Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others

Put on Thin Ice

Sharq shuffled along the streets of Inkopolis with a dainty jog. He had his trademark smile stuck plain on his face. The day was quite a plain yet jolly one. The regular hustle and bustle expected of a city of Inkopolis' caliber crowded the streets with pedestrians and traffic aplenty.

As Sharq strolled among the sidewalk, a hasty horn blared through the streets. In the streets, a vehicle, black and coated and pink and green spun by and prompted several other Inklings to duck for cover as it rolled by. Other cars were not quite as fortunate, rear view mirrors were sheared off of the sides of those stuck in traffic as the fashionable yet highly dangerous car accelerated at a tremendous rate.

However, Sharq seemed too gleeful, or deaf, to notice the carnage in the background. Behind him, he slung a burlap sack over his shoulder. "Gee, it was sure nice of Splin to lend me some of his money."

Overhead, an image of his brother popped up. The imaginary Splin was not exactly happy. "I only said you could take what you needed!"

Underneath the floating projection of a scolding brother, Sharq continued smiling. "Aw, it's fine Splin! You never know how much this stuff costs, you know."

"Cold Sea has a website! I've checked it and ice cream does NOT cost an entire saving's worth." Imaginary Splin's eyebrows narrowed as he glared down from his lofty spot above.

Before Sharq could reply, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure up ahead. Leaning on the side of a brick wall between an alleyway, an orange-tentacled Inkling sighed as he laid in the shade of his Jungle Hat. Next to him, a similar Inkling with the same orange tentacle style leaned by his side comfortably, a meager band wrapped around her forehead. She wore a Black LS and a pair of Choco Clogs and stood around and stared at the sky with a smile.

"Well, I gotta go Splin. If it makes you feel any better, I'll get you strawberry." Sharq winked at the cloud above his head then headed off for the wall.

"Hold on!" His figment-of-his-imagination-brother cried out. "You KNOW my favorite's-"

The cloud dissipated as a pigeon flew by. As Splin disintegrated into thin air behind him, Sharq gave a cheerful wave towards the pair perched by the side of the wall.

"Hello!" Sharq called out politely.

Ari perked up almost immediately. A devious smirk crossed his face while a worried expression clouded his cousin's. He pushed himself off the wall and dusted himself off quickly and raised his own hand across his chest.

"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr-" He rolled his tongue.

"Ari, please." Sari muttered behind him.

She attempted to cover her face with the band on her head, but ended up blind with a cloth wrapped around her eyes. Nevertheless she seemed fine with the results and rested back comfortably on the wall.

Ari pursed his lips. "Rival. Er, excuse me a minute."

Sharq simply waved him off. Without hesitation, Ari skedaddled on over towards the brick wall where Sari continued to stand blind. He walked next to her and began to speak in her right ear for a moment. She glanced at Sharq for a brief moment and the elder Bate Brother waved back with a confused yet friendly smile. Sari turned back towards her cousin and the conversation resumed.

It might have escalated into a full on debate if Sharq had not stepped in and said, "Uh, you seem busy, sorry. I'll just grab some ice cream and-"

"Ice cream!" The eccentric orange Inkling repeated with interest. "Sounds wonderful, doesn't it dear cousin?"

He lifted Sari's headband off of her eyes. She blinked and frowned. "I- I dunno." She then turned towards Ari and whispered, "Ari, you said that you would be cool about all of this."

As if it had went in one ear and out the other, Ari simply gripped his cousin by her wrist and smiled. "We'd be delighted my good Sharq!"

"Oh!" Sharq smirked albeit somewhat slowly. "Well, then it's a good thing I brought extra coins."

"Stop spending so much of our money!" Splin's voice yelled out in his head, along with pigeon coos for whatever reason.

Sharq simply ignored Splin's voice and cleared his throat. "Well then, follow me. I know a place."

