Forcing her fear down at Lady Squall's command, Tori went to school again.
And again.
And again.
It was part of her routine now. A boring one, that was. She still couldn't bring any of her toys, forcing her to mess with herself. And Mrs. Bock yelled at her for that.
"You're going to hurt yourself one of these days," she said. "You need to stop."
She knew it was a bad thing, but even when she tried to stop, she just couldn't. Miss Pacifica described it as a "bad habit," and bad habits took a lot of work to break them.
During recess, everyone got to go outside and play. It was also the only time Tori didn't try to bite her hair or bend herself in weird ways. Instead, she found other things to mess with, like trying to peel the bark off of trees or make something with stuff she picked up off the ground.
One day, she brought one of her creations back to the orphanage and immediately showed Lady Squall it.
"See?" Tori wiggled one of the twigs, trying to push it further into the fig. It was starting to get mushy now, juices trickling down her hand. "He's a squid! Fiquid!"
Lady Squall grimaced. "Don't show me that again."
"Oh…" Tori lowered Fiquid. "Why?"
"Just look at it. It's starting to rot." She waved her hand. "Throw it away."
"What? No! I made him!"
She sighed. "Alright, keep it. Show it to everyone else if you want."
"Yay!" She started to run away, but remembering what Lady Squall had taught her, she paused and looked over her shoulder. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome."
Tori's run quickly turned into a stroll, and soon enough, her legs brought her to the dining hall. The chandelier always looked so grand, hanging above rows upon rows of tables. It was scary, admittedly, but she wanted to go up there and take in the view. Adults could jump up there, but she was scared of growing up. She wanted to do everything an adult could, but she wanted everything to stay exactly the way it was. Why did things have to be so hard?
But dinner would be soon, and right now, Miss Ella and Miss Pacifica were setting the tables. Excited, she shielded the fig squid and bounded up to them.
"Miss Ella! Miss Pacifica!" She raised her creation up in the air. "Do you like him?"
Miss Ella jumped, dropping one of the plates. It clattered onto the table, spinning around for a few moments before slowing to a stop. Miss Pacifica's tentacles went still, but nonetheless, she turned around to face Tori. They said nothing as their eyes fell on the little inkling.
Her smile fell, every muscle in her body tense. "...You don't like Fiquid?"
"I-I do!" Miss Ella remarked. "You just surprised me, that's all."
"It's…unique," added Miss Pacifica. She grinned. "Just like you!"
"Really?" Tori's eyes widened.
"Yes!" The octoling kneeled down, looking her straight in the eye. Reflexively, Tori looked away. "Everyone's unique. There's no one else like you."
"Wow…" Everyone was unique. There was no one like her, no one like Lady Squall, no one like the helpers, no one like the school staff. Yet… "Why do people get mad at me?"
"Because there's rules you need to follow. If you don't follow the rules, bad things will happen."
She pouted. "But sometimes I do nothing wrong, and they yell at me."
Miss Pacifica sighed. "Not every rule is spoken, Tori. You'll learn them as you get older."
"Then why don't they write them down? So I know what I'm doing wrong."
"Making mistakes is how we grow. Once we learn them, we know, and we won't repeat them again." She patted her head and stood up. "Now, Miss Ella and I have to get back to what we were doing. Do you understand?"
Tori stared down at Fiquid, cupping him in her hands. "I understand."
"See you later, Tori," Miss Ella chimed in, but by the time she spoke, the little inkling had already scurried away.
Once they were out of sight, she uncovered Fiquid again and held him out, showing him off to anyone that walked by. But barely anyone paid attention to her.
"Why are you showing me that…thing?" a sea bass older than her snarled. "It's disgusting."
She tried reaching out for him, but Tori reeled back, horror striking her face. "Don't say that! And he's not a thing! He's Fiquid!"
"...Fwi… What?" Her bravado disappeared. "That's not a word."
"It's a name, not a word."
She huffed, crossing her arms. "It's still disgusting. Why did Lady Squall let you keep that?"
