Chapter 3: Unexpected Savior

"Take his hand, don't be shy."

Marie awoke to slight groans, labored breathing, and an incredibly sore body; On top of that, it was dark, but for once, her vision wasn't blurry.

She turned to where the pained groans were coming from, expecting to see another one of her captors. Instead, she saw Callie safe and sound, cradled in a bulging arm—same as her.

Wait... Same as her...?

Marie's eyes slowly looked up, seeing the red eyes and crooked yellow teeth of a terrifying beast.

Without restraint, she screamed at the top of her lungs, startling the entity that held her. She squirmed, easily being dropped onto the ground, letting out a rough yelp on impact. "No! Don't hurt me!" she yelled in fear and covered her face.

"Hurt you? I saved you!" The masculine voice said, which confused Marie for a moment. She slowly uncovered her watery eyes, being greeted by the sight of... well, she wasn't sure what she was looking at. "Now, don't scream like that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" The man's voice sounded off—but not in a sense that it was disturbing. In fact, he sounded like an ordinary man. But... the voice didn't really match the body.

The man was unlike anything she'd ever seen. He towered over her four-foot self by an additional three feet and had a scaly skin texture. His scales were silver-colored, causing the soft moonlight to reflect off him and illuminate the surrounding trees.

Not all of his skin was silver-colored—his belly was a rosy shade of light pink; His lips were pitch black, mimicking lipstick... or was that lipstick? She couldn't tell.

While Marie was busy observing his odd features, the man took a step forward and kneeled to her level. She flinched upon realizing how close he had gotten. "Yeah...I get that reaction a lot." He said, sounding somewhat apologetic, which made Marie feel bad.

"Here." The man extended a large hand out to her, intending to help her up off the ground. Marie would've taken it, but the sharp claws made her hesitant. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you," he said assuringly.

Marie eyed his claws, and then Callie, not seeing a scratch on her. Marie looked herself over. She was also devoid of scratches. If he wanted to harm them, he would've done it by now...

Marie's eyes drifted back to the man holding her cousin, a small smile plastered across his face. He had a row of jagged, razor-sharp teeth, which were a rotten yellow.

Her eyes looked up to avoid the dreadful sight of his maw. As her gaze met his own, she noticed the sclera of his eyes was green instead of white, adding to the eeriness of his red pupils. The markings around his eyes were also different. There was no line connecting them. Instead, they were two individual circles with four squiggly-like lines spreading from each.

Despite his unique appearance, Marie felt... safe.

After her awkward gawking, she finally took his hand. The man's giant fingers closed around her tiny palm, though the grip wasn't as tight as she expected. It was surprisingly soft, like a cloud. He helped Marie to her feet before letting go, standing back up to his full height.

Marie felt comfortable enough to speak her mind. "What are you?" she asked with pure curiosity in her voice. It was a question that would normally be insensitive, but considering what she was looking at, she was sure the man understood her confusion.

His curved ears wiggled in response, and his smile widened. He almost seemed excited to answer her. "I may not look it, but I'm a... distinguished salmonid." The man replied, causing Marie to shudder in fear.

She didn't know much about salmonids, only that they were dangerous creatures who should not be messed with. Although she's only ever seen them in media sources, she believed his answer since he shared the same orange mohawk many depicted salmonids had.

His face contorted into one of worry after seeing her reaction. "B-but don't worry! I'm different from the rest of my people." He said frantically—another statement she believed.

Despite her lack of knowledge on salmonids, she's never seen one with legs. She eyed him up and down, noting the five talons he had in place of toes on each foot.

Then, a sudden movement came from behind the salmonid. Marie leaned to the side to look over him, seeing he had a large fishlike tail extending from his behind. The tip of the tail was orange, same as the large dorsal fin-like thing protruding from the man's back.

In addition to the things that already made him different from salmonids, he also wore different clothing.

While Marie trembled like a leaf due to the cold air chills, the salmonid, who wore nothing but a large orange cloth around his waist, stood still like an immovable mountain—She couldn't understand how he wasn't freezing.

Yeah, as far as she could tell, he was definitely different from other salmonids. The only thing in common was the mohawk... but maybe that meant he was a lot friendlier than the average salmonid?

"I saved you after all, didn't I?" He said, reminding Marie about her captors. All the screaming and shooting... that was real, wasn't it?

"D-did you splat them? F-for good?" She hugged herself, instinctively wanting to run.

There was a slight pause in the conversation before the salmonid responded. "You mean kill? No, I don't do such things. I merely taught those bad squids a lesson. They're still very much alive!"

Marie became confused. "B-but, what about the screaming and... and..."

"Screaming?" He tilted his head quizzically.