With that, Sharq shoved off with a jolly jog. Ari turned towards his cousin, who glared back at him with a powerful reluctance. A silent battle ensued between the two. Ari attempted to persuade her with winks and puppy-dog eyes, or the sea creature equivalent, whereas Sari just scowled at him. Soon enough, Ari's hapless attempts at persuasion appeared to have won the "staring debate", much to his cousin's dismay. She sighed and nodded her head and the two followed Sharq as he ventured through the city in search of a dairy treat.

"We're here!" Sharq announced as he threw his hands up into the air. "Geez, it felt like it only took a second!"

The trio of Inklings stood in front of a small store on the boardwalk of a beach. A wooden pier extended out from the boardwalk, several fishermen of all shapes and sizes, from Inklings to jellyfish, to the ironic bass that stood upright with a pole in his hand. The tide washed onto the sand beneath them as they stood still.

Projected from the top of the store out for the world to see was a poignant sign that read, "Cold Sea Creamery" and a small drawing of a scoop in a cone underneath. Sharq slung the sack of coins over his head with a grin then turned behind him. "This is one of my favorites."

Ari and Sari gave polite nods to Sharq as he began to step towards the glass doors of the store. As he did so, Sari leaned in towards her cousin and spoke up, "Look, Ari, thanks for taking me out to cheer me up. But I really don't feel like-"

"Er, hey. It's fine." He smiled back at her. "After all, Rival- Sharq, happens to be paying."

"I just don't feel hungry." Sari shrugged shyly.

Ari frowned in response. Behind them, Sharq blinked curiously. "Don't feel hungry?"

Immediately Ari tilted his Jungle Hat up and waltzed over to Sharq. "Ah, it's just her weak metabolism talking!"

"Hey!" Sari complained from behind the two.

He simply smirked and wrapped an arm around Sharq's shoulder. "Let's have a bite of some of that ice cream, shall we? Come on, Sari."

Sharq just smiled along with him. "Alright!"

As the two boys walked towards the doors of the store, Sari crossed her arms behind them. Just before they reached the handles on the doors, Ari shot back another puppy dog stare and made sure to make his eyes glisten more. Somehow.

His cousin groaned, threw her hands up in the air, and shouted, "Yeah, I'm coming! Hold your seahorses," Then took off to follow the two.

As soon as they entered the store, the fresh scent of baked goods and the large ceiling fan that spun overhead refreshed them. A handful of small circular tables were littered around the enclosure with small red stools to boot. At the counter, a rather comatose-faced Inkling stood watch at the counter, or rather slouched adjacent to a glass pane that stretched across a separate freezer. The glass pane exposed several delightful decadent colors of frozen dairy treats.

At least it should have, Sharq thought, as he gawked at the completely empty ice cream freezer. "What?"

"What the?" Ari blinked once and his face curled up into a scowl. "Are you kidding me? Did it all melt or something?"

He whirled towards the cashier at the counter boredly yet intently having a staring contest with the wall. "Hey you!"

"Mm?" The Inkling that leaned at the cash register moved up and revealed a name tag printed on his black shirt with "Cold Sea" embroidered in it.

Sharq recognized the name tag almost instantaneously. "Whoa! Prothe? You work here too?"

Prothe's grimace grew further at the sound of another voice. He ceased his attention and granted the staring wall a temporary victory, "Yeah, well, it's my day job- Oh, well if it isn't Mr. Talking-Violent Shopping Bag. Where'd your little nosy companion crawl off to?"

"Bate's my last name, actually." Sharq pointed out. "Tai- Er, the shopping bag isn't with me right now."

At the mention of the Octoling, Ari grew somewhat stiff legged. "...Where is she, anyways?"

Sharq shrugged for a moment. "I saw her in her dream the other day."

"...Her dream." He scowled and stared at the floor. "Lucky."

Then he turned back towards the cashier. He pointed at him with his right index finger and shouted, "Regardless, we need to know where the ice cream is!" He gripped Sharq by the shoulders and pulled him close. "My rival here-"

Sharq waved with a sheepish grin. "Hi."

