Chapter 2: The Crab Captain

"Yo ho, yo ho. A pirate's life for me."

"Why... is it so... damn... hot..." Akikta panted as sweat beads dripped down his forehead. He tried drinking his saliva a few times, desperate for some form of liquid.

From his current position, all Akikta had to do was walk in a straight line, and he'd eventually find himself in Inkadia. But at this rate, he feared the heat would cook him alive before he even got halfway there.

Akikta thought about the translators Sal gave him, a hopeless attempt to take his mind off the blistering heat.

Something about them confused him. The technology and engineering design were a little ahead of anything Alterna could've offered, but they were clearly of human origin.

Sal and his clan were definitely descendants of whoever managed to escape Alterna all those years ago.

Going on that fact, Akikta now knew why their native languages differed, despite being of the same species. It made sense that the language of humans evolved beyond anything he was familiar with.

What didn't make sense was how quickly Sal had a pair of translators ready for Akikta's use.

Not to mention that weird fish thing he saw earlier. Was that a pet of some kind? The thought alone gave him goosebumps.

A low and distant rumble broke the calm noise of wind and Akikta's train of thought.

He perked up, looking over his shoulder to see... a large ship? It was distant, but the silhouette was unmistakable. The wavy lines of a black ship rode across the sea of sand.

Akikta sighed and faced forward again. He lightly knocked on his head with both hands. "Not now, brain, please. It's bad enough I have to deal with this heat. Don't start making me hallucinate, too."

He had seen these types of things in movies. After spending ample time in the dunes with no one but themselves, the protagonist starts seeing things that aren't actually there.

Usually, the hallucination is an oasis, but Akikta knew the same principle applied here.

He continued forward, though he didn't get very far without hearing the rumble again. It sounded a little louder, but still faint. Akikta ignored the noise, only acknowledging it by knocking on his head with both hands again.

A minute of silence passed. Akikta breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful the auditory hallucinations had stopped. Or so he thought.

The rumble came back, this time nearly bursting his eardrums. The noise shook the ground and Akikta's very soul.

He fell and quickly looked over to see the ship was right on top of him, glistening a frightening brown color with a large steel crab-like claw as the figurehead. Shockingly, this was no hallucination.

Akikta scrambled to his feet and ran. His exhaustion from earlier suddenly vanished. All he could think about was getting to safety, away from whatever the hell that ship was. Was it even a ship? It couldn't be. They were nowhere near an ocean, yet the vessel sailed as if at sea.

Akikta wasn't given a chance to think, as he didn't make it far from the ship. It sailed right next to him, allowing a visual on its side.

Lined on the side of the ship were rows of small panels. One of these panels opened. Akikta expected to see a cannon slide out and take aim at him, but instead, a large grappling hook shot out. It grappled onto Akikta's body, making him tumble with a slight roll.

Somehow, the grappling hook began dispensing rope around his body with a loud mechanical whirring sound. When the noise stopped, so did the rope. But by then, Akikta was all wrapped up like a Christmas present.

He was given no time to process what had happened to him as the grappling hook reeled itself in. It shot up back to the panel, but before going in, it released its grip on Akikta. He flew past the panel the hook returned to, landing hard on the ship's top deck with a loud thud. Akikta shut his eyes and groaned in pain.

"Haha! Caught another bandit!" A strange, slightly high-pitched voice announced.

Akikta opened his eyes and got startled. Towering over him at eight feet in height was a large purple jellyfish.

The jellyfish stood on two long tendrils while its other two tendrils raised in the air, acting as arms. On top of its mushroom-shaped head was a half-torn pirate hat. It appeared to be fluorescent as it pulsated pink occasionally.

"Hey, hey, nice work Styg." A deep-pitched and laid-back tone congratulated.

Akikta's head shot over to a smaller but bulkier figure. They were about the same height as Akikta, six feet. Their arms and legs were muscular, but their torso was flabby. Their feet were flippers, and their hands only had three fingers.

