Chapter 6: Surprise
"To Be Sure."
With their pursuer gone, the rest of the ride was quite peaceful.
Though the scenery was barren, it contrasted beautifully with the sparkling night sky. "If you can ignore the heat, this place isn't all that bad," Akikta commented, but got no response from Nakji.
The sounds of crashing waves shattered the quiet atmosphere. "Oh wow." Akikta turned to see a greenish ocean stretching far out towards the horizon—the perfect conversation starter.
"Those waters look nice. Ooh, we should have a swimming contest! I know you're probably better than me, but it'd be fun."
"Pass."
"Why? Don't want to get your clothes wet?"
"I'm not sure how it works for your people, but if I got in there, I'd get splatted immediately."
Akikta raised a brow. "Splatted?"
"Yeah, splatted. Since there's no active spawn point out here, I'd die." Nakji explained.
Akikta's confusion only grew. He wouldn't bother asking what a spawn point was.
"So wait. Basically, you can't swim?"
"Yeah, basically."
So she's terrible at running, and she can't swim? Evolution must've really screwed the cephalopods over...
"Besides, you don't wanna swim in Anarchy Bay," she added.
Akikta looked at the calm ocean. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, the tidal patterns are unpredictable. They'll be low and close to the seabed one moment, and the next, you'll find your ship capsized. They don't call it anarchy bay for no reason, you know."
"Oh..."
"The water itself is the safest part about the bay. Don't even get me started on the salmonids dwelling within."
Akikta perked up at the mention of salmonids. "I remember you called Little Buddy a salmonid. Did you mean to say salmon?"
Nakji looked back at Akikta with a perplexed glare. "That's what they are, but they're called salmonids. They're terrifying beasts." She faced forward again. "They'll eat you alive if given the chance. Not that we'd be allowed near them."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's illegal to go near their waters without permission."
"Isn't stealing treasure and snatching people up illegal, too?"
"You could say that, but here in the Splatlands, there's no such thing as law." She stated.
"It looked pretty civil in Splatsville," Akikta recalled.
"That's because that whole city is controlled by one of the many clans. They're the ones who uphold any type of order. Though you've experienced firsthand that order is still a flimsy thing, even there." Nakji elaborated, reminding him they basically committed a crime by stealing Little Buddy.
"If they can't keep a firm hold over their own cities, why would they bother with the creatures in the ocean?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is keeping people away from salmonid swim zones is one of the few rules the clans enforce actively... and harshly."
Nakji sounded incredibly knowledgeable. More so than the other pirates. How'd she ever end up with the likes of them? "You sure know a lot about these lands."
"Not a lot. Just enough to survive." She responded sharply.
Akikta finally noticed they weren't heading back to the main road. "Why are we still riding off-road? We lost Metta, didn't we?"
"Yeah, but I doubt we'll be so lucky next time. If we go back to the road, she'll probably catch up to us again. I don't plan on driving the whole way anyhow, so we'll stop for the night. I have a place in mind."
Akikta wouldn't complain about getting a good's night rest. He hasn't slept voluntarily or comfortably in a while.
Half an hour passed before Nakji stopped the motorcycle. "We're here." She announced.
Akikta looked up at the towering structures before them. Most looked beaten and destroyed. Others reminded him of large pyramids. "What is this place?"
"Um'ami Ruins."
"That doesn't really tell me anything."
"Well, they're... ruins."
Awkward silence set in.
"You don't actually know what this place is, do you?" Akikta questioned.
"Oh, quit complaining! I only know about this place because some of it is used as a stage for turf wars. Don't worry; I heard they won't be using it for battles until tomorrow. We'll be gone by then."
"Turf wars... what is that exactly?"
"Just a popular sport. Doubt you'd be able to play it, though."
"A sport, huh? Eh, never really was into sports anyway."Akikta said before sitting next to a wall.
He looked up at the sky. The stars twinkled in the sea of darkness. "Such a beautiful sight." He praised randomly.
Nakji looked at the sky and then back at him. "You act like you've never seen stars."
Akikta turned towards Nakji as she sat beside him. "I haven't. Well... not like this." He looked back up at the stars. "I come from a place deep underground. We have a simulated sky that mimics the real one, but I never realized how lackluster it was until now."
Nakji made an 'o'-like shape with her mouth before staring at the sky with him. The wispy sounds of wind gently blew past them both.
Akikta eyed Nakji again. "So, about your weapon..."
She blinked at him. "Oh! Do you wanna see it?"
He nodded, and Nakji undid the strap that was on her. She dusted some sand specks off before unsheathing her blade.
What she pulled out was a katana slightly longer than her body. It had a pinkish handle, while the blade itself was purple.
"Whoa..." He said in awe. "I see why you hid that away." He stated and flipped his hood down so the wind could blow through his hair.
"You said that blade was important to you. Was that true?" Akikta asked, already knowing the answer. He wanted to hear it from her.
A soft smile spread across Nakji's. "Yes. This blade has been with me for as long as I can remember. I received it from a man. I... can't remember his name, but he was one of the few people who was nice to me." She explained, still looking down at the katana.
As Nakji gently rubbed the side of the blade, Akikta noticed an inscription carved on the weapon. It was partly scratched out, but even if it wasn't, he still couldn't understand what it said. "What's that?" He pointed.
"I assume it's a signature... I'm not sure."
"What's it say?"
"Koko..."
Maybe that was the man's name? Or part of it... Akikta thought. He couldn't understand why someone would give such a dangerous weapon to a young Nakji, but he figured they must've had a reason.
Nakji pointed to Akikta's face. "What about you? You were pretty aggressive to Styg when he tried to take that mask from you."