"I, Ari," He spoke with an open mouthed smile and a glint in his teeth. Not that Prothe really cared. "And my fair cousin- Er...fair cousin…"

Ari turned around towards the glass doors. Through the panes he could see Sari sitting on the edge of the wooden boardwalk. She kicked her legs back and forth melancholily, one arm wrapped around the other as the waves kicked up against the sandy shore. The sight of his destitute cousin seemed to have triggered something in Ari's head that made him scowl.

He turned back towards Prothe as his eyes began to drift towards the ceiling tiredly. As he gazed back towards them tiredly Sharq wondered how much money he made with the two jobs. "Dunno. No new shipments."

"Then why is this place still open?!" Ari asked in irritation.

Prothe yawned and planted his chin on the counter. He gestured a thumb towards a door in the back. "We dropped the 'closed' sign back there a while back. Normally it doesn't matter, but I'm not getting paid if I don't show up and do something."

Sharq piped in and asked, "Why don't you just go to your other job then?"

"I prefer the ocean view." Prothe gestured towards the front of the store out to the sea and pier.

The elder Bate Brother nodded. "It is pretty."

"That and if I feel like it I can dip myself in." The cashier grumbled under his breath.

"What?" Sharq hummed curiously.

He folded his arms and rested them back on the counter. "Nothing."

"Great, so that's that?" Ari glowered at the other Inkling.

"Unless you plan on marching up to the factory and demanding that they get you some for yourself, then yep." Prothe shrugged with a smirk. "Good luck with that sir."

With that, Ari just shook his head indignantly and began to stomp out of the store. The other two Inklings stood there and watched as he made his way to the doors and fumbled with the handles for a moment before he moved out. Ari also happened to slam the doors behind them, much to the employee's distaste.

"Nice friends you got. Seem like real nice people." Prothe muttered with a roll of his eyes and planted his head back on the counter. He stared down at the floor this time as if it was a necessary opponent to face in his venture to stare at every flat surface.

Sharq smiled. "They're great, right? Thanks for the suggestion."

While Sharq let the sarcasm pass him by like a freight plane, he walked out of the store through the entrance. Pushing the doors out carefully and stepping out into the beach boardwalk, he began walking towards the other two Inklings. Ari seemed to be having another debate with his cousin, though much less silent this time.

"Come on, cous!" Ari spoke up in a much less defined accent that would normally befit a narrator. Sharq listened from behind him as he spoke. "Look, I know that you're not in a great mood-"

Sari rubbed her left arm with her right. "I know you know, Ari. I'm just worried about you."

"Hey, I'm alright!" Ari gritted his teeth. "This ain't about me, this is about-"

Behind them, Sharq coughed. The two that sat on the edge of the wooden plank jolted up in shock. Sari's tentacles twitched and Ari's hat rustled on top of his head. Both of them spun around frantically.

"Um…" Sharq raised his index finger. "Are you two okay?"

Sari cleared her throat and got up to her feet. "Yeah. They're out of ice cream, right? Sorry, we'll get going."

"Oh no you don't!" Ari shouted and gripped Sari by the collar of her shirt. She yipped in surprised as he dragged her back. "The guy said something about a factory? Well we're goin' to the factory then, let's go!"

Sharq began to frown. He stared at Ari and said, "...I mean, we don't have to. I can go home and leave you two be."

While he spoke, his attention gravitated towards his cousin. There was a plea in Sari's eyes, a very concerned and somewhat terrified plead. Her pupils shook with fraught nerves and a secret terror.

Sharq just smiled in response, much to her surprise. "It's alright. I don't want to be any trouble."

With that said, he began to walk off with a hum. He slung his cloth sack of coins over his shoulders as he did so. Behind him, Sari sighed in relief. Ari on the other hand hardly looked relieved in any meaning of the word.

"Er, wait! Sharq!" Ari called out. "We'd actually like to visit the factory!"

He turned around again. However, Sharq did not look too convinced. Crossing his arms Sharq began speaking, "Really? I dunno Ari. I don't think Sari is up to it."