Tori blinked. "How'd you know I showed him to Lady Squall?"
"Because you always go to her after you come home from school. We've all seen it."
Was this one of the "unspoken rules" Miss Pacifica was talking about? "Is that a bad thing?" she asked.
"Uh…" The girl paused, then shook her head. "I don't need to waste my time with you!" Without another word, she ran off, leaving Tori by her lonesome again.
She brought Fiquid up to her face and whispered, "At least she didn't hurt you."
Fearing a similar reaction from her peers, she covered him again and began searching for Miss Swallow or Miss Luna. She hasn't seen Miss Luna today, but she has seen Miss Swallow. The only thing she needed to know now was where she was. In one of the living quarters, if she had to guess.
She checked her living quarters first. A few kids had gone straight to sleep after school, but she didn't see anyone else. Tori walked over to her bed, making sure nothing had gone missing. She crouched down and reached a hand under her bed, feeling the area. She found her building blocks and her Mrs. Urchin toy, as well as a box. She pulled the box out and opened it to reveal her favorite ball. Smiling, she closed it and put it back under the bed. With everything in place, she headed to the next room over, reserved for babies and toddlers.
When visitors came to the orphanage to adopt someone, they were usually looking for someone young, typically around Tori's age. Despite being the largest group in Squall Orphanage, babies and toddlers were adopted the least. Barely anyone wants to deal with someone that young–that's what the helpers usually said. As Tori got older, though, the smaller her chances were of being adopted. And when she became an adult…she didn't know what happened then. No one's told her.
When there were visitors looking to adopt a baby or toddler, the helpers were ecstatic. Even Miss Luna. But it was Miss Swallow who removed a baby pufferfish from their crib and showed them off to a betta fish couple. Tori, admittedly, was happy to see her–Miss Luna was the strictest, and only, lionfish around. Miss Luna wouldn't like Fiquid at all, but Miss Swallow will, right?
"Miss Swallow!" Tori called, running up to the butterflyfish. "Do you want to see what I got?"
The pufferfish blew up in Miss Swallow's hands, and she pursed her lips as she set them down. "Ah! Tori! Can't you see I'm busy?"
"But do you want to see what I got?"
"In a moment." She pulled the couple aside and remarked, "I apologize for the trouble. Some of our kids just can't control themselves."
"It's fine," one of the betta fish said. "I'm used to it."
"But are you alright?" asked the other.
"Yes; I've handled worse." Miss Swallow guided them over to another set of cribs, gesturing towards them. "Maybe you'll be interested in one of these?"
As the adults continued to talk, Tori sat down on a stool, watching them and thinking about Miss Swallow's words. What did she mean that she couldn't control herself? She could control herself just fine! …Maybe it was another "unspoken rule" to not talk to adults when they were busy.
When she gets to school tomorrow, she should write down all the unspoken rules she learned and put it up somewhere. That way, she would always know what they are, and she would never break a rule again!
"Isn't that right, Fiquid," she whispered, shifting her hand slightly to reveal some of his purple skin. "When we go to school tomorrow, you can be with the others."
A baby started crying, breaking Tori out of her thoughts. Her hands snapped up to her ears, dropping Fiquid as he rolled onto the ground. The other adults noticed too, and Miss Swallow immediately rushed over to a crib near Tori and picked up a tiny sea anemone. She began whispering something to them, rocking them in their arms, and eventually, the crying stopped.
But then more babies started to cry. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to curl up into a ball. No matter how hard she tried to drown out the sound, she could still hear it. Like screeching chalkboards, the cries drummed against her ears–when would it stop?
Someone moved very close to her and grabbed her hands, ripping them away from her ears. Despite her body telling her to run away, she was frozen as she stared right into Miss Swallow's eyes.
"Tori…dinner…later."
Her mouth was moving, and she couldn't catch every word, but she had a guess to what she was saying. They would talk when it was dinnertime. …Now that she mentioned it, what time was it? Miss Ella and Miss Pacifica were setting the table earlier, so dinner had to be soon, right?