"T-there was screaming...?"

The man shook his head. "Frightened screams of my appearance, yes. But if you're talking about screams of pain, then no. Those bad squids didn't feel a thing when I knocked them unconscious."

So... it was all in my head? Marie thought. She knew the mix of pain and powerful emotions would get her to misjudge the situation. Unlike her cousin, she was surprisingly mature and logical when it came to things like this... usually anyway. But everyone has their moments.

Marie took a minute to calm down, realizing the humanoid salmonid would not harm her or Callie. He's proven to be benevolent in her eyes.

Still, there were a few things she wondered about. "H-how did you find us?"

"Well, I was going out for a swim. Then I picked up a very... unique smell."

Marie blinked. "Smell?"

"Yes." The salmonid tapped the tip of his nose. "We salmonids have very keen senses of smell. I picked up the scent of something I hadn't encountered in a long time." He shrugged his shoulders, exhaling a disappointed sigh. "And to think the scent led me to a bunch of mean squids picking on little smallfries. But don't worry, I'll keep you safe from now on." Marie softly smiled at the salmonid's words.

There was another pause in the conversation, then she spoke up again. "Um, mister? If it doesn't trouble you, can you please take me and my cousin back home?"

Before the salmonid could answer, the echoes of distant thundering caught both of their attention. "Sure. I'll take you home, little Ikayaki. But first, we need to find shelter. Don't wanna be out here when that terrible storm hits..." He said, which Marie had no qualms with. She hated storms, and as much as she wanted to get back home, she felt safe around her and Callie's savior.

After picking Marie up and cradling her in his arms with Callie, she realized what the man called her. "Wait, little Ikayaki?"

The man let out a small grunt. "Sorry, did I call you that? I keep forgetting you inklings already have assigned names. What's yours?"

"M-Marie..." she answered awkwardly, not understanding what he meant. "What's yours?"

He shook his head. "I was never given one." Marie looked down. The response saddened her.

She thought to herself before her eyes practically sparkled. "How about Sake?"

"Sake?"

Marie nodded. "Mhm! Gramps told me that word means salmon!"

"Really? In which dialect?"

Marie paused, only for her face to turn a shade of red. "I... can't remember..." she said in embarrassment, partially hiding her face.

The man chuckled. "Sake... yes! I like that name. Sake it is." Marie couldn't help but smile brightly at the man's acceptance of the name.

The next few minutes consisted of just Sake walking, which was quite boring.

During their travels, Marie had noticed gills on Sake's neck, four being on both sides. The way they opened and closed tempted her urge to poke them, but Sake quickly pleaded for her not to, claiming they were extremely sensitive; Out of fear of hurting her new friend, she complied.

Their tiresome journey came to an end when they reached an old cabin, situated in the middle of nowhere. It appeared to be two stories tall, and all the lights inside were off. When Sake tried to open the front door, he found it was locked.

"Maybe the owners are asleep?" Marie questioned.

"Or maybe they aren't here." Sake suggested.

The wind blew violently as thunder boomed. The storm was nearing. With this in mind, Sake put both cousins down.

"What are you doing?" Marie asked.

"I'm going to see if anyone is inside. Wait here, I'll be right back. Ok?" Marie nodded before seeing Sake roughly grip the handle of the door; Then it magically opened. She had sworn it was locked the first time he tried to jingle it open, but maybe she was wrong.

Regardless, Sake stepped inside the dark cabin, leaving Marie to hold onto her cousin, who had somehow managed to stay asleep this entire time.

It was cold and quiet; The warmth from holding Callie was the only thing comforting Marie now. That was until she heard a small but wretched shriek coming from inside the cabin. It lasted for just a fraction of a second, but she heard it. "S-sake?" She called out to him, receiving no reply. The longer she got no response, the more nervous and shaky she became.

When Sake stepped outside the cabin, she nearly lunged out to hug him. "W-whoa. What's the matter?" He said, picking both her and Callie up.

"I-I heard a scream!"

"Oh." Sake chuckled. "Sorry, that was me. I stubbed my foot pretty hard. Didn't mean to startle you." He gave another small laugh before heading inside, closing the cabin door behind him. Sake turned the cabin's lights on, revealing the cozy interior of the place.

"W-what about the owners? Did they say we could stay?"

"There wasn't anyone here, unfortunately. Don't worry. Should the owners arrive, we'll apologize for the intrusion and leave. Hopefully, we'll be gone by then. We're only staying until the sun rises." Sake explained. Marie was quick to agree with that plan of action.

The scarring set of events tuckered her out. But now that she can sleep in a warm bed with a watchful protector guarding her, she'll easily be able to rest without worry.

She couldn't wait to go home in the morning.