And their head... it was an angler fish! The iconic white-tipped angler-fin hung from the fish's large head, shining down on its black eyes, brown skin, and sharp jagged teeth, which were more disproportionate than that snatcher's teeth.

Unlike the jellyfish-looking creature, the anglerfish beast wore torn, baggy clothing.

Akikta blinked a few times, not believing what he was seeing. Had it not been for the pain from earlier, he would've thought he passed out in the heat and was dreaming.

He looked away, not wanting to stare at those off-putting creatures any longer. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones here.

Akikta noticed various other sea creatures; all were familiar, but at the same time, not so much.

There were eels, cookie-cutter sharks, blobfishes, and many more. All of them had something that made them a little humanoid, but they also retained a feature that allowed Akikta to guess what species they were part of.

Some wore torn clothes, others wore intact but dirty clothes. Some just flat-out wore nothing. Not like they had anything to cover up, evidently.

The only thing they had in common was that they all were creatures that should be in the ocean, not on a ship sailing through the desert.

Akikta could never dream of something this wild.

Aside from the purple jellyfish and anglerfish standing before him, no one noticed his arrival. Most were dancing to a lovely shanty that played loudly or chatting.

It reeked of sea life. The heavy smell made Akikta scrunch his nose and turn his attention back to Styg and the anglerfish.

"Today just isn't your day." Styg, who sounded like he should have an over-exaggerated twirled mustache, stated.

He lacked eyes, but Akikta could sense Styg staring directly at him. He sucked in his lips, or at least he tried to. The translator had prevented him from doing so; simultaneously, it reminded him he could communicate.

"W-w-who are you?!" Akikta stammered.

Styg responded by standing up straight and placing a tendril on his lean torso, which Akikta first thought was another tendril, giving a proud salute. "Aha! Tremble at my form and despair, bandit, for you have been captured by Sargent Styg! Proud member of the Wild Claws!" Styg exclaimed while posing dramatically.

Akikta wanted to ask more specific questions, like what Styg was and who the Wild Claws were, but he became overwhelmed.

Instead, he went to defend himself from false accusations. "I'm not a bandit!"

"That's what they all say. But who else would wander around here other than those looking to dig up and steal treasure? Too bad for you though! All treasure in the Splatlands belongs to the Wild Claws!"

Before Akikta could protest against Styg's claims, the anglerfish poked his cheek with a slimy finger, making him shiver in disgust. "Ay, Styg? What kinda mollusk you think this bandit be? Don't think I've seen one of his people before."

"What do you mean? He's clearly an inkling... I think?"

"Nah, can't be. Look at his eyes."

"Ah, you're right. He appears to lack the membrane. But look! His ears are round. He could be one of Nakji's people."

"Yeah, you might be onto somethin'! Call her over."

"Nakji! Be a dear and come over here for a sec!" Styg called.

Akikta expected to see yet another horrid sea creature. But to his surprise, emerging from the crowd was... a human!

No, wait. That wasn't a human. Was it?

Compared to everyone else aboard the ship, Nakji closely matched Akikta's appearance, being only a foot shorter and having a lighter skin tone. But she looked... off.

The two locked eyes; Akikta noticed her purple-colored irises immediately. That, and the black markings around each eyelid with a small curved line jutting from their outer edges.

"No, wait. He's also missing her people's membrane." Styg pointed out.

"I hear them octos can be born with marks so slim it's barely visible. Maybe he be one of them?"

"Maybe, but look at the top of his head." Styg pointed to Akikta's head. "Now look at hers." He pointed to Nakji's head.

Akikta noticed what Styg was talking about. Nakji's purple hair was incredibly smooth, and so were her eyebrows. They weren't hairy like his.

He also noticed suckers on the bigger, smooth, quiff-shaped appendage at the center of her head. It was like a large tentacle had been placed on her head horizontally.

"Huh, maybe he not one of them then..." The anglerfish scratched the bottom of his chin, clearly stumped.