She reminded. Akikta gave an awkward chuckle before taking the mask off and facing it toward him. He expected it to be covered in ink, but to his surprise and relief, all the ink that covered him was gone. Same with Nakji, which he only now noticed.
"My grandfather gave this mask to me. It's an heirloom, so of course I was protective of it." Akikta raised the mask closer to him. "It's... all I have left of him..." His tone shifted to sorrow; he didn't break eye contact with the mask.
She gently touched his shoulder, snapping Akikta out of the trance that almost sucked him in. He blinked a few times and realized his eyes were watery.
Nakji stared at him. Almost as if she understood his pain.
Akikta wiped his tears away and felt a shuffle in his jacket pocket. He remembered he stuck Little Buddy inside and checked to see the smallfry was fast asleep.
"Well, I uh... guess we should go to sleep now. We've got a long journey ahead of us."
Nakji looked like she wanted to say something, but she sighed and sheathed her blade instead. "Right..." she responded and laid on the sand.
Akikta scooted away from Nakji to give her some space. He looked down at his mask one last time before putting it back on.
He briefly eyed the purple octoling, wondering if Sal's paranoia about octolings was truly justified or just bad luck for him.
Maybe it was best not to think about it tonight.
Akikta laid on his side in a certain way so the bat and radio didn't push into him or harm the smallfry. After, he attempted to sleep.
Nakji and Little Buddy fell asleep rather quickly. But Akikta had difficulty following suit, partly because this was his first time sleeping in the sand and mainly because a mildly painful sensation gradually grew in his stomach.
It felt like a stomachache, which he would typically deal with by twisting and turning to reduce the pain. But that wasn't an option this time, out of consideration for Little Buddy's comfort.
He would inevitably fall asleep.
Akikta was rudely awakened hours later by wet plopping sounds. They were soft, very faint. But they were there. He opened his eyes with a tired groan. His shuteye didn't last as long as he would've liked. The orange hue of the horizon overtook his vision for a moment. It was sunrise.
Akikta turned over to where Nakji last was, expecting to see her doing... something. But to his confusion, she was still asleep.
Then he heard the plops again, realizing the noise came from the other side.
Again, he turned. This time, his gaze landed on a tall figure who appeared to be making their way toward him with a slight limp. The plopping noise he heard was their footsteps.
His vision was still blurry, so he couldn't see who it was. At first, he thought Metta had somehow tracked them down and was right there. But the figure was taller than Metta. It also didn't run at them in a frantic charge. They walked like someone going over to say hi to a friend.
Was it another bandit trying to rob them? No, they would've tried to conceal their footsteps, or at least themselves.
Akikta slowly stood up, expecting whoever approached them to say something once they noticed he wasn't asleep. But they didn't. They didn't even stop their approach. They just kept walking. Drawing ever so closer.
Am I seeing things? Akikta thought. But the last time he believed he was seeing things, they were actually there. He slid his hand underneath his mask and lightly rubbed his eyes, finally clearing his blurred vision a little.
When he looked up at the approaching figure, he made out the appearance of a man. Not an inkling, or an octoling, or some humanoid fish. But an actual man.
His eyes widened. There was another person all the way out here?! He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
A huge smile spread across his face, and he dashed over to the man, wanting to greet him properly. He felt no need to flip his hood back up.
"Hey!" He called out, finally breaking the silence. But the man didn't respond. Regardless, Akikta's approach continued.
He blinked his eyes a few times once he got closer to the man. Then froze, coming to an immediate halt.
Akikta's muscles tightened. His heart rate elevated tremendously, and it became hard to breathe as fear practically grasped him by the throat.
That was no man.
Though in the shape of a person, the figure's skin was jet-black. It oozed off its body like ink. No, it was ink. The only other discernable feature was its pupilless white eyes.
He knew who it was—Subject 7.
Akikta let out a blood-curdling scream as he fell backward into the sand. He kicked his feet back as the ink creature continued to limp towards him.
How did he escape Alterna? It should've been impossible for him to get through the alternative exit- it flooded with water! How'd he even find me?! As all these thoughts ran through Akikta's mind, Subject 7 extended a hand out to grab him. He couldn't do anything other than stare. He felt paralyzed.
Suddenly, Subject 7's hand detached from his arm and fell to the ground with a muffled wet splash.
Nakji, who was now awake, stood beside Akikta with her katana drawn, the blade dripping with a tiny amount of black ink.
When the severed hand hit the ground, it turned into a small black puddle before converging back into the larger mass of Subject 7.
With focused eyes, Nakji swung her blade in four rapid swipes. Though none hit Subject 7, four horizontal purple ink slashes shot out to hit the ink creature.
They hit, but they didn't have the desired effect. Instead of injuring Subject 7, the purple ink turned black upon contact and added to his mass. As a result, he grew a few inches, and his limp disappeared.
"We have to go! Now!" Nakji yelled upon seeing her attacks strengthen Subject 7. But Akikta didn't budge. She huffed before sheathing her blade.
The mass of black ink continued to approach Akikta, completely ignoring Nakji.
She wouldn't let Subject 7 get Akikta so easily. She grabbed Akikta's arm and roughly pulled him, dragging his body along. She flipped his hood back on before forcing him on the motorcycle.
When Subject 7 realized what she was doing, a gaped mouth formed on him. He lunged at the duo; at the same time, Nakji accelerated. Subject 7 missed them by a hair.
Nakji continued to speed off with a frozen Akikta clinging to her. She looked back for a moment to see the ink creature. It didn't pursue them. It just stood there... Staring.
She shivered before facing forward to concentrate on the path ahead of them.