"Tori…!"
She tried to open her eyes, but they were glued shut.
"Tori! Wake up!"
Slowly, she forced them open, overpowering the desire to sleep. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light, focusing on the adult hovering over her.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to focus on the adult. Her face was blurry, as if her mind didn't know what to put in its place. Her clothes seemed to change every time she tried to look at them. Sometimes, she was wearing a tank top and jeans. Other times, she was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants of a completely different color.
The only thing she could clearly make out was her tentacles. They were long and yellow, like Tori's entire body.
"You're awake!" the adult exclaimed. "C'mon, breakfast is ready!"
She grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed. Beneath her feet was a wispy void of white, but her feet were firmly planted on the ground. She wanted to make her bed, but when she looked back at it, it was already made. Like she had never slept in it.
Come to think of it, the void wasn't just beneath her feet. It was everywhere. Where was the adult taking her?
They walked until a kitchen came into view. A stove, a counter, a refrigerator–all of it was there in pristine condition. Next to the kitchen was a wooden table, plates and forks set out on top of it.
More importantly, though, was the adult standing in front of the stove. His shape appeared even more nebulous, his appearance changing practically every other second. The only constant was the yellow mohawk on the top of his head, taller than any mohawk she had ever seen.
Two names popped into her head–Mom and Dad. Tori reasoned the woman must be her mom, and the man must be her dad. They were the only other people here, after all.
In her dad's hands was a tray of pancakes. He slid them onto the plates before taking a seat at the table. Tori and her mom soon joined her, her eyes trailing down to the golden pancake sitting in front of her. Steam rose from its crispy skin, begging to be eaten.
"Are you ready for school?" asked her dad. For a few seconds, he was wearing part of a school uniform, much to her confusion. She figured it would be better not to ask.
"No," she replied. She picked up her fork and stabbed it into the pancake. She tore part of it off and stuck it into her mouth. Though it was rich, she couldn't help but feel like something was missing.
Her mom grabbed the syrup bottle and started to pour it over Tori's pancake. After she set it down, she said, "You can get ready for school after we eat breakfast."
Tori blinked. "Do I have to go to school?" she muttered.
"Um…" Her dad scratched his head. "Now that I think about it…what day is it?"
Her mom craned her head towards the refrigerator. "Oh! It's Saturday!" she announced after a brief pause.
Tori threw her arms up, shaking her hands. "Yay!"
She laughed. "Since you don't have school, we should go somewhere today."
Her dad was eating his pancake now. "Where do you want to go, Tori?"
"Um…" Where did she want to go? She knew she had to answer soon, or else her parents would get mad.
But they didn't get mad. They slowly blinked at her as they ate their pancakes, awaiting her answer.
Tori covered her face, wishing they would stop looking at her. They were her parents, so they would stop, right?
Eventually, she lowered her hands. Her parents weren't looking at her. Just like she wanted.
Calmness washed over her, and she smiled. She could take all the time in the world to think of some place to go. Her parents were patient, after all.
Finally, she took a deep breath and asked, "Can we go visit some ruins?"
"Sure," her mom agreed. "What ruins do you want to go to?"
"Haddock Hideaway!" she declared, swinging her hands in the air.
"Okay," her dad said. "It's cold there, though. I'll grab everyone a coat."
His plate of pancakes empty, he stood up and started to walk away, disappearing into the white void. Tori continued to eat, staring out in the direction he had gone. When would he come back? He wouldn't disappear forever, right?
Before long, he returned, holding a set of coats. He handed them over to her mom, who proceeded to wrap the smaller coat around Tori's body before putting on the larger coat herself. As soon as Tori finished her pancakes, she dumped them into the sink and grabbed her parents' hands, letting them guide her forward.
Tori's heart pounded with anticipation. She was finally going to see her favorite ruins in person! With her parents, nonetheless! She couldn't wait to see it for herself.
As they continued to walk, cold air started to blast Tori's face, squeezing her eyes shut as the frost bit at her skin. It was so cold, colder than Splatsville could ever be. Shivering, she tried to peer her eyes open, searching for her parents. The haze surrounding them still remained, but they didn't seem bothered at all.
They were smiling, in fact. She knew they must be happy to be with her. Just as she was happy to be with them.
She closed her eyes again. Just a little while longer before she reached the ruins. Then, she could finally experience it in its full glory.
The wind started to die down at last. It was still cold, but underneath the bundles of clothing she wore, she felt warm. Warmth radiated from within, radiated from her parents.