These people acted like they'd never seen a human before. Then again, Akikta has never seen creatures like them before either.

"Gah! Who cares what he is? Let's just strip him of his valuables and be done with it!" Styg sounded frustrated.

"Wh- I don't have any valuables!" Akikta exclaimed.

"Lying again? That thing on your mouth looks valuable to me. And how about-" Styg stopped abruptly, spotting something poking in between the rope Akikta was tied in. "Oh? What's this?"

One of Styg's tendrils extended towards Akikta. His eyes trailed to where the appendage was going—his mask.

"DON'T TOUCH MY MASK!" Akikta shouted with ferocity, causing Styg and even the bulky anglerfish to flinch.

He'd soon come to regret his shout, as right after, the musical shanty stopped along with the chatter. Everyone on the deck was now aware of Akikta's presence.

He nervously swallowed. "P-please... the mask is all I have left of my family..." Silence filled the air.

Akikta turned to look around as the sea creatures simply stared at him. A few, like Nakji, squinted their eyes, as if somehow recognizing him.

Styg stood there with his arms at his sides.

When the anglerfish realized Styg wouldn't respond, he stepped forward with an open maw, about to say something.

Before any words left the angler's mouth, a door slammed open, violently breaking the silence.

"Aye, what be with the sudden silence?" A new, hefty, slightly deep, and crackly voice asked.

Everyone turned to where the voice came from. Akikta followed the crew's gaze. His eyes widened as he felt his muscles tense with fear. What the hell is that thing?! screamed his inner voice.

Scuttling through the crowd on eight large legs was a massive crustacean. Each time one leg thumped against the wooden deck, it groaned with a loud creak as the wood struggled to keep itself from caving under the weight of the monster.

Styg already dwarfed Akikta, but this crab monster made him look like an ant in comparison. When it stopped a short distance away from him, Akikta got a full look at the crab.

His neck nearly broke just looking up at the giant, who towered over him at fifteen feet and had a bulky humanoid torso with a triangular-shaped head. The carapace had a white color on the front and a red color on the back. Smaller spikes jutted out the carapace from various angles, more noticeably the back.

Aside from its lack of clothes, the crab's disproportionate claws were its most noticeable feature.

Both were white with black tips, but only the right claw matched the appropriate size, contrary to its body. The left claw was enormous, practically bigger than the rest of its body. Akikta couldn't understand how the crab could move with such a large appendage.

The crab's black beading eyes darted from Akikta, then to the anglerfish and Nakji, and finally to Styg. "When the captain asks a question, his crew is expected to answer." The crab scowled with a soft crackle, which Akikta now realized was the sound of his mandibles clicking together.

Styg shuddered in response. "Aye, Captain Claw! I- we meant no disrespect! We were just trying to figure out what kind of bandit we caught when-"

"For the last time, I'm not a bandit!" Akikta shouted, immediately forgetting what kind of situation he was in.

Styg snapped towards him. "Silence, bandit! I've heard enough out of you!" He raised a tendril, aimed to smack Akikta across the cheek.

Before he could, Captain Claw raised his smaller claw. "Hold." He ordered, and luckily for Akikta, Styg backed down obediently. "Funny voice ye got there, sandlubber. Not one I'd expect to hear from an inkling."

Sandlubber? Doesn't he mean landlubber? Anyway... "I'm- uh... not an inkling..." Akikta corrected, which caused Captain Claw to narrow his eyelids.

"Blade Master. Cut 'em loose."

The captain ordered. Akikta looked around to see who the alias referred to, only to see Nakji unsheathe a hidden cutlass and step forward.

Akikta got spooked and tried to wiggle away from her, but she was right on top of him in mere moments. She raised the blade, and he closed his eyes, bracing for pain and death.

All he heard was a quick swoosh, and his body felt less restricted.

He opened his eyes to see the ropes were severed in one clean, precise slash. His scuba suit wasn't even skimmed.

"Stand." The captain demanded, causing Akikta's head to jolt up at the behemoth. When he realized that the captain's order was for him, he quickly shot to his feet, standing to attention.