"I- Well-" He stammered and stared at his cousin.

She seemed to shrink under his gaze. Sari stared at the floor sheepishly, Sharq stared at them curiously and patiently, and Ari stood there while several beads of sweat dripped down his face. Without a moment to spare, he gripped Sari by her hand and stared her straight in the face. His eyes practically screamed a plea as his own cousin stared back with a mirrored expression. Again, however, the contest results were gifted to Ari as his cousin shut her eyes.

"Great! Let's go!" Ari cried out and pulled her off.

As they passed by Sharq, Ari also gripped and pulled him away. The trio ran for seemingly no reason other than the orange Inkling that wore the Jungle Hat's haste. They sprinted off into the city quickly and left a trail of dust in their wake.

Their footsteps pounded against the sidewalk. On the outside, Ari pointed out a few of the buildings they passed by and attempted to retain a narrative as they ventured. On the inside, he panicked as he scanned Inkopolis for search of a single factory with a doodle of an ice cream on front. The problem was that the side of Inkopolis he searched in was full of industrial buildings. It became difficult to find a single specific corporation in the mesh of logos that were stamped onto each one.

Sharq, as he was dragged along, could not help but wonder why anyone would go to such lengths for ice cream. Perhaps it had to do with hunger? Maybe Ari just really wanted ice cream. It did not seem like his cousin was too excited, however. Sari looked like she wanted nothing to do with it. She continually stared at the ground in a sort of shame.

Before Sharq could ask what was the matter, the three skidded to a stop with Ari at the head of the group. He laughed somewhat nervously. "There it is!"

Sharq would have been impressed. The three stood in front of a large gate. Behind the gates, several large buildings, a few with large funnels erected out of the top laid dormant. Several delivery trucks sat in front of steel garage doors. The rectangle receptacles on the backs of the vehicles seemed completely empty, however. Several tumbleweeds blew past and rolled lazily across the cement floor.

Regardless of the factory's clear state of emptiness, Ari was raring to go. He moved behind the two and began to push them towards the gate. "Alright, let's go and get a bite!"

Sari scooted along the pavement quite reluctantly while Sharq's eyes widened as they were pushed into the gate. Ari continued to push forward, though his scrawny teenage Inkling body made little to no progress. Eventually, as it seemed that he would get nowhere with his "polite pushes", he turned into an orange squid.

"You might wanna change for this." He grunted and backed up.

Sharq turned around. "Wait, what-"

Ari tackled the both of them. Though surprised, both Sharq and Sari switched into squids. The group slipped through the bars of the gate and ended up on the other side with a few groans of pain to boot. Immediately Ari switched back to an Inkling and picked up his cousin. He sprinted towards a warehouse by one of the factory buildings where a single truck sat. Sharq groaned on the ground and reverted back into his regular Inkling form as he did so.

He got up to his feet and adjusted his Takoroka Mesh. He coughed, noticed the others, and shouted, "Hey, w-wait a minute!"

The garage door to the warehouse was already lifted up and open. The lights were shut off. As Ari and Sari entered the room, he haphazardly placed her on the ground next to several empty cardboard boxes.

She switched back into an Inkling and glared at his cousin. "Ari, this has gone long enough! Calm down!"

He walked over towards a light switch and flicked it on. Several lamps mounted from the ceiling beamed brightly and illuminated the room. It revealed several empty boxes with the "Cold Sea" logo stamped on them left around the warehouse. In the middle of the warehouse, a large machine with a large funnel, a cylindrical glass container, and conveyor belt extended to the other side of the building interior. A short staircase led up to a small platform that bordered the top of the machine. Placed on a table stacked on the platform, several stacks of ice and flavorings in small bottles sat on a table above the funnel.

"No. No, I can't accept that!" He smirked as he began ascend the stairs.

He gripped the railing tight as he ran upwards. Through his stride, Sari got up on her feet and chased after him. The stairs creaked underneath them as they ran. By the entrance, another figure entered the warehouse panting. Sharq walked by the wall and leaned on it with his left arm while he caught his breath.