"Okay," she mumbled. Tori got off the stool and walked out to the hallway, heading towards the dining room. It was better to arrive sooner than later, after all. She wouldn't get in trouble that way.
Yet she could still hear crying. No matter how far away she got, it was loud. Really loud. In the middle of the hallway, Tori fell to her knees, sobs racking her body as she covered her ears. Everything was loud. Why was everything so loud? Why was she crying? She couldn't think about it because she wanted to leave. She wanted to leave, but she couldn't move.
Someone picked her up and began whispering in her ear. It was familiar, but she didn't know who it was. They carried her away, and eventually, she could smell warm food. Her mind latched onto the promise of something to eat, and louder than any cry, she could hear her stomach rumble. As she returned to her senses, she lifted her head, and the person held her higher, allowing her a full view of the area.
They were in the dining room, steam rising from the stew Miss Pacifica and Miss Ella were pouring. Yet, no one dared to lift a spoon, as Lady Squall had not arrived yet. It was only when Lady Squall said so that everyone could eat. If you did, you wouldn't get to eat at all. She's seen it happen. She didn't want it to happen to her.
Tori was put down in her chair, faced with a fresh bowl of fish stew. Chunks of potato and fish sat in the golden broth, decorated with small green flakes. She hated the flakes–it ruined the stew. So she scraped them off and ate the rest of the stew by itself. But she couldn't do it now. Not until Lady Squall says so. But she wanted to eat it so badly, her mouth drooling.
Tori looked over at the adults' table. Their dishes were served last, but they were the ones who got to eat first. Most of the other dishes were full now, so Lady Squall had to be coming soon. She hoped so, at least.
The chatter in the room died down as an inkling woman with a blue dress stepped through the arch. Golden eyes scanned the room as she held her hands behind her back, making sure each and every child was at the dining table before taking a seat herself. Miss Ella promptly poured the adults their stews and sat down with them. Miss Luna wasn't among them.
Lady Squall rang her bell, and she cleared her throat to speak. "May every child here today enjoy a warm meal, and be thankful for the safety under our roof. Now, let us eat."
The adults picked up their spoons and forks, and everyone else did too. Tori scraped the flakes off one piece of fish and put it in her mouth, letting the delicious food hit her taste buds. If she could, she would have fish stew every day! But she couldn't. Dinner was different even day, and she had to eat it, no matter what. Even if she didn't like it, even if her body hated it, she forced herself to eat it.
That was how Squall Orphanage worked.
She was so caught up in the stew that she nearly forgot about Fiquid. She couldn't feel him at all–where was he?!
She was with Miss Swallow when she saw him last. She hopped off her chair and walked over to the adults' table, clasping her hands together.
"Finished already?" Miss Swallow commented as soon as she saw the little inkling. "You shouldn't eat things so fast. It's not good for you."
"But the stew was delicious!"
"I know, but you need to savor it." She ate another mouthful of the stew. Once she swallowed, she added, "Food is meant to be savored. The chef prepared everything for us; how would she feel if she found out you ate it so quickly?"
"Savor?"
"Enjoy it slowly. Let it be all you think about."
"But I did that. I did like it."
"Savor it or not, I'm sure Tori has something else to say," Miss Pacifica interrupted. The tips of her tentacles began to waver. "So, what did you want to say, Tori?"
"Oh!" Tori turned towards Miss Swallow. "Have you seen Fiquid?"
The butterflyfish frowned. "Fiquid?"
"A fig that looks like a squid! He's my friend!"
"Ah, that." A smile returned to her face. "He's playing with the rest of his fig friends right now. He'll be back in the morning."
"Oh." Tori felt a little disappointed. "Okay. Where's Miss Luna?"
"Miss Luna is out sick," Miss Swallow replied. "She'll be back in a few days."
"Okay." She started to head back to her bed, where she could play with her toys. "Bye!"