Captain Claw maneuvered over to Akikta. The crab used his smaller pincher to grab Akikta's arm. One squeeze would be enough to break every bone, but the captain was, surprisingly, incredibly gentle. He raised Akikta's arm, doing the same with the other as he circled him a few times.

Was the captain examining him? That's the only explanation Akikta could think of, as even the other crew didn't seem to know what was going on.

"By the seven seas!" Captain Claw backed away from Akikta. "He's not an inkling, sea anemone, or urchin!"

"Uh... then what he be?" The anglerfish asked.

"Lads! We caught ourselves a human!" Captain Claw raised both pinchers into the air, snapping them excitedly.

The crew had a mixture of reactions. Some, like Nakji, were shocked. Others, like the anglerfish, were confused. Then there were those whose reactions couldn't be determined, like Styg.

Akikta was puzzled at the crab's reaction. Captain Claw acted as though he were a mythical creature. Before he could ask any questions, the anglerfish spoke again.

"But uh, cap'n? Ain't them things been extinct for..." The anglerfish raised his fingers one at a time. "A long time?"

Akikta raised a brow at what he said. Extinct? Humans? Sal warned him that there were creatures out here who would eat him alive. Perhaps this is what he was talking about. And perhaps the remaining humans kept themselves hidden to avoid these semi-intelligent animals. That would explain a lot of things.

"There be one right in front of us, so clearly, they aren't all extinct!" Captain Claw pointed out.

"So... does that mean we'll get to eat him or..." The anglerfish trailed off in his sentence when the captain gave him an annoyed look.

"No, ye squid for brains! He be our ticket to infinite riches!"

"Uh... h-how?"

"Think about it! A living, breathing human here on our ship? Those fancy bigshots in Inkadia will be linin' up with whatever they've got to offer just to get a minute with him! Hell, not just them. The whole world will want a piece of em! We'll be swimmin' in a sea of gold!" Captain Claw explained to his subordinate as he crackled happily, showing more excitement than the rest of the crew at the prospect of Akikta being their cash cow.

"Aye, I'll finally replenish the bounty that accursed eel tamer robbed me of, and then some!"

Akikta's head tilted. Did he just say eel tamer? He thought as he looked around at all the eel-like creatures aboard the ship. "Eel tamer...?" He finally spoke up.

"Aye! That blasted eel tamer! Plundering a small settlement, we were. Then out she and her scurvy crew came. Argh! Gets me blood boilin' every time I remember the scuffle." Captain Claw ranted about a scenario Akikta couldn't imagine.

At first, he thought they had a former tamer who helped gain the current eels who were part of the crew. But from the sounds of it, this eel tamer was never on Captain Claw's side to begin with.

"The horrid melody of her flute summoned hundreds of those damned eels. Ate up half me crew, they did!" Eels being summoned from the simple melody of a flute? That was absurd. After all, they weren't snakes. But even if exaggerated, something happened between this eel tamer and the crab captain.

He snapped his pinchers angrily, only to make a low clicking noise before turning to Akikta. "Enough about those bandits. I'll get them one day. But as for now, fortune is smiling down on the Wild Claws once again!" The captain was dead-set on using Akikta for his own gain.

Honestly, it was still hard for Akikta to process that he was talking to a bunch of sea animals. But he knew now wasn't a good time to get wrapped up in their mess. "As much as I would like to help, I kinda have my own things going on right now..."

A low crackle emitted from Captain Claw. "Aye? I don't remember ye having a say in the matter."

Akikta figured they wouldn't let him roam out of this situation scot-free. "So, that's how it's gonna be." He murmured. In response, he heard a few shuffles behind him. His eyes darted from left to right. They were surrounding him.

The anglerfish had his hands raised as if he were going to pounce.

Styg lowered himself, ready to strike with his limbs that Akikta assumed would sting like hell if they touched him.