Between gasps, he glanced up, his mouth agape in surprise. "Whoa!"

"Sharq, help me!" Sari cried out as she attempted to grab at his Varsity Jacket.

Ari shouted something along the lines of, "Rival, please stay out of this!" as he sprinted towards the ingredients.

Sharq hesitated; a blue bead of sweat dripped down his face. He stood and stared at them. At the very top, Ari grinned and reached at the table. He picked up a bag of ice and began to empty the cold contents into the funnel. It fell into the glass container with several clunks. Without hesitation, he went on to empty the various flavorings in without a second thought. While he did so, he kept an eye on a panel on the side of the machine. Several dials and knobs, one prominent red one with several numbers organized around it pointed out and gleamed dangerously.

Sari finally reached the top of the staircase and ran towards her cousin. "Is this about them?"

"No, this is about you!" Ari shouted in irritation as he shoved more and more ingredients in. "You don't need to return! Just take a rain-check!"

"Huh?" Sharq blinked in confusion.

In Sharq's eyes, it appeared as though the two were in the midst of an argument. However, the machine was rather tall. So tall in fact, that from the bottom facing the platform, it was difficult to really piece together what they were saying. However, there was definitely something happening. Something...probably not great. Sharq switched into a blue squid, aimed at the ceiling, and jumped.

Ari reached for the dial. A smirk stretched across his face while sweat poured down from his forehead. His cousin held him back using his left arm, though Ari was hardly willing to stop.

"Let's just talk this over some dessert! You don't have to leave!" Ari laughed as he reached for the dial.

Sari grunted as she held him back. "Ari, calm down!"

He laughed again. With one swift move, he tripped up his cousin. She gasped as she face planted into the metal platform with a grunt. She began to tear up, though Ari hardly noticed. He continued to reach for the dial.

Until Sharq toppled the platform.

A blue squid slammed into the bottom and shook the foundation. The two orange Inkling on the top stumbled and fell back. The staircase and platform wobbled back and forth. Sari gripped at the railing of the platform and held Ari by his hand as the two hung precariously from the ledge. The shakes stopped eventually as they settled back into place.

Sari, though orange leaked through her eyes, stared down at her cousin. "Are you alright!?"

Below her, Ari remained silent. He just stared away at the floor.

She gritted her Inkling beak. "Answer me! Ari, are you-"

Without any further warning, Ari let go. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she watched her cousin fall.

Below, Sharq rubbed his squid head uncomfortably. He was surrounded by a pile of disturbed boxes flung about from the chaos. Though he did manage to snag a bag of ice to use for his aching head, he still suffered from the bruise he had received when he greeted the platform.

In between rubbing his head, Sharq began calling up to the platform, "How are you guys doing?"

"Gah!" Both Ari and Sharq answered back immediately when they smashed into each other.

The two of them laid dazed on the floor for a little while. Sharq managed to get up after a minute, though he still felt a headache.

"Ari!"

The elder Bate Brother turned towards the stairs. Ari remained down on the ground, though he avoided her gaze. Sari descended down from the railing with a slide in her orange squid form then switched to an Inkling as she reached the ground. Sharq blinked, then moved to the side as she sprinted towards her cousin sprawled out on the floor. She leaned down and lifted him up onto her lap.

She placed one ear to her cousin's chest. Sari sighed in relief. "He still has a heartbeat…"

Sharq felt as though he should point out that they might have a bunch of hearts. He held his tongue.

Of course, when he saw her slap her cousin silly, he instantly decided it was a good idea. She smacked him back and forth with the palm of her hand, all the while she yelled, "What were you thinking?!"

Through a vigorous wake-up via slaps, Ari finally came to. In the middle of her hundredth slap, Ari grabbed her hand and leaned in. The two stared at each other for the third time today. Sari looked angry. Ari looked miserable.

Then the unexpected happened. He leaned in, buried his face in her Black LS, and sobbed. "Oh, dear cousin! Why must you cause such grief?!"