"Goodbye."
Tori's smile finally returned to her. Fiquid must be having such a great adventure right now. She just knew it!
She expected Fiquid to be right by her side when she woke up the next morning. Except he was not. She searched under her bed, but he wasn't there. She even searched the other beds, but he wasn't there, either.
"Tori!" Miss Pacifica called. "You're going to miss breakfast! And school!"
"Wait!" Tori's eyebrows knitted together. "I need to find Fiquid!"
"'Fiquid' is gone, Tori."
She froze, slowly turning towards the octoling. "He's…gone?"
"Yes." Miss Pacifica stated it so matter-of-factly that it was like she didn't care.
Heat rushed to her face, feeling tears behind her eyes. "But he can't be! Miss Swallow said he was on an adventure! He'll come back, right?"
"Not everyone will come back from an adventure." She walked up to her and crouched down, holding her arms out. "That's why you're here. Your parents went on an adventure and never returned. Now, let's go eat breakfast, shall we?"
She blinked. "My…parents?" Only Lady Squall had ever mentioned them. They were "fools," she said.
Miss Pacifica waved her hand. "Never mind that. Now, come on, you need to go eat."
"Okay…" Tori fell into her arms, and before she knew it, she was in the dining room again. Breakfast was more chaotic than dinnertime because different groups went to school at different times. The younger kids went to school later than the older kids, and the adults didn't want to eat breakfast twice.
Once she calmed down, she got in line for breakfast. Miss Ella was the one handing out meals, and once Tori got to her, she placed a slice of toast on her plate. After lathering it with butter, she went to sit down near some people she didn't know. They ignored her at first, eating their toast and chatting away.
Before she could go put her plate back, though, one of the girls there cleared her throat. "Ahem."
Tori turned around to see the sea bass she showed Fiquid to yesterday. "What?"
"I see that thing of yours is gone." She flashed her teeth. "Did Lady Squall take it away?"
"N-no!" she squeaked. "She would never!"
"Then where is it?"
"It…it…" Her voice faltered. Finishing that sentence would mean admitting that Fiquid was gone. She didn't want to admit it. She had to hope that Fiquid was still out there, having the best adventure!
"You don't know, do you?" The sea bass huffed. "What does Lady Squall even see in you?"
"They're both inklings," one of her friends, an urchin with spines covering her eyes, pointed out. "Must be favoritism."
She shook her head. "I don't think that's right. There's a lot of inklings here, but only she gets all the attention."
"Does it matter?" Tori muttered, grabbing her braid.
"Just scram," the urchin snapped.
Tori gasped and scrambled away with her empty plate, putting it with the rest of the dirty dishes before leaving. She had to find Fiquid and prove those girls wrong! He had to be somewhere!
If he wasn't in her living quarters, then maybe he was somewhere else? Tori last had him in the nursery–maybe he was there?
"Tori!" someone called before she could get far. "Where are you going?"
She turned around to see Miss Swallow standing at the end of the hallway. "I'm looking for Fiquid!"
"Oh, it…got taken by a bird."
"What?! He's really gone?!"
"Yes. I'm sorry, Tori, but you need to get ready for school."
She couldn't believe it. If Miss Swallow said so, then Fiquid was really gone. She was the one who told her Fiquid went on an adventure, but he never came back. According to Miss Pacifica, her parents went on an adventure and never came back too. What if…
Her tears from earlier returned, and she ran straight into Miss Swallow, hugging her. "You won't go on an adventure and never come back, will you?"
"You may be a headache to deal with, but I won't ever leave." She rubbed her head. "I've been here for ten years, and I'll be here for twenty more. If I wanted to leave, I would've left before you were born."
"I'm sorry for being a headache," she sniffled, though she didn't know what she meant. "I-I won't do that again."
Miss Swallow let out a deep sigh. "Where's your backpack? I'll get it for you."
"With t-the other backpacks."
She pushed Tori off of her and started walking away. "I'll be back."