Nakji was the only one who didn't look as battle ready as the rest of the crew, but she still held her cutlass.

It was quiet. The light breeze of the wind whistled throughout the standstill as the scent of the sea continued to bombard Akikta's nose uncomfortably.

Then, a move was made.

Akikta dashed towards the center mast, which was wrapped in rope. He jumped, latched onto the mast, and immediately began climbing to the top at speeds akin to an ape.

Captain Claw tried to grab Akikta before he went out of reach, but the captain narrowly missed his feet. "Get that human!" shouted the captain.

The rest of the crew mobilized in response. Those who were able followed Akikta up the mast. Albeit at a much slower pace, as their bodies weren't meant for climbing.

Akikta spotted a loose rope that had not been tied down and leaped off the mast, grabbing hold of it and swinging around the ship like a monkey on a vine.

He yelped in fear when the rope momentarily brought him over to the ship's side, exposing Akikta to the sight of the hot sand the ship traveled on.

Not wanting to go through that scare again, he let go of the rope when he came back around, unintentionally drop-kicking a small cookie-cutter shark off the ship.

Suddenly, the ship lurched to the side, causing everyone onboard to stagger. Akikta turned around to see a steering wheel behind him spinning uncontrollably. His eyes widened after realizing he just threw the driver overboard.

He ran up and grabbed the ship's wheel, about to adjust the ship's trajectory, only to see Captain Claw about to topple over.

Unlike most of the crew, Captain Claw could not keep his balance when the ship suddenly changed direction. As a result, he fell with a loud crash. His weight made the entire ship abruptly lean on the side he fell on.

Those not prepared for the lean were tossed off the ship completely, along with barrels and crates. Akikta would've joined them had he not grabbed onto the ship's wheel.

Those that were not tossed off the ship slid off it. The crew's slick and slimy bodies prevented them from latching onto any solid surface, or if they managed to grab onto something, they quickly lost their grip.

"Captain!" Styg shouted as he, along with many others and the anglerfish, tumbled right off the ship and into the sea of sand.

Captain Claw saved himself by smashing both pinchers into the ship's deck.

Nakji landed securely on Captain Claw's back and was caught between the carapace's spikes. Through the grace of some higher power, they did not impale her.

"No! Me crew!" Captain Claw yelled, watching as his crewmates tumbled off the ship. By the time the ship straightened itself out, most of the crew had been thrown overboard.

Akikta realigned the ship before the crab stood up again. Even though Akikta was on the stern deck, he was still at chest height to Captain Claw, who remained on the main deck.

"First that eel bandit, and now a human! Always goin' after me crew! Ye are gonna pay dearly for that." Captain Claw threatened and threw a strike at Akikta.

Akikta rolled out the way, narrowly dodging his claw. "Don't blame me! Blame your weight!" He accidentally mocked, further fueling the captain's anger.

When he rolled, he felt the items on his belt brush against him. Suddenly, he remembered one such item that could be useful right about now. At the same time, Captain Claw seemed to realize Nakji was on his back as she attempted to get down.

Akikta used the distraction to unhook the immobilizer from his belt. He pressed the green button and then lobbed the device at Captain Claw.

The immobilizer latched right onto his chest when the captain returned his attention to Akikta after helping Nakji get down. "What the?"

Right after it landed, electric shocks coursed through Captain Claw. He let out a painful crackly roar, swinging his claws about wildly and accidentally hitting Nakji. Her body flung across the ship's main deck. When she landed on the other side, she didn't move.

Captain Claw continued to flail about, trying to grab Akikta one last time. "Argh!" He crackled in pain again. The device had put more oomph into its next shock, causing Captain Claw to tumble down onto the middle of the ship, immobilized.

Akikta was afraid to approach the crab, but something told him there was no way he was getting up from that.

Before he could go over to the captain's body, the ship bounced violently, as if it had rammed into something.

Akikta looked to see they were no longer in an endless sea of sand. Stone pillars surrounded the ship. They had just entered a forest made of stone.