She opened her eyes to be met with a hallway that seemed to go on forever, bricks made of mud and snow lining the walls. Indents formed the shape of a squid, pale stones embedded where its eyes should be. Compact dirt made up the ground beneath her feet, dusted with frost. The darkness up ahead beckoned her forward, begging her to reveal the secrets within these halls.
Tori let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, steam rising into the air. They had finally arrived at Haddock Hideaway.
Tori wiggled out of her parents' grasp and started to run ahead, ecstatic. They were finally here, and it was better than she could've ever imagined. The bricks had been worn from time, yet they held up the ruins all the same. The imprints in the walls looked exactly like the books, depicting squids and octopi living in harmony. The ornaments looked even more grand than in the pictures, twinkling in the dim light.
As she ran from the sunlight, torches began to illuminate the halls, casting the ruins in a golden glow and licking her skin with its warmth. The cold almost didn't bother her at all here. She could explore every corner of this place without any worry.
Eventually, she began to slow down. Maybe she shouldn't have ran off. Her parents would yell at her for running off on her own. But they haven't yelled at her so far, so maybe it was okay.
"Tori!" she heard her mom call. She whipped around to see both of her parents running up to her. They stopped a few feet away, catching their breaths. "There you are!"
"You're pretty fast," her dad remarked. "We should have a race later."
Tori scanned their faces, waiting for the moment they would start yelling at her. But that moment never came.
Her parents took her hands again, and they started to walk further down the hall. Before long, they arrived at the end of the interminable hallway, where it split off into two different paths. On the wall in front of her was a cracked mud painting of two arrows circling around each other, a pit dusted with ash beneath it.
"This was where ancient inkfish respawned," Tori recalled. Her eyes fell to the pit. "This used to be full of ink. They lit a fire underneath so splatted inkfish could reform their bodies. But now it's empty."
"Wow," her mom breathed. "That's super cool."
"Yeah," her dad agreed. He looked around. "Which way should we go now?"
Tori tried to recall the book to try to figure out where each path led. She knew she wouldn't find any living quarters–they had them towards the deepest part of the structure in order to keep the most vulnerable people safe. Perhaps she would find a storage room? Or a kitchen? Or maybe even one of the rooms people used for rituals?
Eventually, she decided to go right. She found herself stepping in front of her parents, her arms hanging behind her as she guided them through the ruins. Before long, they would find something. She knew they would.
They eventually found a doorway and headed through it, only to be met with the sight of bones. It lined the walls like waves, their yellowed shells glinting in the torchlight. An altar stood in the back of the room, a human skull embedded in the front. Icy stones sat in its eye sockets, the pale jewels piercing Tori's very soul.
Her legs were frozen to the ground, as if they were encased in the very ice that surrounded this place. This room was so much creepier in real life than in the book.
She forced herself to take a deep breath. This was only where the ancient inkfish were believed to have worshipped the sea. They only happened to decorate it with human bones. There was nothing more to it.
Her eyes fell to the piece of wood embedded into the ground. A haddock fish was carved into it, intricate patterns running down its back, into its fins. Her parents let go of her hands, and she walked up to it, kneeling down to trace the pattern. She liked the texture of it–rough, but not too rough. Different from the wood back in Splatsville.
She wished she could rub her hand across it forever, but her parents were waiting. She didn't want them to get mad. She didn't want them to leave her behind.
"Wow," Tori heard her mom say. She had approached the altar, staring into the skull's crystalline eyes. "I've never seen so many bones in one place."
"Neither have I," added her dad. He stepped next to Tori, staring past her. "Who knew such a place existed underground?"
Tori took a deep breath and stuck her arms out. "It's said all these bones belong to mammals. They used to live here a very long time ago, and when ancient inklings and octolings arrived here, they used the bones to create their altar rooms."
Her dad looked up at her, tilting his head. "Did they use the bones anywhere else?"
"Um…" She grabbed her braids, circling them around her wrists. "I think so." She didn't remember where, though. Eventually, she shook her head. "Can we move on?"
"Of course, of course," her mom said, whipping around and clasping her hands together. "Whatever you say, Tori. This trip was your idea, after all."
She nodded. "Right."
This trip was her idea, she was right. She had to make the most of it, so her parents could be happy, too.
Taking their hands, she led them back out into the hallway, away from all the bones. Relief washed over her. They had finally escaped the creepiest part of Haddock Hideaway. Things would only get better from here. She knew they would.
