan suddenly cackled as she got up from the rocking chair. "I'm pretty sure the Inklings have a festival to celebrate the day they won the Great Turf War… what was it called again? Hmmmm… it's on the tip of my tongue…"
Festival? Tela's cocked her head to one side as the words of the two Inkling girls on the giant TV screen in Inkopolis echoed through her head.
"The Splatfest Festival?" the young Octoling asked in a raised voice.
"Hmmm… indeed. I must enquire lassie loo… how did you know what it was called? You haven't been to Inkopolis… have you?" Janjan grinned slyly as she narrowed her eyes at a suddenly shiftly red-faced Tela.
"Ummm… I… may have been there once… I had a disguise and when I tried t-to… well…" Tela stopped talking as the old Octoling's laughter filled the room.
Janjan made her way towards the doorway before turning back to a greatly confused looking Tela. "Best you get to bed then Tulip, the festival does start at midnight today. Who knows… maybe you get to meet your own Inka."
Then she left the room.
Wait, what!? What does she mean the festival starts at midnight? Then realisation dawned on her… of course, thinking back on it now. The Splatfest Festival does start at midnight tonight. Did Janjan just give her permission to go?
'…maybe you get to meet your own Inka.' Tela blushed as these words were repeated in her head. She looked down at Levi still snuggled to her side and gave a sigh.
Meet her own Inka… Was that even possible? It wasn't like she was attracted to the Inklings, that's just weird considering that they were completely different species.
An image of Sora from when he had come out of the bathroom wrapped in nothing but a towel floated up in her mind, causing the young Octoling to swallow hard as her face grew red once more.