He gritted his teeth and looked back at the captain, who was now near the ship's edge with his gigantic arm dangling over the side.

Not wanting to lose the immobilizer, Akikta scrambled to Captain Claw and walked along the crustacean's chest, being careful not to step on any of the smaller spikes.

At first, he wasn't sure how to get the device off. He tried prying at it, but it stuck to the captain like super glue. Only after pressing the green button again did it release itself from Captain Claw's carapace.

After he re-secured the immobilizer to his belt, Akikta made his way off the captain.

He didn't get far before he felt something catch him in a painful vise grip around the waist. "Where do ye think yer goin'?!" Captain Claw yelled.

Akikta was shocked. He didn't expect the effects of the immobilizer to wear off right after it was removed!

The captain attempted to get back up, but the ship bumped against another stone pillar, causing him to slip off the vessel even more.

Captain Claw barely caught himself as he dug into the ship's side with his giant claw. He still firmly held Akikta above the main deck, even though he could've easily sliced him in half.

"Damn ye, human! I was planning to sell ye off to the highest bidder once we rang out as much gold as we could from those gullible inkadians. But now... NOW I'LL HAVE YE SLAVE AWAY FOR THE REST OF Y-"

Captain Claw was cut off by a stone pillar close-lining him. The velocity was enough to separate the captain's arm entirely from the rest of his body.

Akikta was left in the clutches of a now ownerless claw. Everything happened so quickly, he stayed in place with a shocked face plastered on him.

Akikta snapped back to reality when the ship hit another stone pillar. After remembering where he was, he struggled to free himself from the claw, which still had a fierce grip on him.

After getting out, he ran back up to the ship's wheel and tried to steer the ship out of the valley of stone pillars. He had minor success, able to maneuver out of the field of stone, but not without hitting a few dozen on the way out.

The wood creaked and snapped as it broke off the ship chunk by chunk, piece by piece.

The damage suffered forced the ship to slow down to a glacier halt. Eventually, the ship came to a complete stop.

Akikta stayed there with the wheel in his sweaty hands. His heart pounded as he breathed almost violently. At least the brutal smell of the sea was gone.

He fell on his rear and calmed down. "Can't believe I got out of that in one piece." He said, relieved.

Akikta's successful escape was short-lived. His stomach churned and growled loudly. A painful sensation in his abdomen accompanied the growl.

"D-damn..." He held onto his stomach. The pain was horrible.

He was so caught up in escaping Alterna and doing Sal's favor that he completely forgot he had eaten nothing ever since waking from cryo-sleep. Shit, how long ago had it been since he ate before being frozen?

Well, it didn't matter now. All that moving around he just did probably drained more calories from him than when he was running around Alterna trying to escape.

"Why couldn't one of those bastards die here..." He questioned. The crew was basically a whole bunch of seafood. And at this point, he'd eat anything.

Akikta, still holding his stomach, walked down from the stern deck and back onto the main deck, only to see Nakji's body across the ship. Akikta stopped and stared for a few seconds. She wasn't moving. "Hmm..."

Ravenous thoughts took his mind. Sure, she looked human. But she wasn't. She was just another sea critter, wasn't she? Akikta walked over to her and got a closer look.

Using his foot, he flipped her over on her back. To his surprise, she was, unfortunately, still breathing.

Akikta grumbled. Damn, she's just unconscious. He was hungry, but not hungry enough to cook and eat someone alive. Only a creature of pure evil would do those two things together.

Besides, he didn't have the heart to eat someone who looked mildly innocent. Especially since she didn't really attack him like everyone else.

His stomach growled again, this time louder than before. Akikta had to replenish all that energy he burnt up asap, lest his body start to eat itself.

He weighed his options as he looked down at Nakji. Sunlight reflected off an object and into Akikta's eyes unexpectedly, momentarily blinding him.

He flinched and turned to see Captain Claw's severed arm gleaming under the sunlight. It hadn't fallen off the ship like Akikta thought. "Hmm..."