They turned the corner to meet a flight of stairs. Together, they began to descend deeper into the labyrinth, eager to discover its secrets. At the bottom of the steps was another mural of two arrows circling around each other, accompanied by an empty pit. The air down here was warmer, the frost receding into the cracks. Not by much, though.
"Which way should we go now?" asked her dad.
Tori took a few moments to process his question before answering, "Left." Since they went right last time, it would make sense to go left this time. Now that they were deeper into Haddock Hideaway, perhaps they could find some living quarters.
Before long, they came across a set of doors, blocking off each and every room. Tori tried to push one open, but it wouldn't budge. Her parents advised her to move on, and so she did, letting them lead her away from the doors. Yet Tori continued to search for an open doorway, just like the ones upstairs. There had to be one somewhere, right?
No matter how hard she searched, though, she couldn't find one. Maybe she shouldn't be surprised–keeping the door closed helped keep heat in. That's what the book said, after all.
Just as she was about to give up, she finally spotted one, near the end of the hallway. The scent of food hitting her tongue, Tori began to dash towards it, dragging her parents along with her. She had to see what was inside!
As soon as she entered, though, she bumped into someone, stumbling backwards. When she focused her gaze on them, she was met with the sight of a familiar face.
"Hey, Tori," Schurk greeted. She could see their face clearly, narrow gaze piercing. "Didn't expect to see you here."
Tori looked over at her parents, standing in the doorway. She still couldn't make out their faces, a haze covering their features. Then, she looked back at Schurk. She could still see their face, and she didn't know why.
"Sorry," she apologized. She had bumped into them, after all.
"It's alright," they said. "We were making some food, actually."
They stepped out of the way, revealing Mr. Onaga and Principal Mobula, huddled around a campfire. The former sat on a bed frame, taking a sip out of the bowl in his wrinkly hands, while the latter lifted a ladle from the pot, a golden broth dripping from the basin.
"Ay! We have some fish stew!" Principal Mobula proclaimed.
A huge smile formed on Tori's face. "Fish stew?!"
"Yes," Mr. Onaga affirmed. "You should try some. It's very good."
Schurk sat down and patted the empty space next to them. "Yeah, come join us."
Tori opened her mouth to reply, but her parents spoke first.
"We would love to!" exclaimed her mom, clasping her hands together. She rushed next to the campfire, falling on her knees. "C'mon, sit down!"
Tori promptly joined her, squeezing in between her parents. Principal Mobula poured them bowls and began passing them down the line until each person had a bowl of stew. Tori began to blow on it, steam wavering with each puff. Then, she grabbed a spoon and stuck it into the stew, scooping out a chunk of fish to put in her mouth.
And the taste of food proved to be heavenly. It was even better than the fish stew at Squall Orphanage! In fact, this was the best thing she had ever eaten!
Her parents agreed, grinning as they slurped down the delicious fish stew. Tori's mom wiped her lips clean as she finished up, glee coming out of her throat. Tori's dad began to laugh as he finished his stew up, a hearty laugh that echoed throughout the entire room, throughout every hall in Haddock Hideaway.
Down here, Tori didn't feel cold. She felt so, so, warm. Her coat began to slip off of her, exposing her skin to the elements. But she didn't care. She was with her friends and family, after all. And they loved her.
She closed her eyes as she finished up her stew, smiling the widest smile she had ever smiled in her life.
And when she opened them again, she found herself staring up at a bunk bed, dawn filtering in through the window.
Her stomach rumbled as she sat up, looking around. Where were her parents? All she could see were tan walls decorated by a few sparse picture frames. Dull green poked through the doorway, an invitation to explore.
…That was right. She was at Squall Orphanage. Her parents were dead.
She blinked, her eyes wet. It was only a dream. Her parents weren't actually alive. She didn't actually go to Haddock Hideaway with them. She didn't actually see Schurk, Mr. Onaga, and Principal Mobula there. She didn't actually eat fish stew with them.
It was only a dream. And the fact that it was only a dream made her cry.
A/N: I've found it rather difficult to write last week. Maybe I just need a break? But I still want to write this story, but I don't want the quality to suffer, either. The human body is a fickle thing, isn't it? So, yeah. That's why this chapter is coming out when it is. In case you're wondering-this chapter always was going to be a simple chapter. Just a simple dream of Tori's parents, and nothing more. I thought about adding more to this chapter, but I think adding more would be unnecessary. The next chapter is not so simple, on the other hand. How much more complex? You'll just have to see when it comes! Well, Branchwing, out!