"Me?!" Sari complained with an appalled expression. "Ari, I will only be gone a week!"

"...Eh?" Sharq blinked in confusion.

While Ari continued to bawl and soak his cousin's shirt, she turned to Sharq with a rather plain, yet exasperated expression. She cleared her throat. "My parents are-"

"Please, at least let me provide the narrative!" Ari sobbed tragically with one arm slung across his face.

Sari just shook her head and stepped back. "Alright."

Now in the spotlight, Ari stood up straight. He cleared his throat. "Long ago, my parents were happily wedded together."

"Wrong story!" Sari scowled and began to walk out the warehouse. "Forget it-"

Ari's eyes expanded. "No, wait!"

Sari arched an eyebrow. "Then just tell him the truth. Plain and simple."

He muttered to himself. Ari took off his Jungle Hat and revealed a pair of small, tied up tentacles. "Fine. Sari is going back to Splatlake City to spend the next week with her sister."

"Whoa, wait," The elder Bate Brother shook off ice from the top of his head, "You have a sister?" Sharq asked curiously.

She rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Yeah."

"Older or younger?" He repeated as he stepped up among the pile of boxes.

"Older." Sari muttered under her breath.

Ari piped up from behind his cousin, "Can I SPEAK?!" With that, Sari sighed and moved out of his way again. He stepped at her side and cleared his throat yet again. "Why does she have to go back?! She's my best friend! It is absolutely heartbreaking! And tragic! And-"

"And only a week-long." Sari sighed and covered her face in embarrassment. "Honestly, that is so like you, Ari."

As she spoke, Ari started to bicker yet again. Another argument between the two erupted, much to Sharq's confusion. So it seemed, at least, until Sharq stepped in front of them. This time, he finally got to clear his own throat and attracted the attention of the two Inkling cousins. They ceased their arguments and stared at him.

"Alright," Sharq sighed and rubbed his temples. "So Ari doesn't want you to go."

"Again, it's just a week, Ari!" Sari frowned and crossed her arms.

Sharq raised his hand for silence as he leaned on the side of the stairs. "You've considered his feelings in all of this, right? Sari, you've been his cousin for who knows how long. Give him a break, maybe mull it over again, huh?"

Sari frowned and glanced at him with a deadpan stare. "...Sharq, you don't really know much about me."

"But I do know about family stuff!" He piped up as he spun towards Ari. "Dude, if Sari does go, it's only a week! Don't pressure her into stuff she doesn't want to do. Trust me."

A brief image of a familiar Inkling popped up in the back of his head. Sharq felt a chill run up his back and shivered in response. The two other Inklings glanced at one another in uncertainty and a drop of sweat. They stared at Sharq and wanted to say something. But before they could say anything, each one of the Inkling's ears twitched. They turned around and stared at the machine. It rattled dangerously as cream sloshed around within the glass. It might have been rather delectable and glorious looking, had it not been for the whisks. Two metallic whisks inside of the glass rumbled and jittered within and smacked the glass; a crack emerged each time it struck.

Sari and Sharq turned their nervous gazes towards Ari. With a glance, he grinned. "...Care for dessert?"

The glass shattered behind them and released the flood.

Splin sat at home with a glare directed at the ceiling. While he laid on his bed, Ann-Gel and the Tele-Cube "rolled" as efficiently as they could with sweatbands wrapped around their head. They jogged around the house as much as they could with flat surfaces stuck to the bottoms of their feet.

Maria stood by her bed with her Golf Visor tilted upwards. "That's the spirit you two. Keep it up."

"I've never felt so alive!" Ann-Gel laughed as she ran.

The Tele-Cube beeped behind her in agreement. While they continued their exercises, Splin stood up suddenly and looked around. His ears twitched and his tentacles sagged from the band on his head. Not to mention the state of his bed, he looked just about as enthusiastic as a raccoon who had been socked over the head with a trash can. If raccoons were still around, at least.