So Tori stayed right where she was, tears rolling down her cheeks. She grabbed her braids and pulled on them, distracting herself from Fiquid's disappearance. It was nice. If she could, she would do this all day. But when people yelled at her, she couldn't do that. Yet she still wanted to do it anyway. She didn't know why.
She dropped her braids as soon as Miss Swallow returned. She helped her put her backpack on, and, holding her hand, they first went to the restroom so Tori could brush her teeth, then to the entrance. Other kids were huddled around each other, patiently waiting for the bus to arrive. A few minutes later, Miss Swallow opened the door, and everyone filtered outside, climbing inside the buses that had lined the street. Before long, they were driving off to the school.
School went on as usual. Tori was still bored at school, and any attempts to make herself not bored were chided by Mrs. Bock. If anything, she was playing with her hair and hands more today. She didn't want to think about everything that happened in the past day. If Fiquid was gone, were her other creations okay? Did Fiquid only go missing because she took him to the orphanage? Every time those thoughts came, she did something to get rid of them, and then Mrs. Bock scolded her. She didn't think she could ever make herself stop, no matter how many times Mrs. Bock yelled.
As the day went on, she eyed a pile of papers on the windowsill. If she could get a piece of paper, then she could write down all the "unspoken rules" so no one could break them. It was the perfect plan!
…But she still needed to check up on her creations, and she didn't know if they would go outside for recess today. It was always warm in Splatsville, but some days were warmer than others. As winter neared, the days grew colder, and the world slowed down. When winter comes, where would they go?
Right now, all she can do is wait.
Lucky for her, recess was outside today. As everyone lined up to go outside, she grabbed a piece of paper, her folder, and her pencil, running after the group as they started to walk outside. At last, she escaped that stuffy room and ventured out to the great outdoors. Though the sun hid behind the clouds, she still loved the fresh air. But she had more important things to do.
Tori ran over to the farthest tree and reached into the hollow where all her creations rested. They all rested inside the Violet Conch, a super sea snail shell she put a lot of stickers on. She plopped down the ground and dumped its contents: Leafy, Octofish, Seedot, et cetera. They were all here, except for Fiquid.
Using the Violet Conch to hold it in place, she placed her creations around the area, allowing them to observe her as she wrote down the list of rules.
She started with the rules of the classroom, written out on a poster inside.
'1. Raise your hand to speak.
'2. Listen and follow directions.
'3. Treat others with respect.'
Tori tapped her pencil on the paper, deep in thought. She peeked at her audience. They only sat there in silence, but she knew that they were egging her on.
'4. Don't speak when others are speaking.' That was an easy one. It was a rule at the orphanage, and it was a rule at school, too.
'5. Don't talk with your mouth full.' Another rule from the orphanage.
'6. Keep your hands to yourself.' She couldn't just run up to other people and touch them. The adults seemed fine with it, but her peers always got upset when she did that.
'7. Don't play with your body.' That was what Mrs. Bock said, yet it seemed to be the hardest rule to follow.
Tori paused. The next rule…it had to do with Fiquid. She grabbed her creations and held them tightly, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Don't leave," she muttered. "I don't want you gone."
They did not speak a single word, but they promised not to leave.
Letting them roll from her lap, she picked up her pencil and wrote the next rule.
'8. Don't bring anything you make home.'
She only sat there in silence, staring down at a tear-stained paper.
A/N: So...yeah. It's been nearly a month since the last chapter. I was in a writing slump, but, well, I'm back now! This chapter turned out longer than I expected to be...I wonder if the next chapter will be even longer? Well, we'll have to see. Anyways, I used this time to figure out the direction I want the plot to go into, and while it's not completely figured out yet, I have a better idea of things now. Up to Chapter 10 is planned out, I can tell you that! The next chapter probably won't be next week, given it's Tuesday, but hopefully I can build more of a buffer during this time. I hope you're excited for the rest of the story as I am, and Branchwing, out!