The mother Inkling from another dimension blinked at him curiously. "What's the matter?"

"...I can't shake this bad feeling. Sharq still hasn't come back." He grumbled restlessly.

Maria made a stop motion with her hand. The trophy and the cube halted in the middle of the room and sat on the ground and gasped for breath, as strange as that may have been. "Have you tried to call him?"

"Yep." He muttered and fingered the insides of his pockets restlessly. "Hasn't answered."

Just then, a knock sounded off by the front of the house. Splin arched an eyebrow, stepped off of his bed, and walked over towards the door. As he walked, he made sure to step over the two objects on the floor. He twisted the doorknob and pulled it open.

In front of him, Sharq blinked back at him with a smile. He carried a small box in his right hand and hoisted a burlap sack over his left shoulder. Several different colors, from pink, to green, to brown covered him from head to toe. The inhabitants of the house stared at him like he was an alien.

Elsewhere, Ityl sneezed.

"...Either you entered a Turf War…" Splin muttered as he reached over with one finger and traced across one of the green liquids. It felt cool to the touch as small brown chips floated daintily on the surface. "Or I take it you visited 'Cold Sea'?"

"It was great! I even got to solve a dispute between Ari and his cousin!" He grinned.

"...Really?" Splin deadpanned with a frown. "I'll have to ask you about that later. But first, you ought to take a shower. You look like a clown."

As Sharq bathed in steaming liquids to get rid of the cold ones he had been drenched in moments prior, two orange tentacled Inklings sat at a bench by the edge of Inkopolis. A black street stretched out into the country at the border of the city by a sign that welcomed anybody and everybody into the city. Very few buildings remained at the edge aside from the small, sleepy gas station the two sat by. A sleepy shrimp stared out at the same road from inside. The bench stationed by had a tall sign with a bus painted on it.

Sari hardly said a word and stared out at the road.

"...You considering Rival's words?" Ari asked hopefully as he edged up to his cousin.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "He's a nice guy, but I don't think I can take him seriously. I've made up my mind, Ari."

"Ah." He muttered and stared up at the sky.

A smile crossed Sari's face as she wrapped her arm around her cousin. "Hey, it's not so bad. I get a break from your craziness, and you can buddy up with Rit and Bas."

Ari turned to her and scooted closer. "It's not as fun narrating with three people."

She giggled once. "That's because it's supposed to be a single person's job."

Ari sighed in response and leaned on her shoulder. Sari sighed and attempted to do the same, though she ended up by having her head planted on top of her cousin. They stayed like that for quite a while before the sound of wheels and smog came around. A large bus with a glowing sign atop the front that read, "Splatlake City" started rolling by. It stopped in front of the two and sputtered as it stopped.

As the vehicle neared, Sari smiled and said, "This is it." She stood up, but threw a glare towards him. "No turning back, alright?"

"...Fine." Ari sighed and hugged his cousin. "I will miss you, fair Sari Jabin."

She just hummed and hugged back. "You as well, good Ari Jabin."

With that said, the doors to the bus opened. Sari broke the hug and stepped off from the sidewalk. She stepped onto the bus, turned towards her cousin, and curtseyed politely. In front of the bench, Ari stood proud and took a bow. The bus doors shut behind her as she began to walk towards the back of the bus to take her seat. Ari sighed and watched the bus shove off from Inkopolis out into the world.

He took up a seat at the bench, shook his head, and sighed. "Why do all of the girls I love like to leave me?"

Ari pondered this as he sat on the bench and stared at the sky. He thought he could glean an octopus in the shapes of the clouds, but he shrugged it off and sat back on the bench.

AN: This was initially going to be a short chapter. Then I wanted plot with Ari and his cousin to happen. I guess I could sum up a majority of my stories with this formula.

Thanks write n wrong for reviewing. Who knows if it's a dream or not? That will just have to wait, I suppose.

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to get work done. After all, I can't make stories I or any of you enjoy by sitting around looking at everyone else's stories, artwork, or anything and not decide to get inspired by it. See you.